Daniel's Forum Replies

I checked out the 1979 self-titled debut album from Spanish outfit Medina Azahara this afternoon. There's no metal whatsoever here. It's a symphonic prog-focused Rock andaluz record for mine.

Like Ben, I haven't really focused on metal labels since the 1990's. Back then I used to religiously follow labels like Earache Records & premier Aussie extreme metal label Warhead Records but these days that's limited to ones that are a little closer to home like Sphere of Apparition (Oni, Neuropath, Unholy Redeemer, etc.). It's far easier to find good music in the internet age than it was when all we had to go on were magazines & word of mouth. Labels served a stronger purpose as a reliable provider of music that fit their particular niche. You can simply Google that stuff these days.

Annihilator - "Set the World on Fire" (1993)

Canadian thrashers Annihilator went from zero to hero in quite a hurry back in 1989 with their debut album “Alice in Hell” making huge waves in a thrash metal scene that was already starting to show signs of decline. Songs like the title track & “Word Salad” were all over the metal radio programs I religiously recorded & replayed at the time which saw me investing in a cassette copy of “Alice in Hell” shortly afterwards. While I don’t prescribe to the idea that "Alice in Hell" was a classic thrash record like many extreme metal fans do, I’m certainly a big fan of its classy complexity & beautifully executed compositional work which would lead to Ben & I picking up Annihilator’s more technical 1990 “Never, Neverland” sophomore CD as soon as it hit the shelves. I found that record to be pretty enjoyable too however, once again, I’d suggest that my affection for it is slightly less intense than others as I don’t consider it to be in any way essential. There’s no doubt that I classed myself as an Annihilator fan in the early-to-mid 1990's though so I took a keen interest in the band’s third full-length when it finally saw the light of day three years later with Ben purchasing the release on CD. I think it’s fair to say that my initial experiences with “Set The World On Fire” weren’t what I expected though & I found myself struggling to give a shit given that my taste had moved into such extreme territories over the previous few years. I’d continue to catch up with every subsequent Annihilator release over the years, if only for reasons of nostalgia & completism, but I don’t think I’ve returned to “Set The World On Fire” since the early 1990’s, apparently being scared off by the fact that it’s the band’s least intense release overall. Recent events have seen me discovering that I’ve been a little harsh on releases that took similar creative turns recently though so I thought I’d see if that was the case with this one too. I’ve gotta say that I’m glad I did too because it’s not half bad.

Now, let’s get one thing out of the way very early on by stating that “Set The World On Fire” is NOT a thrash metal record. In fact, there’s only really one thrash song included on it in the Exodus-inspired “Knight Jumps Queen”. The rest of the ten-song tracklisting is made up of an array of different subgenres that I’d generally suggest fall into a more commercially accessible space than anything Annihilator had done before or since. The production job is outstanding & is a real feather in the record’s cap with every instrument jumping out of the speakers at you in vibrant fashion. The performances are also stunning, particularly that of band leader Jeff Waters & his guitar-slinging partner in crime Neil Goldberg whose rhythm guitar work sits amongst the best I’ve ever heard which is really saying something. New front man Aaron Randall puts in a high-class performance too & gives the more commercially focused songs an additional layer of integrity. I have to admit that I didn’t even realise he was making his debut for Annihilator as he doesn’t sound drastically different to Coburn Pharr who appeared on “Never, Neverland” as far as I can recall. And what about the drum skills of future Extreme/Dream Theater/James LaBrie/MullMuzzler/Steve Vai skinsman Mike Mangini then!? Fuck, this dude can play. That elite capability has certainly played a strong role in my enjoyment of this release as I find it really hard not to get into a record when it sounds this good & it showcases the work of such capable artists. Thankfully though, the song-writing is nowhere near as bad as I remember it being. In fact, this is really a very consistent record with only the intentionally weird progressive metal closer “Brain Dance” failing to meet the mark.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of different influences on display on “Set The World On Fire” but this doesn’t leave the album sounding like it’s been pasted together. The strong production job & musicianship give this material enough of a common theme to tie it all together nicely. To be critical, the tracklisting is quite top heavy though with the three best songs kicking off the album in fine style. In fact, after those three songs I was wondering if I might have an underground classic on my hands here but it sadly wasn’t to be with the quality of the song-writing dipping a bit after that & never quite returning to its former glory. The clear highlight of the record comes right at the beginning with the Pantera-style groove metal title track being one of the finest moments in the entire Annihilator back catalogue. Speed metal burner “No Zone” keeps the energy high before catchy heavy metal anthem “Bats in the Belfry” brings the intensity down a bit. Interestingly, there’s a strong glam metal edge to a couple of numbers with “Snake in the Grass” clearly having been inspired by Skid Row & “Don’t Bother Me” having borrowed it’s rhythms from Van Halen. There’s even a bit of Extreme about the slick AOR sound of ballads “Pheonix Rising” & “Sounds Good To Me” but, just when you think Annihilator are verging on the cheese zone, we find them reaching into their back pockets & pulling out a progressive edge that eases any tension that may have been building up inside of my hardened extreme metal mind. The influence of fellow Canadians Rush is clear at times although I wouldn’t suggest that it’s ever intended as a focal point. It’s more of an accompaniment that’s used to good effect in my opinion.

Look, I’m not going to tell you that “Set The World On Fire” is essential listening, even for Annihilator fans. But I am going to tell you that it’s a pretty decent effort if you’re willing to follow the band into uncharted territory with an open mind. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that I don’t think “Set The World On Fire” sits far behind its much more highly praised predecessor “Never, Neverland” in terms of general song-writing quality. It’ll only be the stylistic license that Waters has taken that might turn you off. Let’s be honest, Annihilator have always struggled to offer anything that comes even remotely close to their debut album in the 35 years since its release so I don’t think fans of the band can afford to be too picky when it comes to a record like this one & I’m really glad that I’ve reset my opinion on it as I’d clearly let my initial shock get the better of me back in the day. This simply isn’t the cheese factory I thought it was all these years.

