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July / August 2005White Lion | Incrust | Carbomb | Shrine of Scars | Greenlawn Abbey | Astarte | Cherry St. | Harkonen | Opera IX | Project Failing Flesh | Ghastly | World of Lies | Masami Akita & Russell | The Glasspack | Abyss | Dark Mass | Slumber | Sotosoundz | Kryoburn | Sliter | Mi Amore | Negator | Hermano | Evergrey | Infidel? / Castro! | Dog Faced Gods | Joe Perry | Milkweed | Figure H8 | F.I.M.C. Comp | Totally F_cking Gay | Angelfire | Monarch | Axel Rudi Pell | Nihilist | On the Outside | Divinity Destroyed | The First Born | James D. Gilmore | Slugnut | Disgorge | Allhelluja | Moonshine | Xashthur | Beyond the Flesh | Hell Hound | Quell | Raging Speedhorn | Through You | Mi Amore | Nocturne | The PB Army | Bambix | Burden of Grief | Rubbermilk Orchestra | Mike Comfort | Jacobs Dream | Skullflower | Lynch Mob | Big B | VNV Nation White Lion When I first heard about this album, I had mixed feelings about it. Bon Jovi did the same thing with "This Left Feels Right" and that album was pure garbage. One listen was more than enough for me and, with "The Ultimate White Lion," I figured I would have to suffer through another exceptionally bad release by an artist that I happen to admire. I had very little faith and I did expect the worst. Luckily, Mike Tramp didn't make the same mistake than Bon Jovi did and I was suprised at how good this release actually was. First of all, what you think of this album will probably depend on how you view the band and what they accomplished in the past. I don't know if I would agree with the album title because, for me, the ultimate White Lion would be an original copy of the "Pride" album, which was always my favorite. That was the one that really caught my attention. So, of course, those were the tunes I went to check out first. The new version of "Wait" was okay. Kind of brought U2 to mind. I like this version, but, if I had to choose, I'd go with the original because it was more rockin' and I think that vibe does the song more justice. "When The Children Cry," that was the big one for the band. What made that song special, I think, was the emotion that Mike put into his vocal performance, which he did once again on this version. Only difference now is the song sounds more full, like there's a lot more to it. It's equal to, if not better, than the original. Finally, the new version of "Lonely Nights" really does the trick. That one rocks. I'm familiar with most of the other tunes on this release. But, I haven't listened to 'em in so long, it was basically like I was hearing something new. If you take that approach to the rest of the album, as I did, it's a great listening experience. I really do enjoy this album. The stand out had to be "Warsong." I can't get enough of that one. "Little Fighter" was pretty upbeat, more so than I remember. "Fight To Survive" had a killer groove, it's a monster of a song now. About the only complaint I have is that "Till Death To Us Part" ended the album on a mellow note, kind of a singer/songwriter vibe if you know what I mean. Just didn't seem to be the proper way to end the album. I was also a bit disappointed that "Tell Me" wasn't included here. I love the original, it's probably my all time favorite White Lion track and I'm a bit curious as to what Mike Tramp would've done with this one under these circumstances. White Lion might be a band from the past. But, Mike Tramp does his best to keep the music alive and, in my opinion, he does a damn good job. This release is sure to please the White Lion audience and, hopefully, it will inspire you enough to seek out their previous recordings and anything else that Mike Tramp has done, past, present or future. http://www.cleorecs.com INCRUST Crushing death metal that will tingle your spine. Taking bits and pieces from Immolation, Incantation, Autopsy, this just mows down a mean path of death. Riffs that are so evil and fast that they blow the head off of any non death metal fan. Vocals that are pure and total death. This is real death metal through and through. A must have for any fan of REAL death metal. http://www.ibexmoonrecords.com Carbomb This band is well named, as they make very explosive music. They play superfast, vicious, aggressive music, that is like death metal colliding head on with hardcore, and then some! The first track, "Rid", is really just a thirty second long blast beat. The rest of the music on this three song disc consists of hyperspeed, supercharged riffs, machine gun blast beats, and vocalist Michael Dafferner singing like he has a cattle prod jammed up his ass! Like Meshuggah or Suffocation on hefty doses of speed and steroids! This'll burn your eyebrows off! This whole disc is only about seven minutes long, but it's a seven minutes of a vicious musical assault! SHRINE OF SCARS Good, solid thrash in the vein of Kreator. The music is fast old school thrash metal with Mille like vocals and some rip roaring riffs from this band. The band mix up the speed and the mid paced parts quite well. Production is good too and if you like Kreator or bands that pl;ay quality thrash, here is another release to add to the collection. Info: http://www.disfiguredrecords.com Greenlawn Abbey Greenlawn Abbey, the band, not the final resting place of Thurston The Magician, is indie garage rock that, in my opinion, gives a tip of the hat to 70's music. This