MARILYN MANSON "The Golden Age of Grotesque" by: Dominic Toogood Marilyn Manson has finally come of age. Pure hard core industrial rock that has now become a tried and tested formula is offered up on this latest release. More songs, no ANTHEMS, of s*x, (Slutgarden), violence, (Use Your Fist Not Your Mouth), and disillusionment, ((s)AINT), and a combination of all three reign supreme here from the master of this genre. As always, Herr Doktor, (as Mr. Warner refers to himself here), continues to pull from various interesting influences including even Oscar Wilde who gets an honorable, (dishonorable?), mention. However, the jewel in this festering crown of scabs is the awesome title track, (The Golden Age of Grotesque), which sounds like a pumped-up vaudeville song straight out of a post-1939 Munich cabaret club - but it works perfectly. Perhaps the only criticism is Manson's heavy leaning to his breakout album 'Antichrist Superstar'; 'Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zagg' sounds distinctly like 'The Beautiful People' while 'This is The New Shit' sounds very much like 'Kinderfeld' on amphetamines but the kids won't be too disappointed. When Manson steps out of character his originality, even in the breath taking artwork, is awe inspiring but too often the same recipe for disaster is relied upon. However, its still the recipe HE concocted so why the f*ck shouldn't he use it?! This is one mixture the Doktor certainly ordered.

TOXIC VIRGIN "Circle Of Power" (Brilliant Records) by Jonathan Mariante Every now and then a band comes along that offers a breath of fresh air from the same old, same old we keep hearing in the way of music. Toxic Virgin are one such band, to these ears, anyway. They play 80's style melodic hard rock, with a sound that is crisp, clear, and polished, but also has an edge, rocks hard, and packs a punch. They keep it melodic but hard enough so that it doesn't sound watered down and doesn't lose its hard rock edge. This is pure, uncorrupted rock and roll, the way it used to be in the good old days, the stuff parties were made of! Toxic Virgin are influenced by bands like the Scorpions, Dokken, Bonfire, early Def Leppard, Damn Yankees, Pretty Maids, TNT, Victory, Thin Lizzy, Helix, etc. This is a classic style hard rock band that ignore all the latest trends and flavors, as if the 80's never ended! Props to 'em! And more props to 'em for being a talented band that can jam with the best of 'em! Their playing is strong and solid, and singer Markus Litsch has a powerful, gutsy voice. Toxic Virgin play REAL rock and roll (with a few ballads thrown in to balance things out. After all, what great hard rock album doesn't have a ballad or two?), something you don't see much of these days, at least not on this side of the Big Pond (these guys are from Germany), so it sure is good to see a band like this come along, who know how rock music is supposed to sound, and can also play well, to top it off, and really kick out the jams, which is a lot more than I can say about many of today's popular bands. In a perfect world, bands like Toxic Virgin would occupy the places now held by Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. http://www.toxicvirgin.de

CHOLERIC "Weed Out The Weak" Indie release By Jonathan Mariante The word "choleric" basically means someone in need of anger management, and the name is fitting for this band. They are a death metal band who make some violent, aggressive, angry music, as all death metal should be. I guess it wouldn't be death metal if it wasn't, would it? These guys belt out a death metal blitzkrieg, most of the songs like a jackhammer on the brain (I mean that in a good way) but they also have their melodic moments. Singer Stitchez sings in a "regular" voice on many parts of the album, and some of the songs, such as "Predator Is Prey" and "Colder", are a little slower and less aggressive. One song in particular, "My Angel", is a bit atypical for a death metal band. It's a Sabbath-inspired number, and a bit less heavy, on which Stitchez sings "regular" about a guy lamenting the loss of his girlfriend. It's the closest thing on this album to a ballad. It's nice to hear them doing something a little different on one song and exploring some slightly different musical territory. The album's lyrics are about being angry, but generally are not very violent. Many death metal bands write violent, graphic, horror movie inspired lyrics, but these guys write more about being angry and disgusted with what they see around them with a "fuck the world" attitude. One could call it a Pantera attitude. These guys are a decent band and this album is a worthy effort, but there is one complaint I have about it: No guitar solos. To me, guitar solos are one of the things that make metal metal. An album without any is just not complete. That aside, however, this is a good death metal album. Aggressive, raw, violent, heavy, abrasive, and angry. All the right stuff, aside from the lack of guitar solos. http://www.cholericmusic.com

