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

	LETUM – Broken Beginning with what sounds like a harsh scientific treatise, Broken travels through a Purgatorial landscape littered with the sounds and effects of a shattered industrial era. These range from harsh electronics to the elegance of strings, coming and going as they please to carve out a visionary soundtrack. Some of the passages are grand and theatrical in nature, others seem intent upon burning themselves out. Still others simply drag themselves away to die. But larger than that the quasi-religious tone to some tracks gives the entire project an appreciably apocalyptic feel. The album does drag in places, but then again, so does the end of the world. * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	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. * * * www.cdbaby.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 – Ghost Mind Electricity Wild beats and tweaked instrumentation combine with a vocal approach somewhere between Davids Byrne and Yow for an eclectic emission from the tri-partite Ghost Mind. Militaristic drumbeats seem to herald the dawning of a spirituality that becomes more physical than spectral as the tracks roll on through tales of “Children of the Unholy Cross,” “Psionic Sorcery Song” and “Dead Deer House.” At times subtle and restrained, but more often than not barely under control, these 12 songs possess a frenetic underworld energy that is singularly arresting as the pieces flower and decay. One can’t help but wonder what it would sound like if the songs were ‘overmastered,’ given additional layers and effects capable of building and destroying alien graveyards. As with the previous Secret Revolution, the artwork by vocalist Justin Duerr is excellent, an intricate illustration of the “ghost punk” ethos at work. Would probably be most amazing live. * * * $10.00 from Northern Liberties – www.NorthernLibertiesBand.com Badmaster Records – www.badmasterrecords.com

	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 Serious gothic songs that build into glorious harmonies of mourning thanks to the strong female vocals and subtle but accomplished synths. Switchblade Symphony comes to mind, along with a bit of Sinead O’Connor in the more plaintive wailings (“The Bar”), while “Reve Eveille” has a beautifully entrancing Cocteau Twins atmosphere to it. And as a complete departure, “Delhi” has a fitting and deliberately Middle Eastern sound to it. The album comes to a close on an almost holy note with the rite of “Silencio.” I’ll definitely be playing this again. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO / SPIRITUAL FRONT – Satyriasis: Somewhere Between Nihilism and Equilibrium Matching minds with Italy’s Spiritual Front has allowed Swedish band Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio to bring forth a more lushly decadent sound than they’re usually capable of, and both bands inaugurate Satyriasis by coming together for the dissolute Sixties groover “Your Sex Is the Scar.” Opening on this trippy horn-enhanced vibe is most appropriate to the tone of the album, and the bands trade songs after this until reaching the disc’s enigmatic denouement. Spiritual Front gives forth the carnival dirge of “Song For the Old Man,” performs an alternately grim and euphoric “Autopsy of Love” and the mysterious “Border,” while ORE displays a fatalistic supremacy with “Hell Is Where The Heart Is – The Gospel of Tomas,” gently counts the steps of ecstasy in “Three Is an Orgy, Four is Forever” and lies “Dreaming of My Scarlet Woman.” For the finale the groups combine once again for the hypnotic slow dance of “The Pleasure of Pain.” Subtly depraved and insinuatingly seductive, this is the album for fans of industrial gothic sex music. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	THE PAUKI – 3yb gpakoHa (Or something like that – this Pauki disc is all in the band’s native Russian.) After an unusual little PiL-sounding introduction The Pauki (The Spiders) lay out a raucous laugh-a-long punk rock track, whip into a kinky little punkabilly number, rip the caps off a few bottles and launch into a drunken sailor’s shanty, perform a few mad dervish dances and punk jams, and perform over a dozen more speedy good-time tracks, all loaded with irrepressible whistles, hoots, jeers and cackles. (And what the shit, is that Donald Duck quacking along to lounge punk there in the fifth track? Or is he getting his feathers packed?) A variety of instruments brings additional life to the party, making this far more than simple three-chord drunk rock, and while I believe one or more of these songs may appear on other Pauki releases this album brims with the kind of good punk rock cheer that makes for yet another grand set of tunes to laugh and drink to. * * * * Tankovich Sasha – www.pauki.nm.ru – St. Petersburg, Metallostroy, 196641, P.O. Box 86, Russia

