DAATH:

• The Hinderers (2007) A hybrid of technical death metal, symphonic metal, and black metal with a bunch of crazy solos thrown into the mix. The combination sounds cool, but overall I think the results are a little bland and disjointed. First, if you know Bloodbath, you know what to expect from the death metal portion of the CD, midpaced material that has some faster bits, but not too much in the blasting / doublebass department. Lots of keyboards on this album, and overall, I think that's the part I dig the least. Stuff that should sound symphonic and grand instead come off as mid-80s videogame music. I applaud the experimentation, but the samples just strike me as too primitive. And the "rave" style samples just do not work with the otherwise aggressive mood of the album. Vocal wise, midpaced growls. And there's a lot of guitar solos in this album, some really nice work actually, a few of the solos are really well written. Some songs are cool, but many lack energy, and a lot of these riffs leave you that feeling of deja-vu. Production is excellent, thanks to James Murphy, who also does a cool guest guitar solo later in the album. I picked up this album for 2 reasons. First, I liked the first single that showed up on MTV, 'Subterfuge'. However, that song is by far the best song on this CD. And second, Kevin Talley is on drums, and I'm a fan of his work with Dying Fetus and Chimaira. But then it appears that he only plays on 2 tracks (even though he's now their permanent drummer), so that's not much of an incentive. This falls into the try before you buy category, I can see some people really liking this album, but to me it felt some some cool elements that never successfully gelled.

DAM:

• Come To Dust (2001, Demo) Three song demo similar in style to "City Of Envy", but production wise a little more high end and not as muffled. Mind you, I'm listening to the 2003 remastered version, not the original, so the better production makes sense, since it occurred after 2002. Still not 100% to a professional recording level, but on the way.
  
• City Of Envy (2002, Demo) Dam shows off three new songs on the "City Of Envy" demo, which is a good cross between black and death metal. Strummed chords (black metal) are interspersed with more chunkier bits (death metal), and some more technical melodic guitar work (ala Death, the band that is). Vocals are generally screamed, with a few spoken word parts between. Drums wise, reasonably complex stuff, not over the top technicality, but blasts and double bass mixed with the occasional complex fill. Song wise, these guys have something good going on. They have a good sense of how to build intensity with the right combination of riffs, groove and aggression. The music really seems to start somewhere, go somewhere and end somewhere, as opposed to being so crazy intense it always remains just somewhere, and overwhelms the listener with chaos. Production wise, it's bass heavy and a little muffled, but fine for a demo. You can sort of listen to the music and imagine it with stellar production, and the result sounds killer. Can't wait for their first album.
• Purity: The Darwinian Paradox (2005) All of what the demos promised and more. With their debut, Dam's special blend of black and death metal is finally readily available to the masses. And I hope they eat it up, because not only is this great material, but the band already has a pretty unique vibe. Imagine that, originality! A band should be rewarded for such daring! While you can hear bits of Death, Carcass (they end the album with a cover of Carcass' 'Forensic Clinicism/The Sanguine Article'), and certainly any number of black metal influences, the result is ends up being way more than the sum of its parts. Vocals are somewhat processed, hoarse shouts, like the singer's being slowly strangled for the duration of the cd. Guitar / basswise, a thick wall of sound, slightly muffled but large and powerful. Drumming varies from blasting to midpaced technical work, not as complex as say Death's later albums, but certainly interesting and unconventional. The songs flow really well, not a random collection of riffs, obviously a lot of thought has been put into the song structures. My only complaint is that the production quality shifts a bit from track to track, one having a little too much treble, another a bit too much bass, but the good songs and strong performance make you quickly forget about it. A great first step, I can't wait to hear how the band evolves considering the strong start.
• The Difference Engine (2007) Not as good as their first album, but still decent. The main issue I have is with how the album begins and ends. The first 3 songs are kinda boring. They're definitely more black metal oriented, are are generally the same note droning on and on with very little technicality or variation. And it's really easy to anticipate the chord progression of the riffs. The album ends with an instrumental called 'New Quest' that is too similar sounding to material on the rest of the album, and then a slower song that doesn't seem to ever get intense. Thankfully, the album really starts with Track4, 'Mirror-Image Ritual', which is far more complex, and has some more melodic bits similar to Death or the arpeggiated bits from Carcass. Then track 5, 'Made Of Beasts', is just fast and blasting with lots of energy. Tracks 6 and 7 are just as intense and cool sounding. So I guess what I'm saying is you get half of a really good album, and the rest just doesn't excite me. Still worth buying, but you may find yourself listening to the middle of the album only.
  

DAMAGEPLAN:

• New Found Power (2004) The Abbott brothers are back (Darrell on guitar and Vinnie Paul on drums that is), Pantera is a long gone memory (RIP), and their newest band is ready for action. The result is a rather uneven cd with a few good tracks and some so-so material. I have to admit I wasn't terribly excited after track 1, which is a very simple mid paced song that doesn't really seem to go anywhere musically. Track 2 reminds me of newer Sepultura, again, nothing too special. Track 3 'New Found Power' is where the album finally starts picking up with some real intensity with a nice double bass drum lick and a song that actually builds in intensity. Track 5, 'Fuck You', could totally be a pantera song in the spirit of 'Fucking Hostile', with screams, squawks, unmistakable Darrell solos, ultra low guitars and vocals that sound a lot like Phil Anselmo. The rest is a mixed bag, some good songs, some that I skip when they start. The production is excellent of course, no issues there. In general, expect something that sounds sort of like Pantera, with a little Alice In Chains mixed in the vocals sometimes, and some more straight ahead rock stuff. Is it a good album? I'd give it a B, it has some cool stuff, but the band is definitely trying to refine their style. If they focus a bit more on their next album and avoid the rocking stuff, they may have something here.
  

DARK ANGEL:

• We Have Arrived (1985)
• Darkness Descends (1986) The similarities to Slayer are striking (but why not, after all, the young Gene Hoglan on this CD got his start by holding Dave Lombardo's bass drum in place during studio sessions). Lots of riffs, good songs, yelled vocals with the occasion glam rock high note, good double bass drum work. The production is good, a little sloppy, but passable for the time. The recent Century Media reissue of the CD includes 3 bonus live tracks, where they perform live version of three of the songs off the album. Considered by many as a milestone in the genre, I don't know if I'd go that far, but a good album to have in any metal heads collection.
• Leave Scars (1989)
• LIVE Scars (1990, Live) Decent quality live album of the legendary thrash/speed metal band. What can I say, they sound like Slayer (well, didn't all speed metal bands of the day sound like that?) except dare I say they're playing even faster? Probably due to drum god Gene Hoglan on drums. Yes, this is the band where Gene started his slow but sure domination of the earth. Good riffs with lots of downpicking and single note fills harmonized up a fifth. Reasonable production for a live album, but it can get sort of muddy sometimes.
• Time Does Not Heal (1991) The Slayer influences are finally gone. And what's left is one hell of a good album. Complex riffs, memorable riffs, lots of quick spurts of double kicks. Excellent production. High, high quality thrash. The vocals sound too whiny though, but it doesn't detract too much from the excellent song writing and excellent sound. The band truly matures on this their last release, I'm listening to it for the first time in 1999 and I still think it's impressive. If you've always wanted to check out the legendary band but didn't know where to start, get this CD.
• Decade Of Chaos (1992, Bestof)

• Calling The Earth To Witness (2007) One part Dream Theater (especially the "Images And Words" era), one part Yngwie Malmsteen (for the general vocal style and some of the guitar and keyboard solos), with just a touch of Meshuggah and maybe a dash of Anacrusis, Darkwater may not be the most immediately original band out there, but the resulting influence mix makes for some fantastic melodic prog metal. Guitarwise, there's plenty to love, lots of super heavy and tight odd time signature start and stop rhythms, with some atmospheric keyboards overtop. Drumming is complex but not so complex as to become distracting. The songwriting is fantastic on this album, the riffs will stick in your head after only a single listen. The songs are long too, in the prog tradition, many of which pass the 10 minute mark. The production on this recording is also fantastic, the sound is thick but crystal clear. My only pause is the vocal production, I got the chance to see this band live a few days ago, and Henrik's vocals were really powerful. Many people when they sing high, their voice gets thin and a little shrieky. In contrast, Henrik seems to effortlessly hit the higher notes with incredible power. But the vocals captured on this album are just missing some of the bite they had live, it may be a mixing problem, or maybe his voice has gotten better in the last year since the album was recorded. Regardless, I hope they spend a little more time on their next album getting the vocal quality perfect, I know he can do it live, now it's just a matter of getting it recorded the right way. Anyways, the style may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like bands like Dream Theater, I have to admit I really liked this album, and I highly recommend picking it up, it's just got great great songs, and the perfect mix of heavy and melody.
  

• Cold I Am (1998, Demo) 3 song demo, somewhere between death metal and thrash comes Dauntless. The first song is pretty catchy although riff wise pretty simple. The second song is much stronger song that has a good groove in the verse section with a very vague Megadeth feel to it, but sounds pretty original otherwise. Song 3 is a fast one, good way to end. Recording quality wise, it's a demo, so don't expect perfection, it's sorta muffled but not horribly so.
• InhumanKind (1999, Demo) 5 song demo. Plenty of good thrashy riffs with the occasional blasting, and death metal style vocals. A definitely improvement in song writing from the first album, as well as much better production (only ever so slightly muffled)
  
• Modern Ways Of Discipline (2002, Demo) Here we go. Track 1, after a short sound clip, starts with a vicious guitar riff that sets the pace for this great EP. Plenty of good riffs and hooks make these songs the best the band has produced so far. A good mix of Testament, Death, old Metallica and some more standard death metal influences. The tunes are a little more focused and intense too. Productionwise, again, another big step up. The guitar has this nice crunchy tone that's razor sharp on top, and on the bottom a nice thump when they palmmute. Would someone sign these guys already?
• Ruins MMIV (2004, Demo) Much in the same vein as their last demo, but this time they have absolute picture perfect studio quality production. 3 short songs, but they pack quite a punch, and can stand up beside any of the modern thrash acts like The Haunted. Why they are still not signed is beyond me. Go here to listen to the demo in mp3 format.
• Execute the Fact (2007) Highly impressive album. For those of you who've heard the band's demos, many of these songs are re-recordings, but it's great to finally get an official CD out of the group. Mixing elements of thrash and death metal, Dauntless produce some really killer songs with killer riffs. Production wise, this album is excellent, the guitars have a big sound without getting mushy, the mix is clear and punchy. Maybe a tad too much reverb, but hey, that's their style. Many memorable songs, nice drumming that's fast and hard hitting without being overly fancy, angry shouted vocals in a slightly more death metal type vein (and some crowd shouting in the vein of early Meshuggah). Fans of the heavier parts of The Haunted or Koldborn, or any of the more extreme speed metal/thrash acts like Slayer will really enjoy this album. While thrash as a genre is considered by many as dead or passé, this band really breathes new life into the style in a serious way. This album is a little hard to get if you're not in Europe, but it's totally worth the trouble tracking down a copy.

