Daniel's Forum Replies

The final track from "Bang" is "Redman" which I regard as being hard rock:

So, my ultimate result for "Bang" is that there's not enough metal included to qualify as a genuine metal release with only "Lions, Christians" & "Future Shock" making the cut. It's a hard rock record with metal influences in my opinion.

Still feel differently Shezma?

Tomorrow we'll be starting on Budgie's 1972 "Squawk" sophomore record.

Infectious Grooves - "The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves" (1991)

Ben & I had a bit of fun with this funk metal super-band project that included past & future members of Suicidal Tendencies, Cyco Miko, No Mercy, Metallica, Jerry Cantrell, Ozzy Osbourne, Excel, Jane's Addiction & Porno For Pyros. In fact, I'd suggest that I enjoy it a touch more than anything Mike Muir had done with Suicidal Tendencies up to that point these days. It's probably the most pure funk metal record I can remember experiencing actually & the sketch comedy parts that are scattered across the tracklisting are pretty hilarious too. Think Faith No More, Mordred & Scatterbrain & you won't be far from the mark.

3.5/5

I've got hard rock for "Questions":

Yeah, it certainly does make me proud Sonny but it's also hard to know what to make of a review like that as I struggle to connect those sort of comments with the "Nefarious Vivisection" demo which quite literally contains the first death metal songs I ever wrote when I was only 17 years old. Perhaps it's understandable that I struggle to separate myself & look from the outside but I hear something very different to what the reviewer is hearing when I listen to that stuff. It's worth noting that the rest of the band was still only 15-17 years old when "Nefarious Vivisection" was recorded though & I was only 19 myself. I come much closer to understanding the praise for "Desert of Excruciation" which I consider to be infinitely better. I'm often amazed by how far we came in just ten months. 

I'll speak to the label & see if there's anything that can be done as those sorts of postage numbers are scary. I just did a quick Google on what it would cost me to send you a copy myself & it wasn't in any way affordable.

Anthrax - "Attack of the Killer B's" (1991)

Despite the fact that my attention had well & truly been drawn more towards more extreme forms of metal by 1991, I still maintained my interest in the thrash metal that had played such a huge role in my musical development. For that reason, I was still picking up every Anthrax record immediately upon release with their “Attack of the Killer B’s” compilation being one of the last to receive that privilege. I recall quite enjoying my CD copy too, it has to be said. It’s been decades since we crossed paths though so I thought it’d be interesting to see if my feelings have changed over the years.

“Attack of the Killer B’s” is a compilation that draws together a collection of B-sides, cover versions & live recordings &, as I’ve recently discovered, with fairly mixed results too it has to be said. There’s no doubt that Anthrax were a class act at that point in their evolution but there are some misguided decisions on show here. The tracklisting kicks off in really strong style with cover version of S.O.D.’s crossover thrash classic “Milk (Ode To Billy)”, the rap metal collaboration with Public Enemy “Bring The Noise” & an acceptable live version of “Keep It In The Family” (one of the highlights from Anthrax’s last album “Persistence Of Time”) all being very strong inclusions. Things start to get noticeably hit & miss from that point on though & I find that the misses generally align with Anthrax’s notorious sense of humor which won't be a huge surprise for anyone that knows me as I’ve never been a fan of silly novelty tracks like “Startin’ Up A Posse”, “Pipeline” or “N.F.B. (Dallabnikufesin)”. These missteps are offset by some high-quality efforts like Discharge cover version “Protest & Survive” (my personal favourite), S.O.D. rehash “Chromatic Death” & a speed metal reenactment of Trust’s “Sects”. Even though both are excellent songs in their own right, the two live cuts are both a little disappointing as the production is simply inadequate.

 I have to admit that I was expecting a little more from “Attack of the Killer B’s” as I remembered it being more consistently great than this. Still… there’s some good shit to be found here if you’re patient enough to sit through the filler. There’s also a lot more to this release than just Anthrax’s signature thrash metal sound too with crossover thrash, rap metal, heavy metal & comedy rock all playing important bit parts in the outcome so it may have some crossover potential for a wide range of fans. I doubt that it'll make too many best-of lists though.

