EBOLIE:

• I Like The Old Snuff Better Than The New Snuff (2004, EP) A short EP, 2 songs are from their new album "Elevation Into Disintegration" album, and the last 3 are demos from various members of the band, usually using drum machines. If you have this EP, it was probably free, so no worries, I don't think I'll ever need to put it into my CD player again.
• Elevation Into Disintegration (2004) From the name and cover artwork, it's obvious this band has a bit of a silly side to it. But other than the odd sound clips, record scratches and odd funk inspired bits, this is a pretty straight forward grindcore band. Fans of Cephalic Carnage and Blood Duster know what to expect. The songs are fast, fun, angry, but there's nothing much here to distinguish the band from all the other guys. Maybe if their sound clips had a theme, or maybe if the songs stylistically were a little more coherent. But I'm sure there's lots of people who will enjoy the variety, and from a performance perspective, Ebolie are top notch musicians. A fun album.
• Let Loose (2006, EP)

EIGHTEEN VISIONS:

• Until The Ink Runs Out (2000)
• The Best Of (2001)
• Vanity (2002) The album before their "breakthrough" release "Obsession" shows a much heavier, rawer and angrier Eighteen Visions. However, I still think I prefer their new album more. Why you might ask? Well, it's obvious that one of the elements to the band is the mix of sung and screamed vocals. So while this album may be heavier, the clean vocals they do have are just not done as well as the stuff off of "Obsession", and hence I'd prefer an album that is slightly less heavier but good sounding clean vocals vs heavier and bad sounding clean vocals. Of course, neither are as good as a heavy album with no clean vocals. :) On the music front, some nice heavy riffs here. And a few of the softer songs / intro are neat, like the album closer "Love In Autumn" has that Devin Townsend Ocean Machine feel to it. The production is good, although ever so slightly muffled, and the vocals sound sort of far away instead of in your face. Overall, it sounds a little like one of Chimaira's demos, with Chimaira going heavier in later releases and this band going slightly more "poppier". While some early albums are only worth getting because you want to see where a band began, this album has enough good songs to make it a worthwhile purchase on it's own, just don't expect perfectly polished perfection.
• Obsession (2004) A wide, wide range of influences can be heard in Eighteen Visions, from musical styles such as metal, punk and alternative to bands like Deftones, Chimaira and Filter. But they manage to boil it all down into something very much their own. It's obvious the band can write a great vocal harmony as well as a devastatingly heavy riff. A good example would be 'I Let Go', which has a happy, almost Green Dayish punk feel to it (with the required choral vocal harmony thing going on), then you have something like 'Tower Of Snakes' where you have this tremendous chugging riff, screamed vocals with doublebass and even a Chimaira-esque squawk to boot. Each songs has very much its own character, and are well written. If you're a metal purist who hates clean vocals invading your screams, this band will not be for you, but if you're into bands like the Deftones or Filter but with a little bit of added heaviness, these guys are worth checking into.
• Eighteen Visions (2006) The thing I liked about Eighteen Visions was their mix of styles. What happens if you take super heavy guitars and screams and mix it with harmony in your vocals? The answer was their last album. This album is different. What if you have harmony in your vocals and mix it with...well...nothing. You get BonJovi, or Motley Crue, or Whitesnake, or something like that, and that's basically what this album is. Will it get them laid by tons of hot chicks? Sure. Will it get them a good review from someone who was expecting angry music. No. I mean, hair bands were fun in the 80s, and for nostalgia purposes I still get a smile listening to that stuff now and again. But why oh why would the band decide to unheavy themselves? They had a nice mix going on and now they've gone all light, it's just disappointing. A few of the songs are semi heavy, the intro 'Our Darkest Days' is cool, 'Black And Bruised' has a good bit in the bridge, but most of the material is just too commercially viable, like 'Broken Hearted', I can almost hear David Coverdale singing the lyrics right now, or 'Tonightless'. This reeks of executive interference. "Come on guys, it doesn't matter if the song is good, just as long as we can play it on the radio and people can dance to it during their prom". Anyways, personally I have to give this CD a miss, and I hope on their next one they get back to some heavy songs.

