Daniel's Forum Replies

My updated Top Ten Neoclassical Metal Releases of All Time after revisiting this month's The Guardians feature release this week:

01. Yngwie Malmsteen – “Trial By Fire: Live In Leningrad” (1989)

02. Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force – “Odyssey” (1988)

03. Vinnie Moore – “Mind’s Eye” (1986)

04. Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force – “Marching Out” (1985)

05. Jason Becker – “Perpetual Burn” (1988)

06. Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force – “Rising Force” (1984)

07. Yngwie Malmsteen - "Fire & Ice" (1992)

08. Yngwie J. Malmsteen – “Trilogy” (1986)

09. Cacophony – “Speed Metal Symphony” (1987)

10. Tony MacAlpine - "Maximum Security" (1987)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/141

I just wrote a full review of this album & then accidently deleted it so I'm not gonna go through the lengthy process again. Let's just say that "Fire & Ice" is an underrated release that saw Yngwie returning to some level of form after 1990's disappointing "Eclipse" album. The clear highlights are the two wonderful neoclassical metal instrumentals "Perpetual" & "Leviathan" which manage to balance out the three or four duds amongst the fourteen song tracklisting very well. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Yngwie well & truly puts competitors like Cacophony, Jason Becker & Michael Angelo Batio back in their boxes with those because no one can touch him when he decides to get his dark & exotic leather pants on & these two tracks are the absolute peak of the niche genre for mine.

The album jumps around quite a bit stylistically which keeps you on your toes with hard rock, heavy metal, power metal & even glam metal, classical music & symphonic metal getting the odd airing. The semi-regular use of bridges that go full-throttle down a cheesy classical music hole is something I could do without but the more sporadic use of keyboard solos & the wonderfully capable vocals of Göran Edman (Madison/Time Requiem/Vinnie Vincent Invasion) certainly do no harm whatsoever. Was Yngwie simply repeating himself by this stage? Yeah, there's no doubt that he was but I'd actually take "Fire & Ice" over 1986's much more popular "Trilogy" album if I'm being honest so it's far from the misfire people seem to claim it to be these days. 

3.5/5

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" which I regard as being hard rock.

Also, I gave Budgie's 1975 fifth album "Bandolier" a couple of listens this morning. It's not a metal record. It's a hard rock release with heavy metal influences for mine. The closing track "Napoleon Bona-Part One/Napoleon Bona-Part Two" is pure heavy metal though.

Here's my adjusted Top Ten Technical Thrash Releases of All Time list after revisiting KAT's "Bastard" this week. Destruction's "Cracked Brain" is the unlucky one to drop out of the list.

01. Coroner – “Mental Vortex” (1991)

02. Sadus - "Swallowed in Black" (1990)

03. Sadus – “A Vision Of Misery” (1992)

04. Coroner – “No More Color” (1989)

05. Hellwitch - "Syzygial Miscreancy" (1990)

06. Cryptic Shift – “Visitations From Enceladus” (2020)

07. Ripping Corpse - "Dreaming With The Dead" (1991)

08. KAT - "Bastard" (1992)

09. Obliveon - "From This Day Forward" (1990)

10. Toxik – “World Circus” (1987)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/173

Here's my review:

I believe that I first came across Poland's KAT when a European tape trader sent me their highly regarded 1988 third album "Oddech wymarłych światów" back in the early 1990's, a release that I quite enjoyed & which led me to explore their 1992 "Bastard" album shortly afterwards. "Oddech wymarłych światów" had seen KAT moving away from their heavy/roots metal roots towards a thrash metal sound that was more in line with my musical preferences but it just lacked the consistent quality in the riffs & those couple of genuine highlight tracks that would take it from being a pleasant one-off experience to a more engaging one worthy of multiple revisits. "Bastard" would see KAT taking their sound to the next level & shows clear evidence that the four-year gap between albums had not been wasted. You see, "Bastard" is much more than your standard early 1990's thrash metal release. It's a complex & expansive beast of a technical/progressive thrash record that takes risks & subsequently offers greater rewards than it's more widely acclaimed predecessor. That's not to say that "Bastard" doesn't have it's flaws though because it certainly does.

The production job isn't amazing with the rhythm guitar tone being a little flat & overly dry but the main detractor is the dodgy Polish vocals of Roman Kostrzewski which don't seem to fit as comfortably over the more technically inclined brand of thrash that KAT were dishing out at the time. I would definitely have preferred a more classically capable singer here to tell you the truth. Thankfully though, the instrumentation is pretty wonderful & offers more than enough in the way of mind-bending rhythmic gymnastics to keep this ol' trasher interested throughout a blemish-free tracklisting.

As with "Oddech wymarłych światów", I wouldn't suggest that there are any genuine classics amongst this lot though. My issues with the vocals goes a long way to ensuring that but there is some good variation in style included to keep the listener on their toes. With the exception of the more straight-forward title track, the first half of the album generally indulges in a challenging technical/progressive thrash sound but KAT change things up a bit in the middle of the record with a two-minute instrumental neoclassical metal piece called "N.D.C." which is very effective in showcasing the flashy sweep-picking skills of guitarists Piotr Luczyk & Jacek Regulski. The tracklisting is also closed out by "Łza dla cieniów minionych" which I could only suggest was an early example of gothic metal & is a far cry from the aggressive tech thrash of the rest of the album. It doesn't seem out of place or jarring though which is a credit to KAT's creative vision & ability to execute in a fluent fashion.

