Originally published in ‘zine issue #1, 1991
Abominog Grotesque Humanity 7”
(With Your Teeth)
This is the first 7” from With Your Teeth Records. Abominog’s Grotesque Humanity, the follow-up to the Resting In Your Grave demo, contains two songs, the title track and “World War Gore,” both new. This is a four-track recording and the production is somewhat lacking, but the important thing is the tunes are really good. These songs are both upbeat as far as the tempo goes, about fast Slayer speed. The packaging is also professionally done, courtesy of Jimmy Murray. Anyway, for $5 it’s a steal!
(by Editor) ■
Asphyx The Rack
(Century Media)
The new, improved Asphyx now features Martin van Drunen, formerly of Pestilence fame. Martin joined Asphyx for the 1991 demo and the band got signed afterwards. The entire 1991 demo is included on The Rack, but all the songs on the album are heavy as hell. I love the production. My favorite songs on this are “Diabolical Existence,” “Wasteland of Terror,” and “The Rack.” The drums, vocals, bass, and guitars are all sick and really fucking brutal. Go get The Rack; you won’t be disappointed.
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Autopsy Mental Funeral
(Peaceville)
The new Autopsy album, Mental Funeral, is out in stores, and I must stress that no home music collection is complete without it. Surpassing the Peacefull Records debut, Severed Survival, in orignality and morbidness, this album is a masterpiece of death metal. The only thing I don’t really like about Mental Funeral is the production, but this isn’t a major thing. Autopsy, which recruited a new bassist for this album than the first one, tried a few new twists and pulled it off marvelously. The classic Autopsy death metal sound with doom metal spice is still here and better than ever. Smoke four OB’s and get it!
(by Editor) ■
Bad Brains Rock For Light
(Caroline)
Remixed and remastered, this album still packs a hell of a punch. It includes three extra tracks and is well worth picking up. The songs sound completely re-done but still have all the power of the originals.
(by Sean Rogers) ■
Bolt Thrower Warmaster
(Combat/Earache)
One would think that Bolt Thrower, one of the heaviest bands in the world, wouldn’t be able to top the masterful Realm of Chaos album, the band’s second. Well, that’s true, although the third release, Warmaster, is just as good.
The packaging for the new one was’t made in conjunction with Games Workshop but is still a cut above the average. The production is cleaner than earlier albums (and I wish Jo Bench was higher in the mix) but still strong. The musicianship is more polished also, and the music is a bit slower than before, but still, both of these remain brutal. All in all, Warmaster is another addition to Bolt Thrower’s collection of incredible studio efforts.
(by Editor) ■
Brutal Truth The Birth of Ignorance
Danny Lilker of Nuclear Assault’s side project—and everyone in that band has one except Anthony Bramante—is death/grind, with lyrics that’re socially conscious, which is to be expected coming from Danny. The demo is of the general verse-chorus-lead break-verse-chorus structure but it’s pulled off interestingly, with a raw and aggressive bash-the-instruments feel. There’s some good production too. A solid tape all around. It’s not as happening as Nuclear Assault or anything, but then, that wasn’t the intent. $4 to Brutal Truth.
(by Editor) ■
Carrion Lord All Paths Lead to Chaos
This band, fairly new on the schene, has opened for Brutal Truth and other local death metal bands. Carrion Lord’s demo is of course death metal with a lot of gothic, doomy, almost Morbid Angel-ish philosophy rampant in the lyrics and hanging over the music. Said music is kind of interesting, crunchy at times and heavy others. The production sounds like it was done on a cheesy four-track, however. All in all, this tape is worth having for three bucks, and I believe you get a free sticker of the logo with it, which is cool. (USA)
(by Editor) ■
Dark Angel Time Does Not Heal
(Combat)
The follow-up to Leave Scars, TDNH features some changes in the Dark Angel sound. Ron Rinehart sings his vocals now, which is one of the first things you’ll notice upon playing this album. At first I hated this, but I got used to it. I read an interview in Ultimatum ‘zine a while back (w’sup, Kim!) in which Gene Hog-man warned that Ron’s vocals were going to change in this way.
The guitar riffs are more technical with the addition of Brett Eriksen and the guitars are loud in the mix, which takes away from the drums. And where’s the fucking bass guitar? The lyrics that Gene and the others wrote are very dark as usual, but more refined. The best lyrics are to be found in the songs “The New Priesthood” and “An Ancient Inherited Shame.”
The album takes some getting used to and is more in the direction set forth by Leave Scars and away from the earlier stuff. The band is still fast and heavy but the aggression is more polished now.
