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For fans of metal, D-ZL will indeed be a very important band, taking the sound of Bodycount & mixing it with their own blend of metal mayhem. The band are basically a 3 piece with a couple of session musos backing up on the album & by the sounds of it, their live shows could be pretty cool.

For the most part, the metal sound is the primary focus, with percussion a fairly heavy element of the mix, while bass guitar & of course, vocals also play important parts, riffs especially cool on "Spineless" & "Fueled Intensity".

A couple of very interesting elements also surprise, with the nice soft intro to "Overcome" a great breakup of the tracks, plus the closing track is probably the biggest surprise of all, "The African Soup Bone" a cool African drum style solo which runs for something like 8 minutes & certainly reminds me more than a little of moments on Sepultura's Roots album.

For more information, write to 66 Church St, Le Roy, NY 14482, USA or James@d-zl.com

HEADPRESS - THE OTHER SIDE OF PROGRESS

It was probably Rage Against The Machine & Ministry that brought this style of music to major prominence, with huge guitar sections from RATM & an assault of samples from Ministry providing a listening experience thopse bands can be proud of. Enter Headpress, another entrant in this reasonably exclusive club, with a monster live guitar sound & some great sampling that will grab both metalheads, traditional hard rock fans & electronic fans alike.

A 5 track ep, provided by the Sydney based band, opens up with a killer number called "Hanger 18", thundering bass & lead riffs taking over from the already well heavy percussion sections to give one of the heaviest sounds I've comne across for some time. Think Australian band Beaverloop with much more emphasis on the metal & rock area.

This is equallled a couple of tracks later on "Medium Rare", which is my pick here, though the pair of versions of "Accelerate" come pretty close. This is the band's second release, following up a rare demo which was shopped around various media for promotion, which we'll hopefully see rereleased as well as a full album of material. Well worth the effort.

For more information, write to 17/12 Avona Ave, Glebe, 2037, Australia or m-mayhem@tig.com.au

DNDI - ORIGINAL SIN

This artist, Rizall Dondi Ledesma, comes out of the Philippines & it's a country I'd have to say we don't hear very much music coming out of, which is not really so unusual I guess as a lot of countries from this region are only now starting to see benefits from interacting with the 'world stage' as it were.

This is an interesting album, in which everything from composition to performance & recording is done by the one person, which can work both for & against you. One side benefit is not having to rely on anyone else, any mistakes are solely your own, while on the downside, an extra pair of ears can also assist, which shows in the end result here, where the vocals are set way back in the mix, at times overidden by the backing instruments, this is possibly also because it's a tape rather than CD.

Fortunately this doesn't detract from the end product though & there are moments here that are quite impressive. While tracks like opener "Stranger Convention" & "Wind Of All Extremes" are more pop oriented, comparisons with Vangelis' musikc can also be made on a couple of interesting instrumentals like "Formal Groovy". The songwriting is pretty good, as is the execution. I'm not sure if this is the first release by this artist, but the next one should see quite an improvement.

For more information, write to 104-N Maytubig St, Pasay CCity, Metro Manila, Philippines 1300 or bass_age@bigfoot.com or dndi@compass.com.ph

M. HEADPHONE - THE APEX BARBEQUE

A band almost certain to explode the charts of music minded radio & record stores when they catch even the barest sniff of M. Headphone, a curiously named San Francisco based trio whose music has just that right amount of eccentricity & musical genius that will get any music fan intimately involved in their music.

The band's sound ranges from the musical wizardry of Weezer's catchy fuzz pop, to the great hooks of Tripping Daisy & Presidents Of The USA, while retaining their more than ample original sound.

There's some quite amazing music to be found here, from the distorted voals on killer "Bilge Pump", to the humourous lyrical content of tracks like opener "F#@$in' People", all the way across to a track near the end called "Ballad Of Hiram Walker", which just rocks.

Pick tracks are many, but apart from those mentioned, the sheer grunt bhind "Corporate Vacation", "Murder Capital" & the irregular pace of "22" showcase the album perfectly. I think it's onle a matter of time before this band are discovered by all & sundry - then watch out for the stampede to get a piece of the band.

For more information, write to 23 Moss St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA or mheadphone@usa.net

POINT BLANK - LOCK 'N' LOAD

A band hailing from the Florida area in the US, with a fairly hard edged rock style from their interesting live performance recordingthe band seem well pumped to get the crowd moving & succeed pretty much immediately. The band consist of 5 members, though it's difficult to get a bearing on what the history really is from the rather erratic bio, which is sort of a collection of seemingly fiction & fact.

Nevertheless, the focus is & should be on the music itself, which reminds me more than a little of a combination of Sex Pistols & The Clash, especially evident on opener "Trust No One" & "Superchump".

Possibly the most notable thing about this album is the striking clarity of the percussion section of the band, which is something quite often lost in live recordings. Pick tracks here for me are the closer "Big Star", "Stacked" & a very cool number "Live! Nude Girls", which has a really cool vibe that seems to radiate from the speakers.

For further information, write to the band at 1170 64th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33705, USA or fanndavid@webtv.net

SIMON - SELECTIONS FROM THE HARLEQUIN

A pretty cool 4 track demo that is well deserved of your attention, coming from Richmond California based 4 piece Simon, who coincidentally don't have a band member called Simon.

Whatever else the band's music may be, it';s certainly not boring & will grab you right from the first track, "The Harlequin", which uses a cool melody & riff to get into the song until the vocals kick in.

Despite being a tape, the sound quality is quite good & it's evident a lot of work went into the production as well as the songwriting & performing here. Pick of the 4 tracks for me was "Dolce", though I suspect many will get into both the opening track & closing number "Bye Bye Wishbone", which has a pretty cool (if somewhat eccentric) set of lyrics. I'm now a little curious as to where else the band's music may be headed.

For more information, write to 500 West Ohio Ave, Richmond, CA 94804, USA or thesimonshow@xoommail.com

SLEEVE - (SELF TITLED)

Basically a 4 piece band helped out on this album by a number of very talented guests, the band come out of a place called Fontana in California with a pretty brilliant album of mostly guitar pop origin which all apear to be original material.

There's a lot of great music to discover here for the uninitiated, from the amazing string sections found throughout "Sink", which the band indicate is a song about homeless people, to the excellent caustic riffs on "Rabid", the band run a surprising range of styles.

More traditional rock fare can be found on "Monsters", while some slightly less conventional song arrangements come forth on my pick "Latex Annie", the closing track on the album. Other cool tracks are all over the album, but those which must be mentioned here are "Pawn Me" & second track in "Matter". Most certainly worthy of your attention.

For more information, write to 15591 Merrill Ave, Fontana, CA 92335, USA or wayne@sleeve.com

UNCLE MONKEY - SAME PLANET... DIFFERENT ORBIT

A New Zealand based band whose music is a great cross of style that runs between the sounds of The Whitlams & Crowded House, with some excellent melodies & general songwriting which has all the hallmarks of a band on the verge of 'the bigtime'.

The band open things up with their own signature tune & then proceed to amaze with a bunch of excellent tunes which feature not only a mostly acoustic guitar driven sound, but some very interesting effects like the drum brushing sounds found on "In Writing" & "I'll See You Later".

Pick tracks here are many, but any listed highlights would have to include the haunting piano & vocal song "New Kinds Of Flowers" & a cool cover of an old Paul Simon track called "The Boxer". Definitely a band who will be getting some more exposure in the near future you would imagine after listening through this album.

For more information, write to Uncle Monkey Records, 149 Aro St, Wellington, New Zealand or friends@unclemonkey.com