Daniel's Forum Replies
Yep. I'm in. Who else is?
Will definitely be checking this one out at some point as Kreator are always great live.
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
Taramis - "Queen of Thieves" (1987)
Melbourne progressive metal outfit Taramis hold somewhat of a prestigious position in the story of Australian metal. They were arguably the first metal act of any note to start messing with progressive influences which gave them a distinct point of difference while still maintaining enough of a traditional heavy metal component to ensure that they didn't lose any of the old-schoolers along the way. I didn't become aware of them until their 1991 sophomore album "Stretch of the Imagination" which I regard as being their finest work however my recent investigations into the early roots of the Aussie metal scene have seen me finally exploring their 1985 "Blood and Honour" demo tape & 1987 debut album "Queen of Thieves", neither of which are as thrashy as the band would eventually become. The Prowler demo was a decent enough heavy metal release although it was a lot less expansive & more conventional than the Taramis releases. It was clear that there was some talent there though so I was interested to see how that would develop on "Queen of Thieves". It certainly has too as this is a far more sophisticated release than the demo ever aspired to be.
The impact of Taramis' debut album is a little restricted due to an overly raw production job that was fairly typical of underground releases of the time. It was recorded at Saturn Studios in Melbourne with unknown producer George Simak who isn't exactly a household name in the local metal scene. The results are pretty much as you would expect too with the guitars sounding tinny & far too far back in the mix while the vocals of operatic front man Shane Southby boom out over the top with no restraint whatsoever. It's a fairly unforgiving position for the theatrical Southby whose soaring, air-raid siren style, high-pitched voice often struggles for control, even spilling over into the pitchy & cringe-worthy on tracks like "The Chosen" where he completely ruins what was otherwise a very solid progressive metal number from an instrumental point of view. He's a lot more successful on other tracks though & I've found myself enjoying a good three quarters of the tracklisting with heavy metal closer "My Life" being the only other failure. Taramis are at their best when they're at their most adventurous & prove themselves to be highly capable musicians along the way. Iron Maiden have clearly been a major inspiration for them & you can easily pick up the influence of their more progressive mid-to-late 80's records on "Queen of Thieves", particularly on the basslines of Danny Komorr who forms a formidable partnership with former Nothing Sacred drummer Dave Browne. The guitar solos of Craig Robertson aren't the most polished or theoretically correct you'll find but they are always interesting & fit the purpose quite well. It's kinda hard to pigeon-hole Taramis' sound at this point though as they tend to jump around a bit but I think a progressive power metal tag is probably the best fit, despite the consistent presence of traditional heavy metal. I think Southby's vocal style simply points me in the direction of power metal every time I question myself & there's a similar feel to Manilla Road in the atmospheres at times too.
The raw production job does limit how far Taramis can take you to an extent but I've found more than enough appeal in "Queen of Thieves" to keep me interested. It's probably just lacking those couple of classic tracks to draw your attention away from its flaws with only the excellent progressive metal anthem "Doesn't Seem" pushing up into second tier territory. The rest of the album largely sits back in the third tier for this type of music but it was an admirable first-up effort for Taramis nonetheless. History has shown that it did just enough to afford them a rare status amongst a local scene that was still quite immature in terms of the more progressive end of metal so it deserves its place in Australian metal folklore.
For fans of Adramelch, Iron Maiden & Manilla Road.
3.5/5
Anathema - "We Are The Bible" 7" single (1994)
This limited release Peaceville Records single is one of the more underrated releases in the English doom/death legends' prestigious back catalogue. In fact, I regard it as somewhat of a hidden gem. It's comprised of just the two tracks that span less than eleven minutes & opener "Nailed To The Cross/666" is merely acceptable however the real gold can be found on the B side with the psychedelic "Eternal Rise of the Sun" being a marvelous example of the creative power of this band. I may be a total Anathema fanboy but I think people have unfairly treated this record over the years. It's not anything like doom/death either. I'd suggest that a better description would be gothic stoner doom.
For fans of Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride.
4.5/5
SSDC - "State Sponsored Dissident Crucifixion" demo (1987)
Aussie hardcore punk. There's a little bit of metal here & there but the references to early thrash & crossover are drastically overstated.
Bathory - "Requiem" (1994)
By the early 1990's, Swedish metal gods Bathory had already made a huge impression on my life. I'd first discovered Quorthon & his various forms of stylist expression through 1988's incredible "Blood Fire Death" album, a record that would represent my earliest experience with genuine black metal, & it would change me in ways that I've never really recovered from. I would very quickly take in the rest of Bathory's prestigious back catalogue with each successive release seeing Quorthon gaining in credibility as one of the most original & influential artists of all time in terms of metal music. 1991's Twilight of the Gods" sixth album may have seen Bathory taking their foot off the pedal a little bit but was still a very solid effort when viewed outside of the context of the record that preceded it. I just think that Bathory had defined their Viking metal sound so emphatically with "Hammerheart" from the previous year that its follow-up was always going to struggle to achieve the same level of notoriety. There's no doubt that "Twilight of the Gods" is still a very strong record in its own right but I can't say that I consider it to be as classic as the three records that led into it. It did leave me wondering where Quorthon's next creative endeavour might take him though as it was still an immensely ambitious creative statement. We'd have to wait a full three years to find out though &, by the time 1994's "Requiem" appeared, I think my anticipation had waned a touch. Make no mistake about it, Ben & I still raced out to buy the album immediately upon release but I don't think my expectations were quite as high as they had been for the previous two records. Thank goodness they weren't either because "Requiem" is far from the classic that many people simply expected from Quorthon by that point in his highly celebrated career.
