Thou Shalt Suffer
Thou Shalt Suffer "In The Woods of Belial"
Immortal
Immortal "At The Heart of Winter"
Wind of the Black Mountains
Wind of the Black Mountains -Sing Thou Unholy Servants
Noctuary
Noctuary- For Salvation....
Scepter
Scepter-I'm Going to Hell
DornenReich
DornenReich-Mein Flügel Schlag
Discography:
"In The Woods of Belial" (Nocturnal Art Productions)
Thou Shalt Suffer is the Death Metal side of Emperor
before "Emperor" was born. This project does still exist but now only Ihsahn is involved and not Samoth and there is
supposed to be a new Thou Shalt Suffer release to come...Anyway, this
release is the official release and not the bootleg "Mayhem/Thou Shalt
Suffer split." This release has a thousand times better sound quality
and extra tracks (the bootleg only has 5 tracks this CD has 12 tracks).
The first 5 tracks are from the MLP that was planned to be released in
'91 (the ones that appeared on the bootleg) and the bonus tracks are
from "Open the Mysteries of Your Creation" 7" EP which was released in a
limited # of 1100 copies by the now disfunct Mexican label Distorted Harmony
Records. The CD starts with
an intro (which is a part of the track "In The Woods of Belial") which
consist of keyboards, whispers, chants, screams, a little sound effects
here and there, some chimes, etc... it lasts for 1:30 and then the track
turns Death Metal at this point. This track is pretty slow till like 2:30
into the track and then slows down again for a bit of keyboards... alot of
the tracks do this, they contain keyboards and the speed fluctuates
quite a bit (as a lot of death metal does tend to do). The vocals are of
a very deep growl/scream...harsh is probably the best word for them.
There isn't much of anything special about the music, I mean it's not very
technical, quite simple actually, but they do fit with the rest of the
music all in all and the keyboards do enhance the quality of the tracks
and make the music a little more on the grim side... The last track
has a very slow and warped sound to it, containing sound effects and keyboards, etc...
like an outro. Total play time is 50:45 and if you like
Death Metal, as well as interested in finding the musical past of
Emperor this CD is certainly for you. The album comes with a complete
explanation of it's release and history (to a point) and Ihsahn speaks
of the future plans for the next Thou Shalt Suffer release (which who
knows if it will ever be released).
Discography:
Diabolical Full Moon Mysticism
Pure Holocaust
Blizzard Beasts
Battles In The North
Live in Zaamdam- [bootleg]
At the Heart of Winter
Immortal have returned and this new release is
excellent! I wouldn't say it's Immortal's best release but one of the
best releases so far this year for certain. This new release is great
because it explores something that Immortal has never really done before
with their music...adding more atmosphere to the music...and better
song structures then on "Blizzard Beasts." While I am still more at the
direction on "Battles In The North" then any other Immortal release, I
like this release quite a bit. But Immortal have also changed some with
their style as many of Norwegian bands seem to be doing now. You get 6
tracks with this new release...kind of lame after waiting so
long for a new release from them but the total play time is 46:11
...long songs on this album, but the art layout and the pictures of
them on this release are so cheesy, it's funny looking at them. Anyway,
a great album, and worth picking up for sure! For all the releases I've
heard from the new trend coming out of Norway this new year this release
has to the best of them I've heard so far. It's so weird to hear some of
these bands play in a more death metal kind of style and this new
Immortal in the guitars contain more "chomping" in a DM way then I've
ever heard from Immortal before....but also I'd like to add that in my
opinion this release does lack when it comes to the lyrics compared to
older Immortal releases... I think they are just a little on the lame side.
I'd rate this album 7 and a half / 10.
Discography:
"Force Fed In to Blasphemy" 7-INCH
"Sing Thou Unholy Servants" (Moribund Cult)
Fucking Total Cult Amercian - Atmospheric Black
Metal! This CD is what does it for me, I'm totally into this
release! Since I have received the promo from Odin (Moribund)I haven't stopped
listening to it. Wind Of The Black Mountains is a one man band consisting of Tchort
(who was vocalist/guitarist for the BM act Masochist). He first captured
my interest with his 7" EP "Forcefed Into Blasphemy," this new release
is his first full-length and it is awesome! Very evil, very atmospheric,
but not in that sick make me puke, trendy BM style that is showing up
more and more these days... no, this is purely music for Satan's
soldiers! This whole CD has excellent obscurity to it, again another
release with great sound, even some cool female vocals that are not
"sweet sounding" like the usual female vocals that appear, it helps keep
the music to the more grim level. It contains some violin and sound
scapes as well on this recording, perfect vocals! The whole CD lasts for
39:56. Song titles are "Forcefed Into Blasphemy" (which has a great
intro!), "An Autumn Evening (Darkness Crabe)," "Black Goat," Beautful
Sorrow," "Adversary (Taste of Forsaken Desire)," "Rite of Darkness," "The
Shadow (Hill of the Horned Goat)," and "Thou Shall Not Mourn." Excellent
layout and great cover to this album as well! I have reveiwed other US
BM bands in the past, as I have said then some US BM just sucks, others
are great...Wind Of The Black Mountains is fucking elite! Buy the
CD, and even buy the 7" EP (if you can still find it, it was limited to
1500 hand #'ed copies). You won't be disapointed with the amount of atmospheric
obscurity that Wind Of The Black Mountains creates... just listen and
decide for yourself! Wind Of The Black Mountains is due to release
another CD I believe in July, title TBA. This is just one of the many
exellent bands that represent the great Moribund Cult, so I Hail
Moribund for signing some of the best bands around and especially Wind
Of The Black Mountains!
