Maybe it’s the yelled vocals, but I’m gonna call this Industrial Hardcore. It’s intense, like Hardcore, and has more or less those kinds of rhythms and vocals. The drums are programmed - occasionally in a Death Metal kind of way. There are plenty of samples and synths. It’s a fuckin’ weird mix of styles, but generally it sounds pretty cool.

I don’t think these guys owe as much to Pantera as their bio would have me believe. It’s more than enough for me to not like it, though, but I honestly think they’re closer to a less technological Fear Factory. Either way, it’s still crap, so who cares?

My major complaint with their last slab of Death, Vile, was that it traded in some of the sheer catchiness of The Bleeding for a bit more brutality. It was a good idea at the time, since they likely wanted to prove that losing Chris Barnes wouldn’t water them down. It has only made the band better to be rid of the dead weight. Corpsegrinder is currently by far the better growler. Back to this masterpiece: The Cannibals have wisely rediscovered the perfect song-writing and production of the aforementioned The Bleeding and only lost a touch of the brutality of Vile to do it. That’s a trade I’d be glad to make, too. Plus, the musicianship is just amazing.

This first release from Holland’s Polar Bear Records is impressive Death/Black Metal in the tradition of [early] In Flames, but somewhat more aggressive.

Horrible, distorted vocal crap that is somehow also very mellow. Great combination of styles that is. Thankfully there are only two songs here, one of which is accurately called “Piece of Shit.” At least they believe in truth in advertising.

Each of these two Grind masters deliver four cover songs with C.S.S.O. starting things off with an insane acoustic version of Carcass’ “Genital Grinder,” followed up with just as warped versions of General Surgery, Regurgitate, and Napalm Death songs. Mastic Scum start off their somewhat more obscure selections with a Doctor and the Crippens cover, and blast right through their renditions of Electro Hippies, Unseen Terror, and Righteous Pigs songs. I like the bands and I like the all-covers concept of the EP, so needless to say, this is essential.

I found this in the Metal section of a local record store and after listening to it, I have to say that this was definitely misplaced. This shit isn’t Metal at all. This is Gothic/Industrial. The good news is that Gothic/Industrial tends to make better soundtrack music. And this is some good stuff. I don’t know what 1692/2092 is about, but it certainly has some cool background music. I’m guessing that it’s Science Fiction because a love story doesn’t have music with song titles like “The Room of Ice” (featuring vocals by ex-Swans singer Jarboe!!), “Harvest of Souls” or “The Burning of the Black Waters.” The music is pretty mechanical in the Industrial vein and has a heavy Gothic feeling to it. The prevalent feeling generated is one of mourning or sadness. There are also some creepy moments in here too. If you like movie soundtracks but you hate ones with a bunch of bullshit mainstream songs that you don’t even hear in the fucking movie then you’ll probably like this. The vast majority of it is instrumental and succeeds in conveying the general mood of a given situation (such as the desperation of a chase scene, the ominous feeling you get while walking down a dark corridor or the sadness of seeing a friend’s casket being lowered into the ground). I don’t know what C17H19N03’s regular music sounds like, but after listening to this, I think I’ll look to see if they have any other stuff available.

These Hardcore Punks have a lot of good ideas, and start off very strong, but they apparently aren’t able to carry it for a full length release, and this is a really short album (just over a half hour, not counting an interesting poem, and “hidden” audio jerk-off). I would much rather that they take longer to write their LPs, or simply release EPs, because if the whole thing had been as great as the first track, “Boy and the River,” then this would have been a 10.

This kind of real old-school Thrash Metal is not often heard these days, and I utterly respect this band for so clearly ignoring any and all trends to play exactly what they want. Walk of the Dead is as energetic as anything I’ve ever heard, and their cover of “Black Metal” is truly off the scale. I suppose that this album is something of a throwback, but that’s perfectly fine with me. Especially when it’s so well done.

Satanic Sludge. Like a blasphemous version of Grief, but not nearly as interesting. I was all set to like this, but it just goes nowhere. And the screams that pass for vocals, although tortured to be sure, are too shrill and sound like a little kid yelling. When he even bothers to scream at all. Sometimes it’s the “originality” of a slow Rock drone, like Ozzy did 371 years ago. I do like good Sludgy stuff, like the aforementioned Grief, or Melvins, not to mention actual Doom of different kinds (Skepticism, or Solitude Aeturnus to name a couple of pretty different bands), and there is clearly a difference between Sludge and Doom, but Burning Witch just doesn’t hold my interest, no matter if Steve Albini produced it or not. It is oppressively heavy, though. It’s odd that BW’s press release says that this “will appeal to fans of Burzum,” when this couldn’t possibly be any more unlike Burzum. Maybe they think that we’re really that stupid, or that if you like Burzum, then you must part with the cash for anything that purports to be “evil.” This is just ridiculous, and I don’t “get” anything about this CD: The boring music, the terrible vocals, the utterly unreadable layout, the unintentionally comedic press release (“Heroin, hate and Black Death!”), wasting all the cash on a well known producer like Albini…. And due to the people involved, I know this will sell its tiny balls off. If you want mega heavy Sludge, there are plenty of bands who do it way better, and don’t claim to be something they’re not. When you do that, it’s called being a poseur, and if I remember the ancient texts of Exodus and Possessed correctly, Lord Satan really hates poseurs. Or to quote S.O.D., “You’re a bunch of poseur, douchbag, faggot, dickless hacks.” I think that sums it up nicely.