The first thing that hits you about "Requiem" is the rawness in Quorthon's production job. The album was once again recorded at Stockholm's Montezuma Studio which had seen Bathory creating yet another huge wall of epic Viking metal with "Twilight of the Gods" but this would be the first time that Quorthon had attempted to produce a Bathory record without the oversight of his father Börje Forsberg &, if these results are anything to go by, then it was a bad decision. My major gripe is with the artificial drum sound which is nothing short of abominable. The album cover lists Vvornth as once again handling the drums on this record but that name is generally accepted to be a pseudonym adopted by a number of different performed who filled the seat for Bathory from 1998 to 1996. On this occasion though, I don't actually think Vvornth is human because the drums on "Requiem" sound like a cheap drum machine to me but even that suspicion doesn't fully portray how bad the snare sound is here. In fact, it rivals Metallica's "St. Anger" for sheer cringe factor if I'm being completely honest. The rest of the kit isn't much better either with the kick drums & toms sounding thin & clicky. The rest of the instrumentation isn't too bad actually but there's very little in the way of studio gloss to be found here with the rhythm guitar tone being as raw as they come.
If you were expecting the next installment of Bathory's epic Viking metal legacy with "Requiem" then you were going to be sorely disappointed & I think it's fair to say that I was. "Requiem" sees Quorthon taking a complete change of stylistic direction towards a fairly generic thrash metal sound which is a little hard to understand. It doesn't actually sound all that bad on paper but the reality isn't all that it might have been. Quorthon has still maintained his trademark black metal shriek but the music sounds very much like an attempt to emulate classic Exodus & Kreator &, while there are some great riffs employed at times, it's hard to overcome the impact of those awful drums. The vocals tend to be fairly hit & miss too with the faster & more aggressive material benefiting from their extremity while the more restrained inclusions tend to suffer the opposite fate with Quorthon's raspy screams sounding far too over the top for the instrumentation that supports them. The guitar solos are instantly recognisable & see Quorthon simply blazing away on fast (if relatively simple) pentatonic licks with no attempt to hold anything back. As an holistic package though, "Requiem" simply seems a bit lacking in ambition after the incredible run of forward-thinking releases that Bathory were already responsible for producing over the previous decade or so.
Production issues aside, the nine-song tracklisting actually begins fairly well with the first tree tracks all being pretty enjoyable, particularly the excellent "Necroticus" which is my clear pick of the bunch. Things start to get noticeably shaky from there though with three of the next four songs all falling well short of the mark. "War Machine", "Pax vobiscum" & "Suffocate" don't even come close to reaching an acceptable level of appeal with me personally &, even though things return to some level of normality at the end of the album, I've always found it very difficult to repair the damage that had been done through the middle of the album. Don't get me wrong, there is some seriously shredding blackened thrash on this album at times but there's little doubt that it's presented in an inappropriate packaging & that Quorthon is miles better than this simple collection of tunes which never attempt to push through any pre-existing musical boundaries. It simply feels so safe, not to mention more than a little amateurish, so I can't deny my disappointment in what seemed like such an anti-climax at the time.
I think you'd be a brave man to claim that "Requiem" was anything other than the first genuine disappointment in Bathory's incredibly prestigious recording career & things would only get worse for Quorthon over the next twelve months as he continued to explore this "new" sound. I tried my very best not to let these creative misfires taint the legacy that Bathory had built up in my esteem & I think I did a reasonable job of it too. I can't deny that the Swedes would never again return to the throne they'd created with their past glories though & I definitely sensed that this might be the case at the time too. "Requiem" may not be a complete disaster but it certainly fell well short of the stratospheric levels of musical mastery we'd come to expect from Bathory so I feel that this might be my last revisit to one of Sweden's more tragic descents.
For fans of Exodus, Kreator & Sodom.
3/5
Psychrist - "The Abysmal Fiend" E.P. (1994)
During the formative years of my own death metal band Neuropath, there were a number of Aussie artists that played important roles in inspiring us to take things to a much higher level than we may otherwise have done & Canberra death metallers Psychrist were one of the more important. I had the pleasure of seeing them play live on a number of occasions & always loved their sound while their debut E.P. "The Abysmal Fiend" played a starring role around our rehearsal room & social gatherings for an extended period. I'd quite enjoyed Psychrist's 1992 demo tape but the E.P. was more emphatic in its statement & it was fantastic to hear a local group creating something that rivalled the Americans for class & intensity. It's really surprised me to discover that Psychrist haven't even been added to our database yet as they simply seem like such a significant player in Australian extreme metal & perhaps that just emphasizes how isolated we were in a pre-internet time. Regardless, I hope you take something from this review as Psychrist deserve to be heard & not just because of my nostalgia for a simpler time.
"The Abysmal Fiend" is a 26-minute, six-song affair that sports a more than acceptable Powerhouse Studio production job from a completely unheard of producer named Craig Beck who hasn't gone on to do anything else of note as far as I'm aware. It sounds thick & chunky yet maintains enough rawness to offer an obvious appeal for the more underground side of the scene with the guitar tone coming across as fairly sloppy in isolation yet becoming strangely cohesive when positioned within the full band aesthetic. The execution is highly professional for a first-up effort with Psychrist sounding like they'd been doing it their whole lives at this point. I recently reviewed a couple of the early releases from Brisbane death metallers Misery who were also a huge influence on Neuropath & this doesn't sound all that dissimilar to them or Gorguts' 1991 debut album "Considered Dead" although it's a lot faster & more brutal at times, particularly due to the addition of some fast & precise blast beats from drummer James Simper. In fact, there are a couple of tracks that spill all the way over into the brutal death metal space (see "The Shroud of Profanity" & "Copraphile") which no doubt left me with feeling a wide array of jollies back in the day given my fascination with the early brutal death metal scene. Psychrist display a really good sense of dynamics here though as there's a lot of variety in their decisions around tempo & this is a real strength. I particularly enjoy the vocals of guitarist & band leader Yuri Ward (Armoured Angel/Lord Kaos) who I enjoyed a few chats with over a beer or two back in the day while the use of harmonies & layering in the guitar work is professionally executed with bassist Dan Marsden (Astriaal) holding bottom end down nicely.
