Daniel's Forum Replies

Sodom - "Out Of The Frontline Trench" E.P. (Release date: 22nd November)

The new E.P. from these German thrash metal gods.

Turbo - "Dorosłe dzieci" (1983)

The debut album from these Polish heavy rockers.

3.5/5

Possessed - "Beyond The Gates" (1986)

The sophomore album from San Francisco's death metal originators takes a thrashier direction than the more obviously death metal oriented "Seven Churches" debut although there are still plenty of signs of the sound that was so influential on the early purveyers of death metal. In fact you can easily pick out some of the songs that Chuck Schuldiner used as the inspiration for Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" album. The song-writing is generally pretty good but the poor production does limit the records appeal pretty substantially. Some messy rhythm guitar performances don't help either but the brutal vocals of Jeff Becerra & the impressive lead guitar work of Larry Lalonde & Mike Torrao help to carry the album through to a reasonably rewarding result. Just not as rewarding as the debut. It sounds like a combination of Slayer, Venom & Death to my ears.

3.5/5

Ben, please add 7 H.Target (Russia) & 7 Horns 7 Eyes (USA).

Ben, please add Крода (Ukraine).

Ocean Machine - "Biomech" (1997)

One of my all-time favourite progressive metal records. Fantastic vocals, awesome production & some serious hooks that dig their teeth in really deep over repeat listens. It's interesting that the first four tracks don't really hint at the heights that Devin Townsend will take you to across the rest of the album & I find myself doubting my high opinion during the early stages of each revisit. But the three epics in the back end completely eradicate any reservations I may have had about ranking this amongst the greats of the subgenre. 

4.5/5

And it would appear from this list that black metal didn't exist in the 2010's. Someone should tell Deathspell Omega because they're probably wondering why "Paracletus" isn't somewhere around the top of this list & they'd be right.

Carcass' "Surgical Steel" isn't a bad record but it's quality has been overstated to an incredible level. The fact that it's at #2 tells us that it's been a real struggle to find worthy records. And don't even get me started on Metallica's "Hardwired...To Self Destruct". That overblown & over-indulgent snooze-fest has no business being anywhere near a best-of list unless it only includes Metallica's post-"Black Album" material.

Yeah it's great to see a band like Gojira being so well respected & they unquestionably deserve an inclusion but is "Magma" really the album you'd pick? And for number one?? "L'enfant sauvage" is much stronger in my opinion & a worthy inclusion.

Rosetta - "Terra Sola" E.P. (Release date: 1st October)

Post-metal from Philadelphia, USA.

Deathrow - "Riders Of Doom" (1986)

The debut album from this second tier Teutonic thrash metal outfit. Typically fast, raw & unpolished. Fans of Kreator, Slayer & Dark Angel should find a fair bit to like about this despite some obvious plagiarism (Metallica & Slayer in particular) & messy musicianship & production.

3.5/5

Ben, please add Lizzy Borden (USA).

Dissection - "The Somberlain" ( 1993)

When I first heard "The Somberlain" through tape trading at around the time of release it made a really big impact on me. I'd never heard anything like it at the time & it sounded so fresh & exciting. Unfortunately time has had a negative effect on my relationship with it though with the follow-up album "Storm Of The Light's Bane" proving that it wasn't quite the finished product, so I actually found myself returning to it less & less. These days I can see the reasons for that more obviously. Frankly, despite my love affair with Dissection's follow-up record, I'll never enjoy subgenres with the word "melodic" in front of them as much as their traditional versions, & I definitely think that Ole Öhman's fairly light-weight drumming sucks some of the potential out of "The Somberlain" too. Every track includes some truly great parts but most also have some pretty upbeat sounding & loosely performed Swedish death metal beats that don't appeal to me all that much. I think it was a ground-breaking release for its blending of the Norwegian black metal sound of Mayhem & Darkthrone with the melodic death metal of Gothenburg acts like At The Gates & Dark Tranquillity & the more traditional death metal of Stockholm bands like Entombed & Dismember but (unlike it's younger sibling) I can't say that I consider it to be a classic one any more. Fans of more modern bands like Belgium's Thurisaz, Germany's Thulcandra & Sweden's Hyperion should be all over this though as it's the true origin of the melodic black metal sound.

3.5/5

Nile - "Vile Nilotic Rites" (Release date: 1st November)

The ninth studio album from these US tech deasthsters.

Esoteric - "A Pyrrhic Existence" (Release date: 8th November)

The eighth album from these English funeral doom metal maestros.

Pretty Maids - "Undress Your Madness" (Release date: 8th November)

The sixteenth studio album from this long-serving Danish heavy metal institution.

Slayer - "The Repentless Killology" (Release date: 8th November)

Om - "BBC Radio 1" E.P. (Release date: 9th October)

The new E.P. from these San Francisco stoner metallers.

Assassin - "The Upcoming Terror" (1986)

The fast & raw debut studio album from an underrated Teutonic thrash metal outfit that should appeal to fans of Kreator, Destruction & Dark Angel.

3.5/5

Mötley Crüe - "Shout At The Devil" (1983)

The only Crue album I really have time for. They'd dropped most of the punky vibe that dominated "Too Fast For Love" in favour of a cleaner production, more competent performances & more metal-oriented sound. Vince Neil is the biggest improver as he's now singing in key most of the time. The quality of the tracklisting does tend to fade across the B side but they'd gotten enough wins on the board early to justify my time.

