Sonny's Forum Replies
For September please Andi:
Megadeth - "Countdown to Extinction" (from "Countdown to Extinction", 1992)
My submissions for September Vinny - a touch over 41 minutes I think.
Amboog-A-Lard - "The Wounded" (from "Power from the Vault" [V/A compilation], 1997)
Demolition Hammer - "Hydrophobia" (from "Tortured Existence", 1990)
Demoniac - "La caída" (from "Nube Negra", 2023)
English Dogs - "The Final Conquest" (from "Forward Into Battle", 1985)
Epidemic - "Hate" (from "Decameron", 1992)
Kreator - "Impossible Brutality" (from "Enemy of God", 2005)
Mayhemic - "Kollarbone Crushed Neandertha" (from "Toba", 2024)
Pessimist - "Trommelfeuer" (from "Call To War", 2010)
Razor - "Speed Merchants" (from "Evil Invaders", 1985)
Thanks, guys. 
I had forgotten that I have already reviewed this. "Brave New World" definitely saw Maiden take a turn for the better after their awful 90s run, although this wasn't immediately apparent to me, as I will explain below. Blaze Bayley wasn't the only one to blame either, don't forget that "No Prayer for the Dying" and "Fear of the Dark" were sub-standard offerings and the mighty Maiden were on a downward trajectory long before Blaze took up the mic. For me "Brave New World" and "A Matter of Life & Death" are really the only post-Eighties Maiden studio albums worth my time now (along with "Paschendale" from "Dance of Death"). Both have filler tracks, but also some genuinely classy stuff too, the first three tracks of both AMoL&D and "Brave New World" alongside BNW's "Nomad" which is one of my favourite latter-day Maiden tracks, are all brilliant. In fact, I really must put myself together an album-length playlist of the best tracks from those three albums. Anyway, here is my review:
Upon my return to metaldom in the late 90s / early 2000s, I thought a safe bet would be one of my old favourites, Iron Maiden, so I purchased their (then) new album Brave New World from my local recorded music emporium. The last "Irons" album I had listened to at this time was Seventh Son, a decent album but one I have always believed is a little overrated, that however is a story for another day. Like someone who's been in a coma for a decade and wakes up expecting everything and everybody to be the same as before, I was extremely disappointed with Brave New World. This was no Powerslave, this was no Piece of Mind or Number of the Beast so what the fuck went wrong with Iron Maiden I asked myself as I threw the CD to the back of the cupboard and acted like it never existed.
Anyway, after 20+ years and the release of possibly Maiden's final album Senjutsu, I decided to revisit this much-maligned (by me) album. I have more perspective on Brave New World now that I am aware of how disastrous the Blaze years were for Maiden and, indeed, how below-par Bruce's previously final album Fear of the Dark was. So with fresh ears and a greater appreciation of where Maiden were as a band at the time (or more accurately where they had been) I have given Brave New World a reappraisal.
Firstly the facts: Bruce's replacement, Blaze Bayley, was out and Bruce was back in. Adrian Smith also returned to the line-up for the first time since 1988's Seventh Son, but Janick Gers (who's addition is the one decent thing to come out of the Blaze era) stayed on making Maiden a triple guitar, six-headed beast of a band.
Well, in truth I really must have been in a foul mood when I first listened to this because I can't now for the life of me see why I was so pissed off with it at the time. It's not perfect for sure and there are a couple of tracks that I find a bit irritating, Blood Brothers especially has a terrible chorus and if it and The Fallen Angel had been exorcised to produce a more concise runtime I think the album would have been all the better for it. But there is some great stuff here too. Wicker Man is a decent opener and I love the longer tracks, Dream of Mirrors, The Nomad and Ghost of the Navigator, all of which are suitably epic in execution. There's some good 'bangers too - Brave New World, Out of the Silent Planet and the title track to name but three. All in all I would now have to renounce my former idiocy and revise my opinion to a considered and conditional thumbs up for Brave New World. It is a worthy successor to Maiden's eighties' output, whilst not quite achieving the same level of metal heaven due to the lack of any earth-shatteringly killer tracks like Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Trooper or Rime of the Ancient Mariner. But it most certainly is not the abject failure I originally had it pegged for.
4/5 [83/100]
It's okay to give things a pass though, especially if it preserves individual contentment at the time and a review being irrelevant also. I have come to see the feature releases as an opportunity to share an album with others which is entirely at their own discretion to check out or not. The ethos of the MA is that not of it is mandatory which is why the place works so well.
True.
It is definitely an issue with the feature releases. I very often think, "no I really can't face that at this time" and usually give it a pass. Sometimes I plough on regardless and neither do it nor myself any service by doing so.
I don’t know that any of these tracks work particularly well in isolation, with my thinking being that they are best consumed as part of a whole album sitting. There are no finger buffet style pickings here, Damned is an experience to be immersed in. Herein could lie potential weaknesses for some listeners seeking a more immediate listening experience. It took me a few goes to understand exactly how to listen to Damned before its true majesty became obvious. Glad I got there though.
4/5
To some extent that is an observation that could be levelled at drone metal as a whole. It is a genre that relies heavily on atmosphere creation and doesn't really lend itself to today's pick 'n' mix listening habits.
Yeah, I think that has probably been my Achilles heel with drone in general, trying to pick at it. Suggestions to “try this band” or me simply just dipping into single tracks have left me a bit confused as to what the hell is going on. Based on this feature release, I will learn to listen to any such albums in full moving forwards.
