Contaminated Tones

Diseased Oblivion - Portals of Past and Present

2012-01-26T23:17:00.000-08:00

CTP 002 - I Diseased Oblivion - Portals of Past and Present

The subliminal undertones spread across this miasma of noise and blackened funeral drudge is enough to send even the most stable mind into convulsions. A heavy load of fuzz and static drenched guitars creep across the outer layers but underneath the harshness lays a foreboding post-apocalyptic nihilist's utopia of lingering burnt out bomb shelters and blasted out monuments to mankind's folly. The fog of war blows gently across a vast landscape, leaving the listener to stare into the distance for half an hour, soak in the radiation, and melt away.

$4.00
Free shipping to NJ/PA/NY

I realize that it can be expensive for me to ship product overseas so if you are from the UK or Europe, you can email Kieran from Slaney Records who will be distributing my releases in the EU. He is in the middle of getting his website up but interested parties can email me to get his email address until I can link to his distro. Additionally you can pick up the Maximum Oversatan demo from him as well.

Horrifier - Grim Fate

2012-01-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

This one was a long time coming, and I think I was hesitant on reviewing an album which was really a labor of love from a good friend of mine. You know, I don't want to hurt feelings or anything but after being given the go ahead to rip and tear stuff to shreds without any kind of consequence I decided to lay out my feelings honestly. To be transparent, I know Joe Potash, guitarist and founder of Horrifier extremely well. I play bass in Primeval Realm, his doom project but I've known Joe for a long time prior to that. I also know bassist Amadeusz pretty well also. Let's just say I'm good friends with the band. With that said "Grim Fate" exhibits the attributes of an album which had a lot going for it but, at least for me, failed to be as gripping as it should have or probably could have been. For many fans of traditional metal though, I could see this being adored universally, and rightly so. Even though I have some minor grievances with some of the subtleties of the album, it's a strong representation of the resurgence of interest in traditional metal here in the United States.

Musicianship on the album is generally spectacular. Everything is cleanly played, excellently recorded and sounds one thousand percent professional. Particularly of note are the solos across the album, showcasing Potash's guitar playing virtuosity. The leads are all well crafted, and revitalizes the later tracks such as "Decisive Victory" and "Grim Fate." Amadeusz and guitarist Joe Hoyer successfully tackle the rhythm section which is rounded out with a myriad array of drummers. Hoyer also has a handful of solos across the album which match up with Potash's as well as I would expect possible from the pool of guitarists we have here in New Jersey. Potash drums on four of the eight tracks. Gary Breza drums on the other four remaining songs and Greg Seymour of Iced Earth notoriety lends some time on the ol' drumaroos during the introduction to the seventh track, "From Beyond The Grave," in a preamble titled "Exordium." The vocal performance of Potash on the album is of varying quality throughout and is the weakest area as far as the musicianship is concerned. Though doubtless the effort and emotion is there, the vocals retain a certain monotone underlayment that sounds stressed and uncomfortable in the role. The addition of more-than-usual amounts of reverb on the vocals for this style of music also adds to the previously mentioned possible lack confidence in his own vocals.

The songs are generally well written with, "Premonition," the third track, being the first real noteworthy track. It follows a slightly repetitive introductory track and second opening song which I have issues with for the purposes of album pacing. Second song "E.B.E.", which is short for Extraterrestrial Biological Entity (The song is about aliens or something), is slow and plodding and speaks to Potash's fondness for doom more than his fondness for thrash and traditional metal. "Premonition," however, is catchy and flows extremely well. Though I don't know how effective the usage of the bass playing the intro riff is, the song is strongly executed. Potash and Hoyer prove their axe-wielding ability as the song passes through the solo section and the bridges which include several great riffs. With fourth track, "True Metal Never Rusts!," the album falters.

It falters not because of "True Metal..." being a bad track but being such a great metal anthem that the rest of the tracks have a hard time living up to it's glory. The actual content of the song, at least lyrically, is clever to a point that it's hard to believe no one has written the song before. This particular track reminds me of current Heavy Metal product from Italy or Germany. Speaking of which, this is the song that when played in a European country, drunken headbangers would absolutely go nuts over. The song has the best riff of the album after the second chorus and also reeks of attitude which the other tracks don't seem to match. Two solos clamor for your attention but if there is one aspect to this track which is lacking compositionally, it's that the two solos are not back to back but separated in the middle, creating the best example of where the album makes a common mistake - the addition of an unnecessary riff or repetition. A third solo culminates at the end of a song which is more than the sum of the rest of album's parts.

"Decisive Victory" is adequate and fun but haphazardly structured. Instead of being streamlined and simplified, additional riffs with little real meaning stand in the way of the album having two top notch songs back to back. Still, those with a less critical ear or beer-filled gut would most likely go retarded over the track. What I absolutely LOVE about the track is it's lyrical content, centering around both Potash's and my own state's historical importance during the Revolutionary War. The song depicts the events of the Battle Of Trenton, when the American Army defeated the British and changed the momentum of the Revolutionary war. "Grim Fate" follows properly but not outstandingly. It has a neat interlude-like instrumental section halfway through with some Maiden-esque harmonies.

The album resolves with Exordium / From The Beyond The Grave and Stalingrad. From Beyond The Grave is pretty much filler material but Exordium is a neat jam with Seymour on drums and Potash showcasing some nifty acoustic guitar playing and lead work. Stalingrad ends the album on a downer for me. While the song opens with a cool bass line which I always enjoy, the song ends the album with mediocrity. It's like Maiden closing out Powerslave with "Losfer Words." The song is fast but doesn't really do anything for me as a grand finale to the album. "Grim Fate" would have been a better closing track or even "Premonition." Ultimately, I guess my biggest gripe would be the order of the tracks themselves. The album opens with a decent intro but then drops into a meandering plodding track afterward. It's not until the fourth track that the album really starts for me and by that time, half the album is gone already.

At just under thirty seven minutes, the album is pretty short and I think would have benefited from another strong track in the vein of "Decisive Victory" or "True Metal..." both of which hearken back to Jag Panzer, early Iced Earth and the glory days of US Power Metal. One of my more arguable and possibly trite condemnations of the album is that the songs that showcased the USPM leanings of the album proved that the transition from Horrifier's more thrashy beginnings had not completely been finished and that the conflict of the two styles presents us with a less focused final product. I would have loved to see what Grim Fate would have been if the transition into a full fledged USPM / Heavy Metal band had been realized. For me, the most defining attribute of Horrifier's Grim Fate is that it came from New Jersey. It proves to the world that while some of the most awful crap has been spewing forth from the Garden State's borders for past decade or so, there is no hint of our true metal rusting away.

Clamfight Live At Champs

2012-01-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Check out the awesome performance of Clamfight from last week at Champs in Trenton. Killer set and awesome performance. Download the entire performance Here or from the audio archive page. Thanks again to Sean, Andy, Joel and Louis for an awesome show.

Store update

2012-01-02T20:54:00.001-08:00

Added the following items to the store:

Mortum - The Rites Of Depopulation CD - $10.00
Mortum - Beyond Which Darkness Holds Secret CD - $5.00
Mortum - Logo Patch - $1.00

Contaminated Tones Zine Issue # 2 Contents

2011-12-28T15:10:00.001-08:00

I will update this particular post with information on the contents of CTZ#2 as everything continues to come together.

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Fatum Elisum - Interview with Alefandre, Bassist of Fatum Elisum. Their new album Homo Nihilis is available through Aesthetic Death and is highly recommended. Merging early Doom Death, Traditional Doom and Epic Doom, Fatum Elisum create an expansive and at times minimalist atmosphere which, when coupled with the emotive vocals of Ende, create the kind of listening experience which is best observed in a personal reflective listening experience. Tracks such as The Twilight Prophet and Pursuit of Sadness epitomize the bands keen attention to detail and melody while the album's depth is complicated by the inclusion of tracks such as namesake track, Homo Nihilis, which includes blackened flourishes. More than a grower-album, this is an intelligent display of Doom Metal's possibilities and, even more specifically, a showing of Fatum Elisum's consistency following the excellent eponymous debut release.

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Midnight Priest - Interview 12/28/2011

2011-12-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

So Pita, we last spoke about a year and a half ago when you did the interview for the first issue of Contaminated Tones Magazine. What has been going on with Midnight Priest since then, have there been any member changes? I know you have a new record coming out. Who will be releasing the record? What will it sound like? When will it be available?

Hey Jon! Yes, it’s been quite a while and a lot of stuff has been going on. The album is out now and going fast! There’s a CD release on Stormspell Records and a vinyl release on A Forja (Label links at end). We’re very proud with the end result, it sounds fucking great and powerful and that’s what we wanted from the start – maddening Old School Metal Mayhem!

There’s been a line up change also, since Nasty Nightmare recorded the album and took off, so we have a new guitar player Johnny Kilmister, who is without any doubt the ultimate axe man for MIDNIGHT PRIEST. He’s mad, loud and nasty just like we all are, so we’re doing quite alright!

You said the album would be out in 2010 but I guess that got delayed. What happened that delayed the album for a full year?

That’s true, it took us almost a year to get the album out, and the main reason’s because we don’t have any management or whatsoever and must take care of every little detail by ourselves before the stuff goes to the pressing plant. We definitely want to have some control over our releases, from the cover artwork to the final mix. We’re lucky enough to have our good friend Zé Metálica - headbanger and graphic artist since the early days, to produce the exactly kind of art we wanted for the record and that took a while. Apart from this, we were waiting for the masters to arrive and had to make a couple of tweaks to the sound, since we wanted a very specific kind of production with a lot of detail and weren’t backing down on anything.

Fortunately the album has been out and doing very well, so go bang your head!!

Are there any songs on this debut full length that we have heard before from either the EP or 2009 cassette demo or will this album contain completely new songs? How would you compare these songs to the previous releases?

The album has a song ‘No Calor do Inferno’ (In The Heat of Hell) which dates back to the demo; we really wanted to make that song justice. ‘The Priest is Back’ demo was a shot in the dark when it came to production and the quality of the release compromised a lot. The label didn’t have much care for the dubbing quality and it came out pretty shitty I must say. Nevertheless it sold out very fast, but I’m still very pissed off with the end result. Nevertheless, power to the label, they put out very good underground bands.

There are only new songs on the album, apart from the above mentioned one, and they are of course MIDNIGHT PRIEST songs, with the same obscure atmosphere and nasty finesse the band always stood by. The production is great and it’s totally analogical, no modern equipment was used and that was our main goal production wise, no modern amps, gear or instruments, if anything further from1989 entered that studio, it got thrown in the fire no questions asked!

Compared to our previous releases, what really stands out is the technical abyss in musicianship. We actually had to learn how to play our instruments or else no album would ever be recorded, and that shows every second of the record; we grind our balls and it was worth every second of it. You take the heat and move on.

You have a track uploaded for people to check out called Sabado Negro. What is this track about? Tell me about why you chose this track to be the public's first glimpse at the album.

Actually it was the Iordan from Stormspell Records who chose that track for the preview. It was a challenge to put that song opening the album since it is almost 7 minutes long, not a lot of Heavy Metal albums start with such a long track, but it brings up that dark atmosphere which gets you into the record. It’s a prologue to insanity and it works pretty well.

The song ‘Sábado Negro’ means ‘Black Saturday’ and is inspired on Mario Bava’s work with Barbara Steel on Black Sunday, which is one of the finest movies ever made. In fact a lot of our songs are based upon horror movies and vintage Portuguese horror tales. There are also some lines on the lyrics taken from the ‘Portuguese Black Book of Magic’ which is an ancient manuscript used for spiritual séances and obscure burial rituals that take place since the XII century, there are a lot of burial sites and graveyards marked with inscriptions on tombs and they’re made to ward off people from those grounds which are said to be haunted.

All cemeteries are confined within heavy gates and walls, where ancient prayers have been written on rock, and they close down before the strike of midnight since a lot of dread and doom surround these places and a lot of obscure practices and covens still go on to this day.

What else could you ask for inspiration?

Any stories about this recording session. You told me an awesome story about voices appearing on Numa Campa last time we talked. Are there any interesting experiences associated with this album's recording as well?

There are no voices this time, but there sure are notable facts! Since we wanted an intro with keyboards, paying our respects to The King, we knew we had to do something special, so our producer arranged for that intro to actually be recorded at the church with a real church organ and real church choir. So we went to the Black Madonna Church, Jasna Góra in Czestochowa, Poland (which is the city where we recorded the album) and were fortunate enough to get this amazingly insane intro. It couldn’t have been better.

Now given the fact that we were five clueless dirty slobs trying to pull off a record of our asses in five days on a top studio, I figure the situation speaks for itself! A lot of shit happened, hadn’t we the dirtiest of reputations around! Between gallons of vodka, arrests, women and barely managing to get out of the country alive, I think we did pretty well. Not to say that Poland is the main amphetamine exporter in Europe and that stuff is cheaper to get than a pack of cigars! I don’t remember sleeping at all, Dalton also, we were on instant coffee, cigars and heavy duty studio work through the whole week; and I would be very happy do it all over again many times.

On a different, more obscure note, if you give the album cover the right angle, you will see something really creepy. And who knows how it got there…!

How have your recent live shows gone? You've played a handful of shows recently. Who have you played with? I saw you did a show with Portrait?

MIDNIGHT PRIEST shows have been growing immensely in crowd attendance and die hard fans. There was a somewhat dead spot for us within the more sceptical part of the underground scene and even though Portuguese magazines still don’t want to believe that we’re the biggest Heavy Metal act in Portugal, we’ve been doing pretty well here, the last MIDNIGHT PRIEST show of the year got 200 metal maniacs screaming their lungs out and partying hard, singing our songs and going mad all over the place! What a fucking badass atmosphere… and taking a few exceptions, I really think the Portuguese metal scene stinks - band wise. There’s no fire, no balls, it looks more like a graduation party if you ask me, but we sure know how to give people a great fucking time, and that’s all we care for; if live shows suck, there’s no point for the band to exist. We aren’t ego masturbators and we don’t live of the “glories from the past” we’re straight forward Heavy Metal Machine and we’ll drink, fight and fuck in the oldest of ways. We’re Punks in league with Satan and a lot of people don’t get that!

Now, on the Ireland shows with Portrait, we actually didn’t make it out there because there was a misunderstanding with the promoter. It turned out that we had to pay for the whole thing, we already had paid for the trips and that’s fine, but it turned out that even transporting and food had to be financed; not to mention shelter because any sewer will do just as any good as any hotel suite. But come one, just take a look at any tabloid and figure out why we can’t afford these kind of touring, we’re even more miserable than we ever were, and it’s impossible to pay for everything. We will go anywhere, I mean ANYWHERE, but you got to give us at least some beer. And been that said, I sincerely hope that we will play in Ireland one day, I know of a lot of MIDNIGHT PRIEST fans in Cork, Dublin, Belfast, all over the place. Cheers!!

You also just put out a T-shirt! How many of these are available? How can people interested in the shirt get one!?

The t-shirt was printed on very short stock, like 30 pieces or so, and they’re all gone, but I guess we’ll print some new ones with new artwork and improved quality. Anyway, anyone interested in merchandise can email the band and we will see what we can do, we want to spread the word out as far as we possibly can, and a few new releases will be out next year in Brazil and Greece, so stay tuned!

What else is there that you would like to say about Midnight Priest? Any touring planned for overseas this year? Possibly the USA?

This year we’ll have a couple of shows in Spain, and are plans are that we will be in Greece too, we have been planning a tour for quite a while and hopefully it will happen this upcoming year of 2012. All Hell Breaks Loose!!!

It would be a fucking blast to play in the USA, what a highlight that would be! I guess my brains would gore out from the excitement!! Man that would be the ultimate thing I’m sure. And if anyone has enough interest to make it happen please don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re up for anything, and anything will fly for MIDNIGHT PRIEST. We’ll eat sawdust and drink metal for all we care!

Having received several emails from people in the States asking for shows and distributing our stuff overseas, and being our label based in California, I don’t see why not. There’s an uprising legion of fans in the NY, NJ area and on the West Coast, so I figure this would be absolutely doable no doubt about it. And I tell you, you guys will have a great fucking time!!

The Heavy Metal Machine is burning HOT & HEAVY!!

THE PRIEST IS BACK!!!

Thank you so much for having us Jon, and hope to meet you very soon, total support and dedication to the US Metal Underground; it’s all our pleasure to be part of its interest.

And to all the Metal Maniacs out the in the US, we’ll meet you one day and burn those stages to the fucking ground, we were born to fucking ROCK!!!

Thanks again for the interview!

________________________________________________

For more info on MIDNIGHT PRIEST:

Headbang to our album online: Here

For shows, interviews and hate mail: midnightpriestcult@gmail.com
Official Myspace: Here
Official Facebook: Here
Ze Metalica: Here

Buy our records or be damned!!!

www.aforja.org

www.stormspell.com

Maximum Oversatan - Too Evil For Hell Demo

2011-12-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Maximum Oversatan - Too Evil For Hell

Fans of Venom and Motorhead and crusty dirty first wave black metal rejoice, Maximum Oversatan take the formulas of the classics and worship them openly and righteously. Metal demos as metal demos should be. Too Evil For Hell is an unsubtle mixture of alcoholic recklessness, overt satanic influence and total disregard for modernity. Sodom and Venom covers and three original tracks fuming with malice and lust for blood.

$4.00 + Shipping (3 for $9.00 + Shipping)
free shipping for NJ/NY/PA residents.

To order email: Orion_metalhead@hotmail.com

CTP - 001 - I (QTY = 50 Copies)

LINKS

Maximum Oversatan Official Facebook
Maximum Oversatan Official Youtube

REVIEWS

PHOTOS

Denial Fiend - Live At Champs 11/17/2011

2011-12-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Another recording from Champs in Trenton, this one of Denial Fiend. Killer set. Definitely check out this band live if you get a chance. Download the live audio here: Denial Fiend Live At Champs 11.17.11.

Check out all the other audio downloads here: Audio Archives.

Midnite Hellion Live At Champs 11/17/2011

2011-11-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

Here is another live recording from the same night as the Fiakra show at Champs in Trenton. Midnite Hellion were pretty fun to watch live and their bassist is pretty damn awesome. They did covers of Slayer's Die By The Sword and Iron Maiden's Invaders. Enjoy! Download the show here or visit the archives here.

Midnite Hellion Official Website: www.MidniteHellion.com
Midnite Hellion Facebook page: Midnite Hellion Facebook

Fiakra Live At Champs

2011-11-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

Check out Fiakra's live show at Champs from 11.17.2011. Pretty awesome epic metal from Freehold, NJ. Thanks again to Kenneth and the band for letting me record their set and for being a crew of awesome, chainmailed metal warriors! As always, you can download other live shows and interviews by visiting the Archives Page.

Fiakra official website: WWW.FIAKRA.COM

News 11/19/2011

2011-11-19T08:24:00.001-08:00

Well, things may seem to have been slow around here but in reality, a LOT has been going on. Let's take things one step at a time.

1. I've amassed about 6 or 7 live recordings over the span of the past three weeks which I hope to put up online for everyone as soon as I get the approval of the bands. You should see one or two up in the next or two. Basically, I have to upload still: Midnite Hellion, Fiakra, Denial Fiend, Buzzherd, Slasherthroat and Gorematory. So, a lot of cool audio stuff to add as soon as Mediafire decided to upload things.

2. There is a lot of work on the next issue of Contaminated Tones Zine #2. Proof is in the pictures so you can see that this is going to be a bit different than #1. The cover art is looking absolutely ridiculous also. I've done a bunch of interviews and such in the past few weeks and I still have a whole bunch to get back from bands.

3. Most interestingly, I think, is that I will be doing a cassette release for the Motorhead / Venom crazed lunatics of Maximum Oversatan. Look for that in a week or two. I'm looking to do more releases in the future so anyone who has something they want to release, get in touch and I'll let you know if I am interested. The goal is going to be to do small initial runs of tapes so bands that want to release limited stuff of rehearsals or bonus tracks or whatever, that kind of material is ideal. Black / Death / Doom / Speed / Heavy / Traditional Metal bands are all welcome to submit material. Thrash bands too though, they kind of fall somewhere between everything so... whatever, you get the point.

4. Still interested in doing interviews and reviews of stuff so be sure to email and ask about that.

Bastard Thieves Live 09/09/2011

2011-10-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Live recording of Bastard Theives' 09/09/2011 Show at the Meatlocker in Montclair. Here or Here

Occular Peehole Sewerzine Issue #2

2011-10-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Occular Peehole Sewerzine is one of the most enjoyable zines I've ever read simply for the type of bands and overblown descriptions in the zine. Covering bands from the porno-grind, gore-grind, harsh noise, and pretty much any other anti-music genre you can think of, the subjects are pretty obscure even for my knowledge. Ultimately, anyone interested in really delving into the pure anus of underground music, this is a great zine to start your exploration with. The zine was created by the man behind Thanatoseptis, Reclusa, Inverted Exorcism, etc. And the writing is very good, the interviews are interesting and the rest of the articles involved are pretty damn entertaining. The whole thing is done in a cut and paste style, with extra space taken up by clippings of random crap such as sharks, off-center humored comics, and just all kinds of general tomfoolery. Some of the included bands are Analthrone, Hemorrhoidal Anal Suffering, Urinary Tract Infection From Sever Pus Clots and Xanax Feast. A bunch of reviews are scattered around as well as an interesting rant about Agathocles. Some horror movie reviews also are tossed in for extra viewing pleasure (or displeasure).

The best interview is hands down is this short drunken messterpiece with Mike Sweeney of Xanax Feast / Cripple Slaughter / Amputee... it's a pretty awesome read. Favorite quote: "I'm a huge piss porn fan muthafuka got vids? I'll buy em." The whole interview is pretty much like that. It's a doozy. On a more serious note, the rest of the interviews are interesting from a regular interview perspective. I just find it fascinating that people can discuss their band in a totally serious manner and talk about their projects when those projects include names like Analthrone (Not to single Analthrone out of course, just an example). Maybe I'm just not down with this scene at all but the names are pretty ridiculous. Mega Toilet Flush!? Whoah. Still, a bunch of the bands mentioned in here are probably pretty interesting to listen to so I may delve into it a bit later on after I finish my Anthem discography. The zine is also a quick read. I read the whole thing on my lunch hour at work in my car. I would probably be sent to Human Resources if I brought the thing into the break room and lose my job. It's a pretty vulgar affair so if you have company coming over, you may want to make sure it's not lying around on the coffee table. I purposefully left it out for my mom to find. I'm that kind of guy.

Free review sample. The whole zine is pretty much full of these.

Submit To Suffering Interview 09/09/2011

2011-09-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

September 9th, I had the fortune to check out a great show at the Meatlocker in Montclair NJ. I caught up with the guys in Submit To Suffering a day before recording their demo and after playing an exceptionally late gig. Check out their track "Boom" from this gig and my interview with the band by clicking here or at the archives here.

