01 Centerfold Redemption
02 Dead Again
03 A Kandarian Odyssey
04 Carrion Caresses
05 Self Portrait Of Hatred
06 1756
07 Terminate My Battery
08 Embrace The Vicious
09 Meat
10 Philosophy Of The Elite
11 Entrusted With Disgust
12 Now Below
13 Now Below
14 He Sells Agony
15 Eternal Solitude Forbidden
16 Global Bastardisation
17 Hour Of The Dog

      And for a change we got this time a band coming straight from Ireland, which was enough of a surprise to me. Letting the CD spin I got surprised once again, this time by its contents. Well, it's always kind of nice to discover a band that doesn't follow popular trends and manages to deliver a long to be remembered kick in the ass. And so does Abbadon Incarnate on their third album. A very fine mixture of "old school grindcore" delivered by the likes of Napalm Death and Terrorizer a long way back in time with some death metal touches adding to the entire dish the needed variety. Just as it is pretty much typical for grind-death records, none but the last track on this album, goes any further than the three-minute mark. Not half of them reaches the two-minute mark... The tracks are very much compressed to express their brutality and intensity, no shitting around, little space to breathe yet entertaining and catchy enough to give "Dark Crusade", released through Xtreem Music, another spin. And another. On top of it there is this sound, that keeps everything there is, well on its place and readable. I also enjoyed the vocal work, which kept mostly within the growling range also uses high pitched backing vocals, mainly on the choruses, widening the dimension of the entire material while not overdoing it. A very powerful output overall and definitely not to be missed by those of you into well performed death-grind madness. Be warned: Abaddon Incarnate is here to terminate your battery. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.abaddonincarnate.com

01 Chaos
02 Mr. Suic'hyde
03 Forgotten Embryos
04 Millennium
05 Purifying Rain [instr.]
06 Dreams Voyager
07 ...Waiting
08 H3
09 Let The Earth Breathe

      After listening to their demo "Died Before Dawn" I stated back then, that Anvil Of Doom tastes far too much of Children Of Bodom to stand out on their own. To my pleasant surprise, on "Deathillusion" they managed to add into their style letting it go much more into being their own. They've not changed their music style as such but they've gained that little something in their new songs that sets them far from being a copy, which at the time of their demo, which by the way allowed them to sign a deal with Xtreem Music, kind of pissed me off. One thing that really struck me, was that while listening to "Deathillusion" I could pinpoint those tracks previously released on the demo, even though slightly modified, without actually checking it in the booklet, which means they stuck in my godforsaken brains. Now, you tell me what does that mean? In my opinion, that shows the presence of above average musicianship with the ability to write catchy songs to be remembered even on a subconscious level. Sounds good, right? Well, for those of you who've not had the possibility to check these guys out yet, it's all about good quality melodic, dynamic death metal incorporating mostly high pitched vocals, kind of COB influenced with a good amount of variation and tone changes. Pleasantly produced and all, it's certainly a worth checking out album. Tracks as "...Waiting" or "Let The Earth Breathe" are sure to carve the brand of Anvil Of Doom deep into the Spanish metal scene, and with a bit of luck much further onto the wide world. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.anvilofdoom.com

01 Dying Breath (Intro)
02 Bitter End
03 The Threat Of Flesh And Its Libidinous Storms Of Silence
04 Fragility Of Life

      To be honest, when I started listening to this demo material, I felt kind of sceptic about it. Somehow I could feel something wasn't right there. So I tried again and again and well, at least I won't say that it's a bad material because it is not.
      There is certainly a doom metal feeling to all this. That's where all this starts and that's how it keeps going all the way. There are some black metal touches on top of that - a few - as much on the music as the vocals - yet I would strongly recommend to make them disappear or some of it. I don't know, but some of those screams on there just fucked all the nice and doomy feeling the band worked to create. Some of the keyboard work didn't quite reach my expectations and there's a bit of work to be done on those as well. The sound itself is not of the best, yet clear enough to kind of enjoy the material or at least come up with an opinion of your own. Overall, I think "Bitter End" shows the band knows, more or less, where they want to go with Dark Embrace, yet there is still work to do. Hard work that is, if the band truly wants to go any further. It can be done though and hopefully we'll get to hear some more of this Spanish band in the future. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.dark-embrace.com

