Cadaver-Necrosis
(Candlelight, 2004)

Wow! This album sounds like it could have been released in Sweden around the same time as Carnage and Entombed were abusing eardrums with their first albums. Well, it’s 2004 and Cadaver are from Norway, but this totally has the old school stamp written all over it. The production is stripped down, the guitar sound has more mids, and the band pays absolutely no attention to what is going on currently in the scene.

While it may have made it sound like these guys are totally just ripping off the early Swedish bands I guess it would be good to add that these guys have been around since 1988, so they definitely aren’t biting anyone's style. They do definitely have some riffs are the overall approach in somewhat Swedish influenced, but the band is actually quite original. Some of the riffing and patterns the band uses are just plain weird. They also have some riffing that is oddly melodic. It’s almost black metal sounding, but has a much dirtier type sound. Like I said earlier, they do have similarities to the Swedish style of death metal but they have lots of quirks that make the band original.

The production is thin, and really doesn’t sound all that amazing. Ya know what? I fucking love it though. It’s raw as fuck, and totally fits what the band is going for. Hell, the opening track is called Necro as Fuck, so what do you expect a lush overproduced metal album with lots of bells and whistles? It totally sounds like it could have been recorded in 1991, and that is what I’m assuming the band was going for. If you aren’t a fan of raw productions you’ll definitely want to stay far away from this.

Simply put, this album fucking rules. It’s like Swedish death metal mixed with some black metal, and an extremely creepy vibe. It’s raw, dirty fast, and has as litte to do with modern death metal as possible.

The CafFiends-Fission, Fusion and Things made of Concrete
(Indianola, 2003)

This one is pretty all over the place. The bands main sound is a raucous approach to hardcore, but you’ll hear little jazz interludes and a few instrumentals along the way. They also use a lot of clean guitar riffs which do a lot to break up the overall chaotic approach of the band.

I’m almost reminded of Refused here. Musically, I don’t hear all that much. But the overall approach to the album and the layout reminds me of The Future of Punk to Come. I think that Refused wasn’t afraid to do whatever they wanted with that album and the same can be said for The CafFiends with this album. They aren’t afraid to explore outside of the typical parameters of hardcore music, and while it could fail miserably, it actually works for them.

The main core of the bands sound is dissonant fast paced hardcore. It’s along the lines of bands like Converge or possibly Curl Up and Die, but I’d say they let the music breath a lot more. It’s not all about noise, there is actually some substance to the riffing even when it’s dissonant. They don’t just rely on the usually ways to make things noisy. ie. sloppy playing and a shitty production. When they stray from the main path they definitely stray. There are songs that are completely clean in terms of both vocals and guitars. Like I mentioned earlier there are a few jazz interludes as well. I think the most surprising interludes are the noise interludes. I’ve never really been into the style myself, so I could have lived without them. It’s definitely an original idea for a hardcore album though.

The production is simple and to the point, yet still sounds tight and allows every aspect of the bands sound to come across. The guitars are heavy as they need to be, yet still have a lot of clarity. Even with the noisy approach it’s easy to hear everything that is going on. I’m a huge fan of the drum production. It just has a clean and natural tone that a lot of bands would kill for. In a time so cluttered with triggered drums, this is a nice change of pace.

This is a band that is almost impossible to pigeonhole, and that could work for or against them I’d say. If you aren’t in experimenting you probably will get into the more straight forward tracks, and not the others. If you don’t like your hardcore safe and are into experimentation however, this is an album you’ll want to pick up ASAP.

Cannibal Corpse-The Wretched Spawn
(Metal Blade, 2004)

With the last couple of albums from this band I sort of lost interest to be honest. I was into everything the band had done up until and including Gallery of Suicide but the next two albums really seemed flat and didn’t do much for me. The Wretched Spawn to me is the album that should have followed after Vile. It reminds me quite a bit of that album in terms of style, just faster and more insane.

