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Bands are listed alphabetically, with individuals listed by last name.

Review Archive: Various Artists

...and Even Wolves Hid Their Teeth · Cold Meat Industry
The music on this varies from Dark Ambient to tribal drumming to harsh Electronic Industrial. And while I quite enjoy the more atmospheric pieces, such as those by AGHAST and DEUTSCH NEPAL, but I find the noisier artists, like MENTAL DESTRUCTION, to be very grating and irritating. Like all too many compilations, this is very hit-and-miss. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

5 Years Nuclear Blast · Relapse / Nuclear Blast
The bands, the songs, the comments:
SINISTER -"Sense of Demise," BENEDICTION -"Face Without a Soul," MORTIFICATION -"Butchered Mutilation," RESURRECTION -"Embalmed Existence," DIVINE EVE -"As the Angels Weep," MACABRE -"Montreal Massacre," MASTER -"Sliver Spoon," KATAKLYSM -"Shrine of Life," HYPOCRISY -"Infant Sacrifices," GOREFEST -"Mental Misery," FETISH 69 -'Versus Nature," DECEASED -"Nuclear Exorcist," AMORPHIS -"Karelia," BRUTALITY -"Sadistic," DEAD WORLD -"The Machine," DISCHANGE -"Seeing Feeling Bleeding," DISMEMBER -"Dreaming in Red," CANDIRU -"Transcend and Tramped," PUNGENT STENCH -"Fuck Bizarr," and GENERAL SURGERY -"The Succulent Aftermath."
So, does all that sound cool, or what? I like it. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC8**

A Call to Irons - A Tribute to IRON MAIDEN · Dwell
I’d try to pick what I consider to be the best covers on this, but that might not be possible, as they’re all really well done. STEEL PROPHET’s traditional Metal version of "Ides of March/Purgatory" is maybe the closest to the original, but even the heavier bands, like VITAL REMAINS (who do "The Trooper") stay close to the source, at least as far as the music is concerned. The remainder of the bands/covers are: ANCIENT WISDOM with a truly awesome version of "Powerslave," ANGEL CORPSE ("Genghis Kahn"), SOLITUDE AETURNUS ("Hollowed Be Thy Name"), NEW EDEN ("Phantom of the Opera"), OPETH ("Remember Tomorrow"), MORGION ("To Tame a Land"), EVOKEN ("Strange World"), OPERA IX ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner"), and ABSU ("Transylvania"). At 72 minutes, this CD couldn’t be much longer, but as far as I’m concerned, this could have been a 2 or 3 disc set. And I’m glad to see the diversity in the kind of bands on here, plus their generally excellent choices of songs to cover. This is a fitting tribute to one of my all time favorite bands. - 9.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

A Collection of Darkness · Euphonious
This features previously unreleased tracks by SOLHVERV and GIGANDHI. Both of which are very cool, and make this "nice price" compilation worth getting alone. The remaining 13 cuts are made up of album tracks from VANITY, GIGANGHI, MID AUTUMN NIGHTS, SOLHVERV, GRIMOIRE, STIFF MINERS, FURIOUS TRAUMA, WITHERING SURFACE, SATURNUS, and EXMORTEM. Other than STIFF MINERS, there’s not really a bad one on here, so this makes a great introduction to Euphonious, and if you’re already a fan, then the couple of unreleased tracks and lower price make the purchase a bit more appealing. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

A Touch of Fringe · Fringe Product
This seems to cover the entire Fringe catalog, from SLAUGHTER (one of the original Death Metal bands) to DEATH AND HORROR INC. (a sorta Industrial outfit). This is a very interesting compilation, and not one to miss.- 9 - <Ray> **MC8**

A Tribute to the Beast · Nuclear Blast
It seems sort of counterproductive that this IRON MAIDEN tribute disc doesn't actually mention IRON MAIDEN anywhere. Maybe Nuclear Blast didn't want to pay to use the name, or couldn't get the legal rights, or something... Who cares, I guess. The important thing here is does this collection do justice to the IRON-men, and for the most part it does. Easily the high point here is OPETH's un-fucking-believable version of "Remember Tomorrow." And THERION's amazing rendition of "Children of the Damned" is a close second. I was a little disappointed with CRADLE OF FILTH's take on "Hallowed be Thy Name," however. Musically it's very good, with eerie keyboards adding to the gloom of the first part of the song, but I don't remember the lyrics being "The sands of time, for me, are running low - muthafuckas!" The other bands featured here (STEEL PROPHET, CHILDREN OF BODOM, RAGE, GRAVE DIGGER, BURDEN OF GRIEF, SONATA ARCTICA, ICED EARTH, SINERGY, DISBELIEF, TIERRA SANTA, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SIX FEET UNDER, and DARKANE) generally are all fine musically, with some occasionally questionable vocals. Except ICED EARTH, who wisely choose to cover the intrumental "Transylvania." (With apologies to Paul and Blaze) There have only ever been a small handful of people who can sing in the general style of Bruce Dickinson and not sound like fairies, and IRON MAIDEN is a one-of-a-kind band, so hearing others try to play their songs is at the very least strange, but this tribute is easy to recommend. - 8.75 - <Ray>

Alive in the Underground Vol.2 · DEMO
This is a totally interesting idea for a compilation tape. All the songs are recorded live, and the sound quality of course varies with each band, but generally it's okay. Each band has one track and a contact address. The bands are: EMBALMER, GUTTED PULP, DISABLED, LUCIFER'S HAMMER, BLOOD OF CHRIST, MUTILATION, HEADROT, CADUCITY, CIANIDE, TRANSGRESSOR, NUTSCREAMER, CORPSE GRINDER, BURIED BENEATH, SHUD, FESTERDAY, IMPALED NAZARENE, IMPETIGO, OBSCURITY, and UNBOUNDED TERROR. With this kind of line-up, I'd say this is pretty mandatory. - 9 - <Ray> **MC8**

All Sorts Selection One · Progress Red
The intro to this CD is reason enough to by it. Here's a rundown of each band:
ANCALAGON - These French guys have 3 songs on here, and all three are intense Thrash, with the vocals being the "old," melodic style. Really cool.
MEATLOCKER - They also have three songs, and are also Thrash, but from the USA. This tends to sound a bit dated, but still pretty cool. PHYSICAL ATTRACTION - Again, this band has three tracks. They're from Sweden, and seem to have a bit of a Death edge, but are fairly Thrashy. Cool.
TREND - Only two songs from this band from Denmark. They only need two. This is really cool, and very memorable Thrash. I like how Tim sings. His voice is smooth, but in the good way.
EIDETIC - Another two songs from another great Denmark band. These guys are very much in the Thrash range. The vocals are even very melodic, but it's all done so completely right, that you would almost have to like it. I know I do.
I guess the key word here is Thrash. If you're looking for some new Thrash bands, look here and you'll find only the best. - 9 - <Ray> **MC8**

Altars of Mad Death (Volume 1) · Diamond Productions
Some folks think the best kind of compilations are the ones that feature bands they've never heard. I disagree, I prefer half and half with some unreleased goodies. However, for a comp with 17 bands I've never even heard of, let alone heard, this helps those folks’ case somewhat. Bands featured are MAELSTROM (amazing Old School Death/Grind, like PESTILENCE and CANNIBAL CORPSE colliding in their primes), HERESY (more wonderful Old School flavor, BENEDICTION-style Death with addictive headbanging groove), KRONOS (Thrashier Death with brutal vocals in the old SINISTER vein), PSYCHOBOLIA (good, but has the misfortune of reminding me of MORTIFICATION. Might be a chick growler), CARNAL LUST (weird hybrid of melodic Death and Grindcore, the gruff vocals kill it), HYPNOSIS (how odd to hear two bands on one comp that sound like MORTIFICATION. Watch out for gay Techno and Debbie Gibson maneuvers), HAERSIS (nothing wrong with wanting to be DISSECTION, but not quite there yet), AGNOSYS (just what the mix needed, a little gloom. Like old SEPTIC FLESH but faster), THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC (early ‘80s SLAYER worship with brutal vocals, only flaw is production), OSTRACIZED (always thought this a good band name. Fairly decent, groovy melodic Death that tends to drag a bit), ETERNAL (moderately okay combo of US/Swedish Death, a tad boring), YORBLIND (Death/Thrash loaded with start-stoppery and syrupy melodies, not terrible nor a standout), VEHEMENS (KREATOR worship with ultra-deep growls, how could you not like it?), KABBAL (something tells me these guys listen to MORBID ANGEL's Covenant a lot), BLOODY SIGN (I refuse to comment on this band until they change their name), TREPALIUM (you know, I'll take second rate Cross the Styx over a lot of stuff anyday), and RECUEIL MORBIDE (noisy, super-technical Grind with awkward Blackened backing vocals, they did not save the best for last). Overall, I suppose this leans mildly downhill after the first two bands, but there were way more cool surprises than expected. If this sampler were any more Underground, it would be melted by the Earth's core. - 8 - <Jack>

Anthems of Rust and Decay: A Tribute to MARILYN MANSON · Dwell
I'm not sure that I see the need for this, but you do get a pretty interesting package, at least. The booklet includes twelve pages of honestly cool art by Chad M. Ward that you'd probably have to see for yourself. As for the music, I've just finished reviewing the awful SUICIDAL TENDENCIES tribute [see below], so at this point in time anything would sound good by comparison to that piece of fucking shit. It's difficult for me to review this since I've always tried to stay as far away from MANSON as possible, so I really don't know if these bands are doing these songs justice or not. But as strange as it sounds, I'm not hating this as much as I thought I would. In fact, it's really not all that bad, for what it is. Highlights, for me at least, included the artwork, "Cake & Sodomy" as performed by BROKE BOX, and OPHELIA RISING WITH ABOMINABLE ID doing "The Speed of Pain." Be advised that there is some real crap on here, too. But then again, if you'd consider buying this, you might like what I call crap. - 5 - <Ray>

Armageddon: The Tribute to DESTRUCTION · Dwell
This is an excellent tribute to a great band. It's tough to even mention some tracks being better than others, because with a lineup like KAULDRON, DRACONIS, EVIL INCARNATE, NOKTURNE, ABOMINANT, THE CHASM, SANCTORUM, SOULLESS, INFAMY, and DIABOLIC, there just isn't a weak link. - 9 - <Ray>

The Art of Brutality · Arts Industria
Damn, this thing is long. I hope you like Electro / Techno / Industrial stuff, 'cause that's what we've got here. Highlights for me are: SPHERE LAZZA, BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, ERZULIE ZE ROGUE, DIODE, MANHOLE VORTEX, and :wumpscut:. Although my favorite is certainly the last, ambient, track by MUSIC FOR ISOLATION TANKS, called "Untitled #3." The rest is pretty neato, too. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC9**

At Death’s Door · Roadrunner
This compilation is like an All-Star game. It contains all the Death Metal Giants and then some. There are twelve bands on this tape, with one song each. This makes for about an hour of the most brutal and intense Death Metal in the world.
It’s cool that Roadrunner didn’t limit themselves to only bands on their label, or to signed bands. The Giants themselves and their tunes are:
SEPULTURA - "Mass Hypnosis." The gods. Pounding Immortality, nothing short of what you would expect from the Brazil Boys.
PESTILENCE - "Out Of The Body." Ferocious vocals, work well with intricate guitar. Paranormal.
DEICIDE - "Dead by Dawn." The vocals sound like an evil female vampire, but the vocals are like this in all their songs. Oh well! It’s still effin’ cool.
MORGOTH - "Burnt Identity." Starts a little slow, but makes up for it. Very fast. Cool vocals. I like the stereo effect at the end.
SADUS - "Last Abide." Also very fast. Cool guitar solo. The vocals hurt my voice just listening to them.
EXHORDER - "Desecrator". The lyrics are classically offensive; "Eat my shit/ I’ll piss on your grave" and "Fuck your God." I like the changes of speed.
DEATH - "Open Casket." Classic case of slow grumble coupled with breakneck speed. DEATH’s trademark.
OBITUARY - "’Til Death." Very heavy and grumbly, like scores of warhorses charging Hell itself.
MALEVOLENT CREATION - "Decadence Within." Also very heavy. Inspiringly evil.
BELIEVER - "Not Even One". Thrashy, not very grumbly. A lot of power.
CEREBRAL FIX - "Cultes Des Mortes." Medium speed with slight changes. Not as heavy as most of the compilation.
ATROCITY - "Deep in Your Subconscious." Eerie, fast and fierce. Speed changes for low grumble parts.
Overall this is probably the best compilation I have run across. Definitely get this one. Even the liner notes are the best reading since DC’s Lobo. - 9.75 - <Lar>
{Truly this was a compilation of the "Death Metal Giants." With the exception of BELIEVER and CEREBRAL FIX, this had most of the Death Metal bands that would go on to become well known even outside of the Underground Metal scene.} **MC4**

At Death's Door II · Roadrunner
This is worth the price of the CD just to hear MALEVOLENT CREATION cover SLAYER's "Piece By Piece." It's the coolest thing I've ever heard. And the funniest thing I've ever heard is also on this CD: DEATH's cover of "God of Thunder." Too bad it's supposed to be serious. With the exception of a demo version of "Uriboric Forms" from CYNIC and a track off one of BRUJERIA's 7"s, the rest of the tracks are from albums (okay, SUFFOCATION's "Prelude to Repulsion" was here before the album it's on came out). The remaining bands are: FEAR FACTORY, DISINCARNATE, GORGUTS, SORROW, ATROCITY IMMOLATION and SKIN CHAMBER. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC8**

Audio Espionage 8" · Ax/ction
Actually, this compilation is really pressed on an 8" piece of blue vinyl, with some white mixed in. It's probably worth the money for the novelty of being an 8" alone (and is the only 8" I've seen, except for in the BRUTAL TRUTH Need to Control vinyl box set), but that's the least of the reasons to buy it, with a line-up like MALICIOUS HATE, GONKULATOR, DISJOIN, ULCER, BASTARD NOISE, BOBBY, PSYCHO, and DECEASED (who offer what I think is an exclusive live track). There is a big range of styles on here from the Death Metal from the grave of the legendary DECEASED, to the Grind of MALICIOUS HATE and PSYCHO, the Black Noise of GONKULATOR, or the wave-form manipulation of BASTARD NOISE. You'd be extremely hard pressed to find a sicker slab of wax anywhere. - 9 - <Ray> **MC10**

