Legend: Brujeria, a group of Columbian drug lords named after a flavor of Mexican Satanic black magic, got together and made a band. Their music, self-described as “machete metal” and “hardcore Mexican murder music”, falls directly under the label of brutal death metal. After releasing several successful Brujeria albums, Juan Brujo (the leader of Brujeria), has once again summoned up El Demoniaco (the demonic maniac) and demanded a series of 13 “Demoniaco” recordings, each one focusing on a different member of the Brujeria clan. Think of it as the KISS solo albums of the “hardcore Mexican murder music” genre. The first of these albums is the story of and from the man known as Asesino — Spanish for assassin.

Reality: Brujeria, a super-group of sorts, features members from Fear Factory, Napalm Death, Cradle of Filth, Faith No More, and Dimmu Borgir, according to their site. Asesino is the first official side project to spring out of Brujeria — the first of 12, if their promo material is to be believed (it rarely is). Guitarist Asesino is in reality, ex-Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and Grenudo’s kick drum attack obviously belongs to his former partner in crime, Raymond Herrera. The new variable added to this side project is Maldito X – Tony Campos, of Static-X. (Note: After the particularly nasty breakup of Fear Factory, Herrera is no longer performing with the Asesino.)

Asesino takes the groundwork established by Brujeria and runs with it. The tracks on Corridos De Muerte all lie somewhere between semi-brutal death metal and really-brutal death metal. “Asesino” (the track, not the guy or the album title), sets the bar high by blasting forth a brutal sonic assault that doesn’t let up for 60 minutes. Occasionally, on songs like “Rey de La Selva”, the band will break up their heavy grind with a small groove in the middle, a tradition that Brujeria has always done well and Asesino (the band, not the song or the album this time) seems to have carried on. For the most part though, there’s not as much groove as their is in your face death metal.

The lyrics, like all the Brujeria albums, are sung (or yelled, rather) in Spanish. I’m sure translated lyrics will appear on the web eventually, but for now curious listeners will have to type the lyrics from “Amor Marrano” (Love Pig), “Rey De La Selva” (King of the Forest), or “La Ejecucion” (The Execution) into their favorite online translator of choice. “Lunchador Violador” apparently tells the story “of a masked Mexican wrestler who turns to a career of raping and murdering prostitutes.” Don’t they all?

The Asesino CD is also an enhanced CD which includes five music videos. I won’t ruin any surprises here, but let me just say that the videos are just as brutal and hardcore as the music, and don’t leave much to the imagination. Then again in the last paragraph, I just told you that this album includes a song about a Mexican wrestler who turns to a career of raping and murdering prostitutes. Neither the songs nor their videos are going to appear on MTV anytime soon.

What they will do, however, is go down as some of the catchiest and dirtiest death metal songs I’ve heard in quite a while. While Brujeria’s Mextremist Hits failed to inspire like their previous releases, Asesino’s Corridos De Muerte combines hardcore death metal with a “pop” sensibility. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t get much heavier than this, but Campos brings Static-X’s ability to be heavy without being unlistenable to the table, making a ferocious album not soon to be forgotten. To good to be called a “side project”, Asesino’s savage attack deserves to be on every death metalhead’s shelf.

Tracks:
01. Asesino
02. Rey De La Selva
03. Despedazando Muertos
04. Sequestro Nuestro
05. Amor Marrano
06. Luchador Violador
07. El Patron Mando
08. Cyko Maton
09. Carnicero
10. Chota Sucia
11. Donde Esta Mi Corte
12. La Ejecucion
13. Corrido Del Asesino
14. Hidden Track

Anthrax will never go out of style. I skateboarded to Spreading the Disease in sixth grade, and fifteen years later I’ve found myself headbanging to their latest release, We’ve Come For You All (although somewhere in the middle, I did end up giving up skateboarding.) Even during those years when radio and MTV became metal unfriendly, Anthrax continued releasing hard rocking albums. Even the loss of original singer Joey Belladonna (technically, their second singer) didn’t set the band back; ‘Thrax came back harder and heavier with John Bush, ushering the band into the 90’s.

And here we are again. A new album introducing Anthrax to another decade and another generation of fans. Old fans, don’t worry. We’ve Come For You All, Anthrax’s seventeenth album, might just be their heaviest to date.