The main thing that sticks out about this album are the vocal patterns. This guy is a master of putting vocals to music. It’s quite commendable especially considering how all over the place some of the riffing is. So for me the highlight of this album is definitely the vocal performance. Don’t make that sound like the guitar riffs are boring because this is easily the best stuff they’ve written in quite sometime. It’s heavy, and technical, yet still remains catchy and never turns into a wankfest.

They have also done a good job keeping the tempos varied on this album, You have lots of fast blasting, yet there is a lot of mid-tempo and slower stuff. The third song Decency Defied is quite slow and possibly the catchiest song the band has ever written.

The production is insanely clean and possibly the best sounding death metal album I have ever heard. I have to give them credit for going for a more natural sounding drum tone. In a time when you can’t tell most drums from a drum machine, it’s nice to hear what sounds like an actual snare. It could very well be triggered, but at least it sounds good. The guitar tone is thick and heavy, and really lets the nuances of the riffs come through. If this album was muddy sounding you’d miss out on a lot of the little fills that make the riffs unique, so thankfully this sounds amazing.

Lyrically it seems like pretty standard fare, but I didn’t receive lyrics so I can’t really be sure. But with song titles like Blunt Force Castration and Severed Head stoning you know that they haven’t gone soft on us. Also, the cover art is possibly the sickest cover they’ve ever had. It even surpassed Butchered at Birth in terms of sheer gross out value. I’m sure many a teenager will be reprimanding for wearing a t-shirt with this cover on it!

While this probably isn’t the best Cannibal Corpse album ever, it definitely is the best album the band has released since Vile. You could almost call it the sequel to Vile, which is definitely not a bad thing.

Candiria-What Doesn't Kill You...
(Type A, 2004)


Candiria are back with a new album that shows the band stripping down and coming out with their most powerful and memorable album yet. The band is still heavy and technical, but the songs are much more structured and things just flow much better now.

Long time fans might be a bit let down by the lack of diversity. The music is still technical but the band mainly sticks to their heavy guns. There is one rap song and the closing instrumental throws a curveball, but you won't find any jazz songs, or strange interludes. Just mainly heavy riffs, breakdowns and for the first time extremely catchy choruses. The vocals are also much more melodic at times, which adds a lot of diversity to the music. They really seem to be coming into their style with this new album. They have always been an original band, but this album really nails down the Candiria sound.

In the past the band has sort of been a musician's band. A lot of people just don't get the technical nature of bands like this. With this album they really manage to keep things interesting and explore weird timings, but the riffs still manage to be memorable. They now sound like integral parts of the songs and don't sound like technical exercises. It's one of the reasons why Meshugah is still such a boring band. They stay technical but don't manage to be catchy at all. Candiria don't have that same problem. They are heavy, technical, and still very memorable.

I think this album shows the next logical step for the band and with the more streamlined approach Candiria will probably make the biggest impact of their career thus far with this album.

Type A Records Website

Captain Cleanoff-s/t
(No Escape, 2003)

This is easily one of the best grindcore albums I have heard in quite sometime. This band blasts and pounds with the best of them, but has some killer breakdowns and some of the catchiest riffs the genre has ever seen.

The band does utilize a great deal of blast beats, yet at the same time they also use the two beat that is typical of crust and punk music. This adds a great deal of energy to the bands style and also gives the music a crusty feel at times. The main vocal style the band uses is a very guttural roar, but with this style of music you can almost just assume that there will be some harsh shrieks from time to time. Both musically and vocally, this band definitely hits with 100% intensity and have created quite the energetic 11 song romp.

If you are into grindcore, take my word for it you will love this band.

Casey Jones-The Few, the Proud, the Crucial
(Indianola, 2004)

It’s nice to see a straight edge band with a sense of humor surrounding them. I like when bands aren’t afraid to stand up for what they believe in, but the tough guy stuff is just too much for me. These guys while musically are very serious, they have funny song titles and use quite a few samples from Family Guy throughout the course of the cd. For all of you cheesy slasher movie fans, they also use a sample from one of the Sleepaway Camp movies.

