Daniel's Forum Replies

Nice one Andi. It's been many years since I last visited "666 International" so I'll be giving this one a walk down memory lane. I don't think I ever forged any further forwards into Dødheimsgard discography after that release but I see that their latest record is receiving some very high praise around the traps.

Malevolent Creation - "The Ten Commandments" (1991)

Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation were a pretty big band in my household back in the early-to-mid 1990's. Both of the band's first two albums were very positively received by both Ben & myself & I feel that I perhaps even rated them a little more highly than many of my peers did due to their very close stylistic alignment with my own personal taste profile during that period. 1991's "The Ten Commandments" was certainly a little thrashier than 1992's wonderful "Retribution" sophomore record but the production & general feel fall firmly into the Florida death metal bracket with some polished performances, sophisticated arrangements & an aggressive tone which perhaps isn't too surprising when you consider that the album was recorded with legendary Florida death metal producer Scott Burns at the iconic Morrisound Studios.

While "The Ten Commandments" is unquestionably a death metal release, the thrash influence I mentioned is obvious throughout & it gives the record a slightly different vibe to Malevolent Creation's more dark & deathly sophomore album. The vocals of front man Brett Hoffmann aren't quite as deep as other death growlers & wouldn't sound all that out of place on a Sadus record to tell you the truth but they're extremely effective nonetheless & are one the album's clear strengths in my opinion. The instrumentation is often pretty thrashy too & sees Malevolent Creation combining the death metal of Deicide & Cannibal Corpse's 1990 debut full-lengths with some of the more brutal thrash metal releases like Dark Angel's classic "Darkness Descends" or Demolition Hammer's first couple of albums. As many of you would likely know, I'm a big fan of well-executed blast-beats & drummer Mark Simpson does a stellar job at producing a super-tight battery of flailing snare-drum hits here which appeals to me greatly. He doesn't overdo it though which gives each blast-beat section added weight & emphasis. The guitar solos of Jeff Juszkiewicz are pretty accomplished for such a young band too so Malevolent Creation were a highly professional act for the time.

"The Ten Commandments" is a very solid release that should please all fans of US death metal. It's only lacking a few more genuine classics with the savage "Premature Burial" being the only cut that I'd place into that category. The rest of the material is consistently strong though so it's hard to be too critical, particularly for a debut release. "Retribution" would see Malevolent Creation stepping up to the next level though & it's always been my pick of their back catalogue. Regardless, "The Ten Commandments" comes highly recommended from this ol' death metal nut.

4/5

With a unanimous YES 5 NO 0 vote tally thus far, I've decided to pass this Hall of Judgement nomination as it's clear that it's only going one way & I completely agree with the consensus. The database has been changed to remove the Gothic Metal genre from the release.

This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/453

This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.

https://metal.academy/hall/452

Here's one I picked up while revisiting Malevolent Creation's "The Ten Commandments" debut album this week. Check out the verse section that starts in Deicide's "Sacrificial Suicide" at 0:30 & compare it with the part that begins at 1:31 in Malevolent Creation's "Injected Suffering" which was surely influenced by the self-titled Deicide album. The riffs aren't identical but the structure & vocal phrasing has clearly borrowed from Deicide in my opinion.

Here are the feature releases nomination recipients for February:

THE FALLEN: Morpheus, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Rexorcist, Xephyr, Shezma, Morpheus

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel

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

THE NORTH: Xephyr, Ben, Daniel, Shezma

THE PIT: Rexorcist, Morpheus, Daniel, Ben

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi

As I said last month, please feel free to submit your nominations immediately guys as I shouldn't need to chase you in the back end of the month.

Rexorcist, will you be participating given that you didn't submit your nomination on time for inclusion in the January features? If you don't respond within a week then we'll revert to the next member in the queue for The Guardians & The Pit which will be Xephyr & Morpheus respectively.

Here's my February submissions Andi:

Godflesh – “Nihil” (from “Cold World” E.P., 1991)

Here's my February submission Andi:

Zao – “To Think of You Is to Treasure an Absent Memory” (from “Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest”, 1998)

Here are my February submissions Vinny:

Obliveon – “From This Day Forward” (from “From This Day Forward”, 1990)

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

Death Angel – “Stop” (from “Act III”, 1990)

Xentrix – “Questions” (from “For Whose Advantage?”, 1990)

Flotsam & Jetsam – “Suffer The Masses” (from “When The Storm Comes”, 1990)

Here are my February nominations Ben:

Sarcofago – “Christ’s Death” (from “Christ’s Death” demo, 1987) [A war metal track that can be found on the 2015 “Die… Hard” compilation]

Malokarpatan – “I hle, tak zachádza imperiálna hviezda” (from “Vertumnus Caesar”, 2023) [Progressive black metal]

Grotesque – “Blood Runs From The Altar” (from “Incantation” E.P., 1990) [Can be found on 2016’s “In The Embrace Of Evil” compilation] [Blackened thrash]

Samael – “Worship Him” (from “Worship Him”, 1991) [Black metal]

Here are my Feburary submissions:

Darkthrone – “Accumulation of Generalization” (from “Cromlech” demo, 1989)

Nihilist – “When Life Has Ceased” (from “Drowned” demo, 1989)

diSEMBOWELMENT – “Thou Messiah” (from “Mourning September” demo, 1990)

Napalm Death – “If The Truth Be Known” (from “Harmony Corruption”, 1990)

Hellwitch – “Nosferatu” (from “Syzgial Miscreancy”, 1990)

Carnage – “Dark Recollections” (from “Dark Recollections”, 1990)

Neuropath – “Copulation of Insanity” (from “Desert of Excruciation” demo, 1995)

Here's my February submissions Xephyr which is a track that I feel nicely skirts along the border between heavy metal & black metal:

Malokarpatan – “Vertumnus Caesar” (from “Vertumnus Caesar”, 2023)

Here's my submission for the February playlist Saxy. Much like a several other tracks from the album, I'd suggest that "Misery" is an alternative metal number that fits nicely within the scope of The Gateway given that it sounds so much like Deftones but feel free not include it if you feel otherwise.

