CANCER:

• To The Gory End (1990)
• Death Shall Rise (1991)
• Sins of Mankind (1993) Although the guitar sound is very weak (veeeeeery weak), these guys have some great riffs, and it's obvious they know how to play. Technical stuff, not too complex, but good, strong songs. They just need to work a bit more in the studio to get a more menacing sound.

• Now The Animals Have A Voice (2004) 14 songs, 10 minutes, two real pitbulls as vocalists. I obviously bought this as a joke, since the idea of using pitbulls just seemed really funny to me (funny in that "it's funny because it's true" kind of way, after all, a lot of death metal vocalists sound like growling dogs now don't they? Why not try the real thing?). There was a tiny part of myself that thought, well, maybe they will try to play some good music and not just totally rely on the gimmick, but, well, I was wrong. It's basically two pitbulls barking and growling over top of some "heard it before" riffs and a drum machine. Ok, they're not all that bad, a few of the riffs are kinda cool. And the song 'Locking Jaws' works pretty well, with the dog's vocals actually matching with the inflections of the music. They even made elaborate lyrics in the booklet for the dogs! Bonus! A fun, silly album, and considering the low price, why not enhance your collection with some truly inhuman vocals.

• Demo '89 (1989)
• Eaten Back To Life (1990) The production is clear, but not as in your face as later albums. The songs are ok, but nothing special. A good album to have if you want to complete your collection, but if you're thinking of making this your first Cannibal Corpse album, I suggest you buy Tomb or Vile instead.
• Butchered At Birth (1991) A great Cannibal album. More bass heavy than Tombs, lots of super heavy and inventive riffs. A big step above their last album. I'm impressed, I was afraid this album would be a let down after I bought their later albums.
• Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992) Although the sound doesn't have much bottom end to it, this is still probably their best album. Excellent riffs, amazing blast beats, a classic. Really disgusting lyrics (which is why censored versions of their CD's without a lyric sheet can be bought).
• Hammer Smashed Face (1993, EP) 'Hammer Smashed Face' from "Tomb" and two cover songs, including 'Zero The Hero' by Black Sabbath. Other than the rarity of this EP, the extra songs are only ok, nothing all that special. Your choice.
• The Bleeding (1994) The sound is getting better, but the song writing suffers a bit towards the end of the album. They still manage to pummel and offend, the first 4 tracks or so are killer, and it's worth buying the album just for these.
• Vile (1996) The album is "dedicated to all those who stayed brutal!!!!" And brutal is the way to explain this music. Although a bit muddy, the sound is in your face, in fact it's smashing you face around with a metal pipe. The riffs are great, and the new vocalist proves that there is life after Chris Barnes.
• Monolith Of Death Tour '96/'97 (1997, Video) A chance to see everyone's favorite death metal band live without leaving the comfort of your own home. The first 4 songs are amazing, with excellent lighting and camera work, not to mention good sound (as someone mentioned, it looks like those Austin City Limits specials.) The rest of the video is various footage from handheld camcorders. The quality there isn't all that great, but it's still quite watchable. Lastly is the censored version of their MTV video for 'Devoured By Vermin'. All in all, this is a must have if you like the band, I just love watching these guys.
• Gallery Of Suicide (1998) Excellent Riffs. Tons and tons of them. Most of the songs are in the same vein as "Vile", although the production is way better, with the same low end, but without the muddiness. Everything in the mix is crystal clear. The songs are lower and more brutal than ever. It retains the Cannibal Corpse style while improving on it tremendously. All fans will love this album.
• Bloodthirst (1999) Still brutal after all this time. The band continues in the same tradition as their last album, lots and lots of excellent riffs, probably their more razor sharp production to date. If I could point out one flaw, it is that some of the songs aren't too coherent as songs, as in, the riffs are good, but the glue of song structure that holds the song together is a bit weak, which makes some of the songs a little bland. But the same could be said of their last album, and other songs on this album will certainly go down as Cannibal corpse classics ('Pounded Into Dust' is fucking amazing), so overall, a very, very impressive album.
• Live Cannibalism (2000) This live album has a lot of good things going for it that'll probably make it a must have for fans of the band. First, 18 tracks. Second, a good mix of music from just about every album the band has released (including some old favorites I'd never seen live before like "I Cum Blood"). Third, the performance is really strong, and well produced. Very well produced in fact, it sounds just a few steps down from a studio recording (with respect to instrument clarity and good mix with lots of high and low end). The band says in the notes that no overdubs were used in the album as well, which makes it even more impressive, and in all honesty I really do not like live albums with overdubs, a live album should be live, and not touched up. Anyways, again, probably some of the best live sound I've heard in a long time. My only complaints are that while the band is tight, they don't do a good job of cutting off their sound (ie, the album version of a song will have nice clean cutoffs at the end of a riff, live the band isn't nearly as clean), and when both guitars are playing, one guitar seems to have its volume turned down, they sound equal volume when playing separately, but together one side definitely dominates. Well worth the cash.
• Live Cannibalism DVD (2000, DVD & Video) Not much to say here that hasn't been said about the live album. You see pretty much all the tracks from the CD performed live. Sound is great, performance is great, they had a good quality camera crew working this concert with plenty of angles and good pacing. The extra footage on the DVD is pretty much 20 minutes of sound checks, which can get a bit tiring, but at the end they have about 5 minutes of the band interacting with fans which is sorta nice. Good compliment to the CD.
• Gore Obsessed (2002) Their previous album is still one of my favorites, so when this new album showed up, for whatever reason, it didn't strike me in the same way. But the more I listened to it over the past few weeks, the better it got, and now it's right up there with their other work. It's still the corpse, same style, same sound. Some of the songs are a bit slower on this release, in fact, my favorite song on the album "When Death Replaces Life" is the slowest tune on the album, but there's still plenty of fast stuff. First impressions aside, this is another solid album from the band, no real complaints, it's tunes are now firmly stuck in my head and they won't get out. If you've enjoyed their previous stuff, here's another dose.
• Worm Infested (2002) A 6 song EP, first two new tracks that I assume were from the "Gore Obsessed" recording sessions. Both good songs that could have easily been included on the album (as opposed to being two crappy songs that were justifiably cut from the album). Then a cover of Accept's 'Demon's Night' recorded more recently which is well done, although I personally don't dig the song itself. Then a song recorded back in '96, probably just before the "Vile" album came out. It's a ok song, but nothing spectacular. Then 'Confessions' by Possessed, and finally 'No Remorse' originally by Metallica which is available on "Gore Obsessed". Anyways, considering the price, definitely worth getting, the first two tracks are great and the rest of the album is kinda fun, but get it soon, since this is a limited edition EP only available through Metal Blade.
