Ultra happy, completely useless, Pop-Punk beat-offs.

High energy Poppy neuvo-Punk. Honestly, it’s not too bad, but it’s really nothing special.

Some bits of speed have been injected into this band’s normal Sludge-core, so this is not as consistently lethargic as their previous two albums. It’s really okay, but just not very inspirational.

The most unique thing about this release is the size of the compact disc. It’s a 3-inch disc, which is a format I like, and my CD player likes it too, but yours might not. At any rate, the band offers up about 20 minutes of standard Death Metal, although it is certainly well-played and at times very intense.

Imagine Cemetary with a little Therion and a shot of Dissection. Gothic Black Thrash, maybe. Only Evereve doesn’t really combine these styles so much as line them up. In any case, this is pretty good, however you want to describe it. I’ll bet that their next LP will either be perfection, or utter crap, depending on where they go from here.

Deadly and super-intense majestic Black Metal. What more needs to be said?

Sadly it sounds as if someone forgot to tune the guitars to the keyboard. Sometimes the vocals remind me more of Pete Steele (Type O Negative) than of My Dying Bride’s Aaron, and sometimes they just sound wrong. I think this Metal/Doom/Goth blend is an excellent idea, but the execution is terrible. Perhaps it’s due to the unbelievably bad mix, or maybe their ideas overpowered their abilities. I hope they iron out the bugs and try again with louder guitars and (way) less vocal level.

God damn, there are a lot of great Death Metal bands from the Chicago area. Euphoric E don’t really cover any new ground with their perverted Death, but they do have this style down solid, and play with extreme intensity. Perhaps a more individual sound would be a good idea in the long run, but if what you want to hear is sheer crushing brutality, you have come to the right demo.

The first song is all Electronic, and for a minute, I thought that maybe these guys were some kind of evil Dance band, but all thoughts of the sort were dispelled within the first seconds of the next track’s brutal Death Metal onslaught. The recording and playing are both impressive (even though the mix and mastering leave a lot to be desired), but that’s about all that elevates these guys above the competition. For me that’s enough, though.

After hearing their Still Dreaming album a few thousand times, I fully expected this to be the melancholy wrist-slasher it is, but what I didn’t expect is how heavy it would be. I mean guitar distortion, aggressive drums kind of heavy. Not that this is the case at all times - it’s not. And the keyboards are still everywhere, but now more perfectly integrated with the guitars and expertly programmed drums to create a more evil, sometimes more aggressive form of audio suicide.

The first track, “Welcome Home,” could have been left off, or at least moved towards the middle, since it’s the weakest of the 13. The remainder are all combinations of Gothic and Metal to varying degrees, and levels of success. Mostly it’s pretty cool, and the playing is excellent throughout.

Black Death Metal from Florida! Nothing new there, I know, but Equinox give it their own identity with a thick guitar tone and a crushing production. In places this sounds like Asphyx’s The Rack it’s so fuckin’ massive, and other times perhaps more like Acheron (which is to be expected considering that Equinox’s guitarists used to be in that band). Return to Mystery should satisfy both Death and Black Metal fans alike.

The only interesting things about this Radio Metal album (think Korn, I guess) is that the band’s from Russia, and I somehow didn’t hate 100% of it (due to their musical ability and taking a few chances).

This CD-only EP has 3 songs of pretty heavy Industrial, and the production is super clear, allowing everything to be heard, except the vocals. I don’t know why they are mixed so low sometimes or why the singer feels the need to occasionally mumble, since his screams and shrieks are just fine.

I believe these 3 tracks are from an upcoming CD. At any rate, EC plays a kind of progressive, super-technical Thrash / Heavy Metal, with clean, “pre-Thrash” vocals. It’s very energetic, and when they concentrate on kicking ass, they do it easily, but much time is also spent on trying out different ideas, some of which work well, while others don’t.

Man, this is a Dark Ambient fucking nightmare. It’s unsettling to the point of nearly being horrifying, yet I am compelled to replay it as often as possible. I am possessed by the unclean spirit of overwhelming hopelessness captured within this recording. I’ve never heard anything darker or more depressing. Beyond belief.

This all-instrumental album covers the bases from acoustic to Thrash to Doom, and never fails to impress. These guys are amazing musicians, and smart enough to not have to prove it 5000 times each song. They instead concentrate on writing interesting, emotional Metal tunes, and let the solos take the place of vocals. A true must for Metal fans of all types.

Honestly, I don’t hear a whole lot of perfect demos, but that’s the only way to describe Encumber’s technical Thrashy Death Metal. There is not one second of this that is less than awesome. It’s easy to hear that they are highly skilled musicians, but they never resort to showing off. Instead, they use their skills to combine simple and complex riffs in a truly memorable way. And they’re also not afraid to throw in some surprises, like a quick acoustic part. But everything is played with an unbelievable amount of intensity. And that goes double for the raw vocals. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they cover “Epidemic,” just to show everyone how to properly do a Slayer song. Encumber couldn’t possibly be cooler or kick more ass.

This, too, was a last minute addition [to Metal Curse #10], so I honestly didn’t listen to it as much as I should have, but it’s either that or it sits for 100 years until issue 11 gets done. Anyway, after 3 1/2 minutes of ambiance, some tribal drums kick in. Track 2 is back to Dark Ambient soundscapes. Just as I was getting sleepy, I noticed a tormented cry deep within the background, and I became enveloped in this dismal sea of despair. If I ever want to commit suicide, Red Stream has certainly given me a wide variety of soundtracks to choose from. Thanks Pat!

Beautifully dark Ambient soundscapes. There are occasional clean (female) vocals, and tortured (male) Black Metal screeches. It would be tough to not be moved by this intensely powerful album. ‘Nuff said.