Daniel's Forum Replies

Sadus - "Swallowed in Black" (1990)

I was thoroughly impressed with my first serving of Californian thrashers Sadus which came through their 1988 debut album "Illusions" back in the very late 1980's so their 1990 sophomore album was very much a no-brainer for me. It's a touch less intense & not as consistently fast as "Illusions" but it more than makes up for it with an increase in technicality & creativity which gives it a slight edge over "Illusions" for mine. It's a super-consistent record to tell you the truth & it's only let down a little by a muddy guitar tone. I absolutely love the gnarly vocal snarl of guitar-playing front man Darren Travis while bass guitar icon Steve DiGiorgio is in his usual form too. "Swallowed in Black" is a high quality tech thrash record of great potency & energy that should well & truly grab tech thrash fans by the balls.

4/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Technical Thrash Metal Releases of All Time List with Coroner' "Punishment For Decadence" being the unfortunate record to drop out:

01. Coroner – “Mental Vortex” (1991)

02. Sadus - "Swallowed in Black" (1990)

03. Sadus – “A Vision Of Misery” (1992)

04. Coroner – “No More Color” (1989)

05. Cryptic Shift – “Visitations From Enceladus” (2020)

06. Ripping Corpse - "Dreaming With The Dead" (1991)

07. Obliveon - "From This Day Forward" (1990)

08. Toxik – “World Circus” (1987)

09. Destruction - "Cracked Brain" (1990)

10. Аспид – “Кровоизлияние” (1993)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/173

How about "Orchid"? I've got this one down as contemporary folk.

I checked out the sole 1972 self-titled album from Peruvian outfit Tarkus this week & found that it's definitely not a metal record. There's only one track that's obviously metal with the release coming across as heavy psych overall.

How about "Children of the Grave" then? I'd say this is a pretty easy one for heavy metal.

Oliver Magnum - "Oliver Magnum" (1989)

The sole full-length from this Oklahoma US power metal outfit is a highly professional package from a very talented group of individuals who apparently recorded the record back in 1987 but couldn't get anyone to release it for a couple of years. The production & performances are excellent for the time & my only issues are some occasional vocal blemishes. I'd describe their sound as sitting somewhere between the US power metal of Lizzy Borden & Savage Grace & the more polished & proggy sound of Queensryche. It's not a bad album either but I can't say that I consider it to be essential listening.

3.5/5

Hard to say really. It's certainly similar though. I'm gonna so intentional.

Tyrant - "Too Late To Pray" (1987)

The sophomore album from this Californian outfit seems to have built up a pretty reasonable following these days & I've found that I have some time for it too. "Too Late To Pray" offers a chunky US power metal sound that's strong on traditional heavy metal with Mercyful Fate being the primary influence. The vocals are pretty poor if I'm being perfectly honest though which is almost enough to cancel out Tyrant's appeal but thankfully the raw production connects with me quite a bit & the record finishes in healthy fashion with a couple of the better tracks, particularly "Beginning Of The End" which is my clear highlight.

3.5/5

How about "Embryo"? Metal or not? I'd suggest that it's an English folk music interlude personally.

This thread is mostly just to journal my progress in my exploration

That’s what reviews are for Andi. No more personalized threads please as they do nothing to encourage sharing, communication & collaboration given that the only one that can contribute much is the author. 

Also, whilst he denounces acts of violence and was never involved in murder or church burning, Ihsahn is also a self-proclaimed satanist.

Ihsahn was the goody two-shoes of the band too. Off the top of my head, I can recall at least three other Emperor members serving time for murder, assault &/or church-burning.

I have to ask if we really need dedicated threads for this type of thing too Andi. We already have dedicated threads for Symphonic Black Metal & Melodic Black Metal where this conversation would be better served in my opinion.

Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)

I picked the Birmingham grind godfathers third album up on cassette upon release after quite liking all of Napalm Death's previous material. They'd started to incorporate elements of death metal into their sound for 1989's "Mentally Murdered" E.P. but took those influences much further here. In fact, most people seem to agree that "Harmony Corruption" is a death metal release but I'm gonna have to question that theory. To my ears there's still easily enough grindcore in their sound for it to qualify as deathgrind. I'd actually suggest that it's a better example of the deathgrind subgenre than "Mentally Murdered" was because that record was basically grindcore with death metal vocals whereas "Harmony Corruption" sees them playing genuine death metal riffs mixed in with blasts of grindcore. The influence of bands like Death, Obituary & Deicide is really obvious.

I don't have too many issues with the infamous production job other than the strange pitch-shifted guitar solos & Barney's monstrous vocals are a definite improvement on Lee Dorian's efforts. There are some great moments across the album too, particularly when they go to the two extremes with chuggy half-time death metal sections & frantic blast-beat driven grindcore savagery. I do struggle a touch with the groovier hardcore riffs at times though so "Harmony Corruption" has never seemed like an essential release even if it was as good as anything Napalm Death had released to the time. These days I'd probably put it on par with 1988's "From Enslavement To Obliteration" sophomore album but would take the elder sibling if pushed.

3.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list with Misery Index's "Heirs To Slavery" slipping out to make way for "Harmony Corruption":

01. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)

02. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)

03. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)

04. Napalm Death - "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. (1991)

05. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)

06. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)

07. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)

08. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)

08. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)

10. Napalm Death - "Mentally Murdered" E.P. (1989)

How about "After Forever"? Metal or not? I'd suggest that it's far more borderline than some would have you believe. It certainly doesn't "feel" like metal a lot of the time with a hard rock guitar tone,  swing drumming & the use of tambourine but the main riff is certainly a metal riff. I think I'm gonna go against the grain by saying hard rock for this one.

Rex, before you run away to your Movieforums thingy, can you please private message me your The Infinite feature release nomination for next month?

Sacred Reich - "The American Way" (1990)

My first experiences with Phoenix-based thrash metallers Sacred Reich came through late-night underground metal radio programs in the very late 1980's with both their 1987 debut album "Ignorance" & 1988 "Surf Nicaragua" E.P. offering me plenty of appeal & commanding further attention. The first Sacred Reich record I'd purchase though would be their 1990 sophomore album "The American Way". It'd come in the form of a cassette copy that Ben & I would give a good hard flogging over the next year or so. The highlight tracks had received plenty of radio play in the weeks leading up to the purchase so I was pretty pumped when we finally picked it up & in some ways this revisit has indicated that perhaps I let that excitement cloud my judgement a touch.

"The American Way" sees Sacred Reich slowing things down from the approach they took on their more frantic debut album, this time opting for more of a mid-paced, groove-oriented sound that still highlighted their politically & socially motivated themes very well. It's a heavily riff-based record that's built around a unified sound & tight performances. Listening back now, I'd have to suggest that the drum sound wasn't ideal but it's not a deal breaker by any means. Front man Phil Rind's vocals are strong & clear which helps him to get his powerful messages across very well & there are some absolutely belting riffs on offer here too.

The tracklisting kicks off with the true classic of the album in "Love... Hate" which was very much an anthem for my late teenage years. Every time Sacred Reich kick back into the main riff after the chorus is a masterstroke & sees me thrashing around like a madman. I have to admit that some of the other tracks that I loved so much as a kid have lost a bit of their gloss if I'm being honest though. "Crimes Against Humanity" & "State of Emergency" are certainly very strong inclusions but neither reached the classic status I thought they might whereas the title track now seems to fall well short of the pedestal I've always placed it on. The album fades significantly in the back end too with "Who's to Blame" being pretty flat & the pointless funk rock novelty track "31 Flavors" tainting what had the potential to be a really strong thrash record.

