Vital Remains - Into Cold Darkness (1995)

My first exposure to Vital Remains was back during the, 'Dechristianize' days, which for me was back during my grim days and I don't remember it making much of an impression on me as a result of my intense love for all things black metal. However last year I witnessed Vital Remains onstage chaos alongside Pestilence and was absolutely blown away with them and when I happened to come across this old album I knew it was time to give the band a chance again, because, 'Into Cold Darkness' is just awesome.

Vital Remains performs death metal in the most sophisticated style and its clear immediately soon as the nearly nine minute epic, 'Immortal Crusade' blasts into your ears. You wouldn't expect a nine minute death metal song to work, but through various tempo changes, progressive-ish touches and even a spoken part alongside all of the ongoing madness it works quite well and isn't a bore at all. Vital Remains also makes a great usage of synths throughout their music, although they are never overly used they are placed at the correct times to fully enhance the music and bring it to even darker plains. While most of the other songs (except, 'Under The Moon's Fog') are in the more typical 3-4 minutes range they still tend to feature a lot of the same characteristics as this opener.

Guitarists Tony Lazaro and Paul Flynn do an exceptional job on this recording with plenty of razor sharp riffs and some superb leads that move effortlessly between rapid heavy blasts to more melodic epic guitar riffage. Likewise Joe Lewis' bass work is decent, although nothing special, but at least its quite audible in comparison to some death metal records. Rick Corbet is also highly impressive behind the drum kit as he pounds away and Jeff Gruslin's guttural roars will surely please any death metal fan.

This being the only Vital Remains album I own and have listened to extensively I can't honestly say if it is the bands finest hour, although I can quite easily tell you that it is a first rate death metal record well worth picking up if you should ever come across it during your CD hunting.

Månegarm - Urminnes Hävd - The Forest Sessions (2006)

I don't really remember when I first heard Swedish band, Månegarm, I guess, it was back around 2000 when they were releasing their second album, 'Havets Vargar,' but for some reason I don't recall their brand of black-ish Viking folk metal making much of an impression on me. A few years down the road I impulsively picked up this seven song EP based purely on the fact that they were trying something different, well sorta.

Back then and even nowadays it’s become a really common thing for metal bands to unplug and do an acoustic styled album. 2006 must have been the right time for the long running Swedish folk metal band Månegarm to do just that with their EP titled, ‘Urminnes Hävd - The Forest Sessions.’ Curiously I don't recall this EP blowing my socks off back then but a few months ago I threw this baby on and I was totally floored by it.

After a short fifteen second intro we get treated to the first sounds of, ‘Himmelsfursten.’ Immediately the first thing that came to my mind was the fact that this song (and the song to follow) sounded a lot like the fast bouncy Swedish folk band, ‘Två Fisk Och En Fläsk’ (groovy name, no). A few more seconds into the song and I quickly recognize a female voice that sounded like Umer from Två. Of course I then opened the booklet to see that it was indeed Umer and that also Janne from the same band is also the violinist in Månegarm.

Although Månegarm adds a few additionally instruments, sound effects and male vocals, its not all triple espresso Två playing all the time as songs like, 'Hemkomst' & 'Döden' are a bit calmer in their delivery and even sort of progressive in a way. Döden in particular I utterly love and a lot of it has to do with the dual voices singing in Swedish. I got to be honest one of the reasons I've come to love the language a bit is after viewing some quality Swedish films last year, one of which I have the movie poster right here on my wall in front of my work area looking down on me. Seriously though just an utterly beautiful song all the way, even if you don't have much appreciation for the Swedish language or folk music I still think its worth checking out.

As this is just an EP its said and done with in 26 minutes and I think its a bit of a shame that they never did a full-length album in this style, especially since they do it quite well. Nevertheless, it seems all of Månegarm's work since this EP has been met with favorable reviews, which means I should probably catch up with these folky Swedish folks someday.

Saint Vitus - V (1990)

Saint Vitus is by most peoples accounts one of the first bands to pick up the torch of heavy doomy metal that Black Sabbath was famously known for in the first half of the 70's. Beginning life as early as 1978 under the Tyrant monicker, they became Saint Vitus two years later and by 1984 they were releasing their self-titled debut. However by 1986 when they were releasing their third album, 'Born Too Late,' a guy by the name of Scott "Wino" Weinrich (whose band The Obsessed were on hiatus) had stepped in to replace vocalist Scott Reagers, and although I can't say for sure I think these three albums are generally considered Saint Vitus' finest moments. 'V' was released in 1990; a point in time when thrash metal was dying, death metal was thriving, black metal didn't exist yet and more than likely a time when no one gave a fuck about a Sabbath influenced band.

