____ _ ____ ____ _ _ ____ _ _____ ____ ____ _____
/ _\/ \ /|/ __\/ _ \/ \ /|/ \/ _X \ / __// ___\ / _ \/ /
| / | |_||| \/|| / \|| |\ ||| || / | | | \ | \ | / \|| __\
| \__| | ||| /| \_/|| | \||| || \_| |_/\| /_ \___ | | \_/|| |
\____/\_/ \|\_/\_\\____/\_/ \|\_/\____X____/\____\\____/ \____/\_/
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/ _\/ \ /|/ _ \/ _ \/ ___\
| / | |_||| / \|| / \|| \
| \__| | ||| |-||| \_/|\___ |
\____/\_/ \|\_/ \|\____/\____/
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS E-Zine, March 16, 1997, Issue #18
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Assistant Editor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@mks.com>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Steve Hoeltzel <mailto:hoeltzel@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Drew Schinzel <mailto:drew@magpage.com>
Contributor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contributor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:leic97@tom.fe.up.pt>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder
--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
57 Lexfield Ave
Downsview Ont.
M3M-1M6, Canada
Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517
e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms
of brutal music; from thrash to death to black metal, we have it all.
Each issue will feature interviews with your favorite bands, written
from the perspective of a true fan. Each issue will also include
record reviews and previews, concert reviews and tour dates, as well
as various happenings in the metal scene worldwide. If you'd be
interested in writing for CoC, drop us a line at
mailto:ginof@interlog.com. Concert reviews are especially welcome,
but please bear in mind that we cannot accept every submission we
receive."
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending a
message with "coc subscribe <your_name_here>" in the SUBJECT of your
message to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. Please note that this command
must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.
WORLD WIDE WEB SITE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are currently in the process of constructing a website for
Chronicles of Chaos. You can check it out by pointing your web
browser to http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html. If you have any
comments or suggestions, please e-mail Brian Meloon
<mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>.
FTP ARCHIVE
~~~~~~~~~~~
All of our back issues and various other Chronicles of Chaos related
files are stored in the e-zine archive at ftp.etext.org. Connect to
this site using your favorite FTP program and chdir to
/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos. For a description of each file in the
archive, check out the README file. You can also reach this site
through a web browser by pointing it at:
ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos.
AUTOMATIC FILESERVER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for
automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do
is send a message to us at <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X" where 'X'
is the name of the requested file. Back issues are named 'coc-n',
where 'n' is the issue number. For a description of all files
available through this fileserver, request 'list'. Remember to use
lowercase letters for all file names. If you experience any problems
or are having difficulty, feel free to e-mail us the usual way at
<mailto:ginof@interlog.com>.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #18 Contents, 3/16/97
---------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Ferocious Features
-- Sinister: Across The Styx And Back
* Chaotic Chat Sessions
-- Summoning: Messages From Mordor
-- Dio: On The Mend
-- The Mourning of Mork Gryning
-- Acid Bath: Neutralizing The Bass
-- Nightstick: Fucked Up And Loving It
* Independent Interrogations
-- Quo Vadis: Fuck the Status Quo
* Record Revelations
-- Absu - _The Third Storm of Cythraul_
-- AC - _I Like It When You Die_
-- Agathocles - _Thanks for Your Hostility_
-- Angizia - _Die Kemenanten Sharlachroter Lichter_
-- The Blood Divine - _Awaken_
-- Borknagar - _Borknagar_
-- Carcass - _Wake Up and Smell the Carcass_
-- Coal Chamber - _Coal Chamber_
-- Various Artists - _Wintergrief_
-- The Darksend - _Unsunned_
-- Dominion - _Interface_
-- Eternal Oath - _So Silent_ MCD
-- Godkiller - _The Rebirth of the Middle Ages_
-- The Great Kat - _Guitar Goddess_
-- Grimoire - _A Requiem for the Light_
-- Hammerfall - _Glory to the Brave_
-- Hefeystos - _Vilce Sjen_
-- I'M'L - _Instigating The Mean And Loud_
-- Limbonic Art - _Moon in the Scorpio_
-- Lordes Werre - _Canticles of Armageddon_
-- Lux Occulta - _Forever Alone. Immortal._
-- Machine Head - _The More Things Change..._
-- Mental Destruction - _Straw_
-- Merzbow - _Age Of 369/Chant 2_ Double CD
-- Necromantia - _Ancient Pride_
-- Necrophobic - _Darkside_
-- Num Skull - _When Suffering Comes_
-- Penitent - _The Beauty of Pain_
-- Various Artists - _A Tribute to Judas Priest_
-- Purity - _Built_
-- Quorthon - _When Our Day Is Through_
-- Regard Extreme - _Resurgence_
-- Rocking Dildos - _On Speed_
-- Signs Ov Chaos - _Frankenscience (Urban Cyberpunk)_
-- Six Feet Under - _Alive and Dead_ EP
-- Solhverv - _Tagernes Artusinde_
-- Sonipath - _Heavy Hooks_
-- Stillsuit - _At The Speed Of Light_
-- Summertime Daisies - _The Clarity of Impurity_
-- Quo Vadis - _Forever..._
-- Xysma - _Lotto_
* New Noise
-- Carrion - _Flesh Piles On The Floor
-- Chaotic Order - _Chaotic Order_
-- Inner Misery - _Sea_
-- Odes Of Ecstasy - _Atheistic Emotions_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Cannabis Corpse And Friends: Cannibal Corpse in Buffalo
-- The Factory Never Quits: Fear Factory in Australia
* What We Have Cranked
* The Final Word
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
E D I T O R I A L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Gino Filicetti
Hello everyone, as promised, here is the next installment of the
Chronicles of Chaos legacy! Issue #18 and no less for all our loyal
readers. And thus continues the legend of CoC, established over 1.5
years ago. Alright, alright, I'll cut the melodrama, but hey, we all
need to feel important at one point or another! :)
On February 19, 1997, the two founding members of CoC, Adrian
and yours truly went on another 'excursion' into the United States of
America. This time, our mission was the reconnaissance of the Brutal
Truth/Cannibal Corpse show in Buffalo, NY. I must say, Buffalo was a
depressing city, but the show definitely brought up my hopes for the
scene. Incredibly, 500+ turned out for the show, probably because
Buffalo IS Cannibal Corpse's hometown. But it was a great concert.
Brutal Truth stole the show and all I can say is that they SMOKE! It
was also good to finally meet a longtime e-mail pal, BT's drummer,
Rich Hoak. (Sorry I had to jet, Rich. You understand, right?)
Our Loud Letters section this month is pretty sparse. Only one
letter to print. I hope this isn't going to become a trend. Let me
remind everyone, that Loud Letters aren't ONLY for the praise or put
down of the mag, like any "Letters to the Editor" section, we
encourage you to speak your mind, give your opinion on any topic of
concern or correct any fuck ups we may have made. It is a section
that is for, of, and by the reader.
We got some early word on this year's Metalfest. So far, things
are looking MIGHTY good for the show. Good enough that us Canadians
will have to make another 'excursion' to go check it out. I'm not
going to say which bands I heard are playing, because it probably
won't be true by the time you read this.
Well, that's all I got to say, enjoy this issue and I'll see you
all next time.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
M""MMMMMMMM dP
M MMMMMMMM 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88
M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88
M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88
M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8
MMMMMMMMMMM
M""MMMMMMMM dP dP
M MMMMMMMM 88 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b.
M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo.
M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88
M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P'
MMMMMMMMMMM
This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers
decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative,
ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that
they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own
letter here, e-mail it to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com> and enter
'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters
received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 1997
From: Hafiz Mawji <an320@torfree.net>
Subject: Loud Letters
I have been reading CoC since issue 3. I think the effort put in by
Gino, Adrian, Alain and other contributors is phenomenal. I myself am
very happy that this magazine was started locally here in Toronto and
best of all is available for FREE to anyone interested. Although I
was not familiar with a lot of the bands in CoC 16. I was anxious to
read the Classic Carnage section.
I am also looking for reliable people to trade tapes with and to add
to my growing collection.
This is a list of all the groups I am looking for rare, limited, FM,
live, demo and practice recordings of (with excellent sound):
AC/DC, Accept, Annihilator, Anthrax, Black Sabbath Pre1987/1992,
Cathedral, Celtic Frost, Destruction, Dio, Dream Theater, Exciter,
Exodus, Fear Factory, Forbidden, Iced Earth, Iron Maiden Pre1990,
Jimi Hendrix, King Diamond, Led Zeppelin, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate,
Metallica Pre1987, NWOBHM Groups, Ozzy Osbourne Pre1987, Pantera,
Quiet Riot w/Randy Rhoads, Raven, Rush Pre1990, S.O.D., Sacred Reich,
Sacrifice, Joe Satriani, Sepultura, Slayer, Testament, Trouble, Steve
Vai, Venom.
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| __)/ __ \_ __ \/ _ \_/ ___\| |/ _ \| | \/ ___/
| \\ ___/| | \( <_> ) \___| ( <_> ) | /\___ \
\___ / \___ >__| \____/ \___ >__|\____/|____//____ >
\/ \/ \/ \/
___________ __
\_ _____/___ _____ _/ |_ __ _________ ____ ______
| __)/ __ \\__ \\ __\ | \_ __ \_/ __ \ / ___/
| \\ ___/ / __ \| | | | /| | \/\ ___/ \___ \
\___ / \___ >____ /__| |____/ |__| \___ >____ >
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
The meat of the matter lies here. Read on for the juiciest morsels on
bands ranging from the reknowned to the obscure. No fat, no gristle,
just blood-soaked slabs served hot and ready. Dig in, readers.
A C R O S S T H E S T Y X A N D B A C K
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Interview with Mike of Sinister
by: Steve Hoeltzel
This band should require no introduction, having proudly carried
the flag for European death metal throughout a decade that has seen
scores of lesser death metal bands on the continent either stagnating
or wimping out. Not Sinister. Their 1992 debut _Cross the Styx_ set
the standard early on for excellence in death metal: imaginative,
brutal, jagged, technically adept. Follow-up _Diabolical Summoning_
(1993) injected a good, strong dose of blasting grind into their
sound, and remains an unique and under-appreciated slab of
tightly-disciplined sonic mayhem. And then there's 1995's _Hate_. If
you ask me, it's the pinnacle of the death metal genre so far, the
prime synthesis of songwriting prowess and pulverizing power. Last
year saw the European release of the four-track EP _Bastard Saints_,
whose two new tracks continue in the crushing tradition of _Hate_ and
precede re-recorded versions of a pair of songs from _Cross the
Styx_. The EP should be available in North America through the
American branch of Nuclear Blast by the time you read this, and the
band hopes to do a North American tour this summer, possibly as part
of a package of Nuclear Blast artists.
Since _Bastard Saints_ seems to represent a kind of
coming-full-circle for the band, I asked vocalist Mike what led to
the decision to redo "Cross the Styx" and "Epoch of Denial" from
their first CD. "Actually, two reasons," he explains. "At this
moment, we've got a new line-up. We've got a new bass player, Michel,
and [guitarist] Bart was not on _Cross the Styx_ either, so we just
wanted to show people how we play the songs. It's even more intense,
better played, faster, with some parts a little bit slower, so the
songs have a little bit more feeling. So this would give the idea of
how we play them live."
In fact, Michel has played bass for the band since immediately
after the recording of _Hate_, and he toured with the band in support
of that record. Now that there's a complete, solid line-up, has any
more new material been recorded? "No, nothing recorded yet," Mike
reports. "We're working hard on the new material, but we've been
doing other stuff, playing, et cetera. We want to have the best songs
we can make, so it takes a little bit longer than usual. It's a
little harder now to write very good material, because _Hate_ is a
very good album. People like _Bastard Saints_ as well, and people
expect us to have the same quality. That's what we want as well, so
there's a little pressure, and it's a little bit harder to write the
songs." Still, there's been plenty of writing going on, Mike tells
me. "We've got a lot of parts written, and one song is totally
finished. It's probably the most brutal Sinister song ever. The title
is not settled yet. 'Satan's Disciple' is what I'm calling it right
now, but I haven't finished the lyrics."
Given that Sinister is a band whose albums are never carbon
copies of previous releases, I asked Mike whether the new material
would continue in the same brutal vein. (This is an idiotic question
to ask the vocalist of such a titanic band, I know. But for some
reason, I asked it.) "Definitely!" Mike states with enthusiasm. "The
same aggression. Sinister stands for something brutal and aggressive,
and we want to keep it that way. Even if we're going to sound a
little bit different - like _Bastard Saints_, for example, is totally
different from _Cross the Styx_ - still, it's the Sinister sound. And
that's what we want to keep for the new album as well."
Clearly, these guys have no intention of going soft. I always
wonder, though, how death metal vocalist are able to keep belting it
out in the trademark style. I mean, you would think that that
approach would just kill your throat, and I've always suspected that
that's why so many bands feature brutal vocals on an album or two,
then shift to a cleaner style. According to Mike, though, that's not
an issue for Sinister. "No, not with me. I sing in the good way. Some
guys sing out of their throats, and if you're going to sing out of
your throat, then yeah. They have problems on tour, stuff like that.
I've never actually had problems on tour. I can sing that way every
day and have no problems. I know some guys who have pain in their
throat from the way they're singing. But I have no problem, because I
sing a little bit out of my stomach. That's the good way."
That's cool to know, since the band will be doing weekly dates
in Holland for the next little while and, as I mentioned above, they
hope to make the trek to North America before the year is out. I ask
who they might like to come over with, and Mike replies that "We're
working on it. We've thought about all kinds of ideas. We might make
it a Nuclear Blast package." The band seems to be quite happy with
the newly re-formed Nuclear Blast America. "Yeah, Dustin is doing a
great job for us," Mike says. "It's really cool."
Is the band excited to get back on the road? "Oh yeah!" Mike
exclaims. "We love it - that's what music is all about, playing live.
That's what we want to do, to be on the road as much as possible. We
get sick if some show gets canceled or a tour gets canceled. That's
the biggest disappointment you can get."
As long as we're talking about like and dislikes, I'm really
curious to know what Mike thinks of the recent explosion of interest
in black metal - especially since Sinister are a European band who've
carried the banner for death metal since well before black metal
became so huge. "I like some black metal stuff, but most of the bands
I like have a little bit of the death metal sound," he tells me. "I
like Marduk, Angel Corpse, things like that, but they've got a little
bit of death metal sound. They're not 100 percent black metal: the
guitar sound is not that high, and you've only got the high vocals,
warpaint, and stuff like that. To me, those bands are pretty cool."
Of course, quite a few death metal bands these days seem to have
stories about harassment from hardcore black metal purists - annoying
letters, people flinging dead cats around, that sort of thing. Does
Sinister have any such tales to tell? "No," Mike says. "Actually,
we've got a big black metal following here in Europe. When we do a
show, there are so many black metal guys, it's unbelievable. And they
say, 'Yeah, we only like black metal, but the only death metal band
we like is Sinister. So that's cool, and we hope we're gonna keep it
that way. I like some of the black metal stuff. Not all, because... a
lot of those guys are just starting out playing guitar for a couple
weeks or a couple months, and then they start writing music. So for
me, it doesn't sound like anything. But now, there are more and more
better black metal bands. So it's pretty cool, and as I said, we've
got a big black metal following."