.Despise
01 Room 101
02 Mutual Assured Destruction
03 Separated Entity Alteration
04 Confrontation [pyrexia cover]
05 Millenium Fuck
.Imperial Foeticide
06 A Light Whirl, My Guide
07 Two Different Ways
08 The Story Continues
09 The Seat Of The Waves Of Lowness
10 Feature

      An avalanche of brutal grind death stepping upon the listener as you'd step on a dying out cigarette's butt. Not a spare second to catch your breath. Actually both bands go for the same goal, basing on twisted, mega fast riffs, machine gun drumming and guttural growls combined with those screaming backing vocals. Coming from the Czech Republic, both bands do a good job although I have to say, I simply enjoy more Imperial Foeticide. I think it's the overall sound, most of all. I simply enjoyed much more the second half of this split because of a fuller sound. Yet I have to admit, that both bands seem to overdo on the guitars' overdrive, creating a huge buzz of a sound, which personally I found not to give power to the music as a result. In fact, I think it may even weaken the overall production a bit. Then again, who am I to say these things for Christ's sake! The funny thing here is that Despise consists of most of the Imperial Foeticide's band members - which explains the similarity of the good skills shown and the musical direction followed. An interesting material mostly for those seeking some brain damaging grinding. Also, there a whole bunch of live video clips on this split to enjoy! Personally, I could use a bit of that fuller sound, which I think would make those tracks sound much more intense! [- Lord Darnok]
http://despise.webpark.cz / http://imperialfoeticide.webpark.cz

01 Desde El Trono
02 Trance Lunar (Divina Revelación)
03 Negro Futuro De Sangre
04 Achernal
05 Necrodimensión

      With a totally dark production and in every way against the Christian laws (he,he,he) kicks in, coming from Chilean lands, Dies Irae, who manage to give a slap at my neurons. What these guys present is a death thrash full of intensity and evil intentions - raw, dirty and blasphemous - "as it's got to be"!!!. These five apocalyptic tracks come arranged in a simple way that in fact does he job of burning away your soul. All the songs are actually written in Spanish and show clearly the satanistic point of view of the band. They remind me a bit of the almighty Blasphemy and a bit of the first demo of Death Living - "Dark Legion".
      Well, these guys are just about to enter the studio to record their new material, which I hope will just take another step into the evil depths these guys seem to want to take the listener down to. Hail satanic brothers!!! [- Blasfemo]

01 Evil Attack
02 Pedophilic Clergy
03 The Hell Takes Your Soul
04 Rise Between Shadows

      Right from this tiny Chilean city of Cańete I got this promotional four-track demo. The trio behind this material delivered a kind of thrash metal with some touches of Judas Priest from the "Painkiller" era. This mix, actually, came out quite nicely of what can be appreciated here, as the sound itself is not of the best quality. Anyway, it's just a promotional product, so that kind of takes some blame of the band.
      Straight from the very beginning, the band goes right to what they are all about. The main thing is that they remind me very much of those Chilean thrash metal bands of the eighties. This clearly shows, that there was some kind of style developed here, that bands such as Evil Attack have managed to keep it around, despise of the years passing by. Obviously there are much better and more efficient ways to record a proper material aimed at those hungry fans out there, yet, unfortunately it is still quite difficult for those youngest bands coming from the smallest cities. Anyway, I hope these guys make it to release a much professional production and with a better distribution. Good Luck! [- Blasfemo]

01 Emancipation
02 On Borrowed Time
03 Smashed Mirror World
04 A Comedy Of Hunger
05 Man Denied
06 Mass Destruction
07 Invisible

