VIBRATIONS OF DOOM MAGAZINE
ISSUE #19
BY: STEVEN CANNON
Hey everyone, and welcome back to our 19th issue! We want to thank all of you
for sticking with us through our turbulent times, in less than 3 months we've
now had over 2000 hits, which is pretty good we think! Hopefully this new
server we're on will be the LAST one we have to change to ever! Our response
has been good, and we now have added even MORE classic metal CD's for you to
listen to! We added Razor's "Violent Restitution," Rigor Mortis' very hard to
find debut album, and a few rare releases from the Canadian Attic label. Look
out for more soon, and we should be getting some new lyric sheets in as well!
Our web address:
http://members.spree.com/vibrations
Mailing address: (send us your letters, comments, demos, etc.)
Vibrations of Doom Magazine
c/o Steven Cannon
1133 East 53rd Street
Savannah, GA 31404 USA
Drop down to the next level... :>
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- LETTERS FROM DA MASSES
REVIEWS:
- AM I BLOOD "Agitation"
- BRAIN GARDEN "Music For Unfamiliar Highways"
- CLAY PEOPLE "Clay People"
- DATURA "Allisone"
- FUNKER VOGT "We Came To Kill"
- GLAMPIRE "Pretty Scary"
- GODHEAD "Power Tool Stigmata"
- HEXEDENE "Choking On Lilies"
- KONKHRA "Weed Out The Weak"
- MASTER "Faith Is In Season"
- NARNIA "Awakening"
- RADAKKA "Requiem For The Innocence"
- SACRED STEEL "Reborn In Steel"
- SOLITUDE AETURNUS "Adagio"
- THE AZOIC "Where Broken Angels Lie"
- THE HAUNTED "The Haunted"
- THERION "Vovin"
- THOR "Thunderstruck-Tales From The Equinox"
- VADER "Black To The Blind"
- VARIOUS ARTISTS "Am I Metallica"
- VARIOUS ARTISTS "Big Chemical Beats"
- VENOM "Cast In Stone"
- WITCHERY "Restless & Dead"
INTERVIEWS:
- ABIGOR
- BRAIN GARDEN
- CRADLE OF FILTH
- NOTEWORTHY ITEMS
- EDITORIAL NOTATIONS
Some letters of praise were sent in, so I decided to let you all see them!
Keep those letters and notes coming! We've picked up a LOT of interest from
late 80's bands like Liege Lord, Agent Steel, Samain and Sacrifice, so expect
interviews with those artists very soon!
From: jlmedley@ix.netcom.com
Thanks a lot for getting in touch. I really enjoyed your site! I am also very
glad you told me about all the songs in RealAudio. The albums you picked are
great! This is a great service to metal fans around the world, letting them
hear these classic slabs of vinyl. I have your site linked in my "It Came
From The 80's" section and will be adding several others as I do reviews of
those albums later in the year. Thanks again, your zine and website rock!
By the way, have you heard the new Agent Steel material? Agent Steel
guitarist Bernie Bersailles sent a new demo this week. The songs by his new
project Agents of Steel are great power metal in a more progressive vein than
the old Agent Steel. This is excellent material, living up to my expectations
of what a 1990's Agent Steel should be, a combination of classic power and
modern groove. You can download the following MP3 songs at my website listed
below, just follow the links to "Mad Locust Rising" and MP3 Songs:
'Deny The Poison' (5 Min. 29 sec.; 1.3 MB)
'Eradicate' (5 Min. 1 sec.; 1.2 MB stereo)
http://www.geocities.com/~jlmedley
Steven: Thanks so much for the praise! We took a long time debating on how
exactly to approach this, since our server limits file uploads to 500k, which
is roughly 3 minutes and 16 seconds max time for a RealAudio song. We decided
that it was better to do the albums this way than run the risk of getting ftp
space and our ftp provider going down. I must say that any of you into the
classic metal bands like Agent Steel and Brocas Helm MUST check out j.l.'s
web site! He's got tons more MP3 files than just the Agent Steel ones! We
will be digitizing Agent Steel's "Unstoppable Force" very soon!
From: dougjake@mindspring.com
I just happened upon your web site and am mightily impressed. It made me dig
Liege Lord's "Master Control" that much more (it's what I happened to be
listening to at the time.) I was wondering if you were going to the DeathFest
in Athens tomorrow. This is the first chance I've had to see a metal show
here in quite some time and am looking forward to it. By the way, I was in
Savannah 2 weeks ago. That brew pub was pretty awesome!
Steven: That brew pub is rather a first for Savannah, located in City Market
near Bay Street (anyone can tell you where it is.) They make their own brand
of beer which is quite refreshing. As for Liege Lord, I recently purchased
"Burn To My Touch," the reissued CD version, at Media Play. There's a VERY
interesting story behind that! I went over to Best Buy to inquire about this
CD (they had recently carried the Savatage and Omen reissues) and they told
me that (none were on the shelves) they have it listed in their computers but
they can't order it! So when I went over to Media Play, they gladly ordered
those two (the other being "Master Control," remember that their first album
"Freedom's Rise" is still under copyright control by Black Dragon Records in
France) and won't stock it! Very wierd eh? It's not like they're Satanic or
anything, though Deicide albums are easier to find on the shelves!
From: Damnation Inc. (cmedico@halcon.laguna.ual.mx)
Greetings! Old metal in RealAudio format! I never imagined a page like this,
can you put:
Assassin, Hellhammer, Deathrow, Sodom, Angel Dust, and some band pictures
too?
Steven: We are currently talking to some people about Sodom's "Obsessed By
Cruelty" and Assassin's "The Upcoming Terror." We have to get those titles
burned on CD before we can digitize them, and right now our main man Richard
Ronzone has his hands full. I probably won't be getting any new CD copies of
stuff for another couple of months, but on the plus side, those two
aforementioned titles will most likely be the next two CD recordings I get
done. See the Editorial Notations section for details on how this process
takes place. As for the band photos, I don't have band photos for many of the
artists I DO have digitized, so that's unfortunately not an option. If I
can't do it for all of them then I can't do it at all. I want to be very
consistent with the work I am doing.
From: Nick Igritski (igritzki@sbs.de)
Hi Steven! I haven't visited your site for quite awhile (4 or 5 months or so)
and when I tried to go to the www.kmf.org address through Altavista, I got an
error. Then I found another link to www.musikbahn.com and got yet another
error! No single notice about your move or anything. Thank god I finally
found this one! What's up? Just curious, how did your other visitors find you
through all the changes?
Steven: Well, first of all, we moved from transarc.com to kmf.org because of
space restrictions. From there it was onto a partnership that ended up
leaving me screwed over and the web manager in short deleted all my material.
(Read the web site and last issue for more details.) Hopefully this site will
stay the permanent home forever, and this web site also marks the first time
I actively got involved in the creation and designing of my web site. Sad to
say, I cannot seem to get Vibrations of Doom's new web site registered with
all the major search engines. I've tried, but the last web site owner holds
all the passwords to the search engines to change the pertinent information,
and he won't let go of them. If ANYONE has any ideas or help on how to get my
site registered properly with ALL the search engines, PLEASE let me know. The
only way I have been able to contact my old readers has been to establish
new links with all the music web sites I can find, and also through posts in
USENET newsgroups. However, on the plus side, as many of you know, I am able
to offer you all so much more than I could in the past, thanks to the awesome
staff at Spree.com, who has graciously given me unlimited amounts of storage
space.
From: BATHORY9@aol.com
Hey! All I can say is you rock! Thanks for the page... I've been collecting
for fifteen years, and I'm so happy to have some songs to hear that I have
yet to find even the LP's for, and believe me, I have a LOT of stuff. My
compliments! Hail metal!
