March 2, 2021
Memory Garden – Verdict of Posterity
Reviewed: January 1999Released: 1998, Metal BladeRating: 5.0/5 Reviewer: Nathan Robinson When it comes to doom metal, no one can top Solitude Aeturnus and Memory Garden! Dedicated Metal Rules web site visitors should have already heard of Memory Garden. If you haven’t, then get those damn fingers clicking on that mouse…
Dan Swano – Moontower
Reviewed: January 1999Released: 1998, Black Mark ProductionsRating: 5.0/5 Reviewer: Nathan Robinson Have you ever, after listening to an album, felt like climbing on top of your house, raising both arms, giving the sign of Metal with both hands, and belching a Dan Swano style “heeyyyyy!!!!!!” at the top of your…
Witchery – Restless and Dead
Reviewed: January 1999Released: 1998, Necropolis RecordsRating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: Nathan Robinson If you read any metal magazines, then you have no doubt heard of Witchery, whether it was a CD review, interview, or advertisement (you know, the one with the scantily clad nun). With the seemingly large popularity and coverage of…
Darklands – A Memory of You (3-song demo)
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Heathendoom RecordsRating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: EvilG Do you like bands such as: Danzig, Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, The Tea Party, and The Doors? If you simply can’t get enough of that style of music then here’s another band to add to the list – Darklands. As…
HammerFall – Legacy of Kings
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Nuclear BlastRating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Joe For nearly a decade, the music industry has been “treating” us to bands like Nirvana, Green Day, Korn, and numerous others of their ilk, forcing many metal bands to either conform to the alternative trend or break up altogether. And while…
Iced Earth – Something Wicked This Way Comes
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Century Media RecordsRating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: Joe In the six years since I bought Night of the Stormrider, I never really thought much about Iced Earth. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but there was usually something else that would wind up capturing my attention (and…
Substance D – Black
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, FAD RecordsRating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: EvilG Substance D are a fairly new band from the USA. Sure their music is heavy, but it’s somewhat lacking in two main departments – melody and lead guitar. There is aggression here and a few decent riffs raise their head from…
Stratovarius – Destiny
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, FAD RecordsRating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: EvilG The newest CD from the Finnish power lords of classically influenced melodic metal has arrived. Even though I have given this CD a high rating I still have a few minor complaints. The main one being that some of the songs…
T.A.R. – Tar and Feathers For The Millenium
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Heathendoom MusicRating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: EvilG Sweden’s TAR return with an EP that continues in the path set in their pervious release. TAR has taken a page from the Machine Head / Pantera school of metal and have twisted it into their own sound. Strangely enough though,…
Hibria – Metal Heart
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, IndependantRating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: EvilG Cool, another band from South America…perhaps you’re thinking Sepultura? Well don’t, and don’t think Accept, even though the title of this demo is “Metal Heart.” Think more along the lines of a poor man’s Angra. Hibria call Porto Alegre, Brazil home. They…
Kiss – Psycho Circus
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, PolygramRating: 4.0/5 Reviewer: Pat Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley must have split personalities. They often travel from one extreme to the other, most of the time with each album. Confused? I’ll explain. After a laughable tailspin through most of the 80’s, KISS (then with Eric Singer…
Fear Factory – Obsolete
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, RoadrunnerRating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Pat The year is 2067, and machine has taken over man. ‘Edgecrusher’ is trying to escape the grasp of ‘Smasher/Devourer’ and ‘Securitron’, and this is all broadcasted on a monitor with no on/off switch. OK, that is what I could make out of…
Judas Priest – 98 Live Meltdown
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, CMCRating: 5.0/5 Reviewer: Pete What can I say about this one!! Awesome, as Priest comes to bat with this double live disk on CMC International. All the faves are here, “Metal Gods”, “The Sentinel”, “Victim of Changes”, “Hell Bent For Leather.” Twenty-four tracks in all and…
Vanderhoof – s/t
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Great NorthernRating: 3.0/5 Reviewer: Pete Well, after many years away from Metal Church, Kurt Vanderhoof graces us with his project “Vanderhoof.” Not that the man has been idle, he remained with Metal Church behind the scenes assisting with songwriting, etc. and gave us the only (but…
Death – The Sound of Perseverance
Reviewed: December 1998Released: 1998, Nuclear BlastRating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: Joe The Sound of Perseverance marks the triumphant return of Chuck “God ‘o Death” Schuldiner. Many metal fans feared the end of Death after the disbanding of the previous line-up and Chuck’s formation of Control Denied (which, by the way, is due…