The tracklisting is completely without blemish & is very solid indeed. Interestingly, the obvious weak point is the shortest & most consistently brutal track in "Copraphile" which simply offers less in the way of depth & nuance than the rest of the material. I still enjoy it but I prefer it when Psychrist reach a little further than that. The other five songs are all really strong without any of them ever really cracking into the top tier of the death metal spectrum. "Tears of the Deceased" is the only inclusion to have been revamped from the demo tape & it doesn't sound out of place here either. The best offerings are probably opener "Inhumation" & the excellent "Spiral" (my personal favourite) which appeared on the Warhead Records compilation "Warhead Records Volume 1" the following year. I can hear a few riffs across the album that remind me very much of some of Neuropath's early tracks (particularly in the drumming) so the influence that these guys had on me is pretty obvious to be honest. Our second demo "Desert of Excruciation" would end up being released on the same Warhead Records label as "The Abysmal Fiend" too which isn't a coincidence given the impact that it & the other early Warhead releases had on me & my band mates when we were frantically exploring the merits of the Aussie live scene.
Psychrist would become a pretty stable part of my musical diet off the back of this release & would also represent something that I aspired to match at some point. I've been very pleased to discover that that level of idolatry wasn't without merit during this revisit either because "The Abysmal Fiend" is an excellent death metal release in its own right & is possibly the best thing that the band accomplished during their decade-long recording career so it's deservedly earnt its place in the annuls of Australian death metal history in my opinion.
For fans of Backyard Mortuary, Abramelin & Misery.
4/5
Alchemist - "Eternal Wedlock" demo (1987)
The debut release from these legendary Australian extreme metal icons is often regarded as being a tech thrash release & I'm not gonna deny that there is a strong thrash component here but there was already so much more to Alchemist's sound even at this early stage, so much so that I feel a progressive thrash metal tag is more accurate. The death growls of the future are nowhere to be found with clean vocalist Murray Neill making his only appearance for Alchemist. Those who are familiar with the band's work will no doubt identify the second track "Kill For It" as the title track from Alchemist's more than decent 1993 debut album "Jar of Kingdom" & it's by far the most avant-garde (not to mention entertaining) track of the four on offer here. The others are all quite thrashy & technical while exploring some fairly ambitious musical territory for a first-up effort. I actually tend to enjoy this cassette more than their more popular 1991 demo tape these days. It's not a bad release actually, even though my attention tends to wane a little during the closing title track.
For fans of Voivod, Rush & Coroner.
3.5/5
Dead/Regurgitate - "Dead/Regurgitate" split album (1994)
I stumbled upon this split album featuring Germany's Dead & Sweden's Regurgitate during my mid-90's tape trading heyday, inspired to investigate it after having really dug Regurgitate's debut album "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" from earlier the same year. I'd never heard of Dead before but ended up getting a fair bit of enjoyment out of both band's contributions to what could only be described as one of the better goregrind releases I've encountered. I don't believe I've returned to it in the many years since though, instead tending to turn to a couple of my Regurgitate records of choice whenever I feel the urge but I'm glad that I've finally given it another listen this week, even if I suspect that it might not receive another sitting from me in the future.
This split release is a collection that includes eight new songs from each band as well as the five Regurgitate tracks that were included on their split 7" single with German noisegrind outfit Vaginalmassaker back in 1992. Dead's inclusions would later receive a dedicated release on 2011's "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album while I think this is the only place you'll find the new Regurgitate material. The two bands have quite different sounds to each other but are both well worth hearing & it's really just a matter of taste as to which you might prefer. Dead's contribution is very well produced with a thick & chunky guitar tone that fills your headphones with a heavy combination of classic death metal & blasting goregrind. I'd suggest that the former is comfortably in the ascendency here though which makes Dead an attractive option for me given my taste profile. The Germans tend to explore a lot more territory in regard to tempo than their more consistently brutal Swedish counterparts with their triple-vocal approach drawing close comparisons to Carcass' late 80's releases. Regurgitate offer a much dirtier & more traditional goregrind sound that I tend to prefer, mainly because it's a touch more relentless in its commitment to pure savagery. The tracks from the 7" single sound noticeably different though & are clearly less effective than the newer material with the vocals being produced in that ridiculous vocoded, monster-esque fashion that has often annoyed me about the goregrind scene. I greatly prefer the more deathly growl employed on the more brutal new songs that make up for their less impressive production job with pure energy & attitude.
You can't really go wrong with these 21 tracks if you're an extreme metal fan with only a couple of duds amongst them. Dead's decision to close out their side with an annoying cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" was hard to understand as it certainly detracts from what was otherwise a pretty rock solid deathgrind experience. The first track from Regurgitate's split with single with Vaginalmassaker "Morbid Reality" isn't amazing either but I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the remainder of this record without ever really discovering anything too game-changing. Dead's best material comes right at the beginning of the album with the one-two punch of "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" into "Far Beyond Your Imagination" being the clear highlights. The new Regurgitate inclusions offer a more consistently strong standard though which is perhaps why I've ended up exploring more of their releases in the future while leaving Dead behind. The first three songs on their side are all really solid while the same can be said for the trio of tracks starting with the violent mosh pit anthem "Praedilectio for Menorrhagia". None of Regurgitate's efforts overstay their welcome which is just how I like my grindcore. As soon as they've hit on a riff that I find to be less appealing they've moved on to something that hits my fancy which is a great way to keep the listeners attention.
While this split release might not be the most original one you'll ever hear, it does offer a point of difference from the rest of the goregrind records out there in that neither band fit into the generic goregrind model. I've really enjoyed Dead's more death metal-inspired sound as well as the strong production job while Regurgitate's tendency to steer away from those ridiculous vocoded vocals for the majority of their allocation while blasting me into submission with exciting grindcore instrumentation has left me feeling exhilarated at times. It's a shame that they didn't close out the album in the same fashion though as the shorter tracks from the Vaginalmassaker split sound a little inferior in comparison, even if I generally enjoy most of those songs in isolation. As it is though, the Dead/Regurgitate split has been well worth a revisit, even if I can't see myself returning to it any time soon. I think I'm far more likely to reach for my Regurgitate releases of choice (i.e. "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" & 2002's "Hatefilled Vengeance" E.P.) instead to be honest.
For fans of Dead Infection, Haemorrhage & early Carcass.
3.5/5
Welcome to the Academy David. From your post, I'd suggest that you've come to the right place. Please feel free to become as involved as little or as much as you'd like & don't be shy. We're generally a very pleasant & friendly bunch who are all extremely passionate about our metal.