After a slow and building intro, Anthrax kicks the album off with “What Doesn’t Die”. All questions pertaining to Anthrax’s ability to rock are answered right up front. The song opens up with a brutal, machine like drum track not unlike Fear Factory, complimented with the style of machine-gun riffing Scott Ian is famous for. The song quickly finds a groove and hangs there with Bush’s vocals right in the middle, where they belong. Unlike some of the band’s mid-80s releases, the bass track is loud and proud here, holding up the bottom just as it should. Ian and Bello do their best to keep up with Charlie — fast and heavy palm mutes give way to a groove heavy verse and a chord happy chorus before returning to the chunky trenches the band is known for.

Anthrax is back.

And if you think the guys in Anthrax are getting old, check out “Nobody Knows Anything”. Its complex drum rhythms and guitar pattern made me start the song over two or three times until I got the feel for it. Awesome stuff. “Black Dehlia” starts out as a semi-furious sing-a-long, but just wait until the end — Slayer, move over!

Songs like “Strap it On”, “Think About an End”, and “Cadillac Rock Box” maintain a medium rock pace. Ian’s guitar riffs have plenty of room to dance here in and around Charlie’s big open drum patterns and Bush’s balls-out vocals. Even the album’s slower moments, like “Refuse to be Denied” and “Safe Home” find ways to maintain the album’s edge.

While Metallica has wasted their talent covering old Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, and Nick Cave tunes and Megadeth has officially bowed out of the metal scene, Anthrax continues to be relevant in the current music scene. The latter part of the disc contains two fist banging anthems. “Taking the Music Back” and “We’ve Come for you All” are both catchy and rocking. Just what the doctor ordered to wrap this album up in a grandios fashion.

While the band has faced many hardships, the worst one may prove to be the Internet. With a two month difference in overseas and domestic release dates, digital copies of the band’s hard work are sure to hit the net before the album is available for sale. (Editor’s note: the album actually appeared online January 21st, weeks before the overseas release date and almost three months before the US release date. According to the band, the version floating around on the net is NOT the final version set to be mastered and released to the world.) Hopefully, fans of true metal will drop a little green and support this release to show the world that we are indeed “taking the music back.”

Note: The final release of We’ve Come For You All is also set to include a bonus CD including videos, multimedia, and bonus material, plus a phenominal booklet. On top of that, the album is also being released in vinyl format. Definitely worth the cost of admission.

The latest Anthrax DVD, Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991), contains thirteen of the band’s earliest music videos featuring original lead singer Joey Belladonna (except Antisocial). Some of the videos aren’t videos at all, but simply simply live performances. Of course after watching the entire DVD, you’re realize that pretty much all of Anthrax’s music videos were also live performances, so pretty much what you’re getting here is thirteen live performances from Anthrax.

The videos are presented chronologically, so astute fans can document Scott Ian’s hair loss throughout the years. Unfortunately, most of the band’s early hits (Among the Living, Caught in a Mosh and I Am the Law) didn’t have videos, so these videos for these songs all came from the same live concert, and all look very similar.

The selling point of this DVD is Anthrax’s video commentary track, consisting of all five original members. The bonus feature shows the videos in one window with the band members in two smaller windows. If you want to play a drinking game, take a drink every time Dan Spitz mentions clocks (he’s a MASTER clock maker these days, ya know). The video track actually has some pretty funny comments about several of the videos and is definitely worth watching.

While not life changing, Anthrax’s Anthrology is not a bad addition to any serious fan’s collection.

01. Metal Thrashing Mad (Live)
02. Madhouse
03. Indians (Live)
04. Armed and Dangerous (Live)
05. Among The Living (Live)
06. Caught In A Mosh (Live)
07. I Am The Law (Live) 08. Im The Man
09. Who Cares Wins
10. Belly Of The Beast
11. Got The Time
12. In My World
13. Bring The Noize

For those of us who grew with the band, Joey Belladonna was the voice of Anthrax. Through albums such as Spreading the Disease, State of Euphoria and the classic Among the Living, thrax ruled the speed metal genre and gave fellow thrashers Megadeth and Metallica a run for their money. And then, things got weird. First was the firing and replacing of Belladonna with John Bush (Armored Saint). At the time, Scott Ian (guitar) commented that Belladonnas voice never really fit the music he was writing anyway. Right. So, Anthrax (now led by Bush) tracked on, releasing several decent (but unpopular) metal albums. Bush and the band made it clear that they would not be performing Belladona-era material live. Then there was the reunion (of sorts) that was to take both lead singers out on the road at the same time, with the classic songs performed by Belladonna to be followed by the newer material, performed by Bush. After that it got pretty messy; Bush said if you want Belladonna, you got him. The end result was 2005s reunion tour with Belladonna at the mic. Alive 2 is a live album recording during the bands 2005 reunion tour, featuring all five original members from the classic Anthrax line up.

