VIBRATIONS OF DOOM MAGAZINE
ISSUE #43





You all should now the drill by now. Mailing address:

Vibrations Of Doom Magazine/DOOM RADIO
c/o Steven Cannon
P.O. Box 1258
Suwanee, GA 30024-0963 USA

Yes, that's right, we're now officially adding DOOM RADIO to the list of musical activities here at the magazine! Every sunday a new show, and it has REALLY helped us out as far as label support. Now if we could just convince Century Media to jump on board, we'll be set! Interviews should get more numerous as time goes on as well, as more labels are more willing to promote better when their bands are featured in two separate, but distinct, media outlets! And the radio show is gaining lots of support, so far you've heard radio promo spots from Sons Of Otis, Agalloch, Voivod, Fireball Ministry, Legend, and of course the biggest support from Cannibal Corpse!

ALBUM REVIEWS

APIARY "Lost In Focus" (Metal Blade) SCORE: 25/100

Man oh man does this album title ever FIT this band! Their instrumentation is all over the place, and annoying! The worst thing about this record is the most horrid guitar work, which at times is very spastic. Each song can be 500 shades of slow and fast, made all the more worse by the fact that the few shining moments on any track don't last very long. It's hardcore folks, so your lead screamer is adequate for the job, though against the grating backdrop of near out of tune sounding leads, he sounds very weak. If this is termed as math core, then I'm definitely not on board. I wonder how this guy would sound if he were fronting a heavier band. I hear some moments of good thrashy guitar work, like on tracks 'Fading Imprint' and 'Forced To Breathe,' but for the most part I'm cringing at this. Many songs are either in the 2 or 3 minute range, though CD ender 'Finding A Way Back' DEFINITELY pushes my buttons not only with the ridiculously lengthy 6 minutes, but with lots of spoken word mumbo jumbo amidst the grating feedback. WHY these guys chose this route is beyond me; further still, why Metal Blade signed this. The drumming is to be commended, however, as this guy has the skills which are very evident on how easily he changes speeds and tempos. Even the heavier moments are missing something, maybe the production is too clean or the heavier guitar work doesn't have the punch, but overall this is just really bad. Not one track would I EVER want to revisit, though I'm sure others disagree. I'm not saying I don't like hardcore, but I definitely don't like THIS kind of hardcore.
Contact: Metal Blade Records.

ASGUARD "Wikka" (This Dark Reign) SCORE: 86/100

Right off the bat, I can tell you with certainity that this "album" is really nothing more than what I would term a "career retrospective" compilation. The first 4 tracks, while seemingly new, are actually pulled from their 2000 demo "Summis Desiderantes Effectibus." Something the CD fails to tell you but might be more readily apparent by reading that these songs were recorded in 1999 and remastered in 2003, not even explaining why these songs are STILL over 2 years old. Irregardless of that fact, there are 3 songs out of order and FIVE MORE songs that are untitled and you have no clue as to what they're called OR even when they were recorded, as the booklet nor the official label's website bothers to mention they even exist. Despite that fact, this band who hails from Belarus has quite an interesting take on the black metal genre, especially in the guitar work, and nothing is more evident than CD opener 'Wikka,' which is a HIGHLY entertaining instrumental. NWOBHM riffs abound, and it's a very eye opening mixture. 'The Vision Of Dream' continues things on and the vocals, which are usually a mixture of death and black metal (two vocalists or one that records in layers?), are quite sick and aggressive, often giving many of the songs an extra edge. 'The Black Wandering Of Death' (visions 1 and 2, both being separate tracks) keeps the interest high, throwing in some thrashier guitar work, and the whole thing works surprisingly well. There's lots of great lead solo work, especially given that it's so high ended and more in tune with the greatest NWOBHM leads from the late 70's to early 80's. The rather lengthy spoken word piece I could have done without, though even the vocals on THAT are sick, and the acoustic guitars work well. The 'Bonus' tracks are from a different time period altogether, and it does show, as this encompasses more of a death metal feel than anything else. The Priest cover 'Leather Rebel' was quite interesting despite the lack of blackened shrieks, though some of the "untitled" tracks (there are 5 of them) have a tendency to show this band in a rather inferior form, and I'm guessing they're some of the oldest tracks Asguard have ever done. Almost a complete mess to follow (thank god for a lyric sheet), nevertheless this is a most unusual and interesting combination, and I for one would love to hear a followup. Just please, GIVE US SONG TITLES and put the songs in the proper order!!!
Contact: This Dark Reign Recordings.

CANDLEMASS "Candlemass" (Nuclear Blast) SCORE: 87/100

I always wondered why Metal Blade didn't resign Candlemass, especially now that one of M.B.'s earliest conditions had been met: the rejoining of not only lead vocalist Messiah Marcolin, but the ENTIRE 80's lineup. Be that as it may, the first thing that hits you square in the face is the fact that 'Black Dwarf' is FAST. For a Candlemass song anyway, and along with 'Born In A Tank' (complete with catchy, headbanging atmosphere) and bonus track 'Mars & Volcanoes,' the songwriting has taken on a new twist. A FEW new twists actually, as this record is without a doubt featuring the darkest and HEAVIEST guitar riffs in Candlemass history. There's hardly any flaws where the guitar work is concerned. Messiah's vocal performances are spot on too, though he does try a few new singing techniques that sound quite odd. For example, on 'Assassin Of The Light,' his higher ranges on the choruses are a bit off. His different style of singing on 'The Day And The Night' and 'Copernicus' left me feeling like those parts could have been rewritten. The chorus on the latter song as well could have been written better, the lower sung vocal part where he sings the name of the song was very weak. A few tracks here definitely seem to go on a bit too long, 'Spellbreaker' has two different parts that make for diversity in the song, but they're repeated a bit too much for the 7 minutes in length this tune carries. CD ender 'The Day And The Night' is nearly 9 minutes long, and overutilizes some parts that I didn't care for. It seems like I'm doing a LOT of nitpicking, though I must say if you want the epic Candlemass song, then 'Seven Silver Keys' is the closest you'll get to the epic and majestic style of writing found on "Nightfall." These guitar riffs absolutely CRUSH, and you'll recognize a bit of reworking of heavy riffs found on "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" on tracks like 'Seven Silver Keys' (meaner riffs reworked from the classic song 'Solitude'), and 'Witches' (bearing the meaner side of the best riffs found on the tune 'Black Stone Wielder.') 'Born In A Tank' is the track that gets lots of radio play at WREK FM, 91.1 in Atlanta, and it is definitely a headbanger's feast, which is a surprise to trained Candlemass ears. Those crushingly dark and heavy riffs are simply monstrous, simply listen to the choruses of 'Assassin Of The Light' and tell me those aren't the nastiest and sickest riffs Candlemass has ever crushed you with. Candlemass wrote an album that tried really hard to prove they could be heavier than the competition in the Y2K era, and for the most part they succeeded, though not without some glaring errors. Regardless, it is another gem in the crown of Doom metal's longest reigning kings, and they don't seem to be ready to call it quits anytime soon.
Contact: Nuclear Blast Records.

CHAIN COLLECTOR "The Masquerade" (Sound Riot) SCORE: 91/100

The Gothenberg thing has been done to death, some people say. And the guitar work on this record will end up being somewhat suspect, especially since the heavy and fast beginnings of MANY songs remind one of Soilwork or even Dark Tranquillity in spots. If you harp on that, however, you're missing the bigger picture. There's at least 3 vocal styles on this record, suffice it to say that the almost deathlike vocals (which seem to have slight blackened tendencies to them) are predominant on the disc and are a bit different, almost retaining a closed throat-like quality to them (to the point that this guy almost sounds like he's going hoarse) but still retaining a sick quality I find redeeming. The surprise of this album comes from Kjetil's amazingly clean sung vocals, which tend to make the choruses more memorable and a LOT more melodic. If the clean vocals sound familiar, it's because Kjetil's main band is Green Carnation! It makes the tune 'Crucifixion' stand out like a sore thumb, especially when the acoustic guitars start this off, and this DEFINITELY sounds more like a Green Carnation song than a Chain Collector one. That is, until the instrumentation SLOWLY works it's way up to heavier guitars and finally the sick, deathlike vocals we've been awaiting! The sung vocals have a tendency to be a bit off, especially on 'Tapping The Vein' where they're more yelled than sung, and in a faster pace don't work too well. The sung vocals didn't mix well with the death vocals either (though everywhere else I'm digging the fact that clean sung and death vocals are utilized at the same time!) on the song 'Winter Princess,' ending the album on somewhat of a weaker note. There's plenty of heaviness to go around, however, and if you think this stuff can become boring, a track like 'Neverwhere,' besides being one of my favorites, keeps the aggression factor cranked up and the sickness blasting right in your face. The CD opener 'Hierarchy Of Murder' is a perfect example of a track that not only varies speeds and tempo changes, but blends melodic material with fast paced, crushing and almost thrashy heaviness, making for a unique mixture. Consider there's members from Carpathian Forest, Green Carnation, Trail Of Tears AND Dismal Euphony, and consider that many influences combined to create a good record.
Contact: Sound Riot Records.

DARXTAR "We Came Too Late" (Nasoni) SCORE: 31/100

Actually, I think this CD came TOO EARLY. It's obviously a VERY discombobulated effort, as they can't seem to decide not only whether to play pseudo ballad or heavy psychedelic/space rock (though many of the tracks have sporadic spacey synth work, as if to TRY and retain what little is left of the original Darxtar sound), but they can't even decide which vocalist works better where! There's at least three different vocalists used on the album, though even the welcoming voice of K. Soren (who's been the main voice in this band from day one) can't save this one. The CD starts off mostly as a tribute to the ballad, with only the choruses (like on tracks 'Pitiful Whining,' an aptly named CD title rather than a song title, as that's what you get through most of this mess, and 'We Came Too Late,' which is about three shades below a GOOD song) being the ONE saving grace for this band. The CD starts out with 'Pitiful Whining' giving a three second nod to the spacey synth work, but is all but forgotten by the song's end. The last 5 or 6 tracks are more on the heavier side, but the guitar work is ALL out of whack for the most part. 'Take It' ends the CD as a ballad like once again, and fruity lyrics are found in many places, further adding to the cringing factor ('You've Got flowers in your hair' from 'We Came Too Late,' for example). And what the hell was up with 'Zero?' This track is some kind of joke, right? PLEASE tell me this band is just kidding with this! Yeah, okay, the guitar work is heavy but the vocals downright SUCK. 'Another Kind Of Vibe' doesn't make things any better, as they FINALLY compose a song made up of spacey synths, and they end up just clashing with the wierd lead guitars and just as wierd dark acoustics. Oh and the vocals again! It's obvious this IS NOT K.Soren again. The ONE saving grace, besides the heavier and catchy choruses on a few tracks, is 'Greed.' The heavier vocal work (are these vocals electronic affected?) and the heavier instrumentation are the closest thing you'll get to a complete track you can hear all the way through (also closer to an actual Darxtar like sound). Don't get me wrong, tracks like 'Secrets' and 'It All Happens Here' aren't terrible, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to again. SO much mediocrity and so many bad songs, this makes "Sju" look like a masterpiece (a record we gave a 51 to, see issue #13 for details on that!) As much as I had looked forward to getting this; apprehensive though I was at first, I must say this is THE most disappointing record I've gotten this year. And THIS band was the reason I contacted Nasoni in the first place! (Thank he who can not be named that Nasoni has MUCH better bands I actually enjoy!)
Contact: Nasoni Records.

DEMIRICOUS "One" (Metal Blade) SCORE: 94/100

I was reading an interview with Slayer in Metal Maniacs recently, and Kerry King mentioned this band. He said, and I quote, "One of my favorite new bands is Demiricous and they sound JUST like us. I love those guys." Tom Araya then went on to ask if they could be sued for copyright infringement because they apparently, to his ears, sound "too much like Slayer." Yes, folks, it's thrashy as fuck, and sickly heavy, but let's get things in perspective. The vocals, first off, are a bit more death metal oriented with a hardcore slant thrown in to boot, but there's some higher ended death work. If you ever thought Slayer needed more aggressive vocals, then you are starting to realize the different slant Demiricous puts on this. The record is aggressive and, well, to quote a famous band from the past: "FUCKING hostile." From track one until the end, the intensity and thrashy aggression NEVER lets up. No fucking ballads, no love songs, just hate, aggression and much pit worthy material. In fact, I'm looking forward to seeing them live in October with Vital Remains, Grave, and Dismember and they won't be out of place there! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Kerry King's influence is heard ALL over the blazing lead solos found damn near everywhere, but moments when they prove they can break out of the Slayer camp are found, like the lead solos found on 'To Serve Is To Destroy' and 'Vagrant Idol,' the latter song reminiscent of more Gothenberg type lead riffing. And not to take anything away from Dave Lombardo, but THIS guy can definitely give Dave a run for his money! On 'Ironsides' especially, there's a few seconds of JUST drum work where skin crusher Chris Cruz proves he's more than capable of driving the bludgeoning rhythym behind this sick assault. And you'll find many eras of Slayer represented, or PREsented, musically. There's the 'Reign In Blood' lead solo that's almost like the buildup to the final few lines of the original song on 'Beyond Obscene,' and the slower, more "Hell Awaits" type riffing found on 'Withdrawal Divine.' Yeah, and CD opener 'Repentagram...' Well, you can just hear the lyrics from 'War Ensemble' matching the furious instrumentation here without much effort. Obviously they should have been thanking Slayer in the liner notes to their album, but suffice it to say I DO hear MANY differences, and the way they put this all together is good. Like I said, if you thought Slayer would sound sick as fuck with more aggressive vocals then you'll see this as blood boiling, ready to fight and kill driving sounds that stand up for a new era. In fact, when Slayer decides to abdicate the throne of thrash, Demiricous is one of few bands around who could fill their shoes admirably. And Tom, it's NOT a rip off band!!!
Contact: Metal Blade Records.