Incubus (AUS) - "Sinful Dreams" demo (1987)
The sole demo recording from Melbourne-based extreme thrash metallers Incubus who would change their name to Spectral Birth shortly afterwards for obvious reasons. Incubus have often been referred to as a death/thrash duo however I've always thought they were more of a blackened thrash prospect with the vocals of guitarist/bassist Laurie Ferdinands feeling much more like black metal shrieks than death metal grunts to me. The instrumentation is pure thrash though & there's some pretty good stuff amongst the four songs on offer here too with only closer "Passage of Souls: Sinful Dreams" falling flat.
For fans of Agressor, Massacra & "Blood Fire Death"-era Bathory.
3.5/5
Ben, please add Canberra death metallers Psychrist.
Dead - "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" (2011)
German deathgrind outfit Dead & I first made our acquaintance back in 1994 when I stumbled over their split CD with Swedish goregrinders Regurgitate, a release that I quite liked at the time but one that wasn't strong quite enough to see me following Dead into the future with the band still active today. Earlier this week though, I decided to revisit the Dead/Regurgitate split &, while I was undertaking that exercise, I discovered that Dead's contribution to that release could be found in isolation on their 2011 "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album. That particular record has given me some mild enjoyment over the last few days which has triggered me to write this review, a positive affirmation of the talents of a relatively unknown yet still more than decent extreme metal band who doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel but understands the wheel's functionality & intent very well.
Dead had released five or six demos & E.P.'s prior to the Regurgitate split, none of which I recall hearing before, & would enter Nürnberg's Pinguin Studios with unknown engineer Rainer Deckelmann to record their side of the split album some time in the first half of 1994. Dead had maintained the three-piece lineup that recorded their initial demo tape "Far Beyond Your Imagination" three years earlier & you can hear that in the professional way they lay down their craft here. Their model seems to have been crafted on the early Carcass one with each of the three band members contributing vocals in a triple-threat configuration that sees deeper grunts being complimented by higher register gurgles. Dead's sound is thick, chunky & tight with their simple riffs being backed up by a unified delivery that leaves each song sounding not only very heavy but also quite catchy. In a stylistic sense, I feel that they have a foot in both the goregrind & classic death metal camps which is an attractive option for me personally as it allows me to take them a little more seriously than most bands that are connected with the goregrind movement.
The tracklisting is a touch top-heavy with the album opening with the best material, my favourites being the blasting title track & the equally high-quality demo track "Far Beyond Your Imagination" which had been re-recorded for this exercise. I particularly enjoy the sections where Dead slow things down a bit with the excellent production job giving the band's doomier side the weight it needs to draw a physical reaction from the listener. The blasting Carcass-inspired grind sections are also really exciting & are executed with a suitable level of precision. All of this material is pretty fun actually although I have to question the decision to include a silly cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" to close out the record because it does leave me a bad taste in my mouth. I know its lyrical themes fit in with Dead's sexually provocative image but its general silliness tends to detract from an otherwise pretty good release.
While "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" may not be essential listening, I've found myself getting into it quite a bit this week. I'm not sure it'll be enough to see me reaching for the rest of Dead's back catalogue but it was an admirable effort nonetheless. I've never been the biggest goregrind fan to be honest but this death metal-infused version seems entirely more palatable & is well worth exploring.
For fans of Blood, Pungent Stench & Fornicator.
3.5/5
This month's list is a fucking belter. I loved pretty much all of it. There's so much great progressive stuff out there right now.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
I've passed this nomination uncontested Sonny.
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed "B-Sides and Other Things I Forgot" uncontested while the other two releases have been posted in the Hall of Judgement this morning Andi:
Monolithe - "Black Hole District" [Death doom metal from Paris, France]
I missed 2022's "Kosmodrom" album but these guys are generally always worth checking out so I'll likely be partaking in this one at some point.
Impending Doom - "Live From Exile" [Deathcore from California, USA]
Cremator - "Evil Brew" demo (1987)
The debut release from this obscure Perth thrash metal group that I've never gotten on with. They take a silly approach to their thrash which is more about drinking beer & having fun than anything too serious. The vocals are probably my main concern here with guitarist Bevan Wilkerson often resorting to high-pitched squeals that sound uncannily like Destruction front man Schmier. The rhythm guitar sound is stupidly messy while the lead tone sounds outrageously light-weight & downright strange. I do still find myself liking "United" though which is the most intense & thrashtastic song on offer but the rest does very little for me. Interestingly, drummer Russell Hopkinson was a former member of Melbourne hardcore punk outfit Vicious Circle & also went on to play for popular Aussie alternative rock bands You Am I & Nursery Crimes.
For fans of Anthrax, S.O.D. & Destruction.
2.5/5
I am familiar with the Walknut and Satyricon tracks and it was fantastic to hear them again.
I absolutely love "Walk the Path of Sorrow" & my recent revisit of "Dark Medieval Times" has only further fueled those flames. It's the only genuine classic on that record in my opinion. I could have picked a number of tracks from "Graveforests & Their Shadows" actually but the extra aggression in the shorter closing track gave it a slight edge over the other more solid inclusions on that album.
Uncreation - "Disincarnate" E.P. (1994)
An obscure Spanish demo from the early days of brutal death metal movement. This isn't nearly as blasting as most BDM releases, instead choosing to stick mainly to the chunky mid-range slam riffs. When the band do get their ultra-fast blasts on though, the drum skills of Joaquin can leave a lot to be desired. I do really dig this sound though so there's still plenty to enjoy here.
For fans of Pyrexia, Suffocation & Internal Bleeding.
3.5/5
Morbid Angel/Slaughter Lord - "Split" E.P. (1987)
An underground bootleg 7" single release that includes Morbid Angel's "Invocation" introduction followed by an unacceptably poorly recorded live version of a rare Morbid Angel track called "Funerals" which I'd love to hear in a more suitable setting because what I can make out sounds brilliant with Trey going suitably nuts on lead guitar. The two Slaughter Lord tracks are pulled straight off of their 1987 "Taste of Blood" demo & are both good-to=great but I can't see a reason to invest in this one. You're better off chasing down the Slaughter Lord "Thrash Till Death" compilation on Spotify & giving the Morbid Angel section a miss altogether.
