VIBRATIONS OF DOOM MAGAZINE
ISSUE #13
BY: STEVEN CANNON
Yep, back with our 13th issue and our 3rd year in publication! Let me just say
that it has been a tough three years, and even though we haven't always been
consistent with deadlines, it's still been fun and hope you all will still
be with us! I have recently found a few back issues through massive searches
through my disk library, if anyone else can help me locate earlier issues,
please drop me a line email or snail!
The greatest news I can bring to you is now we have RealAudio online! For
those of you who aren't familiar with this little gem of a program, it will
now allow us to give you a greater selection of musical files to listen to,
and the best part of all is we can offer you longer music time and shorter
file size! To give you an example: a 1 minute 30 second clip of a song, BEFORE
any sort of file compression (saved in .wav format) is about 2.5 megs long!
That SAME file, compressed in our old vocpack utility file was about 1.3 or
1.4 meg long, sometimes 1.7 or 1.8 depending on the type of music. NOW, this
file is an unbelievable 160k! That's right, roughly 1/7th of a meg! You should
see about 30-40 music files online, with hopefully 2 from each band we do!
This, as we said, is an exciting feature for us and we know you'll want to
check out all the sound files from ALL our bands, since the file size is so
small! It makes downloading time virtually nonexistent, especially for those
of you with modems slower than 28.8!
One other thing before we give you addresses and what not. We have a few new
features this time around, due to a number of requests we are now giving
point ratings for our reviews. That's right, from now on our reviews get
ratings based on a 0-100 scale. We thought this would be great for people to
see how we match up compared to other reviewers. And finally, I would like to
introduce you all to Chris, our newest V.O.D. member who will be helping me
take up the slack on doing reviews! Issue #13 promises to be our biggest and
best yet, with more exciting things to come! Look at our web page address for
all those sound files and back issues. The address is:
http://www.transarc.com/afs/transarc.com/public/mirv/vod_home.html
Send yer stuff (bios, reviews, interviews, whatever!) to:
Vibrations of Doom Magazine
c/o Steven Cannon
1133 East 53rd Street
Savannah, Georgia 31404 USA
Contact us via email at: ax487@freenet.uchsc.edu OR
cannon01@freenet.tlh.fl.us <---- this is a new one.
Bye the weigh, please note that Chris and I both have different standards and
ideas about how to rate the CD's, so our numerical ratings may not be a
reflection of each other. In other words, his rating are his and mine are mine!
And in case yer wondering, it's not like grade school, A-F style. 0 is awful,
100 is perfect, and 50 is somewhat inbetween. You should be able to figure the
rest out.
Let's dew it!
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RECORD REVIEWS:
ZERO DEFECTS "Thoughtographic" (Zoth Ommog) SCORE: 62/100
Fresh on the heels of their brilliant release "Non-Recycleable," this hot
German industrial unit presents a strange yet interesting little 6 song EP.
The first track "Stagediver," like the rest of the songs (save a different mix
of "End Of...") feature some very strange lyrics! The sinister overtones are
still there, and the end of "Stagediver" features a saxophone medley, while
"Flat Lux" and "Monogen" feature guest female vocals! This mini album took a
little while to grow on me; "Headageddon" ran a little too long and had some
strange instrumentation towards the end, and there were some strange trance
notes interspersed on a couple of other tracks. All in all, it showcases very
little of the formula that made 'Non-Recycleable' such a success, hopefully we
will see a new album from Zero Defects soon.
THE MIST "Gottverlassen" (Cogumelo Records) SCORE: 88/100
Now, before you go writing this off as another Sepultura clone, let me just
say that they write some catchy material! There are some menacing riffs,
the guitars are thrashy and crunchy at the same time, and there is a good bass
riff even on "Jesus' Land." "Jailmind Man," "Breath of Nothing," and
"Godforsaken" all showcase some brutal riffs, simple on most but very, very
effective. "Jailmind Man" is probably one of their best tracks, full of catchy
riffs and sinister! The vocalist has a little of the Max Cavalera sound, but
at a lower tone, at times a bit more menacing without screaming. There were a
few songs that ran a little too long, and they do need to check their english
a little more, but the riffs they write are so catchy, even "Drop Dead" has a
cool groove to it. They have been around for quite some time now, and this
album shows a band with lots of promise.
SWAMP TERRORISTS "Killer" (Metropolis Records) SCORE: 85/100
This newest release (besides 'Wreck' which is mostly remixes, see noteworthy
items section) has a good blend of hip hop beats, groundbreaking thrash/rock
guitar work, and spoken style vocals that are not distorted! It makes for an
interesting record, though many have already stated that this album is too
rock oriented, this is especially true on tracks like "Vivid Cell," and
"Wreck." Most of the songs are put together well, and for the critics of
industrial that state guitars are overused, at least they blend with the rest
of the instrumentation. Synths and programming are also highlighted here,
"Weapon Killer" sounds like a commercial for a movie with its many samples
and atmospherics. There were a few things I didn't like here, but before I go
into that let me say that "Dive-Right Jab," "Shape of Rage," and "Wreck"
sound like very good club tracks. First off, the lyrics on one song sounded
kinda silly: "take care at the job!" Huh? Also, the female vocals should have
been scrapped on "Dicksmoker." "Full Killer" seemed a bit unneccessary, but I
had to find that one interesting as it utilized fast hardcore style techno
with breaks and leads! There's a lot here that I enjoyed, much more so than
their previous effort on Re-Constriction Records 'Combat Shock.' And I must
mention "Blast It" with the tribal drums and funky, thrashy guitars!
MORTIIS "Reiser av en dimension ukjent" (Cold Meat Industry) SCORE: 92/100
I was thoroughly impressed by this masterpiece which is described as "dark
dungeon music for kings." The music is wonderful synth, male monk style
chants, and a very medieval sound! This is the sort of music one might hear in
the days of merry old England as the royal guards roll out the red carpet for
the king who marches his way to his throne amidst a room full of his admirers.
There are only two tracks, which I assume are entitled (in order) "Journeys
to Deserts and Dungeons," and "Emperor of an Unknown Dimension." My one major
complaint? He let the music get a little too repetitive on the first track,
there are some variations but it's nearly 25 minutes long, as is the other
track! However he does throw a few breaks in the music, so it's not really
meant to be one long synth piece. His mood and tempo are dead on, emotionally
this piece really hit home. If conjuring up fantasies of the knights of the
round table, the cold dark forests where magic and supernatural beings live,
or grand battles and victories of the great Middle Ages has any appeal to you
at all, you will want to check this out. By the way, the length of the tracks
may not appeal to all, but one must admit that the moods are definitely there!
It held my interest the entire way through!
GRAVE "Hating Life" (Century Media Records) SCORE: 99/100
A welcome return of guitarist Ola Lindgren to the position of vocalist! This
is a very solid release for Grave, very VERY mature songwriting and some ultra
brutal riffs! Especially on tracks like "Harvest Day," and "Winternight," the
vocals, while reminding me of the Entombed style, get very harsh and vicious,
while the instrumentation is sometimes crushingly slow and brutal. Quite a
winner we have here, for those into heavy, heavy death metal, this album is
a must! I liked every single track on this one! Gone it seems are the gore
filled lyrics so typically found within death metal these days, but there's
no reason for that to stop you! Nice work, guys, now how about another tour
to go along with it?
