Daniel's Forum Replies
I would personally also include Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Scorpions albums In Trance and Virgin Killer, because I also consider those releases equally heavy metal/hard rock, and they're worth discussion to see if anyone agrees with me and if they should end up in the site
Andi, I don't feel like those investigations would be fruitful & I don't want to waste our time when there are so many genuine metal releases to get to. I know two of the albums you mentioned really well (i.e. "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" & Scorpions' "Virgin Killer") & I've never felt there was much in the way of metal on them. The consensus on RYM is unanimously in agreement too (18-129 & 25-58 respectively with "In Trance" coming in at 33-66) & I've always found that RYM has an itchy trigger finger with wanting to label releases hard rock records as metal so that's pretty telling. I'd rather focus on releases that have a chance of being successful rather than exploring releases that I know aren't likely to reap any rewards. I will however be exploring all of those releases in great detail behind the scenes in order to see if there's any merit for the other project I'm preparing so they may pop up again in the future if there's anything of relevance there. I'm a bit behind this thread in that regard (i.e. in the middle 1974) but will have no hesitation in sticking an older release out there if I see there's potential.
This morning track is Rainbow's "Tarot Woman" which I regard as being close enough to heavy metal, despite the clear presence of hard rock influence:
This week's investigation of Melvins' 1991 third album "Bullhead" has seen me needing to find space for it in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list with it taking up the number 91 position at the expense of Deathspell Omega's "Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon" E.P. which has dropped out of the list.
Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)
I don't think I ever really came across Washington sludge metallers Melvins back in the late 1980's & early 1990's. I certainly heard their name once Nirvana blew up in 1991 but didn't think they were any of my business given that they seemed to be associated with the grunge scene more than they did to the metal one. I don't think I'd actually ever hear them until around 2012 when I checked out their new "Scion A/V Presents: The Bulls & the Bees" E.P. & I didn't like it much to tell you the truth. My next encounter with them would come shortly afterwards through 2010's split E.P. with Massachusetts post metallers Isis, mainly because I'd gotten heavily into Isis but I found myself enjoying the Isis tracks but not the Melvins ones. So Melvins didn't actually start to show me what they really had to offer until I checked out their very solid 1992 fourth album "Lysol" which was mainly due to its association with the drone metal genre as its somewhat of a passion of mine. I found that record to be really appealing & have returned to it quite often since. This triggered a trip to its 1993 follow-up album "Houdini" which I quite liked too. But little did I know that the real meat on the Melvins bones was still in front of me with this week's investigation of their 1991 third album "Bullhead" being nothing short of game-changing.
"Bullhead" is only a relatively short record at just 35 minutes in duration but that's more than enough time when the quality is kept at such a consistently high level throughout. It sees the trio totally indulging themselves in amplifier worship with the spectacular production job allowing the listener to curl up in the drum riser or speaker box of a live performance & truly "feel" the reverberations of the music. It's about the clever use of rhythmic interplay between the musicians & the often weird yet perpetually gnarly vocals of front man Buzz (Crystal Fairy/Fantômas/Venomous Concept) which are both unusual & endearing at the same time. The commitment to keep unplanned guitar noise & other slight imperfections in the recording in the interest of building character was a masterstroke too while Crystal Fairy, Shrinebuilder & Porn (The Men Of) drummer Dale Crover's confidence in his own ability to explore new territory yet still hit the right beat at the right moment is staggering. Melvins simply sound like the elite version of what a dangerous live rock band should aspire to be here & it's left me devastated in a very similar way to the finest work from a band like Japan's Boris who I can only imagine were heavily influenced by "Bullhead" based on my experiences here.
The tracklisting kicks off in superb fashion with the epic nine-minute doom metal opener "Boris" (hhmmm... further indication of the potential influence I mentioned perhaps?) which is my favourite track on the album before turning towards a sludgier sound for the remaining seven tracks. The songs that close out either side of the record ("It's Shoved" & "Cow") clearly showcase the influence that Melvins had on the grunge scene that had just blown up on a global scale at the time as both tracks would arguably sit pretty comfortably on a grunge release. In fact, there are several passages across the tracklisting when I get similar chills to those that I'd experience during the doomier moments of your more crushingly heavy Soundgarden songs. Other highlights include the miraculous "Your Blessened" which is a perfect example of Buzz's ability to summon up some of the heaviest Sabbathian guitar riffs known to man & deliver them in the coolest fashion possible, as well as "Ligature" & "Zodiac" which aren't far behind in that regard. The grungier songs aren't quite as effective but the tracklisting never dips below a very solid level & is buoyed by the skyscraping highlight tracks that fill more than half of the run time.
