Girlschool - Live
I have vowed to never say anything negative about Girlschool since their team-up with Motorhead about 1000 years ago, but that really was the high point of their career. Fortunately, this live disc has a version of long time fave “Emergency,” so everything is okay.
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Gandalf - Snakebite
Even more so than their last demo, The Cradle, this is exceptionally well produced, written and played. But my favorite part is still the uniquely raspy vocals. It’s difficult these days to have such an individual vocal style, but Jari makes it sound easy. Their technical, super-intense Death/Thrash is hard to forget, even after a single listen. I’m sure we’ll be hearing quite a lot more from this band.
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Funereal Moon - Beneath the Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon
These guys claim to be “Black Funeral Metal,” I certainly agree with the “Black Funeral” part, but “Metal” is almost nonexistent. This is virtually all synths. They’re trying to create “dark, atmospheric landscapes of sound.” It’s not bad for background music, but if you can actually listen to this and stay awake, you must get a lot more sleep than I do! They stick in a hint of guitar and drums in one song, and it’s so simplistic that I think I may have preferred it without these instruments.
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Fuckface / Hickey - split
The Fuckface side is a bit more intense that their Don’t Hate Us Cause We’re… 7-inch, so naturally I like it better. As for Hickey, they play a lot more mellow style of Punk, but it’s actually really catchy, and they do it quite well. They also know when to inject some Hardcore intensity.
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From the Depths - From the Depths
After the atmospheric, majestic intro (excluding what sounds like a bad spot of their master), From the Depths tear into high gear with their demonic onslaught. Sometimes they seem to be an orthodox fast Black Metal act, but just when you think you’ve got a handle on them, they throw in some clean vocals, or a couple Death grunts, or maybe some whispers. Then there are the speed/style shifts. These fiends change from Grind to Ambient in less than the space of a heartbeat, and make it sound not only seamless, but effortless. The 13-second scream in the beginning of “Curse of the Scarecrow” is well worth the price by itself.
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Forlorn - Forlorn
Not that this is bad, or that I don’t like the In Flames style they’re going for, but the “beautiful” keyboards get on my nerves, as do the clean vocals. When a more harsh vocal style is implemented and the keyboards are either darker sounding or absent, it’s cool. But they don’t keep the aggression up for very long at a time. I guess that explains why this disc is only 23 minutes long.
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Forgotten Son - Celestial Decease
Another Death Metal band that is suffering from poor production. With better production, I’m sure anyone who listens to this tape would agree that more of this band’s creativity would show through. But, sometimes you have to get past all the rough edges in order to see the real thing. These guys possess a brutally honest approach to Death Metal. The vocalist is very aggressive, the songs are well constructed, there’s also a great deal of Gothic style keyboarding throughout, and the guitarist for this band has an ear for melodic speed.
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Forge - Decloaking
A nice thick Thrashy sound, interesting (and well done) sung/yelled vocals and a healthy respect for Batman. You’ve got to like that, I suppose. It takes a few listens to really understand what all is going on with the music and lyrics. Forge is certainly a heavy band, generally employing slower tempos, but they aren’t afraid of speeding it up when they think they should. Sure, there are some rough spots, but I’ll be expecting a lot from their next album.
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Forced to Decay - Lacheln Als Leistung
Death, Doom, Black Metal, Thrash, even Alternative Rock.
[Metal Curse #11 had an additional loose page (“Last Second Additions”) inserted into the centerfold of the zine, featuring a bunch of even-shorter-than-usual “bonus” reviews of stuff that arrived after the deadline for that issue. This is one of those “Last Second Additions” reviews.]
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