UnhinderedbyTalent's Reviews
37 years after the debut full length and the band are still active, albeit as a much changed line up from that which recorded "Welcome to Hell". I'll be honest, I haven't bothered with Venom beyond "At War With Satan", so I really had a blank slate in terms of expectations when I put "Storm The Gates" on this afternoon.
To say it is generic is something of an understatement. Each track just morphs into the next, displaying no discernible milestones to give any track a shred of memorability. The instrumentation is capable enough and competently performed but to record 13 tracks of the same structure and format gains no favour with these ears I am afraid. Riffs become beyond infectious and hit pandemic levels of boredom when given this level of over play. Yes, they chug and occasionally show real promise of bite but this is fucking Venom guys, not some Friday night cover band down the Rams Head with a £2 a pint Happy Hour. Where's the menace? Where's the atmosphere? And, no I don't expect "Black Metal" part 2 or a follow up to "At War With Satan" but this at times sounds like Cronos is in a band with one of his kids and their mates, all competent musicians but not really doing justice to what is promised by the names involved.
If we look back at 2018 and to Saxon and Judas Priest, we can see easily two acts still writing entertaining and stylistically recognisable material without having to try that hard. It is hard to make 13 tracks of the same format sound like you are trying too hard, but the fact is that Cronos and Co. are doing such a monolithic job of flogging a dead horse it just comes across as exactly that. The overarching part of Venom I enjoyed was the fun, (dark) comedy edge to the band - even if they did take themselves seriously when I never could - but this has a real mood hoover run over the shagpile here, sucking any creativity, energy or integrity out for good.
I am supposed to balance my reviews with both positive as well as negative, but I am fucking struggling here folks. Erm...the artwork is competent and that band logo still gives me pangs of past glories. That's about as far as I can force the good vibes with this. So, there you go.
Genres: Heavy Metal Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
I have heard a lot of metal over my 29 years of listening to little else genre wise. I have seen the birth and death of genres and sub genres and even witnessed things come back full circle as the twenty teens (?) churn out the likes of Visigoth with their traditional take of heavy metal that was the audible catalyst for me at 13 years of age to go down this route as a fan.
Khemmis are a band that embrace that "older" or more "traditional" feel to metal in 2018 that has been popular over the past few years. Described as doom, in the same conversations that still include Pallbearer as thus also, I find Khemmis similar in sound to the Arkansas quartet with a more "catchy" nod to their sound.
What's clear about "Desolation" is that it is well written. There's little wobble to these structures folks, although we may have gone a little over the top in terms of the decor once the main build has been finished. For 6 tracks we get consistent, melodic, capable and memorable heavy metal (not much doom here - sorry Mr Internet) which pleases the still present teenager in me. 42 year old me wants a bit more of a challenge though. When something is well written you should be getting lost it in - like a King Crimson record for example - if you can see the quality of the song writing then it shouldn't be so easy to get distracted (in my book at least). Whilst I enjoy a lot of what I hear on "Desolation", I don't love much of it.
The production, whilst probably delivered as intended does make things seem a little too clean for a "doom" record, For example- when they kick in - far too much attention are given to the leads and the rest of the instrumentation gets little opportunity to support them. Only on closing track, "From Ruin" do they get this mix right in my opinion. It's an odd review to be writing, because although I don't hate anything on "Desolation", the continued hype and fervour on the internet for Khemmis just has my expectations set way too high.
Capable musicians and solid songwriters sums up Khemmis perfectly but they just don't light the blue torch paper for me I am afraid.
Genres: Doom Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
If you sit back and take stock of Gorguts' near quarter of a century's worth of releases you won't find one that comes anywhere near to trumping "Pleiades' Dust". That's a very bold statement given the quality that is littered throughout their discography, including such gems as "Obscura" and "Colored Sands". The fact is however that "Pleiades' Dust" is the best thing Gorguts have ever done.
It isn't flawless either, but when you hear of bass and drums being dropped in one take you have to take a step back from pointing out human foibles and simply admire the effort and gumption to try that in the first place. You see, the process that Gorguts utilise in putting this track together is brilliant, probably best described by another review I read whereby they compared Lemay to Martin Scorsese. He just puts his format in place, his story, his script - call it whatever you want - and lets the rest of Gorguts do whatever they fucking well like! Naturally this only works with accomplished musicians, which luckily Gorguts have spilling out everywhere.
The barrage of bass-heavy, spiralling, rarefied, abstract and arcane death metal that Gorguts create on "Pleiades' Dust" just happens to be the most well composed piece of music you'll hear this year. Marstons' bass work is as formidable as you'd expect, you only lose track of it when it isn't there during one of the many atmospheric interludes/intro/outros. I read a comment on one of the sites streaming "Pleiades' Dust" from a disgruntled fan who "fell out" with the band when "Obscura" came out and as far as they were concerned the latest offering was more of that "dropped bass shit". I am sure Luc if he had read that would be full of apologies for taking the band off in a challenging and enigmatic direction and leaving the poor fan in question crying over his Unleashed albums.
The fact is that the instrumentation on display here is sheer artistry, it isn't mean't to resemble much of anything else out there. That's the point of music to me, after over 25 years of listening to metal I have heard my fair share of the same old same old. At my age I want to be knocked on my arse by music not wrapped in a warm blanket and left feeling cosy and safe.
Take the drums for example, you won't hear a more proficient yet subtle performance anywhere. Hamelin is restrained yet firm, has presence but is never smothering, he lets the other instruments breath whilst supporting them superbly. Whether it is the tribal thuds or atmospheric "tishes" when required, Patrice does the job everytime.
Hufnagel's guitar work deserves your attention, it thoroughly earns your time as you invest it in following his lead work as it winds a serpentine path through each movement. Texturally a perfect accompaniment to Lemay's work it should be noted also.
At the heart of it all "Pleiades' Dust" still remains a death metal record and that in itself is cause for applause because Gorguts take the map they laid down on "Colored Sands" and build on the avant-garde and downright weird sections throughout "Pleiades' Dust". They are a band rooted firmly in the ground of death metal yet some two decades on are now producing some of the most challenging and cabbalistic music in existence today.
I could go on for paragraphs more yet about this and still never do the EP real justice because only your ears can do that. It is without doubt the best release of the year so far and is one of the most astonishing pieces of music written in a long time.
Genres: Death Metal Progressive Metal
Format: EP
Year: 2016
The first song I heard ahead of the full 2014 release ("The Satanist") from Behemoth was "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel". It immediately peaked my interest, setting the tone nicely for what was to become one of my favoured full lengths of that year. This time around I heard "God = Dog" (which I think means the band are more cat people?). It sounded blunted and frankly restrained. Yes, there was a brief passage of some interesting string work towards the end but generally it just passed me by. Sadly, just as my experience of the lead song/single from 2014 was an excellent benchmark for my expectation of the full length, the same has happened in 2018 but with a very different outcome.
"I Loved You At Your Darkest" rarely achieves touching distance of the band's previous full length. There's lots of things that stop it from doing this, indeed the list is as long as either one of my lanky and lengthy arms. The songwriting is poor, it lacks any real structure the majority of the time. As a result there is a constant sense of this just being a very hastily written, rush of ideas. Tracks like "If Crucifixion Was Not Enough" and "Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica" show this in abundance, the former nailing the lid down on its own coffin with one of the laziest attempts at a menacing riff I have heard in a while.
When we do actually settle into some sense of structure it actually works well. "Bartzabel" is a sole triumph in the songwriting/structure stakes here and this is almost ruined by the annoying double layered, chanting backing vocals.
Next on my list of grumbles? The sound. It is one of the most sterile and strained sounding mixes I think I have ever heard on a record. The drums sound like they were tracked for a completely different purpose on some of the tracks, "Wolves ov Siberia" and "Rom 5:8" in particular. I can't believe that this was the intended sound the band wanted to achieve. I follow Behemoth on Instagram and they make much majesty and menace over their theatre and general pomp when performing live it seems. Surely then they haven't listened to the final playback of this record?
Now then. I don't recall chanting children on a record ever working well? But there's a couple of tracks here of children chanting their disdain for Christianity alongside Nergal and co. It sounds frankly fucking ridiculous and trite even over only two tracks!
In summary, this is a massive disappointment whether you enjoyed "The Satanist" or not. Hastily put together, poorly arranged and mixed terribly to boot.
