SilentScream213's Reviews
People define the word “heavy” in different ways, but if you want to define it as “playing as fast and as dissonantly as possible” than Scum was the heaviest album in the world when it came out, inventing a new genre so abrasive it couldn’t fit into Hardcore Punk nor Death Metal. Grindcore is, at its core, just taking music extremities to 11 at all costs, and Scum was the first Grindcore album. This record is therein about 28 minutes of 28 songs of that; no more, no less. Nothing else to say.
A milestone release, as there have been a couple very sludgy albums prior to this one (namely the B side of My War, Black Dust and Gore’s catalogue) but this is probably the first fully formed Sludge Metal album. It’s a disgustingly heavy, ploddingly aggressive mess, the kind that would have easily freaked people out back in the 80’s. Melvins basically take the aggression and anger of Hardcore Punk and slow it way down, adding in a bit of experimental elements and metallic sheen and go at it. For such slow music, a ton of tracks are incredibly short (there’s that punk influence) and despite there being 18 of them, the whole thing is very consistent.
The kind of album where you either love it all the way through, or it doesn’t do anything for you. I appreciate what they were doing here, but early Sludge Metal just doesn’t have enough going on for me. Without memorable riffs, Sludge tends to rely on atmosphere and delivery, but neither had been developed in the genre at this point, so the release falls flat on my ears.
King Diamond – the band named after the man – are a group which will always be synonymous with the leader’s very unique vocal style of high pitched falsetto singing. This will either be a factor of great enjoyment, or something one will have to learn to tolerate. I unfortunately am in the later category; King Diamond’s vocal style is not something I enjoy, but he definitely brings intense talent to the band in terms of songwriting, and his deeper vocals are actually quite good.
That there is the only “weakness” with this album, which most consider the band’s magnum opus. I will not spend too much time applauding the musicianship, despite it all being fantastic. Every instrument is audible, technical, and serve the songs individually and as a group; the sound is classic Mercyful Fate/King Diamond stuff, with a bit more melody, emotion, and progressive elements. That alone would be enough to solidify its place in the best of metal, but there’s much more to this album.
One of if not the first full metal concept albums that follows a concise story, Abigail is not only an instrumental masterpiece, but a literary one as well. The story is engaging and fits the music perfectly. As always King Diamond delve into the occult, with a ghost story of possession. However, what makes this story so effective is not only does it merge with the evil riffing of the band, but there is also a deep sense of tragedy to it, loss and vengeance as well, and these emotions are all captured musically and literately as well. For this reason, I applaud King Diamond as a fantastic band leader despite his vocals not agreeing with me, as he crafted one of the greatest concept albums of all time.
Kind of mixing their first album and Fates Warning’s output, Helloween play fast, technical and progressive music here, but also make room for softer, catchier numbers. The aggression of their debut has been traded in for uplifting triumph. The album is a very eclectic package despite only having 6 full songs, and one would not want for variety here. The problem there is that the material is not very consistent, with their highs being fantastic and the lows just okay. The new vocalist is a welcome addition, but even he has some pitchy moments and questionable vocal melodies between the usually solid performance.
The track “Halloween” is actually a talking point in itself, being one of the most progressive epics in all of Metal at the time. At over 13 minutes, the song shifts through so many movements, it’s about as eclectic as the rest of the album. The difference here is that the track is very consistent throughout, full of the band’s best riffs and greatest vocal performance on the album. Really, there couldn’t be a better way to sing about Halloween.
Very similar to their debut, same funky grooves, prominent keys and oddball lyrical delivery. The Funk influence is turned all the way up, and it even features some rapping (I assume from Chuck, but most of the members do backup/gang vocals as well). Overall, it’s more focused with better riffs and some good vocal melodies as well, but it’s no huge leap. Still very juvenile, mediocre Alternative Metal, great record for fun, not so much for a serious listen.
Scream Bloody Gore is most likely (depending on who you ask and how strict you’re being) the first true Death Metal record, and by that I mean it’s not Death and Thrash like Seven Churches or Blackened Death Thrash like Morbid Visions. Absolutely there are still Thrash influences, but this is primarily a Death Metal record and could not be argued otherwise.
