This album is, in a word, constant. Not terribly original, or especially creative. But all the songs are crunchy, brutal, and occasionally speedy, Death Metal. It seems obvious to me that the Corpse-men put a lot of themselves into Eaten Back to Life. Everything sounds like they are giving all they can and then a little more. Unfortunately, the songs fall somewhat short of being distinguishable from one another. All the lyrics remind me of slasher films, lots of blood and gore. The vocals are very raw and require a lyric sheet or an incredible tolerance (the lyrics are provided). They do, however, fit perfectly with the music. Several of the songs are extremely good and this shows me that Cannibal Corpse has what it takes. Eaten Back to Life is a good first effort and I think that this band will just need some time to develop a more individual style. I’m glad to see that not all Death Metal comes from Florida (Cannibal Corpse is from Buffalo, New York), and I’m looking forward to hearing more from this band.

{It wouldn’t be too much longer before these sick bastards figured out how to write perfect Death Metal, and released The Bleeding. Then after what looked to be a major obstacle (the loss of frontman Chris Barnes to the band Six Feet Under), they returned with a new growler (George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher), and the only slightly less than perfect Vile, and followed that up with one of the best Death Metal albums of all time, Gallery of Suicide. And somewhere along the way, they gave in to temptation and moved to Florida…}

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

Cancer is a reasonably impressive Death Metal band. The vocals are on par with the Death Standard and are occasionally excellent. Musically, Cancer is much like countless other Death Metal bands: brutal, crunchy, powerful, raw… You name it. They have some backing vocal help from John (Obituary) Tardy on the track “Die Die,” which was not among the best tracks, even with the help. My top four picks are (in ascending order): “C.F.C” (Which apparently stands for “Cancer Fucking Cancer”), “Body Count,” “Imminant Catastrophy” [sic] and the awesome title track. Most of the other songs (nine in all) are good, just not quite as good as those I mentioned. The lyrics are what killed some songs, like in “Die Die,” the title is repeated far too often, and the rest of the lyrics are somewhat poor. With a bit of refinement, Cancer could well be the Death Metal band. I have high hopes for their next effort.

{Cancer continued on with two more albums that I know of, and I have heard that they altered their sound a bit and released a fourth album, but I’ve never even seen an ad for that…}

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

Broken Hope; Jeremy Wagner and Dave Duff on guitars, Joe Ptacek with “the mouth,” Ed Hughes on bass and Ryan Stanek on drums; are definitely a Death Metal band. The band’s speed is powerful and grumbly and slow at times, not unlike a dumptruck. The speed is about identical to most songs on Slaughter’s Strappado (that’s the Death Metal Slaughter from Canada, ya freaks!). Vocally Joe is also comparable to Slaughter. Take Dave (Slaughter) Hewson’s vocals and make them a little deeper and smoother. Lyric-wise, I like two of the four songs. “Crib Death” and “Behemoth Rising” are cool and interesting. There’s nothing really wrong with the other two; they are just kind of there. Overall it is a pretty decent demo. Give Broken Hope a listen if you get the chance.

{Broken Hope have become a fairly well known name in the Death Metal underground. As you probably know, they have a string of albums on Metal Blade Records, and have evolved into a much faster and more intense band than they were at the time of this demo.}

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

Boorish Boot is a Punk band. Understand? They are not a Crossover band (D.R.I.), nor are they a Hardcore band (Sick of It All). They seem to be the direct descendants of Dead Kennedys. In fact, they sound almost exactly like them. I have been told that they are also derivative of The Sex Pistols, I guess I really wouldn’t know. Anyway, I have always been a big DK fan, so I’m glad that someone hasn’t given up on this kind of Punk. This six song tape was recorded somewhat low, and as a result the sound quality is diminished. But the songs themselves are all up-tempo and I like ‘em. My favorite is “Death Mission,” which is about abortion verses adoption. I guess Boorish Boot really do sound too much like Dead Kennedys, but I don’t think I’ll let it bother me. Unless Jello (Dead Kennedys frontman and now solo artist) bitches about them on his next spoken word album.

