Daniel's Forum Replies

Demolition Hammer - "Tortured Existence" (1990)

The debut album from New York thrash metallers Demolition Hammer is very highly regarded in the underground scene & for good reason. This four-piece from The Bronx take no prisoners whatsoever in their no-holds-barred approach to pummeling their audience into submission. This is certainly thrash metal in its purest & most intense form with bassist Steve Reynolds' vocal delivery being full of spite & vitriol & sounding closer to hardcore punk than your traditional thrash front man. There are certainly plenty of great riffs on offer here but there's not the consistency of the band's classic sophomore release from two years later "Epidemic Of Violence" which is a definite step up from "Tortured Existence" & I think that sums up my feelings on this record pretty well. It's a very strong first up effort but it's not quite the finished product. Also, the production lets it down a bit too with the brutal rhythm guitars being a bit muffled & often overpowered by a bass guitar that's a touch too high in the mix. The lead guitar work slays though & is the definite highlight of a very enjoyable thrash outing for me. I have to say though, I don't hear the death metal influence that people like to throw at this record. The guitar tone is about the only link that I can see because this is pure thrash in my opinion & there's nothing wrong with that. Horrible cover artwork though!

For fans of Morbid Saint, Dark Angel & early Sadus.

4/5

Huge anniversary for me today... Death's Human turns 30!

1991 was such an exciting year in my life. I was 14, with all the freedoms and experiences that come with that age. I think it was the year that I really started moving beyond my Metallica / Slayer / Iron Maiden roots, and into the formerly scary world of extreme metal. This album, along with Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick, Sepultura's Arise, Carcass' Necroticism, Entombed's Clandestine, Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients and Bolt Thrower's War Master set me on an extraordinary journey of extremity, darkness, and dare I say beauty. It's a journey I'm still on today, and there have been very few destinations on the way that are as perfect as Death's Human.

I want to take this moment to thank my big brother Daniel for guiding me down this path. I'm fairly certain I would never have found it without him.

R.I.P. Chuck! I still genuinely feel like crying when I think about the loss. I'm not ashamed to say that I did cry on the day I found out that he'd passed away. I'd be shocked if Daniel didn't shed a tear too.

Aaaaawwwww shucks..... This was an absolutely life-changing record for me. Death's sophomore album "Leprosy" was my introduction to death metal back in 1989 & I thoroughly enjoyed exploring "Scream Bloody Gore" & "Spiritual Healing" too but none of those records ever managed to break Death into my favourite bands. "Human" changed all that. It was comfortably the most sophisticated & ambitious record the death metal scene had produced to the time & asked a lot more questions than Chuck's previous work had. I still rate it as my second favourite death metal release of all time behind Morbid Angel's "Altars Of Madness" & death metal is kinda my thing so you can't get much higher recommendation than that.

I'll never understand how you can say that you don't enjoy a band as much as you used to & then award them the full five stars Andi. I would have thought that by awarding "Restoration" full marks you're essentially saying that it's everything you could ever want in recorded music, a perfect representation of your musical taste.

A beautiful progressive rock outing for fans of Leprous, Caligula's Horse & Dream Theater.

Haken - "Restoration" E.P. (2014)

I really dug London-based progressive rock/metal outfit Haken's 2013 album "The Mountain" back at the time of release & always intended on investigating more of their back catalogue but somehow managed to get completely side-tracked & have only just gotten around to doing it now. I'm very glad that I have though because 2014's "Restoration" E.P. is every bit as strong as "The Mountain", possibly even more so. The three tracks included are actually revamped versions of the band's old demo tracks which is pretty fucking impressive to say the least given how fully realised they are. There's more progressive rock on offer than there is metal but it's all beautifully executed with strong Yes influences raising their head during some of the more ambitious & fiddly moments. The least metal track "Earthlings" is actually my favourite with the legendary 19 minute "Crystalised" being a little too wanky during the middle & subsequently falling a little short of the other two tracks in my view. Opener "Darkest Light" is comfortably the most metal track & sounds closer Dream Theater & Leprous. "Restoration" is a solid flexing of the muscles from a very talented & creative group of progressively minded musicians.

For fans of Leprous, Caligula's Horse & Dream Theater.

4/5

Andi, Xephyr & Saxy, I highly recommend that you check this one out.

Classic old school US death metal for fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.

Another example of why I can't deal with most Folk Metal.

A Bathory-inspired Viking metal anthem with only hints at Moonsorrow's folkier tendencies. For fans of Falkenbach, Finsterforst & Månegarm.

