CD REVIEWS II - Miscellaneous - http://maxpages.com/aeazine2/ISSUE_12_CD_REVIEWS

EXHUMED Garbage Daze Re-Regurgitated
Parasitic Twin, info@parasitictwin.net
Listenable Records, BP 73, 62930 Wimereux, France
Ritual Records, www.ritualrecords.com
Man, this is yet another CD that kicks some serious ass! I have been digging on Exhumed since Gore Metal and my first chance encounters with these guys. But this album is entirely all remakes of old songs. Remake standouts are: "Trapped Under Ice" (Metallica), "No Quarter" (Led Zeppelin), "A Reflection" (The Cure) and "All Murder, All Guts, All Fun" (Samhain). Matt Harvey and the dudes from California rip flesh once again in this one! Imagine the act of great songs put to the tempo of brutal Exhumed grindcore and this is exactly what you got! 8 songs of brutal atrocity that really do not sound a lot like the originals. Forgive me as I take my mosh break with my 2 cats! (Takes an interlude to enjoy the massive gore with oncoming kittie disciples of the grind and breaks toe!). Anyway, I am back from the 2 minute bruising, the cats won. You should contact these guys immediately and tell them how much they are gore-metal godzzz! Website: http://www.exhumed.us and contact then at leon@intronaut.com. No PO box info to speak of, so you could ask them in an email where to write. Go pull your heart out with a dull knife, but have fun first, 'cause I would! Exhumed is back and more vicious then ever! -Mickmo

FLESHART Art Brut
Grindethic Records, www.grindethic.co.uk
Fleshart, c/o S. Kritthinakis, 212 K. Matapa, 185 46 Piraeus, Greece
www.fleshart.cjb.net, fleshartbrutal@hotmail.com
Greek death metallers Fleshart formed in 1999 and managed to get opening positions for bands like God Dethroned and Marduk while still in the stage of distributing demo and promo CDs. Their most recent release was a split with Harmony Dies on the Japanese label Obliteration Records, their contributions includes two new songs and a cover of Mortician's "Zombie Apocalypse." Fleshart are currently composing material for an upcoming full length, and negotiating with some as yet unrevealed independent labels to release it. Art Brut came out before the Obliteration split and contains the song "I Fuck You Dead!" which first appeared on the 2001 promo of the same title. Fleshart especially enjoy writing hymns to the practice of subsisting on other human beings, "Cannibal Pleasure" and "Baby Eater" from their debut demo Devoted to Flesh shows. This habit has lasted up to Art Brut with another ode, "Instinctive Addiction to Cannibalism;" this track samples a line by Anthony Hopkins from the 2001 flick Hannibal (Silence of the Lambs might have been a better choice, but the spirit is still there). Also here is a cover of "Cast Out The Flesh" by the New York cult DM band Banished. -DW

FROST Extreme Loneliness - Fragments
Paragon Records, P.O. Box 354, Commack, NY 11725 USA
Wow, this CD has brutality and bitter coldness written all upon the dunes of frost itself! This, in itself, is a full length album and an EP all rolled into one. Stand out songs include “Unholy Land,” “Storm Above The Carpathians,” “My Black Metal” and “Elizabeth Bathory." This sounds a lot like Agathodaimon. This is a pure chunk of very solemn and dark black metal that stretches across great tundras of the cold winds. Lots of synth in this, but very cool stuff! Prepare to wear your corpsepaint of battle while you embrace yourself to this one. This is a nice little slab of black metal from the abyss. To check out the band website in Hungarian, check out: www.frost.try.hu. Of just got to the official site of their label: www.paragonrecords.net. Address: Paragon Entertainment, P.O. Box 354, Commack, NY 11725 USA. Paragon’s email is this: cultm@msn.com. Frost’s email is: frostland@freemail.hu. Wow, that is more contacts of the dark graves of black metal then some Ouija Board seances! -Mickmo