For fans of Skid Row, Metallica's "Black Album" & Megadeth records like "Cryptic Writings" & "Super Collider".

3.5/5

Brujeria - "Matando güeros" (1993)

Back in the pre-internet days, it wasn’t uncommon for devoted metalheads to make the blind purchase of a new release based purely on cover art, the involvement of a key individual & a general hunch that it was worth pursuing. The 1993 debut album “Matando gueros” was very much the sum of all three for me as a seventeen year-old with the cover artwork clearly depicting someone holding up what looks very much like a severed head (i.e. some bad ass shit that would shock everyone around me which was a major tick for me at the time) & the mysterious masked band reportedly containing some of metal’s most prominent heroes, many years later being confirmed as Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares & drummer Raymond Herrera, Napalm Death/Lock Up/Meathook Seed/Unseen Terror bassist Shane Embury & Faith No More bassist Billy Gould. These attractions would see me purchasing Brujeria’s debut album on CD & eagerly racing home with hopes of something genuinely special. Did those hopes end up being met? Weeellll…. No, I’d suggest not… but it was no doubt a pretty fun record to thrash my teenage body around my bedroom to nonetheless.

The Brujeria side-project was definitely an interesting concept on paper with the idea of a psychotic, murderous bunch of Mexican drug lords somehow living a double life as an extreme deathgrind band immediately providing pay-off through a humorous intro piece that set the scene for what was to come. “Matando gueros” took on the classic grindcore format with its nineteen short songs spanning just 32-minutes. It didn’t offer anything drastically different to other deathgrind records from an instrumental perspective but contained a clear differentiator in the rabid Mexican-language death metal vocals of Juan Brujo & Pinche Peach. The production job was kept suitably dirty & (unlike Fear Factory) the performances don’t focus too hard on precision, instead aiming less for seriousness & more for unbridled fun. There’s a noticeable grooviness to some of the riffs but Brujeria are at their best when they’re at their most brutal & grinding in my opinion. This isn’t one of those grind records where every track sounds the same either with brief u-turns into alternative subgenres like industrial metal taking place here & there.

The tracklisting has its ups & downs & I wouldn’t say that there is anything terribly life-changing included here. The wins outweigh the losses by a significant margin though with only a few tracks not managing to maintain my interest. Strangely, it’s the most highly regarded of those that I find myself struggling with the most as the groovy title track does pretty much nothing for me. Give me blasting deathgrind over that shit any day of the week I say & particularly when it’s done as well as highlights like “Leyes narcos”, “Cruza la frontera” & “Chinga de mecos”.

The album is all over in a flash of fun & there is the potential for the whole thing to fly straight over your head if you’re not paying close attention. Repeat listens will see you becoming accustomed to the song-writing fairly swiftly though & it’ll come down to taste as to just how much of impact “Matando gueros” ends up having on you. Personally, I find it to be a pretty enjoyable yet largely inessential extreme metal party record that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. The band clearly had their tongues in their cheeks while they wrote this material but there’s still more than enough substance to satisfy the hard-nosed grindcore enthusiasts out there.

For fans of Asesino, Napalm Death & Machetazo.

3.5/5

Cancer - "The Sins of Mankind" (1993)

I first became aware of English death metallers Cancer through their 1990 debut album “To The Gory End” through underground metal radio programming in the very early 90’s & quite liked what I heard. Their simple brand of death metal wasn't terribly challenging but was undeniably catchy & seemed to tick a lot of my boxes, if not with a particularly bold pen. I’d go on to seek out their 1991 sophomore album “Death Shall Rise” once it hit the shelves & found it to be a slight improvement on their first-up effort, largely thanks to the contribution of super-talented hired gun guitar shredder James Murphy who I was already quite infatuated with after falling in love with his work on Death’s “Spiritual Healing” & Obituary’s “Cause of Death”. So, given my generally positive experiences with Cancer to the time, I think it’s fair to say that I was an interested observer when it came to 1993’s “The Sins of Mankind” third album. They certainly hadn’t knocked it out of the park as yet but I felt that the potential was there for something more significant. There must still have been a little hesitation though as once again I found myself holding off from throwing my hard-earned cash down on the counter, instead seeking out a dubbed cassette copy of the record through the tape trading scene.

The production job on “The Sins of Mankind” isn’t exactly brilliant. The guitar tone is a touch flat & a little bit messy which plays a significant role in the album’s overall tone. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker but it’s worth mentioning regardless. James Murphy’s involvement with Cancer was unfortunately limited to “Death Shall Rise” too so here we see the band trying to make their own way without the oversight of such an undeniable musical highlight. I would imagine it must have been quite an imposing proposition for new axeman Barry Savage who had no prior credentials on his resume & clearly didn’t have anything like the talent of Murphy. It would really be up to the rest of the band to step up to the plate a bit in support given that they’d stayed largely within themselves on “Death Shall Rise” which was a pretty simple, meat-&-potatoes example of the old-school death metal sound.

So, how did Cancer fair in this endeavour then? Well, I think it’s fair to say that the success or failure of “The Sins of Mankind” is a little divisive with fans. For my personally though, I really needed Cancer to push themselves a bit outside of their comfort zone if they were to maintain my attention in a post-Murphy world & I feel that they’ve managed to achieve that to a reasonable extent with their third album. They’d added just enough in the way of compositional complexity to make “The Sins of Mankind” the next logical step for the band rather than a poor man’s “Death Shall Rise”. There can be no doubt at all that Savage struggles a little on lead guitar duties but the riffs are generally very good with drummer Carl Stokes contributing a rock-solid platform for the rest of the band to work off. Stokes is often criticised for his tendency to want to play in mainly fairly safe, mid-paced territory but I think that’s a touch unfair because it’s clearly a strength of his with his double-kick being both precise & powerful. When he tries to up the ante a little it’s rarely as effective so I can hardly blame him for this approach. I’ve always enjoyed rhythm guitarist John Walker’s signature death growl too as it’s always easily intelligible, despite possessing the required level of monstrosity.

