Well, here we are. issue #3, and still going strong.

This month, we are very pleased to present to you four band interviews, featuring the French black metal band Antaeus, San Francisco heavy metal opera group Hammers of Misfortune, Tasmanian technical death metal outfit Psycroptic, and endearingly weird dark ambient/concept album project Za Frumi. This is in addition to a good forty reviews, and a new installment of From the Vault.

I am especially pleased with the very quality and rich job ~Vargscarr~ did in covering the Marduk show he attended. The photos and accounts of the set are great. Check 'em out.

We are always looking to expand and improve Maelstrom. For this issue, some logos for our zine have been created by Kris Hammond, and put up as a sort of a gateway page to our site (these have since been removed in favor of our new design. You can still see the old logos in the links page). Thanks, Kris!

We are also hoping to have a section in which we post letters from our readers. So, if you you'd like to start a discussion, or have something nice or not so nice to say about something we wrote, then let us know about it!

I'm about to embark on a major life change. I got accepted to Northwestern University in Chicago, where I will be studying to get a master's degree in broadcast journalism. The first step in the odyssey is to drive there from my home in San Francisco, which will be interesting. While the move to Chicago will undoubtedly bring many new responsibilities, I will continue my commitment to Maelstrom. Please enjoy this third installment of our zine!

- Roberto

interview by: Roberto Martinelli

Sometimes an album comes along that, when you listen to it, you think "man! Why hadn't I thought of that angle before?" This is what ran through my head upon listening to San Francisco based Hammer of Misfortune's debut album, The Bastard. Their unique metal/opera album is a melting pot of black, power, and heavy metal, with some medieval folk sections thrown in as well. I contacted band mastermind John Cobbett, who also happens to be in some other godly bands, not least of which is one of my all-time faves The Lord Weird Slough Feg, to talk to him about what The Bastard is all about, his influences, and how he balances all the bands he's in.

Maelstrom: Your debut album under the band name Hammers of Misfortune is a unique one. It blends many of the darker genres in heavy metal with an operatic presentation. Indeed, The Bastard is a concept album presented in acts. What gave you the idea to do this project?

John Cobbett: I've wanted to do a Rock Opera ever since I started playing. It wasn't until '96 or so that I even considered it as a real possibility, as I finally knew some people who had the desire and the ability to attempt such an ambitious project. The idea for the story itself was influenced quite a bit by watching Joseph Campell's lectures really late at night on PBS.

Maelstrom: Hammers of Misfortune was once called Unholy Cadaver. What prompted you to change your name? Did you think your band would be associated with death metal?

John Cobbett: Unholy Cadaver actually started as a solo "dark ambient," keyboard driven project. An actual band slowly began to form around this idea, and it got more and more "Metal" as time went on. The name stuck. I thought, and still think, that Unholy Cadaver is a cool name for a keyboard project, but it's a terrible name for a metal band. Especially since there is already a band called Unholy (one of my favorite bands), and a band called Cadaver. As for associations with Death Metal, the name did sound like that of a 'brutal' type death metal band, and was therefore misleading. All in all, we had plenty of reasons to opt for a more appropriate moniker.

Maelstrom: As Unholy Cadaver, you put out a demo a few years back. One of the songs on that demo is named Hammers of Misfortune, but it is nothing like the material on The Bastard. I don't have a lyric sheet for that song, but I can make out what the dominatrix with the goofy Eastern European accent is saying. What is the connection between that song and the current name of your band?

John Cobbett: Very little, except that that song is kind of a triptych, like The Bastard. When we were looking for a new name, I think it was Josh from The Fucking Champs who thought it would be a great band-name. We eventually agreed, and adopted it as such.

Maelstrom: I'd like to ask you some questions about the story of The Bastard. What is the nature of The Bastard, the character represented by the branch symbol in the booklet? What is his connection to the forest and to the spell that he will eventually break with the Blood Ax? Is The Bastard the offspring of the King and a wood spirit?

John Cobbett: The Bastard is not human at all, he just thinks he is. He was created by the Dragon/Chaos Goddess, and raised by the forest. The Dragon/Goddess tells him that he is the bastard child of the Tyrant so that he will break the spell and fulfill a prophecy. He eventually does this, and learns the truth in the end. The spell that he breaks frees the forest, not the mortals. The forest is then free to kill the mortals.

Maelstrom: At the close of the album, the Dragon says "yes, you are my son." How is the Bastard the son of the dragon?

John Cobbett: I think I answered that above... For a full synopsis go to our site at http://www.hammersofmisfortune.com

Maelstrom: What does the Dragon symbolize? Is the Blood Ax an extension of the Dragon's will?

John Cobbett: The Dragon is similar to the Hindu goddess Kali, and represents the circle of destruction/creation inherent in nature. The ax is a "power object," symbolic of the inevitable deadly force in the universe, in human interactions, and in nature's relationship with humans. There is a very strong misanthropic vibe that runs throughout the album. From the beginning, we understand that The Bastard hates mankind when he says "on her ethereal winds I rove, up above the race I loathe." When the Bastard kills the King and takes the throne, he has no feelings for his new subjects. Then, when the Dragon takes the lives of all the villagers (while sparing all other, non-human life), the Bastard wonders why he's not moved to help. Does The Bastard originally hate mankind because of the injustice done to him by the King? If so, then why does the Bastard want the King's throne? Actually, the Forest marches out and kills the villagers. The Bastard hates the villagers because of the way they desecrated the forest. The prophecy has two meanings, one for the villagers, and another for the Dragon and the forest. In the prophecy it says, 'A single stroke shall break the spell'. To the villagers this stroke is the one that fells the Tyrant, and frees them from Tyranny. To the forces of nature, this stroke is delivered against the forest, breaking the spell that keeps them from uprooting themselves and destroying the village. The Dragon has filled the Bastard with a thirst for vengeance against the tyrant, knowing that both strokes can be delivered in this way, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

Maelstrom: Is the misanthropic theme in the album a reflection of your personal feelings?

John Cobbett: Yes, it most certainly is.

Maelstrom: Why is the Blood Ax "strangely silent" during the slaughter of the villages?

John Cobbett: Its work is done.

Maelstrom: The Bastard is tricked into cutting down the trees of the forest, the only things he holds dear. The Bastard thinks he can prevent himself from doing this by killing the Dragon, and then himself. Apparently, that plan does not work, and he cuts down many trees in order to make a road (on which trolls will later use to storm the castle). How is the Bastard reconciled with the entities of the forest and spared?

John Cobbett: Actually, there are some missing "scenes" to this story (sorry). The Bastard knows he can't kill the Dragon, who appears only as a vision to him. He plans to take his own life after fulfilling his promise to her. Of course, he only has to deliver one blow to the first tree, with the Blood-Ax, in order to break the spell. He has already built a road straight to the forest from the village. The second he strikes the sacred blow; we can assume that all hell breaks loose, and the forest has sprung into action. The 'trolls of wood and stone' are the trees and earth themselves, marching on the village. "He who sits upon the throne is made of wood, wind and stone" means that these creatures realize that the Bastard is not human at all, but made of the same stuff as they. Not only has he never harmed them, but also he has built them a nice, wide road, which will lead them straight to the village and facilitate their vengeance. I know that this is all rather vague on the album, but we never intended it to be a narrated, crystal-clear tale. We wanted it to be a good, solid album musically first, so the storytelling suffered a bit. Someday maybe we'll write the missing scenes and release it as an EP or something...

Maelstrom: The story ends with the ambiguous words of the Dragon, who says: 'you have a void to fill, full with your elusive life.' What is elusive about the Bastard's life? The Dragon also says: "You are He." Who is He?

John Cobbett: He now knows that he is a god, and always was, he just didn't know it. In the end he spirals off into the ether, having become a spirit-guardian of the forest, and final possessor of the Ax. Sort of a mythical creation-story: how this god came to be, etc.

Maelstrom: In Act Three, Scene One, whom does the voice belong to?

John Cobbett: The singing voice, that's Janis, of course. The character speaking is the Dragon/Goddess, explaining the prophecy and it's twofold meaning.

[note: the following answer was added after the interview - Steppenvvolf]

John Cobbett: Janis sent me this answer to question #11 from our interview as she wrote the line in question...

Janis Tanaka: You implied that it is not germane to use the word "elusive" in the finale of the Opera. I had to recall, but I did choose my word carefully for meaning as well as sound. For one I felt like the closing statement must speak to each individual listener as well as to our very special hero. I looked at this part as the voice that says to the audience: "YOU are this hero -- go fill up the universe with your essence!" This statement for our friends and other lost souls like you and me I wanted it to hit at a visceral place. Everyone's own life is most times elusive to them (one of the big ironies of life, eh?). I thought this would touch the people to whom this is most problematic to and would somehow mitigate the overwhelming powerlessness one sometimes feels. Now, don't think I wasn't writing for our hero. Circumspect of the dangers of split meaning I felt justified in combining the direction of these words. At the same time they are the summation and the creation of our hero. They create him with a destiny and yet that destiny has just been fulfilled, is in the past. So he has a finite purpose in life (besides being god) and yet his life is elusive because that finite purpose no longer exists. The paradoxes feel good to me as they reflect the surreal nature of reality, the inconsistencies of life, the incomprehensible moment. At this point in the Opera, the aftermath, he is like any of us only worse since he's immortal and lives forever: Godlike he must go out and live life. The voice kicks him out of the nest and the closing roundabout sucks his essence up into the universe. I also like to make a play on the word "full". When I sing it I try to make it sound like "fool". How can the hero possibly be a fool? It is impossible, yet in life all things are possible.

Maelstrom: Both you and Mike Scalzi have the talent to write melodic music with very interesting harmonies. I feel that this is a bit of a vanishing art. Where did you learn how to do this? What are your influences? What is your musical background?

John Cobbett: I learned it by doing it, experimenting. A lot of influence comes from Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden, of course. Also, I've taken some classical piano here and there, and I really love Beethoven, Chopin, Ravel, Bach and all that stuff. People really wanting to learn about music and become good, well-rounded musicians is what's dying out. These days you can get away with not knowing anything about music, and still be regarded as a musician. Music itself is a dying art.

Maelstrom: I really must comment on how beautiful the album packaging is. Especially of note are the illustrations. Are these woodcuts? Who did them? Who is the saintly figure with the axe?

John Cobbett: The cover art was designed and executed by Lorraine Rath, who is a friend of the band, and a great artist. The drawings are all pen and ink, and the saintly figure is The Bastard, after the slaughter of the Mortals.

Maelstrom: John, how many bands are you involved in now? It's hard to keep track. (feel free to plug at will.)

John Cobbett: I am in Slough Feg (with Mike Scalzi), Ludicra (Black Metal), and a few other bands, which only exist a few times a year. The other members of the band are involved in separate musical projects. Can this be a strain on the progression of Hammers of Misfortune? It can be at times, when all the bands are busy at once. The hardest part is finding time for everything, and keeping track of who's doing what when, and where.

Maelstrom: Why did you decide to have Janice Tanaka be the voice of the Dragon?

John Cobbett: Well, she is a lead singer in this band as well as being the bass player, and the Dragon is a female character, so it fell to her. Also, I can hardly imagine anyone doing a better job at this than Janis! Her vocals are stunning!

Maelstrom: Will we be hearing anything soon from Iron Cemetery or Pantz Noyzee?

John Cobbett: Those guys associated with Iron Cemetery are really shady, and I try not to get too involved with them! I hear that they are at each other's throats quite a lot these days anyway. As for Pantz Noyzee, those Posers are a scab on the face of the San Francisco scene, and if you see any of those guys, tell them that they can run, but they can't hide!!

Maelstrom: John, you run Lucifer's Hammer, offering people in the Bay Area an evening of metal (from abroad as well as locally). First of all, thank you very much for your efforts. I believe you have been organizing Lucifer's Hammer for three years now. How has that experience been?

