Having started in August 1995, back then with a much smaller staff
than what we have now, a number of albums from that year were never
featured in Chronicles of Chaos. Some of those came to be considered
classic or in some way important albums, while a huge number of others
were quickly forgotten about. This article concerns itself with the
former. Our current staff looked at some of the albums we missed back
then, reviewing them from a present day perspective ten years later.
We hope you will find the result interesting, and perhaps also
pleasantly nostalgic.
454 Big Block - _Your Jesus_ (Century Media)
by: Aaron McKay (9 out of 10)
Can you wear out a CD? If not, I sure gave it my best shot with 454
Big Block's 1995 release _Your Jesus_. While we all have been
influenced every step during the course of our lives continuously, and
I sheepishly admit my roots stem back a bit more than a smidgen
further than the mid '90s, _Your Jesus_ struck a vein much the same
way as the Crumbsuckers did back in 1988 with _Beast on My Back_. Both
were exercising a cross-over approach that just clicked somehow. While
the Crumbsuckers took the harsher metal and raw punk hybrid for their
own, 454 BB explored the hardcore-esque side of metal's melodic tones
where their songwriting was concerned. It is all here: the religious
discontent of the title cut to the societal strife of "Held Down", to
the chaotic nature of interpersonal relationships found on "Cold",
"Dead Inside" and "No One". Like they say, misery loves company.
Barring a few key exceptions, identifying with 454 BB's day-to-day
relevance was in no way a stretch of the imagination. While 454 BB was
thick and rich in their own right, the driving rhythms and their fluid
nature were alluring. They fought back any notion of abandoning a
progressively in-your-face style that you might expect from a Boston,
Massachusetts cross-over outfit.
The eleven tracks culminate with "Dirt". This song displays the very
essence of 454 Big Block's approach. The harsh subject matter of rape
just simply underscores the expansive advance 454 BB coerces from
their material unleashed upon any unsuspecting listener. Pound for
pound, these heavyweights were for all intents and purposes ahead of
their time. Unsettling yet intently fascinating, would this four-piece
still pummel the scene today, I shudder to think of the heights they
might have achieved.
Anathema - _The Silent Enigma_ (Peaceville)
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10)
Although I recently wrote a brief review of _The Silent Enigma_ as
part of a list of fundamental doom albums for my article "Doom Metal:
The Gentle Art of Making Misery", there is no way I would allow its
omission from this retrospective piece. In the aforementioned doom
metal article, I wrote:
"_The Silent Enigma_'s predecessor _Serenades_ (1993) and successor
_Eternity_ (1996) also rank as two of my favourite doom metal albums
ever, and remain fundamental in their own right. The lovelorn dirges
of _Serenades_, led by singer Darren White, and the similarly
emotional but somewhat Pink Floydian _Eternity_, where current singer
Vincent Cavanagh first explored his clean vocals, deserve a place in
any doom metal collection. Yet _The Silent Enigma_ is perhaps
Anathema's most distinctive accomplishment, in the sense that it
captures Anathema at a point where their music was not only incredibly
emotional, but also delivered with great intensity. This doesn't mean
the mellower efforts that followed are less worthy, but there is no
escaping the classic status of songs like "The Silent Enigma", "Shroud
of Frost" or album closer "A Dying Wish". While showing the band in
the middle of a massive transition, _The Silent Enigma_ is a hugely
inspired album, with a superb combination of atmosphere, emotion and
riffs."
Anathema's expansive songwriting on _The Silent Enigma_, coupled with
a unique mixture of metallic and emotional intensity, ensures the
album's immense quality remains untouched a decade later. _The Silent
Enigma_ had a major impact on me when it came out, both on a musical
and personal level, and it is no less overwhelming today. In this
album there are riffs, clean chords and lyrical passages that bear a
spontaneous ability to affect the listener the likes of which can very
seldom be heard. There is only one somewhat weaker track, namely
"Nocturnal Emission", but one thing should be entirely clear: in my
opinion, this is one of those extremely few albums that transcend
genre and even music itself, able to become embedded in the very soul
of those it touches. "...And there is no song... just a delusion of
silence."
Beherit - _Electric Doom Synthesis_ (Spinefarm)
by: Todd DePalma (8.5 out of 10)
Although diversions from black metal into electronic music became in
vogue during the second half of the Nineties, projects such as Neptune
Towers and Beherit sought to renew the ethos of their creators, having
peaked respectively some years earlier under different provisions, by
delving into less traditional structure in ambient composition. In
Beherit's case, the adjustment came at the price of its subacid guitar
style gained from introduction to the Brazilian scene and the
sussurate phantom voice of frontman Marko Laiho, resigned to work more
as sculptor than orator behind his new incarnation. The daemonic
appellation remained intact presumably because the ideas remained the
same; the occult thematic previously dealt with so explicitly retained
its potency in abstraction, mutating into phantasmagoric trance
invocations, "Ritual", as plastered on the back of one album. This
contributes in part to the commercial and critical shadow over this
album, which is too fucking weird for some and not grounded enough in
the old ways for others. All in all, this seems for the best --
experimentation within metal that breaches into some commercial
success concomitantly creates nouveau acknowledgement of the early
canon; the attempt at preserving integrity in this way, if we can
reasonably assume the goals of the artist, is thus achieved.