I have to say that it's kinda strange that no one seems to mention "Bastard" when talking about the better examples of the technical/progressive thrash sound as it's emphatic in its statement in that regard. In fact, I'd suggest that it's one of the best examples of that style I've experienced to be honest which is really saying something. KAT are generally compared with bands like Venom, Sodom & fellow Poles Turbo but "Bastard" sits much more comfortably alongside artists like Аспид & Obliveon as well as the more technical Annihilator material in my opinion & if those acts bring a spring to your step then it's a safe bet that "Bastard" will too as long as you can handle the Polish language vocal delivery. It's certainly a step up in class from "Oddech wymarłych światów" in my opinion & is probably the best of the six KAT releases I've heard over the years.

4/5

I would personally also include Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Scorpions albums In Trance and Virgin Killer, because I also consider those releases equally heavy metal/hard rock, and they're worth discussion to see if anyone agrees with me and if they should end up in the site, but that's just my opinion. 

Andi, I revisited "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" in great detail over the last two days & have to ask where you're finding any genuine metal on that album because I can't identify any personally.

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "All Moving Parts (Still Still)" which I don't consider to be any more than hard rock:

Today's track is Black Sabbath's "Gypsy" which is a hard rock number:

Also, I checked our Rush's 1975 sophomore album "Fly By Night" yesterday & there's no metal there whatsoever. It's a progressive hard rock record.

Here's my review:

English death metal establishment Bolt Thrower quickly became a key player in my youth after I discovered their 1989 sophomore album "Realm of Chaos" through late-night underground metal radio programming during the very early 1990s. Tracks like "World Eater", "Eternal War" & "All The Remains" received regular air-time during that period & I was instantly attracted to their dark, war-worshipping tone. I'd subsequently purchase the album on cassette & it's a record that I still think of with fond memories to this day although I wouldn't say that I've ever regarded it as a classic. It would certainly impress me enough for me to not only explore Bolt Thrower's 1987 "Concession of Pain" demo tape, 1988 "Peel Sessions" recordings & debut album "In Battle There Is No Law!" (the latter two of which I enjoyed) but also to race out & purchase their 1991 third album "War Master" upon release. I'd already been given a taster a month earlier through the "Cenotaph" E.P. which was centered around arguably the best track from the album so I was well up for what was in store for me by the time the full-length CD hit my player. "War Master" would receive many listens from me that year & has commanded regular revisits ever since but, despite it being held up as a genuine death metal classic by many death metal fans, I've never seen it as the equal of the two albums that followed it which is where my Bolt Thrower sweet spot is. It's time I gave "War Master" the time to find out why that is.

"War Master" would very much represent the next step in Bolt Thrower's evolution following two full-lengths that still maintained an element of dirt & grit. It would see the band cleaning up their sound a bit & going for a more professionally presented death metal package that placed a higher value on production & precision. The grindcore component that was still quite evident on "Realm of Chaos" is considerably less prominent on "War Master" which is focused on a slightly more melodic death metal sound with blast-beats being used less regularly. You can still hear elements of the thrash metal influence that was evident in their early works in the guitar solo sections which are pretty clearly inspired by the Kerry King/Jeff Hannemann model. Despite that though, "War Master" would be the record that would define the classic Bolt Thrower sound & style, a model that they'd rarely veer away from for too long over the course of their five subsequent albums.

The glossy album cover is a pretty good representation of where Bolt Thrower were at in their musical evolution too actually. It's brighter & more colourful than the "Realm of Chaos" artwork was, even though they're built around similar "Warhammer" role-playing-game inspired themes. The performances of the five individuals seem more controlled & restrained with a stronger focus on cohesion & precision than sheer extremity. Jo Bench's immense bass tone plays a key role in allowing guitarists Gavin Ward & Barry Thompson the room to explore increasingly more melodic riff structures without losing anything in the way of bottom end. Drummer Andrew Whale does struggle a bit with the increased visibility afforded to him by the cleaner production with his clicky kick drum work coming across as a little sloppy, particularly when compared to the precision performances he would contribute in the near future. I'd also suggest that Ward & Thompson's guitar solos are pretty disposable a lot of the time as neither were exactly virtuosos or, on the evidence here, had a lot to say with their lead work from a creative viewpoint either.

The tracklisting is seriously consistent though with all ten songs achieving a very solid song-writing standard that ensures that the listener knows they're listening to one of the leading players in the scene. There's admittedly starting to be a hint of the formulaic about this collection of tunes but you can easily accept that when the formula is so fresh & appealing. The one-two punch of "Cenotaph" & the title track are the clear classics of this collection &, once you hear those two, it's a little hard to see "War Master" as the classic it's reported to be as the other material is so clearly less emphatic in achieving its goal. There needed to be a couple more tracks of that caliber included for "War Master" to reach a more elite death metal stature with me personally. "Cenotaph" is notable for being the sequel of the best track from "Realm of Chaos" too as it begins by fading in where "World Eater" faded out. "Spearhead" from the next album "The IVth Crusade" would continue that journey.

You won't find a hint of anything less than high quality death metal amongst this collection of tunes as it's an impressively composed, produced & executed record all round, marginally pipping out "Realm of Chaos" for Bolt Thrower's best work to the time. I feel that the band needed another crack in order to fully capitalize on their new vision though with 1992's "The IVth Crusade" being the true benchmark of their career & 1994's "...For Victory" not being too far behind. There can be no denying the relevance of "War Master" at a time when the death metal scene was starting to really explode on a global basis though & it has its main competitors covered pretty comfortably with bands like Benediction, Asphyx & Hail of Bullets having to satisfy themselves with being also-rans rather than genuine competition.