• Monolith Of Death Tour (2002, DVD) The same as the video by the same name, now in DVD form.
• 15 Year Killing Spree (2003, Boxset) A 4 disc boxset. The first 2 CDs are bestof cds, with tracks from all their previous CDs. Already owning all this material, these CDs aren't really all that important to me, although I suppose its nice having some of their better songs available in a convenient CD form. Disc 3 is the rare stuff, which starts with 5 songs from an '89 demo. These are muffled, but surprisingly clear for the time, and they've been mixed loud so are still quite enjoyable if you pump that volume up. Then comes the Created To Kill sessions. When the album "Vile" was first being made, the band had Chris Barnes as vocalist. Before the end of the recording, he left / was kicked out (whatever), and George Corpsegrinder Fisher came in to redo the vocals. So this is many of the songs off "Vile", rearranged slightly, with a few different names, different lyrics, no solos, and with Chris' original vocals. They're clear, although still demos (there's notable tape hiss during the songs), and are highly cool. I do think I prefer George's versions of these songs, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying these as alternates. Then 6 "Gallery of Suicide" Demos, which are pretty similar to the final songs, just without the polish on the production. Then 3 cover songs. The 4th disc is a DVD with 4 live performances. The first is the first Cannibal Corpse show ever, so expect really low tech recording and camera work. But it's kinda fun all things considering. 7 tracks there. Then 2 tracks of "Butchered at Birth" studio footage. Then a live show from Moscow during the "Tombs" days. The band comes on before the show and talks about how bad the recording quality is, and unfortunately they're right. The drums are basically inaudible, and the bass is gone, all you can hear are the guitars and the vocals. This is a real shame, because not only is this one of the few shows with Chris Barnes on vocals, but also the show contains a lot of tracks off of "Tombs", and the band plays so few of those songs anymore in their later live concerts. Last comes 10 songs from 2002. The recording quality is a lot better (not quite as good as their last live DVD), but the camera is basically a front view of the entire band for the show. They do play "Adducted To Vaginal Skin", which I've never seen live before, so that's pretty cool. 26 tracks in total on the DVD. So I guess the big question is is it worth it picking up this boxset. That's a tough one, it has lots of odds and ends that you may find interesting, but no one thing so amazing that you necessarily have to pick up the collection. If any of the tid bits I've discussed looks interesting, then by all means pick it up.
• The Wretched Spawn (2004) Lets just admit it, we've all heard Cannibal Corpse, and the band is nothing if not consistent, so when a new cannibal corpse album comes out, we pretty much know what to expect, and if we dig them we dig the new album, and if we don't, we won't. So I guess what I'm trying to say is no real surprises here, but that's not a bad thing. Following in the usual style, this album has slightly better song writing than their previous effort with some really nice memorable songs. The sound is pretty damn vicious, although possibly a little bottom heavy and muffled compared to their other work. The guitars do have a little extra crunch to them though, when they palm mute, you feel your lower intestine shaking around, so I suppose what they lost in high end they gained in power. The Corpse delivers another great album. The cd includes a DVD showing the band in the studio working on the album, which includes some good interviews, some segments showing them working on songs, and some random shit like the band shooting off guns, visiting, mexico, etc. About an hour of material.
• Kill (2006) The question on a Cannibal Corpse CD isn't will it be good, they're certainly the most consistent band in the death metal genre, it's how good will it be. And this album is pretty damn good. Not quite as good as their last I feel, but still top notch. The thing that totally set apart their last release was perfect track placement, a fast song followed by a slow song followed by a fast song, just the right order to give each song a little of it's own life beyond the album as a whole. This album is a little more homogenous, so the tracks tend to blend together a bit. But there are some things to break the album up, some longer than normal guitar solos, a few unconventional drum fills, a slowish instrumental track to close the album. And the short but vicious opener 'The Time To Kill Is Now', as well as the marching band style snare in 'Make Them Suffer' make them instant classic and memorable Cannibal Corpse songs. No slowing down for these guys, they're as angry today as they've always been. Awesome production, good songs, yet another winner. The European version comes with a Bonus DVD called "Hammer Smashed Laiterie", recorded in Strasbourg in 2004. This is a 17 song professionally recorded show, although there are a few stutters in the video feed (thankfully none in the audio). The nice things is there's not a lot of overlap between this and their last official live album, so expect plenty of new live songs, including some real oldies but goodies like 'Shredded Humans' and one of my favorites 'The Cryptic Stench'. Also expect a bunch of new tracks from their last few albums. The band is as intense as ever, although you can sorta tell guitarist Jack Owen is on his way out, he just sorta stands there for most of the show (I think I even saw him yawn at one point), so it' no surprise he decided to leave the band. I have to say, I like the idea of releasing a Live DVD as a bonus extra to an album, I've always felt some bands spend too much time and energy on producing and marketing live albums, releasing a new one after almost every single album. Much better to just include it as an extra for those who want it, without the need to make a big deal about it. If you can, I highly recommend picking up the import version, so you can get both a killer album and excellent DVD at the same time.
• Vile + DVD (2007, DVD) As part of the 25th anniversary of Metal Blade, the label re-releases the album "Vile", along with a bonus DVD. The DVD contains about 90 minutes spanning 2 shows during the era. The quality isn't all that hot on the shows, definitely bootleg, it's a step up from watching clips on you-tube, but nothing like their "Live Cannibalism" DVD. At least the music is clear, although not a professional production. Also, most of the songs are stuff from their first 2 DVDs, so you've probably seen these songs before. They do have a few songs I haven't seen elsewhere like "Orgasm Through Torture", which is cool, but overall I can only recommend picking this up if you never got the "Vile" album for some unfathomable reason, or because you just need everything the band has ever produced. Otherwise, I'd say steer clear.
• Evisceration Plague (2009) Another solid album, but not quite as good as "Kill". Plenty of fast and slow songs, lots of energy and brutality, the main downsides is I feel the songs aren't quite as instantly memorable as on previous CDs. More listens definitely helps to fix it, but "Kill" just had so many instant classics like 'The Time To Kill Is Now' and 'Murder Worship'. This album doesn't seem to have those types of standout songs, although everything overall is quite strong. The sound is big and thick, but not quite as thunderous as "Kill" was. I don't want to give you the wrong impression, this is a very good CD, I just feel it will fade and become another CD in the band's history rather than one of the high points in their career. But for the here and now, this is a great album that I wil enjoy listening to many times.
  

