Daniel's Forum Replies

The nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

It's with great pleasure that I announce that this Hall entry has been successfully passed by the community with a comprehensive vote result of 8 YES & 1 NO. As a result, it has been added the The Infinite under the Avant-Garde Metal genre & subgenre.

So we've finally followed through on our long-term intent to remove Nintendocore from the site with all releases that were previously tagged with the subgenre having been changed to Non-Metal or being left in their other subgenre(s).

I'd suggest that your summary of "Slowly We Rot" fits very well alongside my own feelings Sonny. I've always liked it but I've failed to reach the levels of adoration that so many death metal fans seem to have. "Cause Of Death" is light-years ahead of it as far as I'm concerned & hired gun James Murphy played a big role in my position on that. In much the same way as Death/Massacre axeman Rick Rozz, West's lead guitar work was always a little bit of a struggle for me. Those two are simply one-trick ponies who rely entirely on whammy-bar histrionics rather than melodic or technical highlights. Tardy's vocals are undeniably as unique as they are vicious & he's arguably the best exponent in all of death metal in my opinion so he really shone on the debut but I do think that "Slowly We Rot" sounded more like a collection of songs rather than a flowing album too. It's good but I don't think it's great. I actually prefer the more polished "The End Complete" to it pretty comfortably.

French blackgaze for fans of Jesu, Lantlôs & Sun Devoured Earth.

High quality progressive metal from Atlanta, USA.

Mastodon - "Blood Mountain" (2006)

Don't ask me why but despite being a hhhuuugggeee fan of the records either side of it for many years now I'd never gotten around to checking out the highly celebrated 2006 third album "Blood Mountain" from Atlanta-based progressive sludge masters Mastodon until yesterday. Mastodon have always been a class act so I didn't expect anything other than a polished & accomplished piece of art & there's no question that that's exactly what they've delivered here too. This album appears to be the point in which the band took a turn away from their sludge metal roots & pointed their ship directly towards the progressive metal stratosphere as it's a lot more technical & complex than I remember their earlier material being & I don't think it technically qualifies for sludge status any more either as that's only a small portion of the holistic direction that "Blood Mountain" sees the band taking with stoner elements popping up almost as often. The album offers the usual highlights from drummer Brann Dailor who was a complete phenomenon at this point while it also falls victim to Mastodon's obvious Achilles heal in the vocal department which places a cap on the album's potential to reach the upper eschalons of my affection. In order to make a genuinely classic record you need to be able to write classic hooks &, for all it's splendour in the instrumental department, I'm just not sure "Blood Mountain" offers enough catchiness & memorability to be able to stand toe-to-toe with amazing records like "Leviathan" & "Crack The Skye" in that department. Brent & Troy do their best with the tools at their disposal however neither have the vocal chops to make this consistently solid outing into a truly special one. Still... there are few that can match Mastodon for ambition & execution in the instrumental department & the effortlessness with which they perform complex melodic acrobatics is beyond criticism. You can't really go wrong here if you're a fan of professionally produced & performed progressive metal music.

For fans of Baroness, Dvne & Intronaut.

4/5

There's more than meets the ears, and you would find a lot more if you're a professional listener of experimental jazz/death metal/mathcore....

Quoted Shadowdoom9 (Andi)

There are professional listeners of experimental jazz/death metal/mathcore??? Where do I apply for one of these jobs?

Hahahaha.... Damaged & I have a very long history Andi. I adored them back in the early-to-mid 1990's & thrashed that E.P. to death. I would have seen them play live probably a dozen times too. One of the biggest fans of my band Neuropath  went on to become their vocalist shortly afterwards actually. They're one of the most infamous extreme metal bands in Australia's history but are rarely spoken of outside of our country. Their insane drummer Matt "Skitz" Sanders is an absolute legend of the local scene & has played for everyone that's anyone e.g. Abramelin, Hobbs Angel Of Death, Blood Duster, Destroyer 666, King Parrot, etc. Damaged don't fit comfortably into any single box as they really did have their own sound that cherry picked from numerous extreme genres. They're certainly nothing to do with the modern-day deathcore model but I can understand someone stretching that far to find a suitable box to chuck them in. I think deathgrind is a much better fit personally though.

I remember that Delirium record from my tape trading days. It wasn't too bad from memory but I can't say I've been drawn to return to it since. Off the top of my head I think I had it on a cassette with Paradise Lost's "Lost Paradise" actually.

Ben read somewhere that Sandoval was so obsessive about his skills & technique that the band played a joke on him by playing him a recording of a drum machine performing impossibly fast & precise blast beats, telling him it was a human doing it & ribbing him because he couldn't match it. Apparently he went away & practiced so hard that he came back & matched it which left them all completely gobsmacked.

"Altars Of Madness" was a life-changing moment for me. It quite literally changed my life & by the time "Blessed Are The Sick" hit the shelves Morbid Angel was my favourite band. It's without question the greatest death metal release of all in my opinion. 5/5

BTW who's your favourite OBG? Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson for me. 

I wouldn't say I have one to be honest Sonny. Having been raised in the height of 80's shred, I have to admit that I've always struggled a bit with the restrictive & repetitive nature of blues. It generally gives me a feeling of "heard-it-all-before" & I find myself wishing that they'd just cut loose by throwing their blues & pentatonic scales out the window for a while & exploring some more adventurous territory. For that reason I've always favoured the blues of your more modern & highly skilled guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughn or rock gods like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck. There's just something a lot more exciting about their take on it, at least there is for me personally.

