BLOOD RED THRONE - Monument Of Death Hammerheart Records Death Metal 9 songs (38'43) Release year: 2001 Blood Red Throne , Hammerheart Records
Monument Of Death is the debut from Blood Red Throne who feature former Emperor bassist Tchort and Satyricon session member Dod on guitar, Mr. Hustler on vocals, Erlend C on bass, and Freddy B on drums. This release is being reviewed a couple of days before it's eligable for the archives, as it was released early-mid December of 2001. Blood Red Throne is one of quite a few bands recently appearing in the Metal scene that don't add anything new to the genre, but take the current and past accomplishments of other bands and perfect the sound. With Blood Red Throne, they take the sound and song writing style of early Deicide and mix it with a touch of Morbid Angel, Death, and Cannibal Corpse. Through the 9 songs of death and murder, Blood Red Throne manage to throw in a lot of catchy riffs and fast drum runs. The songs are structured in a way that makes them all interesting with their own feel. The riffs are semi-technical and the rhythm and styles change often in each song. For example: Souls Of Damnation has mostly Deicide styled riffs with fast double bass and snare, but then out of nowhere Morbid Angel and Monstrosity influenced guitar work is used and this totally changes up the feel of the music. This song writing style being used by Blood Red Throne is somewhat simple in nature, but very effective as each change up is a welcome addition; Blood Red Throne rarely get repetitive or uninteresting. Other highlights include the almost Amon Amarth like Dream Controlled Murder and the neck breaking Mary Whispers Of Death- check out that head banging groove at the beginning! Each band member contributes quality performances, with the drumming and riffs being the main highlight; although more leads would have been nice. The vocals are mostly typical Death Metal fair done in a convincing and menacing style. There is a semi-spoken word part in one song that adds nice flavor and I would have liked to have heard more of that. The lyrics are very gruesome and murder filled; a lot of you gore fans will eat the lyrics up. When all is said and done from a musical stand point, these Norwegians are incredibly tight and talented. There aren't really any low points, but the CD loses some steam with Malignant Nothingness and the title track. These songs aren't even close to filler, but they just didn't kick my ass like the rest of the songs did (they also happen to be tracks number 7 and 8). Thankfully, the last song, Path Of Flesh is one of the best on the CD. I highly recommended this devastating and destruction filled release by Blood Red Throne to any Death Metal fan, as each song will break your neck and punish you at every turn!

Killing Songs : Portrait Of A Killer, Souls Of Damnation, The Children Shall Endure, Dream Controlled Murder, Mary Whispers Of Death, Path Of Flesh Crims 95 / 100

...AND OCEANS - Cypher Century Media Cyber Black / Death 13 songs (47'14) Release year: 2002 ...And Oceans , Century Media
Amongst all the Finnish bands, ?And Oceans is without doubt, the most atypical one. Starting out as a black metal outfit, they have released two albums on Seasons of Mist, The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts in 1998 and The Symmetry Of I, The Circle Of O in 1999. This new one, Cypher, is their second release for Century Media after A.M.G.O.D. (which stands for Allotropic / Metamorphic - Genesis Of Dimorphism) in 2001. The peculiarity of this band is that the members change their name on every release.
One could say ?And Oceans has walked the same path as Samael for example since, on their last two releases, they have changed their musical style into some kind of industrial, electronic black metal carried by futuristic keyboard sounds. This new album is a demonstration of a band in progress. However I don't think this new album, as well as their previous album A.M.G.O.D., has the impressive quality that their second album The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts had. ...And Oceans is a band that is not afraid to experiment and they have no restrictions or limitations, but sometimes the experimentation is going a little too far. Their tight and compact black metal should be free of all those techno influences, especially on the songs Voyage and Aphid and they actually weaken these songs for me. As well, there are some tracks, such as Catharsis and Debris that don't fit the overall quality of the album.
This album is reserved to those who are really open-minded towards techno music and other stuff like that. Besides, one has to be in the mood to listen to this kind of music. Sometimes I just can't stand it and sometimes I just love it. But anyway, an album that is really hard to quote.
Killing Songs : Silhouette, Angelina, Fragile, Comatose, Haleyon, Aphelion Jack 70 / 100

...AND OCEANS - Cypher Century Media Cyber Black / Death 13 songs (47'14) Release year: 2002 ...And Oceans , Century Media
Amongst all the Finnish bands, ?And Oceans is without doubt, the most atypical one. Starting out as a black metal outfit, they have released two albums on Seasons of Mist, The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts in 1998 and The Symmetry Of I, The Circle Of O in 1999. This new one, Cypher, is their second release for Century Media after A.M.G.O.D. (which stands for Allotropic / Metamorphic - Genesis Of Dimorphism) in 2001. The peculiarity of this band is that the members change their name on every release.
One could say ?And Oceans has walked the same path as Samael for example since, on their last two releases, they have changed their musical style into some kind of industrial, electronic black metal carried by futuristic keyboard sounds. This new album is a demonstration of a band in progress. However I don't think this new album, as well as their previous album A.M.G.O.D., has the impressive quality that their second album The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts had. ...And Oceans is a band that is not afraid to experiment and they have no restrictions or limitations, but sometimes the experimentation is going a little too far. Their tight and compact black metal should be free of all those techno influences, especially on the songs Voyage and Aphid and they actually weaken these songs for me. As well, there are some tracks, such as Catharsis and Debris that don't fit the overall quality of the album.
This album is reserved to those who are really open-minded towards techno music and other stuff like that. Besides, one has to be in the mood to listen to this kind of music. Sometimes I just can't stand it and sometimes I just love it. But anyway, an album that is really hard to quote.
Killing Songs : Silhouette, Angelina, Fragile, Comatose, Haleyon, Aphelion Jack 70 / 100