Submit To Suffering Facebook Page
Submit To Suffering Reverbnation Page

Witches - Silly Symphony

2011-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

Witches is an ancient French thrash band which has largely gone unnoticed throughout the ages of metaldom. Their 1988 demo, Silly Symphony, is more interesting contextually than it is musically. Opening track Lessive Agressive is a worthy thrash moment for the thrash maniac out there but to actually grab a hold of the demo probably isn't worth the price. I was lucky enough to snatch this from a distro for cheap but I doubt that would be the case usually. What makes the demo interesting for me, is the inner sleeve, with thank you lists listing legends like Mille from Kreator, Holy Moses and Piggy and Blacky from Voivod. Also mentioned are some members of the emerging black metal scene in Norway and death metal scene in Sweden including the members of Ice Age and Euronymous and Necrobutcher from Mayhem. Lemmy is included as well as Girlschool. Listed are some well known zines as well such as Slayer Mag and Morbid Mag and several other lesser known zines as well. It's a cool list of who's who at that time.

While the music is a bit generic and unnecessary for most here, those really into collecting and piecing together the underground movements of death and black metal along with those interested in the golden age of underground fanzines will find some interest in these liner notes. Musically, my favorite track is the opening combination of intro "Lycanthropy" and "Lessive Agressive" though the speedy primitivism of "Moment of Distraction for Deep Sleepers" fits together with the named influences in the thank you list and final track "Pool of Running Blood" is an interesting track as well, starting with an awkward melody and movement that borders on NWOBHM as opposed to thrashier parts of the rest of the demo. The track speeds up halfway through but never really holds my attention after the intro due to sub par riffs and an amateurish song structure.

Abazagorath Interview

2011-09-12T10:44:00.001-07:00

So, after some bureaucratic trouble getting the audio files for the Abazagorath interview, here it is, finally available to all. On a more somber note, this will be my last interview on WP88.7 Brave New Radio due to the station management deciding that it's time I give up my radio slot to dead air because I have already graduated. Please send them your displeasure and ask for The Vault to return to the airwaves. 3 years of metal undulations across the northern New Jersey airwaves was awesome, and you will still hear interviews and such through this website and blog.

Anyway, not to drown the moment with solemnity, I want to thank Chris Warhead and Dave Nyarlathotep for coming on the air, and giving and awesome interview. One of my favorite moments was messing up the pronunciation of Dave's pseudonym so much that he threatened to kill me on air... that's pretty awesome. Ultimately, the interview had this subplot of me trying to pronounce Nyarlathotep, and eventually succeeding. Kind of a strange subtextual thing. But anyway, enjoy.

The interview can be downloaded at this link: LINNNNNNk

Or you can find it linked on the Radio archives page.

Playlist 08/31/2011 - Thanatoseptis - Sacrificial Septic Tank Tomb

2011-08-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight show begins a new segment of The Vault. I have a million demo tapes laying around and while I almost always play demo tracks on the show, as listeners know, it's just not a real good way to really get a feel for a band's ability, style, and worth. Every show from now on, I will be playing the entirety of one full demo starting at 10:00, effectively splitting the show in half, with the more extreme side of metal taking over the show the second half, and leaving the first half of the show for the old school, head banging metal of the 80's.... give or take of course.

Thanatoseptis - Sacrificial Septic Tank Tomb

Kicking of this new segment is a rarity of unimaginable, weirdness, a combination of black metal, primitive death metal and industrial ambient / noise. Thanatoseptis' Sacrificial Septic Tank Tomb demo. The one man project is a US creation, hailing from some slime ridden cave in the United States of America, and this demo contains new tracks and tracks from their first demo as well. There really is no describing this. Simply calling himself STW, all instruments and programming and audio has been created by this sole creature.

The seven tracks present contain otherworldly echoes of demonic incantation and sewage spewing grimy, ugly death metal mixed with noise. There is a reason this is limited to 60 copies... it is too obscure and bizarre for the everyday human. A true masterwork in abrasiveness. While listening to this with a friend I compared the sound to the feeling of having a rapist in your house. It's unsettling, pressing nerves together with a singular effort of original malevolence. Tracks such as Ritual of Unholy Resurrection Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 both contain awkward ticking, as if an old clock is ticking down on your sanity. The title track, is a mammoth ugly monster of distorted genres clashing. The slow, plodding nature of doom is prevalent, along with the archaic melodies of ancient death metal all soaked in a noisy ambient storm of incinerated bone ash.

And all this on two sides of a TDK. I don't know why the two sides were split on the tape at all. They all could have fit on the one side. Regardless, there is little for me to complain about on this one. A totally unique take on whatever genre or anti-genre STW is embracing. Listen to this antidote to the mainstream music conglomerate at 10:00pm on The Vault.

PLAYLIST:

01. Morbid Sin - Twisted Souls In Hell
02. In Solitude - Demons
03. Holy Terror - Distant Calling
04. Motorhead - No Class (Live)
05. Manowar - Gloves Of Metal
06. Obsession - Killer Elite
07. Overkill - Overkill (Request - James)
08. Dio - Gypsy
09. Mercyful Fate - Gypsy
10. Fates Warning - Orphan Gypsy
11. Heathen - Set Me Free (Sweet Cover)
12. Manilla Road - Into The Maelstrom

13. Thanatoseptis - Hydra Of Polluted Water
14. Thanatoseptis - The Black March Of Disease
15. Thanatoseptis - Ghost In The Sewer
16. Thanatoseptis - Sacrificial Septic Tank Tomb
17. Thanatoseptis - Seweritual Of Unholy Resurrection Pt. 1
18. Thanatoseptis - Seweritual Of Unholy Resurrection Pt. 2
19. Thanatoseptis - Black Vapors Of Possession

20. Primordial - Lain With The Wolf
21. Mandatory - Where They Bleed
22. Abazagorath - Bestial Moans
23. Primitive Graven Image - As I Wander
24. Aeternus - There's No Wine Like The Blood's Crimson
25. The Wakedead Gathering - Wasps From The Chamber Of The Divine
26. Death Strike - Pay To Die
27. Apolion - Winds
28. Source Of Deep Shadows - Powolne Zatracenie
29. Mystifier - An Elizabethan Devil Worshipper's Spell Book
30. Grave - Awakening
31. Hellwitch - Mordirivial Dissemination
32. Skepticism - The Organum
33. Burzum - Valen

Abazagorath On The Vault August 24th

2011-08-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Black metal fans rejoice! NJ Black metal legends Abazagorath will have their day to recant tales of demon worship and cosmic chaos on The Vault. Wednesday, August 24th, Chris Warhead and Dave Nyarlathotep will join me for several hours. Abazagorath's debut album Tenebrarum Cadent Exsurgemus was released in 1997, predating the trend of US black metal we see today and helping to lay a foundation for black metal in the United States. Their 2004 album Sacraments of the Final Atrocity continues their cosmic assault on the vermin of humanity.

Tune in Wednesday, August 24th at 9pm for another special interview only on The Vault. Be sure to call in with your questions for the Beasts of Abazagorath and your requests.

www.GOBRAVE.org

Store

2011-08-18T21:43:00.001-07:00

ITEMS FOR SALE

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CASSETTES

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Diseased Oblivion - Portals of Past and Present (2012) $4.00 Here (Black / Funeral)
Maximum Oversatan - Too Evil For Hell (2011) $4.00 Here (Black Metal / Speed Metal)
Midnight Hellion - The Fever (2011) $3.00 Here (Heavy Metal / NWOBHM)
Okketaehm - Maggots (2009) $4.00 Here (Raw Black Metal)
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CDS

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Mortum - Beyond Which Darkness Holds Secret (2010) $5.00 Here (Black Metal)
Mortum - The Rites Of Depopulation (2011) $10.00 Here (Black Metal)
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ZINES

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Contaminated Tones #1 (2009) $1.50 Here
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MISC

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Midnight Hellion - Logo Pin (2011) $1.00 Here
Mortum - Logo Patch (2011) $1.00 Here
Small Metal Box (2011) $20.00 Here
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BUNDLES

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Mortum - Rites of Depopulation + Darkness Holds Secret + Patch $14.00 *
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*Free shipping

Order Instructions: Email all orders to Orion_metalhead(at)hotmail(dot)com. Shipping in the US should be pretty cheap for tapes and zines. Just give me a state or zip code and I'll let you know the shipping price. Pretty basic. Nothing too ridiculous. Paypal / Cash / Coins / Money Orders / Semi-precious stones.... however you want to pay is fine with me.

Labels, Distributors... wholesale on CTP releases is available. Email me.

Deadly Illness - Deadly Illness # 4

2011-08-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

Deadly Illness #4 is a great midday read for an underground zine with a heavy load of reviews, some really cool interviews with bands from the hardcore punk scene, death metal and black metal and thrash realms, and a some slight exploration of the expansive noise scene as well. Ultimately, you're not going to read interviews with any major bands, not going to hear the same tired responses from people you could care less about and not going to see space wasted on whole page adds for products and releases you're never going to buy. It's a pure underground labor of love. Hungary's Poller Csaba has done a great job of incorporating bands that he wants to see do well and that he believes should get some help spreading the word. Bands like Germ Attach, Anguish, Sardonis, Grave Ritual, the awesome Protector, Psycopath Witch and Slaughter Strike. Also included is about five pages of quick reviews and an interview with Brandon of Skeleton Plague Records.

The writing is good, readable, and even though Csaba is from Hungary, he still writes with more English proficiency than I've seen in some zines from homegrown papermakers. There is, predictably, some humorous quirkiness in reading English from someone who I expect does not use English as their first language but that makes it all the better. Deadly Illness is a sweet little zine worth the time of someone looking for a small zine to digest without feeling overwhelmed.

Lit-Ning Metal Box Restoration

2011-08-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Some people may know that I am an avid do-it-yourself-er. I figured that this would be an interesting post outside of my normal musical reviews and may come in handy for any metalhead interested in doing refinishing work on perhaps a metal music case, or whatever one might run across. Let's face it, metal music tends to impress upon us a sense of creativity and thriftiness. Regardless of what your reasoning for using this information may be, the steps are pretty much the same for any metal item. I will most likely do another post like this in the future just for my own personal interest as this blog has also become a journal of sorts for my creative endeavors anyway. So without further pause, this is the tale of how I turned a $1.00 tool box at the flea market into something worth much more.

The story behind this particular project starts at a trip to one of my favorite record collecting spots - the local flea market. Generally, I don't bother with the regular vendors, instead I go straight to the weekend warrior booths, your everyday Joe's selling random crap from their house. This one guy was selling an old Craftsman toolbox, a really nice metal one from who knows when for $2.00. I bought that one for the $2.00 and he threw in this one for an extra $1.00. Three dollars, why not. This particular box was in pretty decent shape apart from the rough looking paint job. This particular tutorial will be specifically for this tool box. I will detail how to remove the old paint, some light rust which coated the bottom of the box, and also the painting procedure. I will give reasoning for why I decided to do what I did as well. Of course, any questions regarding why I did what, or whatever, feel free to ask in the comments. Being my first post of this sort, I may not have pictures for every specific step but I will ultimately try to accompany most of the main steps with some sort of images. Anyway, those wondering about my record finds from that specific trip will be pretty disappointed. I picked up two VHS tapes, Tales from the Darkside Volume 4 and 1981's Ghost Story. Music wise, only two cassettes were to be nabbed that day, Dokken's Back for the Attack and Def Leppard's Hysteria. Anyway...

The first thing that I had to do with this particular tool box was to remove the old paint that looked worn, scratched, and generally deplorable in every way. There are two methods for removing paint like this from metal. The first would be to use a stripping agent such as Jasco's Paint Remover. I personally don't like using a paint remover for something I plan on repainting. Paint removers leave a residue which, if not removed correctly, will affect how the second coat adheres to the metal. You can always use an afterwash solution, but it's just another step and you wind up with a messy clump of liquid and paint. For this box, I decided to use a wire brush drill attachment to remove the paint on the box. First, I own several drills so there was no added cost to me having the necessary hardware. Strippers and an afterwash would add up to roughly $11.00 or more.

The wire brush attachment I bought was $2.50. I actually bought two, a smaller style attachment to reach into the corners inside the box. I got two attachments which I can use over and over again, in many different situations, for half the cost of the liquid solutions. The left brush is a coarser haired wire brush which I used on the flat surfaces of the box and generally everywhere that I could. It not only strips the paint faster than a fine grit brush would, but it also leaves a slightly rougher finish on the metal, giving the paint a better surface to adhere to. I used the finer wire brush (right) to do some small touch up on the metal hardware without removing too much of the patina. It ultimately resulted in a more consistent finish on the parts of the box that I knew I wasn't going to paint. For instance, the name plate on the top of the box, I wanted to leave with the oldish patina but there was some slight rust in the corners near where the handle is located. I used the fine brush to remove the rust, while leaving the patina.

I started removing the paint on the outside of the box. Of course, I wore a general purpose mask to prevent me from breathing in the small particles of paint which are never a good thing to breath in for many reasons, mostly Lead. It's also a good idea to wear some sort of eye protection. In my case, I also wore a pair of work gloves so should the wire brush come in contact with my hands, which did happen on several occasions, I would still have some sort of epidermis left. If you are really clumsy, you may want to also wear some sort of arm protection. I happened to briefly nick my arm with the brush and it left about seventeen thousand hairline scratches.

If you're a big strong tough guy like me, feel free to do this whole process in the nude, wearing no shoes, no face mask and while consuming your favorite cold beverage. Ultimately for my particular project the two most important liquids to have on hand were my 1/2 pint of paint and my 12oz bottle of Stone Pale ale. Of course, the other liquid which is necessary unless you want to keep buying paint brushes over and over again for eternity is a can of Mineral Spirits.

The finished exterior of my box. The exterior of my box took me approximately forty minutes to strip the paint from. If you really like the stainless steel look, you could actually just leave the box like this. It would be more susceptible to further rust without a protective coat however. For a real professional look, you would ideally want to use some sort of polishing powder or tool to give it a real smooth finish. Unfortunately, I did not take more pictures of this in progress. On the larger tool box, I will be sure to take more pictures, but then again, that is an entirely different project, quite a bit more difficult than this box. Anyway, with the outside of the box completely stripped I turned my attention to the inside of the box. Generally speaking the inside of something is always harder to work on than the outside. It is more difficult to get into the tighter spaces with tools specifically. I used an extension tool for my wire brush so that I had more room to maneuver within the box itself. There really is no right or wrong way to go about it. You can do the inside, then the outside, you can start on the lid or the bottom... whatever floats your canoe. I happened to start on the bottom first. The previous painter had painted the hardware so I made sure to get at that with the fine wire brush. To get in the corners, I actually couldn't fit the coarse brush so I just jammed the fine brush in the corners and removed the paint with that. There was a tiny small area of paint left there which I scraped off manually with some 60 grit sandpaper I had lying around.

Voila, the finished stripped box. All paint removed. The total time to remove all the paint on this box took about an hour and forty five minutes. I also think I took a minute of that to get a second beer. After finishing removing the old paint I took a damp rag and just removed any of the remaining dust from the metal so that I would have a completely clean surface to paint.

Before going ahead with painting the box, here are some more close up images of the box totally stripped. First, is the plate on the box showing the handle - very easily - disassembled.

I found it much easier to strip the stop of the box by removing the metal handle from it's holders just by using a little extra force to get it out. If you can remove hardware with ease, do it. Breaking down something into separate parts will make everything move along smoother and you don't have to worry about accidentally ruining a part of whatever you're working on.

Another picture of the plate on the box, showing the patina I wanted to leave as is. I felt it gave the box a bit of an antique-y feel and added a bit of detail to the box.

So we are ready to paint the box. I used a Purdy one inch brush for this project and for some of the really small details, I used hobby brushes - a #2 and #4. For this specific project, I saw no reason to prime the metal surface before applying my paint. The surface was already rough, due to the stripping of the older paint and I don't plan on having this box outside, in a situation that would endorse rust appreciation and the material was uniform across the whole project. If I planned on keeping this box in a place with high humidity, or outside or in an environment which would be more harsh than normal, using a clean metal primer would increase the already excellent protection from rust that your standard oil based enamel would provide. I would not use a latex based paint on a project such as this. For a small box like this, you only need a small amount of paint. I chose a gloss (shiny) finish and tinted the paint towards an industrial-gray-green color. Oil based paints are practically impossible to remove from clothing should you get some on a shirt or pants. Trust me, wear something you don't mind getting dirty.

I painted the inside of my box first. No reason to start there, I just thought it a good place to start. I specifically decided to leave the hardware with the metal showing. The rivets holding the company plate on the top of the box, the hinges and the front latch I left completely unpainted. I applied my first coat on the inside of the box and allowed for twenty-four hours to dry as directed on the can. I then proceeded to do a second coat to get a consistent finish across the whole surface. Be wary of applying too much paint at once to vertical surfaces. Over application will cause dripping marks. It's better to apply a thinner coat of paint, and do several thin coats and get a clean finish than to apply one massive thick coat and just get it done. On flat surfaces, this is not a problem and I often apply a thicker coat to surfaces such as the bottom of the box so I have less to touch up on the second coat. Be careful around detail spots such as hardware. If you are uncomfortable "cutting in" around tight spots with a larger brush, use a fine detail brush to get in the small areas. Remember, it's better to be careful than have to try and remove paint from a surface. Oil enamels are incredibly durable and a pain to remove from places where you don't want paint.

The most important part of doing a job like this, is making sure you clean your brushes properly after each coat. Paint brushes can be expensive, especially high quality brushes. Do not use a chip brush, or a cheap brush on a project like this. Chip brushes are generally one-time use brushes and have coarse hairs which leave unsightly hair marks on your finish. Cheap brushes work for a few coats but wear down when using chemicals to clean them - a required part of cleaning paints, particularly specialty paints such as oil based primers and enamels. For latex paints, economy brushes are acceptable at times but, if you use a premium quality brush, you will not have to buy brushes after each project and you can reuse them, over and over again.

For cleaning oil paints, mineral spirits an ideal solution to clean brushes. Pour a little amount into a cup, shake your brush around and you should be able to remove all the oils from the brush. After wards, rinse the brush in warm water with soap. Don't let the brush sit in the mineral spirits and rinse the brush immediately after painting. Oils are impossible to remove after they have dried and will ultimately cause you more trouble than is worth. You'll be forced to just buy another brush. After washing the brush, just let it hang on a peg hook or wherever to allow it to air dry.

I let the inside of the box dry completely before working on the outside. I did the outside part of the box in two steps. I applied paint to the upper three-quarters of the box first and did my recoat and then I finished the bottom of the box in the same manner. I then waited another twenty-four hours before reattaching the handle or handling the box. I cleaned my brushes after each coat, the same way as I described above and completed the box. The total project took me about four and a half hours excluding drying time. With drying time, I spent about 3 days, letting the painted parts dry for a full day between coats Here are some completed images of the tool box:

Finished Box without handle

Finished face plate without handle

Finished box with handle

Open Finished Box

Playlist 08/03/2011

2011-08-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

01. Mercyful Fate - A Dangerous Meeting
02. Mortal Sin - Mayhemic Destruction (Request - Tony)
03. Dekapitator - Haunted By Evil
04. Slauter Xstroyes - Black Rose And Thorns
05. Pentacle - Storming Through A Hail Of Steel
06. Liege Lord - Rapture (Request - Lumberjack)
07. Judas Priest - Savage
08. Judas Priest - Beyond The Realms Of Death
09. Anthem - Fire N The Sword
10. Midnight Priest - Rainha Da Magia Negra
11. Obsession - Always On The Run
12. Manowar - Dark Avenger
13. Forefather - These Lands
14. Mental Aberration - Last Exit Suicide
15. Carcass - Death Certificate
16. Akercocke - Shelter From The Sand
17. Queensryche - Queen Of The Reich
18. Solstice - Hammer Of Damnation
19. Heathen - Open The Grave
20. Abazagorath - When The Skies Opened
21. Exxplorer - Metal Detectors
22. Manilla Road - The Riddle Master
23. Manilla Road - Shadow In The Black
24. Manilla Road - Voyager
25. Manilla Road - Necropolis
26. Manilla Road - Haunted Palace
27. Manilla Road - Shadow
28. Manilla Road - Helicon
29. Manilla Road - Mystification
30. Manilla Road - The Deluge

Horrorment - Homemade Horror Promo

2011-07-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Every year, I get a free demo at Maryland Deathfest, that I find about as hard to put down as a cold bottle of my favorite beer. The first year I went I discovered the Bolt Thrower inspired machinations of the appropriately named Texas death metal fabrication known as War Master. Last year I'm pretty sure I came home with Nordor's His Ficticious Grandeur. I can't seem to remember where else I would have gotten it. And this year's demo of choice, plucked fresh from the steamy streets of Baltimore... Horrorment's Homemade Horror promo, appropriately dubbed "Dirty Rotten Old School Death Metal." I find it hard to turn away from such a proclamation, as meaningless, generic and vague as it may be.

So simply put, the CDr has two songs with all the instrumentation done by Daniel Karlsson and the hymns by Mike Chatman. Lead off track, Multiple Forms, starts out with a sinister brooding and doomy intro, slow but persevering, stomping it's way through the nether. It speeds up in feel after a few turns through the verse with some slight snare variation before once again slowing to a creepy metallic crawl. Haunting melodies of no particular sort meander across the landscape at times, and such leads begin the opening of second track "From Beneath," which shares the general format Horrorment have displayed in From Beneath's predecessor. On this demo, the atmosphere isn't ultimately too suffocating, letting subtly exist due to songwriting prowess and not by production faults. You know those albums which at first listen are full of tiny details that would almost be missed because of the production or mix, and thus are deemed subtle recordings... this isn't that.

Horrorment have something going on. I wish my copy had the awesome artwork on it but I'm just happy to be turned onto the band. I expect something awesome from them soon. The real tape release of this demo is available out there through Plague Tapes and contains and intro and outro as well. I've got no idea what they sound like but I sure hope that I get my tape copy soon. Look for an update to this review when I get the tape.

Bobby Lucas Interview Uploaded

2011-07-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

After an awesome night last Wednesday with some great anecdotes and tales, Bobby Lucas' interview is available now. You can get it by clicking Here or you can select it from the Audio Archive Here.

Here was the playlist:

01. Morbid Sin - Twisted Souls In Hell
02. Black Sabbath - Disturbing The Priest
03. Razor - Going Under (Request - Tony)
04. Overlorde - When He Comes
05. Destruction - Beyond Eternity
06. Destruction - Release From Agony
07. Morbid Sin - Injector
08. Fates Warning - Silent Cries
09. Accept - Demon's Night
10. Iron Maiden - Killers
11. Morbid Sin - Endangered Species
12. Exciter - Evil Sinner
13. Black Sabbath - Back Street Kids
14. Judas Priest - Solar Angels
15. Overlorde - Snow Giant
16. Metal Inquisitor - Run For Your Life
17. Morbid Sin - Beyond Wickedness
18. Whiplash - Spit On Your Grave
19. Malice - Godz Of Thunder
20. Overkill - Hammerhead
21. Seven Witches - Dying Embers
22. Black Sabbath - Die Young
23. Witchfinder General - Witchfinder General
24. Morbid Sin - 13th Child
25. Morbid Sin - Devil In The Flesh
26. Morbid Sin - The Cathedral (Of The Black Monk)

Once again, thanks to Bobby for coming on The Vault and for a great time! Be sure to check out Morbid Sin, Overlorde and Seven Witches and those in the NJ/NY area should be sure to get out to one of his shows with his Black Sabbath cover band - Covered In Black.