3.5/5

"At Damnation's Core" received a pretty amazing review from a rival metal website this week:

https://hessianfirm.com/neuropath-at-damnations-core2023/

Also, featured on this popular Aussie YouTube channel episode after the Cruciamentum review:

I've got traditional doom metal for this one:

Marduk - "Fuck Me Jesus" demo (1991)

I wasn't a fan of Swedish black metallers Marduk's 1992 debut album "Dark Endless". I always found it to be a little flat to be honest but the band's 1991 demo tape was much better in my opinion, despite being made up entirely of material that would be re-recorded for "Dark Endless". It has a cooler atmosphere that I quite like. As with the album though, this is still essentially a Swedish death metal release from an instrumental point of view with only the vocals of front man Andreas Axelsson hinting at the black metal of the band's future. In fact, "Fuck Me Jesus" reminds a fair bit of Darkthrone's early death metal efforts actually. It's definitely worth a listen for fans of Swedish extreme metal.

3.5/5

Mordred - "In This Life" (1991)

The late 80’s saw the metal world starting to experiment a little more than they had previously which was perhaps inevitable after the two most senior genres (i.e heavy metal & thrash metal) had already peaked. The incorporation of external influences was becoming quite common with artists repping everything from rap to classical to folk to surf rock. One of the more popular styles to dabble in was funk though with a number of acts reaching some level of commercial success sporting a funk-infused metal sound (Faith No More, Living Colour, Primus. etc.). None of those bands had taken things as far in terms of extremity as San Francisco’s Mordred did with the funk-driven thrash metal sound of their 1991 sophomore album “In This Life” though.

My earliest experiences with Mordred came through older school mates who supplied me with their 1989 debut full-length “Fool’s Game” which I quite liked. A dubbed copy of “In This Life” would enter my tape deck shortly afterwards & I found it’s stronger focus on the funk elements that had been hinted at on the debut to give it a slight edge. The production job is pretty weak with the guitars sounding noticeably thin but there’s enough creativity on offer to allow me to look past that obvious flaw. You see, this record really does achieve what it says on the tin in that it’s the perfect amalgamation of funk & thrash metal. It kinda sounds like a combination of the funk metal of Faith No More & Infectious Grooves & the Bay Area thrash of Death Angel & particularly Testament which is a prospect that certainly sounds interesting on paper, even if I do tend to like my thrash a little more on the pure side. There's some great musicianship on show on "In This Life" too. Front man Scott Holderby has an unusual voice for a thrash metal artist but I'm not sure he always nails it. He certainly tries to be as versatile as possible though.

The tracklisting is pretty consistent with only the flat funk metal excursion “Esse Quam Videri” not reaching an acceptable level of quality. There’s a really strong stretch during the middle of the record that includes a quality acoustic interlude (i.e. “A Beginning”) followed by the two album highlights (alternative US power metal number “Falling Away” & funk thrasher “Killing Time”) but there aren’t really any classics here & the production issues do kinda limit the potential for me to consider my higher ratings too. Still… Mordred are a bit of an enigma in the thrash scene & should be respected for their ambition & creativity in a thrash scene that’s dominated by copy-cats.

3.5/5

You'll find that a lot of the remastered releases tend to simply make the music louder & more in-your-face by compressing the dynamic range which is a bit of a turn-off for a lot of metalheads (myself included), particularly with the modern obsession with retro, vinyl & cassettes. One of the rare ones that's generally thought to have been improved significantly through modern technology is Megadeth's 1985 debut album "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!".

This morning's track is "Our Home" which I consider to be hard rock:

Ben, please add Marduk's "Fuck Me Jesus" E.P. from 1995. It was obviously a re-release of their 1991 demo tape but should qualify for the Academy nonetheless as it was released on CD as an E.P.

Today's track is "Come With Me" which I tagged as being hard rock.

I'd say it's alternative metal personally but feel free not to include it if you don't agree. Perhaps replace it with Suicidal Tendencies' "Send Me Your Money" from "Lights Camera Revolution" which I've also tagged as alternative metal?

