B-Thong - Skinned
The first song, an instrumental, was cool, but I wasn’t too impressed with the vocals on the others. Good bass tone, though. This almost sounds like a combination of Faith No More with one of those “New Metal” bands, like Fight. Not too bad, I guess, and certainly better than I expected.
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Brutality - When the Sky Turns Black
I really liked their debut, but this pretty much destroys it. Everything is just more intense. Heavy, yet clear production, memorable songs, and great vocals. This will certainly be one of the best Death Metal albums of the year. They even cover “Electric Funeral.” Excellent job, guys.
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Brutal Truth - Need to Control
Brutal Truth have a reputation for being a “crossover” between their Death Metal label-mates and more noisy, experimental bands like tour-mates Pain Teens and Boredoms. The good news is that they don’t end up sounding like a forced synthesis but rather like a band with an extensive arsenal of options. They employ slow, Doomy riffs, or almost Black Metal-sounding minor chords, or spastic shrieking outbursts akin to the Boredoms, or sick layered harmonies, or drumming acceleration that can resemble both Hardcore and Grindcore, and the list could go on. This album is as well-conceived as it is well-executed, a freak-out onslaught of a high order.
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Brutal Juice - I Love the Way They Scream When They Die
This CD is mastered really low: Probably about half as loud as a “normal” disc. That’s weird, if you ask me, maybe it has something to do with this being a live recording, but I can’t see how it could. Past that little speedbump, this is pretty decent, umm, Hardcore, I guess. Honestly, it didn’t do much for me.
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Brood - Plugged
They repeat the lyrics and riffs quite a bit, but it is still interesting. The production is just excellent, and so are the vocals, which are very raw, but also easily understood. I can’t get past the repetition, so that really hurts it for me.
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Brainstorm (California - USA) - Rupture the Soul
The intro is very slow, moody, and evil-sounding. That gives way into songs which, while pretty good, might have been helped by being slower, moodier, and more evil-sounding. As is, they sound as if they could be some songs that Chuck rejected for inclusion on Death’s Leprosy, but faster.
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Bolt Thrower - ...for Victory
Well, it’s probably too late to find one, but the copy I have has a neato live CD, along with the …for Victory disc. That makes it a real deal. The music is nothing that they haven’t done before, which is fine with me. Some bands change so much from album to album that you would even know it was the same guys. Not so here, let me assure you. If you want heavy riffs, drumming, and vocals, then this is the Death Metal for you. This is maybe even a little more memorable than previous efforts. I’m actually more excited about their new line up (which happened after this album was done), featuring Martin Van Drunen on vocals, and a new drummer who’s name escapes me (sorry, pal). I can hardly wait to hear Martin sing this stuff.
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Body Count - Born Dead
This certainly has its moments, like the title track, their cover of “Hey Joe,” “Masters of Revenge,” and the album starter, “Body Motherfuckin’ Count.” But the rest varies from okay to dull. It’s not as stable as their first album, although it is clearly heavier. Perhaps they can refine their sound to use only the heaviest, best parts and dump the weak shit.
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Bloody Mess & The Skabs - Live
Each side of this 7-inch has two songs from a different show, and tucked away safely on side 2 is my favorite BM&TS song, “Cigarette on the Clit,” which is unfortunately a little distorted. Bloody even steals the closing comment of “Fuck you very much” from Nuclear Winter for the end of side one. In my opinion, this band is maybe the best Punk Rock band currently recording, and you should certainly check this out immediately.
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Bloody Mess & The Skabs - Hung Over and Stoned
Bloody Mess clearly has balls the size of the moon. The title track is a Skab-ified Country number, and that’s a fuckin’ nervy move if you ask me. It’s actually really funny, though, and I think it works pretty well. Check out my review of the Bloody and The Country Trash Punks 7-inch for more on Bloody’s Country fetish. Now then, the remaining songs are the insane Punk freakout that one normally expects from the twisted genius of Mr. Mess and company. “Sex Junkie” and the interviews take this completely over the top. Clearly this belongs in the short list of classic Punk albums, and really just all records in general. Long live the new flesh!
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Blood Ritual - Cruciform Antithesis
More or less standard Death Metal, with gory, anti-god lyrics. Not bad, but nothing I haven’t heard before.
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Blood from the Soul - To Spite the Gland That Breeds
Shane (Napalm Death) Embury’s vision of Industrial music combined, possibly for the first time ever, with the clearly Hardcore vocals of Sick of It All’s Lou Koller makes for a very interesting combination. I think it works very well for them and I hope they decide to record again.
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Blood - Mental Conflicts
As always, this band delivers the extreme heaviness you would expect. Every now and then, they even manage to throw in a little surprise. Very cool.
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Juggernaut - Black Pagoda
Have you heard Kyuss and Soundgarden? Put ‘em in a pot and boil for 6 hours. I guess this would be the result. Not really bad, in fact some enjoyable stuff is occasionally going on, but nothing I haven’t heard on MTV until it sickens me.
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Jello Biafra - Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police
The 4th of Jello’s spoken word albums. The 3 LP version has one entire side not found on the 2 CD set. If you like Mr. Biafra, then you’ve already got this, and if you don’t like him, then you’ll not get it anyway. But wait, do I hear the voice of some stranger to Jello? Okay, for you, then, unenlightened one: Jello Biafra was the singer for the Punk band Dead Kennedys, and now, in addition to teaming up with everyone from Sepultura to Mojo Nixon, he travels the country, spreading the message of a corrupt government, and all the other problems of our society. It’s generally pretty sobering to listen to his monologues, and I think it’s also very entertaining.
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Betrayer - Our Scars
Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. The thick production is much thinner, and the human drummer has been replaced by a machine. Now you may know that my band (Adversary) uses a drum machine, so I’m usually pretty tolerant about them, but I just don’t like this new, Industrial, direction Betrayer has taken. The songs are just not as interesting, which is a damn shame, since I really liked their Power of Hate demo (see review). Maybe their next one will see them get back on track.
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Bereaved - ‘94 Demo
Another good Death Metal band. A little more identity would help, but for those who demand it brutal, this will do nicely.
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Benediction - The Grotesque / Ashen Epitaph
Two new songs and three live ones to show that this band is not dead yet. The new tracks are very intense, and memorable, and the live cuts sound good, too.
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Beats the Hell Out of Me - Beats the Hell Out of Me
This is certainly a unique sounding band. Not exactly any one style. They are clearly heavy, but in a weird way. Strange, but interesting.
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Avernus - Sadness
The immense Doom heaviness will crush you, even as Rick’s Death rattle torments your remains. Atmospheric, powerful, well written, and expertly played. I must admit to trying to find something about this demo to bring it down a little, so I wouldn’t have to give it a perfect rating, but I couldn’t. So, if you’re interested in hearing the best Doom demo tape to ever exist, then write them immediately. An all time classic.
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