VIBRATIONS OF DOOM MAGAZINE
ISSUE #10
EDITOR: STEVEN CANNON
Finally we can present it to you! After numerous problems and setbacks, we
finally got this damn rag to press! So enjoy it! Also, our internet addresses
have changed, we have a new alternate Email address and a new FTP site for you
to grab the 'zine and those music files! Some new tunes are done up by Therion,
Fear Factory, Malevolent Creations, and more! First the address where ya can
write to me and send me stuff:
Vibrations of Doom Magazine
c/o Steven Cannon
1133 East 53rd Street
Savannah, GA 31404 USA
Now for the Email addresses:
ax487@freenet.uhsc.colorado.edu OR:
cannon01@freenet.fsu.edu
Those with FTP or Web access will find all the sound files at the following
addresses:
grand.central.org
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ALBUM REVIEWS:
CUBANATE "Antibody" (Machinery/Dynamica Records)
Hard edged thrash style guitars, explosive dance floor beats, and a screaming
style vocalist similar to Drown makes for a great combination! Tha track "Body
Burn" is a great song for the clubs, and most of the others are very hard
hitting. "Kill or Cure" has some funny lyrics, and there are two other versions
of "Body Burn." A great album for those into the heavier side of industrial,
kinda reminds me of Drown set to a dance floor beat.
MALEVOLENT CREATION "Eternal" (Pavement Records)
Man, it's a damn shame Roadrunner dropped Malevolent, because this album is SO
brutal words can't even describe it! (But, since I HAVE to use words, I'll try)
First off, the drumming is top notch and very solid, very fast! I haven't heard
double bass quite that fast in some time! The riffing is very heavy and complex
as well, especially on tracks like "Enslaved," and "Unearthly." The whole band
as a unit works very well together. Other standouts are "Alliance or War,"
check out some of the sound samples from Full Metal Jacket! The songs vary in
length from 3 to 5 minutes, keeping you from getting bored with overemphasis on
riffs. The vocals are very vicious, and every fan of these Florida boys will
be crushed from the opening track. GET IT OR ELSE!!!
PGR "The Morning Book of Serpents" (Silent Records)
Imagine you're on an alien planet, it's dark and you have no idea what horrors
await you. This is the perfect CD for those horror filled nights of emptiness
and darkness. It's very dark ambient music, devoid of beats or real structure,
save for the landscape sounds that rush at you. Most of the tracks are quite
long, the elements of each track vary little. The track "Eight Corners of the
Horizon" has a strange man speaking in a foreign language, and "Pythagorean
Sea" has water sounds, perfect for the imagination of your last drowning
minutes. A dark piece, though it's a bit long timewise, for if you're not in
the mood for "nice, normal" ambient works.
BRUJERIA "Raza Odiada" (Roadrunner Records)
Well, whether you believe the story of how these "Mexican Druglords" came to
release singles and albums, the fact remains that the follow up to "Matando
Gueros" showcases some brutal death metal. Though the vocals rarely dip into
the extreme low ranges save for chorus lines and other places, the riffing is
fast and furious on tracks like "Revolucion" and "Almas De Venta." I see that
the instrumentation also leans towards slower and more intricate riffs, though
nothing outstanding. Still just as brutal, this album (thankfully my roomate
speaks fluent spanish) deals lyrically more with political ideals, though the
black magic and drug touches are still present, especially in the track
"Consejos Narcos." Whether fast or slow, they still rattle off lyrics (in
spanish, however, if you haven't guessed) in a rapid fire tongue on the speedier
cuts, though some of the chorus lines are still kinda weak. A brutal release,
and one that stands out differently in the realm of brutal artforms, if not
musically then certainly lyrically!
VARIOUS ARTISTS "A Saucerful of Pink" (Cleopatra Records)
Yep, a Pink Floyd tribute album of industrial, techno, & ambient artists! The
most interesting and best cut here is Leaether Strip's version of "Learning to
Fly:" Claus Larsen takes a mellow song and adds a dark, gothic twist to it!
Controlled Bleeding's "Another Brick in the Wall" is very cool as well, and
clubs that are able to play slower industrial/techno songs and get away with it
will find this a perfect crowd pleaser! Spahn Ranch does a nice job with "One
of These Days," and Electric Hellfire Club's version of "Lucifer Sam" is a
perfect dance piece! So is Penal Colony's version of "Young Lust" for that
matter. Most of the cuts on here have been presented in a more electronic
format, instead of just cloning the song. However, Din's version of "On the
Run" sounds damn close to the original!! It's a good compilation CD if you're a
big Pink Floyd fan, though most everyone will be more familiar with "Another
Brick in the Wall," "Learning to Fly," and "Lucifer Sam." Hopefully they'll
come up with a Dark Side of the Moon tribute album!
