UnhinderedbyTalent's Forum Replies

Sonny?  Are you adding anything for November please?

I must confess to not having heard the debut album by Cirith Gorgor for a good while. A brief look at my spreadsheet where I log all my collection showed me that I had this album as a five out of five rating. SPOILER ALERT – it isn’t. This record had a bit of a cult following back on the old Terrorizer forums and I can sort of see why. The blazing Battles in the North intensity of Immortal, the relentless attack of Gorgoroth and the misanthropic attitude of Marduk all shine through on this record. Similarly, the crude sense of melody deployed by the likes of Sargeist rings around my head for most of Onwards to the Spectral Defile.

That cult status does not strike me as all that valid – certainly in 2022 anyways. Released in 1999, this album dropped long after the heyday of the bm scene and so I hear nothing that I had not heard already from any of the above-mentioned bands. Gorgoroth had peaked long before this record, Marduk lead the way in the intensity stakes as Immortal embraced the more epic aspect of bm in the very same year Cirith Gorgor released this, their debut album. The thought occurs to me that CG just arrived late to the party and wondered where everyone else had gone.

History lesson aside, is OttSD any good? Well, yes, it is. If you like a dose of 90’s scathing black metal with some melody (clumsily) applied, then this is for you. Does the scope of the ambition outweigh the ability to deliver it? Yes, it does. Is the production job a little too high value for the aesthetic they try to portray? Probably. It is still a decent enough an effort for a debut album though and I am being more than a little unkind to it by berating it in terms of historical reference alone. Enjoy this album for what it is and not when it should have been released.

3.5/5

Spektr - Cypher (2013)

I am not averse to experimentation. Indeed, some of my favourite artists enjoy such status because they can push boundaries and invent new angles and perspectives on classic sounds that I have been familiar with from as far back as my formative years in metal in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Taking a relevant geographical reference for this review Blut Aus Nord are a successful French bm band who have continually incorporated more ambient yet also industrial sounds into their once very conventional atmo-bm sound. I actively seek vinyl copies of BAN records; such is the value I attribute to them.

Spektr are just mental by way of comparison. They appear to be billed as a bm band with industrial and ambient influence when the reality is that they are a confusing mishmash of all the above that gets jazz, down-tempo and a multitude of spoken word clips and samples thrown in to boot. They constantly use this bizarre, warped guitar riff (the same one, for nine tracks – barring the intro tracks) and use a stop/start arrangement to the album structure allowing shorter transitional pieces to introduce longer tracks. This gets disorientating, even without the “piled-on” nature of the track content that runs for anything up to 11 minutes in some instances.

They have drums on here apparently. I say “apparently” because I cannot hear them half the time. They struggle to successfully find purchase in most tracks and sound completely drowned in the mix and lost altogether on many occasions. This may well have been a conscious decision; I am not suggesting that this is due to accidental production quirks. The duo who recorded this want the guitar and horrific atmospheres to take centre stage, I get that. However, unlike with MoRT from the French icons BAN, there is no dissonance for me to track throughout Cypher. Granted that riff I mentioned makes a play for the benchmark element, but it does not quite carry the same hold as the haunting dissonance that BAN conjure.

The industrial vibes are also not that strong to my ears. I mean they are there most definitely, but I am not left feeling I have endured a punishing or all that taxing journey through the usual assorted clangs, clashes, and mining detail of an outright industrial-influenced record. I think this is due to the strong bass presence that seems to mute these harsher edges somewhat. The bass seems to be the most chilled element of proceedings following a more relaxed jazz vibe, again which maybe an intentional thing but it just creates too much of an opposite for the combination to work for me.

Now, note that at no point in this review have I called out Cypher as being a bad album. In fact, if I wanted some background music it works brilliantly; this most certainly is not an album to sit and listen to with nothing else going on at the time. It is a flawed album that lacks the maturity to balance conflicting elements correctly. In order to blend elements like this successfully you would need to be much more extreme than this and as such Cypher feels like an album that is pulling me in more than one direction as a result of it not being able to define its own direction.

3/5

Okay - I am going with Deliverance "Greetings of Death, etc"

EDIT - cannot get that album - even on YouTube.  Will go with Needless "Heresy".

Tiamat - Clouds (1992)

Finally, I get around to Tiamat after several decades of somehow missing (or simply not remembering) them. Picking them up when firmly in their death/doom phase on Clouds I find an album that should – on paper at least – appeal to me. Hearing those gloomy riffs and b-movie horror synthesisers on opening track In A Dream certainly seems to indicate that I will enjoy this and…WAIT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?? That voice, is that Stephen Hawking saying, “in a dream”? That can’t be planned right? The tape has gotten mixed up with an audiobook somewhere on the production line surely.

Joking aside, after a few listens at least, the odd vocal delivery of the chorus line on the opening track retains some quirky value at least. If I am honest, the whole of Clouds has some vocal challenges for me in the sense that I find Johan Edlund to be a lazy sounding vocalist. I get that he is supposed to sound full of despair and hopelessness, but I find that he just sounds like he cannot be bothered in all honesty. His vocals appear to be an afterthought on most tracks, like they somehow forgot to record them with everything else and then had to track them at the last minute.

Luckily, there are some merits to the instrumentation to note that manage to detract away from Edlund’s half-hearted efforts. The guitars have a suitably mournful tone to them, and the use of keyboards is applied well to tracks to give a real depth to that gloomy atmosphere. It is not difficult upon hearing Clouds to understand how Tiamat moved onto their more gothic climes in latter years. The melancholic elements on the record lack any grandiosity overall but certainly hark to a more emotional performance than a mere death/doom vibe.

A Caress of Stars might be the better of the tracks on offer here with its patient and enveloping growth, torturing the listener by offering no real crescendo in the end albeit that the promise of such is hinted at in the song structure. If you can cope with Edlunds vocals, then Clouds is an album that rewards you for sticking with it as it continually delivers on a dank level of comforting consistency as it slopes its way over eight tracks. The drums are really striking throughout the album and have a chunky edge to them that gives them a real strong presence in proceedings. There isn’t anything particularly standout about them in terms of technicality, they just hit the spot consistently well.

The mood of the album is its ultimate triumph. To be able to provide something – anything – to distract from those vocals is a tall order to deliver, and Tiamat thankfully could rely on their musicianship to save what would otherwise have been a real struggle for this pair of ears to get through.

3.5/5

For some reason I thought Liege Lord had been around for ages and churned out multiple releases. Instead, I can see they managed just three full lengths in approx. 4 years. Having started as a Judas Priest covers band (under the name Deceiver) in the early 80’s, they evolved into a speed metal (of sorts) act around 1984.

Straight out of the traps on their third and (to date) final album the six string antics of Paul Nelson and Tony Truglio are the standout section for me. They are both listed as lead guitarists which might explain the high level of energy that comes across from the off. The riffs are urgent yet varied enough to incorporate some of the more traditional heavy metal familiarity which is also obvious in the voice of Joseph Comeau who avoids the diluted sounding vocals that plagues this sub-genre so often and instead has a kind of hoarse and gruff heavy metal/more aggressive Sammy Hagar style throat.

Frank Cortese sounds like he is having an absolute blast on the drums, but I feel he is at the mercy of the mix in some regards and is a little too far back in proceedings. As a unit, there is a sense of cohesion here that makes for an entertaining album that never really gets up into the realms of being exceptional. At times they do go a bit Van Halen (Feel the Blade) with more catchy and diluted structures taking precedent. As such I do not class this as a speed metal record end to end. In fact, from pretty much the halfway point there is a real change of direction on the record. A change for the worse in my book.

This is disappointing given how well the album starts through the first four tracks. When we get snippets of this early promise returning (Rapture) it is surpassed by some below par song writing and cluttered arrangements in track. The loose references to some NWOBHM plod do nothing concrete enough to cement this release as being one that is consciously trying to show variety and it just seems to show the limitations of the band’s influences. Closing track, Fallout starts like some power ballad with the heavy blues influence on the lead work giving way to a more aggressive format which seems still to be more about being showy as opposed to exerting any real quality control.

2.5/5

Negură Bunget - "'n crugu bradului" (2002)

It's 20 years since the highly regarded sophomore album from Romanian atmospheric black metallers Negură Bunget first hit the shelves today. I've gotta say that I've never understood the attraction to this band (in fact I rated this album 2/5 on my last revisit) but they seem to have developed an almost cult-like following over the years. 

This is the low point in their discography to date for me.  Not that I have heard all of their stuff but Om stands head and shoulders above this and is their magnum opus in my mind.

Septicflesh - Έσοπτρον (1995)

Symphonic death-metallers Septicflesh are a hit and miss band for me across the various parts of their discography that I have heard. They occupy that space on the very outskirts of my radar whereby if they release something it will largely go unnoticed with the occasional track appearing on playlists at some point, briefly causing me to pause to listen, usually decide it is nothing new in terms of their standard grandiose arrangements that I find go nowhere in the end. All mouth and no trousers is a phrase that springs to mind whenever I am faced with a Septicflesh release.

Everybody must start somewhere of course and back in the mid-nineties the Greeks had a much more death/doom trajectory about their direction. Their second full-length Έσοπτρον (translated to Epsotron meaning “inner view/mirror”) is full of mournful melodies on the guitar with the support of melancholic keys for good measure. Both these elements drive the record forwards in a mix that leaves the drums firmly at the back of the studio and the vocals being hoarsely uttered somewhere just in front of them.

Upon first listen, Έσοπτρον sounds like virtually the same track played in the same order around nine times with the only real variance being the intro (Breaking the Inner Seal) and the medieval tropes of instrumental track, Celebration. Repeated listens – albeit slowly – dispel this notion as you come to understand that whilst subtle in nature, the nuances between tracks are there, you just must be patient in discovering them. I soon got to finding the album possessing an ethereal beauty after a handful of listens, despite there being some sections that step away from death metal (Ice Castle, which plays like some bastardised epic heavy metal track) for large portions of their run time. On their sophomore album, Septicflesh had a keen sense of dark harmony amongst their lead elements, and it is not hard to understand when listening to Έσοπτρον how this band elevated themselves into the symphonic powerhouse that we all recognise them to be nowadays.

As with Greek bm, I find the death/doom on display here to be warmer than usual, or certainly a lot softer than contemporaries of the time. Overall, despite the albums positive growth on me, the piercing tones of the lead guitar are overused and (taking into account that it is death/doom) the album lacks enough variety to make this album a standout for the sub-genre or the band overall. Those dungeon-synth moments that haunt the song structures in places are a welcome addition that add depth and atmosphere to proceedings and there is some stellar arrangements on the lead guitar front (So Clean, So Empty) to keep me focused for the whole album. An important if not outstanding release for Septicflesh.

3.5/5

I tell you what Ben, this month's playlist was close to a 100% nod of approval over here in the North West of England as I worked my way through the list in a slightly odd fashion of starting at track 11 initially and then once I had got to the end hitting up the correct order for my next run through.  Hulder through Akhlys (fuck yeah) all saw the "like" button on Spotify getting a right bashing.  Ash of Ashes was perhaps the only track on the back half of the list that I debated whether it would get the green heart or not but it made the cut despite the clean vocals.  Sainte Marie des Loups are quite a recent discovery for me and so revisiting that track so soon after thrashing the album for a couple of weeks was a timely reminder of one of my new favourite bands.

The list starts off strong with Gaerea who are one of my favourite modern black metal bands - indeed I am waiting for the vinyl of this one to arrive in the post, and I predict this would be one of the few releases on my end-of-year list in a few months.  A curved ball with Devil Master if I am honest but it still felt strong enough for inclusion in the solid start to the list and the inclusion of Krohm and then the mighty Horna soon helped cast any doubt aside.  The horns of Sear Bliss were a welcome sound early on a Sunday morning also - all hail Zoltán Pál!  This track is the highlight of the playlist for me (even above the mighty Akhlys), majestic and triumphant without getting pissy.  Thy Darkened Shade continue to slip past me, even them being the feature release for August didn't see me get around to this album.  A lot more interesting than I originally expected so definitely worth venturing further with the whole album.

So barring Devil Master and Deafheaven (who I can sort of get to grips with, just not for ten minutes plus) this was a great month again.

November =

1 Body 6 Graves - "Cleaved in Half" (from "EP", 2022)

Mortuous - "Graveyard Rain" (from "Upon Desolation", 2022)

Tribal Gaze - "And How They Wept For Eternity" (from "The Nine Choirs", 2022)

Deathsiege - "Throne of Heresy" (from "Throne of Heresy", 2022)

Celestial Sanctuary - "Trapped Within the Rank Membrane" (from "Trapped Within the Rank Membrane", 2022)

Fluids - "Hounded" (from "Split w/ Nunslaughter" 2022)

I've not heard the new Hulder yet Vinny, is it any good?

My first experience of her but yes, considering a vinyl purchase.

November = 

Urfaust - "Der halbtoten Dichters Schein-Existenz" (from "Ritual Music for the True Clochard", 2012)

Gaerea - "Mirage" (from "Mirage", 2022)

Mo'ynoq - "Penance" (from "Penance", 2022)

I will be adding:

F.K.U - "Corpse Mania" (from "1981", 2017)

Sodom - "Nicht mehr mein Land" (from " Genesis XIX", 2020)

Ghoul - "Off With Their Heads" (from "Transmission Zero", 2011)

Krushhammer - "Evil Domain" (from "Blood, Violence & Blasphemy", 2022)

Amken - "Somewhere Past The Burning Sun" (from "Passive Aggression", 2022)

Intent - "Victims of Conquest" (from "Exile", 2022)

Wraith - "Seven Serpents" (from "Faster Than the Fucking Devil", 2022)

Traitor - "Total Thrash" (from "Exiled to the Surface", 2022)

Spektr for me

Got to be Graveyard for me.

October 2022

01. Exhorder – “Slaughter in the Vatican” (from “Slaughter in the Vatican”, 1990)

02. Machine Head – “Now I Lay Thee Down” (from “The Blackening”, 2007) [Submitted by Daniel)

03. Protector – “Perpetual Blood Oath” (from “Excessive Outburst of Depravity”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

04. Fugitive – “Hell’s Half Acre” (from “Maniac”, 1996) [Submitted by Vinny]

05. Unholy Night - “Infected with Mayhem” (from “Succubus”, 2020)

06. Paranoic – “Devil’s Door” (from “Morbid Psycho”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Sodom – “1982” (from “1982”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Toxik – “World Circus” (from “World Circus”, 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]

09. Exciter – “Violence & Force” (from “Violence & Force”, 1984)

10. Tornadic – “The Capturing” (from “Awakening”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Slayer – “Live Undead” (from “South of Heaven”, 1988) [Submitted by Sonny]

12. Amebix – “Spoils of Victory” (from “Arise !”, 1985) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Bulldozer – “Never Relax” (from “The Final Separation”, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Blitz – “Nachtmahr” (from “The Nachtmahr Sessions”, 2021)

15. Evil Army – “Evil Army” (from “Evil Army”, 2006)

16. Uncle Slam – “Executioner” (from “Say Uncle”, 1988)

17. Legion of the Damned – “The Widow’s Breed” (from “Slaves of the Shadow Realm”, 2019) [Submitted by Sonny]

18. Three Dead Fingers – “Into the Bloodbath” (from “Breed of the Devil”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

19. Malevolence – “On Broken Glass” (from “Malicious Intent”, 2022)

20. Pantera– “Strength Beyond Strength” (from “Far Beyond Driven”, 1994) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. Sore Throat – “Phase II” (from “Inde$troy”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

22. Slaughter – “Incinerator” (from “Nocturnal Hell/Surrender or Die”, 2016)

23. Laaz Rockit – “Last Breath” (from “Know Your Enemy”, 1987) [Submitted by Sonny]

24. Forbidden – “Twisted Into Form” (from “Twisted Into Form”, 1990)

25. Gothic Slam – “Who Died And Made You God” (from “Just A Face in the Crowd” 1989)

26. Scythelord – “Toxic Minds” (from “Toxic Minds”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

27. Axegrinder – “Rise of the Serpent Men” (from “Rise of the Serpent Men”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Alarum – “In Spiral” (from “Circle’s End”, 2020)

I have a different view on this with the main difference being that I have never associated metal (or any other form of music for that matter) with social class.  As I have stated elsewhere on here, metal is my music.  For me it is not tagged to any particular group socially, culturally or politically for that matter.  It is an extension of me, it is not something that I rely on to help me feel (or know) my place in any aspect of civilisation.  Having come from a working class background and having to work my way into a role career wise which means I can now enjoy a lifestyle that many would perceive to be anything but that which I grew up in, I can confirm that metal has been with me throughout my life and is not something that is every liable to leave me regardless of the circles in which I move.  I do not identify as "metalhead" or whatever term is used nowadays so I have no real affiliation for being part of a scene anyway.

Because I can isolate music from the rest of what is going on around me I can only connect with it on a personal basis not as part of a collective experience (as a rule I do not really like other humans all that much, I will freely admit).  If an artist wants to do something different and I don't like it then it soon gets ignored and I have a great system for being able to reference what has failed to interest me to avoid me falling down the same rabbit holes.  I don't necessarily agree that the pushing of boundaries is something that is demanded.  Personally (based on my recent experience of that Scarcity record) I think that the actual "limitless" nature of what gets tagged as metal is should see a stronger underground for those of us who enjoy the more primitive aspects of music but I do not deny that I can enjoy the expansion of traditional sounds to some degree as well. 

Rationally, I think there absolutely has to be a place for artists to express whatever the hell they like - even if I think it is shit.  I could spend my time making myself miserable and irritable (and I genuinely would get so) by over-focusing on these less than favourable elements but I just go back to what I know I like instead.

I don't actually recall the gateway release or moment of getting into black metal.  I just found myself listening to it, albeit many years after its perceived peak of the 90s.

I recall that in the 90s I had no patience whatsoever for it.  I had stumbled across some Burzum at some point and thought it was utter shit (no idea what track it was) but I recall that in those heady days before we had internet in the house I was reliant on magazines and radio shows for my metal feeds and my cousin who had turned me onto metal by loaning me his record collection had no extreme metal whatsoever and so I cut my teeth on Iron Maiden etc before straying into death metal.  To be honest, once I had heard Morbid Angel and Obituary, black metal never stood a fucking chance.

As I type I think it was Immortal's Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism that was probably my first serious sit down with a bm record and from there I soon found my way to At The Heart of Winter and from there I followed a familiar path into Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Mayhem etc

Hi Ben, please can the latest release for Gaerea be added?  "Mirage" on vinyl is winging its way to me through the post so a review is imminent.

Age of Taurus - Desperate Souls of Tortured Times (2013)

Well Age of Taurus are early evidence that doom metal might just be for me after all. Desperate Souls of Tortured Times is a hefty slab of epic doom metal that stretches its legs in terms of varying pace over seven tracks of lengthy yet never arduous duration. At their best they are a psychedelic-edged doom behemoth and the standout track by far for me is the mournful and dank Walk With Me My Queen which is superbly situated in the middle of the album. At the same time they are guilty of the odd meander as well with penultimate track Embrace the Stone not really bringing any value during its eight minute runtime despite a really promising start.

The racy Desperate Souls is an example of where the band can comfortably ditch the traditional doom metal tag and go a little more up tempo without sacrificing that looming menace that those twin guitars bring to the table. The vocals are actually a great fit for me and I like how the bass is just as audible as everything else here. It is albums like this that cast my recent history with heavy metal in a new light. I have a feeling that if I had pursued this path sooner with the more epic doom metal sound then I could have tied together the two sub-genres better without now having to explore one at the expense of the other. There is a rumbling coolness to DSoTT that sacrifices none of the youthful vigour of true heavy metal yet in fact manages to add a great level of esotericism to proceedings and although it is early on in my exploration of The Fallen clan this realisation of where my path has perhaps come to a premature end with heavy metal is certainly causing much reflection of my listening habits over the years when doom has gone largely neglected as a listening option.

There are lots of Master of Reality style structures here and this can only be a good thing in my book. That slumbering groove to the guitars scratches a real itch for me and when in full flow this is a razor sharp unit. I can see they underwent something of a line-up change for album number two (which is on my radar) so will be interesting to see how consistent these guys are, but with Leo Smee of Cathedral fame in the band there is an element of real promise ahead of me checking out their sophomore release, built from this solid foundation stone also.

4/5

Electric Wizard - Black Masses (2010)

We are already getting towards the back end of the doom metal releases I already have a solid background with and it probably will not come as any surprise that EW are in here.  An important record for me and one that I have finally got around to reviewing today for the site:

I feel enough has probably been said already about Electric Wizard on most internet review sites in terms of the (deserved) adulation they received for the likes of Dopethrone or Come My Fanatics. For a period, Electric Wizard seemed to be everywhere, occupying endless “What are you listening to?” or “Recent Purchases” threads on the various internet forums I frequented some ten years ago. There was a sense that they were a band who could do no wrong (although the same collective conscience on the internet all seemed to simultaneously recognise the failure that was Wizard Bloody Wizard), a group who had hit their sweet spot in the realm of occult-ridden stoner/doom metal and consistently churned out the cursed vibes to the baying masses.

After a brief break from metal back in the late noughties I returned to the scene and decided it was time to bring Electric Wizard into my world. Never having really explored any stoner/doom metal before, Black Masses was the record that almost tipped me into the world we all know here as The Fallen. I played the shit out of this record, mostly because I was flat broke and my listening choices were limited (at least until I discovered Bandcamp anyways), but also because for the first time the hazy darkness and fuzz that emanated from this record soaked me up and I simply ‘got it’. Black Masses was one of those records that just clicked with me, better then anything else that I have listened to by the band – even the mighty Dopethrone.

To this day I still find desultory comfort in the arms of Venus in Furs, still feel a nerdy coolness to the b-movie atmospherics that imbue the whole hour run time of the record; Black Masses more than makes me want to shut all my curtains in the middle of the day and watch endless Hammer Horror! Rarely moving beyond a death march plod throughout eight tracks, Electric Wizard still manage to provide consistent entertainment without breaking that much of a sweat. What sounds lacklustre or half-hearted to some is in fact evidence that EW did what they did so naturally back then that they could afford themselves a little bit of arrogance in their playing.

Who cares that Patterns of Evil is more than a tad cumbersome in its arrangement, the multitude of component parts clashing with each other at various points, when it all sounds so disturbingly relaxing at the same time? A lot of the success here for me is down to Jus Osborn’s vocals. Dialled perfectly into the mix without getting lost in the density of the instruments they act as a creepy and pained accompaniment to the music. The combination of his and his wife Liz Osborn’s leaden riffs are imperative to the sullen and hopeless aspects of Satyr IX, seeped in psychedelia and gloriously comforting in their enshrouding nature.

If finding peace in darkness and dankly lit places is your bag, then there is plenty to go at on Black Masses. It is sombre without being draining, evil without being overtly nefarious and enriching without the need for ‘nice-to-haves’ such as variety and progression to unlock it rewards.

4/5

Hey Ben, can you please add the latest from Tribal Gaze "The Nine Choirs"?

Can you also please add:

Deathsiege (Israel)

Abhorrency (US)

As I have commenced my exploration of The Fallen clan it seemed sensible to pass comment on this month’s feature release, especially given the high praise it has received to date. The caveat I must add here is that I have sampled Solitude Aeturnus before now and found them not entirely to my liking. I saw these guys come up as a recommendation when searching for bands like Candlemass (who remain my benchmark in doom whom I usually chart my forays from). Stylistically the comparisons are usually spot on I must admit but considering the first four Candlemass albums are my genre-defining releases, Solitude Aeturnus have a lot to live up to.

On Alone I must comment on how nu-metal I find Rob Lowe’s vocals. Not to say that this is alternative or nu-metal in anyway, but I get flashbacks to listening to the likes of Life of Agony back in the 90s. That low vocal tone looms through in the slower moments and I cannot help but think of the sound of that very different sub-genre of metal music. Whilst we are on about the vocals, I do also find them incredibly whiny on here. Now, I know that is sort of the point and they are done deliberately like this to emphasise the melancholy of the music. However, whilst I can acknowledge the fine set of pipes that Mr Lowe possesses, I do find the vocals to be a real bug bear of mine.

It is not even as if the riffs rescue proceedings entirely. Huge though they are (and with a decidedly eastern/oriental theme to them for the initial few tracks here) I find that they are too melodic for most of the record, and I do find myself longing for the more heavy and bruising style of riffs I normally associate with this type of music. Rarely during the hour-long runtime of Alone do I feel like I encounter anything monolithic in terms of a crushing wall of doom, in fact for most of the time it plays like a heavy metal record with a heavy doom metal influence. Moments such as the opening of Is There and the Black Sabbath riff that opens Tomorrows Dead do fill me with hope but are mostly just empty promises.

Although it is all done well enough, I just do not fell that the band ever get beyond a jog here and that they should be capable of more given their obvious stature in the field of doom. Maybe with my recent departure from The Guardian clan, Alone is too near to that sound for my comfort nowadays and it would have perhaps sat better had I discovered it some years ago. Epic though it is, this record is somehow not captivating enough overall and I almost want to like it more than I actually do.

3/5

We've gotten through the harmony test & the twelve week scan unscathed sao it seems that it's gonna happen. We're having a third daughter in March!

Congrats sir.

Some albums most definitely fit into a sub-genre yet at the same time manage to express an alienation to the core sound that seems to make them seem like they do not really fit at all. I cannot think of a better example of this than Dream Death’s debut release. It most certainly has thrash elements but at the same time has a real slant on doom metal. Often listening to it like you are listening to two different bands or a band that is so torn with its influences that half want to do thrash and the other half want to do doom.

It makes for an interesting album in some regards but overall, you cannot get away from the fact that Journey Into Mystery suffers from a lack of direction. The songwriting is not particularly stellar either to boot and so there is a real sense of conflicting purposes over the eight tracks. It is not that any one element is particularly awful, more that no singular piece gets chance at a full exploration or development to its full potential. Personally (even with my fledgling doom metal ears) these guys are a better doom band than they are a thrash band. In fact, on certain tracks (The Elder Race for example) there are no thrash metal elements to my ears. Indeed, post this record saw the departure of bassist Ted Williams and the remainder of the band elected to change their name to Penance and become a doom band.

As far as I can hear, their hearts were never really into thrash at all and all Journey Into Mystery did was prove this lack of conviction made the music suffer. I hear a lot of Trouble in those riffs and at times I struggle with the vocals as I do with Trouble’s debut. The vocals here are so clumsy at times that I find myself cringing. Lines get rushed through often leaving the odd word iterated in isolation and completely out of context. Accepting that this is a debut album, the vocalist is far too forward in the mix and sounds like he is deliberately shouting over everything else which just comes off as amateurish and juvenile.

Whether it simply their own version of uptempo doom or genuine attempts into thrash metal, Dream Death are all over the place here and it really does destroy any sense of flow. The best track on here is the heavily Celtic Frost influenced Hear My Screams, it deploys a consistency (barring that awful, snatchy solo) that the rest of the album is sadly lacking. Maybe back in 1987 this would have more props but come 2022 it certainly has not aged well.

2.5/5

Trouble - Psalm 9 (1984)

Trouble's eponymous debut is a tale of two halves for me. The first half is me thinking that this is why I got into heavy metal in the first place. With its big riffs and lethal threat levels of groove and doom, there is little to argue with on Psalm 9 when it comes to the bangers such as album opener The Tempter, the charging triumph of The Fall of Lucifer or the epic gloom of Psalm 9. Both tracks are examples of the band at their finest for me and are tracks that represent the very essence of what doom metal should sound like. There is a vibrancy and energy underneath that requisite level of murk that shows a band with their artform flowing through their very veins. The riffs of Wartell and Franklin are huge and yet at the same time they are clearly players unafraid to mix it up and change pace and influence to inject some variety to proceedings. The vocal talents of the late Mr Wagner are accurately logged throughout history and it is hard to find a comparable vocalist, past or present that has such a unique and equally fitting style for their chosen genre of music. He is imperious here. His piercing yet gruff musings punctuate each and every song on here.

Arguably for me, this is also where the second half of my experience of the album comes from. As much as I admire Wagner's vocals the adoption of them on some tracks (in terms of the lyrical content and their delivery) is far too preachy for my liking. This is not a criticism that I level from the aspect of their being a large Christian focus on the lyrics here. Sharing aspects of your faith in your music is not something I have a problem with. Here though, there is an underlying naivety to the lyrics. Victim of the Insane is a bleating tirade from a vocal perspective, saved only by the superb lead work and accompanying tempo change that heralds its arrival. The raging Bastards Will Pay is another example of a song with a message to deliver but not quite having the maturity to tailor it to be less overwhelming. At times the messaging feels like it is from a gothic metal album as opposed to a straight up doom record. I acknowledge of course that this was a debut release and so the most likely of a band's discography to contain the rookie mistakes.

The above does not ruin the album for me by a long chalk. It is an issue that is reflected in my rating most definitely but there is still a lot to enjoy and praise here. Even the instrumental track that I normally dread on most records is interesting and totally in keeping with the album direction overall. The drumming of Jeff Olson could be represented better in the mix overall but I would not go as far to say that it is stifled to any degree, just a little too far back in the mix. As a benchmark doom record for the "Early Days" challenge in The Fallen clan, Trouble's debut album is a superb starter for ten for anyone wanting to dip their toe in these murky yet rippling waters.

3.5/5

Not a fan of this at all.

The taster-track I heard on The North playlist this past month turned out to be more of curved ball when I sat and listened to the whole record. My levels of intrigue soon dropped after the frankly boring opening track. I don't mind drone metal in all honesty if it sets up something interesting, however here it just seems to set up the scene for a Jute Gyte record. In all seriousness, the Jute Gyte reference is probably the most relevant one I can apply here. The problem with Scarcity is that they flirt with extremity as opposed to settling upon pursuing it. Yes, there is a wall of noise and scathing vocals that essentially sticks in the head for all the wrong reasons but the more droning passages are actually much better structured than the "kitchen sink" style musings of II (for example).

I cannot knock them for the effort behind the album as its introduction of psychedelic elements is novel if not all that intriguing for me. The softer use of tremolos feels a gimmick as well though, like we are teeing up a post-metal record that never comes and so we just drop into form references to black metal for the sake of it. I would actually admire the album more if it further distanced itself from black metal as it would feel like it was a more honest representation of what it was trying to do.

Aveilut is not challenging to my ears, it is just boring and bloated and constantly suffers from a lack of identity. Push away at the boundaries of extreme metal all you like but sometimes a bit of reflection wouldn't go amiss to ensure you at least maintain some sense of direction.

1.5/5

Panzerchrist - Regiment Ragnarok (2011)

The poorly named Panzerchrist (really guys) have been stalwarts of the Danish death metal scene the mid-nineties. Their brand of blackened death, although not unique, is really well done and Regiment Ragnarok has soon grown on me with repeated listens. This, the bands sixth release, is stacked full of mining riffs, blasting drums and ghastly vocals and I can only assume this blueprint has served them well over the years as they sound tight throughout all twelve tracks which is no mean feat as only two of the band that performed on their previous album (some five years earlier) actually remained come their 2011 release.

In all honesty I found Regiment Ragnarok to be an unexpected joy. I mean, it certainly does not reinvent any wheels at all and it is very one dimensional in its themes and approach, yet it is sill entertaining. Their sound is reminiscent of Belphegor and Behemoth although it is Vader whom I find to be the best reference point for the Panzerchrist sound. At twelve tracks in length though the rinse and repeat cycle does get tiresome towards the end of the record and the album perhaps would have benefitted from a trim to make the whole thing easier to digest. However, Panzerchrist achieve a consistency to proceedings that none many others can hold a candle too and they are clearly accomplished enough musicians. Drummer Mads Lauridsen only stayed around for this one album but he is monstrous behind the kit and the twin guitar attack of Rasmus Henriksen and former Illdisposed man Lasse Bak is a tour de force at the same time. Vocalist Magnus Jorgensen (who was also only around for this album alone) spits a venomous performance on the microphone that underlines the blackened virtues of the band perfectly. With a more stable line-up I could imagine Panzerchrist could have ben more of a death metal household name (I had never heard of them before picking up this review), but with so much change seeming to occur from record to record it is hard to see how they could ever break out of this predictable cycle of songwriting.

Anyone who likes the war soaked themes of Bolt Thrower coupled with the mining sounds of God Dethroned would find Panzerchrist right up their street I am sure and Regiment Ragnarok is not a bad place to start with their discogrpahy to boot. You might not revisit it very often but each time you do the entertainment value will always be there at least.

3.5/5

My choice of ECDER for feature release is based on the fact that after many years of trying to find a Brutal Truth release that I could get on with, I had to go all the way back to their beginning to finally locate their master opus. Arguably one of death metal/grindcore's best kept secrets, I found the debut release to be for Brutal Truth what Harmony Corruption was for Napalm Death. Both albums represent the perfect fusion of that grinding chaos and abrasive death metal, done with a thrash metal riff mentality all rolled into one album. It is all here for me. The mining death metal riffs, the blitzed structures of the tracks that last mere seconds, and the all out spazzing tsunami of noise that slams over you time and time again.

Brutal Truth do range themselves very nicely on this album. The variation of tempos and pace are not predictable in any way, shape or form and I often find myself not realising the track has moved into a completely different space until I am a few seconds into the moment. My point is that this feels like a very organic and natural album that did not need to be forcibly pulled out in to the open. The experience of the artists comes though both in instrumental aptitude and the social/life awareness that bleeds through in the songwriting.

It is an album that cries out for music videos shot in post-apocalyptic parking lots with burning husks of cars behind the band who just play on relentlessly. The death metal vocals of Kevin Sharp are reminiscent of Benton in the albums more dark moments yet he possesses the perfect grindcore scowl as well. Sharp is also credited with handling all "power tool" duties on the album also I note. Standout performance has to go to Scott Lewis behind the kit though. He is nothing short of astonishing here and drives a lot of the success of ECDER.

For a debut full-length, ECDER is a real strong statement of intent that never really got realised post-release on future records. Had the band continued on this hybrid approach then they would have eclipsed the likes of Carcass and Terrorizer in all honesty as this album scratches the dual dm and grindcore itches so well for me.

4/5

Gospel of the Horns - Eve of the Conqueror (2000)

Australia's Gospel of the Horns are no longer an active band since 2018 having been around in blackened thrash circles since 1994. They are basically of the same sound as fellow countrymen Destroyer 666 or for a more further geographical reference, Desaster are also a good citation. Unlike either of the two aforementioned bands though, this is not as vicious in its delivery, almost like the low production values actually rob it of some power and presence. Now, don't get me wrong, this tries to be as grim and rough as the best of them. Howitzer's vocals are superb with their rasping (ravishing) grimness and Marauder's riffs are equally as cold and.....marauding. My only real criticism (aside from him calling himself Hellcunt) is the drummer sounds a bit lost in the background, and overall there is just a sense of there being a lack of sharpness to their bite.

As an EP, this works on a quick "smash 'n grab" level of entertainment. Just as GOTH get their hobnail boots and fist-band and chains to the bar, they sup up and are off to lay waste to some other drinking establishment. The synthy, atmospheric outro with its weird alien/subliminal devil speak is unnecessary as they do not strike me as a band who rely on pomp or circumstance to get their point across. At the same time the band certainly do not reinvent any wheels and as a result (having heard more than my fair share of this sub-genre by now) large parts of this EP just pass me by. It falls all too easily into the "Hells Headbangers" atypical trve/kvlt blackened thrash brigade - which in itself is a great place to be, but one that is well-trodden already for me.

3/5

Speaking as someone who likes Jurassic Jade, I think you're selling them a bit short. I can't tell you what to do, but judging by what you're describing, you basically listened to their first two albums, then this one, all in quick succession, which speaking from experience absolutely harms one's listening experience. Granted, I'm not going to pretend like Jurassic Jade are some musical geniuses, but I don't quite think one listen is enough even for them.

For me it is a minimum of three listens before a review.  Granted not always the case as sometimes I can do many more listens before writing a review (Borknagar's Olden Domain springs to mind as one that hit double figures), but yeah, for me the minimum of three is what is needed for my brain to get enough experience of a release.  Will vary i am sure from person to person, release to release.

A solid month.  Would go as far as to say my favourite month to date.  Even the usually drab majesty of Alcest could not detract from my enjoyment of the playlist this month.  Far and away the standout track is that Enslaved one that Daniel nominated.  It feels like it goes on forever, only in a good way.  So powerful and majestic without being polished.  That and Strid really owned the list for me this month.  I approached the Scarcity track with some trepidation following Sonny's review (I often find Sonny's descriptions to be spot on and not often far off mine) but I heard little wrong with that track and it is a straight toss up between Scarcity and Strid for whom I will move onto checking a full length release from.  My only gripe is with the Denial of God track that I chose which I found quite boring upon reflection (which sort of sums up how I feel about the album right now).  Corpse paint covered hi-fives all round North clan!

I will have a couple of suggestions Vinny. When's the latest you'll need them by?

15th please

October =

Master - "Pledge of Allegiance" (from "Master", 1990)

Jungle Rot - "A Burning Cinder" (from "Jungle Rot", 2018)

Aborted - "Drag Me To Hell" (from "Maniacult", 2021)

The Zenith Passage - "Deus Deceptor" (from "Solipsist", 2016)

Exhumed - "Necromaniac" (from "Gore Metal", 1998)

Hissing - "Meltdown" (from "Hypervirulence Architecture", 2022)

Consumption - "Suffering Divine" (from "Necrotic Lust", 2022)

October = 

Protector - "Perpetual Blood Oath" (from "Excessive Outburst of Depravity", 2022)

Sodom - "1982" (from "40 Years At War", 2022)

Fugitive - "Hell's Half Acre" (from "Maniac", 2022)

Three Dead Fingers - "Into the Bloodbath" (from "Breed of The Devil", 2021)

Tornadic - "The Capturing" (from "Awakening", 2022)

Paranoiac - "Devil's Door" (from "Morbid Psycho", 2022)

Scythelord - "Toxic Minds" (from "Toxic Minds", 2016)

Aylwin - The Arch Holder (2021)

I have listened through this release some three or four times now and I am still at the same level of understanding of it as I was after one listen. Aylwin play acceptable but unremarkable atmospheric bm, yet for some reason feel that showcasing this in one thirty-minute track is necessary to capture their sound. I am almost sure though that this track has three individual parts, so I am unclear as to why this all got put into one track.

Starting and ending with the sounds of waves hitting a shoreline (a sound which is revisited during the track also) simply pans out two-minutes of play time before they ever get to the opening riff. Although this start seems representative of the artwork that depicts some monolith-rock formation in the middle of a vast expanse of water it doesn’t really marry up with anything else. The brighter light of the artwork is carried through into the music I suppose as this is not particularly grim bm really.

It lacks quality that justifies the constant play of one track though. It never successfully combines the instrumentation and atmospherics into any triumphant pinnacle or peak. The nearest we get is a lull in the middle of the track when some melodic strings compliment the atmospheric ocean theme before we crash back into a soaring bm tremolo riff. Even as individual parts the instruments lack anything outstanding in the way that they are performed and so there is no real sense of cohesion, and these guys are not the tightest of players when it comes to being a collective. I find it hard to take The Arch Holder seriously as a release as it sounds like a rehearsal with some atmospherics thrown in for the hell of it.

There is no richness to the riffs, no subtlety to the transitions and the cavernous and gruff vocals just get lost in the maelstrom as opposed to underlining the emotion behind what is being performed. I sense that if I had four, thirty-minute slots of my life to dedicate to this in one sitting each then I might be more enamoured with it. However, without anything tangible to grasp as a high-point I struggle to see the need for such a lengthy release in all honesty. Just breakout the tracks guys.

3/5

October =

Cult of Fire - "Samhara Raktha Kali Ascetic" (from "Meditation of Death", 2013)

Hulder - "Sylvan Awakening" (from "The Eternal Fanfare", 2022)

Satanic Warmaster - "Winter's Hunger" (from "Fimbulwinter", 2014)

I have to confess to liking Dirt a lot less nowadays than I did some thirty years ago when I first heard it. Back then it was a mainstay of my listening rotation as I was genuinely enamoured with the riffs of Jerry Cantrell and his bluesy lead work. The vibrant and electric sounds of the first two tracks on Dirt do still resonate with me to this day as a perfect start to an album as they typified the fact that not all grunge had to be gloomy and melancholic. There was an immediacy back then to the opening of this record that was not often repeatable on most other releases of the time. This spontaneous and perfectly tight sounding start is actually only rivalled upon reflection by the end of the record when the tumultuous Angry Chair, followed by the initially sultry and brooding Would? (that develops into a pounding album closer over its three-and-a-half-minute run time) close out the release brilliantly.

The problem I have with Dirt is what comes between these tracks as I now find the album to have lost a lot of the overall positivity that I held for it back in the day. Arguably the more grungey aspects of the album are the ones that I now dislike the most as with the exception of Down In A Hole and Rooster I no longer enjoy the rest of Dirt. Rain When I Die now sounds as whiny as the title suggests it should, only not in a cool reflective way like it used to and I just cannot stand Sickman anymore with its chaotic and too frantic structure. It is not rare for me to find an AIC album that is frontloaded (although rarer in fact to find any album that is front and rear-loaded to such a small extent) as Facelift takes a huge dip south after the opening two tracks, so there is a consistency to their early output for me. This is not to say that they are not still hugely important to the alternative metal movement - parking grunge references to one side for a moment - as AIC were really good at incorporating other influences into their vaguely metal-like foundations in order to offer something which was the core essence of alternative music.

I just do not feel that Dirt has aged that well for me, even acknowledging the nostalgia around the release and the importance of it. I will openly acknowledge that they have never topped this release in either era of the band but the longevity of it is questionable nowadays even though there is still enough here to keep this a four star rating.

4/5

September 2022

01. DevilDriver – “Clouds Over California” (from “The Last Kind Words”, 2007)

02. Mason – “Imprisoned” (from “Warhead”, 2013)

03. Pantera – “Message In Blood” (from “Cowboys From Hell”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Sepultura – “Cut-Throat” (from “Roots”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Skeleton Pit “Drink Fast Or Die” (from “Chaos At The Mosh-Reactor”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]

06. Mindtaker – “Drink Beer For Thrash” (from “Toxic War”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Bonded By Blood – “Immortal Life” (from “Feed the Beast”, 2008)

08. Thrashback – “Night of the Sacrifice” (from “Night of the Sacrifice”, 2015)

09. Piledriver – “Sex With Satan” (from “Metal Inquisition”, 1984)

10. Gallower – “Claws and Fangs” (from “Eastern Witchcraft”, 2022)

11. Parkcrest– “Midnight Chasm” (from “And That Blood Will Turn To Red”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Pripjat – “Nuclear Chainsaw” (from “Sons of Tschernobyl”, 2014)

