This concert starts with “Deformed” and ends with “Into the Grave.” Do I need to even continue?!? Okay, if you want more… I saw Grave on their very first ever US tour, way back in 1991, at a place in Chicago called Medusa’s, which I think is apartments or something now. I had already proclaimed the band’s debut, Into the Grave, as probably the best Death Metal album ever, and hearing the guys play it live only further solidified that Sweden was the place for Death. Well, Chicago was that night! This live performance isn’t as massively mind-crushingly heavy as they were back in ‘91, but it is a pretty radical improvement over 1997’s disappointing live effort, Extremely Rotten Live. Sure, there are several songs that I wish had been included (where is “Hating Life”?!?), but the only way I’d be 100% satisfied with a live Grave show is if the guys played literally every single song from their flawless masterpiece Into the Grave, plus all of You’ll Never See…, Soulless, and “I Need You” (from 1993’s …and Here I Die… Satisfied EP), in addition to the newer stuff. Grave is just that awesome. I do kind of wish that Ola wouldn’t introduce “Bullets Are Mine” by saying that it’s the “one and only ‘Gangster Metal’ song ever written,” though.
I should mention that the video (16x9 anamorphic, of course) is up to the very high quality by Metal Mind releases. And the audio (5.1 Dolby Digital surround) is truly stunning. The band’s sound is clear and crisp, although maybe not quite as thick as I might have optimally liked. Still this is in line with how they actually sound now, and I’m just being nostalgic.
The bonus features include a couple extra live clips, filmed in Germany, and the video for “Soulless,” which I’d never seen before, making it one of the coolest extras of all time. Plus an interview, bio, photos… you know, the standard assortment of good stuff. Get this and continue hating life!

I, for one, was disappointed after the solid Epic (The Poetry of War), the band’s best full length up to that point (coming eight long years after their debut EP in 1993), at the sterile attempt that was 2004’s Serenity in Fire. I had all but written them off as a lost cause, that is until now. Twelve years is a long time to wait for a band’s magnum opus, but better late than never. In the Arms of Devastation is a flawless album and easily the best thing Canada’s Kataklysm have ever put out. Produced by the band’s guitarist Jean Dagenais and mixed by guru Tue Madsen, the record’s sound is magnificent. What the “Kings of Northern Hyperblast” have lost in speed and insanity over the years, they have made up for with big riffs, catchy choruses, and memorable song structuring. There is not one filler moment that sneaks anywhere into these nine colossal cuts, and the melodies are rich. While the heaviness sweeps, swirls and slowly grinds, Maurizio Iacono’s bestial but intelligible roars collide with his demented witch-cackling screams in a schizophrenic battle. He even trades off with Kittie’s Morgan Lander on “It Turns to Rust,” one of the album’s standout tracks. Then again, this LP is nothing but back-to-back standout tracks. This is simply everything a Death Metal album should be. It’s about god damn time they got it completely right!

More like an invasion from the tight-rolled, acid-washed jean dimension. My how far Crossover has come in the last couple decades. Not the usual Death/Gore/Grind fare we’ve come to expect from Razorback, this is total Cryptic Slaughter, Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I. and S.O.D. worship. Don’t get me wrong, I love those bands, but this is 2006. Why would I reach for the 20-year late carbon copy when I can spin the actual vintage? Nowadays mixing Hardcore and Metal calls for an increase in heaviness and precision, two things Funerot abandon completely. They will bust out a Slayer riff now and then, but sometimes this even lapses into the sloppy, unfocused Punk vibes of shit bands like Black Flag and Murphy’s Law. The vocals probably hold this back more than anything. They are pure shit, no talent whatsoever. These guys are all probably cool, harmlessly paying a little homage, and I’ve got respect for the throwback types, but I don’t see their affectedly juvenile effort uprooting Heaven Shall Burn or Bleeding Through from my stereo anytime soon.

I hate to say anything negative about a Grecian Metal band, but Firewind reminds me of nothing more than a Dehumanizer-era Black Sabbath cover band, with the singer doing his best Dio impression most of the time. That’s not really terrible, I suppose. These guys are very skilled, and the recording probably couldn’t sound better. So, as well-crafted as this is, with the great drumming typical of Power Metal, there are no “holy shit, I’ve got to rewind that!” riffs, choruses, solos, or anything else. The song “Deliverance” comes close, but is damaged by the last few minutes of Arena Rock “ooooooh”s and so on. All this leaves the talented Firewind stuck firmly in the very crowded good-but-not-great category.

A lot of the bigger magazines, your Terrorizer s, Revolver s, and Metal Maniacs, all seem to really get behind this Southern California quintet, which is why I was certain this album was going to suck. I just automatically lumped them in with other criminally overrated bands that always receive high praise, like Mastodon, High on Fire, Neurosis, Isis, etc. Plus, this band features ex-members of the very forgettable Mindrot, so I was sure I wasn’t missing anything. Well, I was a little wrong. This album is far from flawless, but these guys are capable of delivering a goosebump here and there, and definitely leagues above the aforementioned boring slop. They do sound a lot like Neurosis, I can’t deny that, but the difference is that the vocals are much better, and the raw emotion and gloom is not buried under a megaton of dead ambiance. I am also reminded of Swedish gods Burst (talk about a surpassing Neurosis influence). So, while Prisons contains its fair share of filler (including “It All Dies Today,” the worst possible choice for the record’s first single), there are certainly diamonds in the rough, and I’m glad I actually gave Eyes of Fire a chance. Suggested mix selections: “Blood,” “Gone Forever,” and “Dead to the World.”

The coolest thing about this band is that Foamy the Squirrel once mentioned it in a rant/ad for some Metalfest. I’ve heard EoF described many different ways, and there are a lot of influences (Metal, Emo, Goth, to name a few) here… But it’s all so watered down, uninspired and bland that it’s like looking at a collage of a dozen pictures that have been Photoshopped until everything is just gray, and all I can think about while listening to this is how badly I want to eject the disc.

Brutal Swedish Grindcore in the vein of Nasum, Rotten Sound, and Gadget. I believe a “‘nuff said” is in order.

Industrial/Ambient Black Metal. Militant, throbbing foundations similar to Death in June or Current 93 with spacious layers of ominous, evil atmosphere. It works, as far as the duo successfully accomplishing what they set out to achieve, but the end result is an album that forces the mind to wander. A polite way of saying that it’s boring, if you will. In the end it’s just 37 minutes of plodding background music. Hard to hate, but even harder to pay attention to.

Without a doubt, easily, far and away some of the best Power Metal I’ve ever heard.