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Unlike Believer's 1990 "Sanity Obscure" album which I reviewed a couple of days ago, I definitely know that I first discovered Los Angeles thrash metallers Tourniquet through a copy of their 1991 sophomore album "Psycho Surgery" which Ben had borrowed from one of his Christian mates who was trying to prove to him that Christians could be metal too. I think it's fair to say that I was skeptical about the whole concept initially but, by the time I'd gotten through my first spin of this high-quality thrash metal record, I had to admit to myself that I'd been converted (to Tourniquet, not to religious fairy tales). I don't think I told Ben at the time because, you know... I was a dark & evil death metal master & all... but the experience saw me secretly seeking out Tourniquet's equally impressive debut album "Stop The Bleeding" & following them on to their third record "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" which wasn't too bad either. I've even gone so far as to investigate a couple of their releases from the 21st Century since my return to metal in 2009 & this all stems from the impression left that day in Ben's bedroom all those years ago. I've actually returned to Tourniquet's first two albums quite often over the years but have never given any of Tourniquet's releases the dedicated attention required to justify a Metal Academy review until now & I've been interested to see how "Psycho Surgery" would stack up in the modern day.

It's always baffled me that Tourniquet didn't manage to break out of the underground a little more as they were clearly a very talented bunch of dudes & you can easily hear that on "Psycho Surgery". I can only guess that it's the religious aspect that's turned people off a bit & I can understand that as the lyrics do get a bit preachy at times. Thankfully I'm able to switch that element off because I've never been one to place too much emphasis on lyrical themes. The musicianship is the real highlight here though with the lead guitar work of Gary Lenaire being the standout performance. This dude has some major chops & knows just how to use them too. In fact, he could stand toe to toe with some of the elite performers of his craft if I'm being honest & never fails to impress me. The vocals of Guy Ritter are pretty cool too as he has quite a versatile range of tones & deliveries, sometimes sounding a fair bit like Overkill's Bobby Ellsworth & then running very close to Dave Mustaine territory during some of the spoken word-ish sections. The production job can sound a little wishy washy during some parts of the album but the instrumentation maintains a level of class throughout & never sits still for too long with Tourniquet showing off a wide array of influences.

"Psycho Surgery" kicks off in classic thrash metal form with a couple of mosh pit friendly numbers but things get a little more interesting when progressive metal outing "Viento Borrascoso (Devastating Wind)" enters the fold. It's a sound that Tourniquet do very well & would explore further on records like "Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm" & "Antiseptic Bloodbath" later in their career. "Broken Chromosomes" also explores that more progressive direction & does a reasonable job at it too. Rap metal experiment "Spineless" is probably the track that stands out the most in the tracklisting & not in a good way either but monster doom metal closer "Officium Defunctorum" more than makes up for that creative failure & challenges the wonderfully catchy thrash metal anthem "Dysfunctional Domicile" for my favourite song on the album. The forty minute run time is well suited to Tourniquet's sound & I think the plethora of different sounds keeps things really interesting with even "Spineless" conatining a couple of great riffs.

Don't let the whole Christian thing turn you off because Tourniquet are worthy of any diehard thrasher's attention in my opinion & if you do happen to be a Christian then "Psycho Surgery" should be considered to be essential listening. I'm not across their entire back catalogue but "Psycho Surgery" is one of the better releases from the five that I've heard with all of them being at least worth a few listens. It's been a while since I heard it now but I think the debut "Stop the Bleeding" might just slightly pip "Psycho Surgery" for my favourite Tourniquet release overall but there's very little between their first three & I'm yet to experience a Tourniquet release that was likely to disappoint.

For fans of Deliverance, Believer & Megadeth.

Swedish melodic death metal establishment Edge of Sanity first came to my attention through metal radio programming back in the very early 1990's off the back of their 1991 debut album "Nothing But Death Remains" which is a very different prospect to the one that saw them completely blowing up off the back of their 1996 fifth album "Crimson". You see, Edge of Sanity began life in much the same way as many of their Swedish peers i.e. as a far more conventional death metal band that took its earliest steps over ground that was already well trodden. Not being much of melodeath fan myself, I have to admit that this idea holds a stronger appeal for me than it may to many others so this week's revisit of "Nothing But Death Remains" has only proven something that I already strongly suspected. Yep, I actually prefer Edge of Sanity's rawer early works over their widely celebrated mid-1990's material.

While "Nothing But Death Remains" may have a fairly tinny production job by today's standards, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a young band at the time & there was already a class to Edge of Sanity's compositions that defied this record's status as an early 90's debut. The boys hadn't adopted the signature BOSS HM-2 pedal driven Entombed/Dismember wall of sound as yet but they certainly sounded like they had already spent a bit of time paying their dues as the musicianship is all solid & the song-writing offers enough variation to keep me interested. The tracklisting is quite consistent with only the disappointing second track "Human Aberration" failing to meet an acceptable standard. I really enjoy the use of guitar harmonies but the Dave Vincent-ish vocals of band leader Dan Swanö are probably the highlight of the record for me personally. There's a graveyard atmosphere that Edge of Sanity rarely achieved again here &, despite the fact that "Nothing But Death Remains" is hardly essential listening for the average death metal listener, it's far from the misfire that many fans of the Swede's later material would have you believe it is.

For fans of Bloodbath, Uncanny & early Hypocrisy.

There's a bit of a gap in my ability to remember how I first came across Pennsylvania technical thrash metallers Believer. I've always been of the belief that they were brought to my attention by my brother Ben after he borrowed a copy of Believer's 1990 sophomore album "Sanity Obscure" from one of his Christian mates but Ben has recently denied having any exposure to the band so I suspect that I might have picked up a dubbed copy from one of the kids in the year above me at school. Regardless of how it came about though, I remember being pleasantly surprised by what I heard as the idea of a Christian extreme metal band seemed like somewhat of a contradiction but Believer appeared to be a seriously capable outfit. The experience would see me going back & checking out Believer's 1989 debut album "Extraction From Mortality" & following them with interest in the future although I think that appeal tailed off a bit after their 2009 comeback album "Gabriel" failed to connect with me & I haven't as yet given their 2011 follow-up an airing. There's little doubt that "Sanity Obscure" was some of the band's best material though so please join me as I revisit it for the first time since the 1990's.

The first thing you'll notice about "Sanity Obscure" is the savage, metal-as-fuck production job which really appeals to me. I simply adore the ultra-distorted guitar tone which gives the riffs additional incisiveness & weight. It reminds me very much of Exodus & Exhorder, both whose guitar tones play a major role in their appeal for me personally. The song-writing on the early part of the album is super-complex though too, making Believer a band that's genuinely deserving of the tech thrash tag. That complexity does tail off a little as the album progresses though so I feel that a dual tag with conventional thrash metal is probably more accurate on this occasion. The vocals & instrumentation both showcase a clear Coroner influence which can't be a bad thing but the album is noticeably top-heavy so the quality level starts to become very inconsistent across the back end of the record. "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)" sees Believer incorporating orchestral instrumentation & classical female vocals in what can only be described as a highly ambitious attempt at symphonic thrash metal. It doesn't work in my opinion which is a real shame after such a strong A side that included a genuine progressive/technical thrash classic in the brilliant "Nonpoint". Things get worse though with closing number "Like A Song" being a terribly misguided attempt at a heavy metal/US power metal anthem that sees guitarist & front man Kurt Bachman making a real meal of some more emotive vocals. These two creative failures leave an unfortunate stain on what is otherwise a very high-quality tech thrash effort.

Look, there's still a lot to like about "Sanity Obscure" & I can definitely see why I found it so appealing in the first place. It's just that it makes for a far better source for playlist inclusions than a full album as there's such a drastic disparity in quality between those two duds & the remainder of the album which is all very solid indeed. Unfortunately, "Sanity Obscure" isn't even available on Spotify so I don't even have the option to include the better songs in our playlists available to me. Sadly, I feel like this was a missed opportunity for Believer as all of the components were here to create a timeless record but they've somehow managed to let their own ambitions get the better of them. Still... anyone who harbors any doubts about the validity of the Christian metal band need only listen to a large chunk of this record & I can assure you that you'll have your position swiftly turned around. Sure... there are some preachy lyrics on offer here but I find that I can easily ignore them & get with listening to a particularly classy & technically accomplished group of young thrashers.

For fans of Coroner, Extol & Seventh Angel.

I first became exposed to Swedish death metallers Hypocrisy through their 1992 debut album "Penetralia" after noticing a cassette copy floating around Neuropath front man Mark Wangmann's house in early 1993 & I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it too although I wouldn't suggest that it's essential listening by any means. My recent revisit to that particular record has proven that I probably gave it a little more attention than it deserved at the time though because I seemed to recall most of the song-writing pretty vividly. I'd subsequently pick up a dubbed copy of Hypocrisy's sophomore album "Osculum Obscenum" through one of my metal connections shortly afterwards & found it to offer a very similar level of reward although I can't say that I can recall this material anywhere near as much as "Penetralia" which is an indicator that I moved on from it fairly quickly. This is perhaps not all that surprising when you consider that "Osculum Obscenum" is basically more of the same brand of meat-&-potatoes death metal that Hypocrisy had dished up on their earlier effort with the limited technical skills that tainted my view of "Penetralia" still being on full display here. The riff construction is pretty standard for a third tier death metal player while the drumming & lead guitar work showcase a level of naivety that the band was still yet to overcome. I find the poorly executed blast beats to be a bit of a distraction as poor old Lars Szöke simply can't keep them in time for more than a couple of bars so they end up resembling a train crash by the end of those sections due to his lack of endurance. There's no doubt that Hypocrisy knew a good hook when they heard one though so there's still plenty to enjoy here.

Although "Osculum Obscenum" is of a pretty similar standard to "Penetralia", I do tend to favour the debut just slightly over it. "Penetralia" definitely contained a couple more highlight tracks than "Osculum Obscenum" but it also fell flat a little more regularly so there's a bit of give & take there. At the end of the day though, the fact that I can recall the songs from "Penetralia" more vividly than those from their follow-up is the telling factor in me placing "Osculum Obscenum" slightly behind "Penetralia" in respect to the overall Hypocrisy back catalogue. The band would go on to produce better records than both of these crude early works but I'd suggest that both are still worth a few spins for the any self-respecting Swedish death metal devotee.

For fans of Bloodbath, Dismember & early Edge of Sanity.

Colorado four-piece Skeleton of God are another band that I sought out back in my tape trading days in my quest for ever more extreme forms of metal with their debut E.P. "Urine Garden" receiving quite a few plays back in the day. The Skeleton of God sound could be described as a quite technical, avant-garde & progressive take on the brutal death metal model although these guys were clearly still finding their sound so some tracks are definitely more unusual than others. You can't deny the ambition from such a young group of dudes but I do have to admit that I prefer the conventional material like highlight track "10 Second Infinity" over the more intentionally weird inclusions (see the opening title track for example). The way Skeleton of God construct their riffs is quite unique though & this attribute gives the band their edge, along with the gutteral vocals of guitarist Jeff Kahn which are very effective. It's a real shame that the production job isn't adequate for this type of release though as I feel it may have picked up more of an underground reputation with a cleaner & more powerful sound.

For fans of Human Remains, Wicked Innocence & Embrionic Death.

The early Finnish black metal scene was a particularly dark place to be back in the early 1990's. For one reason or another they had a habit of producing some of the most raw & evil examples of the black metal type known to man at the time with artists like Beherit, Archgoat, Belial, The Lord Diabolus & Black Crucifixion all pushing a darker & more blasphemous sound than that of their neighbours. Impaled Nazarene fit into that environment very comfortably & arguably could only have come about because of the activity around them. I first picked up a copy of their debut album "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." in a tiny record store called Rock 'n' Roll Warehouse which was located in the famous George Street Cinema complex in the Sydney CBD very shortly after it was released. I had a close relationship with the guy that worked behind the counter & he generally kept me abreast of releases that would fit my taste profile. On this occasion he implored me to purchase Impaled Nazarene's debut album, saying that it was one of the most savage example of the black metal sound he'd yet had the pleasure of hearing. I eagerly complied with his request & ran home to find that he wasn't wrong. It was hard to take the Fins seriously though as it seemed on the surface that much of their image was tongue-in-cheek & that element always saw me struggling to fully commit, despite seeing a lot of positives in the Impaled Nazarene sound. It wouldn't stop me from purchasing their next two full-lengths on release though & I've continued to keep abreast of each subsequent record over the years, if only to see my curiosity being kept in check.

The week saw me giving "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." a few spins for the first time in years & finding that I could still recall almost the entire run time which is a strong sign that I gave it thrashing back in the day. Looking back now, I find it hard to understand why Impaled Nazarene weren't dragged in under the war metal banner that so many of their countrymen were because there's as much war metal on offer as their is genuine black metal in my opinion. You've got the gratuitous Satanic references, the grindcore influence, the death metal production... Hell, you've even got a three minute orgy of demonic bestiality & if that's not a war metal trait then I don't know what is. If you put aside the blatant attempts to stir up attention through obviously antagonistic lyrical content & imagery though, there's actually a lot to like about the band's sound. While it may be very basic, it's also super-tight with the performances all being spot on. I particularly enjoy the solid drumming of Kimmo Luttinen as they offer an impressive amount of power & control while the vocals of his brother Mika are viciously confronting.

"Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." kicks off in very strong form but unfortunately the B side sees the quality levels dropping a touch. That flaw wasn't enough to see my dropping my rating below an impressive four star rating though & I feel that the Impaled Nazarene sound is probably a little better suited to my current taste profile than it was the one I was still building as a seventeen year old when I first encountered it. This has left me wondering whether I might see some of their other early releases like "Ugra-Karma" achieving similar scores so a revisit is certainly on the cards there. If you're able to accept a black metal release that doesn't take itself overly seriously yet still manages to conjure up a bestial blasphemy of blasting blackened war metal then you may want to give "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." a few spins. Just don't expect to find anything terribly deep as the Impaled Nazarene model is similar to the classic punk rock aesthetic they're influenced by i.e. it's simple, in-your-face & a little immature & snotty.

For fans of Sadistik Exekution, Impiety & Belial.

Allowing some electronic and pop sensibilities into my metal has been a recent trend from the last couple of years. Starting with the completely unexpected success of Bad Omen’s last full-length release, I have flirted around with these once considered alien elements to little if any success. The fact is, there’s a dirge of such styled artists and bands around nowadays and the exploration is at best underwhelming despite the extent of the resource to run at. Sleep Token landed on one of my workout playlists that my streaming service devises with The Summoning, a six minute plus varied track with some killer riffs that initially piqued my metal interests.

Multiple playbacks of that track eventually brought me round to considering it worthy enough a gateway into Take Me Back to Eden, the band’s album from last year. Initial exploration soon taught me that the riffs of The Summoning were an isolated affair, and the more mainstream and commercial leanings of the album did not sit right with me at all. It has taken a few attempts (mostly during recent hotel stays on my own with headphones and my phone) but I now feel I am there with Take Me Back to Eden. Quite where “there” is takes a little explanation.

The heavier elements in the rhythmic structures of Sleep Token’s third full-length are more commonplace than I first believed. As big a draw as this is for me, they do also however lack variety and sometimes just feel like they are put in place for the hell of it. The fraught lyrical content gets a substantial and well characterised delivery in the unique vocals of Vessel. Sounding like some bastardised version of George Ezra meets metalcore, the vocals are complimented by various influences of music ranging from metal, through pop, through trap and even jazz. All are done with a panache that shows a skill and deftness for a varied musical palate.

For the first eight tracks, this fluid soundscape works well. For the final four tracks…not so well. This is because Sleep Token have far too many ideas but not enough quality structures to frame them in. The album sounds immediately tired to the point of exhaustion as soon as the dull tropes of DYWTYLM kick in and this marks the end of Take Me Back to Eden long before the title track even gets a chance to play. There are still catchy lines and hooks aplenty in the final parts of the record, but they are cast splattergun-like into songs that lack form and identity. Only on occasion do they surface for deserved recognition, but they are all too soon forgotten (even with repeated plays) and I find myself just listening to the earlier “hits” like Chokehold, The Summoning, Granite and Aqua Regia instead.