13. Satyrasis – “A Sheep In Wolves Clothing” (from “Creation of Failure”, 2008)

14. Skulled – “Eat Thrash” (from “Eat Thrash”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Plague Years – “Suffer” (from “All Will Suffer”, 2022)

16. Enemynside – “Devil In Disguise” (from “Dead Nation Army”, 2018)

17. Chronosphere – “Brutal Decay” (from “Embracing Oblivion”, 2014)

18. Hatriot – “Horns & Halos” (from “The Vale of Shadows”, 2022)

19. Tumourboy– “Chernobyl Devastation” (from “Damaged System”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Surra – “Daqui Pra Pior” (from “Tamo Muito Na Merda”, 2016)

21. Grindpad – “Sharkbite!” (from “Sharkbite”, 2017)

22. The Accüsed – “Pounding Nails (Into the Lid of Your Coffin)” (from “Grinning Like An Undertaker”, 1990)

23. Battlecreek – “Dealing Death” (from “Hate Injection”, 2015)

24. Amken– “Shattered Sanity” (from “Theatre of the Absurd” 2017)

25. Impalers – “Prepare for War” (from “Prepare for War - EP”, 2014)

26. Excruciator – “Destruction” (from “Devouring”, 2011)

27. Toxic Waltz – “Deify” (from “From A Distant View”, 2016)

28. Raider – “Urge To Kill” (from “Urge To Kill”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]

29. Phantom Witch – “Death As We Know It” (from, “Death As We Know It”, 2019)

30. Blind Illusion – “Blood Shower” (from “The Sane Asylum”, 1988)

31. Thought Industry – “Third Eye” (from “Songs for Insects”, 1992)

I think, Gospel of the Horns - Eve of the Conqueror sounds the most intriguing.

Over to you Rex.

Can't find Obskuritatem on any platform (least not that release) so I will go with Aylwin - The Arch Holder.

Over to you Ben.

Thanks Ben, I will pick up Panzerchrist - Regiment Ragnarok.

For my sins Ben (I can't leave them alone) can we add the latest release from Machine Head please?

I read this with interest yesterday as I had no background to the split from Kelly some three years ago so I was interested to read how this had panned out overall.  The man's a piece of shit no doubt about it, not only for undertaking the activities described but also for not following through on his promise to address the issues he has.  I don't really care from a musical perspective - I won't listen to any Neurosis album any differently and nor would stop listening either - assholes make good music just like non-assholes do.  The issue here is not how this affects some person's listening habits or how if Neurosis will carry on, it is about how Kelly's family can recover hopefully without him around.  I note Neurosis referenced charities in their post, perhaps dropping a couple of coins in their direction is the most positive influence any of us can have on this.

Hi Ben, could we have Blackbraid added please?

Count me in for The North, The Horde and The Pit Ben.

I am not as focussed on current year releases as perhaps other members are so any releases I stumble across from the current year that I like enough to retain a copy influences how "good" a year it is.  I still find far more interesting releases from days gone by and it is these I seek out ahead of staying on top of any current year releases.  Wiegedood is the only release of note (still getting to grips with Blackbraid) from the year so far.  Have not heard anything else off that list from Ben barring the odd BAN track and I was unimpressed.  Celeste are on my radar but I am still in 2017 in terms of their discography.

I can't say I agree with this approach. A member's clan assignments are intended to play a strong role in their identity at Metal Academy so I would discourage repeated swapping of clans. It's important to remember why we have clans in the first place which is to ensure that anyone that's voting on a release's clan or subgenre is well qualified & to do so & that there's an easy avenue to differentiate between a devoted & a casual listeners feelings on a release. The Hall of Judgement is such a small part of the site in the grand scheme of things so I don't think we should be diluting the fundamental intent of the site in order to better facilitate fast outcomes there (& in doing so risk the integrity of the voting just quietly too). Remember, not being a part of a clan doesn't restrict you from enjoying the releases & sharing your thoughts on the releases it contains in any way so I can't see why anyone would want to swap to a clan simply because they feel like listening to some releases from that clan. I'd suggest that I have one of the broadest taste profiles at the Academy but there's no doubt that everyone has comfort zones where they're more knowledgeable than others & I'm well aware of what mine are. That doesn't mean that I don't love a whole bunch of releases from each of the other five clans & I don't feel in any way restricted. I know perfectly well that there are people that are more qualified than I am to select the feature releases & nominate the playlist inclusions for the other clans & I treat it as an opportunity to discover new things while I can do the same for others within the context of my own clans.

I agree with all that Daniel has said here.  Not that I give two shits about the Hall of Tagging or whatever it is used for but it strikes me that the clan membership should not be driven by votes being needed in the Hall.  My understanding is that the clans (and the luxury of being afforded a fourth clan) was to develop real expertise or be given the opportunity to grow your musical experience I think this suggestion to spuriously change your clans once a month is ludicrous and seriously detracts away from the ethos of the site.  For me, to switch up clans you have to put the work in and complete the challenges required, just like you would have done in the initial qualification for the fourth clan.  I think some of us need to take a step back and be a little less excitable (although I do not for one minute doubt that this excitement comes from a genuine and passionate standpoint on metal music) and focus on the principals of why the site is here.

I ditched The Guardians after locking it in as my fourth and I am occasionally chipping in on The Fallen lists to see if there is any need for me to check out the content there.  Would do one or more challenge before asking to pick it up as my fourth as it is already a very popular clan and my tastes in the clan are more sludge-orientated with an obvious penchant for death-doom as well so the whole clan might not be for me.

I feel like part of this problem would be alleviated if this site had something like older forums where you can see which topics/forums have new posts because they're in bold. If one topic happens to dominate, like some Hall of Judgment threads, or say, this thread, well, one knows where the other posts are.

This works, as a former Tez forumite, like Daniel, I found that feature useful.

It's an interesting suggestion thanks Vinny. I assume that the idea will also encompass the polar opposite functionality so that I can filter the forums to show only my beloved genre-tag related threads? :) Would the ability to simply filter out the Hall of Judgement forum suffice?

Yes, appreciate this needs to work both ways so me not seeing endless reams of classification threads need not be at the expense of more...passionate members 

Anything that can be done to save my eyes from the horror of genre-tagging/judgement halls etc would be appreciated.