Daniel's Forum Replies
Here's one that's a little more leftfield & includes a few deeper cuts:
Rainbow
01. Stargazer (from "Rising", 1976)
02. Gates of Babylon (from "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", 1978)
03. A Light in the Black (from "Rising" 1976)
04. Man on the Silver Mountain (from "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", 1975)
05. Tarot Woman (from "Rising", 1976)
06. Eyes of Fire (from "Straight Between the Eyes", 1982)
07. Run With the Wolf (from "Rising", 1976)
08. Danger Zone (from "Down to Earth", 1979)
09. Tearin' My Heart Out (from "Straight Between the Eyes", 1982)
10. Snowman (from "Bent Out of Shape", 1983)
Swedish hard rockers Ghost will be releasing their brand-new "Rite Here Rite Now" film soundtrack record on 26th July. I believe they've headed further away from metal over their last couple of albums but I thought this might interest some of you anyway. I've only heard their 2015 third album "Meliora" before but I have to admit that I didn't mind its professional progressive metal sound. I can't see me finding the time to check this one out though if I'm being honest.
London stoner metal kings Orange Goblin will be releasing their tenth studio album "Science, Not Fiction" on 19th July. I can't say I've ever really given them much time over the years as stoner metal isn't exactly my musical sweet spot. I did quite like their split E.P. with Electric Wizard & their "Nuclear Guru/Hand of Doom" single but those came more than 25 years ago now so perhaps it's time I gave them a long overdue chance o impress me with their new record.
Exulceration/Putrid Offal - "Infernal Disgust/Premature Necropsy" split album (1991)
This extremely underground split release is one that I picked up through the tape trading scene back in the day but have rarely heard mentioned since. I was recently reminded of it when I stumbled over it on another website where it was having large amounts of praise heaped on it but I found that I couldn’t remember anything terribly positive about it so I thought I’d revisit it to see what the fuss was all about. The record was released by Dutch label Sicktone Records & features two three-piece artists, neither of which had achieved a full-length album yet or would amount to much afterwards either. The two bands sound quite different from each other but some of that is due to the vastly different production jobs as they share many of the same influences. Let’s take a look at the release in a little more detail.
Exulceration were a Swiss goregrind band that specialized in a sound that seems to have been borrowed from Carcass’ “Reek of Putrefaction” & the early Xysma releases. The production job on their "Infernal Disgust" E.P. is pretty thin & weak which doesn’t help the band’s cause but they don’t really possess the skills to pull this material off anyway in my opinion. The poor drumming doesn’t help much at all as it leaves everything sounding very messy & those vocoded vocals simply make the whole thing sound a little bit childish too but then… I generally feel the same way about most goregrind releases to be fair. The side made up of French deathgrind outfit Putrid Offal's "Premature Necropsy" E.P. is a different story altogether as the filthy & noticeably thicker production job really suits the band’s sound which is similar to “Symphonies of Sickness”-period Carcass & Sweden’s Necrony. I absolutely love the guitar tone for this style of music as it gives it that graveyard atmosphere that I generally look for. The riffs & vocals are both of a very decent standard &, once again, it’s only the fairly incompetent drumming that lets Putrid Offal down a bit here. Thankfully though, they have a little more about them than Exulceration did which allows me to see past that flaw & to gain a fair bit of enjoyment out of the B side overall.
Look, I’m not sure if it’s just a taste thing or not but I can’t see that this split release is in any way essential, despite quite liking the Putrid Offal material. In fact, I wouldn’t even call the B side essential listening so I can’t say that I’m surprised that this record has stayed largely in the underground. It may appeal to those that get off on an ultra-primitive, DYI style of grindcore but I think this will be the last time our paths cross to be brutally honest.
For fans of Carcass, Xysma & Necrony.
3/5
I explored the 1979 "Let It Roll" debut album from Seattle outfit TKO this morning but found no metal whatsoever. This is a commercial hard rock record built for US radio.
I checked out the 1979 "Which Platform Please?" debut album from France's Silvertrain today. There's definitely some metal influence on this mothafucka but I don't think it's enough to qualify as a heavy metal release overall. I've gone for a hard rock primary with heavy metal & progressive rock secondaries for this one.
These are the releases that are currently very close to a result in the Hall of Judgement:
Pink - "Boris" (The Fallen)
Turbo - "Dorosłe dzieci" (The Guardians)
Motorhead - "Motorhead" (The Guardians)
M.S.W. - "Obliviosis" (The Fallen/The Infinite)
Cryptic Shift - "Visitations From Enceladus" (The Horde/The Infinite/The Pit)
Katatonia - "The Great Cold Distance" (The Gateway/The Infinite)
maudlin of the Well - "Leaving Your Body Map" (The Infinite)
Månegarm - "Vredens tid" (The North)
Mastodon - Blood Mountain (The Fallen/The Infinite)
Author & Punisher - "Krüller" (The Fallen/The Sphere)
Hexer - "Cosmic Doom Ritual" (The Fallen/The Infinite)
If you're familiar with any of these releases but are still yet to cast your vote then what are you waiting for!