FUNERUS Festering Earth
Ibex Moon Records, P.O. Box 5321, Johnstown, PA 15904 USA
www.ibexmoonrecords.com
Now this is just a brutal album of death and despair! This rips you apart like nothing I have ever seen. But I bet you want to know something else about this band. This has members of Incantation in the band! Including Kyle Severn and John McEntee, rounded in the line up with John’s wife: Jill and Brad Heilpe. Now, on another irrelevant side note, I have seen Incantation once and met these dudes when they were with Belial at the Bottleneck in Laurence, Kansas. Funerus just takes the brutal moments in a little different direction then that and weaves them into one fine mesh of destruction! This is just brutality and killing death all around this thing. Right down to the dark artwork on the cover that implies chaos and pain in a tormented universal bastard of a world. Songs to take note of are “Stagnant Seas,” “Festering Earth” and “Nebulous Existence.” The thing that may be more unrelenting then there sound is their touring schedule. They really get around the dying planet, don't they? But they do have plenty of blastbeats and carnage for every morbid child of unlight to enjoy! For contacting the glorious mayhem that is Funerus, you need to take heed of this address for conjuring Funerus, P.O. Box 5321, Johnstown, PA 15904 USA. Email is at jill@funerus.com and their website is at www.funerus.com. Go check it out, or be slayed and tormented of your evil flesh! Bu ha ha ha!!!! -Mickmo

GORATH Haunting the December Chords/TOD Black Vengeance
Eyes of the Dead Productions, http://eyesofthedead.cjb.net
eodprod@interfree.it
Before showing up on this split CD with Tod, Haunting the December Chords was released by Belgium's Gorath as an independent MCD. Founded as a solo project in 1995, Gorath recorded a demo which was supposedly never released, A Winter Slavery. The project remained in stasis for the remainder of the 90s as founding member F. Dupont pursued a handful of other projects like Last Funeral and Terror Unfound. Reawakening Gorath in 2002 with vocalist S. Vranckx, F. Dupont has been keeping himself occupied with this project, Mahlstrom and Project 407. As stated on the bio, Gorath draws a lot of inspiration from Norse black metal bands such as Enslaved, Arcturus and Ulver. The material on this CD shows that Dupont knows what he's doing as a musician. The balance between rawness and technicality he displays is caustic and imposing. Along with the Norwegian bands mentioned above, it sounds like there is some influence from Satyricon in "Lake." Gorath also does an extremely interesting cover of Venom's "Countess Bathory." Tod was formed in Bologna, Italy in January 2002. They recorded their Black Vengeance demo later that year; in the years that followed it has also been re-released by Sephirot DP and Total War Records and had a song included on by Il Male Productions' I Fiori Del Male Compilation Vol. 1. The band has another split with Cold Void out on Il Male Productions called Black Metal Armageddon. The five songs on Tod's demo speaks of a bleak, apocalyptic feel with ireful, melancholy overtones, solid percussion and raw guitars that imply some phenomenal catastrophe just occurred the world over. The vocals have an agonized quality as if their owner is dragging himself out from under the earth and trying to move limbs hindered by rigor mortis. 666 copies of this split are available as I write this. -DW

GRENOUER Border of Misty Times (Reissue)
Metalism Records, www.metalism.com
This really picks up where the original left off. Cleaner sound, a bit more enhances sound effects courtesy of Navahohut Studios and the kick-ass melodies of this great Russian band that continues to define the art of sound. Oh, I don't want to forget the newly done and exquisite art by Pablo The Elephant as well of 2 stitched heads. This is still hard-hitting and a considerable slayer of death, even for a progressive metal album. Nice hooks in the music like Grenouer are used to doing. What more can I say, but you really need to pick up this release as soon as possible. It is essential to your death metal voyage into insanity. It is that damn great! Standouts songs include: well pretty much all of them from the Intro of Sinhisteria to Ahriman’s Heart to A Memorable Fancy, pretty much all 8 songs on this CD absolutely rule and kick serious ass! This hasn't left my CD player in the past couple of days! Well, this is the cult-legendary band from Russia. The Russian equivalent to any band called In Flames or Suffocation, mind you! I have done art for them in the past, so it takes good cult to know good cult! This is why this release needs to be in your hands! So check out these websites if you know what is good for you! Check out www.metal-cd.ru or www.metalism.com for mail-order. Of course you have to check out the Grenouer site: www.grenouer.com. Emailing Indi is as easy as this: grenouer@prm.ru. This is a CD you must own! How many more times do I need to tell you that one, 50 more? Get this CD of succumb to a horrible death! -Mickmo