Disbelief – “Misery” (from “Worst Enemy”, 2001)

Here are my submissions for the February playlist Sonny:

Isole – “Bliss of Solitude” (from “Bliss of Solitude”, 2008)

My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium (Demo)” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991) [Can be found on 2016’s “Meisterwerk III” compilation]

Crowbar – “My Agony” (from “Obedience Thru Suffering”, 1991)

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Under The Sun" which I regard is being stoner metal:

This sees my final position being very similar to the first three Black Sabbath albums. "Vol. 4" is a stoner metal record as far as I'm concerned & is probably the most obviously so thus far too with literally every metal track on the tracklisting receiving a stoner metal tag from me. Tomorrow we'll begin a new release with Budgie's 1973 album "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend".

January 2024

01. Tiamat – “Sumerian Cry (Part III)” (from “The Astral Sleep”, 1991) [Submitted by Sonny]

02. Death – “Bite The Pain” (from “The Sound Of Perseverance”, 1998) [Submitted by Sonny]

03. Edge of Sanity – “Blood-Colored” (from “Purgatory Afterglow”, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]

04. Darkthrone – “Thulcandra” (from “Thulcandra” demo, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Anata – “Under Azure Skies” (from “The Infernal Depths of Hatred”, 1998)

06. Amon Amarth – “Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds” (from “Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds” E.P., 1996)

07. Sacrilege – “Fettered In Shackles Of Light” (from “Lost in the Beauty You Slay”, 1996)

08. Nihilist – “Abnormally Deceased” (from “Only Shreds Remain” demo, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Cripple Bastards – “Odio a prima vista” (from “Desperately Insensitive”, 2003)

10. Epiphanic Truth – “The Truth of the Beast” (from “Dark Triad: Bitter Psalms to a Sordid Species”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Bloodbath – “Mock The Cross” (from “The Fathomless Mastery”, 2008) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

12. Vastum – “Vomitous” (from “Inward to Gethsemane”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

13. Obituary – “Godless Beings” (from “Slowly We Rot”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Cannibal Corpse – “Buried In The Backyard” (from “Eaten Back To Life”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Napalm Death – “Out of Sight Out of Mind” (from “Order of the Leech”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

16. Pyrrhon – “Cancer Mantra” (from “Growth Without End”, 2015)

17. Bæst – “Crosswhore” (from “Danse Macabre”, 2018) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

18. Setentia – “Throne of Thorns” (from “Darkness Transcend”, 2016)

19. Cattle Decapitation – “Unintelligent Design” (from “Karma.Bloody.Karma”, 2006)

20. Neuropath – “My Bleeding Mortality” (from “Desert of Excruciation” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. 10 To The Chest – “Glassed In The Face” (from “Split The Fuck Open” E.P., 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

22. Behemoth – “Xul” (from “Demigod”, 2004) [Submitted by Sonny]

23. Iniquitous Deeds – “Incessant Hallucinations” (from “Incessant Hallucinations”, 2015)

24. Monument of Misanthropy – “Exceptionally Sadistic” (from “Unterweger”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

25. Regurgitate – “Waging War on Benevolence” (from “Deviant”, 2003)

26. Fuck The Facts – “Second Hand Skin” (from “Backstabber Etiquette”, 2003)

27. Circle of Dead Children – “Zero Comfort Margin” (from “Zero Comfort Margin” E.P., 2005)

28. Vulvodynia – “Unveiling The Abomination” (from “Cognizant Castigation”, 2014)

29. Skinless – “Deviation Will Not Be Tolerated” (from “Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead”, 2006) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

30. Epicardiectomy – “Horrendous Festering Transmutations” (from “Putreseminal Morphodysplastic Virulency”, 2014)

31. Analepsy – “Food For The Maggots” (from “Dehumanization by Supremacy” E.P., 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

Last chance to nominate the December The Pit feature release Rexorcist.

You're up Ben.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "St. Vitus Dance" which I regard as being stoner rock:

There were a number of reasons that Neuropath broke up. Strained relationships & differences in age & maturity were certainly a factor. The increasingly underappreciated & unbalanced effort that I had to put in to get anything moving was another. My exposure to older musicians who were keen to work with me on exciting new sounds certainly came into it too, as did my de facto relationship issues which were playing out in front of my whole social network. It was definitely more about people than it was the music though.