John Cobbett: Well, Lucifer's Hammer is only as good as the scene that surrounds it, so we have had our ups and downs. Overall it's been great, and I've had some unforgettable experiences doing it. My favorite part is that rare event when someone comes along with a band that just blows me away. I'm always looking for good, interesting stuff.

Maelstrom: Thank you very much for taking the time to tell us about your fascinating project. Where will Hammers of Misfortune go from here?

John Cobbett: Hopefully on a short tour, and then into the studio!

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interview by: Roberto Martinelli

Antaeus' first full length album, Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan (review in issue #1), was a healthy and welcome dose of chaotically evil necro pummeling that only black metal can deliver. I liked the album so much I tracked down the band to give us an interview. Here is indeed a true black metal band that we can support.

Maelstrom: Hails to you, Antaeus! I very much enjoyed your album Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan. It is your first full-length, is it not? What recordings have you put out previously?

MkM: Yezzz hailz to thee, this is our first CD, mostly including re recorded demos tracks and other older tracks, only two audio rape were new for this release. The live track was a funeral track for us and the two first trackz were the first mcd we did, the promo 2000 - 1 limited to 500 copies. We did rerecord the demo trackz we had + live trackz that were included back then for the CD. Our minimum budget didnt allow us more than one afternoon in the studio, so we had to perform track we did know by heart so no time would be lost there. We did a rehearsal tape in our early dayz (150 copies - sold out) , then a demo by ourselves in 95/96 can't rekall called Supremacist Dawn (350 copies - sold out), then a split demo with Eternal Majesty from France (700 copies sold out), then the mcd out on SPK/EAL, a live tape to 150 copies on Chanteloup Creations (sold out) and the Cut Yourt Flesh and Worship Satan cd on baphomet/necropolis (guezz itz spread to 2500/3000 copies now), this cd is also out on pro tape done by Harvester prod in Poland (cheaper and different lay out, pro tape, pro cover, his job is KILLER, limited to 400 I think).
We also had two splits eps out, one picture ep split with NECROPHAGIA (1000 copies and sold out as well) and the SPK Kommando out on spikekult, limited to 300 copies, with three others desecrating french aktzzz.. totally sold out as well.

Maelstrom: Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan has a very chaotic, relentless, and evil energy to it. How did you approach recording that album? Did it turn out as you expected ?

MkM: I wish we had more time for the work and more studio money so then it could have had a bit more time to rerecord over some mistakes or redo some vokalz line I did missed and so on, doing live takes in the studio is not an easy thing anyway, and I gave the best I could with the minimum label support we did get at that time. It is too bad many people did expekt brand new tracks from us, but they have to understand we had no other choices than that, it had to be completed in less than four hours, (we paid for the mixing and all the extra cost), the money provided by the label didnt allow much and since we're dead broke... was hard to pay for the extra cost. Anyway, I guess one could feel the frustration and anger on this release. This was the main thing about it anyway, it had to be satanik and straight forward, bm without compromise, raw & hateful. None of us has an easy situation or anything, so you get the audio violence we do provide sincerly.

Maelstrom: There are some very creepy sound samples on Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan. The first one in particular is quite special. Can you tell us what exactly you recorded to create the special atmosphere that that clip has?

MkM: The first one is aktually a sample retouched of Diamanda Galas Sono l Antechristo from the Plague Mass, we felt like we would pay hommage to her sickness and the demons surrounding her work / vokalz experiences. Her darkness is different that ours, yet I totally respect and am dedicated to her work.
All the work is done basically from dat tapes from our own rekording, retouched by the drummer, he is like me fan of harsh noise and industrial (not pop but noisy & violent, like NON, When, Archon Satani, Mz 412....)

Maelstrom: What is your philosophy on what black metal should be like ?

MkM: Hateful and SataNik, it has to pay hommage to darkness and anythin causing pain. Or else it is not BM.

Maelstrom: What is your opinion on the state of black metal today? People have been saying that black metal has been either dying out, or that it has been dead for some years now. Obviously, there are bands like Antaeus around. What do you think of this? Is there enough glory left for black metal?

MkM: One scene is still worth being supported, but this one remains hidden or so. Of course bands that were once sticking to the bm values did get exposure, but they did change, or sell out... We don't really belong to those, I guess we are around the same age as some of those bands (from 25 to 28), the thing is, we always support bands like early Blasphemy or Beherit, early dark throne and various old death metal aktz that did spread a dark aura and not the actual "life sounding" music. Most of the bands are boring nowadays, very few do stick to my vision of how black metal should be, but those ones who are parts of it, do get MY FULL SUPPORT. All hailz to all the bands like to EAL, SHADOW REKORDS, SOMBRE Rec, SPK, HELLFLAMES and otherzz... bands like svest, dso, funeral mist, watain, ofermod, katharsis, temple of baal, arkhon infaustus are still providing sickness, each on their own way. But they all lead to the same ending.
All hailz to them.

Maelstrom: What current bands, black metal or not, do you respect or hate ?

MkM: I did mention bands above. Those I do respect.... there are others, I could mention them all, but you should know that the possible partners of today could be the traitors of tomorrow, so you can never be sure, I had lately problems with bands composed of people I do consider as Brothers, we had one talk with Torturer of Arkhon Infaustus since I was a bit pissed off about few thingz, and now, since we did solve the problem, everything is past. there are still details that leave me puzzled but it has no importance. Bands I hate, in general, all those using an image not true to their own selves, they are so numerous.... I hate them so much. All those pretending to be underground while they dont have a clue of what it is all about... Such morons are always spitting on us and various things, they dont realize the amount of work behind AntaeuS and SPK, I give all my time to mailz, interviewz, zines, trades and so on. While others are spreadin shit while drinkin a beer watchin tv, I spread my Hate & support those who share our fight. Hailz to the like minded FUCK THE REST.

Maelstrom: Tell us about what the scene in France is like. Certainly, bands like Seth and Anorexia Nervosa have made a name for themselves in black metal circles. Despite this, France isn't in the forefront of the metal scene, despite having a number of important metal labels, like Osmose, Holy, and Season of Mist. Why do you think this is?

MkM: I dont think any of those bands are really bm, though I must say I really get along well with Hreidmarr from Anorexia. Hez a sick fucker. The french scene is mostly composed of individuals too busy bein wankers than anything else, any band around here selling like 40 copies of the demo for 8 dollars feels like a rock star. It's pathetik. There are some real killer bands there, Drakkar, Chanteloup & SPK were actually helpin some of those bands, doing demos for them and spreading their names. Chanteloup is now defunct, and SPK isn't too keen on supporting french bands any longer since many shit did happen in the past (only with fellow from my country, how pathetik that is...) French label into bm? well Only Osmose is worth being mentionned, Holy is mostly into avantgarde or whatever it is, and Seasons of Mist would be more into "marketing" & "selling potential" when it comes to band picking. Osmose did deny most of the french bands in the past, as they said, no bands did seem worth bein supported back then, well then why did Mutilated never got signed or so? Same for Disabled, not really black metal you'd tell me, but even in the death metal section, apart from Massacra and a few others, the french metal scene didnt get much interest.
I guess it was a "marketing" question, people being too obsessed with the USA and Scandinavia. Now French bands in the deep underground do get lots of support.
AntaeuS actually get support from any country possible but not France... We get more mail and support from Greece, USA and Sweden than anywhere else.

Maelstrom: Is metal popular in France? If so, what style do people seem to like?

MkM: I dont care for Metal in general. Heavy metal bores me like a dead angel. Was nice to watch for a while, but well... maybe mizter Torturer would rekommand some rape? I dont know, postmortem rape would be a nice title for his work eh...
Anyway, any metal being popular, I guess it could be something really gay like symphonic black metal or fuckin dream theater alike prog bands....

Maelstrom: Your album, Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan was released on Necropolis Records, but you are also on Killjoy's Baphomet Records list. How were you discovered, and who will put out your albums in the future ?

MkM: ? well, Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan is a baphomet record, marketed by Necropolis. That is the correct situation. Baphomet did some "bet" on Antaeus, had us pressed and sold by Necropolis, and they get the cash made on the sales.
Being discovered? That doesnt exist anylonger. We did send tons of mailz, had our name spread, I do around 80 letters per month now, do reply to every interview and so on... Patrick from Red Stream had considered signing AntaeuS but I guess we were too crap for him, but he did recommand us to Killjoy (he had Necrophagia on his label back then), Killjoy did get a tape from him and did contact me asap. This guy is truely great, but as a label owner, I guess he suxxx ahahah. Well he did his best ,but he got dicked over way too much. He's still learning as he says, too bad for us we did arrive at the time, we got dicked over as well. But I still think the guy is cool and deeply into it. He might not have a clue about a few thingz, but he did show so much support to Antaeus, it is simply crazy. All hailz to him for that. My recommandation = do Baphomet on yer own or gather a real team instead of having your releases done by other labels. Since the other labels are just getting those titles out to get a few further trade, they dont invest any cash on recording and itz easy for them to cash on the bands, which SUXXX if you ask me. About future album, I will just say, the second opus has to be a MASSIVE BLASPHEMY and more violent, so we will only get the best way for us. It has to be HELL.

Maelstrom: Your latest (I think) recording, the split 7" with Necrophagia, marked a bit of a different style than you exhibited on Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan. The sound wasn't as thick, and the riffs were more coherent. It also felt like you were exploring a more punk style of in-your-face attitude. Is this the direction that Antaeus will be taking in the future?

MkM: Uhm? I hate punk in general and stuff like Impaled Nazarene never really got my attention (if u consider us sounding like that), maybe u didnt play the track at the korrekt speed.... AHAH yez riffs were more coherant, the sound will be thicker and sicker next time, itz hard for us to record in such short amount of time you know, we do the best we can, but sometimes it's not good enough, if you could play the track "blood war III" maybe you'd have a different opinion, this track is the direction we took to reach an higher state of Hate. Though the "in your face" sentence, somehow, did apply to my vision of thingz... the actual fist in the face of god (hailz dark throne).
Anyway, wait til the next releases or the live split 10" with Triumphator, you will experience our sound. DESTRUCTION.

Maelstrom: Please tell us about any tours that you have done, and any interesting stories that you have had from these experiences. What are Antaeus's plans for the future?

MkM: Tours? You must be fuckin kiddin me there right? Well we never did a fuckin tour and doing a fuckin gig is like so much shit, it's crazy. Most gigs were like "crap organised", only the last one though we only had 17 mins on stage, was great. Good turn out, totally honest people doing it (hailzzzz to them)... The fuckin worst was the waregem (we hate belgium) gig done by the moron called Philipenis Galliano (for drakkar prod), this was like fuckin pathetik, but nice to thrash the place down, and get to drink over the limit with sick fuckerzz like ofermod, triumphator, watain and otherzz... Nearly got kicked out due to a broken table... well it's over now. We got kicked out from four gigs lately, well big deny from either bands not willing to share stage with us, or just rumors having the people to avoid having problem with us (the worst excuse ever, I hope they fuckin die) Plans for the future, maybe one or two gigs possible in a DISTANT future. Depends on if I find money then, cuzzz we hardly never get gas money nor anything, and we just can't go on with such fag situation. We dont want to loose that much all the time you know. Gas money and food should be the minimum for gigz...

Maelstrom: Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. The last words are yours.

MkM: All hailz to our brotherz and all the sick freakz around still spreadin blasphemyzzzzz. For the otherzzz, well, itz simple : I hope they Die.
SATANIK VIKTORY

ANTAEUS
6 Bis av de St Germain
78600 Maisons Laffitte
France
spikekult@aol.com

Write also for our distro list and our fuckin ug bm releases. hailz sickness.

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interview by: Roberto Martinelli

Za Frûmi's Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh was so weird and interesting, I just had to interview them, if only to find out why someone would make an album about a band of Orcs, with the entire dialogue in Orc. What is the band's motivation and what are they trying to accomplish? Simon Kölle was good enough to entertain my curiosities, and sheds light on this bizarre and fascinating project.

Maelstrom: Hello and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Your album, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh, certainly is a unique and interesting one, one that seems to have involved a large number of people. What inspired you to do it?