As I said earlier, I've always enjoyed "The Spooky Gloom" although I don't think my attention was fully drawn across to the doom/death subgenre until I heard Winter's shortly afterwards. In saying that, it's been many years since Sempiternal Deathreign & I crossed paths so perhaps it's time to remedy that.

A short & blasting Californian grindcore anthem.

Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

A 13 minute blitzkrieg that combines blasting Napalm Death style grindcore with Entombed's "Wolverine Blues" then throws in a bit of d-beat, crust punk & sludge metal for good measure. "Unsilent Death" didn't do all that much for me at the time of release but my drastically improved score is a sure sign of the development in my taste for grindcore & hardcore punk in general over the last decade.

For fans of Full Of Hell, Dead In The Dirt & Trap Them.

4/5

Have just updated my top ten after submitting a genre tag vote on Terrorizer's "World Downfall" & realising that Nails' "Unsilent Death" needs to be in there somewhere:

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)

05. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

06. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

07. Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)

08. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

09. Napalm Death – “The Peel Sessions” (1987)

10. Napalm Death – “From Enslavement To Obliteration” (1988)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

John Lee Hooker - "Never Get Out Of The Blues Alive" (1972)

Felt like something different while I bathed the kids & cooked dinner tonight so I opted for the bluesiest blues in Bluestown.

Old-school death metal from Los Angeles, USA.

Sadistic Intent - "Ancient Black Earth" E.P. (1997)

As most diehard extreme metal fans will know, there’s a rare & highly desirable brand of metal that is destined to forever bubble away beneath the service of the underground scene, leaving its blackened mark on only a chosen few who share knowing nods in dark, smoky dungeons of metal worship without ever daring to give up their unholy secret to those deemed to be unworthy. This particular brand of metal isn’t about glossy production jobs, technical prowess or pushing genres into previously untraversed territories. It’s about presenting extreme metal in it’s most evil & primal form & generally resides within the confines of the unholy trio of extreme metal subgenres i.e. thrash metal, death & black metal. The exact ratio of an artist’s composition isn’t important but it dare not step outside of those three. Additionally, there needs to be an element of mystery about the artist in question with much left to the listener’s imagination. It also helps a lot if these artists have never released an album but existed for just a relatively short time, releasing only a few crude demos, 7 inches or limited edition EPs so that the audience can always be left wondering what could have been & if the most pure realization of metal should stay in the underground forever. Sadistic Intent is one of these acts & I love them all the more for it.

I first discovered this underground Los Angeles death metal outfit back in the early 1990’s through the tape trading scene. From memory I found their 1990 “Impending Doom…” E.P. to be pretty interesting but it wouldn’t be until their 1994 “Resurrection” E.P. that they’d really get me raising an eyebrow or two with their talent for creating raw, dark & authentic old school death metal falling right in line with my musical preference at the time. I followed them onwards in the hope that I’d eventually see a full-length album being released at some stage. I’m glad I didn’t hold my breath because that’s still yet to eventuate but they did manage to release another excellent E.P. before drifting out of my sight in 1997’s highly regarded three-track effort “Ancient Black Earth”.

To cut to the chase, Sadistic Intent are a pure death metal band in the traditional sense of the term. They don’t provide a good imitation of late 80’s death metal here. "Ancient Black Earth" IS late 80’s death metal. It’s just that it was written, recorded & released in 1997. See what I’m getting at? These dudes simply get it. They understand what’s required to create a genuine old-school death metal atmosphere as they’ve clearly lived it. This sort of approach has become somewhat of a trend over the last decade or so & has seen lesser bands elevated to much higher levels of acclaim & fandom than Sadistic Intent can ever hope to achieve. They really are their own worst enemies as not releasing a full-length is never a great marketing ploy but one gets the feeling that they don't really care. The quality of their material however is very hard to deny.

It won’t take you long to figure out who Sadistic Intent were listening to around 1989. I’ll give you a hint. They start with “M” & end with “orbid Angel”. Ya with me? The short 16 minute duration of the “Ancient Black Earth” E.P. sounds almost exactly like “Altars Of Madness” & “Blessed Are The Sick” at times which certainly can’t be a bad thing now, can it? Are they as good as Trey & co? Well… in a word no but then who is? I mean “Altars Of Madness” is the still the greatest death metal release of all time in my opinion so I’ll take whatever I can get. Very few artists have been able to accurately replicate the riff structures that Trey Azagthoth created back in Morbid Angel's hey day but Rick Cortez & Vince Cervera make a really good fist of it here & even do a pretty decent job at the insanely chaotic guitar solos too even though they’re not in the same league as far as technical ability goes. The blast beats at the start & end of the title track (my personal fave) sound like they’ve been torn straight from Morbid Angel’s “Blasphemy” & I frankly lose my shit when that happens. Then you toss in some super-evil yet easily intelligible Dave Vincent-style death growls of pure darkness & I’m 100% in… hook, line & sinker. There are also a few riffs tossed in that remind me more of the early 90’s Swedish death metal sound but they’re very well done & still manage to maintain a blasphemous & undeniably evil atmosphere.

If you’re a fan of 80’s & early 90’s death metal then you probably owe it to yourself to give this E.P. a spin or four. “Ancient Black Earth” provides categorical proof that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make high quality extreme metal. Sadistic Intent deliver on their promise with passion, substance & an unquestionable pedigree & in doing so prove themselves worthy of standing alongside their idols. This is underground death metal of a very high quality.

For fans of Morbid Angel, Repugnant & Mortem.

4/5

So unfortunately I picked up COVID at our sales conference in Melbourne last week. The wife has been away in Sydney for work since Friday morning too so I've been running solo with the kids which has been an additional challenge. She'll be back tomorrow morning thankfully.