Awakening - Females in Extreme Music · Dwell
I like compilations with some kind of theme to them. And this theme for this one is: bands with women in them. I like women, so this has two pluses going for it before I even look at the track list, much less spin it. Well, it keeps getting better, with bands like WITCHES, ACROSTICHON, GEHENNA, THORR’S HAMMER, and DEMONIC CHRIST - to name but a few. Many of the tracks are unreleased, from demos, or difficult to obtain import albums. Only DEATHWITCH have a track from a domestically released CD. That makes this comp valuable both to fans of these bands (for the unreleased stuff), and to those looking to expand their musical interests. Favorite track: WITCHES - "Black Sorcerer." - 9.25 - <Ray> **MC11**

BBQ of Brutality · M80/Torture Music/Bosco
LINCOLN LOVE LOG start this out this 3-way split with some solid groove ranging slow to mid-tempo. The atrocious production really robs the band of its identity and a great deal of their heaviness. A.F.M. (AUTHORITY FIGHTS MAJORITY) have a slightly better recording quality. These talented prospects play chugging Deathcore with solid double bass work and tons of hooks. DIONONESISTE are kind of a mess. Grinding warlike fury with various weirdness that is handicapped by poor drum programming and a bit of sloppiness. Overall, I can’t see too many music lovers writing home over this one, but there is some promise. More info on the bands would’ve been nice. - 7 - <Jack>

Ball One · Sinbad
A Hard Rock compilation. Well, here goes: The stuff I can at least respect, if not actually like: David LaDuke, NARO, KEEGAN, LOUDSHINE, and Karen Kenedy. The stuff I more or less like: ISOLATION CHAMBER, RED BARON, MYSTIC FORCE, COMPRESSION, and BIRD OF PREY. The rest of the crap: HILLJACK, ROXX GANG, YARDBIRDS EXPERIENCE, LORD LITTER, HANOVER FIST, Carl Dixon, SHADOWPLAY, YAM CAT, and COUNT VIGLIONE. That’s a pretty low % of good stuff. - 5.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Batman Forever (soundtrack) · Atlantic
I don't really mind the U2 track that much. Of course, I can say nothing bad about PJ HARVEY or NICK CAVE, and the SEAL cut isn't nearly as bad as I would have thought. Is it just me, or does it sound like the METHOD MAN has a mouth full of shit? Spit or swallow, Meth. The rest of this is beyond crap. - 3 - <Ray> **MC9**

Beauty in Darkness Vol.2 · Nuclear Blast
This second installment of Gothic Metal has unreleased tracks by EVEREVE, LOVE LIKE BLOOD, DIMMU BORGIR, and DARKSEED. It is claimed that the THERION track "Up To Netzach" is unreleased, but actually it’s on the band’s A’Arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming album. Anyway the unreleased tracks are a great idea, and the band line up is generally impressive: the aforementioned, plus ATROCITY, PAIN THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, CREMATORY, LACRIMOSA, IN FLAMES, DREADFUL SHADOWS, MY DYING BRIDE, SECRET DISCOVERY, ALASTIS, SENTENCED, and a surprisingly not-utterly-horrible track from PYOGENESIS. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3 · Nuclear Blast
The real draw for this compilation will likely be the previously unavailable DIMMU BORGIR track, although there are also unreleased cuts from LIV KRISTINE, CREMATORY, GODGORY, SCULPTURE, DISMAL EUPHONY, DARKSEED, and MOONSPELL. The remainder of the songs are from MY DYING BRIDE, HIM, EVEREVE, CRADLE OF FILTH, ANATHEMA, and DAEMONARCH. Certainly not the best compilation I’ve ever seen, but not bad, and a real must for DIMMU BORGIR fans, or those wishing to check out some "dark" music. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC12**

Black Mark Attack · Black Mark
Strangely, some of the label's best bands, like GHOSTORM and NECROSIS, have been left off, even though there is plenty of extra space on the CD for more material. Why not fill up as much of the disc as possible, and let people hear all the bands on the label? All the tracks are already released, with the near exception of EDGE OF SANITY's "Murder Divided," which was the Japan-only bonus track on Crimson, so unless you are unfamiliar with such artists as BATHORY, NECROPHOBIC, CEMETARY and so on, or happen to be a huge EDGE OF SANITY fan, there is little reason to pick this one up. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Blackened the Black Metal Compilation Volume 1 · Blackened / Death
Metal Blade has brought back their Death Records imprint to bring a little evilness to the USA. This is a 2-disc who’s who of the Black Metal underground. As far as I know, all of these tracks have been released before, but a few may still be new to some of you. Here’s a run down of the bands involved in this blasphemy: EMPEROR, IMPALED NAZARENE, MAYHEM, SATYRICON, THRONE OF AHAZ, MARDUK, ENSLAVED, DARK FUNERAL, SAMAEL, FLEVERY, GORGOROTH, IMMORTAL, LORD BELIAL, VED BUENSENDE, SIGH, BESTIAL WARLUST, MOONSPELL, UNANIMATED, and HAVOHEJ. Only for those who need an introduction to this style, but a real bargain for 2 CDs. - 8 - <Ray> **MC11**

Blackened the Black Metal Compilation Volume 2 · Blackened / Death
Digging once again into the depths of Hell, Blackened has unearthed two more CDs worth of unholiness. The packaging is pretty sparse on this, as on Vol. 1, but at least we’re told where each song is from. There might even be a band or two on here that you’ve not heard before. Speaking of bands, here’s who made the cut this time: NAGFLAR, HECATE ENTHRONED, ABIGOR, DARK FUNERAL, ARCTURUS, BESTIAL WARLUST, IN THE WOODS, DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE, DISSECTION, BEWITCHED, EMPEROR, IMPALED NAZARENE, SATYRICON, OPETH, ANCIENT, HECATE ENTHRONED, MORK GRYNING, DECEMBER MOON, NAZXUL, DESTROYER 666, DECAMERON, and ENTHRONED. Once again, this is really useful for those in need of a crash course in Black Metal 666, but some of the more obscure bands / songs make it a worthwhile purchase for everyone. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Blackened Vol. 3 · Blackened / Death
A great 2 disc comp. of all Black Metal LP cuts. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11** - "Last Second Additions"

Blackened IV · Blackened / Metal Blade
As with the others in the Blackened series, this 2CD set is a great way to introduce yourself to some of the top Black Metal bands of today. In this case, we have USURPER, EMPEROR, OPETH, DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE, and quite a few other worthy entries. But as these are all album tracks, and most pretty readily available, this does little good to those of us who already know of these bands. However, there is a Hell of a lot of music here. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC12**

Blessed by the Night · Zoomica / SPV
I did an ad design that featured this compilation, so I was pretty curious about it and asked for a review copy. A 2-CD set should probably have a lot of good songs on it, I thought. Well, not really. Of the 28 tracks on here, we've got a handful of good stuff, such as DIMMU BORGIR, HYPOCRISY, DANZIG, SATYRICON, and THE BLEEDING LIGHT, who by the way turn in the best track (by far) on the whole compilation with kind of a cover of the MISFITS' "Halloween," called "Halloween III." It's made up of samples of various Danzig-related music and vocals. The crap on here, however, is legion: SEIBENBURGEN, OTYG, and VINTERSORG might be among the worst offenders, but they're in heavy competition. I'd suggest doing a web search for THE BLEEDING LIGHT, and download an mp3 of "Halloween III." You'd really be all set then. - 3 - <Ray>

Bloodbath Vol. 1 · Pighouse
Here we have a comp. tape featuring the following Death, Grind, and/or Noise bands: NECROPHAGO, PSORIASIS, EPIZOD, BUNKER, CHAINED AND DESPERATE, RECRUCIDE, ULZERA, ASAFATED, EXHUMATOR, DOMINUS, AGATHOCLES, EXCRETED ALIVE, ANAL MACABRE, RADICAL NOISE, and CORNUCOPIA. Addresses are included for all the bands, and I think they’re all underground enough (with the possible exception of AGATHOCLES) that wether or not the tracks here are unreleased is a non-issue. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

Bloodlust Creations · DEMO
This has a nice selection of bands, WINDHAM HELL, POSSESSION, INTERNAL BLEEDING, BETHZAIDA, TRAVAIL, D.E.M., DETESTATION, COMPRESSION, HEMDALE, and SYMPHONY OF GRIEF. However, I think that all the songs are from demos, that is to say, no new songs were recorded for this. Also the only addresses are for Bloodlust Creations, which is odd, since almost all compilations have the bands' addresses. Anyway for those who were wondering what any of the above bands sound like, they each get two songs, so this would definitely be of help. - 8 - <Ray> **MC9**

Bloodzit #5 - No Kid on the Block · DEMO
Steve always does good comps, so let's see what's on this one:
JUDGEMENT -"Cigarette Slave": Sounds like IRON MAIDEN meets SLAYER. Pretty cool.
DEADLY BLESSING -"Solitary Confinement": Heavy Thrash with melodic vox. Not bad, but not great.
REVOLUSJONHORDENTAPE -"Fat Man of Power": Extra poopy Noise.
OBSCURE DEATH -"Black Birds": Very poorly produced worthless shit.
RED HARVEST -"Face the Fact": Pretty fucking awesome Thrash, with yelled vox. Impressive.
ASSHOLE -"The True Faces of War": Cool, fast Thrash, however the vox are mixed too low, but they sound like they are yelled- sorta.
NECROMANCY -"Kaluka's Underworld": Pretty Thrashy music, with melodic-ish vox. Don't really like it.
SHUD -"Emotion Machine": Can't really say that this did anything for me. It sounds really loose.
PSYCHOPATH -"Metroshock": Heavy Thrash with harsh vox and some melodic stuff thrown in too. Pretty cool.
HUMANICIDE -"Of Body and Mind": Very cool and heavy. Impressive.
PELICAN CROOK -"Stop Blues": Original. I'll give 'em that. Too bad it's soooooo boring.
AXEMASTER -"Warrior" (live): Pretty cool Thrash. Unfortunate that the recording quality sucks.
BDK -"Atrocity of Torture": Fairly average Deathrash, with bad production.
SIMPLE AGGRESSION -"And then it Begins/ At the Sabbat": Cool intro. Good Thrash, with less than great yelled vox.
NEPHRITE -"Rabies": Very bad production makes this band sound like Noise, but I'm not convinced that's what they're supposed to be.
CRUCIAL FIX -"Modern Disaster": Vocals remind me of Mike Muir (SUICIDAL TENDENCIES). Music is cool and Thrashy.
AFFLICTION -"Peace Through Violence": Thrash music coupled with Hardcore style vox. Cool.
DISASTEUR -"Bloody Revenge": I think that if the production didn't completely suck shit, this would be awesome.
CRUCIFER -"Descent": Haunting intro, which proceeds into a speedy Deathrash. Kick-ass, but a little too long.
THE PLAGUE -"Games for the Insane": Thrash/ Hardcore crossover. But not as 'Core as I expected. Vox sound kinda like EXODUS.
OUTRO - Uhh... yeah, whatever.
Like the previous Blood-Zit tapes, this one is quite a deal. It gives you a chance to hear a song from 20 different bands. I only wish the bands' addresses were included. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC7**

Breath of Doom · Metal Breath
You would probably never guessed that this is a compilation of all Doom bands, huh? SILENT STREAM OF GODLESS ELEGY (how do they ever tell anyone their band name and keep a straight face?), BONE ORCHARD, MYTHOPOEIA, ENDLESS, PROMISES, COUNTESS BATHORY, VACUUM, LOVE HISTORY, BLACK HEAVEN, HYPNOTIC SCENERY, AGNUS DEI, CERTAINTY, and DISSOLVING OF PRODIGY. Obviously for Doom fans, this is a great way to hear a bunch of new stuff, and it has certainly introduced me to a handful of bands I hadn't heard of before. - 8.75 - <Ray>

Bride of Chucky (soundtrack) · CMC
Anything with an unreleased SLAYER song has got to be good, right? Believe it or not, but the correct answer is, "No way." Maybe this is that other SLAYER from Texas that I heard about 15 years ago. I’ll check... Hmm, nope this is supposedly the real SLAYER, but it sounds like only half SLAYER, and half... I guess some sort of KORN derivative. So, what’s left on here? Well, there’s an awesome Bruce Dickinson song ("Trumpets of Jericho"), and an even better one from MOTÖRHEAD ("Love for Sale"), but both of those are already released, so that’s not much incentive to buy this. Next best are okay tracks from TYPE O NEGATIVE and JUDAS PRIEST, with WHITE ZOMBIE right behind them. And the shit list here is awesome in its length: COAL CHAMBER, MONSTER MAGNET, POWERMAN 5000, STATIC-X, KIDNEYTHIEVES, SCREAMIN’ CHEETA WHEELIES, STABBING WESTWARD, and GRAEME REVELL. When not even MOTÖRHEAD, Bruce Dickinson, and SLAYER can save a compilation, fuck, it must be bad. And this surely is. If this CD came with a free dual blowjob from Jennifer Tilly and that whore in COAL CHAMBER, it might be worth the $15, as long as you didn’t have to ever listen to all of it. - 3 - <Ray> **MC12**

Broken Silence Part 1 · B.S.
Often cassette compilations are poorly done, due to lack of cash, time, or just to be more "underground." And those have their places, but so do really professionally done tapes like this one. Each band has not only the usual contact information, but also a photo and lyrics for their track. Plus, there’s the H.R. Geiger cover art. The package couldn’t be better, but what of the bands, right? Here they are: EXHUMATION, KOROZY, DESOLATE, DEMONISM, NECROMANCER, EMBRACE BY DARK, DIABOLISM and DEAD FUTURE. This list of Black & Death Metal bands might not include a single name you recognize, but trust me that they are all more than worthy of your attention. In fact, all the songs are close to perfection, as is this comp. - 9.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

