Daniel's Forum Replies
Woh! There's a brand new live album from New York doom/death legends Winter entitled "Live in Brooklyn NY". I'll be all over this one at some point as I absolutely die for their sole 1990 full-length "Into Darkness".
This new live set from New York mathcore exponents Car Bomb could be a good one as I really enjoyed their 2019 "Mordial" album when it was featured here recently.
I always enjoy these Maryland deathgrinders so I'm looking forward to investigating this recent live set.
The brand new thirteenth album from Brazilian thrash metallers Vulcano was released a week or so back & is called "Epilogue". I honestly haven't heard anything they've done for around twenty years now but have only ever enjoyed their 1986 debut album "Bloody Vengeance" from the four releases I'm aware of so I'm not sure whether I'll bother with this one.
Autopsy - "Fiend For Blood" E.P. (1992)
By the time Autopsy's 1992 "Fiend For Blood" E.P. was released I'd already been listening to them for a few years. I'd been lucky enough to discover the Californian death metal deviants through their 1989 debut album "Severed Survival" & had also investigated a couple of their 80's demo tapes but it was really Autopsy's excellent duo of 1991 releases that saw me standing up & paying attention, buoyed by their stronger focus on the band's doomier side which I found to be their most attractive (or repulsive if we're being entirely transparent) element. I purchased the band's sophomore album "Mental Funeral" on cassette immediately upon release & gave it a royal thrashing for many months which has not only seen it still residing at the very pinnacle of my Autopsy pile but also drove me to repeat the dosage by picking up a cassette copy of 1992's "Fiend For Blood" E.P. shortly after it hit the shelves. Much like Autopsy's 1991 releases, I remember finding it to possess a really unique sound that has rarely been captured or even attempted since & recall hired gun fretless bass virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio's contribution being one of the major drawcards so I've been busting to give it a revisit for some time, not only to recapture my enthusiasm for the record itself but also to see where it sits versus "Mental Funeral" & the very solid doom/death of 1991's "Retribution For The Dead" E.P.
"Fiend For Blood" is the very definition of the sick, serial-killer inspired, intentionally filthy death metal sound. Even the cover artwork is kept fairly simple with the production job being handled by the band themselves & resulting in a strangely bass-heavy mix that further highlights Autopsy's tendency to back the distortion off a bit in the interest of giving the release a less polished feel. Everything is MEANT to feel a little sloppy & grimy in order to further exacerbate Autopsy's imagery & it works a treat, providing a wonderful platform for the angular style of DiGiorgio (my favourite bass player) to work its magic & become a real highlight of the release. Even the strange discrepancies in where the guitar solos are positioned in the mix seems to buy into this idea while the absurdly over-the-top vocal delivery of drummer Chris Reifert (Static Abyss/Abscess/Death/The Ravenous) sounds almost appropriate when plonked down over this sickly orchestra of the damned.
The six tracks fly by in quick succession with the short twelve minute runtime seeming entirely appropriate as it leaves me wanting more which can't be a bad thing. A couple of those songs are very short with the opening title track & the outstandingly doomy "A Different Kind of Mindfuck" clocking in at under a minute. The other four songs see Autopsy consistently switching between their faster tremolo-picked, early Death inspired death metal riffs & their seriously dark doom metal sections, the faster parts not having nearly the same sort of impact on me as the masterful doom riffs. Autopsy seem to have this real knack for hitting on some particularly eerie atmospheres when they slow things down & this talent is rarely seen in a more effective format than it is here with the unique production job only providing them with further weight.
Perhaps "Fiend For Blood" isn't the most significant release in the grand scheme of the death metal genre but it's a damn enjoyable one nonetheless. There's no time for filler here with every one of the six tracks packing a punch but it's the atmospherics & sickening imagery that are the real drawcard as Autopsy successfully manage to make my skin creep once again. "Mental Funeral" is still the band's finest hour but "Fiend For Blood" should most certainly come into the discussion for runner-up in my opinion. In fact, I've actually been surprised to find that I may even place it slightly ahead of "Retribution For The Dead" these days so fans of Asphyx, Obituary & Abscess should definitely check it out.
4/5
Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
Up until 1992, Birmingham grindcore godfathers Napalm Death had represented more of a novelty than a major player in my musical life. I'd happily purchased all three of their albums for that pleasure but found their two seminal 1980's grindcore full-lengths to be nothing more than a bit of fun. And while 1990's "Harmony Corruption" third record may have added some of my beloved death metal to the equation, it didn't exactly blow me away either. There had been a few pretty decent E.P.'s released between them too & I'd greedily lapped them all up, buoyed by the sheer extremity of it all, an attribute that I was actively seeking out in my music at the time (& no doubt still are). I have to admit though, nothing the band had done had quite stuck the landing up until that point with possible exception of their short 1988 "The Curse" single which I really dug. 1992 would mark somewhat of a new era for Napalm Death though with long-time drum legend Mick Harris having departed after 1991's "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. & been replaced by Danny Herrera (Venomous Concept). This change probably would have had a few diehard fans on edge a little as Harris had played arguably the most major role in the creation of both Napalm Death & the grindcore sound in general. For me personally though, 1992's "Utopia Banished" album would be the first Napalm Death album that I'd purchase immediately upon release & it's arguably remained my favourite release from their entire back catalogue for all the years since so I think it's fair to say that Herrera's induction into Napalm Death was a rousing success.
Napalm Death's first two albums represent some of the purest & rawest examples of the grindcore genre you're likely to find so there was unsurprisingly a little bit of a mixed response when they incorporated some of the death metal sounds they were hearing around them on "Harmony Corruption". It wasn't, however, a clear-cut death metal record as such with grindcore still playing a strong enough role in the outcome to see me tagging it as deathgrind. "Utopia Banished" sees the grind component being drawn upon a little more than it was on its predecessor & resulting in a more extreme & relentlessly savage deathgrind record that's buoyed by a stellar production job from Colin Richardson. Everything simply sounds so in-your-face with the riffs maintaining definition under some of the most violent drumming the world had heard to the time & with the iconic Mark "Barney" Greenway (Benediction/Extreme Noise Terror) producing some his finest signature barking over the top. The sheer energy of this material saw it immediately grabbing my attention but it also possessed a class that we hadn't heard from a Napalm Death full-length before too. The riffs of Jesse Pintado (Brujeria/Lock Up/Terrorizer) & Mitch Harris (Defecation/Meathook Seed/Righteous Pigs) are more sophisticated & very capably executed while the song structures offer a touch more complexity. The blast beat sections are beautifully positioned to ensure maximum impact with Herrera producing a stellar performance in his own right &, in doing so, putting any fears that the loss of Mick Harris would derail the Napalm Death train to bed.