I also believe that choosing the right time to listen to drone, or any more challenging style of music for that matter, is really important. I have found too often that since I have been checking out music from an internet nerd perspective I am sometimes listening to stuff that I am just not in the right frame of mind for, but continue on anyway and don't enjoy or appreciate it, only to return to it at a later date and wonder what I was thinking as it is actually pretty good (and sometimes vice-versa).
This was more obviously self-evident when we were reliant on physical music collections for the totality of our listening experience. Often when searching for something to listen to you would think to yourself "Nope, not in the mood for that today". Human perception can't have changed that much in thirty years, I just don't think we are as consciously aware of it as we were, or we plough on anyway because we just have to check this particular album out right now. Sometimes we just aren't in the right frame of mind for it and that is fine.
Of course, this may just be me!
I don’t know that any of these tracks work particularly well in isolation, with my thinking being that they are best consumed as part of a whole album sitting. There are no finger buffet style pickings here, Damned is an experience to be immersed in. Herein could lie potential weaknesses for some listeners seeking a more immediate listening experience. It took me a few goes to understand exactly how to listen to Damned before its true majesty became obvious. Glad I got there though.
4/5
To some extent that is an observation that could be levelled at drone metal as a whole. It is a genre that relies heavily on atmosphere creation and doesn't really lend itself to today's pick 'n' mix listening habits.
Is there a version of this on YouTube that doesn't have ads does anyone know? I just can't listen to albums on YouTube with ads in, it ruins them. Doesn't appear to be on any streaming services either.
It is definitely on Spotify here in the UK Vinny, Link below:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0vVJHcXVSGVJHCwW78HLIJ
Black Cilice is one of those names I have seen bandied about a bit by black metal enthusiasts, yet have never listened to them myself. I think I always thought they were a bit avant-garde or some such and so I always put them on the back burner. A feature nom is a great excuse to rectify that situation and I am now looking forward to what may be to come from this.
Today is a notable date for anniversaries as the ten releases listed on the Anniversary page have a grand total of a single one star rating between them. I guess the 3rd of August isn't the most auspicious date in the history of metal!
Are we due a Pit playlist for September, Vinny? If so, I am still compiling a few selections, but will get them to you as soon as I can and certainly well before the 15th.
My review:
Dorso formed in 1984 and remain a going concern, releasing eight full-length albums with quite a wide range of genres from thrash/speed metal, grindcore, progressive rock, heavy metal through to black metal. "Bajo una luna cámbrica" was the band's debut full-length, being released in June of 1984 and featuring the only ever-present band member, bassist / vocalist Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra, alongside guitarist / vocalist Gamal Eltit. Drum duties were shared by four guest/session drummers with Eltit also manning the kit for the track "Críptica visión".
What we have here with "Bajo una luna cámbrica" is principally a thrash metal album, but it is also a fair bit more than that with some quite impressive progressive touches. The album's longest track, "Cíclope" is a really nice piece of progressive metal with some legitimate Seventies' touches and a distinct latin flavour. The song writing is ambitious, certainly compared to their peers, with the band being more interested in keeping things interesting than trying to be as extreme and fast as possible. This certainly doesn't translate to the album being at all lightweight, they can be plenty aggressive and thrash with the best of them when the mood takes them with some pretty killer riffs, check out "Vuela en tu dragón" or "Hidra" and hear for yourself. It is just that, for this band that isn't the be all and end all. I guess this could be termed as technical thrash metal and the guys do seem to be technically very adept, but I think of it as being more progressive than technical with even a jazz influence at times. The short "Suite", for example, is basically a guitar workout in the vein of a heavy Robert Fripp or even Frank Zappa and Gamal Eltit's guitar solo work is generally excellent, utilising a number of variations of style and really shredding when required to do so.
Sadly, the production doesn't really do the guys a lot of favours and its muddiness does blunt the edge a little, but not enough to cause too much drama, being more of a niggle than a major issue. The songwriting really is fantastic and has impressed me mightily. I can't help wondering whether this was an influence on modern chilean thrash legends Demoniac and the curveballs they like to include in with their thrashing mayhem. I am really glad to have stumbled upon this and I would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in hearing a quite unique album from the Eighties' South American metal scene that offers a bit more than straight ahead metal charges.
4/5 [81/100]
Wow, Ben. I had a lot of respect for all that you do and the effort you put into the site before, but now that is off the charts. I am in awe at your level of organisation and dedication. To someone as disorganised and random as me that is like voodoo!
Thanks once more.
Temple of Void - "The Crawl" (2026)
I have been all over Temple of Void for about a decade now. Their doomy and cavernous version of death metal has produced some of my favourite death metal albums of recent years, peaking with 2020's "The World That Was". What sets Temple of Void apart is their willingness to tweak and tinker with a well-established style of death metal and in so doing produce records that aren't entirely predictable, but which still contain plenty of what is recognisable of the old-school death and death doom metal philosophy. Needless to say I had high hopes for "The Crawl" and although I had sat on it for a few months following its release in March, it has certainly grabbed my attention now that I have finally got round to checking it out.