(by Editor) ■
Deceased Gut Wrench 7”
(Relapse)
Northern Virginia’s own “death metal from the grave” band, Deceased, is back once again with its first seven inch, pressed on red vinyl, no less. Gut Wrench is yet another example of this band’s ability and longevity and has professional, three-color packaging and a gruesome cover.
Side A features a remix of “Planet Graveyard,” taken from the band’s third demo, Nuclear Exorcist. Strong production on this track. Side B contains two live tracks, “Gut Wrench” (as a three piece) and “After the Bloodshed,” both from the group’s first demo, Evil Side of Religion. This side has solid production also. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you write this band. $4 US, $6 world.
(by Editor) ■
Exit-13 Green Is Good!
(Relapse)
Exit-13 is a grind band with positive lyrics having to do with bettering the Earth and yourself in general, and about how much things piss it off, as with Disrupt. Acutally, these two bands have a bit in common, except that I like Disrupt a little better. Exit-13 is a very blurcore outfit with vocals that change from song to song and tongue-firmly-in-cheek attitudes, although this doesn’t take away from the strength of its message. Green Is Good! is an LP with 14 songs on it, all with rough musicianship and the occasional flanging effect on some riffs. I like the vocals best when the singer is enunciating the lyrics in a close-to-clear voice. But definitely order this LP; it’s worth it. $9 everywhere.
(by Editor) ■
Fear Of God Within the Veil
(Warner Brothers)
Richard and I went to Washington, D.C. to check out this band, and I had never heard of it before. The band was godly! So later Rich said, “Review Within the Veil.” OK, I listened to it in my car and was blown away by the power of this band. Dawn Crosby sings with such passion and it’s almost hypnotic. There’s also kick-ass melodic music backed by crunching thrash guitars. I suggest you go out to your local record store and buy it. You won’t be disappointed!
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Ice-T O.G. Original Gangster
(Sire/Warner Bros.)
This is destined to be another rap classic. Harder than ever, Ice-T even shows some diversity by including his hardcore band Body Count on the album. As for Ice-T selling out, not on this album and definitely not anytime soon.
(by Sean Rogers) ■
Intruder Psycho Savant
(Metal Blade)
The guys from Thrashville, Tennessee are back once again with some speedy riffs and angry outlooks in the follow-up to the Escape From Pain EP. Psycho Savant has the same Intruder sound but more pissed off. The production is strong, courtesy of Bill Metoyer, except the bass, as I always say, is too low in the mix. The lyrics are generally heavy and good. “It’s a Good Life” is about a particularly demented episode of the original The Twilight Zone show, for example, but I don’t dig what the band says with “Final Word.” But to conclude, Intruder plays energetic thrash and has done it again with the new album.
(by Editor) ■
Malevolent Creation The Ten Commandments
(RC)
Malevolent Creation is a Florida death metal band that has a new album out. The debut has a deceivingly slow introduction song called “Memorial Arrangements” (that makes me think of Obituary a little), which belies the blur-speed of the rest of the album’s nine tracks. Malevolent Creation has to form more of a definitive sound, though the above song and a few others, such as “Premature Burial” and “Sacrificial Annihilation,” are pretty good.
Having recorded at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Malevolent sounds too much like the lame Deicide or one of those bands as far as the production goes. The bass gutiar sounds good, though, when there’s a bass run and you can actually hear it. The singer has his own thing going on and he can sustain a note. The interesting thing is, the band is originally from Buffalo, New York! But that was four years ago, and styles change over a long period.
So the album has brutality and shredding riffs and the band has potential for sure, and shines when it’s doing the mosh parts. Malevolent just has to work on the songwriting. One of the guitarists writes all of the music himself, so that may be part of the problem.
(by Editor) ■
Morbid Angel Blessed Are The Sick
(Combat/Earache)
The gods have returned! Morbid Angel’s second full-length album with the current lineup, Blessed Are The Sick (pronounced bles-id) is a masterpiece and a departure from the first Earache album, Altars of Madness. Just as brutal and uncompromising as the last effort, if not moreso, this new album is mind-boggling in its musicianship and conviction. With acoustic guitars, pianos, church organs, and even flutes, Morbid Angel has crafted a work with new directions while still keeping the core of its sound intact. Incredible.
(by Editor) ■
Mutilated Psychodeath Lunatics
Mutilated’s frontman, Michel, once explained to me that the French death scene is “unexistant”! Hopefully some more bands popped up since then. His band has been able to survive thus far, but the situation is bad enough that it is considering a move to Florida.
