Yet another “Northern European” sounding (sorry guys) band. But, hey, I like that sound. Dark Metal with “spoken word” kind of vocals. If you like Morgoth, early Tiamat, and Unleashed, definitely grab this disc. It was a pleasure to listen to.

The mystic warrior of Metal surveys the desolate wasteland. Forsooth, what is that gleaming in the apocalyptic horizon? Alas, it doth be a time capsule from the year nineteen hundred and eighty-six. [A good guess, as unbeknownst to Brainhammer or the evil Doktor Necrosis this is actually a reissue and was originally released in 1985 on Auburn Records. -Editor] Contained therein is…Destructor! Amidst the bullet belts and mirrorshades come 15 tracks of archaic Power Metal. Inspired by the likes of such paragons of Metal as Anthrax, Exodus, and Manowar, this Ohio based quartet have mastered the art of time travel and sent us this album of forgotten lore. Pray tell, what does this Master of Metal say about this? Say thee nay! Leave it where it lies.

Old style Thrash/Metal that is ultra energetic, and a bit more intense than normal, with vocals similar to those of Rob Halford. Fairly memorable songs, too, but man have I heard a lot of bands just like this recently… Destiny’s End may be one of the best, though.

Very expertly played Heavy Metal with some sort of Thrashy influences, and the occasional harmony vocal line. That might be great news, or the stuff of ridicule, depending on how you look at it. But after the better part of 20 years (although only 4 albums), Destiny at the very least have perfected their craft, and you’ll be hard pressed to find better written or played Traditional Metal anywhere. Now, as far as I’m concerned, it could be a bit heavier, more intense, and those high-pitched backing vocals bug me sometimes, but for what it is, The Undiscovered Country is damn hard to top.

Musically, this is great Black/Death/Thrash, even Doomy sometimes. It’s got all the bases covered, I guess. But then there are the occasions when some limp-wristed “clean” vocals kick in, and everything just goes to shit. Those are few and far between, thankfully, but they’re enough.

Man, this ultra simplistic retro “Thrash” is pretty funny, with the sing-along lyrics, inanely “sung” vocals, and all. I hope the humor is intentional. By track two they go all Bathory, so I’m just not sure if they are supposed to be serious or not. But I’ll take it as a joke, since I can enjoy it a lot more in that capacity.

After a lineup and name change (they were formerly known as Epidemic - the European version, not the one with two albums on Metal Blade), Descend have delivered a very interesting debut album of melodic, yet aggressive, Thrashy Death Metal. However, as good as this is, I don’t find a whole lot to really push it out in front of the competition.

Old style Thrash riffs and vocals, with speedy drums, and a clear, powerful production. These blasphemers could almost be the new, Black Metal Destruction. The memorable songs burn into your mind and stay there. Desaster have really come up with excellent material this time, and it’s going to be nearly impossible for the competition to match, much less top. The song structure can be a little predictable sometimes, but who said that’s even a flaw?

Heavier and more brutal than ever, Deranged has returned. From first second to last, this is a masterpiece of intense Death Metal, and not to be missed. Excellent outtro sample, too.

He has arrived! The savior of modern music. Not!! This guy thinks highly of himself and his talents. His fifth release to date, but you would think it’s his first. The orchestrations tend to be overworked and muddled. The patches he uses on his keyboard are not very flattering either. They sound canned, act canned, and therefore must be canned. Billed as “evocative atmosphere more suiting to a horror soundtrack.” All this stuff did was make me think the Undertaker (WWF) was coming to my house. Wannabe Gothic Classical music with a whole lot of wannabe and no music.

The noxious assault that is Deicide continues to ferment with each studio album. And obviously their live shows are an opportunity to prove again and again that they certainly are for real, and then some. Unfortunately for myself, I’ve yet to experience the live Deicide ritual (I’ll commit suicide right after this review), so this is the closest I get for now. To hear them play, “Once Upon the Cross,” made me want to ram my skull onto an anvil, like usual, and “Dead by Dawn” just killed live! Recorded at the House of Blues in Chicago, the sound is great. A royal of hash with friends and the stereo on eleven and you’re hearing and seeing the show live. But if you’ve already seen them live you technically don’t need this album. But when Satan does live to fill his ranks for the oncoming war, he’ll kill all the losers who didn’t pick this one up. Hail Satan!

Brutal and somewhat melodic Death Metal.

[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.]

My first question about this release is “Is Defleshed really ready to release a live album/EP?” These guys have two albums and an EP or two to their credit, but to release a live recording at this stage seems kind of strange. And it’s short too. Sure, there are 7 songs on this, but the whole set is a hair over 20 minutes long! For $15 I want at least a half-hour or it just isn’t worth it. In defense of the recording, the sound on this is good and sounds an awful lot like a digital bootleg (recorded by someone in the crowd using a Minidisc or portable DAT recorder). On a soundboard recording, you can hear almost zero crowd noise but there is plenty of it on this CD. It doesn’t detract from the band’s performance but you can tell this isn’t a “live in the studio” thing. Defleshed has a lot of energy live and though they sound a bit one-dimensional at times, they have a high ass-kickage factor. This release is limited to 1500 copies so if you’re the biggest Defleshed fan in the neighborhood, you’d better get this quick. On the other hand, I don’t see this one being a top priority as you can probably find something else in that price range that is better.

Brutal and well played Death Metal.

[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.]

This speedfest just doesn’t do very much for me. It arrived after the “official” deadline for this issue, so I didn’t have much time to spin it before this review. It’s high-energy to be sure, but two seconds after it’s over and I’ve already forgotten it.

After reading the press release, I learned something: These guys think they’re a Hardcore band. I didn’t know that when I reviewed their Bitter CD last issue, but it does make a difference, I suppose. They’re still way too interested in “groove” for me, and the vox are what might be known as “trailer park tough guy,” but at least they’re not trying to pass this off as Death Metal. And it is an improvement over their last CD, so if that trend continues, I might even like the next one.

I’ll give Chuck credit for coming up with an LP that retains the aggressiveness of the older Death material but shows some progression at the same time. Some of the song structures are kind of strange, but I think this album’s grown on me after a couple listens. I still miss Gene “the human tornado” on the drums, but I guess he’s too busy with Strapping Young Lad to hang with Chuck this time around. The Sound of Perseverance is technical, that’s for sure, but it follows the same vein as Symbolic in that it has that memorable aspect as well. For all you Priest freaks out there, Death were even cool enough to cover “Painkiller.” Chuck doesn’t have the piercing wail of Halford, but Hell, how many guys in Death Metal ever have that kind of range?

After a weird chanted intro, the Grindfest starts. Dead Infection blast their way through covers of Regurgitate, Extreme Noise Terror, Agathocles, General Surgery, Ulcerous Phlegm, Napalm Death, Carcass, and the Bee Gees (sort of…), as well as treat us to a couple really different tracks of their own that were clearly meant to fuck with anyone trying to take this too seriously. Dead Infection prove once again that they are a force to be reckoned with. Needless to say, this is essential.

These blasphemers play fairly straightforward fast, “majestic” Black Metal, but are helped by their mastery of their instruments. Plus there’s just something about them that I like.

As you can see [from looking at the review of Darklands’ self-titled release, which was printed right above this one in Metal Curse #12 -Editor], I’m a little more tolerant of the vocals than Jack is, and the title track was one of the ones I liked the most from their self-titled album. And one of the other two songs on here is pretty good. Maybe after hearing them so much in preparing for these reviews, I’ve gotten a bit more used to Barthold’s vocals, or maybe he’s getting better -although I like the track from ‘95 (“Verkorpern”) the best, so maybe he’s getting worse…