Built for Speed - A MOTÖRHEAD Tribute · Victory
How could I not worship a tribute to the best band in the world? It’s possible. BLOOD FOR BLOOD turn in a good version of "Ace of Spades," but ten years ago SEPULTURA was already saying that "Ace.." was too well covered. And speaking of "Orgasmatron," INTEGRITY decide to change some of the words. Look guys, Lemmy is smarter and cooler than you are, or ever will be. You can’t "improve" on his lyrics, and you uncover yourselves as complete idiots for even trying. And now, slightly out of order to accommodate my ancient SEPULTURA paraphrase, are GROOVIE GHOULIES and a cover of "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." that sounds like they only ever heard the version that the RAMONES themselves did, which isn’t such a bad thing, I guess... DROPKICK MURPHYS’ cover of "Rock and Roll" is maybe the closest to the original, right down to the raspy vocals, and I appreciate it, but I think that it might have been a better idea to not "compete" so directly with the original version. ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN do an excellent job on "We Are the Road Crew," perhaps even turning in the best, most energetic, track on here. I don’t remember ever hearing CHROME LOCUST before, but if their version of "Metropolis" is any indication, I’ll have to check them out - although the vox give me the feeling that they are not normally this "harsh" sounding. Next up, ZEKE with their rendition of "I’ll Be Your Sister," which is another one of the gems here. FAHRENHEIT 451’s "No Class" is okay musically (more or less exact to the original), but the vocals seem completely lifeless, almost as if the singer had never heard the song before, and was just handed a lyric sheet with 10 minutes to practice the timing before they recorded it. With the second to last track, TERRA FIRMA deliver the most divergent cut on here, with their ultra laid-back, sort of Jazzy version of "Bomber." It’s weird, sure, but at least they know enough to not even try to ape the original. That’s not to say that I like this version, however. And SPEEDEALER are given the double honor of both the last track, and being allowed to cover "Motörhead." Of all the covers of this song I’ve heard, really only LAWNMOWER DETH come close to doing it justice. A tribute to MOTÖRHEAD is long overdue, but it’s also pretty impossible. All these Punk and Hardcore bands do the best they can, I’m sure, and it’s interesting to see how widespread MOTÖRHEAD’s influence has been, but all I could think of while listening to this is how much more I’d rather be listening to the original versions of these songs. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

The California Takeover ...Live · Victory
The only thing I don't like about this live (recorded at the infamous Whiskey in Los Angeles) three-way split between EARTH CRISIS, SNAPCASE, and STRIFE, is that each band's songs are not grouped together. Not much of a problem for those of us with CD players, I know, but I simply would have rather heard 3 (short) live sets than this mixed bag. Anyway, Hardcore is all about energy, and there is even more of that in these band's live performances than on their studio recordings, so I like this a bit better than their non-live efforts. For those worried about the sound quality, it's excellent - especially for a live recording. Definitely a must for all Hardcore fans, or those interested in learning more about the style. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Call on the Dark 2 · Nuclear Blast
For fans of "Dark Metal," this is a pretty essential compilation, with unreleased tracks from LEFT HAND SOLUTION, THERION, MUNDANUS IMPERIUM, and the hard-to-find DEPECHE MODE cover by MOONSPELL. There are also some great non-Metal unreleased tracks on here from LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, LOVE LIKE BLOOD, and CHRISTIAN DEATH. Sure, of the 16 songs on here, there are a couple cuts on here that aren’t up to the rest, but just the unreleased LEFT HAND SOLUTION track makes this a must. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC12**

Candlelight Compilation · Candlelight
This features songs from EMPEROR (2 songs), OPETH, ETERNE (2 songs), KORPSE, SOLSTICE, THE WHORES OF BABYLON, BEYOND DAWN, and ENSLAVED, which is almost the entire line of the label's bands. This makes an excellent introduction to the label, but since all the tracks are already released, that's about all it's good for. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC9**

Chamber Metal - Neo-Classical Metal Guitar · Dwell
Wonderful. This is just what the world needed: a pretentious bunch of guitar wankers stroking off for nearly an hour. I'm sure these guys are great musicians, and it must mean something that they're nearly all from the Czech Republic, but I just kept waiting for the solos to end so the songs could get started. - 7.5 - <Ray>

Cold Still Earth · Frozen Dawn records Comp. 1 · Frozen Dawn
Four tracks of extreme Death from SHREDDED CORPSE. Two from REGURGITATION, who have a certified puker on vocals. An excellent pair of Doomy Death assaults from INHUMAN (now know as PERPETUAL BEING). Three more bone crushers from those sick bastards SKINLESS. A track of DEICIDE style Death, and one a lot slower and more individual sounding, from DEADEN. To finish up this festival of Death sickness there are 3 merciless cuts from UMBILICAL STRANGULATION. There is no excuse for not owning this. - 9.25 - <Ray> **MC11**

Concrete & Cornfields · Fanatic
With all the "Corporate Punk" out there these days, it’s great to hear some real Punk - and the other styles on this comp. And even better to see that it comes thanks to my pal Bloody Mess, and his new label, Fanatic. Of the 17 tracks on here, there are maybe 2 that I don’t like. A few, of course, do stand out: SNOT ROCKET, STINKY PETE, THE SCABIES, THE VAYNES, THE PISSED MIDGETS, and THE MAGGOTS. This is a good start to what I hope will be a very successful label, and a great way to hear a lot of new bands. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Concrete & Cornfields 2 · Fanatic
A real grab bag of styles. Central Illinois is plagued by a lot of very derivative bands, sounding like such things as TOOL, NOFX or even THE GIN BLOSSOMS, by and large with very little originality to distinguish them from their influences. The only bright spot is STINKY PETE’s song "Dewayne Takes It Up the Ass (Like the Pig He Is)," which is a Mojo Nixon-like jam with samples from the movie Deliverance (the Ned Beatty "squeeeal!" scene). Overall, not worth paying for, as you could pay to see most of the bands being ripped off here for about the same money. - 4 - <Brainhammer/Doktor Necrosis> **MC12**

Construction No. 009 · Arts Industria
I found this Industrial compilation really enjoyable. The highlights for me were SIGNAL TO NOISE, CUNT OF JESTER, THINE EYES, BLACK DAHLIA, MANHOLE VORTEX, and TERMINAL. The others were also not bad, but just didn't stand out. - 8 - <Ray> **MC9**

Corporate Death · Relapse
This has got unreleased tracks from INCANTATION, EXIT-13, CONVULSE, MORTICIAN, DISRUPT, and PHOBIA. Plus previously available tracks from: CANDIRU, AMORPHIS, GENERAL SURGERY, DEAD WORLD (my favorite D.W. track, too: "Dead World"), ANAL CUNT (spinelessly abbreviated "A.C." on the back cover), MACABRE, DISEMBOWELMENT, DECEASED, REPULSION, and SUFFOCATION. With this lineup, do I really have to tell you any more? I didn't think so. The packaging is cool, too. Very funny, guys. - 9 - <Ray> **MC8**

Covered in Filth · A Tribute to CRADLE OF FILTH · Deadline / Cleopatra
The most surprising thing about this disc is that most of the bands on it were previously unknown to me. I’ll leave aside the debate about whether or not CRADLE OF FILTH needs or deserves a tribute album, and simply examine the music. First up is a band called WEHRWOLFE, and this group turns in an impressive cover of "The Principal of Evil Made Flesh." I also received a CD by this band to review, so it will be interesting to see if that’s as good as this track. BORN OF THORNS is next with a good, moody, take on "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft." Following that is a by-the-numbers rendition of "Born in a Burial Gown," by SERPENTS ARIA, which is made up of former members of FEAR OF GOD (the US one, I mean). I’m glad to see that they’re still together, I guess. MIRZADEH delivers a mostly melancholy "Malice Through the Looking Glass," which I liked other than a few brief vocal imperfections. And then we have D.D.T.’s version of "No Time to Cry," which I don’t understand at all, since this is a SISTERS OF MERCY song that CRADLE OF FILTH covered. I suppose that D.D.T. does a good job of it, but it’s just weird to cover a cover. Anyway, on to CHRONZON’s interpretation of "Cthulhu Dawn," which, while not bad in any way, is just sort of there. VEIL OF ANGUISH delivers an okay version of "Summer Dying Fast," which is followed by KAUL’s interesting take on "Suicide and Other Comforts." NOCTUARY is next with a great cover of "The Black Goddess Rises." LUCIFER’s version of "Desire in Violent Overture" suffers somewhat from a production too raw for a CRADLE OF FILTH cover. Finally we come to mp3.com legends DARK ARMY, from not too far away from Metal Curse headquarters, in Michigan, and their slightly Industrial mutation of "From the Cradle to Enslave," which I really like. WILLOW WISP is next with the last official track on the disc, "The Forest Whispers My Name," which, like many of the other songs here, is not bad, but neither close enough to, nor different enough from, the original to really be great. Oddly enough, there is one bonus track, KEKAL’s cover of "Dance Macabre." Maybe this album is also available on vinyl, or MiniDisc, or something, without this bonus track. I don’t know. In any case, this last song is really kind of cool, sounding almost like some kind of "dance remix" or something, but with the original drums. There is even a few seconds of "hidden" audio after this track ends...
So, the bottom line is that this disc is okay and has some interesting stuff on it from mostly unknown bands, but I think that the real point of interest here is that no bigger bands appear. - 7.75 - <Ray>

The Crow (soundtrack) · Atlantic
I think this is the first soundtrack I've ever reviewed. Anyway, this mostly has Alternative bands on it, but pretty much the whole style is represented. Highlights include: THE CURE, ROLLINS BAND's cover of "Ghostrider," HELMET, FOR LOVE NOT LISA, MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL CULT, THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN, JANE SIBERRY, and if I didn't hate the shit out of PANTERA I'd say their cover of "The Badge" was pretty cool, too. The other tracks don't do much for me, but 7 out of 14 is pretty impressive considering who is on this. Oh yeah, the pictures of the late Brandon Lee wearing Black Metalish make up are now especially appropriate. - 8 - <Ray> **MC8**

Dagger Tapes #3: Mommy Mustn't Know · DEMO
This "all Hardcore comp." unfortunately doesn't have contact address for its featured bands, GRIMACE ABORTION, DEAD HORSE, BIG MISTAKE, KRACK, DECAY, THE DIVORCED. JACK TRAGIC AND THE UNFORTUNATES, BIG SATAN INC., CATHARSIS, BASE APES, SANITY ASSASSINS, ORGAN DONORS, BLACK INDIAN, S.V.O.E., OFF THE WALL, HELLHOUND, and SAM BLACK CHURCH. Most of the bands get more than one song, and I hadn't heard of too many of them, so this comp. was sort of educational for me. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC9**

Death is Just the Beginning · Nuclear Blast
This comp has 16 different bands and 20 songs, with DEFECATION, DISMEMBER, RIGHTEOUS PIGS and DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA doing two each. And here's what I thought of each of 'em:
DEFECATION- "Intro/ Granted Wish": After the intro, they get right to it. Fast, heavy and raw.
ATROCITY- "Life is a Long and Silent River": Damn. Starts freaky, then drops into a really fast Deathgrind.
INCUBUS- "Massacre of the Unborn": Reasonably speedy Death. However, the vocals are not as raw as I thought they would be.
DISMEMBER- "Defective Decay": Fast and heavy. Vocals are very brutal.
RIGHTEOUS PIGS- "Overdose": This is more Hardcore than Death, but I like it. It's cool.
DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA- "Disappeared with Hermaphrodite Choirs": Fast and heavy. Raw vocals too. But it seems to be lacking something.
MASTER- "Children of the Grave": This is a cover of the BLACK SABBATH classic. It's cool, but I have no idea why the fuck anyone would want to represent themselves with someone else's song.
ABOMINATION- "Impending Doom": Heavy Trash with some interesting elements. Mostly yelled vocals. I like it.
PUNGENT STENCH- "Suspended Animation": We're back to Death Metal here. This is really heavy. The vocals totally grind. This is almost worth the price alone.
BENEDICTION- "Grizzled Finale": Again, fast Death. Raw vocals and lots of cymbals.
REVENANT- "Degeneration": Cool. Mix could be a bit better, but this is exceptionally impressive.
DEATH STRIKE- "Mangled Dehumanization": Speedy, Deathrash with an errie outro.
RIGHTEOUS PIGS- "Ruinous Dump": Somewhat more Death in regards to the vocals, but for the most part still Hardcore with ultra distorted guitars and the occasional, light speed, blast drum part.
DEFECATION- "Side Effects": Mega heavy vocals. Fast and grinding.
DEATHCORE- "Guerilla": An interesting Deathrash with the vocals being an obvious weak link here. No address given.
TOXIC SHOCK- "True Insanity": I really like this. It's heavy and fast. Kinda reminds me of a Death Metal version of VENOM. No address given.
IMPULSE MANSLAUGHTER- "Sedation": Very fast. This is a speed Skank, and I think it's cool. No address given.
MESSIAH- "Empire of the Damned": Vocals are interesting. They are heavy, but I think an effect is possibly being used on them. No address given.
DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA- "Interposition": The vocals are beyond heavy. This is better than "Disappeared...", but it still seems to be missing something.
DISMEMBER- "Dismembered": After a long, yet very interesting, intro, the bestial vocals cut in. I think they may have saved the best for last.
This comp is exceptional. Addresses are provided for all the bands, except when noted. That's a really good idea, but they should have listed all the bands' addresses. Anyway, this is what a compilation should be. - 9 - <Ray> **MC6**

Death is Just the Beginning III · Relapse
This is a hell of a set. You get 2 CDs for the normal price of one. And most of the songs are unreleased, although for some reason, that only means unreleased domestically at the time that this was released. Some of the "unreleased" tracks are actually from European versions of CDs, or EPs, and some are from albums that weren't out at the time, but have since been released. - 9 - <Ray> **MC9**

Death... is Just the Beginning IV · Nuclear Blast
While this is the weakest of all DIJTB compilations, the good songs still outnumber the bad 19 to 10. Some highlights include IN FLAMES, EVEREVE, CREMATORY, PAIN, SATYRICON, SLAPDASH’s cover of "Kill Yourself," NIGHT IN GALES, DISSECTION, MONSTROSITY, DISGUST, and of course a previously unreleased track from DISMEMBER always sucks. This is still a great way to sample the Nuclear Blast roster, although it was quite a shock to hear a PYOGENESIS start out with "Gimme sump’n to dance to!" - 8 - <JACK> **MC11**

Death or Glory Vol. 2 · Heavy Metal Rock / Rock Machine
Here we have a brutal 3-way split featuring over an hour of extreme Death from BLESSED, SCRUPULOUS, and CORPSE GRINDER. Each band has a unique style and take on the concept of Death Metal. While I’m not sure if these tracks were all recorded just for this comp, or if they come from demos, or what, I’d bet that you’ve not hear them before. And that’s really a mistake you should rectify immediately. - 9.25 - <Ray> **MC11**

Demon Knight (soundtrack) · Atlantic
Well, the MELVINS track isn't bad. Other than that, this is useless. By the way, the GRAVEDIGGAZ probably shouldn't steal their lyrics from a "Serial Killa." Idiots. - 3.5 - <Ray> **MC9**

