Daniel's Forum Replies
Welcome to the Academy David. From your post, I'd suggest that you've come to the right place. Please feel free to become as involved as little or as much as you'd like & don't be shy. We're generally a very pleasant & friendly bunch who are all extremely passionate about our metal.
Incubus (AUS) - "Sinful Dreams" demo (1987)
The sole demo recording from Melbourne-based extreme thrash metallers Incubus who would change their name to Spectral Birth shortly afterwards for obvious reasons. Incubus have often been referred to as a death/thrash duo however I've always thought they were more of a blackened thrash prospect with the vocals of guitarist/bassist Laurie Ferdinands feeling much more like black metal shrieks than death metal grunts to me. The instrumentation is pure thrash though & there's some pretty good stuff amongst the four songs on offer here too with only closer "Passage of Souls: Sinful Dreams" falling flat.
For fans of Agressor, Massacra & "Blood Fire Death"-era Bathory.
3.5/5
Ben, please add Canberra death metallers Psychrist.
Dead - "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" (2011)
German deathgrind outfit Dead & I first made our acquaintance back in 1994 when I stumbled over their split CD with Swedish goregrinders Regurgitate, a release that I quite liked at the time but one that wasn't strong quite enough to see me following Dead into the future with the band still active today. Earlier this week though, I decided to revisit the Dead/Regurgitate split &, while I was undertaking that exercise, I discovered that Dead's contribution to that release could be found in isolation on their 2011 "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album. That particular record has given me some mild enjoyment over the last few days which has triggered me to write this review, a positive affirmation of the talents of a relatively unknown yet still more than decent extreme metal band who doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel but understands the wheel's functionality & intent very well.
Dead had released five or six demos & E.P.'s prior to the Regurgitate split, none of which I recall hearing before, & would enter Nürnberg's Pinguin Studios with unknown engineer Rainer Deckelmann to record their side of the split album some time in the first half of 1994. Dead had maintained the three-piece lineup that recorded their initial demo tape "Far Beyond Your Imagination" three years earlier & you can hear that in the professional way they lay down their craft here. Their model seems to have been crafted on the early Carcass one with each of the three band members contributing vocals in a triple-threat configuration that sees deeper grunts being complimented by higher register gurgles. Dead's sound is thick, chunky & tight with their simple riffs being backed up by a unified delivery that leaves each song sounding not only very heavy but also quite catchy. In a stylistic sense, I feel that they have a foot in both the goregrind & classic death metal camps which is an attractive option for me personally as it allows me to take them a little more seriously than most bands that are connected with the goregrind movement.
The tracklisting is a touch top-heavy with the album opening with the best material, my favourites being the blasting title track & the equally high-quality demo track "Far Beyond Your Imagination" which had been re-recorded for this exercise. I particularly enjoy the sections where Dead slow things down a bit with the excellent production job giving the band's doomier side the weight it needs to draw a physical reaction from the listener. The blasting Carcass-inspired grind sections are also really exciting & are executed with a suitable level of precision. All of this material is pretty fun actually although I have to question the decision to include a silly cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" to close out the record because it does leave me a bad taste in my mouth. I know its lyrical themes fit in with Dead's sexually provocative image but its general silliness tends to detract from an otherwise pretty good release.
While "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" may not be essential listening, I've found myself getting into it quite a bit this week. I'm not sure it'll be enough to see me reaching for the rest of Dead's back catalogue but it was an admirable effort nonetheless. I've never been the biggest goregrind fan to be honest but this death metal-infused version seems entirely more palatable & is well worth exploring.
For fans of Blood, Pungent Stench & Fornicator.
3.5/5
This month's list is a fucking belter. I loved pretty much all of it. There's so much great progressive stuff out there right now.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
I've passed this nomination uncontested Sonny.
This nomination has been added to the Hall of Judgement:
I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.
I've passed "B-Sides and Other Things I Forgot" uncontested while the other two releases have been posted in the Hall of Judgement this morning Andi:
Monolithe - "Black Hole District" [Death doom metal from Paris, France]
I missed 2022's "Kosmodrom" album but these guys are generally always worth checking out so I'll likely be partaking in this one at some point.
Impending Doom - "Live From Exile" [Deathcore from California, USA]
Cremator - "Evil Brew" demo (1987)
The debut release from this obscure Perth thrash metal group that I've never gotten on with. They take a silly approach to their thrash which is more about drinking beer & having fun than anything too serious. The vocals are probably my main concern here with guitarist Bevan Wilkerson often resorting to high-pitched squeals that sound uncannily like Destruction front man Schmier. The rhythm guitar sound is stupidly messy while the lead tone sounds outrageously light-weight & downright strange. I do still find myself liking "United" though which is the most intense & thrashtastic song on offer but the rest does very little for me. Interestingly, drummer Russell Hopkinson was a former member of Melbourne hardcore punk outfit Vicious Circle & also went on to play for popular Aussie alternative rock bands You Am I & Nursery Crimes.
For fans of Anthrax, S.O.D. & Destruction.
2.5/5
I am familiar with the Walknut and Satyricon tracks and it was fantastic to hear them again.
I absolutely love "Walk the Path of Sorrow" & my recent revisit of "Dark Medieval Times" has only further fueled those flames. It's the only genuine classic on that record in my opinion. I could have picked a number of tracks from "Graveforests & Their Shadows" actually but the extra aggression in the shorter closing track gave it a slight edge over the other more solid inclusions on that album.
