Daniel's Forum Replies

Amongst the finest examples of brutal death metal that I've ever experienced. Quite possibly THE best actually.

Suffocation - "Pierced From Within" (1995)

Amongst the greatest feats of all human kind in my opinion. One of my top three death metal releases of all time. Brutal death metal at its absolute pinnacle. Unbeatable!

5/5

Ben, please add Coprophiliac (Italy).

Ben, please add Concrete Sox (UK).

Here, here!

I completely agree with your thoughts here Ben. I'd suggest that we just make a group decision to omit these symphonic death metal releases from The Guardians on a case by case basis. I see no reason that we should stick with anyone else's categorizations.

No one did Dwightfryed. "Altars Of Madness" is as perfect a record as the death metal scene has produced in my opinion.

I completely agree. I had no contact with In Flames after "Whoracle" while I took some extended time off from the metal scene during the late 90's & most of the 2000's but when I returned to them I found them to be something altogether different & nowhere near as appealing.

I'm not in the Fallen, but remember when Tiamat used to be death-doom, instead of their current gothic rock/metal sound? Good times...

I do. I picked up those first few Tiamat records through tape trading back in the day but "Clouds" was the only one that I had much time for to be honest. They made for a much better gothic metal band in my opinion. At least they did in their mid 90's heyday. I didn't think you were listening to metal back in the early 90's Andi.

Renegade - "Total Armageddon" (1987)

I haven't heard this one in decades but when I first got into thrash metal back in the late 80's these guys were pretty legendary in the local underground Australian scene so it was pretty much mandatory to have a copy of this album. "Total Armageddon" was the first full-length album to come out of the Melbourne thrash scene & it's an underrated release in my opinion. The majority of this material is more along the lines of raw & dirty speed metal than genuine thrash to be honest but despite some sloppy performances (particularly the drumming) there's enough energy on display to get me banging my head. I'm not sure how much of that appeal is built on nostalgia but any album that features an image of the devil drinking a stubby of VB on the cover can't that bad now, can it?

3.5/5

I didn't like Axewitch's 1983 debut album "The Lord Of Flies" much but check this out for a stinker:

Ben, please add Cold Body Radiation (Netherlands).

Ben, please add Coffinworm (USA).

Ben, please add Cock & Ball Torture (Germany).

That’s a very common opinion Xephyr. And in truth it’s how I felt in the late 80’s/early 90’s. But something clicked for me when I returned to this record in the late 2000’s & it seems that I’m not alone in that. It could be fuelled by nostalgia to an extent as I really tried hard to get into “Introduce Yourself” after becoming obsessed with “The Real Thing”. But honestly I don’t think it’s that. As a guitar player I think I just find Jim Martin’s metal riffs to be irresistible & over many years of distance my brain found a way to justify Chuck’s delivery style in my head to the point that I now find him to have an endearing quality. A certain cool factor that I can’t put my finger on. I don’t think this could have happened if I’d simply continued to giving the record relistens back in the day. It’s like absence makes the heart grow fonder as they say. And when I finally returned it was like a visit from an old friend.

I'll have you know that kvlt evil metallers get cold feet too Ben. Do you think they really go to bed in leather & spikes? I'm pretty sure that Satan himself wears ugg boots whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea & a biscuit after a hard day of cursing people for eternity.

I owned an original copy of the "Wrath Of the Tyrant" demo back before Emperor's debut hit the shelves. By my estimations this makes me cooler than anyone that DIDN'T have a copy by a fair margin. I made a point of not playing it to anyone so as to maintain that level of coolness too. If people only knew how cool I was..... *sighs*

*stares at self in mirror & makes ridiculous angry facial expressions & metal claws with his tongue out whilst wearing business attire & with young children playing with crayons in the background*

Ben, please add Axewitch (Sweden).

Kreator - "Pleasure To Kill" (1986)

An absolute classic of raw, aggressive Teutonic thrash. I think Kreator even managed to top their magnificent "Flag Of Hate" E.P. from earlier the same year with this one. It sounds like early Slayer combined with extreme levels of violence & accentuated by one of the most vicious vocal performances the world had heard to date (Mille's but Ventor's is great too).

4.5/5

Ben, please add Cloaca (UK).

Ben, please add Claim The Throne (Australia).

The 2007 demo from Lebanon's Damaar (entitled "Triumph Through Spears of Sacrilege") is amongst my favourites lo-fi demos. It includes some of the most intense war metal you're likely to experience anywhere.

Ben, please add Clagg (Australia).

I agree that it was a well thought-out & composed review.

Don’t worry Xephyr. If you haven’t gotten to the feature from The Infinite yet then you’ve got some seriously doomy material waiting for you there (amongst other things).

Ben, please add Chaos Invocation (Germany).

Ben, please add Chaossworn (Sweden) & Chordotomy (Germany).

