Negative Creeps say they play Satancore, an unholy mix of thrash/nu/black/death metal. That's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is that Negative Creeps play thrash metal. In fact, they sound remarkably like old Meshuggah. The even more remarkable thing about the resemblance is that old Meshuggah sounded remarkably like Metallica. Does anyone know what we get when we add 'remarkable imitations' that many times?

The answer may not be pretty. In Uterus Rebirth is something we've already heard. Twice. And I mean that in a very specific way. First we heard James Hetfield shouting over some good ol' bay area thrash. Then we heard Jens Kidman give his impressive Hetfield imitation over a Swedish version of bay area thrash. Finally, we've got Makis Kanakaris of Negative Creeps sounding just like a Greek Kidman.

You might be wondering just how useless In Uterus Rebirth is. I can't say it's entirely without redeeming value, because Negative Creeps play their chosen style with vigor. If you didn't hear Meshuggah from their early days, then you'd do just as well to give Negative Creeps a listen. The Meshuggah take on Metallica was a slightly slower, heavier, and mechanical sounding affair. Negative Creeps are playing much the same thing, except with a looser quality, some groovin' riffs, and occasional keyboard intros and transitions. There are even a couple of thrashy black metal songs that pop out of nowhere and shake things up.

Alas, there's nothing I can do to get over the fact that, at its core, In Uterus Rebirth is an imitation of an imitation. For the first 6 tracks and the ending song, the similarity to old Meshuggah is astounding. But while I wouldn't recommend buying old Meshuggah for its relative immaturity, I think that anyone looking for this particular sound might be better off with Negative Creeps. They've honed the style and manage to keep the songs fairly interesting. Particularly, the black metal songs really threw me off and give the CD a much needed edge. So if you'd like to hear a modern take on Metallica or a better developed version of Meshuggah's first couple of CDs, give Negative Creeps a listen and see what you think.

Track List:
1) Magnetic Fields
2) Code
3) Son of a Shotgun
4) Bored
5) Quantum
6) In Uterus Rebirth
7) Reincarnation
8) Last of the Ancients
9) Nipple Torture
10) One Hate

Negative Creeps is:
Makis Kanakaris - vocals
John Boulamakis - guitar
Georg Katsaitis - bass
Drums - Tomek Solomonidis

Official Site:
http://www.negativecreeps.com/

Black Lotus Records:
http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/

The End Records (US):
http://www.theendrecords.com/

02/10/03