Uncreation - "Disincarnate" E.P. (1994)
An obscure Spanish demo from the early days of brutal death metal movement. This isn't nearly as blasting as most BDM releases, instead choosing to stick mainly to the chunky mid-range slam riffs. When the band do get their ultra-fast blasts on though, the drum skills of Joaquin can leave a lot to be desired. I do really dig this sound though so there's still plenty to enjoy here.
For fans of Pyrexia, Suffocation & Internal Bleeding.
3.5/5
Morbid Angel/Slaughter Lord - "Split" E.P. (1987)
An underground bootleg 7" single release that includes Morbid Angel's "Invocation" introduction followed by an unacceptably poorly recorded live version of a rare Morbid Angel track called "Funerals" which I'd love to hear in a more suitable setting because what I can make out sounds brilliant with Trey going suitably nuts on lead guitar. The two Slaughter Lord tracks are pulled straight off of their 1987 "Taste of Blood" demo & are both good-to=great but I can't see a reason to invest in this one. You're better off chasing down the Slaughter Lord "Thrash Till Death" compilation on Spotify & giving the Morbid Angel section a miss altogether.
For fans of Necrovore, Poison (GER) & Immolation.
3/5
Burying Place - "The Last Disaster of Humanity" demo (1993)
A pretty dodgy Lithuanian death metal demo that I picked up through my early-to-mid 1990's tape trading period. I believe I was looking for more brutal stuff & this one popped up in the discussion but it's really not a BDM release. It sits in more traditional death metal space but has a wacky, psychotic element to it that I can't get into. The production job is terrible too.
For fans of Deicide, Infestdead & Vital Remains.
2.5/5
Bongripper's 2010 "Satan Worshipping Doom" album seems to be highly regarded in this space but I haven't quite gotten on with it in the past to tell you the truth. I definitely prefer instrumental post-sludge releases like Year of No Light's "Ausserwelt", Russian Circles' "Memorial" & Omega Massif's "Geisterstadt".
I still really enjoy Snailking but this feels like such a complete package that it's hard not to say it vies for that top album spot.
I'm across everything that Ufomammut did up until 2012's "Oro: Opus Primum" album & "Eve" is easily my favourite of their solo releases. I'd still position the Lento collaboration slightly ahead of it though as it's utterly sublime.
What an album "Eve" was! It blew me away at the time & I ended up buying it on vinyl so that I could secure the psychedelic video that accompanied that format. Got thoroughly ripped with my best mate to that video on a number of occasions too just quietly.
The Ufomammut / Lento collaboration album, Supernaturals - Record One is definitely worth listening to.
That's one of my all-time favourite metal releases so I can't recommend it strongly enough.
Slaughter Lord - "Taste of Blood" demo (1987)
This short demo tape from a little-known Sydney extreme metal band represents the pinnacle of underground indulgence as it went on to become far more influential than most metalheads are probably aware of with everyone from Morbid Angel to Fenriz to Bathory & At The Gates waxing lyrical about its importance over the years. It includes just the three songs but manages to combine thrash metal, death metal & black metal to come up with a cacophony of sound that the world was not quite prepared for at the time & one that would go a long way to creating what we now know as war metal in the process too. It's not a perfect release as the thrash component tends to amount to some dodgy Slayer worship but the more extreme material is highly captivating as it possesses an unbridled fury that's rarely been matched in all the time since. "Taste of Blood" is very much a Sydney metal institution but should probably be on the radar of all fans of the more brutal end of 80's thrash too as it combines the most extreme elements of everything else that was going on in the world at the time, from the South Americans to the Teutonic scene to Bathory & the more intense examples of US thrash. It's all presented in a style that would become an Aussie signature though with a whole slew of bands tackling a black/death/thrash hybrid sound over the many years since. I still wear my Slaughter Lord t-shirt with pride, despite my wife being horrified every time I pull it out & continuously insisting that I don't wear it for school pickup duties.
For fans of Order From Chaos, Poison (GER) & Sadistik Exekution.
3.5/5
Various Artists - "Dead Flesh" (1993)
A more than decent Spanish death metal compilation that I picked up through the tape trading scene back in the mid-1990's. Every one of the ten tracks is worth hearing with two songs each being contributed by Avulsed, Antropomorfia, Sacrophobia, Fermento & Spontaneous Combustion. The majority of the record falls into the more conventional death metal space however there are a few brutal death metal numbers tossed in as well as the odd deathgrind section. I particularly enjoy the more brutal material with Antropomorfia's "Un hedor pestilente" & Spontaneous Combustion's "Darkness Prevails" being my personal favourites.
For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Putrevore & Deranged.
3.5/5
Sadistik Exekution - "Demo" (1987)
A legendary release in the Australian extreme metal underground that I've never quite understood even though I generally love the band & will always maintain fond memories of my time around them back in the mid-1990's. All three of the tracks from this crude death/thrash demo recording can be found in greatly improved configurations on the band's 1991 debut album "The Magus" but here they simply sound far too rough & immature for my liking. There's been no attempt to mask the sense of humour that was such a compulsory component of Sadistik's offering with several lengthy piss-take sections being indulged in. Front man Rok is the general protagonist as he hurls hilarious obscenities at Norwegian underground legend Metalion while psychotic bass player Dave Slave (Doomed & Disgusting) shows off his slap bass techniques in seemingly random fashion. The guitar work of Sasan "Sandy" Vahdani (Slaughter Lord) is a tornado of messy noise while drummer Sloth (Nomenclature Diablerie/Aggressa) spews forth a battery of nonsensical beats. It doesn't really make a lot of sense as far as I can see & the two-year gap between this recording & the sessions for “The Magus” was well spent. By the time I'd see them supporting Morbid Angel in 1992 at the Enmore Theatre they were quite a different prospect but Rok vocals already sound very cool & are the clear highlight in my opinion. I'd suggest that you give this one a miss though.