Similarly, across the metal spectrum we see bands cite and integrate
outside influences to flavor their new material, which can result in
pompous ebb of quality. The problem with crossing over in general is a
deficient subtlety wherein the perspective of the composer leans on
cliché and blunt reconstitution, sporadically introducing these
elements in ways that preclude either being fully realizing or made
into something new. This is why the much-hyped music of Leviathan only
becomes intriguing when split from its confused inclusiveness or why
another recently celebrated band such as Woods of Ypres' perfervid
pop/rock expeditions are as convincing as Sum 41 jamming with Halford
and King.
Beherit's final work is a nine track voyage that renders the aural
essence of cinematic horror and science fiction in a way both
physically and psychologically evocative of chaos. It's episodic, as
in the act of dreaming. While at rest, the human body is prone to a
number of disturbances that disrupt the sleeping process. However,
most of these brief arousals never last long enough for us to
remember, and so by morning we awake believing to have lain in steady
repose throughout the evening. The physical may also be true of the
mental -- that dreaming, when characterized by random shifts in
activity and image is seldom one long circumstance, but a collection
of fragmentary scenes merging in succession during a process of
interrupted languor, a natural editing of the subconscious. In this
manner, the album opens with a dragline of dissonant keys trickling
through the auricular gate of its listener, appropriately titled
"Ambush", soon lost in the epileptic blur of "We Worship". Improving
on the hollow, amateur Midi sound of _H418ov21.C_, this work produces
a more surrounding, complex audio environment; polyrhythmic drums echo
toward the edges of cyber-punk futurism with brooding, eastern tones
cloaked in heated distortion accented by a chorus of strings. What at
first could be confused as excursions into modern dance music in
employing upbeat rhythm loops ("Drawing Down the Moon") reveals itself
more as electronic folk music that (as the recycled title underscores)
reiterates a kind of magical arch with a semi-glorious accent of
wonder and tension that evokes man in the grip of syzygy. The writing
becomes more lucid as time passes, harmonizing the fractional beats
and effects into less abrasive ambulation; contemplative wanderings
such as "Sense", with astral drifts comparable to Norway's Biosphere
or "Temple of Lykos", ending the album with a ripple of taut
somnambulance that hints at the final stage of transformation, the end
of Beherit: Suri Shaamani.
Because self-understanding is the only palatable excuse for art in the
first place, the uncharitable tone that takes place over these later
recordings is itself admirable and completely in the spirit of the
original material. In this context (pandering to no one), alienation
uncovers actual power. And with Laiho still being roughly around the
age of twenty at the time of this shift, _Electric Doom Synthesis_
gives one of the more fascinating glimpses into artistic development
within (without) the genre.
Crown of Thorns - _The Burning_ (Black Sun)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8.5 out of 10)
I have said this before, and I will say it again. For the past few
years, an ever increasing number of bands seem determined to be the
loudest, fastest, sickest or most brutal in the scene. They tend to
become more dependant on image and/or production as a result, and
ultimately their focus often seems to shift away from the actual
music. A lot of the members of these bands are probably too young to
have been aware of _The Burning_ when it heralded the arrival of Crown
of Thorns (later known as The Crown), but they would do well to give
it a spin or ten today.
_The Burning_ may not have a fancy production job, but every
instrument is discernible and the final result is quite adequate; it
may not have great shock value, but it has plenty of vitriol and
energy; and it may look more juvenile than fashionable, but it
contains more cracking leads and riffs than you might expect. With
song after song of furious, memorable death/thrash, Crown of Thorns
crafted an infectious and highly enjoyable debut, with numerous
highlights and very few passable numbers.
Crown of Thorns would then release the much less consistent _Eternal
Death_ (still worth picking up for the brilliant "In Bitterness and
Sorrow") before moving on to their famed death 'n' roll albums as The
Crown, starting with the crushing _Hell Is Here_ -- but that same
hellish raw talent was all here already, and it shows.
Dark Tranquillity - _Of Chaos and Eternal Night_ (Spinefarm)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9.5 out of 10)
Since I can't pick Dark Tranquillity's 1995 classic _The Gallery_ and
yet again go on about how it remains one of my favourite albums
(because it has already been famously covered in a certain review back
when it came out), for tradition's sake I'll just do the next best
thing: review the EP that preceded it earlier that year.