The cover art is some of Napalm Death's best with the striking red & blue image coming across as both rebellious & shocking at the same time. It brilliantly depicts what the band were all about at the time in my opinion with a collage of social injustices being layered in a way that presents the band as the leaders of the resistance. The tracklisting kicks off in emphatic style too with the industrial noise of "Discordance" proving to be the perfect aural equivalent of the image I just mentioned & when the band blast in with one of their finest works in "I Abstain" I find myself being delightedly crushed under the weight of sound being projected out of my speakers at extreme velocities. The brutal "Dementia Access" follows in quick succession & at this point I'm thinking that we might have a genuinely classic metal release on our hands but things do settle down a bit from there with only the spectacular "Upward & Uninterested" seeing those levels of quality revived. The remainder of the 15-track album is all very solid & unwaveringly consistent in its execution but I can't say that it reaches the same sort of euphoric levels as the tracks I've already mentioned. Each song contains a number of exciting sections but invariably has them offset by some more hardcore-inspired sections that offer me a little less appeal & that's always been a bit of an issue for me with grindcore as I can never quite get the best releases up into my top rating bracket due to my inability to get as excited about the bouncier punk beats. "Utopia Banished" is no doubt one of the stronger examples though as it doesn't present the listener with any real weaknesses, instead choosing to flex its muscles & embrace the sound that the band had been so instrumental in creating in the first place.
At the end of the day, "Utopia Banished" was a unanimous success in my opinion & it still feels like the record that best reflects Napalm Death's sound to me. I just wish that it had lived up to the potential that it hinted at from the commencement of the tracklisting as I really (& I mean REALLY) dig the violence & extremity but can't quite overcome my issues with grindcore's hardcore roots. If the band had opted for a shorter release that dropped that component & simply focused on the half-time, tremolo-picked death metal riffs & the ultra-brutal blast-beat grind sections then we'd probably have my ultimate extreme metal album but, as it is, "Utopia Banished" is still a very fine representation of what Napalm Death have brought to the world & fans of bands like Terrorizer, early Brutal Truth & mid-period Extreme Noise Terror should definitely stand up & pay attention.
4/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list which sees "Utopia Banished" usurping Cattle Decapitation & Brutal Truth to gain top spot:
01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)
03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)
04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)
05. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)
06. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)
07. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)
08. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)
09. Napalm Death - "Mentally Murdered" E.P. (1989)
10. Napalm Death - "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. (1991)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/223
This morning we're beginning a brand new release in Riot's 1977 debut album "Rock City" with the opening track "Desperation" being a clear hard rock number:
Also, yesterday I checked out the 1977 third album "Charge" from Japan's Bow Wow which I regard as being a hard rock record. It did have one track in opener "Jet Jive" that I'd suggest sits in the grey area between hard rock & heavy metal though.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
PainKiller - "Guts Of A Virgin" (1991)
Earlier this week I went about the process of revisiting the 1992 sophomore album “Buried Secrets” from unusual New York avant-garde jazz metal trio PainKiller. It had literally been decades since I last heard the three PainKiller full-lengths but I was really surprised to find that their second album offered me a level of appeal that I’d not received from it before. I guess I’m just a lot more open-minded with my music these days. That’s not to say that it wasn’t inconsistent because it most certainly was with the short grindcore sections adding no value to anyone’s life whatsoever. It was the lengthier, more restrained & slightly less consciously abstract material that floated my boat with all of the more significant tracks hitting the mark. From memory, I think I devoured all of PainKiller’s albums within about a week & I recall them getting better with each release so I had visions of their 1991 debut album “Guts of a Virgin” being an absolute abomination (& not the good type either). Given my newly found positivity for “Buried Secrets” though, I thought I’d challenge myself by giving it a few spins too.
There are similarities & differences between PainKiller’s first two albums. They both contain the screeching alto saxophone of John Zorn over almost every track, there’s a grindcore component to many of the tracks that pops up & disappears as quickly as it came & the band explores a number of different styles & genres around those core elements. There’s no doubt that “Guts of a Virgin” is the more extreme of the two records though. It’s twelve songs clock in at just 24 minutes in duration with the grindcore elements being drawn upon a little more readily. I still wouldn’t call this a grindcore record though as the combined length of those sections is really quite short with the remainder of the album feeling better suited to a few alternate genre tags in avant-garde jazz, avant-garde & experimental rock, the last of which is a little different from “Buried Secrets” which tended to explore more metallic genres like sludge metal & industrial metal whereas “Guts of a Virgin” dips its toes into rockier & jazzier sounds at times. The debut also includes some psychotic vocal screams from former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris which are pretty harsh & abrasive on the ears to be frank. As with “Buried Secrets”, the album finishes with a pretty decent drone metal number too although this one sits quite a distance beneath the classic “The Toll” in terms of being a truly transcendental experience.
Both albums certainly contain their fair share of absolute rubbish. The difference between them is that “Buried Secrets” has a lot more meat on its bones & the crap on “Guts of a Virgin” tends to be… well… crappier. In fact, there are really only three songs that I enjoy here & I don’t think it’s any surprise to find them corresponding with the more traditional sounding pieces on the tracklisting because I’m simply not the guy for intentionally whacky music that offers more in the way of novelty value than it does from a musical standpoint. I really enjoyed Bill Laswell’s dubbier influence on a couple of tracks from “Buried Secrets” too but it’s nowhere to be found on “Guts of a Virgin”.