'V' was the fifth Saint Vitus album as well as the last to feature Wino at the vocal helm and the results are quite good. Dave Chandler's hazily fuzzy toned heavy riffs, booming solos and bleak lyrics characterize the album while Wino howls out Chandler's words on anger, self-loathing, alcohol, society, drug abuse (etc.) in a mostly depressing manner, which works perfectly with the given music. Although some songs move at speedier bluesy rock n' roll pace and are over in three minutes or less a good portion of the album revolves around ultra slow plodding guitars, drums and bass and are between five to seven minutes each, yet the whole eight song album is said and done in thirty six minutes.

While I do like the speedier numbers like, 'Angry Man' or 'Mind-Food' quite a bit I do have a bit more love for the ultra heavy and slow ones, such as, 'Patra (Petra)' & 'I Bleed Black.' Just as many doom/death bands would do a few years down the road, these slower jams show a great deal of emotion both through Dave's riff work and Wino's dismal vocal delivery. To me that's what doom is all about.

Although I've known about Saint Vitus for years I've only previously also heard the bands final effort from 1995, 'Die Healing,' which I remember selling a few years back, yet coming across this one in a used bin a few months ago has renewed my interest in the band.

Saint Vitus hasn't released any new studio album since '95, but this classic line-up got back together in 2008 and although the bands one and only drummer, Armando Acosta pasted away last year they've already found a replacement in Henry Vasquez. So, it should be interesting to see if these aging doomsters come up with something new soon or they'll just be sticking to their classics.

Kuma's Corner

Yesterday I ate a Mastodon Burger at a place called, 'Kuma's Corner,' which is a heavy metal themed restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. This being my first time visiting the joint I can honestly say that every single time I stop through Chicago I'm going to have to eat here, because the food was superb and the portions were great. Plus there's several other interesting dishes I need to try, such as the; Black Sabbath Blackening Spice Burger or the Iron Maiden Avocado Burger. Plus there will be a void in my guts until I try the Three Floyd's Amon Amarth - Ragnarok Beer, which was most unfortunately not available yesterday. Did I mention its heavy metal themed? You know it, metal is blasting all the time plus there's vinyls, pictures and all kinds of other neat metal stuff on the walls. Even the website is a fun thing to check out, especially Kuma's story: http://www.kumascorner.com


If you live in Chicago I'm sure you no doubt already know about Kuma's Corner, but if you plan to visit or are just passing on through then remember to check it out. I think you'll be quite satisfied with your visit.

Sepultura - Schizophrenia (1987)

I was suppose to see Sepultura live tonight, but due to poor pre-sales the promoter pulled the plug on the gig and the whole thing was cancelled. On the plus side, through a friend who is doing merchandise for one of the touring bands I was able to go out and hang with her as well as a few members of Sepultura (Paulo, Andreas and Jean), which isn't too bad at all. Therefore, you get a Sepultura review today. Something newer would probably be more appropriate, but, 'Arise' is the 'newest' album of theirs I own. So, will just go, way, way back then.

Anyway, 'Schizophrenia' was Sepultura's sophomore effort, which saw release in late October of 1987 when the members were between the ages of 17-18 years only, which is quite amazing considering the talent on display during this beast. This album also saw the band leaving their earlier death metal style music and shifting towards thrash metal, which they created three albums in before moving towards groove metal.

Although the production of this album is hardly dynamic it is worlds above in sound quality when compared to the abysmal debut offering, 'Morbid Visions,' which I do love, but what's most impressive about this recording is the bands performance as musicians and the overall song writing. Schizophrenia welcomed in new lead guitarist Andreas Kisser who absolutely crushes alongside Max Cavalera and between the two of them the listener is hit with a whirlwind of merciless riffs and killer solos. Likewise Igor's drumming sounds completely amazing, to say the least, as he blasts away at mad but quite technical and impressive furies, while Paulo's bass is there, but unfortunately suffers a bit through the production.

Basically from start to finish this album is one destructive onslaught of thrashing supremacy, which honestly no one came close to touching in 1987. After a short intro things kick into full gear with, 'From the Past Comes the Storms,' which is surely one of the best thrash songs ever and no doubt one that made all the Bay Area thrashers sweat a bit when they heard these youngsters from Brazil. However things just keep on going strongly with the catchy grooving, 'To the Wall' or the breathtaking fast paced instrumental, 'Inquisition Symphony,' which destroys all other thrash instrumentals, especially Metallica ones. You'll definitely be headbanging like a maniac to, 'Septic Schizo' and the brilliant closer, 'R.I.P. (Rest In Pain)' is utterly devastating. There's also a neat little acoustic instrumental called, 'The Abyss' as well the re-make of, 'Troops of Doom' fits in nicely as a bonus track (on the reissue).