Genres: Black Metal Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
The thing I like about Death Metal is that it is not something that (to my ears at least) always needs to be evolved/done differently/combined with the chants of Goatherders. Don't get me wrong I like - what my old English teacher in High School would call - "a plethora" of DM styles/genres/sub genres/other neat pigeonholes and nicely labelled boxes, but motherfuckers a lot of the time I just want my DM rammed straight down my fucking throat by a large boot.
In this instance I am talking Death-Doom. That oppressive blend of two of metal's most imposing genres, brought together in a cavernous and atmospheric mixture so that bands like Spectral Voice can wash their Black Sabbath tees with their Incantation hoodies and not give two fucks if the colours run. Now the internet informs me that Spectral Voice are basically Blood Incantation under a different name.
The "erosion" on this album has been undertaken by some of the thickest, most cavernous riffs you will ever have the pleasure of hearing this side of dISEMBOWELMENT. But the clever bit is that never once does that just become the sole deed of the record. Ebbing and flowing with these riffs are dank layers of creepy and harrowing melodies that are arranged alongside slow picked strings and some bowel scraping, guttural vocals that strip plaster and stone from these heavily punished walls. What Spectral Voice manage to achieve out of all these parts is an actual obvious structure, deftly built into some looming monolith within which exists a fathomless spiral into endless darkness. Opening track "Thresholds Beyond" begins with a slow picked build and continues to use those strings to weave an atmospheric tapestry of hellish proportions to wrap the listener in.
The melodic seepage that opens "Visions of Psychic Dismemberment" soon gives way to a rumbling chug yet maintains an almost arrogant poise throughout its near fourteen minute delivery as the band brilliantly pace and measure the track to hold the interest for the whole track for the listener. Beneath the cavernous riffs and intense doom atmospherics of instrumental piece "Lurking Gloom" there's an undulating flow of near insipid melody whilst at times the same track almost possesses a punk invoking sense of rhythm.
It takes multiple listens to even start to unpick everything that is going on along each and everyone of the "corridors" travelled here. Given the time the detailed textures of "Terminal Exhalation" and the sharp yet infectious needle picks of "Dissolution" all start to form an other-worldly core within the music itself that seems to take on form and life from these very dark and at times smothering nuances that you pick up on with repeated listens.
Genres: Doom Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2017
Maiden had by this release managed to hone their songwriting to an almost flawless level. Over eight tracks ‘Somewhere In Time’ presents a memorable and now fast becoming dependable sound of a band truly enjoying being at the top of their game. Side A of the record enjoys instant success, opening with the title track before building on that moment with ‘Wasted Years’ and ‘Sea Of Madness’ providing a continuation of that hybrid sound. ‘Heaven Can Wait’ does fumble the ball a bit to finish the first half of the album, whilst never completely finding the floor the track smells too much of the more mainstream appeal I would associate with some of the 90’s era output from the band.
I would say that the mid point of the album is probably the low point also. ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distant Runner’ just literally goes on and on, sadly becoming a victim of its own parody of sorts. I more than get the joke, but come on, it is just so dull.
Thankfully the rest of the record is completely on point. Culminating superbly on the same epic note of the previous release this time opting for the story of Alexander the Great. Although the final three tracks do pull the album back on course it doesn’t quite complete the rescue mission well enough to award the album the full five stars.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1986
Maiden finally hit their true pace from ‘Piece Of Mind’ onwards. At the point of me first hearing ‘Powerslave’ it struck me just how it sounded like a band who were five albums into their career should sound. All the structures that had been improving since the debut continued to evolve on ‘Powerslave’ culminating in the epic ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ of course. For the most part though the majority of the songs are concise and memorable with only the aforementioned album closer taking on any grand length.
The sense of epic really came to the fore on ‘Powerslave’, the artwork coupled with the lyrical content added a real sense of poise to the Maiden offerings of the mid-eighties. Not to say that the immediacy of their sound was gone. Far from it. The way the opening the track drills into your brain, convincing the listener that they are sat in the cockpit of one of the very fighter planes being described. The grit of ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’ and the dashing riffage of ‘Flash of the Blade’ and ‘Back in the Village’ bring a real sense of consistency and cohesion to the album.
It still isn’t perfect of course. ‘Losfer Words’ and ‘The Duellists’ are the odd ones out here, with neither track bringing anything to the album. But overall ‘Powerslave’ is probably the first time since the debut into the sophomore of there being some actual consistency from album to album.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1984
Following the hit and miss nature of their third full length, Maiden stepped up their game on album number four. Possibly Dickinson knew the band better and the band knew him better or the stars aligned during the songwriting process this time around and the duds (almost) didn’t surface this time around. Or maybe it was the arrival of Nicko on drums that caused the gear change.
There’s lots here to surmise that this was a band starting to mature some. The musicality and general fire of the lead work seems so much more obvious and refined on ‘Piece Of Mind’. There’s a sense of cohesion and a feel for flair now and again that really doesn’t seem as prevalent on previous outings. Structure wise the album is much more consistent, arguably not dipping until the final third of the release but never quite suffering the grot of the tracks that get the sharp end of my tongue on my review of ‘Number of the Beast’.
I can’t quite decide whether or not I get on with ‘Quest for Fire’ and ‘Sun and Steel’? Both are much more basic in terms of the songwriting in comparison to the rest of the album but they do still hold some appeal that keeps my finger of the skip button although they lack any of the dynamic of ‘Flight of Icarus’ or ‘The Trooper’ for example.
As I have gotten older the less spoken of tracks such as ‘Revelations’ and the sometimes maligned ‘Still Life’ have gained more traction in my listens to the album and so as a result ‘Piece Of Mind’ is an album that still feels like it is giving me things some 36 years after it was released.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1983
To start on a negative note, ‘Invaders’ just might be one of the worst album openers of all time. Couple this track with ‘Gangland’ and you have two of my least favourite Maiden tracks all on one album. Despite being a generally inconsistent affair and its poor start ‘The Number of the Beast’ manages 3 stars because when the tracks are on point they are crackers.
The obvious anthem on here is ‘Run to the Hills’, which although I have heard more times than I have my own name be called still has some positive impact after all these years. But for me the real gems on here are the tracks that rarely get spoken about. ‘Children of the Damned’ retains that threatening and menacing edge from the writing of the first two albums and is actually complimented really well by Dickinson’s vocals. Similarly, album closer ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’ builds into a layered and solid structure, exploiting Dickinson’s range well. The storytelling theme of previous records continues on the third effort to. ‘22 Acacia Avenue’ expands on the tale of Charlotte the Harlot and continues that anthemic memorability to the structure.
Sadly, when the album dips, it dips badly. This makes for an inconsistent and sporadic release, like the bad arrangement of the first album that I spoke of the in my review of it only this time the quality of the songwriting doesn’t rescue the likes of ‘The Prisoner’ and the aforementioned ‘Invaders’ and ‘Gangland”.
Given this album follows my all time favourite Maiden release there was always a risk of me feeling underwhelmed and that unfortunately is the case here.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1982
After their debut full length Maiden immediately kicked up a gear or two on the sophomore release. Retaining those memorable songs as well as the theme of tracks named after history’s/culture’s more dark figures (‘Genghis Khan’, ‘Murders In the Rue Morgue’), their second album was a near perfect natural progression from the previous year. Showing an already increased maturity yet sacrificing none of the spunky attitude and energy in the process.
Sadly, for me at least, this was Di’anno’s swan song but fuck me did he get to go out on a high note. ‘Killers’ for me is Maiden’s finest hour. Everything from the artwork through to the musical content is just brilliant. Better arranged than the debut, with more tracks to play with the album feels like more of an experience. As mentioned on my review of the debut, things didn’t go downhill as such after this but I never again felt the raw energy of the first two albums transposed into any of the releases after them.
The punishing rhythm of ‘Wrathchild’, the nefarious structure of the title track and the racing melodies of ‘Purgatory’ all standout for me whenever I play this record. Proud that have it on my shelves.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1981
I prefer Di’anno era Maiden to a lot of the Dickinson era if I am honest. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike Dickinson as a vocalist but I believe that the first two Iron Maiden Records capture a raw energy of a young band about to leave an obvious and indelible mark on music as whole let alone heavy metal as a genre and Di’anno’s vocals fit this aesthetic perfectly.