Dying Fetus - "Reign Supreme" (2012)

Maryland-based brutal death metal trio Dying Fetus have been on my radar since the very beginning of their recording career when I first picked up on their 1993 demo tape “Bathe In Entrails” through the tape trading scene. They represented one of a fairly limited list of bands that were taking a more brutal approach to the standard death metal model, a sound that I was very much looking for at the time & one that I obsessed over to an extent too. But over the years I’ve found Dying Fetus to be a bit of an underachiever given their reputation & credentials if I’m being honest. They’re certainly amazing live & I’ve been lucky enough to experience them on a number of occasions, including the tour to support this particular record. But their albums often leave me feeling like I enjoy the idea of Dying Fetus more than the reality & there’s a number of reasons for that that we’ll explore here.

The now to kick things off, let me be clear that 2012’s seventh full-length “Reign Supreme” may be Dying Fetus’ finest work. It possesses all of the things that they’ve made their signature over the last few decades & presents it in a very attractive, well-produced & stunningly executed package. Even the cover art is arguably their best. In fact, when viewing the band's credentials on paper anyone that knows me would immediately peg them for a band that’d be right up my alley & justifiably so but there are a few minor quibbles that I have with Dying Fetus’ approach that always seem to get in the way of my affections transitioning from “like” to “love”. The first is their undying fascination with needless technicality. “Reign Supreme” certainly isn’t their most technical record but you can still find pointless scale runs & sweep picking exercises positioned inside their riffs that offer little in the way of artistic value & are clearly intended to showcase the band's technical skills. This approach unfortunately comes at the cost of a little song-writing integrity in my opinion. The second thing is that some of their slower, slammier stuff tends to be a little bit… I dunno… unintelligent? I guess I find some of the structures to be pretty basic & unimaginative at times.

On the positive side though, the musicianship on display here is wonderful, particularly the drumming of Trey Williams who is the very definition of the human metronome. He’s almost too precise to be believable at times & you’ll fairly find someone with more controlled blast beats that are so perfectly synchronized with his machine-gun double kick work. The dual vocal attack of John Gallagher & Sean Beasley is truly monstrous too & should go down a treat with the vast majority of death metal fans. As usual, there’s a noticeable New York hardcore influence incorporated into some of the more crunchy mid-tempo riffs which is somewhat of a trademark for the band & is a major contributor to the band’s live appeal. This gives Dying Fetus a bit of a deathgrind feel at times. You’ll also see the odd thrashy section thrown in here & there, particularly on “In the Trenches” which presents a clear Slayer influence. And don’t forget the old-school death metal bits that Dying Fetus have never been averse to including either. I guess you could say they have many strings to their bow but they all combine to produce a sound that’s well-defined & easily identifiable after all these years.

Overall though, I can’t deny that I come away from “Reign Supreme” feeling a touch disappointed as it doesn’t really live up to the hype around it being one of the elite brutal death metal releases. It won’t see you reaching for the skip button or anything but it doesn’t really fulfill its potential either. Most of the songs have strong sections but they rarely manage to fully capitalize on them by producing a genuinely classic death metal track. Instead you’re left with an enjoyable record that fails to see Dying Fetus elevated to the top tier of their field.

For fans of Suffocation, Nile & Deeds Of Flesh.

3.5/5

My review of "Severed Survival":

Most death metal fans know the story. 18 year-old drummer Chris Reifert joins seminal death metal legends Death in San Francisco in 1986 before taking part in the recording of one of the most important records in the creation of the death metal genre in 1987’s “Scream Bloody Gore”. Death band leader Chuck Schuldiner then decides to move back to Florida & gives Chris the option to relocate. Chris elects to stay in San Francisco & forms another one of the classic old-school death metal bands in Autopsy in August 1987. 1988’s “Critical Madness” demo sees the band signing with UK crust punk label Peaceville Records for the recording of their seminal 1989 debut album “Severed Survival” & the world rejoices. It’s somewhat of a fairytale for a number of reasons really. I mean for every band that goes on to critical & commercial success you’ll find a slew of failed musicians that fell by the wayside never to be heard from again & it’s actually quite rare to see this sort of success story (although there are definite parallels to the Dave Mustaine one with Metallica & Megadeth). And for Peaceville, it would be a change of musical direction that would quickly lead to the creation of a viable full-time business & one that is still going strong a full three decades later. But is “Severed Survival” all that it’s cracked up to be? Let’s find out.

The recording of Autopsy’s debut full-length would be a joint effort with Peaceville bringing in Metal Church guitarist John Marshall to co-produce the record at Starlight Sound Studios in California in January 1989. Marshall had previously produced not only Metal Church’s “Blessing In Disguise” record but also Sadus’ 1988 debut full-length “Illusions” so when Autopsy bassist Ken Sorvari made himself unavailable for the recording of the album for personal reasons, the now legendary Sadus bass virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio was drafted in to complete the recordings as a hired gun. I think it’s probably fair to say that Steve had no idea of just how prominent a role he would play in the way that Autopsy’s album would sound at the time.

The “Severed Survival” album would be released on 24th April 1989 & would sport some grisly cover artwork that depicted an image of some poor soul being torn limb from limb by a number of metallic hooks. Autopsy’s moniker would be displayed in what looked like raw meat which would be a further indication of the depraved sounds you were likely to hear within. It’s a fairly cheap looking effort it has to be said & later re-releases would see it replaced with a much more impressive illustration of some zombified surgeons peering down into the eyes of some unfortunate patient. I greatly prefer the look & feel of the re-release as it looks much more glossy & professional which would see it competing quite well in the extreme metal market environment of the time which saw every band & their dog coming up with increasingly attractive images of pure darkness.