Orbis - Forest Illuminations / The War Trilogy

2011-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

I expect Orbis will become the next ultra productive black/ambient project, releasing product not measured in copies but in shear tonnage. That's just my prediction. Until it comes to pass Orbis, a UK export, have successfully released two demos: Forest Illuminations - a sixteen minute track meant to create the feel of being in a fores - and the more recent, The War Trilogy, covering the subject of World War Two.

The Forest Illuminations tape, released through Darkness Shade Records, is a minimalists romp through a rainy night in the darkest forest in your town. A steady rain and occasional blasts of thunder, which sound more like that EMP Pulse weapon from Command And Conquer Tiberian Sun, are eternal companions throughout the duration of the demo. Also present is a synthesizer playing the same notes over and over with little variation. For ambient, it's a bit excessive in it's nothingness but I know that there are some out there who will like it. I find it just a bit too meandering and unfocused. Even walking aimlessly through a forest, you have to end up somewhere...All things set aside, Forest Illuminations is a pretty lovely tape with it's own personality, like both of Orbis' works. Unfortunately Google Translator is a pain to use to translate the Latin phrase inside the insert but it roughly translates to something about "faith and science and the rain in the darkness of the forest making it difficult to hear the oceanlike migration of souls." If anyone knows Latin, please send me a translation. I've enjoyed listening to this four or five times sitting in the dark while going to sleep. It's a great tape to fall asleep to, not because it's boring but because it is pretty soothing.

The War Trilogy is a different beast. More narrative than the Forest Illuminations tape, the concept spans three songs, thirty nine minutes, which includes some similarities to the first demo, but also some harsh raw black metal blasting moments such as in the beginning of opening track "Blitz" and the beginning of second track "D-Day Is Upon Us." Black metal wise, it's a cross between demo-era Besatt, Taake and noise. The arrangements on this demo are more complex and offer more replay value than the Forest Illuminations tape. Still, long synthesizer passages exist for those fond of the first tape's near vacant metallic stylings. You can find these passages on each track though the last half of The Trilogy's final piece, "Remember Those Lost In Combat..." and also the second half of that eighteen minute drone. Also present are samples of famous speeches such as Churchill's We Shall Fight On The Beaches speech and also a sample of a radio broadcast announcing Hitler's death. They deliver a welcomed textural contrast and are well placed, adding to the narrative of the tape and also to the release's overall atmosphere.

Where Forest Illuminations is adequate background music for a drugged out lonely night, and I assume that The War Trilogy could be also, Forest Illuminations is simply not as gripping as The War Trilogy, which is an exercise in how to produce ambient that offers the listener a chance to find their own meaning amidst the various sections and arrangements. You could follow the track's peaks and valleys to find yourself escaping the gunfire of the Polish invasion, or walking amongst the countless dead after witnessing the slaughter. You could feel the madness and hopelessness of a seemingly endless war outside your window only to stroll amongst the rows of crosses and buried, all the while hearing the explosions and gunshots forever ringing in your ears. This tape offers something unique and special and, for the price, is worth it for seekers of raw black ambient.

(I got only a promo of the War Trilogy so, this is what the promo looked like. The actual tape will, definitely not look like a disc. I promise. Don't try putting the disc in your cassette player.)

Contaminated Tones #1 Review: Bloodstained Vision

2011-07-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Iskar for the review and for supporting the tradition of underground fanzines! Be sure to check out his blog Bloodstained Vision.

The original posting is here.

"I got to know about this zine after Neftaraka posted info about the review of their release in Metal Terus forum. After checking the blog, I contacted the editor, paypal the money and soon after that, I got this zine mailed from USA. Printing & xerox quality wise, I would say its excellent. The text are clear, the graphics are sharp eventough the editor is using background email/color for all pages in the zine. Only 5 interviews for this issue but the questions are long so there plenty to read there. So what else do this issue offer? Some reviews and some more reviews but made in "article" form like "Forgotten Existence" (reviews of bands and their releases. Not really 'old bands' as I thought the name would suggest though), "Apolion" (4 pages of review of this band discography, incl. pictures) and also article on the band called Blackspell (from Syria). The zine's pages are not numbered but table of content is provided at the editorial page (so you have to count to find page 23, to continue reading Nyctophobia). Not much to complain, well usually I will, if you ask about the font size. The font size which is a bit large than usual but I think its fit with the layout (Large picture is used so I think it fit). I enjoy reading this issue especially the review/article. My copy is hand-numbered 73/200. Just one thing that keep me wondering, my copy have a newspaper clip stapled on the last page. The clip is news about death of Traci Thompson (mortgage underwriter). What do that have to do with the zine or the editor? I do not know and not interested to ask either. If you read the info on the blog, it says this issue is pro-print but looks more like a laser xerox. Anyway this zine deserve your support."

Bobby Lucas - Morbid Sin / Overlorde / Conspiracy Chronicles on The Vault

2011-06-30T20:21:00.001-07:00

Be sure to find the nearest radio, computer, police antennae... whatever you need to listen in to next weeks episode of The Vault radio show when I interview long time New Jersey Heavy Metal vocalist Bobby Lucas. The show will air at 9pm EST and conclude at 12am EST. Anyone with a remote interest in old school metal should be sure to listen. Northern New Jersey residents can tune their knobs to 88.7FM while anyone else can listen through our internet feed.

Bobby Lucas' career as a top-tier vocalist began in the 80's fronting Morbid Sin whose demos became dearly held Jersey Metal artifacts. Their early discography recordings have recently been re-released through Stormspell Records and the band's first full length record, Sins Of The Flesh, found release through Stormspell Records last year.

Bobby also contributes vocals to the equally ancient Overlorde, who formed in the mid 80's and have received praise for their album, Return Of The Snow Giant, and also Conspiracy Chronicles, a progressive metal band with members of Dyers Eve, Dim Mak and drums from Matt Thompson of King Diamond fame.

History will be revealed.

Playlist 06/29/2011

2011-06-29T20:59:00.001-07:00

01. Morbid Sin - Injector
02. Iron Maiden - Stranger In A Strange Land (Request - Lumberjack)
03. Artillery - Time Has Come
04. Loudness - Clockwork Toy
05. Judas Priest - Riding On The Wind
06. Midnight Chaser - Rough And Tough
07. Voivod - Ripping Headaches
08. Voivod - Voivod
09. Watchtower - Control And Resistance
10. Adversarial - Ruin Enshrined
11. Burial Invocation - Haunted Crypts Of The Ancient Dead
12. Morbid Sin - Cathedral Of The Black Monk
13. Helstar - To Sleep, Per Chance To Scream
14. Manilla Road - Taken By Storm
15. Manilla Road - The Ram
16. Manilla Road - Hammer Of The Witches
17. Whiplash - Snake Pit
18. Onslaught - Death Metal
19. Sabbat - Do Dark Horses Dream Of Nightmares
20. Suffocation - Seeds Of The Suffering
21. Horrorment - From Beneath
22. Entrenched - ICBM
23. Mandatory - Dawn Of Destruction
24. Overlorde - Snow Giant
25. Prajna - Electrocuted
26. Angel Witch - Angel Of Death (Request - Lumberjack)
27. Blind Guardian - Wizard's Crown
28. Jag Panzer - Eyes Of The Night
29. Carpathian Full Moon - Serenade In Blood Minor
30. Ripping Corpse - Beyond Humanity
31. Drugs Of Faith - Never Fail
32. Blizaro - Night Fumes
33. Von - Lamb
34. Morgion - A Slow Succumbing

Playlist 06/22/2011

2011-06-22T23:02:00.000-07:00

01. Helloween - I'm Alive
02. Diamond Head - The Prince
03. Loudness - Crazy Night
04. Faith Or Fear - Rampage / Nothing Uncommon
05. Manilla Road - Shadow In The Black
06. Black Sabbath - Thrill Of It All
07. Slauter Xstroyes - The Stage
08. Holy Cross - Across The Fortress Of Asgard
09. Flotsam And Jetsam - Iron Tears
10. Enforcer - Live For The Night
11. Iron Maiden - Purgatory
12. Judas Priest - Riding On The Wind
13. Prajna - Lost In The Void
14. Gutwrench - Necrosis
15. Ripping Corpse - Seduction Of The Innocent
16. Adversarial - In A Night Of Endless Pain, War Came To Flood Its Heart
17. Death - Within The Mind
18. Evoken - Antithesis Of Light
19. Funebrarum - Kingdom Of Suffering Souls
20. Drowned - Conqueror Of The Land
21. Obituary - Killing Time
22. Dismember - Sickening Art
23. Gorematory - Sadistic Slaughter
24. Entrenched - ICBM
25. Avenger - Unable
26. Aeternus - Sentinels Of Darkness
27. Mortum - Awakening Of The Primordial Spirit
28. Absu - Stone Of Destiny
29. Darkthrone - Kathaarian Life Code
30. Velnias - Risen Of The Moor

Playlist 06/08/2011

2011-06-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

1. Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac (Request - Tony)
2. Aeternus - Warriors Of The Crescent Moon
3. Aeternus - As I March
4. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger (Request - Mike)
5. Overkill - Deny The Cross (Request - Branka Vornki Zubzabz)
6. Egregor - Penetratum Jehova
7. Besatt - King Of Demons
8. Immolith - Slaughter The Legions
9. Razor - Speed Merchants (Request -Tony)
10. Entombed - Living Dead (Request - Naz)

Velnias Interview + Sovereign Nocturnal
11. Into Arms Of Oak
12. Risen Of The Moor
13. Sovereign Nocturnal

14. Black Sabbath - Hole In The Sky
15. Imynvokad - By Blood Does The Beast Arise
16. Grave Digger - Let Your Heads Roll
17. The True Endless - Sor Da Luf
18. Heathen - Goblin's Blade
19. Mephisto - Necromantical Rites
20. Possessed - Death Metal (Request - Tony)
21. Drudkh - Ukrainian Insurgent Army
22. Bahimiron - Allegiance To Self Wreckage
23. Burzum - Dunkelheit
24. Coroner - Skeleton On Your Shoulder
25. Coroner - Masked Jackal
26. Whiplash - Nailed To The Cross (Request - Lumberjack)

Happy Birthday TONY!

Velnias Interview Uploaded

2011-06-14T00:00:00.001-07:00

For those who wanted to check out the Velnias Interview I did at the end of last month, you can download the whole thing here. Also, be sure to check out the other interviews I've done on the archives page here. Thanks again to Petras and Velnias for an awesome show and great interview. Their album, Sovereign Nocturnal is worth finding and listening to over and over and over again.

Hellwitch Interview and Playlist

2011-05-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

‎
1. Dio - Night People
2. Heir Apparent - Screaming
3. Accept - Up To The Limit
4. Horrifier - True Metal Never Rusts
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Milk Lizard (Request - I forgot the guy's name)
6. Running Wild - Diamonds Of The Black Chest (Request - Lumberjack)
7. Dark Black - Doom Herald
8. Motorhead - Iron Fist
9. Manilla Road - Feeling Free Again
10. Pentagram - Into The Ground
11. Grand Magus - Kingslayer
12. Shadowkeep - The Trial Of Your Betrayal

Hellwitch Interview and tracks from Syzygial Miscreancy and Omnipotent Convocation
13. Hellwitch - Nosferatu
14. Hellwitch - Viral Exogence
15. Hellwitch - Sentient Transmography
16. Hellwitch - Mordirivial Dissemination
17. Hellwitch - Vicious Lividity
18. Hellwitch - Opiatic Luminance
19. Hellwitch - Irreverent Salvation
20. Hellwitch - Days Of Nemesis
21. Hellwitch - Purveyor Of Fear

22. Watchtower - Social Fears
23. Velnias - Risen Of The Moor
24. Primordial - The Mouth Of Judas
25. Sapremia - The Despair Of Winter
26. Sapremia - Spawn Of Desolation
27. Bolt Thrower - In Battle There Is No Law (Request - Lumberjack)
28. Von - Watain

The Hellwitch Interview has been added to the radio archives along with the tracks listed here. Enjoy! Thanks again Pat, Joe, Hellwtich and Vinny at Signature Riffs for a great show and interview.

Velnias, Nuklearenpest, Lone Summer, Ithi - 05/17/2011

2011-05-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

... and there were fourteen of us in a circle worshiping by candlelight.

I've never been to Montclair's famed Meatlocker before. Maybe "famed" is the wrong word. But the venue has created quite a name for itself amongst this generations crowd of music lovers in New Jersey looking for their own CBGB styled hole in the wall - or in this case ground - that contains a certain smell and gritty aesthetic. The fire Marshall warning cites the legal limit for occupancy at forty-nine people. There weren't half that many people at a show that should have been packed, especially for being completely free and especially with the interest in black metal and noise recently. The entire show was worth every cent in gas even if only for Velnias, which wasn't the case.

Opening group Ithi was an electronic noise duo, consisting of Luke Krnkr and Joshua Convey, both armed with synthesizers and an army of effects pedals, loop stations and midi sequencers (I think) tied together with two miles of patch cables. I've never seen their kind of band live before and it was an unsettling experience to watch two guys behind a desk covered in gizmos wavering back and forth like horror movie archetypes. Speaking of such, musically and sonically I describe the duo as Cannibal Holocaust's soundtrack with distortion in John Wayne Gacy's basement. It was creepy but completely enjoyable. I would have been a bit frightened just to walk into their performance if no one else was in the room. Their record, The Persistence of Meaning, while a good representation of the band doesn't seem to capture the same energy the band displayed in the live setting but the vocals, which were difficult for me to hear from my position at the gig are more audible which is nice. I'm sure any fan of electronic noise would enjoy their record.

Lone Summer wasn't really my thing but would probably appeal to fans of bands like... Wolves In The Throne Room or Alcest or whoever. But, one of the highlights for me, was seeing Nuklearenpest for the first time. I've known Z. and A. for several years now. I thought their set was, immediately, loud, but once my ears adjusted, their brand of black metal was the perfect fit for the evening. Memorable, well written songs were briefly interrupted by a broken string which Z., after trudging through one track without, left his guitar on the side of the stage. Unnerved, second guitarist, H.L., handled all the guitar duties while Z. gave an impassioned performance on vocals.

Last band of the night, and who I was really there to see, aside from hanging out the Nuklearenpest dudes, was Velnias, the Colorado entity which take Funeral Doom, Black Metal and god knows what else, and lays waste to all. While on record, Velnias may be more reserved and meticulous, live, auditory impalement is the name of the game distorting their songs into body numbing ritualistic self mutilation. It's like listening to Lordamor's take on Burzum covering Under A Funeral Moon. Lights were turned off, the wall of amplifiers - most hand made by guitarist Petras - turned up, candles lit, and tracks from their album Sovereign Nocturnal were summoned amidst a small but loyal grouping of onlookers. I hope one day to see the video to this as I know that the band was given a black and white grainy bootleg styled video at the end of the night. If you have the chance, go witness them live.

I had the opportunity to interview Petras after the show as well. That interview will air on The Vault June 8th at 10PM EST.

Primordial - Redemption At The Puritan's Hand

2011-05-17T02:14:00.001-07:00

2011 brings us a new Primordial album to follow up the critically acclaimed "To The Nameless Dead." And while "Redemption At The Puritan's Hand" is by no means an album to ignore, it also feels underwhelming compared to what I felt would be a near impossible album to summit. So in the end, after thinking about it for a few weeks now, I place "Redemption..." as tied for second place amongst their discography with The Gathering Wilderness, the first of the band's decidedly current-sounding albums. Spirit The Earth Aflame is right on their heels though. I still feel that "To The Nameless Dead" is their iconic release. It may be that a year from now, when I revisit this record in full, and give it two or three more listens, I may feel differently about it's place in the ranks of Primordial's past efforts but my feelings on the tracks will most likely remain and, something I thought I would never have to say about the band, is what will ultimately always drag the record down; Alan Nemtheanga's vocals do not live up to my expectations.

For me, and I feel the vast majority of Primordial fans, Alan separates Primordial from the vast majority of other bands. Of course the music is excellent but it is propelled to a different level with Alan's heartfelt vocals and unique melodic confidence. I remember reading that Alan was sick during recording this record and maybe that had an effect on his performance. To be blunt, I don't feel the vocals on many of the tracks flow naturally, there is a hesitation in the rhythmic patterns, a staggered movement through the verses usually bogs down what should be a smooth moving and confident proclamation. Of course, this is only apparent on some select tracks and I find my favorite tracks don't suffer from this uncomfortable stumbling across the vocal parts. At times, a trained ear can easily hear overdubbed vocal parts meant to thicken up what would be thin sounding vocal tracks. At times the vocal production on the record is sloppy, something that a record with so many eyes and ears focused on it should be careful to avoid.

Where his vocals disappoint, Alan has once again, with the aid of Irish poet Padraig Pearse on "Death Of The Gods," written a strikingly aware commentary with the lyrics on this record. Where "To The Nameless Dead" questioned why it is we fight and die for the concept of the nation, "Redemption At The Puritan's Hand" feels like a purging of feelings built up as a result and, I feel, possibly answers the questions posed on the previous record with a simple answer. To be free. There are scattered fragments of a single thought across the record all told through different metaphors. According to Alan on the Primordial website, he claims this is the "Death" album. Some would say death is just another road to freedom. Overall, the album is full of the same grandiose poetry we have come to expect from Primordial and in this regard Nemtheanga delivers. You can make your own interpretations of the lyrics of course.

The production is similar to The Gathering Wilderness with a bit better mixing job. It's not quite as treble-laden as To The Nameless Dead and I felt a stronger bass presence from Pól MacAmlaigh which I personally love because his bass lines across the record are phenomenal. I feel he plays a lot like Geezer Butler would in this kind of band, giving the album weight by building his lines around the rhythm of the drums and not following the guitars as we would expect. Simon O'Laoghaire is becoming a more elite drummer with every record. He isn't just playing drum parts to fill in. Rhythms are calculated. Simon, on this record, is the cue giver; deciding what moments are build up sections, what kind of a feel a certain moment on the record will have and practically conducting the dynamics of the record from behind the kit.

Ciáran MacUiliam and Micheál O'Floinn once again leave us with captivating melodies. Rhythmically, the record follows in the vein of "To The Nameless Dead" except for "God's Old Snake," which reminds me of their much earlier records like "Journey's End" and "Imrama." It's difficult to pick out a real difference in tone between this record melodically from the Previous record but I don't find as many memorable sections. I don't feel like Ciáran and Micheál have fallen prey to using more clean guitars or playing more leads, or doing any egotistical guitar showmanship. Honestly, Primordial never needed that.

A quick run through of the record would read like this if I were asked to give a few sentences on the album. Opener "No Grave Deep Enough" is pretty much a whole lot like opening previous album's opening track "Empire Falls" with a short clean buildup, heavy intense riff, some of the harsher vocals on the album, and basically blasting Primordial's now solidified style through a megaphone. "Lain With The Wolf," the album's second track and third track, "Bloodied Yet Unbowed" are both immediate hits owing their success to Alan's vocals which shine on these two tracks best of all. "Bloodied Yet Unbowed" feels like an attempt at doing another "Heathen Tribes" styled anthem and works well but not as well as "Heathen Tribes." I have been skipping fourth track "God's Old Snake," I just don't care for the verse at all - something about the combination of the drumming and guitars that feels awkward to me.

The album at this point could take two paths. It could turn instantly boring should Primordial not have something exceptional next. "Mouth Of Judas" is absolutely excellent. Notable in this song is the lead 3/4 in which is layered over another emotion vocal section. At first I dreaded that the track would ride the album into the ground. It starts very slowly. I assume the band chose the track specifically for this reason after the faster, more aggressive previous song. "Mouth of Judas" never gets boring though, it is like watching a slow moving tragedy with every sad moment lingering, pressuring its sadness into the listener. It's a weaving song though - the track builds on itself, it's previous melodies. The song instantly codifies Primordial's elite place in metal, perhaps even more so than any one track on "To The Nameless Dead" did.

"The Black Hundred" is another good track, this one faster, again shaking up the pacing of the record and offering a different texture utilizing some baritone vocals in the style of a 1940's propaganda audio sample. The title track on the record, "The Puritan's Hand" is completely forgettable. Doesn't do anything for me and is relegated to the ranks of filler tunes on good records. Final track "Death Of The Gods" I want to love so much but really is a prime example of the lack of vocal flow on the record. Every vocal phrase feels truncated and shortened. Great lyrics which could probably be photocopied and dropped out of helicopters into the middle east to increase the upheavals and protests in those countries against the dictators and leaders who kill their citizens and suck dry any hopes for a decent life.

Since this is getting longer than I wanted, a really succinct conclusion is this: Primordial fans will adore this record though probably agree it isn't better than "To The Nameless Dead." People who have never listened to the band before, wouldn't be discouraged from checking out this record as it really is a good representation of the band's work, at least their past four records. I think that this album will make most of the "best of 2011" lists and I'm sure it will propel Primordial into the vocabulary of most aware metal fans. I doubt that Eddie Trunk will take notice even though he claims to be one of the world's leading experts on all things metal. Metal Blade will probably cash in on this record too. Primordial's next album will do for Primordial what Ghost Reveries did for Opeth and pretty soon when they tour the USA with Enslaved and a random folk metal band being peddled as the next great thing, we will find ourselves squashed between fifteen year old overweight high school girls and their gothic boyfriends in HIM beanies.

Hellwitch Interview on The Vault

2011-05-13T11:24:00.001-07:00

Next Wednesday tune in to check out my interview with Pat of Hellwitch on The Vault!

The Vault airs every Wednesday night, at 9PM EST only on WP88.7 Brave New Radio.

Entrenched Interview and Playlist

2011-05-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

NJ Death metal machine, Entrenched's drummer and vocalist Charles Snyder - live vocalist it seems - joined me on The Vault this Wednesday for a few hours of military jargon in regards to Preemptive Strike, the band's debut album. As usual, the band picked 95% of the playlist and by the end of the night, we played their entire new album. The full interview with their tracks included can be downloaded here or simply go to the radio archives page and download all The Vault interviews for free.

1. Entrenched - Intro (Mobilize)
2. Entrenched - Bred To Kill
3. Accept - Princess Of The Dawn (Request: Lumberjack)
4. Razor - Thrashdance (Request - Tony)
5. Suffocation - Funeral Inception
6. Entrenched - Landbrecher 666
7. Death - Symbolic
8. Whiplash - War Monger (Request - Tony)
9. Entrenched - ICBM
10. Entrenched - Frenzied Amputation
11. Children Of Bodom - Lake Bodom (Request - Ryan)
12. Sodom - Agent Orange
13. Pestilence - The Process Of Suffocation
14. Bolt Thrower - Cenotaph
15. Entrenched - Burnt And Destroyed
16. Blood Feast - Suicidal Mission (Request - Tony)
17. Hellwitch - Nosferatu
18. Carcass - Incarnate Solvent Abuse
19. Entrenched - Tooth And Nail
20. Morbid Angel - Chapel Of Ghouls
21. War Master - Chapel Of The Apocalypse
22. Entrenched - Anesthetic Death
23. Hail Of Bullets - Ordered Eastward
24. Asphyx - Death The Brutal Way
25. Decapitated - Spheres Of Madness
26. Gorematory - Zombie Slaughterfest
27. Gutwrench - Crawl
28. Napalm Death - I Abstain
29. Slaughterlord - Eulogy
30. Entrenched - Dropping The Tsar Bomb
31. Von - Watain
32. Hell Rot - Marginal

Once again a HUGE THANKS to Charles Snyder for coming on the show with me. I'll be sure to have him and, hopefully next time, guitarist Sean Fitzpatrick on the show again.