Demonic Plague: A Tribute to DEATH · Dwell
I'm surprised that it's taken so long for a DEATH tribute to be released! And what a tribute it is! EXMORTIS! That's right, Brian Werking and EXMORTIS is back! I can't be the only one who cares, can I? I'd better not be. And with other bands like SOLUS, TORTHARRY, MALAMOR (oh, holy Hell is their version of "Suicide Machine" sick!), WASTELAND, TERMINAL PLAN, BLACK SPIRAL, PESSIMIST, NEUROSILENCE, FURY, and WAVES (who turn in an acoustic version of "Crystal Mountain"), there is really no weak link in the line up. As far as tribute albums go, I think that what we have here is near perfection. - 9.75 - <Ray>

Destination Hell · DEMO
Compiled by my friend, Kevin Hammond, this tape has quite a lot of good material on it, such as tracks from: DEATH CON 1, DIMMU BORGIR, HOMICIDE, CRIMSON MIDWINTER, EQUINOX, DAWN OF DECAY, MYSTIFICATION FF, VERMIN, my own band ADVERSARY, POSSESSION, WITHERED EARTH, OVERLORD, the false ADVERSARY from Israel (who have since changed their name), and CALLENISH CIRCLE. As you can tell, this covers a wide variety of Extreme Metal bands, and is certainly a better way to find out about a bunch of new bands than to blow $5 (or more) on each of their demos. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

Devilswork: A Tribute to MINISTRY · Dwell
I applaud Dwell records for their attempt to pay homage to a band so permanent and influential in their existence and yet so subtle a presence as MINISTRY. But alas this tribute mostly reinforces my suspicions that most don't quite understand what it is exactly that makes the band so great. NOCTURNE makes me think that "artistic license" should require passing a test first since they butcher "Scarecrow." Don't make up stupid lyrics if you're unsure. PHOBIC's version of "TVII" misses it's mark as well. "Filth Pig" by AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE has a heavy guitar sound, but a heavy sound does not a good MINISTRY cover make. Tracks by PAIN CORPORATION ("Psalm 69"), DIESEL MACHINE ("Supermanic Soul"), HOSTILE INTENT ("N.W.O."), CHAPTER 23 ("Gameshow"), DISARRAY ("Just One Fix"), TURNING OF THE GEARS ("Thieves"), and JUROR 13 ("Burning Inside") show what a mistake it is to change the feel of the song, the lyrics, and thinking you know how to play the song enough to record a cover is no way to pay tribute to a band as untouchable and behemoth as MINISTRY. Fools. To think you could sit down and cut a MINISTRY track without the use of electronics is beyond me. Acoustic GODFLESH people! A few tracks make a good attempt though; namely "Stigmata" by SCARY GERMAN GUY and "Breathe" by EXMORTIS. But these good tracks unfortunately do not outweigh the sheer mass of crap heaped upon this tribute. Any moron can jerk off and call it their "version" of a MINISTRY tune, but it certainly doesn't do the band justice. I love MINISTRY and that's why this pissed me off. - 6 - <Bob>

Disco’s Out, Slaughter’s In · Novum Vox Mortis
Here was have an excellent 4-way split CD featuring LOST SOUL, REINLESS, DISINTER, and NIGHT GALLERY. All four bands play brutal Death Metal, with their tracks being taken from demos, and so probably not available on CD anywhere else (although you never know). Plus the booklet is pretty cool, with photos, bios, and contact addresses for everyone. - 9 - <Ray> **MC12**

Dread Zeppelin - A Metal Tribute to LED ZEPPELIN · Dwell
If there were even one good track on here, I'd tell you. You know I would. - 1 - <Ray>

Electro Shock Therapy · R.E.X.
Okay, I'll admit that I wasn't expecting a Christian Industrial compilation, but that's what this is. Apparently the beliefs of the artists doesn't water down Industrial as much as it usually does Metal. Most of these tracks are interesting, but I don't really listen to this kind of stuff that much, so I don't know if interesting is equal to good. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC9**

Estheticks of Cruelty · Cold Meat Industry
This two CD set contains some of the darkest Ambient / Industrial / Noise you’ll ever hear from the likes of NOD, IRON JUSTICE, BORN OF FIRE, TAPE DECAY, and APOSTASIA to name but a few. - 9.25 - <Ray> **MC12**

Eternal Frost Records - Comp. Disc Vol. 2 (CDR) · Eternal Frost
I'll pretend this is a real compilation, a real CD, and a real label, and say it's a good way to sample what Eternal Frost has to offer. If anything, for the nine people who care. DEATH BY HATE start things off with a very simplistic, yet awesome offering of Old School Death with wicked dynamics. FALLEN EMPIRE, as well as SOCIETY'S OWN, both play a very convincing brand of Swedish-style Death. Pretty predictable and probably too little too late, but well done nonetheless. They should have picked Finland instead like LUMINARY did. Melodic Death/Thrash with a strong Finnish vibe and great clean vocals. LOST IN BLUE (melancholy Thrash) and ASRYNTH (one-man, piss poor, drum machine garbage) don't have vocalists yet. An instrumental on a comp is always odd, but I guess it's cooler than hearing shitty vocals. Speaking of shitty vocals, VESSICANT have their share. UPON DARKNESS' production is so bad, I think it's destroying my speakers, so I'm going to skip this one. GALLOW'S EDGE and ANGELFIRE play pretty lame Basement Thrash, as both of their names would strongly suggest. And LOW TWELVE wrap things up with Deathcore that sounds like it cost 50¢ to make. In summary, nowhere near as bad as I thought, with a couple of nice surprises. Most of these bands will probably improve once their members start graduating high school. - 7 - <Jack>

Extremist Records · Compilation Vol. 1 · Extremist
The layout/packaging leaves a lot to be desired, but the list of bands certainly does not. This is over an hour of utterly brutal sickness, featuring tracks from: HEMDALE, ENTROPY, CORPSE VOMIT, GONKULATOR, LIVIDITY, MORTICIDE, HARUSPEX, ABOMINANT, HOT STOVE, IMPETUS, INSATANITY, TON, NUN SLAUGHTER, AVULSION, DROGHEDA, and SPINEGRINDER. Addresses are given for all the bands, and the price ($5 for a CD) is right. I'd say Extremist is off to a good start. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

Falafel Grind: 32 Bands Proving That CRIPPLE BASTARDS Suck!! · Obscene
According to CRIPPLE BASTARDS themselves, this is less a tribute than it is a party. And as far their they're concerned, all the bands featured (despite the title, there are 33 bands, but the last one is intended as comic relief) do their songs much better than they do themselves. Humility in this day and age, who knew? Anyway, this is a "Who's Who" of the Grind underground, featuring such luminaries as GROINCHURN, BIRDFLESH, HATEBOX, FINAL EXIT, and ROT. It's impossible to really pick any favorite tracks, as it's all kind of a blur of extremity. But that doesn't mean that I don't like it. This is just a party for Grind freaks only. - 9 - <Ray>

Filth Chain Comp. No. 1: Live! Emerging From the Filth · DEMO
This is a very professional looking compilation tape. You really don't see too many of these with full color covers. Anyway, this features live (in the studio) recordings from the following bands: IMPETUS, CANNABYSS, NYSTAGMUS, PLABIS, and CORPSE VOMIT. Also, PEDERASTY have two demo songs on here. This gives us at least different versions of these songs, which is a good idea. I do wish that contact addresses for the bands were included. I mean, say you get this and really like IMPETUS, and want to write them to get their demo - what would you do? Write T.S. Records and get their address, I guess. The very idea of a compilation is to expose different bands, but that purpose is defeated if the buyer of the comp. has no way of getting in contact with the bands. Okay, end of sermon. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC9**

The Finnish Core · Otto Itkonen
This is a compilation tape consisting of 12 bands, all from Finland. Each band plays enough to consist of an entire demo. So in essence, this is 12 demos in one. It's fairly decent Hardcore, though the bands vary widely within that genre. It's pretty decent for a comp. Check it out. - 7 - <Lar> **MC5**

Fire on the Brain - Volume I · Olympic
This compilation features album-tracks (almost all are from the bands' latest releases) by GORGUTS, BEHEMOTH, INTERNAL BLEEDING, DIABOLIC, MACABRE, JUNGLE ROT, WITHERED EARTH, DIABOLICAL MASQUERADE, DIVINE EMPIRE, FLESHGRIND, ANGELCORPSE, MONSTROSITY, SOLITUDE AETERNUS, and OPPRESSOR. I was hoping to hear some rare or unreleased tracks, but it was not to be. It doesn't really matter though because any compilation that features this many incredible bands (4 of them are among my personal faves) is worth having! Olympic definitely made the right move by releasing this disc, and it should prove beneficial to both the label and the bands on it. - 9 - <Painkiller>

Firestarter · Century Black
This is a great way to sample the "evil" side of the Century Media catalog, with such bands featured as KATATONIA, EMPEROR, OLD MAN’S CHILD, ROTTING CHRIST, SACRAMENTUM, and MAYHEM (and others). And at 74 minutes, it’s packed full, too. But unless you need a course in Black Metal 101, this won’t be of any use, since it has no unreleased stuff. Century Media/Black had a great idea with their Out of the Dark - Live comp., since it was at least different (live) versions of the bands’ stuff, but the coolest thing about Firestarter is the layout. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

For Battles to Come Vol. 1 · Cadla
A very nicely put together procopied comp. tape, with: NEFANDUS, NIGHT IN GALES, XENOFANES, SVARTSYN, VOMITORY, A CANOROUS QUINTET, NECROMICON, EVE MASTER, KORP, and GEHENNAH. I believe that all these tracks have been released elsewhere, but this is an inexpensive way to sample a lot of kick-ass bands. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC11**

For Those About to Rot: A Tribute to AC/DC · Dwell
Just like a lot of other bands, AC/DC certainly deserves some kind of tribute. But this terrible CD isn't it. Considering how influential a band AC/DC is, it's really surprising that Dwell couldn't get any good bands to appear on this piece of crap. I'd feel bad if I even mentioned the names of most of these jerkoffs. - 3 - <Ray>

Fourteen Inches of Fury 7" · Game Two
This two-7" set features one song each from NAEVUS (like CATHEDRAL’s speedier moments), MOOD (kind of stoney Traditional Metal), REVELATION (heavier and Doomier, maybe a touch like ST. VITUS), and TWISTED TOWER DIRE (kinda Thrashy Traditional Metal, with aggressive female vocals). It’s an interesting combination of bands and styles. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Fuck You We're From Denmark Vol. 1 · Progress Red
Each band has a single track featured on the CD, and their address, logo, a photo, and lyrics are in the booklet. Let's check 'em out one at a time (all are Death Metal bands):
DETEST - Memorable, yet heavy.
ILL DISPOSED - Extreme, with very raw vocals.
EXHAUST - Pretty heavy, but not extremely memorable.
AGONIZE - Excellent Death Metal.
GERONIMO - Interesting dual vocal effect from Death growl to a Hardcoreish yell.
CORROSIVE - Heavy, with interesting vocals.
CYBORG - This is pretty raw, especially the vocals.
DISASTER AREA - Fairly speedy.
DARK REGION - Not as memorable as the other bands, but still good.
INIQUITY - Fast and raw.
MORATORIUM - Heavy and really cool.
AVOID - Sorta Thrashy, but still deadly.
CAUSTIC - Slow, very heavy. Ultra cool.
ICONOCLASM - Super heavy, and often slow.
ABATTOIR - One of the coolest songs I've ever heard.
This is an excellent compilation. Buy it and write to all the bands. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC8**

Fuck You We're From Denmark Vol. II · Progress Red
Just like Vol. 1, all the bands here are Death, and each has one track, address, photo, logo, and lyrics. On to the bands:
FROZEN SUN - Very fast and very good.
NATIONS OF DEATH - Fairly speedy and really cool.
SACRIFICIAL - Incredible music with harshly yelled, not-quite-Death, vocals.
INFERNAL DEATH - Memorable and powerful.
ASSAIL - Cool intro. Extra heavy vocals. Excellent.
GOLEM - A little weird, but pretty cool.
CYANOTIC - Heavy and mostly fast.
PUGNACITY - Very cool and memorable.
DOMINUS - Brutal and raw. Unbelievably great.
HUMAN - Speedy with yelled vocals.
CEREMONY - Excellent.
MORDOR - Satanic and raw.
FALLEN ANGEL - Extremely raw and brutal.
SOLID PAIN - Ultra raw, especially the vocals. And a bit weird.
BEYOND SERENITY - Fairly Thrashy music with pretty smooth, yet sorta aggressive vocals.
MORFEUS - Interesting, and certainly memorable.
As with Vol. 1, this is a superb compilation. You should check it out and support these bands. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC8**

Fuck You We're From Denmark Vol.3 · Progress
This features 15 "100% Death Metal" bands. Contact addresses and lyrics are supplied for each band, so the package is really very complete. This is honestly one of, if not the, best series of compilations ever released. Now, about the bands:
CONDEMNED - Straight-forward brutal Death, played well, and full of energy.
ANGEL ACCELERATOR DEATH - A more mid-paced track, but very heavy, and there are occasional bursts of speed.
INFERNAL TORMENT - Insanely raw vocals and music, and the sickest lyrics on the comp. Excellent.
REVOLTING PHIMOSIS - These guys sound like a way heavier version of DEICIDE. This is amazing.
COITUS INTERRUPTUS - A smoother production makes this track seem not quite as brutal as the others, but I like the thick bass-heavy sound.
STONE AGE - Ultra heavy vocals, but the music, while great, isn't nearly as punishing.
CHAOSIUM - I'm reminded of early PUNGENT STENCH somewhat, but with occasional keyboards.
SATURNUS - Very heavy and slow. Superb track.
AUTUMN LEAVES - The music is occasionally sort of Thrashy (which is fine), but the vox are all Death. Cool.
DISCOMPOSURE - This too is a sort of Thrashy Death creation. Even the vocals are less raw. It's a sound I like.
MERCENARY - Mostly fast, and bestial vocals. The production doesn't really help out as this track is recorded noticeably lower than the others.
IDIOSYNCRASY - Brutal Death, played and written well.
NUGATORY - These guys have a weird mix: Everything is pretty separated, but the song is very heavy, and as you should expect by now, the vox are raw beyond belief.
CATHARSIS - Here we have a fairly complex track, but yet still very heavy. If they could record this in a better studio, it might be the best Death Metal song I've ever heard. It's easy to tell that a lot is lost to the poor production, but I'm not sure how much that is, really.
GOAT - Dorky backwards message starts this off, then it slips into a total Grind mess, with annoying screeched, high-pitched vocals. The only track I didn't like.
All in all, a great comp. I do suggest only listening to the last track once though, as that will be enough. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC9**

