Vinny's Reviews

Billed as "Masters of progressive black metal" by one fan on Bandcamp, Krallice certainly have their own sound on show on their latest release "Ygg huur". Coming to the band for the first time with this release it's hard to be anything other than astonished by their wild, frenzied, disjointed and often chaotic (yet still technical) sound.

Imagine Gorguts on acid and you are getting close. Thankfully though even in the midst of all the jarring riffs, head mashing drum patterns and demented vocals there is a real sense if accessibility and reason somehow. 

Take "Over Spirit" for example, a furious session of manic progressive insanity all meshed together with the constant wave of the tremolo entwining the whole track together like some omnipresent serpent.

Jute Gyte drops crazy shit like this all the time but his version of spazzing BM has no sense of thought at times and as a result one of his releases can all blend into one. Sat listening to Krallice, each track is memorable. They are always linked together as recognisable being from the same album but somehow retain a sense of individuality as you work your way across the 6 tracks on offer here.

Vocally the style is more reminiscent of a blend of hardcore shouting, coupled with harsh BM raw production valued shrieking. At times they take on a more death metal slant, as in closing track "Engram". The drums are clearly being beaten to death by an octopus, they blast with a fury that no human can muster with but four limbs.

Influences come thick and fast (check out the Portal esque opening to "Bitter Meditation" before it settles into a dizzying faux calmness that is soon tempered by those grim vocals and later by those horror metal riffs also.

It is not an album all may fall in love with. Some may take a few listens to truly understand the mastery on show that is delivered in a manner that wants to drown as opposed to wash over you. It is what most term to be "a grower", like some insane climbing ivy that invades your very being and twists itself into your central nervous system.

The older I get, the more extreme metal seems to get also. Being a grown up has it moments.

For anyone unfamiliar with the work of Abyssal I would recommend that they first take the time to seek out their previous two albums before lending an ear to this opus. "Denoument" and "Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius" are two fine examples of dark, squally DM with just enough tangible structure to set them apart from the Portals, Aevangelists and Impetuous Rituals of this world.

The first two tracks of their third full length "Anitkatastaesis" are pretty much an extension of that earlier style. Album opener "I Am The Alpha & The Omega" is a frenzied knife attack using a selection of blades of various lengths and sharpness to stab the furious pace of the music into your very being. Second track "The Cornucopian" then continues this familiar style. The problem comes with "The Veil of Transcendence" when mid song a sample of what sounds like an ice cream van seeps into the song during a reprise from the frenzied DM. This sample then stays as the blastbeats kick back in and to be perfectly frank just does not belong there. I had to look twice across my open tabs to make sure an advert for a bank or insurance company hadn't started playing such is the off tempo and out of kilter nature of the piano notes plinked into the song. 

Unfortunately the problems persist as the album goes on. Abyssal still manage to scare the shit out of you with the furious blastbeats of "Telomeric Erosion" but then a completely unexpected melodic reprise occurs which again causes any impact built up from the initial 2 minutes of the track to be dissolved.

The atmospheric build of "A Casual Landscape" is alright but after 3 and a quarter minutes you are ready for the track to start. However, the shaman like chants just don't fit when the DM starts, making it a redundant attempt to blend the track. It's like the tape from the chamber music album being recorded in the studio next door got mixed into the Abyssal album tapes and the end result is not pleasant.

"Chrysalis" starts with a melodic edge yet somehow has a filthy dark haze over the top. Here the melodic reprise works perfectly and the jazzy drum and bass fills in the background compliment the music perfectly. It is proof for me that just when I thought Abyssal had lost all sense of cohesion and structure they can still put together a solid and well though out track. It is more melodic than anything I have heard by them so far but it is also too long and eventually starts to become almost post-metal in the end.

As a last hope I looked to album closer "Delere Auctorem Rerum Ut UniversumInfinitum Noscas" to save this very patchy release from obscurity. It starts strong enough for sure building an epic crescendo but then the track goes into build up all over again which does an excellent job but just seems to duplicate the work done 90 seconds earlier.  

It is not to say that Abyssal have lost it on their third album (I am not typing that fucking title out again). There are some good ideas thrown in but the chants, slow picked time changes, infusion of atmosphere and wider use of melody are just not placed well in the main. The album feels like the dreaded "collection" of songs as opposed to a whole piece. The flashes of brilliance are there but the delivery comes up short on a consistent basis.