	THE PAUKI – The Flag On the Flagpole Now this looks fucking well promising – an album by noted Russian beer punk band The Pauki, adorned with drunken pirates. None of that Disneyfied Pirates of the Caribbean faggotry here, mates, this is good old-fashioned marauding punkabilly, rollick ‘n roll just made for stein hoisting and table dancing. (With a bonus five live tracks added on for good measure.) Do yourself a favor, read the other 4-star reviews of Pauki albums here on the PR site, and get in touch with Sasha about getting a hold of some of them yourself. * * * * Tankovich Sasha – www.pauki.nm.ru – St. Petersburg, Metallostroy, 196641, P.O. Box 86, Russia

	DR. RANDALL PHILLIP – Shiggy Diggy Dee Crawling to life just about the same time as the unspeakable FUCK vol. 2 (soon to be spoken of, most highly, in the Print Reviews section) comes this twisted musical biscuit, Shiggy Diggy Dee. Paranoiac delusions from the pulpit of a deranged church spill forth here in the form of “Devil Germs,” followed by several lessons in the art of noise. Dead voices speak backwards to “Dear Next Victim,” “Moments” are used to create a ghostly harbor, television and radio waves crack and splinter, “Fresh” gives you an electronic stalking, “Sunday Drive” takes you out to a lonely country road and puts a saw into you, reel before the drunken ballad “Love is Here to Yo,” and then take in the monkey-fucking finale, “ffff…” And don’t forget the dance hall classic, “Get With the Program,” which will no doubt soon be covered by Revolting Cocks. All in all, rather unsettling. In a rather nice way. Played loudly while reading the new FUCK, this will most likely alter your mind in a permanent way. * * * Dr. Randall Phillip – monstermonkeyhead@yahoo.com – P.O. Box 2217, Philadelphia, PA, 19103

	PIPEDOWN – Mental Weaponry It’s unusual to hear a diggeridoo heralding the opening of a punk rock album, but it’s somehow fitting when the album is one as fine and vehement as Mental Weaponry. In screams “Losing the Sum,” with sharp metal keenly braced by bristling hardcore (both instrumentally and vocally); “Knowledge the Weapon” is as victorious as any AFI song with its piercing lead vocals, unified choral chant, and outstanding guitars; the beautiful and enigmatic “Leviathan” carries an enduring ring of triumph; “Transmission” is a cheery revolutionary promise; and “The Overworld” chimes and roars in resistance to The System. And while all of the socially conscious lyrics are punctuated with ‘enlightening’ quotes, these do at least include some by the likes of Hellfire Club member John Locke (!). A band whose political ideals don’t overshadow their talent, Pipedown’s Mental Weaponry is an exuberant production whose crystalline lines of opposition are laced with wrenching shrieks and supported by flawlessly fierce musicianship, yielding songs perfect to both dance and loot to. Tunes to fuel a thinking man’s riot, or, as the title says, Mental Weaponry. * * * * * A-F Records – www.a-frecords.com - P.O. Box 71266, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213

	PISTOL GRIP – Another Round A hard, rebounding sound characterizes Pistol Grip’s second album, a most worthy follow-up to their excellent debut The Shots From the Kalico Rose. There’s a fine blend of the old and the new here on Another Round, as oi and street punk rhythms are given 21st century energy and production for a sharp, mean, violently rebellious quality that at times makes one think of a young Social Distortion (but one that never got too big for itself). Another Round starts out with the blood & guts of “Sweet & Sour of a Knife,” includes the excellent “The Unwanted,” “1997,” and “A Murder of Crows,” and they even throw in some urban reggae/UK Subs stylings there at the end on “The Rebels are Dead.” It all gives me the same feeling that getting ahold of a great punk rock album back in high school did, that feeling of having something that makes the world seem just a little bit brighter. * * * * * BYO Records - www.byorecords.com - P.O. Box 67609, Los Angeles, CA, 90067