Entrenched Exclusive Interview

2011-05-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Next week be sure to tune in to The Vault on WP88.7 for an exclusive interview with black thrash up-and-comers Entrenched who will talk about their new album, Preemptive Strike, their favorite artists, and a whole lot more.

The Vault airs every Wednesday night, 9PM EST.

Pek - Shut Up And Suffer

2011-05-06T13:06:00.001-07:00

Look up the definition of raw in the dictionary and Pek's name will be there. At least, a picture of this 2005 demo will appear. Shut Up And Suffer is a sonic bludgeonment of auditory torture not unlike Von. Militant precision, instantaneous transitions into riffs that barely make sense and songs that begin and end in the duration it takes a bullet to end a life. Pek seem to take the stance that if a song can get it's point across in the minimal amount of time, then that's all the song needs. You'll find no selfish three minute solos, no Burzumesque hypnotic expanses and no "epic" compositions. Pek want to kill you immediately.

So does it work? Sometimes. Opening track Shut Up And Suffer, which includes the demo's intro is pretty much an album summary. Riff leading into riff, total disregard for songwriting - not that I think the album needs it - and primitive crushing components one after another until main man Pek, decides the song is done. I already mentioned Von and it's something like that though with a less complete concept of song structure. The seven tracks though have moments of noteworthy interest. Second track, "Pek" - maybe Pek is a little full of himself - starts off with a triumphantly evil march feel, "Surrounded By Evil" is simply weird, with an unsettling intro that's tough to follow followed by the strongest combination of riffs on the demo creating the highlight of the track. Sixth track, Deceased Fuckbeast, aside from having one of the more comedic album titles to exist from a Belgian band, is actually somewhat enjoyable in one of those "What-the-hell" kind of ways.

It's a demo for sure, though an odd little relic of black metal nonconformity. Not everyone is trying to sound like someone else and this is an example of the many different stylistic oddities you'll come across in the genre. Will everyone like this? Fuck no! Do I? I still don't really know but Pek and his machine-like drummer Nefasto have carved a nice chunk of the black metal flesh out for themselves to occupy. There are a strong grouping of fans out there who are into this and I'm sure any one who gets soggy over Von, Beherit or the more unique side of black metal will enjoy Pek's brand of indifference.

Playlist 05/04/2011

2011-05-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

1. Mercyful Fate - The Oath (Request - Tony)
2. The Beast - Enemy Ace
3. Dokken - Into The Fire
4. Impaler - Crack That Whip
5. Overkill - Sonic Reducer
6. Overkill - Fatal If Swallowed
7. Type O Negative - Christian Woman (Request - Andrew)
8. Anthem - Black Eyed Tough
9. Helloween - I'm Alive
10. Coroner - Masked Jackal
11. Manilla Road - Out Of The Abyss
12. Sabbat - How Have The Mighty Fallen
13. Napalm Death - Suffer The Children
14. Sapremia - Spawn Of Desolation
15. Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon
16. Slauter Xstroyes - Battle Axe
17. Exciter - Iron Dogs (Request - Lumberjack)
18. Tad Morose - Lord On High
19. Sodom - Outbreak Of Evil (Request - Tony)
20. Morbid Angel - I
21. Pek - Surrounded By Evil
22. Virgin Black - Velvet Tongue
23. Nex - Over Fjell Og Gjennom Torner
24. Holy Cross - Twilight Of The Gods
25. Burzum - Morgenroede
26. Hammerfall - Heeding The Call
27. Teitanblood - Seven Chalices of Vomit And Blood
28. Stargazer - Pypes Of Psychosomatis
29. Primordial - Bloodied Yet Unbowed
30. Accept - Up To The Limit
31. Judas Priest - Freewheel Burning

Playlist: 04/27/11

2011-04-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

1. Bolt Thrower - What Dwells Within (Request - Lumber)
2. War Master - Chapel Of The Apocalypse (Request - Lumber)
3. Primordial - Gods To The Godless
4. Primordial - Lain With The Wolf
5. Omen - Die By The Blade (Request - Tony)
6. Black Sabbath - Into The Void (Request - Tony)
7. Darkthrone - Summer Of The Diabolical Holocaust
8. Midnight Chaser - Rough And Tough
9. Midnight Chaser - Turn Your Head Around (Tank Cover)
10. Grave Digger - The Round Table
11. Absu - Four Crossed Wands
12. Sig:Ar:Tyr - Blood Of The North
13. Atrophy - Puppies And Friends
14. Immolith - Slaughter The Legions
15. Abazagorath - When The Skies Opened
16. Morbid Sin - Injector
17. Licht Erlischt - An Aimless Life
18. Immolation - The Weight Of Devotion (Request - Tony)
19. Manilla Road - Return Of The Serpent King
20. Motorhead - Bomber
21. Motorhead - I Know How To Die
22. Artillery - Time Has Come
23. Hellhammer - Massacra
24. Teitanblood - Seven Chalices of Blood and Vomit
25. 1349 - Atomic Chapel
26. Apolion - Inverted King
27. Immortal - Beyond The North Waves
28. Hell Rot - Goat Chapel
29. Burzum - Jeg Feller

Midnight Chaser - Midnight Chaser

2011-04-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine Budgie and Diamond Head with a bit of freewheeling attitude and baste it in a concoction of badassery? If you answered Midnight Chaser, you already have your finger on what may turn out to be one of the better vintage sounding metal bands out there. Midnight Chaser skirt the razors of edge of being hard rock, but do so genuinely enough to capture the raw essence of what metal was in 1978. Unlike other bands attempting vintage sounding metal like Swedes Enforcer which I sometimes feel play the part like an actor or Wolf who have taken a path towards mediocrity with their last album Ravenous (I still love their first four records), Midnight Chaser take a different approach to old school aiming not for the Vintage sound of traditional metal but seek a trajectory towards proto-metal which can only be accomplished by a group of individuals who really have never left their teen-years for the more extreme metal corruption of the mid-late 80's.

So this self titled EP has gotten quite a few spins from me, contains killer tracks across the whole record and an excellent sense of pride. It reeks of a lack of interest in trends, while somehow falling into the movement towards the old school metal that's been erupting out of every garage across America and Europe. I think the most interesting facet, and the strongest attribute of Midnight Chaser is how dead-set on excellence their songwriting aims to be. Even "Out On Your Shield" which is my least favorite track because of the undeniably lame intro riff, is still well written. The band is humbling, everyone shines, is never overshadowed or overbearing. The band sounds like they are rocking together, slamming their bodies around a shaking rehearsal room, too loud for human ears, with all their friends slamming down PBR's and headbanging for no other reason than having a good time. It's that kind of a record.

Quick reconnaissance reveals a four man lineup fronted by Scott Attwood on vocals who sounds a lot like Sean Harris from the aforementioned Diamond Head. The same shouting, wooing, classic rock influenced vocal approach is Attwood's calling card as evidenced on opening track "Rough and Tough," which wouldn't sound out of place on Lightning to The Nations. He hits some decent highs across the disc, such as in "Down For Whatever." The rhythm section on the EP is tight, with Josh Hunt on bass and Brandon Thomas on drums. Nothing spectacular to mention. Stephan Lauck is the sole guitarist in the band and I can't help but feel that a second guitarist would really help strengthen the band sound-wise but as it stands, Stephen's got things under control in the guitarist situation. On this record, the solos are well written and performed but tend to be thin, with Lauck accompanied by only Hunt. It definitely adds to the sense of being a live recording but I hope on their upcoming full length, they dub some guitars under the leads.

The disc opens with "Rough and Tough," a straightforward rocker with a catchy main riff (in G minor I believe). Attwood's Sean Harris style vocals are most evident here though they show across the whole EP. "Out On Your Shield," is a bit a sleeper for me until the solo kicks in, but never really catches my attention. It just seems a bit... lazy. Luckily, it's followed by Tank cover "Turn Your Head Around," the albums fastest. The opening riff is a sleazy, slippery thing that belongs in a seedy bar with scantily dressed women looking for a interesting night. This is one song where the solo is backed by guitars as well as bass, and thankfully so - it keeps the track rocking from beginning to end. Maybe a bit heavy on the chorus near the end but I'll let it pass because I could listen to this one all day. "Down for Whatever" and "Too Wild to Tame" round out the record in an acceptable fashion with two more ballsy tracks. "Down For Whatever" reminds me of some of CKY's more gritty tracks but with an extended instrumental section that might be at home on Fireball Ministry's first record. Fun unabashed lyrics telling it like it is becomes the thematic premise behind pretty much every song on the disc and "Too Wild To Tame" is no different. "Too Wild To Tame" is a quick closer to the EP.

Midnight Chaser have a lot going for them. I look forward to the full length which, according to their Myspace, is out this spring sometime. We'll see. I'll be picking it up and if they've got the same attitude, energy and songwriting prowess evidenced on this EP, I'm sure I'll be giving it plenty of turntable time. Be sure to check them out live if you're out west in the California area - I have a hunch they know how to get a place in a frenzy.

Playlist: 04/20/11

2011-04-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

‎1. Accept - Pandemic (Request - Lumberjack)
2. Accept - Fight It Back
3. Steel Horse - Burning Soul
4. Judas Priest - Genocide (Live)
5. TT Quick - Go For The Throat
6. Morbid Sin - Injector
7. Morbid Sin - The Cathedral (Of The Black Monk)
8. Van Halen - Get Up
9. Thin Lizzy - Warriors
10. Spectral Incursion - Visions
11. Slauter Xstroyes - Battle Axe
12. Sepultura - Inquisition Symphony (Request - Tony)
13. Massacre - From Beyond (Demo)
14. Hellhammer - Massacra
15. At The Gates - Night Comes, Blood Black
16. Execration - Fiendish Max
17. Slaughterlord - The Recoil
18. Slaughterlord - Eulogy
19. Cancer - Into The Acid (Request - Tony)
20. Poisonous - Poisonous
21. Druid Lord - Black Candle Seance
22. Indestroy - Terminal Choice
23. Solstice - My Mortal Grief
24. Gutwrench - Necrosis
25. Atlantean Kodex - The Atlantean Kodex
26. Atlantean Kodex - Fountain Of Nepenthe
27. Electric Wizard - The Outsider
28. Electric Wizard - Venus In Furs
29. Burial Invocation - Beyond
30. Forefather - These Lands
31. Forefather - The Paths Of Yesterdays
32. Teitanblood - Whore Mass

Vehemence - Good Shot... Gang Member Dies

2011-04-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

If you have some bizarre compulsion to own every thrash demo that no one should own, Vehemence's "Good Shot... Gang Member Dies" may just be the holy grail of thrash demo seekers. Not only does it fit all the criteria for being completely generic, but it also lays claim to one of the most politically incorrect titles of all time. If you collect demos that specifically are politically incorrect while still achieving the status of not being worth anything at all, finding this in a used bin would make you feel like Donald Trump actually finding Obama's birth certificate with a giant Nigerian flag sewn into the paper and a picture of him being born in a rat infested hospital holding a clock and being fed garbage in a baby bottle. Generically speaking, the demo is basically Slayer if Slayer could be a more generic version of Slayer. Vehemence have the riff writing ability of a no-armed infant, the vocal skills of a tumorous Chinese citizen gifted with a pity-episode on Discovery channel and the songwriting diligence of Testament.

The general feel of "Good Shot..." sucks. It is due to what I would refer to as "concessions of weakness." There is an underlying odor of not everyone adhering to the same thrash rulebook - some sound like they want to play the funky parts of Death Angel and others Sodom. I don't think anyone in the band, actually knew what they wanted to play. Second to last track Crimson Death would be a prime example of this and contains a drum beat fifty seconds into the song that sounds like the most synchronized construction crew on earth. As if Vehemence never had a drummer, and instead were just recording at someone's house while the Jones' were having an addition tacked onto their home. The workers, unfamiliar with heavy metal, improvised, pulling all their talent from listening to disco singles in their early life. The kick / snare drum combination sounds like your old-fashioned wooden hammer being slammed against a piece of plywood and the cymbals; a saw cutting through metal flashing. This is the first example of construction metal ever.

How does the rest of the demo fare? Well, across the five tracks, we get the similar drum sound as outlined above, in regards to the orchestra of contractors. One notable exception where Vehemence almost did something worthy of barely a listen would be final track Impositioned Propriety, where guitarists Fernando Vazquez and Sergio Alfaro turn what would have sounded like a sub-par Faith or Fear riff from Punishment Area and decided to tack onto the almost classy traditional metal phrase, the dumbest, way out of left field - like... left field of a different baseball stadium - atonal scale you could muster. Totally ruining a song I spent way too long listening to without any hope of redeeming itself.

I actually think the best part of this whole demo is the artwork believe it or not. It's got such character, with the bars over the liquor store windows in the forgotten part of town. The gang members, one wearing a propeller topped beanie, one three times larger than the others and one born to a mother who was a chipmunk, all gunned down by a man in a ten-gallon hat from the back roads of Arizona or Nevada or something. And all this in front of the Chaka Liquor store at the corner of Griffin and Avenue. I also like how Joey "Stick" had a great understanding of how to draw with perspective but totally gave up on trying to create realistic human beings. I still think Mr. Oklahoma is shooting the gang members with a slingshot.

Playlist: 04/13/11

2011-04-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

‎Last week's playlist:

1. Gutwrench - Necrosis
2. Razor - Going Under (Request from Tony)
3. Heathen - World's End (Request from Tony)
4. Black Sabbath - Thrill Of It All
5. Black Sabbath - Sign Of The Southern Cross
...6. Manilla Road - The Ram
7. Queensryche - Queen Of The Reich
8. Exxplorer - Metal Detectors
9. Horrifier - Exordium / From Beyond The Grave (Request from Joe)
10. Exciter - Rising Of The Dead
11. Jag Panzer - Harder Than Steel
12. Jag Panzer - Bringing On The End
13. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus (Request from Tony)
14. Anthem - Headstrong
15. Anthem - Fire N The Sword
16. Suffocation (GER) - Mantis
17. Suffocation (GER) - Intestinal Disease
18. Suffocation (USA) - Mass Obliteration
19. Malevolent Creation - Premature Burial
20. Morbid Saint - Scars (Request from Lumberjack)
21. Kreator - Tormentor
22. Hallows Eve - Nefarious
23. Faith Or Fear - Straight To Hell
24. The Beast - Enemy Ace
25. Mortal Sin - Endangered Species
26. Clamfight - Ghosts I Have Known
27. Maegashira - The Man Who Named God
28. Burzum - Valen
29. Wooden Stake - In The Godless Moonlight
30. Accept - Balls To The Wall

Poisonous - Demo

2011-04-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

Poisonous hail from the death metal hinterlands of Brazil, and have this two song demo released before their debut LP by Genocide Productions, a label which seems to have a knack for releasing very interesting South American bands such as Mystifier, Mausoleum and Impetuous Rage. Poisonous seems to be their newest attempt to push a band into the death metal stardom. So, this Demo from 2009 was most likely a cheap teaser to garner interest for the label who, I'm sure, knew they would be putting out a full length from the band a year after this little cardboard promo thing. As much as I hate these cardboard promos, which never fit anywhere, be it CD binders, CD cases, with my CDs on the shelf - they seem to disappear between everything (I'm pretty sure I lost my Ravage promo this way) - and they are easily destroyed by practically any kind of mishap. Still, Genocide have a nice little promo here with some cool old school styled demo artwork and a nice back cover as well. Campy sticker on the disc to set it apart from... non-stickered cardboard promos as well... Whatever.

The music is strong, supported by a covenant of musicians who know exactly what they want the band to be. Michael Hellriff and Fabio Ramos have delivered some crusted over, Swedish styled riffs, coated with Brazilian murk and aggression. The Brazilian atmosphere really is best heard in the ultra low, reverb bogged growls and snarls, similar to Headhunter D.C. Hellriff supplies these additional abilities as well as his guitar gruntwork. E. Evil on bass and Alex Rocha round out the unit, with strong rhythm, heaviness and simplicity. While some extra effort would have been nice in the buried area, Poisonous' style doesn't seem to lend a whole lot of care for dynamics on this demo - they go one speed, and in a bevy of 16th notes at that. The mix on this lends good instrument separation so were Mr. Evil to leave the shadow of the guitars and show some reckless abandon, my claim of simplicity would be borderline remiss but nevertheless still valid.

The demo leads off with an atmospheric intro which seems to last too long, some eerie piano sounds under what must have been Hellriff wandering between his house and the local watering hole on the other side of the Amazon rain forest - deep bellows and screams and cadaverous undead animal mating calls soak the intro in a shallow atmosphere. With first track, the not so anonymously titled "Poisonous," we get a showing of standard if not enjoyable nor memorable death metal but the band is impassioned in their approach and easily likable. It's like the kid in high school who was much smaller, nor as strong as the other guys but you would want on your side in a fight anyway, just because he would jump in and mess crap up without any real interest or care for consequences. Poisonous are like the rapidly wing flapping moth flying directly into the spiderweb totally unconcerned. Poisonous may even break through most webs. The title song comes complete with a classic death metal sounding solo if not exactly classic in its composition entirely, some bloody keyboard moments, and a cup of coffee to keep you awake.

Last track and closing bomb run, "The Black Vomit" is a bit thrashier and less mature. Once again there is your classic sounding solo which I at first thought was a carbon copy of the solo in "Poisonous" but I did notice one or two slightly different notes tossed in between the sweeps and runs. In place of the keyboards and the coffee, "...Vomit" digresses into the entire band doing their best attempt at being scary and yelling and screaming obscenities drunk into a toilet positioned directly in the center of a giant gymnasium. The song resolves in, for me, a total "fuck it we're done" moment. Pretty much like Metallica's Battery except without the whole "we can sit back and watch everyone worship us now machismo." Not a bad demo, with Poisonous showing promise. I'll actually probably check out the full length but if the whole thing is the same riff, different pattern for forty-five minutes, I'm giving that disc the same shelf time I've awarded Megadeth's Risk.

#45: Coaster

2011-04-14T20:02:00.001-07:00

101 Uses for Metallica's ReLoad: #45: Coaster

Clamfight Braveathon Appearance

2011-04-13T23:12:00.002-07:00

This is the March 25th Clamfight performance and Interview from the WPSC / WPBN Braveathon. Two brand new unreleased Clamfight tracks and an interview with Andy and Sean from Clamfight and Jersey John and the Fat Man from WP 88.7 Brave New Radio. Great stuff. Download here:

Clamfight - March 25th Braveathon Performance

Older Radio Archives Here:

Radio Archives

Jag Panzer - The Scourge Of The Light

2011-04-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

There will never be another Ample Destruction. If there was any hope for such a return to the classic Jag Panzer style, the output of the band in recent years should have done much to strike down any optimistic dreams of another track sounding like "Harder Than Steel." So with this dream now occupying the same space in my mind as another Crimson Glory album like their debut, or another John Arch fronted Fates Warning album in the vein of Awaken The Guardian, I can approach the band with a new respect. I've relinquished my frustrations and, looking at this years new Jag Panzer release with an open mind, I can honestly say that it's a damn good modern power metal album.

In this sense, "Scourge of the Light," Jag Panzer's 9th album measures up to other modern power metal bands doing a similar style. With Jag Panzer though, you also get their seal of quality. Some things have not changed though. The speed is still there, and is in full force on opening track "Condemned To Fight." The melodies are still strong and up front and the musicianship is excellent as could be expected. John Tetley is still around on bass this time accompanied by Rikard Stjernquist on drums. Together they create the tight rhythmic foundation we've come to love from the band. Mark Briody is accompanied by Christian Lasegue on this record. The pair are obviously a capable duo on the guitar-front. Conklin still has the pipes to overpower God it seems. His performance is what really pulls the record past what would otherwise be considered mediocre by almost any other person's standards. There are some excellent songs on "Scourge Of The Light."

Much like Jag Panzer's last album, Casting The Stones, which I admit, I think is a bit stronger than this newer release, there is a much stronger modern metal element most obvious in the production and tone of the record. I originally though that I liked all the mid-paced tracks more than the faster songs but then I realized that it's a much more simple differentiation than that. The tracks that I like the best on the record are the tracks that aren't trying to be bad-ass. They are the tracks that just are bad-ass. For example, "Let It Out," gives me the feeling of listening to a amped up Soundgarden or Pearl Jam track... somewhat like "Do The Evolution." Also worth knocking is fifth track Cycles which is probably the most uninspired track of Panzer's career. It just reeks laziness. Conklin also sounds a whole crapload like a constipated Chris Cornell on this track.

The good: Opening track "Condemned to Fight" and the intricate "Burn" are both consistently fast, hard hitting and, if not memorable, damned good for the time being. The tracks that stand out the most are the unconventional Jag Panzer tracks such as "Setting of the Sun" which relies on the melodic interweaving of both solemn and hopeful airs, clashing and battling for control of the track's heart. "Bring The End," is a bitter accusation of greed and selfishness, echoed in Conklin's growing vocal intensity. The marching vibe of the chorus sections paired with a blistering solo contrasting a subdued midsection combine for my favorite moments on the album. Both songs utilize atypical melodies here too, like a modern power metal version of Sahg II instead of the same Iron Maiden progression in every song.

"Call To Arms" is a typical metal anthem without the Manowaresque posturing or about being specific about 'metal brotherhood' which I think works in Jag Panzer's favor, because paired with eighth track "Union," it's clear a patriotic theme courses through the Jag Panzer ranks. Considering similar sentiments on the recent Accept album, it's an interesting pattern in older power metal bands.

Overall, the album is a bit inconsistent, I skip past several tracks and listen to others in a row. A strong start and end to the record split in two by three boring tracks offers a bit of awkward pacing. So, to be fair, much like most records this one has some cool tunes, some bad tunes and is about 60% worth replaying and enjoyable. Jag Panzer remain a band to keep an eye on, even if they aren't as Generally Hostile or producing the same Symphony Of Terror that they were in the mid 1980's. Luckily, The Tyrant is still worth investing time in and I'm sure that whatever the band does to follow this will be of similarly strong quality.

Solstice - Poems Of Petulancy

2011-04-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

This 1992 demo from Dutch Doom/Death band Solstice is another example of where death metal would naturally head in the early 90's as bands tried their hands at extremity by slowing down and creating more ominous and dirge-like tales of sadness, despair and suffering. While some bands such as Morgion and Paradise Lost perfected the polar opposite of what death metal traditionally aimed for in speed, violence and gore, others keen to show their cards before looking at their hand released demos in a manner akin to fifty-two card pickup with virtually no real reason for doing so or the talent to warrant any release at all. In most cases, almost all these bands should have simply folded and waited to be dealt a new hand. Solstice is a tough call though; an example of a band that may have had a chance at being something excellent if they didn't fall apart before 1995.

