Issues: Issue 195 - March 2005
Review: Hell-Born – Legacy Of The Nephilim
Hell-Born Legacy of the Nephilim Conquer Records Hell-Born is a band from Poland that sounds remarkably close in style to Japan’s Hellchild. This album has a definite thrash metal feel in the guitar playing, as well as the way the vocalist belts out the lyrics, but that’s as close to thrash as this gets. The
Review: Hanzel Und Gretyl – Scheissmessiah
Hanzel Und Gretyl Scheissmessiah Metropolis Records Years ago, I lived in Logan, where music stores were limited. In a desperate craving for new music, I went to Hastings, spotted a Hanzel Und Gretyl disc and decided to give it a shot. Got the CD home and skipped through the tracks and in less than an
Local Review: Yaotl Mictlan – Self-titled demo
Yaotl Mictlan Self-titled demo Yaotl Mictlan = Mayhem + Mexico Yaotl Mictlan deliver black metal with a primal, South American heart, what Rene Gomez, lead singer, calls “pre-Colombian metal.” The opening track, “Decendiendo al Xibalba” starts with the sound of wood flutes, beads shaking, and what sounds like the deep yelling of an immense crowd.
Local Review: Tragic Black – The Sixx Premonitions
Tragic Black The Sixx Premonitions Tragic Black = Cinema Strange + The Cadavers Sociopolitical death rock never tasted so good. Tragic Black is back with this six-song EP, recorded at Arrogant Hipster Studios, which is tighter, crisper and boasts more cohesive production than Articulate Lacerations. The songwriting has also progressed a lot; the guitar riffs
Local Review: The Wolfs – Lights Out +4
The Wolfs Lights Out +4 PseudoRecordings The Wolfs = Iggy & the Stooges + The Germs The Wolfs remind you of all the tough, grimy reasons you fell in love with rock n’ roll and/or punk—and it didn’t have anything to do with romance, money, status or fashion. “The Baroness” is my favorite track on
Local Review: Gaza – East
Gaza East Exigent Records Gaza = Soilent Green + Today Is The Day + Eyehategod + Pushing Up Daisies Probably unfairly lumped in with many of the metalcore bands coming out these days, Gaza are unique and don’t deserve such categorization. Elements of raging, pissed hardcore are evident, but with a very kick-ass mix of
Local Review: Gigi Love – Turning to Gold
Gigi Love Turning to Gold Gigi Love = Gina French + Lucinda Williams + Sheryl Crow You know, it’s always nice when people write old-fashioned handwritten notes. Thanks, Gigi. Bittersweet alt-country goes down smooth as warm buttered rum, or better yet, buttered rum Lifesavers. Everything on this album is so perfectly written, executed and produced
Local Review: Circuit Surgeon – Self-Titled
Circuit Surgeon Self-Titled Self-released Circuit Surgeon = Skinny Puppy + Noise Unit + Twilight Transmissions + Download Ever wondered what happened to Skinny Puppy? They broke up and reformed as Circuit Surgeon! OK, not really, but this disc sounds like it! This two-man industrial brain surgeon has so much going on in each song that
Local Review: Almost Undone – Sugar & Despair
Almost Undone Sugar & Despair Combining the best of Evanescence and Kittie, Almost Undone present a choppy, chunky metal cocktail that’s a little bit nü, a little bit jagged core (Crisis, Otep, Kittie). I never liked Evanescence, but Brenna White does a better job than Amy Lee or Morgan Lander combined, especially since Kittie has
Review: Funerus – Festering Earth
Funerus Festering Earth Ibex Moon Records The first demon to escape the gates this month is Funerus, a side project of Incantation mastermind John McEntee. Funerus play abysmal and turgid death metal, with the occasional outburst of speed. They usually keep things slow or mid-paced, though. This is a good example of what