UnhinderedbyTalent's Reviews

As I get older the lines of my listening habits appear to blur all the more easily.  I could have sworn that I had made my mind up a long time ago that Converge were not for me.  All the furore surrounding Jane Doe was completely lost on me. Largely due to Bannon's vocal style just not really convincing me that he had the power in his pipes to punch at this weight.  I don't recall much else about that record if I am honest, I find that if I pick out one element of something that I really don't like I am either dismissive of the whole or spend an eternity trying to look past the element of dissatisfaction until the whole thing clicks or I end up lamenting on losing hours of my life for no real positive outcome.

It's fair to say that I enjoy You Fail Me a lot more than I was expecting to.  The hardcore punk elements shine through really well and keep me interested when things have gone a bit sour (In Her Shadow being a particular sour point on the album for me).  As an album it has a consistency in terms of intensity that is quite alluring.  However, at the same time it has a draining aspect to it also, meaning that I am sort of grateful that it is over when the record finishes.  That is not supposed to be as negative a statement as it probably sounds, more me pointing out that the transferral of emotion from the artist to the listener here is done really well.  Converge give you something to take away and think about, hold in your hands, flip over a few times and remember its ugly yet enticing content.

Still there's moments were Bannon gets on my tits still but his bandmates rescue him on most occasions.  I mean Ben Koller is simply fantastic with his explosive style and is definitely the standout performance here for me.  Ballou's riffing has the standard metalcore/mathcore elements present but I also like the odd groovy riff that comes into play every now and again.  I don't hear a lot of bass on most tracks (maybe this is why they remixed the album and re-released it?).  I mean, I know it is there most definitely but it does seem to struggle for presence on most tracks.

So, I have added this into my stream which is not something that I would ever thought a possibility in all honesty.  The fact is though that this album packs a real punch and the bruising does not fade very quickly at all.

Ah compilations. The money spinner for record labels to milk acts for all they are worth, keeping racks at motorway service stations stocked with CDs for those long drives or (depending on your mindset) to keep the most avid of collectors occupied. Advertised as the “lost” tracks of Danzig, I soon got to understanding that the only thing lost here was the need to release something, indeed anything from Danzig.

This is just a collection of what sound like demo quality jam sessions and tracks that got left on the cutting room floor and just got swept up and dropped in a box that someone mistakenly stored instead of throwing out. It is clear from listening through just a few tracks that most of these tracks are not complete (maybe that is where the “lost” bit comes in) in terms of ideas or the full rounding of what they started out to do.

First touted as a release by Glenn in 1999 these “b-sides, covers & rarities” are of mixed value and it is hard to say that the eight-year wait was worth it. Listening to it as a fan of Danzig who does not usually seek out this level of artefact detail in a band’s discography it is hard to feel anything other than a bit overwhelmed by this release. I mean it is twenty-six tracks long for a start and given the peaks and troughs over that number of tracks it is a bit much to sit through in one go. I found I had to break up the listen into three sittings. In terms of quality, it genuinely is not terrible, certainly when considering most of the content was not always intended for public consumption at first iteration. Considering the years this spans over the bands career (from first demo in 1987 all the way up to 2004’s Circle of Snakes) you would arguably expect more duds in all honesty. It is still very inconsistent though and therefore hard to pick on any thread to latch hold of really.

I genuinely think the release only suffers due to its form as opposed to any overall quality issues. These were tracks already not deemed worthy of inclusion on releases that span over seventeen years, so this review was never about uncovering any end-to-end brilliant record. What it does do successfully is showcase Danzig’s dark penchant for writing gloomy yet infectious music. Hazy and fuzzy riffs seem to bleed across the album as percussion elements beat out their usual thunderous cabaret. Glenn’s trademark throaty croon compliments most tracks well, although on at least one acoustic piece they do grate more than a little. Covering tracks by the likes of T. Rex, Bowie and The Germs there is an element of variety in here and it is interesting to hear Danzig’s take on these. The tracks are stronger when they stick to their own macabre brand of dark rock/metal, blending doom, elements of stoner and traditional heavy metal as we know they can do so well.

This compilation is worth a listen for the collectors out there, however its relevance to the more casual fan is severely diminished in comparison. In the latter scenario you will notice the occasions where Glenn’s vocals don’t appear to be mixed properly and he feels like he is sat outside of the main proceedings. Hard to give anything above a three though.

There’s few death metal bands out there who can boast the list of names that Massacre have had in their ranks over the past thirty seven years. A speed/heavy/power metal band until the arrival of Kam Lee and Allen West saw the band adopt death metal as their chosen style, the band have had one of the most tumultuous histories in terms of line-up changes and legal disputes. Amazingly still active to this day the band for me only ever really put out one significant release, From Beyond in 1991.

This album showcased the layered vocals of Kam Lee brilliantly. Lee is considered by many as being the founding father of the “death growl” on the band’s 1986 demo Aggressive Tyrant. His vocal style has graced the ranks of Death (as backing vocals and he also did drums) as far back as 1984 and his Nattravnen project as recently as 2018. Listen to From Beyond though and you will hear all manner of sounds that showed commonality with existing behemoths such as Obituary, Morbid Angel and Master.

Now let us be clear here, From Beyond is not that unique an album. You won’t find anything on here that wasn’t done on Slowly We Rot, Master’s self-titled, or even Cancer’s To The Gory End the previous two years to Massacre’s debut coming out. What you will find distinctive is Lee’s vocals but also the gnarly edge to proceedings. Those riffs could easily open cuts on your cheeks and brows if you were stood too close to them but overall, the album has an intensity to it that is relentless. They intersperse the odd song with an intro here and there but mostly this is pound for pound a heavyweight death metal record that is out to do some harm.

With Terry Butler handling bass duties, Rick Rozz on guitar and Bill Andrews on drums (the latter two being founding members) it is kind of hard to expect anything else really. These were all established musicians, responsible for some of the most extreme metal of the time who had worked on the superb Leprosy or Spiritual Healing albums with Chuck Schuldiner and therefore brought a wealth of experience to the table (some of it built in Massacre and further developed in Death). This was death metal royalty of the time, and it shows on From Beyond. Notwithstanding that it is not entirely unique in sound it is so very well put together, so clearly thought through and planned in terms of composition and writing that it just cannot fail to make any death metal fan sit up and take notice of it.

Rozz’s riffs have a thrashy edge to them most definitely and probably are nearer to Master’s brand of death/thrash – albeit they are slightly more coherent and stable in comparison. Andrews does a sterling job as you would expect behind the skins, and it sounds like he was able to transpose the energy and enthusiasm he has for the genre onto the record. It is easy to track his performance across all nine tracks and he remains audible in the more intense passages and unobtrusive on the calmer stretches. Butler’s subtle twangy bass is harder to pick out at first but it is there when you knuckle down to the whole listening experience and you can pick it out clearly if you concentrate.

There is a cavernous depth to Lee’s vocals that reverberate around in the same abyss that the rest of the instruments dwell in. The whole album sounds like it was recorded underground, on moving tectonic plates. It has a rumble to it throughout the album but also a feeling of dread and of doom (not sounding like doom though) accompanies pretty much all the album. As a result, it has a grimy feel to it, sounding like it was recorded to make you feel uncomfortable. It is like whilst it is clubbing you over the head with unhindered vigour at the same time it is stroking your cheek or running a clawed finger around the circumference of your lips.

Whilst it holds an undeniable macabre charm to it, From Beyond does still have its limitations and I cannot say I play it all that often when compared with some of the other bands I mention above. At the end of the day, it does not put a foot wrong, but it also does not distance itself all that well from what was available in abundance at the time already and as great as it is there is not much justification for calling it a classic. Most of the band’s members had arguably exhausted their best output in Death by the time they ever got around to committing their own material to tape. Therefore, From Beyond’s legacy seems to be that it will forever be known as an often overlooked death metal album from the genre’s heyday.

With their debut album being my gateway record into death metal, it was odd that I never bothered with their sophomore until many years after its release.  Part of this was due to my inconsistent income as a teenager and also my ever changing tastes/band interests at the time.  Naturally, when I eventually caught up with Cause of Death I was impressed to hear that it was superior to the debut by some distance.  In the course of just over a year Obituary matured a lot.  Whereas Slowly We Rot opened my mind up to reaches of metal that I had never imagined possible, the follow up made no attempt to push those boundaries any further and just focused instead on showing how well they had learned their trade and how devastating they could be with death metal.

If I am honest, I can't remember Cause of Death track by track like I can for (virtually) all of the debut album.  This is in no small part due to the fact that it represents much less of a nostalgia item than it predecessor.  By the time I had gotten to this record I had consumed the likes of Deicide, Morbid Angel and Bolt Thrower to name but a few and so was hardly likely to be flat knocked on my arse like I was by their first album where I had heard zero death metal at the time.  However, despite having heard all those other death metal albums there still was an obvious superiority to Cause of Death.  It had taken all the consistent and good parts of what came before it and developed them to masterpieces of death metal.  Whereas the debut at times felt a bit scattergun in composition, this album had clearly much more form to it.  In constructing that well-structured record they had not lost any of their otherworldly appeal either, with Tardy's vocals sounding just as alien and horrific as before.  The main difference this time around was the loss of those tracks that came in at under two minutes or somehow peddled just over three minutes like some grind mentality was adopted at the start, replaced now instead by tracks pushing the five and a half or six minute boundaries.