THE HELLZ KITCHEN SHOW 4 Song Demo
www.thehellzkitchenshow.com
Metal meets Goth-rock, electronica, industrial and hard rock from Ontario, Canada. The Hellz Kitchen Show have mostly been spreading their name by radio and the Internet, and achieved an opening spot for Marilyn Manson in November of 2004. Once the mounted police were summoned to suppress a near-riot after the band's scheduled performance for a local radio broadcast in Toronto produced such an enthusiastic response that Yonge St. was closed down. This band streamline their accessibility with untapped experimentation they assault all your senses with whether you're ready to assimilate them or not. The four songs on this CD are a cross with Uranium-friendly metal-core and the soundtrack to a horror film. Computerized keyboard sounds cling to the guitars like a second skin in some areas, like a malignant tumor in others. Most often, as in "Festa Da Puta," they create a motif of multilayered, circuslike insanity. An interesting cover of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" was recorded for this CD, with lots of guitar crunch and more experimental noises. -DW

HYPOCRISY Virus
Nuclear Blast, 2323 West El Segundo Blvd., Hawthorne, CA 90250 USA
www.nuclearblastusa.com
Yes, I shamelessly admit getting a promo/burned copy about a month in advance of this release. (Apparently the original owner did not want to part with his great prize, who can really blame him?). But damn, these dudes have really progressed since The Arrival came out. Best way to describe this, this has a blend of other releases like Catch 22 and Penetralia. Drive the experimental nail in the astral coffin further. The cover art on this is extraordinary, it has these black creatures with jaws hatching out of an egg thing. Horgh (Formerly of Immortal) really slams down the blastbeats in these new songs. Standout songs include: Warpath, Fearless, Left The Knife Do The Talking, Compulsive Psychosis and Living To Die. This CD has some black metal elements with quite a bit of progression, as well as very clean production. Another words: It is seriously owning my nuts from the virtual get-go! Address is: Nuclear Blast America, PO Box 43618, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA. You can also check out their website at: www.hypocrisy.tv sometime! Excellent album. Prepare for the oncoming Virus! -Mickmo

IN TORMENTATA QUIETE self-titled
Dawn Of Sadness Records, Casellla Postate 317, 07100 Sassari, Italy
www.dawnofsadness.com, mail@dawnofsadness.com
In Tormentata Quiete is a Gothic black metal band formed in 1998 by keyboardist Antonio Ricco and guitarist Lorenzo Rinaldi. At first expanding their lineup to six members, they eventually increased this to eight. Today the band includes three vocalists; Giovanni Notarangelo, Sara Tegnalia and "growler and screamer" Marco Vitale; leading the traditional ensemble of keyboardist, guitarists, bassist, and drummer. Ricco, Rinaldi, second guitarist Riccardo D'Andrea, bassist Maurizio D'Apote and drummer Francesco Paparella is the newest lineup following a few personnel changes. In 2001 the band released a nine-song promo called I Tre Attimi Del Silenzio; their self-titled full-length was recorded between 2003 and 2004. Some similarities with Cradle of Filth and Moonspell exist on this recording, mostly in the Dani Filth-like screams of Vitale that found a consistent presence here. Vitale has an interesting way of overlapping with the vocal styles of Tegnalia and Notarangelo, whose vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Langsuyar's vocals on Moonspell's Wolfheart. While Tegnalia doesn't have a comparable style to any female singer in gothic metal, she does complement the other two in a soothing manner. There is a strong Italian vibe on this album, with minimal keyboards and waves of sound that flow together hypnotically and naturally. The album was well-received in Italy, establishing them as one of the most promising bands from that country. -DW