• Demo #1 (1992, Demo)
• Apparition (1992, Demo)
• Promotional Demo (1993, Demo)
• The Eternal Forest (1993, Split CD) First off, a little background, I had recorded "The Eternal Forest" EP off the radio many years back, but didn't know the album name at the time. Later when I tried to find the band, the band I found was a black metal band (the stuff I had was most certainly death metal), it was only later I found out that the band had originally been a death metal band before going black metal with the release of their first official album "Nær Solen Gar Nider For Evogher". So anyways, "The Eternal Forest" is 4 tracks of low, wall-of-sound death metal. There's a lot of reverb going on here, but instead of making the production sound weak, it gives it this huge plains-of-battle feel, ala Bolt Thrower (without really sounding like Bolt Thrower). The thing that really sets this EP apart is it's great songs. And plus, I've always found the chorus to "Thirst Of The Dead" highly creepy. Fans of midpaced death metal like Bolt Thrower or Benediction may wish to check this EP out.
  
• Nær Solen Gar Nider For Evogher (1994)
  
• Sorgh på Svarte Vingar Fløgh (1996, EP)
  
• Slaughtersun (Crown Of The Triarchy) (1998) 
• Slaughtersun (Crown Of The Triarchy) 2 CD Set (2004) 2 CD set which includes their album "Slaughtersun: Crown Of The Triarchy", "The Eternal Forest" split CD, "Naer Solen Gar Niber For Evogher", and their "Sorgh Pa Svarte Vingar Flogh" EP. A good way to get a copy of their "The Eternal Forest" split CD, or if you're a fan of black metal, a good way to listen to any of their other 3 albums contained in this set.

One of the finest bands in the genre, the band has been held together by guitar player/singer/leading man Chuck Schuldiner who has a style all his own.

• Scream Bloody Gore (1987) It's difficult when you hear an album like this for the first time in the late 90s. Simply because it sounds unoriginal. But then you realize that these guys were doing this long before anyone else did, if anything the music you've already heard is unoriginal compared to this. But as it stands now, a classic album, but nothing super spectacular. Good production, standard drumming, some nice riffs, but a lot of filler as well. Chuck's evil screams. I'm sure in '87 this would have blown me away.
• Leprosy (1988) Sounds similar to most other thrash albums of the time, lots of boom-chick drumming, decent riffs, and good production (quite well mixed considering the time, although Chuck's signature guitar sound isn't there yet). A few glimpses of the experimental and melodic elements that would make this band so great.
• Spiritual Healing (1990) Similar to their last album (same guitar tone, same so-so drumming from the same drummer), but a few more melodic interludes with strange single note harmonies, the riffs are starting to sound more like the Death we came to know and love. Still not the most original, but it sets the stage for their next album, which is a masterpiece. Some nice soloing by Chuck and guitar great James Murphy.
• Human (1991) This is one hell of a good album. The riffs are amazing, just when you think that you're listening to the best riff and they can't possibly write a better one, the next section of the song is even better. Very technical, with more bass than on "Individual". A much more inventive drummer now graces the band, and he's fast too. Arguably their best album.
• Fate (1992, Best Of) No review. Buy this if you want to try out the band, otherwise, get all their other albums.
• Individual Thought Patterns (1993) While the mix is very soft, the riffs are definitely well played, and very technical. The doubles are also completely insane (what else can one expect from Gene Hoglan).
• Symbolic (1995) This is a great album. A really great combination of aggression and melodic riffs. Great song writing, great solos, Gene on drums. Nuff said.
• The Sound of Perseverance (1998) After a false attempt at starting a new band (Control Denied), Chuck is up to his old tricks again. But he somehow manages to keep everything fresh with this new release. Great riffs, experimental riffs, great riffs, some very inventive solos, and his usual mix of high note single picking and low chugging. Did I mention great riffs? The kind of riffs where you just say "cool". Chuck's voice is more shrill on this album than on previous releases, more angry and fierce. And the drums are exactly what you'd expect on a death record, exceptionally complex cymbal work, and fast, pounding double bass. This album showcases everything that makes Death an innovator, and turns it up a notch. Excellent song writing. I am very impressed with this album, all Death fans, take a listen.
• Live In L.A. (Death & Raw) (2001, LiveCD) A pretty decent bootleg. The song set is great, a really good mix of stuff, and chuck's voice is as scary as ever. Unfortunately, the mix on this album ain't all that great, you can barely hear the bassdrums, in fact the drums altogether sound very thin. The bass is ok, but needed to be brought up a few notches (Chuck's music is already treble heavy, so a good strong bass is vital to retain definition). Also, there are several goofs, notes slightly out of tune which detract from the performance. Probably not the best concert to release, hopefully when chuck gets better he'll do another death tour and they can get a better recording done.
• Live In L.A. (Death & Raw) (2001, LiveDVD) See my review of the CD above, same issues. Visually, the performance is fun, the stage antics remind me more of an 80s metal act than a modern death metal troop, but Chuck definitely has presence on stage, that voice, fuck, it must cut through steel. You also forget sometimes how complex this music must be to play, especially for the drummer, until you see it happening. Video quality wise, I'd probably label it a really good bootleg, with multiple camera angles, but they don't move too much.
• Live In Eindhoven (2001, DVD) Ok, here's the live death album that does credit to the band. Very slick package, this is the band playing the dynamo open air festival, multiple cameras, excellent video quality, the cameramen usually switch to the right person at the right time, although the drummer really doesn't get featured much till the end of the DVD. The music is right from the soundboard and is mixed great with plenty of bass and it's all very clear. Right up there production-wise with the best live albums I've heard. The only real downside is it's only 11 songs, a good variety in there but still so many great songs end up getting left out. Otherwise a must buy for fans of the band, I believe it's only available through mailorder from Nuclear Blast, so go bug them for it.
• Live In Eindhoven (2001, Live) See my review for the DVD, this is the CD soundtrack, basically identical to the DVD except no video.
• Symbolic The Expanded Edition (2008, Reissue) Death's spectacular album "Symbolic" remastered and with bonus tracks. First, the remastering is very minor, so don't expect a night and day change to the mix (and anyways, the original recording sounds great). The bonus tracks include 4 pre production demos from the album, so they're all instrumental, with a few song structure changes, a few alternate solo takes, etc. The sound is decent on the demos, but there is some tape warble and sound dropping out every once in awhile. The album ends with a very rough 4 track demo which includes vocals and a very simple drum machine track. If you already own the album, the demos are definitely cool, although perhaps not vital. If you don't own the album, pick this up ASAP.
  

• Death Machine (2003) Labeled as "perfect for Meshuggah and Soilwork fans", and I can't really argue with that, although a more apt description may be that this is the new Anacrusis for the 21st century (think "Whispers and Screams"). We're talking about a lot of guitars layered on top of one another (and a distorted bass) with lots of reverb, but not the kind of reverb that makes the sound weak or far away, this sound is very very in your face. Riff wise, songs are mostly comprised of Meshuggah style off-time riffs that tend to repeat again and again in a droning fashion. The simplicity of the songs aren't a real detractor though, since they spice up these passages with keyboard / acoustic guitar / piano / symphonic bridges that helps break the music up a bit, the contrast helps keep the intense parts intense. Vocals are primarily screamed. This was an impulse buy, not knowing anything about the band beyond what I saw on the package, and have to admit I'm pretty impressed, and will seek out more of their material in the future.

• Utopia In The Eyes Of A Beast (2003) Another low, gargly band in the vein of Malignancy, Fleshgrind or Dying Fetus. The band is a little slower than say the new Lust Of Decay I recently reviewed with some slower chunkier parts. Production is again, sort of muffled with tons of bottom end. Gurgled vocals, tremolo picking, squawks, fast and complex drums. The band is a little more into solid riffs than just throwing notes out there which is cool. Still though, the band does need a little something extra if it hopes to stand out in the crowd, whether that be better production or some more variety to the songs. Certainly well above average, but with so many releases like this coming out these days...
  

• The First Damned (2000, EP) The first 7 tracks are from their "Eye Of Horus" demo in 1998, many songs appear on their later studio albums. But you know, for a demo, wow, this has pretty nice production. Hell, it's better than Morbid Angel's "Heretic" album which I recent reviewed. All the instruments are nice and clear, razor sharp, tight guitar tone, plenty of bass, if I had to describe the mix, I'd say all the elements are fine, they just don't 100% gel together as they do in their later studio albums, it's like a cake whose ingredients haven't been blended yet. Then 4 tracks from their 97 demo "Cemeteral Gardens", which also has great production for a demo, a little more bass and a little less treble than their later demo. The two live tracks that end, other than the extra reverb on the vocals, sound like they could be studio recordings, hence they don't feel very live, although they are nicely produced. I don't know, just about all these songs exist on their later albums in a better form, so this isn't a must-buy, probably only for people who must own everything from the band.
  
• Winds Of Creation (2000) This shit grabs ahold of you pretty much right off the bat after the first 20 seconds or so. First off, the production quality is fantastic, while it can get slightly messy when all the guitars start going at the same time, you get a nice razor sharp high end along with plenty of bass. The drums are very triggered, which helps the kicks cut through the wall of sound (damn those things are fast). The band definitely likes choking their sound, this stuff is very technical while remaining very moshable. Fast solos, these guys have definitely practiced their scales. In many ways, the album reminds me of Sinister's "Aggressive Measures", not that this is a clone band or anything, but it has the same level of technicality, with great songs, tremolo-picked-tight-as-fuck riffs, and a similar mix of blasting and double bass. Considering that Sinister album was one of my favorite albums, you can tell I'm really digging this release. Also includes a cover of Slayer's 'Mandatory Suicide'. Fans of technical death metal should definitely check this out.
• Nihility (2001) Similar in style to "Winds", although the production has slightly less bass, so the sound is a little higher pitched. Doesn't detract too much from the songs, helps with the clarity a bit actually. Song wise, plenty of good stuff here, sorta Sinister meets Vader. Very complex double bass stuff here, I don't know how he does it, a lot of jumping between triplets then 32nd notes without missing a single kick. I'd guess it was a drum machine in some spots, except it does appear to be a real drummer doing the deed. Overall, I think I liked "Winds" a bit better, it was slightly more raw which gave it a more angry vibe, but this release is still great, just in a more refined kind of way.
• The Negation (2003) After hearing the first track a few months ahead of time, I was really excited about this new cd. However, after listening to the whole cd, I was slightly disappointed, because I felt the songs were all too similar to each other without much variation. But slowly after a few replays and actually listening to the music instead of just having it on while I was playing on the computer, I came to realize that despite the lack of originality, these songs kick some serious ass. All the old elements are here, kick ass production, really fast drumming, very very tight tremolo picking. The songs are a little simpler and more striped down, not quite as many "holy shit I've never heard something like that before" riffs, but again, after a few listens, it didn't bug me anymore, this is one solid, solid piece of cake. Maybe next time they could add a little more icing, but otherwise, one of the best death metal albums this year so far.
• Organic Hallucinosis (2006) A little closer to their "Winds Of Creation" or "Nihility" albums with the variety and complexity to the songs, but with the kickass production of "The Negation". All the stuff you'd expect, superfast blasts and double bass, razor sharp guitars, precise riffs and great songs. New vocalist Covan does a good job, but I preferred Sauron, Covan's voice is a bit too hoarse, where Sauron had more body to his voice. The drumming is particularly spectacular on the closing track 'Invisible Control', Witek shows amazing control, speed and evenness on the doublebass. But really every track is pretty damn spectacular. Maybe the best album yet for the group, if you're a technical death metal fan, you need to own this album.
• Winds Of Creation + Live DVD (2007) Reissue of their first album with a bonus 45 minute live DVD. The show is from Nottingham, UK from Dec 20th 2004, so it's just before they swapped vocalists. The video is mostly handheld, but the picture quality is great, the camera switches at a good pace, and there's a good number of  cameras to choose from. My only complaint is they rarely get good shots of the drummer (the stage is kinda small, so they don't have a lot of space to work in). The performance is good, there's a few small flubs here and there, but it doesn't really detract too much from the show, and they're mostly at the beginning of the night when they're warming up. The soloing is particularly precise and clear, especially since there's no second guitar to be heard over. The sound is excellent, obviously a sound board recording. And they play just about all my favorite songs from the era (first 3 albums), including an excellent rendition of 'Winds Of Creation' and 'Nihility'. I'd recommend tossing your original copy of this album and buying the one with the bonus DVD instead.
• Human's Dust (2008, DVD) First full length DVD for the band. The first thing you need to know is that most of these shows are old, the primary show was back from 2002 when they only had 2 albums out. That show (from Krakow in Oct 2002) has excellent sound (a single guitar makes the sound a lot cleaner, especially during solos), and the camera angles are great, but is ruined by fast camera switching, making it virtually impossible to watch the show. The set is rather short, only 8 songs. Going into the bonus material, you find 2 other shows, a 3 song show again from 2002 which is not as polished from a production perspective, but the camera switching is far slower which makes for a much more enjoyable experience. Then one 6 song show from 2004, which includes material from their 3rd album, which is probably my favorite show of the bunch. The sound is a little muddy and far away sadly (although the addition of the second guitar still doesn't interfere with a clear solos sound), but the cameras switch at a nice pace, and they play a lot of great songs from "The Negation", which is one of my more favorite albums of the band. Also in the bonus section is 3 long interviews with the band (In Polish with english subtitles), including one with drummer Vitek back in 2002. This DVD is generally ok, but the band has yet to produce a DVD with footage after 2004. I'd still recommend picking up this DVD, anything to support the band. Taking into considering the tragic death of Vitek, I would hope buying the DVD will help his family out financially even if only a little, but I still feel like the best DVD is yet to come when they finally release footage of songs from their 4th ground-breaking album.
  