Considering the fact that most of the material on Alive 2 is 15-20 years old, the music holds up surprisingly well. The blast beats, double bass and dual guitar riffs match most of todays new (nu?) metal in intensity. Belladonnas voice isnt what it once was (especially the upper range), but its still nice to hear him belting out the tunes he made popular. As far as the music goes, if anything, the band sounds tighter and heavier than ever.

Unfortunately the set list on Alive 2 leaves something to be desired. With only twelve tracks, tracks like Deathrider (from Anthraxs debut album) and In My World (from Persistance of Time) waste valuable space, while other classics from the era (like Madhouse) are conspicuously missing. Still, the bands strongest tunes from the early years (Caught in a Mosh, Among the Living, Antisocial and I am the Law) all make appearances.

Back in the day Anthrax was a revolutionary band. so its a bit sad to see them turn into one of those bands, riding the coat tails of their former success (7 of their past 9 albums have been either live albums or greatest hits compilations). On Alive 2, Anthrax proves they can still bust out the tunes. Its not the end all of live albums, but its a nice nod to the older fans.

01. Among The Living
02. Got The Time
03. A.I.R.
04. Antisocial
05. Efilnickufesin (N.F.L.)
06. Deathrider
07. Medusa
08. In My World
09. Indians
10. Time
11. Be All End All
12. I Am The Law
13. Metal Thrashing Mad
14. Im The Man
15. I Am The Law

Sometimes, you have to be really specific on your Christmas list.

In 1996, Alice in Chains released Unplugged. Three years later, the boys in Chains shot the wad by releasing not one but two albums for the holiday season of 1999. Christmas shoppers had their choice between Music Bank, a 4 CD opus, or the trimmed down Nothing Safe – Best Of The Box, which was a “best of the best” release. Not bad for a band who hadn’t played together since ’96.

So when I secretly wished for a year 2000 Alice in Chains release, I should have been more specific and asked for new *material*, not just a new disc. Alice in Chains’ Live, debuting December 5th and marketed once again directly to holiday shoppers, offers live versions of all the songs you’ve already heard on their last 3 releases (not including the studio releases also).

The marketing campaign for Live pushes the fact that this is the first official, live, PLUGGED-IN release from Alice In Chains. Ok Sony/Columbia, you caught me on a technicality, it’s a little different than the last three CDs. Not all of the songs on Music Bank are live, and the songs on Unplugged are obviously acoustic, so technically, yes, these versions are slighly different. The liner notes and web site push the rarity of some of these recordings, so I was a little confused when I read the set list and saw every major AiC hit. It turns out that that the songs aren’t rare, but rather that they are rare recordings of non-rare songs. Go figure.

The CD runs the gamut from old to new material. According to their website, the tracks “span several live recordings from November 5, 1990, through tracks recorded at the band’s last shows opening for KISS in July, 1996. Live also includes tracks from the 1993 Glasgow Barrowland shows, the first to feature the then newly-recruited bass player Mike Inez.” The tracks are edited together in such a way that it sounds like all one show, for the most part.

Overall, the song choices make sense. There’s nothing too obscure here – anyone with MTV or a car radio should know most of these. The disc opens up with an odd choice, “Bleed The Freak” (where’s “We Die Young”? Bumped for “Bleed The Freak”?) and then moves to the somewhat obscure “Queen of the Rodeo” – from there, it’s all radio friendly. “Angry Chair” leads into “Man in the Box,” “Rooster” leads into “Would,” “Dirt” leads into “Them Bones” … there’s no shockers here. “God Am,” “Junkhead,” “Love Hate Love,” “Again,” and a “Little Bitter” take you through some of the Chains lesser known hits, but then the album ends on an upswing, driving the tempo back up with “Dam the River.”