The sound that was captured for the “Severed Survival” album was unlike anything the underground metal scene had heard before & it would go on to become a signature sound for Autopsy throughout their career. It was much sludgier & substantially less precise than most 80’s metal with a huge emphasis being placed on creating a genuinely disturbing atmosphere of death & torture that’s not too dissimilar to the image shown on the original release of the album. In fact, "Severed Survival" legitimately sounds like you’re inside the twisted mind of a serial killer in that it exudes an unsettling feeling of impending doom throughout. In order to achieve this, Marshall & the band have opted for a much sloppier & looser feel than most metal bands of the time were going for & in hindsight it was a stroke of genius. The drums were tuned quite loosely to give the toms & kick drum a deep tub-thumpin’ sound while DiGiorgio’s bass guitar would be elevated right to the front of the mix to provide additional emphasis to Autopsy’s already crushing riffs which were presented with a very distinctive & fuzzy rhythm guitar sound. The guitar solos of Eric Cutler & Danny Coralles seer over the top of the rhythm tracks thanks to a heavily filtered tone that was likely achieved with a stationary wah pedal if I’m not mistaken. Truth be told, it’s a really great sound for death metal & I don’t doubt that it was one of the primary reasons that “Severed Survival” would go on to be so successful for Autopsy.

Musically, Autopsy also offered the death metal community something a little different. The basis of their style was built on the “Scream Bloody Gore” model of old-school death metal that Reifert had played such a strong part in creating only Autopsy were a lot less sophisticated than peers like Morbid Angel, Pestilence or Death. There’s a much punkier vibe going on here than anything we’d hear from those bands & I put a lot of that down to Reifert’s drumming. I probably should have mentioned it earlier but Chris is one of the rare metal drummers that also handles the lead vocal duties & I’d suggest that his signature style is the logical outcome of that arrangement as it’s fairly simple. His best work invariably occurs when he goes for a more tribal feel during Autopsy’s doomier moments but I have to admit that his more up-beat & punk-driven beats are a bit of a let-down for me personally. They’re just not my thing particularly. I much prefer Autopsy’s strong use of slow dirge-like doom metal riffs with bands like Black Sabbath & Trouble clearly having made a substantial impression on the band. In fact, it can easily be argued that “Severed Survival” is the true birthplace of the doom/death subgenre as it’s such a major component of what makes Autopsy so appealing. I absolutely love the crushingly heavy & suffocating darkness in these parts & it’s the uneasiness it leaves the listener feeling that makes it so appropriate for a band whose lyrical themes are so heavily centred around serial killers. When you stick in the occasional off-beat arrangement with clever transitions & some very twisted lead harmonies you’re left with one beast of a death metal sound.

The performance of Steve DiGiorgio isn’t one of his most challenging & experimental but he certainly adds an additional layer to Autopsy’s already disturbing sound. His bass work is truly punishing & I particularly enjoy his use of bass chords at key moments which makes for something a little different. I’d highly recommend that you make sure you have a decent set of speakers before giving “Severed Survival” a spin though as you could be in for a rude shock otherwise. Cutler & Coralles show off some decent chops during their solos however I do think that there’s a little bit of a lack of ambition in their faster solos which tend go for a huge flurry of notes without really saying all that much. Their slower lead work is much more interesting as their note-selection can be quite unnerving at times.

Reifert’s vocals were always going to be a talking point because there’s been very little restraint shown in his approach. I wouldn’t say that he goes for your classic death metal grunt. His performance here sounds more like the crazed bellows & barks of an emotionally tortured & psychologically twisted serial killer. It’s almost like he’s too embarrassed for people to decipher the storylines he’s subjecting us to because I’ll be damned if he isn’t intentionally trying to make his language less intelligible. I have to admit that I don’t love his delivery & I’ve often wondered what Autopsy could have achieved with a full-time front man but it’s definitely worth dwelling on Chris’ sick, gore-soaked lyrical content for a minute because “Severed Survival” would be the record that would kick off a generation of subsequent death metal bands working predominantly with a palate of disgusting & offensive filth…. in a good way of course! Some may say that we’re better off for not being able to understand what Reifert’s saying & one look at the lyrics should tell you very quickly which side of the fence you fall on.

Ultimately I’m always left with mixed feelings about “Severed Survival” & it’s been that way since I first encountered it back in 1989/90. I love Autopsy’s swampy sound & the authentic atmosphere of pure death it pervades. They really did create something very original there & their talent for writing the eeriest doom metal riffs imaginable leaves me wishing that they would have taken that direction in more of a full-time capacity just the once so that I could see what it might have amounted to. Unfortunately, I just don’t find their bouncier up-tempo material even half as appealing & almost every track sees some glorious doom material being tarnished by one or two lethargic & unintimidating punk-driven beats. The overall result is that whilst I enjoy almost every track on “Severed Survival”, I very rarely LOVE any of these tracks. It’s only really “Charred Remains” & “Ridden With Disease” that manage to overcome this issue & for this reason I find this release to be the very epitome of a 3.5/5 release by my rating system. I’m not sure I’d say that “Severed Survival” is overrated. The influence it's so clearly had on a band like Carcass is undeniable so I think it's more just a matter of it not quite fitting in with my comfort zone despite being a generally rewarding listen.

For fans of: Asphyx, Abscess, Pungent Stench.

3.5/5

Angelo Badalamenti - "Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack" (2017)

The beautifully deep soundtrack to a wonderful David Lynch TV series. It's not all amazing but the highlights are utterly sublime.