DETONATION "Portals To Uphobia" (Osmose) SCORE: 93/100

This is quite a monster of a record. Melodic leads are ALL over the place, and quite skilled and catchy at that. What sets this apart from most other energetic death metal bands and makes it not just another screamer/growler with the atypical "Gothenberg" sound, is the fact that there's oftentimes heavier and thrashier guitars inlaid over the high ended riffing. 'Into Sulphur I Descend' starts the CD off nicely and keeps the pace almost throughout the entire disc. The title track is nice too, and the song structures are highly catchy from track to track. I must say the drumming is simply insane, I'm hearing tons of double bass work throughout the disc! The instrumentation is not always insanely fast paced, and the slower parts of songs (most notably on tunes like 'End Of Sight, End Of Fears' and 'Chaos Banished') work well when the heavier guitar work becomes more prominent. I couldn't get into the instrumental 'Lost Euphoria Part III' (seems the band was running a little short on song titles by this point) though I recognize the skill of the Spanish styled acoustic guitar work. The track 'Solitude Reflected,' however, had a nice acoustic intro that lasts for about a minute before the heavier stuff kicks in, and the songs ends with it as well. Only 'Beyond The Margin' was difficult to deal with, as the guitar work was quite odd and hard to deal with; sounds like they ran out of steam by this point. The vocal work is quite sick and there's some long winded screams, in fact the heavier leads and the vocal work provide most of the driving punishment of this disc. The more melodic leads are mainly background structures, but this works so well it almost sounds like a band playing with two dimensions to their sound, which is definitely alright by me.
Contact: Osmose Productions.

DISSECTION "Reinkaos" (The End) SCORE: 95/100

I am quite frankly pissed at all the biased and misinformed reviews of the latest, and sadly last, album Dissection has done. First off, the mainly negative scores of press comes mainly from the so-called black metal diehards that can't see their way past the production values of the 90's. These same people wouldn't be caught dead listening to anything other than Norweigan "true" black metal. Let's get one motherfucking thing straight right now: THERE ARE BLACK METAL ELEMENTS IN THIS MUSIC. Maybe not in the actual guitars- slash-bass-slash-drums, but listen to the venomous vocals, man! That's black FUCKING metal through and through! Lyric wise? Yep, songs about the true bringer of light and other "otherworldly" themes that signify blackened rebellion at it's heart. So this music qualifies as black metal on those two points alone. Musically? Sorry, this is as far removed from "melodic death metal" as you can get. Listen to the first "song" 'Beyond The Horizon.' What's that? DO I detect some thrashy, choppy guitar riffs? Why, yes! Yes I do. Thunderous drumwork? Yep, quite pounding actually. Melodic death metal? Let's see if we can define "melodic death metal..." Think INSOMNIUM "In The Halls Of Awaiting" or WITHERING "Gospel Of Madness." TIAMAT'S earlier stuff, like "Clouds" or even to some degree "The Astral Sleep" maybe. But this stuff? Okay, I know what it is... It's the somewhat Gothenberg based guitar work, some of the more catchy, high ended guitar work like on 'God Of Forbidden Light,' or even the high ended leads on 'Black Dragon.' Still, I can't see how in the WORLD this can POSSIBLY be mislabelled 'melodic death metal,' since there's not one iota of death metal vocal style ANYWHERE on this record. Okay, that all aside, I do have to question why they'd put THREE instrumentals on one record, despite the interesting 'Reinkaos' which gets heavier and darker as the song progresses. The two fastest songs 'Xeper-I-Set' and 'Internal Fire' do resemble one another a bit in the instrumentation department, though 'Internal Fire's' guitar work is a bit less melodic than the former. 'Maha Kali' is one of my favorite tunes, especially with the catchy choruses and unusual lyrical content, though I do take a bit of an issue with the female vocal work as it just seems a bit out of place. The lead solos are well done, and the material is highly infectious and catchy at the same time. Who ever said black metal couldn't "rock?" 'Dark Mother Divine' seems to have rather simplistic riffage, though I'm not a guitar player nor even remotely an expert, but the simple riffs WORK. Maybe this is what people are complaining about when they say the guitar work is boring. Personally, I think it drives the point home and makes a nice space for the vocals to breathe. The vocals keep a furious energy and sick, venomous pace, full of rage and anger, and dare I say it, passion... Yeah, passion for what Jon believes in and lives for. PASSION in the music. If you want an album that can kick your ass and prove to be a mature (dare I say that word to a "true" black metaller) yet artistically skilled and crafted vision, you'll like this. The rest of you can go back to your Darkthrone and Gorgoroth albums (earliest is best I guess) and ignore progression and maturity. And I've talked to three people who HAVE the first two Dissection albums and they ALL think this is different but still kick ass... Add another one to that list. (You'll READ one of those artists' comments in THIS ISSUE).
Contact: The End Records.

EARLY MAN "Closing In" (Matador) SCORE: 32/100

I remember getting stuff from Matador back in the days of my fascination with everything and ANYTHING pressed into CD format, when I was willing to chance my ears, and my readers, with alternative and punk rock. So years later, when I finally am reunited with this label, I find that they've signed "a metal band." And I use that term rather loosely, since vocal wise this thing not only annoys the HELL out of me, but reminds me of one of those whiny alternative bands that employs a rather nails on the chalkboard approach singer. The sad thing is, the instrumentation and songwriting I feel is not up to par either, especially from the get go. My friend Chris said I should check this band out due to the cool "one hit wonder" song 'Death Is The Answer,' and surprisingly, the vocals are done almost COMPLETELY different on this track from 85% of the album. THIS one track is more of a Sabbathy, almost stoner rock track, complete with cool choppy lead guitars and a more controlled tone of singing. The other cool song that I might come back to once in a great while is 'Thrill Of The Kill,' which, you might have guessed is the other slower paced, more Sabbath like number, though the vocals still annoy me but not nearly as much. And the craziest thing of all? The song 'Evil Is' which has the vocals done in a more aggressive manner and unlike ANYTHING ELSE on the CD. This track is the faster, heavier one, though it's nothing great. So you really have what amounts to two and a half songs out of 11 and a few decent instrumental passages strewn throughout the disc. On 'Contra,' hell the vocals were even worse, but sounded like a completely different singer until the choruses came in. These guys just can't lock anything down, they're ALL over the place not only vocal wise, but instrumentation wise too. Ending track 'Raped And Pillaged' had some decent guitar work to start (again, nothing overtly interesting, but at least they weren't making me wince) but by the end of the song, scraping guitars and wierd solos were the piss take of the day. And what's with the rather bad static on some guitar notes? This happened in several places on the disc! A rather NWOBHM'ish tone is found on opening guitar riffs on 'War Eagle,' but overall I'm so annoyed by the vocal work it took me quite a few spins to find ANYTHING noteworthy in the songs, even with the overabundance of lackluster guitar writing.
Contact: Matador Records.

FALL OF THE LEAFE "Vantage" (Firebox) SCORE: 95/100

"Fermina" was the only album I had remembered from their days with Icarus Records, and personally I didn't find it all that appealing, though I had to admit there were good moments. Because of doing the radio show I remembered having their first album "Evanescent, Everfading" which surprised me as to the blackened styled vocals, and so once they signed to Firebox Records I was wondering just what they'd have up their sleeves this time! I wasn't disappointed to say the least. To call this a gothic metal band would be a SEVERE mislabelling of the band, because from track one 'The Fresco' the first thing that's readily apparent is that this band just flat out ROCKS! The vocal work, while at times melodic and emotional, definitely builds up to heavier passages within many of the frameworks of many songs. Drums are a bit more hard hitting and the basslines are even a bit more dominant than what you might be used to if your mind is set on "gothic metal." 'Morning Works' continues things on in fine fashion, hell there's MANY tracks here worth repeated listens. I DO think that maybe 12 songs was a bit much, especially since many songs hit the 4 and 5 minute mark with just basic verse, chorus, verse, chorus (sometimes with a nice prechorus build however); however don't let that stop you because Fall Of The Leafe actually knows how to write catchy choruses and song structures that you'll remember after only a few spins. As I progressed through the album, I kept wondering where the lead solos were, and it wasn't until track 9 'Quiet Citizen' that I really heard them. They are quite simplistic for the most part and you won't catch the guitarists blazing away at 100 miles per hour: quite simply, the music doesn't call for it. Slower and faster melodies abound in every song, it's what makes the music interesting besides the fact you're going "damn, a slice of gothic metal with songs that just flat out ROCK!" 'Off The Map, Under The Sun' probably has the least amount of heavier instrumentation and guitar work than any of the other tracks, but then they turn around one song later (that being 'Receiver') and do the exact opposite of what they did on 'Off The Map...' Incidentally, the vocals have a tendency to get more aggressive at times, reminding us that this singer does indeed have a somewhat death metal range (you'll hear this on 'The Fresco' and 'In The Silence Of The Sand,' for example) proving their diversity. Fall Of The Leafe doesn't sound like anyone else, and the vocals definitely soar when they need to soar and dip low when aggression is needed, which is more frequently than you think. A great album, surprising to ears that have heard their earlier works.
Contact: Firebox Records.

FIREBALL MINISTRY "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock" (Liquor And Poker) SCORE: 85/100

I remember a stray appearance on compilation CD's before a small EP on Small Stone, which I really didn't pay much attention to. THEN I saw the video for their song 'Sundown' off this album, and holy shit if my ears weren't fired up! So, upon getting this record, I was a bit let down. Yep, you guessed it, the hit single slash video is indeed the best cut on the record. BUT, I of course did hear a few other songs I liked. Fireball Ministry has some wicked guitar riffs interspersed amongst the more straightforward rock passages. The problem is that at times you wanna hear more venom and ass kicking going on. The vocal work has a very unusual tendency to vary from mellow and very good Ozzy styled singing to rough and heavy Lemmy from Motorhead tones. This makes some of the heavier parts of Fireball Ministry sound heavier, while the more melodic side of Fireball Ministry gives you catchy choruses and lines you'll be singing along to in no time. 'It Flies Again' starts the CD off in somewhat heavy fashion, only to be let down terribly by lackluster choruses: a damn shame since there's kick ass rough edged vocal delivery coupled with some HEAVY and rockin' riffs. 'The Broken' is a good tune, though a tad slower edged, with some killer vocal work once again. It's catchy, which you probably want if you are going to listen to more straightforward styled rock music. This band can't totally be lumped in the stoner rock category, even though these guys are SERIOUSLY only three steps away from the slow, plodding doom metal I usually review in this magazine. 'Two Tears' has to be the weakest song here, especially with the more generic and straightforward rock sound that fails to raise even one eyebrow. 'Under The Thunder' has some rather, well, excuse the pun, "thunderous" percussion, and Emily proves she can get some heavy, meaty riffs out of that custom guitar she uses! Some of her riffage is quite mean, which further drives home the point that F.M. DEFINITELY has the potential to be much heavier than they are. Further proof that Motorhead was an influence on this band? CD ender 'Save The Saved' could have been on at least half a dozen 80's era Motorhead records, especially with the faster paced structure, coupled with Lemmy styled rough edged vocals, and Emily even throws a curveball to ya by use of rather psychedelic, swirling guitar riffs. 'Rising From The Deep' is another super heavy one that rivals the mighty track 'Sundown' in power, though for the most part you're getting some heavy rock that's catchy. A good release, but I'm still hoping to hear F.M. crank out the heaviness and really blaze a trail leaving a scorched congregation in their wake, something that would truly befit their name and leave them as the undisputed kings in the heavy rock AND stoner rock scene. For now, though, I'll still keep singing 'The Broken' and 'Sundown,' oh yeah and the melodic 'Hellspeak' with it's emotionally powerful sung vocals and great atmosphere. Listen to it more than a few times to truly take in all this band has to offer.
Contact: Liquor And Poker Music.