Opening track "Poison Icon" kicks off, straight out of the gate, in formidable style with a driving riff overlaid with a searing solo, ensuring that the listener's attention is grabbed from the very start. This isn't the whole story with "Poison Icon" though as it soon takes on a gothic flavour with a marked Paradise Lost influence, although it still remains firmly ensconced on the OSDM side of the fence. Further intense soloing leads the track out and it is apparent, even by the end of track one, that Temple of Void have stepped things up both in songwriting terms and in intensity of delivery. "Godless Cynic" features a more dissonant style of guitar lead laid over a mid-paced, chugging rhythm track that feels ominously hulking and portentious and in direct contrast to the opener, leaving us in no doubt that the band really mean business this time round and intend to stretch themselves more than ever. The title track is up next and is a slower, doomier affair with a riff that is almost as much rooted in traditional doom metal as it is death metal, weirdly like I would imagine Black Sabbath sounding if they played death metal! "A Dead Issue" is another slower-paced affair that begins with a spacey synth intro before launching into its melodic main riff and which features jangling, weirdly discordant leads that morph into soaring solos.
"Thy Mountain Eternal" is a somewhat bombastic, progressive-sounding affair with several musical twists and turns, occasionally feeling reminiscent of late metal-era Opeth only with more Dave Gilmour-ish soloing, although for me this is the album's weakest offering. Penultimate track "Soulburn" is one of the band's most melodic and features riffs and verses that are almost catchy, especially with the synth overlay, once more reminding me of Paradise Lost and providing one of the band's more memorable offerings. Closing with longest track, "The Twin Strangers", the band go out in style with a track that kicks off with a brooding, rampaging death metal riff before hitting the brakes on a hulking end-section which builds with interweaving twin leads before fading into the cosmos in a haze of ambient synths.
Now, all this may make "The Crawl" sound like an eclectic and varied affair and, to a certain extent, it is but, to be clear, this is still an album that has its roots firmly dug into the OSDM ethos, no better illustrated than by Mike Erdody's vocals which never shift from their growling, gutteral death metal roar. I think the album actually strikes a nice balance between innovation and tradition, each track very much fitting together and complementing each other, making for a very rewarding listening experience that presents variation whilst still giving the OSDM fan plenty of their favourite poison to savour. The songwriting and technical prowess of the band is continuing to blossom, the production is crystal clear throughout, bass and drums getting every bit as much attention as the guitar and vocals and I think with repeated listens this may well establish itself as my favourite Temple of Void album, ultimately dethroning "The World That Was".
4.5/5 [90/100] I can't believe this only had a paltry 2.5/5 prior to me rating it.
Oh yeah, this I like. I already have a review up for it, but I am gonna give it another blast before commenting.
The new site is a long way off Andi. I haven't been experiencing any of these errors for 24 hours now. Are they still happening for you? Do they come & go? I'm sure it'll end up being something memory-related & entirely fixable. I haven't spoken to Ben yet as I thought it had been resolved but I'll do so in 4 or 5 hours when it's a reasonable hour in Sydney.
For me, yes, they come and go. When it is bad it is very bad. This afternoon I had to give up because it was taking like a dozen tries to get a page to refresh, although it wasn't too bad earlier in the day, happening only like one in five or six posts. Seens a bit better now too (late evening here).
Almost unusable now. Any update?
August 2026
1. Old Forest - "Grond - Hammer of the Underworld" (from "Into the Old Forest", 1999) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Mork - "Utryddelse" (from "Monolitt", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
3. Dimmu Borgir - "Master of Disharmony" (from "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
4. Svrm - "Попіл" (from "Мертвий край", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Valhalore - "Augury of Death" (from "Valhalore EP", 2015)
6. Hades Almighty - "Funeral Storm" (from "Pyre Era, Black!" EP, 2015)
7. Abysmal Lord - "Sabbat" (from "Disciples of the Inferno", 2015)
8. Vafurlogi - "Úr himinsölum" (from "Gneisti af eldi Guðs", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
9. Drudkh - "Memory" (from "Thaw", 2026) [submitted by Sonny]
10. ehemence - "En Quête du Graal" (From Assiégé Pour l'Éternité, 2026) [submitted by Xephyr]
11. Gehenna - "A Myth" (from "Seen Through the Veils of Darkness", 1995) [submitted by Karl]
12. Sakna - "Alltid" (from "De Syv Dødssynder", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
13. VI - "La terre ne cessera de se consumer" (from "De praestigiis angelorum", 2015) [submitted by Sonny]
14. Siebenbürgen - "Om hösten död" (from "Loreia", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
15. Saidan - "Ethereal Blood" (From Fangdriller, 2026) [submitted by Xephyr]
16. Nyogthaeblisz - "Ordnance for Adamic Holocaust and Cosmocidal Entropy"(from "Abrahamic Godhead Besieged by Adversarial Usurpation", 2019)
