Daniel's Forum Replies
Today's track is Pentagram's "20 Buck Spin". It's built on a blues rock riff that's then expanded into extended bluesy pentatonic guitar solos so, despite it being quite heavy, it still doesn't make it out of the hard rock space in my opinion.
Welcome to the thread Sonny. It's great to have your input. Today's track is Pentagram's "Walk In The Blue Light" which I would suggest is hard rock:
I'd never heard of Massachusetts melodic metalcore outfit xNOMADx prior to my nominating their 2023 debut release "On Skylines of Embers" for The Revolution feature release status this month. I'd noticed how popular the E.P. seemed to be on a competitor's website which had peaked my interest, particularly given that melodic metalcore is generally a little unfairly treated on most serious music sites. At just seventeen minutes in duration, "On Skylines of Embers" is only a very short experience with its five tracks never overstaying their welcome or seeing you reaching for the skip button. Admittedly the material is very generic in many ways with the screamy vocals & simplistic breakdowns sounding oh sorry familiar but what differentiates xNOMADx from the pack though is their use of melody. You see, they make no attempt to take the Gothenburg melodic death metal route by layering harmonized Iron Maiden melodies, instead opting to go for a more unique & satisfying type of lead guitar melody that comes across as being more sophisticated & professional. The production is well suited to the material too as it has an air of accessibility about it which leaves xNOMADx feeling a touch more light-weight & easily digestible than many of their angry tattooed peers. Short opener "12.29 (Ahiarmiut)" is the clear highlight for me personally as it's probably the least derivative of the five songs but the other four are all worth hearing in their own right, even if a couple of them do hint at up-tempo pop punk at times.
So, is "On Skylines of Embers" worthy of all of the high scoring? No, I don't think it is but it is one of the relatively few melodic metalcore releases that don't see me recoiling fairly quickly & I can see why it's managed to appeal to a wide cross-section of the market, particularly a young female one. I don't say that in a negative way though because this is simply a well-written, executed & produced record made by a talented & passionate group of metalcore kids. I'm not surprised to see Saxy getting onboard with it & would imagine that Andi will be all over it too but it wouldn't surprise me if it caused Xephyr to raise the odd eyebrow for it either. I can't see myself coming back for future revisits but I do have a smile on my face after my long drive home from work which can't be a bad thing now, can it?
3.5/5
Today's track is Pentagram's "When The Screams Come" which I'd suggest fits best under a hard rock tag even though there are once again traces of traditional doom metal:
I first got into Swedish extreme metallers The Crown back in the mid-1990's. They were still called Crown of Thorns at the time I picked up their first two albums through the tape trading scene & I had time for both of them too, particularly a track called "The Lord of the Rings" from their debut album "The Burning" which became somewhat of an anthem for me back in 1995. I wouldn't become aware of the band under their more well-known moniker of The Crown until my return to metal in 2009 & it would be through 2000's "Deathrace King" which is arguably the most well-known release from the band's lengthy 34-year career. I remember finding it to be a pretty entertaining listen too if I'm not mistaken & I've always thought of it as one of The Crown's better releases. I can't say that I remember all that much of it now though as I haven't felt like revisiting it since that first foray which may be a telling fact in itself but we're about to find out.
I always thought of Crown of Thorns as a death metal band back in the day but "Deathrace King" sees The Crown expanding their horizons significantly by exploring a number of other subgenres in a tracklisting that jumps around a fair bit from a stylistic point of view. The record kicks off in really strong fashion with three of the first four songs sitting amongst the stronger inclusions of the eleven on offer & daring the listener to resist the urge to thrash around like a madman. The rest of the album is a little more hit & miss though with a couple of songs even missing the mark altogether (see the fairly flat death/speed metal of "Rebel Angel" & disappointing thrasher "Blitzkrieg Witchcraft"). Mid-paced groove metal stormer "Dead Man's Song" is probably the only track that sees The Crown upping the ante to somewhere like the levels they began the record with which is unfortunate given the promising start. I wouldn't say that there are any genuine classics here though so "Deathrace King" was never really pushing for my higher scores anyway.