SOUNDS FROM THE GROUND "Kin" (Waveform Records) SCORE: 78/100
The thing that hit me most is that this group is very hypnotic, slow and
mesmerising! Best described as ambient music with conga drums and light
jungle beats, with sometimes very beautiful instrumentaton! On tracks like
"Over There," "Gather," and "Loaf," you can hear the deep bass beats that
aren't too heavy, but inject a funky, mellow mood! The extensive, rich and
very layered atmospheric landscapes along with the beautiful trance notes on
"Over There" and "Loaf" made for very relaxed listening, but on the contrast,
"Seven Sisters," "Down To The Woman" and "Where The Wild Things Are" somewhat
ruined the mood of the rest of the CD, albeit briefly on "Where The Wild
Things Are," that track more than made up for the somewhat dull intro with
rich piano notation! 5 out of 8 really ain't bad, and it is guaranteed to
put you into a relaxing mood. "Gather" would even make a nice club track!
DIN_FIV "Infinity" (Metropolis Records) SCORE: 89/100
"I'll have my harshness with a side order of melodic atmosphere!" This is just
the catch of the day around here, utilizing a harsh electro-industrial sound
vocal wise (reminds me somewhat a cross between 'Land of Rape and Honey' era
Ministry and Skinny Puppy) and heavy dance beats mixed with some beautiful
electronic synth landscapes. The best thing about Din_Fiv is that the formula
WORKS: They actually use both moods quite frequently, and I have to say that
there are a great number of cuts, especially "Time of Death," "Ball & Chain,"
and "Let it Go" which make for great club tracks. Good to dance to, great to
get an overall harsh industrial feel. The bummers on this disc were the rather
80's style metallish lyrics on "Not Our Love," (gee, Poison could have written
that) and "Insanity is Contagious," an instrumental that is quite good except
for the opening minute or two. The other instrumental "Atonement" is quite
good in itself, and the samples are not overrepetitive like some other bands I
have heard. A very nice release, one that avid clubgoers and casual industrial
fans should appreciate!
GITANE DEMONE "With Love and Dementia" (Cleopatra Records) SCORE: 63/100
The Queen of Goth is still moving strong with her solo career after departing
from Christian Death. Recorded live in Cannes, France, Demone has changed her
sound in a lot of good and bad ways, and will probably never match the gloom
and diversity she displayed in Christian Death. She does an amazing new
version of "Gloomy Sunday" that has a completely different tune. It still
holds on to a strong goth feel, but she gets a little off key at times, as she
also does on a few other songs. "Possession" delivers a gothic style all her
own Christian Death never had. "Somewhere" reminds me of a night club song
with a glittery dressed female crooning beside a grand piano, and other songs
like "Sleepwalk" and "Tales of Innocence" were rather bad. -- (Review by Chris
J. Waters)
DOWNLOAD "Sidewinder" (Nettwerk Productions) SCORE: 92/100
Once the side project of Skinny Puppy that included the late Dwayne R. Goettel
(1964-1995), but now it seems the rest of Skinny Puppy have united to make
this a continued effort. They moved from Cleopatra back to their original
label and have REALLY polished up their sound since the 'Microscopic' EP. The
quality of this disc is outstanding - in fact, almost the best I've heard in
industrial dance/trance music. Reminiscent of Skinny Puppy, it is almost
completely instrumental and a little slower in tempo to give it more of a
meditative mood. What really amazes me, though, is that this EP is a sound
sculpture that creates clear, three dimensional sounds and weaves them into a
perfect song. Listen to it through headphones and you'll see what I mean. When
you listen to "Sidewinder," you'll hear broken glass shards that sound like
they are being thrown on the floor all around you. However, I was disappointed
with the track "Im5" because it is not very creative and rather dull, but this
is a small imperfection on an otherwise great disc, one which lacks the
annoying repetition that many instrumental techno/industrial EP's have to
offer! -- (Review by Chris J. Waters)
DESULTORY "Swallow the Snake" (Metal Blade Records) SCORE: 94/100
I REALLY enjoyed listening to this. For death metal it is quite different.
What we have here is a vocal style that borders on extreme hardcore/death
style, the dual vox work well here, but the instrumentation is the thing!
On tracks like "Mushroom Smile," "Blizzard in My Blood" (haven't heard death
metal that uses a warped echo sound similar to the Phaseshifter!) and
"Before Today, Beyond Tomorrow," it's quite obvious that the trio has done
some drug experimentation! The guitar riffs are quite choppy, they are not
as overtly distorted as they are alterna-psychedelic-hard rock sounding, but
at the same time they retain a certain heaviness that is undeniably catchy!
Had to take a few points off for the song "Beneath," though, the singing
style doesn't work well here. That bass guitar is quite moving, especially on
the quiet part of "In My Veins" and "Swallow the Snake." It combines lots of
groove, smooth melody, and a heaviness that makes for a killer record! Also,
check out "Nothing Dies" where they sound a bit doomy in a Tiamat vein.
"Silent Suffering" ends the disc perfectly, and all in all it's very
refreshing without losing that catchy, heavy death metal style!
ARCKANUM "Fran Marder" (Necropolis Records) SCORE: 69/100
"Trollish Black Metal" is how this is described, and for the most part it is a
little atypical black metal. The first two tracks didn't do much for me, but
by the time "Svinna" hit the player I was getting more interested! Shamaatae's
vocals are very vicious, especially on the track "Baergeet" where his screech
is very high pitched! On that track also, he utilized female vocals which
blend quite nicely with the somewhat lenient atmosphere of the rest of the
disc. The majority of the instrumentation is speed, but he does inject quite a
few slower riffs into the mix. The guitars are not too overtly distorted and
mostly high end, though some tracks did have a little overrepetition in the
instrumentation department. The flute intro was a nice touch at the beginning,
albeit a little long, and the synthesized effects added a mysterious, deep
heart of the forest touch. Said to be the first in a series of 4, I am looking
forward to hearing more, as this showcased some potential!
PUISSANCE "Let Us Lead" (Cold Meat Industry) SCORE: 47/100
The name Puissance is supposed to mean power or divine strength. The concept
here somewhat loses it's meaning when the mini biography further states that
the composers are of unsound mind, which is quite evident when listening to
the CD. The music is best described as a cross between Apotheosis' "O Fortuna"
without the techno beats and electro music, in other words, it contains the
classical style music with Enigma style chanting at times, there are also some
beautiful piano notes on "Dance in The Sulphur Garden." A lot of the stuff on
here tends to drag out a bit longer than necessary, however some of the
compositions I could somewhat appreciate for their power and intensity, though
the structures are a bit off. There are slight industrial tendencies on tracks
like "To Reap the Bitter Crops of Hate," where the beats are rather mechanical
sounding. Of the 8 tracks on here, most have spoken word lyrics, which on the
track "Control" got very annoying. I could appreciate what they were trying to
do, in a rather twisted innovative sense they bring classical music to a power
filled frenzy, though most of the compositions were just way too out in left
field for me. I'll leave it up to you to decide, sound samples from them are
included on the web site, however my overall opinion is that the structure and
length of the songs needed more work.
