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http://www.geocities.com/behind_the_veil2001/Main.html
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SUPPORT THE UNDERGROUND
Compilation CD

The people that hide behind this effort provide us quite often with 
compilations which I consider very "educational" cause they help me 
come across new udnerground metal bands, especially from the extreme 
genres. So, here I have the new CD with 20 groups participating!!! 
Enough with the prologue and let me hit the play button and share my 
opinion, about each participant band, with you:
1.STAND ABLAZE: Open the CD with the song "In Vain". A good 
composition in which they combine the classic heavy metal with black. 
They use 2 singers, a female for the "clean" vocals and a male for 
the brutal. The production is the section which they have to work 
upon the most if they want to attract the interest of labels.
2.INCARNATE: Here comes Armageddon!!! A band that knows how to 
compose headbanging anthems!!! Death/thrash metal with a good sense 
of brutality and melody is what Incarnate play. The production is 
crystal clear and sharp as a razor. I am sure that they will soon 
find a record deal.
3.KARELIAN WARCRY: And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for 
good old retro black metal. The band sounds as the twisted child of 
CARPATHIAN FOREST, DARK THRONE and MOTORHEAD. Take a trip into the 
occult!!!
4.MORTYFEAR: these guys sound like a division of panzers that won't 
leave anything standing in their way. Deathcore with some black metal 
elements and with a production that crushes bones, Mortyfear are here 
to claim the throne they deserve!
5.TRAPJAW: By listening to the song "Devoured By The Crawling Chaos" 
you can easily understand that Trapjaw are big fans of SLAYER and 
AURA NOIR. Good thrash/black metal that you will enjoy even more if 
you drink lots of cans of beer and strat moshing. yeah, Trapjaw are 
definitely interested in keeping their listeners fit!!! Mosh...
6.SHATTERED: The band moves on the path of melodic death metal. 
Lots of classic heavy metal riffs mixed with brutal vocals is 
the trademark of Shattered. They somehow reminded me of the Greek 
EXHUMATION (R.I.P.). They may not be original, but they are 
definitely effective!
7.DEATHFROST: "Fourfold Blasphemy" is a very bizarre composition. 
It carried the legacy of BLACK SABBATH, with some CELTIC FROST 
elements combined with distorted vocals. A song that I had to 
listen to many times to reach to a safe conclusion.
8.ANNULATION: The intro of the song "Fuck All" made me think 
that Annulation was another group influenced by AT THE GATES' 
"Slaughter Of the Soul". However, after the intro, you will listen 
to a deathcore compilation mainly inspired by SEPULTURA and SODOM.
9.CARNAL DECAY: On the song "Ignorance" Carnal Decay combine the 
U.S. school of death metal with the European black metal scene. 
They have a very good and noisy production, something that the 
friends of extreme music will appreciate. I especially enjoyed 
their guttural vocals.
10.EREBOS: "Necro Polis" is not a cover song of the famys MANILLA 
ROAD track. It's a black/heavy metal composition that brought to 
my mind the first days of ROTTING CHRIST with some METALLICA 
influences.
11.ACHREN: Another classic DARK THRONE-ish black metal song, but 
these guys have the epic feeling of MARDUK in their sound as well. 
Diehard fans of classic black metal should definitely need to dig 
out "On The Wings Of War".
12.MINATORY: They participate with the track "Strocities", a 
mid-paced thrash metal composition that seems to come straight 
from KREATOR's "Pleasure To Kill". So, if you like KREATOR and 
the mid-tempo songs, give them a try.
13.ANTARKTIS UTOPIA: Come from England and play melodic death metal 
in the way the Norhtern European countried got us used to listen to. 
They are talented, however I think that the vocalist's harsh vocals 
don't absolutely fit to the song's melodic lines.
14.INHUMANE: One of my all time favorite death bands are SIX FEET 
UNDER. these guys are definitely influenced by them and OBITUARY, 
though they use more blastbeats. So, "Fetish For Flesh" became one 
of my favorite songs from this compilation.
15.XERION: Now, it's time to lower the lights and listen to the 
atmospheric and occult music of Xerion. I like the way they mix 
the melodic/classic heavy metal parts with the CRADLE OF FILTH/ 
DIMMU BORGIR black metal sound. "Madrigal Da Lua" is not just a 
song, but a mystical journey.
16.ARTH: A mid tempo black metal composition is what "The Black 
Sword" is all about and Arth seem to be influenced by the mighty 
MARDUK. The use of spoken words in the song, offer an epical touch 
to it.
17.DEVASTATING SUPERMACY: Enough with the black metal is what 
Devastating Supermacy seem to scream and yell at us. Only from 
the band's name you can understand that they play thrash/death 
metal. The song "Cold Fields Of Death" is a good composition, 
but having a better production would elevate its quality even more!
18.NERUMIA: In their sound you can listen to a lot of influences 
that they somehow manage to combine and create an interesting 
compositons, like the track "In The Dark Side". I am sure that 
both the friends of classic heavy and extreme metal will enjoy 
Nerumia's music.
19.CODEON: A good old recipe: "We put in the mixer a good dose of 
DARK TRANQUILLITY ("The Gallery" era) and combine it with AT THE 
GATES ("Slaughter Of The Soul" era) and thus we get 'Backstabbers 
Parade'". Seriously now Codeon is a very good and skillful band 
that will attract your interest with the music they play.
20.DRAEMOONTIAS: The last words to this compilation belong to 
black metal. Having a good production as their ally, Draemoontias 
allow their music to unfold. Fans of BATHORY, PRIMORDIAL and 
DARKTHRONE have to check them out...
And thus the review ends...

Nick  "William_Kidd"  Parastatidis