Daniel's Forum Replies
I don't care what people say, Def Leppard have no right to a place in metal circles in my opinion. I really enjoy some of their albums of course but the fact is that they've never produced a record that contained enough metal to qualify in my opinion so it leaves me bemused that they're generally thought to be one of the main players in the NWOBHM. There are a few tracks that crossover into metal territory included on their debut album "On Through The Night" but not nearly enough for a primary tag.
Tourniquet - "Psycho Surgery" (1991)
Unlike Believer's 1990 "Sanity Obscure" album which I reviewed a couple of days ago, I definitely know that I first discovered Los Angeles thrash metallers Tourniquet through a copy of their 1991 sophomore album "Psycho Surgery" which Ben had borrowed from one of his Christian mates who was trying to prove to him that Christians could be metal too. I think it's fair to say that I was skeptical about the whole concept initially but, by the time I'd gotten through my first spin of this high-quality thrash metal record, I had to admit to myself that I'd been converted (to Tourniquet, not to religious fairy tales). I don't think I told Ben at the time because, you know... I was a dark & evil death metal master & all... but the experience saw me secretly seeking out Tourniquet's equally impressive debut album "Stop The Bleeding" & following them on to their third record "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" which wasn't too bad either. I've even gone so far as to investigate a couple of their releases from the 21st Century since my return to metal in 2009 & this all stems from the impression left that day in Ben's bedroom all those years ago. I've actually returned to Tourniquet's first two albums quite often over the years but have never given any of Tourniquet's releases the dedicated attention required to justify a Metal Academy review until now & I've been interested to see how "Psycho Surgery" would stack up in the modern day.
It's always baffled me that Tourniquet didn't manage to break out of the underground a little more as they were clearly a very talented bunch of dudes & you can easily hear that on "Psycho Surgery". I can only guess that it's the religious aspect that's turned people off a bit & I can understand that as the lyrics do get a bit preachy at times. Thankfully I'm able to switch that element off because I've never been one to place too much emphasis on lyrical themes. The musicianship is the real highlight here though with the lead guitar work of Gary Lenaire being the standout performance. This dude has some major chops & knows just how to use them too. In fact, he could stand toe to toe with some of the elite performers of his craft if I'm being honest & never fails to impress me. The vocals of Guy Ritter are pretty cool too as he has quite a versatile range of tones & deliveries, sometimes sounding a fair bit like Overkill's Bobby Ellsworth & then running very close to Dave Mustaine territory during some of the spoken word-ish sections. The production job can sound a little wishy washy during some parts of the album but the instrumentation maintains a level of class throughout & never sits still for too long with Tourniquet showing off a wide array of influences.
"Psycho Surgery" kicks off in classic thrash metal form with a couple of mosh pit friendly numbers but things get a little more interesting when progressive metal outing "Viento Borrascoso (Devastating Wind)" enters the fold. It's a sound that Tourniquet do very well & would explore further on records like "Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm" & "Antiseptic Bloodbath" later in their career. "Broken Chromosomes" also explores that more progressive direction & does a reasonable job at it too. Rap metal experiment "Spineless" is probably the track that stands out the most in the tracklisting & not in a good way either but monster doom metal closer "Officium Defunctorum" more than makes up for that creative failure & challenges the wonderfully catchy thrash metal anthem "Dysfunctional Domicile" for my favourite song on the album. The forty minute run time is well suited to Tourniquet's sound & I think the plethora of different sounds keeps things really interesting with even "Spineless" conatining a couple of great riffs.
Don't let the whole Christian thing turn you off because Tourniquet are worthy of any diehard thrasher's attention in my opinion & if you do happen to be a Christian then "Psycho Surgery" should be considered to be essential listening. I'm not across their entire back catalogue but "Psycho Surgery" is one of the better releases from the five that I've heard with all of them being at least worth a few listens. It's been a while since I heard it now but I think the debut "Stop the Bleeding" might just slightly pip "Psycho Surgery" for my favourite Tourniquet release overall but there's very little between their first three & I'm yet to experience a Tourniquet release that was likely to disappoint.
For fans of Deliverance, Believer & Megadeth.
4/5
Edge of Sanity - "Nothing But Death Remains" (1991)
Swedish melodic death metal establishment Edge of Sanity first came to my attention through metal radio programming back in the very early 1990's off the back of their 1991 debut album "Nothing But Death Remains" which is a very different prospect to the one that saw them completely blowing up off the back of their 1996 fifth album "Crimson". You see, Edge of Sanity began life in much the same way as many of their Swedish peers i.e. as a far more conventional death metal band that took its earliest steps over ground that was already well trodden. Not being much of melodeath fan myself, I have to admit that this idea holds a stronger appeal for me than it may to many others so this week's revisit of "Nothing But Death Remains" has only proven something that I already strongly suspected. Yep, I actually prefer Edge of Sanity's rawer early works over their widely celebrated mid-1990's material.
While "Nothing But Death Remains" may have a fairly tinny production job by today's standards, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a young band at the time & there was already a class to Edge of Sanity's compositions that defied this record's status as an early 90's debut. The boys hadn't adopted the signature BOSS HM-2 pedal driven Entombed/Dismember wall of sound as yet but they certainly sounded like they had already spent a bit of time paying their dues as the musicianship is all solid & the song-writing offers enough variation to keep me interested. The tracklisting is quite consistent with only the disappointing second track "Human Aberration" failing to meet an acceptable standard. I really enjoy the use of guitar harmonies but the Dave Vincent-ish vocals of band leader Dan Swanö are probably the highlight of the record for me personally. There's a graveyard atmosphere that Edge of Sanity rarely achieved again here &, despite the fact that "Nothing But Death Remains" is hardly essential listening for the average death metal listener, it's far from the misfire that many fans of the Swede's later material would have you believe it is.
For fans of Bloodbath, Uncanny & early Hypocrisy.
3.5/5
I just watched my 3000th movie. I'll post a review here tomorrow out of excitement.
That reminds me, I submitted my 1,000th Metal Academy review a week ago. That seems almost impossible on paper but apparently I’ve managed to accomplish it somehow. I wonder how many of them were actually helpful or have even been read?
Believer - "Sanity Obscure" (1990)
There's a bit of a gap in my ability to remember how I first came across Pennsylvania technical thrash metallers Believer. I've always been of the belief that they were brought to my attention by my brother Ben after he borrowed a copy of Believer's 1990 sophomore album "Sanity Obscure" from one of his Christian mates but Ben has recently denied having any exposure to the band so I suspect that I might have picked up a dubbed copy from one of the kids in the year above me at school. Regardless of how it came about though, I remember being pleasantly surprised by what I heard as the idea of a Christian extreme metal band seemed like somewhat of a contradiction but Believer appeared to be a seriously capable outfit. The experience would see me going back & checking out Believer's 1989 debut album "Extraction From Mortality" & following them with interest in the future although I think that appeal tailed off a bit after their 2009 comeback album "Gabriel" failed to connect with me & I haven't as yet given their 2011 follow-up an airing. There's little doubt that "Sanity Obscure" was some of the band's best material though so please join me as I revisit it for the first time since the 1990's.