STIFF MINERS "Giselle" (Hard Records/Cleopatra) SCORE: 67/100
The premiere Russian industrial act has been described as a hybrid of Test
Department, Laibach, and Einsturzende Neubauten. The vocals are rather low
tone and slightly harsh, something which I found rather interesting, though
Dmitry's lyrics are a little hard to get through on some tracks. The electro
noises are sometimes quite interesting, though on the opener "Giselle" they
are VERY annoying (that organ music gets old after a few seconds). They work
a lot of their material in a heavy format, often quite uptempo and danceable,
though quite a few songs are obviously needing work in structure, but maybe
that's what appeals them to me so much. Actually, the song that really made
me want to hear their debut CD was "S.L.O.N. (Secrets of the Universe)" that I
saw on the Industrial Revolution videotape! This song is written surprisingly
well, it's a shame that the rest of their material isn't as well polished as
this one song, though I did enjoy the harder numbers that were a little easier
to listen to, like "Fire," and "Treachery Smell." Obviously needing more work,
they have a good sound, and I really dug those electro guitar riffs on "Fun."
Many may find the approach a little refreshing, though most others will have
a few favorite tracks while avoiding the others. Either way it deserves a
listen.
SLUDGE "Sweet Daisy" (Godhead Records) SCORE: 41/100
The most interesting thing about this 4 song CD is the last track, "Fly Away,"
in which the lead singer amazingly sounds like Cantrell from Alice in Chains!
It was neat to hear an Alice in Chains style voice put to sludgy doom metal.
The band name sludge is very appropriate, though I must say that even though
some will say it's quite original, these songs are WAAAAY too long! "Sweet
Daisy" is 10 minutes long! And the guitar riffs on the lead track got very
annoying, at times the VOCALS get annoying. "Long I Thought" had an intro that
reminded me of Ozzy's "Perry Mason" and as is typical with the rest of the
songs here, trundles on for way too long before you get to hear any lyrics.
I was definitely interested by the Alice in Chains meets doom/sludge style
they presented on the last track, but even that ran a little too long, and
maybe I could have even liked the 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' style
Candlemass riffing on "Loneliness," but overall it just didn't have much
substance for me.
ELECTRIC SKYCHURCH "Together" (Moonshine Music) SCORE: 28/100
A strange hybrid of jungle, light ethereal ambience mixed with female vocals
that are more annoying than interesting, this rather lengthy album didn't
interest me much. The only track that was of any interest to me was "Deus"
and that one track had the vocals sounding sweet against a rather enjoyable
mellow background. Some tracks were rather smooth, like "Ascension," and "Ex
Machina," though their length and the vocals ruined the mood for me, and a
couple of tracks sounded very similar. "Abyss" had overrepetitive use of
tribal beats, and "Sunrise" was rather plain and uninspiring, Roxanne's voice
really ruined this one for me. Overall, I think they should try and stick
to the ambient soundscape, of which they did a poor job of, and lose the
singer.
OUT OUT "Nisus" (Metropolis Records) SCORE: 97/100
Mark Alan Miller, a.k.a. Out Out, really shows his masterminding creativity on
this entry of pure industrial dementia! He blends the beats, guitar samples,
and overtones of modern heavy metal with swirling synthesizers of brooding
industrial dance, giving us one hell of a CD! The sounds on this CD are
extremely high tech, almost like hearing heavy thrash metal with more than
just guitars! That's what I liked about this; being heavy as hell without
losing the industrial feel by overloading on guitars. Modern technology is
great, isn't it? "No. 5 United is very sinister, with heavy guitar samples,
twitching synths all over the place, and some three dimensional rattles! "E&E"
is another one of my favorites, and I feel he should have used this intensity
on more of the vocal tracks throughout the CD. "Blacklist" pounds with 'We
decide the order we control all the time.' Pretty strong, eh? Overall, though,
this is one of the best industrial CD's I've ever heard; a complete artwork
of futuristic distortion! -- (Review by Chris J. Waters)
NAPALM DEATH "Diatribes" (Earache Records) SCORE: 48/100
I'm not a big fan of death metal/grindcore these days, but I've always enjoyed
frequent doses of fury by Napalm Death. However, this new release lacks a hell
of a lot of bite. It's a little more alternative than usual (from the opening
riff) and they lack many of their trademarked speedy parts. Keep your hopes up
though, because they still downtune their guitars for that classic death metal
edge! One of the many changes on this CD is the vocal variations. On "Cursed
to Crawl," Greenway does hardly ANY growls, he just tries to sound like a
tough guy (and it sucks!) However, the variation worked on "Cold Forgiveness"
as he gives this one an extremely dark, sinister sound. As far as their
changes go, this is the only one that works on the disc. "Ripe for the
Breaking" starts off with extreme double bass and some of their traditional
grindcore speed, but it all settles down to occasional acoustic arpeggios?
Since when did N.D. start doing this crap? Leave that out and it would be a
great song. The lyrics still meet N.D. standards; harsh, biting and full of
anti-Nazi protests. On "Diatribes," Greenway growls "Bite the bit, scream
'till you're blue in the face!" This is one of the better songs as well.
Towards the end of the CD their true sound is revealed again, I think because
they realized they were doing it wrong! "Dogma" is an example of what would
have been on 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair,' brutal as hell and technologically
advanced. Sadly, that's what a lot of this CD lacks, and I wish they had done
it in true N.D. style. At least they're not screwing up like Metallica (at
least, let's hope not!) -- (Review by Chris J. Waters) -- (sheesh! Yet
ANOTHER Metallica bashing session? Let's drop that one, Chris. There's been
enough of that in EVERY music newsgroup on the net! - Ed.)
DARXTAR "Sju" (SBm Sweden) SCORE: 51/100
Their bio states that they have quite a different sound this time around, sort
of branching out and trying new things. I must admit that I wasn't extremely
impressed with the space rock newcomers' newest release. There are 5 songs
here, the total playing time of the disc is over 40 minutes long! Needless to
say, there are many LONG passages on all their songs. However, let me just say
that "7" is easily the best track on here, and though it's 16 minutes long,
it's worth every second! It sounds rather Pink Floyd'ish and is more
straightforward instrumentation wise: there is more emphasis on the guitar
work which can be very intricate than on the light spacey synth effects. I
could trip on that one song! "Obstakel" opens the disc as a rather chaotic
instrumental. "This Alien Nation" has touches of Hawkwind courtesy of their
Robert Calvert years song "Ejection," and has a wierd violin intro and even
wierder instrumentation throughout. "Eastern Wind" starts out very beautifully
but like most of the other tracks soon delves into some wierd patterns and
loses it's trippy feeling. "It's Enough" was the biggest surprise: imagine
doom metal ala Sabbath with some short, crunching riffs and a screaming vox
in places! I started enjoying this one until they got to some strange
instrumentation. Even though for all purposes it's an EP, three songs halfway
does not a great album make. They still know how to write good tunes, they
just seem to have let their talents slide a little. And I must say that this
is what made Hawkwind unbearable at times, when their song structures got
chaotic and out of hand (though they did this a lot less frequently than
Darxtar, and it was more spread out over several albums) I like some of what I
heard but I didn't hear enough of what I liked.
