Vinny's Reviews

Almost inevitably, if you're coming to this album you have already had your fill of Sacramentum and Dissection.  Chronologically in terms of release years, by the time Vinterland dropped their debut we had already had The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane show us how melodic black metal could be done and Far Away From The Sun was only two months behind this release.  That having been said Welcome My Last Chapter punches well against those titles.  Whilst not being anything particularly new, extrovert or alternative to the melodic end of the black metal spectrum, it underpinned the resplendent edge to the sub-genre nicely.

Engineered and mixed by Dan Swanö, the Swede's debut album oozes class and sophstication alongside the more familiar harsh, cold assault more associated with the genre.  Swanö also contributes most of the keyboard work (alongside the largely unknown Jonas Hermansson) which adds a real depth to proceedings alongside the rich tone of the guitar.  The drumming is a tad wet sounding for my taste but the bass is sat perfectly in the mix, twanging and rumbling along nicely with the flow of the record.

Vocally, D.F. Bragman does a sterling job of providing the ghastly delivery required that further adds to the mystery of sound.  This album has some legs on the aforementioned more obvious classics of the era in that if feels almost devilishly melancholic in the more down tempo sections.  It almost seems to brood between the faster passages, dwelling, revelling almost in its own misery.  As a result the atmospheric impact of the record is memorable and lasting.

The melodies here are delicious and structured perfectly.  Sweeping melancholic riffs and desolate acoustic strings sit effortlessly alongside each other, playing equal amounts of importance in the success of this record, lifting it up to the lofty heights of recognition that really should ensure that this album is recognised alongside (not as an afterthought behind) the more familiar titles mentioned.

US black metallers Weakling never made it past album number one.  John Gossard and co went their separate ways after the release of their debut which is sad in the sense that there was a real sense of more to come when ever you listen to this record, it has moments of great promise that with time would have been honed into potential masterpieces over coming releases.  Sadly, this was not to be.

To start with, Gossard's vocals are superb.  They fall short of Bethlehem proportions of demented ramblings but are still scowling rants that add a real harrowing edge to proceedings.  They offer an almost surreal element to the music and feel at times disconnected from what is going on around them.  There are a couple of occasions when a cleaner style is adopted and this is less appealing and often unnecessary, but overall the vocal input in here is one of the main things I take away from this record.

The second trophy to be raised on this record is in the direction of the songwriting.  There's a density to the tracks on here that take it far beyond the realms of traditional black metal.  The pace and tempo varies throughout the record, touching on doom metal like atmospheres alongside death metal-esque riffing through to the sublime tremolo of the most recognisable black metal traits.

The keys of Casey Ward do a great job of supporting these vast structures, drip feeding atmosphere into most tracks in the most subtle manner.  You have to listen harder on some occasions than others but they are mostly definitely there under the fuzz of the riffs, the "tish" of the drums and the howl of the vocals, adding richness and depth to proceedings all the while.  The guitars have a tone that resonate deep in the musical sphere that envelopes them, they feel like they lead the charge but also reverberate well of the rhythm section to god effect.

My only criticism is aimed at the drums.  I struggle to feel much of anything from Sam Foster ("Little Sunshine" as he is listed here) beyond a flurry of "tishy" hi-hats and the drums overall sit a little too far back in the recording process.  Rescued most certainly by the fact that everything else that is going on around him is very clear on its place and position overall, Foster gets away with it on this occasion but there are moments when the lack of drum prominence thins the sound somewhat.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't have enough Ruins of Beverast in my life.  I have the brilliant Exuvia in my collection but until now had not ventured further back into the discography to explore what had come before.  Although by no means perfect, the debut album offers plenty of promise for what is to come from the rest of the back catalogue that follows it (one assumes - again basing this entirely on their last offering).

The album plays like a soundtrack to the most obscure and dark nightmares in the heads of most beasts.  Full of atmospheric passages and crashing and bashing industrial resonance it is easy to get a bit lost in trying to understand the overall direction of the album.  As such I don't think it has a particular set direction to follow.  For all the haunting and harrowing sounds present here they don't always marry well with the overall aesthetic; sometimes this is to good effect and you end up with an almost juxtaposed death rock feel to tracks whereas on more than one occasion things just come off as being a bit confused and meandering.

There's a distinct sense of insanity to the flow of the record that sort of ensures you are captivated as you are most certainly always kept on your toes, wondering what is coming next and for the main part this works superbly.  It does however stray into the territory of limited memory (a sort of demented induced dementia if you like) of tracks on the album, with only snippets standing out as opposed to whole tracks.

Still, this is a good debut that is made by an artist not afraid to mold the most complex of forms and let the emotion of the struggle of it's existence be released in a full frontal exposure of the bare, tortured soul beneath.  For where it sits in the discography it is a very respectable effort to begin with such an archaic style of music that doesn't follow much of the extreme norm of the genre.

Adding the word "melodic" to any particular genre of metal does not necessarily mean that it is a safe or somehow diluted version of what is more commonly recognised as being extreme.  There's certainly still plenty of bite to Kvist's only full length release from their brief time together that lasted just four years in the end. Whilst deploying keyboards the band stayed true to the cold barbarity of black metal, displaying similarities with many other bands of the same period such as Satyricon and Emperor.

What they were brilliant at was leaving a stamp of their authority on all six tracks on For kunsten maa vi evig vike.  Whether it was the burrowing and parasitic guitar work of Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen or the superbly forbidding and wretched vocals of Tom Hagen, all of the tracks stay with you in some way shape or form.  The atmospheric soundtrack of the keys adds a macabre and morbid aesthetic to proceedings really well and contributes to the flow of the album superbly.

From time to time, the pace drops into an almost black 'n roll stomp whilst the album also is not afraid to stay in almost ethereal paced realms on other occasions.  The signature bleakness of black metal is constant throughout but even for it's time the record has a more modern feel to it and one of the great regrets for me is that the band split up after such a short period of time and after only one very promising record.  Quite what we would have been treated on subsequent releases is left only to the imagination sadly.

Treated in isolation, as it has to be, For kunsten maa vi evig vike retains the authenticity of black metal and develops some very enticing and exploratory branches (the violin during Svartedal for example is a real treat) during just under forty minutes of running time.  Whether by design or not the drum sound alone sounds unique to me making sterile and claustrophobic rhythms whilst complimenting the more racing passages also.  The production job is sufficiently murky enough to provide a live feel to the album even when the more melodic and/or acoustic elements are centre stage.   

Now we are talking!  Far and away my favourite Enslaved release, Below the Lights is a work of great confidence.  The songwriting and and structure building that went into this record is nothing short of remarkable.  Add to this the blending of black metal with progressive elements to create an album that swims elegantly through its own torrid tide and you know you are dealing with a band at the top of their game.  For me they have slowly declined since this record, although I grant you that Isa as a follow up album is also superb, just not quite on the same level.

On their 2003 offering, Enslaved create clever black metal.  Unafraid to stick to tried and tested formulas as well as explore further the progressive side of their repertoire, for every grim black metal section there's usually a soaring lead, melodic passage, hazy atmospheric or staccato riffing awaiting around the corner to add some real maturity to proceedings.  With so much on offer it would be easy to think you may get lost on this record but as already mentioned there was some serious thought put into the arrangement and structure of Below the Lights and as such nothing ever really feels out of place.  There's a need for every brick in the wall on all the structures Enslaved create here, they all add something to the overall album.

Alongside catchy songs like Havenless there's still raging torrents like Ridicule Swarm.  Big numbers like album closer A Darker Place meanwhile, explore all manner of styles, pace and tempo, from rabid, blackened verses to ever building layers of progression and soaring arena rock leads.  It is just impossible to fail to be entertained by this album.  Never low on energy or ideas it weaves a complex yet accessible tapestry full of obvious influences that instead of coming across as opposing or challenging end up feeling like a perfect marriage.

