In the year 2002 Hammerheart Records has released a sampler. Most of the songs have been available for quite a while now, but there are some very interesting songs on this sampler that I wasn’t familiar with. The first song is from the album ‘Everblack’ by Mercenary. I really like the song, called ‘Seize The Night’. This song starts with a mid tempo death metal riff and the grunts remind me a lot of Chris Barnes (Six Feet Under). After a while the music completely changes and then it’s like I’m listening to Nevermore, vocals and all. A very diverse song, especially the different vocals. The second song is called ‘Lost Within A Shade’ and is from Satariel. A very energetic and well played song. Again there are grunts and screams used in combination with clean vocals. Then it’s time for Morifade, to give us an impression with their song ‘Lost Within A Shade’. This is the only real power metal song on this sampler, played with great strength and precision. This band belongs next to a band like Stratovarious, especially if you pay attention to the vocals. Necrophobic strikes with ‘Dreams Shall Flesh’, a death/ black attack of the highest art. A very aggressive and convincing song. Demons Of Dirt doesn’t really know how to impress me. It’s a thrashy song, with aggressive vocals, which sound a bit like In Flames. The new vocalist of Sinister does a good job on their latest release ‘Creative Killings’. The song on this sampler is called ‘Bleeding Towards The Wendigo’ and is just what we want from Sinister; brutal and technical. Noteworthy are the clean vocals used by Divercia. The vocals are calm and peaceful and that gives this band a very own sound. ‘The Elder Gods’ is a death metal song played by Internecine. It is a very fast and brutal song, as we see quite a lot these days. Nothing special about this band, but what they do, they do well. Primordial is not really spectacular with ‘The Heretics Age’.

The only thing that must be mentioned are the clean vocal parts, they use them without loss of brutality. The new band of ex-Emperor and Satyricon bassist/guitarist Tchort is called Blood Red Throne. ‘Souls Of Damnation’ is a very well played death metal song, which belongs in the higher regions of death metal. Danse Macabre is laughable, do I hear a dance beat in the background? I hope this mix is a joke, but I can’t laugh about it. One of the most brutal bands of Holland is Severe Torture. With unintelligible voices and sick guitar riffs they blast out the speakers. The song of Thyrfing I found less interesting as their older work. There is no invulnerable Viking feeling about this song. That’s a shame, because I really like their CD Valdr Galga. ‘The Giant’s Laughter’ is not a bad song, but it’s not what I want from Thyrfing. You can search for a long time, if you want to discover some black metal on the latest release of Carpe Tenebrum. Death metal, which sounds just like a pale version of Morbid Angel. Folklore and metal combined can be found on the latest release of Cruachan. Cheerful and melodic music that takes you back to medieval times. Rebaelliun’s music can best be described as American death metal, although they are not from the States. Nothing more to say about this band, just that they really know how to make a lot of noise. The CD of Impious will soon be available. A demo version of the song ‘Dead Eyes Open’ can be found on this sampler. Hagalaz’ Runedance is the last band represented on this sampler. Their music is very different from the other songs, with an exception for Cruachan. Although this is no metal, I like the song. This is a nice CD if you want to widen your horizon or if you just want a nice compilation of metal, for there are many different styles present.