If you like Noise, then don’t read the rest of this review. Bloody Zombie Ritual is a one man Noise band that is going nowhere. The guy in the band is Steinbock and the only things I can credit him for are the lyric sheet and the production. I could shit better than this guy sounds. On some songs there are monster sounds and chainsaw noises and puking sounds. This tape sucks bad. The only thing it sounds like to me is some guy picked up a guitar and started playing noisy shit. If you like Noise, then you will like this, but I don’t. So I think this demo smokes ass. The artwork on the cover matches the music and the lyrics ain’t too great either. However, you may want to buy it just to see how bad this is. Three pages of lyrics included.

This is really good for a live recording. The “feel” of actually being there comes across very well. Bloody Mary play emotional, heavy Thrash and, apparently, with the addition of new singer, Randy Robinson, they are at their best live. His vocals are effective and harsh, without being too raw for the music. This is a band to watch out for and you should check this tape out.

This demo has several good points: 1. Awesome guitar sound, 2. Excellent recording, and 3. Interesting songs. Conversely, it has at least one bad point (possibly two): The mix is sort of bad, the vocals are too loud. Also I could see people having a problem with The Chainsaw’s vocals. I kinda like ‘em, though. Sort of yelled, but not monotone [and not like how Sean Killian (Vio-Lence) is not monotone]. All things considered, this is one demo that you should have. And if they continue to improve at this rate, by about three more demos (or whatever) they will be in the top ten bands in the world.

Back to Reality is an above average Thrash demo that has the following good points: 1. Excellent recording and production, 2. Two color cover, and printed lyrics, 3. Jeff’s vocals are very fitting for the music, and 4. The music is creative and memorable. This is pure Thrash, no elements of Death Metal. Blaylok are very talented and deserve some support. If you like Thrash, this is it.

This is probably one of the most Satanic albums I have yet to hear. The band members do not use the names given to them by the mortal wenches who incubated their unripe souls. Then again, I don’t blame them. They are fairly adept at their instruments and the drums keep a constant beat throughout the album. It is all very Deathly with some decent guitar solos by the Caller of the Storms. Lyric-wise it is all black. Obviously Satan inspired. There is obvious back-masking, but I don’t have the technology to decode my Lucifermas present-come-early. The music is decent enough, and the lyrics are true Hellspawn. If you like the lesion-infested penis of Satan stirring your soul like a bowl of blood and you have ten dollars lying around, then check this out. If, on the other hand, you would rather pour boiling holy water on the Darkened one’s cock… you figure it out.

At first, this power trio reminded me a bit of Venom. However, as things progressed, I found that the similarities with Venom were mostly superficial. This tape has a color cover and was digitally mastered. The sound quality is excellent. The guitar and bass are both present, but the drums are somewhat minimalistic. Kenny’s vocals are very thick and meaty, but not raw or screamy. That is kinda interesting. The lyrics are decent- until the chorus in each song. The titles are repeated until I can’t stand it any longer. This detracts from an otherwise fine example of somewhat basic Thrash.

Christian Death Metal. Sort of a contradiction in terms, if you think about it. Well good people, Believer is such a band and a damn good one at that. A lot of people might be skeptic, so first let’s tackle the music. Heavy as Hell (or in this case, Heaven). I like the vox a lot. They remind me of old Cryptic Slaughter (sort of). Now to the lyrics. Believer aren’t pushing their beliefs down your throat (like Stryper). Personally, I think the lyrics are positive, opposed to other Death bands. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Believer also performs the first Death Metal opera (no way! [way!]). I like every tune on this disc, including the opera, “Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)” and I think this is one of the best Death Metal records of our time. Just don’t expect them to tour with Morbid Angel any time soon.

Baphomet consists of Rick Breier, Gary Schipani, Tom Frost, Steve Rzepka and David Craiglow. I don’t knew who does what, but they do it pretty well. This is good Deathrash. The vocals on “Torn Soul” are sort of difficult to understand and the vocals on “Spectral Maniac” are understandable, though still raw. The music is not super technical, but I never thought it had to be to be good. I hope to hear more from this band.

