A grand declaration of war upon their fans is apparently what the title means. Well, I for one have the necessary balls to call this “Mayhem” sellouts. However, I will not call these feeble “Electronica” wannabes “The True Mayhem,” because that would be a lie. This new album is sort of Industrial -and very bad Industrial, I must add- that is utterly lacking in everything that has ever been associated with the name Mayhem, with the singular exception of very occasionally fast drumming (that sounds as if it’s programmed). Mostly gone are the horrific vocals, the riffs, the evil feeling, and in a lot of places, gone is any trace of Metal at all. Sure, there are bits of their former glory trying to claw their way through this disaster, but they’re quickly destroyed and vastly overpowered by everything else. And then we get to the really bad section. And that’s just one more insane thing about this disc: it’s organized into different parts, but they apparently start with “Part II.” Naturally, I don’t have any of the real packaging [with the review disc], but what I do have makes no sense at all, and I can’t even figure out what songs go with what titles. Not that I’d fucking want to, though. To say that I’m disappointed is an extreme understatement. Euronymous must be preparing a very special place in Hell for these pretenders. Hopefully they’ll be arriving soon.

This EP comes in two forms, the first being a limited digipak version (with the bondage S&M cover) and the regular version (without the bondage S&M cover, but with the same inlay pictures, I believe…). The two versions of this EP have the same tracks, two new songs (the title track and “Funeral Bitch”) and a cover of “Into the Crypts of Rays” by the almighty Celtic Frost. The two new tracks continue on in the vein of Panzer Division Marduk and, though slightly more memorable, still have that rampaging Panzer Tank in a china shop feel. I’d be seriously surprised if this EP clocked in at more than 12 minutes because these guys just don’t seem to slow down at all. The Frost cover is probably the most memorable of the three songs here and has the stamp of Marduk all over it. I think it’s because Marduk plays the song twice as fast as Frost ever did and the vocals are also twice as rabid. Marduk fans who absolutely must have everything this band will probably find the $12 it will most likely cost you to be worth it, but the rest of us might feel a little cheated because this is so fucking short. Think before buying! (My rating would have been higher if this had been cheaper.)

The drumming is so relentless that it’s actually sort of distracting. Maybe the guitars could have been louder in the mix - I’m not sure. But the drumming alone could kick your ass. That said, MC has never delivered a bad album in all these years, and Envenomed is certainly one of their stronger efforts. The mix of musical styles covers quite a lot of the Extreme Metal underground, and everything is seamlessly blended. It’s also really cool to have Brett back on vocal duty, as his unique rasp goes a long way to maintain the band’s identity.

This is the sixth album by this Black Fucking Metal stalwart and as usual, Andy Harris (AKA Akhenaten, also the guy behind Breath of Night Records) has compromised nothing. This album is brutal, ugly and so raw that if it were a steak, it would still be mooing. The only thing I didn’t like on this release was the drum sound. They were a little too loud for my taste and the tone on them was pretty bad. I don’t know what happened with them because the rest of the instruments had a much better sound. Even with that minor detraction, I still enjoyed Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten. The songs had a high ass-kickage factor and the atmosphere and feeling in the music is still more evil than 95% of the bands that call themselves Black Metal today. The music was a bit more complex than on previous releases, with the two-riff Von/ early Burzum/ early Graveland style has giving way to a bit more developed structures. Even with the more involved song structures in place, Judas Iscariot still is very effective in utilizing their riffs. This is a band that can do what few others can - beat two riffs into the floor for over five minutes and still have the song sound fucking great. Of all the bands out there in the Black Metal scene today, Judas Iscariot is probably the only band that hasn’t compromised a bit while still releasing excellent albums consistently.

Raw fast drumming, sickly raw guitar speed picking, horrifically raw vocal screams. And as intentionally unpolished as this is, it’s to just the correct degree. Fans of “slick” Black Metal probably won’t like this, but that’s part of the point. This EP won’t be winning Andy Harris any new fans, but those he already has should be thrilled by the intensity to be found here.

Holy fuck. It’s not too often that a band has two great albums in a row, much less two flawless ones. Actually, to be really fair, I should point out that this must be somehow beyond flawless, since it is clearly superior to their last album, Glow Dying Sun, and you might recall that album receiving a 10. To say I’m impressed would be an understatement. The Gloom masters haven’t made any radical departure from their perfection, but instead tweaked the production into an even more soul-crushing ocean of suffocating dismal thickness, and threw in some double bass just for me. Plus they actually improved the vocal drone, making it even more devoid of hope and overflowing with sorrow than ever before. God damn! Check out the tracks “You Are the Cancer” and their cover of “California Dreamin’” to see what the soundtrack is to the extreme depths of depression. On its own, Glow Dying Sun was and is perfection, but Gloom Rock Asylum takes it all just a little further, a little heavier, a little more depressing and suicidal. This is a 10 if there ever was one, but I’m almost hesitant to give it the rating it deserves, just in case Jack Frost once again figures out how to improve on perfection on their next release. On a side note, someone find me this band’s first two CDs, and then name your price, okay? I’ll get you hookers, drugs, comic books, even cash!

These guys are the epitome of Death Metal, well the faster of the two kinds at least. Krisiun are tight, technical, and probably even faster live. You want brutal, crushing nonstop Death? Then look no further. Actually Krisiun should already be a permanent addition to your canon of the greatest Death Metal bands ever! Perhaps a mere touch more memorable riffs would make this great album flawless, but I’m not complaining. Death, nonstop.

Six songs in about 16 minutes (plus around 6 minutes of wasted “blank” space before the last track starts)! But, these sick fuckers play so fast, this is probably 90 minutes of music, just at warp speed most of the time. If I hadn’t seen them live a couple times, I’d wonder if it’s even possible to play the drums this rapidly. But the Gore Grind extremity and insane speed drumming aren’t the most impressive things about this band. No, that honor lies within the twisted mind and throat of my old friend, Sick Nick, former growler of the true Dysphoria (now sadly broken up), from the Chicago area. He’s easily one of the most versatile and demented Death-screamers I’ve ever heard, and brings this short album up from “good and fast” to “great and fast.”

One of the older bands in the Black/Death Metal genre, Incantation is probably a stranger to nobody by now. The Infernal Storm grinds along in typical Incantation style with little or no surprises. The low, monotone growling is still there, which really disappointed me because this is one of the things that, to me, made this band very boring. Incantation is a band that has fallen into a formula that may have worked once but really hasn’t changed at all over the years. Yes, this is brutal. Yes, this is Satanic. No, this album doesn’t offer anything you haven’t heard from Incantation before. If you love Incantation to death and will buy anything they release, then go and buy this. As far as I’m concerned, this album is interchangeable with any (and I mean any of their albums from Onward to Golgotha to Diabolical Conquest) of their older releases.