Early heavy metal taken from an obscure Aussie single that first saw the light of day as far back as 1971. Melbourne band Ash only got the chance to release two singles, the first having nothing to do with metal. Both sides of "MIdnight Witch/Warrant" comfortably qualify though in my opinion.

Melbourne band Ash seem to have had a very strong taste for Black Sabbath, so much so that they completely ripped off one of the riffs from "War Pigs" less than twelve months after it's release on this early stoner metal tune. Check out the verse riff from the Ash track that first comes in at 0:13 & compare it to the riff 2:38 at in "War Pigs".

diSEMBOWELMENT - "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" demo (1991)

The Melbourne doom/death legends' second & final demo tape was an absolute masterstroke, seeing them now discovering the sound that would ultimately take them to the pinnacle of the genre a couple of years later. The grindcore influence that was so evident on 1990's "Mourning September" demo has now been toned back with the death metal one still being quite visible but there is a stronger focus on atmospherics & building obscure yet thoroughly captivating soundscapes that take the listener to the very edge of an early funeral death metal sound. Opener "My Divine Punishment" is utterly devastating & leaves me questioning why this track wasn't further developed for inclusion on either of diSEMBOWELMENT's proper releases. The two well-known tracks "The Tree of Life & Death" & "Burial At Ornans" are perhaps a step down from their ultimate formations (particularly the latter) but we shouldn't let that shouldn't tarnish what are some true historical landmarks in extreme music. "Deep Sensory Procession Into Aural Fate" is the very definition of the undiscovered gem for collectors & fans alike.

4.5/5

Today's track is "Last Will & Testament" which I've tagged as psychedelic rock.

Mortician - "Mortal Massacre" single (1991)

An old single I picked up through tape trading back in the day & a pretty decent one too. These were the days when the New York brutal death metal stalwarts still had a real drummer & were playing a more conventional (if still seriously dark) brand of death metal similar to Sanguisugabogg, Necrophagia & Incantation with the super-deep & ultra-gutteral vocals of former Incantation front man Will Rahmer being the clear highlight. I also like the well-executed blast beats of drummer Matt Sicher & the prominent incorporation of samples from horror films such as "NIght of the Living Dead" & "The Shining" (although they could have cut the length down a touch with the samples playing out for similar durations to the songs themselves). At just twelve minutes, this record flies past in quick time but I don't feel that I need a lot more of this sloppy, fuzzy, filth-caked death metal to scratch my itch to be honest as I didn't go into it expecting a life-changing, emotionally-engaging tear-jerker after all. Mortician simply serve their purpose pretty well without achieving a record that I'd say is essential listening.

3.5/5

Ugly Kid Joe - "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" E.P. (1991)

The debut E.P. from this Californian band would see them set the world alight for a short period, primarily off the back of the massive hit single "Everything About You" which was played to death in my high school days. For that reason, "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" was never far from my ears as a teenager so when I noticed that it was on the Metal Academy database under "Funk Metal" I thought it might be fun to see how it's aged. I certainly didn't remember Ugly Kid Joe being a metal band per se so I was curious to see whether they might be yet another supposed "funk metal" band that would provide further proof for my existing opinion that the subgenre isn't really justified.

I was never a fan of Ugly Kid Joe if I'm being honest so I wasn't ever really expecting that I'd rediscover a long lost love for "As Ugly As They Wanna Be" & I'm glad that was the case because I found the first four tracks to be pretty flat, particularly "Everything About You" which I quickly discovered I harbor a burning hatred for these days. It's only the last three tracks that see my interest being peaked with the cover version of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" being the heaviest number & the clear highlight. Funk metal number "Funky Fresh Country Club" is also pretty entertaining, as is the frantic 25 seconds of speed metal closer "Heavy Metal". It's just a shame that the first half of the release was so uninteresting really as the tracklisting never manages to recover.

