Let's see, the band is Impious and the title is Hellucinate.
These guys must want us to know that they are disrespectful of religion. There
are pictures of the guys standing around in their black fishnet making sure that
they don't smile. From their appearance and the last names with funny looking
marks above some of the letters, I'm guessing they are from Sweden, somewhere in
Scandinavia at least. On the cover we have a bald guy with syringes for fingers.
He seems to be jabbing the four syringes on his right hand into the side of his
face. Ouch. I guess that's what it takes if you want to hellucinate. The lyrics
aren't as anti-religious as I had thought they would be. A couple song titles
hint at it, "Wicked Saints" and "Show Me Your God!". The rest of the tunes
actually seem like they might have something to do with the lame artwork on the
cover. We've got song titles like "Inject", "Toxic Paranoia", and "Needles
Nervosa". I don't know what they're going on about in the lyrics but there are
references to psychological problems. And killing. Ok, on to the music. Yep, I
knew it, Scandinavian death/thrash metal with a just a pinch of the melodic
death metal sound. It's pretty much fast all the time, but not blasting. There
are no synths and they don't bust into In Flames type harmony melodic stuff but
the vocals and guitar tone are there. The production is very good, as is the
musicianship. It's missing something though. Oh yeah, the originality. Songs 1-9
are cookie cutter modern european death metal. It's very solidly done, but
you've heard it all before. I'd have to give this disc a 7 out of 10. If this
sound is your thing, you'll probably eat this right up since I can't find fault
with the production or musicianship. They are suitably anti-christian and
definitely fast and heavy. It was just a bit too much "been there, done that"
for me to care too much. (Alan Seibert)
Hands down, the Jacknife Powerbombs are Cleveland's hardest
working band. And finally, after all these years, comes their first "official"
release. Professionally recorded, mastered, and mixed, it is an excellent
collection of newer and older material that I'm sure will win them new fans
everywhere. The Powerbombs have their own sound, sometimes bordering on Circle
Jerks, and have always written catchy songs that stick in your head after just
one listen. With the addition of a new guitarist and drummer, their sound has
expanded with a hint of metal while still remaining true to their punk rock
roots. Stand outs include: "Tighten Our Rustbelt", "Spraypaint Don't Lie", "Red
Blooded", and "Hell's on Fire". The title track is completely different from its
original version, but you won't know the difference unless you've heard both. To
see the Powerbombs live is to witness an adrenaline overdose, as Matt (vocals)
jumps around anywhere he can as the guitarists do the same, amazingly not
bumping into each other. For more info, check out their website
www.jacknifepowerbombs.com. (Mike Salamone)
Ah, here's the latest project from King Louie....previously
known from his one-man band (called King Louie's One Man Band., natch) , as well
as fronting the Persuaders and sharing lead duty in the one-off band Bad Times.
Oh yeah, he also wrote some songs for those Exploding Hearts guys. Anyhow, I
bought this record expecting some more raunchy garage-punk in the Oblivians/Reatards
vein. Well, I wasn't let down, but fuck this is a hardcore record. Not only is
this "LP" one-sided, it spins at 45 RPM! It's 7 songs in 10 minutes. Am I
complaining? No. This is the ballsiest record I've heard in far too long.
Completely out of hand...is it a garage-punk band trying to play HC, or a HC
band trying to play garage? Who knows, who cares. All I know is I haven't heard
songs like "Bored Of Life" and "(I got a) Drug Problem" since the Dwarves
‘Toolin For A Warm Teabag’ EP. 8 dollars for a 10 minute record? Yes, it's a
bargain, suck it up. (Russ Romance)
There are twelve tracks on this disc, 8 new songs
(including 3 intros/outros) and 4 tracks from the rare "Unmerciful Order" EP.
This is my first exposure to an entire Krisiun disc. I had always avoided them
because I heard they were ultra brutal. When a band is always described as
"brutal", it usually equates to "boring" for me (think Hate Eternal). I had my
fill of non-stop blast beats and tremelo picking a long time ago. Thankfully,
Krisiun is apparently stretching their leathery demon wings on this release a
bit. The new tracks are still insanely fast but now we've got a lot of variation
in the drum parts and even a bit of groove to some of the riffs. For example,
the album opener "Slain Fate" starts off with a part that sounds like bursts of
a tommy gun and then drops into a badass pinch harmonic riff that really
grooves. It seems like Krisiun has made a real effort not to repeat themselves
from song to song or riff to riff and it really pays off. The production of the
new tracks is fantastic as well. You can hear every nuance of the drum parts and
the guitars are nice and thick. The vocals are a bit monotonous but I don't
think that is going to spoil anything for the hardened death metal fan. I'm
really digging the new stuff on this cd so I'm giving the new tracks a 9.5 out
of 10. The 4 tracks from their underground demo are a different story. They are
more like I had always assumed Krisiun would sound like. You'll know right away
when the disc switches to the "Unmerciful Order" demo because the production all
of a sudden takes a dive. I happen to like the crappy production on a lot of
South American death metal (it adds evil) so it doesn't bother me all that much,
but it does take a second to get used to. In these older tracks we have near
constant blast beats and white noise guitar distortion that makes it almost
impossible to pick out what the guitar is doing. If brutal is your thing, or if
you are a big Krisiun fan and need these rare tracks to fill out your
collection, then you will not be disappointed. The rest of us might be
restarting the disc when the older tracks start up. If you do that, however, you
will miss the new eerie outro that comes on after the EP. I give the old tracks
a 6 out of 10. Overall, I think this cd is well worth your money if you
appreciate modern death metal. Don't let the older stuff scare you off, the new
stuff is so good that it won't even bother you by the time the CD is done
playing. (Alan Seibert)
Let's see, the band is Impious and the title is Hellucinate.
