When all else fails, call Ice-T.

Well, he does have a (short) guest spot on the first track, "Illusion of Power", a song which is as dreadful a dirge as Tony Iommi has ever come up with.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album doesn't get better. At times the stuff is as bad as anything Warrant ever put out. Makes me wonder why.

$$$$$$$. That's about the only answer. This is metal by the book, and it's a bad book, to boot. Yeah, so Black Sabbath should have hung it up at least 10 (if not 15 or 20) years ago. But in sticking around, they provide me with filler. Precisely what this album is full of...

I really ripped on the press for the last Brujeria full-length. It seemed just a bit over the line. And so is the "Death to Pete Wilson" poster included with this release, but I think it's perfectly fine to pick on a racist Republican pig (and are there any other kinds of Republicans, anyway?) Plus, this is much funnier.

Jello makes a cool cameo as Pete Wilson on the title track "Raza Odiada (Pito Wilson)". Certainly as amusing as the Paris tune "Bush Killa" of a few years back.

If you don't know, Brujeria is really made up of members of Fear Factory, a guy from Faith No More and some other assorted malcontents. I'll let you do the sleuthing from there. The music is a lot cleaner and meaner than the last time out (sounding a lot like the first Fear Factory disc). In other words, you can play this one for the music and not just the laughs.

And, of course, it helps to have at least some grasp of Spanish to get the jokes, as the lyrics, liners and all are in that language. A firm knowledge of Mexican (as opposed to Castillian) cuss words is necessary as well. After all, you really couldn't say the English translation for "Hechado Chingasos" on the air. But since it's in Spanish, what the hell...

Enjoy to your heart's content.

The albums are on Atlantic, but as the vinyl singles are still on Revelation, I'll drop my views.

CIV is the band fronted by the ex-frontman of Gorilla Biscuits (with some ex-Biscuits in tow). The music is punk (more attitude than pop), the time for that sort of shit is now.

The Gorilla Biscuits were a good band. CIV sounds like a pretty good band. Nothing terribly distinguished; they probably won't sell 10 million records. But if the kiddies want something to bob along with, I'll feed them CIV. Why not?

Last time I saw Kansas City band Season to Risk, those guys were touring with Fudge Tunnel. Fellow K.C. act Coalesce seems to have taken a few lessons from the masters for its New Chapter single release.

And the result is a nicely cacophonic sound that crosses the guitar slinging of Chicago hard core with the pure vitriol of the Brit hard core movement (I wanted to avoid saying "cross Jesus Lizard and Fudge Tunnel"). But there it is.

Three songs, nicely varied and yet fully self-defined. Coalesce should have no shortage of offers after this gets any release. A real stunning piece of attack work.

Biohazard and Julian Beeston take on remixes of "Bloodsuckers", Beeston also does a turn on "High Tech Low Life", Pro-Pain does "Rings of Steel" and the Cassandra Complex reworks "Metal Machine Music". Plus a couple of live tracks to fill out your needs.

The live tracks are decent but not terribly different from the album tracks. The Biohazard remix sounds like a Biohazard remix, but it is still quite good (and certainly a break from the original). Julian Beeston puts a more techno spin on his work, but the real techno work is done by the Cassandra Complex.

Not to be outdone, the Pro-Pain remix is pretty damned vicious, cranking up the speed and really fucking with the guitar. Nice work all around.

Oh, that fluid Swedish death metal lead guitar. Sure, bands like Entombed may have started the trend, but Dismember seems to have a better idea as to the proper implementation.

And, while Finnish, Sentenced's album from last year, Amok, had much of the same tendencies. Old school death metal fans will decry this movement as crassly commercial ("Sentenced is not true death metal", a guy wrote me last year), but that doesn't mean those of us accepting of change cannot enjoy change.

Dismember steal from so many in creating this sound (and theft may be a nice term) that the boys may very well have created a classic album. I've heard everything on this album before (from bands like Sepultura, the aforementioned Entombed and Sentenced, Hypocrisy and others), but not necessarily in this exact form.

An album that does not allow you to hit the stop button. Possibly a real sea change in the direction of death metal (particularly that of the Swedish variety).

With Poison dead, Kotzen returns from whence he came. Except, of course, that this time out he picks up with Greg Howe (long-distance, via studios) and the two bash out an album in a method reminiscent of the Hissanol album of earlier this year.

Of course, this is smooth fusion guitar work, not wacky pop music. I must say I'm not the biggest fan of the sort of guitar wanking that goes on in most of these sorts of records (syncopated drum beats and flying guitar), but Howe and Kotzen keep the pyrotechnics to a respectable level, imbuing the disc with a nice, cool feel.

I thought Howe had moved forward with his last album, and his maturity shows. Kotzen does well following Howe's lead, and the two cranked out some nice fusion tunes (with a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Confusion" in the middle of things). This may not be my favorite sort of music, but Howe and Kotzen have put together a very good album.

And yes, Mind Over Four has changed labels once again.

The band that for almost 10 years has been making people think twice about dismissing loud music as mere puerile rantings is back. And with an album that is as strong as any in the past. With a few caveats.

In the past, Mind Over Four has put out albums that predict the coming wave of metal manias. They did grunge before Seattle figured it out. The Goddess has some stunning industrial moments. On this disc, Spike and the boys try a few new things, but these ideas are mostly new to this band. The sampling and beatsmith techniques are unusual, to be sure, but such attempts are common these days, even if Mind Over Four does them to stunning effect.