This spoke volumes for the maturity but also confidence of the band at the time, grasping that unique sound of just fifteen months before and honing into more invested structures.  Now, fresh off his work on Spiritual Healing in February of the same year, James Murphy's inclusion in the band (in replacement of Allen West) is undoubtedly a contributing factor in the success of this record.  We also saw the late Frank Watkins replace Daniel Tucker on bass.  Although still in the very early stages of his career and yet to become well known for the technical focus he had on his music, it is safe to say that Frank's inclusion in the ranks also helped to further stabilise this groups astonishing potential and help that be realised on this record.  Let's also not forget that by 1990 the group had been early progenitors of the Tampa death metal scene for six years in one guise or another so had a god few years of experience under their belt.

Unafraid to use a variety of pace, Obituary could build a looming sense of dread just like the best death/doomsters could before following through on that threat by instantly switching to a frenzied attack like all the best slasher flicks.  The riffs positively motored on early Obituary albums but had real clutch control to boot, with the band able to drop down a gear or two to really emphasise that even in the most furious of moments they still had that constant and underlying menace about them.  The sonics here are woven into the fabric of the tracks.  They don't just start or appear as such, instead they sound like they just pick up momentum and volume, occupying the space around the vocals and other instruments like they have always been there but you somehow have missed them. 

Although a more refined affair, you can still hear similarities with the likes of Autopsy as well as of course early Death (helped in no small part by Murphy I suspect) on the record which altogether gave the album a real grounded, relevant and familiar feel - certainly at the time - like Obituary were clearly running shoulder to shoulder with the big hitters of the fast emerging death metal scene.  This record was the high-point of Obituary's career and one that probably saw them peak far too soon (listen to any of their output from the last six or seven years and you'll hear yards of unexpected quality that just somehow only comes in spurts nowadays). 

As a death metal record this is probably one of the most important in the development of the genre.  Its effortlessly put together and yet sounds like months of prep went into it at the same time, like going into recording this was all second nature to a seriously talented bunch of young guys.

Okay, after my emotional review of the massively overrated Abigail I have elected to get the Mercyful Fate review that is part of the same clan challenge out of the way in the same night.  Now, it is safe to say that In The Shadows starts better than expected.  Opener Egypt has kind of an interesting structure to it and goes through the options of pace and variety (of guitar style) almost effortlessly.  It holds my interest over KD's vocals that for the main part are thankfully not his usual high-pitched keening style and as a result he doesn't distract me as much as usual.

I mean normal service is soon resumed on The Bell Witch with his cringey, spoken word vocals and shrieking wails grating like nails on a chalk board.  His attempts to sound menacing again falling really short on how he probably thinks they sound.  Shermann and Denner's riffing and lead work are exceptional though and are clearly the driving force when allowed some air time over the vocals.  You can feel the fire and venom behind the riffs and melodies that the duo fire on The Old Oak and that urgent, pressing riff really drives the track forwards, kept perfectly in pace with the drums of Nielsen.  This tells me what I always knew to be right, that despite me acknowledging KD to be a poor vocalist, he is carried well by his comrades in Mercyful Fate (on this record at least).  This feels like a heavy metal record instead of some hastily thrown together, shabby riff collection with someone crooning over the top like with most of KD's output.

This is not to say that I am madly in love with In The Shadows - there's still the problem of me just being unable to get along with the vocal style.  However, the other band members are allowed time to shine a bit and this makes for a better album as the real talent starts to come through.  The odd (tango-like) riffing of Shadows is actually a welcome source of drama beyond what usually solely comes out of KD's mouth.  On this track he just ends up mumbling like some demented old man an occasion and it actually works because enough momentum has been built up by the music to give him some relevant space.  This assertion of KD's place in the music is important in helping me (finally) start to gain some entertainment from Mercyful Fate's music.

I still think it is unnecessarily dramatic but I am often snapped back into some semblance of attention on a consistent basis by those guitars.  Detract from the six strings wizardry as they still inevitably do, KD's vocals are marginally more palatable because there is focus permitted away from them.  Lyrically it is a naive record (not sure if this is a concept album but its clunky lyric writing make it sound like one) written to embellish the dark fantasy of the album no doubt but still coming of as laughable overall.  When the band stop fucking around and just play heavy metal it is actually far more entertaining and it is this aspect alone that boosts the rating for the record to the level that it does.  Play it to me as an instrumental only and you might get a half mark more (although the instrumental track on here is a bit too all over the place for my liking).

I know, there's no pleasing me!  

I really hate King Diamond's vocal style.  I mean detest it.  It is the finest example of an artist being all image and no substance that I can think to reference.  Most of my peers fawn over his falsetto, wailing style and laughable attempts to inject theatre into virtually every sentence in every song on every album, blah, blah, blah, but I simply can't stand him.

Seeing Abigail and In The Shadows come up on this clan challenge genuinely made me think about not bothering to complete it but I decided to be a grown up and take one (or two as it happens) for the team and sit through his sophomore (again).  Just in case you are reading this with some hope that something has snapped into place and I am now sat here kicking myself for being a clot for all these years then save yourself some internet time and go and read something more positive than this.  Maybe the obituary page in the local newspaper?

Joking aside I just cannot see the attraction of this album.  Having already decided that Mercyful Fate weren't for me many moons ago, I can see no positive outcome for this album that sounds EXACTLY THE SAME AS ANY MERCYFUL FATE RECORD BECAUSE IT IS JUST KING DIAMOND WAILING LIKE A TRAPPED ANIMAL!!

And breathe.

I accept that not everything on the record is bad, really I do.  Behind the unnecessary constant theatre and incessant drama in virtually every lyric there is a heavy metal album with some half-decent riffs, thumping drums and actually some good ideas on the song writing front  but why oh why does he have to sing like that and just ruin it?  It is not like most of Denner and La Rocque's guitar work is that exceptional either.  In fact I would go as far as to say that on Arrival the guitars are actually out of tune or recorded after one too many beers.

Now, I hear the hardened KD fans shouting at their PC monitors, laptop screens, tablets or phones and telling me that this is a concept album and therefore these amounts of grandiosity are necessary.  They aren't.  I don't know what kind of a character KD is but I would guess that nobody has ever thought to tell him that he's really not up to the mark.  Rob Halford can do this much better, not because he has greater range but simply because he has better control over his voice and knows when to turn the shrieking down.  Bruce Dickinson can also do this much better because he can measure his vocals and offer variety and match mood and pace so well.  With KD we have two levels, wailing uncontrollably or grim spoken word vocals that have more comedy value than metal credentials.

Not even the might Mikkey Dee can hold my interest and his performance here (as it is everywhere he graces the stool with his presence) is superb.  His sense of pace and timing is perfect and his performance is worthy of one whole star on this oh so lowly rated record.

Safe to say I don't like this.

When picking my releases for the featured showcase each month I often come to settle on a particular release for no reason other than I think it is something that others should listen to and experience for themselves.  However, this month's choice was chosen for more selfish reasons in all honesty.  You see I swing easily on my rating of Charnel Passages and find it can change usually depending on which way the wind is blowing on a particular day.  This sounds perhaps a negative assessment on Cruciamentum's debut album (their only full-length in thirteen years), however it is not intended as such.  Anyway, more on my struggles with this record later but the point I wanted to emphasise early on in my review is that this is an album that I was genuinely interested to read other MA member's thoughts on by way of comparison to my own and maybe help me understand my battles with it.

There's a heap of reasons why I would be drawn to Cruciamentum.  Hell, anyone who has been paying attention to my reviews/posts can see this is right up my street.  Enough nods to Bolt Thrower to keep the British Death Metal fan in me tickled pink, coupled with atmospherics applied by what sound like the hands of Morbid Angel themselves and with the addition of lashings of Dead Congregation, Incantation and Grave Miasma to boot, Charnel Passages has my name stamped all over it.  It is important to add that I don't see this band as being guilty of worship of anyone else either (including the bands mentioned above); Charnel Passages is enough of a death metal heavyweight in its own right to be able to stand its own ground in an arena of many other similarly influenced bands.  To my ears this is not mere regurgitation of old ideas done by someone else 30 years ago, instead the four piece offer the application of influence to their own sound which remains at the core of their offering.

It is very easy to draw out influences on most death metal albums (there's only a few genuinely influential bands out there so they are bound to come up often) but I view Cruciamentum as perhaps one of the most responsible progenitors of death metal, taking time to apply their influences to their music as opposed to just pouring them all over it.  For all the Karl Willetts I hear in the vocals I also hear snippets of Portal in the guitars.  For all the Morbid Angel I hear in the sonics I also get the churn of Finnish death metal in the rumbling rhythms and riffs on those very same tracks.  Also worthy of note, Dani Ben-Haim on drums is a fucking demon - I know this already from his work on Grave Miasma, however the contribution to the pace and atmospheres here is astonishing.  Indeed, as a unit the band are tight.  The subtle yet noteworthy changes in pace are all executed well and tracks feel like they are being driven forwards by all the instruments as a cohesive force.  The mournful wail of the guitars on Dissolution of Mortal Perception is s truly hair-raising moment for me and whilst I can make no attempt to suggest that I haven't heard alike before, it is just done so well.

And here lies the conflict of the album.  Some days it is too much like other things I have heard (I listen to a lot of extreme metal in my defence) in the past and I do start to lean towards thinking this is just worship.  But then on other days I hear the quality in the musicianship and can dispel such thoughts with ease.  What I think is needed is probably a little more of a blackened edge to proceedings as this is were the majority of the Grave Miasma influences come in.  The risk here then of course is that we have another Grave Miasma record.  At the end of the day though there is nothing wrong with doing death metal well, regardless of which era/sub-genre you pick from.  Cruciamentum stay authentic to their influences, doing the reference points real justice.

