Captain Smoothie - Captain Smoothie
I don’t often get to review a Rock band, but I’ll give it shot. This 8 song demo was recorded live to four-track, but in spite of that, the sound is very clear. Okay, the vocals are sometimes a little too loud, and that makes them sound weird, but all things considered, that’s not really a big deal. I’m not sure to whom I can compare Capt. S., since my Rock vocabulary is rather limited, but they seem to cover a range from almost Folk to a fairly hard-edged sound, like maybe Live. However you would describe their sound, I think they’re excellent musicians (Chris Shuler is a bass master), and really do a great job. Of course, they are among my best friends, and their zip-code contains the Devil’s number, so I may be a bit biased.
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Calvary - Across the River of Life
This is a tough band to describe. They range from very atmospheric Doom, to a sort of creepy Black Metal, to more standard Death. The transition from one style to the next is seamless, and would almost be enough by itself, but they don’t stop there. Every song is amazingly well written and executed; complex and heavy, yet instantly memorable. I’m very anxious to hear more from this great band.
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Brutal Juice - Mutilation Makes Identification Difficult
Well, the slick production and harmony vocals cut way down on the “Hardcoreness” their above-reviewed live CD [I Love the Way They Scream When They Die -Editor] had, but this is clearly a superior sound for them. It retains most of the energy, but puts it to better use. It’s a great example of what a really good recording can do for a band. Some of the tracks stand out, like “The Vaginals” and “Cannibal Holocaust,” but not all of them are quite to this level yet.
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Brujeria - Raza Odiada
Spoken-word intro by Jello Biafra himself (posing as CA governor Pete Wilson) leads to a total Death Metal attack, something akin to a less intense Deicide, except with Spanish lyrics about some things other than Satan. Not as good as their first album, but pretty interesting.
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Broken Hope - Repulsive Conception
Very heavy, very clear sound. Extremely brutal vocals, as always. Musically, of course, a complete massacre, but perhaps a bit more memorable and technical than before. Musical growth without sacrificing brutality? What a concept! I’m glad someone thought to try it. The lyrics are continuing to improve, for the most part, but can occasionally still be pretty stupid, as in the truly funny “Pitbull Grin,” complete with samples of (I assume) a pitbull barking. Well, the lyrics really don’t matter, since, even with a lyric sheet, it’s pretty damn hard to make them out. A very intense cover of Twisted Sister’s “Captain Howdy” finishes off this sicknessfest
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Boogie Shoes - Greatest Hits Vol. 1
More of the above [self-titled release -Editor], but I could barely get through four songs on the EP, so this became torture pretty fast. If they could cut the utterly useless raps about how great they are, and just concentrate on the music, this might be okay. But not only are their lyrics extremely dumb, but their voices are annoying as all Hell, which is something I think a Rap band would try to avoid.
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Boogie Shoes - Boogie Shoes
This is sort of Acidy Hip Hop, with what sounds like a spacey sort of Funky Jazz band backing it up. I like it better than Guru and his Jazzmatazz, I guess.
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Body Bag - Hate Crimes
I’m sure you’ve all heard Cannibal Corpse, right? Clearly, so have Body Bag. They are fairly memorable, certainly heavy, every now and then they do something pretty interesting. But, for the most part, this is very standard Death Metal, which isn’t exactly bad, but there are at least a thousand “standard Death Metal” bands out there that are all this good. Body Bag really need something to push them out in front of the herd.
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Blut Aus Nord - UltimaThulee
Fast Black Metal with keyboards, but not at the same time.
[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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