      I have to admit right at the beginning of this review, that this is actually the first material of these guys I got to listen to, which means there won't be any comparing with previous releases. But than again, what the fuck you need that for anyway? We're talking "Invisible" here, which comes to be the third album of this Norwegian duo, this time released for Golden Lake Productions. And if, as they say, the third album usually shows whether a band heads for its own burial or leaves the listener badly wanting another release of the band - Emancer did a fucking great job to please the listeners. If you were aware of the band earlier, you'll probably know these guys are very much into experimental black metal. Well, what that means is that apart from the unique, Norwegian hellish black metal parts, which in fact form Emancer's strong skeleton, you get here all sorts of electronics based stuff, kind of like some Samael's most wicked space voyages into the I-don't-know-where, if you know what I mean. Add on to it some excellent acoustic parts that reminded me for instance in "On Borrowed Time" of Opeth's excellence and what a sick mixture that is? Now, the thing that I was most concerned about letting the CD on its first spin, was that there's a robodrummer on it, which would normally create a synthetic feel to it so, obviously, I paid much attention to that, trying to catch some low points. Guess what? No luck there. In fact, I found the drumming to be arranged much better than some personalised drums. The vocals, apart from being as furious as they should be, go great with the music. It's all in its place, even the spoken parts and pace changes or should I rather say "space" changes work so well that, I don't know man, it all simply sums up to a thoroughly thought through and skilfully performed, varied release. Certainly, a release to be proud of. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.emanceronline.com

01 Kindred Veil
02 Sephiroth
03 The Poet's Nightmare
04 Whispering Soul
05 The Eyes Of Prometheus
06 Carpe Diem
07 All Is Accomplished

      I've had not enough of the previous release "Iconoclast" of these guys and here we get a fresh full-length album. I could expect to find some tracks of the aforementioned MCD on "Anima Mundi", yet these guys offered instead seven new killer songs. And what musicianship. They've been working on their reputation for over a decade and the results are there to be heard. The style itself bounces somewhere around a superb mixture of heavy and doom with great, clean yet powerful vocals. The thing with these guys is that they don't get stuck in any simple repetitive work of a couple riffs. The songs, even though long, don't even try to bore the listener, working their way smoothly through all kinds of changes, varied yet catchy choruses and elaborated riffs. It seems like there is a perfect dose of every thing there is to be licked of this album. Take for instance the clean vocals, which in a world dominated in a way by thrash, death and black metal, one could think of as a weakness, which in fact, it turned out that way for many other bands out there. On "Anima Mundi" it is simply difficult to think of a better way to sing these songs. Very varied indeed, some backing vocals, whispers here and there, attention gripping choruses and most of all the feeling put into it, which you can actually feel, almost touch. The music itself flows so smoothly, adorned with impressive guitar solos, it makes me wonder how come have these guys not made it big yet. I mean real big, you know. But that again, some of those bands who got big quick, crushed heavily against the ground only to get covered in dust and dog shit. So, there has to be some magic about all this music business, just as there is something special about Forsaken, I guess. "Anima Mundi" is certainly to go out to the wide world and hopefully get Forsaken the acknowledgment they definitely deserve. [- Lord Darnok]

01 Mythological Bloodbath
02 Colossal Titan Strife
03 Submission
04 Opplomak
05 With Eaque Sword
06 Aeternum Pharaos Curse
07 Haterealm
08 Monumental Carnage
09 Phaeton
10 Kronos
11 Internal Worms Fields

       Holly FUCKING Christ! What a lovely death machine Kronos is for God's sake! Let me get my thoughts back together. Hmmm... shit... emmm... It's been quite a long time since I last listened to a death metal release that would strike me with such an impact and that's basically it. "Colossal Titan Strife" is to tear your asshole to bits and watch you bleed. Bleed in the name of... death metal.
      Fast, technical enough, amazingly well performed. An overall sound that leaves you questioning whether you actually did hear that or you just dreamt about listening to such a record. Fucking crushing, incredible, yet true. Kronos sets probably a new insight into the French scene, which seems to get bigger and stronger with every new record put out there for the past couple of years.
      Personally, I found on this album everything I'd like to hear on a death metal release was there. Sure you can hear some American style influences there, but you're supposed to learn from the best right? Amazing melodies interlaced with top-shelf brutality, double vocal work - backing vocals that put so much into the record, the overall impact on the listener, add onto it speed, lots of pace changes - variety and top class arrangements... Now, if you've been a bit bored with the death metal scene lately, which tends to happen to me from time to time, there is no way you ain't gonna love this record which is, in fact, a killer as it comes. It seems Xtreem Music is really picking out those black pearls out there and, once again, well fucking done! Get it to blast your brains out or piss off for fuck's sake. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.kronosbrutaldeath.free.fr

