Recorded at the legendary Abyss studio, this fast, Thrashy Swedish Death Metal has the expected clear, powerful modern sound.

Well, I’m sick today - I have the flu - so if this review (or any other I write under the influence of NyQuil) sucks or makes no sense, that could be why. Hey, I can’t just skip a day! I’ve got a job to do here, and Metal Curse isn’t one of those fag zines that only has a handful of reviews each issue. Anyway, for as much as I respect the efforts of F&J, this is just not an album that I like all that much. “But you like their other shit, right?” Yeah, I do. Most of it anyway. But something about this just doesn’t do it for me. The repetition in the lyrics isn’t helping, and neither are the occasional weird riffs. I have long since grown used to Eric A.K.’s vocals (except when they’re a little overdriven, such as at the beginning of the somewhat Industrial-sounding “Camera Eye”), so that’s not it. This isn’t the first time that things have not 100% come together for these guys, though, so I have faith (no pun intended) that they can fix things and come back with a great album next time. But that’s all we get for now: hope that the next one will be better.

I was really impressed with the Divide and Conquer demo, so I was a little psyched for this release, but as it is with many things in life, alas I am disappointed. A lot less memorable, a lot more speed, funny how those factors often coincide. Still, this isn’t terrible. These guys have always been great musicians, and they have finally achieved a decent production, but perhaps they are just one of those Death Metal bands doomed to always have “something missing.” Hopefully their next album will prove me wrong. At least they fixed up their gay logo a little.

I like Fishbone, but this is just weird, even for them. This DVD contains a documentary of the band recording at a free studio. I sure wish that there were such things as “free studios” around here! It’s interesting, I guess, to see behind the scenes of this band’s recording process, but this is for only the most hardcore of Fishbone fans.

Heavy/Power Metal featuring former members of Mithotyn and Dawn. Strong and aggressive guitar melodies backed by impressive double-bass drumming give this release a huge sound. Some songs have a melodic Viking Metal rhythm while others have that galloping pace that fans of Power Metal will definitely appreciate. The vocals may take some getting used to though. Singer Mathias Blad doesn’t have the range of a Michael Kiske or a Hansi Kursch, but he does deliver an energetic effort nevertheless. Recorded in Los Angered studio in November of 2000, the production is outstanding. An excellent debut for Falconer.

If it wasn’t for one thing, I would say that Superion is a great CD. It has a powerful sound, the playing is tight and there is brutality and aggressiveness to spare. The problem with this? There isn’t one bit of originality on this whole album. There is so much Morbid Angel on this disc that Trey Azagthoth should be getting royalty checks. Honestly, I thought I had thrown the wrong CD in my player. Superion sounds like a cross between all of the Morbid Angel albums that had David Vincent on them, with an emphasis on the last two. You get the brutality, the speed and the ferocity without Trey’s “I’d kill to be Eddie Van Halen” soloing. If ** Excommunion** had done something to add something to the blatant Morbid Angel worship, I would have rated this a whole lot higher. Even something as simple as blended clean vocals with Death growls could have elevated this above clone status. If you love Morbid Angel to no end and you don’t mind getting more of the same, ** Excommunion** is definitely a band to check out. My advice is to wait for their next album, because truthfully, if you own a couple Morbid Angel CDs, you already have everything you’re going to get from Superion. This is as high as I rate a clone band. I don’t want to sell this band short because the ability is there. They just have to take this to the next level and expand on the foundation they’ve laid down.

Fans of Death/Doom rejoice, for Quietus has come! This album brings to mind such Doom perfection as Turn Loose the Swans, Forest of Equilibrium, and Stormcrowfleet. In other words, Death Metal influenced Doom does not get any better than this. Somehow they have managed to improve even on their own Embrace the Emptiness, making this masterpiece truly an all-time classic. Open the vaults!

Holy fuck, this is so queer it’s almost beyond belief. I guess it’s supposed to be “Hard” in a really safe, mainstream way, but it’s so surgery and weak, I thought I’d get diabetes if I listened to the entire disc, so for my safety, I had to eject during the fourth track. The rest of the album may be better, but I’d bet against it.