• Fractured (2003) While only a guest guitarist, it seems Daniel Mongrain (head dude in Martyr) brought a lot more than just his guitar chops to this recording. Basically this album sounds exactly like Martyr, from the same screamed vocals (the voices are almost identical) to the same complex scale based alternate picked passages, to the same breakneck thrash inspired riffs. So 0 on originality, although for what it is it's great. The songs aren't quite as instantly memorable as the stuff off Martyr's "Warp Zone", but listen to it a few times and soon enough you'll have your favorite bits. Production is excellent, and performance wise the whole band certainly shows their ability to play very tight and energetic music. Not much more to say really, if you like Martyr, you'll love this album as well.
  

• Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment (1987, Demo)
• Reek of Putrefaction (1988) A very speedy, grinding album, really short songs of incredible speed. Nothing very original here. The sound is also pretty muddy.
• Symphonies of Sickness (1989) A good transition album between the noisy grind of their past and the technical death of their future. Great riffs, decent production, scary vocals, a definite milestone album in death metal.
• The Peel Sessions (1989) Four songs with a clear but treble heavy production. Part of the Peel Sessions recorded for BBC1, the performance is a bit rough in places, but that's what this series is all about, a more live and spontaneous feel for some of England's' most evil bands. And anyways, part of the Carcass charm is their love of noise, it's not meant to be perfect, just brutal, and it is. This won't win any awards for best Carcass recording or anything, purchase after you've got all the band's other brilliant stuff.
• Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious (1991) Probably Carcass' best album. The production is great, the song writing is top notch. Mainly mid-tempo stuff, with a few faster segments. Not as brutal as previous albums, but still Carcass at their best.
• Tools of the Trade (1992, EP) One song off of "Necrotism", three songs that should have been on "Necrotism". What can I say, If you liked "Necrotism", make sure you've got this EP as well.
• Heartwork (1994) Shorter songs, but the brutality is still there. They sped up a notch for this album, and some of the songs have some weak points, but a good album over all.
• The Heartwork EP (1994, EP) A few rock oriented songs with similar production to Heartwork. Available originally on Vinyl, but also available as a CD single. Not a bad EP, but look what it led to...
• Swansong (1996) Ok, Carcass has completely sold out. The music sounds like some drunken people playing unoriginal clones of Megadeth tunes. This album really stinks, don't buy it!
• Wake Up And Smell The Carcass (1996) A bunch of odds and ends from Carcass. The album starts with 5 unreleased tracks from the Swansong sessions. All of them are pretty horrible, boring, rock n roll type songs that suck. The next 4 tracks are from a session for Radio 1 in 1994, mainly tracks from Heartwork ('No Love Lost' starts off as 'Ruptured in Purulence' then switches songs). The recording is good, but not as good as the "Heartwork" album itself, and since they're the same songs these versions are nothing special really. Then we have the two tracks off the "Heartwork" EP. Then the three tracks off the "Tools Of The Trade" EP. Then two tracks off the "Pathological" compilation, and 1 off the "Grindcrusher" compilation, both from 1989 (hence they're decent, but pretty basic productionwise). If you can't find the "Heartwork" EP or the "Tools Of The Trade" EP, this is good to get, otherwise I'd give it a pass.
  
• Wake Up And Smell The Carcass (2001, DVD) 4 music videos, and two live concerts, one from the necrotism tour, one from the reek tour. The music videos are ok, but I really don't tend to enjoy videos. The reek tour video is just a slight step up from a bootleg, for hardcore fans only. The necrotism show is definitely the reason to buy this DVD. While the production quality isn't all that great (the first track you can barely hear the guitars for example), the camera work is pretty damn good, with good coverage of the entire band from a crew of at least 3-5 people. And after you get used to the treble enhanced bass deficient sound, it's a great show, with about 12 songs including just about their entire Necrotism album. A great way to see the band in their prime, they are still sorely missed.
• Carcass - Pungent Excruciation Live 1992 EP - Mini-CD (2009, EP) Reviewed by Stefan: First off, in contrast to what the tracklist on some online stores listed, it is 1. Incarnated Solvent Abuse 2. Inpropagation Which is way more plausible, as Carcass had a very static set list, remaining nearly unchanged throughout their tours. By 1992 (the year of this recording), they were hardly playing anything off 'Reek of Putrefaction', especially not the two tracks that were announced. Though I have to admit that a proper live recording of 'Pungent Excruciation' alone would have been worth the money. Anyway, the recording is pretty good for a bootleg, although it is not a soundboard recording. Of course, that doesn't mean you get crystal clear sound by any means. But especially the drums get a lot of room, and Ken Owens superb drumming on 'Inpropagation' shines through in a lot of places. On the other hand, Bill Steers low grunts, although plenty, have too much effects on them. But there are only two tracks included, they are out of sequence (Carcass usually started out with 'Inpropagation'), and not even rare by any means. 'Incarnated Solvent Abuse' is, to me, rather the weakest track on 'Necroticism', and if you want a live recording from the 'Necroticism' era, there is 'Wake up and smell the Carcass' readily available. Ok, the recording of 'Inpropagation' is probably the best I've heard so far (I have quite a few Carcass bootlegs), but not by much. And why on earth did they only release two tracks?!? All in all, there's nothing really special about the tracks, and you can get way more value for money by purchasing the 'Wake up and smell the Carcass' release, which even supports the band. So - stay away, unless you're a die-hard fan.

• Liber ZarZax (2002) Basically Morbid Angel's "Altars of Madness" with different riffs. The vocalist is a little lower and there aren't as many solos, but otherwise, guitar tone (both rhythm and lead), blasting style, tremolo picking style, basically everything else is just like the famous Morbid Angel album. So did this album really need to get remade for the year 2002? Probably not. Does this make this a bad album? No, it's still plenty brutal and well performed, it's just unoriginal, and I think Morbid Angel's songs were more catchy and memorable. But fans of old MA may wish to check this band out.
  

• Collision With Oblivion (2009) Now that Angelcorpse is disbanded/on hiatus again, it's nice to see the torch picked up by someone else. Not to say this band is a complete Angelcorpse clone, there are also spots of early Morbid Angel, Krisiun (the unending drum attack and superfast scale based solos) and Hate Eternal (some of the dissonant chords). So overall, expect an album filled with fast tremolo picking and continuous blasting and doublebass. Vocals are a midrange raspy death metal growl. The production quality on the album is excellent, way ahead of any of the Angelcorpse material. There are a few bits of rest in the album, track 5 'Desolate Beyond' is a nice little interlude with a slower riff with super crazy solo overtop, but for the most part, it's fast-fast-fast, with a few slower breaks in the middle. Also of note, this is a band formed by several ex-members of Fleshtized, so if you're a fan of them, this album will also be for you. There's nothing here that I've never heard before, but with the intensity and great production, the album is really fun to listen to, and well worth buying.
  