As soon as we'd ended the band I joined a Western Sydney doom/death outfit called Elysium (they later changed their name to Stone Wings) which included members with links to a whole array of different Aussie bands such as Mournful Congregation, The Amenta, Sacriphyx, Innsmouth, Backyard Mortuary, Murkrat, The Slow Death & Lord Kaos. I spent six months with Elysium before deciding that I needed to distance myself from the entire metal scene for an extended period if I was going to sort out my relationship issues properly as I just couldn't stand the scrutiny any more, particularly after my partner fell pregnant when I was just 19 years old with the weeks leading up to an eventual decision to abort being amongst the most emotionally torturous of my life. So, I decided to take a break from the people & the scene more than I did the music as I initially intended to continue making metal in my own time & without external influences.

What ended up happening around 1997/98 was that I unexpectedly started to find all of the extreme metal I was picking up through tape traders to a) sound like rehashes of my favourite bands from years gone past or b) be diluting the essence of what I looked for in my metal so it gradually became a little less exciting. I became increasingly more infatuated with guitar technique with & decided to write & record an instrumental guitar shred CD where I would perform all of the instruments myself with the intention of putting together a band to play the material live afterwards. That CD (entitled "Ebony Tomorrows") would eventually see the light of day in 1999 but by that stage I'd become so exhausted with the effort required to do everything myself that I once again needed to explore other sounds for a while.

Electronic music opened itself up to me through my huge passion for artists like Massive Attack, Bjork, Chemical Brothers & Carl Cox. Once I broke the surface though I discovered a whole world of exciting new sounds & a club scene that was very much the opposite of the one I'd escaped from. My best mate was just as into it as I was & we went on a decade long journey of discovery where we had some of the best times of our lives. DJing came very naturally to me & became my new obsession. I loved techno every bit as much as I've loved metal & utterly indulged myself in the culture. As with my other musical flights of fancy though, I eventually got tired of doing the one thing musically & also started to get physically tired as I got older too. I was a five-day-a-week gym junkie by that stage & my health focus just didn't work all that well with the late-night DJ lifestyle. The Sydney lock-out laws were the final straw as they limited my ability to get gigs in a pretty major way so I pulled the pin some time in 2008/09 & felt pretty relieved to have some spare time back in my life even though I don't regret a minute of my dance music days.

At that point Ben started to open me up to all of the exciting stuff I'd missed in the metal scene over the previous decade & I saw my interest in previously unexplored genres like sludge metal, mathcore, post-metal & drone metal growing really fast. I started going to gigs again & rekindled my love for metal. I've never looked back since.

Here's my adjusted Top Ten Conventional Doom Metal Releases of All Time list after revisiting "Cathedral's "Forest of Equilibrium" this week:

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

02. Ufomammut & Lento - "Supernaturals - Record One" (2007)

03. Celtic Frost - "Monotheist" (2006)

04. Warning - "Watching From A Distance" (2006)

05. Anathema - "The Silent Enigma" (1995)

06. M.S.W. - "Obliviosus" (2020)

07. The Electric Wizard - "We Live" (2004)

08. Cathedral - "In Memoriam" demo (1990)

09. My Dying Bride - "The Angel & The Dark River" (1995)

10. Cathedral - "Forest Of Equilibrium" (1991)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/128

Cathedral - "Forest of Equilibrium" (1991)

I can still recall the first time I heard about English doom/stoner metal legends Cathedral. I was reading a Terrorizer magazine interview with Napalm Death that was conducted while they were out on tour back in 1991. The band were questioned on what they'd been listening to on their tour bus which saw one of the guys admitting that Death's "Human" had been the popular choice until they'd received a copy of their former vocalist Lee Dorrian's first full-length with his new doom metal band Cathedral, a release sporting the trippy title of "Forest of Equilibrium". I was very surprised to read that Cathedral's record had overtaken "Human" as the new bus favourite, particularly given that "Human" had already become somewhat of an obsession for me. I subsequently made a point of seeking out "Forest of Equilibrium", purchasing it on cassette shortly afterwards.

The sound & aesthetic of Cathedral's debut can be quite confronting upon first listen. The cover artwork is nothing short of stunning with its strong psychedelic focus being perfectly suited to the retro vibe Cathedral were going for. The production job took me a little more getting used to though as it sat well outside of my metal comfort zone with the fuzzy, bass-heavy timbre recounting 1970's progressive rock & heavy psych as much as it does early Black Sabbath, the prog rock component being further hinted at through the use of a couple of brilliantly effective flute solos that afford additional colour to the release. After a couple of attentive listens I found myself becoming captivated by this sound & committed more & more time to indulging in the material.

"Forest of Equilibrium" is renowned as being easily Cathedral's doomiest album & I'd also suggest that it was their best by a pretty wide margin too. The dedicated focus to making their particular brand of doom metal the slowest, heaviest & most melancholic ever recorded was a rousing success in my opinion & I still find myself turning to this record when chasing some truly depressing doom metal atmosphere to this very day. It's not a perfect album by any means though. The occasional hints at the stoner metal sound the band would quickly progress towards over their next couple of releases do taint otherwise strong & muscular efforts like opener "Commiserating the Celebration" a bit while I also find the sporadic use of chuggy heavy metal riffs to be more of a distraction than it is a refreshing change of pace. Then we have the ever-popular & super-groovy stoner metal single "Soul Sacrifice" to contend with too, a track that I've always found to interrupt the flow of an otherwise extremely strong tracklisting. Thankfully though, the highlights are nothing short of devastating with doom monster "Ebony Tears" (also the highlight of 1990's "In Memoriam" demo) & closing funeral doom precursor "Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain" being absolute master strokes & the outstanding "Serpent Eve" & "Equilibrium" not being too far behind.