Poems of Petulancy marks their first demo and, with moments befitting of the excellent artwork and obscure nature of the demo, offers an adept listener with some worthy plodding, grave digging, tomb entering doom death. After an impressive intro complete with obligatory synthesizers and 70's hammer horror move accents, Solstice fall headlong into "Purify My Soul," a pretty typical precursor to the rest of the demo. Some strong walloping, chugging riffs and some speedy parts more in common with Scream Bloody Gore era Death than faster moments of more closely associated acts. The opening track has its moments such as an interesting spoken section after three minutes of economy doom death. It's all just a bit too generic. Overall the opening track is like the first few stone steps on a massive stone staircase spiraling downwards - at first imposing and slightly awe inspiring but after a few feet, you realize it may be a really long tedious trek.

Side A of the tape finishes with the two minute "The Sun Profaned," a forgettable three riff novel worth about one minute of attention and the longer culmination to side heavy, "Perpetual Dreams." By no means is Solstice breaking boundaries with this track either... alternating between fast and slow parts, undulating across the magnetic ribbon like a trickle of water across some bare stone. Sure, the foundation here is strong and solid but, with little in the way of subtlety or detail to etch something interesting across the surface, we're left with but another rock in the sea of stones, another grain of sand on one really long boring beach. The track, with some slight tweaking - a lead here or an overlayed melody over there - could have made this a highlight track, something worth coming back to. There is a solo but, strangely like the other leads on the reel, sounds somehow out of key and awkward though oddly emotive and vibrant in the same sense.

With the end of side heavy we get to flip the tape to side metal. While "Prelude to Winter" is adequate in terms of the rest of the material on the tape, final track "My Mortal Grief" makes the tape worth the listen. With Solstice emphasizing the strong parts of their craft, we get a strong track in the same vein as the rest of the demo but with just the right amount of creepiness, solemnity and disregard for predictability. Solstice find that oft-sought after perfect dramatic contrast here with the descending chord progressions and the feeling of falling into a deeper and deeper depression. Lyrically, while the rest of the tracks are a bit lame in their high-school sentiment of loneliness and sorrow, "My Mortal Grief" falls into the same gimmick here but with just the right amount of self-loathing to tint the song towards a darker hue as opposed towards a self parody of stereotypical social awkwardness.

Fabricant - Fabricant

2011-03-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

Fabricant are erecting an industrial complex, with the presses and turbines powered by the steam of boiling blood and each gear and cog lubricated with the rendered flesh of the intellectually devoid. Fabricant aren't just playing technical death metal with their demo / EP / fuel-march self titled release. How does an existentially motivated duo more concerned with the questions of human being instead of human being-chopped-up-by-axes take death metal to the next level. How does Fabricant bubble with the kind of originality we see only occasionally from death metal. There is a dichotomy here that I never found in other bands tackling this lyrical subject such as Winds. Sure, lyrically they were on point but musically, it just never really raised questions. Fabricant do this without even realizing they are creating a conveyor-belt of juxtaposition and contrast.

Opening track "Prelude to Aberration" is a minute long intro but more than a tangle of voices with ambiance, the placement of audible words, though maybe unintentional, is hard to ignore. "A human being is....consciousness." The three tracks that follow grind onwards like a tank crushing skulls and then harvesting them, mixing their dust with alloys and then fusing them together; the sound or tone of the tracks contradict this opening statement that a human being is consciousness.

Simply put, the lyrical foreword to the album seems to cite consciousness as the deciding factor of being human and then Fabricant respond with the machinations of reducing ore into programmable extinction devices to remove consciousness from the world. It's a strange contrast. At first. Reading deeper into the lyrics I don't really think Fabricant care much about this whole idea of existence anyway. The indistinguishable lyrics to "Prelude to Aberration" seem to amount to the belief that Humans are weak because of their consciousness. This makes much more sense. We are much better off being programmed... nothing but a series of patterns. Of "zeros and ones." Maybe though, this is the whole point. Maybe consciousness, even at its most human is still programmed patterns. Isn't a habit a pattern? Aren't our lives rules by nothing more than habits? Maybe we are all the gears in one giant machine, that cranks on and on, each human life a gear to turn other gears. This is the question I arrived at thanks to Fabricant. Some metal is simple. Fabricant are not.

Philosophy aside, Fabricant are impressive - all the instruments are well played. Jake Dawson handles drums, vocals and guitars while Troy Roberts handles bass, guitars and also does vocals. Troy and Jake split the vocals with one doing lower pitch vocals, not too far removed from a record such as Morbid Angel's Gateways to Annihilation, and the other doing the higher pitched vocals, a screechy tortured vocal style. The contrast is perfect. I've never heard dual vocals in a death metal band work so flawlessly. Jake's drumming is impressive - tight, complex and creative often using multiple beats over a repeated riff to move songs like components being added onto a product on an assembly line; Henry Ford would be proud.

For me, the best track on the release, is the final opus, "Staring at the Imprisoned." The guitar, though similar in other tracks, is just more twisted, more mechanical, more precise. Troy seems to enjoy playing against the guitar lines with the bass and it lends an awkward and overwhelming sense of movement - a million parts and pistons moving in unison to move one large machine. What really sets this track apart is it's sweeping change from fast to slow rhythms. The track reduces into a slower, more drawn out series of progressions about half-way through with Jake experimenting with cymbals like a chemist combining elements.

I've got lots of great things to say about the band but I do think that a record more than five tracks of this style would get a bit tedious to listen to. Fabricant have created something pretty intense here and with all the comparisons to machinery if you are worried about this sounding too clinical and mechanic, fear not. This machinery is more like a Giger painting than an Escher sketch. Fabricant's main issue for me going forth is twofold. How do you take something so unique and expand on it and, as mentioned earlier, how do you release a long-player that retains my interest for forty minutes. I expect they'll find the parts to fabricate such a release... pun intended but you probably already knew that.

* Through this whole review I kept typing "Fabrican't" out of habit but Fabrican't definitely Fabrican.

WinterRealm - Ouroboros / Twilight

2011-02-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

After what feels like a decade of total procrastination / lack of inspiration on my part, I finally found a moment to actually sit down and sort out my personal feelings on WinterRealm's two releases, Twilight and Ouroboros. So where do my feelings lie? Well, it's a strange thing really because I still find myself lost for words at times - mainly because I know how much effort Aetas has put into his project, and how much the music means to him. How does this make me feel off put? Well, I can genuinely be drawn into the tracks and feel really involved in the disambiguation of the music, in pulling out the subtle details which Aetas has so masterfully worked into the core sound of WinterRealm, especially on Ouroboros, which seems a little more mature and focused than Twilight, and yet, there are times when I find myself completely separated almost immediately from the listening experience, like having my head severed from my body with a quick swipe of an axe. This is much rarer on Ouroboros displaying Aetas' growth as a writer.

Luckily, more often than not, I'm wandering the same solitary paths that Aetas is wandering. In regards to Ouroboros, it's one path, with my surroundings engaged in the cycle of birth, growth, decay and finally death that permeates the release. And while I felt that the portrayed their respective seasonal moods in both, "Summer (Conjuration)" and "Autumn (Manifestation)" both "Spring (Consecration)" and "Winter (Banishing)" were, to put it plainly, excellent in all aspects. "Winter" in particular had an icy feel, this sparkling chill as if everything was coated in a sheet of ice, a cocoon of lingering time. The inclusion of female vocals in this song worked excellent though their place elsewhere on the record I felt was out of place. Aetas' vocals on this track are also a highlight, as his rasps are emotional, intense and performed with a sincerity that you rarely hear from younger bands trying to find their way.

Compositionally speaking, Aetas is in fine form on Ouroboros. Every track is unique, interesting and more often than not, a journey in both lyrics and in music. Spring opens up the release nicely with a piano intro and some bird chirps which, I feel, could have been buried lower in the mix as being so upfront is a bit gimmicky but the song really moves once the guitars and vocals comes in with a great progression from the intro through the verses. There is a great melodic theme underlying the whole track. Aetas produces some fascinating clean vocals as well about half way through the song. Ultimately, this track really plucks the listener from whatever they were doing and plants them firmly into a world of bright sun, endless hills and constant time lapse imagery, with the entire life cycle of everything in motion. Summer is a good track but relies too much on Drudkh-eqsue mozying about and while this is appropriate for the track in that it does help invoke a sense of hot summer nights, it doesn't do quite as much to separate WinterRealm from the hordes of other bands trying their hand at the atmospheric black metal style. Aetas is above this I feel.

This is evident in Autumn's experimentation away from what other bands have tried before. Particularly the call and response vocal section between Aetas and the female voice on the album near the beginning and end of the track. Never have I heard another band attempt a call and response style section in this genre. What is more interesting is how well the idea works! It really creates a new dynamic to consider. Though I felt Autumn has the weakest melodic structure on the record, it has enough enticing moments to enjoy that it doesn't become a wasted track. Autumn only suffers in that it is followed by the much stronger track Winter which displays one of the best melodic structures I've heard in a long time, a great usage of subtle feedback, tempo, really all around a great song and one I listen to frequently. There is something on Ourobors which separates the tracks from what Aetas had already accomplished on Twilight but I don't know if I will ever be able to put my finger on it.

Twilight is a different beast, of course an earlier release, a more amateurish release for sure, but still, while there are flaws Aetas still released a strong album here too. For some reason I feel at times like I am listening to Auspicium when I listen to Twilight. Anyway, one major difference is that the production is much rawer and less polished than on Ouroboros which, is by no means a shining gem in terms of sound. The tracks on Twilight just don't seem to interest me quite as much. "Forever Longing" is kind of a sleepy track with some small ambiance though in after listening to it while considering the songs on Ouroboros, you can see how Aetas' style of writing hasn't changed. Other tracks on Twilight are similar, "Perdition (White Light)" presents us with Aetas struggling a little on this early release vocally, something he fixed greatly on Ouroboros. "Winter And The Spring" and "The Autumn Gate" are decent tracks but fairly forgettable. Whereas the tracks on Ouroboros all were unique and easily memorable, Twilight runs together a bit in this respect as evidenced by these two tracks.

The two tracks I did really like on Twilight are the two that are totally separate. The completely ambient "Fractal" and the outro/instrumental "Memories In Crimson Haze." Fractal is a really cunning listen with an excellent heartbeat and a slow moody vibe but "Memories" is my favorite on this release. It is a beautiful song. Whatever Aetas does next, I expect it will be a great continuation on the style he has developed. Also interesting to note is the packaging of Ouroboros which was really neat with some ashes and a bone included with the cassette along with a scroll with the lyrics and such. While some might think it is a little silly, I thought it fit nicely with the aesthetic Aetas is quite obviously trying to create for WinterRealm. My one complaint was that I had to find a properly sized vessel to hold the tape and it's package so it would sit nicely on my shelf.

Radio Archives

2011-02-22T11:33:00.000-08:00

The following radio shows and interviews are available to download.

11/06/2009 THE BINARY CODE (Interview only at Dingo's Den)
09/08/2010 HATRED EMBRACED (Edited: Interview and band's tracks only)
01/19/2011 CLAMFIGHT (Edited: Interview and band's tracks only)
02/16/2011 GOREMATORY (Edited: Interview and band's tracks only)
03/25/2011 CLAMFIGHT (Live Performance at 2011 Braveathon + Interview)
05/11/2011 ENTRENCHED (Edited: Interview and band's tracks only)
05/17/2011 VELNIAS (Interview only at The Meatlocker, Monclair NJ)
05/18/2011 HELLWITCH (Edited: Interview and band's tracks only)
07/06/2011 BOBBY LUCAS (Edited: Interview and artists' tracks only)
08/24/2011 ABAZAGORATH (Edited: Interview and artists' tracks only)
09/09/2011 SUBMIT TO SUFFERING (Live Track + Interview at the Meatlocker)
09/09/2011 BASTARD THIEVES (Live Set at the Meatlocker, Montclair NJ)
11/17/2011 FIAKRA (Live Set at Champs, Trenton NJ)
11/17/2011 MIDNITE HELLION (Live Set at Champs, Trenton NJ)
01/05/2012 CLAMFIGHT (Live Set at Champs, Trenton NJ)

Playlist 12/16/2010

2010-12-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

‎1. Don Felder - Heavy Metal Motion Picture Soundtrack - Takin' A Ride
2. Savatage - The Dungeons Are Calling - The Dungeons Are Calling
3. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Circle The Wagons
4. Accept - Blood Of The Nations - Locked And Loaded...
5. Briton Rites - All Hallowed Vengeance
6. Unleashed - Hammer Battalion - Hammer Battalion
7. Morgoth - The Eternal Fall - Pits Of Utumno
8. Steel - Heavy Metal Machine - Heavy Metal Machine
9. Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse - When
10. Iron Hearse - Iron Hearse - Rocktopus
11. Midnight Priest - Rainha Da Magia Negra - Juzio Final
12. Anticosm - Alcoholic Darkness - The Reaper Comes
13. Clamfight - Free Shit - Viking Funeral
14. Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland - Fighting To Stay Alive
15. Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland - Angel Of Mercy
16. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness - Lord Of All Fevers and Plague
17. Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption - Siege Of Power
18. Mortal Decay - Forensics - Razor Slice Decor
19. Mandatory - ...Where They Bleed - ...Where They Bleed
20. Mystifier - Goetia - Aliester Crowley and Ordo Templi Orientis
21. Masacre - Ola De Violencia - Sangrienta Muerte
22. Living Death - Protected From Reality - Vengeance (Horrible Infanticide Part II)
23. Lordamor - Lordamor - Region Of Death
24. Maegashira - The Stark Arctic - Caribou Crossing
25. Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - Call Of The Wintermoon
26. Apolion - Hungry Of Souls - Sacred Mass Of Bodies
27. Auspicium - Dawnland - Cold River
28. Immolith - Hymns To The Countess - Slaughter The Legions
29. Mercyful Fate - Dont Break The Oath - A Dangerous Meeting

News

2010-11-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

Been slow here because I have been busy with work and such. I am still active just haven't had time to devote to new reviews and such. I have some I have to finish up still though (I'm terribly sorry Winterrealm, you've been waiting like... 5 months now) but they will be done. Also, I've started to work a little more on the next zine issue. Just finished up an interview with Neftaraka. So, there will be another issue in the future, though when is a mystery to all including me at this moment.

From The Megavault

2010-10-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Found this in a off-the-beaten-track record store over the weekend along with another obscurity - the Metal Concussion Compilation from Bandit records.

Playlist: 08/25/10

2010-08-25T18:06:00.001-07:00

01. Anthem - Anthem - Blind City
02. Armored Saint - Symbol Of Salvation - Warzone
03. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Infamia
04. Briton Rites - For Mircalla - All Hallowed Vengeance
05. Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction - Harder Than Steel
06. Tank - Filth Hounds Of Hades - ShellShock
07. Manowar - Battle Hymns - Shell Shock
08. Slauter Xstroyes - Free The Beast - Syncopated Angel
09. Steel Horse - Wild Power - Run To Survive
10. Enforcer - Diamonds - Live For The Night
11. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Son Of Thunder
12. Paul Chain Violet Theatre - In The Darkness - Mortuary Hearse
13. Black Sabbath - Headless Cross - Black Moon
14. Primeval Realm - Doomed From The Beginning - Galaxy Lifter
15. Altar Of Oblivion - Sinews Of Anguish - Stainless Steel
16. Dekapitator - We Will Destroy... You Will Obey - Haunted By Evil
17. Razor - Custom Killing - Going Under
18. Pestilence - Malleus Malificarum - Chemo Therapy
19. Living Death - Protected From Reality - Vengeance (Horrible Infanticide Part Two)
20. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends - Merciless Death
21. Sabbat - Dreamweaver - Wildfire

IRON MAIDEN HOUR

22. Iron Maiden - Maiden Japan EP - Innocent Exile
23. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier - Isle Of Avalon
24. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
25. Iron Maiden - Dance of Death - Face In The Sand
26. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier - Mother Of Mercy
27. Iron Maiden - Maiden Japan EP - Killers
28. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier - Starblind
29. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time - Wasted Years
30. Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind - Quest For Fire

Paul Chain Violet Theatre - In The Darkness

2010-08-24T21:13:00.003-07:00

Italian magister Paul Chain has created, maybe, one of the most indiscriminate legacies to ever exist in the nether regions of underground metal. No one has heard of him, even though he’s released more than fourteen albums under the Paul Chain and Paul Chain Violet Theatre brand. Maybe it’s the lack of label notoriety - I’ve never heard of Minotauro before looking into this guy - or maybe it’s that his mix of doom and psychedelia has both ostracized both doom fans and fans of the more experimental and trippy psychedelic sounds of the seventies. I think, it has something to do with being Italian - one of the most overlooked countries in metal output. Being Italian and releasing a metal album is almost a sure-fire ticket to destruction and failure. Whatever the reason, people are missing out on prime and optimal listening experiences and there should be a concerted effort to raise the awareness of Paul Chain to more than those interested in Death SS.

“In The Darkness” is like watching Rocky Horror Picture Show if it was scored by Claudio Simonetti and Goblin with a perpetually drunk novice version of Alice Cooper on vocals. Obviously, a strange and marginal atmosphere is present here. Creepy is an easy way out of describing it, a word that will pop up continuously however there is something more here: a violence akin to a little girl stabbing dolls with pins while staring in your eyes. A deep seated sadism is present through the album, especially on opener “Welcome To My Hell,” a drifting piece that could be the soundtrack to the bullied kid in the fetal position rocking in the corner. Early Death SS vocalist Sanctis Ghoram contributes these wailing, lost vocals which sometimes get caught in his throat and are delivered as screeches instead of a crooning.

With second track “Meat” we get the first of a series of more doomy songs. Paul Chain has kept the songs compositionally simple. “Meat”, “Crazy”, and “Woman And Knife” all play out structurally like typical compositions with recognizable bridges and verses and choruses. Crazy is definitely single material, simple, some great rock licks, and a definite Ozzy era Sabbath vibe akin to “Paranoid“ with it‘s short quick solo, and catchy yet inconspicuous riffs. Though they remain awkward due to the inclusion of Ghoram’s vocals and certain off-putting details and elements, they allow the album to have what may be deemed as “singles.” “Meat” sounds a bit like the more experimental Sabbath tracks mixed with other doom of the period like Vitus, Pentagram etc. but to blanket label this as “another of those” is foolish.

“War” gets the largest chunk of time of the individual tracks. An odd choice, especially at this period of the album - only three songs in, breaking the momentum with a seven minute long psychedelic / ambient / moody track. It’s got the pulse of a heart-attack victim and the mood of the aftermath of their death. It’s like sitting in a hospital room around the dead body after the doctor told you they’re dead. To say it’s an ugly sad song wouldn’t be truly accurate, it’s got some breathy and cosmic moments mixed with aloe coated keyboard melodies.

“Grey Life” sets the pace for the second half of the album which is much more of a rock and roll styled side than the more psychedelic / experimental A side. It’s got four tracks which all pound home the Paul Chain style into your brain like an LSD trip from hell. It’s a monumentally heavy track with a ton of high pitched feedback revealing a hammer-like main riff. Ghoram adds some mentally wounded vocals atop the riff to the effect of some of Lee Dorian’s vocals in early Cathedral such as some of his more exotic grumbling on Soul Sacrifice. “Mortuary Hearse” easily is my favorite track on this - it’s almost in the style of early speed metal, like Razor slowed down with a hazed out guitar distortion. While it’s structured pretty simply it also contains some more classy guitar moments such as the melodies after the first movement. It purveys a dreadful uneasiness. “Woman and Knife” also end up on the B-side of the album.

The title track ends out the release, starting with a noisy clatter, then trudging through abandoned riffs into vast flowing movements. Thomas “Hand” Chaste, another of Paul Chain’s Death SS buddies, provides one of the most massive kick drum tones in the history of music during the second verse, Ghoram is once again demented, and Claud Galley’s bass dips in and out of rhythmic consciousness throughout, dynamically altering the song so that it’s like being chased by Jack The Ripper and feeling your heart beat rise and fall with every fleeting image of the killer darting in and out of dark and dreary passages. In a sense, that’s how this whole release is, just a dynamic vast maze full of hidden sounds and effects in corners and crevices you simply won’t see the first time you listen.