BIRMINGHAM 6 "Assassinate" (Hard Records/Cleopatra)
Very VERY cool industrial dance floor combo, with slight thrash guitars and
techno sounds reminiscent of Psykosonic and Two Unlimited, especially on the
tracks "Contagious" and my personal favorite "Dance 17." The vocal style is
similar to that of Spahn Ranch, though less intense and on some songs a near
whisper sound. Most of the songs are of a mid tempo pace and great dance floor
favorites, especially "Who Do You Love?" and my favorite track again. "This
Girl" has some cool voice samples thrown through it, and "Assassinate" bring us
samples from the Kennedy Assassination. This is what I would call a great club
disc; most people will find there are several great tracks to play in any club,
though the songs "Mindhallucinations 2" and "679-4700" may be TOO fast for
some.
DER DRITTE RAUM "Mental Modulator" (Harthouse Records)
A very strange name for a group, and no, I have no idea what it means! Anyway,
there are 7 tracks, and LONG ones at that! One thing I will say, though, is
that they have the strangest beats I have ever heard! "Magnetic Fields" has
laser shot style drums, and on the track "M50" they use tribal drums. Most
clubs may find a few songs they like, though "Stella" is quite basic, way too
long, and there isn't much variety to the song. My personal favorite is
"Montiee" for its wacky whip-style acid/trance sounds, also you hear a strange
robotic voice chanting every once in awhile! It's crazy, man! "M50" was more
laid back than the rest, kinda pop oriented and used lots of bells! While I
didn't like the whole album, I did appreciate what they were doing, since long
tracks like that need lots of variety and on most tracks they kept it
interesting.
NIGHTFALL "Eons Aura" (Holy Records)
"Sympho-doom-death," and "Epic War Metal" are two terms used to describe the
sound of this classic Greek band. The four tracks presented here utilize a
mixture of doom metal style guitars (sometimes with great beauty in the vein of
Candlemass, especially on the track "Ardour Was I") with unbelievable symphonic
keyboarding. You can hear many different orchestral sounds, and I must admit
I've never heard orchestrated instruments sound that heavy or intense! Check
out the organ riffs matching the guitars note for note on "Eroding." My few
complaints was with the track "Until the Gods Help Us," this is basically an
organ instrumental with a whispered voice that also uses very low and guttural
death vocals, which are out of place in a track like this. Also, the beautiful
mood set by the instrumentation on "Ardour Was I" is ruined when they break
into a set of speed riffs and death vocals. The production was a little fuzzy;
I had expected a bit better production for something like this, but all in all
it's not a terrible release, in fact, it's still in the vein of the type of
material that Holy Records puts out.
KLINIK "To The Knife" (Zoth Ommog/Music Research GmbH)
THIS is very cool industrial/gothic with some techno thrown in! And the nice
thing about this disc is that there are NO guitars, well, save for the
electronic ones thrown into the song "Animal Torture." The whole CD has a dark,
ominous sound to it, though a few tracks "The Knife" and "Black Ring" sound a
bit more club worthy and even the vocals take on a different tone. Mostly the
vocals are a darker mix of X Marks the Pedwalk and Sisters of Mercy. My biggest
complain is the way the vocals are hidden behind the music on a couple of
tracks, and the song "Phoenix" sounds like the mix wasn't worked out properly.
However, the touches of goth thrown into the industrial mix are very nice,
even on the track "Forest," which incidentally is an all instrumental ambient
piece, showcase a dark mood. Very likeable, and also quite different to what
other industrial artists are doing. Clubs may also like the overall mood of the
aforementioned tracks.
INDUSTRIAL HEADS "The Fear and The Anguish at The End" (Silent/Furnace)
Though they CLAIM to be strongly influenced by American and Canadian industrial
acts like Nine Inch Nails and Skinny Puppy, (see the interview with them this
issue) there is quite a bit of originality in their version of danceable
industrial. The atmospheric sounds and ambient landscapes wash over a desolate,
somewhat dark and heavy mood throughout the whole disc, though there are songs
that portray thick sound overlay (like "Unrated," which goes over the top with
the wall of noise and the ultra distorted vocals.) Mostly, though, the vocals
are quite normal, with only a hint at distortion, but they DO love the use of
samples! "Cancer" is a good club track, though it brings feelings of great
distance between the music and the vocals. The instrumentation is quite good,
lots of different sounds and mostly heavy, dark notes, while the drum samples
are a bit reminiscent of other atmospheric industrial bands. The song
"Machine," however, has a funkier sound with some rapid fire machine gun style
drum samples! Makes you wonder sometimes if it's possible for a real drummer to
hit that fast! All in all a good effort from the realm of Norway; check out the
interview and be on the lookout for more projects from this seven piece.
HAUJOBB "Homes and Gardens" (Pendragon/Offbeat Records)
A strange German (I'm assuming) industrial combo, this is almost a year old,
but it missed the deadline a few issues ago. Anyway, the group uses LOTS of
samples, and some of the strangest instrumentation I've ever heard! (Note the
strange rapid fire cartoon noises on "Slugbait.") The mood here is explosive
and dark, not quite as explosive as Cubanate but with a darker, more gothic
feel to it. The vocals remind me of that harsh, German sneer made famous by
other German industrial pioneers. "Eye Over You" is an exception, starting off
with a lighter ambient feel, and also mixing in some guitars before they hit
the middle of the track. "Maternal Instinct" has some slamming drums, and on
most tracks the instrumentation was very aggressive and full force, right in
your face! The track "Tame" is more club oriented, though in an aggressive,
Nine Inch Nails sorta way. Very dark and aggressive, though that seems to fit
the bill for most industrial artists these days.
