Review - TOAN “Down Under
Ground Volume 2”
independant compilation CD
by TOAN Productions
TOAN and Stephen Harris have become
synonymous for giving unsigned bands a go. “Down
Under Ground” was compiled in 1995 and featured a number of artists
from the darker side of music. But now there is a sequel - “Down Under Ground Volume 2”, and the
accompanying press suggests that if this takes off as well as the original,
world-wide underground success is imminent!
There are some names from volume 1 - Closed
World Assumption, Nale, Troll, Evol
Love, Click, Hidden Agenda; but the new names: Zeitgeist,
Novakill, Drexcen, Puppetsphere;
accompany the best in metal, industrial, doom, darkwave, mixes of all of these
and more.
Clean productions standards were obviously
the benchmark used in this collection, and like always, there are duds among
the standouts, the most notable (standouts) being the last track Mind to Dust from Aerbourne - a “classic”
metal instrumental, and Where the Darkness Screams featuring Derek
(IGNITE) Garland
and Stephen
(TOAN/Screamworld/Troll) Harris as Drexcen.
Overall, “Down
Under Ground Volume 2 is definitely worth checking out: «««