Band: V/A
Album: Acid Victim Records: Underground Metal Compilation Vol. I. (Acid Victim Records)
Year: 2006
Website: http://www.myspace.com/acidvictimrecords
Rating: 7/10
Ex-Isolation Magazine Editor Matt Jones recently formed his own record label, AcidVictim Records. AcidVictim Records is a label focusing primarily on promotion and distribution, and allows each artist to retain their rights to their music and receive exclusive promotion. "Underground Metal Compilation Vol. I" is a compilation highlighting the artists who call AcidVictim Records home and a few underground bands borrowed from other underground labels.
The first ever AcidVictims Records compilation offers a little for every type of extreme music fan. Fans of Progressive Metal are treated to Beatmaster Trash's "Torture", Harvyst's track "Winter" and Choronzon's "Offering" provide an excellent dose of industrial, Bury The Pariah's "2 sides, a story, and a subversive scheme" and Wolfgard's "Baesaerker" provide the death metal, Deadhole's "Necro Scum" is black metal, Dummo's "Moleman" is classic heavy metal, and Amnesty's "Bullets" represents metalcore. Not only does this compilation feature bands from every spectrum of metal's underground, there are no bad tracks and some of the tracks are phenomenal. Those who read my review of Harvyst's second demo "Winter" know these guys create something truly special, being the world's only industrial jam band. The group's title track is surely one of the best tracks on this compilation. The primal drums set the perfect tone for the samples pertaining to the Church of Satan. Longtime fans are treated to the first recorded appearance of new keyboardist/vocalist Ian Pool.
Another band that was surprisingly good because these Frenchmen have yet to make a name for themselves is the Illtemper track "Slave of Structure". For being from France, this group sounds unexpectedly like a NOLA band, most notably Acid Bath. Their guitar rhythms are doomy and groove-oriented, while vocalist Foux has a duo vocal style, ranging from screams to creepy, wavering clean vocals, much like ex-Acid Bath crooner Dax. Germany's Wolfgard plays a ferocious style of old school death metal in the tradition of Obituray, Morgoth and Unleashed. Vocalist Heavy accentuates the final chorus line with a sick scream reminiscent of John Tardy and Johnny Hedlund. The music is violent, the type of stuff you would want to play before going out on the battlefield. Dummo plays a style of classic heavy metal/thrash that is sure to appeal to fans of Iced Earth and Nevermore with heavy, memorable riffs and sing-a-long choruses.
Five American dollars is not that bad of a deal when you consider you are getting fifteen tracks of quality, underground metal. Most of the larger record companies' compilations have at least a few crappy tracks. "Underground Metal Comp Vol. 1"bucks the trends and features no bad tunes! Review by Darren Cowan
Band: V/A
Album: A Return to Fantasy - A Tribute to Uriah Heep (Century Media)
Year: 2003 (Release Date: 18.08.03)
Website: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10
This compilation contains 13 of some of the most talented and diverse metal bands around, paying homage to Uriah Heep. The album clocks in at over 60 minutes and is well worth investing in.
Apart from Jack Frost's version of "Lady in Black", all of the songs are either rare, unreleased or exclusive tracks which is another good reason to buy this, it also contains a special Uriah Heep history in the albums booklet. First up is the brilliant "Easy Livin'" by Angel Dust, probably the best track on here, through the likes of "Rainbow Demon" by Tad Morose, Onward's version of "Bird of Prey", Sacred Steel covering "Return to Fantasy" and "Suicidal Man" by Freebase.
Rounding things up is a live version of Gypsy by Metalium feat. Ken Hensley which puts a great finishing touch on a superb tribute album. If you like Uriah Heep or even if you don't, this is one you should get. What better way to pay tribute to a great band is there?
Band: V/A
Album: Apocalypse (Season of Mist)
Year: 2004
Website: N/A
Rating: 7/10
A diverse mix of hyperviolent black, death, thrash, goth and prog metal.
Some cheese and some filler, but a nice cross section of tracks. Features tracks by Carpathian Forest, Macabre Minstrels, Nattefrost, Mezzerschmitt and more. Review by Ryan Bartek
Band: V/A
Album: Christmas Hits - 50 Festive Favourites (BMG)
Year: 2003 (Release Date: 17.12.03)
Website: N/A
Rating: 10/10
I got a bit of a surprise when I opened this the other day but, what the hell, it's Christmas.