I think it's fair to say that "Bullhead" has hit me as hard as a raging bull & I see it as one of the finest sludge metal releases I've ever heard. In fact, it's made such a big impact on me that I've had to find a place in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list too which is really saying something after all these decades of metal indulgence. If you crave the days when rock music was edgy & dangerous then this record is most certainly for you. You can expect to have to give it a few listens to truly sink in but the rewards are nothing short of spectacular, particularly for those with a penchant for Boris, Acid Bath & Crowbar.
4.5/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Sludge Metal Releases of All Time list with High On Fire's "De vermis mysteriis" dropping out to make way for "Bullhead":
01. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)
02. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)
03. Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering” (2012)
04. Monarch! – “Omens” (2012)
05. Fange – “Pantocrator” (2021)
06. Mastodon – “Leviathan” (2004)
07. Great Falls - "Objects Without Pain" (2023)
08. Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)
09. Black Cobra – “Invernal” (2011)
10. Ufomammut – “Eve” (2010)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/133
Convulse - "World Without God" (1991)
I can still recall the buzz that Convulse's debut album "World Without God" caused in the underground scene back in the early 1990's but I also remember that I found the reality to be a little... well... underwhelming., especially when compared with the magnitude of the praise being heaped on it. I didn't see the album breaking out into the realms of the more successful death metal bands though which I've always thought of as some sort of justification for my feelings on the record. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy "World Without God" though as it certainly has its moments but they didn't make a big enough impact on me to see me returning to the album until now, more than three decades later, if only to check my own homework given the steady increase in opinion on the album in more recent times.
As a die-hard atheist, the idea of a record entitled "World Without God" is most certainly an attractive one & it's fair to say that Convulse do a good job at sounding as death metal as death metal can be. The album sits very much on the filthier side of the genre where the requirement for technical proficiency is cast aside in favour of that authentic graveyard atmosphere. The ultra-deep vocals of guitarist Rami Jämsä are the clear focal point & give Convulse an additional layer of appeal for those that appreciate that sort of thing with fellow Fins Demilich being a reasonable point of comparison in that regard. Musically though, we get a very similar style of death metal to grisly US gore-masters Autopsy with the use of some pretty similar harmonized doom metal riffs being one of the stronger elements of the album. Despite those comparisons though, "World Without God" still sounds decidedly Finnish & brings to mind artists like Demigod, Abhorrence & Funebre although the more educated listener will also be able to decipher the influence of the Swedish crunch of Entombed, Dismember & co. There's a clear difference in quality between "World Without God" & a record like Demigod's 1992 debut album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" though & this results in Convulse's debut sounding a little less essential.
Besides the very ordinary dungeon synth introduction piece which was a clear mistake, "World Without God" is still a very consistent album with no real blemishes amongst the proper tracks. It's weakness is its lack of genuine highlights though with the better material (my personal favourite "Incantation of Restoration" & "Godless Truth") still capping out before Convulse manage to reach the upper echilons of the extreme metal spectrum. There's plenty for your average death metal nut to grab onto but there's not anything here that's gonna drag you into the stratosphere, instead seeming comfortable to have your flesh gnawed off your bones at a less transcendent level. There may never be a question about the credentials of "World Without God" to saw your body in half but I wouldn't say that it does it as efficiently as most other supposedly classic death meal bands of the early 1990's did. It would, however, represent Convulse's career high point by a significant margin in my opinion. I would investigate the band's early "Resuscitation of Evilness" demo as well as their next three full-lengths before deciding that only the band's first couple of releases offered me much in the way of consistent appeal.
3.5/5
The final track from Judas Priest's "Sad Wings of Destiny" album is "Island of Domination", a song that I consider to skate along the border between heavy metal & hard rock so a dual tagging is required.
That leaves me with a result that clearly places "Sad Wings of Destiny" in the metal camp but also sees rock playing a strong part in the result with primary tags in five of the nine tracks so I'm gonna suggest that a dual tagging of heavy metal & hard rock is appropriate here. Congratulations to Judas Priest though! We've finally seen another band dragging genuine metal status outta me after six straight Black Sabbath albums.
Tomorrow we'll be kicking off a new release & a highly divisive one it is too in Rainbow's classic 1976 sophomore album "Rising".
Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for April:
THE FALLEN: Daniel, Ben
THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy
THE GUARDIANS: Shezma, Xephyr
THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel
THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Shezma, Andi
THE NORTH: Daniel, Shezma, Xephyr, Ben
THE PIT: Ben, Daniel
THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel
THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi
I've removed Morpheus Kitami from the roster given that he's failed to submit his nominations for the last couple of months in a row & hasn't been seen around the site either so I'm assuming that he's lost interest.