• This Present Darkness (2000, EP) Another one of these "Korn but with double kicks" bands. The music is very, very heavy, and rather slow paced (drums are equally pounding, but with inventive use of double kick spurts). The vocalist is very high pitched and raspy, the whole razorblade to the vocal chords sorta thing. The riffs aren't quite as fast paced as Slipknot, although they hold some similarities, as well as similarities to Sepultura's "Roots" album and anything from Machine Head, overall the band has a strong and solid performance, which I assume will only get better with Dino from Fear Factory producing their next album (although the band already has some pretty decent production). If you're into this style (pound the audience with slow sludgy riff based groove metal), check this band out.
• Pass Out Of Existence (2001) Most of the songs on this album have been previously released by the band on the web in demo form, so no big surprises, just a lot of good songs and great production (although the last song 'jade' gets kinda annoying, why do all albums in this genre have to end with a very slow song that just goes on and on. I much prefer the old days where the last song on the album was your fastest song to leave the listening audience violated). Other than that one issue, all the elements that made the EP cool are here again, so for review purposes, read the EP review and imagine it expanded, tighter and heavier, a "This Present Darkness Part 2". If you're into this style of music, Chimaira are definately at the top of the heap, and it's more than worth the cash.
• The Impossibility Of Reason (2003) After listening to this album, I truly believe Chimaira is the Pantera for the new decade. Not that they sound like Pantera perse, but they fill a similar hole, groove oriented metal that is really pissed off, and like Pantera in the mid 90s, this band is at the top of their game with great song writing and razor sharp production. So much to like here, faster riffs mixed with the occasional super slow section. Each song is a well crafted machine, carefully engineered to achieve the highest level of impact. And impact it does, while good to listen to in the car or at work, you can tell these songs are primarily written for the live situation, their purpose to create utter mayhem in the pit. The album even contains an instrumental in old Metallica fashion to end the album. Get this album now, and I'll see you in the mosh pit.
• The Dehumanizing Process (2004, DVD) This DVD starts off with a 90 minute professional documentary about the band. And the really cool thing is this isn't just the band fucking around on tour, but a pretty serious look at what it takes to be a signed metal band in the 2000s. The camera follows them around during the recording of their album "The Impossibility Of Reason", and you get to see plenty, the band arranging the music, the band recording their parts, the band making those hard decisions like "do we include the radio friendly song on the album?" (and they end up deciding to axe the song, which I think was an excellent move), the band going through 3 different drummers, etc. Not only do they talk about the issues going on in the band, but quite frequently you get to watch it unfold directly on tape. The back of the DVD says that the "The Dehumanizing Process" is "as brutally honest as their music", which is usually marketing bullshit, but I have to say the band is pretty damn honest about their lives, dealing with a record company, dealing with each other. You get to see everything from them playing in their mom's basement to being on tour in Europe. The DVD also contains 7 live tracks from Holland, which has excellent production and good camerawork, the main thing I walked away with from that was that their first drummer Andols Herrick really is spectacular. Their latest drummer Kevin Talley is amazing too, but he's not going to be able to phone this one in, he's gonna have to stay on his toes (literally). The DVD also comes with their first main demo, "This Present Darkness", with 2 extra songs recorded at about the same time. This is a really great DVD, and a must have if you love this band's music.
• The Impossibility Of Reason 2-Disc Collectors Edition (2004) 2 CD set, the second CD is where the bonus stuff is. First, a song that was done during preprod on "The Impossibility Of Reason", and it's a pretty good song. Then 2 tracks from the outtakes from "Pass Out Of Existence", one is a Chimaira song and the other is a cool cover of the Cure's 'Fascination Street'. Again, decent songs, but nowhere near as classic as the stuff that made it on the album. Then 5 demo tracks from "Pass", which are well produced for demos, and are also a bit different from their album counterparts (different samples, some added bits and pieces). Then two live songs which sound good, although miss some bass. I don't see anything on this 2nd CD that falls into the must have category, if you haven't bought the cd yet I'll recommend the 2cd set, but it's not really worth grabbing if you already have the album.
• Chimaira (2005) Hot on the heels of the spectacular "The Impossibility Of Reason", the band had a lot to live up to with this their third album, and I'm sure they felt the pressure. The result is not quite as good as "Impossibility", but a fine album just the same that should rate highly on my top 10 of the year. On first listen the album was a little disappointing, but after multiple listens I think I attribute my first reaction more to song order than anything else. The album certainly starts out right with a super powerful track 'Nothing Remains', whose main riff (dee-dum-dum-dee-dum-dum-dee) will stick in your head all day. But then track 2 is a midpaced song which is good but nothing spectacular, then track 3 the same. Track 4, 'Salvation' is a slow song, but has an interesting main riff and vocal melody. The band then bounces back with their 5th track, 'Comatose', in all its doublebass speedy glory. So I guess my real problem was that tracks 2 and 3 didn't hold up the energy that track 1 had, and so the album initially fell a little flat. If they had shifted tracks 2,3 and 4 to a different part of the album, and followed track 1 with another fast song, it may have worked a lot better. Anyways, the second half of the album is far more consistent, with some fantastic drumming by new-comer Kevin Talley (well, newcomer to the band anyways), and great riffing from Rob and Matt. The songs on this album are a bit longer, and some are not as instantly catchy as some of their previous work, but they have a lot of depth, lots of atmosphere and some really interesting rhythms (especially the two doublebass passages in 'Left For Dead' and 'Everything You Love'). Definitely give the album a listen or two before you make up your mind, for me it gets better each and every time. Highly recommended. A special 'England Only' version includes a bonus CD that has 2 new songs and 7 live songs from the concert on "The Dehumanizing Process" DVD. The new songs are decent, although still a little raw in their structure. The live tracks are well produced and a great performance. If you can get the version with the Bonus CD, I think it's worth the extra cash.
• Resurrection (2007) First Chimaira album on their new label after a rocky ride with their old label Roadrunner, "Resurrection" certainly does feel like they're having more fun, but that doesn't necessarily mean a better record. Their last CD sounded rather clinical, the sound was powerful but dry, the song structures were pretty straight forward, you could almost feel the tension the band must have felt under the ever glaring eye of Roadrunner. However, there were some really, really killer and inventive riffs on the album which kept me coming back again, again and again. This album has a much better vibe, it's just a tad loose, and the sound is filled out a little better. But unfortunately, I just don't feel the riffs are there for the most part. The first track, 'Resurrection' is an awesome song in every way, the second track has some good bits, and the last track 'Empire' has some cool stuff, but otherwise, there's a lot of riffs on this album that just seems sort of unmemorable. The album kicks ass in every other way from production to brutality to the vocals and samples, but I wish they'd spent a little more time writing those memorable riffs that are the Chimaira trademark, stuff we'll remember for years and years to come. That said, I still recommend the album, it's angry, loud, fast and brutal. It's sort of a transition album, the band is now on a label that supports them, they have their old drummer back, and they got together and jammed, and this is the result. I can only imagine their next album will be way better, since the band will have a chance to catch their breath after all the chaos, and focus on just writing an absolutely killer slab of metal, and they won't be as distracted by the world around them going to hell. A special edition of the album comes with a making-of DVD, which is a well produced 60min documentary in the same style as their last DVD. You get a lot of VERY honest information about the band, about their label issues, personnel problems, etc. The honesty the band has with it's fans is just astounding, we're not talking "Some Kinda Monster we need therapy badly" kind of honesty, just simply "here's the situation, here's what happened, here's how I feel and here's how we're gonna deal with it" kind of honesty, and I give them all the credit in the world for doing DVDs like this, I think they're fascinating. Plus, the Morgoth stuff is awesome. Do not buy this CD without the extra DVD attached, you'll love it.
• The Infection (2009) So the album start with a spooky riff that grows and grows, similar in nature to the beginning of 'Blackened' by Metallica. But then right when you expect things to explode like the awesome 'Blackened' double time guitar riff, the band comes in and just sorta plays slow. The rest of the song is quite uneventful, a real departure from all their other albums that opened fast and furious, and the change is not a good one. Ok, lets move onto song 2, the riff is kinda hohum, and the tempo is about the same as song 1. Then song 3 has almost the same chord progression, again, same slowish tempo, almost the same drum beats. Track 4 is a little better, they start getting a little heavier, but again, it doesn't reach any sort of real climax. Sadly, that's the problem with this album, there's basically no fast songs at all, only a couple of fast riffs, and the slowness isn't slow enough to be heavy, just slow enough to be meandering, and they never seem to quite go anywhere. There are a few decent songs, 'Try To Survive' is kind of fun with it's ever changing guitar riff, the bonus track 'Revenge' is the only song that's even close to fast, and I do dig the 10 min instrumental closer 'The Heart Of It All' which brings back fond memories of the band's song 'Implements Of Destruction', but overall there's a real lack of standout riffs that feel new and fresh. I love the band, but this is the first real dud of an album. It may still be worth buying for the nice instrumental ending track, but otherwise, I'd label it a miss.
• Coming Alive (2010) Ever since the "The Dehumanizing Process", I've loved Chimaira's making-of and documentary materials. The thing that really got my attention was how the band was so willing to show everything, not just the cool parts of rock and roll, but to really get deep into what it really means to be in a band, what it means to have a record label that wants to turn you into something you're not, the business and politics of music, and how the writing process actually works. So I jumped again for their latest DVD set, and again, I was not disappointed. The set starts with a 3 hour documentary, which goes all sorts of interesting places. We have the band recording their new album, and they really go in-depth, showing the band critiquing the music, trying to figure out what the next line of the song should be, how to deliver that line to get maximum impact, really getting into the nuts and bolts of how a riff eventually becomes a song. The documentary also gets into how difficult it gets to tour as you get older, as you become less willing to part with your loved ones for an extended period of time. Another section deals with what it's like waiting for those first week album sales, and you're hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. I keep thinking back to the Anvil documentary that came out last year, it's fascinating to see how life in even what I would consider a successful metal band continues to be a struggle. But don't worry, "Coming Alive" isn't all doom and gloom, there's plenty of bits of them on tour, hanging out with fans, doing silly stuff, but I give tremendous respect to the band for really showing it all, the good bits and the bad. Disc 2 is the live concert from the tenth anniversary show in Cleveland. The show overall is a good one, the mix of songs is great with music from basically every album, including some nice oldies (like 'Dead Inside' and 'Painting The White To Grey'). And it's long too, 17 songs. The performance is strong, the production is well done, it feels live and is mixed well, and the amount of crowd in the sound is well balanced. From a camera perspective, it's generally good, but perhaps a tiny bit too much quick cutting, and the lights and close camera angles are such that you won't get much of a clear view of the band, it's cut a little more music video style, so if you primarily want to see the band play, it may not be what you're looking for. Finally, we have the CD of the show, which is also excellent (the CD is 16 songs, it doesn't include the 10 minute instrumental 'Implements Of Destruction'). Overall, a very worthy live release, and well worth getting.
  

