Xephyr's Forum Replies

What a hilarious and entertaining album. I expected satire when I came into this, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Is it the best Crossover Thrash album? Not sure about that, but it's certainly the one that kept me extremely entertained through it's short runtime. The punk influence is massive and plays into the theme of the album really well, and every riff is just unchained madness. Some tracks definitely miss the mark, like "Pussy Whipped" for me personally, but for an album as sporadic and short as this it's tough to dwell on a few misses when the rest of the riffs and drumming is so good. I'm not afraid to give an album high marks just for amusement factor, and I had a blast with this album, even if I don't think it's the best quality overall. 

4/5 

And with that I think I'm finally all caught up with monthly releases, just in time for the new ones for May. WHEW. 

I really, really wanted to be pleasantly surprised by this, but this just didn't do anything for me. In the end this is math-y Metalcore with a keyboard turned to 8-bit sounds, and while it has some good moments, it doesn't really go beyond the labels for me. I don't think the retro sound effects add that much to the feel of the album and they even come off as annoying most of the time. The guitar work can be good, but none of it is very memorable past a few decent Metalcore breakdowns here and there. I do like the more complex structure these guys use while trying to maintain a heavier sound, but many other progressive/math metal bands do what they're doing in a much more interesting way. 

I'm glad I know that this exists now, that's for sure, but I'm not sure how you can make something like this feel really fleshed out or interesting. 

2.5/5

This was one of those albums that I wish I liked more, but there's just something about it that didn't click in the end. It's been a while since I've listened to some good, old-fashioned, Pagan Black Metal inspired Folk Metal, so An deiz ruz was definitely refreshing. It has a ton of things I like, from the acoustic but still heavy riffing to the flute and folk elements playing perfectly with the Black Metal harsh vocals, but I wasn't thrilled at the end of it. Maybe an hour of this is a bit too much, or maybe the constant flute on top of the riffing began to feel uninspired during the second half of the album, but this one is going to have to be one that I revisit. I love what's going on, but I think they decided to write too many similar songs for the entire album to be as exciting as the first half. While the flute can sound fantastic, it feels like more of a nuisance when it copies exactly what the lead guitar is doing, like in "Epona, Part 2". Some of the Celtic elements feel a bit overblown too, like they don't exactly fit, especially when the vocalist gets involved in the folky-tunes on tracks like "Son ar Everezh". 

3.5/5, but it has potential for me. 

Wow. This goes hard. 

I think this is the first Brutal Death Metal release I've been able to enjoy, since the riffs and beats are so well written and heavy. It takes all the foundations of Death Metal riffing and just cranks it up to 11 with insane drumming, disgusting chord and scale progressions, and compositions that have a ton going on but are still clear and headbang-able. The album definitely loses me when it dips into the brutal side of things with certain vocal passages just sounding random and thrown together with no real structure, but those are surprisingly few and far between.

I still have a really difficult time getting into this kind of stuff, and the brutal sections I mentioned before really ruin the experience for me overall, but this is a new high for me in a genre I normally can't stand. 

3/5, which is high praise considering the average Brutal Death Metal album for me is a 2/5.

Back to Godflesh it seems.

For what it's worth I definitely see the importance of Streetcleaner and I enjoyed it more than Selfless, but I still don't get a whole lot out of it. The interesting topic that springs to mind though is comparing Godflesh to Ministry in terms of the beginning of Industrial Metal as a genre. Streetcleaner is a cold and grinding hulk of music that is raw and repetitive in all the right ways, even though I'm not necessarily a fan of it. Ministry, on the other hand, has more song structure and melody to them, as Daniel explained to me a few months ago. I find this interesting because it shows how some bands that come out swinging with a new genre for their first album have such different qualities than other bands that may decide to dip into something new after being established. Streetcleaner was Godflesh's debut album, which is a feat in of itself, while The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste and Psalm 69 were Ministry's fourth and fifth albums respectively after shifting from synthpop and electronic. Therefore, Godflesh has that rawness that you can only really get from greenhorn bands wanting to come out and just make something incredibly angry and dark. It's still not my thing, but I can see where the hype is coming from now rather than when I listened to Selfless. 

3.5/5

Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough (June 26, 2020)

Bell Witch have announced a collaboration with Aerial Ruin for a new concept album, really looking forward to seeing if this will be close to Mirror Reaper's style or something different entirely. 

