Daniel's Forum Replies
Let Me Dream - "My Dear Succubus" (1995)
This relatively unknown debut album from obscure Finnish band Let Me Dream is one of the rare releases that I bought completely blind during the mid-90's. My purchase of the CD was based purely on a rapturous review I'd read in Terrorizer magazine which made this record sound like it would be right up my alley. I was sorely disappointed though as "My Dear Succubus" is generally pretty amateurish & lacking in any sort of class, despite possessing a noticeably underground cult vibe that would no doubt have pleased the purists out there. I'd describe Let Me Dream's sound as being blackened gothic doom metal which isn't a description you see too often & they admittedly have a pretty original sound that's highlighted by the regular use of cheap synthesizers playing simply single-note accompaniments. My main issue is with the clean male vocals though as they are completely incompetent & take a great deal away from the blackened snarls that make up more of the run time. The instrumentation is very basic too although the guitar tone will no doubt draw comparisons to Celtic Frost's early works. At the end of the day there are metal releases that simply aren't worth exploring & this is definitely one of them. Where do I claim my hard-earned $30 back?
For fans of Cultus Sanguine, Moonspell & Celtic Frost.
2.5/5
Ashra - "New Age of Earth" (1977)
I picked up a CD copy of this debut album from Berlin-based progressive electronic act Ashra after discovering Manuel Göttsching's classic 1975 "Ash Ra Tempel VI: Inventions for Electric Guitar" debut album in the early 2000's & have always loved it since. Göttsching is once again the musical mastermind here with Ashra's sound sitting right in the middle between progressive electronic & space ambient. It's the ambient parts that are the most brilliant with the epic 22-minute closer "Nightdust" being one of the most significant space ambient works of all time in my opinion & single-handedly carrying the album to an elite score. "New Age of Earth" should be considered to be essential listening for fans of either subgenre.
For fans of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze & Steve Roach.
4.5/5
Dead Can Dance - "Garden of the Arcane Delights" E.P. (1984)
This four-song E.P. was recorded during the same sessions as Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut album from earlier in 1984 &, thankfully, the quality is just as good as the full-length although the E.P. represents somewhat of a transition release between the Melbournites' early gothic rock sound & their later darkwave one with two songs from each category included. "In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated" is an all-time favourite of mine & may be the peak for the entire goth rock genre actually. I used to play & sing it at parties back when I first met my wife. Closer "Flowers of the Sea" is a stunning example of Lisa Gerrard's otherworldly talents too. I can't tell you how much I adore this artist but, if pushed, I slightly favour "Dead Can Dance" over the E.P. which isn't the general consensus these days.
For fans of Lycia, Drab Majesty & Trance to the Sun.
4.5/5
In Flames - "Colony" (1999)
Another classic Swedish melodeath record & another release that I can't connect with. I wasn't a fan of widely praised albums like "Jester Race", "Whoracle" or "Clayman" so it's no real surprise that I've struggled with this revisit of In Flames' 1999 fourth full-length "Colony" either because it's pretty much on the same level as those three. If pushed I'd probably put "Whoracle" at the top of that list with "Jester Race" & "Colony" rounding out the top three. I have to admit that Anders Fridén's vocals are really good & so are the production & performances, particularly the guitar work of Björn Gelotte & Jesper Strömblad. The song-writing is just too accessible for me with those folky melodies not offering me much of substance though.
For fans of Dark Tranquillity, At The Gates & Soilwork.
3/5
I'm having another bad little period for sport after my Sydney Kings lost to the Adelaide 36ers last night. It was a brilliant match though & showed that these two teams are likely to meet at the conclusion of the season to decide the ultimate champion.
Cocteau Twins - "Victorialand" (1986)
The Twins' fourth full-length saw vocalist Elizabeth Fraser & guitarist Robin Guthrie opting to go for a new & more stripped back sound that completely omitted the rhythm section, predominantly due to the absence of bassist Simon Raymonde who was unavailable due to commitments with This Mortal Coil's sophomore record "Filigree & Shadow". The outcome is nothing short of lovely too, balancing sweet dream pop with dark ethereal wave soundscapes. Fraser is absolutely on fire here as usual, particularly on the more darkwave-driven & folk-infused material like "Throughout the Dark Months of April & May", "Whales Tails" (my personal favourite) & "Feet-Like Fins" which should all be regarded as classic Cocteau Twins tracks.