self titled release features twelve songs that are kind of raw, but, for the most part, they're kind of catchy. On top of that, all four band members take up vocal duties. Seems like this is a band that takes a simple approach to making music because, in all honesty, there's nothing really special here, just some toe tappin' music. I think this one will fall under the radar of most people. I don't seem 'em reachin' an exceptionally large audience, which is a shame because the disc is worth a listen or two. It's not bad. But, like I said, there's nothing really special here either. http://www.diaphragmrecords.com ASTARTE This is a 3 piece girl band that play black/goth/death metal. The songs aren't very strong and I kinda found myself bored as this played on. The songs just aren't strong nor memorable. The music kinda just plods along and then breaks into fast parts at times with little or no direction. The band just sound like countless other Cradle of Filth wanna be bands for my liking. Info: www.cleorecs.com Cherry St. FAAAAAAAN-friggin'-TASTIC! That's all I've gotta say about it. Didn't catch this one when it hit the scene back in 1996. This is a re-release with three additional tunes. Either way, this album smokes. It's one of those releases that I can listen to over and over again and not get tired with it, know what I mean? Features Marq Torein (Bullet Boys) and Kevin Steele (Roxx Gang) on vocal duties. Did a little research and, from what I heard, Stevie Rachelle (Tuff) was on here as well. Can't beat that line up. Would've been crankin' this one a lot sooner. But, I had to rip it and burn it again in order to listen to it properly. Such a cheap way to promote a great album. Shame. This is the kind of music that I live for and it's sad that there's not a lot of people who are out there doing it. Blame it on grunge. That crap killed a lot of good music. Thank God for this re-release though because now you can enjoy this killer disc any time you want to. All you've gotta do is pick up a copy, which I suggest you do. HARKONEN I normally don't like bands of this nature, but this band is do damn good how could I not? The mix industrial style metal with just hard hitting riffs like Helmet. Riffs are thick, chunky and catchy as hell and the constant pouding of those drums just got me going. Vocals are shouted hardcore style. This is a must have release if you are into extreme music. OPERA IX This didn't strike me as anything special. Black metal with keyboards and some fast parts and stuff. Nothing had me smiling. This just seem to me to be a below average black metal band with the same old vocals and songs that weren't strong nor memorable much at all. Info: www.cleorecs.com PROJECT FAILING FLESH This wasn't such a hot release. The band play death metal with a touch of At The Gates style of death metal with some violin parts. They also mix in the nu metal groove stuff sort of like nu metal meeting Pantera. The band just didn't click with me, but I am sure some out there will like this. GHASTLY 4 tunes of raw black metal with the chainsaw riffing and the screamed black metal style vocals. The music is just typical black metal done by a million other bands just like this. This doens't suck, it is just nothing special and sounds like any other Darkthrone, Immortal clone band. Info: http://www.ghastly.tk WORLD OF LIES Fast death metal with a touch of thrash metal here and there. The music is fast speedy death metal with plenty of good riffs and vocals that are thank god non generic. The singer sounds like his vocals cords are gonna come apart any minute. No lower than low cup the mic crap. Just good, solid screamed pissed off vocals. MASAMI AKITA & RUSSELL Complete and utter garbage. This is just like a wall of complete noise with a bunch of so called "experemential music" How about we call it as it is. A burst of worthelss noise and is easily the worst cd I have ever heard in my life. Info: perry@goodcoppr.com THE GLASSPACK Really bad rock n roll like a bad verison of the band The Cult. The songs were just flat and plodded along with little or no direction. The band play rock n roll with a bit of the southern edge, but the songs are not good at all and this is one cd that bored me to death. Info: www.smalltone.com ABYSS Bad, ultra boring progressive metal music with no hooks, no feelings and just plain bad tunes. There is no power behind them and the metal is totally weak. The vocals, which are sung in another language didn't help this. LImp wristed metal that is neither solid or good. DARK MASS This didin't hit home with me at all. The band play a mixture of death/thrash and the songs are just boring. They just go on and on to the next one with little emotion or feeling and not one note was memorable after the song was over. The band do sound tight, but I just was not digging the style nor the songs at all. They just didn't click with me. SLUMBER Bad boring death/doom metal with keyboards and bad vox. The vocals are just normal growls of death and the music when it goes into death metal style is not good, plodding along with no direction or feeling. Below average band here in my opinion. SotoSoundz I can't understand the album title. But, I can totally understand the album. The album in question is an eight song release that comes from the mind of Karen Sotomayor, who wrote everything and performed everything with the exception of