The first thing you'll notice about "Sanity Obscure" is the savage, metal-as-fuck production job which really appeals to me. I simply adore the ultra-distorted guitar tone which gives the riffs additional incisiveness & weight. It reminds me very much of Exodus & Exhorder, both whose guitar tones play a major role in their appeal for me personally. The song-writing on the early part of the album is super-complex though too, making Believer a band that's genuinely deserving of the tech thrash tag. That complexity does tail off a little as the album progresses though so I feel that a dual tag with conventional thrash metal is probably more accurate on this occasion. The vocals & instrumentation both showcase a clear Coroner influence which can't be a bad thing but the album is noticeably top-heavy so the quality level starts to become very inconsistent across the back end of the record. "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)" sees Believer incorporating orchestral instrumentation & classical female vocals in what can only be described as a highly ambitious attempt at symphonic thrash metal. It doesn't work in my opinion which is a real shame after such a strong A side that included a genuine progressive/technical thrash classic in the brilliant "Nonpoint". Things get worse though with closing number "Like A Song" being a terribly misguided attempt at a heavy metal/US power metal anthem that sees guitarist & front man Kurt Bachman making a real meal of some more emotive vocals. These two creative failures leave an unfortunate stain on what is otherwise a very high-quality tech thrash effort.
Look, there's still a lot to like about "Sanity Obscure" & I can definitely see why I found it so appealing in the first place. It's just that it makes for a far better source for playlist inclusions than a full album as there's such a drastic disparity in quality between those two duds & the remainder of the album which is all very solid indeed. Unfortunately, "Sanity Obscure" isn't even available on Spotify so I don't even have the option to include the better songs in our playlists available to me. Sadly, I feel like this was a missed opportunity for Believer as all of the components were here to create a timeless record but they've somehow managed to let their own ambitions get the better of them. Still... anyone who harbors any doubts about the validity of the Christian metal band need only listen to a large chunk of this record & I can assure you that you'll have your position swiftly turned around. Sure... there are some preachy lyrics on offer here but I find that I can easily ignore them & get with listening to a particularly classy & technically accomplished group of young thrashers.
For fans of Coroner, Extol & Seventh Angel.
3.5/5
Hypocrisy - "Osculum Obscenum" (1993)
I first became exposed to Swedish death metallers Hypocrisy through their 1992 debut album "Penetralia" after noticing a cassette copy floating around Neuropath front man Mark Wangmann's house in early 1993 & I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it too although I wouldn't suggest that it's essential listening by any means. My recent revisit to that particular record has proven that I probably gave it a little more attention than it deserved at the time though because I seemed to recall most of the song-writing pretty vividly. I'd subsequently pick up a dubbed copy of Hypocrisy's sophomore album "Osculum Obscenum" through one of my metal connections shortly afterwards & found it to offer a very similar level of reward although I can't say that I can recall this material anywhere near as much as "Penetralia" which is an indicator that I moved on from it fairly quickly. This is perhaps not all that surprising when you consider that "Osculum Obscenum" is basically more of the same brand of meat-&-potatoes death metal that Hypocrisy had dished up on their earlier effort with the limited technical skills that tainted my view of "Penetralia" still being on full display here. The riff construction is pretty standard for a third tier death metal player while the drumming & lead guitar work showcase a level of naivety that the band was still yet to overcome. I find the poorly executed blast beats to be a bit of a distraction as poor old Lars Szöke simply can't keep them in time for more than a couple of bars so they end up resembling a train crash by the end of those sections due to his lack of endurance. There's no doubt that Hypocrisy knew a good hook when they heard one though so there's still plenty to enjoy here.
Although "Osculum Obscenum" is of a pretty similar standard to "Penetralia", I do tend to favour the debut just slightly over it. "Penetralia" definitely contained a couple more highlight tracks than "Osculum Obscenum" but it also fell flat a little more regularly so there's a bit of give & take there. At the end of the day though, the fact that I can recall the songs from "Penetralia" more vividly than those from their follow-up is the telling factor in me placing "Osculum Obscenum" slightly behind "Penetralia" in respect to the overall Hypocrisy back catalogue. The band would go on to produce better records than both of these crude early works but I'd suggest that both are still worth a few spins for the any self-respecting Swedish death metal devotee.
For fans of Bloodbath, Dismember & early Edge of Sanity.
3.5/5
That depends if you’d rather take the opinions of four randoms from a website that has repeatedly proven its inadequacies in this department over your own brother’s informed position which generally reflects your own & comes from almost four decades of experience, doesn’t it? It also depends on whether you care for Xmas presents or not.
Ben, please add Vatreni poljubac's 1980 third album "To je ono pravo" under the Heavy Metal (Conventional) subgenre.
The 1980 third album "To je ono pravo" from Bosnia-Herzegovina hard rock outfit Vatreni Poljubac contains about 43% metal tracks so qualifies for inclusion in our list behind their sophomore record "Recept za Rock 'n' Roll".
The same cannot be said of the 1980 "Greatest Hits Vol. 1" debut album from London Oi! group Cockney Rejects which is pure punk other than one short heavy metal number.
Skeleton of God - "Urine Garden" E.P. (1993)
Colorado four-piece Skeleton of God are another band that I sought out back in my tape trading days in my quest for ever more extreme forms of metal with their debut E.P. "Urine Garden" receiving quite a few plays back in the day. The Skeleton of God sound could be described as a quite technical, avant-garde & progressive take on the brutal death metal model although these guys were clearly still finding their sound so some tracks are definitely more unusual than others. You can't deny the ambition from such a young group of dudes but I do have to admit that I prefer the conventional material like highlight track "10 Second Infinity" over the more intentionally weird inclusions (see the opening title track for example). The way Skeleton of God construct their riffs is quite unique though & this attribute gives the band their edge, along with the gutteral vocals of guitarist Jeff Kahn which are very effective. It's a real shame that the production job isn't adequate for this type of release though as I feel it may have picked up more of an underground reputation with a cleaner & more powerful sound.
For fans of Human Remains, Wicked Innocence & Embrionic Death.
3.5/5
I checked out the 1980 "Glorious Road" fifth album from Japan's Bow Wow yesterday. There's definitely a bit of heavy metal there but not enough for a primary tag. It's more of a hard rock/power pop record in my opinion.
Impaled Nazarene - "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." (1993)
The early Finnish black metal scene was a particularly dark place to be back in the early 1990's. For one reason or another they had a habit of producing some of the most raw & evil examples of the black metal type known to man at the time with artists like Beherit, Archgoat, Belial, The Lord Diabolus & Black Crucifixion all pushing a darker & more blasphemous sound than that of their neighbours. Impaled Nazarene fit into that environment very comfortably & arguably could only have come about because of the activity around them. I first picked up a copy of their debut album "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." in a tiny record store called Rock 'n' Roll Warehouse which was located in the famous George Street Cinema complex in the Sydney CBD very shortly after it was released. I had a close relationship with the guy that worked behind the counter & he generally kept me abreast of releases that would fit my taste profile. On this occasion he implored me to purchase Impaled Nazarene's debut album, saying that it was one of the most savage example of the black metal sound he'd yet had the pleasure of hearing. I eagerly complied with his request & ran home to find that he wasn't wrong. It was hard to take the Fins seriously though as it seemed on the surface that much of their image was tongue-in-cheek & that element always saw me struggling to fully commit, despite seeing a lot of positives in the Impaled Nazarene sound. It wouldn't stop me from purchasing their next two full-lengths on release though & I've continued to keep abreast of each subsequent record over the years, if only to see my curiosity being kept in check.