Shezma, Xephyr & Saxy, are you still looking to be a part of the nominations roster? If so then you'll need to get your nominations in before the last day of the prior month as I've had to nominate releases for you recently.
Nailbomb – “Vai toma no cu” (from “Point Blank”, 1994)
xNOMADx – “On Skylines of Embers” (from “On Skylines of Embers” E.P., 2023)
Sadus – “Good Rid’nz” (from “Swallowed In Black”, 1990)
Forbidden – “Tossed Away” (from “Twisted Into Form”, 1990)
Grotesque – “Submit To Death” (from “Incantation” E.P., 1990)
Anthrax - “Protest & Survive” (from “Attack of the Killer B’s”, 1991)
Mordred – “Killing Time” (from “In This Life”, 1991)
Sadistik Exekution – “Agonizing The Dead” (from “The Magus”, 1991)
Nailbomb – “Wasting Away” (from “Point Blank”, 1994)
Dodheimsgard – “Sonar Bliss” (from “666 International”, 1999)
Panopticon – “An Autumn Storm” (The Rime of Memory”, 2023)
Moonlight Sorcery – “The Secret of Streaming Blood” (from “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle”, 2023)
Neuropath – “Masticated Cadaver” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995)
Entombed – “But Life Goes On” (from “But Life Goes On” demo, 1989)
My Dying Bride – “Vast Choirs” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991)
Mortician – “Redrum/Outro” (from “Mortal Massacre” E.P., 1991)
Cancer – “Tasteless Incest” (from “Death Shall Rise”, 1991)
Benediction – “Jumping At Shadows” (from “The Grand Leveller”, 1991)
Celtic Frost – “Wings of Solitude” (from “Vanity/Nemesis”, 1990)
Mordred – “Falling Away” (from “In This Life”, 1991)
Cathedral – “Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain” (from “Forest of Equilibrium”, 1991)
Great Falls – “Old Words Worn Thin” (from “Objects Without Pain”, 2023)
March 2024
01. Orphanage – “At The Mountains Of Madness” (from “By Time Alone”, 1996)
02. Dismember – “Dreaming in Red” (from “Indecent & Obscene”, 1993) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
03. Decameron – “Carpe Noctem” (from “My Shadow…”, 1996)
04. I’m Letting Unseen Forces Take The Wheel – “Jake Is A Mostly Dog Name” (from “Scary Website” E.P., 2023)
05. Cryptworm – “Miasmatic Foetid Odour” (from “Oozing Radioactive Vomition”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
06. Anal Cunt – “Radio Hit” (from “Morbid Florist” E.P., 1993)
07. Nocturnus – “Standing In Blood” (from “The Key”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
08. Nihilist – “Morbid Devourment” (from “The Head Not Found Session ‘89”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
09. Terrorizer – “Doomed Forever” (from “Darker Days Ahead”, 2006)
10. Grotesque – “Incantation” (from “Incantation” E.P., 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
11. Watchmaker – “Great Misleader” (from “Kill.Fucking.Everyone.”, 2003)
12. Atheist – “Fraudulent Cloth” (from “Jupiter”, 2010) [Submitted by Sonny]
13. Neuropath – “Nefarious Vivisection” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]
14. Mongrel – “Dog Complex” (from “Off The Leash”, 2022) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
15. Horrifier – “Assimilated Life” (from “Horrid Resurrection”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
16. Wormhole – “Almost Human” (from “Almost Human”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
17. Immolation – “Of Martyrs & Men” (from “Unholy Cult”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]
18. Ribspreader – “The Skeletal Towers” (from “Reap Humanity”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]
19. Vomit Forth – “Unclaimed Cadaver” (from “Northeastern Depravation” E.P., 2019) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
20. Deicide – “Carnage In The Temple Of The Damned” (from “Deicide”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
21. Disbelief – “Assassinate The Scars” (from “Worst Enemy”, 2001) [Submitted by Daniel]
22. Plague of the Fallen – “Cycles of Anguish” (from “Amongst The Rats”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
23. Cave Sermon – “Beyond Recognition” (from “Divine Laughter”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]
24. Coma Cluster Void – “Iron Empress” (from Mind Cemeteries”, 2016)
25. Napalm Death – “Puritanical Punishment Beating” (from “Smear Campaign”, 2006)
26. Phobia – “Contest To Amend” (from “Grind Your Fucking Head In” E.P., 2003)
27. Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition – “xx.03.02” (from “2”, 2003)
28. Maximize Bestiality – “Caustic Unction of Ferocity” (from “Extraterrestrial Skolexomorphic Infestation”, 2014)
Devastation - "Idolatry" (1991)
I first wrapped my ears around Texas-based thrash metal outfit Devastation when I experienced some of the material from their 1989 sophomore album "Signs of Life" back in the very early 1990's & I quite liked what I heard too just quietly. The band seemed to offer a fair bit of potential so I found myself checking out the full-length album shortly afterwards, a record that I liked enough to see me heading back to their very ordinary 1987 debut album "Violent Termination". The debut did very little for me unfortunately but when 1991's "Idolatry" third full-length was released it wasted no time in repaying me for my initial faith & is easily Devastation's finest work. It's the record that I reach for whenever I think of this band & is pretty much the only one you NEED to own as a respectable thrash metal fan.
