Daniel's Forum Replies

It's a very good question actually. When we originally came up with the concept for the site we always thought that we would mainly grow our membership through word of mouth with existing members bringing friends & associates online. We've since found that this hasn't happened organically & the periods of growth you see happen every month or so are entirely off the back of organized recruitment drives that Ben has been conducting with high profile users of others sites. I'd like to think that this won't be required long-term but it does give you the impression that a large percentage of our members tend to be people that enjoy the music in isolation & don't generally associate with other metal fans (at least not the obsessive types that will become regular contributors). 

But on the positive, the regular contributors we've managed to recruit here  so far (like yourself) really know their shit & seem to be as passionate about the site as we are so we're feeling pretty confident that the slow initial build will start to escalate over time. The moral of the story is that if you really want to see this site gaining traction then we need everyone to be selling it to the market. And if you can think of some sort of incentive plan for people to bring others on-board then we'd love to hear it.

Angel Dust - "Into The Dark Past" (1986)

1986's debut album "Into The Dark Past" from German thrash/speed metal outfit Angel Dust. They kinda sound like Exodus meets Iron Angel & feature a seriously aggressive guitar sound. The vocals do let the band down a bit but fans of Paradox, Grinder & Living Death should dig this. 

3.5/5

Ben, please add the Adversarial/Antediluvian split album as well as Aeon of Horus (Australia).

Ben, please add Admiral Angry (USA).

Neurosis - "Souls At Zero" (1992)

An unmitigated classic & one of my all-time favourite records. Fuck I love this band.

5/5

My revised list after realizing that I'd forgotten one of my favourite bands ever:

25. Deicide - "Deicide" (1990) 

24. Obituary - "Cause Of Death" (1990) 

23. Suffocation - "Effigy Of The Forgotten" (1991) 

22. My Dying Bride - "Turn Loose The Swans" (1993) 

21. dISEMBOWELMENT - "Transcendence Into The Peripheral" (1993) 

20. Entombed - "Clandestine" (1991) 

19. Suffocation - "Pierced From Within" (1995) 

18. Morbid Angel - "Blessed Are The Sick" (1991) 

17. Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (1986) 

16. Darkthrone - "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994) 

15. Carcass - "Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious" (1991) 

14. ISIS - "Panopticon" (2004) 

13. Neurosis - "Souls At Zero" (1992)

12. Slayer - "South Of Heaven" (1988) 

11. Immolation - "Close To A World Below" (2000) 

10. Boris - "Boris At Last -Feedbacker-" (2003) 

09. Alice In Chains - "Dirt" (1992) 

08. Death - "Human" (1991) 

07. Morbid Angel - "Altars Of Madness" (1989) 

06. Metallica - "...And Justice For All" (1988) 

05. ISIS - "The Mosquito Control" E.P. (1998) 

04. Sunn O))) - "Black One" (2005) 

03. Deathspell Omega - "Kenose" E.P. (2005) 

02. Burzum - "Filosofem" (1996) 

01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood" (1986)

25. Deicide - "Deicide" (1990)

24. Obituary - "Cause Of Death" (1990)

23. Katatonia - "Brave Murder Day" (1996)

22. Suffocation - "Effigy Of The Forgotten" (1991)

21. My Dying Bride - "Turn Loose The Swans" (1993)

20. dISEMBOWELMENT - "Transcendence Into The Peripheral" (1993)

19. Entombed - "Clandestine" (1991)

18. Suffocation - "Pierced From Within" (1995)

17. Morbid Angel - "Blessed Are The Sick" (1991)

16. Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (1986)

15. Darkthrone - "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994)

14. Carcass - "Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious" (1991)

13. ISIS - "Panopticon" (2004)

12. Slayer - "South Of Heaven" (1988)

11. Immolation - "Close To A World Below" (2000)

10. Boris - "Boris At Last -Feedbacker-" (2003)

09. Alice In Chains - "Dirt" (1992)

08. Death - "Human" (1991)

07. Morbid Angel - "Altars Of Madness" (1989)

06. Metallica - "...And Justice For All" (1988)

05. ISIS - "The Mosquito Control" E.P. (1998)

04. Sunn O))) - "Black One" (2005)

03. Deathspell Omega - "Kenose" E.P. (2005)

02. Burzum - "Filosofem" (1996)

01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood" (1986)

Ben, please add The Accused (USA).