"As Ugly As They Wanna Be" is often tagged as a hard rock & funk metal hybrid although I beg to differ (I know... big surprise there). There's really aren't any tracks that I'd suggest allign with the classic hard rock model here. Instead, we see numbers like "Madman", "Too Bad" & "Everything About You" possessing a much sleazier & more poppy sound that directly aligns itself with 80's glam metal as far as I can see. There's just enough metal on show to qualify for the Academy too though in my opinion. I'm just not sure that there's enough "funk" metal as such with only "Whiplash Liquor" & "Funky Fresh Country Club" taking that direction. That leaves me in a quandry about what would be a better tag though as there isn't another metal subgenre that's better represented here so perhaps I should just let it go.

"As Ugly As They Wanna Be" isn't terrible but it's certainly pretty disposable & lacking in substance. There's no doubt the band can play & front man Whitfield Crane has a decent set of pipes on him but I can't say that I ever feel like this E.P. has the potential to command additional airings in the future. If you live for bands like Extreme, Electric Boys & Living Colour then you may disagree but I'm sure that there must be better material out there for you than this uninteresting record that's resigned itself to the annuls of history through a dated sound & a lack of focus & ambition. I'm afraid teenage girls have other things to listen to these days.

3/5

Crowbar - "Obedience Thru Suffering" (1991)

I didn’t get into New Orleans sludge metal establishment Crowbar until much later than some as it wouldn’t be until my return to metal in 2009 that I’d first give one of their albums a crack. I’d very quickly find myself traversing their entire eight-album discography in quick succession from there though & tended to find that I liked Crowbar a lot from a purely stylistic & conceptual point of view but that their albums often suffered a little from poor production which saw them never quite managing to reach their full potential. 2001’s “Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form” would be the first record to break away from that curse in my opinion & it would become my go-to Crowbar release over the many years since. The band’s 1991 debut full-length “Obedience Thru Suffering” offered me the least appeal from memory, even though I still remember quite enjoying it. I haven’t returned to it in something like 14 years now though so it’s definitely about time I reassessed that position.

Despite what my vague recollections may have been telling me, the production job on “Obedience Thru Suffering” is actually quite acceptable & shouldn’t be a problem for too many listeners. The quality of the music is way better than I was expecting too, even if it is a touch samey. To offset that characteristic though, the consistency of the song-writing is very strong with no weak tracks included. The album probably just lacks a few more genuine highlight tracks with “My Agony” being the only one that I feel reaches tier one status.

It's pretty common to see “Obedience Thru Suffering” tagged as both sludge metal & doom metal but, despite the album undeniably being chock full of enormous doom riffs, I’m not sure the doom tag is really necessary because sludge metal is essentially a biproduct of doom to begin with. There’s a detectable hardcore flavour to most of this material (particularly in the depressive & gravel-throated vocals of front man Kirk Windstein) that keeps the album centred in sludge territory for mine but doom fans will still be able to relate to it pretty comfortably too. I might be being presumptuous here but I’d be very surprised if Celtic Frost weren’t an influence on Crowbar as the riffs take a similarly simple yet crushingly heavy format a lot of the time which can’t be a bad thing now, can it?

On the evidence here, it's hard to understand how “Obedience Thru Suffering” isn’t talked about in the same breath as Crowbar’s next six or seven albums to be honest. It’s been many years since I revisited those records so perhaps I’ve simply underrated some of them but I tend to think it’s more a case of this one being underappreciated. I’m guessing it’s a retrospective opinion based on fans of Crowbar’s later material finding the album to be a little different to what they were expecting as the band would only get heavier & more oppressive from here. That doesn’t mean that “Obedience Thru Suffering” should be overlooked though & I strongly urge you to add it to your essential Crowbar list, particularly if you’re into sludge metal artists like Acid Bath, Eyehategod or Melvins.

4/5

Today's track is "The Queen" which I regard as being hard rock.

I was very much in two minds between hard rock & heavy metal on “Lions, Christians” to be honest but in the end I decided that a both way bet was the best outcome.