There really is no other era of Skid Row other than Sebastian Bach-era Skid Row is there?  The shit that got put out by the band post-Subhuman Race really bears no resemblance to any of their first three records.  The fact is, Bach was the icing on the cake for a bunch of sleazy cock-rockers with a penchant for making hard-hitting and punchy hard-rock and metal.  For all of Hill and Sabo's efforts on guitar their riffs, licks and leads hardly surpassed average and it was usually Bach's full frontal attack vocals that drove the band forwards.  On their sophomore I would suggest that he (again) more than carries his fair share of the workload, taking some solid enough songs and elevating them that extra mile to make them memorable.

Whilst Slave To The Grind is notably a step down from the quality of the debut album it still retains some of that youthful exuberance albeit it does sometimes direct this into goofy tracks such as the cringey Quicksand Jesus (one of the few tracks that the guitars save Bach) which is poorly written and obviously lacks finesse.  Similarly, Get The Fuck Out screams G n' R wannabees with the emphasis on shock overriding any real focus on album composition.

Single fodders such as In A Darkened Room and Wasted Time haven't aged well in all honesty and are only minorly less of a cringe-fest than the aforementioned Quicksand Jesus, however the one consistent element that in the main makes things more palatable is Bach's pipes.  Yes, the guitars maintain a nice hi-tempo where appropriate and also can cause those melancholic moments to linger a little while longer with their bluesy tone on the slower numbers and Bolan's bass is a virtual ever present plonk and rumble across the record, it is Bach's performance that stays with you.  On tracks like Living on a Chain Gang he utterly delivers, driving the energy forwards across one of the best tracks on the album.

Rob Affuso's drums sound a bit lost in all honesty.  There's a flatness to them that makes them sound like they weren't washed in the same energetic detergent that the rest of the instruments were.  This isn't to say his performance is bad, it just takes a proper sift into the record to kind of pick them up.  For all of my praise of Bach, one thing that occurred to me today was how rushed his vocals can sound on some tracks here.  This gives a sense often of wantonness in terms of the delivery, like he knows how good he is and doesn't really care how well the delivery fits in with everything else.

Fifteen year old me would probably have this album rated higher than a three but then again that's the gift/curse of growing old - you hear things through different ears in all honesty.  When I set aside the nostalgia and really listen, the album doesn't come alive in quite the same way that it used to.

It's 1995 and we have had the technical wizardy of Nocturnus as well as the progressive structuring of Atheist reach the shores of Portugal. Here, death/thrash metallers Disaffected are just dropping album number one after four years of demos (well all in 1992 actually) and the record reeks of both the aforementioned bands to high heaven.  Unable to avoid wearing their influences on their sleeves, Disaffected churn out twelve tracks of technical and progressive death metal that include one Acheron cover and an instrumental to boot.

There's a fair old amount of Death in here also but the keyboards of Fatima Jeronimo (yes really) add a much more atmosphere tinged experience to most tracks adding to this sense of the ethereal alongside the fluid and precise guitar playing which lends from Schuldiner heavily in places but feels like a genuine celebration as opposed to wankery worship.  Nearly all the tracks have this air of mystery to them and use great builds to achieve the dizzy heights of some fine death metal.  Other influences creep in, such as Morbid Angel (just fleetingly, here and there) as well as the more consistent Edge of Sanity references.  Throughout all of this though, Disaffected manage to stand out as talented, skilled musicians who can carry off al these parts and not fluff them or make them boring.

As such, it is an album that defies structure in terms of a consistent form across the record.  The chaos of Phelebotomized minus the slower, doom elements springs to mind when listening to some of the more avant-garde aspects to the record.  Wherever the band's sound takes you as a listener there is absolutely no doubt that the band have some real bite and intensity to their sound, with solid riffing often forming part of some (largely twisted) backbone to songs from which eruptions or off-shoots often form to avoid the feeling of safety ever becoming present.  The disorienting bloops and blips in the middle of The Praxis of the non-Being are unexpected in a track that whilst it most definitely does go off-piste is also very riff based at the same time.  Instrumental track Allusion is an enticing and beautiful piano piece that I have to say is quite unexpected, but the furious and bestial riffing of Dead Like My Dreams that immediately follows this is even more unexpected.  Here, again are the blooping keys (along with some odd tribal drumming) but this time it detracts from the music a little too much in my book.

You are required to focus a lot on Vast otherwise you will miss something and wonder how you went from that swirling technical alchemy to a straight up riff fest.  The prog elements tend to arc of the tracks like solar flares.  You know they are bright and attention grabbing if not potentially very dangerous but you can always see where they originated from.  This is the beauty of Vast, it is a very rewarding album that is not just focused on trying to outwit the listener, more there's a feeling that it is always trying to entertain you.

It isn't perfect, and last sentence before this withstanding, I do get lost sometimes - even at my most focussed.  But for an album I found completely at random, I can't recall how often I have felt this rewarded by a release from a completely unknown band.

The concept of blackened doom is still relatively a new to me.  Having been off exploring Yith and Mizmor in recent months/years I have been meaning to branch out further into this niche sub-genre. The enchanting melancholy of the doom matches perfectly the enchanting melancholy of black metal (fittingly) and I find it odd that I didn't connect the two as a blended form of metal until recently.

This journey of discovery saw me stumble across Lowered.  Hailing from Portland (which increasingly seems to be a geographical reference in most new music I find nowadays) this three-piece play the doom well utilising the kind of sludgy movement and structure to tracks as opposed to outright sounding all that sludgy all the time.  What tends to happen is the blackened elements elevate the doom aspects to the sound, shrouding it in further misery and nihilistic mentality.

The album sounds very destructive and violent throughout, with explosions of surging tremolos over blastbeats being tempered by slower more calculated misery to give a real sense of a dual attack of differing yet equally effective means.  Vocalist Anna has a very dark and raw style that borders on death metal a lot of the time.  The climbing riffs of Nate McLeary (of Ossuarium fame - who also does bass here) add expansion to the sound and the solid yet suitably murky drums of Ian Makau (Black Hole of Calcutta guitarist and sometimes vocalist) are strong in their entrenched mire supporting the rhythm of each song well.

The downside is really that a lot of this sounds the same and only the final song really stands out for me.  Call of the Moon is a big looming monster of an album closer that kills off any last vestiges of hope with its devastating riffs and earth-splitting drums.  In all honesty, overall I would like a bit more atmosphere and a lot less sludge but I can't deny those doomy tones make for an interesting listen.

It is with a heavy heart that I must confess to not enjoying the opening track on Kvitravn.  I have heard a lot of Wardruna in my time and the dark ambience of their equally gloomy folk music is what really appeals to me, this ethereal beauty of their music is mesmerising to me.  Hearing their latest opus commence with an upbeat, positive sounding number, Synkverv is disappointing and unexpected.

Thankfully this is the only track that sets a foot wrong and the rest of the album is absolutely pristine in terms of quality and outright touching and emotive song writing.  Highlights such as the title track with its haunting strings and shadowy female vocals, Skugge with its tribal tendencies and the superbly sultry Grá all land in the first four tracks of the record, setting a high standard which is well maintained through to the end of the album.

This feels like a real coming of age record, which is ironic because for my money Wardruna have rarely put a foot wrong.  This album just has this sense of majesty to it, with the traditional and minimalist instrumentation gelling perfectly with the atmospherics to create a truly consuming experience that is beyond just mere listening to music.  I am fortunate enough to live near some woods and get to walk through them most days and listening to Kvitravn during these morning ambles through nature is one of life's absolute pleasures.

Equally though I can still feel that connection to nature and indeed the history being expressed here just by sitting in my lounge or office and putting this album on.  One of the few real listening experiences I have heard this year so far and it has come from a non-metal release.

My first encounter with Danish death metallers Baest has been interesting to say the least.  Their third full-length release, Necro Sapiens is a strong piece of death metal that is heavy on the groovy riffs and has a big sound from start to finish courtesy of a great production job from Andreas Linneman.  From album opener (proper) Genesis it is clear that this album is brimming with attitude and energy, both of which spew forth in every riff and every guttural gurn.  The main riff to this track in particular mines the very depths of the earth itself it seems whilst being melodic enough to stick in the brain for hours afterwards.

For a band from Denmark, there's an obvious Swedish sound to proceedings with the vocals in particular reminding me of Nick Holmes era Bloodbath but there's also smatterings of Entrails and Vomitory littered throughout the record as well as an excellent penchant to drop into a Bolt Thrower style jog for some real variety as well.  As a result there is a sense of completeness to most tracks, like they have explored many possible boundaries before deciding on the final outcome for a particular track.

Unafraid to launch songs with grand openings, Baest regularly start tracks with huge riffs (Czar) which lean towards a more death/doom style of metal but these tracks don't always maintain the momentum that gets built early on in these instances and as a result there aren't many tracks that as a whole can be remembered - more just bits of the record (but lots of bits).  This sits as perhaps my one criticism of the album.  Although there's variety spread throughout the record that sense of completeness is only in the immediate sense as you listen to the record.  I sit here after listening through a track and enjoy most of it but then can't always remember why.  When I go back and spin through again the same high points hit me but the overall experience lacks the completeness suggested in the individual parts of the track listing.

That having been said, Necro Sapiens rarely actually falters.  As an in your face, banging death metal record it ticks all the boxes and is delivered with a quality that most bands can only dream of (at three albums in to a six year career that's actually impressive enough a feat) and it is clear that these are musicians who know their stuff.  It strikes me as one of the more melodic non-melodeath albums I have heard in all honesty but never once does that melody sacrifice the energy or imposing nature of the sound.  I'm impressed.