ELEMENT:

• Aeons Past (2007) Brutal technical death metal in the same vein as Origin, Deeds Of Flesh or Spawn Of Possession. The riffs are generally complex, but there's plenty of more straight forward moshing bits too. And there's a few nice spacey acoustic bits to give the listener a short break from the madness. Their furious instrumental 'Dying Suns Descend' is one complex song (and tons of fun to listen to), and I find myself listening to their serene album closer 'Within Singularity' again and again, it reminds me a bit of Joe Satriani's 'Midnight', but a little more eerie. The production is decent, but perhaps a bit more bass next time would round out the sound. Also, this is a short album, only about 30min long. Impressive debut from the band, we'll see what direction they take in the future.
  

ELEMENTS:

• Another Point (1997) A four track debut CD from this Quebec based band. They try and cover a lot of styles in this CD, black metal, death metal, death vocals, screaming vocals, shouting vocals. The variety keeps things interesting, but sometimes interferes with the songs. The production is pretty good and the musicians are obviously talented, I suppose the style falls within the technical death metal genre. An above average CD, but nothing spectacular yet.

• Abandoning The Flesh (2000) I guess the closest connection I can make here is Bolt Thrower. Imagine their "Warmaster" album, but with slightly noisier but thicker production and more blast beats. In fact, the band takes their Bolt Thrower roots one step further with the best rendition of "Cenotaph" I've ever heard (even better sounding then Bolt Throwers version of the song.) But despite the slight unoriginality, I have to say this 5 song EP is pretty fucking amazing. I mean, Bolt Thrower's last album wasn't very good, so why not hand the torch to a new band? If you miss that good old wall of unending sound, and really high quality riffs, check this album out, you won't be disappointed.

• Paradise Burning (2004) Somewhere in the no mans land between grindcore and death metal, End of All combines some of the best stuff from blood duster (some of their groovier riffs and short songs), bands like Cephalic Carnage (changing riffs and styles on a dime), guitar trills a la Cannibal Corpse, and some good old country and western (in an evil way) to create something that truly can be described as all their own. What really puts this stuff a head above the other grind readily available is first the songs, which definitely each have their own character (as opposed to being too similar and hence repetitive), the skills of the band, which are all top notch (the guitars are tight and the drummer can be super fast on the double bass), and the excellent production. The speed at which the band jumps between something blindly fast and something very slow or melodic is crazy considering how smooth and natural they make it all feel. The band is very eclectic without being too corny (like I always felt Cephalic Carnage was). And of course, you have to have the evil sound clips at the beginning of each song to make it all work. Although honestly I feel some of the sound clips are a little long, and you keep wanting them to get back to the music, instead they have to squeeze just one more line in. Top notch madness, grind fans should definitely check this out.
  

• Left Hand Path (1990) The sound is less bass heavy than on Clandestine, but it still has all the elements that makes the band great. Long songs, good riffs, a massive sound.
• Crawl (1991, EP) Basically some odds and ends, and a few tracks off of the upcoming Clandestine. Still a worthy buy.
• Clandestine (1991) Amazing riffs, they combine death with a little touch of blues. Their patented 'Entombed sound' is godly, and spawned about a zillion copy-cat bands. This tone rivals even Bolt Thrower's wall of sound.
• Stranger Aeons (1992, EP)
• Hollowman (1993, EP)
• Wolverine Blues (1993) Well, I won't say this is a bad album, it's just not entombed. The band has dropped the death metal thing and gone sorta hardcore, like Corrosion Of Conformity or motorhead. Which means messier sounding guitars, slower drums, and, gasp!, groove!!!! Some good songs, and overall decent, but I wish that the band had chosen to do a name change or something, because placed beside masterpieces like Clandestine, there's just no comparison.
• Out Of Hand (1994, EP)
• To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth (1997)
• Monkey Puss (Live In London) (1998, Live) 10 of Entombed very best songs from their first two albums. Only one problem. While the song list may be impressive, the performance isn't. This has nothing to do with bad production, the production is actually decent, it's the songs and how they are played. The guitar tone is bone dry with no reverb of any kind, and it sounds totally thin. Notes are missed with an alarming frequency, time signatures are violated, the drummer does his best to hold the rest of the band together, but entire rhythm parts go by without a single proud note. Their thunderous wall of sound on their recorded albums becomes this paper thin transparent sheet. All the finesse you hear on the records is gone. I'm sorry, this CD is a disappointment.