Simon Kölle: Well, Za Frûmi is Simon Kölle, Simon Heath and Donald Persson, but many others have partaken in the making of Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh, the Medusa Choir and Eva, who sings the elven tune in Albai. As for inspiration, we felt that there was no dark mystic fantasy music out there that captured the feel of the Orcs and their way of life. While on the subject of inspiration, it would not feel right to leave out Tolkien, a great storyteller and inspiration to us all. Za Frûmi is a Swedish project, and in Sweden alot of people live close to the myths of deep dark forests and the trolls that inhabit them.

Maelstrom: I would categorize Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh as a dark ambient album. Do you think that is a fair label, or does your album go beyond anything one could label it?

Simon Kölle: Some have categorized it as fantasy music, but we feel it is more than fantasy music, because of the spoken dialogue and the unfolding story.

Maelstrom: The album's dialogue is entirely in orc. Is this a language that you invented, or did it exist beforehand?

Simon Kölle: Tolkien founded the language in Lord of the Rings, but there were few words, and since then it has evolved far beyond what Tolkien created. Now it is a speakable language with 5000 words.

Maelstrom: What is Za Frûmi's history?

Simon Kölle: Za Frûmi got together in the summer of 2000, and laid the ground rules for what was later to become the album. We met as musicians with a fondness for dark fantasy and the Uruk language. We quickly spoke to our friends, the Medusa Choir, and enlisted their aid with the grander parts of the album. We recorded 5 hours of the choirs singing, and used a fraction for the first album. We then travelled around the dark woods and visited a castle to gain inspiration and sounds for the album.

Maelstrom: Za Frûmi translates to mean "the spirits". What is significant about this?

Simon Kölle: Well actually, Za Frûmi translates to mean ”the righteous spirits”, there is another word for malignant spirits, ”Ari”. We dislike bands trying to be overly evil, such as is often the case with other bands inspired by the Uruki, various black metal bands being a good example. We preferred the sense of mystery that permeated the name Za Frûmi.

Maelstrom: Uglakh is the name of the orc chief in the story. What does the rest of Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh mean?

Simon Kölle: ”The great warrior Uglakh.”

Maelstrom: The album's instrumentation is certainly one of its highpoints. I appreciated the absence of obvious keyboard sounds. It appears that you have not used any electric instruments at all. I hear a lot of metal percussion (chimes, xylophones, steel drums/tympani), as well as bongos, flutes, wind instruments, and some other things I can't exactly identify. Please talk about the instruments that you used.

Simon Kölle: Well we employ alot of different intsruments for the different tracks of the album, but as you pointed out, its quite obvious that we love percussion. From the wildly intense drums and hammers of Nudertogat to the mysterious didgeridoo of Dushatar, the diversity is too great to list in full. We have played the most unimaginable things, some of which we could reveal to you... But then we would have to kill you.

Maelstrom: Please tell us more about the story behind the album. The ims to put its urgency on the imminent confrontation between the orcs and the vampire Ismael. This confrontation happens on the second to last track. Up until then, the story really takes its time, yet, when the confrontation finally does happen, it is resolved very quickly. Why did you choose to structure the story this way?

Simon Kölle: To begin with, the confrontation is not, in our minds, the only important part of the album. We wanted to really create an atmosphere, and this is in part why the tracks fell the way they did, to create a crescendo at the end of the album. Their journeys are many, and many are the wondrous things they happen upon. From the enchanting dance of the shaman to the first meeting with the spirits, and the attack upon the castle. From the discussion in the forest to the building of the watch tower and Knish and the Kapul, who set out to the ocean to find the elves. We feel that it is all parts of the process of getting to know the characters and how they interact with each other throughout the album. The interlude is the link between the first parts of the album and the final confrontation. But dont forget, this is still the beginning of the tale of Uglakh and his clan.

Maelstrom: Why have the orcs lose their final battle?

Simon Kölle: Just because the album is epic it does not mean that the ”heroes” always have to get the girl in the end. Wouldnt it be strange for a small group of orcs to beat an ancient being of power?

Maelstrom: What makes the last track a bonus one? If that track were absent, the story would have much less dimension. By including that track, the story takes on more of an emotional and human aspect. The chief, Uglakh, breaks out of character to mourn the death of his friend. What intentions did you have to include this last bit of story?

Simon Kölle: Well, the last track was created after the other tracks were all completed. We listened to the album and felt like there was something definately missing about the end of the album. We suppose that a better way of calling it would be the intro to the next album...

Maelstrom: Could you please give us some more insight into the character of Uglakh? He seems like a fierce warrior. Is he rather someone struggling with insecurities?

Simon Kölle: Uglakh is indeed a fierce warrior, but one who knows his limitations. Generally, orcs would rather flee and live to fight another day. More of Uglakhs inner turmoil will be revealed in the future.

Maelstrom: We see that there is doubt on his qualities as a leader right before the confrontation with Ismael, when Kapul, a fellow orc, calls him a coward. Do the orcs lose because of Uglakh's lack of courage?

Simon Kölle: Rather than lose because of his lack of courage, they are alive because of it. The only one with the courage to really question Uglakh is the Kapul, since all the Kapuli, although smaller than orcs, are extremely stealthy and sneaky assasins. He knows he can never be the leader, but Uglakh knows he needs the kapul.

Maelstrom: What is the purpose of the character Grotshi? In your legend, you say that he is always in the background. Why?

Simon Kölle: Grotshi is the smallest of the small dagalushes, and as such he has learnt that to stay quiet and out of peoples way is a good way to avoid trouble. No one listens to him anyway.

Maelstrom: Are we meant to see in the story reflections of our own society, or is the tale purely a fantastic one?

Simon Kölle: Thats up to you to decide. If we hadn't been who we are, the album wouldn't be what it is...

Maelstrom: The choir work is very well done. Who are the Medusa Choir?

Simon Kölle: Thank you! The Medusa Choir are a large Swedish choir, and friends of ours.

Maelstrom: What can we expect from Za Frûmi in the future? Will the project end with Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh?

Simon Kölle: Definitely not! Even if the album hadn't been such a successful venture worldwide we would still have continued with the tale of the clan. We have loose ideas about making a double cd, where the clan divides into two parts, one going north to the bitter cold and snowy peaks, and the other going south to the lustrous jungles and great rain forests.

Za Frûmi - Simon Kölle, Donald Persson, Simon Heath

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intreview by: Roberto Martinelli

Psycroptic's excellent debut, The Isle of Disenchantment (reviewed in this issue), showcased a young band with superb skills in making technical death metal. I contacted Dave (drums) to ask about this unsigned Australian band, to talk about life in Tasmania and what it's like to be in a death metal band there.

Maelstrom: Hello Dave, how are things going with Psycroptic?

Dave: Hi Roberto, that's for interviewing us! Things at the moment aren't going to badly at the moment for Psycroptic; we've just been invited to play the biggest metal fest in Australia, which will be great, plus we have so other interstate metalfests to play quite soon which we are looking forward to. We are also writing new songs at the moment so things are going OK….now we just need a label to sign us (haha)

Maelstrom: Your latest album, The Isle of Disenchantment, was released by yourselves, was it not? Is this Psycroptic's first album?

Dave: Yes, that's right. We financed most of the recording and pressing of the CD. We were given a grant of $750Aust (about $375 US) from the state government as part of their arts program to help with our recording costs…I think we are the first extreme metal band to ever get one in Tasmania. This helped a little, but the majority was financed by ourselves. This is Psycroptic's first ever release - you could almost say it's a demo of sorts. We didn't do a demo because we have all had previous recording experience and we were happy with how this recording came out.

Maelstrom: How would you describe the style that you play? How do you hope those listening to your music will think or feel?

Dave: Well, I would just say we play extreme metal with various influences. We try to incorporate all elements of metal in our music - death, black, thrash, power, etc. Its not that we're trying to cover all "fan bases" or any shit like that…we just love all styles of metal. To us, a cool riff is a cool riff - it doesn't matter what style it is. We just hope people can appreciate what we are doing -regardless of what style they think we should play. I think it is up to the individual to listen make their own judgment about what style they think we play…we don't really mind. We "classify" ourselves as a death metal band just out of ease for those people who have never heard of us because we fit more easily into this category. Regarding what we hope those listening should feel….metal, and a love for it!

Maelstrom: I was very impressed with the tightness and skill levels of all the band members. How long have you all been playing, both individually and as a band? What are your musical backgrounds?

Dave: Thanks very much for you complement!! We have all been playing our in instruments for over 7 years each. We are still young - the oldest member is 21, so we all started young. I got my first kit when I was 13 and Joe got his first guitar when he was 9. Cam (bass) started when he was about 11 I think. Matthew was about 13 when he started to sing. We have all had music lessons at some point…some of us more than others though. We started playing as Psycroptic in April of 1999. Prior to that me and Joe played an a black metal band, and Cam and Joe also played together in a band at school. Since Joe and I live in the same house (we are brothers) we try to practice as much as possible with Psycroptic…maybe up to 5 or 6 times a week.

Maelstrom: What are your musical influences?

Dave: In a simple answer - metal!! We love all styles of metal and take inspiration from everywhere. We all have our different "preferred" styles though - I'm into stuff like Nile, Hate Eternal, Angelcorpse, Immortal, Emperor, etc….Joe loves Iced Earth, Nevermore, Yattering, etc….Cam likes Opeth, Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, etc…Matthew listens to Dying Fetus, The Beatles, Cradle of Filth, Jeff Buckley…..we like a wide Varity of stuff. We also like to listen to great musicians to get inspiration - stuff like The Dave Weckl Band, On the Virg (Virgil Donati's band) and Dream Theater.

Maelstrom: What does "Psycroptic" mean?

Dave: Nothing at all….we couldn't come up with a name, so one of Matthew's friends (who's not even into metal) just said, "I could come up with a band name for a metal band, is fucken easy!" and Matthew was like, "yeah, sure" so this guy just said "Psycroptic….there you go." It stuck. Simple as that.

Maelstrom: I am intrigued by some of the lyrics in your songs. Third song, "Condemned by Discontent," seems to be some sort of parable about society. Is this what it was intended as? Could you please tell us about what that song is about?

Dave: Well, Matthew writes all the lyrics, so I'm not too sure exactly what his ideas behind the song were…but from what he's explained to me it is a slight reference to society - about greed and self advancement….but its also a fictional story that Matthew has written. I think it was set back in Egyptian times….or something like that. He likes to keep the lyrics varied and different to keep his, and those reading the lyrics, up.

Maelstrom: The first song, "Carnival of Vulgarity," makes references to evil clowns. I have met a surprisingly large amount of people who find clowns very frightening. Do you feel the same way, or are the clowns in the song used as metaphors?

Dave: Haha, no we're not scared of Clowns (well, not much anyway). That song is about being trapped in a dream that you can never escape from….a dream about a carnival in hell (or a place like that) that goes on forever. I think Matthew used the clowns as both characters in the story, and as metaphors for the way the human race runs it self. People should just draw their own opinions about the lyrics, and form their own imagery….its more fun that way, because perception is different for everyone.

Maelstrom: The title track of your album strikes me as a mix of Greek Mythology (especially Charon, the boatman of the River Styx) and H.P. Lovecraft, with a little death metal flavor thrown in. What inspires you lyrically?

Dave: I think lyrically Matthew is inspired by lots of Sci-Fi and fantasy stuff…for example, at the time we were recording the CD he was addicted to "Planet of the Apes" and was hiring out all the movies. Stew (they guy who recorded us) and he were sitting there talking about the movie all the time, and what they thought scenes of it meant….but, yeah, Matthew watches heaps of movies and reads a few fantasy books now and then. He's got lots of ideas floating around in his head….he's already got about 20 possible song titles/themes in the making at the moment.

Maelstrom: Unfortunately, the only image the average American has of Tasmania is of a cartoon character (Taz, the Tasmanian Devil). Please tell us about the place you live. How difficult or easy was it to start a death metal band?