"Idolatry" is often referred to as being a death/thrash hybrid but that's not an accurate depiction of what you can expect because there's really very little in the way of death metal to be found across the eight tracks included. Instead, you'll find a very pure thrash metal sound that's heavily influenced by bands like Slayer, Dark Angel, Exodus & Kreator but simply "feels" more brutal than most other thrash releases primarily because of the savage production, the powerful, driving double kick drum work & the aggressive vocals of front man Rodney Dunsmore which are probably the weak point for the band if there is one as they could certainly have been a little more accomplished. Thankfully though, the same cannot be said for the instrumentation which is absolutely devastating (see what I did there?). Guitarists Dave Burk & Henry Elizondo totally slay with their solos generally placed over the most intense parts of the songs & being made very much from the Kerry King & Jeff Hannemann mold. Drummer David Lozano is the hero here though & proves himself to be an elite exponent of his craft. He doesn't try too many extravagant rolls & fills but what he does contribute is exciting & super-precise which gives Devastation an exceptionally solid basis to work over.
The album kicks off brilliantly with opener "Deliver the Suffering" being one of the highlights of the 44 minute run time. There aren't any weak tracks included. In fact, there's nothing short of being a very solid example of the classic thrash metal model with "Forsaken Hatred" (my personal favourite), "Subconscious" & super-shredding closer "Never Believe" being the other major highlights. Devastation are definitely at their best when they're really going for it at the higher tempos but the slower, chunkier material is also very entertaining as the band seem to have mastered the art of the riff with "Idolatry" providing somewhat of a smorgasbord of delights for underground thrash fans. There's a noticeable class about everything they do with note selection & riff complexity being placed upon a pedestal & Lozano providing the perfect support for each section.
"Idolatry" really does sound like it was tailor made for someone with my particular background & taste profile as it combines so many of the things I look for in my metal. It's such a shame that it'd represent Devastation's final hurrah as the band seemed to have so much still in the tank. Perhaps it's best to leave the scene on such a high though as it certainly helps in maintaining the aura around the band for all eternity. Fans of the more brutal end of thrash metal (think Demolition Hammer, Dark Angel & Morbid Saint) should regard "Idolatry" as the very epitome of the hidden gem & one of the best thrash releases of the 1990's. It's a genuine thrash classic in my opinion.
4.5/5
I'm just gonna say it: Black Sabbath were already heavier than Sad Wings on their barely-metal debut album.
You could argue that Black Sabbath's debut was "heavier" than "Sad Wings of Destiny" but I'd challenge anyone who claims that "Black Sabbath" was as metal as Priest's sophomore album. I don't think it's a very fair comparison anyway as the first four Black Sabbath records weren't really "heavy metal" records per se which means that you're essentially comparing releases from different genres. Early Sabbath took on more of a stoner metal format by today's genre definitions in my opinion & that description would generally bring to mind thoughts of a heavier sound than your average heavy metal band anyway. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" & "Sabotage" are more of a like-for-like comparison with "Sad Wings of Destiny". Regardless... how many heavy metal bands are as heavy as the early Black Sabbath even today? I'd suggest that the answer is not all that many.
Today's track is Judas Priest's "Epitaph" which I'd suggest fits comfortably enough under an art pop tag:
This week's revisit to Pestilence's "Testimony of the Ancients" album has seen me needing to find space for it in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list which has seen it slotting in at number 86 & forcing Meshuggah's "I" E.P. out of the list.
This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Genocide" &, at the risk of retaliation, I'm gonna have to suggest that you have to wait until right at the end for the climax & fade-out section before you get any legitimate metal on this one. It sounds much closer to AC/DC than it does to Iron Maiden for mine so I have go with my heart & say that it's predominantly a hard rock tune.