The mishmash of sounds present at various times during the 49-minute run time includes thrash metal, death/thrash, melodic death metal, groove metal & speed metal but I'd suggest that the death/thrash tag is the best representation of what you can expect to hear overall. The couple of melodic death metal inclusions ("Back From The Grave" & "I Won't Follow") see me reminiscing about the band's earlier 1990's material & will no doubt remind some of you of fellow Swedes like At The Gates & Dimension Zero while the thrashier & groovier songs play in similar spaces to another group of countrymen in The Haunted. The couple of speed metal numbers take more than a few queues from German Motorhead disciples Sodom so I often find myself wondering if The Crown were experiencing a bit of an identity crisis at times as they seem to struggle for a bit of focus. The level of musicianship certainly doesn't suffer for it though & I particularly enjoy the blast-beats of drummer Janne Saarenpää.
I have to say that I've been a touch underwhelmed by my revisit to "Deathrace King" as I remembered it a little more fondly than my current day experience has portrayed. The Crown certainly hint at greater things here but never really reach the levels of the premier acts floating around the scene. I often find the better songs to have magnificent parts but rarely see them maintaining those sort of levels for a full track. Perhaps I'm not as into some of the subgenres that are toyed with as other fans might be & that's likely having an impact on my score but I can't help but feel that "Deathrace King" sits more comfortably in the third tier than it does the second which means that I'm probably not very likely to return to it in the future even though I've found it to be a generally enjoyable experience.
3.5/5
My updated top ten list after indulging in this month's The Fallen feature release this week:
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. Black Cobra – “Invernal” (2011)
09. Ufomammut – “Eve” (2010)
10. High On Fire – “De vermis mysteriis” (2012)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/133
Wow! Just wow! "Objects Without Pain" is fucking amazing & has left me wondering how I can never have heard of this Seattle outfit before, despite them having released several full-lengths prior to this one. I'd describe Great Falls' sound here as being super-intense & abrasive sludge metal with post-metal & mathcore influences & they've also got one of the most in-your-face hardcore vocalists you'll ever find in front man Demian Johnston to top it off.
This record is honestly one of the best sludge releases I've ever heard, taking the best parts of Chat Pile, Neurosis & Converge & ramming them down the listeners throat with the force of a thousand sledgehammers. The musicianship is absolutely superb, particularly the rhythm section which showcases an incredible understanding of how to lay an interesting platform & in doing so prove themselves to be just as important as the more widely celebrated craftsmen of the band. There are even some lovely progressive sections with the more atmospheric moments sitting amongst the highlights of the release & managing to eclipse the more chaotic mathcore-infused numbers like "Trap Feeding" & "Born as an Argument". I honestly don't why people want to link "Objects Without Pain" to noise rock & post-hardcore as this is clearly a hardcore-driven metal record that's miles too heavy to require need any references to rock or punk subgenres. If it doesn't take out my album of the 2023 award at the end of the month then we'll have a seriously classic release on our hands though. Just listen to the crushingly heavy sludge metal of "Old Words Worn Thin" or the lengthy post-sludge closer "Thrown Against the Waves" & tell me this style of music gets any better than this (Hint: it doesn't).
4.5/5
Today we're gonna start looking at a new release in the 1973 "Bias Studio Recordings" demo from Virginia doom metal pioneers Pentagram. Despite there being a strong hard rock feel to it, the opening track "Forever My Queen" is close enough to traditional doom metal in my opinion.
Also, I checked out Deep Purple's 1973 seventh album "Who Do We Think We Are" this week & there's no metal on there whatsoever. It's purely a hard rock record for mine so we won't be covering it here.