01 Ojo del huracán
02 Místico
03 Fénix
04 Protegido por la cruz

      Here we got a band that has got a style hard to define. I can mention bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead or the Chilean Dogma, all of which come to my mind listening to this material. This demo shows an energetic band, yet it doesn't really stad out. Beginning with the "Ojo De Huracán", whith its riffs in the vein of Exodus quickly gripped my attention, yet it was all really as the demo kept on going without much more to offer. Good guitar solos, no doubt about it. To be honest even the lyrics came to be of a great quality to say the least. Personally I'd like to hear something much better of these guys in the future. [- Blasfemo]
http://www.krudo.4t.com

01 El Otro
02 To See Saturn Fall
03 Storm
04 Recklessness
05 Self portrait N°1
06 Be welcome oh hideous hell
07 Onirica

      After their grand debut demo many of us anxiously awaited the debut full-lenght material of these Chileans from Mar De Grises suposed to be released through Firebox Rec. Well, the result is simply awsome!!! "The Tatterdemalion Express" invites the listener to wonder through the darkest and depressive atmospheres in music's history. The opening track grips your mind right from the start entangling it with its sonic intensity and never lets it go. The album itself flows from some very avantgarde to the deepest doom death metal regions. It's quite hard to explain really. What I really need to say is that "The Tatterdemalion Express" left me with my mouth wide open. Personally, I found it to be probably one of the best metal records ever to be released by a band on this side of the globe. I wonder whether we could standing in front of a band with the capacity to release as brilliant albums as does My Dying Bride, yet without doubt, Mar De Grises have made their huge first step. Last thing to be said, is that each and one of you maniacs out there gets the possibility to check these guys out and let them take you into the darkest depths of your soul. [- Blasfemo]
http://www.mardegrises.cjb.net

01 Intro ( Abyss sound of the souch)
02 Forest of the Inmortality
03 Covenant of lies
04 Sons of the Infernal Court
05 Circle of the Hipocrisy
06 Armageddon
07 Mascemous
08 Lord Satan
09 Victory (Throne Of Terror)

      This debut album served by these Chileans from Meggido didn't quite stand up to my expectations. Although these guys seem to be quite good musicians on the technical side, they fell short in getting through to me. The production as such is excellent and I'm to congratulate here Rawforce Roductions for the job they've done. The record starts with a typical black metal intro to tattack the listener with "Forest Of the Immortality" straight after, which I found to be the best track on this release. There's some Immortal influences to be heard here. Listening to that track I believed there was much more to come. Unfortunately, monotony came in and it all basically managed to bore me. The album isn't that bad, but I expected much more from Megiddo. Personally, I believe that these guys have got the ability to do much better in the future as much on the musical level as with their lyrics. [- Blasfemo]
http://www.megiddo.cl

01 Phantasma
02 Crown Of Pain
03 Arch Mysteria
04 Thousand Stars Ablaze
05 Starlight
06 Amok (Wheep In Delerium)
07 Ghost In The Fog
08 Enigma
09 Sweet Holocaust
10 Time Of Revelation
11 Dark Muse

      There's been said and written quite a lot about this material during the past year or so, as it has been recorded a couple of years ago, actually, and finally released in the beginning of last year. Anyway, the wait got well rewarded indeed. "Phantasma" came out to be not only a material worth releasing but also a record hard not to recommend to a wider audience.
      I had the pleasure to watch these guys a few times play live shows and I had a good idea of what to expect really, still I got very surprised at the level of musicianship they showed while in the studio. Obviously, there is a difference in between a live performance and a studio record, more over when it comes to amateurish, shitty, so called local shows, which unfortunately I've been to far too many.
      Skilfully developed song structures, caressed, shall I say, details flowing somewhere in between the greatest releases of such acts as Moonspell, Anathema, My Dying Bride or Paradise Lost, releases that scarred the metal scene for ever many years ago. Each track on "Phantasma" has its own flavour to it, pace changes, catchy melodies, shifts and turns, whispers, deep growls, high pitched screams... there is a specific atmosphere to each song built upon strong, doom, foundations. Actually, it makes hard to pick the best song on this record, as well as picking on some weaker point in particular, for that matter. Well performed, well enough produced. A very nice record indeed, highly recommended, mostly for those who love to revel in interesting melodic arrangements and diversity. Apparently, the band is currently working on new material - some tracks already finished, for the next album, which I personally await very much. [- Lord Darnok]
http://medebor.rockmetal.art.pl

