Dorso formed in 1984 and remain a going concern, releasing eight full-length albums with quite a wide range of genres from thrash/speed metal, grindcore, progressive rock, heavy metal through to black metal. "Bajo una luna cámbrica" was the band's debut full-length, being released in June of 1984 and featuring the only ever-present band member, bassist / vocalist Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra, alongside guitarist / vocalist Gamal Eltit. Drum duties were shared by four guest/session drummers with Eltit also manning the kit for the track "Críptica visión".

What we have here with "Bajo una luna cámbrica" is principally a thrash metal album, but it is also a fair bit more than that with some quite impressive progressive touches. The album's longest track, "Cíclope" is a really nice piece of progressive metal with some legitimate Seventies' touches and a distinct latin flavour. The song writing is ambitious, certainly compared to their peers, with the band being more interested in keeping things interesting than trying to be as extreme and fast as possible. This certainly doesn't translate to the album being at all lightweight, they can be plenty aggressive and thrash with the best of them when the mood takes them with some pretty killer riffs, check out "Vuela en tu dragón" or "Hidra" and hear for yourself, it is just that this isn't the be all and end all here. I guess this could be termed as technical thrash metal and the guys do seem to be technically very adept, but I think of it as being more progressive than technical with even a jazz influence at times. The short "Suite", for example, is basically a guitar workout in the vein of a heavy Robert Fripp or even Frank Zappa and Gamal Eltit's guitar solo work is generallyxcellent, utilising a number of variations of style as well as really shredding when required to do so.

Sadly, the production doesn't really do the guys a lot of favours and its muddiness does blunt the edge a little, but not enough to cause any drama, being more of a niggle than a major issue. The songwriting really is fantastic and has impressed me mightily. I can't help wondering whether this was an influence on modern chilean thrash legends Demoniac and the curveballs they like to include in with their thrashing mayhem. I am really glad to have stumbled upon this and I would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in hearing a quite unique album from the Eighties' South American metal scene that offers a bit more than straight ahead metal charges.

Released in 1991, ‘Gothic’ is the second studio album by British gothic metal legends, Paradise Lost. I didn’t like the bands’ first album, finding it too gothic, growly, doom and gloomy, but perhaps things have developed on from there with this follow-up album?

Nope. Not really. 

There’s no doubting the impact Paradise Lost had on the British death/doom metal scene in the early 90’s. But this music just isn’t for me. I find it too dreary. Too depressing. Too boring. The endless, guttural growling ruins everything for me. The guitar work has improved since their previous album, but not enough for me to really dig any of the tunes. 

It’s listenable, in the background, and mainly because it’s only 40 minutes long! But overall, this isn’t for me. Their later stuff, which incorporates keyboards and more melodic vocals are more my thing. I’ll stick to those instead. 

My first experience with New York brutal death metal outfit Dehumanized came through their 1996 "Terminal Punishment" demo tape (4/5) back in my mid-1990's tape trading heyday & it made a significant impact on me, receiving regular replays over the next couple of months. I was a huge fan of the New York BDM sound at the time & these five guys offered a very solid example of it without ever really pushing the leaders of the scene like my very favourite metal band ever Suffocation. Dehumanized's debut full-length wouldn't land until my interest in metal was already tailing off during the late 90's so our paths wouldn't cross until a good decade later. The experience was similarly positive though & "Prophecies Foretold" & I have exchanged blows several times since then, appearing to enjoy each other's company quite a bit. When I first heard the record in full though, there was something a little fishy about it. You see, halfway through the tracklisting I started to get a strong feeling of deja vu & there's a good reason for that because the final four tracks are essentially an untouched version of the "Terminal Punishment" demo I'd enjoyed so much as a kid. The first five songs sound vastly different to the demo though which gives "Prophecies Foretold" a bit of a split personality. Both personalities are certainly worth knowing but I hold a slight favour for the demo material.

