It’s a damn shame what gets marketed as Doom in today’s confused scene. These songs are all upbeat and bland. No dark imagery is invoked aurally. The vocals are more Hardcore-like dry throat yells than the tormented bottomless agony I’ve come to expect in dreary music. His clean vocals are even more pathetic. If you want to hear some real Doom, there’s tons of great new stuff coming out. I suggest you give October Tide, Evoken, and Agalloch a thorough listen. It wouldn’t hurt the guys in Endless either.

Man, has this band changed a lot in the last year or so! They’ve gone from a Folk influenced Black Metal band to being just flat-out Folk with no Black or even Metal attached to it. If any of you have the second Ulver album, this sounds a whole lot like it though with more of a medieval influence. This is all acoustic guitars, flutes, mandolin and clean vocals. All the Renaissance Faire fanatics out there will love this. This is the perfect background music for cavorting around the forest dressed like a peasant from the 1300s. Musically, this is some pretty good stuff, but I think that Empyrium should have seriously thought about changing their name. I’m not saying that this band’s old audience won’t like it, but this is a very strong departure from their previous albums.

After an unsettling pre-Thrash girly scream intro, this kicks into high gear. But their symphonic Black Metal art has been tempered with strong Traditional Metal and Thrash influences. I’m extremely tempted to call that a trendy move. And although the intensity is still quite high and the speed is there, where are the majestic “epic” keyboards? Yeah, they poke their head through every so often, but it’s hardly the same effect. But maybe I shouldn’t complain. After seeing them at the 1998 Milwaukee Metalfest sans keyboards, I decided that they don’t really need them, and apparently they agree. This is a common problem a band faces: Change too little from album to album and you risk stagnation, but change too much too fast, and you risk cries of “sellout” and general disrespect. It’s a fine line to have to walk, and after quite a few listens to IX Equilibrium, I have decided that what really matters is whether or not this album kicks ass, and it most certainly does - just in a different way than the classic In the Nightside Eclipse. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to try out some new ideas, especially when they all work out this well.

More great Metal from Greece. I don’t know if I’d call this Black Metal, it’s a bit more diverse, although the faster, melodic riffing is quite Darkthrone-reminiscent. Doomier elements dominate tracks like “I Am the Unknown Sky,” “Until the Night Cries Rise in Your Heart,” and “The End Shall Be Tragically Fulfilled,” which are easily the best cuts. This band utilizes timing to perfection, they know just when to add blast, where a little eclectic instrumentation should go, and how to make each song memorable and filled with emotion. Very impressive second LP from a band that could possibly, and perhaps unfortunately, blow up.

This is a 2 CD collection of cover tunes and other Halloween strangeness from this rather eclectic band of Satanists. I’m not really a big fan of this band but anybody that sticks a Jack-O-Lantern and a Baphomet pentagram on the cover of their album is cool by me. This is more Techno/Industrial than anything else, with a heavy leaning towards Techno. There are some Industrial parts but this is mostly beat-driven and doesn’t sound a bit out of place when being played at the Gothic version of a disco (where I bought this). I was at the Shrine of Lilith waiting for Galaxxy Chamber (one of my favorite Gothic/Ritual bands) to come on, so don’t think I frequent these places. Believe me, I was the only one in the entire place wearing an Exodus t-shirt. The covers they chose are rather odd, though all of them are Satanic to some degree. They even do a cover of Motley Crue’s “Shout at the Devil,” and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC . The Electric Hellfire Club only put one original song on this release, but I found that it was much more interesting than their selection of covers. The only cover track that I really enjoyed was the “Halloween Medley.” That particular song takes up the entire second CD and has parts of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” “Black No. 1” and the theme music from the movie Halloween. The other tracks were okay, but I really preferred the original song and the “Medley” track the most. I doubt any new fans will be converted by listening to Empathy for the Devil but those of you out there who like The EHC will want to search this one out.

Energetic, memorable Punk Rock, with the emphasis on Rock. Plus we’re treated to some really cool Coop art, pics of the beautiful Julie Strain made up as “The Bride of Frankenstein,” and some multimedia stuff, too.

Total waste-of-a-good-drummer Ass Metal. Sounds like Dio or Blind Guardian or some other equally lame shit. All this State Fair Metal sounds alike to me. I don’t know what else to say other than this vocalist is a flamejob. Grow a mullet, roll your Marlboro Reds up in your short sleeve tee, and don’t forget your hairdresser’s appointment later on. Time to get your perm rejuvenated.

This is a bit Thrashier then their debut, the more Death Rock influenced Tortura Insominae. Perhaps some of that has to do with the more raw production this time, which I like, but mostly they seem to have just cranked up the intensity.

Quite a few different styles are employed here, from a somewhat watered-down version of the Death Doom of early My Dying Bride, to the “Doom Rock” sounds of Cemetary, to even some more “modern” sounding riffs… There are a handful of flawless moments on this album. Maybe enough for a perfect EP. The rest varies from “good” to either too wimpy or, in a few places, too “new.” Additionally, the vocals occasionally hold them back. In almost all cases they should probably be either more emotional or more intense, and not try to stay in the middle. And then they end things out with a weird remix of one of the tracks, “Winter.”