4/5

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "It's Alright" which I'd suggest sits somewhere between piano rock & pop rock:

My first question has got to be "did Daniel really suggest the Equilibrium track?!" I mean, I quite dug it too, surprisingly (it felt very cinematic), but it seems most unlike him.

It was a pretty lean month for me for The North releases so I thought I'd include it in the interest of diversity. It was probably the least offensive track from an album where I found nothing whatsoever that appealed to me.

The new full-length from Chicago drone outfit Locrian (entitled "End Terrain") is due to hit the shelves on 5th April. I really dug 2010's "The Crystal World" album so I may just need to partake in some of this fine audio.

Italian tech deathsters Hour of Penance are due to release their ninth album "Devotion" on 5th April. I've been a big fan of them for around fifteen years now so I'll be all over it.

For those that are interested (i.e. not me), there's a new Savatage album due to be released on 4th April entitled "Curtain Call". It'll be their twelfth full-length & their first since 2001's "Poets & Madmen".

After absolutely loving 2001's "Worst Enemy" & quite liking 2003's "Spreading the Rage", I'm very interested in the brand new twelfth full-length "Killing Karma" from German death metallers Disbelief which is due to hit the streets on 31st March.

For those of us that enjoyed last year's self-titled E.P. from US power metallers Savage Oath (raises his hand), their debut album "Divine Battle" hits the streets next week.

The new "Apocalyptic Onanism" remixes release from English extreme metallers Anaal Nathrakh hit the streets yesterday. It's been a while since we've heard from them so I'm interested to hear what they've got in store for us.

I just checked out the 1975 self-titled debut album from Argentina’s El Reloj & found no metal whatsoever. It’s a progressive rock record with jazz-rock influences.

Quiet Riot’s 1975 “Suicidal Show” E.P. doesn’t contain any metal either. It’s a generic hard rock record.

Here's the running chronological list of my results so far:

https://metal.academy/lists/single/271

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "You Won't Change Me" which I regard as being heavy metal, mainly due to the thick & powerful metal guitar tone as the strong use of crunchy drawn-out chords could have gone either way given that it's a tool that is just as commonly seen in the heavier examples of hard rock. This track really does sound a lot like some of Ozzy's darker & more brooding 1980's solo work.

Here's my review:

I believe it was my younger brother Ben that first brought Sweden's Slumber to my attention many years ago as he's been quite a fan of the band's sole full-length "Fallout" for a long time now. Slumber was a talented six-piece outfit that only got the chance to put out the one proper release in their nine years of existence which would seem to be a shame based on the evidence here. You see, "Fallout" presents a band with a fully realised sound that clearly already knew who they were & what they aspired to be. Their audience clearly "get it" too as "Fallout" has gone on to become somewhat of a classic release for the doom/death genre over the couple of decades since.

"Fallout" sees Slumber dishing out a sound that's a little difficult to pigeon-hole into a single, well-fitting subgenre. The most commonly used option is doom/death which I agree with but I've never been 100% comfortable with my position on that given that... well... you'll find that it's not particularly doomy if you give it any level of scrutiny. But neither can I find a better fitting tag so it's as good a description as any I guess. The other factor is just how melodic "Fallout" is which sees people tending to label it as melodic doom/death which is getting a lot closer to the truth. People that try to push it into melodeath territory are certainly clutching at straws though because I don't hear any genuine death metal on display here. I do however pickup quite a bit of gothic metal in the instrumentation, production & clean vocals so there's a case for a secondary tag there for sure.

The production job on "Fallout" is wonderfully clean, bright & expansive &, in many ways, represents one of the defining elements in Slumber's appeal. There's no doubt that Slumber are a little more melodic than I would usually go for but it's hard not to see yourself caving in to the attractive packaging the song-writing is draped in here. The other major selling point is the musicianship which is spectacular throughout with all band members being well in control of their instruments & pushing themselves creatively. Bass player Mikael Brunqvist is worthy of particular mention as I find his contribution to be the high point of the album with his clean tone & confident & melodically in-tune backing adding an additional layer of professionalism to an already pretty impressive platform. Front man Siavosh Bigonah's death growls are perhaps not quite so emphatically successful but I wouldn't say that he has a negative impact on the outcome as such. It's just that his death "growls" sound more like death "barks" a lot of the time.

The more uptemo songs like "Conflict" & closer "A Wanderer's Star" tend to offer me a little less appeal than the heavier material but there are no weak tracks included here. The title track is the obvious highlight though with it's Katatonia-inspired melodic theme possessing the sort of ear-worms that have kept me in awe of a record like "Brave Murder Day" for so many years. Opener "Rapture" & "Distress" are probably my other picks of the bunch but "Where Nothing Was Left" & "Dreamscape" are very solid efforts as well. You see, there's very little to complain about with a record like "Fallout" if you're drawn to full-realised & well-executed extreme metal music. It's all just so damn impressive in its achievement of its chosen goal which makes me want to like it more than my taste profile would generally allow for.

If you're the type of extreme metal fan that tends to angle towards the more melodic side of the scene then "Fallout" should be a complete no-brainer because it's very much tailored to you & your musical preferences but I'd hate to think that people will allow comments like that to limit the potential for them to check this record out either because it's won this battle-hardened extremist over pretty comfortably. Finland's Rapture, fellow Swedes Enshine & Amercians Daylight Dies are probably the best points of comparison I can think of at the moment & if those artists already feature pretty prominently in your Spotify world then I hold very few fears of "Fallout" not playing an active role there for some time into the future as well as it's a very solid & accomplished example of the melodic doom/death sound.

4/5

I've never got round to this one, but if the music is as atmospheric as the cover then it should be a treat.

