The successful reunion of Carcass and subsequent botched and/or drama-laden reunion of Dark Angel is a study in contrasts. Surely as you’ve read on these pages, Carcass are well on their way to having one of the best comebacks ever with Surgical Steel, while Dark Angel can’t agree on who is doing what, with whom, and where. Carcass has two cooks in the kitchen (Steer and Walker), while Dark Angel has too many chiefs, not enough indians. It’s a classic example of how fragile a band’s setup can be, especially when we’re dealing with older musicians who might harbor some resentment from prior episodes. The best reunions are done with artistic integrity and to make amends for the past, which is why Carcass are soon to be bigger than ever, and Dark Angel may fade into irrevelance once again… – David E. Gehlke
General housekeeping
Our 3-CD Monsterworks giveaway is still going. Enter now for a chance to win.
Annihilator’s “Stonewall” was our vintage video pick of the week.
Features
German alt-Goth metal crew End of Green checked in with DR to talk about their brand of “bad weather music.”
Swedish psychedelic death metallers Tribulation gave us the scoop on their new album, The Formulas of Death, and their thought on the absent-minded retro death metal scene.
Carcass bassist/singer Jeff Walker was such a good conversationalist, we had to split our chat with him into two parts, which can be found here and here.
Reviews
Grave lay down another reliable platter of Swedish death metal via the 5-song Morbid Ascent EP.
Jersey modern death metallers Fit For An Autopsy managed to outdo their contemporaries on the surprisingly good Hellbound.
A cult demo band since the mid-80’s, Pentagram Chile have finally released their first album, The Malefice.
Annihilator return with their 14th hour, the excellent Feast. Watch for an in-depth interview with mainman Jeff Waters next week.
Cleveland metallic hardcore heroes Ringworm return with the three-song Bleed EP.
Irish unsigned technical death metallers Dichotomy have some growing up to do on their Paradigms debut.
Norwegian black metal champs Satyricon return with their first album in four years in the form of a self-titled effort.
Yet another Norwegian black metal outfit, Sarke, manage to lay down an admirable display of BM on Aruagint.
Even more black metal, this time with the re-release of Lammendam, from Netherlands’ Carach Angren.
Mystical death metal duo Vasaeleth churn out an out-of-the-box effort with All Uproarious Darkness.
The news in ten
1. The Max Cavalera, Greg Puciato, Troy Sanders supergroup has started work on their debut album.
2. Dakthrone’s Nocturno Culto to release Gift of Gods album.
3. Singer Don Doty withdrawals from the Dark Angel reunion.
4. Italian Southern-fried black metallers Glorior Belli to release Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls later this year.
5. Dream Theater reveals details for the Live at Luna Park DVD release.
6. Death Angel posts the title track from their forthcoming new album, The Dream Calls For Blood.
7. Lamb of God gets banned from playing in Malaysia.
8. Kataklysm posts a new song, “Kill the Elite.”
9. Slayer adds more dates to their fall U.S. tour schedule.
10. Entombed signs with Century Media Records; new album Back to the Front due in October.