drums, which were done by E.J. Trbovic. Back when I first started writing, I remember having to listen to a lot of releases that were done, for the most part, by one person. A solo release in every sense of the word. I haven't heard something like this in a long time and, to be honest with you, I was suprised that someone's still into the whole do it yourself thing. I admire that...especially if the person does it right. Karen's vision, I would imagine, is a combination of garage rock with a 60's, psychedelic vibe which, to be honest with you, is somewhat of a breath of fresh air. You really wouldn't expect to hear something like this in this day and age. For the most part, it's not too bad. There was a song or two on here that I could've done without. But, as a whole, I was diggin' on it. It's cool. But, it's something that I'd really have to be in the mood to listen to. I'll pull this one out late at night when I'm tired of listening to the same thing over and over again. This will be the album I'll use to clear my head in order to get a fresh perspective on what I'm listening to. I don't know if that makes any sense to you or not. I know what I mean and that's all that's important. Listen to the album and I'm sure you'll know where I'm coming from. KRYOBURN Boring same old groove metal with the low and high vocals. Bands playhing this style are a dime a dozen and the riffs, song arrangements, vocals sound like every other band doing this style. Sliter Sliter's debut release, "Think Other Wise," has a fresh energy that's a real pleasure to hear. They're influenced by all things metal...thrash, death, progressive, you name it. But, they've managed to create a sound that's all their own and I'm not really sure what to call it. If I'd have to come up with something, I'd say they're heavy metal for lack of a better term. I know that's a pretty general label. But, that's the best I can do. You have to hear 'em to really understand what I'm talking about. There's so much going on in their music. Of course, it's heavy. There's raw aggression. There's also a garage rock vibe that flows through their music...and I use that term in a good way. There's also elements of thrash, I can hear some progressive as well. I can't say that I hear too much of the death metal influence, maybe in the vocal style, that's about it. Also, it's a very guitar driven album and there's some good riffs to be heard on here. The album features eight songs and it has a running time of 31 minutes. If you're tired of the same old metal and you're in the mood to hear something different, I'd suggest giving Sliter a listen. You might like what you hear. http://www.sliter.net MI AMORE More boring genenric groove metal with those throaty hardcore vocals and Pantera like riffs. Like the above band, bands like these are a dime a dozen. NEGATOR Typical fast picking black metal that sounds like every other black metal band and with the black metal style vocals. Nothing new here. Info: www.magickrecords.com Hermano It still never ceases to amaze me how popular Kyuss became once they called it a day some ten years before. Individually, the group members have gone on to achieve further success in groups like Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age and Mondo Generator, among others. Fans from the early days may recall Hermano, an underground creation, among many, involving John Garcia, highly regarded frontman from Kyuss and the epitome of all things stoner, blues and biker. They were an obscurity that came and went and sold some 8,000 copies on their own without much traditional promotion. And as with all things that sprung from the abundant well that was Kyuss, Garcia's become as legendary as his former group, as a singer/songwriter, respected among the many who've followed. And Hermano exists again. Opening with the screeching "Cowboys Suck," the record peels out with a burning ambition to prove the first time was no sloth… and thanks for your patience. It's a song less to do with cowboys sucking and more to do with spinning the wheels of life… with four on the floor and the accelerator constantly pinned. The next few tracks ride a steady rolling riff, compliments of guitarist Dave Angstrom and the bludgeoning bass-beating of Dandy Brown, pure passion packed into easy to swig mouthfuls of nitrous and Jack and a few of life's lessons thrown in for extra blues appeal. "Go motherfucker, motherfucker go…" sets the theme for "Quite Fucked," picking up the trail from their "Cowboys" tune and combines two-minute punk rants with desert-dwelling that doesn't let up until the motherfucker's gone. "Murder One" is an acoustic stab at country / western full with handclaps and haunting echo for subversive effect. The album's got an angry overtone, finishing with a flurry by way of "Angry American" which is as close to early "Wretch"-style Kyuss as probably anything Garcia's done since the underappreciated Unida project a few years ago. This one blisters worse than the pale skin on your arm dangling out the driver's side window for the day long cruise on I-40 eastward into Phoenix. "Let's Get It On" rises to the top its quick pace and catchy, uptempo character that's good to go with any and all unvirtous vices. While the musical tones are undeniably bluesy and psychedelic, there are spurts of pure aggression not commonly associated with many post-Kyuss projects plugging more