Hades – The Dawn Of The Dying Sun (1997)

Country: Norway

Tracklist

1. The Dawn Of The Dying Sun 03:31
2. Awakening Of Kings 06:10
3. Apocalyptic Prophecies (The Sign Of Hades) 05:59
4. Alone Walkyng 10:28
5. Crusade Of The Underworld 06:21
6. The Tale Of A Nocturnal Empress 06:06
7. The Red Sun Mocks My Sadness 02:38
8. Pagan Prayer 06:16

Last album for Hades before changing their name in 1998 to Hades Almighty.

Amazing  mid-tempo atmospheric Viking Black Metal with evocative epic passages, 

melodic acoustic parts, clean choirs and massive amounts of  "fuzzy" guitar riffs.

Just listen to the majestic Pagan Prayer, one of the best Black Metal songs ever.

Recorded in Grieghallen.

Memory

Goblin – Suspiria (1977)

Composer: Goblin

Tracklist

1. Suspiria 06:00
2. Witch 03:07
3. Opening To The Sighs 00:25
4. Sighs 05:10
5. Markos 04:00
6. Black Forest 06:00
7. Blind Concert 06:30
8. Death Valzer 01:50
9. Suspiria (Celesta And Bells) 01:30
10. Suspiria (Narration) 01:46
11. Suspiria (Intro) 00:30
12. Markos (Alternate Version) 04:10

 With Suspiria in 1977 Goblin created another intensely creepy atmospheric soundtrack 

for their cinematic alter ego, director Dario Argento.

The music is just as scary as the film itself, blending wailing electric guitars, whooping synthesizers, 

and screaming wordless cries into a spooky, bombastic sound that manages to be terrifying 

even without the benefit of the film's gruesome images.The title theme slowly builds a spooky riff on bells, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer until it erupts into a hard-rocking mid-section 

where nimble synthesizer solos spar with ghostly cries creating an unbearably high level of suspense.

The Memory link is for the 1997 CD reissue that contains four bonus tracks,
consisting of three alternate version of "Suspiria" and a slightly different version of "Markos".

Memory

Eon Project – Brain Filter (1998)

Country: France

Tracklist

1. Intra Neutral Power (Evolution Mix) 08:26
2. Re-Struct (Electrodes Mix) 06:30
3. Frozen (Minimal Life Activity Mix) 04:34
4. Bio-Virtual (Biological Mix Pt 1) 04:48
5. Muta-Gen (Thermoplasmic Mix) 07:28
6. Poison Mind (Terminal State Mix) 05:58
7. Fear=Protein (Molecular-Incubation Mix) 05:27
8. Hydro-Sphere (Organic Life Form Mix) 06:56
9. Re-Struct (Reconstructed And Remixed By Spies) 06:33

Eon Project is a side-project of Kris Kylven.
Brain Filter is an album that has heavy industrial influences from bands like 

Front Line Assembly, Noise Unit, Juno Reactor and Killing Joke.
This is very hard, instrumental techno with an EBM touch, aggressive and dark all the way, with harsh beats, industrial sounds and occasional excursions into Dark Ambient territory.

Memory

Vintersorg – Till Fjälls (1998)

Country: Sweden

Tracklist

1. Rundans 01:30
2. För Kung Och Fosterland 03:47
3. Vildmarkens Förtrollande Stämmor 04:09
4. Till Fjälls 06:42
5. Urberget, Äldst Av Troner 05:03
6. Hednad I Ulvermånens Tecken 02:23
7. Jökeln 03:26
8. Isjungfrun 04:43
9. Asatider 03:55
10. Fångad Utav Nordens Själ 04:28

Vintersorg's ("Winter Sorrow" in English) first full-length album is a beautiful mixture of Folk and Black Metal.
Nice guitar riffs, acoustic guitars, keyboards, some female vocals parts, folk touch and a dual vocal approach
between Black Metal screams and amazing clean ones, full of emotion and passion.

The production is very clean although a more "fuzzy" and rough one maybe it would be more suitable.

Memory

Morbid Angel – Covenant (1993)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Rapture 04:17
2. Pain Divine 03:57
3. World Of Shit (The Promised Land) 03:20
4. Vengeance Is Mine 03:15
5. Lion's Den 04:45
6. Blood On My Hands 03:43
7. Angel Of Disease 06:15
8. Sworn To The Black 04:01
9. Nar Mattaru 02:06
10. God Of Emptiness 05:26

Morbid Angel gone brutal with their third full-length album Covenant 

as they managed to release the most selling Death Metal album of all time.