Ben, please add Abnormality (USA) & Abominable Putridity (Russia).

Condemned? - "Humanoid or Biomechanoid?" (1986)

Hardcore punk from Melbourne, Australia. Intentionally very sloppy & raw to fit in with the punk rock attitude. It's not bad but just doesn't really fit in with my personal tastes. I was expecting a lot more crossover thrash than was actually delivered but fans of 80's hardcore bands like DYS, Verbal Abuse & Broken Bones might find some enjoyment here though.

3/5

Nagelfar - "Hünengrab im Herbst" (1997)

Pagan black metal from Germany. I absolutely love the production & the intense traditional black metal delivery. Unfortunately the folk sections, cheesy keyboards & fairly ordinary clean vocals see me dropping my score lower than I'd hoped.

3.5/5

More from Necrobutcher on this topic:

“When I did that interview I was thinking, ‘What kind of moron fucking question is this?’ They didn’t have one fucking question about the new album, which we are out here to do, so I was like … what’s this line of questioning? Aren’t you over that now?

But yeah, OK, I’ll tell you straight up, I wanted to kill that fucker in the end. He … Imagine that somebody you think is your friend coming home and finding your other friend killed themselves and took pictures of their dead body. Who the fuck in their right mind would do anything like that? Everybody should have the little bit of intelligence to know that, that’s gotta be somebody completely stripped from empathy and normal emotions. And really a bad fucking person. But now he’s a fucking hero! And it’s like, OK, I’ve always talked good about him, never wanted to talk bad about the dead, but this has gone too far now. I mean, if the guy wasn’t killed, he would’ve gone to jail for many years for lighting up a church in Oslo. He’d be gone. He’d have been sued just like Varg Vikernes for 50 million NOK, so when he would be released from jail, he would never have a job, never own a car, own a flat, own a TV. He would be fucked with a capital F. He’s the big hero? No, he’s the big fucking asshole, that’s who he is. The betrayal — he betrayed his friends and the bad karma in the end came and took him. I never cried a tear for that guy. I was mad as fuck when he died, and what I told that journalist is when I read it in the morning paper, I headed straight home and cleaned my house for all the illegals. I was sure the cops were going to come home to my place next and that I was going to be a suspect. I didn’t know that they already knew who did it. 

“And I’ll tell you since we’re into this. Norway is a very small country. Varg Vikernes lit up a church, went to jail, they couldn’t get evidence, so they had to let him out. Big disappointment for the cops, a loss of prestige. So, they bugged his phone, bugged his apartment, everything. And he was plotting to kill Euronymous on the phone and everything, making an alibi on the phone. But of course, they knew everything! So, I was a little pissed at the cops later on because I’m thinking … they knew what was going on and they didn’t even stop it. This is very fucking bad, you know what I mean? The government was in on killing him. So, I never talked about it before, but now I’m thinking, since the government isn’t linked up to my ass now, it’s starting to get down to earth again. And that’s not the smart thing for me to do, to make enemies again now that I’ve cooled again, but it’s in me. I can’t help it. Anything that wronged me has to be right.”

Ben, please add Abigail Williams (USA).

Ben, please add Abhorration (USA) & Abhorrent Castigation (Germany).

Sacrifice - "Torment In Fire" (1985)

Raw & intense thrash metal that should appeal to fans of Slayer, Kreator & "Beyond The Gates"-era Possessed.

4/5

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

The fifth album from this atmospheric black metal outfit from Phoenix, Arizona.

Bölzer - "Lese Majesty" E.P. (Release date: 15th November)

The new E.P. from this Swiss outfit whose sound sits somewhere between black & death metal.

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