Haunting, delicate melodies twist and mesh in a sound that can only be compared to a steaming cup of tea...

I've always wanted to start a review that way. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Apart from wondering how you transcend a river and all, this cruised my brain and left me smiling.

The Grand Leveller was a masterpiece, and this picks up where that left off. A seamless death metal performance. These boys have always had a certain flow that put them above the pack, and it is further evolved on this album.

Incorporating various elements of the different metal circles is a great marketing move, and it sounds even better. This is a true death metal album that has wide-ranging appeal. The lush production leaves no eardrum cell left unshaken. Another god-like performance.

I've been wondering how serious the Dead Youth are; Their stuff is so over-the-top you can't take it seriously, but I wasn't sure. Until I heard the first track of this album. Funny as hell.

From there it degenerates into muddy grindcore. But there are those lyrics many women love: "I'll crunch your ballsac (sic) whip it into a mulch. Genital juices gurgle and squelch, squeeze your testicles, put them in a vice..."

Um, apart from the fact squelch means to put an stop to, or something like that, this is real art, man. I'll show you some funky divas, man.

Five shades of death. A nice little ep that, while produced rather sparsely, sounds damn nice. While the Voivod cover sounds more like the Accused (which Benediction covered on their new album), it certainly is an interesting take.

More accomplished playing also is a highlight. As these American bands mature, who knows where they might end up. An almost frightening thought.

This sounds like an almost punk take on death metal. Of course, where do you think this music comes from? Tight jams here, and they're obviously having fun.

Nice, crunchy pop, a little heavier and punkier than their EP, which I reviewed a couple of issues back. I think this is actually the earlier recording, but who's counting?

These folks have a solid music base, and seem to be rather decent songwriters as well. Folk to be watched, for sure.

A fine compendium of noise, with a great beat to fuck to. West coast folk have had a much easier time picking up their earlier works, or at least they were the only ones reporting them.

Now that AT has picked them up, there is no excuse for backsliding. Of course this isn't metal. It isn't anything in particular, except great.

Now, I know a lot of you don't like to play stuff that fits into the category of "really weird shit." But you play stuff that has gratuitous mentions of things like periods and bras, and there's plenty of that here.

So be an American. A real American. Burn your flags and play Grotus. That's all.

Even though they're from Portland (Ore.), they sound like they wish they were from the upper great northwest. Nice pop melodies run through impossibly fuzzed-out guitars and bass, with a kinda whiny, kinda moaning vocal style.

Rip-off is not the right word, because there are so many bands who sound like this these days you can't pick out who did it first (I'm pretty sure it goes back to a pleasant young man caught with his FFA first prize ewe).
This is also damned catchy, which is not something you can say about most of those "Neer-vay-nuh" wannabes. And the songs themselves are completely original.

More than enough to light up your shift; And this way you don't have to play a damn Seattle band to get the same effect.

Eyeing the success of the Beasties and House of Pain at metal radio, the Continuum posse (I had to use it) is cranking this single out to said audience.

Kid Rock is a white homeboy (once again) from Detroit who uses every bad rap cliche in the book, and then travels down the list again. Should sell a couple of million.

The problem white rappers have is that they don't have anything to bitch about. So Chuck D was an accountant or some such before P.E. The singular experience of being a proud black man in a white world will provide enough grist for years to come.

White guys rap about bad hair days, the pain of suffering under P.C. or nothing at all. This falls under the last category. It seems to be some sort of boast gig, but the music is of a real bad metal ilk. He's almost as good (so to speak) as the Beasties, but that's not saying much at all.

"She walked in the room..."

Those were the first words I heard from Mind Over Four, from some song on side two of their self-titled album on Destiny Records. "Black Dahlia", "Black Orchid", I don't remember the name. That album is impossible to find; I played the tune in my days at KCOU.

Their last, The Goddess, was one of the best albums of 1990 (was it that long ago?). I remember it finished at #100 in the CMJ Top 100 of the year.

