Daniel's Forum Replies
There are quite a few references to Cannibal Corpse's 1990 debut album "Eaten Back To Life" to be found on Monstrosity's 1992 "Imperial Doom" record but perhaps none more obvious than this one. Check out the ringing power chord section at 1:06 in "A Skull Full Of Maggots" & compare it with the very similar part that starts at "1:30" in "Final Cremation" with both parts heralding a half-time movement with a similar feel. It's only a short section but I feel that it was clearly borrowed given that there are many other references to Cannibal Corpse's debut scattered across the tracklisting. It just feels so similar & has me doing a double-take every time I hear it.
Today's track is Riot's "This Is What I Get" which I regard as being hard rock:
This closes out the "Rock City" album with just the one track receiving a metal tag from me in the early US power metal number "Warrior". The rest of the tracklisting sits in either the hard rock or glam metal (Note: not a metal subgenre) space which consolidates my long-term feelings that Riot weren't a metal band until the 1980's. Tomorrow we'll be starting to take a look at our last 1977 release in Scorpions' classic "Taken by Force" album so please feel free to join in on what promises to be a fairly controversial exercise.
Monstrosity - "Imperial Doom" (1992)
I was lucky enough to come across Florida death metallers Monstrosity very early on in their recording career with their 1992 debut album "Imperial Doom" making a significant impact on me during the early 1990's. I believe I discovered them through the inclusion of their video clip for "Final Cremation" on the Nuclear Blast video compilation "Death... Is Just the Beginning" & was impressed enough to want to chase down their full-length as soon as it was released. "Imperial Doom" would go on to become quite influential on me & my own band Neuropath & I've subsequently followed Monstrosity through the rest of their career. I've always thought of them as one of the leaders of the second tier in the death metal hierarchy to be honest with "Imperial Doom" being one of their stronger releases. Let's take a deeper look at the album & what it brought to the table.
"Imperial Doom" showcases the maturity of the early 1990's death metal scene very well with new bands now being influenced by genuine death metal releases rather than classic 80's thrash records. It offers quite a sophisticated sound for such a young band but doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, instead making a confident play at existing ideas & concepts. The Dan Seagrave cover art is attractive enough to draw your interest (although I'd argue that its pinkish tones don't sit amongst his finest work) while the Morrisound Studios production job of Jim Morris presents the band in a highly professional packaging. One thing you'll pick up upon very early on in is that Monstrosity were a serious metal band too. They all clearly knew their way around their chosen instruments & obviously weren't looking to become the next flash in the pan. On the evidence here, they weren't likely to become that either as "Imperial Doom" is a classy affair that's very much a celebration of the death metal genre made by death metal fanatics specifically for a death metal fanbase so I think it's fair to say that a record like this one was always gonna appeal to me personally. I guess I can simply relate to Monstrosity on a deeper level because they so clearly share my early influences & grew up listening to the same records as I did with Morbid Angel's "Altars of Madness", Malevolent Creation's "The Ten Commandments" & the Cannibal Corpse's "Eaten Back To Life" all being clear sources of inspiration.
"Imperial Doom" is a conventional death metal record that presents the listener with everything they'd normally expect from a Florida release. The drumming of Lee Harrison (Hellwitch/Malevolent Creation/Terrorizer) is capable without ever feeling clinical. His blast-beat techniques were very clearly influenced by Morbid Angel's Pete Sandoval although he doesn't over-use them, instead preferring to draw upon them to in order to add impact at key moments which works really well. The basslines of Mark Van Erp (Cynic/Malevolent Creation/Solstice) are easily identifiable in the mix & showcase a level of musicality that's not all that common in this style of music while the riffs & solos of guitarists Jon Rubin (Malevolent Creation) & Jason Gobel (Cynic/Gordian Knot/Portal) all exude a level of sophistication & understanding that's quite surprising for a debut release of the time. But I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that it's current Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher (Corpsegrinder/Paths of Possession/Serpentine Dominion) that steals the show with his ultra-masculine delivery being very much the epitome of the death metal front man. In fact, I'd suggest that George comes off as being a little less one-dimensional here with his stock tone being a touch less blunt & bludgeoning as well as slightly more deathly. He tosses in his signature higher pitched screams at times & they generally work very well too so I'd suggest that he really kinda drives Monstrosity through their first studio outing with a no-fuss attitude that simply gets it done in an efficient & highly presentable fashion.
The nine-song tracklisting is completely without blemish, kicking off with one of the stronger & more brutal inclusions in the impressive title track. It's closely followed by possibly the weakest number on the album in "Definitive Inquisition" but it's not a bad track as such & things pick up significantly from there. The other highlights are "Ceremonial Void" (which featured on Nuclear Blast's "Death ... Is Just the Beginning II" compilation CD at around this time) & the more controlled & atmospheric closer "Darkest Dream" which is my personal favourite but is strangely overlooked by most fans, perhaps because it's the slowest inclusion on the album. The rest of the songs are all very solid examples of early 90's Florida death metal that can hold their own against all but the most elite artists in the genre but I think that "Imperial Doom" might have needed a couple more genuine classics in order to have me reaching for my more premium ratings. There's no doubt that it was a very solid effort for a debut record though & I can't see too many Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation or Sinister fans not lapping it up. Monstrosity's next couple of albums were also excellent & the trio of releases combine to represent Monstrosity's peak period. While I may see "Imperial Doom" may be the weaker of the three after this revisit, it's only by a small margin with 1996's "Millennium" perhaps being my preferred Monstrosity album these days.
4/5
P.S. This revisit has left me wondering whether George might have copped the odd light-hearted jab from his Cannibal Corpse band mates once he joined the band because there are many clear references to "Eaten Back To Life" to be found on "Imperial Doom" with a couple bordering on plagiarism. Admittedly, "Imperial Doom" is a much stronger record though.
