Disposable music reviews - Disposable Underground

Originally published in ‘zine issue #23, 2000

Abstain World Full of Zombies
(S.O.A.)
Abstain is a terribly average band doing a terribly average version of something Napalm Death started and ended a long time ago. I’m so sick of shit like this. Just because a record has a blast beat on it doesn’t automatically qualify it as “extreme.” Shit, if I gave my cat a line of crack and a snare drum, he could play a fucking blast beat. These guys want to play a by-the-book grindcore style that’s as boring as it is obsolete. If I want to hear this kind of thing done with skill and forethought, I’ll stick with my Discordance Axis and Pig Destroyer records. Death to bland grind!
(by R. Mason) ■

Avulsion The Crimson Foliage Hit
(625 Thrashcore)
Avulsion are very dynamic in that they play at a wide variety of speeds, such as fast, faster, absurdly fast, and perilously fast. I like Avulsion if only because they are one of the few grind bands who seem to actually care what their guitars sound like. If you like Assück or Benümb, then you will like this. Did I mention this record is fast? Well, it is. And it’s fucking good too. Still not sold? What are you, retarded?
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Bal-Sagoth The Power Cosmic
(Nuclear Blast)
Remember that kid in your high school with the greasy black hair, trench coat and army fatigues who’d always try to get you to come to his mom’s basement to show you his Warhammer 5000, and thinking this was an invitation to play hide the bologna, you kicked the kid’s ass? Well, now there’s a band for misunderstood role-playing fanatics across the world. Bal-Sagoth plays completely over-the-top epic metal. We’re talkin’ symphonic keyboards, dialogue between songs performed by old Welsh men babbling about “the 13 cryptic prophecies of Mu,” and about every other over-dramatic gesture they could conceive of—just completely wonderful escapist metal to listen to over and over and over again while sending your Orks out on a mission to annihilate! Great metal for social inadequates!
(by R. Mason) ■

The Berserker 2000 album
(Earache)
Good riffs, scary multiple vocals, and decent death metal songs. Unfortunately, none of this matters as the entire CD is ruined by a drum machine these guys must’ve stolen from Kajagoogoo’s tour van. I guess it’s supposed to sound heavy, but it sounds like a box full of rabbits having a farting contest. The terrible sound of the drum machine aside, it sounds like it was programmed by a complete retard who shouldn’t be allowed to program a VCR, much less a drum machine. I must mention in conclusion the hilarious, sell-aggrandizing bio on this band’s website. Read it, then listen to the CD, then join me in laughter. Digby, you let Brutal Truth go and sign The Berserker? Now that’s what I call good business.
(by R. Mason) ■

Blo.Torch 1999 album
(Wicked World)
Man, for a label as downright fucking retarded in recent years as Earache, they sure have been picking up some decent bands on the Wicked World imprint. These guys apparently filled their bio with all sorts of completely unobvious influences, maybe in the hopes of distracting the listener from the blatant At The Gates influence evident here (and in every other Scandinavian band for the last three years), but they do it very well and do manage to bring new ingredients into the Gothenburg recipe often enough to make this record worth owning. Great riffs, inventive arrangements, and top-notch musicianship. A really good first LP, and I’m excited to see what their next will sound like.
(by R. Mason) ■

Cathedral In Memoriam
(The Music Cartel)
A package containing Cathedral’s original demo plus live tracks from 1991 (studio versions of some of those appeared on the band’s first LP, Forest of Equilibrium). Of course this is old-school Cathedral before they got goofy (a term of endearment, I assure you). Back then Cathedral was sometimes referred to as “the slowest grindcore band in the world” or some such, a stupid thing to say, but the band’s punishing brand of music certainly grinded listeners into a pulp. I mean, with lyrics like “The only pleasure is pain” (from “Ebony Tears”, included here), you know you’re in for depressive, headcrushing D-O-O-M.

