Daniel's Forum Replies

Here's my review:

Florida technical death metallers Nocturnus were a fairly big player in our household from very early on in their recording career. I was lucky enough to discover their 1990 debut album “The Key” shortly after it was released & purchased a copy on cassette. It showcased a highly ambitious band of talented musicians that were looking to push the envelope when it came to both atmospherics, imagery & technique & I found it to be a very solid release indeed. Perhaps not the undeniable classic that many death metal fans will have you believe it is but a worthy purchase that has commanded consistent revisits over the years. 1992’s follow-up album “Thresholds” simply wasn’t in the same caliber from what I remember of it although it was certainly worth a listen at the time & didn’t discourage me from picking up this month’s The Horde feature release (i.e. Nocturnus’ self-titled 7” from 1993) on vinyl immediately after it was released. I don’t remember much about it now to be honest & have no idea what happened to the record I owned but I do recall being a touch underwhelmed even if I certainly found entertainment in it. I’m interested to see how those recollections stack up now actually as I recently revisited “The Key” & it’s renewed my interest.

The ”Nocturnus” 7” is nothing more than a two-song single but includes two previously unreleased non-album tracks intended to showcase the band’s brand new lineup. Bassist Emo Mowery had now filled the empty position that was filled by session musician Chris Anderson on the “Thresholds” album while James Marcinek had now joined the fold at the expense of founding member & band leader Mike Browning (Morbid Angel/Acheron) who had been controversially axed. The two songs take a similar stylistic approach to the one found on “The Key” but there are a few notable differences & characteristics that are worth pointing out.

The first & most obvious thing you’ll notice about this release is the shocking production job which is extremely rough & sees Nocturnus’ trademark flashy guitars being largely nullified. It’s a real shame because this flaw goes a long way to ensuring that the record was never going to have much of an impact, even if you absolutely loved the song-writing. Front man Dan Izzo had been brought in for the “Thresholds” album to enable Browning to focus purely on his drum kit. Here we see him trying awfully hard to sound like notorious Deicide vocalist Glen Benton & doing a reasonable job of it too. In fact, I’d have to suggest that it was a good move to swap him in for Browning as his more angry & aggressive delivery would seem to me to be a better fit for a death metal band. So would the drumming of Marcinek actually, at least I’d take it over the simplistic contribution that Browning gave us on “The Key”. The keyboards of Louis Panzer are still on show but don’t play as prominent a role in these compositions which was an interesting move given that this was one of the major drawcards that was seeing people flocking to Nocturnus. The other was the consistent layers of ultra-shredding guitar solos that were a majorly exciting prospect for this budding young lead guitarist but, once again, the solos have been toned down significantly here which I find to be a really strange decision. Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen these two tracks isolated on a dedicated single? I dunno but it was pretty annoying that Nocturnus had dropped a good chunk of their signature features.

When taken for what they are though, these two songs aren’t too bad & certainly offer enough to keep me interested & entertained. The lengthier “Possess The Priest” has a slight edge over the more aggressive “Mummified” but there’s not a lot between them as they’re both decent enough examples of the technical death metal subgenre. I’ve often seen people trying to utilize the progressive metal tag with this record but I don’t think that’s appropriate as this material is far more consciously technical than it is conceptually expansive. The riffs can sometimes be quite thrashy but I never feel that I’m listening to anything other than a death metal artist at any stage.

So, it would seem that the “Nocturnus” 7” single is bit of a mixture of positives & negatives overall, isn’t it? The production is arguably the most unfortunate & release-defining element but I’m pleased that Nocturnus possessed enough class to overcome that failure to give us a reasonable record nonetheless. Sadly, I can’t see it being enough to draw me back to the single at any point in the future but I don’t think your average Death. Atheist or Pestilence fan will find it to be too repulsive, even if it’s not on the same level as the universally worshipped releases that those bands were dishing out during that period. But then, I’m not sure I ever saw Nocturnus on the same level as those artists in the first place. Not many are though to be fair.

3.5/5

I checked out Murasaki's 1977 sophomore album "Impact" this morning but found no signs of metal. It's a hard rock record with one lengthy progressive rock number tossed into the mix.

Today's track is Bow Wow's "Still" which I consider to be hard rock:

This closes out the "Signal Fire" album which I've only found to include two metal songs out of the ten on offer which sees it being ineligible for metal status. Tomorrow we'll be starting on Motorhead's 1977 self-titled debut album which is sure to prove to be controversial.

Here's my review:

English doom/death legends My Dying Bride had thoroughly blown Ben & I away with their first two releases "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" & "As The Flower Withers". In fact, their 1991 "Towards The Sinister" demo was really strong too so I had extremely high hopes for their next record as a teenager back in 1993. The band's experimentation with the incorporation of violin & gothic elements had proved to be a master stroke so the expectation around what they'd deliver us with next was certainly very high. Perhaps My Dying Bride's label & management could feel that excitement because they opted to deliver us a short three-track taster in order to tide us over until the arrival of the classic "Turn Loose The Swans" album later on that year. "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. would land eight months before that spectacular game-changer & it'd only see my passion for the burgeoning doom/death scene rising to fever pitch.

"The Thrash of Naked Limbs" E.P. contains just the three tracks across its eighteen-minute duration, two of which take the form of their signature doom/death metal sound with the other being something a little different for My Dying Bride. The production job on the two metal songs isn't perfect with the rhythm guitars sounding a little wishy washy to my ears & the violin coming across as a tad artificial too. Thankfully though, the riffs are as crushing as we've come to expect from a My Dying Bride release with Aaron's iconic death growls being in full effect. There are some subtle differences from the band's debut album on show here. The guitar tone is starting to head away from the filthy death metal graveyard it had resided in previously &, despite the production issues, the overall package just seems to be a little more polished & professional. The violin parts that permeated "As The Flower Withers" aren't quite as prominent here either as they play more of a supporting role than they do the thematic protagonist we were presented with on some of the band's stronger works to the time. I'd suggest that there isn't quite as much undiluted death metal included in this material either. It's a little more consistently doomy than the earlier releases were.