Interestingly, RYM tells me that you rated this release back in December 2017 Sonny. Must have left a deep impression. ;)

Here are few of my hidden gems guys:

The Amenta - "Flesh Is Heir" (2013) Industrial death metal from Sydney, Australia

Glorior Belli - "Meet Us at the Southern Sign" (2009) French black metal

Gnaw Their Tongues - "Abyss of Longing Throats" (2015) Industrial black metal/noise from Suriname

Here's my review:

Polish one-man black act Evilfeast & I first crossed paths back in 2009 when I gave lone contributor GrimSpirit's 2008 third full-length "Lost Horizons of Wisdom" a few listens & really enjoyed it too. This experience would not only see me experimenting with some of Evilfeast's other releases & finding them all to be worth hearing but it would also see me asking myself the obvious question: What exactly IS an "evilfeast"? Is it the food that's evil or the patrons at said feast? If not the food or the techniques used to eat said food then I'd have to question the relevance of calling it an evilfeast actually but anyway... moving right along... I come into "Elegies of the Stellar Wind" (GrimSpirit's fifth album under the Evilfeast moniker) with some experience with both this work & most of his other releases although I've never gotten around to rating or reviewing any of them which seems to be a common theme these days given my self-imposed rules around how & what I review.

Now, I'm gonna be open about the mistake I made coming into this revisit of "Elegies of the Stellar Wind"; an album that a remembered quite enjoying. You see, I chucked it on straight after my third straight listen to our Rollins Band feature release "The End of Silence" which is a much heavier & more intense record. Evilfeast's effort seemed to sound a little lacklustre in comparison to be honest & I started to think that I might have over-stated the level of appeal the album had offered me in the past. The intentionally lo-fi production job certainly contributed to that with the guitars sounding far too distant during the sections where they're isolated in the mix & the vocals sitting too far back in the mix for the most part too which I'm guessing was intentional. The pretty regular use of symphonics saw me recoiling a bit as well as I've never been the biggest fan of the more keyboard-driven black metal model but a couple more listens saw "Elegies of the Stellar Wind" opening up a bit & I ended up finding myself getting a fair bit of enjoyment out of most of it.

Evilfeast's sound is often compared with the more prominent one-man atmosheric black metal acts but I feel that an artist like Burzum offered a much darker & colder package than the one we get here. The keyboards are used in a trancier fashion & the tempos are often pushed into faster territory which gives Evilfeast a lighter feel, even though the influence of the early Emperor releases is obvious at times. In fact, the use of the "atmospheric black metal" tag is actually a little questionable with a lot of this material as some of it would fit a touch better under the symphonic black metal or conventional black metal tags but I think it's the production & general aesthetic that keeps people reaching for the atmospheric variety when describing the album. I wouldn't say that Evilfeast are offering anything terribly fresh or original here though & artists like Sweden's Bekëth Nexëhmü, Switzerland's Paysage d'Hiver & Greece's Nocternity are probably a pretty good gauge of what you should expect.

I think my struggles with my initial revisit of "Elegies of the Stellar Wind" were definitely contributed to by the decision to kick the tracklisting off with the piece that offers me the least in the way of appeal with twelve-minute opener "The Second Baptism... Shores in Fire & Ice" ending up being a bit of a struggle. That kinda set me into a negative mindset from the start & it wasn't until I restarted the album from a different starting point on my drive home from work that I found that I could reset my expectations & really dig into the sounds on offer. I still can't say that I genuinely love anything that Evilfeast have to offer here but the vast majority of it is pretty enjoyable. It's just that there's always one or two elements of each of the six lengthy pieces that sees my smile turning upside down & my issues with the production & the use of simplistic drum programming probably don't help either. Unsurprisingly, it's the darker & more brutal moments that work best for me & they usually come without the bombastic keyboard which helps too.

If I draw back on my past experiences with Evilfeast I'd have to suggest that "Elegies of the Stellar Wind" is one of his better records although it doesn't really sit in my personal black metal wheel-house. Thankfully I managed to accept that fairly early on which enabled me to simply try to enjoy the ride which has worked pretty well for the most part. I definitely needed a couple of listens to get into Evilfeast's sound though so if you experience similar struggles upon your first spin then I'd urge you to have a bit of faith that things will slip into place with repeat listens. I'd also recommend that you draw upon the alternate meaning for the word "stellar" when reading the album title (e.g. "a stellar cast had been assembled") because it makes for a few chuckles if you're not one of those kvlt elitist black metal types. 

3.5/5

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Back Street Kids" which is predominantly a chuggy heavy metal tune even though the bridge sees them taking a detour through proggy hard rock:

The last track from Rainbow's "Rising" is the highly influential "A Light In The Black" which is another one that's not quite as straight forward as people seem to make it out to be. The main riff is definitely not a metal riff. It's pure hard rock for mine but the use of double kick from drummer Cozy Powell (a technique that was still very rare indeed & is a defining attribute of metal music) makes those sections a lot more ambiguous. The solo section however is a total metalfest with the strong use of tremolo-picking being the major influence on early speed metal & power metal that Andi was referring to recently. I'm gonna go with a dual tagging of hard rock & heavy metal here which leaves "Rising" with an overall positive result as far as metal credentials go, despite half of the tracklisting having nothing to do with metal whatsoever. Tomorrow we'll be starting a new release in Black Sabbath's 1976 seventh full-length "Technical Ecstasy" which should prove to be a divisive one too.

Also, I gave Thin Lizzy's 1974 fourth album "Night Life" & Deep Purple's 1974 ninth album "Stormbringer" a couple of listens this week & neither offered anything in the way of metal so I've now explored 1970-1974 in great detail & feel that we have complete coverage with the eight releases selected to date. I think I'll start a list this week so that we can keep track of it all visually.