For fans of Julee Cruise, Love Spirals Downwards & Not Drowning, Waving.
4/5
Dream Theater - "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" (2002)
It's kinda strange that I hadn't given Dream Theater's sixth full-length studio album (a double album in fact) a run before now when you consider how highly I regarded Boston's progressive metal masters during the late 1990's but that's the way that things have fallen so I decided to fill that gap over the last few days. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is generally considered to be a solid release that fails to reach the lofty heights that Dream Theater had previously scaled yet does nothing to take anything away from their legacy either & I've found myself agreeing with that sentiment this week. These two records rarely see the quality dipping below an acceptable level with only the cheesy symphonic piece "i. Overture" failing to offer me any enjoyment. I will suggest that the tracklisting is fairly top heavy though as most of the gold can be found on the first disk with the lengthy title track being more mildly enjoyable than it is essential. "The Great Debate" is an absolute masterclass in progressive metal while the more stripped back balladry that takes place early on is also very impressive. Guitarist John Petrucci (my favourite guitarist ever) is once again the standout performer with his solos invariably seeing me picking my jaw up off the floor. In terms of the overall package, I think 2003's "Train of Thought" is of a similar standard to this release but neither come close to matching earlier classics like "When Dream and Day Unite", "Images & Words" or "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory". They do compare well with 1994's "Awake" though & I'd take any of those three over 2005's "Octavarium" which saw the band taking a further step down in my opinion.
For fans of Symphony X, Rush & Liquid Tension Experiment.
4/5
The bloody Pistons have now lost three of their last four which is pissing me right off. Hopefully the Sydney Kings can continue our winning run tonight against the ladder-topping Adelaide 36ers.
And Usman Khawaja has announced that he is retiring from international cricket after the Fifth Test in Sydney next week. He's been a wonderful representative for the game but it is time for a changing of the guard. I just wish he didn't have a big whinge about his recent treatment at the hands of the media during his press conference announcement. It wasn't a great look in my opinion.
Anyone else watch the final episode of Stranger Things Season 5 yet? I eagerly consumed it all last night. The first half was fucking brilliant. It was unnecessarily extended at the end though which didn't really add anything of value. There is a classic metal moment in it though which almost brought me to tears.
"Mercenary" suffered a bit from coming straight after two genuine classics in "The IVth Crusade" & "...For Victory" but it's still a very solid death metal release in my opinion.
These guys appear to be from my former hometown of Sydney so I'm surprised that I've never heard of them before.
Interesting choice. I haven't even heard of these guys before.
I'm across Abduction's last couple of albums & quite liked them too. Anyone know if their earlier material is worth exploring?
I don't mind Skepticism but have always felt that they're overrated, much to Ben's bemusement. I'm well across "Lead & Aether" but have never rated it so I'll make the effort to get to it some time soon.
Hhmmm.... I haven't gotten a chance to check this one out as yet but In Mourning's back catalogue & I have had our moments over the years so I'll likely give this one a few spins at some point.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
The Pistons fucking lost again yesterday which has really pissed me off. It seems like the other teams have discovered that if they can get Cade Cunningham into foul trouble early then they'll have a much stronger chance of beating us which is certainly the case & I'm surprised it's taken this long for them to figure it out. Kawaii Leonard had 55 points, equaling the Clippers' record points tally. Fucking killed us!! Here's hoping the Sydney Kings can thrash the last-placed Brisbane Bullets in this afternoon's NBL match to brighten my spirits.
Scott Kelly & The Road Home - "The Forgiven Ghost in Me" (2012)
The third solo album from Neurosis front man Kelly sees him collaborating with band mates Noah Landis, Jason Roeder & Josh Graham as well as guitarist Greg Dale which gives his very sparce & stripped-back music a little more weight. I really dig all three of Scott's records but I think this one is the best of them. Kelly's music can be a little monotonous at times but the added textures & colours contributed by The Road Home help to accentuate the song-writing a little here so I've really enjoyed this week's trip through Kelly's vulnerable storylines.