Moonsorrow - "Voimasta ja kunniasta" (2001)

I absolutely hated Finnish folk metallers Moonsorrow's 2001 sophomore album "Voimasta ja kunniasta" when I first encountered it well over a decade ago now but thought I'd better give it another chance after hearing one of its more Viking-oriented tracks "Hiidenpelto" & quite liking it earlier this week. I guess you could say that I was doubting myself after discovering that I'd only awarded the album a miserable two stars previously & wanted to see if absence had made my heart grow fonder. So did it? Well..... I guess it must have made some sort of a difference as I've managed to bump my rating up by a half star but let me stress just how much of an internal battle I had to overcome before deciding on that arrangement. It was literally a line-ball decision. In the end I couldn't deny that the first three tracks may have painted my impressions of the rest of the album with an unfairly brown tinge as they pretty much represent everything I hate about folk metal but the second half of the record is noticeably stronger which is in a large part due to the influence of the previously mentioned Viking Metal anthem & the stronger Viking component in general. That's generally been the deciding factor in how much I like a Moonsorrow record too. They're always impeccably executed & produced but I'll always favour those releases where the Viking Metal vastly outweighs the Folk Metal. Here we have roughly a 50/50 equation but the cheese factor is ramped up to infinity & the Black Metal component has significantly diminished since their debut which causes me to regard "Voimasta ja kunniasta" as the least appealing Moonsorrow record I've encountered to date. 

For fans of Falkenbach, Finsterforst & Månegarm.

2.5/5

LATEST HEADLINES: Metalcore band in unintelligible lyrics scandal!! Fans shocked by references to violence in hardcore songs!

*Sorry. I couldn't help myself.*  :)

Fantastic review Sonny. I can very much relate to it.

While those lyrics are in English, it seems like they're a little high in the accent of their native country at some points. If they wrote original, more suitable lyrics that aren't frequently accented, I would've given my review at least 3.5 stars and make it longer than this post, but unfortunately....NAH.

Is it even possible to have an accent when screaming your guts out like this? I wouldn't have thought so. If you can pick up a French accent or any clear language at all in that indecipherable vocal performance then you're a better man than I am Andi. Also, isn't the fact that you find the intentionally extreme lyrics to be a dealbreaker evidence that they're actually quite original within the context of the metalcore scene?

Beatdown hardcore-inspired French metalcore for fans of Hatebreed, Sunami & God's Hate.

I wouldn't say that October was one of our stronger months for feature releases but I still got plenty of enjoyment out of the vast majority of the nine releases on offer, even if there wasn't anything too mind-blowing in the way of new discoveries for me personally. "Extreme Aggression" has always been a huge part of my life so it was no surprise that I ended up rating it so highly. "Portal of I" has just slightly slipped back in my affections a touch over the years as my taste profile has developed however it's still a wonderful example of its type. I'll definitely need to check out the rest of Reverend Bizarre's back-catalogue if this release was any indication of their skills & I have a feeling you'll be hearing more from me on that particular band. I was across Necrophagist's & Panopticon's work prior to this revisit so I knew that Necrophagist would be right up my alley & that Panopticon would likely take a little more effort to get into. "Kentucky" did offer some reward for my efforts in the end though. I quite enjoyed the Kickback & Lard records but they're unlikely to be regular inclusions in my playlist moving forwards while I would suggest that I probably get a little more enjoyment out of "Night On Brocken" than it has any right to command. Unfortunately for Linkin Park, I just couldn't quite connect with "The Hunting Party" despite having really enjoyed their previous feature release "Meteora" some months ago now.

Here were my results in order of preference:

THE PIT: Kreator - "Extreme Aggression" (1989)  4.5/5

THE INFINITE: Ne Obliviscaris - "Portal Of I" (2012)  4/5

THE FALLEN: Reverend Bizarre - "III: So Long Suckers" (2007)  4/5

THE HORDE: Necrophagist - "Epitaph" (2004)  4/5

THE REVOLUTION: Kickback - "Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres" E.P. (2000)  3.5/5

THE SPHERE: Lard - "The Last Temptation Of Reid" (1990)   3.5/5

THE NORTH: Panopticon - "Kentucky" (2012)  3.5/5

THE GUARDIANS: Fates Warning - "Night On Brocken" (1984)  3.5/5

THE GATEWAY: Linkin Park - "The Hunting Party" (2014)  3/5

I quite enjoyed this one. It certainly doesn't attempt to do anything drastically different but it does possess an honesty & authenticity that I find a fair bit of appeal in. The beatdown hardcore influence is plain to see in the sheer violence of this music & that's kinda the point of the whole exercise so if that description doesn't sound like something that you'd enjoy then you're not gonna dig a release like this one. Kickback's riffs are simple, chuggy & uncluttered with the rhythm section giving them plenty of room to breath. Front man Stephen Bessac is hardly a vocal maestro with his aggressive screaming being par for the course with this style of music but he certainly adds to the already muscular framework of what is a essentially a very up-front & straight-forward metalcore release. Overall I found "Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres" to be a well executed (if slightly generic) piece of hardcore-inspired metal.