Gamma Rays Vs. Radio Waves ·  DEMO
This is a compilation of the following Electronic / Ambient bands: AGITPROP, phASER, ANNA·MATRIX, MR. PHARMACIST, JAMES BORING, ZšNDFOLGE, THE GREENLINE, 0, DIABOLICAL CANDY, GLORIOUS MOODMEN, and ALFRED WOLFF. Addresses are given for all the bands. Really this is music for the background. The background for what sort of varies by band, but generally something evil. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC9**

Gateway to Hell: A Tribute to SLAYER · Dwell
After somehow missing out on a few of Dwell’s tribute series, I’m very happy to have received this masterpiece. SLAYER has got to be one of the most influential Metal bands of all time, so tributes are only natural. But this is at least the 4th one I’ve heard. So, did they even really need to do it? Well, based on the quality of these covers, I’d have to say a very enthusiastic "Hell yeah!" This kicks off with DARK FUNERAL’s amazing take on "Dead Skin Mask." As you may have read earlier in this issue, I was really impressed with MONSTROSITY’s version of "Angel of Death," and that is wisely included here, as well. AURORA BOREALIS turn in a fast Black Metalized "Altar of Sacrifice," and pull it off really well. SADISTIC INTENT follow that up with a great cover of "Necrophilliac." FROM THE DEPTHS turn in a raw "Epidemic," and are somewhat hurt by their less-than-awesome production. INFAMY do a fine job with "Read Between the Lies." DIABOLIC are up next with their version of "Killing Fields," which is perhaps the weak link of this disc (mostly due to the production), although still pretty good. COFFIN TEXTS rip through an excellent "Crypts of Eternity." DRACONIS issue the "Final Command," which would have made more sense to me if it had been saved for last. EVIL INCARNATE turn in an impressive, super thick version of "Die by the Sword." THY DARKEST EMPIRE unleash a Black Metal take on "At Dawn They Sleep." IMPRECATION do an excellent job on the classic "Show No Mercy." And finally, SOMNUS show me why they were saved for last: They’re the best, and their awesome version of "Seasons in the Abyss" is mandatory suicide! I mean, mandatory listening! I probably should have given this intense slab a 10 just for this cut and the DARK FUNERAL track... This is certainly the best SLAYER tribute I’ve heard, and all around one of the best tribute discs of any kind. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC12**

Gateway to Hell 2: A Tribute to SLAYER · Dwell
Other than MESSE NOIR's terrible version of "Piece by Piece" (which is a horrible speed-fest that is embarrassingly poorly recorded and/or mixed, with vocals that sound as if they were recorded over a phone line while listening to an entirely different song), this is a good, and occasionally great, collection of songs in tribute to the Slaytanic ones' former glory. Real gems include ANGEL CORPSE ("Kill Again"), Poland's HATE ("Post Mortem"), and ENTER SELF ("Mandatory Suicide"). Most of the rest are okay, but really sort of uninspired. And there are even a few bad moments, such as ABIGOR ("Crionics"), who totally waste the first 50 seconds of their track with fucking queer wind noises, and MYSTIFIER ("Tormentor") and their misuse of "clean" vocals. I won't mention the Giger rip-off artwork, but I do have one question: how many more tribute CDs does the world need? It was a neat idea once, I suppose, but this is getting out of hand. This is the fifth SLAYER tribute that I know of. That's plenty. - 7.75 - <Ray>

Gods of Darkness · Nuclear Blast
Of the 15 Black Metal bands on this disc, only one, DIMMU BORGIR, provide a previously unreleased track. DISSECTION are represented by their most well known song, "Where Dead Angels Lie," and honestly I’m getting tired of hearing it. Couldn’t N.B. have picked anything else to represent this band? If you’ve never heard of MAYHEM, EMPEROR, CRADLE OF FILTH or IMMORTAL, or simply must have everything DIMMU BORGIR has ever done (although I’ll bet this track won’t stay exclusive to this comp. for long), then by all means get this. But to the rest of us, it’s not of much worth. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Golden Ballads - Immortal Dansing Hits · Metal Agen
This is a somewhat odd concept: All these Metal bands have turned in either an instrumental piece, or a "ballad." Highlights include MENTAL HOME, SKYTHRONE, END ZONE, SUCCUBUS and GORESLEEPS. The others are generally not too far behind. I don’t know if these are album tracks or not, but with the exception of MENTAL HOME, none of these bands have had releases outside of Russia, so it probably doesn’t matter. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC11**

Golden Ballads 2 · Metal Agen
As with the first installment of this series, the tracks found here are all either instrumentals or so-called ballads (a ballad is supposed to be a song that tells a story, and not necessarily a slow, acoustic, or "wimpy" song). This starts out with a couple instrumental pieces from the ever impressive END ZONE, but then TOLERANCE Hard Rock "ballad" their way right into the shitter. Other crap included FOXY TRICKS, ADOLF CASTLE, and ARCHONTES. And a few cuts were okay, but not exactly great, such as IN FOLIO, GORESLEEPS, NOKTURNAL MORTUM, and SKYTHRONE. And then there were a few more that were pretty awesome: NICKLAUS, GODS TOWER, and STONEHENGE. I’m not sure why Metal Agen would want to compile all the most light weight moments of their bands, but this is an interesting way to hear some of their roster, and a few of the tracks on here are real gems. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC12**

Golden Ballads 3 · Metal Agen
More LP tracks from Russian bands. This one really gets off to a strong start with DYLAN TROY’s majestic intro. And then is immediately way too mellow with another DYLAN TROY cut strangely called "Brothers in Metal," that’s about as unheavy as is humanly possible. There are a couple other bad spots (IN FOLIO, and ARCHONITES), but the majority is okay, and SKYTHRONE, STONEHENGE, and GODS TOWER all have excellent tracks, as you’d expect. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Gore is Your Master Compilation #1 · Razorback
The packaging here is almost nonexistent (although at least all the band’s contact addresses are listed), but the line up is impressive, and at about 73 minutes (and 28 tracks), you get a lot of bang for the buck. But the mastering and levels are pretty all over the place... I’d list the bands that I liked the best, but they’re mostly all in the same league of sickly brutal Death Gore. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Grindcrusher · Combat/Earache
Now that the Earache line is available in America, they offer you a taste of 23 different bands, via Grindcrusher. If you are an avid collector of Death, you're familiar with some of the more popular names, such as; MORBID ANGEL, CARCASS, GODFLESH, TERRORIZER, HELLBASTARD, SORE THROAT, NAPALM DEATH (who have two songs on the disc), ENTOMBED, NOCTURNUS, BOLTTHROWER, and UNSEEN TERROR. All of these bands have choice songs on the disc. It also has a song from REPULSION, the forefathers of Grind. Some of the more unknown names are CARNAGE (the European band), NAKED CITY, FILTHY CHRISTIANS, OLD LADY DRIVERS, INTENSE DEGREE, LAWNMOWER DETH (who offer the weakest song on the disc), CADAVER, SWEET TOOTH, MIGHTY FORCE (pure Industrial, a la SKINNY PUPPY), SPAZZTIC BLURR, and HERESY. All in all this is one of the best compilations on the face of this decaying planet, so buy it and be CRUSHED. - 9.25 - <John T> **MC5**

Guitars that Rule the World Compilation · Metal Blade
Oh boy, a compilation dedicated to guitar masturbation! Let's see what we've got:
REB BEACH -"Black Magic": Infinitely better than all his work with WINGER, mostly due to the fact that Reb didn't let that faggot Kip near a bass.
RICHIE SAMBORA -"Mr. Sambo": Holy fuck! This song has double bass! Who would've thought that this BON JOVI douche bag would even want that? Surprisingly not bad. Almost cool, even.
YNGWIE MALMSTEEN -"Leviathan": Neoclassical that's much less shit than I expected -thanks to the drums.
PAUL GILBERT -"I Understand Completely": Too bad I don't. Also too bad I despise the main riff. Nice backward samples, though.
ELLIOT EASTON -"Walk on Walden": Acoustic Spanish/Country kind of thing. At least it's a song, not just a really long solo.
ZAKK WYLDE -"Farm Fiddlin": At a length of 8:36, this can only be described as "cruel & unusual punishment."
NUNO BETTENCOURT -"Bumble Bee (Crash Landing)": I'm sure it's technically impressive, but it's so fucking boring.
ALEX SKOLNICK -"Filet of Soul": The best part of this is Les (PRIMUS) Claypool's remarkable bass prowess. Yawn.
RICHIE KOTZEN -"Chype Fluxx": Hey, this isn't so bad. Starts fast, then gets kinda Funky. Even has double bass. Who is this dude?
ALBERT COLLINS -"Blues for Stevie": As depressing as Blues should be.
DICKEY BETTS & WARREN HAYNES -"Willie and Poor Bob": More Blues, this time with a harmonica. Uhh, yeah.
REEVES GABRELS -"Why Do I Feel Like I'm Bleeding?": At least this tune is kinda weird. That nearly saves it.
EARL SLICK -"Surfer Junkie Dude": Not so bad. At least it's kinda up-beat.
When the best song on a compilation is by BON JOVI's guitarist, that really has to speak poorly of the comp. The song in question is actually pretty cool, but of the 13 here, I like it and only two or three others. If you are a guitar fanatic, then buy this. If not, don't waste your money. - 6 - <Ray> **MC7**

Guitars That Rule the World, Vol. 2 · Metal Blade
Of the 10 tracks on here, only three really stand out as terribly boring or inane. The remaining cuts showcase a wide range of styles from the experimental weirdness of Robert Fripp, to J. (WHITE ZOMBIE) Yuenger's neuvo-Blues (featuring the ancient robotic voice of 2-XL), to the seminal Rock of Ace Frehley, to UNHEARD OF's instrumental Death (with members of OBITUARY, CYNIC, EYEWITNESS and CANNIBAL CORPSE). I couldn't listen to this all the time, but it's honestly not too bad. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC10**

Hardcorps · Moonshine
It’s claimed on this disc’s cover that this is "The ultimate in Gabber & Hardcore Techno." I’m not even sure what that’s supposed to mean. But I guess it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. At least it’s mostly fast and noisy. - 5 - <Ray> **MC11**

He's No Good to Me Dead · Game Two
NEGATIVE REACTION, GRIEF, SUBSANITY, BONGZILLA, and SOUR VEIN. Yeah, it's Sludge time. The only bad thing about this compilation is that the levels are all over the place from band to band, which is very distracting. For example, the NEGATIVE REACTION tracks are seriously about twice as loud as the absolutely quiet GRIEF cuts (which are oddly not all that super-slow). SUBSANITY's speed also seems a bit out of place, although I don't mind. Weed-fueled Sludge fans wait no more - I think it's 4:20. - 8 - <Ray>

Heavy Metal Rock Records Compilation · Heavy Metal Rock
This features MORDETH, DAIZY DOWN, MORTAL PROFECIA, D.H., AVALON, GEHENA, and MEGGIDO. They vary in style a little, but are basically all brutal Death. I hadn't heard of these bands before, so this was a great introduction to them. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC9**

Hell at Last · A Tribute to SLAYER · Oracle / DMG
Well, another SLAYER tribute... This one does have some good tracks on it. I'll just go through them in order: NEPHASTH's version of "War Ensemble" starts the disc off, and is fine, although strictly by-the-numbers. DIABOLIC is next, with a heavier take on "Gemini," which I really liked. Then ONI gives "Altar of Sacrifice" a shot, but seems to have missed out on a lot of what made the original such an awesome song, leaving their version a little too unfocused at times. DETERIOROT tries some dueling-right-vs-left-channel vocals for some of "Read Between the Lies," which works out pretty well. SERBERUS delivers a memorable "Ghosts of War," which was very cool to hear since that's one of my favorite SLAYtanic songs. EVIL INCARNATE is a great band, and the guys in the band are the coolest, so I mean no disrespect by this, but their cover of "Piece by Piece," while very intense, is just not quite right. It's like that last one or two percent off that somehow causes problems. But not the kind of problems that UNIVERSAL EYE have with their limp-wristed attempt at "South of Heaven." I wouldn't call this track a "tribute" at all, and I am forced to wonder if the UE guys have ever even heard the original version of this song, or if they just got the tab for it at Sam Goody. I guess that at least they try to remake it in what I can only assume is their style. Moving on, "Cryonics" is covered by a band called MICTLANTECHUTLI. I defy you to say that aloud. MICT-LAMB-CRUNCHY, or whatever, does a damn good job, and I wonder what they sound like when not covering someone. Unfortunately, due to the complete lack of information about these bands, I may never know. Seriously, nothing more than the bands' names appears anywhere in this package. That's stupid. Anyway, ENGRAVE is next with "Evil Has No Boundaries," which is a good choice for them as an old-style Thrash band. Still, the vocals are occasionally a little too pre-Thrash screechy for me. NOKTURNE L.A. delivers a pretty putrid, drum-machine-and-overdriven-distorted-vocals take on "Raining Blood," and it's such an amazing song that it almost survives anyway, but it's blasphemy (in the bad way). To cover "Angel of Death" is a risky idea, and ACERBUS proves their hubris with this poor, sloppy take on it. They obviously do not "get" what made this song great and everything they change takes away from it just as much as their apparent lack of practicing it. I am happy to say that after a couple not-great tracks, we're back on course for the disc-closer, as ENRAGED Thrash their way through "Black Magic" with an energy (and usually KREATOR-raspy vocals) that would have really helped some of the other bands.
Not having any info about the bands sucks, and not all of these tracks are great, and I don't know how many more tributes SLAYER needs. But, that said, this CD is still worth a listen, especially if you're hunting down rare tracks by some of these artists. - 8 - <Ray>

Hell on Earth ...Hail to MISFITS · Tribute
As far as tribute albums go, this is easily one of the best. Maybe it’s just because I know these songs so well, but I like all these covers. Even the ones I didn’t think I would, like ENTOMBED’s version of "Hollywood Babylon." There are a few bands I hadn’t heard of before (THE 69 EYES, BALZAC), but despite the varying styles (from Punk Rock to the extreme Death Metal of DERANGED) and some surprises, this couldn’t be better. It’s hard to pick out the best covers on this, but a few are simply perfect: LEFT HAND SOLUTION’s versions of "She" and "Hybrid Moments," both TROUBLEMAKERS covers ("Angelfuck" and "Where Eagles Dare"), the aforementioned DERANGED doing "Some Kind of Hate," ASTRO ZOMBIES’ very faithful take on "London Dungeon," and SEX SEX SEX’s haunting instrumental rendition of "Halloween." A fitting tribute to such an influential band. - 9.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