This is the first (and perhaps only) Metal Church record I had any time for.  With the departure of David Wayne and the arrival of Mike Howe I heard a settling of the Metal Church song writing - which is odd because the majority of Blessing in Disguise was written by the still present Kurdt Vanderhoof (who wasn't a full time band member at this point), John Marshall and Craig Wells.  Marshall was Vanderhoof's replacement and came from good stead having been Metallica's guitar roadie (already having stood in for Hetfield in 1986 after James went one way and his skateboard the other) and he also had a brief stint in Blind Illusion.

The new blood in the band certainly grounded things in comparison to their previous two full-lengths which to me lacked consistency and power overall (the lack of the latter being due to the lack of momentum from the former).  Although album number three was not perfect by any means it was a step up for me and one that I do find myself revisiting more than any other.  Worth mentioning here is that my attention is grabbed from the off by the great Fake Healer which is racy and aggressive and oozes quality which carries well into the more measured Rest In Pieces...and despite the clunky lyrical structure to Of Unsound Mind it does fit the title well and kind of still fits in with a strong opening.

In fact I only think the album really comes unstuck at around the instrumental track It's A Secret which although is energetic it lacks substance overall and heralds the weaker part of the album over these final three tracks.  Album closer The Powers That Be is perhaps the worst track on here in all honesty.  It feels overall that more thought went into this record than on previous outings, like the band had matured and learned from previous mistakes, exercising some quality control if not entirely managing to pull it off across all of the album.  This album feels like an accurate summary of the band in terms of their career for me.  They always promised so much and got plaudits and accolades galore but I was never entirely sure why, had they been able to make more albums like this and control line-up changes better then maybe they would occupy a more heady status in my opinion.

Grip Inc. and I don’t get on. There, I said it. They are just one of those bands that I have never been able to connect the hype to the output they deliver. I cannot go as far as to say that all their stuff is bad, not by any means but I have always been completely underwhelmed by the late Gus Chambers and he is such an integral part of the band’s sound it is kind of hard to look past his performance.

At times on Nemesis he reminds me so much of a less capable Tom Araya I have to check I haven’t got shuffle on Spotify active and it is playing me post Seasons In The Abyss material from Slayer. This vocal challenge is by no means the overarching experience of Nemesis I want to share. However, the fact is that although the album has some real potential built on some solid ideas and robust performances from Lombardo (is he capable of anything other than brilliance?) this album happens to be one of the worst structured records I have heard in a long while.

Compositionally the record is all over the place which is not something I would always have a problem with but this variety in track-length and tempo is just really confusing and at times the album feels like a demo with a glut of ideas just thrown together. At times it feels like a groove metal record delivered like a Discharge album only without any authentic gnarl or grit behind it. Yes, Soryctha’s guitar work is admirable and (again) Lombardo is as clinical as you would expect him to be but it all just feels like a jam session that got recorded and released.

It is a collection of songs to my ears, not really an album so to speak. It lacks cohesion and structure which results in a disjointed and rough listening experience

I have already seen Celestial Sanctuary heralded as part of the "New Wave of British Death Metal" (whatever that is)?  From listening to the pleasing familiarity of the early 90's death metal sounds present on their debut full-length, it isn't difficult to see where the comparisons to such champions of that style come from.  Thick with the Bolt Thrower and influence, Soul Diminished plays mid-tempo death metal that is groovy and instantaneously memorable.  A real plug in and play record.

Hailing from Cambridge, United Kingdom the band are a mere two years into their existence but sound like a group that has been together a lot longer and a collection of artists who have tread the circuit over a number of years.  With two of the band being members of crossover/thrash metal band Road Mutant there's clear cohesion between the four piece and although I am not familiar with his work or his main band The Infernal Sea, drummer James Burke gives a strong performance.  Likewise guitarist Matt Adnett has played live with Voices and The King is Blind so there's a solid foundation here.

This feels like a beefy record with real power behind the punches that they make no effort to pull.  Built on a solid foundation of death metal influences that aren't hard to decipher there's almost an unapologetic arrogance to the record but at the same time the sheer accessibility of it - without sacrificing grit - makes such an ethos forgivable.  I can't get away from the fact that it lacks some marked differences from track to track and even after a few listens this doesn't offer up any surprises that you might have missed on the first few spins.

Still, for a band so immature in their establishment they are exciting and brimming with promise.  I am unsure if this is a permanent project or a side-project of underground artists but I hope either way we get more smoke out of the chimney soon.

Suffocation's Despise The Sun EP occupies an awkward spot in the band's discography.  Coming three years after the utter triumph that was Pierced From Within and also only being an EP meant that it seemed to get overlooked more often than not in the extensive back-catalogue of the band.  The band split up post this release, taking a break until 2002 and in fairness it does not sound like a release that was short on ideas or one put together by a band under duress.  As a standalone release the death metal here is as brutal as any fan of the band would like and although I would have liked a full-length to maintain some momentum, I'd take this record alongside Human Waste for smash and grab death metal listening any day.

The success of Pierced From Within was never going to be easy to follow up and I think the guys do a great job here of building on from some of the ideas from the aforementioned album and extending the validity of these over the five tracks on the EP.  The release feels a little more measured than its overtly technical yet brutal predecessor.  It feels like the band are gauging the next steps for their sound and balancing how they progress post one of the greatest death metal albums of the 90's (arguably of all time).

On a shortened format, the danger was always going to be that the shadow of their third full-length would loom too big for them to be able to showcase what they had to offer.  I think though that the three year gap worked in their favour as although there aren't any particularly new ideas or hints at some new direction on here, the release does stand up well and probably marks the last Suffocation release that I have much of any time for.  The sound is fresh and full, hinting at lots of promise still being on offer. It has a sense almost of a reminder being sent out to the world of metal that Long Island's finest were still alive and kicking and capable of delivering some fine death metal still.  

In terms of industrial metal there’s probably only Ministry and Fear Factory that I have any level of familiarity with albeit a very limited scope of ambition to explore the genre that much as a whole regardless.  For the record I love most of what Dino does with his riffs being the very embodiment of metal I usually find but by contrast I don’t have a lot of time for Burton’s vocals and this imbalance tends to undo much of the enjoyment I do manage to glean from Fear Factory releases.

The fact is that Demanufacture is a tale of two halves (not equal, neat halves either).  For most of the record there’s banging industrial tunes full of powerful and gritty riffs and when he’s not trying to rap his way through his lyric sheet, Burton is more than manageable.  Conversely though there is a lot of filler on this record.  There’s two short tracks that literally sound like demo recordings given a coat of glitter on the mixing desk that still can’t make the turds beneath as glamorous as they try to make them.  Then we have Burton shouting his lyrics, exposing the lack of power in his voice, therefore trying to sound edgy comes off as being meek and ineffective in the end.

Crazy though it may sound for a review of an industrial metal album I just can’t cope with the start-stop rhythm of tracks that kill any sense of flow.  Yes, I get that is sort of the point but still some flow is permissible guys.  I just get the sense that without Dixon’s riffs to elevate the tracks there’s not a lot of anything else to hold my interest here, hence we have a short and rather grumpy review.

With Erik Rutan now in the ranks as a fully fledged band member my hopes for Cannibal Corpse's fifteenth full-length were quite high.  Acknowledging that he is an artist of vast experience in the death metal world it seemed logical to expect an obvious impact from him as he joined one of the genres most important bands.  And, let's pick up on this point firstly, Cannibal Corpse are massively important to death metal.  Their first three records really stamped a mark in the genre and although they never quite lived up to that standard (consistently) since, they have continued to enjoy career and that whilst it not my reek of variety they are most certainly not at Amon Amarth levels of predictability in terms of churning out the same record every time.  Love them or hate them CC are virtually a household names and not just for the all the wrong reasons you might think.

Since Kill there has been the return of expectation with any imminent CC release.  Red Before Black wasn't anything special, but it was a consistent record if not a little long and at times predictable.  However, it maintained a presence with a sonic footprint to boot, so surely with Rutan now in the ranks this could only be built on, right?  Well, actually no.  No it doesn't.  The tracks that Rutan is credited for writing are in fact my least favourite.  They feel restrained and unimagined (pun intended - funny fucker aren't I?) in comparison to the few standout tracks on display.

However, even with tracks like Murderous Rampage, Inhumane Harvest and Surround, Kill, Devour  the whole record still comes up short with a real feel of the band just going through the motions for another album (and would be tour in normal times) without taking any inspiration from having one of metal's long-standing six stringers now in their ranks.  The fun element is still there but it feels a little tired this time around and as a result it is an album who's excitement levels are stunted somewhat.

Texans Frozen Soul play a cool (pun intended) brand of chunky death metal with a riff catalogue straight out of the Bolt Thrower playbook with a fair old likeness to the mining intensity of a Tomb Mold or at times even Sanguisugabogg.  Having first caught their demo on Maggot Stomp a couple of years ago it is great to see them have progressed to a major label such as Century Media for the debut full-length.  It's full of that nasty vibe of death metal that motors from track to track with a grinding yet powerful engine backed by a deep bass and cavernous drum sound.  In a way it takes me right back to my first forays into DM back in the 90's, like some modern slant on a trip down memory lane.

Vocalist Chad Green is a fucking monster.  A drummer by trade he sounds like he has been in front of the microphone for years already and has a real commanding presence on the record that doesn't dominate proceedings yet firmly places him at the helm of the sound supported by the huge riffs of Michael Munday and Chris Bonner.  As I mentioned earlier though, this is a real band effort and Matt Dennard does a sterling job on the skins, pacing the tempos brilliantly whilst Samantha Mobley rumbles along with a thick and chunky bass sound that rattles the windows in their frame.

