More intense than Upon Promeathean Shores, if you can believe it. It’s more tortured, atmospheric, and faster. It’s probably not as memorable, but its extra helping of Satanic whup-ass makes up for that.

Twenty minutes of extreme Death Metal porno sickness. Plus a Cheech sample. It’s well written, well played, fairly memorable and heavy as fuck. What more do you need to know?

Heavy, sludge Metal, with vocals from another dimension of raspy screeches that can somehow be low pitched. And the lyrics seem to come from smack-induced fever dreams. Insanity Sludge Junk Metal. Whatever it might be called, it’s pretty cool.

Heavy, technical Death/Thrash/Doom.

[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.]

More well played crushing Death/Doom.

[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.]

Absolutely kick ass Death from beginning to end. Everything about this disc is close to perfect, and I expect to see them signed soon.

As fans of the band’s debut, Imperial Doom, would expect, this is a monstrous slab of technical, yet brutal Death Metal. I think that this has a somewhat more individual identity than their aforementioned debut, but the real question about this band is what they will sound like with their new singer, Jason Avery (their original singer, George “Corpsegrinder,” did the vox on this disc). But for now, we’ll just have to listen to this a few hundred times and see what the future holds.

When the box set came out [1996], I thought it was supposed to have all the Misfits’ songs, but this has some long lost gem called “In the Doorway.” I’m sure all real fans have most of these songs on the collections (although this supposedly has different mixes of “She” and some others) and/or Legacy of Brutality, but it’s pretty cool to have the album as it was intended. Of course if you have the box set, you already have that (plus a nice booklet with all the lyrics, which stupidly aren’t included with this release), so I’m not sure how important it is to hear the one newly discovered track. If this entire album hadn’t just been released in the aforementioned box set, then it would be truly mandatory. I’m torn about recommending this. On the one hand it has the extra track and the differently mixed versions of a couple songs, but on the other hand, anyone who would give a fuck about just one new song and different mixes very likely already shelled out $60-$70 for the box… As much as I love this album, I think Caroline got a little greedy here. However, if you somehow have not heard the Misfits (have you been on Mars for the last 20 years?), and have $15 (but not $60 for the box), then by all means pick this up immediately. My rating is based strictly on the seminal Punk on this all-time classic album, and not anything else.

I really thought that a Misfits album without Glenn Danzig would be like a blow job with no mouth involvement. I was wrong. This is not the Misfits of old, though. The playing is exact, and the production thick and flawless (as I would expect from a major label release). The first track, the instrumental “Abominable Dr. Phibes,” is heavy on a Forest of Equilibrium level. I was not ready for that at all. After that, this album combines the Punk I expected with a real Metal edge. And they do it right. Danzig’s “replacement,” Michale Graves, does a near-perfect job with the vocals. He varies his style from basically yelling to a fairly emotional, more traditionally Rock, sound. The song-writing is also very impressive, especially considering that none of the guys in the band now ever wrote a Misfits song before (although that probably explains why none of these songs sound like “Angelfuck” or other classics). The only disappointing thing about this is their cheap shot at Danzig: the lyrics of the song “Speak of the Devil” (“Some call me the Son of the Morning” and “I drink my water from a wolf’s footprint” for example) are clearly intended to lampoon their former leader. He did give them Hell about using the name, but maybe it’s really not the Misfits without Glenn? I don’t know about that shit. All I know is that these guys have made a kick-ass album.

It’s close to impossible to beat the mighty Dutch Hercules, Tesco Vee, and his Meatmen, but when they start a CD with a Venom cover, you know it’s one for the vaults. They go on to deliver such soon-to-be-classics as “Shut Up and Suck” and “Strap On” (with some help from Butt Trumpet’s Bianca Butthole), as well as their anthem “We’re the Meatmen and You Suck,” plus some other Porn Punk treasures. As if that weren’t enough, this CD-ROM has a bunch of live video footage, all the Meatmen info you can stand, and a “game” where Tesco gets to smack Jesus around. How can you pass up such coolness?