INCRUST Baptized in Unholy Gore
Ibex Moon Records, P.O. Box 5321, Johnstown, PA 15904 USA
www.ibexmoonrecords.com
This Brazilian three-piece band was conceived in 1998, the brainchild of bassist/vocalist Moises SG Grinder, who with guitarist Guilherme Saldanha and drummer Mateus Oliveira is returning Brazilian death metal to its origins as a cult genre paying homage to Sarcofago and Holacosto. Their debut album Baptized in Unholy Gore follows a promotional cassette, a demo and a limited edition rehearsal many like-minded zine editors connected with. Incrust's biography states that John McEntee made contact with them seeking a recording contract. The unholy trinity has cult written all over their music as they exist solely to blaspheme Christianity, as every cult death metal and black metal band excelled at in the early 90s. I get the same feeling from listening to Incrust I got from Beherit's The Oath of Black Blood and Blasphemy's Fallen Angel of Doom; the darkish attributes, the sickening sacrilege, the defilement of all things sacred are all here in splendor. From the ominous foreboding of "Prelude in Mass Destruction" to the impious irreverence of "Necronun Desecration," "Where Disgrace Reigns Supreme" and the unspeakable "Brutal Penetration in a Dead Woman," this CD is sure to outrage moral souls everywhere. With smooth production, hostile guitar progressions, relentless percussion and a distant feeling in the vocals, this album is capable of proving this style of death metal can be an art form in itself. -DW

INRED Y.O.T.M.
www.inredmusic.com, inredyotm@hotmail.com
Remember the Deathkids? Starting as what some people considered a novelty around 1994, they were maturing into a formidable death metal band before many years had passed, releasing a handful of self-produced CDs and a live video featuring the additional talents of Grimoire of Exalted Deeds model Felicia. After performances with major bands like Six Feet Under, they suddenly vanished without explanation; this was around 1998 or '99. In '02 founding members Harley and Ken Wooton heard an Iron Maiden song on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto and became inspired to form a new band. Calling this band Inred, Harley (guitar/vocals), Ken (drums) and fellow Deathkids founder Jason (bass) invented a gimmick where they would do promotional shoots and perform live wearing red shirts. Don't be too hasty to write this off as gay, because the band is actually quite good, as if they're picking up where Deathkids left off and crossing over into the 80s revival. Harley uses melodic vocals in most of the nine tracks making up Y.O.T.M., occasionally going back to the guttural style he practiced in Deathkids. Either approach fits the way Inred arrange these tracks, and they sound like they'll appeal to old Deathkids fans, fans of 80s metal and fans of melodic death metal. Ken Wooton, Sr. told me these guys were putting lots of effort into these songs, working nonstop every day, and this shows in how easily shades of all these genres fit together. Y.O.T.M. can be downloaded from Inred's official website along with 24 songs they wrote from 2004 to 2005 and a handful of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest covers. -DW

KILLERS BY TRADE self-titled
KBT Records, master@killersbytrade.com
Yeah, who knew that certain types of metal could be so short and techno-oriented. This sounds a lot like Rammstein. Quite a bit of low bass on this one, and the sound on this is not necessarily brutal. Progressive, yes, but not really that brutal for me. And there is just 2 songs on this, but they do this remake of Werewolfs Of London that is quite interesting. A more straight up version of it then even Warren Zevon could have ever made up. Anyway, if you want this 2 song track of darkness, just drop by www.killersbytrade.com and try it out for yourself! -Mickmo

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