bass), the breathy torch song “Zombie Love” (its catchy refrain professing, “I love you so much, I want to eat you alive”), before finishing up with a suit- ably sultry version of Tito & Tarantula’s “After Dark” and a full-tilt rendition of AC/DC’s “Rocker.” Eve Hell may be a bad girl but she’s clearly done a little time in rock ’n’ roll heaven. TT 0000
The RioT AcT
THE BLACK DAHLIA
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” – TWISTED SISTER
If you read my column on my problems with death metal in RM#110, you
may recall that I am constantly questioning what exactly makes music hor- rific. Because unlike films and books, there really is no distinct “horror music” genre. Yes, there are a few acts – Alice Cooper, Misfits, Skinny Puppy – that have blatantly adopted enough horror themes throughout their work to be considered icons of the genre. For me, though, equally of interest are artists who create unsettling, scary sounds, whether or not they ever mention a monster. Atari Teenage Riot has been producing audio terrors since 1992. The Berlin-
based group describes itself as “digital hardcore” – combining the pulse of techno with the politics of punk in an intense mix of guitar riffs and electronic noise as abrasive as it is anarchistic. Leader Alec Em- pire is a prolific DJ, composer and remixer (Rammstein, Björk, etc.) who believes music is a weapon and wields it for maximum rev- olutionary impact, with songs such as “Deutschland Has Gotta Die!” and “Destroy 2000 Years of Culture.” Last year, ATR pro- duced an iPhone app with a feature called Riotsounds Produce Riots, designed to in- duce “very low sub basses, square waves, noise sounds which trigger hysteria and panic within the audience.” (Apple was not pleased.) The group’s latest release, Is This Hyperreal?, is a cyberpunk record Empire
has called “a nightmare vision of the future.” The lead single “Blood in My Eyes” is a punishing kind of pop song about human trafficking. When Nic Endo sings of mutilations and screams, “So much blood! Too much blood!” she is aiming her rage squarely at the governments that fail to prevent sexual ex- ploitation. But the group’s biggest cause of late is the eroding of technological freedoms, and the record blasts out critiques of authorities’ increasing control of the internet. This is 21st-century protest music, and with its relentless speed rhythms and shocking sloganeering about the collapse of history, it’s the group’s most fully realized dystopian odyssey yet. Because the reality is that truth is scarier than fiction. Sometimes producing a great work of horror takes more guts than fake blood.
LIISA LADOUCEUR
THE BLOOD SPATTERED GUIDE CAN BE HEARD WEEKLY ON
RUEMORGUERADIO.COM RM 46 A U D I O D R O M E
MURDER Ritual METAL BLADE Whether it’s the Gothenburg plagiarism of their Unhallowed debut, the metal- core of Miasma or the black/death prostration of Nocturnal, The Black Dahlia Murder seems to possess a knack for aping whatever’s popular. This time it’s the occultism of tradi- tional doom, particularly with this fifth effort’s admittedly badass cover art… and not so badass (hilariously awful, actually) accompanying press photos, which feature the band members draped in robes and engaged in some otherworldly “satanic” ceremony. Mu- sically, Ritual is a technically proficient blend of death and black metal, pep- pered with fewer melodic jabs than usual – In Flames and At the Gates aren’t the cash cows they used to be, I guess. Opener “A Shrine to Madness” and “Conspiring with the Damned” marginally display ability and attitude, and yet it’s all still so profoundly boring, inspiring more head-shakes than head bangs. Even vocalist Trevor Strnad’s deep, enunciated growls aren’t enough to save this band from merely sounding like a lesser product of their collective influences. GP 00
METAL
ica’s Next Top Model – may sound rather awkward and stupid but it’s also especially accurate given De- bauchery’s two principle obsessions: hot nude women and buckets of fake blood. On this seventh album, the sound remains the same: Six Feet Under-style death metal (mostly be- cause Thomas Gurrath’s guttural growl sounds just like Chris Barnes’ vocals) and groovy hard rock. Lyri- cally, it sticks to mindless gore and vi- olence on tracks such as “Zombie Blitzkrieg” and “Death Will Entertain,” but a rebellious punk attitude lurks beneath, serving as a raised middle finger to those who criticize Debauch- ery for being the entertainingly offen- sive unit that they are. Suitably, there’s a cover of Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” in tribute to Gurrath’s recent firing from his teaching job after his employers discovered how he spends his nights. If death metal is allowed to have party records, this is the best contender I’ve heard yet. AVL 0000
HAEMORRHAGE Hospital Carnage
METAL
DEBAUCHERY Germany’s Next Death Metal
METAL
AFM The title of this album – a take-off on the German counterpart of TV’s Amer-
RELAPSE This blood-spattered (literally!) Span- ish quintet has been spilling Carcass- inspired goregrind since 1990, Hospital Carnage being its sixth full- length. Unlike the band’s more mod- ern peers, which tend to offer a near-impregnable musical mass of down-tuned technical riffing, blast beats and gurgling vocals, Haemor- rhage has crafted a collection of evil yet accessible hospital-themed tracks. With song titles such as “Open Heart Butchery,” “Traumageddon” and “Tumour Donor,” it’s well-evident that the band has its tongue firmly planted in cheek, but the goofiness ends with their image and lyrics. Mu- sically, the group incorporates the genre-standard mid-range shriek and growly dual vocal style it helped de- fine with catchy riffs and galloping tempos that make for some serious headbanging. It’s remarkable that a band that has toiled in relative obscu- rity for as long as Haemorrhage has can produce a platter of splatter that is as much fun to listen to as it must have been to make. GM 0000
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