At this point I probably should address the elephant in the room as it becomes pretty damn obvious as soon as any Cathredral virgins enter into their first listen. Lee Dorrian (also of drone metallers Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine & doomsters With The Dead) wasn't the most capable of singers while he was leading Napalm Death but here we see him sporting a delivery that is the very definition of an acquired taste. Some punters simply won't be able to come to terms with Dorrian's miserable howl & I can't deny that he can even annoy me too but it's almost impossible to deny that this music seems to be tailor-made for his depressive wallowing. The heavily down-tuned & harmonized doom melodies of former Acid Reign guitarists Gaz Jennings (also of English heavy/doom metallers Death Penalty) & Adam Lehan more than make up for any discomfort experienced due to the vocals though as there are some absolutely crushing doom riffs on display here. In fact, I'd suggest that I've rarely heard anything heavier in all my days which has seen "Forest of Equilibrium" sitting in elite company for the more than three decades since it was first released. The fuzzed-out lead licks are produced in an interesting way that sees them flying out from unexpected places in the mix &, in doing so, gently massaging your cranial cortex in a similar way to the greats of 1970's heavy psych. The spectacular success of these elements has no doubt contributed to the long-time frustration I've held around Cathedral given that they'd never again touch upon such a transcendent sound, often making a conscious effort to steer away from it & even hinting that they may have recorded another album in this style that was simply rotting away in someone's basement. 2013's "The Last Spire" swansong would finally see Lee & co. attempting a purist doom record again, & with some very solid results too it has to be said, but I can't say that it reaches the same dizzying heights (or should I say soul-crushing lows?) as this wonderful release managed to.

"Forest of Equilibrium" is a marvelous debut & should certainly be essential listening for any doomster worth their salt. It proved to be the perfect gateway between the traditional doom metal of the 70's & 80's (e.g. Black Sabbath & Trouble) & the more modern doom sound of the 90's that saw all peripherals & external influences being cast aside in the name of a more focused & pure doom sound (e.g. Electric Wizard). The "In Memoriam" demo is possibly even more heavily focused on undiluted doom & I've been surprised to find myself giving it a slight edge over "Forest of Equilibrium" in recent times but I can't deny my affection for this record which easily overcomes its shortcomings by taking its craft to the ultimate extreme &, in doing so, achieving genre-defining results.

4.5/5

Mark is a highly intelligent, introspective & often reclusive character who no doubt has his own set of personal demons to battle with which makes for a great lyricist. He's also a top bloke & this whole exercise has seen us rekindling our friendship which has been the biggest positive to come out of it for me. I can see us maintaining communication into the future actually.

I actually used to wear leather, studs & spikes every single day (even to work) until about 1998. I gradually moved away from it after that as I became more & more interested in setting myself up for the future from a business sense & it made an enormous difference to the way I was perceived. I didn't get rid of the long hair until I became entrenched in the club scene in the early 2000's though which was predominantly because I was getting so hot & my hair was so long that it was all over everyone around me on the dancefloor. I've always been a very easy-going, confidently spoken & generally positive, glass-half-full type of guy which somehow seems to be at odds with people's perceptions of what a death metal musician should be, particularly in Australia where your average person on the street thinks Pantera & Slipknot are death metal. 

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Laguna Sunrise" which I regard as being chamber folk.

Being one of the heaviest things in the early 70s counts for a lot in that regard.

I don't see why it counts for anything at all to tell you the truth. We're comparing these releases to the modern-day understanding of what metal is. Not what it was back then when it was still yet to be defined.

How many albums have we come to the conclusion that despite being listed as metal have less metal than Budgie? 

None as far as I can see. The two Budgie records are the only ones we've conducted track-by-track investigations on that I don't feel include any metal whatsoever. Every other release included at least one or two metal tracks. In fact, I'd suggest that Squawk" is the least heavy release we've covered thus far too.

Japan's Boris & Coaltar of the Deepers have a split album coming out next month which should be interesting:

These two old-school heavy metal bands have new albums coming out next month:

I checked out Flower Travellin' Band's 1973 fourth & last 1970's album "Make Up" this week & found no metal there whatsoever. Instead, I discovered another very high-quality release that I'd suggest falls in between progressive rock & psychedelic rock (bordering on heavy psych). I genuinely love this band. They must have been a huge influence on a band like Boris.

Second from the left. If you watch the video you'll get a good view of what I look like now & will also hear a lot more about what it was like to be a young death metal band in Sydney, Australia back in the mid 1990's too. Let's just say that I intentionally gave a warts-&-all portrayal.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Cornucopia" which I consider to be stoner metal:

Last chance to nominate the December The Pit feature release Rexorcist.

Here's the Hessian Firm interview with myself & vocalist Mark Wangmann that's just gone live:

Sadistik Exekution - "Suspiral" demo (1991)

I can't remember who gave me my copy of legendary Sydney death metallers Sadistik Exekution's 1991 second demo tape "Suspiral" back in the early-to-mid 1990's but I assume it was either Dave Slave or Reverend Kriss Hades. My copy was printed on green paper rather than the blue one shown above & I know there was a few other colours like purple & red floating around too. It offers just the two songs, both of which also featured on their 1994 sophomore album "We Are Death Fukk You". This demo sees Sadistik dropping a fair bit of their thrashier 80's roots for a more consistently brutal & blasting assault that hits you like a swirling maelstrom. The tape would represent the first Sadistik release for notorious top hat-wearing guitarist Reverend Kriss Hades who is about as iconic as any personality in the Sydney metal scene. Both tracks are worth hearing too although I personally prefer the lengthier "Ipsissimus" which seems to have a slightly better production. "Suspiral" is another high-quality release from Sadistik that once again sees them standing above all comers as far as the overall Australian scene goes. I slightly prefer their debut album "The Magus" over it but there's not a lot in it so it's definitely worth tracking down.

