Insane - "King Of Fools"

(Hungary, Edge Records, Nu Metal, 2005)

A short while ago I began to discover the Hungarian Metal scene. Blind Myself was the first band that found the way into my CD player, because they've played with my friends Stone Fixion in Romania.
I wanted to buy their whole discography, so I've stumbled over BPRNR, a web shop where you can find a lot of great (underground) bands from Hungary... one of them being Insane (hey, nice pun!). This is the first band that sent me a real promo CD (slipcase) in my 15 months of writing for Arcana Noctis, there's not much info on it and I can't say how the original one looks like, but it took only the cover to make me curious...
The band was active for nine years now (founded in 1998) and this is the third album beside some demos and EPs and you notice this after the first hearing! The funny thing about this album is the fact that it starts common and a little boring and it gets better and better and much more interesting, at the end you can even find some "hits" and unique ideas! Maybe it's because they felt the need to put the straighter songs at the beginning for people who would get "frightened" by a track like "Downtown", maybe it's only my impression...
In the main I would say it's Nu Metal (if I still may use this term). A clasic line-up (vocals, two guitars, drums and bass), a mix of Mudvayne, Coal Chamber and some Korn (the guitar leads for example) with some 90s influences, plus a big part of originality (!)... unfortunately with some American Rock style parts à la Creed as well, which bother me personally...
The vocalist sound like three people at the same time! With a bright spectrum of pushing screams, growls (I think he could as well fit in a Black or a Grind band!) and clean singing, he gives the music a positive aspect. A great voice that remembers me of Chad Grey (especially when the clean vocals set in), sometimes much better than some of the big bands! The compositions are great, though a little complicated... very much breaks and changes in every song, it's hard to concentrate on one emotion. As far as I know, the earlier releases are straighter and harder, just download and watch the video for "Voyeur" (among others and some mp3's) and you'll know what I mean... but it's OK, you can't record the same album over and over again.
As I've said, the best songs are rather at the end of the album: "In The Movies", for example, is just an interlude, but a superb one, kind of a melancholic dark wave melody, followed by "The End Of The End" which is built of three different styles: the first one reminds me of Faith No More (especially the "King For A Day" vocals), the second one is very brutal (growls, hard riffs) and the third one is melodic with clean vocals... Mentionalble are also "Monochrome", which is kind of a hard ballad or the title track with it's great vocal lines! But my favourite song here is the last one, "Downtown" with its oriental flair, recorded with various members of BPRNR on vocals. Killer! ...and the production and sound couldn't be more perfect anyway!
All in all, it takes some time to get used to this album, but fortunately there's not a filler on it, and it sounds very fresh... no routine here! Definitely a band you should check out!

Insane Wrath - "Demos '02"

(Finland, Self released, Raw Black/Death Metal, 2002)

This CD-R reunites three demos of this one man project: "New Born Perversion", "Architects Of Vengeance" and "Taste Of Hate". All in all there are 13 songs is about 23 minutes. The music is intense but there are some slow passages in some songs too. The first demo is into fast Black Metal with Death Metal vocals. The second one has a better sound and benefits of a very sick introduction. The song "The Deep" from this demo sounds a bit in the Testimony vein and it's slower than the rest of the songs. I think that this song is the best here too. The last demo is the rawest and the most primitive production and is also the fastest. I can say that this is Black Metal with a Grindcore edge. Only for die-hard underground fans.

Instinct - "Albion"

(U.K., Ancient Trail Recordings, Black Metal, 2005)

I got this cassette a while ago. It's case and sleeve were smeared with blood, and the only info that accompanied said cassette announced that there was no website, no mp3's and it was limited to 60 copies. Clearly, this was Black Metal in it's rawest, most misanthropic form, without compromise or commercial considerations. And the music does not disappoint. It is as cold, bleak and nightmarish as you would expect. Usually performed at a slow speed with harsh, frosty riffs and vocals that are that kind of a half-spoken groan/scream. Tumultuous, grim and misanthropic sounding, Instinct's demo is a morbid addition to the underground UK scene... Since this review, "Albion" has been re-released onto CD with some additional 35 minutes of new material. I would suggest writing to the contact below to obtain a copy.

Interfector - "The Force Within"

(Bosnia & Herzegovina, Rock Express, Progressive Black Metal, 2004)

Interfector were my first encounter with Bosnian Metal, and I must say it's a very positive start! Opener "Mother Serbia" is quite folky yet very dark and foreboding. It's also quite long compared to the following tracks, which are around three minutes or so, yet still with a very epic feel to them. There's a lot of interesting influences in this album, aside from the aforementioned Folk influence, such as the Jazz breaks in the drumming and the sometimes 80s Metal feel to the guitar riffs. "The Force Within" can at times feel a little convoluted, with all these different elements vying for your attention on what is quite a short album (around 38 minutes or so, if I remember correctly). There are a great many moments of genius on this debut, though some may find it requires some work to grasp Interfector's sound. Those who like their Metal progressive and challenging yet still full of energy and dark aggression will love this rare diamond from the Balkans!