Comrades/Agathocles split CD
(S.O.A.)
The long-in-the-tooth Belgians from Agathocles make their umpteenth release a split with relative newcomers Comrades. Nothing too out of the ordinary here. Pictures of dead bodies on the cover, lyrics against senseless violence inside (hee hee), wrapped up nicely in fairly generic but effective (for those interested, I guess) crust riffs and blast beats. On the upside, a very nice packaging job from S.O.A. You already know whether this is up your alley or not, so I’ll leave it at that.
(by R. Mason) ■

Control Denied "The Fragile Art of Existence" album cover

Control Denied The Fragile Art of Existence
(Nuclear Blast)
My initial review of this was just too mean, so here I am revising it last minute. Chuck’s promised a power metal band and instead delivers what sounds like a toned-down Death record with a legit vocalist. As usual, the musicianship is top-notch, but as far as I’m concerned what makes a great power metal record is the riffs, and they’re lacking here. I hope they stop noodling and get down to fucking business on the follow-up.
(by R. Mason) ■

Deceased Supernatural Addiction
(Relapse)
If death metal was indeed dead, then Deceased just fucking resuscitated it. You know, I could sit here and tell you that this is an outstanding album; that the riffs, the song-writing, the production, and the musicianship are all top-notch; but this record is more important than that. This record, like its predecessor, Fearless Undead Machines, is a declaration of war on the Korns and the Emperors and the Broken Hopes of the world that have been cheapening and defacing metal for the last 10 years. A lot of bands pay tribute to metal by trying to recapture what it once was; Deceased pays tribute to metal by showing you what it can still become. My friends, death metal’s not just alive and well … it’s out for some goddamn revenge.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Dimitri Ehrlich As Nervous As You
(Tainted)
If you’re going to try the “moody introspective singer/songwriter” thing, then you better have either a good hook or some damn good lyrics or both if you want to avoid putting me in a coma. This guy has a decent voice, but the guitars sound marginally out of tune and the drum machine sounds synthetic in the worst way (imagine listening to the percussion on Madonna’s “Borderline” underwater). Oh, and there’s a song called “What the Buddha Said,” which I think warrants a hearty “fuck off you pretentious shit-hole” from yours truly.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Dismember Hate Campaign
(Nuclear Blast)
The last Dismember LP to grace my ears was Massive Killing Capacity (which sported some of the all-time-best cover artwork since Liege Lord’s Master Control) and I really liked that record despite the rather shitty production. Regardless, I wasn’t expecting Hate Campaign. Fucking masterful Swedish death that shits all over the second-tier At The Gates wannabes and leaves no time to catch your breath between songs. Yeah, you’ve heard this all before, but Dismember has gotten its formula down perfectly. A must for fans of Swedish death metal!
(by R. Mason) ■

Dream Child Reaching the Golden Gates
(Metal Blade/NSR)
Boy, Metal Blade sure has been licensing some good stuff lately, such as Dream Child, a rare French export of fine, classy power metal recalling the glory days of (pre-Andi Deris) Helloween (especially obvious in the rich harmonies of the opening track, “To Our Dreams”). This band does a majestic take on the Eurometal sound without sounding dated or silly at any point—quite an accomplishment, especially considering all the attention paid to “retro” these days. Excellent!
(by R. Mason) ■

Electric Wizard Supercoven
(Southern Lord)
The bellbottoms … dear god, the bellbottoms! For most of you, reading the name and album title should be clue enough, but for all the “special” people out there, the word is doom. What we have here is what I like to call “an extended marijuana jam.” How do I know they smoke marijuana, you ask? Look at the bellbottoms, for christ’s sake! Look at them! Luckily for us, Electric Wizard is very good at what they do and Supercoven delivers the doom rock goodies in spades.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Flotsam & Jetsam Unnatural Selection
(Metal Blade)
I tend to put Flotsam & Jetsam in the same league as Overkill and other bands who somehow find the will to continue after years upon years of playing second fiddle to the Megadeths (yecch!) of the world, consistently releasing strong efforts, if nothing to write home about in the progress department. Flots has been moving away from the straight-up thrash of No Place For Disgrace since Cuatro, but this new one indulges in the start/stop, mechanical riffing of Pantera a mite too much for my taste, not really coming across as a forced attempt to sound modern, but just trying to introduce some new ideas into the mix. Personally, I can’t see myself ever listening to this again, but I think fans of the band will be very happy with this record.
(by R. Mason) ■