4/5

Sadistik Exekution - "The Magus" (1991)

I can still vividly recall the first moment I became exposed to legendary Sydney extreme metal establishment Sadistik Exekution. It was 12th August 1992 & I’d arrived super-early to the Morbid Angel show at the Enmore Theatre so that I could achieve the greatest vantage point for the band that I regarded as being probably my favourite act at that point in time. Surprisingly, I’d managed to situate myself right in the middle of the front row of seats so I was literally only a metre away from the stage. Melbourne deathgrinders Necrotomy opened proceedings & did an admirable job at warming me up for what was my very first international death metal show. What they didn’t prepare me for was the band the followed immediately after them though with Sadistik Exekution giving me a new appreciation for what an extreme metal stage show could be. I’d never experienced anything so completely over the top & it was very hard for a young guitarist like myself not to be left in awe of the pure bad-assery of notorious top hat-wearing shredder Reverend Kriss Hades when he was so close that I could almost touch the blood dripping down his forearms due to the line of bobby pins he’d inserted through them prior to the show, his axe neck looking more like a skeletal spinal chord than an instrument & his fingers flying over the fretboard at previously unrecorded speeds. I’d very quickly realise that the Sydney audience had a love affair with these four nutters that I didn’t fully understand at the time but I’d certainly get my chance to understand it over the years that followed.

Shortly afterwards, buoyed by my experiences at what I still regard as the greatest metal show I’ve ever witnessed, I’d start my very own death metal band & we’d go about building a repertoire & a presence in the local scene. It would be a couple of years before we’d be mixing it with the in-crowd of Sydney metal but I'd eventually find myself being introduced to the Sadistik crew a their entourage of rabid worshippers. You see, Sadistik are an absolute enigma in this country with their music playing second fiddle to the circus sideshow of antics & personalities & young metalheads just seem to lap it all up. Sadistik shows were few & far between but when they did take place you would see all of the old faces coming out of the woodwork with most of them getting completely shit-faced along the way. It was at one of these early-to-mid 90’s Sadistik shows at the Lewisham Hotel that I’d meet bassist Dave Slave for the first time & he’d present me with a copy of “The Magus”, Sadistik Exekution’s debut full-length which was supposedly recorded around 1988 but failed to see a proper release until 1991. It was a release that I’d find was all around me over the next five years given its significance to the Aussie scene &, looking back at it from the outside, it’s perhaps a little easier to see why. My relationship with Sadistik Exekution would become closer during the middle of the decade once I started a three-year relationship with one of Dave Slave’s close friends & I can recall many a drunken conversation with the various band members over the years that followed. They were mostly gentle, lovely guys who were almost unrecognisable from the pure insanity of their music & (particularly their) stage shows.

So... this brings us back to “The Magus” which, if it really was recorded back in 1988, would have to have been some of the most extreme metal music in the world at the time. The production job is generally of demo quality & there’s a fair amount of variation in sound quality between the various tracks so it would seem to be pretty likely that it was recorded in multiple sessions. That aesthetic definitely suited Sadistik’s attack though so I wouldn’t see that as a negative. As with most of the extreme metal of the late 1980’s, the material crosses over between the full gamut of extreme genres with death metal, thrash metal & black metal all playing their part in a result that I think is best described as blackened death/thrash. The remnants of iconic Sydney demo band Slaughterlord are still easily visible in the muddy riffs & rapid-fire lead guitar work of Sandy Vahdanni while Dave Slave’s light-speed bass playing is given plenty of room in the mix to cause devastation. Sloth blasts away on his kit with a rare intensity for the time as the consistent use of blast beats within death metal was still yet to be seen in 1988. It’s ring-leader & front man Rok who steals the show though with his vicious delivery making for the perfect foil for the rough-&-ready Sadistik Exekution instrumentation.

“The Magus” jumps around a bit from a stylistic point of view. The tracklisting opens with a well-executed dark ambient piece entitled “Transneobathasaurikaldelusionsoftheunknown” before hurling itself into a full-on death/thrash frenzy via the very solid “Cautness Darling Blood”. The title track lifts the intensity even further & is one of the best tracks the band ever produced in my opinion. I’d even suggest that it traverses similar sonic territory to war metal bands like Blasphemy & Bestial Warlust which is significant when you consider that Blasphemy’s legendary “Blood Upon The Altar” demo was still another year from seeing the light of day when/if this was recorded back in 1988. “Agonising The Dead” sees Sadistik adding a blackened atmosphere to their death/thrash attack but the quality takes a step back at that point with the production turning a bit thrashier & the band’s death/thrash sound being a little more traditional, if not for the greater emphasis on blast beats. I consistently find myself reaching for comparisons with Brazilian black/thrash metallers Sarcofago during a lot of that material but things take a drastic turn for the final two tracks though with both taking the form of doomy black metal dirges. Interestingly, it’s the hidden track “Spirits Are Coming” that I find to be my favourite on the entire album as it presents an unhinged darkness that seems a little more serious than a lot of Sadistik’s more ridiculous material & leaves me feeling a strangely pleasant & transcendent feeling of squeamish uncomfortability.

