BLACK TEARS OF DEATH
"Volume VI"
Black Tears Productions
rating: 3, 5 of 6
Hmm… I don't know whom would you consider me to be, after getting acquainted with the below-cited lines, but the fact is, ROSSOMAHAAR (whose stuff actually I shouldn't review, since my name may be found among others in a lineup it has at the moment…) with "The Forlorn Existence Of Soul Divine" strikes as the most impressive band off this comp CD; moreover, ROSSOMAHAAR definitely is the most skilled combo, at least if comparing it to other acts featured on "Black Tears Of Death"… Too bad, but it seems like Daniele (the mastermind Black Tears) can't boast with having a good taste in music… At least, Finland's ASTRAY, Singapore's DOXOMEDON, ENETH and BERGFOLK (both from Italy) are the only ones I can hardly mark out… Anyway, I wouldn't consider them outstanding in the same time… Well, maybe SEED OF HATE is not bad as well… So you see? In fact, nothing to praise. And finally, I couldn't really expect that HANDFUL OF HATE and THRONED (I liked their former works (a CD by HANDFUL OF HATE and MCD by THRONED)) would offer the newest works of theirs in the shape of such a worthless crap… (Herr Stalhammar)

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED
"A Tribute To Iron Maiden"
Adrenaline Records
rating: 4, 5 of 6
Coming in the shape of superb digipack, this is a double-CD (!) compilation brought forth the light by Italy's Adrenaline Records. And it's quite good one, to be honest. Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed due to the fact most of the bands couldn't manage to deliver any original, stunning covers (as it happened with "Hellas Salutes The Vikings" comp, for instance). Neither DELUSION with "22, Acacia Avenue" nor "The Prisoner" by MESMERIZE… ASKA, with their "Flight Of Icarus", sounds more IRON MAIDEN'esque, than IRON MAIDEN themselves… even though, their version doesn't appear as anything outstanding. The same goes for India's (!) MOKSHA (covering "Can I Play With Madness"?), as well as Down Under's REALM ("Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter") and LAST DISCIPLE ("Phantom Of The Opera"), a young combo emerging from Germany. UNsurprisingly, this comp features a cover on "Where Eagles Dare", SURPRISingly performed by… NIGHT CONQUERS DAY. What does this black metal act have to do with IRON MAIDEN? Well, if you ask such a question, it seems like you haven't heard any works by Mikael and co. Obviously, "Where Eagles…" strikes as one of the most excellent and intriguing covers off "Children Of The Damned", coming with an utterly different (listen here! - "DIFFERENT!") and somewhat hypnotic sound. Mikael also positively surprised me with his vocal department's development. In the end, I'd like to mention SEASONS OF THE WOLF ("Flash Of The Blade" played in absolutely enigmatic way) and… IRON MAIDEN's cover band, INNOCENT EXILE, whose version of "Futureal" sounds just brilliant! Especially when it comes to (guess what?) singer's timbre and performance's manner. GOOSEFLESH's "Killers" done in hardcorish way sounds definitely inimitable, too. Furthermore, if you'd like to know whose cover appears as the most pathetic one, these are "The Trooper" and "Wrathchild" by DIPHTHERIA and CESSATION OF LIFE. Besides all aforesaid, I feel like I have to inform you that the second CD "Children Of The Damned" comes with, features aforementioned bands' own compositions - and here DELUSION, ASKA, SEASONS OF THE WOLF, NIGHT CONQUERS DAY, MOKSHA, INNOCENT EXILE and GOOSEFLESH seem to be most exciting. I wouldn't say the same regarding others, though… (Herr Stalhammar)