variety than the typically first to second gear shift and sluggish pace of the stoner path. "Dare I Say…" says it, screams it, then backs it up with its musical fists clamoring for a one-on-one with any of the mainstream darlings who'd dare to doubt them for a minute. Hermano Rocks like they mean it. RPG Richmond-based RPG have been getting a lot of attention in the underground since this record originally landed on the heads of listeners craving something loose, lewd and loud in early '04. This time they crammed it with their own DVD documentary called "High Performance" which follows the group's behind the scenes exploits in a "Song Remains The Same" likeness with the parts played by an unfettered patch of hippie freaks with an edge and all out knack for fun. The thirteen tunes on "Full Time" feature a number of quick strikes into the direction of yesterday's retro scene and motor city merchants of the garage rock and soul variety, merging sounds like MC5 with the Melvins and Grand Funk with Gluecifer, The Hookers and a Southwestern stoner-vibe that produces fits of fury with skull denting appeal. If tunes like "Nazi Mindreader," "Untuck It," and "Clockin' In" don't convince you, try an overdose of early AC/DC with a slab of gator country swamp boogie for "Early '72" or the pure punk static of "Ghetto Rose." If that don't work there's plenty of talk radio and traffic reports on your AM dial to arouse you till you reach retirement age. Vocalist Matt Conner combines glass-shard screams with evil croons backed by 1,000 Wayne Kramers and tripped wire sound decay that are every bit as obnoxious and loud as their bio indicates. Amidst all the audio carnage, flip through to "Paralyzed" about halfway through, for a relaxing trek through The Stooges' "Raw Power." Evergrey Evergrey are a progressive metal band who have been making waves in the scene for several years now, but this is the first time I've heard their music. This is a live double CD recorded in Gothenborg, Sweden, in 2004. Evergrey appear to have gone all out with the concert they played. They not only play to their fullest (and do a pretty fine job of it), they also enlisted a string quartet and a vocal choir, who provide some atmospheric background vocals, adding to the already moody sound of the band, who are along the same lines as bands like Dream Theater, Edguy, Blind Guardian, Nevermore, Stratovarius, and Fates Warning. Being that Evergrey are a prog band, they do use keyboards heavily, but there's also plenty of chuggy, crunchin' guitar riffs as well. There's a lot of technical wizardry in both the guitar and keyboard areas, with much Yngwie influence in the former. The music, as I said, has a dark atmosphere to it. Evergrey are certainly a very good band. They play very well, all the songs are brilliantly written and crafted, and they sound good live. The singer has a good voice, a little more rough around the edges than most singers of this genre. The song structures are complex and intricate, but the band still plays heavy and rocks out, although they do throw in a couple of ballads, "Waking Up Blind", which is the album's weak link as far as I'm concerned, a rather boring song, and "For Every Tear That falls, which is better. This song is soulful, played on classical piano, and the singer duets with a woman (no names were given). The band seems to walk the line between rough and smooth, at least live (I've never heard any of their studio recordings so I can't compare). They have classically influenced arrangements and structures, and rich musical textures, along with heavy guitars, a driving metal beat, and an edgy sound. As for some of the other songs, "When The Walls Come Down" kicks off the second disc. This tune is classically influenced, predominantly keyboards and string quartet, and instrumental save for a recording of what sounds like a maniacal preacher. There's also "Nosferatu", an ode to the old Count himself, a galloping tune in the Stratovarius vein, one of the faster songs on the disc (most of the other ones are mid pace, not too fast, not too slow), and the album's closing cut, "The Masterplan", a classic-style prog metal tune where the singer gets the crowd into some audience participation. At one point he says, "I feel like Bruce Dickinson". Although I was not familiar with Everygrey's music before I heard this, I was impressed. They are an excellent prog metal band, brilliant musicians and songwriters, and appear to have pushed the envelope for prog metal a bit. Evergrey are progressive metal at its finest! Infidel? / Castro! This sucks. If I could get away with it, that's all this review would say. I wouldn't waste my time writing anything more. However, I can't offer my opinion...my honest opinion...without an explanation. So, I have to spend a minute or two telling you why you should avoid this release like the plague. Ah...crap...I have to think about it...my head hurts. Okay, well, let's put it this way...in my opinion, this is nothing but a bunch of noise thrown together to form some sort of concept...a concept which I don't understand and one which I don't care to figure out. At first, I thought it sounded like a VCR eating my favorite movie. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. You know the VCR is fucking your tape up and your hitting the stop/eject button like a madman and the VCR is slowly chowing down on the tape inch by precious inch. Then I thought, it's like being stoned and watching a really bad car accident in slow motion. Then I came to my senses and I stopped thinking about it. Concept my ass...it's fucking noise. I think you need to be on a serious drug trip to enjoy this. I'm not talkin' Cheech & Chong high either. I'm talkin' flat out Kurt Cobain wasted where you're so jacked up you can't even tie your own shoes. They hype this record up by using words like experimental, ambient metal, electro-acoustic, abstract and blah, blah, blah. If you wanna call it that, it's fine by me. I won't knock it. But, it's my job to describe what I hear and all I hear is a bunch of noise...and, personally, I think a two disc set is a bit too much. To be honest, I got about ten minutes into this release and I thought it was way too much. But, if something like this will float your boat, by all means, grab a copy and crank it up. As long as I don't ever have to hear it again, you can listen to it until your teeth fall out for all I care. Dog Faced Gods Dog Faced Gods are basically your average modern-day rock band. They sound in the vein of Staind, Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park, Korn, Monster Magnet, etc., with vocalist Raymond Galvin Whiteowl rapping on a few of the songs, and they've also let some emo creep into their style. Some of the songs are moody and mournful, with lyrics that explore the down side of life. The albums starts of with a few of these emo-type songs, "Desperately", "Good Life", and "Brings Me Down". Things pick up a bit with some more hard rocking tunes to follow, "Earth Is Hell", "Run, Run", "Water Pipe Bong", "Save Me", and "Stand Alone" (there is also a "rap" version of the latter at the end of the disc). There are still a few more emo-type songs like "But Me", "Time Is Standing Still", and "Will I Ever Fit In", some of which were a bit like Staind's "It's Been Awhile". They also throw in a cover of Skynyrd's "Simple Man". An emo version of a Southern rock classic-well, it's different, I'll give it that. DFG aren't much different from most other popular bands our there, and are really nothing to write home about. They're only mediocre as musicians and seem to be doing things by the numbers. Couldn't see much to get excited about here. Joe Perry I've never been the biggest fan of Aerosmith. Although I've seen them live a couple times,( great shows, always), and enjoy pretty much most of their music on occasion. They are a great band who deserves all they have accomplished. Legends of the music industry. With the band on a much more deserved break, guitarist Joe Perry decides it's about time he put some of these songs he's been playing around with for awhile. Ten new originals in fact. Joe also does the singing on this release which after several listens, does tend to grow on you. It was a little iffy at first. As for the music, I had quite the time coming to some sort of decision as to what I thought about this disk as a whole. I'd like to know how long most people/reviewers listen to an album before they write their little reviews on any certain disk. I believe I've listened to Joe Perry about twelve times now. It's in as I'm typing here. I think I already know the words to it. This is mainly because upon the first listen, honestly I felt like , wow, hope he's not up for any big radio success with this one . Must either be pulling for material to release or is just jamming out his own tunes the way he wants to without any regard for what anyone else may think. That is something I do take into high regards as a music fan. Not conforming to the standards of what is expected. Well after a dozen plus listens I can honestly say this is a pretty descent outing for Joe. The disk starts out with some fairly blues type rockin' songs " Shakin' My Cage and Hold On Me" . Than from somewhere in left field comes the eastern inspired sound of "Pray For Me". Back onto the softer blues fueled, ballad sounding ," Can't Compare" . I've got to say that with the exception of the tracks "Pray For Me" and the Doors cover of "Crystal Ship", each and every other track fit very well with each other. Some are heavier and some are a bit mellower. All are basically love songs from what I can gather. A standout track on the disk for me is track five. "Lonely". A very catchy tune. This one needs to be the first single. Great melody. Other tracks on the disk are," Talk Talkin', Push Comes To Shove, Twilight, Ten Years, Vigilante Man, Dying To Be Free and Mercy". To wrap all of my useless ramblings up in a nutshell, Joe Perry is a release worth a listen from anyone into rock-n-roll. It definitely has Joe's distinct sounds on the guitar here. His vocals, as the tunes grow on you fit extremely well with each track. Makes you wonder why he has not sang more before the 'Honkin On Bobo' sessions. This disk may not be as hot as Joe's salsa and sauces, but is well worthy of double handfuls. And plenty of seconds. http://www.joeperrymusic.com Milkweed These guys are basically just another "nu metal" kind of band (or "Gangsta Core", as they like to call themselves), more Limp Bizkit clones, as if there weren't enough of those already. Milkweed's playing is amateurish, at best. They really just sound like a bunch of teenagers jamming in a garage. Rob Rieman sings/raps in a Fred Durst/Corey Taylor aggro-style, while guitarist Joe Sparto plays