The E.P. kicks off with the title track which is generally regarded as the strongest inclusion of the three. Interestingly, I'm gonna go the other way & say that it's the track that I connect with the least. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very strong piece that borders on being a classic in its own right but I just don't think it quite gels as well as My Dying Bride's most transcendent & timeless material. Easily the most divisive song is the dark ambient piece "Le cerf malade" that splits the two metal numbers & I have to admit that I've always found it to be the highlight of the record. Admittedly I'm a big ambient music fan & this piece absolutely nails the atmosphere it sets out to explore. In fact, I'd suggest that any ambient artist worth their salt would be drooling over this track to be honest. Closing doom/death anthem "Gather Me Up Forever" goes pretty close to equaling it too. It's the doomier of the two metal songs & doesn't taint its more beautiful & melodic doom moments with chuggier mid-paced riffage as much as the title track does so there's not a hint of filler here with every piece offering the listener a significant artistic & atmospheric pay-off.

"The Thrash of Naked Limbs" doesn't get quite as much attention as its more highly regarded predecessors but I have a big soft spot for the more mature & refined composition that predicted the direction the band would soon take & this saw it making just as big an impact on my life. In fact, I've tended to think of the E.P. as My Dying Bride's strongest overall work to the time & this revisit has only strengthened that feeling even though there's very little between the three proper releases. This is not only an essential My Dying Bride record but it's an essential release for the doom/death subgenre overall. It rightfully stands alongside the band's finest work & should have Paradise Lost, Anathema & Novembers Doom fans frothing at the mouth.

4.5/5

Here's my review:

1991's "Worship Him" debut album was a relatively big record for Ben & I back in the early 1990's. I was already a fan of the First Wave of Black Metal when I first discovered Switzerland's Samael & their first full-length possessed some of the best traits from a number of those bands which saw me being heavily attracted to their fairly simple yet deeply atmospheric take on early black metal; their measured & doomy sense of control being in direct contrast to the death metal explosion that I was right up to my eyeballs in at the time. We'd pick up 1992's follow-up album "Blood Ritual" on CD & would give it a very similar treatment & with a fairly similar result from what I recall too. I didn't regard either record as being classics for the genre at the time but felt that they were essential early black metal release nonetheless. I always got the feeling that they sported a timeless quality & that element is still very much in effect with this week's revisit.

"Blood Ritual" isn't as different from "Worship Him" as some reviewers tend to make out. It certainly contains a cleaner, heavier production job that has obviously been inspired by felllow Swiss extreme metal legends Celtic Frost with the thick layers of rhythm guitar being a clear highlight of the record. The slow-to-mid paced tempos of "Worship Him" have only been dialed back a little further with the doomy vibe of the slower material off the debut having been accentuated here. If anything the riff structures are even less typical of the modern-day black metal sound too with thrash & doom metal tools being utilized within the context of a black metal atmosphere. Guitarist Vorphalack's grim Quorthon-inspired vocals always end to tie Samael to the black metal genre too, along with the darker feel & simpler riff structures. This is black metal at its most primitive, only with a production that goes very much against the traditional lo-fi grain that black metal was built on but one that definitely suits Samael's character traits. Celtic Frost are the clear source of inspiration here & (as with "Worship Him") I can't help but wonder as to just how much of an influence the early Samael releases had on Darkthrone's transition into black metal, particularly records like "Panzerfaust". The early works of Greece's Rotting Christ & Varathron also come to mind due to the similarities in style & tempo.

The tracklisting on "Blood Ritual" is very top-heavy with the vast majority of the stronger material residing on the A side. There's a short lull in the middle of the album with the faster title track (a re-recorded track from their 1988 "Macabre Operatta" demo tape) & short interlude "Since the Creation..." failing to hit the mark before things return to more enjoyable territories for the remainder of the record. The most notable inclusion is the incredible "After the Sepulture" which was clearly Samael's finest moment to the time & is still one of my all-time favourites amongst the earlier black metal acts. It represents Samael's first genuine classic & is probably the differentiator between where the two albums stand for me personally. Other highlights include "Poison Infiltration", "Bestial Devotion", the solid opener "Beyond the Nothingness" & the lengthy "Macabre Operatta" (another re-recording from the demo of the same name").

"Blood Ritual" is another high-quality effort from a black metal band that had been around a lot longer than most at the time & showed a clear understanding of the key elements that make the genre so great. There's not a lot between Samael's first two full-lengths but I tend to find "Blood Ritual" just edging out its older sibling overall, buoyed by the impact of the wonderful "After the Sepulture" while "Worship Him" lacked such a transcendent highlight track. 1994 would see Samael topping both records with their career-defining "Ceremony of Opposites" third album but "Blood Ritual" is probably still my second favourite Samael record of the ones I've heard & it should be essential listening for anyone wanting to gain a comprehensive understanding of where the black metal genre came from.

4/5

This morning's song is the title track from Bow Wow's "Signal Fire" album which is once again a hard rock tune:

Here's my review:

I stumbled over the debut album from Texas' Embodyment around 15 years ago while desperately trying to catch up on all of the great death metal releases I'd missed out on during my self-imposed, decade-long hiatus from the metal scene. "Embrace The Eternal" was reasonably well thought of in death metal circles at the time but Embodyment's remaining back catalogue seemed to be frowned upon for reasons I was unaware of so I went into the album with an open mind. I was also unaware of the links with Christianity & the early deathcore scene that now permeate the release & I honestly don't recall thinking I'd discovered the building blocks of a new genre with that experience either so this month's feature release nomination represents a good chance to reassess that position, particularly given the strong statements from our resident The Revolution devotee Andi.