17. Bizarrekult - " Blikket Hennes" (from "Alt som finnes", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
18. Imperium Dekadenz - "Truth Under Stars" (from "Into Sorrow Evermore", 2023) [submitted by Sonny]
19. Christ Agony - "Urtica Diaoica Cultha" (from "Daemoonseth Act II", 1994) [submitted by Karl]
20. Silencer - "I Shall Lead, You Shall Follow" (from "Death - Pierce Me", 2001) [submitted by Sonny]
August 2026
1. Avulsed - "Abduction of Limbs" (from "Abduction of Limbs" [single], 2026)
2. Unleashed - "To Asgaard We Fly" (from "Across the Open Sea", 1993) [submitted by Karl]
3. Slaughterday - "Astral Carnage" (from "Dread Emperor", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
4. Imperator - "Necronomicon" (from "The Time Before Time", 1991) [submitted by Sonny]
5. Fall of the Leafe - "Starfire" (from "Evanescent Everfading", 1998) [submitted by Karl]
6. Nile - "Annihilation of the Wicked" (from "Annihilation of the Wicked", 2005) [submitted by Vinny]
7. Rotten Sound - "Sell Your Soul" (from "Exit", 2005) [submitted by Sonny]
8. Ablation - "Lethal Abuse" (from "Lethal Abuse", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
9. Aurora Borealis - "Millisecond Pulsar" (from "Disillusioned by the Illusion", 2026) [submitted by Karl]
10. Sadism - "Perdition of Souls" (from "Perdition of Souls Demo", 1989) [submitted by Sonny]
11. Devourment - "Mortiferous Dependency" (from "Pious Impiety", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Loudblast - "Turn the Scales" (from "Sublime Dementia", 1993) [submitted by Karl]
13. Ceremony of Silence - "Serpent Slayer" (from "Hálios", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
14. Rotten Tomb - "Condemned Reality" (from "Vestiges of Tortured Souls", 2026) [submitted by Karl]
15. Desecresy - "Summoned with Necrolunar Telepathy" (from "The Secret of Death", 2026) [submitted by Karl]
16. Sanguisugabogg - "Rotted Entanglement" (from "Hideous Aftermath", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
17. Nuclear Death - "Cremation" (from "Bride of Insect", 1990) [submitted by Sonny]
18. Atrocity - "Life Is a Long and Silent River" (from "Hallucinations", 1990) [submitted by Sonny]
19. Massacre - "Chamber of Ages" (from "From Beyond", 1991) [submitted by Karl]
20. ZOMBIESHARK! - "H3LLW0RLD_" (from "I Will Destroy You, Myself, and Everything I've Ever Loved.", 2020)
21. Six Feet Under - "Destroyed Remains" (from "Next to Die", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
22. Putred - "Întâlnirea mortală" (from "Blestemul din adânc", 2026) [submitted by Karl]
23. Suffering Hour - "Inexorable Downfall" (from "Impelling Rebirth EP", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]
24. Allegaeon - "Of Beasts and Worms" (from "Damnum", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]
25. Effluence - "Putrefactive Symbiosis" (from "Psychocephalic Spawning", 2021)
26. Fleshcrawl - "Blood Dominion" (from "Epitome of Carnage", 2026) [submitted by Karl]
27. Desecrator - "Subconscious Release" (from "Subconscious Release", 1991) [submitted by Sonny]
August 2026
1. Age of Taurus - "The Bull and the Bear" (from "Desperate Souls of Tortured Times", 2013) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Khemmis – “Carrion King” (from “Khemmis”, 2026) [submitted by dk]
3. Kal-El - "Juno" (from "Astral Voyager Vol. 2", 2026) [submitted by Sonny]
4. Godthrymm - "Endure My Skin" (from "Projections", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
5. Black Sheep Wall – “Nihility” (from “I am God Songs”, 2008) [submitted by dk]
6. Solystalgia - "Conflagration" (from "Solystalgia", 2026)
7. Monolord - "Iodine" (from "Neverending", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
8. Crypt Sermon - "Christ is Dead" (from "The Ruins of Fading Light", 2019)
9. Crowbar - "Planets Collide" (from "Oddfellows Rest", 1998) [submitted by Vinny]
10. The Old Dead Tree - "It Can't Be!" (from "The Nameless Disease", 2003)
11. Dauðaró & Pantheïst - "Iron Dominion" (from "Af holdi og málmi", (2026) [submitted by Sonny]
12. WitchSorrow – “Hades Chains” (from “Hades Chains” single, 2026) [submitted by dk]
13. Flame, Dear Flame - "The Millennial Heartbeat Part I" (from "Aegis", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]
14. IAN – “Manuel” (from “Come on Everybody, Let's Do Nothing!”, 2025) [submitted by dk]
15. Melvins - "Queen" (from "Stoner Witch", 1994) [submitted by Vinny]
16. Ablaze in Hatred - "A Walk Through the Silence" (from "The Quietude Plains", 2009)
17. Messa - "Thicker Blood" (from "The Spin", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
18. Khanate - "No Joy" (from "Khanate", 2001) [submitted by Sonny]
I have had a few of these over the previous two days, but today it has increased to the point where it is problematic and is happening with roughly 4 out of every 5 'sends'. Anyone else experiencing issues, or is it just me?
This post went through on the ninth attempt... Aaarghhh!!!
I have had a few of these over the previous two days, but today it has increased to the point where it is problematic and is happening with roughly 4 out of every 5 'sends'. Anyone else experiencing issues, or is it just me?
I was just wondering, Ben, how do you select bands for adding to the site? Also, how do you keep up with the latest releases from bands already on the site as there are now so many?
Could you add russian doom / funeral doom band Talsur please Ben.
Also belgian doom band Temple of Nothing. Thanks....
Could you add portuguese black metallers (now living in the Netherlands) Israthoum please Ben.
Hey Ben, could you add Fresno death metallers Graven Maul please.