7 Horns 7 Eyes is another remarkable discovery in my on-off melodic death metal journey, taking on the progressiveness of Allegaeon and a bit of the hardcore tendencies of Neaera (two other bands I've been listening to lately), along with Christian philosophical lyrics. Unfortunately, they've already faded into the void while trying to make a follow-up to this album. And it stuns me how this band isn't accepted into Metal Archives and a few other metal websites. By that logic, what can be considered true metal then?!

This progressive tech-/melodeath band's sole release so far is a wonderous quest through a dark heavy world. Throes of Absolution is the kind of album that would stand out as greatly as other similar metal bands like Opeth without ripping them off. The album solidifies the band as another team of unsung heroes in the metal realm!

Atmospheric guitars and strings start "Divine Amnesty" and all its majesty, as crushing mid-paced grooves roll through right after. The blend of brutality and melody can truly impress me. "Phumis: The Falsehood of Affliction" is a more chaotic assault with frantic rhythms. There's a lot of melodic progressiveness, including in the mighty soloing, while still heavy. The lyrics seem to question God and reality before accepting the possibility that "we are the consequences of our human weaknesses and our damnation is our own". Then "The Hill Difficulty" has more melodic light in contrast to the earlier brutal darkness. Continuing the lyrical theme from the previous track, a messenger of God is willing to see the light of humanity's hard-to-endure truth, wishing to be carried "to the Summit of Infinity". Love that chorus and its melody!

Next up, "Cycle of Self" has more of the crushing pace, while a bit of accessibility gives it a small boost of popularity outside the subterranean levels of metal. "Delusions" has more darkness to go alongside the melodic/progressive side for another piece of planet-sized heaviness. The lyrics seem to reflect upon repentance with a reward of blessing by the end. Next, "A Finite Grasp of Infinite Disillusion" really takes on the progressiveness of many Infinite bands including Disillusion. As the story goes on, the main character is still determined to seek the truth with the chance of being saved or destroyed. There's a bit of neoclassical melody within the almost doomy slowness.

"Vindicator" is as destructive as a volcano erupting and raining fire and ash across the land. The crushing riffs and leads sound so powerful.. Ravaging highlight "The Winnowing" has more monstrous vocals while the guitar work has some light in the violence. "Regeneration" is very much the music equivalent to the Rapture and subsequent Heaven. It is an instrumental standout featuring some soloing by Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore), reminding me of his later supergroup Conquering Dystopia.

Now this is progressive tech-/melodeath fury as it should be. From ambience to heaviness, 7 Horns 7 Eyes has it all. Throes of Absolution is a must-hear for all metalheads out there. The 2012 apocalypse never happened, but the album still remains a fitting soundtrack for that "what if"!

Favorites: "Divine Amnesty", "Cycle of Self", "A Finite Grasp of Infinite Disillusion", "The Winnowing", "Regeneration"

Ben & I had been pretty big fans of Californian thrash metallers Testament for a good four years by the time this six-track live release hit the streets in 1993. I'd enjoyed all of their records up until that time but the last couple had seen the impressive quality levels of the first three Testament albums dipping a touch so I wouldn't say that I was busting to get my hands on their next record but I still found myself parting ways with my hard-earned cash for this little live release as soon as I noticed it's ball-tearing cover artwork sitting on the record store shelf. "Return to the Apocalyptic City" offers four live tracks which were recorded at a recent show at the Los Angeles Palladium as well as a studio cut from the sessions for 1988's "The New Order" album & a shortened version of "Return To Serenity" from Testament's latest record "The Ritual". All of this material is entertaining, particularly the live versions of "Over the Wall", "So Many Lies" & "Disciples of the Watch". My favourite inclusion is the studio cut "Reign of Terror" though which is the fastest & thrashiest number on offer & had been popping up in Testament live sets since way back in 1984 when they were still known as Legacy. The performances are all strong, particularly the guitar solos of Glen Alvelais & Alex Skolnick which are a real highlight. The production is also much better than the awful sound quality Testament had to contend with on their only previous live release in 1987's "Live at Eindhoven" E.P. which gives "Return to the Apocalyptic City" a clear edge over that record in my opinion. This one should definitely interest most Bay Area thrash fans, even if its format makes it fairly inessential in the grand scheme of things.

For fans of Metallica, Exodus & Megadeth.

I picked up the 1993 "Amputator" debut album from Russian death metal outfit Mortem through the mid-90's tape trading scene &, looking back now, probably gave it a little more attention than it warranted at the time, mainly because I was thoroughly obsessed with the early brutal death metal sound & had a tendency to lap up anything that fell into that space. The first few albums from US death metal legends Cannibal Corpse were a pretty major influence on the early work of my own death metal band Neuropath & it's very obvious that they were on Mortem too as "Amputator" is nothing short of complete plagiarism in many regards. The production job is pretty awful but the song-writing is extremely consistent which allows the music to overcome that flaw, at least for those of us that were used to listening to ultra-raw demos at the time. The musicianship is pretty good with all of the arrangements being reasonably accomplished for such a young band but it's the ultra-deep death growls that are the highlight of this super-underground record that's largely been lost in time. The shredding guitar solos are also one of the better elements & I'd suggest showcase a bit of a Deicide influence too. I've enjoyed this revisit but I can't say that "Amputator" should be essential listening. I'd also suggest that the brutal death metal tags are a little ambitious as this sounds more like conventional death metal to my ears, at least by today's standards.

For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Mortal Decay & Disastrous Murmur.

The debut release from a legendary Melbourne band that I saw play live many times back in the 1990's. It includes 25 tracks across 19 minutes, eight of them being hilarious intros that have been borrowed from D grade horror films like "Bad Taste". This music is not meant to be taken too seriously but boy is it entertaining. Early Blood Duster offered a well-constructed & produced sound that took the blast-beat driven goregrind of early Carcass & combined it with the groovy death 'n' roll riffs of post-1991 Pungent Stench. The use of double-kick in the blast-beats leaves a little bit to be desired by today's standards but we didn't notice it all that much back in the day. The song-titles & lyrics are as over the top as you'd expect from a goregrind act with ditties like "Vulgar Taste (Of A Rotten Cunt)", "Knee Deep in Menstrual Blood (The Bleeding Bitch Returns)" & "Blood Fart" being some of the better ones. Throw this one on a drunken party with your mates & press the "repeat" button cause it's all over in a flash.

For fans of Macabre, Pungent Stench & early Carcass.

When it comes to nu/alt-metal bands, some of them seem interesting enough for me to try and others just soar past my mind. I never thought of checking out one of System of a Down albums until just recently, so let's see how this album Mezmerize stands out...

There's a lot you can think of when hearing System of a Down. Maybe something like Rage Against the Machine gone Dead Kennedys. Mezmerize is part of a double album with the other half Hypnotize released 6 months after. It's a blizzard of dark energy and comedic joy blended together into one. It's heavy enough to tear you asunder while giving you something to smile about and turn the pain into pleasure.

"Soldier Side" is a soft melancholic intro, and I almost thought it was going to lead into something like epic power metal. "B.Y.O.B." quickly proves me wrong by launching into a thrashy intro followed by a blend of Iron Maiden-like verses and nu metal choruses. An epic diverse start to this offering, and the main reason why I became up to listening to this album, when my brother was listening to that song. "Revenga" kicks off the heaviness with some fast riffing to remind me of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" before going all wacky like some of Devin Townsend's more comedic material. "Cigaro" is a strange song that can be considered "c*ck mock rock".

The chorus of "Radio/Video" sounds too repetitive and fails to give the song the memorability it should've had. The verses have good rhythm too, but they often dive too deep into a reggae dance. "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song" is filled with speedy fury spawned from Jello Biafra's projects such as Dead Kennedys and Lard. "Violent Pornography" starts with a Wild West-like ominous intro but swiftly turns lyric-spitting rapping that has confused me. The chorus is nice though.

"Question!" has a different structure I like. You just gotta hear it to believe! "Sad Statue" isn't sad at all, filled with rage and humor. "Old School Hollywood" is a decent song to expect from the band. Finally, "Lost in Hollywood" is a great track to end this release, a ballad I actually like. You'll definitely sing your heart out to this lovely hit!

Anyone who has System of a Down's 1998 debut or their 2001 album Toxicity as their own entryway to the band's material, I can understand. I mean, who in the nu/alt-metal world has not yet heard one of their earlier classic hits like "Chop Suey"? But I've encountered more than just their singles by checking out one of their full albums for the first time, the less conventional choice Mezmerize. I don't know if I'll be up to following it up with its companion Hypnotize, but maybe one day....

Favorites: "B.Y.O.B.", "Revenga", "This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song", "Question!", "Lost in Hollywood"

With several of Killing Joke's non-metal albums appearing on this site (requested by Rex), I decided to check out one of them and see if it has enough metal to offer. That album being Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions, the one non-metal album before Pandemonium appearing in the site. Is Extremities really metal, and more importantly, one of the earliest notable industrial metal albums besides Godflesh and Ministry? Let's find out...

The band's post-punk 80s era ended with their failed attempt at the synthpop of Ministry's With Sympathy in Outside the Gate. The band decided to make up for it big, bringing in drummer Martin Atkins and returning bassist Paul Raven (RIP) for something heavier that than their first few albums. Not just heavy, metallic!

Jax Coleman unleashes his vocals through the ravaging "Money is Not Our God", starting off with smooth singing in the verses while shouting the title lyric with his later gruff tone. Geordie Walker (also RIP) performs his guitar with riff-tastic firepower, going chaotic without too much technicality. His heroic skills really made a memorable hit out of that tune. Next track "The Age of Greed" starts with a barely audible ad to add to the industrial atmosphere. There's strong writing in the lyrics that fit well for the complexity of the music. "The Beautiful Dead" is an ominous mid-tempo march with strong metallic riffing. An early prime example of their more metal direction! "Extremities" also has some great metal, though it can't beat the previous track.

"Intravenous" has Egyptian sounding riffing, hinting at the direction the band would take in Pandemonium. "Inside the Termite Mound" is slower and darker, but their previous albums' accessibility hasn't been lost. The more atmospheric "Solitude" has some melodic keyboards not too far off from the band Enigma that started out in the same year. "North of the Border" also has Killing Joke's earlier calmness. Though it also follows Ministry's footsteps when it comes to evolving their sound from industrial/synth-pop to industrial metal. That may seem great on paper, but not the way it should be utilized.

"Slipstream" has a more progressive spirit that makes up for the bumpiness of earlier tracks. "Kaliyuga" is an odd pointless interlude. That sh*tty downer doesn't really add anything, and it's best to just ignore it. We actually have some speedy thrash in "Struggle" similar to what Ministry would do in Psalm 69 two years later. Unfortunately, it sounds a bit generic and isn't as strong the other metallic tracks here.

I wouldn't say this is the worst industrial rock/metal release I've heard, but some songs might need some improvement to actually show the band's heavier direction. Still the strong songs seal the deal for the more metallic path that Jaz, Geordie, and co. would take on in that decade and the next....

Favorites: "Money is Not Our God", "The Age of Greed", "The Beautiful Dead", "Intravenous", "Slipstream"

To help with the list and to further prepare myself for the eventual spin of their 2024 album, I'm tackling Evergrey's In Search of Truth next.  This will mark the 20th album I've heard and reviewed for the 2nd Decade prog metal list challenge.  I'm not that big on Evergrey, as I've only heard two of their albums before: Solitude Dominance Tragedy and The Atlantic.  I liked 'em, didn't love em, and just got off the back of listening to all four Disillusion albums.  I started this album hoping it would astound me, but I didn't expect it.

The Masterplan goes right into the prog power metal you'd expect from classic bands like Manticora.  But this has a bit more authentic heaviness to it.  It immediately sets a standard that I want to keep following, but then Rulers of the Mind takes a mystical chime approach with a haunting production sound that's as magical as some dark fantasy story.  I'd know.  I've written one.  The switch from power metal to goth metal is perfectly natural due to the band's love of solos and epic delivery, as they know when to pace these things.  Even when a song has a guitar solo a literal third into it like Rulers of the Mind does, it just adds to the mystique and intrigue that this album set up with The Masterplan.  On top of this, there is NO WAY that I can deny relating to these lyrics.  They perfectly describe what it's like to try and find out who you are in a world where everyone wants to control you, despite the fact that they brag about freedom.  Again, I write about this stuff.  Rulers of the Mind covers a wide range of prog metal vibes and atmospheres in six minutes much like Bohemian Rhapsody did.

So the five-star rating was starting to look likely two tracks in, but I was still careful.  Next is Watching the Skies, which uses dramatic violins in a similar fashion to Disillusions Back to Times of Splendor.  The real clincher of the song's intro, however, is that perfectly-produced breakdown.  It's much more simple and produces a clever drama backed up by the heaviness.  In a way, it takes 180's while staying true to the album's previously established presence.  It DOES get a little more complex by the end, but again, it doesn't lose its grip.  Next is a two-minute piano segue, State of Paralysis.  It's very nice and it fits, but I've heard so many piano segues at this point that it's a bit difficult to build a strong attachment to those.  The Encounter is a more fast-paced power metal track that builds itself on heavy activity.  It was at the point to where the album was merely rearranging elements of past songs for new purposes, so the originality was harmed despite the fact that the song was good.  This told me that the five-star might not happen.  All I had to do was compare like songs to like songs and see if enough of them amazed me.  Considering the half-and-half behavior, likely not.

Mark of the Triangle started slow, but it built itself on neoclassical piano and a perfect presence that relied on being drawn out, like I was being lead through a tunnel where some great treasure everyone wanted was waiting at the end.  This is another kind of song that switches things around every 20-30 seconds and remains consistent.  It showcases the band's love of instrumentation.  Even though none of them are the best metal musicians on Earth, their harmony is incredible.  Next thing you know, low-key pianos bring me to the freakin' House of Usher.  This is Dark Waters, a slightly creepier and slower song that cranks up the gothica.  With this one, the band's more focused on maintaining the song's presence as a song rather than the instrumentation.  The melodies here are some of the best on the whole album.  Different Worlds starts of with serenity, which was needed at this point considering how much of the album was focused on energy.  This didn't stop the pianos from caving into the love of glitter and melody.  The album ends with Misled, which starts off even more quietly... and punks you with heavy guitars stomping all over you at mid-pace. The slower, slightly classical approach is a good one to end such a dramatic album with, and the band is doing everything the can to make this an epic, operatic ending without overdoing it.

This is way beyond what I generally know Evergrey for.  This album might share many similar elements between most of the songs, but it's always trying to do some fancy things with the atmosphere and the instrumentation at the same time.  There's gothic glitter, high-energy power and some deep mystique.  This is enough to make me go back to Solitude Dominance Tragedy and re-evaluate it.  I was hoping it would make at least the bare minimum for five stars, but instead I'm gonna give it almost the bare maximum for four-and-a-half stars.

I decided to give this Gloios album some listening and was hoping for some glorious post-metal similar to Rosetta and Solstafir, and well... There are some cool metal ideas thrown in here and there, especially in the "Tele" tracks. But other than that, the sound isn't that great in quality and having some unnecessary aspects that don't have anything to metal. I would enjoy this more if the album has more of the metal of the first couple tracks instead of just sounding like an indie video game soundtrack....

Favorites (only tracks I like that sound metal): "Tele I", "Tele II"

From what I understand, Disillusion's sophomore album Gloria represents a dramatic change in sound from their debut, which was more straightforward prog but amped up.  Having recently gotten through the first three Shadow Gallery albums, I'm perfectly used to this.  I didn't expect a great album when I came into this, but I theorized I would like it more than many others because IMO the last thing the world needs is more "standard" albums, and we're already gonna get them every week anyway, so I might as well enjoy what I can from their new industrial sound.