For fans of Hatebreed, Sunami & God's Hate.

3.5/5

it seems like their "inspirations" are mainly rip-offs. There may be some lyrical copying from Whitehouse and De Sade, especially in the title track, all mangled in the French tongue. 

Andi, I just had a read of your review & was very surprised to find that you're across the works of both UK power electronics artist Whitehouse & 18th Century French erotic writer Marquis de Sade (particularly the latter). I do think your statement about the lyrics being "all mangled in the French tongue" is a bit deceptive though as the vast majority are in English.

Californian technical death metal for fans of Obscura, Spawn Of Possession & The Faceless.

I really enjoyed revisiting this one. While I'm well onboard with some of the thoughts above in that I've more often than not found that the modern brand of super-technical death metal values style over substance & rarely gets the balance right with regard to memorability, Necrophagist definitely tip toe along that line but have enough of a pedigree in the early 90's greats of the genre (see Death) to know how to utilize their ridiculously overthetop skill sets in a consistently engaging way. The vocals of guitarist Muhammed Suicmez are dark & brutal in an Immolation sort of way & this works to juxtapose some of the more melodic guitar work which may normally have seen my score dipping a bit. There's little doubt that the sweeping fiddly-diddly neoclassical solo work is overdone a bit & can veer towards practice exercise territory at times but it's the incredibly precise drumming of human-metronome Hannes Grossmann that ensures my attention never wanders as you'll rarely hear a time-keeper that's more in control of his craft. 

The consistency of this record is probably it's strongest quality as there's nothing here that dips below a very solid standard but Necrophagist manage to take things to another level altogether with the back-to-back highlight tracks that kick off the B side (i.e. the title track & "Only Ash Remains"). Anyone that knows me well won't be surprised that these are probably the two most consistently brutal offerings on the tracklisting but I also enjoy the moments where the band hint at more progressive horizons & I feel that this is a direction that they could have explored further.

To put it simply though, any tech death diehard worth his salt will be absolutely all over this album. It's beautifully executed & the production job is crystal clear so you can hear every nuance of the very complex arrangements. In saying that, it falls a little short of classic status as I can't help but crave a little more of that sinister graveyard atmosphere in my death metal while the stop-start nature of ultra-technical metal ends up being a bit too jerky to command the deeply physical reaction that I inevitably receive from the greats.

For fans of Obscura, Spawn Of Possession & The Faceless.

4/5

A gorgeous post-rock collaboration with Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello from an album that should appeal to fans of Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin & Red.

I unexpectedly really enjoyed our last Linkin Park feature release in 2003's "Meteora" album so I went into "The Hunting Party" with some optimism but that proved to be overly hopeful as I struggled to connect with a lot of this material. Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a horrible record. It simply spends a little too much of it's run time traversing areas of the musical spectrum that I'm not particularly comfortable with.

I guess you can technically classify this as a metal record as five of the twelve tracks included utilize metal tools however they present them in a fashion that will likely appeal more to a pop audience than a metal one & occasionally even hint at trance metal through the use of cheesy synthesizers. The rap sections were a challenge for me on "Meteora" but here I found them a little harder to deal with as they're generally smothered in commercial pop production techniques that often leave me feeling pretty cringy. Bennington's vocal skills aren't highlighted as well here either & there's an up-beat punky component to some of the song-writing that hints more at pop punk than it does at hardcore punk.

On the positive side though, Linkin Park have always known how to right a catchy hook & you'll find a few of those here. The instrumental post-rock collaboration with Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello "Drawbar" is sheer genius & I really enjoy the more mature alternative rock stylings of "Mark The Graves" & the building interlude "The Summoning". Energetic alternative metal opener "Keys To The Kingdom" is also pretty good & leaves me wishing that Linkin Park wouldn't resort to poppy commercialism as often as they do here. I'd lay off the synths altogether too.

So overall, you can see from my score that this isn't be any means an awful record. It just doesn't even attempt to tick any of the boxes I crave from my metal music.

For fans of Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin & Red.

3/5

Here's my submission for the November playlist. I thought I'd go with something a little different to break the list up a bit.

Skycamefalling - "10.21" (from "10.21", 2000)

Here's mine:

Reverend Bizarre - "Caesar Forever" (from "III: So Long Suckers", 2007)

Elder - "Spires Burn" (from "Spires Burn/Release" E.P., 2012)

Paradise Lost - "Elusive Cure" (from "Draconian Times", 1995)

Total runtime: 29:34

Check your private messages Sonny.