Steven: It's letters like these that convince me (and no I didn't do these
letters just to brag about my accomplishments. I'm still waiting for someone
to write in and say my 'zine sucks, and when they do I'll be sure and print
it up for ya!) to continue on with my work even when it gets rough. Just
recently, actually a few weeks before this issue will see the light of day, I
got a letter from a record label who I will not name. Suffice it to say they
are one of the bigger independent labels in a sense, but regardless they told
me they are going to, as of next year, start dropping music magazines with a
circulation of less than 2,000 and webzines from their distribution list. I
do understand that in the most part it's a monetary thing, but most people
who know me know I've been around for 6 years now, and was the first magazine
ANYWHERE to offer the sound files for all of you. Plus with the classic album
section that you can't find ANYWHERE else on the net, I think Vibrations of
Doom is a magazine one can be assured will give them good coverage, be it a
small label or a huge corporation. The label in question has decided to help
support us to a degree, but one record label in particular, Metropolis
Records, has already cut me from their list. I still offered to do servicing
for their artists and CD's, as I have done, but ONLY because I am a fan of
the bands and the fact that Metropolis is doing industrial fans here a GREAT
service by offering us acts that were previously unavailable save as costly
imports. After such heartrending letters from these two labels, I almost
threw in the towel and gave up the whole magazine deal, especially since I'm
nearly totally in debt and still not able to get any advertisers. It was
Chris' letter that convinced me 100% that you guys appreciate this service
and what I've done. If you want to help, please drop me an email and I'll
tell you what you can do to help us out (for the most part in won't cost you
anything, just a few well placed emails.)
RECORD REVIEWS
Okay, so maybe this style of thrash, which is at times simple yet effective,
isn't the most original sound going around. But couple that with the fact
that yet another crew from Sweden has managed to add an interesting twist to
thrash riffery ala early Metallica (Damn, dare I utter that forbidden name
these days?) and I am quite impressed. That special hook? Unusually catchy
chorus lines mostly laced with melody and harmony! That's right, their chorus
lines have amazingly sung vocals, never letting up on the power and sheer
intensity like Metallica did throughout their songs. Those riffs by the way
are heavy as hell, most notable on 'Suicidal Solution' and 'The Final Scream'
two tracks digitized here which you have to hear to appreciate. As I stated,
this isn't new or groundbreaking stuff, but one REALLY has to appreciate how
the combine sweet melodies and great singing chorus lines to a heavy and hard
edged sound that doesn't compromise true thrash metal... The revolution is ON
baby!
I must say that electronic music is getting more and more diverse these days,
and lately it's the unknown or overseas acts that are presenting us with some
interesting music! The first two tracks start this disc off fabulously, the
first song 'Zephyr' is a beautiful ambient piece with bell notations, it's
quite trippy and I think should have been included on the "Artificial
Intelligence Volume 2" CD! It's also quite beat worthy which means it's not
just an ambient chillout song. 'Into The Cloud Forest' is another gem which
showcases Brain Garden's ability to write music that is totally diverse and
accompanied by varying emotions and soundscapes within each song! So you have
light and heavy electro which put together works really well! on 'Into The
Cloud Forest,' there's a really wacked out set of acid trance notes and this
munchkin female vocal style chanting which will have you laughing and dancing
at the same time! Many pieces here are very clubworthy, 'Stay' was a bit
basic and a little long, in fact if it wasn't for the fact that nearly all
the songs were very well thought out, some would seem a bit too long and not
varied enough. 'A Storm That Lights Up The Sky' had some flutelike pieces in
them, and some beautiful sound pieces, and the title track had a nice mix of
mellow piano notes inlaid with heavy danceable beats and heavier electro
trance notes, which made for an unusual mix but one that works very well! Not
much to complain about here, after all this duo (yes, it's a 2 piece) is able
to combine their efforts and creative juices to make great ambient
techno music worthy of both packed energetic dance floors and relaxing,
hypnotic chill rooms.
I remember their debut on Re-Constriction Records and a few other releases
besides. A rather hard edged industrial unit that isn't afraid to use a
singing voice along with REAL drums rather than computerized, this is
actually the best Clay People album I've ever heard. (That is, from what I
remember of their past albums.) 'Awake' starts this disc off with a rather
vicious bang, and 'Mechanized Mind' has some hardcore/rap style vox in a few
spots. The first 5 tracks of this disc smoke with intensity, and even 'Damien
Grief' is awesome just for the spaced out melodies it interjects along with
their heaviness. Once track 6 starts, 'Fade Away,' they sort of take a turn
towards a more alternative sound. 'Fade Away' is very melodic and sounds
almost out of place here, though it's still a halfway decent song. 'Dying To
Be You' probably had the weakest vocals and rather weak delivery, though
things pick up a little with 'Thread.' The remaining two tracks are back to
the alternative style, and the only reason why this disc didn't get a lower
rating is because even those songs are well done, though most hard edged
industrial fans will probably not appreciate the more mellow passages. Open
minded individuals like myself will appreciate their talents, which are most
definitely in abundance here. Just settle on one mood please! :)
WOW! Anyone into Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Sleep and heavy, HEAVY guitar riffs
will absolutely eat this one up! GREAT spaced out stoner rock very similar to
Kyuss. THIS is the record Kyuss should have made after "Blues For The Red
Sun" most definitely! Tracks like 'Lost In Time,' 'Man In The Moon' and
'Shine' have very heavy and laid back riffs, for the most part these guys
rock! The vocalist sounds a little like Kyuss' John Garcia, but goes to a
little higher range, which in very few spots almost sounded like it wouldn't
quite work. Injecting much more emotion and feeling in the songs, even the
last track 'Mountain' (and no, it's not REALLY 14 minutes long, though it
does have the only spacey keyboard riffs in the whole album, the last half of
the song after a long silent bit is a nice mellow acoustic number) reminded
me of something from Sleep's "Holy Mountain" mixed with Black Sabbath riffs
crossed with the trippy space sounds of Darxtar or more remotely Hawkwind!
Whew! Describing this thing really doesn't do it justice, so just go listen
to the sound files we digitized for ya!
Many of you may remember the last album we reviewed from them, "Thanks For
Nothing." THIS album is so much more brutal and intense than their last one!
Their vocals are some of the most brutally distorted I have ever heard in
music, and they have gotten more vicious on this one than their previous!
Though their instrumental piece 'Siegeszug' has a nice mellow landscape and
you can hear some piano notes and some mellow notations, this disc showcases
such a harsh, dark and brutal style that this is the only slowdown of their
vicious attack you will ever hear! Vicious deep and heavy beats make for some
good club pieces, especially on 'Funker Vogt 2nd Unit' (which is sung mostly
in German,) 'Stupid Incident' and 'Wartime.' 'Nothing New' was especially
brutal, with their almost militaristic style beats and structure and slow
pace. Fast or slow ('Fantasies' had an almost hardcore techno sound and style
to it, before slowing down and speeding up again,) Funker Vogt can produce
some of the darkest, heaviest, and even mosh worthy industrial that anyone
will ever hear! Metalheads who complain about industrial being too dance
oriented are urged to check this out, and industrial purists may rejoice over
the lack of guitar work. However, my only complaint is the electro style that
they call their own has some rather wierd sounds in it. A minor complaint
however, since your senses will be crushed into sheer oblivion from the power
of this massive onslaught. Hail the Germans! :)
I saw potential in this, but for the most part it just isn't my thing. It
mainly consists of male and female vocals which are sometimes annoying, and
on a few tracks ('Set Yourself Free,' and 'Trick On My Skin') there was
just a piano or acoustic guitars present. Okay stuff if you are in a jazz
club or something to that effect, but it just didn't do much for me. On the
interesting side, however, when they are playing a rather gothic laced
industrial reminiscent of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, it works rather
well, like on 'Give In Give Up.' This tune even had a cool little horn
section but the female vocals (ooh, ooh, ooh) ruined this one a bit. 'Right
Mind State' was another cool tune that might make a good club piece (no, not
the jazz club!) 'Head Space' had a really cool Cure style set of vocals on it
but the instrumentation didn't get too far off the ground. I don't know what
they categorize their music as, simply because their songs are all over the
place music wise and it's hard to be able to focus in on one style. Their
music (for the most part) might be good for easy listening type (though nerve
jarring at times) but I don't really see much of an audience from the
industrial or the gothic crowd. Sorry guys.