My main criticism is that it is all a bit samey overall.  There's not a lot of variety to separate one track from another and after six tracks I don't necessarily feel that I need another four to get the point if I am honest.  As a result there's a sense of a loss of steam even though the foot remains fully on the gas throughout, as some ideas get regurgitated over different tracks and I am guessing in a couple of more albums time the band will mature enough to understand filtering of ideas and variety in structures.  It is still a fucking blast to listen through though to get the blood pumping.

Well, you learn something new everyday it seems.  On a random purge of album suggestions this morning I stumbled across the fifth full-length from US death metal outfit Vital Remains.  It took me a while before I realised the vocalist here is none other than Satan's left tit himself, Glen Benton of Deicide fame.  Glen covered vocals for the band from 2002 - 2009 it turns out, and I had no idea.

What we get here is not a Deicide clone (entirely) as a result of Benton's involvement.  Yes, it is clear that those bestial, layered vocals are exactly the same as what you would hear on any Deicide record from the previous decade to this release and at times the blistering intensity of Vital Remains matches that of the Florida giants of death metal.  The opening track is also a not unexpected film clip around Benton's favourite subject matter, the Son of God.  Comparisons aside, there are some fundamental differences in just a couple of areas that managed to hold my interest long enough to write a review.

Firstly, the sound on the guitars is really thin making them sound like they lack power.  That aside they do manage to get this Morbid Angel-like sound right on a few occasions (At War With God) and are still able to generate a sort of grinding intensity when in full flow.  Second major difference is the lead work is incredibly rich sounding, maintaining the requisite levels of sonics but at the same time sounding clearer and crisper than I first expected.  This gives some welcome melodic respite from the scathing sound of the riffs and introduces some genuine traditional metal sounding leads.

Aside from the novelty of Benton and these leads there isn't a massive amount to get excited about otherwise as the trio just go through the motions under what feels like a stifling production job.   I listened to it the whole way through more out of curiosity than anything else but if we stick with asking if it does what it says on the tin then it most definitely is a death metal album albeit a decidedly average one. 

Königreichssaal occupy a niche in black metal, that although not necessarily an untrodden path is still a passage in which they leave firm footprints as they trudge on through. Here be references to equal part doom against equal part black metal. Equal part Cultes Des Ghoules against equal part dark cabaret.

Strong use of ritualistic spoken word is littered throughout the album and they are clearly artists who like to build atmospheres and draw out their impact, unafraid to use protracted track lengths in amongst shorter tales of putrid existence. Within this record you will hear choral verses, sang in hushed and nefarious tones. The threat of harm or at least an exploration of motives for harm never feels too far away here and this is one of the key successes of the band. This near constant menace and dark mystique embeds a real sense of foreboding.

The band use atmospheres to genuine build effect, often making the tension unbearable, agonizing sometimes in fact. Yet at the same time there is a beauty in this darkness, the glimpse of an ethereal and ghostly white face undulating through the murk. In the times of the slow tempos there exists still an urgency for the record to ignore this balancing act and still use the sheer compulsion of the record to push forward its grim and unrelenting traipse.

Königreichssaal lurch their way through seven hellish performances, keeping their heads immersed in the constant shroud of misery they emit throughout. Playing the occasional mind game along the way they have a distinct penchant for bring the uneasy ramblings of Mayhem and playing them off the most tortuous and repetitive structures you will hear for a long while. This brilliant combination of doom and black metal looms nicely throughout the album.

Yet, despite this menace and sense of dread, I never feel like the threat entirely comes to fruition. For every drawn-out moment of black metal tension, I need a crushing riff or ghastly howl just to emphasize the depth of the record. It all somehow ends up feeling a little too clean overall for me to ever feel like this threat is fully realized. Maybe that is part of the cleverness of the album, and it sets up nicely a harrowing and soul-destroying sophomore by never quite getting to the unstable heights of insanity on this outing. Guess I will have to wait to find out.

I loved Requiem for Mankind - the 5 star review on the site is proof of this.  It had groove, intensity and a gnarly undertone that suggested real guts as well as a great sound.  Inevitably the Bolt Thrower comparisons grew the more I listened to it and I am almost at the point of wondering if as time goes by, whether Memoriam or slowly just morphing back into that great old band inevitably.

Opener, Onwards to Battle could open any Bolt Thrower album in all honesty and if I didn't know any better you could pass this off as a lost or even new Bolt Thrower tune.  Now this isn't a criticism by any means.  I love the fact that this rich heritage from one of my favourite UK death metal bands runs through the veins of a band that came into existence after the appropriate dissolution of the aforementioned legends.  I simply wanted to highlight that the memory of this great band continues to live on and is being done great justice to by Willetts and co.

As To the End continues this theme continues (inevitably), however there's something missing this time around across the record and I have been struggling to put my finger on it as I have given the record a few spins.  I can't help but feel that momentum that Memoriam built on their previous release doesn't continue all that far into To the End.  This doesn't make their 2021 release terrible as such but I feel the band lacks much in the way of presence and identity this time around.  Requiem for Mankind was full of groove and passion and its high points stood out from the legacy Bolt Thrower sound by virtue of this sense of confidence in who the band were and how they could progress out of those historical shadows.  This time around I don't feel this footprint is stamped quite as well.  The first four tracks make a good go of it but the legs don't carry the whole nine tracks over the finish line I am afraid and there's a noticeable dip from the middle of the album onwards.

The major change in the line-up this time around is behind the drums, with Spikey T. Smith (of Sacrilege fame) taking over the stool from Andy Whale and this is one of the standout problem areas for me.  The drums sound quite basic and lacking in real presence for the most part, with their only notable contribution being how rock like they sound as opposed to death metal.  They just don't feel like drums recorded for a death metal album.  But it isn't Smith's fault that I don't enjoy the whole of the album.  The song writing lacks completion on more than one occasion, most notably on Each Step (One Closer to the Grave) which sounds really promising at the start but then proceeds to meander instead of develop into the charging and steadfast assault it promised.

I had high hopes for this album (especially since I missed any news that the band had even been in the studio) but I am left disappointed overall and almost wish that they'd just done an EP instead.

In the world of thrash metal there are many artists I am sure with some USP (unique selling point - for the uninitiated) in their sound, look or ideology.  I can't really name any that are too far out there but I don't know of any that count a mellotron amongst their instruments.  Now, a mellotron is an electro-mechanical piano first produced en-masse in the 60's.  Artists ranging from The Beatles through to King Crimson have used the instrument and so to see it listed on a progressive thrash album has some sense of irony associated with it, based on the King Crimson reference at least, as well as still being a curved ball in 2021.

If you want to hear an example of it, check out the opening of Mindscape on the internet and you will soon grasp its distinct sound.  When deployed, it puts real depth in the sci-fi themed atmospherics that Cryptosis use throughout Bionic Swarm to good effect.  Straight away the Vektor comparisons come in both by virtue of the sub-genre tag and also the construct of the music as well - there's a reason these guys did a split release!  But whereas Vektor go for all out technical wankery and really progressive structures there is an element of that being paired back with Cryptosis and with positive outcomes to boot.

Vocalist, Laurens Houvast has a gruffness in his bark and doesn't try to overdo the ear-splitting shrieks at any point and as such his vocals compliment the flow and roll of the music perfectly.  He drops in the higher end of his range to finish some sentences here and there but they feel part of everything else that is going on at the same time as opposed to some distracting piece that is trying to do out-do the rest of the sound.  His guitar work is busy throughout in terms of riffing and his lead work feels quite restrained without leaving the record devoid of some flair and grandiosity, whilst his use of progressive structure and melody at the same time is virtually flawless.  Meanwhile, the solid and consistent drum work of Marco Prij stands out as another notable part of proceedings.  Although sometimes a little too hidden in the mix he still stands up well in the face of some of the more blistering moments from Houvast.  Mellotron supremo, Frank te Riet also handles bass duties and you can hear him firmly plonking away in the background across the album.

All in all this is great release to usher in the dawn of the band's new name having spent years as Distillator before their increase in progressive focus.  It isn't perfect of course but it is going to be exciting to see where these guys go on subsequent releases.

With my taste for tech-death rooted firmly in the likes of Gorguts and Ulcerate, the third full-length from Canadian mob Martyr does leave me conflicted overall.  As noted on other reviews/comments on the site, the album wanders from just wearing a tech-death uniform to testing the threads and treads of technical thrash metal also whilst retaining just enough elements of Death to feel the record is firmly rooted the right side of the divide to exemplify it's tech-death roots as being the core element of it's genetic make-up.

The fact is though that I really do not like the clean vocals that get deployed here and the technical mastery of the instrumentation, although enticing and well-developed enough still does not temper my overall dissatisfaction with the vocal style.  That having been said, I am not a massive fan of Voivod either so this is hardly a surprise to me, given the close links to the aforementioned prog-thrash legends.

If I focus on the positives for a moment, there's an album of high quality and interesting tech-death/thrash instrumentation on display here that exercises the mind as well as the eardrums.  It occupies a rarefied atmosphere that some may find it hard to breath or spend extended time within the confines of its climate, yet all will find some element of entertainment during however long they decide to stick around for.

Overall, it doesn't work for me.  It relies too much using one element of its construct (the instrumentation) to distract me away from that vocal style that I figure I would still struggle with to some degree even in a more obvious thrash environment.  Even the more ugly and guttural aspects to the vocals do not sell me the project all that well as there needs to be more of this to really get me focused.

As a person who prefers Mark Tornillo era Accept to Udo Dirkschneider era Accept I often look forwards to a new release from the German legends of heavy metal.  There's something about Tornillo's unique style that sounds like he's got Brian Johnson stuck in his oesophagus and can't quite cough him out.  Likewise, I am continually impressed by both Wolf Hoffman's and Uwe Lulis' guitar work and how they continue to sound fresh and invigorated on most releases and pleasingly Too Mean To Die is full of that vigour and energy.  For a band who have now some sixteen full-length records to their name, Accept have still been able to sound relevant in the world of metal some 45 years after they first adopted the moniker of the band name.