Also german band Gravehammer. I will link them as there are two other bands of that name (from Sweden and Malaysia):
Lone Wanderer - Exequiae (2026)
Despite having formed in 2014, only now have Lone Wanderer attracted my doom-hungry gaze. To date the german four-piece have released an album-length EP and three official full-lengths, with "Exequiae" being their latest and, at 72 minutes, longest. Kicking off with the almost twenty-five minute, "To Rest Eternally", Lone Wanderer set out their stall from the outset. The opener displays a quite clean version of funeral doom metal that, at times, almost feels like it strays into post-metal territiory. It doesn't always possess the sheer crushing immensity of an Esoteric or Ahab, but rather it utilises melodic guitar leads to provide some lightness to contrast with the churning morass of sluggish riffs and plodding percussion in order to present a more emotionally charged atmosphere. This doesn't mean that this is lightweight stuff, by any means, it is still fundamentally funeral doom after all, but it does feel like the band want to tug at your heartstrings whilst they smother and envelop you in their wall of sound. The foundation from which the guitar leads soar is further bolstered by the impressive rumble issuing from the throat of vocalist/guitarist Bruno Schotten who has got the archetypal funeral doom abyssal growl down pat. The songwriting is also of a high standard and, despite its length, "To Rest Eternally", doesn't get stuck in any particular rut and manages to keep itself sounding interesting and engaging with nuanced changes in melody and tempo, even calming to a gentle, spoken word section at one point from which it builds to its apotheosis.
This mighty opener is followed by the albums two shortest tracks, "Existence Nullified" and "Life's Lost Vanity" both of which sound quantifiably heavier and while their leads are still fairrly melodic in nature, they aren't as light or as airy as those on "To Rest Eternally", consequently reinforcing the depth of darkness of both tracks' tone rather than providing contrast to it. "Anhedonie" marks a return to the slightly lighter tone of the opener, but it doesn't quite hold together as well for me and does feel like it gets bogged down a little in the middle. It isn't a bad track by any means, but it doesn't resonate with me as much as the first couple of tracks, Closer "Epistemology of the Passed" is another lengthy affair, clocking in at over 16 minutes and is once more a trade-off between both light and dark musical motifs, the interplay and contrast between the two opposing forces ultimately being the core of the album and the engine which drives it pretty much from start to finish.
Overall I am an enthusiastic convert and whilst I do love me some really heavy and crushingly dark funeral doom, Lone Wanderer have managed to captivate me with their more contrasted style, chiefly because it is written and performed so damn well. I am certainly going to have to have a dig into the band's earlier releases, but for now this is destined to find its way onto my favourite funeral doom metal list and is sure to feature in my year end list too.
4.5/5 [86/100]
The real attraction was the antique juke box though & my father & I would head to the local record store every few months to purchase new 7" singles to stock it with. It was quite the asset for parties.
That is so cool and I am really jealous. I would have loved a jukebox but they were always well out of my price range. I have a shitload of singles from my very oldest Slade, T.Rex and Sparks 7 inchers I bought when I was a kid through late 70s punk and into 1980s metal and gothic rock and it would have been awesome to have them all cued up in a jukebox.
I own in excess of 1000 releases on CD, but since my last laptop packed in, well over a year ago now, I have been unable to play them as my new one has no disc drive. I have been getting increasingly frustrated by my inability to listen to my own stuff, especially the ones that don't appear on streaming, so I finally bought an external CD/DVD player for my latest laptop from Amazon. I ordered it at lunch time on Saturday and it was here by teatime, which is frankly amazing to me. It's a cheapo chinese bit of kit (Bunud - never heard of them before), it only cost £20, but it is actually pretty fucking good and I get to listen to all my obscure doom shit once more, so thumbs up all round.
I have nowhere near that amount of CDs but I have a couple of shelves worth and I have a Marantz CD player as part of my hi-fi set up. I should play it more but life just gets in the way and if I am sat at home working next to my desktop PC it is easier to click on something to stream it. My grandad on my mother's side had an amazing hi-fi set up in his living room, he was a proper connoisseur of set up. He only did vinyl or cassette though on that set up, there was a CD player in the back kitchen dining room from memory as they used to live more or less exclusively in that room (despite having a three bedroom terrraced). There's a few recordings of him singing songs to his wife for when he was away working so she could listen to them which is kinda cute considering to look at him, he was this big tattoed guy with a missing finger (in reality the nicest man I ever knew). He only used to play country and western though but whenever I went round with some records he'd let me play them. I'd love to eventually emulate that set up that he had.
I am really gonna show my age now, but I remember when I was a kid going to my gran and grandad's, they had a wind-up gramaphone that played 78s. The ones they had were almost exclusively brass band music because the local truck firm had a pretty famous brass band that my mum and her sister used to travel all over the country with. I don't really have any wish to emulate their setup!!
Sick of It All - Yours Truly (2000)
R.I.P. Lou Koller
I have been spinning some Sick of It All today after learning of vocalist Lou Koller finally losing his lengthy battle with cancer. They were one of my favourite hardcore bands and Lou one of my favourite punk vocalists. I don't know how well known they are outside of the New York HC scene, but I got into them after catching their video for "District" from this very album on MTV around the time of its release. I must admit I didn't keep up with their new stuff after 2006's "Death to Tyrants", but their early stuff featured some classic NYHC albums. "Scratch the Surface", "Call to Arms" amd this, my particular favourite, "Yours Truly" are all brilliant, and get regular spins, but anything up to 2003's "Life on the Ropes" is great. Check out the video to "Step Down" on YouTube if you haven't heard them before and check out some legit classic NY hardcore.
I own in excess of 1000 releases on CD, but since my last laptop packed in, well over a year ago now, I have been unable to play them as my new one has no disc drive. I have been getting increasingly frustrated by my inability to listen to my own stuff, especially the ones that don't appear on streaming, so I finally bought an external CD/DVD player for my latest laptop from Amazon. I ordered it at lunch time on Saturday and it was here by teatime, which is frankly amazing to me. It's a cheapo chinese bit of kit (Bunud - never heard of them before), it only cost £20, but it is actually pretty fucking good and I get to listen to all my obscure doom shit once more, so thumbs up all round.