Marduk were guilty of falling more than a little short in the imagination stakes when it came to writing PDM.  I enjoy a frenzied BM assault as much as the next church burner but despite being only thirty minutes long full length number six from the Swedes does end up feeling like a bit of a slog to wade through.  Whilst I can't fault the intent behind the relentless delivery and fuck-it-all approach to songwriting, at the same time there needs to be something tangible to get hold of amidst all the chaotic fury of the Marduk maelstrom.  Often when listening to this I just feel starved of atmosphere, despite the cold and sterile sound they deployed it adds nothing to the overall feel of the record and actually often gets mistakenly billed as a poor mix or production job if you believe some internet reviews.

I own most of what came before PDM already and it is a dramatic change in direction but also an obvious change in quality also.  Although not exactly full in sound, the predecessor to this album, 'Nightwing' delivers more of a punch in the riff stakes and blends the instrumentation well by comparison.  I feel like PDM is something that Marduk almost forcibly does to the listener as opposed to any scope being considered for variety or even the occasional change of pace to make the experience just a little more palatable.

Listening back to PDM tonight before I sat down to type this review I was oddly focused on the bass as if I hadn't recalled that Bogge was even there with his four string previously.  It has that engine like feel to it when you listen through and is surprisingly audible in the overall sound.  Due to the absolute unrelenting ferocity of the experience I find myself under the impression that the record in some way (bizarrely) ends up lacking authenticity at the end of the day, which seems on odd conclusion given its almost pure BM approach.

On occasion the  internet  does through up some interesting stuff in the various recommendation/album of the month threads scattered throughout the post-Facebook wasteland of internet forums.  On one such venture today I heard a song called "Fed to Sharks" and quickly allowed the 12 year old in me to immediately go all weak at the knees over the band's ultra metal looking logo and decide to immediately add Vulture to the top of my to do list on a Sunday afternoon.  Nine tracks and a very sore neck later it goes on record that this was time very well spent indeed.

Imagine if Destruction weren't just treading water constantly for the past 30 or so years and actually had some genuine song writing prowess to match their boundless enthusiasm, then you are quite close to the sound of Vulture.  Opener "Fed to Sharks" is corny as fuck in terms of a tongue-in-cheek song title but it feels authentic in its delivery, undisputed in its arrogance and veritable in its attitude.  The whole album conjures images of a thousand b-movie horror plot lines from its superb artwork through to the lyrical content of the music ("Dewer's Hollow", "Tyrantula" and the title track).

Add to this the painfully comedic names of the band members - S.Genözider and M.Outlaw form the dual lead guitar attack whilst the suitably aggressive sounding A.Axetinctör handles bass duties, leaving L.Steeler and G.Deceiver to keep the metal flag hoisted high on vocals and drums respectively - and you will find yourself listening to this with a smirk across your miserable chops I am sure.

Imagery aside, the band are clearly competent musicians and this shines throughout the release with the lead work being of particular note.  Granted, the cover of Thin Lizzy's "Killer on the Loose" is not the best but still fits the aesthetic of the record well enough to be forgivable in the grander scheme of things.  Metal Blade has some shite on it's label nowadays but this bunch of speed/thrash metal freaks are more than worthy of a listen.

Okay, I am going to be honest. This is my first taste of Memoriam, albeit the release that is purportedly their best; according to the internet at least. Things start well, on the riffing front at least. 'Shell Shock' motors like a fucking tank, being driven with precision through its destructive and relentless path. Similiarly, 'Undefeated' with it's groovy as fuck riff and chopping rhythm continues in a full on attack of the senses. The sophistication and poise both come up a couple of notches with 'Never The Victim', with its defiant mood and melancholic melody. By this point my initial concerns about the vocals being too buried in the mix appear to be just confined to the first track as they sit perfectly well by this stage.

The politically charged 'Austerity Kills' takes things off on a crusty/hardcore slant with the visceral hatred for the subject matter barked out by Willetts in an almost matter-of-fact way. It feels relevant, modern and appealing to listen to, whilst at the same time the echoes of Bolt Thrower still ring in distant chambers somewhere behind. The more melodic start to 'In the Midst of Desolation' soon builds into a chunky riff monster whilst maintaining a brooding sense of looming danger throughout. 