tuned-down, distorted, fuzztone chords, again in the Bizkit/Slipknot vein. All the songs really sound the same, except for a few that are a bit different. "Tenchics" is a slower song on which Rob does some actual, real singing (I guess every nu metal band has a song like this on each album, just like the 80s hair bands would have a ballad on each record), and they also throw in a couple of straight rap tunes, "Cincinnati Fatties", a raunchy ode to full figured women (Sir Mix-A-Lot, you have met your match!), and "Minute Made", an equally nasty, dirty song about a guy who likes to do it quick, if you know what I mean. These guys do have a sense of humor, I'll say that for 'em, albeit a really gross one (another sign they're aiming for an adolescent audience). The CD's booklet contains instructions on how to "body floss" yourself with "Anal B" (don't try this at home!), facts about proctitis, an anal disorder, and a picture of a toilet that looks like it was used by someone who went on a binge in a bad Mexican restaurant (guess that's what the results of body flossing are supposed to be). It really seems like Milkweed are putting more effort into grossing people out than playing their music. They're certainly good at the former, but as for the latter...well, let's just say their musical skills leave something to be desired. They're really just a third division Limp Bizkit, in a market that's already overcrowded with such bands. To their credit, they don't use a DJ, but I can't think of much else to say in their favor. http://www.milkweed1.com Figure H8 What's up with this band? Got no information on 'em and I had some trouble getting on to their website. Last time I checked, it wasn't there. It's kind of a bummer because this three song CD caught my attention...at least enough to wanna know more. It's heavy music with an element of hardcore and electronic and, while I'm usually not into that kind of music, these tunes weren't too bad. I really liked the first track, "Exceed," which had a heavy fuckin' groove flowing through it. Great song. It pisses me off to see a band such as this, one that I believe has some major potential, and they don't have their shit together. What if someone would pick this up in a used CD store or something like that and they liked what they hear? They're not gonna be able to find the band and all they're gonna get are three songs. That's not right. Come to think of it, I have found releases like this...even on cassette tape. In fact, I have a tape by a band that I picked up at a flea market. Cool band. But, there's no information to be found anywhere on the cassette. No phone number, no address, nothing. Even if you're not gonna stick around, you should at least make it easy for people to track you down because, if they like your music, be it old or new stuff, chances are they'll have an interest in what you're currently doing. At least that's how I am. I've written about bands that I tracked down through old releases and, for the most part, everyone I've hooked up with this way, I actually liked what they were currently doing. So, keep your shit together and, if you're in the mood to search for something, this release is worth tracking down. Hopefully someone will be smart enough to throw it into a file sharing program or something like that. Hell, I might even consider doing that since I can't seem to pull up the website. "F.I.M.C. Comp. 2 Ohio 2" This is a 15 band/30 song compilation CD. The featured bands are from Ohio. It comes in a nice package with contact information, which is always a plus in my book. I flipped through each track rather quickly just to get a feel for what kind of music is presented here and I got the impression that, for the most part, it's all punk music. As I sat down to write this review, I went through this disc once again, paying more attention to each song to see if it's actually worth picking up or not and, like any compilation, there's gonna be some good tracks and some tracks that you're not gonna write home about. In this case, there's more good than bad. So, yeah, I would suggest checking it out. First three songs, which were provided by Eric Wrong & The Do Rights, Lazy American Workers and C.D. Truth were pretty kickin' and they caught my attention right away. We get down to track four, which is "Murder Babble" by Kill The Hippies, and while the music is good, I can't understand any of the lyrics. It's kind of a weird little punk tune. Piece Bucket follows that track and, once again, we're back to the normal kind of punk music. Don Austin kicks it up a notch by providing the heaviest tune we've heard so far, "Seven Days & Seven Nights Of Arson." We finish off the fisrt half of the disc with The Professional Againsters, Lords Of The Highway, Blatant Finger, The Strange Division, Stab O Matic, The Wankers, The Jeffs, The Hypochondriacs and Lester. I was really impressed with The Hypochondriacs because it was chick punk rock and there's something exceptionally cool about a woman doing punk rock, especially if it's being done right. Lester kind of brought The Dead Milkmen to mind, which is always a good thing. The second half of the CD is the same as the first...all those bands we mentioned throw another song at you and, for the most part, they're all pretty good. The ones that didn't float my boat were mainly because of the production. Some of the tunes seemed a little