LEAVES' EYES – Lovelorn Sweet Nordic gothic metal propelled to near-orgasmic heights by Liv Kristine’s (formerly of Theatre of Tragedy) uplifting vocal aerobics. Lovelorn soars in on the compelling “Norwegian Lovesong,” a track as beautiful as it is powerful – qualities that exemplify Leaves’ Eyes output with the music’s wedding of deep heavy guitar work to siren-song vocals. The result is a remarkably accomplished performance that continues through “Tale of the Sea Maid,” “Ocean’s Way,” “The Dream,” “For Amelie” and others, all possessed of such haunting splendor that Lovelorn would provide an ideal soundtrack for both lovemaking and leaping from the point of a cliff into the ocean below. It’s a peculiarly medieval quality of majestic sorrow that fills these island fables, but one that will have you visiting them again and again. (And it’s all capped by a multimedia section that includes a videoclip for “Into Your Light.”) * * * * * Napalm Records – www.napalmrecords.com – 530-A 19th St., Port Townsend, WA, 98368

	THE LEAVING TRAINS – Amplified Pillows Featuring 22 tracks of live action from 4 different venues, Amplified Pillows brings us a little something more of an X quality to the rougher live sound of The Leaving Trains, with Melanie Vammen’s backing vocals and Falling James’ leads sounding wistfully raw against the beaten polish of the guitars. (A touch of the Deadly Snakes here and there doesn’t hurt either.) “Kids Wanna Know,” “Dumb As a Crayon,” and the punky chorals of “Judy Don’t Mind” all stand out, and as the performances progress “Use Your Own Weapons Against You” moves into a lower grittier register that just keeps on going down with the Birthday Party of “We Don’t Have a Vote” and the intriguing “Temporal Slut.” Check it out, and you’ll wish you were there. * * * Steel Cage Records – www.steelcagerecords.com – P.O. Box 29247, Philadelphia, PA, 19125

	LEVIATHAN – Tentacles of Whorror After the suicidal brilliance of Leviathan’s previous full-length I’d been looking forward to his new release for quite some time. And when the promo sheet mentioned “supernatural horror” and dropped the name H.P. Lovecraft, well I was practically sold before even slipping the disc out of its jacket. Tentacles of Whorror is every bit as mad and blasted as The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide, and every bit as varied as its moods swing from outbursts of pure black metal rage to more somber introspective strains, splashed throughout with creepy industrial passages, haunted atmospherics and sound effects so otherworldly that they literally seem to be emanating from a source somewhere outside of the speakers. (Fucking eerie, that.) The lunatic raving surges in right from the opener and pours out across eleven violently bleak and bloody tracks, with “Vexed and Vomit Hexed” in particular being so abysmally dismal in its conjuration that it sounds like the very evocation of demonic despair. Anger, agony and the ecstasy of utter damnation, all wrapped up in a wildly fatalistic recording. * * * * Moribund Records – www.moribundcult.com – 530-A 19th St., Port Townsend, WA, 98368

	LEVIATHAN – The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide Leviathan (solo artist Wrest) does his utmost here to drag the listener down his own suicidal slope to the underworld, as any hope or illumination is removed with the introit’s legion of crying damned being dispelled by the black metal madness and strangulated death gasps that follow to fill the rest of the album. And black The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide is: “The Bitter Emblem of Dissolve” is a slow august hymn of self extinction brimming with the echoes of dead souls banished by the executioner’s instrumentation; hopeless slices of death fill “He Whom Shadows Move Towards”; “Submersed” is a step away from chaos and damnation into a solemn gothic ambiance; “The Idiot Sun” is 9 ½ minutes of agonized hopelessness; and the finale, “At the Door to the Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide,” is a bleakening multi-phase out-of-body experience. As morbid a hymnal as the album is however (where else will you find the song “Fucking Your Ghost in Chains of Ice”?), the mood can’t help but be disturbed somewhat by the constant presence of the mindlessly repetitive drumwork. Fortunately the greater demons of commanding guitar chording and lupine bellows (calling out most clearly on “Scenic Solitude and Leprosy”) generally make up for this, as they manage to do in so many other fine examples of the genre. Not quite as morbidly depraved and blissfully self-destructive as the psychotic depression of early Bethlehem, but dark stuff to make you sink all the same. * * * * Moribund Records – www.moribundcult.com – 530-A 19th St., Port Townsend, WA, 98368