Musically you can expect a ton of blazing melodic riffs, heavy breakdown riffs and some of the catchiest and most to the point songwriting I’ve heard in quite sometime. I guess you could say they are somewhat similar in style to say bands like Comeback Kid, and possibly Good Clean Fun. The bio compared them to Bane, and Good Riddance, but honestly I don’t hear it. I could see fans of those bands being into this, but they don’t really sound similar.

The production does the job, although I possibly would have hoped for a beefier guitar tone. It definitely would have helped to have more low-end for some of the heavier breakdown riffs. As is, it’s a good sounding album that has a sense of urgency and really sounds like a band just playing and having fun.

In a time when hardcore is becoming heavier and heavier, it definitely is cool to hear bands like this still coming out. This is the type of stuff that I first got into and to me hardcore is meant to be fast and catchy. Of course there is still room for the heavy bands too.

charger-confessions of a man (mad enough to live amongst beasts)
(Peaceville/PHD, 2003)

Holy fuck! That's all I can say. For some reason I was expecting this band to be simply ok, but they are easily the best band I have heard from the UK in a very long time. Imagine Eyehategod and Grief duking it out, with Black Sabbath watching at ringside. The band is heavy, feedback driven sludge, full of screaming and enough bass to make your subwoofer submit in defeat.

You'll hear hints of Eyehategod, Grief, and of course Black Sabbath. Sabbath is the obvious influence anyway though, because after all they influenced Eyehategod and Grief in the first place. Back on topic though, you definitely could say charger have their own sound. The guitars are thick and really leave very little room for the bass guitar in the mix. The guitars are so heavy though, that you almost wouldn't need a bass guitar. The extra rumbling underneath doesn't hurt though.

The bands songs are fairly length, which is pretty common for this style of music. The shortest song is just over three and a half minutes while the longest is thirteen and a half. So if you are expecting two minute songs you'll be disappointed. These guys know when to sit on a riff, and they will ride a riff for as long as they deem nesecarry to strangle the life out of it. The entire album is just under an hour, and it is definitely an hour you won't mind investing in an album.

The production is extremely lo-fi. It's noisy, feeback ridden, and in general doesn't sound all that great. You know what though? It suits the music perfectly and I wouldn't want to hear this band with a better production.

I definitely have to give Peaceville some credit for signing this band. Fans of the dirtier and sludgy side of doom metal will definitely be able to get into this band.

Chimaira-The Impossibilty of Reason
(Roadrunner, 2003)

I usually don't go out of my way to review albums that I buy, but this new album from Chimaira totally blew me away. Take thrash, hardcore, death metal, and pretty much everything in between, blend it together, throw some harsh vocals on top, and you'll begin to see what Chimaira has to offer.

I find myself thinking this band sounds a bit like a cross between Visions of Disorder, and newer Soilwork without the clean singing. It's definitely not a combination you'd expect to see very often, but it makes for a very interesting and original listen. Some people might expect this to have some new metal influences because it's on Roadrunner, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Granted, they do have a lot of groove to the music, but it's more along the lines of what you'd hear in hardcore then what you'd hear in new metal.

The production fucking rules. The first time I listened to it I was totally floored, I couldn't even believe how tight and powerful the sound was. The amazing production could have something to do with the fact Collin Richardson mixed the album, but I'm sure everyone that worked on the album were just as important to the end result. Simply put, this is one of the best sounding albums I have ever heard.

If you haven't given these guys a chance because they are on a bigger label, you are making a big mistake. Hell, I had the chance to pick up their last album quite a few times, but didn't because I just assumed they were a new metal band. Don't make the same mistake I did. If you are into heavy metalcore along the lines of Earth Crisis, or Visions of Disorder you should be able to get into this. Even fans of thrash, and death metal, should be able to get into this as well.