• The Lament Configuration (2002) Earache actually releasing some heavy music again? Apparently, this 4 piece from Reno Nevada are certainly angry folk. The first thing that struck me is the band sounds like Punchdrunk or Subversion. Then I looked at the credits, Devin Townsend was the producer, doh! Devin does a great job producing, but when I listen to a cd by a band, I prefer to just hear good production, as opposed to production that obviously came from a specific producer. Anyways, despite that nit, overall a really good album. Sound style it's got a lot of highend which can get kinda nasally sometimes, but good bass keeps it all together (absolutely 0 mids), plenty of overdubs and reverb in the standard Devin style. The vocalist does mid range stuff, high pitch screams, etc. Plenty of anguish. Riff wise lots of memorable stuff, generally chunkier stuff and fast picking, minimal tremolo stuff. These guys are good at writing distinct songs that hold together tightly as opposed to just a barrage of riffs that sorta work together. Check it out if you like more song oriented chunkier death/hardcore type stuff.
• Praying Hoping Nothing (2003) So now, is this a previous album from the band? Or some sort of rare / demo cd? I open the cd case and check out the 2 page explanation / history lesson, and I'm still not sure. All I know is that most of this material was made in 98 and here we have it now. And it's pretty damn good, I know that too. The first thing I found funny was that the sound and vibe of the CD sounds very similar to the stuff off the Grrr compilation, a compilation of bands done by Devin Townsend. Devin was also the producer on the new December record. So it seems that before the band even met Devin, the sound they were getting was already pretty similar to the stuff Devin does, which is sort of cool, probably explains why they got him. Since all the songs weren't recorded at the same time, a few sound a bit different production wise, but it's all still good, plenty clear and intense. If you're into the band, you'll be into this cd, plenty of good riffs, angry screaming and moshable parts. Eleven original tracks, the album ends with 3 covers by Death Angel, Skunk Anansie and Motorhead.
  

• ...And Time Begins (2003) Very well done death metal, but with little in the ways of originality. The band has a lot of good stuff going for it, good production, Tim Yeung on drums (you may remember him from the first Hate Eternal album, very fast and accurate drummer), but I swear I've listened to this album 3 times through now and still can't remember a single riff on this album. Not a one. Nada. I have this vague sense of having just listened to something cool, but nothing here stands out enough to grab hold of my psyche. The album sounds a little like the new Disgorge, fast riffs consisting mainly of alternate picking and tremolo picking, the riff seems to change every few bars to something totally new, the drumming is pretty damn complex compared to Tim's work on Hate Eternal, still very very fast. Low but not too low vocals. I so want to recommend this album, and yet I just can't, music is more than a lot of notes put together and performed by technically proficient people, it's about feeling, it's about memorable themes, it's about the songs, and that unfortunately is the one and only thing lacking on this album. Ok, I'll recommend the album for the sheer brutality, but the band will need soul to get high marks in my book.
• Diminishing Between Worlds (2008) Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. I gave the band's last album shit for being a little too generic. Despite that critique, I must admit in the years since, the album has made it into my daily rotation a number of times, maybe because I was drawn to the pure brutality of the album, or maybe because I had this feeling that I was missing some small nuggets of brilliance mixed in with the unending pounding. So here comes their follow-up, and it's almost like the band read my last review. In an attempt to add more variety, this album is the same general style, but every song is filled (and I do mean filled) with solos, sort of a cross between Death's harmonized solos and bach-n-roll neoclassical riffs. It's basically a whole new band I'm reviewing here. I still feel like the results are somewhat mixed though. The solos add variety, and are performed with astounding skill and speed, but they lack the catchiness of the Death material. And at the end of the album, again, nothing specific stands out. Otherwise, tons of doublebass, blasting, lowish growling and super complex single-note picking. The album feels faster than their last, which is silly considering how fast their last album was, but it's a noticeable difference. The mix is a little more treble oriented this time compared to their last album, but not in a bad way. Considering how their last album ended up growing on me, I'm gonna guess this one may grow on me as well over the years. I'll give it a "worth checking out" stamp, their myspace page has a LOT of song samples, so I recommend visiting the site and deciding for yourself if it's gonna be your cup of tea. If you're a huge fan of over-the-top technical guitar solos, this will probably satisfy, I guess I'd just like the songs to be a little less jumbled and a little more memorable.
  

• Gradually Melted (1995, Demo) A very good quality demo, very clear, crisp sound with ample bottom and top end. Standard death metal with lots of blast beats and growling. The songs change riffs and tempos so frequently you have to wonder about the attention span on these guys. Not very original, but well done.
• Trading Pieces (1996) Nothing innovative, just straight ahead low grinding music, in a similar vein to Internal Bleeding. Very low, incomprehensible vocals, decent production and tons of bass add to this thick album. Worth checking out.
• Inbreeding The Anthropophagi (1998) This album grabs your throat and just won't let go. Similar to the last album, but better production. Lots of bass, grinding riffs, squawks, low vocals, high pitched screams and blast beats. Pretty decent song writing help keep it from sounding like a mess, although at times the riffs seem to blend together. It's the intensity of the performance that really shines though, I haven't heard such brutality since Infernal Torment's first album.
• Path Of The Weakening (1999) Similar in style and execution to their last CD (with ever so slightly thinner production). I think they tried writing songs that were a little simpler and catchier, but there are still plenty of areas where the band switches from riff to riff and time signature to time signature with no sense of modesty. Good performance, still a little muddled as far as the song structure goes, however I guess I just have to attribute that to their "style". Above average death metal, people looking for vast originality, look elsewhere.
• Mark of the Legion (2001) I have to admit enjoying this CD more than previous releases, even though stylistically it's the same stuff. The production is very thick, without a lot of highend, but overall I like it (think Napalm Death's "Fear, Emptiness, Despair"). The songs are as usual a different riff and beat every single bar, but the over-complicated nature of the music works pretty well here, it's so over the top it becomes sorta fun. And while the riffs don't follow any sort of repeatable pattern, there's a lot of decent material in here, as well as strong drumming from Mike Hamilton who just keeps the pace going the full album, not to mention smooth transitions every few bars from blasts to fills to double kicks. I don't know, if you haven't been into their previous albums, you might want to give this one a try.
• Reduced To Ashes (2003) Building on the momentum generated by their last album, "Ashes" stays pretty true to the formula and delivers another 45 minutes of  good quality material. Like "Legion", the songs do switch a bunch, but more coherent song structures help keep the songs songs, and not just collections of random riffs, which was my main gripe with their first 3 albums. I think my only beef with this album compared to the last one is the sound lost a little low end and gained a little high end, which means the production isn't quite as thick. But otherwise, this is a great album, not quite as good as "Legion", but still plenty of great stuff to listen to.
• Crown Of Souls (2005) No surprises here, I mean, we don't buy a Deeds Of Flesh cd because we expect something revolutionary, right? We buy it because we want the dependability the band offers, something fast, structurally complex, low, chunky and brutal. And in that respect, this cd delivers. First, the production is far better than their last album, the bass has returned (I felt "Reduce To Ashes" was too nasally). Second, the songs are great, much closer to the material off of "Mark of the Legion", which is certainly their best album, and which over the years has become my favorite cd of the pseudo-genre that the Unique Leader bands have formed. So if "Legion" is a 10, and "Ashes" was a 7, this would be about a 9 or so, not quite their best work, but far superior to their previous offering, which itself wasn't bad at all. They won't win over any new fans among the people who already don't like their work, but the old fans should be kept plenty happy. Well worth multiple listens.
• Live In Montreal (2005, DVD) Not at all what I expected. I expected either a professional filming or a bootleg, what you actually get is something in the middle. The first thing you notice is a single camera setup right in front of the stage a bit behind the crowd, and so you immediately say "bootleg!", but then you start noticing other very non bootleg type details. First, the sound is great, the guitar and bass have a nice thunderous sound (the single guitar gives a certainly clarity to the performance that's far more difficult with two guitarists), and the drums are totally clear, every doublekick is clean without the muddled noise you usually get from bootleg quality sound. Second, the picture quality is really crisp. I mean, most bootlegs have a lot of trouble with autofocus issues and high contrast that makes it difficult to see the band beyond a few blurry shapes on stage. But this is really clear. So basically, it's a professional looking film, but with only a single camera angle for the entire show, zooming in on members of the band at appropriate times, but otherwise only one vantage point (and you basically can't see the drummer at all). Performance wise, a good mix of songs from all their albums (this was recorded on their "Reduced To Ashes" tour in 2004 so no stuff off of "Crown Of Souls"), and, may I just add, Holy fuck, these guys are just machines, I mean, the speed and tightness of the band is just insane, from the complex unison riffs played by the guitar and bass (while simultaneously doing vocals), and the drummer is just spot on every hit of the snare and kick of the bassdrum. Really impressive stuff. In closing, I really wish they'd had more than 1 camera, and this would be tons better if they had, but even with that major limitation this is a really awesome show and I highly recommend all fans of the band to pick this DVD up.
  

