Here’s how behind I am getting this issue out. These guys now have an EP [Dusk] and a full-length album [Transcendence Into the Peripheral] out on Relapse. These tracks are exactly those on the EP, but the CD version certainly sounds better. This is unbelievably heavy and original. You must hear it for yourself. Don’t forget to check out the album, too.

This is fucking brutal. The first song, “Dead Voices,” blew me away. This has great production and was recorded at Morrisound. Kevin’s voice is awesome and very original. The songs are very easy to get into and they stay with you. I really like the drums and there’s lots of double-bass. These guys should be signed in no time.

This LP was recorded and mixed at Morrisound and produced by Scott Burns. If you don’t know why that’s relevant then I guess I’ll tell you: Morrisound and Mr. Burns are some kinda freaky Death Metal manufacturing plant. That is to say, for now, this is considered the best production around. As for the music; it’s Deathrash. Lots of drums and heavy guitars. The vox are understandable, yet still heavy. It is a good combination. And the lyrics are even cool.

Three tracks of super-cool Deathrash. Recorded at Sunlight, this manages a somewhat original sound. The songs are memorable, but not as heavy as they could be. However this band makes no Cannibal Corpse brutality claims. And they completely deliver original, memorable Deathrash. I like it a lot, and you should check this out quick as they are now signed to Metal Blade and will have an album out soon. Favorite track: “Forever Gone.”

Atmospheric and powerful Death Metal. The good recording quality shows off the songs, and the vocals are raw, but pretty understandable. The speed changes from pretty slow and Doomy, to a fairly quick pace. I like it.

The demo is a product of Morrisound, so the band put a lot of money into it. It doesn’t, however, sound like Morrisound, which isn’t necessarily bad. It isn’t as fluid as most Morrisound works. The drums and cymbals sometimes sound tinny. The music is Death Metal, and has appropriate vocals. There are several slow parts, including a bit of acoustic guitar by Dana Cosley, which is okay if you like that sort of thing. This tape isn’t in my top 10, but I didn’t throw it out my car window either. It’s decent -in an evil sort of way.

Occasionally I wish I had a magic mixer that could eliminate vocals. This is one of those times. Musically, Dementia is perfectly acceptable Thrash, but the vocals are like a bad Overkill imitation. Lyrics are fairly bland also. Still, if I could remove the vocals. Maybe 6 or 7 years ago, this would have been there, but now it just seems dated. In a bad way.

This is a three-song demo with pretty good production. These guys are a pretty good Deathrash band. The vocals are kinda similar to Max Cavalera (Sepultura). They keep up a good tempo on all the songs. The song “Liquid Remains” is really good and the guitar solo in “Geneticide” is really awesome. Their drummer, Mike Anderson, is really good and everything about this demo impressed me. If you like good Deathrash, order this.

Deceased are a pretty good Death Metal band, and their singer (also drummer), King Fowley, sounds something like the singer of Autopsy (who also plays drums). The guitar sound is heavy and I really like it. The drum sound is also heavy and very cool. The only song on this album I don’t care for is “Futuristic Doom.” And that’s only ‘cause the lyrics are stupid. But all the other songs are great. Although I did not care for the Gut Wrench 7-inch, I really like this LP.

Okay, Deceased has finally got this damn thing out! It features a re-mixed version of “Planet Graveyard” (at least I think it’s remixed, ‘cause it sounds better than the demo version), and two old songs recorded live, “Gut Wrench” and “After the Bloodshed.” So I was somewhat disappointed that there wasn’t any new material. Guess I’ll have to wait for the LP. Well, to wrap things up; if you have never heard Deceased, then I would recommend this 7-inch more than their demos, because of the better sound quality. But for those of us who haven’t been in a cave, it’s a cool addition to your collection. It’s got a really sick cover of this guy on an operating table with his whole chest ripped open.

Good bass sound. Bad guitar sound. Decent drums. Annoying vox. Not exactly a great combination. I think part of the problem is in the mix. Perhaps if the guitars were louder, or something. They sound way too thin. And the vocals could be mixed a little lower. That might help a lot. The song “Instrumental Death Pt. III” is cool, and I think that decides it -it’s the vox. They don’t really suck, they’re simply too fuckin’ loud. When the vox are gone, the guitar even sounds better. To sum: more guitar, less vox. Also, thumbs up to Ever Rat for printing the title “Mind Fuck” completely uncensored on the cassette J-card.

This is the fourth LP by Chuck Schuldiner’s Death and it features an all new line up. Chuck recruited Steve DiGiorgio from Sadus to help out with the bass tracks, and Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal from Cynic on drums and guitar, respectively. I’ll give Chuck credit, he knows how to pick ‘em. Sean’s drum-work is nothing short of perfect. Chuck and Paul work flawlessly together on the guitars. Their sound is not really that heavy, though. It’s more akin to Forbidden than to one of the founding Death Metal bands. But this is more precise than brutal. Like surgery instead of a nuclear strike. Steve’s bass tracks are inspiring. Chucks vocals continue to become less raw and more understandable, although they are still far from smooth. For the most part, I like the lyrics and there is even an instrumental, “Cosmic Sea.” But this is not the Death of old, Chuck traded aggression and brutality for technicality, complexity and precision. If he could’ve stayed as brutal as Scream Bloody Gore and had this precision, then this would be a ten. Although it’s still pretty close. And yes, I still think Chuck is a dick.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys, but I was pleasantly surprised. Deadspot are not super heavy, but they do have a lot of energy. It’s something like Gang Green meets Black Flag, with a bit of Thrash thrown in. They are enjoyable to listen to, and the title track really stands out. They even cover The Damned’s “New Rose.” Very Cool. Anyway, Deadspot is unusual and I like ‘em. So check them out.