Gorgoroth Incipit Satan
(Nuclear Blast)
Over the past couple of years, I’ve all but lot interest in the black metal genre. Too much in the hype department and not enough good bands to back it up. Now that genre staples have been moving in a more “progressive” direction, those still left with a Transylvanian hunger for undiluted “black fucking metal” will be extremely happy to hear Incipit Satan. Genre-bashing aside, this is a great disc of interesting, well-written and evil-as-all-fuck black metal. A couple of the tracks even venture out into melodic territory, a la Rotting Christ, and the production is clean enough to really drive home the excellent musicianship, not to mention that “Litani de Satan” scared the bejesus out of me.
(by R. Mason) ■

Grave Digger Excalibur
(Nuclear Blast)
Having been a fan of Grave Digger since Heavy Metal Breakdown, I was of course thrilled to get my hands on their latest installment of their recent “concept” albums, this one based on the legend of King Arthur. More on the aggressive, Accept-inspired side of German metal (as opposed to sissypants Gamma Ray and their ilk), this album starts out furiously and rarely lets up. Fantastic German metal, and the story itself is well-written and interestingly executed throughout the course of the CD. An inspiring and vital record from a band approaching its 20th year.
(by R. Mason) ■

Hades Savior$elf
(Metal Blade)
Was there a demand for a Hades reformation that I wasn’t aware of? I can’t honestly remember these guys being that noticeable even back in the day, they being more on par with maybe Realm or Paradox and never really rising to even cult status despite a couple of respectable LPs. Maybe I was wrong, ‘cause here they are again with a new LP. Some good, ambitious ideas here, a really good riff here ‘n’ there, intelligent lyrics, a mix hampered by a terrible drum sound, and in general everything sounding pretty much as they left it … not something I’ll be spinning often myself, but hey, it doesn’t suck.
(by R. Mason) ■

Human Drama Solemn Sun Setting
(Hollows Hill)
This may be a terribly misleading reference, but this reminds me of some of the darker ’80s pop like maybe early Phil Collins or a more organic Soft Cell. Anyway, Human Drama apparently has a black cloud hanging over them and they are determined to sing and sing some more about how increasingly somber it is making them. Which is fine, because they display a good sense of songcraft and they arrange their strings and piano with a great deal of taste. However, the album as a whole lacks any dynamic, which makes the 16 tracks feel just a bit excessive. Definitely a good listen in small doses, though.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Impaled "The Dead Shall Dead Remain" album cover

Impaled The Dead Shall Dead Remain
(Deathvomit)
Carcass clones never had it so good. This record is a mix between Carcass’ Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious, General Surgery’s Necrology (a Carcass clone in itself), and a contemporary deathgrind style. It’s good to see that a band like this has a sense of humor as well. The lyrics are clever and even funny in places (such as the song “Immaculate Defecation”), and the band photo inside the CD booklet is priceless. Two severed, gangrenous thumbs up.
(by Editor) ■

Iron Monkey Our Problem
(Earache)
A pleasant surprise. Our Problem has got these monstrous “movin’ the mountain” type of riffs made up of big, meaty chord progressions. More “Into the Void” than “Children of the Grave,” if you know what I mean. The vocalist has a very shrill, thin voice but I think it works well to contrast the thickness of the music. (If you dig this band I highly recommend you pick up Paegan Terrorism Tactics by Acid Bath.) Definitely a formidable heavy rock record … on Earache, no less!
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

