http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com Extreme music webzine (...) http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/Images/gargoyle-rss-icon.jpg http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com 145 61 _WtSW_ is ostensibly an exercise in post-Cradle black-sympho-goth metal, but the music is rawer, simpler and less reliant on tremolo riffing. (5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5184 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The debut album from Aiton is conceptually centred on on the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV Echnaton's attempts to create a monotheistic religion well before the supposed advent of Jesus Christ. Interesting concept, but only tenuous connected with the music itself, an unfortunate graduate of the Burzum school of dark ambient. (4 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5185 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Beelzebub only knows what Belphegor were smoking when they dreamt up the songs that make up this steaming loaf. (5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5207 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For those of you hiding out with bin Laden, this effort reunites the Cavalera brothers of early Sepultura fame, Max and Igor. It might have taken a decade to mend some old wounds, but _Inflikted_ is the ensuing result. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5199 Aaron McKay Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. If nightfall still finds you soaking your bedside pillow in tears at the thought of Lord Worm's untimely exodus out of Cryptopsy, a word of free advice: stick to the over-the-top brutalizing of _Once Was Not_ and imagine that it was the band's last hoorah. Because if any one piece of music is guaranteed to send you hurtling into an unrecoverable depression, it's _The Unspoken King_. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5205 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It's hard to believe that four years have gone by since Death Angel issued the trumpet call of what remains one of most stylish comebacks in the history of heavy metal. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5206 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Deinonychus' earlier work, such as _The Weeping of a Thousand Years_ and _Silence of December_, were every bit the po-faced stabs at ceaseless despair their overwrought titles imply, but sometime between then and now, Deinonychus have undergone a complete metamorphosis. (8 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5186 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The easiest way to sum up Chicago based Ebonmortis' _Reconstruction by Force_ is simply brutal, super speedy, crunchy death metal with blackened vocals. (5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5201 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. As someone who is pretty notorious for taking most US black metal with a rather large grain of salt, I can admit when bands release material that rally the troops for war, and I'm overjoyed to find that spirit deep in Ezurates latest release, _An Ending to Revelations_. (7.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5209 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Heorot are the latest addition to the exponentially increasing folk metal pantheon, and are burdened with the expectations set by fellow forest dwelling Finns Korpiklaani and Ensiferum, invoking similar atmospheres of medieval battles and beer. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5187 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. I doubt Demonic Resurrection or IIIrd Sovereign will ever be as popular as Bollywood films -- unless they have an Aishwarya Rai on bass --but it doesn't mean that decent metal can't arise from the subcontinent. (6.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5183 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Chileans In Exacta may not be Sepultura clones, but that doesn't mean that their Lusophone cousins have had no impact, and their contemporary metal is permeated with Sepultura-esque grooves. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5193 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. These kids have it. Insurrect, rising out of the pretty bleak but apparently pretty metal-fertile American Midwest, have shown their muscle with their first release, _Fucking Infinity_. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5202 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Despite some dubious pseudonyms (the bassist is either extremely stupid or extremely brave to call himself by the urban sounding "L-Dog" tag), Izo present ten entries to the realm of thrash filtered melodeath. (6.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5192 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. I know that this is intended as a "rehearsal demo" or some such, and whilst that may be worthwhile in the case of a polished and accomplished band such as, say, Dimmu Borgir, it lacks the same impact when performed by an already cacophonic black metal project still in the embryonic stages of their career. (1 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5196 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Runemagick's tenth full-length consists of a disarmingly simple, yet devastatingly effective motif of old-school death metal along the lines of Celtic Frost, Treblinka / Tiamat and early Entombed slowed down to a doom metal crawl. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5190 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Skindred is a mix of nu-metal with ragga, which is apparently some sort of reggae variant that includes artists such as Shabba Ranks and Shaggy. Nope, I'm not familiar with them and have no desire to hear them. Great if you ever wondered what Korn would sound like if they jammed with Bob Marley and the Wailers. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5189 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. At just four tracks long, it's an exceptionally traditional sounding effort for such a young sub-genre of black metal. They call themselves Slavonic Pagan black metal and they have that sound down pretty well. (6 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5200 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. When "Lovesick"'s bluegrass-tinged acoustic guitar lines handily weave their way into one of the most charged and affecting riffs you'll ever come across in your life, there's little room left for debating that _The Inevitable Collapse..._ is easily Soilent's most personal effort to date, if not their most devastatingly effective. (10 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5208 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Make no mistake, it may have been some nine years in the making, but _The Formation of Damnation_ is as explosive as a crate of C4, and in no time at all it rubbishes any suggestion that time away has caused its creators to develop ring rust. (9 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5204 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The rhythm section (the bass is also "programmed") is not the album's raison d'être, but merely the background for complex rhythms, unconventional time signatures, highly technical leads and all that other stuff beloved by the prog crowd. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5195 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. War for War now sound very similar to Stiny Plamenu in sound, possessing a similar guitar tone and production. It would be naïve to expect a great departure; after all, they share a member. But the only significant difference is the approach, which is also the source of this album's greatest weakness. (6 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5194 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Although primarily a raw masterwork, the ominous, despairing lunacy of the intro and outro recall the blackened atmospherics of Moevoet, whilst the numbers jammed in-between sound like Les Légions Noires in an unholy jam with an electronica-free La Division Mentale. (6 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5182 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. My first thought was that this sounds an awful lot like the Folkearth collective. This is not surprising; Magnus Wohlfart (guitars, keys, vocals) has been heavily involved with Folkearth from the beginning, whilst drummer and vocalist Jeremy Child has also assisted. (8 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5181 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. After the well received _The Stench of Redemption_ and with their new album _Till Death Do Us Part_ coming out, CoC spoke to Deicide drummer Steve Asheim. http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=1-1040 Jackie Smit Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. This Italian quartet takes their cue from their chillier northern cousins to present six tracks of ice drenched black metal, sounding much like other bands that have embarked on a similar candlelit path. (2 out of 5) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=3-5191 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Phantazo, a one-man industrial black metal outfit from some dark corner of Italy, is terribly cryptic and noisy. (3 out of 5) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=3-5203 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. All fifteen tracks last for exactly 59 seconds each. According to vocalist Frank Burnatra, "this reflects the uncompleted sense of humanity". It's hard to tell whether this idea is explored nay further through the impenetrable guttural growls. (1 out of 5) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=3-5197 Quentin Kalis Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. While the times of Ripping Corpse and _Dreaming With the Dead_ have come to pass, more now than ever Hate Eternal indefinably conjures a rapture of biblical proportions with _Fury & Flames_. (9.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5174 Aaron McKay Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. This is a more relaxed album than _Come Clarity_. Perhaps groovier is a better word for it. It has all the classic trademarks of the band's sound but impact. (7.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5198 Kostas Sarampalis Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Stick on this US quartet's Nuclear Blast debut, and what's immediately conspicuous by its absence is any sense of threat, danger or adventure. (5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5177 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. From the moment that "Death Conquers All" launches out of the gate at 100 mph, you know that something's most definitely cooking in the Dismember camp. The riffing is gloriously chaotic, the pace is frenetic and Matti Kärki's voice sounds as exigent and unhinged as it's ever been. (8.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5179 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. I suspect, nay I'm positive that I may have been warmer to Eternal Lord's brand of groove-laden high jinx, had my senses not been scalded by The Arcane Order's superlative _In the Wake of Collisions_ platter just a few short months ago. (5.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5178 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Not to be outdone by their contemporaries at Metal Blade, Century Media have delivered another in a growing list of releases seemingly spawned for the express purpose of making most of the extreme metal fraternity seem like timid circus geeks by comparison. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5180 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. When you're the proud owner of a set of pipes as capable of uttering the distinctive caterwauling that Warrel Dane has delivered across several Nevermore records, then you'd best be sure to steer well clear of anything remotely related to your day-job if you're planning on going into business for yourself. (6 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5175 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Zimmer’s Hole is more a celebration than claptrap piss-take -- and given the band's credentials as former members of Strapping Young Lad and Dark Angel, there’s no doubting their sincerity either. (8 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5176 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. You can't plan for this shit. You really can't. It's mere hours after I've put the finishing touches to my interview with one of California's fastest rising stars -- at least as far as hyperspeed, über-technical death metal is concerned -- when the headline pops up on my RSS feed: "Brain Drill calls it quits". http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=1-1036 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. If every musician the world over had even half the barefaced passion for their craft that Shatter Messiah's Curran Murphy possesses, the state of the music industry would be distinctly rosier on all fronts. http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=1-1037 Jackie Smit Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. For anyone acquainted with the band, _Atrabilis (Residues From Verb & Flesh)_ won't fall on their ears like thunder in clear skies: its foundation was already laid with their previous demo's engaging synergy of genuine melancholically charged themes and the guitar's rich timbre. (8 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5168 Andreas Marouchos Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Avichi belongs to a certain clique of bands that while not really offering anything new or revolutionary in the realm of black metal, the overall experience of listening to their creations is such that it verges on a revelation, a religious experience, a novelty. (7.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5156 Chaim Drishner Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. I have a pretty good feeling about Dark Ages. If _Choirs of Damnation_ is a sign of their capabilities as black metal hellions, big things are brewing. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5167 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Contrary to what the band's moniker might suggest, there is nothing "eclectic" per se in the band's music. The musical approach is rather monolithic and mainly focuses on an extremely melodic, tempo-driven, hi-tech-ish post black metal with a dual vocal approach -- male and female. (3.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5155 Chaim Drishner Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. King ov Hell (Gorgoroth, I, Sahg) and Kvitrafn (Gorgoroth, Sahg, Siegfader) amass respect with anything they touch, and with this as their first effort together and together alone, it stands tall. (8 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5172 Alexandra Erickson Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 2008 sees the band closely following their own formula, crafted more than a decade ago: extreme music in honour of the Greek deities of old. This is a mid-paced and highly melodic brand of black metal with a clear crisp sound and competent songwriting... but not thoroughly impressive. (5.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5169 Nikola Shahpazov Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It is almost a guilty pleasure to admit my long-standing affinity for Lizzy Borden. Well, not really; the '80s LA scene definitely had its time and place. Theatrics have been interlaced with metal for years -- ask Alice (Mr. Cooper if you're nasty). (9 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5153 Aaron McKay Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. _Muspellz Synir_ is a foul teratogenesis spawned from the mind-numbingly textured ambience of Beherit era _Drawing Down the Moon_ and the claustrophobic blackness of early Samael, spewing torrent after torrent of perniciously distorted riffage. (7.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5171 Andreas Marouchos Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It was rather surprising that Septic Flesh (now Septicflesh for some reason) disbanded after releasing probably their best album since their debut in _Sumerian Daemons_. Now, five years later, they re-emerge into the metal scene with their own, rather unique take on bombastic, orchestrated death metal. (9 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5173 Kostas Sarampalis Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Lo and behold! All of a sudden, good old Denmark seems like the boiling pot of European doom delights: first it was the frighteningly dark Nortt, then came nonetheless impressive Mørkheim and Grívf. Time to welcome Sol -- an impressive new act from the Danish shores, bringing musical gloom with a twist. (7.5 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5170 Nikola Shahpazov Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Spell Forest is like Dark Funeral, only much, much better. What I mean is that the band shares this slight (arguably, a lot of that) infantile, stern, avid and fascinating affinity to Satanism in its most earthly, immediate and benign incarnations; a literal bad guy with horns, pointed tail and goat-like face and a very, very bad temper. (9 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5166 Chaim Drishner Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Albeit only a tad longer than quarter of an hour worth of playing time, _Dissolution Mantras_ serves as a fine visiting card to this Australian eclectic, prolific and talented trio, namely Sword Toward Self. (7 out of 10) http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com/Articles.aspx?id=2-5154 Chaim Drishner Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT en-us All contents copyright 1995-2004 their individual creators. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.