Amazingly for a debut album in a genre still in infancy, the music is grade A material. The musicianship is tight and fast, Chuck being rather technical even here. Chuck’s growls are also prime cuts of the genre, inhibiting a fantastic middle ground between demonic growls and discernible yells. Even the production is pretty good for an underground debut, nothing groundbreaking but all the instruments including the bass are audible and strong. And that snare sound – my god, never heard anything that stuck with me so much. Just the right amount of reverb to pack a lasting punch that somehow sounds sinister. This is the kind of drumming that is simple (not easy!), but serves the music so incredibly well.
There is one weakness here. For many a non-issue, but for me a glaring one: the lyrics range from bad to offensively atrocious. They’re pretty much what it says on the title, with subjects of gore, random acts of violence, death, etc. Don’t get me wrong, there is a right way to do this – Pig Destroyer and Slayer (when Tom is writing) are prime examples of writing eloquently and effectively on such matters. The lyrics here sound like an 18-year old’s Deathcore band. They’re just so juvenile they take away from the music at parts, and ruin the otherwise evil atmosphere.
Celtic Frost were always a strange band as far as Metal went back in the day, but with Into the Pandemonium, they crafted the first album bizarre and eclectic enough to comfortably sit in the Avant-Garde Metal territory still 30 years after it’s creation. There are a couple songs on here with the same Blackened metal approach as Into Megatherion, but I personally wouldn’t call anything on here straight Thrash. There are also multiple interlude pieces, one of which being a sample driven drumbeat, scattered female vocals and symphonic elements, doomy gothic elements, and even poppy hooks, at least half of which are still growled.
Band leader Tom Warrior adopts a new style of singing here, something reminiscent of a whining, moaning cry. It’s very hammy but also sorrowful and pained, so YMMV on whether it’s good or not that this vocal style had a big impact on Gothic and Doom metal in the coming decade. The variety and filler make this indisputably weaker than the debut album, but it is still a unique treasure with a lot to offer.
Candlemass enter one of their most celebrated lineups here with the addition of Messiah and record the great Nightfall. By 1987, Candlemass was pretty much indisputably the best Doom band around, especially solidifying the fact after dropping a follow up album just as amazing as their debut (both of which remain their finest works in most people’s opinion).
They continue the same style as their debut, adding an epic and even uplifting sound to the slow and simple Doom genre, rife with religious symbolism as well as occult fantasy. Messiah and leif grab all the attention here, as Leif wrote most if not all of the music, including many of Trad Doom’s most memorable riffs, and Messiah puts on a vocal performance that would sound at home in an opera show. The act works well for the epic Doom rockers, and many of the songs tell small tales that effectively play off this aesthetic.
Unfortunately, while the debut was strictly 6 great songs, this album has a bit of filler found in mostly pointless interludes between songs. At the Gallows’ End and Samarithan are two of the greatest songs the band ever wrote, but the filler puts this album just below the debut in my opinion.
Bathory is back at it with perhaps their strongest album yet. The production is just a bit better and the musicianship is just a bit tighter. The songwriting has more variation but still retains the signature evil, distant atmosphere at all times. Other than that, it’s just classic Bathory, plain and simple.
An unfortunate case, as many have said before me: the music here is fantastic, but the vocals are very grating. The musicianship is prime Speed Metal, with fantastic, melodic riffs constantly assaulting you backed up by a very good rhythm section that combines speed and precision. Pretty much every song has a couple of worthy riffs that could be at home on any metal masterpiece of the 80’s.
It is no accident that the instrumental here is considered the best track, despite the music being on par the entire album. The vocalist is, not exactly bad, but… It just doesn’t work. When he’s singing more slowly and melodically, like in the acoustic into to Chosen to Stay, he actually does a good job, and has quite an impressive range. When he’s singing fast and more aggressively though, it all falls apart. It’s pitchy, grating, maybe off key, I can’t really tell since he’s changing notes so frequently. It just doesn’t work.
The lyrics are pretty standard sci-fi/fantasy fare, and follow the same themes as the first album. There are numerous nods to conspiracies and such, nothing really outstanding or even unique at the time. This is one of those albums that would just fair better as an instrumental piece, and would have improved significantly from a better vocalist.