The title to the album always fascinated me as it is superbly brought to life in the content of the music.  To quote Ivar Bjørnson from an interview in 2003 "the lights are where everything's acted out, but it's all made below... Like nice green grass and flowers - the stuff going on below... worms, dead leaves, dead bugs, dead animals, everything shift-shaping and growing into new stuff all the time".

Chalk me up for entry into the folder marked "Don't get the fuss around Dimmu Borgir" and file me neatly away in the back of the filing cabinet.  Perhaps this is too harsh a statement to open my review with as Enthrone Darkness Triumphant isn't terrible.  You can't deny the high drama levels that are akin to soap opera proportions of theatre, nor can you ignore the effort the band puts into their art form.  Musically, their 1997 release is hi-octane and bursting with passionate energy for the medium they espouse.

My problem is that upon reflection it is more or less all the same for the whole album.  Grim vocals, spreading a sense of despair and menace at the same time, are perhaps the highlight of the album for me, most certainly the standout part.  The rest of the experience just feels like a very excitable gallop into symphonic territory that whilst in essence works there's never an opportunity to absorb or digest much of anything by dropping pace a little.

I have no issue with relentless delivery of an album in the main but I still need something to latch onto to keep me interested and hooked.  Unfortunately here, despite not falling into the "throw every idea we have at the songwriting" trap, the album feels like it suffers from this regardless.  Working my way through all ten tracks there is definitely some structure to more or less all of the tracks but it feels somehow too hidden.

The memorability factor therefore is significantly diminished to the point of me almost getting bored, which is ridiculous given my acknowledgement of the energy levels present.  I just feel things need to be paired back a little to let the individual parts of the music breathe more freely and allow their impact to be more obvious and better appreciated.

One of many demo's that Wintherr put out over a fifteen year stretch dating all the way back to 1998, this self-titled release is twenty one years old at the time of review.  We are all probably more familiar with his work with Darkspace (known as guitarist and vocalist, Wroth) but his solo project precedes the more famous band by a good two years.  Although there are most certainly similarities between the sound of Paysage d'Hiver and Darkspace there are also some differences that distinguish the two.

Given this is a demo, the production job is obviously not on the same par as any of the full length offerings of Darkspace.  Whether deliberate or not, the sound feels cloaked or weighted behind or beneath something and never feels like it is fully audible to me.  This adds to the obvious required atmosphere superbly and makes for a very attentive listen most certainly.  The track lengths are even longer than normal DS fodder with each one of the three songs coming in at over seventeen minutes long.  This gift is a curse in that I require several listens to fully digest the content yet I still don't feel I know the release well enough after multiple listens.

Structurally it is strong, relying heavily on repetition and atmosphere to build the release over the fifty plus minutes duration.  It isn't afraid to stick with a riff, section, pace or tempo and work it to the 'nth degree.  There's a crude sense of safety I get from this in that I feel I am able to settle into each track easily even though there remains some challenges to be overcome.  On more than one occasion the charging black metal style has medieval sounding instrumentation being keyed, plucked or strummed alongside it.  It doesn't actually clash as you would expect it to either, it sounds like it being oppressed by the more aggressive style, like some raging darkness is keeping the light at bay.

These more melodic elements make the album feel like it is fully supported on all fronts throughout its entire duration.  They add depth but also help with the progression of these long and repetitious songs.  Vocally the style is the familiar scathing and withering attack of any high energy black metal release and the vocals add superbly to this sense of things being juxtaposed yet somehow coherent as a complete entity, despite moving at very different pace and direction.  

A very clever release.

Whether it is the harsh, discordant and unpredictable nature of the band's sound or becoming embroiled in the media frenzy surrounding the alleged extreme political views of alleged members of a band, there's usually something lurking not too far away from the name Deathspell Omega to make the average listener's toes curl.  The fact is that when it comes down to the bare bones of what they do (record music) they are exceptionally good at it.

I find their third full length to be a bit of a middling affair however.  It does what it says on the tin most definitely but somehow the whole experience gets a bit lost on me.  There's some really well thought out and solidly constructed structures in the thirteen tracks on offer here - First Prayer and Second Prayer in particular - that manage to build jeopardy and unease superbly.  Alongside these however are a series of very similar, "smash 'n grab" tracks that only really stand out due to their notional punk influence.  As entertaining as they are they do interrupt the overall flow of the record too much.

The album comes across as being undecided on what it wants to be.  For me it works better in its less frantic and more mid-paced moments, weaving strong fibres and memorable patterns, allowing the talent of the songwriting to shine through.  Whilst certainly not opposed to the more frenetic pace of the BM spectrum, for me it brings little in the way of benefit here and the "extras" such as the chanting and choral smatterings really enhance the offering far better.

With a bit of a trim and maybe less of a storm of ideas the album would almost certainly be attracting near to maximum stars but as it is I struggle to score it much above halfway in comparison.

With all things being equal the grumpy old man in me was instantly put off by the band logo on the cover of this record.  "This looks all sleek and modern, with its oddly shaped T and H", he said.  "This be music for young people", he said.  What this actually turned out to be once Pensioner Vincent had climbed back in his rocking chair was an absolute fucking blast.

This is all about the fucking riffs man.  Chopping and scathing attacks on the auditory inlets of the listener they act as an abrasive and caustic excursion into industrial-tinged, atmospheric and also blasting BM.  With Satyr of Satyricon performing the majority of vocals the album does sound a tad like a more adventurous version of the infamous bm stalwarts.  Musically though it is somewhere between the levels of intensity generated by a Tsjuder record and the levels of creepiness experienced in most horror movies.  The guitars themselves have an almost crispness to them (again reminiscent of Now, Diabolical era Satyricon) as they battle for supremacy with the haunting atmospheres and perilous melodies of the overall of offering.  With Hellhammer guesting on the drums there's certainly no shortage of power or guile in that department.

It would be easy on a record of so many opposing parts for the album to lack flow or cohesion but it does have both.  In this regard it is a triumph of both design and content.  Without many twists or turns the album delivers a varied listening experience that stays with you for a while after.  Its consistency and confidence are both strong enough regardless of what pace, tempo or general style the band are performing at even the final track with it's spoken word verses seems to act as a fitting summary to all that has passed before it.

Arguably, with the names associated with it, Thorns single full-length offering could only ever had been a success.  But the delivery of it serves to fully cement this expectation and leaves me wishing still for a second offering nearly twenty years later.

I recall that most metal music tv channels only ever seemed to have one video for CoF throughout the noughties.  I started to get sick of hearing/seeing Her Ghost in the Fog pretty quickly and (having missed the CoF boat back in the 90's) never got round to venturing into their discography.  This wasn't just down to that overplaying of one track though, I perceived their pomp and circumstance to be a step too far at the time and had far cooler and less grandiose acts to appreciatively nod my head to.  As a result, now at the tender age of 43 I am only just getting around to sitting down with my first full length from the band.

It is a good place to start too.  Dusk... represents the perfect blend of majesty and regal symphonia mixed with scathing black metal attacks and death metal intensity.  From the opening instrumental of Humana Inspired To Nightmare you know what you are dealing with here.  It's menacing atmosphere and funereal tones set the scene perfectly.  The album from here just continues to unfold it's macabre and nefarious layers, revealing the intense cold and howling misery of all corners of the devilish realm it opens up to the listener.  Not that it is by any means a blastbeat infused storm of a record (it is in fact very well paced throughout) but the dominion the content of the record presides over leaves you breathless at times.