The brand new fourteenth album "Pro Xristoy" from Greek melodic black metallers Rotting Christ is due for release on 24th May. I think it's fair to say that they've been a little bit hit & miss for me over the years with their last couple of records not doing much for me really. Still... I can't deny my affection for their stronger material like 1994's "Non serviam" sophomore album so I'll no doubt continue on with the ritual of checking out each successive release from them. They were brilliant when I saw them play live many years ago too.
Here's the cover artwork for the new Ufomammut album "Hidden" that Sonny mentioned above. I strangely haven't kept in contact with these guys for the last decade or so after being a big fan of them up until that point I regard records like 2010's "Eve" & their "Supernaturals - Record One" collaboration album with Lento as being genuine classics so it's been more of an oversight than anything intentional. I really should find the time to catch up a bit though. Boy, they were awesome when I saw them live at Hellfest 2012 too.
US doom metallers Pallbearer have their brand new fifth album "Mind Burns Alive" hitting the shelves on 17th May & I know Sonny will be all over this one. I quite liked their 2012 debut album "Sorrow & Extinction" but can't say that I've investigated anything they've done since. Perhaps now is the time.
San Diego slam death metallers Pathology have a new album coming out on 17th May. It's entitled "Unholy Descent" & is their twelfth full-length thus far. Their last two records have been pretty decent so I will no doubt be partaking in some of this stuff too. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a fucking banger like their 2012 classic "The Time of Great Purification".
US doom/death solo act Tzompantli has his sophomore album coming out on 17th May. It's entitled "Beating the Drums of Ancestral Force" & I'll definitely be checking it out after really enjoying his 2022 debut album "Tlazcaltiliztli" when we featured it here a while back.
Voivod are releasing some old demo recordings from the sessions for 1993's classic "The Outer Limits" album on Monday.
The 1978 demo tape from NWOBHM legends Saxon includes three songs, all of which appeared on their self-titled debut album from the following year i.e. "Big Teaser", "Stallions of the Highway" & "Backs to the Wall". None of them are genuine metal tunes though, at least not in this early format. Steve Dawson's basslines have that up-tempo heavy metal throb going on but the guitar work sits predominantly in the crunchy, AC/DC-worshipping hard rock space. I remember "Stallions of the Highway" being the most metal song on the "Saxon" album which is a fairly strong indication of the way that record might go down here.
I explored the 1978 debut album "Banana" from Spain's Salvador Dominguez this morning but found nothing resembling metal or even hard rock. I'd suggest that it's more of a soft rock record with progressive rock & jazz-rock influences.
This morning's track is Riot's "Gypsy Queen" which is... you guessed it... hard rock:
What out Rex! You don't want the band seeking revenge on you seven times, do you?
I revisited the terrible 1978 self-titled debut album from Los Angeles' Quiet Riot this morning & confirmed to myself it's an early example of the glam metal sound. The presence of a young Randy Rhoads can't help them I'm afraid. It's a shocker. The opening track is close enough to qualify as heavy metal though.
This morning's track is Riot's "Heart of Fire" which is once again a hard rock tune:
What is the policy currently on submitting tracks that have been submitted previously, Daniel? With me only relatively recently getting fully into death metal I keep coming across tracks I would like to submit only to find they were done previously, albeit a fair while ago.
With a clan like The Horde where there is a wealth of material to choose from I tend to avoid doubling up.
Ah OK, I get you, Daniel. I must admit my focus has been elsewhere this month, but I will do my best. I will probably wait until quite late on to submit my suggestions if that's OK with you.
There's no need to change anything about your listening habits to facilitate this Sonny. If you don't have forty minutes worth of material to submit then I will just fill in the gaps. It's certainly not a requirement.
I investigated the 1978 "Rock & Roll Power at 25th Hour" sophomore album from Germany's Mass this morning. It's primarily a hard rock record but there are a couple of tracks that are close enough to heavy metal included.
I also took a listen to Plasmatics' 1978 "Butcher Baby" E.P. but found it to be predominantly punk rock.
Ben, please add the brand new Unholy Redeemer "A Fever To Dethrone All Kings" E.P. which has just arrived in the mail from the Neuropath record label Sphere of Apparition Records.
Just because I have increasingly less time to be selecting thirty minutes of music from obscure subgenres that no one really cares about when we have a good selection of death metal & grindcore music across multiple eras being picked between the three of us anyway. Plus, I've always intended to have the playlists totally based on our member's current listening habits but have been waiting until we had more contributors to implement it. That day may never come so why not try out something new.
Looks like Revolver magazine agrees with me on this.
I checked out the 1978 "Extranjero" album from La Tierra Prometida this morning but found no metal or rock whatsoever. They were still a traditional Mexican folk band at that point.
diSEMBOWELMENT - "Dusk" E.P. (1992)
Being an Australian extreme metal fanatic from way back in the late 1980's, it was perhaps inevitable that I'd possess a strong passion for arguably our most significant metal export (at least from purely an influential & creative sense) in Melbourne's masters of the doom/death sound diSEMBOWELMENT. I'd suggest that very few diehard fans suffer from as complete an infatuation as I do with this band though. I simply worship the ground they walk on & back in the early 1990's I thought of them as being a lot more than mere humans. Without actually knowing the band members, it was very hard for me to envisage them as being every-day people given the remarkably dark, unique & generally foreign sounds they managed to conjure up. I was talking to Bjorn from Grave Upheaval, Grotesque Bliss & Temple Nightside about them the other day & he shares my infatuation to a similar scale so it's not just me. diSEMBOWELMENT had a way of encapsulating everything that was so wonderful about the early 90's extreme metal scene &, to make things even more intense for a young Aussie, they were also from my home country which was a rarity for the elite metal artists in the world at the time. While there's no doubt at all that 1993's "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" album was a game-changer for the global doom/death scene though, for Bjorn & I it was diSEMBOWELMENT's 1992 E.P. "Dusk" that first saw that door opening & I've never felt that it received the respect it deserved because it's a remarkable release in its own right, particularly when you consider that it was the band's first proper release & that there was nothing out there that sounded anything like it at the time.