The tracklisting on “The Sins of Mankind” is very consistent with no obvious duds amongst the eight songs on offer. There are a couple of numbers that stand out from the rest as clear highlights in opener “Cloak of Darkness” (my personal favourite) & the equally impressive “Patchwork Destiny” & they both appear fairly early in the album which does give it a slightly top-heavy feel. Neither can lay claim to being genuinely classic death metal tunes though & this is a part of the reason why “The Sins of Mankind” has been destined for the also-rans category. In fact, I’d suggest that they wee the very definition of a third-tier player at this stage of their musical evolution to be honest. I find all three of their early 90’s albums to be pleasant enough but none challenge me much or provide me with enough in the way of excitement to see me claiming them as essential releases for fans of the genre.

Don’t get me wrong, I do have quite a bit of time for “The Sins of Mankind” & actually don’t think it’s all that far behind my favourite Cancer release in “Death Shall Rise” to tell you the truth. The added ambition in the riff construction has worked quite well in ensuring that the record doesn’t simply sound like a Murphy-less “Death Shall Rise”. With a better production job it may well have made a bigger play at the death metal market of the time too. As it is though, I find it to be an entertaining (if inessential) example of the classic old-school death metal sound. Nothing more, nothing less.

For fans of Massacre, Master & Death’s first couple of albums.

3.5/5

Godflesh has a few albums deemed sludge metal, Daniel, but I understand, since you have objected to those releases having that genre tag.

That's just a reflection of how little RYMers understand about sludge metal to be honest. There's never been a more obviously industrial metal artist than Godflesh. There's absolutely no need for any other tag, at least not on their classic releases.

OK, I'll give it a crack:

01. Mick Gordon

02. Alice in Chains

03. Botch

04. Leprous

05. Faith No More

06. Iron Maiden

07. Godflesh

08. Deftones

09. Ministry

10. Lucid Planet

Pungent Stench - "Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats" E.P. (1993)

I feel like I was lucky to have come across Austrian death metallers Pungent Stench fairly early in life to be honest because, as a general rule, I can do without any sort of silliness or humour in my extreme metal, preferring to imagine that the sounds being omitted from my speakers are truly the work of Satan or some horrifying zombie creature. But I’d suggest that I was perhaps a little more open to the concept when I first wrapped my ears around Pungent Stench’s 1990 debut album “For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh” as I was simply gorging myself on anything even remotely tied to the death metal genre & it fit the mould nicely with its disgusting subject matter & filthy aesthetics. I thoroughly enjoyed that record which saw me going back to explore Pungent Stench’s 1989 split album with fellow Austrians Disharmonic Orchestra, a release that I quite liked too. These early experiences saw me purchasing 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” sophomore album on cassette as soon as it hit the shelves & playing the absolute shit out of it too. It was the band’s strongest release to the time in my opinion with the song-writing perfectly balancing the band’s deathly atmosphere with a clear tongue-in-cheek shock factor. So, by the time 1993’s “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” E.P. hit my CD player two years later, I would certainly have called myself a fan of Pungent Stench. Perhaps a slightly reluctant one but a fan nonetheless.

I think it’s fair to say that “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” represents somewhat of a gap-filling exercise that was drawn upon in order to make the extended period between 1991’s “Been Caught Buttering” album & 1994’s follow-up record “Club Mondo Bizarre – For Members Only” more palatable for Pungent Stench’s growing fan base. It clearly fits the bill for what your average E.P. generally tries to achieve too as it’s more of a collection of random songs than it is a fluent creative statement. Different versions of the same track? TICK! Silly novelty tracks? TICK. Cover versions? TICK! Useless, extended noise outro on the last track to make the release seem like you get more value for money than you actually do? TICK! You know the drill, right? But that’s not to say that there’s not anything here to keep you entertained because this E.P. still clearly highlights the things that made Pungent Stench an attractive prospect for your average death metal fan in the first place i.e. catchy song-writing with fun themes & memorably hooks.

The seven-song tracklisting begins with a two-minute intro piece called “Praise The Name of the Musical Assassins” which utilizes a layered, sample-heavy electronic music platform through which to express itself. It’s a very effective way to kick things off & I don’t think my background in electronic music has done me any harm at all in seeing me unexpectedly favouring this piece over the rest of the tracklisting. The proper metal material begins with “Viva la muerte” which I’d suggest is probably the most effective metal number included. It sees Pungent Stench placing their creative cards down on the table right from the word go as this isn’t your standard death metal number. Oh no… there’s a noticeable groove to the tightly-performed riffs that is more in line with the Entombed-led death ‘n’ roll movement than the sound the Stench began life with. That sound has never really been my cup of tea but it seems to fit in with this band’s image & themes quite nicely. The cover version of Warning’s “Why Can The Bodies Fly” takes the hardened extreme metaller even further outside of their comfort zone with its quirky electronic component doing its very best to make me feel alienated. Thankfully though, I’m a pretty big fan of the original which makes this a nice novelty inclusion, despite not being up to the same standard as the German’s 1982 effort. The wheels start to fall off a little bit from there though with two of the remaining three metal tunes (i.e. “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Rare Groove Mix)” & “Four ‘F’ Club”) lacking the substance to keep me interested. “Horny Little Piggy Bank” has enough in the way of chunky, groove-laden heaviness to get my blood pumping though. Closer “Blood, Pus & Gastric Juice (Tekkno-House-Mix)” is no doubt the biggest eye-opener for the dedicated metalhead as it’s essentially an electro-industrial, early techno-infused remix that has very little to do with extreme metal. I don’t mind it actually but then I was a techno DJ throughout the 2000’s & probably would have considered playing this track as it’s pretty well done to tell you the truth.