My main criticism of the debut seems perhaps harsh or paltry but still has stuck with me since my first listen some 27 years ago and that is the arrangement of the record is a little off for me. ‘Remember Tomorrow’ (great track though it is) sits too early in the track order for me and would a great track for the latter half (or side b if we are going old school) of the record although this would then endanger the impact of ‘Strange World’.
My OCD aside I simply love the content on this record and my only real regret is that I wasn’t around in 1980 to experience the release at the time (I was 4 when this came out). There’s literally 8 memorable and well written tracks here with a feel of real grit to them. Whether it is the grim characters referenced (Phantom Of the Opera, Charlotte the Harlot) or the tangible menace of tracks like ‘Prowler’ or the title track, the sense of threat remains a virtual constant that only gets tempered by the occasional dreamy if not creepy verse of the albums more looming parts.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1980
If Tom Angelripper is to be believed, Sodom never look to recreate past sounds when writing new material. Perhaps after thirty five years it is hard to record anything that isn't fundamentally Sodom in sound because album number fifteen is unmistakably Sodom through and through. Fundamentally it is as familiar as it is energetic and fresh sounding, as though the prevailing three decades of releases have somehow left enough room for eleven more tracks of "more of the same" just delivered with the intensity of a band much younger in years.
"Decision Day" nods to the "old-school" like a plastic doll on the dashboard in an off road vehicle. Angelripper is in superb form with is particular brand of blackened growls and the record drips with distinctly Sodom thrash riffs from start to finish. However there's an infusion of groove there too to accompany the familiar crunch and BM atmosphere to proceedings.
Album opener "In Retribution" with its dissonant opening guitars sets the tone perfectly for what is to follow and the quality of the song writing is obvious from the outset. Check out "Caligula" for a catchy piece of thrash metal, or the equally contagious "Blood Lions". Balance these with the more varied outbursts such as "Who Is God?" or "Strange Lost World" and it is soon obvious you are weighing up a strong record.
It has flaws as well as of course. A lack of memorable lead work for one. I would expect something sharper in this department from Sodom even though being showy has never been their thing, there is a sense at times that some of the lead work is just going through the motions. Also, for these ears at least I would like a shorter running time. Tracks such as "Vaginal Born Evil" and "Sacred Warpath" would be my particular choice of trimmings for the cutting room floor.
The fact remains however that for any band to be capable of this quality of output after thirty five years is extraordinary. That artwork alone is cause enough to pick it up and stare like a teenage boy.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2016
Those of us old enough to be fortunate to have been listening to metal in 1990 will remember what a fucking cracking year it was for albums. Among all the obvious choices like Judas Priest Painkiller and Danzig Danzig II:Lucifuge sit some lesser recognised gems and high on that list is Sadus Swallowed In Black.
My penchant for pure ripping thrash was more than realised here with an album that to this day sounds as ferocious and intense as the first time I heard it. However there is more to this album than just an all out balls to the wall assault, throughout the entire record the mastery of Steve DiGiorgio on the (fretless) bass is breathtaking and he compliments the guitar work perfectly. One of the most technical players of his time his contribution on here is nothing short of superb. Blend the wondrous complexity of the music with Rob Travis' harsh and scathing vocal style and you have a near perfect combination for one of thrash metals best ever records.
There's a tech death edge throughout most of the riffs on Swallowed in Black and its delivered with all the speed and fervour you'd expect from such a release as well. The songs are well composed and show a real maturity from the writers which compliments the musicianship perfectly. It's very easy for technical thrash metal to become blunted by the twists and turns deployed but because the band utilised this death metal element so well, the pace and tempo lose no edge whatsoever and the whole combination is one vintage blend of varying taste notes.
It does go on a bit though and the album composition overall doesn't sit right with me in some regards, hence it didn't quite get full marks. Still have a must have album for me though.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1990
In conversations about "Top Ten Thrash Metal Albums", Nuclear Assault's debut full-length tends to get mentioned in hushed tones as being "just outside this list.." or in the honourable mentions at least. Revisiting it for the purposes of this feature review I certainly do not disagree with that sentiment and have heard no reason to change my review from my original four stars that I awarded this album on the site however many months ago off the back of this run through. Considering this came out the same year as Master Of Puppets, Reign In Blood and Pleasure to Kill it is most certainly not on the same par as those classics. However, I think what it lacks in a sense of refinement or focused aggression it more than makes up for with attitude.
What this album reminds me of is the chaotic sonics of the aforementioned Slayer with the energy and ethos of Overkill. The gruff vocals of John Connelly have a different level of intensity to a Tom Araya and a much less sneery style than Blitz has, but the sheer determination in the riffing, drumming and plodding bass suggests a band who are doggedly forging their way in a genre where the early pace setting has already been done and they are simply just here to stay slightly ahead of the chasing pack out of pure enthusiasm alone.
Tracks come thick and fast on Game Over delivered in short bursts of two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half-minute rumbling thrash metal that has the requisite political, anti-religious or social commentary running through it. This feels like an thrash album done with a grind mentality if we focus on the ludicrously rampant Hang The Pope or the tongue in cheek Mr. Softee Theme. Immature though these tracks appear to be they are certainly not out of place on an album that feels it was written just for the band themselves and anyone else getting onboard is just a bonus.
So, whilst it may not be the pinnacle of eighties thrash metal, Game Over certainly comes across as honest and authentic to the genre vibe of standing up for what you believe in and making a lot of noise whilst you do so.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1986
Seeing this fall under the Guardians clan on the MA site is an interesting take most certainly. I think it retains enough thrash metal credentials to still please the regular Megadeth fan but I accept at the same time that there's a lot of straight up metal in here as well. It most certainly is one of the clearest attempts by the group to be more accessible and commercially successful, with an overall sense that the aggression had been paired back and the edges of things polished more than we were used to. This polish was clearly evident on Rust In Peace but it was more around being showy and technically proficient, not that these elements disappeared altogether on Countdown to Extinction but it is a marked step down in those stakes.
Retaining the services of both Menza on drums and Friedman on guitars was a positive step at least and offered some stability but I think we were all waiting for the next level of wizardry and complexity that we were shown on Rust In Peace (an album I will openly state to be overrated in my book) but instead we got a pretty plain old catalogue of riffs strung together through solid if not equally as plain structures, dusted with hooks galore though to hold the interest.
One of my favourite tracks on here is one of the least obvious ones in all honesty. Foreclosure of a Dream isn't Mustaine and co. at their best but it is by far the most memorable beyond the usual suspects of Skin o' My Teeth, Symphony of Destruction and the title track. It is also an album full of filler though unfortunately, with the final three tracks not really being necessary at all and are instantly forgettable. I would also call out Sweating Bullets as being perhaps the worst track on the whole album. It's off-kilter structure and almost "metal cabaret" delivery style are just a tad too bonkers even by Mustaine's standards.
I lost track of Megadeth after this record, not coming back around to them until 2009's Endgame which was a sort of combination of the bits of Rust In Peace that I liked coupled with the accessibility of Countdown to Extinction but also the overlong track listing to unfortunately. What this album marks for me was the point in time I moved more towards Metallica and Slayer as my go to thrash bands, dropping this lighter Megadeth option. I found Metallica's black album to be more thrashy than this and Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss to hold more menace despite both of these albums being the start of the more accessible eras of those bands. Megadeth by comparison just went a tad too far, whether this was to out do Mustaine's old band I don't know but it didn't work for me.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1992
Heathen's Victims of Deception is a victim of bloating. Like it obviously knows when it has eaten too much but just carries on stuffing it's face regardless. I find it hard to believe that such clearly proficient musicians are unable to see when they are writing just for writings sake. Three tracks of this album feels like about an hour has passed already and still there's more courses to come.
Notwithstanding the fact that the album structure is overbearing in terms of song length it also very random with Rainbow's Kill The King parked at track number four (ironically it is the most enjoyable track on side A). The penultimate track on side B is a pointless instrumental piece with a wanky name to boot. Guitarmony (yes, really folks) just gives the duo of Doug Piercy and Lee Altus an excuse to stroke their cocks for three and a half minutes instead of subjecting the listener to eight tracks of lengthy and dominating thrash metal.