KILGORE SMUDGE "Blue Collar Solitude" (Unisound/Warner Bros.) SCORE: 97/100
WOW! This release snuck out of nowhere and piledrove me into the concrete!
I must say this is truly original, bizarre, twangy and heavy as all hell! I
don't even know how to describe such a thing to you, but I'll try! Vocals are
the first thing that floors you, I laughed quite a bit when I heard the
vocals: Twangy, sorta countryfied slang with a heavy death metal accentuation.
BUT, what really floored me, besides the overall heaviness of the crunchy
distorted guitars, reminiscent of Crowbar, Clutch and some other heavy stuff I
can't place my thoughts upon, is the melodies! Yep, 'cause they do SO much
interesting variations, they also have an alternative style present, and their
choruses, especially on "Metamorphosis" (which we digitized for ya) are very
soothing, melodic, and he also SINGS! I can't think of too much I DIDN'T like
about this CD, the style still floors me! "Blue Collar Zen" has some awesome
pounding bass lines, most of the tracks here are slow and crunchy, but they do
SO many variations, and the songs are no more than 4 minutes in length each;
they get in, kill, and get out! Which was a tad disappointing, only because I
wanted to hear SO much more! Vastly different, very original, and to mind
comes one of two things: Either these guys took a LONG time to work on this
particular style, or they knew they had the right formula and knew they could
crank out tunes in no time flat. In either case this comes HIGHLY recommended
by yours truly; very VERY different, and after you've finished tripping on the
vocals, you'll be floored by mosh-worthy riffs and mellowed by cool
alternative chorus lines!
ABIGOR "Opus IV" (Napalm Records) SCORE: 72/100
I can tell that the members of Abigor are quite proficient at their craft, and
this album seems to be two EP's put together, the first one being 'Horns Lurk
Beyond the Stars,' the second being 'Blut aus Aeonen.' I must say that I found
the second EP much more musically diverse than the first one! Though Abigor's
trademarks are their hyper speed riffs, very full and intricate guitar riffs,
and a drummer that has double bass frenzy, their second EP surprised the hell
out of me, utilizing MANY acoustic passages, flutes, and medieval style
guitars! "A Breath From Worlds Beyond" starts off with female backing vox,
"The Elder God" has many short acoustic riffs thrown into the mix, and
"Dimensions of Thy Unforgiven Sins Part II" threw me completely for a loop,
with beautiful flutes, cold eerie north winds, and acoustics! Though they are,
as I said, quite proficient at what they do, there are MANY times when I want
to hear black metal inject more melody into their hyper speed and hellish
vocals, which Abgor has done quite nicely. Though the rating scorewise comes
from the fact that more often than not the majority of tracks, especially
evident in the first E.P. 'Horns...,' are inundated with speed riffs. The vox
are quite hellish, and there are some ultra low toned spoken word pieces
mixed throughout some tracks. All in all it was interesting listening!
Lovesliescrushing "Xuvetyn" (Projekt Records) SCORE: 75/100
I never thought I would hear noise that I would actually like! When I say
noise, I mean noise in the style of like Merzbow, Namanax, and other bands
like that who are more known in the Orient than here in the States. However,
I must say the female vocals are what really sets this group apart from the
competition! To be sure, there are some noise compositions that I felt were
out of place with the rest of the music, like "Static Burst" with those
annoying and out of place emergency broadcast network beeps, "Monar" with some
VERY harsh distorted guitar, and a few other short noise tracks. They throw
everything in the mix here, from the famed e-bow, vibrator, drum programs and
all sorts of guitars, mostly harshly distorted but in a beautiful way! At
least the "noise" segments are controlled and contribute to the overall
feelings of tranquility and beauty the duo is trying to present. "Virgin Blue
Eyed" is the only piece that had nothing but bell notes repeated and Melissa's
intoxicating voice only, her wonderful vocal effects give this whole work a
dimension of it's own. Lots of tracks I could see myself relaxing to, but I
will admit that some DID run a little longer than they should. 18 tracks,
over 60 minutes of music, for those who don't particularly like the whole
genre of noisecore, you may find this a little more palatable. Fans of the
Artifical Intelligence series on Wax Trax may also enjoy this, but you should
give it a listen first. Did I also mention they use forks, paint scrapers,
nails and metal rulers? It's true man!
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INTERVIEWS:
SPAHN RANCH. Interview with Athan.
As many of you know, I have been following Spahn Ranch ever since they
released 'The Blackmail Starter's Kit' some time ago, and even did a review of
their latest effort, 'The Coiled One.' Unbeknownst to me, there was an
incredible first release by them that I only got to hear two weeks before I
conducted this interview. Titled 'Collateral Damage,' it is an incredibly
harsh, ultra distorted and brutal album that has a strange history, as Athan
relates: "At the time, one of the members of Spahn Ranch was living in New
York, and he was sending tapes of stuff that he was doing to us to work with.
We actually had a week to record 'Collateral,' and as you can hear it has a
lot of immediacy to it. And that's not a week straight, by any means, it's
more like a week total time. I had joined the band three weeks before we had
to go in and do the recording, so there wasn't much time at all." Interesting
to hear are Athan's notations on the whole recording process for 'Collateral
Damage:' "Back then we used so much distortion and so many effects on the
vocals that it made it very easy to write vocal parts. You can hear the over
the top distortion that is present on the CD. When you pull all the music out
and you're just speaking into a microphone and you have headphones on, you can
whisper and it will run, it will trail off and run into something; it's like
an anti-melody but there's still something that comes out you can hear! It's
almost like your voice becomes a screwed up keyboard. I remember just
breathing into the microphone, doing little chants and things, and they seemed
to work out rather well." And he has made this a trademark, also using the
whispered style vocals on more recent albums, as he further elaborates: "I
think I learned that it creates a lot of really nice subtle padding in many
ways. I don't want to use it too much, but it can fill some dead air sometimes
or usually you run with it and it works, but you can overdo it. Basically it's
just like harmonizing."
Lyrically, they have been asked a lot about their songs influences,
especially since there is no lyric sheet for 'Collateral.' "It's more of a
paste up effect for lyrics on our first album," Athan states. "I guess you
could call it a stream of consciousness. Lots of things may not make sense to
the average reader. A lot of my writing and reading influences are not very
apparent in my lyrics, because they're kinda corny and go so far outside the
normal spectrum that drawing a connection to them wouldn't make any sense.