This morning's track is the closer from Budgie's 1973 "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" third album "Parents" which I'd suggest sits best in the progressive rock genre. This leaves the album with just the one metal song overall & not meeting my qualification for metal status.
I perhaps don't enjoy "666 International" quite as much as I did when Ben first brought my attention to it back fifteen years ago. I'd describe it as being an avant-garde industrial black metal release that combines the industrial black metal sound of Thorns with the avant-garde metal of Ved Buens Ende.... & throws in a little Aborym for good measure. It's certainly a very interesting record that perennially keeps you on your toes but it's also a flawed one in many ways. You see, there are just so many ideas floating around but not all of them work from a compositional sense with the outcome sounding noticeably pieced together from widely disparate parts. It also sounds to me like an intentional attempt to sound weird rather than a natural creative evolution. The black metal components are unsurprisingly my favourite sections while a couple of the piano interludes representing the weaker moments. The vocals of Thorns/Zyklon-B front man Aldrahn are certainly pretty psychotic but he also overdoes it a little bit at times & comes off like a raving madman. The production is a little inconsistent with the guitar sound being pretty thin & the electronic drums sitting further back in the mix than I would normally like with an industrial metal release. I do really enjoy the gothic rock influences though & would have liked Dødheimsgard to have explored those a little further. My favourite tracks are opener "Shiva-Interfere", the blackened "Sonar Bliss", the lovely piano interlude "Magic" & the gothic rock hidden track but none reach classic status which leaves me with a middling score overall &, even while I generally find myself enjoying the album, I can also see why I haven't felt the need to return to "666 International" or explore Dødheimsgard's subsequent material over the last decade or so.
3.5/5
This morning's track is Budgie's "Riding My Nightmare" which I'd suggest fits best under folk pop:
Suicidal Tendencies was really the only one I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for - I have always preferred the hardcore punk of their debut to any of their metal offerings.
I have to admit that I've struggled with my revisits to Suicidal Tendencies' 1987-1990 metal albums this year with "Lights Camera Revolution" being the only one I can tolerate these days & even then I don't genuinely "love" it. "Disco's Out, Murder's In" is one of the rare tracks that I really dig though as it's thrashy & energetic as fuck.
This morning's track is Budgie's "In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand" which I regard as being hard rock:
Nospun's "Opus" doesn't come into play here? I thought it was really solid & would take it over the super-popular King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard & Liturgy records.
This is an extremely solid progressive metal record that's deserving of the praise it seems to be receiving right now. There's no question that it's a clear example of Haken & particularly "Metropolis II: Scenes From A Memory"-era Dream Theater worship but it's all done extremely well & it's hard to be too critical given the expansive instrumentation & accomplished compositional work on display. The vocals sound similar to Devin Townsend at times but may not be compelling enough for Nospun to reach the top echelon of the progressive metal hierarchy. Still... "Opus" will no doubt make for an extremely consistent & highly rewarding listen for any proghead worth their salt. I'll be surprised if it doesn't feature in the end of year award discussions for The Infinite.
4/5
Check out Iron Maiden ripping off the bass line that appears at 5:18 in Budgie's " You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" at 3:22 in their 1980 classic "Phantom of the Opera". We know that Steve Harris was a Budgie fan so it would seem to be a pretty clear example of plagiarism.
This morning's track is Budgie's " You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" which I'd suggest sits somewhere between heavy metal & stoner rock. It's close enough to qualify as metal in my opinion which makes it the first Budgie track to do so thus far.
I checked out the 1973 “I’m Just A Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer” third album from Lucifer’s Friend this afternoon. It’s a hard/progressive rock record with no metal to speak of.
Do we have anyone else that enjoy Folk metal here?
I believe Xephyr is the biggest fan of our regular contributors.