For fans of Steve Von Till, Wino & Townes Van Zandt.
4/5
Bathory - "Octagon" (1995)
OK, so I'm sure there will be a few people who will question my having awarded the universally-panned eighth full-length from Swedish black/Viking metal godfathers Bathory a decent score & I would have sat in that camp when I first heard it at the time of release too but it's honestly nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Sure, the production has intentionally been kept as raw as fuck & Quorthon's vocals aren't gonna win any awards but surely we were all used to his vocal deficiencies by that stage & the song-writing isn't half bad most of the time, if never threatening to deviate from the classic underground thrash metal sound.
Quorthon said at the time that Bathory had backed themselves into a creative corner after 1991's "Twilight of the Gods" by releasing ever more epic albums so he was looking for the next step in terms of style. He ended up releasing a grunge solo album in 1994 so as to tick off a bucket-list goal he'd always had & it felt great to be able to simply create something he'd wanted to for a long time without worrying about what his fan base thought. Some of his fans had been telling him that they missed his older, rawer Bathory material so he decided to make a raw, DIY-style thrash record for fun with 1994's "Requiem" being the result. He enjoyed the process so much that he followed it up with "Octagon" around six months later & both were brutally criticized by fans & critics. I agree that "Requiem" was subpar but "Octagon" is a little better in my opinion, if being noticeably simple in its construction. Sure, there are a few duds to be found here (see "Century", "War Supply" & "Judgement of Posterity") but there are also some very solid inclusions like "Sociopath" & "Schizianity" & the wins comfortably outweigh the losses. I even quite like the fairly faithful rendition of KISS's "Deuce" so I guess it's fair to say that "Octagon" is a guilty pleasure for me these days. It's strange how time can sometimes change your perceptions so much, isn't it? I can do without the sections that look to tackle the classic Anthrax sound though as they fail dismally.
For fans of Kreator, Slayer & Celtic Frost.
3.5/5
This weekend sucked! The Aussie cricketers batting like shit & managed to lost the Fourth Test to the Poms while the Pistons lost to the lowly-ranked Utah Jazz as well. You get those weekends as a sports fan but the Pistons have the chance to redeem themselves against the LA Clippers this afternoon so I'm hoping for a better performance.
Just finished watching the latest trio of "Stranger Things" Season 5 episodes & couldn't be more pumped to see the final movie-length episode which will be released on New Year's Day. "Stranger Things" honestly may be the best show I've ever seen in my life.
I quite like everything I've heard from Amorphis but haven't really kept track of them since they dropped the death metal component of their sound in the late 1990's. I did check out "Under the Red Cloud" when it was a Metal Academy feature release though & it wasn't a bad listen. I'd still take the more deathly "The Karelian Isthmus" over it but I have to admit that I slightly prefer "Under the Red Cloud" to "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" & the "Black Winter Day" E.P. these days.
I've just noticed that the Hall of Judgement entry for Black Sabbath's "Master of Reality" to be removed from The Guardians & remain solely in The Fallen is sitting at TEN votes with no clear outcome as yet too.
Yeah, I can as an administrator. Unfortunately, I can't know how many of the existing negative votes might have been positive if I'd had the two topics separated to begin with but hopefully it comes out with the right result anyway.
I've just changed the entry & we now have twelve ratings without a clear outcome.
We currently have ELEVEN votes on these two Hall of Judgement entries without a clear result so they've been keenly contested & aren't too far away from a full fifteen-vote outcome. If you're eligible to vote but haven't yet elected to participate then we'd encourage you to do so:
1. To add Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album to The Fallen under Stoner Metal.
https://metal.academy/hall/424
2. To remove Oranssi Pazuzu's "Mestarin kynsi" from The Infinite & Avant-Garde Metal.
These entries have TEN votes thus far:
1. To remove Sarcofago's "I.N.R.I." from The Pit & Thrash Metal.
2. To have Celtic Frost's "Into The Pandemonium" removed from The Infinite & Avant-Garde Metal.
Temple of the Dog - "Temple of the Dog" (1991)
I still give his old grunge record a spin every now & then & it's held up really well. I first discovered Temple of the Dog through album highlight "Hunger Strike" shortly after release but my interest in the group was expanded upon significantly during my first real relationship in 1993/94 as my ex-girlfriend was a grunge fanatic. Temple of the Dog was somewhat of a super-group comprised of members of Soundgarden, Audioslave, Green River, Mad Season, Pearl Jam, Skin Yard, Queens of the Stone Age, etc. so it was always going to amount to something high-quality, particularly given it was fronted by Chris Cornell i.e. my all-time favourite make vocalist. Other than the incredible "Hunger Strike" (which features a stunning collaboration between Cornell & Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder), I don't think that there are any other genuine classics here though & the quality level does dip a touch through tracks 7-9. Still... I really enjoy "Temple of the Dog" & think it makes for a worthy tribute to the late Andrew Wood (the former Mother Love Bone front man who died of a heroin overdose the previous year). If you ever wondered what it would have sounded like if Chris Cornell sung for Pearl Jam then here's your chance to find out because it sounds very much like that.
In terms of the early grunge movement, I'd place "Temple of the Dog" touch behind Soundgarden's "Louder Than Love" & Nirvana's "Bleach" but comfortably ahead of Mudhoney's "Superfuzz Bigmuff".
For fans of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden & Mother Love Bone.
4/5
No one gonna mention the likes of Dissection, Dismember, Edge of Sanity, Entombed, Cult of Luna, At the Gates or Tiamat then?
Cryptopsy - "An Insatiable Violence" (2025)
If I put some thought into it, I'd suggest that I might find that the ninth full-length from this Canadian extreme metal establishment has been my most listened to release of 2025. I was really looking forward to it after unexpectedly finding Cryptopsy's last album "As Gomorrah Burns" to be Cryptopsy's finest work to date & I've been very pleased to discover that "An Insatiable Violence" delivers more of the same i.e. a slickly produced modern brutal death metal sound that may not offer anything terribly new but definitely ticks all of the required boxes. Despite what most people seem to think, this isn't a tech death outing but that doesn't stop the instrumentalists from pushing themselves as far as humanly possible. Flo Mounier's drumming is, of course, the focal point & my feelings on him remain unchanged i.e. he's a classy & creative drummer who has a slightly annoying problem with keeping his kick drums in time with his gravity blasts which has remained a thorn in his side since the earliest Cryptopsy recordings from the early 1990's. Most fans seem to be completely oblivious to this flaw & claim Flo as one of extreme metal's best skinsmen but good luck to them. I dunno where people are picking up a deathcore component in this material either because it's simply not there. There aren't any genuine classics here but the general quality of the song-writing & performances is high enough for "An Insatiable Violence" to receive an easy four-star rating. I don't think it quite manages to topple its predecessor as my favourite Cryptopsy record though.
For fans of Suffocation, Gorguts & Lykathea Aflame.
4/5
"Blood Fire Death" & "Under the Sign of the Black Mark" are my favourite Swedish metal records & I also regard "Hammerheart" as a genuine classic so Bathory are my pick. I've worshipped Quorthon for three & a half decades now & the output from the first half of his recording career has lost none of its potency or influence over time.
OK, I've just verified that those clan challenges were successfully completed Rex. Congratulations as we all know what an enormous undertaking it is to complete four challenges. Ben will add you to The North shortly. It's not as simple as simply adding the clan to your profile as we need all of your previous The North ratings to be included in the Clan Ratings now that you'll be a part of the clan so it's a bit fiddly & requires nerd status to achieve without fucking everything up. Thankfully, I have one such nerd in the family.
Colin Newman - "A-Z" (1980)
The debut solo album from Wire/Githead frontman Newman which offers a diverse array of dark & creative post-punk. While there is some high-quality material to be found here though, the tracklisting is noticeably jerky & inconsistent & doesn't include anything that I'd suggest reaches classic status so I've struggled a little bit with this one.
For fans of Wire, Cocteau Twins & Siouxsie & the Banshees.
3/5
I'm comfortable that you've completed the 2nd decade Black Metal challenge Rex. Which challenges did you complete for your existing clans so that I can check those off too?
I do but I feel that comparing the opinions of yourself & our other regular contributors to those of the wider RYM community is like a winemaker arguing over the quality of fine wine with a teenage Passion Pop devotee if I'm being completely honest.
