Another live recording, including a cover of the Stones’ “Satisfaction.” These guys are more raw live, which is a plus for me. I would imagine that seeing them play would be a seriously good time.

Oh, like wow! I’m so scared of Darkthrone’s stupid make-up and their switch to “Unholy Black Metal.” Golly, let’s pretend that they always had the desire to paint their faces, play Black-Not-Death Metal, and use stage names, so I don’t have to deal with the poseur issue, okay? This LP has little resemblance to their debut. No longer a Death Metal band, they seem to have lost quite a bit in the transition to what they call Black Metal. Well, I don’t think so, sisto. Venom invented Black Metal more than a decade ago, and, while Satanic, this ain’t it. It sounds more like Death Metal, with a thin production, noisy guitars and only a small amount of double bass. And also boring.

Musically, this might be okay, but the vocals sometimes sound like Skid Row or some other such weak shit. Fuck that. Then we have the lyrics: Regurgitation of ancient lyrical themes. Yawn. Here is what I think happened with band: They used to be more commercial, a bar band that covered Poison maybe, then they decided that playing heavier might get them signed. Unfortunately it did. And what is worse yet, is that great cover art was wasted on this crap.

Fast, well produced Death Metal. Memorable songs and the occasional stylistic variation, make this pretty cool. Excellent vocals: Very raw, yet understandable. The lyrics are included, which is always a plus when they’re good. Impressive.

You have heard of D.R.I., right? They are one of the first Crossover Punk/Thrash bands, and as of their last release, Thrash Zone, added a little Death Metal to the mix as well. Punk vocals and Hardcore-like music, but with Death style guitar sound and drums. Everything combines to make this LP a must for everyone that still likes the vocal style and maybe a few that don’t. I kinda dig it, myself.

There is a lot of power and energy in these four songs. The recording quality is pretty good for a demo- certainly good enough. Musically, speedy Death. The vocals are raw, but not as heavy as most Death Metal. This style really fits the music, and I can understand most of the lyrics. I even remember the songs after they’re done. Very cool. Check this out. Favorite song: “Nuclear Error.”

Here is a pretty Deathly band. I wish I would have heard of them before, so I could have been there from the start. There are seven great songs on this professional quality demo. The singer sounds kinda like Marc from Morgoth. And the solos are really great. Really cool. Order it now. [Festival of Death was later reissued on CD by Wild Rags. -Editor]

Fucking brutal, fast Death Metal. This will kill you. Excellent production and very sharp guitar sound. The vocals are not very deep, but are super raw. Very talented band, and very memorable songs. That’s an unbeatable combination.

Of all the current Sabbath-inspired Doom bands, Count Raven sounds the most like their idols. I guess that’s got to be the biggest compliment one could pay them. Although this exact thing was done back in 1970, this is pretty fucking awesome. I wonder if all the Hellhound bands sound just like this? I can think of worse things than that.

This is the demo of their two-song Lost Equilibrium CD (on Relapse). Excellent recording and production. The music is sort of progressive, and very interesting to hear. This sounds, musically, somewhat like a more intense version of Cemetary’s Godless Beauty album. And vocally this is more Death Metal: Raw, but really good vocals. I like this a lot.

The sound quality here is pretty good, but not really the best. These guys have a lot of energy live and it really comes through on this recording.

Underproduced Death Metal, with yelled vocals. Not bad, and the songs are interesting. Needs some work, but the potential is there.

The production is pretty dismal, and the mix is bad, but these songs are pretty catchy. This band sounds a bit like Rigor Mortis, although maybe a touch more Death Metal. Not great, but pretty good.

Usually slow. Always heavy. These Death freaks also occasionally speed things up to keep it interesting. And this seems to work for them, as this is superior to their previous demo. Really an accomplished work, and I’m anxious to see what their next demo will sound like now that founder/lyricist Ronnie Harding is no longer with them.

This doesn’t really sound like it was recorded at Sunlight, but it was. Their sound is fairly unique, which is certainly a plus. The music is aggressive Deathrash - fast and harsh. Vocally screamy, with a raw edge. Cool.

L-G Petrov sang for this band while he was out of the mighty Entombed, and I guess he thought it would be cool if Comecon’s logo looked as much like Entombed’s as possible. Comecon also recorded at Sunlight, so the bands have a similar sound, although not too similar. I wonder what will happen to this band now that L-G is back in Entombed? And while I’m wondering, I wonder who wrote the lyrics? They range from brief moments of greatness to utter shit. I hope if it was L-G, that he was saving his best lyrics for his return to Entombed.

The recording is bad and the level is too low. The sound quality is not good at all. And even with all that against it, this demo still kills. I would really like to hear what these guys could do in a quality studio, and more original lyrics couldn’t hurt.

Puke all over
Outrageously
Shitty bands who
Emit
Useless, lame, boring
Records. Hail
Satan!

Three songs of aggressive, Helmet style, uhh, Metal, I guess. Really not too bad, but certainly not too different from what Hardcore did all those years ago. So for as new as some people might think this sound is, it’s actually fairly dated. Of course, that doesn’t make it bad. I only want everyone to understand that these guys are no trend setters.

Heavy, Doom-laden riffs. Completely raw (I mean it!) vocals. This album is a (mostly) slow Death showpiece. But for some reason, I still like the track “Funeral” the best (it’s an old track). The production is kinda weird: the drums are a little loud, but that’s not such a major concern. Oh yeah, the Slaughter they credit for inspiration is the original Death Metal band from Canada. If you didn’t know that, where have you been? Anyway, this is cool, so check it out.