Anne KGB - "Fuck da Police" (1994)

A bangin' rave techno DJ set bootleg cassette from an underground French DJ. It's raw as fuck & the mixing is fairly primitive at times but I can't help but enjoy it for its old-school vibe & sheer intensity.

Artillery - "Into The Universe" (from "Fear Of Tomorrow", 1985)

Kreator - "Betrayer" (from "Extreme Aggression", 1989)

Allegiance - "Torn Between Two Worlds" (from "D.e.s.t.i.t.u.t.i.o.n., 1994)

Death Angel - "Dethroned" (from "Killing Season", 2008)

Dew-Scented - "Arise From Decay" (from "Invocation", 2010)

Total Annihilation - "...On Chains Of Doom" (from "...On Chains Of Doom", 2020)

Total runtime: 28:28

Ambitious & experimental one-man atmospheric black metal from Kentucky, USA. For fans of Saor, Wolves In The Throne Room & Skagos.

I think it's fair to say that "Kentucky" was never going to be something that I'd claim to be right up my alley but that's not to say that it's a bad record by any measure. I actually quite liked it in the end but there are a few things that hold me back from getting too excited about this coal-mining themed one-man black metal experiment. It's not a very dark black metal record with some of the more melodic sections possessing an atmosphere that glistens with a positivity that wouldn't feel out of place on a blackgaze release while the mining themes don't really seem to fit all that well within the context of such a cold, primitive & raw style of extreme music if you ask me. The other major obstacle I discovered is that the first few tracks do very little for me so the album doesn't really get going until track four in my opinion. That poor start meant that my first listen was a bit of a write-off as I was already pretty disappointed by track four & subsequently didn't allow the remainder of the record a decent chance of recovery. A couple of revisits have since seen me overcoming that issue & I've found that I actually get a fair bit of enjoyment out of tracks 4 through 9, particularly "Black Soot & Red Blood", "Killing the Giants As They Sleep" & "Black Waters" which are all very solid pieces of work in their own right.

In saying that though, I'm definitely not onboard with the few sections that see an instrument that sounds very much like a pan-flute or a recorder being poorly amalgamated within an extreme metal framework. That shit just doesn't sit all that well with this old metalhead but thankfully those parts are generally short-lived & are often followed by some of the better sections of the album. There's a strong post-rock influence scattered across the tracklisting too & those sections clearly sit amongst the most impressive parts of the record for me as I'm quite partial to an introspective interlude or two in my extreme metal. The vocal shrieks aren't amazing & some of the instrumentation isn't as polished as some but there's a good energy to a lot of the more brutal sections & the solemn bluegrass pieces are well executed & generally offer a depth, authenticity & integrity that allows them to feel more substantial than anything you'd find on your run-of-the-mill folk metal release. In fact, the consistent inclusion of folk music on this album initially left me confused as to why "Kentucky" is rarely labelled as Pagan Black Metal but I've since realized that it's the subject matter that's the roadblock there. 

I think it's fair to say that I found "Kentucky" to be an intriguing if not all that enticing prospect on paper but hindsight has seen me admitting that it's over-achieved on its promise in practice. I'm not sure it's the type of thing that I'll be returning to all that regularly which mostly comes down to taste but it certainly has some artistic merit & deserves points for effort & ambition as much as anything else.

For fans of Saor, Wolves In The Throne Room & Skagos.

3.5/5

I agree. A much better option would be to join the Academy & flame those records on the forums. ;)

Drudkh - "Українська Повстанська Армія (Ukrainian Insurgent Army)" (from "Кров у наших криницях (Blood in Our Wells)" (2006)

Alcest - "Onyx" (from "Kodama", 2016)

Månegarm - "Preludium" (from "Vredens tid", 2005)

Moonsorrow - "Matkan lopussa" (from "Kivenkantaja", 2003)

Sarcófago - "INRI" (from "I.N.R.I.", 1987)

Total run time: 19:29

Do you have any submissions this month Sonny?

You know it's possible to simply have a broad taste where you can listen to all of the above depending on what you feel like at the time, right Andi? I've certainly gone through phases over my life but I've never discarded anything I've genuinely loved & there's no shame in the fact that I still love Duran Duran.

High octane industrial metal for fans of 1000 Homo DJs, "Broken"-era Nine Inch Nails & Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" album.