There’s little doubt that the 35 minutes duration of “The Magus” is quite an experience for even the more seasoned extreme metaller with a lot being crammed into the relatively short run time. Some of the performances can get pretty sloppy at times but this can easily be forgiven when you consider the sheer intensity on display. The faster tracks leave me feeling like my hair is flying back behind me as my face is attacked by a tsunami of extremity which gives even the less significant material through the middle of the tracklisting more weight than it might appear to have on the surface. All of this amounts to the best Aussie metal album to see the light of day up until 1991 in my opinion & I don’t think that position is being impacted by any past relationships or experiences I may have had with the band as a young, starry-eyed youth. I've often seen the music of Sadistik Exekution playing second fiddle to rumours & legend but, even if many of the stories are true, their music has enough meat on its bones to justify your attention in its own right.

4/5

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Snowblind" which I'd suggest is stoner metal:

Massacre - "From Beyond" (1991)

Florida death metal outfit Massacre have always maintained somewhat of a legendary status within death metal circles, primarily off the back of the undeniable pedigree that their list of current & former band members holds as well as the stories around front man Kam Lee having been the inventor of the death metal vocal tool we so lovingly refer to as the "death growl". This makes it a little more interesting that I’d honestly never heard of them prior to their 1991 debut album “From Beyond” hitting the streets. I’d quickly rectify that oversight by purchasing a copy of “From Beyond” on cassette shortly after it was released & giving it repeated return visits in the hope of discovering the true magic that many people claimed it to contain. I’m not sure I ever quite stumbled over the full breadth of Massacre’s appeal though & “From Beyond” has kinda been one that I’ve remembered as a pretty fun release that’s lacking a bit in the depth department. This week’s revisit has been about rekindling my fire for the album & seeing if it really has what it takes to compete with Florida’s finest.

The production job & artwork certainly don’t hurt Massacre’s chances of drawing the attention of your average old-school death metal fan as the record looks & sounds like something that’d appeal to the target audience with a shredtastic rhythm guitar sound & an attractive & gnarly (even if it is pink) cover image. A lineup including ex Mantas/Death drummer & current The Grotesquery front man Kam Lee, former Mantas/Death & current Left To Die guitarist Rick Rozz, former Death/Six Feet Under & current Obituary/Left To Die/Inhuman Condition bassist Terry Butler & former Death drummer Bill Andrews certainly doesn’t hurt Massacre’s cause either as they clearly possessed a strong death metal pedigree, even more so when you consider that Obituary/Six Feet Under axeman Allen West was a former member too. But if you look at that lineup with an unbiased & impartial magnifying glass, you can also see the limitations that stop Massacre from achieving a higher position in my Florida death metal hierarchy.

Hhhmmmmm... it's sounding like ol' Daniel's gonna pull out some constructive criticism here, isn't it? But let’s not paint Kam Lee with that brush as his vocals are excellent on “From Beyond”. Lee really proves a point here with a muscular & aggressive performance that I'd suggest is the clear highlight of the Massacre sound. It’s more in the instrumental contributions that we find the limitations I was referring to. You see, Massacre opt for a VERY straight-forward brand of death metal indeed. There’s no doubt that they do it exceptionally well but I do still find myself craving a little more… I dunno… class perhaps? Rick Rozz’ riffs are certainly tightly performed but I do have to say that they’re very basic in their makeup & would sound a lot like generic thrash metal if given a traditional tuning & a different guitar tone a lot of the time. As with former band mate Allen West, Rozz’ guitar solos have always been built around the heavy (over)use of whammy bar histrionics rather than any sort of melodic composition too & you’ll rarely find a better example of that than we do here. And then, the rhythm section of Butler & Andrews have never been known for their musicality either, have they? Both have pretty much built their careers on providing simple yet rock solid beats that accentuate the riffs of the guitarist(s) & that’s what they do here too.

Now, that might sound a little negative but in truth the tracklisting on “From Beyond” is completely blemish-free. It’s the lack of any truly mind-blowing death metal anthems that’s the limiting factor here. Only opener “Dawn of Eternity” & the very solid “Succubus” come closest to meeting a top tier Florida standard but both see their potential capped out by their sheer simplicity. The song-writing is certainly catchy as the structures are quite traditional & the choruses usually just repeat the song-title so I find myself enjoying the ride but rarely feeling like the music is commanding me to go all in. The potential for those sort of feelings is perennially curtailed by just how meat-&-potatoes “From Beyond” is to tell you the truth. I can’t see that being a significant issue for a lot of the death metal fanbase (& it clearly isn’t based on the general feeling on “From Beyond”) but it appears to be for me.

Don’t get me wrong, “From Beyond” is a more than decent representation of the death metal model. It’s just not a great one in my opinion so I don’t place it on the same lofty pedestal as the work of Massacre's main competitors of the time (see Death & Obituary who both did this sound much better). Instead, I feel like we're destined to eternally see "From Beyond" sitting in the middle rows with the Cancer’s & Benediction’s which isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. It’s perhaps just not in line with Massacre’s reputation, that’s all.