Chincilla-Madtropolis
(Metal Blade, 2003)

If there is one genre of music that never seems to evolve, it’s power metal. From the beginning until now very little has change. Sure, productions have gotten better, and the solos have become ridiculously wanky, but very little has changed. Heloween deserves royalties from many, many bands. Anyway, the point of that rant was that power metal is very predictable and Chinchilla doesn’t over anything new.

It may sound like I don’t enjoy the band, but I really do. The band plays energetic, and very tight melodic metal that is sure to please fans of Helloween and Primal Fear. You can expect fairly uptempo riffing and a flair for the melodic here. It’s nothing new, but the band does it well.

The production is stellar. It sounds like a million bucks, and for this style of music you don’t really want a less then amazing production. The drum sound is solid, and the guitar tone leaves very little to be desired. It’s a heavy and tight album that will please even the most anal production junkie.

Sure, it’s nothing new, but it is well played. Power metal fans will surly want to pick this up, but fans of the more extreme side of music would probably want to avoid this.

Comeback Kid-Turn It Around
(Facedown, 2003)

When I first heard Comeback Kid I was totally blown away. You don't hear many bands these days that play with this much coviction. That combined with some excellent song writing is a combination that will kick your ass for the 13 song duration of this cd.

I wouldn't exactly say that these guys are the most original band around. You can definitely hear a lot of Bane and Reach the Sky in their music. They don't blatantly copy either, but you can definitely hear them as influences. The band plays fast hardcore punk, with a lot of melody, and a somewhat harsh vocal approach. They aren't the heaviest band around, but they definitely do have their heavy moments. It's mainly quick power chord changes with the odd melodic flourish to add some diversity. Like I said, they do sound a lot like Bane and Reach the Sky, but they definitely are not a clone band.

I was really impressed by the super clean artwork and layout. It has a really profesional feel and the artwork really suits the band. It's the type of album cover that would totally grab your attention from the record store shelf. You'd probably take a chance on it without even knowing what the band sounds like. It seems now with the whole downloading craze, people rarely take chances on music anymore. I buy tons of albums just based on the cover art alone. People need to start doing this again.

This pretty much sounds like your standard hardcore punk album. The gutairs are punchy and are pretty much the driving force behind the band. The drums are exceptionally tight and do a great job on interjecting even more energy then the band already has. The sound altogether is fairly simple, but it totally suits the style of music.

If you are a fan of any of the bands I compared this to, you'll be able to get into this quite easily. I could even see fans of Give Up The Ghost being into this. Comeback Kid isn't as harsh, but they both play very honest hardcore punk music.

Construcdead-Violadead
(Black Lodge/PHD, 2004)

At first I thought this band was a bit typical, but it started to grow on me after a few listens. The band plays varied metal that somewhat rests between thrash and melodic death metal. You could almost say a combination of Soilwork with Strapping Young Lad and possibly Meshugah. It’s fast at times, yet slower and more chugging at others. Like I said earlier, they are varied. It’s actually quite varied from song to song so it’s actually hard to pigeonhole them. At the same time they aren’t exactly original, but you can overlook that fact because these guys are tight and are excellent songwriters.

While at it’s core this is an aggressive band, they definitely seem to have a flair for melodic choruses. Despite a song starting off extremely fast, they still manage to slow things down and bring in some cleaner vocals for the choruses. If the songwriting didn’t flow it would seem extremely abrupt, but it really works for this band. In a sense I guess the entire melodic chorus thing is getting a bit old, but I don’t think there is a better way to make a song memorable. As long as it flows with the heavier riffs, and has a good vocal melody, I think a clean chorus can make or break a metal song. It definitely doesn’t sound like they just threw them in to appeal to more people. They really do fit.

Don’t make that last paragraph make you think this is a slow or mellow band because they most certainly are not. When not moving at a thrash like tempo very influenced by Swedish death metal, a lot of the riffing is more mid-tempo and almost mechanical sounding at times. I think this is where I hear the Strapping Young Lad and Meshuggah influence. It does add a lot to the music though. For the songs that have the fast moments it really helps to break them up with the slower riffs. I’m not opposed to fast songs from beginning to end, but the odd slower riffs does help from time to time.