• Yours in Murder (1999, Demo) Although the word Suffocation comes up in the media accompaniment, I think the closest parallel should be drawn to Iniquity or early Cannibal Corpse. As in, high quality technical death metal with lots of blasting and double kicks, but with some good catchy hooks to avoid monotony. Since this is only a demo, the production isn't quite there yet (a little treble high and not much finesse), but the band certainly is tight. Vocals are mid pitched barking, songs tend to be all well thought out and well constructed with some seriously sweet riffs.
• All Will See Rebirth (1999, Demo) Similar to their previous demo, but this one's production has too much bass and not enough treble (exactly the opposite of their last demo), making the sound a little better but without any high end definition. Regardless, the same good quality riffs, and I can't wait for the full length debut album where we'll get to see most of these songs re-recorded.
• Prophetic Luster (2000) A cross between CC, Iniquity or Origin with a slight touch of Suffocation, this is standard death metal done really well. Production could be a little less muffled, but it still captures the anger. Great solid song writing provides the right mix of groove and blasting. Mid Range vocals. The drummer is very fast and precise, not quite as fancy as Flo from Cryptopsy, but he keeps things interesting all the way through as well as not missing a beat. I'm definitely liking these songs, while you can see the influences on the band from other bands, this is not just anther me-to band, they have some real style here. This album will stay in my daily rotation for awhile.

• Santeria (1993, Demo)
• Defaced Creation (1995, Demo)
• Resurrection (1996, 7" EP)
• Serenity In Chaos (1999) Rather standard death metal vaguely in the style of Infestdead, Obscenity or "Butchered at Birth" era Cannibal Corpse. So it's a little more melodic, not in the acoustic guitar sense, but the medium/fast, somewhat thrashy, repeat the riff 4 times before moving on sense. Some nice riffs and good squawks, while there's nothing here that is totally stand out, the songs are good and I can definitely recommend a listen. The band broke up apparently, but most of the group moved on to a band called Aeon.

• Defeat of Sanity (1994, Demo)
  
• Erupted Wrath (1999)
  
• Ugliness Revealed (2001)
  
• Divination (2003) Death metal from Japan, but this ain't no Vomit Remnants. Defiled falls far more squarely into the Severe Torture category, with some more experimental flourishes ala Cryptopsy. Another good connection would be later Polluted Inheritance, say their "Betrayed" album but more straight forward songs. Vocals are midrange growls, complex drums and tremolo picking abound. One big note is the production on this cd could definitely use some work. Everything is clear, but the guitars are very thin and nasally sounding. I guess it really comes down to the lack of body, I'd love this to have a big sound whether you get that from a bigger bass or more guitar overdubs, it just feels like a scrawny guy rather than a giant body builder. The songs are good (I especially like 'Enraptured', it has a really good hook in it), but I do find a few of the transitions between the blasting parts and the odd experimental parts a bit too jarring. Anyways, decent album, worth taking a peak at.

• Adrenaline (1995) Sounds like Tool but with a much thicker guitar tone. This alternative / metal crossbreed is notable for excellent and inventive riffs, some really angry vocals, and good overall production. Nothing too fast, just lots of pounding, good quality music. Excellent moshing material.
• Around The Fur (1997) Discarding their similarities to Tool, they've taken all their unique elements and exploited them to create some really great music. The songs are very raw, almost more alternative than metal, but the aggression is unquestionable. The singer screams with like he's been tortured his entire life. The production is big, tight and bass heavy (the producer is Terry Date of Pantera fame). The songs tend to be slow and plodding. A good CD to listen to when you just feel like smashing something.
• Deftones Live (1998, Live) 7 tracks, one song off of "Fur", 6 live songs. The performance of the live stuff is good, but the production is horrible. It sounds like they used two mikes, one has the vocals and the snare drum, and that one has a volume of 10, and the rest of the band is on the second mike, and it has a volume of maybe 3. The sound is clear, but the band is very difficult to hear because they have no volume. This CD is also available as a set of two min-CDs, each containing 4 tracks (each CD leading off with 'My Own Summer'.)
• White Pony (2000) It's been almost three years now, and all kinds of rumor flew around this release. Although never quite metal and never quite alternative, questions sprung about the direction the band would be heading with this new album. The answers firmly in hand, I'd have to say the Deftones have not wimped out, they've just headed in a slightly different direction. All the standard Deftones stuff is here, but the songs are a little more laid back, still intense, but more sad, like someone lamenting over the death of a close friend. Not many fast songs on this album, and not as many moments of furious screaming, but unlike, say, Korn's most recent album, the emotions on this album come across as genuine, an individual who's given up all hope. That said, the usual catchiness that the Deftones have shown in previous albums is definitely still here, each song standing out as an individual piece of work with memorable riffs and a distinct mood. Same excellent production as usual. I think all fans will enjoy this release.
• Back To School (mini maggit) (2000) One studio track (a shorter and more focused version of back to school) and 2 live tracks. The studio track is decent, a lot less meandering then the version found on White Pony. The 2 live tracks prove that the Deftones still can't record a decent live show. I hope that when the band finally decides to record a full live show and release it they get a professional to record it, who can, oh, I don't know, maybe put a mike somewhere near the bass and guitar for a change? not to mention let the drums sound less like a loud tin can. If it makes you feel any better, one of the live songs seems to be a new song not available on any album. Get their new album, I'd give this EP a miss unless it's low priced because you'll really only be buying it for one song.
• Deftones (2003) While the album contains several mournful, melancholy tunes similar in style to the material on "White Pony", this album seems to have a little more high energy to it, although not quite to the level that was exemplified on "Around the Fur". 11 songs that are again both memorable as separate entities and work together to form a consistent mood throughout the album. Plenty of soulful lyrics dealing with loss, despair, confused anger, all wrapped up in the usual Deftones poetic meter. The riffs range from the blindingly heavy to the very abstract and peculiar sounding. As usual, excellent thickly layered production. 4 albums, not a single failure yet.
• B-Sides & Rarities (2005, RareCD/DVD) Rarities album from the band, one CD and one DVD in a really nice book style package. CD wise some interesting material. A few covers, a few acoustic renditions of Deftones songs, and a bunch of random jams that were recorded during the album sessions. First off, a lot of the songs are soft songs, be warned, no huge guitars and super aggressive riffs, it's mostly the calmer type stuff, even calmer than White Pony in a number of sections. Second, a lot of the songs are pretty simple in structure, just a repeating riff again and again with all the variety coming from the vocals. But it can lead to some cool vibes, like "No Ordinary Love" which has a nice soft groove thanks to some solid bass work and drums. It takes until track 8 before you get some good thick distorted guitars, and then stays pretty acoustic for the rest of the album. The DVD contains about a dozen of the band's music videos, mixed with some brief interviews / live footage. Readers of this webzine know I just don't like music videos, but I'll admit that the art direction in many of these videos is quite nice, so they're at least entertaining. Fans of the band will probably find some good stuff here, but only if you're ok with lighter material. If you want the heavier side of the band, look elsewhere.
• Saturday Night Wrist (2006) After a more straight forward self titled album, "Saturday Night Wrist" returns to the "White Pony" territory of experimentation and sonic complexity. That's not to say there's no anger here, song number two for example, 'Rapture', has some really harsh vocal bits, same with 'Rats!Rats!Rats!' (which is probably one of my favorite songs on the album). But much of the rest falls into the 'Hole In The Earth' category, a big wall of sound that gently wafts along while mournful vocal melodies remind us of the futility of life. One of things I really dig on this album is the unexpectedness of the riffs. They are catchy enough to be memorable, and they definitely sound like Deftones, but at the same time sound like nothing you've heard before. My hats off to these guys for deviating from the stock chord progressions. Lots of electronics and techno influences as well as the distorted guitars / metal aspect. It's been a bit of a wait, and a rough road to get to this album, but it was well worth it.
  

• Slumber Of Sullen Eyes (1992) While a muddy sound does detract from the greatness of the band, they still provide some nice riffs, as well as a powerful sound. Low vocals, good songs, wall of sound, pounding doubles.
• Shadow Mechanics (2002) After a 10 year hiatus, this cult favorite returns with a new album. The general vibe is similar to "Slumber", the songs are midpaced, the tremolo guitarwork creates the same sort of atmosphere, and many of the chord progressions are reminiscent of their past work. Songs like 'Gates Of Lamentation' bring me right back to the early 90s, and reminds me why I enjoyed this band so much. There are some big changes though, for good and bad. First, the production is a lot clearer (good). Second, the vocals aren't nearly as low, they're more midrange, and there's some sung stuff (bad). Apparently 3 different vocalists were used for the recording of the album, which may be why the vocals lack real direction, they're all competent, but I miss the low growl of their first album. And third, the songs are a little bit all over the place. Some sound very much like the band's older material (Most of my favorite songs on this album were written by Esa Linden, the original vocalist and guitarist for the band, who did not perform on the album). Some songs sound really different. I guess this CD lacks consistency, like it was written by several people who weren't speaking to each other. I still prefer their original album, but this is a decent CD and may grow on me as I listen to it more. Worth checking out.
• Let Chaos Prevail (2007) Anther slight style shift for the band (and another lineup change). After a number of songs, it suddenly dawned on me, this CD sounds exactly like Obliveon's "Nemesis" album. Lots of spacy guitar solos, lots of midpaced tremolo picking with midpaced doublebass underneath. Listening back to "Shadow Mechanics", I actually now see the influence there as well, but it wasn't quite strong enough yet to be noticeable. This album pushed it right in your face, I mean, just take one listen to the intro to 'God Said Suffer' and you'll immediately know what I mean. Anyways, despite the obvious influence, there are a number of good riffs on the album and decent songs. I don't know if I can really call it Demigod anymore, but as a separate band, it's a pretty cool album. If you like Obliveon, pick this up. If you like Demigod, then you may be out of luck.
  