	LOS ALVARADOS FEATURING DREW WEAVER – Between Nightmares This surf western soundtrack to SoCal life leads off with the idealized musical portrait of “Hollywood,” throwing in “Your Ex-Wife” before settling down to the moody “Lovin’ Time to Kill” and the domestic wrong turn of the title track. “Satisfied Mind” and “Lonesome Town” are thoughtful standouts, as is the soulful wail of “This Heart,” and it just keeps heading south with the sultry invitation of “Tijuana.” Between Nightmares doesn’t neglect the ballad of the bottle either, weighing in with “Sauced Up and Surly” and all-time favorite “Two-Buck Chuck.” Even the unfortunately-titled “License to Chill” won me over with its Meister Brau and Geno’s pizza rolls. All told, listening to Between Nightmares made me ditch the job early and go home to enjoy a few cold ones on the back porch. And that’s all right. * * * Black Saddle Entertainment – www.blacksaddle.com

	MANDO DIAO – Bring 'Em In With the rough-edged Sixties sound of psych-soul vocals harmonizing with guitar licks and organ strains, the term ‘garage mod’ comes to mind upon hearing Mando Diao’s small-town-breakout album Bring ‘Em In, an amazingly bright release from a band of angry young Swedish men. Opening up with the uncombed energy of “Sheepdog,” “Sweet Ride,” and “Motown Blood,” a very deliberate pace and style is set, one that conjures up small dirty dance floors crowded by shuffling shoes that just don’t seem to mind. In places amid these stylish jams (such as the title track) the vocalist’s bootheeled-voice reaches piercing heights as he calls back through decades of influence in search of those subtle sounds that would soon change their world, while the rest of the band climbs aboard the same submarine and follows along with perfect pace. And when they take the notion the group can easily hone down their edges and lay out a honeyed bit of purity, as evidenced with the wistful transcendent elegance of “Mr. Moon,” or take it to the chapel with the choir-leading of “Lady.” It’s all good, and some of it’s even better, but it does beg the question: will Mando Diao do as the Beatles did and embody something of a second coming, or follow Lou Reed (brought to mind in “Paralyzed”) in blazing a trail that leads to burning out? Either way, it’ll be worth hearing. * * * * Mute – www.mute.com – 140 East 22nd St., Suite 10A, New York, NY, 10011

	MIDNIGHT EVILS – Breakin' It Down There’s a rowdy Brothers of Conquest-style sound to The Midnight Evils’ brand of rock & roll, rip-roaring party music (“Party, Party, Party”) with a rough edge that warns of a serious stomping should you be rude enough not to join on in. In a word, kick-ass. * * * * Estrus Records – www.estrus.com – P.O. Box 2125, Bellingham, WA, 98227

	MIDNIGHT LASERBEAM – A Death in the Discotheque At first Midnight Laserbeam sounds much like labelmate Babyland; an electronic no-wave approach to pop that comes up with a colorful mélange of bump, throb and jangle. But Midnight Laserbeam adds an appealingly sedative quality to their music that fleshes out the performance and gives it an entirely different perspective. “Bent Time” and the breathy drone of “Holding Pattern” are unique animals unto themselves, and the whole album swells with a subtle, subdued, stony revelry that’s hard to beat. Fans of Interpol and The Doves will most certainly enjoy. Nice cover art, too. * * * * Mattress Records – www.mattress.com

	MY SHAMEFUL – ...Of Dust Grave doom metal with far off death rattles and church organ highlights interspersed with lengthy instrumental passages (tracks range from six to nine minutes in length). Savage material that’s also deliberately and almost delicately orchestrated, this is powerfully gloomy stuff that, even if you’re not in the right mood, sucks you right in and takes you to that very level. Very danse macabre, and very good. * * * Firedoom Music – www.firedoom.fi – Teollisuustie 19, 60100 Seinajoki, Finland