OBSCENE EXTREME 2000
Obscene Productions
rating: -
Compilations always were my headache as a reviewer. In fact, reviewing at least one of a kind is far far worse than getting infected with syphilis, at least that's my view. But no, they keep on arriving to my mailbox, and dammit, what can I do… Nothing, but make an attempt to review 'em, I suppose. This one is already a third comp CD brought forth the light by Czechia's Obscene Productions, and it's not bad at all. The reason I didn't give it a rating is, I'm not really a grindcore freak. Anyway, it's pretty various, obviously featuring mostly grind(core) acts, although there're few exceptions. Such as ISACAARUM (black / death / grind), HYPNOS (melodic death), PANDEMIA (slightly blackened death), PROFANITY (100% death) and LYKATHEA AFLAME (whose style hardly can be defined). Others' stuff vary from straightforward and harsh grinding death metal (FLESHLESS, INGROWING) to noise(and mince)core (f.ex. Hungary's DIN-ADDICT). Thank gods, this CD doesn't feature a track by AGATHOCLES, otherwise I would flush it down the toilet (which in fact has already witness hundreds of pseudo-musical crap). Coming with an absolutely sick appearance (check out the "artwork" and tray card!), it would be a worthy addition to your collection, if you get high on death (and especially) grind(core). (Herr Stalhammar)

PHANTOM LORDS
"A Tribute To Metallica"
Adrenaline Records
rating: 5 of 6
You know what? I just hate reviewing compilation CDs, since I can't manage to say anything besides usual "this comp features this and that band, this cover is good, and another one is a total failure", and so on and so forth… But what the hell, I'm a bad reviewer - especially when I have 20 disks to review during one single day, man! Ok, I'd better mark out the best covers and finish this torture session of mine. I hope you won't mind. So, these are PWR with a bit industrialized version of "Enter Sandman" (this one is somewhat similar to the same cover by DIE KRUPPS, by the way), as well as TEARSTAINED with "From Whom The Bell Tolls" (yeah, the sound is much more raw and unpolished in comparison to all the other bands off this comp… and that's why you know, it's gonna be black metal act), LUNATIC GODS, as always delivering incredibly perturbed, morbid… well, to be honest, schizophrenic soundscape. "Phantom Lord" is a victim of theirs this time… and it's performed with a truly depraved approach to the original composition, no doubts. MOKSHA's "The Four Horsemen" sounds enough energetic, a bit gloomy and highly intriguing… India finally seems to give birth to a worthy metal band. Well, that's it, my friends. Besides cover versions, this comp includes a second CD with bands' own tracks… And here BLACKEND (thrash metal at it's best), MOKSHA (India's "thrashened" heavy metal), TEARSTAINED (raw, atmospheric yet quite melodious black metal) and NUKES (U2-alike stuff!) strike as the most exciting combos. (Herr Stalhammar)

POPKOMM 2000
Hammer Muzik
rating: 6 of 6
What a brilliant piece! If I'm not mistaken, this CD appears as the one featuring various bands signed to Hammer Muzik (premiere Turkish label), and it's definitely worth checking out! At least, I haven't heard anything THAT diverse, THAT attractive and THAT fascinating, for ages. It starts with a track from RADICAL NOISE, whose (rather unorthodox) way of performing hardcore doesn't really excite me, to be honest; however it's far from being a crap. Just not my cup of tea, y'know. Then comes ANTISILENCE, delivering what-the-hell-is-this-noise type of music, maybe a bit too various. HASRET probably is the most splendid band featured on this comp, at least I can't stop listening to this enigmatic piece of… well, let's say "doom metal", although I'm not really sure about their style. Anyway, coming with a grim and somewhat anxious ambience, really HEAVY riffing and breathtaking "clean" vocals (this guy's singing in Turkish, by the way), HASRET undoubtedly is the band worth praising. Besides aforementioned outfits we have pretty well-known acts here, such as CENOTAPH (don't confuse 'em with Mexico's namesakes) whose mixture of intense death metal and grindcore supplemented with utterly inhuman growls, is beyond any critics; badly executed yet still fine gothic doom ETHEREAL TRAVEL comes up with; WITCHTRAP's raw BM… As well as STERILE NOIZ KLAN, COMMA, ASCRAEUS, SOMETHING'S WRONG, SILAHSIZ KUVVET, KARA OFKE and AURAL FLUX. However tracks by NEFRET and ACCELERATION are the ones which completely knocked me down. Nevertheless, NEFRET's rap (!) (sung in Turkish!!) is ok (even though I can't stand this kind of "music"), whilst ACCELERATION deliver something that could be hardly categorized as a cross between techno and oriental melodies (a bit similar to Russia's IVAN KUPALA). So you see, eh? Black metal and rap are neighbors this time… Weird? Definitely. But let me assert that "Popkomm" is one of the best compilations I've gave a listen so far once again. (Herr Stalhammar)