THE ABYSS "The Other Side" (Relapse/Nuclear Blast)
Anyone familiar with the band Hypocrisy ought to know that this is their side
project. The CD contains 8 songs and is no more than 35 minutes long. This is
a chaotic style of black metal that contains some melodic pieces, though the
majority of tracks contain fast riffing and drums, which are quite competent.
The track "Sorgens Dal" showcases some intricate riffs done in a slower, more
melodic fashion, while the vocals are of a higher range than the vocals used in
Hypocrisy. They even do a cover of the old Hellhammer track "Massacra," and
it's interesting to hear because their guitars sound like the Celtic Frost
style we all know and love. While scoring no points for originality, it's an
interesting piece, they do use female operetta style vocals on "Marutukku" and
"Slukan." I'm assuming that the lyrics as well are done in their native
language. Those fans of black metal will find this an interesting side piece.
EXTREMA "The Positive Pressure of Injustice" (Flying Records)
Well, I must say I really didn't care for this much at all. The vocals, music,
and everything else is a sort of trumped up Pantera or Biohazard. The riffs
mostly border on that heavy crunch you'd expect from such a band, but I must
say that there is some interesting variety on a few cuts, which surprised me a
bit due to the fact that the riffs sometimes sound out of place. The lyrics are
somewhat positive in influence, though the song "Confusion" has rather stupid
lyrics; check out a sample: "Two, Three, Four, Listen to this music, Better
take of yourself and don't abuse it?" A couple of songs had potential, but all
in all I just didn't really enjoy this all that much.
NOISEBOX "Monkey Ass" (Cleopatra Records)
Yep, another industrial/techno based group that LOVES those guitars! Explosive
industrial with thrashy guitars and a raspy over distorted voice, perfect for
dance clubs into really heavy stuff. Check out the working of The Crazy World
of Arthur Brown's "I am the god of hellfire" into the track "I Hate U." The
songs "Desire" and "Skinner" are two of my favorites, the former incorporates
the over thick distorted guitars, while the latter relies more on keyboarded
instrumentation and voice samples. Clubs who like the explosive industrial
sound will like this one, as will people who are more into the metal scene and
wanting to check out ultra brutal industrial. Those guitars do thrash on!
NITZER EBB "Big Hit" (Geffen Records)
A big hit this is NOT. Anyone familiar with Nitzer Ebb will be VERY displeased
at the direction this album has taken. Gone are the harsh big hit style songs
that were up front and aggressive like "Join in the Chant" and "Showtime," this
time around the vocalist is too absorbed in trying to sing pop style. The only
two decent songs on this disc are "Hear Me Say" and "Kick It," and the latter
song sounds a bit out of place with the vocals, while the former would make a
good club piece, it's about the only song on here that gives a hint at what
Nitzer Ebb used to be. This must be an experimental piece, there are even
classical instruments on one of the tracks, for god's sakes! In case anyone
doesn't know, Nitzer Ebb is a sort of dancey industrial unit, but you'd never
know it from the alternative pop style presented here.
7 "Seven" (Suck Me Plasma Records)
Though there is no track listing, 7 showcases some slow ambient pieces with
little or no beats. Track one has interesting use of bells and track three has
a more upbeat tempo, though most of the songs here are slower in pace and more
for an ambient atmosphere than one used for dancing. A few tracks take quite a
while to kick in, as I said it's more a relaxing piece than one fit for a dance
club. Track five is in stark contrast to the rest of the disc, with slow but
heavy beats and eerie sharp trance sounds. An interesting use of trance and
ambient sounds, though some pieces need a bit more "padding out."
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INTERVIEWS:
FEAR FACTORY. Interview with Dino at the Roadrunner offices.
With their newest release "Demanufacture," Fear Factory incorporates touches
of industrial and electronics into their brutal sound. The industrial influence
starts back to an EP entitled "Fear is the Mindkiller," and as Dino tells us:
"I was big fans of Front Line Assembly, and when we wanted someone to do our
remixes, we naturally picked them, and we got Roadrunner to call up the members
of Front Line Assembly. They called us back and were really into the music, so
they did some remixes for this EP. Roadrunner does work with Front Line
Assembly quite a bit. As for the new album, we wanted to go in the same vein as
the remixes EP, but we didn't want to go full on techno. We still wanted the
killer riffs and vocals, but we just added a bit of new sounds and new style.
Most of the stuff I've been listening to, and you might be surprised to hear
this, but I've been listening to a lot of New Wave stuff, and a lot of sound
tracks to movies like Alien, Terminator, and Blade Runner. Soundtrack music
is a lot of what we added to Fear Factory, that atmospheric keyboard style
industrial sounds. I have also been listening to a lot of techno, fast techno,
and ambient/trance stuff. I love the band Prodigy. I was kinda surprised to
hear that your magazine is into techno, because the magazine name (referring to
Vibrations of Doom - ed.) sounds kinda like it's mainly into death metal. We
are even trying to see if Prodigy will do some remixes for us."