	MZ.412 – Infernal Affairs Channeling the black arts through sound, MZ.412 continues their pogrom of aural annihilation with Infernal Affairs. The opening processional “Preludiumh” brings the dark ages into the 21st Century with its combination of somber horn notes and deep electronic soundings, setting the stage for the churning hell-rave and latent Hostel soundtrack “Point of Presence,” the baleful tones of “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Wrath,” the throbbing misery of “Unhealing Wounds” (carrying with it the promise of more to come), the treacherous lull of “Mourning Star,” and the Prince of Darkness closer, “Postludiumh.” As the digipak says, “Hail the Legion Ultra.” * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	NECROPHAGIA – Goblins Be Thine Misleadingly reverential strains of church organ slide through the speakers before the death metal of Necrophagia crashes in, chewing skulls and unearthing undead graves as it comes. But there’s much more to Goblins Be Thine than just another straightforward gore metal grindfest; it’s considerably more atmospheric than this throughout, varying the pace and pulling inspiration from a variety of legendary horrors to give the album the grand feeling of a modern ghost story. “Young Burial” for example opens as a haunting horror movie soundtrack, adding guitars and soundbytes to build the song into a violent epic; there’s an homage to the evil of The Ring with “Sadaku’s Curse” (and later to “The Fog” in the song of the same name), the macabre necromantic ballad “To Sleep with the Dead,” and “Goblins Be Thine” conjures images of unseen horrors before the bonus track erupts between promo spots for grindhouse gorefests. Recorded in Japan and dripping with gore from every groove, Goblins Be Thine may be the perfect soundtrack to the likes of the Guinea Pig series. * * * Red Stream Inc. – P.O. Box 196242, Winter Springs, FL, 32719-6242

	THE NEW CHRISTS – We Got This! Apparently something of a last farewell for Australia’s The New Christs, We Got This! is a fifteen-song epitaph that will make sure the band is well remembered. With the first track (the titular “We Got This!”) The New Christs seem quite at home playing a moderately punked-out low-rent rock & roll, but this promptly shifts into an appealingly dosed psych-rock that’s an even better listen. Fronted by an oddly tranquil low-key vocalist (Radio Birdman’s Rob Younger), at times We Got This! drifts pleasantly into straight-out stoner territory (“Groovy Times,” baby!) or simply gets blissed out and rolls along in its own way (“He’s Too Late,” “I Deny Everything”). In a great number of places the vocals take on a Robert Smith tone (“Impeachment,” “Intercourse”), and even resemble Morrissey at a rare point or two (“Sunny Day”) with their downbeat allure. The slide guitar and pow-wow Clash beat of “Khartoum” makes it a noticeable standout, although the entire disc is good enough to make one understand where the 30 pages of promo raves are coming from. Solidly enjoyable, and while quite different I’d venture to guess that fans of Guided by Voices might also appreciate The New Christs. * * * * Smog Veil Records - www.smogveil.com - 316 California Ave. #207, Reno, NV, 89509

	NIGH Prolific independent musician Sam Senovich’s latest solo effort is the EP Nigh, a 4-song epic very much along the lines of the mighty Frost & Fury. Slow, heavy, purposeful metal with a powerfully nihilistic edge and rough gravelly vocals, this is somber and majestic material that forges ahead into a very dim future. Two tracks, “Hope” and “Stolen Skull” play out at eleven minutes apiece, each just bleeding with beautiful misery, while the classic “Faith” picks up and churns into a bonegrinder of a song that’s harder and faster than the previous tracks. The final piece however, the aforementioned “Stolen Skull,” is fast and vicious right from the start, changing pace with a vengeance to suit its own murderous purposes and destined to become a cult hit among death metal connoisseurs. Fans of Amebix and the like are sure to appreciate this fresh slab of doom metal, as would anyone else with a good ear. * * * * Sam Senovich – www.sugaryrecords.com