The songs are all good quality, better than what you will find on any bootleg. Layne’s voice is mixed right out front, the guitar solos are there in the mix but the normal guitar parts aren’t overdriven too badly. The bass isn’t muddy, like you get with a lot of live recordings. The drums sound exactly like they do on the song’s studio counterparts.

So, what do we have here? A live CD of well-worn Alice in Chains material. Hey, I loved “Angry Chair” when it came out on 1992’s Dirt. I liked it on 1996’s Unplugged. I liked in on the Music Bank, and I liked it on Nothing Safe – Best Of The Box. I’m just not sure I need another copy of it, but here it shows up again, on Live. Yes it’s live – and yes, it’s still the same song.

We’re living in a world where Tupac Shakur has released more albums after he died than when he was alive. A Jimi Hendrix 4 CD set of unreleased material recently came out, and he’s been gone for 20 years! The major labels have repeatedly shown that they will retread the same stuff over and over – and most mindless zombies will eat it up. Checking on CDNOW, it looks like Alice In Chains had 5 studio albums, and 4 compilation ones (spreading over 7 CD’s) – so far.

Bottom line, Alice In Chains’ Live isn’t bad – it just doesn’t offer anything new. If you’re a die hard Chains fan, love live music, and haven’t picked up a bootleg of one of their shows, you might grab this for nostalgic reasons. If you’re not a big fan, go buy Dirt, stock up on what Layne would call “your drug of choice”, listen to the album with headphones, get depressed, and BECOME a fan. At least they didn’t release a different version of this disc for each city they played in.

Tracks:
01. Bleed The Freak
02. Queen Of The Rodeo
03. Angry Chair
04. Man In The Box
05. Love Hate Love
06. Rooster
07. Would
08. Junkhead
09. Dirt
10. Them Bones
11. God Am
12. Again
13. A Little Bitter
14. Dam The River

Growing up in Oklahoma, finding good music was a bit of a challenge back in the day. Suuure, nowadays you have your fancy, schmancy Internet and can order any CD at anytime from anywhere, but back then we didn’t have such luxeries (yeah, we walked to school uphill both ways, too).

In 7th grade, my friends and I discovered a heavenly like being – and that being was the BMG Music Club. No longer were the metal heads of the Bible Belt limited to Wal-Mart’s shitty music selection – oh no horn flyers, for only a penny you could order 11 rockin’ cassettes. The cassettes were white, the inserts were usually missing, the cases were often cracked, and we could care less. When you first opened that box of 11 cassettes it was like Christmas for Headbangers.

One of the first 11 tapes I got from BMG was Alice Cooper’s Raise Your Fist and Yell. What I knew about heavy music was from MTV, my friends, and my dad. MTV had introduced me to Motley Crue, my friends had introduced me to Metallica, but my dad’s record collection was the first place I had ever seen Alice Cooper. to tell you the truth I didn’t even know what Alice Cooper sounded like at the time – my friends and I would just scour the BMG catalog looking for the most creepy album covers, and order them. That’s how I discovered Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast, SOD’s Speak English or Die, and this one – Alice Cooper’s Raise Your Fist and Yell.

If you’re a fan of 80’s era rock and roll, this is a must own album. It’s got all the dementia of your average Cooper album, but the music is a far cry from his old stuff. The style on the album is more on par with other rock bands of the era – think Bulletboys or even Ratt for that matter. This is the album before Trash (you might remember the single Poison), so if you’ve heard that you know roughly what you’re in store for, although Raise Your Fist is the edgier of the two albums. Of course, the music on the disc just serves as a vehicle for Alice Cooper’s madness, plenty of which is presented throughout the 10 song lineup.

The disc opens up with “Freedom,” a rousing anthem that demands that we get our “freedom to rock” and “freedom to talk”. The chorus also demands that we raise our fist and yell. Not some of his deepest lyrics, but it works great as an album opener.

“‘cuz I never walk away
from what I know is right
but I’m gonna turn my back on you … ” – Freedom

Many of the songs on the album could be considered filler. That doesn’t make them bad, just not great singles. Still, they’re all very singable and catchy. In “Not That Kind of Love,” Cooper sings about wanting to touch, feel, and taste a girl, and tacks on “don’t get ideas, this won’t last forever.” At one point he says “I won’t be calling you to go to the prom.” Can you imagine 60 year old Alice Cooper taking anyone to the prom? What a great visual. Instead of a flower he could wear a million dollar baby pinned to his lapel. Ah shit, where was I?