Wow. Vulcano from Brazil enter the metal scene in a blaze of black fire. One of the earliest metal recordings from South America is a raw, aggressive mesh of Blackened Death Thrash, and it rules! Vulcano take Bathory as a blueprint and add some beefy Death metal riffs and harrowing vocals that end in a much more convincing product than even Bathory concocted. These guys would be a huge influence in the boom of extreme metal in South America, mostly staying under the radar as fellow Thrashers Sepultura broke the mainstream.
The production is awful a la first wave Black Metal, but with focused listening one can uncover a great amount of talent and some incredibly sick riffs and rhythm-work going on. Just an awesome, evil release.
Aside from perhaps Watchtower, this was the most technical, progressive, and impressive display of musicianship in metal as of 1986. Sure there were other guitar gods – Malmsteen, MacAlpine, to name a couple – and any one of them could be considered “the best.” Vinnie Moore could absolutely compete with the big names in terms of pure technical skill. However, Moore had two qualities that most guitar shredders lack.
First of all, Moore is not just a soloist – he is a brilliant songwriter. As far as instrumental metal goes, Moore doesn’t write songs that sound like no more than a showcase for his talent; they are complete compositions, entertaining throughout, memorable, sometimes catchy, sometimes evocative. I haven’t quite figured out why yet, but I do prefer my music to have vocals, and usually instrumental music feels like it’s missing something to me. Mind’s Eye does not. It is fully realized material that stands on its own.
Second of all, the backing band. This might as well be a supergroup – MacAlpine himself is on keys, just as proficiently filling the role as he does shredding solo – but every member is very, very skilled. Moore is obviously the bandleader, but he does not outshine the other members. They keep up, they are given moments to shine, and they constantly add unique elements under the masterful guitar playing. Not only are there no songs less than great, but there are really no moments less than great, as there is always so much going on in every given moment.
Unfortunately, it does have a ceiling. Instrumental virtuoso metal might not get better than this, but that style is still a limited, niche style best in small doses.
This album gets a lot of flack for being generally weaker than its predecessor, but I heard no drop in quality whatsoever. It’s exactly the same messy, thrashy, raw old school death metal as on the debut. Perhaps it could be critiqued for not innovating at all, but who needs innovation when the music is this good?
The similarity between this and their debut makes it rather difficult to review. If I have to nitpick, I could say some of the riffs sound a little less inspired, and generally repeat for a bit longer. However, the musicians also sound tighter, more focused and clearly in better practice. All in all, it’s just another really fantastic Death Metal album from the creators themselves.
One of those albums you know upon first listen as a masterpiece. Now, I’m going to start off by saying it’s only my second favorite Metallica album, and I wouldn’t put it anywhere near my favorite metal albums of all time or anything. There are hundreds of bands out there that cater to my taste more than Metallica – probably a hundred Thrash bands alone.
The thing is, this album just has that sort of magic anyone can identify. Dare I say, a sort of objective quality that one can appreciate, if there was such a thing. This is one of the closest albums I’d award the term flawless to. It’s not that every song is a 5-star masterpiece, however, there simply aren’t any glaring, or even hidden, flaws. The musicians, as always, are fantastic; the dual guitars deliver a combination of incredible riffs and solos, the bass gets time to shine, and Lars on drums sounds better here than he ever had before or would since. James sounds fantastic, using his melodic singing more here than before (and acing it) while still giving us a healthy dose of aggressive yelling. The lyrics here are all great too, referencing literature, war, mental illness, and more.
The music itself is very consistent for an album that mixes a lot together. There is pure heavy, thrashing aggression; there is slow, moody darkness; there are even emotionally compelling and beautifully melodic moments. Every song is a complete package with tons of great riffs, solos, and a couple have complete mood/tempo changes. Despite this, they are all very memorable and deliver something unique. No one can go wrong with this album when looking for a masterpiece.
As a huge fan of Thrash Metal, Megadeth strangely never hit the marks I love in this kind of music. To their – mostly Dave’s – credit, the songwriting and solos are great, and the riffs are not far behind. However, where the band always lost me is in their delivery and atmosphere. Dave’s not a good vocalist, but that’s not what bothers me, as raspy shouting is something I enjoy. The problem is that not only does he struggle to create any sort of memorable hooks or verses, but he also writes some bad lyrics. The delivery on most songs is sarcastic, sometimes angry but all too often it just sounds like he’s yelling for the sake of yelling without any conviction or thought behind the words.