This morning's track is Budgie's "You Know I'll Always Love You" which I'd suggest sits best under a contemporary folk tag:
Look, I've given "Sagas" a full three listens over the last few days but I have to admit that it was a pretty torturous exercise for me as I think this style of folk metal is just about as far from my taste profile as it's possible to get. This is hardly surprising given that another style of metal I generally struggle with is European power metal & a lot of "Sagas" is essentially European power metal with folk melodies & black metal vocals layered over the top. The material is all well produced & showcases excellent technical proficiency of course but I simply can't contain my gag reflex & feel that I'd be doing the band a disservice by reviewing the record as I have no time whatsoever for anything that sounds remotely like this e.g. Ensiferum, Finntroll, Eluveitie, etc.
2/5
Here's another one I picked up while listening to Malevolent Creation's "The Ten Commandments" earlier in the week. Check out the riff that starts at 0:20 in their 1991 track "Premature Burial" & compare it to the riff that starts at 0:58 in Suffocation's "Human Waste" which was released just four months earlier. Coincidence? I think not.
Let's get back into the swing of things after I've been away in Sydney for a few days visiting the family. Today's track is Budgie's version of Big Joe Williams' 1935 blues anthem "Baby Please Don't Go", a song that AC/DC also famously covered on their debut album "High Voltage" a couple of years later. Unsurprisingly, I find this one to be a blues rock tune.
As usual, I plan to completely commit my entire January (well, at least after I've gotten through the feature releases that interest me) to exploring the more popular 2023 releases in the lead-up to the Metal Academy Awards in early February so I'll definitely be checking this one out.
This morning we start a new release in 1973's "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" third album from Welsh trio Budgie. The opening track "Breadfan" was famously covered by Metallica who metalized what I consider to be a hard rock song with a proggy section in the middle.
Yes thanks. Please go with Exodus’ “AWOL” from the “Impact is Imminent” album Vinny.
You're right Vinny. It's clear that we need to listen to more metal.
*Wonders how that's even possible & if doing away with sleep altogether is an option*
Neuropath – “My Bleeding Mortality” (from “Desert of Excruciation” demo, 1995)
5/5. A killer piece of 90s brutal death metal from NSW, Australia. The guitar talent really shines through. Nicely done, Daniel!
Thanks mate. I've always considered "My Bleeding Mortality" to be the best of the demo tracks too.
Nice choice Ben. I'll definitely be revisiting this one as I don't currently have it rated. I tend to recall it being one of the better The Crown releases I've heard from them too.
Nice one Andi. It's been many years since I last visited "666 International" so I'll be giving this one a walk down memory lane. I don't think I ever forged any further forwards into Dødheimsgard discography after that release but I see that their latest record is receiving some very high praise around the traps.
Malevolent Creation - "The Ten Commandments" (1991)
Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation were a pretty big band in my household back in the early-to-mid 1990's. Both of the band's first two albums were very positively received by both Ben & myself & I feel that I perhaps even rated them a little more highly than many of my peers did due to their very close stylistic alignment with my own personal taste profile during that period. 1991's "The Ten Commandments" was certainly a little thrashier than 1992's wonderful "Retribution" sophomore record but the production & general feel fall firmly into the Florida death metal bracket with some polished performances, sophisticated arrangements & an aggressive tone which perhaps isn't too surprising when you consider that the album was recorded with legendary Florida death metal producer Scott Burns at the iconic Morrisound Studios.
While "The Ten Commandments" is unquestionably a death metal release, the thrash influence I mentioned is obvious throughout & it gives the record a slightly different vibe to Malevolent Creation's more dark & deathly sophomore album. The vocals of front man Brett Hoffmann aren't quite as deep as other death growlers & wouldn't sound all that out of place on a Sadus record to tell you the truth but they're extremely effective nonetheless & are one the album's clear strengths in my opinion. The instrumentation is often pretty thrashy too & sees Malevolent Creation combining the death metal of Deicide & Cannibal Corpse's 1990 debut full-lengths with some of the more brutal thrash metal releases like Dark Angel's classic "Darkness Descends" or Demolition Hammer's first couple of albums. As many of you would likely know, I'm a big fan of well-executed blast-beats & drummer Mark Simpson does a stellar job at producing a super-tight battery of flailing snare-drum hits here which appeals to me greatly. He doesn't overdo it though which gives each blast-beat section added weight & emphasis. The guitar solos of Jeff Juszkiewicz are pretty accomplished for such a young band too so Malevolent Creation were a highly professional act for the time.
