Cold, grim, and raw Black Metal the way it was meant to be. Anti-Christian, anti-Glam, anti-typical. Sure it’s sloppy, repetitive, and not played to utter perfection, but off your high horse, not everything has to be. There is emotion here. Hatred and sadness - who can’t relate? It’s been said before and I’ll say it again: This does remind me of mid-career Darkthrone, if that gives you an idea of the music. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for explosive Steve Evetts production, or something recorded at The Abyss, or anything smooth and polished for that matter. Sometimes I just need something dark and simple for reflection and bitterness therapy. Judas Iscariot’s mussy hymns are the perfect backdrop for such moods.

I don’t know if I should call this Judas Iscariot’s third or fourth album. Technically, this is Andy Harris’ fourth CD as Judas Iscariot, but third album, as it was recorded before the Of Great Eternity album, but released after it. The ads for this album (and all other Judas Iscariot releases, for that matter) say that this is in the vein of older Darkthrone or Graveland. I say that this is wrong. This style of Black Metal can be traced back to the band Von. Von was very influential to the Norse scene even though they, themselves, were from the Bay Area! I know this because I met the guitarist for Von once at S.F. City College, of all places. They played almost exactly like this, making whole songs out of just one or two riffs and getting away with it because nobody else was doing it. Varg from Burzum himself claimed to love that band and so, apparently, does Andy Harris. Though Judas Iscariot is slower than Von ever played, the structure of the songs is the same. The guitar is thick and heavy and the sound is clear but raw at the same time. I’ve always liked Judas Iscariot and this album is probably my favorite. The riffs are primitive and brutal, the lyrics are full of hate and the whole album just reeks of evil. This album proves that the true spirit of Black Fucking Metal has not died nor has it compromised itself at all.

For truly intense, ass kicking Death Metal, look no further.

Extreme Black Metal combined with Death Metal and a demented sort of Crust Punk. Imp Naz call it “Nuclear Metal,” and it will kick your ass.

[Metal Curse #11 had an additional loose page (“Last Second Additions”) inserted into the centerfold of the zine, featuring a bunch of even-shorter-than-usual “bonus” reviews of stuff that arrived after the deadline for that issue. This is one of those “Last Second Additions” reviews.]

I can’t begin to express how great it feels to type “New Renaissance” again! It’s been way too long, and I’m very excited to see that the label that released At War, Indestroy and Wehrmacht (to name just a very few) has returned! And what an all star line up Illwill possesses: Snowy Shaw and Andy LaRocque from the King Diamond band, Sharlee D’Angelo from Mercyful Fate, and Jonas Dahlstrom from Memento Mori. Here’s an odd thing, though: on most of the press clippings that came with this CD, there were comparisons to Mercyful Fate and King Diamond, all of which praised the music, but seemed to not appreciate King’s admittedly unique vocal style. That doesn’t exactly sit well with me, and makes it seem as if the members of Illwill have some issues with the King, and I can’t see how that could be possible. Okay, that mentioned, I guess I’ll get to the actual review. The music covers a huge range. I was tempted to say “impressive,” but some of it, vast though it is, is anything but impressive. When they stick to the more traditional Metal styles, like semi-early Judas Priest, or maybe Balls to the Wall era Accept, then this can’t be beat (well, except by the bands that they’re emulating). Jonas’ vocals expertly cover the same range as the music, effortlessly moving from Halford’s wails to Udo’s throaty rasp. But then there are the parts added to prove how “modern” Illwill is. The “Industrial” bits, the Machinehead “groove,” the overdriving of the normally ass kicking vocals, and then the “sweet” choruses that follow. We don’t need or want this “modern” bullshit, guys! And we really don’t want 7 minutes of chanted “Sleep, Eat, Work!” as an unlisted “bonus headache track.” There is some awesome stuff on here, and it’s certainly well worth checking out. But there is nearly as much that tries too hard to be “fresh” and ends up being fresh shit. And it’s not isolated by song. There are at least some parts in every song that are unbelievable. And then in some of the cuts, there is the aforementioned fresh shit. I think that I’ll chalk this up to the guys trying too hard to make sure that they appeal to the newer listeners. If they can figure out what to concentrate on, and what to eliminate, the next album could very easily be perfect. And as is, this one is hardly bad, but it certainly has some bad moments.

These guys hail from France and apparently play Viking Metal in the veins of Enslaved and early Einherjer. The first thing I thought of when I heard that they were from France was, “Vikings? In France?” But lo and behold, here they are. This is quite good, the production is thick, and the only problem I can see is that the vocals are a bit low, especially when they utilize the standard Black Metal raspy style. When Himinbjorg employ the clean, operatic style, the vocals are very clear and loud. Musically, they tend to go from the mid-paced, atmospheric style to the faster, Immortal-ish speed. The good part about all that is the fact that when they employ the all out speed attack, they never really lose control over it.

As good as this is, it’s just not up to the near-perfection of their last studio album, The Time of the Oath. Although there are certainly a few flawless tracks, such as “Falling Higher.” And for once, the US version of an album has an exclusive track! Now Japan knows how the rest of the world feels about that idea. Anyway, fans of true Power Metal (of which there are more and more every day, it seems) who somehow don’t already own this, shouldn’t hesitate, as it is pretty awesome (although I could have done without the track “Hey Lord!”). It’s just that you might want to get all of their other albums (with the exception of Chameleon and Pink Bubbles Go Ape) first, if you don’t already have them.

An intense blast of musical hatred awaits the listener of this. Phil of Malevolent Creation (who apparently has a nearly-unending supply of kick-ass riffs) fame heads up what is more or less a tribute to the drumming skills of the late Crazy Larry Hawke. Rest in peace, bro.