Many of the songs on the album are anthems of sorts. There’s “Give the Radio Back (to the Maniac)” which talks about how he’s tired of being in school and how his friends are partying outside and he wants his radio back. Again, just thinking of Alice cramped up in one of those little school desks. “Mr Cooper, can you PLEASE take off that top hat! This is a school!” Another anthem is “Lock Me Up,” where Alice sings over and over “If you don’t like it you can lock me up, woah, oh oh oh, oooooh,” which is a message to his musical critics.

“Cover your eyes,
Cover your head,
You’ll never know what hit you
til’ you’re covered in red … ” – Lock Me Up

For all the fluff, Raise Your Fist and Yell has a couple of not only my favorite Alice Cooper songs, but some of my favorite songs of all time.

By far, my favorite song on the disc is “Chop, Chop, Chop.” If you know Alice Cooper, most of his songs are stories – this one just happens to be about a guy who performs a service for his town. Unfortunately for local prostitutes, that service is picking up local prostitutes and chopping them up, “keeping the city so clean.” I LOVE it!

“Chop, chop, chop, engine of destruction
Chop, chop, chop, a perfect killing machine
Chop, chop, chop, it’s symbiotic function
Chop, chop, chop, I keep the city so clean” – Chop, Chop, Chop

There are a couple of other classics on the disc as well. “Gail” is a song about a girl who has been dead and buried for quite sometime. As the “bugs serve time in her skeletal jail,” he wonders how the bugs will remember Gail. Later in the song, a dog sigs up a bone and wags his tail, and he wonders how the dog will remember Gail. Cool stuff. In “Roses on White Lace,” Cooper chops off the head of a former love who has betrayed him. “In my own way, I lovingly kiss the bride.” Ew.

Time To Kill is a song about a guy who’s been locked away in prison and is ready to kill when they let him out. Prince of Darkness is a song about Lucifer – not praising him, but more just the story about how he was cast out of Heaven and how he’s waiting for revenge. Of course this WAS the 80’s, so you had to have SOME Devil reference on your disc to get any sort of credibility.

I find most of Alice Cooper’s music from the 70’s to be slow and boring, and his new stuff to be just a little radio friendly. For one album through, I think he hit the nail right on the head. I’ve bought several other Alice Cooper CD’s, but ended up trading them away or selling them off. I recently bought this out of print CD off of ebay, which has totally renewed my love for it. While not all the songs are heavy hitters, they’re all singable and just this side of “pop”py, even though they all maintain an evil streak running through them.

It’s especially a great CD for road trips. Even the wife enjoys singing “Chop chop chop!” while cruising down the road. The music on Alice Cooper’s Raise Your Fist and Yell may be dated in the 80’s, but the songs themes (especially about the Devil, killing prostitutes, cutting the head off of your first true love, and demanding the right to rock) are timeless.

01. Freedom
02. Lock Me Up
03. Gave the Radio Back
04. Step on You
05. Not that Kind of Love
06. Prince of Darkness
07. Time to Kill
08. Chop, Chop, Chop
09. Gail
10. Roses on White Lace

Alice Cooper — The man’s done it all, and did a lot of it before most of us were born. Can you imagine a band throwing a live chicken into a pit, only to watch the crowd tear it apart? Yeah, well Alice Cooper did it — IN 1969. Alice Cooper defined so much of what heavy metal is today, bands should be sending him 10% of their income in gratitude.

Growing up, my dad had a couple of Alice Cooper albums on his record shelf. I never listened to them because the covers actually scared me. One look at that guy with mascara and snakes and I was out of there. I didn’t become a fan until seventh grade, when I heard Raise Your Fist And Yell, a CD I still spin from time to time. Despite the fact that I’ve been listen to ‘Coop for over fifteen years now, I’ve never had the chance to catch him live — until now, on Brutally Live, the new DVD/CD combo pack from Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Recorded live at Labatt’s Apollo in Hammersmith, England on July 19th, 2000, Brutally Live contains both a DVD and a CD. The DVD clocks in at 105 minutes and contains 25 songs. Due to CD length limitations, it only contains 20 of the 25 tracks.

