This is leaning more towards Black Metal than their debut demo, Angel de Mi Guarda, although some Death remains. It’s more intense and the sound is vastly improved. In fact, the production is amazing - extremely clear, but raw. I wish I could translate the Spanish lyrics, I’m certain they’re purely evil.

These guys know how to play Metal. If you’re into heavy, not trendy, guitar riffs and aggressively searing vocals, 8EB is where its at. It’s good to know that bands like this stay true to what they feel is their genre of music, and don’t try to personify something false. This has been well produced with decent clarity. Although, I think the drums are a little overpowering and the guitars could be more in the foreground in some cases, but otherwise, it was still cool.

I’m assuming that this is supposed to be scary and ominous. It’s not even close. It’s merely trite, banal and annoying. I think someone needs to explain to Mr. Von what real “uneasy listening” is. Any volunteers?

This single, 40 minute long, track contains virtually every style of Metal in varying degrees and durations. It really sounds like a bunch of different songs all tracked together, rather than one cohesive unit. It’s an interesting, well executed, idea, but some parts really tend to drag on, and occasionally the clean vocals are somewhat weak. I also must wonder how many people have the necessary attention span to really appreciate a 40 minute song.

Whoa! The lead vocalist of this band is in definite need of a throat lozenge. Their music is really cool and well orchestrated traditional Heavy Metal. Strong, bold guitar riffs that are catchy in spots. A few of the songs have more of a White Zombie feel to them. But, I think this vocalist needs to tone down his extreme Death Metal style a tad. Other than that, the production was well done and quite clear.

Hi, we’re interested in being the next Nine Inch Nails. But unlike them, we don’t have a whole lot of talent, but… we are attractive guys and we have great fashion sense. We have top of the line equipment (the best that Mom can buy), and I’m sure that with enough marketing we could be really big. Think about it and get back to us.

Well, I guess I won’t be inviting these guys to my annual “eat a cheeseburger while raping a nun in a burning church” party. Anyway, EC play fairly intense ‘core, although sometimes the riffs get a little gay - oh pardon me, I mean “wimpy” - and the lyrics are extremely preachy. Do they really believe everything they say? I wonder how many times these a day guys smoke some weed and eat a big slab of ribs. Didn’t someone famous once say, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time”? Maybe if Earth Crisis would stop trying so hard to be completely politically correct and inoffensive at all time, I might be more interested in what they have to say. For the record, their bassist, Ian (or perhaps Tom, the “provider of fretless bass”), is amazing, and except for a few of the above mentioned dorky start-stop kind of riffs, this album is musically exceptional.

Primitive, simple Death Metal. Very intense and brutal, though. It’s nothing extraordinary, but this is fairly well played, and when they slow things down, it can be deadly.

The first track is all acoustic, with droning vocals. I woke up in time to hear the somewhat better second track (also acoustic, as are they all). Imagine acoustic Type O Negative and an unsuccessful attempt at **Dead Can Dance - it’s not bad, but I’m not interested. Maybe I’ll give this one to my girlfriend.

These Hardcore gals are occasionally a bit more Groove oriented than I like, and Asa’s vocals sound very restrained, like she wants to really cut loose, but for some reason can’t or won’t. Still, not at all a bad release.

Sometimes when I listen to bands that are part of the “revival” of Thrash and “Classic” Metal I can only wonder where they were (or what they sounded like) five years ago. Well, I know what DV were doing at least 4 years ago, and it’s pretty similar to what they’re doing now: Thrash. Well, that’s not exactly true. Since their Twisting Your Mind demo (from ‘94), they’re certainly gotten heavier and now incorporate occasional (and very well done) Death Metal vocals, in addition to their normally “gruff” clean vocals.

The delicate acoustic intro melts into an absolutely blistering Death Metal barrage. The intensity of the music is matched by the brutality of the vocals, and the excellent production. I wish that the bass guitar had been mixed a little higher, as it’s almost impossible to hear, but that is my only musical complaint, and probably not the band’s fault anyway. What really keeps this from a flawless rating is how the vocal lines are phrased; sometimes the vocals just don’t go with the music at all, almost as if they were sung while listening to only the drum track, with no thought of how they would sound with the riffs in place - they’re timed correctly, but are not “with” the riffs. It’s enough to keep them from perfection.

Well, that was weird. Fast, Groovy riffs and distorted vocals, occasionally delivered in a Rap-like style. It’s different, I’ll give them that, but it does little for me.

Very professional job on the recording and package, but more or less standard job on the “slammy” Death Metal. Not that it’s bad, though. Just nothing that you’ve not heard before. But Disciple deliver the bads with enough intensity to more than do this style justice, and even do a cool (faster) cover of “God of Thunder.”

Even more Pantera-influenced than their Widespread Human Disaster demo, this is just pathetic. At least on the demo, they weren’t in “tough-guy” (aka “ass-packing”) mode all the time, but they have seen the “error” of that approach, and what was once an occasional irritant has become terminal.

They rhyme “fire” with, you guessed it, “desire,” not just once, but multiple times, in the first song. Their singer sounds like a Cock Rock pretty boy. They profane the sacred double bass drum beat. I would think that this is maybe a secret project band of Poison, but these jackoffs think that they’re tough guys, and the Poison girls know better. If it’s free, you should get it just to make fun of. That’s what I do with shit like this.

The kind of Deathy Doom played by this band really needs a more clear production. There’s quite a bit going on in this music, but it’s somewhat difficult to hear it all due to the muddy sound. Of course I understand that studio time is extremely expensive in Russia, so I shouldn’t complain about a less-than-perfect production, but the music is possibly flawless and deserves a flawless sound. Very impressive.

I quote this band’s press release: “There’s NO atmospheric parts, NO progress, NO melancholic passages and of course NO melody! There’s only primitive, inflexible, old fashioned metal, severely conservative sound that proves that the classic in this genre is only found in repetitive and narrow limited standards.” Sadly, the band apparently believes this crap, so this CD consists of a lot of the same drum beat, and single-string speed picking - it doesn’t exactly take a degree in music theory to do this kind of stuff. Honestly, it’s not too bad, but let’s not try to claim that this is all there is in the world.

Their very impressive playing is made even more uncanny by the sheer brutality of their unrelenting Death Metal massacre. Technical and ferocious generally equals songs that are fun to listen to, but that don’t really stick with you - but not in this case. Devilyn have discovered one of the best kept secrets in music, and use their deadly knowledge with near-perfect surgical precision.

How the fuck did these idiots ever get signed? This is the worst of an evening of MTV all crammed into a talentless, worthless waste of plastic. Completely pathetic.