For fans of Necrovore, Poison (GER) & Immolation.
3/5
Burying Place - "The Last Disaster of Humanity" demo (1993)
A pretty dodgy Lithuanian death metal demo that I picked up through my early-to-mid 1990's tape trading period. I believe I was looking for more brutal stuff & this one popped up in the discussion but it's really not a BDM release. It sits in more traditional death metal space but has a wacky, psychotic element to it that I can't get into. The production job is terrible too.
For fans of Deicide, Infestdead & Vital Remains.
2.5/5
Bongripper's 2010 "Satan Worshipping Doom" album seems to be highly regarded in this space but I haven't quite gotten on with it in the past to tell you the truth. I definitely prefer instrumental post-sludge releases like Year of No Light's "Ausserwelt", Russian Circles' "Memorial" & Omega Massif's "Geisterstadt".
I still really enjoy Snailking but this feels like such a complete package that it's hard not to say it vies for that top album spot.
I'm across everything that Ufomammut did up until 2012's "Oro: Opus Primum" album & "Eve" is easily my favourite of their solo releases. I'd still position the Lento collaboration slightly ahead of it though as it's utterly sublime.
What an album "Eve" was! It blew me away at the time & I ended up buying it on vinyl so that I could secure the psychedelic video that accompanied that format. Got thoroughly ripped with my best mate to that video on a number of occasions too just quietly.
The Ufomammut / Lento collaboration album, Supernaturals - Record One is definitely worth listening to.
That's one of my all-time favourite metal releases so I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Slaughter Lord - "Taste of Blood" demo (1987)
This short demo tape from a little-known Sydney extreme metal band represents the pinnacle of underground indulgence as it went on to become far more influential than most metalheads are probably aware of with everyone from Morbid Angel to Fenriz to Bathory & At The Gates waxing lyrical about its importance over the years. It includes just the three songs but manages to combine thrash metal, death metal & black metal to come up with a cacophony of sound that the world was not quite prepared for at the time & one that would go a long way to creating what we now know as war metal in the process too. It's not a perfect release as the thrash component tends to amount to some dodgy Slayer worship but the more extreme material is highly captivating as it possesses an unbridled fury that's rarely been matched in all the time since. "Taste of Blood" is very much a Sydney metal institution but should probably be on the radar of all fans of the more brutal end of 80's thrash too as it combines the most extreme elements of everything else that was going on in the world at the time, from the South Americans to the Teutonic scene to Bathory & the more intense examples of US thrash. It's all presented in a style that would become an Aussie signature though with a whole slew of bands tackling a black/death/thrash hybrid sound over the many years since. I still wear my Slaughter Lord t-shirt with pride, despite my wife being horrified every time I pull it out & continuously insisting that I don't wear it for school pickup duties.
For fans of Order From Chaos, Poison (GER) & Sadistik Exekution.
3.5/5
Various Artists - "Dead Flesh" (1993)
A more than decent Spanish death metal compilation that I picked up through the tape trading scene back in the mid-1990's. Every one of the ten tracks is worth hearing with two songs each being contributed by Avulsed, Antropomorfia, Sacrophobia, Fermento & Spontaneous Combustion. The majority of the record falls into the more conventional death metal space however there are a few brutal death metal numbers tossed in as well as the odd deathgrind section. I particularly enjoy the more brutal material with Antropomorfia's "Un hedor pestilente" & Spontaneous Combustion's "Darkness Prevails" being my personal favourites.
For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Putrevore & Deranged.
3.5/5
Sadistik Exekution - "Demo" (1987)
A legendary release in the Australian extreme metal underground that I've never quite understood even though I generally love the band & will always maintain fond memories of my time around them back in the mid-1990's. All three of the tracks from this crude death/thrash demo recording can be found in greatly improved configurations on the band's 1991 debut album "The Magus" but here they simply sound far too rough & immature for my liking. There's been no attempt to mask the sense of humour that was such a compulsory component of Sadistik's offering with several lengthy piss-take sections being indulged in. Front man Rok is the general protagonist as he hurls hilarious obscenities at Norwegian underground legend Metalion while psychotic bass player Dave Slave (Doomed & Disgusting) shows off his slap bass techniques in seemingly random fashion. The guitar work of Sasan "Sandy" Vahdani (Slaughter Lord) is a tornado of messy noise while drummer Sloth (Nomenclature Diablerie/Aggressa) spews forth a battery of nonsensical beats. It doesn't really make a lot of sense as far as I can see & the two-year gap between this recording & the sessions for “The Magus” was well spent. By the time I'd see them supporting Morbid Angel in 1992 at the Enmore Theatre they were quite a different prospect but Rok’s vocals already sound very cool & are the clear highlight in my opinion. I'd suggest that you give this one a miss though.
For fans of Vomitor, Slaughter Lord & Sarcofago.
2.5/5
Cannibal Corpse - "Meat Hook Sodomy" live bootleg (1993)
Another subpar live recording that I picked up around the time of release through the tape trading scene. It was clearly taken by one of the patrons at the show in question using a handheld cassette player. This gig comes from the tour for the "Tomb of the Mutilated" tour with front man Chris Barnes being the clear focal point with his ultra-deep death grunts, although he does sound ridiculous when he speaks in that tone between tracks. "Hammer Smashed Face" is really the only track that I find to be genuinely enjoyable although "Vomit the Soul" & "Edible Autopsy" are probably the other two that suffer a little less from the sound quality concerns. I love early Cannibal Corpse & know the tracks back to front so I can't say that I hated any of this release & still find my head bobbing away throughout but there are simply much better uses of my time than to be listening to inferior product like this one.
For fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.