The massive frustration here is that the album is supposed to be getting a bit of a bashing in this review but I still can't avoid awarding it three stars because the quality of the riffing and lead work is good, there's just too much of it. The drumming of Darren Minter is solid throughout and the powerful vocals of David Godfrey (White/Godfrey-White, who the fuck knows?) are a fantastic accompaniment also. It is just an album in dire need of a trim or at least and edit session on almost every track to bring the run time down to a more palatable portion.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1991
In terms of gateway albums into a band there are clearly better yet much worse places start with Exodus other than Fabulous Disaster. However, for all the acknowledgement that the ten tracks here or not all the pinnacle of the band's output over the years, as this was the first album of theirs that I ever bought on vinyl then there is some cover provided by nostalgia here to brush away the fact that the content is not all perfect.
Were it not for the unnecessary War cover of Low Rider the first side of this album would be otherwise perfect. Even the ropey structure of album opener Last Act of Defiance still somehow triumphs overall and the frenzied attack of the title track, Toxic Waltz and Cajun Hell make for a superb opening half of the album. Whilst there is a definite tail off in quality during the second half with a hit and miss structure being deployed at the same time the success of Verbal Razors cannot be denied with its groove metal like riff being a real standout in the latter section of the album. Yes, Like Father, Like Son is not very well written or executed and Open Season is way too simplistic a track but the infectious Corruption is a killer track that manages to propel the album forward in a positive direction. Putting two covers on a record is a bold move but they pull off AC/DC's Overdose really well to end the album on a high note.
Following up Pleasures of the Flesh was always going to be toughie and whilst Fabulous Disaster is far from being a failure I recognise it to be a step down in quality from the first two albums. I still love it though, largely due to the fond memories of throwing myself around my room to Toxic Waltz as a teenager stopping only to laugh at that appalling cover photo.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1989
The hellish artwork to Devastation's final album is a perfect representation of the raging death/thrash that lies beneath. This is ugly thrash metal that fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down before climbing back up and throwing itself back down again. Primitive and at times downright bestial this album was a fine way for the Texans to sign off with.
Having been formed in 1986 the band picked probably one of the most popular band names that they could (don't confuse these guys with the other Texan's of the same name who sat on the more groovy side of things). Eventually winding up on Combat Records after a debut full length, the band had started to carve out a niche for themselves over the course of what turned out to be only five years of existence. Imagine the middle ground between the aggression of Demolition Hammer and the darkness of Dark Angel and you're on the right track to understand the sound of Devastation. The pace hits frantic on more than one occasion but always seems to be tempered well by some well written and varied song structures that keep things on a robust and yet entertaining format. There's hints of Possessed (certainly in terms of vocal style) too and in the album's more death metal moments you get a real sense of early Sadus or even the chaotic and bludgeoning DM of Master.
Guitar wise, it was clear that both Dave Burk and Henry Elizondo could play. Both manage to taunt and menace across most tracks adding depth and atmosphere to the near constant attack. The rest of the instrumentation does sound a little flat though with the drums coming across as being too tappy at times. Although effective, the vocals are very one dimensional and the lyrics are very basic and feel just hashed together at times.
If you like your thrash metal on the deathy side then you should be all over this.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1991
Formulas... I feel exemplifies perfectly how the overall composition of a release can all but ruin any quality contained within the fourteen tracks (in this instance) being showcased. All I really remember whenever I see this album cover or hear it being discussed is the pointless and irritating instrumental pieces that slow and smother the album as they interject and then takeover from the actual songs at the end. Who closes an album with three (yes, fucking three) instrumental tracks? I mean FFS Sandoval and Azagthoth!
It was bad enough that the band had lost Vincent and Rutan and therefore any concept of quality control it would seem. Steve Tucker does his best, in fact I would go as far as to say he does a good job on the vocals. I level all blame for the poor quality of this album at the door of the remaining two aforementioned members for the spurious and rushed feel to this record. The sound isn't the best either, with barely any meat on the bones the guitars sound too thin and the drums too "tappy".
The irony was that this record was still a step up from Domination. Therefore it lies as testimony to how poor that record was if the hurried horrors of Formulas... could be considered an improvement. This album epitomises what's been wrong with MA for years. The inability or general unwillingness for anyone to want to control Trey without having major line up changes has been the Achilles' heel of the band throughout their career. In its finer moments the album does retain some semblance of the Morbid Angel of old (Nothing Is Not). But any real flow is destroyed by the atmospheric interludes that completely douse the sparks of hope before they even develop into flames.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1998
Like Ben’s review here, I find Morningrise to be real gift and yet also at times a curse. There’s no denying that there’s some serious work gone into the compositions on display here. Had I the brain capacity as well as the time to do so I could sit through the whole thing and maybe (just maybe) have enough patience to listen to the whole thing with 100% of my attention. The fact is though that for all it’s good points, the astonishing musicianship, the expansive songwriting and the ethereal beauty that the whole thing seems draped in the structuring of the record is not well thought out.
There does seem to be elements of a not thick enough filter on the quality control section of the band going into this record. Competent and established musicians though they unquestionably were already at this stage of their careers they still had a lot of work to do on composition and in song arrangement of the component parts. Whilst full of largely brilliant ideas the album feels overwhelming and often when listening to it I find myself wanting to like it more than I actually do. Whenever I find myself able to focus on one element of the album I soon get agitated by the turn of the tide in some regard and end up drifting away altogether for large portions of the record.
That having been said, I don’t feel the album is showy necessarily. I can’t fault the ability of the musicians in anyway and they aren’t trying to be egotistical either I suspect. They just wanted to share too much. There’s enough material over this short track listing to make another album with, at least of the same length. The progressive and acoustic passages seem more dominant this time around and this is by no means a bad thing. I don’t think the balance is off in the sense that the death metal elements are too juxtaposed with the cleaner, more progressive elements it is just that they struggle for direction as single entities.
Learning consistency and appropriate use of repetition served the band well for future releases and I guess Morningrise is a real “fans” album on reflection as it definitely showcases the talent of the band and stretches the attention span of all but the most avid listener. It’s too much for me though and sadly I just don’t think I will ever have the time or regular notion to ever give it my full attention.
Genres: Progressive Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1996
Last Rotting Christ album I enjoyed? "Triarchy of Lost Lovers". Last Rotting Christ album I bothered to listen to upon release? "Aealo". It is fair to say that the Greek stalwarts of the Black Metal scene now have a sound that rarely ventures into the territory so well tread on "Thy Mighty Contract" and "Non Serviam" but it is also fair to say that "The Heretics" sounds from start to finish like a band who firmly stamp themselves on the metal map for 2019. What album number thirteen from Rotting Christ does is take a measured approach to variation and repetition to build a memorable and lasting experience.
The sound itself goes from dark and brooding metal and hard rock to almost Gothic metal proportions. Yet at the same time that familiar melodic warmth remains in situ throughout. More often than not there's that big soaring melodic riff riding the vocals like a surfer with his board. "The Voice of the Universe" does this superbly as does "The Sons of Hell". The overall feel the record as a whole leaves me with is one of ritualistic allure, tracks like "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Fire God and Fear" build well like powerful incantations being cited from voluminous tomes, flooding forwards intermittently with flowing dark melodies.
It does remind me a lot of Behemoth ("The Satanist" Behemoth, not last year's pompous bollocks Behemoth), with the theme of religion so heavily referenced but at the same time it feels like a much more cohesive effort than recent Behemoth, keeping a level of consistency and restraint to the songwriting which holds the attention well. Only once does the album visit anything like Black Metal on "I Believe", here they base a poem by Nikolaos Kazantzakis at the centre of the chaotic and frantic pace and sadly it fails miserably on my ears, coming across as just filler. My only other criticism is that it does get a bit samey in places (namely the intros to each track). Otherwise it is a perfectly respectable piece of dark metal. C'mon, we can't this black metal anymore folks.
Genres: Black Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2019
Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here. That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat. Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high. There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums. The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.
The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency. The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever. The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems. It isn't even all thrash either, one thing that is also obvious in abundance here is the melody present throughout all 10 tracks.
There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are. In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin". As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. That having been said, last track "Hole in My Soul" is a cracking finisher. As I said though, the energy level is consistently high and there's a real sense of the band having created something they can be really proud of.
I am scoring this a 4 out of 5 just for the fact that even at the mediocre stages the album is still another great example of the old guard giving a Metal Music 101 lesson to all aspiring young metal bands out there.
