Daniel's Forum Replies

Your melodic epic progressive metal taste never left you Andi. You just chose to expand your horizons a bit by exploring other areas of metal & that's completely natural. There's no reason we shouldn't we embrace all brands & subgenres of metal within our own unique personal taste palate. It makes us more rounded, more diverse & generally more interesting.

If you can get past the inconsistent production job & unbalanced mix you'll find a noticeably underrated US thrash debut here:

Sonny, Vinny, Ben & Tymell, I think you'll dig this for some nice raw & aggressive speed metal-infused US thrash in the vein of Metallica, Testament & Megadeth's debut albums (particularly the faster stuff from "Kill 'Em All").

A belter of a mid-80's US thrash number.

Kublai Khan - "Annihilation" (1987)

1987's "Annihilation" album was unfortunately the only release for this massively underrated & relatively unknown Minneapolis thrash band. Kublai Khan were built around axe-slinging band leader Greg Handevidt whose reputation as an early member of Megadeth (around 1983/84) is validated with an abundance of aggressive thrash riffs & some exciting light-speed solos. Greg's vocals are really pretty powerful too & despite changing his style at regular intervals across the album (check out the obvious Hetfield-isms in the phrasing at times) he proves himself to be a more than capable frontman. There's a truck-load of energy on display here & even when you can easily pick up the inspiration for a particular track it's hard not to get sucked in by the up-front execution & no-holds-barred approach to the delivery with elements of speed metal being employed quite regularly & to good effect. In fact, it's really pretty hard to understand how Kublai Khan haven't made a bigger impact (well..... any sort of impact at all) to be honest. There's not a weak track among this lot & I can only guess that it's the inconsistent & unbalanced production job that's prevented Kublai Khan from gaining tier two US thrash success. The guitar solos & snare drum really are ridiculously loud in the mix & the guitar tone & volume changes pretty drastically from track to track. It sounds like they've recorded these songs in completely different sessions & possibly in different studios & that may well be the case but thankfully the old-school tape-trader in me became comfortable with those sort of flaws decades ago so it's not hard to look past. If early Metallica, Testament & Megadeth style thrash & speed metal is your bag (particularly "Kill 'Em All") then I highly recommend that you give this one a spin.

4/5

One of the greatest Norwegian black metal tracks of all time in my opinion.

Darkthrone - "Under A Funeral Moon (1993)

I absolutely loved this album on release but I have to admit that (despite being a very enjoyable listen) it's lost a little of its shine over the last 27 years & I put that down to a few things. Firstly, it's stuck between two of the greatest black metal releases of all time which means that it'll always be compared with them & I'm sure that most people would agree that it's the weaker of the unholy trilogy. Secondly, the bass guitar sound is fairly tame & is very prominent in the mix which removes a little of the cold & sinister atmosphere. And thirdly, Fenriz includes a bouncy, up-beat & punky old-school death metal beat in almost every track which manages to bring me down a touch from the lofty heights that the riffs deserve. I still really dig "Under A Funeral Moon. 1993 was an incredible time to be an extreme metal fan & I was a massive fanboy of "A Blaze In The Northern Sky" so I was always going to be open to extending my worship to the follow-up. But these days I'm a little more realistic with my ratings & this is not a black metal classic for me personally.

4/5

Ben, please add Monarch! (France) & Monument of Urns (USA).

Ben, please add Kublai Khan (USA) & Morsüre (France).

Great review from saxy on this one earlier today. Very much in line with my own opinions. Rage Against The Machine's rap/metal sound doesn't sit all that comfortably amongst my usual musical fascinations however their passion & execution are enough to keep things interesting for me throughout. The rhythm section is solid as fuck & makes this a genuinely heavy record when it wants to be. It's the band's best work for mine although I can't say that I'll ever genuinely love a RATM release.

3.5/5

German thrash metal from 1987 ala Destruction.