Dave: Haha, yeah, Taz….The Tasmanian Devil actually exists - it's a vicious animal, about the size of an small to average sized dog. You don't see them too much, but they have a cool growl - sort of a black metallish screech/growl thing. Very endangered species. But enough of that. Tasmania (for those who don't know) is Australia's most southern state….well, it's the little triangular island at the bottom. The population is quite small (about 430, 000 people) and it is a fairly agricultural industry based place. Very scenic - not at all like the imagery most people have of Australia….its quite a cold place. More of a European type climate, nice in summer time and snow on the Mountains in winter. As far as starting the band, it was quite easy because we all knew each other and had a similar taste in music. Since we live in a small city, we know just about all the people who listen to metal and we're all friends. Starting the band was easy, but getting our name out to the rest of the world is proving to be much harder (haha).  Australia is isolated enough as it is, but we live in the most isolated state so it makes things harder. At the moment, we cannot really play gigs in our city (Hobart) because no venues will put our music on. Apart from that, Tassie is a great place.

Maelstrom: How far do you hope to take Psycroptic? What can we expect from you in the future?

Dave: We just want to get our music out to those who can appreciate it. We would like to get our name known - not for "fame" or shit like that…more from an inspirational point of view. Knowing that people are listening to you music from all around the world - that sort of thing. In future you can expect a similar style, but with more of our own sound. The new songs we have are faster, a little more technical and darker (well, that's what our friends have told us). We hopefully will sign to a label at some point (if we get an offer!!), so it makes recording and promotion much easier, which would be great. We'll see what happens….

Maelstrom: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. If you have any last words, please share them with us.

Dave: Thanks again for the interview Roberto - it was cool. For anyone interested in Psycroptic, you can check out our sounds at our website at http://www.geocities.com/psycroptic or email us atpsycroptic@hotmail.com.

Our debut 9 song CD, The Isle of Disenchantment, is available for $10US or $15Australian (postpaid) from us at 70 Lochner st, West Hobart, 7000 Tasmania, Australia. Ok, that's about it, thanks again and stay metal.

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review by: Roberto Martinelli

"Straight Up Comedy Grind," the tenth track on this wacky, wacky album by Chicago's 7000 Dying Rats aptly describes what you'll get by listening to this album.

A synopsis of the first four songs will give you a good window in what you can expect. The album starts off with a cheesy, creepy clip that features spooky, apocalyptic spoken word about rats. The clip segues into ripping grind. Just when you think you're getting the picture to what this album is all about, the action breaks, and you're presented with the shitty, dancy number "Strippers on Ecstasy." "A Rat's Ass (Judas Priestly)" continues the goofiness with alternating crust, disco, and amusingly stupid sound clips (from what I think is "The Graduate") that have been blatantly altered.

Yup, this album is really fuckin' stupid, but really enjoyable. Technically, the grind parts are top-notch, thanks in part to the drumming of Hatewave's (reviewed in issue #2) Weasel Walter. What makes this album super fun are the ridiculous transitions from hammering crust to catchy, lame ass disco shit, and all sorts of other off the wall stuff.

The Sound of No Hands Clapping will definitely appeal to the fuck-it-all, random, be cool being stupid, yet at the same time not-care-if-anyone-notices part of you. Put your critically thinking brain away and you'll get a bunch of quality laughs out of this latest addition from the never disappointing tUMULt label.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

It took a bit longer than Ares promised (please see the interview from issue #2), but the MCD Burning the Shroud finally made it. Well, it's a mini-CD, and it's not. Half of it is live tracks, but the album is 52 minutes long.

The first song is off of the upcoming album, Ascension of Terror. As Ares said, it's a bit more thrash than the material on the band's most recent album, Shadows of Old. Mind you, don't be expecting to be reminded of Destruction or Sodom. The song is pretty close in style to Shadows of Old's ripping dark/death metal, but is less technical and features fewer rhythm changes. For long-time Aeturnus fans who also liked Shadows of Old, it still totally sounds like the band we love.

Track 2, "Midnatt Storm", will begin to remind you of what really made you fall in love with Aeturnus (I'm thinking of the first two full-length albums), as the song opens with a piano piece. The remainder of "Midnatt Storm" has some piano bits and Nordic melodies that will make you feel nostalgic for the band's finest hour, And So the Night Became.... Quite unlike Aeturnus, "Midnatt Storm" wraps rather abruptly and prematurely, but how much can one really expect from a B-side?

Track 3 is a re-recording of "Raven and Blood," originally found on the band's first MCD, Dark Sorcery. It's identical musically, but with much clearer production. I kind of prefer the original vocals, as they sound more obscure and bodiless.

The next four tracks are excellent live cuts, with each of Aeturnus' three full-length albums being represented. The last three songs are re-released from the band's 7" picture disk/bonus track from the re-release of Dark Sorcery. If you have the special edition 2CD version of And So the Night Became…, you already have these tracks. The first of the three is an alternate version of the Shadows of Old song "Dark Rage," but with the pre-drum trigger (and better) production. The last two of the three are in the band's early, slower and heavier style.

This MCD is a very welcome addition to the discography of this sadly under-appreciated band, but will best be enjoyed by longtime fans. Those unfamiliar with the band are strongly recommended to start with And So the Night Became…

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This picture disk presents you with one song from each band. Antaeus bring us another piece of black metal. The band sounds tighter than it did on its Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan album (reviewed in issue #1), but the material has lost some of its blurry, eerie feel. Instead, Reverse Voices of the Dead has a strong punk vibe to it, as represented by the song's opening riff. The sound becomes more black metal as the guitars become a little more messy and amorphous, and the drummer does that cluster of hits on the ride cymbal pattern that is such a signature of black metal. Reverse Voices of the Dead is much less of a blurted, sloppy blast beat laden affair. High black metal vocals are still used primarily here, with some low growls mixed in, but now, they are used simultaneously. There seem to be some effects on the voice this time around, and, again, it doesn't sound as obscure and underworld as the full length album's vox do.

Devil Eyes is a track of filthy black rock. The rocky beat and single, simple riff is constant throughout, and is fronted by some very sordid sounding vocals. Just what you'd expect from Necrophagia. And, what would this band be without a sick sound sample to kick off the song?

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This primarily one-man project (a second member provides some support on one song) from the United States present a four-track 7" of interestingly minimal black metal. While the riffs are extremely simple, the abyss-like production makes this EP a worthy listen.

The high, raspy vocals sound eerily bodiless and lost (in a good way), greatly complementing the music. While the drums on Anu are from a machine, this is really an afterthought as their main role is to provide atmosphere to the alienating, sinister sound is suitably accomplished. This neat little piece of vinyl is limited to 200 copies.

review by: Matt Smith

I had never heard Damnation before I was asked to review this CD, but they are now one of my favorite death metal bands. They are a lot easier to swallow than a lot of the stuff out there, but they aren't any less edgy than the rest.

Damnation reminds me a lot of the Scandinavian black metal I'm used to - Impaled Nazarene, Marduk, etc.. The guitars are harsh, the drums are fast, and the vocals are scratchy. I would expect no less from a relatively obscure metal band.

For added effect, they include a pretty good dark ambient track. It sounds absolutely evil. It is a good break from the rest of the piercing sounds of the CD.

Some of the guitar parts sound exactly alike and it gets a little tiring after awhile, but Damnation is a great example of classic death metal. Prototypical, almost. Like all extreme underground metal, it's an acquired taste. It might not be for everyone, but once you've listened to it a bit I'm sure you'll learn to like it.

review by: Matt Smith

Even the name suggests classic death metal.  Decapitated is another great Polish band from, uh, Poland (only the second one I've ever heard - I've got to start taking more of an interest in the country). 

The vocals are like a deep undercurrent to some pretty fast, bad-ass metal.  This is good, since a lot of bands have non-sensical growling that almost drowns out the rest of the music.  Here the non-sensical growling blends well, acting like another instrument.  Plus, almost every song has an awesome instrumental intro that always leads into something even my grandma could headbang to.  I mean, this is some hard-rockin' shit. 

On track 8, they experiment with a black-metal-style synthesized orchestra that sounds especially dark.  It acts as a cool introduction into the last song, which has some classic-sounding guitar solos. 

The surprising thing about this album (other than its quality) is that Decapitated's average age is only 17.  I expect some more great stuff from this band as time goes by.  This album is a metal masterpiece.  I wouldn't expect any less from an album produced by Vader's Peter Wiczwarek.

review by: ~Vargscarr~

It's a sad, sad day for Black Metal when Dimmu Borgir bring out an album that's better than a Mayhem one. Has Hell frozen over? Maybe. Although that's admittedly more likely due to the efforts of Immortal than this album.

But however they've done it, Dimmu Borgir have brought out an recording of outstanding musical prowess. I've never exactly *hated* previous Borgir efforts, but they never did much for me either. Too weak in the guitar, too soft in the drum and too synthy by far. In short too mainstream-goth, just like Cradle of Filth. And yet it is the addition of ex-Filth drummer Nick Barker that seems to have been one of the key elements leading to this album's excellence.

This album is Dimmu Borgir's first truly *heavy* album - the drum sound is fantastic; by far the best percussion Barker has ever recorded in terms of technical precision, and by far the best on any Borgir album. In fact the overall production is excellent, although I would perhaps have liked a slightly grittier guitar sound; and the synths are nicely mixed in behind the other instruments so they don't have that weakening effect they might otherwise have done if given a more prominent place in the mix. Best of all, the synths aren't overused - in fact the two instrumental tracks on the album are wonderful compositions utilizing the talents of the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra; so we're treated to the rich, beautiful sound of *real* string instruments rather than the flat, false sound of synthesized violins/chellos etc.

The album also takes a leaf out of Immortal's book regarding the composition of the songs: the use of more trad Heavy Metal riffs as opposed to straight Black Metal riffing, which lends the album a welcome 'back to basics' feel - seemingly to be what Dimmu Borgir needed to ditch the soft end sound they'd developed over previous albums. There are a few notable guitar parts that really stick in your head too, which is always a plus point for me on any album.

However, on track 6 the foul, pestilential beast of New Wave Black Metal rears its technoid head - the song is the worst kind of industrial sampled aural feces vomiting forth from the speakers: distorted vocals accompanied by dance-friendly percussion and guitar. The irony of the lyric "I am pure, I am true" on this particular song won't be lost on many...Fortunately it's easily skippable - the New Wave falseness doesn't flow through the entire album like the vast tape worm that infected the recent Mayhem effort.

The album ends with a cover of a Dee Snyder track, "Burn in Hell," which the band have done an outstanding job of updating; and the use of clean and dirty vocals make it a stand out track on the album as opposed to a mere novelty. Great stuff, and definitely worth a listen if you (like me) had written off Dimmu Borgir as being simply too weak to make anything like this.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

From the largely unknown metal depths of Lithuania comes this three-man project's Miglose… Dissimulation delivers slow, dark black metal.

Without knowing anything about Lithuanian folk music, I would guess that there are traditional music influences in Dissimulation's material, as some of the riffs have those unmistakable signatures that signal "folk music influence!"

The playing and recording sound very amateur, but not of the kind that makes you write the album off as shit. On the contrary, Dissimulation manages to make their less than perfect technique appealing on a limited level. While none of the material is anything really to take note of, the album is a decent effort.

Miglose… features five songs, one of which is an instrumental, and a good misty intro to kick the album off. The vocals are also respectable, as singer/bassist Venemous uses a gruff beer-swillin' style that still fits in the category of black metal. It is only when Venemous tries to do anything even approaching vocal melody that things get hairy.

The strangest thing about this 7" is that it's supposed to be played at 33rpm. Unless the 45rpm/33rpm button on my turntable got inverted somehow while I was sleeping, playing this 7" at 45 makes you sense that something's amiss when you notice the vocals have that tell-tale Alvin and the Chipmunks effect to them. It's too bad, too, cause the record actually sounds cooler at the faster speed: the riffs sound folkier, and the drumming is more cold. Well, there's nothing to stop you from playing it at 45 and pretending not to notice anything peculiar.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Divine Empire's first album, Redemption, has avoided the merciless hand of the power that every now and then goes over my collection in order to weed out the undesirables, which really play a better role as trade fodder rather than dust collector. Redemption has always been treacherously close to getting the axe, but has stuck around solely due to the amazing performance of drummer Derek Roddy.