01 Blood Path
02 M/K Ultra
03 Eye Of The Abyss
04 Noctifer

      The Greek scene never stops surprising me. What's even more interesting is that most of those bands that make it out to the wider world, have their very own, unique way of composing their material. What this young, born in December last year, band Mors In Tabula offers on this promo is jus a little glimpse at what there is to be found on their already finished full length album "Blemish". Even though for some reasons I'm not a very enthusiastic fan of electronic-industrial beasts, Mors In Tabula managed to give me a kick in the ass that I'll surely remember for some time. Bursting with aggression, totally wicked atmosphere that reminds at some points of horror movies' soundtracks, characteristic as for this type of music guitar work and awesomely dark vomits of these Greeks can make your brains spin dead after a while. Anyway, what Mors In Tabula unleashed upon the world is definitely a powerful dose of electronic sounds based on strong industrial foundations. That's why I don't believie it will get through to many hermetically enclosed in a world of their own stubborn shitheads. Still, I definitely recommend this material to all those who like to incorporate a variety of sounds into their everyday diet. Personally, I found this promo, which Greek Metal Hammer named "demo of the month", to be quite promising and very much worth checking out. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.morsintabula.com

01 Damned Knowledge
02 I Reign
03 Conceived By Inhuman Blood
04 Hate Earth
05 Dying Earth
06 Ignis Victory
07 Domination Is My Name
08 Crucify Again
09 You Have Lost
10 Bleeding Mortal Laments
11 Fear The Truth

      Listening to this record, right away a got a few clear impressions. First of all, there's no doubt Nephasth are a bunch of perfectionists. This means there is no way you can find a damn thing that falls out of place or lags behind on this release. I can't get enough, actually, of this perfectionism. Now, Brasil got us all a few bands that made it big enough to go all over the world fucking up people's brains and it is certainly a country that has metal potential hidden among all this carnival thing. Nephasth are simply to go out there and drink from the chalice of victory, among the biggest. I mean, there is nothing to prevent these guys from making it huge. And I do mean it. Sure thing some may say this isn't an original or ground-breaking band, unfortunately there are always those who complain. But that's life, that's different tastes, etc. I'd say - c'mon - show me a band that plays death metal the way Nephasth does... Actually, I can honestly say that side by side, with the unique South American death metal feeling there is a lot of Vader's death metal perfectionism and Morbid Angel's touch of pure evil on "Conceived By Inhuman Blood"... Now, if you tell me this combination doesn't work well enough to make it to the top, you could probably go as well and fuck yourself with a blunt razorblade.
      If we're talking about serious death metal the way it kicks ass and leaves you afterwards bleeding, down on your knees, I'd say this is a record not to be missed by any means. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.nephasth.com.br

.Undeveloped
01 Intro
02 Golden Shit
03 Smell The Human Stenchs
04 Fgarce
05 W.c Sea
06 Errant Souls
.Innocent Shades
07 Armygeddon
08 Buried Love
09 Ruined
10 Lament
11 Metropolis
12 Inocent Shades
13 Funeral Flowers
.bonus tracks
14 Timeless Sands [promo 1997]
15 Winds Of July [promo 1997]
16 The Crawling Mirrors [demo version 2001]
17 Elixir [demo version 2001]

      What we got here is actually a compilation of their first two demos plus a few rarities of one of the most important bands of Chile. Poema Arcanus started in the beginning of the nineties going through some name changes. The demos go back to when they called themselves Garbage - "Underdeveloped" (1995) and Garbage Breed - "Innocent Shades" (1996).
      On the "Underdeveloped" demo, the band seemed to be looking for the path that suited them most as the track actually go all the way through grind core, thrash, death and doom metal. What you could hear on these tracks bounces between the old Carcass, Napalm Death and Paradise Lost releases. And that's where we come to the marvellous "Innocent Shades" demo, which in my opinion belongs to the best South American demos. That's where the band did take right path to follow, the one they were meant for, going into slow and heavy riffing, which remind me of My Dying Bride and Amorphis. It was an outstanding demo in its years, which catapulted the band within the national scene because of its virtuosity as much as the fact being practically the only real doom band back then. To be honest I found it an excellent gift for those of us who actually listened to these demos on cassettes, to get these demos in CD format - a fan thing, to say the least. On top of this, the band included four tracks that appear in a bit different forms labelled at last as Poema Arcanus. An excellent and fundamental release for the eldest as much as for the youngest fans of this band.[- Blasfemo]