For fans of Vomitor, Slaughter Lord & Sarcofago.
2.5/5
Cannibal Corpse - "Meat Hook Sodomy" live bootleg (1993)
Another subpar live recording that I picked up around the time of release through the tape trading scene. It was clearly taken by one of the patrons at the show in question using a handheld cassette player. This gig comes from the tour for the "Tomb of the Mutilated" tour with front man Chris Barnes being the clear focal point with his ultra-deep death grunts, although he does sound ridiculous when he speaks in that tone between tracks. "Hammer Smashed Face" is really the only track that I find to be genuinely enjoyable although "Vomit the Soul" & "Edible Autopsy" are probably the other two that suffer a little less from the sound quality concerns. I love early Cannibal Corpse & know the tracks back to front so I can't say that I hated any of this release & still find my head bobbing away throughout but there are simply much better uses of my time than to be listening to inferior product like this one.
For fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.
2.5/5
Vicious Circle - "Rhyme with Reason" (1987)
It's been interesting to revisit the (alleged) third album from Melbourne hardcore punks Vicious Circle after so many years this week because it immediately raised some with me about its legitimacy as a genuine album. I don't recall having these thoughts when I first encountered the album as a teenager but it very soon became obvious that 1987's "Rhyme with Reason" record was more of a compilation of previously available material than it was the brand-new record that the vast majority of internet resources seem to have blindly taken it for. Those critics have clearly never heard Vicious Circle's 1986 "Reflections" album though as ten of the thirteen tracks included on "Rhyme with Reason" were taken from that record. Another (i.e. experimental post-punk song "Nightmare So Quick") has been borrowed from 1986's "Hidden-Supervision?" single too so fans of Vicious Circle's previous work should be aware of that before running off to purchase the vinyl at great expense. I could only really identify one short line that read "Note that 'Rhyme With Reason' was in part a compilation of material that had previously been issued in the Australian market" on the Discogs page for the release which confirmed my suspicions that these tracks are in fact the same versions that can be found on the disappointing "Reflections". That doesn't make "Rhyme with Reason" a redundant release though. On the contrary, it makes "Reflections" one as "Rhyme with Reason" manages to rectify some of the flaws in Vicious Circle's sophomore album by omitting a couple of the weaker songs that I felt tarnished it. It also adds a couple of fairly raw new tracks that we hadn't heard from the band before, admittedly with mixed results though to be fair.
As with Vicious Circle's earlier releases, I really struggle with the idea of "Rhyme with Reason" having much to do with the crossover thrash tag it so often seems to attract. There's really only a single track included that fits that mold in the new song "Turn to Stone" which is also one of the two weaker numbers that form an unfortunate mid-album quality dip with the other being the heavy metal/hard rock number "Hope & Wait" which I didn't enjoy much on "Reflections" either. The vast majority of the album still falls into hardcore punk territory although I'd suggest that there is enough conventional punk rock in brand-new opening track "Rule 17" & closer "Inside Operation" for it to be claimed as an influence, along with post-punk which shows its head on "Nightmare So Quick" & a good chunk of "Inside Operation" too. There's a touch less of the experimentation that was attempted on "Reflections" with "Rhyme with Reason" feeling a little more traditional in terms of hardcore punk, mainly because of the omission of the title track from "Reflections" which was overly long & also pretty awful to be fair.
"Rhyme with Reason" doesn't possess too much in the way of highlights but the vast majority of the material is enjoyable enough. As with "Reflections", the excellent hardcore punk tune "Mass Confusion" once again represents the clear high point of the record for me & it's a shame that none of the other material could match it because there was a fair bit of potential in some of these tracks. As it stands though, "Rhyme with Reason" ends up being another pretty enjoyable hardcore record from Vicious Circle but, as with their earlier releases, it still hasn't managed to become one that I can see myself returning to in the future. Even though I quite like it, I do tend to find myself favouring Vicious Circle's earlier material over "Rhyme with Reason" with their earliest demo recordings still offering me the most in terms of appeal. "The Price of Progress" is my preference of their first three full-length albums (if we're gonna include "Rhyme with Reason" as one of those like the rest of the internet seems to). Still, I can't deny the relevance of this record in terms of the band's overall discography as I'd highly recommend that you skip "Reflections" altogether & go direct to the stronger "Rhyme with Reason" if you're hellbent on exploring the Melbourne punks back catalogue.
For fans of early Permanent Damage, Condemned? & Depression.
3.5/5
Embalmer - "Rotting Remains" demo (1993)
Another obscure demo tape that was quite influential on me back in the day. The brutality of opening track "Rotten Body Fluids" was arguably as intense as metal had gotten to the time & I can clearly hear the influence on the sound that my own band Neuropath took with our later works. This demo sits somewhere between brutal death metal & conventional death metal but displays an obvious doom/death component too. It's some pretty fucking bad-ass stuff for the time & it's a shame that drummer Roy Stewart (Blessed Sickness) hadn't mastered his blast beats as yet because his timing issues do tend to taint some of this material. The ultra-gutteral vocals of Rick Fleming are a real highlight of this suffocatingly extreme underground demo.