"Embrace The Eternal" is a well-produced & executed record from a band that were already well in control of their chosen instruments. In fact, they can occasionally be guilty of being a little TOO precise to be honest as the weaker moments on the album do tend to sound like they're in autopilot & lacking a bit of electricity. The clinical production is led by a particularly clicky kick-drum so if that element is something you usually struggle with then I'd perhaps give this release a wide birth. In saying that though, current Living Sacrifice drummer Mark Garza is arguably the highlight of the record with his super-precise performance giving Embodyment a particularly solid platform to work off. I mean, clicky kick drums can be very unforgiving at times but here we see Garza pulling everything off effortlessly. Front man Kris McCaddon's contribution isn't your average deep death metal or deathcore growl though. Instead, we see him sporting a screamier approach that sits right at the mid-point between Carcass' Jeff Walker & the classic metalcore delivery. He tends to be a bit of a one-trick pony on the evidence here too as he really does stick to the one thing the whole way through the album's duration.

Now for the elephant in the room... Despite "Embrace The Eternal" being claimed as one of the founding releases for the deathcore genre, I have to question that consensus. You see, there is nothing terribly unusual or original here from an instrumental point of view. This is purely a death metal record from that perspective with Suffocation being the primary source of inspiration. As someone that absolutely worshipped (& at times sought to emulate) that wonderful band, it's really obvious that Embodyment were also bowing down at the altar of "Effigy of the Forgotten", even if they do tend to shy away from Suffocation's more technical side & aren't nearly as brutal. The regular use of breakdowns is certainly worth mentioning but they don't seem to be drawn from the hardcore scene as far as I can tell, instead being borrowed from the early slam death metal one. Unlike Suffocation though, Embodyment's death metal sound has as much to do with your classic old-school death metal model as it does with the brutal death metal one & you should be able to pick up the influence of bands like Morbid Angel at times too. Then during the second half of the album we start to see some more diverse influences seeping in with the odd Fear Factory groove or jumpy Korn-style nu metal section appearing. While that idea might not sound all that appealing on paper, Embodyment seem to have the class to pull it off nonetheless. It's really just the vocals that draw upon hardcore for inspiration though as the instrumentation can basically be summarized under the death metal banner &, even then, McCaddon's tone isn't even close to the super-gutteral, ultra-deep death growl employed by most deathcore front men these days. Therefore, I struggle to see how "Embrace The Eternal" is a seminal deathcore release to be honest. If it's just the vocals that draw it into that space then Carcass' "Heartwork" would surely suffer the same fate & that idea certainly isn't on the table.

With that said, "Embrace The Eternal" is a very solid extreme metal album in its own right with no weak tracks included. There's a clear consistency to the ten songs & the Christian lyrical content will have absolutely no impact on you unless you go out of your way to investigate what McCaddon is going on about. I personally choose not to & are much better off for it given my strong feelings about organised religion in general. I'd recommend that our The Horde members leave any preconceived notions at the door & give "Embrace The Eternal" a chance to win them over because it's really a very solid first-up effort & one that will have you pondering over how Embodyment's next record could possibly fall into the realm of our The Gateway clan.

4/5

This morning's track is Bow Wow's "Tell Me Tell Me" which I'd suggest is hard rock:

Today's track is Bow Wow's "Rainbow of Sabbath" which I regard as being hard rock:

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

I checked out the 1977 "Jardim de Infância" debut album from Brazil's Robertinho de Recife this morning but found no metal whatsoever. Instead I got a really interesting blend of psychedelic rock, progressive rock, Mahavishnu Orchestra-style jazz fusion & Udigrudi folk music.

I also explored the 1977 "Keep The Dogs Away" debut album from Canada's Thor. I didn't find any metal there either. It's a glammy hard rock record for mine.

And finally, I checked out 1977's first demo tape from Los Angeles' Sister; a release that features former New York Dolls guitarist & legendary WASP front man Blackie Lawless behind the mike as well as Mötley Crüe bass guitarist Nikki Sixx. It's certainly a pretty crude & lo-fi recording but I've been very surprised to find that there's enough metal on offer here to qualify as a genuine metal release. I'd suggest that the first two tracks "Sex Dreams" & "Sex Drive" (which was re-recorded for WASP's 1985 sophomore album "The Last Command") are heavy metal tunes while "What I Am" is hard rock & closer "Sweet Disease" is an early example of glam metal. This puts Sister's demo into the conversation for the earliest US metal release but we'll have to see where we end up at the end of our investigation of 1977 to confirm that. Who would have thought, huh?

Here's my review:

Chilean thrash metallers Critical Defiance & I have enjoyed a very fruitful relationship over the last five years. In a scene that has largely maintained itself purely off the back of its distant heritage, these South Americans have managed to release a couple of records that have proven to been worthy of my interest in their own right, particularly 2022's "No Life Forms" sophomore album which I consider to be fairly essential for fans of the modern-day Chilean thrash scene. So, I think it's fair to say that I had high hopes for the brand new follow-up album "The Search Won't Fall..." which has predictably been receiving a fair amount of praise from the underground thus far. It hasn't disappointed either with Critical Defiance delivering yet another solid piece of thrash metal designed specifically for an audience that have been starved of high-quality material in recent times.

The production job that "The Search Won't Fall..." is built on is pretty decent but is perhaps a little too heavy on the mid-range frequencies & I think the album could have done with a little more highs as a result. The musicianship is top notch though with the five instrumentalists all proving themselves to be highly proficient in their chosen crafts. As with "No Life Forms", we once again see the unusual inclusion of a third guitarist, a differentiator that the band make good use of but probably won't be picked up by the band's less informed listeners. I really enjoy the shredding Slayer-esque guitar solos which are generally well timed with former Demoniac shredder Nicolás Young being a welcome addition to the band. The song structures feature a crap-tonne of changes too although I struggle to see any justification for the tech thrash claims that seem to be associated with the album as I honestly can't hear anything particularly technical here. Front man Felipe Alvarado's aggressive vocals are well-suited to this style of music but its drummer Rodrigo Poblete (also formerly of Demoniac) that's the clear highlight of the album with his powerful, precise & exciting contribution clearly indicating the role that Slayer's Dave Lombardo has played a clear role in his musical up-bringing.