So, we've finally reached an outcome on "Ride The Lightning" with the vote tally finishing at YES 4 NO 8 to deny its entry into The Guardians. Thank you to everyone who participated in reaching this result.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
These two nominations have now been posted in the Hall of Judgement Andi.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
Dark Tranquillity - "Skydancer" (1993)
While there were a few different players in the race for the earliest example of the sound we now know as melodic death metal, I can definitely tell you that Sweden’s Dark Tranquillity were the first exponent that I encountered personally. I can say this with confidence as I can still remember being impressed with how fresh & exciting their approach was, even if their overall sound didn’t sit that comfortably within my wheelhouse. I think it may have been Dark Tranquillity’s 1992 “A Moonclad Reflection” E.P. that first graced my ears but it wasn’t until I discovered the band's very solid 1991 “Trail of Life Decayed” demo that I started to pay attention. Their debut album “Skydancer” would cross my radar shortly after release too & I found myself being thoroughly impressed with the level of compositional complexity on show. I've often wondered whether that might have skewed my opinion on the record a little though as I’ve always seemed to rate it a touch more highly than other metal enthusiasts with the common opinion being that it was merely a blip on the timeline that saw Dark Tranquillity’s popularity exploding with their 1995 sophomore album “The Gallery” two years later. This concern has seen me revisiting “Skydancer” with fresh ears this week & I’m glad that I have because it’s seen me drastically adjusting my position on this seminal yet divisive record.
Let’s get one thing straight from the offset, “Skydancer” isn’t the super-polished product that the melodic death metal scene would start producing in the coming years. It’s still very much a product of the underground scene at the time with the production job having a rough edge to it & the performances lacking the precision that the subgenre would eventually make one of its major calling cards. It does, however, sport a sound that was already clearly identifiable as Swedish melodic death metal, even if it does stand out a little in the Dark Tranquillity back catalogue given the additional layer of rawness its managed to maintain. The vocals of current In Flames & former Ceremonial Oath & Passenger front man Anders Friden already possess that raspy blackened edge that has become part & parcel of the Gothenburg sound while the complex melodic interplay of future HammerFall guitarists Niklas Sundin & Mikael Stanne (Grand Cadaver/The Halo Effect) weaves in & out of the interesting bass lines of Martin Henriksson. Despite some pretty fast blast-beats for the time, I’d have to suggest that the drumming of Anders Jivarp is the weaker component of the groups offering as he can’t boast the power & control of the modern-day exponents of the melodeath sound.
I have to admit that my initial thoughts upon my first revisit of “Skydancer” weren’t all that positive. It’s fair to say that I was caught off guard by just how far the early tracks fell beneath the shelf my nostalgia had placed them on all these years & it wasn’t until the third song “A Bolt of Blazing Gold” that things started to look up. The triple play of “Skywards”, folk number “Through Ebony Archways” & “Shadow Duet” (my album highlight) saw Dark Tranquillity hitting a more consistent flow through the middle of the record but things take a sharp curve towards the negative at the end of the album with both “My Faeryland Forgotten” & “Alone” failing to connect with me. There’s simply not the consistency I’ve come to expect from the more premium examples of the Gothenburg sound here & I've struggled to identify the appeal that the album had on me the last time our paths crossed a good fifteen years ago now.
The use of a duel clean vocal delivery at various points across the album was misguided in my opinion. Engineer Stefan Lindgren takes on the male cleans with guest female singer Anna-Kajsa Avehall also making a contribution on a few songs. I don’t think it’s a surprise that neither have gone on to anything of significance in the future as the efforts of both parties lack a level of professionalism & are noticeably pitchy at times, particularly that of Avehall which goes against the usual arrangement of dodgy male metal vocalists being backed by more capable female singers. I generally enjoy the clean folk guitar sections but unsurprisingly struggle a bit with the more metallic folk influences. Interestingly, it's the slower & more atmospheric parts of the tracklisting that offer me the most consistent appeal which isn't the norm for this hard-nosed ol' extreme metaller.
Look, “Skydancer” isn’t a horrible record by any stretch of the imagination but it clearly isn’t everything I’d pumped it up to be over the years either. It presents Dark Tranquillity as very much a work in progress & I think I'm gonna have adjust my position on the album significantly by suggesting that newcomers to the band &/or the Swedish melodeath scene might want to skip past the band’s first couple of proper releases & jump straight into “The Gallery” because it took a good couple of steps up from “Skydancer” & “A Moonclad Reflection”.
For fans of In Flames, At The Gates & Insomnium.
3/5
Despite what I might or might not have said about the one-off 1979 "Fröm the Fjörds" album from US trio Legend in the past, upon listening to it with fresh ears now I can't see that there's enough genuine metal here to qualify for this exercise. It's predominantly a progressive/hard rock record for mine with heavy metal & jazz fusion only playing supporting roles.
I checked out the 1979 self-titled debut album from Spanish outfit Medina Azahara this afternoon. There's no metal whatsoever here. It's a symphonic prog-focused Rock andaluz record for mine.
Like Ben, I haven't really focused on metal labels since the 1990's. Back then I used to religiously follow labels like Earache Records & premier Aussie extreme metal label Warhead Records but these days that's limited to ones that are a little closer to home like Sphere of Apparition (Oni, Neuropath, Unholy Redeemer, etc.). It's far easier to find good music in the internet age than it was when all we had to go on were magazines & word of mouth. Labels served a stronger purpose as a reliable provider of music that fit their particular niche. You can simply Google that stuff these days.
