REVIEW DRAFT - The Horde

Alright, it's time for our first Horde Review Draft. You can find out how the draft works by reading this General Chat thread.

The initial order for the Horde Review Draft will be...

1. Vinny

2. Ben

The four albums to select from are... (drumroll)...

We await Vinny's first pick...

Thanks Ben, I will pick up Panzerchrist - Regiment Ragnarok.

I'm very tempted to go for the Hate Eternal release, as I think the band is underrated, but given I'm already well acquainted with it, I've decided to select the Insomnium album. I'm sure I've heard all the Insomnium albums at some point, but have never spent enough time with them to review them.

Fuckin hell guys, I can't believe neither of you picked up the Darkthrone boxset. It's only six 12" vinyl LPs, a 7" single, four  cassettes and a DVD fer chrissakes. Where's your dedication?!

Panzerchrist - Regiment Ragnarok (2011)

The poorly named Panzerchrist (really guys) have been stalwarts of the Danish death metal scene the mid-nineties. Their brand of blackened death, although not unique, is really well done and Regiment Ragnarok has soon grown on me with repeated listens. This, the bands sixth release, is stacked full of mining riffs, blasting drums and ghastly vocals and I can only assume this blueprint has served them well over the years as they sound tight throughout all twelve tracks which is no mean feat as only two of the band that performed on their previous album (some five years earlier) actually remained come their 2011 release.

In all honesty I found Regiment Ragnarok to be an unexpected joy. I mean, it certainly does not reinvent any wheels at all and it is very one dimensional in its themes and approach, yet it is sill entertaining. Their sound is reminiscent of Belphegor and Behemoth although it is Vader whom I find to be the best reference point for the Panzerchrist sound. At twelve tracks in length though the rinse and repeat cycle does get tiresome towards the end of the record and the album perhaps would have benefitted from a trim to make the whole thing easier to digest. However, Panzerchrist achieve a consistency to proceedings that none many others can hold a candle too and they are clearly accomplished enough musicians. Drummer Mads Lauridsen only stayed around for this one album but he is monstrous behind the kit and the twin guitar attack of Rasmus Henriksen and former Illdisposed man Lasse Bak is a tour de force at the same time. Vocalist Magnus Jorgensen (who was also only around for this album alone) spits a venomous performance on the microphone that underlines the blackened virtues of the band perfectly. With a more stable line-up I could imagine Panzerchrist could have ben more of a death metal household name (I had never heard of them before picking up this review), but with so much change seeming to occur from record to record it is hard to see how they could ever break out of this predictable cycle of songwriting.

Anyone who likes the war soaked themes of Bolt Thrower coupled with the mining sounds of God Dethroned would find Panzerchrist right up their street I am sure and Regiment Ragnarok is not a bad place to start with their discogrpahy to boot. You might not revisit it very often but each time you do the entertainment value will always be there at least.

3.5/5

Insomnium - One for Sorrow (2011)

I reckon I've listened to most of Insomnium's discography over the years, but never really dedicated the time to explore it well enough for a review. The Horde Review Draft gave me the opportunity to change that, so I took it with open arms. There is very little new in what this band do (it's easy to hear the influence of numerous other Scandinavian bands), but they work their craft in a very professional and palatable way. It's fairly accessible stuff, even with the brutal path that the vocals take on occasion, and the melodies consistently take priority over the more traditional death metal riffing. I have to admit that this particular album occasionally oversteps with this accessibility, particularly Through the Shadows, which I'm surprised to find is considered a highlight by many fans. Thankfully the teeth-grit-inducing clean vocal chorus, that comfortably make that track the worst on the album for me, isn't a sign of things to come. In fact, it's follow-up, Song of the Blackest Bird, makes up for it in no uncertain terms, containing fantastic death vocals and a heady mix of Dark Tranquillity and Amorphis. The rest of the album contains enough variety to keep things exciting, while rarely overstepping that personal accessibility tipping point.

I'm not at all surprised to find that Daniel gave this album 2.5 stars, as he's never been a big fan of Swedish (or Finnish) melodic death metal, and I can't see this album converting anyone that feels that way. As someone that's more than a little partial for this type of thing, One for Sorrow is a very solid and entertaining example, and one that I'll definitely return to from time to time. If you want a taster, check out the aforementioned Song of the Blackest Bird, Unsung or the epic Septic Flesh reminding closing title track.

4 stars

Time for another Review Draft for The Horde. This month's pick order will be as follows...

1. Ben

2. Vinny

The four albums to select from are... (drumroll)...

Hmmm... I know nothing about any of these releases! I guess that's what the drafts are all about. Having just done a bit of research, I'm going with Ingurgitating Oblivion. Reviews namedrop Immolation and Gorguts, which can't be a bad thing.

Over to you Vinny...