Truth be told, the reason why I picked _Of Chaos and Eternal Night_
goes much deeper than the CoC tradition of somehow always mentioning
the infamous _The Gallery_ review in these special articles. On this
four song EP, we're taken back to a time when some EPs were still
actually very much worth buying. _Of Chaos and Eternal Night_ was made
up of a reworking of a song from the band's debut _Skydancer_ and
three original tracks which were never released elsewhere (although
the EP itself was later part of a reissue of DT's aforementioned debut
_Skydancer_). It served both as an introduction to the style from
which _The Gallery_ would later be born, and also to the band's new
line-up -- most notably with Mikael Stanne (guitarist on _Skydancer_)
superiorly taking over vocal duties in place of Anders Friden (who
joined In Flames).
Simply put, _OCaEN_ is full of cracking music from beginning to end,
and that certainly hasn't changed a decade after it came out. The
final stretch of the title track and the main riff on "Away, Delight,
Away", in particular, remain as two of the finest moments in DT's
outstanding career. The production may be a bit thin, but the vibrancy
and excitement of DT's music could not be stifled. As a stand alone EP
or together with _Skydancer_, _OCaEN_ remains a mandatory collection
of songs for those who appreciate technical, energetic metal that
complements its huge successor _The Gallery_ nicely.
Death - _Symbolic_ (Roadrunner)
by: Paul Schwarz (10 out of 10)
Released in March, a mere five months before CoC began, Death's sixth
album presented a new manifesto for metal music. Mingling complex yet
catchy melodic strains with percussion possessing not only potent
power but genuine, subtle eloquence, _Symbolic_ established new
foundations. Eschewing both mainstream trends and underground
tendencies of the time, Death's mastermind (guitarist, vocalist,
primary songwriter and sole lyricist Chuck Schuldiner) took his music
in a new and intensely ambitious direction -- one barely hinted at by
Death's previous work. Certainly the increasingly fast, technical
direction pursued since 1990's _Spiritual Healing_ -- which had
climaxed in impressive if somewhat stifled style with 1993's
_Individual Thought Patterns_ -- pointed towards the fact that
_Symbolic_ would be a progressive rather than retrogressive work; but
the sheer scope of Schuldiner's vision and the almost total success
with which it was realised was nonetheless unprecedented, even in a
history as exemplary as Death's.
Working from March to September of 1994 alongside drummer Gene Hoglan
(the only other surviving member of the Death line-up which recorded
_ITP_) Schuldiner cemented the foundations of Death's exquisitely
reborn, reinvigorated sound. Turning in a career-best performance, the
ex-Dark Angel sticksman not only did Chuck proud -- he upped the ante
on metal drumming for the second time in his then ten-year residency
as one of the true greats of the genre. Allowing himself the freedom
to embrace his personal drumming influences and be inspired by their
work in the process, Hoglan played it all, to paraphrase Jag Panzer's
Reynold Carlson. Taking the dictate given him at the Bradford clinic
of one Dom Famularo, Hoglan happily stole from other drummers;
"...mainly Castronovo on Marty Friedman's _Dragon's Kiss_"
[Slagwerkkrant, June / July 1995]; putting together an identity to his
playing which was genuinely instrumental: a potent voice to lend to
_Symbolic_'s multifaceted song. Giving Hoglan the freedom to express
himself allowed Schuldiner to free the guitar, _Symbolic_'s most
singularly expressive voice.
Instead of being a mere time-keeping, pace-asserting device -- as they
so often are in heavy metal -- the drums of _Symbolic_ both set and
off-set tone, regularly creating genuine atmosphere. But most
importantly, they speak alongside, rather than being regularly
subsumed by the two guitars which lead the album's immensely engaging
musical dialogue. Though it is the variety inherent in _Symbolic_'s
songs which primarily accounts for how this pentrating and pronounced
percussive pulse of Hoglan's comes across, the contribution made by
bassist Kenny Conlon (recruited only five rehearsals before the
recording of _Symbolic_ began) is of significance. With little time
and a comparative lack of experience, Conlon simply grooved on
Hoglan's rhythm, mirroring his patterns and locking to his step.
Instead of contributing creatively, Conlon gave definition to what was
already mapped out, amplifying the impact of the patterns Hoglan had
laid down.
The potency and prevalence of this rhythmic foundation was ultimately
secured by engineer and co-producer Jim Morris, who worked alongside
Schuldiner at Morrisound studios in Tampa, crafting an exquisitely
balanced, richly dynamic yet grippingly powerful sound for Death's
sixth album. (As Schuldiner himself put it: the difference in sound
between _ITP_ and _Symbolic_ is a difference between night and day.
