Detailed Reviews [Killing Mode vs. Nailstorm - 2002 - "Brothers In Blood"]

Killing Mode (UK) vs. Nailstorm (UK) - 2002 - "Brothers In Blood"
(30 min, "Metamorphis", Demo)

Prologue. As you can guess, this CD presents two Mini CD's (demos, actually) by different bands. As a whole production, it was named "Brother In Blood", which probably refers to the stylistic unity of both of these bands. Let's see what Killing Mode and Nailstorm are really about.

Killing Mode: Both of the first tracks by Killing Mode, Aftershock and Consolidate, are structurally (not compositionally, of course) similar among themselves in all parameters. Stylistically, they represent a blend of Thrash-, Doom-, and Techno-Metal, which, being raised to the power of Black-y vocals (notice that I didn't say "Death-y vocals") gets the status of Techno-Black Metal with the elements of Doom Metal. The closest point for a stylistic comparison would probably be the second album ("The Astral Sleep", 1991) by the famous Swedish Progressive Doom Metal band Tiamat (now defunct). Both of Killing Mode's last songs, Harmful and Target (tracks 3 & 4), are slightly different from two previous tracks. The guitar riffs that are present on them are for the most part obviously influenced by those that were invented by Tony Iommi, the permanent leader and primary mastermind behind the mighty Black Sabbath. So, structurally, they're on the whole closer to such albums as "Clouds" (1992) by Tiamat, "Hammerheart" (1990) by another Swedish band Bathory, as well as the earliest albums by such UK's Doom Metal bands as Cathedral and Paradise Lost. Also, on Harmful and Target, a singer use his vocals much more effectively than on the first two tracks. Not only the voice of a tired monster is heard on them, but also the human one. And the latter in many ways reminds me of that of Johan Edlund on the "Wildhoney" album (1994) by still the same Tiamat. Of course, Killing Mode's music, which is presented on this CD, is by no means as rich, impressive, and progressive as that by Tiamat, not to mention the Godfathers of Prog-Doom Metal and Prog-Metal itself Black Sabbath. However, I think that on the whole, "Consolidate" is a promising debut. The remotely related reviews:
Into Eternity - 2001 - "Dead Or Dreaming" review
Coinmonster - 2000 - "The Schematic" review
Whiplash - 1996 - "Cult of One" review
Black Sabbath - 1973 - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" review
Tiamat - 1997 - "A Deeper Kind of Slumber" review

Nailstorm: On the whole, all four of the songs presented by Nailstrom on this CD are of a unified stylistic concept. These are Godbleed, Self Existence, Virtual Homicide, and EF-109 (tracks 5 to 8). In fact, all of them were created within the framework of a typical Techno-Death Metal, the instrumental constituents of which are Thrash, Grindcore, and Doom Metal. However, their longest song Virtual Homicide contains, in addition, a short yet excellent episode with the passages of semi-acoustic guitar. Technically, the music of Nailstorm is slightly more complex than that of Killing Mode. The machine-gun fire-like arrangements change with the mid-tempo and slow ones frequently and unexpectedly. If Nailstorm would have a vocalist who would sing at least like Chuck Schuldiner, some parallels could've been drawn between Nailstorm and the earliest creation by Death. However, a man behind the band's microphone doesn't sing at all. While listening to the album, I had the impression that he doesn't use any lyrics and only repeats with a whispered roar something like, "Well, well, well". A ghastly roar of some primitive (Adam?) is featured on all of the Nailstorm songs. Fortunately, each of them contains a relatively long instrumental part, which, remotely, can remind of the instrumental textures of the debut Voivod album "War & Pain" (1984). No related reviews at all (though there are reviews of a few of Voivod's albums on the site).

Summary. I am almost sure that both of the bands, the music of which are presented on the "Brothers In Blood" Mini CD, are just in the beginning of their creative activity. Most of all however, I wonder why both of the bands are afraid to use guitar solos along with riffs. Well, in this review, I tried to point to both of the positive and negative aspects of their songs, hoping that in the future, they will be able at least to avoid the drawbacks that they have today. As for the CD itself, I can recommend it to those who know who I mean.

VM. April 25, 2002