Daniel's Forum Replies

I just wanted to inform all of you thrashers that are a partial to a bit of crossover thrash that I've just posted my "Daniel's Top Ten Early Crossover Thrash Releases (1985-1986)" in the METAL ACADEMY LISTS section. If you've never really explored where this niche subgenre comes from or don't have much experience with it & are interested to know what it's all about then this would be a great place to start. I'll be interested to get your feedback & would love to see your own top tens if you'd care to share them.

https://metal.academy/lists/single/66 

Anathema have always been a class act & are still a strong favourite of mine today. They're amazing artists regardless of what genre they might fit into.

Ulver are another one that springs to mind. They've made a reasonably good fist of all of their undertakings although I have to admit that I don't truly love anything I've heard from them since their metal days.

The new album from US sludge metallers Old Man Gloom entitled "Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning" will be released on 22nd May.

The brand new live album & DVD from Danish heavy metal stalwarts Pretty Maids entitled "Maid in Japan - Future World Live 30th Anniversary" is due to be released on 22nd May.

The brand new live album from London stoner metallers Orange Goblin entitled "Rough & Ready, Live & Loud" which is scheduled to be released on 4th May.

Ben, please add Deathwish (UK).

The absolutely belting opening track from this Polish goregrind outfit's 1995 sophomore album "A Chapter Of Accidents". For fans of Regurgitate, Haemorrhage & "Reek Of Putrefaction"-era Carcass.

The new album from unheralded NWOBHM stalwarts Tokyo Blade entitled "Dark Revolution" which is due to be released on 15th May.

The new single from Perth metalcore outfit Make Them Suffer entitled "Drown With Me". It's taken from their upcoming album "How To Survive A Funeral" which is due for release on 5th June.

Crossover thrashcore from Portland, USA. This track sounds like "Darkness Descends"-era Dark Angel on speed! What a ripper of a way to start the album!

Wehrmacht - "Shark Attack" (1987)

The debut album from this high velocity crossover thrashcore band from Portland, USA & it may well be the fastest record I've ever heard!! For fans of Cryptic Slaughter, DRI & "Darkness Descends"-era Dark Angel.

3.5/5

I completely agree. "Mental Funeral" was a step up in all areas in my opinion.

Even though I'm out of The Horde now, I'm still gonna make occasional throwbacks to my melodeath times

That's perfectly fine Andi. In fact, cross clan posting is encouraged. After all, we want to see people expanding their metal horizons, don't we?

Autopsy's "Severed Survival" has never struck me as the undisputed classic it seems to have been claimed as by most death metal fans. Is anyone with me on this?

High quality old-school death metal from California, USA.

Autopsy - "Severed Survival" (1989)

The debut album from these Californian kings of gore-soaked death metal with a strong doom metal influence. It's never appealed to me as much as it seems to for most death metal nuts. I greatly prefer Autopsy's next couple of release but fans of Asphyx, Abscess & Pungent Stench should really dig it nonetheless.

3.5/5

The new album from Finnish heavy metal stalwarts Oz entitled "Forced Commandments" which is to be released on 24 April.

The new single from Massachusetts deathcore outfit The Acacia Strain entitled "C" which was released yesterday.

I had no idea Green Carnation were even recording new music! Woah! Gonna check out that video now. I was a big fan of Light of Day, Day of Darkness. Will be interesting to see what they sound like in 2020.

Quoted illusionist

In fairness they haven't released a metal record in 15 years. I agree that "Light of Day, Day of Darkness" is an absolute belter too.

Hhhhmmmm…. interesting. The decision on labelling a record as metal or not is much more black & white for me & doesn't have much to do with how heavy a release is or how it makes me feel because there's plenty of metal out there that doesn't give me the same feeling of dark empowerment that a band like diSEMBOWELMENT does for example (see Babymetal, Helloween, etc.). On the other hand, I can sometimes get that feeling from a country track or a piece of classical music from a horror movie soundtrack but this doesn't make it metal. It's just a darker version of that particular subgenre. For me, it's all about the tools that are being employed & whether they come from the metal toolkit or that of another genre.

In the case of "Frizzle Fry", I simply don't hear much use of those metal tools at all. There's a much greater component that draws on funk rock, alternative rock & 70's  jazz fusion which by my methodology leads me to label it as non-metal. To qualify as a metal release I wanna hear the greatest component coming from that metal toolkit. Does the largest percentage of the album's duration reside within the realms of metal? If not, then it's not the primary genre in my opinion. Therefore, if Rainbow's "Rising" album includes six tracks & four are blusey hard rock, one a sort of hard rock/metal hybrid & the other a legitimate metal song, it's clearly a hard rock record in my opinion.

Tymell & Vinny, I think you'll really dig this undiscovered gem from 1987. High quality Canadian thrash combined with crossover thrash & the occasional tech thrash leaning.

A belter of a Canadian technical thrash metal outing from 1987.

DBC - "Dead Brain Cells" (1987)

An excellent debut album from this Canadian outfit that sports a sophisticated thrash metal sound combined with a fair chunk of crossover thrash & the occasional technical thrash moment. Fans of Slayer, Nuclear Assault & DRI will really dig this stuff. 

4/5

The new live album from Swiss doom metallers Triptykon (with the Metropole Orkest) entitled "Requiem" is to be released on 15th May.