Got to be Graveyard for me.

Review Draft for The Horde this month sees me taking on Spanish death metallers Graveyard and their debut EP Into the Mausoleum which is actually just their first demo from 12 months earlier as far as I can make out. I am genuinely unsure if this is re-recorded or even remixed in all honesty as the production job is far from top notch. From the start there is a very Swedish vibe to the tempos on this record. Not that it sounds particularly Swedish in terms of the crunch of that guitar as such, but you will still get those Dismember and Entombed tropes from the off with a healthy dose of Bolt Thrower for good measure also. Certainly at this early stage in their career there is an Autopsy-like clumsiness to proceedings, suggesting that some accomplishment to the playing was yet to be realised.

At a shade under 24 minutes it is hard to come to much of a conclusion on Graveyard based on this one release. They certainly make all the right noises for any fan of death metal to be endeared to them but with two tracks being instrumentals and another being a cover of Death's Zombie Ritual , I would suggest this is not a fair representation of what the band no doubt have become in the fifteen years that have passed since this was released. When they are in full flow on the four tracks that have lyrics and their own content they are capable of delivering some pretty decent if not cluttered arrangements. The immaturity does hold them back though and that production job is not kind to the drums in particular which sound like a mere afterthought in the mix.

They have a fair crack at that Death cover but do little justice to it whilst managing to avoid massacring it overall. Looking at their scores on future albums they notch up some decent praise over the years so it may be worth me taking a punt on a later album to see how good these guys turned out in later years but for now I shall just note Into the Mausoleum as being a solid if unremarkable start for them.

3/5

Time for another Review Draft for The Horde. This month's pick order will be as follows...

1. Vinny

2. Ben

The four albums to select from are... (drumroll)...

Vinny gets first pick this month...

Sorry, I cut off the band names and titles. I obviously can't get the randomised page back, so they're...

• Amon Amarth - Once Sent from the Golden Hall
• Machetazo - Necrocovered
• Schizophrenia - Recollections of the Insane
• Necrodeath - Ton(e)s of Hate

Thanks Ben, looks like I will give Amon Amarth some attention this month.  Over to you for second pick.

Both of us have already rated Schizophrenia's album, which didn't leave a huge amount of choice this month. I haven't spent much time with Necrodeath, so I'll take their Ton(e) of Hate album. It's ratings suggest I might be in for a rough time.

I have always struggled with Amon Amarth. Notwithstanding that melodic death metal is not my thing at all, the Swedes continuous levels of praise is nothing short of baffling given that every song I hear by them sounds exactly the same. I had spent time in the past with a couple of albums of theirs (Twilight of the Thunder God and Surtur Rising) and just got not get beyond seeing them being little more than background music. In weighing up the options for this month's Review Draft for The Horde I clocked this, their debut full length release and had heard high praise for it being "brutal" and "glorious" so I decided to see if the band started out any better than they currently sound.

I would open the main part of my review by saying that the aspirations to be "glorious" are really obvious on Once Sent From the Golden Hall. There is - even at this early stage in their career - an ambition to deliver songs on a grandiose and epic level and that is something I cannot help but recognise and acknowledge. With track lengths ranging from four to eight minutes, Amon Amarth try to pack out their song writing with story telling being the main provision being utilised. With the theatrics of the sound of a battle echoing around the middle section of the track Amon Amarth, the band make no bones about the grandiosity of their ideas and at least try to throw something different in there away from their familiar musical style.

The problem with all this ambition is that both the musicianship and the production job are of such a poor standard that the delivery of the promise is just a football field away from the planned intent. Former Opeth drummer, Martin Lopez was part of Amon Amarth at this point in their career and considering the stature he attained with Opeth over seven albums, none of that promise is even hinted at here in 1998. His timing is terrible and on more than one occasion he is behind the rest of the instruments and appears to be more than a tad over-eager on the hi-hats and cymbals as well. The twin guitar attack of Hansson and Mikkonen sounds exactly the same as it does today in fairness and the only real drawback to this (aside from the fact that I hate the tone) is that they are drowned out in the main by Johan Hegg's vocals. In fact Hegg gets by far the best treatment by the production and mixing job and his vocals really standout on here (how could they not) and for the first time I thought how more befitting they would be in a black metal act than in a melodic death metal band, but still, they are far too dominant here even if they do at times serve to hide Lopez's misgivings behind the drumkit.

In all OSFtGH is a triumph of design over content and is the final nail in the coffin for me and Amon Amarth as I doubt I will ever take any other opportunity to explore anymore of their releases since their debut just confirms that like the rest of their discography that I have experienced, Amon Amarth are simply not for me. 