[WATT, April 1995]). It is Morris whom Schuldiner credits with opening
up Death's sound on _Symbolic_. Primarily this is because Morris, in
pitching the guitars higher, gave them a clarity and power which they
had never had under Scott Burns, who had produced Death's three
previous platters. Given a perfect platform to speak his penetrating
musical piece, Schuldiner crafted songs which prized variety alongside
heaviness, and accessibility alongside originality. Teaming himself
with an old high school friend who, like Conlon, had cut his teeth
with local Florida bands purveying "progressive hard music" [Spark,
March 1995], Schuldiner embraced metal traditions without succumbing
to the temptation to simply play up to them. The new man, Bobby
Koelble, may have been deemed a "big traditionalist" [Spark, March
1995], akin to his immediate predecessor, Craig Locicero of Forbidden,
who had taken King Diamond man Andy LaRoque's place during the touring
for _ITP_. But the little that Koelble does contribute to _Symbolic_
as a writer (he takes solos only on the first two tracks, according to
the album's credits, which claim general authorship to Chuck
Schuldiner exclusively) is not simply showy metal leadwork: his
closing solo on "Zero Tolerance" -- flavoured by jazz fusion
influences and expertly, economically appropriate in its placing -- is
among _Symbolic_'s most beautiful moments. Schuldiner and Koeble
together laid down the most singularly expressive set of intertwining
guitar voices in Death's illustrious canon.
As ever, the most profound thrust of Schuldiner's expression is
through his music. Though the lyrics of its title track opener delve
interestingly and in searchingly affecting style into the man's past
with his band and in the scene -- exquisitely mirroring the song's
daring, dynamic thrust, which plays with tempo and mood freely,
evidencing a relaxation in its creator which was unprecedented in
Death's history -- _Symbolic_ otherwise contains little, lyrically,
which is of great significance in itself or which carries significant
poetic weight. In this sense, it is very much a metal album: the music
is very much the focus.
His stated purpose to keep metal alive, Schuldiner fashioned songs for
_Symbolic_ which were laden with melodic hook lines and solos. But
simultaneous with this return to old metal roots was not only the
continuation of Death's progression drive, but its fierce
intensification. Opening up to his influences, Schuldiner successfully
matured Death's sound without losing its identity to self-indulgence
in the process. Graceful in a way heavy metal rarely is with success,
_Symbolic_ melds its own highly developed formulation of the kinetic
approach to our beloved style, pioneered by Slayer and others in the
Eighties, and adapted to a fine point by death metal's collective
offspring in the Nineties -- to a fluid, often richly melodic and
always exquisitely pronounced chorus of two guitars. Throughout this
album's fifty minutes, primal, propulsive energy and delicate, subtly
affecting emotion intermingle effortlessly. There is nothing in the
collective catalogues of Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate
and Iron Maiden which reaches as far and indents its stamp on the ages
quite as profoundly as _Symbolic_ does, in this writer's opinion.
Majestic and epic yet measured and often intimate, _Symbolic_ more
than achieved its creative goal: to save metal from stagnation, either
induced by mindless mass-market trend following, or small-minded scene
loyalty. It may not have made Death into the Iron Maiden-and-
Metallica-combined-for-the-Nineties that its creative success
deserved, but its legacy has lived on -- inspiring countless bands to
scale heights of creativity hitherto undreamed. Though Schuldiner had
forged propulsive, smooth and insistent songs in the past, here he
finally found a way to make even the most dynamic tempo and mood
shifts in stunningly seamless fashion. _Symbolic_ set a new bar which
has not actually been -raised- in the ten years since its release.
When it celebrates its Jubilee, it will sound as good as it does today
-- or perhaps more likely, it will sound even better. An undisputable
milestone in the history of metal.
Fleurety - _Min Tid Skal Komme_ (Misanthropy)
by: Todd DePalma (8 out of 10)
Is Fleurety a black metal band dreaming itself as a progressive rock
band, or is it a progressive rock band dreaming about playing black
metal? The question had still hardly been answered when the Norwegian
group released their 2002 album _Department of Apocalyptic Affairs_,
creating a new round of confusion as the band leapt from the black
metal milieu altogether and into lush electronic rock perplexities.
But the skill and linearity with which Fleurity is able to assume
seemingly incongruent roles is what makes their debut record such a
fascinating work; one that utilizes extreme structural dissonances to
portray terror next to the serene, refusing to limit itself to a
single atmosphere.
