Possible Osama Bin Laden Replacement A Death Metal Fan?

With the recent elimination of terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden last week by U.S. Navy Seals, the CIA and FBI are awaiting who will step into the role as the #1 and replace Bin Laden. One of the possible choices that the CIA has revealed is Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American who now lives in Pakistan. Gadahn was the son of a Jewish father but was himself an atheist. He converted to Islam at age 17 while living in Santa Ana, CA. After beating up his mentor and failing to follow through on his community service, Gadahn fled to Pakistan where he joined up with Al-Qaeda and became a main propagandist for the terrorist group. He went on to inspire and be directly involved with Bin Laden's videos and terror warnings. What is interesting about Gadahn was as a teenager in Santa Ana, he formed a death metal band called Aphasia. In the early to mid-90's, he also was a contributing writer to a local Southern California metal zine called Xenocide where he interviewed bands, wrote album reviews and drew artwork. Maybe if he's ever captured, the CIA should think of other bands to play for him as a form of torture besides death metal. Below are some of Adam's writings and reviews from Xenocide Issue #5 DAMNATION - Volume Two (demo) San Diego, California trio DAMNATION have been playing together since late 1990, and Volume Two, their second effort (naturally), is a professionally done, musically mature release that, unfortunately, is lacking in the songwriting department. The two-song tape features rather boring lyrics about insanity and nightmares, generic Sodom/Kreator style thrash/death, and monotone Jorgen Sandstrom-style vocals. That said, the songs do grow on you after a few listens, but I haven't had the urge to constantly replay them, as I did with, say, Timeghoul!! As I said, the cassette is pro-packed and recorded, with excellent production (this is the sound Timeghoul should have had) courtesy of a 24-track studio and a great purple logo on the cover! Fans of Possessed and other early Death/thrash will dig this. GENERAL SURGERY - Necrology EP (Relapse) Although this was recorded in November, 1990, this was only recently released by Relapse Records. This is basically a Swedish "supergroup" of death, featuring members of Dismember, Afflicted and Creamatory, plus Exit-13. The 5 songs on this musically draw a lot from old Carcass, but with a more direct, straight-forward feel and much better production (courtesy of good ol' reliable Sunlight Studios and good ol' reliable Tomas Skoksberg). Lyrically, the quote on the back cover pretty much sums it up: "Murder is the only way to kill time". "Severe Catatonia in Pathology" is the sickest on the disk, with the happy overtones. Also the opening instrumental "Ominous Lamentation" will be of interest. With nice packaging and production, this is a worthy addition to any Death/Gore metaller's collection! HELLBOUND - Apocalyptic Visions (demo '92) Although New York's Hellbound call themselves a Death/thrash band, I tend to disagree with that. To my ears, they sound more like a thrashier version of Atheist or Sadus, possessing the prominent bass guitar & screaming vocals, respectively, of those bands, but with the simpler, less technical approach of bands like Vio-lence, D.R.I., or Exodus. Their drummer, however, has his own very cool style that "demands to be heard"! Amazing that this is their debut! Hellbound showcase their professionality in both instruments & songwriting throughout the four tunes on Apocalyptic Visions. The last two songs, "My Guilt is Silence" and "Infernal Ecstasy", absolutely rage!!! And the icing on the cake is the stunning production - recorded on a 16-track machine, all instruments can be heard clearly, with drums and bass shining through especially! Quite a debut! HB should have a new demo out by the time you read this, but get their brutal first effort by sending a blank tape and return postage ENRAPTURED - 7 Song Demo '92 (Demo) This is actually a combination of the unreleased 5-song Reconstrued Malfeasance demo and a new 2-song demo. Although the "Reconstrued" tunes, recorded as a 4 piece (Tino Lesicco on drums/vocals, Pierce Totty on Bass, Jason Smith on guitar and Justin Jones on guitar) and "included as bonus tracks because of the poor sound quality", the 2 newsies with 2 new members (Dan Stoops, vocals and David Smith, 2nd guitar) actually have about the same sound and production. While Enraptured improved their musicianship in the 4 months between recording "The Downfall of Christianity" and "Abortion Consumed", they show a decrease in songwriting skill, The older tunes like "The Execration" and "Probe the Flesh" contain headbangable Slayer/Carcass type riffs and deep, growly Karl Willetts/Barney Greenway style vocals. The new tracks, however, are generic highspeed Cannibal Corpse or Obituary-esque noise with annoyingly loud vocals and incessant double bass drumming. My advice: pick up this demo for the 5 excellent bonus tracks and ignore the 2 cheesy commercial fag songs. TIMEGHOUL - Tumultuous Travelings (demo) Perhaps the best demo I've heard since I began listening to Death Metal/Grindcore less than a year ago is Timeghoul's debut 4-song, Tumultuous Travelings. Mixing elements of Immolation, Cathedral, Brutal Truth and Suffocation, this Foristell, Missouri quartet rage through "Rain- wound", "The Siege", "Gutspawn", & "Infinity Coda", with unmatched intensity and style. All the songs run over 5 minutes ("The Siege" is the longest), and much variation is contained within. Drummer Tony Holman can go from a high-speed "blast" beat, to a slow rhythm, and back to a fast part in the blink of an eye! Jeff Hayden's vocals are brutal but different: Check out the singing part on "Siege" and the special FX on "Infinity Coda"! The band's instrumental ability is second to none, as are their song writing skills, but this otherwise top-notch tape is marred by bad sound. There's much flutter and warble, and the volume is rather low. With Timeghoul's excellent musicianship, it's a wonder that they haven't been signed yet!! So hey! If anyone from Earache or Relapse or whoever is reading this, come on!! Pick up a pen and ink 'em right now! It would be a shame if Timeghoul broke up before recording at least one album professionally! But until then, we've got this masterpiece!