Annihilator - "Set the World on Fire" (1993)
Canadian thrashers Annihilator went from zero to hero in quite a hurry back in 1989 with their debut album “Alice in Hell” making huge waves in a thrash metal scene that was already starting to show signs of decline. Songs like the title track & “Word Salad” were all over the metal radio programs I religiously recorded & replayed at the time which saw me investing in a cassette copy of “Alice in Hell” shortly afterwards. While I don’t prescribe to the idea that "Alice in Hell" was a classic thrash record like many extreme metal fans do, I’m certainly a big fan of its classy complexity & beautifully executed compositional work which would lead to Ben & I picking up Annihilator’s more technical 1990 “Never, Neverland” sophomore CD as soon as it hit the shelves. I found that record to be pretty enjoyable too however, once again, I’d suggest that my affection for it is slightly less intense than others as I don’t consider it to be in any way essential. There’s no doubt that I classed myself as an Annihilator fan in the early-to-mid 1990's though so I took a keen interest in the band’s third full-length when it finally saw the light of day three years later with Ben purchasing the release on CD. I think it’s fair to say that my initial experiences with “Set The World On Fire” weren’t what I expected though & I found myself struggling to give a shit given that my taste had moved into such extreme territories over the previous few years. I’d continue to catch up with every subsequent Annihilator release over the years, if only for reasons of nostalgia & completism, but I don’t think I’ve returned to “Set The World On Fire” since the early 1990’s, apparently being scared off by the fact that it’s the band’s least intense release overall. Recent events have seen me discovering that I’ve been a little harsh on releases that took similar creative turns recently though so I thought I’d see if that was the case with this one too. I’ve gotta say that I’m glad I did too because it’s not half bad.
Now, let’s get one thing out of the way very early on by stating that “Set The World On Fire” is NOT a thrash metal record. In fact, there’s only really one thrash song included on it in the Exodus-inspired “Knight Jumps Queen”. The rest of the ten-song tracklisting is made up of an array of different subgenres that I’d generally suggest fall into a more commercially accessible space than anything Annihilator had done before or since. The production job is outstanding & is a real feather in the record’s cap with every instrument jumping out of the speakers at you in vibrant fashion. The performances are also stunning, particularly that of band leader Jeff Waters & his guitar-slinging partner in crime Neil Goldberg whose rhythm guitar work sits amongst the best I’ve ever heard which is really saying something. New front man Aaron Randall puts in a high-class performance too & gives the more commercially focused songs an additional layer of integrity. I have to admit that I didn’t even realise he was making his debut for Annihilator as he doesn’t sound drastically different to Coburn Pharr who appeared on “Never, Neverland” as far as I can recall. And what about the drum skills of future Extreme/Dream Theater/James LaBrie/MullMuzzler/Steve Vai skinsman Mike Mangini then!? Fuck, this dude can play. That elite capability has certainly played a strong role in my enjoyment of this release as I find it really hard not to get into a record when it sounds this good & it showcases the work of such capable artists. Thankfully though, the song-writing is nowhere near as bad as I remember it being. In fact, this is really a very consistent record with only the intentionally weird progressive metal closer “Brain Dance” failing to meet the mark.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of different influences on display on “Set The World On Fire” but this doesn’t leave the album sounding like it’s been pasted together. The strong production job & musicianship give this material enough of a common theme to tie it all together nicely. To be critical, the tracklisting is quite top heavy though with the three best songs kicking off the album in fine style. In fact, after those three songs I was wondering if I might have an underground classic on my hands here but it sadly wasn’t to be with the quality of the song-writing dipping a bit after that & never quite returning to its former glory. The clear highlight of the record comes right at the beginning with the Pantera-style groove metal title track being one of the finest moments in the entire Annihilator back catalogue. Speed metal burner “No Zone” keeps the energy high before catchy heavy metal anthem “Bats in the Belfry” brings the intensity down a bit. Interestingly, there’s a strong glam metal edge to a couple of numbers with “Snake in the Grass” clearly having been inspired by Skid Row & “Don’t Bother Me” having borrowed it’s rhythms from Van Halen. There’s even a bit of Extreme about the slick AOR sound of ballads “Pheonix Rising” & “Sounds Good To Me” but, just when you think Annihilator are verging on the cheese zone, we find them reaching into their back pockets & pulling out a progressive edge that eases any tension that may have been building up inside of my hardened extreme metal mind. The influence of fellow Canadians Rush is clear at times although I wouldn’t suggest that it’s ever intended as a focal point. It’s more of an accompaniment that’s used to good effect in my opinion.
Look, I’m not going to tell you that “Set The World On Fire” is essential listening, even for Annihilator fans. But I am going to tell you that it’s a pretty decent effort if you’re willing to follow the band into uncharted territory with an open mind. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that I don’t think “Set The World On Fire” sits far behind its much more highly praised predecessor “Never, Neverland” in terms of general song-writing quality. It’ll only be the stylistic license that Waters has taken that might turn you off. Let’s be honest, Annihilator have always struggled to offer anything that comes even remotely close to their debut album in the 35 years since its release so I don’t think fans of the band can afford to be too picky when it comes to a record like this one & I’m really glad that I’ve reset my opinion on it as I’d clearly let my initial shock get the better of me back in the day. This simply isn’t the cheese factory I thought it was all these years.
For fans of Skid Row, Metallica's "Black Album" & Megadeth records like "Cryptic Writings" & "Super Collider".