The production on this tape is easily the best I have ever heard on a “rehearsal.” That’s not to say it’s great, but it gets the job done. And that job is to give us a taste of what The Dead Youth’s next album will be like. Well, if it’s like these four songs, but with better production (which, of course it will have), it will fucking destroy everything. These new songs show a marked improvement over the already good songs on their debut album. My favorite here is “Family of Sodom,” simply because Dave (vox) Death-screams the word “cunts” for about 25 seconds. It completely rules! I’m really dying to hear these songs with quality production. If you don’t get this tape, you must be insane (in a bad way).

Well, first of all, even though they are signed to Grindcore, The Dead Youth are not a Grind band. They are a Death Metal band, albeit a pretty fast one. Occasionally their bassist, John, will do something really cool and sometimes the guitarist, Rick, will too. Usually I am very happy with the music in general, although there is a rough spot here and there. Dave’s vocals are, for the most part, more than acceptable, but they range from nearly awesome to simply wrong. But like I said, usually everything is cool. This LP shows a lot of potential and they just need a little more time to perfect everything. This is a solid debut.

This is the second Dead Horse LP, but it’s their first for Big Chief. This is an interesting band and they won’t be limited to only one style of music. There is everything from a B-52’s cover, “Rock Lobster,” to the Noise tune “Sawbone,” which is a bunch-of-screams-and-noise kind of thing. However, the majority of the music on this LP is pretty heavy Thrash with powerful, raw vocals. Sometimes Michael sounds like he’s in a Death Metal band, sometimes he’s a lot more melodic. The guitar sound is thick and heavy, and there is plenty of double bass action. And it’s all done Dead Horse style. This is an album you have to listen to, there’s a lot going on that’s easy to miss on the first few listens. It would be difficult to pick a favorite song, but my top three are (in no order): the mighty “Turn,” “Cod Piece Face” (formerly “Waiting for the Sun”) and “Like Asrielle.” There is one song, “Snowdogs,” that just doesn’t grab me for some reason, but that’s only one song out of 13. All things considered, this is a diverse and impressive effort.

I must start off by saying that 1991 is quite a year for Death Metal! Left and right, quality bands are being signed. And, to me, this is the best one. Darkthrone is so ahead of most bands due to their musicianship and great composition. There are a lot of “good” musicians, but only a handful of good composers. I mean, each member of this band is very adept at his instrument. Especially the rhythm section. Now this album was done at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm, which seems to be very popular with Scandinavian bands. It has that “Entombed sound,” but in no way do they actually sound like Entombed (except, maybe the vocals). I don’t think you could compare songs like: “Neptune Towers,” “Grave with a View,” or “Nor the Silent (Whispers)” to anything! This band flat out reeks of originality. Only a few debut albums have impressed me like this one (Malleus Maleficarum, 7 Churches, Slowly We Rot, and Left Hand Path, to name some). So buy this, or hate yourself forever!

Dark Angel. Think about that name. It suggests power, evil power. You don’t know the half of it. I wasn’t too impressed by Live Scars (Dark Angel’s live LP), so I can’t honestly say that I rushed to my tape player and popped this in the second I got it. Okay, so I’m a fuck up. This LP is unbelievable! No shit. Now you have to understand that Ron actually sings, but this is more like a heavy Forbidden sort of thing. It’s not wimpy singing at all. In fact, it’s extremely effective and almost always adds to the music’s power. Which, by the way, is nuclear. Now, about the music: Gene Hoglan is the best drummer on Earth or in Hell. I would not lie! The music is very complex, heavy, powerful and fast. This is one of the best LP’s I’ve ever heard. Awe-fucking-some. Don’t pass this one up. Highly Recommended.

{I’ll probably get some arguments over this, but I still think that is one of the best albums of it’s genre of all time. And yeah, I’ve heard Darkness Descends and We Have Arrived.}

[Notes in {curly brackets} are from the Metal Curse 1 - 4 Collected Edition (1999)]

This has excellent production and eight songs. The style is more commercial Metal with some Thrashy elements. The musicianship is excellent, and the songs are all pretty catchy. I think there are two vocalists, and I like the female vocals much better than the male. Different, but pretty cool.

Fairly awesome 5-song Thrash demo. Influences of early Exodus and Iron Maiden can be detected. So basically, the energy of early Thrash, a Harris disciple bassist (which is cool, Mr. Tuggle), and a powerful vocalist that is occasionally pretty raw. All five songs are memorable, heavy and speedy. The musicianship is great, especially the bass. Pro copied, color cover and lyrics. One of the best remaining Thrash bands.