2/5

Necrodeath - Ton(e)s of Hate (2003)

It's my understanding that Necrodeath released a couple of decent thrash metal albums in the late 80s, but the awful ratings that are generally attributed to Ton(e)s of Hate made me feel pretty uncomfortable about having to pick it for the latest Horde Review Draft. It didn't take long for me to understand why its been so consistently criticised over the years. While the death and thrash genre tags are accurate, it's fairly clear that the band were attempting to make an accessible and occasionally pop-inspired release. What they completely forgot to do in the process was include great riffs, or any riffs really. While it's not unusual for bass players to simply accompany the guitar riffs in this style of music, I think it's pretty rare that the base completely overpowers the guitars in the mix. I find myself knowing what the riffs probably are at any given moment, but all I can really hear is the bass. It causes the whole experience to lack power and impact, particularly during the thrashier sections where the riffs should be front and centre. Even ignoring any production issues, the songwriting just isn't that great, with some of the more memorable sections only being so because they're repetitive and annoying. Queen of Desire is probably the only track that I really enjoy the whole way through, with no silly repetitious vocal line or grating cymbal / cowbell combo. These Italians have 13 full length releases, but I can't say that Ton(e) of Hate has made me want to go and check any of the others out.

2.5 stars

Time for another Review Draft for The Horde. This month's pick order will be as follows...

1. Ben

2. Vinny

The four albums to select from are... (drumroll)...

I have first pick, so I'll go for Dischordia's Triptych album. Don't know anything about it, but decent ratings for a Technical Dissonant Brutal death metal release.

Easy one for me.  Diocletian all day long.

Diocletian "Doom Cult" (2009)

There are some truly punishing listening experiences around in the plethora of extreme metal releases that populate the blackened death metal sub-genre in particular. Here be the home of Portal, Teitanblood and Antediluvian amongst many others, all of whom showcase an unrelenting style of music that defies structure and form and goes for the jugular track-after-track. To be honest, even after 30+ years of listening to metal I am still not sure of the difference between the term "war metal" and the sound emitted by the likes of Diocletian and we all know how much I hate genre pedantry so feel free to shake your head in silent disgust as I refer to this primitive style of music minus any correct "it" terms.

New Zealanders Diocletian are a tricky concept for some. Not in the least due to the fact that the vocalist at the time of Doom Cult (V. Kusabs) has since been convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography. Sometimes our exploration of the extreme side of music takes us to even darker places than we thought possible unfortunately. Focussing on the music though, Doom Cult is truly an exploration of unbridled terror done with drums, bass, guitars and some ghastly vocals thrown in for good measure. If you are looking for any semblance of production values then you are in the wrong place altogether as this has been left outside the door along with discernible vocals, structured riffs and any hope of variation.

This in fact, is probably one of the few occasions all tracks merging into one in a chaotic blur works well. Everything does get thrown at the wall here and the fetid, gloopy mess that sticks is here for the duration, all thirty-three minutes of it. There are some more memorable moments when the band adopt a more military style approach to their rhythms here and there but overall, to truly enjoy this record you have to be willing to let it assault you. There might not be a lot of mastery about the attack but it does not make it any less effective.

4/5

Time for another Review Draft for The Horde. This month's pick order will be as follows...

1. Vinny

2. Ben

The four albums to select from are... (drumroll)...

Over to you Vinny...

Pestifer looks interesting, I will take that.

I'll take Temple Nightside. Cool cover, so it can't be bad... right?

Pestifer - Reaching the Void (2014)

Rising from the ashes of various bands dating back to the late 90s, Belgian tech-death band Pestifer boast a three album discography of pretty much exactly what you would expect from any performers in this sub-genre of death metal. We have twangy bass lines, melodic and crisp leads and grim vocals uttered over racing passages. I will not profess to be a massive fan of technical death metal (unless it is done really well with some avant-garde and progressive elements at least) and so Pestifer do have a slight disadvantage in falling into my hands for Review Draft this month.

Getting the negatives out of the way first. Where are the drums here? There appears to a light (thankfully not clicking) tapping noise in the background but I am getting no real sense of inclusion from Philippe Gustin here (his brother plays bass btw). As a result, Reaching the Void lacks any power overall. The riffs are too sterile to carry any power and in all honesty the only prominent parts of the album are the vocals and bass. I do not think that the drums suffer from any issues with their placement in the mix either. It sounds like they were deliberately recorded to be timid.

Now, although I highlight the riffs as sterile, this is a common sound in tech-death to my ears and actually works as a standalone and memorable section to proceedings. The lead work though is the main success from the guitars. It resonates through the tracks it inhibits leaving a clean, intricate and rich experience as it goes. Although I might not be entirely onboard with all of what Pestifer do, I cannot deny that there is some talent here and this does shine through on a consistent basis. With a bit more strength behind those drums (just a bit of presence really) then I sense that Reaching the Void would present more of an intriguing listen. 

3.5/5