Daniel's Forum Replies

Culprit - "Guilty As Charged" (1983)

The sole album from this Seattle-based progressive rock/metal outfit whose sound sits somewhere between classic Rush, 70's Riot & Paul Dianno-era Iron Maiden. It's really well written but is let down a bit by a very thin Mike Varney (Shrapnel Records head) production.

3.5/5

Onslaught - "The Force" (1986)

I wasn't much of a fan of Onslaught's 1985 debut album "Power From Hell" but I find their sophomore album from the following year to be a much more appealing prospect. There's a lot less hardcore punk about it & it's a total riff-fest but in saying that it's far from flawless. The track lengths are needlessly extended, the high pitched vocal squeals are annoying & the riffs & guitar solos tend to be pretty basic & generic compared to other well-known thrash records of the time. So why do I still find myself enjoying it? I guess it's the fact that it sounds like a mixture of the first two Slayer albums, "Bonded By Blood" era Exodus & classic Venom.  

3.5/5

Ben, please add Ascension (Germany).

Ben, please add Ascariasis (Canada).

Ben, please add As They Burn (France).

Strapping Young Lad - "City" (1997)

A very solid slab of industrial metal that should appeal to fans of Fear Factory, Ministry & Nailbomb. I'm not sure it's the classic release it's often made out to be but it sure hits the spot.

4/5

Hhmmmm…. interesting. I'll be adding this one to my list for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up Xephyr. :)

Exumer - "Possessed By Fire" (1986)

A pretty decent Teutonic thrash metal debut that should appeal to fans of Exodus, Slayer & Kreator.

3.5/5

Ben, please add Antropofagus (Italy).

Ben, please add Antichrist (Canada).

Emperor - "LIve Inferno" (2009)

A classic double live album from the Norwegian Gods of symphonic black metal featuring the reunion shows from Inferno & Wacken. Fantastic production & performances. I absolutely love this shit!

4.5/5

I'm a huge fan & would definitely give this project a listen. Danny's earnt the right to these sort of self-indulgences in my opinion.

Ben, please add Anhedonist (USA) & Antediluvian (Canada).

Ben, please add Angel Eyes (USA).

Crumbsuckers - "Life Of Dreams" (1986)

The debut studio album from this New York crossover thrash/hardcore act. The musicianship is excellent for this style of music & the gnarly vocals suit the violence of the music quite beautifully. I don't mind it. Fans of bands like Cro-Mags, Leeway & Agnostic Front should enjoy this.

3.5/5

Ben, please add the Agoraphobic Nosebleed & Converge split as well as Alice Through The Windshield Glass (Australia).

Alcatrazz - "No Parole From Rock 'n' Roll" (1983)

Yngwie Malmsteen teams up with Graham Bonnet for an epic combination of hard rock & heavy metal with Yngwie's signature neoclassical style being showcased in no uncertain terms. Bonnet's performance leaves nothing in the tank either & it's a real shame that the two commercially focused singles are so poor (particularly opening track "Island In The Sun") because the rest of the album is top class. Fans of Scorpions, Rainbow & Deep Purple should enjoy this as it's probably Alcatrazz' best work. Steer well clear of the subsequent live album "Live Sentence: No Parole From Rock 'n' Roll" with it's poor production.

3.5/5

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.