Seattle's latest contribution to the burgeoning post-punk scene is dead on.

I loved the ep earlier, and this ten-track slab-o-joy almost causes my blood to boil with happines. Oh, I'm so tired of writing these pompous rock critic "say something cool so you'll be put in the press" load of shit. So back to the real.

This is a great album. It's technically not metal, but it's real loud, especially if you turn up your stereo. I can sense this will be in the discer for some time.

Important note: this is more mature than the EP. Things slow up a little at points, and there is some acknowledgment of traditional song forms. I think it helps. They've moved from the prodigy stage to real heroes.

Roger Marbury, once of Dag Nasty. Petey Hines, once of Murphy's Law and Cro-Mags. A professorial lead singer (not to be confused with "that Bad Religion guy"). And a guy named Pat playing guitar.

As you may guess, this falls in that post-punk scene, and with pedigree like above, it had to be great. No surprise there. Actually, it sounds great. You have to hear it to believe. They're not breaking any new ground or anything, but this is a nice variation on the theme.

This is that one review of the issue I just can't say enough about or praise high enough. My words seem to have evaporated. Maybe you get the point now.

Great production and playing; this is a bit dated. Sounds a lot like Warning-era Queensryche. Now, as I happen to basically revere that album, it's no big deal. At times it veers into early Fates Warning territory, but I think you see the point.

I like this a lot, but it is awful derivative. At least they copy creative bands (or bands during their creative periods).

So clean you could have a birth on this disc. Everything is in perfect place, the playing immaculate, the songwriting tight, finding innovative jazz directions in death metal.

And oh so lacking in that important ingredient: emotion. Sure, they can play circles around their competitors. They express philosophy rather than slogans. But it's very cold. I crave not only an intellectual response to my music, but also a visceral one.

I can't feel for this. Maybe that's the point, but something's missing.

A well-traveled producer (John Zorn, Sonic Youth and Cop Shoot Cop to touch on a few) who in his spare time has decided to delve into Central American Indian and Hispanic folk music. But this is not quiet contemplation by any means.

Boss Hog-er Cristina helps out on three tracks, and you can hear a real psychotic, swirly guitar flying around. The lyrics are not in English most of the time, of course, but that's what you get for being faithful.

Inasmuch as he also stamps his own vision on things. These aren't happy little paeans to a life gone by. They are examinations of the troubles and celebrations of modern life. Just run through an exquisite filter.

Just like the press sez: a Brit pop band that sounds rather American. Nice thumping bass and feedback guitar. Others have compared to Dino Jr., etc. I like these guys a lot better. I think they have a sound somewhat reminiscent of those fine Northwest popsters Treepeople.

Early Treepeople, to be sure, but there sure is a lot of talent swirling around here. I certainly wasn't expecting anything and this shows up in the Earache package (really). Wow. To be blown away is a cliche. Simply stunning.

The Brutal Truth album was one of the most lauded things around. Still haven't heard it. But if this is any indication, I did miss something great. Oh well. I won't miss the next one.

Dan Lilker was in Anthrax and took off when they got a little more accessible. Same for Nuclear Assault. I hope this project doesn't go too far into the mainstream. There is the techno remix "Perpetual Larceny" and all, but even headbangers have to dance (it's true).

There's what seems to be obligatory there days: a Sab cover, but it's fairly tasteful, if not a little too faithful, so no big complaint.

Not just a song about everybody's favorite slag-town, but a whole concept based on the SubPop seven-inch club. Complete with weird writing where the song should be. I can't fuck up my needle more than I already have, so it didn't bother me. But you just might look out.

Oh, the music? Well, imagine the (old) Melvins (in keeping the Seattle thing) on mini-thins (trucker speed). Not really faster, but more animated. The whole thing is a real hoot!

More of the Earache catch-up; from now on, only the newest from those folk.

I liked Cathedral a long time ago, back when no major label in its right mind would even touch them. Of course, they didn't sound like Black Sabbath back then; they had their own style, closer to the Napalm Death genesis of the band.

I had heard a few things about this that were disconcerting, and most fell true. An awful lot of cheese and very little substance. It is a nice driving record with all those retread riffs, but if I want laughable lyrics, I'll go to the source and pop in the Sabs.