• Secure The Shadow (2006) Melodic death metal in a very similar style to Obscenity or Benediction. It's no surprise this band is from London, everything about their sound and riffs reminds me of the hayday of british / european death metal in the early 90s. Productionwise, the sound is big and distorted, although perhaps a bit far away sounding. The music isn't too fast, isn't too slow, but stays the middle with mid paced double bass, some umpa-beats, and a few breaks for the guitars to get all melodic on us. Vocals are raspy midrange gargles. While the style is a little retro, I have to admit I enjoyed this cd, it had just the right level of nostalgia, catchy riffs and good groove. A shame the band has since broken up, making this their final CD. But enjoy this offering as the last chapter in a band many of us never got a chance to know.

• Die Inside (2004, EP) A little side project with Sordid members Johan (guitars) and Karl (Bass), and new guys Gustav (drums) and Ulf (vocals). This is a short 3 song EP reminiscent of Nasum / early Carcass / Misery Index. Imagine Nasum's Inhale / Exhale but the songs aren't as short. The production is good for a demo, although not polished enough to be a big studio release. For such a short EP, it actually does a good job of grabbing your attention, and the end riff to track 2 (natural harmonic sweeps with chunky stuff) is really killer. If you like Misery Index or Nasum, I highly recommend picking this EP up.
• Prototype (2006) Good old fashioned high quality grindcore. First off, don't expect a big departure from their earlier EP, this cd contains those 3 songs re-recorded and the other new tracks fit right in. The production has gone up a notch, it's definitely less muffled and more in your face. If there was anything to suggest it would be maybe a few more overdubs or something on a future cd to thicken the sound up a bit. But as it is, it's very raw and angry. Great drumming, good riffs, medium length songs and tons of energy to keep your ears locked to your headphones. With Nasum's "Grind Finale" coming out this same week, you'd think this would be a bad time to release a grindcore album, but no, this cd is definitely worth the cash and more, so don't overlook it, you'll be sorry if you do.

• Slaughter In The Vatican (1990) While the name rang a bell, I never actually listened to the band, and decided to take a peak when a reader recommended them to me. You basically get exactly what's advertised, some good old school thrash in the style of Dark Angel / early Testament and Slayer (leaning more towards the Dark Angel realm). The mandatory yelled vocals, plenty of fast rhythm guitar playing, super fast solos and umpa drumming. Productionwise, it's pretty muffled unfortunately. But the band tries to make up for it performance wise with 8 fast and furious songs, and they certainly succeed in the energy department. The liner notes refer to this as one of the most overlooked and underrated bands, and while I agree that this cd is very good and deserves some attention, it also doesn't have anything on it that other bands haven't done long before this cd was released. Still, if you want some good old school thrash, you can get this CD and "The Law" in a double CD set for one low price, and it'll be worth the price.
• The Law (1992) Pretty similar to their last album, although some of the songs are a bit slower and groovier this time (more Pantera like, especially Kyle Thomas' voice), not quite as all frantic all the time. But the slower pace does allow for some more memorable and catchy songs, so what they lose in speed is gained in good riffs. Also, the production has a bit more highend to it this time. Otherwise, the two albums are pretty similar in style. The title track is definitely the best on the album, really good solid riffing here, and they also do a cover of "Into The Void" by Black Sabbath.
  