Unfortunately, Roddy is not present on the new album, being replaced by a session drummer. What this leaves us is an album of solidly average Florida-style death metal. The pace isn't as fast as on the first disk, but still has some speedy parts. The big detriment is that by halfway through the second song, you already know what the entire rest of the album is going to sound like.

J.P. Soars and Jason Blachowitz are still in the band, and are still using the dual vocal delivery, which is pretty good. However, the riffs are totally unexciting. The new drummer can hold his own, but has nowhere near the talent and skill as Roddy does.

To make matters worse, Divine Empire opted not to go with the same crisp and punchy drum production as on the first album. Now the drums sound a bit forgotten.

The bland uniformity of the material and production, added to the inclusion of a session member in this three-man band, gives the album a strong feeling of having been rushed. Not totally crap, but not worth your money, either.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This is one of the finest death metal albums I think I've ever heard. Ok, it's not dark, but the genius blend of technical wizardry and catchy song structures make it a gem.

Dying Fetus' style is heavily rooted in rhythm-based riffs, and has a bit of the same musical energy that Black music does (I'm not talking about metal, but rather hip-hop). The result is songs that make you want to stomp around a good deal of the time. That is, until the wicked blast beats kick in. Unbelievable. Kevin Talley is one of the top 5 drummers in death metal.

What makes the whole experience even more mind-blowing is the fabulous production. This new album makes Dying Fetus' last album, Killing on Adrenaline, look sick in comparison, greatly in part to the sound. Face it, Killing on Adrenaline's production left a lot of room for improvement.

The new album is a lot like the previous one, but features more of the totally whacked-out, spastically mind-blowing guitar riffs. Dying Fetus have taken their brand of guitar technicality to a new level. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it. No hesitation, get this.

review by: Steppenvvolf

Yes, this band's called Eminenz, not Eminem. Bad choice in times of chart-breaking Eminem. But after listening into the album The Blackest Dimension, the title of which is obviously not related to its blueish cover, one realizes that this mishap is only the tip of the iceberg.

The first track starts off with some chords, immediately followed by a double bass supported hissing, bellowing voice desperately attempting to follow the line of a two-chord riff. That's "Exorials Return." By the time the second track, "Voices," begins, you're wishing for the pitch of the voice to change - it won't for the whole CD. Interrupted by slow parts that don't fit in, some growls, a second singer and a hardly audible but ever-present early 80's video console organ sound, the song drags on.

"Diabolical Majesty" doesn't really come to create any atmosphere either. Some spherical tunes of a piano introduction carrying over to a slowly picked, slightly detuned guitar part give the setting for another bore and finally, "Darkness Comes Over Us" with Blind Guardian like "ooohooohooohoo" choirs in the background, clearly out of tune, if distinguishable from the drum background. Worse even, some out of place major chords are thrown into the piece.

Eminenz' CD is a typical example of a band that doesn't know where to make a point and find its niche in terms of style. Once more it proves that arbitrarily mixing elements from thrash metal over black metal to Blind Guardian-style "elves and wizards" metal is not guaranteed to yield a personal style. Add to that the occasionally occuring technical problems of this production, and you understand why their name is so well chosen: It's a below-average blend of everything.

review by: Matt Smith

I had mixed feelings about this album.  It starts with some interesting synthesized industrial sounds that lead into the first song, and the first couple of tracks I really enjoyed.  The vocals sound absolutely demonic and the instruments are solid. 

It deteriorates, however, in the third track where the vocalist sounds like he should be a skinny guy in a punk band.  Adolescent-sounding yells don't compliment the rest of it very well. 

Anyway, track four picks back up with a cool-sounding chorus of screams in the first part and some better vocals in the rest.  The fourth song has a strange spoken-word track (probably the punk-sounding guy) layed over it.  Plus it's in German, so I couldn't even enjoy the content.  It just sounds nasal and whiny.  It doesn't go with the music at all, either, so it just sounds like a mess. 

The guitars and bass are about average as far as skill and complexity go, and the drummer has proven that he can work a double bass pedal.  In fact, the double bass is pretty much continuous throughout the whole album.  There isn't much thought put into rhythmic content, though there is some good stuff in the second track. 

I'm not crazy about this album, but I could see other people liking it a lot.  I suppose I'm going to tell you to give it a listen before you dismiss it, but it sounds mediocre to me.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

From tUMULt comes another album to take note of. Guapo can best be described as playing some sort of jazz fusion. The first few tracks in particular have a notable Middle Eastern quality to them. The style changes quite a bit on track 5, "Ten Years of Heisei," where the production becomes very bassy and raw, and on the last track, "El Topo," where the quintet explore a more ambient, noisy style that incorporates electronics.

Guapo employs three different kinds of saxophones and a minimoog, (instead of a keyboard. Hurrah!) along with more common instruments like guitar, bass, and drums. There are no vocals in Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.

While the material on the album possesses curiously bizarre energy to it, the material, except track 5, is not abrasive. What really makes this album worthy of your money is the stunning quality of the musicianship, and the super cool drum solo on track 3.

This recommended album's fast, catchy, and interesting jazz is a treat to listen to, and a very welcome palate cleanser between courses of the evil and bombast that is mostly covered in this zine.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I got this album on the recommendation from an acquaintance that it would be "f'ing fast, f'ing brutal." Unfortunately, it is neither. What Gurkkhas does present is an album of semi-technical death metal that is devoid of any melodies or hooks.

Engraved in Blood, Flesh and Souls reminds at times of Gorguts' Obscura, in that they tend to try to incorporate some unusual technical parts. Unfortunately, the playing on this album is too sloppy for the band to effectively pull any technicality off.

Technical death, being what it is, a genre that does not appeal to the aesthetic ear, rather to the mathematical one, requires a high level of precision to be pulled off effectively. There is almost no leeway in terms of sloppiness that can be allowed. While Gurkkhas' musicianship is not atrocious, they definitely aren't tight enough yet to achieve their goals in this unforgiving style just yet.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The Bastard is one of those albums that, when you hear it, immediately makes you realize that you're listening to something unique.

Stylistically, the album can mainly be considered a heavy metal opera. The band's main gun is the twin guitar harmony. If you're familiar with The Lord Weird Slough Feg, you'll know what kind of harmonies are on this album, although the music on this album is less vigorous and even "happy" than that of the aforementioned band, being instead melancholy and reflecting the overall misanthropy of the story.

It is certainly no coincidence that Hammers of Misfortune is the baby of Slough Feg's second guitarist, John Cobbett. The inclusion of Mike Scalzi (Slough Feg's founder and leader) on clean male vocals and guitar make the comparison to San Francisco's essential Celtically inspired metal band.

The sound of the album is not straight up heavy metal by any means, as some black metal beats and guitar parts surface here and there. Added to this are some acoustic songs that, unlike many metal albums that feature such acoustic breaks, don't seem foreign to the rest of the songs. The material on The Bastard all flows together excellently.

The general mission of this album is to tell a story about the bastard son of a king, who has been raised by forest spirits. The man seeks to take the throne from his estranged father. The Bastard is aided by a dragon, whose part is sung by Janice Tanaka. Three of the members of this four piece do vocals, with the only harsh ones being done by John Cobbett, the voice of the King.

As the main focus of the album is to present a flowing piece of work, the individual tracks themselves aren't set up primarily to be stand alone songs. Perhaps one result of this is the total absence of solos of any kind (there are many instrumental parts, however).

The albums only weak point of any magnitude are the harsh vocals, which, matched with the coherency of the lyrics and the way they are phrased, end up sounding a little corny at times. This is really an afterthought when considering the album's multitude of strong points, the not least of which is an eminently compelling piece of work. When you hear it, you'll want to smack yourself on the forehead and wonder why no one had thought of doing this before.

The whole package is made even more attractive by the gorgeous digipak in which the CD comes, decorated with woodcut illustrations that were commissioned expressly for the album. This will definitely be a fine addition to your collection.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This Malevolent Creation side project explores more of a grindcore vein, while still remaining firmly rooted in the death metal world. The Only Law is Survival will be welcomed by those who like to be hit hard over the head by their music: the material is pummeling and fast.

What it's not, is varied. Some of the songs do stand out to some degree, but chances are you're not going to put it in your player after several listens and cut right to track 7, for example.

Certainly the musicianship cannot be reproached. This holds especially true for the drumming of Dave Culross, the long-time death metal drum god. I'm surprised Seiko hasn't sponsored him yet, cause you can set time to this guy. In fact, he's so perfect, that sometimes I wonder if it's too perfect, as his style begins to sound very cold and mechanical.

This Hateplow album is a good one, as long as you don't pay too much attention to the extreme lowbrow lyrics and don't mind little variety in the songs.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This seven-member Latvian band plays what best can be described as a mix of black and power metal. While the style of the music itself is black metal, the power metal comparison is due to the band's obsession of medieval fantasy themes. The lyrics are cheesy, clichéd, and nonsensical, but are presented in all seriousness. The absence of overtly evil themes is noticeable in the way the music sounds; it's still black metal, but it's emotionally lighter.

Structurally, Heresiarh uses a lot of the harmonic, simple, ethereal guitar melodies that are present in so much of the black metal that fans love. Keyboards are present, as are two female singers, credited with performing "high elven chants." It's funny and kind of refreshing in its own way to see a couple of chicks helping out in a D&D nerd black metal band.

The biggest strike against the album is the atrocious production. Unfortunately, this isn't the same kind of so-called necro sound that defines so much of black metal. Rather, Heresiarh sound like they're playing underwater. Mythical Beasts and Mediaeval Warfare suffers a great deal from the same type of malady that the Yngwie Malmsteen War to End All Wars album that's reviewed in this issue does. If you get past the production, you'll find that this album has some decent material to offer, if nothing spectacular, and can be a fair dose of corny fun if you're in the mood for it.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Hypnos is the spin-off band that features two departed members of Krabathor. In Blood We Trust offers up some solid, non-technical death metal with excellent, punchy production. This album must also hold the record for most "Evil Dead" series sound clip intros, with at least four.

The music on In Blood We Trust is basically of the same style as Hypnos' EP, which was released about eight months before this one. Three of the songs that appeared on the EP are again on the LP. However, not only is the production slicker, but the noisy, chromatic solos have been replaced with much tastier ones.

While this is not a top-notch album, the death metal present here is the kind you can kick back and enjoy, really taking notice when a nice solo comes along.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Jungle Rot has officially run out of ideas. Their first album, Skin the Living, was an enjoyable one. Their second record, Slaughter the Weak, while featuring their best song, "Left for Dead," was where the band began to exhaust what their chunky, mid-paced death metal could offer.

Overall, Dead and Buried sounds like a very tired version of the band's previous album. Every song sticks to the formula of being chunky and heavy, never straying from the pattern that Jungle Rot has boxed itself into. The tediously simple tracks feature nary an inspired riff or refreshing change from the last track. The lyrics are predictably of the "bash your skull, cut off your ears" variety. The songs on Dead and Buried come and go, and none of them stay with you remotely enough to make you want to play the album again.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Leviathan is a one-man black metal project from San Francisco based Wrest, who composes and plays everything in his apartment, and records it all on a four-track. The result is fantastic.

For a genre where often times the more obscure or crappy, the better, there is definite black metal underground appeal in a man who unassumingly puts out tapes as a hobby and entirely by himself. By true black metal quality standards Leviathan's material is perfect: low-fi, but in a way that's satisfying.

Well, Misanthropic Necro Blasphemy in particular is perhaps a little too lo-fi, as you'll have to turn your volume knob way up to hear it. Some of the material on this album has speedy guitars ala Immortal, held up by fast Darkthrone-esque beats. However, the pace that Wrest relies on most, and seems to be naturally comfortable with is a mid-tempo, heavy, brooding one.