That is cool, and its good to know that the scene isn't
necessarily as narrow-minded and self-contained as one might think,
given the way in which it's often portrayed. As I indicated to Mike,
I think that the black metal explosion has been a great thing for the
scene. Yeah, there's been plenty of bullshit and hype, but at the
same time, it's unleashed some creative energies that just weren't
getting tapped by bands in the death metal scene. Mike's thoughts on
all this?
"It's true. There were so many death metal bands at that time,
and a lot of them getting slower and softer. They'd all want to sound
like Death, and Death was getting softer as well. The media was
making a big thing out of it, and saying that death metal died.
Everybody was searching for something more extreme. That's why only
bands who kept their own style - like us, Morbid Angel, Deicide,
Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation - those bands survived. A lot of other
bands who changed their style - nobody cared about them any more.
People searched for something new, and the most extreme thing was
black metal, at the time. Even though the music, for a lot of these
bands, totally sucked, they didn't care, because it was extreme,
they've got the warpaint and stuff like that; the image was cool.
That's what a lot of people were searching for."
What about all the ideology, though? A lot of black metal bands
talk a very hard line about Satanism, and more to the point, a lot of
them have nothing but unkind words for Anton Lavey. Sinister, on the
other hand, is a band which has never shied away from Satanic imagery
either - but who, I would suspect, have a lot more sympathy for
Lavey's atheistic, individualistic style of Satanism. I ask Mike what
he thinks about all that.
"Well, I can say one thing," he replies. "Most of the guys who
are saying shit like that are just, like, 15 years old. And if you're
15 years old, what do you know about life? What do you know about
Satanism? I know a lot about that stuff - not a lot, maybe, but I've
read many books about it, and I can say I know a bunch of that stuff.
But even if I was totally into the demon stuff, I could never tell
myself that there was a Satan, for two reasons. I think that if you
are a Satanist, you should know stuff like that with 90 percent
certainty. And nobody could know it with 90 percent certainty,
because then you'd have to read so many books and stuff like that,
that you should probably be 40 years old or something like that even
if you spent your whole life being into Satanism. As well, I use the
word 'Satan' in the lyrics, but for me, Satan is made up by
Christians. So, if you believe in Satan, you have to believe in God.
And I don't believe in God, so I don't believe in Satan. I believe in
some other stuff; I believe in evil, but not in Satan and God."
But then what's the point of all the Satanic imagery and lyrics
that Sinister make use of? "I use it as anti-Christian stuff," Mike
explains. "Actually, I'm anti-religion as well. I think everybody can
have his own religion, but he should not preach it to somebody else.
That's why my lyrics are against Christianity in the first place, as
well as against religion. People are calling themselves 'Satanists,'
but for me, if you're a Satanist, then you have to keep the stuff to
yourself, or among the people who have the same beliefs. Do not go
and give it big hype, because that's not what Satanism is all about.
Keep it to yourself. Otherwise, you're like a Jehovah's witness,
walking door-to-door and preaching. That's stupid."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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/ ___/ / ___ ____ / /_(_)___ / ___/ / ___ _/ /_
/ /__/ _ \/ _ `/ _ \/ __/ / __/ / /__/ _ \/ _ `/ __/
\___/_//_/\_,_/\___/\__/_/\__/ \___/_//_/\_,_/\__/
____ _
/ __/__ ___ ___ (_)__ ___ ___
_\ \/ -_|_-<(_-</ / _ \/ _ \(_-<
/___/\__/___/___/_/\___/_//_/___/
This is the column where CoC sits down to have a face to face, no
holds barred conversation with your favorite bands, and get the
inside scoop into what's happening in their lives.
M E S S A G E S F R O M M O R D O R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Interview with Silenius Gregor of Summoning
by: Steve Hoeltzel
A two-man project based in Austria, Summoning masterfully combine
elements of black metal with layered, epic synthesizers and haunting
medieval atmospheres, creating beautifully crafted, highly
imaginative music that sounds like nothing else around. The band
emerged in 1995 with _Lugburz_, an exercise in raw, Abigor-styled
black metal featuring some interestingly different and enjoyable
songs. Follow-up _Minas Morgul_, also released in 1995, announced a
departure from straight black metal in favor of bold atmospheric
experimentation which retains a definite blackened feel. Tracks like
"Ungolianth", "Dagor Bragollach", and "The Legend of the Master Ring"
are wonderfully weird, evocative sonic constructions that push black
metal into new creative dimensions and make for highly interesting,
enjoyable listening. The same goes for the band's third full-length,
_Dol Guldur_, released near the end of 1996. This album tones down
the weirdness just a bit, while deepening the emphasis on
craftsmanship - constantly, carefully weaving multiple musical
strands into spellbinding braids of sound. Silenius Gregor, a member
of Abigor and the counterpart of Protector in Summoning, recently put
pen to paper to answer some questions about the band.
CoC: As a long-time fan of _The Lord of the Rings_, I have been glad
to see the influence which Tolkien's profound imagination has on
many in the black metal scene. Why is Tolkien such a huge
influence for Summoning?
Silenius Gregor: The thing that makes the works of Tolkien special is
his incredible imagination of a world with all those
detailed cultures, landscapes, and languages. His
history of Middle Earth, his tales and stories are
timeless and unique. This act of creation of a
mind-world is absolutely unique and far above the
average kind of thinking. When I was about 15 or 16,
I got in contact with his literature for the first
time. At first, I didn't want to read _The Lord of
the Rings_, because a friend of mine had already
told me the complete story, but then I gave it a
try. In that time, I often walked through the
countryside where I lived, and sometimes I took one
of his books with me, reading it while sitting under
a tree and letting the wind blow through my hair.
For sure, that was an astonishing feeling, because
it's something totally different, to read a book like
_The Lord of the Rings_ within the twilight of a
forest, rather than at home in your bed.
CoC: Will you continue to base your lyrics and imagery on Tolkien's
Middle Earth? Or perhaps one day use your music to fashion your
own imaginary world?
SG: We will end the Tolkien concept after releasing the mini-CD
_Nightshade Forests_. This CD will probably be released in two or
three months. Afterwards, we probably will make a musical
translation of the Germanic hero opus "Das Nibelungenlied", but
nothing is sure yet. What is sure is that we won't build up our
own imaginary world. Our strength is making music, nothing else.
CoC: How do you see the band progressing musically?
SG: Well, first of all I must say that I hate the word "progressive."
Most bands think that they are progressive by putting fifteen or
more riffs into a song and changing the rhythm all the time, or
playing solos that hurt the ears. Summoning is definitely not
progressive, nor do we have any plans to change our style with
the next release. The music that softly floats into the mind of a
listener with atmosphere and emotion and this special sort of
ancient touch - that's all.
CoC: Is a new release yet planned? If so, what can you tell us about
it?
SG: We have made one new song that will appear on the mini-CD. The
other three songs will be from the _Dol Guldur_ sessions. All
four songs are much more melancholic than on _Dol Guldur_, with
more easily impressing melody lines, and less in the way of
meditation as on _Dol Guldur_. Afterwards, we will take a break
and think over how Summoning will continue. The rest of the year,
I will concentrate on my ritual project, Mirkwood.
CoC: Besides Tolkien, what are the biggest influences on your sound?
(Musical or otherwise.)
SG: Well, I get musical influences by listening to other music, of
course, especially dark wave and ritual stuff. This kind of music
is good for meditation, and meditation always gives us strength
of motivation and creativity. Another inspiration is reading
books. Mostly I prefer the fantasy genre, but lately not many
books have impressed me that much. The last really good and
original book I've read was _The Worm Oroboros_. Even Tolkien was
a fan of that book. Finally, I find strength and inspiration in
wandering through the countryside. Unfortunately, I have too
little time now for doing so.
CoC: What do you listen to when you're not making music? (I believe I
read somewhere that one of you is a fellow fan of Ildjarn.)
SG: As I said, I only listen to dark wave and ritual stuff at the
moment, like the releases from Cold Meat Industry, or things like
that. Of course, I still listen to black metal music, although
the latest releases in this genre are, all in all, boring. The
latest essential release, for sure, was Limbonic Art. Within
twenty releases there is just one or two good enough to enjoy.
About Ildjarn: if you hear the music of Ildjarn in an objective
way, it's without doubt pure shit. But I like this shit. I'll die
for it! [Exactly! -- Steve]
CoC: Please name three or four albums from the past year or so which
you would consider essential.
SG: (1) Sopor Aeturnus - _Todeswunsch_, (2) Loreena McKennit - _The
Mask and the Mirror_, (3) Ildjarn/Niddhogg - _Svartfrad_, (4)
Shinjuku Thief - The Witchhammer, (5) Shinjuku Thief - _The
Witchhunter_, (6) Raison d'etre - _Within the Depth of Sorrow_,
(7) Deutsch Nepal - _Benevolence_, (8) Loreena McKennit - _The
Visit_.
CoC: What does black metal represent to you? Must true black metal be
overtly Satanic? Must it always involve playing extremely fast?
(I would say no to both questions, but I am curious to see if
you agree.)
SG: Well, I'm unable to give or present you a definition between true
or false. These terms have different meanings to different
persons, and meanwhile I'm tired of discussing again and again
the combination of black metal and the individual life codex.
Everything depends upon one's personality. But to make it easier
for you, I'll give you a short example. When you wake up in the
morning and realize that the morning sun is hurting your eyes and
heavily playing with your nerves, you know you are on the right
way. Now it's time to find and build up yourself.
CoC: Your music has undergone incredible development since the
_Lugburz_ days. Do you still consider Summoning to be a black
metal band? Or do you think that you have evolved into a band
that no longer fits into that category?
SG: After everything, I still see Summoning as a black metal band. If
people can't go along with that, they should create their
individual definition and be happy with that.
CoC: In your opinion, what are the best and the worst things about
the underground metal scene today?
SG: The good thing about the present underground is that many young
bands are flexible enough to make new musical experiments and
create their own style. The bad thing is that many more bands
have absolutely no idea what they are doing, and just clone and
copy and copy and clone and...
CoC: Please tell us about the animated video. Which song is it for?
Who did the animation? What kind of story line is there (if
any)? Also, how can I get a copy?!
SG: The video clip is made in England for the song "Marching
Homewards". As we, the band, didn't take part in this video, I
can't tell you what it is like. After all, there will be
impressions of Tolkien's world like Orcs, the Dark Tower, and
things like that. But as I haven't seen anything yet, I'm as
curious as everyone else who likes this kind of stuff. I really
hope that I won't be too disappointed. But all in all, I'm
optimistic, at least I hope so.
CoC: If you could be born again during any past period of human
history, what period would you choose, and why?
SG: Most of the black metal kiddies of today would immediately answer
that they would like to live in the Middle Ages - but how long
would they survive with no pump gun at hand? After all, we are
used to surviving in the present reality. That's the way it is,
and if it's too unbearable, we flee into our underworlds. That's
our destiny.
CoC: In the end, how would you like Summoning to be remembered?
SG: I think people who liked our music will know how to remember it.
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O N T H E M E N D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Interview with Ronnie James Dio
by: Alain M. Gaudrault
Ronnie James Dio is a man dedicated to music. From his first
recordings back in 1962 with Ronnie Dio and the Prophets, to his
latest Dio release, _Angry Machines_, the man's career has had its
share of ups and downs. The eighties were a period of great success
through his stint with Black Sabbath and subsequent solo career. Of
course, the nineties have had a profound negative effect on the
pervasiveness of metal in North America, but Dio moves on, unphased
by critics, dedicated to making music.
I spoke to Ronnie about a variety of things, often about topics
in which I myself was interested. This, after all, was a teenage hero
of mine, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask him things
that perhaps aren't necessarily interesting to the masses. You'll
find some information regarding the new album and tour and all as
well, so if you're at all curious about what's going on in the Dio
camp, read on.
CoC: How's your health? I hear you caught a flu or cold just recently.
Ronnie James Dio: I'm quite a bit on the mend. I got through it okay
but when we got back, we got back home from Germany
on xmas eve day. A few days later we had to take
Vinny [Appice], our drummer, to the hospital,
'cause he got pneumonia. So, Vinny's been a little
bit ill, he's out of the hospital now. It's meant
that we've had to push back our tour. We were gonna
start on the 12th of January, now we can't start
until the 6th of February because Vinny's got to
recover a bit more from it. Again, I'm not as bad
as him but we're finally getting over it. I'm still
a bit stuffed up. It seems like this flu is leaving
so many people almost dead on the side of the road,
and it's really killing me. It just won't seem to
go away.
CoC: In fact, that leads me right to the first question, which
relates to touring plans. What are they?
RJD: As I say, we can't start until the 6th of February. I'm not sure
which gigs that's going to encompass, but what we will do, being
that we have to go to Europe again on the 17th of February, when
we finish there we should probably be in the beginning of March
or so. We'll be coming back to America and we'll do all the
shows that we couldn't do on this end of it. We'll just lose the
time frame, but we'll certainly be there to play the shows.
CoC: Any Canadian tour dates?
RJD: I think so far there's a Toronto date [April 22nd at RPM
Warehouse - Alain], and I know that there's been some talk of
doing a whole bunch of gigs in western Canada as well.
CoC: What made the Dio & Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow co-headlining
tour plans collapse?
RJD: It was purely a matter of Ritchie not wanting to tour until
after he did another album. He had toured in Europe for quite
awhile, I guess, with [his previous] album and he did a little
bit of touring in America, I think, I'm not sure where. It was
almost in the works. Ritchie had agreed to do it, I'd agreed to
do it, not that it was that kind of agreement where we hate each
other so we both had to say that it was okay, but someone has to
say "yeah that sounds like a good idea, to tour," so we had
decided to do it and then Ritchie changed his mind because it
was pretty close to the holidays and he didn't want to tour
until after his next project and wanted to stay home with his
family. It was going to be in the works but it was just bad
timing.
CoC: It seems you've regained production duties with _Angry
Machines_. Why did you use a producer other than yourself for
your previous album, _Strange Highways_?
RJD: I think that whenever you're getting to the point where it seems
as though you don't know what a record company's asking of you,
what's happening with the music that you're making, you're
confused 'cause you're not making the right music. Whatever
happens, I think you always go for some kind of a change, and I
know that the record company also said it'd be good for me not
to do this one and get someone else, someone outside to do it.
So for all those reasons I said okay, it's not a problem. I've
got no ego on that, let someone else have a go at it and
hopefully they'll do a good job. The difference is that
production is not just getting the sound onto tape. The guy we
used, Mike Fraser, who's just an absolutely incredible engineer
and a great person, I loved working with him and he was
brilliant, but all the material was produced by the time it was
given to Mike, just as all the new material was produced by the
time it came time for me to do the final production in the
studio. We record everything we do, we maneuver it, we work it
until it's exactly what we want, and then we're ready to record
it, so there's really no need for production. There were no
suggestions like "let's do this in this part of the song" and
"let's try that" and "let's do this" and "let's make this sound
that way." It wasn't like that. It was like, this is what they
do and away they go. That's really the way it is for people that
have been doing this for such a long time, you get really good
at doing it and you don't need to be told how to do it. Just as
with all the other albums, producing this one was just as easy
for me as it was for Mike, I'm sure. The only difference is that
I can change things around pretty rapidly, and we did on [_Angry
Machines_]. There were some things I didn't like, maybe some
tempos that were wrong that we slowed down just by using the
tape to slow it down, some parts that weren't right that we cut
out and edited a lot of this and a lot of that. As far as that
kind of producing goes, that's what you have to do, and the last
album we did (_Strange Highways_), whatever edits we made, we
made them as a band, so it wasn't really produced, it was
engineered very well, but not produced. The reason for doing it
was maybe being unsure of ourselves and having a record company
saying let somebody else try.