Sacrilege and Onslaught aside, the UK's thrash output during the 1980's was pretty fucking woeful. It was almost as if we Brits just didn't 'get' thrash metal at all and struggled to get up to speed with this new, more aggressive style of heavy metal and those pesky Yanks and Europeans were just making us look lame and lazy by comparison. As a result I have been on the lookout for decent British Eighties' thrash metal albums ever since, with little to no real success, so I was stoked to see an underground band of thrashers from a north-west England seaside town pop up as a feature and hoped against hope that this would be some kind of underground classic. Oh well, you can't blame me for hoping! As you can probably guess, this falls a fair way short of my, admittedly unrealistic, expectations.
I am guessing that D.A.M. were huge fans of Anthrax's "Spreading the Disease" album, because I think that is what they seem to be striving for here. Vocalist Jason McLoughlin does his very best Joey Belladonna impression, rhythm guitarist John Bury attempts to reproduce Scott Ian's trademark choppy, chuggy riffs and the gang vocals on the choruses that the New Yorkers loved to employ are present and correct. Unfortunately they lack the two chracteristics that made Anthrax what they were back then - the infectious, sing-along choruses and the sheer effusive sense of excitement and fun that set Anthrax apart from their West Coast and European peers. Anyone who loves 80s Anthrax also knows how vital Charlie Benante's lively and energetic drumming was to the band whereas, here, the production has rendered the percussion limp and lifeless, sounding like someone leathering their kit with a couple of fish rather than drumsticks! Hell, "Total Destruction" even starts with a flat copy of Charlie's drum intro to "Indians".
Look, I don't want to sound too down on them for that because, to be honest, for a few years in the 1980s Anthrax bottled lightning and managed to make it work, through sheer force of personality, excellent songwriting ability and technical ability. So, without these essential, but mercurial talents, D.A.M. merely sound like cheap imitators and would maybe have been better advised to plough their own furrow rather than follow in the steps of a unique act like Anthrax. In truth, I actually don't hate "Human Wreckage" but, as someone who was (and remains) a big fan of "Spreading the Disease" and "Among the Living", I can't unhear D.A.M.'s Anthrax worship and so I just keep wishing I was listening to one of those albums instead. I am sure these guys were probably a blast in the metal pubs and clubs of England's North West back in the day, but in the stark, cold spotlight of recorded music they just come up a bit short and sound too derivative.
3/5
The Wounded Kings - "The Shadow Over Atlantis" (2010)
The Wounded Kings were a traditional doom metal band from Dartmoor in Devon who never really gained much traction outside of hardcore doom metal enthusiasts, which is a great shame because they were really great exponents of the doom metal ethos and were superior to many better known acts. They formed in 2004 and released five consistently strong full-lengths and a great split with Cough before calling it a day in August of 2016. Released in 2010, "The Shadow Over Atlantis" was the band's sophomore release, following 2008's very solid "Embrace of the Narrow House" and, for me, is the band's best release. They had a lineup which underwent several membership changes, with the first two albums being produced by the duo of the band's only ever-present member Steve Mills (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals) and George Birch (guitar, vocals). Mills was actually the original drummer with Lords of Putrefaction, the death doom precursor to Electric Wizard that featured Jus Osborne on guitar and vocals and so has a certain degree of doom metal underground cred too.
"The Shadow Over Atlantis" is essentially a concept album that is a lament to the passing and destruction of ancient civilizations with Atlantis being the metaphor for the eventual passing of all societies, although there is a suggestion in final track "Invocation of the Ancients" that, through the deployment of dark arts, these ancients can be exhorted to return. The band strives for an epic scope as befits the span of the concept, with the album featuring four fairly lengthy, huge-sounding tracks to drive the narrative while a couple of gentle interludes provide some contrast and respite from the lumbering rumble of the meat of the album. Even though the riffing is pretty much relentlessly huge and slothful it does have an inherent melodicism which is also mirrored in the vocals which are entirely of the clean variety and have a really nice, washed-out gothicness to them. Generally the tracks start off with the riff and vocals dominating the early part and then the guitar leads taking over the latter part and it is at these points that the material is given an epic twist. The leads take flight, soaring with mesmerising fluidity in psych-filled flights of fancy that seem to carry the listener above the doom and destruction that is being wreaked on the unfortunate world below, often feeling quite jam-like, although from the sheer professionalism of the sound I guess they are perfectly composed to sound that way.
Production-wise, the sound is quite crisp and clean and even the distortion on the riffs comes through surprisingly clearly. One criticism, if I were to go that far, would be that the bottom end and the rhythm section in particular doesn't sound as deep and foundational as maybe we have come to expect from this style of doom metal. That, however, is nitpicking a little because the material here is so strong and well-performed that it feels curmudgeonly to try to pick too much fault here. Essentially, for me, "The Shadow Over Atlantis" is a top drawer doom metal release and wouldn't be out of place alongside the best albums from the likes of Pallbearer or Monolord, so if you enjoy either of those two I would strongly urge you to check this out. Unfortunately it is impossible to find on streaming, so YouTube may be the only source available outside of physical media.