50 Festive favorites has, well, 50 tracks over 2 CD's, and contains probably every Christmas song known, including that bastard "Millennium Prayer" by Cliff Richard and some more. There are a couple on here that you will think what the hell they are doing on here, but the sheer amount of tracks on here more than makes up for this.
I've had a many Christmas albums over the years, and I can easily say that this is THE definitive Christmas album, which I guarantee you will get out year after year, so it's a very good investment in the long run. No cheesy Christmas party can be with out "50 festive hits". Go out and get it before it's all over!
Band: V/A
Album: Dreams of What Life Could Have Been - The Ultimate Sludge Compilation (Psychedoomelic Records)
Year: 2004
Website: http://www.psychedoomelic.com/bands/psy011.html
Rating: 8.5/10
I haven't listened to sludge sludge for quite a while now, so what better way than with the "Ultimate" sludge comp.
Soulpreacher get things of to a great start with their tracks "Remember the End" and "Whore", and although new to me, I would consider picking up one of there albums just on the strength of these two tracks alone. Next up, Fistula, although they seem a little more stoner that sludge didn't agree with me. Musically they were fine, it was just the vocals that annoyed me. Same with Grief and their two tracks, musically this is what Sludge is all about, but hell those vocals are boring and monotonous, shame. Then, Thee Plague of Gentlemen really blew me of my seat, I had to get up and turn the bass down before the speakers were ruined. These Belgians know the meaning of heavy, "Your love is king (of the dead)" Parts 2 & 3 are just amazing slabs of sludge/doom, another band whose work I would consider purchasing, the best band on here by far!. Next, the fourth U.S. band on here, Negative Reaction. New York music veterans Negative Reaction come through with their pummeling, down tuned space-doom, again top quality, all 10+ minutes of it. Then, last but by no means least two bands from the UK, Ramesses and Moss. Ramesses are a band coming along quite nicely and the raw, heavy and noisy "Black Domina" which showcases a promising band and Moss take things back to basics with their track "Beyond Despair" which is exactly what I felt when I heard it, 12+ minutes of crushing, distorted, speaker blowing, primitive sludge/doom and I like it!!!.
All of these bands on here are new to me, which is always good with compilations, especially when it's this good. It's maybe a little inconsistent in places, but with a total running time of 79 minutes there is plenty of quality sludge on here and some decent bands that have been introduced to me.
Band: V/A
Album: Fenriz Presents...The Best of Old-School Black Metal (Peaceville)
Year: 2004 (Release Date: 20.09.04)
Website: http://www.peaceville.co.uk/fenriz.html
Rating: 9/10
When I learned that Peaceville were sending us this, I knew it was going to be good, and I wasn't wrong.
16 tracks featuring some of the greatest bands this genre has seen, and many that bands cite as major influences. Starting off with an eerie intro from Blasphemy, the album see's tracks from the likes of classic and cult bands such as Venom, Brazil's Sarcofago, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate, Tormentor, Hellhammer and Bathory all make an appearance, Burzum, Mayhem, blackened thrashers Sodom and Destruction, Samael and a couple of bands that are new to me anyway Aura Noir, Bulldozer and Natterfrost.
This compilation is perfect for long time BM fans, newcomers and people who want to know a bit more about the history of the genre. The great album finishes with "Dies Irae" by Bathory, which is a great way to pay homage to recently departed Quorthon, one of the true originators of Black metal. There are one or two bands I would have like to have seen on there, most notably Emperor, but this is what Black Metal is all about, from the early years, through he second wave and up until the present day. This is only the promo version, but the final release will contain a booklet featuring extensive notes by Fenriz, giving his insight into each song, its relevance to him and its impact on the scene. There is simply no reason not to get this!
Band: V/A
Album: Freddy vs. Jason (Roadrunner Records)
Year: 2003 (Release Date: 11.08.03)
Website: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/artists/FreddyVsJason
Rating: 8/10
With the new Freddy vs. Jason film out soon, it's no surprise that Roadrunner have supplied supply the soundtrack to the film.
This is packed full with new and unreleased material from the likes of Mushroomhead, Killwitch Engage, Sevendust and Murderdolls to name a few as well as tracks from Sepultura (feat. Mike Patton), Hatebreed, Spineshank, Type O Negative, Chimaira and In Flames making this one of the best major motion picture soundtracks that I've heard so far. It also contains a brand new Ill Nino track which is taken from their new album out on September 29th and unreleased Slipknot demo track from 1997. There really is something for everyone so I suggest you snap it up, there is always a few crappy tracks on compilation albums so I'd be lying if I said every track is brilliant, but it's well worth the investment.