Discography:
"For Salvation...." (Lost Disciple Records)
NOCTUARY is an American melodic/chaotic Black Metal band from California
and consisting of 3 members. I want to start this review by saying that
the US BM "scene" has been seeing a rise in the past 3-4 years now where
bands are emerging from everywhere it seems. Some honestly suck, but
many are very grim, brutal, and display that pure Black Metal essence. I
think that right now the US also has the most blasphemous bands around
and most US bands maintain individuality, no two really sound the
same... and this is where NOCTUARY come in! NOCTUARY is a band
that has created maybe the best flawless Black Metal style because they
use influences that range from 80's style metal (Iron Maiden etc...),
Both older and modern Black Metal, and even some touches of Death Metal
to create what I consider a fucking excellent album..."For Salvation..." DO NOT attempt to play this CD on some piece of shit
K-Mart stereo or $55 diskman! This cd contains 11 tracks, all of which
are killer and every track seems to out do the previous! Killer vocals
and well laid song structures adorn this whole album. In my opinion the
best tracks are "Sorrow In Winter Darkness," "The Once Forgotten Past,"
"Lost In Illusions," "Black Bleeding Soul," "Cast Into The Brooding
Shadow," and the last track "Journey To The Lost Kingdom," which after
it ends a short pause takes effect and then comes a completely
entrancing outro with acoustic guitar and chants. And when the CD's all
done your left thirsting for a second listen! Bottom Line:
...NOCTUARY is a must have for your cd collection.
Discography:
Scepter "Metal Supremacy" 7"/ MCD
"I'm Going To Hell" (Merciless Records)
Scepter is a death metal band. Still a pretty good CD
that consists of a lot of powerful guitar riffs, pretty good vocals,
and decent drumming. You get 10 tracks on this release-some titles are
"I'm Going To Hell," "Ready To Rape," "Deathspell," "The Day Of
Reckoning," and "Obscessed By Metal," etc... This is a pretty powerful release, I'd say that the band has more of a death metal sound and feel to the music, some songs are more slow paced and others are more fast speed. Pretty simple guitar riffs on many of the songs
as well. All in all I would give this release about a 5 1/2 on a rating
scale of 10, maybe even a 6, it's an alright album but for me nothing
too great and not a must have for the CD collection before many
other great albums, but it is a pretty good release to have and pop in
the CD player every now and then.
Discography:
"Mein Flügel Schlag" demo '97
"Nicht um zu sterben"
This is a demo tape from DornenReich I picked up
through Dead Christ Commune. I really liked their full length release
"Nicht um zu sterben" quite a bit and so when I seen that Dead Christ
had this demo on there update list I wasted no time to send for it! This
demo has 7 tracks, some of the tracks appear on the full lenth CD
though. The tracks that don't appear on the full length are "Leblos regt
sich totes Leben," "Entwaffnet," and "Schwingen, flügel, drückend
reisen." This demo is very similar to the full length CD as well, very
melodic and atmospheric Black Metal and also very well played, excellent
melodies, great vocals, great drumming, etc...etc... really good sound
on this demo as well. The songs are a little long (most anyway) and
they drift from melodic to very heavy and agressive parts back and
forth, really good song structures this band creates! The down side for
me again is that all lyrics are in German just like on the full length
(but the lyrics are not given on this demo anyways), and since I only
know English it's a shame I can't understand what they are talking
about, but I imagine that the lyrics have some great structure to them as well. I
don't know if this is an actual demo or a re-print either, but it does
come with a pretty nice insert that on one side tells the song titles
etc...and the other is the cover and a picture of the band (3
members). It seems Eviga is the main man in this band, he wrote all the
lyrics and most of the music involved him as well (just as on the full
length)....all in all this is a worthy demo to pick up, if your
interested the address for Dead Christ Commune is:
