Metal Blade Records – Page 40

Brainstorm – Ambiguity – Review

September 1, 2000

German power metal with chugging guitars, powerful vocals, driving beats, the requisite ballad, and practically nothing to distinguish itself from the pack.

Sacred Steel – Bloodlust – Review

September 1, 2000

Titles include the word blood three times, steel twice, metal twice, and hammer, oath, wrath, war, warriors, gates, fate, lust, and thrones once each.

King Diamond – House of God – Review

September 1, 2000

No real surprises here. If yer into King’s kooky/campy freakshow of falsetto, here’s almost an hour’s worth of riffs and screeching to add to yer collection.

Vermin – Millennium Ride – Review

June 1, 2000

Riffs Entombed’d pass on cuz they’re too dull, monotone hardcore vocals sprinkled with death roar, and general bash’n’smash that is uninspired and predictable.

Vader – Litany – Review

June 1, 2000

Vader is molten lava, boiling over with intensity, passion, and brutality. Meaty grind with no gore lyrics, third-rate computer artwork, or saturated growls.

The Quiet Room – Reconceive – Review

June 1, 2000

Heavy, dark Dream Theater, with vocals from new guy Pete Jewell that oddly go to a Hetfield zone, really redefining the band’s mandate.

Lord Belial – Unholy Crusade – Review

June 1, 2000

When their intensity is mixed with flutes, cellos, classical guitars, and female vocals, there’s so much going on that it takes numerous listens to appreciate.

Cradle of Filth – From Cradle to Enslavement – Review

June 1, 2000

Slayeresque leads, demon bellows, snakespit’n’snarl vocals like no one else can manage, all set to thrashy, galloping guitars and blurs of blackened shred.

Fleshcrawl – As Blood Rains Down from the Sky… We Walk the Path of Endless Fire – Review

June 1, 2000

Fleshcrawl are such devotees of the classic Swedish sound that they’ve made a solid album saturated with chunky riffs and catchy yet brutal melodies.

Hades – The Downside – Review

April 1, 2000

A Pandora’s Box of retro mindgames, but in being that, it chooses doom, dirt, organics, and an interesting and discerning sampling of power and prog.