Arriving barely in time to make it in this issue, I was not able to devote as much time as usual to listening to his CD before passing judgment, so I think that there are hidden depths still to be known. But after only a few listens, this is obviously an impressive piece of work. The band combines a little Black Metal, some evil Thrash, like early Destruction, and keyboards to create a unique sound. The clear production helps their regal songwriting stand out. I hope a full-length is soon to follow.

Very brutal and fast Death Metal. Sick and heavy (not the sickest and heaviest, though), but not the most memorable thing on earth. Competent, but not exactly inspirational.

Mumia’s part consists of his spoken word addresses from prison (where he awaits a death penalty for supposedly killing a cop), along with soundbites from Assata Shakur, Bob Dole, Allen Ginsburg, and Jello Biafra. Mumia’s speeches are interesting and thought provoking, and his voice is very soothing. This is starkly contrasted by the raw harshness (Grind maybe) of Man Is the Bastard. But did Mumia kill that cop, or is it all a set up? There is plenty of evidence in the CD booklet that would indicate a frame, and that seems very likely. And the cop was beating the shit out of Mumia’s brother, so if he did kill him - good. He had it coming. Anyway, this is a very interesting and informative CD that you really ought to hear.

An improved production has helped this band quite a bit, allowing their brutality to become more focused. But it’s also clear that they have made every effort to remove any weaknesses, and what we are left with is an impressive disc of Death Metal. Their refining of their sound and increasing technical ability (not to mention ability to write catchy riffs) has more than earned my respect.

I believe that this is the band’s demo, licensed for release on CD by Wild Rags. Not that you’d know it was a demo recording, though, since it sounds great. Abhorrence only have three tracks to show off their skill at creating brutal Death on this disc, so I hope they release a full-length soon.

Epic Black Metal from the frozen wastelands of New Jersey!?! It’s sort of a strange thought, but these blasphemers do an amazing job. At times fast & furious, but also slow and ominous when necessary. This isn’t refined to the point of perfection quite yet, but Abazagorath could very likely manage it.

Two live shows crammed on to one nearly 80-minute disc. The first set of songs, from a 1995 gig, really captures their live sound, which is a bit heavier than they have been in the studio recently. They open with “Execute Them All” and end with “Into Glory Ride.” These 11 tracks alone would easily be worth the money. But you get ten more from a ‘92 show. This older gig is possibly the better of the two, but maybe that’s just because during the song “Unleashed” Johnny yells “Come on show me the sign of fuckin’ evil!” and “Jesus Christ suck my dick!” Let this be a clue to all bands wanting to get a perfect rating in the unhallowed pages of Metal Curse. The sound, songs, lyrics, and extreme coolness of Unleashed - all this adds up to a flawless live album.

These blasphemers vary their Black Metal attack from Grind to Atmosphere, with vocals matching from tortured screams to tormented whispers. It’s well written, played, and recorded - I can even hear the bass if I really listen. Metal Blade seems to be getting smarter.

It’s not often that I hear a Doom band with such a trebly, Black Metal style, guitar sound. The vocals are in the unholy screechy manner, too, so I guess this is then described as Black Doom. However it might be categorized, this is inspirational stuff. The songs are all well written, played, and very layered with different elements, including acoustic guitar and keyboard. Yet they lose no intensity to the experimentation or to the (well programmed) drum machine. I’m anxiously awaiting more material from this talented band.

Do you like your Metal to be brutal? Do you like it to be unrelentingly intense? Do you like vocals so raw that when you hear them, your throat bleeds? Then look no further. Lividity is 100% pure Death. No Doom, no Grind, no Black, no unnecessary extras - only Death remains. And any band who understands the genius of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lector deserves your support.

Every now and then I look back at my reviews and I wonder what kind of crack I was smoking when I wrote them. Case in point: Krabathor’s Lies LP. It was reviewed in Metal Curse #9, and received an 8.5. I’d like to take this opportunity to revise that rating to 9.75, although I’m sure it’s too late to do much good. That fucker just keeps getting better and better with every listen, and it has spent a lot of time in my player. Now, with that out of the way, I am faced with this deadly EP. It contains three cuts from their 1988 demos (rerecorded), two new pieces of pure Death Metal, and the CD version has a CD-ROM video track for “Unnecessarity,” from the above mentioned Lies album. Seek this out at all costs. Krabathor is one of the very best pure Death Metal bands to exist.

This band plays some of the most aggressive Death/Grind I’ve heard, but thanks to their supreme riffs, drumming and vocals, it’s also fairly easy to remember. This combination of brutality with “catchiness” is actually less uncommon than it once was, but it’s always cool to hear.