The experience and ability is obvious here. Whale's drumming is on point from start to finish here. Willett's vocals are as strong as ever and the performance of Fairfax on guitars is nothing short of superb. Healy, meanwhile is a bit drowned in the mix which is not necessarily a bad thing that detracts from the sound in any way, it is just obvious.  

As we get towards the final third of the record things show no sign of calming down. I will have the scathing riffs of 'Refuse to Be Led' on my brain for the rest of my time on this mortal coil for sure. There's no obvious drop in quality, energy or pace it is pleasing to note. The toying delivery of 'The Veteran' just marauds and mauls the listener's ears into submission. The title track just cements the foundations of what has been built over the seven tracks prior to it. Washing over the listener with wave after wave of brooding tremolo riffs. As the band launches into the defiantly titled 'Fixed Bayonets' with the gusto of a quickly forming infantry, those heady days of Bolt Thrower at their very best are inevitably rekindled. This is the only track that sounds like a Bolt Thrower b-side. Don't get me wrong there's hints throughout but on this track it is much more obvious. As the band closes proceedings with the instrumental 'Interment' there's a real sense of justice to the victorious, soaring guitars on show as end to end this album is a complete triumph.

By the time we get to Maiden’s 1988 offering we find the last decent album from them.  Things certainly sound a little more commercial with the success of “Can I Play With Madness” obvious after it burrowed its way into the brains of the majority of the hard rock and metal community with its seemingly unforgettable chorus and staggeringly cheap looking yet effective video.  All over “Seventh Son....” there are hooks, catchy chorus lines and infectious leads.  

Despite all the memorability here things just feel a little too polished, a tad over-accessible almost.  By the time we get to the next record after this, the same fault could be found only this time the songwriting on “Seventh Son....” was still strong enough to make the accessibility more forgivable.  

The mesmerising “Moonchild” kicks things off in fine style.  Instantly sticking in your ear holes it sets the tone well for the album as a whole.  “Infinite Dreams” then slowly builds into a capable structure, well paced and well placed also in the track listing.  The two anthems that follow in the aforementioned “Can I Play With Madness” and “The Evil That Men Do” are the familiar core of the record, the tracks that everyone knows.  The title track follows and further adds to this momentum.

The first 5 tracks are almost flawless making as strong a start-to-middle section as you could hope to find on most bands discographies. Unfortunately over the final three tracks the quality does take a hit, albeit the memorability factor remains.  As a result the record does feel more than a little front-heavy.  There’s no denying it was their last great record but it could have been even greater.

When you consider how much drugs were (allegedly) up the noses of the band members circa the time of this release, it is a wonder anything vaguely coherent got recorded at all!  'White Pony' sits as an odd item in my record collection, given that I don't enjoy nu-metal, yet this having been said I have every release from "Around the Fur" up to and including "Koi No Yokan" sat in my collection in one guise or another.  I think that the non- nu metal parts of 'White Pony' are the most appealing though.  The combination of the emotion, melody and atmospheres on display here make for one challenging listen overall.

For all the "angry teen with a knife" angst in the jagged delivery of much of the record, there's tangible, drug-fuelled emotion in the form of Chino's vocals as he hazes and gazes his way throughout the 11 tracks on show.  Add to this Delgado's extraordinary use of his keys to stamp some bone-chilling atmospherics to proceedings (that, 'The Shining-esque' stab at the entry to the chorus of 'Change (in the House of Flies)', for example).  Carpenter's deft use of downtuned riffage compliments were required without him ever feeling too restrained to be able to dish out some melody when appropriate.

Whilst the high points may seem obvious, 'Passenger' and 'Change (In The House of Flies)' are exemplary partnerships of complex, hallucinogenic feelings and thoughts, given air time on one of the best auditory assaults of disjointed and disharmonious music of the 00's. 

The problem Death Angel have is mediocrity seems to abound most of their material to my ears.  I have never really been gripped by the "importance" of their earlier material in comparison to their peers.  Nowadays there is only really Overkill that churn out anything in the way of quality thrash metal from the old guard.  Their latest offering does not help Death Angel reach the dizzy heights that "Wings of War" achieves for the aforementioned New Jersey legends.  This is not to say that "Humanicide" is a bad record.  In the main it is let down by just not being as cutting, chugging or invigorating as Overkill's 2019 offering.  Comparison to other relevant marketplace bands aside, Death Angel do still display sufficient levels of youthful spunk to drown most small household pets and they compliment this well with some mature song writing and noteworthy lead work in the guitar department.