Here's my review:

My initial experiences with California's Rollins Band came through late-night metal radio programming shortly after the release of their 1992 third album "The End of Silence" with songs like "Low Self Opinion", "Tearing" & "You Didn't Need" receiving regular air-time for a good few months there. I remember being struck by just how visceral & aggressive the vocal attack of former Black Flag front man Henry Rollins was & also found myself being impressed by the technical capabilities & general heaviness of his three accompanying musicians. I'd subsequently go about the task of securing myself a dubbed cassette copy of the album from a school mate & would find that the deeper cuts on the album would offer me even more appeal, so much so that I'd find myself obsessing over the album & developing somewhat of a man crush on Henry which would only be exacerbated by my experiences at my first Rollins Band live show at Manly Youth Centre shortly afterwards. As good as Rollins Band may be on record, I can assure you that they went to another level altogether in a live environment with Henry performing in just a little pair of black shorts with his ripped physique & incredible intensity being something that I hadn't experienced before or since. I spent a good portion of their set stage-diving into the swarming mass of euphoric youth in front of the stage but, unfortunately for me, towards the end of the show that swirling sea of testosterone would part just as I dived from the stage which would see me landing very heavily on the hard concrete floor with my arm left feeling that I may have broken it, a fact that was not lost on Henry. After the end of the final song, he would go out of his way to find me & we'd have a discussion that would end with me buying him a drink. I'll never forget how intense & intimidating he was yet he also put me at ease with his confidence & humility. He rejected my offer of an alcoholic beverage & told me that he didn't touch drugs or alcohol. In fact, I think he was already a vegan at the time & his ripped body was clearly his temple. He told me that he couldn't understand why a good-looking young dude like myself would bother to come & see his little band play when he would have been out chasing tail if he was in my shoes & we shared a laugh. It was an experience that I'll never forget & I still hold a great deal of admiration for Henry & enjoy listening to his stories through his spoken-word performances to this day. As for Rollins Band, I'd follow them into their 1994 fourth album "Weight" which was also very strong & would see me once again attending the supporting tour but we'd part ways after that & I haven't heard any of the four records that followed.

"The End of Silence" is a huge record in many ways. It's class & consistency is impeccable with none of the ten tracks ever hinting at being filler. The production is thick & heavy with each of the band members proving themselves to be masters of their chosen instruments, coming together to create some of the tightest grooves you'll find. Despite that though, I'd suggest that Rollins Band's metal credentials weren't all that straight forward as they brought together a number of different sounds but presented the sum of their influences in such a professional & full-realised packaging that it pretty much becomes irrelevant as to what genre they should rightfully sit under. If I had to describe the sound of "The End of Silence" though, I'd suggest that they bring together the post-hardcore edge of Helmet, the doomy alternative metal of Soundgarden & the stoner rock grooves of Queens Of The Stone Age with an undeniable Black Sabbath influence &, even if that may not amount to a metal record overall, I'm not gonna argue the point because it's really a moot point in the grand scheme of things as there's really no doubt that fans of alternative metal will dig "The End of Silence".

The tracklisting begins in very solid fashion with the three big singles all sitting within the first four songs. Little will your average alternative radio-listener know that the real gold is still ahead of them though as Rollins Band were at their best when they went in more expansive directions with the longer tracks allowing them the freedom to fully flex their undeniably impressive muscles. The brilliant twelve minute "Blues Jam" has always been the centrepiece for me personally & it still feels like the perfect representation of what the band were trying to achieve to this day but it's closely followed by "Almost Real" & "What Do You Do" which were both clear anthems for my youth too. While the more up-tempo inclusions like "Tearing" & "Another Life" may seem to be a little less significant than the more drawn-out material, repeat listens see them opening up & digging their teeth in quite deeply which sees the depth in the tracklisting solidifying into an impressive wall of sonic expression.

It surprises me that "The End of Silence" isn't more highly praised to be honest as time has seen it losing none of its impact. The ambiguous nature of its sound also sees it presenting a significant amount of crossover appeal too as it offers just as much to the alternative rock radio audience as it does to the metal scene. The passion that Henry puts into his music is never in doubt but he's definitely challenged for the spotlight by the wonderful bass guitar performance of Jello Biafra, Pigface & Ween bassist Andrew Weiss whose gut-tearing wah-pedal-infused basslines play as major a part in the overall impact of "The End of Silence" as Henry's vocals do. This is rock music at its most potent & visceral & it acts as a reminder of what rock & roll formerly aspired to be but so rarely ends up being in 2024. I'd suggest that "The End of Silence" should be essential listening for all members of The Gateway.

4.5/5

Now we're gonna get really controversial ladies & gentlemen because, despite being a wonderful track in its own right, Rainbow's most influential track "Stargazer" isn't the obvious pillar of metal that it's so often made out to be. In fact, the riffs & drumming are pure hard rock for the most part & I've often viewed "Stargazer" as Rainbow's attempt to make a more epic version of Led Zeppelin's monumental symphonic hard rock anthem "Kashmir". So why is it so often linked to heavy metal? It's because of the over-the-top use of keyboards to create a massively epic atmosphere, the lumbering gallop from the rhythm section, the utilization of exotic Eastern scales within the guitar solo, the soaring vocal performance from Ronnie James Dio & the huge crescendo at the end of the song & I have to admit that these things see me being confused about what outcome is warranted here. Contrary to popular opinion, I strongly feel that "Stargazer" is more of a symphonic hard rock song than it is a heavy metal one but, after listening to it five times in a row this morning & still not coming up with a definitive answer & at the risk of having to change my tune on the metal credentials of "Rising" overall, I'm gonna finally give in by ticking the heavy metal box as well, mainly because this song simply sounds so different to what your traditionally bluesy hard rock number should sound like.