FUNGOID STREAM "Celaenus Fragments" (Furias) SCORE: 91/100

Another band who is obviously influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, these songs are rather simplistic in style, though they convey great atmosphere. It's obvious that their music has some limitations, especially noting the preprogrammed drums and the guitar work which sounds a tad artificial, however they do a great job with what they have. One strange odyssey about this 5 song affair: EVERY song clocks in at the 8 minute mark. Be it opener 'The Book' at 8:57 or CD ender 'The Window' at 8:34, I wonder what their fascination with the number 8 is. Maybe I need to read more Lovecraft... The instrumentation takes on a very solitary and lonely existence, oftentimes you'll find that when the guitar work or the synth work is going, that's all you get, besides the harsh almost death metal like vocals. I say "almost" because just about EVERYTHING here sounds processed and totally UNTYPICAL, even if you are a fan of doom, or even funeral/doom/death. The vocal work gets it's heaviest on tracks like 'The Book' and 'The Howler.' Surprise track 'Celaenus Fragments' shows that these Argentinians aren't going to limit themselves even within their own genre, for this track is synth and multivocal chants only (though some of the angelic female multivocal work sounds almost entirely synth based. You'll even hear some nice piano notations on many parts, and each 8 minute song is drawn out but with enough diversity that you hear a lot for the simplistic nature of the musical structures. One of the limitations of this band seems to be in it's overt simplicity, making the last track drag on a bit towards the ending, especially with the rather repetitive spoken word parts, and too, on 'The Key,' where the instrumentation starts out sounding a bit off. Regardless of that fact, it's obvious that the biggest thing going for Fungoid Stream is atmosphere and a cosmic essence, which they have done very well. Can't wait to hear more!
Contact: Furias Records.

HEAVY LORD "From Cosmos To Chaos" (Solitude) SCORE: 63/100

This is unusual for me, as most Russian labels I know concentrate only on bands from within their own region. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as quite frankly if all you know about the Russian scene is Nokturnal Mortum and a long forgotten industrial band named Stiff Miners, then there's obviously a LOT of work left to be done to promote Russian musical endeavours. However, this particular 4 piece hails from The Netherlands, and has a sound reminiscent of not only Down, but Crowbar, nods to Pantera, and sludgy doom/death bands like Eyehategod and others. This CD has the basics down as far as heavy, downtuned stoner rock with doom/death elements and the almost southern feel of vocals and instrumentation like Down and Crowbar, but for a 5 song affair, there's quite a bit going on that definitely distracts one from enjoying the entire affair. Track one, 'Elephaunt,' starts the CD off nicely, and this is the track that will remind many of Down and Pantera to a degree, just slowed down quite a bit. As for vocals, there's the low toned sung kind, and then there's the almost black metal screeching which was not totally uncommon to hear Phil Anselmo do from time to time. The only thing that got me on this song was the somewhat strained, sung vocals which sounded almost off key. The Sleep like solo instrumentation was nice to hear tho! 'Scorpion Sting' was what I would HAVE to consider THE best song on the album. (Well, when you consider 5 songs an "album," that is, despite the 40 minutes in length of the CD). The stoner rock vibe comes full force on this one, especially with the rough sung vocals and the sick screams once again. Then we move onto 'The Ego Has Landed,' an 8 minute affair they should have ended in at least half the time. One great note about this track is the way the low toned vocals morph into an almost inhuman death metal like sequence, without trying to sound demonic or anything. Even the sung vocals are done at a bit higher of a tone, and for some reason this doesn't detract from the overall vibe of the song (at least, not yet anyway). There's definitely lots of sludgy guitar work coming on for ya, though what ruins the second half of this song is the chaotic, speedy pace of the instrumentation, especially when the lead guitars get slightly off key for my tastes. So your ending is basically hard to sit through. 'One Is A Billion' continues the annoyance factor, once again giving you bad stuff with good stuff. The good: low toned sung vocals that give an extra dimension to the sound, though the bad: wierd lead riffing and odd instrumentation throughout. Some heavier riffs that go at a slower pace are good, and for the most part they KNOW how to write decent song structures. They just refuse to do it for the CD's length. CD ender 'While Empires Burn' seems unnecessarily too long for it's 11 minutes in length, and the cool vocals now take on a wierd vibe, especially considering the music is very minimal and quite strange. You have to wait about 3 minutes before things get heavy again, only to drop right back down to minimal instrumentation and odd sung vocals that are almost nerve grating. The backbone of this project is sound, but there's definitely many cracks that threaten to weaken the entire structure. Good stuff abounds, but so does bad stuff.
Contact: Solitude Productions.

HUMAN FACTOR "Unleashed" (Mausoleum) SCORE: 80/100

How unusual that the label responsible for putting out more 80's metal than damn near ANY other label in the world is STILL at it, over 20 years later! This latest offering is coming to us from 5 amazing musicians hailing, of all places, from Chile! Power metal with an emphasis on POWER, as CD opener 'Sky Warning' kicks off into high gear with some heavy riffing! There's even a female guitar player, and I'd LOVE to know if she's doing the 100 miles per hour solos or the thrash, skull crushing riffing! The drumming is amazingly tight, and you'll hear some very fast double bass work, especially on the first opening minutes of the CD. This is DEFINITELY a lead solo lover's dream, as often you'll find the lead solos go on for quite some time in many songs. What keeps the endless barrage of soloing from being dull is the amazing power and force of the thrashy and heavier guitar work, oftentimes RIGHT in the background! 'Inside Hell' is more like a straightforward power metal number, and Dan Elbelman can dip into a low range when the instrumentation calls for it. 'Human Factor' (the song) has a nice way of building up to the soaring vocal work of the choruses, a trick indeed since the song starts out (as do most on this record, you'll find) fast, hard and heavy. 'We Are More' and 'Fire' continue this impressive mix of thrashy and power, until track 6, 'Be The Hero.' The sung vocals and the slower than normal pace for these guys (and gal) didn't work very well, and even the choruses are weak. 'Living In Darkness' continues the annoyances, with the choruses being one of the main (and sometimes only) highlights. The writing is even hit or miss on the solos, something that to this point was very impressive. The band seems to run out of steam, as the two tracks 'Time Traveller I' and 'Time Traveller II' (even on song titles they were running out of ideas!?) are among the weakest cuts here, with even the choruses sounding weak, and on 'T.T.I.' only the heavier instrumentation is noteworthy. 'T.T.II.' isn't worse than 'I,' but the mainline vocal/instrumentation mix is quite weak, with the choruses providing SOME saving grace. By that time, someone must have said something to the band to tighten it up, as 'See The Light' is a very good song complete with soaring vocal work and nice structure changes, not nearly as dominating with the heaviness as earlier tracks. Weaker choruses harm CD ender 'Faster' a bit, though your mainline vocal/instrumentation mix is done well. Incidentally, the vocals remind me a bit of Bruce Hall from Agent Steel, and when this guy is on, he's spot on and full of power, but the odder moments of a tune don't help his delivery any. Some weak spots but definitely a good bit of enjoyable tunes, a CD that caught me a bit off guard. Not what USUALLY comes out of South America, but enjoyable nonetheless (but not perfect).
Contact: Mausoleum Records.

IMPALED NAZARENE "Pro Patria Finlandia" (Osmose) SCORE: 93/100

Damn this is one SICK fucking record! The Finnish crew are drawing yet more controversy, which is all good when an album this sick hits. THIS is the kinda speed fest I can really dig, as the guitar riffs are just fucking sick! Crushing tunes that really pump the rage into high gear, and with lyrics about killing your neighbors ('Neighbourcide'), the usual sick goat stuff ('Goat Sodomy,' which I might add is the sickest and most insane track on the record), and the usual rants and raves against stupid society types and idiot people that we all run into every day ('I Wage War' and 'Kut') I must say there's something here for everyone needing to get frustrations out. Many of the songs are fast paced, nearly all the way through the record, so to an extent this album might seem a little long winded with 13 tracks. The album, however, only clocks in at a mere 38 minutes, NO song goes over the 4 minute mark, so these sick fucks get in, do the most possible damage, and get out. The lead solo work is all over the place, almost sounding like a speedy power metal band but the riffing on these solos is absolutely insane. In fact, the whole damn band sounds like they just drank tons of alcohol, did tons of drugs, and got pissed and frustrated to the point they were about ready to explode in fiery rage, and channeled it all into this album. Mika's vocals are just as sick as ever, with that black metal scream that nearly borders on power metal screaming, complete with the death vocals. On the absolute best I.N. song ever, 'Goat Sodomy,' I find it hard to believe Mika can be THAT long winded on the end of this track! They even do a Macabre (the band) like death riff on this song! 'Psykosis' I thought wasn't one of their better tracks, being a basic speed fest, and the instrumentation/vocal mix at the end of 'Contempt' was a bit unnerving, but you can't get this out of control and expect a perfect record. This is a damn good record to put on when you feel pissed at the world, your job, the government, or that fucking bitch who won't leave you alone! Grab a gun, 'cause in the words of Mika: "This is the harvest of hate... So let's fucking die!!!" If you like Impaled Nazarene then you're a goddamn fool for not owning this album.
Contact: Osmose Productions.

MOURNING BELOVETH "A Murderous Circus" (Grau) SCORE: 93/100

The Irish doom/death juggernaut strikes again, this time with a record that definitely builds on the strength and heaviness of the more deathlike elements of their game. This record by far accentuates the monstrous vocal work, which probably makes this one of their heaviest yet. Be forewarned though. As heavy as this is, it is also by far their LONGEST set of songs to date, as only 'Elemental Nausea" clocks in at under 14 minutes. The longest piece, clocking in at an astonishingly 19 minutes and 42 seconds, could DEFINITELY have used about 4 or 5 minutes on the cutting board, as they utilized the lone bass notes and "walking" sounds, similar to what My Dying Bride did to one of their tracks on their "Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light" album, and it definitely seems out of place. There's a few other problems that crop up in a few other spots as well, like the sudden, almost "rushed" transition on 'The Crashing Wave' from a sort of sorrowful ambience to a sudden heaviness, complete with 4 death growls that really weren't set up well. Those points aside, I thought that 'Elemental Nausea' could have had a bit more variety, especially for the length here! Be that as it may, there's still plenty to enjoy about this record, especially since the acoustical passages are still here, and the singing vocals, minimal though they are (kinda like the last record), still hold a nice change of pace from what are mostly sick, twisted death metal vocals of a punishing caliber. One of the best songs here is CD ender '...Yet Everything,' especially in the sorroful doomy guitars close to the end of the track. The spoken vocals pop up quite a bit too, but on 'Elemental Nausea' they're kinda pushed too far in the background and difficult to pick up. If you liked their previous effort "The Sullen Sulcus" (reviewed last issue) then there's no reason to let this album fall by the wayside, as it's still very enjoyable and seems to be a bit more in your face than their last release, while still holding your interest for about an hour and 15 minutes, spread out over 5 songs.
Contact: Grau Records.

OBTEST "Is Kartos I Karta" (Ledo Takas) SCORE: 94/100

I REALLY like this band! The Lithuanian metal crew comes through yet again with another winner of an album. To be perfectly honest, this record doesn't have an overwhelming track like their previous record "Auka Seniems Dievams" (via the title track from said album) but damn if this isn't one well written release. First thing that jumps out at you? The guitar work. It's ALL over the place, with majestic, high ended leads that convey almost a folkish atmosphere. Nearly all the tracks presented here are fast paced, a tiny bit of a drawback to the record (especially since the song 'Audronasa' is so overwhelmingly fast, it chokes the life out of the vocals and instrumentation, leaving it one of the weakest cuts on the album), but nonetheless a minor drawback. The lyrics, once again like previous record "Auka Seniems Dievams," are sung entirely in Lithuanian, but it really doesn't matter, does it? The coolest thing about the vocalist is that he gets aggressive without ever getting all death metal style, so those who have a problems with the growling will still think this is heavy. Some might reminisce to the Gothenberg days on the guitar work, but let me assure you, it's NOTHING like the 'Goth style! My favorite tracks are 'Is Kartos I Karta,' which is a lot of fun to hear, and 'Burtai,' which has a definite folkish feel to it, even with the faster paced guitar work. They do manage a few new twists to this record, things which I thought they should have developed more. I don't have full packaging so I have NO idea who did this, but the track 'Burtai' has some SICK black metal vocals on a few lines in the song, never to be heard from again (sadly). CD ender has a nice multivocal chanting thing going on to end the track, and the CD. Nice touches! I would love to hear them develop this stuff more! Also, there's a LOT of lead solo work on damn near every track, but these solos are crafted so well that you forget they're actually not blazing away at 100 miles per hour. No, these are midpaced solos that convey a LOT of atmosphere and emotions. A CD that was worth the wait, and proving once again GREAT music can be found in other more remote corners of the world besides Norway, Sweden or Finland.
Contact: Ledo Takas Records.