3.5/5
Brujeria - "Matando güeros" (1993)
Back in the pre-internet days, it wasn’t uncommon for devoted metalheads to make the blind purchase of a new release based purely on cover art, the involvement of a key individual & a general hunch that it was worth pursuing. The 1993 debut album “Matando gueros” was very much the sum of all three for me as a seventeen year-old with the cover artwork clearly depicting someone holding up what looks very much like a severed head (i.e. some bad ass shit that would shock everyone around me which was a major tick for me at the time) & the mysterious masked band reportedly containing some of metal’s most prominent heroes, many years later being confirmed as Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares & drummer Raymond Herrera, Napalm Death/Lock Up/Meathook Seed/Unseen Terror bassist Shane Embury & Faith No More bassist Billy Gould. These attractions would see me purchasing Brujeria’s debut album on CD & eagerly racing home with hopes of something genuinely special. Did those hopes end up being met? Weeellll…. No, I’d suggest not… but it was no doubt a pretty fun record to thrash my teenage body around my bedroom to nonetheless.
The Brujeria side-project was definitely an interesting concept on paper with the idea of a psychotic, murderous bunch of Mexican drug lords somehow living a double life as an extreme deathgrind band immediately providing pay-off through a humorous intro piece that set the scene for what was to come. “Matando gueros” took on the classic grindcore format with its nineteen short songs spanning just 32-minutes. It didn’t offer anything drastically different to other deathgrind records from an instrumental perspective but contained a clear differentiator in the rabid Mexican-language death metal vocals of Juan Brujo & Pinche Peach. The production job was kept suitably dirty & (unlike Fear Factory) the performances don’t focus too hard on precision, instead aiming less for seriousness & more for unbridled fun. There’s a noticeable grooviness to some of the riffs but Brujeria are at their best when they’re at their most brutal & grinding in my opinion. This isn’t one of those grind records where every track sounds the same either with brief u-turns into alternative subgenres like industrial metal taking place here & there.
The tracklisting has its ups & downs & I wouldn’t say that there is anything terribly life-changing included here. The wins outweigh the losses by a significant margin though with only a few tracks not managing to maintain my interest. Strangely, it’s the most highly regarded of those that I find myself struggling with the most as the groovy title track does pretty much nothing for me. Give me blasting deathgrind over that shit any day of the week I say & particularly when it’s done as well as highlights like “Leyes narcos”, “Cruza la frontera” & “Chinga de mecos”.
The album is all over in a flash of fun & there is the potential for the whole thing to fly straight over your head if you’re not paying close attention. Repeat listens will see you becoming accustomed to the song-writing fairly swiftly though & it’ll come down to taste as to just how much of impact “Matando gueros” ends up having on you. Personally, I find it to be a pretty enjoyable yet largely inessential extreme metal party record that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. The band clearly had their tongues in their cheeks while they wrote this material but there’s still more than enough substance to satisfy the hard-nosed grindcore enthusiasts out there.
For fans of Asesino, Napalm Death & Machetazo.
3.5/5
Cancer - "The Sins of Mankind" (1993)
I first became aware of English death metallers Cancer through their 1990 debut album “To The Gory End” through underground metal radio programming in the very early 90’s & quite liked what I heard. Their simple brand of death metal wasn't terribly challenging but was undeniably catchy & seemed to tick a lot of my boxes, if not with a particularly bold pen. I’d go on to seek out their 1991 sophomore album “Death Shall Rise” once it hit the shelves & found it to be a slight improvement on their first-up effort, largely thanks to the contribution of super-talented hired gun guitar shredder James Murphy who I was already quite infatuated with after falling in love with his work on Death’s “Spiritual Healing” & Obituary’s “Cause of Death”. So, given my generally positive experiences with Cancer to the time, I think it’s fair to say that I was an interested observer when it came to 1993’s “The Sins of Mankind” third album. They certainly hadn’t knocked it out of the park as yet but I felt that the potential was there for something more significant. There must still have been a little hesitation though as once again I found myself holding off from throwing my hard-earned cash down on the counter, instead seeking out a dubbed cassette copy of the record through the tape trading scene.
The production job on “The Sins of Mankind” isn’t exactly brilliant. The guitar tone is a touch flat & a little bit messy which plays a significant role in the album’s overall tone. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker but it’s worth mentioning regardless. James Murphy’s involvement with Cancer was unfortunately limited to “Death Shall Rise” too so here we see the band trying to make their own way without the oversight of such an undeniable musical highlight. I would imagine it must have been quite an imposing proposition for new axeman Barry Savage who had no prior credentials on his resume & clearly didn’t have anything like the talent of Murphy. It would really be up to the rest of the band to step up to the plate a bit in support given that they’d stayed largely within themselves on “Death Shall Rise” which was a pretty simple, meat-&-potatoes example of the old-school death metal sound.
So, how did Cancer fair in this endeavour then? Well, I think it’s fair to say that the success or failure of “The Sins of Mankind” is a little divisive with fans. For my personally though, I really needed Cancer to push themselves a bit outside of their comfort zone if they were to maintain my attention in a post-Murphy world & I feel that they’ve managed to achieve that to a reasonable extent with their third album. They’d added just enough in the way of compositional complexity to make “The Sins of Mankind” the next logical step for the band rather than a poor man’s “Death Shall Rise”. There can be no doubt at all that Savage struggles a little on lead guitar duties but the riffs are generally very good with drummer Carl Stokes contributing a rock-solid platform for the rest of the band to work off. Stokes is often criticised for his tendency to want to play in mainly fairly safe, mid-paced territory but I think that’s a touch unfair because it’s clearly a strength of his with his double-kick being both precise & powerful. When he tries to up the ante a little it’s rarely as effective so I can hardly blame him for this approach. I’ve always enjoyed rhythm guitarist John Walker’s signature death growl too as it’s always easily intelligible, despite possessing the required level of monstrosity.