CoC: Given the changed rock scene of today, what with bands like
Soundgarden, Ministry, Type O Negative, and Marilyn Manson
garnering widespread support, where do you see your music's
place in the hard rock of the late 90s?
RJD: I think that's what we're doing now, I think we're carving that
out for ourselves right now. I think that from the last album,
its material, anyway, not so much its sound, which I felt was a
bit faded, but there were some great songs on it with great
attitudes. "Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost" was a great song,
"Evilution", great songs from that album, and some other good
pieces as well, and [_Angry Machines_] taking us more into a
little bit more progressive musical attitude. We're not writing
music that was considered to be dinosaur music before, it's not
about magic and wizards and witches and whatnot, although there
are places to write that kind of music as well, and times to
write it, too. But I think that we're creating a new path for
ourselves in this music so that we can compete with what's
happening musically. We're not pretending that we're young
people making music for young people. We're not, we've been
there, we've done this, and we've done that, but that doesn't
mean we're still not good at what we do and we still can't be
relatable to people, 'cause after all, young or old, they're
still people. As I say, we're carving our own little place, I
think, within the musical community. We're much more like a
Soundgarden now, I think, than like Dio was [in the past].
CoC: Seeing as there is no title track, where does the title _Angry
Machines_ come from, and how does it relate to the album's
content?
RJD: The title is in one of the songs. We didn't want one of the
songs as the title of the album, we've done that every time,
every album we've ever done. We wanted to have something just a
little bit different for ourselves, so it didn't really point at
one of the songs, but the whole concept of it is that we're
trying to be a little more evolutionary, more progressive in
what we're doing and one of the pieces of subject matter that
crops up occasionally is the fact that we're getting so far
ahead of ourselves, or *are* we getting so far ahead of
ourselves with computers and machinery of that manner, will they
eventually take over our lives, will God be a computer, will
your wife be a computer, will whatever be a computer, will
humans then no longer be necessary? Computers will create their
own world. Very interesting thoughts, you know, that have been
had by science fiction writers. The title and that idea of
machines taking over the world seemed to be apropos for the
times we're living in. It's a more realistic attitude.
CoC: The song whose lyrics have me most puzzled is "Big Sister".
Would you mind sharing your inspiration for this track?
RJD: This track is kind of slanted in the direction of George
Orwell's "1984" novel in that there was Big Brother watching.
Big Brother took over everything, privacy was gone and there
were certain rules to be followed and they were pretty strict,
etc, etc. It just seems to me that women in this day and age are
becoming very, very powerful, as they should be, they've been
slaves long enough. But I think that the wiles that they use,
the way that they go about getting what they're getting, there
needs to be a "male warning" up there someplace that Big
Sister's coming for ya, Big Sister's gonna change you, she's
gonna take everything. Like in the lyrics it says "there will be
changes, no more giving it all for free." That's from the
woman's perspective. There are gonna be changes, from now on,
whether it be sex or comfort or cooking or whatnot, we're not
giving it away for free anymore. And that just permeates the
whole attitude of the song. It's like, "look out for Big Sister,
here she comes." It's pointed in the women's direction.
CoC: Are you satisfied with how the album and tour have been faring
thus far?
RJD: I am satisfied, yes. Let me put it this way. I'm certainly not
dissatisfied. But for me, everything is a building process. You
can take three or four steps backward, you just have to make
sure you regain them and take some more forward. For me, this is
our way of saying "this is what we are, this is what we've
become, this is what we want to become, we're comfortable with
playing with each other." Live, the band is just a machine, just
a great band live, great to be in front of it, great to be part
of it, the audiences have been wonderful, very accepting people.
We don't have to go out and blow our brains out to try to
capture someone. Things are going well, I couldn't be more
pleased.
CoC: Despite a less than amicable past with Tony Iommi, would you
consider appearing on his solo album if asked, or participating
in any project which involved Iommi?
RJD: Yeah, sure, I have no problem with Tony. He's always been a
friend and I'm sure that if we saw each other right now,
tomorrow, it would be the same "hug and how-ya-doin'" it always
has been. Tony's a good person, he's not a very vindictive
person at all. If the opportunity were right, I'd certainly
consider something like that.
CoC: No hard feelings about the whole Costa Mesa incident?
RJD: Not on my end, there aren't. I've had contact with Geezer and,
through other people, "hello" to Tony and Tony "hello" back to
me. It's not a problem, we're grown up people. We shouldn't have
to deal with stupid things that we've done before. We made an
album (_Dehumanizer_), I thought we were gonna make ten or
eleven of them, and go away gracefully all being in Black
Sabbath, but that didn't happen. For whatever reasons, there
were reasons that I believed in, there were reasons they
believed in, so be it, but I think any band that's going to
announce that they were going to reform with the ex-lead singer
and the drummer during the two shows that were supposed to have
the band as the opening act is going a little bit over the line.
I think it proved right down the line that "Why should I have
done those shows?" I didn't want to be a part of putting people
in seats for Ozzy so that they could announce that they were
gonna reform and that'd be the end for us. I was right, but
that's not the point. The point is that we don't have any
problems with it. If I could do something with Tony, if it were
the right thing to do, I'd consider it.
CoC: Often pondered, yet so elusive is your year of birth.
RJD: Well, I was born in '49, and I never told anybody anything other
than that. The thing is that I started so young, I think, that I
probably flow through a lot of people who are the same age as I
am, and have done more than they have, but it's never been a
problem for me. You are what you are, you get to be as old as
you get to be. It really doesn't matter, but that's me.
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T H E M O U R N I N G O F M O R K G R Y N I N G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Drew Schinzel
With only one release thus far, 1996's masterpiece _Tusen Ar Har
Gatt_, Sweden's Mork Gryning may be young, but the twosome have
already established themselves as one of the top bands in the melodic
black metal genre. Mixing a dark and brutal atmosphere with clean,
skillfully played melodies, overlapping with acoustic interludes and
raging vocals, _TAHG_ was one of my favorite albums of that year, and
with their label No Fashion Records set to unleash the second album
upon the public in early Spring, hopefully Mork Gryning will not
disappoint.
Peter, aka Draakh Kimera, recently sat down to respond to my
questions, and although he didn't elaborate too much, the answers
were interesting.
CoC: What have you been up to since the recording of the latest full
length?
Draakh Kimera: Been busy with our other bands...
CoC: Are you happy with the outcome?
DK: Yes.
CoC: With only two members for the recording of the last LP and
therefore no touring, what did you do in the off-time between
albums?
DK: We have been writing new songs for our new album that we recently
recorded in studio Sunlight. It will be released some time in
spring I hope.
CoC: I've read that the new songs will be much more aggressive and
darker than on the debut. Does this mean it's not as melodic? Or
are all the trademarks still present?
DK: It's not darker but more aggressive with a lot of metal
influences. But the melodic riffs are still there.
CoC: Were you happy with Dan Swano's production job on the first LP?
DK: Of course. He knew his job and he was really easy to work with.
Unfortunately, he has quit that job.
CoC: Did Mork Gryning find it difficult playing all the instruments
with only two people?
DK: No. It's almost easier!
CoC: In an interview with Dusk Magazine of Sweden, you said you
wouldn't buy a demo by a group that recorded at Sunlight Studio,
because everything sounds the same; but No Fashion has stated
that you recently "[spent] 14 days in Studio Sunlight" to record
your new album. Is there an explanation for this?
DK: I'm just glad you question that. Anyway, it wasn't -we- who said
[that]. It was Jonas [aka Goth Gorgon] who said that, not me. I
like Sunlight as a studio. I suppose Jonas does too, but much of
the bands that have been to Sunlight haven't had any ideas of
sound so the result has been a "standard Sunlight sound." If you
know what sound you want you can go to any studio you want.
CoC: Jonas Berndt also said in the Dusk interview, "I don't live on
this planet." Any comment?
DK: I kicked him in the ass to outer space.
CoC: Could you tell me who the new members of the band are, and how
you got together with them?
DK: New members? We played one and the last gig here in Stockholm
with three session musicians and they are not members in Mork
Gryning. No Fashion listens too much to rumors as many others do.
It's a pity because 90% of the rumors are wrong.
CoC: When will your first live show/tour be, and with what other
bands?
DK: WE WILL NOT TOUR AND PLAY GIGS! (... but we could do a gig in USA
if the label pays!!!)
CoC: Do you or any of the band members do anything besides play in
Mork Gryning?
DK: We have other bands, too. For me, Mork Gryning will be just a
side project after the release of the second album or maybe I
will quit.
CoC: Did either you or Jonas have any formal instrumental training?
DK: No, we are musical geniuses. Ha, ha, just kidding. We have
learned ourselves. Jonas is studying music at the moment.
CoC: Mork Gryning don't seem to be very well respected by many in the
underground scene. Why do you think this is so?
DK: I don't care. People listen too much to rumors. If you like our
music, fine. If you don't like it, fine. It's a pity when bands
talk shit about other bands. Talk shit about Christian belief
instead or something.
CoC: How old are the members in Mork Gryning? (This question is not
implying anything. I've just heard some small rumors about your
young age, and am trying to prove/disprove them.)
DK: I am 22 years old. The discussion about age is insignificant. The
important thing is the musical knowledge. There is too many bands
with no knowledge at all that sounds crap and untight.
CoC: Are all your lyrics in English for the new LP? If so, why not
only about half, like last time?
DK: Yes, it's only in English. We just felt so. I don't know. Maybe
it sounds more powerful with lyrics in English.
CoC: How do you think you compare to other bands, like Dissection?
Your sound is pretty similar.
DK: Do you really think so? I don't think so. But it's nice to be
compared with a good band like Dissection which is one of few
good black metal bands. Only Sweden delivers high quality death
and black metal.
CoC: Who were your main musical influences?
DK: I like Blind Guardian, early King Diamond, Iron Maiden,
Helloween, and Dream Theater.
CoC: Anything special planned for Mork Gryning's future?
DK: No. Maybe I will quit or stay as a session musician or maybe it
will be an even darker dawn...
CoC: How long does Mork Gryning intend to stay around? Is there any
"goal" with the band?
DK: Unleash the fucking beast!!! The goal is to see the Christian
race devastated.
CoC: Hmm, that looks like all my questions for now. Thanks a lot for
taking the time to respond to this. End the interview in
whatever way you want.
DK: Thanks for the interview. Buy the new album that I think will be
titled _Soldiers of the Magic Aeon_. Buy the old one if you don't
have it yet. ARMAGEDDON HAS COME TO PASS... FINALLY!
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N E U T R A L I Z I N G T H E B A S S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Acid Bath
by: Adrian Bromley
Louisiana rock/metallers Acid Bath have always felt strong about
the images, the sounds and the music they play and create. No one
dictates what they are to create or how they are to play. This is to
their advantage. Soundwise the band is reminiscent of fellow Southern
rockers Corrosion of Conformity, though the music is mixed with more
sinister visions/lyrics and death-ish growls. Another thing that the
band has had go in their favor is the controversy surrounding their
album releases.
Controversy has followed the band since their Rotten Records
debut release in 1994. Their debut album, _When the Kite String
Pops_, sported cover artwork by serial killer John Wayne Gacy and
their latest LP, _Paegan Terrorism Tactics_, has artwork by Dr. Jack
Kevorkian. Even an EP of edited radio songs from their debut album
featured sketches and writing from the "Night Stalker", Richard
Ramirez.
Chronicles of Chaos caught up with guitarist Mike Sanchez by
e-mail/fax to discuss the latest offering by Acid Bath. The band is
rounded out by singer Dax Riggs, other guitarist Sammy Pierce Duet
and drummer Jimmy Kyle. Bass player Audie Pitre was killed in January
of this year by a drunk driver and the band has not yet at press time
dictated if there is a replacement or revealed any future plans for
Acid Bath.
CoC: Musically where do you think the band has taken the Acid Bath
sound with _Paegan Terrorism Tactics_? How much different is
this record from the first one?
Mike Sanchez: It has taken us from the close, mysterious, dark Bayou
life to the open oceans of freedom and darkness that
lies below.
CoC: The first LP has John Wayne Gacy artwork. The EP has Richard
Ramirez artwork. Now _PTT_ uses the cover artwork of Dr. Jack
Kevorkian (titled For He Is Raised) - why his work? Why were
those three artists singled out as covers?
MS: The madness, chaos and romance of Ramirez and Gacy was a tasteful
ingredient to throw into our American Pie made with Ziare's worst
diose. Dr. Jack Kevorkian featured on _PTT_ is part of what's
going on inside. There are those who praise him for giving them
their freedom. Then there are those who are on the outside
wanting your freedom to control. The artwork itself is how things
are viewed. As a kid, faster was fun, out of school, lots of
candy, family and God. Everybody digs out their puppet Jesus and
pretends that they know just what's going on around them. While
watching how cute the little girls and boys are when they bend
over to get the egg we hatched for them.
CoC: Do you think the band makes more press for the music they
play/live show or the cover artwork? Any problems you have
experienced with artwork?
MS: Acid Bath has the type of music that sucks you deeper and deeper
into its juices the more you listen. Narrow-minded people may say
that they're just trying to be too cool. The artwork gets good
and bad attention. But once you open a couple of closed doors
you'll soon discover there's a lot more to this package than
artwork and sounds. Acid Bath is the largest band on the
underground. Very little promotion has limited any real problems
with the artwork.
CoC: Do you feel music nowadays has gone against the ways of writing
about sex, drugs, and rock & roll, and centered more on reality
and life? Where does the music of Acid Bath get inspired?
MS: Inspired by sex, drugs, sex, religion, death, and sex. We all
know reality, but who really gives a rat's ass about it?
CoC: How would you describe the music that Acid Bath plays?
Musically, I think the band incorporates many ideas and sounds,
thus breaking away from any pigeonhole of music styles.
MS: Our music sounds exactly like five people from the Bayou should
sound. Five different directions that just so happen to come
together. Listening to Blondie, David Bowie, Moody Blue, Dead Can
Dance, Black Sabbath, Devo, and Thrill Kill Cult influences that
make a big pile of chaos that seems to work.
CoC: How has the band molded over the years? Does it come easier for
you now to play and write music or just as hard now?
MS: It's harder than ever to get together as a group. We all live in
little swamp towns about three hours apart.
CoC: Seeing that Chronicles of Chaos is an online-only magazine and
there seems to be a huge abundance of nudity and sex, even
violence, scattered throughout the net for anyone to see, what
is your take on censorship on the net? On music?
MS: I can care less about the violence. But we need sex and nudity or
we'll have to go back to animal instincts and take it as we
please.
CoC: What does the title _Paegan Terrorism Tactics_ mean?
MS: The title represents a summary of the album. I believe our having
nothing to do with everything.
CoC: Commercialism plays a key role in music nowadays. How have you
avoided the "bite" of commercialism with your music and what you
do?
MS: Our music is commercial in an extreme sense. We need more
airplay. To the kids out there listening to NIN, Korn, Tool,
Black Sabbath, Ministry, and The Deftones, if you haven't heard
Acid Bath then you're still in for a beating.