Look, there's still easily enough great material to warrant your attention here but I can't say that I consider "The American Way" to be essential thrash metal listening any longer. It's more the type of album where I'd pull out the best few tracks for a gym playlist as some of this stuff (like the chorus of "The Way It Is" for example) hasn't stood the test of time as well as I'd hoped, potentially due to the relative simplicity & reduction in aggression from previous efforts. Despite the obvious production issues Sacred Reich experienced with "Ignorance", I consider it to be a step up from this record. "Surf Nicaragua" too actually.

3.5/5

I think Rex & Xephyr will probably be back so we'll continue. After all, I'm going to conduct the exercise regardless of whether others contribute or not so why not offer the opportunity to collaborate on it.

Today we'll be starting a new release in Black Sabbath's 1971 masterpiece "Master of Reality". I'm really interested to see what subgenre I end up with here after my outcomes for Sabbath's first two records ended up sitting outside of the general consensus. Let's start with the opening track "Sweet Leaf" which I find to be a really easy one as it's the very definition of stoner metal in my opinion.

I'm claiming this track from a one-off 1972 progressive/hard rock record as an early example of heavy metal. What do you think?

I checked out Night Sun's 1972 "Mournin'" album over the last two days &, while there are definitely some moments where the lines are blurred, I think there's only really the one track that I can confidently say is a genuine metal track so I'm not intending on including it here. It feels much better suited to a progressive/hard rock tag in my opinion. Let me know if you disagree.

Vio-lence - "Oppressing The Masses" (1990)

I purchased the 1990 sophomore album from Bay Area thrashers Vio-lence on cassette pretty close to its release date after really digging the dubbed copy of their thrashtastic 1988 debut album "Eternal Nightmare" I'd picked up from a school mate the previous year. "Oppressing The Masses" isn't as consistently relentless in its high tempo assault on the senses but it's no less effective in my opinion. The song-writing & riff structures are highly professional with the musical talent of the instrumentalists being very impressive indeed. I particularly enjoy the shredding guitar solos but the riffs are all of a high quality too. Front man Sean Killian will once again be a sticking point for some listeners but I think he sounds a little more natural when compared to the debut & I actually quite enjoy the psychotic edge he brings to things which reminds me a lot of former Exodus madman Paul Baloff. The tracklisting is extremely consistent with a solid quality level being maintained throughout. "World In A World" is the only genuine Bay Area classic in my opinion though which is a shame because there was so much potential to make this an even more significant release in the annals of thrash metal history. As it is though, I'd still recommend "Oppressing The Masses" to all of our The Pit clan members & rate it just behind “Eternal Nightmare” in Vio-lence’s back catalogue overall.

4/5

Here's my newly created Top Ten Teutonic Thrash Metal Releases of All Time list:

01. Kreator - "Pleasure To Kill" (1986)

02. Kreator - "Flag Of Hate" E.P. (1986)

03. Kreator - "Coma Of Souls" (1990)

04. Kreator - "Extreme Aggression" (1989)

05. Exumer - "Rising Of The Sea" (1987)

06. Sodom - "Better Off Dead" (1990)

07. Sodom - "Persecution Mania" (1987)

08. Sodom - "Agent Orange" (1989)

09. Kreator - "Live Kreation" (2003)

10. Destruction - "Release From Agony" (1987)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/93

Sodom - "Better Off Dead" (1990)

I first became aware of Teutonic thrash heavy-weights Sodom through their classic 1988 third full-length "Agent Orange" which I purchased on cassette in the very late 1980's or early 1990's & it impressed me enough to see me very rapidly purchasing the remainder of their back catalogue (also on cassette). I wouldn't say that I ever regarded them as a tier one thrash outfit but they certainly offered enough energy & menace to keep this ol' thrasher satisfied & sat comfortably at the top of my tier two bucket. The main issue for Sodom throughout the 1980's was always their ability to write freely flowing songs. They were masters of writing fantastic riffs but the song structures often sounded really jerky & pasted together to my ears which saw them lagging behind their superior local peers Kreator the majority of the time. 1990 would see Sodom releasing their fourth album & it'd be the first that I'd purchase on release (on cassette again -go figure). The better tracks had already been flogged on late-night underground metal radio programs so I was pretty pumped for what I hoped would be the record to see me finally elevate Sodom to the top tier where they belonged.