For the record, I don't consider any of those band's classic releases to be technical death metal. They're all progressive death metal records in my opinion. The incorrect use of the tech death & tech thrash tags has long been a source of annoyance for me & is one that I'd like to clear up in the Academy database at some point but have had to simply accept until such time as we have an avenue to make the required changes.
I'm sure I'll annoy a few of you with this morning's hot take but I believe Judas Priest's "Tyrant" offers as much in the way of hard rock as it does heavy metal so I'm going with a dual tagging. The verses & guitar solo section are clearly metal but the rest is decidedly grey, particularly the intro, choruses & bridge along with the performance of the rhythm section being predominantly rock based.
Pestilence - "Testimony of the Ancients" (1991)
Dutch legends Pestilence first came to my attention back in 1990 through their classic death metal anthem "Out Of The Body" which was played on late-night metal radio & saw me quickly exploring Pestilence's first couple of albums. I found both of them to be very solid examples of the early death metal scene too & have returned to them quite often over the years but it would be their 1991 "Testimony of the Ancients" third full-length that would really set my world on fire after I picked up a cassette copy of the album upon release. It would be by far Pestilence's most ambitious effort to date as it would see them expanding their musical palette significantly with a more progressive approach that sat very well with my taste profile at the time. For some reason though, I've managed to never get a firm rating down on Metal Academy & I'd like to change that today.
1988's excellent death/thrash debut album "Malleus Maleficarum" & 1989's widely praised death metal classic "Consuming Impulse" were both classy affairs that showcased a band that was willing to push themselves as musicians but were still comparitively straight forward in their structure & composition. The loss of influential front man Martin van Drunen would see a reshuffle in the ranks with guitarist Patrick Mameli stepping up to the microphone & the super-talented Tony Choy taking over Mameli's bass duties which were both extremely positive moves in my opinion. While I do enjoy van Drunen's psychotic howls, I've always found Mameli's more controlled & traditionally deathly vocals to be far more to my taste while Choy's undeniable chops & impeccable tone would see Pestilence reaching a new level of technical proficiency that would no doubt play a role in the musical direction they'd take.
"Testimony of the Ancients" sees Pestilence offering eight full songs in combination with eight short interludes of various styles for a wonderfully expansive take on the death metal model that wouldn't totally isolate old-school fans but would open Pestilence up to a whole new audience of open-minded metal fans. It's still very much a death metal album at its core but the incorporation of more complex song-structures, the wide use of octaves & dissonance within the chord structures & the integration of jazz fusion concepts within the guitar solos would see Pestilence starting to play in spaces previously only traversed by bands like Atheist & Cynic but maintaining a darkness & intensity that neither of those seminal acts could match. The influence of Teutonic thrash heavy-weights Kreator's classic 1988 "Extreme Aggression" album is obvious throughout without the record ever feeling like thrash while the contribution of death metal godfathers Death to Pestilence's music is still as clear as day, although it's certainly worth noting that "Testimony of the Ancients" actually came out before Death's wonderful 1991 fourth album "Human" with which it shares so many of its traits. Pestilence had traditionally followed Death's lead but here we see them making the running in no uncertain terms. The tendency for people to want to call both bands "technical death metal" is misguided though in my opinion with neither being particularly technical in the true sense of the term. This music is far better served by a "progressive death metal" tag as it's a lot more adventurous than simply making the riffs & rhythms harder to play. In fact, a lot of the material isn't actually all that hard to reproduce, even Choy's bass lines which are still fairly faithful to the riffs for the most part.
Despite the inclusion of the many interludes which are quite varied in their effectiveness, "Testimony of the Ancients" possesses an outstanding tracklisting that's full of genuine classics. "Twisted Truth" is one of my all-time favourite death metal tracks & lead the way nicely while "Land of Tears", "Prophetic Revelations", "Stigmatized" & particularly the incredible "Testimony" & "Presence of the Dead" present an elite artist that's at the very peak of their creativity. This all amounts to a record that I still consider to be the clear highlight of an impressive four album run that would etch Pestilence into the annals of death metal folklore for all time. Sadly, the band's subsequent reformation & continuous efforts to match their early works hasn't amounted to anything of significance but they'll always be afforded a position amongst the greats of the genre nonetheless, such was the impact of those late 80's/early 90's releases on the global extreme metal scene. If you're a diehard Death, Atheist or Cynic fan then you owe it to yourself to get across this record too.