I don't know about you, but that super-dark raw and rough atmosphere took me by complete surprise.  It's noisy while still maintaining a sense of melody.  It was also made clear early on that the vocalist Andy Schmidt was taking a few cues from The Sisters of Mercy's own Andrew Eldritch.  He also takes many times to go for spoken word segments rather than singing, which means the band has a clear urban vision for the album.  I'll say this, the urban factor definitely works for the album.  Like I said, I appreciate new sounds, and it's safe to say that this album is pretty unique to the prog metal scene.  There are some very interesting decisions you'd never get on the previous album, such as the choral synths on the title track being combined with spoken word.  Another great example is Avalanche's black metal intro.  That was COMPLETELY unexpected.  The tremelo-picking is tuned down to allow for a funkier rock guitar to take its place, which means there is still some room for evolution in these tracks.

There's a big problem with switching their sound to an industrial one, though.  Their new sound is partially built on the repetition of singular notes heard often in industrial metal, and is contradictory to the melodic prowess that made their first album so good, which means instead of merely switching styles, they also forgot one of their signature skills at times.  The melodies here aren't generally bad, but some are much better than others to the point where another strong comparison to the debut keeps this album from reaching the same heights.  Another little problem is that Schmidt easily had more room for his more melodic vocals, and he largely abandoned them in favor of darker urban vocals that don't have the same effect.

This is one of those cases where a band's ambition creates something good but also alienates the fans.  Not every idea present is a good one, but the band works with what they're doing here pretty well.  I'm not sure why they decided to take such a drastic turn in their sound, but with some more fleshing out, they could've had something brilliant.  Instead, we get something enjoyable and diverse, but uneven and lacking spirit.

I paid very little attention to Disillusion because people only really talk about the one album, their debut Back to Times of Splendor.  That's a bit of a disappointment to me considering I like to explore plenty of an act's catalog before moving onto the next.  But it's necessary for me to check them out considering that debut album's reputation, my desire to be a professional critic and the list challenge here.  I didn't have any prior knowledge of them, and had no idea what to expect, but was hoping it wouldn't just be another standard prog album like a few of the albums on this same list challenge.

I'll admit, I haven't been extremely impressed with many of the choices on Metal Academy's 2nd-era prog metal challenge list.  So when I started the album, and this vaguely Egyptian prog-death opener assaulted me with a complex rhythm that was extremely easy to get to and heavier than a granite boulder, my attention was at full.  I was especially happy with this considering that I'm just coming off the back of Dan Swano's solo piece, Moontower, which was standard prog metal but could've been a little heavier at times without relying on so many 70's German prog synths.  Instead they rely on a perfect melodic / complexity balance as a focal point, as if they knew they were showing off.  But the thing is, this album never once feels like guitar wankery.  The rhythms are always easy to work with, and the band is in perfect harmony.  Due to how focused everything it, it's obvious that Disillusion is trying less to be "musicians" and more to be a "band."  Even when it switches things around a little, like the death metal middle section of Alone I Stand in Fires, nothing really feels out of place.  It's so consistent that sometimes the cool surprises might go over your head.

Due to the fact that the singer and the guitar tone are pretty standard for 2000's prog, I was more impressed than amazed, as if this was just an upgraded version of standard prog albums like Shadow Gallery's Tyranny.  Think of this whole album as a much more clever (and somewhat heavier) collection of many things that give standard prog its own name, from the guitar tones to the softer acoustic moments to being inches away from death metal to an occasional power metal segment to a romantic adventure story.  So while I didn't get the unique album I was hoping for, suffice it to say, I still got a great one that has a lot of clever technicality and never once loses its grip.  I would easily recommend this, although I wouldn't put it in my top 500 metal albums.  Maybe it'll be the in the lower end of my top 100 prog metal albums, but it might get kicked off soon.

The early 90's was a terrifying time to be a classic thrash band. By 1993, the grunge scene had unceremoniously stripped thrash metal's audience with some of the remainder being carried away by the death/black metal boom so many of the major bands were all fighting for a smaller market share. Pantera had also hit on a key niche of the market with their fresh new groove metal sound that had taken the metal scene by storm &, in order to survive in that environment, many artists simply chose to jump onboard the grunge or groove metal bandwagons with mixed results it has to be said. Big Four member Anthrax was one such act with their 1993 sixth album "Sound of White Noise" seeing the five-piece transitioning away from their thrash metal roots for a sound that took an each-way bet on the grunge & groove metal movements. Many fans would immediately jump off the train but the inclusion of talented Armored Saint front man John Bush in place of classic Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna had certainly peaked my interest, particularly given that I was a huge fan of Bush's work on the Saint's 1991 fourth album "Symbol of Salvation". Ben would purchase "Sound of White Noise" on CD upon release & we'd both spend some time adjusting to the new Anthrax direction. Interestingly, I recall both of us really enjoying it & nothing much has changed there either.

Although "Sound of White Noise" is generally regarded as a groove metal release, I would argue that there's actually a lot more alternative metal here, easily enough for a dual primary tag with thrash metal being the lone secondary influence. To say that "Sound of White Noise" sounds like a different band to the one we heard on classic thrash records like "Among The Living" or "Spreading the Disease" is not entirely accurate though. You can still clearly hear a lot of the techniques the band had made their calling cards but they're used more sporadically here. Tracks like "Potters Field", "Invisible", "C₁₁ H₁₇ N₂ O₂ S Na" & "Burst" would have comfortably fit on earlier Anthrax records though so this isn't a completely foreign environment for extreme metal fans. Bush's more masculine vocals are certainly a little different from Belladonna's but not to the point that you couldn't easily imagine him singing the earlier classics pretty successfully. I personally gravitate more to the Bush tone anyway so this change was always gonna appeal to me. He doesn't nail everything in front of him here but, after a few listens, I can't imagine too many punters feeling like he'd rained on the Anthrax parade.

The eleven-song tracklisting doesn't tend to unveil all of its charms upon first listen & repeat listens definitely see it opening up progressively more. There are a couple of genuine Anthrax classics on show if you're open to discovering them. The obvious highlight of the record is the anthemic single "Only" which possesses an absolute belter of a chorus hook & is the best reference for the skill set that Bush brought to the band you're likely to find. High-octave, energetic alternative thrasher "C₁₁ H₁₇ N₂ O₂ S Na"  is also an underrated gem & I've found that it's dug its talons into my flesh to ever greater depths over the last week. The rest of the tracklisting ranges from pretty decent to very solid with only the lackluster alternative metal number "Hy Pro Glo" failing to offer me any level of appeal. Perhaps there aren't enough tier one inclusions to see "Sound of White Noise" pressing for Album Of The Year honors but it certainly had enough about it for Ben & I to remember it very fondly amongst our childhood memories.

So, where does "Sound of White Noise" sit in the prestigious Anthrax back catalogue then? Well, it might surprise a few people to hear that I actually rate it somewhere in the middle rather than towards the bottom rungs. I'd comfortably take it over the legendary New York thrash metal establishment's 1984 debut album "Fistful of Metal" & also feel that it's a more consistently interesting record than 1988's "State of Euphoria" fourth album which was more acceptable than it was impressive. Many people seem to try to tarnish this record with a harshly-worded groove metal brush but that's not a true reflection of the quality of the song-writing or the professionalism in the performances. Anthrax were a high-quality metal act who have produced another high-quality metal record here in my opinion but there's no doubt that it requires thrash fans to go into it with an open mind.

For fans of Acid Drinkers, Prong, Sepultura.

It's time for another metal binge!  After another 100 albums (I use a lot of EP's to keep up) during my free time to even out the genres on my albums log, I have room for a day of metal.  On top of that, I'm using it to focus on Metal Academy's prog metal challenge, and the next album is Moontower by Edge of Sanity frontman Dan Swano.  I'm familiar with enough Edge of Sanity, and I know not to expect the same thing from this solo project as it's said to be very different.

The most impressive, and seemingly most lauded, aspect of this album among metal fans is that strangely welldone combination of Swano's excellent growls and the cleaner progressive rock elements, synths, melodies, ELP worship and all.  These same kinds of influences that Dream Theater used on their album Images and Words are shoved in your face on the get-go.  There are plenty of synths on this record, and Swano doesn't waste an opportunity to either growl with them or keep the instrumental flow while simply switching the synths with guitars.  An excellent example is "Uncreation."  I mean, man does he worship the 70's on this album.  Tonally, this is a major far cry from anything Edge of Sanity focused on, although some traces of this wiggled its way into my top EoS pick (and top melodeath pick): Crimson II.

Unfortunately, this album doesn't have the same diversity as the aforementioned Images and Words.  I should think a man with Swano's range and constant activity would be able to do something with a little more variety during a solo project.  But each song had essentially the same goal, tone and instrumentation.  While the progressive structures would take fun turns, the whole album is largely hindered by the album's lack of variety hiding behind its successful unique quality.  On top of this, Dan Swano has a diverse vocal range that he just isn't using to a great extent.  How does a guy who's so varied and creative end up in this state?

These songs are all technically good, if not great.  For real prog fans, this is a very and even easily enjoyable one.  But as somewhat of a perfectionist, I also feel that Swano wasted a big opportunity with this album.  So I'm giving this about an 8/10.

The only proper release from Sydney-based doom/death metal exponents Cruciform came to my attention at a time that I regard as being amongst the more exciting in my life to date. 1993 saw me forming the first iteration of my own death metal band Neuropath (still under our early moniker of Coprophagia) with four younger kids from the local area & we had every right to think that we might be the only metalheads in the entire Northern Beaches region that were clued up on the thriving death metal phenomenon that had taken off in the underground metal scene a couple of years earlier. One day one of us came back from the local record store Sandy's Music with a copy of the "Atavism" CD & shared it with the rest of the band who all enjoyed its filthy brand of death metal-infused doom. The music was simple enough for us to compare to our own early works but sophisticated enough to exude a strong pedigree in an underground scene that was currently thriving off the back of the tape trading concept. It wouldn't be long before we'd learn that Cruciform were actually located fairly close in proximity to us &, even more impressive, were also one of the senior players in the Sydney extreme metal scene at the time, being signed to the infamous Warhead Records label that was responsible for several key releases in the annuls of Australian metal history & would go on to release Neuropath's 1996 "Desert of Excruciation" demo too. This added additional appeal to the CD & would see us analyzing "Atavism" in greater detail. Opening track "Sanctuary" would become somewhat of a band favourite & we'd go about covering that song at all of our early live shows. At one Lewisham Hotel gig in 1994 we'd be approached by the sound guy after our set, only to find that we had just played a Cruciform cover to the band's new vocalist/keyboardist Simon Gruer which was terribly exciting. Shortly afterwards we'd realize that the long-haired gentleman behind the counter at Sandy's Music that had sold many of the local kids their copies of "Atavism" was in fact guitarist Leon Kelly too & I'd build up somewhat of a familiarity with him over the next couple of years. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was an idol but I certainly looked up to him & listened to what he said with great interest.

Cruciform would go on to develop & mature very quickly after the release of "Atavism", culminating in the amazing "Paradox" demo tape in 1995 which saw them poised to break out of the local scene with a new deal with legendary English extreme metal label Earache Records in the works. We were heading to all of the band's live shows (well... the ones we could get in to as most of the other band members were still under the age of 18) which had become immeasurably more epic off the back of Gruer's inclusion & the strength of the new material. But just when Cruciform's light was about to shine at its brightest, the band spilt up & were lost from the Sydney scene, seemingly overnight. They'd reform many years later in 2012 & are still playing shows now but have not released any new recorded material that I'm aware of up until now. That's obviously quite a story but was "Atavism" really as good as my young ears thought it was at the time? Or was I simply dazzled by the idea of some local brothers in arms that were older than me & had achieved things that I was still yet to attempt? Well, I think the answer is a bit of both looking at it with modern-day ears.

"Atavism" was a six song release that we actually regarded as being an E.P. back in the day given its relatively short 32-minute duration. It opens with a lengthy three-minute neoclassical darkwave synthesizer piece that hasn't stood the test of time very well & sounds fairly cheesy these days. The remaining five pieces are made up of extreme metal tunes that had all become staples of the Cruciform live sets & are all worth hearing too, some more than others though it has to be said. The production job has a lovely layer of underground dirt caked on it that gives the music some additional authenticity while the musicianship was still fairly basic at this time with several examples of timing issues being plainly visible in the recordings that were clearly produced under tight financial constraints.

The early Cruciform sound is often touted as sitting somewhere between the doom/death sound that had taken the global scene by storm off the back of the Peaceville Three a couple of years earlier & a more conventional death metal one. You can certainly see why on the evidence here but the doom/death component plays a much stronger role than the death metal one so I don't think there's much reason for a dual tagging personally. "Reduced to Dust" is really the only straight-up death metal tune included with "Proboscis" being more of a hybrid & I'd suggest that those two tracks are probably the least impressive of the five proper songs anyway. Those pieces often remind me of My Dying Bride's early death metal efforts actually. The doomier material is where the real guts of Cruciform's notoriety was formed though with the two songs that bookend the release ("Sanctuary" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes") being the clear standouts in my opinion.  The band was still a four-piece at the time but utilized a three-pronged vocal attack that adds a great deal of interest to their sound. I particularly enjoy the ultra-deep death growl that reminds me of "Symphonies of Sickness" era Carcass although the occasional use of a higher register approach comes across as a little weak & gurgly.

Early Cruciform already possessed an uncanny knack for melody, particularly for such a young band. The way they allow their better compositions to build over time showed a good understanding of dynamics, even if the technical capabilities of the various band members still seemed to be a little immature at the time. Listening back now, I can easily pick up some sections of tracks like "Proboscis" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes" that have been reworked into some of the more brilliant parts of the "Paradox" demo that I still regard as one of the finest I've ever heard to this day. Unfortunately though, I don't think any of these pieces compare all that well to the two epic numbers that make up that incredibly underappreciated release & this leaves "Atavism" as very much the entree to the "Paradox" main course. It's hard for me to think of it as anything else after all the years of solitary bedroom worship for Cruciform's later material but "Atavism" is still worth seeking out for early doom/death enthusiasts as there weren't too many artists exploring these creative avenues at the time. "Paradox" would see Cruciform pushing a sound that was wwaayy ahead of its time & could well have had a major impact on the global scene if it was given the right production & exposure in my opinion. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be though & we're left with only these limited recording to enjoy which in many ways pre-empted my own musical journey with Neuropath.

For fans of Hearse, Sorrow & Asphyx.

I have to admit that the trend to re-record previously released material with modern-day technology is not one that I'm particularly fond of. Rarely does it see the desired results being achieved by bringing something fresh & different to an album that's generally already got its own loyal following so the idea of the Cavalera brothers having another crack at Sepultura's highly regarded 1987 sophomore album "Schizophrenia" wasn't one that immediately filled me with anticipation. Their recent re-recordings of Sepultura's more primitive earlier releases "Bestial Devastation" & "Morbid Visions" had certainly been reasonably successful but "Schizophrenia" was a much more sophisticated record & I struggled to see a reason to want to give it a new coat of paint when the old one was still in pretty good nick. You see, I've always been a big fan of the original version of "Schizophrenia". I picked it up on cassette when I was still a youngster, shortly after becoming completely infatuated with Sepultura's classic 1989 "Beneath the Remains" album. It was an immediate hit in my household & has received many revisits over the years so I can't say that I wasn't pleased that Ben gave me a reason to investigate the revitalized version by nominating it as this month's "The Pit" clan feature release. I just wasn't expecting to be wowed in the process.

The band that the Cavalera brothers assembled for the task is a little different to the one they went with for their previous re-recorded efforts. Max's son Igor Cavalera Jr. (Go Ahead & Die) is still there on bass guitar but the lead guitar slot that was previously being filled by Gruesome/Possessed/Proscriptor McGovern's Apsû axeman Daniel Gonzalez is now being owned by Igor Jr.'s former Healing Magic & Lody Kong bandmate Travis Stone (Noisem/Pig Destroyer) on this occasion. I have to say that I haven't been majorly impressed with Stone's work here though as he lacks the polish of the very capable Andreas Kisser which leaves the guitar solos seeming like less of an emphatic statement than they were on the original.