So, as you can see, “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” requires a bit of effort & a few obvious challenges to be overcome for your hard-nosed death metal fan. The death ‘n’ roll sound that Pungent Stench had adopted certainly isn’t for everyone but they do it very well if that’s something that you’re into. I sit somewhere in between so the E.P. wasn’t without its obstacles but I’m pleased to say that, despite it being clearly the least significant release for the band to the time, I found enough enjoyment in the material to make this revisit a worthwhile exercise. Just don’t expect it to be up to the same sort of standard as Pungent Stench’s first two albums because you’ll be disappointed. Oh... & I'd also avoid spending too much time looking at the intentionally repulsive cover artwork as I'd suggest that it's enough to turn off all but the most desensitized punter.

For fans of Blood Duster, mid-90’s Gorefest & “Swansong”-era Carcass.

3.5/5

The Burzum conundrum is certainly a tough call as both records changed my life upon release. "Hvis lyset tar oss" is undeniably the true source & includes the track that many (including me) consider to be the high point of the entire subgenre but "Filosofem" is arguably the more consistent & complete record of the two & there's a case to say that it's the most widely celebrated release in all of black metal. I honestly can't see a list like this one without "Filosofem" being right at the top. It simply wouldn't feel right to me so I've gotta go with it. If I'm only allowed to pick from the releases you've listed then "Hvis lyset tar oss" would easily make the cut of course.

I'd suggest that "Bergtatt" should be a no-brainer as it represents the blueprint for the folky/Pagan side of atmospheric black metal & was hugely influential.

Paysage d'Hiver simply MUST be here as they're easily the second most important band in the subgenre & the only one that comes close to touching the majesty of Burzum too in my opinion.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm forever finding myself shocked & appalled by just how popular & influential Agalloch's "Pale Folklore" has been & it dropped the year before the Weakling album too so I'm gonna have to reluctantly concede that it needs to be included (even though I absolutely despise it).

And finally, I'd go with Wolves in the Throne Room over Weakling. Not only do I think "Two Hunters" is comfortably the better record but I also think it's been more influential in the way the Cascadian black metal scene has developed as it's reached a much wider audience & has created a whole bunch of pretty decent copy-cats.

The Blut aus Nord record isn't really atmospheric black metal for mine so it shouldn't be considered for this category.

The less said about Summoning the better really. I mean, there's not a tonne of bands that sound like Summoning out there right now, is there? At least, I hope not.

The 1979 "Slaughter House" third album from Germany's Mass is once again nothing more than a hard/boogie rock record with no metal on offer whatsoever.

This one-off 1979 live album from Texas-based hard rockers Impeccable displays quite a bit of metal influence. In fact, two of the seven songs should qualify for a heavy metal primary in my opinion. I don't think it's quite enough to justify a dual primary tag overall though so I'm gonna suggest that this is predominantly a hard rock record with heavy metal influences.

Belgian post-metallers Amenra have a brand new live album hitting the streets next month entitled "Live at Rock Werchter 2023". These guys are always great so I've added it to my list to check out.

Brooklyn avant-garde/atmospheric black metallers Scarcity have their brand new "The Promise of Rain" sophomore album hitting the shelves on 12th July. Their 2022 debut album "Aveilut" was extremely divisive at the Academy with Ben & I bowing down in worship & the majority of our other members thinking it sucked royal ass. I for one will be absolutely all over this release so NER!!

Finland's Amorphis are releasing a live rendition of their classic 1994 melodic death metal sophomore album "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" in mid-July. I quite liked that record so I may have to check this one out at some point.

The brand new fourth album "Infinite Evolution" from New Jersey thrashers Blood Feast hits the streets in mid-July. I quite liked their first couple of albums back in the day but their 2017 comeback record "The Future State of Wicked" did very little for me. I'll probably give this one a quiet spin at some point though.

The brand new ninth full-length "Heavenly Down" from Hungarian melodic black metallers Sear Bliss hits the streets next week. I've quite liked most of their releases over the years so this will likely be worth checking out at some point.

The brand new "Justice" E.P. from Ukrainian black metallers Hate Forest will be released next week & I'll be all over it as all of their recent material has been worth hearing.

The brand new "Live on Tour!" live album from Aussie alternative metallers Thornhill hit the streets yesterday.

Lo-fi hip hop producer lonelyboy has released a fourteen song collection of lo-fi, chilled versions of Korn songs called "lofi chill vibes with korn". Here's a sample of what you can expect:

The new split album between US sludge metallers Melvins & Japanese drone metallers Boris "Twins of Evil" hit the shelves a week ago. I'm a fan of both bands so I'll probably check this one out at some stage.

I'm not sure if anyone noticed this new Metallica live material floating around over the last week or so.

I have no doubt that it's possible to add but it will definitely require our developer's involvement which will cost money. I'll speak to Ben about it as a potential option for the future.

Malevolent Creation - "Stillborn" (1993)

By 1993, Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation had managed to build themselves a really strong following in, not only the global metal community, but also my own household with both Ben & I having been very impressed with their first two albums. I’d first discovered them through their 1991debut album “The Ten Commandments” which I found to be a very solid example of thrashy US death metal indeed. Their 1992 sophomore album “Retribution” would see Malevolent Creation dropping most of their early thrash leanings for a more pure death metal sound that would offer me even more appeal than their widely acclaimed debut, even if it still stayed just a touch behind the leading players in the US death metal scene. These positive experiences gave Ben & I a lot of hope that the band would manage to finally step up to the tier one plate with their next release though so we wasted no time in picking up “Stillborn” as soon as it hit the shelves. Sadly, I recall my initial listens to be a touch disappointing though, mainly due to a lackluster production job. With so much great death metal around at the time I saw no reason to persist with “Stillborn” & it would quickly find resigned to the annuls of history. I haven’t found any reason to return to it since however I recently noticed some very positive online reviews for it & found myself wondering if I’d been a bit hasty in drawing judgement which brings us to this… my first revisit of “Stillborn” in literally decades.