_Min Skad Til Komme_ is, contrary to most perceptions, not quite "all
over the place". It chooses from a select cache of influences to form
a party of distinct personalities that eventually get along rather
well, providing potent imagery in evocative composition which the
first track "Fragmenter Av En Fortid" illustrates so wonderfully. What
starts as a breezy interlude of undistorted guitar strums and juicy
bass notes wandering tranquilly through an empty kind of happiness
becomes devoured by the static intrusion of what is now cliché black
metal fare in minimal and diminished chords that temporarily erase so
much sunny-ness from the air. For the next forty minutes from this
into the proceeding tracks, Fleurety arrive at more complex structures
involving the combination of bass and drums working in jazzy
counterpoint rhythms next to odd cadences of a guitar style which
shows far more in common with the prog-metal quirks of Amorphis than
fellow countrymen and equally controversial auteurs Ulver. Still a
novelty in 1995, the estrus charged female howls of Marian Aas Hansen
double adhesively within these lifting Pagan melodies, alternating
duties with the torn expressions of Fleurety co-founder Svein Egil
Hatlevik. The pair displays piquant antiphons of the descent from
accepted beauty to licentious expression and total possession, evinced
here in one fell swoop that can still upset the dogmatic and religious
mien of the Christian and black metaller alike.
Recently re-issued by Candlelight with new artwork, the 2004 version
of this disc also includes as a bonus the full _A Darker Shade of
Evil_ demo and "Absence", taken off one of the Blackened compilations.
Highly recommended.
In the Woods... - _HEart of the Ages_ (Misanthropy)
by: James Montague (10 out of 10)
I must have listened to this album at least a hundred times in the
hundred days following its purchase, eventually declaring in 1999 that
_HEart of the Ages_ was one of the three perfect metal albums ever
made. While the advancing years have sapped my ability to blurt out
such fanboyish hyperbole, I must say that my enthusiasm for this album
has yet to fade -- though it has adapted itself somewhat to my
evolving (or possibly regressing) tastes. These days I skip the
annoying quasi-gothic, emo-doom pandering of the three-and-a-half
minute "Mourning the Death of Aase", but this small blight in
proceedings is more than offset by the renewed wonder I feel for
"Wotan's Return", a quarter-hour monolith of early second wave black
metal riffing and palpable spirituality. But that's not to say I'm
only in it for a bit of old-school Norwegian worship. In the Woods...
started their career with only one foot in the black metal circle and
ended up a hop, step and a jump away. Even at this early stage, they
displayed a wondrous range of technique and songcraft that has stood
the test of time better than most of their contemporaries.
Starting with a basic palette of tremolo picked guitars, monolithic
drums and desperate screams reminiscent of early Burzum, each track on
_HEart of the Ages_ offers something new, whether it be female vocals,
natural sound effects (insects and the like) and more prog-rock synth
backgrounds, frog-like fretless bass solos or primitive beats that you
can imagine being played around a Pagan campfire many centuries ago.
Every song is composed with overwhelming skill, patience and
inspiration. The extravagant song length isn't down to repetition --
even though "Wotan's Return" is the most black metal piece on the
record, it covers an extraordinary amount of ground in its fifteen
minutes. I also love the fact that there's an instrumental on this
record entitled "Pigeon". A pigeon is just a common, smelly bird,
right? Ironically though, the track is a beautiful, soaring, majestic
piece which eagles and falcons would be proud to call their own.
Ten years on, this album should have shown up on your radar at some
point, and though the band's subsequent dive into more prog-metal
territory may cause consternation for the extreme metal fan, there
really is no excuse to ignore this inspiring, epic achievement. Brutal
it may not be, but few recordings in any genre have come this close to
awakening the ancient spirituality of those oft-invoked northern
forests.
Meshuggah - _Destroy, Erase, Improve_ (Nuclear Blast)
by: Brian Meloon (10 out of 10)
_Destroy, Erase, Improve_ was Meshuggah's breakthrough album, and
remains to this day their defining moment. While their sound was
hinted at in 1991's _Contradictions Collapse_, and mostly defined by
1994's _None_ EP, this album fleshed out and solidified their style.
The essence of their sound is their heavy, tight, syncopative and
polyrhythmic riffs. But with this album, they expanded their use of
melodic jazz / fusion-influenced sections. The melodic abstraction of
these sections provides a stylistic counterpart to the rhythmic
abstraction of the heavy parts. To complete the package, Meshuggah
add aggressively shouted vocals, highly precise playing, and ultra-
powerful production. It's a combination of elements that works well
together, and really hasn't been improved on in the last ten years.
Looking back, what stikes me about this album is how completely the
band executes their vision. On many albums, the riffs are a hodge-
podge of different styles and influences; but on _Destroy, Erase,
Improve_, every riff is true to the style. It's a rare album that
achieves this degree of focus, and an even rarer one that breaks new
ground while doing so.
Ultimately, this is a landmark and important album. It not only
provided the high water mark for the band's future work and their solo
projects (e.g. guitarist Fredrik Thordendal's 1998 solo project _Sol
Niger Within_), but influenced dozens of other bands as well. As such,
it belongs in any serious metal fan's collection.