The vocals that are lain on top of the music are a masterpiece of bodiless harshness. Wrest employs a well-chosen vocal effect that gives his voice an even more ethereally raspy quality.

The material on Leviathan is fairly simple without being minimal, and has the supreme characteristic of sounding evilly obscure, like great black metal should. Give Leviathan a shot, it'll only cost you a few bucks, and you'll be supporting a true underground musician.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Wrest's one-man black metal project's sixth total release offers another compilation of excellent black metal. The material on Shadow of No Light is slower and thicker with atmosphere than Misanthropic Necro Blasphemy.

Like the fourth (overall) Leviathan album reviewed above, Shadow of No Light was entirely recorded in Wrest's apartment on a four track. Like Misanthropic Necro Blasphemy, this factor will make the material sound especially satisfying to black metal purists. In fact, the recording on this album turned out better than it did on the first one, so you won't have to crank up the volume on your stereo to properly hear the songs.

Wrest employs an interesting vocal effect on this tape. The result is a slightly industrial one that strongly reminds of Burzum's Filosofem, but sometimes delving very low, and producing a drippy, croaking sound. This last particular effect kicks in when the music takes on its more ambient tones. The result sounds great. The vocal effect is used on all but the title track, where the vocals at the beginning are presented in an over-the-top yet never-the-less chilling, cavernous bellow.

As the black metal here is on the slow side, there very few blast beats. Wrest continues to present us with tasty drumming and interesting riffs. One song is a full on Celtic Frost tribute. The next song features a riff that strongly reminds of a section on the opening song of Enslaved's Eld, "793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)."

Heavy, while being very black; introspectively morbid, while having a rocking edge, Shadow of No Light is a black metal album worth getting.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I haven't heard every album that Yngwie Malmsteen has put out, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and proclaim this one his best.

If you know anything about Yngwie albums, you'll know to expect obscenely talented guitar playing, as Malmsteen blazes through classical scale after classical scale, making your jaw drop every time. To expound on how technically mesmerizing the guitar playing is on this album would be a foregone conclusion, so, suffice to say it's all that and actually even better.

However, while some of his actual songs on his early albums were a little lacking, Yngwie, who has total control over everything in his band, has written some excellent tunes.

After the invigorating instrumental intro "Blitzkreig," the album showcases it's first song, "Leonardo." It is here that the mind-blowing vocals of Mark Boals are pushed to their technically highest limit, as the singer is made to reach for his highest highs. Boals vocals, along with Malmsteen's guitar playing, are what most apparently make this album the essential one that it is.

However, upon closer inspection, the much less flashy, but top-notch talents of the keyboardist, drummer, and bass player, not to mention the perfect production really tie up the less obvious aspects of the album, making it one that you will want to play again and again.

At some points Yngwie uses some blues scales, like on "Playing with Fire" and "Blue". At least three of the tunes, "Daemon Dance," "Hangar 18, Area 51," and "Legion of the Damned" make a lot of use of that beat that is so commonly found in European power metal.

"Wield My Sword" is an enjoyable piece of 100% metal cheese, whose main theme is "dying with my sword in my hand," and features lyrics such as "there's strength in my sword, Fall into my arms and I'll take you back."

The only song that's anything of a dud is the penultimate one, "Voodoo Nights," which really doesn't go anywhere. "Asylum", the three-track instrumental that wraps the album up, has some extremely good moments, but ends somewhat in an unsatisfying manner. I also have a feeling on this track that Yngwie is continuing his reprehensible habit of ripping off sections of famous classical compositions and then giving himself the credit for writing them. Well, part of loving Yngwie is loving to hate him, I guess. What I, for one, am most thankful for is the absence of any glam songs on the album. Highly recommended.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Whoops. It seems Yngwie Malmsteen has bit off more than he can chew on this one. Yngwie, infamous for embodying the egomaniacal, narcissistic rock star stereotype, has taken his obsessive control impulses past being the only one to go anywhere near any instrument that has strings on it, to being in total control of the production board. Big mistake.

Perhaps I'm being a little too critical, but all you have to do is open up the booklet that comes with War to End All Wars and take a look at the smorgasbord of photos that feature Yngwie: Yngwie in sunglasses with his shirt open, Yngwie with his son, Yngwie in his pool room, Yngwie in a suit of armor, etc…, and no pictures of anyone else in the band, (not that there has ever been any pictures of any one else in the band on any Yngwie albums I've seen), plus the obvious way in which Yngwie's credits are clearly separate from the other band members' ones, make it clear that if anything is wrong with the album, it's all Yngwie's fault.

Although some of the songs themselves are real duds, the main problem is indeed the production. To borrow one of ~Vargscarr~'s famous sayings, it sounds like the band is playing under a giant sponge. You know how some songs feature an intro in mono, muffled and coming out of one speaker on purpose? Then, after 30 seconds or so, the song kicks you in the gut in full, clear stereo? Well, a lot of the songs on this album sound like the intro part previously described. To put a finger on it, the bass is very big and prominent. (On one song in particular, the bass seems to actually replace the guitar as the main stringed instrument.) Certainly all involved in the songs suffer because of this.

Virtuoso singer Mark Boals criticism of Yngwie's production caused his most recent expulsion from the band. It doesn't matter that Boals was right. However, the production on these same horribly produced songs suddenly become very clear when? I'll let you guess…when the guitar solo comes around. It's a dramatic difference.

Shitty production notwithstanding, there are some good tracks on the album. "The Wizard," the sappy ballad "The Miracle of Life," "Wild One" and the instrumental tracks 6 and 9 are enjoyable listens, and the production seems to be better on these, too. Unfortunately , the other songs, like the redundant "Tarot," and the glammy "Bad Reputation," to name only two, are very skippable.

Oh, the "bonus track," "Black Sheep of the Family," is a reggae song, sung by what we suspect is Yngwie himself. For Yngwie fans, War to End All Wars is worth a listen at least. Buying it full-price is certainly not recommended, nor is it recommended to those who are not familiar with what the band Yngwie Malmsteen can offer. A shame that this effort was largely wasted due to the poor production.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Memorial is so far the best all-around black metal album to come out on fledgling Baphomet Records. This Dutch black metal band delivers a 29 minute album of material that can be compared to Ulver's raw material and Darkthrone's more noted, melodic albums. While Memorial's style is reminiscent of the two aforementioned seminal Norwegian bands, the material does not sound half ripped off and half original.

The production is thin but biting. The drummer keeps up a mind-blowingly frantic pace on the bass drums throughout much of the black metal parts of the album, but you have to pay attention to hear it due to the lo-fi nature of the recording.

The experience is made even more searing by the dry-throat rasping of the vocals. These vocals are sometimes produced to a high banshee-like whoosh to accentuate the climax of the song. The result is very much akin to everyone's favorite scratching nails on a blackboard.

While Enter my Megaron is undoubtedly a black metal album, there is a certain death metal element to the riffs and the album's attitude. It is indispensable to note the two brooding, beautiful acoustic guitar tracks that are present on the album, and really do a great job in punctuating the black metal material. While this album is a little short, and kind of looks like a computer program CD, it is worthy of your money if stirring, raw and melodic black metal is your thing.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This young four-piece from Tasmania, Australia has released a fine album of technical death metal. It's hard to believe that the members of Psycroptic are only around 20 years of age, and that The Isle of Disenchantment is a self-produced release, cause it sounds fucking great.

The skills of the musicians are already at a very high level. As drummer Dave explains in the interview in this issue, this is probably thanks to the Australian government, which gives grants to young bands like Psycroptic to improve and record.

Another thing that is quite noteworthy about The Isle of Disenchantment is that it doesn't sound at all like a rip off of any other band. The un-catchiness of technical death makes bands in the genre especially susceptible to the "sounds just like the last band I heard" syndrome, but Psycroptic stands out somehow.

It's apparent that the band is trying to experiment while staying well within what death metal enthusiasts will accept. The vocalist uses an interesting variety of styles and deliveries, sounding kind of like a multi-track except it's all on one track. There are some very unsual lyrics to be found on the album as well, like on the song "Condemned by Discontent." This is coming from a guy who almost never reads his albums' lyric sheets.

Despite its good points, The Isle of Disenchantment is not an album that you can just put on and be effortlessly blown away by. This album must receive your full attention for you to notice its qualities. The reason for this lies partially in that although the band has a solid sound, Psycroptic doesn't do a lot to make individual tracks stand out. The result is a very consistent album that shows how competent and promising this band is, but still lacks the arrangements or hook to make you want to postpone listening to the next track for a bit in order to listen to the one you just heard again.

It would certainly be unfair criticism to fault this developing band for not having released a perfect album so soon in their career. Rather, what Psycroptic have already got going for them on this album should be hopefully just the beginning of things to come.

review by: Roberto Maritnelli

So, here we have it, the much awaited semi-debut of Thorns. For those of you who don't know, Thorns was one of the original Norwegian black metal bands. The band's leader, Snorre Ruch, is attributed to having invented the black metal guitar picking style. Snorre had been locked up in jail for a while, due to the fact that he was involved with Varg Vikerenes in the murder of black metal figure Euronymous.

So now, Snorre's out. And the black metal world is smiling broadly with anticipation. It turns out that the new Thorns album is suffering from the same kind of over-hype that the new Star Wars had. Thorns sounds a lot like Satyricon's Rebel Extravaganza: it's not really black metal, but it fits best into that category. Certainly, Satyr of Satyricon's vocals make the similarities all the more strong. Aldrahn of Dodheimsgard also adds some vocal work on the album.

Along with Hellhammer on drums, it is fitting to have three of the biggest players in the current Norwegian black metal scene that produces not really black metal; rather, putting out black metal tinged music with varying degrees of real or implied electronic music elements. While this isn't a techno cross over, the presence of electronic music, be it presented in a cold way, may displease staunch raw black metal devotees.

Speaking of Hellhammer, the drumming on Thorns is unreal. No, really. I don't think it's real. There's no way anyone can play bass drums that fast, unless there's some new trigger technology I'm not aware of. No doubt there has been some drum machine supplementation on the album. A marching, military beat is used a few times to build some tension at the beginning of tracks.

While there are undoubtedly some good riffs on Thorns, unfortunately there are some pretty corny parts as well. Although I will intimate that I find Satyr's nouveau vocals to be pretty silly in themselves, his fairly coherent style is a bit of a detriment when lyrics such as "the planet's own cradle of worms, how can anyone ever triumph?"(like, how are people in San Francisco expected to triumph when the rents are so high?), and "playground deceit." I originally thought that last one was really something else and I just misunderstood, but, the second song on the album is called "World Playground Deceit." That happened to me once when I was in elementary school.

Musically, there are some dodgy parts (like on the first song) that remind of some bad 50s horror movie soundtrack effect, but spruced up. To his credit, Snorre Ruch is pushing black metal and is presenting some originality. However, whether what he is doing is necessarily a good thing for the style is a subject of debate. Certainly not a crap album, but, chances are you will be letdown to a good extent if you let yourself get swept up in the hype.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

As stated in the interview with Transgressor's Takashi Tanaka (issue 2), Recollected Limbs is a compilation of all the recordings that this important Japanese death metal band has done over its 11+ year career.

The first four tracks on this 72-minute album come from the band's demo, Twisting Brochus. Overall, these four selections are the strongest ones on the album, being excellent early 90s death metal. The sound on these tracks is very dark, heavy, and evil sounding, and the production quality is hardly what you would expect from a demo at all. The hard hitting, brooding death vibes are effectively broken by flurries of sick drumming. I hear a good bit of old Celtic Frost and old Sepultura influence, with a little early Cathedral (Forest of Equilibrium-era) flavor during the sludgy doom parts.