Perhaps I’m not the target audience for a record like this one but I have to ask… is there really one & are they actually music fans? Look… “Guts of a Virgin” is nowhere near as bad as I first thought it was but it’s a long way from an enjoyable listen either. In saying that, I get the distinct feeling that PainKiller’s third album “Execution Ground” might be the one to offer me the most appeal based purely on my past scores & its general genre-tagging which sees dark ambient & ambient dub playing a strong role at the expense of grindcore. Perhaps I should hook myself up with some of them apples shortly, huh?
2.5/5
Tiamat - "Clouds" (1992)
Swedish metal stalwarts Taimat have gone through a number of musical transformations over the years & it depends on your musical taste & background as to which you prefer. Personally, I’ve always favoured Tiamat’s mid-90’s gothic releases with 1994’s “Wildhoney” being their clear pièce de résistance. Their 1997 fifth album “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” saw them moving away from metal altogether with most of that record favouring a progressive goth rock sound over the band’s more sinister roots but it was still a very strong release in its own right. Tiamat’s pre-“Wildhoney” albums tend to be a little more divisive though & not without justification either.
Tiamat’s 1990 debut album “Sumerian Cry” took more of a death metal direction which didn’t do much for me to be honest but its follow-up “The Astral Sleep” was a doomier affair that was where the band started to becoming interesting to me with 1992’s third album “Clouds” seeing Taimat moving even further down that rabbit hole. Ben & I owned “Clouds” on CD back in the day & I remember quite liking it but it wasn’t a release that I’ve returned to all that often which is likely more of a reflection on just how strong Tiamat’s next two albums would turn out to be than anything else. It’s been decades since I last investigated “Clouds” though so I was looking forward to refreshing my memory a bit this week.
Although “Clouds” is generally touted as being a doom/death release, I’ve never agreed with that sentiment. As a death metal musician myself, I can tell you that there’s bugger-all genuine death metal on the album. Even the vocals of rhythm guitarist Johan Edlund don’t come close to anything particularly deathly, instead taking the form of an awkward hybrid of clean & growly styles. There’s not much that resembles death metal in the instrumentation either other than some sporadic up-tempo parts that seem to have been haphazardly inserted into the tracklisting at random intervals, a feature that I regard as the clear weakness of “Clouds” as an album. Actually, I’d go so far as to say that the best moments on “Clouds” are when Tiamat completely leave their past behind & forge ahead with their newer influences which results in an attractive brand of gothic doom metal that offers a lot more crossover appeal than the band’s earlier works.
The production job & instrumental performances are very good for the time with the riffs possessing a thick, tight & completely unified tone that takes a great deal of influence from classic Celtic Frost. The lead guitar work of Thomas Petersson is of a high quality & shows him to not only possess some pretty reasonable chops but also to have a good ear for melody. Edlund’s vocals are the clear talking point for those that dislike “Clouds” though & it’s not hard to see why as he’s not the most talented front man you’ve ever heard but I find that I can accept him for what he is & get on with enjoying the album most of the time.
The eight-song tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the very ordinary “Smell of Incense” failing to maintain my interest. Doomy closer “Undressed” is the clear highlight for me personally as it possesses a wonderful atmosphere that engulfs the listener &, in doing so, has gone on to become a genuine classic from my teenage years. Opener “In A Dream” & the one-two punch of “A Caress of Stars” & “The Sleeping Beauty” are also very solid with only those annoying accelerated bursts I mentioned earlier managing to taint Tiamat’s good work. I really enjoy the use of keyboards which provide further melodic support for the heavy riffs & give the album a dreamy feel that would foresee the direction the band would take on their next record.
Much like “The Astral Sleep”, I find “Clouds” to be a generally entertaining listen but I can’t say that I feel like returning to it all that often. It certainly contains some pretty solid material to sift through for inclusion in your weekend playlist (particularly if you’re into bands like Paradise Lost, Katatonia & Lake of Tears) but it lacks enough genuine highlights to see it becoming a regular fixture when I feel like reaching for Tiamat as the next two albums simply feel superior. Now that I’m discussing all these old records though, it’s made me realise that I haven’t heard anything Tiamat have released since “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” so perhaps I should rectify that at some stage.
3.5/5
I checked out the 1977 "Doin' Our Thing at the Live House" double live album from Japan's Murasaki over the last couple of days & found it to be a hard rock release with progressive rock & heavy metal influences. There are three songs that I'd suggest should qualify as metal though with "Double Dealing Woman" & "Doomsday" sitting right in the middle between metal & rock & the excellent cover version of Deep Purple's "Fireball" managing to reignite the double kick-driven flame of the original very nicely.
This morning track is Motorhead's "The Train Kept A-Rollin" which is yet again a hard rock track which sees us closing out the "Motorhead" album without me having identified a single metal tune on an album that generally seems to command a heavy metal tag from most parties. There's not even enough metal included for a secondary tag in my opinion.
Tomorrow we'll be starting on a brand new release in Riot's 1977 debut album "Rock City".
Today we're looking at Motorhead's "The Watcher" which is a hard rock tune:
I investigated that one back around the time of release Andi. Quite liked it if my recollections are correct too.
Seance - "Fornever Laid To Rest" (1992) [Swedish death metal similar to Deicide, Malevolent Creation & early Gorguts]
Alchemist - "Demo '91" (1991)
I picked an original copy of this obscure demo tape directly from the band from memory. Alchemist were an absolute icon of the Australian metal scene during the 1990's & Ben & I would become deeply involved with their first couple of albums. I think I might have seen them play live more times than any other band in the world too as they were always making the trek up to Sydney from the nation's capital city of Canberra & were a good bunch of blokes too. This demo shows Alchemist still in a transitional phase, sitting kinda halfway between the technical thrash metal of their earlier two demos & the avant-garde psychedelic metal sound of their full-lengths. Pay no attention to the progressive metal & death metal tags that seem to float around this release as there's very little of either genre to be found here & I'd suggest that a Voivod meets Mr.Bungle comparison wouldn't be all that far off the mark.