There is also a few new bands on here that I've never heard of like Nothingface, Devildriver, Seether, Blank Theory and From Autumn to Ashes, all of which will surely be favorites of the modern metal fans, perhaps they already are, my knowledge on new bands is pretty crap! My personal favorite on here is Lamb of God's "11th Hour" and "Trigger" by In Flames . Still not convinced?.....then go and see the film and see if you like the soundtrack.
Band: V/A
Album: The French Underground Series (Skull Fucked Prod)
Year: 2004
Website: http://www.skullfucked.ht.st
Rating: 8/10
A free compilation courtesy of Skull Fucked Prod featuring 15 extreme, underground French bands.
Unfortunately you may have a hard time getting a copy as it's limited to 2000 copies, so hurry and get your hands on one by contacting Fred at skullfuckedprod@wanadoo.fr. It's great how they state that the only goal of this compilation is to promote the bands on it, so hurry and get your hands on one and start spreading the word. The French underground has really come alight over the last couple of years and there are 15 decent bands on here. A few of the highlights on here are the tracks by Absurdity, Heresy and Heritiers De La Haine, so check these out if you can.
If they were to do a Volume II of this, the only thing I would suggest is having a couple of tracks by each band to get a better idea. Good non-the-less.
Band: V/A
Album: Harder & Heavier (Madacy Entertainment)
Year: 2003
Website: N/A
Rating: 4/10
Harder & Heavier is a startling reinvention of songs that were once an integral part of the 70's & 80's rock scene, but have now been re-born, re-vamped, or destroyed, however you want to look at it.
The tracks include AC/DC's "Back in Black" featuring Joe Lynn Turner, Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" performed by Kevin Dubrow from Quiet Riot, a remix of Queen's "Tie your Mother Down" featuring Lemmy from Motorhead and Ted Nugent. Other guests include Dee Snider, Paul Dianno, Tommy Shaw and Dee Dee Ramone amongst others.
On paper it looks great, in reality it varies from wildly amusing to downright weird. Don't get me wrong, there are some great versions on the album but there are also some awful, and I mean AWFUL versions. "Whole Lotta Love" and "Highway to Hell" are prime examples, they don't even sound remotely like the original, they've even got a dance beat in the background ferchristsake!!! A mixed barrel here, which really is a shame, I guarantee you will find yourself skipping from track to track which is why I can't score it any higher. Well worth a listen just for the experiance, even if the tracks seem to fade out prematurely.
Band: V/A
Album: Here Cometh the Metal Head (Warner Music UK)
Year: 2004 (Release Date: 13.09.04)
Website: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10
Bit of a cheesy title, but for what it's worth this is a pretty decent compilation, containing bands that many of you will have albums by, but may have just forgotten about, and a few new bands, that you may not have checked out yet.
The first two tracks are taken from two great thrash albums, first "Bare Bones" taken from Overkill's "Horrorscope", followed by "First Strike is Deadly" taken from Testement's debut album "The Legacy", two albums that any fan of thrash should own. Other older tracks on here include Pantera's "Heresy", tracks from the likes of Voivod, Metal Church, Kyuss, Faith No More, Cancer, Dream Theater and more modern acts such as Damageplan and Down and even bands that, apart from hearing a few tracks, are fairly unfamiliar to me including Ministry, King's X and Tad.
This had made me go hunting through my album piles from songs I haven't heard for a while. "HCTMH" is one of those albums that you can play and let in play all the way through without skipping. It's not the definitive metal album, but it has some great tracks by some classic bands.
Band: V/A
Album: Permission to Rock (Warner Music Group)
Year: 2003
Website: N/A
Rating: 8.5/10
There's been hundreds of compilations like this before, but I do have to say that this is probably one of the better ones.
You can't help think that this is some sort of promotion tool for The Darkness (you'll see what I mean when/If you get it). There's all the usual tracks like Sabbath's "Paranoid", Motorhead's "Ace of Spades", "Poison" by Alice Cooper and tracks from ZZ Top, Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, Faith No More, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Van Halen to name a few, the list is endless! 36 tracks of classic songs from some of the best bands from the past decade and beyond, with Christmas coming up. this is a great stocking filler and will go down great at all those parties.