The week saw me giving "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." a few spins for the first time in years & finding that I could still recall almost the entire run time which is a strong sign that I gave it thrashing back in the day. Looking back now, I find it hard to understand why Impaled Nazarene weren't dragged in under the war metal banner that so many of their countrymen were because there's as much war metal on offer as their is genuine black metal in my opinion. You've got the gratuitous Satanic references, the grindcore influence, the death metal production... Hell, you've even got a three minute orgy of demonic bestiality & if that's not a war metal trait then I don't know what is. If you put aside the blatant attempts to stir up attention through obviously antagonistic lyrical content & imagery though, there's actually a lot to like about the band's sound. While it may be very basic, it's also super-tight with the performances all being spot on. I particularly enjoy the solid drumming of Kimmo Luttinen as they offer an impressive amount of power & control while the vocals of his brother Mika are viciously confronting.
"Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." kicks off in very strong form but unfortunately the B side sees the quality levels dropping a touch.That flaw wasn't enough to see me dropping my rating below an impressive four star rating though & I feel that the Impaled Nazarene sound is probably a little better suited to my current taste profile than it was the one I was still building as a seventeen year old when I first encountered it. This has left me wondering whether I might see some of their other early releases like "Ugra-Karma" achieving similar scores so a revisit is certainly on the cards there. If you're able to accept a black metal release that doesn't take itself overly seriously yet still manages to conjure up a bestial blasphemy of blasting blackened war metal then you may want to give "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." a few spins. Just don't expect to find anything terribly deep as the Impaled Nazarene model is similar to the classic punk rock aesthetic they're influenced by i.e. it's simple, in-your-face & a little immature & snotty.
For fans of Sadistik Exekution, Impiety & Belial.
4/5
Testament - "Return to the Apocalyptic City" E.P. (1993)
Ben & I had been pretty big fans of Californian thrash metallers Testament for a good four years by the time this six-track live release hit the streets in 1993. I'd enjoyed all of their records up until that time but the last couple had seen the impressive quality levels of the first three Testament albums dipping a touch so I wouldn't say that I was busting to get my hands on their next record but I still found myself parting ways with my hard-earned cash for this little live release as soon as I noticed it's ball-tearing cover artwork sitting on the record store shelf. "Return to the Apocalyptic City" offers four live tracks which were recorded at a recent show at the Los Angeles Palladium as well as a studio cut from the sessions for 1988's "The New Order" album & a shortened version of "Return To Serenity" from Testament's latest record "The Ritual". All of this material is entertaining, particularly the live versions of "Over the Wall", "So Many Lies" & "Disciples of the Watch". My favourite inclusion is the studio cut "Reign of Terror" though which is the fastest & thrashiest number on offer & had been popping up in Testament live sets since way back in 1984 when they were still known as Legacy. The performances are all strong, particularly the guitar solos of Glen Alvelais & Alex Skolnick which are a real highlight. The production is also much better than the awful sound quality Testament had to contend with on their only previous live release in 1987's "Live at Eindhoven" E.P. which gives "Return to the Apocalyptic City" a clear edge over that record in my opinion. This one should definitely interest most Bay Area thrash fans, even if its format makes it fairly inessential in the grand scheme of things.
For fans of Metallica, Exodus & Megadeth.
4/5
Mortem - "Amputator" (1993)
I picked up the 1993 "Amputator" debut album from Russian death metal outfit Mortem through the mid-90's tape trading scene &, looking back now, probably gave it a little more attention than it warranted at the time, mainly because I was thoroughly obsessed with the early brutal death metal sound & had a tendency to lap up anything that fell into that space. The first few albums from US death metal legends Cannibal Corpse were a pretty major influence on the early work of my own death metal band Neuropath & it's very obvious that they were on Mortem too as "Amputator" is nothing short of complete plagiarism in many regards. The production job is pretty awful but the song-writing is extremely consistent which allows the music to overcome that flaw, at least for those of us that were used to listening to ultra-raw demos at the time. The musicianship is pretty good with all of the arrangements being reasonably accomplished for such a young band but it's the ultra-deep death growls that are the highlight of this super-underground record that's largely been lost in time. The shredding guitar solos are also one of the better elements & I'd suggest showcase a bit of a Deicide influence too. I've enjoyed this revisit but I can't say that "Amputator" should be essential listening. I'd also suggest that the brutal death metal tags are a little ambitious as this sounds more like conventional death metal to my ears, at least by today's standards.
For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Mortal Decay & Disastrous Murmur.
3.5/5
Blood Duster - "Fisting the Dead" E.P. (1993)
The debut release from a legendary Melbourne band that I saw play live many times back in the 1990's. It includes 25 tracks across 19 minutes, eight of them being hilarious intros that have been borrowed from D grade horror films like "Bad Taste". This music is not meant to be taken too seriously but boy is it entertaining. Early Blood Duster offered a well-constructed & produced sound that took the blast-beat driven goregrind of early Carcass & combined it with the groovy death 'n' roll riffs of post-1991 Pungent Stench. The use of double-kick in the blast-beats leaves a little bit to be desired by today's standards but we didn't notice it all that much back in the day. The song-titles & lyrics are as over the top as you'd expect from a goregrind act with ditties like "Vulgar Taste (Of A Rotten Cunt)", "Knee Deep in Menstrual Blood (The Bleeding Bitch Returns)" & "Blood Fart" being some of the better ones. Throw this one on a drunken party with your mates & press the "repeat" button cause it's all over in a flash.
For fans of Macabre, Pungent Stench & early Carcass.
3.5/5
Absu - "Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L." (1993)
I've always quite enjoyed the down-tuned early Immolation death metal meets Darkthrone black metal feel of this album. It's got a dark & evil atmosphere & the production really reminds me of my tape-trading days in the late 80s/early 90s. Proscriptor's drumming is probably the highlight for me. I'm not too keen on the female vocal stuff & the keyboards are very primitive but I dig the raw brutality of this record. It may be my favourite Absu release actually.
3.5/5
Anthrax - "Sound of White Noise" (1993)
The early 90's was a terrifying time to be a classic thrash band. By 1993, the grunge scene had unceremoniously stripped thrash metal's audience with some of the remainder being carried away by the death/black metal boom so many of the major bands were all fighting for a smaller market share. Pantera had also hit on a key niche of the market with their fresh new groove metal sound that had taken the metal scene by storm &, in order to survive in that environment, many artists simply chose to jump onboard the grunge or groove metal bandwagons with mixed results it has to be said. Big Four member Anthrax was one such act with their 1993 sixth album "Sound of White Noise" seeing the five-piece transitioning away from their thrash metal roots for a sound that took an each-way bet on the grunge & groove metal movements. Many fans would immediately jump off the train but the inclusion of talented Armored Saint front man John Bush in place of classic Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna had certainly peaked my interest, particularly given that I was a huge fan of Bush's work on the Saint's 1991 fourth album "Symbol of Salvation". Ben would purchase "Sound of White Noise" on CD upon release & we'd both spend some time adjusting to the new Anthrax direction. Interestingly, I recall both of us really enjoying it & nothing much has changed there either.