Once upon a time a band called Cathedral was a neat doom-death band. Then someone said if they started to sound completely like Black Sabbath they would make lots of money. Now they're just waiting for the check.

When I saw Cher live, it was a real heavy, fuzzy punk band. On this disc, all that veneer is pulled back and some real decent songwriting skills are displayed.

I still think this was produced a little weakly. It doesn't have to be as heavy as live or anything, but there could have been some bass, at least. Songs like "Leper Love", a great rant, call for some heaviness to back up the emotion contained. It's just not there.

Certainly an interesting album worth catching. Seems to me it could have been a lot more.

Another slab from the band that keeps the preach in punk. If you like your messages blunt and to the point, you can do no wrong here.

The lack of subtlety is nothing new, and the music does seem a little more sophisticated than previous efforts. Many tracks here have a heavy environmental theme, which was foreseen by the seven-inch.

In general, I found Loggerheads a lot more interesting than 13 Flavours, and I don't know why. It might be just a weird mood, or maybe I'm just feeling a little holier-than-thou today. Whatever. I've got the volume up to eleven.

The Machine could refer to lots of things, not the least the absence of former drummer Greg Knoll, who is attending art school not a mile from where I lived in K.C. For an even weirder connection, his boss at the school's computer lab beat me out for a job at a printing service bureau.

No hard feelings, especially when music like this is involved. Dead World has evolved from simply an industrial ambient group to more of the structured song type, best typified by the first track, "Cold Hate." I've had a tape of this album and other tracks for quite a while (a year?), and that song still brings chills.

Hard-core brutality. Different but still the masters. Godflesh haven't dared do anything this heavy since Streetcleaner, and only Pitch Shifter could possibly do this well (can't wait for the new disc).

Want real industrial death? There is no other choice than Dead World.

Believe it or not, there are twelve songs here. You wouldn't guess by markings on the vinyl or even by listening, but the folks swear it's true.

Ever listen to John Zorn? This is what he might sound like if he played guitar in a country band as opposed to saxophone in a jazz band. Well, and things get pretty heavy at times. And by the way, Donald Wilson is just like Danny Wilson: a group, of whom nobody has the surname Wilson.

This isn't country and it isn't jazz (just like the press sez). It's very weird and yet compelling as hell. Just because something confuses you doesn't mean it's the work of geniuses, but in this case, it just might be.

These poor bastards have been toiling in Austin so long, you wonder what it will take to get wide attention.

Then again, if they got wide attention, they would sound like the Melvins do today, and I wouldn't be able to listen because my heart would be broken.

Ed Hall has not really changed much in the years I've known of its existence. Heavy, groove-laden tracks with almost psychotic viewpoints on society. Everything that makes me smile, really.

Lots of people will tell me things like "This isn't metal, I won't play it." Don't be a shithead. Nirvana and Pearl Jam aren't metal bands either, and I bet a lot of you are playing them. Get off your dumb stance and pick up on the really great heavy music out there. Like Ed Hall.

Leave it to the Swedes. I heard this was a little commercial, but I wasn't expecting a cleaner version of Kiss.

Not to slag, because I think this is pretty decent. It's not even close to death metal, but people move on. And I know now why this is distributed through Columbia. All those kids who worship Metallica and want something just a little heaver can dig this. It sure is accessible.

The underground's loss is MTV's gain.

Caught these guys up in G.R. a couple of weeks ago, and they were more than impressive. Where their first album was a testament to how heavy you can make a record sound, this one is back to the basics. Just blasting rock.

It's a lot better. I liked the EP from Cargo of their earlier work much better than First Movement, and this is far ahead of that. All-around solid playing and song-writing, this is a good representation of the live show. Just three nice British guys making a few ears bleed. All smiles and "where's the crumpets?"

This is high-grade.

What? A band from the northland that sounds like a German band, circa 1985? Well, kinda, though this funk stuff also works its way in and really starts confusing everything.

This is a pretty muffled tape, too, so I can't really quite hear everything that's going on. Somehow I think I've heard it all before, although not all together like this.

