Abramelin - Abramelin
The band’s crunchy Death Metal is an awesome combination of speed and heaviness. This is also a shining example of what really good Death vocals should sound like. But the most interesting thing about this album is their cover of the Dead Can Dance song, “Cantara,” which starts as a slow, fairly mellow piece, with clean vocals, and builds to a fair amount of heaviness. Weird, but cool.
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Abominant - Unspeakable Horrors
Intense, but basic Death Metal.
[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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Abhorrent - Rage
This is lifeless & boring. It’s very mainstream wannabe “Metal,” like those fudgepackers, Pantera. And the subject matter that they choose to stick with throughout this joke is god. Next!
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A Mind Confused - Out of Chaos Spawn
Here we have two complex, well-played Black / Death tracks, in a somewhat similar style to that of the mighty Dissection - technical, but powerful and memorable. The production is very clear and of course that can only add to the emotion of the music. I think it’s time for A Mind Confused to release a full length album.
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25 Ta Life - Keepin’ It Real
This is fairly heavy Hardcore, which brings to mind a slightly more Metalized Agnostic Front, right down to their singer, who sounds every bit as strained as Roger [Miret, from A.F.] ever did. 25 Ta Life maintains an incredible amount of intensity through all 6 songs, but never at the cost of memorable riffs. If you’re looking for real Hardcore, your search is over.
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Unleashed - Victory
The ten songs here (all crammed into about 34 minutes) are memorable Death Metal. Johnny and company really have that down. Unfortunately, it seems that these guys have subscribed to the thought that every album should be less heavy than the one before it. It’s not that this isn’t heavy, but just not as heavy - neither the vocals nor the music. I can’t say anything bad about this band, and the album is very good, but if I listen to this, and then listen to Where No Life Dwells, or Shadows in the Deep, this album gets crushed.
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Parricide (Rhode Island - USA) - A Future of Suffering
Except for some lead guitar work, everything on this CD (or tape) was written and recorded by mastermind Bob Cardente. Generally speaking, one man bands tend to suffer as it’s pretty hard for one guy to be good enough at every instrument necessary to really pull it off. Bob doesn’t have that problem. He does use a drum machine, but he is so good at programming it, that, except for maybe three or four parts on the whole disc, you’d never notice it’s a machine, although you might wonder when Pete Sandoval had time to fill in on the drums for this. As for the music, Bob has assembled some very potent speedy Deathrash material. His vocals are honestly unique: He sort of screeches, in a way not completely unlike Chuck from Death, but he tends to sing pretty fast. I even like the lyrics.
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Parricide (Poland) - Accustomed to Illusion
Much like their previous album, Fascination of Indifference, this is intense Death Metal, with just a touch of Thrash influence. Perhaps this material is a bit more technical, but it’s also more memorable.
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Necromantia - Scarlet Evil Witching Black
These guys have never been afraid to take chances, and this is perhaps their most diverse release to date. Of course there are (as always) no rhythm guitars, but there are occasional guitar solos, and some acoustic work mixed in with the dual bass assault. I rarely hear any type of horn used in an interesting (or at least not irritating) way in Metal, but the very infrequent sax somehow works for them. Necromantia was one of the first of the “new wave” of Black Metal bands, and Scarlet Evil… proves that they are still very much on the cutting edge, but have sacrificed none of their trademark sound to stay there.
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