Rising from the ashes of At the Gates, The Haunted deliver a supposed crossover of Hardcore and Death Metal. For former members of At the Gates, and for “Crossover,” I much prefer the massive Crust power of Skit System. This isn’t bad, but it in no way lives up to all the hype.

I say if something is pressed on “blood splatter vinyl,” as this 7-inch is, then you pretty much have to like it. But that’s just me. Anyway, my friends at Shindy didn’t stop with the cool vinyl, they went right ahead and printed up some very disgusting (at least on the Haemorrhage side) full color sleeves, too. Okay, so the packaging is excellent, but what of the music, right? Well, you get three from extreme Gore masters Haemorrhage, including one exclusive track. And Ingrowing also deliver a deadly trio from their brutal Cyberspace album. The only thing holding this back from perfection is the lack of new stuff on here. Personally, I’d pay the money for this just to get the one new Haemorrhage track, and of course to see the ass kicking splatter disk.

This is exactly what you would expect from these masters of Grindgore: Fast, brutal, and sick. Their trademark memorable riffs and multiple vocal styles are supported by a truly impressive production, making this a real masterpiece. Now if only the promo copy had come with a lyric sheet…

Okay, this is heavy, and these guys are technical masters. But they put their considerable skill to use mostly in showing off, and generally keep things way too complicated to be memorable at all. And then there are the weird parts. I guess they listened to Pan-Thy-Monium once and thought they’d give it a shot, without first understanding that songs should be memorable, not impossible. I’m sure this will be given a lot of credit for being “experimental,” but I think it’s more like a bunch of divergent ideas thrown together with the idea of sounding “clever,” and that won’t work on me.

If I had to describe this LP in one word, it would be “noisy.” The guitars are super dirty, and there is quite a bit of feedback sometimes, and the whole recording sounds sort of loose. But that’s the weird part; it’s also very clear. Dirty, yes, but you can hear everything okay… It’s a unique production, that is just as interesting as the fast Black Metal it supports. And, to their credit, Gorgoroth play with tremendous energy and intensity, and they are smart enough to know the importance of solid riffs, and memorable songs.

God damn it, I wish that Black Mark had sent me Necrophobic to review! Ahh, such is life that I am stuck with this cut-rate New Wave Power Metal instead. If I hear one more band that sounds like motherfucking Styx with a kickass drummer, I’m going to shatter the CD into 666 pieces and jam them into my ears until I stab my brain to death. Fuck it, I’m going to try it now! Ejecting the CD… Breaking it… Jamming shards into left ear… Didn’t work! Glory is too pussified to even get past my mighty earwax.

I remember Kataklysm being better than this. Admittedly it’s been a while since I last spun one of their previous CDs, but this seems a little more “Hardcore” than I was ready for. It’s not bad, though. But sometimes when they’re blazing away, drums pumping out a ferocious blast, the riff gets too simple and repetitious, and ends up being boring. And sometimes the vocals venture dangerously close to “tough-guy” territory. But for all the parts I don’t like, there are more that I do. I suppose they were just trying out some new ideas, but you have to know when to not fix what’s not broken.

They do a Madonna cover (“Justify My Love”), and in the CD booklet, there’s a fellow angrily biting into an apple… Yet the guitars are super distorted, and fairly heavy sounding. And just to really confuse me, the vocals range from a “tough guy” distortion scream, to Alternative smooth, by way of James Hetfield. Some parts are good, and some terrible, as you might have guessed. Depending on what sort of mood you’re in, this could easily range from awesome to terrible. But I must give them a lot of credit for the courage to release an album this diverse.

Excellent melodic Death Metal with brutal female vocals.

[Metal Curse #11 had an additional loose page (“Last Second Additions”) inserted into the centerfold of the zine, featuring a bunch of even-shorter-than-usual “bonus” reviews of stuff that arrived after the deadline for that issue. This is one of those “Last Second Additions” reviews.]

Featuring a vocalist who is mixed so low that he sounds like an angry neighbor next door, Gehenna otherwise doesn’t fall into most of the cliches that plague many Black Metal releases nowadays. No “spooky” keyboard intros, no thin guitars. Instead, they have a fat drum sound and the ability to change tempo during their songs. Lyrically, I don’t know where they are coming from, due to the aforementioned mixing problem, but they have a dead, naked girl on the cover, so it can’t be too nice. Okay, maybe there’s one “spooky” keyboard intro, but it’s not too bad. Certainly not ground-breaking, but better than a lot of others I’ve heard.

Even though this only has 5 tracks (well, plus an intro), it’s about 40 minutes long! G of S can really crank up the intensity when they feel like it, and belt out some intense Death Metal. But they just as often go for a slower, more majestic, melodic, sorrowful feeling.

Nothing too outstanding or flamboyantly queer here. A lot of the song structures are very plain and dare I say, Poppy. It’s like prep-Death. Certain riffs, and I’m dead serious, sound like, if they were a little less distorted and thick, something you’d hear in a Warrant or Cinderella ballad. Of course I’m sure that will boost sales from all the closet homosexuals scattered about the Metal scene who like that kind of shit. Just check out the beginning and chorus of “Fade Away.” I’m just waiting to hear Jon Bon Jovi start whining at any second. Speaking of vocals, they aren’t too solid. On some songs they’re more aggressive than others, but listen to the style on “End of Time.” Is that Dave Mustaine after a night of sucking dick for heroin or what? The vocals at the beginning of “The Price of My Deeds” sound like he’s sprawled out on a bed fondling his testicles while watching gay porn. Okay, so I was wrong, this is flamboyantly queer.