I just cannot fend of the feeling of sterility in their sound though unfortunately.  For all the while I enjoy the ferocity of "Divine Defector" the texture feels a little too polished to hold any traction for me to sink my teeth or nails into.  Likewise, the ferocious delivery of "Aggressor" is let down by a more than clunky feel to the vocal style.  Instead of coming off as challenging or defiant they just sound a little sub-par somehow.  The arrangement of this track however shows real promise it has to be said and takes me back to my point about maturity and noteworthy instrumentation earlier.

"I Came For Blood" charges in like a Motorhead track but is soon laid victim to the same vocal problem I highlighted earlier which soon makes it sound like a really naff nu-metal track.  The slow picked intro to "Immortal Behated" offers some hope of consistent structure but is soon robbed of this promise with some odd psychedelic edge to the guitar and ill thought out staccato vocals.

Soon enough (by the halfway point) the album sounds predictable and just very poorly balanced as the lead work continues to show real potential but the constant clash with the vocals and often triggered sounding drums just spells an excess of use of the skip button I am afraid.

Chelsea Wolfe does sound like the name of a lawyer who fights cases for poor people against big multi-national corporations and donates her fee to Greenpeace upon successful prosecution of organisations more complex and shady than any John Grisham novel could dream of. Thankfully, Ms Wolfe does not have any career in law and has instead dedicated her life to the ethereal, industrial, alt-grunge/death/dark rock stream of odd music to play at parties to make everyone leave early.

Madder than a box of frogs and more cooky than Cooky McCooky Cooky from the village of Cookyville, Wolfe once again spreads her virulent strain of poignant, emotive and melancholic vocals to a soundtrack with more clatter, rattle and intensity than a most soup kitchens see in a month. There's real pain here and thankfully it is measured superbly as it shifts form with each track, ranging from floaty, pop infused melodies through to harsh, industrial drone and onto reverb drenched grungey rock to boot.

When you have a voice more haunting than the average mother-in-law's face you could quite easily rest on it as your main "thang!" and let the rest of the instrumentation, structure and form go to shit. Not Chelsea Wolfe! She is to music what Steven Seagal is to Martial Arts - fat, orange and dangerous! No, I mean dangerous, edgy and unpredictable and this spreads throughout "Hiss Spun" as some tracks are accessible within a couple of bars and others are real slow burners that build into dark and solid forms of undulating, uncompromising and at times disturbing structure. 

Check out, "Static Hum" for its use of the guitar to maul and taunt the vocals as the track builds and builds. Better still the well paced structure and subtle shifts of percussion that represent "The Culling" or the meandering, fractured and disjointed guitar style present on "16 Psyche". All are examples of the true talent of the lady herself and the musicians she surrounds herself with.

It isn't flawless though. Although I like them, the industrial/noise/dark ambient interludes that occur seem misplaced almost and some tracks ("Particle Flurry") are frankly directionless. I don't see "Hiss Spun" making many appearances on the turntable but it is most definitely a record that requires exploration as opposed to just a listen as background music, whenever it does get a play.  

"Wizard Bloody Wizard" is like the lifting of a thick fog. From the off there's a feel of a dense weight being lifted from the band's signature occult/stoner blend of doom. By the time I get to track two "Necromania" things almost seem like a dark cock-rock affair which is odd. The over-arching feel though is of a band who have gone off the boil somewhat. Despite the aforementioned lifting of the heavy atmosphere "Wizard Bloody Wizard" seems more of ground out effort made under some duress resulting in the album being robbed in the main of any feel.

The stoner riff that opens "Hear The Sirens Scream" gets the attention but by the time Jus' vocals kick in it is already starting to grate like when your washer stays on spin for fucking ages. Instead of being a great hook for the track in becomes a centre-pin that loops unnecessarily throughout. The vocals almost sound too laid back here also, like they are almost too much trouble to have to do. When combined with the one dimensional structure of the song it all just starts to sound more than a bit forced. As a result the track completely outstays its welcome even managing to make near 9 minutes feel like 15. It's like your nagging aunt phoning for a "quick chat" only to spend an hour of your life hearing whose died recently and why.