Playlist: 08/18/10

2010-08-18T18:05:00.001-07:00

01. Burning Starr - No Turning Back - Road Warrior
02. Slauter Xstroyes - Winter Kill - City Of Sirtel
03. Iron Man - I Have Returned - Run From The Night
04. Iced Earth - The Dark Saga - The Hunter
05. Candlemass - King Of The Grey Islands - Of Stars And Smoke
06. Coroner - Punishment For Decadence - Sudden Fall
07. Dark Angel - Darkness Descends - Merciless Death
08. Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly - Tyrants In Distress
09. Intruder - Live To Die - Live To Die *
10. Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated - Hammer Smashed Face *
11. Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction - Licensed To Kill *
12. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier - Mother Of Mercy
13. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Infamia
14. Enforcer - Diamonds - Katana
15. Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones - In Shrouds Decayed
16. Hatred Embraced - Suffering Of The Holy - Suffering Of The Holy
17. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved
18. Crucifixionhammer - Graveyard Lust - Evil Wishes
19. Slaughter - Strappado - Tales Of The Macabre
20. Obituary - The End Complete - The End Complete
21. Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream - And So Is Life
22. Hammerfall - Renegade EP - Renegade
23. Omen - Battlecry - In The Arena
24. Forefather - Steadfast - Mellowing Of The Mains
25. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead - Traitors Gate
26. 1349 - Demonoir - Pandemonium War Bells
27. Arphaxat - Loudun La Maudite - Regne Eternal
28. Akercocke - Choronzon - Valley Of The Crucified
29. Tales Of Dark - Fragile Monuments - Towering Grief Behemoth
30. Hail Of Bullets - Of Frost And War - Berlin
31. WinterRealm - Ouroboros - Spring

* Requests - Tony

08/11/10 Playlist

2010-08-11T18:02:00.001-07:00

01. Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather - Delivering The Goods
02. Steel Horse - Wild Power - Run To Survive
03. Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland - Angel Of Mercy
04. Heathen - Breaking The Silence - Prey For Death* (Request: Tony - Paterson)
05. Enforcer - Diamonds - Run For The Night
06. Enforcer - Diamonds - Midnight Vice
07. Burning Starr - No Turning Back - Call Of The Wild
08. Burning Starr - No Turning Back - Road Warrior
09. Valkija - Avengers of Steel - Son Of Thunder
10. Slauter Xstroyes - Free The Beast - Battle Axe
11. Shadowkeep - A Chaos Theory - Believe
12. Manilla Road - Crystal Logic - Feeling Free Again
13. Briton Rites - For Mircalla - Vampire Hunter, 1600
14. Mortal Sin - Mayhemic Destruction - Lebanon
15. Vektor - Black Future - Asteroid
16. Forbidden - Forbidden Evil - March Into Fire* (Request: Tony - Paterson)
17. Razor - Custom Killing - Going Under
18. Morgoth - Odium - Resistance
19. Nominon - Monumentomb - Kevorkian Exit
20. Genocrush Ferox - The Sepulchre Strangulation - Death Is Just This
21. Morbid Angel - Covenant - The Lions Den
22. Burial Invocation - Rituals Of The Grotesque - Through The Void Of Obscurity
23. War Master - Thrones Of Tyranny 7" - Undead War Machine
24. Possessed - Seven Churches - Burning In Hell
25. Crucifixionhammer - Graveyard Lust - Ghouls Desecrate
26. Crucifixionhammer - Graveyard Lust - Evil Wishes
27. Hell Rot - Vomit Altar - Goat Chapel
28. Kaarmekristus - Ajan Lopun Alku - Kutsu (Invitation)
29. Kaarmekristus - Ajan Lopun Alku - Hanen Tyonsa
30. Winterrealm - Ouroboros - Spring (Consecration)
31. Winterrealm - Ouroboros - Winter (Banishing)
32. Absu - In The Eyes Of Ioldanach - Hallstatt
33. 1349 - Demonoir - Demonoir
34. Highgate - Shrines To The Warhead - Of Ruins

Playlist: 08/04/10

2010-08-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

01. Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear - Majesty
02. Steel Horse - Wild Power - Run To Survive
03. Steel Horse - Wild Power - Burning Soul
04. Slauter Xstroyes - Winterkill - City Of Sirtel
05. Midnight - Complete And Total Fucking Midnight - Hot Graves
06. Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather - Delivering The Goods
07. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak - Angel From The Coast
08. Dio - The Last In Line - I Speed At Night
09. Manowar - Battle Hymns - Fast Taker
10. Ross The Boss - New Metal Leader - Matador
11. Midnight Priest - Rainha Da Magia Negra - Rainha Da Magia Negra
12. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Legion Of Grey
13. Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian - Fata Morgana
14. Control Denied - The Fragile Art Of Existence - The Fragile Art Of Existence
15. Death - Leprosy - Open Casket
16. Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness - Evil Spells
17. Dream Death - Journey Into Mystery - Black Edifice
18. Razor - Evil Invaders - Iron Hammer
19. Razor - Custom Killing - Going Under
20. Sodom - Obsessed By Cruelty - Obsessed By Cruelty
21. Morbid Saint - Spectrum Of Death - Scars
22. Burial Invocation - Rituals Of The Grotesque - Through The Void Of Obscurity
23. Dismember - Like An Overflowing Stream - Override Of The Overture
24. Evoken - Shades Of Night Descending - Towers Of Frozen Dusk
25. Burzum - Det Som Engang Var - Lost Wisdom
26. Drudkh - Autumn Aurora - Fading
27. Drudkh - Autumn Aurora - Summoning The Rain
28. Drudkh - Autumn Aurora - Glare Of Autumn
29. Candlemass - Nightfall - Mourner's Lament
30. Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Electric Funeral
31. Apolion - On The Altar - On The Altar
32. Pentagram - Pentagram - Sign Of The Wolf
33. Pentagram - Pentagram - Relentless

Playlist: July 28, 2010

2010-07-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

01. Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell - Neon Knights
02. Slauter Xstroyes - Free The Beast - Battle Axe
03. Slauter Xstroyes - Winter Kill - City Of Sirtel
04. Slauter Xstroyes - Free The Beast - Syncopated Angel
05. Chastain - Ruler Of The Wasteland - Angel Of Mercy
06. Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith - Freewheel Burning
07. Overkill - Taking Over - Wrecking Crew
08. Helstar - Nosferatu - Harker's Tale (Mass Of Death)
09. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows
10. Vektor - Black Future - Forests Of Legend
11. Sodom - Agent Orange - Magic Dragon
12. Onslaught - Power From Hell - Damnation / Power From Hell
13. Razor - Custom Killing - Forced Annihilation
14. Demolition Hammer - Epidemic Of Violence - Epidemic Of Violence
15. Crucifixionhammer - Graveyard Lust - Ghouls Desecrate
16. Nominon - Monumentoumb - Kevorkian Exit
17. Obituary - Slowly We Rot - Intoxicated
18. Obituary - The End Complete - Sickness
19. Obituary - Slowly We Rot - Words Of Evil
20. Mandatory - ... Where They Bleed - Where They Bleed
21. War Master - Thrones Of Tyranny - Undead War Machine
22. Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream - And So Is Life
23. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM Split - The Man Who Named God
24. Grand Magus - Grand Magus - Never Learned
25. Grand Magus - Iron Will - Fear Is The Key
26. Solitude Aeturnus - Alone - Burning
27. Candlemass - Nightfall - The Well Of Souls
28. Primordial - The Gathering Wilderness - The Coffin Ships
29. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead - Traitors Gate
30. Negura Bunget - Maiastru Sfetnic - A-Vint In Abis

Kaarmekristus - Ajan Lopun Alku

2010-07-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty simple, straight forward review for a pretty simple and standard black metal demo. Ajan Lopun Alku (Finnish for "The Beginning Of The End Of Time - I assume) is the first release from Kaarmekristus, the sole energy of one Ophiuchus Caedo. The tape contains four songs and a long intro piece appropriately titled "Kutsu" or "Invitation." For an intro to a black metal demo, I find the three minute plus track exceptionally beautiful. A chant of sorts, almost Gregorian except for the accompanying orchestration, "Kutsu" beckons you in. It says, "Welcome to my sanctuary... feel at ease here... for a moment." The play between the multiple vocal patterns and timbres is captivating and very well done. It creates a sense that you are not merely listening to music but that you are an onlooker to a spiritual event of sorts.

The first two tracks here are the least impressive - not that either of four tracks are "impressive" but the first two are less impressive than not impressive at all. Though all the tracks sound like Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, "Uusi Aikakausi" is the least hungry of the tracks. It offers little. It's like going to a fast food restaurant and getting napkins as an appetizer. Though the demo doesn't quite worship early Darkthrone, the influence is immense but fails to succeed in the most important part of the formula - the hypnosis. And without that all that's left is corpse-paint which Ophiuchus Caedo has down pretty well judging from the image on the insert. To be blunt, there is little impact on either this track or the slightly less interesting second song "Unohduksen Verhon Lapi." Between these two tracks there is little to identify them. While "Unohduksen Verhon Lapi" has more initial kick than the opener, it has a far less interesting structure and repeats for what seems like an eternity with no vocals, no change or variation in the barely audible drums...The two later tracks have more depth, and are more mature. Though the cyclical "Hanen Tyonsa" is slowly gain my interest, mainly due to a peculiar extended slow moody part, final track "Totuuden Etsija" is full of urgency. It has a purity to it that rekindles some of the feelings I have when I listen to Transilvanian Hunger - feelings of introspection a desire for solitude from existence during it's playing time. "... Etsija" feels like it is going somewhere, that it SHOULD be heard. This feeling is noticeable immediately. The connection between the instruments is stronger. The drums and bass and guitar fall on each other in a beautiful collapse. While other tracks sounded confused at times, there is no doubt on this track as to where to go next, what rhythm needs to exist for notes to ascend to a level above repetition. Vocally, I wish I had lyrics to follow along with his wall-of-static style of vocals in this track.

I get the impression that this was the first song Ophiuchus C. wrote and it means to most to him. One of the most enduring strengths behind black metal demos, specifically demos from single people is that, the are so personal. There is the sense that with this music, you are being allowed to witness it not just of your choosing but at the artist's discretion. One of the intriguing aspects to demos of this sort is that, if, for instance, Ophiuchus did not decide to release it, who would hear it? No one. It would be lost to time. His rituals and compositions would not exist to anyone but himself. It's a strange idea. Even if it is generic, mediocre and trite, it's honest and it means something to someone. Even with demos like this, we can discover the "one hit wonders" of underground metal. "Totuuden Etsija" is that kind of a song - a stand out amongst unnecessary tracks.

Final conclusion: typical demo, especially for black metal. Some added textural depth would help differentiate some of the rather monotonous melodies and rhythms but with a great intro and excellent final track, not all is lost. I'd be interested to see progression in the next release but more of the same just isn't truly necessary. A few tracks like "Totuuden Etsija" and to a lesser extent "Hanen Tyonsa" would make a decent demo. A less amateur guitar tone would also help a little though in this stage, production concerns are not important at all in my opinion. The production on this isn't BAD but it's definitely not for those unfamiliar with listening through demos. Polished is the last word I'd use to describe Kaarmekristus. I would use rough and rugged instead but smooth high-quality production doesn't fit Kaarmekristus' music anyway. Ajan Lopun Alku has charm but then again, when doesn't when something is this personal?

Perhaps this was once a dub of Thirst's Per Aspera Ad Astra album? Once again, a very personal release. More likely though is that it is simply a recitation of the Latin phrase "To the stars through difficulties."

Enforcer - Diamonds

2010-07-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Regression is a word that's been tossed around a bit the past few years, with a seemingly ammonium perchlorate aided ignition of old school thrash, massive interest in Darkthrone's last few albums and now with a rise in traditional metal's appearance. But regression assumes that the whole of metal has come to a point in which the old way of thought had been entirely ousted in the minds of metal fans in favor of new trendy modern ideals in production and songwriting. I don't believe in regression. There's been a sway of old and new since the day Sabbath played that first infamous note - and the true thunder roared. What the hell does this have to do with Enforcer? Some may say that they are regressionist but I think of them as an entirely different class. It would be much easier to label their latest release, Diamonds, as youthful revisionism. The influences of early metal mainstays like Maiden, Priest and - daresay I - a little glam, have been combined with Enforcer's infectious excitability. It's like metal never encountered Possessed or Venom. As if the most extreme in metal was a hard hitting Dokken track.

With Diamonds, Enforcer seem to have clearly set out to make a more consistent and rounded album than debut Into The Night and with Diamonds Enforcer seems to have caught stride of their goal. Albums are made of songs, and Diamonds has a few. From opener "Midnight Vice" the sleazy vibe of a raucous night on the town with nothing to lose sets in, a feeling stolen from Anthem's self titled debut. Tracks like "Nightmares" or the awesome "Live For The Night" are almost straight off Dokken's Tooth And Nail, a combination of rougher songs like "Don't Close Your Eyes" and Iron Maiden's Killers. Though duds like "Roll The Dice" and "High Roller" break the momentum, the majority of songs keep the album's pace set at pedal to the metal.

Title track "Diamonds" is a three and a half minute instrumental highlighting the band's instrumental prowess and also a desire to progress in the face of their revisionist tendencies as the song ends in a strange, Floydian ambient rock jam like Meddle meets Sabbath's more experimental moments in a bed under a blanket with the cover to Return To Forever's Romantic Warrior printed in perfect detail. Grasp that one. Still, the abilities of this band as musicians are apparent throughout the disc. Tobias Lindkvist's takes an almost singular influence from Steve Harris - gallops, fills, even the tone I can hear him trying to achieve is all Harris circa 1980 just a little more gooey. Jonas Wikstrand is capable on the kit, utilizing everything possible to yield maximum metallic volume. Sadly, though his playing is tight and very traditional - basic and simple during verse and chorus but spreading out when the opportunity arises - it sounds lifeless often, and I can't determine whether it's him or the production. Guitarists Joseph Tholl and Adam Zaars are, as on Into The Night, phenomenal though I would've liked their guitars to be mixed louder.

Olof Wikstrand (I can't find any information on if he is related to drummer Jonas Wikstrand though by the looks of them, I am going to wager this is the case) is undeniably the force behind Enforcer, and I think you can hear in his voice that he really loves this music. His vocals are heartfelt first and foremost. Across the album he really prefers the higher ranges but never really wanders into a battle with those dreaded nasally high pitched wails. It may have something to do with age but he doesn't have that rasp to his voice, and its edge would definitely help add some intensity to the album. Regardless, there is some sort of strange grit there, a certain harshness which is unmistakeably metal in every way. I think he sounded more aggressive on Into The Night though. I also love how under produced his vocals are. There are no imposing effects added though Olof's voice is not totally parched either. At the most, there has been a lot of layering done. Most parts are dubbed it seems, to thicken up the vocals during choruses especially. The chorus in "Katana" has at least four vocals dubs itself.

Speaking of which "Katana" would be my favorite track if "Live For The Night" just wasn't such a hit and run, left then right, crush and kill classic metal track. The only thing that could make this song better is if Razor or Motorhead or even Midnight had recorded it instead. Without being too critical though, "Katana" is easily the most complex track on the recording and it hurts. Aside from a pig-sty sloppy digital edit at 4:14 - not the only one on the album either - coming out of the solo just making me shake my head at, the song is flawed. It is held back by a strangely un-metal mid section, jostled around like a rock climber, struggling to gain a foothold on what seemed to be such an easy face. The first two trade of solos sound tired; rehearsed twice too many times. Luckily, the second solo is doesn't quite disappoint. The thing is that, the longest track on the album, and the most involved has to be damn good. And this one just isn't up to par. Also, completely unrelated but "Walk With Me" really sounds like it should be a bonus track on the re-release of this album fifteen years down the road from now.

For revisionist heavy metal with some character, Diamonds is a strong candidate for anyone's collection looking for something new but not too far from what the genre has grown up with. This is truly a classic styled metal release, quirky, mired in controversial issues (I've been accosted by metal fans for wearing a black metal band's t-shirt while playing Keep It True... how do traditional metal fans in some countries feel about the guitarist for Tribulation playing in a traditional metal band?), a controversy waiting to appear. I would never put this next to some of the newer albums which I feel really convey that classic metal fist in the air, air guitar to the heavens posturing like Metal Inquisitor's Doomsday For The Heretic - an album I've overlooked and underrated for the past few years but which has enamored me now - or Shadowkeep's Corruption Within - a nod to Fates Warning's Spectre Within but placed in a modern context. Diamonds may have been up there were some of the filler removed, like the ungodly "Running In Menace" and the production was just a bit less 'dull.' What I really think Diamonds is though is a prelude a great third album.

Live Doom - Decaying Citadel / Mortum / Gorematory / Pharaoh

2010-07-04T01:43:00.001-07:00

Though my involvement with my college radio station forces me to censor the price for this gig, it's less than getting fast food. If you REALLY want to know, email me and I'll let you in on the price or you can check it out at Decaying Citadel's myspace. Should be a good time.

Anyway, a few reviews coming up. A review for Enforcer's new album Diamonds has been written, I just gotta type it up. Also, reviews of Kaarmekristus' Ajan Lopun Alku and WinterRealm's Ouroboros soon as well. More stuff seems to be trickling in so there should be some more activity as far as reviews goes in the next few weeks.

I may or may not do a review for Infinitum Obscure's Sub Atris Caelis also but it depends on how I feel... It seemed like a pretty average release after three listens but maybe a few more will change my mind.

Speed Merchants: A Thrash Fanzine Vol. I

2010-06-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

For a twenty-four page thrash fanzine found underneath my front passenger side tire, there is a certain sentimentality to Speed Merchants volume I. Sadly the sentimentality of finding something in a completely illogical place doesn't negate the fact that this fanzine is not very in-depth, has about seventeen minutes of interesting reading and just doesn't really delve into the emerging thrash scene all that well. It's a given that Bonded By Blood, Gama Bomb, Toxic Holocaust and Evile would be included and not at all that exciting to see Municipal Waste and Merciless Death listed also. Some bands are in fact appreciated such as Dekapitator and Decadence, mainly for the fact that they are not all that well known but I'm still not won over.

The zine is written by Terrorizer journalist Ian Webster. I'm not intimately familiar with Terrorizer, probably the most trend-obsessed hard rock magazine to exist, and I'm not familiar with Mr. Webster's writing but if this little magazine is anything to go by, he is more concerned with promoting the concept of "New Wave Of Thrash Metal" than promoting really good bands. Maybe it's just me but I've listened to Evile, Municipal Waste, Fueled By Fire etc. and "generic" is a more appropriate genre tag than "thrash" for these bands. Some people like generic though. This magazine just doesn't seem to expose anything other than what someone would discover trolling the internet threads for twenty minutes. It's got a cool layout, old school vibe - other than the bands - and is a REALLY quick read... it's just so surface. It does have four pages of demo reviews also but sixteen, one page interviews with no more than five questions each doesn't allow much room for a whole lot of banter. I think the best thing about the zine is that it might be named after a Razor track...

Ancient Obliteration - Destruction From The Past

2010-06-19T00:21:00.001-07:00

I don't know what the hell "street metal" is or is supposed to sound like but I DO know it has taken me one hell of a long time to decide how I feel about self proclaimed street-metallers Ancient Obliteration and their EP Destruction From The Past. In some respects it's a really interesting listen and in other places I can't find enough ceiling tiles to count. Yet in other places, I am left scratching my head till there are red streaks across my forehead where my index finger has left a permanent gaping wound. Destruction From The Past was released practically a year ago and contains five songs interluded with ambient sections and eerie moody atmospheres. Three of those songs are older and two are newer songs written and recorded with the current line-up of Geoff Olson (Vocals), Leslie Hurteau (Bass, Vocals), Jacob Absolon (Guitar) and Marcell Fraser (Drums).

What I think I find so confusing about this release is how Ancient Obliteration make it seem so vital to keep the ambient moody sections out of the real tracks and instead as just introductions to all the tracks. Not following? Haven't heard the disc? Of the five songs on display, each track is separated by an ambient introduction / filler track. A prime example of this would also be this year's 1349 album, Demonior, where 1349 have done the exact same thing. While Ancient Obliteration have make a conscious effort to remove all atmosphere from the tracks, 1349 have carried the moods into and across their songs. I side with the later in this case though if Ancient Obliteration did use some of that ambiance in their songs, the layering would create a strange effect of thrashy uneasiness. It would at least elevate the generally mediocre riffs into a territory that hasn't been explored much in thrash. I don't think the result would be unlike a very amateur Mithras.

Ancient Obliteration tackle subjects such as monsters, strange phenomenon and occasionally feel tempted to toss in some occult imagery. Basically a strange Japanese styled monster flick written by H.P. Lovecraft and backed by a thrash soundtrack. What I like about the way that Ancient Obliteration approach these subjects, which could easily sound tired and childish, is that they simply don't. There is enough care taken to prevent their themes from sounding like a gimmick and anyone who knows me also knows I don't find gimmick bands in the least bit enjoyable. Case and point - Ancient Obliteration sound way less forced and tired than at least a dozen nameable newer thrash bands talking about zombies and beer - coughGamaBombcough - or any band writing songs about red-bearded one legged pirates raping your mom and pillaging your meager and pathetic record collection on a mission to destroy all your other pirate themed metal.

With opening track "Tokyo Tower" paving the way with some subtle far-eastern influences (particularly in some of the percussion), the songs start of rather strong though "Of Wisdom and Madness" contains a main riff akin to watching a very chaotic washing machine and dryer doing battle. Leslie Hurteau's bass is also quite loudly mixed... everywhere... and overpowers other instruments. Cool Leads near the ending of the song make up for dueling appliances but only slightly. "Portal Beast" comes next and is almost my favorite song but it is performed a little too sloppily and just doesn't seem to flow as well as "Tokyo Tower" or my favorite track "Shogun." At times the vocals in this song seem like a total afterthought. Speaking of afterthoughts..."Defiler" is so forgettable that I almost forgot to even mention it though a pretty sick bass solo rounds out the track.

But "Shogun" makes this demo worth hearing. It has great intensity, urgency and most importantly, great riffs that make the other songs seem trite. The guitar solo is awesome. The track simply ends the release on a high-note. My only complaint comes with mixing. Leslie is once more a bit too loud for my tastes - heresy being a bassist myself I know - but at other times, the mixing is really good so, I don't know... The last forty or so seconds are my favorite moments of the whole release and are the closest Ancient Obliteration come to creating atmosphere within the songs themselves. While this song is really good, it also is so far superior in quality to other tracks that I wonder why some of the older songs would even be considered. Being a newer song, I would have loved to see more newer material on the disc (I'm willing to look past "Defiler" in a hope that other songs would be as good as "Shogun.") This all said, I'm not convinced the "street metal" tag will catch on or even makes sense at all, but I like the music these guys are conjuring and with some more time to ferment and more attention to details I'm pretty sure Ancient Obliteration will raise a few eyebrows.

Dio - Obituary

2010-06-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

R.I.P

Playlist - 06/09/10

2010-06-09T19:05:00.001-07:00

Something like this:

01. Enforcer - Diamonds - Diamonds
02. Enforcer - Diamonds - Live For The Night
03. Enforcer - Diamonds - Midnight Vice
04. Primititve Graven Image - Traversing The Awesome Night - Design
05. Neftaraka - Raw Ist Law - The Knoll
06. Dio - Dream Evil - Night People
07. Dio - Dream Evil - All The Fools Sailed Away
08. Savage Death - Deadly Playground - Social D
09. Coroner - Punishment For Decadence - Skeleton On Your Shoulder
10. Coroner - Punishment For Decadence - Masked Jackal
11. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Thane Of Cowder
12. Annihilator - Alice In Hell - Wicked Mystic
13. Razor - Evil Invaders - Iron Hammer *
14. Mystifier - Goetia - An Elizabethan Devil Worshipper's Spellbook *
15. Neglektum - Beyond The Frozen Mist - Beyond The Frozen Mist **
16. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows
17. Manowar - Defender EP - Gloves Of Metal
18. Overkill - Taking Over - ElectroViolence
18. Whiplash - Power And Pain - Spit On Your Grave
19. Eliminator - Breaking The Wheel - World Obliteration
20. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Son Of Thunder
21. Briton Rites - For Mircalla - The Right Hand Of Doom
22. Zeke - Devil's Island - Kill The King***
23. Znowhite - Act Of God - War Machine
24. Wolf - The Black Flame - Steelwinged Savage Reaper
25. War Master - Thrones Of Tyanny 7" - Undead War Machine
26. Watain - Sworn To The Black - Underneath The Cenotaph
27. Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly - Meltdown
28. Nyctophobia - Beyond The Pillars - War
29. Bolt Thrower - In Battle There Is No Law - Forgotten Existence
30. Dictator - Dysangelist - Sanctus

Requests:
* Tony - Paterson (Thanks for listening and great requests!)
** Mahvtoole
*** I am never listening to you again Lumberjack

Decaying Citadel - Split Update

2010-06-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Check out the Decaying Citadel myspace page to hear a pretty terribly compressed Bathory cover which will appear on the upcoming split.

News

2010-05-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

A few this to mention. This week, my radio show may not happen due to some issues with our antenna. If the case, my Dio - tribute show will be postponed until next Wednesday.

Also, Decaying Citadel's side of the Autumn Reflections / Decaying Citadel split is finished. I think it sounds like the slab of doom it was meant to sound like. Three songs including a cover of Bathory's Satan My Master and a re-recording of Dread Saviour Arise, Decaying Citadel's split will be sure to make fans of anything doom glaze over.

Also, Ancient Obliteration - Destruction From The Past review should be posted in the next few days some where. It's coming, just a really difficult review to write.

ALSO, I need help. I can not find any information on this demo tape. I am looking for a release date:

Playlist 05/19/10

2010-05-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

01. Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell - Heaven And Hell

Tune in next week, for a three hour dedication show to the legend who is Dio.