Although "Sound of White Noise" is generally regarded as a groove metal release, I would argue that there's actually a lot more alternative metal here, easily enough for a dual primary tag with thrash metal being the lone secondary influence. To say that "Sound of White Noise" sounds like a different band to the one we heard on classic thrash records like "Among The Living" or "Spreading the Disease" is not entirely accurate though. You can still clearly hear a lot of the techniques the band had made their calling cards but they're used more sporadically here. Tracks like "Potters Field", "Invisible", "C₁₁ H₁₇ N₂ O₂ S Na" & "Burst" would have comfortably fit on earlier Anthrax records though so this isn't a completely foreign environment for extreme metal fans. Bush's more masculine vocals are certainly a little different from Belladonna's but not to the point that you couldn't easily imagine him singing the earlier classics pretty successfully. I personally gravitate more to the Bush tone anyway so this change was always gonna appeal to me. He doesn't nail everything in front of him here but, after a few listens, I can't imagine too many punters feeling like he'd rained on the Anthrax parade.
The eleven-song tracklisting doesn't tend to unveil all of its charms upon first listen & repeat listens definitely see it opening up progressively more. There are a couple of genuine Anthrax classics on show if you're open to discovering them. The obvious highlight of the record is the anthemic single "Only" which possesses an absolute belter of a chorus hook & is the best reference for the skill set that Bush brought to the band you're likely to find. High-octave, energetic alternative thrasher "C₁₁ H₁₇ N₂ O₂ S Na" is also an underrated gem & I've found that it's dug its talons into my flesh to ever greater depths over the last week. The rest of the tracklisting ranges from pretty decent to very solid with only the lackluster alternative metal number "Hy Pro Glo" failing to offer me any level of appeal. Perhaps there aren't enough tier one inclusions to see "Sound of White Noise" pressing for Album Of The Year honors but it certainly had enough about it for Ben & I to remember it very fondly amongst our childhood memories.
So, where does "Sound of White Noise" sit in the prestigious Anthrax back catalogue then? Well, it might surprise a few people to hear that I actually rate it somewhere in the middle rather than towards the bottom rungs. I'd comfortably take it over the legendary New York thrash metal establishment's 1984 debut album "Fistful of Metal" & also feel that it's a more consistently interesting record than 1988's "State of Euphoria" fourth album which was more acceptable than it was impressive. Many people seem to try to tarnish this record with a harshly-worded groove metal brush but that's not a true reflection of the quality of the song-writing or the professionalism in the performances. Anthrax were a high-quality metal act who have produced another high-quality metal record here in my opinion but there's no doubt that it requires thrash fans to go into it with an open mind.
For fans of Acid Drinkers. Prong & Sepultura.
4/5
Here's my review:
The only proper release from Sydney-based doom/death metal exponents Cruciform came to my attention at a time that I regard as being amongst the more exciting in my life to date. 1993 saw me forming the first iteration of my own death metal band Neuropath (still under our early moniker of Coprophagia) with four younger kids from the local area & we had every right to think that we might be the only metalheads in the entire Northern Beaches region that were clued up on the thriving death metal phenomenon that had taken off in the underground metal scene a couple of years earlier. One day one of us came back from the local record store Sandy's Music with a copy of the "Atavism" CD & shared it with the rest of the band who all enjoyed its filthy brand of death metal-infused doom. The music was simple enough for us to compare to our own early works but sophisticated enough to exude a strong pedigree in an underground scene that was currently thriving off the back of the tape trading concept. It wouldn't be long before we'd learn that Cruciform were actually located fairly close in proximity to us &, even more impressive, were also one of the senior players in the Sydney extreme metal scene at the time, being signed to the infamous Warhead Records label that was responsible for several key releases in the annuls of Australian metal history & would go on to release Neuropath's 1996 "Desert of Excruciation" demo too. This added additional appeal to the CD & would see us analyzing "Atavism" in greater detail. Opening track "Sanctuary" would become somewhat of a band favourite & we'd go about covering that song at all of our early live shows. At one Lewisham Hotel gig in 1994 we'd be approached by the sound guy after our set, only to find that we had just played a Cruciform cover to the band's new vocalist/keyboardist Simon Gruer which was terribly exciting. Shortly afterwards we'd realize that the long-haired gentleman behind the counter at Sandy's Music that had sold many of the local kids their copies of "Atavism" was in fact guitarist Leon Kelly too & I'd build up somewhat of a familiarity with him over the next couple of years. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was an idol but I certainly looked up to him & listened to what he said with great interest.
Cruciform would go on to develop & mature very quickly after the release of "Atavism", culminating in the amazing "Paradox" demo tape in 1995 which saw them poised to break out of the local scene with a new deal with legendary English extreme metal label Earache Records in the works. We were heading to all of the band's live shows (well... the ones we could get in to as most of the other band members were still under the age of 18) which had become immeasurably more epic off the back of Gruer's inclusion & the strength of the new material. But just when Cruciform's light was about to shine at its brightest, the band spilt up & were lost from the Sydney scene, seemingly overnight. They'd reform many years later in 2012 & are still playing shows now but have not released any new recorded material that I'm aware of up until now. That's obviously quite a story but was "Atavism" really as good as my young ears thought it was at the time? Or was I simply dazzled by the idea of some local brothers in arms that were older than me & had achieved things that I was still yet to attempt? Well, I think the answer is a bit of both looking at it with modern-day ears.
"Atavism" was a six song release that we actually regarded as being an E.P. back in the day given its relatively short 32-minute duration. It opens with a lengthy three-minute neoclassical darkwave synthesizer piece that hasn't stood the test of time very well & sounds fairly cheesy these days. The remaining five pieces are made up of extreme metal tunes that had all become staples of the Cruciform live sets & are all worth hearing too, some more than others though it has to be said. The production job has a lovely layer of underground dirt caked on it that gives the music some additional authenticity while the musicianship was still fairly basic at this time with several examples of timing issues being plainly visible in the recordings that were clearly produced under tight financial constraints.
The early Cruciform sound is often touted as sitting somewhere between the doom/death sound that had taken the global scene by storm off the back of the Peaceville Three a couple of years earlier & a more conventional death metal one. You can certainly see why on the evidence here but the doom/death component plays a much stronger role than the death metal one so I don't think there's much reason for a dual tagging personally. "Reduced to Dust" is really the only straight-up death metal tune included with "Proboscis" being more of a hybrid & I'd suggest that those two tracks are probably the least impressive of the five proper songs anyway. Those pieces often remind me of My Dying Bride's early death metal efforts actually. The doomier material is where the real guts of Cruciform's notoriety was formed though with the two songs that bookend the release ("Sanctuary" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes") being the clear standouts in my opinion. The band was still a four-piece at the time but utilized a three-pronged vocal attack that adds a great deal of interest to their sound. I particularly enjoy the ultra-deep death growl that reminds me of "Symphonies of Sickness" era Carcass although the occasional use of a higher register approach comes across as a little weak & gurgly.