There's a lot to take in here and by definition the album is a grower that gets better with repeated listens as you unlock more with each spin.  There is however a real sense of consistency to proceedings.  The keys give a mighty sense of pomp across all of the tracks, enhancing the storytelling aspect of the album.  Dani's theatrical vocals further enhance the thespian like feel to the performance overall.  Indeed, tracks like A Gothic Romance (Red Roses For The Devil's Whore) play as intensely acted dramas in a theatre of hellish performances.  The whole album feels well planned and orchestrated to great effect.

There is one grumble I have, which is very minor in the grander scheme of things.  The spoken female vocal sections that pop up here and there are drab, dull and lifeless.  Although perhaps in keeping with some part of the direction of the album they do still standout for the wrong reasons.  Like I said though, only very minor and by no means are they the memory I take from this record.  It is a classic in the genre most definitely, a true total package that delivers on many levels.

The main problem here is a tale of two halves, one infinitely better than the other, over a real short number of tracks.  Having never heard this record through until this past week, the rigour of trying to figure out if the band have tried to be clever in making a true “grower” of a release or if they genuinely had brain storm issues and put everything into the first two tracks is tiring work.  I am leaning towards the latter opinion though.

For the opening two (of four) tracks, I am utterly lost with this album (if we can call it that).  The band’s songwriting and composition style appears to be an “anything goes” type format and literally the kitchen sink is in there as a result.  If I am not lost in the directionless and swirling chaos spilling out of my speakers like an exploding dishwasher then instead I am just completely baffled over how the band decided this was a good idea?

The pace, tempo, timing and structure aren’t anchored to anything and flit and dart all over the place like flies on a bin lid.  The changes aren’t even clever proggy shifts that layer tracks up making them more robust over their term.  They are just confusing and unnecessary disruption to what is a very limited release at just four tracks.

Occasionally some consistency of structure shines through and when it does it isn’t half bad but it isn’t around for long enough.  By the time things do actually settle down on tracks three and four there is a real sense of too little, too late.  Like we are shutting the gate and the horse is already five fields away.  The atmospheres and textures that occupy the more stable half of the release hold the attention well enough but only if you have the patience to sit through the near unlistenable first couple of tracks.

Canada goes down as being on country that in terms of metal often produces some experimental whilst at the same time very entertaining bands (Gorguts for example).  Obliveon fitted this billing perfectly with their technical death/thrash full of bass heavy pickings and aggressively melodic passages the band were like a very dumbed down version of Voivod or an even more catchy version of Coroner.  Adding into the mix their penchant for the more progressive leanings of Death and Atheist the band had a range and depth most still lack unfortunately.

The band's history is littered with hiatus' and comebacks and although they remain active to this day they haven't recorded anything since 1999.  Their debut was a very consistent if not altogether too flamboyant affair that just stuck to the very basics of what they did very well.  Their "basics" was inclusive of some very clever musicianship though and some talented song writing to boot.  Clocking in at just shy of forty minutes, From This Day Forward proceeds with an almost cosmic edge to proceedings that belies the artwork of the record superbly.  It isn't Vektor proportions of outer space worship by any means, this is more of a subtle exploration of the cosmos but there is still a strong sense of otherworldly shenanigans beyond the school workbook style album artwork.

Vocally we have that familiar grim tone that menaces the listener, layered over the top of the rumbling bass and varied riffage of the twin guitars.  The drumming here feels very light touch, not lost or under represented in the mix, just a healthy amount of space has been given to let all the parts breathe appropriately.  The album feels cohesive as a result like all the parts are working in unison.  Even when given opportunity to shine, the leads don't get flashy or showy and still supported superbly by the rest of the instruments.

It isn't an album I will listen to everyday or every week for that matter but will be one that with the occasional spin is sure to bring a nod of appreciation.

More death/thrash than all out, standalone thrash metal, Sweden's Merciless managed an initial eight years together before breaking up in 1994.  Although fully reformed in 1999, the best of their output to date is their 1990 offering The Awakening.  It isn't a bad effort by any means but it lacks any real depth to the sound.  The drums come across as a little too tappy or at times completely lost in the mix.  The guitars sound like they are not mastered and the slightly repetitive edge to the riffing doesn't create any real sparks.

Vocally, it is a grim and dank affair in terms of the style employed which actually gives things a slightly blackened edge and it the vocals that stand out more than anything else on the record.  The bass is largely lost unfortunately and I think this might be what gives proceedings that sterile sound overall.  On some levels this works as this particular blend of metal requires this format in order to maintain that lurking and murky presence.  The problem here is that it remains largely unmemorable and instantly forgettable as an album.

Tracks tend to blur into one over the course of the whole album, which is only twenty-six minutes in length so is no real showstopper but it somehow makes it feel like it goes on for longer and the lack of any real sonics or lead work just makes things feel a bit dull overall.  The vocals save it to some degree but the lack of any real traction from the other moving parts makes this a bit hard to stomach for me. 

Canada’s Sacrifice go down in my history books at least for their fantastic 1987 album Forward to Termination, an album first alerted to me as being an “underrated classic” of the thrash metal genre.  Follow up album Soldiers of Misfortune follows pretty much the same format of intense and energetic thrash metal with a rabid vocal style that appeals so much to my love of the more extreme sound of the genre.

Unlike it predecessor though, Soldiers of Misfortune doesn’t ever reach the epic proportions of excitement that got me all in a lather when I first heard it.  Instead it seems to follow the same tried and tested formula on nearly all of the songs, occasionally dropping to more mid-tempo based structure every now and again.  That withstanding, even for an album of relatively short length (8 tracks) it feels longer and a bit repetitive.

Let’s not take away from the fantastic musicianship on show though.  As a stand-alone thrash metal record, anyone hearing this without knowledge of the band would be very entertained by the slick leads and chugging rhythms of this album.  Those nasal and nefarious vocals are the icing on the cake as well.  For most thrash metal fans discovering new albums this would be a very neat find.  The 3 stars reflect the place  this album inhabits in the discography if anything.

Well, chalk me up another hit on the new discovery front.  There's a lot to like here with these German thrash/death metallers as they deliver my preferred brand of vicious and aggressive of the genre. I knew what to expect of any picture of the band before I saw their promo shots on the wonderful world wide web.  Studs, bullet belts, battle vests and a range of tees encompassing Motorhead through to Sadus.  Fuck yeah!

There's enough riffs here on this album to capsize a cruise liner.  They rain down like blows from multiple, hefty fists.  They pummel the fuck out of your scrawny and pathetic existence, leaving you breathless, winded and yet still begging for more.  They are the monster under your bed, the strangers in dark shadows of the night, an army with razor sharp swords ready to behead all in their wake.

The band are excellent and balancing pace and tempo also.  For every rampant and racing passage they aren't afraid to drop a big open riff in there to control the pace as required and to emphasise the menace and threat of these thirteen tracks.  It is hard to maintain presence and energy levels over forty minutes but they do a sterling enough job.  It is a tad too long a release for the style of thrash that they are delivering and would work a little better at around the half hour mark.  That's the only thing that keeps that elusive half a star off the rating though.

Pleasingly, the band are still active today so I have a few more of their releases parked on my "to do" list for the next few months.

The symphonic opening to this record belies an allusion of grandeur.  It does come across as quite amateur though with its clumsy composition and goes on a bit too long.  Thankfully after the opening two and a half minutes of pomp, track two starts the album off proper with a scathing riff that brings the promise of exploration of the technical side of thrash metal.  The problem is though that it is just as guilty of going on and on with the same idea as the opening track was.  The blackened vocals, sang in the native Russian tongue of the band are the only obvious positive in the opening few minutes of the seven minute plus track.  For the majority of the song, the band seem to stick to the same repeated progression, layering in more prominent bass sound at times to give the only real variation to the by now tried and tested formula.  By the time the (excellent) solo kicks in I was more than ready to skip to track three but the lead work rescues this track nicely.

