This duo hails from Eastern Europe (Hungary, I believe) and their style of Black Metal falls somewhere between the realms of the Mystic Cradle of Dimmu Borgir and that of Evol with a little of the “upbeat” melodic structuring of bands like Hammerfall or Elvenking. For the most part, their Atmospheric Black/Dark Metal assault works fairly well, blending the darker Classically oriented material with the solid foundation based on the Mystic Cradle of Dimmu Borgir sound. Musically, this is very keyboard-heavy to say the least. In a way, I’m actually surprised to hear guitars on this album as they are so far in the background that you can barely hear them most of the time. Another thing to note is that the drumming on this CD is very mechanical sounding. I don’t know why so many bands feel that playing the drums very fast is needful for them to be Metal. Bands in the more “epic” sub-genre of Black Metal need to realize that fast drumming actually ruins a lot of the atmosphere you generate. Also, there is an element of Classical and Darkwave that sometimes helps and sometimes hinders the proceedings. Personally, I believe that Black Metal should never sound like it was the soundtrack for an animated Halloween special. The song “She Darx the Sun” in particular sounds like it was lifted from part of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Another song that falls victim to this kind of “cartoon-like” sound is “Schattenreiter,” which sounds like a bad Disco remix of one of Dimmu Borgir’s songs. When Finnugor sticks with the solid Classically based sound, things click and the songs are good. When they try to draw in the funny stuff, their songs lose their cohesion and a lot of their appeal. Guys, try to be less “artsy” next time and concentrate on creating strong, dark atmospheres and leave the stupid shit in the studio.

Featuring tracks from the band’s split 10-inch record (with Cold Electric Fire), Concrete World album, and Ain’t a Fucking Demo tape, this is more a compilation than an album, but who cares what you want to call it, because by any name is is one fucking awesome CD. At times this is the most melodic Crust/Hardcore I think I’ve ever heard, but that’s perfectly balanced out with not only the expected speed and raw aggression, but also some slower, heavier, early-Black-Sabbath-style Sludge/Doom. It’s just beyond belief sometimes! Everyone in the band is credited with “voice,” so I’m not sure who is screaming what, but these guys sound like they are of a single, all-powerful, voicebox, delivering the tortured rasp of someone fighting for his life. I’d mention some of the cooler lyrics, but I don’t have the space (or inclination) to retype the entire booklet here. I’ve got a huge stack of CDs here to review, but it still took all my willpower to crowbar this one out of the player after about six spins, and it’s going back in the first chance I get.

Before Christ no one cared, evil was in everyone’s hearts. Sins were committed every day of your life, there was no wrong from right. Then he came to change it all, he really thought he could do some good. The son of God sent to the Earth, but the Romans showed him what he was worth. Before Christ, I ruled the land. After death, I will rule once again. At the last supper he was betrayed by a friend he thought he had made. Maybe he didn’t know it all like he claimed he did. Hanging on the cross with a crown of thorns, the Romans just laughed, “Who is this son of God?” He died like everyone else. He didn’t change a thing because evil rules once again.

Let me explain briefly how the Christian Metalcore bands operate. They steal (I distinctly remember the 10 Commandments prohibiting this behavior) all the best ideas from the secular bands that are doing well at the time. Yet somehow, this plagiarism is given validity by their oh-so unique beliefs and moral values. Now of course I’m being an asshole, so I should point out there are always exceptions (Hopesfall, 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Zao, etc.), and in Evergreen’s defense the lyrics are not afflicted by self-righteous propaganda outright, but perhaps I sense them subliminally? When it comes down to it, I can’t honestly say (see, atheists have values) that this is a bad album, but I’d be lying (godammit, another sin) if I didn’t acknowledge that much of what I hear has been heavily borrowed.

Of all the Goth Metal outfits I’ve heard with exclusively nice-sounding female vocals, this is probably one of the better in recent memory. The woman certainly has a pretty voice, but the two songs here tend to drag on and are a bit lacking dynamically (at least they were kept short). Nothing outstandingly triumphant here, but I’d rather hear this girl on the radio than the invalid Christ-fucking hick from Creed.