Early Cruciform already possessed an uncanny knack for melody, particularly for such a young band. The way they allow their better compositions to build over time showed a good understanding of dynamics, even if the technical capabilities of the various band members still seemed to be a little immature at the time. Listening back now, I can easily pick up some sections of tracks like "Proboscis" & "I, to the Heavens Shall Lift My Eyes" that have been reworked into some of the more brilliant parts of the "Paradox" demo that I still regard as one of the finest I've ever heard to this day. Unfortunately though, I don't think any of these pieces compare all that well to the two epic numbers that make up that incredibly underappreciated release & this leaves "Atavism" as very much the entree to the "Paradox" main course. It's hard for me to think of it as anything else after all the years of solitary bedroom worship for Cruciform's later material but "Atavism" is still worth seeking out for early doom/death enthusiasts as there weren't too many artists exploring these creative avenues at the time. "Paradox" would see Cruciform pushing a sound that was wwaayy ahead of its time & could well have had a major impact on the global scene if it was given the right production & exposure in my opinion. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be though & we're left with only these limited recording to enjoy which in many ways pre-empted my own musical journey with Neuropath.
For fans of Hearse, Sorrow & Asphyx.
3.5/5
Here's my review:
I have to admit that the trend to re-record previously released material with modern-day technology is not one that I'm particularly fond of. Rarely does it see the desired results being achieved by bringing something fresh & different to an album that's generally already got its own loyal following so the idea of the Cavalera brothers having another crack at Sepultura's highly regarded 1987 sophomore album "Schizophrenia" wasn't one that immediately filled me with anticipation. Their recent re-recordings of Sepultura's more primitive earlier releases "Bestial Devastation" & "Morbid Visions" had certainly been reasonably successful but "Schizophrenia" was a much more sophisticated record & I struggled to see a reason to want to give it a new coat of paint when the old one was still in pretty good nick. You see, I've always been a big fan of the original version of "Schizophrenia". I picked it up on cassette when I was still a youngster, shortly after becoming completely infatuated with Sepultura's classic 1989 "Beneath the Remains" album. It was an immediate hit in my household & has received many revisits over the years so I can't say that I wasn't pleased that Ben gave me a reason to investigate the revitalized version by nominating it as this month's "The Pit" clan feature release. I just wasn't expecting to be wowed in the process.
The band that the Cavalera brothers assembled for the task is a little different to the one they went with for their previous re-recorded efforts. Max's son Igor Cavalera Jr. (Go Ahead & Die) is still there on bass guitar but the lead guitar slot that was previously being filled by Gruesome/Possessed/Proscriptor McGovern's Apsû axeman Daniel Gonzalez is now being owned by Igor Jr.'s former Healing Magic & Lody Kong bandmate Travis Stone (Noisem/Pig Destroyer) on this occasion. I have to say that I haven't been majorly impressed with Stone's work here though as he lacks the polish of the very capable Andreas Kisser which leaves the guitar solos seeming like less of an emphatic statement than they were on the original.
So... how is the production job that is largely the reason for conducting this exercise in the first place then? Weeeellll... it certainly sounds a lot cleaner, brighter & more in your face than the original did but it's not without its issues either. The drenching of Max's vocals & Igor's toms in reverb was a strange decision & does tend to annoy me a little if I'm being honest. I'd suggest that Max's vocals simply aren't as strong any more so the decision was made to hide his deficiencies a little through studio trickery but it hasn't really worked because it's still as plain as day if you ask me & I much prefer his gruntier contribution on the original version. That's not to say that I get nothing out of this glossier model though because that's not the reality at all. As most people will probably do as some point, I decided to whack on the 1987 version immediately after my third spin of the revamped one in order to see the differences & they were far more stark than I realised previously. In fact, the original version sounds a lot like a demo recording in that context & I was surprised by just how deficient it appeared to be in retrospect because I've never had too much of a problem with it in the past. Perhaps there was a good reason that Cavalera's decided to give another crack after all then.
The tracklisting is unsurprisingly impeccable with no weak numbers being included. Opener "From the Past Comes the Storms" is still my pick of the bunch but I feel that the lengthy instrumental "Inquisition Symphony" also really shines here & gives it a run for its money. "To The Wall", "Escape to the Void" & "Septic Schizo" are perhaps not quite as classic in this environment as I remember them being back in the day which is interesting. The two intros/interludes have been recreated in slightly different forms but I wouldn't say that either are as effective as they once were so perhaps they would have been off simply remastering the originals. The inclusion of an Igor Jr. penned new original in "Nightmares of Delirium" is probably the most significant point of interest here but I'd suggest that it's also the weaker of the proper metal songs on offer, even if it's still worth a few listens. So overall we have more losses than wins but it's nothing drastic as the album is still highly entertaining, mainly because "Schizophrenia" is a total riff-fest & nothing has changed there.
Was it really worth the effort to re-record this old classic? Perhaps. I mean it certainly contains more energy & vitality than the original mix did but I'd have to argue that I still enjoy the 1987 version a little more. I can't deny that I had a good ol' headbang to this one on the way to & from work on Friday though as this is some pretty premium thrash metal after all. It's probably not terribly essential if you already own a copy of Sepultura's version from back in the day though. Let sleeping dogs lie I say. So, why have I awarded the release such a good score you may ask? Well, I choose to treat every release on its own merit when creating reviews & this is still a fine example of South American thrash in my opinion so it'd be inaccurate for me to suggest otherwise with a reduced rating simply because I like it a touch less than Sepultura's version.
For fans of Sepultura, Slayer & Sodom.
4/5
That's a high-quality assessment of the album right there Vinny. I thoroughly enjoyed getting your take on it.
Rush's 1980 seventh album "Permanent Waves" again shows no signs of metal. It's about as prog rock as prog rock gets in my opinion.
Witchfynde's 1980 "Give 'Em Hell" debut album is worthy of taking up the vacant number 20 position. It's a very much the hard rock/heavy metal hybrid with progressive rock & heavy psych playing a role as well but there's comfortably enough metal to qualify here with a 62% metal ratio.
After months of hard work, I've finally completed my comprehensive review of 1970's metal releases. The final two were:
This one-off album from Germany's The Hand of Doom certainly contains a few metal tracks but it only amounted to a metal ratio of 27% which isn't enough to push this hard rock release over into metal territory overall.
Motorhead's 1979 "On Parole" release drew together a collection of early recordings from 1975-76, none of which qualify as metal with much of this material struggling to meet the hard rock mark.