The tracklisting on “The Sins of Mankind” is very consistent with no obvious duds amongst the eight songs on offer. There are a couple of numbers that stand out from the rest as clear highlights in opener “Cloak of Darkness” (my personal favourite) & the equally impressive “Patchwork Destiny” & they both appear fairly early in the album which does give it a slightly top-heavy feel. Neither can lay claim to being genuinely classic death metal tunes though & this is a part of the reason why “The Sins of Mankind” has been destined for the also-rans category. In fact, I’d suggest that they wee the very definition of a third-tier player at this stage of their musical evolution to be honest. I find all three of their early 90’s albums to be pleasant enough but none challenge me much or provide me with enough in the way of excitement to see me claiming them as essential releases for fans of the genre.
Don’t get me wrong, I do have quite a bit of time for “The Sins of Mankind” & actually don’t think it’s all that far behind my favourite Cancer release in “Death Shall Rise” to tell you the truth. The added ambition in the riff construction has worked quite well in ensuring that the record doesn’t simply sound like a Murphy-less “Death Shall Rise”. With a better production job it may well have made a bigger play at the death metal market of the time too. As it is though, I find it to be an entertaining (if inessential) example of the classic old-school death metal sound. Nothing more, nothing less.
For fans of Massacre, Master & Death’s first couple of albums.
3.5/5
Godflesh has a few albums deemed sludge metal, Daniel, but I understand, since you have objected to those releases having that genre tag.
That's just a reflection of how little RYMers understand about sludge metal to be honest. There's never been a more obviously industrial metal artist than Godflesh. There's absolutely no need for any other tag, at least not on their classic releases.
OK, I'll give it a crack:
01. Mick Gordon
02. Alice in Chains
03. Botch
04. Leprous
05. Faith No More
06. Iron Maiden
07. Godflesh
08. Deftones
09. Ministry
10. Lucid Planet
Pungent Stench - "Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats" E.P. (1993)
I feel like I was lucky to have come across Austrian death metallers Pungent Stench fairly early in life to be honest because, as a general rule, I can do without any sort of silliness or humour in my extreme metal, preferring to imagine that the sounds being omitted from my speakers are truly the work of Satan or some horrifying zombie creature. But I’d suggest that I was perhaps a little more open to the concept when I first wrapped my ears around Pungent Stench’s 1990 debut album “For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh” as I was simply gorging myself on anything even remotely tied to the death metal genre & it fit the mould nicely with its disgusting subject matter & filthy aesthetics. I thoroughly enjoyed that record which saw me going back to explore Pungent Stench’s 1989 split album with fellow Austrians Disharmonic Orchestra, a release that I quite liked too. These early experiences saw me purchasing 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” sophomore album on cassette as soon as it hit the shelves & playing the absolute shit out of it too. It was the band’s strongest release to the time in my opinion with the song-writing perfectly balancing the band’s deathly atmosphere with a clear tongue-in-cheek shock factor. So, by the time 1993’s “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” E.P. hit my CD player two years later, I would certainly have called myself a fan of Pungent Stench. Perhaps a slightly reluctant one but a fan nonetheless.
I think it’s fair to say that “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” represents somewhat of a gap-filling exercise that was drawn upon in order to make the extended period between 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” album & 1994’s follow-up record “Club Mondo Bizarre – For Members Only” more palatable for Pungent Stench’s growing fan base. It clearly fits the bill for what your average E.P. generally tries to achieve too as it’s more of a collection of random songs than it is a fluent creative statement. Different versions of the same track? TICK! Silly novelty tracks? TICK. Cover versions? TICK! Useless, extended noise outro on the last track to make the release seem like you get more value for money than you actually do? TICK! You know the drill, right? But that’s not to say that there’s not anything here to keep you entertained because this E.P. still clearly highlights the things that made Pungent Stench an attractive prospect for your average death metal fan in the first place i.e. catchy song-writing with fun themes & memorably hooks.
The seven-song tracklisting begins with a two-minute intro piece called “Praise The Name of the Musical Assassins” which utilizes a layered, sample-heavy electronic music platform through which to express itself. It’s a very effective way to kick things off & I don’t think my background in electronic music has done me any harm at all in seeing me unexpectedly favouring this piece over the rest of the tracklisting. The proper metal material begins with “Viva la muerte” which I’d suggest is probably the most effective metal number included. It sees Pungent Stench placing their creative cards down on the table right from the word go as this isn’t your standard death metal number. Oh no… there’s a noticeable groove to the tightly-performed riffs that is more in line with the Entombed-led death ‘n’ roll movement than the sound the Stench began life with. That sound has never really been my cup of tea but it seems to fit in with this band’s image & themes quite nicely. The cover version of Warning’s “Why Can The Bodies Fly” takes the hardened extreme metaller even further outside of their comfort zone with its quirky electronic component doing its very best to make me feel alienated. Thankfully though, I’m a pretty big fan of the original which makes this a nice novelty inclusion, despite not being up to the same standard as the German’s 1982 effort. The wheels start to fall off a little bit from there though with two of the remaining three metal tunes (i.e. “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Rare Groove Mix)” & “Four ‘F’ Club”) lacking the substance to keep me interested. “Horny Little Piggy Bank” has enough in the way of chunky, groove-laden heaviness to get my blood pumping though. Closer “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Tekkno-House-Mix)” is no doubt the biggest eye-opener for the dedicated metalhead as it’s essentially an electro-industrial, early techno-infused remix that has very little to do with extreme metal. I don’t mind it actually but then I was a techno DJ throughout the 2000’s & probably would have considered playing this track as it’s pretty well done to tell you the truth.
