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As the album progressed I found myself enjoying it more and more and couldn’t help it but turn the volume up as every song kicked in. My buddies out of New Jersey, God Forbid have done an amazing version of Merauder’s ‘Master Killer’ from the 1996 album of the same name. It is certainly a great take on an awesome song, if you love God Forbid’s past work, you will eat this one up! ‘Master Kill’ is one of the finest metal covers to come out this year and you will be blasting this one for some time yet! Canadian metallers Cryptopsy have covered another great metal outfit from their motherland Canada… Strapping Young Lad! ‘Oh My Fucking God’, well honestly the title says it all! When it comes to extreme metal drumming it really doesn’t get much better than the atomic clock Gene Hoglan and Cryptopsy drummer Flo Mounier has done an amazing drumming job on this classic Strapping Young Lad tune. From start to finish I was ripping it up blasting this tune! If you are into Extreme metal than you will love the Cryptopsy version of ‘Oh my Fucking God’ this will separate real extreme fans from the posers, no doubt! Discovering Greek power metallers Firewind earlier this year, I was really impressed with the bands most recent album ‘The Premonition’ and I couldn’t wait to hear what they did with Nevermore’s ‘Believe in Nothing’. Vocalist Apollo Papathanasio outdoes himself on this one! Of all the covers Firewind’s version is one of the only covers that have stayed true to the original version. A fan of Nevermore already and loving this song, there was no way in hell I was going to be disappointed with Firewind’s version! Unfortunately unlike Arch Enemy’s cover of Dream Evil’s metal anthem I couldn’t repay the compliments when I heard Dream Evil’s version of Arch Enemy’s ‘Let the killing Begin’. It was one of a couple of tracks which I concluded should have never have been covered as the original version is much better. Mantiss featuring Maria Brink from In This Moment certainly proved this theory to be true when I played their version of one of my favorite Lacuna Coil songs, ‘Heaven’s A Lie’. Their metal-core slaughter on this Melodic / Goth ballad is almost unacceptable and I’d love to know what Lacuna Coil think of this version. From start to finish I hated this track! I do however give Mantiss props for taking ‘Heavens a Lie’ and turning it upside down and making it their own, but I know I will never be playing it again!
In an age where we have unlimited access to discovering new music, I have to admit that there were a few songs on the compilation I had never heard before. For me to sit here and compare them to their original versions would be impossible but in saying that… I loved so many of the covers on this album including Zimmer’s Hole doing a smashing cover the Old Man’s Child track ‘Doommaker’, Chris Valagao is the ultimate vocalist from hell! Wolf’s version of ‘Alma Mater’ originally recorded by Moonspell is mind-blowing. No idea how close to the original this one is, but I loved it from start to finish! , Fear My Thoughts also get honorable mentions for their version of Heaven Shall Burn’s ‘The Weapon They Fear’. As is the case with most compilations, there were plenty of killer tracks which I enjoyed and there were a few I will probably never listen to again, but overall this compilation is certainly worth adding to your metal collection. It isn’t too often that you can get a compilation which features so many amazing musicians covering so many kick ass metal tunes! Hat’s off to Century Media for finding a great way to pay homage to the labels past twenty years of extreme music. If you have never been into the heavier side of metal than it’s safe to say that this is probably not the album for you, all though I do urge you all to check it out. For those of you who do have a love for all things heavy, brutal and extreme than this is the perfect compilation for you!
Disc One
01. Arch Enemy Covering Dream Evil's "The Book Of Heavy Metal"
02. Dark Tranquillity Covering Sentenced's "Broken"
03. Heaven Shall Burn Covering Tiamat's "Whatever That Hurts"
04. Shadows Fall Covering Only Living Witness's "December"
05. Brand New Sin Covering Iced Earth's "Watching Over Me"
06. Wolf Covering Moonspell's "Alma Mater"
07. Mercenary Covering Arch Enemy's "Burning Angel"
08. God Forbid Covering Merauder's "Master Killer"
09. Warbringer Covering Unleashed's "Execute Them All"
10. Grave Covering Asphyx's "Vermin"
11. Architects Covering Stampin' Ground's "Officer Down"
12. Napalm Death Covering Despair's "Outconditioned"
13. Krisiun Covering Demolition Hammer's "Human Dissection"
14. Cryptopsy Covering Strapping Young Lad's "Oh My Fucking God"
15. Maroon Covering Samael's "Baphomet's Throne"
16. Watch Them Die Covering Bloodbath's "Breeding Death"
Disc Two
01. Firewind Covering Nevermore's "Believe In Nothing"
02. Dream Evil Covering Arch Enemy's "Let The Killing Begin"
03. Fear My Thoughts Covering Heaven Shall Burn's "The Weapon They Fear"
04. The Agonist Covering Dark Tranquillity's "Monochromatic Stains"
05. The Forsaken Covering Grave's "You'll Never See"
06. Devian Covering Morgoth's "Isolated"
07. Heaven Shall Burn Covering Merauder's "Downfall Of Christ"
08. Aborted Covering Turmoil's "Playing Dead"
09. Terror Covering Subzero's "Boxed In"
10. Napalm Death Covering Hellhammer's "Messiah"
11. Asphyx Covering Celtic Frost's "Os Abysmi Vel Daath"
12. Zimmers Hole Covering Old Man's Child's "Doommaker"
13. Fu Manchu Covering Penance's "Words To Live By"
14. Manntis (Feat. In This Moment) Covering Lacuna Coil's "Heaven's A Lie"
15. Kivimetsän Druidi Covering The Gathering's "Leaves"
16. Intronaut Covering Eyehategod's "Dixie Whiskey"
‘Covering Twenty Years Of Extremes’ Is Out Now Via Century Media Grab Your Copy Today!
Rating: 90
Reviewed By: Cameron Edney - http://www.myspace.com/insideout666ints