4.5/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Technical Death Metal Releases of All Time list with Death's "Symbolic" dropping out to make way for "Testimony of the Ancients":
01. 7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes Of Absolution" (2012)
02. Death - "Human" (1991)
03. Suffocation - "Pierced From Within" (1995)
04. Suffocation - "Despise The Sun" E.P. (1998)
05. Death – “Individual Thought Patterns” (1993)
06. Pestilence - "Testimony of the Ancients" (1991)
07. Gorguts – “Colored Sands” (2013)
08. Cynic - "Focus" (1993)
09. Ulcerate – “Everything Is Fire” (2009)
10. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/148
30 minutes
This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Prelude" which I feel is best served by a dual tag of classical music & art rock.
Swedish melodic blackened death metallers Necrophobic's tenth full-length "In the Twilight Grey" is due for release on 15th March. They've managed to pull together a couple of more than decent albums since 2013's disappointing "Womb of Lilithu" so I'm expecting more of the same here without ever threatening to produce anything of the quality of their mid-90's peak.
Belgian brutal death metal stalwarts Aborted have generally been pretty consistent since a couple of dodgy releases in the late 2000's with their last five albums all being worth a listen so I'll probably get onboard once their brand new twelfth full-length "Vault of Horrors" is released on 15th March.
I'm a big fan of 2021's "Feel" debut album from Los Angeles death metallers Apparition which we featured here at the Academy at some point so I'm planning to be all over the follow-up "Disgraced Emanations From a Tranquil State" which is due to be released on 22nd March.
I haven't minded either of Japanese blackgaze artist Asunojokei's two full-lengths to date with their latest "Island" being the stronger of the two. It looks like the band might don't mind it either as they're about to release a live album that sees them performing "Island" in its entirety.
The news that Judas Priest are releasing a brand new album next month has made me realise that I never even got around to checking out their last one in 2018's highly praised "Firepower". The newie is called "Invincible Shield" & will no doubt get a fair bit of attention. I'm a fan of new-ish guitarist Richie Faulkner so there would have to be a good chance of some more quality heavy metal with this one too.
I first discovered French black metallers Merrimack through their 2006 "Of Entropy & Life Denial" sophomore album a few years after in hit the shelves & have kept track of them ever since. I wasn't much of a fan of 2012's "The Acausal Mass" record but they recovered pretty well with their 2017 follow-up "Omegaphilia" so I'll probably check out next month's sixth full-length "Of Grace & Gravity" at some point.
I've generally enjoyed my experiences with US speed metal solo act Midnight over the years with both their 2011 "Satanic Royalty" debut album & 2022's "Let There Be Witchery" fifth full-length being worthy of a few listens. Next month will see Jamie Walters releasing his follow-up to "Let There Be Witchery", a release entitled "Hellish Expectations". Might be worth a look I would expect too.
Chile's Pentagram have also got a new one out in April. It's their sophomore, released eleven years after their debut, The Malefice, an album I enjoyed a fair bit. They actually date back to the late-80's, releasing two well-thought of demos back in 1987, so I would be interested to hear how their new material sounds.
Is that right? I quite liked "The Malefice" too & was also a big fan one of their 1980's demos back in my tape trading days so I'll definitely check that release out at some point.
Finnish melodic death metallers Before The Dawn have a brand new E.P. coming out in March called "Archaic Flame". I've always found these guys to be worth listening to but they dropped the ball with their last album "Stormbringers" so the jury is out on whether they can recover from that blip.
Here's a new release that I do hold strong hopes for in Chilean thrash metallers Critical Defiance's third full-length "The Search Won't Fall..." which is due to hit the shelves next month. Both of their first two albums have been worth listening to (particularly the last one "No Life Forms" which I thought was really strong) so I'll be checking this one out at some point too.
US industrial metal legends Ministry have yet another new full-length coming out next month under the suggestive title of "Hopiumforthemasses". I believe this will be their gazillionth album if I'm not mistaken. Admittedly the public has generally discarded everything they've done for decades now so I can't see them pulling out an unexpected classic at this point. I think the last Ministry record I actually checked out was 1996's "Filth Pig" though so what would I know.
Swiss death/thrash outfit Messiah have a new album coming out in March. I haven't enjoyed anything they've released since the early 1990's so I'm not holding out hopes of this release offering anything too special.
Underappreciated Aussie black metallers Pestilential Shadows are releasing their brand new seventh full-length "Devil's Hammer" next month which should be worth a few listens. Their last few releases have been pretty decent but have drifted past the public gaze relatively unnoticed. 2011's "Depths" album is a prime example of an undiscovered gem in my opinion.
Swedish trance metal masters Amaranthe have just released their brand new seventh full-length "The Catalyst". I actually didn't mind their last record "Manifest" so I wouldn't be averse to this one passing by my ear holes at some point although I'd suggest that it's unlikely to get too much of my attention.