Like I mentioned earlier this isn’t exactly what you would call original. You’ll hear a lot of Soilwork, and Strapping Young Lad. They definitely have a knack for combining the different styles though and with a few more albums under their belts I’m sure the originality will come. This is a band to watch out for.

Corrosive-Slaughtered in Vain
(Independent, 2003)

This one sounds a bit too much like Pantera for me. They do have a few more extreme moments, but the whole stomp and groove thing doesn't work for me most of the time. Does every subgenre of music have so many bands playing such bland music? It seems like only metal has the thousands of faceless bands with similar predictable names. Next?

Council of the Fallen-Deciphering the Soul
(Season of Mist/PHD, 2004)

Where the hell has this band been hiding? I’m somewhat assuming that their debut album possibly didn’t get as much promotion as it should have, but with a follow up so amazing the metal scene needs to know about this band.

COTF are pretty much an amalgamation of both death metal and black metal. They have elements of the more technical side of death metal bringing to mind bands like Nile or Hate Eternal, yet at the same time they have a lot of blasting and riffing reminiscent of black metal. I’d say they take more influence from the more progressive side of black metal though, as it’s not really the typical black metal sound. You’ll find a lot of surprises on here too. I was pretty startled by clean vocals, but they fit into the grand scheme of the band. What you can expect is lots of blasting, slower melodic riffing, growled and screaming vocals, and well structured songwriting.

I really have no complaints about the sound of the record. It has a heavy, dense sound and with the exception of some oddly layered clean vocal parts, sounds amazing. I’m pretty sure they recorded with Erik Rutan, considering a member from Hate Eternal played drums on this album. I guess you could say it sounds somewhat typical of his production style. Heavy guitars, tight drums, and it sounds great at high volumes.

It’s fairly tough to call any band original these days, but Council of the Fallen really have made a unique album. It’s extreme, well written, and above all interesting. They also aren’t playing it safe, which adds even more to the album if you ask me. If you are looking for an amazing death metal album, look no further!

Count the Stars-Never Be Taken Alive
(Victory Records, 2003)

Count the Stars are one of those bands that remind you of other bands, and don’t do anything terribly original, yet at the same time they have that special something that makes them stand out from the pack.

It’s not tough to come up with similar bands. Fans of Taking Back Sunday, Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World and possibly even Gameface will be able to get into this. It’s more laid back then a lot of the bands, which is what reminds me of Gameface. You won’t find much screaming, and the music is pretty much just rock, but it does fit well beside the bands that do happen to throw in the screaming and the hardcore influences. It’s basically indy rock with pop/punk sensibilities. Which basically means the bands sound is super catchy, but still doesn’t have the right sound to make it huge on mainstream radio.

What this band really has going for them is, they have similarities to many bands but they don’t sound identical. The singers voice isn’t very typical of this genre. He doesn’t have a very whiny voice and there is no strain to hit any of the notes. It’s a very solid album performance wise, in terms of both music and vocals. This young band has a lot of talent, and a knack for writing catchy yet still somewhat complex songs.

Count the Stars play in a genre that it’s tough to do something unique in. A lot of people think all of these bands sound the same, but if you take the time to listen each of the better bands have their own identity. Count the Stars is one of the better bands.

Curl Up and Die-The Past May be Through With Us...
(Status, 2003)

When I first heard Curl Up and Die's Revelation debut I was completely blown away and the band quickly became one of my favorite hardcore bands around right now. This new EP only reinforces the band's status as one of the scenes most extreme and violent bands. For fans of fast raging yet very heavy hardcore punk, no one does it better then Curl Up and Die.

Think Converge without a lot of the experimenting. I could see fans of Give Up The Ghost being into thse guys as well. They share a lot of the same positive qualities. It's blisteringly fast and full of screaming most of the time, but these guys have some of the heaviest breakdown riffs I have ever heard. They have a bit of melody every now and again, but for the most part these guys are fairly discordant, or just straight ahead power chord riffing.