For me its almost impossible to pick a favorite from the early Sepultura catalog, as those first four albums mean quite a bit to me and I've always hoped for a reunion of this classic line-up, but it will unfortunately probably never happen.

At least I got to bug Paulo about my love for early Sepultura today during lunch (Much to his annoyance, perhaps too, haha!).

Ur Falc'h / Heretic Blood - Sur Le Chemin De La Noirceur (2006)

Until a few years ago I never really gave much thought to Quebec, Canada. That is until I heard the brilliant debuts from the likes of Gris, Forteresse and Sombres Forêts and I quickly realized something was happening within the Métal Noir Québécois (Black Metal Quebec) scene.

Although this split between Ur Falc'h & Heretic Blood stretches back a few years its a fairly good example of Quebec based black metal, which has typically avoided all the Satanic propaganda of black in favor of the artists showing their love and patriotism for their homeland - Quebec.

'Sur Le Chemin De La Noirceur' kicks off with six songs from Ur Falc'h whom perform raw folk infused black metal with French lyrics. Their craft is delivered in a vicious manner with blasting drums, dissonant trebly guitar work and raspy screamed vocals, although there are some more melodic and calmer touches as well as the occasional usage of flute, synth and Jew's harp within this bands work. Also one of the non-metal highlights is, 'Nuit Païenne,' which is a tranquil ambient track that sounds quite beautiful and very nature themed, likewise it reminds me of the old Mortiis records, which isn't bad at all. Additionally there's also this underlining sense of tradition and honor within this work which you just don't see in many black metal bands. As a whole though Ur Falc'h is excellent and definitely demands your attention.

Heretic Blood from Montréal continue this split with six more songs, although a bit different in style. After a five minute ambient intro titled, 'Infinité Boréale' the bands style shifts towards black metal with, 'Le Vent des Époques.' Heretic Blood is no doubt influenced by Burzum's 'Filosofem' record, but more specifically this band reminds me of their fellow Canucks in Forteresse, which is no surprise since nowadays member Moribond plays within. The music has a strong droning characteristic to it, mostly employing the repetitive riff technique, whilst a drum machine grinds away in the background creating an interesting static effect. The vocals are buried under a layer of murk, but it works with this style of music since it gives off the feeling of something speaking to you from deep within... well, I don't know, but it's creepy to say the least. Curiously a lot of this bands work is instrumental and although the riffs are simple they are effective but you'll have to pay attention to clearly hear the melodies. After this split Heretic Blood split-up, but I'll have to assume Forteresse was the logical conclusion since the bands sound almost too similar.

In the end, 'Sur Le Chemin De La Noirceur' is a decent split with Ur Falc'h remaining my favorite, but Heretic Blood certainly offers up some great compositions too, although you could just skip to any of Forteresse's releases and hear a more amped up version of Heretic Blood.

Amorphis - Elegy (1996)

Call me crazy if you will, but between the years of 1994 through 1996 Amorphis did what no other band did before them (or since them). The accomplishment in question is the release of two groundbreaking genre defying records during those years. First with their sophomore release, 'Tales from the Thousand Lakes,' which may very well have been the catalyst for folk metal in Finland (or just in general) while its untouchable follow-up from '96, 'Elegy' brought back everything from Tales and only made it better.

Taking the doomy folky death metal characteristics of Tales and adding a substantial amount of progressive rock traits as well as further refining the folk and melodic elements, Elegy proved from the start to be a masterpiece. Perhaps its greatest quality is its ability to mix different moods without causing the listener confusion or a need to skip tracks. Some songs are exciting and full of energy (Against Widows, On Rich and Poor, Song of the Troubled One, Relief) while others are experimental and grab hold of all kinds of strange influences (Better Unborn, Cares) and yet others are somewhat somber yet epic in character (The Orphan, Elegy) and some are just plain perfect, beyond description and awesome in delivery (My Kantele, Weeper on the Shore).