Hell Rules · Dwell
How many tributes does BLACK SABBATH need? I probably wouldn't have started with AGENT STEEL and their strangely "Hard Rock" cover of "Sweet Leaf," however. HOSTILE INTENT are up next with an odd, but heavy, take on "Electric Funeral," that I could have lived without. It's a kind of insane choice, but COFFIN TEXTS do an excellent job with "Disturbing the Priest," and I absolutely would have had this cut before the first two. STEEL PROPHET's take of "Neon Knights" is more or less exactly the original, which begs the question: why bother? And then we come (or should I say "cum") to SOCIETY 1. Their cover of "Who Are You?" is probably their best recorded effort to date, but still it's plenty flawed. Next up is DIVISION with a more or less dead on (yet clearly inferior to the original) rendering of "Heaven and Hell." HATE THEORY get the honor of doing "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and they do it proud, turning in the second best track on here. And certainly the heaviest. "Cornucopia" as done by INFAMY is next, and while not bad, it has not really made the transition very well into the band's Death Metal style. Finally we get to BLOOD COVEN, and their great version of the oft-covered classic "N.I.B." I don't know if this is better than PITCHSHIFTER's "N.I.B." cover on the Masters of Misery tribute that Earache put out a few years ago (back before PITCHSHIFTER decided that they should be wussies), but it's easily the best track on this disc. Although RISE doing "Into the Void" is pretty good, too, although fairly by-the-numbers - other than the vocals, of course. DEBAUCHERY rip through "Paranoid," but leave me nonplussed by their performance. And finally, TYRANT's musically excellent (but vocally... weird) cover of "Children of the Grave." So how many tracks did I like? Three, and with maybe a couple more that were at least okay. So, does SABBATH deserve yet another tribute? Sure. And they deserve a better one than this. - 4.75 - <Ray>

Hell Rules 2 · Dwell
This is more like it. EVOKEN start things out this time, and they utterly devastate with their murderous rendition of "Snowblind." This is followed by the equally impressive "Symptom of the Universe" as done by some friends of mine, collectively known as EVIL INCARNATE. Following that is BURNING INSIDE's Thrashy version of "Mob Rules," which although pretty good, is the weak link so far. NOCTURNE and "Supernaut" come next, and this cover is about in line with the previous track. And then CEPHALIC CARNAGE turns in a very strange, and not exactly good, version of "Hand of Doom." SANCTORIUM are next with fairly a weak "Under the Sun / Everyday Comes and Goes." EQUINOX more or less get things back on track with another pair of cuts, "Hole in the Sky / Don't Start (Too Late)." Still, we're hardly back to the greatness of the initial couple offerings. Fortunately, ENGRAVE turn things up a little with their energetic take on "Johnny Blade." But it's not until the ass-kicking next track, ACHERON appropriately doing "Black Sabbath," that we're completely back to legendary status. AURORA BOREALIS keeps things deadly with an excellently Thrashy "After Forever." Next is VILE with "Lord of This World," and this really should have been more in the middle of this album, with the rest of the less-than-great stuff. Returning to greatness for the last track, VITAL REMAINS proves that they do have an insane amount of intestinal fortitude by taking on what might be the most covered song of all time: "War Pigs." Okay, the percentages are looking a shitload better on this compilation than on the first installment, but shouldn't a tribute to BLACK SABBATH be utterly flawless? - 8 - <Ray>

The Heralds of Oblivion · Roughage Records
Five bands are featured here, with three songs each-however, the first band, DEMOLITION, manages to sneak in five songs, although they are tracked as only three. Anyway, the other bands are: BRAINSTORM, MUTILAGE, CATALEPSY, and DECOMPOSED (the one from Los Angeles). The packaging is great: Each band has a photo, and logo. And with the exception of the CATALEPSY tracks, all the lyrics are printed, too. An excellent job putting this together and great Death Metal bands make this an outstanding compilation. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC8**

High Radiation 3 · Independent
Most of the 16 tracks on here are worthy, just not the first one, by DISARRAY. Their MACHINE HEAD / PANTERA sound grates on my nerves. Also, BARRIADA, and MYSELF AM GRUNT are pretty horrible. But other than that, this international compilation disc is pretty good. Some of the better bands are: ITNOS, OSSUARY INSANE, EXCESS OF CRUELTY, THALIDOMIDE, BEHEADED, MILLENNIUM, and BLACKMASS. The booklet devotes an entire page to a picture and address for each band. Lyrics or other band info would have been nice, but at least the addresses are there. I’m not sure how much of this material is unreleased, but these bands are largely unheard of, so it probably doesn’t matter that much. This is not exactly awesome, with only half the featured bands really kicking ass, but it’s not terrible. - 7.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

Hole in the Sky Compilation #3 · DEMO
This is a pretty nice tape. It’s about 90 minutes of album / demo tracks from all different kinds of Underground Metal bands, such as KRABATHOR, NEGURA BUNGET, and 16 others. All addresses are included, and you also get a cool little half sized zine kind of thing with all the band’s bios in it. Not bad at all. - 9 - <Ray> **MC12**

The Holy Bible · Holy
Now this is what a god damn compilation should be like: All unreleased material. This is an excellent way to get familiar with the artists of Holy Records, and is also a worthy purchase for those of us who are already fans of these bands. All the cuts are noteworthy, but even among these, some stand out, such as ORPHANED LAND's "Disciples of the Sacred Oath," TRISTITIA's "Prelude of Solitude," MISANTHROPE's "Reve Lezarde," and SEPTIC FLESH's "Woman of the Rings." All the Holy bands have some majestic and Doomy elements, and many of them also fuse some Death into their sound, but they are all unique and have individual identities. This compilation is not to be missed. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Holy DIO: A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio · Century Media
I guess that one of these days, every band that's ever existed will have a tribute disc or two. I'm not saying that Dio doesn't deserve to get some recognition for his efforts, but I guess I just never worshipped his solo stuff, or really anything other than when he was in SABBATH, as much as some do. That said, I'll get on with the review. STEEL PROPHET start things off, and their version of "Neon Nights" is so exactly like the original, I can't understand at all why they even bothered doing it. HAMMERFALL is up next, doing "Man on the Silver Mountain." Wow, it is ever terrible! First of all, I'd have picked a better song, but considering how by-the-numbers and bland this is, I suppose it might not have mattered anyway. This disappointing trend of either being exactly like the original (DESTINY'S END, AXEL RUDI PELL, PRIMAL FEAR, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, ANGEL DUST), or just plain no good for some reason (GAMMA RAY, DORO, CATCH THE RAINBOW), easily overpowers the couple honestly good tracks on here. Those highlights include FATES WARNING turning in their heaviest song in years with their excellent version of "The Sign of the Southern Cross." And JAG PANZER's cover of "Children of the Sea," even though it is pretty damn close to the original. Of course there are a couple cuts on here (BLIND GUARDIAN, ENOLA GAY,) that are just kind of there, too... With only a couple songs I can really get behind, and a shaky premise anyway, I'd feel bad recommending this tribute. And what's worse is that what was probably the best track (Dan Swanö and Peter Tagtren covering "Country Girl") is not included on the US release. - 5 - <Ray>

Identity II · Century Media
For only $3, I guess the price is right, but you get what you pay for. The only unreleased tracks are by CHUM and EYEHATE GOD (both demo recordings), and I don't give enough of a shit about those two bands to recommend this. However, there are great cuts by EMPEROR, SENTENCED, SAMAEL, and MOONSPELL. And a few other decent efforts, but where are UNLEASHED, MORGOTH, GRAVE, ASPHYX, and so on? Most of this is made up of songs from bands I don't like (454 BIG BLOCK, MERAUDER, HOSTILITY, etc.). Perhaps worth the $3, but I'd say only just. - 7.25 - <Ray> **MC10**

Identity 3D! · Century Media
No unreleased tracks this time, but for $4 you get to sample the following: STUCK MOJO, SENTENCED, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, MOONSPELL, NEVERMORE, SAMAEL, MY OWN VICTIM, MORGOTH, ARCTURUS, ICED EARTH, ROTTING CHRIST, TURMOIL, EYEHATEGOD, CHUM, MERAUDER, THE GATHERING, GRAVE and TROUBLE. It's great if you were wondering about some (or even one) of the bands, but useless otherwise. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Identity Four · Century Media
Previously released tracks from MOONSPELL, THE GATHERING, ARCH ENEMY, SKINLAB, STUCK MOJO, TURMOIL, SUBZERO, ROTTING CHRIST, TIAMAT, LACUNA COIL, NOCTURNAL RITES, ALASTIS, EMPEROR, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, JAG PANZER, ICED EARTH, EXODUS, and MY OWN VICTIM. I’m not sure how extensive the booklet is, since I didn’t get one, but only about half the bands really kick ass, and that’s not exactly a good percentage. But I guess that for $5, this CD makes a great introduction to Century Media, but that’s really all it’s good for. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Identity Five · Century Media
For three bucks, this is a really cheap way to sample the Century Media roster. So if you are unfamiliar with ICED EARTH, KATATONIA, OPETH, CRYPTOPSY, OLD MAN’S CHILD, NEVERMORE, or ANGRA, by all means pick this up - there are quite a few other bands on here you may like as well. But it’s worthless as anything other than an introduction to the label - of course that is all it was ever intended to be, so in that way it is a complete success. But I do like to get a little something extra from a compilation CD, be it an unreleased track, a live version, or at least an alternate mix. But I’m fuckin’ insane, so what do I know, right? - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC12**

In Memory of CELTIC FROST · Dwell
MORGION, ENSLAVED, SLAUGHTER (temporarily back together for this special occasion), MAYHEM (the first recording with the new line-up), INNER THOUGHT, SADISTIC INTENT, CIANIDE, DIVINE EVE, GRAVE (oddly with one of the weaker performances on the disc), APOLLYON'S SUN (Tom G. Warrior's new band), OPETH, CLOSEDOWN, EMPEROR (actually covering a HELLHAMMER song), and 13 (also doing a HELLHAMMER cover) all paying tribute to the legendary CELTIC FROST. Only two bands (GRAVE and APOLLYON'S SUN) have the nerve to cover material from the Into the Pandemonium, and these are the album's most powerless moments. The other bands stick to the classic stuff. I'm sure that by now everyone reading this already has this CD, but if not, I suggest you stop jerking off and go buy or steal a copy immediately. - 9.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

In the Eyes of Death · Century Media
UNLEASHED- "Unleashed": Fast and evil. Almost more than I expected. "Dead Forever": Crunchy, violent, awesomely brutal Death. "If They had Eyes": Again, very heavy and brutal and also a little slower. CD-only bonus track.
MORGOTH- "Burnt Identity": This is super mean, but it is on Roadracer's At Death's Door compilation. Perhaps a different track would have been wise, although this is an excellent tune. "Travel": Very brutal, but what else could one say about MORGOTH? Well, for one, it's also memorable.
LOUDBLAST- "Outlet for Conscience": This is really interesting. The vox are really harsh, super heavy. "Punishment": Somewhat slower, still ultra heavy and the vox are still cool. "Psalm 9": This TROUBLE cover is very heavy and pretty slow. Vocals are super raw, as always. I don't really understand why anyone would put a cover on a compilation, but I guess Century Media thought it would be for the best. CD-only bonus track.
ASPHYX- "Wasteland of Terror": Martin VanDrunen has taken over on bass & vox, and he never sounded better. Brutality escalated to a new height. "Pages in blood": Slower and very heavy.
TIAMAT- "A Winter Shadow": ´Interesting±, if somewhat of a strange beginning. Not as brutal as the rest of the compilation, but passable. "Ancient Entity": Better than their other track. Still not as brutal as the other bands, but someone had to be last, and it is a kinda original approach.
GRAVE- "Eroded": Extra heavy. Extremely raw vox. All this and speed too. "Putrefaction Remains": Also ultra heavy and fast. "Haunted": This is fast too. Lots of double bass and, of course, Jorgen's ultra raw vox. CD-only bonus track.
All things considered, this compilation is one of the best I've encountered. All of the bands are as Death as it gets (with the noticeable exception of TIAMAT, but they are original enough to make up for their slight lack of brutality). The cover artwork is among the best I've ever seen and there is even a bio included for each band. The three CD-only bonus tracks make the disc a must, if you have a player [Yes, this review originally appeared so long ago, that it was not a given that readers would have a CD player! -Ed.]. Don't miss out on this. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC6**

In the Groove · The Music Cartel
The first band (ROACHPOWDER) on this all Stoner Groove compilation recorded their track at Sunlight Studio. Yeah, the one in Sweden. Well, it seemed weird to me. Anyway, with the weakest track probably being RAGING SLAB’s still fairly heavy cover of "Mississippi Queen," or ALTAMONT’s Bluesy "Rattlesnake Shake," this SABBATH-worship is pretty much mandatory listening for all who like to, as Lee Dorrian would say, "feel the groove." - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

In the Sign of the Horns: A Tribute to VENOM · Dwell
This must be the 666th VENOM tribute I own! I worship the band, too, but enough already! Fuck, how many different versions of "Countess Bathory" does the world need, even if the one here, by ACHERON, is fucking awesome? Okay, let's just take this for what it is, and check out the songs. I wouldn't have put NOKTURNE first, but their version of "Black Metal" is okay. Nope, I'd have bumped them, and put COFFIN TEXTS first, as their rendition of "One Thousand Days in Sodom" is fairly amazing. Other highlights include FROM THE DEPTHS doing "Live Like an Angel," the mighty EVIL INCARNATE with "In Nomine Satanas," RITUAL CARNAGE's take on "Welcome to Hell," the aforementioned ACHERON track, and MORPHEUS DESCENDS crushing their way through "Angel Dust." The remaining tracks are nearly as good - pardon me, I mean "evil." But why is it that no one had the sac to try anything from any album after Possessed (BLOODSTORM did "Satanchist")? VENOM does have more than four fucking albums, you know. - 8.5 - <Ray>

Incompatible Issue #1 · Victory / Punk Uprisings
Someone at Victory is a genius. This is a 17 song compilation CD, with a multimedia zine on it as a CD-ROM track. I like that idea quite a bit. The zine part is nice and has the usual reviews and interviews, and well as audio and video stuff. But you’ll need a computer to see it. The compilation part, however, will work in any CD player, and has some really great stuff on it, such as ALL OUT WAR, BURIED ALIVE, DAMNATION A.D., 88 FINGERS LOUIE, FOR THE LIVING, KID DYNAMITE, and ULTIMATE WARRIORS. For the concept of this, I’d give ‘em a 10, but the execution and line up are not what I’d consider optimal. Still, a great idea. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC12**