OLD SEASON "Volume One" (Alderwood) SCORE: 92/100

This was a pretty amazing find. Old Season hails from Ireland and plays metal with an Irish/folk edge, somewhat reminiscent of Primordial. However, you won't find ANY death or black metal vocals here, just a singer who soars with emotion and passion. A greater shock to me was when I learned that the singer for Old Season is ALSO the SAME singer for Mourning Beloveth!! I'm not sure which set of vocals Frank Brennan does for Mourning, but it would fascinate me even more if he was responsible for the death styled vocals! The band definitely shot themselves in the foot by the song order, as CD opener 'And Sands She Turned For Time' should have been the CD ender. This is one of the most amazing and emotional tunes I've heard in awhile, and the synths drive the power of this music home, along with the soaring vocal work. The synthesized passages, by the way, sound rich and fully orchestrated, which leads me to believe they are layered. No matter. Heavy guitars start off 'Mortals Of Mettle,' and it will definitely remind one of Primordial, including some headbanging riffs that prove this is more than just another folk/metal/Irish combination. The piano notes were a nice touch, and especially on CD ender 'A Dwindling Seed' they serve to accentuate the vocals nicely when the song decides to change structure on you (a few of these tunes are, after all, 7 minutes in length). 'A Divine Plague' and 'The Sky Burns' are definitely darker in scope, and the traditional metal instrumentation sometimes overpowers the singer to the extent that sometimes you wish the tracks in question weren't quite as dark. It seems they haven't quite perfected the darker, more metal oriented passages in their sound, but the soaring vocal work more than makes up for some of these shortcomings. I thought I heard violins on 'The Claw,' and once again I might add that the sound is rich and layered with the guitars knowing when to step into the background a bit. Varied and diverse is the work found within, and it seems like the Primordial influence is only one small facet of the body of work presented here. Irish bands that tout their heritage and musical roots are VERY few and far between, and it seems like Old Season has become one more band to boast about in the somewhat small but growing Irish music scene.
Contact: Old Season.

SATURNUS "Veronica Decides To Die" (Firebox) SCORE: 99/100

Just about anything getting released on Firebox these days is DAMN good quality, and this is a band I have known NOTHING about except this is their third or fourth release (depending on how you rank one of their EP's which contains music found on a few other releases). I absolutely eat up doom metal here, no doubt about that. THIS Danish band however offers a bit different fare from what many are used to. For proof of this, check the track 'Pretend' with the balls-out rockin' guitar work, bordering on stoner rock at times, and presenting vocals that are a bit hardcore oriented but still otherwise quite different! In fact, you'll find the vocal work throughout is diverse and different from start to finish. You have clean spoken vocals (almost a narrative, remembering that these lyrics are based on a book by the same name), death metal styled vocals that are quite unique (and that's hard to do), and of course the aforementioned hardcore styled vocals. 'I Long' is the 10 minute track that starts the record off, with serene and melodic piano notes leading into sorrowful and heavier guitar work. The synth notes here are definitely reminiscent of more recent My Dying Bride, offering one link to their chosen genre. One thing that annoyed me here was the rather fruity lyrics on a few of the spoken word passages (though they're almost forgiveable, since they don't make a constant appearance) but you cannot deny the impact of such strong and masterful song writing! 'Rain Wash Me' will crush your soul with such emotional weight, especially in the opening piano notations and ultimately giving way to violins playing the same notes, and ultimately the heavier guitar work. This is an amazing piece of work to say the least! 'Embraced By Darkness' and 'To The Dreams' continue the CD on in a rather slow, doom/death fashion, but enhanced and diversified by the unusually melodic approach. In this CD, the heavier and darker passages are more an afterthought to the "beautiful sadness" and melancholy and make for a different listen though still firmly entrenched in the doom metal genre (dare I say doom/death?) The CD ender 'Murky Waters' shows that once again these Danes aren't afraid to break the mold, as the catchy and more rockin' guitars tread along different waters. This is simply an amazing CD that will make you FEEL something. Something different and good, and I most DEFINITELY want to track down their back catalog!
Contact: Firebox Records.

SATYRICON "Now, Diabolical" (Century Media) SCORE: 94/100

Surprised to see a Century Media release reviewed here? Well, thanks go out to Greg from WREK FM here in Atlanta for providing me with an album I had been eagerly awaiting. This is a pretty diverse piece of black metal, and once again the "Kvlt and troo" assholes are making this to be a failure of an album, when they need a kick square in the nuts. First off, this is black metal of a sick and vicious nature, ESPECIALLY where the vocals are concerned. Satyr turns in one of the most vicious and dealy venomous assaults I've ever heard from him, and I think I know why. Many of these songs are a tad bit slower in scope, and you get to hear the full range of depth and range of his sickened screams. Think about it for a minute: if you don't have to sing 100 lines in the breadth of a 3 minute song (due to rapid fire, speedier instrumentation) then you're able to put more range and lungpower into each and every syllable. I should know, as a vocalist myself (and one that appreciated the more subtle moments of being in Hallows Eve). That being said, there's something downright creepy and evil about some of the slower passages here, just dripping with a sick aura that I definitely appreciated. The title track starts the CD off in fine fashion, with some high energy lead riffs that are a bit more "rock" based, but definitely kick ass. Not too fast but still keeps up a headbanging tempo. 'K.I.N.G.' was the surprise of the CD, as the guitar riffs, once again not too fast, provide an almost stoner rock like quality, but in a more kick ass fashion (think more like bludgeoning stoner rock like Rite or heavier moments of Honcho, if that helps, not the dreamy, almost stoned out quality of many other bands). It helps that the choruses to these songs are very catchy and will stick in your head. What's wrong with writing black metal that is memorable? 'The Pentagram Burns' continues the sick pace, with the more rock like (and I really use that term loosely) riffs. 'The Rite Of War Cross' does indicate where the rest of the CD is headed, as this track utilizes more of the doomier styled instrumentation, especially with the wierder, almost dark acoustic like guitars. Even the very sparse synths sound like apocalyptic trumpets blowing! The doomier passages continue on in 'Delirium,' however this song suffers a bit from them and really doesn't pique my interest until the sung vocals and choruses, as there's a LOT of solo instrumentation. 'To The Mountains' is an interesting tune, though a tad bit too long at over 8 minutes. This track has the really sick, dark and doomy passages opening up, and my biggest gripe with this (which seemingly is only noticeable on this song) is the intense double bass drumming. When it occurs on the slower passages, it hit me that the drums could have been louder, or more upfront in the mix (I'm not a drum expert, so I don't know which), but there's no denying the skill and variation Frost brings to the table. The ending of this particular song is lengthened a bit, with basically a few dark and evil apocalyptic trumpet blasts, and a repetition of the choruses, but it's an ending I will gladly sit through. Finally, the bonus track (for the U.S. market at least) 'Storm' is the shortest track here, and is an insanely fast more traditional black metal piece. But sick vocals abound, folks, and some of the most diabolical and well written instrumentation I've heard in a while. Good jobs at varying tempos, and this still oozes darkness and some really sick evil fucking vibes.
Contact: Century Media Records.

SIENA ROOT "Kaleidoscope" (Nasoni) SCORE: 86/100

I absolutely LOVE this kind of stuff... Nasoni Records is still somewhat of an enigma to me, as I was under the impression they focused on psychedelic/space rock and maybe some 60's type stuff, but after the heavy as hell Samavayo, I'm getting more and more impressed with the diversity of this label! Siena Root hails from a very unlikely place (well, when you FIRST hear where they're from) but it all makes sense as I'll explain later. First off, the music sounds like very trippy psychedelic garage rock (at first) with very catchy melodies. Opener 'Good And Bad' Has some NICE lead guitar work that invokes both Stevie Ray Vaughn AND the god himself Jimi Hendrix... Yes, this man can SHRED! This track hints at stoner rock but with the Hammon sounding organ you know this is mainly aimed at a triipy, acid laced 60's vibe. (Isn't that where the stoner rock scene evolved from ANYWAY!?). Lead vocalist Sanya turns in a VERY powerful and energetic performance, and the only person I could really compare her to is the late, great Janis Joplin, not just in sheer vocal expression, but the powerful and awe inspiring performance she gives. My favorite track on the record HAS to be the dark title 'Nightstalker,' and it's a great, rockin' tune! Catchy choruses, psychedelic guitars and a touch of Caribbean sounding percussion PROVES that you're in for quite a ride. 'Blues 276' is exactly what it sounds like, a rather slow, bluesy like tune. Not sticking to strictly blues however, this tune soon branches out into a nice improv jam with trippy guitar effects and all in a 3:45 timeframe! Wow! MAJOR points off for the Indian/Hindu 'Bhairavi Dhun,' though, as this is nearly a complete waste of 9 minutes of the album's time. The sitar and wierd guitar riffs were unbearable, even if there were a few minutes of heavy guitar riffs. Points off to the first half of 'Crossing The Stratosphere' as well, as it was almost like a minimal noise piece, dark though it was, that made me hit the fast forward button. Stick around though, as the melodic Pink Floyd like atmosphere creates some of the most beautiful melodies on the record. 'There And Back Again' goes back to what this band does EXTREMELY well: ROCK! You even get a killer keyboard solo! And dark instrumentation in spots! You want straight ahead biker rock? Well, Siena Root does that too, with 'Ridin' Slow.' And of course they do nice jam sessions which gives you the most etherial atmosphere one can create with guitars and keyboards. CD ender 'Reverberations' is definitely worth the 11 minutes, as they go full on into heavy jams and melodic passages, and the nice thing about this track is the sounds and atmosphere are seemingly devoid of any REAL guitars! Bass guitar, drums, keyboards and the occasional flute (which really sounds more like a recorder to me [see your high school marching class if you don't know what a reed-based recorder is]) alternate quite frequently between heavy rockin' jams and melodic, mellow atmosphere, and it's definitely a surreal experience! They do kinda ruin the ending of the song by trying to play a chaotic, fast, noisy and destructive ending, but overall, there's not only some BEAUTIFUL moments to be had, they can straight up ROCK your ass off! MUCH diversity from a band I'd LOVE to hear more from! Oh, yeah, and here's the final kicker... They're from Scandinavia!! SCANDINAVIA! Not the U.S. or the U.K. like one would think. Surprised? Well, think about what great musicians those Scandinavians are, and think back on the last 5 overseas bands you really enjoyed. Amon Amarth? Swedish. Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, Immortal? Norway. Even the stoner rock bands that come out of Scandinavia are of excellent quality (Satellite Circle, Honcho & Gate 9 from Norway...)
Contact: Nasoni Records.

SUMMONING "Oath Bound" (Napalm) SCORE: 99/100

This is one of the most amazing bands in history, and EVERY Summoning album I've ever heard (and I have a lot of them, going back as far as "Minas Morgul," "Lugburz," and even "Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame" and "Stronghold.") is top notch, amazing quality. There's an interview with Agalloch this issue about the definition of post rock, and I think Summoning has a bit of an element of post rock in their sound (defining post rock as using traditional instruments in untraditional ways), defined by the guitars not only being a bit more upfront at times, but being utilized almost like synthesizers in ambient music in that they create atmospheric landscapes that coincide with the majestic, bombastic and epic synth work. There's even talk that they actually used a REAL FLUTE on the CD ender 'Land Of The Dead.' Another first for Summoning, which occurs on 'Land Of The Dead:' SUNG vocals! The last 4 or 5 minutes of this song contains many male, multivocal styled choruses that sound almost unearthly, or even otherworldly, you have to hear it to believe it! Leave it to Summoning to wait until the near end of this 12 minute epic to unleash the choruses! That being said, the CD opener 'Bauglir' starts things off with nice flutes, which I think MUST be real, and a small spoken word sample. This track is a mere 2:58 and is the LAST track under 8 minutes you'll hear on this record. And some may have a problem with the fact that the majority of the songs here are 8 minutes in length, with one over 10 and the CD ender at 12, but the soundscapes and cohesiveness of the formula works so well you've forgotten how much time has passed. The vocals are still black metal based, nothing's really changed there, and it's amazing how similar some of the structures sound to a few other songs they've done but you get so lost in each overall song, you forget what else is going on! Musically, this entire body of the band's work should have been the official soundtrack to the Lord Of The Rings movies, but I can hammer that point home all day. The vocal samples are almost completely absent, save for a few tracks, instead concentrating on the music and vocals (maybe there wasn't enough out there to fit the storyline, which I don't think was taken from the Lord Of The Rings series). The guitar work may not start off each and every track, but they make an appearance shortly after the synths and percussion, which I might add said percussion is still a very unique mix of tribal and militaristic. 'Mirdautas Vras' is the most interesting song here as it contains lyrics sung entirely in the ancient language of the Orcs from Middle Earth, and the very essence of this song has you conjuring up images of a huge Orc army storming the landscape in a march to war. (The song title is said to mean, in the Orcish language, 'A Good Day To Kill.') I could go on and on about this record, but suffice it to say if you're thinking there's no original bands left anymore, or no band that does something that is entirely different from what the rest of the world is doing, you need to pick up on what Summoning's been doing for the last 10 years or so now. A masterpiece in a genre that Summoning created and rules all their own.
Contact: Napalm Records.

