Very brutal, old-style sick/gore Death Metal. Done the way it should be, with extremely raw vocals and chainsaw guitars ripping through your skull. Easily one of the best true Death Metal demos I’ve heard for a long time.

Black Metal is a specifically hard genre to maintain originality in, but Sweden’s Dissection certainly pull it off. This is Black Metal unlike most other. It is very Thrashy with a Frost-like feel, yet contains all of the sickness of a modern Black outfit. These guys are also extremely talented musicians, and the cover art is fucking awesome! If you’re into Black Metal, but tired of all the rip-offs, this band will make your ball hairs stand up straight.

The sound is amazing, but it was recorded at Unisound, so that’s only to be expected. The music is also amazing and extremely intense, sometimes even sort of majestic. They play a kind of dark Thrashy Death, with keyboards, perhaps a bit like Nightfall, although not quite as perfected.

Fast -sometimes bordering on Noise- Death Metal. Generally not very engrossing, but certainly brutal, after a fashion, sort of like early Meat Shits, except that these songs are longer, and more thought out.

All their press release wants to tell me is that these zombies have incorporated some NWOBHM influences into their song writing. Well, no shit. Press releases are generally worthless to those of us who actually listen to an album before we review it. So, let me tell you about the reality of this CD. Dismember is a band which has had its share of bullshit to deal with. They have been called Entombed clones, had their CDs stopped at borders, and have been in legal battles over their songs. They deserve better than to have a press release which claims that they are a combination of Death Metal and Grunge. That’s utterly insane, and the guy at Relapse who thinks he hears any Grunge on this album should stop listening to the fuckin’ Doors all the time, and actually spin an album a couple times before he writes up the shit he sends out to us helpless zine guys. Fuck! Anyway, this picks up right where Indecent and Obscene left off. Is it intense? Yes. Is it gonna rip your head off and shit into your brain? You know it. Is Matti still Mr. Vokills? Of corpse. Is it their best album so far? Maybe. But for sure they created it within the 666 layers of Sunlight studios.

On the inside of their J-card it says, “for lyric sheet. please write,” then has their address. A word of advice to bands: When the choice is between a band photo or the lyrics, I think more people will care about what you have to say over how you look. The fact that there was enough empty space on the inside of the J-card to print the lyrics is even more annoying. Then, of course, the band expects those who order the demo from them to write them again to get a lyric sheet. Why not send one out with each demo sold? And why not enclose one when sending a demo to a zine for a review? Now, about the demo. Nice, thick, clear sound supporting pretty good (sometimes fairly Groove inspired) Thrashy music. The vocals sometimes get a bit raw, and sometimes sound like the tough guy new “Aggro Metal” bullshit.

Very intense, expertly played and written, blasphemous Death Metal. The band denies any connection to either Black Metal or Doom, but there are certainly some crushingly slow parts, and all the lyrics are anti-god. At any rate, however you label them, Disabled are monstrously severe and these three brutally memorable cuts will leave you utterly destroyed.

Only 2 songs, but very well played and exploding with energy. These guys go for speed over heaviness, but the vocals are brutal enough to make up for that. Perhaps a bit too hyper to be really memorable, but they do manage to capture a somewhat original sound, which is hard enough these days.

All atmosphere and orchestral, these guys maybe out do Decoryah at their own game. Self-described as “Dark Wave,” which, upon reflection, does indeed seem to fit.

This sort of extremely Poppy “Punk” really sickens me. It’s the Punk equivalent of maybe Ratt, I think. Horrid.

These guys are the living definition of Groove Punk/Metal. The real kind, not the doped out bullshit that some former Doom bands pass off as “Groove.” Plus they have a real Punk ethic about them. And did I mention that they have porno lyrics? Yeah, DDatTT are the bastard child of the Meatmen, Mentors, Mucky Pup, Gang Green, Beastie Boys and who the fuck ever else was involved in that gang bang. If all the songs were as funny and kicked as much ass as the first two (the classic “It Was the Tits” and “Big Stinky Pussies”), then this would be an easy 10. Unfortunately there are a few misses on here, but I’m sure they will have it all figured out in time to make their next album unholy pornographic perfection.

On first spin, this appears to be fairly standard, if brutal, Death Metal. Upon repeated listens, I began to notice a few interesting things going on. These guys apparently have a variety of influences, and sometimes let them come through, as in the very short “Silenced,” which is Industrial, the almost Ambient “Dissolved,” and also in the riffs, which can be strange, but are always good. Occasionally the vocals on the album sound sort of overdriven, but that may not be the band’s fault. A more ambitious release than I initially realized. I like it when it takes a few listens to really “get it.”

This sees the band going for a sound between their earlier two demos. It’s not as thick-sounding as Abortion of Harm, but is heavier than Deadly Spawn, while surpassing either in terms of brutality and intensity. These four songs combine that with a high degree of technical skill and precision playing. I didn’t even expect such songs to be very memorable, but to an extent, they are. That’s really an accomplishment.

What the shit? Is their vocalist puking? I think he is. Well, let me tell you that these Death freaks get some extra points due to the utter depravity of the vomits, uhh, vocals. Damn, I sure wish I knew what the lyrics are. In addition to the aforementioned sickness, the music is high-quality as well. Descend are all good at what they do, which is write and play pretty memorable Death Metal. Their drummer is the real genius, I think, as he does some rather innovative and original stuff. An excellent and unique sounding release.

This is slower, Doomier Black Metal than what you may be used to, but rest assured that there are some very fast parts as well. The changing tempos and tortured screams make up for the thin guitar sound. I’d like to hear what this band could do in a better studio.

This is the Black Death! These worshippers of Tiamat (and I don’t mean the band!) really deliver the goods - uhh, bads. I like the contrast of Dana’s and Jon’s vocals. Dana’s style is Black Metal, while Jon is a bit more Death. When they sing together, the shit gets really sick. Interesting riffs and a fairly clean production make this a worthy addition to the collection.

This has an excellent sound - powerful and full drums, and a raw, yet not over-distorted, guitar sound. The vocals are screechy and excruciated, and perfectly compliment their brand of fast Black Metal.

By “work on the riffs” [which I said in my review the band’s 1993 demo. -Editor], I meant that they should write some new ones, not use the same ones again. At least the lyrics seem a little better, and the vocals are marginally more under control.

Sometimes, when listening to something to review it, I become sort of possessed, and write an interesting review. When what I’m listening to is nothing special, then it’s really hard to do the review, other than to say that Deity are uninspired and bland, but not horrible.

Okay, this utterly destroys this last album, Legion. It’s written and performed more like their self-titled debut. And if you’re not sure what this band sounds like, then put the mag down and go check out Spin. Well not Spin, I guess, since they once had an article on Deicide. Maybe YM, or Cosmo. Anyway, it did take them about three years to come up with 28 minutes and 12 seconds of music, so these guys are slow workers, but this is pretty high quality. I think they have been working on their solos quite a bit in those 3 years. And that was about all that ever needed work. Hey, another 2 minutes and it could even be considered a full length release - oh, wait a minute, they’re claiming that this is a full length album! And charging full price for it, too! Is Satan their lord, or is it cash? Only Glen’s accountant knows for sure.