So, as you can see, “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” requires a bit of effort & a few obvious challenges to be overcome for your hard-nosed death metal fan. The death ‘n’ roll sound that Pungent Stench had adopted certainly isn’t for everyone but they do it very well if that’s something that you’re into. I sit somewhere in between so the E.P. wasn’t without its obstacles but I’m pleased to say that, despite it being clearly the least significant release for the band to the time, I found enough enjoyment in the material to make this revisit a worthwhile exercise. Just don’t expect it to be up to the same sort of standard as Pungent Stench’s first two albums because you’ll be disappointed. Oh... & I'd also avoid spending too much time looking at the intentionally repulsive cover artwork as I'd suggest that it's enough to turn off all but the most desensitized punter.
For fans of Blood Duster, mid-90’s Gorefest & “Swansong”-era Carcass.
3.5/5
The Burzum conundrum is certainly a tough call as both records changed my life upon release. "Hvis lyset tar oss" is undeniably the true source & includes the track that many (including me) consider to be the high point of the entire subgenre but "Filosofem" is arguably the more consistent & complete record of the two & there's a case to say that it's the most widely celebrated release in all of black metal. I honestly can't see a list like this one without "Filosofem" being right at the top. It simply wouldn't feel right to me so I've gotta go with it. If I'm only allowed to pick from the releases you've listed then "Hvis lyset tar oss" would easily make the cut of course.
I'd suggest that "Bergtatt" should be a no-brainer as it represents the blueprint for the folky/Pagan side of atmospheric black metal & was hugely influential.
Paysage d'Hiver simply MUST be here as they're easily the second most important band in the subgenre & the only one that comes close to touching the majesty of Burzum too in my opinion.
As much as I hate to admit it, I'm forever finding myself shocked & appalled by just how popular & influential Agalloch's "Pale Folklore" has been & it dropped the year before the Weakling album too so I'm gonna have to reluctantly concede that it needs to be included (even though I absolutely despise it).
And finally, I'd go with Wolves in the Throne Room over Weakling. Not only do I think "Two Hunters" is comfortably the better record but I also think it's been more influential in the way the Cascadian black metal scene has developed as it's reached a much wider audience & has created a whole bunch of pretty decent copy-cats.
The Blut aus Nord record isn't really atmospheric black metal for mine so it shouldn't be considered for this category.
The less said about Summoning the better really. I mean, there's not a tonne of bands that sound like Summoning out there right now, is there? At least, I hope not.
The 1979 "Slaughter House" third album from Germany's Mass is once again nothing more than a hard/boogie rock record with no metal on offer whatsoever.
This one-off 1979 live album from Texas-based hard rockers Impeccable displays quite a bit of metal influence. In fact, two of the seven songs should qualify for a heavy metal primary in my opinion. I don't think it's quite enough to justify a dual primary tag overall though so I'm gonna suggest that this is predominantly a hard rock record with heavy metal influences.
Belgian post-metallers Amenra have a brand new live album hitting the streets next month entitled "Live at Rock Werchter 2023". These guys are always great so I've added it to my list to check out.
Brooklyn avant-garde/atmospheric black metallers Scarcity have their brand new "The Promise of Rain" sophomore album hitting the shelves on 12th July. Their 2022 debut album "Aveilut" was extremely divisive at the Academy with Ben & I bowing down in worship & the majority of our other members thinking it sucked royal ass. I for one will be absolutely all over this release so NER!!
Finland's Amorphis are releasing a live rendition of their classic 1994 melodic death metal sophomore album "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" in mid-July. I quite liked that record so I may have to check this one out at some point.
The brand new fourth album "Infinite Evolution" from New Jersey thrashers Blood Feast hits the streets in mid-July. I quite liked their first couple of albums back in the day but their 2017 comeback record "The Future State of Wicked" did very little for me. I'll probably give this one a quiet spin at some point though.
The brand new ninth full-length "Heavenly Down" from Hungarian melodic black metallers Sear Bliss hits the streets next week. I've quite liked most of their releases over the years so this will likely be worth checking out at some point.
The brand new "Justice" E.P. from Ukrainian black metallers Hate Forest will be released next week & I'll be all over it as all of their recent material has been worth hearing.
The brand new "Live on Tour!" live album from Aussie alternative metallers Thornhill hit the streets yesterday.
Lo-fi hip hop producer lonelyboy has released a fourteen song collection of lo-fi, chilled versions of Korn songs called "lofi chill vibes with korn". Here's a sample of what you can expect:
The new split album between US sludge metallers Melvins & Japanese drone metallers Boris "Twins of Evil" hit the shelves a week ago. I'm a fan of both bands so I'll probably check this one out at some stage.
I'm not sure if anyone noticed this new Metallica live material floating around over the last week or so.
I have no doubt that it's possible to add but it will definitely require our developer's involvement which will cost money. I'll speak to Ben about it as a potential option for the future.