	PLAYERS CLUB – Coextinction I know you can’t judge a disc by its cover, but from the name and packaging I expected this to be more along the lines of Death From Above 1979 than the throbbingly brutal Unsane sound that poured out of Coextinction (thanks in large to the participation of Dave Curran). A heavy apocalyptic revelry vibe resounds throughout this 5-song EP, and even though “Safety Word” has a poppier yet no less sinister rhythm to a large part of it even this yields to the forceful instrumental chorus. The album comes to a close with the murderous enigma of “Song to Make You Hate Me,” which alone would make the album worth hearing again, even if the previous four tracks weren’t so sterling. Good solid shit – you’re gonna love it, especially if you’re a fan of the previously-mentioned Unsane or their offshoot Cutthroats 9. * * * * Arclight Records – www.arclightrecords.com

	THE PROTAGONIST – Songs of Experience A dark-edged symphony of malignant romance, Songs of Experience draws from classic literature and music alike to provide a collection of black love songs: “The Sick Rose” combines the poetry of William Blake with a menacing strings composition; “The Hunt” is the soundtrack to a stalking that builds into the doomed Shakespearean saga of “Strife;” “La Fin de la Journee” contains an excerpt from Baudelaire; and the journey comes to an end with the coldly harsh “Sermon,” containing a fragment of John Donne and closing the album with a ringing note of judgment. The flavor of the production is further imparted by additional song titles, such as “Spirits of the Dead” and “Down There,” and throughout the score is enhanced by dramatic percussion that pounds home the album’s portrayal of the counterpart of love. If one were to think too much about it all of the literary references might be considered a bit pretentious, but that would be spoiling the effect of an overall fine performance. Don’t question, just appreciate. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	PYGMY LOVE CIRCUS – The Power of Beef The big-city radio sound of heavy Soundgarden riffs and blunt biker-rock shouts & growls give The Power of Beef something in common with the mighty La Muerte, while the occasional banjo plucking, harmonica warble and hillbilly drawl lend the album a hind-kicked Mule strain in places. Put it all together and Pigmy Love Circus most closely resembles Maryland biker gang Ironboss, but as a whole the recording does an admirable job of standing on its own, managing to be both hard and catchy at the same time as a rough-edged performance that rolls through sagas like “Drug Run to Fontana,” the sludgy “Swamp Creature,” the down low “Livin’ Like Shit” and “Bad Luck,” “Highway Man,” “12 Gauge Kiss” and the like. Deliberately gritty and gutteral, and brimming with self-conscious tough-guy attitude at points, The Power of Beef comes off a little bit stereotypical at points, but is still largely a good time. Would probably make a good double bill with the aforementioned Ironboss (although those Maryland bikers would likely stomp the shit out of the House of Blues crew here). * * * Go-Kart Records – www.GokartRecords.com – P.O. Box 20, Prince Street Station, New York, NY, 10012