4.5/5 [93/100]
There are a couple of Emperor classics on "IX" in "Curse You All Men!" and "An Elegy of Icaros", but I agree that it is not an elite black metal album - pretty damn good, but not god tier. I am a little surprised that you don't rate "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" as highly as "In the Nightside Eclipse" because I get the impression that an awful lot of Emperor fans think "Anthems..." Is a better album. I thought I was the only one who held the view that " In the Nightside... " is much the better release. I do love the four-track s/t EP, though, and would have it in #2 spot.
It's a huge feather in Led Zeppelin's cap that fans place their back catalogue in such different orders but rarely dispute other people's differences of opinion because there's simply no right or wrong answer when it comes to the greatest hard rock band of all time. For me personally, "Led Zeppelin III" would just round out my top five behind "Houses of the Holy (my personal favourite), "Led Zeppelin IV", "Presence" & "Led Zeppelin I".
"Houses of the Holy" certainly has some great stuff on it - "No Quarter" is an all-time great and "Rain Song" is gorgeous. Interesting to see "Presence" feature so high on your list, Daniel, most people have it lower. It has my fave Zeppelin track on it in "Achilles Last Stand", along with "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "Tea for One", so I would rate it pretty high too.
Look, now I've gone all nostalgic and may have to dig my Zeppelin stuff out and give 'em a spin just for old times sake!
Electric Wizard - "Supercoven" EP (1998)
From the earlier, more jam-centric, three-piece phase of Electric Wizard's career, this EP contains two heavy as hell stoner jams that are the apex of this period of the band's development for me. [90/100]
I'm a big fan of this one. In fact, it'd probably make my top three for Electric Wizard overall behind "We Live" (4.5/5) & "Let Us Prey" (4.5/5) which are both classic releases as far as I'm concerned. 4/5
"We Live" is the release that got me into Electric Wizard and is very close to my favourite still. I know almost every man and his dog would say "Dopethrone", but I kinda like "We Live" better.
I hadn't heard of these Germans before seeing this nominated as a monthly feature, so went into it completely blind. A bit of background digging reveals that Slaughterday were formed in 2010 and for most of their career to date they operated as a duo with Jens Finger taking care of the six- and four-strings and Bernd Reiners the drums and vocals with a huge cast of supporting drummers, bassists and guitarists helping them out with their live shows. However, for this their fifth full-length, they have inducted reinforcements into their ranks and have expanded the band into a five-piece with Christian Wiesener taking over bass duties, André Janssen drums and Tobias Koops boosting the six-string attack as second guitarist.
So what do we have here? Well, this is pretty much meat and potatoes old-school death metal with obvious influence from usual suspects such as Autopsy, Bolt Thrower and Vader and I say that with no hint of sniffiness because that is exactly the kind of death metal that floats my particular boat. Sure, the more demanding death metal listener will likely feel unfulfilled by the lack of ambition displayed on "Dread Emperor", but I don't imagine that upsetting the Slaughterday guys that much. The performances are very solid indeed, the band obviously know their way around their instruments and have an excellent grasp of what OSDM is about. After a portentious instrumental intro track the band charge out of the blocks with opener proper, "Obliteration Crusade", and proceed to attempt to rip your face off with sheer riff power. Throughout this and the subsequent eight tracks they deploy a withering arsenal of riffs in order to batter down any resistance to their undemanding, but energetic, old-school blitzkrieg. Reiners' vocals are rough, gruff, roaring bellows and are plenty powerful while the rhythm section drive in the rhythmic piles upon which the individual tracks are built in an unshowy wholly dependable way. There is a significant amount of soloing present on "Dread Emperor" and it is with this that I have reservations. The thing is that the solos are actually quite melodic, even to the point of sounding like Maiden or Priest solos at times and I am not completely convinced that they suit the violence of the riffs and vocals, consequenly making the album as a whole sound a lot less aggressive and menacing than it should. I would have preferred more Kerry King and less KK Downing. I have been a big defender of James Murphy's contribution to Death's "Spiritual Healing" where a similar argument can and does get used, so this may be a bit of a hypocritical stance, but I think Murphy's skill was to enhance the more brutal aspects of "Spiritual Healing", where I find the melodicism of the solos here distracting.
Still, that aside, I love the riffs which still manage to give me that warm, fuzzy, OSDM buzz that I can just never get enough of so, derivative and unambitious it may well be and, in truth, I am unlikely to be running out to score a copy any time soon, but I actually quite enjoyed it and that is good enough for me. That cover is pretty badass too. I have been playing the Elder Scrolls Oblivion remake on PS recently and the creature on the cover is exactly like one of Oblivion's Nether Liches, tough bastards that they are!
4/5 [79/100]
Hi Ben, could you please add now defunct finnish doom metal band, Stone Ship, please.
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Stone_Ship/3540306168
Also hungarian doom outfit, Mood - https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mood/6142
I'm also interested in what you think passes as a conventional style of singing, because I could see a middle ground where Diamond leaves some of the theatrics in but reigns in some of the more crazy parts. Like I feel like "Desecration of Souls" is a nice showcase of what he can do with some restraint and leaving the falsetto in the background, whereas I'm sure the followup "Night of the Unborn" is a bit much for people (I know it is for me). I feel like they could have hit a better sweet spot with how much he jumps around, but at the end of the day it would still make it less special and unique whether it's your thing or not.