We were watching a LOT of movies during the recording of 'Collateral' and so
we used quite a bit of samples from what we watched. There are usually strong
religious overtones to things I write; not necessarily from any stance or
things like that, but I was brought up with it. Sometimes you can take real
extreme references from the bible and use them sort of as adjectives as
opposed to using words. An individual or a myth's name can be used and I'll
run with that. I can't seem to get away from it, so much has been written
about it over the past 2,000 years, it's kinda of hard for me to stay away
from it. I had a strict religious upbringing, and the bible is so fairytale
like that certain names will mean certain things, for example Cain means evil,
Abel means good, and it's a cool way to bring a certain image with a certain
name."
Spahn Ranch was one of the first industrial bands I ever saw live that used
an actual set of electronic drums rather than just someone pushing buttons in
the background. Harry plays the electronic drums "like a regular rock kit
drummer. The change was not real easy for him since he's so used to playing
on a regular kit. He's a rather old fashioned drummer, and I've been playing
in bands with him for about 6 or 7 years. We were in two different bands
before we were in Spahn Ranch and he moved out to L.A." Speaking of tours, I
asked him about shows that Spahn Ranch has played, and Athan vividly remembers
his first tour: "It was rather bad! It was exciting to be out on the road, and
it beats working and it was a godsend in many ways. There were many things
here in L.A. I was trying to get away from, but it was a real bare bones tour
and there was no money involved. Lots of dates were poorly booked, the
distances were vast, we did 25 or 30 shows and covered 14-15 thousand miles
all around. The tour was with a band STG (Screaming to God - Ed.) and Clay
People from Albany. In some cities the crowd response was quite good, but
like I said there were many shows that were oddly booked, lots of people had
never seen a show like this before. In the bigger cities we played some really
decent shows. What made it worse was that I was the only driver, and we had to
sleep in the van. In addition to the Hellfire show, the best tour we did by
far, we also did a tour with the 'Blackmail Starter's Kit' EP. We haven't done
a whole lot of shows opening for bands, ideally everyone wants to open up for
KMFDM or Ministry. We did do some shows out here with Death Ride 69, we played
with Babyland once, 16 Volt, and others."
Though they have obviously moved on, with Athan doing more singing on their
newer releases than just utilizing distortion and harshness, Spahn Ranch is
one up and coming band that is taking industrial to interesting new heights.
Composing melody and singing harmonies is not something that most industrial
bands are utilizing to it's fullest potential. A final thought that should
make you think, and I'll let Athan carry this point home: "The thing about
'Collateral Damage' and 'The Coiled One,' the major sound difference in the
two albums is due to two different writers: on 'Collateral' Rob was the key
writer, and on 'Coiled One' Matt was the main writer, and although they both
wrote songs on all albums, you have two different people in control of the
sound, and it's amazing how ones person's influence can drastically change the
sound of an album. I wonder also, what 'Collateral' would sound like if you
pull all the distortion out of the album; especially my vocals! You'd be able
to hear a lot more of my voice, and actually Matt got me to sing a lot more
with 'Coiled One.' I wonder too if distortion was created for guys who can't
sing!"
PRO-PAIN. Interview with Rob Moschetti.
Pro-Pain is a band that has definitely earned their place in the hardcore
scene, after releasing their debut 'Foul Taste of Freedom' back in 92, 'Truth
Hurts' in 94, and in 1996 have unleashed upon the world 'Contents Under
Pressure.' Fans of Pro-Pain may find it a bit of a return to old school
hardcore, as is very evident by the whole process of recording the CD, as Rob
points out: "It was recorded in my house, produced entirely by us; we even did
the artwork ourselves. The cover is very basic, we pulled no punches with this
album; we felt like that's what the band has always been like live. We get up
there and play the tunes, we don't get up there and do any preaching or any
talking during the set, just get up there and do our business. That approach
works for us, and that's even the way we recorded the album; just get up there
and slaughter!" The writing of the CD this time around was a collaberated
effort as well, instead of just Gary doing the writing, as he did for the
first two albums, Rob got to contribute a little to the writing of material on
the album: "I was able to write 'Gunya Down' on this album. The majority of
the tunes here were thrown together by Gary with some input from the rest of
us. But basically, the only influences I had to draw on when writing for Pro-
Pain was Pro-Pain the band itself. I wrote a bunch of songs that were really
heavy, they just weren't in the direction of this record or even in the
direction that this band was going. I try to gear myself towards the format of
Pro-Pain which we established during our first two albums. I find that if you
stray too far from the format of your band, you may end up shooting yourself
in the foot. We don't want to surprise anyone, we want to satisfy people, and
I think we do a good job of maintaining our name and maybe even pushing it a
little further."
The subject quickly dipped over to other genres of music, where I find it
very interesting that there are bands like Metallica who totally change their
sound, and bands like Pro-Pain who maintain their respective sound, have very
meaningful lyrics, and in my opinion get total respect for what they do. How
do they feel about their position in the whole scene, and their opinion on the
scene? Rob was pretty straightforward about what goals they are trying to
accomplish, and it's easy to see just how down to earth they are, as he
relates: "We're not trying to be like Pantera or Sepultura or anything like
that. We're happy with what we do and we wouldn't be honest if we were up
there with those guys. We're a club band mostly, occasionally we play Europe
and the States, we do festivals sometimes, but our home is in the clubs and
small theaters and stuff. We try to stay focused and not go out with bigger
bands and try to break their crowd, because it's just not an interest for us.
The fans that are true to THIS scene are our main concern, and I don't
consider anyone who has a huge label behind them part of the underground or
hardcore scene. We have nobody behind us except the band and our fans!" Well,
what about Energy Records, who have been supportive of their efforts since day
one? "They just let us do what we want since we sell a few records for them,
probably the most for their label. We are in full control of what happens with
Pro-Pain, they just print the records when they're done. As far as tours and
promotional matters, WE do most of the work ourselves, it's good for the scene
in the underground. You don't have to be flavor of the week or anything."
In that respect, then, it may be good for some to remember WHY you became a
band in the first place. I know a lot of bands that once they get a record
contract and the million dollar deals they change their whole attitude about
the scene they are in, and they forget that the money is great and all that,
but that's not WHY you said you wanted to be in a band in the first place.
You're out there because you have a fan base and once you deviate from the fan
base you start to lose a little respect. I know in the hardcore scene respect
is a BIG plus, it's kind of a big deal and it's not just thrown at you, it's
also about integrity. Rob and I agree strongly about this fact, and he was not
exactly the first to let me know just how the record industry is: "Every day
is very important to us, for starters. We play every show as good as we can,
and people come up to us and say they like what we're doing, so we know we're
doing our job. When I first started in this business years ago, what I REALLY
wanted more than money was to be a priority to people, people in the business
know who you are and know what you do and respect it. But then I find out that
the whole business is full of liars and thieves, so it's like 'I wanted to be
respected by liars and thieves,' so I do it strictly for myself and the kids
that are into us. As for bands we play with, like Sick of It All, Biohazard,
etc. they stand by our stage and they watch, and when we're done they respect
us because we went up there and did everything as hard as we could."