The opening track "Enhancing Enigma" would go on to be re-recorded for their debut album "Jar of Kingdom" a couple of years later & is clearly the most accomplished piece included here. In fact, I'd suggest that it's the only one that I get all that much enjoyment out of to be honest. The A side is where you'll find their more recent material with the B side having a stronger tech thrash (& occasionally crossover thrash) component. I don't remember this demo making much of an impact on me back in the day & nothing much has changed there with records like "Jar of Kingdom" & Alchemist's wonderful 1995 sophomore album "Lunasphere" being much more accomplished affairs & sitting amongst the true pillars of the Aussie metal scene.
3/5
Seance - "Fornever Laid To Rest" (1992)
There are times in the life of any committed metalhead when they discover a release that leaves them truly bewildered as to how it's managed to slip under the radar of the rest of the metal community. When they realise that they've maintained a life-long love affair with a record that others simply don't seem to place as much value on. When they feel like they're privy to a wonderful secret that no one else on Earth is allowed to know. That, ladies & gentlemen, is how I've felt about the 1992 debut album from Swedish death metallers Seance since way back in the early 1990's. You see, at a time when death metal was at its absolute peak, "Fornever Laid To Rest" sat up on a pedestal alongside the true greats of the genre with a pre-internet world not giving me the opportunity to find out that not everyone felt the same way that I did. I gave the album a heavy thrashing for a number of years there & it represented a pretty a big influence on my own band Neuropath as a result too but I often forget about it myself these days due to the fact that no one really talks about it. Looking back on it now though, the magic that "Fornever Laid To Rest" conatins has all come rushing back to me again & left me just as baffled as I was as a youngster back in the early 1990's.
Seance may have been from Sweden but "Fornever Laid To Rest" is nothing like the releases that were exploding out of that country at the time, sounding much more similar to the US scene that I maintained a much stronger affiliation with. It's about as death metal as they come in its approach with the five band members proving themselves to have a great pedigree & being more than capable as musicians. There's a slightly technical edge to Seance's song-writing style however they never really approach the borders that sit between your more conventional death metal & the more expansive tech death crowd. Instead, they use their more complex rhythmic moments to create additional interest which sees them stepping up in class from your average meat-&-potatoes death metal outfit. They're never too clinical in their execution though either. In fact, it could be argued that the performances could have been tightened up a little bit with some extra time & attention & that's probably the album's only weakness. It's funny because all of the individuals seem to be highly capable at their chosen craft however they don't quite bring it together in as tight a fashion as they potentially could have at times with drummer Micke Pettersson (Witchery) being the one that most often seems to find himself most challenged simply to keep up with everyone else. I do think that this element gives "Fornever Laid To Rest" a bit of additional street credibility though, in a similar way to that which Immolation were able to consistently create.
The production is spot on for this style of music as it presents all of the key elements that any self-respecting death metal fan looks out for. Everything is right up in your face with an enormous amount of energy on display but it's never difficult to decipher what's going on, even when Seance really put their foot down. The deep, aggressive vocals of front man Johan Larsson are utterly devastating & remind me of Deicide's Glen Benton at his very best. In fact, I'd suggest that Deicide was likely the primary source of influence for Seance however "Fornever Laid To Rest" is a significantly stronger effort than Deicide's highly regarded "Legion" sophomore album that hit the shelves just the day after Seance's debut in my opinion. I also find myself drawing comparisons to Gorguts' 1991 debut album "Considered Dead" quite regularly & if you combined those two releases then you wouldn't be far from imagining Seance's early sound.
The tracklisting is wonderfully consistent with most of the record managing to qualify for my prestigious Hall of Metal Glory category. The highlights come thick & fast with the title track being very hard to go past for the pick of the bunch. Opener "Who Will Not Be Dead", "The Blessing of Death", "Sin", "Haunter", the Cannibal Corpse-ish "Necronomicon" & closer "Inferna Cabbala" are all stunning in their scope & execution too though so how could I not be awarding an elite score to a release that boasts such an amazing array of elite-level death metal. This record is unapologetically right up my creative alley & it's lost none of its lustre with the passing years. If bands like Malevolent Creation & Monstrosity really float your boat then I'd hazard to suggest that you're in for a real treat with Seance too. Their 1993 follow-up record "Saltrubbed Eyes" may not have been quite as unanimous in its efficient carving up of my musical psyche but it was still a pretty decent death metal record too just quietly & is equally as over-looked. It's a totally uninhibited "Fuck yeah!" from this ol' extreme metal fanatic on this occasion guys.
4.5/5
PainKiller - "Buried Secrets" (1992)
My initiation to bizarre New York free jazz/grindcore hybrid act PainKiller came through late-night underground metal radio programming back in the early 1990's with one show in particular seeming to take quite a shining to them. At the time I found the material to be grating at best as I had no points of reference for this sort of thing. I found myself to be more than a little bit fascinated though so would end up exploring all of PainKiller's full-lengths over the next few years. Admittedly, I really struggled with all of three of them but I did find myself liking them more with each successive release. Whether that was because I was slowly coming around to the whole concept & expanding my musical repertoire or not is probably a question that needs to be asked but I also wonder whether I ever gave myself the time & attention required to see me gaining any real sort of understanding of what was going on with records like these. You see, they're just so different to anything else I'd heard to the time but I feel a little better equipped to handle an album like PainKiller's 1992 sophomore record "Buried Secrets" now so I thought I'd challenge myself this week.
PainKiller were a side project of avant-garde jazz legend John Zorn of Naked City fame, ambient dub stalwart bass guitarist Bill Laswell & our much beloved blast-beat master Mick Harris who you'll no doubt be familiar with from his time with artists like Napalm Death, Scorn, Extreme Noise Terror & Unseen Terror. Sound like a strange combination? Well, it sure fucking is. The trio go about their craft with a reckless abandon that sees the stylistic approaches changing rapidly between songs but with the one consistent element being Zorn's psychotic free jazz alto saxophone assault. If you've ever heard Naked City before then you'll have some idea of what to expect from Zorn as his contribution is fairly similar with his penchant for making loud, obnoxious honks & squeals taking priority over anything of genuine musical merit. Laswell & Harris provide an assortment of backing tracks that range from very short, lightspeed grindcore blasts to a more measured & heavy sludge metal cesspool to deep, warm & trippy dub excursions. You'll even find some Godfleshy industrial metal on the title track while the lengthy closer & album highlight "The Toll" is nothing a short of drone metal masterpiece. When you combine all of these disparate sounds together it creates an entirely new world that borders on not being music at all at times & that I'd suggest fits best under the avant-garde jazz metal tag. It's certainly a little short-sighted to call "Buried Secrets" a grindcore album because the grind component takes up only a very small percentage of the overall run time.