The words are needless here, the whole album begins and blows away everything in its path.

Vincent's lyrics could be considered Morbid Angel's most Occult and Satanic based and his vocals...

well... his vocals are some of the best Death Metal vocals you would ever hear, period.

Azagthoth is "painting" with his guitar and Pete "The Feet" Sandoval sounds like an octopus behind a drum-kit.
Also the amazing God Of Emptiness track is responsible
for one of the best extreme Metal music videos ever directed by Tony Kunewalder.
Three guys in the peak of their careers, creating one of the best Death Metal albums, just as simple as that.

Memory

Thokk – Of Rape and Vampirism (1997)

Country: United States

Tracklist

1. Wolf-Hymn 06:05
2. Falling In The White Tempest 03:51
3. Of Rape And Vampirism 05:35
4. The Witch-Tower Of Vshanäad 05:26
5. In The Phantasmagoric Dimensions 03:13
6. Abscond To Nightmare Chasms 05:53
7. Come A Grimmer Presence 04:33
8. Haunted By Saturnian Phantoms (Abducted In The Cosmic Bog) 04:38

Lord Kaiaphas's (Thokkian Vortex, ex-Ancient, ex-Grand Belial's Key) project 
with the assistance of Thegn Damieus The Marauder on guitars.
Of Rape and Vampirism is the first and only full-length they released.
The material for the album came from their A Trance For The Ever-Toiling Witch demo which was recorded in 1995.
The album is separated in two Evocations. In the First Evocation (tracks 1-5) you can hear 
excellent fast Black Metal combined with Lord Kaiaphas's great vocals.
In the Second Evocation (tracks 6-8) the band is leaving Black Metal aside 
and goes into more experimental Dark Ambient - Industrial territories.

Memory

Kenji Kawai – Ghost In The Shell Original Soundtrack (1995)

Composer: Kenji Kawai

Tracklist

1. I - Making Of Cyborg 04:28
2. Ghosthack 05:14
3. Puppetmaster 04:21
4. Virtual Crime 02:41
5. II - Ghost City 03:34
6. Access 03:16
7. Nightstalker 01:44
8. Floating Museum 05:05
9. Ghostdive 05:52
10. III - Reincarnation 05:44
11. Fang Ka-Wing - Mui Tin Kin Yakkin! (Bonus Track) 03:26

"A haunting score for this Japanese science fiction Anime movie, 

directed by Mamoru Oshii, an adaptation of the manga Ghost In The Shell by Masamune Shirow. 

Composer Kenji Kawai serves up a chilled platter of deep drums, gongs, shakers, bells, 

female vocals, shimmering keyboards, and vaporous ambience. 

A somber and powerful rhythm dominates most of these tracks, but percussionist Yuhki Sugawara maintains emotional content rather than mere drum exercises, as he pounds, taps, palms, 

and skips across a wide array of instruments. At times this album is bleak and sparse, but always engaging. 

Gongs float upward from the depths like huge jellyfish, female choirs run chills down the spine, 

and keyboards breathe softly in the distance.
 According to the soundtrack's liner notes, the haunting choral song that plays throughout the film is a wedding song, sung to get rid of all evil influences that are about to follow. Kenji Kawai originally wanted to use Bulgarian folk singers, but was unable to find any, so he relied on the Japanese folk song choir he used earlier in the Ranma 1/2 Anime. The song uses an ancient form of the Japanese language mixed with Bulgarian harmony and traditional Japanese notes.
A very curious finale to the disc is an all-out pop song entitled "See You Everyday" 

also written by Kawai, with upbeat female vocals from Fang Ka Wing. 

This song breaks the spell the rest of the album has cast on listeners, and this overly sweet piece of candy seems very much out of place (it can be heard as background music at some point in the movie).

Sadly absent from the album, is a piece featured in the closing credits for the theatrical release, 

"One Minute Warning" performed by the Passengers (aka U2 and Brian Eno). 

This would have made a superior closing to the CD, by maintaining the darkness and intensity 

that makes this still such a great soundtrack."
The Memory link contains the track "One Minute Warning".

Memory