THE ABSENCE "From Your Grave" (Metal Blade) SCORE: 92/100

How shocked I was to find out that this was produced by Erik Rutan! To be 100 percent honest, I have liked NOTHING Eric has put his hands on, from his own mess of a death metal band Hate Eternal, to Dim Mak, even up to his odd vocal work and guitar parts on one of Morbid Angel's last ("Gateways To Annihilation" I believe it was). This is the first thing I can think of that he did right. Vocal wise, this is very sick and vicious, and will remind some of the unavoidable comparisons to bands like Soilwork, Dark Tranquility and At The Gates, but it seems to have a bit of black metal bite as well. The most amazing thing about this record is the guitar work! There's shredding all over the place, and more sweet melodic guitar leads than you can shake a G-string at! Riffing usually couples heavy, almost thrashy/choppy riffs with the melodic leads, though the more melodic guitar work is always in the forefront. The songs for the most part are fast paced, and one of my biggest complaints is the fact that many songs have similar guitar structures, especially when songs like 'From Your Grave' and 'My Ruin' almost have interchangeable parts. Sure, it's all incredibly varied solo wise, especially when the leads are allowed to run by themselves. 'Necropolis' and 'From Your Grave' are very catchy, and 'I, Deceiver' is just fucking sick! This track has a bad ass set of heavy riffs unline many other songs which start out with a melodic base. This is probably the most psychotic song on the CD, especially since the singer is seemingly so out of control and just raging! 'Heaven Ablaze' I thought was one of the weaker tracks here, simply due to the rather weak choruses, and a feeling that the guitar work is simply TOO melodic for this demon of a singer. Hailing from Tampa, Florida of all places, this is a band that has a decidely European sound and edge, and is highly worth checking out. Trust me, the skill of the guitarists shine through making many of the weaker points take a backseat, and there's enough intensity and fury to make a mosh pit fucking MOVE! Even CD ender 'Seven Demons' had a most interesting use of loudly sung vocals, which were hard to get used to at first, but added an interesting twist to an otherwise VERY interesting CD. I really HATED the fact that they couldn't show up for their gig in Spartanburg, where Vader, Kataklysm, Destruction, Graveworm and Speed Kill Hate all kicked ass.
Contact: Metal Blade Records.

THE WIZAR'D "Follow The Wizard" (Rusty Axe) SCORE: 94/100

A nice 5 song EP that's a bit too short, in my opinion, despite the fact that two songs are close to the 9 minute range. 'The Devil In The Woods' starts off with a vocal sample from what sounds to me like a Doctor Who episode (more on THAT later), especially given the accents on the dialogue. This is a nice, slow and doomy piece, and the guitars have a rather unique sound to them, which helps create the dark and doomy atmosphere. Lead vocals are rather low toned and help add to the oppressive atmosphere. There's good lead solo work as well, and besides doom metal this Australian group cites some NWOBHM bands as their main influences. 'The Goblin Washes His Feet' was a nice, but short, 1 minute acoustic instrumental, though nothing like the rest of the album, and one wishes for a bit more of a "song" since there's only 5 tracks here. 'Life Eternal' has very cool lead guitar work; this one's more a midtempo pace and the leads are nice and high toned, somewhat lending to a doomier NWOBHM vibe. Nice lead solos abound here as well, and the "oh yeah!" chant near the end lends itself to doomy Sabbath worship. The vocal work on 'The Doom That Came To Devil's End' took some getting used to, as they're a bit higher toned and seem more shouted or yelled than sung, but interesting notes about the lyrics, they seem to describe a very cool Dr. Who episode The Daemons quite well, on down to mentioning The Master, The Vicar, and of course the entity he eventually summoned Azal. And 'Funeral Circle' ends the CD off nicely, going back to the low toned vocals and very sinister overtones. I'd definitely love to hear more from this band, as it's a damn good release!
Contact: Rusty Axe Records.

VENOM "Metal Black" (Sanctuary) SCORE: 91/100

This record is not quite as lethal a followup as "Resurrection," but it's still a damn good record from a band who has delivered the goods, for the most part, since the early, EARLY 1980's. 'Antechrist' starts the CD off rather explosively, and Cronos and company don't waste any time fucking around. They give you the heavy shit in spades, though the production is a bit muddier this time around than the crisper, clearer production we heard on their last full length. It's mainly the drums that suffer a bit from the production, as some of the double bass riffs seem to get a bit lost, but everything else is in pretty good shape. Cronos' voice is still as sick and lethal as ever, though the majority of points taken off this record are for some of the more awkward sung parts, which sounds like he's trying too hard to sing loudly. Take 'House Of Pain,' for instance, where the choruses are cool but the rest of the song I'm not comfortable with. And what's with that fast spoken delivery on the title track? And 'Rege Satanas' had wierd choruses as well, annoying me still was the overrepetitive singing of 'Satanas' for the last minute or so through the fadeout of the song. The lead guitar work is quite skilled, I even heard some Middle Eastern sounding riffs on tunes like 'Hours Of Darkness' and 'Maleficarum,' the latter song most noteworthy as it has sung vocals that DO work, along with a lengthy 6 minutes that has quite a lot going on to keep it interesting. Speaking of, the tempos vary from raging speed to a rather slower pace than you usually hear from Venom (well, except for stuff like 'Raise The Dead,' tracks like that), and are never the focal point of any one song for too long. Variety is the name of the game, even if many of the songs are structured around the same guitar riffs. 'Darkest Realm' reminded me a bit of the song 'Pandemonium' from "Resurrection," complete with the lyrical themes and heavy riffs intact. Pounding percussion mixes with the thrashier riffs quite nicely, and adds an extra edge of heaviness to songs that Venom has been capable of writing for years. 'Lucifer Rising' is probably the only OTHER song on a 14 track affair I'd have to skip over (those choruses are simply ridiculous) and that's a pretty good bet, despite all the other little distractions here and there. Venom fans should go and pick this up... Hell, even non Venom fans should give it a spin.

VOIVOD "Katorz" (The End) SCORE: 88/100

I was most definitely disappointed with Voivod's first album for The End after Jason Newsted first joined, but all doubts and fears have been put to rest. As many of you already know, many of the guitar parts were written by Piggy shortly before his death, and the rest of the band did a masterful job putting everything together to make one enjoyable record. To be sure, Voivod STILL does the quirky stuff that at times makes me cringe, like the overrepetitive choruses on 'Odds & Frauds,' and some of the wierd guitar work and odd multivocal pieces on 'Mr. Clean.' And I must say I wasn't crazy about 'No Angel,' especially with those overrepetitive "nah-nah-nah's" thrown in at the end. But that's Voivod, and not everything they envision is going to be agreeable. SUch is their charm. However, they are mostly spot on, as even the aforementioned tracks have enough heaviness and Voivod uniqueness that it all comes together eventually. Like the best example would be 'Red My Mind,' where I'm not sure about hearing the odd guitar work and the oddly sung vocals, but once the song picks up, everything comes into focus, like putting on glasses to finally make out what seems strange at first. The CD starts off very well, with 'The Getaway' being a furious thrash fest, and the sneering, almost snotty vocals that are unique to Snake and Snake alone! Headbangers can rejoice and crank this up LOUDLY, as 'Dognation' comes into play with some dark guitar work and low toned, sneering vocals. And of course the almost thrashy, start/stop riffs work their magic when done Voivod style. The sung vocals are composed a LOT better here than on the previous record, and for the most part this is a damn good record. Don't expect perfection, but it's a record Piggy could definitely be proud of, were he here today. A monumental tribute to his memory, and a well done effort by the rest of the band.
Contact: The End Records.

YYRKOON "Unhealthy Opera" (Osmose) SCORE: 89/100

Every time I think there's very little left in the death metal genre for me to enjoy, along comes a band like this that reopens the doors for me. Hailing from France, my curiosity was already piqued due to their fascination with H.P. Lovecraft's world. That's as good a starting point as any. The brutal death metal vocals mix with the pounding percussion quite well and really drive this thing through your head! The thrashy guitar work also helps things along, and the entire presentation is very fucking brutal death metal. I also detected some slight black metal tendencies on the vocals in many spots. After the short intro, 'Unhealthy Opera' (the title track that is) starts things off fast and vicious, which is what you get a good "unhealthy" dose of for the majority of this disc. These vocals are sick and quite monstrous, folks, no lying! 'From The Depths' continues things on, and one thing I take a slight annoyance with is some of the lead solo work in spots (starting with this track) that didn't do much for me. 'Abnormal Intrusion' sees a few more lead solos that could have been thought out better, and on 'The Book,' I'm not too happy with a few main leads opening up the song and continuing throughout. Don't get me wrong, though because these guys can definitely play, in fact for every quirk on a few tracks there's a 'Horror From The Sea' where you'll find quite a bit of soloing that really catches you. 'Injecting Dementia' throws in sick thrashy guitar work all the way through, and even the bonus track is quite intense. My favorite tracks are 'Avatar Ceremony,' not least of which because there's catchy chorus work all around, and 'Of Madness,' with it's 500 tempo changes in one song! There are, by the way, slower passages in these songs, it's not all a blazing speed fest, though I do prefer the structure changes and diversity to an all out speed fest in the vein of, say, 'The Book.' CD bonus track 'Signs' is DEFINITELY no throwaway track either, surprising as it is the only tune to feature nice, clean sung vocals and harsh vocals more akin to black metal (not sure WHERE in their history this seemingly out of place tune fits). Two instrumentals also break the pace a bit, but you'll find that these are very dark and eerie acoustic passages that do a good job of conjuring up images of far off shores. Not the most original sound on the block, but a damn brutal one that will have you wanting to take an interest in the career of crushing French brutality.
Contact: Osmose Productions.

INTERVIEWS



AGALLOCH. Interview with Don Anderson.

When a new Agalloch record comes it, it deserves and demands immediate attention! Being called everything from the Pink Floyd of black metal, to creating one of the most important albums in music's history, Agalloch is indeed, without a doubt one of the most important bands in music's history. EVERY album they've EVER done has consistently scored a 95 or above, and their newest masterpiece "Ashes Against The Grain" is set to do so yet again. We interviewed the vocalist many issues ago, but this interview with the main guitar writer was equally as important; especially since much of the amazing and uplifting atmospheres were created by him and him alone.

This new record "Ashes Against The Grain" is absolutely amazing: unfortunately I don't have any of the lyrics so maybe you can tell me what's going on in the songs. I'm not sure if you write any of the lyrics or not.

I don't do any of the lyric writing. We're continuing to evolve the major themes, conceptually speaking, that Agalloch deals with. Like as the loss and desperation of hope, and of course melancholia and the struggle between mankind and nature. I think with this album we wanted to end on a much more nihilistic, hopeless note. "The Mantle" definitely ends on a hopeful note, 'Desolation Song' is sort of an afterthought, but the album ends on a more uplifting thought. The recording of this album was plagued by a lot of terrible, terrible things. During the recording I was going through a divorce, and my father was succumbing to cancer. After recording it, my friend Florian from Escape The Day commited suicide. And so the entire album was produced under a lot of stress that we all suffered from, existential melancholy. That's why the album ends on 'The Grain' which is really catastrophic. And despite being a noisy piece, it definitely has a melody underneath it. The lyrics; basically it's all one story and I'm really happy with John's lyric writing, because he's taken a more abstract, allegorical edge. A bit more simplified, not quite as gory as the older stuff. As far as any singular meaning, there really is no singular meaning; we like to leave things open to multiple meanings.

A LOT of bands write like that nowadays, it's like no one really wants to be tagged as too preach with their lyrics. Unless you're strictly in an old school black metal band (laughs)

And it's too cliche to be in a metal band and write about depressing things, so the best thing to do is to continue to write about depressing, dark things. But the more ambiguous you get with it, the less cheesy your cliche comes across. I feel like these songs are thinly veiled in some way. It's not just another band singing about depression and darkness.

What's the deal with your keyboardist, I read that Shane Breyer is on "sabbatical" due to lack of interest in music, has that issue been resolved yet?