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F U C K E D U P A N D L O V I N G I T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC Chat's with Nightstick
by: Adrian Bromley
No one ever said music had to follow any format. Did they? Well
if they did then Weymouth, Massachusetts trio Nightstick didn't want
to give into any kind of rules or regulations. The band - comprised
of singer/bass Alex Smith, drummer Robert Williams and guitarist
Cotie Cowgill - have just released their debut album for Relapse
entitled _Blotter_. The sounds of the band's debut encompasses all
forms of music: intense screams, death metal growls, jazz,
psychedelic rock and noise/feedback/samples. The ideas and visions of
the band are as warped as the material on the debut.
Recently Chronicles of Chaos talked with drummer Robert Williams
over the phone from his home about the album, Padoinka The Clown (the
band's stage performer) and anything else that might have come up. It
was a wild and extraordinary conversation to say the least.
CoC: When you went into the studio to record _Blotter_ was there any
idea to develop or did the music just come out through
experimentation?
Robert Williams: A bit of both. I had a firm concept of the type of
sound that I wanted to explore. Very heavy and low
sounding material. I wanted to bring out what was
inside of me. We have many sections of complete
improvisation in many of our songs. I felt that I
was confined to traditional hard-core drumbeats when
I was playing in my old band Siege and I wanted to
expand and explore and I found a couple of
degenerates from my hometown that were willing to
experiment. So to answer the question I would say we
had a firm concept of what we wanted to explore and
record and sounds we wanted to produce and at the
same time I had all these ideas I had in the can
that I wanted to get on tape. Once I conceive an
idea it haunts me until I am able to bring it out
and put it on tape. The challenge is to bring it out
as accurately as possible.
CoC: Has it been difficult to create music for you?
RW: I seem to get complete ideas just walking down the street or
riding on the bus. I keep them inside of me until we are able to
create the ideas I have. I guess I am gifted to have this focus
of inspiration and to have people who are willing to work with me
on these ideas and for these people to believe in what I am
doing. The band members are an integral of my song process.
Coming up with material has never been a problem for me. I have a
wealth of ideas. It has been a long process to bring _Blotter_
out from inside of me. I wanted to treat every song as an
individual atmosphere, so I mixed it a second time but it was a
labor of love. It is sometimes a long difficult haul from the
insemination of an idea to having that idea in print but worth it
in the end when you have created a musical piece.
CoC: As your music is created on the ideas of what you want to do
rather than doing what people say, society is mostly following
or going where they are told. Society and even music trends are
told where to go. But there are bands like Anal Cunt, Sonic
Youth and even yourselves not listening to that confirmed
outlook on music. How do you view society's take on how they
want you to be and what you are trying to create?
RW: I think it really fucked how society is trying to stuff us into a
mold as young people. To measure up to their expectations, the
expectations of a square conservative older generation. It wasn't
too long ago that they would be putting a gun in our hand in the
spirit of fake patriotism that led to a slaughter of thousands of
young people like us that were drafted. When you first asked that
question that was the first thing that popped into my mind. The
draft... and how sick it was and that it wasn't that long ago. It
was in my lifetime. When someone from the older generation
inflicts their expectations or their fucked up rules on a young
person I think that is criminal and sick and when that same thing
applies to musical expression, having to stuff yourself into a
preconceived mold musically, is not what making music is all
about. Regardless of what the art form is whether it be
sculpting, dance or Rock n' Roll. You should let your 'freak
flag' fly and let it go. Conventional expectations led record
companies to produce shit like Winger and Nelson. The time has
not been kind to these traditional kind of groups. It is
positively criminal when a record company in music, or a square
adult in life, try to impose rules on a young person or musician.
That is fucked.
CoC: Speaking of the creation of experimentation of music, what is
your take on drinking, drugs and hallucinogens usage when
creating music? How does that work into your lifestyle or into
the ideas that you create within your experimentation and music?
RW: I think a person should be free to do whatever drug they want to
do. After years of playing on the scene I have seen things where
someone would be drunk and trashing the hall and the next time
you can't book a show. I think if you do your drugs and are not
ruining the scene or hurting anyone else then should be free to
do any drug you want to. I admire a lot of the writers of the
Beat Generation. Some people call people like William Burroughs
the 'grandfather' to the hippies. He discovered and showed us new
ways of living and sexuality and experimentation of drugs and
that philosophy of that 60s generation is what I had always
admired and come to live by right now. For a kid to get harassed
by a cop for a joint is really fucking sick and it is happening
all over the United States. Humiliation always has to be a part
of it with a pig (cop). They'll take your weed, dump it on the
ground an tell you, 'Get out of here,' if you are lucky. If you
are not you will, like most of us have done, take a ride
downtown. For what? A quarter ounce of weed? It is a nonviolent
crime and it is sick how harassment and humiliation is a part of
how the pigs always come down on you when they are busting you.
CoC: So have you experienced any forms of harassment?
RW: Sure. When you are on the road and touring you learn that when
you go by the Roy Rogers restaurant with long-haired people in
the band and you see a pig State cruiser parked outside, you
learn not to go in. We have had a lot of experiences. I
experienced this a lot when I was a teenager for being too loud
or refusing to turn down to the amps. Every young person out
there reading this will know what I am talking about. It is a
attitude that they are trying to stifle. It is an lifestyle that
the pigs recognize and try to jump on and squash it.
CoC: I have learned through your bio that there is a clown (Padoinka)
who participates in the live show of the band? What's the deal
with the clown?
RW: The clown is dancer who does improvisational movement during some
of the longer psychedelic instrumental songs in the set. He lends
visual action and appeal to our live show. I can liken him to the
guy who was in Frankie Goes To Hollywood - the guy with the
mustache and leather clothes. He doesn't do anything except move
and rouses the band and crowd up. He is a spiritual leader or a
mascot that is a full-time member of the group. Basically he does
interpretive dances to the music of our live show. About how we
got Chris Joyce (Padoinka) to join the band, he had just started
to dance at a show of ours one time and we liked it and asked him
to join the group.
CoC: From what I have heard on _Blotter_ and how I would see it
delivered live, I think the music and band would be more
aggressive live? Am I right or wrong?
RW: I think the disc captures a raw live feel to what we are doing. I
can't see that brutal side live that people say we have but am
happy people say that about our shows. Our goal in the studio was
to capture the abrasive quality and the volume and energy of our
live show on this disc. I feel that this is an excellent slice of
our energy live and we have conveyed that properly.
CoC: Do you think people perceive the band as being 'weird'?
RW: Hmm... well. We have all been friends for years. Admittedly we
are all eccentric in our own ways, but to join the group you
don't have to be crazy and beat your brain with liquor and drugs.
That's not it. We add our own elements into the music we create.
I think we are an exciting band to see live and I hope people
take the initiative to come out and see us live. I think we are
bringing out honestly inside of us. Love it or leave it, this is
the way we are offstage.
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,.:/
Here is where CoC gets the inside story on up-and-coming bands. Check
out this column for a variety of fresh, brutal groups. Should you be
an aspiring band on your way to super-stardom, send us your demo and
bio; our address is included in the zine's header.
F U C K T H E S T A T U S Q U O
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC Interrogates Montreal's Quo Vadis
by: Adam Wasylyk
From the powerful Quebec underground emerge what will become a
strong contender in the international death metal community. Quo
Vadis, after several positive reviews for their self-titled demo have
recently released an independent CD titled _Forever..._. The CD
demonstrates Quo Vadis' strength at playing music that is at times
fast but at other times melodic and emotional. Guitarist/vocalist
Bart Frydrychowicz took the time to answer all of my questions about
the band, the music scene in Quebec among other interesting topics.
One of the first questions that came to mind was what the band's
name meant, so it would be one of the first questions I would ask. It
was indeed Latin and meant "'Where are you going?". He went on
explaining how the name really suited the band. "The name suits us
perfectly as we really have no pre-defined musical direction. We try
to capture our feelings and transcribe them into music and our new
album reflects that philosophy perfectly. You never know where you'll
end up in life - bitter, sad, angry, or calm or serene... we'll see
where all this takes us".
I then turned our conversation towards their previous work,
their self-titled demo which helped them get the band's name out in
Montreal and also around the world. Bart explained that they were
still in the process of focusing their sound. "We recorded a demo
which was released as an EP on cassette last year. The reaction was
very positive. We were still searching for direction at that time,
experimenting with keyboards and femme vox. The music is much more
focused now as we have found our sound". Comparing it to their new
album Bart continues, "_Forever..._ is much more aggressive then the
EP was, it's much more melodic and intricate. That may sound like a
contradiction but that is the case. I think we had more to say as
musicians this time in the studio as well. Our objective was to keep
the aggression and not to loose our edge. I think we captured that
quite well, at the same time setting free our artistic side. It's
pretty weird. You have to listen to both (the EP and CD) to really
understand.
With Quo Vadis from the ever-growing Montreal scene, I asked him
on his thoughts on coming from that scene and it's place in the
overall Canadian metal scene. "Actually the Montreal scene is geared
more towards "brutal" stuff", he begins. "Suffocation can get 900
people here for example. Bands that we'd like to play with, like At
The Gates, In Flames or Dark Tranquillity don't come to Canada. The
scene in general is very united in promoting Montreal, and it's
working. We have more metal shows by international acts here then any
other city in Canada and there seems to be little backstabbing etc.
with the exception of two black metal bands that were spawned from
the same original outfit and are now enlocked in a firm grip of
hatred. Maybe we'll have our own murder and church burnings here. As
for our shows we should be hooking up with Monstrosity/Vader for a
few shows [which awaits confirmation on behalf of Lee from Conquest
Music] and Suffocation will be doing a show on March 1st, that is
already confirmed, I think. We'll be quite busy in the upcoming
weeks".
Concerning lyrics Bart has a hard time describing them, but they
definitely aren't the silly gore-type. "Everything on the album is
based on reality. It's either our perspective on the world or an
introspective look at ourselves. The topics on the album are what
we're all about, the music and lyrics say it all. Really it's very
difficult to answer this question as many of the things can not be
put into words, the poetry on the album expresses the answer quite
closely". "There are always little details one would want to change",
Bart begins talking about the production of _Forever..._, which was
produced by Pierre Remillard (Obliveon, Cryptopsy). "But we're
extremely happy with this album and it's production. We asked Pierre
Remillard who is the local sound guru and that certainly payed off.
That is not to say that the recording process was easy and without
stress, we took about 3 weeks for recording. I'd like to work with
Pierre again for our future effort.
With only one listen to _Forever..._, one will hear not only
technical musical ability but also a lot of emotion and soul. I asked
Bart how exactly important it was to have emotion in Quo Vadis'
music. "Music without emotion has no meaning to us. Music has the
ability to transcend language and words. It is a perfect medium to
convey emotion. In my mind the two are inseparable. Music without
emotion is uninspired and misses it's purpose. I also find vocals to
be very expressive and an integral part of any song. I suppose my
fascination with voice is what keeps me listening to choirs all the
time".
Bart also informed me that labels have expressed interest in
signing the band. So you may soon be hearing from one of Canada's
finest and latest metal exports!!
Demo _Quo Vadis_ -- $6 US
Independent CD _Forever..._ -- $12 US
Contact: QUO VADIS, c/o VomiT Productions
P.O. Box 44, NDG, Montreal, Que., H4A-3P4, Canada
mailto:quovadis@axess.com
WWW: http://alcor.concordia.ca/~b_frydr/index.html
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This is where we rant, rave, and rip apart albums. Check this column
every month for the scoop on the latest in heavy hand-outs.
Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- If there was ever a perfect CD, this is it!
8 out of 10 -- A great piece of metallic mayhem
6 out of 10 -- Not too bad of an album
4 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
2 out of 10 -- If you like this, you are fucked!
0 out of 10 -- My shit can put out better music than this!
Absu - _The Third Storm of Cythraul_ (Osmose Prod., January 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (9 out of 10)
This is just excellent: hyper-energetic weirdness all the way. The
third full-length from these eclectic Texan mystics, it's a
high-voltage meltdown of elements of black metal, thrash, and death,
with totally wacked vocals to boot. _The Sun of Tiphareth II_, it's
not! The band plows through nine tracks in under 38 minutes,
abandoning the epic style of _The Sun..._ in favor of concentrated,
uncomplicated bursts of energy which are craftily constructed and
compelling as hell. I defy any crowd not to go nuts to the
fire-spitting anthem "Swords and Leather" or the charging "Winter
Zephyr", both of which exemplify a lot of what makes this such a
great album. It's utterly direct, driving, irresistibly catchy, and
seething with vigor. (A couple of songs do invoke the more complex,
varied style exhibited on the last album, but each clocks in at about
four minutes, max) A re-recorded version of the 7-inch track "And
Shineth Unto the Cold Cometh" gets the album started. Talented
drumming with tons of great fills propels the attack, grounding
catchy, speedy riffs which transcend simple categories like "death"
and "thrash" yet remain jagged and sharp. Tempos are fast, for the
most part, but never so fast that the pulsing momentum washes out in
a blur of monotonous speed, and there are some great time changes.
Cooler still, the quick, dexterous vocal phrasings are loaded with
hooks, and really pull you into the songs as the lyrics are
speed-chanted atop the slithering riffs and driving percussion. I
suppose Proscriptor's gremlin-ish vocals are an acquired taste, but I
think they're cool. They're different from the standard black metal
rasping, and they feed the engaging, over-the-top weirdness of the
band's overall sound. (Shaftiel also contributes his deeper vocals to
a couple of tracks.) Be warned, though: the production leaves a lot
to be desired, as the mix puts drums and vocals up front and
noticeably muffles the guitars. Still, that doesn't detract from my
enjoyment of this one at all. Almost gave it a ten, and I get into it
more with every listen. Killer, killer release.
AC - _I Like It When You Die_ (Earache, February 1997)
by: Brian Meloon (4 out of 10)
AC return with yet another CD, this time featuring 52 songs which
fill up just over 42 minutes. Unfortunately, this isn't quite as
varied as _40 More Reasons To Hate Us_ (see CoC #10), and therefore
not as good. In fact, very few of the songs stand out at all; most
are the kind of short punk/grind songs with dumb/silly/homophobic
(and unintelligible) lyrics we've come to expect from AC, and are
virtually indistinguishable from each other. The few highlights
include Seth's brilliant vocal stylings in "Just the Two Of Us" and
"I'm in AC", the cover of "Hungry Hungry Hippos", the use of Chopin's
"Funeral March" in "Jack Kevorkian is Cool", and the absolutely
brilliant "311 Sucks" (which rips off "Down", and reflects a
sentiment I couldn't agree with more). Other than those choice songs,
there's not much on here that you haven't heard before. This is (of
course) essential for AC fans, but if you already own an AC record,
you can probably do without it.
Agathocles - _Thanks for Your Hostility_ (Morbid, February 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (3 out of 10)
European grindcore pursuers Agathocles' fourth album, _Thanks for the
Hostility_, is a bludgeoning onslaught of noise and mayhem all
packaged into one album of twenty-seven tracks. That doesn't mean it
is worth a listen either. Problems arise quite rapidly with this
collection of material, with an abundance of groans and moans,
sarcastic band's lyrics and a sloppy direction (not to mention
recording) of material. Lacking any kind of formula or even
initiative to get any kind of momentum going, Agathocles' latest
noisefest turns into a pile of garbage three songs in. I'm staying
clear of this one.