This was Aspids only release in a career that spanned an initial nine years (with a brief return in 2010).  It sounds like a debut album from the 90's released on a small label.  The production values are suitably sparse but the mix stabilises all instruments well and the pacing and structure of the album overall show signs of a band able to progress beyond their first venture onto full-length together.  Unfortunately the band dropped of the scene altogether some four years after this record was released with only the drummer seemingly active in metal music at all in recent years.

The racing tempo of track three (this is all in Russian hence I am not naming tracks by title) delivers a ripper of a track for lovers of the more aggressive style of thrash.  The band sound like a cohesive unit on this track and the structure is a little more obvious and ordered, relying less on progressive elements to get it over the line, instead relying on solid riffs and high energy levels.

There's elements of Coroner on here - albeit not as well delivered - but also you can here bits of Sadus and Athiest too.  The smatterings are there but this never quite reaches the odd progressive style of Voivod (thankfully) and the band are able to exhibit a variety of influences on their sleeves throughout the record.  They only come unstuck when attempting these bungling attempts at symphonia or unnecessary atmospherics which are simply not required when the bands obvious strengths lie in their cohesive musicianship using riffs and progressions to build tracks.

Despite not understanding one word of what they say, I do feel a real sense of storytelling across multiple tracks on this album which is a remarkable and unexpected feat.  The grim and angry vocals express the darker side of the release superbly and give proceedings a real sinister edge.  This album is another example of a record that I had no idea even existed and following the Clan Challenge has led me to an interesting new discovery to add to my collection.

The obvious vocal similarity aside, I see little in the way of comparable elements between Slaughter in the Vatican and Cowboys from Hell, the latter of the two releases for me far outreaches the debut effort from Exhorder and I think they are two very different sounds in fact.  Notwithstanding the fact that I grew up with Cowboys... and it was instrumental in defining my journey into metal so it is unlikely to be ousted from the top spot anytime soon.

Again, as with my thoughts on Rust In Peace, I find Slaughter in the Vatican to be overrated.  I feel little in the way of any compulsion to revisit it much after the odd play it gets now and again, but this isn't because it is a bad album more the case that I just don't feel captured by it.  There's riffs and chops and hacks all over it, equally the energy levels are consistent and the musicianship is tight enough to carry it all off.  I still don't get anywhere near the levels of excitement from it that the various reviews on the internet seem to indicate are present.

I think part of this is the "cult" status the album seems to enjoy as being another band that did groove metal around the same time as Pantera did and this I think has led to the unnecessary and inaccurate tag of "underrated classic" being applied to the album.  To these ears at least it is not that and the record just needs to be acknowledged for its solid base and equally robust structures that occasionally break out into well paced and aggressive thrash metal to grab my interest.  Unfortunately though the majority of this record just passes me by.

Mediocre.  That's the word that comes to mind whenever I hear the band name, Death Angel.  Largely this is because of the complete lack of punch to any of Mark Osegueda's vocals.  He has always struck me as lacking any range or true power and this has always in my mind held the band back from climbing the popularity stakes in my thrash metal preferences.

Act III seems to suffer worst of all their releases, I mean as an example, quite what the band were thinking when they recorded Veil of Deception is beyond me.  Placing it as track number three on the record certainly makes if far too prominent in the line of sight and disrupts the flow of the album completely.  Having started well enough with one of the first thrash tracks I ever saw the video to with Seemingly Endless Time things take an instant dive with the energetic yet clunky Stop.  But even early on in the album there's obviously very little in the actual way of thrash metal.  And here lies the problem!  This isn't a thrash metal record, not really.  I mean yes, there's some attempt at riffing on The Organisation but it doesn't set the pulse racing.  It is all so underwhelming.

The funk element to Discontinued really grates which is a shame because bass slapping aside it is actually one of the more riff orientated tracks.  Unfortunately it just feels like the band are trying to be experimental beyond the boundaries of their actual talent or skill levels.  Two (yes fucking two) ballads on a thrash metal record?  Give me a break chaps.

Whenever the record starts to give glimpses or glimmers of hope to me there always seems to be something unsatisfactory waiting around the corner that disrupts or completely destroys the flow which suggests to me that even at album number three the band still were not that good at songwriting and learning no real penchant for their chosen art form.

I found it disappointing that Annihilator couldn’t keep the late Randy Rampage after their debut album.  His unhinged and almost demented style was a real draw for me.  Although at times it was a bit clumsy, his vocal delivery was intentionally so and worked really well.  It gave an added edge to the great guitar work and solid rhythm section that opened up the interest factor that bit more.

By comparison Coburn Pharr’s effort on the follow up, paled in comparison.  Upon my first few listens they dominated my focus on the record and detracted from me listening to the bigger picture.  I would say that overtime I now get the positives of them but I still will always prefer Rampage.  The fact is though that despite the often preachy and even cringey vocals of Pharr, they do fit the music.  The ecological, supernatural and political themes throughout the record serve as a good platform for him to add character to proceedings.  They work brilliantly on the title track with its fantasy theme just as well as they do on the more climate-change charged Stonewall.  They suit to the military precision of Sixes and Sevens.  I still am not enamoured with them though and do act as one of the main reasons this album gets the rating applied.

The other reason for the stars given in the rating is the inconsistency of the record.  There’s a fair bit of filler here as the album goes on and tracks like Kraf Dinner just really grate.  Criticism aside the album still displays quality musicianship, especially from Waters and overall remains enjoyable.  Considering where I was the first time I heard it the fact that I have kept in my stream is actually a real vote of confidence.

Wolvserpent are an odd duo in terms of the often life or death choice of where to put a band based on their sound. The anally retentive readers amongst you may have a full blown aneurysm trying to safely store this complex blend of doom, death, black, drone, folk and harrowing classical influences into a safe and neat little pigeonhole. Add to the fact that this latest release (still not typing the proper title) is actually a 40 minute single-song composition that takes you through everyone of the above listed experiences at least once and your heads may even pop. Take my advice, create an "Other" or "Unknown" folder/shelf/record box/CD tower and stick it in there.

If you are already familiar with Wolvserpent then you won't be disappointed here. It is hard to review any Wolvserpent release because there is so much going on and to be honest I still don't think that my humble words would a) prepare you for the actual experience or b) do it real justice as a piece of wonderfully composed and thought out music. It is the recording of a mental actual state, a forty minute snapshot of a parallel universe in which although it is very beautiful and mesmerising you still can't fight the feeling that something wicked could come this way at any moment. In every sensation tingling moment of surreal transcendence there's a niggling doubt in the back of your head that a looming black cloud of nefarious torment is not just about to sweep in on the westerly wind.

It is safe to say that the track takes you on a journey, which is basically what all music should do.

Loosely speaking, there's probably nobody else in thrash with a vocal style that is vaguely similar to the gruff utterances of Chuck Billy. His voice is unique and powerful and really gives a perfect edge to any metal music really. I have often thought he would suit a more aggressive style of thrash than what Testament plays. From the opening track of this album his vocals are the commanding force over what is otherwise a very average sounding track in D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate). It is not until the thrashing frenzy of Down for Life that the vocals and frantic riffing marry perfectly to make for one of the best tracks on this record. The track sounds full of energy, certainly in comparison to the stuttering nature of the opening track. The only thing the track is missing is some wild solo to polish it off fully.

The promisingly titled Eyes of Wrath fades up slowly to an atmospheric start before becoming another strongly written thrash attack. The track does meander a little though which is a shame but even its quieter moments don't ruin the mood too much. We do get a weird, almost psychedelic solo to end the track this time which adds an air of mystery to things and sets up the equally mysterious sounding True Believer.