Sadly, that relevance shows signs of slipping this time around and it is safe to say that Too Mean To Die is an awkward listen, certainly on the lyrical front at the very least.  For the first time Accept are sounding their age.  The bulk of the lyrical content on the album sounds clunky and forced if not at times completely ill-conceived.  Writing a song about social media and the ills of it in general just makes the band come across as moaning old men (a title often courted by myself in all honesty but even have my limits) and so Overnight Sensation is a huge stumbling block just three tracks in.  The anthemic chorus just feels cringey and makes me want to hit the skip button immediately.

It isn't just on the aforementioned track the band fall short either.  Throughout the album you get more dip than hit and as a result there's a sense of the band meandering through the record occasionally uncovering something interesting but at the same time falling short (usually on the lyrical front).  It plays like a Judas Priest album only without any prowess on the lyric writing front.  Instead you have a strong instrumental foundation but are constantly recoiling over what sound like very amateurish vocals and lyrics ("but we understand, the Undertaker is a busy man" - erm really?) that invade most tracks.

Hoffman and Lulis (not sure what Shouse even does here in all honesty) do their best with their energetic string work, firing off leads and licks to try and impress the positives of the album but they are fighting a losing battle for me as I am so turned off that I can't see past the poor lyrical content.  With an album cover that promised so much, the electric bite of Accept appears to be fading badly in 2021.

What's that?  Another band project with Max Cavalera in it?  Is his brother involved?  Oh, no?  You sure?  Okay, but do we get just a regurgitated version of Sepultura still clinging to the alternative apron strings of Roots?  Well actually, yes and no.  I will go on record as saying early on in my review how this record has caught me off guard since my forays into groove metal early on in the 90s are not often revisited in my later metal years, however this album is actually very good.  With the debut having passed me by completely (and having checked it out this past week it is clear I missed very little) I have to admit that  I am all over Reluctant Hero to the extent that it has been on at least once a day over the past week or so.

The reasons for this enjoyment of the sophomore release are numerous if I am honest.  Firstly, it is catchy as fudge.  Yes, probably too catchy in terms of my usual extreme metal tastes but it is infectious beyond just anthemic choruses or chugging riffs. It is rich in depth across the vocal and musical styles it covers over the course of the record, so the opening track for example carries great use of hooks to pull you in to the momentum of the song whereas Dream Gone Bad feels like a real tussle between the clean and the more aggressive vocals and this is backed up superbly by changes of pace and tempo that run congruent with this ethos.  As such this adds a predictable and yet welcome variety to the album that increases that memorability factor even more.

Secondly, Ben Koller absolutely bosses it on the drum kit.  He mixes up runs and both complex and simple patterns to build structure on solid foundations on most tracks.  He is responsive to the subtleties required on the slower tracks and never feels like he is imposing yet retains an essential presence throughout the album.  In a band with a combined vocal presence such as Greg, Troy and of course Max it wold be easy to get lost behind that but one of the key successes here of the album is that (barring the bass) it all feels like a band effort, an album created by a cohesive unit.

Thirdly, each track offers something.  Even the weaker ones have a strong passage or standout part (the filthy and ugly bluesy style lead on the appropriately named Filthy Vagabond is a welcome highpoint on an otherwise average track) that keeps the mind focussed.  It is one of the few albums of late that I can remember all of the tracks.  Yes, it uses the same ideas more than once but they work so well in the grander scheme of what is still a varied album in terms of pace and musical style that they are more than forgivable.

Safe to say that after me enjoying the last Soulfly record, Max is on a bit of run as far as my experience of recent output goes.

When you establish a tried and tested formula to your sound it is hard to break from that and allow variation and experimentation in.  Some would argue that there's no need for Dragonforce to do that as they enjoy a healthy fanbase already who lap up their rampant power metal in the thousands.  The point is though that I kind of knew what this record was going to sound like before I heard it all the way through and the regurgitation of ideas is almost like a washing machine stuck on the same cycle. 

The fact is that DF are catchy as fuck!  If I take three things away from Inhuman Rampage as positives it is the energy of the artist transposes brilliantly on to the recorded format, this is truly hi-octane stuff.  Secondly, the capability levels of the musicians (yes, especially the guitarists) cannot be denied and they apply a very clear level of sophistication and flair to proceedings.  The third and final thing I take is the high memorability factor of the record.  It is accessible and engaging most certainly.

These three positives however are its biggest downfalls also as they do all of the above to death.  Yes, the pace dips on some songs but all I remember still are those rampant, galloping and charging riff patterns that inhabit the majority of the record.  It feels like a sprint but over an incredibly long distance and as I listener I just don't have the legs for it to keep up.  Notwithstanding the fact that the guitarists are maestros of their art, I still don't need this much earshot of them.  Surely a couple of solos are enough in a track to showcase the talents of the guitarists without my feeling like I am being force-fed lead work?  Similarly, the memorability factor is so high because the vast majority of the album sounds exactly the same.  The attempts to mix it up with different use of keys/synths just come across as amateurish and almost feel forced, as if the band knew that things were shaping up to be samey and made some vain attempts to compensate.

As a result, I find Inhuman Rampage to be really tiring; draining in fact.  That tried and tested formula I mentioned at the start of the review works for about three songs max and then it just becomes one-dimensional.  I get why this album has problem sold in bucket loads, I really do.  However, this is just not for me.

Some fifteen years into their career, Swiss thrashers Total Annihilation are only up to full-length number three. Indeed, last year’s release was their first for eight years and although I have no idea why such a lengthy absence occurred from the band it is obvious from the off that …On Chains of Doom is a record that is put together a band who know their stuff to some degree.

Perhaps predictably for me, I chose a band who play that more intense death/thrash style of metal for my first featured record on MA. That having been said, opening track Falling Fast has some passages that rely on the heavier side of that death/thrash sound and Daniel Altwegg performs in the death metal realm of the vocal spectrum. There is no high-pitched squealing from him as per a David Di-Santo for example, instead his gruff and slightly guttural tones impress a consistency that unfortunately becomes one of the albums challenges, but more on that later.

Riff wise, as you would expect, this is a chuggfest of a record. The tempos are driven well by the twin guitar attack of Nicholas Stelz and Jurgen Schmid, with the former giving some stellar sonics as well as the recognized lead guitarist in the band. He is absolutely superb on Tunnelratten with a blistering solo, full of energy and brimming with flair and talent.  The guitars in general sound clear in the mix without feeling blunted by the production and the drums thunder along nicely in the background albeit a little too far in the background, to the extent that they lack some degree of presence in proceedings. Even on slow-burner Dead Souls which builds and builds they seem to be a tad muted overall.

Despite the variety of pace and tempo on the record, I do not feel overly excited by much of anything I hear. On the aforementioned Dead Souls, the band build up to a good track of powerful and groovy metal but the build up just sounds redundant and almost stagnant at times. It is like they flog the concept as opposed to develop it and what should be a standout track on the album comes off as a let down overall.

Looking at that artwork I am expectant of a full-frontal assault but in fact I end up with the odd sortie into battle with little in the way of heavy shelling or machine gun fire. To keep with the war theme, it is an album that is more of a sniper than any artillery personnel. It takes pot shots at ideas it thinks it can hit and whilst it usually hits the target so to speak the penetration of the bullets only goes so far and the fire patterns are predictable. This leads me back to my earlier comment on the vocalist. If you are going to use this vocal style, then the consistency needs to be tempered by something, anything, to create sufficient distraction and avoid monotony setting in. Despite the obvious quality of the guitar work here, it is not enough to defer attention away from track after track of the same vocals and so the band are reliant on changes of pace and tempo in writing songs that whilst they try to develop and build, do not always deliver.

The two singles that turned me onto this record to check it out in the first place are by far the stronger of the eight tracks. Reborn in Flesh is a memorable blaster of a track and Black Blood continues to play to the strengths of the band. Other than that, penultimate track Tunnelratten is the only other real standout track with it’s clever variance of pace without the sacrificing of any energy.  It is these three tracks that save this album in all honesty and if the band can consistently hit the vein of form displayed on these tracks then they will realise their full-potential I am sure.

When it came to me choosing my first featured album for The North clan I already knew it was going to be this record.  It was one of the few modern bm releases of the 2010's that absolutely blew my away with it's illicit presence throughout, one that genuinely leaves me with a feeling of discomfort as I lidten.  I get the Mayhem references absolutely and by no means does Henbane reinvent any wheels.  It does the bm basics well though and despite the variation present on the record I always hear it is a bm record at its very core.

Poland has this penchant for producing some fantastic acts in extreme metal.  Former members of Cultes Des Ghoules (as in the H.P. Lovecraft stories) went on to form Doombringer, a blackened dm outfit of decent repute and the deranged vocals of Mark of the Devil have been present on Death Like Mass for three EPs worth of material also.  Henbane is heavy on the ritualistic and occult approach to bm though, playing like an old black and white horror movie (bordering on b-movie with those vocals at times, I grant you) with an element of tongue in cheek obvious on most tracks.  Like an old horror flick, it is a thoroughly entertaining record.  Yes, between the start and finish there are some passages that don't resonate as well as the rest but the levels of consistency on the record is superb.

Part of the appeal of the record for me is this sloppiness and cumbersome approach to songs.  Mark's howls and gruff screams I think add a lot to the record, even though I repeat my comment from above that they are supposed to be over the top, in fact nefariously grandiose by intent.  The album feels authentic and engaging as a result of the off-kilter timings and clunky clangs and sloppy shifts.  It all feels earthy and downright right filthy, like it clings to you long after the album has finished playing.  Riffs feel like they are climbing on top of each other, building into some putrid pile of unholy sacrificial flesh, sliced from bodies using the dirtiest of blades.