Even though the first track is noted as being the “Woman-Hater-Dub-Mix” of “Tenebrae,” I was completely unprepared for the synths and Dance beat. Stunned, I lasted through the song, which blended the aforementioned synth/Dance style with the Sshits’ patented Brown Metal, and was equally stunned to discover the next song (the “Argento-Dub-Mix” of the first track) had the same blend of Dance and Brown Metal. The third song, “Violence Against Feminist Cunts,” saw things get back to what passes for normal around Modesto, although the synths were still present and continued to linger around the edges of this album until the end. Robert has really perfected the new direction of the Meat Shits with these (mostly) longer songs - only 26 on this release! This self-proclaimed Brown Metal is super heavy, for once contains a wide range of tempos, has become memorable (seriously), and Robert Deathrage has emerged as not only a first-rate vocalist (in the proud Death Metal tradition), but also an excellent producer.

While this sounds as if it might have been recorded at the same time as the Vicious Act of Machismo album, since it exactly duplicates it’s excellent production, it is in some ways a throwback to the days of shorter, faster songs. And while there are “only” 38 tracks on this, the majority of them are concise blasts of lust or hate. I find myself liking the newer “Brown Metal” style of somewhat longer, more complex songs better, but perhaps that’s why these two albums have come out so close to each other - then all fans of the Meat Shits will be pleased, and all their detractors will have plenty to bitch about.

Two tracks of majestic, atmospheric Grecian Black Metal. The playing and writing are superb, but the production is a bit fuzzy, although that really sort of adds to the eerie, mystical feeling, so I guess it’s a plus this time.

Okay, here’s the poop: the Malicious Hate tracks on here are blistering, intense Death/Grind. If you’re weak, they’ll kill you, fuck your corpse, and eat the remains. When I say intense, I am not bullshitting. These fucking freaks have been known to play (Scum era) Napalm Death covers at twice their normal speed just for the fuck of it. And the vocals, you ask? Duke’s style ranges from screams of unmitigated agony, to deep growls of insane horror. In other words, it’s as brutal as the music. This is a masterful work of inhumanity and severity. Then, about ten minutes of dead air after the last MH song, the “hidden” bonus tracks start up. They’re mostly pretty fucking bizarre Noise constructions., although there is some other stuff, too. For a more complete run-down on these tracks, check out the Malicious Hate interview in Metal Curse #10. Suffice to say that I like this kind of stuff, so it was a real plus for me.

The first three, new, songs are pretty cool, although not quite up to the extremely high standard of Eternal. The next three are Dance remixes of songs from their last LP. I’m not kidding. They’re only good if you need a laugh. I think that this type of remix is not necessarily worthless, but these are extremely inept examples of the style. Next we have an excellent demo version of “Genetic Affliction” that is easily the high point of the disc. This is followed by a really limp-wristed cover of “Raining Blood.” Brett’s vocals are amazingly weak on this track. I had to check to make sure it was really him. Finally, there are two cuts from the band’s awesome 1990 demo, recorded before Brett decided to apparently ruin his voice by “going Death.” I really would have much preferred the Dance remixes and pathetic attempt at a Slayer cover be removed in favor of some live tracks and the third song from the ‘90 demo. I guess you can’t win them all.

This band has been through some changes in the last year or so, and I was, well, a little worried about how this album would sound. But other than the occasional lapses into stupidly distorted vocals, as in part of “To Kill” (which is really disappointing, since otherwise the vox are great), this is amazing Death Metal. And sometimes pretty damn fast, too. Probably their best since the classic The Ten Commandments.

This one-man project defies all that is good and christian-like. Dark, atmospheric power and some equally “death meets darkness” vocals are what drives the fury behind the message. And the music, according to the bio, is supposed to, “…help inspire the masses to revolt and reign victorious in the name of darkness!” A common goal among most who, “…recognize christianity as one of the biggest causes of embarrassment and shame for the human race.” The music is nothing compared to a few of the lyrics I was able to understand.

Musically, the action here is in the tradition of early-to-mid-period Morbid Angel, and that’s my kind of action for sure. The dynamics are patterned in a classic fashion as well: come in like gangbusters, and then continue like gangbusters. The fury that these guys kick up is a pleasure to wallow in. Particularly head-melting is the transition from the second track, “Burn with Jesus,” into the third, title track; there’s no silence between the songs, so you have to look at your CD player to see that 2 change to a 3. It gives the impression that the album is just one epic track that never lets up. The lyrics are pretty run-of-the-mill “Christians are retards,” but it must have taken forever to compose the 666 riffs on here, so maybe the words were not top priority anyway.