• The Confessions of a Necrophile (1992, Demo)
• ...The Confessions Continues (1993, 7" single)
• Architects Of Perversions (1993, EP)
• Upon The Medical Slab (1994, 7" single)
• Sculpture Of The Dead (1994, EP)
• Rated X (1995)
• High On Blood (1997) Incredibly intense death metal. The sound reminds me of Cryptopsy's "Whisper Supremacy" album, this band strikes the listener with a huge wall of sound. Pitch is meaningless most of the time, all that matters is bludgeoning the listener with merciless noise, blasting and anger. The riffs seems almost secondary to this release, in fact, and for some reason there's a reoccurring riff that happens all through the album in almost every song, which gives the CD a sort of "single song" theme. And considering that lack of dynamic changes, the album could very well be replaced by one long 45 minute song. Unfortunately, that lack of dynamic also means the album can become background noise if you're not careful. Not sure how to rate this release, if you want something so intense it's almost absurd, buy it. If you want good song writing and carefully placed riffs, look somewhere else. At the end of the day, I still enjoy it.
• III (1999) As the title says, the third album from the band. Same vein as the last one, but with better production (still noisy with several guitars layered on top of each other, but the bass has been given a boost and it feels more in your face). They spend a little more time writing good riffs too, although the focus still isn't riff based as much as "I am going to play as fast as I can until my head explodes and that's all that counts" feel. Lots of blast beats, double kicks, not a moment of peace, rest or reflection, just loud and noisy blasting for about 50 minutes. If you liked the last album, this one's got the same feel but slightly improved. The Japanese version of the album has 4 bonus tracks which sound like the other stuff on the album.
• Deranged (2001) Again, similar to their last two albums, although I find the riffs a little more memorable on this album than in previous efforts. Still lots of speed, low vocals, and while the production isn't perfect, I really can't complain about it, all the instruments are clear and there's plenty of bass and highend. Nothing but consistency from this band, any fan of straight ahead nothing-fancy death metal should check this out, good solid brutality.
• Rated X (2002, Reissue) This cd contains their hard to find "Rated X" album, and two demos "Sculpture of the Dead" and "Architects Of Perversion". It's classic deranged, angry guitars, blast beats, mid-range growling, plenty of memorable songs and riffs, lots of brutalizing energy. The production on all 3 albums are decent, clear with a good mix, although nothing spectacular. These old-demo albums are usually only worth it if you're a big fan of the band, but this one has enough interesting stuff to please even first time listeners I'd wager, even if no new ground is broken.
• Plainfield Cemetery (2003) Not much to say here, this is almost 100% identical to their previous album, the sound, production, riff style (thankfully, the riffs are indeed different), everything, in fact, if you put them both in your cd player and choose shuffle, you'll have a lot of trouble saying which songs are from which album. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, as we all know, Deranged is all about consistency, not pushing forward into uncharted territory, so if you enjoyed their last, you'll enjoy this as well. Good, simple, straight forward death.
• Obscenities in B Flat (2006) A kinder, gentler Deranged? Certainly not. But a slower one to be sure. That's the first big thing that struck me, the songs on this cd are way slower than songs on their previous cds. I mean, there's still some blasting now and again, but even those parts seem less frantic somehow, which is quite out of character for the band. What they lost in speed though they made up in good riffs. There's plenty of odd phrasing and strange chord progressions to make the songs plenty memorable (which the band has always had a bit of a problem with in the past). Otherwise, the sound is basically identical to their last album, maybe a little more muffled. If you liked the band's last few cds and are ok with a bit of a pace change, this is definitely worth checking out. Impressive songs.
• The Redlight Murder Case (2008) Another high quality Deranged album. Plenty of good songs, chunky riffs, blasting, decent production, and this time it's a concept album, with every song revolving around the circumstances of a grizzly murder. My only complaint is, oh I don't know, am I wrong to expect innovation with Deranged? Maybe it's just the mood I'm in today, but I wish there was something to differentiate this album from all the others. Something innovative. Mind you, I'm not sure what you could do to be innovative without it not being Deranged anymore, so maybe my desire for innovation is just best forgotten. Anyways, it's another great album, if you're a fan, you should be plenty happy.
  

• Descend | All That Is Evil Split CD (2000, Split CD) A very peculiar type of band, combining a lot of styles into something actually pretty cool. Each song really is it's own entity, the first track mixes in a lot of strange super-processed guitar sounds and whisper/echo vocals, track 2 is more straight ahead death metal, track 3 is an instrumental which starts off with lots of high end tremolo picking giving it a very european technical melodic death metal feel, and then starts getting into these rockin parts that remind me of new Entombed or old Pungent Stench. Track 4 closes with a whole ton of blast beats and again more straight ahead death metal stuff. A few things do tie all the different styles together, twin vocals that mix carcass style high end with a really low, gargly second vocalist. Guitars are thick but not wall-o-sound thick. The drummer does a lot of stuff, he holds together such radical style changes with really solid keep-the-tempo drumming, some fancy kick work and then some very interesting and inventive fills to move seamlessly between styles and riffs. A little loose and live feeling, the production is good but not 100% polished. Overall, I think the band needs a little more time to bring some focus to their music, but if they can achieve that focus without loosing the crazy amount of variety they already have stylistically (and without loosing the sense of humor which seems present in their music), they'll have something truly unique in the metal arena. Contact the band at souldger@en.com, and write to their label Cutting Edge Records at POBox 770376 Cleveland, OH 44107 USA.
• Requiem of Flame (2001) A little more straight forward than their previous demo, this album retains that Pungent Stench / new Entombed vibe with a few blasts and such to remind you of its strong death metal roots (ie, this stuff is a lot better than the new Entombed stuff which I really didn't like very much). The songs are all quite good with plenty of memorable riffs, although the whole album starts with this repeated riff that goes on and on for a couple of minutes and could best have been left out in my opinion. Nice thick guitars, the production is big and bassy, they might have looked into adding a bit more treble to round things out. I also miss some of the weirder sounds that made up the interlude on their split EP. Overall, a good strong album, just a few details I think the band needs to iron out.

• Consumed By Your Poison (2002) A pretty common occurrence: You're introduced to a band with its second album, it's first on a major label, and you decide to buy their first album that was originally released on a smaller label. Upon hearing the album, you wish you'd kept your money, because it just wasn't as good. Well, this is not that type of album. While I would agree that "The Healing Process" is a better album in terms of tighter song writing and more memorable riffs, this album comes a very close second with excellent production, lots of great songs and all the goodness and oddities you've come to expect from the band. So while slightly less polished (and I do mean slightly), "Consumed By Your Poison" should by a must buy for those who enjoyed their second album.
• The Healing Process (2005) Combining many of the best elements of Meshuggah, Dillenger Escape Plan, death metal, hardcore and grindcore, Despised Icon manages to come up with something that's both familiar and fresh at the same time. First off, fantastic riffing here, some seriously memorable chunky riffs with a few odd time signatures and tons of power. They cover the spectrum of super speed, super slow, and everything in between. Vocalwise, the band has two vocalists, and switches between hardcore screams and Dying Fetus style low gurgles, the variety in vocal sound is a big plus. The drummer is also fantastic, he handles complex rhythms with the same ease he blasts or does super fast doublebass. Productionwise, it's pretty much flawless, an awesome mix with tons of bottom end, some nice crunchy highs, and the whole band is really tight. I haven't heard a group this instantly mesmerizing since I picked up the 2nd Psycroptic album (which would be another band Despised Icon seems to share some elements with). I suppose if I had to pick one big influence it would probably be Dillenger Escape Plan, however that band I've always felt was a 10 on the "out there" scale, whereas this band has many of the same elements but within the style of a more traditional death metal band, which I personally find more palatable. If you haven't checked the group out yet, you're doing yourself a great disservice.
• The Ills of Modern Man (2007) This album really does read like a checklist for everything I love in death metal. Short bursts of super fast double bass. Check. Palm muted guitar. Check. Guitar squawks. Check. Superfast double bass underneath slow, plodding riffs. Check. Crazy blasting. Check. Super low, gargled vocals. Check. For fans of their last album (and if you don't have it, why the hell not?), this is very similar, possibly a tiny bit better from a song perspective. The only real change is the drummer has really mastered the gravity blast beat (that technique for instantly doubling the speed of your blasting), and he uses it with incredible control and appropriate levels of restraint, which keeps it from becoming boring. Catchy riffs, amazing production, tons of speed and aggression. It's like taking a chainsaw to your head, and I mean that in a good way. The best album I've had come my way in many months. A must buy.

• Extinction (2001, EP)
• Womb Of Shit (2002, Promo)
  
• God On Acid (2003) While this band sounds an awful lot like Disgorge, the songs are a little simpler, and far more catchy. One thing that's been kinda bugging me about Disgorge lately (and their legion of clones) is that the riffs in their songs are all over the place, they play a riff once, then never again, and so instead of songs, you get a jumble of random riffs. Despondency is in the same style, but they seem willing to repeat a riff a few times, which immediately makes their music more easily digestible and memorable without losing the brutality. Production is very bassy, well mixed, although apparently this was recorded in 2 sessions and I'm pretty sure I hear a slight production shift starting at track 4, but it's not too obvious. While there's plenty of blasting, there are also a lot of slow chunky breakdowns too, super heavy stuff. Vocals are the usual super-low gargled, the album even starts in a similar way to Disgorge's "Cranial Impalment" EP. If you like Disgorge or Decrepit Birth but wish their songs weren't quite as jumbled, Despondency is the band for you, I gotta admit despite it's lack of originality, I did really enjoy this cd.
  

• The Dethalbum (2007) "Metalocalypse", on Cartoon Network, is a show that follows the fictional metal band Dethklok, sort of Metallica meets Cannibal Corpse meets Spinal Tap. The cartoon is funny as hell, but this album, based on music from the cartoon, I can really take it or leave it. Despite the fact they got some excellent musicians to perform the songs (like Gene Hoglan on drums), all the music is based on snippets of music from the show. So what happens when you take a 15 second snippet and expand it into a 4 minute long song? Pretty much what you'd expect. The songs are kind of derivative, they're repetitive, I tend to enjoy the song for about 15 seconds (the length of the original clip), and then it gets kinda boring. The music isn't bad, it's just nothing special. Maybe I was expecting too much, I mean, this isn't a real band, so why should I expect anything more than what "The Dethalbum" is? The focus of the creators is the TV show, and that's the way it should be. So I highly recommend watching the show, and buy it's first season on DVD which is about to get released. But as for this album, I'd have to say give it a pass. The Deluxe Edition has an extra CD with more songs. These songs have a bunch of soundclips from the TV show mixed in between which makes the whole thing more enjoyable. So if you do decide to buy the album, definitely get the Deluxe Edition.
  

• Devildriver (2003) Basically, thrash with Coal Chamber vocals. And I do mean actual Coal Chamber vocals from Dez himself, guess this is his new band. And that's cool, I mean, it seems Coal Chamber is dead or on permanent hiatus, time to move on to bigger and better things. So expect Dez's usual shtick, except the band behind him is generally faster and crazier, a little closer to Slipknot / Pantera / Machine Head / older Skinlab style with more riffs, less repetition, more speed and a bunch more double kicks. Not every song is a winner, but there are some standout sections like the midpaced double bass section of 'Cry For Me Sky', 'Revelation Machine' and 'Meet The Wretched' or the chorus to 'Swinging The Dead' which has a simple but highly effective and super heavy main riff. I tended to find the later songs on the album to be the best, which is a bit backwards from how most cds go, so if you're not impressed right off the bat start from about track 5 and you may feel better about your purchase. Excellent production with a nice bassy mix (but plenty of Treble too). This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but fans of any of the bands mentioned above will find this very enjoyable. 
• The Fury Of Our Maker's Hand (2005) A nice calm intro leads quickly to a big thunderous chugger of a song, and Devildriver continues right where their last album left off. It's more time, more double bass, more fast riffs, more low chunky riffs, more tunes you just want to head-bang to all day long. The opener 'End Of The Line' is a really great song, and plenty of great riffs to follow. Again, some songs are great, some are only soso, but a good ratio of good to ok. No real growth or progression, just more solid material, and a worthy follow up.
• The Last Kind Words (2007) After a dull and lifeless release from Korn (I reviewed their "Untitled" album on the same day as this one), I put this CD on and said "wow, here's where all that energy went." Devildriver provides another CD in the same vein as their last 2, some good songs, some angry shouting, some brutal riffs. Enjoyable from beginning to end, with very little filler material. Nothing terribly new or surprising, just high quality metal that'll keep you moshing. And a special note on the drums, I have to admit I really like this guy, he knows exactly when to bring in the short burts of doublebass, as well as more long, sustained sections, and he performs them with such ease and power. Nothing else to say really, if you liked the other two, you'll like this, and if you've never heard them before, go to their website and listen to some samples right now, you'll be happy you did.