So, did they manage to do it? Well... not quite but they gave it a damn good crack. "Better Off Dead" is a beautifully conceived & composed thrash record that saw Sodom finally overcoming the song-writing challenges of the past to present some fully-developed & naturally flowing song structures. Of the twelve tracks, two are cover versions but they're both well executed & work as nice change-ups (particularly the Tank one which is really very good & suits their sound nicely). Stylistically, the majority of the record takes a familiar but highly professional German thrash direction but the band regularly change things up with not only a couple of those Motorhead-style speed metal numbers they're so good at but also a few genuine heavy metal tunes. They're damn entertaining too & easily trigger the ear worms to take control of your body for the remainder of the day to reflect on. 

The highlight tracks on "Better Off Dead" are sublime. Elite thrash numbers like opener "An Eye For An Eye" & album highlight "Bloodtrails" are crushingly heavy & never fail to get my head banging but the surprise packet comes in the form of a stunningly ambitious track like "Resurrection" which is a much more controlled heavy metal number that utilizes some unique choir sections & features Motorhead's Lemmy on backing vocals. The consistency of the tracklisting is another major selling point as there's not a weak track included with only the Thin Lizzy cover of "Cold Sweat" sounding inessential. New guitarist Michael Hoffmann's bluesy Fast Eddie Clarke-inspired guitar solos fit Sodom's dirty sound like a glove too which isn't something I thought I'd be saying going in. I guess it goes without saying then that "Better Off Dead" is an essential Sodom album, isn't it? But I'll go one step further by claiming that I'm now comfortable to voice the internalized feelings I've always harbored that "Better Off Dead" was Sodom's best release to the time. Yep! I went there & I'm holding my ground too.

4/5

So "At Damnation's Core" was released yesterday in both physical & streaming formats. It's available through Sphere of Apparition Records, Bandcamp, good record stores around the world & also on Spotify which I'm quietly thrilled about. 

And finally, "Homicidal Suicidal". Metal or not?

I've got this as stoner rock. Ultimately that leaves me not having found a single track to be legitimate metal. "Budgie" was certainly very heavy for its time but a lot of that comes down to the bass-heavy production & its far too bluesy to transcend hard rock in my opinion.

Suffocation - "Reincremated" demo (1990)

The crude demo tape represents the beginning of a life-long love affair between myself & New York brutal death metallers Suffocation. It's also where death metal reached the next level in both brutality as well as technicality. "Reincremated" shows off a previously unparallelled level of intensity & sophistication & pretty much single-handedly created a new sub-genre of death metal. Although all of these tracks were re-recorded in later years, the song structures & performances stayed pretty much the same which really highlights how fully realised these pieces were even at this early stage. There's no out-of-time sections or mistakes that were so common with other death metal demos of the time & you can easily tell that these guys were the real deal. The hyper-speed blast beats, the monstrous vocals & the twisted nature of the guitar solos all became part of the signature Suffocation sound & claimed thousands of immitators world-wide. It's a landmark release for brutal death metal & for myself as a teenage tape trader in the early 1990's.

4/5

Check this early heavy/stoner metal effort from in 1972 out. It's pretty fantastic just quietly.

Cannibal Corpse - "Eaten Back To Life" (1990)

I got heavily into Buffalo death metallers Cannibal Corpse in the early 1990's & they'd become a major influence on the early works of my own death metal band Neuropath. Despite my getting a fair bit of enjoyment out of it, their debut album "Eaten Back To Life" never seemed to be quite as appealing as their subsequent records though. This revisit hasn't seen that opinion changing much. The band hadn't quite hit on their more brutal signature sound as yet & there's still a decent thrash influence on display but I don't think too many people would be claiming this as a thrash release with front man Chris Barnes now attempting an admittedly fairly crude death growl that is definitely the weak point of the album.