The album seems to be going from strength and builds in stature with each track, the groovy 3 Days In Darkness progresses things superbly with its catchy tones and memorable structure. Legions of the Dead is a bit of a short, sharp shock to the flow of the album but doesn't make too rude an intrusion on proceedings.   The steady and again catchy riffs of Careful What You Wish For has an almost nu-metal undertone to it and is the first track that really doesn't fit into the development of the album from track two onwards.

Riding The Snake puts things back on track to some degree but this is were the weakness of the album starts to show.  I think it runs out of pace just after halfway through, notwithstanding that there's still some great moments left to come, but as a whole album I think it starts to feel like it should be almost over by this point like there's obviously very little left in the legs but somehow it keeps going for eleven tracks (twelve on some versions).

Following on from my theme of my general dislike for every vocalist Anthrax ever have had, the main problem I always had with Forbidden was vocalist Russ Anderson.  His unremarkable vocals and frankly laughable style was always a massive turn off for me.  Whilst it is true that I like my thrash metal to be on the heavier side of things, I am not averse to the lighter approach used by some bands but I am nearly always intolerant of weak vocals.  

I came to this record like most people did, of the back of hearing Step by Step and succumbing to peer pressure and checking out the whole album.  The aforementioned track isn't even that good in reality so the writing for the whole album was already on the wall in some regards.  The album opens well enough with the light strings of instrumental piece Parting of the Ways providing a gentle introduction into the more frantic and thrashy Infinite and it obvious from the off that Bostaph is present on those skins as he provides a solid backdrop for the largely robust thrash metal that the band always were capable of delivering.

But as soon as Anderson opens his mouth all the positives are forgotten.  His mix of spoken (almost rapped) vocals combined with the more traditionally sang parts is reminiscent of a drunken man shouting nonsense in the street after all the pubs have closed.  I can't think of many more bands whose vocalist just kills the whole sound of the band for me.  Despite the obvious talent of Locicero and Calvert their riffs and sterling lead work is just trashed by the vocals.  Who thought the structure of Out of Body was a good idea?  It is cumbersome, disorganised and frankly amateur.

And so it continues over all nine tracks, the band build solid enough foundations only for them all to be knocked over by Anderson within mere seconds of them starting.

Unsurprisingly I haven't explored anymore of the Forbidden back catalogue since my first listen of Twisted Into Form.

Fittingly, I get to finish my Horde Clan challenge on a high note.  Mexican death metallers, The Chasm are the brainchild of Daniel Corchado of Cenotaph and at one time Incantation fame.  The version of death metal that the band plays lies rooted in the influence of a variety of bands from Morbid Angel to Nocturnus, from Funebrarum to Deceased.  For every moment of raging death metal there's a horrific, cosmic absurdity  there underpinning some of the proceedings here also.

The sonic chaos that the band invokes throughout Procession to the Infraworld is blinding.  The leads soar and swarm at the same time, enveloping the listener and asphyxiating any remnant of silence in their path.  The riffs are equally smothering and consuming, crawling over your flesh like plague infested arachnids.  Check out At the Edge of the Nebula Mortis for a great example of this.

Corchado's vocal style is different to the one he deployed with Incantation on Diabolical Conquest, having an almost Abbath like feel to them at times.  Considering that this album was released a mere two years after he worked with the legends of death metal, the versatility that he is able to display is great and the performance here feels very measured and calculated to maximise the vocal's emphasis in the bigger picture of the overall music.

Between Corchado and Viterbo the guitar work here is excellent displaying variety and surety in equal measure, never flashy or showy but always entertaining in weaving the album's own particular tapestry of cosmic chaos.  Antonio León on drums does a superb job also in making the percussive elements of the record sound robust and vigorous throughout, using subtlety where required and power when called upon also.  The solo for Return of the Banished is a perfect example of when the guitar is allowed to breathe by the other instruments.

I don't know where the Infraworld is precisely but I am joining the procession to get there if this is what the soundtrack is going to sound like!

With melodic death metal not being my usual poison I have found working my way through this particular site challenge to have unearthed some surprises.  Insomnium are one of the bigger unexpected sources of entertainment for me, having heard the name on numerous occasions but never getting round to see what the fuss was about I was pleasantly surprised by Since the Day It All Came Down.

First off, this is a very mature sounding record which considering it was their sophomore release was a very promising start.  The songwriting throughout the album is a real treat in terms of composition and construction.  There's layers in spades here, building melodies before pacing them with the more aggressive tempos of most tracks.  The leads feel melancholic and harrowing adding real atmosphere to the storytelling.  

The balance to the pace and tempo overall is good but at times is does all sound a bit samey.  Often the record reminds me of a slightly more talented Amon Amarth, some of the riffs are that repetitive.  It feels like the band found a winning formula and overused it somewhat.  This is a shame because as already stated there's obvious talent here but it just seems to get stale in places.

When not resting on established methods the album does develop real textures in places and did stop me in my tracks on a couple of occasions to take note of such particular moments.  All in all though, the work involved in sitting around waiting for the more adventurous moments is taxing for the reward provided.  Songs like The Moment of Reckoning lack any sensible direction and just repeat the same chorus in two different styles, one grim spoken word the other more death metal style vocals and it is almost laughable notwithstanding the fact that the music on the track itself is actually quite good but the vocals remove all sense of enjoyment.

For all my gripes and grumbles there's still a decent enough record here, it just doesn't set my world on fire.

If I am honest there's a list in my head that is loosely titled "Albums to kick yourself for all eternity for not owning".  Near the top of that list is this record.  Currently it is absent from all streams even and so I had to dig to find any stream of it on the internet, however after I write this review I am off to find a physical copy and reduce the aforementioned list by at least one.

The urgency and immediacy of Winds of Creation is extraordinary from the very off the album imposes on you it's agenda of technical and bludgeoning death metal.  This is the only Decapitated release I have any real time for because it is just so freaking well put together and has a feel on most songs of the pace just gathering and gathering yet never once does the arrangement of any track or the album as a whole suffer for it.

Even more impressive is the fact that this is the band's debut full length.  Drummer Vitek was only sixteen years old when they recorded this album and even at that fledgling age the boy was a fucking beast.  Likewise, bassist Martin was only seventeen years of age and the two oldest members (Vogg and Sauron) were still only nineteen.  To be able to put together such an accomplished release so early in their careers is a triumph in my book but when you add the age of the members and their musical prowess to the fact then it becomes almost mind boggling.

Vogg's riffs are monstrous affairs.  Relentless in their delivery and yet so well paced throughout the seemingly ever increasing tempo of each track it is not hard to see why this man was under consideration for Morbid Angel when Erik Rutan left.  This man is a talent and his sonics are so well placed and quickly delivered that they provide near respite from the raging intensity around them.  Vocalist Sauron has the academic title of Master of Musicology from Jagielonian University (come on, who doesn't want that title before or after their name?) and grunts his way through eight tracks (the ninth track being an instrumental) as a perfect accompaniment to the raging death metal being played.

Right, off internet shopping...

In a discography of varying quality of output, Diabolical Conquest might just be the best record Incantation have ever released.  This is in no small part down to Daniel Corchado (of The Chasm) delivering a sterling performance instead of original vocalist Craig Pillard who had by album number four departed from the band.  Corchado also played guitar and bass here too and he (and indeed the whole band) sound sharp and on top of their game.  The bass thunks and rumbles throughout and gives a real sense of atmosphere and threat to the tracks.

Gone are the more murky elements to the band's sound, even the more doom-laden sections are more coherent somehow with the riffs sounding clear and imposing as opposed to lost in some maelstrom of chaotic mixing.  As a result there's an edge of optimism to the sound on the album, not happy smiley-face optimism, more of a satisfaction that the band is working as a unit and ideas are coming to fruition well.