Morbid Angel - _Domination_ (Earache)
by: Jackie Smit (10 out of 10)
For me _Domination_ was an epiphany. Where hindsight would perhaps
label it as the record that in the eyes of many led to Morbid Angel's
fall from grace (no pun intended), from the moment that I hit the play
button one fateful Thursday afternoon, it had me entranced. It wasn't
a case of discovering a new band; I had devoted ample time to the
likes of _Blessed Are the Sick_ and _Covenant_. _Domination_ was just
one of -those- records -- an album that hit me with the same blunt
force impact as _Reign in Blood_ had done to a previous generation a
decade earlier.
What better way to leave a lasting impression than to start a record
with a track like "Dominate"? Brutal, aggressive and stripped of all
but the faintest Lovecraftian bent -- another erstwhile trademark of
the band -- it sends a powerful message to the listener that for the
next fourty-five minutes, all bets are off. From Bill Kennedy's
chunkier production, through to the heavier focus on melody and David
Vincent's noticeably deeper and more intelligible vocals, _Domination_
draws inspiration from its three predecessors, and elevates it to
almost overwhelming heights. Ironically, the distinct and more
sonically uniform sound that is so crucial to the overall feel of the
record was another of Trey Azagthoth's many peeves as he headed into
recording _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_, but it remains impossible to
ignore its effectivity in light of the menacing opening riff to "Where
the Slime Live" -- an uncharacteristically slower, though no less
compelling number.
These two tracks are mere appetizers for the main course however, and
it's the post-apocalyptic hammering of "Eyes to See, Ears to Hear"
that definitively sets the tone for the rest of the album. Minutes
later and "Dawn of the Angry" and "This Means War" launch a dual
pronged battle hymn; the band tearing through riff after classic riff,
while Azagthoth lays down some of his most inspired and inventive lead
work to date. A brooding and majestic "Caesar's Palace" is a logical
follow-up to this compendium of violence, with Trey, by his own
admission, paying homage to the guitar work of Eddie Van Halen --
steering the album's mood toward something distinctly darker, building
up to the climactic crescendo of "Hatework".
Ten years on, and the album still bristles with the same vitality that
was coursing through it in 1995, dropping nothing to the deluge of
critically acclaimed newcomers in the scene. Its detractors have been
vocal, but it is held in the highest regard by much of the band's
fanbase -- including Devin Townsend, who interestingly references it
as his favourite death metal record. As for my two cents: _Domination_
still has no equal. Its influence on my aesthetic sensibilities was
profound, and it remains the primary benchmark against which I hold
every death metal record that is passed my way. For those who would
underestimate the lasting legacy it has left on the underground, a
brief listen to Decapitated's _The Negation_ -- to name but one
example -- provides abundant evidence to the contrary.
Opeth - _Orchid_ (Candlelight)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
Adorning the front cover, two pink orchids on a plain black
background; no band name or album title in sight. Turn the CD case
around, and all you see is the track list and four silhouettes
standing against the sunset. The monochromatic remainder of the
booklet finally unveils a band logo on a low contrast page: the name
Opeth is at last revealed, as if timidly hidden in a grey mist.
Most of those who made it this far and -- against all odds -- picked
up the plain bright blue CD inside for a spin back in 1995 were
probably unaware of what awaited them. Inside lay a gem of an album
made up of over an hour of intricate, progressive and emotional metal,
strongly rooted in dual guitar work that evolved throughout each
lengthy composition. Two other characteristics immediately stood out:
the demonic roar and whispered voice that accompanied the music so
suitably, and the well integrated acoustic sections that appeared
every now and then.
_Orchid_ marked the debut of what would become one of the most
distinctive and celebrated bands in extreme metal today. It would be
followed up in 1996 by the more progressive and considerably
successful _Morningrise_ (which, like its predecessor and successor,
originally bore no band logo on its front cover), before the departure
of original members Anders Nordin (drums) and Johan de Farfalla
(bass). These were replaced respectively by drummer Martin Lopez and,
later, bassist Martin Mendez.
While it lacks the stronger production and clean vocals Opeth
regularly use today, _Orchid_ still remains a highly intriguing,
memorable and enjoyable record to date. It is therefore an album worth
possessing not only for its historical value, but also for the
relevancy it retains ten years after its release -- a rare thing
indeed, and the herald of a great career.
Sieges Even - _Sophisticated_ (Under Siege)
by: Brian Meloon (8.5 out of 10)
Germany's Sieges Even have so far released five albums (the band have
recently reformed and are planning a sixth), but I find this album to
be their best. The band's debut album, 1988's _Life Cycle_, was
technical thrash, heavily influenced by Watchtower's _Energetic
Disassembly_. Their next two albums, 1990's _Steps_ and 1991's _A
Sense of Change_, saw them moving in a more prog-rock direction,
similar to mid-'80s Rush. Finally, 1995's _Sophisticated_ and 1997's
_Uneven_ found them with a new guitarist, a new vocalist and a new
sound.
I'd describe this album as a cross between Watchtower's _Control and
Resistance_, Extreme's eponymous album, and Mordred's _Fool's Game_.