This isn’t a new album but a repressing of Buried Beneath’s demos on CD. As some of you may know, this is Mike from Night Conquers Day’s old band. Unlike NCD, Buried Beneath plays brutal Black/Death Metal. Some of the atmosphere that later went on to be an integral part of NCD can be found here amidst the crushing Death Metal assault that the band laid down back in the days. I don’t have the original copies of this band’s demo tapes so I can’t really compare them to this new version, but the liner notes do a good job of explaining all the changes that Mike made after the fact to make these tracks more to his original vision. After listening to this CD, it kind of makes me sad that this band never achieved the successes that it should have. Another band fucked over by rip-offs and died before its time.

Ultra brutal Death Metal with sick vocals and occasionally goofy lyrics. For example: “Made her bleed, made her die, stabbed her wound, and ate her pie.” Well, to be fair, most of the rest of the lyrics are more gory or evil, but if these guys possess a sense of humor, then I’m all for ‘em. Their production and songwriting are quite good, too, as is the packaging.

It makes me feel a little weird to say this, but I think that after hearing this and Iron Maiden’s Virtual XI, it’s pretty clear that Bruce was the real motivating force in that band. It’s been a long time since Bruce was involved with a perfect album, but maybe thanks to teaming up with Adrian Smith, the wait is over. The Chemical Wedding is not only flawless, but it’s also the best (non-Motorhead, of course) Metal album I’ve heard in a long time. All the new guys cashing in on Traditional Metal could never hope to come up with something this heavy, or this good. But of course Dickinson & Co. have been at this for quite a long time, and have finally honed their collective skills into something I never thought I’d hear: an album that gets better and better with every listen, with no flaws in sight, and none apparent after no less than 100 spins. This is one of the best Metal albums of all time. This is seriously that good. And one more thing: It’s sort of difficult to describe the style of this disc. It’s modern, I suppose, and yet traditional at the same time. There are no galloping riffs, and the guitar sound is thicker, heavier, than you would expect. So how is it traditional? Anything with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith is Traditional Metal, my friends. But there is a real sense of majesty and power that a lot of the current pretenders try for, but never reach. Maybe it’s the amazing range and power of Dickinson, who’s voice has never sounded as good as it does here. Or maybe it’s Smith, who I always thought was the guy who wrote all the wimpiest Maiden stuff, now unleashing all his monster riffs and flawless execution. Or maybe it’s the rest of the band. Roy Z., the other guitarist, is likely Smith’s equal, and also responsible for the amazing production. And dare I say that Eddie Casillas is as good a bassist as The Master, Steve Harris? But it’s true. When Bruce left Iron Maiden, I was sure that he was going to go on to record some horrible Pop Metal crap, and that Maiden would be better off without him. It was just a feeling I had after hearing “Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter.” Well, he did write some less-than-perfect stuff, but clearly all that is long out of his system, and I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. Try as they might, Maiden haven’t been able to regain the old magic, while Bruce has boldly gone forward and created brand-new magic of his own. If you only have the cash to buy one CD, this is the one. It’s going to be tough to top this one, guys. My only choice is to bestow the highest honor possible upon this flawless masterpiece. (Since this was reviewed, Bruce and Adrian have both rejoined Iron Maiden…)

Borknagar consider themselves a Black Metal band, which I just don’t hear at all (musically, at least). But, they are a very good Metal band, period. Strong musicianship, catchy songs, and a lineup that reads like an “All-Star” assembly of Black Metal’s best acts. You can’t go wrong with this.

At long last Bolt Thrower make their return. This pretty much sounds just like you’d expect, which is fine with me.

How could anyone describe this band? Every song is totally different, ranging from almost horror soundtrack kind of stuff to dark, umm, something… This is just insane, but it is interesting. Actually, I kinda like it.

Fucking terrible, and a waste of space.

[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.]

Fast Black Metal, that is well produced, and yet somehow raw at the same time. As a note to Near Dark, I do understand why labels send out incomplete review copies (and I think those reasons are baseless, false, and pathetic), but how about we’re at least sent a fucking track listing next time!

As always, Bloodlet delivers a slower, heavier version of Hardcore. Actually, I’m tempted to not call this Hardcore, but I’m not exactly sure what other term to use. They seem to be more influenced by Sludge bands like Grief, but without all the noise and excess feedback, than by Warzone or whoever. In any case, Bloodlet have a unique sound, and this disc is packed full of their massive tunes.

I wouldn’t call this band Doom Metal at all. More like self-pity with fits of music. Very melodic songs stuffed with heavy guitars and strange keyboard tones. The odd thing is that it all fits together to make a very cohesive release. The band is good at arranging the parts for each song. The only thing that distracts me is the vocalist. He growls, he screams, he wails, he sounds like a hollow banshee. It’s not very compatible with the rest of the music in most places. Not horrible but I think I would listen to something else.