Malevolent Creation - "Stillborn" (1993)
By 1993, Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation had managed to build themselves a really strong following in, not only the global metal community, but also my own household with both Ben & I having been very impressed with their first two albums. I’d first discovered them through their 1991debut album “The Ten Commandments” which I found to be a very solid example of thrashy US death metal indeed. Their 1992 sophomore album “Retribution” would see Malevolent Creation dropping most of their early thrash leanings for a more pure death metal sound that would offer me even more appeal than their widely acclaimed debut, even if it still stayed just a touch behind the leading players in the US death metal scene. These positive experiences gave Ben & I a lot of hope that the band would manage to finally step up to the tier one plate with their next release though so we wasted no time in picking up “Stillborn” as soon as it hit the shelves. Sadly, I recall my initial listens to be a touch disappointing though, mainly due to a lackluster production job. With so much great death metal around at the time I saw no reason to persist with “Stillborn” & it would quickly find resigned to the annuls of history. I haven’t found any reason to return to it since however I recently noticed some very positive online reviews for it & found myself wondering if I’d been a bit hasty in drawing judgement which brings us to this… my first revisit of “Stillborn” in literally decades.
My first impressions upon reigniting my “Stillborn” flame were one of significant optimism. Hhhmmm… sure, the production job isn’t wonderful but it isn’t in any way unlistenable either & I’ve certainly heard a lot worse. The rhythm guitars are a bit muddy & the drums have a bit too much high end & the snare sounds a little wishy washy at times, strangely seeming to change from song to song. The volume between the tracks on the Spotify version of the album is a little variable too which would seem to be a mastering issue. In saying all that though, all of the instruments are in balance & easily identifiable so I found that I could forget these flaws easily enough, especially since the quality of the song-writing is of such a high standard.
Yep… I did just say that. In fact, I’m gonna go one step further by gushing a little bit about just what a great death metal band Malevolent Creation were at the time. The professionalism in the riff construction, transitions & overall compositional work is absolutely top notch & sees the band playing very much in my ball-park of choice. I just love this sort of shit. It’s brutal enough to get my blood pumping but maintains enough of an understanding of the importance of melody to ensure that each piece remains memorable & catchy. Front man Brett Hoffmann’s death growls are a brilliant call to arms for fans of this style of music while the guitar work of Phil Fasciana & new kid on the block Jon Rubin (formerly of Monstrosity) is excellent. Where things fall apart a bit is during some of the blast beats sections though with drummer Jason Blachowicz struggling for control & timing & the production job not allowing the cohesion the band would usually be used to achieving.
Thankfully the song-writing is well & truly strong enough to overcome any flaws that “Stillborn” may suffer from. There are no weak tracks included although “Geared for Gain” does suffer more than the others from those blast beat issues I just mentioned. Opener “Dominated Resurgency” sits right up there with those from the previous two albums (i.e. “Premature Burial” & “Eve of the Apocalypse”) as Malevolent Creation’s finest works to the time & was a fantastic way to start the record. The title track & closer “Disciple of Abhorrence” aren’t far behind either & have really surprised me with just how classy they are. The remainder of the tracklisting is all of a very solid standard too so I very quickly found myself realizing that I had indeed been a little hasty in judging “Stillborn”.
This is quite clearly a more significant record than I’d given it credit for. The fact that I could remember so much of the album without having listened to it since the mid-1990’s speaks volumes for its depth. Perhaps the production issues may give the tracklisting a more "samey" feel than is actually the reality but if you give it time you’ll find that the class in the arrangements shines through. In fact, I’m gonna go so far as to say that I enjoy “Stillborn” just slightly more than “The Ten Commandments” these days & it gives “Retribution” are run for its money as top dog too. Is this just a guilty pleasure for someone like me whose musical allegiances so clearly fall into the same space as the one Malevolent Creation are playing in? Possibly but I can confidently say that this is a seriously underrated release that I should have given more of a chance back in the day.
For fans of Monstrosity, Deicide & Sinister.
4/5
I checked out the 1979 "Slay The Dragon" E.P. from British outfit Holocaust (not the Scottish band that were made famous through Metallica) yesterday which was their only release & is often touted as an early NWOBHM record. Spoiler alert: It's not. Of the three songs included, only the title track is metal with the other two clearly falling into the hard rock space.
Here are the adjusted feature releases nomination recipients from July with Karl being added into the roster for The Guardians, The Horde & The North from next month:
THE FALLEN: Daniel, Ben
THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi
THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Karl
THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel, Karl
THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Andi
THE NORTH: Xephyr, Daniel, Ben. Karl
THE PIT: Ben, Daniel
THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi
THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel
I really only mention that release as it's generally considered the earliest example of the sound, which I'm interested in assessing. Do you have any feedback on any of the other releases or are we out of your wheelhouse?
Despite being generally across all of the releases you mentioned, you're right that the depressive black metal subgenre isn't exactly my wheelhouse as I've always felt that a) it wasn't consistent enough in its use of its differentiators to justify its own subgenre & b) it completely goes against the feeling of empowerment I generally look to gain when listening to metal music. I was across the Strid & Bethlehem releases back in my tape trading days but I don't recall people talking about a new subgenre at the time. My gut feel is that it only really coalesced into a movement of any note in the 2000's so, as with blackgaze, I don't think the most influential release should necessarily be one of the earliest ones. Of the releases you've listed, I'd suggest that the Leviathan one would be the one that I feel has left the most significant mark on the black metal scene so I'd probably go with that one personally.
Ben, the Strid self-titled released was technically only a 7" single. Should it even be considered here?
So, Sonny has decided to take a break from programming this playlist so I'm going to step in for the time being. Given that my experiment with The Horde where I've extended the nomination allowances to take up the entire two hours has been so successful thus far, I'm intending on doing the same with The Fallen. So, if there's any members of The Fallen that would like to participate in track nominations then please let me know right away. If not, then Vinny & I will have 60-minute limits each for the August playlist.