Elegy was the first album to feature clean vocalist, Pasi Koskinen whom split vocal duties up with original growler, Tomi Koivusaari so he could concentrate on playing guitar and obviously it was a smart move because Pasi's clean singing fits perfectly alongside the growled parts and just this sort of music in general. Some would argue that the man sounded weak in his delivery, but I personally never felt as such, and hearing the recent re-recordings from this album these songs show that they were meant for someone like Pasi and not for someone like current vocalist, Tomi Joutsen whom has quite the range in comparison.

Vocals as they are a large portion of the album is instrumental and its here where the listener is treated to some of the most godly monumental and memorable riffs and melodies ever conceived in music. Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen are absolutely geniuses and masters of their craft while then new keyboardist, Kim Rantala displayed keyboard wizardry not seen in years, but unfortunately he only stuck around for two recordings before disappearing. I've been listening to this album for over a decade now and not once has it bored me nor have I ever felt any desire to skip any single song since fault is not to be found.

As I listen to this album I'm troubled in finding words to describe it as it transcends simple categorization and just shows what venturous and creative minds can do when they come together. This album changed my views on music, on what it is and what you can do with it. Likewise it opened the door to many other interesting bands, but most notable one my absolutely favorite bands for the past several years, the mighty Kingston Wall.

Elegy is not just a milestone of heavy metal but of music in general and I'm quite sure even folks outside of this genre could find something appealing within it. If you haven't heard it, then its about time you get it and if you do own then its time to pull it out and give it another spin, already!

Covenant - In Times Before the Light (1997)

Norwegian black metal group, Covenant was one of the first black metal bands I heard and absolutely loved back in the day. Originally I heard them through their silly, 'Animatronic' release, which was actually under the band name, 'The Kovenant,' but then I went back to the days before the special K and heard, 'Nexus Polaris' I was sold on the band. I got my hands on, 'In Times Before the Light' sometime back in 2000 and I remember it fucking terrifying me.

I don't know what it was about this album but nothing I had heard at that time had sounded as dark, evil and otherworldly sounding as this one - needless to say, I adored it.

'In Times Before the Light' was recorded in the autumn of '95, but wasn't released until 1997 due to the albums artwork mysteriously disappearing during shipment to the label, Mordgrimm Records. The duo of N. Blackheart & T. Blackheart (no relation, I'm sure) were both teenagers at the time of this albums release and like a lot of other Norwegian bands it shows that their first album was the most ambitious and creative output.

Musically Times is within the classic Norwegian Symphonic Black Metal style, although the actual feel of the whole thing is quite different from Dimmu Borgir, Gehenna, Emperor and what have ya. The first noticeable characteristic is that the overall volume is exceedingly loud, which incidently gives the drums a thundering blasting sound when N. Blackheart pounds away during the speedier songs and frankly I do enjoy albums where the drums are vibrant sounding.

The typical 90's Norwegian black metal buzzing guitar tone is put in effect here and while they are not as dynamic as far as volume is concerned, T. Blackheart does however sound excellent in his overall performance and the brief acoustics only enhance the sombre dark mood that many of these songs have. The bass guitar is not always audible but its present at times and when it does it carries that light ominous feel that good black metal bass work should have.

The synths are perhaps the finest aspect of this record as they are really all over the place; sometimes sounding cryptically foreboding, at other times folk-ish and even quite symphonic and beautiful in sound although generally with an underlining sense of melancholy too. N's vocal work is also quite admirable, in fact, just fantastic troll-ish raspy screams and occasional spoken words that fit entirely too well with the music on this album.

Probably my favorite song on the album is, 'Monarch Of The Mighty Darkness' since to me it just seems like everything that makes the Covenant special is here and this song especially just flows flawlessly. I'm also quite the fan of the heavily synth based, 'The Chasm,' likewise, 'Towards The Crown Of Nights' & 'Visions Of A Lost Kingdom' are black metal perfection to me. All in all though the album rarely falls short and at least for me defines excellence in 90's Norwegian black metal music.

After this album Covenant became something of a super band by adding various notable members to the band and recording a much more mainstream, but still quite kick ass album if I do say so. Unfortunately it was just mainstream enough for long running EBM band Covenant to catch wind of it and threaten the band with a lawsuit if they didn't change names. Even more regrettable the band didn't just change names, but they changed their musical direction towards the goth/electronic/EBM what have ya metal genre and... well, it sucked, hard. Of course naturally at some point they went back and re-recorded this album by adding lame techno bullshit and who even knows what else in some lame attempt to mimic their current slobbering fuckfest.

On the plus side the album eventually saw a true re-release through Head Not Found Records in 2007, which also contained the bands demo as a bonus, but the logo and artwork were changed. I'll just stick with my original pressing, thank ye very much.