Neurosis - "A Sun That Never Sets" (2001)

An album that saw Neurosis heading further away from their classic sludge metal sound towards a much more introspective post-metal one with drawn out arrangements & a stronger focus on atmospherics. It's still fucking brilliant though. Particularly Scott Kelly's emotional vocal performance. He's comfortably one of my top five vocalists of all time to be honest. The highlights are nothing short of stupendous but the quality does drop a touch over the last few tracks which prevents any chance of a perfect score.

4.5/5

Coroner's version of The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" that ends their classic 1991 album "Mental Vortex" is another example of a misguided cover version. Sure it was a great song to begin with & they do a pretty reasonable job at replicating it but it sounds nothing like the rest of the album & stands out like a sore thumb. The remainder of the album is so focused & fresh that it's inclusion unquestionably reduces my opinion of the overall package which is a real shame as it had the potential to get the full five from me.

So I kicked this off yesterday with the first round of features & ended up going with some high quality but generally overlooked old-school releases. What are your thoughts on those selections? I'll be looking to jump around from different periods & from different subgenres each time.

Ben has suggested that he'd much rather see new features being announced on a more regular basis i.e. fortnightly or weekly. I thought I'd start off with monthly so as to make sure that everyone had enough time to get involved & to gain your feedback on the whole concept. I mean I don't want people to feel pressured or rushed. This is meant to be fun after all. If people really get behind this early on & the consensus is that we'd like it more regularly then I can look to accommodate that idea moving forwards. Let's see how we go to start with.

They were fantastic on the "Firepower" tour too but it was obvious that Rob was struggling physically. In fact, I'm not sure if he was just not well on the night in question but he often seemed to be short of breath & left several of the choruses to the audience. The band was on fire though.

RYM permanently suspended my account a couple of days ago. I suspect that someone reported my private message to them to suggest that they join Metal Academy & they're claiming that I've breached their guidelines. Oh well... I'm not sure I need them now anyway as I have a more effective tool at my disposal.

As far as cover versions go, I can certainly see where Ben is coming from but I prefer to take them on a case by case basis. In general, I think covers are only effective when a) they're given a fresh & unique feel & b) they sound like they belong alongside the originals that surround it. If you take a look at a couple of well-known Judas Priest cover versions as a point of reference, Slayer's cover of "Dissident Aggressor" is a great example of a cover version done well. If you didn't know it was a cover version you'd never know because it fits so nicely into the "South Of Heaven" tracklisting. But then we have Death's version of "Painkiller" which was a disappointing inclusion on "The Sound Of Perseverance". Firstly, it was pretty much a faithful rendition of the original but wasn't anywhere near as effective & secondly, it doesn't sound like the rest of the album. In fact, Chuck actually went with a completely different approach to his vocal delivery for that song & it simply isn't half as appealing. Judas Priest themselves were masters of the cover version with songs like "Diamonds & Rust" & "Better By You, Better Than Me" not only being amongst the highlights of their respective albums but also sounding a) 100% like Judas Priest & b) nothing like the originals.

I completely agree that hidden tracks are one of the world's greatest injustices though. 99% of them are complete garbage. Especially that Anathema one the Ben referred to earlier. It's absolute balls.

Ben, please add Centurion (Poland) & Cerebral Bore (UK).

Another example that Sabbath weren't perfect. In fact it would seem to indicate that they were doing an absolute shit tonne of drugs around this time.

Ben, please add Cavalera Conspiracy (USA).

Ben, please add Cannabis Corpse (USA).

The fifth album from this talented French progressive metal outfit.

The fourth studio album from this Swedish doom metal outfit.

Why do I feel like we're gonna get along just fine Ded Bolt?

This hidden track from Kyuss' "Welcome To Sky Valley" is as pointless as they get really.

Dark Angel - "Darkness Descends" (1986)

A huge record for me from back in the day. It's a brilliant lesson in how to play fast & aggressive thrash metal. I think it would have been even better if the production was a bit less muddy but it's awesome nonetheless. Fans of Slayer's "Reign In Blood" & Kreator's "Pleasure To Kill" should already own this to complete the unholy trinity from 1986.

4.5/5

Fantastic! I'm so glad you decided to join us. Ben & I created the Metal Academy brand specifically to give us an avenue to communicate with like-minded individuals like yourself so don't be shy. We'd love to hear what you're thinking & we're actively using the site to drive our listening habits. Enjoy the Academy!

Ben, please add the Motorhead/Girlschool split.

Ben, please add Brujeria (USA) & Burying Place (Lithuania).

Pestilence - "Consuming Impulse" (1989)

The classic sophomore album from the greatest Dutch death metal band of all. The performances & production were of a higher caliber than 99% of extreme metal from the time. The rhythm guitar crunch is ridiculously heavy & really does it for me. Fans of Death & "Seven Churches"-era Possessed will love this shit.

4/5

I haven't either. This Metallica you mentioned sounds interesting too. I've heard they show some promise.