BESTIAL WARLUST
“Vengeance War ‘Til Death” (1994)
Modern Invasion Records
rating: 5 of 6
If I’m not mistaken, BESTIAL WARLUST were among the first ones to preach so-called “war metal”, the kind of stuff distinctive only for the bands from Down Under, such as SADISTIK EXEKUTION if talking about the legendary acts, and such as ABOMINATOR taking the neophytes. Joe Skullfucker, Markus Hellcunt, Chris Corpsemolester… these are some of the guys who played in BESTIAL WARLUST in 1994. How do you like their handles, eh? However, it feels like I should admit that, despite suchlike stupid aliases, this band’s music doesn’t have anything to do with chaotic (although IT IS chaotic), furious (although IT IS furious) and totally misanthropic (although IT IS totally misanthropic) stuff in the vein of aforementioned SADISTIK EXEKUTION. Yes, the components are the same, however the content is rather different. “Vengeance War ‘Til Death” is more “musical” and less incomprehensible if comparing it to f.ex. “We Are Death, Fukk You!” and other albums of that ilk. Yes, sometimes it’s UTTERLY chaotic… fast, harsh and raw… absolutely dark and all-devouring. The perfect destroyer for your ears. The ideal hater. Few tracks, such as “Satanic”, are less interesting musically, due to the fact that they’re being played with the speed of light, which actually harms the whole composition; it becomes a musical gore, you know… however few others, like “Hammering Down The Law Of The New Gods” or “At The Graveyard Of God”, are much more exciting. I don’t know, if this band is still alive or not… although, it’s really bad if they’ve collapsed. But even if so, - they’ll stay a legend anyway. (Herr Stalhammar)

BULLDOZER
“The Day Of Wrath” (1985)
Roadrunner Records
rating: 3, 5 of 6
This one is far from being the kind of LP I could praise. Well yes, this is a classic one, but so what…?! Recorded in the year of 1985 and produced by Algy Ward (a bass player for England’s TANK), “The Day Of Wrath” comes with nine songs of raw thrash metal and unholy attitude. Few songs are rather good, such as “Insurrection Of The Living Damned”, “Fallen Angel” and (especially) “Endless Funeral”, appearing as kind of a cross between VENOM and DEATH SS, however I feel I must admit that I definitely prefer both aforementioned bands over BULLDOZER. Well, they add some keyboards, but DEATH SS also did it… yes, A.C. Wild and co. managed to bring in few fresh ideas… but the band I mentioned above managed to bring in hundreds of innovative moves… I can’t really understand how they contrived to get a deal with Roadrunner. No, this LP doesn’t stink or whatever, and I guess that, if you’re a either black, death or just METAL fan, you have to check it out. You know, kinda “collectors item”. Once again, it’s not terribly bad, moreover, it seems to be really good at times, but… (Herr Stalhammar)

MOONSPELL
“Anno Satanae” demo (1993)
rating: 4 of 6
After listening to “Irreligious” or “Sin” it’s really hard to believe that it’s the same band which created this demo… Besides intro (which sounds similar to the one on “Under The Moonspell” MCD) and outro, “Anno Satanae” features three songs (“Goat On Fire”, “Ancient Winter Goddess” and “Wolves From The Fog”) of quite raw, yet somehow majestic black metal – although, few death metal elements are present here as well. One should know, that buying this tape and listening to it, he won’t discover any “clean” voice, since “Anno Satanae” features only raw vokills, a bit too low-pitched if talking about black metal conventional standards. Production is so-so, although it’s far from being bad. Everything’s different with musicianship, at least it seems that MOONSPELL were good musicians already back then, in the year of 1993. In fact, I don’t really know what to add. This tape appeared as something undoubtedly original and non-typical, also being impressive and exciting, six years ago, however now it sounds quite boring… and I wouldn’t say that I am as intrigued listening to any of the songs off “Anno Satanae” as I was when I gave it a listen for the very first time many years ago… I definitely prefer “Under The Moonspell” and “Wolfheart”. (Herr Stalhammar)

ROTTING CHRIST
“Satanas Tedeum” (demo, 1989)
rating: 5 of 6
Ok, I confess, I don’t have the original demo but it’s re-release in the shape of MCD, that was put out by Unisound Records back in 1994. BUT! This one seems to be better, since a) it has the lyrics printed and b) all the five songs have been remixed. The track list is as follows: “The Hills Of The Crucifixion”, “Feast Of The Grand Whore”, “The Nereid Of Esgalduin”, “Restoration Of The Infernal Kingdom” and “The Sixth Communion”. I guess we shouldn’t compare this effort to their latest works, such as “Sleep Of The Angels” CD… more likely, to “Passage To Arcturo” (1991), since both works sound quite similar to each other, although “Passage…” strikes as more complete and thoughtout, no doubts (actually, it would be strange if it didn’t…) I believe, we have to divide ROTTING CHRIST’s history into four parts in order to completely conceive their metamorphosis throughout the years of band’s existence. So, let’s go for it. The first one: which took place before the year of 1989 when ROTTING CHRIST gave preference to grindcore (“Decline’s Return” demo and split EP with ICHORIPANSI). The second one: the years of 1989 – 1992, i.e. “Satanas Tedeum”, “Passage To Arcturo” MCD as well as “The Dawn Of The Iconoclast” 7’EP and split EP with MONUMENTUM. The third one: 1992 – 1995 (“Thy Mighty Contract” and “Non Serviam” CD’s), the period when this band’s works possessed that distinctive “Greek sound”. And finally, the fourth one: 1996 – 1999 (“Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers”, “A Dead Poem” and “Sleep Of The Angels” CD’s), the period which signified the change to more mild and melodic stuff which, in fact, stands closer to usual heavy metal (although still mystic and sublime).
As to this demo… In my view, it was absolutely killer effort, especially taking into account the fact that it was released ten fucking years ago! The production is quite ok (although last two songs feature surprisingly weaker sound) and the musicianship is really good. But what’s most important, ROTTING CHRIST couldn’t be confused with anyone else already in 1989, since they chose a path of their own to embark on. All in all, this is definitely a must for everyone (of course… if you’ll contrive to find it on the market). By the way, I really like a statement which was placed instead of “The Sixth Communion” lyrics: “this song include some of the most occult dark lyrics ever written, connected with the personal life of writer. Not allowed to print”, ha ha! (Herr Stalhammar)