In reference to Prodigy, the European scene does more for a band like Fear
Factory than the U.S. scene. According to Dino, "MTV Europe is a lot more open
minded and they play a lot of everything, like Prodigy, and Carcass and stuff.
Over here it's all R&B and Green Day and stuff. We have done a lot for MTV
Europe; we've done live shows, interviews, and videos. We plan on doing a video
for the song "Replica." which will hopefully get MTV play in Europe, but I'm
sure that MTV USA will never play it. Headbanger's Ball is gone, and they
bypass almost everything that is heavy."
Talking about "Demanufacture," the whole album deals with, in Dino's own
words: "Demanufacture deals with a person dealing with the society he/she lives
in. It means breaking down the old and creating the new. The hardest part is
breaking down the old. The movie 'Falling Down' is the basis for a lot of what
we write about. People are basically desensitized to life these days, and kids
are carrying guns around and killing each other because they think it's cool,
and they do it with no remorse and no guilt! Media plays on this as well,
because they know people don't want to hear positive stuff, they want to hear
all the crap, like the O.J. trial, and the people that died in the federal
building. The movie 'Running Man' played on this very well, a talk show that's
all violence. In some ways, media influences people's minds a lot. We like to
call our album a soundtrack for survival." And what about a person's society?
How influential is where a person lives or where he works on his character?
"Take the guy who bombed the federal building," says Dino. "When he was caught,
we found out that he was in the Gulf War and was affected by the mustard gas.
He went to the government for federal aid because he was sick, and they
wouldn't give him any money, so he blew up the federal building. The agents
that were interrogating him showed him pictures and videotapes of people who
died and he wouldn't even flinch, he wouldn't even look. He basically became
machanical, a machine. In the army they taught him how to kill, and how not to
feel pain, not to feel guilt. The only answer that the guy would give is his
name and rank number. You kinda feel sorry for him, because in some ways it's
like he's a product of his environment. It would have made a better statement
if he had blown the building up at night, when there were few or no people in
the building, but instead there was a tremendous loss of life. And I also
wonder, not meaning to sound racist or anything, but why is it always
caucasians that do the most extreme things? I mean, in Los Angeles where I live
there are Hispanics and Blacks that are in gangs, and they kill each other in
territories, kinda stupid actually, but caucasians seem to always take it to
the next level, they get more extreme. Like Jeffrey Dahmer, Son of Sam, John
Wayne Gacy; my theory is that most caucasians came from middle class families.
Most of these kids were brought up kind of sheltered, and in America you see
white suburban kids in the gangs, and it's become a trend. They see it on TV
and become influenced by it."
Another topic, and one that seems to have taken a personal effect on my
publication, is the selling of CD's, whether used or promotional or otherwise.
Though I didn't make it a topic for interviewees, Dino had PLENTY to say on the
matter of selling CD's: "Hey, I even sell my own CD's! Used CD's are selling
better right now than actual CD's. As long as I get one, as far as bootlegs
are concerned, I really don't care! To me it's more exposure if it gets to more
than one person, hey that's another person who might say, 'well, I liked the CD
a lot, I think I'll go see them in concert.' It's like this, what did the
labels send you the CD's for? I mean, are you supposed to send them back or
something? I sell used CD's all the time, and there's an artist by the name of
Clint Black, some country singer or what not, who was all upset and trying to
ban the sale of used CD's. Why should he even care? He has zillions of dollars
and there are people who can't even afford a brand new CD. Like I said, if it
puts our music into the hands of more people it helps US out. Even with video
tape traders, we like to have them there, as long as I can get a copy, it is
no problem for us."
Touring plans for Fear Factory have already commenced. "We're doing the
Dynamo Festival over in Europe, it's like a really big thing. Paradise Lost,
Type O Negative, Machine Head, Life of Agony, Dog Eat Dog, and more will be
playing there. After that we will be touring with Megadeth in the States. I
know a lot of people aren't into Megadeth but for us it's really big time
exposure." Though they failed to mention it, they actually have started a tour
with none other than Ozzy Osbourne himself, and Fear Factory is also involved
with Geezer Butler in a side project, read more about that in the noteworthy
items section, and we'll review the CD next issue! Until that time, Dino has a
few words for his fans: "One thing, I want to thank the people who stuck with us
through all the years, and I want to thank the fanzines like you who give us
the exposure we need to get our music out there. Fear Factory is NOT about
limitations, and most of our fans know that we will be doing new things all the
time. We don't limit ourselves in the music we listen to either. We're not into
labels or categorizing either. If we were categorized as a punk band, for
instance, we'd die with that scene. Anyway, hopefully everyone will buy the
record, or buy it from someone who already bought it, or whatever!"
INDUSTRIAL HEADS. Interview with John Stene.