The tracklisting is pretty consistent though with only "Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains" failing to hit the mark. There's a naive innocence about the rest of the record that is hard not to enjoy with Cannibal Corpse throwing the kitchen sink at you with a multitude of memorable riffs. Drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz's performance is a little loose but is almost refreshing to hear him still feeling the freedom to try new things given his fairly repetitive approach on Cannibal Corpse's later material. I think it's fair to say that songs like "Shredded Humans", "Born In A Casket" & "Buried In The Backyard" have a right to be tagged as death metal anthems for a teenage me & I still connect with them very easily so "Eaten Back To Life" has maintained a similar level of appeal to what it offered me all those years ago, despite being comfortably the weakest Barnes-fronted Cannibal Corpse record.

3.5/5

How about "You & I"? Metal or not?

I've got folk pop for this one.

Also, I gave Flower Travellin' Band's 1972 "Made In Japan" album a couple of listens over the last couple of days & found that it's not a metal record. As with their first two records, it's got one obvious metal track but I'd describe it as sitting somewhere between heavy psych & psychedelic rock overall. I'm suggesting that we don't consider it unless anyone else has any strong feelings to the contrary. It's a fantastic fucking record though nonetheless. I absolutely love Flower Travellin' Band.

Testament - "Souls of Black" (1990)

I first got into Berkley thrash metallers Testament after blind-purchasing their 1989 third album "Practice What You Preach" blind shortly after release, having been driven by the comparisons with my beloved Metallica. I'd share my CD with Ben who was just coming to grips with thrash himself & together we'd investigate Testament's earlier albums with Ben perhaps becoming a little more enamored with the band than I was. This would result in Ben purchasing 1990's "Souls of Black" CD as soon as it was released & we'd once again give it a bit of a flogging together over the next month or so. Strangely, I haven't returned to "Souls of Black" as regularly as I have Testament's first three records over the years & I recently realised that I wasn't quite sure as to why so decided to give it a revisit.

"Souls of Black" shares some common traits with Exodus' "Impact Is Imminent" from the same year in that it's a very similar record to its predecessor which inevitably draws like-for-like comparisons, only neither come close to matching their elder siblings for overall quality. The production job is a clear obstacle with the rhythm guitar tone being noticeably thin & tinny, a failing that was always going to hurt a band like Testament which lives & dies by its classy guitar work. The tracklisting begins in muscular fashion with the impressive flamenco intro track "Beginning of the End" leading into my personal favourite "Face In The Sky" but the quality immediately takes a step down from there with only the more technical "Malpractice" seeing it rising to the same heights again. The album is completely devoid of classics & there are a few inclusions that I can only deem to be failures too (see "Absence of Light", "Love to Hate" & particularly the misguided attempt to emulate the ballad from Testament's previous album in "The Legacy"). Front man Chuck Billy does his best to work with the material he's got but the song-writing is simply a little light-weight & isn't helped by the production job. The saviour would be lead guitarist Alex Skolnick as usual & his contribution is once again the clear standout of the release.

Don't get me wrong. "Souls of Black" isn't a poor album as such but it's certainly not the record Testament were looking for at the time. I enjoy 70% of the material but I never really came close to awarding four stars as the production & the few filler tracks were always going to be an insurmountable obstacle. Drummer Louie Clemente is another as I've always said that he has no place in a thrash metal band with his simple, rocky style seemingly fighting to keep Testament from sounding too extreme. I've never felt that Testament were deserving of a tier one thrash metal status & "Souls of Black" does nothing to change that opinion even if it's definitely worth a few listens.

3.5/5

How about "All Night Petrol"? Metal or not?

I've got this one down as stoner rock.