The quality of the record as a single piece of art is open for interpretation as I find it to be very inconsistent in its ability to successfully keep me engaged but thankfully the highlights come in the form of the longer pieces while the silly novelty tracks only make up a relatively small portion of the release. In fact, I'd suggest that I can do without all of the grindcore & avant-garde metal material because it contains next to no musical value. The true gold to be found on "Buried Secrets" comes in the form of the remainder of the album with the Laswell-inspired dub tracks "Blackhole Dub" & "Black Chamber" containing lush, trance-inducing bass lines, the title track creating scenes of a cold industrial wasteland & "One-Eyed Pessary" taking me down into a pit of angry & abrasive sludge. "The Toll" has struck me with the power of a thousand atom bombs too & leaves me feeling nothing short of devastated at its completion. These moments are both intriguing & musically rewarding, despite the inevitably spasmodic contribution of Zorn, & I've ended up finding myself strangely attracted to the whole experience even if I'm not sure I'll ever feel the need to return to it again.
So where does "Buried Secrets" sit in the grand scheme of PainKiller's back catalogue then? Well, it's a little hard to remember the other releases now given how little time I gave them to win me over back in the day & the fact that my feelings on this record have changed so dramatically since my first experiences with it tell me that they're likely to do the same with 1991's "Guts of a Virgin" debut album & 1994's "Execution Ground" third record. Perhaps it's time that I revisited those two releases so as to give myself a little more of a grounded opinion on the matter. In the meantime though, you're right to feel a little suspicious about "Buried Secrets" as it certainly isn't for everyone but those with an open mind & an adventurous heart may find themselves being taken to some of the more interesting & unusual places known to man.
3.5/5
This morning's track is Motorhead's "Keep Us On The Road" which I'd suggest is hard rock:
Entombed - "Stranger Aeons" E.P. (1992)
There’s absolutely no doubt that my relationship with Swedish death metal gods Entombed was at its peak during the 1991-92 period which was mainly off the back of their 1991 sophomore album “Clandestine” which I regard as being their only genuinely classic release. I first became aware of Entombed through their legendary 1990 debut album “Left Hand Path” & would go on to investigate their earlier demo work shortly afterwards (under both the Nihilist & Entombed monikers) but none of that material had as lasting an impact on me as their more sophisticated & professional second full-length which saw me standing up & paying attention in no uncertain terms. Shortly after the release of “Clandestine” though, we’d receive a couple of short EP’s in quick succession. One was the “Crawl” EP which featured Nirvana 2002 vocalist Orvar Safstrom behind the mike. It was a decent enough record but wasn’t quite as strong as I’d hoped. 1992’s “Stranger Aeons” EP was a more lucrative undertaking for me though as it sounded very much like “Clandestine”. I picked it up as a part of the Earache Records “Gods of Grind” compilation which also included EP’s from Cathedral, Carcass & Confessor.
The ”Stranger Aeons” EP is a short three-song affair that includes one track taken from the “Clandestine” album (i.e. the title track) as well as two new songs that were recorded in a separate single-night session at Sunlight Studios by just vocalist/drummer Nicke Anderson & guitarist/bassist Ulf Cederlund. I wouldn’t say that “Stranger Aeons” is one of the true classics from “Clandestine” but it’s certainly a very solid death metal tune in its own right & doesn’t disappoint here either. The other two songs sound very similar in style & benefit from maintaining a similar vocal delivery too given that Anderson continues to deliver his barking style of death growl here. Nicke’s vocal performance on “Clandestine” has always been highly divisive but I sit firmly on the side that favours him over the much loved L-G Petrov who would return the fold shortly afterwards.
The production job on all three tracks is excellent & the two sessions don’t sound noticeably different which allows “Dusk” & “Shreds of Flesh” (a re-recording of a track from Entombed’s 1989 “But Life Goes On” demo tape) a level of continuity with the title track. I simply love Nicke’s drum sound & performance here & he’s always been the true focal point of Entombed for mine. The crunchy guitar tone is quite possibly the perfect example of the Swedish BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal sound too. There’s absolutely no drop-off in quality from the title track to “Dusk” & I feel it would have fit into “Clandestine” just fine while “Shreds of Flesh” is clearly the weaker of the three songs but is given some additional appeal by the fresh coat of paint.
“Stranger Aeons” may feel like a pretty insignificant release given the limited scope & duration but it’s interesting that I find it to offer me more enjoyment than I receive from any other Entombed release outside of “Clandestine”. It’s simply more consistent in ticking my musical boxes & it frustrates me a bit that the band elected to move away from this sound when they’d only just reached their creative peak. I think any diehard fan of Swedish death metal bands like Dismember, Grave or Carnage owes it to themselves to explore it.
4/5
I checked out Rush's 1977 fifth album "A Farewell To Kings" this morning but once again found no metal whatsoever. It's a progressive rock record.
This morning's track is Motorhead's "White Line Fever" which I'm once again gonna tag as hard rock although it does have a metallic component.
This morning's track is Motorhead's "Iron Horse/Born To Lose" which I'd suggest is hard rock:
I checked out 1977's "Knights of Love" sophomore album from Australia's Taste today but found no metal whatsoever. It's a hard/glam rock record with progressive rock influences.
I also explored Thin Lizzy's 1977 eighth full-length "Bad Reputation" which is essentially a hard rock record but does include one genuine heavy metal song in "Killer Without a Cause".