Genres: Thrash Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2019
So, in terms of context for why I chose this as my featured release for this month, back when I was a consultant working the length and breadth of the British Isles I found myself working for a number of weeks in a place called Milton Keynes which is a short train ride out of London (for the uninitiated). Given hotel prices in London, I opted to stay the other side of Milton Keynes in a place called Northampton in a hotel near the train station. Each day on my commute to Milton Keynes on the train I would be making that soulless journey to the tune of Hammer of the North, raising my spirits with the rousing metal of one of Sweden's finest exports.
As such, this album holds a particular nostalgic place in my heart for accompanying me through a time when I was far away from home and encouraged to imagine places even further away thanks to the amazing imagery conjured by the fantastical lyrics of JB Christoffersson. As a side note I was bitterly disappointed during my research for this review to find that the digital copy I owned (?) has disappeared from my music stream and also other popular streaming services. As much as I am a fan of the physical formats of albums, my overarching experience of this album was on digital format and it is a little disappointing to see it absent from immediate access outlets due to whatever bullshit politics goes on between streaming services and record labels.
Anyway, the main thing I like about this record is that (in the main) it encapsulates everything I got into metal for in the first place. Memorable songs, hooks that bury themselves so deep into your flesh they pierce internal organs, an aggressive and gruff style that make the music seem inaccessible despite it being one of the more immediate releases I owned (shakes fist at the internet), melodic yet never flashy leads and song writing so catchy it is fucking criminal. At the same time you will notice a less than five star rating because I honestly can see the limitations of the record despite all that I love about it. It is an album that tries to be nothing other than what it is; a record made by genuine fans of heavy metal that may be more than a little guilty of flogging the same ideas more than once, yet it does this so well it is near impossible to resist it's charms.
If you read my reviews with any regularity on here you will pick up that I note the quality levels of a record by how well I can recite the tracks in my head without having to listen to the album itself. Needless to say I can do at least seven of the ten tracks here from start to finish in my head - despite all the other shit that is in there at any given time that occupies valuable brain space. The album just rewards you after one listen, balancing melody and rampant rhythms perfectly as the simplicity of tracks such as the title track, Black Sails, Mountains Be My Throne, The Lord of Lies and Ravens Guide Our Way layer themselves in your memory banks, track after track.
As I go off to buy a physical copy of the album, I leave you with the notion that if all artists recorded albums like this (you know what I mean; throw caution to the wind, fuck what's cool today and lets just do what we like mentality) then the world would be a much better place. I have increased my rating by a half star during this review, just because I can.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2010
Xasthur's penchant for haunting and lo-fi, dark ambient/instrumental pieces coupled with raw and repetitive BM is explored in full across the three tracks on offer on this 2006 EP. Opening with the imaginatively titled 'Instrumental' the tone is set for a dreary journey through the dank mind of Malefic. If you have any experience to date of Xasthur then nothing on here will surprise you. The authentic sound of the artist is captured perfectly as the EP moves onto the more harsh 'Bubonic Plague' with its abrupt ending signing the song off seemingly before the track is finished. Whether he genuinely ran out of tape or was just being Malefic, we'll never know.
I would suggest to any first time listeners of Xasthur that this would be a good gateway release into the discography, if three tracks of repetitive BM and dark ambience doesn't put you off then you have completed entry level Xasthur, now please move on to a full length to further the harrowing repetitious experience of Depressive USBM being delivered by one its finest genre exponents.
Genres: Black Metal
Format: EP
Year: 2006
In terms of melodic black metal as a sub genre you could probably count the bands included up on one hand or certainly label them as a cross between BM and melodic DM. We aren't talking the symphonic stabbings of Emperor here we are talking about the retention of the bleakness and the harsh coldness of traditional BM but adding accessibility with effective use of melody that although was key to the sound, did not water down the whole too much. This record combines the familiar bleak atmosphere of BM with some marauding melodies, but also contains some sterling instrumentation to boot.
From the off it is clear that "Far Away From The Sun" is different. There's no (mandatory) cold wind or crackling fire in a blizzard intro here, nope opening track "Fog's Kiss" just charges straight in and immediately sets out its stall of structured riffs and progressive melodies as it plods and jars its way through nearly 5 minutes of perfection. Blink and you will miss the move into track 2, "Far Away From The Sun" as the soaring melody from the end of the opening track blends seamlessly to begin the title track. Dripping in dense and unshakeable atmosphere from the beginning to the end the album is all held together by a perfect arrangement of rhythms, laid with such precision and thought it is a pleasure to listen to.
The galloping rush that starts "When Night Surrounds Me" is breathtaking but there is no time for recovery as Nisse's evil voice echoes around you like wraiths whispering in both of your ears at the same time. They tell of a darkness that will be all enclosing, that will spare none from it's path. "When Night Surrounds Me" has the capacity to make you believe 11am is 11pm such is the dark emotion that writhes within its varied and ravaging 6 minutes. Also here you start to notice (well if you have ears you will have already noticed) the superb performance going on at the skins. Nicklas Rudolfsson plays every bit of his kit on "Far Away From The Sun" and plays every possible, fill, blastbeat and pattern whilst he does so. His drumming is the rumbling stomach of a hungry giant, the scaffold poles and posts to the rising structures that unfold on the album but also the furious warrior galloping across the battlefield slaying all in his path.
To be able to balance all that melody alongside the intense rush and sweeping majesty of the furious BM takes talent and it is a very well produced album across all 9 tracks. You never feel any let up in intensity throughout the album and with each listen you pick up something you missed before. It is recorded proof of beauty in dark places, of order in chaos and of variety in rhythmic familiarity.
Genres: Black Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1996
The one thing you can guarantee from Behexen is consistency. The authenticity of the Black Metal tapestries weaved by the Finnish stalwarts cannot be questioned. For over 20 years they have remained relevant without having to do very little in the way of variation. ‘The Poisonous Path’ sees not only differentiation in sound and style but an obvious feel of structure to boot.
There are times on this record that Behexen sound like a blackened crust/hardcore band. The core riff sound reminds me of Black Breath on more than one occasion in fact. Yet at the same time there are tracks that attempt to soar up out of the murk and melancholy that weights their wings and rise like some blackened Phoenix from the burnt out remnants of Hades itself.
Closing track ‘Rakaudesta Saatanum’ is probably the best example of both the above tactics being deployed, with its solid structure and thumping drums being used well alongside more melodic and accessible guitar work to present a near perfect summary of what the record is all about.
Instrumentally the playing is strong and the mix and production jobs both allow all instruments to be audible without this feeling like a ‘sell out’ record from the band. As someone who particularly enjoys the Finnish BM scene and the extremities it can stretch too I find the blend of ‘The Poisonous Path’ still very appealing despite it not just being about the all assault of a ‘Rituale Satanum’ for example
Genres: Black Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2016
Surprises are nice aren't they? I mean, not socks for Xmas type surprises. Not even tax rebate on your birthday-esque proportions either. I am more concerned with those times in your life where you tell yourself you will hate something before you even get round to trying it, convincing yourself in the process this unheard, untasted, unseen or unfelt thing would be a waste of your time. When you eventually throw caution to the wind and give it go you find no repulsion, no bile in your throat just the recognition that you might just have been denying yourself some entertainment or genuine fun for a proportion of your life.
This is has been my experience of "Ritual" by Soulfly. You see I made my mind up that after "Arise" Max Cavalera was a spent force. "Chaos AD" had its moments but largely left me a bit, "meh!" When I tuned out of Sepultura activity entirely shortly afterwards I was aware that he had cropped up in various other guises over the years (Nailbomb, Cavalera Conspiracy) but understood Soulfly to be his nu-metal/world music project. Twenty-something me had no time for his fucking around and since Sepultura offered nothing interesting the Cavalera contribution to my record collection was over as far as I was concerned.
There's been 20+ years since Max and Sepultura went their separate ways and it's fair to say that in those two decades, Soulfly have matured a bit. Yes, there's still the fucking pointless moments ("Soulfly XI" - saxophone and acoustic nonsense that has no business being here) where styles get mixed up and world influences intervene unnecessarily. Yep, there's still nu metal sounds too (the melodic parts of "Bite the Bullet" for example). But there's also a fucking raging bull of anger, dissent and venom crashing through the political, social and religious delicacy of this particular china shop in which we all live. It kicks and charges relentlessly at times, and despite the risk of becoming speared by a horn or trampled by rampant hooves you just find yourself running alongside it riff by riff.