Exodus - "Impact Is Imminent" (1990)

Exodus' fourth album is generally regarded as one of their weakest but I've never agreed with that position personally. I bought it on cassette upon release after having thoroughly flogged my "Bonded By Blood" CD & my dubbed copies of "Pleasures of the Flesh" & "Fabulous Disaster" in the previous year &, while I definitely see it as a step down from those records in terms of overall quality, I've never thought of "Impact is Imminent" as any sort of disappointment. The classic Exodus sound is there with that flesh-severing guitar tone, those thrashtastic riffs & Steve Souza's snarly vocals being things that have always appealed to me while the Holt/Hunolt dual guitar attack is as potent as ever with some seriously shredding solos.

Where the album falls down is in a few areas though. Firstly, it's such a similar album to "Fabulous Disaster" that it's difficult not to compare the two with the former easily coming out on top. A large part of that is due to the inclusion of a few genuine thrash classics on that album whereas "Impact Is Imminent" doesn't have anything that gets above a very solid level. The other thing that counts against Exodus' first 90's effort is the length of some of the tracks, particularly across the B side which is clearly not as strong as the A side with the tracklisting being noticeably top-heavy. Songs like "Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)" & the lacklustre "Changing Of The Guard" seem to have been intentionally extended for the post-"...And Justice For All" market but that was never going to work out positively for a band like Exodus who are all about urgency & violence. Nonetheless, there's only really the one track that I don't like in "Changing of the Guard" so it's still a pretty reasonable Bay Area thrash record for mine.

3.5/5

How about "Rape Of The Locks"? Metal or not?

It's hard/blues rock for mine.

I've always wondered how people can cite Filosofem as one of the best black metal albums ever when twenty five minutes of it is boring as fuck.

I'm almost as big a fan of ambient & electronic music as I am of black metal so I really connected with "Rundgang um die transzendentale Säule der Singularität". In fact, it played as a strong role in me awarding "Filosofem" a perfect score as any of the other material.

diSEMBOWELMENT - "Mourning September" demo (1990)

Another old demo from my tape trading days. This time one from a local Aussie band that played a major role in my early 90's. This was their first recording & it doesn't showcase any of the trippy atmospherics they'd become known for just yet. That's not to say that you can't hear the classic diSEMBOWELMENT sound in there though with "Mourning September" highlighting a similar combination of dark doom metal & savage deathgrind to the one we'd love so much on their proper releases in the coming years. The opening title track is a spectacular space ambient piece that I genuinely love while the outro track takes more of a traditional ambient approach but isn't far behind. The band struggles for timing during the faster & more brutal sections of two of the three metal tracks with "Extracted Nails" being the only one that manages to avoid triggering a cringe or two. Thankfully though, the vocals & sound production are well suited to creating the sort of dank death metal atmosphere that I've loved my whole life so "Mourning September" still manages to maintain my interest, particularly during the slower, doomier moments which were already a clear strength.

3.5/5

Anathema - "An Iliad of Woes" demo (1990)

I picked up the first of Liverpool doom/death legends Anathema's demo tapes through the tape trading scene shortly after falling head over heals for their first couple of proper releases back in the early 1990's. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired but isn't all that different from a zillion other demos of the time. The quality of the song-writing & musicianship is quite good though with Darren White's vocals being more of a traditional death growl than the miserable bellow he'd go with a little later on. Instrumentally, there's probably a touch more Bolt Thrower style death metal than there is genuine doom on show here but you can see Anathema developing into what they'd soon become best across the first two tracks, particularly on "Memento Mori" which is basically the final product & would be re-recorded for 1995's "Pentecost III" EP. I have to admit that I still get enough out of this to keep me interested, even if it's far from essential listening.

3.5/5

Once again, I have this one down as hard/blues rock.