• 7" Excreting Innards (EP)
• 7" Accidental Double Homicide vol.4 (EP) Comp
• 7" Tales of the Exhumed (EP) Split with Retaliation
• 7" Totally Fucking Dead (EP) Split with Nyctophobic
• In the Name of Gore (1995, EP) Split EP with Hemdale
• 7" Blood and Alcohol (1996, EP) Split with Pale Existence
• Chords of Chaos (1996, EP) 4-way Split CD with Ear Bleeding Disorder / Excreted Alive / Necrose
• Gore Metal (1998) This stuff sounds exactly like old Carcass. Not only do the dual vocalists sound just like Steer and Walker from the famous grindcore band, but everything else reminds me of "Reek of Putrefaction". The noisy but thick production, the bursts of speed, the chaotic riffs, the mangled corpses and butchered people in the album booklet. This is not progressive metal, this is the very beginnings of grindcore where bands were less worried about the riffs and more worried about intensity so strong that the skin gets ripped off your face. Even with this incredible lack of originality, I have to say I enjoyed this CD a lot, because it's done well, and does actually have a few catchy riffs along with the usual noisy tremolo picked wall of white noise. Fast and powerful drumming, intense vocals and good songs. If you dream of the days of early Carcass and wish they'd produce an album like they used to in the good old days of intense grindcore, then get this CD, you'll love it.
• Slaughtercult (2000) Another new album from Carc...er, I mean Exhumed. You know, maybe it's ok that Carcass started releasing crappy albums before they broke up, because there seems to be no lack of other bands ready to pick up the torch (Impaled being an extreme example, and, of course Exhumed). Now that I've set the stage, specifics: this cd doesn't do anything that wasn't done on their last cd. On the positive note however, that means it's still really high quality work within the confines of the style they've given themselves. More noisy guitars (as in white noise wall of sound), more blasts, more dual vocals, more gore and guts. The songs tend to all blend together with virtually no change in speed or volume level, but it's intensity level gets an 11 out of 10, no one can claim these guys have mellowed. Not much more to say really, if you liked the last album, you'll love this album.
• Anatomy Is Destiny (2003) While I still prefer some of the songs off their first album more (namely tracks 1-5), the songwriting on this release has definitely gone up a notch from their last outing. As in, I will actually listen to this one every once in awhile, while Slaughtercult very rarely makes it way to my cd player (not because the album is bad, it's just nothing spectacular). Production wise, a fine album, pretty balanced low and high end, certainly less messy and noisy than Gore Metal. I don't know, there's no particular reason for me to love this cd, I mean, there's no single thing I can point to and say "Hey, that's really cool, that's why I love this album", it's pretty straight forward in all respects and pretty similar to their previous two albums, and yet it does seem to have that certain spark of magic, whether it's the songs, the brutal precise execution, whatever it is, I do have to admit to enjoying this cd. So stop whatever you're doing, sit back, and take a good strong listen to some very angry people play their very angry music.
• Regurgitated Requiems: Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated (2005, Covers)
  

• A Higher Form of Hatred (2001, Demo) This 5 songs EP is a must buy if you're into groovy death metal. Very technical riffs, lots of tapping riffs in the Dying Fetus / Cannibal Corpse style, squawks and plenty of palm mutted chunky stuff as well, hardcore'ish vocals. For a demo, this has great production, really big bass sound and good high end. No mids to be found. And the songs are just killer, they stick in your head even after a single listen. The pits at these guy's concerts must be great, the music really gets you moving. What can I say, excellent material.
• The Darkest Light (2001) Same basic style as their EP, this is a full length though. Overall, quite nice, not quite as focused as their EP, probably due to a larger number of songs. The sound isn't quite as raw, but better sounding overall. I do sorta miss the razor sharp treble on the guitars from their last release though. We need to get these guys signed.
• Promo (2001, Promo) 3 tracks, again, great songs, productionwise the drums are sounding really good, but they need a thicker guitar sound in there. A hidden 4th track features feedback, and a 5th track is an old country song speaking of the virtues of texas.
  

• Souls Of Purity (1993, Demo)
• Labyrinths Of Horror (1995)
• Dejected... (1997, Promo)
• Dejected In Obscurity (1998)
• Berzerker Legions (2001)
• The Pestilence Empire (2002)
• US Berzerker Campaign (2004) Their 3rd album "Berzerker Legions" plus 6 bonus tracks (pest campaign bonus ep section). If you know Malevolent Creation (especially "In Cold Blood" era), you know Exmortem. Same style of tremolo picking, fast and loud blasts and double bass, and the vocalist sounds a little like Jason Blachowicz. Of course, for any of the old readers out there, you know I loved "In Cold Blood", and so while not unique (I could also draw parallels to Krisiun's "Conquerors of Armageddon" album), this band gets high points in my book for capturing some of that vibe, and just overall writing some good songs (a few slower riffs may have helped break the songs up a bit more) and performing them with plenty of anger and ferocity. The production is good, with that wall of sound thing going on, maybe a little more bass on the guitars would have been good, but it's only a small nit. The first 3 of the bonus tracks are live, and sound great, really, really well recorded, no "guy in the crowd with a mic" here. The final 3 tracks (including an autopsy cover) are all well recorded and generally in the same style as everything else. Well worth the cash.
• Nihilistic Contentment (2005) Their last cd reminded me very much of Krisiun, straight ahead, lots of blastbeats and doublebass, not a lot of variation in tempo or style but good solid riffs. So when this cd arrived, I was basically expecting the same thing. Well, I can honestly say the band seems to have branched out a bit. It's not a total makeover, but this cd incorporates a lot of disharmonic elements to the riffs in the style of post-"Covenant" Morbid Angel, Gorgut's "Obscura" or Immolation's "Close To A World Below" (especially Immolation, the way they tremolo pick higher notes, each guitar doing a different note slightly out of tune with the other guy). So while the album's core remains in the style of their previous album, this extra spice immediately makes the album far more diverse and brutal. Production is again really great, the pacing of the album keeps things from getting boring (with a carefully placed slow song and another well placed interlude in between the blast fest). If I had to pick a nit it's that some of the later songs on the album sound possibly a little too much like Immolation, so it's not the most original of material. But I'd have to rate it better than their last album, which was already really good, and fans of good solid death metal should definitely get this ASAP.

• Several Severed Heads (2000) While the name of the band is somewhat unusual, what we have here is the usual splattering of gargly death in an Exhumed / Disgorge / early Dying Fetus style. But the lack of originality beyond their name and song titles ('Swampinstein?') should not detract from the cd, which is well produced and plenty of fun to listen to. No subtly, no accoustic guitar breaks, just a lot of pummeling guitar riffs and vomit style vocals, a perfect soundtrack for those of you who enjoy killing zombies with chainsaws. Let the bloodfeast begin!

• Burial (1998)
  
• Mesmerized (1999, EP)
  
• And I Watch / Human Frailties Grave (2000, 7inch)
• Undeceived (2000)
  
• Paralysis (2001, EP)
  
• Synergy (2003) Truly a band that's greater than the sum of its parts. While all kinds of parallels can be drawn to other bands, including Arch Enemy, Martyr, Invocator, old trash bands from the 80s, the band Death, all the influences mix together into a very cohesive style. As usual, good song writing is at the core. The guitar work on this album is fantastic, very, very tight alternate picked stuff, very precise while still retaining power. In fact, the whole production on this album is top notch, each instrument can be heard very clearly. The vocals are angry screams for the most part somewhat reminiscent of Chuck from Death, and then frequently some clean male / female vocals that work in the music, if you have some strong aversion to this kind of stuff, you may wish to stay away since it's used pretty frequently, but it really didn't bother me too much. Very technical, not to the point of overkill, the songs are certainly memorable and catchy despite all the crazy time signatures. Overall if you're a fan of any of the bands mentioned above, this is good shit and I highly recommend checking the band out.
• The Blueprint Dives (2004) In a word, disappointing. Their previous album, while it had plenty of sung vocals in it, was a masterpiece of complex, razorsharp guitarwork, a fantastic combination of thrash and something more melodic. This album is all melody with almost no thrash elements at all, very little intensity, and little complexity. Most of the rhythms are just held chords, what happened to all those fast complex riffs? As a melodic album, it's not bad at all, I think some of the vocal harmonies are very cool sounding, and even catchy and somewhat inspired, but without some more aggressive stuff to play off of, there's no contrast, this is just happy music. Ok, there are still some shouted vocals, but they're not nearly as prominent, and with the slow uninspired guitarwork, it all seems to fall a little flat. If you've been waiting for a nice melodic / progressive album, check this out, but if you're looking for something as intense as "Synergy", you'll have to keep waiting.

• Radioactive (1985) A split album with Chaos UK.
• Peel Session I (1987, EP)
• Peel Session II (1987, unreleased EP)
• A Holocaust In Your Head (1987)
• Peel Session III (1987, EP)
• Phonophobia
• Retro-bution (1995)
• Damage 381 (1997) A good overall album, riff oriented death metal with clear production. However, nothing on this album really stands out. The song writing is good but not spectacular, the guitar sound is clear but unmemorable, the drumming is good but not...well, you get the idea. Would have probably been more original in the late eighties, but not in '97. Enough good riffs to make it worth listening to.
• Being And Nothing (2001) Ok, forget everything about the last album. The new ENT is just that, a terror. From the opening scream and blasts, it's obvious this band has found that untapped energy that was missing from their last album. This album reminds me a lot of Diabolic, no holds barred, brutal, brutal grind / death. The riffs are great and really stick in your head, the intensity level is an 11, with enough slower parts to completely avoid the monotonous tag. The drumming is fucking insane, blasting, fast double kicks, it's all here. This is a sick, sick album, and while sorta hard to find, a definite must buy.