Angizia - _Die Kemenanten Sharlachroter Lichter_
by: Steve Hoeltzel (5 out of 10) (Napalm Records, February 1997)
I can definitely see why Napalm saw potential in Angizia and gave
them a deal, and I hate to give a low rating to a group with so much
creative ambition, but I just can't get much real enjoyment out of
this release, interesting though it may be. The band's goal is to
combine black metal and classical influences, much like the
pioneering Dismal Euphony (also on Napalm, and an excellent band).
But while that group put out one of my favorite albums of last year,
Angizia falls a bit flat. Whereas D.E. create dreamy, memorable songs
driven by sweeping, icy melodies, Angizia have crafted what they call
a "Metal Musical Theatrical Play" dominated by piano and organized
around multiple vocal performances. There are four vocalists: two
females, one of whom does some soprano singing; and two males, one of
whom sings tenor, one of whom performs in a screechy black metal
style. The problem is, none of these vocalists is quite expert enough
to really carry this style of music. (The grim vocals, in particular,
just don't fit in well at all.) My main dislike, though, is the
band's way of handling melody. Unlike the drifting, ethereal melodies
favored by Dismal Euphony, the melodies here are often sing-songey
and cloying. When they start singing soprano-and-black-metal duets,
or little tenor soliloquies, right in step with these melodies, the
result often sounds somewhat childish. Lastly, the guitars seem
merely tacked onto the music. They are definitely never central to
the sound; in fact, they're barely audible. Certainly, there are some
enjoyable passages on this CD, but on the whole I can't unreservedly
recommend it. Still, it -is- intriguing stuff, and I'll be interested
to hear future efforts from the band.
The Blood Divine - _Awaken_ (Peaceville, 1996)
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10)
The Blood Divine are the result of joining Darren White (Anathema,
vocals), the Ryan brothers (Cradle of Filth, guitars and keys), the
other CoF guitarist PJ Allender, drummer Was from Extreme Noise
Terror, and bassist Steve Maloney. This band is therefore the fusion
of Cradle of Filth, slower and without the black metal influences,
and Anathema, since Darren's vocals always were a big part of the
superb early Anathema sound. Vincent Cavanagh (current Anathema
vocalist) said they "kicked out" Darren because his voice was getting
worse all the time. The Blood Divine proves Cavanagh was wrong, since
Darren's vocals are amongst the best I've ever heard - emotional,
powerful, awesome. The keyboards remind me a lot of Cradle of Filth,
of course - it's clear that it's the same guy behind the keyboards,
and he performs as brilliantly as one would expect. And then the
guitar work, which is just as excellent as the rest of the album,
combined with the remarkable, powerful drumming and the good bass
work. It's really hard to point out tracks here, since they're all
great. I really can't name my favourite track. TBD manage to include
lots of doomy melodies and feelings from Anathema, as well as the
kind of keyboard effects and atmospheres that can be found in any CoF
album. But TBD add an intense power of their own to all this, raising
it all to a different level. It's very clear that they have their own
sound, at the very least just as good as the bands they come from. In
fact, I liked this much, much better than Anathema's latest. Just a
final word for Ruth, who seems to have moved with Darren from
Anathema: her vocals on two of the softest tracks are truly great, as
she has one of the sweetest voices I ever heard. I believe more
influence of hers in the future will be a very good thing for TBD.
Overall, this is possibly my favourite 1996 album.
Borknagar - _Borknagar_ (Malicious Records, 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
This band includes some real black metal big shots: there's Ivar
Bjornson of Enslaved; Infernus of Gorgoroth; Garm of Ulver and
Arcturus, Oystein Brun of Molested, and someone named "Grim", whom I
probably should be able to place, but can't. (Sorry, Grim) With the
exception of two instrumental tracks by Bjornson, all of the music is
written by Brun. It's a very impassioned, identifiably northern style
featuring all the frenzy of Norse black metal, but none of the
shallow fixation upon being "unholy." (These guys are into "the
glorious past.") The guitar is high-pitched and expansive, very much
like Bjornson's sound on _Frost_. Garm handles the vocals, generally
sticking to his harshest tones, but occasionally singing clearly, and
often employing his trademark "Ahhh, AHHHHHH, Ahhh" one-man choir
technique. (Some people get all misty-eyed when he does this, I know
- but it's turned into something of a cliche, I think, and it's
over-used on this release. Ahhh, AHHHHHH, AAHHHHHHHHHH!!) There's
some very speedy, precise drumming, too. The blazing rhythms, shrill
guitars, and abrasive vocals often congeal into quite a powerful
sound - propulsive and angry, yet dense and organic. The song
structures are pretty standard, but there are some nice breaks and
shifts in mood and rhythm to punctuate all the aggression. (Check out
"Svartskogs Gilde" in particular.) Still, out of ten tracks on the
CD, only five of them are proper songs. The remaining five are all
instrumentals (not counting the occasional "AHHHHH, Ahhh,
AHHHHHHHH"), some of which are enjoyable, some of which don't
accomplish much. So: there's some quite solid material here, but not
an entire album's worth, and definitely nothing that measures up to
the quality of the various members' full-time bands. Not bad, though,
for sure.
Carcass - _Wake Up and Smell the Carcass_ (Earache, December 1996)
by: Adam Wasylyk (6 out of 10)
This being only the second video to be reviewed for CoC (the first
was Slayer's _Live Intrusion_), it's also my first review of this
kind so hopefully I will have covered all the angles. With the video
cover having an autopsy pic of former American president JFK, this
video contains five music videos ("Heartwork", "Corporeal Jigsore
Quandry", "Keep on Rotting in the Free World", "Incarnated Solvent
Abuse" and "No Love Lost") and two live concerts. There's not much to
say about the videos but the concert footage should be commented on.
The shows were recorded in the years 1992 and 1989 and you can tell
which is which by the recording quality. The first concert, the Gods
of Grind Tour 1992, features songs like "Reek of Putrefaction",
"Pedigree Butchery", "Exhume to Consume" and "Tools of the Trade".
The live footage for the music video "Corporeal Jigsore Quandry" was
taken from this concert, so if you've seen that video then that
should give you some idea as to the film quality. For this concert
the overall film quality isn't bad but in a few places it does get
rough. The second concert, the Grindcrusher Tour 1989 pales in
comparison to the first in both sound and film quality. What bugged
me about this show was the inactivity, or lack of stage presence. The
guitarists just stood and played while the drummer was behind a huge
Carcass banner so you could barely see him most of the show. The
guitar sound was also too low. So the last show was both boring to
hear AND watch. To wrap this review up, it would have been nice to
see some interview footage or maybe hear the band members talking
about the break-up. To tell the truth, this video is completely
unnecessary and it appears as if Earache are trying to cash in on
Carcass's demise. Fans of Carcass may want to complete their
collection with this, but most everyone else should save their $$.
Coal Chamber - _Coal Chamber_ (Roadrunner/Attic, February 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10)
Los Angeles quartet Coal Chamber's self-titled debut album is
everything that a die-hard Korn or even Deftones' fan would crave.
It's heavily-coated with an intense rhythm section, overflowing with
hard-hitting riffs and draped with maniacal vocals throughout. Sound
familiar? While comparisons are very similar to the other two popular
California outfits, the thing that sets Coal Chamber apart is the
band's feel for melody and groove. While Korn and Deftones rely
moreso on a maniacal charge of sorts with their burst of
adrenaline-laced screams, Coal Chamber displays some control of
material and that saves this project. Other than that I'm having a
hard time telling these bands apart.
Various Artists - _Wintergrief_ (Nahitfol Productions, January 1997)
by: Jo Romst (8 out of 10)
The main reason why I ordered this tape was that it featured many
bands I have heard about for a long time but never really had the
chance to listen to (like Nightfall or VOD). Yup, unless you're one
of these guys who buys every single underground metal release, you'll
discover many cool bands here! The orientation of the tape is towards
the more atmospheric and melodic side of the black/doom/death genres.
Black metal freaks will rejoice in blasphemy with Agatus, Zemial,
Invocation, Elysian Fields, and an unreleased song by Varathron;
doom/death followers will drown even deeper in sorrow with Yearning
(debut CD out on Holy Records), Septic Flesh (no words needed for the
gods!), VOD, Garbage Breed (chilean band a la My Dying Bride), Groms,
COD (finnish band with a forthcoming release on Wild Rags) and
Absence of Dawn; the more technical and progressive side of the scene
is represented by Acid Death, Kalisia (incredible French band!), Aeon
(Nocturnus lives!), and Manic. For those who'd want even more, there
are a couple of quite surprising tunes: Carnival in Coal offer us a
song filled with sheer brutality and hate but featuring a banjo break
(!!!), Stille Volke is a folk/pagan band with lyrics in French
(they're signed on Holy), The Renaissance Dance play dark/electro/pop
and Moozzhead - the tape's outro is pure fucking noise! A funny thing
is that almost half of the bands are Greek, so I guess that the guy
who issued _Wintergrief_ must be Greek, too. This release is perfect
for people who would like to discover some very good bands from the
dark side of the current underground metal scene. More info can be
found at: http://www.cs.univ-paris8.fr/~nahitfol/garden/
The Darksend - _Unsunned_ (Head Not Found, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (8 out of 10)
Before receiving _Unsunned_, I'd never heard, nor heard of, The
Darksend at all, so I didn't really know what to expect. Luckily
though, I was pleasantly surprised. Their style is mostly Swedish
melodic black metal, in the vein of Dawn and Marduk (okay, so Marduk
aren't that melodic), with a lot of melodic death metal influence
from the likes of Dark Tranquillity and others of their ilk. Not
being able to rely on originality, The Darksend instead create
extremely fast, melodic compositions, broken up by slower mid-paced
reprieves, and punctuated with a few thrashy solos. The vocals aren't
too bad, similar in style to Dawn, but a little more whiny sounding,
unfortunately. The production is good enough, though maybe a little
thicker than others (relatively speaking, this is no Mortician
production job), but it gets the job done with no major problems. The
most important part of _Unsunned_, like most albums of its type, are
the guitar melodies, and there are few disappointments here. You
won't find anything comparable in quality to the best from D.T. or
Dawn, but they certainly suffice, and comprise most of the highlights
of the album. There's not too much else to say about The Darksend
that you couldn't have read in any other review of its genre, except
that it's just as good as any of the others.
Dominion - _Interface_ (Peaceville, 1996)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
Yet another recent Peaceville release, in this case a debut, Dominion
present a somewhat renewed version of thrash metal with various other
influences, together with both male and female vocals. In fact, and
that might be what will bring Dominion notice, Michelle is actually
the lead vocalist, with various sorts of backing male vocals. They
have a consistent sound and use a very clear bass, while managing to
have a very fair amount of interesting, even original, arrangements
and riffs, although their quality isn't constant. The tracks that
really stand out are "Silhouettes" and "Weaving Fear", but almost
every track has something good about it. Track four features guest
vocals from Aaron (My Dying Bride) and Michelle's good vocal
abilities are explored in the very soft final track. Dominion show
some good potential, though they still lack something to really make
them stand out. Not a masterpiece, but a very pleasant album and a
good debut.
Eternal Oath - _So Silent_ MCD (1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (7 out of 10)
Eternal Oath take a unique approach to Swedish melodic death: by
taking elements from both brutal death metal and melodic death, the
occasional synth backing, and some more "mainstream metal"
characteristics, they form an eclectic mix which is easily separated
into its best and worst parts, and which can't really be aligned with
acts such as Dark Tranquillity or In Flames. The six songs alternate
between heavy, brutal sections, and epic, mid-paced, sometimes rather
symphonic, melodic parts, and it is the latter that definitely shines
through the most. It's a shame Eternal Oath didn't concentrate more
on what they do best: creating melodic, memorable guitar lines with
great (guttural) vocals. Instead, they overshadow them with heavy,
brutal, double-bass laden sections and weak, mid-paced sections with
decent synth and distinctly non-death metal riffs. The heavy parts
aren't even of the high-speed, frantic variety. Instead, they just
plod along, seemingly waiting for a good melody to pop up, which
inevitably does happen. The first and last songs, "The Dawn" and
"Dream of Rising", respectively, are without question the best, but
the majority of the others are merely average, and are evidence
enough as to why Eternal Oath can probably best be summed up in one
word: inconsistent.
Godkiller - _The Rebirth of the Middle Ages_
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8 out of 10) (Wounded Love Records, 1996)
I don't know why the guy behind this one-man black metal project
settles for the fairly modest nickname "Duke Satanael", when the
overall package of this 20-minute CD easily earns him the title "King
Cliche". Picture of a castle on the front. "Duke Satanael" posing on
the back, covered with makeup, holding a big sword and glaring at
song titles like "The Never-Ending Reign of the Black Knights". On
the inside, a flatulent speech about just how evil "Duke Satanael"
is, inverted crosses, more wonderful sword poses, and so on. Bored
yet? I mean, how many times has the -exact- thing already been done?
(The answer: so many times that none of this stuff has any real
impact anymore.) Still, the -music- the Duke creates proves to be
quite enjoyable stuff: good, unpretentious black metal which flows
nicely, features some great riffs, and has a reasonably dense,
well-balanced sound. The riffs are definitely what makes Godkiller
stand out: instead of endlessly repeating the same ultra-simple
combination of notes over an unchanging beat, the Duke takes a basic
black metal riff and then craftily bends it around, putting it
through variations that greatly increase the music's appeal. In
addition, keyboards are used almost perfectly: just prominent enough
to provide cool harmonics, but never fancy and never more than a
backup for the riff. Cool keyboard-and-drum breaks also make for some
nice dynamics, laying down hard rhythms and harmonic lines which the
guitars leap onto and take off. Vocals are in the screechy Burzum
style, though perhaps a bit smoother and definitely less annoying.
Percussion sounds solid, if maybe a bit basic. So, despite my gripes
about the image, I quite enjoy the music - it's a very solid entry
into the genre, even if not a particularly innovative one.
The Great Kat - _Guitar Goddess_ (1997)
by: Brian Meloon (6 out of 10)
The Great Kat's latest offering is a 4 song EP, clocking in at a
whopping 8 minutes. It features two classical covers (Rossini's
"Barber of Seville" and Sarasate's "Gypsy Violin Waltz:
Zigeunerweisen"), and two original songs ("Feast of the Dead" and
"Dominatrix"). The style is essentially the same as her previous
offerings: fast, short, thrashy songs with lots of fast
neoclassically inspired guitar work, and screamed and growled vocals.
As with her previous release (_Digital Beethoven on Cyberspeed_ (see
CoC #6)), she seems to be trying to be taken more seriously, as the
music (and packaging) avoids a lot of the cheesy imagery from
_Beethoven on Speed_. She's even incorporated some new influences
(such as the congas at the intro and outro of "Feast of the Dead").
By far my favorite part of the CD is her version of Sarasate's
"Zigeunerweisen", in which she elaborates on the guitar/violin
interaction that she has played around with in the past (e.g.
"Paganini's Caprice #9" from _DBOC_). The dueling guitar/violin
approach works well, and offers a novel sound. Hopefully, she'll
continue to explore this fertile territory with her future releases.
The production isn't great; it's rawer than her previous offerings
and sounds a little distorted as well (probably due to a smaller
recording budget). Overall, this is a nice release for fans of
neoclassical guitar spank-off, but it's way too short.