CD1 is the best by far, a more heavier affair where CD2 is a more softer rocking experience. Great if your new to metal/rock and you want to uncover the past, but their isn't anything that you won't have.
Band: V/A
Album: Slave to the Power, The Iron Maiden Tribute (People Like You Records)
Year: 2003
Website: http://www.peoplelikeyourecords.de/NEW_RELEASES/new_releases.html
Rating: 9/10
I like tribute albums that the bands add their own touch to the songs, I'm not really impressed when they sound exactly the same as the original, I might as well just go and listen to the original in the first place.
Luckily, apart from a few occasions, "Slave to the Power" is a great listen. I'd be here all day if I were to name all the great tracks on here, but easily the best are Sebastian Bach's "Children of the Damned", Dofka's version of "Powerslave" (is that Bruce on vocals?!?!?), Ian Parry and Kamelot's "Flight of Icarus", an excellent slowed down version of "The Evil That Men Do" by Conquest and Las Cruces take on "The Prisoner"
This is probably one of the best Maiden tribute's I've heard, and not only that, there is also quite a few unknown and smaller bands on show, some of which sound very impressive that I will be checking out for sure. All in all, a great 2CD, 20 track tribute to THE greatest band on the planet!
Band: V/A
Album: Smells Like Team Spirit IV (Displeased Records)
Year: 2003
Website: http://www.displeasedrecords.com
Rating: 9/10
I'm quite fond of compilations like this, and the fourth installment of Displeased Records low priced "Smells Like Team Spirit" is an absolute gem.
This is more of an overview of extreme music around the globe rather than a true label sample, containing acts from countries such as Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, Sweden, the United States and Germany. Renowned acts such as Deeds of Flesh, Phobia, Nasum, Nun Slaughter and Sanathas make an appearance alongside lesser-known, equally as brutal acts such as Mental Horror, Absolute Defiance and Siksakubur. It's mainly Death/Grind bands on here but there are a few black metal bands and a bit of melody here and there thrown in for good measure.
There are 19 tracks on here and there isn't a single bad one that comes to mind. This is a great taste of what extreme acts there are around the globe that were missing out on. Oner 70 minutes of brutal music, Hails to Displeased Records for releasing this!
Band: V/A
Album: Tribute to Guns 'N' Roses, A (Mausoleum Records)
Year: 2004
Website: http://www.mausoleum-records.com/artist/gunsnroses.htm
Rating: 8/10
A fitting tribute to one of the greatest bands of the 90's, if not of all time.
The core of the album features former G'N'R members Tracii Guns and Gilby Clarke if guitars, Kyle Kyle on bass and Randy Castillo on drums. On top of this are 11 guest vocalists each performing classic Guns n' Roses tracks such as Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot) performing "Welcome to the Jungle", Phil Lewis (L.A. Guns) on "My Michelle" and John Corabi (Motley Crue) doing "Used to Love Her" and "Patience" to name but a few.
There's a couple of misses on here, but the majority is pretty decent, with "Civil War" featuring Christina Kartsonakis and "Don't Cry" with Spike (Quireboys) being definite highlights. Great Tribute!
Band: V/A
Album: Voices From The Arctic Circle (Arctic Music Group)
Year: 2004
Website:
Rating: 7.5/10
"Voices" is a strong comp all the way through showcasing a variety of styles (primarily death) by a slew of obscure bands even by my standards.
As comps usually do, "Voices" points you in the direction of some interesting finds. Most notable are Shadowbuilder, Imperial Foeticide, Visceral Bleeding, Portal and Diabolical. Review by Ryan Bartek
Band: V/A
Album: Where the Bad Boys Rock (People Like You Records)
Year: 2003
Website: http://www.peoplelikeyourecords.de/NEW_RELEASES/new_releases.html
Rating: 8.5/10
"The Rock Invasion Continues" is the next installment of the "Where The Bad Boys Rock" series on the People Like You label
These have always been a great way to discover new bands for a measly small fee. This double-album contains 32 tracks of mostly great, various Punk and Stoner from bands on the labels roster, many are ones that I've never heard of, if that's not value for money I don't know what is? Also worth mentioning is nearly all of the tracks on here are unreleased or rare.