King’s X Tape Head
(Metal Blade)
While I salute Metal Blade’s good taste in picking up this painfully overlooked band, Tape Head is unfortunately not one King’s X’s strongest efforts. There are a few great songs here, and the soulful pipes of Doug Pinnick sound as good as ever, but ever since the Brendan O’Brien-produced Dogman LP (1994), these guys seem to have been stuck in a holding pattern of letting faux-heavy riffs and recycled vocal harmonies compensate for what’s perhaps a band out of new ideas. Don’t get me wrong: in terms of content, songwriting, and talent, this album is doubtlessly more innovative and just all-around better than about anything else coming out these days, and I have faith that King’s X can pull another great LP or two out their hats yet, but I can’t call this one a favorite of mine.
(by R. Mason) ■

Last Days Of Humanity ‘99 album
(Bones Brigade)
Total grindcore holocaust. If you’re at all familiar with the goregrind scene, you should know this band already. If not, you are obviously a poseur and should walk directly into the path of the next oncoming bus. Sick, sick grind. The singer has more effects on his voice than George Lucas could ever dream of, and to top it all off, they have a song called “Raped in the Back of a Van.”
(by R. Mason) ■

Lock Up Pleasures Pave Sewers
(Nuclear Blast)

Wow. I wasn’t expecting this at all. What the hell got into Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado? For the first time in years, these guys are playing like they fucking mean it! Nick Barker is tearing into the drum kit and Peter from Hypocrisy is stripping the paint off the walls with his vocals. Apparently a few of these songs were originally written for a second Terrorizer record that never came out, but personally I think this sounds more like Utopia Banished-era Napalm with some sick, shrieking vocals. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll draw an old-school Napalm Death logo on this CD and then just pretend their last four records were just a bad, bad dream …
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Metal Church Live
(Nuclear Blast)
Wow, a full CD of Metal Church circa 1986! This is amazing! Fans of the debut LP and The Dark will love this excellent display of one of metal’s best and overlooked bands in all of its raw perfection. According to the liner notes they didn’t do much refining in the studio, and while I’m a little skeptical of that claim in some parts of this disc, it’s impossible to complain given how awesome it is to hear “ The Dark” live! Go out and buy this immediately.
(by R. Mason) ■

Monster Voodoo Machine "Direct Reaction Now!" album cover

Monster Voodoo Machine Direct Reaction Now!
(Dr. Dream)
Monster Voodoo Machine, or as I like to refer to them, Monster Doodoo Machine (insert mischevious giggle here) are back with another reason for you to give up on metal. Now I know it’s not fair to prejudge an album by its song titles, but when you are faced with the likes of “Dragon Style” and “Slow Motion Moonshine,” there are certain assumptions a sane mind is forced to make. Groovy, run-o’-the-mill, standard-issue metal riffage with those dreadful, I’m-yelling-at-you-through-a-megaphone vocals. If you like this kind of stuff, then I encourage you to pick this record up … and then shoot yourself in the head.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Night In Gales Nailwork
(Nuclear Blast)
Listening to this CD was like relaxing in my favorite chair and kicking back an ice-cold Coors Cutter. Sure, it looked like metal; it was made by the same people that made other metal; and it even tasted like metal. However, it was not metal! Now, don’t get me wrong—this is a good record. It just follows the growing trend of just cramming every style of music known to man into each song. Interesting to listen to, Nailwork is a very sound technical effort, but if you’re looking for the mosh I recommend picking up something else.
(by Blake Midgette) ■

The Obsessed Incarnate
(Southern Lord)
First of all, let me praise Southern Lord Records for having the exceptional taste to release this. If you’re not familiar with St. Vitus or The Obsessed, well, I won’t bother trying to explain them to you as you’re obviously a complete fucking drooloing mongoloid who is probably only looking at this newsletter to find a pretty picture to color in with your Crayons. Needless to say, if you call yourself metal, punk, or whatever, go to your nearest vile corporate record store and throw down however much they’re asking for this, Corky.
(by R. Mason) ■