Tour wise, as we mentioned earlier, they have been getting out quite a bit
lately, and I asked Rob to run down a few shows they played and what some of
their favorite gigs were, as they just got back home from doing about 5 months
of dates on the road: "We did shows in Europe, in Holland we played to 80,000
people with Motorhead last week. We did another show with Slayer and Venom in
Holland with about 100,000 people at the beginning of the tour. Those shows
are all out of our element, but it's great for us because we go up their and
kill, give the bands a run for their money. The Dynamo tour in particular was
generating great press for us, they were the ones that said we gave lots of
bands a run for their money, we the underdogs. Basically we had nothing to
lose and a whole lot to gain!"
There's not a whole lot of bands that are getting top mention in the
hardcore scene, but that in no way diminishes it's effect. The scene today, as
related by Rob, has some good bands in it that are working to stay at the top
of their genre, bands like some Rob has worked with; "There's bands like
Madball, Sick of It All, us of course, Biohazard is up there on Warner
Brothers but they are still pretty hardcore. There's a few other bands running
around and I like the scene for hardcore." Had he heard of Buzzoven, though,
was my curiosity, as they have played here in Savannah several times and are
friends with many local bands here: "Haven't heard from them much, really
haven't got to check them out at all. Anything that kids are gonna have fun
at, whether it's metal, punk, hardcore or whatever. Some of these shows we've
been to we were the ONLY hardcore band on the bill, and we were afraid at
first but we were able to make people go crazy for us. I'm even somewhat into
the straight edge scene, anything that is positive is good, though some have
gone too far with it. Whatever you do and believe in that is positive I think
it's cool, if you are in some kind of group for negative reasons, or for sheer
hate, then I am very much against that, and you know? I am not even against
that because if I vehemently opposed it then I would be just like them.
Whatever you believe is your own business. People ask me questions about that
sexuality crap too, and it's all fine but it's none of my business. I don't
want to know about it and don't rub it in my face. I won't judge you for your
beliefs and don't judge me for mine."
Finally, as we wrap this up, Rob has a message for those who haven't had a
chance to hear Pro-Pain live or on record: "If you want us to prove ourselves
before you go buy the new record, come to any show and talk to me even before
the show, I'll get you in for free just to prove it to you. Check us out live
and THEN go buy it. We don't want any miracles here, we're willing to prove
ourselves live and if you like the new stuff you can go check it out!"
KMFDM. Interview with Sasha.
Having been around for nearly 10 years, They are "Doin' it again" with their
newest release 'Xtort.' This album features a host of guest musicians, and is
a little bit more experimentative than their previous efforts. As Sasha
explains, "The amount of experimentation is always a large effort for us, and
it's not preconceived it just happens. The guitars are actually less intricate
on this album, they kind of take a backseat to the rest of the instrumentation.
In terms of composing and writing songs, an album like 'Angst' was written
entirely around guitar riffs." Speaking of guitars, I was curious as to their
thoughts on industrial fanatics' dislike of excessive guitar work in bands'
material: "It's really a matter of personal taste. The way I see it, the term
industrial is so worn out, old and overdue to be replaced in a way. There is
definitely a tradition of industrial music where even bands like us have
derived from and it is true that at one point all these groups have started
using guitars, but it's a development for everyone. For all of these bands, it
would be very unfair to lump us all into one big melting pot, for instance,
Nine Inch Nails is definitely a late comer into the whole industrial scene,
which basically had bands like Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and
Ministry and of course ourselves." Talk shifted back to the guests of various
industrial bands, in particular F.M. Einheit from Einsturzende Neubauten, and
Sascha informed me as to his involvement in the album: "Since he has quit his
old band, he has had time to do lots of stuff, he's very involved in doing
soundtracks, scores for theatrical plays, experimental dance and all kinds of
stage culture over in Europe. We have been friends for like 15 years now and
we bump into each other every once in awhile, we've even worked on quite a few
side projects. The last time we met I was getting ready to start the KMFDM
record, and I asked him if he would do us the honor to help us on it, which
he agreed." I also noticed that KMFDM uses female vocals quite frequently,
ever since 'Naive - Hell to Go' which always lends a certain vibe to their
albums, as Sascha tells us, "We always have been intrigued by the combination
of brash material backed with sweet female backing choirs, which always lends
a certain kind of false accessability to stuff that by itself is completely
way too hard and way too inaccessible for your average listener. And of course
it was fun for us to sort of drag people into KMFDM music, to tease them with
it and whip them left and right!"
To recap over what KMFDM has actually done these past ten years or so, they
have, in Sascha's own words: "8 full length albums, a couple of solo things
like Excessive Force which spawned two albums, En Esch has a project self
titled with one album there, and then there is a bunch of singles and EP's
which probably comes to about 40 releases total. There's some stuff that has
been discontinued that we're re-releasing again, so everything will be
available once again. Those being re-released are vinyl singles like More and
Faster, Don't Blow Your Top and Virus, which are going to be released as CD
singles. I want to keep them separate, and even though they are going to be
pretty cheap, some may even call it a ripoff, but I have very many requests
from avid KMFDM fans and collectors who keep asking me to release them in
their original formats, and for me I like to buy original releases rather than
the compilations and best of type stuff, because usually something is left
out, and I'd like to keep the original artwork. We started the remix craze,
hysteria, whatever about 6 or 7 years ago, and it's getting rather old now,
so I think we may stop doing remixes for awhile, despite what press stated I
said which has been blown way out of proportion."
Something else that has gotten mixed up by press was the statement that
KMFDM would not be doing any more tours. Sascha cleared this up quickly,
saying: "There's no tour plans right now mostly due to En Esch working on his
solo project, and I have other things I am involved with. However, I think we
may go back on the road early next year. I'm looking forward to getting back
out, but at this point I think we need to take a break and relocate
ourselves." The last time I saw KMFDM live was a tour with the Genitorturers
and God Lives Underwater, and it surprised me because most people that aren't
really into industrial or techno oriented music got into this show really well,
and I stated that after seeing the over the top stage show the Genitorturers
put on, it would be hard to top such an act, but they came on and put on a
brutal display! Sascha looks back on that show with fond memories: "Both bands
we played with may be legendary for different things. The Genitorturers,
musically are a little less diverse, maybe. They put on such a dramatic stage
show, with a lot of theatrics while the band is just sort of chugging along
with them. It makes for good entertainment. KMFDM is a lineup of certain
characters that come out and go right into our thing, aggressive and heavy.
This tour ended in November of '95 and then I went back to work and started
the recording of the new album." One thing is for sure, regardless of where
they have been and where they are going, one cannot deny their powerful
presence in the industrial music scene. Until they return to our shores, grab
the new album Xtort and give it a spin!
TROUBLE. Interview with Eric Wagner.