3.5/5

Gorguts - "Considered Dead" (1991)

Canadian death metal monsters Gorguts hit my radar in a pretty major way when I was thoroughly blown away by their track "Disincarnated" which appeared on a 1992 R/C Records compilation CD I'd picked up called "Rock Hard Presents Monsters of Death". It was a rip-roaring compilation album from memory so the fact that Gorguts were able to stand out amongst such illustrious company was a major feather in their caps. I'd subsequently go about picking up their debut full-length "Considered Dead" on CD at my earliest convenience & was immediately drawn to Gorguts' purist death metal sound.

"Considered Dead" is often overlooked in the star-studded Gorguts back catalogue, mainly because it's such a simple record in comparison to the more experimental & technical releases that followed. Here we see Gorguts sporting a very similar sound to records like Death's "Spiritual Healing", Immolation's "Dawn of Possession" & Pestilence's "Consuming Impulse" & making a very good fist of it too it has to be said. The production job is perfect for this style of music with the guitars having that thick death metal tone & Luc Lemay's death growl sounding as potent as it ever has & representing the focal point of the band. The level of musicianship was already very high although there was still a little room for improvement in the overall tightness at times. I particularly enjoy the guitar solos & the occasional use of progressive riff structures which were very accomplished for a debut album in 1991.

What holds "Considered Dead" back though is the feeling that you've heard it all before. In truth, I slightly prefer it to records like "Spiritual Healing" & "Consuming Impulse" but it's simply come a little too late in the game to have the same sort of impact on the wider extreme metal scene. As it stands, "Considered Dead" has been relegated to the bench with the other also-rans & I feel that's a little harsh to tell you the truth as there's an awful lot of quality here. Perhaps the tracklisting could have done with a couple more standout tracks like the afore-mentioned "Disincarnated" or techy closer "Inoculated Life" but there's a clear class & consistency to it which makes it an essential part of Gorguts' back catalogue nonetheless. Hell, I'd even take it over 2000's ultra noisy & experimental "Obscura" album if I was forced to choose between the two which is probably a representation of my personal taste profile more than anything else. Classic death metal fans are unlikely to be disappointed with "Considered Dead" but it's also unlikely that it'll change their worlds like the greatest releases of the genre.

4/5

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" which I've tagged as being an early example of stoner rock:

Our Boxing Day track is Black Sabbath's "FX" which I'd suggest is a good candidate for sitting under the Experimental tag:

An early example of genuine heavy metal from an obscure Belgian heavy psych outfit. This single came out in 1972.

Today's Xmas Day anthem is "Changes" which I'd suggest is close enough to piano rock.

Saxy & Rex, will you be submitting your feature release nominations this month?

The interview with Hessian Firm went great. I'll share it with you all when it goes live.

I will get around to a full Neuropath album review eventually but this track underlines the Suffocation influence brilliantly for me.  The diving guitars and stop/start rhythms are great.

I'm not surprised that you've picked up the clear Suffocation influence in that particular track either as it was the last song I wrote for the "Desert of Excruciation" demo & "Pierced From Within" was the biggest release for me that year. I'm sure everyone's well aware that they're still my favourite band to this day too.

For the record, I share your struggles with the melodic death metal subgenre too.

Today's track is "Tomorrow's Dream" which I've tagged as being stoner metal:

I  hadn't really noticed that you had reduced the focus on newer material, Daniel.  Is there any particular reason for it?

I noticed that most of the submissions were falling into two subgenres & they correlated with where most of the new releases were sitting so it became tricky to fit in other subgenres & more underground inclusions from those main subgenres once we had more people nominating tracks. I've found it a more enjoyable process since I've relaxed my position on making a third of the playlist tracks from the current year.

I've got an idea what most of those niche genres are, but wtf is mincecore?

To quote RYM:

"Mincecore is a raw and simplistic form of Grindcore which is based in Hardcore Punk and takes comparatively little influence from Metal. The guitar riffs are simple and heavily distorted and the drumming is characterized by alternation between blast beats and a groovy, mid-tempo kick-snare-kick-snare pattern often referred to as the tupa tupa. Lyrical themes are similar to political Punk bands and include topics such as anarchism, veganism, and antifascism.

The term mincecore was coined by the Belgian band Agathocles, formed in 1985. Their original intention was to return grindcore to its roots and offer resistance against the sexism, homophobia, and racism that was becoming common in the scene. The name comes from the slang word "mince", used as an insult against gay men.

By the early 1990s, many bands started to pop up around the world inspired by this sound and ideology, notably Unholy Grave, Rot, Malignant Tumour, Abortion, and Archagathus. In the 2010s, a new variant became popular, known as "mincegore," a mixture of the lo-fi, midtempo mincecore sound and the pitch-shifted vocals and gory imagery associated with Goregrind. Some notable bands making mincegore include Haggus and Hyperemesis."

i.e. another useless & tenuous subgenre from RYM.

I don't think that's true in the slightest. What made Budgie get linked to metal is how they were the heaviest thing in 1970 outside of Sabbath themselves. There have been bands who have gotten linked to early metal for far less material than Budgie did.

Also, unless there's a pretty massive difference, I think it's safe to remove live albums from the running.

I'm not talking about why Budgie were linked to metal back in the early 1970's. I'm referring to why they continue to be linked to metal today, despite not possessing the required attributes to warrant it, while others with stronger claims don't receive the same privilege. I'd suggest that it's almost certainly the Metallica link. Besides, it's been clear for a while now that you & I are working off different criteria when judging a release's metal credentials.