As far as I’m concerned, Alice Cooper invented the stage show. While other bands were wearing suits and smiling like idiots on stage, Alice Cooper was throwing fake body parts at his fans and dodging babies hanging from nooses on stage. Age has not slowed the man in the slightest. At the beginning of the DVD, Alice is introduced to the crowd by some sort of half-rotten corpse, a special effect David Blaine would impressed by. During “Dead Babies”, Cooper pulls a grotesque two-headed half-deformed/half-wolf baby from a baby carraige, stabs in the back with a sword, and displays it proudly to the crowd. If you’ve never had to opportunity to see Alice Cooper’s famous guillotine act, here’s your chance. Just because your dad may have listened to him doesn’t make this your dad’s DVD.

The track list pretty much spans Alice Cooper’s entire career. Classics like “Dead Babies”, “Billion Dollar Babies”, “I’m Eighteen”, “School’s Out” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” all make appearances, as well as material from Cooper’s latest album (at the time), Brutal Planet. My only complaint was that nothing from Raise Your Fist And Yell made it into the set list. Still, with 25 tracks, everyone who even remotely likes Alice Cooper will surely find something they like here.

One thing I really liked about the DVD was that the songs tend to blend together pretty well. You can still tell the older songs from the newer ones by the way they’re written, but with the same band and production on every track, the line between the years seems to blur pretty well. Better than say on a greatest hits package where a 35 year difference in production quality is blatantly obvious.

Sure, there are a few rock cliches here, like a drum solo with drumsticks on fire and several costume changes. Of course you have to realize, when Alice Cooper started this wild rock and roll ride, they weren’t cliches then. He invented half of them. Cooper also takes the opportunity to throw a few friendly jabs at some of his comtemporaries, first by referring to Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, and KISS as his “disobedient children”, and later by wearing a t-shirt that says “Britney Wants Me… Dead.” It’s only rock and roll, baby.

The DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen format, and contains 2.0, 5.0 (surround), and DTS audio tracks. The DTS track in particular shook my living room walls. Also included is one bonus video (“Gimmie”), alternate camera angles, and links to additional Alice Cooper downloads via his website. While it’s a little thin on extras, the important things (good video and great sound) are there in full force.

Alice Cooper fan or not, people should check out Brutally Live. For twenty bucks, you get both the DVD AND the audio CD. Brutally Live catches Alice Cooper in top form, and preserves the legacy of one of the masters at his game.

Tracks:
01. Brutal Planet
02. Gimme
03. Go to Hell
04. Blow Me a Kiss
05. I’m Eighteen
06. Pick Up the Bones
07. Feed My Frankenstein
08. Wicked Young Man
09. Dead Babies
10. Ballad of Dwight Fry
11. I Love the Dead
12. The Black Widow
13. No More Mr. Nice Guy
14. It’s Hot Tonight
15. Caught in a Dream
16. It’s the Little Things
17. Poison
18. Take It Like a Woman
19. Only Women Bleed
20. You Drive Me Nervous
21. Under My Wheels
22. School’s Out
23. Billion Dollar Babies
24. My Generation
25. Elected

I recently read an online article that consisted of questions you should ask yourself if you’re in a band and trying to get signed. The first and biggest question was, “what’s original about my band?” Of course, I’m not in a band, so I’ll ask that question of A18. What’s original about their band?

The answer is, not much. A18 serves up standard, trademark, straight forward SXE hardcore.

Foreverafternothing is very heavily front loaded. By that, I mean the first two songs are the best on the album. “Dig” shows listeners what the band has to offer — hardcore drums, bass driven riffs, and lots and lots of yelling. Where the band really comes together is on track two. “Broke the Blue” changes up tempos, singing styles, guitar sounds, and everything else within the song. Once that song ends though, so does the originality.

The rest of the disc dulls in comparison. Despite a couple of short interludes, “Things I Don’t Believe” consists of two chords played over and over. And over. Everything else came off as hardcore or punk stuff I’ve heard before. I skimmed a few other online reviews, all of which compared A18 to Biohazard and Hatebreed. I’m sure I’m showing my age, but I heard some Minor Threat and DRI in there as well.

Despite not bringing much new to the table, A18’s foreverafternothing is sonically perfect. The bass lines wander around the straight-forward guitars, particularly on “In Droves”, mixing things up a bit. Most of the other tracks just march forward in a straight forward screaming attack, until we reach “Hari Kiri”, which gives off a faint smell of Visions Of Disorder before fading out into forgetsville.