For fans of Macabre, Abscess & Grotesque Infection.
3.5/5
Renegade - "Total Armageddon" (1987)
If you do a bit of research into the history of thrash metal in my home country of Australia, you'll often find yourself being told that Melbourne's Renegade represent band one in that story as they were reportedly first formed all the way back in 1982. I've never bought into that opinion personally as the evidence simply doesn't stack up. I'm not denying that Renegade were probably around as early as any other band that would go on to play extreme metal over time but if you follow the early "recorded" history of Aussie thrash fairly closely you'll soon start to question the timeline for when Renegade first transitioned into a genuine thrash band as their 1985 demo tape is more of a speed metal release than it is a thrash one with the heavy metal influence still a little too prominent for genuine thrash status. The song "Black Ritual" certainly proved that they had it in them but we'd have to wait until 1987 to see them finally taking that potential & turning it to reality with their sole album "Total Armageddon", a record that has gone down in Aussie metal folklore as a seriously important release in the grand scheme of extreme metal in this country. I can't stress enough how highly regarded it was by older metalheads when I first entered the scene in the late 1980's & early 1990's & can recall many a drunken night of air guitar & backyard moshing while accompanied by its charms. Let's take a look at it in a little more depth today & see if it holds up against the legend that surrounds it.
While the authenticity of Renegade's 1985 demo tape as a genuine thrash release is questionable at best, the same cannot be said of "Total Armageddon" as it's a total thrashfest with each of the eight songs included sitting very comfortably under a thrash tag. The album was recorded with producer Bruce Johnston at Melbourne's Jam Tin Studios some time in 1986 with Johnston's only other notable metal credit coming in the form of the 1987 "Warlords album from relatively unknown Melbourne heavy metal outfit S.A.S. Johnston's plays an important role here though as "Total Armageddon" beautifully harnesses the raw energy of Renegade at the time while allowing all instruments to maintain complete clarity throughout. I would suggest that the cover artwork has also played some sort of role in the records success with the image of VB-drinking devil aligning fairly closely with many Aussie metalhead's ideals back in the late 1980's.
"Total Armageddon" is a consistently fast record that barely takes its foot off the accelerator or stop for a breath at any point. Many of the more up-tempo riffs remind me a lot of Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" album while the moments when Renegade do tone the velocity back a bit seem to have been heavily influenced by classic Slayer & Mercyful Fate which can't be a bad thing now, can it? Front man Johnny Beer possesses a raspy delivery that reminds me more of Teutonic thrash acts like Destruction than it does the Americans & his performance here is an important ingredient in the overall appeal of a record like this one as he does an excellent job at calling Renegade's fanbase to arms while also separating the band from the more traditional heavy metal acts that had surrounded them for the majority of their existence to the time. Bassist Steve Scott (who would also appear on Hobbs Angel of Death's self-titled demo tape later the same year) puts in a great performance with his basslines being easily heard throughout the entire album. This most certainly isn't a terribly ambitious album from an instrumental point of view though as there's nothing you haven't heard before & the riff structures do tend to be quite simple but it's all executed with a clear understanding of what made 1980's thrash so great so there's nothing to complain about for fans of that era. The rare moments of experimentation (such as the acoustic guitar section in "Lucifer's Reign") are done very well & provide a nice contrast to the aggressive tremolo-picked speed metal riffs that make up the remainder of the record so it's pretty clear that Renegade had paid their dues & were very much a well-oiled machine by this stage of their evolution. Drummer Mick Scott is probably the weaker component of the band though as his kick drum work isn't as tight as the true masters of the genre. I really dig it when he goes for a driving Charlie Benante-style beat during the more ballsy parts of the album though & he displays good restraint during the chuggy halftime parts too.
The tracklisting offers great consistency with no weak songs included in the eight on offer. The title track is the clear standout in my opinion though as it reminds me of the unbridled aggression that the Teutonic thrash scene had built its reputation on. A couple of tracks from Renegade's 1985 demo tape ("Black Ritual" & "Lucifer's Reign") have been revisited with the latter being a stronger & more muscular effort than the original. While few listeners will deny that "Total Armageddon" is a thrash release, the speed metal sound that dominated the demo tape is still evident in the high velocities & uncluttered tremolo-picked riff structures which are well supported by Johnston's production job which helps to keep things sounding attractive & professional. All of this amounts to a more than decent thrash record that competes fairly well on a global scale but which no doubt threw a fairly nasty cat amongst the pigeons as far as the local scene went as I don't think that Australia had seen a release of this intensity before, at least not one in a proper album format. Renegade's role in Australian thrash cannot be denied in this respect & it's not hard to see why the old-schoolers are still waxing lyrical about it either.
For fans of Tyrus, classic Slayer & "Kill 'Em All"-period Metallica.
3.5/5
I finished listening to this month's The Guardians playlist while cleaning one of our bathrooms this morning & enjoyed it noticeably more than last month's list. The extended Paul Dianno tribute that makes up the introduction was a nice touch with both tracks sitting amongst my favourites from their respective albums. I don't mind Black Sabbath's "The Sabbath Stones" or Crimson Glory's "Lady of Winter either" which makes the first section of the tracklisting a very solid way to begin proceedings. Eternal Champion's "Cowards Keep" is an excellent piece of US power metal & I've a traditionally had a bit of time for Lost Horizon's "Again Will the Fire Burn" (What a voice!) & Judas Priest's "Bloodstone", despite feeling that the "Screaming for Vengeance" album is a touch overrated. Even though I nominated it for inclusion, I struggle a bit with Edge of Sanity's cover version of Manowar's "Blood of My Enemies", particularly within the context of the "The Spectral Sorrows" album where it sounds a little out of place. It doesn't sound as bad here but I still wouldn't say that it does a lot for me personally. This is a pretty strong representation of the clan overall though.