Wow! Some serious flack being dished out here gents! Thankfully I have a very different perspective to everyone else. I'd not previously spent any length of time with this record which drew my attention due to my having enjoyed the Lard tracks I've included in the monthly The Sphere playlists. I was wondering whether those songs would end up being the clear highlights from the band & that's likely the case however "The Last Temptation Of Reid" offered me a lot more than it has the rest of you. There's no doubt that it's a grower & I think the main reason for that is the thin production job which doesn't present the guitars in an up-front fashion & gives them a tone that's far more reminiscent of early 80's hardcore punk than it is of metal. But that's about the extent of the links to hardcore to tell you the truth with only the noticeably flat "Pineapple Face" showing any tendency to focus on the subgenre that made Jello Biafra so famous. The remainder of the album sits somewhere between industrial rock & industrial metal with a significant post-punk/goth rock influence showing through at times in exactly the same way as it did in Ministry's work of the time. In fact, the whole record sounds very much like Jello singing over the top of Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" album to be perfectly honest (a record that I adore).

Jello's vocal delivery goes for pure unadulterated insanity & if you can't buy into that then you'll struggle with "The Last Temptation of Reid", particularly the end of the album which I honestly quite enjoy despite the fact that it's extended much further than it had any right to be. There's a drug-fueled cerebral aspect to this record that's very much a love-it-or-hate-it type of thing & I have to admit that I kinda dig it. I agree that "Can God Fill Teeth?" is a musical atrocity of the highest order however it's the only one I can identify here with opener "Forkboy" being a high-octane industrial metal classic by anyone's measure. Give this release a heavy industrial metal production job & most of it is competing with the big boys of the genre in my opinion. As it is though, it definitely comes across a poor man's Ministry with a psychotic dude ranting over the top. I'm just glad I gave it the time to open up a bit as it definitely has some value for an industrial rock/metal audience.

For fans of 1000 Homo DJs, "Broken"-era Nine Inch Nails & Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" album.

3.5/5

Well, the Anniversaries section continues to make me feel old with Benediction and Pungent Stench both hitting the 30 year mark today.  I have very little time for The Grand Leveller but it has always been there on the periphery of my death metal listening.  I only ever really listened to that one Pungent Stench record and really should probably stretch my legs through their discography.

I'm right there with ya Vinny. I bought both of those albums on cassette at the time. They were both amusing listens without ever really making a huge impact on me.

I'm sorry to hear you've been doing it tough Andi. We're all here for you if you ever want to talk. COVID has been a major challenge for every one of us (some in very different ways to others) & I can assure you that you're not alone in feeling depressed about the whole situation.

Out of interest, where does your new relationship with artists like Arcturus & Samael that began their careers as black metal bands fit into this arrangement? I also find it interesting that you've elected to keep your options open in regard to sludge metal when it's the most aggressive & violent of the subgenres The Fallen contains. I would have thought it'd be the first to go to be honest.

And finally, I doubt there's a member on the site whose family & friends didn't question their musical taste at some point. It's a part of growing up as a metalhead. Despite this annoyance though, most extreme metal fans are calm & well-adjusted people who just happen to dig a style of music that takes them well outside of their everyday lives. Their taste in music shouldn't define who they are as a person though. If you're finding that your musical preferences are having a detrimental effect on yourself & the people around you then it's the right call to separate yourself from it. It's worth remembering that music is just a form of entertainment though & shouldn't be taken too seriously, despite how passionate we may feel about it.

I hope you get the result you're looking for. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Sandwell District - "Fabric 69" (2013)

A spectacular single-disk minimal techno DJ set from this global techno supergroup that's been one of my favourites ever since it was released. It's very deep & dark which is just how I like my electronic music. It definitely isn't an entry point for newcomers to the genre.

A genuine Teutonic thrash metal classic for fans of Sodom, Slayer & Destruction.

"Extreme Aggression" was the release that introduced me to Kreator shortly after release & I frankly fell in love it right from the offset. To be more accurate, it was really the video clip for "Betrayer" that first brought them to my attention & it's still one of the greatest thrash metal tracks ever recorded in my opinion. I gave the album a right royal thrashing during the subsequent years & it held the prestigious position of my favourite Kreator record for an extended period there too. That being said though, it's been many years since I revisited it & after reacquainting myself with its wonderful follow-up record "Coma Of Souls" recently I thought it was time to see where "Extreme Aggression" sits in grand scheme of classic period Kreator after all these years.

"Extreme Aggression" is a very similar record to "Coma Of Souls" in many respects. It's an absolute riff-fest & a total thrash-a-thon! In fact, you'll rarely hear a record that better defines what late 80's European thrash was all about in my opinion as there's an nasty edge to the vocals, guitar tone & riff structures that makes Kreator infinitely cooler than the vast majority of their competition. The band had gotten significantly tighter by this stage too, particularly in the rhythm guitar & drumming departments. The guitar solos still spend a bit of time in off-key territory however it all sounds very cool indeed, even more so to an early teenage me.