These guys must want us to know that they are disrespectful of religion. There
are pictures of the guys standing around in their black fishnet making sure that
they don't smile. From their appearance and the last names with funny looking
marks above some of the letters, I'm guessing they are from Sweden, somewhere in
Scandinavia at least. On the cover we have a bald guy with syringes for fingers.
He seems to be jabbing the four syringes on his right hand into the side of his
face. Ouch. I guess that's what it takes if you want to hellucinate. The lyrics
aren't as anti-religious as I had thought they would be. A couple song titles
hint at it, "Wicked Saints" and "Show Me Your God!". The rest of the tunes
actually seem like they might have something to do with the lame artwork on the
cover. We've got song titles like "Inject", "Toxic Paranoia", and "Needles
Nervosa". I don't know what they're going on about in the lyrics but there are
references to psychological problems. And killing. Ok, on to the music. Yep, I
knew it, Scandinavian death/thrash metal with a just a pinch of the melodic
death metal sound. It's pretty much fast all the time, but not blasting. There
are no synths and they don't bust into In Flames type harmony melodic stuff but
the vocals and guitar tone are there. The production is very good, as is the
musicianship. It's missing something though. Oh yeah, the originality. Songs 1-9
are cookie cutter modern european death metal. It's very solidly done, but
you've heard it all before. I'd have to give this disc a 7 out of 10. If this
sound is your thing, you'll probably eat this right up since I can't find fault
with the production or musicianship. They are suitably anti-christian and
definitely fast and heavy. It was just a bit too much "been there, done that"
for me to care too much. (Alan Seibert) 
Hands down, the Jacknife Powerbombs are Cleveland's hardest
working band. And finally, after all these years, comes their first "official"
release. Professionally recorded, mastered, and mixed, it is an excellent
collection of newer and older material that I'm sure will win them new fans
everywhere. The Powerbombs have their own sound, sometimes bordering on Circle
Jerks, and have always written catchy songs that stick in your head after just
one listen. With the addition of a new guitarist and drummer, their sound has
expanded with a hint of metal while still remaining true to their punk rock
roots. Stand outs include: "Tighten Our Rustbelt", "Spraypaint Don't Lie", "Red
Blooded", and "Hell's on Fire". The title track is completely different from its
original version, but you won't know the difference unless you've heard both. To
see the Powerbombs live is to witness an adrenaline overdose, as Matt (vocals)
jumps around anywhere he can as the guitarists do the same, amazingly not
bumping into each other. For more info, check out their website
There are twelve tracks on this disc, 8 new songs
(including 3 intros/outros) and 4 tracks from the rare "Unmerciful Order" EP.
This is my first exposure to an entire Krisiun disc. I had always avoided them
because I heard they were ultra brutal. When a band is always described as
"brutal", it usually equates to "boring" for me (think Hate Eternal). I had my
fill of non-stop blast beats and tremelo picking a long time ago. Thankfully,
Krisiun is apparently stretching their leathery demon wings on this release a
bit. The new tracks are still insanely fast but now we've got a lot of variation
in the drum parts and even a bit of groove to some of the riffs. For example,
the album opener "Slain Fate" starts off with a part that sounds like bursts of
a tommy gun and then drops into a badass pinch harmonic riff that really
grooves. It seems like Krisiun has made a real effort not to repeat themselves
from song to song or riff to riff and it really pays off. The production of the
new tracks is fantastic as well. You can hear every nuance of the drum parts and
the guitars are nice and thick. The vocals are a bit monotonous but I don't
think that is going to spoil anything for the hardened death metal fan. I'm
really digging the new stuff on this cd so I'm giving the new tracks a 9.5 out
of 10. The 4 tracks from their underground demo are a different story. They are
more like I had always assumed Krisiun would sound like. You'll know right away
when the disc switches to the "Unmerciful Order" demo because the production all
of a sudden takes a dive. I happen to like the crappy production on a lot of
South American death metal (it adds evil) so it doesn't bother me all that much,
but it does take a second to get used to. In these older tracks we have near
constant blast beats and white noise guitar distortion that makes it almost
impossible to pick out what the guitar is doing. If brutal is your thing, or if
you are a big Krisiun fan and need these rare tracks to fill out your
collection, then you will not be disappointed. The rest of us might be
restarting the disc when the older tracks start up. If you do that, however, you
will miss the new eerie outro that comes on after the EP. I give the old tracks
a 6 out of 10. Overall, I think this cd is well worth your money if you
appreciate modern death metal. Don't let the older stuff scare you off, the new
stuff is so good that it won't even bother you by the time the CD is done
playing. (Alan Seibert)