Crystal Tear - Consciousness of Evil
Technical Death/Thrash highly influenced by the latter era of Death’s career, which tells you all you need to know about the level of musicianship. Still, it’s somehow a little boring. It just lacks that certain kick. Big league production and packaging would probably take them to the next step.
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Craft - Terror Propaganda (Second Black Metal Attack)
Hmm… I don’t know how “legit” this band is because their band photos and such look awfully contrived. They look to be a bunch of Death Metal kids or maybe even a bunch of Crust Punks that have decided to wear corpse-paint and pose for band photos. Musically, this sounds very much like Darkthrone worship. The good thing about Terror Propaganda is that it is Darkthrone worship done well. Most of the time when bands worship the Darkthrone sound, it sounds like shit and contains all of the worst aspects of Darkthrone’s music. Craft has a raw sound but at the same time, it is very powerful. The guitars are up in front and the assault begins as soon as the music starts. This is raw, violent and ugly right from the beginning. For a band that looks like they’re faking it, they sure sound a Hell of a lot better than bands that are “true.” Image aside, Terror Propaganda is some seriously kick ass shit.
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Craft - Terror Propaganda (Second Black Metal Attack)
It seems like Darkthrone and Burzum are the hot bands to rip off throughout the underground Black Metal circuit these days. I’m all for it, those are two pretty good choices, but none of the recent emulations can quite match the feeling I used to and still do get from hearing the originals. Don’t get me wrong, this is good Black Metal, it’s just not great. Not yet, anyway.
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Coherent Liquid Form - New Existence
Very well played Death/Thrash with a ton of hooks and some occasional blasting. The vocalist has a piercing shriek of a snarl that, while intense, can become grating. The attempt seems to be somewhat in the vein of the Swedish Black Metal styles (Marduk, Dissection), but not quite as smooth. With all the melody and groove utilized here, this really isn’t that memorable. Still, a valiant effort, and it wouldn’t surprise me if eventually these guys do become an awesome band.
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Cocknoose - Badmen, Butchers, and Bleeders
This is the trashy, redneck side of Punk Rock. They play it well, and their songs are sort of catchy, and certainly full of energy. They cover an ancient AC/DC song, and seem to be in league with Satan.
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Centurian - Liber Zar Zax
For those of you unfamiliar with Dutch Death masters Centurian, just try to imagine the fastest, most ripping, shredding, vile Morbid Angel / Deicide worship this side of Angelcorpse. Unfortunately, Liber Zar Zax is not the best place to start. Though this record does have its moments like “Heading for Holocaust” and “Ritually Slaughtered for Satan,” not to mention its fair share of precious lyrical blasphemy (“Christians were born to be smashed / Beat them to death with their bible / Their god is a cockroach, made in their image”), it just cannot live up to the standard set by Of Purest Fire (1997) and Choronzonic Chaos Gods (1999). For one, I miss departed vocalist Seth van de Loo, even though his replacement, Jerry Brouwer, is almost a dead ringer with the same style. But most of all, this album suffers from a lackluster production. A sound so muddy and low that the instruments are stifled, creating a mundane atmosphere in which the constant speed becomes redundant. In summary, there are some gems here, but a tough album to listen to all the way through.
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Catheter - Preamble to Oblivion
Take a ton of Spazz, a dash of Anal Cunt, and a smidge of old Cryptic Slaughter and you’ve got Catheter. Do they pack the same punch as their influences? Not really. But this is extremely intense, spastic Powerviolence, and the stuff doesn’t grow on trees. If Spazz, Lack of Interest, Asshole Parade, or even Engorged is your thing, these guys are highly capable of producing the same results (and sampling Airplane and Conan the Barbarian in the same song is just cool). Features a decent cover of Napalm Death’s “Unchallenged Hate,” and the lyrics to “Korn Bisqit” are priceless.
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Cannibal Corpse - Gore Obsessed
Huh… Is that “No Remorse”? It is! Weird! But not very good at all. Wait, is the CD already over? I must have drifted off to sleep. For all it’s speed and want of aggression, this album really falls flat. Maybe it’s that the vocals and music seem to be in different universes, with little relation to one anther. Or maybe it’s that they just didn’t have time to really perfect things, for some reason. Or perhaps the Cannibals are running out of ideas. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. There are plenty of ideas here, they’re just not… right. That makes Gore Obsessed the band’s most boring album since Tomb of the Mutilated, but not half as heavy or brutal. I’m probably too generous with my rating.
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Caledonian - Acolyte
This band might have an inverted cross in their logo but they are quite a long way from being a Black Metal band in the traditional sense. This band’s music is more akin to that of Moonspell or Tiamat with a little bit of the more Classical moments of Cradle of Filth. Yes, this is a Goth Metal band. Long on Goth, a little short on the Metal, but all of it is pretty good. I kind of figured that Caledonian was going to sound this way based on the fact that they have a female vocalist who is a permanent member of the band - and yet they have a session drummer. That kind of tells you something right there. When the female vocalist is more important than having a full-time drummer, you know this spells Goth Metal right away. A good Goth Metal band, however, must have the heaviness of Metal with the feeling of Goth. Caledonian manages to capture a good dose of both on Acolyte. The songs have that sad, melancholic air that makes for good Goth music. The Metal parts are a bit on the Traditional Metal side, owing more to the melodic bands than the brutal aspects of Death or Black Metal. If you like a little depression but don’t want to plunge headlong into suicidal Doom, the likes of Caledonian will no doubt appeal to you.
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