This album is everything every Doom/Death band has ever promised to be - to the tenth power. Heavier than all comers, more emotional than any, save My Dying Bride, or Avernus. I had thought that the final word had been written on Atmospheric Doom when Turn Loose the Swans was released, and then I was proven wrong by Avernus’ Sadness demo, and now Celestial Season. If there is a better Doom album than this, I must hear it, although I honestly do not understand how anyone could improve on Solar Lovers (other than by leaving off the experimental last track, for which I was forced to reduce the rating a little bit). I guess this will make it pretty hard to write an album to follow this masterpiece. I am anxiously awaiting the attempt! Note: This is now available through Metal Blade here in the USA.

Cause for Alarm are Hardcore, and do an excellent job of it. They give 100% at all times - it’s easy to tell. I’m somewhat surprised by their use of the very Metal double bass drum technique, but I love it. These guys are awesome. And, guess what? Warzone are just as good as CfA Both these bands know to make their music memorable as well as intense, and Warzone have the added bonus of The Kid on bass - he does some very cool stuff. And I appreciate and agree with their lyrics, too. For example, from “Do You Know What You’re Fighting For?”: “I hear you use all the right words, Even look the part - Maybe you spiked your hair or shaved your head, got that hardcore look, but you got it from a book.” I’m embarrassed to admit that this was the first I’d heard of these bands, but I plan on finding out a lot more about them.

This is supposedly the union of their ultra heavy Forest of Equilibrium and the Groove-powered The Ethereal Mirror. Well, it’s a little light on the Doom side, but does have a certain Mr. Iommi playing on one of the songs. Not bad.

Pretty simple riffs and a basic drum machine beat destroy even the best samples. It’s semi-heavy sometimes, but that’s not enough.

I don’t often get to review a Rock band, but I’ll give it shot. This 8 song demo was recorded live to four-track, but in spite of that, the sound is very clear. Okay, the vocals are sometimes a little too loud, and that makes them sound weird, but all things considered, that’s not really a big deal. I’m not sure to whom I can compare Capt. S., since my Rock vocabulary is rather limited, but they seem to cover a range from almost Folk to a fairly hard-edged sound, like maybe Live. However you would describe their sound, I think they’re excellent musicians (Chris Shuler is a bass master), and really do a great job. Of course, they are among my best friends, and their zip-code contains the Devil’s number, so I may be a bit biased.

This is a tough band to describe. They range from very atmospheric Doom, to a sort of creepy Black Metal, to more standard Death. The transition from one style to the next is seamless, and would almost be enough by itself, but they don’t stop there. Every song is amazingly well written and executed; complex and heavy, yet instantly memorable. I’m very anxious to hear more from this great band.

Well, the slick production and harmony vocals cut way down on the “Hardcoreness” their above-reviewed live CD [I Love the Way They Scream When They Die -Editor] had, but this is clearly a superior sound for them. It retains most of the energy, but puts it to better use. It’s a great example of what a really good recording can do for a band. Some of the tracks stand out, like “The Vaginals” and “Cannibal Holocaust,” but not all of them are quite to this level yet.

Spoken-word intro by Jello Biafra himself (posing as CA governor Pete Wilson) leads to a total Death Metal attack, something akin to a less intense Deicide, except with Spanish lyrics about some things other than Satan. Not as good as their first album, but pretty interesting.

Very heavy, very clear sound. Extremely brutal vocals, as always. Musically, of course, a complete massacre, but perhaps a bit more memorable and technical than before. Musical growth without sacrificing brutality? What a concept! I’m glad someone thought to try it. The lyrics are continuing to improve, for the most part, but can occasionally still be pretty stupid, as in the truly funny “Pitbull Grin,” complete with samples of (I assume) a pitbull barking. Well, the lyrics really don’t matter, since, even with a lyric sheet, it’s pretty damn hard to make them out. A very intense cover of Twisted Sister’s “Captain Howdy” finishes off this sicknessfest

More of the above [self-titled release -Editor], but I could barely get through four songs on the EP, so this became torture pretty fast. If they could cut the utterly useless raps about how great they are, and just concentrate on the music, this might be okay. But not only are their lyrics extremely dumb, but their voices are annoying as all Hell, which is something I think a Rap band would try to avoid.