The pacing often slips into the realm of doom metal and I hear some 'eavy met'al riffs in there also as the record strays close to black 'n roll territory on more than one occasion.  All this builds this cloying sense of drama to skin itching proportions at times (Vintage Black Magic).  The use of spoken word passages over chugging and repetitive riff patterns add to this doom feel nicely yet still that thick air of black-market black metal is always there also.  This continuing sense of taboo is beyond the chaos of Mayhem though.  It is somehow more tangible here and dare I say it, better told.  

There are some truly indefensible and unforgivable crimes dotted throughout the history of mankind. Setting aside all the genocide, ethnic cleansing, mass murder and multitudinous cases of torture for a moment, one of the most heinous crimes of the last 30 years or so must be the production job Paul Bagin did on Suffocation’s sophomore full-length back in 1993. I should point out almost immediately as I start this review that Breeding… is still a great death metal record, a perfect bridge between the brutality of Effigy of the Forgotten and the more technical brutal attack of Pierced from Within. If you listen closely enough you can hear a sick death metal record rumbling along beneath the stifling layers of production that are heaped over it.

It is testimony to the sheer power of Suffocation that any discernible quality can be expressed from underneath the oppressive weight of Bagin’s appalling knob-twiddling antics behind that desk. In a way it feels like the band already could tell how shite the album sounded and were angry with this fact and it came out in the flow of the songs themselves almost organically. Sadly, for all the obvious brilliance going on here (and joking aside for a minute) the album is ultimately killed by the production. Sonics come across as sterile and (astonishingly for a death metal album) out of tune. The bass sounds like it is played with mittens on; although at times some genuine twangs break through, most of the time there is this oppressive rumble that smothers the rhythm work of the guitar almost completely.

The drums also suffer from a thinness which makes them sound like they are in fact made of tin foil. Only Mullen’s vocals seem to survive the massacre at Noise Lab sitting atop of the pile of dense and suffocating (pun intended) production like some indefatigable warrior, refusing to give in to this oppressive regime.

For the record - and for anyone unfamiliar with the true extent of the production issues - the band themselves demanded the album be re-recorded with Scott Burns and Morrisound Recording and Roadrunner refused to pay for the studio time. Although over the course of the rest of their career the band have re-recorded several tracks and included them on various albums, it remains a tragedy that record company bullshit killed this album. By comparison, the bands next album Pierced from Within was produced by Scott and was fucking superb!

The rating I give this album is by no means a reflection on the band themselves and it is painful to deliver such a low rating against a release by one of the stalwarts of death metal but a bad production job is just something you can’t recover from.

The debut EP from one of death metal’s most influential bands is a real benchmark in brutality. Unrelenting in its delivery and unashamed in the frenzy of its attack, Human Waste is the rule book on brutal death metal. The world by this point had only been treated to the growl of Frank Mullen on the band’s 1990 demo and then a track on a split release via Roadrunner records, and as such this was the first opportunity for the band to bring that trademark vocal style to tape and allow it to embed itself over six raging tracks of gloriously intense death metal.

Along with Incantation, Suffocation are probably one of the most copied bands in death metal with hundreds of acts having been influenced by them with the effect being album upon album of pure Suffo-worship in some quarters. The difference between the copycats and the genuine article is never better exemplified by the New York band’s debut release. I look at it that most of the brutal death metal acts out there are coloring in by comparison to the masterpieces that Suffocation painted over the early part of their career. When his EP arrived, Morbid Angel had already dropped the sonic chaos of Altars…, Death had set a fire burning on the art of the possible over three killer releases and fellow New York stalwarts Immolation had yet to introduce the world to their own brand of imposing death metal. Human Waste was unlike anything else heard at the time, barring Cannibal Corpse who had a sloppier yet effective style that did not quite hit the same heights of sustained assault like Suffocation managed.

Suffocation knew how to play fast but also how to take the listener along with them along every step of the way. Listening to these tracks there is a genuine current that runs through them, electrifying the very air around the listener, charged by the very power of the rhythm and percussion section alone. The riffs just keep coming and coming, punctuated by blinding sonics that writhe in the mix like shapeshifting demons. Couple all of this with Mullen’s infamous growl, spewing forth fury and vitriol and it is the perfect combination. His performance on the title track is terrifying and borders on inhuman in sound as the demo sound really shows the raw evil in his vocals superbly.

I often overlook Human Waste and go straight to Effigy… or Pierced… for my Suffo-fix but it is frankly criminal how little rotation this EP gets on my speakers and I am off to hunt down a physical copy (please internet be kind to my wallet) immediately.

Spurred on by my recent foray into death/thrash (see my Schizophrenia review this past week) I have been on the hunt for anything to scratch my love of extreme and energetic thrash metal of late.   Germany's Reactory are a raging torrent of ripping and rampant thrash metal that will take your face clean of the front of your head if you aren't careful.  Their third full length in six years comes out of the blocks like an Olympic sprinter on acid.  Razor sharp riffing and ear-catching anthemic rhythms and tempos are the order of the day here.  Tracks explode into existence and don't stick around for long enough to let any dust settle from the initial blast plume.  With no track clocking in at over 4 minutes 48 seconds, the band's intentions are quite clear.

Tracks such as Graves of Concrete are where the band really hit their groove, producing memorable yet unbelievably intense thrash metal that is as breath-taking as it infectious.  The energy levels are high and the style is rooted firmly in thrash metal as opposed to too much in the way of speed or blackened influences seeping through.  Vocally, Hans Hazard (yes, really) has a sort of gruff, almost hardcore leaning influence to his particular style.  It works though, reminding me ever so slightly of Hammerlord.

The guitar work at times touches Vektor like melodies (opening to Drone Commander) showing a respectful nod to contemporaries as well as the obvious copious amounts of Teutonic thrash metal from the history of their fine nation itself.  In some ways I want more lead work alongside the Anthrax-like riffage to break up the wall of chug that charges head on into me most of the time, just to break it up a little and towards the backend of the record they do seem to come alive more on the lead front.  However, this is the real appeal of this record in so many ways also - it isn't supposed to be pretty or delivering lashes of flair, it's just here to kick the living crap out of the listener.

Tracks like Evolving Hate do manage to showcase the wizardry on the six strings well and do so without getting too showy or detracting away from that raging intensity.  In all honesty it is hard to find any bad tracks or find fault in general.  For a band that so clearly set their stall out early on, Reactory don't waiver once in their devotion to that commitment to delivering a killer thrash metal record.  I would like to hear the drums just a tad further forward in the mix personally but they do still contribute very well overall to the record.

I like my thrash metal to be rabid and as close to death metal as it can be without quite ever completely straying over the boundary for a whole track.  Sadus managed this really well back in the day, making extreme yet coherent thrash metal that borrowed nicely from the death metal rule book to make things feel that little more nefarious and imposing when needed.

Belgians Schizophrenia started out life as Hãmmerhead in 2010, playing straight up thrash metal before undertaking an adoption of not only a new band name but also a more extreme edge to their sound.  As the cover artwork suggests, Voices is a dark and terrifying affair that carries it's cloak of frenzied energy well over its broad shoulders that stretch to encompass all of the good bits of Demolition Hammer and layer on lashings of Death-like sonics for good measure.

First up, it's an EP.  This format is perfect for the band's sound and song writing style.  Clocking in at under twenty minutes (just), Voices shows an intelligent penchant for referencing the past and showing the Sodom and Kreator influences without just being worship of aforementioned bands, taking the furious pace of Kreator and mimicking that style well without simply copying it.  Likewise it is clear that more modern bands have a say in the direction of the record with more than one track reminding me of Warbringer.

At this stage they are five years to their obviously well-honed death/thrash hybrid sound and you have to wonder what the hell have they been doing for all this time to only just get an EP and a single out during the first four years but who knows what the death/thrash scene is like in Belgium?  Maybe there's hundreds of bands just queuing up to get signed and so Schizophrenia have had to wait their turn?  Or (more the likely) they exist as a rarity in a scene and country that doesn't get enough attention?

Either way, this debut EP is a joy to listen to.  Really straight-forward, no fucking frills thrash metal attitude delivered with a death metal blueprint that showcases rather than smothers the thrash element.  New album please.

My relationship with Death Angel is not the best and so me finding a release of theirs that I enjoy is a rarity indeed and so one that needs committing to a review. To give some context to my dislike in general of Death Angel I have struggled to get on with Mark’s vocals in the main but also find the “fusion” elements of the experimentation of their sound to be often quite bizarre sounding. Overall, I have never found an album that I could say even half of which was to my liking, this lack of completeness just births frustration and I gave up bothering a long time ago.

Relentless Retribution does present me with the same challenges as before only this time around the experimentation is paired back Mark’s vocals seem to fit better this time out. I also must commend the guitar work of Rob and Ted which is brimming with energy and flair (without getting pissy) and really helps pull the album back from the precipice on more than one occasion it must be noted.

As I say, the vocals do not always nail it still and it is at these points where they start to grate that the riffs and leads really elevate proceedings, even if they do not necessarily lift anything into the outer stratosphere in the long run. The point is that Relentless Retribution makes for a great thrash metal album that sounds like it is made by a band rediscovering their form or even by a band younger than the actual age of Death Angel themselves. At times it is sharp with cutting riffs and chugging engine-like passages that make you sit up and take notice and overall, it presents as a fun experience.

