Having been rather disappointed when I last saw Grave live (on their most recent tour), I wasn’t sure what to expect from this live disc. However, when I saw that there was some old material (even a never-before-released demo track!) on here, I felt a little better. Not that they played any old shit when I saw them… So I sat down and gave it a listen. If the guys in Grave are reading this, I have a question for you: What the fuck? The music is passable (not as heavy as it should be from fucking Grave!), but the vocals are sissified. They sound like Machine Head or other twats like them. Fly me over for your next album and I’ll show you what Death Metal vox sound like. I’ll do it for free. So don’t tell me that you couldn’t get anyone else to sing. Turn the distortion back to 10, and get a new growler. Or change the band’s name.

This band’s Black/Death Metal is so intense, I was tempted to call it Black Grind. The production is supreme, and that helps a lot, but for all it’s intensity, this isn’t really all that memorable.

It’s about time this outstanding Death Metal act got signed! Chomp-chomp Death with lots of catchy hooks and changes, kind of like Obituary. If you were at Milwaukee [MetalFest] in ‘97, you must have heard everyone talking about this band. They are truly something that must be witnessed by every Death Metal fan. Now if only someone would put out a CD with all the tracks from the Rip Off Your Face and Skin the Living demos on it. That would fucking rule, just as this does!

These guys are compelled to do some little spoken word bit in every song. It really gets old after a while. Kinda like Rob Zombie saying “Yeah” at least 24 times a minute. Not only that, but G of R do a little Beastie Boys style rap on side two of this musical disaster. I have to admit that some of the lyrics are okay and some of the songs have a heavy/groove guitar sound. But other than that, it’s worthless.

I guess that every band on Invasion Records must kick ass. Someone at Metal Blade deserves a big raise for this licensing deal. Anyway, G of I are fast “new school” melodic Black Metal, with the requisite Thrash & Death Metal touches. Very well written and executed. The guitar solos sometimes even approaching a Mercyful Fate sort of feeling. And I think that’s a compliment of the highest order. I have no complaints about this very impressive release, but I’d kill someone for a lyric sheet.

I was thoroughly enjoying this Doomy, majestic Death Metal, when all of a sudden the disc hit track 8; a Techno “remix” of the 1st song, “Nebelmond.” It’s not terrible, but it does bring this down from what would have been close to perfect. However, the remaining seven cuts are more than 30 minutes long, so even without the “remix,” this is still a full-length release, so I guess I shouldn’t complain (as if that ever stops me).

The idea to play Death Metal with a bit of a groove to it is not new, however Gardenian is one of the few bands that can do it well enough to make it sound cool. The fact that there is a dash of Black Metal also helps them to stand alone. Their Rock influence also comes to the front a few times, but once again, they somehow manage to break with the norm, and make it kick ass. Maybe it’s got something to do with the lyrics (check out the pro-suicide cut, “Downfall”). But really it’s that for once a band has figured out how to take the best elements from their influences and get rid of the rest. The result: near perfection.

When they play slowly or mid-paced, their Death/Doom is crushingly depressive. When they speed up, thus losing some of the Doom, their brutality comes to the fore. The production and vox are more or less flawless, but the drastic tempo changes can be a little distracting, and there are a few other slightly rough edges in the music. But not many, and not with the riffs or drumming so much as with the “embellishments.”

For all (like me) who love traditional Metal, this is supreme. Beyond awesome playing, super memorable songs, and nuclear intensity. My only complaint is that the lyrics are too geeky sci-fi, with all the space stuff, but they’re not good guys, so I can overlook it pretty easily.

MTV-friendly happy little guitar-driven Alternative Rock.

[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’m guessing that this is a demo released on CD because unless this happens to be one of those totally fucking with your head moments, I kind of doubt that Furia Records just happened to sign them. That would be like a label like Nuclear Blast going out and finding a band called Nuclear Blast and then signing them to release an album. Anyway, this is some fairly competently executed Black Metal (minus the excessive makeup) complete with a vocalist who sounds like he took singing lessons from Varg Vikerns. The three songs (plus intro) are pretty tight and sound very melodic. Not Fall of the Leafe melodic (where you sit there and go, “Damn that’s melodic!”), but not Darkthrone either.

I never expect much from so-called “guitar heroes,” so I was surprised to discover that this chick can crank ‘em out with the best. She’s occasionally heavier than Vai or Satriani, but like those geeks, she succumbs to the temptation to try to sing. That fucks up everything. Obviously she can play her ass off, and knows enough to at least make an attempt to be heavy, and every once in a while one of her leads is sorrowful enough to make you hurt. So I think the instrumental tracks are about the best any guitar hero could hope to come up with. But the tracks with vox bring this way down. Jaye loses the heaviness and the intricacy of the music to make way for her all too “Hard Rock babe” vox. I have upped the rating a (very) little because Jaye has wisely decided to rely on her playing ability alone (unlike a lot of other women musicians), and there are no “sexy” photos of her to be found here.

Maybe I should call this “Black Doom.” The Forgotten can get fast and evil, or alternately slow and depressing. But they keep these two long songs interesting, no matter the speed.

Every review you read for this album will mention that this LP brings the band back home to Metal Blade, after a decade of other labels. Big deal, what’s the music like? Much like their last album, Drift, this is Thrash done in a way that few others attempt these days. I suppose that these guys are sort of throwbacks to earlier times, but as long as they make LPs like this one, that’s fine with me. Far from being a remake of their earlier work, High is more a refinement, and may be their best album since No Place for Disgrace. Nice cover of Lard’s “Forkboy,” too.

Chicago is the place in the USA for Death Metal. If I could hear Ray Vazquez’s basslines a bit better, I’d put this album up against anyone - at least as far as brutality is concerned. Speaking of brutal, Rich’s vocals are mostly inhuman gurgles and grunts, but he occasionally growls out some more normal Death rattles, too. This is just complete decimation from beginning to end.

For those not familiar with Final Exit, they’re extreme Grind/Noise, mixed with weird bits of other musical styles. Something like John Zorn’s Painkiller. As for Gonkulator, they’re the very first, and best, evil Black Noise band. You can’t go wrong with this blue, 7-inch slab of wax.

Heavy, ripper-like guitar riffs, brutal drum sound, a vocalist that isn’t afraid to show off his octave range and lyrics that have the ability to draw vivid pictures in the mind. Those were all the elements I could think of when I listened to this band’s first track. After listening to the rest, I realized that was the best way to describe this whole album.

Well, these remixes hide a few of the riffs that I hated on their Demanufacture album, but they seem to be using the same stupid vocal effects. This is clearly an attempt to squeeze as much cash as possible out of their fans, and nothing else. After hearing this, I cannot believe that these dorks wrote even one good song, much less an album like Soul of a New Machine. I’m sure they think that LP sucks now.

Rap influenced Funky Punk. And nothing of interest.

[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 starts off with an instrumental that really demands attention. That’s followed with a song in German that sets the tone of the whole tape. All the rest of the songs are in English, and very majestic with a warrior feel to them. Incorporated in most of the songs is a female vocalist who sings a few choice lines completely in the foreground with power and grace at once. The guitar riffs are aggressive, and are very “Traditional Metal.” The vocals are equally as aggressive with a real Death Metal edge. I think this is a work to be proud of.