I gave Meshuggah another shot after enjoying their 2016 album The Violent Sleep Of Reason by checking out Catch 33 and Nothing (2002) to mixed results. My taste in metal has shifted since 2016, since I was definitely more fond of Meshuggah back them, but I can see where the hype for Catch 33 was coming from. I came out one year before Catch 33, and it's an extremely interesting EP because it feels like a test run of Catch 33 with Nothing's production and style, which is inferior in my opinion. It's hard to really analyze Meshuggah because, like Saxy explains above me, they can be very one dimensional in how they write their music. It's all about the chug, the aggression, and the dark themes, which works well for some people and for others it turns into grinding monotony that you can't get away from. 

In terms of this album versus Catch 33, I can see how die-hard Meshuggah fans would enjoy this one more, because it's aggression overload. Catch 33 has more variety and atmosphere, but I just has that Djent chug for a solid 16 or 17 minutes of the 21 minute song. If you're into that, this album is a paradise for you, especially if you prefer Meshuggah's old production style with more trigger-sounding snare and bass drums and deeper but slightly messier sounding guitar tone. I still have a few Meshuggah albums to check out, like 2006's Nothing, but the straight-up Djent style isn't for me. They vastly improved over Nothing (2002) though, so I think that warrants a slightly higher score than what it seemed like I might give. 

3.5/5

I should also do a review of this classic at some point as well, but I'm in agreement that Number of the Beast, on the whole, is vastly overrated. At the end of the day, it's an album of singles, with "Children of the Damned", "Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills", and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" being the only tracks that really matter on this one. The other songs are good, but not what you would expect from a so-called 5 star Maiden release. Since those other songs are a full half of the album, it's hard to say that this album is a true classic compared to the other Maiden albums that normally vie for that top spot. While none of the other 4 songs that make up Number of the Beast left any sort of impression on me, the rest of the album is a true classic so I can't give it any less than a 4/5.

Everyone seems to have a different favorite Maiden album though, and in the end Powerslave wins out for me personally. 

Primus' debut record is about everything you would expect out of Primus, from the technical but downright funky Les Claypool bass lines to the overall weird atmosphere this album gives off. From an objective musical standpoint this album is incredible, with the guitar, bass, and drums playing very complex and well written passages that have incredible coordination with each other. I've obviously listened to Primus before, but I've never sat through an entire album of theirs, and while their gimmicky weirdness does start to wane after a few songs, I was surprised at how much I ended up liking this album. There are a few duds, but no one does heavy, funky, and nasty slap bass lines quite like Mr. Claypool in this kind of genre. Obviously slap bass gets used in Jazz to similar and even more outrageous effect, but it's refreshing to hear bass used so well in Alternative music like this. I feel like this record could grow on me even more, so I'm going to throw a 4/5 on it. 

As for the discussion that's going on above me, it's a very interesting one for this album. I'm in agreement with Daniel's toolbox analogy; a Metal release should be judged on how many Metal elements it consistently uses. But that can come down to musical theory as well as overall composition. The more I write and figure out my review style, the more I wish I studied a little bit more music theory, because that sort of knowledge helps in being more objective about music, for better or worse. Metal tends to have much more dissonance than Rock/Hard Rock, and that all depends on the types of chords and scales used, which give Metal its signature dark/evil/grating sound. Obviously other genres that aren't metal use minor scales, but couple that note choice with a lot of gain from your gear, crank that volume up, and suddenly you have something that sounds like metal. Frizzle Fry does have those dissonant chords plus driving and loud riffs, especially on the signature track "John The Fisherman", but I agree that it's hard to definitively say that it's distinctly Metal. While you can call it "Funk Metal", it can easily be called "Progressive Hard Rock With Slap Bass". Funk Metal itself doesn't have much ground to stand on in my opinion, especially since upon further research the main bands for it are apparently Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Faith No More, and of course Primus. I'm guessing people felt the need to distinguish bands that used slap bass or bass heavy elements from other Alternative Metal/Rock bands? Because I wouldn't really call any of those particular bands as mainly "Funk Metal". 

In any case I'm also with Saxy in that I never want to be one of those people who judge an album based on how much gain the band puts on their guitar. It's silly to judge albums on genre placement alone, even though it can be a fun discussion for these kinds of albums that sit on the edge of many, many genre classifications. If I was able to cast my vote in the Hall, though, I'd have to say this belongs in non-metal. 

For my first time listening to this behemoth, I can safely say that this was a test of patience more than anything else. Normally when bands release an hour long song or jam session it's divided into different parts that house different ideas and qualities, but in Sleep's case "Dopesmoker" legitimately revolves around a single riff. And most of the time that riff is a single note or small chord progression repeated over, and over, and over. That being said, this album is easily the most Stoner of any Stoner Metal album I've heard, beating out Electric Wizard's Dopethrone in terms of faithfulness to the genre itself. It's slow, almost trance-like, and drowned in distortion in a cleaner but just as heavy way. The solos are also really impressive, since they really dip into the psychedelic aspects of Stoner Metal, which are probably my favorite parts of the genre. 

This album, well song, isn't something that can be properly dissected after one listen though. At around the 25 minute mark I had just about enough and wanted to take a break, but by the 45 minute mark the song had reeled me back in somehow, which is pretty impressive. However I can't give it a very high score due to the sheer monotony of the composition and especially the monotony of the vocals, but this sits directly below Dopethrone in terms of Stoner Metal for me, and I can see it climbing even higher if I spend time giving it a few more spins. 

4/5

Immediately when I threw this on, I was reminded of something, and I couldn't put my finger on it until the third or fourth track. Sybreed, at least on this album, sounds like what modern In Flames should have sounded like if they knew how to write interesting riffs and melodies that complemented the softer Melodic Death Metal approach. While I don't really care for modern In Flames, especially compared to their classic material, I never thought it was terrible, so this album was a treat for me. I'm already a pretty big fan of heavier electronic music, like Darksynth for instance, so hearing well written riffs with complex electronic beats really resonates well with me. There are some tracks in here that feel pretty uninspired though, like "Isolate" and "Permafrost", but overall it maintains a solid quality throughout the whole thing. I wish it would lean into the EDM side a bit more, especially towards the end where it just feels like more of the same Melodic Death riff over and over, but I still like what's going on here. 

3.5/5, but it may get repetitive if I end up listening to it again. 

I can really appreciate this one, especially since I normally don't care for Deathcore. There's some really technical and progressively melodic stuff in here, the transitions are great, the harsh vocals are well done, just an overall well done product. Some of the more Djent-like chugging sections miss their mark, like in the middle of "Rareform", and some of the riffs really lose their way in "Aspiration", but it still sounds heavy and even straight up nasty at times. This album seems to use all the bits and pieces of Metalcore, Death Metal, and Djent in a way that works really well for them, as well as sprinkling a bit of progressiveness on top of it. It's not going to completely win me over to the genre, but it was enough for me to give it a solid 3.5 out of 5. Nice pick. 

I was pretty disappointed by Human Nature, but it's not bad. I have no idea why they're not using Floor's voice in more ways, she's a fantastic singer, she's just written so one dimensional to me through the entire album. While the symphony was beautiful, it felt mostly pointless to me? I wish they would have incorporated it in a different way or built up to it better, I'm not sure. It just wasn't what I wanted out of a B-Side of an album like that. 

It looks like I need to check out Almanac, Nightfear, and Ilium to catch up a bit on 2020 Power Metal, and those are pretty obscure, so I think Power Metal has been pretty quiet overall this year so far. 

I honestly haven't checked out too much Power Metal this year, there's just an influx of amazing Black Metal releases that has kept my attention. Demons and Wizards was disappointing to me, so I guess it would have to be Brothers of Metal - Emblas Saga? Even then that one is a guilty pleasure since it's just so absurd. Really fun listen. I'm gonna have to catch up and try to seek some more stuff out as the year progresses. 

While immensely beautiful, Choirs of the Eye shoots itself in the foot a bit with its droning spoken word during the lulls in the album. I personally try to stay away from the word "pretentious" when reviewing music since I feel like it's just a blanket statement that gets thrown around needlessly, but in this case I think it's warranted. The way it tries very, very hard to sound profound and deep definitely made me roll my eyes quite a few times. It takes an entire 28 minutes to get any sort of vocal contrast, with the first harsh vocals of the album showing up at the climax of "Manifold of Curiosity".

From a composition standpoint this album is obviously fantastic, with all sorts of orchestral, acoustic, and extreme metal styles being flung around every which way to somehow form a cohesive product. As impressive as it is, certain parts definitely lag and Kayo Dot relishes in their minimalism a bit too much for me on tracks like "Wayfarer". It's beautiful, there's a ton of interesting atmosphere, but not a whole lot happens, so it really depends on the listener if they emotionally connect with the slower parts or not. Some of the transitions seemed overlooked as well, with some being very jarring and almost unnecessary at times. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, enough to give it a 4/5. But for something like this to be truly great it needs to pull out all the stops and everything has to be composed in a way that is exciting and feels right. If some of the transitions are wacky and there just isn't enough payoff for spending 8 to 10 minutes listening to soft orchestral and acoustic sections with whispering vocals, then the album is going to suffer. If someone is really into the slower sections though, this would be an easy 5/5 for them, since the ideas in this album are fascinating. 

In an attempt to catch up with these monthly releases and get back on track, might as well throw something at what I think is the best Rammstein has to offer. Although Rammstein are now a recognizable, mainstream, and international super group, I feel like few people talk about their albums as a whole. As someone who's gone through most of their discography in the past, Mutter just has this band's best ideas and songs when compared to any of their other releases. Rammstein hasn't exactly evolved too much over the years, which is somewhat of a downfall for them since Liebe ist fur alle da and Rammstein are lukewarm at best, so Mutter is filled to the brim with exactly what you would expect out of the German Industrial powerhouses. "Mein Herz Brennt", "Links 2 3 4", "Ich Will", "Mutter", and "Rein Raus" are the highlights for me, each having crushing industrial riffs with a theatrical electronic edge that showcase what Rammstein does best. Part of me wishes that Neue Deutsche Härte is explored a bit more by other groups and comes back into the spotlight, since I think there's a lot of potential past what Rammstein accomplished in the early 2000's.

4/5

Mestarin kynsi - Oranssi Pazuzu

The widely accepted Gods of modern Avant-Garde Metal have released a new one today to seemingly massive critical acclaim by everyone except for me. I'm still on the fence about this one, since Oranssi Pazuzu has always been a challenge for me for some reason. I have hopes that I'll warm up to it the same way I did with Värähtelijä, but for now it seems like a more compact package that has a pretty dull A-Side an a fantastic B-Side. I'm sure my thoughts will change once I give it some more time, but hopefully this album doesn't go down the same road of indifference that Syntheosis by Waste of Space Orchestra did. 

Can Stream Of Passion be added please? 

Thank you!

Dzö-nga definitely needs more attention this year, Thunder In The Mountains is such a huge step up from his other material it's not even funny. The Native American folklore touch is has is unique and interesting, I have it as a 4/5 right now but I could easily see it being a 4.5/5 by the end of the year, I haven't gotten tired of it yet. 

This is a tough one since it absolutely skirts right on the edge of being punk/hard rock rather than Metal. Using your comparisons of Rush and the even more progressive Yes though I think Nothingface still belongs in the Progressive Metal tag.

Although the riffs and vocals are definitely more Hard Rock-centric, the Thrash influence is still definitely noticeable in the bass, drums, and the overall tempos and feel of the songs. Zero songs on Nothingface have that free-wheeling Rock n' Roll impression because of the chug of the bass, slower double bass drum, and the overall dissonance of the minor keys and chords. While certain parts of it may have zero metal, like the beginning of "Inner Combustion" and the verses of "The Unknown Knows", there's still a darkness and slight aggression of the entire product that I think can only be categorized as having Metal influences still. 

Pleasantly surprised by this one, I didn't realize Helloween had such a unique sound even when they first started. This is pretty essential for over-the-top, thrashy, speedy metal that shows a ton of promise with a lot of room for the band to obviously grow into their trilogy of highly acclaimed late 80's albums. I think some of the vocal passages definitely miss their mark on "Murderer" and a bit on "Cry For Freedom", but the riffs are so good that I hardly care. It's incredible how many riffs and ideas from 1985 are still being used in Power/Heavy Metal today, whether it be the galloping rhythms from "Warrior" or the 16th note shredding coupled with aggressively over the top vocal shrieks from "Cry For Freedom". This honestly might be one of the best debut EP's I've heard, since it already sounds so refined and confident. Obviously there are issues, but there is a lot of amazing stuff here that helped to define the faster and more over the top Heavy and Power Metal genres. 

4 / 5

Hammerheart has had a slow burn for me over the last year and a half or so. When I initially checked out Bathory's discography I was looking forward to Hammerheart the most, since I knew it was the true start of the Viking Metal genre, but at the time Blood Fire Death captivated me so much more with its balanced split of slower, more extended tracks and classic early Black Metal thrash. As I come back to it more and more, though, Hammerheart is really starting to win me over. Each riff is absolutely stellar, having an unmistakable raw heft that only early Bathory production can provide. Since Hammerheart is slower and more restrained in terms of songwriting it really plays to the strengths of its pushed back and crunchy production style. Although Quorthon is known for his signature and furious Black Metal barking, he somehow manages to find a strained but clear clean voice that is still filled with emotion and fits the style of the album superbly. I think it still takes some getting used to if you're not familiar with Bathory, but I'm just always surprised that it sounds so natural and good although it sounds like his throat is about to give out during certain parts of "One Rode To Asa Bay". The choirs that are so heavily used really give a nice contrast to Quorthon's ragged voice as well, giving Hammerheart its epic sound and quality. 

I think I've finally reached the point of truly appreciating this release, since I was still skeptical of all the hype even after many listens. Something didn't click, and this time around the wheels have really begun to turn. I still think "Home Of Once Brave" holds the album back a little, but with "Baptised In Fire And Ice", "Father To Son," and "One Rode To Asa Bay" I'll forgive it. 

I found out about Jason Becker and his story back in 2018 with the release of Triumphant Hearts, so I'm really glad that this album surfaced on here so I could check it out and see what he was capable of before his unfortunate circumstances arose.

In terms of pure shredding and technical skill this album is great, although a bit redundant. Obviously the neo-classical style revolves around a ton of scales played at lightning fast speed, but it's overused a bit much for it's own good for most of the album. It all starts to run together fairly quickly even though there are still standout tracks like "Altitudes", "Air", and "Eleven Blue Egyptians" that highlight Becker's skill in different ways from shredding scales, to softer and calming clean sections, to more riff and groove focused lines. 

However, all the skill in the world doesn't fix messy transitions and generally weak songwriting in general, which is where Perpetual Burn falters. This album is definitely just a showcase of skill, with Becker jumping from one lick and idea to the next with almost no regard for flow or how each part contributes to the song. If anything, when he plays riffs instead of the normal neo-classical scale jumping it comes off as awkward and weak, meaning this album is without a doubt just a solo showcase. 

That being said, I'm a huge fan of guitar noodling like this, so it's still solid enough for me to give it a 3.5 / 5. It's such a shame that life had other plans for Becker since from this point forward he wouldn't be able to play like this ever again, since there was a ton of room for him to grow as a songwriter on top of his immense skill with the guitar. 

Although I will agree that I prefer this over other Deathgrind/Grindcore stuff since it has some nasty riffs and actually decent song structure, I still can't get too far into it. The genre itself just melts together into something that sounds exactly the same at all points in time for me and I like my aggression to be delivered in a slightly different way than what Grindcore presents. If you're looking for absolutely mental shredding and insanely technical drums then this album is definitely the way to go, but as a package it still doesn't bring me over to the Grind side yet. Still glad I checked it out, classic Deathgrind is just a better put together product than the randomness that the genre has seemed to turn into in modern days. 

Wanderers: Astrology of the NIne (March 13, 2020)

This collaboration between Mare Cognitum and Spectral Lore has already started making its rounds on other sites, so I'll continue the trend. Although it clocks in at a whopping 2 hours and drags a bit too much in a few places, I think this is a new pinnacle of Atmospheric Black Metal in spaaaaace (or whatever you want to call this subgenre). Spectral Lore's offerings are dissonant and chaotic while Mare Cognitum focuses more on the riffs and heaviness of this project, finally concluding with a 24-minute full collaboration complete with a full atmospheric excursion into a suitable grand finale. I'm normally on the fence about this spacey kind of Black Metal but Wanderers has made me change my mind this time. 

Hashed out a review for this one as well even though I've never been a KoRn fan whatsoever. I have a pretty...aggressive opinion at the end that was very hard to write in a way that didn't call fans of KoRn out, but I still stand by that this album just feels like more of a personal project for singer Jonathan Davis than anything. 

Sometimes you just gotta yell into a creative void to help you get over your problems, and his experiences just happened to resonate with a large group of younger people at the time. I honestly really dislike KoRn, but I can't act like the start of Nu-Metal wasn't an important stepping stone to the other...questionable modern metal trends that have popped up from the 2000's onward. 

1.5/5

Emblas Saga fell a bit short for me as a Power Metal release compared to what 2019 has to offer, but it's still an incredibly fun album that I go back to every now and again just for the absurdity. "Powersnake", "Chainbreaker", and the title track "Emblas Saga" are easy favorites since they hover that tongue-in-cheek line you mentioned a bit more gracefully than some of the other tracks. 

Huntsmen - Mandala of Fear 

(Released March 13, 2020)

I wasn't impressed by this album at first, but after letting it sink in I'm a big fan. Definitely a grower of an album, should be on every Cult of Luna fan's radar. It's a bit slow and soft to get started, but after "God Will Stop Trying" I was hooked. 

I remember randomly checking Panopticon out without knowing what it was or why it is such an important album and just glazing over it with a resounding "Meh, it's okay I guess". Now that I'm a bit more acquainted with atmospheric sludge/post-metal I think this is an extremely beautiful record but I still don't necessarily find it that...interesting. The type of progressive and atmospheric songwriting is top notch and obviously shows how it influenced so many other bands like Saxy mentioned, Cult of Luna being the biggest one for me. However I can't find many other strong opinions about this record past it sounds pretty and being incredibly written and accessible stuff that still dips its toes into Metal enough to please both ends of the spectrum. I think bands like Cult of Luna as well as Agalloch took this type of formula and created, at least to me, much more interesting sounding music than Isis did with Panopticon. I still rated it highly because it's still a fantastic album but not necessarily better than the later projects it ended up influencing. 

4/5

Sojourner have released a new single and have a new album slated for May 8th.

Calming and symphonic Atmospheric Black Metal that I was a big fan of back in 2018 with their album The Shadowed Road. 

Grimy new Death Metal from Disembowel with their debut Echoes Of Terror. At first they struck me as just budget Tomb Mold but this record grew on me by the end; it's less technical than something like Planetary Clairvoyance but makes up for it in nastiness. 

I dunno Daniel, I might be with you on this.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoy Істина and The Voice Of Steel but going back for a quick skim made me wonder why people are so gung-ho on this album, especially comparing it to something like Verisäkeet from Moonsorrow. I'm going to take some time to go back to Nokturnal Mortem to really see if this holds up but for now I can't see this being on the same level as the other Folk/Black metal giants.

Absolutely nasty new Dark Fortress that made me wonder why I've never heard of these guys before. They've been around for a pretty long time apparently, guess I have to go back and check out their old stuff to see if Spectres From The Old World  holds up or if it's just more of the same. Even if it is, I really enjoyed this one. 

4.5/5

Since I play quite a few rhythm games, Trance Metal has been more or less in my listening cycle for quite a while now. While it may work great for hitting buttons in a videogame, I still don't think this style pans out as an album experience. 

Props to choosing an interesting one, as this album definitely had enough Death Metal influences to keep me interested, but like many other albums like this, it just gets to be too much after a while. After a while the riffs and melodies turn into a stagnant wall of sound and synths that ends up not being all that interesting. It had its moments, but I think it's a flaw of the genre trying to pack too much energy and noise into mostly simplistic songs rather than Blood Stain Child being a lackluster band or anything. I'll definitely think about revisiting this more than the other Trance Metal offerings I've heard, but I'm still waiting for synths in Power/Trance/Alternative Metal like this to really wow me. 

I'll say this, I think By Inheritance is the first time I've been truly excited about a Thrash release since....hell probably Rust In Peace. Although the tempos and overall feel of the record is a bit slower than the other classic thrash releases it's just as energetic and just does a lot of things right in my book. Some parts do miss the mark, like the beginning of "Bombfood" and "Don't Believe" in general, which keeps this from being an obvious instant classic. 

I find it interesting how Rust In Peace, which dropped during the same year, is easily proclaimed as one of the best while this one is very much an arguable cult hit. To me they have a lot of similar qualities and while Rust In Peace is faster and shreddier it has many of the same "melodic" qualities as By Inheritance does. Rarely does Megadeth simply chug or rely purely on rhythm, they always add in a scale, riff, or some kind of flourish, so I'm not quite convinced that By Inheritance is really that much more on the melodic side of Thrash, although I will admit it's on the slower side compared to the rest of the classics. 

I did check out Saturnalia Temple before, didn't do much for me sadly. I'll have to check out Doomraiser, haven't heard of them!

Although not entirely traditional, Godthrymm's Reflections is easily my frontrunner for Doom Metal so far this year, looks like you checked out that one as well. 

The first half of the album is stellar, lost a bit of steam for me during the back half. The vocals got a bit wonky starting at "The Failure of Creation" for me and the guitar tone got a bit tiresome, but it probably just needs another chance. "Cryptomass", "Creatures from the Vault", and "Burial at Night" had me thinking I'd rate this higher than Lord Vicar's The Black Powder from last year, but Lord Vicar edges it out. 

Still some great and more traditional Doom Metal for 2020, always great to hear. 

I normally use one-word descriptions but I can expand upon it here. Doing this has made me realize I might need to really nail down what each of these mean for me. 

5 - Irreplaceable

    Something wholly unique that offers an amazing experience, or has a very large personal connection.

4.5 - Outstanding

    Something that is extremely good but doesn't make the cut to be something truly special. 

4 - Great 

    Very good, minimal complaints. Would recommend confidently. 

3.5 - Above Average

    Something that is good enough that it distinguishes itself from the pack and has some redeeming, unique qualities about it. 

3 - Average

    The ultimate Meh rating. Something that is not bad, but doesn't do anything great either. Complete middle of the road.

2.5 - Below Average

    Something that just isn't quite right or makes some questionable decisions that I find take away from the music.

2 - Lousy

    One or two major flaws, or extremely derivative or dry. Running out of positive things to say about it. 

1.5 - Terrible

    Genuinely dislike. Will tell other people how bad the album is. 

1 - Offensive

    Something went horribly wrong in every way. I wonder how something like this was even released. 

0.5 - Hardly Even Music 

    Personal hatred towards even the idea that something like this was released or towards the artist for making it. 

I've turned into a big fan of Agalloch after initially disliking Marrow of the Spirit, but then revisiting it as well as finally checking out The Mantle. Ashes Against The Grain is certainly a better Metal album than either of those, with better quality riffs and a much more evil feel than the more natural sound of The Mantle. This album vs The Mantle is always going to be the big talking point and, to be honest, I think I enjoy The Mantle a tad more, although both of them get a 4.5/5 as of right now. While Ashes may have more Metal and heft to it, I think it loses a lot of the atmosphere that really gripped me for whatever reason on The Mantle. Reviews of both of these albums are definitely a goal of mine and I simply haven't listened to them both enough to really go in depth yet.

I...didn't get anything out of this. It's definitely one of the more interesting Drone experiences I've heard, but it just went one in ear and out the other. Need to revisit it, since I can tell there's something cool in here that I must have missed. Since I listened to this a week or so ago I can't really give anything more than that, it was that forgettable to me. 

I distinctly remember finding Therion years ago when I first started to really expand the genres of Metal I was listening to, excitedly grabbing their discography, and really disliking it for whatever reason. That made me never really want to go back to check out Therion again, until now of course, and couldn't have been more wrong in my initial assessment. 

Theli has that classic and theatrical Symphonic Metal touch that is obviously over the top but doesn't feel dull and boring like a lot of modern Symphonic Metal releases. Therion still has driving, heavy riffs plus better song structure and is just much more Metal than what we hear today. The transitions from guitar riffs to choral or orchestral parts are very on point with each one feeling organic and exciting, although a little messy sometimes. Since it's still early in the genre's life cycle there definitely are some awkward parts here and there, with the beginning of "To Mega Therion" sounding slightly off-time occasionally and some transitions not exactly hitting the way they should have. 

As a Symphonic Metal fan I'll be the first to admit that I think the genre, apart from one or two releases here or there each year, is very stagnant and it doesn't seem like it's going to improve. These classics have such a dark theatrical quality to them that makes them super unique, rather than the albums nowadays that seem to just use symphonic elements for the sake of using them. It leads to boring songwriting and extremely samey sounding products that just throw everything at a wall and hope it sticks. While a little rough around the edges Theli is a great example of how an over-the-top and bombastic record can still have great Metal riffs that work together with the orchestration rather than just adding all the bells and whistles as an afterthought. 

I'll have to check them out, I've never heard of them! It's always exciting (but normally a letdown) seeing bands return after ridiculously long hiatuses. 

I'm glad I waited a year before checking this out, since I listened to Scream Bloody Gore and Spiritual Healing at the beginning of 2019. I don't think I would have appreciated Symbolic as much as I did today if I didn't have to wade through an entire year of newer Death Metal releases. Ben's review pretty much sums up my thoughts, with this album just being exciting to listen to in general. The riffs aren't necessarily super fast like modern Death Metal tends to be, but they are still super technical and the abrupt melody changes still add that Death Metal flair to an otherwise very Progressive album. I had zero problems with the vocals, since apparently that's a sticking point for some. 

I do wish that modern Death Meal, especially modern Tech Death, would look to its roots a little bit more. This album that came out 25 years ago feels more technical and virtuosic than any I've listened to in the recent Tech Death scene, and maybe that comes back to clarity. The Death Metal crunch of the guitars and the overall aggression and chaos is still there, but everything is perfectly clear and set up in a way that highlights the actual notes of the riffs rather than just the muddy, dark rhythms and chug that modern Death Metal tends to lean towards. 

4.5/5 for me, I'll be going back to this one for sure. 

(Also I'm with Daniel, Crystal Mountain wasn't as impressive as I was led to believe)

Threw up a review as well. I listened to The Battle of Los Angeles a lot many years ago, but never checked out this full album. 

I think what bumped up the score (4 out of 5) for me was the amount of creativity in this compared to Battle of LA. Rage has been and always will be pretty monotonous with their one-note choruses and overused buildups, but this one has a ton of neat solos, sound effects, and bass lines that keep it much more interesting than any of their other albums for me. Plus this is probably the most angry de la Rocha has sounded on any of their albums. 

Bütcher (Belgium)

Thank you!

Could you add Kaoteon please? 

Thank you.

I wanted to make my review of Filosofem a longer and more thought out review as it is one of the most important reviews a Black Metal fan can write at this point, and I'm happy with what I produced. 

I've always had a hard time giving this one a high rating, and only after writing this review did I bump it up to a 4 out of 5. 

I wanted to have a more unique opinion on this one and after a few days of thinking I finally found my talking point. As lame as it sounds, Filosofem is just an incredibly lucky and fortunate album. Being as repetitive as it is, it basically had to do everything right to create the sinister and raw atmosphere that it's known for. If anything was out of place it would have completely ruined the experience, but somehow it never missed a beat. The album is still a completely slog to get through casually, which is why I claimed towards the end of my review that this one is much more interesting as an essay topic rather than an album, since I find myself only going back to it once or twice a year. 

It's just a fascinating album to talk about and I'm glad that I took the time to write a more extensive review on the album page itself. 

Apparently Katatonia are going a bit more electronic on this new, just announced record, so I'll throw it in The Gateway. I really enjoyed Fall Of Hearts when it was released so I'm hoping for this change or evolution of style to be just as good!

This was, surprisingly, my very first look at Deftones, I don't think I've ever heard a single song by them unless there's one from White Pony. I can't say I'm a massive fan but there's definitely something here for me with the noisy and punky riffs they throw down. I listened to a lot of Chevelle a few years ago and after checking this out I can definitely say that Chevelle are budget Deftones. These guys do what Chevelle and other bands like them want to do, but just don't quite get to the level of something like this. The...intimately evocative vocal style sort of puts me off after a while but it does fit with the noisy aspect of the album, so maybe I just need to give it a few more listens to really nail down the overall feel of the album. Definitely going to have to check out White Pony sometime in the next couple of days to get the full story here.  

It looks like it is just a Finnish/English version, I had no idea Ben. Every single site acted like it was just a brand new release for 2020.