• Technologies (2000) A really successful blend of Meshuggah and Fear Factory, with a touch of Obliveon. Imagine the off time signatures and vocals of Meshuggah (this guys sounds just like Jens Kidman) combined with very precise, tight and mechanical guitar and double bass play the vein of Fear Factory, and some spacy-tech synth intros that remind me a lot of stuff off of Obliveon's "Carnivore Mothermouth". The bassdrums are very triggered, and very even, hats off to the drummer. Anyways, since they're basically combining elements from 3 of my favorite bands, I can't help but give the album high marks. The songs are good, although I find the interludes sometimes interfere a bit with the flow of the songs, as in the song will build up and then the build up is interrupted by something too mellow, but with slightly tighter song writing this stuff would be the ideal combination.
• Automation EP 001 (2002, EP) Similar to their first album but with slightly more treble in the production. Really, really fast and tight guitar / double bass passages. 3 new songs, and 1 live demo of 'Fallen Cities', this EP also contains plenty of computer goodies like live footage and images, etc. Impressive Stuff.
• Calculated (2004) I'm of two minds on this cd, on one hand, this cd is one of the best pieces of brutal robotic tech-metal I've ever heard. On the other hand, the songs are all pretty self similar. So what could have been easily one of the best albums of the year unfortunately ends up somewhere just under the top 10. Anyways, on to the details. Soundwise this album is completely killer. Who'd have thought you could get an even tighter sound on "Calculated" than "Technologies", but they did it. When the band plays a start and stop rhythm, it really does feel like someone's got a staplegun pressed up against your chest, and then they pull the trigger again and again. A highly controlled earthquake would not be an inappropriate metaphor. Stylewise, it's the same super mechanical boolean sound that Meshuggah and Fear Factory have done before, but even more robotic. So plenty to enjoy, but my main complaint is the songs. While there are plenty of good and memorable riffs, they tend to be played 4 times, then never repeated again during the course of the song (so no reoccurring themes to grab hold of). Songs tend to be all at the same tempo (no songs that are primarily fast or primarily slow). And far fewer breaks means all the songs sort of blend together. I would have horrible trouble telling any of these songs from the next with the exception of track 5, 'Catatonic Ruin', which is a slow, held chords thing that breaks the mold, and as such becomes one of the better songs on the album. Also, the vocals are perhaps a little too robotic, this guy takes the monotone style and puts it to such an extreme that if you'd removed the vocals entirely, you'd probably not even notice. So while totally awesome in so many ways, I feel the band really should reorganize their writing process a bit to make songs more distinct. Multiple listens and listening while concentrating on the music does help, so I'd recommend playing it when you're not doing much else. The album ends with a cover of Metallica's 'Battery', Devolve-ized of course, and it fucking rules.
  

• City of the Dead (1997, Demo) Similar to their first full length album, lots of blasting, good songs (3 of them, so it's a short demo), the drums are quite clear, the guitar sound is good but a little muddy, but good for a demo, lots of bass here, a good indication of how the band started off, and they started off with a definite bang.
• City of the Dead CD (1997, Demo) A CD copy of their demo, with two extra bonus tracks. Worth having just get get this material on CD.
• Supreme Evil (1999) Wow! This band has it all, amazing production, great songs, memorable riffs (not just a few good ones, just about all the songs are filled with them), blast beats, double kicks, you name it. The production is very thick and tight with an excellent mix. The band is sort of a cross between Suffocation and Morbid Angel (thank god the production sounds more like Suffocation, or is that thank satan?). They spend the entirety of the CD pummeling the listener with angry riffing, which means there isn't a whole lot of variety theme wise, but a good combination of tempo changes, low chugs, fast tremolo picking, crazy solos that don't sound cheesy and the occasional squawk keeps the ears from wandering. What can I say, I really like this CD, it showcases all the best elements of the death metal genre in one disc, and as a first album from the band, I am beyond impressed. Go buy this CD now.
• Subterrainial Magnitude (2000) After a piano intro, and then a second intro which consists of a rather simple riff repeated over and over again by the band, the album really starts on track 3 with blinding pounding double kicks and tremolo picking. The album sounds a lot like "Covenant" from Morbid Angel. The vocal style sounds sorta similar, the double kicks are low and fast like Pete's, the production is very bass heavy and muffled and the guitars use a bunch of flange. This is not all together a bad thing, I liked morbid angel's "covenant" album, even though I didn't care for it's production and don't really care for the production on this either. But there is enough new stuff in here to keep it fresh and interesting, it's very well done. If you enjoyed their debut you'll like this one.
• Vengeance Ascending (2001) Very very similar to their last album, except the double bass is a lot louder and higher pitched, less big thumps and more electronic thwacks. If you want nonstop double kicks and blasting with bass-heavy slightly muffled production, look no further, this album is pretty vicious all the way through. The only way to make it even more vicious is to add some highend in the mix. Maybe in the next release?
• Infinity Through Purification (2003) I don't know, the band's gone through several lineup changes, and it's been a few years, I guess I was just expecting, something, well, more. The production is still kinda soft, the CD on before this one was plenty loud and vicious, and then when the changer switched CDs, this CD was wayyyyy to quiet. No real deviation from their style, but I find the songs to be not all that great. The band really impressed me with their debut from an originality and memorability standpoint, each subsequent release just seems to get weaker and weaker. It's not horrible by any means, there's just not enough here to persuade me to put this into the cd player next time I'm looking for something angry vs putting in some other cd that's a lot better. I recommend this as a try before you buy.
• Possessed By Death (2006, EP) 3 song internet only EP, contains the tracks 'Devour The Subconscious (Remix)', 'Possessed By Death', 'Avulsions of the Soul'. Pretty impressive actually, it's the same Diabolic style, but it feels more energetic and varied than their last few CDs. These are good songs, with a good mix of fast and slow stuff, and most importantly, each song has a bit of their own personality instead of being too uniform in style. This band has gone through a lot of turmoil these past years, but in this case, it seems to have produced a better end result, the group seems angry and energized, delivering a short burst of frantic tunes with tons of doublebass, blasting and good riffs. Makes me hopeful for their future.
• Chaos in Hell (2007, EP) Another EP from the band, very similar in style to their last EP, 4 songs this time, and still the same mix of fast and slow stuff. The production is a little more polished, although the result is slightly muffled compared to "Possessed By Death", I think I preferred the more treble based production, it gave it a raspy edge that I sorta liked. You can purchase this directly from the band, if you enjoyed any of their previous albums, this will be a nice addition to your collection, and again, hopefully a good indication of a future full length album.
  

• The Dark Blood Rising (2001) You ever get one of those albums you just shouldn't be into, and yet for some reason you are? No, I don't mean Britney Spears, I mean Diabolicum, a hybrid black metal / techno / industrial band. I suppose it just goes to prove that the whole can be stronger than the sum of its parts. So first the parts: this is mostly black metal with a mousy quiet production, it sounds like the microphone is placed like 50 miles from the band. Then you have the keyboards doing their thing. Then you have a drum machine blasting away which can get repetitive. All elements that I'm generally not into. Yet, that's where the industrial part comes in, the blasting on the drums alternate with techno beats using the same drum sound. Then the droning tremolo picked guitars start weaving with various samples, and it all somehow works. So I guess the main gist is that as a techno band it doesn't really work, as a black metal band it's just not my thing, but combined they manage to produce some atmospheric music that's great for the car at 3am on the way home from a more brutal death metal show (also useful if you want something fast without worrying about waking up the neighbors). The droning is kind of relaxing (in an evil sort of way), the layering of instruments and samples makes for some cool complex compositions, and the samples themselves allow the songs to each have their very own character. So while not for everyone, you won't be wasting your time checking them out to see if their special brand of metal works with your temperament.
  

• The Chemical Wedding (1998) Just in case you have no clue, Bruce is the former singer for Iron Maiden, and he certainly hasn't changed his style of singing for the current generation. I admire his conviction, except I really hate this guy's singing. It's totally over the top, glam metal high pitched stuff, straight out of the 80s. The only band that seems to use this vocal style successfully in the new decade (in my opinion) is Dream Theater. Anyways, melodic clean parts and symphonic parts mix with heavier riffs and speedy wanky solos. The songs are well written and catchy, even if somewhat unoriginal. In general, this album sounds like an old 80s glam album with 90s production. Other musicians from this era have managed to update their style to be more in tune with the 90s without sacrificing their original style, I just feel Bruce hasn't done this, he's just producing the same sort of thing that you could have bought 10 years ago, without any fresh perspectives. I guess I'll just close by saying I didn't find anything here to get all excited about, but after listening to it a few times, the music quality is good, and fans of this sort of thing will probably find something to like. It's well done, but I just can't get into it.

• Tearing Down Your Blue Skies (2004) So I was fast forwarding through Headbanger's ball (since most of what they play is crap), looking for nuggets of goodness, and happened upon Diecast. The song was 'Rise & Oppose', it had a good Chimaira-esque vibe, a touch of Shadows Fall and maybe even a touch of old Pantera, so I figured I'd give the album a try. The result is almost a decent album. I say almost because the one thing notably missing from that song I heard, the one thing that is contained in just about every other song on the album, is sung vocals. And not cool sung vocals like Devin Townsend or what Fear Factory does, I mean that horrible nu-metal "we are metal but I'm singing so I can get a song or two on the radio" kind of voice. If I'd heard that I would have kept fast forwarding. Ruins a perfectly good cd in my opinion. Overall, we have some pretty angry metal with some good chunky start-stop riffs, a little thrash here and there, nice in your face production and some good hardcorish vocals. But then they do that singing thing, I'm sorry, I just can't look past it, I can't ignore it as much as I'd like to, and so I just can't recommend this cd. I want to, there's some good music here, but the vocals just totally destroy it. Don't make the same mistake I did by buying this album, pick up something like the new Bury Your Dead instead, and grab the one good song / no singing song 'Rise & Oppose' on iTunes or something.

• Fear Of God (1994, Demo) Very similar sounding to Vader's first album, so similar in fact some of the songs could be demos for "Ultimate Incantation". Good sound for a demo, although perhaps a little nasally. Get their new album to get this short demo as bonus tracks.
• Immolated (2001) If it looks like Vader and sounds like Vader, is it Vader? Well, sorta. This band is the side project for Vader's drummer Doc and Mauser, Vader's guitar player, and sure enough, the album sounds a lot like the famous polish death metal band, both in sound and song writing. A few things help differentiate the two, the vocalist is a little more straight forward, the solos are a little more composed and less whammy dive bombing, overall many of the songs are more dominated by the phrygian dominant scale (think yngwie) and some of the riffs can be a bit more melodic, however, especially with Doc drumming, you can expect the fastest blasts in the business, so don't expect this to be a slow album by any means. Hell, Vader is a great band, under any name, and there's plenty of great songs on this album, so I'd say pick it up. The Japanese version has three bonus tracks, which come from their 94 demo.
• The Sin War (2002) Again, A Vader by any other name. I do have to say though, after a mediocre last album for Vader, it's nice to hear an album like this, great songs with great riffs and hooks. Not much more to say really, you've heard it all before, if you're a Vader fan definitely grab this album, it's just what the Doc ordered.