This industrial unit really surprises me, and though some may find on first
glance that they resemble a more commerciably alternative Nine Inch Nails
type of band, you really have to listen to the whole album to recognize the
raw talent Jason Miller and company have for adding elements of darkness and
harsh sounds to an otherwise stale genre that has been perpetrated and abused
by Trent Reznor and company. Utilizing for the most part vocals that are
cleanly and emotionally SUNG rather than overtly distorted (though he does do
THAT on songs like 'Penetrate' and 'Suffer') makes this quite interesting.
Even the instrumental pieces are very interesting even if they don't do much
for most people. Nevertheless, this CD has at least 5 or 6 great club pieces,
most notably is a great club worthy version of the timeless Beatles classic
'Eleanor Rigby.' 'Bleed,' 'Memorial,' and 'Alone' are just a few great songs
that show us Jason understands how to write energetic industrial tunes that
have a lot of emotion and energy which would make radio owners, club D.J.'s,
and rabid industrial fans happy, at least those who don't think guitars are
the forbidden elements to an industrial band's success. Staying just one step
from commercial, yet embracing the elements of emotion make for a band who
should get more recognition than they are getting, it's a shame I got to this
one so late but better late than never in this case. 'Afterthoughts' ends
this disc quite nicely in an almost danceable ballad style. The vocals will
definitely please all.
There's no way in hell I could even THINK of giving this CD anything less.
A three piece UK outfit making some of the most moving and club worthy
industrial I've ever heard, with Katie Helsby's sensual, soothing, sexy and
beautiful vocals combined with Jonathan Sharp's mastery of electronic
instrumentation, this band should be MUCH bigger than it is right now. I
hope people can REALLY appreciate the talent behind this band once they hear
the sound files. Even the remixes totally smoke, in fact in one instance
the Oneiroid Psychosis mix of 'Everything And Nothing' almost brings one to
tears, minus the beats it's piano and string synth based and so classy and
beautiful, words simply fail it. 'Only Human' has some harsh electro sounds
but with Katie's voice it's all brought down to earth. Not a single bad
moment on this CD, I really can't explain it in words adequately, I'm THAT
blown away. Katie is truly a remarkable singer, her voice touches me in ways
I can't even begin to describe. Truly moving and one of the most emotional
industrial groups I've yet to hear, this CANNOT be ignored by anyone who
claims to be an industrial fan, and even non industrial acolytes will
hopefully pick up on this.
I see that almost a year after it's been out, Metal Blade finally decides to
pick up on this for the stateside fans. Mainly because of James Murphy's
excellent guitar riffs, I'm sure... To be honest the first couple of songs
didn't do a whole lot for me, but I wouldn't say they were bad. Further on
into the disc though, things really smoke. Of course, that tribal drum
instrumental seemed kinda pointless to me. Death metal fans won't find much
here to dislike at all, especially since 'The Reckoning,' 'Through My Veins,'
and 'Misery' have excellent power riffage, quite crunchy and tasty! Their
vocalist is quite a powerhouse in his own right as well. 'Inhuman' was quite
interesting, almost a black metal style starting out with violins no less!
One thing I can say is that Konkhra doesn't need to rely on James Murphy to
attain their fan base, as the simplest of riffs in the hands of these guys
can make for some monstrous sounds! In fact, on a few tracks J.M.'s riffage
tends to distract the listener from the simple fact that this Danish crew
can keep death metal brutal through the 90's!
Faith may soon die if this is what we have to place hope in. Master's latest
creation does nothing to help or promote interest in death metal music, save
for the cool screams that utter forth once in awhile. Every damn song sounds
nearly the same, the drummer has a cool speed riff going but you hear it so
much it's pathetic. Only 'Faith Is Still In Season' is really cool, if the
rest of the album was patterned like this then it would be a barnburner for
sure, with some really innovative guitar work and cool song structure,
something the rest of this CD lacks. It's probably good for a mosh fest just
for the sake of the speed, but after hearing very little variety in the songs
you'll probably move on to greener pastures (if indeed you can still find
any these days.) My advice to the drummer: You can make your talents known in
any other band, if you someday decide to vary your beats.
First of all, I have to say regardless of the lyrical content of this band,
their intense brand of progressive power metal is simply phenomenal! Their
awesome lead guitar work, presented with sheer power, speed and class, is
right up there with guitar greats like Malmsteen, Satriani and more! The
vocal work is amazing, and the songs are extremely well written. Cuts like
'No More Shadows From The Past,' 'The Awakening,' and 'Touch From You' have
some heavy riffs and structure, while a cut like 'Heavenly Love' presents us
with some mellow instrumentation, brilliant acoustic guitar work, and nearly
all the songs have great choruses you'll be singing along for some time now.
For those of you too close minded to accept music that has a Christian
lyrical standpoint, you simply have no idea what you're missing, as these
Swedish rockers are in a class all their own. Though the lyrics do get a tad
too deep at times, they're not overtly preachy or anything, and if you can
appreciate a GOOD band, this is the CD for you.
Make no mistake about it, I truly believe this band's signing to a label is
long overdue! This Chicago based band has no qualms about using acoustic
guitar passages, pianos, and very mellow harmonies not unlike those you could
find in better Living Color songs, their vocalist even sounds a bit like
theirs. One instance where they differ is their ability to use hard hitting,
thrashy guitars in places, to be honest their actual sound and style is a bit
difficult to pinpoint. 'Azriel' has some acoustic guitars and a VERY catchy
melody and chorus, I've been singing songs like this and 'Sorrow's Thorn'
for days now! 'Whore' is VERY heavy in it's own right, with a pounding bass
line and wicked vocals all the way around. There's not much to hate about
this CD, except maybe that 'Cult Of One' doesn't seem to really kick in like
the other songs do. 'Gothic Rain' starts off a trilogy that is masterful and
rather, well, gothic sounding, complete with rainstorm sounds. 'Sorrow's
Thorn' finishes out the CD masterfully with a beautiful acoustic start and a
strong, powerful and emotional vocal presence that just doesn't quit. If you
like the heaviness accentuated with beauty and class, this is the CD for you.
OMIGOD! When I first heard this CD, is it just me or has anyone else said
"Damn, isn't that Agent Steel's old vocalist?" I know I sure did. Even though
they fly the flag of true metal high, it's not a very bright flag. This CD
doesn't suck, but on the other hand the same problem that exists here also
was quite a problem with Agent Steel's first album: The vocals were not
perfected enough and didn't mesh with the fast instrumentation well. Gerritt
does have that same similar sound but unfortunately, especially on the
opener and 'In The Mouth Of Madness' his vocals tend to waver quite a bit.
It's obvious that he can pull this off, especially with his melodic singing
on pseudo-ballad 'Sword Of The King.' The instrumentation wasn't bad, but
then again nothing really jumped out at me riff wise; however tracks like
'Reborn In Steel' and 'Battle Angel' were quite good, with a bit more work
and more vocal control this band could really be kickass, their lyrics
certainly pull no punches.
WHY this record isn't released through the U.S. yet is beyond me. Pavement
usually puts out their newest, but until that time I thought I'd let you know
what's going on with them. After a rather uninteresting intro, 'Days Of
Prayer' kicks some serious ass! This is probably S.A. at it's heaviest! From
there it's a bit more of a mellow mood, but tracks like 'The Fall' gots very
cool and very heavy riffs! There are some good songs here no doubt, but after
hearing a tune like 'Days Of Prayer,' and some heavier passages from 'Spiral
Descent' (the track listing is a little screwed up too) sometimes the mellow
songs aren't appreciated as well. It's a good record don't get me wrong, but
it was very wierd to hear distorted industrial style vocals on "Personal
God.' They do a ripping cover of Black Sabbath's 'Heaven And Hell' by the way
which isn't mentioned anywhere on the CD. (I guess that's because of the
promo packaging.) The vocals are still done very well, and the mellow singing
is definitely appreciated, this is quite a good doom metal album, I am not
really sure how longtime S.A. fans will rate this album, but I for one have
no problems giving this repeat spins.