Track 5 is an old, but unreleased one. It's also good, but doesn't quite have the impact that the first four do. Also, it wanders a touch aimlessly. It is at this point in the album that Transgressor's weakness is revealed. The next three tracks (6-8) are taken from the band's first full album, Ether for Scapegoat. It was at this point that Transgressor was exploring more of a doom/death style. The strong points of these three tracks are the thick, doomy atmospheres that the band intersperses throughout the songs. (There is also a spoken word section that would make you think this band was from Norway. That sure doesn't sound like a Japanese accent to me!)

The individual parts of the songs in of themselves are quality, but unfortunately the arrangements are suspect. The songs are rather long (in the 6-8 minute range), wander a lot, and end curiously in a kind of "well, I guess that's it" fashion. The arrangements segue rather peculiarly, and seem unrelated at times; it's kind of like you want to break one song up into three smaller ones.

The production on the Ether for Scapegoat material is also quite bizarre. Transgressor employs two guitarists, one with a heavy tone, and one with a super crunchy one. On tracks 6-7, the heavy guitar entirely occupies speaker left, while the crunchy one occupies speaker right (on track 8, the guitars come out on both speakers). This could be an interesting idea, to have two distinct guitars coming from clearly separated sources. However, the problem is that the crunchy guitar is mixed much too high, and it sounds like a huge obnoxious thing that is crammed into a little space, pressed against a wall, trying to push through. Luckily, these three tracks are the only ones that feature this kind of production.

Track 9 is from a Japanese death metal comp. The material is above average, and less in a doom/death style.

Tracks 10-11 are from Transgressor's brutal death period. Track 10, "Altar," is an excellent and catchy piece of brutal death, well arranged and with unique and interesting vocals. Track 11, "Human Butchery," also has its moments, but suffers a bit from the wandering disease.

The last track, "Dripping in the Coffin," is a song made especially for Recollected Limbs. It is a return to the doom/death style, but has some very interesting progressive/experimental elements. While this track does wander also, the doom and death elements are melded in a strangely captivating way, and the song weaves some unusual and weird atmospheres.

Ironically, "Dripping in the Coffin" displays the worst overall production of any of the songs on Recollected Limbs. Not that this is necessarily bad, though, and in fact adds to the somewhat experimental feeling of the song.

Despite the criticisms of some of the arrangements, Recollected Limbs is a very enjoyable album, (clearly fronted by tracks 1-4 and 10) and offers a great look at this very underground and interesting Japanese band. This album comes especially recommended to death metal heads who like slower, more dark sounding material, and to those who are really into the early 90s sound. There's a lot to listen to and discover on this album, and you will come back to it many times. The art and layout are also really cool, by the way. Check this disk out.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Vader haven't been able to write an album that tops 33 minutes since their full-length debut in 1992. According to a fellow journalist, they barely had enough to go with to put out their quite short last album, Litany. Things seem to be getting worse.

While there are 10 tracks on Vader's latest release, Reign Forever World, you have a hard time considering it a new album. It's more like a 34-minute EP. Consider this: the first three songs are new. The next three are covers. Tracks 7-8 are live cuts. The final two tracks are conditionally new, assuming you didn't get the Japanese release of Litany, which already included those tracks.

So now, for the in-depth review: The new songs are nothing that will displease manic Vader fans. Still, they aren't "A" material. Sure, Vader devotees like myself will bounce up and down in excitement by merely having something new by this essential death metal band, and while the material is certainly good, it is in a class far below classics such as "Silent Empire," "Sothis," (oh, shit, why not just include the whole second album while we're at it), or Litany tracks like "Forwards to Die!" and "The One Made of Dreams."

The new tracks are a definite progression from what the band presented on Litany. Of course, "progression" is a term used relative to what Vader does, being simple, steamrolling death, with an oh-so unique flavor. The artificially pumped up drum sound that was especially present on Litany is still just as big here, but it sounds slightly tweaked, no longer sounding like the bass drums wandered in off a techno mix board.

While the riffs are still very Vader, and the vocals are stronger than ever, the songs have a more smooth, flowing feeling to them. Why? No more blast beats. Hmm. A bit strange by Vader standards, but when you hear the album, there's no chance you won't recognize the band.

The first cover is a very popular one, being Destruction's "Total Desaster." Vader pull it off well, having better chops than Destruction did at the time, but possessing much less of the original's character. Judas Priest's "Rapid Fire" is next. It's at this point that Vader's covering starts to wear thin, kind of the way Metallica's does on the God awful Garage album: the covers are all played with the same approach and tones as the original songs by the covering band are. The result ends up being pretty monotonous. Lastly is Mayhem's "Freezing Moon".

The two live tracks, "Breath of Centuries" and live favorite "Carnal," are totally what you would expect from this band, based on the sublime quality of their Live in Japan album. Finally, the windy and electronic ambient track "Red Dunes" precedes "Lord of the Desert," which really fits in nicely to the sound of the Litany album.

Vader fans should not hesitate to get Reign Forever World. Others are highly advised to start with the indispensable De Profundis.

review by: Matt Smith

This was one of the most excellent albums I've heard in a while. I haven't heard Yattering's first album, but I'll buy it if I ever find it.  Good, solid, growling vocals mixed well with some classic-sounding guitar riffs and a drummer who can really wail.  There are even a few good bass solos (track 8). 

Some songs sound a lot alike, but between them are changes that keep the album interesting.  The growling may be part of the problem here, since the vocalist keeps the rhythm only loosly while the instrumentalists have some very intricate patterns and time changes going on in the background. 

Some tracks have a second, almost echoed, screeching vocalist who compliments everything that's going on in a subtle way.  This is a well-calculated, well-produced album that I would recommend just about anyone to go out and have a listen to.  Yattering is probably the best thing to come out of Poland since that sausage they make.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This album caused me to have a bit of a roller coaster ride of feelings and opinions about it. Curiosity, disbelief, ridicule, interest, more ridicule, more interest, appreciation, and finally respect and admiration. This, folks, is, whether you like it or not, an undeniably unique album.

Ok, ok, so what is it? Well, I guess you could classify Za Frûmi as a dark ambient project. However, Za Frûmi avoid using any keyboards, those instruments that greatly ruin most of the dark ambient compositions that feature them. Instead, this Swedish group concentrates on a rich variety of acoustic instruments: woodwinds, flutes, lots of percussion (a great deal of it metallic), strings, and some stunning male and female choir work. As an instrumental piece of work, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh stands as an outstanding effort. However, we are still just scratching the surface of what this album is about.

Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh is a concept album, one that tells the tale of a band of Orcs. The band, led by its leader Uglakh, goes on a journey and has various adventures and experiences. The story culminates in the band battling against the vampire Ismael. The whole plot is carefully documented and explained in the booklet. Some of the plot can seem to be structured rather peculiarly, as the Orcs spend time doing some pretty corny things, like arguing over a toadstool, for example. But the kicker is this: the whole album is in Orc. Yes. What this ends up sounding like is a bunch of seemingly random guttural noises. According to the interview with Za Frûmi in this issue, someone invented a 5,000-word vocabulary Orc language. A look at the transcripted dialogue between the seven characters seems to validate that Orc is indeed a tool that could be developed for international espionage, for example. Luckily for the rest of us, a translation is also available, allowing us to read into passages such as this:

Uglakh: Stay calm. We are in Ismael's castle now.
Knish: Oh me oh my.
Golug: Quiet! Listen to Uglakh!
Kapul: There is a stairway over there.
Uglakh: We are coming.
Knish: Sneak and creep.
Kapul: I will run over there.
Knish: Is there a wolf over there?
Kapul: Yes, many.
Uglakh: Charge!…..

Whether you think it's really cheesy or brilliant (perhaps also cheesily brilliant or brilliantly cheesy?), this album is a must have on its uniqueness value alone. Oh, by the way, from what I've learned of the Orc language, Za Frûmi means "the spirits". An interesting 50 minutes of listening guaranteed.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The supergroup now known only as Zyklon is made up of two-thirds of Emperor's current lineup: Samoth (here known as "Zamoth") on guitar and bass, and Trym on drums. The third core member of the band is Destructhor, the guitarist of Myrkskog. (a third member associated with Emperor, Bard "Faust" Eithun, wrote the lyrics to all the songs, from prison, assumedly. It should also be noted that the harsh vocals are done by a non-core member, and that therea re a couple spoken parts by Garm, now going by Trickster G (doh!)) So, basically, you've got the synopsis of the album's sound right there.

World ov Worms sounds a great deal like Myrkskog's Deathmachine, but with even more similarities to Emperor. This is especially apparent in the rhythm guitar arrangements and the drum sound. The latter is that distinct, triggered drum sound that you've come to associate with Trym.

While the drum sound that Trym has elected to go with is cold and brutal in its own way, it is indeed just that: cold, but in an impersonal, machine-like way. Contributing to this is the semblance that the drum fills on this album are always the same, and you're left feeling a little empty. No doubt that this is the point, judging by the slightly cheesy man-meets-machine cover art and themes of this album. Indeed, looking at the album will give you the impression that it's some kind of semi-dancy techno-metal. Luckily, there is only one track that has that element, and it's perfectly listenable.

As stated before, World ov Worms sounds like a more Emperor-influenced Myrkskog, yet at the same time is a very death metal album. In fact, some of the riffs will remind you of early Morbid Angel. Overall, World ov Worms is a very solid album of fast and merciless material, but the machine-like and processed aspects detract from it feeling real, and, in a sense, honest.

The supergroup now known only as Zyklon is made up of two-thirds of Emperor's current lineup: Samoth (here known as "Zamoth") on guitar and bass, and Trym on drums. The third core member of the band is Destructhor, the guitarist of Myrkskog. (a third member associated with Emperor, Bard "Faust" Eithun, wrote the lyrics to all the songs, from prison, assumedly. It should also be noted that the harsh vocals are done by a non-core member, and that therea re a couple spoken parts by Garm, now going by Trickster G (doh!))

So, basically, you've got the synopsis of the album's sound right there. World ov Worms sounds a great deal like Myrkskog's Deathmachine, but with even more similarities to Emperor. This is especially apparent in the rhythm guitar arrangements and the drum sound. The latter is that distinct, triggered drum sound that you've come to associate with Trym. While the drum sound that Trym has elected to go with is cold and brutal in its own way, it is indeed just that: cold, but in an impersonal, machine-like way. Contributing to this is the semblance that the drum fills on this album are always the same, and you're left feeling a little empty. No doubt that this is the point, judging by the slightly cheesy man-meets-machine cover art and themes of this album.

Indeed, looking at the album will give you the impression that it's some kind of semi-dancy techno-metal. Luckily, there is only one track that has that element, and it's perfectly listenable. As stated before, World ov Worms sounds like a more Emperor-influenced Myrkskog, yet at the same time is a very death metal album. In fact, some of the riffs will remind you of early Morbid Angel. Overall, World ov Worms is a very solid album of fast and merciless material, but the machine-like and processed aspects detract from it feeling real, and, in a sense, honest.

review by: Liam Deely

Will somebody kindly remove the uzis from my ears? Emperor's "Emperial Live Ceremony" is a war zone, the sonic beatings they dish out interrupted only by the shrieks of Emperor's front man, Ihsahn, proclaiming, "This next one's a rrrreal headbanger!" The crowd seems to love it, and the recording more or less captures the "live" atmosphere. The Norwegians sound extremely energetic and tight, an amazing feat given the nature of their music, justifying the need for a live recording. However, in my subjective opinion, the non-scream vocals, one of Emperor's signature musical traits, sound like King Diamond in the shower. There are typical "I'm-so-scary" pre-recorded intros and outros, but the punishing music is unmistakably Emperor. Double devil horns for this one.

review by: Stevil

There are those out there who proclaim that Black Metal is long dead, and that there is nothing more to be said musically within the style. While it may be true that most of the original creators of Black Metal felt limited and have moved on to new innovations (except for Darkthrone, bless their cursed souls!), many of us still love the old sound, limitations and all. It seems that many newer bands, particularly in America, are proudly declaring that love. Fog is a new Black Metal band from the U.S., and their debut Through The Eyes Of Night is one of the first releases from promising upstart label WWIII Music.