Pretty much standard death metal fare. You make a lot of money selling this, but artistically it lags far behind other bands.

If only they could merge the doomy intros and the actual songs. Right now that stuff is just window dressing. Then the window slams on the pane and glass starts breaking. Why do I have to clean it up?

Too bad most of the innovative bands on Nuclear Blast (Germany, not Relapse) have been dropped. This is barely acceptable.

They list their influences, and the one common thread (other than all are hard-core acts) is Sick of It All. And they sound like...

I don't need to say it. This has sharp production and decent playing, but it is less than original. Metallic hard-core is the new rage, these guys play it with a passion. Someone will probably notice, but I hope In-Line finds their own sound.

A pop band that's not afraid to get really loud and distorted or smooth and cheesy. And they can do that on successive songs.

And back with an indie, which is where a truly creative band almost has to live in order to express themselves without a marketing plan. Mekons have been around for a long time, and they haven't lost a step.

A special note: the liners are a great concept. Check 'em out.

Finding itself solidly in the pop vein, O/I bring in searing feedback, meandering beats and the occasional epochal rockabilly strum (if you don't know what that is, I can't explain it verbally).

Songs about life, name-brand hot dogs and wanting to fuck someone who doesn't love you any more. When you think about it, that almost covers everything that needs to be said.

Pleasant noise for a picnic on a windy day. I certainly want to hear more (well, there is that seven-inch...).

The A-side is a punky rave on the x-rated movie scene in No Ho (no pun intended). Rather entertaining, though I'm not sure if its a celebration or an attack. Given the other output of the band, probably both.

The flips are much more like the 10" reviewed earlier. A band with rather diverse sounds. Gotta love it.

Many folks I know refer to this as post-Naked Raygun, but that's just not fair. There is more than one member of this band, and only John Haggerty was in that band. Sure, there is this Chicago post-hard core sound roaming around, and sure, it sounds wonderful, but that characterization simply isn't true.

A friend of mine speaks of these folk in almost reverential terms. I forget where he saw them, but it served as religious services, or something like that.

Only four songs, and all four are very nice. Great, even. I love the sound Haggerty has gotten on his guitar. Just rough enough to tickle. Good description of the ep, really.

Very low-tech punk, though I suppose that's being redundant. Very energetic and rude, which could also describe the cover art.

The band is made up of three women from Indiana, which isn't really that important except some folk seem to make a big deal of such situations. I prefer to abstain.

No more analysis. These are pretty amusing tunes and I'll leave it at that.

Not to rip on Metal Blade (really!), but why did they ever sign such a cool band as this. MB is a pretty big indie with money to make, and there is just no coherent marketing plan that will sell this.

Perhaps the most mordant melodic work since, um, I don't know. This stuff is a mutation of the late-eighties Euro thing, gone all fermented on thrash and some twelve-tone theory (listen to Frank Zappa). Add vicious vocals to scream out almost insane lyrics and you get my favorite album of the year. I can say this now without hesitation. And these folk live but twenty minutes away. Really weird.

TI is not for the timid. If you like your music to make sense, stay away. Leave the lower reaches to those of us who appreciate genius.

Okay, so this one is pretty old. I finally got hooked up with Earache and I have this policy of reviewing everything I receive (as long as it's indie). So a little backlog won't hurt.

Tight, but still standard death metal. The regular double-fisted bass drum attack and ripping riffs. Occasionally it wanders into interesting territory, but then comes the all-too-predictable tempo change, and we're back where we started.

It's alright, but aggression is not enough.

Lots of digi-core (new term to me) acts tear up a lot of well-known tracks, from "She watch Channel Zero?!" (A-Politiq) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Xorcist) to "Good Vibrations" (Fleshhouse) and "Paranoid" (16 Volt). The only real clunker is KMFDM's oddly faithful version of ooT's "Mysterious Ways". It just doesn't make any sense.

On the other hand, a lot of this is pretty cool, especially when songs are just completely deconstructed. One of my faves is Diatribe's metallization of Sugarcubes "Cold Sweat." Very weird and fun to hear.

As for the concept behind this, I find it a little dubious. Oh well. At least the music is more than worthy.