This three piece combined very slight gothic touches with industrial darkness
that has received quite a bit of press so far. As for my initial findings, I
observed that the instrumentation (there are 2 keyboard players in the group,
leaving all the drums as pre-programmed it seems) was interesting but many
songs seemed to be missing intensity and edge. More along the lines of
darkwave industrial, some songs like 'Intimate Incisions' might make okay
club pieces, but I thought they should capitalize more on Kristy's beautiful
singing voice which really helped tunes like 'Summoning' and 'Drown.'
Incidentally, her almost spoken vocals were quite eerie but seemed not to fit
well for some reason. There are three remixes here, and of the three,
Oneiroid Psychosis' remix of 'Terrible Space' was about the best. There are
also some rather dark and disturbing ambient tracks, like 'Suffocation' and
'Only Flesh,' though they were both way too long. I found that they are
competent musicians, but for some reason it just didn't translate extremely
well overall. (I must admit I did like their use of bell sounds throughout.)
What a blistering sonic attack! This whole resurgence of the thrash metal
movement has always been music to my ears, having pretty much started off
listening to Iron Angel, Venom, Kreator, Hallows Eve and the like waaay back
in the early to late 80's. So this is quite a refreshing CD, in as much as it
mixes the brutal speed and violent aggression that only members of At The
Gates and Mary Beats Jane would understand. On tracks like 'Choke Hold' and
'Now You Know,' there are also some well thought out semi melodic passages
and catchy choruses, but the thing impressing me the most was the brutal
thrash riffery that is REALLY from the 80's. The vocal style is also
incorporating a bit of hardcore'ish yelling too, everything about this CD
screams ultra violent aggression! I didn't care much for the rap style vocals
on one track, let Biohazard do their thing and you do yours. Other than that,
I highly recommend this to fans of ultra heavy thrash with death metal
overtones. Heavy metal CAN truly be heavy in this day and age and still be
original!
The follow up to "Theli" leaves many reviewers wanting to know what happened
to the catchiness and heaviness that were so in force on their previous work.
I am one of the few I suppose that really appreciate this album as a mature
progression while still retaining trademarks of the landmark effort "Theli."
For instance, though many say this album is more synth and symphonic oriented
there are still some amazing guitar pieces presented, both acoustic and
electric. 'The Wild Hunt' is rather Running Wild like, and includes Ralph
Scheepers on guest vocals, which was a nice touch. With very few exceptions,
the male/female operetta and choir style vocals worked VERY well together,
in fact some of the female singing, especially on 'Morning Star' and 'Raven
Of Dispersion.' There were a few troubled spots here however, mostly in the
instrumentation department. 'Clavicula Nox' seemed to be lacking a bit, even
with the acoustic guitars it seemed to me like there was something missing.
'The Wild Hunt' seemed to be a bit off as well, and some of the speedier
vocals presented in 'Wine Of Aluqah' were too fast in their delivery.
Nevertheless, it's the exquisite combination of violins, piano, and guitar
work that really hooked me. Even the darker classical pieces were amazing to
listen to, one can see that even classical sounding music can have a dark and
eerie atmosphere. For a perfect example of this, the intro pieces on 'Rise Of
Sodom And Gomorrah' bear listening. It's still dark and magikal, but Mr.
Johnsson shows us that darkness and light can co-exist in the same musical
spectrum.
I had heard a lot about Thor, namely of their live performances where their
lead singer, quite the body building Thor look alike, bends steel swords with
his bare hands and generally has a lot of fun with their power metal a la
Manowar. On record, it's quite evident many people will enjoy their good
natured humor. However, through the sometimes cheesy lyrics which at times
bring a good rousing laugh, I must admit that the musicianship could be a lot
better, even if the guitar solos on tunes like 'Invader' and 'War Hammer'
smoke. There are some REALLY bad songs here, though, like 'No Peace For The
Pious' which showcases a different singer who in my opinion shouldn't have
been allowed to sing. 'Rag-na-rock' too (you can probably tell this by the
song title) got really bad with the lyrics and sing along chorus lines. On
the plus side though, the band as a whole is quite competent, their version
of 'The Court Of The Crimson King' was surprisingly well done, nice use of
keyboards and Thor's vocals are quite effective even in a mellow state.
'Corridors Of Life' had pretty serious lyrics and great vocals, hell even
some of the other songs like 'The Equinox' and 'Electric Eye' will appeal to
most, but I just felt that overall I couldn't really dig the whole thing.
Plus, those 'Hey, Hey' chants on 'Rag-na-rok' were really lame. Manowar fans
or those in the vein of "True metal" might want to check this out.
No one can deny that Vader is Poland's greatest treausre on the death metal
scene. Their last release "De Profundis" got a 99/100 in our publication for
their sheer power and crushing speed, and this time around their drummer has
seemingly gotten faster! Unfortunately, I can't really say that this album
lives up to the force and power that Vader has presented us since their
inception, which is a shame considering the tight level of musicianship, and
this may be enough for some people, but on tracks like 'Carnal' and 'The
Innermost Ambience' there seems to be more emphasis on speed and fast vocal
delivery than on sheer crushing power of the heavier riffs and well written
instrumentation; it's as if they rushed through the whole album in one shot!
On the plus side, tracks like 'Distant Dream' and 'True Names' are trademark
Vader, showing an ability to write music that can vary from fast to slow and
combine the awesome vocal abilities of Peter with the amazingly thrashy and
killer guitar work of Peter and Mauser. No complaints in the percussion
department, however I feel that this could have been a better album, and of
course I understand how hard it is to follow up such a great album like "De
Profundis." The high marks come because I realize that many people will be
drawn to this album because even though they utilize a LOT of speed, they
do it with amazing proficiency and accuracy that sounds extremely tight and
professional, something many bands are unable to do.
With all the hype and talk about tribute albums, and there's been quite a few
Metallica homage discs lately, we thought we'd bring you a rather rare and
quite interesting compilation CD. The most notable thing about this one,
besides the various indecipherable Korean characters, is that all of the
bands presented hail from Korea! The disc starts things out with a
skullcrushing version of "Blackened" by Crash, which utilizes quite vicious
hardcore styled vocals. All the bands presented do manage to bring about
interesting little variations on the basic song structure. Game Over had some
cool tweaked intro riffs on 'Sad But True,' and C.O.B. (Children of Black?)
took the mid part between the slower pace and the thrashy piece and added
this amazing set of guitar riffs seemingly out of nowhere on 'One.' Genocide
had a rather mellow take on 'Welcome Home' but the screeched vocals got a
little hard to take. Also, those cookie monster sung growls on C.O.B.'s 'One'
are rather hilarious, they're ALMOST really bad but you have to laugh. The
highlight of this disc is a surprising BLACK METAL, yes I said it right,
version of 'Fade To Black' by Kalpa, and utilizing the typical black vocals
with a haunting wind sound and very well done keyboard orchestration. Finally
there is a cover of 'Poor Twisted Me' which I have NEVER heard of, it must be
a bonus track Metallica did for an import only release. Also, 'Ride The
Lightning' by Noizegarden was very interesting, as it was slowed down quite a
bit and the lead singer sounds a LOT like Glenn Danzig! Quite innovative, you
are urged to hunt this one down just for the originality and new ideas these
young bands present on a band who was obviously a great influence on them
(except for Kalpa, one of their members proudly sports a Burzum T-shirt in
addition to their rather comical use of corpse paint!)
The sticker attatched to this this thing says people who are into the sounds
of Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers will like this CD. I found that to be
somewhat true, though most tracks here were rather basic in nature and some
didn't really have that kick to them that most people familiar with both
bands would want in a compilation CD. However, Euthanasia starts off things
quite well with 'Burning On Chemicals,' a good club track showcasing some of
the cool electro acid notes and heavy beat structures both aforementioned
bands made famous. Dangerous Warrents have a great club piece with 'Start To
Panik,' their fast style rap pieces remind me of that club hit 'I've Got The
Power,' or something like that. The cool guitar samples were a nice touch as
well. Utilizing breakbeats and overall heavy beat structure, some tunes here
would make good club pieces, though there were some downers, mostly in the
vocal delivery department. This is especially true on Vivid's 'Candyfloss,'
which no doubt makes a great instrumental piece but is almost ruined by the
vocals. Free Base's 'Da Sound' was also annoying as hell with the singing,
and most of the other tunes were interesting in concept but just lacked that
spontaneous energy that Prodigy hits like 'Their Law,' 'Voodoo People,' and
some more popular Chemical Brothers tunes capitalized on.
