METALO
“A Latin
Metal Compilation”
Grita! Records
(provided
by Mazur Public Relations)
rating: 4,
5 of 6
This is a
good compilation consisting of fourteen tracks from fourteen bands either
coming from South America’s States or having at least one Latin member
in their lineup (with an exception for two European bands: Portugal’s RAMP
and Spain’s BRUTAL THIN). Well, I believe it turned out as quite successful
venture. Bands presented here are mostly death metal or hardcore (the latter
ones prevail) and fortunately most of them strike as the ones deserving
our attention. Of course, there’re some whose stuff appear of no interest
to me, such as RAIMUNDOS, LABERINTO or RATOS DE PORAO (although it’s my
personal opinion… you may have another point of view regarding it), however
let’s better talk about most exciting acts here. My favorites are: BRUJERIA,
half American / half Mexican band, whose style is death metal with few
elements borrowed from hardcore. Add unholy attitude and excellent low-pitched
vocals (although you can hear every single word), and you’ll see why you
have to check them out. The second one is PUYA, coming from Puerto Rico.
They play some kind of a mixture between death metal, hardcore and flamenco
(?)… well, I don’t know really… let’s better say that their stuff is ‘oriental-influenced’.
Combining hysteric, screaming-alike vocals with “clean” ones, brutality
with syncopated Latin beats, grinding riffs with surprisingly tremendous
and masterly performed leads, PUYA sounds very original and diverse… as
well as incredibly impressive. The third one is RAMP. It’s really hard
to figure out their style; I guess it’s something between heavy metal,
gothic rock and alternative with “clean” vocals, being rather memorable
and pleasant to the ear(s). ILL NINO is also not bad. Comprised of the
former members of M. O. D., PRO-PAIN, MERAUDER and DEMOLITION HAMMER, their
raw and harsh creations lacking any compromises, are loud enough to wake
you up from a drunken sleep. And finally, here comes ARMORED SAINT with
their “Pirates”, an unreleased track from 1989. I bet, most of you are
familiar with this (almost) legendary band, am I right? If not, it feels
like I have to force you to look for any of their recordings and check
‘em out, since it’s goddamn good thrash / heavy metal. (Herr Stalhammar)
ROAD KILL,
Volume 2
“Pavement
Music Compilation”
Pavement
Music
rating: 5
of 6
I can’t say
I like compilations too much, however this one is pretty exciting. Coming
with an amusing appearance reminding me of 50 / 60s ‘space’ films, it consists
of fourteen tracks from Pavement’s bands, unfortunately most of them were
already featured on their regular albums… LUNGBRUSH “Lost” (4 of 6) – this
is pretty damn interesting brutal hardcore band, i.e. they perform this
kind of music the way it was meant to be. This is not some shitty BIOHAZARD-clone,
you know. AION “Killing Time” (6 of 6) – arrgghh, AION’s “Killing Time”
is one of my favorite tracks off this compilation! They used to play exciting
goth / doom / death stuff previously (at least, judging by their “Midian”
CD (1997)), although the newest tracks from them are something different.
It’s some kind of ethereal yet incredibly anxious and gloomy brutal (!)
dark wave / doom metal stuff… ‘grim floating ambience’ is the best way
to describe it, I believe. Seems like I’ll go out and buy “NOIA” (their
second CD) this weekend. VADER “Black To The Blind” (5 of 6) – if I’m not
mistaken, this track was taken from “Live In Japan” CD, since it appears
as live song. Very energetic and intense, true death metal… Well, it’s
just VADER and it looks like any comments are absolutely unnecessary here.
APOPHIS “Behold His Arrival” (3 of 6) – “Behold His Arrival” comes from
“Heliopolis” CD, a second one from Germany’s APOPHIS, which turned out
as a huge disappointment for me. Once they were one of my favorite Europe’s
death metal bands with their sincere, atmospheric and brutal stuff, but
lately their style endured certain metamorphosis… a bad one, I must admit.
Currently, APOPHIS is one of numerous melodic death metal acts… and they’re
just boring. ENDLESS “Doomed” (6 of 6) – seems like I already said enough
in ENDLESS’ “Beauty, Tears And The Setting Sun” review, don’t you think
so? Once again – ENDLESS is one of the best newcomers in the death metal
scene. Check them out! MASTER “Butchered By Numbers” (3 of 6) – yes, I
know, MASTER is a legendary band, but what the hell can I do if this track
appears as absolutely uninteresting, boring and generic death metal? I’ll
pass.