For those of you unfamiliar with this Norwegian industrial band, a recent
signing to the Silent/Furnace label, let's start off with a brief history,
courtesy of Mr. Stene: "We started out in the summer of '91 when we were
attending a club here in Oslo that plays industrial music. We started out as
DJ's at the club, just spinning records. We consider ourselves the best DJ's
here in Oslo, and used that position to play our own music. There were a
couple of guys who had some equipment and allowed us to record. After the
material was recorded, we played it in the club to great response." Amazing as
it sounds, John reveals to us an even more startling fact: "There is no real
scene here whatsoever. There is only one industrial club here and it's closed
for the summer. It's very small for industrial here, basically our only scene
is popular stuff."
"Influence wise, for the recording of our album, we have used trance elements
and we have even added a bass player from a thrash metal band, one that was
local to the area. He quit his old band, I can't recall the name of the band.
I think they had a record deal in Germany or were working on one. We are big
fans of stuff like Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Young
Gods, Ministry, stuff like that. Basically we are fans of the music and
incorporate that stuff into our lineup. Lyrics are written by myself and Thomas
Sevaldrud, our other vocalist. Lyrically we like to write about death, pain and
other 'happy' topics. I basically write about things that either upset me or
stuff that pops up into my brain, but it's rarely anything positive. For our
next release, though we're not planning to go into that right now, we still
have an album we're promoting; we want to go heavier, kind of harsher. We have
always talked about going to a style like that of Skinny Puppy or Nine Inch
Nails, especially production wise."
Speaking of playing live, or playing at all for that matter, they HAVE done
quite a few shows in their homeland. John relates the tale of the band's
activities on stage: "We did a release party for the CD here in Norway, and
we also played two gigs in Oslo in June. We are planning on doing another tour
in a city called Bergin. Hopefully we'll be able to play outside of Scandinavia
and Europe soon. Anyway, last year we played a show with the Swamp Terrorists,
which is a good band. I'd like to tour with bands that are easy to work
together with, groups that influence us a lot like Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch
Nails." There are seven members in the band, and it's a trip the way they get
everything together on the stage: "On the release party we had 17 people on the
stage with us, and it was crowded! Ten other people were doing an S & M show on
stage while we were playing, and we use a lot of sequencers when we play. We're
aiming at trying out everything to get the best sound, to see what fits us
best. There are quite a few samples on this album as well, lyric samples and
sound samples. It's been about six months since we recorded the album, and I
can't remember exactly what they were pulled from." And, while we're on the
subject of samples, John mentions in the CD that he supports the idea of MACOS,
which stands for Musicians Against Copyrighting of Samples, and he explains to
us it's significance in his part of the world: "We're basically tired of
hearing about bands who have been sued by some people because they use samples
from other bands or people (The Malhavoc incident springs to mind, mentioned in
a previous issue of V.O.D. - Ed.) Here in Norway it's not a problem, because
over here it's basically a free country for that sort of thing. Like if we're
wanting to sample phrases or words from movies and what not, then it is all
basically American or English oriented. The people who want to sue us, if it's
in America, would have a VERY hard time having to deal with the distance plus
our laws and their laws."
Who knows what the future holds for these Norwegian industrial musicians?
Though the distance holds them back, it may be left up to the record labels and
clubs to give them additional exposure. We'll leave the final words to John:
"We hope everyone will check out our album. We want everyone who listens to it
to enjoy it, and maybe they'll be checking out our other releases and our
upcoming projects. We have side projects coming out, one that is sort of in the
works right now is called Dismembered Quietly, a sort of soundtrack style piece
that I will be in with another fellow musician outside of the band. It should
be released in October on Furnace Records. It tends to lean in the direction
of Skinny Puppy. We are also working on something that we call "Chemical Adin,"
and Adin is a Russian word for one. We don't know who will do this, but this is
a video project we are doing." Sounds like great things coming from Norway,
stay tuned for more info!
CATHEDRAL. Interview with Brian Dixon.
Despite rumours of being broken up and what not, Cathedral is still alive and
well, evidenced by their upcoming release "The Carnival Bizarre." Brian
explains to us what happened with the Columbia deal: "Well, lack of money
basically meant that we were dropped by Columbia. (Kudos to the wonderful world
of corporate organizations. - Ed.) At that point, the rhythm section had two
guys from Chicago, who couldn't be kept on due to high costs of getting
everyone together. At this point it was a bad time for the band, and it was
realized that they needed someone from England, so there was an audition held
which I accepted. We had three days rehearsal and then immediately had to go
out on the road with Deicide. It was tough, but despite being the wrong kind of
tour, not to mention there was like six other bands, it went down well. Anyway,
we are down to one guitarist now, and halfway through the tour with Black
Sabbath, they had some problems with a guy named Victor, and so they had to get
rid of him. They were down to a four piece then and live some of the songs that
were written for two guitarists are a bit difficult to pull off. However, I
think that as a four piece you have more room to move about, plus it kinda
remnids me of the Sabbath of old, that early 70's sound." In description of the
sound, the new album is "70 minutes long. Some people say it's more straight
forward than the older stuff. It's more accessible but not in a commercial way.