Gorillaz - "Demon Days" (2005)

Despite numerous attempts, I've quite seen the attraction to this highly regarded sophomore album from London-based art pop/trip hop outfit Gorillaz & that's still the case. I guess it's just a little bit quirky for my taste.

It was a very solid month of feature releases with no duds for me this month. Predictably I absolutely loved the two releases that I personally submitted (i.e. the Hate & Thorns records) with both records already residing in my Hall of Metal Glory for many years. I've always loved "Intrinsic" too although I've dropped my rating by a half star this time around. The Ritual Carnage album was an old favourite too but the Car Bomb record was my biggest discovery of the month. I was also very pleased with the result of my System Of the Down experiment & will be returning to that one. The Onirik, Internal Void & Ambush albums possibly didn't impress me as much as they have others but they all offered enough to keep me interested so well done everyone!

Here's the list of releases in order of preference:

THE HORDE: Hate - "Erebos" (2010)  4.5/5

THE SPHERE: Thorns - "Thorns" (2001)  4.5/5

THE INFINITE: The Contortionist - "Intrinsic" (2012)  4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Car Bomb - "Mordial" (2019)  4/5

THE PIT: Ritual Carnage - "Every Nerve Alive" (2000)  4/5

THE GATEWAY: System Of A Down - "Mezmerize" (2005)  4/5

THE NORTH: Onirik - "The Fire Cult Beyond Eternity" (2020)  3.5/5

THE FALLEN: Internal Void - "Standing On The Sun" (1992)  3.5/5

THE GUARDIANS: Ambush - "Firestorm" (2014)  3.5/5

"Testimony Of The Ancients" was a hhuuggee record for Ben & I. It's a genuine death metal classic & is Pestilence's best work for mine. Can't say I've ever regarded it as technical death metal though. I think it falls into a similar space to "Human" i.e. it offers a more sophisticated version of the classic death metal model with hints of the progressive direction that was to be fully realized on their record.

A building, punky alternative rock journey with fantastic hooks from California's massively popular System Of A Down.

It's funny how a record with such energy & vitality can divide opinions on it's individual components yet elicit a similar overall response, isn't it? I'm hardly a die-hard System Of A Down fan as I'd only ever heard their classic 2001 sophomore album "Toxicity" prior to digging my teeth into this month's feature release. I really enjoyed "Toxicity" though. It was a very strong album & this one is too. Perhaps not quite as strong as it's older sibling but I've rated it the same nonetheless. Let's just say that "Toxicity" was a strong 4/5 while "Mezmerize" has just snuck over the line for that rating by the barest of margins.

"Mezmerize" starts off a little slowly for me as the first three tracks were mildly enjoyable without ever really threatening to hit my sweet spot. It's only when SOAD embrace their hardcore side a bit that I start to see my pulse rate increasing rapidly. I actually really dig the two short gimmick songs in "Cigaro" & "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm on This Song", both of which worked to super-charge my experience. I couldn't give a toss about the lyrical direction. It's more about the electricity & urgency they bring to the table. "Violent Pornography" is the only let-down across the tracklisting for me as it's simply too quirky & accessible for my taste but I love the Tool-ish progressive approach of "Question!", the strong alternative metal stylings of "Sad Statue" & especially the lengthier alternative rock builder "Lost in Hollywood" whose hooks really dug in & made it my album highlight. The production job is very much situated in the hardcore space with plenty of mid-range in the guitars & I think this works to the band's benefit as It adds to the chaotic nature of the arrangements & gives the avant-garde vocal approach a better grounding. The occasional Faith No More style clean sections usually aren't my cup of tea when taken in isolation but within the context of the rapid-fire song-structures they work to nicely break up the record.

In many ways I really shouldn't enjoy this album as much as I do because I usually recoil from humour in my metal but System Of A Down have a funny way of nudging you in the ribs enough times with a silly "Eh?" look on their face that you eventually turn around & laugh along with them despite trying hard not to. That's a rare talent because it's so easy to end up on the wrong side of that equation. The fanaticism of the SOAD fanbase is often overwhelming (particularly in the USA) but it's nice to occasionally be reminded that there's a fair bit of merit behind it.

For fans of Faith No More, Dir en Grey & Twelve Foot Ninja.

4/5

"Human" is very much a transition album in my opinion. It marks the point at which conventional death metal & progressive death metal meet & is the perfect artistic statement within the confines of extreme metal. As a result I regard it as one of the elite examples of extreme metal but I've never felt that it fit under the technical death metal banner. 5/5

It's interesting that the terms "technical death metal" & "progressive death metal" have been used pretty interchangeably over the last few days because in my mind they're different things that aren't mutually exclusive. A progressive record doesn't have to be technical & a technical record doesn't have to be progressive. Unfortunately the way we've structured the MA database doesn't make this clear. For example, "Symbolic", "Unquestionable Presence" & "Focus" aren't consciously technical & don't warrant the tag in my opinion. The technique is a by-product of the creative ambition on display & is used as a tool but it's not the end goal. This is in line with the progressive rock model. For bands like Nile, Nocturnus, Spawn Of Possession, Cryptopsy & Suffocation though there's been a conscious decision to make their riff structures complex but those artists don't feel as overtly progressive i.e. cerebral, experimental & spacey. It's simply about challenging themselves from a technique point of view more than it is an atmospheric & creative one. The same can be said for the technical thrash metal subgenre which is used just as poorly. The early Coroner records are a prime example of "technical thrash metal" as they rarely feel progressive but are trying very hard to push the boundaries of thrash technique. Coroner's 90's albums are a different kettle of fish though because they're more subtle about the technical wizardry & remove the boundaries of thrash metal to enable them to reach a truly progressive outcome. Vektor is another band that's actually far more progressive than they are technical so it’s never seemed right that the sole use of the technical thrash metal tag kept them away from The Infinite. Long-term I'd like to see us moving towards a model whereby the "technical" death & thrash releases are kept separate from the genuinely "progressive" ones & are maintained solely in The Horde & The Pit with the "progressive" ones having a dual membership of The Infinite. In order to do that we need to develop a clear strategy for how we handle the different types of releases.