• Coal Chamber (1997) A Metal / Alternative crossbreed is a similar vein to Tool. The guitar riffs have lots of holes, the bass is thick, huge and evil, the drumming is simplistic but powerful. Layered on top are lyrics written and performed from an obviously disturbed maniac. They had more energy live, but overall a good album, with some memorable moments.
• Loco (1998, EP) Two copies of 'Loco' (a radio edit and a remastered LP version), a new song called 'Blisters' and a remix of 'Sway'. The new song is pretty good with some strange flange sounds going on, and heavy parts, all the other songs are pretty much just taken from the album without much new to offer.
• Chamber Music (1999) Songwriting wise, their last album was so cool because the songs were really angry, powerful and sludgy (and the riffs stuck in your head). This album's song are possibly even more memorable, but not because of their brutality, but because the choruses are just more catchier, almost in a pop vein sometimes. Neil does not approve. They added more keyboard stuff on top of their original sound (think Type O Negative), and that sound tends to be muddier with more reverb and echo, loosing the nice crunch of their last album. The vocals are less crazy, and sound almost identical to Korn (or Rob Zombie, on occasion), which is not bad, except, dudes, a little originality? Many of the songs have a certain sameness to them as well. I really don't want to trash this album because there's some good stuff here that's worthy of a listen, but their first album was light-years ahead as far as I'm concerned in both songwriting, originality and brutality.
• Dark Days (2002) A lot closer to their first album, which is the right idea in my opinion. Productionwise, there's still some extra layers, but not like the last CD where it became muddy, there was just too much going on and the guitar and bass sound just got lost in a sea of reverb. They're stripped down the sound a bit for this album, simplified, and the result is a much deeper and punchier sound. Still a few silly songs that seem out of place (Like 'Watershed', what a dumb name for a song) but there's lots of good material here, really heavy, detuned, sludgy and chunky, like 'Something Told Me', 'One Step' or 'Friend?'. 'Rowboat', while it has another silly name, is fucking super slow and heavy, no light easy listening crap that was too prevalent on their previous album. Can't label the cd as revolutionary, but if you liked the first cd, I think you'll get into this one as well.
• Giving The Devil His Due (2003, Rare) A collection of remixes, rarities, demos, a live recording of 'Big Truck' and 1 new song. The new song is pretty cool, and there are a bunch of rarities here I had never heard before, so they're new songs to me in the usual coal chamber style. The remixes aren't all that exciting, since they're almost identical to the album versions with a few strange sounds added now and again. The demos have decent production, and are different enough from the album versions to make them interesting in their own right. For fans of the band there's plenty of goodness here, although I don't think it'll get constant play in my cd player in the future, it's one of those cds you'll listen to a few times, put on the cd rack and maybe pull out a few years later saying "Oh ya, haven't listen to this in awhile". I.e., it's good, but not a must have.
  

• Pseudo EP (Demo, 2000)
• Just Visiting Part One (2002, EP) 5 song EP of Tool inspired goodness. All 5 songs are strong material, some really awesome vocal hooks that just draw you into the music, the drums set down an awesome groove, and the guitarwork is hauntingly beautiful (and in some parts, rather ugly and grungy). A must have EP for the band.
  
• Just Visiting Part Two (2002, EP)
• Open Up (2003, EP)
  
• The New Normal (2005) Fans of Tool will know exactly what to expect. Long songs, rhythmic drumming, odd time signatures, riffs that repeat again and again, layers of sound that build on top of each other growing and shrinking in intensity, and mournful vocals sung over top. The songs are fantastic, the melodies are highly catchy, and the musicianship is just amazing. Quite a variety of sounds too, from very Toolish type material, to latin influenced guitar/vocals, strings and synth, lots of acoustic guitars, lots of heavy, distorted guitars, all in strong service to the almighty song. It's tough to pick favorite tracks on this album, there's so much good material here, but I'd have to say 'Doors' is probably the best the group has to offer, it builds in intensity at just a perfect pace, getting heavier and heavier, when the distorted guitars enter at almost 5 minutes into the 10 min song, you will be totally drawn into the track. If there's any downside, some of the songs sound a little too much like Tool to be considered terribly original, but this is done so well, I just can't complain too loudly. If you like progressive rock/metal with epic length songs, this import from Australia should absolutely be on your list.
• Resonate (2005, Single)
• Run (2005, Single)
  
• What If (2007, Single)
• Sharing Space (2008) Very similar to their last album. A few changes, the songs are a little less toolish this time in vibe. I'd say the album is slightly less heavy, in that they don't go distorted with the guitars as much, but it's a subtle change. The album is heavy in terms of lyrical content though, they deal with the topics of corruption, greed, social change, terrorism and abuse of power. Lyrics like "I don't listen at all to the government, the government has got to go" puts it pretty plainly. The song writing as usually is spectacular, the songs feel familiar while still having tons of unexpected riffs. Some pretty long songs again, the album opener and closer are over 9min long. If you dug their last album, you're gonna love this too, highly recommended for people who like something a little more progressive and epic.
• Just Visiting (2009, Re-issue) The band's two EPs on a single CD, along with an extended version of 'Bondi'. If you already own both EPs, then I don't think the extra minute in 'Bondi' amounts to all that much. But if you don't have these EPs yet, then definitely pick up this CD, it has lots of fantastic music.
• 12 Years With You (2010, DVD/CD) First DVD for the crew, along with an accompanying live CD. The concert portion is 13 songs long, on both the DVD and CD. A great mix of music from all their albums, they start strong with 'Doors' and end strong with 'Problem Reaction Solution'. The only song I really missed was 'No Other Way' from their latest album. The sound is fantastic, if I had any real issue it would be that the live songs aren't all that different from the studio songs. A few of them are extended with a jam at the end or a few extra bits, but nothing super special that's exclusive to the live versions. So that makes the CD sorta redundant, fortunately, the band has a lot of stage presence, so SEEING the band perform the music on the DVD makes this package totally worth it. As well as being high energy, you get a real sense of complexity, these songs are tough to perform, and mind-bendingly tough for only a 3 piece. Every member is both playing their instruments (usually in some odd time signature) while at the same time singing complex vocal harmonies in unison or in rounds, even with some extra keyboards, samples and pre-recorded background tracks, I still have no idea how they manage to do what they do live. The camerawork is good, it switches at a reasonable pace, a few of the cameras are a little grainy and prone to artifacting (like the one behind the drums), but overall it's nice and clear. Also included on the DVD is a 45 minute documentary about the band, starting from the earliest days of the group all the way to where they are now. It's really complete, and a fantastic biography piece, even though the narrator can be a bit melodramatic at times. The DVD also contains 4 older songs performed many years ago, all from small clubs, and the production quality is surprisingly decent. Please note, while the DVD says it's region free, it is a pal DVD, and so won't play on standard North American DVD players, you'll need to watch it on your computer. Overall, well worth the cash if you're a fan of the band, the CD may not get a lot of play, but the DVD is top notch.
  