I was lucky enough to pick up an original copy of the "Dusk" E.P. as well as diSEMBOWELMENT's second demo tape "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" by sending cash to the band in the mail. I can't quite remember the timeline for that taking place in respect to "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" but I think it's fair to say that all three releases would be placed on their own individual pedestals in my teenage bedroom from the time they first hit my ears. I even sought out the band's early 1990 "Mourning September" demo tape through the tape trading scene, a release that I found to be pretty decent without ever hinting at the same levels of euphoria as I'd received from diSEMBOWELMENT's subsequent efforts. It's interesting that, despite the clear crossover of material between the three most significant releases, I still think that all of them should be considered to be essential as they each bring something a little different to the table in terms of timbre & texture. None of them are particularly polished (which I strongly suspect was intentional) but there's definitely enough variation to keep things interesting.
The "Dusk" E.P. is a half-hour long affair that includes what were arguably diSEMBOWELMENT's finest three tracks so how could it not be a completely mind-blowing experience? It opens with the band's calling card in "The Tree of Life & Death", a nine-minute piece that begins with one of diSEMBOWELMENT's more brutal & blasting death metal passages before descending into the mire with some of the darkest extreme doom metal we'd heard to the time. It's a clear indication of the thick, oppressive atmosphere this band was capable of creating even at such an early point in their recording careers. The version we have here is remarkably similar to the one we receive on the debut full-length in September of 1993 too, perhaps having been given the time to fully develop after first being birthed on 1991's classic "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" demo. This is followed by the epic twelve-minute "Burial at Ornans", another reenactment from the second demo tape & a piece which I feel still had a bit of work to do before reaching its most complete realization on "Transcendence Into the Peripheral". This is the reason for me not being able to reach full marks for "Dusk" actually as "Burial at Ornans" simply feels a little less complete than it would in the near future with some of the less doomy sections not maintaining such an elite level & the track lacking some of the atmospherics that it would gain on the album version. Eight-minute closer "Cerulean Transience of All My Imagined Shores" is another story altogether though & brings with it the most transcendental aura, transporting me to wonderfully dark & obscure places that I'd never imagined existed before. Although I do feel that the album version is a little more polished & complete, this doesn't diminish the impact of what is undeniably one of the earlier examples of the funeral doom metal genre to hit a proper release. The sum of these three classic works leaves me succumbing to pure devastation & infatuation, very much in awe of my elder countrymen.
While "Dusk" may not quite be as fully realized as "Transcendence Into the Peripheral" was, all of the ingredients were already there to see the global metal scene receiving one of the true greats at their chosen craft. I mean, if this had ended up being the only diSEMBOWELMENT release then one gets the feeling that it would have received far more attention & be referenced by a wealth of extreme doom bands as being highly influential. As it stands though, I can't recommend "Dusk" enough. The monstrous vocals of guitarist Renato Gallina are as scary as you'll ever find in music & the instrumentation around them brings to mind the feeling of being a young child lost in the darkest of forests in the blackest of midnights with drummer Paul Mazziotta's blast-beats being used over the slowest, doomiest riffs imaginable in such a fashion that was completely unheard of at the time. The production is absolutely spot-on too, leaving layers of filth & decay in the guitar tone that works to further accentuate the sheer weight on the diSEMBOWELMENT sound. Perhaps I'm biased given my personal interactions with the band at such a young age (even if it was by mail) but I feel that I'm mature enough to be able to see the forest through the trees these days so I implore anyone who thinks bands like Spectral Voice, Winter or diSEMBOWELMENT's younger sibling Inverloch are where it's at to seek out "Dusk" as I have no doubt that you'll be dazzled by what the true masters of the doom/death genre had to offer way back in 1992.
4.5/5
This revisit has seen me having to adjust my Top Ten Death Doom Release of All Time List again with My Dying Bride's “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. dropping out to make way for "Dusk":
01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)
02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)
03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)
04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)
05. My Dying Bride - "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. (1993)
06. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)
07. diSEMBOWELMENT - "Dusk" E.P. (1992)
08. My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)
09. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)
10. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/131
I've also had to find a place for "Dusk" in my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list with Deathspell Omega's "Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon" E.P. dropping out to make way for "Dusk" which has taken up the number 71 position.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/227
Gorefest - "False" (1992)
I've always shown a keen interest in Dutch death metallers Gorefest, despite the fact that I don't regard any of their proper releases as being particularly essential. Their overall sound has just been something that appealed to me right from the first time I heard their debut album "Mindloss" back in the very early 1990's. That experience would see me following each successive full-length over their two-decade existence, as well as their excellent 1990 "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" demo tape which I really enjoyed. Gorefest's 1992 "False" sophomore album has always been the one that I've regarded as being the peak of their career though so it's strange that I haven't felt like revisiting it since the 1990's, even after finding their mid-to-late 2000's revival to be worth a listen. I've decided to rectify that this week though with Ben's extremely positive review giving me the final encouragement I needed to seek "Fales" out on Spotify a couple of days ago.