I would say "Piece Of Time" is more like Technical Death/Thrash as I actually think there's more thrash than there is death. It was still a work is progress too in my opinion as Atheist didn't wouldn't really arrive at their destination until "Unquestionable Presence". I've always really enjoyed "Piece Of Time" however I've never thought of it as a genuine classic. 4/5

"Unquestionable Presence" is much more progressive & ambitious & should be essential listening for all fans of extreme progressive metal. The production job is the clear weakness but the song-writing & execution is good enough to overcome that flaw pretty easily. 4.5/5

DJ Rolando - "The Aztec Mystic Mix" (1999)

A 72 minute Detroit techno DJ mix that focuses on the Underground Resistance label & associated artists. It's warm & soulful like all good Detroit techno should be. I really enjoyed it.

Piece of Time and Human are up next in my list, for more of that tech-death experimentation!

I'll be interested to see whether you actually think "Human" should qualify for Technical/Progressive Death Metal status Andi.

Out of interest, I thought I'd check which of the nine bands we've awarded feature release status to this month appear on Metal Archives &, as usual, I found myself feeling an element of shock at the outcome with System Of A Down, The Contortionist & Car Bomb all being deemed to not be metal enough for inclusion. Love 'em or hate 'em, all three artists are clearly metal bands, are they not? I really don't think that's in dispute, is it? Anyway.... I don't want to start a bitch-fest about the opposition. Their poor decision making in this regard just continues to baffle me & I felt I had to express it.

*end rant*

Dark & brooding, Judas Priest-worshipping Swedish heavy metal.

I hadn't heard much about Swedish heavy/speed metallers Ambush coming into their 2014 debut album "Firestorm" so I didn't have too many expectations although the obviously retro cover artwork & band logo certainly gave me a hint of what was in store. My first listen was a little tainted by the fact that I popped the record on immediately after listening to Japanese thrashers Ritual Carnage who are obviously a lot more extreme & are also far closer to my musical comfort zone which left "Firestorm" sounding very tame indeed by comparison. A couple of additional spins saw me shedding those initial impressions & finding myself in a better position to treat the album on its merit & I ended up quite enjoying "Firestorm" although it's very hard to ignore the fact that if you didn't know any better you'd swear it was 1978-1982 period Judas Priest. I mean I've rarely heard a more accurate emulation of a band's sound & I feel that there's very little doubt that this was the ambition here. Ambush's sound is perfectly constructed for the task though as they've got that authentic early 80's guitar tone down pat & leave plenty of space in the accessible song structures in order to enhance the melodic hooks & well constructed song structures. Front man Oskar Jacobsson has really spun me out because he's nailed absolutely every nuance of Rob Halford's delivery here. In fact, even Rob's own mother wouldn't know it wasn't him in all honesty.

The tracklisting starts off very nicely with four strong efforts but it does threaten to lose steam through the middle with a couple of flat cowbell-driven choruses hinting at commercial hard rock (see "Close My Eyes" & "Molotov Cocktail"). Thankfully Ambush manage to pick it up again fairly quickly before dropping the ball again with comfortably the weakest track on the album in the very ordinary closer "Natural Born Killers" but overall there's enough high quality heavy metal here to keep me interested, particularly the two highlight tracks in the very "Exciter"-esque opener "Firestorm" & the dark & brooding "Master Of Pain" (my personal favourite). For those of you looking for speed metal, I wouldn't get your hopes up because Accept-worshipping "Don't Shoot (Let' Em Burn)" is really the only genuine example of that sound included here & I'd encourage you all to vote that genre tag down on the release page. I'm afraid the modern metal scene seems to have a very hard time understanding how to identify speed metal with far too many people throwing the label at anything with palm-muted tremolo-picking. I agree with Vinny's review statements about the lead guitar work as it's always welcome but isn't utilized as often as I would like. I'd also suggest that a shreddier modern approach would have been nice there too rather than simply trying to emulate a more restrained late 70's solo every time. Still... this was a pretty fun first-up effort from Ambush & if you live for early 80's Priest then you'll undoubtedly lap it up.

For fans of Judas Priest, Accept & Riot.

3.5/5

Yeah, I really enjoyed those first two Atrocity albums back in the day. I picked them up through tape trading but you're right that they kinda slipped under most people's radars. They actually influenced the direction I was taking with my own music with Neuropath in the mid-90's to an extent as I can vividly remember trying to come up with similar riff structures after binging one those two albums. Unfortunately I completely gave up on Atrocity after hearing bits of their terrible third album "Blut" & haven't dared try anything they've done after that.

Portishead - "Dummy" (1994)

Elite-level trip hop from Bristol, UK. One of my all-time favourite records. Spectacular & life-changing!

5/5

I just finished blasting this playlist while working out on the floor in front of the kids (yes the missus is away) & I've gotta say that I fucking loved it. The Firebreather, Mares of Thrace, MonumentuM, Bismuth, Electric Wizard, Type O Negative, Hangman's Chair & The Ruins of Beveerast tracks are all mind-blowing. The Down, Mar de Grises, Isole, Ard, Profetus & Ufomammut tracks are really solid too. The Obsidian Sea & Acid Bath songs were probably the ones that I enjoyed the least which is mainly due to the inclusion of some groovier riffs but I still quite like them. The balance of known tracks with underground ones is excellent, as is the mix of subgenres. This is about as good a playlist as I've heard to be honest.