Yes, there’s still elements of them going a bit too far for me (what is the thought process behind the ending to Claws in so Deep??) and this constant exploration of genres I their music I guess will just never sit well with me. However, credit where credit is due, this is a solid album that entertains and there are not many of these in the DA discography to my ears.

In 2020’s episode of “Who’s Doing Vocals on This Record Then?”, Jeff Waters again steps up to the microphone, alongside his regular guitar and bass gig. Having only Fabio Alessandri to accompany him in the studio on the drums, Ballistic, Sadistic feels like most Annihilator albums do, very generic and everything we have heard before.

My love for Annihilator (as if the above sentence were not indication enough) is limited to Never, Neverland. I never really clicked entirely with them beyond that, and time has not seen much in the way of change for the band. Arguably what is present on Ballistic, Sadistic is groovier than the blunter guitar sound of the debut or the sophomore, but it is nowhere near as consistent as their earlier material.

I think it is clear from my first real listen through of anything they have done in 30 years that Water’s six string abilities are by far the highlight of the band. Whether I like the content of the album overall or not, Jeff knows how to play and treats us to his full array of sonic wizardry and biting riffs on this album. Sadly, his vocal capabilities are limited and are often hit and miss across the ten the tracks on here. They range from suitably sneering to over the top and just cringey at times. I think it is fair to say that the guitar work more than rescues them on so many occasions but even this aspect to the album feels showy and at times unnecessary. There are times on the record when the vocal delivery sounds more hard rock/hair metal, such are the levels of cheese applied to them and this just diminishes the quality of an album that is already struggling even further.

I think the band does need some more members in the studio who would have some different ideas to bring to the table as opposed to just Jeff churning out average thrash metal with impressive lead work that often outstays its welcome. I can’t fault the energy levels, but I just don’t see any exceptional tracks for all the work that goes into it. For a hi-octane thrash metal album it feels like it goes on far too long.

As I started to investigate the clans on the site that I am not that familiar with Bury Your Dead leaped out at me as a band I had at one time or another enjoyed some of the output from.  I think they appeared on a cover CD from some mag back in the noughties and I was caught off-guard by how appealing I found their particular brand of metalcore.  Being an elitist prick at the time I supressed this interest immediately and ran to the safety of my death metal LP's.  Now I am all grown up and mature(ish) I quickly found myself playing Beauty and the Breakdown on repeat most of Friday and Saturday with wanton abandon.

To an untrained metalcore listener like myself, Bury Your Dead's appeal is reminiscent of me discovering Pantera or Machine Head back in the 90's.  The raw energy that this record exudes alongside its simply relentless delivery captures some element of youth in me that doesn't often show its pimply face these days.  The immediacy of the songs, the catchiness without the sacrificing of the heaviness and the sheer coercive intent of the delivery tick multiple boxes for me as I gurn my way through track after track.

I would liken this record to a Burn My Eyes or Vulgar Display of Power in terms of attitude and delivery as it instigates similar levels of curiosity in me which is borne out in the fact that I haven't stopped playing it for two days.  It feels like a record from a band with something to say that matters to them on a personal level and this comes across lyrically as much as it does musically.  This genuine edge to the album makes it all the more appealing but don't get me wrong on their own pummelling tempos and heartfelt vocals don't cut it, the success here is the combination of the two to compliment each other.

Greece in terms of metal output is more commonly associated with black metal with its own brand of Hellenic BM an internationally recognised sound from a country that has given us such greats as Varathron and Rotting Christ. When it comes to other genres of metal, more specifically death metal the options for well-known bands are limited to Septic Flesh and Dead Congregation and their styles really are opposites.

The symphonic grandiosity of SF is far removed from the darker and more doomy death metal sound of Dead Congregation. Unafraid to throw in repetitive and consistent riffs, Dead Congregation present as a behemoth in the death metal stakes with a sound reminiscent of Incantation in their slower-paced moments yet also able to churn out the frantic urgency of Immolation on the same track or album.

Promulgation of the Fall showcases this penchant for a wide exploration of death metal brilliantly. Blasting away with a Morbid Angel like level of intensity whilst at the same time able to capture a real spirit of having enough in the tank to go in for the death/doom pummelling on tracks also. Tracks like Serpentskin feel like they go on for about ten minutes when in effect they only last half the time which shows how well they are able present that measured approach to their song writing and album composition to challenge you on how you think genres/sub-genres should overlap.

Tracks end quickly with the next track starting immediately after, dialling the pace and tempo up or down considerably in the process making you constantly have to adjust as a listener which if done wrong can leave you pretty disorientated and for me what these hairpin turns do is show that this is a death metal that commands your attention. I can see how you can easily get lost with this record if trying to fill the background only. You need to focus on the whole experience to wring all the life from this record.  There's cool lead work here, that seep melancholy just as well as they sear eardrums with their sonic explorations.  The riffing has a groove to it at times that is as infectious as it is horrifying.  The drums when not blasting like machine guns run intelligent fills and it feels like there's always something going on just beneath the surface of the skin with the percussion overall.

The only downside is how much it sounds like Incantation but that's a criticism so easy to level at most bands nowadays that it's hard to often see past that comparison, but as I mention above there is so much more going on here than death/doom royalty worship.

My first venture into Trivium and melodic metalcore in general hasn't been an all round success. That isn't to say that this record is awful but I do have to temper the tone of my review with the caveat that this style of music doesn't appeal to me on so many levels. In the main my tastes are more extreme and so this combination of clean vocals and frenzied bursts of energetic riffing that lacks enough bite for my ears is always going to present a challenge.

Let's start off by acknowledging that I completely understand why people enjoy this album and indeed the band overall.  There's so much memorability here it quickly becomes infectious and if this oppositional attitude that the band chooses to deliver its music via is your bag then your itch is most definitely scratched with this.  There's not enough hours in the day for me to ever get Watch The World Burn out of my head before the bedtime.  This stickiness to the record is one its major successes; that and the fact that this song writing literally sings to the soul of its disaffected audience.

The problem I have is that the record is so consistent it feels almost programmed and processed lacking any real depth or soul.  For all the aggression and obvious passion that sits behind the music it leaves no emotional footprint on me as a listener.  There's no feeling that Trivium share anything with me and therefore although I don't exactly come away empty handed, I don't have much to show for my effort of listening.

I don't deny it has mass appeal but it is not a record that holds any lasting appeal for little old me.

When a band is made up of two former members of Rotting Christ it is very easy when listening to their debut to draw comparison to the Hellenic BM legends.  The fact is though that Yoth Iria sound like Rotting Christ so much that even if you didn't know the background ahead of listening to As The Flame Withers (unless you had never heard Rotting Christ of course) then comparisons are inevitable.  Worth mentioning that Jim Mutilator was also bassist in Varathron at the time of His Majesty... and therefore has credentials beyond just working with the Tolis brothers. His counterpart here is the equally well-experienced George Zacharopoulos who has bands such as Necromantia and Thou Art Lord in his past and ongoing experience.  In short, these boys know their stuff.

The good news here as that Yoth Iria are not just RC clones.  Yes, they do capture the lush and rich melodies of Triarchy... era RC and they present that sound superbly adding gothic atmospherics and subtle yet attention-grabbing structures to their debut.  What they also do however is add some splendid straight-up heavy metal riffs and tempos into the mix to produce much variety also.

In doing so the already warm Hellenic BM sound is emboldened by these soaring riffs and pounding pace and it gets the wings to keep pace with them making for a memorable and yet still suitably dark experience.  Check out the Burzum-like bonging chimes on The Red Crown Turns Black coupled with the doomy approach to the guitar melodies and repetitive riffs that control much of the mid part of the song yet either side of this there's a rampant and charging sprint to the main part of the track that balances really well over all.

By far the most recognisably black metal content here is the grim vocal delivery of George.  They sit perfectly in the mix, audible alongside the instrumentation and atmospherics without ever seeing one detract from the other.  Although a new name to me, George Emmanuel did a superb job on the mix and mastering of the record.  The drums on here are handled by the well-travelled Maelstrom and his guest appearance brings a level of assuredness to the bands sound that holds a restraint that feels necessary to let the guitars and vocals lead the charge but at the same time the drums aren't lost either.

Clocking in at just under fifty minutes, Yoth Iria's debut release feels a concise and well constructed affair that stays in the brain well after the needle comes off the vinyl.  It isn't exceptional and in a way that is the appeal here.  It captures the best of the experience of the band and delivers a release that shows much promise for further output to come.

Despite my many years of listening to music and having nearly 3 decades to mature and learn to give all genres, sub-genres and styles of metal a chance, I still have this annoying trait of telling myself I am going to hate something before I listen to it.  Now, I am not entirely in love with Inside The Beehive and their spazzing riot of math and grind but I am suitably impressed enough to take the time to write a review.

I don't often venture to the Revolution Clan (see my opening comment above to understand why) but this release transcends mere rebellion against conventional metal.  It is a release that flourishes greatly within a relatively short play time and shows a band with a great understanding of texture in their music.  Amidst the stabbing frenzy there is an almost constant sense of form still, some basic structure that gets elements moulded around and slammed onto it.  It's like a very scalable foundation level that can be subjected to intense and sustained levels of obliterating fury and it still maintains integrity throughout.

The best way I can find to describe it would be to say this is the eye of the storm and at the same time is the constant, violent swarm that swells around it, driving its own growth and expansion.  This in essence is its downfall also as there are times during the release where there is a feeling of the album trying to cover too much ground.  The overtly core sounding elements do grate a tad and it loses the grind element a little to readily in favour of these elements which leaves me conflicted about the overall piece.

Considering grumpy old Macca would have had me dismiss this had I not resisted, this is a decent find and one that hopefully will help me to learn to put that character in his box more readily in future and actually find some new shit to like.