• Plateau (1998, Demo)
• Point of Few (2000, Demo)
• Perceptive Deception (2001) The best way to describe this album is by describing the first 5 seconds of music. The album starts with low gargled vocals overtop of blastbeats, no intro, not soft start, not even a few riffs and then vocals, just straight into the mayhem. That attitude is pretty consistent over the rest of the album, tons of robotic blasting double kicks and tremolo picking / fast palm muted rhythms (with the occasional squwack of course). Low and crunchy production. Nothing revolutionary, but really high quality blasting death metal, with lots of very memorable riffs. If you've enjoyed albums from Vile or Disgorge, you'll love this stuff.
• Stagnated Existence (2007) Well, it's been 6 years since their debut, and finally we have the long delayed 2nd album. Was the wait worth it? Well, if you think Disavowed went away for 6 years and wrote the greatest death metal album of all time, then no. But if you want another album in the same vein as their last one, this CD doesn't disappoint. Lots of blasting, fast guitars, low gargled vocals, perfectly performed. Lots and lots of high quality riffs and hooks. No slow bits, no samples, no keyboard intros, pure straightforward no-frills death metal. If you enjoyed their debut, or just want something that smacks you around for about 30 minutes, this fits the bill. Highly enjoyable.

• Ulterior (1995)
• Jouhou (1997) 32 songs of unbridled chaos (at least 32 songs on the extended 2.0b Jouhou CD, which includes some extra stuff). Plenty of high-pitched screaming (imagine you cut your throat open with a razor, you'd probably sound like this before you died). Plenty of blasting. Plenty of buzzsaw guitar reminiscent of early napalm death albums. Songs clocking in between a minute and 24 seconds. Very chaotic and freeform (but don't take that as a sign of sloppiness, these guys are actually quite tight), no click track for this stuff. Production is pretty simple, there doesn't seem to be any bass on this recording, so don't expect big balsy production or anything, but all the instruments are clear in the mix. Anyways, there's enough creativity in the riffs to keep the ear interested through the barrage of speed and screaming. Grindcore fans will certainly enjoy.
• Original Sound Version 1992-1995 (1998) A collection of all the split EPs and such the band released during the years 1992 to 1995 (69 songs in total, coincidence???). So the production varies, but it's all pretty decent (with the exception of a few overly noisy live recordings). See the Jouhou review for the general style of it all.
• Inalienable Dreamless (2000) Good old grind in an early Nasum vein. Best production they've had yet, although still top heavy, some very highpitched gargly screams, tons of blasting, short songs and plenty of them. Good, solid, intense grind, come on, you can't possibly say no. Real slick package, comes in a DVD case with a nice booklet filled with serene interior artwork, a perfect contrast to the bloody mayhem that exists on the cd.
• Pikadourei (2002, DVD) Plenty of stuff on this DVD. It starts off with a 21min show from Japan, 2001. Imagine the scene, one very small stage, a guitar player, a drummer and a guy screaming. At first, you're gonna think your DVD player is messed up, then shortly you realize that the stuttering and video artifacting is intentional, it's not a glitch. The camera gets tossed around all over the place on this one, and while some of it is post processing, the rest is just the camera guy was in the middle of the moshpit getting the fuck knocked out of him (note, there's actually several cameras, so it's a little more produced than a standard bootleg concert). I suppose the band wanted to truly capture the feeling of one of their concerts, and hell, they succeeded. If you're one of those people who likes standing towards the back of the concert so you can see the band play, you're gonna be disappointed, but if you're one of those "in the pit" guys this is about as close as you can come to a pit without actually being there. Warning: If the "Blair Witch Project" made you ill from motion sickness, so not watch this segment of the DVD. As for the music, it's pretty noisy, but the sound is taken right from the camera's mic as opposed to a soundboard, so it's understandable. This may sound low tech, and, well, it is, but it's actually pretty cool, and a good representation of the crazy mayhem the band is all about. Also on the DVD are two music videos, the second one is actually pretty cool, a lot of text / images flashing on screen to the insane beat of the music. Also included is a discography, and some tab for a bunch of songs. And, as a bonus, if you have a DVD drive on your computer, you have access to mp3s of the albums "Jouhou" and "Original Sound". Overall, a nice collection of stuff, if you dug their "Inalienable Dreamless" cd, I'm sure you'll find plenty on here to peak your interest.

• Cognitive Lust Of Mutilation (1992, Demo)
• 95' Demo (1995, Demo)
• Cranial Impalment (1996, EP) The album starts with a good 10 seconds of throat clearing. Need I say more? There's a fine line between low and evil vocals and vocals so low they're just silly. This band takes that line and fucks it up the ass. I swear, you will never hear lower vocals than this dude, I couldn't help it, it was just too funny. Many of my non metal friends heard this guy and didn't realize it was a human voice, it sounded like a garbage disposal or something like that. Ok, ok, enough about the voice, even though it's sorta funny, it definitely got my attention, and does make the band reach a level of evil unattainable by many. The music is great too, pretty damn close to perfect production with good low and high end, fast riffs, very fast and precise double kicks and blasts. I think the closest comparisons I could make are between these guys and Internal Bleeding or Deeds Of Flesh. The songs tend to not have much to distinguish themselves from each other, but, you know, at this point, I don't think I care, let other bands worry about memorable songs, let this band worry about injuring every person in the moshpit. Overall a great album, I highly recommend getting it.
• She Lay Gutted (1998) More of the same, a continuation of their last album. Same strengths, same weaknesses. Well worth checking out, these guys definitely know how to brutalize the listener with a good chunky riff, damn, I'd like to see these guys live. Again, all the songs tend to blend together, but that has the advantage of a uniformly great album with no real weak spots. Great, great riffs that really get you going in the mornin. A little more treble and a little less bass than their EP. If you liked the EP, get the CD, that's about all the I can say.
• Consuming the Forsaken (2002) This album should be no surprise to anyone. Lots of blasting, double kicks, squawks, chunky riffs and tremolo picking. Excellent production, very thick, a great mix lets all the instruments shine. Unfortunately, Matti Way isn't with the band anymore, their new vocalist AJ is about 95% as low as Matti was, I really have no complaints about the vocals, they're done well, totally guttural, despite the booklet full of lyrics, I really can't find any connection between them and what's on this CD. My only real complaint is the songs, it is impossible to tell one song from another, they all sound so similar, the riffs are great, but very little variation. Look elsewhere if you want catchy recognizable tunes. Otherwise, this cd will be in my player for awhile, it just has so many of the elements I love.
• Parallels of Infinite Torture (2005) Well, what can I say, Disgorge is still Disgorge. Although perhaps a bit improved this time. My main beef with this band is how difficult to follow the music is, I love the low vocals, brutal attitude and the super low thunderous production, but their songs are basically just collections of riffs that are played once and then never again, which means there's no groove, and no memorability. This album, while retaining the same style, does offer a few things to help differentiate songs. Like for example the album fades in on a nice catchy repeating riff. Song 3 is 'Atonement', which was originally recorded for their "Cranial Impalement" EP, so when you get to track 3, you immediately say "hey, I remember this". Track 5 has an interlude that breaks up the otherwise constant barrage of blast beats and crazy guitar riffs. I guess what I'm saying is the band has left landmarks in the album this time, a way to at least partly differentiate this song from that song, where their last album every song was just so identical to each other. I'd love if the band continues this trend for future albums and push it even further, since much of this album still fails to reach any level of catchiness. A big improvement though on the song front, and I've always been impressed with every other aspect of the band, so well worth grabbing.
  

• Dreams Of The Carrion Kind (1993) Disincarnate is the pet project of metal guitarist James Murphy, and showcases his impressive lead work and song writing skill. The riffs are solid, they remind me a lot of Death, and are primarily based on slow-paced tremolo picking on the low strings, and scale / arpeggio based fills on the higher strings. The songs spend most of their time playing with the more technical aspects of metal, as opposed to brutality, and remain mid tempo with a few slower parts, nothing too fast though. The production is quite good with a thick but clear guitar tone, the drumming is decent and well done, although nothing spectacular. The leads are fast and a good example of James' thick lead tone and super precise picking. This album showcase perfect technique and superior musicianship from a performance point of view, but it lacks any real signs of aggression, which is the only place it falls down.

• Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)
• Indecent & Obscene (1993)
• Massive Killing Capacity (1995)
• Death Metal (1998)
• Hate Campaign (2000)
• Where Ironcrosses Grow (2004)
• The God That Never Was (2006)
• Dismember (2008) While I've known of the band for years, I never picked up any of their albums because I always sorta saw them as a clone of Entombed. But considering Entombed basically stopped sounding like themselves in the mid 90s, and after hearing a few tracks from this album, I decided to finally give the band a try. Overall I'm impressed, it's old school Entombed style death metal, the same general riffs, the same guitar tone (god I love that tone, it's just the most evil sounding distortion ever), this album could easily be from the same era as "Left Hand Path". In fact I'm a bit surprised the band didn't go for some nicer production, this album is a little messy and dirty, it's enjoyable in an old school kinda way, but the mix doesn't stand up to today's technology. Many of the songs are cool, I really dig the slower track 'Europa Burns'. There are a few bits that are more rockin like the ending to 'Under A Bloodred Sky' that I am not a fan of , but there's only a couple of those spots. In general, if you enjoyed Entombed's first album, give this a try, nothing super new, just good strong classic death metal.
  