"The Key" was played to death in our household during the early 90's & was somewhat of a classic for Ben & I. It's been a while since I've listened to it but I suspect that I may not rate it as highly as I once did. Browning's vocal skills were never the best & the technicality in the riffs was sometimes more like a practice exercise than any form of artistic expression. Despite the obvious inclusion of keyboards as an equal contributor for arguably the first time in a death metal band, Mike Davis' lead guitar work was the most prominent element of Nocturnus' sound in my opinion. Perhaps it's just the old shredder in me because the dude has ridiculous chops & showcases them in a really fresh & exciting way. He was a big influence on me & by the end of Neuropath's playing career I'd started to look at ways to incorporate something similar. Anyway... "The Key" is a high quality death metal album alright. I've noticed that they're playing gigs again these days so maybe there's some more recorded material in the works too.

"Serpent Temptation" was a big record for me during my early tape trading days. I hadn't thought about it for many years until Ben checked it out randomly a couple of years ago & reminded me about it. I need to give it a proper revisit some time soon.

I got into Bolt Thrower through their 1989 sophomore album "Realm Of Chaos" which I found to be a really solid piece of English death metal. When I ventured back to check out "In Battle There Is No Law" a short time later it sounded a little weak in comparison but over time I came really enjoy it. Perhaps not as much as it's follow-up but it's a very solid record in it's own right, particularly for the time. It's been decades since I heard it now though so it's also overdue for a revisit.

"Leprosy" was my introduction to death metal some time in the first half of 1989, a moment that I regard as a pivotal time in my life. I was a total thrasher at the time & I'm not gonna say that I rated "Leprosy" as highly as the thrash classics like "Reign In Blood", "...And Justice For All", "Bonded By Blood", "Beneath The Remains", etc. but it was certainly a very strong offering which I got a ton of enjoyment out of & it definitely opened me up to the classics that would grace my ears over the next couple of years & redirect my future into more extreme territories forever. 4/5

"Wolverine Blues" is the very definition of divisive. "Clandestine" (5/5) was an absolutely huge record for me personally. In fact, I still regard it as the most perfect example of the Swedish death metal sound to this day so I was seriously looking forward to the follow-up. When I first heard "Wolverine Blues" I didn't really know what to make of it at first. A few repeat listens saw it opening up significantly though & showed it be something very consistent,  altogether new & surprisingly catchy. These days I not only still regard it as the best death 'n' roll record I've ever heard but I actually prefer it to Entombed's legendary debut album "Left Hand Path" (3.5/5) which I've always found to be a touch overrated. Would I have preferred "Clandestine Part 2"? Shit yeah I would but this is not a bad record by any stretch of the imagination. It's just not something that I find myself reaching for all that often which is simply a matter of taste more than anything else.

3.5/5

Well, Daniel, I gave The Sound of Perseverance a listen and review, and what you said is about Death's switching to a more traditional progressive sound is quite accurate. I sense a judgement submission coming on! Anyway, both Death albums I've reviewed show the band's progressive death metal/deathly progressive metal side they had in their last years of activity while influential in expanding the prominence of melodeath and tech-death for newer rising legions to appear. I think after I listen to one more album from a different band that isn't melodeath but planted a seed for other bands in the same country to popularize the genre, it would be time to start the tech-death history leg of my journey....

Andi, I noticed in your "The Sound Of Perseverance" review that you commented on how a large percentage of Death's audience hated the album due to the increased progressive component. I think it's worth clarifying that Chuck had been going that way for a good four albums by that point so we all knew what to expect & those that had a problem with it had already gotten off-board the train by 1998. The musical direction of "The Sound Of Perseverance" was generally well received in my experience (even if it wasn't exactly death metal any more) but there was certainly a portion of Death's fanbase that had trouble with the change in vocal style (myself included) & that was the major stumbling block for most detractors along with the very ordinary cover version of "Painkiller" you mentioned. I think "Heartwork" was the more divisive record of the two for old school fans though as it represented a more sudden & drastic change in style. There are still a truckload of death metal fans that claim that Carcass split up after "Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious".

Indeed probably the one album melodic death metal wouldn't have existed without, though not reaching the style of melodeath I'm used to while still enjoyable. My thoughts:

Heartwork is probably the album where Carcass was the most dedicated. They began demoing this album as early as during their tour for the less melodic Necroticism, even playing their new songs on tour. Much of the recording time was wasted finding the right guitar tone and the right ideas from their producer Colin Richardson. Things were going down to Hell for the people working on the album. With all that trouble going on, Carcass was still determined to get things right in order to reach higher lengths. In the end, they've made an offering that the world would recognize as a game-changing classic to this day! I would never disagree with this album's melodic death metal legend status, but to be honest, it's not the most melodic melodeath album I've heard. The Maiden-like melodic harmonies that really make the genre, but that's a small step Carcass was missing here. The melodic harmonies in this album are mostly in just passages and solos, the latter not sounding as perfect as in Gothenburg bands. Mike Amott performed them slightly better in Arch Enemy that would've crystallized Bill Steer's standard riffing and groove here. Still there's often a great amount of harmonies that would give later death metal bands the idea to add more melody than brutality, and it's quite an impressive achievement of a lifetime for this band. Where there any other bands before Carcass and the Gothenburg crew that started adding melody to an extreme genre with extreme lyrics? I think not! However, At the Gates who would make an album two years later that would inspire melodic metalcore bands to rise. In the meantime, enjoy the original melodeath work!