"The Ten Commandments" is a very solid release that should please all fans of US death metal. It's only lacking a few more genuine classics with the savage "Premature Burial" being the only cut that I'd place into that category. The rest of the material is consistently strong though so it's hard to be too critical, particularly for a debut release. "Retribution" would see Malevolent Creation stepping up to the next level though & it's always been my pick of their back catalogue. Regardless, "The Ten Commandments" comes highly recommended from this ol' death metal nut.
4/5
With a unanimous YES 5 NO 0 vote tally thus far, I've decided to pass this Hall of Judgement nomination as it's clear that it's only going one way & I completely agree with the consensus. The database has been changed to remove the Gothic Metal genre from the release.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Here's one I picked up while revisiting Malevolent Creation's "The Ten Commandments" debut album this week. Check out the verse section that starts in Deicide's "Sacrificial Suicide" at 0:30 & compare it with the part that begins at 1:31 in Malevolent Creation's "Injected Suffering" which was surely influenced by the self-titled Deicide album. The riffs aren't identical but the structure & vocal phrasing has clearly borrowed from Deicide in my opinion.
Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for February:
THE FALLEN: Morpheus, Ben, Daniel
THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy
THE GUARDIANS: Rexorcist, Xephyr, Shezma, Morpheus
THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel
THE INFINITE: Shezma, Andi, Xephyr, Rexorcist, Saxy
THE NORTH: Xephyr, Ben, Daniel, Shezma
THE PIT: Rexorcist, Morpheus, Daniel, Ben
THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel
THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi
As I said last month, please feel free to submit your nominations immediately guys as I shouldn't need to chase you in the back end of the month.
Rexorcist, will you be participating given that you didn't submit your nomination on time for inclusion in the January features? If you don't respond within a week then we'll revert to the next member in the queue for The Guardians & The Pit which will be Xephyr & Morpheus respectively.
Here's my February submissions Andi:
Godflesh – “Nihil” (from “Cold World” E.P., 1991)
Here's my February submission Andi:
Zao – “To Think of You Is to Treasure an Absent Memory” (from “Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest”, 1998)
Here are my February submissions Vinny:
Obliveon – “From This Day Forward” (from “From This Day Forward”, 1990)
Celtic Frost – “Nemesis” (from “Vanity/Nemesis”, 1990)
Death Angel – “Stop” (from “Act III”, 1990)
Xentrix – “Questions” (from “For Whose Advantage?”, 1990)
Flotsam & Jetsam – “Suffer The Masses” (from “When The Storm Comes”, 1990)
Here are my February nominations Ben:
Sarcofago – “Christ’s Death” (from “Christ’s Death” demo, 1987) [A war metal track that can be found on the 2015 “Die… Hard” compilation]
Malokarpatan – “I hle, tak zachádza imperiálna hviezda” (from “Vertumnus Caesar”, 2023) [Progressive black metal]
Grotesque – “Blood Runs From The Altar” (from “Incantation” E.P., 1990) [Can be found on 2016’s “In The Embrace Of Evil” compilation] [Blackened thrash]
Samael – “Worship Him” (from “Worship Him”, 1991) [Black metal]
Here are my Feburary submissions:
Darkthrone – “Accumulation of Generalization” (from “Cromlech” demo, 1989)
Nihilist – “When Life Has Ceased” (from “Drowned” demo, 1989)
diSEMBOWELMENT – “Thou Messiah” (from “Mourning September” demo, 1990)
Napalm Death – “If The Truth Be Known” (from “Harmony Corruption”, 1990)
Hellwitch – “Nosferatu” (from “Syzgial Miscreancy”, 1990)
Carnage – “Dark Recollections” (from “Dark Recollections”, 1990)
Neuropath – “Copulation of Insanity” (from “Desert of Excruciation” demo, 1995)
Here's my February submissions Xephyr which is a track that I feel nicely skirts along the border between heavy metal & black metal:
Malokarpatan – “Vertumnus Caesar” (from “Vertumnus Caesar”, 2023)
Here's my submission for the February playlist Saxy. Much like a several other tracks from the album, I'd suggest that "Misery" is an alternative metal number that fits nicely within the scope of The Gateway given that it sounds so much like Deftones but feel free not include it if you feel otherwise.