Well, Breyer's role has always been there. He doesn't really play keyboards in the band, but he's always composed the orchestral synth pieces, like 'The Misshapen Steed' and 'A Poem By Yeats.' I've always loved his work, both with Agalloch and his other projects. Shane has gone on to containment school, and is finishing his doctorate's degree. It's something I can relate to as I am also pursuing a doctorate's degree and it's a lot of work; sometimes music has to take a back seat. Shane's not really a trained musician, but he is a brilliant keyboardist and composer and we all sorely miss his work. We've been trying to convince him and we think he's getting more motivated to finish things up in school to do a Susurrus Inanis album. There's really no difference between Susurrus Inanis and the pieces he's written for Agalloch; that's kind of his thing. It's not impossible, it's just that he's had to shift focus to other areas of his life.

I'm curious about the fact that after "The Mantle" was released, you went through this phase where you were just releasing EP's in 2003 and 2004, and I'm wondering if these were experimental pieces (as I've heard that most of the material here is mainly instrumental), or just songs that didn't quite fit the concepts of Agalloch.

It was definitely pieces we were experimenting with. You can sort of see that album "The Mantle" as a point where we were going "oh god, what are we going to do, let's try incorporating different styles." And I think "The Mantle" is just us trying on different hats, musically. I said it before, I think it's somewhat of a confused album, though I love it, but it seems really unfocused because we were bringing in new things and trying new influences.

I love this album as well.

We looked at the small releases like the 10 inch split and the "Gray" EP, even the "Tomorrow Never Comes" 7 inch, as a way to produce a minor statement that won't necessarily be configured as part of our "major" material. They're limited releases, so they shouldn't be taken as major points in our musical development. The "Gray" EP is sort of that pure, post rock approach, and the 10 inch is almost pure folk. We were just trying to find ourselves, and the great thing about doing these one offs, experimental pieces, is it really helped us compose and produce "Ashes Against The Grain." Because through all that experimentation we finally really found our voice and felt more comfortable with making a singular, musical statement. I think "Ashes..." is a more focused "Mantle," but had we not gone through these one off releases, I don't think we could have done such a strong album.

With "The Mantle" there were a lot more singing vocals, and this record goes back to having a majority of blackened vocals. I gotta be honest with you, the track 'Bloodbirds' is one of the most amazing Agalloch songs I've ever heard, and I love all three records. (laughs) This is going to sound wierd but it almost sounds like an instrumental jam session for the first few minutes, kinda like a Greatful Dead slash Pink Floyd thing.

Yeah, yeah. Some of my guitar work on 'Bloodbirds' and also 'Our Fortress Is Burning,' a lot of that stuff is improvised and it's just one of those magical moments you get in one take, and it just fits right. I LOVE David Gilmoure and Pink Floyd, and he's very economical. I really try to space out my notes... I can't remember who said it, but one great guitarist, maybe Stevie Ray Vaughn or David Gilmoure, made the comment that you should imagine that each note is really expensive. You have to be really economical and make them matter. I try to take that approach, especially with that song in particular.

That song is absolutely amazing, the notes on that... If you don't feel something when you hear that song, then you're quite simply not fucking alive. That's one of the most amazing set of emotional passages I've ever heard.

Thank you. And not to get too metaphysical with the music, but I was going through a lot of difficulty; and that was one of those one take things. I had just gone through the divorce papers and dealt with a lot of terrible things. That guitar solo, that was coming straight through the heart.

People are going to say instrumentation wise, there's not a whole lot in common with black metal, but vocal wise, there IS of course. What was your take on trying to combine the harsher, colder black metal style with other influences that aren't so readily apparent in music today. I'm guessing you're one of the main songwriters.

Yeah. Me and John basically collaborate 50/50 back and forth through the song writing. And then Jason as well, comes up with his own bass playing. We all kind of write our own parts. It's just a matter of rearranging and rewriting, and what not, a lot of negotiations. It's a productive relationship. But we all grew up on Norweigan black metal, like Enslaved, Ulver, Burzum, Darkthrone. All these bands mean a great deal to us. Around the period of "The Mantle" John and I were really interested in trying to combine the sound of a band like Godspeed! You Black Emperor and that whole post rock scene with black metal. If you listen to it, the guitar picking, the melody lines; everything is very similar. The double picking you find in post rock is identical to what you find in Norweigan black metal... a lot of the single notes. We didn't think it was that far of a leap to go between the two genres. Like the song 'Limbs,' the very last part following the acoustic breakdown, it's difficult to tell if this is post rock or black metal because the guitar riffs are kind of mediating between the two. All the genres that we try to represent we find them all to be incredibly complementary, whether it's neo-folk, post rock or black metal. It's all dark music. What my right hand does picking wise, it's very close. We were very shocked when we recorded 'Limbs,' that first part we recorded when John's vocals comes in, to me it just sounds like total Enslaved. It was totally unexpected, that just kinda happened, but that was the first song we tracked. So we were like 'let's make sure the foundation IS cold, grim, Norweigan black metal.' Because that's what we love. But let's still negotiate these other genres.

It's funny to me to hear you mention "post rock," because I've heard Godspeed! You Black Emperor mentioned even amongst a few friends in my area. And I'm kind of embarassed to admit that I have NO idea what post rock is, you know me being the music magazine editor and writer with 15 years of music experience. I haven't heard the band yet however.

But you're not alone, and you have to be suspicious of ANYTHING that uses that prefix 'post.' Because when you put "post" in front of anything , it has the strange effect of making something old seem new.

Like post modern...

Exactly. To me post rock, if I had to pick the ultimate band, it would be something like Sonic Youth. Rock bands that use traditional imstruments in non traditional ways, which really has it's genesis in the modern classical music. So when guitars are scraping the strings, doing odd tunings or whatever, making a lot of noise with the guitar... That's not terribly new, but it's new for rock music... I guess you could think of post rock as where the guitars are taking on the role of a keyboard, more ambient rather than playing a straight riff.

I guess Voivod could be kind of considered in that vein. I know they did somewhat spacecy things with their guitars, especially all the way back to "Killing Technology."

Oh yeah, again, it's just whenever traditional rock instruments are used non traditionally. That warrants the prefix "post." And Voivod DEFINITELY, in terms of tonality, were way ahead of what else was going on. So you can draw a good parallel between Sonic Youth and Voivod.

I remember the interview I did with John awhile ago.. I remember meeting him in person, as his girlfriend lived in Suwanee at the time. I do recall him saying that you weren't planning on being a touring band, it was more of the label's thing and you were just content to make music and kind of distance yourself from the metal scene. Now I see that you guys are preparing to do shows and tours. So I'm wondering what changed between that time and now.

The first thing was, we started out as a studio band. And there were two reasons for that, one was because John did both drums and guitars AND vocals. So there was no way to play live because we didn't have a drummer. Then the second thing was, we never think to ourselves, "how can we reproduce this thing live?" We would rather have complete freedom in the studio to make the most layered and interesting album without the burden of going "how are we going to reproduce this live?" So those are two obstacles besides just having a job and that sort of thing. And then we found Chris, and The End Records was pressuring us to play live. We weren't anti live, or even anti metal or anything. But with Chris we tried rehearsing and we rewrote a lot of songs and rearranged a lot of things for the live set. And we had a wonderful time, it was a lot of fun going out on tour with Virgin Black and Antimatter. It's wonderful to rearrange the songs so they sound a bit different live; we're a different band live.

There was a lot of talk about your few appearances live; people have said, especially referring to the Day Of The Equinox festival, that seeing an Agalloch show live had transcended anything they had ever seen in live music before!

It's nice to hear, because we're a rock band live. We can't reproduce a lot live because there's too many guitars. So we rewrite a lot.

What is Chris's band The Waking Cold like?

The Waking Cold is similar to what Jason does with his band Nothing. It's dark electronics, ambience, noisy stuff. It's very good. Chris actually wrote 'The Grain,' and 'This White Mountain On Which You Will Die.' I think he has a myspace page where you can hear his stuff.

Speaking of webpages, I see where you finally got a webpage up and running for Agalloch!

It's taken a long time; we just wanted to find the right person and the right time. We just want everything we do to be of the utmost highest quality we can achieve. And neither one of us are webdesigners. A guy who was a big fan offered to do it.

I know it's probably too soon, but maybe you guys have started thinking about the next record and what it entails?

We have definitely thought about it. This is the first time where the slate is completely wiped clean. It's nice. Because we always have riffs sort of laying around, songs laying around even AFTER we've recorded an album. But this time we're completely blank, and I know we're interested in going sort of more a, well... I don't want to say "technical," but we're trying to get a little more progressive. I always joke around with John that we're like a darker, more slower Ramones! (laughs). We don't use many more than three or four chords a lot of times. I think the changes with Agalloch will be like trying other keys, chart minor or something. Different key signatures, different riffs... We're kinda tired of the pining, Katatonia type riffs. I don't really want to say technical, because then people think of like Atheist and Death. That's not what I mean.

That's so wierd when you say you use only three or four chords, because it seems like a mind's trick; like you're doing so much with so little. These passages are just so deep and emotional. I'm not a guitar player so I don't know the technicality of these things.

There's a lot of layering, you know? The way it works is that John will record like a really basic demo, one or two guitars. And then he'll mail it to me and I'll get it and fill in some of the spaces: the chords, the harmonies. There's a lot of layering: doing a lot with so little. People compare us to Opeth a lot and that's always perplexing to me because we're nowhere near as technical as them. I think we're trying to move into a more technical area because we haven't explored that yet. That's what lies ahead.

Have you seen a lot of press for this album yet? I've seen a lot of positive reviews, but I'm curious what you've read.

I've seen a lot of warm comments from listeners, and I've seen one review from progarchives.com which was probably one of the best reviews I've ever seen; not just because it's positive and well written but it's REALLY analytical. I really appreciate that because we put so much time into making an album that when I see a journalist really take their time with it it's really rewarding.

Was there any bad press you saw; things that really stood out for you?

I've heard some people say it was boring (I have to laugh here - Ed.) and to me boring is just... you need to take time to get into it.

I find that hard to believe; I got into it right away, and I love music. I love music that really hits you on so many different levels, and I think the whole explanation of layering makes things a bit more clear to me.

And I've had some people say it's happier, which I can't see at all.

Now I DEFINITELY can't see that! Still though, when someone says "mature" about a band, you kinda wonder sometimes. Does that mean they're saying the band has abandoned their roots in favor of other sounds, or does it mean that the band has really tapped in and captured the very essence of what the band is really all about. You know what I mean?

Oh yeah, absolutely. This album is more uptempo and I think people confuse that with "upbeat." But we're still the same Agalloch. Early on we made a comment on The End Records' website about how this record would be more rock based. But what we really meant was exactly what 'Falling Snow' sounds like. It's more uptempo, it's more rockin' but it's still dark, it doesn't mean it's any less dark.

What's really funny is the people that I play this record to; people that at least have SOME musical knowledge of like black metal especially. The first thing I hear is "Where in Europe are these guys from?" (Laughs.) Even the pictures in the booklets, song titles, and what not; people REALLY think you guys are from Norway, and I'm like, "No, they're from Oregon!" And I get people calling me a liar, calling me all kinds of names, swearing up and down you people CAN'T be from the U.S.! It's SO hilarious!

But Oregon, especially the environment here, it's just as beautiful and picturesque as the Norweigan landscapes. We've tried to have what we kinda term as Northwest Pride, so to speak. ALL our photography is either from Portland, Oregon or somewhere in the Northwest. You know, like the Shining lodge. We try to reference American writers and American filmmakers. And we're REALLY into American culture, "The Mantle" was really influenced by that film "Dead Man." Rather than quoting someone like Nietzsche on our albums, we'd rather quote someone like Walt Whitman, or Henry David Thoreau. Those sort of writers are important to us.

It's funny to me talking about influences and definitions: I don't know if you've ever been to my site but in the classic albums section I have close to 900 (as of this interview) 80's metal albums you can listen to in their entirety, and to me it's like, yeah, I'm an American, but when people tell me there's not a site like mine ANYWHERE in the world, I'm like, but you know, this REALLY is a site that you should think comes from Europe, not the United States. The Europeans' dedication to 80's metal is absolutely astounding and I kinda have people react in the same way about me sometimes.

Well, Metallica is a good example of being influenced by the British stuff. Me too, I mean I grew up on Iron Maiden and that has a lot to do with the way I write music and the way I come up with melodies.

I heard there's a tour coming up, is this an extensive tour going across the States or what?

Not a sustained tour. The problem with us is that I live about 4 hours north from the band, so it's very hard to stay rehearsed. Right now the guys are rehearsing on their own, and then I kinda come down when I can and rehearse with them. And then Jason has a year old daughter and a wife; it's really hard for him to take more than a week off. So those sort of problems combine; responsibilities get in the way of doing a sustained tour, so we try to do scattered shows here and there. If we get some offers to come out east and it fits with our life schedules we would. We love playing live, we wish we could take a month off and just tour the States. I teach for a living and I can't take time off from school, because then my students would have to take a month off. (laughs).

You don't get summers off?

I do get summers off, but it's too late for a summer tour. Maybe next summer, that would be great.

