KMFDM:

• WWIII (2003) After a short intro, there's a sudden blast like a bomb going off, and then we're right into a nice pumping doublebass / low E string riff. Yes!! That's exactly how I want to start my morning. The title track alone is worth the price of admission, so if there are other good songs on the album, hey, bonus. Track2 is groovy but not as high energy, Track 3's 'Black Ball' sticks in your head with a strong throbbing beat (and ya gotta love a song about a black ball, I mean, come on). I'll stop the blow by blow, but there's plenty of other good memorable songs to be had, and the album ends with a self referential song, which is a requirement for all KMFDM albums. Gotta run, want to listen to that first track again.
• WWIII Tour 2003 (2003, DVD) This DVD suffers from what any live industrial concert captured on DVD or CD suffers from. The music is so processed, so sampled, from the voices to the vocal choruses to the percussion to the keyboards, that the band is able to almost precisely replicate what you hear on the album live. Now while that may be cool if you're actually there, it means that listening to / watching it at home really is no different than listening to the original studio CD, so why bother? It doesn't help that the first 3 songs are the first 3 songs off WWIII the album, and much of the rest of it is too. It is sort of cool seeing the band perform, the group wears flashy costumes, but there don't move around all that much, and the video / music sync slips a few times, causing delays between what you see and what you hear. Basically this comes off as one long music video more than a live concert. Ah well, at least you get to see Lucia wearing a skintight suit, and the light show is kinda neat.  Anyways, it was enjoyable, may be worth a rental, the band does look fun live but I think I'd recommend going to see them next time they're coming through your town instead of seeing this DVD. 

KOLDBORN:

• Blessed By Beyond (1999, Demo)
• First Enslavement (2002) Quite a number of styles represented here. Some power-metal pummeling, some more black-metalish tremolo picking, some straight ahead death metal blast beats, some serious groove, chunky palm muted guitars, a few squawks, even the odd clean female vocal part. Imagine Altar crossed with Iniquity, Malamor, Pantera and Arch Enemy. A band not afraid to mix it all up, this is metal personified. These guys are probably killer live what with the shear heaviness of some of these riffs, music to move to. Vocals are sort of a raspy bark, some good solid drumming as well. I'm not a huge fan of some of the Arch Enemy-like melodic guitar parts they go into sometimes (fortunately not too frequently), but otherwise, no complaints, this is a solid release and definitely worth your attention.
• The Devil Of All Deals (2005, EP) Pretty much in the same vein as their last album, take a little of several different styles of metal and mix them together into something that's pretty damn deadly. This band still reminds me a bit of Altar or Iniquity, this EP specifically reminds me a little of Iniquity's "The Hidden Lore" EP, in that it's short (5 songs, less than 20min) but with no fat, only quality riffs here, tons and tons of "That riff is fucking awesome" moments. Production could still use a tiny bit of polish, but hell, it's an EP, can't wait for the new album this summer.
• The Uncanny Valley (2006) Wow. From the opening notes you know these guys are ready for some serious damage. First off, damn good production value, they've got a great mix and it's really punchy. A nice thick guitar tone, plenty of overdubs here to get that nice wall of sound. And when the drummer blasts, you can feel it in your gut. The sound definitely puts their other album to shame. Intensity wise, this is really strong as well, I'd put them up there at the same level as Aborted's last few albums. There's just no letup in the anger and brutality. Otherwise, pretty similar to their older material. A shame this album sat so long while the band got an album deal worked out. If I were a record company and had heard this, I'd have signed them immediately. If you enjoyed their previous work, this album is that on steroids. If you've never heard any of their music and you like stuff like Aborted, Iniquity or Exmortem, you owe it to yourself to take a listen. Excellent album.

KORN:

• Korn (1994) Another in a long line of new style metal bands for the late 90s, mixing alternative with anger and detuned guitars to achieve something that we can't really categorize anymore. Some good songs, some uninspired, unoriginal songs, but enough decent material to make it a good buy. The production is great, with a huge, huge bass sound that mixes seamlessly with the crunchy detuned guitar tone, and the drums, well they provide a powerful although predictable set of drum patterns to create a solid backbone to the music. The vocals go from furious to almost silly. Not everybody's cup of tea, check it out, then decide.
• Life is Peachy (1996) A continuation of their last album. Although several of the songs sound more like experimentations in strange noises than actual songs, there's still some good material here, especially towards the end of the album. Nice production with all the standard trimmings for this style of music, and some really weird vocals (screams, yelling, scatting). I feel the album is not very polished, it's very live feeling and I feel the performance could be a little tighter and refined, but I guess that will have to wait for later albums.
• A.D.I.D.A.S. (1997, EP) Three remixes of the infamous song. The remixes are fine, but they aren't too varied, if you're going to include three copies of the same song, at least the remixes should be different styles, and not essentially the same thing (the lyrics sung to a repetitive boring drum machine and some synth harmony). Then a remix of 'Wicked' done, you guessed it, in the same style as the first 3 songs. Argh. Don't waste your cash.
• Follow The Leader (1998) How do you review a band like Korn? People love them, people hate them. The problem is that the media keeps thinking for some odd reason that they're the heaviest band around. Obviously they've never listened to Dying Fetus. The other problem is people who like Korn now think they understand everything there is to know about metal, which they don't, because Korn, while definitely a metal band, mix many other influences and styles in the pot. I will review Korn on what they are, not on what the media makes of them. They're a decent band with some nice riffs. The songs are simple, but have lots of textures, violently detuned guitars, strange spacy noises, a huge bassy and crunchy sound (and the bass player has lots of the high end twack without loosing the stuff in the lower register), and pounding drums. The vocalist yells, he whines, he sings, but he's not as angry as the singers in similar bands (Coal Chamber or Deftones). Some memorable riffs, some intense moments, Sepultura meets Alice In Chains. They also incorporate elements from all sorts of other styles, rap, hiphop, goth, industrial, you name it. Is the band good? They grab a lot of stuff from everywhere and manage to hold it together pretty well. I like this CD, it's not the be all or end all of metal, but if you peel away all the hype, there's still a decent band here who have some good musical ideas. Simple, but good.
• Got The Life (1998, EP) The original 'Got The Life' from their "Follow The Leader" album. Then two remixes of the song, both of which are pretty good (some nice bassy harsh techno), and then one new song, standard Korn fare.
• Issues (1999) Sorry guys, try again. I admit, I actually liked their last few albums, but this album sounds like a parody on themselves. All the standard Korn elements are here, except any sort of originality or variety. Listening to it, you get the impression that the band released a CD just so they could release a CD, the performance lacks energy, and sounds like the band is tired, and they're hoping to reach the end of the album as fast as you are. The songs tend to all sound similar, the riffs tend to remain a single note pounded over and over again, slow, and very predictable (and simplistic) song structures. In short, it lacks any good hooks, or any spice, something to break the monotony. The songs are not as catchy as they were, and the production took a bit of a slide, it's still large and loud, but not nearly as clear as it used to be, since they threw on a bunch of reverb and extra distortion, turning their sound into a mess (if they were going for the wall of sound thing, they missed it, go listen to a few more Bolt Thrower records.) I have not given up all hope on this band, however, after the 3 times I listened to this CD all the way through, I don't see any need to listen to it again. Take some time off guys, and stop believing your own hype, good songs and not image is what makes memorable music.
• Untouchables (2002) While better than their last album, I'm afraid I gotta label this one as another miss. Most songs start with a decent heavy riff for the verse, and you think the song is gonna go somewhere, then the chorus kicks in and is overly whiny, spacy and soft. In fact, that happens over and over again with every song after formulaic song. Way too many keyboards and sung parts with very little anger. And the lyrics, I mean: "The bitches I love, make them die and go away"??? Sorry, there's really nothing new or invigorating on this album. I have a 2 strike rule, a band is allowed to have one bad album, hey, I mean shit happens, but two bad albums in a row and they're out. Maybe worth purchasing for a few good riffs here and there, but if you want to hear some innovators in the genre get the new Slipknot, Skinlab or Deftones, Korn just ain't doin it for me anymore.
• Take A Look In The Mirror (2003) Ok, so I have my 2 strike rule in effect, and I don't buy the new Korn. I don't even have too try to hard not to buy it, I just never get the urge. Then my office mate picks it up, and starts playing it at the office, and I have to admit, I'm immediately surprised, did Korn get angry again? Seems after two very average albums, Korn found their roots again with a bunch of memorable songs (I still can't remember a single song off their last two albums, wheras this one has a number of songs that stick in my head), a lot of heaviness, and the vocalist is actually screaming again like he really means it. This material is a lot closer to their first 2 albums, or even "Follow The Leader" without as much rap. There is one rapped song on this album, but the vocals are a completely different guy, and while not a fantastic song, it doesn't really bug me. The only really low point in the album IMO is their cover of Metallica's 'One' at the end as a live bonus hidden track, they cut up the song really bad, removing a lot of segments, including the high energy thrash part at the end. One of the beauties of that song is how it builds slowly and then explodes at the end, this version builds too quickly, and then doesn't go anywhere. Anyways, guess I'd better up the 2 strike rule to 3 strikes. People who do not like Korn will not be impressed by this album, but fans of the band who've felt as I do their last 2 albums haven't been very good may find this to be a refreshing return to their original style.
• See You on the Other Side (2005) Korn's had some bad albums, they've had some good albums, and in the end, this album is somewhere in between. At first I figured it would swing heavily into the bad category after hearing the first single 'Twisted Transistor', which was overly simple, not terribly interesting from a music perspective, and the lyrics? God awful to say the least (never write music about listening to music, it makes you sound like you've run out of stuff to talk about). But after the initial letdown, the rest of the album reveals some good songs. Not all of them, but several. And each song has a little bit of its own identity, thanks to a unique hook or a catchy vocal line. Little bits like the low bends at about 3:00 in 'Souvenir' for example, or the chunky opening to 'Liar'. So actually, there's some good stuff here, but then there are the bad points: first, a few boring songs. Second, related to the first, the album has too many songs (14 in all), it goes on a just too long. Third, there isn't a lot of changes in tempo, most songs are all at the same speed and don't have radically different drum beats, so despite the uniqueness of some of the riffs and the vocals, the drums are a little too monotonous. No real super standout songs that are bound to be Korn classics, but some decent music for the most part with a few spots to skip. "See You On The Other Side" gets a better than average rating, but I preferred their last album more.
  