Dominus - "Sidereal Path of Colours" 7" single (1993)
A short two-song single from a relatively underground Danish death metal group that I picked up during my early tape trading days. Both tracks are very good too, particularly the title track which makes up the A side. The vocals of front man Michael Poulsen (yes, the dude from popular Danish heavy metal act Volbeat along with bassist Franz "Hellboss" Gottschalk) are ultra-deep & are the clear focal point here but there are some crushingly heavy riffs on offer too with the primitive production job being more than capable of doing them justice. Another one for our more underground-centric members of The Horde.
For fans of Konkhra, Sickening Gore & Illdisposed.
3.5/5
Vicious Circle - "Reflections" (1986)
The 1986 "Reflections" sophomore album from Melbourne hardcore punk crew Vicious Circle is another release that I picked up from the older skaters at my high school in the late 1980's & early 1990's along with several of the band's other releases. Those kids tended to gravitate towards thrash metal, crossover thrash & hardcore punk so I found myself picking up some fairly underground shit from them but never spent much time in trying to genre tag most of it. We simply didn't give a fuck about that sort of thing back in the day & if it had good energy then I was generally up for it. Even if I maybe didn't know the technicalities of what defined those subgenres just yet, I could easily tell that the early Vicious Circle releases weren't exactly metal &, as with their 1985 debut album "The Price of Progress", I tended to toss "Reflections" aside fairly quickly in favour of the more metal releases of the time. With the discovery that other websites like RateYourMusic & Metal Archives deem Vicious Circle to be a metal band of some description though, I thought it was time to give "Reflections" another chance to win me over, this time with some more educated & experienced ears.
To be fair, the early Vicious Circle releases weren't terribly adventurous. Their sound tended to stick within the confines of the stock-standard hardcore punk model with little attempt to expand their sound being taken but 1986's "Hidden-Supervision?" single had seen the band starting to experiment a little. The A side "A Nightmare So Quick" took an acoustic guitar-driven post-punk direction while the B side "Viewing Time" qualifies as one of the very earliest Aussie crossover thrash tunes. "Reflections" saw Vicious Circle looking to continue to explore new territory while including enough of their classic hardcore material to keep their die-hard fans happy. This is perhaps its major weakness in many respects as it ends up satisfying neither camp & comes across as a little wishy washy when viewed holistically. The "Circle of the Doomed" & "Foolish Ideas" demo tapes & the debut album all offered enough aggression & youthful vitality to keep me interested throughout but "Reflections" tends to taint that strength with misguided attempts to do something fresh & new. The idea was admirable enough but I'm afraid the execution leaves a bit to be desired with front man Paul Lindsay making a meal of the tracks that required a little more nuance & subtlety.
It's an unusual album in some respects because the wins certainly outweigh the failures reasonably comfortably but the few duds included tend to be weak enough to taint the overall album. The obvious protagonist in bringing "Reflections" down is the lengthy post-punk centrepiece of a title track which is completely destroyed by Lindsay who fumbles his way through a strained & consistently pitchy performance over some quite interesting acoustic guitar work for far more time than was ever warranted. The more commercial hard rock sound of "Hope & Wait" didn't work for Vicious Circle either & there are a couple of conventional punk rock tunes included with mixed results too. "Under the Surface" simply sounding a bit flat to me while closer "Inside Operation" is actually a pretty reasonable way to finish the tracklisting. The material that offers me the most appeal can unsurprisingly be found in the more up-tempo & violent hardcore-oriented material with "Mass Confusion" being the clear highlight as far as I'm concerned.
"Reflections" isn't an awful record by any stretch of the imagination but it is a pretty forgettable one & I tend to think that it makes for better playlist material than it does an overall album. There are just too many flaws for it to work as an holistic package in my opinion & I definitely prefer "The Price of Progress" over it. In fact, I'd have to suggest that I'd take either of Vicious Circle's 1984 demo tapes over EITHER album to be honest. Is there any metal here though? Well... yeah, I'd suggest that opening track "Common Denominator" should qualify as speed metal interestingly enough. I don't think there's anything else here that sounds remotely metal though so I can't understand why anyone would be stretching the friendship far enough to drag "Reflections" into crossover thrash discussions. Give this one a miss & head back to Vicious Circle's 1984/85 releases if you're looking for some more than decent early Australian hardcore punk though gang.
For fans of early Depression, Condemned? & Permanent Damage.
3/5
Deranged - "...the Confessions Continues." 7" (1993)
I picked this one up from an overseas tape trader back in the mid-1990's. It was on the same cassette as the Swedish death metallers' 1994 "Architects of Perversions" E.P. from memory. This short three-song single is perhaps not as brutal as the E.P. & its highlights are not as strong either but I think it's more consistent in terms of quality with no obvious duds included so I find myself enjoying the experience more with "Architects of Perversions" leaving me a bit cold when taken holistically. "...the Confessions Continues" is hardly essential but I think death metal freaks with a penchant for the underground might find a bit to enjoy here.
For fans of Avulsed, Insision & early Cannibal Corpse.