It wasn't something that was concentrated on, let's just say it was whatever
came out at the time. I think every album has been totally different from every
other album Cathedral has ever done."
To involve Cathedral in the major doom metal movement that has been quietly
gaining acceptance would be a good move, concerning their roots, musical
background, and also Lee Dorrian's involvement with his own label Rise Above.
This editor tends to think that Lee Dorrian could be a pioneer for the "new
doom metal movement." Though Brian has only been with Cathedral a short time,
he gives a little insight into the workings of Rise Above Records: "Flying
Records in Italy has taken up a distribution deal with Rise Above, and Flying
of course as you know has a base here in the U.S. Bandwise there is Mourn, a
London band, Electric Wizard, and a new London band Our Haunted Kingdom, which
has just been recorded I believe. Electric Wizard, kind of a slow, doomy band,
should be available quite soon. There are plans to release about 7 or 8 albums
a year. It's hard for Lee to put a lot of time into the label because of
cathedral's touring plans and other commitments. Because of the busy schedule,
he involved Flying Records to help with the business end of things. We played
with Acrimony last weekend at a club called the Borderline in England, a rather
small club, which was filmed for a Japanese TV special. We did the gig under
the name of Midnight Mountain, and I think this is coming out in March."
As far as the writing of the new album goes, Brian tells us that "we wrote a
song called 'Utopian Bluff' which features a solo from Tony Iommi from Black
Sabbath on it. He hardly ever plays with any other bands, but he came down here
and laid down about 5 solos for us to choose from. Since we've been together
it's been nonstop work, maybe for the next album things will be a bit
different. We used a guy named Kitt Wolven for the producer of this album, and
he's a producer who works with lots of 70's bands like Thin Lizzy and U.F.O.
which kind of put us off a bit, but as it turns out he didn't really try and
change anything, he just helped us achieve the sounds we wanted and get the
parts down we needed. The guitar sound is much more in your face than your old
stuff, it's a lot heavier, even Lee sings in a more traditional fashion."
Touring plans are still up in the air, but they plan to hit the U.S. shores
"About January or February of next year. We're doing a few U.K. dates at the
end of this month, then we're going to Scandinavia with Motorhead, and after
that we do a European tour with Crowbar which will take us up until Christmas.
Then we've got Japan in March, so between January and March is when we focus
on the U.S. We are hoping the album does really well; this will determine how
we set up our touring plans." Something I noticed with the release of this
album is that it is out the same time both in Europe and in the States, so
things are more together for this release.
Before Cathedral, Brian says he didn't do much interesting, but he states:
"Where I came from I was just playing in bars mostly. I was glad to have a job
because I was kind of depressed, and believe me where I'm from (Liverpool,
England - Ed.) there are some depressing areas. I guess it makes a good
breeding ground for English doom metal bands. Liverpool is a violent city at
times, and though I have never been to the States, I had heard a few horror
stories about New York City; I fully expected to get mugged once I get off the
plane! Doing the interview from the New York offices I came in on a holiday so
I haven't got to see a whole lot of the city. I used to listen to a lot of
Southern Rock when I was a kid, like Allman Brothers and Lynrd Skynrd, so I
also want to visit regions in the South. I look forward to touring the States,
it will be my first time over here, so try to check out the album when it comes
out, it has some amazing artwork that folds out in the cover." Hopefully things
will work out for the new lineup, and expect to see them stateside sometime
early next year!
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NOTEWORTHY ITEMS:
Silent/Furnace Records has new releases due on September 19th. First off, a
Japanese noise band Manta Ray will release "Numinous Island," Fkozey Fetish
has an album titled "Mama Kei" and self titled albums will appear from
Operation Mindwipe and Syntax Error. Syntax Error, by the way, is being mixed
and produced by Darryl Hell, founder of Silent Records.
Silent/Furnace now has new distribution. They are being distributed by
Alliance rather than Caroline. According to Darryl, "This is a better move for
us, as it gives us a greater distribution rate." They also plan on releasing a
full video line including everything from concerts to full length videos. They
will start this in the fall of '95.
The Cannibal Corpse army is once again active! They are planning on releasing a
4 song E.P. just in time for Halloween and their next full length release is
due in early 1996. In addition, Chris Barnes is involved with a new side
project that features not only Chris Barnes on vocals, but also Obituary
guitarist Allen West! This project is known as Six Feet Under, and yes, they DO
plan to embark on a U.S. tour very shortly! In fact, they played their debut at
this year's Milwaulkee Metalfest and the tour commences in October.
Remember Voivod? Well, they have reportedly inked a deal with Toronto's
Hypnotic Records and their full length studio album should be completed by the
time you read this. This will be the first effort by the band since the
departure of vocalist Snake. Some tenatively titled tracks include "Project X,"
"Cosmic Conspiracy," "Insect," and "D.N.A." Also picked up by Hypnotic Records
is Gorguts, who will record their third full length album.