There's no wheels reinvented though. Anyone familiar with the band might be going "just another Soulfly album dickhead!" but the point is that I had real fun playing this. I pulled silly faces, made lots of silent shouts and nodded along appreciatively with all the catchy and familiar riffs on display. It opens with the tribal sounding title track but this soon descends into a chugging monster of a track, well paced and accessible without sacrificing any momentum. As the album plays we get groove, thrash and a fury long since thought gone from the Cavalera repertoire to my ears. There hasn't been a lot released this year to really get my juices flowing and my blood pumping and Soulfly scratch that itch perfectly here. In any other year with consistent high quality releases, "Ritual" would have much less of an impact I suspect, but as with most releases I have lauded in 2018 (Judas Priest, Saxon..) it is the old guard doing a shift again and putting a lot of newer bands to shame in the process.
Genres: Groove Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
Nostalgia plays a big part in me choosing to even write a review about this record. Back for the Attack being the first Dokken album I owned as a teenager, it was always one that stuck in my head from those heady days of sitting in my bedroom listening to a limited selection of vinyl night after night. I don't recall loving it any point, in fact I had heard the song 'It's Not Love' on TV and then on my next excursion into town with some cash in my pocket I came away with this record even though the song wasn't on it, believing that all Dokken songs must have been of the same quality. They aren't.
It is not that the record is bad, just a bit dull. There's no rip roaring anthem here although the majority of the songs do stick in my head and I can hear them from reading the titles alone, they just sort of rumble along like some mental background music. Arguably, 'Heaven Sent', 'Stop Fighting Love' and album opener 'Kiss of Death' fulfil this anthem requirement but they are just a bit "meh" to really make you want to play them on their own.
All of the guitar wankery you would expect is there, especially on "Mr. Scary" which gives Lynch an opportunity to show off for a few minutes. It still never really gets elevated to any sense of wonder to make you want to revisit it.
The record still made a respectable 13th on the Billboard 200 back in 1987 and all 3 singles made entry into the top 40 of Mainstream Rock USA so more than a few people thought it was solid enough a release.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1987
One of my favourite urban myths is that you will go blind if you masturbate too much. Listening to Portal might make you go blind as you ears frantically take resource from your brain that was needed for mundane tasks such as vision and bladder control as they try to cope with the relentless auditory assault of "ION". However, pulling your pud won't affect your eyesight boys. Science bit over, on with the review.
"ION" seems instantly more refined than previous outings. Don't get me wrong here, there's no slick production values been applied and there isn't any venture into clean vocals, for example. It just seems that this time around things are more calculated. "Phreqs" is like being attacked by a swarm of wasps, as chaotic as it seems there's some well thought out structure to the attack to maximise the impact. One of the only criticisms I could draw against Portal of old was that sometimes the mental factor was up over 11 and things did tend to get lost. "Vexovoid" remedied this a lot with its more "Horror" approach and "ION" seems to take that on a notch further combining dark alchemy and atmospheres perfectly. The build of "Crone" for example is full of creeping dread and menace, finally arriving and proving to be as ghastly as I had hoped it would.
For all the scientific intimation of the cover things are still more on the experimental as opposed to technical side of death metal. There's still that pit of the stomach sensation of being dragged into some fathomless void by the spiralling darkness of those fucking guitars and the taunting evil of those drums - they are not just about all out assault folks. The layers do genuinely seem to be being applied with more structure this time around and the instrumentation is used better than ever to produce real atmosphere.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2018
"Four Phantoms" is an extraordinary, challenging and thought provoking listen. To start with Bell Witch are not a stereotypical metal band. The two members use only bass and drums as their preferred weapons of choice. The bass is a six string affair so the capacity for some very heavy and harrowing riffs and leads is explored fully by Dylan Desmond.
The 4 tracks flow effortlessly between crushing heaviness and melancholic melodies. The hour of your attention that it demands takes you to dark places as it explores four violent deaths at the hand of nature. Drowning, suffocation, immolation and an endless fall for all eternity (water, earth, fire and wind) are all looked at on each track. Opening track "Suffocation, A Burial: I - Awoken (Breathing Teeth)" starts with a slow picked bass until a huge crash of percussion and bass kick things off properly. The mixture of vocals between hushed growls, ethereal and choral vocals is a clever balance. For all the time the growls are present you feel a real sense of a very deep anger and the cleaner styles encase that anger in an unbearable sorrow. Couple them with the excellent use of bass to create mournful, atmospheric passages that tell their own story, layered in a dark ambiance. By the time you have endured the full 22 minutes of track one you realise it isn't just the opening track, it is the opening ritual to what is to come.
The bass churns out some real harrowing bottom end riffs during track two "Judgement, In Fire:I - Garden (of Blooming Ash)". The fire here is a slow burning, huge yet somehow concentrated pyre. A perfectly measured delivery occurs during "Suffocation, A Drowning: II - Somniloquy (The Distance Of Forever)" as the bass sings like a wounded, horned beast whilst the vocals remain clean and almost folk like.
By the time you reach the end of "Judgement, In Air:II Felled (In Howling Wind)" there is very much the sense of having gone through a journey. Like you have been invited on a road trip that you knew was going to be horrific and draining but for every last minute of it you couldn't tear your eyes away from the road ahead and never at any point did you truly want it to be over. As the album closes it sounds like darkness folding in on itself, teasing you by holding your hand until the last possible moment before it casts you free
Genres: Doom Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2015
An hour and twenty three minutes is a significant period of time. I could clean my whole house or prepare and cook a three course meal in that time. Thankfully Bell Witch obviously have a cleaner and/or a chef as they decided to write one track during the time it would take most of us to commute to work. Fans of Bell Witch will already know their sound to be unusual in the sense that there's no guitar and they produced one of 2015's best releases when they dropped "Four Phantoms" to the doom masses.
Far from being an inhibitor, the lack of any guitar simply gives the Bell Witch duo opportunity to make the very best out of the bass and percussion, feeding them with atmospherics from varying sources and types to great effect. I won't lie, this album is an acquired taste. The layers going on here are oppressive both in terms of weight and the amount of patience (and time) required to simply sit down and truly appreciate them.
This is not your standard Funeral Doom/drone album. In fact it is so much more than an album, something audible yet tangible at the same time to fingertips of anyone willing to lose nearly 90 mins of their day listening to an album consisting of just one track. The bass guitar for Bell Witch acts as so much more than a stringed instrument. Sure, the harrowing bottom end that dominates the majority of the track is an ocean of a million regrets churning its tide, smashing roll waves against roll waves, eroding cliff faces and laying ships to wreck. But at the same time the bass sings to you, a song of sorrow and fathomless anguish like a Siren-esque accompaniment to the actual vocals themselves. The delivery of the vocals is brilliant in keeping with the atmosphere of the record as they breathe in and out, formulating whispers, growls and clean, ritualistic verses whilst all the while the drums build their own crescendos of crashing cymbals and subtle rolls that fade and grow back like the embers of some undying fire.
There's textures here too, not always obvious but certainly the variety on display takes the listener on a journey through every passage of crushing doom on and into post (post-doom's a thing right?) and ambient structures of peace and tranquillity yet still the hazy and murky dirge retains the atmosphere all through out.
I am a sucker for any record that matches the artwork that adorns it's cover. The artwork on "Mirror Reaper" is more than matched by the music behind it, I could stare at the artwork for the whole duration of the record and live out it's ethereal and menacing story to the full whilst doing so.
Genres: Doom Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2017
I can't say that much of what where my mainstays in 1990 have withstood the test of time all that well. This was perhaps still my first full year of metal discovery and I had near sensory overload in all honesty as Priest, Slayer, Pantera and Megadeth dropped records all over the place and I desperately attempted to keep up. Although fully aware of Danzig at the time, I had soon gotten pissed off with hearing Mother and Twist of Cain all the time and was quite unresponsive to testing out a Danzig full length at first.