• The Contaminated Void (2007) Years after Nasum called it quits, their drummer Anders has decided it's time to get back into the swing of things, and the result is Coldworker. While some elements of the band are Nasum like, there's a different vibe going on here. For one, the songs are way longer (3-4 min) and there's less of them. Second, the vocals are lower than Nasum's. And overall, the songs are a little more death metally, but still with plenty of blasts. Decent production, and plenty of energy makes this a good cd, nothing revolutionary, and nothing are purely brutal as Nasum, but some good songs, and it's nice to hear Anders drumming again, every once in awhile you can hear that special style of his peaking through in some of the frantic beats. An import edition contains an extra track "Far Beyond Driven" which is actually just another song, not a Pantera tribute. Definitely check these guys out.
• Rotting Paradise (2008) Like their last album, but an improvement in pretty much all aspects. The production is more polished, without losing that raw brutality. The song writing has gone up a notch. And the performance is even tighter than before. Songwise, the album reminds me a bit of Malevolent Creation's "Eternal" album (which is a personal favorite of mine) but with better production. Again, nothing revolutionary, but really well done, and well worth the cash.
  

• Dehumanized (2006) A much more song based, groovier style of death metal. But still plenty brutal, don't you worry. Common Graves shares a lot in common with bands like Fleshgrind, Malamor, or the slower parts of Dying Fetus. Lots of midpaced groovier riffs, a few faster parts, but overall, it's more about the hook than slapping the listener with chaos like Disgorge or Disavowed does. And these songs are good, plenty of memorable bits and head banging moments. Guitars are nice and tight (the sound could be a bit thicker but overall the mix is good), with plenty of palm muted chugging and squawks. Vocals are lowish and gargled. Drums are nothing overly complicated, but plenty pounding and perfect for the songs. In the realm of straight ahead death metal, these guys have some pretty awesome tunes and should definitely be checked out.
  
• Embedded Coding (2009) This album shows the band fine tuning their already strong performance. "Embedded Coding" is super heavy, and the riffs are just fantastic (This album sees the band throwing in a bit of an Iniquity influence). Tons of squawks, blasting bits, doublebass triplets, nothing too fast, just lots of midpaced pummeling. You'll probably find your head banging involuntarily a number of times while listening to this album. The production has a touch more treble and a touch more reverb, but it's doesn't detract at all, it's just a slightly different sound than their debut. Did I mention great songs? That's what I keep coming back to, just fantastic riffs that will get you breaking something nearby. A must buy.
  

• Como Muertos (2007) 6 Track Demo for the band. As the name implies, there's a Spanish connection here (although the band is from France). Stylewise, they're a cross between Exhumed, the slower parts of Nasum and Brujeria with lots of horror film clips mixed in for good measure. The production is good for a demo, not perfect, but their guitar sound is reminiscent of early Entombed, which is always a good thing to emulate. The riffs are all very good and thrashy, and the vocals are lowish growls (the lyrics are all in spanish, but you don't really notice too much with this vocal style). Overall, an enjoyable demo, the band writes tight songs and has lots of energy. Check the band's myspace page for samples, it'll be interesting to see what they do in the future now that their lineup has apparently just solidified.
  

• The Fragile Art Of Existence (1999) It sounds like Death (it should, it contains all the members off of Death's last album, + the new vocalist), but just not as good as death, for several reasons. Number 1, Chuck's vocals on death recordings are great, the new vocalist is doing that 80s glam metal thing that all those Yngwie Malmsteen vocalists did, and even though I was brought up on 80s glam, I just can't stomach this guy. No offense, I'm sure he's good as what he does, I am just not interested in what he's doing. Second, the riffs aren't as aggressive. Third, the riffs just aren't as good. While they sound like something death would write, they lack that spark that makes the riffs come to life. These riffs mainly sound like Death riffs that should have stayed on the riff tape and off the album because they just didn't make the grade. There are a couple of interesting parts, some nice soft bits with ambient guitar work, and some nice solos, but overall, nothing to make this release stand out. Even if I stop comparing this CD to death (and I suppose comparing them is a bit unfair considering the super high quality of chuck's previous work), it still doesn't stand up all that well. Mediocre at best, sorry Chuck. But I do hope you get better soon, your talent is still needed in this reality.

• Empty Creature Single (1998, Single) Review pending until their full length album "Images of Despair" comes out next month.
• Images Of Despair (1998) A band from Chile that probably sounds more apt coming from Sweden. But ain't music universal anyways? Seriously, the debut album from the band, an independent release, so really, the album is a good quality demo. The music is a cross between standard death metal, Death inspired melodies, Meshuggah inspired rhythms, and some nice riffs. Vocals tend to be yelled, and could be a little more menacing (I believe). Drumming is good, even during the complex time signatures the band jumps to and from. The production is decent, a nice mix overall with good bass and treble, the band is tight, no question there, but needs a tiny bit more reverb to avoid being too dry. As far as songs, some good riffs, but feel they need a bit more glue to bind them together in a few places. But song writing maturity can only come with time and practice, and I think these guys have the elements to make even cooler and better music if given enough time and money to spend in the recording studio. So overall, a fine first effort, I can really only be picky in the details since all the major areas are taken care of, hopefully the CD will get them a record deal of some kind so they can hone their style and focus their creative energies a bit more to produce a really killer next album.
• Empty Creature EP (2000, EP) 3 songs off "Images of Despair" for promotional purposes.
• Genesis (2000, EP) A 6 song EP. Very good production this time with tons of bass and very tight riffs that gives the album a very mechanical/high tech sound. Music continues in the Meshuggah / Death vein. The first two songs are very Meshuggah, they sound like Fred Thordendal's solo album. The second song in particular incorporates a voice very similar to Jens, Fred's alarm guitar noise, and then a tapping riff incredibly similar to Death. Track 3 is where things start coming together, very powerful and complex rhythms mix well with spacy guitar solos, and some more death metal vein growling. Same with Track 4. Track 5 has some really nice tapping riffs, overtop some Jens type screaming (think Aztec two-step). Track 6 is this haunting piano / spacy guitar piece, real slow with lots of reverb, and works quite well. Overall, this is a really great EP, I think the band should stick with more death metal style vocals though to avoid direct comparisons between them and Meshuggah.
• Unorthodox Creative Criteria (2005) While still sounding Meshuggah like in spots, hell, Meshuggah doesn't sound like Meshuggah these days, so why not have another band fill in? Unlike say Devolved that accentuate the super mechanical chugging guitar stuff, this cd is a little more experimental with extra keyboards, samples, spacy solos, and even a saxophone or two. But never fear, still plenty of chunky odd time signature rhythms played in unison to abuse your ears with. Fantastic production, if I had any critique it would be the band may wish to focus a few of their songs more, but with the way the songs are structured currently the album seems almost more like a movie soundtrack, ambient noises, passages fade in and out, song structure remains almost freeform yet there are repeating themes. If they decided to make a Blade Runner 2 this may be the sort of thing you'd expect in the background. This is great music to play while working, don't expect any catchy in your face songs, just fantastic ambiance that sets a dark and futuristic mood. Definitely pick up the final edition with the 3 bonus tracks.
  