"False" doesn't muck around in placing its cards down on the table with an excellent Colin Richardson production job going a long way to maximizing the album's potential. The heavily down-tuned guitars work really well with the mainly mid-range tempos to create a unified & chunky death metal platform built on riffs that often offer more than a little groove. The occasional use of blast-beats from drummer Ed Warby (Ayreon/Vuur/Demiurg/Elegy/Hail of Bullets/The 11th Hour) is quite welcome but I feel that Gorefest are probably at their best when they slow things down during the doomier parts of the record. The instrumentation combines the up-tempo energy of Entombed & Grave with the more controlled heaviness of Bolt Thrower with bassist Jan-Chris de Koeijer's ultra-deep vocals representing the clear focal point of the Gorefest sound. I'd suggest that de Koeijer's delivery is more of a death bark than it is a death grunt or death growl actually. Strangely, his performance is a little inconsistent though as he seems to struggle to find his signature depth on "Second Face". It's the guitar solos of Boudewijn Bonebakker (Monomyth) & Frank Harthoorn (The 11th Hour) that are the real weakness for Gorefest though as neither are exactly virtuosos. Nor do they seem to have much of an idea of musical theory so often wander out of key, leaving me with more than the odd cringe on my face. I find that I can generally deal with this blemish though due to the solid riff-based platform the band have built around them.
The tracklisting is generally pretty consistent with only the flat "Get-a-Life" failing to hit the mark. The rest of the album varies from pretty decent to very solid with the highlights coming in the form of the pummeling opener "The Glorious Dead", the classy title track & the doom/death number "Infamous Existence". None of these songs reach classic status though & it's this absence of more elite examples of the death metal genre that sees the appeal of an album like "False" being capped a bit for me personally. Don't get me wrong, "False" is definitely worth a listen but it's not a record that I can see too many people placing at the top of their end of year lists, particularly not during the incredible creative peak the genre was experiencing at the time. In saying that, "False" wasn't all that far off being awarded a very solid four-star rating either & perhaps I would have gone that way if not for the lull that "Get-a-Life" brought during the middle of the album. Ben obviously feels that there's more in this record than I do with his 4.5 star rating surprising me a bit so maybe it's best if you give it a try for yourself but I can't see too many members of The Horde not getting something out of "False".
3.5/5
This morning's track is Riot's "Tokyo Rose" which I'd suggest is hard rock:
Sodom - "Tapping The Vein" (1992)
German thrash metal heavy-weights Sodom & I have enjoyed a generally fruitful relationship since I first discovered them through the "Ausgebombt" video clip shortly after the release of their 1989 "Agent Orange" album. Sodom’s early work was a bit too rough for my taste but, once they hit their stride with 1987’s “Expurse of Sodomy” E.P., I found them to offer a consistently energetic, high-octane brand of thrash that very much appealed to my tendency towards the more aggressive & generally gnarly exponents of the genre. Interestingly though, it’s 1990’s “Better Off Dead” fourth full-length that still sits at the top of the pile for me which is a little unexpected given that it saw Sodom watering down their approach a touch, instead focusing on some high-quality song-writing that was ultimately very successful. My positive experiences with that record saw me hanging out for the follow-up in 1992’s “Tapping The Vein”, an album that I’d purchase on CD as soon as it hit the shelves & one that would see Sodom turning up the heat significantly on the sound I’d enjoyed so much on “Better Off Dead”. Sodom had very clearly made a conscious effort to produce their most intense thrash record to date & I for one was totally up for it. “Tapping The Vein” is still a record that I revisit every so often these days but I’ve never gone to the effort of seeing where it sits in the overall Sodom back catalogue until now so let’s see how it’s faired, shall we?
“Tapping The Vein” is a rip-roaring, middle-finger-raising beast of a thrash record that would seem to be very much an attempt to draw back any parts of their fan base that they may have lost with their more accessible sounding previous record. The Harris Johns production job is nice & raw which suits the generally frantic material very well & most of the eleven-song tracklisting is made up of light-speed thrashfests with new guitarist Andy Brings showing some very impressive right-hand speed & endurance. In fact, I’d suggest that the dude must have seriously gone to town on himself as an early teenager based on the evidence here. There’s not a lot of originality or creativity in the majority of the riffs though with many of them sounding suspiciously like Sodom’s previous work or relying heavily on straight-forward, tremolo-picked bottom-string pedal-points. Band leader Tom Angelripper performs his role admirably, spitting out his words of war with an unbridled ferocity that only adds to the album’s dark & aggressive feel.
The tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the lacklustre German-language speed metal track “Wachturm” failing to reach a reasonable level of quality. “Bullet In The Head” relies on similar musical themes with Motorhead’s more metallic numbers being the order of the day. Sodom had successfully slowed things down a number of times on their last couple of albums & “One Step Over The Line” is another solid example of them taking more of a classic heavy metal direction, although it's admittedly pretty similar to the popular “The Saw Is The Law” single from “Better Off Dead” if you look at it closely. The rest of the record can only be described as a relentless bombardment of maximum-velocity Teutonic thrash metal which may not take many risks but still offers plenty of reward for an old-school thrasher like myself. The high point comes in the form of the wonderful “Hunting Season” which I rate alongside most of Sodom’s best work although opener “Body Parts” & the excellent title track are also worthy of mention as some of the stronger inclusions.
While “Tapping The Vein” can be seen as being fairly regressive from an artistic perspective, I’m not sure that most of Sodom’s fan base cares to be honest. I certainly don’t, particularly when the results are as rock solid as this collection of German thrash anthems are. I honestly can’t see too many Kreator, Slayer or Destruction fans complaining too much when presented with a vicious, bruising affair like “Tapping The Vein”, even if it might not be the Sodom record that they immediately reach for when they feel like revisiting the band. After looking at it closely, I’d suggest that “Tapping The Vein” might even slip into my top five Sodom releases these days, sitting just behind “Better Off Dead”, “Persecution Mania”, “Agent Orange” & “Expurse of Sodomy”. I’d easily take it over their highly regarded pre-1987 works but then I’ve never been much of a fan of releases like “In the Sign of Evil”, “Obsessed by Cruelty” or their earlier demo tapes.