• Untitled (2007) Well, it started off promising. The album begins with a spooky intro, plenty of carnival sounds and eerie keyboards, and I thought "ok, this could be good". But then, what is this? You're supposed to follow an intro like that with something devastatingly heavy or fast or brutal. Instead, what we get is dull. And the dullness continues all the way through the album. What do I mean by dull exactly? Well first, 99% of the vocals are sung, with almost no shouting/screaming. The guitars rarely if ever get heavy, they might as well be synth guitar, it would have sounded identical. And I can sort of imagine the drummer sitting there on his stool in a coma. I mean, there's basically not a single riff that has the complexity, speed, or heaviness to cause him to break a sweat. A few songs have some slight glimmers of hope, there's a nice middle part in the song 'Hold On', or parts of 'Killing', but there's not a single track that holds my attention all the way through. A huge disappointment, far worse than their last album, and their last album wasn't all that hot either. I give it a must miss.

• Korrodead (1999, Demo) A 5 song Demo EP. Standard death / grindcore. Very low vocals, lots of blasting, slow sludgy bits as well, the usual. Lots of bass, but the clarity needs to be worked on a bit, the top end is too muffled, and things blend together too much. Shouldn't be too hard to fix I assume once the band gets some serious cash and a lot of time in some major studio. I'm enjoying the riffs, but some more work on song structure would tighten the whole production together into a well oiled death machine. Overall, some good potential that should interest all fans of grinding death, will be interested to see how the band progresses in future releases.
• Acts Beyond the Pale (2001, Demo) Another 5 song demo, but this time a little more polished. The production still needs some high end to it (no lack of bass here), but the song structures are a lot better, which makes everything a lot more memorable. Several songs remind me of Gorguts off their "Erosion of Sanity" album, but with Disgorge style super low vocals. This band has this really great habit of playing very slow, low sludgy riffs, then these nice clear sqwacks, followed then of course with blast beats and fast tremolo picking. This band is showing a lot of promise, hopefully this Demo will get some record label interest. To get the demo, write Mike at miker_k@yahoo.co.uk, the album is 10 UK£ including delivery anywhere in the world (9 UK£ for Europe).

• Christian Corpse Mutilation (2003) Gargly death metal in the style of Malignancy or early Disgorge (with the necessary cookie monster vocals of course). Another one man band, well, two actually, Cpt Blaaaa does guitars and someone named nikfuk does vocals, no mention of the drummer, and I assume this is a live guy, since a drum machine would keep better time. Basically this isn't horrific or anything, some of the riffs are cool, but there are a few aspects to it that keep it from shining. First, no bass, only guitar. Second, the recording while mixed ok sort of fades in and out a bit and slows down and speeds up at strange times, almost like this was originally recorded on a tape and then the tape got left out in the sun or microwaved or something and so became warped. Overall the performance is messy, not in time, not recorded particularly well. And it's only 6 songs. I'd personally give it a miss, there are much better albums in this genre to check out.
  