My first impressions upon reigniting my “Stillborn” flame were one of significant optimism. Hhhmmm… sure, the production job isn’t wonderful but it isn’t in any way unlistenable either & I’ve certainly heard a lot worse. The rhythm guitars are a bit muddy & the drums have a bit too much high end & the snare sounds a little wishy washy at times, strangely seeming to change from song to song. The volume between the tracks on the Spotify version of the album is a little variable too which would seem to be a mastering issue. In saying all that though, all of the instruments are in balance & easily identifiable so I found that I could forget these flaws easily enough, especially since the quality of the song-writing is of such a high standard.

Yep… I did just say that. In fact, I’m gonna go one step further by gushing a little bit about just what a great death metal band Malevolent Creation were at the time. The professionalism in the riff construction, transitions & overall compositional work is absolutely top notch & sees the band playing very much in my ball-park of choice. I just love this sort of shit. It’s brutal enough to get my blood pumping but maintains enough of an understanding of the importance of melody to ensure that each piece remains memorable & catchy. Front man Brett Hoffmann’s death growls are a brilliant call to arms for fans of this style of music while the guitar work of Phil Fasciana & new kid on the block Jon Rubin (formerly of Monstrosity) is excellent. Where things fall apart a bit is during some of the blast beats sections though with drummer Jason Blachowicz struggling for control & timing & the production job not allowing the cohesion the band would usually be used to achieving.

Thankfully the song-writing is well & truly strong enough to overcome any flaws that “Stillborn” may suffer from. There are no weak tracks included although “Geared for Gain” does suffer more than the others from those blast beat issues I just mentioned. Opener “Dominated Resurgency” sits right up there with those from the previous two albums (i.e. “Premature Burial” & “Eve of the Apocalypse”) as Malevolent Creation’s finest works to the time & was a fantastic way to start the record. The title track & closer “Disciple of Abhorrence” aren’t far behind either & have really surprised me with just how classy they are. The remainder of the tracklisting is all of a very solid standard too so I very quickly found myself realizing that I had indeed been a little hasty in judging “Stillborn”.

This is quite clearly a more significant record than I’d given it credit for. The fact that I could remember so much of the album without having listened to it since the mid-1990’s speaks volumes for its depth. Perhaps the production issues may give the tracklisting a more "samey" feel than is actually the reality but if you give it time you’ll find that the class in the arrangements shines through. In fact, I’m gonna go so far as to say that I enjoy “Stillborn” just slightly more than “The Ten Commandments” these days & it gives “Retribution” are run for its money as top dog too. Is this just a guilty pleasure for someone like me whose musical allegiances so clearly fall into the same space as the one Malevolent Creation are playing in? Possibly but I can confidently say that this is a seriously underrated release that I should have given more of a chance back in the day.

For fans of Monstrosity, Deicide & Sinister.

4/5

I checked out the 1979 "Slay The Dragon" E.P. from British outfit Holocaust (not the Scottish band that were made famous through Metallica) yesterday which was their only release & is often touted as an early NWOBHM record. Spoiler alert: It's not. Of the three songs included, only the title track is metal with the other two clearly falling into the hard rock space.

Here are the adjusted feature releases nomination recipients from July with Karl being added into the roster for The Guardians, The Horde & The North from next month:

THE FALLEN: Daniel, Ben

THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Karl

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel, Karl

THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Andi

THE NORTH: Xephyr, Daniel, Ben. Karl

THE PIT: Ben, Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

I really only mention that release as it's generally considered the earliest example of the sound, which I'm interested in assessing. Do you have any feedback on any of the other releases or are we out of your wheelhouse?

Despite being generally across all of the releases you mentioned, you're right that the depressive black metal subgenre isn't exactly my wheelhouse as I've always felt that a) it wasn't consistent enough in its use of its differentiators to justify its own subgenre & b) it completely goes against the feeling of empowerment I generally look to gain when listening to metal music. I was across the Strid & Bethlehem releases back in my tape trading days but I don't recall people talking about a new subgenre at the time. My gut feel is that it only really coalesced into a movement of any note in the 2000's so, as with blackgaze,  I don't think the most influential release should necessarily be one of the earliest ones. Of the releases you've listed, I'd suggest that the Leviathan one would be the one that I feel has left the most significant mark on the black metal scene so I'd probably go with that one personally.

Ben, the Strid self-titled released was technically only a 7" single. Should it even be considered here?

So, Sonny has decided to take a break from programming this playlist so I'm going to step in for the time being. Given that my experiment with The Horde where I've extended the nomination allowances to take up the entire two hours has been so successful thus far, I'm intending on doing the same with The Fallen. So, if there's any members of The Fallen that would like to participate in track nominations then please let me know right away. If not, then Vinny & I will have 60-minute limits each for the August playlist.

I've kicked my exploration of 1979 with a couple of less obvious ones in the "Doomsday" debut album from Germany's Gravestone & Plasmatics' "(Meet the) Plasmatics" E.P., neither of which offered anything in the way of metal. "Doomsday" is progressive krautrock while "(Meet the) Plasmatics" is punk/hard rock.

And the final 1978 release to qualify for our list has come from Sweden with Stockholm trio Heavy Load's debut album "Full Speed at High Level" being released in November of that year.