My Dying Bride - "Towards The Sinister" demo (1991)

Another old demo tape that I picked up through the tape trading scene after falling in love with the Halifax band's early releases. "Towards The Sinister" is a four-song affair presented with a more than adequate sound quality. Three of the four songs are much more death metal than they are doom/death with only the epic "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" sitting in the doom/death space. The use of violin has not yet been adopted & these songs sound rawer for it, particularly given the regular use of blast beats. All four songs are excellent so I'd suggest that this is a massively underrated release in all honesty. In fact, I'd probably take it over Anathema's very solid 1991 "All Faith Is Lost" demo that I reviewed last week or some of the more widely celebrated My Dying Bride releases from the 2000’s like "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" or "The Dreadful Hours" these days.

4/5

I completely agree Morpheus. I had just the one track tagged as metal.

Today we'll move onto a record that is tagged as metal on both Metal Archive & RYM in the 1972 self-titled debut album from Philadelphia's Bang, starting with opening track "Lions, Christians" which I regard as sitting somewhere between hard rock & heavy metal.

I've certainly been aware of West Virginia metalcore legends Zao for some time now due to my past involvement with The Revolution Spotify playlists however I'd never taken the plunge with a full album before jumping into their highly regarded 1998 third album "Where Blood & Fire Bring Rest". It certainly sounded like it might be right up my alley on paper but I have to admit that I've been left with a fairly middling (if not necessarily disappointing) outcome. Here we see Zao presenting us with a punk-heavy brand of metalcore with a reasonable amount of experimentation going on that never really convinces me that the band are deserving of the praise this record inevitably seems to draw. The vocals of front man Daniel Weyandt aren't amazing to tell you the truth. He's got one of those really wet & gurgly blackened screams that sounds like he's trying too hard but hasn't really got what it takes. I felt very similarly about Converge singer Jacob Bannon during the first half of his career actually but Converge had the power to pull it off regardless. I'm not so sure about Zao as I find them to be less intense & a little easier on the ear.

To be clear, I'm not saying that I don't enjoy "Where Blood & Fire Bring Rest". It's a pretty decent metalcore record overall but the highlights ("To Think of You Is to Treasure an Absent Memory" & "Ember") don't reach the elite level & there is a flat section during the second half of the album that sees me losing interest temporarily (see "Fifteen Rhema" & "For a Fair Desire"). The musicianship is pretty decent but the song structures sometimes push the friendship, there are more generic metalcore breakdowns than I'm comfortable with & I find the Korn-ish nu metal parts to be a little tedious. So, it's fair to say that I find the album to be a decent way to pass the time but I'm unlikely to return to it in the future. I definitely prefer the more visceral material that bands like Converge, Snapcase & Disembodied were delivering at the time.

3.5/5

Morpheus, Ben & I decided that we'd leave it up to the playlist owner to decide on which way they'd go with that argument. Sonny elected not to consider material from releases that don't reside in The Fallen. Other playlist owners have gone another way with their respective clans which is ok too.

The last track from "Mournin'" is "Don't Start Flying" which I've tagged as progressive rock.

This leaves me with a clear result given that I've only tagged a single track from the album as metal, Anyone come up with a different result?

Today's track is "Nightmare" which I've tagged as hard rock.

Here's how I tagged the album as a point of difference:

01. Misery - Alternative metal

02. Believer - Sludge metal

03. Survive - Alternative metal

04. All of Nothing - Alternative metal

05. Denial - Alternative metal

06. Assassinate The Scars - Death metal

07. Recession - Sludge metal

08. Living Wreck - Sludge metal

09. Humiliation - Sludge metal

10. Outro - Dark ambient

The tracks that I've tagged as Alternative Metal sound pretty much exactly like Deftones only with sludge metal vocals. There's only one death metal riff on the whole album in my opinion so I don't think there's any place for it in The Horde. Even the vocals aren’t death growls. They’re in the hardcore style we regularly hear in sludge metal & metalcore. I don't hear any groove metal riffs to speak of.

Just a heads up for those that are new to the feature release concept, if you're nominating a feature release then the expectation is that you post the associated forum thread in the relevant clan on the first day of the new month so that people can add their reviews & general thoughts there. I've created a couple of them for you in order to get them up there over the last few days but please post them yourselves moving forwards.

Also, a message to everyone, please ensure that you get your feature release nominations in to me on time. I didn't have time to chase people for them this month & it resulted in some delays on 1st December. There's nothing stopping you from submitting early in the month in order to get it out of the way. You shouldn't wait for me to chase you which I only do out of necessity.