In Torment - "Diabolical Mutilation Of Tormented Souls"

(Brazil, Rapture Records, Brutal Death Metal, 2006)

In Torment comes from Brazil but in spite of this fact they do not have the traditional sound that many of the extreme bands coming from their land have. On "Diabolical Mutilation Of Tormented Souls" they bring forth 9 Brutal Death Metal songs in the pure North American way, their sound is reminiscent of Kataklysm, Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse and the like. While not bringing any new elements to the afore mentioned style they will surely please your ears with the pure blasts that they create. You have everything that you desire here from guttural vocals to high pitched ones, blast beats, fast guitar solos, rhythm breaks and even bass solos! The production of the CD is very good; all the instruments are well mixed and you can perfectly hear everything.
Lyrically the band stands in the Horror, Sci-Fi themes, well written short stories that evoke nightmares and futuristic images. Some of the best songs to be featured here are "Enigmatical Resurrection" and "The Curse". The CD is a must for the true Death Metal fans out there.

Iron Bitchface - "Haunting The Kathedral"

(U.S.A., Self released, Grindcore/Noise, 2003)

I would like to see an Iron Maiden when she meets an Iron Bitchface, I think they'll start to wrestle... anyway on this MCD Iron Bitchface is proposing a mixture of Noise and Grindcore with some Black Metal parody lines. In less than eight minutes they succeed in playing 10 songs, well compared to Meat Shits which on their album "For Those About To Shit" decomposed 274 songs in 70 minutes and Abosranie Bogom on their "Jerusalem Sessions Uncut" proposed 99 tracks which are having the average length of 3 seconds each. Iron Bitchface's songs can be called "ballads". The "highlights" of this MCD are "Grindcore Will Be Grindcore" and "Shit Dildo". The band is wondering why anyone does listen to their "noise" and why they have followers and they are completely convinced that people would listen to anything that is proposed to them – interesting view I may say. What they play is not music in my opinion but something else which is coming from attitude, see "Haunted Black Metal is grim". I think that there is more behind this band!

Ithdabquth Qliphoth - "Ithdabquth Qliphoth"

(Russia, Thou Shalt Kill! Records, Black Metal, 2005)

Russia is known for having some of the best underground Black Metal bands, Branikald, Forest or Old Wainds are the first to pop up in my mind as I am writing this and they are also known for having lots of Folk/Pagan bands that are adopting the Black Metal sound, one best being Temnozor. Ithdabquth Qliphoth stands as one of the first kind, raw and minimalist Black Metal with a great dose of atmosphere put in, something like a cross-breed between Xasthur and Forest with a Funeral Doom touch.
The "untitled" 2005 album is their first LP and a demo EP from 2002 and split demo from 2005 with MH LMTH, which is the project of AL-LA-ShT-ORR from Ithdabquth Qliphoth in which he ventures into the Power Electronics field. Composed of seven parts and limited to 777 copies (the number seven has several mystic connotations, among others: The creation of the world took seven days (Christianity), the journey of the soul through the seven "valleys" of search, love, knowledge, unity, contentment, wonderment, and finally true poverty and absolute nothingness (Bahá'í) or the number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into the underworld).
The first you will notice is the guitar tone is very piercing if you will be listening to this at a high volume or on headphones you will understand, it sounds more like a saw than a music instrument which depending how you take it might or might not be a positive thing. The production, regardless of what the booklet says "recorded in a zone outside the circles of time" is your average "bedroom Black Metal" one. The drums for example are buried in the mix and the bass is barely audible, not that this is not the case with most of the lo-fi Black Metal bands.
In almost 50 minutes of the song, the band is approaching different styles from fast Black Metal to mournful Doom through some more guitar based Ambient Drone. Althought the idea is to be praised, Ithdabquth Qliphoth fails in impressing the listener mainly due to endless repetition without an aimed purpose, after all the song is not driving you anywhere and it is more like a collage of pieces that are not fitting perfectly as an entity, see that some of the pieces have a "fader" effect between them which is leading more to the idea that this is a cut and paste song.
The lyrics (or qliphotic poetry as they like to say) are written in Latin language and they deal with occultism, not your usual "Satan, Satan" think but they are not works of art either. If you are patient enough you can try and give this album a listen but be assured that there are albums that are a lot better within the genre.