The music actually matches this – while as I said, the musicianship is really good, there’s really no atmosphere or emotion being conveyed. There are great moments like the openings to Good Mourning and Bad Omen, both having a more ominous and serious atmosphere. However, most of the time it just sounds like the band is jamming out to earn their dollar, which is not something I want in Thrash. It’s not dark, and the anger present is only very surface-level “I hate paying my taxes” kind of anger.
To be clear - It is a great album. The music is well-written and expertly played, the production is about as good as 80’s metal gets, and there aren’t any actually bad songs, but I find it massively overrated, and rather empty compared to most contemporary releases in the genre.
Simply amazing. Iron Maiden continue to shock me with the amount of talent and songwriting ability they displayed at such an early time for metal. Every song has stand out riffs and fantastic vocals from Bruce, and more than a couple show off the individual talents of the rhythm section far beyond anything Maiden had done yet.
Some of the songs add a hint of progressive elements, technicality, and a bit more keys than they’ve used before. But there’s really no major change; this is Maiden just being Maiden, and instead of running out of ideas, they’ve simply gained wisdom and skill and created an entire album of bangers. No band at this time was using dual guitar harmonies to the extent and success of Maiden, and by the looks of how metal turned out, it’s pretty clear how influential this band was on the entire landscape of the genre.
It’s mind-blowing to me that Maiden, 6 albums into their career, were still crafting some of the most memorable songs in Heavy Metal. There’s not much else to say because they really aren’t doing anything different; just playing honest Heavy Metal, better than anyone else ever had, and maybe ever would.
For their third album, Fates Warning followed mostly the same sound of their acclaimed sophomore album, The Spectre Within. The band’s highly melodic and often progressive yet deceptively simple music offers accessible entertainment. Most of the power metal influence from their last album is gone unfortunately, resulting in a slower and more sustained delivery.
John’s vocals, while never outstanding, are certainly stronger here than ever before, and his passionate delivery accompanied by the somewhat neoclassical musicianship add a flavor of theatrical atmosphere to the music. The long songs are never boring, containing multiple movements and layered with harmonies. While I miss the speed of their previous release, they certainly check every other box of 80’s Heavy Metal very well.
Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The name carries immense weight, even before hearing what lies therein. Often given the title of the greatest Doom Metal album of all time, bandleader Leif Edling carries the band with immense riff-writing prowess, and Johan Längqvist wields a powerful, epic operatic bellow. Here, he sets the now solidified trope of epic vocals in Trad Doom. His voice was very unique at the time, being capable hitting highs and lows and everything in between, but always remaining melodic and full of vibrato. The riffs here are reminiscent of early Sabbath, but heavier, groovier, and better.
Epicus Doomicus Metallicus has no shortage of quality riffs and vocals, and in fact, there is absolutely no filler to be found. Something Candlemass hadn’t expanded on for Doom, however, was the mood and atmosphere. The songs here remain rather generic worshippings of demons, god, and death in general, and apart from some nice acoustic sections, there is no variation in style or sound. Candlemass are no doubt gods at what they do, which is play straightforward Trad Doom. Unfortunately, to call this the greatest Doom Metal album of all time when the genre has expanded into something so much more than straightforward slow metal is rather unfounded.
The first Alternative Metal of all time comes from a band who started out doing Reggae infused Hardcore Punk. Shades of their past are present here, and this is still a very punky record. Nevertheless, making the jump to metal really improved their sound in my opinion, as this album is more melodic and much more focused than their previous Punk efforts. Whereas before they sometimes played Punk and sometimes played Reggae, here they do a much better job of fusing their punky Metal with a ton of other influences, and it mostly works.
The album is a genre in its infancy, and occasionally a bit rough around the edges, but it’s certainly never boring.
Yngwie’s sophomore solo album is much more traditionally structured like a regular album, with almost every song featuring vocals (strong vocals at that) and the improvised noodling is kept to a minimum. Depending on your taste, that can be a plus or a minus, but for me it’s a huge plus. Yngwie works best as support – he writes fantastic riffs, and his solos are excellent in small doses, rather than dedicating entire songs to him improvising. Although far from pop songs, the vocals feature some fantastically catchy choruses, and though the songs delve into anthemic arena rock territory, Yngwie keeps it interesting by ensuring the backing riffs are as technical and engaging as ever.
