- - -

CHARNEL HOUSE :
FROM BIRTH TO BURIAL

Charnel House, out of Queens New York, is a Thrash-Metal band with lots of Hard-Core influences, who like to "kick it old school". The band has been churning out their own brand of thrash since 1989, not caring about trends, or what the MTV generation wants to hear. The band lists their influences as Dark Angel, Slayer, Death, Sepultura, and Overkill. However, there is another band I would have to add to this list, on "From Birth To Burial", tracks 2 and 4 especially, there is an unquestionable early Celtic Frost vibe, both in musical style, and vocal delivery. You know, I have to admit, when I first got this disc, it didn't look too promising, the band photo just looked like a picture of guys I might have hung out with in high school, chillin' in someone's basement. And when a band has been around for 13 years, and hasn't broken out yet, you sort of can't help but make a prejudgment that there must be something wrong. Well it turns out there is something wrong, the North American music scene sucks donkey balls, that's what's wrong. These guys will kick your ass, combining blurring guitar work (John Siemerling & Brian Purr) straight out of the Slayer instruction manual, harsh, borderline Death-Metal vocals (John King), and the time changes and infectious beats of NY Hard-Core. Rounding out the band is Tom Reardon on bass, and JohnPaul Gonzalez on drums. You can see the diversity in the band's music by the various types of bands they have hooked up with, Charnel House has shared the stage with; Overkill, Pro-Pain, Gwar, Incantation, Immolation, Life of Agony, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse, and many others. The CD also has this 80s-ish unrefined raw sound to it, which really helps with the overall feel of the album. I mean, if you need over produced, watered down Metal with no edge, go buy the last Metallica disc. There are also some 9/11 ties here, two members of the band work as Emergency Medical personnel, and were so busy that the CD got pushed back from its original planned release date. Then there is the song "Terrorist", this was actually written a year before the attacks, but now holds an eerie horror after what went down. If ya wanna check out some tunes for yourself, go to mp3.com and let the head bangin' begin. As a side note, the CD running time is 36:36, and what do you get if you set the two sixes aside, and then add the threes together….. hmm, woe to you oh earth and sea for the devil sends the beast with wrath…
RATING = 7.5 Thrash-Metal (Released 2002)

- - -

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U/V    W-Z   

SOUNDTRACKS    TRIBUTES    COMPILATIONS

GOT A PROBLEM WITH ONE OF MY CD REVIEWS?
DO YOU AGREE WITH ME?
THEN GO TO THE

- - -

"Greatest hits albums are for housewives and little girls."
 -Bruce McCulloch K.I.T.H. '91

Sign Guestbook View Guestbook
Old Guest Book

Email me at urotsukidoji_1@yahoo.com

HOME

IF YOU THINK MY CD REVIEWS SUCK, CLICK HERE!

© 1997 urotsukidoji_1@yahoo.com

This page hosted by GeoCities Get your own Free Home Page