This is not an album that predicts the future, but even with my reservations I have to admit it may well be the most cohesive and attractive Mind Over Four album ever. That these guys deserve some recognition, fame and monetary success for what they have contributed to loud music is obvious. And that they "sell-out" (the quotes here denote sarcasm) with an awesome album is just another testament to the greatness of the band. Mind Over Four may not be the biggest selling loud band in history, but it probably is the best.

A re-issue of three EPs, two of which never got any official U.S. release. Two of the three EPs have three tracks, and a bonus track is added to bring the total number of songs up to nine. Trinity cubed. So the title makes sense now? Let's hope.

The obvious reason for the CD is the 11-and-a-half minute fury and passion of "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrum". This song blew me away three years ago when I first heard it, and it still one of my favorite pieces of all time. It defines the whole doom-death genre, and in a way, it is the only real doom-death-goth song ever recorded. My Dying Bride has yet to surpass it. Of course, no one else has even come close.

Feel free to surf through the rest of the offerings, which are high quality (you wouldn't expect any less from this band). Only whets my appetite for the new album, whatever turns it may take. And if you have not yet heard the "Symphonaire", prepare for soul destruction. The only comment I've gotten from about 20 folks who heard it for the first time recently was, "Oh my God."

Nuff sed.

Truer punk music you may not find. Thirteen songs, 18 minutes. Songs about silly things (the title track, G.G. Allin, etc.) and some vaguely political stuff.

This is not polished. Indeed, if it was recorded in a studio the sound was left at the lo-fi level. It doesn't sound muffled, but kinda tinny. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Talent? I can't tell, really. All the songs are blitzes straight for the quarterback, with little niceties like a long, time-consuming run-oriented drive (talk about mixing metaphors: defense and offense). Anyway, what this does have is fun in spades.

Certainly not the greatest album of the year. Perhaps one of the worst, even. But the attitude and style just makes me smile. Highly enjoyable.

The second in Earache's series of "New Chapter" single releases, Silencer merges very linear pop with the best attributes of the Brit hardcore sound we all love.

Yeah, when the band mellows (and hits the pop groove) it tends to sound a little like Primus, but at least the guys emulate the good Primus. That shows taste, not trendiness.

The music is not terribly marketable, but I like it. I'd love to hear a full set. Any time, boys.

If you like your death metal full of crashing riffs, pounding double bass drum work and just plain pain, then Sinister is the band for you.

And this time out things have taken a vaguely industrial feel, which is a real improvement in my book. Sinister still has no idea how to craft a fine death metal opus like Gorefest, but then, almost no other band can live up to that standard. Most songs here has the same formula, and the music crashes along until the inevitable smash-mouth finish (though, actually, "Art of the Damned" shows some real nice songwriting work).

For what Sinister does, which is pure death metal (no apologies asked or accepted), this is a good album. The new touches put Hate a notch above the band's previous output. Certainly worth a look-see.

The debut was a surprise creative smash, and anyone expecting a sophomore letdown will have to be informed of their mistake.

Stanford Prison Experiment roars back with its "industrial metal as a fuckin' attack machine" concept in full form. Like you might expect, the disc is filled with mean, atonal discourses on various injustices that society presents folks with every day. Well, so some of the songs get a little more personal than that. Life goes on.

And, just to increase the coolnees quotient, SPE includes a great cover of the Babyland tune "Worst Case Scenario" and a bonus track which is merely 28 minutes of Noam Chomsky spoken word.

In other words, there is no reason to avoid this disc. Slackers will be penalized.

I thought this band was made up of a bunch of posers when it was on Atlantic. The dropping seemed appropriate. The guys played silly anthemic glam music that even Poison in its prime couldn't sell to the masses.

And that's what this single is. A warmed-over rehash of why metal in the late 80s sucked.

End transmission.

You all know by now my position on most tribute albums. I won't get into that.

This is not a good idea. Get a bunch of prog-rockers to try and replicate Yes songs. And with much of the Magna Carta stable, that's what you get. Now, Steve Morse's two bits are nice diversions (and different takes), Stanley Snail's riff through "Siberian Khatru" is quite nice, and the Steve Howe/Annie Halsam trip through "Turn of the Century" is surprisingly good (considering the novelty value).

But much of this sounds like the Trevors of 90125 and beyond trying to recreate the depth of the older Yes. Some really bad rehashes are the result. Now, one of the better MC acts, Cairo, does produce a decent version of "South Side of the Sky", but it still isn't a new vision or anything. And that's what a proper tribute album should do: Produce a whole new way of looking at a band. Not just cover-band versions of old songs.

Sounding a lot like latter-day Yes (vocalist and bassist Billy Sherwood sings like a reedy version of Jon Anderson), World Trade wends its way around a collection of mellow prog-rock pieces.

Original Yes bassist Chris Squire co-writes a couple of songs and sings along. And while this may sound like today's wimpy Yes, it is a far cry from the aggressively progressive band of the 70s that battled (and beat, for a time) Pink Floyd as the favorite band of guitar nerds around the world.

Not so much bad as just dull. World Trade, even in its sprightlier moments, is so keyboard-driven that I expect a pop song to break out. But there the band forgets the hooks. Still, if you're getting on in years and want to hear something that kinda reminds you of Yes (not unlike the actual band or what Pink Floyd has become), this could do the trick. I guess.