Although decidedly Black Metal, this band occasionally tries to slow things down and get kind of… Well, I would say “Doomy” but these happy keyboards they use just don’t evoke an evil or eerie feeling in me at all. And that’s really the only problem here. I like atmospheric stuff, and I like keyboard usage when it’s done well. But the synth here is just not right. It’s very bright and nice sounding, and not gloomy or scary at all. This very technically sound “Progressive” Black Metal sound as if it were made by the guys in Dream Theater or something. I won’t even mention the goofy Techno parts or remixes, because I’d really like to forget all about them.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had given up on Entombed after Wolverine Blues came out, but with last year’s Uprising and now this LP, my interest is completely resurrected. Sure, they are no longer a pure Death Metal band, but the added Rock ‘n’ Roll / Punk vibe has increased the filth and intensity levels to a point that exceeds tolerable and goes straight to guilty pleasure. They unfortunately are still capable of occasional mindloss (“Bringer of Light,” various vocal experimentation), and this isn’t quite as good as the aforementioned Uprising, but it has some classic Entombed elements combined with an almost Motorhead-like Rock integrity. It’s almost like a completely different band, but a damn fine one.

In truth, nothing Enthroned have done since the Regie Sathanas EP has really blown me away, and after repeated spins of this effort, I’m beginning to wonder if maybe these guys have fallen into the same routine that has befallen the mighty Cannibal Corpse and more recently Nile. I’m talking about putting the same mega-fast album out over and over every couple of years. Perhaps the band is burnt out or in a creative rut. Whatever the case, I sincerely hope Enthroned can find the fire again, because it’s just plain sad when you can’t tell the originators from the copycats.

According to the band’s bio, this release contains music recorded during the Necrogrind sessions as well as the never released Into the Desolate. Although these guys have been around since 1990, this is the first I’ve heard of them. This LA-based band plays some of the most brutal Death Metal I have ever heard! The vocals are ultra-gutteral and, since I don’t have a lyric-sheet, I can’t follow along. Based on the song-titles though, it’s safe to say the lyrics are of the same nature as those of the mighty Carcass. Entety’s sound is dirty, raw, and thick, giving it an almost suffocating effect. The grinding heaviness and chaotic speed of the music is impressive, to say the least! If you want mega-brutal Death Metal, you need look no further than Cadaveric Necrogrind.

End is obviously influenced heavily by the old Norse Black Metal sound. Drawing heavily from bands like Darkthrone and Carpathian Forest (newer stuff), this Greek band drags us face first through some ugly, raw Black Fucking Metal that really offers little in the “new or different” category. The music on this album is fairly generic and after having listened to Metal for over 15 fucking years, I’ve heard this all before a million times or more. The band executes their songs competently and I’m sure that they’re good at playing their instruments, but in terms of showing me something that defines their sound, they have a lot of work to do. If you love that “more of the same” kind of thing in your Black Metal, you’re not going to be disappointed by what you hear on this CD. I also guarantee that you’re not going to drop everything and stand there in total awe at what they’re doing. For die-hard collectors of all things Black Metal only.

I’ve said it before, and because the universe sucks ass I’ll have to say it again I’m sure, but if you want the gayest, most unreadable graphic design in all of existence, get Stevie O’Malley to do it for you, as Electric Wizard has done here. Musically this is okay Stoner Doom/Rock, but it is in no way even close to their masterpiece Come My Fanatics…, but measures up pretty well against their more recent Dopethrone. If you can get past the epilepsy-inducing packaging, this band is still good at what they do, but I can see that they’ll never again reach the… ahem… highs of …Fanatics.

This has been out for a while and so much has already been said about it, so I’ll just cut right to the chase. Ripping Corpse was second rate Death Metal in the early ’90s, and in the year 2002, Dim Mak is second rate Death Metal / incoherent anti-melody noise mesh. And by the way, saying that this boisterous racket will appeal to Hardcore fans is like saying the following of Skrewdriver will really dig the new Will Smith. Put that in your press kit and smoke it.

Well, now they’ve thought of everything. Take some rehashed Winger and Motley Crue riffs, throw in some alternative lifestyle synth-Pop arrangements, and then top it off with a vocal tandem of Lita Ford and Death snarls intact with faggy Industrial/Goth taint. Did someone at Napalm lose a fucking bet?