Emperor front man & progressive metal icon Ihsahn's self-titled eighth solo album is due for release on 16th February. I'm well across his 2008-2012 period but haven't checked out his last few records, potentially because I didn't get on all that well with 2012's "Eremita" at the time. Perhaps it's time to get back in the saddle with this one.
It seems that Ihsahn has released an "orchestral" version of this album too which is interesting. Anyone know what that's all about?
US drone metal duo The Body have just released a new collaboration album with German post-industrial solo artist Dis Fig entitled "Orchards of a Futile Heaven". I've had mixed experiences with The Body over the years but thoroughly enjoyed their more recent 2021 album "I've Seen All I Need to See" to this could be worth a look at some point. I've admittedly never heard of Dis Fig though.
We aren't seriously considering this to be non-metal are we, that would be revisionism gone too far for me to take I think.
Quoted Sonny
Hahahaha.... let's not jump the gun as I never said that.
Asphyx - "The Rack" (1991)
My introduction to Dutch death metallers Asphyx would come through their 1991 debut album "The Rack", a release that was highly praised within underground death metal circles at the time. I enjoyed it too, enough to explore their 1989 demo tape "Crush the Cenotaph" which was also quite good but I can't say that I ever found enough premium quality to see me lumping Asphyx in with the more elite artists in the thriving death metal scene of the early 1990's. Their 1992 follow-up "Last One On Earth" left me feeling fairly similarly & to this day I've always felt that Asphyx was more of a third tier death metal player that's largely built its reputation off the back of the pedigree of their illustrious front man Martin van Drunen whose prior exploits with fellow Dutchmen Pestilence & subsequent contributions to bands like Grand Supreme Blood Court & Hail of Bullets have seen him placed up on a grisly pedestal of blasphemy & decay by many. I can't say that I've ever rated his vocals as highly as some but I've never had a problem with them either so I guess I'm in a good position to make an unbiased judgement on a record like "The Rack" where Martin also plays bass guitar.
"The Rack" comes from the rawer side of the death metal spectrum with the performances being noticeably unpolished & the song-writing pushing the musicians to perform at a higher level than they were capable of delivering at the time. The guitar work of Eric Daniels (Grand Supreme Blood Court/Soulburn) is pretty basic & lacking in subtlety while drummer Bob Bagchus (Grand Supreme Blood Court/Soulburn) stays well within himself for the most part. These technical limitations are perhaps the reason why the slower, doomier parts of the record work best & it may not be a stretch to suggest that the success of those elements on their early releases may have contributed to the musical direction that Asphyx have chosen to take with their music over the decades since. You see, Asphyx have built their reputation around their ability to incorporate crushing doom riffs into their grimy European death metal sound & there are some very clear examples to be found here on "The Rack". In fact, it's the doom component that I find most attractive about Asphyx with my album highlights inevitably being the doomier inclusions.
While I don't think "The Rack" offers anything terribly life-changing in terms of genuine classics, it's also a very consistent record with no obviously weak songs. Most tracks suffer from the occasional dud riff or two which sees all of the band's best intentions brought back to the pack but none of their creative missteps are drastic enough to warrant you reaching for the skip button. "Diabolical Existence" (my personal favourite), "Ode to a Nameless Grave" & "Pages in Blood" are my picks for the stronger examples of Asphyx's sound but I'd suggest that others might pick alternative tracks given how compressed the quality band is across most of the album.
If I was to provide some points of reference for the early Asphyx sound I'd probably reach for acts like Obituary, Morgoth & Celtic Frost who are all obviously crushingly heavy bands who utilize(d) elements of doom metal within the context of extreme metal. The technical limitations of a young Asphyx do cap the potential for them to reach to upper echelons of the death metal pile for me personally but there's definitely enough here to keep me interested nonetheless & I'd have to say that "The Rack" appeals to me slightly more than 1992's "Last One on Earth" does, mainly because I think it offers one or two more highlights. If I'm being completely honest though, I'd actually take Asphyx's last record "Necroceros" over either of them but none of the three are records I reach for all that regularly.
3.5/5
Is the metal status of an album with this, The Ripper, Tyrant and Genocide on it really in doubt?
I would suggest that most of the A side is clear cut with the three of the four songs being clear examples of heavy metal but, upon revisiting the album in great detail over the past week, I've found that the B side is nowhere near as cut & dry.
This nomination has been posted as two entries in the Hall of Judgement.