Stylistically, there's a bit more to Critical Defiance than your run-of-the-mill 80's-worshipping thrash outfit these days. They tend to mix things up a bit by throwing in some well executed curve balls & also varying their track lengths & song structures fairly drastically. You'll no doubt notice that there are a few longer & more expansive pieces included than we found on "No Life Forms" with some progressive options having been explored. There are a couple of tracks that showcase a clear black metal component too (particularly the outstanding "Full Paranoia") while "Long Distance (The What's to Come)" & "Absolüt" are built as much on speed metal as they are on thrash. You can also expect to receive a classical guitar piece ("The Blind Divine"), a progressive rock instrumental ("Margarita") & a full-throttle grindcore number ("All The Powers") so you can hardly claim "The Search Won't Fall..." to be samey. There aren't any weak inclusions either so it's a very consistent affair from a highly competent & experienced artist.

"The Search Won't Fall..." really does pick up where "No Life Forms" left off. It's another very solid release from Critical Deception that will likely come into consideration for my end of year list & will no doubt be receiving return visits from me in the future too. I'd suggest ignoring the tech thrash claims & going into the record expecting more of a Kreator/Vio-lence brand of aggressive thrash only with a slightly more adventurous edge that sees them drawing upon a more diverse array of artists such as Hellripper & early Emperor for inspiration at times.

4/5

This morning's track is Bow Wow's "Rock'n'Roll Drive" which is a hard rock tune:

I'll about 99% sure that I've covered every possible option from 1970-1976 now so I've begun checking out 1977 releases behind the scenes. Here's some from today:

The 1977 "I giovani della notte" E.P. from Italy's Crazy Band includes no genuine metal songs. It's purely a hard rock record.

The 1977 "To You All" sophomore album Switzerland's Krokus is also a hard rock record with no metal to speak of.

English d-beat legends Discharge's 1977 demo tape is pretty much a punk rock release with hints of hardcore punk here & there.

And finally, the 1977 "Back To The Music" debut album from Germany's Mass is a blues/hard rock record with only the one track that qualifies as heavy metal.

Today's track is Bow Wow's "Electric Power Up" which I'm gonna suggest is another early example of the speed metal genre:

Here's my review:

My incentive for nominating San Diego progressive metallers Psychotic Waltz's 1992 sophomore album "Into The Everflow" for feature release status was predominantly built off the very positive experience I had with the album's older sibling "A Social Grace" back in October 2023. I'd never given Psychotic Waltz a genuine crack before then but their 1990 debut album left me thoroughly impressed by its class & execution. Possibly the only thing missing was the sort of hooks that are required to take a very solid record & make it into a truly great one so I was left wondering if perhaps the band might have been able to achieve that with a little more time & experience. This month seemed like a good time to find out.

Once again we find Psychotic Waltz indulging themselves in the more progressive end of the metal spectrum with "Into The Everflow". It's perhaps not as consistently heavy as "A Social Grace" was but it certainly has its moments. The more intense & highly complex passages definitely coincide with my favourite parts of the album but the more experimental & atmospheric sections are not to be scoffed at either with prog rock playing a stronger role than I remember it doing with the debut. The vocals of Deadsoul Tribe & former The Shadow Theory front man Buddy Lackey are positioned in the higher-register, theatrical style of the US power metal scene but are not as difficult to digest as a John Arch (Fates Warning) or a Jason McMaster (Watchtower). In saying that though, he does tend to wander into some artsy territory at times & I'm not sure it always works. Thankfully, the guitar work of Dan Rock & Brian McAlpin tends to jump out & save the day at key moments.

The eight-song tracklisting is very formidable with even the weaker inclusion "Tiny Streams" still offering something of interest. The super-complex "Out Of Mind" is my personal favourite with its weighty riffs & odd time-signatures seeing my ears staying pricked up for its full duration. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any other classics included here, despite the very solid & consistent level of quality that drives the album. Some of the material takes two or three listens to fully comprehend too as there's a lot to take in here which perhaps results in a less immediate record than its predecessor which I slightly favour over this one by the barest of margins. I'm guessing that fans of Fates Warning, Watchtower & Spiral Architect will likely already be all over this album but I feel that there's enough in it for me to recommend it to ALL of our The Infinite members as Psychotic Waltz are a highly talented band that produces top quality progressive metal material. If you don't get into the proggier end of metal then you should steer well clear of it though.

4/5

OK, so I'm about to throw a cat well & truly amongst the pigeons as I've finally (well... potentially) discovered a super-underground release that I've never heard of that ticks all of the metal boxes & may have been released earlier than many of the records that we believe to have truly cemented, established & defined the modern heavy metal sound. From what I've been able to determine thus far, there was a Dutch band by the name of Trash (or The Trash depending on where you look) who would later go on to change their name a couple of times to both Emerald & Warrior during the 1980's. The Trash recording four songs in the 1970's which may or may not have been released as a demo tape, reported on some metal websites to have taken place as far back as 1976. Well, if that's really the case then these demos represent the most pure metal release we'd seen to the time as I'd suggest that all four songs fall into the heavy metal camp & even showcase the regular use of tremolo-picking which foreshadowed the coming speed metal boom. It's all good stuff too. Just listen to those soaring higher register metal vocals! What a shame that this wasn't a proper release & I can't confirm the release date because it would comfortably have slotted in at number nine on our chronological timeline between Rainbow's "Rising" & Judas Priest's "Sin After Sin", thus closing out our first ten genuine metal releases list. If I'm being honest though, I suspect that this material is far more likely to have come from 1979 given the similarities to late 70's Judas Priest & Motorhead but I guess we'll never know.

This morning's track is Bow Wow's "Sliver Lightning" which I regard as being hard rock:

I checked out the 1976 self-titled album from Japan's Ginbae this morning & found only the one metal track from the six songs on offer. It's a hard rock/heavy psych record with heavy metal influences in my opinion.

Here's my review:

German heavy/power metal establishment Running Wild & I have certainly maintained a rocky relationship over the years. I've been aware of them for many decades now but only really explored them properly for the first time during my work on the Metal Academy podcast during the mid-2010's when I investigated their first couple of mid-80's albums, neither of which did much for me to be honest. Since that time I've given five of Running Wild's next six albums a chance to win me over with only 1991's "Blazon Stone" sixth album offering me anything of interest. 1990's "Wild Animal" E.P. earnt a few spins too but was probably the furthest from the mark so you're probably wondering what led me to going down the path of reviewing the only remaining release from Running Wild supposedly classic period then, aren't you? Well, I guess I'm just a busy-body essentially. I just need to know everything there is to know about metal & after getting some pleasure out of "Blazon Stone" I was left with a single unexplored gap where its follow-up sat so I thought to myself "What can it hurt?". Well, perhaps it can't "hurt" as such but, as I've found out, it can still be a fairly uninteresting experience in much the same way as the vast majority of Running Wild's other major releases have been for me.

Much like the albums either side of it, 1992's "Pile of Skulls" seventh full-length sees Running Wild tip-toing along the boundary line between heavy metal & power metal with an occasional foray into genuine speed metal territory. They don't sound all that much like your classic German power metal model though & are a little more in line with the US version of the genre as they lack the vocal histrionics & aren't as focused on cheesy pop melodies (even though there are some examples to be found here). Front man Rock 'n' Rolf's production job is very good & highlights some chunky (if quite simple) metal riffage from both himself & Axel Morgan (current Savage Circus & former X-Wild guitarist). As I've said many times in the past though, a lot of Running Wild's instrumentation is quite engaging but the limiting factor here is definitely Rolf's vocals which come across as weak & clearly don't serve this style of music anywhere near as well as your classic higher-register Teutonic power metal front man would have been capable of. Rolf simply fumbles his way through the tracklisting & fails to ever see me fully engaged, even during the stronger material.

The tracklisting on "Pile of Skulls" certainly has its moments. It begins with a pretty awful folk metal intro piece but then launches into a trio of the best tracks on the record & after just experiencing those I was feeling pretty good about the potential for "Pile of Skulls" to emulate the successes of "Blazon Stone". Things take a downward turn at that point though which correlates with the band putting their power metal queue back in the rack for a couple of songs & focusing more on traditional heavy metal ("Fistful of Dynamite") & even hard rock ("Roaring Thunder") for a bit. My interest is revived during the middle of the B side through a duo of decent heavy metal inclusions in "Lead or Gold" & "White Buffalo" but the fifteen minutes of power metal that closes out the tracklisting sees me once again struggling & the record tends to peter out a bit, particularly given that the final song "Treasure Island" is in excess of ten minutes & flaunts the band's cringe-worthy pirate themes more strongly than anything else on the album.

So, once again we have a hit-&-miss Running Wild album here. The stronger songs never reach a particularly solid standard, each one struggling to overcome the vocal deficiencies of the band's loyal protagonist, but the weaker tracks are never all that horrible either. It just comes down to engagement really & I simply can't say that I remain engaged for a little over half of the album's run time. Even the inclusion of a more than decent speed metal opener (i.e. "Whirlpool") wasn't enough to see me getting terribly excited so I guess that Running Wild still reside primarily in the unfortunate bracket of being none of my fucking business for the most part. Diehard fans of similar German bands like Grave Digger, Blazon Stone & Rage will no doubt disagree with me but that's what makes this wonderful metal scene so interesting now, isn't it? For me personally though, I think my ongoing experiments with Running Wild are finally over & I plan to move on with my life.

3/5

Today's track is Bow Wow's "Just One More Night" which I'd suggest is hard rock:

Here's my review:

I came to London post-punk legends Killing Time pretty late in the piece with my first encounter not coming until I checked out their fourteenth full-length album in 2012's solid industrial rock effort "MMXII". I probably didn't give it enough time or attention either to be honest as I kinda let it wash over me without really digging its teeth in & I'd move on fairly quickly. It wouldn't be until I nominated Killing Joke's classic 2003 self-titled album for feature release status in March 2021 that I'd discover what the band were really capable of with it's blend of industrial & alternative metal leaving me feeling both exhilerated & thoroughly rewarded. That experience would see me tempted into nominating 2006's highly regarded "Hosannas From the Basements of Hell" album as our March 2022 feature, another high-quality industrial metal effort that only strengthened Killing Joke's case for me & led to me thoroughly enjoying 1985's seminal post-punk/gothic rock fifth album "Night Time" during a period of goth rock exploration in early 2023. All of that exposure has now led us to this point in time when I find myself having made a third Killing Joke feature release nomination in order to see whether 1994's "Pandemonium", the band's first foray into metal music, stands up to the same standard set by its illustrious company.

"Pandemonium" is a record of enormous depth. It sees Killing Joke traversing a lot of musical ground across its ten tracks & 61-minute duration & one has to wonder whether the fact that the band was without a full-time drummer at the time played into the musical & creative decisions they made here. The production job isn't perfect with some of the faster songs lacking a little bit of definition between the instruments but there's a potent energy about everything they do with front man Jaz Coleman inevitably managing to maintain your attention & drive this material through his undeniable charisma.