3.5/5
Here's my review:
Melbourne four-piece Mindsnare have played an enormous role in the creation of a thriving metalcore scene in Australia over the years & I feel somewhat privileged to have encountered them at a very early stage of their career when I discovered that they were practicing at the same rehearsal studio as my death metal band Neuropath during one of their early trips up to Sydney. I'd subsequently pay their rehearsal room a visit & would sit on the side with beer in hand as they'd smash out a succession of super-tight & highly energetic New York hardcore-inspired numbers that left me thoroughly impressed with both their undeniable professionalism & their overall heaviness. I've maintained a strong level of respect for Mindsnare as artists over the several decades since that experience but have always wondered if their studio recordings could possibly match the electricity of a live Mindsnare performance. The band's 1995 debut proper release "Under Fire" would seem like as good a place to start as any as it would have been roughly around that time that I had the pleasure of bumping into them so I guess I'm about to find out the answer to that long-standing question.
The version of "Under Fire" that I've explored this week includes the eight tracks that were intended for that release as well as Mindsnare's four-song demo tape from the previous year. The production job on the E.P. tracks is nice & clear with good separation between the instruments which does tend to highlight the simplicity of the song-writing with the arrangements & riff structures being kept fairly uncluttered & open. The band members seem to be very much in tune with each other with the performances being extremely tight so it's no wonder that Mindsnare were able to conjure up such a targeted & controlled live assault based on just how finely honed their attack was at the time. Vocalist Matt isn't the most amazing vocal talent you'll find but he does fairly well with what he's got & is backed up by the regular use of gang vocals in support. The New York hardcore influence is really clear throughout but the demo songs included on the CD are definitely a bit rawer. I tend to prefer their thrashier & more violent feel over the cleaner & more controlled E.P. direction to be honest.
I do have to admit that the E.P. material is a little hit & miss for me with a few flatter numbers seeing my attention wavering at various stages of this short 26-minute release. "New Horizon", "About Time" & "Conveyer Belt" all fall into that category & unfortunately Mindsnare haven't managed to produce any genuine highlight tracks that leave me exhilarated enough to overlook those flaws with all of the better material still failing to see me fully convinced. It's not until the demo songs that I find my blood really pumping with hardcore punk belter "False Front" & the crossover-infused closer "Look Past Me" being the clear high points of the release in my opinion. I particularly enjoy the more savage guitar tone on the demo material as it simply feels more dangerous to me which is important with a metalcore release.
It probably should be noted that metalcore isn't one of my preferred genres so it's rare for me to venture out into my higher scores when presented with The Revolution releases. Therefore, a 3.5-star rating isn't a bad result for a relatively unknown Aussie release that competes pretty well with the overseas competition. I just think that "Under Fire" is a little bit too basic for me to get all hot & bothered about. I definitely enjoy its thrashier moments the most which isn't really any surprise but I do get the feeling that Mindsnare's best material was likely ahead of them when listening to this debut release which isn't terribly ambitious. In saying that, I'm not too sure I can see myself putting the time into any of Mindsnare's later works so this might end up being my long-term position on them as a recording artist. Don't let that stop you if you're a big metalcore fan though as you can do a lot worse than this early Australian release.
For fans of Earth Crisis, Merauder & All Out War.
3.5/5
Permanent Damage - "Permanent Damage" E.P. (1985)
The debut release from this Melbourne hardcore punk band that would go on to make some pretty decent crossover thrash in the future.
For fans of Vicious Circle, Condemned? & early Depression.
Cannibal Corpse - "Dead Forever" (1992)
A live bootleg release that was clearly recorded with a handheld tape recorder at a 1991 show in Germany. The inclusion of Suffocation's "Reincremated" demo tacked onto the end is a clear plus as it should be essential listening for any fan of the more brutal end of the death metal spectrum but the overall release isn't worth your hard-earned money (or mine as was the case back in 1992 when I purchased the CD).
For fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.
3/5
Here's my review:
Melbourne's Christbait would be a band that I'd become aware of shortly after I'd made my first tentative steps into the wonderful world of Australian extreme metal back in the early 1990's. They were quite well known in the local scene at the time, having played a number of high-quality support gigs with international bands throughout the first part of that decade. My first time hearing their music though would be on a late-night metal radio program that I regularly recorded for my own listening throughout the subsequent week. It would be the opening track "Loose" from their first proper release "Yeast", the subject of this review. I was already well across English industrial metallers Godflesh at the time & was not at all surprised to hear the song paying clear homage to Justin Broadrick & co. given that Christbait had so clearly borrowed their name from the classic Godflesh anthem "Christbait Rising". This was a seriously good track in its own right though & one that I would go on to give a good ol' flogging in my Walkman over the subsequent months. It wouldn't, however, see me seeking out the "Yeast" E.P. or any other Christbait releases for that matter & it's only now, more than thirty years later, that I've found myself committing to my first active listen to a Christbait record for one reason or another.
Christbait initially began life as a death metal/grindcore act back in 1989 but "Yeast" sees them having taken a very different route for the majority of its 28-minute run time. There are a couple of short grindcore blastathons included (see "Nailgun" & "Tug"), both of which sound a little out of place & are easily the least significant tracks of the seven of offer, but the majority of the E.P. sits largely in sludge metal territory. If you were to take the industrial component out of Godflesh's sound to leave just the sludgy riffs & placed them over a more organic rhythm section then you'd go pretty close to describing the sound you can expect to hear on "Yeast". English sludge metallers Fudge Tunnel also spring to mind quite readily & so does Nirvana's "Bleach" album although the shouted vocals of front man Jason Vasallo sit much more firmly within the hardcore punk spectrum than Kurt Cobain would ever venture. It's all done exceptionally well though with the production job of well-known Aussie metal producer Scott Harper (who also produced popular underground releases from bands like Blood Duster, Damaged & Mindsnare to name just a few) being surprisingly heavy for an underground release of the time. There are periods where the Christbait head into slightly psychedelic territory (particularly on psychedelic rock closer "Loose (Edit)") but I think the links to stoner metal are overstated for this release to be honest as the grooves never have me feeling like dancing a jig if you know what I mean. They're colder & more serious than that.
