Warthur Nailbomb operate at the harder edge of industrial metal, incorporating a good dose of thrash attitude as is only to be expected from the involvement of Max Cavalera of Sepultura fame. This sole studio album of theirs is a tight package of songs in this style which fits the mid-1990s industrial metal/rock aesthetic pretty well, but which in retrospect doesn't feel like it accomplishes anything enormously interesting. I like it better than I like Sepultura's detour into groove metal, and it's a competent enough release, but it feels somehow like it's one of those supergroup projects that end up being less than the sum of their parts.

Vim Fuego As far as recording quality goes, this live album is the equivalent of those fuzzy snapshots of the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot. There is sort of a vague impression of what's actually there, but it could be anything really, and is hardly convincing.

This album was always going to be a one off shot, only one chance to get it right. Nailbomb existed in the studio for one blistering album and two live shows, this being the second of those shows. It was recorded during the 1995 Dynamo festival. It may have been a great live performance. It just doesn't sound it here.

The show kicks off solidly enough with a blast through "Wasting Away". However, it is instantly noticeable the samples and electronic beats are not fully in phase with the rest of the sound. Perhaps Eindhoven was windy that day, but the samples, which were an essential part of creating the Nailbomb identity, are almost completely lost.

But after that, it just seems to all go downhill. It is a truly live album, with all the fuck ups and piss poor sounds left in, but after the amazing 'Point Blank', this really doesn't cut it. Max's vocals seem to drown out everything else, and the rhythm guitar sounds flat.

All is not lost though. The rumbling "Sum Of Your Achievements" is an aural steamroller. "Religious Cancer" would have been an excellent fist pumping shout–along anthem in the live arena.

However, after that, the whole show really just tails off terribly. The cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Police Truck" seems like a school orchestra played it. It is out of time, and you can almost feel everyone on stage (including DK’s drummer D.H. Peligro) looking around wondering what comes next. The cover of Doom's "Exploitation" is a little better, except someone fucks up the vocals. The rest of the live songs are just plain poor. It is almost comforting when 'Sick Life' finally tails off into feedback oblivion.

Two studio tracks were tacked on the end of the album, apparently leftovers from 'Point Blank'. Enough said. Some things best remain unreleased.

In the liner notes, Max and Alex say, "The Dynamo show is full of mistakes and technical problems, but that's how it was on the day. We think it captures the spirit of the band, unlike a lot of (live) albums today". Many live bootlegs sound better than this. If this is the spirit of Nailbomb, then it was killed off just in the nick of time. This project should have stayed in the studio.

Vim Fuego Side projects can be a dodgy proposition. Look at the likes of Brujeria, Six Feet Under, Meathook Seed, Superjoint Ritual, Viking Crown or any number of famous offshoots. All contain members of better known bands who wanted to try a different musical style to their normal gig, but failed to deliver a satisfying performance. They're often indulgent record company favours to keep artists interested, and to gouge fans when a major release is still some time off.

Of course, there are exceptions; S.O.D., Mr Bungle, and Down immediately spring to mind as projects enjoyable to fans of the original artists as well as a wider audience. So does Nailbomb.

Former Sepultura main man Max Cavalera and Alex Newport, of Fudge Tunnel fame, combined their collective forces and produced a master work of massive proportions in Nailbomb, in the process creating one of the best albums of the year for 1994.

The basis for Nailbomb was a guitar sound of titanic proportions melded with a number of rhythms– hardcore, electronic, metallic; synthetic and organic. Over top of it all, Alex and Max trade vitriolic hardcore shouts, keeping it simple and angry in their lyrical targets. Further messing up the mix are some excellent samples, including an absolute classic from "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer". A veritable metallic supergroup, including Igor and Andreas from Sepultura, and Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, helped out.

And what was the final result? An album of hardcore inspired tracks, combining anger filled political and social commentaries with one of the most crushing guitar sounds ever heard. While most comment on this album has concentrated on Max's involvement, it sounds more like a spiced up Fudge Tunnel album than it does a Sepultura by-product. The vocals are often held back in the mix, as Newport was fond of doing in his full time band. There are more Fudge Tunnel-isms in the basic hardcore riffing and some of the song structures.

The rhythm guitar on this album is part sonic boom, part jet engine roar. It really needs to be heard to be believed. Pick any song at random, except the mainly electronic "Shit Piñata", and you will hear it crushing all before it. Whether it's the unstoppable juggernaut in "Sick Life", or the hidden ambush attack of "For Fuck's Sake", the sound is just staggering. This may sound like hyperbole and over emphasis, but take a listen for yourself. Anyone who is not impressed is either deaf or being deliberately obstinate.

This album far outstrips anything either man has been involved with since. Many thought it would be the direction Sepultura would follow. As we now know, Sepultura ripped itself apart, spinning off the awful tribal nu-metal shlock of Soulfly, a watered down and much weakened Sepultura, and the long overdue reunion in the form of Cavalera Conspiracy. None of these entities can touch Nailbomb. ‘Point Blank’ is a metal classic, in every sense.