The buzz on this album should preclude such a travesty now. The music, what I like to call heavy fusion, has never been better or tighter. And the lyrics almost make sense (a little metaphor is a good thing).

While many bands like to draw on all kinds of music, when they put it together it seems all herky-jerky. But Mind Over Four mix every kind of beat and style imaginable and it sounds seamless. More like amazing.

It seems everyone is talking about how incredible Halfway Down is. Like it is the best album of the year or something.

They just might be right.

The lead track from the appropriately-named Dropped is more of the sound that made them college metal darlings (and sales pariahs).

Actually, I thought they had a couple of catchy songs on their Epic record, especially "Sugar Ain't So Sweet." This is heavy, grinding grunge. Trying to be artsy at times. It holds hope for the full-length. From the basis of you folk's reports, though, it's already a hit.

I've been accused of hating Pavement. Not true, though I don't see them as the visionary messiahs who will lead us to the great alternative Ranch Apocalypse, either.

As with any Pavement, your appreciation of the band increases with your dosage. As the only mushrooms I've had recently were barbecued, I'm in no condition to review this.

They have been compared to the Velvet Underground, the Fall or both (really). They're the next...

I don't know. This is a compilation of old stuff. Okay.

Since I may be living in North Carolina in a few months, I guess I should pay attention to bands from around there.

And Polvo IS certainly worth a listen. There is a lot going on, most of it at once. While compared to another Tar Heel band, Superchunk, Polvo wanders where Superchunk tightens up.

Heavy, twisted pop that will eventually crash through your defenses. People really got off on last year's album, and I can't imagine a different response for this one. Don't let it be too weird for you; take the challenge and plunge in.

Always far too metal for the blues, and just too weird for metal, Raging Slab have been releasing albums for six years, and an amazingly few number of people have figured out how cool they are.

Where I liked their previous efforts because they were rather understated, this fucker is so overcranked I could stone half of Austin with it.

But apart from a production that seems determined to make them into another Led Zeppelin (perish the thought), the songs still kick ass. And most of the time all the glitter can be missed if you turn the volume up high enough, to the point where the candle on top of your speaker starts to crack.

That's the only way anyone should listen to Raging Slab.

Now that hardcore has gone from dead to trendy, it only makes sense that the Rich Kids on LSD would reform, if for no other reason than to score some cash from a fertile scene.

Of course, what would happen if they actually recorded a good album? Well, no one stopped to consider this possibility and so, as logic dictates, it did.

I'm guessing the "massive crossover potential" listed on the press means I'll soon be hearing this on the new "young country" station in town.

Actually, the heavily blues-infused punk going on here is a rather distinct sound. Well, there's about any sound you can make with a fuzzier-than-thou guitar, from funk to hardcore grind. Yes, that's funk with an "f".

Real blazing lead work, which leads me to call this neer mettle. It smells like metal, tastes like metal, but has a heart o' punk.

It works for me. Hard.

I grooved on their Orangapoontangy demo for the longest time, and was rather bummed to hear they had lost their bassist and were not sure what they would be doing next.

This would be that, and it jams quite nicely. A different bass style is in evidence, but the sound is amazing as usual. These guys can write a tune. Or two. The third is the Kiss thing "Strange Ways". Read the bio to understand.

Why someone hasn't really picked up on these folk is beyond me, but at least now it's a lot easier to play them on the air.

I'm beginning to get the idea there are a lot of mid-eighties Eurometal freaks up in the northland (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota). The production makes this sound like every part was recorded on a different continent, but that kinda grows on you after a while.

As for the songs, the vocals soar very nicely, and the whole thing has a great early Fates Warning feel to it. As with Shylock last issue, I wish more people liked this brand of metal so that good bands like this could get signed more often. Oh well. I'll still be jamming it.