The tracklisting is exceptionally consistent, particularly for a first-up release from a little-known Aussie band. There are no weak songsincluded but I'd suggest that only opener "Loose" feels like a minor classic. The rest of the material is generally very solid with simply-titled pieces like "Swing", "Spagnum" & "Yeast" all offering me plenty of appeal & replay value. It's honestly hard to see how Christbait didn't make more of a dent in the international scene on the strength of this record though because it competes really well with the bands I referenced earlier in the review. I guess this is simply another reminder of just how far away we are from the rest of the world, a distance that was perhaps a little more insurmountable back in the early 1990's. If my description of Christbait's sound tickles your fancy though then I'd strongly encourage you to venture over to YouTube to give the E.P. a crack for yourself as I have no doubt that you'll be pleasantly surprised by a record that has built up a decent level of notoriety in Australian metal folklore.
For fans of Godflesh, Fudge Tunnel & "Bleach"-period Nirvana.
4/5
Here's my review:
My earliest exposure to Danish death metallers Illdisposed came back in my mid-1990's tape trading days when I picked up the band's first three albums from an overseas associate of mine. I enjoyed all three to varying degrees but don't recall any of them really leaving me convinced that Illdisposed were the real deal in regard to the death metal movement that was already peaking when the Danes appeared on the scene. Our paths would not cross again for many years as I'd miss Illdisposed's first couple of early 2000's albums while I was on hiatus from the metal scene during my decade of electronic music experimentation. Our next encounter wouldn't come until Ben would introduce me to their 2004 sixth album "1-800 Vindication" upon my return to metal in around 2009 & I found it to showcase a different sounding Illdisposed to the one I'd encountered previously. This was a cleaner & more accessible version of the band that saw them adding a fair dose of melody to their approach & I initially found it very appealing, particularly given that I'm not generally one to gravitate towards the more melodic end of death metal. I'd return to "1-800 Vindication" a couple of times over the years & my affection for that record would see me exploring Illdisposed's next five full-lengths with varying results. None of them would hit the spot like "1-800 Vindication" did & a few of them were completely disposable so I've tended to use "1-800 Vindication" as my go-to Illdisposed release for a long time now. Interestingly though, I've never given it the dedicated attention required for a full Metal Academy review until now so I've gone into this exercise with an element of excitement.
One of the major differences with "1-800 Vindication" was that Illdisposed had finally been picked up by a reputable record label in Roadrunner Records which afforded them the financial backing to ensure a quality production job. The album sounds crisp & powerful with the riffs being given the clarity to highlight their precise execution. The record arrived a full three years after 2001's "Kokaiinum" which allowed front man Bo Sommer the time to fully recover from alcohol addiction & it features a brand-new rhythm section in bassist Jonas Kloge & drummer Thomas Jensen, both who do a very good job in accentuating Illdisposed's heavy-hitting brand of groovy death metal. Summer's deep death growls & higher-pitched screams sound as fresh as they ever have & represent the clear focal point of the record although the most noteworthy attribute is the incorporation of a new melodic death metal sound that borrows heavily from the greats of the subgenre with Carcass' "Heartwork" & At The Gates' "Slaughter of the Soul" being clear sources of inspiration. The use of synthesizers to add further melodic interest is also worth mentioning although I would suggest that its success is a little debatable. Illdisposed haven't completely abandoned their roots here though as there's still a conventional death metal component on show here too although I'd suggest that the melodic material has taken the ascendency overall. The riff structures have a tendency to veer away from the classic death metal tremolo-picked style towards a simpler but no less crushing groove metal one quite regularly which gives Illdisposed a further point of differentiation too.
Over the years I've found myself tending to gravitate towards certain key songs on the album & I can now see why as the tracklisting tends to be a little hit & miss for me these days. I've found myself feeling very positive about muscular efforts like opener "I Believe in Me" (my personal favourite), "When You Scream", "Still Sane" & "You Against the World" but these peaks are offset by some weaker numbers like "Dark", "In Search of Souls" & particularly the lacklustre "Now We're History" which do very little for me. Those less impressive moments do tend to match up with the more melodically & commercially inclined inclusions though so it's arguably just a matter of taste. The clean vocals of producer Niels Peter "Ziggy" Siegfredsen can be a little hit & miss at times in my opinion as they have a tendency to take some of the steam out of a perfectly good death metal tune but thankfully the wins outweigh the losses reasonably comfortably to make for an entertaining (if still largely inessential) Danish death metal experience. It's hard to say whether I still regard "1-800 Vindication" as Illdisposed's finest work or not but I have a feeling that I probably do. I also think it'll offer a little more appeal to melodeath fans than it does to me as there's definitely enough chunky & well-composed song-writing on offer if you can look past the album's failings.
For fans of Kataklysm, Autumn Leaves & Arch Enemy.