The only real problem I have with this cd is that it's an EP. It's just over 13 minutes long and that just isn't enough Curl Up And Die for me. Especially when you consider two of the songs are basically electronic noises and techno of sorts. It's cool that they experiemented with some different stuff, I just would have liked to see more face blistering songs.

Cumchrist-Cumplete
(Unmatched Brutality, 2003)

It’s unusual to find a death metal band with songs this short. You could almost call it grindcore, but at the same time the bands sound has much more to do with death metal then it does grindcore. Regardless of what you want to call it, this band will rip you a new one.

This band is set on kill for the duration of all of their songs. You’ll find blast beats and over the top energy to spare, combined with a vicious vocal assault so you’re in for one hell of a listen. It’s nothing completely new and it does remind me of quite a few other American bands at times, but I don’t think the band was really trying to be original at all. If you are into bands like Dying Fetus, and Gorgasm you’ll already be somewhat familiar with the style the band plays.

I guess it would come as no surprise that most of the lyrics are about Jesus and or religion in someway. The song titles are also pretty funny, and you’ll also find some pretty hilarious samples littered throughout the entire cd. I’m sure the band takes their music seriously but it definitely seems like the lyrics are meant to be humorous.

I’m fairly certain this is a collection of demos and rare songs, but this is still an amazing collection of songs that both fans of grindcore and death metal will be able to get into. I hope these guys release a full length soon!

Catasexual Urge Motivation-Nekronicle
(Razorback, 2003)

I think CUM are one of the bands that you either love or hate. Then again they aren’t a very well known band and many of you are probably saying who the hell is CUM? Well for those unfamiliar, Catasexual Urge Motivation were a grindcore band from Japan with a fetish for both electronic music and serial killers. It sounds like an odd combination but it really works.

This cd is a collection of demo/rare and compilation tracks. It’s pretty varied in quality, but for the most part it’s pretty damned cool. This band has always reminded me of Impetigo meets electronica. The band uses a drum machine, which is mainly what gives the band the electronic influence. The only drawback to this bands sound is that almost all of their songs sound similar.

There definitely is no shortness in content on this cd. You get 27 songs, which clocks in at just over 70 minutes of music. You’ll probably have a hard time getting through this entire cd in one sitting. It’s good but 70 minutes of anything tends to start to drag on after awhile.

I’d say that this cd is pretty much for fans of the band. If you haven’t heard this band yet, I’d recommend checking out their full-length on Razorback first. If you like that you’ll undoubtedly like this collection cd as well.

Crionics-Human Sorrow
(Candlelight USA, 2004)

Combining black metal and death metal isn’t exactly something that you could call groundbreaking. It’s been done before, but it’s been done to varying degrees of success. Crionics is pretty much the first band that has blended the two genres seamlessly and as a result has created one of the most interesting and intense extreme metal release in the last few years.

Crionics are actually what you’d call a fairly original band. What they have to offer isn’t far removed from what you’ve heard before, but the combination of the genres and the songwriting is unique at times. It’s not without comparison, yet it’s still unique. If I had to make comparisons, I’d say that they sound like Emperor mixed with Morbid Angel and Vader. You have the symphonic and blasting elements of Emperor, some slower passages that remind one of Morbid Angel, and the deeper vocals and a few guitar solos that show off a Vader influence. The bands sound is fast, and chaotic at times, yet slower and more melodic at others. The one thing that remains constant is that everything is well written and impressively tight.

I think one other element of the bands sound that reminds me of Emperor is the lack of a conventional song structure. This is about as far removed from the verse/chorus/verse formula as you can get. In fact, these guys don’t seem to repeat much at all. It definitely makes it a bit more of a challenging listen, and it will take a few listens to digest everything. Isn’t that how you’d want it anyway? Music needs to challenge you once in awhile.

