Originally published in ‘zine issue #21, 1998
by Editor
Benümb Soul of the Martyr
(Relapse)
I don’t know if this CD amounts to a discography, but contained herein are several of the band’s EP tracks (besides the Soul of the Martyr album) including live songs from their set at Fiesta Grande #5. Benümb is a metalcore start-stop deathgrind band with short, fast-as-shit songs as well as slightly longer, heavier numbers. A great bunch of guys, too. And I love their cover art. ■
Earth Crisis Breed the Killers
(Roadrunner)
I never liked Earth Crisis. I thought their brand of metal sucked. Them being hardline didn’t help either. But this new album has such slick production that what edge they admittedly had is lost. The vocals are inexplicably recorded horribly as well. Their bio boasts of them “being on the front lines” or “making a difference” or whatever. Give me one example of Earth Crisis doing anything besides talking down to people and playing shitty metal. Then I’ll be impressed. This record sucks ass. ■
Fates Warning Still Life
(Metal Blade)
A double live CD of new Fates Warning. The first CD is comprised of 12 movements of the opus “A Pleasant Shade of Gray.” The second CD has some (somewhat) more rocking material from albums such as Parallels and No Exit. Fates Warning, for those of you who don’t know, is progressive fusion metal as fuck. I was surprised to see Joey Vera plays on this recording. ■
Grave Extremely Rotten Live
(Century Media)
As the name suggests, this is a live album from Grave. I saw these guys once in D.C. and even though they were in front of a depressingly small crowd, they played their hearts out. So you gotta love ’em. There is a selection or two from each of their albums here, and I respect a lot that they did that for their fans. I don’t listen to Grave anymore (except for Into the Grave), but if you love death metal, get it. ■
Gore Beyond Necropsy Noise-A-Go-Go!!
(Relapse)
I like some of GBN’s material—they have several split 7″es, live tapes, demos, et cetera—but this CD of noisecore sucks. It’s so boring! I never thought I’d say this about a band, but they were better with the drum machine. I have no idea why there exists a CD of this stuff. I’ve heard a live tape of them playing (with a drummer) Napalm Death covers with Merzbow doing electronic noise over the top, and that stuff is brilliant, but this … ! ■
The Haunted ’98 album
(Earache)
Not bad at all! The Haunted features members of At The Gates (R.I.P.), most notably the guitar players, as well as other metal bands. I mention the guitar players because this is a guitar-driven band, and it basically sounds like a much more thrashy At The Gates if they were at their prime in the late ’80s. The record starts off with an air of “We’re doing this band for fun,” and fun it is. Good production and musicianship are some of the plusses of this album. I think the weak link of this band, if there is one, is the singer, and of course the bass is low in the mix, but it’s still a blast to listen to. ■
Mercyful Fate Dead Again
(Metal Blade)
I’m surprised that this record is good. It makes Time look like shit (I never heard Into the Unknown, but they were boring when I caught them on that tour). This is the first time that I found out Hank Sherman is no longer in the band. Fate has redeemed itself and remembered how to play good metal. Kudos! I can hear the classic metal riffing style (even though I wasn’t in the scene when they were doing it in the old days) and the melodic parts are well-crafted as well. And I get the impression that the lyrics are more overtly Satanic like the old Fate as well. ■
Unleashed Warrior
(Century Media)
I am happy to finally listen to the latest Unleashed. I used to call them the AC/DC of death metal, but now I shall start calling them one of the most consistently good bands in the scene. Go out and buy any Unleased album. They’re all equally good. This new one has some interesting points to it. The last time I interviewed Unleashed, the singer said he was singing “100% by the tones,” meaning he wanted to sing high or low or midrange as the song in question warranted. This is most evident on Warrior. The songs have a very simple verse/chorus structure which helps give this album a very direct, down ‘n’ dirty feel which works very well. Unleashed rocks the house. ■