"Pandemonium" kicks off with a trio of its heaviest & most aggressive songs & on first listen you could be forgiven for thinking that you were in for a total metalfest. But there's a whole bunch more to "Pandemonium" than that & by the end of the album you'll find that there's possibly more rock than there is metal. The four metal tunes are significant enough to warrant a dual tagging though with their high octane tempos & chunky riffage drawing me way back to those mid-90's goth club dance floors I used to frequent so regularly when I was still a part of the Sydney death metal scene. The opening title track is particularly effective & would have to be one of Killing Joke's finest moments. There's some interesting material to be found outside of the metal space too though with industrial goth rocker "Communion" being a real favourite of mine. "Pleasures of the Flesh" reiterates Killing Joke's goth rock potential while "Black Moon" harks back to the band's post-punk roots. Shoegaze number "Jana" is probably the most restrained inclusion & the album comes to a close following the lengthy alternative dance number "Mathematics of Chaos" whose pumping electronic beat will no doubt get your head bobbing but probably lacks a little in the focus & execution departments.

Despite the variation, there are no weak tracks included as such with every one of the ten pieces offering at least some level of entertainment. I don't think there are quite enough genuine classics here to see "Pandemonium" competing on the same level as Killing Joke's marvelous 2003 self-titled album but it's not far behind "Hosannas From The Basement of Hell" as far as rock-solid, professionally produced industrial rock & metal music goes. One gets the feeling that anything Jaz Coleman & co. touch will be successful as they just seem to possess that greater understanding of what makes visceral rock/metal music so appealing in the first place. I've thoroughly enjoyed my couple of days with "Pandemonium" & can definitely see myself returning to it at regular intervals in the future. Fans of Ministry & Nine Inch Nails should definitely check it out because there are some clear similarities on display at times.

4/5

This morning's track is Bow Wow's "Get On Our Train" which sits somewhere between hard rock & heavy metal but qualified as metal for mine:

Some more new releases for April:

Full of Hell - "Coagulated Bliss"

Pestilence - "Levels of Perception"

Deicide - "Banished By Sin"

Today we start a new release in Bow Wow's 1977 sophomore album "Signal Fire". Here's the opening track "Prelude" which I regard as being progressive rock (yes, the link also includes the second track):

Two more new releases coming our way from old 70's/80's bands this month:

Teutonic thrash metallers Darkness have their seventh album "Blood on Canvas" coming out on 26th April. I haven't heard anything they've done since their 1988 sophomore album "Defenders of Justice" but have time for both of their first two full-lengths so this might be one I throw on at some point.

Marty Friedman - "Scenes" (1992)

Washington-based guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman first came to my attention during the late 1980's when I stumbled across his Cacophony project with teenage prodigy & fellow shred master Jason Becker. Their 1987 debut album "Speed Metal Symphony" gave me a reasonable amount of pleasure, if mainly due to the ridiculously accomplished technique on display from both of the protagonists. I'd soon explore the duo's debut solo records with Becker's 1988 "Perpetual Burn" being significantly more interesting than Friedman's "Dragon's Kiss" from the same year. "Dragon's Kiss" is generally regarded as an essential release by guitar enthusiasts but I simply found its weaker tracks to overshadow the stronger material with his penchant for cheesy melodies having the final say on whether the album made the cut with me or not. Thankfully though, Friedman would join Megadeth soon afterwards & would go on to contribute to all five of their 1990's albums, the most notable being 1990's "Rust In Peace" which is still held up on a pedestal as one of the great thrash metal releases of all time in the present day. I also quite liked 1992's "Countdown to Extinction" & 1994's "Youthanasia" but in between those two commercially successful heavy metal records Marty would enter the Californian home studio of renowned Japanese new age music producer Kitaro to record his second solo album "Scenes" which would be released in November 1992. I'd forgiven Marty for the inadequacies of "Dragon's Kiss" by this stage, mainly because he absolutely blew my fucking face off with his performance on "Rust in Peace", so I picked up a copy of "Scenes" upon release, eager for more of Marty's exotic neoclassically-inspired stylings. What I got though was not what I was expecting at all because little did I know that Marty had been taken under Kitaro's wing & that "Scenes" would appear to be somewhat of a tribute to his master.

The metal credentials of "Scenes" aren't actually that straight forward because I'd suggest that the larger portion of the album is made up of genuine new age music of the Japanese variety. That's not necessarily a problem but the way it's been produced here sounds terribly dated & cheesy at times with cheap sounding synthesizers seemingly being the order of the day. Perhaps this shouldn't have been a surprise in retrospect given that the keyboards are performed by Kitaro's band mate Brian BecVar who has gone on to become known for his work with commercial pop artists like Celine Dion, Michael Bolton & Richard Marx. Friedman's clean guitar work appears to have been intentionally composed to reflect the whole Japanese theme & the way he uses string bends to accomplish this is really quite ingenius. His melodies are rarely dark or mysterious though. They're more often pleasant & uplifting which isn't usually my bag but I've made an honest attempt to overcome my preconceived notions here. The other significant component of the album is made up of heavy metal instrumentation with Megadeth drummer Nick Menza contributing the beats & most of the metal material is at least pretty decent. Hell, the short & brooding "Trance" is absolutely outstanding & I can't for the life of me understand why Marty wouldn't have elaborated on that idea any further as it's the clear highlight of the album for mine. Other strong inclusions include new age opener "Tibet" & "Realm of the Senses" which is very much a hybrid that explores both new age & Yngwie Malmsteen-ish neoclassical metal.

Look, there are actually more hits than misses on "Scenes" so it's not an absolute disaster. It's just that the weaker inclusions are bad enough to see them nullifying all of that good work which is a little disappointing to be honest. As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of "Dragon's Kiss" but I'd still probably take it over "Scenes" which doesn't say a lot for Marty's ability to produce a consistently compelling solo album. I mean, there's not even all that many moments where Marty shows off his dazzling technique here which would at least be something to grab onto for an old shred-head like me. Maybe I'm destined to never hear the great record that I'm sure Friendman has inside of him but you know what? I'm at peace with that.