There was a LONG period of time when we didn't know if Trouble would end up
with a U.S. distribution deal for their latest album, entitled 'Plastic Green
Head' (which was reviewed last issue - Ed.) Despite what people will insinuate
about the album title, Eric actually states that there are several things the
average listener can attribute to the meaning of the albums' somewhat
controversial title: "It's nothing special, but it turned out that people have
their own opinions on it. For me there's about three different types of ideas,
there was some war stuff going on at the time, and I see it as the guy that
controls the money in the banks, and personally I originate it as the guy I
buy weed from, he keeps F**kin' With My Head." The album is definitely heavy,
one of the heaviest Trouble albums ever created, and they've been around a
long time. But I was surprised to hear that Eric was, in his own words, "I'm
sick of the album already! I've heard it a billion times, what with the
writing and recording of it. We tried to make it heavier on purpose to bring
the guitars out and such, since we felt the guitars were buried somewhat on
the last album. We wanted them in your face a little bit. I think we have
kinda changed over the years; we had to, I couldn't sit and play the same
stuff all the time. You have to explore different areas sometimes. This one,
we actually said let's make this a heavier record, I can't write one like
'The Skull' again because I just don't feel that way, being depressed and
doing coke all the time like I used to, things were a bummer. 'The Skull' is
heavy and depressing." 'The Skull' seemed to me very spiritual, and I know
lots of people have had the mistaken impression that Trouble was a sort of
Christian metal group, which Eric is quick to dismiss: "I was basically trying
to look for a way out of my depression, and like I said I was doing coke and
depressed. You kinda look at yourself and things like that. When I wrote At
The End of My Days I knew that phase of my life was over with. As far as my
convictions, I grew up Catholic and everything but I like smoking a dube and
drinking a beer just like anyone else. I hate these guys that are holier than
thou and look down their nose at people because they're saved and the rest are
not. I just like having a good time, I grew up Catholic just like everybody
grew up something."
Lyrics wise, it's not just doom metal influences this time around, but songs
like "Porpoise Song," and "Hear the Earth" are cool and rather mellow in
their own right. Though they are not claiming to be activists, they just like
to write some really laid back tunes, as Eric tell us: "Porpoise Song is a
cover tune written by Carol King and Jeff Goffin for the Monkees. Hear the
Earth I'm kinda directing at somebody, you know, 'be mellow, be cool, listen
to the Earth and hear what it's telling you.' It is one of my favorite tunes
on the album. Tomorrow Never Knows of course is a Beatles cover. I'm mainly
the one who is Beatle influenced, the rest of the guys are all into Hendrix,
Deep Purple, Sabbath, and UFO. I was the one who introduced The Beatles and
the Doors into the band, that's what I get into a lot. I write all the lyrics
on the album, and basically I'm influenced by just whatever pops into my head.
Sometimes when you go through your experiences or whatever you think you're
really not learning anything until I sit down and start writing things and
then I figure out that I really did learn something, or see something or
believe in something. Sometimes I get idead from what I read, but usually I
don't know what the songs going to be about until I finish writing it. I don't
think I could write about it unless it was true, so either I did see it or see
it or believe it or experience it. I can't write nonsense type lyrics, I just
don't know how!"
The topic shifts somewhat to a little riskier subject, marijuanna. I was
informing Eric about a movement going on in Canada where they are working on
getting the little weed legalized. There are sections of Canada that grow
marijuana for research, and there is talk of farmers setting aside fields to
grow, but it's very centralized in its usage, and very hard to get the grants
to grow it. I was interested to hear his thoughts on the whole matter, for
which he thinks: "I think it's idiotic that pot is illegal, I mean, come on!
It's a WEED. And if we wanna smoke WEED, I think we should be able to. I can
understand maybe alcohol, cocaine and heroine a little better because it's
man made, but just something that grows naturally from the earth like weed,
mushrooms, peyote, and the like should be okay. I've never seen anyone get
killed by a driver that's high like on weed, in the papers or on the news."
By the way, for those not in the know, that lady's picture on the inside cover
surrounded by pot plants is the Queen of Holland (which everyone should know
as the country where pot is legal.)
They have toured with Cathedral, who they really liked playing with, and
their fan base is pretty good over in Europe. "We did the tour in Europe,
a few months ago we did a headlining tour in the States; though we didn't hit
the east coast yet, it was mostly west coast dates. We've known the guys for
quite some time and we always get along rather well. People in Europe are
into the heavy doom stuff, whereas over in the U.S. they are more into that
alternative stuff. There they like Cathedral, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost
and things like that. Our first two albums are considered doom albums by a lot
of people. We're still kinda messing around right now, I consider myself on
vacation so I won't mention who we would be touring with, we might have a new
album out around the first of the year." Great things ahead for the Trouble
camp, hopefully we will see them on tour very soon!
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NOTEWORTHY ITEMS
Misanthropy Records, though having a rather slow summer release wise, has
quite a few plans for September on. The first announcement is the formation of
a new sub-label entitled Elfenblut, which will specialize in dark ambient/
ritualistic/industrial music! September will see the release of Blood Axis'
LP box set "The Gospel of Inhumanity," Frozen in Amber, an American band which
is a side project of the band Amber Asylum and described as artistic, ethereal
classical music, and also Aphrodisiac, a disturbing, crazed Norwegian
industrial outfit. England's own Endura will also be released on Elfenblut
towards the end of the year, their release will be entitled "Great God Pan."
On the Misanthropy front, Momentum did a remix of their "Fade to Grey" song,
which appears on an Italian compilation CD entitled 'Palace of Worms,' and they
are planning to record some new tracks for American label AJNA, who will
release this in the fall with a European pressing on mini-CD this autumn. The
members of Ved Buens Ende are currently working on side projects right now,
however two new tracks entitled "Half Visible Presence" and "Steamer," have
been recorded, even though a new album is not expected from them until 1997.
In The Woods are getting ready for a European tour, which is probably underway
as we speak, and a mini CD should be out this autumn, with a full length
to follow up 'Heart of the Ages' in early 1997. There isn't much else going on
with them, except for new signing Primordial, which readers should be familiar
with due to their excellent debut 'Imrama' released on Cacophonous Records
last year.
In some rather disappointing news, Ane H. has left the Swamp Terrorists. While
those at Metropolis claim that Ane H's departure will hurt the band, that
remains to be seen. However, they have recently released 'Wreck,' which
features several remixes from their 'Killer' album, including 2 remixes of
"Dive-Right Jab" from KMFDM, and some remixes by DJ Killroy. Both 'Killer' and
'Wreck' are released through Metropolis Records here in the States.
As some of you may already know (due to our review of C17H19NO3 last issue)
John Bergin has moved away from the Nothing label and is now working with
Fifth Column Records! Trust Obey, his industrial project, will be re-releasing
"Hands of Ash" very soon! In the meantime, he has written several books,
graphic novels, and has other musical projects available from Grinder
Recordings.
Upcoming from Century Media Records: September 10th Samael returns with
"Passage," Stuck Mojo on October 8th with their new one, and Morgoth is
finishing up their newest release to be called "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic."