4/5
I checked out the 1978 self-titled sophomore album from German solo act Jutta Weinhold this morning but didn't even find any hard rock, let alone metal. It's just your stock-standard generic rock record for mine.
This morning's track is Riot's "Angel" which I regard as being an early example of glam metal:
I checked out the 1978 demo tape from underground NWOBHM act Hammerhead today & it really surprised me with its mix of sounds. In fact, I'd suggest that a dual hard rock & traditional doom metal primary is warranted here along with a stoner metal secondary which makes it the first release that I've awarded a doom metal primary to in the Roots of Metal project thus far.
Solstice - "Solstice" (1992)
My initial exposure to Miami-based death/thrash outfit Solstice came through the tape trading scene of the early-to-mid 1990’s when I picked up a copy of their 1992 self-titled debut album from one of my trade contacts. From what I was hearing from the metal grapevine Solstice sounded like they’d be right up my alley & that certainly proved to be the case with the album becoming a mainstay on my Walkman over the next year or so. In fact, I’ve found myself returning to “Solstice” several times over the many years since as it’s become a proven performer when I feel like expending large amounts of energy in a short time period by thrashing my body around my loungeroom or car. For that reason, I’ve been very much looking forward to finally taking a detailed look at the album with the intent of awarding it a well-informed Metal Academy rating & review.
There’s no doubt at all that “Solstice” is the type of metal record that takes no prisoners & has no fucks whatsoever to give about it either. It’s full of energy & is violently aggressive in the way it approaches its task. The production job feels a little closer to a death metal one than your average thrash record while the use of blast-beats from drummer Alex Marquez (Brutality/Cephalic Carnage/Demolition Hammer/Hellwitch/Malevolent Creation/Resurrection) also draw the record towards that space along with the vicious vocals of guitarist Rob Barrett (Cannibal Corpse/Hateplow/Malevolent Creation) which sit somewhere between Death’s Chuck Schuldiner & Pantera’s Phil Anselmo. Despite the clear hints at death metal though, the majority of the instrumentation simply feels more closely aligned with thrash to me so I tend so think of “Solstice” as more of a brutal thrash record than I do a death/thrash one, particularly given that Barrett’s vocals possess a bit of an angry hardcore edge to them that does tend to lack a little in the sophistication department at times.
The tracklisting is very solid with only the silly decision to include a novelty crossover thrash track (i.e. “S.M.D.” aka “Suck My Dick”) tainting an otherwise extremely consistent record. With that said though, I can’t say that there are any genuine classics on offer with Solstice earning their stripes through their overall sound at the expense of any particularly memorable song-writing. They opt to give the listener a royal battering but you’ll rarely find yourself humming along to their riffs afterwards which is the difference between a record like “Solstice” & the heavy-weights of the brutal thrash game like “Epidemic of Violence” or “Idolatry”. Still… there’s something to be said for a bit of “good, friendly violent fun” & Solstice certainly deliver that in spades. It’s hard to deny the pedigree of a band like this one too with guitarist Dennis Munoz (Demolition Hammer) & bassist Mark van Erp (Monstrosity/Cynic/Malevolent Creation) having already spent some time with some household names of the extreme metal scene. Hell, we even get to enjoy the legendary James Murphy contributing guest guitar solos on a few of the tracks which brings some much needed additional melody to the table.
If brutal thrash is your bag then I’ll be surprised if you’re not already acquainted with this record but, if not, then try to picture a combination of the relentless thrash metal assault of Demolition Hammer & Exhorder & the thrashy death metal of early Malevolent Creation. Perhaps, “Solstice” won’t go on to become the classic release it had the potential to on paper but it’s a damn fine record nonetheless.
4/5
This morning's track is Riot's "Overdrive" which I'd suggest is hard rock:
The 1978 demo tape from Ohio's Fury doesn't contain any metal either. It's purely a hard rock release.
This morning's song is the title track from Riot's "Rock City" album, a number that I consider to be an early example of glam metal.
Also, I checked out the 1978 three-song demo tape from NWOBHM outfit Dawnwatcher this morning but found no metal there. They took a proggy hard rock approach rather than a metal one.
I investigated the earliest recording from Californian heavy metallers Cirith Ungol this morning. It's an eleven-track 1978 demo tape that's gone on to become known as "The Orange Album" over the years. Most people seem to be tagging this one as a heavy metal release but I'd suggest that there's actually most stoner rock than anything else here. In saying that, there's definitely enough metal included in a good half of the tracklisting to warrant a dual tagging with heavy metal. Hell, there's even a genuine speed metal song included here in "Witchdance".
Yeah, that’s the one. “Sorceress” is close enough to traditional doom metal in my opinion while I’d suggest that “Devil’s Tower” is worthy of progressive metal status given the complexity in structure. There’s also some sections that border on speed/thrash metal without quite getting there. The vocals are dodgy as shit though. Love how they so blatantly & confidently mispronounce “Baphomet”. :)
Today's track is Riot's "Warrior. The first US power metal track? It think it may well be actually.
I also finished off my investigation of 1977's more underground releases with Red's "Rider In The Sky" (or self-titled depending on what you're reading) E.P. which is generally referred to as an early NWOBHM release. It's not one as two of the three songs aren't even hard rock. It's a progressive rock release & not a bad one at all actually. The song "Thrash" qualifies as heavy metal though in my opinion & you can clearly hear the Iron Maiden gallop on that track at times.
I also investigated NWOBHM legends Angel Witch's 1978 demo tape & found it to be a total metalfest, perhaps the most extreme release I've found in this exercise to date actually with all seven songs qualifying as genuine metal. It was also pushing the whole Satanic imagery thing earlier than anything else I've encountered to date. It includes early versions of "Sorceress" & "Devil's Tower" which both appeared on their seminal debut album two years later.