There isn't really much more to say about this other that it's a fun album which is great to play at parties and is well worth getting, especially at the price it sells for.
Band: Antigama/Third Degree/Herman Rarebell
Album: The World Will Fall Soon and We All Will Die (Selfmadegod Records)
Year: 2004
Website: http://www.antigama.com & http://www.thirddegreegrind.com
Rating: 8.5/10
All three of these band are totally unknown to me, and hailing from Poland, a country that produces some truly great Death Metal. Can they produce the grind to match?
First up are Antigama (Tracks 1-6), they are definitely the most technical of the three bands, and in my eyes the most interesting. Antigama have a more of a death metal tinge to things than the other two bands, resulting in a furious and aggressive grind assault. Secondly we have Third Degree (Tracks 7-10), they're more straightforward and things are a little more simpler than Antigama, and they have an obvious punk influence that can be heard throughout, with both Napalm Death and Repulsion as reference points. They sound a little more rawer than Antigama and they also opt for a combination of vocals from low guttural to high pitched screams. Finally, and by no means least is Herman Rarebell (Tracks 11-17). They're a fairly new band and feature members of both Antigama and Third Degree, so, as you can probably imagine, they sound like a mixture of both bands, but lean more towards Third Degree stylewise. They however opt for a more high pitched, indecipherable squeal that can get a bit annoying at times, but brutal non-the-less.
Antigama are without doubt the highlight on this split, but I'd also recommend both Third Degree and Herman Rarebell. Fast and insane with brilliant production and great songs. Another top release from SelfMadeGod Records which comes highly recommend to all fans of Grind.
Band: Catheter/Fubar
Album: Split CD (Selfmadegod Records)
Year: 2004
Website: ? & http://www.fubargrind.com
Rating: 7.5/10
Denver's Catheter deliver eight brand new songs of fresh grindcore with a Hardcore/Punk touch to them . Fubar from Holland give us fifteen short blasts of high energy, heavy grind.
The album is a fairly short affair, with both bands clocking in at well under 30 minutes, so it's short and straight to the point. Fubar may be the more aggressive band on here, but it's Catheter that is the more interesting and better. Whilst both bands are new to me, Catheter were the one who sounded like they could achieve big things, their hardcore/punk tinged grind really did excite me. Fubar, with nearly all of their songs clocking in at under 1 minute, took a little longer to grow on me. There's some mid tempo action going on with a slight groove here, but it's mainly in your face speed with three members providing vocal duties you get everything from high pitched screams to a hardcore style bellow.
This split CD is a great way to get introduced to two decent bands. Without knowing ether, Catheter sound the most established, whereas Fubar sound like a more unknown, underground band. Recommended for fans of grind and extreme music in general, still not sure? Samples are available from the SelfMadeGod Records link above!
Band: Gerbe of Life/Repudiate Split
Album: Split (SkullFucked Prod)
Year: 2002
Website: http://site.voila.fr/GERBE & http://repudiated.free.fr
Rating: 8.5/10
I have been very impressed with the French Metal scene lately, and these two bands add to this greatly.
The first 11 tracks are from Gerbe of Life. Very heavy grind core, not that different to early Carcass and Napalm Death. Imagine that Carcass had carried on in the same style after "Reek of Putrification" and "Symphonies of Sickness"; I'd imagine it would sound very much like this.
The vocals are truly disgusting, and with heavy bass lines, furious blast beats and "groovy" riffs, this proves that the French underground is indeed alive and kicking.
The second band, Repudiate offer us 6 tracks of old school US Death Metal, not that different from Morbid Angel, Monstrosity and Hate Eternal. The guitar riffs and solo's are amazing, Repudiate are obviously very technical and talented. I feel Repudiate are the best of the two bands on show. A must for fans of the above bands I mentioned.
Overall, a solid release for SkullFucked, Gerbe of Life and Repudiate. We will definitely be hearing more of these bands (or at least I hope I do) and this release proves that Skullfucked Prod are a "100% underground associative label and 100% brutal"!!!
Band: Spawn of Satan/Bloodsick Split
Album: Split (Hells Headbangers)
Year: 2003
Website: N/A & http://www.soullessdomain.com/bloodsick/bloodsick.htm
Rating: 8.75/10
They say you should never judge a book by it's cover, but looking at this I couldn't help it as its not the greatest artwork I have ever seen. To be honest If I didn't look at song titles like "The Church of Horror", "Fear no God" and "The Blood of the Goat", I might of expected some poor pop-punk type thing.