Mortification - "Scrolls of the Megilloth" (1992)
If you don't fit into two unique categories of extreme metal fan then you're probably a little unlikely to have heard much of South Australia's Mortification. The first would you see being a committed member of the Christian faith which isn't all that common in the metal community, at least not in my homeland. The second would see you sporting an Australian passport which I'm lucky enough to be able to boast. You see, Adelaide-based death metallers Mortification have pretty much built their music careers around the extraordinary contradiction that sees them being influenced by some of the most evil artists known to man but then openly pushing the exact opposite lyrical agenda. I've never had any time for organized religion as a rule but the very fact that Mortification were a local band who appeared to be building somewhat of a reputation for themselves on a global scale saw me inclined to check them out back in the early 1990's & I'd end up investigating all of their first four full-length releases before giving them a miss for good following 1994's awful "Blood World" album. Mortification seem to have released about a kazillion records since that time with approximately zero people seeming to give a shit so the concept of addressing my gaps in their back catalogue has never even crossed my mind but 1992's "Scrolls of the Megilloth" was certainly my favourite of the releases I do know & it's time to see how it's held up over the decades since I last visited it.
Mortification's 1991 self-titled debut album wasn't too bad an Aussie death/thrash record actually & I quite enjoyed spinning it a few times back in the day. The band were signed to a US Christian metal label called Intense Records at that time & would stay with them for the follow-up album "Scrolls of the Megilloth" which saw the light of day a year later. "Scrolls of the Megilloth" saw Mortification dropping most of the underlying thrash metal influences that perpetuated the debut with their second album being more inclined to stay in its death metal lane the majority of the time. I wouldn't suggest that "Scrolls of the Megilloth" offers anything drastically different to any other death metal release of its era but it doesn't sound exactly like anyone in particular either with the clear defining factor (& arguably the reason that any of you have even heard of Mortification before) being the use of blatantly Christian lyrical themes. Other than that element though, one could mistake "Scrolls of the Megilloth" for yet another run-of-the-mill death metal record, although it isn't a bad one it has to be said.
The elephant in the room with a record like this one is the production job as it's far from ideal. The awful rhythm guitar tone is the main culprit & gives the whole release a DIY feel. The more mid-paced material is where it's the most difficult to overcome with the faster or doomier passages allowing the flaw a little more leniency. Drummer Jayson Sherlock (Horde/Paramæcium/Deliverance) sports some pretty decent blast-beats which add a lot to the record in my opinion. I'd suggest that he'd spent a fair amount of time worshipping at the altar of Morbid Angel legend drum god Pete Sandoval actually because he gives the riffs a similar feel to the more brutal end of that band's early work. Band leader & front man Steve Rowe's bass guitar is very easy decipherable throughout which isn't always my preference during the more brutal parts but he proves himself to be more than capable nonetheless. He also possesses a pretty guttural death grunt for a God-fearing Christian too just quietly, a gift that he takes full advantage of in delivering his much less imposing message.
The tracklisting is a little up & down to be fair. It doesn't really get going until the middle of the album with the one-two punch of the title track & "Death Requiem" seeing my ears pricking up significantly & lengthy doom/death closer "Ancient Prophesy" allowing things to be closed out in very solid fashion too. There are a couple of clear duds included too though with "Raise The Chalice" & "Inflamed" both falling short of the mark (particularly the former) while the rest of the material is mildly enjoyable, if fairly uneventful, which sees me finishing up with a fairly middling impression of the record overall. There's no doubt that it offers some very solid moments but can't produce them consistently enough to see me wanting to make return visits in the future. Is it Mortification's best record? Well, from those that I'm acquainted with I'd say so but there's a massive wealth of material that I'm never likely to traverse, at least not in this lifetime. Perhaps some of our Christian members might feel the urge to scale that mountain at some point so that they can enlighten us as to its true value. In the meantime though, I'd suggest that "Scrolls of the Megilloth" is unlikely to repulse too many death metal fans, particularly those that get into the religious themes of early 90's Living Sacrifice, the fairly straight-forward old-school death metal of Florida's Massacre or some of the more prominent Australian death metal acts of the time like Canberra's Armoured Angel.
3.5/5
I've updated my Top Ten Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time list after deciding that Amorphis' "The Karealian Isthmus" is worthy of a dual tag with conventional death metal which has seen The Chasm's "The Spell of Retribution" dropping out of the list. I've always based these lists on the Metal Academy database position of genre-tagging so if you disagree with "The Karelian Isthmus" being tagged as melodeath then feel free to vote against it at the release page if you're a member of The Horde.
01. At The Gates – “Slaughter Of The Soul” (1995)
02. Stortregn - "Finitude" (2023)
03. Carcass – “Heartwork” (1993)
04. Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery” (1995)
05. Merciless – “Unbound” (1994)
06. Sentenced – “North From Here” (1993)
07. In Mourning – “The Weight Of Oceans” (2012)
08. The Breathing Process - “Odyssey (un)Dead” (2010)
09. Amorphis - "The Karelian Isthmus" (1992)
10. Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/147
Amorphis - "The Karelian Isthmus" (1992)
Finnish death metallers Amorphis first came to my attention when I borrowed a cassette copy of their debut album "The Karelian Isthmus" from Neuropath front man Mark Wangmann back in early 1993. I absolutely loved the cover artwork which drew me in & simply commanded me to check out what this brand new band was all about. I was a massive death metal fan at the time (& still are of course) so I was hungrily lapping up anything & everything that I could find in that space but I think it's fair to say that "The Karelian Isthmus" commanded a level of patience from me as it sounds a little bit different to most of the other material I was listening to at the time. Thankfully though, that patience would be rewarded & I'd eventually come around to Amorphis' more melody-centric brand of death metal. The band would blow up in a major way off the back of their 1994 sophomore album "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" shortly afterwards & my brother Ben would become deeply involved with them at the time so they were never far from my ears but "The Karelian Isthmus" seems to have been forced into the annuls of time for the most part, overawed by the fandom around it's more illustrious follow-up. My taste profile has drifted further away from the melodic death metal subgenre over the years though so I've often wondered whether Amorphis' debut might have reduced the gap between itself & the two records that followed it.