Here's my review:

I’d not heard an Isole record before diving head-first into this month’s “The Fallen” clan feature release but had always heard & read good things about them so I was hopeful of a positive outcome. Ben’s tick of approval provided additional cause for enthusiasm & the fruits of my labour have ended up well & truly justifying the effort too, despite easily being able to see why members like Ben & Sonny might get a touch more out of a release like “Bliss of Solitude” than I do.

Let’s start by saying that the production job on this record is nothing short of exceptional & that element is a very big part of its appeal. This album sounds as heavy as an overweight black hole with every component achieving complete clarity. The bass guitar tone is particularly powerful & makes me wish that more bands were lucky enough to benefit from such a weighty bottom-end. The vocals are quite tame & melodic in comparison & I’d suggest that the depth in the instrumentation allows Isole to get away with it more easily than they may otherwise have. In truth, it took me a couple of listens to come around to the vocals but there are definitely some impressive hooks there once you give them the time to dig themselves into your ears.

It's interesting that Isole seems to be unanimously claimed as an epic doom metal band as I don’t think it’s as cut & dry as that. In fact, I found more of “Bliss of Solitude” to sit in conventional doom metal space with only the two most significant tracks (i.e. the title track & closer “Shadowstone”) possessing enough epicness to warrant the tag. Perhaps this is just an example of why I don’t see the justification for adding the epic doom metal subgenre to the Metal Academy database just yet as I don’t think a record like this one is screaming out to be differentiated from the more pure variety of doom, despite being fairly easily compared to bands like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus & early Ereb Altor. There’s a definite case for comparisons with My Dying Bride here at times too though, particularly through the start of the record with the guitar tone being fairly similar while the more epic moments inevitably see Isole borrowing from Viking-era Bathory as their source for sheer epicness, particularly in the strong use of reverb on the lumbering drumbeats.

“Bliss of Solitude” is a very consistent & professionally executed release from a band that’s already refined their sound & knows exactly what they’re trying to achieve. It doesn’t tick all of my boxes from a stylistic point of view but has still managed to draw me in through its relentless pursuit of quality doom riffage presented in the purest packaging available. I’ll definitely be returning to this album at some point & will be placing the rest of the Isole discography in my “To Be Investigated” list for the future too.

4/5

Today's track is "Blind" which I've got down as being hard/blues rock.

Here's my review:

Ben’s “The Horde” clan feature release nomination is an interesting one this month. I’d heard just one of the German death metallers eleven studio albums prior to going into it & I’m guessing it would have been around 13 or 14 years ago so I haven’t got the strongest recollection of what it was like. I do recall finding 2003’s “Spreading The Rage” to be generally pretty enjoyable but the fact that I haven’t returned to it in the many years since perhaps gives us an indication that it didn’t blow me away. Ben has a pretty amazing track record at identifying underground releases that’ll appeal to me though so I was hopeful of Disbelief’s 2001 third album “Worst Enemy” leaving me similarly impressed & I’m pleased to say that he’s once again been successful in that cause.

It's kinda strange that Disbelief seem to be universally tagged as a death metal band because I can honestly say that I found very little death metal in “Worst Enemy”. In fact, “Assassinate The Scars” is the only track that I feel satisfies the criteria adequately enough. The rest of the proper songs fit into two categories. On the one hand we have a fairly extreme version of alternative metal that sounds a fair bit like Deftones on steroids. Then on the other we have a darker sludge metal sound that suits front man Karsten "Jagger" Jäger’s vocals nicely given that his angry hardcore tone fits the mould for the sludge model very comfortably. It’s a potent combination actually & it gives Disbelief a sound of their own. Despite the hybrid sound though, there’s a consistency to Disbelief’s approach & it can also be their Achilles Heal at times given that “Worst Enemy” can sound a little samey until you’ve made the investment of time required for the song-writing to open up a bit.