In the end though this album will always hold a special place in my soul and as far as I'm concerned its surely one of the finest recordings from the early Norwegian black metal scene.

Sleep Research Facility - Deep Frieze (2007)

Sleep Research Facility or SleepResearch_Facility or even SRF, sometimes, is the solo work of one Kevin Doherty from Glasgow, Scotland.

Kevin’s music is dark glacial ambient music inspired (at least this album) by the cold Antarctic region. The music is mostly slow paced ambient music with swirling drones of synth and manipulated noise and environmental recordings. Since Kevin’s music is indeed intended for sleep or relaxing at least, the music never has any sudden disturbances, such as harsh noise or sudden musical shifts. The music is very sluggish but evolving, and if you close your eyes and began to drift into sleep while listening to this recording you can really picture the freezing coldness of Antarctica tundra. Think about it; snow blowing in the wind, ice everywhere, frozen water, and heck if you want throw in a fucking penguin or polar bear in there somewhere. Point is this is some really stunning dark cold ambient music, which of course always works wonders with the ultra hot summer ‘round these parts, but I'm somewhat wondering if they'll arrive this year.

Of course there isn’t much melody to speak of in Kevin’s work, but I don’t think it’s really necessary since this music is for resting. Even though the five songs and the fifty eight minutes of music are enjoyable from start to finish it does sound somewhat like one long piece broken into five. Additionally the albums booklet folds out to form a map of Antarctica, which is certainly a novel idea if I ever saw one. Fans of dark icy cold ambient music should definitely enter Kevin's facility.

10 Year Anniversary

I wanted to point out today that ten years ago on May 14th 2001 I gave birth to a 'zine named Lunar Hypnosis. I think originally with the name I wanted something that sounded black metal, but I ended up just mixing an In Flames and Sepultura song together to come up with Lunar Hypnosis (In Flames = Lunar Strain / Sepultura = Mass Hypnosis). The 'zine was also initially on a crude server with a terrible design and rather poor content if I do say so myself.

Looking back I was only 19 years old and had never given much time or thought to writing, which I suppose makes the whole idea of doing a 'zine a little absurd. Absurd or not I remember back then I was still fairly new to underground metal and I just wanted to have something to do with the musical phenomenon I had discovered just a few years earlier. I seem to also remember thinking that back then there really wasn't any other review sites that were solely dedicated to metal, but I'm fairly sure there were others.

After doing an Internet search recently I came upon something. Its hard for me to imagine this, but somehow this old site is still on the Internet. If you'd like to see Lunar Hypnosis in its most primordial form then head on over HERE

Mind you again its rather lo-fi in design and quality, but its fun to look through it anyway and read those old reviews... just don't give me shit for some of the bands I used to enjoy... or my terrible writing. :D

---

In other news you've probably noticed that I've been slow with the updates again. No excuse I suppose other than I haven't felt much motivation for writing recently. I'm sure it will come back in at least semi-full force eventually, especially since I've recently picked up some new CDs that are totally worth reporting on. If not that then I'm sure the occasional retro review will pop up when the feeling grabs me. In fact I was thinking of doing some sort of full band discographies review soon, but will see.

Other than that thanks for following and for those that have been following for years, well, fuck let's do it for another ten!

Infernaeon - Genesis To Nemesis (2010)

Infernaeon emanated from the boggy swamps of Fort Lauderdale, Florida back in 2005 by the wills of Brian Magley, Kevin Gibbons and Brian Werner. In 2007 the band issued their debut, 'A Symphony of Suffering' through Prosthetic Records, which seemed to get a response, but not the most positive ones from what I remember reading. Flash forward to late August of 2010 the band is back with an almost completely different line-up (save for Werner and Gibbons) and their sophomore release, 'Genesis To Nemesis'.

Infernaeon effectively blends classic Floridian death metal (i.e. Morbid Angel) with European style symphonic black metal keyboard orchestration to create something similar to the old Florida based band Nocturnus, although a bit more advanced in its overall execution.

To my ears David Stein's keyboards sound fairly similar to old Dimmu Borgir records, such as, 'Enthrone Darkness Triumphant' or Spiritual Black Dimensions,' and that isn't a bad thing at all. They also tend to have a bit of a Children of Bodom quality to them and by that I mean they tend to double up and follow the guitar riffs, which at first is something to get used to, especially if you don't dig those old CoB albums, but it really grows on you after a few spins. Otherwise though the keyboards are fairly active throughout most of this record and add the darkened atmosphere we all know and love from classic Norwegian black metal albums.