2.5/5
Vicious Circle - "Rhyme with Reason" (1987)
It's been interesting to revisit the (alleged) third album from Melbourne hardcore punks Vicious Circle after so many years this week because it immediately raised some with me about its legitimacy as a genuine album. I don't recall having these thoughts when I first encountered the album as a teenager but it very soon became obvious that 1987's "Rhyme with Reason" record was more of a compilation of previously available material than it was the brand-new record that the vast majority of internet resources seem to have blindly taken it for. Those critics have clearly never heard Vicious Circle's 1986 "Reflections" album though as ten of the thirteen tracks included on "Rhyme with Reason" were taken from that record. Another (i.e. experimental post-punk song "Nightmare So Quick") has been borrowed from 1986's "Hidden-Supervision?" single too so fans of Vicious Circle's previous work should be aware of that before running off to purchase the vinyl at great expense. I could only really identify one short line that read "Note that 'Rhyme With Reason' was in part a compilation of material that had previously been issued in the Australian market" on the Discogs page for the release which confirmed my suspicions that these tracks are in fact the same versions that can be found on the disappointing "Reflections". That doesn't make "Rhyme with Reason" a redundant release though. On the contrary, it makes "Reflections" one as "Rhyme with Reason" manages to rectify some of the flaws in Vicious Circle's sophomore album by omitting a couple of the weaker songs that I felt tarnished it. It also adds a couple of fairly raw new tracks that we hadn't heard from the band before, admittedly with mixed results though to be fair.
As with Vicious Circle's earlier releases, I really struggle with the idea of "Rhyme with Reason" having much to do with the crossover thrash tag it so often seems to attract. There's really only a single track included that fits that mold in the new song "Turn to Stone" which is also one of the two weaker numbers that form an unfortunate mid-album quality dip with the other being the heavy metal/hard rock number "Hope & Wait" which I didn't enjoy much on "Reflections" either. The vast majority of the album still falls into hardcore punk territory although I'd suggest that there is enough conventional punk rock in brand-new opening track "Rule 17" & closer "Inside Operation" for it to be claimed as an influence, along with post-punk which shows its head on "Nightmare So Quick" & a good chunk of "Inside Operation" too. There's a touch less of the experimentation that was attempted on "Reflections" with "Rhyme with Reason" feeling a little more traditional in terms of hardcore punk, mainly because of the omission of the title track from "Reflections" which was overly long & also pretty awful to be fair.
"Rhyme with Reason" doesn't possess too much in the way of highlights but the vast majority of the material is enjoyable enough. As with "Reflections", the excellent hardcore punk tune "Mass Confusion" once again represents the clear high point of the record for me & it's a shame that none of the other material could match it because there was a fair bit of potential in some of these tracks. As it stands though, "Rhyme with Reason" ends up being another pretty enjoyable hardcore record from Vicious Circle but, as with their earlier releases, it still hasn't managed to become one that I can see myself returning to in the future. Even though I quite like it, I do tend to find myself favouring Vicious Circle's earlier material over "Rhyme with Reason" with their earliest demo recordings still offering me the most in terms of appeal. "The Price of Progress" is my preference of their first three full-length albums (if we're gonna include "Rhyme with Reason" as one of those like the rest of the internet seems to). Still, I can't deny the relevance of this record in terms of the band's overall discography as I'd highly recommend that you skip "Reflections" altogether & go direct to the stronger "Rhyme with Reason" if you're hellbent on exploring the Melbourne punks back catalogue.
For fans of early Permanent Damage, Condemned? & Depression.
3.5/5
Embalmer - "Rotting Remains" demo (1993)
Another obscure demo tape that was quite influential on me back in the day. The brutality of opening track "Rotten Body Fluids" was arguably as intense as metal had gotten to the time & I can clearly hear the influence on the sound that my own band Neuropath took with our later works. This demo sits somewhere between brutal death metal & conventional death metal but displays an obvious doom/death component too. It's some pretty fucking bad-ass stuff for the time & it's a shame that drummer Roy Stewart (Blessed Sickness) hadn't mastered his blast beats as yet because his timing issues do tend to taint some of this material. The ultra-gutteral vocals of Rick Fleming are a real highlight of this suffocatingly extreme underground demo.
For fans of Macabre, Abscess & Grotesque Infection.
3.5/5
Renegade - "Total Armageddon" (1987)
If you do a bit of research into the history of thrash metal in my home country of Australia, you'll often find yourself being told that Melbourne's Renegade represent band one in that story as they were reportedly first formed all the way back in 1982. I've never bought into that opinion personally as the evidence simply doesn't stack up. I'm not denying that Renegade were probably around as early as any other band that would go on to play extreme metal over time but if you follow the early "recorded" history of Aussie thrash fairly closely you'll soon start to question the timeline for when Renegade first transitioned into a genuine thrash band as their 1985 demo tape is more of a speed metal release than it is a thrash one with the heavy metal influence still a little too prominent for genuine thrash status. The song "Black Ritual" certainly proved that they had it in them but we'd have to wait until 1987 to see them finally taking that potential & turning it to reality with their sole album "Total Armageddon", a record that has gone down in Aussie metal folklore as a seriously important release in the grand scheme of extreme metal in this country. I can't stress enough how highly regarded it was by older metalheads when I first entered the scene in the late 1980's & early 1990's & can recall many a drunken night of air guitar & backyard moshing while accompanied by its charms. Let's take a look at it in a little more depth today & see if it holds up against the legend that surrounds it.
While the authenticity of Renegade's 1985 demo tape as a genuine thrash release is questionable at best, the same cannot be said of "Total Armageddon" as it's a total thrashfest with each of the eight songs included sitting very comfortably under a thrash tag. The album was recorded with producer Bruce Johnston at Melbourne's Jam Tin Studios some time in 1986 with Johnston's only other notable metal credit coming in the form of the 1987 "Warlords album from relatively unknown Melbourne heavy metal outfit S.A.S. Johnston's plays an important role here though as "Total Armageddon" beautifully harnesses the raw energy of Renegade at the time while allowing all instruments to maintain complete clarity throughout. I would suggest that the cover artwork has also played some sort of role in the records success with the image of VB-drinking devil aligning fairly closely with many Aussie metalhead's ideals back in the late 1980's.