Definitely an improvement over the debut in my opinion, which was impressive but occasionally boring.
The first true Progressive Metal band of all time
Manic technical insanity. There was nothing even remotely close to the progressive technicality going on in metal (or anywhere else aside from Jazz) at the time of this release. So far ahead of it's time that it can still be called an impressive anomaly of musical prowess today.
The music on display here is 5 star material. There are just a few unfortunate problems that really drag it down; first of all, the vocalist isn't great. Especially where every other member is an absolute virtuoso at their instrument, the weak vocalist really stands out. To his credit, he does write some interesting lyrics, especially for the time. The guitar and drum tones are also pretty bad, although the bass sounds great (it's audible).
Regardless, it's probably this album that spawned hyper technical metal, and pushed the genre to even further extremes without simply playing heavier. Groundbreaking and influential, but more importantly still an amazingly entertaining record to this day.
Not incredibly impressed by Trouble’s debut album, their sophomore effort The Skull completely blew me away. I will say that this is the first Doom Metal album that makes the transition from Trad Doom to the more modern, melancholic Doom that I personally favor.
Musically, the lead guitar focuses on simple albeit effective melodies that add an extra layer of mood to the basic riffs that litter Trad Doom. The song structures are much more progressive – not that the music is incredibly complex, but there is a lot of variation, changes in speed, and many, many riffs in each of the rather long tracks. The solos have a fantastic balance of going for purposeful melodies that work perfectly with the rhythm work, or outright breaking into distorted, droning chaotic buzz. The drumming is another thing I love; I’d say this is also the first case of what I’d call “intelligent Doom Metal drumming.” Instead of simply playing slow, plodding beats, the drummer adds some progressive beats, and adds a great amount of double bass drumming in as well. Occasionally, all the musicians break out into speedy sections and just have at it, which I love in Doom. One song even has synthesized strings – a staple to modern Doom!
The lyrics and mood are the biggest separators from Trad Doom. No, I’m not talking about the Christian lyrics, I mean the references to depression, suicide, loss and death. The rich symbolism and more poetic style of songwriting is something that would be heavily expanded upon by Death Doomers of the 90’s, but it started right here. The music is also much more set to reflect the mood here, and there’s a clear difference to previously Satanic or drug and party influenced Doom of before.
Another aspect I haven’t seen in Trad Doom displayed here is passion. There is true passion in the lyrics and vocal delivery, even if those vocals are pretty rough. It’s clear the vocalist is not only 100% struggling with loss of hope and other issues, but also completely has faith in his God to help him, and to help others, and he’s truly thankful for it. This is music written for purpose; not just to sound good, but to deliver an important message. I myself am not a religious person of any kind, but I can still appreciate the passion and meaning to the music here, and the groundbreaking achievement that it was for my favorite music genre, Doom Metal.
When Slayer’s debut album rose from Hell in 1983, there was really nothing like it, and it sat comfortably atop the heaviest, fastest, most evil records in the world. Times had changed, and for metal, that meant pushing boundaries. Many bands heard Slayer and those who didn’t try to do exactly what they did, tried to up the ante.
So when Slayer went to record their sophomore album, they didn’t create Show No Mercy vol. 2. They had been listening to Mercyful Fate, and were inspired to create more complex song structures, longer and more varied compositions. However, they would sacrifice none of their brutality in doing this. The complex song structures allowed them to capitalize on their ability to create a truly evil, infernal mood; this is captured best on the opener “Hell Awaits,” with its backwards chanting and plentiful mid-tempo sections between the assaults of speed. Dave employs double bass drumming on every track, rather than occasional bursts. Tom’s bark, while definitely solid on the debut, was perfected here. He rattled off vicious lines at a speed unheard of, and despite pushing his vocal chords to their aggressive limits, remained intelligible the whole time. For me, this is the Slayer album that actually took the longest to love, but that’s a testament to the depth and timelessness of the album itself.