The similarities to Nuno's funk-styled guitar work for Extreme are
pretty obvious, but the complexity of the music is more similar to
Watchtower. It retains some of the technicality of their earlier work,
interspersing highly technical sections with simpler and more
commercial sections. Yet despite the complexity, the songwriting is
generally very good. Not only do the songs generally flow well, but
the band were able to make each song unique while retaining an overall
characteristic sound.
The performances are all very good, with amazingly nimble guitar work.
Guitarist Wolfgang Zenk pumps out riffs varying from thrashy to mellow
to funky to punky to jazzy without missing a beat. The bass work and
drumming is also exceptional, frequently following completely
different rhythmic ideas than the guitars, but somehow making the two
parts work together. The vocals are also very good, strong and clean
without being whiny or awkward sounding.
That said, this isn't a perfect album; I have basically two complaints
about it. First, the songs are occasionally a little too commercial,
though these parts are thankfully isolated to only a few songs.
Second, the album loses steam in the second half, and several of the
latter songs drag. Nevertheless, what makes this album noteworthy to
me is that it has aged so well. A lot of albums sound dated after ten
years, but _Sophisticated_ still sounds fresh to me. Probably this has
to do with the level of energy in the music and the fact that they
have a distinctive sound that no one else has copied since. Whatever
the reason, this is an impressive album that has stood the test of
time.
Sol Invictus - _In the Rain_ (Tursa)
by: Todd DePalma (9 out of 10)
By this time in songwriter Tony Wakeford's career, he had drifting far
away from the semi-acoustic post-gothic niche so similar to his former
project Death in June and onto more intimate exhibits aided by cello,
drums and violin. With his dour voice still intact, _In the Rain_ is
sunken in the expression of love and cynicism brought together in
strange and exquisite song, an album of often tenebrous pieces that
dance in the fire of the past.
A mixture of Brahm's mournful urgency and English folk song, these
eleven tracks wrap both a morbid humor and strong indictment of
modernity within deceiving textures of music that strangle your senses
with obsessively noir orchestrations, highlighted by the tandem of
Nathalie Van Keymeulen and Céline Marleix-Bardeau on violins, bringing
ensorcelling Celtic vibrations to the fold. The pomp of "The World
Shrugged" and "In Days to Come" momentarily diffuses the somber mood
towards the disc's end, but by then we can't recover. Even in
appealing to hope and love there is an inescapable dimension of
mortality in all things, as in the heartbreaking admissions of
"Believe Me" that run with a stainless veracity:
"Fields of Spears, our creation
For our crimes there be damnation
The blood of the past, it does bathe us
The fingers point to blame and claim us
And without love we are lost
Believe me, we are lost
With out love, we are dust
Believe me, we are dust
Without love we lose our souls
And mine had left long ago
The gods above and the gods below
Believe me"
This track, if you had to pick one, shows Wakeford as easily the most
coldly articulate and powerful folk artist since Leonard Cohen, who he
has undoubtedly outshined in quality while continuing on for almost
two decades.
Like their prior and much admired album _Lex Talionis_, 1995's _In the
Rain_ marks a new musical direction in the Wakeford discography that
would continue on for at least a few more years and records,
eventually topped by the release of _The Blade_, and then moving on to
experiment with jazz instruments and rhythms for the new millennium.
For those unfamiliar, this is as good a start as any; and for those
who've been long captivated, why not pull out your copy again to
contemplate the future, as "when we fall we'll fall like Rome".
Summoning - _Minas Morgul_ (Napalm Records)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
If there ever was a band whose music could transport the listener to
Tolkien's Middle Earth, in my opinion it is Summoning. Miles away from
their raw debut album _Lugburz_, for most listeners _Minas Morgul_ is
where the voyage begins.
The basic elements employed by this Austrian due from here on are
simple enough: black metal shrieks, fuzzy guitar lines, a wide array
of keyboard effects, and a very distinctive and pronounced drum
machine. Various layers of these ingredients are successively added to
the music, serving as building blocks that Summoning combine to shape
each track. This often results in lengthy compositions -- soundscapes
of almost minimalist valleys and climatic peaks -- as Protector and
Silenius strive to represent various moods within their music.
Summoning would refine this approach on subsequent albums, namely _Dol
Guldur_, _Stronghold_ (which in my opinion remains as their crowning
achievement to date) and _Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame_. Although
it is a little rough around the edges and its arrangements are
comparatively modest, _Minas Morgul_ is a very inspired album that
warrants an important place in Summoning's discography through the
sheer strength of the ideas commited to disc.
Ulver - _Kveldssanger_ (Head Not Found)
by: James Montague (9 out of 10)
As the late Chuck Schuldiner once said, serenity is sacred. But for
restless and demanding types like myself, it's not the easiest thing
to find in the music world. After all, that stuff they call "easy
listening" on the radio is nauseous tripe that induces hypertension in
every muscle of my body. Barbra Streisand, relaxing? Ugh! You've got
to be fucking kidding me.