3.5/5
Vicious Circle - "Hidden-Supervision?" single (1985)
This single represents the earliest signs of thrash metal seeping into the Melbourne hardcore punk outfits sound with the B side "Viewing Time" fully qualifying for the tag. The A side "A Nightmare So Quick" is one of Vicious Circle's more experimental efforts to the time & I'd suggest fits best under a post-punk tag. Both are worth hearing & I've quite enjoyed my time with this short release.
3.5/5
Ben, please add Sydney industrial metallers Deathless.
Thanks for getting your submissions in so early gents. It's allowed me to get the programming out of the way really early in the month which is appreciated given that I'm changing roles at work in less than two weeks. I can give you the feedback that this month's list is absolutely spectacular & is the very essence of what I was trying to achieve when we first set out to create these months playlists. Well done!
Here's my review:
It was a pleasant surprise to see Xephyr nominating the brand-new sophomore record from this Ukrainian duo for inclusion as this month's The North feature release given that I gave their debut album "Tales of the Void" a couple of casual listens last year & thought it showed some promise. Despite the fact that I haven't felt like returning to it since, "Tales of the Void" did leave me wondering what Labyrinthus Stellarum might be capable of in the future & here we get the perfect opportunity to see what that might amount to with "Vortex of the Worlds" being huge wall of bright, vibrant extreme metal with a unique flair for melody.
It really shouldn't be much of a surprise to see Xephyr nominating a release like this one as it falls right inside of his wheelhouse which is admittedly a fair way outside of my own but that's not to say that this isn't a more than decent black metal release. It is, however, one that blurs the boundaries of the black metal genre & it's up to the listener to decide as to whether that's something they're comfortable with or not. The idea of a black metal band incorporating the influence of trance music (& I do mean the uplifting & overly melodic form of EDM in all its glory here) as a primary component of their sound is not unheard of as we've seen artists like Australia's Mesarthim pulling it off successfully in the past but it will still come as a bit of a shock to the system of the more blasphemy-fueled & lo-fi-insistent black metal fans out there. You see, Labyrinthus Stellarum's sound is intentionally kept very clean & I'd even suggest that it glistens in the sunlight rather than being resigned to a life of sorrow in an icy Norwegian winter. And "Vortex of the Worlds" does come a fair bit closer to the sun than most black metal releases too because its themes are generally centered around space & the cosmos, again not something that's unheard of in the modern black metal scene but certainly something that goes against the traditional norm.
It won't take you long to realise that Labyrinthus Stellarum don't have a human drummer because the kick drum comes across as a machine gun of identical & precisely separated battering rams & took me a bit of time to get used to, particularly given my strong affiliations with extreme metal drumming. After a couple of listens I found myself able to accept this element of the record though, perhaps more because of the links to electronic music which is inherently artificial. The other obvious characteristic that becomes immediately apparent is the strong use of synthesizers as a focal point of the music, so much so that the guitars are forced into a purely supporting role which perhaps justifies the dropping of second guitarist Alexander Kostetskyi following the debut album. These synths take a couple of different directions; one that emulates traditional folk instruments & another that eschews the ancient world for a no-holds-barred trance-fest that would likely see the feelings of euphoria rising in those who are not opposed to a necking a couple of pingers & dancing their arses off at the latest Gatecrasher event. Despite my strong affiliations with dance music after my decade-long journey as a techno DJ in the 2000's, I've never enjoyed trance but I can dig this stuff because it never quite leaps over the cheese line, instead tending to tip-toe along the edge without ever fully committing. The vocals of Alexander Andronati certainly help to keep things centered as they're a fine example of the black metal shriek if I've ever heard one.
There aren't too many obvious weaknesses to be found on "Vortex of the Worlds" but it did take me a bit of time to get into, mainly because the highlights don't arrive until the back end of the tracklisting with the first few songs being merely acceptable. The epic title track that closes out the album is the obvious highlight for mine with the very solid "From the Nothingness" also standing out from the pack. The other four tracks are all pretty enjoyable but I wouldn't say that any of them quite manage to overcome my biases towards a more grim & frost-bitten black metal sound. I do think that "Vortex of the Worlds" is an improvement on "Tales of the Void" but perhaps not by as great a margin as I might have liked. There's no doubt that it represents a great opportunity for crossover appeal given its more accessible approach to the genre & I can only praise Labyrinthus Stellarum for their execution from such a young age given that guitarist Misha Andronati isn't even eighteen yet.
For fans of Mesarthim, Crow Black Sky & Lustre.
3.5/5
But, as is evident, my particular passion is all things doom and by now I have covered an awful lot of the older stuff worth listening to
That’s a very good point actually. It hadn’t occurred to me previously,
FYI Sonny (aka Grandfather Doom) will be resuming the administration duties on our monthly The Fallen playlist effective immediately.
There’s no reason why you’d need to concentrate on brand-new releases over the incredible weight of the previous 53 years of metal to achieve that buzz though. You’re actually better off concentrating on older releases that you haven’t checked out yet but have stood the test of time.
Boris & Skiplife - "Amplified Power Violence Worship."
Another new collaboration for Japanese drone metal legends Boris, this time with Czechian powerviolence act Skiplife which sounds like a hell of an interesting prospect, doesn't it?
Defeated Sanity - "Chronicles of Lunacy"
The brand-new seventh album from these German brutal/technical death metallers hits the streets later on this month & should be regarded as a must-listen for all The Horde members. They're always great & their last record (2020's "The Sanguinary Impetus") was a beauty so I have no doubt that this one will be too.