3/5

My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)

As with Anathema whose debut E.P. I revisited only last week, Halifax doom/death legends My Dying Bride can lay claim to providing the soundtrack to a considerable chunk of my youth. Ben & I discovered both bands in the very early stages of their recording careers & would follow them religiously for many years to come. 1992's "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" was my introduction to My Dying Bride & it flattened me in no uncertain terms so their debut full-length "As The Flower Withers" had a lot to live up to. It's been a while since I've revisited it but all of my recollections indicated that it totally lived up the expectations too, despite often being overlooked in favour of My Dying Bride's impeccable 1993 sophomore album "Turn Loose The Swans" & classy 1995 follow-up "The Angel & the Dark River". Going into this revisit I would have said that that pecking order wasn't all that unfair but I was hopeful that the gap would prove to be a lot smaller than my memory would suggest. That's certainly proven to be the case too with "As The Flower Withers" pleasantly surprising me with just how fully realised it was for such a young band.

The title track from "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" had seen My Dying Bride touching on a fresh new sound that no one in the extreme metal scene had yet been bold enough to attempt. The use of violin to accentuate its gothic grandeur was nothing short of a masterstroke & would spark a wave of copycats worldwide. None would be able to touch My Dying Bride in their execution however & this element would go on to become the calling card for the band's early works. The other two tracks on the E.P. were vastly different in their structure & style though which begged the question as to what direction the debut full-length would take. Well, what ended up transpiring was a record that still represents a band that's in transition from their early death metal roots into a full-fledged gothic doom metal band. Of the six proper songs included, there are three gargantuan doom/death masterpieces that are similar to "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" in what they aim to achieve but then we also get some less ambitious & more obviously death metal focused pieces as well as some that fall somewhere in between. The production job is still quite raw which also sees the death metal scene keeping a close watch over My Dying Bride, particularly in regard to the rhythm guitar tone which could have been pulling straight off an Autopsy or Bolt Thrower record. Front man Aaron Stainthorpe's vocal delivery is still limited to his imposing death growl too & I for one are really happy about it as I've always thought Aaron's grunt was one of the more unique & powerful in the extreme metal scene while his clean vocals have sometimes bordered on being whiny & repetitive.

The neoclassical darkwave intro piece "Silent Dance" performs its task brilliantly & leads into one of the band's finest works in the epic "Sear Me" which immediately takes my heart-strings & splays them all over the room. The life-changing "The Bitterness & the Bereavement" & the masterful "The Return of the Beautiful" take a similarly mournful & downtrodden violin-led doom direction & it's this material that categorically proves that My Dying Bride are the real deal when it comes to this subgenre as they've rarely been matched & have never been surpassed by the competition that they were responsible for inspiring in the first place. The more death metal inclined "The Forever People" & "Erotic Literature" aren't nearly as ambitious but aren't anywhere near as magical in their effectiveness either. They're definitely not to be overlooked though as neither could be regarded as being weak as such. It's pretty telling that the doomier parts of both are the most appealing parts of the songs though as it provides clear proof that My Dying Bride were heading in the right direction. "Vast Choirs" kinda sits in the middle ground between the two styles & is not a bad summary of the album really.

Despite the inclusion of some less significant tracks, "As The Flower Withers" is built around & carried by its highlights with the elite material also being by far the longest inclusions. I simply can't fault My Dying Bride while listening to those pieces & feel that the overall album was always destined to achieve one of my higher scores, regardless of how much less impactful the remainder of the record proved to be. The band would veer away from death growls & violins at various stages of their career & I feel that it says a great deal that I've always found those records to be missing something. What it tells me is that My Dying Bride had perfected their sound very early on, at least they had for me personally. As good as "The Angel & the Dark River" was, I can't deny that I favour "As The Flower Withers" over it these days, primarily because it's more closely aligned to my personal taste profile. The debut still offered a gothic feel but it doesn't resort to overly melodramatic emasculation to get there, instead taking a much more muscular yet no less beautiful approach that possesses a timeless quality that sees it aging much better. Fans of Novembers Doom & the early works of Paradise Lost & Anathema simply must own this album because it was as responsible as any of the early doom/death releases for defining the parameters that the subgenre would traverse over the many decades to come.

4.5/5

Once again I find myself adjusting my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list with Evoken's "Quietus" making way for "As The Flower Withers". I've also dropped Meshuggah's "I" E.P. out of my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list to enable it to slip into number #71 there too.

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. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

06. My Dying Bride - "As The Flower Withers" (1992)

07. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

08. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)

09. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

10. Anathema - "The Crestfallen E.P." (1992)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

Today's track is the closer from Quartz's 1977 self-titled album in "Little Old Lady" which I'd suggest is best suited to a progressive rock tag.

That leaves "Quartz" with just three metal tags out of the nine tracks included which is not enough for me to qualify it as a genuine metal release. Tomorrow we'll be beginning a new release in the 1977 "Signal Fire" sophomore album from Japan's Bow Wow. It's often referred to as the root of Japanese metal & I've long held some fairly strong opinions on that so let's see how it holds up to more detailed scrutiny, shall we?

As a taster for that exercise, I decided to check out Bow Wow's self-titled 1976 debut album yesterday but didn't find any metal there. It's a hard rock record with heavy psych & boogie rock influences for mine.

Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for May with Sonny coming back into the roster after a few months off:

THE FALLEN: Ben, Sonny, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Daniel

THE HORDE: Daniel, Sonny, Ben

THE INFINITE: Saxy, Andi, Xephyr

THE NORTH: Sonny, Xephyr, Ben, Daniel

THE PIT: Sonny, Daniel, Ben

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

I've removed Shezma from the roster given that he's failed to submit his nominations for the last couple of months in a row so I'm assuming that he's lost interest.

Saxy & Xephyr, 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.