3.5/5

Hallows Eve - "Death & Insanity" (1986)

The second & best studio album from these meat-&-potatoes, US power metal-infused thrashers from Atlanta, Georgia. "Death & Insanity" takes a noticeable step up in terms of song-writing & production from 1985's "Tales Of Terror" & subsequently caught my attention when its older brother didn't. The guitar solos are very nice & the catchiness of the hooks makes up for some unimaginative mid-paced thrash riffage. Worth checking out if you like Anthrax, Metal Church & Overkill.

3.5/5

Cannabis Corpse - "Nug So Vile" (Release date: 1st November)

The fifth studio album from this US death metal parody act.

Angel Witch - "Angel Of Light" (Release date: 1st November)

The fifth studio album from these NWOBHM legends.

Boris - "Pink" (2005)

A classic noise rock record with a strong stoner component from a Japanese band who continue to reinvent themselves.

4.5/5

Cryptic Slaughter - "Convicted" (1986)

The debut album from this influential Californian crossover thrashcore outfit. Just about the fastest thing that'd been recorded at the time & a clear influence on the grindcore movement that was about to take off. Should appeal to fans of early D.R.I., Attitude Adjustment & Wehrmacht.

3.5/5

Gris - "Il était une forêt…" (2007)

Canadian depressive/atmospheric black metal.

3.5/5

Sunn O))) - "Pyroclasts" (Release date: 25th October)

Yet another new album from the LA drone metal masters.

Mayhem - "Daemon" (Release date: 25th October)

The sixth full-length from the Norwegian black metal Gods.

1349 - "The Infernal Pathway" (Release date: 18th October)

The seventh album from these Norwegian black metallers.

Cirith Ungol - "I'm Alive" (Release date: 25th October)

The new live album from these Californian heavy metallers.

Oranssi Pazuzu - "Live At Roadburn 2017" (Release date: 4th October)

Alcest - "Spiritual Instinct" (Release date: 25th October)

The sixth album from this French blackgaze outfit.

Abigail Williams - "Walk Beyond The Dark" (Release date: 15th November)

The fifth album from this Washington-based atmospheric black metal outfit.

Winterfylleth - "The Siege of Mercia : Live at Bloodstock 2017" (Release date: 13th September)

Ben, please add Wicca (Germany).

Ben, please add these bands:

Whispered (Finland)

Woe Of Tyrants (USA)

Wormed (Spain)

It wasn't as of last night but I'll keep you informed if I notice it happen again.

Vulcano - "Bloody Vengeance" (1986)

The debut studio album from Brazil's Vulcano was a big record for me back in my tape trading days. I used to pick up a lot of the ultra-raw & heavily underground South American extreme metal from a guy in Chile & generally found it to be right up my alley. "Bloody Vengeance" was a huge step up from Vulcano's lackluster "Live!" album from the previous year & sees the band combining a primitive yet ridiculously intense form of blackened thrash with genuine death metal. If you like early Sepultura, Bathory & Sarcofago then you'll be all over this.

4/5

H-Bomb - "Coup de metal" E.P. (1983)

The debut release from this French heavy metal outfit & it's not a bad example of meat-&-potatoes heavy metal with hints of speed metal. I slightly prefer their full-length album "Attaque" over this one but both are worth a listen. Think Judas Priest & Accept & you won't be far off.

3.5/5

Deathspell Omega - "Kénôse" E.P. (2005)

An utterly astounding avant-garde black metal experience that I regard as one of the elite metal releases I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. Imagine Mayhem's "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", Ved Buens Ende...'s "Written In Waters" & Gorguts' "Obscura" all combined into one incredible unit & you'll go close to understanding the scope of this undertaking. The performances, composition & production are all superb & it's hard to think of a band that's achieved such a complete realization of extreme metal as a piece of art.

5/5

N.M.E. - "Unholy Death" (1986)

The only album from this Washington-based four-piece whose music careers came to grinding halt shortly afterwards when guitarist Kurt Struebing "killed his adoptive mother with a hatchet and scissors while on drugs. He claimed that he thought he was a robot. He wanted to open her up to see if she was a robot also." "Unholy Death" is amongst the rawest thing you'll ever hear. In fact, it sounds like a mixture of Venom, Hellhammer & Motorhead only with an enormous amount of feedback & a substantially poorer production. Mayhem guitarist Euronymous was a big fan & it's easy to see why given how inaccessible & underground this record is. I quite like it.

3.5/5

Ben, please add Vomitor (Australia).

Ben, please add Varg (Germany).

Ben, please add Vasaeleth (USA).

Tankard - "Zombie Attack" (1986)

The debut album from this Teutonic thrash metal institution sees Tankard combining the chaotic electricity of early Voivod with the thrashing violence of Exodus & an injection of Motorhead's punk rock attitude. It works pretty well overall & I particularly enjoy the up-front drums & the gnarly vocal delivery. Good production for a debut too.

3.5/5

Impaled Nazarene - "Motörpenis" E.P. (1996)

An eight & a half minute E.P. featuring two new original songs as well as three hardcore punk covers; two of which come from bands I've never heard of before. The two originals also see the band drawing on hardcore punk for influence so this was clearly the intended theme for the release. Unfortunately the intensity isn't quite potent enough to keep my interest despite the band having created a reasonably strong sound. I guess I don't really see the point in this release. 

3/5

The Accused - "The Return of... Martha Splatterhead" (1986)

The debut album from this Washington-based crossover thrash/hardcore outfit is well worth a listen. It features an extremely dirty production job that gives the music an additional layer of authenticity while vocalist Blaine Cook goes completely nuts behind the microphone. Stylistically, this is quite heavy on the hardcore side of the equation & the song-writing is generally pretty consistent so if you like one track you'll likely enjoy them all. Fans of Discharge, D.R.I. & early Corrosion Of Conformity should find something to interest them here.

3.5/5