Woh! There's a brand new live album from New York doom/death legends Winter entitled "Live in Brooklyn NY". I'll be all over this one at some point as I absolutely die for their sole 1990 full-length "Into Darkness".
This new live set from New York mathcore exponents Car Bomb could be a good one as I really enjoyed their 2019 "Mordial" album when it was featured here recently.
I always enjoy these Maryland deathgrinders so I'm looking forward to investigating this recent live set.
The brand new thirteenth album from Brazilian thrash metallers Vulcano was released a week or so back & is called "Epilogue". I honestly haven't heard anything they've done for around twenty years now but have only ever enjoyed their 1986 debut album "Bloody Vengeance" from the four releases I'm aware of so I'm not sure whether I'll bother with this one.
Autopsy - "Fiend For Blood" E.P. (1992)
By the time Autopsy's 1992 "Fiend For Blood" E.P. was released I'd already been listening to them for a few years. I'd been lucky enough to discover the Californian death metal deviants through their 1989 debut album "Severed Survival" & had also investigated a couple of their 80's demo tapes but it was really Autopsy's excellent duo of 1991 releases that saw me standing up & paying attention, buoyed by their stronger focus on the band's doomier side which I found to be their most attractive (or repulsive if we're being entirely transparent) element. I purchased the band's sophomore album "Mental Funeral" on cassette immediately upon release & gave it a royal thrashing for many months which has not only seen it still residing at the very pinnacle of my Autopsy pile but also drove me to repeat the dosage by picking up a cassette copy of 1992's "Fiend For Blood" E.P. shortly after it hit the shelves. Much like Autopsy's 1991 releases, I remember finding it to possess a really unique sound that has rarely been captured or even attempted since & recall hired gun fretless bass virtuoso Steve DiGiorgio's contribution being one of the major drawcards so I've been busting to give it a revisit for some time, not only to recapture my enthusiasm for the record itself but also to see where it sits versus "Mental Funeral" & the very solid doom/death of 1991's "Retribution For The Dead" E.P.
"Fiend For Blood" is the very definition of the sick, serial-killer inspired, intentionally filthy death metal sound. Even the cover artwork is kept fairly simple with the production job being handled by the band themselves & resulting in a strangely bass-heavy mix that further highlights Autopsy's tendency to back the distortion off a bit in the interest of giving the release a less polished feel. Everything is MEANT to feel a little sloppy & grimy in order to further exacerbate Autopsy's imagery & it works a treat, providing a wonderful platform for the angular style of DiGiorgio (my favourite bass player) to work its magic & become a real highlight of the release. Even the strange discrepancies in where the guitar solos are positioned in the mix seems to buy into this idea while the absurdly over-the-top vocal delivery of drummer Chris Reifert (Static Abyss/Abscess/Death/The Ravenous) sounds almost appropriate when plonked down over this sickly orchestra of the damned.
The six tracks fly by in quick succession with the short twelve minute runtime seeming entirely appropriate as it leaves me wanting more which can't be a bad thing. A couple of those songs are very short with the opening title track & the outstandingly doomy "A Different Kind of Mindfuck" clocking in at under a minute. The other four songs see Autopsy consistently switching between their faster tremolo-picked, early Death inspired death metal riffs & their seriously dark doom metal sections, the faster parts not having nearly the same sort of impact on me as the masterful doom riffs. Autopsy seem to have this real knack for hitting on some particularly eerie atmospheres when they slow things down & this talent is rarely seen in a more effective format than it is here with the unique production job only providing them with further weight.
Perhaps "Fiend For Blood" isn't the most significant release in the grand scheme of the death metal genre but it's a damn enjoyable one nonetheless. There's no time for filler here with every one of the six tracks packing a punch but it's the atmospherics & sickening imagery that are the real drawcard as Autopsy successfully manage to make my skin creep once again. "Mental Funeral" is still the band's finest hour but "Fiend For Blood" should most certainly come into the discussion for runner-up in my opinion. In fact, I've actually been surprised to find that I may even place it slightly ahead of "Retribution For The Dead" these days so fans of Asphyx, Obituary & Abscess should definitely check it out.
4/5
Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
Up until 1992, Birmingham grindcore godfathers Napalm Death had represented more of a novelty than a major player in my musical life. I'd happily purchased all three of their albums for that pleasure but found their two seminal 1980's grindcore full-lengths to be nothing more than a bit of fun. And while 1990's "Harmony Corruption" third record may have added some of my beloved death metal to the equation, it didn't exactly blow me away either. There had been a few pretty decent E.P.'s released between them too & I'd greedily lapped them all up, buoyed by the sheer extremity of it all, an attribute that I was actively seeking out in my music at the time (& no doubt still are). I have to admit though, nothing the band had done had quite stuck the landing up until that point with possible exception of their short 1988 "The Curse" single which I really dug. 1992 would mark somewhat of a new era for Napalm Death though with long-time drum legend Mick Harris having departed after 1991's "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. & been replaced by Danny Herrera (Venomous Concept). This change probably would have had a few diehard fans on edge a little as Harris had played arguably the most major role in the creation of both Napalm Death & the grindcore sound in general. For me personally though, 1992's "Utopia Banished" album would be the first Napalm Death album that I'd purchase immediately upon release & it's arguably remained my favourite release from their entire back catalogue for all the years since so I think it's fair to say that Herrera's induction into Napalm Death was a rousing success.