That’s making more sense. I thought you might be on drugs previously. :)

Xentrix - "For Whose Advantage?" (1990)

I purchased a cassette copy of the sophomore album from these English thrash metallers around 1990/91 after quite enjoying the dubbed copy of their debut album "Shattered Existence" I'd received from an older school mate. Xentrix are often criticized for being Metallica clones but the reality is that it's really just the vocals that are responsible for that with the rest of the instrumentation sounding much more similar to Testament, only with a slightly more complex edge that reminds me of a band like Heathen. This is another decent thrash outing too. Perhaps not essential listening but certainly worth a few spins if you're into the bands I mentioned. The only weak point is the inclusion of a fairly flat speed metal number at the end of the tracklisting in "Running White Faced City Boy". There aren't any outright classics here either which prevents "For Whose Advantage?" from competing for my higher scores.

3.5/5

Check out the opening riff from David Bowie's 1971 track "Andy Warhol" & compare it to the riff at 6:20 in Metallica's "Master of Puppets". This is not coincidental & is entirely Cliff Burton's doing.

How about "The Author"? Metal or not?

I've got it down as blues/hard rock.

Given that’s how you see them, is there any reason to separate Primus out from other alternative metal artists then? As a point of reference, there have only been eleven funk metal releases in the last fourteen years (at least ones that are significant enough to warrant us adding them to the Metal Academy database). There’s only been four this decade so far, two of which were from the same band.

Yes, I agree but none of the Primus albums I’ve heard contain anything much in the way of metal.

I've often seen people referring to Judas Priest's opening track from their 1978 "Stained Class" album as the root of the speed metal sound however I would argue that Priest borrowed its double-kick & tremolo-picking techniques from the title-track from Deep Purple's 1971 "Fireball" album. See what you think.

How about "Everything In My Heart"? Metal or not?

I've got it as psychedelic folk.

Also, I checked out Buffalo's 1972 "Dead Forever..." album yesterday to examine its metal credentials. There's certainly a strong Black Sabbath influence but it doesn't amount to enough metal to justify investigation here. It's a hard rock/heavy psych record for mine. Anyone disagree?

Celtic Frost mastermind Thomas Gabriel Warrior didn't seem to mind much that he'd basically ripped off Megadeth's "In My Darkest Hour" from 1988 when he released this track from 1990's "Vanity/Nemesis" album:

If you wanna hear the earliest roots of speed metal then this track is where you'll find them. Drummer Ian Paice is using two kick drums to play an early example of double kick while guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is playing the prototype for the tremolo-picked speed metal riff.

I revisited Deep Purple's "Fireball" record from 1971 this morning & it's definitely not a metal release in my opinion although the opening title track certainly is. I'm not intending on investigating the "Fireball" album as part of this exercise unless anyone here feels really strongly about it. Speak up or forever hold your peace.

Death Angel - "Act III" (1990)

My first exposure to popular San Francisco Bay Area thrash metallers Death Angel came through the song “Mistress of Pain” from their highly regarded 1987 debut album “The Ultra-Violence” when I heard it played on a late-night underground metal radio program some time in 1989. That experience led me to investigate the band’s first two albums through the older skaters at my school which left me with mixed feelings to be honest. You see, while “The Ultra-Violence” is certainly a raw & super-thrashy effort that reeks of naïve enthusiasm, it’s also inherently unpolished & sounds like it needed a little more work to me. I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of it but have never found it to be essential with the pitchy vocals of front man Mark Osegueda being particularly questionable. It was definitely a step up from 1988’s “Frolic Through The Park” though which I found very little joy in & still regard as Death Angel’s only real failure to this day. Somehow though, I managed to see past that blip & would purchase 1990’s “Act III” third album on cassette shortly after it was released which would coincide with my brother Ben getting into thrash metal quite nicely because “Act III” contained the sort of crossover appeal that could draw new listeners into the fold. It’s hard to tell how much of my affection for “Act III” is drawn from nostalgia for a simpler time these days though because those were certainly exciting years for the two of us as we discovered an endless run of classic metal releases in such a short period & would share the experience between us a lot of the time which brought us closer together. Still... going into this latest revisit I was fully expecting to be dishing out a solid four-star rating based on my memories of a strong & creative offering. Let’s see how that assumption stacked up now, shall we?

