1. Razorwire - Lose My Head 2. Numb - Dry 1/2 Wet 3. Area 54 - Living A Lie 4. Dilutral - Two Weeks Born 5. Ill Tempered - Everybody's Girl 6. Gafftape - Edge Down 7. D-Tox - So Good 8. Atropine - With No Reason 9. Gridlock - Sick 10. Exhibit A - In My Head

11. Drongos For Europe - Nothing Else To Say 12. Against All Odds - Left Behind 13. The Few - Jake Says 14. Fallen - Token Love Song 15. Lincoln's Rise - Yo-Yo Man 16. Flinch - Lucky 17. Sonic Lord - Gargantua 18. Quartergod - Chrysalis 19. Look Mum No Head - Caligula 20. Razorwire - Only Son

Kerrang!: Review by STEVE BEEBEE

KKK out of KKKKK

Budget 20-track brew of new band hopefuls.

If British rock's DIY ethic is indeed dead, then no-one's told Stoke-based Psychophonic Records, who have just issued this third value-for-money compilation of unsigned talent. Far more effective than self-releasing your own full album (generally under produced and patience trying) a couple of tracks on a compilation can really work wonders if you get it right.

Here, Razorwire, Numb and Dilutral push all the right buttons. The latter two play newborn emo-metal, somewhere between Incubus and Deftones, while Razorwire succeed with an angrier but equally modern metal sound. Elsewhere, the Slipknot-inspired D-Tox impress, as do cosmic stoners Sonic Lord. Everything else comes into the average to fair category, but for an outlay of just £3.50 you will have already discovered some worthy new acts. Order 'Kill Your Management Volume 3' from www.psychophonic.co.uk

Loud Planet: Review by ALAN

The third volume in the series that showcases the best of the UK's unsigned talent, takes a definite lean towards nu-metal. Considering 99% of the current trend comes from across the pond, the amount of British talent just waiting for that golden record contract is very reassuring.

Razorwire, whose guitarist compiles these compilations, have made a radical overhaul to their sound. Rather than the classic metal feel they had previous, which I always thought had a Megadeth element, their opening contribution 'Lost My Head' sounds like a cross between P.O.D. and Machine Head, incorporating a rap vocal delivery. And the guttural vocals on 'Only Sun' are a definite move towards something much more brutal.

The studio quality recordings are reserved for the first half of the CD, but there's nothing on here that's particularly dreadful -- there certainly isn't anything that sounds as if it were recorded in someone's bedroom on a portable stereo!

Other tracks that particularly caught my ear include, the Incubus sounding Numb, Area 54 who sound like Blaze Bailey fronted Iron Maiden and the Lost Prophets-esque Dilutral. There's sh*t loads of talent on here, far too many bands for me to single out individually -- Ill Tempered, Gafftape, D-Tox, Atropine, Gridlock, Flinch, Look Mum No Head all incorporate a modern cutting-edge metal sound.

Psychophonic are offering this at an unbelievable £3.50. Grab a copy and support the scene. 3/5

Link2Wales.co.uk: Review by NEIL CRUD

Rock & metal is carried on such a broad bandwidth nowadays that nu-genres are invented to try & pigeon the whole bloody lot. I almost dismissed Numb as a cockrock stylee when their Dry ½ Wet track kicked in, but it grew & mutated into something far more palletable as the old double bass drums kicked in.

Let’s face it metal is huge. Ash are on Kerrang! TV, AC/DC are still cool, Run DMC have cred, The Stranglers played Reading Festival when it was a rock bash. The scene has been spreading like a disease into other scenes, taking what it wants & powerchording it back under the metal umbrella. Gafftape come from the from the thrash punk side of things in the late 80s & threw in the typical metal stance to come up with Edge Down.

You can go to Flinch gig & break a limb or 2 with the kids down the front, or you can nod along appreciatively with the denim clad token rockers at the back; it's that kind of scene. The days of Hells Angels chain-sawing each others legs off are almost gone as the newbreed of punk-metal kid lives fast with the likes of Razorwire & D-Tox & will probably die young into a 9 to 5 existence. But when those 2.4 children grow up, the type of people like those behind Psychophonic Recs will have turned full circle & those kids will once again have Sonic Lord t-shirts wrapped around their waists as they hurt each other in appreciation of Atropine’s With No Reason.

In all honesty you can put one band’s name on the front of this CD & I wouldn’t have realised it was 19 different bands. (Also Area 54, Dilutral, Ill Tempered, Gridlock, Exhibit A, Drongoes For Europe, Against All Odds, The Few, Fallen, Lincoln’s Rise, Quartergod, Look Mom No Head). It’s the same when you turn on MTV2, you get a glut of bands you’ve never heard of before but the majority all look & sound the same. It is all very good stuff, but only the excellent will survive beyond compilation stardom in these times of total sturation. It was the same during the early 80s when the punk scene burst & spread all over the world, you can still overturn a large stone & find a thriving community, self-contained. This is how the future will be again. The future is now.
Neil Crud 28.02.02

NewMetalWorld.com: Review by ELLIOT WATSON

Mixed bag sampler from Psychophonic Records, featuring 20 tracks covering the spectrum from Old School to Industrial. The press categorises the bands, which is something I've always been against...it's enough to call it metal, without further pigeon holing. Anyway, Drongos For Europe sound to me like Di'Anno era maiden live, when according to this 'ere piece of paper they're "Hard edge punk."

Area 54 really appeal to me, but the production let's em down a bit. I guess that they all own "Rust in Piece" by Megadeth, as well as being closet Therapy? fans. This is almost the standout track for me...

The previously mentioned Drongos are pretty cool. Enthusiastic is a good word...

Flinch steal the show by default (Area 54 are let down by the production, and the most excellent Razorwire already got a good review elsewhere on this site!) It's a bit unfair to pick these bands over the others, as all are quality. These are all unsigned bands, and all show great commitment to the art. This is one of those records that you wouldn't usually buy, but if it came free
on the front of Kerrang, you'd listen to it constantly.