Grimoire - _A Requiem for the Light_ (Euphonious, November 1996)
by: Adam Wasylyk (8 out of 10)
Grimoire are another black metal band on the Euphonious label that
isn't from Norway or Sweden (along with Solhverv, see review in this
issue). From the unlikely country of Israel hail Grimoire with their
take on black metal, which is done very well and exceeds some of the
genre's counterparts. Mixing traditional black metal with their own
ideas (distorted vocals, piano/keyboard passages and sound effects),
the well-written lyrics deal with varied topics from vampires to
warriors. And yes, in the lyrics the words "fog", "moonlight",
"mountains" and "woods" appear, after all I did say they were a black
metal band!! Songs like "At Dark", "Nevuath Ha'Tom" and "Vampires"
show that Grimoire do have talent at playing black metal . I do
expect that this would be hard to find this at your local record
store, so here's the label's address:
Contact: GRIMOIRE, c/o Euphonious Records
Sankt Jorgens Alle 7 O.G 1 TH., DK-1615 Kobenhavn V, DENMARK
mailto:vow@pip.dknet.dk
WWW: http://www.vow.dk/euphonio/euphonio.htm
Hammerfall - _Glory to the Brave_
by: Drew Schinzel (10 out of 10) (Vic Records, April 1997)
Wow, I wasn't expecting this at all. A brand new side-project of two
In Flames members and a couple of Crystal Age members, and in
addition to having featured Mikael Stanne and Nilkas Sundin from Dark
Tranquillity before the recording of the album, I was expecting
"just" another Swedish melodic death release, but this is nothing
like that style at all. This is more of a "typical" speed metal band,
and in fact not very original at all, but this is just absolutely
killer stuff, and its unoriginality really doesn't harm its appeal
much at all. Replete with clean, moderately high-pitched vocals (much
like Helloween, Gamma Ray, and others of their ilk), relatively
simple, driving riffs, lyrics about gleaming steel swords, fighting
alongside one's brothers in the night (all in the name of glory, of
course), and those ultra-cheesy choruses where the whole band sings,
Hammerfall is -not- to be mistaken for an extension of In Flames, and
only sounds even remotely like them in a couple of riffs where some
influence is evident. Another thing you won't see on an In Flames
album: a simulated live setting with crowd noise! You know
something's amiss when the song breaks to a slow part and you hear
cheers and whistles coming out of the speakers from a supposed
concert for a band who have never released an album. Ok, so some of
this album is a bit on the cheesy side, but who cares, I get the
chills when listening to _Glory to the Brave_; some of the material
present is so truly inspiring, it makes me shiver just thinking about
it (how's that for cheese, eh?). If you couldn't already tell, I am
utterly blown away by _GttB_, and recommend it to -everyone-.
Hefeystos - _Vilce Sjen_ (Wounded Love Records, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (8 out of 10)
Another in the growing ranks of mid-paced, heavily folk-influenced,
keyboard-laden black metal, Hefeystos have one separation from the
rest. Despite the trite picture of the band in the forest with axes,
and the obvious Norwegian trademarks, Hefeystos are actually from
Poland. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't play this style of
music well; actually, on the contrary, _Vilce Sjen_ is a decent
release, succeeding in its goal of being majestic and atmospheric,
but there's still room for improvement in a couple of areas. First,
and most easily fixed, is the length of the album. _VS_ is only 11
minutes, with a paltry two songs. I know this is a first release, but
two songs? Granted, they're both good efforts, but still. Second is
the musicianship. The compositions here are extremely simplistic.
This doesn't detract -that- much from the experience, but a little
skillful playing can go a long way, for sure. _VS_ is not without its
good points, however. The vocals, a rather-high pitched, extremely
throaty shrieking, are decent enough, and the Satyricon-esque
groaning is certainly cool. The majestic, emotional sounding keys are
a highlight, too. Hefeystos have produced a fine first effort, though
it's too bad it's over so fast. Still, though, at a reduced price at
most distros ($7 or $8), give it a try.
I'M'L - _Instigating The Mean And Loud_ (DeRock Records, Fall 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
Surfacing from one of the only 'metal' hot spots in Canada, the city
of Montreal, comes I'M'L, a powerhouse quartet who live and breath
the somewhat long forgotten style of metal i.e. Slayer, Anthrax and
Kiss. Listen to the band's debut album, _Instigating The Mean And
Loud_, and you will hear hard-driven melodic numbers, the crunch of
ferocious riffs and slamming of the drums - all played with the
utmost enthusiasm and passion. As if drawn from their influences, the
band's music style ranges from Slayer-like numbers to the stomp and
groove stylings of Anthrax, with lead screamer Dan sounding very
similar to Anthrax's singer John Bush most of the time. I really
liked the way this album's eleven tracks seem to work off each other
and their specific love and feel for old school metal. Also evident
is the fact that the band never tries to play music that is different
from what they desire to play. In other words: straight forward metal
with no need to experiment. The album's loudness, well-crafted songs
and honesty are some of the more positive selling points of _ItMaL_
and I suggest anyone who likes those selling points to search out and
find this record.
Limbonic Art - _Moon in the Scorpio_
by: Drew Schinzel (9 out of 10) (Nocturnal Art Productions, 1997)
Limbonic Who? Another shock, this time in the form of extremely
atmospheric Norwegian black metal, courtesy of Limbonic Art's debut,
_Moon in the Scorpio_. Although the image is extremely contrived and
trite (does anyone really want to see another two guys with scary
names; Daemon and Morfeus... ooooo... ahhhh, posing around a fire in
corpsepaint?), Limbonic Art's music is phenomenal. Shedding the
traditional guitar with backing keyboard approach, they instead do
the opposite: the keyboards lay out the haunting melodies, while the
guitars just kind of buzz around in the background. And what haunting
melodies they are. Listening to the first track, "Beneath the Burial
Surface", I just about couldn't believe my ears when the bell started
its ominous chime and the synth broke out in a heart-stopping
arrangement. It only gets better from there, with the awesome
recorded thunderstorm and whispered vocals, again accompanied by the
bell. Of course, there's more than just one song on _MitS_, but they
all follow in the footsteps of the first; specifically, they are all
captivating. Cosmic sounding keyboards, brutal percussion
(programmed, though you can hardly tell), scathing vocals, and a
dark, morbid atmopshere round out the sonic assault. Having seven
songs and a duration of 60 minutes, _MitS_ is not short on content,
either. Limbonic Art have come up with perhaps the best black metal
album of the year, thus far.
Lordes Werre - _Canticles of Armageddon_ (RIP Music, 1996)
by: Drew Schinzel (2 out of 10)
I gave Lordes Werre a chance. Really, I did. But, after further
review, I don't like _Canticles of Armageddon_ at all. Its style of
death with thrash influence, horrible screamed vocals, extremely
unoriginal image (an army of skeletons on the cover, oh wow!), and
bullshit posing just doesn't do anything for me. Apparently, members
Galan Dracos and Avernus have been too busy worshipping Satan and
spreading the darkness, because they certainly didn't come up with
anything original, or even remotely good, for their MCD. The
simplistic, annoying guitars are just plain bad, and everything else
follows suit. Avoid this.
Lux Occulta - _Forever Alone. Immortal._ (Pagan Records, 1996)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
First thing that caught my attention was the brilliant cover layout:
the band's name ("lux" meaning light), the album title, and the way
the picture itself fit the rest. And, as a matter of fact, so does
the music... fit the rest, I mean. If I had to describe this album
(er, actually, I do have to describe it) I'd precisely use the name
Lux Occulta and the title _Forver Alone. Immortal._. Throughout the
55 minutes of this very well-produced album, Lux Occulta show an
impressive array of creativity, songwriting skills, and musicianship.
All this mixed with the interesting look I already mentioned makes
one hell of an album. Lux Occulta are essentially a melodic black
metal band, showing some classical music influences and often using a
very doomy atmosphere (hence the appropriate title). About the
classical influences, well, this six-piece band knows how to use
their keyboards for diversity, and they sometimes include an acoustic
guitar, a flute (which is once used during a fast black metal part -
which are always melodic and well played - besides some other flute
solos) and a cello (which performs particularly well in the excellent
third track). These instruments, as well as all the keyboard
orchestral effects, blend in extremely well, giving an overall feel
that, again, fits the title. But what would this be without the
talent? Besides being great musicians in what concerns playing (tight
guitars and bass, technical and powerful drumming, well used
keyboards), they also come up with constantly remarkable melodies
(the classical influences I mentioned being important here) that team
up with the good black metal and doom parts to create a great album.
I must mention the third track, the one with lots of cello, which is
great, as well as the last one (the sixth), which is probably the
doomiest: the vocals in that track are like a combination of a
regular black metal voice with Aaron's (My Dying Bride) weeping
voice, and the song is the very essence of the album's title (there I
go again). So this was undoubtedly the album which surprised me the
most in 1996, and one I won't hesitate in recommending to any metal
fan. "The awakening has begun..."
Machine Head - _The More Things Change..._ (Roadrunner, March 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
When San Francisco Bay-area thrash metal quartet Machine Head stormed
into the music industry three years ago with their powerfully-charged
debut disc _Burn My Eyes_ they demolished everything in sight thanks
in part to an onslaught of heavy guitar riffs, thunderous wallops of
intensity and singer/guitarist Robb Flynn's anger-filled lyrics. That
record had everything. Fans loved them, critics loved them, they
toured extensively worldwide and to many Machine Head was the musical
force that helped preserve the somewhat fading metal community - and
they did. Now album number two, _The More Things Change..._, finally
surfaces after being plagued by studio problems (the album had to be
re-recorded), extensive writing sessions and the loss of original
drummer Chris Kontos. The results? A somewhat different Machine Head
in my books. While the album is as intense as _Burn My Eyes_ in the
screams and guitar-driven numbers department, as seen on first single
"Ten Ton Hammer," "Struck A Nerve" or "Bay of Pigs," _The More Things
Change..._ lacks a real pressure point, something their debut album
was chock full of. Don't get me wrong, I like this record - lots -
but I feel that the band wasn't able to carry the success and
momentum they saw out on the road into the studio. I'm happy with the
results, I just wished I had my teeth knocked out this time out
rather than slapped around a few times.
Mental Destruction - _Straw_ (Cold Meat Industries, 1996)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (7 out of 10)
Following a directional shift towards sedate dark ambient, CMI has
almost completely neglected the sub-genre of post-industrial European
noise manifested in classic releases by the likes of In Slaughter
Natives and Lille Roger. Here to revive this dying breed is one of
CMI's oldest bands, Mental Destruction. _Straw_ showcases all of the
pounding, scraping, clanking, and screaming that once typified the
Cold Meat sound. This is far from all-out noise; the instrumentation
possesses a discernible rhythm. While metals provide a formidable
base for each song, MD layers a few enthralling synthesizer notes
into the mix. Once combined with surprisingly effective lyrics, the
music posses quite a despondent feel, although this is slightly
tarnished by a belief in Christianity, blatantly manifested in the
lyrical passages to almost every track. While this factor alone is
not enough to give me a disappointed impression, plenty of
disappointment can be found in the soulless production. First of all,
any lyrical despair is negated by the ludicrous vocalizations. They
come across as a vomited hybrid between Count Grishnach and a
distorted Phil Anselmo, during one of the latter's typically impotent
attempts at sounding "bad ass." Even more irksome is the dull,
resonating thud produced by most of the instruments. Despite the
diversity of sounds manipulated by MD, the tonal similarities result
in a repetitive feel. On the plus side, they have created one of the
more hallucinogenic CD cases that I have ever laid my eyes upon.
Merzbow - _Age Of 369/Chant 2_ Double CD (Extreme Rec., Winter 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
Masami Akita (a.k.a Merzbow; one of the many projects he has
collaborated on) is probably one of the most popular noise/ambient
aficionados within the music industry. Merzbow's latest double-CD is
not really a compilation or anything like that, rather a reissuing of
the record _Age Of 369/Chant 2_ that found it's way into the market
more than ten years ago. The year of 1985 to be exact. This reissue
of Merzbow's efforts not only display's some of the most bizarre and
intricate collection of noise/ambient experimentation's over the last
decade or so, but also proves that Akita was way ahead of his time
with his creations. The creativity and intensity is extremely
mind-blowing. Every second of this record lends a delicate feel of
emotion to us that strains at every pore of our psyche. It creates
images and visions within the music and leaves us drained at the end
of every listen. While some may steer clear of this release as it is
quite intense and noise-filled, the die-hard fans of extreme and
powerfully executed noise bands will worship this (as many have done
since the band's conception). Proving once again, as he may have done
years ago, that music needs not to come out and dictate a story or
speak through lyrics, as this record reveals that it can be told
through music and I think Merzbow achieved this quite effectively. An
abomination of noise for noise lovers worldwide. Note: a cool Merzbow
page to check out: <http://www.hut.fi/~omertalo/Merzbow.html>
Necromantia - _Ancient Pride_ (Osmose Prod., January 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (6 out of 10)
It seems a bit odd that a tinny-sounding drum machine is featured on
this mini-CD, since the EP is being marketed as some sort of tribute
to down-home, ancient European ways. In fact, I was a bit startled by
the overall character of this whole release, which feels like a real
step backwards from 1995's excellent _Scarlet Evil, Witching Black_.
Gone are the innovations and occult atmospheres that made that album
so interesting. In their place, we get a flute, lots of mid-paced
riffing on shrill-sounding strings, plus a bunch of extremely uncool
symbolism and rhetoric about "the European consciousness." European
consciousness, my ass. Anyway, the four songs are quite simple,
straightforward affairs, containing very few fast parts, fairly basic
structures, and mostly mid-paced riffing. What black metal feel these
guys did have once is now pretty much gone, and the eight-string bass
sounds considerably less crusty this time around. Not that all that
is necessarily so bad - it's just that I don't find any of the new
songs to be particularly engaging, with the minor exception of "Each
Dawn I Die". This one has a certain pounding catchiness to it, and
-almost- recaptures the nocturnal feel of older material. In fact, it
reminds me of some of the latest from Thou Art Lord, but it's neither
as energetic nor as enjoyable. This release is certainly not bad, and
the material is well-played (respects to Divad for some nice lead
guitar), but I just don't think the music measures up to the band's
past efforts in terms of originality or power.
Necrophobic - _Darkside_ (Black Mark, February 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk (4 out of 10)
On _Darkside_ it appears that Necrophobic got the $$ in their eyes
and jumped onto the black metal bandwagon. Giving hints to this on
their last EP _Spawned by Evil_, it featured bad black metal vocals
which carried onto this LP. It speaks volumes about their
bandwagon-hop when in the first line of the first song, "Black Moon
Rising" they use the word "forest". And to be frank, I'm sick of
seeing song titles like "Nailing the Holy One" and "Christian
Slaughter". I thought Deicide did that sort of thing to death?? As
for the music, there wasn't anything here that I found memorable or
worth hearing again. Hell, you know you have a bad CD when you like
the cover art more than the music. Also thrown in are some
pretentious keyboard/piano instrumentals which I guess makes their
black metal transformation "complete". I admit I've never been a fan
of Necrophobic, and _Darkside_ will keep it that way!