Requiem (Live At Roadburn 2019) marks the bombastic conclusion of a project over 30 years in the making: the legendary Celtic Frost/Triptykon "Requiem" performed for the first time in its entirety and with full classical orchestration (by the Dutch Metropole Orkest). “Requiem” (46:00 min.) is composed of three chapters: "Rex Irae" (first appeared on 1987’s Into The Pandemonium album by Celtic Frost), "Grave Eternal" (newly written middle part), and "Winter" (first appeared on 2006’s Monotheist album by Celtic Frost).

The new album from West Yorkshire's finest gothic doom/death exponents Paradise Lost entitled "Obsidian" which is to be released on 15th May.

The new album from Norwegian progressive metallers green Carnation entitled "Leaves of Yesteryear" which is due for release on 8th May.

The new album from Swedish melodic black metallers Naglfar entitled "Cerecloth" which is to be released on 8th May.

The new album from Italian melodic black 'n' rollers Forgotten Tomb entitled "Nihilistic Estrangement" which is due to be released on 8th May.

The new album from German gothic black metallers Secrets Of The Moon entitled "Black House" which is due for release on 8th May.

The new album from Denver thrash metallers Havok entitled "V" which is due for release on 1st May.

The new album from seminal NWOBHM outfit Cloven Hoof entitled "The Age Of Steel" which is due for release on 24th April.

The new album from Swedish atmospheric black metal outfit Lustre which is due to be released on 24th April entitled "The Ashes Of Light".

The new album from Kiwi tech death masters Ulcerate entitled "Stare Into Death and Be Still" which is due for release on 24th April.

The new E.P. from Belgian brutal death metal outfit Aborted which will be released tomorrow.

The new album from Finnish psychedelic black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu entitled "Mestarin kynsi" which is being released tomorrow.

Relapse Records is proud to continue its Death: Non Analog - On Stage Series with the second installment, live in Chicago, IL 01-21-1988!

At a moment when the world has been forced to push pause on live music, Relapse Records and the DEATH estate have pulled together to launch a series of previously unreleased, career-spanning live concerts that touch upon all eras and lineups of the legendary band.

We at Relapse sincerely hope to see you all at a concert, festival, or a stage sooner than later. Until then, the label will release a new DEATH concert every other week across all digital platforms throughout the coming months to tide us all over.

The On Stage Series collection unearths various DEATH performances across the United States, Germany, Canada, Mexico, and more. Whether its an underground, old-school rager upon the release of Scream Bloody Gore in '87, or a tour-de-force in California circa '95 on the Symbolic tour, we hope you revisit DEATH with us and keep the spirit of Metal alive at this time! Released April 14, 2020.

The new album from French deathgrind outfit Benighted entitled "Obscene Repressed".

West Coast metal veterans Metal Church released "From The Vault" on April 10 via Rat Pak Records. This latest release is a special edition compilation album that features 14 previously unreleased songs from the Mike Howe era, including four newly recorded studio tracks including a redux of the band's fan favorite classic "Conductor", The remaining tracks are compiled from various recordings in the band's history and include five tracks from 2018's "Damned If You Do" recording sessions, three cover songs and two live tracks, "Agent Green" and "Anthem To The Estranged", which was recorded at the famous Club Citta, Kawasaki, Japan on the "Damned If You Do" world tour. Tracks 1 through 4 were mixed and mastered by Chris "The Wizard" Collier (KXM, WHITESNAKE, PRONG, KORN) and tracks 5 through 14 were mixed and mastered by Kurdt Vanderhoof.

Howe comments: "This album is for the fans and has some really cool unreleased tracks on it, I think METAL CHURCH fans everywhere will really enjoy it."

The new single from English progressive metal outfit Haken with their new album "Virus" due to be released on 5th June.

The new single from German atmospheric black metal outfit ColdWorld.

Ben, please add DBC (Canada).

Great review saxy. For the record, I've loved "The Number Of The Beast" since the late 80's but it's never quite managed to become a true classic for me personally. I don't think there's a genuinely weak track included but I also don't think that "Invaders" & "22, Acacia Avenue" are quite up to genuine classic status either. The real classics are the two big hits in "Run To The Hills" & the title track as well as the brilliant "Children Of The Damned". I have to admit that I've never rated "Hallowed Be Thy Name" quite as highly as most people seem to but it's still of a very high quality. Our feelings are somewhat aligned as my Maiden sweet spot is the trio of albums from 1984 through to 1988. Traditional heavy metal simply doesn't get any better than those records. 4/5

For anyone that's interested, you can find a comprehensive review of everything about the writing, recording & resulting release of "The Number Of The Beast" on episode ten of Metal Academy Podcast. See the link below:

http://metalacademy.libsyn.com/ep-010-iron-maiden-reckon-the-number-of-the-beast

Ultra raw Brazilian death metal from 1987. For fans of Sarcofago, Vulcano & the first couple of Sepultura releases.

Holocausto - "Campo de exterminio" (1987)

The debut album from this ultra-raw early death metal exponent from Brazil. The atmosphere & ideas are there but the execution is poor. For fans of Sarcofago, Vulcano & the first couple of Sepultura releases.

3/5

Converge - "You Fail Me" (2004)

Andi, are you across this one? If not then I suggest you get on it.

A spectacular mathcore bomb from Masschusetts, USA. Fans of Botch, Drowningman & The Dillinger Escape Plan should be all over this.

Fantastic mid-80's crossover thrash from Seattle, USA. Should appeal to fans of DRI, Municipal Waste & Cryptic Slaughter.

The Accused - 'More Fun Than An Open-Casket Funeral" (1987)

The sophomore album from these Seattle-based crossover thrashers. Not as strong as their debut from the previous year.

3/5