The creepy organ keys of "The Reaper" don't actually fit the riff structure at all. The attempt at perhaps a drug infused chaos just sounds a clumsy and unnecessary 3 minutes of filler on a record that's only 6 tracks long anyway. "Wicked Caresses" offers the only hope for an actual bonafide EW track on the whole album, buzzing with hazy stoner riffs and solid plodding rhythm throughout but bubbling over with atmosphere to hold the interest better than anything before it. The vocals actually sound like they are being delivered with thought and meaning as opposed to a disinterested teenager delivering a presentation at school on "Geographical Inertia" done with minimal research and planning to ever hope of not getting to stand in the corner with a big pointy "D" hat on. 

Unfortunately closing track "Mourning of Magicians" is delivered with about as much enthusiasm as the current Brexit deal and I just don't understand why? "Time to Die" wasn't flawless but at least it was alive - it had meaning and purpose, direction even - whereas the cold dead eyes of "Wizard Bloody Wizard" offer no icy spark of creativity or artistic merit. It is one of the most tired sounding things I have ever heard. I spoke to my Gran this morning, she's 91 and can barely walk anymore and currently has a cold and she still sounded more exuberant than all six of these tracks put together. My noodles at lunch had more kick to them, etc, etc... I could go on for hours about how much I dislike this.

 "X - Varg Utan Flock" is a bit flustered, a bit confused yet in a good way - like when I saw a magician at my friend's wedding and he wasn't just counting cards even though he didn't walk through a wall either.

Shining's latest album twists and turns as it unfolds in front of you like some venomous snake. Depressive tone? Tick. Demented vocals? Check! Sad piano track? That's a roger sir! All the stuff you expect to hear assisted by the usual clean and full production job we've all come to expect. "Han Som Lurar Inom" reverberates though your actual soul as it lurches through eight mins plus of spat lyrics, Behemoth like riffs and hazy reprises.

The classical keys of "Tolvtusenfyrtioett" are actually hauntingly beautiful and the bonkers vocal cabaret of "Gyllene Portarnas Bro" make it sound like a pisstake Eurovision Song Contest entry. Unfortunately it is this varied nature to proceedings that does become a little off putting on repeated listens. The latter mentioned track actually is more than a little awkward and closing track "Mot Aokighara" strays close to similar territory before a change of pace rescues it and takes it off in a much stronger direction.

Crooning aside, there's still lots to like on "X - Varg Utan Flock" and there's evidence of some strong songwriting skills and instrumentation prowess also. It might not all fit together perfectly but what is pieced together well is really solid.

Fucking hell. Where to start really?

Nu-metal is apparently alive and well in 2018 and I don't like Nu-Metal, so the prospects for positive words in this review are slim. It is not that I don't like Machine Head. I mean I am not one of the mindless internet troll brigade who respond to every release with "These guys made "Burn My Eyes" and listen to this!". Get over it bell ends, there's no more "Burn My Eyes" nor is there anymore "The Blackening" left to come. Whilst I will openly admit to enjoying most releases since "The Blackening" there is no denying that the sound of MH has become increasingly diluted over the albums since their "comeback". "Catharsis" is the end point for me. It is so diluted it is like wearing my once dark black hoodie after it has been bleach hand washed and then boil washed - it kind of has lost all substance.

The rapping is back, as if the first time round wasn't enough of a fucking car crash. "Triple Beam" is without doubt one of the worst pieces of "music" I have ever heard. When we aren't being treated to poor attempts at lyrical rhyming we are drowning in dreamy, hazy clean vocals that seem to be aiming (yes actually aiming) for harmony. Yep, there's some catchy riffs but who fucking cares if you have to drink from the toilet to realise all you'll ever find in there is shit?

Why this all has to go on for 15 tracks is a mystery? I'll be honest, the skip button got used at least 13 times in writing this review. For all the (frankly excessive) marketing that has been done for "Catharsis" I don't think I could feel anymore of an anti-climax. Robb Flynn is all over every mag cover, web and video interview defending "Catharsis" and that's his entitlement, he didn't write any of this for me. It is still terrible though.