DAMN! This is some of Venom's hardest material in years! Utilizing a VICIOUS
thrash sound somewhat reminiscent of what Judas Priest did with "Jugulator,"
though Venom does it with more viciousness and blackness that has trademarked
their sound throughout the years. The disc starts off kicking some serious
ass with 'The Evil One,' and damn near never lets off! 'Raised In Hell' is a
speedier number, and lemme tell you Mantas' guitar riffs totally smoke
through damn near every song! 'Judgement Day' was rather odd hearing Cronos
SING in a rather James Hetfield style, but true to form they come out heavy
with a slower number that showcases Venom's ability to utilize melody in a
most brutal way! 'Domus Mundi' was a rather wierd industrial sounding piece,
can you imagine this in a club somewhere? The weakest part of the CD however
was 'Kings Of Evil,' though the chorus was rather intense, the beginning of
the song where you only hear Cronos chanting and a bass guitar going was
really weak. 'Swarm' was rather a odd tune as well, still good but not as
good as the rest. Then there's disc 2, which is really intense versions of
older classic cuts like 'Lady Lust,' 'Bloodlust,' and 'Rip Ride' done over
and in some cases sounding more brutal than before! They still should have
left off 'Manitou,' even though it sounds a little better, it's still in my
honest opinion one of the worst Venom songs ever written. The new fan can
raise their chalice of blood for a band that has always been able to stand
the test of time, and the diehard Venom legions can appreciate the vicious
attack that Cronos and company have unleashed upon a dying world! Might I add
too that Cronos' vocals have improved with age and are even rawer than ever
before!
Damn this smokes! Amidst all the talk about the retro thrash movement, this
disc combines savage hellish black metal vocals with thrash guitars and quite
brutal lyrics! With songs like 'Witchery,' 'Midnight At The Graveyard' and
'All Evil,' every song here is well written, I even catch myself singing the
choruses to many songs! I can't really pick out favorite songs, except for
maybe those hellish screams on 'Witchery' and of course 'House Of Raining
Blood' is especially savage, but I can't really say too much more about this
without ruining the mood of it, so go listen to the sound files! All the
guitar parts are awesome, especially those headbanging riffs exemplified on
'Born In The Night' and others. This is probably going to get great press
worldwide, I know that thanks to the breakup of Satanic Slaughter we should
be lucky enough to hear more, in fact another album from Witchery is in the
works and I know I can't wait!!
INTERVIEWS
ABIGOR. Interview with Peter Kubik via email.
** Interview done by Chris Waters **
First off, I must mention that it was an extreme honor to do this interview
since Abigor is one of my favorite black metal bands, right up there with
Cradle Of Filth and Emperor! Abigor may seem to be one of the more unheard of
bands but they are actually hailed by black metal fans throughout the world,
even here in the States where it is rather difficult to find their CD's.
(Yeah, especially with a VERY un-cooperative label such as Napalm Records,
both the European branch AND the U.S. branch! - Steven.) Incorporating some
of the most beautiful melodies of flutes, organs, samples, acoustic guitars
and other instruments along with the most aggressive guitar and drum assaults
to haunt the black earth, Abigor is as black as black metal gets!
With the release of their third opus "Nachthymen.." in 1995, Abigor carved
the path for numerous black metal bands today. Not to mention that they are
one of the hardest working bands, they have managed to release a total of 6
CD's and EP's in a matter of three and a half years and have managed to
become the most aggressive and harmonized black metal band today with CD's
such as "Opus IV," "Apokalypse," and their latest and most matured release
"Supreme Immortal Art." Peter Kubrik, one of the masterminds behind the band,
tells us about how this trio of warriors started: "T.T. and I started Abigor
in mid summer 1993. Immediately after that Rune (now known as Tharen) joined
Abigor as vocalist. At the time we started with Abigor, we all lived in the
country side of Austria, not in Vienna as today. I can't remember exactly but
I've played together with T.T. in early 1990. However, because of several
problems we split the band after a few rehearsals. In 1993 we met again and
decided to start Abigor." Peter further elaborates about the members and how
they incorporate their instruments to contribute to the sound of Abigor
today: "T.T. plays drums and guitar, Silenius does vocals and I do guitars.
These are our basic functions, but T.T. and I also play bass and keyboards.
Silenius is 'only' Abigor's voice. He has never written any note nor any
lyric for an ABigor song and maybe in the future he will only be a session
member of Abigor, but we aren't sure yet. Abigor has only existed with this
lineup since March of 1994, which at this time we replaced Rune with
Silenius." We also get the latest about their newest album from Peter, which
as we mentioned is entitled "Supreme Immortal Art" and how it is different
from other releases: "'Supreme...' was released in the beginning of March
through Napalm Records, as you may already know. In my opinion, it's the
most matured album so far, even though there are some points, mainly
concerning production, which could be better. The main difference to our
previous releases is that we used keyboards throughout the album. We also
worked with some samples and more complex guitar lines. One can say that we
managed to use keyboards as another full instrument without losing the
aggressivity of the material, especially in the guitar riffs. So 'Supreme...'
unites aggressive guitars and harmonic keyboard sounds to a sonorous song
structure, with a high technical standard."
In previous interviews with Abigor, T.T. talked a bit about the driving
emotional and spiritual forces behind their music. Peter tells us about the
translation of these forces into their newest release: "There was no special
force behind the creation process for ''Supreme...'' It was just a kind of
development into another direction after ''Apokalypse.'' It even took a
longer time to write and finish the material, but the final result turned out
to our satisfaction. The end result creates and transfers emotional energy as
well as spiritual energy, and that differs in my opinion from album to album.
Of course we are dedicated, if we create songs, to make them as various and
emotional as possible. Mostly, we don't know how the finished song will sound
in the studio, and I think that's a main part of Abigor's spirit. If we work
on new material, each of us writes new songs. On this new one, T.T. and I
wrote 4 songs each, but one can't separate it that strictly because we change
the songs several times before we record them."
Many fans believe that Abigor's music has become more brutal since "Opus
IV." Peter explains about that and his opinion of todays' black metal music:
"I must agree first of all that we have gotten more brutal since ''Opus IV.''
But I think that's the way in which black metal should develop, after all
it's an extreme kind of music with extreme views, so what do people expect? I
think that's the main reason why the genre has watered down so much within
the last few years, because too many listeners and fans want more and well
produced or good sounding black metal with nice melodies, a lot of keyboards,
and even female vocals: simply a kind of easy listening crap! Of course,
maybe you think now: 'You released ''Nachthymnen,'' which fits into this
description.' But I think that album has a high musical standard, and it's a
very personal album for us. Also, it was released before these 'girly' black
metal bands came up, but we will never record such an album again!"
And we
also probed the philosophies and messages behind their music as well, since
many true black metal bands have these in abundance! "The main philosophy
behind the entity known as Abigor is self realization and to spread the
message of satan through our art. Abigor is a demon, the grand duke of hell.
He is responsible for all questions concerning war and warfare. Sixty of the
infernal legions are at his command. Though our popularity is seemingly
increasing, it's really nothing special for us because we still create our
art for self realization, but of course it's great when Abigor is popular so
a lot of different people hear our message. However, I think that will never
have negative effects for our art, so Abigor will always remain and represent
black metal in it's deepest essence."
Peter also tells us about the new material for the next album: "We will
enter the studio in December to start recording for a new album. It will
contain 8 songs, and we will try to work with 3 to 4 guitar lines throughout
the album. At the moment, I can't say if it will be the best Abigor album
yet, but I hope so!" One thing many fans of the group may not know is that
they have never played live! "Maybe we will play one exclusive gig at the
Hellraiser Club in Leipzig (Germany), " states Peter, "but at the moment
we're just planning it. However, I doubt it at the moment. The main reason,
of course, why we haven't played live yet is that we need 3 live session
musicians, which we haven't found yet. Also I think that if we would play
live we would lose a lot of atmosphere that our music creates on each of our
albums."