02. Sammy Hagar - Heavy Metal: The Motion Picture Soundtrack - Heavy Metal
03. Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac - Iron Dogs
04. Possessed - Beyond The Gates - Phantasm
05. Blind Guardian - Batallions Of Fear - Run For The Night
06. Gorguts - Considered Dead - Stiff and Cold
07. Gorguts - Considered Dead - Bodily Corrupted
08. Death - Human - Together As One
09. Darkthrone - Soulside Journey - Neptune Towers
10. Asphyx - The Rack - The Rack
11. Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - Crytpic Winterstorms
12. Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice - Frozen Rapture
13. Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain - Blank
14. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Midnight Rider
15. Icarus Witch - Capture The Magic - Capture The Magic
16. Demons And Wizards - Touched By The Crimson King - Beneath These Waves
17. Primordial - Journey's End - Cast To The Pyre
18. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead - Traitors Gate
19. Dark Fortress - Eidolon - Analepsy
20. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved
21. Iron Man - I Have Returned - Fallen Angel
22. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM - The Man Who Named God
23. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Hatchet Blade
24. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Son Of Thunder
25. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Brann Inte Slottet
26. Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel - Minotaur's Labyrinth
27. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Desecrate The Night
28. 1349 - Demonoir - Atomic Chapel
29. Infinitum Obscure - Destruction Of The Heavenly Realm Vol. XI - Messenger Of Chaos, I

LP / MC: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 21, 25, 26
2010: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel

2010-05-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

A demo that is not trying to be anything modern or trendy? If you seek one, Axe Battler have a demo for you! They have created a demo which sets itself from the pack in its honest-to-the-roots metal approach. But does this translate into quality? Axe Battler show that for them, the old school sound of the early 1980's heavy metal has never subsided and NWOBHM is still alive in their hearts. In general, there's not much to complain about but also, not a whole lot to talk about. Axe Battler's "The Wrath Of My Steel" has good riffs, a great vibe and is an easy listen to anyone who grew up on Iron Maiden or 70's Judas Priest and is seeking obscure heavy metal. The fact that is is a tape demo, for me at least, makes it even more endearing. A lack of traditional metal bands release on the format and to get my greedy hands on a demo tape like this, with it's black and white cover, and plastic case which continually falls apart and has to be put back together, takes me to a time when I existed only in the foresight of the great Greek gods. If you want to feel what it felt like to grow up in 1982, then grab a copy of this demo, preferably by post. It's like being an adolescent and having to go down the block and get dubbed copies from the weird guy down the block with a strange obsession with Rob Halford's crotch.

Opening track "Killers Of The Night" is as classic sounding as it is benign. Though it's sure to put a smile the face of anyone who like's Iron Maiden's first two albums, past that it's pretty average in quality. Though Axe Battler use few leads throughout the song, the instrumental section of the track is full of dual guitar harmonies and a great solo courtesy of Axe Battler's guitarist Chris. J.P Battler's vocals are charming, emotional and amateur, I would chose him over any of those "top tier" power metal bands that are touted by the metal media. He doubles on bass adequately, mainly following the rhythm guitars. Second track, the title track, "The Wrath Of My Steel," follows the opening song's style closely though is a bit long-winded. It drags like a two-legged dog. Third track, "At The Backstreet" is basically a ballad (remember that 80's vibe?) and is the weakest song for me on this release. The lyrics are the least interesting, about being in love with a hooker or something... and then she has a knife? I honestly don't know and can't figure it out... But the triplets during the fast part lag and are all over the timing map. Still, JP gets my admiration for singing a ballad and he does a dashing job with it."Minotaur's Labyrinth" is my favorite on the release. It's pace is perfect, it's memorable, the lyrics are simple but excellent, recounting the Greek tale of the labyrinth. When JP screams "The minotaur is thirsty for their flesh!" I just nod my head, feel elated and relish in the moment and the passion he has for Axe Battler's music. The lead section is great, dual leads, harmonized riffs once again in the Maiden style. Some notice to kit-kicker Manuel A. He is solid across the whole demo. I like the natural sound to his drums which seem to be free of studio trickery and actually played really well - something many drummers can take a lesson from; you don't need to have triggers to sound good... just play your drums properly! I think it has something to do with bands constantly aiming for exponential extremity, drummers are pushed past what the vast majority of human drummers can play.

The Witch Cross cover is cool. I never heard the original but if it sounds as good as Axe Battler's version, I'd be in my glory. It's amazing how much more there is to discover. Axe Battler however did not escape my vigilance and I'm glad. Axe Battler are a great band, still in formative stages but given time and a chance to grow with their music and their ideas, I see them becoming a great underground metal band. I think a slightly thicker guitar sound would really help Axe Battler. "The Wrath Of My Steel" is a good demo, nothing totally outstanding but still worth listening. I see myself playing "Minotaur's Labyrinth" or maybe "Killers Of The Night" on a bi-weekly basis. This is a great find for anyone looking for current bands playing really classic sounding metal.

Playlist - 05/12/10

2010-05-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

01. Cheap Trick - Heavy Metal The Motion Picture Soundtrack - Reach Out
02. The Rods - Heavier Than Thou - Make Me A Believer
03. Manowar - Battle Hymns - Fast Taker
04. Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear - Run For The Night
05. Iron Savior - Unification - Forces Of Rage
06. Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel - Minotaur's Labyrinth
07. Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory - Azrael
08. Anthem - Anthem - Warning Action!
09. Annihilator - Alice In Hell - W.T.Y.D
10. Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice - Frozen Rapture
11. Grand Magus - Wolf's Return - Blood Oath
12. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Brann Inte Slottet
13. Venom - Welcome To Hell - Witching Hour
14. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Serpent's Blood
15. Immolith - Hymns To The Countess - Slaughter The Legions
16. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved
17. Burzum - Det Som Engang Var - En Ring Til Aa Herske
18. Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - Cryptic Winterstorms
19. Dark Fortress - Eidolon - Analepsy
20. Ancient Horns - Profano - Eternal Vengeance

TRILOGY - 1349
21. 1349 - Demonoir - Atomic Chapel
22. 1349 - Hellfire - Sculptor Of Flesh
23. 1349 - Demonoir - Demonoir

24. War Master - Chapel Of The Apocalypse - Chapel of The Apocalypse
25. War Master - Thrones Of Tyranny - Undead Warmachine
26. Asphyx - The Rack - The Rack
27. Deathevokation - Blood Demo - Embers Of A Dying World
28. Defuntos - Florestas De Perpetua Solidao - Do Dundo Da Minha Alma...
29. Armored Saint - Symbol Of Salvation - Reign Of Fire *

MC / LP #'s: 01, 02, 03, 06, 09, 10, 11, 12, 14, 25, 27, 28,
2010 #'s: 06, 12, 14, 21, 23, 25,

* REQUEST - LUMBERJACK!

Playlist 05/05/10

2010-05-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

01. The Rods - Heavier Than Thou - Heavier Than Thou

02. The Rods - Heavier Than Thou - Make Me A Believer

03. Manowar - Battle Hymns - Dark Avenger

04. Midnight Priest - Rainha Da Magia Negra - Juzio Final

05. Iron Maiden - Powerslave - Powerslave

06. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows

07. Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear - Wizards Crown

08. Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle Earth - Time Stands Still

09. Ross The Boss - New Metal Leader - I Got The Right

10. Ravage - Freedom Fighter - Grapes Of Wrath

11. Shadowkeep - Corruption Within - Corruption Within

12. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Those Treasures Will Never Befall You

13. The Hookers - Speedwolf / Hookers Split - For The Master

14. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 - Supernaut

15. Deep Purple - In Rock - Speed King

16. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM Split - The Man Who Named God

17. Candlemass - Candlemass - Seven Silver Keys

18. Dominus Praeli - The First Battle - Waves Of War

19. Thou - Black September / Thou Split - Smoke Pigs

20. Morgion - Solinari - Nightfall Infernal

21. Asphyx - The Rack - The Rack

22. Asphyx - The Rack - Pages In Blood

23. Sapremia - Existence Of Torture - Spawn Of Desolation

24. War Master - Thrones Of Tyranny 7" - Undead Warmachine

25. Immolith - Hymns To The Countess - Slaughter The Legions

26. Burzum - Det Som Engang Var - En Ring Til Aa Herske

27. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved

28. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead - Failures Burden

29. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise

MC/LP Rips: 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 13, 18, 23, 24, 29

2010 Releases: 12, 24, 29

Saturday at Champs in Trenton: Haethen, Sapremia, Immolith and Blasphemous. Cool show for those interested. I'll be there in my normal capacity. Feel free to say hello!

Decaying Citadel - Split Update

2010-05-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today, Myself and Decaying Citadel's Z.S have finished recording the vocals for their upcoming split with Autumn Reflections. All that is left is basic editing and mixing. Three songs of excellent doom.

Haethen On The Vault Tonight

2010-04-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight on The Vault, NJ black metal band Haethen will join me in the caverns of WP887 to discuss their blackened art, their favorite bands, their recent show with Alcest, Woe and Velnias, their upcoming show with Immolith, Sapremia and Blasphemous and a host of other interesting stuff.

Their demo, Wanderer is available via their website: www.haethen.com

Tune in from 9pm-12am EST to listen in on what is sure to be a great interview and a host of great black metal as well.

Tonight's Playlist, small due to Haethen's appearance but, quality of course!

01. Venom - Black Metal - Black Metal
02. Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon - Vind
03. Apolion - Necro Black Elitist Split - Primordial Hunger
04. Fornication - Stab - Evil Sperm
05. Fornication - Stab - Les Handicapes Du L Er Rang
06. Hell Rot - Vomit Altar - Goat Chapel
07. Ihsahn - After - A Grave Inversed
08. Haethen - Wanderer - Wanderer
09. Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - The Call of the Wintermoon
10. 1349 - Demonoir - Pandemonium War Bells
11. Burzum - Det Som Engang Var - Naar Himmelen Klarner
12. Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows - Hrimfaxi
13. Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows - Skinfaxi
14. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Breathed
15. Sacramentum - Far Away From The Son - Blood Shall Be Spilled
16. Sepremia - Existance of Torture - Spawn of Desolation
17. Alcest - Écailles de lune - Écailles de lune [part ii]
18. Hate Forest - Sorrow - Night Harvest
19. Black Sabbath - The Wizard
20. Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules - The Mob Rules
21. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 - Snowblind
22. Haethen - Wanderer - Hearken the Breath of Solstice Calling
23. Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi - Norvegr
24. Bathory - Blood Fire Death - A Fine Day To Die

Haul

2010-04-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

So, picked up some stuff down at the wonderful world that is Englishtown Auction today. Take a peak!
So while nothing too spectacular, a few personal notes. The Heavy Metal soundtrack is a gatefold with a pretty nice selection of screenshots from one of my favorite movies of all time. My only issue with the soundtrack is that it leaves out the score music which, in my opinion was part of the allure of the movie for me. Elmer Bernstein's original score is genius, particularly the entire Taarna scene. The Manowar LP is a double for me, I have the CD but I've always wanted the original LP. I asked my mom to get me it once for my birthday along with some other stuff but she opted to purcahse Cirith Ungol's Frost and Fire instead. I also already have the double disc release of Doomsday For The Deceiver but I can't pass up the LP from one of the most overlooked thrash releases. Jason Newstead is phenomenal on the record. It's a shame the crap he went through with Metallica and while I can understand the emotions from their point of view, I would really have liked to hear what ...And Justice For All would have sounded like with any audible bass at all. That recording is just downright disrespectful to Jason Newstead. I'm sure even Cliff Burton would be pissed to hear that album. The two discs were two bucks each so even though I could care less about both them pretty much, I figured "eh, why not!" The one release I am really kind of giddy about is The Rods album.
I remember reading about the band in this issue of Music For Nations from back in 1984 and just kind of wanting to check them out but never getting around to it. Looks like the wait is over. Hopefully they are as good as I hope they are. Love that album art too.

Take a look at the article. I left the attached article about Tank for the little extra something I like to give you all.
Otherwise, the haul included the following:

Fear Factory - Demanufacture (CD)
Skid Row - Slave To The Grind (CD)
Flotsam And Jetsam - Doomsday For The Deciever (LP)
Manowar - Battle Hymns (LP)
Motorhead - Another Perfect Day (LP)
Heavy Metal - Motion Picture Soundtrack (LP)
Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East (LP)
The Rods - Heavier Than Thou (LP)

Playlist - 04/14/10

2010-04-14T17:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry about last week's playlist... never uploaded correctly for some reason... Those who missed the show, will never know what amazing songs I played.

01. Manowar - Battle Hymns - Metal Daze
02. Cydonia - Cydonia - Great Soul Of Steel
03. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Midnight Rider
04. Judas Priest - Point Of Entry - Hot Rockin'
05. Shadowkeep - A Chaos Theory - Beware The Signs
06. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Son Of Thunder
07. Anthem - Tightrope - Tightrope Dancer
08. Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac - Iron Dogs
09. Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac - Mistress Of Evil
10. Speedwolf - Denver 666 - Denver 666
11. Indestroy - Senseless Theories - Living In Filth
12. Overkill - Ironbound - Bring Me The Night
13. Sodom - Tapping The Vein - One Step Over The Line
14. Mortuary - Blackened Images - Sacreligious
15. Mortuary - Blackened Images - Asphyxiation
16. Iniquity - Grime - Bullet's Breath
17. Akercocke - Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene - Marguerite & Gretchen
18. Bestial Warlust - Blood And Valour - Legion Of Wrath
19. Bahimiron - Pure Negativism In Allegiance With Self Wreckage - Terror Division Bloodstrike
20. Besatt - Triumph Of Antichrist - Intro / Witch Night
21. Burzum - Belus - Glemselens Elv
22. Burzum - Belus - Belus Doed
23. Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice - Autumn Twilight
24. Clamfight - Free S*** - Viking Funeral
25. Decaying Citadel - Ruin Of The Wooded Realm - Dread Saviour Arise
26. EyeHateGod - Take As Needed For Pain - Blank
27. Catacombs - In The Depths Of R'Lyeh - Dead Dripping City
28. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise

2010: 10, 12, 21, 22, 28,
MC / LP Rips: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 23, 28

Megadeth - Testament - Exodus

2010-03-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

Driving... to Scranton PA. The trip took about 3 hours. Playlist on the way to the show: Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons, Annihilator - Alice In Hell, Motorhead - Live At Hammersmith, Silent Force - Infatuator...

We thought the show would be good because it was inside what was once a Masonic Temple AND because it was a nuclear fallout shelter...

Cool little record store a block away. I didn't have a chance to really scavenge around but it seemed like a neat place. Small but a decent selection. Some of their product seemed a little over priced though

Exodus... I've never been so bored at a gig in my life before. Even though I woke up slightly for "Piranha" and for Duke's absolutely disgraceful between song banter, I would have much rather seen Lee Altus perform selected Heathen solos.

Testament...

Testament were alright, I enjoyed them to some extent... they were more interesting than Exodus at least and played a strong set with older material. I didn't hear one song off their recent album, Formation of Damnation. In general, they suffered from the same problem that I find their albums to suffer from - unbreakable mediocrity. I just think they are a pretty bland and generic thrash band at this point. If I heard "Souls of Black" in their set, maybe I would have a different opinion.

Megadeth....

What were you thinking? "She Wolf?" You'll play "She Wolf" but not "Wake Up Dead"...

Anyway, Megadeth were exactly as I expected. They played all of Rust In Peace and even though I would have liked to hear "Dawn Patrol" three more times, I was happy enough to hear "Five Magics" and "Rust In Peace... Polaris."

After the show, we spent the night at my mountain house in PA. Relaxed, took a walk by the lake, talked about random crap for a little while and then went to bed. We ate at Apple Valley restaurant for lunch the following afternoon. That's pretty much it.

Playlist - 03/31/10

2010-03-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing worse than a good samaritan coming to your rescue after a car accident and puking all over you after seeing your rotting festering body curled into a cylindrical mass of death."

01. Echoes Of A Red Empire - Russian Songs Of Struggle - We Shall Go Bravely Into Battle

TRILOGY - ASPID
02. Aspid - Extravasation - Intro / It Came (Aspid)
03. Aspid - Extravasation - Towards One Goal
04. Aspid - Extravasation - Where The Night

05. Coroner - Mental Vortex - Pale Sister
06. Aortic Regurgitation - Aortic Regurgitation - Damned To Serve
07. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Desecrate The Night
08. Embrace Of Thorns - ... For I See Death In Their Eyes - Tyrant Goat (Crowned In Glory)
09. Bestial Warlust - Blood And Valour - Legion Of Wrath*
10. Hellwitch - Storming Steels - Opiatic Luminence
11. Annihilator - Alice In Hell - Alison Hell
12. Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel - Minotaur's Labyrinth
13. Battleaxe - Burn This Town - Dirty Rocker
14. Manilla Road - Mystification - Haunted Palace
15. Axemaster - Death Before Dishonour - Destiny
16. Dokken - Tooth And Nail - Don't Close Your Eyes
17. Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Rising Force - Far Beyond The Sun
18. Cydonia - Cydonia - Legend In Time
19. Blind Guardian - Follow The Blind - Banished From Sanctuary
20. Shadowkeep - Corruption Within - Meta Morale
21. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Pt. I: Future World **
22. Confessor - Unraveled - Cross The Bar
23. Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice - Golden Blood (Flooding)
24. Iron Man - Submission - Run From The Light
25. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Circle The Wagons
26. Immolith - Hymns To The Countess - Slaughter The Legions
27. Primordial - To The Nameless Dead - Failures Burden ***
28. Apolion - Hungry Of Souls - Winds
29. Burzum - Anthology - Jesus Tod
30. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise****

Tape / Vinyl #'s: 7, 11, 12, 13, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30
2010 #'s: 6, 7, 12, 25, 30

* I can't help myself. Such a glorious track from the Australian masters... oft- copied but never exceeded.

** Great request from Lou! Thanks for listening buddy!

*** Request from Zach, brethren to the word wizard.

**** 33rpm version courtesy of myself. I love the sound of this slowed down. I shall continue to play it at this speed until Beleseth comes and physically removes the 7" from my hands.

Acrassicauda - Star Ledger Article

2010-03-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

My ever vigilant mother saw this in the New Jersey Star Ledger. I thought it appropriate to post it for all to read since there are people who may find it interesting and be unable to see the article in the newspaper. I would suggest opening each picture in a new window or tab so you don't have to keep hitting the "back" button and waiting for the page to reload...

Playlist 03/24/10

2010-03-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

New Intro, Still waiting for the perfect "Welcome To The Vault" sample. I'll find it eventually.

01. Deep Purple - In Rock - Speed King
02. Samson - Before The Storm - Dangerzone
03. Judas Priest - Killing Machine (Hell Bent For Leather) - Running Wild
04. Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel - Minotaur's Labyrinth
05. Anthem - Tightrope - Tightrope Dancer
06. Iron Man - Submission - Run From The Light
07. Iron Man - I Have Returned - Fallen Angel
08. Cathedral - Soul Sacrifice - Autumn Twilight
09. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM Split - The Man Who Named God
10. Clamfight - Free Sh*t - Viking Funeral
11. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - These Treasures Will Never Befall You
12. Annihilator - Alice In Hell - WTYD
13. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows
14. Coroner - Punishment For Decadence - Absorbed
15. Heathen - The Evolution Of Chaos - No Stone Unturned

Exodus / Testament / Megadeth Live Rant!

16. Aortic Regurgitation - Aortic Regurgitation - Damned To Serve
17. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Serpents Blood
18. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Desecrate The Night
19. Embrace Of Thorns - ... For I See Death In Their Eyes - Tyrant Goat (Crowned In Glory)
20. Mandatory - Where They Bleed - Where They Bleed
21. Ancient Horns - Profano - Eternal Vengeance
22. 1349 - Liberation - Evil Oath
23. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved
24. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise
25. Burzum - Anthology - Lost Wisdom
26. Negura Bunget - 'N Crugu Bradului - Colo-n Jos Catre Apus
27. Lordamor - Lordamor - Region Of Death

Vinyl / Tape #'s: 02, 04, 05, 07, 08, 11, 12, 13, 17, 24, 25, 26,
2010 #'s: 04, 11, 15, 16, 17, 24,

Aortic Regurgitation - Aortic Regurgitation

2010-03-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong unveils Aortic Regurgitation, thrashy, capable and well composed (aside for their chaotic charm) on this first EP who prove themselves keen to release speedy, infectious (not unlike SARS) and intricate onslaughts of a slightly slanted sort. Tracks such as "Infestation" contain a twisted sentiment assembled from at times awkward phrasings and transitions but even though Aortic have this going for them, at times there is a drudged up sentiment, as if everything is just a little too "safe" or "commonplace." Aortic are not too retro to try new ideas, such as the mid-song sample in "Infestation" which, when they occasionally don't work, are at least thought provoking. The tracks DO work though, especially opening salvo "Damned To Serve," which rumbles on like a beastly blackened dragon dropping blistering corpses into your town thus spreading disease and filth. It's just a matter of time before you've caught fourteen terminal illnesses can't move and begin pleading with everyone who passes to kill you because you can't get the sounds of dying out of your mind.

Influence wise, thrash is the instigator here and though its difficult to pick out specifics with Aortic Regurgitation, I think a comparison to largely unknown bands like Hallow's Eve being appropriate. In this case both bands are passionate though don't really come across that way on record. Melodically speaking, I hear Voivod but then again, Aortic could be influenced by any number of melodically awkward bands. The whole EP is layered with a 90's dying thrash scene sound too, which is odd. It's like Aortic have tried to capture the bands recording records during the demise of their own era. The vocal delivery reminds me of thrash bands that were combing the death metal waters vocally for inspiration such as Coroner or even some of the German bands which may have influenced the harsher vocals in bands after them. The vocals are harsher than those found in the Bay Area scene.

Aortic haven't left out influences from the blackened thrash of this decade either... Basically, a lot of different bands are here blended like your father's suit in a food processor.... with your father still inside. It's at once refreshing and also quizzical in the sense that while the blending of these styles is done well, there is this aura of mischievous laughter in the background telling me what I am listening to is just slightly ridiculous. That thought occurs a few times though it's fleeting. Aortic are both throwback with their riffs, experimental like some of the modern bands in the underground and also colorful... like a clown in a shag-van. It's like biting into a new fruit and sloshing the juices around in your mouth before you decide if you like the textures and flavors.

While not all the tracks are prime cuts, "Alien Worlds" for example being a bit too vast and far-fetched, there is enough to make Aortic Regurgitation's first time enjoyable for somebody. It'll appeal to thrash fans looking for more than the next atomic holocaust retro band with Repka artwork. At the very least, it will be more interesting than another new Exodus record. With some extra attention paid to packaging - nice matte card-stock, professionally printed foldout inserts with lyrics, pro-printed CDr label and a sturdier-than-normal CDr case (CDr Deluxe?) - though not quite enough to get some more interesting cover-art, Aortic are doing almost everything right to make me want to know what's going to happen next with these thrashers. Where they take their strange thrashcoction is anyone's guess.