“Worst Enemy” possesses a completely blemish-free tracklisting that’s scattered with genuine highlights, the best of which are the sublime pairing of alternative metal opener “Misery” & heavy-weight sludge affair “Recession” but “Believer” & “All Or Nothing” are no slouches either. I’d probably suggest that the dark ambient outro piece is the weaker inclusion but it’s still fairly enjoyable nonetheless. The passionate vocals of Jäger are Disbelief’s strength as he absolutely screams his fucking head off here & I’d suggest would have needed quite a bit of recovery time afterwards. He commands the listener’s attention at all times & gives the band the edge they needed to see them maximizing their appeal so it’s really hard to see why “Worst Enemy” is still so underappreciated given that it’s so clearly a high quality metal release that still sounds really fresh & relevant even 22 years later.

Ben’s taste in metal is impeccable & he’s once again identified a record that has burst through my defenses to breach the walls of my Hall of Metal Glory. I’d encourage you all to check it out, whether you’re a member of The Gateway, The Fallen, The Horde or even The Revolution.

4.5/5

None from me thanks.

None from me thanks.

This one is clearly plagiarism. Check out how badly Metallica ripped off Iron Maiden here with the introductions to both songs being pretty much identical:

Anathema - "All Faith Is Lost" demo (1991)

Most of you will likely be aware of my intense emotional attachment to Anathema, particularly the English doom/death legends' 1990's material. I picked up their second demo tape through the tape trading scene during the middle of that decade along with their first demo "An Iliad Of Woes" & gained enjoyment from both of them but "All Faith Is Lost" is the one I still return to as it's a high quality, professionally composed & executed early example of the subgenre. It's made up of four tracks, two of which were re-recorded later on in "Crestfallen" & "They Die". These versions differ in structure enough to make them worthy of investigation even for those that have played the proper release versions to death though. In fact, "They Die" was a genuine doom/death classic even in its demo form & I find myself pretty much going to pieces every time I hear it. Both of the other tracks are engaging too though with "At One With The Earth" taking more of a classic death metal direction than a doom one. Front man Darren White's vocals are slightly less tortured than we'd hear on releases like "Serenades" but are also more gutteral & deathly. The complexity of the guitar interplay is exceptional for such a young band.

I have to admit that I reach for this demo tape more often than some of Anathema's later releases like 2014's "Distant Satellites" these days to be honest. "All Faith Is Lost" should be essential listening for Anathema fans & should also interest anyone with a passion for the classic early doom/death sound that bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride made their own. 

4/5

How about "Come Down"? I've tagged it as progressive rock.

This was my review from last month:

I purchased the 1990 sophomore album from Bay Area thrashers Vio-lence on cassette pretty close to its release date after really digging the dubbed copy of their thrashtastic 1988 debut album "Eternal Nightmare" I'd picked up from a school mate the previous year. "Oppressing The Masses" isn't as consistently relentless in its high tempo assault on the senses but it's no less effective in my opinion. The song-writing & riff structures are highly professional with the musical talent of the instrumentalists being very impressive indeed. I particularly enjoy the shredding guitar solos but the riffs are all of a high quality too. Front man Sean Killian will once again be a sticking point for some listeners but I think he sounds a little more natural when compared to the debut & I actually quite enjoy the psychotic edge he brings to things which reminds me a lot of former Exodus madman Paul Baloff. The tracklisting is extremely consistent with a solid quality level being maintained throughout. "World In A World" is the only genuine Bay Area classic in my opinion though which is a shame because there was so much potential to make this an even more significant release in the annals of thrash metal history. As it is though, I'd still recommend "Oppressing The Masses" to all of our The Pit clan members & rate it just behind “Eternal Nightmare” in terms of Vio-lence’s back catalogue overall.

4/5

These were my comments when I revisited this release recently:

What a fucking ripper of a third album from one of the best couple of bands in the war metal space in Spain's Teitanblood. In fact, I rate "The Baneful Choir" more highly than the band's highly regarded sophomore effort "Death" to be honest. They tend to lean further towards the death metal side of the black/death equation a lot of the time with a super-dark production job & some outstanding dark ambient pieces combining for a devastating atmosphere. Imagine the savage war metal of Blasphemy & Archgoat crossed with the blackened death metal of Antediluvian & you'll come close to describing this cacophony, only these guys do it better than all of them in my opinion. There's even a brilliant doom/death track included early in the blemish-free tracklisting. Loving it!