Slipknot - "We Are Not Your Kind" (2019)
Yet again I find myself enjoying a Slipknot record without ever feeling like it'll be something that I'll return to in the future. In fact, I've scored all five of the Slipknot albums I've rated a respectable 3.5 stars but I can never seem to quite make the leap over to my more desirable scores. I will suggest that "We Are Not Your Kind" is one of the more underrated of the Iowa alternative metal legends' back catalogue though as I place it behind only 2001's "Iowa" in my Slipknot pecking order. It's a much more diverse record that sees the band flexing their creative muscles more than I can remember them doing in the past. There are a few dud tracks amongst the fourteen on offer but the majority of this release is really pretty decent.
For fans of Mushroomhead, Code Orange & Korn.
3.5/5
My own top ten black metal releases:
01. Burzum - "Filosofem" (1996)
02. Deathspell Omega - "Kenose" E.P. (2005)
03. Akhlys - "The Dreaming I" (2015)
04. Darkthrone - "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994)
05. Oranssi Pazuzu - "Mestarin kynsi" (2020)
06. Burzum - "Hvis lyset tar oss" (1994)
07. Oranssi Pazuzu - "Värähtelijä" (2016)
08. Wolves in the Throne Room - "Two Hunters" (2007)
09. Bathory - "Blood Fire Death" (1988)
10. Mayhem - "De Mysteriis dom Sathanas" (1994)
What did we ever do to you?!!
Well, the English management & ex-players said that we are the worst Australian team in the last fifteen years & that you have the best English team of that period & that you were gonna dominate us with your "Bazball" philosophy on our home turf, totally disregarding the fact that (outside of one uncharacteristic loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship final) Australian is still clearly the best Test side in the world . That's enough to motivate anyone, let alone an Australian team who has developed a culture of winning at all costs over many decades. The English media have made it so much easier for us as usual though, pouncing on the first sign of weakness to ensure that any self-belief that England may have had coming into the series is totally eviscerated.
My Detroit Pistons & Sydney Kings had huge wins over the weekend too so I'm feeling particularly good going into the final two work days of the calendar year.
Glenn Branca - "The Ascension" (1981)
I didn't like Branca's 1980 "Lesson No. 1" E.P. much but this debut full-length is excellent, both highly creative & experimental yet still aesthetically pleasing. Sure, it's use of dissonance can be a factor for some listeners but there can be no doubt about the influence that Glenn had on the music scene that was to come. You'll be able to pick up clear examples of where some of the most celebrated artists in musical history have borrowed (at best) from "The Ascension", from Primus to Sonic Youth to Swans to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Hell, the closing title track is pretty much the blueprint for the entire post-rock movement! This is a highly rewarding musical experience if you can handle the more cerebral approach to experimental noise rock.
For fans of Sonic Youth, Swans & This Heat.
4/5
I've mentioned that I can't even get behind Filosofem the way I used to. I might as well post that review on the Atmo Black thread if I haven't done so already. It IS Filosofem.
"Filosofem" is my second favourite metal album of all time. Every second of it is perfect as far as I'm concerned.
Oh, I see my mistake now. Sorry. I read it differently.
My wife is on the mend now & I should be back at work tomorrow. She's had a really tough run though.
On the positive, I was surprised with a two-day visit to the Hunter Valley wine region on the way down to Sydney to see family to celebrate my 50th birthday last week. All of my Sydney & Newcastle based friends (including Ben & his wife) showed up & we had a brilliant couple of days, highlighted by a spectacular lunch at the legendary Bistro Molines. Then we continued down to Sydney where we stayed for five or six days. Just got back late yesterday to prepare for a brief two-day work stint before the Xmas break.
Really fucking pumped to watch the Aussies demolish the Poms in the remainder of the Third Ashes Test this morning. Enormously gratifying.
I watching a light-weight American Xmas movie called "My Secret Santa" last night & it was exactly as predictable & dull as I expected it to be.
I just finished 1985's first book in this highly praised sci-fi series & really fucking enjoyed it. In fact, I've actually taken away some learnings that I'll draw upon as a leader at work which was a lovely surprise. Great stuff & I'm really looking forward to tackling the next novel in the series.