I haven’t spoken to Michel in some time, but the last I heard, the band got a new drummer and second guitarist and the bassist took over the vocals, which happened after the recording of the first demo. Psychodeath Lunatics is shredding death metal with a bit of thrash, with songs such as “The Crown of Death,” “Funerarium,” and “Hysterical Corpse Dislocation.” The tape has fine packaging and production and is no longer available. The new stuff Mutilated is writing is total morbid death metal, with song titles like “Disincarnate Souls,” “Graves of Rebirth,” “Evil Scriptures,” “Funeral Slumber,” “Sorcery,” and “Millenium Altar.” This band is definitely worth writing another country (and enclosing IRCs!) for to ask about the new demo. (France)
(by Editor) ■
N.W.A Niggaz4Life
(Ruthless/Priority)
This album lives up to all expectations. Without Ice Cube, the band is just as hard, violent, and degrading to women as ever, and I would recommend this to anybody who’s into N.W.A. All the tracks come off extreme and are very well done. There are also some of the most hilarious tunes I’ve ever heard here. Definitely worth picking up.
(by Sean Rogers) ■
S.O.B. What’s the Truth?
(Rise Above)
This band is often referred to as the Japanese Napalm Death. The CD and cassette version of this also contains the Thrash Night EP. The production on What’s the Truth? is so-so. I think there’s a feeble attempt to crank on Slayer in the song “Slayer.” The song “Raging in Hell” kills. I like the Thrash Night EP better that What’s the Truth?, which kind of bores me. So buy the CD or cassette for the Thrash Night songs. Neat album cover, though.
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Sadus Swallowed In Black
(RC)
Sadus has unleashed a bristling album that’s as excellent as its first album, Chemical Exposure (Illusions, the same thing), if not better. Swallowed In Black is further evidence that Sadus can shred with the best of the death and speed bands. The songs have less of a general death metal tone than the earlier demo days and the first self-released album. However, this by no means says that Sadus is totally thrash, although the Sadus sound always had a bit of that, I think. The music has more of a message than before also. The tightness of the band is still very present, as well as the technical musicianship that blows you away. I wish there was a bit more low end in the production, though. Hopefully some of you saw Sadus live on tour with Obituary and Sepultura. Go out and pick Swallowed and smoke four OB’s to it!
(by Editor) ■
Sick Of It All We Stand Alone 7”
(In-Effect)
Sick Of It All is back with its first follow-up to the Blood, Sweat, and No Tears album. The We Stand Alone 7” has fairly good production and the Sick Of It All hardcore sound and the new lineup as well. It also has some live tracks that were roughly recorded, which compliments the edge of the music. If you get the 7” on cassette, you get two bonus tracks including a Minor Threat cover. So all you Sick Of It All fans, myself included, should get this release, and those who haven’t yet heard this band should check it out.
(by Editor) ■
Varathron One Step Beyond Dreams 7”
(Black Vomit)
“This release is dedicated to all witches who were burned in the name of a false god” is what the lyric sheet says. The music is upbeat death metal with throat-abasing vocals. “Descent of a Prophetic Vision,” which is my favorite on the 7” is reminiscent of faster Obituary tunes. It even has some evil piano at the end of the song.
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Various Artists Grindcrusher
(Combat/Earache)
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh … get this! It has the greatest, godliest fucking bands I have ever heard. It has a happening version of “Exhume to Consume.” Naked City is the weirdest band in the world. Its song “Osaka Bondage” is god. Other mentionable bands are Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Entombed, Lawnmower Deth, Repulsion, and O.L.D. This album is a must have!
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Various Artists Hardcore Holocaust II – The Peel Sessions
(Strange Fruit)
This is a compilation of most of the grindcore and hardcore bands on John Peel’s Radio 1 shows, so what more could you ask for? My favorites on this are Carcass, Deviated Instinct, Napalm Death, and Bolt Thrower. It’s a good compilation of live performances of Peel’s favorite grind bands.
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
Various Artists In the Eyes of Death
(Century Media)
This is one of the best compilations I’ve heard in my miserable, boring existence. Tiamat, first off, is fucking god. It has a very original sound. The band’s style is rock ‘n’ roll-oriented death metal with a gothic feel. I want to hear more from this band. Unleashed is cool. It kind of sounds like Entombed, probably because there’s ex-Nihilist members in the band. “If They Had Eyes” is brutally heavy. Morgoth is pretty good. The vocals rule. I like this band. This brings us to Grave. Aaarrrggghhh! This band is sick, sick, sick. Raw fucking death metal. Loudblast is great. It is extremely heavy and brutal. [Asphyx is on this compilation too, but see the album review for this band—Editor]. You will burn in hell eternally if you do not buy this compilation. If Century Media keeps signing bands like this, it will be a force to be reckoned with.
(by Nick Teta, Jr.) ■
