In Memorian - Insantification
The “kiss of shame” cover alone would be worth the cost of this disc. I’d kill to get a poster of it! Anyway, that is far from the best reason to pick this up. In Memorian have come up with what may be the best combination of Black and Death Metal I’ve ever heard. I’d put these guys up against anyone you care to name. The use of keyboards and acoustic guitars is perfectly balanced with the relentlessly murderous onslaught of guitar and drums. Every song is instantly extremely memorable, but upon repeated listens a great depth is revealed. Wilson’s vocals are perhaps the best aspect of this recording: he has the most powerful and diverse Death growl I’ve heard since Sick Nick Hernandez and Dysphoria parted ways. Insantification is in every way a classic. I am honored to bestow upon it my highest rating.
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Gwar - Ragnarok
Well, it’s clear that everything that was heavy about Gwar is now in X-Cops. The lyrics are sometimes amusing, and almost always entertaining, but most of the really sick lines, like, “I fucked her ass with a frozen piece of shit,” are long gone. Gwar - heaviness - sickness = not much.
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Haemorrhage - Emetic Cult
Umm, my review copy of this CD came without even a track listing, so this is sort of tough going, but musically, these guys are nuts. Very heavy, and I think if could make out the lyrics, they would be pretty sick. The vocals certainly are - they mostly sound like the last gurgles of a dying man, with a spike driven through his head. To me, that’s cool. I only wish I had the lyrics and a list of the songs. I assume that the “real” version comes with at least the song titles.
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Grip Inc. - Power of Inner Strength
For those of you completely out of touch, this is Dave Lombardo’s new band. Is Dave still the supreme drum guy? Oh yeah! Is his new band as intense as Slayer? Mostly. Somehow Dave managed to really pull this off. Grip Inc. is sort of a Thrash unit, and kick it out like really no other Thrash band does now. Every now and then, a little hint of Industrial pokes it’s head through the din. The intensity is turned all the way up, and they just go for the kill from the first song onward. I had to dock them a little for the unpardonable sin of rhyming “fire” with “desire.” But, other than that, this is pretty good.
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Kataklysm - Sorcery
I admit that I was a little worried that this band would be able to keep the intensity up to this level for an entire LP, but they do it. Well, mostly. Okay, it’s maybe slightly less insane than their The Mystical Gate… EP, but still, the vocals are totally Godzilla-like, and the music, when it momentarily calms down from “Hyper-Blast” mode, is thick and very heavy.
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Jungle Rot - Skin the Living
Jungle Rot is everything a Death Metal band should be. Their songs are rabid, the guitar sound is a chainsaw on steel, and I can even sometimes hear the fucking bass. David’s vocals remind me of a young Johnny Hedlund (Unleashed), although perhaps a little more raw. And for all that brutality, their songs are actually very catchy. I simply can’t say enough good things about these sick freaks.
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Jungle Rot - Rip off Your Face
You don’t see very many 13 song demos. These guys are sort of no frills, but they sure as shit get the job done. Certainly not the most brutal, nor the fastest, nor the most anything, but there’s something about them I like.
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Ghostorm - Frozen in Fire
Ghostorm have worked very, very hard on making this debut as unbelievable as it is. They of course write emotional, heavy, and memorable songs, which are also pretty technical. And they play them flawlessly. Their singer is raw enough to be brutal, but he can still be understood, which is a difficult balance to achieve, and he injects more emotion into his growls than nearly anyone. They traveled from their native Lithuania to Sweden to record at the legendary Unisound, and that was the extra effort which really put them over the top. The production is maybe the best I’ve ever heard from Unisound. Although quite a bit of excellent Metal has come out recently, Frozen in Fire is without a doubt a contender for the best album of the year. If their next one is somehow better than this, I guess I’ll have to change to an 11 point scale. Essential.
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Ghastly Secret - Nachtmusik
This band’s odd combination of Death, Thrash, and “Classic” Metal is even more refined on this demo. And for the most part, more memorable, too - not to mention heavier. In addition to such new masterpieces as “With this Ring,” and the title track, the listener is treated to a pair of cuts from their last demo, including my favorite GS song, “We Are Those Men.” This is a distinct improvement, and I already liked them.
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