The musical evolution that Kreator had started with 1987's "Terrible Certainty" has been further developed here with the band showing an increasing maturity in the song-writing department. Mille's newly acquired real-life lyrical approach would branch further away from the death-laden horror of Kreator's early works & I have mixed feelings on that. It's not a major concern but I do think his voice in best suited to sheer violence & blasphemy but he certainly makes a pretty good fist of the vocal hooks on offer here. The band show a great pedigree in not only thrash but also traditional heavy metal at times with an increased focus on guitar harmonies that reminds me just as much of Iron Maiden as it does of Metallica. Drummer Ventor can be seen to show a little more restraint than we were used to from his mid-80's efforts. Here we see him placing a lot more emphasis on the song-writing by picking his moments more selectively. He'd further refine that technique (not to mention his technical skills) before the recording of "Coma Of Souls".

There are no weak songs included. "Don't Trust" is clearly the weakest link however it's still quite enjoyable thanks to the previously-mentioned quality of the riffs. The rest of the album is absolutely top notch though with four of the nine tracks reaching genuine classic status for me. The one-two punch of "No Reason To Exist" & "Love Us Or Hate Us" pretty much rewrites the manual on how to write a great thrash riff while the two-track run of "Some Pain Will Last" into "Betrayer" is as devastating as any in the band's discography. "Some Pain Will Last" is the slowest inclusion of the nine & features an atmosphere that reminds me a lot of the down-tempo pieces from Slayer's "South of Heaven" & "Seasons In The Abyss" albums while the light-speed electricity of "Betrayer" is bursting at the seams with vitriol & spite.

"Extreme Aggression" isn't a perfect record but it was a noticeable step back up into the big league after the solid "Terrible Certainty" & is an undeniable classic that made a huge impact on my life from a very young age. It may not sound as extreme as it did back in the day but it's certainly lost none of its appeal. Interestingly though, after 30 years of listening to these two records I think that "Coma Of Souls" may have just pipped "Extreme Aggression" in my esteem for the very first time. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that I now rate this record behind three other Kreator releases (i.e. "Pleasure To Kill", "Flag Of Hate" & Coma Of Souls") because I can't escape the feeling that it deserves more respect than that given the important role it played in my both my childhood & my musical development. Perhaps it's just a clear sign that Kreator were miles ahead of the rest of the Teutonic pack during their hey day.

For fans of Sodom, Slayer & Destruction.

4.5/5

I'm sure gonna miss when I used to enjoy that My Dying Bride album...

That comment doesn't make any sense to me Andi. If you really like that record then why would you deny yourself the opportunity for further enjoyment? You've been making cryptic comments about cutting yourself off from gothic/doom metal for weeks now but have never really elaborated on why. I have to admit that I'm curious because it just seems so insane to me.

Wonderful Australian progressive metal for fans of Opeth, Xanthochroid & Persefone.

This weekend's list is my Top Ten Drone Metal Releases Of All-Time:

01. Sunn O))) – “Black One” (2005)

02. Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“ (2003)

03. Jesu – “Jesu” (2004)

04. Monarch! – “Omen” (2012)

05. Neptunian Maximalism – “Eons” (2020)

06. Boris with Merzbow – “Rock Dream” (2007)

07. Corrupted – “Llenandose de gusanos” (1999)

08. Earth – “Extra-Capsular Extraction” E.P. (1991)

09. Sunn O))) – “Monoliths & Dimensions” (2009)

10. Earth – “Earth 2: Special low Frequency Version” (1993)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/137

I've taken a little bit of creative license with a few releases that offer much more than drone metal (see the Neptunian Maximalism, Boris with Merzbow & Corrupted records for example) but I figured that if it wasn't for the drone metal link then they may not be on the site at all so why not allow them to qualify for a list like this one.

In this week's episode of "Fuck, how old am I getting dude!" we discover that three records that had a major impact on my life at the time all turned 30 years old today:

I'd discovered Soundgarden through their 1989 record "Louder Than Love" (their vidoe clips for "Loud Love" & "Hands All Over" to be more specific) but they really took things to the next level with their much more consistent & weighty "Badmotorfinger" album. I regard it amongst the best couple of releases for the grunge movement as a whole & it's a true testament to the genius of Chris Cornell as a front man. Alternative metal music doesn't get any better than that.

The Gorguts album was undone by its timing to an extent. It could have been significantly bigger if it had been released a year or two earlier & it isn't unique enough to be regarded as a classic. Still, it got many replays in the months after I picked up the CD. I think I first became aware of them after seeing one of my female friends wearing their t-shirt at a death metal gig very shortly after release & I quickly purchased the album. There are a couple of timeless death metal belters on there too.