Napalm Death's first two albums represent some of the purest & rawest examples of the grindcore genre you're likely to find so there was unsurprisingly a little bit of a mixed response when they incorporated some of the death metal sounds they were hearing around them on "Harmony Corruption". It wasn't, however, a clear-cut death metal record as such with grindcore still playing a strong enough role in the outcome to see me tagging it as deathgrind. "Utopia Banished" sees the grind component being drawn upon a little more than it was on its predecessor & resulting in a more extreme & relentlessly savage deathgrind record that's buoyed by a stellar production job from Colin Richardson. Everything simply sounds so in-your-face with the riffs maintaining definition under some of the most violent drumming the world had heard to the time & with the iconic Mark "Barney" Greenway (Benediction/Extreme Noise Terror) producing some his finest signature barking over the top. The sheer energy of this material saw it immediately grabbing my attention but it also possessed a class that we hadn't heard from a Napalm Death full-length before too. The riffs of Jesse Pintado (Brujeria/Lock Up/Terrorizer) & Mitch Harris (Defecation/Meathook Seed/Righteous Pigs) are more sophisticated & very capably executed while the song structures offer a touch more complexity. The blast beat sections are beautifully positioned to ensure maximum impact with Herrera producing a stellar performance in his own right &, in doing so, putting any fears that the loss of Mick Harris would derail the Napalm Death train to bed.
The cover art is some of Napalm Death's best with the striking red & blue image coming across as both rebellious & shocking at the same time. It brilliantly depicts what the band were all about at the time in my opinion with a collage of social injustices being layered in a way that presents the band as the leaders of the resistance. The tracklisting kicks off in emphatic style too with the industrial noise of "Discordance" proving to be the perfect aural equivalent of the image I just mentioned & when the band blast in with one of their finest works in "I Abstain" I find myself being delightedly crushed under the weight of sound being projected out of my speakers at extreme velocities. The brutal "Dementia Access" follows in quick succession & at this point I'm thinking that we might have a genuinely classic metal release on our hands but things do settle down a bit from there with only the spectacular "Upward & Uninterested" seeing those levels of quality revived. The remainder of the 15-track album is all very solid & unwaveringly consistent in its execution but I can't say that it reaches the same sort of euphoric levels as the tracks I've already mentioned. Each song contains a number of exciting sections but invariably has them offset by some more hardcore-inspired sections that offer me a little less appeal & that's always been a bit of an issue for me with grindcore as I can never quite get the best releases up into my top rating bracket due to my inability to get as excited about the bouncier punk beats. "Utopia Banished" is no doubt one of the stronger examples though as it doesn't present the listener with any real weaknesses, instead choosing to flex its muscles & embrace the sound that the band had been so instrumental in creating in the first place.
At the end of the day, "Utopia Banished" was a unanimous success in my opinion & it still feels like the record that best reflects Napalm Death's sound to me. I just wish that it had lived up to the potential that it hinted at from the commencement of the tracklisting as I really (& I mean REALLY) dig the violence & extremity but can't quite overcome my issues with grindcore's hardcore roots. If the band had opted for a shorter release that dropped that component & simply focused on the half-time, tremolo-picked death metal riffs & the ultra-brutal blast-beat grind sections then we'd probably have my ultimate extreme metal album but, as it is, "Utopia Banished" is still a very fine representation of what Napalm Death have brought to the world & fans of bands like Terrorizer, early Brutal Truth & mid-period Extreme Noise Terror should definitely stand up & pay attention.
4/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list which sees "Utopia Banished" usurping Cattle Decapitation & Brutal Truth to gain top spot:
01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)
03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)
04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)
05. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)
06. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)
07. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)
08. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)
09. Napalm Death - "Mentally Murdered" E.P. (1989)
10. Napalm Death - "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. (1991)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/223
This morning we're beginning a brand new release in Riot's 1977 debut album "Rock City" with the opening track "Desperation" being a clear hard rock number:
Also, yesterday I checked out the 1977 third album "Charge" from Japan's Bow Wow which I regard as being a hard rock record. It did have one track in opener "Jet Jive" that I'd suggest sits in the grey area between hard rock & heavy metal though.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
These two nominations have been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
PainKiller - "Guts Of A Virgin" (1991)
Earlier this week I went about the process of revisiting the 1992 sophomore album “Buried Secrets” from unusual New York avant-garde jazz metal trio PainKiller. It had literally been decades since I last heard the three PainKiller full-lengths but I was really surprised to find that their second album offered me a level of appeal that I’d not received from it before. I guess I’m just a lot more open-minded with my music these days. That’s not to say that it wasn’t inconsistent because it most certainly was with the short grindcore sections adding no value to anyone’s life whatsoever. It was the lengthier, more restrained & slightly less consciously abstract material that floated my boat with all of the more significant tracks hitting the mark. From memory, I think I devoured all of PainKiller’s albums within about a week & I recall them getting better with each release so I had visions of their 1991 debut album “Guts of a Virgin” being an absolute abomination (& not the good type either). Given my newly found positivity for “Buried Secrets” though, I thought I’d challenge myself by giving it a few spins too.
There are similarities & differences between PainKiller’s first two albums. They both contain the screeching alto saxophone of John Zorn over almost every track, there’s a grindcore component to many of the tracks that pops up & disappears as quickly as it came & the band explores a number of different styles & genres around those core elements. There’s no doubt that “Guts of a Virgin” is the more extreme of the two records though. It’s twelve songs clock in at just 24 minutes in duration with the grindcore elements being drawn upon a little more readily. I still wouldn’t call this a grindcore record though as the combined length of those sections is really quite short with the remainder of the album feeling better suited to a few alternate genre tags in avant-garde jazz, avant-garde & experimental rock, the last of which is a little different from “Buried Secrets” which tended to explore more metallic genres like sludge metal & industrial metal whereas “Guts of a Virgin” dips its toes into rockier & jazzier sounds at times. The debut also includes some psychotic vocal screams from former Napalm Death drummer Mick Harris which are pretty harsh & abrasive on the ears to be frank. As with “Buried Secrets”, the album finishes with a pretty decent drone metal number too although this one sits quite a distance beneath the classic “The Toll” in terms of being a truly transcendental experience.