Slayer didn’t exactly invent a new genre with this album, but despite the Thrash label, it was more important to the development of Death Metal than anything. Slayer abandoned most of their punk roots here (Though they’d bring them back for the next album) and the sound is unmistakably darker. Possessed’s Seven Churches is awarded the title of first Death Metal album, but it’s a short step from Hell Awaits, and had death growls been employed here, the music would sound right at home on a pure Death Metal record.
By name dropping the genre in the album’s closing track, Possessed invented Death Metal just as Venom invented Black Metal. The only difference was Possessed actually were Death Metal, through and through.
Naturally, this album is a bit messy, and the production isn’t the best. There are quite a few mistakes from the musicians you can pretty easily pick up on, and many instances where Becerra can’t get the words out in time and just screams nonsense. They were armatures. But their vision and their passion was incredible, and yes, they created a full-fledged Death Metal album on their first try.
Those buzzsaw guitars were shredding out some seriously deranged, dissonant riffs, and the drums were just smashing everything as hard and fast as they could. It wasn’t that fast, and one might even say mid-tempo compared to today’s metal, but certainly Becerra’s screaming growl drove all that home and shook any doubts that this was indeed the heaviest music on Earth at the time. Lyrics focused exclusively on Satan, and though they weren’t well written or often intelligible, they never surrendered an inch to worshipping the great evil so necessary to Metal.
Pentagram didn’t quite come bursting into the scene in 1985, but neither were they plodding – it was a sort of mid-tempo shuffle between classic Heavy Metal and Trad Doom. Another thing; their riffs weren’t really evil sounding, nor were they somber. The lyrics were Satanic, sure, but the band sounded more like a casual metal band playing slowly rather than anything doomy or evil. The music, and especially the vocals, are far too cheerful for the generic evil lyrics to carry any weight at all. There are some good riffs, but there’s no atmosphere, no mood, and to top it off, the audio quality is really poor. Not a bad release by any means, as all the songs are at least decent, but Pentagram brought absolutely nothing to the table even in 1985, and it certainly doesn’t hold up today.
Helloween really laid down the blueprints for true Power Metal with their debut, as opposed to the USPM bands like Omen and Jag Panzer were already playing. Helloween took the most melodic aspects of twin guitar bands like Iron Maiden and the speed of bands like Exciter and Metallica and turned them all way up. The result is a very up-tempo (for metal) style that remains incredibly melodic despite playing as fast and hard as some of the most extreme bands at the time. The birth of Power Metal.
The music really shines here, and it has to; vocalist/guitarist Kai Hansen is passable at best as he strains to hit the notes he really wants to here. Despite that, the musicianship is top tier and almost all songs are great.
Fates Warning did something incredible on their sophomore album; they took two metal subgeneres that hadn’t even begun evolving yet and combined them to create an even more unique sound that would be mimicked forever. Of course I’m talking about Progressive Power metal.
Now, this album isn’t true Progressive Power Metal, but it’s absolutely clear this is where it started, and some moments in their songs actually delve completely into this territory. The songs are speedy, complex, long and changing, and feature some nearly operatic vocals about space and stuff. There are no weaknesses whatsoever to this album. Of course things could be improved, as hundreds of bands have done since, but at the time it was released, absolutely nothing could have touched this in this realm of metal.
Keep in mind, their debut album was a very, very generic Heavy Metal album with absolutely nothing substantial about it at all.
Bathory is back at it again with more of the same for their sophomore album. The differences between this and the debut are minimal; same terrible production quality, same evil riffs and lyrics, same snarling screams. Which is good, because the first album succeeded in all these aspects. The songs stay almost exclusively fast tempo, and the drumming definitely sounds more controlled. The good stuff isn’t really better than their debut, but it definitely sounds like the album is more consistent, with almost no weak moments throughout. Bathory would later go on to pioneer new genres of metal, but here they stick to their original style, and there’s not much else to say about it.
This album has 3 weaknesses. The playing is a bit sloppy at times, the production is bad, and the vocalist can be rather grating.
Those things aside, the album is one of the greatest of it's era. The music itself sounds similar to (and is on par with) Maiden in terms of melody and riffs, and is actually heavier and faster than anything they had done at the time. This is one of the only albums before Thrash broke out in '83 to have moments of nonstop, pounding double bass drumming on more than one song, and I think only Venom had them matched in terms of how frequently they employed this technique.