• Circle Of Fear (1993, Demo)
• Collapse (1995, Demo)
• Through Chaos And Disharmony (1998) Straight ahead death metal in an early Sepultura, early Napalm Death style. Lots of blast beats, tremolo picking, and screamed lyrics. The musicians are very talented, and manage to pull off some impressive material. The riffs I found to be a mixed bag, there are some really great riffs on this album, but there are also some weak riffs that are way too unoriginal. I won't speak about the production on the album until I have the final version in my hands (I got an early copy before the final mastering), so stayed tune for a more complete review. But if you're a fan of late 80's grind and death, take a close look at this band.

• Eye For An Eye (1984)
• Six Songs With Mike Singing (1985)
• Animosity (1986)
• Technocracy (1987)
• Blind (1991) A strong metal / hard rock release. The riffs are chunky and inventive, the songs are very well written, and there's lots of variety, from softer ballads to a very Metallica like crunch. Songs 3-6 really suck, but the rest of the album is pure genius.
• Deliverance (1994) Not nearly as good as their previous album. There are still a few good songs, but for the most part the riffs are unoriginal, and lack the metal edge that they used to have. And the production has gone down several notches.
• Wiseblood (1996)

• Neuthrone (2007) While their last 2 albums were straight ahead black metal, this album shows them incorporating elements of death metal and industrial to their music. The result is a combination of Myrkskog, The Amenta, and fellow polish band Hate. Speaking of Polish bands, the vocalist sounds a lot like Peter from Vader. Is there some rule that all Polish bands need to have a vocalist who sounds like him? Or is he secretly fronting like 10 bands? Ahem. Anyways, Crionics style centers around black metal inspired ambiance, with just a little more technicality (hence the death metal influence), and then lots of spacy industrial keyboards and samples overtop. The riffs are vicious, and the drumming is super fast and blasting with a very, very loud and precise triggered bassdrum sound. The songs are memorable, unique sounding and brutal. I hope the band continues to expand on this style on their future releases rather than going back to the slightly more standard black metal approach. Definitely the best material I've heard so far this month, I highly recommend picking up this album.

• Corporal Punishment (1992) Mediocre technical death metal with a few good riffs, but nothing terribly original or noteworthy.
• Undermine (1993) A shorter album, more rock oriented than the last album, but the double kicks are still speedin' along. They need more tempo changes though. An improvement, but still not spectacular.