So... how is the production job that is largely the reason for conducting this exercise in the first place then? Weeeellll... it certainly sounds a lot cleaner, brighter & more in your face than the original did but it's not without its issues either. The drenching of Max's vocals & Igor's toms in reverb was a strange decision & does tend to annoy me a little if I'm being honest. I'd suggest that Max's vocals simply aren't as strong any more so the decision was made to hide his deficiencies a little through studio trickery but it hasn't really worked because it's still as plain as day if you ask me & I much prefer his gruntier contribution on the original version. That's not to say that I get nothing out of this glossier model though because that's not the reality at all. As most people will probably do as some point, I decided to whack on the 1987 version immediately after my third spin of the revamped one in order to see the differences & they were far more stark than I realised previously. In fact, the original version sounds a lot like a demo recording in that context & I was surprised by just how deficient it appeared to be in retrospect because I've never had too much of a problem with it in the past. Perhaps there was a good reason that Cavalera's decided to give another crack after all then.

The tracklisting is unsurprisingly impeccable with no weak numbers being included. Opener "From the Past Comes the Storms" is still my pick of the bunch but I feel that the lengthy instrumental "Inquisition Symphony" also really shines here & gives it a run for its money. "To The Wall", "Escape to the Void" & "Septic Schizo" are perhaps not quite as classic in this environment as I remember them being back in the day which is interesting. The two intros/interludes have been recreated in slightly different forms but I wouldn't say that either are as effective as they once were so perhaps they would have been off simply remastering the originals. The inclusion of an Igor Jr. penned new original in "Nightmares of Delirium" is probably the most significant point of interest here but I'd suggest that it's also the weaker of the proper metal songs on offer, even if it's still worth a few listens. So overall we have more losses than wins but it's nothing drastic as the album is still highly entertaining, mainly because "Schizophrenia" is a total riff-fest & nothing has changed there.

Was it really worth the effort to re-record this old classic? Perhaps. I mean it certainly contains more energy & vitality than the original mix did but I'd have to argue that I still enjoy the 1987 version a little more. I can't deny that I had a good ol' headbang to this one on the way to & from work on Friday though as this is some pretty premium thrash metal after all. It's probably not terribly essential if you already own a copy of Sepultura's version from back in the day though. Let sleeping dogs lie I say. So, why have I awarded the release such a good score you may ask? Well, I choose to treat every release on its own merit when creating reviews & this is still a fine example of South American thrash in my opinion so it'd be inaccurate for me to suggest otherwise with a reduced rating simply because I like it a touch less than Sepultura's version.

For fans of Sepultura, Slayer & Sodom.

With industrial metal being one of the least listened to sub-genres for me, this month’s feature release risked passing me by like most others often do. Two things drew me to Revelator in the end. Firstly, the strange looking album artwork. Secondly, Daniel’s high praise for the band (borne out in his excellent review). Now, clearly, I have no reference point for Revelator in terms of a comparison to other The Amenta releases and as such, I can judge it solely on its merits as a standalone release. After several listens, I am not totally sold on it still but that is not to say that this about to open into a negative review, more that I have a lot learn still about this record.

Since my first listen through to the album, I have been unable to get Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise by Emperor out of my head. The cleaner vocals remind me so much of that record that I had to play it again to make sure I was not making it up. Stylistically, two different sub-genres, yet (having listened through the Emperor album in piecing this review together), some definite comparators beyond even the vocals. Revelator is an explosive album. One of those that is seemingly written with eruptions of power that blast through more tempered sections. Add this sense of density in terms of the layers to each record and my early comparison holds some firm standings.

Given I have an odd affiliation with that Emperor album, I have found that my enjoyment of Revelator has grown very easily. The progressive elements to the Australians 2021 release help the record play as almost a macabre celebration of metal music when you get the occasional bit of death metal thrown in for good measure and even some ambient work to boot. I do need more time with the more post-metal moments and do find the flow of the album interrupted by this.

However, The Amenta are clearly talented guys and the musicianship here is top notch. This is not very industrial sounding to me (saying that as an already declared irregular listener to this sub-genre) and has a lot more depth to it than I first expected, clearly therefore having been written by some mature artists. I find it theatrical and challenging at the same time as being a record that can appeal to my more primitive metal needs very easily. It is a solid discovery that has helped me rediscover an old favourite also.

It's great to see a young band growing with each release & that's exactly what we've seen with French progressive black metallers Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa. I struggled to get into their 2018 debut album "Tales From Hydhradh" when I first came across the band however their 2021 follow-up "Corrupted Pillars of Vanity" showed promise & we're now seeing that promise coming to fruition with their latest release "The Blossoming" which is a genuinely intriguing listen. Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa's black metal roots would appear to be almost secondary concern at this point & it wouldn't surprise me if they were done away with altogether in the quest for ever more unique musical explorations in the future. Their modern sound uses black metal more as a platform for them to experiment over in some fairly unusual ways although I would say that they ever quite dive into the waters of the truly avant-garde on "The Blossoming", potentially only because of just how well they've integrated the experimental components into their arrangements which leaves the quirkier components still sounding reasonably fluid. The use of saxophone is beautifully executed & brings to mind fellow experimental black metallers White Ward. Not all of it works so well but the failures are comfortably outweighed by the successes.

It's worth noting that "The Blossoming" does have an unusual characteristic in that I feel all three of the tracks on the A side are noticeably weaker than those on the B side which is where the real meat is located. This has a tendency to leave an initial impression that isn't exactly accurate of the release as a whole & it took me a couple of listens to realise that this was a more significant outing than "Corrupted Pillars of Vanity" was. The track that most grabbed me was also the one that contained the least black metal in "Daimu Kadasdra Ko Antall" which utilizes psychedelic bongos & gothic atmospherics that bring to mind Tiamat's classic "Wildhoney" album to create a beautifully lush soundscape. "Endless Cycle" & the title track (particularly the second half of it) are the pick of the black metal-based material.

This sort of release is often a little too weird for me to score as highly as I have here but Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa have managed to pull it off with a professionalism & maturity that I've been unable to resist. I wouldn't suggest that this is a record for black metal fans only either as there's a lot more to it than that, even in the extreme metal sections. The album contains a few doomier sections that make up some of the more effective parts of the record while the vocals aren't exactly your typical black metal shriek either, often veering off into deeper territories usually traversed only by the death metal brigade. If I could provide any advice to the band, I'd suggest that they focus a little more on the psychedelic angles that I enjoy so much but that's probably just a reflection of my personal taste as "The Blossoming" is still a very solid release in its own right.

For fans of Alchemist, White Ward & Pan.Thy.Monium.

Discovery is a wonderful thing. Ætheria Conscientia are a black metal band that I have seen pop in to my recommended feed (if only briefly) back in 2021 for Corrupted Pillars of Vanity and became a group that I would keep tabs on, even if I found the music to be far too patchy. And this came along solely based on the name of the group. Like with Ne Obliviscaris over ten years ago, Ætheria Conscientia was a name that would be impossible to forget and would be in eager anticipation of their next move.

Now this is coming from the assumption that their foundational progressive/avant-garde metal roots would result in growth and development of a very unique atmospheric black metal sound. And with The Blossoming, I can see the huge strides taking place from the inside to create a more streamlined, accessible, and overall more enjoyable album.

Corrupted Pillars of Vanity is a daunting listen with just five tracks, but a runtime that approaches one hour. The Blossoming by comparison is six tracks and runs at a relatively brisk forty-five minutes. While that might seem like a minor issue, what stands out is that Ætheria Conscientia never sound like they are still performing after all the concert goers have left. Each song (most notably the longer tracks like "Astral Choir" and "Endless Cycle") are cohesive and tell a fully developed story through the instrumentals and lyrical themes. I enjoy how this band is able to sound as dense as they do, while still caring for the listeners time and money; it's a record that gives its listeners all of its necessary information and then lets you decide what it all means, all while not rambling.

And that's important because the compositions are carrying a lot of weight. For a black metal album, The Blossoming is pretty light when it comes to traditional black metal motifs. Tremolo picking guitars are frequently substituted for open power chords, percussion rarely sticks to a rhythmic blast beat foundation, and the vocals are extremely varied in their delivery. And that's even before you add the clean guest vocals of Lisieux on this albums bookend tracks and the ALWAYS sultry saxophone leads that regularly appear throughout the project. This horn in particular is performed with a very similar timbre as those found on Rivers of Nihil's Where Owls Know My Name, which just so happened to be one of the only consistently good pieces of that record!

For a record that is as progressive/avant-garde as The Blossoming sounds, it's quite a shame that it did not axe out many of the black metal production tropes, such as a lackluster bass line, and filtered down vocals. The bass lines are inexcusable at this point; while the guitars are quite pleasant and the open power chords give The Blossoming a sense of wideness, it would me more beneficial for the bass to be closer to the front and allow for the guitars a little bit more breathing room to be experimental instead of playing foundations. As for the vocals, I don't think that hiding the vocalist in the back of the room like this was the most viable solution. After all, The Blossoming is not you're run-of-the-mill black metal album in its lyrical content and themes. This space opera is very surreal and could use a more present narrator to show the listener its folklore and mythology.

Ætheria Conscientia reinvented themselves on The Blossoming and they succeeded in many different ways. Besides the obvious, this record has a feeling of humanity in it that has not been felt in a lot of extreme metal recently. It pulls from Ihsahn, Rivers of Nihil, and Kayo Dot in its ambitiousness and pulls of the best in all of them. Best of all, the record never feels like its meandering or runs out of things to say before its conclusion. I kind of expected the album to end a bit more emphatically, but I think that's part of its appeal and avant-garde texture. 

Best Songs: Haesperadh, Daimu Kadasdra Ko Antall, Endless Cycle

For those that haven't been paying attention, I've been pushing underground Australian industrial death metal artist The Amenta pretty hard on the Metal Academy website since our initial inception back in 2019 & don't plan to give up on that task any time soon. Why, you may ask? Well, to put it simply, this Sydney-based outfit has not only been my favourite hometown band for that entire period but are also one of the most incredible examples of an undiscovered gem you'll find in the entire global metal marketplace. In fact, I'm continually astounded at just how underappreciated some of their releases are & I don't think that my long-time relationship with the band has anything to do with me taking that position either. I've been aware of this lot since they began life as local black metallers Crucible of Agony back in 1997, mainly due to the fact that they contained an associate of mine in Lord Kaos/Stone Wings front man Jamie Marsh who I played alongside in Sydney doom/death exponents Elysium at around that time. Fast forward through to 2021 though & you'll find that The Amenta had a completely different look & feel to them. Their style had evolved from black metal to a Morbid Angel-inspired death metal sound before slowly taking on more & more industrial metal elements, each album representing a different stage in their evolution & achieving a very different character to the last. Each of their first three full-length albums were nothing short of classic & I don't say that from a purely patriotic or nostalgic viewpoint either. 2004's "Occasus", 2008's "n0n" & 2013's "Flesh Is Heir" sit amongst my favourite extreme metal releases of all time with only the elite of the elite achieving higher echilons of metal glory. The long gap between releases may well have contributed to the quality of each release but would also seem to have been out of necessity given that the band became more of a national entity over time with the various band members sometimes residing in different states & playing in multiple other metal bands of significance. 2021's "Revelator" fourth album would end the biggest drought in The Amenta's recording career to date though & subsequently drew an enormous amount of anticipation from diehard fans like myself who have been attending the band's blistering live shows for so many years.

2013's "Flesh is Heir" record was a game-changer for me personally. It took all of the various elements that made up The Amenta sound & presented them in a fashion that saw my face being completely melted off & boy did I enjoy it. It would go on to be my Album of the Year & see me shouting its praises from the rooftops online too. The gap to the band's next album left me feeling a little bemused though & when it finally arrived I didn't quite know what to expect. By this time The Amenta had a very different look to the one that recorded a couple of crude black metal demos under their previous moniker back in the late 1990's with only guitarist Erik Miehs remaining from the Crucible of Agony days. Thankfully though, The Amenta had maintained the same lineup that devastated me with "Flesh is Heir" which certainly put them in good stead to achieve similar heights. From the promo shots released at the time, it seemed that the band had opted to push a slightly different image to before which shouldn't really have been a surprise as The Amenta had traditionally put a lot of time & effort into making the visual part of their live performances a unique experience rather than a simple reenactment of their albums. I wasn't sure if that would translate into a drastic change of musical direction or not but any fears I may have harbored were very quickly put to rest by another stunning piece of work.

"Revelator" is a wonderfully produced record that perfectly highlights The Amenta's strengths & talents. The music unceremoniously dives out of the speakers & violently grabs the listener around the throat, although on this occasion the song-writing tends to be more measured in how regularly it tightens its grip. "Revelator" once again sees The Amenta evolving on past glories, this time relying less on death metal savagery & more on the industrial side of their sound. The obvious Godflesh influence that was so apparent on "Flesh is Heir" is nowhere near as relevant this time though with the band taking you to places that you're unlikely to have trodden in the past. You see, "Revelator" is a much more moody & introspective record than we'd heard from The Amenta thus far & it draws from a wider range of influences too. There's a progressive edge to their approach that requires a little more patience but sees them challenging the listener on a more cerebral level too. This is a more mature The Amenta & one that's not afraid the show a little vulnerability rather than simply savaging their audience into a pulp. My ears pick up the influence of a disparate range artists from Mr. Bungle (particularly their deeper & more psychedelic material) to Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad & even a little of that twisted Arcturus sound. Don't get me wrong, "Revelator" can still thrash you to within an inch of your life but it can also lead you into some pretty dark places that will have you peering out of your eye sockets from deeper & deeper within yourself.

The tracklisting begins in the most violent fashion possible with brutal opener "An Epoch Ellipsis" (my personal favourite) being one of the finest examples of industrial death metal you're ever likely to hear. It doesn't really prepare you for the twists & turns you'll face across the remaining eight songs though as the stylist direction changes up regularly, never allowing the listener to become complacent yet still feeling cohesive throughout. The brilliant "Silent Twin" sees The Amenta experimenting with a sound that's more commonly heard on post-metal releases while "Wonderlost" dips its toes into dark ambience to great effect. Apart from "Psoriastasis", the remainder of the album sees The Amenta veering away from pure death metal but losing none of their menace. Legendary drummer Dave Haley's (Abramelin/Psycroptic/Consummation/Ruins/Werewolves/Blood Duster/Pestilence) undeniable talents behind the drum kit are brought to the forefront by a relentless machinegun double kick drum sound that sees him achieving ridiculous tempos with ultimate precision while his blast beats showcase a level of power & control that few can match. Charismatic front man Cain Cressall (Malignant Monster) not only spits out his lyrics with his trademark blackened snarl but also makes a wonderful fist of some very capable clean singing that will no doubt remind you of the impeccable metal royalty that is Mike Patton. I really love this element of the album actually & feel that it's one of the key ingredients in giving "Revelator" its own identity.

From what I can see online, "Revelator" doesn't seem to have received the accolades that some of The Amenta's previous records have & I find that a little hard to understand as this is yet another mind-blowing effort from the band. Perhaps it's simply a reflection of a modern society where young people tend not to give their music as much time as old-schoolers like myself who weren't gifted with music at the click of a button during our formative years. Make no bones about it, "Revelator" is a far less immediate record than The Amenta's earlier works & requires a little commitment to fully understand but that's not a criticism in any way. In fact, it's more of a compliment than anything as those sort of releases tend to benefit from a longer lasting appeal than those that waste little time in exposing their full wares. While I readily admit that it may not top The Amenta's first three classic albums, "Revelator" has once again seen me left dazzled by the sheer class of this wonderful Aussie metal icon, this time with a renewed commitment to creativity.

For fans of The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Red Harvest & Strapping Young Lad.