I've kicked my exploration of 1979 with a couple of less obvious ones in the "Doomsday" debut album from Germany's Gravestone & Plasmatics' "(Meet the) Plasmatics" E.P., neither of which offered anything in the way of metal. "Doomsday" is progressive krautrock while "(Meet the) Plasmatics" is punk/hard rock.
And the final 1978 release to qualify for our list has come from Sweden with Stockholm trio Heavy Load's debut album "Full Speed at High Level" being released in November of that year.
Once again this isn't a straight down the line metal record like we see so regularly these days & I've tagged it as follows which has resulted in a 41% metal ratio:
A1 Full Speed at High Level (4:14) - Heavy metal
A2 Midnight Crawler (3:53) - Heavy metal
A3 Moonlight Spell (4:33) - Heavy metal
A4 Storm (11:33) - Progressive rock/Blues rock
B1 In Two Minds (5:39) - Heavy metal
B2 Rock 'n' Roll Freak (5:18) - Hard rock
B3 Caroline (8:17) - Progressive rock
B4 Son of the Northern Light (4:43) - Heavy metal
Here's the updated chronological list:
https://metal.academy/lists/single/271
Black Sabbath
01. War Pigs
02. Black Sabbath
03. Iron Man
04. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
05. Symptom of the Universe
06. Sweet Leaf
07. Snowblind
08. Hole In The Sky
09. Planet Caravan
10. Headless Cross
Ok, so I've done a quick list that I think is pretty accurate. Here ya go:
01. Aces High
02. Wasted Years
03. The Number of the Beast
04. Powerslave
05. The Evil The Men Do
06. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
07. Caught Somewhere in Time
08. Run To The Hills
09. Moonchild
10. Flight of Icarus
My three favourite Maiden albums are Seventh Son, Somewhere in Time and Powerslave, so my list of tracks would definitely have a lot of crossover with yours Karl.
^^^ Exactly this.
For transparency's sake, it's impossible to determine when the last two successful entries into the chronological list (i.e. the 1978 Zarpa Rock & Alkana albums) were released as there's simply no information available online. For that reason, I've decided to take an even bet by placing them right in the middle of the year with the Zarpa Rock one coming first simply because it sounds more primitive.
That leaves the next release to successfully qualify as a genuine metal release as Judas Priest's 1978 "Killing Machine" fifth album which, despite being a touch more commercially focused & Priest's least metal release since their debut "Rocka Rolla", came in with a metal ratio of 49%.
Here's how I tagged "Killing Machine":
A1 Delivering the Goods (4:16) - Heavy metal
A2 Rock Forever (3:20) - Hard rock
A3 Evening Star (4:05) - Hard rock
A4 Hell Bent for Leather (2:39) - Heavy metal
A5 Take on the World (3:02) - Hard rock
B1 Burnin' Up (4:00) - Hard rock
B2 Killing Machine (3:02) - Heavy metal/Hard rock
B3 Running Wild (2:57) - Heavy metal
B4 Before the Dawn (3:22) - Progressive rock
B5 Evil Fantasies (4:14) - Heavy metal/Hard rock
Here's the updated chronological list:
Satyricon/Enslaved - "The Forest Is My Throne/Yggdrasill" compilation (1995)
For those of you who thought my brief overviews of the early Norwegian demo tapes were interesting enough to explore further, I'd highly recommend going for this bootleg over the original versions of Satyricon & Enslaved's tapes because it includes a couple of bonus tracks that are amongst the best material on the CD which gives it a little more value.
3.5/5
Satyricon - "The Forest is my Throne" demo (1993)
I revisited this early Norwegian black metal demo that I picked up during my tape trading days this week & found that it's maintained a fair amount of its appeal too. Satyricon were still in their formative stages at this point with their sound being very much the sum of what was going on around them however they clearly already understood the key ingredients that make up good black metal. The band was only a three-piece at the time with 17 year-old front man Satyr being pretty much the creative force behind this demo. He's ably supported by 17 year-old guitarist Håvard Jørgensen (Ulver/Dold Vorde Ens Navn) & legendary drummer Frost (1349/Gorgoroth/Keep of Kalessin/Zyklon-B) who puts in a pretty tame performance by his modern-day standards here at just 19 years of age.
"The Forest is My Throne" is a three-track affair that includes two raw & lo-fi black numbers in "Black Winds" & the title track as well as an early version of the dark folk piece "Min hyllest til vinterland (Skogsvandring i mørket)" that appeared on Satyricon's debut album "Dark Medieval Times" later on 63.the same year. Although I wouldn't suggest that any of this material is essential listening, it's all more than acceptable, particularly for such a young bunch of kids. You should be able to pick up the clear influence of Bathory, "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"-period Darkthrone & "Wrath of the Tyrants"-era Emperor in the riff structures & atmospherics.
For fans of Taake, Emperor, Darkthrone.
3.5/5
To cut to the chase on Alkana's "Welcome to My Paradise" album from 1978, I've surprisingly found that it contains enough metal to qualify for inclusion in our chronological list & would describe it as a combination of hard rock, progressive rock & heavy metal. The A side only included the one track that I tagged as being legitimate metal but all three songs on the B side hit the mark which saw it finishing with a metal ratio of 66%. Interestingly, a couple of tracks on the B side are bordering on progressive metal but don't quite get there as the prog rock components are generally kept separate from the heavy metal ones rather than being combined to form progressive metal.
Here's a link to our chronological list of legitimate metal releases so far: