UnhinderedbyTalent's Forum Replies

February 2023

01. Slaughter Messiah – “From the Tomb into the Void” (from “Cursed to the Pyre”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Nifelheim – “Black Evil” (from “Servants of Darkness”, 2000)

03. Nocturnal Breed – “Manskinner” (from “Fields of Rot”, 2007)

04. MunicioN – “Zombie Terror” (from “Fukk Off in Hell”, 2021)

05. Acid - “Lucifera” (from “Maniac”, 1983) [Submitted by Sonny]

06. Manilla Road – “Black Cauldron” (from “Out of the Abyss”, 1984) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Razor – “Legacy of Doom” (from “Evil Invaders”, 1985) [Submitted by Sonny]

08. Retador – “Furia” (from “Retador”, 2022)

09. Critical Defiance – “Misconception” (from “Misconception”, 2019) [Submitted by Sonny]

10. Armagedom – “Sofrer Demais” (from “Silêncio Fúnebre”, 1986) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Overkill – “The One” (from “Killbox 13”, 2003) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Lazarus A.D. – “The Ultimate Sacrifice” (from “Black Rivers Flow”, 2011) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Zimmers Hole – “When You Were Shouting at the Devil…We Were in League with Satan” (from “When You Were Shouting at the Devil…We Were in League with Satan”, 2008)

14. Metal Allegiance, Randall D. Blythe – “Gift of Pain” (from “Metal Allegiance”, 2015)

15. Meshiaak – “Chronicles of the Dead” (from “Alliance of Thieves”, 2016)

16. Mnemic – “Liquid” (from “Mechanical Spin Phenomena”, 2003) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. BabyMetal – “BabyMetal Death” (from “BabyMetal”, 2014)

18. Sanctity– “Beneath the Machine” (from “The Road to Bloodshed”, 2007)

19. Judiciary – “Social Crusade” (from “Surface Noise”, 2019) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Autonoesis – “Raise the Dead” (from “Moon of Foul Magics”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Blessed Death – “You Are Nothing” (from “Hour of Pain”, 2006) [Submitted by Sonny]

22. Slayer – “Hallowed Point” (from “Seasons in the Abyss”, 1990) [Submitted by Sonny]

23. Despair – “Freedom Now” (from “History of Hate”, 1988)

24. Deviated Instinct– “Scarecrow” (from “Welcome to the Orgy”, 2006)

25. Hellshock – “Darkness Will Endure” (from “They Wait for You Still”, 2009)

26. Feared – “Lords Resistance Army” (from “Reborn” 2016)

27. Dr. Living Death – “Crush the Sublime Gods” (from “Crush the Sublime Gods”, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Warfect – “Purveyors of Cadavers” (from “Scavengers”, 2016)

29. Ultra-Violence – “Burning Through the Scars”(from “Deflect the Flow”, 2015)

Esoteric - Epistemological Despondency (1994)

Esoteric as a word is defined as being 'intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with specialised knowledge or interest' which is absolutely applicable to this monstrosity of a record. I do not think that I am an expert in funeral doom by any stretch of the imagination but the content I found on the six tracks present on this debut release is anything but confined to just one sub-genre of music. There is no doubt (even without reading the liner notes that Ben refers to in his review) that this was a record for an exclusive club and that you would not necessarily know whether you were in that club or not until you started listening to the record.

I like my music as extreme as the next cave-dwelling Metal Academy scribe but there are moments on Epistemological Despondency were even I begin to struggle. It may be the less than successful deployment of the death metal elements or the horrific noise intrusions and oddly muffled (maybe too down tuned) instruments - or in fact all of the above - but something is definitely off for me here. There are not a lot of moving parts I sense, yet they some how bash into one another far too much like an extra-large dodgem set up at a fair with only 6 cars on it. Logically they have a bigger area to move around in yet somehow they still continue to bump into one another.

It could be that I have come to this record too late and that the boundaries of acceptable extremity in my music have been stretched enough already at my age for me to be able to judge this record appropriately without the context of what it was trying to do in 1994. Whether I am 18 or 47 though I do not think that Epistemological Despondency is for me. There is too much to get through, being delivered by sparse component parts for me to want to get behind the cluttered arrangements and oppressive presentation to be bothered to understand what it actually wants to say about justified belief or opinion (if we take the album title by its intended definition of course).

3/5

Mogwai - Les Revenants (2013)

The 3rd and Mortal - Tears Laid in Earth (1994)

My Fallen clan challenge starts to take me to come very different waters as I get into the final third. Having been a largely positive experience thus far, there has been some genuinely unexpected discoveries along the way. The 3rd and Mortal however present a very different experience, one that has its high points as well as its lows it has to be said. Considering what I normally listen to from the country of Norway, these guys are a few football fields away from my usual black metal fodder that I consume with the vigour of a rabid animal. When I got Tears Laid in Earth between my teeth however I instantly started pulling the face of a confused dog, tilting my head from side to side like I could not believe what I was hearing.

First of all, I cannot ignore how good a vocalist Kirsti Huke is. Although she is entirely the wrong fit for this band and indeed this genre, she has a beautiful and shrill vocal style that when considered in isolation is undeniably good. The challenge is that the rest of the band/the music just cannot fit around her. Listen to this album and what you will hear is the instrumentation doing its upmost to play some doom, using keyboards, pianos and atmospherics alongside the guitars and drums to create some haunting (although never oppressive) music. Meanwhile, whenever Kirsti sings, everything else takes a back seat. The structures to tracks become so predictable, so quickly that I soon start to lose interest. Indeed, the only thing that keeps me present with the album are the two instrumental tracks in the middle of the album (arguably the high point of the record for me) where Kirsti does not sing but cries out alongside the instrumentation instead - more evidence that the two do not fit together well at all.

Trond and Geir are perfectly competent guitarists, that much is obvious here. However, they clearly want to play doom metal - not some ethereal gothic metal - and as a result the album feels constantly short-changed by these opposing elements. Forget you are listening to a doom record and the album is not half-bad but I am on the Fallen clan challenge, not some easy-listening playlist challenge.

2.5/5

Monstrosity sort of passed me by in the 90's. I do not recall that I even heard anything by them until last year when I went through Millenium over a number weeks, purely because I had only just cottoned on to the fact that George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher started out in the band before he got in Cannibal Corpse. At the time of releasing In Dark Purity, three years had passed and George was gone having exited the band in late 1995. Replacement Jason Avery however was more than up to the job and I feel he filled the vocalist vacancy really well. His vocals bring Cannibal Corpse to mind a lot in all honesty which is ironic. Any fear of a lull in quality amongst fans of the band, having seen their long standing vocalist defect I would imagine were instantly quashed. Avery's bellows are just as demented as you like and accompany the horrifying backdrop of the instruments perfectly.

Musically, if you think of the fury of Deicide coupled with the sonic swarms of Morbid Angel, you could pitch In Dark Purity somewhere in between the two. Tony Norman certainly knew his way around the six strings he had slung around his shoulders, igniting tracks with an Azagthoth-esque sonic intensity whilst at the same time being able to give us a fair share of Hoffman-esque pacing and the riffing rhythm of a Jack Owen or Rob Rusay. The drumming of Lee Harrison is functional enough without him getting Pete Sandoval in ability at any point.

In Dark Purity is probably one of the most underrated death metal albums from the 90's. It is an improvement on Millenium, its predecessor, which is no mean feat and one that shows there was a lot more to Monstrosity than just their original vocalist. Whilst it may not be a lot different to most of what else already came out in the heyday of death metal it is well crafted and agile in its performance. There are occasional time changes and obscure signatures that herald the opening of a new section or sound that show this was a band with something extra in the tank to keep them slugging it out with the big shots of the scene. I would not go as far as to describe it as technical death metal but there is certainly some depth to it.

4.5/5

Pestifer - Reaching the Void (2014)

Rising from the ashes of various bands dating back to the late 90s, Belgian tech-death band Pestifer boast a three album discography of pretty much exactly what you would expect from any performers in this sub-genre of death metal. We have twangy bass lines, melodic and crisp leads and grim vocals uttered over racing passages. I will not profess to be a massive fan of technical death metal (unless it is done really well with some avant-garde and progressive elements at least) and so Pestifer do have a slight disadvantage in falling into my hands for Review Draft this month.

Getting the negatives out of the way first. Where are the drums here? There appears to a light (thankfully not clicking) tapping noise in the background but I am getting no real sense of inclusion from Philippe Gustin here (his brother plays bass btw). As a result, Reaching the Void lacks any power overall. The riffs are too sterile to carry any power and in all honesty the only prominent parts of the album are the vocals and bass. I do not think that the drums suffer from any issues with their placement in the mix either. It sounds like they were deliberately recorded to be timid.

Now, although I highlight the riffs as sterile, this is a common sound in tech-death to my ears and actually works as a standalone and memorable section to proceedings. The lead work though is the main success from the guitars. It resonates through the tracks it inhibits leaving a clean, intricate and rich experience as it goes. Although I might not be entirely onboard with all of what Pestifer do, I cannot deny that there is some talent here and this does shine through on a consistent basis. With a bit more strength behind those drums (just a bit of presence really) then I sense that Reaching the Void would present more of an intriguing listen. 

3.5/5

Here's my selections for Febtruary, Vinny. Hope I'm not too late.

Acid - "Lucifera" from "Maniac" (1983)
Blessed Death - "You Are Nothing" from "Hour of Pain" (2006)
Critical Defiance - "Misconception" from "Misconception" (2019)
Razor - "Legacy of Doom" from "Evil Invaders" (1985)
Slayer - "Hallowed Point" from "Seasons in the Abyss" (1990)

All added thanks Sonny

Hi Ben, can you add the new Obituary record please?  "Dying of Everything"

The last five Fallen releases you've reviewed here have received 5.0, 4.5, 4.5, 5.0 and then 5.0.  I feel like a decaying brown icon may be added to your profile shortly Vinny. 

It is looking increasingly likely, I will finish the current challenge though first.

Katatonia - Dance of December Souls (1993)

In my many years of listening to metal there are a few albums that I struggled to grasp the appeal behind. For example, The Karelian Isthmus by Amorphis has long enjoyed the praise of my peers but I personally find it dull as dishwater. I even bought it on CD at a second-hand store one year off the basis of one of my internet acquaintances telling how good a record it was. That same acquaintance has also waxed lyrical about Dance of December Souls by Katatonia for years.

This time around I must acknowledge that the point of Dance of December Souls was largely lost on me because I gave it the incorrect amount of attention required to really appreciate how good an album this was. Criminally, I did this for years. Just applying the occasional spin of the record every now and again whilst doing something else entirely and then asking myself what all the fuss was about. Such scant regard for the true quality of Katatonia’s debut album means that I have missed the impact of a very important album for around five years.

This as a debut release for any band is an achievement. For a band who in 1991 recorded a demo that Anders Nyström himself described as “… is not Katatonia. It's some fuzzy, noisy necro shit done completely aside" to release this masterpiece some two years later shows a massive leap forward in maturity. Sitting listening to the bass work of Guillaume René Le Huche (Israphel Wing on the album notes) alone is a joy to behold. The flowing deep tones that run alongside the dark gothic melodies of the guitar and the crisp and brittle drums make for a real individual journey for the listener to chart the progress of. Factor in the ghastly vocals of Jonas Renkse and you get a real sense of the variation of Dance of December Souls.

Even the instrumental tracks possess an astonishing level of quality to savour over their short runtimes. Elohim Meth is superbly placed in this record to bridge the two halves of the album as it closes off the aggressive mentality of Without God and leads us into the more melancholic Velvet Thorns (of Drynwhyl). The real standout track however is Tomb of Insomnia. A thirteen-minute track straight after a near fourteen-minute track is a bold move but the build of this track is just so well measured and although it clearly has distinct passages at no point is their any disconnect during the track.

Listening through the album a few times again as I wrote this review it occurred to me that the album has an almost classical music theme to it, with certain guitar work sounding like a dank version of some Mozart or Beethoven concerto. Not flashy like Ywngie would do it, no this is much more subtle and might not be all that conscious, but it comes across to me as this was (maybe still is) a band that are really in touch with music and that they feel as opposed to just perform this album.

I have but one, very minor quibble of Dance of December Souls. The drumming appears upon first listen to deploy no cymbals or hi-hats. After many more listens, I do believe that they are there, but they are not well mixed. As a result, I feel the album could have a greater sense of drama than the already dizzy heights of gothic theatre that we have. This in way can detract from my perfect score.

5/5

Elegiac - Vampiric Odinism (2019)

The frenetic release output of Elegiac is the first thing that caught my eye when researching this review. This one man bm outfit (Zane Young) has released 4 EPs, 15 splits and 9 full lengths since 2014. That is pretty prolific output who has eight other "active" projects on the go on top of Elegiac. The New York based artist deploys a good mix of conventional black metal fodder with a heavy dose of black 'n roll added for good measure on his seventh release, Vampiric Odinism from 2019. Looking at the artwork that adorns the release and pictures of Zane online I had expected a more shamanic or ritualistic offering than is actually the case. Although there are some distinct parts where this is the case the more catchy moments are actually the better ones.

I would loosely assign Behexen and maybe Sargeist as influences I hear in the sound although they lack the scathing attack of Behexen and are lacking some of the primitive elements of early Sargeist to say the least. There are occasions were the vocals take more of a front seat and sound like the breathy incantations of any credible atmo-black artist but in the main it is the tremolo that rules the roost here with Zane's vocals a rasping accompaniment with a background setting of very basic and sometimes barely audible drums.

Overall, Elegiac offer very little in the way of impressing more than any other USBM artist. The deep voice that Zane adopts on occasion to (I assume) add some threat or menace to proceedings is laughable in all honesty and the whole release just bubbles instead of reaching boiling point all that much. The shamanic/ritualistic parts sound lazy and disinterested and when some sense of momentum or energy does start to form it gets killed by them on a consistent basis. Left to power on through the tracks with their heavy metal-esque drive (Sacrifice) then things take on a much more impressive shape and sound and it is a shame there is less of this to enjoy overall.

3.5/5

I had forgotten just what an unsettling experience Scar Sighted truly is until revisiting it for this month’s feature release. From the off it is undulating and unnerving experience. It begins in an uncomfortable space and stays within those claustrophobic confines for over an hour. This tormented state is one of the albums key strengths in that it never once gets drawn into safer structures or any sense of conformist principles of song writing. Cleverly it balances atmospheric horror, (whether that is spoken word passages or palpitation-inducing cries of dementia, take your pick it is all on here) with actual instrumentation. As such it is not a constant wall of noise that lacks form.

Full of mocking tremolo and bent string mischief, Scar Sighted wastes no time in making its disdain for humanity known. It would be too easy to constantly plunge the listener into the very depths of despair track after track but during the depressive misanthropy are some real entertaining moments. Whether that is a stripped back, bare-naked riff or string, a nefariously awkward melody or just incoherent howls, Wrest keeps things up his sleeve nicely (the keys in Wicked Fields of Calm, the horrid singing that greets the opening of Within Thrall) and produces them with his own macabre version of “ta da!”.

More impressive is that Wrest does all of this himself, only relinquishing responsibility for production and mastering to Billy Anderson and Bradleigh Boatright respectively. The production job is good enough, but I am not sure if the drums are supposed to be that far back in the mix as they are the one element that does feel lost in the swarming terror here.

My only criticism (other than the drum mix) is that Scar Sighted is shade too long at just over an hour. It is hard to call out tracks to cut though as all feel like they contribute to the overall aesthetic of the record well. Tracks that clock in at over ten, eight and seven and a half minutes to close the record out are a struggle in all honesty and maybe a couple could have been held back for an EP? There is however a real sense of conviction behind Scar Sighted that spurs it on and makes it virtually impossible to put down or turn off, once you are in that tight and cloyingly dank space, you are in it for the duration.

4.5/5

I gave that Celeste release a spin last night to settle me into some semblance of sleep mode and it is actually a marked improvement from my experience of the their release 5 years ago.  Not going to say it is amazing but it is one of the most mature records I have heard from last year.

I don't mean to ruin the fantasies of any of you kvlt/elitist types out there but Autonoesis is apparently this guy:

Fucking red-neck, mullet-sporting,  Bret "Hitman" Hart shades wearing, clean-shaven lumberjack black metal is my pet hate.  I feel dirty.

I gave that Tómarúm release a go earlier on and was not impressed with it tbh.  What the hell is going on with that bass?  Odd that I have not gelled with that BAN release enough to sit through a full run through.  Will try to rectify that over the weekend as I normally like anything they do but that having been said I was not massively in love with their previous release.  As you will see from my year end list I only got through 9 releases proper this year (at least 9 that were any good anyways) and I soon tire of over saturation from new releases.

Predictably (it is the monthly feature release) Autonoesis is now in the mix also.

Strong list this month Ben.  Particularly liked Stormruler, Ellende and Skythala.  Didn't mind that Darkthrone track strangely as normally I find them pretty boring nowadays.  Only duds for me were Woods of Desolation and Liturgy (although not massive fan of that Kampfar either).

P.S. you have got the title wrong on that first track in the list, looks like you have duplicated the Stormruler track from beneath.

I repeat, this was an excellent choice Daniel.  Despite my reservations that I highlight in my review below, I still find this an enthralling experience.  In my handwritten notes for this review I referenced Vektor but noted that this was a more "meloblack" banger style of thrash metal (and I absolutely stand by that this belongs in both The North & The Pit).  I would not be adverse to some recognition of the progressive elements but wold need far more listens to this to really decide.  Anyway, my review:

This is a devious little release (although given the length of it I am not sure that "little" quite covers it). I have read the other reviews from my esteemed academites (?) and I do not really have anything different to add in all honesty. I am less inclined to agree that this does not have a place in The Pit - I would equally argue that it has some argument for addition into The Infinite clan as well as The North. What this all means in real world terms, for the uneducated reader of this review is that Autonoesis cover a lot of ground on this record. This in itself is impressive based on the effort alone and that is one of the main takeaways from this record, the work ethic and amount of stuff that is in here is really commendable. Does it all work within the confines of one single release? Well yes and no.

Give me tracks like Raise the Dead all day and I am a happy enough bunny. This high-intensity track is arguably were Autonoesis are at their least stretched in terms of technical ability but it shows their heart better than most other tracks on here, largely because it is one of the shorter and more direct tracks that bleeds pure thrash from start to finish. Where things start to come unstuck a little for me are on the longer tracks and there are far too many of them. With three tracks over or around nine-minutes in length (plus an eleven-minute plus closing track) I do find myself a bit lost in Moon of Foul Magics at times. There is a sense of frustration in hearing a track go through multiple sub-genres and influences over a protracted runtime. Often when listening to one of the more lengthy tracks on here I cannot help but think that some of these ideas could be more succinctly deployed as individual tracks. There would be nothing wrong with letting a thrash track just thrash and chop its way through three or four-minutes and parking that progressive interlude or epic black metal passage into a track all of their own.

This is not to say that they do not blend elements well as a group or individual artist (I have no idea how many people are in Autonoesis but I suspect it is a one-man project with contributors), the musicianship on here is superb and the lead work in particular is sublime. I just cannot help but feel that there is more going on here than can be comfortably digested by many listeners. Even with dedicated, alone time with this record the lack of distractions does not necessarily make the focus on everything anymore acute.

I still think this is an ambitious and highly recommendable record, not in the least because I am actively looking to expand the range of offerings in The Pit playlists each month and this is a refreshing "take" on a few sub-genres that still has the riffs to pull enough punches in the thrash metal realm.

4/5

This is a great choice for feature release and I would say replicates the direction of travel I was looking to take The Pit playlists in terms of expanding the range and scope of the tracks beyond just the conventional thrash, speed metal nominations and the groove, technical and crossover sub-genres as well. 

A review for this one is not ready yet but my listens so far have been nothing short of enthralling.

BABYMETAL - "BABYMETAL DEATH" (from "BABYMETAL", 2014)  Yes, I'm serious! Feel free to exclude it but tell me this isn't a death/thrash track.

Bitches Sin - "Haneka" (from Predator", 1982) Feel free not to exclude this one too but I'd suggest that it's an early example of speed metal.

I can't believe I am about to do this but I am actually going to listen to a Babymetal track later today.  

EDIT - it was not as bad as first feared.  You are right Daniel, absolutely has a place here in The Pit playlist.

However, I am not convinced by Bitches Sin, too much Motorhead for me to justify it going in The Pit list so I will be excluding this one.  Happy to take another alternative id you have one?

Gama Bomb - Sea Savage (2020)

So, as I said before, I haven't listened to Gama Bomb since 2008's Citizen Brain album, which I bought at the time, but haven't spun a whole lot since as, to be honest, it didn't do much for me (I will have to revisit it though after this). Gama Bomb write short, breakneck, often humourous, thrash metal that makes no attempt to break new ground and I have no problem with that. Of the twelve tracks on Sea Savage, the longest is four and a half minutes with half the album's songs clocking in at under three minutes and, I must admit, the band in full flow do thrash fucking hard. The tongue-in-cheek humour that is employed throughout isn't especially jarring and doesn't detract from the music at all - and let's be honest here, thrash metal, lyrically, can often be ridiculous even when played straight-up.

No, by far my biggest bugbear with Sea Savage is regarding the vocals. Mostly they are fine, but way too often vocalist Philly Byrne resorts to a ridiculous falsetto that feels like it may be a parody of Painkiller-era Rob Halford and I hate it. It occurs at some point in nearly every track and totally ruins them for me. It's use is most prevalent on the title track and it makes that track virtually unlistenable to my ears.

Despite this quite substantial misgiving, I still have to give the album a 3.5/5 because, as I said earlier, it does thrash so fucking hard and at it's best it is quite infectious, but that damn scream is just so fucking annoying that I can't ignore it and must reflect it in the score.

3.5/5

Being my usual picky self, I find the irony of the "Sea Savage" being a beast of ape descendance (i.e. a land mammal) and not anything associated with the sea particularly laughable. 

Exmortus - The Sound of Boredom

EDIT

Exmortus - The Sound of Steel (2018)

Sigh. I kind of feel like Exmortus exist in the wrong era. The old-school album artwork should really be clue enough but those retro heavy/speed metal vibes are not just isolated to the album cover alone. Within the ten tracks here there is enough 1990's neoclassical references as you could ever hope to find (if "hope" is the right word for you - it is not for me, "misfortune" is a much more accurate word). All this guitar wankery is played at breakneck speed to try and impress further upon the listener how talented the artist is. Problem is it is all the energy of Vektor, rehashed into some dull attempt to sound vaguely as interesting as they were; I mean this album is one of the main reasons that I left The Guardians clan behind last year.

Literally no opportunity to show-off is missed on here. However long the intro to a song is, rest assured that some lead or over the top melodies are right around the corner. They even have the nerve to park an instrumental track in the middle of the album and call it A Minor Instrumental. If only they would have confined all the showboating to this one track! When not widdling their way to eternity the band try and get the chops going but it lacks any edge to make this anything like a thrash release with any concrete credentials. This is just an exhausting record and I do not not what tired me out soonest, the content or the continued reaching for the mouse to skip the album along.

Utterly pointless and instantly forgettable, The Sound of Steel is all filler and no killer. Yes the guitarists can play and the sub-genre (Neoclassical thrash??) demands more of this stuff but it is just so dull and presents zero appeal to me.

1.5/5

I am familiar with this one, his first release after his domestic troubles saw him arrested and put on probation.  It is a deep record and takes some time to settle in my experience but is worth the effort.  Odd that I have not reviewed or rated it to date but I guess that's the features doing their job.

I will go with Elegiac.

Over to you Ben.

Pestifer looks interesting, I will take that.

Ex Mortus for me.

I had this in my top 9 releases of 2022.  My review below.

In niche sub-genres such as drone metal and industrial metal the ideal scenario for me is to have a go-to artist I can really rely on. I cannot say that I listen to much of anyone else in either genre and so the assured and emotional consistency of Tristan Shone's output in Author & Punisher is a real bonus for me in a world of thousands of artists and much less time than needed to fully explore many of them. As time has gone on I have discovered two main themes in his work. Firstly, he gets better with every release. The maturity he is now able to exhibit on Krüller is just so confident that it is obvious in every track on the album; his experience over each passing year and release simply makes him better. Secondly, as time has gone by I have ceased to be astonished by just his incredible ability to make all manner of alien and horrifically atmospheric noises from whatever ungodly bit of tech he has made with his bare hands. I am now just as astonished by the emotional tautness of his output that stirs responses in me that I had not thought possible with this type of music.

At this point in his career, Shone is untouchable in terms of not needing to rely solely on the harsh, abrasive and heavy aspects of his music to get his message across. If there is anyone using textures better than he does on tracks like Incinerator then I damn well demand a recount! This track in particular is a rollercoaster that goes from broody and sultry onto anger and sadness before giving way to mental torture. Listen to this album through a couple of times and you will understand that Shone is able operate on multiple levels and can hammer home his message without the need for blunt force every time. Centurion relies on a subtle yet ever-present urgency to press home its threat. Maiden Star operates meanwhile in a whole separate stratosphere with dreamy melodies and blatant rock guitars as its main ingredients.

Whereas previous A&P releases lacked range, on Krüller this is not a problem that is even on the horizon. Without having to go avant-garde or just plain old wacky, album number nine just delivers on every level. The drone elements are stable without being excessive and the industrial elements play as influences (albeit big influences) that do not rule the roost as such yet the album is still so very industrial at its core but feels so open and varied without disrupting the sense of balance that permeates the record. The cover of Glorybox by Portishead feels like a huge moment for the album and indeed Shone's career itself. Taking the elements that make it such a brilliant piece of dreamy trip-hop in the first place, A&P manages to elevate this with his trademark droning, industrial intensity whilst still capturing the heartfelt message at the centre of the track.

Krüller is Tristan Shone at his best and is far and away his finest hour. Able to command enough respect at this stage to have Tool's Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey guest on the album, Shone can use his ever-growing confidence to allow his vocals to shine more as he (consciously) removed much of the trademark distortion that layered them in the past in favour of what to me is a more personal connection. One of the best finds of 2022 so far.

5/5

February 2023 nominations:

Barshasketh -"Ruin I" (from "Barshasketh", 2019)

Fellwarden - "Sun of Ending" (from "Oathbearer", 2017)

Svartidaudi - "Burning Worlds of Excrement" (from"Revelations of the Red Sword", 2018)

February 2023 nominations:

Atrocity - "Defiance" (from "Todessehnsucht", 1992)

Entombed - "Severe Burns" (from "Clandestine", 1991)

Mortuous - "Defiled by Fire" (from "Upon Desolation", 2022)

Monstrosity - "Manic" (from "Millennium", 1996)

Blood Incantation - "Inner Paths (To Outer Space)" (from "Hidden History of the Human Race", 2019)

Exocrine - "End of Time" (from "The Hybrid Suns", 2022)

I think the most important question here is, why is there a toilet roll tube on that pew?

January 2023

01. Anthrax – “Caught in a Mosh” (from “Among the Living”, 1986) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Impalers – “Prepare for War” (from “God From the Machine”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]

03. Daeva – “Clenched Fist of the Beast” (from “Pulsing Dark Absorptions”, 2022)

04. GAME OVER – “Two Steps in the Shadows” (from “Claiming Supremacy”, 2017)

05. Cavalera Conspiracy - “Spectral War” (from “Psychosis”, 2017)

06. Coroner – “Internal Conflicts” (from “Grin”, 1993)

07. Prong – “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” (from “Cleansing”, 1994) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Suicidal Tendencies – “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” (from “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow, When I Can’t Even Smile Today”, 1988)

09. Stälker – “Total Annihilation” (from “Shadow of the Sword”, 2017)

10. Testament – “Absence of Light” (from “Souls of Black”, 1990) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Hellhammer – “Revelations of Doom” (from “Apocalyptic Raids”, 1984)

12. Frosthelm – “The Endless Winter” (from “The Endless Winter”, 2015)

13. Obsolete – “Still” (from “Animate//Isolate”, 2021)

14. Acid Death – “Liquid Heaven” (from “Pieces of Mankind”, 1997)

15. Believer – “The Need for Conflict” (from “Gabriel”, 2009)

16. Critical Defiance – “Elephant” (from “No Life Forms”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Faith or Fear – “Straight to Hell” (from “Instruments of Death”, 2009)

18. Eruption – “Drones” (from “Cloaks of Oblivion”, 2017)

19. Oxygen Destroyer – “Cleansing the earth of Humanity’s Existence” (from “Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. The Troops of Doom – “Dethroned Messiah” (from “Antichrist Reborn”, 2022)

21. Deströyer 666 – “Guillotine” (from “Never Surrender”, 2022)

22. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (from “Speak English or Die”, 1995)

23. Aura Noir – “Wretched Face of Evil” (from “Black Thrash Attack”, 2011)

24. Hellbastard– “Heading for Eternal Darkness” (from “Natural Order”, 1990)

25. Terrörhammer – “Graveyard Witch” (from “Under the Unholy Command”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]

26. Bulldozing Bastard – “Under the Ram (from “Under the Ram” 2015)

27. Pantera – “Suicide Note, Pt. 2” (from “The Great Southern Trendkill”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Hatchet – “Living in Extinction” (from “Fear Beyond Lunacy”, 2015)

I have no issue with this.

Messa - Close (2022)

There are some records that you simply feel daunted at the prospect of having to review. Some records are so diverse and eclectic, so bristling with organic energy and vigour that committing some paragraphs to state the success of their content seems an almost injustice of near epic proportions. I mean, I can be impressed by some albums I hear and easily transpose my thoughts on the highlights to word format, but the albums that constantly challenge and surprise you are the tricky ones to truly interpret in a review. Close is one such record. Looking back at the year as a whole it is hard to understand how this release initially passed me by back in March and only really fell onto my radar at all in the final three months (breaking my end of year list to boot). My exploration of The Fallen clan certainly helped bring this to my attention but there is so much more here than the simple doom aesthetics of this record.

In simple terms, this is a cool record. Not cool as in being representative of some mainstream avenue of music but more just cool in how it sounds. There are enough instruments in use over this album to make it easy to understand just how well this record embraces influences form doom, psychedelia and world music. Crossing continents and exploring cultural boundaries along the way, Close is a celebration of all the influences that this band have been subjected to over their various pathways into Messa. Even on the grindcore track towards the end, none of this feels forced (vocalist Sara, formerly being a member of death metal/grindcore crew Restos Humanos makes the grindcore inclusion a little less surprising perhaps).

With this variety comes the potential for me to get lost in the record and find myself struggling to balance the complexity of such a mixed palate of sounds (the album being over an hour long doesn't initially bode well either) but everything is done so effortlessly it just sounds so authentic throughout. Somehow, Messa manage to sound modern and relevant yet capture the very essence of the retro vibes that ooze through those fuzzy guitar tones, ably assisted by the amazing vocal talent of Sara Bianchin. Although it is obvious where her limitations lie she still compliments each track on here perfectly and is easily one of the standout contributors to the record.

I bought this album on vinyl yesterday, such was my urgency to add this to my library in some kind of physical format and it has worked its way into my top three albums of the year, despite its late arrival on my radar. There is so much that can be said about this record that I could go on for days about it and never still get all my reflections down about it. As I said, in simple terms, this is really cool.

5/5

It sounds like you are slowly succumbing to the melancholy charms of The Fallen, Vinny.

Still working away at the clan challenge as that way I will truly understand what I do and do not like.  Monotheist was a curved ball though whilst in a quiet period at work and just threw it on stream, to great success clearly.  If all doom metal sounds like this then I am in!

Hooray, after a mere eleven days of sub-zero temperatures and no hot water, we have finally got a new boiler fitted. You sometimes take for granted the simple things like having a shower, but after washing in a bucket with kettle-boiled water for a week and a half, it feels like one of life's great luxuries!

Good news, having lost heating and hot water for a mere 2 days by comparison last week due to a frozen pipe I cannot agree more how the simple things can be taken all too easily for granted.  Glad your sorted.

Celtic Frost - Monotheist (2006)

Song writing is a fine art form. A skill that only very few excel at. You can admire well-structured and cleverly built songs all you like, however for me the real praise needs to be reserved for those that elevate their song writing to truly deranged levels of morbid grandiosity. That ability to truly detach from the expected, to actively seek to shy away from the conventional is where my eyes go all glossy with adulation. To that end, my discovery of Monotheist today for the first time has been nothing short of a revelation.

To be honest, I rarely listen to Celtic Frost and had most certainly not thought to connect them with doom metal. Of course, now I sit down and acknowledge that this last offering from CF sets the scene perfectly for the very similar sounding Triptykon, it all falls into place nicely. That having been said part of my stunned and slightly quizzical look on my face cannot hide that sense of being caught genuinely off-guard by a record for the first time in absolutely years. Although relevant, comparisons with Tom’s latter day output are not altogether an accurate reflection of just how good Monotheist is.

Which ever release I listen to from Triptykon, it exudes some sense of measure and control. It feels like some of the rampant emotions of Monotheist have been brought to heel in the intervening years that have passed since CF ducked out (on a high). That is not to say that Monotheist is bat shit crazy either, whilst it most certainly lacks some of the dark composure of Triptykon it is still a deviously calculated record to listen to. Whilst it starts off perfectly normal with heavy opener Progeny providing an above average welcome to proceedings, this is a record that slowly unravels and unhinges itself the further you get into it.

As well as Tom’s increasingly demented vocals there is a growing sense of groove and bend to those riffs also. As songs start to crash into feedback-soaked endings it is with a degree of wonder that you must ask yourself if the four years of recording was the route the band should have stuck with for their entire careers, such is the level of accomplishment prevalent over these eleven tracks.

Clear album highlight is the penultimate track (proper), Totengott. Its blend of harsh black metal vocals and noise-like atmospherics are a stunningly macabre glorification of evil music and Tom sounds rabid on his performance on here. The fourteen minutes plus offering, Synagoga Satanae is a wonderful exploration of doom metal, full of big and memorable riffs. For me, they could end the record right there and do away with the instrumental track that closes proceedings but this still acts as a great palette cleanser to end on.

4.5/5

Pentagram - self titled (1985)

I have been meaning to catch up on my exploration of The Fallen clan with Pentagram’s opening offering to the world being on my challenge list. Last night I was flicking through a magazine and an interview with Mirai from the band Sigh referenced Pentagram’s debut record as “Heavy, simple and evil” and so my task for today was set. Mirai listed it as one of his five most influential albums, citing the simplicity of the riffs as being one of the key successes of the record. I would agree with this to some extent as the riffs here chart no complicated or technical patterns. Equally, the drums and bass do nothing extraordinary in the main part, but then Joe Hasselvander suddenly pulls amazing runs and fills out of thin air (Run My Course) or Martin Swaney steps in from nowhere with his charging bass line (Dying World) and suddenly this is not such a simplistic album anymore.

What works well on this record is the restraint that is showed to showcase individual performances. Whilst the riffs stick that effective level of basic ability during verses, for example, Bobby’s vocals really get to shine. His dulcet croons are given centre stage in these scenarios but then when it comes to the lead work, Victor Griffin gets the spotlight delivering brief but enchanting solos. This sharing of the limelight gives the album a real sense of cohesion and camaraderie; no individual element rides roughshod over another here folks.

There is no doubting the doom credentials on display here, the production job is light touch and the whole sound has an authentic and organically dark feel. The fuzzy edge to things gives a cruel comfort against the backdrop of Bobby’s marauding vocals. Listening to this album some near forty years after its release, it is not difficult to see why Pentagram have remained such a revered name in the doom metal scene. Simple, without being boring and clever without being complex.

4.5/5

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

That sucks. Get well soon both of you.

As Vinny knows I'm sure, it has been the coldest week for years here in the UK and annoyingly, my wife and I have had no heating or hot water since last Friday due to a broken down boiler and a useless boiler insurance company (yes, SSE, I'm looking at you)! Hoping it will be finally fixed tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest.

That's a pain mate.  I have just dragged my arse outside as we don't have a mains gas supply here so I have to check the tank under the front lawn so I know when to order some more.  Hatch was frozen shut, took me ages.  Hope your heating gets fixed soon fella.

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

Between 1980 and 2003, Overkill delivered twelve full lengths, three EPs and numerous splits and videos. In a little under 25 years the band had been knocking out albums at a rate of approximately one every two years. That is a pretty consistent level of output by any measure and one that saw the band survive the lull following the eighties heyday of thrash metal by branching out into groove metal to keep the New Jersey/New York machine rolling on. Taking a wider view of the whole discography and it is even more remarkable that I can still find releases in there that I have never listened to and so being able to drop any release in by Overkill as a monthly clan feature is hopefully a voyage of discovery for all once we move away from the more infamous releases.

In my thread for this feature release I billed Kill Box 13 as a "post-groove metal" era album from Overkill. This is only half true since although thrash metal plays a part here I get much more groove metal on Kill Box 13 than I do conventional thrash metal. In fairness to Overkill, retaining that groove metal element was inevitable really. It had seen them through three or so releases and so was obviously an embedded part of their sound by this point. As I reflect on the last run through of the record I did, it is the groove metal that sticks in my mind even though the better parts for me are the actual thrash moments.

However, there are a couple of challenges with Kill Box 13 for me that consign the album to the "unlikely to revisit" pile. Firstly, it is too long at ten tracks and fifty minutes in length overall. This coupled with my second major criticism that the album is massively top heavy and almost everything after track six should have been left for a future bonus offering of previously unreleased tracks makes this album something of a damp squib for me. Accepting that the health issues in the band may play more than a part in this release being less than optimal, I still think the content lacks that consistent quality to justify a full length release and although I have not seen anything to suggest it was rushed to meet contractual requirements or the bands simple need to start touring something again, I would not be surprised if something other than artistic integrity drove some of the choices here.

2.5/5

Diocletian "Doom Cult" (2009)

There are some truly punishing listening experiences around in the plethora of extreme metal releases that populate the blackened death metal sub-genre in particular. Here be the home of Portal, Teitanblood and Antediluvian amongst many others, all of whom showcase an unrelenting style of music that defies structure and form and goes for the jugular track-after-track. To be honest, even after 30+ years of listening to metal I am still not sure of the difference between the term "war metal" and the sound emitted by the likes of Diocletian and we all know how much I hate genre pedantry so feel free to shake your head in silent disgust as I refer to this primitive style of music minus any correct "it" terms.

New Zealanders Diocletian are a tricky concept for some. Not in the least due to the fact that the vocalist at the time of Doom Cult (V. Kusabs) has since been convicted of possession and distribution of child pornography. Sometimes our exploration of the extreme side of music takes us to even darker places than we thought possible unfortunately. Focussing on the music though, Doom Cult is truly an exploration of unbridled terror done with drums, bass, guitars and some ghastly vocals thrown in for good measure. If you are looking for any semblance of production values then you are in the wrong place altogether as this has been left outside the door along with discernible vocals, structured riffs and any hope of variation.

This in fact, is probably one of the few occasions all tracks merging into one in a chaotic blur works well. Everything does get thrown at the wall here and the fetid, gloopy mess that sticks is here for the duration, all thirty-three minutes of it. There are some more memorable moments when the band adopt a more military style approach to their rhythms here and there but overall, to truly enjoy this record you have to be willing to let it assault you. There might not be a lot of mastery about the attack but it does not make it any less effective.

4/5

Dark Funeral "Where Shadows Forever Reign" (2016)

An internet acquaintance of mine often referred to Dark Funeral with ill-disguised disgust. He often referred to their sound as being “blasting for, blasting’s sake”. Dark Funeral have been a missing part of my black metal education for virtually the whole time I have listened to extreme metal – and that has nothing to do with my online friend’s less than positive experience of them. What little I have heard has never served to separate them as being standout from say Marduk or 1349 and so they have never been given a full listen through before the Review Draft picks this month.