This is sort of Acidy Hip Hop, with what sounds like a spacey sort of Funky Jazz band backing it up. I like it better than Guru and his Jazzmatazz, I guess.

I’m sure you’ve all heard Cannibal Corpse, right? Clearly, so have Body Bag. They are fairly memorable, certainly heavy, every now and then they do something pretty interesting. But, for the most part, this is very standard Death Metal, which isn’t exactly bad, but there are at least a thousand “standard Death Metal” bands out there that are all this good. Body Bag really need something to push them out in front of the herd.

Fast Black Metal with keyboards, but not at the same time.

[Metal Curse #11 had an additional loose page (“Last Second Additions”) inserted into the centerfold of the zine, featuring a bunch of even-shorter-than-usual “bonus” reviews of stuff that arrived after the deadline for that issue. This is one of those “Last Second Additions” reviews.]

When Bloody Mess decided to record a Country song, “Hung Over and Stoned,” I though it was an interesting idea, and that he did an excellent job of it. Of course, it seemed to still have a little Punk injected deep up its ass. These songs are 100% old-style Country, and nothing else. Bloody and his Country Trash Punks do a good job, and the sound is excellent, but it was torture for me to sit through it.

Long time readers of Metal Curse will know how much I like this band. Their “Blood Core” held the Thrash flag of hate high when everyone was jumping on the Death bandwagon, or selling out and dying off. This CD compiles their Blood Core and Bitch Needs Psychotherapy demos, along with some extra studio work, and parts of a radio appearance. Inspirational work from a band that never gave a fuck what anyone thought, and did things their way. I can only hope that this is not the end of Bloody Mary.

Massively heavy “no bullshit” Death Metal. Don’t expect too much experimentation, variation or mutation. This is Death in the early Scream Bloody Gore style, and done nearly as well. Dark Harmonies is for those of us who remember back to the beginning, and haven’t “grown tired” of real Death Metal.

Beyond the atmospheric, spoken intro, which is sort of ominous, there is only the Blackest Metal. The guitar sound is that of steel being cut with a thousand little diamond blades. Of course, the vocals are of the screeched kind, but every now and then the spoken tone comes back for a second, before being banished. And then, they add some keyboards in for extra sickness. Hopefully they’ll have a full-length album out soon.

Oh man, do I hate typing this review. I am having a hard time with this, because I worship early Sab, and this album hurts me. A lot of the problem here are the fuckin’ horrible vocals of Tony “The Cat” Martin. He utterly ruins every riff with his whining, and rhymes “fire” and “desire” in about the first minute of the first track, “Illusion of Power.” That song also features Ice-T on guest vocals, which is a very welcome relief from the terror of The Cat, but cannot save it. And this is by far the best track. Some of the riffs that the former master has come up with are heavy, but without Geezer to back them up, they suffer immensely, and then there are the completely stupid, Whitesnake riffs. The Martin-penned lyrics are perhaps inspired by the works of Winger, or maybe White Lion. I could go on for several pages about this thing which should not be referred to as a Black Sabbath album, but I must spare all of us that pain. One final bit of advice to the members of this band: Call it a day already, and let the once mighty Black Sabbath rest in peace.

Here’s how I think this band formed: They watched MTV for 3 days straight, with no sleep or food. They went to the mall to discuss the experience, and get some health-food snacks, when a marketing director for Boy’s Life Records found them crying because their cappuccino had gotten too cold, or warm, or what the fuck ever it is not supposed to be. They were told that they had the right “look” and asked if they could play any instruments. They said no, but that they had just watched MTV for 3 days and thus knew exactly what is hip this week. They were signed instantly, given about $40,000 to record this banal mess, and the result is sheer audio torture - in the bad way. If bands like this can get signed, then the only answer is that this world must be destroyed and a new one shall rise up to take its place, wherein only deserving bands get deals. As some cool guys once said, “I await the day.”

On the inside of the CD booklet, it is stated: “The lyrics on this album are dumb, therefore they are not printed. If you can actually figure them out, rest assured, you’re dumb too.” I was going to try to figure out exactly how stupid the lyrics are, but the music was such that I fell asleep. Don’t bother.