"Effigy of The Forgotten" changed my life really. I don't think it's Suffocation's best work & I don't think it eclipsed the "Human Waste" E.P. that I'd loved so much but it took the brutality & technicality levels of death metal up a good couple of notches & set a new benchmark for the rest of the scene. It would go on to inspire me as a musician for the rest of the decade & has lost none of its potency to this day.

It's interesting that my rating has gone in the other direction as I've dropped it back half a star. At the time of release I was completely blown away by the sheer virtuosity, precision & attention to detail that Ne Obliviscaris have achieved. I mean all of the instrumentalists are performing at a level that was completely unheard of for an Australian band & it left me feeling a huge sense of national pride. The lead guitar work of Benjamin Baret is spectacular, the bass lines of Brendan Brown are wonderful & Daniel Presland is frankly the best metal drummer this country has ever produced & you can easily hear the time that the band have put into developing every piece that's included over the nine years they'd been in existence to that point, an extremely long time before a debut full-length when you think about it. It really shouldn't be a surprise when you find out that three of the pieces made up the "The Aurora Veil" E.P. a full five years earlier as this artist clearly likes to refine their craft to the nth degree. Regardless of that though, to have all of these dudes pop up on the one release from a band that I'd never even heard of before was astounding & the fact that I quickly had the pleasure of seeing them all perform this material live several times in quick succession only added to their appeal.

That being said, I do have to admit that there was always an internal battle going on inside me when contemplating my overall feelings for "Portal Of I" & I remember struggling with it when I first tried to rate it too. Whenever I revisit "Portal Of I" I'm left with no doubt at all that it's a genuine progressive metal masterpiece but at the same time I find that it it's also a little too melodic (& at times even pretty) for my personal taste. The more brutal moments certainly get my blood pumping in a way that few bands can manage (see the one-two punch of "Xenoflux" & "Of the Leper Butterflies" or the magical closer "Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise") but the folkier parts of the album where the violin work of Tim Charles takes the forefront don't always maintain that level of enthusiasm, especially the sections that hint at a folk metal jig which isn't something I want to hear in my extreme metal. Plus, the harsh vocals of Xenoyr do tend to be a touch generic some of the time if I'm being honest. I really dig Charles' Mike Patton-ish clean vocals but I'm not sure his hooks are quite strong enough to have them ringing in my head for days afterwards. (Hint: don't take your girlfriend to see them live as their ovaries tend to pop out of their bodies in a frantic attempt to devour him). 

So while I find "Portal Of I" to be a really refreshing, intriguing & generally impressive metal experience (particularly the drumming of Presland which is the clear highlight in my opinion), I now have to be honest with myself & admit that it's simply a touch too accessible for me to be placing alongside the Slayers, Morbid Angels & Suffocations in my Hall of Metal Glory. It's the uplifting positivity of the atmosphere that I'm a little bit at odds with. I have a few melodically inclined records in my Hall but they all tend to be deeply mournful & melancholic, traits that "Portal Of I" can't claim to (& never tries to) possess. Nonetheless, this is a perfect representation of the progressive metal subgenre in every respect & it deserves all of the praise that it receives.

For fans of Opeth, Xanthochroid & Persefone.

4/5

Classic Finnish doom metal for fans of Saint Vitus, Lord Vicar & Spiritus Mortis.

Well, you needn't have worried Sonny because I was always gonna enjoy a monolith of pure doom like this one. Yes, it's extremely lengthy & there's not going to be nearly enough variation to keep your more casual punter entertained but I've always been partial to a truly authentic doom metal sound & you won't find much more authentic than this. There are some truly immense & lumbering riffs on this muthafucker. The Geezer Butler inspired bass work is highlighted by a monstrous tone that beefs up the whole album & there's a bluesy early Sabbath feel to the atmosphere a lot of the time too with those classic rocking-to-sleep rhythms. The traditional doom metal bands of the 1980's were certainly a major influence on Reverend Bizarre's sound in that respect, particularly Saint Vitus.

Albert Witchfinder's vocals aren't the strongest you'll hear but they suit the imposing atmosphere well enough. In saying that though, I do think "III: So Long Suckers" had the potential to become a genuine classic with a top class metal front man. The slower, heavier numbers are quite spectacular (see "Sorrow", "Funeral Summer" & "Caesar Forever") although none of them run their full course without changing things up a bit along the way. You're unlikely to identify anything particularly original here but there's an undeniable quality to everything that Reverend Bizarre attempts. The pointless hidden track that closes the record was a bit of a disappointing way to end 130 minutes of premium doom metal but I still find "III: So Long Suckers" to be a very rewarding experience for the more discerning & committed doom metal aficionado.

For fans of Saint Vitus, Lord Vicar & Spiritus Mortis.

