Code Black-Penetration
(Arctic, 2004)


This album is absolutely ruined by some of the weakest vocals ever. There is absolutely no force behind them whatsoever and they just sound plain weak. The music isn't much better either. The riffs are bland and lifeless, and the production allows absolutely no energy to come across. Well, that might not be entirely true. It's not a bad sounding album at all, it just sounds like it was played by a group of zombies. If they had a decent vocalist this might be an ok band at best, but this is just awful as it stands.

Arctic Music Group

V/A-Voices from the Arctic Circle
(Arctic, 2004)


What we have here is a 17 track compilation of underground death metal. Death metal compilations usually feature a bunch of crappy unprofessional bands that can't play and have shitty sounding recordings, but this compilation features some truly killer bands, pun intended. You'll find a few scene veterans on here, like Lord Belial, and Denata. The rest of the bands are a cross section of bands from different European countries. Pretty much every band either plays brutal death metal or black metal. It's not a really varied compilation but with that at least you know exactly what you are getting into. Other bands featured are Shadow Builder, Exmortem, Throneaneon, Latex, Despise, Soil of the Undead, Nominion, Visceral Bleeding, Imperial Foeticide, Mortuary IOD, In Battle, Repudiate, Portal and Diabolical. The layout really isn't anything impressive and the mastering could have fixed a few volume problems, but those are small complaints. Fans of brutal death metal will definitely be into this.

Arctic Music Group

To Seperate the Flesh from the Bones-For Those about to Rot
(Spikefarm/PHD, 2004)


With songs like Genital Massacre and Chainsaw Fuck you know that you aren't in for gothic soundscapes and melodic vocals. What you are in for is a chaotic and raw take on early Carcass with quite a bit of crust thrown into the mix for good measure. It's nothing new, but it's fits like a blood-soaked leather glove. Sometimes an album with no surprises is just what you need.

The songs are short and built around bursts of energy. Blast beats and vocal shrieks are usually the main base for the songs, but you can also expect explosions of punk energy as well as some much lower gurgled vocals. Like I mentioned earlier it sounds a lot like early Carcass, but I would say it's much more grindcore and doesn't feature a lot of the more sinister sounding riffs.

The production is raw as fuck. It almost has an old school black metal sound to it. The guitars are razor sharp and rather trebly, and the drum sound is noisy and rather cymbal heavy. It's not hard to follow everything, but I would say that the vocals are just a bit too loud. For the style though the production is perfect. It allows the energy to be heard and doesn't kill the music with overproduction.

My only complaint is that this is just too short. It's only ten songs so it seems to be over before it even starts. I'm definitely into hearing more from these guys in the future.

Spinefarm Records

Hecate Enthroned-Redimus
(Blackend, 2004)


I've pretty much followed this band since their debut, and while they have always had similarities to Cradle of Filth they definitely have finally moved away enough to not be considered a clone anymore. That's not to say that this album is not without the comparison. The opening track is very reminiscent of early Cradle of Filth with thrash tempos and melodic riffing. I think one of the main differences between the two bands now is that HE blasts a great deal more and they don't get sucked into overblown gothic atmosphere.

While the album does show the band moving away from the COF comparison, this isn't the bands most exciting album thus far in their career. The song order really doesn't allow the album to gain any steam. All of the momentum created with the opening track is killed when they open the second song with feedback and a rolling drum beat. The song itself however is a departure for the band and is much more atmospheric and features much heavier vocals.

This is definitely the bands most original album thus far, and they do stumble a bit here and there, but it definitely shows a lot of promise for the future.

Blackend Records

Scent of Flesh-Valor in Hatred
(Firebox/PHD, 2004)


I'm not sure how bands manage to sound exactly like other bands. Scent of Flesh pretty much sounds identical to Deicide. I know you might be thinking they can sound that much like them. They have some vocal patterns that seem lifted straight from Deicide songs, the same can be said for a few of the riffs as well. That said, it's funny that I can actually enjoy this album for what it is. An intense album of well played death metal that just isn't the least bit original. Hell, I'll take a straight ahead death metal record over a gothic doom album any day of the week. Original, or otherwise.

Firebox Records

Deathguy-Concentrate the Annihilation
(Vrykoblast, 2004)


While I may not be as into the straight ahead death metal as I used to be, Deathguy serves up 9 tracks of unrelenting and grinding madness that I can't get enough of. It's not memorable in the least, but offers up sick riff after sick riff topped with some of the sickest growls and shrieks you will ever hear. They actually remind me quite a bit of the Mexican Disgorge. Both bands play death metal but have a sick sheen coating the music.

Each song is pretty much the same structure. Blast, growl, repeat. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. They keep the tempo up and rip and tear through the songs with reckless abandon. They do have a few slower heavier parts that totally help to keep things interesting. They basically know what they want to do with their music and they don't tread outside of that box at all. They want to kill with their music and this is definitely what you would consider murder music.

The production really isn't anything special. The guitars are quiet and the drums are fairly weak sounding. The vocals are even a bit too loud. But I don't expect the greatest production for this style of music. I expect it to be raw and dirty. It's the type of production that this style of music needs.

The cover art is a bit typical. The collage of gore has definitely been done to death, no pun intended. But that really doesn't hold the album back at all. If you like fast, and raw death metal with a grindcore feel then Deathguy is a band that you need to check out.

Vyrykoblast Productions

Scavenger-Madness to Our Method
(Sentinal/PHD, 2004)


I'd say that chances are this will be the first power metal band from Ireland that you'll hear. The band is definitely routed in a more old school approach to the genre at times. They owe a lot to Iron Maiden, but aren't afraid to bring in some modern influences as well. The vocals definitely have a more modern power metal feel to them, and the vocals are probably the most entertaining aspect of this cd. The music itself is a bit typical at times, but becomes a bit more exciting when the band plays outside the walls of power metal. The chugging riff at the beginning of the second song is incredibly heavy and serves as a nice contrast to the usually melodic nature of the band.

One thing I think the band could work on is tightening up the structures of the songs and writing some truly memorable choruses. The songs seem to be lacking the huge choruses that the genre is known for. It would make a great deal of difference to have the choruses to help make each song unique. For a debut album however this shows a lot of promise. The band is trying to do something unique within the power metal genre and you can't say that of many bands.

Sentinel Records