Much like the recent reformation of fellow NY Death Metal legends, Pyrexia, this incarnation of Internal Bleeding is hardly authentic. Drummer, Bill Tolley, is the sole original member. Nevertheless, all worries and doubts were immediately cast aside upon first listen of this monstrously aggressive slab of USDA-approved prime cut Death Metal. Massive waves of crushing groove envelop the listener while brutal riff after brutal riff detonate in a campaign of shock and awe. Internal Bleeding’s riffs have never been more pit, nor have their beats ever been so trippy. All joking aside, this is a flawless album. The guitars, drums, bass, vocals, and lyrics are the embodiment of the word “heavy.” This is a masterpiece of negative energy that hits like the curb on an open jaw. And by the way, while a lot of the kids today may believe mixing the brutality of Death Metal with the intensity of Hardcore is a novel idea, these guys (regardless of lineup status) have been at it for 14 years. Show some respect and add an impeccable album to your collection in the process. Best of the best: “Bleed by Example,” “Siege in the Clouds,” “Far Above You,” and “Hatefuel.”

Up until 2002’s Blasphemy LP, the highlight of Incantation’s career, to me, was a Death cover. I just never really got into them back in the day. They have always been one of the most brutal Death Metal bands around, there’s no question about that, but for me, it has to be memorable, too. As I said, I thought with Blasphemy they had finally turned the corner and discovered the formula for both attributes, but sadly with Decimate Christendom, they have reverted back to old habits. Again they have crafted an extremely brutal album, but aside from the standout cut, “Dying Divinity,” nothing here sticks. Not even the slower stuff is catchy this time. This album goes by like a heavy blur, sterile and forgettable. Maybe they can bounce back and make another solid album, maybe I’m just nuts in the first place. Either way, this is a disappointment for me.

These Danish Death-Thrashers remind me a ton of old Arch Enemy. Even more so than Johan Liiva’s new band, Hearse. They take a less melodic approach to the Gothenberg style, emphasizing more on speed and crunch. Defleshed might be a fair comparison, or perhaps a highly improved Haunted. My only problem with this, other than the really stupid album title, is the vocalist. His scream is just so basic and plain. What’s worse, he has a terrific Death growl that he sadly will only use sparingly for backing purposes. More Death growls, a touch more melody, and just a dab of originality here and there will ensure the next Hatesphere album stakes claim to the throne. Let’s just hope they don’t name it Macarena of the Malevolent.

Let me begin by saying that The Arrival is still nowhere near as good as Penetralia or Abducted. That being said, The Arrival is still 10,000% better than Catch 22. The songs on this album sort of sound like a mixture of the material on Abducted and the less Slipknot inspired stuff from Catch 22, with more of an emphasis on the Abducted sound. That in itself puts this light years over Catch 22, which was almost painful to listen to at times. There are still times where Catch 22 rears its ugly head and infects some of the riffs on The Arrival, but thankfully this is not that much of an issue here. I’m glad that Hypocrisy listened to the fans and started going back to what made them a great band. Though The Arrival is not the world’s most godly album, I’ve had my faith in the band restored and I’m looking forward to hearing their next album.

Reviewing CDs may not be the toughest gig out there, but try doing a band like this justice. How do I even begin to tell you how fucking awesome this is? How do you try to sum up in words the brilliance this German Metalcore outfit possess musically and lyrically? You can’t use comparisons, because these guys don’t sound like anybody. On the contrary, other bands try to sound like them! It all starts with an almost scientific mastery of rhythm. If they gave out an award for Best Palm-Muting, Heaven Shall Burn might win it hands down (no pun intended). Then you have the grinding, the melodies, and the breakdowns that just don’t sound like anyone else’s. They achieve, seemingly with ease, Death Metal brutality delivered with a Thrash-like precision, yet can musically embody a sense of misery and struggle with a sincerity most Emocore bands can only dream of. Lyrically, broken hearts and self-interest take a backseat to the world’s pain and suffering, not to mention its eminent demise. Vocally, Marcus is just a pure screamer. Someone who is just born with it. I don’t think in eight years the man has used a single vocal effect, and oh yeah, when he wants to he can even sing a little bit, too. I’ll just put it this way, this is Heaven Shall Burn’s fourth full length album, and they’ve yet to write bad song one. I pity the poor bastard who misses out on this.

I have no idea what anyone sees in this band. They are a sterilized Slayer rip-off with one fast beat. Maybe if I were 4 years old, and the only music I’d ever heard was Amy Grant and Michael Jackson, this would seem like the most extreme band on the planet. This album, their debut for Century Media, sees the return of original vocalist, Peter Dolving. Like I give a shit. I will say that this is easily their most diverse album to date. That is to say, there’s actually a couple different drumbeats, and a small handful of riffs that don’t completely sound like rearranged and modernized copies of the riffs on South of Heaven. It seems like in certain parts they go for a dirty Rock ‘n’ Roll vibe, but I could just be hallucinating from boredom. It’s not like these guys are the worst band in the world, just outrageously overrated.

According to the propaganda that accompanied this CD, the retail version will have two bonus tracks not on our lowly review copy. That sucks for me, because I love Grave and need to hear as much as possible. The usual Metal Curse policy is that we don’t review anything that has less than 100% of the audio -really how could that even be possible?! Consider for a moment what it would be like to have a copy of Entombed’s Left Hand Path that did not contain the title track and “Drowned.” Or Dismember’s Like an Ever Flowing Stream without “Soon to Be Dead” and “Dismembered.” Or whatever your favorite CD is without two of its best tracks. Since this is Grave, and I saw them on their very first US tour, and Into the Grave is one of the greatest albums ever recorded, I’ll give this a few more words. If you liked the band’s last album, Back from the Grave, you’ll like this, too.
To all record labels worldwide: stop the practice sending out incomplete review copies!
The rating has been lowered to reflect the missing songs, and if they’re as good as the other tracks, this would be close to perfection.

Brutality comes through simplicity. No one understands that more than Wisconsin’s Jungle Rot. These 10-year scene veterans have come through with another solid moshworthy album that the mainstream Metal media, convinced that if they can’t understand a band’s music that it must be genius, will assuredly ignore. Okay, so maybe this isn’t quite as adrenalizing as 2001’s Dead and Buried, but it’s still a high quality combination of catchiness and brutality, taking a page out of Obituary’s Death Metal manual as usual. The Rot ought to be given an award for sticking to their guns and refusing to change the style they obviously love playing, while raising a middle finger to the pretentious, bandwagon-jumping press in the process. However, it is more likely that they’ll receive little if any attention for this fine effort and promptly be dropped from their label thereafter. They were born alive, isn’t that punishment enough?

Although this is painfully average, run-of-the-mill Black Metal that I’ve heard a thousand times over, I have to admit it is inspirational. From the moment it started, I was inspired to hit the stop button.