01 Meditation Among Demons
02 Fury... And A Darkening Mind

      This two-song-promo shows the current path Septuagint steps on. What these guys are up to, probably since the beginning, is a well performed mixture of thrash and heavy metal with pretty much clean vocals that grabs the listeners attention right on the first spin. If you weren't aware of he band before, just as I wasn't, among some acts that influenced the band over the years would be the likes of Testamen, Forbidden, Slayer, Helloween, Judas Priest... so you get the idea more or less of what to expect music wise. Well arranged, nicely executed and produced. This is not one of those garage bands, shown by the years they've been playing, working on their music approach and their live performances, as the beginning of the band dates back to '91. The basic lyrics concept is based on fantasy tales of the everlasting fight between good and evil, men and dragons, monsters and stuff like that, keeping that side of their material neutral in a way. Of what I can say, my mind being made on these two tracks, is that Septuagint delivers a very much enjoyable chunk of metal music and it is certainly a band well worth checking out. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.septuagint.nl

01 Sepent Soul
02 Beyond Humanity
03 Revenge
04 Doomsday

      I find it always to be a pleasure to listen to, and later on introduce to a wider audience an Underground band, that knows what it takes to record a worth listening material. Serpent Soul know pretty well in deed, what it takes and have the ability to do so. "Beyond Humanity", being their second demo, serves the listener a nice blend of death, thrash with strong heavy metal influences, which makes it all very entertaining. Long gone are those years where bands used to identify themselves strongly with a clear path whether it was death, black, heavy or whatever else there ever was. A variety of different ideas, often lying very far from each other yet combined in a clever manner is basically the key these days not to fall behind the shadows of the past. You won't find any ground-breaking ideas on this demo material, yet I'm quite sure you won't be disappointed either. Pretty groovy altogether - kind of a material specifically to be played onstage - if you know what I mean, nice melodies, very-heavy-metal guitar solos, well arranged pace changes combined with a nice touch of aggression, maintain "Beyond Humanity" entertaining enough to keep an eye on these Germans and their future releases. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.serpentsoul.com

01 Curse Of The Limbs
02 The Eva's Flesh Delirium
03 Scorching Iron Thorns
04 Avernal Empire
05 Offering And Desecration Of Mosheh
06 Somberness
07 From Punishment To Advent

      Nowadays with just three members in the band, Thornafire managed to self-produce this demo-promo with excellent sound and presentation. The band's evolution since "Mortus Tenebrae Surrectus" is well seen and correct in every way. Here we got a band, that simply kick's ass. Thornafire is a band that seems to have achieved their maturity and it looks like it isonly a question of time for them to get a record deal. "Curse Of the Limbs" is a really macabre song opening this release, showing all the rage and new touches of the new material, which make yet more interesting what Thornafire plays these days. As much as they had much opf the Swedish metal within their compositions like Necrophobic, on " Sin And Flesh Devotion" we can hear a mix of the first with the almighty Morbid Angel. It's all so clear when you listen to the rest of the tracks, the perfect blend of influences and that they really did work on these songs accomplishing to state their own uniqueness in a way. Hard to even miss the band members that left. The vocals are yet another very strong point on this work. Even the tracks from the previous "Mortus Tenebrae Surrectus" sound much more powerful, violent and evil. What more is there to say about a band that improves its compositions, arangements, performance, ideas, art, etc... Thornafire rulez!!! [- Blasfemo]
http://www.thornafire.cl

01 Prelude To Apocalypse
02 Ignorance Through Sovereignty
03 Of Blind Consequence...
04 Built For The Kill
05 Faith Is Dead
06 Cycles Of Tyranny
07 Victims Bleeding
08 In The Shadows Of Resurgence
09 The Wrath
10 Indulge Divergent Senses