This is to be released on November 5th and from what I hear, is quite
different from their previous releases. Grave goes out on tour in September,
and Chum will be coming to Savannah on November 2nd. Also on November 5th will
be Nevermore's "Politics of Ecstasy." Tour wise, Samael, Moonspell and Rotting
Christ (who have now been signed To Century Media Worldwide) will do about 6
weeks worth of dates in Europe, then Samael will tour with Cannibal Corpse
(once again) with openers Immolation starting in the U.S. around November
13th. Turmoil and Damnation will also be hitting the road very soon, so there
are a lot of dates for Century Media artists!
Thos of you familiar with Metal Fest magazine may be interested to hear that
they are doing a tribute to Venom CD, which will be in stores soon, and more
than likely will be distributed free at this years Foundations Forum in
Hollywood, CA this October. Bands wanting to appear on the CD should contact
Metal Fest Magazine at 708-894-5119, or write to Carmi, Metal Fest CD, 360-23
W. Shick Road, Suite 116, Bloomingdale, IL 60108. September 15th is the cutoff
date.
From Fifth Column Records comes the eagerly awaited Chemlab album entitled
"East Side Militia," which is scheduled for release on October 8th. Haloblack
has a new one entitled "Funky Hell" on October 1st, which I am informed is
quite a departure from their previosu release "Tension Filter," and finally
there is a compilation CD entitled Fascist Communist Revolutionaries, and it
will feature Chemlab, Acumen, Death Ride 69, and a track from Vampire Rodents
which I am told is quite amazing. This compilation will be out September 24th.
By the way, for those not in the know, Death Ride 69 is currently on tour with
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, who still as of yet have no label.
Things have been slow on the Noise Records front, but they have a few new
signings in The Skeletones, which should be out by the time you read this,
and Mind Heavy Mustard, which is described as a cross between Black Sabbath,
Smashing Pumpkins, and Foo Fighters. Their new album "Chemicals, Cigarettes,
& L.A. Women" will be out September 30th. Nothing else has been announced on
the Machinery/Dynamica front, more info as it becomes available.
Though it's been rather slow the past couple of months, the U.S. section of
Flying Records has quite a slew of releases in the next few months! The best
news for me is the release of a Paul Chain 7 inch entitled "Internal Void,"
due out in October (no actual street dates, gee, I like these guys! They work
their releases the way I do mine, just give 'em a month and let everything
else take care of itself!) and his brand new full length "Hemisphere" will be
out in November. As I spoke with their manager, there are definite plans to
brin Paul Chain to the States, but as of yet not only is it a money situation,
but they are also trying to spread the word a bit more. Also in October are
releases by Expulsion "Man Against," Mind Riot "Inferno Gogo," and from two
bands that were featured on the Dark Passages CD; Electric Wizard "Comm My
Fanatics," and Orange Goblin "Frequencies From Planet 10." By the time you
read this (and no, it has NOTHING to do with delays on MY end!) Mourning Sign
will release "Multiverse" and Raw Power will release "Live From the Gutter."
and finally, in November those stoner doom metal newcomers Acrimony will put
out "Tumuli Shroom Aroom." Can't wait to hear this one!
Griffin Music has re-released two classic Hawkwind titles, "Choose Your
Masques" and "Sonic Attack." In addition, Hawkwind's brand new studio effort
entitled "Alien 4" has been distributed through Griffin. Hopefully we will be
able to do a review of this latest Hawkwind epic next issue, as the label has
had a hard time keeping these in stock. Also re-released from them are three
Budgie titles, "Deliver us From Evil" (which was on Attic Records at one
time,) "Nightflight," and "Power Supply," which incidentally also includes the
rare, out of print EP "If Swallowed, Do Not Induce Vomiting."
I'm sad to report this, but Relapse U.S. has dropped the Nuclear Blast line of
distribution. They are focusing solely on Relapse artists and some of their
more experimental pieces. According to Jeff at Relapse, someone is picking up
the Nuclear Blast line, more info on that as I get it. As many may know,
Nuclear Blast Records is based out of Germany and is home to many diverse
death metal artists like Hypocrisy, Dismember, and more.
Remember Appollyon's Sun? This new band made up of former Frost members Tom
Fischer and Martin Ain are getting ready to demo some of their new material,
and have played live with Sepultura. Incidentally, Sepultura has recorded
"Procreation of the Wicked" as a single to be released soon.
For those not in the know, Judas Priest HAS acquired a new vocalist. It's set
in stone: the lucky young man's name is Ripper Owens, and the lineup is right
now working on an album entitled 'Jugulator.' Said to be much harder and
heavier than Priest's previous effort 'Painkiller,' hopefully this album will
be ready by early 1997.
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EDITORIAL NOTATIONS
Well, I must admit that I don't have a lot to say this time around, except
I'm proud of where my publication has gone, and where it is going. I always
try and keep everything state of the art, while making sure everything is
compatible worldwide. I may have shot myself in the foot with the music
files online, but hell, I got tired of only being able to have 9 or 10 files
when there's SO much more music than my readers ever get to hear. So realaudio
was something I HAD to implement online, simply because when it comes to being
able to choose from 9 or 10 sound files and being able to choose between 30
and 40, the choice was clear. There should be a way for Mac and Amiga owners
to convert these over to their respective formats, heck there may even be a
way to listen to them online, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Our new reviewer in Chris Waters has been very eager to do many reviews for
me, and I like his style of writing and brand of thinking. He is definitely
going to inject some fresh blood into this thing, and you'll definitely be
seeing a lot more from him in each and every issue. I think I may be a bit
more open minded than him at times, but he grew up in the old skool punk
scene, and is a BIG Misfits fan, plus he does like to travel with me to check
out the shows in Atlanta, which is a 3.5 hour drive for us. Look for a mini
review of the Thrill Kill Kult concert next issue, and hopefully an interview
with them and Death Ride 69.
Speaking of shows, there hasn't been a whole lot of shows in the Atlanta
area, and sad to say I missed the Christian Death/Big Electric Cat/Switchblade
Symphony show in Atlanta AND Jacksonville, but I may be featuring them in a
later issue. Still waiting on Slayer to make an appearance, and also what
happened to Pitch Shifter's supposed road appearance? It seems that lately
LOTS of bands hit the road and totally avoided the southeast area, could this
be a sign of something? Chemlab missed their Savannah date due to the threat
of the hurricane, and also I must say that the new Misfits singer thoroughly
impressed me. Michael from the Damned gave a riveting performance, a strange
bill it was to see Cannibal Corpse and Anthrax alongside the Misfits, but it
was one of the best shows I have ever seen.
Glad to see that Samael is coming back to town, with Cannibal in October.
George is truly a monster of a vocalist, and he fits right in with the new
material quite well. Well, I'll keep this short, suffice it to say that quite
a lot of things did not make deadline this time, like Hawkwind's brand new
effort "Alien 4," and I'm still waiting on the Zero Defects interview to come
back, we'll run that next issue! Until next time, we're saying outta here!
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