• Redemption (1998) Lets see, this band is made up of all the members of Malevolent Creation from their spectacular "In Cold Blood" album, without Phil Fasciana. So Phil went on to record the new Malevolent with new musicians, and everyone else went to record this album. The result? As expected, a CD similar to (but not quite reaching the level of) "In Cold Blood" or Phil's Hate Plow project. In 33 minutes, we get a full dose of blast beats, double kicks, crunchy guitars, tremolo picking and screams. The riffs are very memorable, but I found the song structure to be too simple (as in, the patterns were too predictable). The production is great, lots of bass and a good, strong scooped sound (And a very low guitar sound). If you liked "In Cold Blood", what can I say, "Redemption" has similar stuff and will certainly appeal to you. I definitely suggest taking a listen, this is high quality death metal the way it should be played.
• Doomed To Inherit (2000) After reviewing two speed freaks this week, this album is a hell of a lot slower in comparison. There are blast beats here and there, but overall, the riffs aren't as fast. Don't take that as meaning it's any less powerful though. What the jackhammer can't penetrate, the sledgehammer can. It pretty much does a repeat of last album, excellent production, good riffs, good songs. Drumming on this release is Alex Marquez, who we haven't heard from in a long time. He does a good job, but nothing breathtaking like his performance on Malevolent Creation's "Retribution" album. Again, if you liked the last album, here's another solid release in the same style, no surprises, but no worries either.
• Nostradamus (2003) Other than the songs being overall faster than previous efforts (still plenty of slow heavy parts though), there's really nothing else here to differentiate this release from anything the band has already done. But does that really matter? This album is very much a "Redemption" Part 2, so while it could be argued that the band really isn't progressing very much, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They seem quite happy to say "fuck innovation" and just bulldoze you over with thick riffs and good playing. Fine with me. Sometimes I like hearing stuff that's different and innovative, and sometimes it's fun to just listen to something simple, catchy, angry and heavy. If you're in that frame of mind right now, this album fits the bill perfectly.
• The Making of Doomed to Inherit (2003, DVD) As the name implies, the making of their second album, in video form. The DVD starts off with the rehearsal area, probably the corner of a warehouse somewhere (damn that area is small), and about 4 songs are practiced all the way through (not the best sound quality, but listenable). Following that is a nice little bit where Jay and Alex are working on a song, Jay's teaching the band the riff, and Alex is experimenting trying to decide what's the best beat to use. Then after about 10 minutes of just hanging out and shooting the shit with the band and their friends, we move to the actual studio, a warmup on drums, then they start working through songs (3 all the way through, and decent sound). We get to see it all, the mistakes, the band starting, stopping, the songs getting edited afterwards on the computer, honestly this DVD is a fantastic view at the recording process of a death metal band. Just about every DVD bands are releasing are live performances, sound checks, or the band on tour, it's nice to finally see a DVD documenting what happens in the studio, which makes IMO this DVD a must have for it's uniqueness, and for the good music of course. It certainly makes me want to listen to the CD again tomorrow.
• Method Of Execution (2005) My first reaction, surprise. Surprise you ask? Well the first song is far more black metal than death. Tremolo picking with reverb? Keyboards? And I don't mean a keyboard intro, I mean integrated into the song. Is this Dimmu Borgir? Anyways, at about 2 minutes in the band breaks down into something a little more characteristic for the group, but I have to give them points for trying something a bit different. Overall this album is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a Divine Empire album, same sound, same song style, but they do mix things up here and there, like an unnerving acoustic guitar / violin piece called 'Prelude To The Storm', that is followed by the more brutal piece 'Storm Of Hatred', but even that song has what I could only call a waltz from hell in the middle of it. The album even ends with a rockin number reminiscent of Entombed's new style (while I'm not a fan of that style, I can get into it for a single song, I wouldn't be as happy if it were an entire album of this sort of stuff). I think fans of the band past material won't be disappointed, it's the same sort of stuff for the most part, just with a little more variety here and there which I think makes the album far more appealing overall.
  

• Bleed The Fifth! (2007) Brainchild of former Fear Factory guitarist and co-founder Dino Cazares. While it may be unfair to compare the two bands (and there's certainly been enough mudslinging between the two groups about who really invented the Fear Factory sound), I think comparing them does give me a good way to describe their style, both where they are the same, and quite different. Guitarwise, well, it's Dino, of course you're going to get the super heavy and low, ugly distorted sound with super tight delivery. What you also get is some shredding guitar solos, something that we never got with his old band, and they work really well. The drums (handle by Tim Yeung) are just devastatingly fast. Tim has never had a louder, more triggered sound before. Imagine Raymond from Fear Factory's sound, but with way more blast beats, and more sustained doublebass. And while Tommy Vext on vocals will undoubtedly sound a little Burtonish now and again, I'd almost say he's got a little more of the Phil Anselmo from Pantera growl to him (Check out Track 2, you'll know exactly what I mean). Also, his clean vocals are a little drier, they have way less of that chorusy feel, basically it sounds like one guy instead of a team of singers. His singing voice isn't bad, but thankfully it's kept to a minimum overall. Music wise, short, focused songs, plenty of memorable and catchy riffs. Not a lot of slow and groovy tunes, mostly it's fast, faster and fastest. Overall, imagine Fear Factory crossed with Pantera, played twice as fast, and with a slightly more death metal vibe. Comparisons aside, this is a spectacular debut from the band, I have not heard such a vicious album in a long time. The sound is perfectly mixed, the band is incredibly tight, and it has all the elements that make me go "fuck ya!". Next time I decide to repaint a room, I know what album to use to peel the old paint off. This is an instant must buy.

• The Burning Passion (2003) After a Morbid Angel inspired whammy guitar intro, the band settles down into a pretty standard death metal groove. First off, the guitars are way, way detuned. Overall style is a cross between Morbid Angel's "Covenant" and any of Nile's early albums (without the egyptian inspired scales). Guitar solos are definitely Morbid Angel. Drumming is appropriately fast and blasting. Vocals are low unintelligible growls. The band has at least two "symphonic" pieces, which I suppose are meant to sound all eerie, instead it sounds more like the soundtrack to a Kings Quest game running on a sounblaster 16. Production is in your face, but muffled on the high end, and not as much bass as I'd expect for guitars tuned this low. I don't know, the album certainly isn't bad, but it's all stuff I've heard before without anything to really grab hold of the listener either in the originality or technical perfection department.
  

• Grind Trials - The Demos EP (2006, Demos) A collection of the band's first 2 demos. First, just for the completists among you, this is not in fact a complete collection. The first 3 tracks are from their 2nd demo in 2006, the last 4 are from their first demo in 2005, however, their first demo also included different recordings of the first 3 tracks. Rather than bore you with two copies of the same song, the band choose to leave them off, but if you want these 3 other tracks from their first demo, I highly recommend visiting their site and downloading them. Now for the review, this band shows a lot of promise. The band sounds a bit like Benediction, but faster with more blasting and double bass. Many other elements from early 90s death metal as well, from Morbid Angel to Malevolent Creation. The thing that sets Downlord apart are the memorable riffs, even after a single listen these songs stick in your head. Production is so-so, fine for a demo certainly, with the 3 more recent tracks sounding the best. I'd definitely recommend picking up these demos, and I can't wait to hear how the material finalizes for their debut album.
  
• Random Dictionary Of The Damned (2007)  A bit of a disappointment. Not the songs of course, they're still great, both the ones they re-recorded from their demos and the new ones to help round out the album. The disappointing part is the production. It's actually worse than the production of their most recent demo. How on earth does that happen? The sound is thinner, oddly mixed, a little too far away, slightly muffled. It's tough to get a good grasp of the problem, but it just doesn't have the same big feel that the first 3 tracks off the Grind Trials EP had. Everything else is excellent, there's plenty of aggression here, great riffs, nice drumming, and it's a real pleasure to hear Dave Ingram on vocals again. Anyone who enjoyed Benediction from the early 90s will get a kick out of this CD. But personally I'd recommend getting their EP as well, to hear at least a few of these songs recorded properly. Hopefully their next album gets a better sound, the songs deserve it. Still recommended, but it could have been better.

• To Kill Is Human (1999)
• Crusaders of Blasphemy (2002, EP)
• Extermination Revelry (2003) Similar style to their "Black Death" album, but with a thinner, scaled back production (this album sounds like 2 guys in the studio playing guitars whereas on "Black Death" the guitarsound had this "force of nature" quality, due primarily to more overdubs and a little reverb). Still decent production though, just not as huge sounding. The songs also aren't quite as good, still plenty of tremolo picking and blasts and doublebass, but not very many standout riffs. The band definitely gelled on their latest album, this cd is still good but a little uneven and uneventful. There are a few good songs, 'Abyss Behind My Gaze' has a nice middle east feel that's vaguely reminiscent of Bolt Thrower, but you may wish to skip this and go straight for their latest for your maximum listening enjoyment.
  
• Return Of The Black Death (2004)  A cross between Morbid Angel's "Covenant" album, Immolation and Soul Reaper. But I don't want to immediately throw them into the clone category, I mean, if you analyze them you can certainly hear the influences loud and clear, but unlike most clone bands, Drawn & Quartered have something about them that makes you want to listen to them rather than dismiss them: the songs of course. Rather than a complete rehash, the band takes the overall sound and vibe of their influences and writes songs that tend to stick in your head after the cd is done. Productionwise, the album has a big wall-of-sound thanks to tons of overdubs, and a little echo to everything making it sound like it's being played in a big cavern somewhere. That can sometimes be a bad thing, giving it that "far away" feel, but they manage to avoid that thanks to a killer mix. It also gives it a slight "Gothic" / "Armies of warriors clad in armor suits fighting each other" feel which works well with the band's "Dark Ages" motif they have for this album. Vocals are pretty straight ahead David Vincent (Morbid Angel) style, lots of tremolo picking on guitars with the occasional squawk, the drums, especially the blast beats are really smooth and fast, reminiscent of the drumming off Soul Reaper's "Written In Blood". While nothing unique, this album is really good stuff and highly recommended.
• Hail Infernal Darkness (2006) First off, what's with the muffled production? I mean, I know it's tough to remain consistent what with different studios, different engineers and different budgets for different albums, but I'd hope that once you get a good quality sound you'd be able to at least match it if not surpass it on each subsequent album. Anyways, the production isn't bad, just muffled and I miss the great sound they had on "Return Of The Black Death". Otherwise, a very similar style, plenty of overdubs and reverb. The songs are decent, and they really save the album from becoming just average. Multiple listens will help too, as the tunes solidify in your brain. Overall, a tiny baby step back from "Black Death", worth buying but I hope the band pushes forward with their next release.
• Merciless Hammer of Lucifer (2007) Huge step backwards for the band. The production just sucks on this release. The bass is nonexistent, the sound is muddy and thin. What the hell happened? Some of the songs are decent, but it's just way too tough to get past the crappy sound to really enjoy them. Special edition includes a bonus CD with 9 tracks, mostly demos and promo tracks from 2003-2003. Nothing too spectacular that you haven't already heard on their other albums. Maybe, if you're a huge fan, pick it up for some cool songs, but if you're like me and can't stand badly produced music, this is painful to listen to. Overall, I have to say give this a miss.

• When Dream and Day Unite (1989) Recently re-released, Dream Theater's original first album (although it may have originally been released under a different band name). The same band we know, except with a different singer. This singer, and many of the riffs remind me of Rush. And the Malmsteen influences are also much stronger. But there's some good song writing here, and good musicianship overall. They just haven't yet perfected their original style that appears with their next album. Worth owning to see some of the roots of the band. Decent production, but too much reverb, sounds like they're playing far away instead of right in your room.
• Images and Words (1992) Call them progressive rock or metal, Dream Theater is all about complex rhythms, time signatures, long songs and melody. It's a musicians music, never ceasing to amaze. This band is really tight, one riff will be a standard type rock riff, and then the next will be the whole band in perfect unison playing a super complex harmony with fast 16th notes. The sound is excellent, there are heavier parts, lighter parts, and some rather inventive riffs (and unique chord progressions). The vocals do sometimes go over the top (as in really high pitched operatic stuff, we've all heard it before), but I don't find it detracts from the music. If you want something experimental but still rock based in its roots and execution, try the band.
• Another Day (1992, EP)
• Live At The Marquee (1993, LiveEP) 6 Live songs, a few fro