Also, I revisited Randy Holden's 1970 "Population II" debut album yesterday & I can honestly say that it threw a cat amongst the pigeons for a while there because it's doomy heavy psych is easily as heavy as Black Sabbath's debut, perhaps even more so. I'd even go so far as to say that the two versions of "Fruit & Iceburgs" are fully fledged traditional doom metal & opener "Guitar Song" went pretty close to being tagged that way too but the Jimi Hendrix influence ultimately ended up overcoming the Sabbath one & saw me finishing up with a heavy psych primary & a traditional doom metal secondary.

Today's track is Rainbow's "Do You Close Your Eyes" which is clearly hard rock:

Master's Hammer - "Ritual" (1991)

1991's debut album "Ritual" represented my entry point into the world of Czech black metallers Master's Hammer back in the day, an experience that would see me experimenting with most of the remainder of their back-catalogue at one point or another with the exception of their 1995 electronic/experimental third album "Šlágry" which I've never found the courage to investigate. The band's second & third demo tapes were pretty decent as well as their 1992 sophomore album "Jilemnický okultista" but the remainder of the Master's Hammer discography is largely underwhelming with only 2012's "Vracejte konve na místo" seeing me leaving with a positive outlook. It's really this first-up full-length that will forever be the centrepiece of Master's Hammer's legacy though & I'd suggest that it's influence can be easily picked up on many of the early Second Wave of Black Metal releases.

"Ritual" is a funny record for me as I can easily hear its importance in the evolution of the modern black metal sound but there's quite often one element or another that holds me back from fully committing. The riffs are a lot thrashier than most early 90's black metal bands would opt for which was perhaps more of a reflection of Master's Hammer's First Wave credentials than anything else while the primitive blast-beats give "Ritual" a fair whack of old-school street credibility. There's a quirkiness to their sound though that I find hard to put my finger on with the vocals of front man Franta Štorm often taking an unusual yet captivating route, despite the clear influence from Bathory's Quorthon. In fact, the Bathory influence is clear throughout "Ritual" with all eras of that classic artist appearing in one shape or form, the most significant of which being the wonderfully epic closer & album highlight "Útok" which reeks of Bathory's Viking metal period.

The tracklisting is relatively consistent with only the weak "Géniové..." failing to hit the mark but I'd suggest that there aren't enough genuine highlights for me to be considering my higher scores with only the high-quality instrumental title-track & the very solid "Černá svatozář" competing with the closer for highlight status. I do quite enjoy the opening intro piece "Intro (King of the Bohemian Forest)" though & feel that it sets the mood for the album quite well. The rest of the record is nothing more than mildly enjoyable though & doesn't justify the sort of praise you'll see from some parties. I genuinely feel that there's an element of getting carried away from a purely timeline-driven perspective with some reviewers as there's no doubt that "Ritual" was slightly ahead of its time. I find that I can hear their influence the most prominently with Norwegian Second Wave legends Enslaved & would be very surprised if there wasn't a link there. For me personally though, I can't quite position Master's Hammer's debut in as positive a light as I do the debut album from fellow late-First Wavers Samael whose "Worship Him" album from the same year left a noticeably deeper mark on my youth. Perhaps Master's Hammer are just a little too quirky for my taste but I do still enjoy "Ritual" without it ever really commanding that I give it regular revisits. Those with a taste for late First Wave artists like Root, Tormentor & Mortuary Drape may get more out of it than I do though & I'd still recommend that any black metal nut worthy of their bullet belt should at least have an understanding of "Ritual", if only for the sake of completism.

3.5/5

This morning's track is Rainbow's "Starstruck" which is a hard rock/blues rock hybrid in my opinion:

I examined Scorpions' 1974 sophomore album "Fly To The Rainbow" this weekend which was my first experience with it. There's no metal on offer whatsoever. The hard rock tag is certainly appropriate but I can't imagine why RYM wouldn't have a dual tagging with progressive rock because it's obviously required.

This morning's track is Rainbow's "Run With The Wolf" which is a clear example of hard rock:

We'll have to agree to disagree on all of that Andi.

This old favourite has finally packed it in after being structurally weakened by the Queensland sun with both elbows having increasingly bigger holes in them. You can kinda see the fade lines where the clothes line sits too. Clothes lines are metal as fuck, aren't they?

I would suggest that the title track is a simple hard rock song with a poppy hook that’s intended for radio play. It admittedly has a metal gallop behind the chorus but the lightweight percussion does its very best to nullify it. Not that it’s a bad song but I wouldn’t call it metal. I’ve always thought of “Run Of The Mill” as Priest’s attempt to make an atmospheric progressive/hard rock epic like Deep Purple’s “Child In Time”. I don’t hear much metal in that track apart from one short-lived doom metal although it’s the clear album highlight nonetheless.

You don’t hear the Black Sabbath worship in the songs I mentioned? I would say that the back end of “Dying To Meet You” is the part of the album that best foreshadows Priest’s signature heavy metal sound personally.

I gave Judas Priest's 1974 debut album "Rocka Rolla" a few good revisits this morning. There are a few metal tracks included in "Winter", "Deep Freeze" (both stoner metal) & "Dying To Meet You" (traditional doom metal/heavy metal) but it's not enough for a metal primary tag in my opinion. "Rocka Rolla" is more of a hard rock record with heavy metal, progressive rock & psychedelic rock influences for mine.