I read the lyrics first and I thought that this band was going to be an extra-pussy, Glam/Sleeze waste, because the lyrics are simple, repetitive, and extremely sexist- to the point of being funny. Actually, Backseat Driver surprised me. They sound more like a Punk band than, say, Poison. Now, I’m not going to go so far as to say that I like this band, but there is something about them that transcends the stupid lyrics and simple music. I don’t know what it is and it’s not enough to save this band, but it exists. It’s sort of like Gwar, except BSD don’t have the same presence, skill, or heaviness, and are nowhere near as over the top as Gwar. If BSD were supposed to be a joke, then I think they might merit a higher score. This is way too funny to be taken seriously at all. And yet, they are serious. Oh well.

Production-wise this tape is really good. Everything is recorded great. The mix is another story. The drums are too loud. The guitar sound is kinda heavy, though, so that could make up for the drums. Also this is a professional looking package: color cover, lyrics, photo, all the good shit. The only real draw back is the vocals of Dan Bries, who also plays guitar. His vocals remind me of James Hetfield (Metallica) with only one ball. His style is just not aggressive enough for this kind of music.

[This Sampler seems to be the 1989’s Death Before Dishonor (possibly a rough or unfinished mix?) with some additional tracks. -Editor]

First of all the production is bad. There is way too much tape hiss. That is just about the only drawback this tape has. Terry Wilson’s vocals might be somewhat too polished for Death fans, but I think that’s how Axemaster wanted it. They are a Thrash band, not Death Metal. I liked all the songs (all 12 of them). The music is powerful and shows talent. I think that Axemaster have a lot going for them, now all they need is a larger budget.

{Guitarist Joe Sims led this band through unknown line-up changes, and at least one name change, to The Awakening. As far as I know, he is now assembling a new band.}

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

Roadrunner Records licensed this LP from Nuclear Blast Records. I, for one, hope they continue to do such things. This is a really engrossing album that deserves to be made available to the American audience. Anyway, Hallucinations is a concept album about a girl’s tortured life. Recorded and mixed at the legendary Morrisound Studios, this LP sounds great, but that is to be expected. Musically Atrocity is fast Death Metal. Alex Krull has a really powerful voice that matches the brutality of the music. In fact, the only problem I can find with this LP is how Alex delivers some of the lyrics, they seem to be unattached from the music in certain places. This is, however, a relatively minor problem and does not detract from this album in any huge way.

Catchy, but very stock, Thrash. A little originality, in both music and lyrics, would go a long way. Also, the vox would probably disappoint some, as they’re a mid-to-high-pitched wail.

This is an above average LP. Biohazard has lots of potential and puts a lot of themselves into their music. Unfortunately, sometimes the results are less than memorable. The Biohazard sound is similar to Sick of It All or U.S.A. for M.O.D. era M.O.D.. It’s the New York Crossover sound, basically. Although I’m also reminded of an older, meatier version of MX-Machine in some places too. There are a few real gems on this LP: “Survival of the Fittest,” “Scarred for Life,” and “Justified Violence” really stand out. The rest are not quite as memorable, although none of the songs are actually bad. On the cassette inlay card the order of the songs on side two is wrong: “Panic Attack” comes before “Pain.” The order on the actual cassette is correct. Anyway, this album shows a lot of promise and I’m looking forward to hearing more from this band.

{Now I know what a lot of you think about the Biohazard of today, but this, their very first album, was all Hardcore, and no Rap, and so probably their all time best.}

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

Arcane is a guitar oriented Thrash band. This guitar base rests firmly on the capable shoulders of Byron Hawk and Doug Judah. They work well together and compliment the other instruments. The vocals are strikingly similar to those of Damien Thorne, though without the annoying high notes Damien Thorne is known for. To get an overall sense of Arcane, couple the Damien Thorne vocalist with the musical power of Megadeth’s Peace Sells… LP. The lyrics however, are drastically different than either of the aforementioned bands. Arcane’s lyrics basically deal with the human situation. Overall, it’s a pretty decent work.

Apparition is a three piece band consisting of Brett Clarion (guitar), Andy Marchione (guitar, bass, vox), Mike Hymson (drums). The two songs on this 7-inch are both heavy, slow Death. Andy’s vocals are understandable, yet still rather raw. Very heavy. The overall effect is somewhat like a slower Entombed, but not quite as heavy guitar-wise. Or a faster Winter, although the beginning of “Curse the Sunrise” is easily Winter slow. This is worth the money.