If this band was from England and took advantage of the NWOBHM boom at the time, I have no doubt they would have sealed a record deal quite easily with this material and gone on to be revered as one of the founding fathers of Speed metal. Unfortunately, they broke up after this release went nowhere in their home of France, and have been forgotten by all but underground enthusiasts. While their weaknesses can't be ignored, they definitely deserve credit for what seemed like unmatched potential that was unfortunately never realized.
Canonically among the greatest Metal albums of all time, Ride the Lightning took the Thrash from Kill Em All and, at the expense of some speed and energy, added superb songwriting, lyricism, and a wide range of emotions and moods. In fact, one of the things that makes Ride the Lightning so good is that anyone can enjoy it – you don’t have to be a Thrash fan or even a metalhead to appreciate the fantastic musicianship of the title track, or the emotional weight of “Fade to Black.” Still my favorite Metallica album, Ride the Lightning has stood the test of time for music fans of all kinds.
The greatest pure Heavy Metal record of it's time. While Thrash, Speed, Doom and Black Metal were taking the genre into more extreme - and dare I say interesting - directions, Iron Maiden were sticking with the tried and true and perfecting it. Here, Maiden mix the fantastic guitar work and hooks they’ve always had with a slightly speedier and more progressive sound, and it works magically. Every song on here is great, but the bookends and title track are truly special. Bruce’s voice has always been fantastic, but he sounds better than ever here, and that’s not just his range – the notes he hits to harmonize with the music are really unique here, and he’s pulling off magnificent vocal lines while still changing things up every so often to keep your brain entertained. It really is a Heavy Metal masterpiece.
Venom planted the seeds of Black Metal with their simple, Satanic, and raw style that aimed to be as fast and abrasive as possible. Bathory was the plant that grew from those seeds. Although not an astounding effort on it’s own, Bathory was an album that was indisputably Black Metal, and – whether purposefully or due to lack of money – set the standard for the use of terrible production as a tool to create atmosphere. Indeed, the album sounds like you’re listening to some cultists play in the middle of the woods from inside your bedroom. However, it works – the album sounds very dark, and very evil, and it’s convincing in that darkness, unlike Venom which were rather humorous in the end. Imperfect, but a brilliant first child for the genre of Black Metal.
Dio seems to excel everywhere he appears. He lead Rainbow to the top in the 70’s, reinvigorated Black Sabbath for their (in my opinion) best albums ever, and then quit at the top of his game to do his own thing. And yeah, it was another success; Holy Diver is a monster of an album.
Dio took the energy and flash of Rainbow and married it to the dark moodiness of Sabbath, and dropped something that triumphed almost anything either band had produced. His vocals are top notch as always, and now he’s free to do what he wants with them rather than bend to the wishes of another band. However, saying they steal the show is far from the truth. Guitarist Vivian Campbell is a master riff writer, and his guitar melodies play off of Dio’s hooks flawlessly.
As far as classic Heavy Metal goes, this is near the top.
Kill ‘Em All is a mixed bag for me. On one end, it’s got some amazing music that was revolutionary at the time. On the other end, it doesn’t hold up all that well. For a Thrash Metal album, it’s incredibly lighthearted. They’ve got…(2?) songs on here that are just about playing music, they’ve got one about going to hell but it’s carried by an incredibly uptempo riff, and... basically, real generic stuff you might find on a Nickleback album. The introspective and literature-influenced lyrics of Ride the Lightning are nowhere to be found here, and it really matches the all-around mood, which is not serious at all. As I said, it’s lighthearted, and if I’m listening to Thrash… that’s the last thing I want.
Aside from those weaknesses though, it still was one of the heaviest albums of its time, and it really had no tracks that were bad by any means. The B side is where they really shine, I think. Phantom Lord has great riffs and solos, and stays fast-paced throughout. No Remorse is one of my favorite Metallica tracks, and trudges through slower, darker riffs until breaking out in their fastest finale ever. No one would question the fantastic guitar fest of Seek & Destroy and closer Metal Militia. James’ vocals here are also more savage than ever. I can’t say I prefer them because his voice always sounds fantastic, but this side of them is certainly a treat.
Overrated, but still a great record.
An absolute tragedy of an album. So much potential, almost all of it wasted.