Around the time of "Opus IV's" release, I read that Abigor no longer wears
corpse paint because of the many so called black metal bands (i.e. black
metal bands that are not satanists) (though WHY satanism should be a
prerequisite for a good black metal band is beyond me. Look at Samael for
instance! - Steven.) that wore it. It is now becoming a trend (although I
heard that Cradle Of Filth no longer wears corpse paint either... - Steven
again.) that some of the more true black metal bands remove it because of
that. But is this still true with Abigor? "No, it's not," Peter states rather
sternly. "We haven't worn corpse paint on some photos, but for us it's still
a part of the spiritual meaning of black metal, and thus will always be a
part of Abigor," proving that these corpse painted warriors adorned with
medieval weaponry will always be true to the core black metal.
So now that you've gained a few insights into this rather unique and bold
group, many readers are now wondering (as are longtime fans) how they can get
their claws on Abigor CD's here in the States. "Our distributors in the U.S.
are Century Media, Napalm America, Full Moon Productions and Red Stream. But
one can also get the CD's directly from Napalm in Austria I think. So it
can't be that big of a problem to get our stuff where you live." Speaking of
which, there is a demo CD that they released through Napalm Austria not too
long ago that was a limited run of 500 copies, which Peter will elaborate on:
"The demo CD, entitled ''Origo Regium 1993-1994'' contains a few selected
songs off the demos ''Ash Nazgh...'' ''Lux Devicta Est,'' ''Promo Tape II
94'' and ''Moonrise.'' These are recordings from the days that Rune was the
vocalist. We selected about 8 songs, and the CD has a playtime of about 38
minutes -- unfortunately I don't know the song titles anymore. However, if
you're interested in that CD you should very quickly order it from Napalm
directly because I heard that it's nearly sold out!" (with a release date of
mid-October, it's probably gone now even though indie labels usualy reprint
things of interest like this - Steven.)
And with this, Peter leaves us with a few words of thanks and wisdom:
"Thank you for your support. Music develops, never must the mental attitude
behind it."
BRAIN GARDEN. Interview with Brad and Atom via email.
Okay, so many of you have read the review and listened to the sound files
this virtually unknown electronic group. Though we usually have to do the
routine asking of general and brief history of the band's humble beginnings,
Atom goes on in rather lengthy fashion about Brain Garden's incorporation,
obviously it's a question he has no problems answering: "Brad and I have
always had a similar sense of what was REALLY interesting to watch or listen
to. This led to us working together on some short film and music projects
after high school, which looking back are excrutiating for most people to
listen to or watch (except us.) As we developed more as artists we started
taking our composition and production more seriously. We decided to record
our first CD in the ''big studio,'' 2 - 24 tracks, the whole bit which we had
to sell our souls to pay for (which by the way we still haven't regained full
possession of to this day.) It was an industrial/dance CD entitled
''Civilized?'' We called ourselves The Faktory. We were quite thrilled with
the results and were it not for our complete lack of competent label support
and business savvy you'd probably have heard of it. Anyways, after being The
Faktory for a couple of years and trying everything short of moving to make
something happen with it, we decided to move. We hooked up with a budding new
label called Farren Music America after we relocated to L.A. which was
founded by Ian Faith. Ian understood the record and wanted to put it out.
Since then we've been working with FMA and things have been going great.
Momentum is happening, people are responding surprisingly well to the record.
Naturally, we expected people to like it or we wouldn't have wasted anybody's
time, but initially there's always a risk when you stick with your instinct
about a sound or an idea that can't be neatly categorized or doesn't
duplicate an exact criteria that's proven successful. So we're very pleased
that people like it so much once they've been exposed to it." So for those
not in the know, "Music For Unfamiliar Highways" is the album that has been
released, and as mentioned above, this is not the only piece of work that the
duo have worked on, as Atom explains: "As I mentioned above, there was our
first industrial/dance effort which is about 1/3 songs with lyrics and 1/2
instrumentals. We have hours of music that we've recorded over the past
couple of years much of which has been separated into potential CD's and
singles to be released. We've worked on film and commercial soundtracks,
remixes and collaborated with various artists such as experimental electronic
musician Randy Greif and Anna Homler from Voices of Quan. But until you've
established some sort of identity in the industry it can be difficult to
release all your crazy ideas in a timely fashion so much of our material is
in hibernation at the moment."
Some tracks off of this particular album remind me in a rather indirect way
of bands like Hacienda and Kraftwelt who can make dance music with beats, but
still retain a very relaxed, mellow atmosphere which suits ambient chill
rooms and packed dance floors. Brain Garden in particular is able to make
songs both totally devoid of beats and ones with great clubworthy appeal, so
from here I'll let Brad explain the further inner workings of "Music For
Unfamiliar Highways," and also talk a bit about bands he's been influenced
by: "This album was written with a theme in mind from the beginning. That
theme being those strange moments in life that happen in the middle of the
night or in a dense fog. Ghosts, UFO's, drug trips... In general, we tried to
create traveling music for the body and the imagination, an album that would
provide a soundtrack to a late night drive through a sleeping world or that
would create a mood in a darkened room, perhaps while smoking say your
''tobacco'' pipe. The fact that we wrote the album in New England, a place
full of haunted houses, ghost stories and strange weather contributed quite a
bit to the feel of the CD. As far as bands like Kraftwelt and Komputer go
though it's hard to respect their work considering Kraftwerk did it all for
them years ago. As for new music Howie B's ''Music For Babies'' and ''Turn
The Dark Off'' were instant favorites. Brian Eno's ambient series of CD's
always create a new space out of any environment. The main factor is a bit of
personality; there is far too much generic techno, ambient, drum and bass,
down beat, etc. etc. Most of our favorites are artists that achieved
commercial success as a by product of their need to create a very
personalized statement. In the beginning we ran a bit aground due to the
trendy mentality of most labels and after a time came to a point where we had
to forget about what was popular and do what was right to our estates
notions." Atom relates a few ideas about the sounds and influences about this
album in addition to what Brad stated: "This particular record was intended
to have a somewhat coherent theme that ties it all together. Haunting images
of unexplained phenomena and trance inducing gurgling analogue repetitions
and builds are meant to be the soundtrack of your own wandering and wild
imagination, just offering suggestions of hints of directions to go in. The
listener should be participating, letting go and drifting. It's not intended
to be distracting or bone crushing." One question about the songs I had in
particular, WHERE did they get that funny vocal chanting style from? It kinda
sounded like the munchkin people from The Wizard Of Oz movie? "As for the
munchkin people chanting vocals you mentioned, I don't recall exactly where I
got that sample from, but I do seem to recall bringing my portable DAT
recorder to a strange ritual gathering that was in fact held by a very large
cult of very small people in an ancient dead garden city southeast of
Pompeii!"
One really has to experience this type of music in a relaxed setting one
would think to really appreciate all the sounds and atmospheres that come
together as a result of such brainstorming. A live setting might indeed be a
rather unique experience for us, and fortunately Brad explains that the group
is more than happy to oblige on occasion! "We actually play live shows very
often. We do an ongoing Sunday chill night at a L.A. landmark, a cafe called
the Nova Express. The place looks like a set from Barbaraella. We also do
shows at Louis the 14th's in Hollywood, California, and for our next CD we
will be doing a summer tour which may include Europe. Right now we are trying
to get a multimedia presentation of ''Highways'' together. We also have a
very freaky Mars Attacks style video being put together by the same director
of the official 1997 Burning Man video, a Mr. Chuck Cirino. Of course, in the
area we live in, that being Los Angeles, the scene here consists of the city
itself trying to milk the hard rock genre for all it's worth. It's been
famous for top notch rock and roll for decades now and the transition is
slow. But in a city this size, needless to say there is a very strong
underground and that's where you have to go. We still, like the rest of the
U.S., rely on college radio and specialty shows to expose great electronic
talent. There is a community vibe to it, and when larger events are organized
like raves and stuff it's usually the same names and faces doing the
organizing and the crowds keep getting bigger."