Both Steven Harger and Taylor Nordberg due a fine job with their guitar playing often times belting out several hard hitting bangin' riffs in each song as well as some impressive shredding solos, two of which are played by Bill Hudson (Circle II Circle / Cellador) and John Slaughter (Coldera). I have to also admit that Jeramie Kling's drum work is competent and works well with this material while Kevin Gibbons bass work is audible though it doesn't seem to do much to alter the music further. Brian Werner's vocals are quite well done as they are a fair mix between low (yet decipherable) guttural roars to raspy blackened screams, which are not overly insane or diabolical, but again work well with the style of music Infernaeon plays.

Although I do enjoy this album and can honestly say most of it is something of a breath of fresh air it does have its downsides too. The intro synth piece for example just seems to be too long and just drags on for over three minutes while the bands cover of Metallica's, 'Creeping Death' is spot on musically and made more interesting with the keyboards but vocally its completely ruined with Oderus Urungus of Gwar taking the lead and allowing Werner to only back him up on this one. There's also some minor production issues, such as the drums not being loud and dominate enough as they should be, but you can overlook it since these things tend to happen when several instruments are fighting for supremacy on a single record.

In the end this is a solid record and if per chance you have a strong interest in both death metal and symphonic black metal this may just be the perfect album for you. I wish I could write that the future of Infernaeon looks bright, but just a few months ago Werner left the band and recently seems to be pursing some sort of legal action from the remaining members now. The end perhaps? A shame. Hopefully they can work it out and crank out another record before things get really ugly.

Thorns - Thorns (2001)

Hard to believe its been ten years since this albums original release. I still remember all the hype at the time; constant rumblings about Thorns one of the most influential and utterly original Norwegian Black Metal bands was finally releasing a full-length after over a decade of existence.

At the time I had not heard the split with Emperor either and when I tried doing Internet searches nothing much really ever came up. So, I really didn't know what to expect when I finally got my hands on this one. However once I listened to it that first time and having continued to listen to it throughout the years its become vividly clear to me and that its truly a favorite of mine as well as surely one of the most important black metal releases ever.

Although Thorns is the brainchild of one Snorre "Blackthorn" Ruch as he handles all guitars, bass, keyboards and programming on this release he was joined by Satyr of Satyricon fame as well as Aldrahn from Dødheimsgard as lead vocalists plus Hellhammer as the bands drummer.

In comparison to the split with Emperor a good portion of this record is speedier in nature with songs like, 'Existence.' 'World Playground Deceit' or 'Interface to God' actually making good usage of Hellhammer's ability to blast away behind the drum kit in an almost inhuman manner. On the other hand a lot of it is just mid-paced too, such as on the songs, 'Underneath the Universe, Pt. 2' & 'Stellar Master Elite' or even quite slow and indescribable as best shown on 'Shifting Channels' & 'Vortex' and at times even switching to purely dark ambient music (Underneath the Universe, Pt. 1).

Perhaps what makes this release so intriguing is because so much is going on during the songs and even the parts that are common are done in a different manner. For example some of the synths are absolutely bizarre in character and some of the strange effects spread out through the album sound as if they were taken directly from a deep space sci-fi movie. The drums, which honestly sound programmed are played by Hellhammer, but have a strong industrial touch to them, which only adds to this albums otherworldly vibe. The guitar work although devoid of solos since the songs are anything but typical in structure have both their dissonant and semi-melodic qualities to them which really keep you hooked through the whole record and in fact many a time I've found myself bangin' to this strange album. The vocal work is also perfect regardless of whose screaming and I have to say Snorre's spoken voice is absolutely creepy and I can't help but wonder why this guy has never pursued voice acting as a hobby.

In the end its almost impossibly to fully describe this record and make it a convincing record to pick up, and in fact sometimes I don't even know why I adore it so much. It could be the uniqueness or the fact that no two songs are alike or perhaps just simply because its a fucking awesome record. I have no idea, but this is truly one to take to the grave or space, I'm not even sure.

This is industrial black metal in all its twisted psychotic glory and still to this day it remains the finest example of said genre, though many have expanded upon it or directly ripped Thorns off, but no one has toppled this album yet.

Unfortunately though Thorns didn't continue strong from here and become the biggest name in the industrial black metal sub-genre. No, in fact the band hasn't released a new album yet, but rumors have been floating about since 2007, yet all that has been released is a 12" split and a compilation of the bands demos from the early 90's. With any luck the band will return strongly one day, but holy hell finish it up already!