"Total Armageddon" is a consistently fast record that barely takes its foot off the accelerator or stop for a breath at any point. Many of the more up-tempo riffs remind me a lot of Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" album while the moments when Renegade do tone the velocity back a bit seem to have been heavily influenced by classic Slayer & Mercyful Fate which can't be a bad thing now, can it? Front man Johnny Beer possesses a raspy delivery that reminds me more of Teutonic thrash acts like Destruction than it does the Americans & his performance here is an important ingredient in the overall appeal of a record like this one as he does an excellent job at calling Renegade's fanbase to arms while also separating the band from the more traditional heavy metal acts that had surrounded them for the majority of their existence to the time. Bassist Steve Scott (who would also appear on Hobbs Angel of Death's self-titled demo tape later the same year) puts in a great performance with his basslines being easily heard throughout the entire album. This most certainly isn't a terribly ambitious album from an instrumental point of view though as there's nothing you haven't heard before & the riff structures do tend to be quite simple but it's all executed with a clear understanding of what made 1980's thrash so great so there's nothing to complain about for fans of that era. The rare moments of experimentation (such as the acoustic guitar section in "Lucifer's Reign") are done very well & provide a nice contrast to the aggressive tremolo-picked speed metal riffs that make up the remainder of the record so it's pretty clear that Renegade had paid their dues & were very much a well-oiled machine by this stage of their evolution. Drummer Mick Scott is probably the weaker component of the band though as his kick drum work isn't as tight as the true masters of the genre. I really dig it when he goes for a driving Charlie Benante-style beat during the more ballsy parts of the album though & he displays good restraint during the chuggy halftime parts too.
The tracklisting offers great consistency with no weak songs included in the eight on offer. The title track is the clear standout in my opinion though as it reminds me of the unbridled aggression that the Teutonic thrash scene had built its reputation on. A couple of tracks from Renegade's 1985 demo tape ("Black Ritual" & "Lucifer's Reign") have been revisited with the latter being a stronger & more muscular effort than the original. While few listeners will deny that "Total Armageddon" is a thrash release, the speed metal sound that dominated the demo tape is still evident in the high velocities & uncluttered tremolo-picked riff structures which are well supported by Johnston's production job which helps to keep things sounding attractive & professional. All of this amounts to a more than decent thrash record that competes fairly well on a global scale but which no doubt threw a fairly nasty cat amongst the pigeons as far as the local scene went as I don't think that Australia had seen a release of this intensity before, at least not one in a proper album format. Renegade's role in Australian thrash cannot be denied in this respect & it's not hard to see why the old-schoolers are still waxing lyrical about it either.
For fans of Tyrus, classic Slayer & "Kill 'Em All"-period Metallica.
3.5/5
I finished listening to this month's The Guardians playlist while cleaning one of our bathrooms this morning & enjoyed it noticeably more than last month's list. The extended Paul Dianno tribute that makes up the introduction was a nice touch with both tracks sitting amongst my favourites from their respective albums. I don't mind Black Sabbath's "The Sabbath Stones" or Crimson Glory's "Lady of Winter either" which makes the first section of the tracklisting a very solid way to begin proceedings. Eternal Champion's "Cowards Keep" is an excellent piece of US power metal & I've a traditionally had a bit of time for Lost Horizon's "Again Will the Fire Burn" (What a voice!) & Judas Priest's "Bloodstone", despite feeling that the "Screaming for Vengeance" album is a touch overrated. Even though I nominated it for inclusion, I struggle a bit with Edge of Sanity's cover version of Manowar's "Blood of My Enemies", particularly within the context of the "The Spectral Sorrows" album where it sounds a little out of place. It doesn't sound as bad here but I still wouldn't say that it does a lot for me personally. This is a pretty strong representation of the clan overall though.
Dominus - "Sidereal Path of Colours" 7" single (1993)
A short two-song single from a relatively underground Danish death metal group that I picked up during my early tape trading days. Both tracks are very good too, particularly the title track which makes up the A side. The vocals of front man Michael Poulsen (yes, the dude from popular Danish heavy metal act Volbeat along with bassist Franz "Hellboss" Gottschalk) are ultra-deep & are the clear focal point here but there are some crushingly heavy riffs on offer too with the primitive production job being more than capable of doing them justice. Another one for our more underground-centric members of The Horde.
For fans of Konkhra, Sickening Gore & Illdisposed.
3.5/5
Vicious Circle - "Reflections" (1986)
The 1986 "Reflections" sophomore album from Melbourne hardcore punk crew Vicious Circle is another release that I picked up from the older skaters at my high school in the late 1980's & early 1990's along with several of the band's other releases. Those kids tended to gravitate towards thrash metal, crossover thrash & hardcore punk so I found myself picking up some fairly underground shit from them but never spent much time in trying to genre tag most of it. We simply didn't give a fuck about that sort of thing back in the day & if it had good energy then I was generally up for it. Even if I maybe didn't know the technicalities of what defined those subgenres just yet, I could easily tell that the early Vicious Circle releases weren't exactly metal &, as with their 1985 debut album "The Price of Progress", I tended to toss "Reflections" aside fairly quickly in favour of the more metal releases of the time. With the discovery that other websites like RateYourMusic & Metal Archives deem Vicious Circle to be a metal band of some description though, I thought it was time to give "Reflections" another chance to win me over, this time with some more educated & experienced ears.
To be fair, the early Vicious Circle releases weren't terribly adventurous. Their sound tended to stick within the confines of the stock-standard hardcore punk model with little attempt to expand their sound being taken but 1986's "Hidden-Supervision?" single had seen the band starting to experiment a little. The A side "A Nightmare So Quick" took an acoustic guitar-driven post-punk direction while the B side "Viewing Time" qualifies as one of the very earliest Aussie crossover thrash tunes. "Reflections" saw Vicious Circle looking to continue to explore new territory while including enough of their classic hardcore material to keep their die-hard fans happy. This is perhaps its major weakness in many respects as it ends up satisfying neither camp & comes across as a little wishy washy when viewed holistically. The "Circle of the Doomed" & "Foolish Ideas" demo tapes & the debut album all offered enough aggression & youthful vitality to keep me interested throughout but "Reflections" tends to taint that strength with misguided attempts to do something fresh & new. The idea was admirable enough but I'm afraid the execution leaves a bit to be desired with front man Paul Lindsay making a meal of the tracks that required a little more nuance & subtlety.