• Ungentle Exhumation (1992, Demo) This is a remaster of their original demo, 4 songs. I can imagine if I'd heard this back in the day the thing that would run through my mind is "wow, that drummer is sick fast". Short and sweat, production is about as good as their first album. Three songs were later re-recorded for the first cd, the 4th is 'Back To The Worms' which was redone on "And Then You'll Beg", which is kinda fun to hear the original. Worth getting if it's a low price.
• Blasphemy Made Flesh (1994) Speed and brutality are what carries this album. Wait till you hear these blast beats, they're twice as fast as anything I've ever heard before. So fast that the snare hit sometimes gets obscured, but that's ok, I mean, the stick is hitting the skin so quickly that there isn't much time for the sound to be produced. At least you know it's a live person and not a machine doing it. The guitar and bass sound is sort of muddy, a wall of white noise hits you so hard it's tough to distinguish individual notes sometimes, but the anger in the sound makes up for it. Lots of original and memorable riffs. The vocals from Lord Worm are gargled, grunted and screamed. Good job.
• None So Vile (1995) The famous second album, out of print and impossible to find. But if you do find it, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Bassier production than Blasphemy, not as messy as Whisper. Great riffs, hands down fastest blastbeats in the world. Very technical music jumping from tremolo stuff to low chugging riffs, and complex scale based hooks. Pretty much everything that makes death metal great, all in one package, and fused with this vile energy that could shock a carcass back to life. Slightly unpolished in places sound wise, and although the band is tight, the riffs tend to rush in places, they are obviously not playing to a click track, but that gives the recording a certain "live" quality that is cool, and it maybe even helps the ferocity of the band, since it makes the music sound so out of control, like an attacking beast. Get this album.
• Whisper Supremacy (1998) More great death metal from my home town. Cool. The word for this album is intense. The production is very powerful, a really thick guitar and bass sound, clear drums, and standard shouted / growled vocals. A strong combination of low chugging and tremolo picking, the riffs can get a little confusing once in awhile due to too many frequencies hitting you at the same time, so the guitar clarity could have been a bit better, but overall, the sheer brutality carries you through. Lots of good quality riffs, lots of aggression, your ears will feel raped after listening to this. Blinding fast drum work (these blast beats are unbelievable). Overall a great album, a must buy for all death metal fans.
• And Then You'll Beg (2000) A pretty damn good combination of most of their previous work. Overall the sound is close to Whisper (especially with the same vocalist), but a few songs are a little simpler, more in the vein of "None So Vile", and a few are really technically complex, some might say in the vein of new Gorguts, but they keep jumping back and forth between simpler stuff and mind-bogglingly sickeningly complex riffs which keeps the audience on their toes (a few strange jazz inspired bits as well, but it all works). Fans of blasting, double kicks, it still doesn't get any faster then this, flo fucking rocks, and the rest of the band backs up that mastery with riff after riff after riff, this group is tight as hell while still maintaining that out of control live feeling. Some of the middle songs seemed a bit too chaotic at first listen, but as I listen to the album more, I really don't have anything bad to say, this is an excellent album all the way through. My two favorites are still the opener and the second track, 'We Bleed', which has a little of everything. Sound wise, great production, think their previous album, but with a few less frequencies hitting you directly in the face, which gives the instruments more definition. Everything you've come to expect from the band, this is a must buy.
• None So Live (2003, Live) Recorded in front of a hometown audience (Montreal in this case), this is basically what you'd tend to expect, 12 fast and furious songs from the band's more than impressive repertoire. The new vocalist does a decent job on the songs, both those originally vocalized by Lord Worm and those by Mike DiSalvo, although one issue I have with his interpretation is he goes for the middle ground instead of doing his own thing. As in, the gargling is not as extreme as Worm, the shouting is not as harsh as DiSalvo, by playing it down the center, his voice becomes sort of non-descript, nothing to write home about. I'll refrain from passing judgment until the new album where we get to hear him do some of his own material. Anyways, the sound is clear, possibly a little more bass would have been a good idea, the song choices are good touching on all 4 of their albums. Flo on drums is always nice, although a drum solo in the middle of the album is in my opinion not necessary, in death metal, every song is a drum solo. The band is tight, although some songs seem a bit rushed in spots. Sorry, this whole review seems to be horribly formulaic, "Statement A, although Statement B", you can see I'm of two minds on this album. Overall, if you're a fan of the band, it's a decent live album, but nothing mind blowing. The last words on the album are "au prochaine album" shouted to the crowd, which means "until the next album", and that's where the real excitement is, I'm psyched and ready.
• Trois-Rivieres Metalfest IV (Live DVD) Well, there we have it, the return of Lord Worm. And what better way to kick off his return than by playing the classic album "None So Vile" in it's entirety on their current tour, it's like starting off again where this incarnation of the band left off. And that's primarily what we have on this DVD (with 5 extra songs at the end, for a total of 69 minutes of footage). The result is pretty damn spectacular. First off, I had never seen Lord Worm perform live before, I'd only seen them with Mike DiSalvo. I can see why people like the Lord, it's sort of funny, it's like watching two completely separate bands, which I suppose is part of why their 3rd vocalist Martin LaCroix really didn't seem to fit, since he tried to mix the best of both worlds, when the only way to really make your mark is by being something very different, which he wasn't. Anyways, I love Mike, I liked his vocal style, I will always enjoy his 2 albums with the band, but Lord Worm certainly is a scary man and I love what he brings to the vocals. He's like no one else you're likely to see in metal. Instead of just being a tattooed guy acting angry on stage, he's damn right creepy. His vocals and movement are uncontrolled, he twitches and spasms as he shrieks and barks completely incomprehensible lyrics. He's wearing a buttoned up black dress shirt instead of the usual tshirt attire. It's like watching an escaped mental patient, this guy just gives you the impression that not all is right in his head, and that sort of unease and fear definitely helps his stage presence. And getting back to being your own man, when he does some of the DiSalvo songs, he doesn't do a DiSalvo impression, he does the songs as himself, which is cool. The sound on the DVD is professional, although not perfect. Same with the camerawork, in general there are plenty of cameras and the footage is clear (with some minor artifacting during the strobe light parts), but I wish they'd had more than just a single stationary camera on Flo from behind. Still, they spend their time pretty evenly amongst all the performers, and switch at the right time (like, when there's a guitar solo, they generally switch to the guitar camera). The playing is excellent, the neat thing about the band is how tight they are without sounding polished. There are plenty of small mistakes, and their tempo changes pretty frequently in an organic fashion, but when they cut off a note, the whole band is together as one. Daniel Mongrain from Martyr is on guitar for this show, he's a little too wacky for my tastes, like sticking his tongue out and doing the devil horns. Also expect all french dialogue between songs, not that you really need to know what they're saying anyways (and a substantial amount of their fans know french anyways). You may have noticed I really haven't spoken about Flo much, that's just because I was saving him for last. Unlike the drum solo on their live CD which I thought was pretty useless, seeing the drum solo vs hearing it makes all the difference. This man does things on drums that I just can't explain in terms of speed and dexterity. I mean, Holy Fuck, I can't wait to hear the stuff he comes up with for their new album. He is simply one of the best drummers in death metal of all time. So, to wrap up, don't bother getting their "None So Live" cd, pick this up instead, highly highly recommended.
• Once Was Not (2005) A brilliant album marred by bad production, that would be my review in a nut shell. First off, where's the bass on this album? (Both in the lack of an actual bass guitar in the mix, and the lack of lowend omph that makes my bowels hop) I mean, I guess there's some sort of lowend if I turn the megabass up on my walkman to 100%, but on a decent stereo with a powerful subwoofer you really don't hear much beyond a nasally guitar sound. And the guitar sound is pretty thin, while there's obviously some overdubbing the big thick sound from the band's previous albums are nowhere to be found, and the guitar sounds a bit sloppy, like this is a demo instead of a tight polished performance. Perhaps Jon Levasseur (guitar) leaving the band before the recording had some affect on the guitar and bass sound, or maybe it's the new producer, but either way the guitar / bass on this recording just doesn't seem to be a priority. Ok, after the downsides, lets get to the good stuff. First off, spectacular drumming from Flo, this guy combines crazy speed with unbelievable complexity while remaining musical, and his blasts in "Carrionshine" are certainly the loudest and fastest blasts to ever hear the light of day on CD.  Next standout feature is Lord Worm, while I did enjoy Mike DiSalvo's vocals a lot, Lord Worm certainly does a great job on this album and shows why he was a fan favorite. His best attribute is his unpredictability, no monotony here as he screams, gargles, does spoken word, you never know exactly what he's going to do, and his delivery is about as chaotic as the music he's singing over, yet somehow it all holds together. Finally, the songs have some really neat beats and riffs, as well as some really well used samples / keyboards. Within a few listens, each song has it's own identity instead of blending all together, and with a few more listens you'll probably be convinced as I am that this album is one of the most unique and refreshing death metal albums to come around in a long time. This is classic Cryptopsy writing all the way. If only the guitar / bass sound lived up to the rest of the performance, this may have been a contender for album of the year, but with such bad production I'm afraid that despite all it's good qualities, I'll leave each listen with a little sadness at what could have been. Well worth buying, but a little tweaking could have made it so much better.
• The Unspoken King (2008) Not since Metallica's "Load" have I seen such a violently negative reaction to a new album, months before it even gets released. With the second departure of Lord Worm, the band decides to get another new vocalist, except this time, along with the usual growling, he sings? Then they add a keyboard into the mix? Then the skeptical fans got an advanced preview of one of the songs, and the net was ablaze with shouting, insults, furious anger, the digital equivalent of pitchforks and torches. Cryptopsy's drummer Flo decides to enter into the fray, trying to justify the changes, and saying those who don't accept the changes are narrow minded. So here the album finally arrives, and I feel as though I know so much about it already I could probably write a review without even hearing it. But that wouldn't be fair, you can't judge a book by its cover, and I certainly am not going to pan an album before listening to it all the way through. The album starts strong, the first 3 tracks show off the angry vocal stylings of Matt McGachy, he basically sounds like Mike Disalvo except a little more screamy. So far I'm digging it, the opening track 'Worship Your Demons' is short but brutally fast. The drumming is complex, the guitar parts are a big improvement over their last album, and the album is mixed way better, I can finally hear something other than the drums. The album has power, lots of great riffs, this is a great....ooo, wait. What's this in track 4? Here's where the singing begins. I will not go as far to say singing COULDN'T work with Cryptopsy, I don't think it would, but you learn to never say never. However, I can say definitively that THIS singing does not work. We're not talking about good singing, like maybe Devin Townsend or someone (although I don't see Devin's voice going along with this sort of music), Matt's singing voice is horrible, it's offkey and really thin. And it doesn't go along with the songs at all. And sadly, just about every other track on the album has his singing vocals. Even the cool brutal parts become difficult to listen to, because every moment you're afraid you're gonna hear the singing come back, and it doesn't disappoint, tons and tons of those bad vocals. Ikk! As far as keyboards, I think I hear them in a few songs, really softly, but overall they don't show up much, seems kinda silly to even include a keyboardist in the band if they're gonna sit out for almost all the songs. While there are a few riffs here and there that are cool, there's way too much singing, and things get way too experimental and unfocused as the album goes on. Sorry Flo, I don't consider myself a close minded guy at all, but I know what I like and what I don't, and after giving this album what I would consider a fair shake, I just don't like it. I say buy the first 3 songs on itunes, and forget about the rest. Very disappointing, hopefully next album they either get another new singer, or just make sure this guy stays with the brutal vocals.