Sweden's In Mourning would make my acquaintance fairly early on in their recording career off the back of this month's The Horde feature release "Shrouded Divine" which represents their initial foray into the full-length album format. The record had been floating around for roughly a year by the time I revitalized my interest in metal & began progressively exploring every new extreme metal release of any significance, at which time I discovered that In Mourning had a bit about them which would ultimately prove to be enough to see me investigating each of In Mourning's five subsequent albums as they came to fruition. There have certainly been some that appealed to me more than others as I wasn't much of a fan of 2010's "Monolith" sophomore record yet regard its 2012 follow-up "The Weight of Oceans" as one of the better melodic death metal records I've ever heard but there are few that would deny the class that these artists exude in the way they go about things. Interestingly though, I don't think I've returned to "Shrouded Divine" in the fifteen years since I first wrapped my ears around it & I was wondering whether that might be a telling fact going into this week's revisit. Let's find out.

If I'm being completely transparent then I'll have to admit that "Shrouded Divine" took me a bit of time to warm up to on this occasion, perhaps due to the fact that my first listen came immediately after the very strong Blut aus Nord The North clan feature release "Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars" which resides much further within my wheelhouse. In Mourning simply sounded a little lightweight in comparison but subsequent listens saw the album starting to open up a bit for me & by the end of my third spin I could clearly see the appeal in this professionally produced & executed extreme metal record. Despite the consistent labelling of In Mourning as a melodic death metal band, "Shrouded Divine" doesn't offer much in the way of death metal at all to be honest. In fact, I'd suggest that the ties with the melodeath sound are tenuous at best given that the tag is intended to draw together releases that share a complex harmony-driven sound. In Mourning's early sound was much more in line with the progressive metal of Opeth & if you take away the very deep & gutteral vocals of guitarist Tobias Netzell (formerly of Swedish doom/death act October Tide & progressive rock/metal outfit Thenighttimeproject) then you'll find that In Mourning have a lot more in common with Dream Theater than they do At The Gates so the album is best suited to an "extreme progressive metal" tag in my opinion. I feel that the tendency to want to find a death metal subgenre to associate with the album is mainly to differentiate it from the Fates Warnings & Queensryches more than it is to throw In Mourning in with the Dark Tranquillitys & In Flames'.

In Mourning have pulled their sound together very nicely when you consider that this was their first studio effort. The musicianship is all of a high quality & there's an impressive level of cohesion that sees the sum of the various parts amounting to significantly more than they may have in isolation. There are a couple of elements that don't sit as well with me though to be fair. The occasional use of blast-beats from drummer Christian Netzell is largely nullified by his drum sound which leaves them sounding like he's tapping away on a matchbox. The use of screamier vocals for a bit of variety was a nice idea in theory but these ones sound like they would have fit very comfortably on a generic deathcore record. Unlike Ben though, I actually think the clean vocals are a nice touch & provide some welcome variation. Despite being a progressive band, In Mourning aren't the most complex example you'll find & they don't take too many other risks either with many off their riffs sounding fairly familiar. You won't struggle to recall the signature Opeth octave chords or the rhythmic bottom-string djent riffs that were so popular at the time while listening to "Shrouded Divine". Thankfully though, In Mourning pull it all off with aplomb in what is generally a very tight, finely-honed debut effort.

Most progressive metal fans should find the tracklisting on "Shrouded Divine" to be pretty consistent once they've given the record the time to sink its teeth in a bit. In fact, I don't think there's a weak track included as such. There aren't really enough genuine highlights to see me feeling like returning to the album all that often though either & that's perhaps the record's biggest detractor for me personally. It certainly sounds very pleasant & quite accessible for an extreme metal release. It doesn't get my blood pumping all that often though & that's the difference between a release that draws me back time & time again & one that I maintain a fondness for without ever really feeling the urge to return to. "Amnesia", "By Others Considered" & (my personal favourite) closer "Past October Skies (The Black Lodge Revisited)" are my pick of the bunch & are all very solid examples of their type but I'd question whether any of them should be granted access into my Hall of Metal Glory for all eternity. They're certainly nothing to be scoffed at though & I can very easily see why a record like this one might appeal to my brother much more than it might to my blackened soul.

At the end of the day, "Shrouded Divine" was a pretty good way to kick off a recording career as it provided a solid platform for In Mourning to build & improve on over the many years since. It's perhaps been relegated to the reserve bench a bit since I heard 2012's "The Weight of Oceans" a few years later but I don't think many fans of extreme progressive metal will struggle to find the appeal in a record like this one & I'd suggest that it still sits in the top half of the band's back catalogue overall.

For fans of Barren Earth, In Vain & Persefone.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who spent years believing ‘Cowboys From Hell’ was the bands first release, but alas, here we are, 1983’s ‘Metal Magic’, the true debut of glam metal/future groove metal legends Pantera.

Turns out, before becoming one of the biggest metal bands on the planet, Pantera had released four independent albums, although, unlike the heavy, gritty and downright dirty sound of their 90’s output, these were more on the glam side of things, so expect spandex, songs about partying, “Diamond Darrell”, and dare I say it… keyboards!

But despite being generally reviled by fans and even the band themselves, the truth is, these albums aren’t that bad. ‘Metal Magic’, while not exactly innovating new sounds or breaking down barriers, still has a couple of nice little rockers on it. ‘Tell Me If You Want It’, ‘Ride My Rocket’, ‘Widowmaker’ and ‘Biggest Part of Me’ are all pretty decent hair metal anthems, and considering how young the members were at this time (Dimebag was only 16!), it’s really hard to not be a little impressed.

Just a shame about the naff production.

Overall, this album won’t change your life, and my God, this is completely different from the Pantera which sold millions and millions of albums in the 90’s, so if that’s what you’re expecting then don’t bother. But ultimately this is an interesting listen to see how the band changed and evolved to become what they are, and you may even find yourself liking it.

With an industrial metal Uniform covering the electronic drone Body, this collaborative duo made such an experimental offering to please the underground metal masses in Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back. But have you heard what they made a year prior? It's shorter but much darker...

The Body's lyrical themes morbidly touch upon guns, death, and suicide. The title of their album from that year, I Have Fought Against It but I Can't Any Longer, was taken from the note 20th Century writer Virginia Woolf wrote before drowning herself in a raging river. You might think this collaboration album's title, Mental Wounds Not Healing, is also dark, but it comes from Ozzy Osbourne's hit "Crazy Train". For the album itself, Uniform and the Body open up a soundtrack to a world of distress beyond imagination.

"Dead River" already has distorted screaming flowing through an electronic beat. Guitars mostly consist of faint feedback. Then we have the intense "The Curse of Eternal Life", continuing the electronic beat usage. Chip King's "tortured rooster" screams sound more mechanical in this album, though there are the snarls of Michael Berdan that I prefer. "Come and See" shows the vocal duo uniting greatly with the drumming of Lee Buford and the guitarwork of Ben Greenberg. "The Boy With Death in His Eyes" is filled with devastating distress, as the duo continue their thunderous attack. It's like a true stormy voyage while lost at sea.

"In My Skin" is slower with some post-ish guitar. "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is just straight-up noise and pain. Even the album's average song length of 4 minutes can go on for eternity. Many listeners might want out, but I'm experienced enough to stay in and let it infect my mind. The more anthemic "Empty Comforts" once again has dreamy guitars, and it seems to end the album as more of a dream than the nightmarishly good album it was.

Nothing is ever bright in Mental Wounds Not Healing, just drone-ish industrial metal darkness and noise. I don't think it's as masterful as their other collaboration album though. Plus there are heavier bands I've listened to that I enjoy. But this is pure darkness. Darker than anything I've experienced in my existence....

Favorites: "Come and See", "The Boy With Death in His Eyes", "Empty Darkness"

Many different artists and bands each have a massive boost of popularity in different ways. For this band Lord of the Lost (originally just called Lord, but the name had to be changed due to other bands like the Australian power metal band LORD, or Lordi, or The Lords), it was a couple things; 1. They were special guests for Iron Maiden's Legacy of the Beast tour. 2. Their performance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. What was lost in the underground is now found more globally!

Blood & Glitter was released between those two events, much earlier than anticipated, at the end of 2022. It was a slightly late Christmas present for all the band's supportive fans. Gothic industrial metal has never sounded as pleasantly poppy as these tunes....

The title track is the band's song representing Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, though it could've been done better. "Leave Your Hate in the Comments" is a big "f*** you" to those who can plague the internet with negativity from the privacy of their home. I'm amazed by how brilliant this is, having the "take no sh*t" attitude the rest of the album would have. There's more of that in the aptly titled "Absolute Attitude". It's quite gentle and would work well for any 80s movie. And we have a lot more in "The Future of a Past Life", blending in that 80s sound with some growling by Marcus Bischoff of Heaven Shall Burn. So catchy while heavy enough to make even classic metalheads grin. "No Respect for Disrespect" has the retro synth-metal of Beast in Black.

"Reset the Preset" features Combichrist vocalist Andy LaPlegua, with music suitable for both the dancefloor and the moshpit. "Destruction Manual" continues the catchy industrial dance metal. "Dead End" is another highlight that's pretty much next-gen KMFDM. The ballad-ish "Leaving the Planet Earth" is the exact opposite of a love song.

Bring keyboards up front is "Forever Lost" that's almost a more electronic Moonspell. Taking on "Save Our Souls" with lovely strings is Subway to Sally violinist Ally Storch. The "important" "One Last Song" is a beautiful way to say farewell, having a bit of the recent poppy side of Avantasia in the mix. There's actually one more track here, a cover of Roxette's "The Look", featuring Jasmin Wagner, also known as German popstar Blümchen. A perfect cover, and arguably this album's true standout! RIP Marie Fredriksson

Vocalist Chris Harms believes in the long run when it comes to an album's value, "F*** the charts, playlist pitches and 1,000 pointless reviews in advance." I'm quite pleasantly surprised by how well Blood & Glitter turned out even though I'm late by a year and a half. Metal continues its modern expansion with great catchy results....

Favorites: "Leave Your Hate in the Comments", "The Future of a Past Life", "Reset the Preset", "Dead End", "Forever Lost", "One Last Song", "The Look"

A punishing force in industrial rock/metal, Killing Joke kept their comeback going since their 2003 self-titled album and 25th anniversary DVD XXV Gathering with another album. The self-titled album was more metallic than their earlier works and had Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) as the drummer, stirring up brilliant energy. However, fans of the band's mid-80s material wanted more of what they used to have, and vocalist Jaz Coleman wasn't highly satisfied with how that album turned out. He was determined to find the right balance in their next offering...

Fast forward to the recording of Hosannas From the Basements of Hell. The sessions took place in Studio Faust, a studio in an ancient building in Prague, specifically in its deepest darkest basement, aptly named Hell. The band can battle Satan's demon horde, feast on their remains, and reign in the cavernous darkness. The album was recorded using vintage equipment from the time of the band's debut release Turn to Red, giving Hosannas the massive intensity Killing Joke fans want.

"Lift up your spirits!" Coleman shouts to begin "This Tribal Antidote", gathering around "celebrants in a state of merriment", i.e. fans of the band, as we hear the guitars slay. The title track shows Coleman taking on the perspective of one of those fans, even referencing this very band performing, "I walk down the stairs and Killing Joke waits for me". The music and lyrics sound f***ing supernatural in "Invocation". I definitely like the beat. You get to hear some of Paul Raven's last audible bass with the band before his passing the next year, RIP. There's some ominous cello to go along with the strings. It would've been cooler if the beat was more synchronized, but it's still OK.

"Implosion" has the relentless drum-work of Benny Calvert, alongside the guitar riffing of Geordie Walker (also RIP), the vocal melodies of Coleman, and the booming bass of Raven. The out-of-this-world "Majestic" has majestic guitar force. One of the two long epics, "Walking With Gods" has some riffing to remind some of the band's early 80s era.

The other epic, the nearly 10-minute "The Lightbringer" builds a bridge towards the mid-80s. That can be considered a highlight, though the ultimate highlight goes to this next track... "Judas Goat" leads you to the darkest depth of Hell with more technical drumming, guitar rhythms, and singing almost like a mantra. Then you're teleported back home in "Gratitude" as Coleman sincerely thanks you and the gatherers for that journey, "A toast for the man who loves every hour of every day."

Although Hosannas hasn't reached as much success as the 2003 self-titled album, it shows the band having more creative freedom. Almost every track ranges from 5 to 10 minutes, similarly to ZP Theart-era DragonForce albums. The band has tighter focus here than in previous albums. You know who to thank for this music....

Favorites: "Hosannas From the Basements of Hell", "Invocation", "Majestic", "The Lightbringer", "Judas Goat"

I'm enjoying this release, I am new to the band, ""Millenarian'' is the first I hear from them, and I like it so much, I have to listen to all the tracks!

It is straightforward hardcore-metalcore influenced metal,  with  a sound  and structure that keeps you groovin' ,attentive and having a good time.

I like that the vocals are intense, yet not screechy. The raw, crusty guitars are well defined , the overall sound  is smooth with just enough grit.

Anyways, hear for yourself, a sound is worth a million words..

I recommend  ''Millenarium'' as being a  very good to excellent recording, representative of its style, likely to attract a wide range of listeners.

Good stuff, check it out!

In the criminally underrated realm of cyber metal, Illidiance is here to show that the subgenre is far from dead. What's often hard to believe is, this band started off as black metal. There's absolutely none of that in this album! The sound is essentially catchy melodies, electro-industrial synths, and clean singing, side by side with groove-ish riffs and death growls, all a common definition of cyber metal. Damage Theory pulls out a lot of punches with not much room for a break. You can find lots of interesting twists and turns while sticking firmly to what they are.

The digital production can take you through different dimensions, especially when the electronics and vocals shine. Two of the band members perform vocals; the wonderful cleans of bassist Tommy Gun "Syrex" and the emotional growls of Dmitry "Xyrohn" Shkurin. We often have the typical growled verses and clean choruses, though there's some difference in the aspect to get listeners hooked.

"Hi-Tech Terror" kicks things off in a high gear as an awesome tune of cyber metal! This should've fit well in Tron Legacy. "Critical Damage" is another underrated song and I don't wanna miss out on more of this style. As great as this is, I'm not as heavily attached to this as the previous track. The most awesome part here is the final chorus that changes its key for the final repeat. Thumbs up for this greatness! "Breaking the Limit" is another great piece of modern metal history! Those drums shall unleash a dark vortex as part of the bad-a** music. "New Millennium Crushers" once again shows that they can squeeze all these perfect rhythms and epic melodies in a mere 4 minutes (the average song length for this album). This is like a more cyber take on pop-ish melodeath bands like Blood Stain Child and Scar Symmetry.

Then we slow down for the ballad-ish "I Want to Believe", clearly an X-Files reference in that title. "CyberGore Generation" can almost be considered "Cyber-core", blending together the cyber metal of Deathstars with a bit of the melodic metalcore of Memphis May Fire, The Autumn Offering, and Of Mice & Men. We end up getting more of the groove-ish melodeath side of the sound in "Cybernesis", still sounding cyber with those d*mn cool keyboards. "Infected" is another great example of letting the riffs fly free, sounding heavy while surrounded by electronic melodies.

"Fading Away" I would recommend to anyone wanting something cleaner and more melancholic. Just when I thought the band was going to lose steam, "Mind Hunters" strikes on as another better deal. "Razor to the Skin" has more of the razor-sharp riffing and synths. The 2012 re-release has two bonus tracks, starting with "Neuron Electrics Inc.", a cyber metal standout to practically rival Deathstars. The other bonus track "Neon Rebels" can practically be considered Soilwork gone Black Veil Brides stylistically.

Here we have a great example of cyber metal in this Illidiance album Damage Theory, for anyone looking for the revival of this subgenre invented by The Kovenant. Apart from some slight improvement needed, this offering is what you need for a great trip into the cyber realm!

Favorites: "Hi-Tech Terror", "New Millennium Crushers", "CyberGore Generation", "Infected", "Fading Away", "Mind Hunters", "Neuron Electrics Inc."

Over the course of the past 10 years before this review, Fange has released 7 albums and 3 EPs, almost every one of which has a one-word title that starts with the letter P. Their music is best described as industrial sludge metal, sometimes heading into other genres like death-doom or crust-core. Basically a blend of some of the heaviest, most crushing metal genres around. And with this album of two 15-minute tracks, the sound has become more climatic, though also much less accessible.