If you are familiar with any of the albums recorded at Abyss Studios you’ll know what to expect from this album. It wasn’t recorded at the studio, but it has a very similar sound to it. You can expect a powerful guitar sound, punchy drums, and a very rounded and even sounding mix. With some bands that have more symphonic elements they sometimes tend to mix the synths a little bit too loud, but they seem to be at the perfect volume. The guitars should never take a back seat to keyboards. I don’t care what anyone says, if it’s a metal record, no matter what sub genre, the guitars have to be loud.

This album truly is a monster. If you are a fan of black metal and death metal, it really has never been combined with fluidly and with so much style. Chances are you might not have heard much about this band yet, but just wait once this album starts spreading around you’ll start hearing much more, and very quickly.

Criteria-En Garde
(Initial, 2003)

Simple yet effective would be a great way to describe the music of Criteria. The music reminds me of someone, yet at the same time I’m having a hard time placing what band is it exactly. It has a bit of the Pinkerton era Weezer experimentation., I guess with possibly a bit less pop to the sound, and more just straight ahead rock. There definitely is a lot of pop in the writing though. This is catchy stuff, but thankfully it doesn’t follow any set formulas. You have the straight forward riffs, but there are also some great noisier riffs that make good use of having layered guitars playing different things. It’s a well written album full of catchy and powerful songs.

Vocally this actually somewhat reminds me of Beck. The singers voice is like a combination of Rivers Cuomo and Beck. I think I hear a lot of Beck due to the many different effects that are used on the vocals. A lot of it is subtle but it sure adds a lot to the different songs. With a generic vocal performance this would still be a rocking album, but thankfully the vocals and music are both interesting. I wish I knew what was going on lyrically, but no lyrics were included. There actually isn’t even a booklet. It’s a digipack cd, with next to no information to be found inside.

The more I listen to this actually the more it starts to somewhat remind me of newer Cave In material. It’s definitely more stripped down, but some of the songs totally remind me of something Cave In would do these days. The song Talk in a Crowded Room I think reminds me the most of it. So I guess to give you a good idea, Criteria sounds like a cross between Weezer’s Pinkerton album, and straight rock, with a bit of Cave In experimentation thrown in for good measure. It’s a surprisingly addictive and interesting album.

I’m not really all that crazy about the layout on this one. It’s almost like they made it dull looking on purpose, and if that is what they were going for, they succeeded. The pictures are pretty much all greys and are very drab looking, but like I said that might have been what they were going for.

En Garde is 10 songs of powerful rock music that definitely deserves to be heard.

The Crown-Possessed 13
(Metal Blade, 2003)

It wouldn’t surprise me if The Crown broke up after this album. Now that may sound like a negative statement, but I have to be honest. Like At the Gates broke up after Slaughter of the Soul because they felt they couldn’t top it, I’m not sure how The Crown is going to top this album. This is by far the best album The Crown has ever released. Hell, I’d go so far as to say this is one of the best death metal albums of all time.

I suppose you could say this is somewhat similar to Crowned In Terror, but heavier, more aggressive and with more variety in songwriting. There are death metal riffs, thrash riffs, hell there is even some punk influenced stuff on here. I’d say this is the sound that the band has been trying to achieve all along and finally have managed to do it. Crowned in Terror was an amazing album, but this just flat out destroys it in every possible way.

One thing these guys have always been good at is writing albums and not just a collection of songs that sound identical. More so then ever, each song on this album is unique and really flows from one track to the next. You really lose track of time and this album just flies by. The first day I had this cd I must have listened to it 10 times and each day following I had to hear it at least once, if not more.

The production is fairly dirty sounding and it’s pretty much the perfect sound for this band. It’s tight, and heavy, and sounds like a live band. I really couldn’t see this band with an incredibly polished studio sound. The reason the band stands out is that it just sounds like a bunch of metalheads rocking and having fun. Studio polish would probably suck a lot of life out of the bands sound.

This is easily the best album to come out of Sweden since Slaughter of the Soul. Don’t believe me? Pick this album up, play it loud and try not to get into this album. I bet you’ll be head banging in no time.