Disbelief – “Misery” (from “Worst Enemy”, 2001)
Here are my submissions for the February playlist Sonny:
Isole – “Bliss of Solitude” (from “Bliss of Solitude”, 2008)
My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium (Demo)” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991) [Can be found on 2016’s “Meisterwerk III” compilation]
Crowbar – “My Agony” (from “Obedience Thru Suffering”, 1991)
This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Under The Sun" which I regard is being stoner metal:
This sees my final position being very similar to the first three Black Sabbath albums. "Vol. 4" is a stoner metal record as far as I'm concerned & is probably the most obviously so thus far too with literally every metal track on the tracklisting receiving a stoner metal tag from me. Tomorrow we'll begin a new release with Budgie's 1973 album "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend".
January 2024
01. Tiamat – “Sumerian Cry (Part III)” (from “The Astral Sleep”, 1991) [Submitted by Sonny]
02. Death – “Bite The Pain” (from “The Sound Of Perseverance”, 1998) [Submitted by Sonny]
03. Edge of Sanity – “Blood-Colored” (from “Purgatory Afterglow”, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]
04. Darkthrone – “Thulcandra” (from “Thulcandra” demo, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
05. Anata – “Under Azure Skies” (from “The Infernal Depths of Hatred”, 1998)
06. Amon Amarth – “Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds” (from “Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds” E.P., 1996)
07. Sacrilege – “Fettered In Shackles Of Light” (from “Lost in the Beauty You Slay”, 1996)
08. Nihilist – “Abnormally Deceased” (from “Only Shreds Remain” demo, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]
09. Cripple Bastards – “Odio a prima vista” (from “Desperately Insensitive”, 2003)
10. Epiphanic Truth – “The Truth of the Beast” (from “Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]
11. Bloodbath – “Mock The Cross” (from “The Fathomless Mastery”, 2008) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
12. Vastum – “Vomitous” (from “Inward to Gethsemane”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
13. Obituary – “Godless Beings” (from “Slowly We Rot”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]
14. Cannibal Corpse – “Buried In The Backyard” (from “Eaten Back To Life”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]
15. Napalm Death – “Out of Sight Out of Mind” (from “Order of the Leech”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]
16. Pyrrhon – “Cancer Mantra” (from “Growth Without End”, 2015)
17. Bæst – “Crosswhore” (from “Danse Macabre”, 2018) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
18. Setentia – “Throne of Thorns” (from “Darkness Transcend”, 2016)
19. Cattle Decapitation – “Unintelligent Design” (from “Karma.Bloody.Karma”, 2006)
20. Neuropath – “My Bleeding Mortality” (from “Desert of Excruciation” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]
21. 10 To The Chest – “Glassed In The Face” (from “Split The Fuck Open” E.P., 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
22. Behemoth – “Xul” (from “Demigod”, 2004) [Submitted by Sonny]
23. Iniquitous Deeds – “Incessant Hallucinations” (from “Incessant Hallucinations”, 2015)
24. Monument of Misanthropy – “Exceptionally Sadistic” (from “Unterweger”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
25. Regurgitate – “Waging War on Benevolence” (from “Deviant”, 2003)
26. Fuck The Facts – “Second Hand Skin” (from “Backstabber Etiquette”, 2003)
27. Circle of Dead Children – “Zero Comfort Margin” (from “Zero Comfort Margin” E.P., 2005)
28. Vulvodynia – “Unveiling The Abomination” (from “Cognizant Castigation”, 2014)
29. Skinless – “Deviation Will Not Be Tolerated” (from “Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead”, 2006) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
30. Epicardiectomy – “Horrendous Festering Transmutations” (from “Putreseminal Morphodysplastic Virulency”, 2014)
31. Analepsy – “Food For The Maggots” (from “Dehumanization by Supremacy” E.P., 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]
Last chance to nominate the December The Pit feature release Rexorcist.