Once again this isn't a straight down the line metal record like we see so regularly these days & I've tagged it as follows which has resulted in a 41% metal ratio:

A1 Full Speed at High Level (4:14) - Heavy metal

A2 Midnight Crawler (3:53) - Heavy metal

A3 Moonlight Spell (4:33) - Heavy metal

A4 Storm (11:33) - Progressive rock/Blues rock

B1 In Two Minds (5:39) - Heavy metal

B2 Rock 'n' Roll Freak (5:18) - Hard rock

B3 Caroline (8:17) - Progressive rock

B4 Son of the Northern Light (4:43) - Heavy metal

Here's the updated chronological list:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/271

Black Sabbath

01. War Pigs

02. Black Sabbath

03. Iron Man

04. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

05. Symptom of the Universe

06. Sweet Leaf

07. Snowblind

08. Hole In The Sky

09. Planet Caravan

10. Headless Cross

Ok, so I've done a quick list that I think is pretty accurate. Here ya go:

01. Aces High

02. Wasted Years

03. The Number of the Beast

04. Powerslave

05. The Evil The Men Do

06. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

07. Caught Somewhere in Time

08. Run To The Hills

09. Moonchild

10. Flight of Icarus

My three favourite Maiden albums are Seventh Son, Somewhere in Time and Powerslave, so my list of tracks would definitely have a lot of crossover with yours Karl.

^^^ Exactly this.

For transparency's sake, it's impossible to determine when the last two successful entries into the chronological list (i.e. the 1978 Zarpa Rock & Alkana albums) were released as there's simply no information available online. For that reason, I've decided to take an even bet by placing them right in the middle of the year with the Zarpa Rock one coming first simply because it sounds more primitive.

That leaves the next release to successfully qualify as a genuine metal release as Judas Priest's 1978 "Killing Machine" fifth album which, despite being a touch more commercially focused & Priest's least metal release since their debut "Rocka Rolla", came in with a metal ratio of 49%.

Here's how I tagged "Killing Machine":

A1 Delivering the Goods (4:16) - Heavy metal

A2 Rock Forever (3:20) - Hard rock

A3 Evening Star (4:05) - Hard rock  

A4 Hell Bent for Leather (2:39) - Heavy metal

A5 Take on the World (3:02) - Hard rock

B1 Burnin' Up (4:00) - Hard rock

B2 Killing Machine (3:02) - Heavy metal/Hard rock

B3 Running Wild (2:57) - Heavy metal

B4 Before the Dawn (3:22) - Progressive rock

B5 Evil Fantasies (4:14) - Heavy metal/Hard rock

Here's the updated chronological list:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/271

Satyricon/Enslaved - "The Forest Is My Throne/Yggdrasill" compilation (1995)

For those of you who thought my brief overviews of the early Norwegian demo tapes were interesting enough to explore further, I'd highly recommend going for this bootleg over the original versions of Satyricon & Enslaved's tapes because it includes a couple of bonus tracks that are amongst the best material on the CD which gives it a little more value.

3.5/5

Satyricon - "The Forest is my Throne" demo (1993)

I revisited this early Norwegian black metal demo that I picked up during my tape trading days this week & found that it's maintained a fair amount of its appeal too. Satyricon were still in their formative stages at this point with their sound being very much the sum of what was going on around them however they clearly already understood the key ingredients that make up good black metal. The band was only a three-piece at the time with 17 year-old front man Satyr being pretty much the creative force behind this demo. He's ably supported by 17 year-old guitarist Håvard Jørgensen (Ulver/Dold Vorde Ens Navn) & legendary drummer Frost (1349/Gorgoroth/Keep of Kalessin/Zyklon-B) who puts in a pretty tame performance by his modern-day standards here at just 19 years of age.

"The Forest is My Throne" is a three-track affair that includes two raw & lo-fi black numbers in "Black Winds" & the title track as well as an early version of the dark folk piece "Min hyllest til vinterland (Skogsvandring i mørket)" that appeared on Satyricon's debut album "Dark Medieval Times" later on 63.the same year. Although I wouldn't suggest that any of this material is essential listening, it's all more than acceptable, particularly for such a young bunch of kids. You should be able to pick up the clear influence of Bathory, "A Blaze in the Northern Sky"-period Darkthrone & "Wrath of the Tyrants"-era Emperor in the riff structures & atmospherics.

For fans of Taake, Emperor, Darkthrone.

3.5/5

To cut to the chase on Alkana's "Welcome to My Paradise" album from 1978, I've surprisingly found that it contains enough metal to qualify for inclusion in our chronological list & would describe it as a combination of hard rock, progressive rock & heavy metal. The A side only included the one track that I tagged as being legitimate metal but all three songs on the B side hit the mark which saw it finishing with a metal ratio of 66%. Interestingly, a couple of tracks on the B side are bordering on progressive metal but don't quite get there as the prog rock components are generally kept separate from the heavy metal ones rather than being combined to form progressive metal.

Here's a link to our chronological list of legitimate metal releases so far:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/271

Sorry Andi but I deleted your post as it didn't quite reflect what I'd like to say about the playlists. Please see below:

Are there any prerequisites for me to participate or am I free to just jump in?

All clan members are free to participate however you should reach out to the playlist administrator first to advise them of your intention prior to submitting any material so that they can review (& potentially adjust) their limits for each individual member & advise the rest of the clan on any changes that are decided upon.

For which month should I post my suggestions? Is it early enough for July or should I go for August?

Track nominations are open for submission from the first day of each month for inclusion in the playlist that is released on the first day of the following month. I've always stipulated the 15th of the month as the cut-off for submissions but would encourage everyone to simply get them in as early in the month as possible in order to give the playlist administrator the most time to program them. You are too late for the July playlists but have plenty of time to make the arrangements for you to start nominating tracks for the August ones.

What are the current constraints regarding track count and overall duration? Are there any other guidelines?