Crystalmoors - Antiqvam Exqvirite Matrem (2008)

This six piece Spanish band collectively known as Crystalmoors calls their music, 'Cantibrian Pagan Metal.' While I'm not familiar with who or what a Cantibrian is I can honestly say that it doesn't add much in terms of uniqueness to this bands music.

Essentially Crystalmoors is a melodic death metal with the only real difference being the fact that the music occasionally features some clean singing, a fair amount of backing synth and folk melodies through the occasional appearance of a flute and bagpipes.

Even as the music isn't overly original or different I find myself enjoying this band. Some clever and interesting riffs do pop up now and again and some of the solos are fairly memorable too. Its good mostly straight forward melodic death metal somewhat in a Amon Amarth vein here that's capable of drawing you in and at least at times getting you fairly charged up too with the high energy levels. At times the music also has an acoustic edge and some really strong epic moments too, as best displayed on, 'Brotherhood Of The Three Banners' & 'Bellvm Cantabricvm.' Likewise the couple short folk pieces are interesting, but sort of seem out of place too. Interestingly though not much of this record is repetitive or similar from song to song, which is surely a sign of good song writing from these guys. However like I already said you may feel a little bit of that heard it before syndrome when spinning this one, but at least if what I wrote about agrees with your personal tastes then you'll most likely dig this one.

Apparently Crystalmoors has been at it since the mid 90s and has a few demos and splits behind them before this full-length a few years ago. Hopefully they are hard at work on their next album because they could very well end up being a big name in this genre if they deliver another strong album like, 'Antiqvam Exqvirite Matrem.'

Morgoth - 1987-1997: The Best of Morgoth (2005)

Legendary German death metalers, Morgoth are another perfect example of a band that I've known about for probably a solid decade or so, but just never checked out. Why? No idea. Perhaps because their old releases never popped up in record stores or mail orders, I really don't know, but finding this best of compilation back in early 2011 for a mere $6 meant it was time to finally check out Morgoth and... holy fuck! Why did I wait so long?

Morgoth's history dates back to 1987 when the band was originally formed under names, such as; Cadaverous Smell & Minas Morgul, but that same year when Marc Grewe joined up the band finally settled on Morgoth, which is derived from the epithet of the original dark lord Melkor in J.R.R Tolkien’s stories. Morgoth was one of the first bands to sign with Century Media Records and between 1989 to 1993 they were one of the most dominating forces in European death metal. That is until 1996 when they released their final creation, which wasn't metal at all, but some sort of alternative release intended at mainstream success, but they fell right on their faces, hard, with that one.

The comp kicks off with three songs from the, 'Resurrection Absurd' EP from '89 and I can only say this is some of the finest death metal ever conceived. Drawing a great deal of influence from Death's material, these songs are pummeling hell charged numbers of vile malevolence unseen in this modern age. Marc's possessed screams were not to different from Chuck Schuldiner's or John Tardy's vocal delivery and as much as I adore the early Death and Obituary albums I almost feel inclined to give Marc the crown due to how demonic his growls sound when paired up with Morgoth's bludgeoning music.

The following three songs come off of the, 'Eternal Fall' EP from '90 and its much of the same thing, but believe me I have no problem with that. With such distinctive, heavy, evil sounding riffs and killer solos coming from the hands of Harry Busse and Carsten Otterbach I could very likely headbang to this onslaught all day long. I must also point out that Marc's bass work is quite well done too as it doesn't simply follow the guitar and Rüdiger Hennecke's walloping drums and occasionally keyboard work serves to really spice things up further, in particular, 'White Gallery' & 'Pits Of Utumno,' which are just beyond awesome.

Next up is three tracks from the full length debut album, 'Cursed' from '91 and at the time Death Metal was more or less at its peak and wasn't necessarily an underground thing any longer and as such bands like Morgoth were able to take part on some massive tours and festivals as a result. Musically Cursed again wasn't entirely different from past material, some minor doom-ish parts, perhaps less frantic and more focused in style, but definitely intense as always. Three tracks from the sophomore release, 'Odium' follow and, goddamn, the first song, 'Resistance' could very likely be one of the best death metal songs ever recorded, no kidding. The other two songs sound different somehow though, not as death metal all the time and it clearly shows that already Morgoth would be taking their music in a different direction, nevertheless its not bad by any means.

