This has got to be a Marduk fan’s biggest wet dream. A double live CD with three MPEG videos on it. What more could you ask for? Well, not much really. Some of the serious classics are missing (such as “Wolves,” for instance or any of the slow, heavy stuff from Nightwing), but I guess if you wanted live versions of those, they did some of them on the Live in Germania CD a while back. In a way, this isn’t that far removed from their previous live album in that this isn’t one show. It’s a compilation of live tracks recorded at multiple shows with the best version of each song appearing on this CD. Personally, I like the “one whole show” approach better because you get more of an idea of how a band really sounds live. This is more like a greatest hits record with live stuff instead of studio cuts. Granted, this is some of the most deadly fucking Black/Death Metal in the world today and I should be thankful that this is available, but Marduk can pull off one of the most amazing live shows ever because they never have to slow down throughout the whole set. A “one whole show” recording would not have been that different (sound wise) than this and you would have had more continuity instead of the fade in, fade out stuff. Still, that’s a minor gripe and takes nothing away from how fucking great this is.

Krisiun stand tall as a testimony that man is capable of astounding achievement. This band’s talent has been heralded by many and with undeniable reason. The speed factor is one thing, being able to write, memorize, and play full-on blast for 6 1/2 minutes boasts its own glory, but Krisiun are able to make it stick, and more so on Ageless Venomous than ever before. “Dawn of Flagellation” hammers the listener with Covenant-era Morbid Angelic hooks, while gems like the title track and “Saviour’s Blood” employ perhaps the fanciest start-stop mechanics ever (made all the more viable by drummer Max Kolesne’s mind-boggling footwork!). Taking in something this extreme, and then using a great Doomy album as a chaser, has proven to be for me the most euphoric high the mind and body can experience.

Aside from one awesome brand-new track of patented power-mosh pit riffery, longtime fans of Internal Bleeding will find nothing new here other than a documentation of the horrible sound productions that plagued this band’s first three demos ($1 Demo, Invocation of Evil, and Perpetual Degradation; the latter two featured here in their entirety). But surely for the newer fans this is absolutely essential. As we know, one must be “anointed in servitude” to truly comprehend the impact this band has made on the scene over the years.

Weird. This is much slower and moodier than was its predecessor, In the Raven’s Shadow. Melancholy at times, even, and a drastic improvement over their last album. For once a band tried some new ideas, had some work and some fail, and actually sorted out which stuff to keep and what to shitcan. So, while still not a perfect release, Third has absolutely forced me to like it, and to respect Himinbjorg’s efforts.

Hey, Metal Blade, if you want an accurate review of one of your releases how about sending us a full-length album instead of just a 3-song promo? Anyway, these new tracks show a slightly heavier side of Gwar than I remember from past releases. Opener “Battle-Lust” is a real killer packed with heavy guitars and speedy riffs. Intense! The second track, “Immortal Corrupter,” has an aggressive mid-paced groove along with some well-produced double-bass plodding. The final track, “Bloody Mary,” is more along the lines of what Gwar have done on previous efforts. It rocks, it rolls, it’s kinda hokey… it’s Gwar! Sure would like to know what the rest of the album sounds like because these three tracks are quite good.

I gotta give Victory some props. Lately the bulldog has been a seal of assurance that the money spent will not be wasted. Just as the ink was not wasted on the latest signing, Sacramento’s pride, Hoods, which features Mike Hood and other members of the mighty Above This World. Much like ATW, this is just tight, brutal Hardcore the way it was meant to be played. Straightforward, Thrashy, with moderate groove, sick throaty vocals, and great lyrics to boot. They even get psychotic Coalesce-style on the standout track “Unforgiven.” This is an all-round monument of ‘Core, blending the Old School vibes with the Metal-tinged feel of the modern era. You need it.

When a band releases an EP with only two new songs and one re-recorded version of an older track, I tend to feel ripped off. Not this time. Leave it to Graveland to release a three song EP that clocks in at just a hair under 30 minutes. I guess that puts it up there with Summoning and their Nightshade Forest EP (which clocked in at 45 minutes but had four songs) when it comes to value for money. Much like Creed of Iron and Immortal Pride, Raise Your Sword! contains huge doses of Slavic Folk rhythms and tempos. Also present in large doses is that Hammerheart-era Bathory Viking chorus. I assume that keeps with the band’s new ideology. If my guess is correct, the change in their logo reflects a conversion to Asatru. The upside-down cross in their logo has been replaced by the Hammer of Thor symbol and a lot of Darken’s lyrics reflect ideas found in the book Creed of Iron. The keyboards are a little more dominant that on Creed of Iron, which was more of a guitar album, but it never seeps into overuse. The song “W Objecia Smierci” is a different version of “Into Death’s Arms,” and though it doesn’t sound a whole lot different than the original, it does have lyrics in Polish. I think Graveland has found their little niche and though I really enjoy their music, my greatest fear is that they will stagnate and keep rehashing the same stuff over and over again.

This is the second full-length album for GBK and what a difference this is! I slagged the debut album (Mocking the Philanthropist - it was released on Woodnymph and is now probably long out of print) for several reasons, one of which was the blatant “ancient” Bathory worship in the music, and another the fact that most of the “cult” songs that GBK did were written with Bestial Luciferian (aka Lord Kaiaphas ex-Ancient/Thokk) in mind when it came to the vocals. This is 1000 times better than the debut. Grand Belial’s Key has now morphed into a Black/Death Metal band with an emphasis on heavy, Doomier guitar passages and more original sounding material. In fact, this sounds so different than the debut that I swear that this is an entirely different band. A few minor gripes I have are concerning the cover art and some of the lyrics. Both suffer from a bit of childishness that, at least concerning the cover art, could have been avoided. If you haven’t seen the cover for this CD, it’s basically a scanned picture stolen from some kid’s illustrated bible where the picture of our favorite dead Jew has been artfully defaced with corpse-paint by someone using Microsoft Paint. Yes, you can see the jaggies. Also, concerning the lyrics, if there were any more references to semen and apostolic homosexuality on this CD, I’d have to call them Profanatica instead. It’s a pretty funny read (and probably true…) but the “Jesus was a fag” humor wears thin after a couple songs. I know these guys can do better, because musically, this is some seriously kick ass shit.

What a pointless waste of plastic this is. By no means am I insulting the almighty Hypocrisy (who have stood the test of time, if you haven’t noticed), but for Nuclear Blast to try to compile a greatest hits collection for a band who has never written any filler! What clueless poseur doesn’t already have the entire domestic discography of Hypocrisy’s releases? And should the tragically uninformed need a sampling of this band’s power, why not just start from the beginning and work your way up? Witness the natural evolution of pulverizing Satanic Death Metal to a brand of extremity without category. After all, a true Hypocrisy “greatest hits” would simply be all the band’s albums in a box set. Then you would have more than 7% of this band’s choice cuts to commit suicide to. However, the bastards at Nuclear Blast have me backed in a corner. While I despise the idiocy of the concept, all the songs on the CD subject to review are flawless. I have no choice other than to give it a perfect rating. The first ten I didn’t like.