This leaves me falling just one release short of having twenty legitimate metal releases from the 1970's. The final list looks like this:
01. Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath" (1970)
02. Black Sabbath - "Paranoid" (1970)
03. Black Sabbath - "Master of Reality" (1971)
04. Black Sabbath - "Vol. 4" (1972)
05. Black Sabbath - "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973)
06. Black Sabbath - "Sabotage" (1975)
07. Judas Priest - "Sad Wings of Destiny" (1976)
08. Rainbow - "Rising" (1976)
09. Judas Priest - "Sin After Sin" (1977)
10. Judas Priest - "Stained Class" (1978)
11. Zarpa Rock - "Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis" (1978)
12. Alkana - "Welcome to My Paradise" (1978)
13. Judas Priest - "Killing Machine" (1978)
14. Heavy Load - "Full Speed at High Level" (1978)
15. Accept - "Accept" (1979)
16. Nokemono - "From the Black World" (1979)
17. Vatreni poljubac - "Recept za Rock 'n' Roll" (1979)
18. Judas Priest - "Unleashed in the East: Live in Japan" (1979)
19. Mythra - "The Death & Destiny E.P." (1979)
Prolific Aussie genre-hoppers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have yet another new album hitting the shelves on 9th August. This is called "Flight b741" & fuck knows what musical direction they'll take this time. I did really dig 2019's "Infest the Rats' Nest" & 2023's "PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation" records though so I'll be sure to investigate it if there's any hint at it being a metal release.
Here's my review:
It's great to see a young band growing with each release & that's exactly what we've seen with French progressive black metallers Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa. I struggled to get into their 2018 debut album "Tales From Hydhradh" when I first came across the band however their 2021 follow-up "Corrupted Pillars of Vanity" showed promise & we're now seeing that promise coming to fruition with their latest release "The Blossoming" which is a genuinely intriguing listen. Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa's black metal roots would appear to be almost secondary concern at this point & it wouldn't surprise me if they were done away with altogether in the quest for ever more unique musical explorations in the future. Their modern sound uses black metal more as a platform for them to experiment over in some fairly unusual ways although I would say that they ever quite dive into the waters of the truly avant-garde on "The Blossoming", potentially only because of just how well they've integrated the experimental components into their arrangements which leaves the quirkier components still sounding reasonably fluid. The use of saxophone is beautifully executed & brings to mind fellow experimental black metallers White Ward. Not all of it works so well but the failures are comfortably outweighed by the successes.
It's worth noting that "The Blossoming" does have an unusual characteristic in that I feel all three of the tracks on the A side are noticeably weaker than those on the B side which is where the real meat is located. This has a tendency to leave an initial impression that isn't exactly accurate of the release as a whole & it took me a couple of listens to realise that this was a more significant outing than "Corrupted Pillars of Vanity" was. The track that most grabbed me was also the one that contained the least black metal in "Daimu Kadasdra Ko Antall" which utilizes psychedelic bongos & gothic atmospherics that bring to mind Tiamat's classic "Wildhoney" album to create a beautifully lush soundscape. "Endless Cycle" & the title track (particularly the second half of it) are the pick of the black metal-based material.
This sort of release is often a little too weird for me to score as highly as I have here but Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa have managed to pull it off with a professionalism & maturity that I've been unable to resist. I wouldn't suggest that this is a record for black metal fans only either as there's a lot more to it than that, even in the extreme metal sections. The album contains a few doomier sections that make up some of the more effective parts of the record while the vocals aren't exactly your typical black metal shriek either, often veering off into deeper territories usually traversed only by the death metal brigade. If I could provide any advice to the band, I'd suggest that they focus a little more on the psychedelic angles that I enjoy so much but that's probably just a reflection of my personal taste as "The Blossoming" is still a very solid release in its own right.
For fans of Alchemist, White Ward & Pan.Thy.Monium.
4/5
Symphonies II has the industrial metal genre and cyber metal subgenre, but it's missing The Sphere clan on the release page. Could you please correct that in the database, Daniel? Thanks.
Corrected.
So German power metal legends Blind Guardian appear to be releasing a re-recorded version of their classic 1992 fourth full-length "Somewhere Far Beyond" next month, a record that I quite like so I may check this out.
US brutal death metallers Disfiguring the Goddess have a couple of new collaborations out right now. The first is the "Transfigere" E.P. with Ohio goregrind solo artist Putrid Stu whose 2021 "Taking Care of Business is Our Business... and Business is Good" collaboration E.P. with Phoenix brutal death metallers Fluids I quite enjoyed.
The second is the "Breaking Fourth Wall" E.P. with Californian brostep producer Big Chocolate which admittedly sounds like an awful combination on paper but in reality this dude is the main member of disfiguring The Goddess anyway.
Disfiguring The Goddess are hardly a premier exponent of their craft with their back catalogue showcasing as many misses as hits in my experience but I have enjoyed some of their releases so who knows. This one might be one of the better ones like 2012's "Sleeper" E.P. which I really enjoyed.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
I'm gonna make a pretty bold claim about the 1979 "The Death & Destiny E.P." from England's Mythra. I feel it's not only the first legitimate metal release to come out of the NWOBHM movement but I also think it's a) the first release ever to be completely compromised of metal songs & b) the very first speed metal record given my dual tagging of heavy metal/speed metal. That makes it the nineteenth metal release on our chronological journey through all of the genuine metal releases of the 1970's too.
Also, Blood & Glitter has the industrial metal genre, but it's missing The Sphere clan on the release page. Could you please correct that in the database, Daniel? Thanks.
Fixed Andi.
Here's my review:
For those that haven't been paying attention, I've been pushing underground Australian industrial death metal artist The Amenta pretty hard on the Metal Academy website since our initial inception back in 2019 & don't plan to give up on that task any time soon. Why, you may ask? Well, to put it simply, this Sydney-based outfit has not only been my favourite hometown band for that entire period but are also one of the most incredible examples of an undiscovered gem you'll find in the entire global metal marketplace. In fact, I'm continually astounded at just how underappreciated some of their releases are & I don't think that my long-time relationship with the band has anything to do with me taking that position either. I've been aware of this lot since they began life as local black metallers Crucible of Agony back in 1997, mainly due to the fact that they contained an associate of mine in Lord Kaos/Stone Wings front man Jamie Marsh who I played alongside in Sydney doom/death exponents Elysium at around that time. Fast forward through to 2021 though & you'll find that The Amenta had a completely different look & feel to them. Their style had evolved from black metal to a Morbid Angel-inspired death metal sound before slowly taking on more & more industrial metal elements, each album representing a different stage in their evolution & achieving a very different character to the last. Each of their first three full-length albums were nothing short of classic & I don't say that from a purely patriotic or nostalgic viewpoint either. 2004's "Occasus", 2008's "n0n" & 2013's "Flesh Is Heir" sit amongst my favourite extreme metal releases of all time with only the elite of the elite achieving higher echilons of metal glory. The long gap between releases may well have contributed to the quality of each release but would also seem to have been out of necessity given that the band became more of a national entity over time with the various band members sometimes residing in different states & playing in multiple other metal bands of significance. 2021's "Revelator" fourth album would end the biggest drought in The Amenta's recording career to date though & subsequently drew an enormous amount of anticipation from diehard fans like myself who have been attending the band's blistering live shows for so many years.