It's an unusual album in some respects because the wins certainly outweigh the failures reasonably comfortably but the few duds included tend to be weak enough to taint the overall album. The obvious protagonist in bringing "Reflections" down is the lengthy post-punk centrepiece of a title track which is completely destroyed by Lindsay who fumbles his way through a strained & consistently pitchy performance over some quite interesting acoustic guitar work for far more time than was ever warranted. The more commercial hard rock sound of "Hope & Wait" didn't work for Vicious Circle either & there are a couple of conventional punk rock tunes included with mixed results too. "Under the Surface" simply sounding a bit flat to me while closer "Inside Operation" is actually a pretty reasonable way to finish the tracklisting. The material that offers me the most appeal can unsurprisingly be found in the more up-tempo & violent hardcore-oriented material with "Mass Confusion" being the clear highlight as far as I'm concerned.
"Reflections" isn't an awful record by any stretch of the imagination but it is a pretty forgettable one & I tend to think that it makes for better playlist material than it does an overall album. There are just too many flaws for it to work as an holistic package in my opinion & I definitely prefer "The Price of Progress" over it. In fact, I'd have to suggest that I'd take either of Vicious Circle's 1984 demo tapes over EITHER album to be honest. Is there any metal here though? Well... yeah, I'd suggest that opening track "Common Denominator" should qualify as speed metal interestingly enough. I don't think there's anything else here that sounds remotely metal though so I can't understand why anyone would be stretching the friendship far enough to drag "Reflections" into crossover thrash discussions. Give this one a miss & head back to Vicious Circle's 1984/85 releases if you're looking for some more than decent early Australian hardcore punk though gang.
For fans of early Depression, Condemned? & Permanent Damage.
3/5
Deranged - "...the Confessions Continues." 7" (1993)
I picked this one up from an overseas tape trader back in the mid-1990's. It was on the same cassette as the Swedish death metallers' 1994 "Architects of Perversions" E.P. from memory. This short three-song single is perhaps not as brutal as the E.P. & its highlights are not as strong either but I think it's more consistent in terms of quality with no obvious duds included so I find myself enjoying the experience more with "Architects of Perversions" leaving me a bit cold when taken holistically. "...the Confessions Continues" is hardly essential but I think death metal freaks with a penchant for the underground might find a bit to enjoy here.
For fans of Avulsed, Insision & early Cannibal Corpse.
3.5/5
Here's my review:
Melbourne four-piece Mindsnare have played an enormous role in the creation of a thriving metalcore scene in Australia over the years & I feel somewhat privileged to have encountered them at a very early stage of their career when I discovered that they were practicing at the same rehearsal studio as my death metal band Neuropath during one of their early trips up to Sydney. I'd subsequently pay their rehearsal room a visit & would sit on the side with beer in hand as they'd smash out a succession of super-tight & highly energetic New York hardcore-inspired numbers that left me thoroughly impressed with both their undeniable professionalism & their overall heaviness. I've maintained a strong level of respect for Mindsnare as artists over the several decades since that experience but have always wondered if their studio recordings could possibly match the electricity of a live Mindsnare performance. The band's 1995 debut proper release "Under Fire" would seem like as good a place to start as any as it would have been roughly around that time that I had the pleasure of bumping into them so I guess I'm about to find out the answer to that long-standing question.
The version of "Under Fire" that I've explored this week includes the eight tracks that were intended for that release as well as Mindsnare's four-song demo tape from the previous year. The production job on the E.P. tracks is nice & clear with good separation between the instruments which does tend to highlight the simplicity of the song-writing with the arrangements & riff structures being kept fairly uncluttered & open. The band members seem to be very much in tune with each other with the performances being extremely tight so it's no wonder that Mindsnare were able to conjure up such a targeted & controlled live assault based on just how finely honed their attack was at the time. Vocalist Matt isn't the most amazing vocal talent you'll find but he does fairly well with what he's got & is backed up by the regular use of gang vocals in support. The New York hardcore influence is really clear throughout but the demo songs included on the CD are definitely a bit rawer. I tend to prefer their thrashier & more violent feel over the cleaner & more controlled E.P. direction to be honest.
I do have to admit that the E.P. material is a little hit & miss for me with a few flatter numbers seeing my attention wavering at various stages of this short 26-minute release. "New Horizon", "About Time" & "Conveyer Belt" all fall into that category & unfortunately Mindsnare haven't managed to produce any genuine highlight tracks that leave me exhilarated enough to overlook those flaws with all of the better material still failing to see me fully convinced. It's not until the demo songs that I find my blood really pumping with hardcore punk belter "False Front" & the crossover-infused closer "Look Past Me" being the clear high points of the release in my opinion. I particularly enjoy the more savage guitar tone on the demo material as it simply feels more dangerous to me which is important with a metalcore release.
It probably should be noted that metalcore isn't one of my preferred genres so it's rare for me to venture out into my higher scores when presented with The Revolution releases. Therefore, a 3.5-star rating isn't a bad result for a relatively unknown Aussie release that competes pretty well with the overseas competition. I just think that "Under Fire" is a little bit too basic for me to get all hot & bothered about. I definitely enjoy its thrashier moments the most which isn't really any surprise but I do get the feeling that Mindsnare's best material was likely ahead of them when listening to this debut release which isn't terribly ambitious. In saying that, I'm not too sure I can see myself putting the time into any of Mindsnare's later works so this might end up being my long-term position on them as a recording artist. Don't let that stop you if you're a big metalcore fan though as you can do a lot worse than this early Australian release.
For fans of Earth Crisis, Merauder & All Out War.
3.5/5
Permanent Damage - "Permanent Damage" E.P. (1985)
The debut release from this Melbourne hardcore punk band that would go on to make some pretty decent crossover thrash in the future.
For fans of Vicious Circle, Condemned? & early Depression.