Pegazus "Breaking the Chains" album cover

Pegazus Breaking the Chains
(Nuclear Blast)
Pegazus is the kind of band that almost makes me embarrassed to be a metalhead. Stupid lyrics, rudimentary arrangements, and riffs as dumb as a box of hair. It’s a shame, because they’re obviously talented musicians—they just happen to be dumbing down their skills (let’s hope) for the sake of appealing to the “retro” crowd. Probably more retarded than Sacred Steel, and nowhere near as much fun to listen to. When I wanna get nostalgic, I’ll look in the toilet before flushing, OK, boys?
(by R. Mason) ■

pg.99 document #5
(Reptilian)
Featured in these hallowed pages more than once before, pg.99 comes back with bite. This new CD of theirs is something I’ve been looking forward to for some time. Everything an extreme music fan (in particular a screamo/emoviolence head) needs is found within the plastic of this disc. It has speed, it has screams and growls, it has distortion, it has heaviness, it has darkness and evil, it has brutality … I could go on and on. It’s obvious the band has taken a long time working out all the guitar and bass harmonies, melodies, and song arrangements, and that hard work pays off on their document #5. They are masters at building up a song and then knocking your head off with it. Included here is an updated old song and some favorites from their live set (familiar to us fortunate locals). I was crippled for life by this record, but it was worth it.
(by Editor) ■

Pig Destroyer Explosions In Ward 6
(Clean Plate)
Originally released as a CD on Reservoir, this LP is a grade-A example of audio brutality. Bandmembers JR Hayes, Brian Harvey, and strong-arm man Scott Hull all fully complete their musical mission with this record. It contains mutilated vocals, highly bipolar drums, creepy sound clips, and tons of six-string ridiculousness. This record has more hustle than Larry Flint and is filled to the brim with great tunes. If the kids from Columbine weren’t in Hell, they’d be in prison equipped with two things: a comfy pair of kneepads and this overly intense, high speed piece of rock. If you’re a balls-to-the-wall grind metal fan, your grocery list should read, “milk, eggs, Pig Destroyer LP,” and if that’s not enough to make you skip work and buy this album, you’re probably either a racist or that retard from Life Goes On.
(by J.C.) ■

Ricanstruction Liberation Day
(CBGB)
I was pleasantly surprised by this album. The simple, no-bullshit guitar lines give it a kind of spazzy punk rock feel, but the real attraction here is the dynamic rhythm section. I like the fact that the bass lines compliment rather than duplicate the guitars, and the way the extra conga-type percussion widens the scope of these otherwise simplistic songs. I don’t like the fact that the singer occasionally sounds like David Coverdale rapping, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. These guys definitely have their own sound, and that’s always a good thing.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Sacred Steel "Wargods of Metal" album cover

Sacred Steel Wargods of Metal (Metal Blade)
I’ll start this review by mentioning that the sixth track of this CD is called “Army of Metalheads,” the chorus of which is, “Metalheads! Metalheads! Metalheads!” which should right away give you a pretty good indication of whether this is up your alley or not. On the musical front, this is quite an improvement over the last LP, especially in the vocal department. A band obviously weened on the ‘80s Metal Blade catalog, these Europeans take their metal seriously, as should you, given that this is 45 minutes of pure fucking metal insanity! Go buy immediately and kill a poseur on the way.
(R. Mason) ■

Sally 1999 album
(The Music Cartel)
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Black Sabbath must be the most flattered fucking band on Earth. Proving there is no such thing as excess in doom rock, the fuzzy distortion is cranked up to a level that pushes the limits of good taste. I picture five stringy-haired, bellbottomed guys on a stage, all plugged into one 15-foot-tall distortion pedal with a big portrait of Tony Iommi painted on it. If you’re looking for full-on Sabbath-AC/DC worship a la Cathedral, then here you go.
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Sinner The Second Decade
(Nuclear Blast)
The teutonic mullet-metal of Mat Sinner and crew might remind you of ’80s-era Priest, with simple arrangements, emphasis on big, dumb-but-perfect riffs, and guitar wankery out the wazoo. This is a great collection of the straight-up, unapologetic metal these guys have been kicking out forever. I hope they finally get some recognition in the States. I’d sure like to see the Sinner back catalog issued domestically.
(by R. Mason) ■