Now relocated to Europe, these former Aussie blasphemers have also changed their sound slightly as well. This album, their second for Season of Mist, and fourth overall, is faster in general and less diverse than their previous work. Unchain the Wolves (their second album) was probably the most diverse disc in their catalog, but this one is no less potent. If you enjoy bands like Razor, Destruction, Kreator, old Exodus, Slaughter or any of the faster brutal Thrash bands from the ‘80s, you will surely enjoy Cold Steel… for an Iron Age. I kind of miss the more atmospheric stuff from their previous albums, songs in the vein of “Lone Wolf Winter” or “Unchain the Wolves” where there were keyboards, clean vocals and some slower guitar work. Not only did those songs break up the speed-fest, but they also stood out as being different, yet still just as fucking sick as the rest of the tracks. I still think this album kicks ass, though Unchain the Wolves and Phoenix Rising are more interesting in my opinion.

If you like your Black Metal a bit heavy on the Thrash Metal side, Desaster is definitely something that will appeal to your taste buds. I’m tempted to say that Desaster is not really a Black Metal band at all because their last two releases have had more in common with the old German Thrash gods Sodom, Destruction and Kreator than with anything Bathory ever produced. The music is a bit on the speedy side, though never going overboard a-la Immortal. The riffs on this album, much as on their previous album, Tyrants of the Netherworld, are solid headbangers. They get your already damaged vertebrae grinding and snapping just like in the ’80s when the old Thrash masters were still in their prime. I enjoyed this album more for its energy and ability to capture the feeling of old German Thrash than because this was musically innovative or original. Divine Blasphemies, like Tyrants of the Netherworld, is an album that is solid and true to the genre without being overly derivative and boring.

I’m just not sure what to think when a band would list Slipknot as an influence… I will, however, admit that this doesn’t seem to suck quite as much ass as did their previous album, Scars of Time.

After a decade of silence, Finland’s Demigod return from the grave with a new album. You know, one of the first Death Metal bands I got into was Demigod and I’ve never really forgotten them. When Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed and Unleashed first started kicking my ass, I went down to my local “cool” record store (the one that stocked import and independent bands of all sorts) and found a CD called Slumber of Sullen Eyes on Drowned Records. The logo looked cool and for whatever reason, I bought it. They promptly disappeared after that album. This album is their comeback effort and I have to say that though it’s good, it just isn’t the same Demigod that appears on Slumber of Sullen Eyes. Shadow Mechanics reminds me a lot of early Amorphis (before they started getting influenced by Finnish Folk music and ‘70s Hard Rock) mixed with some of the more modern “groove oriented” Death Metal. The music is a bit more melodic this time around and the style they’re playing is less concentrated on sounding brutal as all fucking hell. In a way, that change is good because it makes their songs more distinctive and memorable. Still, I miss the all-out skull-smashing mayhem of the first album. If they could have brought back some of that, this would have fucking ruled. As it is, it’s still a kick-ass album, but not the masterpiece that I was hoping for.

I’m a big fan of Dee Snider, even though I haven’t exactly worshipped 100% of all the music he has recorded or been involved with. This disc, a somewhat updated version of the ‘97 videocassette, is a great biography of Dee and features many guest appearances (Lemmy!) and a ton of live footage of Dee’s Twisted Sister cover band, SMF. It’s really cool to hear all these old TS classics live, and all the interviews, with Dee himself and others, give an interesting history. Dee’s had quite a life, but I don’t know how interesting his story would be to non-fans, though. But for me, this kicked ass.

Fortunately I have not been forced to listen to this band’s earlier album, Praying, Hoping, Nothing, since I reviewed it. And I’ve been doing my best to try to drive all thoughts of it from my besieged brain. But still… I’ve got to think that this album is a lot better. Not that this is very good, but it’s decidedly not utterly horrible, which is what I was expecting. So, either these guys got their heads at least somewhat out of their asses and improved, or I was too mean to their earlier work. If I hadn’t shattered that CD into a billion pieces while playing backyard Tron, I might even consider giving it a second spin, just to be sure. Probably not, though.

As expected, this is intense Death Metal, and very well executed and constructed. But the production leaves a little to be desired, with the kick drums sounding more like snares. It’s… weird. Otherwise fine, though.