Sometime after recording their flawless Sadness demo, Avernus decided to remove all traces of Death Metal from their Doom, replacing it with what they hoped would be Gothic atmosphere. Sometimes it works, as in the opener, “Blood Gathers Frost,” and sometimes (in the very next track) it seems as if they needed to work things out a little more before recording. I think the real problem here is that they’re so used to being a Metal band, that they really are not certain how to proceed down any other path, and so have not fully embraced Goth, which seems to be what they’d like to do. At least they didn’t try their hand at Groove Rock, like some other former Doom bands. I don’t want to imply that this is not atmospheric, or in some ways Doomy - it is. But with a thicker guitar sound it could have been much heavier. The band’s vocalist, Rick, might try to tell you that I don’t like his “clean” vocals, and while it is true that I miss his monstrous roar, I think this new vocal approach is effective for this style of music. I just wonder where the band will go from here.

Amazingly well played and recorded Death Metal. Very memorable riffs and interesting guitar solos. Even the vocals are good. Although I cannot find any real faults with this, something keeps it from perfection.

Anyone who knows me will testify that I love obscure-as-fuck bands. I’ve got albums by bands even die-hard undergrounders haven’t heard of, and though a lot of them are bad (and I mean bad!), there are times when I come across a real gem. Astaroth is one such find. This is the German Black Metal band, not to be confused with the ten thousand other bands out there with the same name. Astaroth doesn’t do a whole lot of original things. There are no atmospheric keyboards, no female vocals, no Jazz parts, no Blues influenced guitar solos, no mosh, no core, no trends and no fucking fun. This is just flat-out Black Fucking Metal with a high ass-kickage factor, high memorability factors, even higher blasphemy content and enough Christ-hating fury to make up for the fact that none of these ideas are new. The standout track on this CD has to be “Symphony for a Requiem” (yeah, their English is pretty bad… but hey, if it isn’t your first language, you’re forgiven), for it’s creative bass work and general atmosphere. This is a very solid album and worth picking up - provided you can find it.

Two minutes of fucking around, mumbling some kind of invocation, I’d guess, but this is mastered too low to tell, really. After that the action starts, fast and, well, fuzzy. The guitars are an utter blur, and the drums set on “grind” for more or less the duration. I cannot comment on the lyrics, since they are not in English, and even if they were, the handwritten calligraphy is too brutal to decipher unless you really strain. But the vox are suitably tortured screams and shrieks. There is some great stuff on here - the beginning of the third track comes to mind - but most of it is very standard fast Black Metal. Not bad, but certainly not great.

Very expertly played (true) Power Metal from Russia, much in the same vein as newer Helloween. ‘Nuff said.

This kind of band is tough for me to describe. They play a sludgy kind of Groove Metal, but also speed things up occasionally. Maybe something like a less deranged Eyehategod, with a touch of a more Southern Alice in Chains. If you’re into that kind of thing, AB is probably great, but it’s just not a style I care much about.

Desolate synths, & haunting, multilayered 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.]

Fifteen minutes of depressing synth Goth. It’s eerie, haunting and ominous - everything it should be.

If you’re a Death Metal singer and you want people to be able to understand your lyrics without a lyric sheet in front of them, you’ve likely got a problem, since growled vox and understandable vox are nearly mutually exclusive. Not for Apollyn, however. There are very few people who can accomplish sounding raw and evil and still be this - I hate to use the word “clear,” but I can clearly make out the lyrics. The music is as brutal as it should be. In fact, I’m kind of reminded of newer Cannibal Corpse, except the lyrics are blasphemous, rather than sick. All things considered, an excellent Satanic Death Metal release, with exceptionally strong vocals. Since releasing this demo, this band has changed their name to Evil Incarnate.

The title is accurate. This is mostly a bunch of sounds (a few of which could be made by musical instruments) jammed together. Sometimes a rhythm or repetitive pattern of some kind emerges, and there are some voices occasionally, but I’d be hard pressed to call this music.

After the lyrically monotonous first track, this gets a bit more interesting. Antichrisis play a fairly unique hybrid of Death-style Doom and Goth. There are crushing guitars and growled vocals here, but they are often replaced by, or accompanied by, “clean” male and female vocals and various keyboards. I think that they still have a few rough edges to work out, but this is more often than not pretty cool.

I don’t think this is the same band that recorded 1996’s Framework [Actually, this was the same band. - Editor], but because I have long since broken Framework in a game of backyard Tron, I can’t compare them directly. Anyway, this isn’t bad for what it is, which is hard edged, guitar driven Pop. There’s a little Hardcore influence, but although not bad, this is nothing special.

Precisely played Hardcore / Alternative / Metal, in more or less the same style as Helmet, I guess, although not as rigid. Not bad, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to hear it.

This is a little strange. There are 13 tracks and most consist of 2 short parts, a musical band part with instruments & players, and a sequenced keyboard sounding part. Each with it’s own definitive subtitle. The band parts are called “sequences” and the electronic parts are called “actions,” which seems a bit mismatched, and they’re all numbered accordingly. After briefing the song titles with the “prologue,” numbered “cycles,” “sequences,” “actions” and all the movements, not to mention the enticing cover to the album itself, I figured I was in for a musical interpretation of The Lesbian Dominatrix Training Bible. But sadly no. The musical parts are intense but not always. The sequenced “ambient” sections are really interesting and I like them most of all. The vox range from harsh droning & growls to wailing & whining, or maybe that’s crying. The drones of the vocalist get a little old, and sound like a suicidal Elmer Fudd at times. But that’s okay depending on your mood. The production is sharp, but a few tracks seem underdeveloped. Maybe I got my hopes up because of the cover. And the disk is pink?

There is so much negative emotion and ominous atmosphere within these songs that I’m hard pressed to not call the style played by AW Black Doom. Generally the drums are kept slow, accenting the depressing riffs. Keyboards highlight, rather that support, these dismal dirges. This is close to perfection, and made even closer by the knowledge that Marcus more or less did everything himself.

Vampire wannabe simple Gothic Black 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.]

Nuclear Blast releases quite a few CDs. Because there are so many, however, inevitably a few get released that are just a tad below par. This is one such album. They call what they make “old school Metal,” which I guess is a pretty good description. It’s an OK album, with occasional heights in the shape of songs like “Awake” and “Lust,” but, frankly, I would wait until it’s in the sale bin before I’d get it.

AoMM plays a type of Metal slightly more progressive and technical than, for example, fellow Germans, Helloween. Also less Thrashy, and although it is expertly played, less interesting & too tame.

It’s very difficult to be both extremely technical and extremely memorable at the same time. I wouldn’t say that Algophobia have exactly perfected this, but they’ve come pretty close. Their Black/Death attack is precise, yet emotionally powerful, and covers the known range of speeds. The playing & composition is nothing short of stunning. But there is something that keeps this just short of perfection…

The raw, early Asphyx-like, guitar sound is almost not right for these classic Iron Maiden galloping riffs. But it along with the heavier perhaps more Venom inspired riffs, and the growled Black/Death vocals give this a really pissed off, edgy feeling, elevating it above the standard Euro-Metal (true Power Metal). Fans of stuff like Helloween will probably not like the raspy vocals, but they are part of what makes this a more menacing monster.