Sometimes the best stuff is the most difficult to describe. Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve had about seven bottles of NyQuil today. Anyway, this band really covers the range Extreme Metal, often blending everything together at once, vocally and musically. Thrash, Death, Black Metal, and Hardcore - that combination could easily turn into shit in the wrong hands, but Evanesce somehow manages to always find the exact balance of styles necessary to keep this close to perfection. Extremely close.

A bad Alice in Chains rip off, including an even more annoying singer. Musically this isn’t completely lame, but the hillbilly Butt Rock vocals just destroy everything (in the bad way).

It’s hard for me to get excited about Black Metal these days, but Norway’s Enthroned have always been firmly planted in their roots, and they have the talent to match the look. Having said that, this LP is fairly decent. All you would expect: speed, buzzsaw guitars, blasphemous shrieking. The playing is a bit shaky in spots, which was a surprise, but mostly this is worthy. Not the greatest material these pioneers have put out, but I suppose the ominous epic “When Hell Freezes Over” has to rank at the top somewhere.

Stellar, majestic, an absolute gem of a find. Any trouser stain that tells you that the Swedish Death Metal sound has lost its kick needs to listen to this masterpiece repeatedly and then immediately castrate himself in order to prevent reproduction. And for the losers who don’t feel that melody has any place in Death Metal, beat yourselves to death with your Akercocke records, you clueless fucks! Simple melody is the divine strategy Finland’s Enter My Silence employ throughout this magnum opus of heavy-hearted musical mastery. Every single riff, solo, breakdown, and guitar harmony is designed with a compelling, razor-sharp sadness, and the use of dynamics is spine-chilling. Whether it be the swirling riffs of “Six Nothing,” the all-out hopelessness of “Irrelevant,” the pit-inducing start/stop precision of “Loss of the Leading One,” or the intoxicatingly euphoric chorus of the album’s power closer, “Mindfill Effect,” this album crushes non-stop. Oh, and the vocals? The perfect tormented scream with just the right touch of depth. This gets my undisputed vote for the best Metal record of 2001. I think that pretty much sums up how I feel.

Post Black Metal, Goth/Industrial goofiness, complete with the most limp-wristed vocals and wimpy keyboards you’ve ever heard.

You just don’t hear this kind of Thrashy Metal much anymore in these days of extremity, so I’m kind of glad to know that someone is still at it. The style played by Enforsaken is anything but modern (which is good as far as I’m concerned), with roots in both European and to a lesser degree US West Coast Thrash, with great, raspy vocals. I like it, and the band is certainly very talented, but considering that this isn’t exactly a “popular” style currently, I hope these guys can get by on just my respect.

Just the band’s name should tell you that this is a Traditional Metal band. You can just see these guys in the front row at the Hammerfall concert, banging their heads like there was no tomorrow as you hold this CD in your hands. Musically, this has a few more twists and turns in it than the average “We Worship Hammerfall” band. It sounds more like the bastard offspring of Hammerfall (and by default, Gamma Ray and Iron Maiden) and Lord Weird Slough Feg. There are a lot of Celtic melodies and Medieval European Folk influences in Elvenking’s riffs. One problem I noticed that Elvenking has is their transitions. They like to be big and anthemic most of the time - which makes their music more memorable - but my guess is their guitar wankery is just dying to come out. They get into these big wanker moments where they’re noodling away and then when the time comes to going back to regular riffing, they don’t know how to get themselves out of their guitar wankery. This leads to some awkward moments where the song breaks down and scrambles to get back together. It doesn’t happen a lot, just enough to call attention to itself. There is some serious potential here for the band to develop into something unique, but somehow I just know they’re probably not going to go that way. There’s just too much of a guitar wanker undercurrent in Heathenreel that suggests that the “guitar hero album” is in the works.