This varies pretty drastically between clans & is left for the playlist administrators to negotiate with the other clan members. It's based on time rather than the number of tracks. Adding another nominating member may see those limitations changing moving forwards so, if you're interested in participating, you should reach out to the playlist administrator(s) to advise them of your intention & they can guide you on how you should proceed. For your reference, I manage The Horde, Ben manages The North & Xephyr manages The Guardians. There are a few clans that allow a single-track nomination from outside their membership group however this is entirely the clan's decision & isn't a Metal Academy requirement so that could change at any time. Those clans currently include The Gateway, The Guardians, The Revolution & The Sphere. You must be a clan member to make nominations for the other five clans. If you'd like to participate in The Horde then the limit will remain at forty minutes per member as I've just had a member opt out & can do a straight swap. Speak to Ben & Xephyr about The North & The Guardians.

The only other guidelines you need to be aware of are that we don't encourage the repeated inclusion of tracks that have appeared in that particular clan's playlist previously. For that reason, there are Past Playlist threads in each clan forum to keep track of what's been included in the past & all contributing members should check those threads (preferably using CTRL-F to search the thread for strings of characters) before nominating a track to ensure that it hasn't been included previously. Different clans have different rules on whether you can include tracks that are taken from releases that fall outside of that clan as long as they are in line with the subgenres encompassed by the clan (i.e. nominating a track that is clearly death metal but is taken from a release that resides solely in The Gateway for example). I'm personally fine with that practice but would check with the associated playlist administrator before doing that or you risk your track being omitted. As a general rule we like to limit playlist administration rights to one per member so that they can receive that administrator's full attention (& hopefully promotion). At the moment there are three examples of people administering multiple playlists i.e. I program The Fallen & The Horde, Saxy programs The Gateway & The Infinite & Andi programs The Revolution & The Sphere. We're looking to move away from that model once we identify a suitable owner for some of those clans. It is up to the clans themselves to promote their playlists & I encourage as much of that as possible as time has shown us very clearly that if you don't do anything then your playlist following will stagnate. We've only recently changed the playlist names to allow them to come up more readily in Spotify searches so it's a great time to start promoting them.

(How) do the rules differ between The Horde, The North, and The Guardians?

Yes. I think I've already answered that already.

Ben, please add Ætheria Conscientia's new "The Blossoming" album.

I've been thinking that this track-by-track investigation has run its course now as there's not much interaction going on any more. I might just post the full albums as I finish my analysis of each one instead. I've just finished investigating every metal-related release I could find from 1978 & have a few to add to our running chronological list. Here's a couple that didn't make the cut though:

Sorcery - "Stunt Rock" (1978)

This is a different Sorcery to the one that released "Sinister Soldiers" in the same year. This one's from Los Angeles with this being their lone full-length. It's actually the soundtrack to a theatre performance strangely enough. There's a little bit of metal here, primary in the tracks that bookend the tracklisting, but it's a long way from being a genuine metal release.

Centaurus - "Centaurus" (1978)

Another one-off American album that's obviously more hard rock than it is metal. In fact, "Centaurus" really only has the one heavy metal number included in its nine tracks so I'm baffled as to how people can justify any claims for metal being a primary genre here.

Sacred Reich - "Independent" (1993)

Phoenix thrash metallers Sacred Reich may not have been a member of the infamous Big Four or even one of the close runners up like Testament or Exodus but this didn’t stop them playing a significant role in the childhoods of Ben & I. I first picked up on them through their very solid 1988 “Surf Nicaragua” E.P. before heading back to check out their equally impressive 1987 debut album “Ignorance” & things only escalated further when Ben got onboard for 1990’s “The American Way” sophomore album whose steady stream of quality riffs could be heard emanating from our bedrooms for many a weeknight. While the impact of “The American Way” has faded for me a touch over the years, it’s still a pretty decent thrash record that had the two of us showing more than a little interest when its follow-up “Independent” hit the shelves in 1993. Sadly though, my initial exposure to “Independent” through metal radio programming hinted at a different sound that I wasn’t so onboard with & this caused me to hesitate a little before rushing out to buy the album. I opted to take the safer option of picking up a dubbed cassette copy through the tape trading scene rather than dishing out my hard-earned cash for a legal version &, once I heard the album in full, I was glad that I took that direction as “Independent” wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be. It’s been decades since I last heard the album though &, given that I’ve found a new appreciation for Overkill’s notorious “I Hear Black” record over the last week, I thought I’d give it one more chance to win me over.

My first impressions upon revisiting “Independent” were that the production job is a little unusual for a supposed thrash metal release. The guitars are tuned down a half-step & have been given a thicker, heavier tone that’s more commonly associated with groove metal than it is with thrash which isn’t a coincidence. You see, despite what most online resources will tell you, “Independent” isn’t a thrash metal release or a heavy metal one for that matter. It is, in fact, a pretty obvious example of the groove metal sound that had quickly stolen thrash metal’s crown following the Pantera explosion. The riffs are far more simplistic & rhythmic than you’d expect from thrash which is more fast-paced, incisive & exciting. There is some tremolo-picked stuff here at times but it’s nothing out of the ordinary for your average groove metal release to be honest.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this stylistic deviation in theory but there are a couple of obvious problems with “Independent” that make it feel like a poor option for Sacred Reich to have taken. The first is that bass-playing front man Phil Rind’s voice doesn’t suit this material as well as the thrash metal of the band’s roots as the less cluttered riff structures give him a lot more space to work with & he’s simply not a good enough singer to pull it off. It’s not that he’s consistently pitchy or anything (although he certainly is in places). It’s just that he feels a little bit out of his depth most of the time. The other issue is that some of the song-writing is subpar, particularly the God-awful heavy metal ballad “I Never Said Goodbye” & the double-whammy of “Crawling” into “Pressure” which is really very dull indeed. There are some positives though as almost half of the tracklisting offers something of interest. The high-quality, mid-paced chugger “Product” is my clear favourite but I also enjoy the more aggressive, hardcore-driven numbers “Independent”, “Supremacy” & “Do It” as well as the pretty folk instrumental “If Only”. The guitar solos of Wiley Arnett are also excellent & often represent the high points of the songs.

