Originally published in ‘zine issue #19, 1997
by Amanda Fordyce
Anthrophobia Framework
(Mausoleum)
Ehh. Anthrophobia has a funky hardcore sound, kind of, and a lot of energy, but it doesn’t go anywhere. They’re very monotonous and I find them a bit annoying.
(by Amanda Fordyce) ■
Beth Orton Trailer Park
(Dedicated)
I loved this CD when I first heard it, but after a while its moody appeal wore off. Beth Orton has great vocals, almost sounding like the singer from Concrete Blonde at times. Also there’s a lot of an ethnic mix in her music, which gives it a multicultural flavor. But all this isn’t enough to color it a strong album.
(by Amanda Fordyce) ■
Coal Chamber Demo 1996
I guess these guys have a record out now on some label and played Ozzfest or something. If so, I’m very, very behind on my reviews. It may have been reviewed last issue; I don’t know at this point. Anyfukenway, these guys sound like Korn a lot. Very groovy and downtuned. They’re OK and all, nothing amazing, but for some reason I like it, probably because I like Korn.
(by Editor) ■
Deceased Fearless Undead Machines
(Relapse)
Wow, I didn’t know that the new album was going to be this good, to be honest. I heard some of the songs months before the release as demo cuts and also live, but neither prepared me for what turned out to be an incredible record of pure fucking metal. It still has that Deceased trademark and the songs are even longer and more epic than last time. It’s a mix of regular Deceased and classic metal and old metal sounds from whence the band came in the ’80s and into the ’70s. If you’re into the new school of death metal bullshit that is more “brutal” than anything worthwhile or with feeling, then steer clear of this LP and listen to your Broken Hope records.
(by Editor) ■
Godflesh Love and Hate in Dub
(Earache)
I was supposed to have a Godflesh interview this issue but I guess Justin didn’t feel like faxing anybody back. But anyway, check this shit out: a cheesy way to describe this record is that it sounds like the last Godflesh album meets mid-career Scorn. It’s got some great jams on it. It helps that I liked the last LP a lot since this is a collection of dub remixes of that record, executed by Godflesh itself. It’s minimalistic in places, catchy, and groovy.
(by Editor) ■
Los Infernos Planet Kaos!
(Doctor Dream)
It makes me think of Danzig with the Misfits singing rockabilly. Planet Kaos sounds like it could appear on the soundtrack of a David Lynch film. Los Infernos plays high-energy rock-core and it’s buyable.
(by Amanda Fordyce) ■
Obituary Back From the Dead
(Roadrunner)
Where do I start? I was surprised to spin this disc as I expected it to be much worse than it turned out to be, after having bad dreams after their last piece of amphibian shit album. Obituary is going for a clean, smooth kind of hardcore death metal approach with lots of midpaced parts, and so the record is basically a retread of itself all the way through. Each song is indistinguishable from any other song on the record. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the band added an asinine, insipid, and immature rap remix song on the end. This record is shit.
(by Editor) ■
Revelation Frozen Masque
The boys are back. Revelation does it again with another demo, I guess their first since the great … Yet So Far album. I’ve come to realize when hearing this demo that I prefer Revelation’s uptempo doom rock songs to their fucking depressing melodic material, both equally strong elements of this tape. Pick it up; it’s worth it. (USA)
(by Editor) ■
Stillsuit At the Speed of Light
(Building/TVT)
Nah, I don’t like them. They’re just not very distinct sounding. Stillsuit is a hard-edged band with intelligent, angry lyrics, whose sound doesn’t take it as far as it could. I don’t like the singer’s voice (it doesn’t click with the music), but the band is pretty talented.
(by Amanda Fordyce) ■
Various Artists Revolution
(Revolution)
There’s some really good bands on this compilation of mostly demos. It’s a fun mix to listen to in the car and the bands are different sounding, from blues to progressive and so on.
(by Amanda Fordyce) ■