The last three songs on disc 1 of this compilation feature three songs from the bands last album, 'Feel Sorry For the Frantic.' As I already said with this release Morgoth had grown tired of death metal and were hoping to make it on a bigger level with this release, but they failed, and miserably too. Gone were the insane growls, replaced with lame clear singing, and the riffs were not death metal at all, in fact I have no idea how to label this material. Its hardly brutal and with the clean singing its likely they were trying to due something similar to label mates like Tiamat who had constantly evolved during the 90's, but its just sad that such an immense band had to end their career on such a low note, ironically not such a uncommon thing among other death metal bands either.

The second disc contains the, 'Pits of Utumno' demo from '88, which is decent, but the production is not entirely great, Marc's vocals just sound odd, as well it seems the band had not yet totally focused on their writing just yet, but its still a fairly enjoyable demo. The remaining tracks are unreleased songs from the 90's, but none of them are overly interesting to hear. There's also a multimedia section which contains the bands music videos as well as some live bootleg material and while its not the most visual striking thing out there it is at least cool to see the band doing what they once did best.

After a long absence Marc got the band back together last year with two original members as well as two new guys and although no new material has been recorded it seems the band at least has a number of gigs this summer. It should be interesting to see if the reunion is worth it or its just another joke like many other old bands that get back together just because of a resurgence of interest in a bands old style of playing. Time shall tell.

Lastly I can honestly say if you ever come across any of Morgoth's old recordings or even this comp then definitely pick it up, its immense death metal and especially if you're a fan of the old legends like Death, Obituary and Pestilence then you'll love this stuff too.

Burzum - Fallen (2011)

To see/hear two new Burzum albums in just two years is still something of a surreal experience for me. I say this because back when Varg Vikernes was released from prison and instantly began speaking of albums it just seemed odd since ten years earlier I was discovering Burzum and black metal for the first time. Never did I think he'd make more music, because, ya know, typically when someone goes to jail for murder you really don't expect them to do much else with their life other than to be in jail. You definitely don't anticipate murderers to make music one day and actually walk among the free after only sixteen years, but Norway is definitely not America and Varg should probably be grateful of that fact... even if he feels inclined to call his own country 'Soviet Norway.' Right.

Anyway, upon Belus' release in 2010 I was at first fairly impressed with the album which was said to have been mostly left overs from years ago, but as time has passed the album just hasn't really stuck with me as much. I still love my old Burzum albums, yes, but I've always hated, 'Filosofem,' which is actually his most popular and influential release. To me Belus sounded like a mix of Filo and something else. Fallen sounds like a mixture of Belus and something else, but I'm not sure what or if I like it.

The style on Fallen is the familiar Burzum-ish simple song structures of repeating guitar loops atop simple percussion with raspy, hissed, spoken and clearly sung vocals in Norwegian with varying moods of anger, sorrow, evilness and just plain oddness too (well, he tries on this album, at least). Unfortunately even as this album and Belus before it have ties to early Burzum the issue at hand here is that Varg really doesn't know how to write good songs anymore.

To his credit some of his simplistic riffs are catchy and they get caught in your head and what not, but they truly lack the mood that made those old albums great. I mean seriously when I play, 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' I still find the hairs on the back of my neck prickling up, which is an amazing feeling through music, but with Fallen, at the most, I just find myself taping my foot, a little. It's almost as if the music has been dumbed down so more people can enjoy it and I'm sure that's not a bad thing at all for Varg since he owes the Norwegian government 2 Million euros, but then again there's also the whole problem that people don't buy music any longer. Oh, so, so sorry, Vargy.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems is the vocals, regardless of style, just plain lack emotion. His once tormented screams of agony just sound tired and old while his new found passion for clear vocals seem to completely lack range and interest, but at least the chorus to, 'Jeg Faller' puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. I'm also confused by the presence of a Tusken Raider in the middle of, 'Vanvidd,' but, ugh, yeah... Oh yes, there's also an intro and outro piece, which are not bad at all and are quite a bit improved over the intro from Belus, which as far as I can tell sounded like a hobo breaking bottles in an alley. These ones however have a bit more experimentation to them and even a ritualistic character too.

Other than that I really don't have much else to tell you. It sounds a lot like Belus and if you enjoyed Belus you'll probably enjoy this too, but much like Belus it will get old after a few spins. There's something slightly new going on here though, but its really not obvious, it just sounds modern, I guess.

My guess is if Varg ever wants to be taken seriously again he'll have to spend some quality time writing an album in a different and more varied style, but then again the Burzum name holds some value and he could just keep releasing the same thing over and over again and folks would probably buy it. I'm probably going to have to say this is the last Burzum album I'll personally ever buy though.