sloppy. But, then again, this is punk rock we're talking about. So, I guess that should be expected because punk rock is more about a feeling and less about being perfect. Case in point, The Hypochondriacs second tune, "Shut Up Bitch." I wasn't too fond of the production. But, it's still a kickin' tune and one of the reasons why I would suggest picking up this release would be because of this band. However, the main reason for checking this out is because it's a worthy addition to your punk music collection. Another thing...on the information sheet that came with this release, I noticed that the price is only $5.00 and you can't beat that. After all, you're getting 30 tunes here. At that price, you can afford to buy one for yourself and pick up a few extra copies for your friends. F.I.M.P. 610 http://www.geocities.com/fimpakron Totally Fucking Gay There's no way that I can be nice about this review because Totally Fucking Gay is the worst slab of garbage that I have ever heard. This blows more than Elton John at the Y.M.C.A. There ain't nothing worse than seeing some limp wristed dude flappin' his gums about gay rights. You know what you can do? You can take this release and your jar of vaseline and get back in the closet where you belong. I really don't care who's ass you would like to bugger. But, stop trying to push your homo agenda on the rest of the world. You make such a big deal about being a fag. It's a choice, remember that. "Elton John Is Hot," "I Wanna Blow Justin Timberlake" and "An Orgy With The Village People." You write shit like this with lyrics such as, "Give me a condom for my pee pee. I don't want it to smell like doody" and you expect other people to accept you as normal? There's something fuckin' wrong with you. First of all, you sound like you're someone who's happy to get coloring books for Christmas every year. Second, you have no musical talent. I don't know what you're trying to go for here. But, you sound like a gay Elmer Fudd bangin' on one of those ten dollar K-mart keyboards that are more toy than instrument. The sound of a toilet flushing is more entertaining than this release. So, let me tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna smash this CD with a freakin' hammer and I'm gonna run the album cover through a paper shredder because I wouldn't even subject people I don't like to this release. Give up your musical dreams and seek help because, believe me, you need it....and don't ever send me this gay shit again. E-mail: mrhymson@aol.com ANGELFIRE Raw, crude thrash metal in the vein of older Kreator, which sounded fine to these ears. The band play brutal old school 80's style German thrash/speed metal with some wicked riffs. They have a raw style about them I love. They play music in the Kreator 'Extreme Agression" era and #2 track is a blistering blaze of metal that is full of emotion and is not to be missed. Info: http://www.angelfirerocks.tk MONARCH This is a faceless death metal band that plays death metal in the nu metal mode with jump riffs and those ever so generic screamed tough guy vocals. The band is just like any of the bands doing this style. The music is like a mix of Pantera meeting At The Gates. This isn't that bad, but I have heard way too many bands doing this same style and now it's getting old. Info: michael@popfaction.com Axel Rudi Pell Some may be familiar with this German metal guitar wizard from the brief stint with the German band Steeler. That was from '84-'89. Although the band had made some noise in Europe, bit was not a direction Axel was heading. 1989 brought the release of his solo debut 'Wild Obsession'. The rest is history. From one breakthrough album to the next, Axel has become a permanent and firm fixture in the German melodic hard rock scene. This latest release is yet another installment of ballads. After such huge successes with 'Ballads I and Ballads II' , you now get number III. This release mostly consists of a compilation of his best ballads with three newly recorded tracks. As well as a cover of the Rainbow classic, ' The Temple Of The King'. Take any ballad/love song from any metal band of the '80's or '90's, and these song will top 'em. This is an incredible collection of songs. All seem to have that familiar vibe the one can easily relate with. Now this disk is very mellow. Hence the title. So this needs to be ingested at the proper time. Great vocals from Johnny Gioeli and Axel's guitar playing on these songs are mesmerizing. This is highly recommended for any one wanting an unbelievable collection of great power ballads. Ferdy Doernberg-keys, Volker Krawczak-bass and Mike Terrana-drums round out the rest of the musicians on this must have melodic hard rock masterpiece. http://www.axel-rudi-pell.de NIHILIST This for those who don't know, was the name Entombed used before they switched named and spawned a million clone bands. This is incredible killer pure raw swedish death metal. 