Until I got the CD from an independent publicist, I had never heard of
Brain Garden, nor had I had a chance to scope out their label, Hydraulic
Clown Head Music. According to Atom, though, press has been good, as he
states: "The first time out, to be honest we've managed to keep Rolling Stone
at bay without too much effort. But we have been getting some really good
press from college papers, Addicted To Noise, S.I.N. Magazine, Ear Magazine,
Mixer Magazine, Lotus, Manic, Interface Magazine and others. Mainly New York
and Los Angeles based 'zines, mags and internet stuff. That's been a bit of
the trick, the artwork doesn't necessarily scream ''electronic music in
here.'' So we're relying heavily on word of mouth, CD placement at retail and
reviews and ads to convey what Brain Garden is. Hydraulic Clown Head is
actually the vinyl portion of our label. Farren Music America is distributed
nationally by Focus/M.S. Distribution Group. They've been really good about
getting the CD available to all the major chains as well as the ma & pa shops
that specialize in electronic music. Chances are you will find it or can
special order it just about anywhere."
Finally, Brain Garden seems to be always working on something. Adam wraps
this interview up by telling us of future plans for the label, and finally by
answering a question that now when I look back on it I'm wondering if I
should have asked: "We have a sort of script laid out for our next CD which
is a concept album based on the split between urban chaos and the natural
world we left behind. We are planning many things for this CD. Brad is a
photographer and I am quite good with computer graphics so we'd like to
create a multimedia package for this idea. Our 12 inch label HcH will be
putting out vinyl on a regular basis, hopefully starting in January 1999. As
for collaborations we have been talking with Anna Homler about doing a 12
inch EP. In general, like you said, we are always working on something. And
now for the name Brain Garden. How do you come up with a name for something
that you're going to have to live with for a long time? This is how we do it.
Lists of names like ''The Sinister Sponge Burners,'' ''The Cube Donkeys,''
and ''Terragon Vortex'' would be spewed out by myself and Brad. It didn't
matter how preposterous. Then a systematic rejection process would take
place. Kind of like war... The last name standing wins... :) "
CRADLE OF FILTH. Interview with Dani via telephone.
At the time we did this interview, Cradle of Filth had planned to do a U.S.
tour around October, but it didn't happen. However, Dani explains about their
newest release, "Cruelty And The Beast:" "It can be seen as kind of a concept
record, but we use that term very loosely. It doesn't interfere with the
music at all, most people think of a concept album and they go 'yuck!' Of
course, Ingrid Pitt is on the album, she performed in a bunch of Hammer
Horror movies like the Dracula movies with Christopher Lee, and she actually
starred in a movie called ''Countess Dracula'' which was about Countess
Bathory. She also starred in ''The House That Dripped Blood'' and quite a few
others. She's considered to be the first lady of horror, and she does lots of
the dialogue on the new record. She plays the Countess on our record as she
ages. And of course, Cronos from Venom does a few parts on our album too."
Cradle Of Filth is now signed to Music For Nations, distributed here in the
U.S. by Mayhem/Fierce Records. I asked Dani to look back at the beginnings of
the band on Cacophonous and what made them feel they had to make a switch to
a bigger label: "We always had fans in the United States, but it wasn't until
we got off of Cacophonous Records and moved over to Music For Nations in
England, with the release of ''Dusk And Her Embrace,'' that things took off
for us. Playing the Milwaulkee Metalfest also helped us a lot. Cacophonous
totally screwed us, they didn't pay us, gave us no tour support, they weren't
a proper record company. Being men of action as we are, we got in touch with
a music solicitor that worked with bands like Jamiroquai and New Order, oddly
enough, but she was a great promoter. Within the year she helped us negotiate
a deal where we would record songs for an E.P. which the label turned into
the album called ''Vempire.'' That would relieve us of our commitment to
Cacophonous since we were signed to them for three albums. We were then free
to shop around, or basically 'prostitute' ourselves, to other record labels."
Music For Nations, as many longtime music fans may know, was the English
branch that put out all the Combat releases (over in England now) and also
distributed many other titles. Dani further elaborates what Music For Nations
is like in their homeland: "Well, sometimes they piss us off, actually all
record labels piss us off, or have upset us. We have very definitive ideas
about what we want to do, but they have done a lot for us, they've promoted
us quite a bit, and the popularity of our new record and our last album is a
strong testament to that."
I probed Dani a bit (with some helpful insight to C.O.F.'s biggest fan here
in the South) about his religious and spiritual influences. Looking back to
even "Vempire," it seems like the Filth crew is really into Vampire culture,
especially seeing how their last two albums deal a lot with those sorts of
topics. Dani explains how his own homeland ties into this quite a bit: "I
grew up in the countryside of Suffolk, England, which is known as a witch
county for the witch trials and inquisitions that went on there through the
Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins. I actually knew a few women in the town
who practiced witchcraft and initiated me; my Christian name is Daniel which
means judgement of God, and this woman initiated me into what you might
call the dark arts. Well, I wouldn't say there is any white or black magic,
or dark arts, it's all in what you do or perform. My name Daniel I had
changed to Dani, basically the 'e' and the 'l' have a meaning of God, so now
my name means basically judgement bereft of God, or at least it did when I
was 13 years old, and that is about the right age when young ones get
initiated into what most people might consider the pagan arts. From there on
it's been a deep rooted interest of mine, and I've been involved in different
occult oriented groups in the past who were pretty sinister oriented, but now
I follow my own path. I learned enough to get by basically. Satanism, unlike
what some people think and is a loose term which basically means adversity,
is not about devil worship or pointy beards, horns and forked tails."
We then
started to discuss the evils of Christianity, especially where the witch
trials were concerned, an organization that was supposedly so righteous that
they burned anyone who even possessed a bible because the book was "so
sacred" that it wasn't to be possessed by the masses. And of course the
colonists come to America from England so they can escape religious
persecution, the tyranny of the king, and gain the freedom to practice
whatever religion they choose, and run dead into the Americanized version of
the Witch Trials. Organized religion, in my opinion, has caused more
bloodshed and done more harm in the name of Christianity than any Satanic
religions or organizations in the entire world. Though dispelling
Christianity as a myth may be more akin to calling a hungry lion a mere
annoyance, Dani has his own ideas about the damages and annoyances of
religion: "What you said isn't really a personal view, it's more of a fact.
To tell you the truth, Christianity doesn't bother me at all, it's really
just a myth, basically a dead monster, a symbol. They want people like us,
they need the devil, they need people like us who are an aversion to them.
What are they going to do if they have nothing to rage against? Nothing,
absolutely nothing."
Okay, so this is a black metal band, despite what people have said in press
and on various newsgroup postings. And so if you heard that Cradle Of Filth
no longer wears corpse paint, you might think that they have abandoned their
genre totally, but things Dani talks about in regards to this and what
exactly black metal entails might change your mind a bit: "Originally people
in black metal bands wore the corpse paint basically to look the part,
looking dead, to look scary. My mother comes to visit me lately and when she
looks through music magazines at these bands wearing corpse paint, she just
laughs! No really, she laughs at these bands because they look so silly, most
bands nowadays look like pandas or clowns! It's rather embarrasing I think.
You should see the pictures of us in the new album, we have a new
photographer working with us and we think those shots are simply incredible.
There are people who are still into all the black metal bands that sound very
much the same. These same people think that just because we have a unique
sound and style, and we appear in big magazines and sell a few records that
we have sold out, which is not true. It's not very black metal to have to
hold a part time job in a supermarket because you're not making enough money
out of a band. Fortunately, we make enough money to live with what we do,
which obviously isn't the driving force behind it, the driving force for us
is that we love what we do. In fact, we're more into the thing now than when
we started, and the music is getting better and more aggressive yet it is now
encompassing more emotions which is exactly what we intended to do from the
beginning."