	RAISON D'ETRE – Requiem for Abandoned Souls The distant tolling of bells ushers in the Requiem for Abandoned Souls, paving the way for the atmosphere of reverence and loss that is to follow. As with many other compositions by Peter Andersson, Requiem sounds as if performed by faceless monks of an unnamed order, conducting their ceremony in a secretive location; the chanting of indistinguishable tongues is the only vocalization present amongst these hallowed tracks, their foreign ululations following the echoes of enigmatic and the haunting yet subtly comforting musical ambiance generated by hidden hands. Although only five tracks long, each piece is a lengthy and mysterious recording that could easily stand on its own, with the rising drone of “Becoming the Void of Nothingness” filling a role as a most suited climax to the Requiem. The feeling at the album’s conclusion is that of finding oneself in the aftermath of a ritual performance, a stirring, exhausting, yet ultimately fulfilling experience. As such it will definitely alter your environment, and in a most favorable way. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	RED TYGER CHURCH – Free Energy As a very high-minded (literally) musical evocation of Red Tyger Church’s “occult gospel garage punk commune,” I was more than a little skeptical of Free Energy. But all cynicism aside I gave this shiny platter a couple of spins, and it has to be said that there is a certain ‘get up, get high, and testify’ quality to their opener “Spells Against Squares,” as there is with the surprisingly groovy “Free Energy.” Other cool numbers include “Wolves of Sunshine,” while tracks such as “A Strawberry Slowdown” and “Cat People” could easily have been recorded thirty-five years ago. Shades of some of the band members’ former collectives (Warlocks, Brian Jonestown Massacre, etc.) are present here, still under the influence (in every sense of the term) of their Sixties/Seventies inspirations, and the result is somewhere between the Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, and the Manson Family. If you haven’t gotten the gist of it by now, this is an album by and for 21st century hippies, the kind of thing that would make a ‘wild’ stage play along the lines of Hair. And while the idea of all that does screw my face and bowels up into knots, somehow Red Tyger Church manages to pull it all off with this oddly appealing release. * * * Alive Records – www.alive-totalenergy.com – P.O. Box 7112, Burbank, CA, 91510

	THE RESISTOLEROS – Rock 'N' Roll Napalm Lots of chaos potential here; take a band with Stooges attitude, name ‘em after third-world glue-huffers, put Fang’s Sammytown up front and Gator Rogowski on bass (just kidding there) . . . Actually, instead of sounding like this century’s Murder Junkies or some “Berkeley Heathen Scum” (well except on the nicely wasted “You Lose, I Win”), The Resistoleros have a sharp take on the fiercely classic punk rock sound, carrying more than a bit of the Damned through more than one piece of Rock ‘N’ Roll Napalm (“I’ll Bleed for You,” “Bad Weather”). Handclappin’ numbers like “Break Mine Off” do seem a bit off though, as does putting their take on “9/11” (a great song, by the way) on the same disc with “Caught With Your Panties Down” (also a damn fine number). But that’s just sheer nit-picking, as there’s really very little not to like along R ‘N’ R Napalm’s 13 tracks. (Although, even without the lyrics being printed, “Pin the Crime” and “Assault & Battery” will likely have the ‘Fang Sucks’ contingent avoiding The Resistoleros as well.) * * * Steel Cage Records - www.steelcagerecords.com - P.O. Box 29247, Philadelphia, PA, 19125

	THE ROCKETZ – Rise of the Undead Combining a rockabilly sound with Misfits themes and singalongs, The Rocketz manage to be both good and entertaining in a market that’s often neither one. Dig the rockin’ nursery rhyme “Killing” and the horror film anthem “Die Zombie Die,” “Police On My Back” sounds like a classic punk cover, and Rise… closes on an upbeat note with “I Want U Dead.” A little rough around some of the edges, but I’m sure many listeners wouldn’t have it any other way, and The Rocketz pull off the rockabilly/psychobilly act better than most. * * * Hairball8 Records – www.hairball8.com

	RODENT SQUEALS – High Pitch Distress Cries No that’s not the name of a punk band, it’s the description of this recording. According to the CD insert, “The original recording artist of the material presented on this disc is unknown. The master tape was mailed anonymously from Waco TX. A note was enclosed with the master recording stating that the tracks are not synthesized. The 2 tracks on this disc may very well be the same material that was blasted at the Camp Davidian compound as a means of psywarfare.” And indeed, this does sound like an hour’s worth of rat torture; shrill little barks of an unhappy animal fill track one, and on track two the critter is joined by some friends for a frenzy of squeals that sounds like a flock of sick birds. Very strange. Cover photo by “Vampire of Paris” Nico Claux. * * Menschenfeind Productions – www.menschenfeind.com – P.O. Box 30051, Columbia, MO, 65205