I can almost consider this a more deathly and doomy Godflesh! Something similar to Godflesh is the amount of noise mixed in with the guitars, and the use of a drum machine instead of a human drummer. With all that and the underground production, what's more to add in this dark journey?

"Tombé Pour La France" (Fallen for France) is the first of the two epics, and it starts off sounding so crushing. Then things slow down for melodic riffing and hardcore shouting. They can do that without losing their crushing atmosphere, proven by the riffing becoming more industrial. The composition is so brutal and emotional, and sometimes the melody can bring their sound closer to post-sludge.

"Les Vergers De La Désolation" (The Orchards of Desolation) is the second epic, sounding more post-rock-ish, while maintaining a lot of the industrial effects. Lots of moods, melody, and textures... They can add in a slight bit of accessibility while staying in the underground.

All in all, Pantocrator is a dark mature release in which industrial and sludge collide alongside pieces of other genres to make something so diverse. Fange knows how to push the limits as much as the more popular post-sludge bands could. Although both epics stand equally between those two genres, fans of the post-sludge of Sumac might dig the first one more, and fans of the industrial noise of The Body might dig the second one more. Whichever epic you prefer, you know how harsh industrial sludge can get!

Favorites: Both, though I like "Les Vergers De La Désolation" slightly more

Two years after the release of Corrections House's debut Last City Zero, the group consisting of Scott Kelly (ex-Neurosis), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), Sanford Parker (ex-Minsk) and Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod) continue pushing their dystopian industrial noise-metal to different levels. With Parker's beats, Kelly's riffing, Lamont's sax, and Williams' sick vocals, Know How to Carry a Whip maintains the greatness of the band's debut with more cohesive structures. This allows the dark despair to strike a bit more deeply...

An industrial backbone is constructed for the metal body. The mechanical music fits well for the moody concepts. The torch is often carried from one hand to another like a relay race, and when it glows, it's a darkened flame.

"Crossing My One Good Finger" has a tribal-ish beat to go with the mechanism, kicking off the dystopian industrial metal. We also have the slow crawling "Superglued Tooth" with the post-sludge riffing of Neurosis. Some background effects are added to the ritual, leading up to a closing dark dance-ish vibe. Those effects bleed into "White Man's Gonna Lose" with some perfect apocalyptic twists from the distorted sax. A true electro-industrial metal standout!

"Hopeless Moronic" is more bizarre with electronic sweeps while having some heavy groove. The lyrics seem pessimistic there. We escape into the acoustic darkness of "Visions Divide" in which even something soft can sound intense. "The Hall of Cost" is also dark but with a more chaotic attack, heading into misanthropic depths.

Switching around the structure is "When Push Comes to Shank" with moments of synth dissonance. The sax even has some emotion! Though the different twists cause the structure to be a bit unstable. "I Was Never Good at Meth" has greater structural sense when making these switches, albeit a lot more ambient. The closing track "Burn the Witness" has more of the tribal effect. The guitars are more solid and audible than most other songs here. The band have really outdone themselves by the end of it all.

If the band's debut Last City Zero was the album that showed the band what they are, Know How to Carry a Whip follows it up with another confirmation. As a result, their bleak devouring sound has made another round. Likely the final one sadly, considering the situation involving Scott Kelly....

Favorites: "Superglued Tooth", "White Man's Gonna Lose", "The Hall of Cost", "I Was Never Good at Meth", "Burn the Witness"

My initial reservations around the rerecording of an already perfectly serviceable thrash metal record were unfounded I am happy to declare having listened through Schizophrenia 2024 a couple of times.  Whilst I am still dubious as to the overall benefit (I mean the original needs no obvious enhancement, unlike say a Breeding the Spawn by Suffocation would do), the Cavalera family have not butchered this album thankfully.  Whilst they can do nothing about the inconsistent tracklisting they had to play with they have made obvious improvements on the production and performance aspects of the record.

That hi-octane energy level sounds just as fresh as it did with a bunch of youngsters thrashing their brains out some near four decades earlier.  The twin guitar attack make for chunky yet still slightly muffled at times sounding riffs that do seem to get a little murky (To the Wall) and I think Igor is sold a little short this time around in the mix also (albeit inconsistently - other times he sounds firmly front and centre).  Ultimately though I find I want to listen to Schizophrenia 2024 the whole way through each time as it is still a feel good thrash metal record and I have to admit that my attention span for this record has proven far more expansive than I originally expected.

Some of this is down to the interesting lead work of Travis "Eviscerator" Stone, with the Pig Destroyer bassist showing he knows his way around more than just four strings (he also plays guitars for Noisem of course) with a level of skill and aptitude.  Is he comparable with Andeas Kisser who was 19 when the original album was released?  Well, no.  However, that's the point really.  Travis as a much more experienced guitarist coming into rerecord the album obviously adds a different perespective.  The addition of a third member of the Cavalera family this time around with Max's son Igor Cavalera Jr plodding along (somewhere in the mix) in here shows the Cavalera brand is in good hands in the future.

Is it entertaining?  Yes.

Is it needed?  No.

I am still a MAJOR noob to the world of epic doom.  I have a little experience in its parent traditional doom, but I'm not even familiar with the works of Solitude Aeturnus, Doomsword, Solstice or Krux.  Having said this, the reason I decided to listen to this today was because I finally have enough room in my top 2024 albums chart for another metal album to potentially make the top 30.  I'm trying to keep it at a 20% max, so as to ensure I explore other genres heavily.  It's been a terrible time trying to expand on it, but thankfully, my saving grace for the day have been that Twikipedia album and new live albums by Can and Yes.  On top of that, checking the charts, it looks like "epic doom" isn't really known for a grand scale of variety among its more popular groups.

Now I just read that the difference between traditional doom, which is bent in more heavy metal and blues influence. and epic doom is the theatrics, which gives this brand of doom more room for an otherwise opposite genre: US power metal, which is much more energetic.  The Stygian Rose makes a point of letting you know that it plans to make the most of energetic theatrics five seconds in, and the riffage is not only impressive, but the progression of each song is both interesting and easy to follow, even when songs change pace.  I mean, it's totally easy to fall in love with that gothic black guitar tone at the beginning of Down in the Hollow.  The stronger changes seemed to be more apparent with each track, such as the tempo changes with Heavy Is the Crown of Bone.  I was just utterly soaking in the combination of traditional doom, funeral doom, USPM and some doses of gothic and black, as well as the progginess of track four.  But the variety itself wasn't the highlight, but the COMPOSITION.  These guys are utter PLAYERS.  Crypt Sermon manage a lot with the album's average runtime.  There are completely hypnotic elements like that synthy beginning to Scrying Orb, which is one of multiple examples of how crystal clear the album's production is without the overpolished reverb of studio necessities.  This is especially handy considering that the band plays with atmosphere the further along the album goes.  Take the noisy yet heavenly funeralism of the closing title track's intro for example.  I have to be honest: that's one of the finest example of composition, aura, produiction and technique I've ever heard in 2500+ metal albums.

And let's talk about the lyrics.  During The Scrying Orb, I noticed something: these guys are about as good at delivering lyrical imagery of other worlds and realms without sticking fully to tradition as Blind Guardian.  I mean, take Imaginations from the Other Side and Mirror Mirror.  Rhyming anyone?  Crypt Sermon aren't as upfront about the experimentation with melody here, but they know how to keep things engrossing on all levels.  Take the line "Blessed be the green lion, the green lion that eats the sun, to see through Orion where two hearts will beat as onе."  I'm just getting customized flashes of ancient walls with highly detailed hieroglyphs moving to the story.  And thankfully, this guy has a totally appropriate voice for both the energetic bits and the atmospheric bits.  I honestly like his voice much more than Messiah Marcolin's.

I've been pretty excited about 2024 this year, even to the point where I feel like I'm overrating albums because there are so many albums this year that completely fit my standards for perfection.  So in my effort to ensure that my reviews are founded on knowledge, I have to ask myself, "how do I know that this album isn't essentially copying another epic doom metal band that I haven't yet heard?"  I think it's a 100% valid question considering that I made the dumbass decision to listen to a 2024 album for a genre I've only heard like 5 albums for, especially since most of those 5 are early Candlemass.

So I'm just going to go based on my standards across 2500+ albums, assuming that's at least enough by this point: I loved it.  There was not a single millisecond I wasn't completely behind.  It might be a bit too diverse for the general traditional doom metal album to really be seen as an epic doom classic, but if Coagulated Bliss is seen as a modern grind classic no matter how many genres it plays with, that I'm going to go by the standards I set up for myself and ask the four questions.

1. What is the goal of this album?  It seems to be a further exercise in Crypt Sermon's growth as a band by once again differentiating their sound from the previous album.

2.  Does the album meet its goal?  100%.

3. What does the band sacrifice or neglect by meeting this goal?  Honestly, I don't think it really neglected anything except maybe standard epic doom behavior, if I'm to believe the RYM track listings.  I guess if I had to compare it to other doom albums, one technicality that isn't quite a flaw but isn't quite as good as another album in this regard is that its variety, while perfect for the album, isn't as wide-ranging as Idolum or The Dreadful Hours.  But it still works perfectly for the album, which pretty much states that there was no real sacrifice if the goal was to expand.

4. Are the sacrifices and negligences made up for by other aspects of the album?  If the above indeed was a sacrifice, then I have to say that in the end, this album is the kind that can probably attract a variety of metal fans by staying true to the band's spirit.

All in all, I just have to call this one of the greatest doom albums I've ever heard.  On my list I'll be putting this at #244 on my list of perfect albums between Peter Gabriel's So and Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert.  This makes the album my #2 metal album for 2024, my #6 2024 album period as well as the seventh 100 for 2024 that I've given.  Haven't had a year like this is a long time.

My earliest experiences with French black metal stars Blut aus Nord came through the tape trading scene of the mid-to-late 1990’s when I became exposed to their first two albums, both of which I really enjoyed. My self-imposed hiatus from the metal scene for pretty much the entirety of the 2000’s saw me almost completely forgetting about this band though & it wasn’t until Ben encouraged me to investigate their classic 2003 fourth album “The Work Which Transforms God” upon my return to metal in 2009 that my passion for Blut aus Nord was reignited & boy it was an exhilarating experience too. That record possesses a purity of darkness that few in the black metal scene can touch & it affected me on a deep enough level to see me flogging the album for months to come. Since that time though, I’ve found Blut aus Nord to be a little hit & miss with some of their releases falling a little flat & others reaching the higher stratospheres of the black metal air space. 2009’s seventh album “Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars” has always been one that I’ve taken very positively though, even if it perhaps doesn’t sit amongst my favourite Blut aus Nord records overall. I’ve returned to it several times over the years but have never afforded it the dedicated attention required for a well-informed review until now. Let’s take a look at what it’s all about.

Blut aus Nord releases inevitably possess their own unique characters & “Memoria Vetusta II” is no different in that regard. It contains some really big positives that drive its appeal but it also presents us with a couple of weaknesses that prevent the album from becoming the true classic it seems to have the potential to be on the surface. Unlike some of Blut aus Nord’s more experimental or avant-garde efforts, “Memoria Vetusta II” is noticeably more accessible & is unquestionably an atmospheric black metal record. It’s a lot more about producing ethereal soundscapes than it is about battering or intimidating the listener with its tone creating a calmer & more contemplative view of the world than a record like “The Work Which Transforms God” which was significantly darker. There’s a strong focus on melody here with the stunning guitar riffs combining with some subtly incorporated, almost angelic synthesizers to wonderful effect. In fact, the keyboard work sometimes reminds me of German ambient producer Gas with its soft, organic timbre beautifully intertwining with the guitar work to produce some quite vivid visuals. This is the real strength of “Memoria Vetusta II” as there’s an undeniable class about the way Vindsval creates his guitar parts & I find this element of the record to be infinitely impressive.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of things that detract a little from the strength of those components though. Firstly, the programmed drums sound weak & obviously artificial which goes against the more organic nature of the rest of the instrumentation. There are certainly those more industrially-tinged Blut aus Nord releases where the drum machine plays an intrinsic role in the atmosphere but here I find that it lacks the required cohesion with the rest of the instrumentation, a flaw that is only further highlighted by the fact that the bass guitar is so low in the mix that it’s almost redundant. Similarly, Vindsval’s grim black metal vocals reside quite a bit further back in the mix than I’d ideally like to see them sitting. This technique works really well for many of your more lo-fi & noisy black metal artists but here I find myself consistently wishing they were a little further towards the front so that they could compliment the clear strength in the guitar work. Sadly, this was not to be & I’ll have to take “Memoria Vetusta II” for what it is. Let’s not sit here dwelling on what-if’s though because this is still a damn fine black metal record in its own right.

The nine-song tracklisting is a wonderfully consistent collection of material that flows very nicely together, despite containing a few interesting deviations from the standard atmospheric black metal model. My pick of the bunch is actually the ambient/dungeon synth intro piece “Acceptance (Aske)” which puts me into a lovely warm & meditative state before the black metal assault firmly jolts me to attention. The more traditional black metal numbers are all very solid with "....The Meditant (Dialogue With the Stars)" & "Antithesis of the Flesh (...And Then Arises a New Essence)" being the most significant compositions in my opinion. The well-executed clean folk guitar piece “Translucent Body of Air (Sutta Anapanasati)“ works very well to break up the album while instrumental closer “Elevation” is also worth mentioning as it's comfortably my favourite of the metal tracks. I love the way that it manages to transcend the black metal genre through the use of repetitive, melodic motifs which wash over the listener. It’s a stunning way to finish what was already a highly rewarding hour of black metal. 

Look, perhaps “Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With The Stars” isn’t the career-defining masterpiece that so many black metal fans seem to claim it as these days but it is a damn fine record nonetheless & one that I can’t see disappointing too many extreme metalheads, at least once they’ve given it a few spins & accepted the initially distracting drum programming. I have to admit that this was an obstacle for me on each occasion that I’ve revisited “Memoria Vetusta II” over the years but those feelings of hesitation inevitably fade once I became reacquainted with the obvious quality in the guitar hooks. There are three or four Blut aus Nord releases that I’d reach for before “Memoria Vetusta II” when I feel like a fix of high-class French black metal but there’s no doubt that it’s a record of substance that needs to be heard in an underground scene that’s so chock full of followers. These guys clearly fit into the category of leaders & their influence on not only their local scene but the international one is beyond question.

For fans of The Ruins of Beverast, Akhlys & The Eye.

It will probably not come as a surprise, but Sepultura were never among the "elite" thrash bands when I was making my way through the classic discography of the genre. I never thought that they were a bad group, but the heavier, almost death metal take on thrash metal was still a very niche point in my young years. But when the band moved away from the more traditional thrash sound to something more groovy on Chaos A.D. I could not help but be intrigued and I have found a new found appreciation for this band and their early output in recent years.

A lot of that has to do with Cavalera. The re-recordings of Sepultura's first two releases, Bestial Devastation and Morbid Visions, was such a good idea since it took the two most underutilized Sepultura albums, gave them a modern facelift, while some crazy people even replaced their Sepultura recordings with the Cavelera ones! And so, I was perplexed as to why Schizophrenia was getting the modern touch up, since Schizophrenia is generally considered as the first great record that carried on through Chaos A.D. But whatever, here it is: Schizophrenia is a solid piece of nostalgia farming. It's hard to critique the music itself since all of these songs are over thirty years old at this point.

So what's new here? Well the production first and foremost. It has some real grit and feels intense, coalesced by the percussion of Igor Cavalera. They can be overwhelming at times, most notably in the flat footedness of the bass drum, but their intensity is impeccable and carries over to the crunchy guitars, which are open and have much more room than their original recording counterparts. I would have liked to hear a little bit more emphasis on the bass, but for this type of double guitar thrash, I can't say that I'm surprised. I still don't like it since the instrumentals feel one note in their execution. 

That just leaves the vocals and for what they are worth, they give a sense of "modern nostalgia." Early reviews like to criticize Schizophrenia for its liberal use of reverb, but I don't think it's as bad as those reviewers make it out to be. Early thrash metal vocals are notorious for having excessive reverb (Slayer's Show No Mercy, Metallica's Ride The Lightning, Testament's The Legacy), and in the modern day where death metal is so prim and proper with pin point execution of cut offs and unison technical proficiency, the laid back nature of the vocals is refreshing.