2013's "Flesh is Heir" record was a game-changer for me personally. It took all of the various elements that made up The Amenta sound & presented them in a fashion that saw my face being completely melted off & boy did I enjoy it. It would go on to be my Album of the Year & see me shouting its praises from the rooftops online too. The gap to the band's next album left me feeling a little bemused though & when it finally arrived I didn't quite know what to expect. By this time The Amenta had a very different look to the one that recorded a couple of crude black metal demos under their previous moniker back in the late 1990's with only guitarist Erik Miehs remaining from the Crucible of Agony days. Thankfully though, The Amenta had maintained the same lineup that devastated me with "Flesh is Heir" which certainly put them in good stead to achieve similar heights. From the promo shots released at the time, it seemed that the band had opted to push a slightly different image to before which shouldn't really have been a surprise as The Amenta had traditionally put a lot of time & effort into making the visual part of their live performances a unique experience rather than a simple reenactment of their albums. I wasn't sure if that would translate into a drastic change of musical direction or not but any fears I may have harbored were very quickly put to rest by another stunning piece of work.
"Revelator" is a wonderfully produced record that perfectly highlights The Amenta's strengths & talents. The music unceremoniously dives out of the speakers & violently grabs the listener around the throat, although on this occasion the song-writing tends to be more measured in how regularly it tightens its grip. "Revelator" once again sees The Amenta evolving on past glories, this time relying less on death metal savagery & more on the industrial side of their sound. The obvious Godflesh influence that was so apparent on "Flesh is Heir" is nowhere near as relevant this time though with the band taking you to places that you're unlikely to have trodden in the past. You see, "Revelator" is a much more moody & introspective record than we'd heard from The Amenta thus far & it draws from a wider range of influences too. There's a progressive edge to their approach that requires a little more patience but sees them challenging the listener on a more cerebral level too. This is a more mature The Amenta & one that's not afraid the show a little vulnerability rather than simply savaging their audience into a pulp. My ears pick up the influence of a disparate range artists from Mr. Bungle (particularly their deeper & more psychedelic material) to Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad & even a little of that twisted Arcturus sound. Don't get me wrong, "Revelator" can still thrash you to within an inch of your life but it can also lead you into some pretty dark places that will have you peering out of your eye sockets from deeper & deeper within yourself.
The tracklisting begins in the most violent fashion possible with brutal opener "An Epoch Ellipsis" (my personal favourite) being one of the finest examples of industrial death metal you're ever likely to hear. It doesn't really prepare you for the twists & turns you'll face across the remaining eight songs though as the stylist direction changes up regularly, never allowing the listener to become complacent yet still feeling cohesive throughout. The brilliant "Silent Twin" sees The Amenta experimenting with a sound that's more commonly heard on post-metal releases while "Wonderlost" dips its toes into dark ambience to great effect. Apart from "Psoriastasis", the remainder of the album sees The Amenta veering away from pure death metal but losing none of their menace. Legendary drummer Dave Haley's (Abramelin/Psycroptic/Consummation/Ruins/Werewolves/Blood Duster/Pestilence) undeniable talents behind the drum kit are brought to the forefront by a relentless machinegun double kick drum sound that sees him achieving ridiculous tempos with ultimate precision while his blast beats showcase a level of power & control that few can match. Charismatic front man Cain Cressall (Malignant Monster) not only spits out his lyrics with his trademark blackened snarl but also makes a wonderful fist of some very capable clean singing that will no doubt remind you of the impeccable metal royalty that is Mike Patton. I really love this element of the album actually & feel that it's one of the key ingredients in giving "Revelator" its own identity.
From what I can see online, "Revelator" doesn't seem to have received the accolades that some of The Amenta's previous records have & I find that a little hard to understand as this is yet another mind-blowing effort from the band. Perhaps it's simply a reflection of a modern society where young people tend not to give their music as much time as old-schoolers like myself who weren't gifted with music at the click of a button during our formative years. Make no bones about it, "Revelator" is a far less immediate record than The Amenta's earlier works & requires a little commitment to fully understand but that's not a criticism in any way. In fact, it's more of a compliment than anything as those sort of releases tend to benefit from a longer lasting appeal than those that waste little time in exposing their full wares. While I readily admit that it may not top The Amenta's first three classic albums, "Revelator" has once again seen me left dazzled by the sheer class of this wonderful Aussie metal icon, this time with a renewed commitment to creativity.
For fans of The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Red Harvest & Strapping Young Lad.
4.5/5
I've had a real good listen to Riot's 1979 sophomore album today & have to maintain my position that it's not metal enough for inclusion, finishing with a metal ratio of just 33%. Here's how I tagged it:
A1 Waiting for the Taking (5:01) Hard rock
A2 49er (4:36) Hard rock
A3 Kick Down the Wall (4:32) Hard rock
A4 Born to Be Wild (2:47) Heavy metal/Hard rock
A5 Narita (4:38) Speed metal
B1 Here We Come Again (5:58) Hard rock
B2 Do It Up (3:44) Hard rock
B3 Hot for Love (5:00) Hard rock
B4 White Rock (2:33) Heavy metal/Hard rock
B5 Road Racin' (4:32) Heavy metal/Hard rock
I also assume that I'm gonna piss off a few people by claiming that there's not a single metal riff on Motorhead's 1979 "Bomber" third album. The only traces of metal come in the occasional use of double kick drumming but even those songs are far too bluesy to be claiming them as metal. I simply don't understand the almost unanimous metal claims with this one as it's clearly a rock 'n' roll record in my opinion.
I see no reason why there should be 12 influential conventional black metal releases as some sort of minimum. In fact I think that actually goes against what I would expect for the list. I would expect it would be bands that branched out and did something other than conventional black metal, and influenced others to come along for the ride in the process, that should go in above popular black metal releases that didn't do anything particularly new.
I assumed the list was intended to reflect the market where a good half of the black metal releases are of the conventional variety & comparatively few fall into the war metal or blackgaze space for example. Apparently not.
Judas Priest's 1979 live album "Unleashed in the East" easily qualifies for the list with an impressive metal ratio of 84% which makes it the most metal release on our list to date.
Here's our updated chronological list:
I would suggest that we'd need more conventional black metal releases than just eight Ben. I was thinking around 12 of the 25 should be straight-up black metal personally.
As far as Oranssi Pazuzu goes Ben, I've never thought "Mestarin kynsi" was a black metal record as such. It feels more like blackened post-metal to me (as opposed to post-black metal). Artists like Hail Spirit Noir, Nachmystium, Njiqahdda, Shataan & The Nest have all dabbled in psychedelics over the years but I'm not sure that I can say that many of those were directly influenced by "Mestarin Kynsi" as most of them came to fruition prior to the album's release. I simply feel that "Mestarin kynsi" has opened up the world of black metal for so many people that might never have experienced it without it though so it's a different type of influence.
There's some quite sophisticated guitar work & a good pedigree in extreme metal on show there mate. Well done.
Here's my review:
Sweden's In Mourning would make my acquaintance fairly early on in their recording career off the back of this month's The Horde feature release "Shrouded Divine" which represents their initial foray into the full-length album format. The record had been floating around for roughly a year by the time I revitalized my interest in metal & began progressively exploring every new extreme metal release of any significance, at which time I discovered that In Mourning had a bit about them which would ultimately prove to be enough to see me investigating each of In Mourning's five subsequent albums as they came to fruition. There have certainly been some that appealed to me more than others as I wasn't much of a fan of 2010's "Monolith" sophomore record yet regard its 2012 follow-up "The Weight of Oceans" as one of the better melodic death metal records I've ever heard but there are few that would deny the class that these artists exude in the way they go about things. Interestingly though, I don't think I've returned to "Shrouded Divine" in the fifteen years since I first wrapped my ears around it & I was wondering whether that might be a telling fact going into this week's revisit. Let's find out.