	ROME – Berlin The promo sheet makes a clear point of this being apocalyptic folk music, but don’t expect a Current 93/Tears of Odin’s Fallen type performance here; this is a moody electronic recording with a very Germanic feel more along the lines of Laibach and a more grimly serious Kreutzweg Ost. Taken together these six tracks create the gloomy sensation of inevitable holocaust, but from a distant, uninvolved perspective. A little too philosophical-sounding to be truly moving, this should still suit those who sit staring out of windows and playing with razorblades on cold rainy days. * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	ROME – Nera Nera begins on something of a brainwashing note with “Der Zeitsturm,” with instructions, operatic wailing and an imposing hum providing direction to the listener before descending into the impending assault of “A Burden of Flowers.” The vocals throughout are remarkably smooth and gentle, yet strong, for such a heavy and shadowy recording, the overall effect being something akin to a Teutonic Swans, the lengthy and multi-layered “Das Unbedingte” and “Reversion” being perfect and seductive examples of Rome’s Craft. “Hope Dies Painless” fits the same elegant pattern, “A la Faveur de la Nuit” has a distant cabaret air to it, and the nihilistic victory of “Beasts of Prey” calls 1984 to mind. Less industrial than subversively classical, these ballads of the end of the world are soothing songs of euthanasia, capably blending manifest beauty with manifest destiny. * * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	ROSEMARY – The Angels' Share (Larsen Session) A deliberate post-Bleach Nirvana sound rings throughout Rosemary’s The Angels’ Share, a French band whose scruffy facial hair and press kit all scream “Grunge.” And 20 years later the indecisive sound of angst is still hanging around on this 4-song EP, swapping between genteel passages of toy guitar (“Not Really Happy) and the urgent anxiety we’ve been force-fed for so long (“Not Really Happy”). Tracks such as “My Favorite One” and “Before it Hurts” aren’t bad at all, just a little far from original, however the closing acoustic version of “Half a Girl” was a bit sappy and ended the album on a weak note. If you’re looking for French punk along the lines of The Splash 4 or The Hatepinks, The Angels’ Share may not do it for you. Then again, it may be just the thing; I have to admit, the second time I played this, the better I liked it. Smells like unwashed teen groupie! * * Minimal Chords – www.minimalchords.org – 210 rue Francoise Guise, 73000 Chambery, France

	ROSEMARY MALIGN & THE EUGENICS COUNCIL / DR. RANDALL PHILLIP Crowd sounds and sonic noise performances interspersed with hateful and/or confusing spoken-word readings from Dr. Randall Phillip, with bizarre samples and soundbytes thrown into the mix at random. In other words, a total head-fuck. 28 tracks of tortured sound, vintage recordings, hair clippers run amok, suggestions of murder, squeals of porn, feedback and broken instruments, dirty talk, whining and moaning, hatred, death and “Fuck YOU!” My copy came with the added feature of being somewhat scratched up by the barbed-wire-bound metal frame of another limited-edition Eugenics Council 7” release, so every so often the disc would hang up and skip endlessly. Which, somehow, fit right in with the rest of the program. “Do Your Fucking Job.” * * Menschenfeind Productions – www.menschenfeind.com – P.O. Box 13207, St Louis, MO, 63157

	ROSETTA WEST – X Descendant I took a serious dislike to this the first time I heard it, interpreting it as middle-aged R&B for aging hippies that was anything but the “savage and psychedelic blues” the cover claimed. And while the cover proclamation may still be a bit off Rosetta West does have a slightly macabre blue note to their sound that does have its own appeal, whether they’re playing spooked acoustic songs or somewhat heavier electrified numbers. Singer/guitarist Joseph Demagore can summon up Jimi Hendrix vocals at times (“The Flag”), while in other places preferring a subdued moan, falsetto wail or countrified rasp (“Vampire Song”). Although a lot of the songs seem to have a similar two-beat pow-wow rhythm to them and their cover of “Shakin’ All Over” could have been a meaner one, you could probably do worse in the realm of white-boy blues albums. Still could have been considerably more savage and psychedelic for my tastes though… * * Alive Records – www.alive-totalenergy.com – P.O. Box 7112, Burbank, CA, 91510