I somehow managed to completely miss this band’s last album, Annie’s Grave, but this new disc is somewhat more in the Sleaze Rock tradition of bands like Nashville Pussy (although in my opinion, a lot better) than the Punkish Rock and Roll of How to Build a Monster. But, now that I think of it, I guess I haven’t listened to that since reviewing it, back in 1864, and I’ve just chugged an entire bottle of NyQuil, so maybe I’m remembering it all wrong. Anyway, the press release (the lying friend of all reviewers) wants me to mention that EF are similar enough to AC/DC that if you like them (the Aussies), then you’d damn well better buy this album right away. But I really don’t hear it. This is too polished and something I can’t quite put my finger on, really, to be AC/DC . Except maybe for the album’s best song, “Dead by Dawn,” which is unfortunately not a Deicide cover, however, it’s still very good. But anyway, Electric F shouldn’t worry about being like AC/DC when they get along just fine as is.

Eisheilig play dark, Gothic music that exudes a creepy, suffocating atmosphere. The lyrics are sung entirely in German, so I have absolutely no idea what the songs are about. From the ominous, brooding vocals to the thick, profound nature of the guitars, these guys have been heavily influenced by Type O Negative. I have heard only a few songs by The Cure (fortunately), but I can hear some of that band’s influence as well. For Goth music, there are some heavier than usual guitar-riffs present especially in track 4: “Vater Unser.” Track 8, “Das Tier,” has an almost Fear Factory feel with its crunchy guitars and Industrial, fast drum-sound. These elements give Eisheilig an edge on other bands of this genre. A cover of “Love Street” by The Doors closes the album. Goth has never been my bag, but those of you who appreciate this genre will surely enjoy this release.

It’s amazing just how superficial I catch myself being sometimes. Take for instance my first encounter with Ebony Tears. About ten seconds into the first track I am already passing this off as uninteresting Nu-Thrash in the dreaded Haunted/Dorkane vein. And perhaps I could be partially correct in the strictest exterior sense, but all of a sudden I’m stricken by the downtrodden melody of the opener’s chorus. As the gritty Petrovesque vocalist proclaims, “…when you reach the lowest point you see the world through different eyes,” somehow I become hooked and stay hooked all the way to the monstrously heavy breakneck pit riffs of “Demon Ride,” intact with it’s own catchy melodic chorus. Sure, maybe unwavering snare punishment is the band’s favorite tactic, and perhaps the production is a little too slick for it’s own good, but I’ll be damned if there isn’t a Death/Thrash masterpiece subtly interwoven throughout. I wonder what else I’m missing out on.

Hailing from Germany and playing a more Death Metal influenced Black Metal style this time around, Dunkelgrafen has returned with yet another Satanic assault on the ears. I get the distinct feeling that these guys have been listening to a lot of Dissection, At the Gates or some of the early In Flames or Eucharist stuff. This has a lot of more melodic guitar work though with enough brutality to make it kick ass. A lot of bands in this more melodic genre tend to emphasize the melody over the brutality but like Dissection, In Aeturnam and a few others, Dunkelgrafen remembers that Black/Death Metal is supposed to be brutal first. The riffs are memorable, flow well together and when they hit an acoustic part or an atmospheric part, it really sounds like it belongs. The use of two vocalists also makes this pretty interesting as you get the mix of lower ended Death growls and higher end screams played off against each other. This is a solid album in every way. Fans of kick-ass Black/Death Metal will not be disappointed.

Yet more majestic, symphonic, epic, whatever-ic Black Metal. Except… it’s sort of Death Metal?!? I don’t know about this, and I really don’t understand the homoerotic album cover. Maybe I’ve been reviewing too many Napalm releases, but instead of having some shirtless dork on the cover, why not have the naked chick (from the booklet’s back cover and various other places) right out front where people can see her? To get back to the actual review: Musically it’s not bad, and sometimes kinda gloomy, eerie, and so on, and the vocals are almost always great, but then why not just slow things down and go for the Doom? That would work very well for Dorn, I think, as the slowest parts of this album are the best, and the speedier bits seem out of place with all the keyboards and “atmosphere.”