Thrashing around and going berserk

West Auckland metal band 8 Foot Sativa.

Isis have mood swings that erupt into washes of searing guitar and layers of feedback. And although there is little singing across the seven-song, mini-album, Panopticon, when there is it's guttural strainings like Kurt Cobain meeting a wandering yeti.

The mid-song breakdowns where they stand back, sit on a groove and then expand it by making it more overt, noisy and chunky, like on the nine-minute Syndic Calls, make Isis a thing to experience. In between there's a more mechanical-sounding acoustic Metallica effect. But you don't know when they're going to dig into something so huge and melodic that you can't wait for the next time it happens.

The Dillinger Escape Plan, on the other hand, leave you constantly on edge. Their throbbing thrash, berserk outbursts and agonising growls give way to sometimes sweet, but mostly devious Mike Patton-like vocals. Their mechanical, twitchy, hardcore with a heavy groove and challengingly funky beats scare you off, lure you in, unnerve you, lure you back, and then smack, you're hooked.

This is dangerous music. And fans be warned, if you thought you had these guys all to yourselves, think again, breakthrough is imminent.

8 Foot Sativa may make the album charts but there's no fear of them breaking into the mainstream. Especially now that Jackhammer - former singer Justin Niessen - has left the band and been replaced by Matt Shepherd. Jackhammer's vocals always lent Sativa a special comedy element which hinted at their wider appeal. But Shepherd is more traditionally death and thrash metal and this makes 8 Foot Sativa more brutal than ever, but less fun. However, although nine tracks might sound like a short album, there is absolutely no let-up.

And as they say in metal circles, out of the ashes of Denmark's At The Gates comes The Haunted. You'll be worn out after two songs from Revolver. Lucky then that The Haunted pull it back on third track, Abysmal, when Peter Dolving's voice changes from phlegmy to sleazy and he croons, "Come a little bit closer, so I can see what you taste like". This band are indeed creepy. Unrelenting, fresh, and stampeding metal from Scandinavia - they really know how to lock heads up there.

Or do they? Finland's Nightwish are chugging black metal meets Evanescence meets Hayley Westenra. Yes, Nightwish are trying something different - although this is their fifth album - and it is a thrilling ride, apart from the singing. They are incredible musicians but the combination of everything is laughable rather than innovative.

On the other hand, in 1992 when Fear Factory released Soul Of A New Machine it advanced death metal.

This remastered version of the album also comes with a reissue of Fear Is The Mindkiller, an industrial-dance remix EP of five tracks from Soul ... In 1993, depending on who you talk to, that sort of tampering with death metal was either revolutionary or despised. The remixes by Rhys Fulber from industrial band Front Line Assembly showed Fear Factory's love of techno but the songs were brutal enough to get many bogans on to the dancefloor. Two classics in one package.

Illdisposed have been around nearly as long as Fear Factory. The difference between the two bands is that Illdisposed have remained reasonably in the dark. But 1-800 Vindication is possibly the metal album of last year. Now We're History sounds like a mix of Killing Joke and Napalm Death. And be careful not to snap your neck when opening track I Believe In Me kicks in.

Sometimes the songs could be longer. While they always remain staunch, the standard three-and-a-half to four-minute running time needs expanding. But this is one kidney punch of an album.

Isis: Panopticon
Herald rating: * * * * *
(Ipecac)
A brutal beauty from intense Boston five-piece

The Dillinger Escape Plan: Miss Machine
Herald rating * * * *
(Relapse)
Possible hardcore breakthrough from abrasive, funky New Jersey-ites.

8 Foot Sativa: Breed The Pain
Herald rating * * * *
(Intergalactic Records)
Third relentless album from local metallers. But where's the comedy?

The Haunted: Revolver
Herald rating: * * *
(Century Media/Shock)
More creepy stuff from Swedish death-black-thrash outfit

Nightwish: Once
Herald rating * *
(Roadrunner)
Over-the-top opera metal from Finnish five-piece

Fear Factory: Soul Of A New Machine
Herald rating: * * * * *
(Roadrunner)
Reissue of pioneering album with remix EP 
 
Illdisposed: 1-800 Vindication
Herald rating: * * * *
(Roadrunner)
Danish heavyweights' time to shine may finally have come