Originally published in ‘zine issue #7, 1993
Anacrusis Screams and Whispers
(Metal Blade Records)
These guys have a sound a bit stranger than most. Lots of tempo changes and breaks make an interesting listen. They sound real progressive. The guitars crunch some of the time, too. The vocalist is all over the place. Definitely worth picking up.
(by Vaughn Currier) ■
Kid Rock The Polyfuze Method
(Continuum)
How can I express how utterly awful this is? No one should be subjected to this Vanilla Ice wannabe. When a white kid from suburbia throws out his Bon Jovi records in favor of Ice Cube, it’s not pretty.
(by R. Mason) ■
Samael Blood Ritual
(Century Media Records)
Black metal is making a comeback. These guys have been listening to old Venom, Bathory, and probably Celtic Frost. This a really good album with Satanic references that actually seem genuine. Samael may be the best black metal band today.
(by R. Mason) ■
Soulstorm Darkness Visible
(Metal Blade Records)
With unrelenting and powerful rhythms from start to finish, these guys are a nice cross between real tame but strong death metal and your more guitar-oriented industrial styles. They lyrics are dreary as hell, as is the sound. I highly recommend this.
(by Vaughn Currier) ■
Sick Of It All, Biohazard, and Sheer Terror
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
by Vaughn Currier
Well, I walk in the door, and, lo and behold, Sheer Terror’s been added to the bill. The Blackout! Records band started the show off and got a really good sound. It was punchy with the bass drums a-rollin’ and a great bass guitar sound to boot. The singer issued a challenge to a fist fight with any Riot Grrrl in the club.
Next was Roadrunner’s Biohazard and, granted that I disagree with its politics in regards to eating animals, it did have some hip things to say about racism. The band was quite good and wound up devoting a good portion of the set to its older stuff. The place was really moving for Biohazard.
Sick Of It All had replaced Rich once again on bass, but this time with Craig of the now-defunct Agnostic Front. Nearing the end of the set, he broke the low bass string and had to finish things by playing an octave up. SOIA was incredible. Lou talked about recent events where that kid, wearing an SOIA shirt, went on a homicidal rampage and the press linked the kid’s actions to SOIA’s music. Lou sarcastically asked the crowd in which song it was that he told people to go out and kill people. We all had a good laugh.
It was a really intense show, and all the people made the club nicely humid and stuffy. ■
