Lacuna Coil “Comalies” (Century Media) Will war on Iraq bring peace? Will ousting Saddam Hussein unite the people of the Middle east? Can blowing the living fuck out of the Iraqis create a spirit of compassionate negotiations between Israel and…
Dark Tranquility “Damage Done” (Century Media) Too much ludefisk and lefse in the diet of these Gothenberg metallers is just what the doctor ordered for a recipe of pure creative brutal mayhem. Mixing dark gothic keyboard passages and mid-tempo death…
…And Oceans “Cypher” (Century Media) I don’t know what it is, but my heart always opens wide to Scandinavian metal bands like the flower of my fragile womanhood before a Norse God. …And Oceans come from the Finnish portion of…
Merauder “Bluetality” (Century Media) This album should appeal to many. The majority of the lyrics deal with police brutality, as you might guess from the title. Policemen are called boys in blue, right? Thus, “Bluetality.” Get it? It doesn’t matter.…
Grave “Back From the Grave” (Century Media) Grave, it’s typically a hole in the ground where dead bodies are thrown and then covered in dirt. It’s also the name of this death metal band. It’s a good basic name for…
Old Man’s Child “In Defiance of Existence” (Century Media) I’ve been waiting for this one, and it certainly starts off different from former releases by Galder’s Old Man’s Child. But first, if you’re not in the know, Old Man’s Child…
Pervertigo “Throne of Chaos” (Century Media) Don’t judge a Pervertigo by its cover. I was expecting something fully different from what I got. Based on the baroque grotesqueries on the album cover and the band’s modish style of dress I…
Poison Black “Escapexstacy” (Century Media) Easy going, drifting and lugubrious are the music and vocals of Poison Black. The band is a side project for Ville Laihiala, the vocalist for Sentenced (Poison Black are similar to Sentenced but a touch…
Lullacry “Crucify My Heart” (Century Media) Everyone in Lullacry used to be blonde and now they’re not. Maybe it’s my ear, maybe it’s that the band has matured as songwriters or maybe clearing the air of the stench of bleach…
Strapping Young Lad “SYL” (Century Media) A white feather, perhaps the tail feather of a dove, is splattered with some of Jackson Pollock’s red paint, perhaps blood. The image of a dove feather covered in blood is a pretty sure…