	NOCTURNE – Guide to Extinction This has been in my CD player so long I’d almost forgotten to review it. Gothic rock is often a dicey genre, but you give me some smoking little goth hottie screaming about destroying the State and you’ve got my strict attention. Nocturne’s music has developed an even harder edge with Guide to Extinction, nodding to the likes of Ministry and Marilyn Manson but having a randy female voice alternately raging and crooning over it all. The album opens strongly with the queen bitch tracks “Shallow” and “I Lie,” carries anarchistic urges to sedition with “Passion,” “Class War” and “Dead Man,” adds the spooky “No Way Out,” offers up the ultra sexy allure of “Walk Away” and the horny cry of “Indulge” (nicely matched by the cover of Renegade Soundwave’s “Cocaine Sex”), there’s my favorite, “Dirty Sanchez” with its perfect mixture of begging and rage, and the finale is the dark and whirling tribal beat of “They’ll Never Find Your Body.” Love songs that somehow aren’t, this is strong sexy material that I have yet to get enough of. * * * * Triple X Records

	NOD – The Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf A creepy industrial rendering of the titular fable opens this album as sinister drones back vocals of variable speeds, while in the next track, “The Beast In the Arms of God,” explosions of noise sear the blend of delicate melody and hellish lyrics; “And” is a beautifully fatalistic piece set to a dystopian throb; the nearly church-like electronic tollling of “Jolly Fool” is shattered by mechanized distortion; “An Enemy You Are” sounds like a combination of The Swans and Baphomet-inspired philosophy; “And the Big Bad Wolf” scratches together eerie autobahn tunnels of sound with an itchy rhythm, imposing horns, and desperate vocals; track 8 (the title of which is indistinguishable) tortures a caged synthetic beast for the pleasure of a futuristic fascist regime; “Well I Never!” puts a teasing chant into a haunted schoolyard setting; and finally the blast furnaces roar to life again for “Girlish Eyes and Girlish Lies” while cannons hungrily seek out fodder in the final pulse-pounding track. A most likeably frightening fairytale indeed, The Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf will definitely taint your daydreams and alter your body chemistry. Intense, unsettling, and very enjoyable. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se

	NORTHERN LIBERTIES – Secret Revolution Utilizing a more tribal and psych-folk approach than the noise/metal onslaught of some of Worldeater’s other collaborators, Northern Liberties eschews the use of blunt force and instead creates a guitarless acid punk that works. Inventive arrangements and an array of effects, not to mention the surreal art of the lyrics, combine to create a unique and compelling entity. “Featureless Observer” has a nice touch of Specimen to it, “Monument” and the vibrant “Love Dove” are standouts, and the album comes with four bonus tracks including a remix of “Uniform” by labelmate Twentyagon, a pair of trippy “extractions” and a live recording of “Monarch.” Think “After the War”-era U.K. Subs, add a dose, and there you have it. Comes with some great cover art and an amazing B&W CD booklet centerpiece that’s like a female version of Blinko’s Peni art, all by (I think) AgentA. * * * * Worldeater Records – www.worldeaterrecords.com – P.O. Box 42728, Philadelphia, PA  19101

	NOUGHT Surprisingly grand independent music from England: with a symphonic ten-musician lineup (no pretentious guitar trio hackwork here – even the gentle lead-ins sound like an orchestra tuning up), Nought creates an almost exclusively instrumental album of epic soundtrack quality. The band begins with a lightly hypno space-jazz warm-up before breaking out into a driving alt.jam of “The Fans”; the mercurial “Cough Cap Kitty Cat” demands matching animation; the tripartite “Goddess Awakes” (“(i) The Tricks of Strangers,” “(ii) Locker,” “(iii) Widow’s Lament”) presents an adrenalin-pumping secret agent sound that’s drugged, abducted, and dragged away to no good end; “Stain Stones” is a beautiful layered melody, building up to a breakthrough finale; “All the Time Ha-Ha” possesses a laughingly burlesque mood; and “Heart Stops Twice” is a jovial and uplifting tune ringing with conviviality. Like good Sonic Youth multiplied by 2.5; not the fancy old-rockers-trying-to-make-their-shit-hip horseshit, just a sizeable crew of musicians tuned-in to bridging alternative and classical and doing a goddamn fine job of it. Top marks, mates, top marks. * * * * * Shifty Disco – www.shiftydisco.co.uk – 65 George St., Oxford, OX1 2BE, United Kingdom

	OLEN'K – Silently Noisy<