Basically, I think, the question I am posing is, do you think MF had the chops and the songs to make it if King's vocal performances were more like, say, Rob Halford who still hit the falsetto's but in a less OTT manner and with more conventional phrasing? Personally, I think the songs were strong enough to propel the band forward, but the visibility of King, both visually and musically, made them stand out from the crowd and perceived wisdom is that it doesn't matter if what they say is good or bad as long as they are talking about you. It had a negative effect on me personally and I struggled with his style back in the day and never really took them seriously, but now I find it to be quite an endearing idiosyncrasy that I can't really imagine the band doing without. Some of the songs are just so good though that I think they would have hit a decent level of popularity anyway, but may not have had the enduring presence that they did.
I am working on an extensive doom metal list at the minute, so I have been relistening to a lot of my fave doom metal releases.
Todays were:
Midryasi - "Black, Blue and Violet" (2013)
Pretty groovy italian psychedelic doom metal with some progressive touches that makes it a bit more ambitious than you may expect. [83/100]
Electric Wizard - "Supercoven" EP (1998)
From the earlier, more jam-centric, three-piece phase of Electric Wizard's career, this EP contains two heavy as hell stoner jams that are the apex of this period of the band's development for me. [90/100]
Benthic Realm - "Vessel" (2023)
Female-fronted doom metal featuring Krista van Guilder of Warhorse fame that has a little bit of a viking influence, particularly in the seafaring rhythms found on a few of the tracks. [81/100]
I have reviewed all three previously.
Just a quick comment on the proposed points-per-review system: Some of my very earliest reviews, written before I joined the site and ported over from RYM, are from a time when I wasn't very confident in my reviewing ability and so were very short affairs and wouldn't be deserving of a full 12 points in my estimation. Do you think these should be awarded less or even no points because, frankly, I would be embarrased for them to receive 12 and so would probably just delete them and attempt to rewrite them later?
I do love me some grind and this is lofty praise indeed Daniel, so this is definitely going to have to go onto my "to listen to" list. In fact there are a few there on your Top 10 list that I haven't heard, so probably need to check out.
Led Zeppelin - "III", (1970)
When I was first getting into "proper" music, mid-70s, there were three bands I was obsessed with. I have spoken of my obsession with Motorhead before, the other two were Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Of the three, it is Zeppelin who have fallen furthest in my personal pantheon. I don't really know the reason for this because seeing them live at Knebworth Park in 1979 was one of the most amazing musical occasions I have ever experienced, but as the years passed their brand of cocksure hard rock just kind of paled, to the point where I very rarely listen to them at all anymore. However, if the mood does take me, then it is almost invariably "III" that I reach for, probably because it is the most introspective and reflective of their albums.
Kicking off with one of the band's best, heaviest and most iconic tracks, "Immigrant Song", it might be obvious to others why this would be my album of choice, but it is, in fact, the folkier stuff that keeps me reaching for that bizarre picture-wheel cover. "Gallows Pole", a cover of Leadbelly's "Gallis Pole", for example, is one of my favourite examples of Zep displaying their influences, whilst "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp's" banjo-picking tale of one man and his dog out in the english countryside is something to which I can definitely relate. Elsewhere, the heart-rending blues of "Since I've Been Loving You" still has the ability, after almost fifty years, to raise the hairs on the back of my neck and "Tangerine" is a lovely, sweet, balladic reflection on lost love whilst "Out on the Tiles" is a joyful celebration of a current love.
Overall, to me, "III" feels more restrained, but also more expressive, than Zeppelin's big hitters like "IV" and "II" with less swagger and more reflection, making it an easier album to connect with emotionally. So, in ending, all I have to say is, "as I walk down the highway all I do is sing this song..."
4.5/5
OK, yeah, that seems to have done the trick, Ben. Thanks.
I think (if they do stay) they need freshening up a bit. In terms of the playlist, maybe give them up to a rotation of the clan members involved in them, like the feature releases have a rota, do the same for the playlists, although this would work better with more active users.
This is a good idea, Vinny, obviously depending on who wishes to be involved. Bringing this idea back to the present, however, between us, you and I are responsible for the playlists for the four clans we are both members of, so I would be quite happy to work out a rota for the two of us to produce the playlists for those clans if that is something you would like to try now.
Thanks Sonny, but right now, time is not on my side. Between work and effectively setting up my home for scratch following the break up, I would not be doing any of the playlists much justice - struggling to keep up with my nominations as it. Let’s see how things are rolling into the new site when it comes. Or if that is some ways off then we could review in new year.
No problem, Vinny. Just let me know if and when you feel it is something you wish to do.
I haven't considered how to improve the clan features aspect, but I'm sure something could be done. We could certainly build in a way to really emphasise those albums on the site each month.
Could each clan's monthly feature be displayed in a prominent position on the respective clan's homepage?
One more question: will the new scoring system mean the end of the clan challenges and their completion in order to lock in clans? How will newer members gain a fourth clan - do you envisage it being by accruing a predetermined number of points in any prospective fourth clan?
I think (if they do stay) they need freshening up a bit. In terms of the playlist, maybe give them up to a rotation of the clan members involved in them, like the feature releases have a rota, do the same for the playlists, although this would work better with more active users.
This is a good idea, Vinny, obviously depending on who wishes to be involved. Bringing this idea back to the present, however, between us, you and I are responsible for the playlists for the four clans we are both members of, so I would be quite happy to work out a rota for the two of us to produce the playlists for those clans if that is something you would like to try now.
If you were to implement the new site, Ben, would you still retain features such as the playlists and monthly clan features or do you envision moving on from them or replacing them with something else?