Angel Corpse

During its too brief reign in the late ’90s, Angel Corpse shone brightly and bloodily as arguably the most brutal death-metal band the Midwest had ever produced (the group hailed from Kansas, though it inevitably relocated to Tampa, Florida, a.k.a death-metal ground zero). Bassist-vocalist Pete Helmkamp growled like a lawn mower on such memorable Morbid Angel–inspired anti-Christian gems as “Christhammer,” “Phallelujah,” “Stormgods Unbound” and “Smoldering in Exile.” The trio (rounded out by demonic double-bass drummer John Longstreth and satanic shredder Gene Palubicki) was not the easiest band to follow, as its stellar CDs were released on a French label and it spent more time in Europe than stateside. But anyone who caught the band’s legendary gore-splattering U.S. tours with Cannibal Corpse and Incantation knew that its 1999 dissolution was a metal tragedy.

Now headbangers can unite in a “Phallelujah” chorus, because the band has recently reformed (with the original 1995 lineup). Expect some new material to be unleashed when it kicks off its first tour this century at the Empty Bottle. Angel Corpse has a new album titled Of Lucifer and Lightning in the can, but unfortunately the band has not previewed any tracks on its MySpace page as of this writing. That said, the group has previewed the awesomely satanic album cover. Since pretty much everyone agrees that in the world of extreme metal the cover art is half the battle, without hearing a note we can declare that, because it sports the band’s finest cover, this reunion release is Angel Corpse’s best album yet. Beware and prepare: The Empty Bottle will stink of brimstone and blood after this unholy rock ritual of a concert.—Jake Austen