The production is extremely clear and the guitar sound is especially excellent. Musically this is fine - fairly intense Thrash. However, I’m not a fan of this sort of “tough-guy” yelled vocals, but at least they aren’t ran through a distortion pedal, or whatever. So, aside from some minor vocal irritation, and the fact that they have a song called “Into the Void,” which is not a Black Sabbath cover, this is pretty good.

Hell yes. The music is very involving, thanks to the truly excellent riffs. They manage the difficult task of making heavy riffs very memorable. That, plus the vocals, which rage from a kind of Black Metal shriek, to Glen Benton-like double tracked wipeouts, and all around great musicianship, make this a mandatory demo, if you ask me. They now have an album out on Visceral Productions, so get this while you still can.

Now this is more like it. 1993’s Objection Overruled didn’t exactly convince me that Udo made the right decision by rejoining “the Metal dinosaurs,” but this is heavier and more focused. In fact, this is the heaviest Accept ever. They still don’t exactly recapture the level of the classic Balls to the Wall or even Restless & Wild or Metal Heart, but this is a big step in the right direction. Glad to see that they’re still in there fighting.

More sickness from these freaks. The production is suitably raw, however the songs are perhaps a bit more memorable.

Disgusting Puke Metal from members of Autopsy, Immortal Fate, and Hexx. Raw sound and vile lyrics. It’s sicker than a dog dick.

Another of Wild Rags’ CD5s, as they are called. While fairly straightforward, Deicide inspired, Death Metal, these 4 songs (a demo re-released on CD) show a lot of potential and are full of good ideas.

Screams of complete torment and agony are the vocals. The guitars are both torturous and beautiful - often at the same time, thanks to the layering of acoustic over the conventional distortion. The many time changes and high speeds would kill a lesser drummer, but where one would expect to find (out of necessity) basic, simple beats, here they are somewhat more complex. Keyboards are used to accent and intensify the hauntingly evil elements of the music. This is somehow very atmospheric, intense, and memorable at the same time. Abigor have created a truly stunning release, and are certainly one of the best of the new breed of Black Metal bands.

Sludge Metal on both sides of this translucent green disc. It’s heavy, and the sound is clear. I do wish that the vocals on the Eyehategod side weren’t distorted, but you can’t have it all, I guess.

This album shows even more of a move toward the mainstream, but the really big surprise is how much I like it - a lot. Not only is Icon not a Death Metal album, but it’s not even really all that Doomy. Sort of in the style of Cathedral’s The Ethereal Mirror, but not exactly. A good album for the open minded.

I trust that all of you know that Paradise Lost are Gothic Doom Metal, or whatever, so I don’t have to tell you. Now, about these four songs: the title track is great, but it’s the same version that is on Shades of God. “Rape of Virtue” is cool. It was a left-over from the last album. Their cover of “Death Walks Behind You” is interesting, but I’ve not heard the original. As for the live version of “Eternal” -it sucks. Nick’s vocals are weak at best. In all honesty, this is no where near as good as I was expecting.

Apparently this show was bootlegged and Century Media decided to release it as an official live album. The sound quality is fairly raw, but it usually seems to add to the power of the music. Since this was recorded before Across the Open Sea came out, there are only two songs from that album, “Open Wide,” and their cover of “Breaking the Law.” The other 12 tracks are from their first two albums, and they have an energy not found in the studio recordings.

I had built this album up in my mind so much before I actually heard it, that there was no way it could be as great as I expected. There are two big problems with this: First their badly timed cover of “Breaking the Law” will have every Beavis-wanna-be on earth thinking that Johnny Hedlund gives a fuck about what they think. And, much like Shadows in the Deep, this sounds very similar to their debut, Where No life Dwells. This is good, and is even in some ways fairly original, but I honestly expected something a little different. This certainly does not change the fact that Johnny is the coolest person ever to live.

Obviously this is not the same band as either the Parricide from the USA, or the one from Poland. After an ominous intro, the Death blasts out fast and furious. Pretty standard material, but played with a lot of energy, and the sound is great. I’d like it better if they had a more unique sound (and name, I guess), but they certainly get the job done.

The Industrial intro aside, this album is composed of monstrously brutal Death Metal. The riffs are heavy and memorable. The speed varies from slow, almost groovy, to total Blast. Like the speed, the vocals also range from uncomprehendably raw, to a somewhat more understandable version of the classic Death rattle. In every way a classic album.

First of all, a guitar is still too wimpy for these blasphemers: They continue to use two basses (one four-string and one eight-string), and have a guest musician perform the guitar solos. This makes for a sick sounding recording. Extremely unholy Black Metal, and although there are only two songs, both are fairly long and very dark and disturbing. Especially “Les Litanies de Satan.” If you think you can handle this, Necromantia is one of the best Black Metal bands that exists, and this may be the Black demo. Ask them about their split LP with Varathron, and CD, too.

This starts off very fast, but slows down on the first track. The songs are all well written, but could use less solos, although they are good. Only two new songs are on this, with the rest being redone versions of demo songs. Favorite track: “Coroner’s Report.”

It would have probably been better if Richard Brunelle played on it, but this is still fine Morbid. Azagthoth overdubs a lot and his shit gets more progressive all the time. And any record with Pete fuckin’ Sandoval on drums is basically guaranteed to be evil. Unfortunately, the cool keyboard/flute/mellow guitar parts of Blessed… are gone (except for one long freaky track) and they’re sorely missed. But otherwise Morbid Angel still have some of the best riffs going.

Well, that was a surprise. This sounds sorta like new Cathedral, in that it has a strong Rock base and builds upon that basically with Doom elements. This makes for a unique listen, as this is more Doomy than Cathedral, and not as Rocky as Cemetary, but at least as heavy as either of them. Pretty weird and pretty cool, too.

Only 18 songs this time, from the master of Porno Grind, Robert Deathrage, and his Meat Shits. This 7-inch EP is a little more in the Death Metal vein than some other MS releases, but of course the songs are still very short.

This band improves with each release, and so this is their best effort thus far. It shows a dramatic improvement even from their Rebellious Mayhem album, which I liked. MO rip through these songs and leave the listener fucking dead in their wake. My only criticism is that the production isn’t too good, but that can easily be fixed. Check this out.