Losing none of their trademark power and baleful atmosphere, Incantation kind of cleaned up their act somewhat on Diabolical Conquest but still were instantly recognisable as the band fans had grown to love over the preceding eight years of their existence.  They embraced the new blood and ensured they maximised the benefit of having an experienced and talented addition like Corchado in the ranks.  It was a shame that John McEntee couldn't convince him to stay longer than just one album as the output for the years since has fallen way short of the quality of this album.

Let's acknowledge that this wasn't just the Corchado show though.  McEntee's natural ability to constantly express himself through death metal is as strong as ever here in both his playing as well as his song and lyric writing.  Likewise, Kyle Severn gives a strong performance on his first Incantation studio album, blasting his way effortlessly through each track.

Probably the last great Incantation album right here folks.  Add it to the collection if not already in there.

This album might just be one of the best death metal albums ever written.  To say that it is a varied and challenging piece of technical, brutal and progressive death metal is perhaps an understatement of gargantuan proportions.  There's no half measures here, if you're going to listen to Elvenefris you're gonna need to give it your absolute attention, otherwise you are going to end up lost as it undulates and surges through over an hour of some of the most well constructed death ever put to record.

Astonishingly, this was the band's only output.  Since Elvenefris the band have been in an unknown state, occasionally surfacing with the promise of new material but never quite getting around to delivering.  Perhaps they are still recovering from making this record?

The band were (are?) a collection of largely unknown artists at the point of the release of this record in 2000.  Their time as Appalling Spawn saw them make one album in 1998, but after some line up changes they became Lykathea Aflame (although rumour has it they are now known as just Lykathé.  Since Elvenefris only drummer Tomáš Corn has worked outside of the group turning up in epic Black Metallers, Cult of Fire.  His performance on this record is notable for its technicality and sheer speed alone.  He almost reaches Mounier like proportions of bashing at times although his drums do sound somewhat tinny in places on the record.  Despite this he is key to driving forward the machine that is Elvenefris over eleven tracks of intricate and arcane music that never stops being entertaining.

The vocals are of the brutal and guttural variety.  Ptoe also brings the odd clean/spoken word vocal in throughout the record and this shows his versatility in creating mystery as well as bestial utterances.  There is also sensible use of keyboards here to boost the atmosphere and create the varied textures of the record.  The band made good use of Ptoe's brother and also Pavel Marcel as session artists to build these atmospheres into the robust structures already being built by the band.

The real triumph on the album though for me is the guitars.  Able to comfortably work with a variety of styles, Ptoe and Martínek combine superbly to make their work the crowning glory of the whole record.  Applying a deft touch where required and just as easily ramping up the raging riffs for the more brutal death metal parts, they show an aptitude for not just metal music but world music also - check out the far eastern sounding passages that are littered throughout the record - that adds real depth to the record.

The album never goes avant-garde like a Dan Swanö record would do, retaining death metal as its core sound throughout and for this reason always feels familiar despite its variety and diversity.

I struggle to find Septicflesh releases that I like.  To date my (patchy) exploration of their discography gleaned only Codex Omega as being of any note.  For me, all too often, the promise of the grandiosity of a symphonic death metal record always fell short.  I won't go as far as to say it works brilliantly on Sumerian Daemons end to end but it most certainly works for the bulk of the record.

The first thing to mention is that I am not entirely happy with the mix on this record.  I find the vocals sound a little muffled and the drums a little dominant in the mix.  It isn't a massive distraction but I do find it is worse on some tracks than it is on others.  Mixing job pickings aside this is actually a decent enough death metal record even before the added splendour of the symphonic elements.  It rips nicely and sets a frenzied pace at times that holds up well.

One thing of particular note is the clever use of the guitars to create atmosphere, even in its most frenetic moments there is always a haunting picked string on the fringes of the music.  It feels sinister, like something is lurking in the shadows watching as the album progresses.  On other occasions the record has a real rock feel to some of the riffs deployed (Dark River) which surprisingly works really well alongside the overall death metal aesthetic of the sound.  It is how I would prefer my melodic death metal to be largely.

There's a definite strength to the songwriting and a prowess to the performance - which is only to be expected.  There are moments where the record does meander a bit but on the whole it is a solid record that makes subtle use of the symphonic elements to let them contribute to the whole sound as opposed to riding roughshod over the record.

The furious grindcore of Dying Fetus never sounded more alive than on their 2000 album Destroy the Opposition.  Full of chugging riffs and soaring technical wizardry it really is a release that epitomises the Dying Fetus sound perfectly.  The technique the trio are able to exhibit on this record is unbelievable.  Opening track Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses) opens and closes with an almost hardcore riff that bounces along but during the intervening five minutes the track goes off in a much more aggressive and technical direction.

There's a real sense of things feeling tight and sharp throughout the whole opus, like the band are really hitting their stride.  The grim grunts compliment the riff structures brilliantly and the blasting fury of those drums feels like a volley of artillery in the face.  Whist undeniably brutal that brutality is not necessarily just in the sound, in fact it is integrated and contained really well in the sound.  There is a sense of more calculated brutality, applied with real aplomb to the recording.  Dying Fetus aren't here to fuck around.

I came to this record late, having only discovered the band via their excellent 2012 release Reign Supreme.  working back through their discography gleaned little in the way of equal magnitude until I got to this release and I think both records follow the same format of balancing brutality with technicality although I would argue that the latter of the two releases is marginally superior.

There's a knack to the avant-garde in terms of how measured you want to be with the more experimental aspects of your sound.  Swanö and co. here have the tap on full and are just letting the innovation pour out.  It does get to the point of nearly overflowing on more than one occasion but never quite becomes a flood.

The death metal parts are great and create all the necessary walls of noise you could ever want to hear on any death metal record.  The effects/saxophone/whatever else is going on here do often sit in complete juxtaposition to the rest of the music, which is sort of the point of course.  Whilst this is necessary for the overall direction of the album, I find it hard to believe that all of it is needed.  There are times when it just sounds experimental for experiments sake and it doesn't really bring anything to the record.

My favourite track on the album is not even a death metal one.  Behrial is a kind of ambient piece, using keys to great effect to create an almost Jean Michel Jarre esque soundscape.  It is the most settled and assured piece of music on here by a long chalk.  It sounds like it perhaps was recorded by a different artist or was mean't for another record altogether though, despite my enjoyment of it.

The album is well named and not many fans would pick this up and expect a familiar structure of death metal like you would on a Cannibal Corpse record.  It does however come off as being a tad too chaotic and confusing for me. 

This is the album that seemingly half the fan base of early nineties metal have been waiting to be followed up for over 25 years now.  Rarely do I hear conversation or read reviews of Machine Head output post this record that doesn't mention the debut.  "This ain't no Burn My Eyes!" is one such common comment as if there is a genuine expectation that anything is ever going to match one of the most impacting and meaningful releases for most fans growing up with metal in the nineties.  As is perhaps human nature, the success of a band at one moment in time becomes a stick to beat them with in years to come.  

The majority of criticism that gets levelled at Machine Head is justified in my book, not that there is anything wrong with a band exploring new avenues and directions but with Flynn's unpredictable nature there is always a threat of you just not knowing what is coming next whenever a record release from the band is announced.  This (aside from the fact that I believe that Burn My Eyes was a one off record anyways) should be evidence enough that the debut was never going to ever get followed up in the strictest sense of the term.  Instead we should celebrate the brilliance of the debut as opposed to chaining it around the neck of the band like some wearisome burden.