You're up Ben.
This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "St. Vitus Dance" which I regard as being stoner rock:
There were a number of reasons that Neuropath broke up. Strained relationships & differences in age & maturity were certainly a factor. The increasingly underappreciated & unbalanced effort that I had to put in to get anything moving was another. My exposure to older musicians who were keen to work with me on exciting new sounds certainly came into it too, as did my de facto relationship issues which were playing out in front of my whole social network. It was definitely more about people than it was the music though.
As soon as we'd ended the band I joined a Western Sydney doom/death outfit called Elysium (they later changed their name to Stone Wings) which included members with links to a whole array of different Aussie bands such as Mournful Congregation, The Amenta, Sacriphyx, Innsmouth, Backyard Mortuary, Murkrat, The Slow Death & Lord Kaos. I spent six months with Elysium before deciding that I needed to distance myself from the entire metal scene for an extended period if I was going to sort out my relationship issues properly as I just couldn't stand the scrutiny any more, particularly after my partner fell pregnant when I was just 19 years old with the weeks leading up to an eventual decision to abort being amongst the most emotionally torturous of my life. So, I decided to take a break from the people & the scene more than I did the music as I initially intended to continue making metal in my own time & without external influences.
What ended up happening around 1997/98 was that I unexpectedly started to find all of the extreme metal I was picking up through tape traders to a) sound like rehashes of my favourite bands from years gone past or b) be diluting the essence of what I looked for in my metal so it gradually became a little less exciting. I became increasingly more infatuated with guitar technique with & decided to write & record an instrumental guitar shred CD where I would perform all of the instruments myself with the intention of putting together a band to play the material live afterwards. That CD (entitled "Ebony Tomorrows") would eventually see the light of day in 1999 but by that stage I'd become so exhausted with the effort required to do everything myself that I once again needed to explore other sounds for a while.
Electronic music opened itself up to me through my huge passion for artists like Massive Attack, Bjork, Chemical Brothers & Carl Cox. Once I broke the surface though I discovered a whole world of exciting new sounds & a club scene that was very much the opposite of the one I'd escaped from. My best mate was just as into it as I was & we went on a decade long journey of discovery where we had some of the best times of our lives. DJing came very naturally to me & became my new obsession. I loved techno every bit as much as I've loved metal & utterly indulged myself in the culture. As with my other musical flights of fancy though, I eventually got tired of doing the one thing musically & also started to get physically tired as I got older too. I was a five-day-a-week gym junkie by that stage & my health focus just didn't work all that well with the late-night DJ lifestyle. The Sydney lock-out laws were the final straw as they limited my ability to get gigs in a pretty major way so I pulled the pin some time in 2008/09 & felt pretty relieved to have some spare time back in my life even though I don't regret a minute of my dance music days.
At that point Ben started to open me up to all of the exciting stuff I'd missed in the metal scene over the previous decade & I saw my interest in previously unexplored genres like sludge metal, mathcore, post-metal & drone metal growing really fast. I started going to gigs again & rekindled my love for metal. I've never looked back since.