I lose track of Gorgoroth very easily I find. The early movement of vocalists proper gets confusing for me and by the time we get to this record there’s three of them doing the vocals. There are also four different drummers (albeit one of them only does track three – and it is the mighty Frost). Taking time to bring myself up to speed on Gorgoroth goings on, I can see legal battles, prison sentences, court appearances, trademark registration challenges, firings and assaults of band members. No wonder the line up appears to stick in my mind as being unstable then.

Aside from the fact that most people involved sound like abhorrent individuals, Gorgoroth have always managed to make vicious and scathing black metal that is pleasing to my ear. Aside from the fact that this album has a stupid title that screams immaturity, the content itself is most entertaining. Anyone who thinks that Gorgoroth are smash and grab, one blistering pace of black metal in the vein of Marduk style of band, will find evidence to the contrary on their fourth full length offering. There is variety of pace and tempo on this album and tracks like ‘The Virginborn’ employ a much more exploratory style of writing than I was expecting going into the record.

At the same time, there is still enough necro to keep the kvlt crew happy. Album closer ‘Slottet i det fjerne’ (a Darkthrone cover) caters for this element perfectly, awash with feedback and production values straight from 1994. Similarly, opening track, ‘Destroyer’ makes no bones about the lack of pleasantries to begin the album. Whilst I accept discomfort as being expected and acceptable on a Gorogorth record, there is elements of a little overkill here. It could be my subconscious playing with me a little, knowing that there are multiple different performers on a revolving platter contributing to the record, but the album at times does sound like it may be two different albums put together. Not in terms of the pace and tempos, just more in terms of the content of the album overall.

I cannot say it is a fault, or a criticism as such even, yet there is a sense of layering being applied that sort of catches me off-guard. ‘The Devil, The Sinner and His Journey’ is a bit of a weird track for inclusion in my book and I would argue that the album is at its strongest in terms of consistency through the middle section of the record onwards. There is also a tendency for a crooning, folk-tinged vocal effect to creep into tracks at times, which sounds a bit amateur in all honesty. Still, it is distinctly a Gorgoroth record at the end of the day so there is still plenty to enjoy overall, despite my little niggles with it.

It’s one of the few live albums that actually feels like you’re standing in the crowd getting blasted in the face by the PA. Loud, messy, fast, and completely unfiltered. The band sounds half‑feral in the best way, Lemmy’s bass is basically a weapon, and the whole thing moves like a runaway truck. Not perfect, not polished, but absolutely alive — and that’s why it still hits.

It’s rough, loud, and totally unpolished, but that’s the whole point. The raw energy is there, the riffs hit hard enough, and a few tracks really pop — especially “(Gonna) Fill the World With Fire,” “Love Slave,” and “Wild White Horses.” It’s not a clean or consistent release, but it’s a cool snapshot of early heavy metal before anyone bothered smoothing the edges.

LOVEBITES are easy to underestimate at first. The polished white outfits and sleek presentation might suggest something lightweight, but the music is fast, aggressive and technically serious. Midori and Miyako deliver a sharp twin-guitar attack, Haruna drives everything with relentless drums, and Asami’s clean, high vocals give the band a dramatic power-metal edge. At their best, especially on songs like “Break the Wall,” they sound like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Helloween pushed through modern Japanese precision.

Sacrilege and Onslaught aside, the UK's thrash output during the 1980's was pretty fucking woeful. It was almost as if we Brits just didn't 'get' thrash metal at all and struggled to get up to speed with this new, more aggressive style of heavy metal and those pesky Yanks and Europeans were just making us look lame and lazy by comparison. As a result I have been on the lookout for decent British Eighties' thrash metal albums ever since, with little to no real success, so I was stoked to see an underground band of thrashers from a north-west England seaside town pop up as a feature and hoped against hope that this would be some kind of underground classic. Oh well, you can't blame me for hoping! As you can probably guess, this falls a fair way short of my, admittedly unrealistic, expectations.

I am guessing that D.A.M. were huge fans of Anthrax's "Spreading the Disease" album, because I think that is what they seem to be striving for here. Vocalist Jason McLoughlin does his very best Joey Belladonna impression, rhythm guitarist John Bury attempts to reproduce Scott Ian's trademark choppy, chuggy riffs and the gang vocals on the choruses that the New Yorkers loved to employ are present and correct. Unfortunately they lack the two chracteristics that made Anthrax what they were back then - the infectious, sing-along choruses and the sheer effusive sense of excitement and fun that set Anthrax apart from their West Coast and European peers. Anyone who loves 80s Anthrax also knows how vital Charlie Benante's lively and energetic drumming was to the band whereas, here, the production has rendered the percussion limp and lifeless, sounding like someone leathering their kit with a couple of fish rather than drumsticks! Hell, "Total Destruction" even starts with a flat copy of Charlie's drum intro to "Indians".

Look, I don't want to sound too down on them for that because, to be honest, for a few years in the 1980s Anthrax bottled lightning and managed to make it work, through sheer force of personality, excellent songwriting ability and technical ability. So, without these essential, but mercurial talents, D.A.M. merely sound like cheap imitators and would maybe have been better advised to plough their own furrow rather than follow in the steps of a unique act like Anthrax. In truth, I actually don't hate "Human Wreckage" but, as someone who was (and remains) a big fan of "Spreading the Disease" and "Among the Living", I can't unhear D.A.M.'s Anthrax worship and so I just keep wishing I was listening to one of those albums instead. I am sure these guys were probably a blast in the metal pubs and clubs of England's North West back in the day, but in the stark, cold spotlight of recorded music they just come up a bit short and sound too derivative.