I was looking through your discography and I noticed a demo called "From Which Of This Oak," and I'm curious about this since it predates your first album by about 3 years. I'd love to hear it, how does it sound?

I met John for the first time not long before that demo. He heard me play guitar and he asked if I could cut some solos on this demo for a band he just came up with (Agalloch). And I just play the solos on that, I didn't do any rhythym guitars. But it sounds VERY New Wave Of Swedish Heavy Metal, like early Dark Tranquillity, early In Flames. Both John and I are into that but John was REALLY into that. The only song we resurrected was 'As Embers Dressed The Sky.' That sounds the most Agallochian. We kept that song but the other two songs, 'The Wilderness' and 'This Old Cabin,' they sound WAY too Swedish death metal.

You should rerelease that, maybe along with the 1998 promo. I've talked to some people who would REALLY like to hear that.

We've talked about that too, that's definitely a possibility for the future. I think as Agalloch gets more popular, people will be really interested in hearing what were our origins.

I know The End has done a lot of stuff for you guys. I remember their very first release was the first Mental Home Record, and I originally thought that The End was just a U.S. base to distribute Russian bands to a U.S. market. I remember working with Andreas and now he seems to have moved on, is he still involved with the label?

He still is the owner, but what's funny is that he's hired a lot of people. I was in one of the first bands signed to The End Records, and that's Sculptured. Which is my main band, I guess you could say. It was Mental Home, Nokturnal Mortum, and Sculptured. I met Andreas back in '98 just as he was beginning to start up the label. It's amazing how quickly it has grown. And early on, none of the bands played live, so it's even more amazing how it grew despite that. I've never been on any other label, he's just fantastic. Very generous, very family oriented. He went to Jason's wedding even! He goes on tour with us, he sleeps on the floor (laughs). He buys us lunch and stuff; there's no better label. And we have complete creative control.

I'm going to ask quite a few bands about this, but I'm sure you get all the latest releases from The End. Something I'm curious about, have you ever heard the earliest Dissection stuff, and what do you think about the new Dissection record? So many people have ragged on the new record, of course, it's mainly the "cult and true" black metal "elite." I'm surprised at how many people say they don't like it, I thought it was a great release.

I used to do a fanzine back in 1995. And I got to hear Dissection for the first time with "The Somberlain." So I was able to follow them from the very beginning. When "Storm Of The Light's Bane" came out my friends and I thought "This is the new Reign In Blood." That album was SO landmark, it was snowing outside when I got it, it was a wonderful feeling and is easily one of most favorite metal albums of all time: nothing else tops it. And I actually interviewed Nodveidt back in 1995-1996, this was before he got taken to jail. A lot happens in 11 years. What was so stellar about Dissection was that they were able to cohesively combine German speed metal with Scandinavian black metal and the Gothenberg sound. All three styles are DEFINITELY in there, sometimes in the same song! Sometimes you'd hear Kreator, In Flames and then At The Gates, but then you'd hear Emperor. It's beautiful. The new album, I can say that I DO like it, but it definitely doesn't have that same combination. But the songwriting is absolutely incredible (on the new record). I really like the new Dissection!

Anything else you want to say before we wrap this up?

We filmed a video for 'Not Unlike The Waves,' which is supposed to be on MTV, Headbanger's Ball at some point.

That should be interesting; of course Headbanger's Ball is said to not be like it was back in the day. I don't have cable, so I have yet to see it.

Well, I do see them playing like Crisis, which is an End Records band. There's other video channels we're supposed to be on. The video is definitely representative of our favorite filmmakers. I can see the influence of Ingmar Bergman definitely. I've only seen the raw footage though.



CANNIBAL CORPSE. Interview with Alex Webster via phone.

You wanna talk a little bit about your new record?

The album is entitled "Kill" and it's our tenth studio album. It was produced by Eric Rutan and recorded in St. Petersburg.

I thought it rather interesting you decided to use Eric as a producer. That's a different change for you guys.

It was the first time we used Eric, but it's only the third different studio we ever did an album in. It was different for us because the studio was rather new and gear was still being bought for it, whereas most other studios we worked in were already established for a long time. But we had more than enough gear for what we needed to do. Eric did a really good job; everything turned out really good I think. He has a background as a death metal guitar player, which added a different perspective on it; especially since he's worked with a lot of death metal producers.

Well, to be honest (at the time of this writing) I had only heard a few tracks on the local Atlanta radio station I sometimes guest host at...

Tell that radio station I appreciate it!

One thing I've ALWAYS been curious about, and I've read lots of interviews but I've never seen it mentioned anywhere... I'm guessing that for maybe your first four albums, the artwork to me reminds me of the comic book Deadworld that I read several years ago, is that the same artist, because it looks strikingly similar.

It's the same guy, he did all of our stuff for the most part. He didn't do the cover of the new album but he did the interior. It's actually underneath the disc. But that's how we found out about him was by reading Deadworld comics. We thought it would be really appropriate for our band. In the beginning we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do with the band, and of course the band name being Cannibal Corpse. So we got him to do the first album cover and we were so pleased with it that we've had him do every one ever since.

Have you ever had anyone ask you this question? I know you've done countless numbers of interviews over the years...

No, usually they know about Vince through us, more than they know about the Deadworld comic. That's the first time somebody wasn't sure about him, because usually they find out about Vince through us, and they do a little research on him and then find out he did Deadworld, not the other way around.

His artwork is very striking, especially those zombies with the ribs sticking out, and they're usually very violent and bloody creatures!

He's definitely into the really lanky looking type of zombies. Almost unnaturally tall.

Now I know you guys have been with Corpsegrinder for awhile; I remember reading an interview with Lamentations Of The Flame Princess where he made a quote that Monstrosity was like the farm team for Cannibal Corpse (in referring to Corpsegrinder coming to Cannibal directly from Monstrosity).

Oh, man... I'm sure that's definitely not how they would like to be seen. I know George had to be joking when he said that.

How are you viewing death metal these days, because for awhile there with the advent of Norweigan black metal, death metal seemed to become a thing of the past. Of course I know that black metal was supposedly the answer to death metal becoming soft. But of course over those years you had the pioneers who kept death metal going, like Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, and of course you guys. And what's even more amazing is that no matter WHAT genre of music took hold in the world, mainly the U.S., Cannibal Corpse was ALWAYS and still is hugely popular.

We were always able to explore any kind of upswing or downswing in the death metal scene, and we've been pretty strong throughout. I dunno, I think people are always looking for something new and that's maybe where the black metal thing came from. Of course, black metal and death metal have the same roots anyway. But after awhile, you're just going to eventually end up listening to whats good. I think the quality level in the death metal scene will keep increasing and that's not gonna stop. I think it's a genre of music where musicians will want to keep pushing themselves. And because they're constantly pushing themselves they're going to keep getting better. It's a bit competitive because everybody wants to play faster and write the heaviest songs. A little bit of that competition is actually healthy for the scene.

You've been credited as the main songwriter since day one; do you ever get to a point where some of those older songs, you go, "Ah, I'd rather play newer stuff or other songs," are there some songs you hate playing live or get tired of playing? I know people still scream for tracks like 'Skull Full Of Maggots' live.

Not so much really, I think ALL of them we enjoy playing live, mainly because of how the crowd reacts. Of course, the older songs, the audience will keep that stuff interesting. Like playing 'Hammer Smashed Face' for the 2000th time, the people go totally apeshit during those songs!

For quite a long time, whenever you played Germany, I know you were unable to play ANYTHING live from the first three records. I heard recently that during a more recent trek to Europe, you actually pulled off a song or two from one of those records. Has anything changed lately?

Yeah, it did! We were able to just play anything we wanted to! And that just changed recently. The guys from Metal Blade Europe came over a few months ago. They stopped by the studio while we were recording the new album and they told us that they had made some progress, that we should be able to play anything from those first albums. So we said, "Okay, we'll play them until somebody tells us to stop!"

And I don't know what it is about Germany, in particular, but I am assuming it's because of what happened in the World War, and the Nazism in their past. And maybe they feel a responsibility to their citizens, probably more so than any other country on Earth.

They probably have some sort of extra high sensitivity to violence in entertainment because they don't want to be seen as a violent country. I can't imagine what it would be like to have that kind of past in the United States. I mean think about it, they're people just like us and they want to be proud of their country as they're growing up; to have something like that in your past is not good. So they're ultra sensitive to it and they're actually censoring things that don't need to be censored.

And not just you guys, but I know other bands have had problems too with Germany.

I remember Samael started having problems, I mean I can understand them fucking around with us a little bit because our stuff is really, REALLY graphically violent.

What are you writing about on this new record, because I don't have the full version yet. I know people say, "yeah, Cannibal Corpse they write about zombies eating people, murdering and killing" but I know you write about other stuff that touches you as well.

Well, there is an awful lot of people being murdered and killed once again (laughs). But like 'Murder Worship' is a song about a religious cult where they kill people to try and summon their deity forth. All the songs have their own individual stories.

People have said this is one of the heaviest Cannibal Corpse records ever made, but by the time you've put out 9 or 10 albums, is there anything you do to make sure that A. you're not repeating yourselves, or B. you're trying to make the best possible record you can?

It's pretty much a little bit of both, we're trying not to repeat ourselves but we're trying to do better than we've done. We look at what we did before and make sure we don't repeat it; we also try to make it as heavy as we can. We try to make songs that are catchy too, and we're still learning that. You're always learning when it comes to writing songs. The difficulty of writing songs is UNDERRATED. When people talk about their favorite bands, especially in death metal, they'll say stuff like 'this band's the best because their drummer is the best,' or 'their guitar parts are the most complicated.' They gotta at least be good musicians: you can't have a bunch of hacks up there. As long as they're good and they're writing great songs, that's the most important thing. And I don't mean songs that are great because they're heavy as fuck and brutal. I'd like to think we succeed in that goal. We're all decent musicians and we can all play relatively technical stuff, but that's not our main focus. Our main focus is writing killer catchy material.

One thing I've noticed, usually when like Atlanta gets black metal bands coming over here from Europe or whatever, usually black metal bands like Mayhem or Dark Funeral, they usually end up opening up for you guys. And even though these bands have been around for over 10 years, their first trip to the States the promoters are probably wondering if they can draw a crowd! So that's gotta be kinda impressive, maybe you guys are like the American kings of underground metal. Like your headlining slot actually guarantees a financial success.

Well, Marduk came over here with Deicide, and we only did a few shows with Mayhem that I remember. We also did a tour with Dimmu Borgir as well though, with them opening for us. It seems like the whole black metal thing took off a bit more in Europe than it did in America. But it does do pretty well in America.

Yeah, NOW it does, with Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth playing packed houses.

I'm not sure why it is, it might be a cultural difference where America is known more for the extreme death metal bands. The bands from America that made an impact on the extreme scene are bands like Morbid Angel, us, Deicide, Obituary at the time, Death of course. There's not a black metal band from America that's made a massive impact. I'm not saying there's no good American black metal bands, but none have made an impact on the international scene the way the death metal bands have. And most of the other black metal bands didn't last.

It's funny because in the mid 90's there was really only two capitals for death metal in the world: one was Sweden, especially the Gothenberg scene, even bands like Dismember, Grave, and even Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. And then there was Tampa, home to Death, Morbid Angel and the like. But you guys aren't even from there and you've lasted about the longest!

We're from Buffalo! We already had 4 albums out! I'm down in Tampa now though. I'm not sure why that is. Any band who hooks up with the right bunch of people, they can make it, it doesn't matter where they are from. Look at Slipknot! They're from Iowa! They're like one of the biggest bands in the American metal scene! Cannibal played a show in Iowa awhile back, there was like 80 or 90 people there!

Your popularity really seemed to pick up right after you did the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective movie. Would you say that was when your popularity really peaked then?

Well, we did hit a pretty good upswing for awhile after that. A lot of people bought the album that didn't really know much about death metal. "The Bleeding" album came out about the same time as that movie, and those two things happened at about the same time. It was kind of a lucky chance that things happened that way. Even to this day, "The Bleeding" is still one of our best sellers, despite all the albums we'd done.

And how do you feel about that album today, even though Chris Barnes is in another band? I've heard that the slower parts of that record were inspired by Chris Barnes, that it was kinda his idea to write slower parts for the album.

He liked the slower stuff, but he never had that much to do with the music. The lyrics, yeah, the lyrics were all his for the second, third and fourth album. We were always in charge of the music. I remember Jack wrote 'The Bleeding,' though, and Chris made the suggestion that we do 'Zero The Hero' (a cover tune) which is a very basic, simple song. I mean if you didn't know how to play bass or guitar and you wanted to learn that song, it would only take a couple of weeks. Chris LOVED that song and it ended up being a real big success. When we'd play live people would yell for that song. I like our own fast songs better, but Chris really loved the slow stuff and he got Six Feet Under together to play that particular style of death metal. It's all like super slow!