The former members of Exhorder have been busy as well, with vocalist Kyle
Thomas fronting a new group called Penalty. After searching for a whole year
for good major label interest, it seems as if they will sign with Roadrunner
Records! Meanwhile, ex-Exhorder guitarist Jay Ceravolo is currently involved
with Fall From Grace. They have recorded five new songs that are said to be
more mature and accessible than their first release. Unfortunately, they are
still looking for a record deal.
In other new venture deals, former Sodom drummer Chris Dudek (better known to
Sodom fans as Witchhunter) is putting together a new power/groove metal outfit
that is being called Witchhunter. They are currently looking for a new singer
before they complete their first demo. James Murphy of Obituary/Disincarnate/
Testament has also been hard at work, putting together instrumental material
in the hopes of landing a solo deal. No word on whether or how this will affect
touring plans with Testament or not.
Metal Massacre is back! Yes, the 12th volume of Metal Massacre is set for a
November 7th release, and will feature 15 bands. Here's the rundown of who is
to be on it: Paingod, Pist*On, Crisis, Level, Avernus, Ancient, And Christ
Wept, Amboog-A-Lard, Pervis, Eulogy, Divine Regale, Tipper Gor, Big Twin Din,
Gunga Din and Overcast. Big Twin Din, if it's the same band, is from the
Atlanta area and features none other than ex-Hallows Eve vocalist Stacy
Anderson! Look out for a feature interview with Stacy in our next issue!
Metal Blade Records has got some stellar releases planned all the way up to
spring of '96. Releases are as follows: Sacred Reich are planning on an early
'96 date for their newest "Heal." Galactic Cowboys, after their split with
Geffen, will release "Machine Fish" early next year. Fates Warning are now a
4 piece after the departure of guitarist Frank Aresti, and they hope to hit the
studio this fall to begin working on a new full length. Thought Industry has
completed "Outer Space is Just a Martini Away," which should see release early
next year as well. October 24th will see a new GWAR record entitled "Ragnarok,"
and Channel Zero's debut "Unsafe" will hit stores October 10th. Channel Zero, a
Belgian quartet, should satisfy those into Pantera, Machine Head, and
Biohazard.
Many of you may remember Masquerade's "Surface of Pain" that we reviewed some
time ago, well, Metal Blade has picked up the rights to it. October 10th will
see the release domestically and as far as I'm concerned, it's about time! For
those fans of good old fashioned hard, and I do mean HARD driving, straight
forward heavy metal, you will NOT be dissapointed.
In addition to the Metal Massacre series, Metal Blade will be releasing The 12
Commandments, a new video collection featuring videos from bands past and
present. With the dissolution of Headbanger's Ball on MTV it will be very hard
for most fans to see these fine gems get T.V. play so on October 24th you'll
get to see videos by Desultory, Skrew, Broken Hope, Joey Vera, Armored Saint,
Grip Inc., The Organization, Cannibal Corpse, Mercyful Fate, Chemlab, Fates
Warning, and Gwar.
And now for the reissue department. In addition to the domestic releases of
Masquerade and Celestial Season, Metal Blade is reissuing the REST of the Lizzy
Borden collection. The other album titles that will see reprint are: "Love You
to Pieces," "Menace to Society," "The Murderess Metal Road Show Live," "Give
'Em The Axe/Terror Rising," and "Visual Lies." Also to be slapped to the
record store shelves are the first three Armored Saint albums that were
previously released on Chrysalis: "March of the Saints, "Delirious Nomad," and
"Raising Fear." These last three are due out this fall.
Roadrunner has a new subdivision label entitled Deep Blue, which will deal with
the techno/ambient and true industrial side of things. Already out are new
discs from Intermix, Paradise 3001, and Battleground. Upcoming is a Global
House culture compilation series volume 1 and 2. Third Mind Records is no more,
so it is still uncertain what will happen to the rest of the acts covered by
Roadrunner/Third Mind, most notably Prayer Tower, Will, and Front Line
Assembly, though Cleopatra may pick up on the rest of the FLA catalog.
OZZY'S BACK! OZZY'S BACK! Yes, Ozzy is touring once again and this time he's
dragging Fear Factory with him to do 15 dates, mostly in the northern part of
the U.S. The only dates I have at present is Kansas City, MO October 24th at
the Memorial Auditorium and St. Louis, MO October 23rd at the American Theatre.
More dates as I get them. Look for the info to be posted on alt.rec.rock-n-
roll.metal. Also be on the lookout for Ozzy's "Ozzmosis" album which should be
released next month.
In other Fear Factory news, lead singer Burton is teaming up with Geezer Butler
(from the legendary Black Sabbath, as if ya didn't know!) and Ozzy's current
drummer to release a full length album! This news comes to us from SCPR, a
publicity department dealing with Morbid Angel and a few others. Set for
release in October, details are VERY sketchy right now, with even Roadrunner
personnel unsure as to how this thing will fly.
