Reviews by Simon Milburn

Blunt Object

Edgeless

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Quality local scene material

After two EPs, Sunshine Coast four piece Blunt Object follow up with their debut long player titled Edgeless, capturing some more of their live energy on disc. Since the release of Edgeless towards the ...

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Blackout

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Keeping the same rhythm

It could be seen as one of two things - when you are on a good thing, stick to it, or it's a sign of a fear to try something new. Whichever way you look at it, rap core metallers (hed) pe have returned once ...

Cradle of Filth

Damnation And A Day

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

It's a horror movie.. right there on my CD

It seems that whenever an underground band gets signed to a major label, the cries of sellout are almost immediately heard. Sure, for some bands that might be true, but for others, such as...

Poisonblack

Escapexstacy

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Sounds like Sentenced but with more feeling

To the average metal fan, upon first listening to Poisonblack's debut album entitled Escapexstacy, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had inserted a CD by Sentenced into your CD player. T...

Machine Head

Hellalive

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Not just another day in the office

Most metal bands are in their element playing live. It's how they build the fan base and their reputation when they start out, and they thrive on playing live and the energy exchange between the b...

Merauder

Bluetality

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Scene vets keepin' it real

New York's Merauder, who were a part of the forefront of the metalcore wave of the early 1990s, finally deliver their long awaited third album Bluetality. With the current trend of metalcore bands such as...

Ministry

Animositisomina

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Almost returning to the fold

As the opening track Animosity kicks into gear on the latest Ministry CD Animositisomina, it sounds like a return to the ministry of old ala The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and the classic Psalm 6...

Haunted, The

One Kill Wonder

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Contesting the throne?

Rumours were doing the rounds during the time in which The Haunted were working on their new album that hinted that it could be the greatest thrash album since Slayer's Reign In Blood. Some said it would surp...

Mindjuice

Practice Dying Every Day

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Mediocre English metal

English quartet Mindjuice, are another band on the Loudspeaker Records roster who are trying to revive 90s English metal with their own brand of hardcore metal. These guys could almost be considered veterans ...

Breed 77

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Reasonable rock from Gibraltar

It's not everyday you hear of a band coming out of Gibraltar, but that's exactly where Breed 77 hail from. Formed in 1996 as simply Breed, they have toured relentlessly, released a couple of EPs and s...

Dungeon

A Rise to Power

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Shining Aussie power metal

Not being a fan of flute metal, it was somewhat worrying to hear the opening strains of The Prophecy which kicks off the latest release by Sydney's Dungeon. As the dynamics of the intro track peaked and t...

Shadows Fall

The Art of Balance

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Bringing back the old school influences

Metal today really isn't what it was some ten years ago. Over that time, we've seen a number of movements and styles within the genre rise and fall with popularity. With the current trend of ...

Thine

In Therapy

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Radio friendly unit shifter

On a label that has always been associated with extreme metal bands during it's history, the exception to the rule is Thine. Imagine if you can, and goth pop version of Morrissey combined with The Cure, ...

Pentagram

Turn to Stone

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

A little bit of doom goes a long way

For those who grew up with what could be considered the beginnings of heavy metal music with bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, this release should really be right up your alley. Virginia...

Marble Arch

Another Sunday Bright

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Perfect music for any Sunday

Swedish goth rock quintet Marble Arch originally started out life as Evercry back in 1994. It has taken all this time for them to finalise a lineup, complete rehearsals and demos, and settle on a record...

Abscess

Through the Cracks of Death

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Abscess found during Autopsy

As soon as this CD began with Raping The Multiverse, the brutal style of the classic 90s gore metal band Autopsy came to mind. After some research, sure enough that initial reaction was proved correct w...

Hate Eternal

King of all Kings

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Former Morbid Angel axeman follows his dream

After the intro track Our Beckoning completes, the first few seconds of the opening strains of the title track make it very easy to see why Erik Rutan (vocals, lead and rhythm guitar), a...

Sinch

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Enter another player in the radio rock stakes

Gone are the days in which the artist roster for Roadrunner Records consisted of heavy bands and only heavy bands. One of their most recent signings is Eastern Pennsylvania quintet Sinc...

Murderdolls

Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

Walk through the valley of death..er.. Murderdolls

The back cover of this CD jokes that it is presented in horror-fi-stereo. It's a pretty good summation really when the track titles read like a list of B grade horror films from th...

Stone Sour

By Simon Milburn | 01 January, 2005

When 8 + 4 leaves 9

Slipknot. Love them or hate them – it really is that simple. However, in light of recent statements by frontman Corey Taylor, it would appear that now was the time for the members to do whatever side project...