	RPG – Fulltime Really good time rock ‘n roll that easily bridges the gap between pop.alt music and the truly low down & dirty; picture loads of slutty metal betties shaking themselves sweaty at a live junkyard show and you’ve got the picture. A big drawling glam sound rises up out of Fulltime, but there are appreciable touches of Throw Rag and the Jesus Lizard thrown in as well proving that this is no fancy band. RPG even mixes in some savage psychedelic action at the end with “Song of Evil.” Solid shit Jackson, the kind you just cannot play loud enough. Fulltime comes with a bonus DVD, High Performance, mixing onstage and off-stage performances “loosely based” around The Song Remains the Same. Along with live footage, interviews, bits of band history, backstage and practice footage and video production you get a little bit of ice dancing, a little bit of pettiness, a little bit of ego, a little bit of smoke, and even a Fear cover. Special features such as band commentary, deleted scenes and the like are included, but somehow after watching this I found that I liked the music slightly less than I did before. Curious… * * * Arclight Records – www.arclightrecords.com – 1405 Rio Grande St., Austin, TX, 78701

	SANCTUM – Let's Eat Foghorns and feedback roll out Let’s Eat, Sanctum’s first new album in eight years. Mournful rasps are urged to shouts by harsh industrial percussion as gently symphonic segments of tracks like “Let’s Eat” are scoured by radio waves and metallic reverberation; the discordant female vocals of “A Pose” are eerily enchanting; “Nar?” is a stark and forceful cry; despite some of the rough tonalities used “Shut Up” is surprisingly gentle; and “Sister” possesses a remarkably fetching Middle Eastern groove. There’s something of a post-post-industrial Ministry sound to Sanctum’s set here, but a non-derivative one that speaks more of self-consuming decimation than a pop culture playground. * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

	SARGEIST – Satanic Black Devotion The opening “Preludium” on Sargeist’s Satanic Black Devotion reminded me so much of the spooky industrial-ritualistic strains of TG’s Mission of Dead Souls that when the black metal of the title track kicked in I nearly had the shit spooked out of me; dark whirlwinds of satanic furor pour out of the icy heart of Finland in this bleak epic, the churning rhythms and tortured vocals alike sounding as if they’re flooding up from the bottomless pit of some forgotten well. And while the album often peals out into a stereotypically satanic slaughter of aesthetics, blurring the instrumentation and screaming together insensibly (and repeatedly), Sargeist often manages to insert diabolically simple and catchy rhythms of chorus into each maelstrom. “Glorification” is particularly compelling and evil-sounding, with the following “Panzergod” having one of the album’s fastest and strongest beats, “Sargeist” (meaning “coffin-spirit”) has a beautifully black-plagued totentanz quality to its strings and percussion, and the fucking awesome “Black Fucking Murder” fucking says it all. Hail Sargeist! Hail Moribund! * * * * Moribund Cult - www.moribundcult.com - P.O. Box 77314, Seattle, WA, 98177-0314

	SEPHIROTH – Draconian Poetry Draconian Poetry begins explosively as muted jungle sounds are shattered by a symphony of tribal percussion with “The Call of the Serpent.” The riot of rhythm unfortunately dies down before the song is midway through, refusing to rise again during the timed-out hum of the rest of the track. This subdued strain continues through the following “Dark Garden,” but the native impetus picks up again with “Uthul Khulture.” “Therasia” follows the subtle tones of “Dark Garden” while “A Map of Eden Before the Storms” picks up with a charging martial rhythm, and the flow of the album continues to shift between passive and aggressive for its duration, ending on a note of almost holy reverie with “Now Night Her Course Began.” Together it all makes for a soundtrack both savage and sublime, one suitable to many a stretch of the imagination. * * * Cold Meat Industry – www.coldmeat.se – Villa Eko, 595 42 Mjolby, Sweden

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