I would personally also include Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Scorpions albums In Trance and Virgin Killer, because I also consider those releases equally heavy metal/hard rock, and they're worth discussion to see if anyone agrees with me and if they should end up in the site

Andi, I don't feel like those investigations would be fruitful & I don't want to waste our time when there are so many genuine metal releases to get to. I know two of the albums you mentioned really well (i.e. "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" & Scorpions' "Virgin Killer") & I've never felt there was much in the way of metal on them. The consensus on RYM is unanimously in agreement too (18-129 & 25-58 respectively with "In Trance" coming in at 33-66) & I've always found that RYM has an itchy trigger finger with wanting to label releases hard rock records as metal so that's pretty telling. I'd rather focus on releases that have a chance of being successful rather than exploring releases that I know aren't likely to reap any rewards. I will however be exploring all of those releases in great detail behind the scenes in order to see if there's any merit for the other project I'm preparing so they may pop up again in the future if there's anything of relevance there. I'm a bit behind this thread in that regard (i.e. in the middle 1974) but will have no hesitation in sticking an older release out there if I see there's potential.

This morning track is Rainbow's "Tarot Woman" which I regard as being close enough to heavy metal, despite the clear presence of hard rock influence:

This week's investigation of Melvins' 1991 third album "Bullhead" has seen me needing to find space for it in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list with it taking up the number 91 position at the expense of Deathspell Omega's "Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon" E.P. which has dropped out of the list.

https://metal.academy/lists/single/227

Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)

I don't think I ever really came across Washington sludge metallers Melvins back in the late 1980's & early 1990's. I certainly heard their name once Nirvana blew up in 1991 but didn't think they were any of my business given that they seemed to be associated with the grunge scene more than they did to the metal one. I don't think I'd actually ever hear them until around 2012 when I checked out their new "Scion A/V Presents: The Bulls & the Bees" E.P. & I didn't like it much to tell you the truth. My next encounter with them would come shortly afterwards through 2010's split E.P. with Massachusetts post metallers Isis, mainly because I'd gotten heavily into Isis but I found myself enjoying the Isis tracks but not the Melvins ones. So Melvins didn't actually start to show me what they really had to offer until I checked out their very solid 1992 fourth album "Lysol" which was mainly due to its association with the drone metal genre as its somewhat of a passion of mine. I found that record to be really appealing & have returned to it quite often since. This triggered a trip to its 1993 follow-up album "Houdini" which I quite liked too. But little did I know that the real meat on the Melvins bones was still in front of me with this week's investigation of their 1991 third album "Bullhead" being nothing short of game-changing.

"Bullhead" is only a relatively short record at just 35 minutes in duration but that's more than enough time when the quality is kept at such a consistently high level throughout. It sees the trio totally indulging themselves in amplifier worship with the spectacular production job allowing the listener to curl up in the drum riser or speaker box of a live performance & truly "feel" the reverberations of the music. It's about the clever use of rhythmic interplay between the musicians & the often weird yet perpetually gnarly vocals of front man Buzz (Crystal Fairy/Fantômas/Venomous Concept) which are both unusual & endearing at the same time. The commitment to keep unplanned guitar noise & other slight imperfections in the recording in the interest of building character was a masterstroke too while Crystal Fairy, Shrinebuilder & Porn (The Men Of) drummer Dale Crover's confidence in his own ability to explore new territory yet still hit the right beat at the right moment is staggering. Melvins simply sound like the elite version of what a dangerous live rock band should aspire to be here & it's left me devastated in a very similar way to the finest work from a band like Japan's Boris who I can only imagine were heavily influenced by "Bullhead" based on my experiences here.

The tracklisting kicks off in superb fashion with the epic nine-minute doom metal opener "Boris" (hhmmm... further indication of the potential influence I mentioned perhaps?) which is my favourite track on the album before turning towards a sludgier sound for the remaining seven tracks. The songs that close out either side of the record ("It's Shoved" & "Cow") clearly showcase the influence that Melvins had on the grunge scene that had just blown up on a global scale at the time as both tracks would arguably sit pretty comfortably on a grunge release. In fact, there are several passages across the tracklisting when I get similar chills to those that I'd experience during the doomier moments of your more crushingly heavy Soundgarden songs. Other highlights include the miraculous "Your Blessened" which is a perfect example of Buzz's ability to summon up some of the heaviest Sabbathian guitar riffs known to man & deliver them in the coolest fashion possible, as well as "Ligature" & "Zodiac" which aren't far behind in that regard. The grungier songs aren't quite as effective but the tracklisting never dips below a very solid level & is buoyed by the skyscraping highlight tracks that fill more than half of the run time.

I think it's fair to say that "Bullhead" has hit me as hard as a raging bull & I see it as one of the finest sludge metal releases I've ever heard. In fact, it's made such a big impact on me that I've had to find a place in my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list too which is really saying something after all these decades of metal indulgence. If you crave the days when rock music was edgy & dangerous then this record is most certainly for you. You can expect to have to give it a few listens to truly sink in but the rewards are nothing short of spectacular, particularly for those with a penchant for Boris, Acid Bath & Crowbar.