The album is very reminiscent of In the Nightside Eclipse…-era Emperor, and what it lacks in originality is made up for tenfold by the quality of the songwriting and musicianship. Great cold & catchy riffs, awesome drumming and throat-bleeding vocals. What more could you ask for? This CD rips, beginning to end, and is a great gift to those of us who occasionally WANT to hear a band recapture that early vision rather than worry about pushing the boundaries. Killer! Buy or die!

review by: Liam Deely

Everything about Gorguts' latest offering from the cover art to the title screamed ho-hum death metal. But after chucking it into my CD deck, my unfair attitude soon flaked and peeled under the searing sounds of "From Wisdom to Hate."

The first two minutes of track one is alive with aggression, underlined by syncopated blast beats and harsh, bloodthirsty vocals. Bottom-heavy guitars and gurgling bass sound deliberately sloppy at times, adding a kind of necessary fluidity and recklessness to highly complex songs. Gorguts bangs out ever-shifting tempos and rhythms with finesse, detailing their rich music with competent guitar soloing and tight, Gene Hoglan-esque drumming. One of the coolest things about this record is that every song has at least one memorable riff or section. Overall, this record crushes. Gorguts fans and metal fans in general should not be disappointed. I can't wait to see them live.

review by:Liam Deely

When Roberto asked me to critique a Morbid Angel tribute CD, I grinned with both anticipation and skepticism. Why dedicate a full-length album to Morbid Angel? Granted the original Florida trio wrought a style of metal emulated by countless bands and set new standards for the genre with almost every release, but the question remained - what makes Morbid Angel so tribute-worthy? The reasons are clear after one listen of "Scream Forth Blasphemy."

This recording proved today's death metal is drifting toward maturity - or at least people take it seriously enough to go beyond listing an influential bands such as Morbid Angel under the "thank you" and "influences" columns in album liner notes. If you enjoy Morbid Angel's eerie, technically break-neck music (especially the early stuff), "Scream Forth Blasphemy" won't disappoint. But this is more than a collection of talented, eager, and geographically diverse bands jamming on Morbid Angel songs - it's a classy nod to the past with an eye on the future, and a healthy reflection on the genre of death metal itself.

review by: Liam Deely

Bite into Nevermore's Dead Heart in a Dead World and you'll find tasteful guitar parts and dramatic vocals piled high on layers of dumbed-down riffs. The band's fourth release is very easy to digest - perhaps more like candy than anything substantial. And though certain melodies and riffs spike the album's vital signs, ... Dead World's 11 tracks all run more or less parallel, never truly varying in feel or direction. With Nevermore's obvious talent, it's a shame their music is little more than Machine Head-inspired mediocrity with pretty guitars and vocals. Polish it all off with spotless production, and you basically have a progressive metal machine on training wheels.

review by: Liam Deely

Voivod breeds with hardcore band, spawns Spaceboy.

If it were possible to sum up the talented five-man San Francisco act in so many words, this would only be slightly accurate. Spaceboy is way harder to pin than that. A mix of fusion-style drumming, Eddie Van Halen-on-crack guitar leads, and high-scream vocals reminiscent of Germany's Pestilence party define Spaceboy's sound.

Structure-wise, their songs lean toward spontaneity more than anything. Excluding trippy (and cool) intros and outros, the production on this album is raw with a "live" feel to it. The guitars, tinged with a chorus-type effect, range from delicate to medium-heavy.

The album's good points are unpredictability, originality, and solid musicianship. However, some may find this unpredictability a little too "all over the map." For me it was a plus. Spaceboy's whirlwind approach to heavy music carries them off into their own unique genre, and their latest is a fine introduction for those unfamiliar. Although not a must-have, The Force That Holds Together a Heart Torn to Pieces is indeed a force to be reckoned with.

review by: Stevil

What the fuck is wrong with Texas? There’s been a whole lot of ugliness coming out of the Lone Star State. No, I’m not talking about illiterate presidents, boy! I’m talkin’ bout Southern fried black metal! Yeeeehah! I guess all those rodeo circuit refugees who don’t have innocent cattle to brutalize decided to put on the corpsepaint and pick up geetars.

All kidding aside, Texas has been producing some kick ass black metal for years. Most notably Absu, Averse Sefira, Vesperian Sorrow and the ugliest of them all, Thornspawn. In case you never heard their incredible 1999 full-length Blood Of The Holy, Taint Thy Steel, Thornspawn play very harsh and aggressive black war metal that seems to be influenced by early Marduk and the like. No keyboards, no melody to speak of, just nasty ripping guitars and over-the-top vocal screams.

Their new E.P. release, Empress From The Realms Of Blasphemy, continues in the same vein. The first and last songs are two different versions of the title track, the demo version being predictably more raw and kind of unnecessary. The mid-paced groove of track 2, "Everlasting Siege Of The Necrosoldiers" is definitely the high point here. "Master Of The Bloodfury" is also outstanding and is the most varied song of the three.

With only three different songs, Empress From The Realms Of Blasphemy is a solid, if unessential slab of black metal for previous fans of the band only. If you’re looking for a good introduction to Thornspawn, pick up the aforementioned full-length. Only then will you truly understand the meaning of the phrase, "Don’t Mess With Texas"!

review by: Matt Smith

Slayer's first album, Show No Mercy, is a classic in every sense of the word. Created in 1983 amidst disco, glam-rock and big-hair bands, it has the screaming guitar solos and hard-rock chords that made the metal genre what it is today.

Slayer's vocals have always been pretty clean (compared to growling that sounds like gravel on a chalkboard, anyway), but the earlier you go, the cleaner it gets. Nearly every word on this album can be clearly understood, and with songs like "Die by the Sword," "The Antichrist," and "Metal Storm," every syllable is of equal importance.

The patterns are pretty simple and the guitars are a little screechy, but this is a great album. Slayer has some incredible albums - Diabolus in Musica, Reign in Blood (everybody's favorite), South of Heaven, Divine Intervention, and many others - but Show No Mercy is at the root of it all.

This is a much more coherent CD than their debut, which features a far more raw, disjointed sound (that obviously carries a charm all its own); Beyond Sanctorium being the apex of the band's creativity as far as pure Death Metal is concerned.

Not being a fan of much in the way of DM, this is one of the examples of the genre that I can honestly say I love, having as it does all the elements that I need for the kind of Death that floats my individual goat. No punk influences, no dudes in sweats, no lyrics about what a terrible state the world is in; just solid, crushingly heavy riffing, pounding bass drums and roaring vocals emanating from the very depths of Hades.

This is Death Metal from the same forgotten crypt as Black Metal - evil, dark and not a mainstream bone in its re-animated corpse. It's also an album to be cranked so you can headbang and air-guitar your way through the Beavis and Butthead worthy 'dun dun duuuuuh dadadundundun' riffs the album inflicts on your eardrums; as well as the haunting solos and sublimely juxtaposed fast and slow arrangements.

The album also has some interesting surprises on it in addition to the perfect late 80s/early 90s Death Metal. There are some interesting influences to the occasional piece of keyboard work that creeps into the odd song that sounds vaguely Egyptian on one track; whilst another features the warbling croons of a female soprano that serve as a precursor to the direction the band was to take. Other things to look for include a riff that Deicide later almost perfectly reproduced, an 11-minute epic; and that seal-of-quality - a song based on HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

I wasn't paying much attention to Dornenreich. A Dark/Goth Metal band, they simply fail to captivate a live crowd with their heard-it-all-before brand of weak, melodic, over-synthesized dull-rock; and my mind was left free to drift away to the t-shirt stand as I entered the main room of Rio's.

An ideal venue, Rio's is a small, intimate club; that allows the crowd to stratify nicely around the stage area so each Metaller can find their ideal place to view the show. Whether you want to be within arm's reach of the band down by the small raised platform that serves as a stage; headbanging or knocking someone's teeth out in a frenzy of blood, sweat and hair on the dance floor; slightly further back witnessing the performance from the shadows just beyond; or propping the bar up; there's room for everyone to do what they please and that certainly wins points with me. Nothing I hate more than trying to slamdance in a pit half full of pissed off guys who are only there because there's no room for them to stand anywhere else. Sadly for Dorenreich, the majority of the crowd elect to stay off the dance floor altogether; leaving the frontman to warble at the disinterested as they lurk out of sight of the stage and wait for some music with some balls.

Mystic Circle take to the stage and I decide to move down to the floor. A competent band by whom I'd only heard a single track on CD ("Draginslayer"), Mystic Circle play hard, deathy, black metal; with some interesting and enjoyable synth arrangements one wouldn't usually associate with this kind of heavily Celtic Frost-inspired crunching. On the downside however, the band plays the vast majority of their music at a mid-paced faux blast beat; which leaves the listener constantly on edge with frustration awaiting a true blast beat to kick in and thrash the whole song up. The slow parts are good however - nice drawn out crushing riffs accompanied by those more than competent synths; and for the Black Metal-starved UK the band is a welcome edition to the bill.

Most of the crowd seems to be saving their energy for the headliners however, and it's only when Mystic Circle launch into a furious cover of "Raining Blood" that we get going (finally some real speed!)...And of course once you get into it there's no stopping till the end of the set; so the last three songs were accompanied by the kind of crowd reactions the band deserved: heads a-banging, fists a-pumping and arms a-flailing. Good stuff; especially since the frontman claimed they were suffering from flu. 

And now the moment we've been waiting for. The room darkens and the theme from "The Omen" slowly pours out of the speakers as Marduk descend the stairs to the stage. Strobe lights flash over their faces and highlight their sickly, corpse-painted complexions and the atmosphere is so charged you could jump start a car battery with it.

Those of us down by the stage are twitching expectantly with anticipation as the music builds to a crescendo and cuts out, and like the perfect showman that he is, Legion briefly pauses before raising the mike, taking a deep breath, and then screaming "AAAAZRAAAEEELLLL!!!" whereupon the first track of Marduk's latest album rips through the air like a lightening bolt and the crowd goes ape shit.

How Fredrik Andersson keeps up that relentless barrage of assult from behind his drumkit for over an hour we'll never know, but the band thrash out every song with the precision that has become their live trademark; mixing up old and new material to give a healthy mix of songs from the entirety of their ten year carreer.

Sadly, however, many of the undisputed classics (especially those from Panzer Division Marduk such as "502" and "Fistfucking God's Planet") are missing from the set list - not because of a bias towards their most recent material as one might imagine, but due to a bias towards their older songs. Opus Nocturne and Those of the Unlight are probably the best represented albums in the set list; and this would have bothered the hell out of me if I hadn't heard all my favourite songs from the band's recent releases at Wacken Open Air last year. For me, every Marduk song is a a classic when it's played live, be it old or new; and hearing "Wolves" played alongside "Christraping Black Metal" and alternately screetching out the lyrics, headbanging and windmilling with my friends, and flailing my elbows in the faces of grinning strangers as I get knocked around in front of the stage like a pinball is pretty much my idea of a perfect gig.

Legion is one of the greatest frontmen in Black Metal, encouraging the crowd to yell out chorus lines to the songs; hyping us up with stage banter in between songs, and spotting the fact that I knew all the words to La Grande Danse Macabre and letting me sing a couple of alternate lines with him duirng the second verse...

And at this point I'm made aware of an intersting fact - we're all aware that most black metal bands wear spikes on stage, right? Well, they are not the same spikes you buy in metal merch shops in Germany. No. Legion's spikes are fucking *sharp*; so much so that they punctured my palm and tore a line down my wrist when we shook hands. And *that* impressed the hell out of me.

All in all the show is nigh on as perfect as it can be despite the shocking omissions in the set list and ranks up there as one of the best gigs I've attended. True, Marduk are one of my all time favourite bands; but if they had let me down with a bad sound or sloppy playing I'd have run them into the ground in this review. The fact is, they more than lived up to my ridiculously high expectations (again) and proved that, especially now Emperor have retired from the live circuit, they are healthy contenders for the greatest Black Metal live act currently performing.