Num Skull - _When Suffering Comes_ (Defiled Records, 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Although their spelled-wrong-on-purpose band name keeps making me
think of hair metal wussies Ruff Cutt, these guys have absolutely
nothing to do with wussy-hood. Nope, this is brutal death, North
American-style - the kind of thing that would make Ruff Cutt wet
their spandex pants; and if you're big on this particular style, then
you're almost certain to like it. It's superbly heavy, with a bit of
early Suffocation feel to the sound, plus some crushing mid-tempo
grooves and rhythm guitars that occasionally remind me of Malevolent
Creation's uber-powerful _Retribution_. What I especially like about
the album is the genuine old-school vibe it's got going: these guys
are much more interested in morbid heaviness and unpretentious
structures than in needlessly technical riffing and constant tempo
changes. Not that it's monotonous, though. There are some great,
barbaric dynamics on tracks like "As the Dead Pile High," "The Gift
of Hate," and opener "Eyes of a Madman." Another cool touch: they
close with a cover of Venom's "Buried Alive," a song which definitely
benefits from an injection of death metal heaviness. The production
is solid, and so are all the performances. Why didn't I give it a
higher score? Well, at 33 minutes for nine tracks, the compositions
are all fairly short, and some songs don't really seem to go anywhere
in the course of their brief durations. More to the point: although
definitely enjoyable, Num Skull are lacking in any real distinctness
that might set them apart from their peers. But hell yeah, they know
what they're doing, and this is undeniably very heavy.
Penitent - _The Beauty of Pain_ (Draenor Productions, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Draenor Productions is a new division of Austria's Napalm Records
(home of superb bands like Abigor, Summoning, Setherial, and Dismal
Euphony). Based on this first release, I'm guessing that Draenor will
specialize in the Dark Ambient and ritual music that has attracted
quite a bit of interest from metal musicians and fans these days.
Penitent, you see, are a former Cold Meat Industry act who specialize
in morose, atmospheric keyboard pieces built up around icy
recitations of somber poetry. Asbjorn Log handles the music, while
Karsten Hamre performs the "Mad Poetry Declamations." My respects to
Asbjorn, because much of the music on this CD is quite spellbinding.
It's fairly minimalist, often just a single, echoing piano with (or
without) a quiet synth background and thundering tympanic percussion.
Opener "Autumn is the Beauty of Pain" begins with this simple
framework, gradually adding accents and emotion to what becomes a
galloping anthem, vigorous and sad. There's some grimly beautiful
music on this release, displaying genuine compositional talent.
However, the poetry component is not quite so enjoyable, because the
delivery is rather unimaginative. The lyrics are simply recited in a
deadpan, accented voice. In a way, this works to accentuate the
music's somber mood, but it can also sound a bit corny, and it
definitely would have been cool to try out some effects, instead of
just flatly talking into the mike. Still, I enjoy this, and some of
the musical passages are just splendid. Is it metal? Of course it
isn't. The point is, it's music intended to capture and create many
of the same atmospheres and emotions that bands who do play metal are
also trying to evoke. (Especially doom metal, in this case.)
Various Artists - _A Tribute to Judas Priest_ (Century Media, 1997)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (4 out of 10)
My main reason for hanging onto this is almost entirely for Kreator's
rendition of "Grinder", and Chuck Billy's vocals in Testament's
version of "Rapid Fire". The rest is mostly mediocre to poor in terms
of quality and creativity, which is a disappointment coming from such
names as Helloween, Fates in Hell, Nevermore, and Mercyful Fate. The
most insipid thing about this release is that there are two bands
covering "The Ripper". Mercyful Fate does a lacklustre job of it,
King Diamond sounding out of place and silly. Iced Earth wins the
competition on vocals alone, although even the music is superior to
MF's. Essentially, this is a waste of time and money, unless you're a
major fan of either Judas Priest, or one of the featured bands. In
fact, the accompanying bio sheet with words from selected bands
appearing on the disc was far more interesting that the listening
itself.
Purity - _Built_ (Black Mark, January 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
Power-metal band Purity (a four-piece from Finland) have worked hard
since their inception in 1991 to perfect their sound and style. They
have finally been able to do that with their debut album, _Built_, a
wonderful assortment of song styles that showcase many of the styles
they have tinkered with over the last few years. Several attributes,
such as brutal growls, strong melodies and a definite groove, stick
out the mostly on this record. While some may hear or pick up
comparisons to Prong or Machine Head within the band's music, they'll
definitely be able to see that the band successfully manages to weave
their influences and own ideas into one pattern, and break away from
such stereotype sounds. I like what this band has been able to
accomplish with _Built_, relying more on creating within a familiar
boundary or idea but still sounding fresh each time out. Standouts
include: "Enter/Exit," "Pique" and "In Disguise."
Quorthon - _When Our Day Is Through_ (Black Mark, February 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
I must applause Bathory frontman Quorthon for continuing onward in
his quest to create other forms of music other than the brutal
carnage he brought forth with the numerous Bathory releases. The
follow-up to 1995's _Album_ is the 4-song collection called _When Our
Day Is Through_, an assortment of material far from the savagery of
Bathory rather closely similar to Smashing Pumpkins and any other
mainstream alt/rock act. The material has it all: Top 40 sounds,
bittersweet melodies and memorable hooks. This ain't bad, kind of
cheesy at times, but the main thing to keep in mind is that Quorthon
is dead serious about what he is doing outside of Bathory and within
his musical endeavors. Case in point: this is the 'warm-up' to the
twenty-three song, double-cd collection of alternative ditties called
_Purity of Essence_ that Quorthon will be unleashing sometime in May.
You've been warned.
Regard Extreme - _Resurgence_ (Perspectives, 1996)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (10 out of 10)
Every once in a great while, an album will come along which
completely allude a verbal definition; in fact, placing words upon
such a release can only serve to pervert its power. _Resurgence_ is
one of those albums. Symbols such as "melancholic" and
"transcendental" are ejaculated, yet nothing can do anything but
limit the objective strength and subjective effect of this recording.
If seen superficially, this is created in a rather conventional mold;
orchestral ambient generated by synthesizer. Yet Regard Extreme
create music that is far too lush and multi-faceted to be correctly
limited to the ambient genre, nor do they come close to degenerating
into an obviously "Casio" band (see much of Mortiis' work). Only the
choral passages are evidently inorganic, for the human voice is
impossible to faithfully replicate via machine. The emotional impact
and suffocating ambience result in an effect intrinsic in only the
best of ambient music, as the dichotomy separating listener and music
is annihilated; the m sic truly melts into the skin of the listener,
assimilating itself with one's persona. Thus, as I've discovered over
the past month, _Resurgence_ is the perfect album for those solitary
winter nights in which the ambivalence of emotion runs thick.
Rocking Dildos - _On Speed_ (Kron-H, January 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Eighteen tracks, thirty-three minutes - and you WILL want to crank
this up when the first song kicks in. Anyway, I sure did. These four
goofs call their band a "motherfucker punk rock explosion," and I
doubt I can improve upon that assessment, except maybe by pointing
out that they pack some definite metallic power, too. I mean, how
many mere punk bands do you know who sound surprisingly similar to
Impaled Nazarene? These guys do, especially in their thick, bombastic
guitar sound; harsh, rasping vocals; and full-on, high-octane
approach. Of course, the RD's play less ferocious, more "rocking"
material, but _On Speed_ is still an extremely high-energy affair.
You'll probably get a few laughs out of it, too, thanks to all the
purposefully idiotic songs like "Pregnant Women Must Die" and
"Erection of the Century". The songs are short, driving, and usually
feature just one or two basic, punk-styled, metal-tuned riffs in
simple verse-chorus-verse structures. Did I mention that all four
guys in the band are named Frank? Hats off to Frank, Frank, Frank,
and Frank; and cheers to Osmose/Kron-H for giving some exposure to a
band who's bucking the current trends and doing their own pretty
potent thing.
Signs Ov Chaos - _Frankenscience (Urban Cyberpunk)_
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (Earache Records, January 1997)
Sole creator Michael Wells takes us on a dark and in-depth journey of
society and life. Upon each listen, the almost soundtrack-like
feeling of _Frankenscience_ brings us into a world in which we are
forced to experience what Wells wants us to experience - no questions
asked. It is an experience that dabbles with hate, understanding
ourselves and the complexity and intricateness of life. What we leave
with is a more accurate feel of the molding world of Wells'
ambient/noise project. While the bio says the album primarily focuses
on celebrating and dealing with both the good and bad ideals of
"cyber culture," the album works further as it also manages to create
an image of quite possibly the evolution of ambient/noise projects.
Assembled from multiple styles of musical ideas, samples and noise
_Frankenscience_, much like the Frankenstein monster in Mary
Shelley's novel, is a creation that manages to feed off and survive
on all the parts of what makes it one. If this album had been one
straight forward ambient/noise project then it would have been quite
boring. Not the case here, as Wells has thought out his work and
makes this an interesting and enjoyable record each listen.
Six Feet Under - _Alive and Dead_ EP (Metal Blade, November 1996)
by: Adam Wasylyk (2 out of 10)
Critics had good reason to dump on Six Feet Under's first record
_Haunted_ as, excluding a couple of tracks, it sucked shit. With this
EP it's the same thing. "Insect" and "Drowning" are SFU's new tracks,
and are to my surprise actually remotely interesting to listen to.
Still maintaining a slow pace, each song has a riff that you can
actually remember after the song is done. What would an EP be without
a cover track? On this it's "Grinder" by Judas Priest. The last four
songs were recorded live, average recording but boring as hell. If
you didn't like anything on _Haunted_ then you certainly won't want
to hear them live!!! The only good tracks will be on their upcoming
record so there's absolutely no need to buy this.
Solhverv - _Tagernes Artusinde_ (Euphonious, November 1996)
by: Adam Wasylyk (7 out of 10)
Fans of black metal are familiar with the many popular (and some
not-so-talented) bands from Norway and Sweden. Well, here's one from
Denmark that deserves your attention. Solhverv (formerly "Fallen
Angel" and "Helhejm") have based their black metal on Danish tales
and myths of ancient warfare, runic stones, sacrifices to gods, etc
etc etc. Don't count on this to be fascinating reading material
unless you can read Danish, so you'll have to take their word for it.
Focusing on the music, at times it's played at a supersonic speed
while at other times slowing down to inject some keyboard melody or
menacing screams. The tracks are lengthy but there is quality to the
music being played. The vocals have an echo on them and aren't the
shrilly/screechy variety that can be found in other bands. It's hard
to come up with a comparison, Enslaved came into my mind but Solhverv
definitely don't emulate them. Keyboards are rare, instead they
successfully rely on their guitars to set the mood. Black metal fans
I'm sure will like what they hear on _Tagernes Artusinde_. With this
only their debut album, Solhverv have a bright future ahead of them.
Contact: SOLHVERV, c/o Euphonious Records
Sankt Jorgens Alle 7 O.G 1 TH., DK-1615 Kobenhavn V, DENMARK
mailto:vow@pip.dknet.dk
WWW: http://www.vow.dk/euphonio/euphonio.htm
Sonipath - _Heavy Hooks_ (Flatten'Em Records, January 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
There is just something really intriguing about the music of
Sonipath. I mean the music here is not as deafening or violent as
Slayer or as intricate playing as Carcass, but the sheer ability of
the band to mold funk, metal and aggressive rock deserves an
applause. One thing the listener will pick up right away is the
band's very raw feel to the material, nothing sugar-coated, just
assembled as it was recorded and that does help create a character
about the music. The seven-song outing covers topics ranging from the
internet ("WWW.") to media coverage "Newswoman") and illegal bars
("Club Seal"), with singer D.J. Moran keeping the flow of the music
going onto each song. Another thing I liked was that the band, to
some extent, makes the music seem simplistic at times when in reality
it is not. Great musicians and songwriters make up this New York
five-piece and the more you hear this you really pick that up. For
those that want to taste a bit of what heavily charged and diverse
material should sound like, then check out Sonipath.
Contact: SONIPATH, c/o Flatten'Em Records
247 Maple Avenue Studio 2A, Rockville Centre, NY, 11570
Voice: (516) 764-7237
mailto:dmoran1@vaxc.hofstra.edu OR mailto:sonipath13@aol.com
Stillsuit - _At The Speed Of Light_ (TVT Records, January 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
For those that really dig the intensity of such hard-edged acts as
Quicksand, Helmet or Only Living Witness I will recommend Stillsuit.
_At The Speed Of Light_ fulfills all the requirements of a melodic
hardcore band that has the knack for writing not only strong numbers
but memorable ones too. The album radiates a very raw feel to it as
numbers like "Bicycle For Two" or "Will To Die" seem to really bring
out an realistic feel of dominance and strength within the material.
It just hits ya real hard in the gut. While many might place
Stillsuit in the same category/sound of NYC greats Quicksand, the
band does manage to add their own identity to the music too. Another
thing that I enjoyed about Stillsuit's debut album is the harshly
delivered vocals of singer Julian, a characteristic that really seams
to help guide the direction of where the band is taking it's music.
Loud n' heavy music that'll surely not be overlooked.
Summertime Daisies - _The Clarity of Impurity_ (Independent, 1996)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (6 out of 10)
Bassist Barry Topley indicated to me that the new material was more
mature, more complex, and made allusions to a direction not unlike
(gods!) Cryptopsy. I was anxiously awaiting more of their music after
having heard their _Gathering of Vermin_ demo and attended their
shows. Their memorable, high intensity death/grind showed great
promise, so I was elated when Barry handed me a complimentary copy of
their independently released full-length album, _The Clarity of
Impurity_. I gave it numerous listens, and while it has its moments,
on the whole, I don't agree with the band when they say they've
matured and progressed. In fact, I sense a certain regression, a
simpler approach which leaves the songs sounding too samey. Mind you,
it's well executed and has its moments, but it always seems slightly
listless, not as convincing as their previous material. While some
soul searching may well be in order, what's clear is that they need
to inject the songwriting with sharper attacks, and more original
riffs. I can't slam it entirely, because it -is- a solid recording
with some interesting twists, and some damn find heavy grinding
music. What's more, they tacked on the _Gathering of the Vermin_
tracks at the end CD to make it just under a half hour of Summertime
grind.
Contact: SUMMERTIME DAISIES, 417 Richmond Street North, Box 158
London, Ontario, N6A 3E8, Canada
Quo Vadis - _Forever..._ (Independent, 1996)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (8 out of 10)
This is a band worthy of label attention, nay, worthy of attention,
period. Hailing from the mighty Montreal, Quo Vadis are starting to
make a name for themselves, and rightly so given the high quality
output from this 4-piece act. Delivering a blend of styles influenced
by Dissection, both older and newer Carcass, and some latter-day
Death, Quo Vadis are succeeding at writing memorable songs as opposed
to strings of riffs, a daunting task in extreme genres, but possible
given the creativity and musical talent underlying the band. The
vocals often are reminiscent of _Necroticism..._-era Carcass in their
use of varying textures and intensity, although the lower, guttural
vocals could use more work to give them more definition. Yanic
Bercier should be commended on his drumming, which is an absolute
flurry of rolls and fills, fluid, and machine-like, although the band
nevertheless manages to lose sync occasionally. The twin guitars of
Bart Frydrychowicz and Arie Itman hit the mark virtually every time,
playing off each other, complementing each other in their melodic
attacks, their exchange of single-note lines and blistering rhythms.