It leaves this review feeling a little light on content, but that is what happens when a band re-records their old material. Nothing here is new beyond bringing a classic album into the modern age of thrash metal. I still like it, but as mentioned earlier, I don't think that this album needed a modern facelift. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried if Cavalera continue in this vein in the future with albums like Beneath the Remains and Chaos A.D. coming into view. I can't see fans, or myself, taking those seriously.

Best Songs: From the Past Comes the Storms, Escape to the Void, Septic Schizo, R.I.P (Rest in Pain)

A very weird Japanese power metal album. That band name is pretty interesting, some sort of Japanese wordplay like "Seikima-II". So, "Kokumaromilk"... it's two words, "kokumaro" and "milk", the former being a kind of curry dish and the latter is some kind of white shit that comes from cow tit or something, idk never heard of it. So the wordplay is that those two don't really go together and the album name is like that too. "少女娼婦" or in English "girl prostitute" but the effect is more like "virgin prostitute" which not only is contradictory but also a pretty sad and terrifying concept. This band really likes their contrasting concepts and blending two things that shouldn't be to create a strange and psychotic atmosphere.

Even the beginning of this album is some straight up weirdness. It's some seemingly pretty normal power metal albeit symphonic in a really off-kilter way. Honestly, i'm having a pretty hard time trying to relate the strangeness of it. One aspect that can be easily pointed out, though, is the vocals. This is where that concept of contradictions comes back in. Take the second track, for example, where she comes in all cutesy and child-like and she progresses into sounding very manic and panicking. At two minutes in or so, she does this spoken word part where she totally freaks out, screaming and panicking. In terms of the vocals, this is definitely the craziest point. I suppose the approach is like she's playing different characters with her vocals which brings up that psychotic atmosphere I was talking about earlier. As if this album couldn't get any stranger, there's the fourth track which is this ten minute long noise section with even more spoken word parts all throughout the song, narrating whatever lyrical concept this band has. I'm not Japanese and there aren't any written lyrics online so that makes it a mystery for now. The song kind of sounds like a post-metal thing with the sirens and just the general bleakness of it which is an interesting midpoint for this album, considering what it sounded like prior to this. It does have a progression to it, though, and at the end, the singing finally comes back but this time, heavily filtered and sort of washed out. That's also exactly where this record decides to flip the table with the next track which is this upbeat, jazzy pop song. Reminds me a lot of vocaloid and give me another metal album where that description is appropriate. I reckon it'd be pretty difficult to do that.

I've kind of just summarized certain tracks here but you can't really describe something like this as one whole. It's kind of like the Mr. Bungle way of avant-garde metal where you do some crazy cross genre shenanigans and generally just making it as weird as possible. For sure some of the weirdest, most batshit power metal you'll ever listen to and it's kind of a shame that this band isn't as well remembered as i'd like them to be. They're definitely in the upper leagues of Japanese weirdness with bands like Sigh and Gonin-Ish.

I’ve been meaning to get around to checking out San Diego metalcore outfit Unbroken for a long time now. I don’t mind me a bit of 1990’s metalcore on occasion & these guys seem to be known as one of the more prominent examples of that sound so I had a funny feeling that they might be something I’d dig. Their 1993 debut album “Ritual” seems to receive generally positive feedback but it’s Unbroken’s classic 1994 sophomore album “Life. Love. Regret.” that receives the bulk of the attention so let’s see if it warrants the lofty praise that is inevitably heaped upon it then.

 Unlike many of the more widely celebrated metalcore releases, “Life. Love. Regret.” doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, instead taking a tried & tested direction that lives or dies by its attitude & authenticity. Thankfully though, it has both of those attributes in spades which has no doubt pleased the hardcore purists to no end. The relatively short 35 minute album doesn’t try to be anything that any good hardcore band shouldn't aspire to be. The production job is fairly raw but is still chunky & heavy while the performances are left pretty loose with no attempt having been made to clean up any timing concerns. Those things simply don’t matter all that much when it comes to hardcore music. It’s a more about the visceral urges they inspire in the listener & a general lack of fucks being given.

From a musical point of view, “Life. Love. Regret.” might as well be a guidebook for new players on what 90’s metalcore was all about really. Simple yet crunchy power chord-driven riffs? CHECK! Mosh-worthy breakdowns? CHECK! Angry & aggressive screamed vocals? CHECK! Occasional post-hardcore experimentation? CHECK! In saying that though, there’s an honesty & integrity about this music that places it above the sum of those tick boxes. There’s a purity in Unbroken’s sound that I find to be really easy to buy into. It didn’t quite sink in on first listen but I found myself liking this record more & more with each revisit & that has a lot to do with its consistency as the quality of the song-writing as it rarely dips below the really solid platform that’s set right from the offset with only “Blanket” feeling a little less essential even if it still generally enjoyable.

The two elements that drive this album are its clear points of strength. The riffs are the first of those components with Unbroken seemingly rewriting the manual on metallic hardcore crunch. I can easily imagine how intense this band would have been live because these anger-fuelled guitar parts seem to have been born for mosh pit mayhem. As a guitar nut myself, I found it hard not to buy into Unbroken’s selling point in that regard as I live for the sort of amplifier reverberation they possess in spades, even if the riffs are kinda basic a lot of the time & aren’t exactly performed with precision. The other major highlight can be found in the vocals of front man Dave Claibourn who steers away from that gurgly hardcore tone that I’ve always found to be a little weak by giving himself a little more of a natural sound. It gives his stories of life on the streets some added believability & he does a fantastic job at drawing the listener in through sheer fire & vitriol. In fact, it’s hard to deny that he’s the major calling card for the album overall & I’d suggest that he’d have to one of the more appealing hardcore vocalists out there.

A four-star rating was always on the cards from the first second I pressed play on “Life. Love. Regret.” to be honest as it stays predominantly at that level throughout its nine songs. While “Blanket” may have seen the quality curve dipping just a touch, the biggest talking point for the album comes in the form of a total game-changer that sits right at the end of the tracklisting. The nine-minute epic “Curtain” is nothing short of a devastating, tension-building beast of a track that I’d suggest should rightfully sit amongst the absolute elite examples of the metalcore genre. Its use of repetition & dynamics to draw the listener in from both a physical & cerebral perspective is astounding & I’ve found it hard not to allow my passion for this one piece to dictate my feelings on the holistic package to tell you the truth. I genuinely feel sorry for people that don't have the patience to connect with a piece like this one.

Despite the lengthy classic that dominates the B side though, I still can’t see “Life. Love. Regret.” as a classic release. Essential? Oh definitely, particularly if you’re a die-hard metalcore or hardcore fan. But I don’t think the majority of the album is different enough for it to command the loftier scores in my ratings system. Perhaps I’ve simply come to it a little late in the game but I can’t help but feel that “Life. Love. Regret.” doesn’t really do anything terribly different to a lot of metalcore release. Perhaps Unbroken are the source of all of that in the first place though? I dunno but what I can say is that I’ve rarely heard a better example of this type of music than this record & I can easily see why those metalheads with a stronger affiliation with the metalcore genre than I would tend to gush over it as I’ve been surprised at just how much I've enjoyed the experience.

For fans of Rorschach, Starkweather & Racetraitor.

I don't have a lot to say about this release from Sudbury's Fractal Generator unfortunately, but I still feel obligated to write something about Convergence because they are homegrown and I am making a genuine effort to present Canadian content not only as a point of exposure, but also as a point of contention in hopes that someone will see this and add some variation to improve. Or if I'm lucky, maybe the band will see this one day!

Convergence is a pretty solid, if not unoriginal, death meta album. The album has a lot of intensity carried out by way of some crunchy harmonic dissonance. The record can be hard to follow at times given how much the album fluctuates between modulating time signatures and riffs, but many of them do link back to other motifs. The occasional chorus lines that appear on "Cryogenain," "Cyphertext" and "Algorithmic Pathways" give the album a feeling of otherworldliness, before blast beats and howls plummet that idea back into the earth. Beyond those however, this is pretty standard death metal. Even though Fractal Generator do have some nice dynamic shifts throughout this record, it still stands that it can become a little overwhelming at times.

That being said, Convergence is not a bad album. It should satisfy the more tech death-y audience, and its runtime will make sure that the listener does not become too drained by the end. But its simplicity in the compositions does make this record sound like its missing something to turn it grand. Like I said during my Ulcerate review, the proficiency of Cutting the Throat of God is so good that other records just don't cut it for me. This is a prime example of that.

Best Songs: Cryogenain, Ancient Civilizations, Ciphertext

If you follow my reviews fairly religiously then you're probably aware that I recently reinvigorated my deep passion for Swedish death metallers Seance through their 1992 debut album "Fornever Laid to Rest", a record that I've always regarded as being nothing short of an undiscovered classic. "Fornever Laid to Rest" played a really big role in my teenage years. In fact, the title of that album is fairly reflective of my interactions with my dubbed cassette copy of the album back in 1992/93 so it's fair to say that I was royally pumped when I heard news of a second Seance full-length shortly afterwards. I quickly sought it out through my tape trading network before giving it a good ol' thrashing, convinced that it would see the Swedes reaching unparallelled heights. Sadly though, it never quite managed to achieve the sort of adoration I'd heaped on its predecessor, somehow failing to captivate me in quite the same way even if I'd maintain my respect for what was undeniably a classy outfit. I've returned to "Saltrubbed Eyes" quite often over the years which is a clear indication of its quality but, for one reason or another, I've still felt that it should rightfully reside in the shadows of its more relentless & shackle-free predecessor. This week I decided to uncover just why that is &, in doing so, see where Seance's second album sits in terms of the early 90's death metal explosion overall.

"Saltrubbed Eyes" is the product of a mature & capable group of musicians who clearly knew their shit when it came to the underground extreme metal scene. The level of musicianship & the sophistication in the compositional work is top notch which marked Seance as a band that had the potential to reside in the top tier of the genre for an extended period. The band were obviously satisfied with the results of their first studio effort as they opted to return to Malmö's Berno Studios for another session with producer Berno Paulsson who was still fairly unknown at the time but would go on to a long career off the back of his work with Seance. Rightly so too as "Saltrubbed Eyes" sounds really good with each instrument jumping out of the speakers with rare ferocity, particularly the bass guitar which has benefited from one of the most powerful bass tones I've heard in many a year. The arrangements are also very well constructed, this time offering noticeably more variation than "Fornever Laid to Rest" which rarely took its foot off the accelerator.

For those listeners that are already well acquainted with Seance's debut, it shouldn't take you long to realise that "Saltrubbed Eyes" is clearly not "Fornever Laid to Rest II". While there's still plenty on offer for those that were converted by the unbridled savagery of Seance's earlier work, the Swede's sophomore effort has added some additional components to the mix which gives it a noticeably different feel & also sees it creating its own well-defined identity. The faster material ("Soulerosion", "Skinless", etc.) still holds plenty of reward for old school fans & will undoubtedly command a similarly primal response but "Saltrubbed Eyes" contains a lot more in the way of dynamics & is a little more measured in its assault on the senses. I've always felt that "Fornever Laid to Rest" was largely built on the influence of the American death metal scene which was a little unusual for a Swedish band given the huge impact of the Entombeds & Dismembers that were making such enormous inroads into the global metal market at the time. "Saltrubbed Eyes" sees Seance adopting some of that crunchier Swedish sound & combining it with the American one in a best of both worlds approach that seems to work for them for the most part. But that's not the only new addition as there are quite a few simpler, groovier & more rhythmically inclined death metal riffs included on the album which sometimes sees me making comparisons with a band like Gorefest. The influence of "Reign in Blood"-era Slayer is very easy to identify during the higher tempo passages, particularly in the guitar solos of Tony Kampner & Patrik Jensen who at times border on Kerry King/Jeff Hannemann fanboyism. As with the debut, the monstrous & ultra-gutteral death growls of Johan Larsson are one of the highlights of the album & I'd definitely suggest that he was one of the better exponents in the scene at the time.

You can't really fault Seance in terms of consistency as "Saltrubbed Eyes" maintains a really solid level of quality right across its nine-song tracklisting. It's perhaps no surprise that the groovier title track does a little less for me than the rest of the material but it's still an entertaining listen, mainly because I'll always have time for a professionally produced & executed product like this one. The album is clearly missing the genuine highlights of its older sibling though with even the best material falling short of achieving classic status. As is often the way with me, it's the more aggressive & high velocity inclusions that hit me the hardest with the barbaric cacophony of "Skinless" coming the closest to reaching my Hall of Metal Glory. There's always something missing here though & I've struggled to put my finger on exactly what it is which has left me accepting that it's probably just that the songwriting isn't quite as engaging as the more youthful & care-free collection of death metal tunes I enjoyed so much only a month ago. I'd also suggest that I'm not quite as into the stylistic changes that Seance have taken, preferring the more consistently high-tempo & physically battering approach of "Fornever Laid to Rest". Please don't take these thoughts as a negative impression of "Saltrubbed Eyes" though because it's still a high-quality death metal record in its own right & one that has given me a lot of enjoyment over the last few days.

I honestly can't see "Saltrubbed Eyes" disappointing too many open-minded death metal fans even if it doesn't quite meet the same lofty standards set by its predecessor. If you can imagine a record that combines the vicious US death metal of Deicide, the hard-hitting, crunchy Swedish death metal of Grave, the mid-tempo grooves of Gorefest & the blistering shredding of Slayer then you'll get a fairly accurate image of what to expect & the reality is as good as that sounds on paper too. There's no doubt at all that Seance should have been much bigger than they were which has always baffled me. If anything that only provides an added incentive to jump onboard with a high-quality underground release like this one though, doesn't it?

For fans of Deicide, Malevolent Creation & Grave.

The Hellenic Monoliths

As with most of the albums I end up listening to, I'm wistfully ignorant of who might be behind said record due to the sheer amount of projects and side projects that certain artists undertake. My ear for recognition of early Black Metal similarities apparently isn't great either as I was surprised to find out that the fledgling Yoth Iria is actually an elite group, consisting of two members of early Rotting Christ with three other Greek musicians. Both Rotting Christ members left the band in the mid 1990's to pursue other endeavors, like keyboardist George Zacharopoulos immediately releasing Necromantia's classic Scarlet Evil Witching Black in 1995, but are back again in the modern era to deliver some refreshing Hellenic Black and Heavy Metal fusions. I initially thought that the mix of hooky and melodic Heavy Metal riffing with Black Metal vocals was pretty unique, but nowadays I'd say that these guys have been experimenting with this style since the very beginning after listening to a bit more of their original bands. Yoth Iria's distinction, though, is that it heavily pushes the Black Metal elements to the background as a more supporting role, leaving the Heavy Metal riffing and doomy atmosphere to take up most of the spotlight. Projects like this are always incredibly interesting to me as they subvert fan expectations and allow the artists room to explore different aspects of their sound, for better or worse. Although most of the time these experiments don't exactly pan out, As the Flame Withers remains a dependable album after many, many listens from me over the past few years. 

"The Great Hunter" sets the perfect tone for As the Flame Withers as it immediately subverts the listener's expectations multiple times by opening with a pretty generic Heavy Metal riff, only for the drums to come in with an instant blast beat to drive home that this isn't going to be your typical Melodic Black Metal album. Yoth Iria does a fantastic job of balancing the two distinct subgenres all while keeping a lofty but eerie atmospheric intact, with the lead guitar writing constantly flipping between memorable riffs and Black Metal tremolo to complement the drumming and to keep the listener guessing. That alluded to atmosphere is also present in "The Great Hunter", complete with a doomy tempo change and a male backing choir. This opening track sets the stage and formula for the rest of Yoth Iria's strongest tracks, such as "The Mantis" or "The Red Crown Turns Black". "The Mantis" is especially amazing and is the prime example of their style done to its best on this album. The buildup is lengthy but hefty and fits the overall feel of the album, the transition into the main riff is fantastic, and the track doesn't let up from there as it weaves between interesting buildups and breakdowns alongside some of the best vocal moments on the album. "The Mantis" is more focused on the weighty Heavy Metal side of Yoth Iria, but "The Red Crown Turns Black" and it's crazy Black Metal opening ups the energy, tempo, and devilishness of their sound. That doesn't stop them from transitioning into a driving, melodic chorus to a bit of my dismay, but this is another track that just has everything you'd want out of Yoth Iria's sound as they run the gauntlet of catchy Heavy Metal choruses, middling Black Metal passages, and sinister atmospheric sections. 