Oh! I forgot to mention the musicianship and playing/programming on this puts many to shame. The production is clear and well mixed though still one-hundred percent underground. I love the intro to "Damned To Serve." As soon as I put it on, I thought "I hope that the release doesn't sound like this the whole way throu... Ok, thank god." Charles Wong (Guitars / Bass / Drum Programming) and Cynthia "Sin" Yim (Guitars / Vocals (Yep, Read that again - I wasn't going to Gallhammer Aortic with the whole "girls in a band" gimmick) / Lyrics / Drum Programming) are raising the bar in modern thrash inspired by classic bands but never worshiping anyone else. So while everyone's job just got harder, Aortic Regurgitation have left themselves on the high ground with plenty of ammunition and an ill equipped populace closing in on them. I smell total destruction. If Aortic Regurgitation's next release is at least as good as this release, I'm sold.

*As a total Aside, this was another of those irritating releases to spine-label for me. Usually I cut a strip from an index card to label the spine of my CDr's (I use clear packing tape to hold it in place and it works great) but with this release, the spine could not be labeled as such. I had to physically write the title on the spine with a fine tipped sharpie. While I know that the vast majority of people aren't as anal about their music collection as I am, I just wanted to throw that out there. Anyway, all is well now that I have have my case labeled properly.

Faith Or Fear - Live

2010-03-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, for those looking to rock out at a good show in the area... due to my radio station guidelines, I am not allowed to post prices but I can assure you, it's less than the cost of a beer at PNC Bank Arts Center for doors. The venue is a pretty decent place too. Also, Chris sent me a link to a recent article about Faith Or Fear and the show.

Playlist - 03/17/10

2010-03-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

So after having some computer problems the last few months, I am back up (mostly) with half my record collection re-imported into my computer the way I always intended it to be imported. When I get the second half in, I will post a link to my record collection for the curious to poke around, recommendations are always welcome of course. I give everything a listen at least once... usually. So, with the easy ability to pick through all the releases at my disposal, I should be back to doing playlists a bit more varied and deep and dare-say-I, out of left feild.

01. Wolf - The Black Flame - Steelwinged Savage Reaper
02. Silent Force - Infatuator - Hear Me Calling *
03. Orphaned Land - The Neverending Way Of ORwarriOR - The Path Part I: Treading Into Darkness
04. Exxplorer - Symphonies Of Steel - Exxplorer
05. Exxplorer - Symphonies Of Steel - Metal Detectors
06. Anthem - Tightrope - Black Eyed Tough
07. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 - Under The Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes
08. Clamfight - Free Sh*t - Viking Funeral **
09. Electric Wizard - We Live - Another Perfect Day?
10. Candlemass - Chapter IV - The Ebony Throne
11. Overkill - Ironbound - Bring Me The Night
12. Aortic Regurgitation - Aortic Regurgitation - Damned To Serve
13. Speedwolf - Bark At The Poon - Death Ripper

TRILOGY - DARKTHRONE
14. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - These Treasures Will Never Befall You
15. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger - En As I Dype Skogen
16. Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons - Stylized Corpse

17. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Desecrate The Night
18. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Serpent's Blood
19. Carcass - Choice Cuts - Exhume To Consume
20. Genocrush Ferox - The Sepulchre Strangulation - Death Is Just This
21. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise
22. Haethen - Wanderer - Wanderer ***
23. Haethen - Wanderer - The Light Bereaved ***
24. Benighted In Sodom - Dismal Ethereality: Stellar Celestial Void - Gray Flowers
25. Lordamor - Lordamor - He Eivat Elaneet Kauaa
26. Hell - Hell - Tyranno ****
27. Sunn o))) - Monoliths And Dimensions - Hunters And Gatherers (Cydonia)

Vinyl / Tape #'s: 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 26
2010 Releases #'s: 3, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 21, 24,

* I HATE the song's conclusion, it has nothing to do with anything. Still, the rest of this song is practically perfect for a hard-hitting modern heavy metal song. The song itself reminds me of Iron Savior's Coming Home.

** Awesome local band from Jersey, worth checking out. I sincerely hope these guys get a full length out soon. Luckily I grabbed a copy of their promo at a show with them and Maegashira. Seriously, catch them if you can.

*** Another great local band from southern New Jersey, not far from where Faith or Fear are actually located. Their demo is great and I'm really looking forward to hearing their next release. I expect it will be really great. The melodies on Wanderer are unique and captivating.

**** Thanks Zach!

Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens

2010-03-17T00:18:00.000-07:00

Where "Tongues Of Death," Imynvokad's debut demo could be akin to listening to a television evangelical preacher of the demonic persuasion, "Ad Ordines Descendens" is being in the chapel, staring into the gloomy eyes of the sinister priest no more than a foot in front of you as he condemns your souls to hell for eternity. I love everything about this slab of vinyl, Pale Horse Records' first go at a release on the medium, and it has been done with the same conviction as anything else PHR has put out. Imynvokad take to the wax really well, holding the 7" in my hand, especially with the excellent album art, evokes feelings of obtaining a hidden occult treasure, and with a doomier reworking of "By Blood Does The Beast Arise" as the B-side, I wouldn't be so keen to dismiss this release holding true mystical qualities.

The atmosphere across the whole release is just so perfectly ancient and claustrophobic that crawling through catacombs and exploring mausoleums might actually be less uncomfortable than listening to this release. With opening track "To Ascend To Darker Haunts" preserving the blackened framework which the demo tape was built off, Imynvokad have created space to work this new ritual. "...Darker Haunts" is a windswept dirge, airy and open. It's traversing the moist earth in an ancient cemetery under gray clouds and a hidden moon, creeping upon the last tombstone, hidden behind the ivy and pushing the leaves aside to read the epitaph to your own grave. Imynvokad do this so well - tell a story with sound. Even though the lyrics to the two tracks are available - what beautiful lyrics they are - I find myself running lost through the atmosphere across the two tracks more often than not.

With The reworking of "By Blood Does The Beast Arise," warlock Beleseth has taken one of the best black metal tracks I've ever heard and crystallized it's glorious strengths to create a song I will listen to for the rest of my life, over and over, for no reason other than to experience the haunting and chilling murk of this ritual. I applaud the increased contrast between the doomy intro section and the faster, blackened intensity that works through the whole track. Combined with a melody more addictive than a cocaine dusted sex doll, I can't replay the track enough times to be completely satisfied. The tone on both tracks is deep, dark, foggy and obscure. The guitars are covered in crust. The drums provide a depth to the tracks, by being both audible and distant. This release though is another great example, much like Apolion's Hungry of Souls demo, that the bass can really be the factor that makes a stand out release. On both "To Ascend To Darker Haunts" and on "By Blood Does The Beast Arise" the bass really is the backbone of the songs, building the melodies and, at times, also the rhythms.

I really hope that within a year, Imynvokad will be able to put together enough material for a full length, I really need to hear a long player from Beleseth's greatest endeavor. This is not to demean his work with Thra'el because I enjoyed every moment of "The Baneful Spirit," but Imynvokad is the better of the two projects. I am ready for him to release a torrent of blackened ritual upon the world, so that it leaves a giant stagnant rotten trail of coagulated blood across the underground.

Okketaehm - Maggots Release

2010-03-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

Recently worked on some noisy insane black metal with the band Okketaehm. Will be released in April. Here is the promo flier:

Playlist - 03/10/10

2010-03-10T18:02:00.000-08:00

01. Anthem - Tightrope - Victim In Your Eyes
02. Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian - Fata Morgana
03. Icarus Witch - Capture The Magic - The Ghost Of Xavier Holmes*
04. Thin Lizzy - Jailbait - Angel From The Coast
05. Andromeda - Extension Of The Wish - The Words Unspoken
06. Hammerfall - One Crimson Night - Steel Meets Steel
07. Grave Digger - War Games - Let Your Heads Roll
08. Axe Battler - The Wrath Of My Steel - Killers Of The Night
09. Crimson Glory - Transcendence - Red Sharks
10. Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory - Dragon Lady**
11. Dio - Holy Diver - Stand Up And Shout

TRILOGY - ICED EARTH
12. Iced Earth - Iced Earth - Iced Earth
13. Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings - Burning Oasis
14. Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider - Mystical End

15. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger - Transilvanian Hunger
16. Imynvokad - Tongues Of Death - By Blood Does The Beast Arise
17. Taake - Hordalands Doedskvad - Part V
18. Apolion - Necro Black Elitist Alliance - Primordial Hunger
19. Benighted In Sodom - Dismal Ethereality: Stellar Celestial Void - Ether And Rust
20. Koltum - The Story Of Death - Torments In Grave

TRILOGY - OPETH***
21. Opeth - Morningrise - Advent
22. Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse - The Amen Corner
23. Opeth - Still Life - The Moor

24. Morgion - Cloaked By Ages, Crowned In Earth - A Slow Succumbing
25. Heathen - Evolution Of Chaos - No Stone Unturned

Cassette / Vinyl Rips #'s: 01, 08, 16, 17, 18, 20,
2010 Releases #'s: 08, 19, 25

* This track from IW features Frank Aresti on guitars, hence my playing it following Fata Morgana, cool song and great to hear Frank doing something recent in this style.

** Meh, Why not? I can't just listen to one Crimson Glory song...

*** Surprised? Yeah well, Their early stuff is excellent. Sadly the mediocrity of their recent output has overshadowed the spark their earlier material had.

Playlist - 03/03/10

2010-03-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

01. Anthem - Tightrope - Tightrope Dancer
02. Anthem - Anthem - Warning, Action!
03. Dokken - Tooth And Nail - Don't Close Your Eyes
04. Liege Lord - Master Control - Feel The Blade
05. Manilla Road - Crystal Logic - The Riddle Master
06. Exxplorer - Symphonies Of Steel - Metal Detectors
07. Overkill - Taking Over - In Union We Stand
08. Overkill - Taking Over - Powersurge
09. Iron Man - Black Night - Black Night
10. Black Sabbath - Vol 4 - Supernaut
11. Old Bones - Old Bones / Ars Goetia Split - The Wizard
12. Midnight - Farewell To Hell - Black Rock And Roll
13. Heathen - The Evolution Of Chaos - Control By Chaos
14. Sodom - Agent Orange - Magic Dragon
15. Coroner - Mental Vortex - Semtex Revolution
16. Morbid Angel - Covenant - The Lion's Den
17. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Desecrate The Night
18. Desolate One - Desecrate The Night - Serpents Blood
19. Besatt - Hail Lucifer - Black Banner
20. Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon - Sworn Revenge
21. Nachtmystium - Instinct Decay - Circumvention
22. Neftaraka - Raw Ist Law - The Knoll
23. Negura Bunget - Om - Tesarul De Lumini
24. Mystifier - Goetia - An Elizabethan Devil Worshipper's Spellbook
25. Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger - En As I Dype Skogen
26. Imynvokad - Ad Ordines Descendens - By Blood Does The Beast Arise
27. Apolion - Hungry Of Souls - Winds
28. Lordamor - Lordamor - He Eivat Elaneet Kauaa

Tape/Vinyl Rips #'s: 1, 6, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26, 27,
2010 Releases #'s: 11, 13, 17, 18, 26,
Background Music: Hyponic - The Noise Of Time

Desolate One - Desecrate The Night / Desolate One

2010-02-26T23:11:00.001-08:00

From the very bowels of depravity and filth comes Desolate One's second sacrifice to the ancient gods of Blasphemy, Sarcofago, and the other myriad South American black thrash legions. Where Desolate One's first demo fell short, Desecrate The Night pulls itself onwards and rapes the very soul of the night. One listen, and I've got tracks stuck in my teeth like plaque and clinging to my skin like leeches.

What has really got my brain rattling is the rawness and blasts of charred brilliance that creep out from behind the fuzzy and misty shroud of noise. Though at times maybe a bit too raw, the general tone is nothing worse than other demo standards. Desolate One have improved strangely in the production in some areas but fallen short in others. The drums on this demo are a bit too subdued where the debut demo they were a bit too loud. They could be slightly more upfront but they are audible. Though Desolate One's first demo was cleaner and easier to digest, the emotion on Desecrate The Night is thick and steamy like a midnight orgy to the black demon gods.

Opener "Sepulchrum Temero" lets loose the first barrage of noise, yielding results ranging from a concussive wallop to the ultimate screaming noise solo. The track sets not just a tone for the demo but also a pace for the five new tracks. "Of Desolation" is a bit too noisy and redundant until the central section, which draws back the curtain on some night details such as the wavering guitar chords, subtle feedback and rusty dingy rehearsal room. This is the first moment on the demo where you can get a real feel for the atmosphere of the recording session - hazed and glazed with alcohol infused euphoria. But leave it to the title track to really capture all that is awesome about this demo.

Opening with feedback, wailing guitar grit and filth and one of the demo's best riffs, "Desecrate The Night" is a true bludgeoning. The vocals on the track are the best on the tape though never does vocalist Hideous Possessor falter in delivery. There are moments when he is difficult to hear but on this demo, everything is charmingly murky. Following is "Serpent's Blood" which contains another of my favorite riffs, a riff I call the zombie march. Its a slow, swinging undead-stomping-dance riff which should evoke memories of Messiah Marcolin in a forest leading a band of damned doomsters to who the hell knows where... whatever, you'll be swaying too.

With the originals done, the demo's last track is a cover of Blasphemy's "The Desolate One." I can not lie, I was expecting them to do a Blasphemy cover and this is the perfect song (made more perfect because it's the band's namesake). You can hear their influence. In general I do like this much more than the 2009 demo. The aggression and hatred is more focused and the whole demo has a much more serious demeanor. The rawness is glorious. With two demos under their belt now, I would like to see Desolate One take a step further with their next release in the production department. Nothing polished of course, but just a bit more punch and a bit more clarity would do Desolate One wonders as long as the rawness remains. Something like the production on Bestial Warlust's releases would be perfect. Either way I am excited about another release from these guys. If they manage to get someone to release a 7" next I will be the first to buy it.

So, in addition I have attached information from both demos. The first demo is actually side two of the tape so those who missed out on the first demo can still check it out on this tape. I would hurry though if ugly dirty black thrash tickles your sensitive side. Last I heard, the tapes were all close to gone. Salute to the awesome demo(n)-art which as been provided courtesy of Raquel Thulcandra.

I have attached the review from CT#1 for extra-curricular reading as well as a scan of the first demo's insert... you lucky whippersnappers you...

Playlist - 02/24/10

2010-02-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

01. Solitude Aeturnus - Alone - Scent Of Death
02. Manilla Road - Spiral Castle - Merchants Of Death
03. Dio - Holy Diver - Stand Up And Shout
04. Fates Warning - The Spectre Within - Traveler In Time
05. Drudkh - Microcosmos - Decadence
06. Flotsam And Jetsam - Doomsday For The Deceiver - Metalshock
07. Genocide Winter - Monastica Holocaust - Consumed By Darkness
08. Sapremia - Existence Of Torture - Spawn Of Desolation
09. Sapremia - With Winter Comes Despair - Open Grave
10. Devastation - Idolatry - Freewill
11. Fall Of Empyrean - A Darkness Remembered - The Fading Light*
12. Forefather - Ours Is The Kingdom - To The Mountains They Fled
13. Grave Digger - War Games - Let Your Heads Roll
14. Hades - Resisting Success - The Cross
15. Hammerfall - Legacy Of Kings - Legacy Of Kings
16. Hell Rot - Vomit Altar - Goat Chapel
17. Hell Rot - Vomit Altar - Marginal
18. Masters Hammer - The Jilemnice Occultist - A Dark Forest Spreads All Around
19. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Doomsday For The Heretic
20. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Thane Of Cowder
21. Midnight Priest - Rainha Da Magia Negra - Juzio Final
22. Morgion - Solinari - Canticle

TRILOGY - Midnight
23. Midnight - Complete And Total F'n Midnight - All Hail Hell
24. Midnight - Farewell To Hell - Black Rock And Roll
25. Midnight - Farewell To Hell - Vomit Queens

26. Venom - Welcome To Hell - Welcome To Hell
27. Venom - Welcome To Hell - Live Like An Angel
28. Nachtmystium - Instinct: Decay - Circumvention
29. Negura Bunget - Om - Tesarul De Lumini
30. Neftaraka - Raw Ist Law - The Knoll

Vinyl / Cassette Rips #'s: 7, 8, 16, 17,
Background: Death Hymn - Flower Of Disease

Playlist - 02/17/10

2010-02-17T18:53:00.000-08:00

Thrash and traditional tonight. I don't know why but a better question is why not?

01. Valkija - Avengers Of Steel - Son Of Thunder
02. Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian - The Sorceress
03. Fates Warning - The Spectre Within - The Apparition
04. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - Moonchild
05. Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory - Dragon Lady
06. Crimson Glory - Transcendence - Red Sharks
07. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows
08. Heathen - Breaking The Silence - Save The Skull
09. Heathen - The Evolution Of Chaos - Dying Season
10. Hallows Eve - Death And Insanity - Nefarious
11. Iced Earth - Iced Earth - Iced Earth
12. Iron Savior - Unification - Coming Home
13. Exxplorer - Symphonies Of Steel - Metal Detectors
14. Metal Inquisitor - Doomsday For The Heretic - Doomsday For The Heretic

TRILOGY - OVERKILL
15. Overkill - Taking Over - Wrecking Crew
16. Overkill - Horrorscope - Coma
17. Overkill - Ironbound - Bring Me The Night

18. Bestial Warlust - Blood And Valour - Legion Of Wrath *
19. Absu - Tara - Stone Of Destiny *
20. Demolition Hammer - Epidemic Of Violence - Pyroclastic Annihilation*
21. Genocrush Ferox - The Sepulchre Strangulation - Death Is Just This*

Cassette / Vinyl Rips #'s: 7, 8, 13, 17
2010 Release #'s: 9, 17
Background: Lordamor - Lordamor

* Four songs dedicated to Tobestius.

Beyond Mind - The Wrath Of The Dead Tongue

2010-02-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

"The Wrath Of The Dead Tongue," is Beyond Mind's first release and hopefully not their last. Their sharp and decisive brand of black metal is both intriguing and rewarding. Naberius' vocal attack could be likened to watching Lord Of The Rings' Gollum talking through a distortion pedal while being sodomized by Sauron's minions. Definitely the more outrageous vocal style I've heard and easily one of the most unique. Beyond Mind isn't content to simply recite old formulas elsewhere and rely on vocal ingenuity to push them through. Musically, Beyond Mind is keen to mix and mash black metal into a cosmic mess. The spacey sound to their tracks can be heard in the use of some background effects on track such as "The Spiral of Withering."

While entirely unique, a band comparable in some way would be Choronzon (Thanks Andrew) on their Magog Agog disc. Both Beyond Mind and Choronzon have a splattering of rocket propellant energy though constant flames flicker persistently deep within the engines of their blackened releases. Beyond Mind show this best on "Children Of Ashes," the first real track on the disc. And while Choronzon's Magog Agog is pretty weird in a Devin-Townsend-(more)on-crack-and-with-hair mentality, Beyond Mind come close as well. One listen through the second half of Beyond Mind's "The Spiral Of Withering," will provide adequate evidence to support this and also display some area which Beyond Mind still need to improve on. Aside from relegating what were odd but bearable vocals to a parody of themselves, the gimmicky attempt to recreate the "this is what it sounds like when someone is withering away" concept is just slightly too theatrical and a bit outright for my tastes.

Musically, fourth track (third real track), "Caressed By Cold" is my favorite track on the disc though "Children of Ashes" also tickles my tender spot. "Caressed..." combines elements of doom's penchant for down-tempo mass and depressive black metal melodies a la Benighted in Sodom. Plodding, awkward and dissonant at times, it is a perfect track for Beyond Mind to tackle. Even though the vocals on this track are also outlandish and theatrical, I'm not laughing like three-quarters of the way through "The Spiral Of Withering." Still, Naberius could reign them in a bit without losing their intensity or giving up their personality. On this track, as elsewhere, Gerdon's bass playing is sheepish, rarely leaving the flock lead by the guitars.

The drums seem to be programmed but they could be real also - it's so difficult to tell these days on well produced releases - so no complaints there. If they are programmed, I would still suggest finding a session drummer in the future; they often sound mechanical. It would also offer more options to make the music of Beyond Mind even more strange. Some songs on the release did drag on a bit including my personal favorite "Caressed By Cold" and the intro track, "Decent," which was long. I am still torn between considering it a full fledged song or not. Beyond Mind have done well with the release's production combining rusty guitars, deep but clanging bass, clean guitars and everything between. Should Beyond Mind control some of the rather comedic vocals and cut back the songs to a length less repetitive and more natural in flow, future releases may yield some true black gems.

Playlist - 02/03/10

2010-02-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Maegashira.... What a buncha guys. George, John, JJ and Joe are ready to beat the crap out of you if you wear sunglasses.

01. Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain - Blank
02. Maegashira - The Stark Arctic - Hi From Jersey

TRILOGY - BLACK SABBATH

03. Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Hand Of Doom
04. Black Sabbath - Vol. 4 - Wheels Of Confusion
05. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - The Wizard

06. Maegashira - The Stark Arctic - Ammonia For Sweat
07. Maegashira - The Stark Arctic - Caribou Crossing
08. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus - The Psychopath
09. Iron Man - Black Night - Black Night
10. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM Split - The Man Who Named God
11. Voivod - Killing Machine - Forgotten In Space
12. Deep Purple - In Rock - Into The Fire
13. Maegashira - Maegashira / Sowbelly / OSSM Split - Adapting To The Noose
14. Maegashira - The Stark Arctic - Back To Muro

Playlist - 01/20/10

2010-01-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

With Decaying Citadel's Zach in tow, tonight's entry into the Vault is that of a monstrous dooming thud. Zach brought some Doom, I brought some Doom and the world was better for it. Ashame he had to leave early. The doom had just begun. Still, TK stopped in to chill and made the night go by fast, even with the doom spinning.

01. Faith Or Fear - Punishment Area - The Shadow Knows
02. Saint Vitus - Die Healing - Dark World
03. Reverend Bizarre - In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend - Doomsower
04. Decaying Citadel - Ruin Of The Wooded Realm - Dread Saviour Arise
05. The Puritan - The Black Law - It Is Your Own Decision To Respect Life

TRILOGY - HIGHGATE
06. Highgate - Black Frost Fallout - Burial Light
07. Highgate - Black Frost Fallout - The Wolf
08. Highgate - Shrines To The Warhead - Warhead Rise Teaser

09. Velnias - Sovereign Nocturnal - Risen Of The Moor*
10. Grief - Miserably Ever After - Why Should You Care?
11. Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain - Serving Time In The Middle Of Nowhere
12. Noosebomb - Brain Food For The Braindead - Scrounging

TRILOGY - ELECTRIC WIZARD
13. Electric Wizard - Live At Roadburn 2005 - We Live
14. Electric Wizard - Let Us Prey - A Chosen Few
15. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today - Dunwich

16. Old Bones - Ars Goetia / Old Bones Split - The Wizard
17. Morgion - Solinari - Canticle
18. Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules - The Mob Rules
19. Grand Magus - Grand Magus - Gauntlet
20. Grand Magus - Monument - Ulvaskull
21. Icarus Witch - Songs For The Lost - The Sky Is Falling
22. Nyctophobia - Beyond The Pillars - War
23. Witchcraft - Witchcraft - Wooden Cross (I Can't Wake The Dead)
24. Deathevokation - Blood Demo - Embers Of A Dying World

Cassette / Vinyl Rips #'s: 1, 6, 7, 22
2010 Releases #'s: 8, 16,

* Request - Jim, Central Jersey