Remy Beauchamp's bass work is barely audible, yet unpredictable when
heard. QV even manages to weave in unique violin passages in and
around the songs, creating just the right effect at the right time,
serving to accentuate the power behind the music instead of washing
it out. Fans of quality death who don't mind melody and the odd black
metal structure will jism all over this. My biggest beefs were the
interspersed (albeit short) spoken word bits which I thought simply
didn't work, mostly because they seemed poorly delivered, out of
place, and, well, a bit pretentious; the other complaint (and this
cost them a whole point) is the shouting-style vocal with appears
only on "Inner Capsule", a fine song otherwise, but practically
unlistenable for me because of the poor excuse for a hardcore yell
that is used in this track. Production-wise, the guitars need to be
louder in the mix, but that's likely just a personal bias, and
therefore of secondary interest. On the bright side, the lyrics are
an interesting blend of violent images and emotional introspection,
not all of the same caliber, but strong and an interesting read. Be
sure to check out their home page for merchandise info.
Contact: QUO VADIS, c/o VomiT Productions, P.O. Box 44, Station NDG
Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3P4, Canada
WWW: http://alcor.concordia.ca/~b_frydr
mailto:quovadis@axess.com
Xysma - _Lotto_ (Relapse, February 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
A lot of people are really diggin' this record. I am one of them.
Fueled with more of a gritty Rock n' Roll feel to the material,
moreso than working hard to display any kind of take on metal music,
the Finnish five-piece's debut album _Lotto_ for Relapse Records is
truly worth getting your hands onto. Full of swing, groove and a
slight touch of absurdness and quirkiness, _Lotto_ rolls through the
album's ten songs with a truly no holds-barred attitude. Like a
fully-charged bar band wanting to scare the establishment's
clientele, the momentum and deliverance of singer Joanitor's vocals
are rough and running ragged on each song. Add in a tight band and
memorable melodies and you got something worth cranking off your
speaker. The music is a combination of influences from everyone from
Sonic Youth to Motorhead to The Misfits to The Cult and Black Sabbath
and there is no denying that all those band's weighed heavily in the
sounds the band have managed to create within _Lotto_. Some of you
may be scratching your head at the whole concept or ideas that Xysma
are trying to gel together but believe me it works. If there is any
hype to come along with this band in the near future, believe it.
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Your best source of information on the newest of the new, and the
deepest of the underground, New Noise is the place to read about all
the coolest shit you never thought existed! And if you have a band,
don't forget to send us your demo with a bio if you want to be
reviewed; our address is included in the zine's header.
Scoring: ***** -- I see a record deal in the future
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
Carrion - _Flesh Piles On The Floor (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (***--)
I was warned by the band's guitarist Ryan Mining on IRC #metal about
the poor production of his Toledo, Ohio quintet's three-song demo
when he was getting ready to send off the demo tape to us here at
CoC. He wasn't kidding. Buried deeply beneath a muffled barrage of
noise comes the music of Carrion: brutal, sick and extremely violent
at times. While the music doesn't really stand out as groundbreaking
material in the world of death metal, the intensity of the band is
still shines through and helps keep us interested with the music.
Sounding a lot like a mixing of the sounds of Brutal Truth, Mortician
and Cannibal Corpse is where Carrion's music takes it's shape and
sound from. But again, due to the production of the record, the
band's music hardly sculpts any real definition to their own identity
within their music - hard to sift through muffled noise don't ya
know? Whatever the case may be (most importantly the poor production
once more) the three selections on this demo tape are salvageable
(and listenable) and do show that the band is trying hard to make
original, brutal death metal the way they want it to be.
Contact: CARRION, 2523 Berdan Ave, Toledo, Ohio, 43613-4805, USA
Voice: (419) 474-1088
mailto:rmining@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Chaotic Order - _Chaotic Order_ (4-track demo)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (***--)
I'm caught between two opposing opinions regarding this demo. On the
one hand, the musicianship is strong, as are vocals for the most
part, the production crisp and punchy, the music reasonably well
composed. This and the fact that vocalist James Rivera was formerly
in Helstar are pluses, and this demo merits some accolades, but
unfortunately, I find it quite derivative of a variety of other
styles and in many cases, bands in particular. It's not just that
Chaotic Order borrows from groups such as Alice in Chains, Pantera,
and even Black Sabbath, but too often, signature sounds or passages
seem lifted straight off the proverbial page. The type of metal
played is generally mid-paced speed-derived riffs, choppy and
chugging. Oddly, they try to inject some heavier moods with the odd
growled vocal burst, minor death influences, and even some occasional
double bass drumming. Of course, all of this is punctuated by the
mixture of deathish grunts and growls with occasional Phil
Anselmo-style posturing and loads of Layne Staley-esque harmonies. Of
course, eighties heavy metal is also an integral part of the sound,
which gives the music further predictability. A good listen, though.
Tracks: Lying Awake, Buy a Gun, Meaning, Side by Side
Contact: CHAOTIC ORDER, 460 East Washington #18,
Escondido, CA, 92025, USA
Voice: 619-743-7166
http://www.atmnet.net/~riddler/alchemy/chaotic_order/
mailto:tpmdrs@aol.com
Inner Misery - _Sea_ (3-track demo)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (****-)
While their previous demo, _Perpetual Sadness_, (reviewed in CoC #8)
left me flat, I found myself enjoying the rough mix copy of _Sea_
given to me by Don Clark, the band's guitarist/vocalist. While
they're still playing speed-influenced death metal, the songs on this
tape seemed to lodge themselves easily into my head, the chugging
riffs and sludge-laden melodies blasting away in lashing waves. Far
more creativity and originality went into these three
no-frills-all-meat songs. Time changes abound, and different textures
of sound are used to create a simple, yet powerful assault, neatly
wrapped in tight delivery. Vocals are blunt death grunts, and the
sound as a whole is minimal, which works effectively for Inner Misery
somehow. This minimal production is probably what permits each
instrument to come through so well in the mix, which is a blessing
given the interplay between them, particularly in "Dreaming of the
Dead". Death metal purists who like raw, lean songs with heavy speed
influences would do worse than to check out Inner Misery.
Tracks: Sea, Sucking Chest Wound, Dreaming of the Dead
Contact: INNER MISERY, 381 1/2 George Street
Sarnia, Ontario, N7T 4P6, Canada
Voice: 519-336-8466
mailto:clunetb@ebtech.net
Odes Of Ecstasy - _Atheistic Emotions_ (5-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
Let me just get this off my chest right off the bat okay? Black
Sabbath's classic song "Paranoid" should not be sung as a duet, with
two singers taking turns with one providing death metal growls while
the other singer (whom happens to be female) providing soft and
eloquent gospel-like vocals. It just doesn't work - sorry. Anyway,
the rest of Greece's Odes Of Ecstasy does not bother me as much, but
still there are a few problems with this demo. One up front is the
fact that the music and vocals don't seem to pair off too well. I
don't like the switch from death growls to soft vocals too much as
both vocals seem to be recorded and added to distant from each other
within the mix. Nothing exciting happening there. It may work for
bands like In Flames and Amorphis but here we are lost within the
transition. Too bad too as the female vocals (done by Christina
Maniati) work fine on several numbers (minus the cover song) and the
strength and power of the growls work fine at times too. Personally I
like what OoE are doing musically with the use of keyboards and
dramatic ideas helping shape the band's symphonic and atmospheric
death metal, but it is just a shame that this record, their first
demo is a hit and miss.
Contact: ODES OF ECSTASY, c/o D. Bikos
Patriarhou Fotieu B'19, Ano Nea Smirni
171 24 Athens, Greece
mailto:shrider@compulink.gr
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\ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\
\ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
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\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
Here is where Chronicles of Chaos gives you the lowdown on the latest
shows coming your way. Check out Chaotic Concerts every month for the
scoop on the bands brutalizing the masses with their own form of
terror.
C A N N A B I S C O R P S E A N D F R I E N D S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cannibal Corpse/Brutal Truth/Immolation/Oppresor
At the Showplace Theatre in Buffalo, New York
by: Adrian Bromley
I was actually quite excited to see this show, having seen most
of the bands (minus Oppressor) back in NYC at Deathstock 3 in
November with Adam Wasylyk (CoC writer). This show it was time for
both founding members of CoC (Gino and myself) to cross the
US/Canadian border (a 2-hr trek) to the get a heavy dose of metal
imbedded into our heads. Mission accomplished.
Show openers Oppressor (from Chicago) started off with quite a
lackluster set, playing some older material from their _As Blood
Flows_ (1991) days, but managed to liven things up when the more more
solidified newer material (off their latest Lp _Agony_) was mixed
into the set. A lot heavier and more brutal than their older
material, the newer stuff seemed to add the "kick" that was needed to
keep the band's momentum going. Songs like "Passage" and "I Am
Darkness" went over well with the hundreds of fans who arrived early.
Second up was New York faves Immolation. The band's sound was
muffled from the beginning and that didn't change much throughout the
bands 45-minutes set. This was a problem. While the band has a
definite ability to mix both raw and emotionally charged grinds of
death metal into their sound, it is the craftsmanship of the band's
playing that helps keep the band afloat on record and something the
band is capable of doing live and that helped somewhat to preserve
the set and keep it from going to some awful level of sound and
deliverance. Let's just say they were much better in New York City.
Next came Brutal Truth's 50-minute set, definitely the highlight
of the night. Charged and eager to rip hard and fast at the fans in
Buffalo, the New York grindcore/death four-piece lashed out furiously
playing material from their classic Lp's _Need To Control_ or
_Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses_ and a good assortment
of selections off their latest Ep _Kill Trend Suicide_. The band is
just soooo awesome live: whether it be Rich Hoak's thunderous wallops
on the drums, Dan Lilker's massive bass grooves or singer Kevin Sharp
intense live performance. This band rules live. The thing that makes
BT such a great live act is that no matter how intense or spastic the
material seems to gear towards there always seems to be a hidden
groove in their somewhere.
Closing this rather impressive collection of metal bands was the
infamous (and quite popular) Cannibal Corpse. Led by new singer
"Corpsegrinder" (ex-Monstrosity) the band stormed with ease through
material off of their latest Metal Blade release _Vile_. While I am
not a big fan of CC, the band did play well. It sounded heavy, it
sounded raw and most importantly it sounded real smooth - no real
problems transfering the material off LP to a live situation. The
band also pleased fans with a few choice selections from the _Tomb Of
The Mutilated_ and _Butchered At Birth_ days. For a little more than
an hour the band led fans through savage assaults of some vicious,
ear-bleeding numbers. My only problem with Cannibal Corpse - no real
stage presence. Besides focusing primarily on their 'Hair-twirling
101' classes, the band has a rather dull live performance, other than
"Corpsegrinder" posing like a WWF wrestler every once in a while.
Nothing big but something the band may want to work on.
Was it worth the trip to Buffalo from Toronto, Canada? Sure was
due to the fact that both Gino and I got to see a good metal show -
something very rare in Toronto - we also finally got to see Brutal
Truth live (I saw bit of them at Deathstock 3; Gino has never seen
them before) and we got to meet up and chat for a while with longtime
CoC reader and e-mail pen pal Rich Hoak, Brutal Truth's drummer. That
ruled.
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T H E F A C T O R Y N E V E R Q U I T S
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Fear Factory Live In Australia at the Big Day Out Festival
by: Ian "Raz" Moyle <imoyle@vision.net.au>
Melbourne, Australia... The Big Day Out music festival. I don't
know how many people have heard of this festival outside Oz so I will
explain.
The Big Day Out is a 12-hour festival of live bands, consisting
of both international and local acts. It's tour travels around
Australia over a month going to all the capital cities of each state
except Tasmania (the little island down the bottom of Australia where
I come from) - it does go to New Zealand for one concert as well.
Well the bill in '97 included: Soundgarden, Prodigy, Spiderbait,
Offspring, Superjesus, Beasts Of Bourdon, Insurge, Snout, Frenzal
Rhomb, Powderfinger, and shit loads more. But I was there for Fear
Factory! This was a massive show, with a crowd of 500,000 or more
having fun in over 40 degree (Celsius) heat cooking us.
I had the pleasure the day before to meet Fear Factory (FF) at a
store signing. Burton C. Bell (singer) was glamorously showing of his
new leg tattoo which matched his arm tattoo. I got into a hype 12
hours before the concert and so I had to do the alcohol thing to
settle down. :)
But enough of all that, what was the concert you say? Well
bloody excellent. FF were scheduled to play at 3pm (Soundgarden were
the only band to play at night) and the crowd knew it. There where
two stages set up beside each other so one band could set up while
the other was playing. Superjesus were playing on the other stage
while FF set up. At the end of each song a resounding "FUCK OFF!"
echoed from all the thousands of FF fans telling Superjesus where to
go big time. When FF came out on stage it was one of the biggest
crowds of the day cheering. They opened with "Demanufacture" and also
played "Martyr," "Self Bias Resistor," "Scapegoat," "Zero Signal,"
"Scumgrief," "Dog Day Sunrise" and "Self Immolation." The band closed
with "Replica."
All in all a great concert. Pity, seeing that this is supposed
to be the last Big Day Out festival, but, oh well, Cradle of Filth is
coming soon I hear, and you just can't keep a metal head down.
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gino's Top 5
1. KMFDM - _Xtort_
2. Pitch Shifter - _Desensitized_
3. Nine Inch Nails - _Pretty Hate Machine_
4. Amorphis - _Tales From The Thousand Lakes_
5. Fear Factory - _Fear Is The Mindkiller_
Adrian's Top 5
1. Trial of the Bow - _Rite of Passage_
2. AC - _I Like It When You Die_
3. Xysma - _Lotto_
4. Handsome - _Handsome_
5. Strapping Young Lad - _City_
Brian's Top 5
1. Arcturus - _Aspera Hiems Symfonia_
2. Novembre - _Wish I Could Dream It Again_
3. Unleashed Power - _Quintet of Spheres_
4. Manitou - _Entrance_
5. Gehenna - _First Spell_
Alain's Top 5
1. Korpse - _Revirgin_
2. Inner Misery - _Sea_ <demo>
3. Cryptopsy - _None So Vile_
4. Dio - _Strange Highways_
5. At the Gates - _Slaughter of the Soul_
Steve's Top 5
1. Absu - _The Third Storm of Cythraul_
2. Limbonic Art - _Moon in the Scorpio_
3. Sumoning - _Dol Guldur_
4. Helheim - _Jormundgand_
5. Autechre - _tri repetae ++_
Adam's Top 5
1. Pain - _Pain_
2. Sinister - _Bastard Saints_ EP
3. Arcturus - _Aspera Hiems Symfonia_
4. Angel Corpse - _Hammer of Gods_
5. AC - _I Like It When You Die_
Drew's Top 5
1. Hammerfall - _Glory to the Brave_
2. Megadeth - _Rust In Peace_
3. Limbonic Art - _Moon In the Scorpio_
4. Edge of Sanity - _Purgatory Afterglow_
5. In Flames - _The Jester Race_
Andrew's Top 5
1. Regard Extreme - _Resurgence_
2. Voivod - _Killing Technology_
3. Scorn - _Vae Solis_
4. Brutal Truth - _Need to Control_
5. Brighter Death Now - _Innerwar_
Pedro's Top 5
1. My Dying Bride - _Turn Loose the Swans_
2. Anathema - _Serenades_
3. Katatonia - _Dance of December Souls_
4. The Blood Divine - _Awaken_
5. Lux Occulta - _Forever Alone. Immortal._
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T H E F I N A L W O R D
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Another issue has come and gone, thanks go to you, loyal readers, for
making it this far once again. All I can say is: "YOU RULE!" Take
care all, ciao. -- Gino Filicetti
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #18
All contents copyright 1997 by individual creators of included work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.