Upon first listen to Where Shadows Forever Reign, I can understand the “blasting” reference described above, although I do not entirely agree with the sentiment that this is overdone in anyway. Where Shadows Forever Reign is as conventional as you could hope to hear in the black metal stratosphere. It pulls no punches and sticks to a tried and tested formula without falling into the trap of just being the same the whole way through. This is not to say that there is not a large amount of repetition on here, but the nuances are subtle enough to make this an album that rewards with each listen. I would still tout that a bit more variation would not go amiss (or at least a trim on the track listing to bring this under 40 mins overall) but what is on display here is of sound enough quality that it almost works over the album duration.

It has taken me four or five listens to fully get my head around this record, but my enjoyment has increased with each listen. The loose sense of atmospherics and dissonance, coupled with the crude melodicism makes for an interesting listen as it is not like any of these elements get fully explored or developed too far beyond those more traditional black metal elements. It is more likely they are continually flirted with and teased at. The twin guitar attack to my ears should beef things up more but this record is a real machine when it gets going still and the vocals of Erik Andreas Vingbäck are of note.

Listening to this record has piqued my interest in the band enough for me to explore more of their discography but I still think they will end up outside of my core bm listening – just as 1349 are in all honesty.

3.5/5

January =

Anthrax  - "Caught In A Mosh" (from "Among the Living", 1986)

Prong - "Snap Your Finger Snap Your Neck" (from "Cleansing", 1994)

Impalers - "Prepare For War" (from "God from the Machine", 2015)

Testament - "Absence of Light" (from "Souls of Black", 1990)

Terrörhammer -  "Graveyard Witch" (from "Under the Unholy Command", 2015)

Oxygen Destroyer - "Cleansing the Earth of Humanity's Existence" (from "Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death", 2020)

Testament - "Souls of Black" (1990)

Souls of Black was (according to Chuck Billy) written and recorded in a rush to get the band on the European leg of The Clash of the Titans tour with Slayer, Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies. It sounds like it in all honesty. From the off you cannot fail to hear the scratchy sound to the guitars and the overall compression on all the production, with tinny drums and too much echo on Chuck’s vocals. Given the experience of Michael Rosen in the production chair and the late Tom Coyne covering mixing duties this is a surprising outcome but one that somehow does not entirely ruin Souls of Black.

Over repeated listens, the album has grown on me. It will never be a regular play though because (production issues aside) it is so inconsistent. This must be down to the hectic nature of the album being put together as Chuck describes, even though this is clearly a thrash metal record, it sounds rushed and that cannot be hidden by the sheer intensity of the rhythms that the band deploys. When the band are on point (Absence of Light, One Man’s Fate, Malpractice and the title track) they truly do motor at a huge rate of knots. However, the rest of the album is just filler with a smattering of promise of greater things littered largely throughout the lead work of Alex and Eric.

By comparison, Louie Clemente seems lost in the mix, occasionally bobbing his head above the squall to remind us he is there pounding away. Despite being audible he somehow lacks presence on the record. Greg’s bass is also able to be heard – if not in a muffled sense – but overall, no instrument escapes the poor production job. The most obvious element is still Chuck’s booming vocals that get enough restraint from the production to the benefit of the album overall, but they sound detached from the rest of the band’s performances, like they were over-layered as an afterthought somehow.

Not the best Testament record they have ever done but still has some enjoyable elements to remember even if they are not enough to bring me back for repeat visits.

3/5

Ah missed this thread.  Good to have you aboard.

My point is: if no new bands were to be formed, creative development of metal would come to a halt for good. And again, this principle can be applied to any field of human interests, which is what makes Nergal's remark so idiotic.

I don't think we have met before.  Welcome to the MA site, hope you stick around and chew the fat some more.

Some interesting points in your post, however I think there is a fair argument to say that "new band" does not always equal "creative development" though.  Every new band that gets together does not push the boundaries of music, in fact you only have to look at the "retro" scenes in say thrash or death metal to prove that.  I would even go as far as to consider that an excess of new bands actually leads to a reduction of creative development.  Scenes grow and die out usually seeing some kind of revival within 10 or 15 years.  That's not creative development though, that's regurgitation.

I don't think he is "dictating" anything and let's just caveat that I am no huge fan of Nergal or Behemoth so feel no obligation to defend him - and the irony of this statement coming from a well established and commercially successful artist from within the world of music is not lost on me either - but there is a lot of sense to what he is saying.  Even without the pandemic or the global financial crisis the career of a musician is limited.  Nothing wrong with doing what you love of course but it does not mean that this will put bread on the table.

Of course there's too much of everything.  Humanity is greedy by nature and the need to satiate that hunger inevitably leads to excess of everything, it is not idiotic to call that out though, in fact it is the very theme that runs throughout many metal act's lyrical content.  I have listened to metal for over 30 years and so I have been around the block a few times and I am tired of trying to keep up.  I accept that this is my problem and clearly differs from others views but there is nothing wrong with looking at what you have got in whatever form your music collection takes and just sticking with that.

January = 

Altarage  - "Rift" (from "Endinghent", 2017)

Amorphis - "Vulgar Necrolatry" (from "Karelian Isthmus", 1992)

Asphyx - "M.S. Bismark" (from "Last One on Earth", 1992)

Autopsy - "Severed Survival" (from "Severed Survival", 1989)

Acephalix - "Postmortem Punishment" (from "Theothanatology", 2022)

Diocletian - "Antichrist Hammerfist" (from "Doom Cult", 2009)

Ulcerate - "Abrogation" (from "Shrines of Paralysis", 2016)

For clarity, I have been working my way through my CDs this past month which are stored in alphabetical order, hence the glut of bands starting with "a" on the list.

I will take Dark Funeral.

Easy one for me.  Diocletian all day long.