MALEVOLENT
CREATION “Manic Demise” (5, 5 of 6) – too bad, but I couldn’t have a chance
to listen to MALEVOLENT CREATION’s latest effort (“The Fine Art Of Murder”
CD), so I naturally was glad to hear at least one song taken from it. Well,
what can I say… “Manic Demise” sounds excellent. Pure death metal with
great, a bit black metallish vocals by Bret Hoffman (the original vocalist
who now made a comeback). THE MIST “Fangs Of A Pig” (4, 5 of 6) – as far
as I remember, I wrote a review on THE MIST’s “Gottverlassen” CD long time
ago… and it was a positive review of course. This Brazil’s band (featuring
ex-SEPULTURA guitarist) plays intriguing form of brutal thrash metal, somehow
making me to recall SEPULTURA’s “Arise” and “Chaos AD” as well as TESTAMENT’s
“Low” + some FEAR FACTORY. Good. HATE PLOW “Everybody Dies” (3 of 6) –
a bit incomprehensible death / grind / hardcore stuff from one of the MALEVOLENT
CREATION members’ side-project. This is all pro-done, although not exciting
at all. SARCOFAGO “Nightmare” (5, 5 of 6) – the king is back, hail the
king! I already praised this legendary band enough reviewing their “The
Worst” CD… and going to do this once again. Ok, “Nightmare” is great track,
featuring hellish, furious and evil black / death metal from one of the
oldest bands in the world playing this kind of music. OVERDOSE “The Healer”
(5, 5 of 6) – I still think that ‘thrash is dead’, however there’re few
bands that contrive to compose and perform it in a rather excellent way.
Fortunately, OVERDOSE is one of them. No, they’re not similar to THE MIST,
their stuff is utterly diffirent. It’s a bit old-fashioned – and ‘modern’
in the same time. I wouldn’t say that singer has a great voice, however
he manages to do his job skillfully, moreover – he fits the band perfectly.
As to musical accompaniment… read the lines concerning OVERDOSE’s vocalist…
this band’s music may be regarded with the same words. INTERNAL BLEEDING
“Prepare For Extinction” (5 of 6) – hmm, I wonder why didn’t they include
one of the songs from INTERNAL BLEEDING’s latest “Driven To Conquer” CD?
In my view, “Extinction Of Benevolence” (where this track was taken from),
was incredibly less impressive piece… But don’t get me wrong, it was less
impressive ONLY if we’d compare it to “Driven…” which is a masterpiece.
JUNGLE ROT “Left For Dead” (3 of 6) – boring US death metal the way I’ve
heard it thousand times before… Nothing interesting or innovative at all.
CASTIGATE “Invasion” (5 of 6) – wow, this is differs a lot from JUNGLE
ROT! CASTIGATE’s brutal and hateful grinding death metal with a drummachine
sounds enough to burn your fucking brains! A great song for the end…
… and now
let’s play this CD once again! (Herr Stalhammar)
WHERE WE GO,
OTHERS CAN ONLY FOLLOW…
No Fashion
Records compilation CD
rating: 4,
5 of 6
Is it the
first compilation CD from No Fashion Records? Seems like it is. And it’s
also a worthy one. Featuring almost all bands signed to No Fashion, both
‘old’ ones (DECAMERON (hey, where’s the second CD???), ALLEGIANCE, VINTERLAND,
ABLAZE MY SORROW, DARK FUNERAL, MORK GRYNING, LORD BELIAL) and new signings
(NOCTES, HYPOCRITE, INSANIA, OPHTHALAMIA, etc), it’s a perfect way to get
yourselves acquainted with what No Fashion’s horde. Unfortunately,
there’re no ‘special’ tracks here, with an exception for KING DIAMOND’s
cover, “The Trial”, performed by DARK FUNERAL (my favorite tune off this
CD!) and few tracks from upcoming albums (which are already unleashed).
This should be yours if you either have only few CD’s from No Fashion or
don’t have any at all. Others may pass. (Herr Stalhammar)