Godflesh – “Someone Somewhere Scorned” (from “Slavestate” E.P., 1991)

PSYCHO-FRAME – “The Plot To Nuke The Midwest” (from “Automatic Death Protocol” E.P., 2023)

The Crown – “Dead Man’s Song” (from “Deathrace King”, 2000)

Demoniac – “Acaro” (from “Nube Negra”, 2023)

Hellripper – “The Cursed Carrion Crown” (from “Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags”, 2023)

Anacrusis – “Paint A Picture” (from “Manic Impressions”, 1991)

Running Wild – “Straight To Hell” (from “Blazon Stone”, 1991)

Iced Earth – “Stormrider” (from “Night of the Stormrider”, 1991)

Trhä - "Tëmana olh qëtën colvënna bé'jar lhëlh tun lhaja enΩëjëda£ehan inqom" (from "Alëce iΩic" E.P., 2023)

Neuropath – “Vulgar Rebirth” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995)

Entombed – “Crawl” (from “Crawl” E.P., 1991)

Pungent Stench – “Splatterday Nightfever” (from “Been Caught Buttering”, 1991)

Morgoth – “Body Count” (from “Cursed”, 1991)

Napalm Death – “Mass Appeal Madness” (from “Mass Appeal Madness” E.P., 1991)

Gorguts – “Inoculated Life” (from “Considered Dead”, 1991)

Massacre – “Succubus” (from “From Beyond”, 1991)

Sodom – “Resurrection” (from “Better Off Dead”, 1991)

Anthrax – “Bring The Noise” (from “Attack of the Killer B’s”, 1991)

Oromet – “Diluvium” (from “Oromet”, 2023)

Solitude Aeturnus – “Mirror of Sorrow” (from “Into The Depths Of Sorrow”, 1991)

April 2024

01. Cenotaph – “Crying Frost” (from “Epic Rites: 9 Epic Tales & Death Rites”, 1996)

02. Children of Bodom – “Lake Bodom” (from “Something Wild”, 1997)

03. Hypocrisy – “Adjusting The Sun” (from “The Final Chapter”, 1997)

04. My Dying Bride – “Vast Choirs” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Entombed – “But Life Goes On” (from “But Life Goes On” demo, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Neuropath – “Masticated Cadaver” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Benediction – “Jumping At Shadows” (from “The Grand Leveller”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Unaussprechlichen Kulten – “Die teufelsbucher” (from “Häxan Sabaoth”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

09. Internal Bleeding – “Driven to Conquer” (from “Driven to Conquer”, 1999)

10. Theory in Practice – “The Visionnaire” (from “The Armageddon Theories”, 1999)

11. Pyrrhon – “The Invisible Hand Holds a Whip” (from “What Passes For Survival”, 2016)

12. Gutalax – “Toi Toi Story” (from “Shit Happens”, 2015)

13. Massacre – “Dawn of Eternity” (from “From Beyond”, 1991) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

14. Cancer – “Tasteless Incest” (from “Death Shall Rise”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Coffins – “Hour of Execution” (from “Beyond The Circular Demise”, 2019) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

16. Verminous – “Salvation by Extermination” (from “Impious Sacrilege”, 2003) [Submitted by Sonny]

17. Found Dead Hanging – “Solar Powered Sun Destroyer” (from “Dulling Occams Razor” E.P., 2003)

18. Behemoth – “Here & Beyond” (from “Zos Kia Cultus (Here & beyond)”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

19. The Ritual Aura – “Precursor of Aphotic Collapse” (from “Laniakea”, 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

20. Incantation – “Blasphemy” (from “Blasphemy”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Contaminated – “Cosmic Shit Show” (from “Celebratory Beheading”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

22. Mortician – “Redrum/Outro” (from “Mortal Massacre” single, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. Cannibal Corpse – “Frenzied Feeding” (from “Chaos Horrific”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Malevolent Creation – “The Will To Kill” (from “The Will To Kill”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

25. Tower of Rome – “They Say She Died Because She Was Too Honest” (from “All is Lost, All is Lost, All is Yet to be Found”, 2004)

26. Sete Star Sept – “Pilot Error Snooze” (from Beast World”, 2016)

27. Sissy Spacek – “Meat Slave” (from “Disfathom”, 2016)

28. Cephalic Carnage – “Zuno Gyakusatsu” (from “Lucid Interval”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

29. Karmacipher – “Necroracle” (from “Necroracle”, 2016)

30. Fulci – “Gore Life” (from “Opening The Hell Gates”, 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

31. Glossectomy – “Self Mangled Malformation” (from “Impediments From Dysplasia” E.P., 2014)

32. Hymenotomy – “Orgasm Achieved By Disemboweling Pregnant Women & Inserting Decapitated Fetuses Into Hairy Anus” (from “Some Necrophiles Having Sex With Naked Autopsied Bodies In the Morgue”, 2015)

I explored Thin Lizzy's 1976 seventh album "Johnny The Fox" this morning but didn't find any metal there whatsoever. It's another pure hard rock record as far as I can see.

This morning's track is Quartz's "Pleasure Seekers" which I've tagged as being hard rock:

Thanks for submitting your vote on this one Sonny. It's seen us meet a reasonably strong consensus at YES 5 NO 0 so I'm going to pass this nomination. The release has been adjusted accordingly.

Checked out Deep Purple's 1976 "Made in Europe" live album this afternoon but found no metal material. It's a straight-up hard rock record for mine.

Despite the shredding Uli Jon Roth guitar solos, there's not a genuine metal track on 1976's fourth Scorpions album "Virgin Killer". It's pure hard rock as far as I'm concerned.

I've decided that the YES 5 NO 0 vote tally is enough to get this one over the line so I've added "Malleus Maleficarum" to The Horde & the Death Metal genre on top of its position in The Pit under Thrash Metal.

I checked out Rush's 1976 double live album "All The World's A Stage" this morning but found no metal there. It's a progressive hard rock release for mine.

This morning's track is Quartz's "Around & Around" which I'd suggest sits somewhere between heavy metal, hard rock & progressive rock. I'm gonna say that it ticks the metal box though.