Century Media, home of such brutal greats as Morgoth, Tiamat, and Samael, has
quite a bit planned release wise. October 24th will see the release of Kansas'
own Hostility. Their album, entitled "Brick," is kinda sludge style in the vein
of Crowbar and Eyehategod. November 7th we will see Kentucky's My Own Victim
release "Burning Inside." Eyehategod and Only Living Witness will release
albums around February of 1996, the Only Living Witness album is entitled
"Innocents," while the Eyehategod album is still as of yet untitled. Merauder
is doing an album to be released around January 1996, and expect new Morgoth
and Samael full length discs near the summer.
Earache has some U.S. releases planned for the end of the year, the list is as
follows: At The Gates and OLD will release theirs in October, Scorn will
bring out a new album in November, and Napalm Death will release a 7 inch in
December. More releases as they become available.
My Dying Bride's "Trinity" and Mind Over Four's "Empty Hands" should be out by
the time you read this on the Fierce label, a subdivision of the Futurist
department. However, Leeway, Overdose, and Malhavoc will have albums out
sometime soon. No dates have been set yet, but we'll keep ya posted!
Though they have had a slow summer, Pavement Records has a few releases due out
soon. Internal Bleeding has a new one due October 10th, Stevie Salas Color Code
puts out "Back From the Living" on October 24th, and Beyond (formerly known as
Demented Ted) will release "Reassemble" on November 7th. Demented Ted has a new
guitarist in Mick Vega, formerly of the group Syndrome. Plans for 1996 include
a new Soltiude Aeturnus record, the boys will hit the studio in March and the
new release is set for spring. There is also talk of a live Malevolent Creation
record as well.
Black Mark now has a PROPER U.S. site! And they will bombard us with lots of
cool releases! Due out probably by the time you get this (October 3rd) are
Bathory's "Octagon," Morgana Lefay's "Sanctified," Gomorrah's "Reflections of
Inanimate Matter," and Lake of Tears' "Headstones." They also plan on
incorporating a full merchandise line, including T-shirts and much of the back
catalog.
Memento Mori has dropped Messiah Marcolin from their lineup, but still plan on
releasing a new album around February. No word as yet to who will be replacing
Messiah on vocals, but it will still be distributed through Black Mark in the
U.S.
While on the subject of Black Mark, the U.S. division of the popular label has
a distribution line for the label known as Raw Energy. Bands like Mundane,
Trigger Happy, and Throbbin' Hoods showcase a sort of hardcore style that is a
bit different from the rest of the Black Mark catalog. More info on that as it
becomes available.
Skinny Puppy has released "Download," a 4 song advance CD featuring Cevin Key
and special guest Genesis P. Orridge from Psychic TV. This is a bit of a
surprise because the se 4 songs are from Skinny Puppy's forthcoming release
"Furnace" which is to be released on Cleopatra! They have also called in their
friends DJ Philth and Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air/ex-Zoviet France) and
Dwayne Goettel, who is another member of Skinny Puppy. Look for them to tour
later this year in support of this release.
Machine Head tour with Stuck Mojo from October 6th to November 24th. For a
complete list of dates, watch the alt.rock-n-roll.metal and alt.rock-n-roll-
metal.death for more details.
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EDITORIAL NOTATIONS:
As I write this, I think how much effort it took to get this 10th issue out. I
almost didn't make it, what with the damn PC being in the shop more than three
times. I hate to have an issue come out late, but that's what happened. Anyway,
I'm still here, and hopefully I can make up for the long, LONG delay with the
Cathedral interview, and hopefully some more good stuff!
Anyone seen the Mortal Kombat movie? Well, judging by how it's done at the box
office, I'm sure everyone has seen it. Has anyone paid any attention to the
bands used in the soundtrack? Napalm Death, Fear Factory, Stabbing Westward,
Orbital, and others! It was great to see death metal used in such a fashion,
especially the Napalm Death tune! It just goes to show that even death metal
and industrial are getting bigger. Just last week I saw a preview for a movie
that had a song in it from Lords of Acid! I might have been wrong, but more and
more movies are using a heavier soundtrack these days.
It's been a slow summer release wise and concert wise as far as metal is
concerned. Hopefully things will pick up soon, and by the next issue we hope to
have concert reviews and a few extra features we can bring to you. Look for the
next issue to come out around the end of December, and also grab those sound
files through our new addresses.
Before I wrap this issue up, I just wanted to say what I was most impressed by
in 1995. Cubanate and Zero Defects are by far two of the best Industrial bands
I have heard in quite some time, the fact that Zero Defects is still a
relatively unknown commodity here in the States saddens me a bit. Metal wise,
Holy Records still manages to put out some great bands, most overseas projects
have a bit of originality to them once they can get past the "me too" syndrome
of death metal. It was good to see David Bowie return with a more aggressive
sound and industrial influences, the fact that Trent is working with him now is
no real surprise. White Zombie comes to Savannah on February 11th I believe,
and it may change the shape of our town as we know it! D.R.I. and Acid Bath
play here on January 30th, and I have been involved in promotions for some
other shows, most notably Sister Machine Gun and Die Krupps. With a little help
and hard work a good music scene is possible ANYWHERE!
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