...AND OCEANS - Cypher Century Media Cyber Black / Death 13 songs (47'14) Release year: 2002 ...And Oceans , Century Media
Amongst all the Finnish bands, ?And Oceans is without doubt, the most atypical one. Starting out as a black metal outfit, they have released two albums on Seasons of Mist, The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts in 1998 and The Symmetry Of I, The Circle Of O in 1999. This new one, Cypher, is their second release for Century Media after A.M.G.O.D. (which stands for Allotropic / Metamorphic - Genesis Of Dimorphism) in 2001. The peculiarity of this band is that the members change their name on every release.
One could say ?And Oceans has walked the same path as Samael for example since, on their last two releases, they have changed their musical style into some kind of industrial, electronic black metal carried by futuristic keyboard sounds. This new album is a demonstration of a band in progress. However I don't think this new album, as well as their previous album A.M.G.O.D., has the impressive quality that their second album The Dynamic Gallery Of Thoughts had. ...And Oceans is a band that is not afraid to experiment and they have no restrictions or limitations, but sometimes the experimentation is going a little too far. Their tight and compact black metal should be free of all those techno influences, especially on the songs Voyage and Aphid and they actually weaken these songs for me. As well, there are some tracks, such as Catharsis and Debris that don't fit the overall quality of the album.
This album is reserved to those who are really open-minded towards techno music and other stuff like that. Besides, one has to be in the mood to listen to this kind of music. Sometimes I just can't stand it and sometimes I just love it. But anyway, an album that is really hard to quote.
Killing Songs : Silhouette, Angelina, Fragile, Comatose, Haleyon, Aphelion Jack 70 / 100

Mais teste

RESURRECTED
"Butchered In Excrement"
Perverted Taste
Okay, you know why I grabbed for this CD in my pile. (Get it?) It's because I love poop. Excrement is poop. Poop is good. RESURRECTED is not as good; they are okay. They are like a small pebble of poop. Their brand of Brutal Death Metal has been done many times before and done much better. This is just satisfactory. There was one riff on here that I really liked and the rest was okay. The vocals are pure cupped mic with absolutely no variation. That's called dull, kids. There's even a porn clip on here that sounds like it's from the Hardcore Maxword series. How do I know that? One of my buddies, which I won't out (Chris Sherry...oopsÉ) lent me one of these screen gems. This is not the kind of shit I like... too much ass-banging, strange contraptions and girls calling Max, "Mister," for my normal taste. What's the point of all this? None. For Brutal Death Metal completists only. Contact: Perverted Taste, Hradschin 14A, 08523 Plauen, Germany Web: www.pervertedtaste.de E-Mail: perverted.taste@main-rheiner.de Band contact: web:www.resurrected.de E-Mail:info@resurrected.de

RESURRECTED
"Butchered In Excrement"
Perverted Taste
Okay, you know why I grabbed for this CD in my pile. (Get it?) It's because I love poop. Excrement is poop. Poop is good. RESURRECTED is not as good; they are okay. They are like a small pebble of poop. Their brand of Brutal Death Metal has been done many times before and done much better. This is just satisfactory. There was one riff on here that I really liked and the rest was okay. The vocals are pure cupped mic with absolutely no variation. That's called dull, kids. There's even a porn clip on here that sounds like it's from the Hardcore Maxword series. How do I know that? One of my buddies, which I won't out (Chris Sherry...oopsÉ) lent me one of these screen gems. This is not the kind of shit I like... too much ass-banging, strange contraptions and girls calling Max, "Mister," for my normal taste. What's the point of all this? None. For Brutal Death Metal completists only. Contact: Perverted Taste, Hradschin 14A, 08523 Plauen, Germany Web: www.pervertedtaste.de E-Mail: perverted.taste@main-rheiner.de Band contact: web:www.resurrected.de E-Mail:info@resurrected.de

RESURRECTED
"Butchered In Excrement"
Perverted Taste
Okay, you know why I grabbed for this CD in my pile. (Get it?) It's because I love poop. Excrement is poop. Poop is good. RESURRECTED is not as good; they are okay. They are like a small pebble of poop. Their brand of Brutal Death Metal has been done many times before and done much better. This is just satisfactory. There was one riff on here that I really liked and the rest was okay. The vocals are pure cupped mic with absolutely no variation. That's called dull, kids. There's even a porn clip on here that sounds like it's from the Hardcore Maxword series. How do I know that? One of my buddies, which I won't out (Chris Sherry...oopsÉ) lent me one of these screen gems. This is not the kind of shit I like... too much ass-banging, strange contraptions and girls calling Max, "Mister," for my normal taste. What's the point of all this? None. For Brutal Death Metal completists only. Contact: Perverted Taste, Hradschin 14A, 08523 Plauen, Germany Web: www.pervertedtaste.de E-Mail: perverted.taste@main-rheiner.de Band contact: web:www.resurrected.de E-Mail:info@resurrected.de

SOILWORK
"Natural Born Chaos"
Nuclear Blast
What started out with a strong Death Metal/Thrash sound quickly, and surprisingly, expanded into something else: Melodic, almost Majestic, Metal. SOILWORK mixed in Swedish Death Metal riffing and that cool keyboard work (which went unaccredited, thank you) with harmonies juxtaposed next to those cool-as-balls gruff howls that made for quite an original release. This CD came with a warning, nay, a dare, from Jeff: "You will love this." The multiple plays this CD has received has yet to prove him wrong. Appealing to both my Prog-Metal artistic side and that primal part that wants to tear it up, SOILWORK's "Natural Born Chaos" exposes both strength and talent opening this band up to that ever-desired cross-genre branding. There's no chaos present here - just naturally-born legends in the making.
-JOE