The new material that kicks off the album sees Dehumanized taking on a sound that splits the brutal & conventional death metal styles, never quite deciding on where it wants to reside. There's just as much Disincarnate & (dare I say it) Neuropath in their sound as there is their New York counterparts with a stronger melodic component & a little more nuance & tempo restraint being shown. The demo material is pure New York BDM though with those signature palm-muted slam riffs in strong effect throughout. The vocals are more gutteral & the tempos whiplash between slow & chuggy, hardcore-inspired Dying Fetus style slams & light-speed blasting. It doesn't appear as if drummer George Torres was using triggers as the kick drums sound fairly messy due to the disparities in their sound. Surprisingly, Torres is the only member of Dehumanized that I recognize from other projects, having contributed to slam death metallers 420 & Artery Eruption as well as BDM legends Skinless over the years. Frontman Jerry Barco's vocals differ quite a bit between the two releases too, being more gutteral on the early material with the brand-new songs all sporting a brighter production job.

Regardless of the split personality, I still really dig "Prophecies Foretold". It champions everything I enjoy about death metal & arguably does it better than they managed to do on either of their subsequent albums. Don't let the terrible cover art fool you. There are easily enough chunky riffs & spasmodic blast beats to satisfy your average brutal death metal nut included here. 

For fans of Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia & Mortal Decay.

The long running Norwegian black metal band, Dimmu Borgir, have made a habit of writing and releasing high quality, powerful music. And Grand Serpent Rising is no exception. When the music hits and this album begins its "Ascent", it travels far and wide at a blistering pace. The guitar riffing is filled with energy and intent, the bass lines are super strong and give the rest of the instruments room to breathe, the percussion work is superb, borrowing from the classic black metal of old, while also having room for some ear splitting moments as well (i.e. "Repository of Divine Transmutation"). The symphonic backgrounds are also splendid; parts of this album have little callbacks to the great Emperor and the dynamic influence the symphony plays on Prometheus. 

That's all the good stuff. Unfortunately, while Dimmu Borgir keep their songwriting chops in top form, they've also kept their piss poor structure for an album in the same shape. I've like Dimmu Borgir albums before, and I can point out individual songs from Puritanical Euphoric Misantrhopia, or Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, and Abrahadabra that stand out, but you won't catch me listening to any of those albums in full anytime soon. This band has consistently pumped out overbloated albums for over three decades and it seems like with Grand Serpent Rising, that trend is getting worse! This is not helped at all by the bands always on full speed aggression that they continue to pump out album after album. It's hard to deny the quality of the music found within this album, but songs like "Recognizant" and "Repository of Divine Transmission" could have been so much better if, either the songs themselves had been trimmed down, or the album as a whole.

Best Songs: As Seen in the Unseen, Silk Minnes en Alkymist, The Exonerated, Shadows of a Thousand Perecptions

For Fans Of: Septicflesh, Rotting Christ, Enslaved

Death and Mayhem (D.A.M. for short) hailed from the northwest England seaside town of Morecambe Bay, which is not far from where I live. I can remember seeing them in the various metal mags back in the day advertising their wares, with the mascot that reminded of an unmasked Dr Doom from the Marvel comics, but somehow, I never got around to hearing them at the time. With this being my month for a nomination in The Pit, I thought there was no better an opportunity to sample their debut album from 1989. Human Wreckage scrapes a 50% mark on Metal Archives, but we all know how bonkers people’s opinions can be, right?

Well, Human Wreckage starts off well enough. Opening track proper, ‘Death Warmed Up’ sounds a lot more alert than the title would suggest. Some rugged chops and a decent solo make it a finer opener indeed. The first criticism is hard to ignore as an issue though. The drums are way too far back in the mix, relegated to more of a supporting role as opposed to a central driving position in the mix. This certainly helps the guitars and vocals to shine. However, it adds a timidness to the edges of what I am listening to. Riffs and vocals can only go so far as to flesh out a song, and without the firm skeleton of the percussion department things soon start to sound a little wishy-washy.

Some of the song writing is also unfortunately questionable. When they slow down the pace on Prophets of Doom, the cracks do start to show. The track at times sounds like it is falling over itself and this a theme that recurs sadly over the course of the rest of the album. It is as if D.A.M. exhaust their song writing prowess after three tracks. When they go slower, it really is a mistake. ‘Infernal Torment’ would only work with a Dave Mustaine style sneer on it, and Jason McLoughlin ain’t no MegaDave unfortunately. It is only really the late Mark “Elly” Etherington’s lead work that saves Human Wreckage from being a complete car crash at times. This is their debut album, coming just a year after their demo, so some leniency is perhaps well entertained in reviewing this album. However, as feature releases go, I have picked better.