Incompatible Issue #2 · Victory / Punk Uprisings
Just like the above reviewed issue #1, this has a pretty interesting multimedia zine along with 17 CD audio tracks. I wasn’t as familiar with the bands this time, and the navigation for the zine can be a little strange. Obviously there are still some issues that need to be sorted out, but I still think this is a great idea, just maybe not a perfect execution of that idea. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Industrial Fucking Strength · Earache
I started to wonder about Earache when they changed their logo to the friendly, easy-to-read, script version. Then they dropped BOLT THROWER, and now there's this 2 disc Industrial Dance compilation. I guess this is probably pretty good stuff - honestly, I wouldn't know. I don't mind it, but I want my Grindcrusher back. By the way, the band name D.O.A. is already taken, and the word is not spelled "f**king." I know that all businesses need to expand, but I hope that Earache hasn't forgotten their roots. - 5.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Inhuman Deformity Compilation Vol. 1 ·  DEMO
This is a pretty nice selection of Extreme Metal. I think that all the songs are from demos, but at least there are contact addresses for all the bands. Speaking of the bands, they are: DEBAUCHERY, AMERCED, LETHAL COMPULSION, MINDSTORM, DYING FETUS, DECREPIT, AFTERBIRTH, HORROR OF HORRORS, SODOMIZED, EXCRESCENT, TYTANT TROOPER, SLOUGH, INTERNAL BLEEDING, NECROSYS, NOCTURNAL SOUL, ENGORGED, EXTERMINANCE, DROGHEDA, GUTTED PULP, and DEMONIC CHRIST. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC9**

Israheller Metal Compilation · Heller
This is as much a "scene report" as a compilation. All Israeli bands are featured, and all are very impressive. Things start off with the most well known bands on the disc, SALEM and ORPHANED LAND, but the others are all of equal excellence. Speaking of the others, here’s a list: BETRAYER, HUMAN SECTOR, ENOCHIAN KEY, SERVANT’S GLORY, ARMAGEDDON, SUPERIOR, ENORMITY, SPIRITS, AZAZEL, LEHAVOTH, and MERCENARY. Most of the bands are represented by previously unreleased, or demo tracks. Not that you’d know they were demos from the sound quality - it’s excellent from the first second to the last. This is one of the best comp. CDs I’ve heard in a long time. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Insights of the Profane · Ma Kahru
I would have appreciated a track listing on the outside of the packaging somewhere, but I guess stuff like that is too much to ask for. And I shouldn't be surprised, since this compilation combines Black Metal with "Black Ambient" and thus leaves me asleep at least half the time. The whole idea of Black Ambient is weird: let's take the annoying 2 or 3 minute long intro to a Black Metal album, and stretch it out for an hour, or whatever. There are quite a few very good Dark Ambient artists out there, such as ARCANA, but none of them appear on this CD, although I will mention that the ONTARIO BLUE track isn't bad. And then we have the Metal part of this team up, with the high points being JUDAS ISCARIOT and ABIGOR, and not their best work, I should add. This raw / ambient juxtaposition must have seemed like a good idea on paper, but the execution has left a lot to be desired, if you ask me. - 4 - <Ray>

The Jerky Boys (soundtrack) · Atlantic
Yeah there, jerky, you should rent this movie, okay, fruity-ass? And this silly little soundtrack? It's one of those pieces of shit, ya hear me, beef-tits? Okay, a couple of these jerky-ass tracks are funny and whatnot (HELMET & TOM JONES, who cover BLACK SABBATH [there's an original idea], and LENNY KRAVITZ), and there's a new fuckin' prank call on here, too, so I guess you'd better tape that part, there, you silly milky-licker. But the rest has got me sick as a dog, and I'm throwin' up all over myself, there, fruitcake. - 3.75 - <Ray> **MC9**

Jump in the Pit: A Tribute to TESTAMENT · Dwell
Usually I either like the band being covered, or I don't. But with TESTAMENT, it's a lot more hit and miss, so it should come as no surprise that this tribute is all over the fucking place in terms of quality. WASTELAND does a good job, as do ULTIMATUM, HORROR OF HORRORS, and HABEAS CORPUS. The rest all have more serious flaws that hold this down, overall. I guess it's really pretty good, considering the track record of the band being covered. But I'm not sure I could really recommend spending any money on this unless you're the biggest TESTAMENT fan on Earth (in which case you already have it, anyway). - 6 - <Ray>

Kid Antrim Music · Kid Antrim
Not sure I even have any business reviewing this, as I don’t know for sure if it’s even available to the public. Kid Antrim is a registered corporation aiming to help develop undiscovered artists. This compilation CDR might very well be a "labels only" type of thing. Anyway, its not like it matters, as I don’t think anyone’s going to give a shit about the 16 selections from these no-name, minimalistic Indie/Emo/Pop/Alternative/Experimental bands. None of it is exceptionally terrible, it’s just that nothing’s exceptionally good either. All the bands achieve a decent production, and THE MARCHING BAND, ZERO STATE REFLEX, THE VICE VERSA, and ALEC LOCKAVITCH sound suited for Pop Rock radio already. But is that really a compliment? - 5 - <Jack>

KING DIAMOND Tribute · Necropolis
It's hardly surprising that DARK FUNERAL's cover of "The Trial" is the first track on here, as it's probably the best. They even go so far as to get a woman to do the falsetto vocals, and thus avoid one of the biggest problems any band can face when covering a K.D. / M.F. song. DAMNATION is up next, and honestly their version of "Mansion in Darkness" is excellent, although a bit off the beaten path for them. Of course IN AETERNUM deliver a great cover of "Abigail," but (perhaps wisely) don't even attempt King's dual vocal approach. USURPER's adaptation of "Charon" into their style is interesting, and I really like the multi-layered vocals, but they probably could work as is for this song. That a band even tried to cover "No Presents for Christmas" is nearly insane, but EXHUMED manage it, even attempting the dual vocals. I'm not sure it exactly works for them, or that it could for anyone, but I'll respect their try. Moving on to AURORA and their cover of "Eastman's Cure," we once again see female vocals in the part of King's falsetto, which I'd like to mention again is a good idea, and well done here. DESTINY'S END turn in a very respectable version of "Dressed in White" but, well something had to be the weak link... Next up is "Halloween" as performed by ANCIENT. They really do a good job, even with the vocals. Continuing on, we have FALLEN EMPIRE with a raw, yet keyboard-heavy version of "The Exorcist." ENTHRAL's version of "The Portrait" is also entertaining, and musically faithful to the original. Finally we come to AGRESSOR and their excellent cover of "Welcome Home." Hardly a bad moment on here, and a worthwhile tribute to the King. - 9 - <Ray>

Kiss of Death: A Sikk Tribute to KISS · Dwell
You know, I'm surprised that there aren't a lot more tributes to KISS. Not that I worship them or anything, but I certainly know a fuck of a lot of people who do. Anyway, here we have some okay work done by BLOOD COVEN (who do the hard-to-fuck-up "God of Thunder" and almost fuck it up anyway), ACHERON (with a paint-by-numbers take on "War Machine"), CREMATORIUM ("Cold Gin"); some good work by HATE THEORY (they turn in a slooow and heavy version of "Goin' Blind"), EQUINOX ("The Oath"); and then a bunch of not-too-good stuff. I don't know what I expected from a KISS tribute, but I think that when a band covers someone else's song, they should do it their way; make it their own, so to speak. Most of these bands didn't do that, so I don't see much reason to get this. - 6.25 - <Ray>

Land of the Wizard: A Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne · Dwell
Okay, so I'm a heretic, but I've never been too impressed with Ozzy's solo career. I mean, sure I guess I liked the stuff with Randy Rhoads, but I lost interest after that. So, it's interesting to hear a band like SOULLESS cover "The Ultimate Sin," and yeah I suppose Ozzy deserves another tribute. Really, a few of the bands do great jobs on these old chestnuts, but surprisingly, most don't, such TYRANT's absolutely horrible attempt at "Flying High Again" I'm embarrassed for them. And TYRANT really should have listened to OPPRESSOR's verison of "Over the Mountain" (from Olympic's Ozzy tribute) before they recorded this one. This is so "blah" I can't even think of anything witty to say about it at all. - 5.25 - <Ray>

Lard Compilation 2 - Initiation · Lard
Covering all forms of Extreme Metal on this compilation, Lard records manages to put together a great CD, even though it has (to my knowledge) no previously unreleased tracks. In this case it’s not so bad, since most of the bands featured (NARCOTIC GREED, DISGRACE, HUMAN WASTE, GANG, AZAGTHOTH, EXECUTION, ANACONDA, DISSONANCE, GOGMAGOG, and BLASDEAD) are fairly unheard of in this part of the world. However, there are also one cut each from the more well known MISANTHROPE, and NIGHTFALL. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC11**

Lead Us into War and Final Glory · Dark Horizon / Realms of Darkness
This CD features 4 bands, ALLFATHER, NEBRON, HORDES OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE and GNOSTIC. One of the things that I noticed as kind of odd about this release was the number of songs allotted to each band. ALLFATHER has five songs, as does GNOSTIC. HORDES OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE has three songs and NEBRON has only two. Of the four bands, only GNOSTIC really stands out as having a powerful and brutal sound (think: DARKTHRONE during their Transylvanian Hunger days). The others sound good, but when compared to GNOSTIC, they sort of lack intensity. I think it has to do with the production as GNOSTIC sounds the rawest of the four. ALLFATHER was above average with their raw yet sometimes atmospheric Black Metal in the DARKTHRONE / BURZUM kind of way and their songs were listenable if not entirely memorable. HORDES OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE were slower and their songs were longer, but like ALLFATHER, they weren't terribly memorable. NEBRON might have been the only band that I thought was forgettable. [Strangely enough, I liked NEBRON the best of the four. -Editor] Maybe it was because they only had two songs but they just didn't stand out. This is a fairly solid release that gives you a good idea what bands are on Dark Horizon's label. I'll definitely be looking for future releases from these bands. - 8.5 - <Ychoril>

Legend of a Madman · Olympic
This Ozzy tribute starts off with the mighty SOLITUDE AETURNUS doing the best they can with "No More Tears," and I think they improve over the original quite a bit, but that is pretty late in Ozzy’s career for me to like it very much. The next really good cover is OPPRESSOR’s blistering version of "Over the Mountain," which is the best cut on here, although the MORTA SKULD track, "Believer," isn’t bad either. And there is some terrible stuff, too, like FILTHBOY. This is a really strange line up of bands, and seems to be missing some really mandatory songs. And honestly, most of the stuff here isn’t really even worth mentioning. A few good tracks can’t save all the bad ones. - 5 - <Ray> **MC12**

Legendary Harley-Davidson Road Songs · The Right Stuff
Okay, this has a BLACK SABBATH cut on it, but the best one they could get was "Neon Knights"? BILLY IDOL, ZZ TOP, HEART, and DEEP PURPLE round out the only other even remotely acceptable shit on this piece of shit. You'd think that H.D. would have wanted to get some "tough" music on here at least, and not ultra wimpy pap like POISON and THE GRATEFUL DEAD. - 1 - <Ray>

Legends of Metal - A Tribute to JUDAS PRIEST · Century Media
In Europe this was released as 2 separate CDs, and as usual, the U.S.A. got ass-fucked and only gets what the label considers to be the "best" cuts crammed onto a single disc. A single disc of only 42 minutes, I might add. God damn it! They could have added a fucking half hour of other songs, such as SAXON's amazing cover of "You've got Another Thing Comin'" (normally I don't even like SAXON), ANGRA's rendition of "Painkiller," U.D.O. doing "Metal Gods," or RADAKKA's version of "Night Crawler." Or Satan forbid they come up with some new covers. Well, in their defense, the STRAPPING YOUNG LAD cover of "Exciter" is exclusive to the American release, for what it's worth. Now that I'm finished bitching and being "petty" (hi Marco!), I'll get on with the highlights of the compilation: MERCYFUL FATE covering "The Ripper," NEVERMORE's barbarous (and ingenious) version of "Love Bites," and FATES WARNING turning in their best performance in years with "Saints in Hell." These three tracks are easily worth the cost by themselves. Honorable mentions go to KREATOR, OVERKILL, and HELLOWEEN. I would have rather had the 2 CDs (and their 25 tracks) like the rest of the world, but I guess one 10-song disc is better than none at all. I say buy the imports if you can find them. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

Lord of the 6 Darks Vol. #1 "The Cavern of Shadows" · Eargasm
This tape compilation has all the normal stuff: contact address and a great selection of Underground Death / Grind bands (INFESTER, PURGATORY, JUDECCA, VOMITORY, ENTETY, INTENSE AGONIZING, AGATHOCLES, THE KINDRED, DESOLATE, PURTENANCE, DEPRESY, BLOODSICK, IMPIETY, CHRIST DENIED, SLOUGH, SQUASH BOWELS, GONKULATOR, CEREMONIUM, WOMBBATH and KRABATHOR). But all these tracks have also been digitally remastered by Eargasm main man, Paul Anderson, so the sound is better than normal. For $5 this is really too good to pass up, but with more extensive packaging and at least some unreleased tracks, it would have been even better. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Lord of the Six Darks 2 - The Ebony Dungeon · DEMO
Fourteen previously released, but remastered, Black Metal cuts, including ass kickers from JUDAS ISCARIOT, NAZXUL, MASOCHIST, and OCCULT. - 8 - <Ray> **MC12**

Massacres From the Jungle · American Line
This is a great compilation, with SANCTUM REGNUM, METAL DOOM, MEDIUM, ENSLAVER, KRUEGER, PSY-WAR, PSEUDOSTRATIFIED EPITHELIUM, and CENOTAPH. All the bands are heavy Death, and some have atmospheric, or Black Metal elements to them. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC9**