• Rises From Black (1993, EP)
• Curse Of The Evil One (1993, EP)
• Unmerciful Order (1993, Demo)
• Black Force Domain (1995) Very, very fast, unending, unrelenting, speed, lots and lots of speed. Fast tremolo picking for pretty much the whole album, not to mention tons of double kicks and blast beats. Production wise, these guys have a few things to learn, the drumming is really loud in the mix (which is good), but probably too loud compared to everything else, the guitar is way low in the mix and all muffled and nasally, no bass at all. The songs are good, but they're too similar to each other, lots of fast picking and blasting with very little variation. But even considering the down points, I have to give it high marks for spirit, it just doesn't get any more intense then this, and any band that puts this much rage into a release is doing something right. So while there's not much in the way of originality, fans of "purely aggressive hyperblasting, fuck all melody as long as my ears get raped" music should definitely check this album out.
• Apocalyptic Revelation (1998) Not much to say. Same band, same unending hammer of riffs with no breaks in the intensity, which can get slightly monotonous at times. Good riffs here and there, production somewhere between their previous album and their next album.
• Conquerors Of Armageddon (2000) Ok, I admit, I've now reached overload. Ready for this, every single, and I mean every single note on this album is a double kick. Yes, at no point does the drummer play a single riff that does not include double kicks, and I don't mean quick spurts of kicks, I mean, constant, unending 16ths and 16th note triplets during every riff of every song. And 90% of those riffs also include blast beats. Although as a premise this is great, I do admit it can be very tiring, not to mention monotonous, but at the same time, it gives me some sort of sick pride to know there's someone out there who's crazy enough (not to mention athletic enough) to pull this off. Ok, enough about that. Oh ya, there's a band playing during this orgy of kicks as well, and a mighty good band at that. The riffs are really good, great songs, very powerful music including fast and precise tremolo picking and some great chunky slow riffs (with double kicks underneath, of course). Production wise, excellent sound with good bass and high end crunch from the guitar (just the right number of overdubs to achieve that wall 'o distorted sound). The guitar player is pretty damn spectacular as well, doing some very fast solos, including lots of sweep picking. Vocals are done by the bass player and tend to be growled in a midrange death metal tone. The drummer, oops, I already talked about him, well, the sound is very triggered, and he never lets up for a second. Possibly a cyborg of some kind (but not a computer, I've seen him live, yes, he's just as unrelenting in person). In short, you're either going to be bored, or else say this is the most brilliant, fastest and most brutal band ever to grace planet earth. Ah hell, never mind the shortcomings of the repetitive drumming, I'll stand behind the band, someone needs to be doing this stuff, it's a level of anger that needs to be heard by everyone, so buy the CD asap.
• Conquering North America 1999-2000 (2000, Bootleg Live) A limited CD containing two shows with Krisiun. What with all the well produced live shows I've heard recently which are live in name only, it's actually kinda refreshing hearing an old bootleg some-guy-in-the-crowd-with-a-small-mike kinda show. The first show has actually ok production, I mean, it sounds like a bootleg, but it's not super noisy, all the instruments come through clear, you can even hear the kickdrum clearly which is something that doesn't usually work on bootlegs very well. 7 songs, yes, Max Kolesne really does play live all that double bass you hear on the studio albums. Moyses Kolesne even gets a short shredding guitar solo that's kinda fun. The 2nd show has pretty substandard production, you can barely hear anything over the static and sound swells, basically if you buy this you're buying it for the first show. If you see this around, I suggest picking it up, it's a nice way to hear the band live in a more low-tech setting.
  