Despite his passion for music, we're going to close out this
interview by allowing Dani to review with us some of the bad press he has
received and his reactions to publications and fanzines in general: "There's
a magazine that I think people should boycott in America, it's a crappy
little magazine called The Seventh Seal, run by a narrow minded Nazi twat who
deserves people spitting on him and things like that, at the end of
interviews he adds quotes from Himmler and other Nazis. The band Satyricon
too played with us on a tour in Holland of about 90,000 people, and we were
getting all this crap about selling out because we were playing on the main
stage, actually we went on right before Marilyn Manson and Korn. So Nicholas
and I stormed onto the Satryicon tour bus and Nicholas instigated it by
saying ''allright, fucking who wants some!'' Their attitudes changed
instantly!" And the last thing I'm sure C.O.F. fans want to know about was
the poor British guy who went to court for wearing a C.O.F. T-shirt. That had
a happy ending fortunately, as Dani relates: "He was fined for that, but the
whole incident was basically dropped. However, over in the States there was a
guy named Andrew Love who was a clerk in a store. He faced a year in jail for
this offence, of course in America you have civil liberties and the fifth
amendment, so the whole thing was basically laughed out of court."
Dani wants to thank his fans for their help and support, and mentions in
passing about his next project. Apparently Dani is fans of other styles of
music like techno and darkwave music, which he relates: "I'm a HUGE Prodigy
fan. They actually live quite near us. I like most any kind of music as long
as it's good. We're doing a couple of really hardcore techno remixes for a
release later this year. There will be a few cover versions and some older
material we recorded and remixed, plus a new song. We do 'Kill With Power' by
Manowar, a Sisters Of Mercy track and 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' of course by
Iron Maiden."
The End Records has licensed Nokturnal Mortem's album "Goat Horns" through
Nuclear Blast Records over in Europe. The album is planned to be released in
September.
For those of you who don't know it yet, New Renaissance Records has risen
from the dead! They are back in full swing and plan on re-releasing several
older classic items never before available on CD! Their first official
release is Hellion's "Up From The Depths" This CD release features their two
EP's "Postcards From The Asylum" and "The Mini EP" plus an extra track! At
War's "Ordered To Kill" and Blood Feast's "Kill For Pleasure" are being re-
worked as we speak, and new efforts from Sarcastic (a Mexican band hailed as
"Mexico's Sepultura") and Hellion are on the way!
In some rather cool licensing news, Possessive Blindfold Recordings has just
announced that they have struck a deal with Offbeat Records to distribute
Suicide Commando in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico! Their first release through
Possessive is entitled "Construct/Destruct" which will feature remixes by
:Wumpscut:, Dive, and Pierrepoint. This is scheduled for a late September
release. They also have plans for a compilation CD of Suicide Commando
material featuring rare, live and demo tracks. In addition they also carry
other fine import and domestic industrial releases.
Regardless of their release date of August, a surprising piece of news was
passed to me from Slipdisc Records: They have released Drown's second
stunning masterpiece in "Product Of A Two Faced World." Released August 4th
and arriving way too late for deadline, it does feature the tortured screams
of Lauren, founding member and vocalist, as well as a few new members. We'll
have the review of this next issue. Suffice it to say that what I have heard
so far I was extremely impressed with. One thing I must comment on is that
the industrial leanings are seemingly gone, the first 4 tracks I heard were
totally devoid of any keyboards!
Though their releases these days seem too few and far between, the industrial
label Pendragon has announced some rather startling releases for the rest of
the year on up through 1999. The first mention, for those of you who are
really getting into the Hexedene CD "Choking On Lilies" we reviewed this
issue, is La Floa Matilda, a German/Italian duo with an amazing first release
entitled "Destination: Heaven." According to the bio, this is an electro/goth
creation that features sensuous vocals from Rhea, and Guido who has created
magical electronic symphonies equaled only by such names as Craig Armstrong
and Delerium! Not to mention this release will also feature a few remixes
from German greats like Haujobb and Das Ich, making for a most exciting
October 6th when this album finally sees the light of day. THD will release
"Under A Static Sky" around early January 1999, showcasing a new experimental
techno/electronica sound. Gridlock are back in the studio to work on their
second release, and can you believe there will be some tracks hitting the 160
Beats Per Minute range? They are currently making tour plans for the U.S.
Finally, Fektion Fekler's second album is complete as of this writing and
planned to be unleashed around November 3rd. Title is still pending.
Lots of stuff coming out from Nuclear Blast. First off, Death and Hammerfall,
both with new albums out and hopefully reviewed next issue, are touring
together! The tour should probably be underway by the time you read this,
with the last date ending up in Atlanta on December 12th... Gorgoroth has
signed with Nuclear Blast now, that and the new Night In Gales, Pegazus and
Death should be in next issue.
Some really cool news. First off, we are working with a new record label
known as the Music Cartel, which is working with Eric Wagner from Trouble and
Karl Agell, the former vocalist from Corrosion of Conformity. Both people are
involved in very interesting side projects signed to The Music Cartel, Eric
is working with Danny Cavanaugh from Anathema on a 60's influenced band known
as LID, and Karl Agell works with ex- C.O.C. bassist Phil Swisher on a rather
straightforward rock band known as Leadfoot. The Music Cartel is also going
to be responsible for the U.S. distribution of Lee Dorrian's Rise Above
Records! Two titles are planned for early 1999, more info as it becomes
available.
Though I know this issue will arrive way late, due to various problems like
NO COMPUTER of my own, I did the best I could. Hopefully I can get everything
together for future issues. As I mentioned earlier, the classic albums
section has REALLY taken off, far better than what I ever expected. Actually,
the digitizing process works like this: I send a tape of recorded material
off to Richard and he basically remasters it using good sound editing tools
like Cool Edit Pro and stuff like that, and lays it down track by track onto
CD-Rom discs! So when I get the CD's back, they are basically computer CD's
with the cool blue, green, or yellow data side colors, but they will play on
virtually ANY CD player. So they're great in the car. He's also been
recording these CD's in Dolby, a fact which I was unaware of until I played
them in a friend's expensive home entertainment system. Those of you who may
be interested in getting CD's made of your favorite music may be interested
in Richard's services. The layout is professionally done, complete with CD
covers and computer generated graphics which he can create from the original
cassette or vinyl artwork! I'll let you all know if he is willing to take
orders from individuals.
Just recently got back from seeing Judas Priest live at The Masquerade in
Atlanta, Georgia. Tim "Ripper" Owens was a Priest fan's dream! Stating in a
few interviews that he really loves old Judas Priest material, he performed
many classics like 'Beyond The Realms Of Death,' 'Hell Bent For Leather' (One
of MY personal favorites), 'Green Manalishi' and others with such power and
conviction that no one who ever loved Priest in ANY capacity can say Ripper
doesn't get the job done and done well! Plus, his youth and energetic
performance leaves no doubt in my mind that they definitely picked the right
man for the job. Now, to deal with this stupid talk about Priest "selling
out?" What the fuck is this crap!??! Judas Priest's "Jugulator" is definitely
THE HEAVIEST Priest album ever created. It naturally follows the progression
Priest made with their last effort "Painkiller." Painkiller was very heavy as
well, so why was there no compalints there? It seems to me like "Jugulator"
was the natural progression type step up from their last album. Plus, it's
really cool to see Priest be able to write such monstrous material that most
people only thought bands like Slayer capable of. The most interesting thing
about the show in Atlanta was seeing the dual acoustic guitars used and Owens
singing a brilliant 'Diamonds And Rust.' Go see them when they come to your
town! This coupled with the news that Death's "The Sound Of Perserverance"
has been selling several thousand copies here in the states and has made the
Billboard top 100 charts (and a very high position on it at that!) shows us
that maybe metal is indeed making a strong and very powerful comeback!
The Flower Kings played here in the U.S. at this progressive rock festival
a few months ago. Though we missed the show, we have decided to hold off on
the review of their latest double CD until next issue, and hopefully Roine
Stolt will have the interview questions back to me soon. We also apologize
for not running the Datura interview, leaving issue #19 one interview short,
but the interview got deleted. We hope to be able to recover that for you,
but in the meantime I'm glad you all decided to stick around for this issue,
and we hope to bring you more goodies next time.
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