Nuclear Blast Records – Page 37

Primal Fear – Review

September 1, 1998

If you always loved Priest, but thought their production lacked the over-the-topness available to hacks with half the songwriting talent, here’s Primal Fear.

In Flames – Whoracle – Review

April 1, 1998

Whoracle speeds through desolate landscapes, stops at a rest area and cavorts in the bushes, then jams the high-octane metal monster back into overdrive again.

Hypocrisy – The Final Chapter – Review

April 1, 1998

A greatest hits record, only more along the lines of “Say, Peter, give us what you’ve got, regardless of style, and we’ll call it the last Hypocrisy record.”

Meshuggah – The True Human Design – Review

April 1, 1998

The next step in the evolution of heavy music, surpassing Pantera and Fear Factory on their own terms, then rewriting the rulebook on dethroning metal godz.

Dismember – Misanthropic – Review

March 1, 1998

The production is ripping, all the manic shredding elements are there, as is the token melodic guitar contrast, but it’s just not especially engaging to me.

Born For Bliss – Flowing with the Flue – Review

March 1, 1998

The Goth pretension shtick wears pretty thin when the passion coursing through the melody is textbook, spider-scrawled or not.

Therion – A’arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming – Review

March 1, 1998

Split between a rock album (with covers) combined with leftovers from the Theli sessions and material intended as a soundtrack to a Swedish art film.

Sinister – Bastard Saints – Review

October 1, 1997

Cro-magnon death metal barbarianism has been Sinister’s specialty ever since their debut.

The Abyss – Summon the Beast – Review

September 1, 1997

The only drawback of the second release by this Hypocrisy side project is there are no dynamics, rather one go-for-the-throat pace established and maintained.

Dimmu Borgir – Enthrone Darkness Triumphant – Review

September 1, 1997

They’re heavy that blends the sounds of throat-tearing vocals, maniacally riffing guitars, and technicolor dreamcloak keyboards into one “symphonic mass.”