Look, there are worse records out there than this one but it was clearly a misguided attempt to cash in on the growing popularity of the groove metal movement & it didn’t pay off for Sacred Reich who were previously regarded as a consistent performer in the thrash scene. I would check out each of their subsequent releases, if only for reasons of nostalgia, but none of them could compete with their early releases so “Independent” is very much the tipping point for them as a band. It’s a real shame as releases like “Surf Nicaragua” & “Ignorance” showcased a clear talent that I expected to flourish into something genuinely special at some point but it was apparently not to be.

For fans of Machine Head, 90's Anthrax & "I Hear Black"-era Overkill.

3/5

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/508

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/507

This morning's track is Alkana's "Freedom Lady" which I would suggest is hard rock:

I'm comfortable with the blackgaze status of "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" & would agree that it's the most influential Alcest release Ben. I don't think we'll need it though as "Sunbather" is all that's required here in my opinion. The popularity & profile of blackgaze took off exponentially after that record blew up.

Overkill - "I Hear Black" (1993)

As an old thrasher from way back, I’d suggest that my relationship with New Jersey second tier stalwarts Overkill might surprise a few people. You see, despite finding most of their material to be pretty enjoyable, it’s very rare that I find any of their releases to be anything like essential with only their very solid 1991 fifth album “Horrorscope” ticking all of the required boxes. Their other widely claimed classics like “Feel The Fire”, “Taking Over” & “The Years of Decay” simply don’t get me going as much as they do the rest of the extreme metal community for one reason or another yet I’ve still religiously kept up to date with each successive release since first discovering their “The Years Of Decay” album back in 1989. In fact, my enthusiasm for Overkill was probably at its highest point leading up to the release of their 1993 sixth full-length “I Hear Black” given that it came off the back of what was comfortably my favourite Overkill record to this day in “Horrorscope”.

My younger brother Ben would end up picking “I Hear Black” up on CD at the time which suited me just fine as it enabled me to continue focusing on my unquenchable thirst for death/black metal. That arrangement would only become more favourable for me after I heard “I Hear Black” for the first time too as their brand new opus showcased a very different Overkill to the one I was expecting &, upon first impressions at least, it wasn’t for the better. Unfortunately, Overkill seemed to have succumbed to the dreadful virus that was going around at the time: influ-Pantera (I know… I couldn’t come up with anything better at short notice). As with many other prominent thrash bands of the early 1990’s, Overkill had opted to follow the current trend towards Pantera’s groove metal sound in the hope of receiving a similar level of riotous attention. It didn’t work for them however & “I Hear Black” would be regarded by most as a creative flop but is it as bad as I (& the vast majority of the metal community) thought it was at the time? Well, if the last couple of days have taught me anything it’s that sometimes music needs a second chance because “I Hear Black” isn’t half bad.

As with all Overkill records, “I Hear Black” is a reasonably well produced album with strong performances, particularly from front man Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth & the twin guitar attack of Merritt Gant & Rob Cannavino who pretty much do enough to carry the album thanks to some high quality vocals & some equally strong guitar solos. The appeal of the rest of the album’s components really does come down to how open you are to hearing Overkill playing groove metal though &, at the time of release, I don’t think I was ready for it. Now though, I can appreciate the song-writing a lot better given that I know what I’m in for & haven’t touched on Overkill for a while. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never gonna be a memorable, vital metal record, even for the groove metal crowd, but it is worth listening to & doesn’t deserve the flack it cops from some stubborn thrashers out there.

The major drawback with “I Hear Black” is its inconsistency with four of the eleven songs doing very little for me. These songs generally match up with the more groovy material with my least favoured inclusion “Spiritual Void” even sounding like stoner metal at times. That still means that the decent tracks outweigh the duds though which is a clear sign that the album has been a touch underrated, at least in my household. That’s not to say that there are any classic tracks here though with my three favourite songs heavy/thrash number “World of Hurt”, grunge piece “Shades of Grey” & the atmospheric interlude “Ghost Dance” all being more solid than they are unforgettable but the rest of the material is still decent enough to leave me with positive experiences overall.

Look, I’m not gonna deny that “I Hear Black” was the weakest Overkill album to the time because I believe that it was but not by anywhere near as much as people seem to think. In fact, I’d comfortably take it over the 1984 self-titled or 1987 “!!!Fuck You!!!” E.P.’s these days if I'm being honest. If you categorically hate groove metal then you may have a dealbreaker on your hands but I think the genre has its moments & have been very pleasantly surprised to find that “I Hear Black” has a lot more to offer than I gave it credit for over the years.

For fans of Pantera, 90’s Anthrax & latter-day Annihilator.

3.5/5

US doom masters Pentagram would record this early stoner metal anthem some time in 1973. Just listen to those blues rock-inspired stoner riffs, psychedelic clean sections & Jimi Hendrix influenced lead solos! Filthy stuff!

Today's track is Alkana's "On Our Own" which I'd suggest sits somewhere between heavy metal & glam metal:

Rex, as an unbiased third party, I can tell you that you came across as telling people that enjoy "Fallen Angel of Doom....." that they are wrong to do so. Even that statement about your "four question method" is insinuating that Blasphemy fans' rating methodologies are shallow & inferior to your own. You seem to be saying that if I rate this record much more highly than you do then I'm only looking at one element of the music which simply isn't the case. Saying things like "I don't enjoy the album because...." or "I don't understand the appeal & feel that it's overrated" are fine. Saying things that insinuate that your taste is superior to others (whether directly or indirectly) is not & that's what I took away from some of your above comments. I'm aware that this wasn't intentional but that's how it was perceived. No more attempts to justify your position please. Let's learn from it & move on now thanks. 

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" also included "Killing Yourself to Live", an expansive & creative piece that combines heavy metal, hard rock & stoner rock in engaging fashion. Despite the general consensus, it's actually more rock than it is metal but the chorus is metal as fuck which ensures it qualifies for metal status.