4.5/5

So, I have to admit that I had ulterior motives when selecting this release as I'm fully aware of how notorious it is. We haven't seen too many takers for some really good The Sphere feature releases in recent months though so I thought I'd give us a record that a) lots of people have heard & b) that people tend to have very strong feelings about so as to encourage some healthy conversation. Personally, I do think that "Illud Divinum Insanus" is underrated even if I still think it falls well short of a par score. It's just that many people seem to tag it as one of the worst releases ever & I think that's a bit of a harsh call when you consider some of the absolute dross that's out there. In fact, I quite enjoy nearly half of the album & awarded it 3 stars shortly after release. I think the shockingly low quality of opener "Omni Potens" & closers "Radikult" & "Profundis - Mea Culpa" tends to warp people's views a bit. I mean, "10 More Dead" is a classic Morbid Angel track & I also find a song like "Blades for Baal" to be really solid too. Perhaps they could have made a pretty decent E.P. out of this record but it certainly doesn't work as a full album. Then again, neither did their previous full-length "Heretic" & I don't think "Illud Divinum Insanus" is all that much worse than that release to be honest. The "Illud Divinum Insanus: The Remixes" compilation is a step down from the both of them though. What the fuck were they thinking with that one??

3/5

Rex, I've bumped you to next month for The Pit as I needed to get a feature release up. It was my mistake for not informing you after I overlooked the fact that you were up for The Pit this month. Sorry about that.

Saxy, I've thrown one up for The Gateway & bumped you to next month too.

Here's next month's feature release nomination list:

THE FALLEN: Daniel, Morpheus, Ben

THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Morpheus, Rexorcist, Xephyr, Shezma

THE HORDE: Daniel, Ben

THE INFINITE: Saxy, Shezma, Andi, Xephyr, Rexorcist

THE NORTH: Shezma, Xephyr, Ben, Daniel

THE PIT: Rexorcist, Ben, Morpheus, Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

Here are my January submissions Vinny:

Sarcofago - "Third Slaughter (2nd Version)" (from "Die... Hard!!", 2015)

Darkthrone - "Snowfall" (from "Frostland Tapes", 2008)

Deceased... - "Graphic Repulsion" (from "Fearless Undead Machines", 1997)

Malokarpatan - "Kočár postupuje temnomodrými dálavami na juhozápad" (from "Vertumnus Caesar", 2023)

Suicidal Tendencies - "Disco's Out, Murder's In" (from "Lights Camera Revolution", 1990)

Here are my submissions for January Ben:

Sarcofago - "Nightmare" (from "Satanic Lust" demo, 1986) [i.e. Track 11 from 2015's "Die.... Hard!!" compilation]

Progenie Terrestre Pura - "Sovrarobotizzazione" (from "U.M.A.", 2013)

Here are my January submissions:

Obituary - "Godly Beings" (from "Slowly We Rot", 1989)

Darkthrone - "Thulcandra" (from "Thulcandra" demo, 1989)

Nihilist - "Abnormally Deceased" (from "Only Shreds Remain" demo, 1988)

Epiphanic Truth - "The Truth Of The Beast" (from "Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species", 2021)

Neuropath - "My Bleeding Mortality" (from "Desert of Excruciation" demo, 1995)

Cannibal Corpse - "Buried In The Backyard" (from "Eaten Back To Life", 1990)

Here's my January submission Xephyr:

Tyrant - "Beginning Of The End" (from "Too Late To Pray", 1987)

Here's my January submission Saxy:

Death Angel - "Stagnant" (from "Act III", 1990)

Here's my January submissions Sonny:

Cathedral - "Ebony Tears" (from "In Memoriam" demo, 1990)

diSEMBOWELMENT - "Extracted Nails" (from "Mourning September" demo, 1990) [Can be found on the 2005 "diSEMBOWELMENT" compilation]

Today's track is "Living With The Dying" which I regard as being genuine heavy metal.