Necronomicon - "Apocalyptic Nightmare" (1987)

I quite enjoyed the self-titled debut album from this German thrash metal outfit but the 1987 follow-up release "Apocalyptic Nightmare" doesn't seem to have the same edge. It sees Necronomicon taking a similar approach with very loose performances & a nice raw production however this time the overall energy the band creates fails to balance out the complete lack of structure or technique with the guitars proving to be particularly incompetent. I do love the Schmier style vocals which have that nasty snarl that seems to be so common in the Teutonic thrash scene but some added technicality in the arrangements fails dismally in the execution. The Destruction influence is even more obvious than it was previously with a fair whack of speed metal being evident in the composition of the riffs but while most tracks have enjoyable parts when the band stops mucking around & simply thrashes out, only a couple of the seven lengthy tracks manage to overcome Necronomicon's technical & theoretical failings. It's not awful but there were much better examples of Teutonic thrash around at the time.

3/5

Ben, please add Necronomicon (Germany).

1970: Black Sabbath – “Paranoid” 

1971: Black Sabbath – “Master Of Reality” 

1972: Black Sabbath – “Vol 4” 

1973: Black Sabbath – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” 

1974: Budgie – “In For The Kill” 

1975: Black Sabbath – “Sabotage” 

1976: Rainbow – “Rising” 

1977: Quartz – “Quartz” 

1978: Judas Priest – “Killing Machine” 

1979: Judas Priest – “Unleashed In The East” 

1980: Diamond Head – “Lightning To The Nations” 

1981: Motorhead – “No Sleep Till Hammersmith” 

1982: Ozzy Osbourne – “Speak Of The Devil” 

1983: Slayer – “Show No Mercy” 

1984: Metallica – “Ride The Lightning” 

1985: Exodus – “Bonded By Blood” 

1986: Slayer – “Reign In Blood” 

1987: Bathory – “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark” 

1988: Metallica – “…And Justice For All” 

1989: Morbid Angel – “Altars Of Madness” 

1990: Morbid Saint – “Spectrum Of Death” 

1991: Death – “Human” 

1992: Alice In Chains – “Dirt” 

1993: diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” 

1994: Darkthrone – “Transilvanian Hunger” 

1995: Suffocation – “Pierced From Within” 

1996: Burzum – “Filosofem” 

1997: Exodus – “Another Lesson In Violence” 

1998: ISIS – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. 

1999: Neurosis – “Times Of Grace” 

2000: Immolation – “Close To A World Below” 

2001: Green Carnation – “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness” 

2002: ISIS – “Oceanic” 

2003: Boris – “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“ 

2004: ISIS – “Panopticon” 

2005: Deathspell Omega – “Kenose” E.P. 

2006: Celtic Frost – “Monotheist” 

2007: Wolves In The Throne Room – “Two Hunters” 

2008: Opeth – “Watershed” 

2009: Alice In Chains – “Black Gives Way To Blue” 

2010: Hate – “Erebos” 

2011: Esoteric – “Paragon Of Dissonance” 

2012: Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering” 

2013: Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam” 

I'm not going to attempt to go further than 2013 as I haven't listened to enough modern metal to do it justice.

Ben, please add Merrimack (France).

Ben, please add Memphis May Fire (USA).

Are we including live albums here Sonny?

Yyyyeeeaaaahhhhh….. I love this shit so I'll be getting mine together. By the way.... "Kill 'Em All" was 1983. Not 1981.

While I quite like "Ashes Against The Grain", I've never quite understood the high praise that Agalloch seems to inevitably draw. This was their best album in my opinion however it's never quite connected with me strongly enough to become a regular listen. To be honest I've always found some of their non-metal & non-album material to contain the band's best work (see 2004's "The Grey" E.P. & 2008's "The White" E.P.).

P.S. Nice review Saxy.

I just read your review & found it to be a really interesting take on the album Xephyr. For me "Filosofem" is one of only a few perfect records ever to be recorded (in fact I regard it as my second favourite metal album ever behind Slayer's "Reign In Blood") but I can still appreciate an open-minded & thought-provoking criticism that provides a contrasting point of view. Well done!

Ben, please add Malignancy (USA) & Malignant Monster (Australia).