5 different demo recordings and they sound as fresh, if not better, than way back when. Listen to the riffs and the passion and emotion as they plays on, lacking with most of todays bands. This is 100% buy or fry, must have stuff. Listen to this and see how it supposed to be done. On The Outside Five songs. Eight minutes. Doesn't seem like a whole hell of a lot, does it? Well, don't let those numbers fool you because On The Outside doesn't require a lot of time to kick your ass. In the eight minutes that it takes them to rip through these five tracks, they throw enough energy and aggression at you to keep you comin' back for more. I don't need to write a book here to tell you what they're all about either. I can tell you in two words...hardcore metal. It's as simple as that. They hit you so hard, you're out like a light before you hit the ground...and when you throw a great production on top of that...you're lucky if you ever get up again. The white album cover with the logo in blue doesn't give you any idea of what you're in for either. They don't want anything to distract you from the music. It's a great idea when you think about it because that first impression is important and you go into this one with a clear mind and you come out fuckin' brain damaged from the musical beating they give you. Enough said. DIVINITY DESTROYED I didn't find this too appealing. The vocals I thought sucked as they were out place and belong in a new wave band. The music is faceless forgetable metal. The band play underground metal like newer Death, but without the power and conviction. Info: http://www.screamingferret.com THE FIRST BORN This took me a few times to get into, but this was really good. The band play old school death metal/black metal mixed in with the new sounds of today. It is a cool combo that works for this band. The band is very original and play with lots of feeling and power. The music is weird at times, which was cool as you had no idea what was coming next. This was fast, aggressive and well worth getting. Info: http://www.proconmedia.com James D. Gilmore Veteran metal guitarist James D. Gilmore comes at you with his first, mostly vocal release. With many other albums to his credit, James has made quite a name for himself as a metal guitar virtuoso in the Midwest. Well this latest release is in many ways,,, very good. Drawing from the many influences of James', such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Queensryche, this is an ultimate classic metal sounding album. Nothing real fancy. No glamorous gimmicks. Just five guys playing some hard rockin/heavy metal. And they are James D. Gilmore - all lead, rhythm & acoustic guitars, Doug Bertram - all lead and backing vocals, John Harper- keyboards and sound effects, Colin Frazier - drums and Jay Klien - bass. Many of the tracks have the familiarities to many other acts. Alcatraz , Victory, Rainbow, Dokken and Helstar just to name a few. This disk clocks in at well over an hour with fourteen rippin' tracks of fist banging fury. A couple standout tracks, although all are just as good as the next, " Come To Me, Hearts On Fire, Wicked Nights and No Sanctuary". This disk is proof that metal will never die and needs to remain in the souls of all. Pure and real. http://www.soundstation.com/jamesdgilmore SLUGNUT Pretty cool old school thrashy rock n roll band here. The band play raw stripped down to the bone thrashy metal. The music is sort of like Celtic Frost in the guitar part and the drummer smashes the drums with authority. The vocals are good soild pissed off kind, but in the tough guy sort of way. This was a suprise as this was really good and the band are original and doing things their way and not the trendy way. Info: http://www.slugnut.com DISGORGE Complete and utter garbage. From the tin can laughable blast parts to the lower than low can go vocals this is a complete waste of time. Brutal ha? Bands like this are not brutal death metal. Yeah they are so original and sound like every other band doing this style too. This is complete shit and belongs to be buried in the ground 50 miles deep. Info: http://www.crashmusicinc.com ALLHELLUJA I will say the picture of the girl on the cd has quite an ass ha ha. Nice and round. The music is sort of like Ciurcus Of Power at times. The music is built on simple, but effecticve riffs with some good Motorhead like vocals. The music is heavy, but has melody to it and I really liked what the band was doing. It's not death metal, but it is good ole metal stripped down and played raw. Info: http://www.scarletrecords.it MOONSHINE This was a really cool emotional band here. The band play black metal also mix it in with some haunting melodic parts. It works for me. The wicked fast black metal parts are just full of evil feeling and the melodic parts are very emotional. The production is on the money too. It is a combo that usually has me ready to throw in the towel, but not this time. Info: http://www.dopemusic.co.kr XASHTHUR Norrt play super slow doom metal that is so miserable that it will have you depressed. Some of the slowest music this side of Winter and Symphony of Grief. Vocals of a man on his deathbed. This is a total painful experience. Xashthur most of his stuff is instrumental in nature, but is still very emotional and very warped and out there. This is one for the doom lovers out there. Info: http://www.southernlord.com BEYOND THE FLESH This was a good release mixing in some death metal with the fury of thrash metal that packs a wallop. The band can erite some solid head banging like riffs that had me nodding and smiling. The vocals are more on the death metal side, but not the lower than low crap. The production is not too polished, which works for me. The band mix in older Slayer with their brand of death metal and this is one release you need to buy now. Info: http://www.screamingferret.com |