By the time this record was released I had been into metal for five years and things were just starting to get a little stagnant for me.  Nu-metal was in the early stages of development and I had already decided it wasn't going to interest me that much.  Virtually every penny I earned went on vinyl, CD or cassette and my shelves in my bedroom were stocked full of everything from Pantera to Morbid Angel, from Bon Jovi to Judas Priest and I felt like I heard everything.  My liking of Pantera was what I recall being the thread that lead me to Machine Head's debut album. A Vulgar Display of Power had been a big influence on my taste in terms of groove metal and Burn My Eyes seemed almost a natural progression for me.  The record felt fresh, brimming with angst-ridden energy and brooding violence.  It sounded like how I (and no doubt every teenage metal fan at the time) wanted their own band to sound like if they ever started one up.  It was equal parts catharsis for the moody teenager as it was unbridled vehemence for the older hormones floating around in my blood at the time.

The tracks just stacked up like a string of devastatingly powerful wrestlers making their entrance one by one into some all out royal rumble.  It was most definitely an album that in 1994 I would have awarded five stars to.  A quarter of a century's worth of hindsight has seen the number of stars diminish as my tastes have changed and I rarely come back to this record with any regularity nowadays.  I still stick to my point earlier on in the review that this record should be celebrated for what it delivered to both me personally and the metal genre as a whole at the time.  It is still a brilliant and very important album.

My introduction record to Nile, their fourth full-length offered a brilliant gateway into their brand of technical and brutal death metal.  Vast though it seemed in scope at the time the whole experience felt varied and accessible still.  Whether it was the far eastern promise on the strings or the looming beastly riffs that cemented the death metal credentials of the record, there was enough ability on show for the record to gain instant respect from this listener.

For me this record completed the band's golden run that started with 2000's Black Seeds Of Vengeance.  It engaged all the brutality of the preceding two records but also showed a much more mature and skilled delivery, complete with a story-telling to the song writing that made the whole experience even more compelling.  The multi-instrumental wizard that is Karl Sanders leads brilliantly on this release.  His supporting cast of Toler-Wade, Vesano and the brilliant Kollias play sterling roles in the execution of the album and Kernon's production job lets the music come across as vibrant as Landau's artwork suggests it will be.

The band for me went into a bit of a decline post-Annihilation of the Wicked culminating in the decidedly ordinary Vile Nilotic Rites in 2019.  But their 2005 release was a triumph in both design and content and is an album I still visit with regularity to this day.

So here's a turn up for the new year, a melodeath album that Vinny actually likes!  "Where is the real MacabreEternal?" I hear you cry, "We demand his safe return immediately!"

In terms of the Gothenburg scene At The Gate's The Red In The Sky Is Ours was my pick of the scene, with its demented vocal style being of particular note for me.  In Flames somehow passed me by until this past week and after a couple of spins of The Jester Race I am sold on this particular slab of melodeath.

What this record does so well is balance the melodic elements so very well with the death metal parts.  Whereas the Dark Tranquillity style of melodeath feels awash with keys and polished riffs, at this stage of their career In Flames has a more core death metal feel to proceedings.  It is still very melodic but it is integrated so well into the mix that it carries so much better.

There's a variety of influences present here too, ranging from progressive sounding follies to acoustic musings as well as incorporating flagrant rock riffs to boot.  The record is written with a skill that often belies a band just three years into their existence at the time.  For a bunch of guys in their early to mid-twenties there's a real maturity to proceedings over the ten tracks on display.

I have started 2020 off with a neat new discovery (albeit a 24 year old album)!  I clocked the 2014 digipak, The Jester Race + Black Ash Inheritance with bonus tracks and live tracks also.  Worth a punt.

I am not Vader's biggest fan if I am honest.  I find their sound to be very generic, meat and potatoes death metal that does little to stimulate the senses beyond the occasional respectful nod.  I hear good things about them all the time from peers but I just can't seem to get into them with similar levels of enthusiasm when I try to sit with any one of the numerous releases I have tried over recent years.

Litany doesn't really change anything as I revisited it recently and still unlocked no further entertainment than with previous outings.  Vocally I find Peter to always sound like he is struggling, his gruff style not really ingratiating the bands brand of death metal with anything robust enough to make it sound authentic.  This is not to say that I am expecting a range in his vocals - it is death metal after all - but they just don't hold up.

Musically the pace is there and the aggression too, but it all just sounds the same and only really is discernible as different tracks due to the leads.  That having been said the lead work is of good quality, not earth shattering or game changing, just competent.  And herein lies the problem.  I listen to a lot of music and like most people have to fit that in around my busy work life and equally chaotic home life.  Therefore music has to be really good to make me take time out of my day to acknowledge how good it is.  If I am in the middle of cooking a meal or working on a document for work then only the exceptional stuff gets to distract me, I don't have the attention capacity for the ordinary or mundane.  This doesn't make the records I attribute such scenarios to bad as such, just not good enough.

Litany won't make me burn dinner or forget to send emails anytime soon I am afraid.

I have always considered Amon Amarth's output as being little more than background music.  In terms of consistency they are like a melodic version of Cannibal Corpse - light years apart in sound but in terms of being able to largely predict the quality of each release they are very much similar in comparison.  That isn't to knock their work ethic.  They don't put out bad albums per se, they just largely all sound the same and whilst obviously capable musicians there's never much effort expelled to push their boundaries.  Like the aforementioned more extreme band, in comparison both enjoy much success from a loyal fan base who eat up their releases time and time again.  For me though I struggle to get excited by much of Amon Amarth's releases and Versus the World is no different.

The same format stays for all songs on offer here.  Melodic, plodding death metal that has no progression or real sense of urgency or drama to it.  It is true meat and potatoes melodic death metal and I fully understand why fans love it but after three tracks the boredom sets in and I find my mind wondering and my attention waning.  All the grandiose song titles such as Death in Fire, Where Silent Gods Stand Guard and Bloodshed give me hope that the content is going to live up to imagery that the language used builds in my head, but sadly I just feel underwhelmed on each occasion.

Similarly, the epic artwork on the front cover made me want to explore the album despite knowing the experience I would invariably have.  On this front Amon Amarth remind me of Manowar; another band I have never really got the goofy appeal of.  They appear to talk a good game, but the delivery is off.  The promise and intent is no doubt genuine enough but the reality is underwhelming at best.

The progressive, blackened death metal of Akercocke is a lot to absorb in just one sitting.  I suspect that there's literally weeks worth of listening to come with Words That Go Unspoken... based on the few hours I have spent with it thus far.  The band have always been highly recommended by peers and internet acquaintances, but only now have I finally got around to dipping my toe into their calculated chaos.  Safe to say, I am a convert!

The over-arching experience I take from this record is one of structure.  Whilst not always linear in their narrative, the songs on display here are all built on solid foundations, carefully composed and deftly performed.  As you would expect with a band with progressive leanings, pace and tempo change regularly but blend this with the excellent contrast between the cleaner passages and the more black/death metal segments you soon come to realise that there is a very clever balancing act going on here.  This is apparent from the opening track.  Verdelet starts with a driving and constantly building riff structure that commands large portions of the track with gothic and ethereal vocals giving things an almost new romantic edge.  The black metal vocals are scathing in comparison, giving the track character and personality.  Things even get a little funky as the track ends with some slapping bass audible.

This track superbly sets up the rest of the record, like a trailer to a movie should do.  It showcases what to expect brilliantly without giving away everything at the first point of contact.  Second track Seduced lives up to its name well with its guttural growls and blackened utterances clashing in disparate harmony over a raging wall of guitars and audible bass, their flames stoked by a constant rhythm and percussive maelstrom from David Gray (no, not that one).

By the time I got to track three it struck me that no track so far as really stopped building.  They all feel just as liable to carry on forever as the previous one.  This flow is no mean feat considering the plethora of styles on show here.  To be able to maintain some feel of consistency whilst mixing up pace, style and delivery is the sign of talented musicians being at work.  Shelter From The Sand is a whirlwind of horror movie style spoken word and wicked laughter over a vast and varied soundscape you can easily get lost in.  This sets up Eyes of the Dawn superbly to take up the mantle once more of building into another aggressive and progressive death metal tune.