THE ALLIANCE
Emperor Multimedia
rating: 1 of 6 (for the CD's contents in the whole)
        5 of 6 (for DEMACRETIA's tracks)
Perhaps, it's the worst compilation CD I have ever heard! What a musically loathsome nightmare! What an incredibly disgusting collection of most worthless bands from all over the globe! "The Alliance" starts with a really good track by DEMACRETIA, South African combo delivering an excellent mixture of death metal (80%) and industrial. Or better, industrialized death metal. Sounds very good, indeed. But unfortunately, it's the only tune (along with a bonus track, also offered by Jamie Haigh and co.) which doesn't make you immediately vomit. Other so-called "bands", such as UNDERTOW (worthless groovy hard rock attempt), DOUBLE CROSS (worthless glam / hard rock attempt as well), HANKER (not so worthless but still VERY mediocre heavy metal), RAGGEDY ANEURYSM (worthless industrial with a truly good monicker), BRAIN DEAD (worthless death / thrash with a horrible sound) and Ukraine's VIA DOLOROSA (death / doom) fail miserably. Finally, PORNO COMA are quite good, although worse than DEMACRETIA. Their blend of grindcore mixed with death and heavy (!) metal sound enough enjoyable, anyway. So, it seems like Derek McDonald (the one who compiled and released this utter crap) definitely has a very bad taste in music. (Herr Stalhammar)

THE ATTACK OF THE DRAGONS
"A Tribute To Queen"
Adrenaline Records
rating: 5 of 6
And once again, a tribute album in the shape of double CD-set from Adrenaline Records, this time undoubtedly much more interesting, at least if comparing it to "Children Of The Damned" (although you have to know that, as a matter of fact, I never considered myself a QUEEN admirer). It starts off a semi-symphonic "We Will Rock You"-cover by SEASONS OF THE WOLF, which definitely rocks! Followed by rather inexpressive versions of "Killer Queen" and "Save Me" by EVIL WINGS and AVALANCH, it reveals a pure jewel in, legendary "The Show Must Go On" interpreted by truly outstanding US combo, the AZTEC JADE. No words are appropriate to describe the splendor of this composition's resurrected shape. JESSE JONES PROJECT's "Now I'm Here" doesn't appear as anything special - in contrast to "You're My Best Friend" by Marci Geller and "Another One Bites The Dust" by HOTROD OTIS. Marci performs her interpretation of "You're My Best Friend" almost in a country / blues-alike way, and that sounds stunning. As to HOTROD OTIS; they contrived to turn "Another One…" into a unique amalgamation of metal hip-hop, jazz and funk. Freddy Mercury most possibly would like to raise up from the dead in order to find and annihilate Hotrods, if he had a chance to give a listen to this precious depravity, heh heh… VIGHILIA also surprisingly delivered a stupendous cover on "Innuendo"; sublime and utterly horrid in terms of atmosphere - being forced by incredibly grim orchestral synth-work and dreary female voice… Together with AZTEC JADE's "The Show Must Go On", it's the best cover off this CD, no doubts. Ok, what's next? GRAFFITI CIRCUS? Well yes, these guys managed to perform "Dragon Attack" in a funky way, and that sounds great, too. THE LAST BAND ON EARTH's "Fat Bottomed Girls" appears as yet one more surprise, even though it's a positive one. Yet one more depravity, heh heh… Or how else would you name classic QUEEN's piece turned into some of Southern Rock tune? SPREAD MIND's energetic bullshit doesn't bother me, nor does senseless a-capella idiocy by MAYBEBOP. Too bad that such a brilliant compilation ends with such a crap. (Herr Stalhammar)