The rest of the album is a bit of a mixed bag where they focus more on one aspect of their sound rather than an eclectic mishmash. The title track "Yoth Iria" as well as "Unborn, Undead, Eternal" double down on chugging Doom Metal riffs with pretty forgettable verses, but have amazing choruses that are still interesting to listen to even after dozens of replays. "Unborn, Undead, Eternal" takes the award for the strongest one though, as Zacharopoulos' voice is on point with its delivery as the rest of the band lays down their most resonating wall of sound in the album. I will admit that the opening and beginning verses are pretty dull, but it's definitely worth it for the second half. While part of me wishes there was a bit more variety with the vocals since they genre-hop so much in this album, I have to commend the gusto of As the Flame Withers for sticking with its vocal style through and through. I wouldn't call Zacharopoulos' style entirely unique, but it somehow fits incredibly well into the Heavy Black Metal hybrid since most of his vocals can be entirely understood without cranking up the volume or having a lyrics sheet next to you. It has that Black Metal rasp to it, but it's not fully committing to the howling shrieks we all know and love. It's especially surprising on "Hermetic Code", considering that track is the most straightforward of them all with its simple, driving riff that does devolve into a pretty cool atmospheric section, but doesn't do a whole lot else. Allowing that vocal style to shine throughout the album is what gives As the Flame Withers a lot of charm, as it really tries to bridge the gap between Black Metal and accessibility. 

Yoth Iria's debut is far from a groundbreaking or perfect release, especially with the boring "Tyrants" and "The Luciferian" to cap it off, but I find myself respecting what I think it's trying to do. Creating a record that's mostly focused on more melodic riffing with eerie, otherworldly ambiance but still feels more than adjacent to Black Metal is no easy feat. Despite the lulls the album has, I find myself consistently coming back to As the Flame Withers for its interesting, memorable choruses alongside its adept atmospheric consistency throughout the album. The standout songs in here are incredibly strong, but the weaker ones bring the album down on repeated listens. That being said, the full album experience is still better than average given its good pacing and consistent themes. As the Flame Withers is another example of expert artists pivoting in an interesting way that leads to a unique product, and given how accessible it is, it might even lead people back into the material that started it all for these musicians. 

Not long after I turned it on, I noticed a huge improvement in production.  A man named Hans Eidskard produced it with the band.  The percussions, the production / guitar tone combo, the vocals and the rhythms were ALL improved right then and there... for the time being.  Although it's not a black metal album, we still get some fairly effective instances of tremolo-picking.  And I only got three minutes in at the time.  I found myself thinking, "Please PLEASE keep this up.  This is an prog and potential avant-garde album after all, so if I don't see Beefheart consistency I'll be upset."  The album was still going for the "switch up the song every few minutes" route with its longer stuff.  Unfortunately, the opener still managed to drag with its fifteen minutes.

I was hardly getting an "avant-garde" approach other than changing the exact sound of each track and maybe having the singer sing to a rhythm that doesn't fully work with the rhythms of the instrumentals.  Of course, Wikipedia said that and not RYM... but still, the progressive elements were more Floydian rather than standard, relying on using repetition and conflicting elements to create odd sensations for atmospheric purposes.  Eventually the album just felt like a cut and paste work because of their behavior from the previous album being applied to other areas that didn't flow quite as well, so I gradually began to lose interest, and once Omnio - Pre started I kinda just used the album for background music, despite the fact that I was still paying attention.

Well, this album certainly didn't satisfy my needs past the first ten minutes.  It's a nice exercise in atmosphere, but this album made me way less interested in even trying out their third album, so I don't think I will this time.  I'll check it out later.  For now, I feel no need to return to this album.

Since one of my assignments for completing the prog metal challenge on Metal Academy is the In the Woods album Omnio, I decided to start with their debut and then finish it off with their third album.  This might be a black metal album, but it's part of another clan challenge for black metal, and even though I'm not part of that clan, I want to get through at least one for each clan anyway.  So here we go.

Now this is ATMO-BLACK, and it starts off with a nice, albeit generic, bit of dungeon synth to kick of the atmospheres.  This is the 12 minute Yearning the Seeds of a New Dimension.  Afterwards, it turns into a standard post / doom metal riff with a deeper voice that seems a little more fit for atmo-viking metal (heh, if such a thing exists... which it probably does) rather than black, but we hadn't even gotten to the black yet, and it finally kicks in at minute seven of twelve.  So while this was a nice, pretty and mutative track, don't expect anything standard.  While the production and atmospheres need A LITTLE tuning for that perfect presence, the composition is perfectly fine  Next comes the title track. The effects are lo-fi and need a real professional, but these effects only last a few seconds before the blackened assault drowns us in the cold.  The same melodic deep vocals of Jan Kenneth "Transit" Transeth have returned, but I think they need a backing reverb for the effects to work their full magic, like Bergtatt or even anything by My Bloody Valentine.  Without the production, his voice is more suited towards the doomier parts of the album.

And now for the band's titular track.  So this is basically how we're doing this: dungeon synth, post / doom riff, atmo-black metal riff, post / doom riff, atmo-black riff, lather, rinse, repeat.  While we get a lot of nice vibes here, not only does the simple production keep every clear sound from maximazing the atmospheres, but we largely know what's happening next.  Little surprises like female vocals in the next track really don't mean as much as they should in the grander scheme of the album.  Thankfully, we get a little mix once the longest song on the album comes.  Wotan's Return is largely based in black's ability to thrash like mad, and these guys aren't afraid to crank it up so high they break the dial.  Of course, this doesn't generally mean the actual rhythmic composition is at a high point.  There are some great moments here with some nice rhythms, but the time they take to simply thrash and scream can easily be drawn out.  It goes into a lot of weird and quiet effects halfway through, like it's suddenly an Autechre album.  This happens for a couple minutes until we're brought back to a less monstrous but still atmospheric breand of the black metal that took up the first half.  Still, the composition itself isn't really anything groundbreaking, especially since we go right back to the thrashing immediately afterwards.  Then there's Pigeon... which is just three minutes of decent piano.

Finally, we have The Divinity of Wisdom.  The synths are used as a violin instrument to back up the slower tempos of the black metal guitars for roughly a minute before the singing begins.  But I can't hear them very well on this track, which is further proof that the album shouldn't have been produced by Trond Breen.  It's probably the best tune on the track for its composition, though.

I was hoping for something a bit more interesting considering that some consider this a unique album, but it feels like HEart of the Ages is one of those albums that delivers an idea without perfect delivery, which leaves all those influenced by the album to expand on plus perfect the idea, much like the Blasphemy debut did with war metal.  This isn't halfbad because it's still a nice and unique idea that rarely drags, and it's quite enjoyable, but it certainly needs a little work in places.

On that note, a viking metal album about winter aesthetics, now I KNOW it's a thing.

Chuck wanted to express new musical ideas through a band that wasn't associated with death metal.  But considering that this album has the EXACT SAME LINEUP AS DEATH DID IN THEIR LAST ALBUM save the singer, can we really just call this a Death album?  All he did was change the band name like New Order did, and The Sound of Perseverance isn't even that much of a death metal album.  I remember a time on RYM where I was group-scolded for a decision to include Funkadelic and Parliament as two separate bands in a funk bands vote.  Since then I try to be more serious about these kinds of things.  On top of this, Control Denied's album has the same kind of prog and thrash influences on that album.  So I'm gonna list this as a Death album with a guest vocalist (who unfortunately died last year).  Hey, Dave Grohl isn't a member of Killing Joke and he performed percussions for their self-titled 2003 album.

Now that I'm done complaining, lemme talk about the album.  First of all, if you have any love for Death's album The Sound of Perseverance, then you're going to love the guitar work on this album.  Instead of being rooted in the death metal compositions of past works, it steers into other areas such as speed, thrash, power and US power.  Songs like Expect the Unexpected have a very similar drum pattern and rhythmic guitar sound.  There's some very definite death-thrash there.  There's a never-ending heaviness that amplifies the progressive power of the album, and thanks to a wider range of sounds the album is also less monotonous than TSoP, which would've been perfect if not for that.  Although, despite the wider range of sounds, I have to point out that many of the songs share all these elements, so the diversity factor caves in on itself much like the most recent Hoplites album, Paramainomeni.  This doesn't stop the songs from being serious headbangers, though.  Among the complexity is an extreme metal power that draws lovers of both heavy and death right in, combining the best of both worlds.  There are very few moments in the album that can really differentiate songs from each other, like the serene midtro of When the Link Becomes Missing turning into that speedy but melodic guitar solo.

There's a lot that this band did right with their first album under the new name, but despite the incredible levels of thrashing and complex compositions, they forgot to truly differentiate certain songs, so it may become a bit much at times.  In fact, the nine-minute outtro didn't even stand out very much because of that.  However, it's a fun album for thrashers with a lot of the band's best tricks at full display.  A worthy follow up to The Sound of Perseverance for the most part.

After two albums of messing around with different musical styles, Shadow Gallery put something together that actually focuses on jam factor.  The two minute intro lets you know what you're getting instantly with a heavily symphonic and energetic guitar solo.  What's also extremely apparent at the get-go (at least if you heard the first two SG albums) is that the problems involving production and beat factor are fixed, allowing the album to feel like a proper metal album.  Unfortunately, the style that they chose is a much more typical prog metal structure that you can get from Dream Theater, Ayreon, DGM and more.  So in their efforts to maintain a more palatable prog metal album, they probably chose not to be a unique band at that point.  That disappoints me.  At least their playing is at their abnsolute best.  The many melodies and solos featured here are always good old-fashion prog fun, but a couple of them are just wonderful.

The album follows a concept that's a little different from the sci-fi fantasy you'd expect from normal prog metal.  This time it's all about the politics.  This is about a weapons designer discovering a government conspiracy that takes him across the world with a woman who's fighting the same conspiracy as him.  The story continues on Room V.  It's a pretty well-told one with some reversals of themes from Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime.  I mean, it's not a perfect story and the ending's not amazing, but it gets you asking for a sequel.  The best thing about the story is easily the lyrics.  There's a lot of real poetry that goes into them.

Maybe Shadow Gallery went with a more generic approach to their sound, but they really did improve on their compositions.  I guess it's easy to see why this is an underground prog favorite / cult classic.  There's a good story here that hits closer to home for its realism, and a lot of rhythm to keep the album's sound going throughout the whole 70 minute runtime.  With this, I've come to the conclusion that SHadow Gallery are certainly not one of the best prog bands in the world, but they're a damn good one.

This is the point where Shadow Gallery decided to be REALLY ambitious.  Taking a dramatic turn from their previos sound, they experiment with new textures here, risking alienating fans of the first.  At first I found myself pretty annoyed with finding the various track listings on RYM and YouTube make it difficult to find the right playlist.  Apparently there seem to be major changes between releases, so I just went with the one involving the hidden segues. 

Right from the start, Cliffhanger fixes the major production problem of the debut, making it more appropriate for tamed metal studio production instead of glittery symphonic prog rock production.  Cliffhanger also bore a new, slower and darker persona.  There's more focus on synths and organs as well as textures.  Whether this was simply a temporary direction on an album with more of the enjoyable symphonics of the previous album or the staple for the rest of the album I didn't know, but I was gonna finish it anyway.  I quite liked the new direction and I was both happy and disappointed that Crystalline Dream carried the sound over due to pros and cons.  The textures become a vital role in the development of the entire side B, which is all one big epic divided into several parts.  The various influences of the album do a bang-up job bringing you into a weird proggy solar system with its own fanciful presence.

Ironically, I really wished there was more strength in the percussions.  The album definitely needs more beat in terms of strength and metallic behavior.  Sometimes this album will drag on and forget to be a metal album.  This is only one example of how the album largely sacrifices the symphonic sound for dramatic epica.  At least these vibes are tamed and never reach melodrama, but I wish it would feel more like a metal album.  Even when guitars go deep it steers to close to ballad territory too consistently to give a metalhead what he needs.  If people are gonna complain about a metal tag for Deep Purple's Child in Time, then I'm gonna complain about a metal tag for Warcry.  It's neo-prog with a little metal in it.

As a prog rock album, this one succeeds hard.  We have a great balance between slow atmospheres and heavy organ symphonics due to the inclusion of ballads.  Although I wish Shadow gallery continued the sound of their first album, I won't deny that I consider the various genres the band implemented to all be well-delivered.  Nicely epic and consistent, this is a step forward for Shadow Gallery.

At the time of writing this, let it be known that I've spent weeks largely focusing on either genres as well as 2024 releases and the bands associated with them.  Since I like to explore at least parts of discographies when I check out as new artist, it takes a while for me to get through metal albums.  In terms of Metal Academy's list challenges, that takes me even longer.  But today I'm allowing myself some metal for all my hard work.  Today I'm getting through three SHadow Gallerey albums to make it to the one I need to help with the challenge: Tyranny.  But of course, I'm starting with their self-titled debut.

The Shadow Gallery debut is basically everything you'd expect from a symphonic prog metal band.  We've got many diversified elements that bring a sharp and poignant persona to the music, made up of the neoclassicalism present in many 70's prog rock bands adjusted for the metal genre, energetic and functional melodies up the wazoo, contemporary neo-prog bringing to mind the words of Marillion and IQ, and enough light but effective metallic energy to attract less experimental fans of prog metal such as Dream Theater fans.  Everything molds pretty well together to cement the Shadow Gallery identity instantly, and makes one curious about future releases.  Right from the getgo the heavy melodies are almost gorgeous, and the album diversifies itself while staying that way.

However, of all its strong points there are a couple of weak points.  First and foremost, while the delivery is exquisite, the compositions are nothing groundbreaking in the prog metal vein.  We've seen it all before, but the persona's strength gave me hope for future releases to remedy the flaw.  The second most important thing is that the production, while glittery, doesn't really fit the metal vibe.  The album's metal enough to go along, but it felt more appropriate for a symphonic prog ROCK album rather than a symphonic prog METAL album.  In fact, it reminded me of the difference between Twilight Force's impressive debut and the glittery behavior of their sophomore.

I'm glad I had the time for Shadow Gallery today, and you know something?  I really like the direction they took.  They seem to have practiced a lot with their sound and despite the major flaws, the strengths outweigh them, and I'd probably even return to this album later despite the flaws.

Considered to be somewhat of a "supergroup", Red Circuit comprises of various musicians and producers who aren't really big names in themselves, but are members or have worked with bands that people might be familiar with, for example, such as Firewind, Elegy, Adagio and Vanden Plas. The results are surprisingly good, as this is a heavy, grooving, adrenaline-fueled album, full of tasty riffs and powerful vocals.

Despite often being referred to as "prog metal", Red Circuit's song arrangements are nowhere near the complexity often associated with the genre. However, they definitely have a sound to their music that prog metal fans should appreciate. That being heavy, crunchy guitars often backed by melodic keyboard melodies, and with Sri-Lanken powerhouse Chity Somapala on vocals, this is a band that have a perfect sound to appeal to fans of most styles of heavy metal.

With ten potential anthems to choose from, there really isn't a shortage of hooks on this album. Opener 'Under the Sun' is easily one of the highlights of the album, and instantly kicks things off with ass-kicking mode turned all the way up to eleven. Other stand-out tracks include 'So Hard to be Like God', 'Search for Your Soul' and the title track 'Trance State', all choc-full of headbanging grooves to get the blood flowing.

For a progressive metal record that won't require a billion listens to become familiar with, Red Circuit's 'Trance State' really is a treat for fans of the genre.