No matter how much you dislike Donald Trump, Ministry's overt and constant attack on his administration doesn't mean that "AmeriKKKant" is actually a good album. I mean it isn't entirely a terrible album either but you will struggle to remember much of it after even a couple of listens, beyond the endless stream of frankly confusing and almost barrage like snippets of Trump audio bites that is, they are the only really memorable part.

It isn't really an industrial metal album either. It sounds more like a nu-metal band got sealed into a steel drum with their instruments and got rolled down a big hill. It doesn't come across as particular caustic or aggressive though, just a bit of a racket made in a Republican nightmare.

Not long into the record the message you are constantly force-fed just gets bloating. There's no rescue or reprise from it as the pace of the album is so inconsistent and frankly repetitive you have nothing else of worth to focus on as a distraction. I mean you can be really angry and pissed off and still transfer it to audio without being boring (Body Count "Bloodlust" is a great recent example of this). 

Even if Donald Trump is listening, the message of this record is that it is too mediocre a response to the true horror of his administration. The facepalm on the cover of the album is unfortunately all too indicative of the quality of the record itself.

The roar has always been approaching. As far back as three years ago when Altarage dropped their debut full length 'Nihl', this scribe could already hear the threat of their ability, feel the menace of their presence from over hills far away and sense the nefarious intent as the raw fury howled over my skin. Sophomore effort 'Endinghent' further cemented the prowess of these blackened death metal Basque country residents. Although slightly less of an impact than the opening salvo of 'Nihl' it was obvious throughout their second offering that Altarage were refining their strategy and making the style of attack more calculated.

Album number three is no longer an approach though. It's an arrival. Arguably now on a par with the bastion of death metal chaos that are Portal now, Altarage are right up there with their own stamp on the principles of this most unwelcoming and inaccessible form of extreme metal. What they did so well on 'Nihl' was shift multiple times the pace, atmosphere and direction of a track. Doing so with such effortless and frankly unexpected subtlety that I just could not be anything but astounded. At the same time they could drop a grinding slab of unrelenting, blackened fury with scant regard for pacing or measure and still have my jaw on the floor. 'The Approaching Roar' takes those foundations and adds maturity, dexterity and skilled songwriting to them to produce some complex and yet - in parts - more accessible pieces of Altarage.

Last year's Portal release 'Ion,' saw the band's sound lifted out of the traditionally murky depths that familiarised their sound, in favour of a more coherent aesthetic - which worked well. Altarage are still firmly writhing in their own filth and murk here, despite the odd glimpse of a clearer stab of accessibility. The menacing flamenco promise of the acoustic intro for opening track 'Sighting' is the first flash of this but in mere seconds the full on face stripping fury that we all know is coming is right there, detaching retinas and bursting ear drums. Even just one track in, the shifting/morphing of pace is obvious and the hidden melody of the final minute is reminiscent of your mum playing Smooth FM in the another room, just audible over the chaos that envelopes you at that time.

'Knowledge' is a big, chunky riffing monster of a track that builds like an army getting into formation for some devastating attack on the enemy. 'Urn' takes a brave step at track number three on the record by building a hazy and funereal intro that sounds like a dial slowly being notched up over a couple of minutes. Eventually (of course), the gates of hell themselves are then flung open with abrasive vocals and churning instrumentation. It is at this point that I first fell the drums are a little to low in the mix sometimes, stifled of air a bit by being a part of the roaring chaos as opposed to being allowed to breath a little at times. Again the song-shifting occurs here with the final two minutes of the track being some of the most coherent Altarage to date.

As you take in the ebb and flow of 'Hieroglyphic Certainty' and obscure grinding riffs and tribal percussion of 'Inhabitant' it occurs to you that this listening experience is akin to a very cleverly engineered virus, the strain of which threatens to consume your entire existence. The deftness of the structure of 'Chaworos Sephelin' with its haunting, lo-fi cello tinged atmosphere that gives way to the crashing fury of waves of pummelling riffs and percussion is a joy to behold. The final two tracks finish the album just as we started it, still full of ideas and dripping with the promise of still better things to come.

Altarage might be shrouded in mystery with their secretive nature (the Members tab on their page of Encyclopaedia Metallum says "none") but the music that they deliver shows them sharing only the most potent and valuable artefacts from the darkness which they inhabit. The roar is now and always will be with you.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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