I was hoping for something good and I got just that, in fact it was better than I could of imagined. The first five tracks are courtesy of Spawn of Satan. Fronted by Jim Sadus of Nun Slaughter and featuring members of Soulless, All That is Evil and Decrepit, this is the bands first album since, wait for it! 1989. They offer us 5 tracks of aggressive, mid-fast paced old-school Death/Thrash similar to the likes of Pestilence, Kreator etc. The riffs aren't that technical but are killer regardless, low guttural vocals, the many tempo changes and the crazy, wild thrash solo's are just some of the things that make this an excellent listen.
The next five are by Bloodsick. Unfortunately no longer together, Bloodsick was the beginning for Cleveland's now well established Soulless. Compared to SoS, Bloodsick are not as aggressive but are a little more technical and faster often they sound similar to bands like Sodom, Kreator, Possessed and early Death. It's a shame they are no longer together because they are a very exciting band to listen to, hearing them I will no check out what Soulless are like. SoS are still together and should (hopefully) be releasing some more stuff soon. Both bands are not that original, but their very old-school sound is a must for the older generation. A great release for the fairly small Hells Headbangers label, hopefully they can put out more stuff like this!!!
Band: Infinitum Obscure/Ancient Gods
Album: Cosmic Evil Split (Utterly Somber Creations)
Year: 2003
Website: http://www.infinitumobscure.com & http://www.unholypact.com
Rating: 8/10
Both bands compliment each other greatly on this split, and both are very similar in style.
Both bands play mainly old school black metal with death metal influences, Infinitum Obscure may swing a little more over to the death metal side but both bands make a great listen. Both bands have 4 tracks each on this split and they execute them well, if you've heard The Chasm, now signed to Earache/Wicked World, you'll know what to expect from both bands here, the artwork is even done by The Chasm front man Daniel Corchado and feature's drummer Antonio Leon too.
A must for fans of underground early black/death metal, I'm not going to go into which bands the best etc, because both bands have a lot to offer and both are equally interesting. If you like your metal hard and brutal, you can do a lot worse than pick this up, an enjoyable listen from both bands.
Band: Negative Reaction/Ramesses
Album: Split (Psychedoomelic Records)
Year: 2004
Website: http://www.negativereaction.net & http://www.hcp-industries.demon.co.uk/ramesses
Rating: 7/10
Ah, Psychedoomelic Records, the home of the Heavy!
First up, two tracks by NY's Sludge masters Negative Reaction followed by two from Ramesses, a trio that includes ex-Electric Wizard members Tim Bagshaw and Mark Greening, and bassist/vocalist Adam Richardson. What I like about Negative Reaction is they don't mess around, they just pummel you with their dirty sludgecore, and the 10 minute "NOD" is a prime example. I think the vocal style may rub people up the wrong way, as it takes a while to fully appreciate it.
The second half of the split features the debut of the UK's Ramesses and their take on Psychedelic Space Doom Blues, I couldn't really for an opinion of Ramesses, so I look forward to hearing more of them soon. They do sound very promising from what I did manage to hear though, guttural vocals make way for screams with heavy, almost chilling guitar work. There are also hints of Electric Wizard in their but they shouldn't be compared, although I do think they would appeal to fans of EW. Only 4 tracks but with a running time of 30 minutes, well worth picking up especially for new boys Ramesses and to experience Negative Reaction if you haven't done so already.
Band: Xasthur/Leviathan
Album: Split (Battle Kommand Records)
Year: 2006
Website: http://xasthur.mercurous.net & ?
Rating: 9/10
I firmly stand by my conviction that both Xasthur and Leviathan are two of the best American black metal bands out there today.
Both of these entities and continually pumping out far more progressive, corrosive and just plain filthier material than anything heard from the old school Scandinavian homelands in modern times. This is a joint split from both, dropping from Battle Kommand records. Xasthur belts out even more hellish ambient noise and Leviathan surprisingly more towards that direction as well. There are still droning, monstrous guitars in goth of course, and we even get a few covers. Leviathan takes on Judas Iscariot and Xasthur Katatonia, which I wouldn't have thought ever possible. Slick packaging as always, grim and funeral.
One of the best black metal discs of 2006 easy. It'll be tough to find a contender. Ryan Bartek
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