Where “Frolic Through The Park” was very much a failed attempt to break away from your standard thrash metal model, “Act III” sees Death Angel returning with a better understanding of what they were trying to achieve, this time giving the same concept a much better crack. The production & musicianship are excellent & the song-writing is more fluent & fully developed. While “Act III” is still very much a thrash metal album, it often doesn’t “feel” like one as it sees the band branching out into several disparate subgenres to great effect with funk/alternative metal & acoustic rock being the most prominent new directions. The vast majority of the tracks include riffs that clearly utilize the thrash template though which never lets you forget who you’re listening to. It’s a very consistent record with no weak tracks to speak of & Oseguado seems to have finally found his niche from a vocal perspective as I find him much more easily swallowed on this occasion. The lead guitar work is excellent too which is always a good thing for someone like me.

Opener “Seemingly Endless Time” is the fan favourite & with good reason as it’s a wonderfully catchy thrasher that kicks things off well. Interestingly though, it’s the funky alternative metal tracks “Discontinued” & album highlight “Stagnant” that I find to be the other standouts with Death Angel proving themselves to possess an uncanny knack for stretching their creative boundaries & writing catchy vocal hooks, often supported by well-placed gang vocals. Even the two ballads "Veil of Deception" & "A Room With a View" are pretty decent inclusions that I never feel like skipping. That being said though, I consistently found myself reaching out for that four-star rating I assumed I’d ultimately achieve this week but I never quite managed to grab onto it. At the end of the day, I just couldn’t find enough timeless metal classics to get it over the line, instead being left feeling generally positive without being overly enthused. This left me wondering if I’d simply overrated “Act III” back in the day due to the fact that I found it to be their most appealing album to the time & really wanted to love Death Angel like most thrashers.

I’m not sure about that but what I am sure about is that “Act III” is still Death Angel’s most complete record, even if I can see why some of your more hardened thrash fans might struggle with it a bit. I guess it’s saying something about my limited passion for the band that I can’t get my favourite Death Angel album up to a four-star rating but I think that’s an accurate reflection of where I sit with them actually. The Bay Area bands seemed to inevitably garner big props from the global scene but I’m not sure it was always based on merit with some of those artists not being any better than many others from around the globe. For those with a taste for a slightly different take of the Bay Area model though, I'd recommend having a bit of patience with "Act III" as there's some gold to be found if you can accept its conscious diversity.

3.5/5

OK, it's time to kick-off a new record in the 1971 debut album from Welsh trio Budgie which is arguably the heaviest of their 1970's releases. What do you think about opening track "Guts"? Metal or not?

It's certainly pretty heavy for the time but I'd suggest that it's more of a stoner rock tune than a metal one personally. It combines the influences of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin & Jimi Hendrix to great effect.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/438

Flotsam & Jetsam - "When The Storm Comes Down" (1990)

I purchased a cassette copy of the third album from these Arizona thrash metal legends shortly after release after having been a fan of Flotsam & Jetsam's 1986 debut album "Doomsday for the Deceiver" & (to a lesser extent) their 1988 sophomore album "No Place for Disgrace" during the previous year. I quite liked it too but it seems to have gone on to be known as somewhat of a disappointment by fans over time. That seems a little bit harsh in retrospect because "When The Storm Comes Down" is quite a serviceable thrash metal album as far as I can see. I can only assume that it's the slightly weak production job & the fact that it's more of a mid-paced thrash release than the band's first two records were that are the points of contention. Still... I'd argue that it doesn't sound all that different to the more highly regarded Testament & (particularly) Anthrax records of the time, only Eric AK's higher register voice sits somewhere between Rush's Geddy Lee & Dream Theater's James LaBrie rather than in a traditional thrash metal range. My opinion hasn't changed on this one. It's certainly a step down from the debut but I actually don't think it sits too far behind the often overrated "No Place for Disgrace" if I'm being honest so I can't understand the flack it cops at times.

3.5/5