Cybele - Songs of Soil
This is album number two for this all-female Goth Rock band and once again, they give us some fairly gloomy (or is that spooky?) guitar-based Goth. The weird thing about this album and any other release by this band is that I always find it in the Metal section of any record store I go to. This is not Metal. This is Goth. If I wanted to listen to Goth, I would look in the Goth section. Once again, we have another band being marketed to the wrong people. I found myself comparing them to bands such as The Shroud or Switchblade Symphony quite a lot and the comparisons are quite valid. These ladies sound a lot like their peers. I guess the Goth sound is fairly derivative to some extent and though the songs are good, give Switchblade or The Shroud a spin and you will find that you could stick a cut by Cybele on one of their CDs and not even notice the difference. The fact that these ladies are from Norway has little bearing on the fact that they could be from the Bay Area (where the previously mentioned Shroud and Switchblade are from) and nobody would notice the difference in their sound. I’m not saying that this band sucks. They just sound so derivative that there is virtually nothing that distinguishes them from others of their kind.
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Cybele - Songs of Soil
This seems to be a lot better than their Brightly Blackhearted album, but this all female Goth Rock band still bores me to tears. And much to the dismay of whoever wrote their press release, this is anything but “a fine blend of Swans, Dead Can Dance, and Type O Negative.” Maybe they just don’t understand what makes those bands good.
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Cutthroat - Rape Rape Rape
An album like this can only come from Japan. Of all the people out there, the Japanese seem to be the only ones that can play raw, dirty, ugly-ass Thrash Metal like they did back in the early ’80s and still capture the feeling of the period. Of course, when you consider the fact that this band is composed of members of Sigh and Abigail (Japanese Black Metal Yakuza!), this comes as no surprise. The sound on this is so raw that if it were a steak, it would still be mooing. I’m generally not a fan of production this raw but for whatever reason, it works for Cutthroat. I seriously don’t think a band like this can have slick, polished sound. Rape Rape Rape is released in only 500 copies so if you want it, don’t wait around.
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Cultus Sanguine - The Sum of All Fears
You know what? After reviewing the Monumentum demo repress (Musaeum Hermeticum - out on Necropolis Records), I had to wonder, did these guys just pick up where that demo left off? I’m pretty sure that one of the members of Cultus Sanguine was once part of Monumentum. In a way, if you listen to the Monumentum demo and then listen to this, it almost sounds like the same band. Monumentum became more symphonic and keyboard-heavy (though containing similar feelings), but Cultus Sanguine is more guitar driven, with the keyboards taking a back seat. This is not to say that the keyboards are not an integral part of this band’s sound. They add atmosphere and flourish but they never overpower the guitars. This is Gothic Metal with the emphasis on Gothic rather than Metal. There is still plenty of Metal in this, creating a solid foundation for their other influences to build on. There are places on this when Cultus Sanguine get heavy and brutal, but these places are always tempered with somber atmospheric parts. Don’t listen to this if you get depressed easily. Trust me, you’ll end up slashing your own wrists.
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Crematory - Act Seven
While I’m not a huge fan of big Power Metal riffs, I must admit that Crematory’s approach is different enough to make it seem fresh sounding. Excellent blending of keyboard parts and occasional melodic vocals with standard Metal guitars and Death lead vocals. End result, an interesting, if not overwhelming listening experience. I’m not sure who they’re trying to appeal to, but I wish them luck.
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Creeps on Candy - Wonders of Giardia
More or less Dead and Gone with a new singer, C on C retain a bit of their sludgy style, but mostly just their intensity, and crank things up a little, keeping it speedy. It’s a weird style to explain, that the press release describes as being “reminiscent of Jesus Lizard.” I’ll have to take their word on that one, but this is an entertaining listen.
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Cranium - Speed Metal Sentence
This is fairly passable Speed/Thrash, until the horrible vocals start. This geek-with-delusions-of-grandeur always tries to shout way too fast, and so that strains him well beyond his limits and has him, at beast, sounding ridiculous. But that’s not even the real problem. No, what totally ruins what would otherwise be an okay Thrash attack, is when Cranium’s “singer” starts screeching like a little kid being mauled by a pit bull. Okay, the lyrics are funny (occasionally stupid), and the music is generally not bad (although 100% by-the-numbers - and sometimes just as goofy as the vox), but I just can’t stand this kind of queerbait vocal delivery anymore, and that makes this very difficult to listen to.
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Cradle of Filth - From the Cradle to Enslave
The Anathema cover (“Sleepless”) makes sense in an insane sort of way, but I’m still having trouble grasping the concept of these blasphemers covering The Misfits’ “Death Comes Ripping.” And even more absolutely insane (considering Kam Lee’s religious beliefs and all [Kam had a pro-god period, but I think eventually regained his senses. -Editor]) is their cover of Massacre’s awesome “Dawn of Eternity.” The other two (yes, even The Misfits, believe it or not) covers come off pretty well, but somehow “Dawn…” doesn’t translate very well into this style. Maybe it would have helped to have listened to Dethronement’s version of this classic to see how it should have been done. As for the original material on here, it’s the epic, highly polished Black Metal you’ve come to expect, which is to say it’s fairly awesome.
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Conqueror - War Cult Supremacy
A word of advice to “bands” of Conqueror’s “caliber.” Learning to play your instruments, as time-consuming as the process may be, will definitely result in a more enjoyable listening experience for both band and audience. One last helpful tip: using more than a single $6 GPX microphone to record all the instruments at once just might produce a higher sound quality. Perhaps an after school part-time job is the ticket.
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