4.5/5

Here's my review of "Heartwork" from eons ago:

A really well-defined sound. I must admit that I was initially hesitant when I bought this back in 1993 as I was a huge fan of their previous material & this was clearly heading in another direction altogether. Ultimately I couldn't deny that the catchy song-writing & cleaner production had a brand new appeal all of their own though. I still definitely prefer the previous two albums but find "Heartwork" to be a really enjoyable & professional experience. Jeff's vocals are superb throughout. As are the guitar solos. I think it's probably a little restrained to get a higher mark out of me & it does tend to flatten out a little bit in the back end in my opinion. I saw them play live on the "Heartwork" tour & this material worked brilliantly in a live environment. 4/5

I agree with you that it's not in line with the modern understanding of the melodic death metal subgenre which is built more around accessible Iron Maiden style lead guitar harmonies. Perhaps that's why I regard it as highly as I do despite struggling with a lot of melodeath. Interestingly Andi, "Heartwork" wasn't instantly accepted by the death/grind community. It took a little time to come to terms with. It did however open up a new fan base for Carcass outside of the extreme metal scene through the newly found accessibility & song-writing sensibilities. Interestingly, my band Neuropath were a bee's dick away from scoring the support slot for Carcass' Sydney leg of the "Heartwork" tour. Despite the fact that "Heartwork" was a big success for the band though, I still saw them in a half empty pub in the middle of the day on that tour which puts extreme metal success into perspective. It's also worth noting that there were other European bands experimenting with a more melodic death metal sound a little earlier than "Heartwork" (see At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Sentenced, Eucharist, Unanimated, Horrified, Loudblast, etc.) so I do think the subgenre would have existed without Carcass. It may just have taken a little more time to gain traction.

Japanese thrash metal for fans of Slayer, Kreator & Morbid Saint.

I'm sure you already know what I think of this release without having to wait for my synopsis Ben as it's clearly right up my alley. I first encountered this Japanese thrash metal outfit on the tail end of my tape trading years through their debut album "The Highest Law" & seem to recall that it took up the B-side of a cassette that had Witchery's "Restless & Dead" album on the other side if I'm not mistaken. I remember quite liking it although I don't think it commanded too many replays after the first few listens. It was enough to have me flicking through this sophomore album when I returned to metal in 2009 though & I found "Every Nerve Alive" to more than satisfy my thrash metal itch by well & truly living up to its title. I haven't returned to it since for one reason or another but needless to say that I'm very glad I have now because this record poses a strong challenge to Sabbat in regard to the Japanese thrash crown.

You won't find anything too original here. In fact, you'll regularly find yourself picking out riffs that have been copped from Slayer, Kreator or Dark Angel albums but the material is played with conviction & authenticity throughout & it's clear that Ritual Carnage have a deep understanding of the classic thrash metal ethos. Despite many people online wanting to tag "Every Nerve Alive" as death/thrash there really isn't much death metal here apart from one section of "Escape From the Light" which reminds me very much of Bolt Thrower. The vocals are certainly gruff but I don't think that overcomes the fact that musically Ritual Carnage rarely stray from the thrash metal blueprint. They admittedly champion a pretty brutal thrash sound though & one that draws equally from the more extreme US bands & the rawer Teutonic scene. Closing track "Far East Aggressors" is the only track that deviates from that model much, instead opting for a more simplistic attempt at speed metal & unfortunately failing in this endeavor but I really dig the rest of "Every Nerve Alive" with "Death, Judgement, Fate" being the clear highlight & representing a truly classic Japanese thrash metal track in its own right. Despite some pretty cool guitar solos, the riff structures & drumming can often sound a little basic but if you enjoy the more extreme end of thrash then you can do a lot worse than "Every Nerve Alive".

For fans of Slayer, Kreator & Morbid Saint.

4/5

P.S. Has anyone heard the subsequent Ritual Carnage albums? I've never ventured further forward than this up until now. Are they worth checking out?

I'm not denying that there will be some similarities Andi as Carcass were big fans of Death & Chuck's later material still held some level of resemblance to his early 90's work. I've just never heard anything about "Heartwork" being the influence for Chuck to go in the direction he already seemed to be going. I'm happy to be proven wrong there though if you've got some evidence to the contrary. Other than the vocals, I actually don't think "The Sound of Perseverance" is a death metal record at all to tell you the truth. Chuck was clearly trying to transform Death into a more traditional progressive metal band at that point & the Control Denied record proves it beyond any doubt.

I'm interested to know where did you heard of the Death connection Andi? It doesn't sound right to me. It's far more likely that Death inspired Carcass to go in a more melodic direction than the other way around. The Carcass boys absolutely worshipped Death in their early years & Chuck's trajectory was already well & truly moving in a more melodic & progressive direction on 1991's "Human" & 1993's "Individual Thought Patterns", both of which were released before "Heartwork". "Symbolic" was pretty much a further expansion on "Individual Thought Patterns" too. I know Chuck really liked Carcass but I'm pretty sure that his inspiration to go in a more melodic direction came from his passion for heavy/power/progressive metal bands like Sortilege, Helstar, Warlord, Agent Steel, etc. The melodeath sound was well-defined & very popular before "Symbolic" & "The Sound of Perseverance" came out so I've never felt the urge to link those records to the subgenre.

For the record, I've never felt comfortable with any of Death's albums being referred to as "technical death metal". "Progressive death metal" is a far more accurate description as they're not consciously technical in my opinion. Expansive & adventurous? Sure!