Both albums certainly contain their fair share of absolute rubbish. The difference between them is that “Buried Secrets” has a lot more meat on its bones & the crap on “Guts of a Virgin” tends to be… well… crappier. In fact, there are really only three songs that I enjoy here & I don’t think it’s any surprise to find them corresponding with the more traditional sounding pieces on the tracklisting because I’m simply not the guy for intentionally whacky music that offers more in the way of novelty value than it does from a musical standpoint. I really enjoyed Bill Laswell’s dubbier influence on a couple of tracks from “Buried Secrets” too but it’s nowhere to be found on “Guts of a Virgin”.
Perhaps I’m not the target audience for a record like this one but I have to ask… is there really one & are they actually music fans? Look… “Guts of a Virgin” is nowhere near as bad as I first thought it was but it’s a long way from an enjoyable listen either. In saying that, I get the distinct feeling that PainKiller’s third album “Execution Ground” might be the one to offer me the most appeal based purely on my past scores & its general genre-tagging which sees dark ambient & ambient dub playing a strong role at the expense of grindcore. Perhaps I should hook myself up with some of them apples shortly, huh?
2.5/5
Tiamat - "Clouds" (1992)
Swedish metal stalwarts Taimat have gone through a number of musical transformations over the years & it depends on your musical taste & background as to which you prefer. Personally, I’ve always favoured Tiamat’s mid-90’s gothic releases with 1994’s “Wildhoney” being their clear pièce de résistance. Their 1997 fifth album “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” saw them moving away from metal altogether with most of that record favouring a progressive goth rock sound over the band’s more sinister roots but it was still a very strong release in its own right. Tiamat’s pre-“Wildhoney” albums tend to be a little more divisive though & not without justification either.
Tiamat’s 1990 debut album “Sumerian Cry” took more of a death metal direction which didn’t do much for me to be honest but its follow-up “The Astral Sleep” was a doomier affair that was where the band started to becoming interesting to me with 1992’s third album “Clouds” seeing Taimat moving even further down that rabbit hole. Ben & I owned “Clouds” on CD back in the day & I remember quite liking it but it wasn’t a release that I’ve returned to all that often which is likely more of a reflection on just how strong Tiamat’s next two albums would turn out to be than anything else. It’s been decades since I last investigated “Clouds” though so I was looking forward to refreshing my memory a bit this week.
Although “Clouds” is generally touted as being a doom/death release, I’ve never agreed with that sentiment. As a death metal musician myself, I can tell you that there’s bugger-all genuine death metal on the album. Even the vocals of rhythm guitarist Johan Edlund don’t come close to anything particularly deathly, instead taking the form of an awkward hybrid of clean & growly styles. There’s not much that resembles death metal in the instrumentation either other than some sporadic up-tempo parts that seem to have been haphazardly inserted into the tracklisting at random intervals, a feature that I regard as the clear weakness of “Clouds” as an album. Actually, I’d go so far as to say that the best moments on “Clouds” are when Tiamat completely leave their past behind & forge ahead with their newer influences which results in an attractive brand of gothic doom metal that offers a lot more crossover appeal than the band’s earlier works.
The production job & instrumental performances are very good for the time with the riffs possessing a thick, tight & completely unified tone that takes a great deal of influence from classic Celtic Frost. The lead guitar work of Thomas Petersson is of a high quality & shows him to not only possess some pretty reasonable chops but also to have a good ear for melody. Edlund’s vocals are the clear talking point for those that dislike “Clouds” though & it’s not hard to see why as he’s not the most talented front man you’ve ever heard but I find that I can accept him for what he is & get on with enjoying the album most of the time.
The eight-song tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the very ordinary “Smell of Incense” failing to maintain my interest. Doomy closer “Undressed” is the clear highlight for me personally as it possesses a wonderful atmosphere that engulfs the listener &, in doing so, has gone on to become a genuine classic from my teenage years. Opener “In A Dream” & the one-two punch of “A Caress of Stars” & “The Sleeping Beauty” are also very solid with only those annoying accelerated bursts I mentioned earlier managing to taint Tiamat’s good work. I really enjoy the use of keyboards which provide further melodic support for the heavy riffs & give the album a dreamy feel that would foresee the direction the band would take on their next record.
Much like “The Astral Sleep”, I find “Clouds” to be a generally entertaining listen but I can’t say that I feel like returning to it all that often. It certainly contains some pretty solid material to sift through for inclusion in your weekend playlist (particularly if you’re into bands like Paradise Lost, Katatonia & Lake of Tears) but it lacks enough genuine highlights to see it becoming a regular fixture when I feel like reaching for Tiamat as the next two albums simply feel superior. Now that I’m discussing all these old records though, it’s made me realise that I haven’t heard anything Tiamat have released since “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” so perhaps I should rectify that at some stage.
3.5/5
I checked out the 1977 "Doin' Our Thing at the Live House" double live album from Japan's Murasaki over the last couple of days & found it to be a hard rock release with progressive rock & heavy metal influences. There are three songs that I'd suggest should qualify as metal though with "Double Dealing Woman" & "Doomsday" sitting right in the middle between metal & rock & the excellent cover version of Deep Purple's "Fireball" managing to reignite the double kick-driven flame of the original very nicely.
This morning track is Motorhead's "The Train Kept A-Rollin" which is yet again a hard rock track which sees us closing out the "Motorhead" album without me having identified a single metal tune on an album that generally seems to command a heavy metal tag from most parties. There's not even enough metal included for a secondary tag in my opinion.
Tomorrow we'll be starting on a brand new release in Riot's 1977 debut album "Rock City".