Here we have all the ingredients for a great album. While most of these songs are pretty unconventional for Sabbath, they end up being some of the most unique and interesting they have ever written. The music here is great - the riffs, the atmosphere. Easily up there with Sabbath's best. Unfortunately, the production is awful. That isn't enough to completely ruin the songs, but it is not raw in an endearing way; there was a mistake in the studio apparently, and it shows. This was a mess.
Then, we have Ian Gillan. A fantastic vocalist, sure. But he just doesn't fit Sabbath. Ozzy isn't a great singer by any means, but he definitely has an ear for music, and his wails really fit Sabbath's style. Dio, there's really nothing that needs to be said; he can do just about anything. Both those vocalists wrote lyrics a little differently; Dio's lyrics were occasionally out of place in Sabbath, but his delivery was always on point, so it's forgivable. Ian has none of that. His lyrics are terrible; mostly about sex, getting drunk, rocking out, etc. On top of that, his delivery does not fit Sabbath at all. In Disturbing the Priest and Born Again, he does manage to sound somewhat menacing, but the rest of the time, he just sounds too damn happy. It doesn't fit at all.
Let it be said that there are no bad songs here, and one great one even in the title track. But the album could have been a masterpiece if handled better, and instead it's a mess full of unrealized potential.
Some people think this is the worst metal album, if not THE worst album of all time. It's bad, but not that bad.
I'll Be Alright has some nice riffs, and Biggest Part of Me is catchy and cheesy in the best way. Other than that, there's absolutely nothing to praise.
The vocals are pretty bad, the production is rough, and the lyrics are atrocious. Some of the music is listenable, though. While no songs other than the earlier two I mentioned provide anything of quality, they aren't abhorrent or overly offensive. The reputation this thing gets would have a listener anticipating aural hell, as it's presented in a way that it's not only bad, but absolutely unlistenable and possibly painful.
In actuality, it's a bad album, nothing I'd ever spin for pleasure. But it's no worse than that; just a bad glam album with every bad glam trope you can think of. Nothing that makes you want to tear your hair out or throw up. Most likely, the biggest reason this album is painted this way is because it's compared to Pantera's later works, which many consider groove metal masterpieces and core foundations of 90's metal. Of course this album and their other pre 90's material pales in comparison, so much so that they appear offensive; a hideous blemish in a legendary band's career.
If someone was playing this in their car and I had never heard it before, I'd just think "Damn, that's some bad glam." However, I might also find myself headbanging to a track or two. And then I would never think of it again. It's poor and forgettable, but not nearly as bad as it's made out to be.
The album cover is so bad it's funny, and because this album has become a joke in itself, it really works. A definite positive.
Finally breaking the mold. Though most disagree, this album trumps everything else Priest did in the 70’s and 80’s in my opinion. The first traces of speed and power metal show up in pummeling tracks like Starbreaker and Let Us Prey. The meanest, heaviest riffs ever put to record are shown off in closer Dissident Aggressor. And that cover of Diamonds and Rust is absolutely flawless, it remains my favorite Priest song.
Rob’s vocals are more aggressive than they have ever been and ever would be until the landmark Painkiller release, and they are indicative of the raw power of this record. Underrated and never given the credit it deserves as a game changing release for the band as well as the entire genre of Metal.
What a mixed bag. I had already heard, and now agree, that Sabotage contains some of Sabbaths absolute best material, and some of their most lackluster. It starts very strong, with an A-side that is unyielding save for a weak acoustic instrumental track. Some of Toni’s best riffs accompany Ozzy’s most impassioned vocal performance yet.
The B-side isn’t bad, not at all. It’s just so completely inferior to the A-side. Mostly hard rock tracks lacking either memorable hooks or riffs carry the listener through the second half in minor disappointment. However, nothing can be said to overstate the comeback that is the final track, “The Writ.”
“The Writ” blew my mind when I first heard it. Unmistakably, I recognized that track as the birth of true Doom; in contrast to the Traditional Doom sound Sabbath coined, this track was very moody, very slow, very heavy. It was melancholic, and passionate. Somewhat progressive and eclectic. This track, I believe, is what birthed melancholic Doom Metal as a separate style to the slow but epic style of Trad Doom, and consequently, led to Death Doom and Funeral Doom.