I suppose this Alternative Rock could have been worse. I really expected it to be. At least they don’t sound like Kid Rock. Still, this is nothing I’d spend a cent on, but maybe I could tolerate it under the right circumstances. Like if there were a bunch of hot sluts involved, for example.

Where the fuck are all these Progressive/Power Metal bands coming from? This band’s skill is obvious, but they could really crank up the intensity a bit here and there. If you haven’t already had your fill of high-pitched squeaky-clean vocals, and overly technical music, then this might be worth a listen. But be warned that I like this style, and the shrieks of this singer got on even my nerves after only a couple songs.

I’ve always had a lot of respect for bands that continued to play brutal Death Metal during the Black Metal tidal wave. Drawn and Quartered is one such band, and though this is only their first album, these guys have been at it for a while now. This is Death Metal in the older style, reminiscent of early Morbid Angel, Possessed and Scream Bloody Gore-era Death but with a slightly over-polished production. The music is tight, but the clean sound sort of detracts from the intensity. The bass is clearly audible (which is cool), but I thought that the guitar needed to be turned up (maybe with a little more distortion on top of it too). Either that or turn the drums down some. The guitar was almost completely buried beneath the snare for the better part of this album, and when it wasn’t, it wasn’t very loud. I think what Drawn and Quartered misses the most, however, is a rawer sound. This could have been a great album, as I really believe that the songs here have that potential, but this just lacks in the brutality and heaviness departments. Without the brutality and heaviness, this album sounds castrated. Next time, go for the fucking throat! Turn up the guitar and do what the side part of the CD tray says: DEPOPULATE!!!

This is actually very decent Black/Death Metal. The rhythm and melody aren’t buried under the speed, and the vocals are solid, ranging from mostly raspy to occasionally deep. The riffs are sometimes great, but the band’s major flaw is keeping things interesting. Not enough changes or breakdowns, bear in mind I said “not enough” as opposed to a total lack of. Draconis have made a very listenable record that is as extreme as it is expertly played. If I sound middle-of-the-road here it is merely due to overexposure to this kind of style. However, the dark melodies of “Embodiment by Candlelight” remind me that Metal is the way and the life, and that there is no better way to Hell than by it.

Dornenreich is one of those “what if…” bands. If you’ve ever wondered what Immortal would have been like if Jorn from Hades (Norway) had stayed on, this is probably what it would sound like. If you took Alone Walking and Pure Holocaust and threw them both in your favorite food processor, the resulting carnage would sound like this album almost exactly. This is not to say that Dornenreich aren’t good. They really kick some serious ass. If these guys can get a thicker guitar tone and maybe up the bass a little bit, they just might knock quite a few bigger name bands off their perches in the top spots in Black Metal today.

Oh fuck, are these guys dorks. Back when I was maybe 13 or so (almost two decades ago!), I could have better appreciated the Elric inspired fantasy lyrics, but I guess at least it proves that the members of Domine read, so that’s good. What is also good is their musical ability. All fans of traditional Power Metal who have not already long since had their fill would be well served to check out this band. Okay, they’re not the best, but they are better than most, and there is certainly a plethora of Power Metal these days.

Most of the time I have little use for Ambient “soundscapes,” because most of the time they really suck, and are pointless abominations devoid of all interest - bullshit attempts at being creative by retarded jerkoffs simply desperate for any kind of attention. That, however, could not be further from the truth concerning Domestic Altercation. Sure, these are Ambient soundscapes, but they’re disturbing, with weird stuff building up in the background and then coming unexpectedly to the fore. These tracks actually have structure, and that makes them all the more demented. I’m not exactly sure how often I’ll be listening to this CD, but the next time I have need for unsettling ambience, this is probably what I’ll pick.

These guys are fucking weird, mixing every style imaginable with programmed drums, and mostly Black Metal guitars. If you like experimental stuff, then be my guest, but this will certainly be too strange and disjointed for most. It does have its moments, though.

I’ve heard this band compared to early Morbid Angel, and unless we’re talking about just the production on Abominations of Desolation, I really don’t hear it. Sure, this is “technical” Death Metal, but it is missing two essential things: memorable songs and good production. It sounds as if I recorded this on my Yamaha 4-track (but I am pretty good with it). But, that aside, I think that the only real problem here is that this band just needs a little more time to develop, which they have probably had by now. The CD also features a video track for one of the songs, and although it’s not exactly great, I do appreciate the effort.

I’m having a hard time with the two major style choices this band seems to project. With vocalist Anja Natasha’s melodic croon, the band make a very convincing “atmosphere” act, a la Tiamat. With Ole’s vocals they become a pretty fierce, technical Death Metal band. The problem is, they don’t blend these two styles together very well at the same time, and I think ultimately this will keep them from being accepted by Metal fans or the “gloom and doom” Goth crowd. I must say the band is very talented and this is a strong effort.

Everything about this band screams mediocre, plain and simple. I find this kind of disappointing, as the lineup features ex-members of Incantation and Rotting Corpse. Hmmm… their bio says that their influences are early acts like Bathory and Possessed, but this band just completely lacks the aforementioned bands’ intensity that made their basic, simple styles so effective. Gotta pass on this one.