And it's obvious, especially after what you said, that Chris didn't write all the music, because I'm sorry to say this, but I have YET to be able to enjoy a Six Feet Under album to this day. And I just assumed that after the brilliant (and my personal favorite) album "The Bleeding" that this would be perfect.

I'm not into the music, but that's beside the point. He's a singer and he's only going to be as good as the band he's fronting. If the band he's singing in wants to write a bunch of simple songs that's what he's going to be stuck writing lyrics to.

What do you think of his new project Torture Killer?

Yeah, I heard a bit of it, it sounds a little bit like Six Feet Under, but maybe a little bit more involved.



DETONATION. Interview with Koen via email.

I didn't get a chance to hear your previous album "An Epic Defiance" or your "Lost Euphoria" EP from 1999, how would you describe those albums to someone who has heard your easier to find album? I've seen it noted that in your earliest days you were more death/thrash oriented. How did you distribute the "Epic Defiance" album?

Our debut album "An Epic Defiance" has more or less the same vibe as our new album, although "Portals..." is a bit more mature and just a bit better in all aspects I guess. "Lost Euphoria" is a bit different. We recorded those 4 songs in 1999, when we were still searching for our style and our direction, which is obvious when you listen to the EP. All songs are completely different from each other, ranging from Black to Death to Doom metal. It’s basically a mixture of all metal genres we liked at the time haha. But to set things straight, "An Epic Defiance" was also released by Osmose, it was our 1st album on their roster, but we released it by ourselves at first back in 2002, before we got signed. But I think "Portals to Uphobia" is by far the best album to start with if you’re a new listener, it’s basically a perfect combination of everything we’ve done in the past.

Speaking of those two earlier releases, are there any plans to reissue them properly through Osmose or any other label? How do you feel about those earlier works? And while on the subject of Osmose, what bands on the label do you like?

Well, "Epic" was released by Osmose in 2003, but the EP never got a proper release. We did think about it in the past, and maybe there will be a time in the near future to do this, but not yet. We want a new album first ;) The biggest problem is probably that the whole production needs to be done all over again, because the sound quality is too crappy. But I still kind of like it for how we were as a band back then. But it's total crap compared to our later releases of course haha. Epic alone is a huge progress if you compare the two albums. But we also had a budget for that album, coming from Osmose. There are actually not that many bands on our record company’s roster I really like, except for Yyrkoon, who are absolutely great I think, and Melechesh.

Have you had much contact with The End Records here in the States? I don't know how much press and publicity they've done for you, like setting up interviews and press and what not. They started out small but have definitely built up a larger presence over the years.

Hhm, I actually didn't have any contact at all with them! I've only dealt with Osmose thus far, and they are in touch with The End. Hopefully this will change, because there's still a lot of territory for us to explore on your continent! As far as I know, The End only take care of our distribution in the U.S., and nothing else.

One thing that's a bit confusing on "Portals To Uphobia" is the track 'Lost Euphoria Part III," I know there was a part II on "An Epic Defiance," and the EP is entitled "Lost Euphoria," maybe you can clue us all in.

Hehe, a lot of people wonder where they can find part I ! The secret is...there is no part I. The EP "Lost Euphoria" can be seen as the first chapter. When we wrote an instrumental song for Epic, we got stuck when looking for a title. We all felt that this song had a connection with some of the older stuff we had done in the past, so we decided to make a connection with our EP by giving it the name "Lost Euphoria Part II". Benefit from this was that people suddenly became interested in our EP, because of that title hehe. Sorry about the confusion!

I am pretty amazed by the guitar work on "Portals To Uphobia," as the lead guitar work is all over the place with the higher ended strings, very melodic and quite skilled and diverse, yet the other leads are pretty heavy! Some are ready to lump you into the Gothenberg category but the MAIN difference I see is that Gothenberg based bands utilize mainly the death styled vocals to give off the heaviness, but you actually use heavier guitar work ALONGSIDE the more melodic chords. Gotta get your opinion on this, am I pretty close or too far off the mark?

Thanks a lot dude, always nice to hear! And yeah, you're close as well! Let me tell you first that we never decided or wanted to be a Gothenburg sounding band, we just like melodic yet extreme metal. But the main difference is indeed that we basically combine every style that we like, this includes influences from Thrash and Black and sometimes even heavy or power metal, it doesn't matter. As long as we get excited while playing a riff or part, we'll use it no matter what style it is.

How has Osmose been as a label for you? It seems like they jumped in there rather quickly after an EP and a full length. I have to admit I have heard some horror stories from bands like Marduk and Immortal who have since left Osmose. What sort of recording contract do you have with them?

We've released 2 albums by Osmose, and there's 1 more to go. Which will be recorded before the end of this year by the way, so we'll be contract free soon Osmose signed us in 2003, after we released "An Epic Defiance" by ourselves in October 2002. They re-released it in June 2003, and I must say they did a pretty good job with our debut album. We sold quite some albums, got the opportunity to tour a couple of times, and got good exposure in the magazines, etc. With "Portals" things went different, but that wasn't really the fault of Osmose, they did their best, but we just had all odds against us with that album in the beginning. Tours went bad, the release got delayed, we had injuries in the band... In the end I must admit we're pretty happy with the way Osmose treats us, of course there is always room for improvement, but they aren't that big as a company, so looking at that they do a good job. But luckily "Portals" also got released in the U.S. now, which is a new beginning for us. Hopefully this will lead to cool new things for the band in the future!

The album title itself is rather interesting, as it seems to combine Utopia and Phobia, almost seemingly creating a new word which leads me to understand it as a fear of a utopian society. Care to comment? Maybe I'm off base once again. :) Maybe you could relate lyrically what's going on in some of the songs, perhaps a track entitled 'Loss Of Motion Control' describes how we're losing our grip on what is now a fast paced society.

You could see the title that way, but my explanation is a bit different. I wanted the title to reflect the main theme of the lyrics. All the lyrics deal with topics such as living with fears and phobias, striving for a better place, or utopia if you will, and the everlasting search for euphoria. From these topics I created the word Uphobia, as a sort of fictional place in our minds where all these things come together. The word 'portals' is to reflect the choices or possibilities we have in life, the main concept of the album is all about the decisions we make as individuals, and the often dramatic consequences that follow. But your view on the title also has some connections with the whole idea behind "Portals to Uphobia", since we always write lyrics about social issues. 'The Loss of Motion Control' is indeed a good example for the whole album I guess. You almost got it right, it's absolutely about losing grip and about trying to keep control over our actions and decisions when we encounter difficult situations. As with most of the lyrics, you can see them in different ways, we also like to keep them open to people's own interpretation.

Speaking of fast paced society, I don't know how things are in The Netherlands, but over here it seems like people just don't have time to socialize and make friends or hang out, we're all driven to work long hours to make money to pay for food and a place to live.

I make sure to create time for friends and fun, you'll never catch me saying I don't have enough time for something fun. A lot of people I know almost seem to live their life to be able to work, but we should be working to able to live. You simply need spare time in your daily life to have fun and do the things you really like. For me, that's one of the most important things. The Netherlands is a very busy country overall, and it's sometimes tough to stay focused on your own ideals, but until now I'm doing just fine ;) It sucks that I’m still dependant on working 4 days a week to be able to pay for my house, food etc, but I'm not giving up on music until I'm able to quit my regular job haha.

So what's next for the Detonation camp? I see on your site there's a third album underway, any chance you can tell us song titles, album title or maybe a general lyrical theme running through the album?

Yep, album 3 is on it's way! This is going to be a special album for us for several reasons, it will be our last for Osmose probably, and we're also trying a different producer and studio this time. The song material is without doubt the grooviest we've done so far. It has elements from all our previous work, but the songs are more dynamic and rhythmic. We also want to experiment even further with influences, there are again some Spanish guitars to be recorded as well, so I'm very curious to hear the reaction from the fans when this new piece is done! I'm very looking forward to it, that's for sure! We don't have a title yet, but some working title's (songs? - Ed.) are 'Drained', 'Futile in Delight', 'Infected' and 'The Festering'. No final decisions made just yet, but progress is on the way!

Any chance Detonation might be coming to the States? Would love to know who you have played out live with and where, and of course if you have any really funny and cool tour stories to share with us, that would be awesome. Life on a tour bus can get crazy sometimes!

No plans yet to come overseas; we need more exposure first and sell shitloads more records haha! I've said it before, if we tour the US we want it to be good, we've heard so many horror tour stories from bands we know. And since we have had several tours that already went shit for us, we're extra careful when it comes to touring the U.S., we don't want to do these crappy tours anymore. So if we come over, it's going to be a killer tour with cool bands and a special show. So far, we've done European tours with Dimension Zero, Decapitated, Gorerotted and a few others. The bands were all great to be on the road with, although touring with the Brits of Gorerotted is not to be compared with any other band whatsoever haha, these guys are exceptionally crazy, but very cool individuals nevertheless. We also recently did a UK tour with support from our Dutch friends Fuelblooded, a very talented melodic Death band. This was a DIY tour, which means we arranged everything ourselves without dealing with a booking agency or whatever. We drove ourselves, arranged our own sleeping places etc. These kinds of tours are definitely perfect for a band like ours, and to me it's a sensation of freedom you miss when being on an actual 'nightliner' tour. But we've had hilarious tour experiences in the past, despite of the things that went bad. There are a couple of tour reports on our website www.detonation.nl, check them out!

So what's The Netherlands like these days? I know marijuana is legal there, so I'm sure you partake quite regularly! I must say I don't know too much about The Netherlands except for the bands that come from there, do you still refer to the country as Holland at any time? How are things politically, and do people in your country tend to look at Americans as brash, arrogant and sticking their nose in other countries' business? (Don't be afraid to tell your true feelings here, I'm not happy with the current political system here in my country).

Right now, it's smoking hot here! We're experiencing one of the hottest summers ever registered, it's crazy. Dutch people are not used to extreme temperatures. But you were talking about the country itself. Yeah, Marijuana is still legal here, as is prostitution in certain areas ;) Boring as we are, none of the Detonation members smoke weed or hash haha. I've smoked a couple of years when I was younger, but I got sick of it. I don't need that stuff or any drug to live my life. I'm not 16 anymore you know, the years start taking their toll! So no drugs for me, I just enjoy my usual beer or two when going out or doing shows. But overall seen, I still like living here. The country is small, people are usually down to earth, and things are generally well taken care of and arranged in The Netherlands. I prefer to call it The Netherlands or 'Nederland' as we call it. I don’t like saying 'Holland', that's what the Germans call us haha, but it's simply put just a different name for the same country. People here in general have nothing against Americans or the USA as a country, but most Dutch people don't like Bush and American politics. But I try to keep away from as much politic stuff as I can, I just want to enjoy my time here on earth and make the best out of it.

Anything else you want to talk about at length, that we missed, feel free to do so here. Thanks again!

Thanks for this interview, cheers! Keep your eyes open for the new Detonation album, which will probably see the light of day somewhere in the beginning of 2007. Keep on rocking!



FIREBALL MINISTRY. Interview with the "Reverend" James A. Rota via phone.

A band I have kinda given sideways glances to for most of my knowledge of them, I first heard this band with their excellent cover of The Misfits and Aerosmith via tribute albums, albeit obscure ones. Then came the EP for Small Stone Records, but still I wasn't paying full attention. One day I saw the video for 'Sundown' and I was blown away. NOW I am paying FULL attention to a band who has gone through three labels, done many tours and shows, and is now signed to Liquor and Poker music, one of the coolest names for a label in the world. A high energy record full of passionate and kick ass guitar playing by the lovely and talented Emily, this band is going places, and has already BEEN places. So enjoy the review, the sound files, and the damn interview already!!!

I remember the first time I heard of you guys, you did a Misfits tribute CD through Firebird Records, and I wasn't crazy about the original song but I really liked your version of it.

Well, when we were asked to do that; how we are doesn't really lend itself to the Misfits' style of music, even though we all love them. So we tried to pick a song that was maybe a little less known and a bit more experimental musically. We're not really a punk band and we thought it would sound silly to try and play a song like that.

I then next received the EP through Small Stone Records, and I was wondering why you didn't stay with them? You had a good sound, and I was really pleased that when Man's Ruin folded, Small Stone picked up all the cool stoner rock bands that I really enjoyed.

It was basically because Small Stone didn't have a budget to do tour support and things that we had grown into needing. It was only out of necessity that that happened.

When you look at the newest record "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock" and you compare it to the Small Stone EP, what do you see are the main fundamental differences between 2001 and 2005 as far as the Fireball Ministry style?

Well, in 1999 we put out our first record "Ou 'Est La Rock."

Oh yeah, I didn't get that record unfortunately.

I think from then to now, fundamentally we're more of a band since we've done so much touring and playing lately. When the band first started we were we