While "The Karelian Isthmus" is generally thought of as a more traditional death metal record when compared to later material, I immediately found myself questioning that position upon it hitting my ears for the first time in decades. There's much more to Amorphis' debut than being yet another Scandinavian death metal record. There's already a clear focus on melody that we'd rarely seen in the underground death metal community to the time with the Swedish melodeath explosion still yet to eventuate. In fact, I'd go so far as to claim that "The Karelian Isthmus" is a transitional record that saw Amorphis sitting midway between the more conventional death metal of their disappointing 1991 "Disment of Soul " demo & very solid retrospectively-released "Privilege of Evil" E.P. (originally recorded in 1991 too) & the more obviously melodic "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" with a dual tag of death metal & melodic death metal seeming far more appropriate to me than simply leaving the album standing out like a sore thumb next to the Morbid Angel's & Obituary's. In many respects "The Karelian Isthmus" sits right in a three-way battle between the Swedish death metal sound of Entombed, the early developments in the melodic death metal scene & the doom/death of the Peaceville Three with the doom metal elements being quite regular but never feeling like they're deserving of equal standing with the first two tags. One of the best tracks on the record is a pure doom/death outing though in the excellent "The Lost Name of God" which seems to obviously draw upon Anathema's early recordings for inspiration, particularly their legendary anthem to general despondency "They Die".
The vocals of front man Tomi Koivusaari (Abhorrence/Ajattara) were pretty par for the course for lesser-known death metal outfits of the time & are probably the weakest link for Amorphis here as they're not very interesting to be honest. I also prefer the slower, doomier & more atmospheric moments more than the faster Swedish-inspired stuff which sounds a little bouncy for my taste. "The Pilgrimage" is a really good example of when Amorphis get things right & is the best of the death metal numbers for mine. There are not any weak tracks included here though which is was a big positive in Amorphis' chances of winning me over with time. The cheesier numbers that cancelled out some of the clear highlights on later albums are nowhere to be found here & this has seen the debut simply feeling a little more consistent in its appeal to my personal taste profile.
You know what? I've never rated "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" as highly as most seem to do. It's always felt like a fairly original record that I mildly enjoy more than one that is vital in my metal journey. I actually rate 2015's "Under the Red Cloud" over it these days to be honest but this week's experiences with "The Karelian Isthmus" have surprisingly seen me placing it above both. I still think 1996's "Elegy" might be Amorphis' best work but it's been so long since I've heard it now that I might need to revisit it in order to firm up that suspicion. In the meantime though, "The Karelian Isthmus" has certainly hit a few runs in the more melodic/atmospheric Finnish death metal space that the earlier efforts from bands like Sentenced played in. Early Swedish death metal acts like Tiamat & Gorement also come to mind as decent points of reference.
3.5/5
The brand new sixth album from female-fronted Canadian power metallers Unleash The Archers (entitled "Phantoma") is due to be released next month. Despite finding their first two melodeath-inclined records to be decidedly underwhelming, I loved their 2017 fourth album "Apex" when it was featured here some time ago so I think this could be a rewarding listen too.
The brand new "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" third album from US metalcore stars Knocked Loose is due to be released next month & comes with enormous hype from the media. I have to say that I was well impressed with the music video I've seen for one of the new singles & I quite liked their 2021 "A Tear in the Fabric of Life" E.P. so I might give this one a run at some point.
The brand new Six Feet Under record "Killing for Revenge" (unbelievably their eighteenth full-length) is due for release next month which doesn't excite my much. Everything they've done since their very solid 1995 debut album "Haunted" has been thoroughly disappointing so I can't see how this release is gonna change that.
The long-awaiting seventh full-length from US death metal stalwarts Necrophagia looks like it's finally going to see the light of day next month & is entitled "Moribundis Grim". With the possible exception of 2011's disappointing "Deathtrip 69" album, I usually find Necrophagia records to be worth a listen but don't feel that they've ever really commanded return visits. I'll no doubt give this one the once over at some point though, if only for old time's sake.
English heavy psych masters Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats have a brand new record coming out next month entitled "Nell' ora blu". I quite enjoyed their highly acclaimed 2011 sophomore album "Blood Lust" so might give this one an airing at some stage too although from what I've read the band seen to have drifted away from the more metallic sound of their early days.
Obituary - "The End Complete" (1992)
Florida death metal heavy-weights Obituary played a very strong role in not only my conversion from thrash metal to the more extreme death metal genre in 1989 but also in the consolidation of extreme metal as my life-long obsession. They did so off the back of their first three albums which are generally regarded as being Obituary's creative peak & one that they've consistently attempted to emulate over the many years since. I purchased 1989's "Slowly We Rot" on cassette shortly after discovering the band & found it be a very solid death metal release indeed, if one that saw them still developing their signature sound with the thrash influences of their earlier days still being well in effect. 1990's "Cause of Death" sophomore album (once again purchased on cassette) utterly blew me away though & I still place it up on a pedestal with the true greats of the genre. Hired gun guitar virtuoso James Murphy had made a significant contribution to Obituary's sound & the focus on a doomier & more controlled sound had been nothing short of a master stroke. Legendary front man John Tardy's vocals had become as monstrous as we've heard in metal music & are still the benchmark for me personally. So, when 1992's "The End Complete" third album rolled around I was well & truly onboard, hook, line & sinker. I purchased the CD on the day of release & excitedly raced home to whack it into my player, buoyed by the magnificently glossy cover artwork & the most intense marketing campaign death metal had seen to the time. I loved what I heard too just quietly, certainly not as much as "Cause of Death" but I felt that it was a better record than "Slowly We Rot" at the time. My affiliations with the debut album have only grown over the years though so I feel that it's a good time to see where "The End Complete" fits into the grand scheme of Obituary's back catalogue.