Foreverafternothing didn’t stick with me at all. Just minutes after listening to the disc, I was hard pressed to recall a single riff or chorus. Those searching for a new straight edge hardcore album might pick this one up, but it’s hard to recommend something “good” when there’s so many great hardcore bands out there.

01. Dig
02. Broke The Blue
03. Public Apology
04. Three Times Sold
05. With Kind Regards
06. Things I Don’t Believe
07. Where I Left Off
08. Scars Upon Scars
09. In Droves
10. Bury Me Breathing
11. Hari Kiri

You know, black metal isn’t really my forte’. I can listen to it and I can appreciate the talent it takes to play it, but I just can’t get into it.

I’ve listened to Marduk and Satyricon and from what I can tell, Norweigen rockers 1349 rank right up there with the best. If the goal of black metal is to play as fast and as hard as possible, then these guys do not disappoint.

On tracks like “Satanic Propaganda” and “Evil Oath”, 1349 blast off into a musical land of unbelievably quick blast beats and machine gun strumming. While the band’s techniques and performance are impressive, it’s a bit much for me to listen to for any given length of time. Production on the disc is clean and tight, and reminds me a lot of Mayhem’s last disc.

Fans of black metal should check out 1349. Any band that features former members from Pantheon, Funeral, Satyricon, Gorgoroth, and Zyklon-B and was named after the year the black plague hit their own country can’t be all bad. These guys have paid their gun belt dues and it shows.

Last night while unpacking more moving boxes (will this hell never end?) I ran across a box labeled “DESK”. I disctinctly remember packing this box — I opened up the box, set it in my desk chair, and used my arm to push everything from my work space into it. Tape it up, label it, and move on. Who said packing was tough? While unpacking this “DESK” box last night, I came across the debut CD from a band called 8 Trak Mind.

I remember looking at the CD a month ago or so and pushing it aside. I think I got their name confused with a local retro band and hadn’t been in the mood lately to hear 80s cover tunes. I decided to put the disc on while I was working last night … and boy was I glad I did.

As Beavis would say, “These guy rock! They rock, they rock, they rock!” Heavy, heavy stuff here. Some of the songs almost have a Prong vibe to them, but slower and heavier. Vocals range from singing harmonies to growling and screaming. If you’re into thick chords, thick riffs … well hell, just thickness in general, then these nine tracks of rock are tailor made for you. Don’t get the wrong idea, this is not doom metal — if anything, 8TM have more of a Gorefest vibe (circa Erase) going on here.

Occasionally I’m a a little slow at getting around to reviews. I’m not going to admit sitting on this one too long, but when I went to the band’s website to dig up some more information about them, I found out that they have already broken up and formed a new band named Mourn Makes Movement. Oops. MMM is 8 Trak Mind with the addition of another guitarist and a full time bassist. I downloaded the sample mp3 from MMM’s website, and they sound even heavier than 8TM does! Both bands’ websites are extremely well designed and have great quality samples free for downloading.

Back to the album for a moment. After a soothing intro, the disc kicks off directly into “Crutch”. What’s funny about several of these songs is they don’t seem heavy at first. The drums kick in and a riff fades in and pretty soon I find myself thinking, “Jesus, this is heavy!” Tracks like “Hostile Environment” and “Lost” are the same way … halfway through the songs I just find myself smiling, tapping… and looking for something to break. Another thing I liked — each song is different. None have just a basic, straight forward drum beat. The drums are part of the rhythm in several places.

Tacked onto the end of Plus One is the band’s earlier EP, Two Days. While there is a distinct evolution between the old tracks and the new, the old ones are still very, very good. It’s a hell of a deal for $10, to say the least.

8 Trak Mind have bullied their way into my “2002 List of Flack’s Favorite Bands”, right up there with Totimoshi, Killswitch Engage, and the Sweatpant Boners. You should pick this CD up from their website for ten bucks, and it should hold you over just long enough for the Mourn Makes Movement disc to hit the street.

01. Intro
02. Crutch
03. Lost
04. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
05. Sometimes
06. Bathroom Floor
07. Hostile Environment
08. Uninvited
09. Two Days (EP)