This is blasting, sinister, raw Black Metal with one of the most extreme vocalists I’ve heard in quite a long time. The music is fast paced, for the most part, but it does slow down every now and then and achieves a semblance of melody. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often. Sometimes the singer switches to clean, chanting vocals that are not particularly to my liking. The contrast with the harsh vocals makes it bearable however, and the music, which is extremely tight and extremely extreme keeps me dancing. When I first heard this, I nearly had a heart attack. Your reaction should be similar. This is no doubt a protest against all the bland, melodic bands pouring from Norway these days…

I was a little disappointed with their Joe Black collection of various odds & ends, but let me assure you that In Cold Blood sees MC at their most fierce yet, even surpassing Eternal. Their blistering Death onslaught has simply never been more intense, or better produced. Never have they written better riffs, and never have they played them with such conviction. And I’d like to go record and say that Jason Blachowicz is easily in the top 5 Death Metal vocalists I’ve ever heard. His vox are extremely consistent and recognizable, not to mention raw enough to cut through steel, but still understandable. I think all new bands should view In Cold Blood as a textbook example of how to properly make a Death Metal album. It simply must be awarded the highest honor.

It seems that whenever a band changes their logo, their sound changes, too. Gone is the completely over the top Ultra-Death and gurgled vox that made me freak out over their debut CD. Not to say that this isn’t heavy as Hell. It’s certainly still brutal Death Metal, but is now in a more controlled style. I’m sometimes reminded of the precision Death groove of the last two Napalm Death albums. I’m also glad to report that there is still some sickness here. I suppose that IT had no choice but to go in a different direction. After all, how could they improve upon perfection? Birthrate Zero is in no way a sell out of any kind, but rather a choice of surgically removing one’s head, rather than smashing it to a pulp.

Now this is more like it! IB’s first full-length CD, Voracious Contempt, suffered from a thin production and a lack of new songs, but those problems have been solved with this monster. Frank’s vox are more demonic than ever, and now the full power of their “pit-riffs” has been released. This Death Metal will kick your ass until you remember it, then throw you into the pit to die.

Wisely they have kept the songs short concentrated bursts of pure Death. Speaking of Death, we are treated to a very convincing cover of “Scream Bloody Gore.” Nothing new here, but nothing bad either, and 44,000 great riffs, too. In this case, the old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades. Glad they didn’t try to “fix” anything.

I have tolerated Gwar in the past because they were funny and sort of heavy. Usually that’s a memorable combo. But what happens if you take away most of the heaviness? Then it’s just a joke band. And what if the joke isn’t funny anymore? Gwar is getting there. Their last album, Ragnarok was well on its way to being useful only in backyard Tron games. Carnival… is an extremely slight redemption (probably more like a small aberration in their downhill free-fall, but only their next album will tell for sure), since some of the tracks are listenable, and a few (such as “Penguin Attack,” “The Private Pain of Techno Destructo” and the New-Punk, Beefcake the Mighty sung anthem “Hate Love Songs”) even sorta good, but the rest are the dried up shit around a scumdog’s asshole. A couple Country styled attempts at humor, a bunch of Guns N Roses kind of Cunt Rock, and a Lounge number sung by the Gwar Hairy Armpit Bitch. Gwar are running out of ideas fast.

The best way to experience Gwar is live. A video isn’t bad, though. Less messy anyway. And considering that their recent albums haven’t been as good as their early stuff, a video gives you a sort of “greatest hits” collection, plus you get to actually see all the crazy antics of these goofs. I would have appreciated it more had they played some older material, but I suppose that’s why they have other videos.

I believe that this is a re-release of their impossible to find Fangs, Breaking the Skin CD. And, I’m thankful for that, because this is a massive slab of precision Death Metal, and it’s a pleasure to finally hear it.

Hypocrisy have had a different sound on all of their releases, from Death to Doom to Black Metal and more. This sort of combines them all, but not all at once (although there is almost always some Black Metal involved). Each song has a unique identity. “Inseminated Adoption” is fast Black Metal, while the very next song, “A Coming Race” might be described as Gothic Black Doom. It’s very impressive and diverse, but I would expect no less from Peter and his band of demons (“aliens”?). I only hope that this is not really the final chapter for the band.

As much as I worshipped their debut, The Power of Inner Strength, this is clearly superior. The vocals are more individual, but still powerful, and raw when necessary. The music is somewhat more diverse, but with Dave Lombardo beating skins, and Waldemar Sorychta handling the guitar duties (as well as the production), you know it’s always intense. The unique style of Thrash played by Grip Inc. is nearly in a class by itself, and all fans of Metal (in its many forms) are advised to check it out. You’ll not be disappointed.