God damn it's so exciting! The Warner Brothers side of the TL catalog had yet to see the light of CD, and then Metal Blade reaps the harvest of their deal. While it could be argued that their best work was behind them, I don't think Thin Lizzy recorded a better complete album than Black Rose.

"Thunder and Lightning" remains my favorite tune from these folk, and so I was rather happy to see that song as the emphasis track.

No need to turn your station into a boring classic rock signal, but it wouldn't hurt to dig into the more unknown side of Thin Lizzy now and again.

Yes, New York hard core sensibilities meet the latest in Seattle grunge, just like the press intimates. Mostly the cool parts of each, with a tight rhythm section and nicely hoarish vocal style (howzat?). Well produced, too.

They are planning to record an EP soon. Get on the gravy train. You can write the band (see the usual spot) or call up Paula at Century Media (a different coast). You'll be glad you did.

Muddy production lends this a grunge sound at times, but it is more just plain jumpy. The rhythm section reminds me a lot of Poster Children, and the vocals are typical atonal shouts. All in all a perfect sound for today's alternative nation.

The thing that saves this for me is that the people making it sound like they give a shit. There is an energy that the cold metal of the CD has managed to capture.

All you dorks still playing Gruntruck should latch onto this. It's just as heavy and a lot more interesting.

Chemlab. Diatribe. Malhavoc. And, of course, Skrew. Some pleasant remixes to crank your industrial listeners out there. I got this from Metal Blade, though I assume Cargo has a few of these things as well. I think you can also find most of the tracks somewhere else, but I sure don't mind having them here.

This is a good introduction to a couple of bands that a lot of you probably haven't heard before. And good bands at that.

Why is it I can sense this real big industrial takeover of the metal universe. Matt at Relapse has been preaching this for a while, and I'm inclined to go along. After all, didn't Nine Inch Nails win the metal Grammy this year?

As opposed to the seven-inches or the video. Just so you know.

Six of the coolest bands you should've heard of be now. I really grooved on the Ed Hall and Pain Teens, but tracks from Crust, Drain, Johnboy and the Cherubs are pretty damn nice, too.

All of the tracks are unreleased. I wasn't special enough to warrant a copy of the CD, which the press points out has two more songs (what they are and who they're by is anyone's guess), so I can only review based on the twelve songs I heard.

Be happy with what you get. The twelve songs here range from the vicious to the truly wacky. What else did you expect?

Truth be told, the biggest moneymakers in the indie business these days are tribute albums. And now that Kiss and Alice Cooper are taken care of, how about the Sweet? Or Slade.

On this double discer, there are a lot of interesting folks laying their pride down and strumming out an Alice Cooper tune. While the liners don't make it clear this whole thing started out as the Alice Cooper band, life goes on.

Don't go for the obvious; Tyla is great (what happened to the Dogs album in the can years ago?), and I vote for the Sloppy Seconds (forever), Flaming Lips and They Eat Their Own, too. It's cheap and easy, but Alice has always been good for that. Grab a six pack (more if bringing friends) and head out of town to relive weird high school memories, secure in the fact you're listening to "hip" bands play that one song you could never get out of your head.

A nice, vicious metal album. The kind you pull out and play for your friends who say all metal is redundant, brainless tripe.

For starters, the production is absolutely perfect. The guy stayed out of the way of great songs and let the album produce itself. A big monster hand for guitarist Kevin Michael, who did the honors.

Sure, the songs are a little preachy at times, but I sure didn't mind when the lyrics are rather intelligent and the music is in the process of pulverizing most of my nerve cells.

I think this has been on the release schedule for almost a year. It arrived here not a moment too soon. This gets an air guitar behind my back in a handstand. And a spot in my discer for the next few weeks.

Creedle
Half Man, Half Pie advance cassette
(Headhunter-Cargo)

If this ain't the strangest thing... . You can never tell where it's coming from or where it's going, but I love it anyway. Mr. Bungle on PCP.

Great songs to warm the cockles of any punk's heart. To call it wonderful wouldn't be doing it justice.