And so the tracks keep coming, each one of them a joy in their own right as well as all collectively making the progression of the album more intricate as they pass.  There's a real feeling of completeness to the whole experience without also losing sight of the fact that this a record you'll learn more and more about with each listen.  There genuinely does remain a sense of words having gone unspoken and deeds gone undone after each listen that will just have you coming back for more each time, just to make sure you haven't misheard or missed completely their passing.

My first experience of this band has left me a tad bewildered.  This is in no small part due to the contrast between the vocals and the music.  It reminds me of a subdued Dictius Te Necare era Bethelem coupled with the technical death-grind of Cephalic Carnage.  There's also some pure comedy moments in here (at least i think that is the intent) such as the sheep noise at the end of track one.  As a whole it is very difficult to take in, like getting too many side orders with your main meal (which largely would satiate you on its own).

It is not to say that this record is an entirely unpleasant experience.  For all its chaos and general absurdity there are some very competent and noteworthy passages and the band can certainly write a track well enough.  Whether it is galloping rhythms or more progressive leanings the promise is most definitely there.  All too often though things get lost under discordant arrangements that jar more than they flow.

Instrumentally speaking, the bass is audible more or less the whole of the time which certainly adds some dimension to the sound and the lead work is the activity of obviously competent players.  The drums do suffer from a horrible triggered and clicking sound which in some way fits the music well but also manages to really grate at the same time. 

Overall, the record comes off as a mish-mash of ideas that don't sit comfortably together in one single record.  Despite there being ten songs the whole thing sounds really rushed - and not in a cool/how death-grind should be kind of a way either.

Arckanum frequent the “also ran” section of my Black Metal library.  They always had the authenticity and air of dark menacing mystery surrounding them but never quite had the consistency to make them worthy of regular plays.  Most of their records feel like collections of songs just put together with little thought given to arrangement or overall composition. Fran Marder suffers from this perhaps the most of all the discography.

There is a real sense of constant turmoil throughout the record, but it isn’t well translated turmoil that gives the listener a sense of some emotional connection with the writer’s pain.  Instead it just feels like many people turned up to the writing table with lots of ideas and the editing process lacked any real structure and more or less everything went into the record.

Don’t get me wrong, when they are on point then it is some of the finest BM you’ll hear for the era.  But the work you have to put in to get to the reward doesn’t always feel like it is paying off.  Some filter on the idea flow was needed here to give the more creative and earthy elements of the record space to breathe and make the more aggressive parts feel less forced and showy.

Immortal Bird have been on my radar for some time now. Having thoroughly enjoyed their debut full length of 2015, 'Empress/Abscess' (and their debut EP - 'Akrasia' some 2 years earlier) I have been eager to see what their sophomore full length would offer. The label I commonly see applied to the band is of a "blackened crust/sludge metal" description which whilst accurate for the fledgling part of their career does not by any means cover the plethora of styles, genres and sounds explored on 'Thrive On Neglect'. I always hate writing how much a band have matured as I always feel it sounds condescending, but here the phrase is perhaps never more applicable. Immortal Bird have honed their playing ability to a level of sophistication most bands can only dream of. Whilst the album is undoubtedly the familiar band sound throughout, there is so much variety to the pace of the record that compliments the more technical parts perfectly that it is impossible to not be enamoured with the content.

There's still enough "biff", "pow!" and "clank" here to give Batman and Robin a run for their money. Opening track 'Anger Breeds Contempt' blasts off the record in furious enough a fashion but even within the three and half or so minutes of this attention grabbing track there's layering going on, creating constant build as well clever additions of atmosphere with the bass. This early sense of structure is a theme prevalent throughout the whole record. At the same time the almost "n'roll" feel towards the end captures the fun element of the band's sound perfectly also.

'House of Anhedonia' is where things start to get to a format, structure and texture akin to the styles of the Krallices of this world. The build here feels almost tidal to start with as the track is allowed some slack to build but is never allowed to race away recklessly, always being kept on tight enough a leash to show the progression. When it rips, it fucking rips, giving a stark and yet near harmonious juxtapose to the overall structure. This is a well written track from start to finish, teasing the listener, keeping them guessing, working the crowd whilst unleashing fury in well rationed amounts.

Third track 'Vestigial Warnings' picks up immediately where we just left off only this time we have a more choppy feel to the riffs that couple seamlessly with those near mathy rhythms. Again the pace is cleverly tempered here with a mid-section to the song that allows for breath yet lets the structure really shine. Rae's vocals sit as demented, blackened iterations throughout, even with time changes, pace changes and atmospheric ludes, they are still the harsh and abrasive core of the measured chaos in which they sit.

By the time we get to 'Avolition' there's still two overriding themes to this record. Firstly, it is still building even at track four, still improving with each new track. By comparison the other dominant force here is the confidence of the artists in the band. They sound like a cohesive unit. Picillo's bass rumbles along, never becoming "twangy" or overbearing. The drums sit perfectly in the mix, driving the sound along but letting Madden's riffs and melodic moments shine perfectly. Dave Otero did an amazing job here with the production of this record and the freedom of the instruments is never better exemplified than on 'Solace in Dead Structures' with its atmospheric build into a tempest like maelstrom of a composition.

I just can't praise Immortal Bird enough here. Every once in while a record comes along that challenges me as a listener to absorb more than one style, expect the unexpected and still formulate the record into some cohesive whole in my brain. Despite all the power of the almost avant-garde divisiveness of IB on their fourth offering, it does still feel like a whole offering, one that can be digested in as many sittings as required by whoever's palate needs satiating. There's nothing showy here, it just sounds like a band who have done their time on the road, learned from it and took all their experience and ability into the studio with them and through organic process come out of the other side with a real gem. As I sit here listening to the (literal) bend of the track that closes the album I feel educated, like I have learned something new about both metal and Immortal Bird.

I don't sit waiting for Black Metal albums to drop with any real hope of always locating something new or challenging. Metal in general can reproduce itself in many different guises and band names yet still be challenging no matter how familiar it may sound. Sometimes the tried and tested formula is the best one to stick with. Knowing what you do best and doing it well is perfectly acceptable in the case of Tsjuder, who once again  released 8 tracks of blistering, raw and furious BM on "Antiliv".

Between all the usual auditory assault fans have become so accustomed with from the Norwegians there is still enough punky catchy rumble and thump to have this clunking around your head for days after only a few listens. Take track two "Krater" with its fine mix of harsh BM stew tempered with some almost NWOBHM plod dumplings to add some stodge to proceedings.

The howling wind of vocal aggro that opens "Norge" will blow any remaining cobwebs from your lugholes should any be stubbornly clinging on by the time you get to track three. One of my favourite things about Tsjuder has always been Nag's cold, bleak and scathing vocal delivery. It is as much on form here as it was on "Legion Helvete" and it is the consistency of the barbaric delivery that etches the memory of each lyric into your brain.

Track four "Djevelens Mestervek" is a ripping and thumping, fist pumper that rides into town like the four horsemen of the apocalypse on crack. It blazes across your immediate skyline like a home run comet struck by the hammer of Thor! What is increasingly obvious by this point is that Tsjuder don't give a fuck. They are just in the studio to transfer all their balled up fury and nightmarish imaginations onto tape and have a thoroughly good time doing so. It is refreshing to listen to a BM record that not only fucking slays but has the obvious passion and energy of the band all over it.

A thoroughly enjoyable romp that never lets up, "Antiliv" may not reinvent the wheel but it does put some thoroughly heavy snow chains on it before reversing over your head numerous times.