This was kind of a disappointment for me. Listening to Jello is like a lecture in that he imparts a lot of information and you usually get a lot out of his spoken word albums - even if you don’t agree with everything he’s saying. This album, the first one he’s done since September 11th, sounds very tame. It’s almost as if he’s holding back. My guess is that he’s choosing his words very carefully for this one, knowing how people feel about that whole World Trade Center thing. This cautiousness sort of takes the edge off this album. On top of it being so diplomatic, it is also very short. Most Jello Biafra spoken word albums last over an hour - most of the time it’s longer. This one lasts less than 35 minutes. You get a bunch of timely information and some critique of the government, but 35 minutes isn’t enough time to really go into any of the nuances of his political knowledge and opinion. This is more like a message to his fans than a full-on rant session. I may not agree with all of his opinions, but I’m more than willing to let Jello say his piece. After all, we’re still America and we still allow freedom of speech.

War Hammer records continues their tradition of releasing (or should I say re-releasing?) CDs of bands that many Black Metal traditionalists consider true “cult” acts. Bestial Summoning existed for only a short time, releasing a rehearsal demo (Sodomistic Rituals), a live 7-inch EP and one full length LP (The Dark War Has Begun) before calling it quits in 1992. One of their hallmarks was the fact that almost all of their stuff was improvised to some degree. This band gave new meaning to “making shit up as they went along,” and in the case of Bestial Summoning, it worked out really well. When you compare their long out-of-print material to the shit that infests the scene today, you realize that Bestial Summoning was not only ahead of their time but also a hell of a lot better than most bands out there today. Even the production was better than one would expect from a band that thrived on chaos and the lack of preparation. The guitars are thicker, for one thing, and while the vocals are raspy screams, you can still understand a good portion of what The Unsane was saying. Even the live tracks sound much better than most studio recorded albums. If you love the insane Satanic rantings of Don from Nunslaughter, you have got to hear the live tracks on this CD. The intro where The Unsane starts talking shit to the crowd is probably one of the funniest things I’ve heard on a Black Metal album to date. Back in the day, a lot of people hated this band, but today I think a lot of “old-schoolers” can listen to this and appreciate it.

Hmm… Clearly this band is influenced by the likes of Blasphemy and Beherit to some degree, though Bestial Mockery obviously has added a few changes to that particular style. One noticeable alteration is the fact that someone in the band clearly knows how to play the guitar well enough to do some solos that don’t sound like complete and utter shit. The music on this album is pretty primitive and repetitive, sounding almost like there are only two riffs per song sometimes. Granted, the two riffs are usually pretty memorable in a non-annoying way -which is always a good thing. Somehow, this disc feels very contrived to me in that I think the band is trying too hard to look “old-school.” The layout screams “early ‘90s Black Metal demo tape” complete with ink smears and “wrinkled paper” distortions. Musically, this is not nearly as raw and chaotic as these guys are trying to pretend they are. The center of the inlay has band photos and above the pictures are the words “Unpure - Unholy - Untight.” These words may be true but they neglected to include “good sound,” “audible bass guitar” and “as talented as you can get while still being called ‘chaotic’ Black Metal.” I don’t know who is in this band, but obviously they know how to play and they know what “cult” Black Fucking Metal sounded like. For what it is, this is a solid album of retro-Black Metal. Take this as a tribute to the old masters because the only alternative is to call Bestial Mockery a bunch of posers who are trying to pretend like they’re “cult.”

If one had ever wondered what a collaboration between Crematory and Olivia Newton-John would sound like, that restless soul may now repose. The answer to this long-anticipated query awaits for them on the Souls Highway.

Germany’s answer to Morbid Angel returns with their first “live” CD. This album was released to celebrate their 10th year, compiling live cuts from all of their albums plus a video track and a couple new songs. The bulk of this disc is devoted to the live material and if you like the previous three Belphegor albums, you’ll enjoy this as well. My one major gripe about this album was the fact that it isn’t one actual show. It’s a bunch of tracks from various shows spliced together. The differences in sound and production quality are very evident. Some tracks have higher vocals, others have thin guitars. There is no real consistency in the sound other than the fact that Belphegor is tight as fuck and every song is face-ripping, neck snapping, and full of the wrath of our master Satan. If this CD is anything to go by, this is definitely a band to check out! The new tracks are in the same vein as the older material. Belphegor sounds a lot like Morbid Angel did during their Altars of Madness days - only faster. Fans of Sadistic Intent and old Morbid Angel will fucking love this shit.

Can you say “bootleg”? I knew you could. And this surely is a bootleg - if it isn’t, I’d be very, very surprised. The only thing that could make Beherit sound worse than their studio albums is for them to release live material - or in this case, someone else released it for them. The sad thing about this CD is that it actually sounds a hell of a lot better than many of the lo-fi Grim Black Metal bands out there today. The sound is horrible (it was recorded in 1992, after all) and though it is bass-heavy and there are flaws in the recording, you still get some of that evil Black Metal feeling coming through. The chaotic element comes through more in this live setting, to be sure. There are only six songs on this CD and I was surprised that their set lasted more than 20 minutes. Beherit was up there with Blasphemy in their own little Black/Grind genre for a while. Hardcore fans of the band will definitely want a copy of this, but the rest of us will probably want to avoid this for two reasons: first, the band gets no money from the sales of this CD, and second, the sound quality is shit.

How cool is it to hear the mighty Black Metal onslaught of Behemoth in 5.1 surround sound? Hell yes! And if an entire live show isn’t enough for you, this DVD also offers two videos (“Decade of Therion,” and “Chant for Eschaton 2000”), interviews, bonus audio tracks, and a lot more. Like all live albums, this is for fans only, and probably won’t be winning any new converts, but fortunately there is a lot here to keep us busy.

I’d intended on making a bigger deal of Behemoth’s massive transition from a Mayhemic Black/Death Metal hybrid to a much heavier bludgeonfest of all-out Morbid Angel worship. But the truth is, the end results are tragically similar. Behemoth still remains a band that is more than capable of great ideas, charming intricacies, and suffocatingly extreme riffs, yet somehow can’t create a full length album that does not drag on tediously in its duration. A mysterious, yet all too common fate that so many talented bands must suffer, leaving the bewildered critic to bestow the only ill-advised admonition suitable… better luck next time.

Poland’s most brutal Black/Death band returns with yet another ferocious assault. I have to hand it to these guys. This album fucking rips. Granted, there are still lots of similarities to fellow Polish Metallers Vader, but this is mostly in the production department. Face it, both Behemoth and Vader have almost the same guitar sound and the levels are almost identical in terms of instrument loudness. Zos Kia Cultus sounds like the horrific combination of the brutality of Vader, a touch of the technical side of newer Morbid Angel and some serious occultism a-la Crowley. A lot of the lyrics on this album are very esoteric, lending a depth that few bands have these days. You can really tell the folks in Behemoth are well read in the occultism department. One of the things that I really thought was cool on Zos Kia Cultus was the amount of quality in the songs themselves. The guitars were brutal, punishing and technical but at the same time, they were never overly so. The same went for the drumming. It was never overdone. They could have easily grinded and blasted their way through this album, but the restraint made every riff hit harder and every drum fill more effective. I didn’t think much of this album when I first listened to it, but each subsequent listen has made me like it more and more.