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CEMETARY 1213 :
BEAST DIVINE

Well, Cemetary are back together (after the break up of "Sundown") with a slight name change, and a bit of a musical change as well. This CD, sees the band getting heavier, and more electronic, than the last couple discs. The songs still have a goth metal feel, but sound a bit like they were mixed by Ministry. If you were a fan, you already expect each CD to sound different than the last, so I would still think you will dig this outing, but if Industrial is not your thing, I would take a listen first, before putting out your hard earned cash. Again, this is only currently an import item from the UK, so get ready to fork over the extra $.
RATING = 8 Industrial Goth (Released 2000)

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CEMETARY :
PHANTASMA

Man, this has been a long time coming kiddies. I have been following the career of one Mathias Lodmalm for a number of years now. Mathias is the vocalist, and main man behind the band Cemetary. I first took notice on the band back in 1994, with their "Black Vanity" album, and ever since then, I've been hooked by this man's work. I guess some of you are too, as he seems to have gathered a bit of a cult following over the years. After two more fantastic Cemetary albums (1996's "Sundown", and 1997's "Last Confession"), the band went through a line-up shuffle and came back as "Sundown". Two killer CDs with a more Electronic-Goth tinge were released, "Design 19" in late '97, and "Glimmer" in 1999. Then, as quick as you can say "back peddle", Sundown was no more, and Cemetary was resurrected as "Cemetary 1213", releasing the industrialised "Beast Divine" in 2000 (see review above). No two discs from the mind of Mr. Lodmalm have ever sounded the same, but the basic elements of Metal, Goth, Dark-Rock, and Industrial have been present in almost all to varying degrees. Since 2000, we have waited and waited to see what would happen next. In late 2003 news came out that a new CD called "Phantasma" was about to come out, then... nothing. Then in early '04 it appeared on pre-order sheets from distributors under the heading "Cemetary Presents: Phantasma", but it failed to show. So now, five years after the last studio disc, we finally have the new CD from Mr. Lodmalm, and while it's good, it ain't great, and when the last half dozen CDs you have released are great, that's a very noticeable thing. Sound wise, this is pretty much what I expected, there are elements here from all of his releases over the last 9 years. The Goth is still there, the Metal is still there, and the Marilyn Manson/NIN styled Industrial edge is definitely still there. So, that's the good news, there is some bad news however, and that concerns what's not there, namely, catchy songs. Oh there are a few tracks that come pretty close, "2nd Last To Nowhere" and "Coma Burn" are both pretty cool, but even they have elements within the song that don't quite work. I don't know what happened here, maybe by spending so long on the project Mathias just over-thought everything. It's like he had a simple concept, and then kept re-working it until it was unrecognisable. I still enjoy this outing, but when you know the greatness he is capable of, it's a bit of a let down... especially after a freakin' five-year wait! For more info, the band and the man can be found here.
RATING = 7 Industrial Goth-Metal (Released 2005)
Note: less than one week after I posted this review, Mathias Lodmalm has announced that he is leaving the music scene for good! Hope it was nothing I said...

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