If I'm being completely transparent then I'll have to admit that "Shrouded Divine" took me a bit of time to warm up to on this occasion, perhaps due to the fact that my first listen came immediately after the very strong Blut aus Nord The North clan feature release "Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars" which resides much further within my wheelhouse. In Mourning simply sounded a little lightweight in comparison but subsequent listens saw the album starting to open up a bit for me & by the end of my third spin I could clearly see the appeal in this professionally produced & executed extreme metal record. Despite the consistent labelling of In Mourning as a melodic death metal band, "Shrouded Divine" doesn't offer much in the way of death metal at all to be honest. In fact, I'd suggest that the ties with the melodeath sound are tenuous at best given that the tag is intended to draw together releases that share a complex harmony-driven sound. In Mourning's early sound was much more in line with the progressive metal of Opeth & if you take away the very deep & gutteral vocals of guitarist Tobias Netzell (formerly of Swedish doom/death act October Tide & progressive rock/metal outfit Thenighttimeproject) then you'll find that In Mourning have a lot more in common with Dream Theater than they do At The Gates so the album is best suited to an "extreme progressive metal" tag in my opinion. I feel that the tendency to want to find a death metal subgenre to associate with the album is mainly to differentiate it from the Fates Warnings & Queensryches more than it is to throw In Mourning in with the Dark Tranquillitys & In Flames'.
In Mourning have pulled their sound together very nicely when you consider that this was their first studio effort. The musicianship is all of a high quality & there's an impressive level of cohesion that sees the sum of the various parts amounting to significantly more than they may have in isolation. There are a couple of elements that don't sit as well with me though to be fair. The occasional use of blast-beats from drummer Christian Netzell is largely nullified by his drum sound which leaves them sounding like he's tapping away on a matchbox. The use of screamier vocals for a bit of variety was a nice idea in theory but these ones sound like they would have fit very comfortably on a generic deathcore record. Unlike Ben though, I actually think the clean vocals are a nice touch & provide some welcome variation. Despite being a progressive band, In Mourning aren't the most complex example you'll find & they don't take too many other risks either with many off their riffs sounding fairly familiar. You won't struggle to recall the signature Opeth octave chords or the rhythmic bottom-string djent riffs that were so popular at the time while listening to "Shrouded Divine". Thankfully though, In Mourning pull it all off with aplomb in what is generally a very tight, finely-honed debut effort.
Most progressive metal fans should find the tracklisting on "Shrouded Divine" to be pretty consistent once they've given the record the time to sink its teeth in a bit. In fact, I don't think there's a weak track included as such. There aren't really enough genuine highlights to see me feeling like returning to the album all that often though either & that's perhaps the record's biggest detractor for me personally. It certainly sounds very pleasant & quite accessible for an extreme metal release. It doesn't get my blood pumping all that often though & that's the difference between a release that draws me back time & time again & one that I maintain a fondness for without ever really feeling the urge to return to. "Amnesia", "By Others Considered" & (my personal favourite) closer "Past October Skies (The Black Lodge Revisited)" are my pick of the bunch & are all very solid examples of their type but I'd question whether any of them should be granted access into my Hall of Metal Glory for all eternity. They're certainly nothing to be scoffed at though & I can very easily see why a record like this one might appeal to my brother much more than it might to my blackened soul.
At the end of the day, "Shrouded Divine" was a pretty good way to kick off a recording career as it provided a solid platform for In Mourning to build & improve on over the many years since. It's perhaps been relegated to the reserve bench a bit since I heard 2012's "The Weight of Oceans" a few years later but I don't think many fans of extreme progressive metal will struggle to find the appeal in a record like this one & I'd suggest that it still sits in the top half of the band's back catalogue overall.
For fans of Barren Earth, In Vain & Persefone.
3.5/5
The 1979 "Survivors" debut album from NWOBHM legends Samson isn't a metal record. It's a hard rock release with prog rock influences. There's not a single metal tune on this one.
Rainbow's 1979 fourth album "Down to Earth" has a little bit of metal here & there but is still very much a hard rock record & shouldn't qualify for consideration here.
Checked out the 1979 self-titled debut album from France's trust this morning. It's certainly got a bit of metal about the guitar work but most songs sit better under the hard rock tag so it feels like more of an influence than a primary genre. The Van Halen influence is pretty major here.
Saxon's 1979 self-titled debut album is generally considered to be a NWOBHM record however the truth of it is that there's really very little metal on it with an AC/DC style hard rock sound being by far the dominant component. It shouldn't qualify for this exercise.
There's no metal to be found on the 1979 "Gordi 2" sophomore album from Serbia's Gordi. It's a progressive/hard rock record.
We have another successful entrant into our chronological list of metal releases in 1979's "From the Black World" one-off album from Japan's Nokemono. This was one of the more obvious candidates actually & I tagged as follows:
A1 Run Away - Speed metal
A2 Terrible Night - Heavy metal
A3 閉ざされた街 - Heavy metal
A4 失われた愛 - Heavy metal
A5 Big Wednesday - Hard rock
B1 From the Black World - Heavy metal
B2 Back Street - Heavy metal
B3 灰に消えた過去 - Progressive rock
B4 蟻地獄 - Heavy metal
B5 Run Away (Pt. II) - Folk
That saw it achieving a metal ratio of 72% & entering the chronological list at number 16.
Here are two more that I checked out yesterday:
Thin Lizzy's 1979 ninth full-length is pretty clearly a hard rock record with no metal included.
Quiet Riot's 1979 "Quiet Riot II" sophomore album is a glam/hard rock record with glam metal tendencies in parts. Nothing I'd be comfortable awarding a metal tag to though.
I'm not across Discord. Is the idea to have a written, audio or video interaction? Do you have an idea of what playlist content you see being interesting to our members?
OK, so let's really throw a cat amongst the pigeons then. I revisited Motorhead's classic 1979 "Overkill" sophomore album yesterday (my favourite of their studio albums) & can confidently say that it's got very little to do with metal. In fact, the only metal on the whole record is the double-kick drumming on the legendary opening title track which is significant enough in the way the song plays out to see it receiving a speed metal tag. The rest of the record is the very definition of rock 'n' roll though. The sheer volume of RYM votes for metal primaries on almost every track on the record is staggering to be honest. I dunno what these people think metal is but there's no theoretical basis for taking that position as far as I can see.
There is a touch of metal in “Another Piece of Meat” but nowhere near enough for a primary tag in my opinion. The pre-verse riff sounds like Guns ‘n’ Roses while the verse could well have been taken from a Whitesnake record. It’s only really a brief dalliance with bottom-string chugging at the end of the chorus that sits in metal territory so it’s just an influence rather than a senior player for mine.
I dunno where you’re hearing any metal in “Is There Anybody There?” though Andi. It’s just crunchy, open-string hard rock chords over reggae rhythms. Where’s the metal there?