Damn! This is a hard one to review. Try to imagine a combination of Amorphis and Carcass if you can. There are atmospheric keyboards always present and a combination of melodic mid-paced riffage and diabolic amphetamine picking. And the patented Walker/Steer = raspy scream/big bad pitch shifted growl vocal combo. Some songs are more memorable than others. But any band who ends their CD with a track called “My Sweet Satan” couldn’t be too horrible, could they? A very different type of Death. Try it out.

The music reminds me of The Misfits with some Black Sabbath thrown in. And while their singer is no “Evil Elvis,” I like his voice better than Mr. Osbourne’s. And speaking of the vocals: most of the time they’re sung clean, but every once in a while they turn into a sort of raspy Death Metalish growl, or even higher pitched Black Metal-like screeches. Erotic Funeral have certainly created an individual sound, and they’re worthy of your respect and support.

This demo only has two songs, but when they’re this good, two is all you need. Heavier than their Into Out demo, but still as complex, and with even better sound. The vocals are not as heavy, though, which I miss, but they are still sort of raw. The band seems to have realized that their previous songs could be more memorable, and they took care of that deficiency. An excellent release.

If it means anything to you, someone named Gizz, from Prodigy, sings and plays guitar for these guys. I always tried pretty hard to not listen to Prodigy, but I think that they were pretty dissimilar to this Metal/Punk hybrid. It’s honestly not bad at all - very energetic and sort of begs to be sung along with.

It’s not often that I hear a flute in any kind of Metal composition, but somehow End Zone makes it work. The band’s unique combination of Thrash and Doom, with some Death elements, makes for a very interesting and memorable album. Sometimes I’m reminded of bands like Death, others it’s more like Candlemass, and occasionally I detect a hint of Voivod. This is a very well thought-out and precisely executed album, that also happens to be very powerful emotionally.

Pretty entertaining Black Metal in the Immortal style. The good production is certainly a plus, but some of the riffs are not up to snuff. Once again, a word to all bands: Put your address on the demo or the J-card, or I might lose it, like I did with this band. Moving twice in a month can do that sort of thing to a person.

The occasional combination of Doomy guitars and blast drum beats is a bit unsettling at first, but I like it. The drums are sometimes so fast that if you told me that Jim (who is credited on drums, but as an “additional musician”) is really a machine, I’d be ready to believe it. If my band (Adversary) ever gets a human drummer, I want Jim! Anyway, to sum it up, what we have here is another great Greek Black Metal band.

Since they are from Greece, I was ready for this demo to be really good, but I wasn’t ready for this masterpiece. The have that “Greek” keyboard sound, like Varathron, Rotting Christ, et al, but their style is more aggressive. Perhaps built on Death Metal, rather than old Thrash. They take this to the realm of the Black abyss, and the listener goes along freely and of his own will. An amazing demo, which should get them signed in about ten seconds.

I didn’t much like the intro. The (cleanly sung) female vocals add a unique edge to this Doom band’s sound. Sometimes it’s very impressive, but certainly not always. They try very hard to make the “romantic” and “gothic” aspects show through, usually at the expense of such forgotten things as “heavy,” “interesting,” or “memorable.”

Heavy and melodic Death/Doom. Impressively played and with excellent production. This could crush your mind, but something seems to be holding it back. Perhaps it’s the repetition.

It’s been a while since I’ve heard Death grunts, as opposed to the more common growling style. It’s pretty cool. I have missed this. I’m gonna have to go listen to Pathologist and the first two Carcass albums now. Oh yeah, I forgot what I was doing for a second. Dying Fetus are clearly talented, and write some heavy stuff. Usually my next line would be, “Too bad I can’t remember any of it after it’s done playing,” but not this time. There is a secret to being memorable and this heavy. These guys and about 10 other bands know it. This is even more impressive when you realize that (unless I’m wrong) this CD is really 2 demos repressed on disc. I can hardly wait to hear more from this amazing band!

Dark and oppressive Doom, with some occasionally very majestic passages. The slower Dusk play, the heavier and better they are. Fortunately, most of this disc is mind-crushingly lethargic.

This is weird. Sometimes I hear shades of Gwar, and others it’s maybe as nutty (and impressive) as Frank Zappa. Occasionally a little splash of Primus jumps out. It’s interesting and entertaining to listen to Dump Gang, and they’re clearly very talented, but this seems to be weird for weirdness’ sake.

After the terrible intro finally ends, the speedy Black/Death Metal starts. Dream Sovereign have some good ideas and a few cool riffs, but even after several listens, I’m not too impressed. It might have something to do with the fuzzy sound of this recording. It’s as if the whole thing were just slightly overdriven. I think it might have been intentional, since it seems to affect the vocals more than anything else.

This promo tape has four songs of very energetic Thrash form the band’s self-released In Doctrine Nation 8-song CD. These cuts are well played, fairly memorable, and the production is great. But even with all that going for it, this is still somehow not a spectacular release. It’s not bad, though.

This is a project band for Stephan, but I certainly hope he manages to recruit enough members to make it into a full time band, since it’s quite good. The beautiful guitar work, and speedy riffs, take the mind of the listener back to days of Thrash gone bye. Very enjoyable listening.

Although there is no address given, the J-card mentions a record label called Angel’s of Hell, so this might not actually be a demo. If that’s the case, I trust that both the band and label will accept my apologies, and take my advice and put the label’s address on future releases. Anyway, the depressing, Gothic tinged music (vocals, too) of Doppelganger reminds me a whole lot of Type O Negative. They do a great job with this style and are more consistently heavy and depressing than Type O (at least on the original issue of their Bloody Kisses album), but perhaps a more unique sound would make them even better.

Another minimalistic Trance/Noise/Electronic production of the deranged mind of my friend Steinbock. The slow march of the drums is almost at odds with the rabid shrieks of lust-filled poetry, and the distorted droning of the bass. At times, this gives me the feeling of being buried alive - hearing the shovel-fulls of dirt drop down upon my helpless mind.

Imagine if Scorn were stripped of its disco beats and all that remained was the distant howls from the abyss. If this music has a precedent, it would be the work of the fearsome Lustmord on the LPs Heresy and The Monstrous Soul: no singing, and a focus on the unidentifiable and disturbing. Off in the near-silent distance you will hear subtle and evocative sounds, until you realize that maybe the background is the foreground and then you will shiver to find the foreground right in your fucking face.

Fuck yes! That was my first thought upon hearing this. Divine Sin play very fierce Thrash. Very fierce. Maybe along the lines of a Dark Angel/Demolition Hammer mix, if you can imagine such a thing. Fredde’s vocals are mostly gruff, and honestly sound pretty unique. Then are the times when he uses a clean style, and is quite good at that, too. The band’s playing and songwriting are easily as stunning as the excellent vocals. Winterland is a masterful album, that all fans of true Metal should worship.