4.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Sludge Metal Releases of All Time list with High On Fire's "De vermis mysteriis" dropping out to make way for "Bullhead":

01. Pig Destroyer – “Natasha” E.P. (2008)

02. Isis – “The Mosquito Control” E.P. (1998)

03. Gaza – “No Absolutes In Human Suffering” (2012)

04. Monarch! – “Omens” (2012)

05. Fange – “Pantocrator” (2021)

06. Mastodon – “Leviathan” (2004)

07. Great Falls - "Objects Without Pain" (2023)

08. Melvins - "Bullhead" (1991)

09. Black Cobra – “Invernal” (2011)

10. Ufomammut – “Eve” (2010)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/133

Convulse - "World Without God" (1991)

I can still recall the buzz that Convulse's debut album "World Without God" caused in the underground scene back in the early 1990's but I also remember that I found the reality to be a little... well... underwhelming., especially when compared with the magnitude of the praise being heaped on it. I didn't see the album breaking out into the realms of the more successful death metal bands though which I've always thought of as some sort of justification for my feelings on the record. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy "World Without God" though as it certainly has its moments but they didn't make a big enough impact on me to see me returning to the album until now, more than three decades later, if only to check my own homework given the steady increase in opinion on the album in more recent times.

As a die-hard atheist, the idea of a record entitled "World Without God" is most certainly an attractive one & it's fair to say that Convulse do a good job at sounding as death metal as death metal can be. The album sits very much on the filthier side of the genre where the requirement for technical proficiency is cast aside in favour of that authentic graveyard atmosphere. The ultra-deep vocals of guitarist Rami Jämsä are the clear focal point & give Convulse an additional layer of appeal for those that appreciate that sort of thing with fellow Fins Demilich being a reasonable point of comparison in that regard. Musically though, we get a very similar style of death metal to grisly US gore-masters Autopsy with the use of some pretty similar harmonized doom metal riffs being one of the stronger elements of the album. Despite those comparisons though, "World Without God" still sounds decidedly Finnish & brings to mind artists like Demigod, Abhorrence & Funebre although the more educated listener will also be able to decipher the influence of the Swedish crunch of Entombed, Dismember & co. There's a clear difference in quality between "World Without God" & a record like Demigod's 1992 debut album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" though & this results in Convulse's debut sounding a little less essential.

Besides the very ordinary dungeon synth introduction piece which was a clear mistake, "World Without God" is still a very consistent album with no real blemishes amongst the proper tracks. It's weakness is its lack of genuine highlights though with the better material (my personal favourite "Incantation of Restoration" & "Godless Truth") still capping out before Convulse manage to reach the upper echilons of the extreme metal spectrum. There's plenty for your average death metal nut to grab onto but there's not anything here that's gonna drag you into the stratosphere, instead seeming comfortable to have your flesh gnawed off your bones at a less transcendent level. There may never be a question about the credentials of "World Without God" to saw your body in half but I wouldn't say that it does it as efficiently as most other supposedly classic death meal bands of the early 1990's did. It would, however, represent Convulse's career high point by a significant margin in my opinion. I would investigate the band's early "Resuscitation of Evilness" demo as well as their next three full-lengths before deciding that only the band's first couple of releases offered me much in the way of consistent appeal.

3.5/5

The final track from Judas Priest's "Sad Wings of Destiny" album is "Island of Domination", a song that I consider to skate along the border between heavy metal & hard rock so a dual tagging is required. 

That leaves me with a result that clearly places "Sad Wings of Destiny" in the metal camp but also sees rock playing a strong part in the result with primary tags in five of the nine tracks so I'm gonna suggest that a dual tagging of heavy metal & hard rock is appropriate here. Congratulations to Judas Priest though! We've finally seen another band dragging genuine metal status outta me after six straight Black Sabbath albums.

Tomorrow we'll be kicking off a new release & a highly divisive one it is too in Rainbow's classic 1976 sophomore album "Rising".

Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for April:

THE FALLEN: Daniel, Ben

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Shezma, Xephyr

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel

THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Shezma, Andi

THE NORTH: Daniel, Shezma, Xephyr, Ben

THE PIT: Ben, Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi

I've removed Morpheus Kitami from the roster given that he's failed to submit his nominations for the last couple of months in a row & hasn't been seen around the site either so I'm assuming that he's lost interest.

Shezma, Xephyr & Saxy, are you still looking to be a part of the nominations roster? If so then you'll need to get your nominations in before the last day of the prior month as I've had to nominate releases for you recently.

Nailbomb – “Vai toma no cu” (from “Point Blank”, 1994)

xNOMADx – “On Skylines of Embers” (from “On Skylines of Embers” E.P., 2023)

Sadus – “Good Rid’nz” (from “Swallowed In Black”, 1990)

Forbidden – “Tossed Away” (from “Twisted Into Form”, 1990)

Grotesque – “Submit To Death” (from “Incantation” E.P., 1990)

Anthrax - “Protest & Survive” (from “Attack of the Killer B’s”, 1991)

Mordred – “Killing Time” (from “In This Life”, 1991)

Sadistik Exekution – “Agonizing The Dead” (from “The Magus”, 1991)

Nailbomb – “Wasting Away” (from “Point Blank”, 1994)

Dodheimsgard – “Sonar Bliss” (from “666 International”, 1999)

Panopticon – “An Autumn Storm” (The Rime of Memory”, 2023)

Moonlight Sorcery – “The Secret of Streaming Blood” (from “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle”, 2023)

Neuropath – “Masticated Cadaver” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995)

Entombed – “But Life Goes On” (from “But Life Goes On” demo, 1989)

My Dying Bride – “Vast Choirs” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991)

Mortician – “Redrum/Outro” (from “Mortal Massacre” E.P., 1991)

Cancer – “Tasteless Incest” (from “Death Shall Rise”, 1991)

Benediction – “Jumping At Shadows” (from “The Grand Leveller”, 1991)

Celtic Frost – “Wings of Solitude” (from “Vanity/Nemesis”, 1990)