Celtic Frost - "Monotheist" (2006)

The fifth & final album from these seminal Swiss heavy-weights is an astounding piece of gothic doom metal. The production is absolutely stunning & you'll do very well to find a heavier release than this one. It's a true work of art that sees the band traversing a wide array of influences with the gothic rock of Sisters Of Mercy & Bauhaus getting just as much air time as your classic Black Sabbath. The diversity of approaches in the vocal delivery is a masterstroke too. This is certainly my favourite Frost release these days.

4.5/5

Ben, please add Mad Butcher (Germany).

Ben, please add Mace (USA).

Ben, please add Lustre (Sweden).

Ben, please add Lumpur (Indonesia).

Ben, please add Ludicra (USA).

Ben, please add Ludichrist (USA).

"Horrorscope" is my favourite Overkill record too actually. 

Yeah it's an undisputed classic that came at a time when both of us were in our metal prime if you know what I mean. It says a lot about the remarkable consistency of Chuck Schuldiner that I slightly favour the previous couple of Death albums over this one. It's still an easy 4.5/5 though.

Am I the only one that finds "Crystal Mountain" to be a little bit too light-weight? It seems like that's everyone's favourite track these days but it's comfortably the LEAST impressive to my ears.

Ben, this one's in my all-time top ten metal albums so I'll take offence if you don't at least give it a couple of spins. Preferably on an amazing sound system turned up to obscene levels whilst tripping balls in a pitch black room.

Well I noticed that some of the more highly celebrated releases I've included over the last two months have been new & exciting for some of our members so I thought I'd include some of the elite releases each month mixed in with some not so well known ones.

Just what does this track hope to accomplish on an already disappointing record.

The lengthy & much more downtempo blackened stoner metal change-up track from the Brazilian thrashers' 1987 second album "Anthropophagy". It sounds totally different from the rest of the album but suffers less from the inherent production issues due to its added space. There's plenty of "Vol 4"-era Black Sabbath to a couple of the groovier riffs.

Vulcano - "Anthropophagy" (1987)

The second studio album from these Brazilian thrash metallers.

2.5/5

Ben, please add Lair of the Minotaur (USA).

Ben, please add Kraanium (Norway) & Lock Up (UK).

Ben, please add Kingdom of Sorrow (USA) & Kollwitz (Norway).

Ben, please add Juggernaut (USA).

The greatest Viking metal anthem of all time in my opinion. You'll never hear a more graphic depiction of a Viking battle than this.

Yeah I don't mind that track although it's not one of my album highlights. I have to admit that while I always enjoy Vektor's classic albums I've never found them quite as mind-blowing as the rest of the metal scene seem to. "Black Future" is my favourite of them though.

Ben, please add Jesus Cröst (Netherlands).

Ben, please add Iskald (Norway).

Ben, please add Inverloch (Australia).

Attomica - "Attomica" (1987)

The debut album from this Brazilian thrash metal outfit. Their sound is built around US thrash riffs ala Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" & early Exodus only the vocals are pure black metal & they regularly employ some well executed blast beats which gives the music a good energetic feel. The production & performances are quite raw but I find their style immediately appealing. It's a shame that they hadn't quite figured out how to best structure their songs at this stage because each track has good parts but they don't always fit together smoothly & promising sections are often repeated for too long. They've also over-extending the track lengths much further than they needed to be with only seven tracks across 38 minutes. "Attomica" isn't quite at the same level of other early Brazilian thrash debuts from bands like Sepultura, Dorsal Atlantica or Vulcano but it's still well worth pursuing for fans of your rawer, more underground thrash.

3.5/5

Mid-80's Brazilian thrash metal with black metal vocals & blast beats.

Not to mention his amazing performance on an even more iconic album in Death's "Human" from 1991. Sean had a major influence on my life so it's even more sad that such a talented individual has been taken from those that love him at such a young age (he was only 48 years old). My heart goes out to his husband in particular right now. It's been a particularly bad month for drummers following the passing of Rush legend Neil Peart only a couple of weeks ago.