4/5

Updated my list to include Boris' "Pink' album at the top. It's debatable as to whether it's a genuine Stoner Metal release or not however Stoner Metal is its only tag on Metal Academy so why the fuck not. Anyway... Sleep have now been completely dumped from my list which is interesting given their legendary status in the scene.

01. Boris - "Pink" (2005)

02. High On Fire – “De vermis mysteriis” (2012)

03. Electric Wizard – “Let Us Prey” (2002)

04. Adrift For Days – “The Lunar Maria” (2010)

05. Electric Wizard – “Supercoven” E.P. (1998)

06. Electric Wizard – “Dopethrone” (2000)

07. Boris – “あくまのうた (Akuma no uta)” (2003)

08. Electric Wizard – “Come My Fanatics…” (1997)

09. Elder - "Spires Burn / Release" E.P. (2012)

10. Down – “NOLA” (1995)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/135

Here's my old review from the Metal Academy podcast several years ago:

"Night On Bröcken" is a record that’s more significant from a timeline point of view than from an artistic one as it represents the more humble beginnings of one of the more iconic US metal bands of the 80’s. Connecticut five-piece Fates Warning would go on to become one of the most important bands in the development of the progressive metal subgenre & they remain a metal powerhouse still to this day but their debut full-length represents their more humble of beginnings with the Metal Blade Records backed release sporting a sound that showed very little in the way of invention or artistic license.

The crude cover art gives you a strong indication that the album might not be as polished as the rest of the band’s star studded back catalogue & that definitely proves to be the case with Fates Warning simply testing the waters by emulating their NWOBHM heroes. It’s interesting that the album title is referring to a German mountain that’s famous for its association with witches as referenced in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragic play “Faust”. The title of Stormwitch’s debut album “Walpurgis Night” from around the same time is actually referring to the night that the witches traditionally met at the top of Bröcken so it seems to have been a popular topic for metal bands of the time.

The production job on “Night On Brocken” isn’t horrible but it is a little inconsistent with some songs sounding a little flatter than others. You can clearly hear all of the instruments but the overall sound comes across as pretty dry which is more in line with what you’d expect from a well put together demo tape. Interestingly, Metal Blade house producer Bill Metoyer was behind the mixing desk along with label head Brian Slagel & it’s pretty clear that they were still finding their way as far as how to package a professional sounding metal release goes but this is not a disaster by any means.

The thing that most makes “Night On Brocken” stand out from the rest of the Fates Warning back catalogue though is the style of music it presents with very little in the way of genuinely progressive material on display here. Instead we get a straight down the line NWOBHM direction with Iron Maiden being the primary influence. So much in fact, that I regard a lot of this album as pure plagiarism. The galloping riffs & harmonized guitar lines all sound oh so familiar & you can often pick the exact songs they’ve been crafted around. The album does have a somewhat more US feel to it though which is probably as much to do with the production as anything else, particularly the guitar sound.

But it’s iconic front man John Arch who is the most noticeably trying to clone the mighty Irons & while there are certainly moments when you struggle to tell that this isn’t Bruce Dickinson himself there are more where he just sounds like an average imitation. There are times when Queensryche’s Geoff Tate springs to mind too actually but even though he’s the clear focal point of the band, it’s an inconsistent performance from Arch here as some of the songs see him sounding quite pitchy or straining to reach the more mid-range notes in his repertoire. He seems much more capable with the higher pitched screams but for all his failings he IS the most memorable feature of Fates Warning’s sound at this early stage. When he gets it right we see Fates Warning’s best moments & I have to say that I find them difficult not to enjoy.

The musicianship on display isn’t of the same sort of standard as that we would hear on Fates Warning’s progressive metal counterparts Queensryche’s debut E.P. a year prior but they’d show a lot of development in that area over the next year or so. The sort of technical wizardry we’ve become used to hearing from the prog metal elite was beyond them at this point but they were certainly a more than serviceable heavy metal band. And for that reason I struggle with the common consensus that “Night On Bröcken” was a failed venture. Yes, it clearly showcases a young band that was still very much finding their sound & was more comfortable to simply test the waters with a safe & generic brand of song-writing but it’s pretty well put together nonetheless & I find myself enjoying around two thirds of the material here. The weaker songs aren’t horrible. They’re just a bit flat sounding with their more generic & basic riffs providing little to get enthusiastic about. The stronger material on the other hand offers enough in the way of soaring vocal lines, chuggy metal riffage & general enthusiasm to keep this old metalhead reasonably engaged even if the album lacks those couple of genuine highlight tracks to make it truly memorable. I’d recommend that fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest & Queensryche give the album a chance but it’s doubtful that you’ll find anything too life-changing.

3.5/5

Spine-chilling Burzum-inspired atmospheric black metal from the Ukraine. For fans of Ygg, Winterfylleth & Wodensthrone.