Masters of Misery · Black Sabbath: The Earache Tribute · Earache
Some of you may remember that this came out in Japan in ‘93! Well, this version is a little different. There is a new layout, different liner notes, and some new tracks. CATHEDRAL’s version of "Shock Wave" has been replaced by their cover of "Wheels of Confusion" (which was actually recorded in 1992 for the Nativity in Black SABBATH tribute, but not used on it). CADAVER is nowhere to be found, but have been replaced by ANAL CUNT (or as Earache likes to call them on the outside of their CDs, "A.C."), ULTRAVIOLENCE, and IRON MONKEY. Rounding out the line up are: SLEEP, GODFLESH, CONFESSOR (if there was ever a band to get rid of, it should have been these guys, or at least erase the vocal track and let it be an instrumental cover), FUDGE TUNNEL, OLD, BRUTAL TRUTH (One of the better tracks, but I’m surprised they left it on...), PITCH SHIFTER (who turn in the best cover on the disc with a sicker-than-thou version of "N.I.B."), SCORN, and a second track from CATHEDRAL. If you have the Japanese version, then there is no need to even look at this one, since the extra songs are all throwaways (unless you just have to have everything IRON MONKEY ever recorded). If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of this tribute and you are a fan of SABBATH or some of the bands listed above, then it’s probably worth the cash, but be warned that several of the versions on here are total duds. Out of the 12 bands on this, only CATHEDRAL, SLEEP, BRUTAL TRUTH, PITCH SHIFTER, and SCORN turn in outstanding covers. - 7.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Megaded: A Tribute to MEGADETH · Dwell
Just what we need: A tribute to selling out. Still, I do like MEGADETH's first three albums (although I can't remember the last time I played one of them), so I'll give this a chance. Hmm, starts out queer, with DARKSIDE's electronic Butt Rock version of "Go to Hell." I'll spare you the rest of the horror. Notable exceptions in this festival of weakness include SKULL CRUSHER's rendition of "Take No Prisoners," KILLSWITCH with their take on "The Conjuring," and PESSIMIST's cover of "Killing is My Business…" A couple of the others aren't completely worthless, but I'd rather hear the originals, and since I don't even play those… I think you get the idea. - 4 - <Ray>

MERCYFUL FATE tribute · Listenable
LUCIFERION - "Black Funeral": The music is inspirational, and the vocals range from awesome to not-so-great. SACRAMENTUM - "Black Masses": Completely ass kicking. GARDENIAN - "A Dangerous Meeting": Simply perfection. SNOWY SHAW - "Evil": Almost terrible, especially the horrible vocals; the worst track by far. ARMAGEDDON - "Desecration of Souls": Incredible. EMPEROR - "Gypsy": Flawless. WITHERING SURFACE - "The Oath": Unbelievable. MISANTHROPE - "Doomed by the Living Dead": Utterly amazing. DIMENSION ZERO - "My Demon": Weird song choice, but excellent job. IMMOLATION - "Satan’s Fall": Awesomely brutal. DARK TRANQUILLITY - "Lady In Black": Another strange selection, but flawlessly executed. DECEASED - "Nuns Have No Fun": Reasonably faithful, and completely awesome, rendition. NOTRE DAME - "Into the Coven": Arguably the best, and weirdest, has been saved for last, and considering the rest of this line up, that’s high praise indeed. It is strange that Snowy Shaw would deliver the weakest track, but life’s like that, I guess. I don’t see how it would be possible to not own this. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Metal Dreams Vol. 2 · Nuclear Blast
SKID ROW? MR. BIG? Is Nuclear Blast fucking serious? Fuck this bullshit. - 1 - <Ray>

Metal Massacre 10 · Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade has put out their tenth album of unsigned and relatively unknown bands. This compilation, as foretold last issue, contains the return of Canadian Death Metalists, SLAUGHTER.
The compilation consists of the following bands and tunes:
BETRAYAL - "Sick or Sane." The song was heavy, however the lyrics were almost entirely contained in the song title. That’s bad.
SOLITUDE - "Typhoid Mary." Shows similarity to "The Thing That Should Not Be." It starts slow and picks up. The vocals are interesting. After the music picks up a little the singing is fairly impressive. There was a time when this would have been impressive and on the cutting edge, but that was years ago. I do like the scream at the end.
MURDERCAR - "Mirage of Blood." Starts cool. Pounds. I like the pause right before the vocals, which remind me of a cross between IRON MAIDEN and BLESSED DEATH. This is a decent tune.
CONFESSOR - "The Secret." Who the fuck called this Metal? The music is slow. The only redeeming quality is the singers voice, but is wrong for the music. Death is not an unfair sentence for this crime. Somebody might like it; I don’t.
DAN COLLETTE - "Egyptian Falcon." Glam fags from note 1. Did the background music from an episode of Columbo accidentally get recorded in the place of something cool? If not I would avoid Dan Collette’s music altogether.
NIHILIST - "Infected." Fast and heavy. ‘Nuff said.
R.O.T. - "Visions in Secret." I think my grandmother would like the beginning of this song. It does pick up a little, not enough. The singer sounds like Ozzy, distinctive - not good. It’s a little weak for me.
WENCH - "Mercy." Not fast enough for my taste. The singer sounds like a Hard Rock version of Kevin DuBrow.
SLAUGHTER - "The Fourth Dimension." I was disappointed in this showing. The album Strappado was a lot stronger. This song also repeats the title too often in the lyrics.
I.D.K. - "Stayed up 4 Daze." Maybe they should have gotten some sleep before writing this one.
Overall I do not recommend getting this, but what do you expect from a compilation? - <Lar>
{What a collection of shit. For the most part, all the bands featured on this compilation were never to be heard from again. The only two exceptions were CONFESSOR (who went on to do some work for Earache, but in my opinion were really hampered by their screechy singer), and the legendary SLAUGHTER, who went on to change their name to STRAPPADO, and then briefly back to SLAUGHTER before burying the corpse. But you know the whole story already if you read my comments on the "What Ever Happened to:" from the Metal Curse #1 section of this [the Metal Curse 1-4 "Collected Edition" - buy one!] edition.} **MC2**

Metal Massacre XI · Metal Blade
This is the latest in a long line of comps from Metal Blade. I'll take it, as always, one band at a time:
MYSTIC FORCE -"Shipwrecked With the Wicked": Pretty decent light Thrash. Vox are in the DIO range. The bass sound is superb.
EPIDEMIC -"Circle of Fools": Fast Deathrash. Heavy and thick production. Cool.
FORTE -"Dementia by Design": Lots of double bass and a fast tempo help out this Thrash tune. The melodic vox even sound cool.
MY VICTIM -"Authority Lies": This is pretty boring and a total waste of their awesome guitar sound.
HAVOC MASS -"Tormented Souls": Fast Thrash, with rough, yelled vox. Not bad, actually the drums are excellent.
DIVINE RIGHT -"The Dream Turns to the Dread": Interesting. Sort of IRON MAIDENish. Pretty cool.
MINISTERS OF ANGER -"The Great Escape": Decent Thrash. Slightly melodic vox, sung too fast in some places. Certainly not great.
DOMINANCE -"Resurrected": Occasionally very fast drums, a bunch of samples, and a Blitz (OVERKILL) clone on vox, about sums up this Thrash-fest.
MORTAL REIGN -"Sorcery of the Wicked": Pretty OK Thrash, but something about it bothers meÉ
NIGHTCRAWLER -"Eternal Call": Slightly Doomy Thrash with melodic vox. But something about it is really cool. Kinda retro, except for the drums.
HARUM SCARUM -"Bad Habits": Weak. But I'm sure they think they're bad ass dudes.
CHEMIKILL -"Consumed by Hate": I hate the flanger effect on the vox. Other than that, this is above average Thrash.
TYNATOR -"Excuses": Music could be Death Metal, but the somewhat melodic vox don't allow it to happen. An almost interesting combination. Not bad.
SPUDMONSTERS -"The Monkey Beat-Man": Very moshable Thrashcore. Not too bad, I guess.
I have to wonder where they got all these Thrash bands, and why no total Death, Grind, or Industrial bands were included. Other than that, I would say this comp. is a bit below average. I didn't really die for any songs and there are a few I just don't like at all. Better luck next time. Maybe they should let Marco pick the bands from now on. - 7 - <Ray> **MC7**

Metal Massacre XII · Metal Blade
After so many weak line ups on past Metal Massacres, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I actually recognized, and even liked, some of these bands. Not all of them are worth a shit, but at least a few are real gems, like AVERNUS, CRISIS, PIST·ON, and ANCIENT. AND CHRIST WEPT put in a strong try, but fail to really capture my interest. EULOGY are heavy at least, which is more than can be said of many bands on past Metal Massacres. PAINGOD would be fine with slightly different vocals, and AMBOOG-A-LARD are somehow not bad. - 8.25 - <Ray> **MC9**

Metal Sessions Vol. 1 · Booster
This is a very nice package, with bios, logos, and photos for each band. For fans of traditional Metal, true Power Metal, even Hard Rock, this just cannot be missed. The best of the best include: SYRENS CALL, NECROPSY, and the Doomy UMBILICUS MUNDIS. The remaining 13 are nearly as flawless, and make this a tough compilation to beat. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC12**

Metalo · Grita!
Just what the world needed, a compilation of "Latin Metal" bands, whatever that means. With the exception of BRUJERIA and ARMORED SAINT, this is the worst piece of shit I have ever heard in my life. All the rest of the bands are from the NWOHSCPM camp, and that makes me want to projectile vomit like the space shuttle taking flight. - 1 - <Ray> **MC12**

Midnight Offerings III · With Your Teeth
DECEASED's main man, King Fowley, has compiled 15 tracks (over 70 min) of the must Underground music you're likely to hear. Most of the bands are from the USA, but there are a pair (TERROR SQUAD and VOIDD) representing Japan. Some of the recordings are fairly low quality, such as Virginia's NORTHERN LIGHTS, but for the most part this is a very enjoyable and diverse release, showcasing everything from old-style Thrash to new-wave Black Metal, and everything in between. - 8.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (soundtrack) · Atlantic
I really get some weird shit to review. The theme song is pretty catchy, in sorta the same way that Gummi Bears are yummy. And how can I really knock something which glorifies fighting giant monsters? Giant monsters are always cool. Always. Now, the rest of the soundtrack has nothing to do with monsters, except that the songs are monstrously horrible. - 2 - <Ray> **MC9**

Mommy Musn't Know 2 · DEMO
This tape compilation covers the Black, Death and Grind aspects of the Underground with songs from the following bands: INFAMY, USURPER, CHRIST INVERSION, EL PECADO, EXHUMED, PYREXIA, PARRICIDE, SCATTERED REMNANTS, and ENTROPY. It looks and sounds professional, but I wish contact addresses for the bands would have been included. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC10**

Mortlake #3 · Mortlake Project
Let’s run through the bands on this cassette: WITCHBURNER, GHOSTORM, BLOOD, TORTHARRY, GODGORY, HUMAN SECTOR, TEMPERANCE, WITCH-HUNT, KADATH, DISPATCHED, KRABATHOR, MORTUARY OATH, my own band ADVERSARY, NOISE ORDER, FINAL BREATH, NYARLATHOTEP, BETRAYER, and SUPER ANGST. All tracks have been previously released, but contact address are given for everyone, and the sound is great. Don’t miss out on this great way to check out all these Extreme Metal bands. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11**

Music Pause - Golden Ballads Vol. 2 · Metal Agen
An excellent sampler of the Russian Metal Agen label. - 8.5 - <Ray> **MC11** - "Last Second Additions"

Music to Make Your Ears Hurt Too · Black & Blue
This covers a wide range of Punk styles, and anyone who's a fan of real Punk Rock must already own this. Highlights include THE CEDAR STREET SLUTS covering a BLOODY MESS & THE SKABS song, BLOODY MESS & THE SKABS' Country song, "Hung Over and Stoned," the BOORISH BOOT tracks, and really pretty much everything else. Addresses are included for most of the bands. - 9 - <Ray> **MC9**

No More Fucking Censorshit: Compilation #4 · Bloodzit
This compilation was put out by Steve Desrosiers, an all-around cool guy. He is looking for bands for future comps (so send him tapes ya skrungies). This tape is comprised of twenty bands from nine countries plus an intro and an outro. It's put together rather well and every copy is numbered. Steve seems to have put a lot of effort into this, and I'm sorry I missed 1-3. It is, however, a patchwork. There's Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Surrealtors, Christians, even the Dogwood Dickheads themselves, SHADES OF GREY (who entered a fine version of "Under the Skeptic's Eye"). Besides the SHADES OF GREY entry, other favorites include: "Granulate Sorcery" by SUFFER, "The Watchtower" by DARKTHRONE, and "Cats of Ulthar" by DISGRACE. Though all the pieces are good. OBLIVION (MD) had impressive lyrics on "No Motive." SOVEREIGN and NOCTURNAL FEAR were also pretty impressive. If you are into compilations, check this out. - 7.75 - <Lar> **MC5**

Nordic Metal - A Tribute to Euronymous · Necropolis
This is an absolute must for all Black Metal fans. It's got unreleased tracks from ABRUPTUM (which is a band I usually don't much like, but this is certainly one of their best efforts), EMPEROR, MYSTICUM, THORNS, MAYHEM, and MORTIIS, as well as fairly obscure tracks from DISSECTION and rare MAYHEM and EMPEROR cuts. The remaining bands are MARDUK, OPHTHALAMIA (covering "Deathcrush"), ENSLAVED, and ARCTURUS. What more do you need to know? Do not hesitate in obtaining this disc! - 9.75 - <Ray> **MC10**

Not Just Words · A Non-violence Sampler · Play It Loud
The cool stuff does not outweigh the shit. - 6.5 - <Ray> **MC11** - "Last Second Additions"

Not So Quiet on the Western Front · Alternative Tentacles
In this age of CDRs when was the last time you saw an 80 minute CD? Well, here you go. Originally released in 1982, this is a document of the California and Nevada Punk scene of the time. And in addition to being one of the longest CDs in my collection, it also has the biggest booklet. Maybe you don’t like this kind of stuff, but I do and I thoroughly enjoyed this gem. With 47 bands I just don’t have enough space to list ‘em all, or even the highlights, but with DEAD KENNEDYS and M.D.C. you should get the idea. - 9.5 - <Ray> **MC12**

Nuclear Blast Festivals 2000 · Nuclear Blast
Another Nuclear Blast release with no selling points in sight. A completely fucking pointless live compilation featuring RAISE HELL (yawn), KATAKLYSM (yawn), HYPOCRISY (didn't they just put out an entire fucking DVD/VHS/CD with tons of live shit?), DESTRUCTION (thanks, but I already own Live Without Sense), and CREMATORY (didn't they just put out a god damn 2-CD set filled with over an hour of live material?). I ask you, why in the name of fuck would a living soul buy this?! - 3.5 - <Jack>

Obscene Extreme Festival 1 · Obscene
God damn! Obscene Productions knows how to do things right! I had thought I might list some favorite tracks or bands, but with a line up like AGATHOCLES, SQUASH BOWELS, FLESHLESS, ENTRAILS MASSACRE, B