Today's track is Judas Priest's "Deceiver" which I consider to be heavy metal:
Heavens Gate - "Livin' in Hysteria" (1991)
I've been meaning to get around to Germany's Heavens Gate for some time now as they seem to have built up a pretty reasonable following over the years, particularly off the back of their 1991 sophomore album "Livin' In Hysteria" which is widely known as their finest work. I think the links to power metal & the God-awful cover artwork have put me off a bit but given my recent re-exploration of so many of my musical passions from the period I thought it might be as good a time as any to see what Heavens Gate are all about.
I didn't have any expectations going into my first listen as I hadn't done much prior research but my first impressions would tell me everything I needed to know with Heavens Gate sitting on the cheesier & more cliche-ridden end of metal. Heavens Gate's sound sits right at the mid-point between heavy metal & power metal with "Livin' In Hysteria" including a number of tracks from each genre without opting to blend the two all that often. "The Neverending Fire" is probably the only track that represents a hybrid of the two & is also one of the better tracks on the album. The inclusion of the progressive/neoclassical instrumental piece "Fredless" was most welcome while the other highlights strangely coming in the form of a couple of the cheesier & more chiche-filled heavy metal numbers in "Can't Stop Rockin'" & "Best Days Of My Life". I don't think it'll shock too many people to discover that none of the pure German power metal numbers appeal to me much but neither does the one-off speed metal track "Flashes". Front man Thomas Rettke's vocal histrionics can be grating at times but I feel that he's probably one the main drawcards for fans of the band so it really comes down to your musical preferences. I struggle with him a bit to be honest but he's not a deal breaker as such. The power metal material has clearly been influenced by Helloween which was never gonna be a positive thing for someone like me. I greatly prefer the Judas Priest-inspired heavy metal numbers, even when they take the "arena anthem" format that saw so many fans fall off the Priest train during the 1980's.
Overall, I'd suggest that "Livin' In Hysteria" will offer the most appeal to those with a penchant for bands like Scanner, Rage or Artch that play somewhat of an each-way bet between the heavy metal & power metal sounds but I can't say that it does much for me personally. Records like this one often baffle me as to why people would want to rate them so highly when they're so clearly a representation of the band's influences only not executed with the class of their idols. I guess I'll just have to accept that a record like "Livin' In Hysteria" is simply none of my business as I'm clearly not the target audience.
3/5
Ария - "Кровь за кровь" (1991)
I finally got around the investigating highly regarded Russian heavy metallers Ария over the last twelve months with both their 1987 third album "На службе силы зла" & their 1989 fourth album "Игра с огнем" offering me a fair bit of enjoyment. With that in mind, I felt that I'd better complete the trio of the band's most celebrated albums with 1991's "Кровь за кровь" & it's once again proven to be worthy of my time. The production is quite raw but is effective nonetheless with the excellent vocals of Кипелов front man Valery Kipelov soaring over the top. The obvious Iron Maiden worship of the band's previous work is still as clear as day although there are very few who can claim to do it as well as Ария do so I'd be lying if I said that I didn't experience some warm feelings of nostalgia while listening to the Russian's take on what were some pivotal records for me as a teenager. The musicianship is excellent throughout, particularly the guitar work of Vladimir Kholstinin & Sergey Mavrin who both prove themselves to be quite accomplished musicians but it's Kipelov that is the clear focal point here with his tone reminding me a lot of Klaus Meine from Scorpions as usual.
"Кровь за кровь" is predominantly a heavy metal record & a particularly metal one it is too I have to say. There's just the one track that veers away towards hard rock in the excellent Dio-esque "Всё, что было". My other favourite moments can be found in the one-two punch of "Антихрист" & "Не хочешь, не верь мне", both of which are high on Maiden worship but are emphatic in their creative statements nonetheless. As usual, there are a couple of failures included too though with "Бесы" & particularly "Зомби" falling short of the mark but this doesn't ruin the party for "Кровь за кровь" as there's still more than enough quality on offer to keep my attention. In saying that, I do feel that "Кровь за кровь" is perhaps the weaker of the three classic Ария albums with its 1989 predecessor "Игра с огнем" being my pick of the bunch. There's not all that much between them in terms of quality or style though so if you enjoy one then you'll likely find enjoyment in the other two as well, particularly if you're a fan of the classic Iron Maiden/Judas Priest heavy metal sound or Kipelov's other band Кипелов.
3.5/5
This morning's track is Judas Priest's "Dreamer Deceiver" which I'd suggest is progressive rock:
Also, I checked out Rush's 1974 self-titled debut album over the last few days & there's no metal whatsoever there. It's purely a hard rock record in my opinion.