Various Artists
Rebirth of the Heavy

November 2002
Released: 2002, The Music Cartel
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Night of the Realm

Compilation albums quite literally a mixed bag. On one hand, compilations are a good way of discovering new bands, but oftentimes, in order to do so, one must wade through mountains of crap to do so.



REBIRTH OF THE HEAVY contains 16 bands, most of which fall into the stoner/sludge/doom genres, which I shall attempt to highlight in three categories.



The Good:

Sons Of Otis “Mile High” – Ultra-slow doom metal, with very thick riffs.



Novadriver “Spinning Into No Future” – Super distorted, spacy, fast classic metal. One of my favourites on the disc.



Los Natas “El Cono Del Encono” – Starts out super-slow, but ends up with a nice jam bit. Another great one.



Grand Magus “Lodbrok” – Bluesy doom, reminding me somewhat of a heavier version of Soundgarden.



Dozer “Let The Shit Roll” – Captures the essence of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.”



The Cumshots “Conqueror Of Canyons” – This one’s pretty wild, groovy death metal. Good band, hideous name.



Antiseen “Run My World” – For some odd reason, I dig this punk band. This one has a very cool groove to it.



The Bad:

Thulsa Doom “Birthday Pony” – Somebody shoot this Rage Against The Machine wanna be vocalist. The band itself wouldn’t be half bad if they’d just let the singer “ride the white pony” elsewhere and continue their groovy blues-styled rock-metal.



Stinking Lizaveta “Tenuous” – Despite having the best name of any band on the comp. Stinking Lizaveta fails to inspire with this mellow, mostly acoustic passage.



The Sabians “Breathe” – Slow and whiny, this one’s nearly seven minutes of suck.



The Mediocre:

Suplecs “White Devil” – Stoner-core. Not really my thing.

Ratos De Porao “Obesidade Morbida Constitucional” – Brazillian punk-hardcore played at an insane pace.



Lambs “Cut You Loose” – Intense hardcore-punk. No strong feelings about this one.



Electric Frankenstein “Rip It Apart” – Another punk band.



Fireball Ministry “Flatline” – Thick rock, but it just does not grab me. The vocals are a bit on the whiny side.



Electric Wizard “We, The Undead” – The only band on the comp I knew from the beginning. Still super distored stoner doom. Still not my thing.



Overall, REBIRTH OF THE HEAVY is a good introduction to many artists in a genre with which I am not very familiar. With 7 of the 16 tracks grabbing my attention in a favourable fashion, this compilation is a fair investment for those interested in discovering more bands in the stoner/sludge/doom genres. These tracks are a guide to discovering new bands. I cannot fairly judge the bands contained on this album by one song alone, and neither should you. If you’re looking for Doom, this is a good place to start.



Check out the bands’ websites:

Electric Frankenstein http://www.electricfrankenstein.com

Stinking Lizaveta http://www.stinkinglizaveta.com

Fireball Ministry http://www.fireballministry.com

Electric Wizard http://www.electricwizard.net

The Cumshots http://www.thecumshots.org

Grand Magus http://www.grandmagus.com

Thulsa Doom http://www.thulsadoom.com

The Sabians http://www.thesabians.com

Sons Of Otis http://www.sonsofotis.com

Novadriver http://www.novadriver.com

Los Natas http://www.natasrock.com

Ratos De Porao http://www.rdp.com

Antiseen http://www.antiseen.com

Suplecs http://www.suplecs.com

Lambs http://koti.utanet.fi/~bisle