Soul Reaper Written In Blood
(Nuclear Blast)
These guys play aggressive, technical death metal in the vein of old Entombed or Dismember, but as you may have guessed, they aren’t as good as those bands. The songs definitely have an overt melody about them, but still manage to sound heavy. Now on to the complaint department: I’m all for some clean, melodic guitar work, but I don’t think acoustic guitars have any place in death fucking metal (what’s next—a fucking pan flute?). I don’t care how much acoustic guitar work you put on your album, guys, but no one is ever going to mistake you for the fucking Eagles!
(by J.R. Hayes) ■

Steel Prophet Messiah
(Nuclear Blast)
Steel Prophet is Maiden-esque metal, possibly reminding one of a more polished, less ballsy Omen or maybe a more stripped-down Walls of Jericho-era Helloween. The vocalist is really good, though I wish he had a little more bite in his voice. The music is well-arranged and meticulously played, though lacks any real excitement upon first listen. Fans of mid-’80s American power metal should find this on par with Warrior and Desitny’s End. Really enjoyable if nothing terribly new.
(by R. Mason) ■

Stratovarius Infinite
(Nuclear Blast)
If you’re unfamiliar with Stratovarius, they are among the upper crust of melodic Eurometal (the band hails from Finland) along with Helloween and Gamma Ray, with a more pop-oriented leaning come chorus time, similar to Europe’s first LP (note: before they cheesed out with Final Countdown, Europe was an excellent melodic Scandanavian metal band on par with just about any of the great bands of the time!). That said, Infinite is chock full of loudly mixed keyboard passages, soaring vocals, immaculate musicianship, and extremely catchy metal anthems. My personal favorite of the bunch is the second track, “Milennium,” a great example of what Stratovarius can do when they drop the overblown dynamics and go for the throat. Still, an excellent band at what they do, even if the crass American in me finds this particular type of German pompmetal a wee bit hilarious.
(by R. Mason) ■

Terrible Headache 2000 album
(F.A.R.)
The boys from the East are back with their first CD! Featured several times in these pages (interviewed in #21), Terrible Headache continues to, well, not refine, but alter their sound after securing a drummer on their last release. The nine songs on this record are fast and furious, and very unrefined, especially in the lead guitar and percussion department. It kind of sounds old-school ’80s because it’s so haphazard and has such heart. It’s a dirty kick in the pants.
(by Editor) ■

Usurper Visions from the Gods
(Nuclear Blast)
What I wouldn’t give to be Tom G. Warrior’s attorney right now. One listen to Usurper and you’d know why. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard such a blunt ripoff in my life. Don’t get me wrong, Usurper is an exceptional ripoff, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this CD despite myself, but this is basically a tribute band. The singer has Warrior’s grunts and “Hey!”s down cold and they went so far as to mimic the guitar sound of classic Frost.

I guess I shouldn’t be hard on this band. I mean, Count Raven (among numerous others) have made a living cloning Sabbath for years, and this is honestly a really good album. So rather than going on a long-winded rant about bands who mimic their influences, I’ll just say that Usurper has made a really good Celtic Frost record for those of you who are interested. Can’t wait to hear their cover of the Cold Lake LP.
(by R. Mason) ■

Will Haven WHVN
(Revelation)
This band is comprised of four young professionals who play their little hearts out, hoping to be the centerfolds in next month’s issue of Metal Edge. They’ve got that “new school metal” thing happening (Soulfly, Slipknot) with just enough hardcore thrown in to make ‘em credible with the “kids”: the heavy, dissonant sound, ambiguous esthetic, gutwrenching vocals—almost like a real hardcore band! But this one is designer-made for the mall crowd, complete with a techno remix and a thanks list which sends “much love” to Limp Bizkit, Deftones, and other such aural abominations. [I can’t] endure this kind of pseudo-hardcore bullshit again. Eat [it], poseurs!
(by R. Mason) ■

Disposable Top Ten Lists

J.R. Hayes’ gratuitous top 10 for this issue