Thankfully, I soon got the fuck over myself and jumped feet first into his sophomore release, grateful to discover that it contained enough of the catchy riffs that made the aforementioned hits so undeniably memorable without being irritating. I got more pleasure in all honesty from the true dark cabaret style of the music, with Evil Elvis firmly living up to his nickname on tracks like I'm The One and Blood and Tears. Fair to say that whilst Cowboys From Hell and Rust in Peace have lost most of their initial sparkle, Danzig's second album still shines its dull majesty even today.
What is the real triumph on this album though is the superb blending of heavy metal with doom and even rock elements (most of Christ's leads are firmly in the rock sound of things). It doesn't ever sound contrived though. The album takes on a real character from virtually the opening track and wears that persona all the way through, unapologetic for being over the top in places because this act is near Oscar winning in places. There's a remarkable simplicity to the overall sound here, I mean whilst this is obvious on the aforementioned I'm The One with Danzig crooning along to an acoustic guitar, this clear and coherent tone and unmuddied sound flows across all tracks. This tactic helps highlight even the simplest of string bends, making them come across as real nuances that become standout moments on an album that feels like it never really gets out of third gear most of the time.
Interpreting this often rudimentary mid-pace and basic song structure is perhaps a challenge for some. I find it processes easily enough for an extreme metalhead like me. I find its bareness adds a real gnarly feel to proceedings which is still the overarching feeling even on the albums more catchy moments. The consistency of the quality in the track listing does start to lapse as we get towards to the end of the record with Girl and Pain in the World being the main reasons that this record loses a full marks rating. I think Blood and Tears would have rounded off the record perfectly well but I am denied a pain-free experience overall (but for the record I hated these tracks back in 1990 also).
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1990
After ‘Painkiller’ - which was the first Priest album I ever heard - I picked up a copy of ‘Ram It Down’ on vinyl. There was an obvious drop in quality and it took me a good few years to revisit it as a result. However, this has paid off as I still believe that (wild inconsistency aside) there are some real Priest gems on this album.
Let’s deal with the bad first shall we? I can’t stand the cover of ‘Johnny B Goode’, it just doesn’t work for me despite the bands best efforts. Similarly, ‘Blood Red Skies’ does nothing other than make me reach for the skip button. ‘Love Zone’ also just comes off as a complete dud for me even though it does resemble the tried and tested format of a Priest anthem from the 80’s.
On to the positives. This record actually contains one of my favourite Priest tracks ever in album closer ‘Monsters of Rock’. The almost doomy vibe to menacing delivery of the track makes my hair stand on end and the ferocity of tracks like ‘Heavy Metal’ and ‘Hard as Iron’ make this a real metal treat for any lover of the genre. Add the kinky, tongue in cheek smut of ‘Love You to Death’ and the clap along anthem that is ‘I’m A Rocker’ and that’s me grinning Joker style!
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1988
When I hear talk of "Desert Island Discs" I find myself strugling to be able pull together 5 albums that I could take to this paradise of coconuts, sun, sea and CD's. There's numerous options that jostle for a postion on that coveted list for me and it can change from hour to hour, day to day, week to week. Some records however are mainstays; records so important to me and my development into metal music that they extend beyond mere entertainment value, extending their importance to almost life-affirming magnitude.
I hadn't heard much of any Judas Priest when Painkiller dropped. Yes I heard tracks such "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law" which I thought were okay but hadn't really set my world on fire. Hearing that the band were dropping a new album in 1990 didn't invoke any real sense of urgency in me. After all (based on what I had heard), Priest sounded more like rock music to me and weren't Sepultura, Slayer or Metallica in terms of my metal tastes of the time. Back in the 90's here in the UK we had a metal show that broadcast on TV in the early hours of Saturday morning called Raw Power. It was essentially the TV version of RAW magazine. I avidly recorded it on our family video player ready to spend Saturday morning blasting the new tunes featured on there. When they broadcast the video to the title track from the album it changed my life forever.
Here was the very embodiment of heavy metal in front of my very eyes and ears. A frenzied attack of duelling guitars, relentless drums and shrieking vocals, all balled into a crushing sphere of rampant metal madness. This sound was the very reason I had gotten into metal music and their look was the very epitome of how I thought all metal bands should look. Equally resplendent in their leather and studs as they were in the authentic and mesmirising music that they played.
I rushed out and bought the record immediately, pulling together what limited funds I had to make a hasty but much needed purchase. I simply had to have this record in my life. The good news was that the title track set up the rest of the album perfectly. There was no one-hit wonder present here. The levels of intensity and energy were so high for the majority of the record that I literally lost pounds in weight thrashing around bedroom to it. It wasn't just heavy metal in the raw and abrasive sense of the term, it was refined and delivered with a deftness that few other bands of the time could muster. The repeat button on my hi-fi got a status of "on" everytime I put this album on.
What I find most astonishing about the album is that when this dropped in 1990 there were multiple other great releases for it to contend with from Pantera, Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer yet it was Judas Priest (the oldest of the lot) that sat head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. I would say that only Obituary's Cause of Death was anywhere near the briliance of Painkiller, but in terms of like for like styles/abums they were two very different beasts.
So there, you have it. The last great Priest album and one of the most important metal albums of my life. I hope they have a good stereo system on this desert island.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1990
Arguably the best sophomore album ever made, Sad Wings of Destiny was a bolt from the blue. After the average Rocka Rolla some two years earlier, Rob Halford and co came out in 1976 with one of the finest records to ever grace their discography. They had undergone a slight line up change since the debut with Alan Moore now residing in the drummer's seat having replaced John Hinch. Like Hinch, Moore was only to last one album in the role before the band went with a session drummer for the follow up Sin After Sin.
Almost from the off though it is clear that the stars of the show here were the guitars and vocals. This album really explored the range of both the guitarists and the vocal chords of Rob Halford. Both worked the stage well together, giving each other space to expand their prowess yet also complimenting each other brilliantly. The opening track Victim of Changes is a real paired back affair in terms of pace and has a real storytelling feel to it. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, it is a bold and epic foray into showcasing some real songwriting prowess (with Al Atkins credited with having contributed it). The album takes more of an aggressive tone with the menacing The Ripper with Halford adding that threatening undertone to his vocals to emphasise the terror of the famed murderer.
Dream Deceiver again goes for a more slower tempo to build the track, focusing on the story as opposed to going for the short, sharp shock. It is arranged brilliantly to contrast the shorter track that precedes it. It builds to a slick and sultry blues-tinged solo to play the song out, the kind of solo where you can hear the whole fret board being used to tell the story just as well as any lyric could. The track bleeds effortlessly to the more upbeat Deceiver to complete another juxtaposed transition from the epic to the more immediate. Again, the band use the build of the track superbly, progressing up to a real gallop pace before ending with a flurry of acoustic strummings.
Side B opens with an instrumental as Prelude prepares us for what I have to confess to be the weaker of the two sides overall but you'd have no indication of this as it fills your ears with the promise of more tales to be told and more musical entertainment to accompany these stories. Tyrant is the first track proper of the second side of the vinyl and it is a bit of a lazy effort in my book. Whether trying to sound fearsome or not the delivery of the chorus sounds tired as opposed to threatening and the whole track feels a bit washy as a result. Halford's vocals are layered for part of this track and it does work reasonably well but overall this the only really underwhelming track on the album.
The more structured Genocide puts things back on track with a more appealing beat and a memorable vocal that sticks in your head for the right reason. The guitars fire licks across the lyrical passages perfectly and keep things interesting throughout. Even Halford's spoken word section comes off as relevant when on any other record it would seem a bit cringey I am sure. Penultimate track Epitaph is an almost cabaret sounding ballad that should stick out like a sore thumb but instead it comes across as a classy folky affair that probably should end the album in all honesty as it feels like a natural end to the album. The album finishes with Island of Domination which is another track that bleeds into form out of the previous one. Cleverly picking up the pace to end on a positive and more uptempo track, giving the listener a final taste of those guitars and sublime vocal range to savour for long after the record is finished.
Genres: Heavy Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1976
Is there any success in avoiding failure? I mean there are no bones to make about it, Morbid Angels last offering was fucking terrible. In comparison to that "Kingdoms Disdained" is an absolute triumph with all hints at "experimental" (or just downright "shite" bits) thankfully lost to the annals of catastrophic album releases from 2011. But is it enough to improve on one of the worst releases ever by harking back to what you know with such totally that, inevitably, you risk judgement of being considered to have just retreated back into the safety of straight up, no frills, DM? Albeit done with a poise and guile of the band of seasoned musicians the world knows you to be.