      There's been so much said through the years about the US death metal scene, that telling you Wasteform represent the US brutal death metal genre should give you a good idea what to expect from "Ignorance Through Sovereignty". Be sure to find here ultra speed riffing'n hyperblasting drums intersected here and there with those slow, chunky parts bringing to mind suck acts as Suffocation or Pyrexia. Brutal, raw, groovy at times, still, I found there was something missing on this record to fulfill my desires and unfortunately I'm not quite sure what it is. Could be the lack of that little something that would make Wasteform a recognizable group among others. Could also be the overall sound production which didn't quite meet my expectations, keeping the guitars a bit too far behind the drums and pleasantly grinding bass. Fuck knows but than again, it's just my personal opinion. Sure, there's a lot going on on "Ignorance Through Sovereignty", yet somehow it all blends together lacking those real high points that would make the difference. Not a bad record at all, unfortunately, I don't think Wasteform can compete in any way with those who've traced that path years ago. Not this time, anyway. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.wasteform.com

01 Kama
02 Sutra
03 No Redemption
04 Flight
05 Waiting
06 Flood
07 King
08 Bitter Life
09 Better Life
10 Give Me Meat
11 Turn To The Shadows

       Releases as this one, this time coming from the Czech Republic, make me wonder, just how many bands are there around, that know very well what they do, yet can't somehow get through all the overfucked with mediocre material metal scene? It's those little surprises that, most of the time, make living worth while, actually, kind of like - hey man, there's still lots of great stuff out there for you to check out, don't go yet...
      Now, Wolfram has been around for over two decades, that's when it all started actually, and they've been working their way up all these years, releasing on the way three albums, "No Redemption" being their fourth full-length output.
      What Wolfram served the listeners on this particular record is a well performed power thrash, as they label it. Basically, when I first listened to this album, I thought of Megadeth's "Countdown To Extinction", the overall sound, the catchy riffs and well performed vocal work. Then, after going through the band's website I found Martin Friedman to be one of Roman Krokus', who's the man behind Wolfram's music, favourite musicians... that made things pretty much clear. You get the picture, don't you? Don't get me wrong, I mean, everyone knows that it would be pretty hard to copy Megadeth and the likes for obvious reasons. In fact, it'd be stupid even to attempt to. The main thing, let me get this clear, is that while listening to "No Redemption" I felt a great deal of satisfaction, due to the lack of this particular kind of music of such good quality these days. Good quality in every aspect. Original, pro vocals, drumming far away from the standard umta-umta, clear bass working all the way and perfectly arranged guitars, giving Wolfram a brand name of their own.
      To be honest, there is a couple of things about the cover booklet artwork that I found to be falling a bit short to the actual contents, but then again, I've seen lots worse among those so called big bands. I won't hold back my satisfaction here, let us have as many releases of this kind, of the standard Wolfram presented on "No Redemption" as only possible. Well done. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.wolfram-metalmusic.zde.cz

01 El Mes Dur Sempre Guanya
02 Un Dia Qualsevol
03 La Terra I Tu
04 El Nostre Silenci
05 La Nostra Estirp
06 De Sobte El Foc

      It's probably happened to many of you, that you think of an album one way and when you finally get to listen to it, it comes out to be something totally different. Sometimes surprising in a positive way, on other occasions shitty and disappointing. Well, I couldn't quite picture Vidres A La Sang to be a mixture of heavy, death and black metal talking of, for instance, Iron Maiden, Morbid Angel and Immortal as inspirations without any particular order, which I read here and there. Personally I don't think it's fair to mention those bands as references because, basically, they can give the listener a wrong idea altogether. In my opinion, this self-titled debut has the capacity to give you goose bumps where you least expect it and even make your ears bleed on its own – no need to mention anyone else. If I had to classify somehow the music to be appreciated on this release, I'd say we got here a very aggressive, high-quality combination of death and black metal. Catalonian lyrics sung in a specific manner, a readable growl perfectly positioned among all the other instruments gives the record very much a dark and evil feeling. Nice overall production with a clear yet brutal sound adds onto the quality of "Vidres A La Sang". A very strong debut album, which once again proves the quality of bands signed to Xtreem Music. [- Lord Darnok]
http://www.vidresalasang.com