• Ageless Venomous (2001) Essentially identical to their last album, but with only decent production. I feel sorry for the band, no disrespect, but the guitars are really low in the mix, their last album had this nice big, thick, overdubbed, wall of sound production that kicked serious ass, and this new album sounds weak in comparison. The guitars are so low (and the bass is just gone) that the drums take over entirely, which may not be totally bad, but I think balance is the answer here. After you get over this initial shock, the album is actually pretty good, lots of good riffs, Max does his usual never-ending double kicks with ultra precision, the album avoids monotony with some decent intros to break up the album into more defined sections. And of course, Moyses can shred like no other, whether it's a solo or a complex hammer-on riff overtop of double kicks (of course). Overall, still worth getting, but please guys, don't rush next time and spend more time on getting back to the "conquerors" production.
• Works Of Carnage (2003) Ok, the first obvious question: Is the production on this cd as shitty as the production on the last cd? Thankfully, no. While not quite as thick as "Conquerors Of Armageddon", and with a little more reverb vs more layers of guitar, it's still plenty decent, and I'm overjoyed the band got it right, since I'd hate for bad production to detract again from good songs (Thanks Pierre). Otherwise, you know what to expect, plenty of tremolo and alternate picking, unending double bass, and really vicious vocals. There's a little more variety here than previously, like the intro to 'Murderer', or the inclusion of a cover tune with "In League With Satan" from Venom, as well as an intro and outro. Intensity, simplicity, a very worthy Krisiun CD to add to the collection.
• Bloodshed (2004, EP) 8 new tracks from the band and 4 tracks taken from their "Unmerciful Order" Demo in 1993. First, the new tracks, I have a hard time calling it 8 new songs really, since 3 are eerie instrumental soundscape things that really aren't terribly memorable. The new songs are decent, but the production is a bit muffled, and the riffs sound a little rehashed. Either they need to be really original or super intense (like their "Conquerors" album), and these don't really fall into either category. The old demo is cool to have, but as you can imagine, the music isn't recorded terribly well and isn't all that mindblowing. As an EP, it's not bad, but there's really nothing here to persuade me to give it multiple spins in my cd player.
• AssassiNation (2006) First impressions, a big improvement over the new material on "Bloodshed". In my opinion, Krisiun is all about their 3rd album, "Conquerors Of Armageddon", every album they release in the future will be measured against that benchmark, and "AssassiNation" is the closest they've come to recapturing the "Conquerors" sound and intensity. The songs are all pure Krisiun, maybe not the most inventive stuff out there, but lots of solid riffing, fast double bass and angry screamed vocals. My only real critique is that the album ends with a tribal drum instrumental and then a cover song, which is kind of a let down. I always prefer when an album ends with a big powerful original song, as opposed to feeling like the last few songs are just tacked on there. Again, something like 'Endless Madness Descends', now that's how to finish an album. Definitely my second favorite Krisiun release.
• Live Armageddon (2006, DVD) Live DVD from the band. The main concert is taken from Metal Mania show in Poland in 2004. First off, what's up with the stage? It's huge, and the band is way too spread out. Like there's the guitarist, and he's like 100 feet away from the bass player, who's about 100 feet from the drummer. A big stage is good for Slipknot with 9 guys, but for 3 guys you need to pack them closer to the front so you get a little band chemistry going. Instead, you get some pretty boring visuals since there's no interaction between band members and the music the band plays isn't exactly full of variety to begin with. The sound and cameras are decent though, very professional, although I'm confused why they never show the drummer's feet the whole show, I mean Krisiun is so much about the consistent fast double bass, and it's mixed low and the camera never gets a look at his legs. Best track from this concert is definitely 'Conquerors Of Armageddon', but the band pounds though a dozen tracks pretty damn flawlessly, quite a feet for the sheer stamina required to play their music. Then in the bonus section is a show from San Paolo in 2004, which despite being a "bonus" feature, I feel is the superior concert. Yes, the video and sound are more club style, so not as professional (and the bass sounds like they blew a speaker), and yes you rarely see the drummer at all, but at least the band is on a small intimate stage, you get a lot of great chemistry between the musicians, and you get a chance to be blown away by the intensity of the band. The double bass is plenty loud, and Moyses' guitar solos are just crazy to watch, talk about fast picking. There's also a short drum solo, which seems silly since every song is a drum solo and Max doesn't do anything in the solo he doesn't do in the songs. Then a quick 2 song bootleg from Wacken open air festival, which has horrible sound, but at least you get a better view of Max playing the drums. Finally, footage of the band in the studio, very little talk, basically just clips of them playing their parts, which I enjoyed, it's 10 min and that's just the right length for this sort of material. A lot of footage to be sure, a Krisiun fan will certainly like the DVD, but for someone just getting into the band, I'd recommend seeing them in person instead of picking this up, they have an energy live that just doesn't come across as well when viewed in the comfort of your own home.
• Southern Storm (2008) In the same vein as "AssassiNation". The band doesn't stray far from the fold on this one, it has all the trademarks that you'd expect from the group, continuous doublebass, bursts of blasting, the angry vocals. And yes, just about every song follows the usual Krisiun formula of chugging that E string a bunch, and then hitting either an F, Eflat or Bflat (if you've ever heard a previous Krisiun album, you're well aware of this chord progression). The production on this album is also impeccable, really well mixed with lots of power. It also includes a cover of fellow Brazilians Sepultura's 'Refuse / Resist' that for the most part is identical to the original song. The only thing that's a little different is this really nice acoustic guitar interlude called 'Black Wind' which is the only real break from the hammering. The album also ends strong, which was one of my critiques of their last album. "Southern Storm" is nothing new for the band, if you're tired of the formula, you're not gonna dig this, but I found it really enjoyable within the context the band has already set up. No new territory, Krisiun has just perfected a style and the fun is in listening to it being executed so well. Recommended.