Ulver, on the other hand, know a thing or two about crafting a mood;
or at least they did in their earlier days. With _Kveldssanger_, the
second part of their initial trilogy, they created some truly magical
and serene music that really does have a meditative quality. As most
people in the Scandinavian metal scene would already know, this album
took the mystical folk components from the debut album _Bergtatt_ and
expanded on them, while the following album _Nattens Madrigal_ took
the harsh black metal component and cranked it up to phenomenal
levels. For this instalment of the saga the aim was, according to a
translation of the archaic Danish liner notes, "to paint Naturall-
Mystickall & Trollish Atmospheres solelie with acoustick Instruments,
and what You hear is the result of late Nightes where we have found
ourselves in Creative Longing for old Norway's grand Historie,
marvellous Nature and the Spellbinding Atmospheres of Olde that She
doth convey".
Of course, not being Norwegian I couldn't really relate to Ulver's
specific yearnings, but even in the vastly different climes of
Australia, I too whiled away many an evening looking out at the
bushland behind my home, gazing at the stars and just letting this
wonderful music flow through my brain as I thought about nothing in
particular. How often can one claim to be so content, oblivious to
one's worldly troubles? It's all too rare, and sometimes you need some
help. _Kveldssanger_ did exactly that.
How did Ulver achieve this "natural-mystical" atmosphere? It takes
talent, no doubt, but it also takes modesty, in a sense -- modesty
that allows the musician to act as a channel for their innermost
passions and spirit, uninterrupted by the urge to show off. What I
mean is, the band didn't try to over-elaborate their spiritual
message, and thus run the risk of suffocating it. Most of the tracks
are based around simple but beautiful acoustic melodies by guitarists
Haavard and AiwarikiaR, about half of which are accompanied by Garm's
wonderful clean singing. The vocal arrangements are a little more
complex, with up to four vocal tracks overdubbed, but the harmonies
are very soothing and not at all bombastic. "Ord" and "A Cappella" are
both purely vocal tracks, as indicated by their titles. On a few
tracks a cello is used to create a more sombre mood, while occasional
use of the flute gives a more nostalgic feel. I simply love the last
80 seconds of "Hiertets Vee", where the sound of a winter breeze
accompanies a dual flute melody to create a magical atmosphere and an
effortless high.
Since I already had the other two parts of the trilogy, buying
_Kveldssanger_ was the easiest decision I ever made, and the rewards
were sweet. The quality of the compositions exceeded all expectations,
complemented by the understated oil painting by Maria Jaquete that
adorns the cover.
On a more personal note, one thing which strikes me as remarkable with
the Ulver trilogy is that, though the methods may vary, the
psychological effect of each album is much the same. It's quite
bizarre how the two totally polar styles employed on _Kveldssanger_
and _Nattens Madrigal_ both send me into a nostalgic trance, and says
a lot about the brilliance of this band's early work.
Ved Buens Ende - _Written in Waters_ (Misanthropy)
by: Todd DePalma (5.5 out of 10)
There are several parallels between this short-lived group and their
Norwegian brethren Fleurety. Both released their debut records on
Misanthropy within the same year, both offered a more avant-garde take
within the black metal genre, both employ the use of female vocals to
this effect, and both have seen their work now reissued through
Candlelight Records. But the most interesting link is how both of
these groups compare to certain established death metal acts hailing
from the border country of Finland. While the latter carries a certain
folkishness within jazzy parameters roughly akin to Amorphis, Ved
Buens Ende's sound is closely modeled after the nightmarish structures
of Demilich (and attentive enjoyment of Darkthrone), which the first
track of this album readily gives away in a cascade of dusty icicles
crashing over the semi-tribal rhythms of drums. The blending of these
different elements not only contextualizes the cross-influence
occurring at the time, but of when the proverbial ice began to break
within the genre. While _Written in Waters_ shoots for something of a
synthesis between the atypical groove and austere harshness of these
two, it loses an organic quality in the process and becomes
deadeningly pretentious as well. It's not long after the first twenty
minutes that the album begins plunging into grating dramaticism via
the monotone vocals and dissonant chords continuing into each track
without adding any depth, while the passivity in the production gives
this new sound a stone atmosphere of technical hebetude. Simply less
alive and content to run in circles, the band stretches a rough
blueprint for potential brilliance into an hour's worth of music that
leaves so much to be desired. (And has since been realized further and
more recently in the current work of Deathspell Omega.) Though it has
achieved a kind of prestige in obscurity, _Written in Waters_
represents an incomplete idealism with a certain conceit -- or,
depending on how you wish to view it, laziness -- that sets traps all
around, diminishing its grace, and leaves it best relegated to small
doses of memory.