27 PILLS "Rated R" Metalhertz Records by Jonathan Mariante When I heard the first song on this disc, "Freak", I thought, "Oh no, another Korn-ish band, like we need any more of those!", and proceeded to fasten my stomach belt and break out my barf bag! This song is your typical "nu metal" material (guess that's why it's to be the first single off the album), with rap-like signing, Korn/Bizkit style guitar riffs, and scratching a-plenty. However, as the album proceeded, I was pleasantly surprised to hear it do a musical U-turn. The rest of the album is simple, straight up hard rock, more in the style of Saliva, Puddle Of Mudd, or Disturbed, with no more hip hop elements (thank the heavens for that!). The music is rough, raucous, and energetic, with Paul Souza (who also sings) and Johnny James cranking out some mean guitar, and is filled with angst-ridden lyrics. The heaviest song on the album is "13 Cents", the closing track, which has a Pantera vibe to it, while the lightest tune is "The Dream Song", this one a bit more laid back. The rest of the album rocks out with balls! These guys (and girl) give it their all and deserve credit for that. Just give "Freak" a miss and you've got yourself a booty kicking rock album here! http://www.27pills.com

TYR "How Far To Asgard" Tull Records By Jonathan Mariante Tyr was the name of a Norse god, and also the title of a Black Sabbath album. The name suits this band well because they are very Sabbath influenced, and many of their song lyrics are inspired by Norse mythology (the band hails from Denmark). They are a Doom Metal band, with Sabbath-style guitar riffs, a funeral march pace, and bottom heavy percussion on all their songs, but they are a bit more melodic than your average Doom band. Their sound is more polished, resulting in cleaner, clearer, more metallic style, and the singing, handled by vocalist Pol Arni Holm, is also on the "clean", smoother side, with more in common with singers like Geoff Tate or James LaBrie than your typical Doom singer. This adds a progressive touch to the band's music, along with some guitar techniques used more commonly in progressive or power metal. One could call Tyr's style "progressive doom", if there is such a thing. The band may have invented a new metal sub-genre. They are original, I'll say that for them, and they do play and write rather well. Doom fans in search of a band who puts a new twist on that style should check out Tyr. http://www.tyr.musiconline.dk

Callenish Circle "My Passion/Your Pain" Metal Blade By Paul Autry Considering the fact that I'm somewhat picky about what I listen to and what I enjoy, I found this release to be somewhat interesting. I'm not really sure what to make of it. The vocals seem to be in the black metal style, which I would normally hate. But, for the most part, I can undestand what the vocalist is saying and that's always a plus in my book. As for the musical style, well, it's obviously metal and there's an industrial flavor throughout this release as well. The musicianship is pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I guess they could be considered death/thrash, at least that's a term I saw used on their website. Personally, they don't seem like a band that you can just slap a label on and say this is what they are and, because of that, I think they'll be able to reach a much larger audience. There's also a cover of "Out Of The Body," which is a Pestilence tune and there's a live video on here as well, which I haven't checked out because my computer locks up when I stick certain things into my CD-Rom drive. So, I won't even attempt viewing it until I get this hunk of tin fixed. While I deal with my hunk of tin, you can check out this exceptional hunk of intense metal known as Callenish Circle. http://www.callenish-circle.com

Shiva Shakti "Self Titled" Mystic Records By Paul Autry Here's a release for the older crowd. Shiva Shakti features Shiva Jones, the vocalist for 70's mystical rock band Quintessence. I assume some of you out there remember them. Can't say that I do because the 70's were my pre-teen years and I didn't pay a lot of attention to music at the time. Anyway, this release features five newly recorded Quintessence tunes, including the popular "Notting Hill Gate," as well as five new tunes. The musical style is best described on the back of the album, where it says that the band has "artfully merged the sincere and inspirational devotional chants of the east with the innovative and boundless Euro-rock influences of the West." As far as my opinion, well, it was interesting to listen to. But, it's not really my cup of tea. It's got a good production though and if this musical style floats your boat, you won't be disappointed with this release. http://www.mysticrecords.co.uk/

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