It is hard to criticise "Kingdoms Disdained". The wave of favourable reviews already popping up across the metal community is already testimony to this and rightly so that these reviews are favourable, because at it's core this is as solid a DM release as you will hope to find all year. No one with ears can deny the grinding death metal intensity of "Garden of Disdain" as it chomps away at your very being like some Pac-Man villain chasing the hapless yellow fucker. The ripping pace, chaotic structure and mental sonics of "The Righteous Voice" will have any DM fan in absolute fucking raptures also. The familiarity of tracks like "From the Hand Of Kings" as being straight up recognisable MA fodder will warm the heart of anyone wearing a "Covenant" tee also. All over "Kingdoms Disdained" there's bits of great DM, I openly recognise this.
Likewise, it is hard to write entirely positive things when in essence the whole thing is just too safe. Whilst I can hear the chaotic writing of Trey here an there it just feels like it is constantly being reined in or somehow stifled. Who wants to sit listening to an MA record and have to hope there's a blooping, looping, totally archaic piece of sonic fuckery just waiting to spin the planet off its axis? They should be there on all tracks not scattered throughout the record like some afterthought. In dumbing down/pairing back for this record MA seem to have dropped into some "pre-Altars" state of foetal development, only giving hints at what they are really capable of.
There has of course been a significant line up change with Bonkers Vincent now a "Country Musician" in his own right having left the MA fray to allow the return of Steve Tucker. Tucker is superb throughout the album, long may he reign (again). The replacement of Tim Yeung with Scott Fuller also proves a positive step forwards. Although at times a bit lost in the mix the drums are on the whole great throughout the eleven tracks here. Line up improvements aside, the production feels a tad sterile and stifling at times also - "The Pillars Crumbling" in particular stands out as being riddled with this problem. It is a similar production blueprint to the "Covenant" sound, an undeniably strong record with a sound that holds it back too much.
The overall opinion I garner from this release is that MA have returned to form, which let's face it folks isn't that fucking hard. There needs to be more here to hold my attention beyond the few listens I have given it so far. I have an array of similar quality sounding DM records already in my collection and I really wanted this release to standout from them. Sadly I find myself wanting to like it more than I actually do.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2017
In the film Twister, the storm chasing crew speak in hushed tones about the "finger of God". This referred to an F5 category tornado, a terrifying and dangerous thing that by Bill Paxton's character's own admission "few have stared one in the face and survived." You can apply a similar reference to Cryptopsy's sophomore release from 1996, such is the ferocity of the maelstrom that presents itself across these eight tracks of brutal and unsympathetic death metal.
At the end of the record, a snippet invites us to run home and cry to our momma's, or words to that effect. For me the correct reaction would be to run home to your whole family and tell them what a fucking force of nature Cryptopsy are and how you stared None So Vile in the face and survived.
A couple of points of note for anyone unfortunate enough to never have experienced this record. Firstly, this is the kind of record that gets talked about in the same hushed tones as would Scream Bloody Gore, Blessed Are The Sick, Pierced From Within and Cause of Death. Here be death metal nobility, all kneel before your master. Secondly, drummer Flo Mounier does only have two arms. It may sound like they have an octopus or that he is a Siamese twin, but there is only one of him and he is but a man. Quite how one man can create such a furious and flawless performance defies the laws of science, but alas the evidence is there for all to see.
Equally accountable for the swirling hostility of the record is vocalist Lord Worm who howls and gasps manically on track after track literally spewing hatred forth for thirty two minutes. Let's not forget the sonic wizardry of Jon Levasseur who as well delivering scorching leads also maintains frenetic riffing accompanied by the clunking bass of Eric Langlois.
So there you are, if you are about to listen to this record for the first time, strap yourself to something solid first.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1996
The indefatigable death-thrash of Master sounds as fiery as ever on their 2007 full length. The balance they strike between death metal and thrash metal is a sure-footed stance they have established over many years of course, but it really shines through on 'Slaves to Society'. The death metal has an almost arrogant and sneering poise to it whilst the energy and zestful thrash elements sit perfectly alongside.
We open with 'The Final Skull', straight away pummelling the listener with insane riffage and Speckmann's trademark gruff vocals in full flow. This riffery is present throughout the record, especially on the title track and 'Anarchy Nearly Lost' which sounds like the brother of the opening track. Lyrically we have the usual Speckmann typography, full of distaste for society and politics in the main yet delivered with enough casual sarcasm to bring an ironic grin to the face of the listener. 'The Room With Views' does this brilliantly with the opening lyrical salvo of, "I hate everyone and I hate everything". Yep, classic Speckmann right here folks.
Props need to be given to the European contingent of the line up for this record with Pradlovsky doing an amazing job on the skins and Nejezchleba shredding and riffing like a motherfucker for eleven tracks. The latter's barking riffs of particular note on the aforementioned 'The Room With Views'.
The version I have of the record is the 2008 reissue on Ibex Moon Records and so contains four demo tracks at the end of the record (that don't sound that much like demos in the grander scheme of things it has to be said) which serve to enhance the overall experience of this superb release.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2007
Master's sophomore album (if we include the eventual release of their debut in 1998) is a record I am proud to say that I now own on vinyl. That bright red, white-edged (and embossed on my version) logo across that pitch black background underlines the simplicity that the record screams in its completely primitive auditory assault. This is death metal done with a real punk-driven thrash metal vision and as such I think this record stands out from the rest of the early death metal records of the late eighties and early nineties. It is not an atmospherically threatening album either; overwhelming menace and threaten retain their razor sharp intent by sheer intensity and zero-value production quality alone without the need for keys or string arrangements.
Yes, it is sloppy as hell and it sounds like it was recorded in garage, but that's why we like it, right? They even completely butcher one of my favourite ever Black Sabbath songs (Children of the Grave) but they toy with it with a random and totally clumsy bass solo beforehand. The raging tempo sounds nothing like the original and is probably one of the poorest choices of cover song I could have thought up for the band, but they deliver it with their trademark ugliness and truly do try to make the song their own. Those ridiculous keys in the middle of the song are well and truly hammed-up and bring a dry smile to my face at least.
Whilst I really adore the honesty of this record my biggest criticism is its random construct with two instrumentals bridging that BS cover (although on my version there is an additional track after the BS cover) just feels like they were short on lyrics and so Terrorizer relies on the (fitting) intensity of the riffs to drive it forward as opposed to having any real structure. Sonically though, the album is a super-charged beast of twisted leads and contorted fretboard incantations of absolute torture. Although not quite on the levels of Mr Azagthoth, they suit the aesthetic of Master's sound perfectly. Imagine the bludgeoning sloppiness of Autopsy with the razor sharp terror of Possessed with more than a hint of Scream Bloody Gore thrown in and you essentially have the sound of this record down to a tee.
Genres: Death Metal
Format: Album
Year: 1990
For every "serious" death/doom release you need at least one that is not afraid to wear its love of b movie horror on it's sleeve, right? "Never Cross the Dead" works on two levels for me. Firstly, the relentless groove of the riffs just floors me every time, bending my mind with every string strike and contorting my eardrums with every bottom-end bend to the riffs. Secondly, the album has a real sense of tongue in cheek delivery. Playing like a soundtrack to some "Best of..." Hammer Horror movie compilation with its menacing gloom and promise of evil intent. Take all the Doom of Candlemass and blend it with the crunch of latter day Entombed and add some clunky, awkward elements of Autopsy to proceedings and you're getting close to the experience of "Never Cross the Dead".
Opener and title track stomps around in my head literally for days after just one listen. The melodic yet acutely distressing work of the solo a stark contrast to the catchy riff that makes up the main core of the track. Lysse Pyykkö's gruff and guttural vocals cementing everything in place like some churned cement mix.
The menace continues into the brilliantly named "Terror Castle", that perilous edge to the riffs just loitering with nefarious intentions, like some undead teenager kicking his mate's decapitated head against your back wall. The ham continues across tracks such as "The House of Hammer" and of course "Theme from Return of the Evil Dead" which closes the album.
For all the plodding dirge of the album you still get sufficiently crushed during the fifty-plus minutes of its running time. It is an album that walks the full soundscape of death/doom very well being memorable yet never predictable somehow.
Genres: Doom Metal
Format: Album
Year: 2010