"The End Complete" showcases a band that absolutely knew their sound & has filed it down to a sharp point by this stage of their recording careers. James Murphy had moved on with "Slowly We Rot" lead guitarist Allen West having returned to the band, a prospect that I wasn't so keen on given how just much of a difference Murphy had made on "Cause of Death". I thought of West as a fairly limited whammy-bar bandit at the time too so I was prepared for a significant drop in quality in the solos department. I certainly got it too but listening back now it seems to me that West had taken some influence from Murphy's contribution & made a genuine attempt at some more melodic lead work which is most welcome. The rest of the band are completely united in their quest for the chunkiest & most memorable death metal riffs imaginable though, keeping things very simple in order for maximum ear-worm potential. It works a treat too, particularly when they stay in the slow-to-mid tempo range. The faster, bouncier riffs lose a little bit of that deathly atmosphere in my opinion but it's John Tardy that's predictably the star of the show with his incredible growl being both instantly recognizable & unanimously effective. I became nothing short of obsessed with him during these early death metal years & "The End Complete" only accentuated that obsession.
The production job on "The End Complete" is a major factor in one's enjoyment of the album. There'd obviously been a bit of investment in Obituary by their label R/C Records which was clearly intended to make them into the biggest death metal band in the world & it worked for a period too it has to be said. Trevor Peres' rhythm guitars are so well entwined with the rhythm section of bassist Frank Watkins & drummer Donald Tardy that it's hard to even think of them as separate individuals. They create a thick, dense wall of Celtic Frost-inspired grooves that you'll struggle to keep your head from banging along to. I'm a really big fan of the thick, heavily down-tuned, humming guitar tone but, listening back with modern-day ears, I'm a little skeptical about the brighter drum sound, particularly the light-weight snare drum which sounds very similar to a small stick being broken in half & isn't nearly heavy enough to match the chunky darkness being drawn upon by the stringsmen. Overall though, "The End Complete" presented Obituary as one of the classier acts in a scene that was just about to peak.
The tracklisting on "The End Complete" is extremely consistent with nothing that dips below a very solid level. It doesn't possess the continuous wall of classics that confronted me when I first heard "Cause of Death" though so it took a few listens to come to terms with that & accept that this simply wasn't going to be as classic a record. There are, however, a few classic tracks amongst this lot though with "Dead Silence", "Corrosive" & the dark majesty of closer "Rotting Ways" playing a major role in my teenage years & ensuring that they're very unlikely to ever be forgotten. The best moments unanimously appear when Obituary keep things in the lower end of the tempo band as they highlight that wonderful graveyard atmosphere that the band played such a huge part in creating in the first place. The faster tracks simply aren't capable of achieving those sorts of feelings & a large part of that is due to the fact that John Tardy's maniacal howls are far better suited to the slower material.
I think some people are a little too hard on "The End Complete" at times, perhaps spending too much time comparing it to its older sibling rather than judging it on its own merit. I still feel that it's a better record than Obituary's widely acclaimed debut album "Slowly We Rot" but not by as big a margin as I once would have stated. They're both high-quality & seriously enjoyable death metal records that may pale in comparison to the looming darkness between them but shouldn't be discounted as a result. Fans of bands like Autopsy, Jungle Rot & Asphyx will no doubt appreciate this material as it presents a similarly doomy graveyard soundtrack to that which those bands have built their craft on & does it with a professionalism that those acts have rarely achieved (or even wanted to to be fair). I have to admit that I'm relieved by the result of this revisit as it's proven to me that my childhood feelings were well justified & that the album still has plenty to offer the modern-day death metal crowd.
4/5
Apart from a brief dalliance with "Starstruck", there was actually bugger-all from "Rising" included in general which was the album they were touring behind at the time which was really strange, wasn't it? And I agree that "Vibrator" is the weakest track on "Motorhead" too. I'm not sure I'm well enough across the garage rock subgenre to be drawing upon it as a reference point here though.
Today's track is "Lost Johnny" which I regard as being hard rock:
If you enjoyed our feature release from Brooklyn-based hard rock/heavy metal act Tanith (i.e. their 2019 debut album "In Another Time") as much as I did then you might be interested to check out this brand new live recording:
Canadian black noise solo act La Torture des ténèbres has a brand new album out that's simply called "V". I've enjoyed all three of the releases I've heard from this Jessica Kinney project previously so I'll probably check this one out at some point too.
A brand new live album from Japan's Boris which was recorded back in 1994 entitled "And 2 Years Later". I’ve seen Boris live & can attest to the fact that they’re a wonderful live act to experience. Plus, their “Rock Dream” live album is one of my all-time favourites so I can’t see how this won’t rule, particularly given it’s from their earlier days.
I went to an Earth Crisis live gig a decade or so ago but didn’t think much of them to be honest. Perhaps those of you who are bigger fans will dig this recent show.
I’ve seen Obituary live a couple of times & they’re always rock solid. This will definitely be worth a look.
These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Never mind, I've added the other Hall of Judgement entry for you Andi.
I'm confused by item one as the release is already in the database under Stoner Metal. I'll just go ahead & remove the release from The Guardians as it no longer qualifies for that clan anyway. I've added an entry to have it added to The Pit under Speed Metal though.
This morning's track in Motorhead's "Vibrator" which I'd suggest is a punky hard rock tune:
Also, I revisited Rainbow's "On Stage" live release yesterday & found it to be a hard rock record but it does include "Kill The King" which I'd suggest is a heavy/power metal number, probably the first example of power metal ever.
I checked out Deep Purple's 1977 live album "Last Concert In Japan" this morning. Of the nine tracks, only closer "Highway Star" qualifies as heavy metal & even then it sounds noticeably less metal than it did on the "Machine Head" album as the rhythm guitar is further back in the mix with the keyboards being much further forward. It's a hard rock record for mine.
I also explored the fifth & final full-length from Australia's Buffalo entitled "Average Rock 'n' Roller". There was no metal there at all. It's a hard rock album with country rock & boogie rock influences.
And finally, I checked out Diamond Head's two-song 1977 demo tape. The opening track "Streets of Gold is close enough to speed metal in my opinion while the other track "Shoot Out the Lights" (which would also be re-recorded for their 1980 debut single) is only hard rock. If we're considering this to be a full release then it technically qualifies as metal given the 45% metal ratio.