Also, there's no reason not to consider live releases for inclusion as they have the potential to be just as influential as studio records.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Wheels of Confusion" which I'm going against the grain by claiming as heavy psych.

Some more YouTube reviews:

There are also some cool Neuropath badges floating around that were made up by the lovely Steve from fellow Aussie death metal bands Encabulos & Unholy Redeemer:

Vocalist Mark Wangmann & I will be recording an interview for France's Hessian Firm podcast on Saturday morning following on from their very positive review of the CD on the Hessian Firm website so that should be a bit of fun (as long as we don't fuck it up).

Thanks mate. You may not have noticed but I've stopped focusing so much on brand new material since you started submitting tracks each month & I think it's changed things a touch. I've already covered a lot of the more significant releases from the more niche subgenres (gorenoise, pornogrind, death 'n' roll, cybergrind, mincecore, goregrind) too which means that most of the material is coming from the core group of death/grind subgenres that we all enjoy these days. Glad you could deal with a demo tracks I've been including too as I wasn't too sure how they'd go down. Underground demos were such an important part of how the scene began though & I was heavily involved in it so I wanted to share some of those experiences with people that might not have given themselves the chance.

Napalm Death - "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. (1991)

I have an admission to make. The early Napalm Death releases have never floated my boat as much as they have for others. I've always respected them for what they represent & can honestly say that I've found them to be universally appealing but I've never found them to be records that I feel like coming back to time & time again, despite having been introduced to them very early on in their career & during my more formative years. I'd probably had a good year or two with Napalm Death by the time 1991's short "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. appeared as I'd bought all three of their albums prior to its release so I'd certainly given them a fair chance but I wouldn't find myself enticed into laying out my hard-earned money for "Mass Appeal Madness", instead recording all of the songs individually off the radio over the first few weeks following its release. I remember having a bit of fun thrashing around my room to them too but I can't say that the (mass) appeal was long-lasting & I haven't returned to it in many years now. Given that I've recently revisited all of Napalm Death's earlier records in months gone by, it'd be remiss of me to overlook this one if only for some perspective.

"Mass Appeal Madness" is a four-song affair that was dedicated to the memory of recently deceased Atheist bass player Roger Patterson & includes two brand new songs in the title track & "Pride Assassin" as well as two re-recordings of songs taken from Napalm Death's 1988 sophomore album "From Enslavement To Obliteration" ("Unchallenged Hate" & "Social Sterility") which was their best full-length to the time in my opinion. It would also be the last Napalm Death release to feature legendary drummer Mick "Human Tornado" Harris who would leave to focus on mainly non-metal projects like Scorn moving forwards. That fact alone makes the E.P. somewhat of a turning point for the band given the impact that Harris had had on the Napalm Death sound that he'd virtually single-handedly defined on those early grindcore releases.

The short nine-minute duration means that "Mass Appeal Madness" is all over before you know it & this makes repeat listens very easy to accommodate. Unsurprisingly, the newer material takes on a slightly different stylistic format than the re-recordings with the title track & "Pride Assassin" being the more significant pieces which define the sound that "Mass Appeal Madness" will be remembered for. Both of those tracks take on a deathgrind sound that's not too dissimilar to that which we heard on the last album "Harmony Corruption" &, to a lesser extent, 1989's "Mentally Murdered" EP. The re-recorded tracks maintain their original grindcore sound only they've been given a slightly more deathly edge by the production & the vocals of former Benediction front man Mark "Barney" Greenway who had only recently joined the band for 1990's "Harmony Corruption" album. The change in approach between the two pairs of songs is subtle enough to pass the casual listener by without causing too much disruption but it also gives "Mass Appeal Madness" the opportunity to appeal to both the diehard grindcore fans as well as those that need a bit of death in their grind to add a touch more darkness. As a point of reference, I'd suggest that the E.P. sounds kinda like Terrorizer & Lock Up style deathgrind meets Terrorizer & Repulsion style grindcore.

The quality of the material is all more than decent with the four tracks possessing a solid consistency that makes it hard to pick out any clear highlights. If pushed I'd probably suggest that the title track would be my favourite, perhaps because it's the most lengthy & death metal-infused inclusion. There's not much between the four songs mind you so I can't see too many people losing interest along the way, particularly given the extremely short duration of the release as a whole. It's interesting that there's not all that many blast beat sections though which is a little unusual for Napalm Death & was a sign of things to come on future releases that saw them starting to expand their sound in a number of interesting ways over the next few years. I have to say that I do miss the blasting a bit & find "Mass Appeal Madness" to be at its best when it's at its most extreme. I guess I just don't think Napalm Death are as good at creating captivating tremolo-picked death metal riffs as some of the more premium death metal bands on the scene at the time & their groovier moments aren't really that well aligned with my taste profile.

Nonetheless, it's hard to be too critical of yet another respectable extreme metal release from one of the more important players in the underground & I can't deny that I've enjoyed the trip down memory lane even if I don't find myself recalling every single second of these tracks like I have with some of the other early 90's releases I've been revisiting of late. I tend to think that my higher scores for Napalm Death releases are still to come as I get stuck into their next few releases but it won't surprise me if I never quite get there. Deathgrind nuts should probably give "Mass Appeal Madness" a listen or two but I wouldn't expect to find your next holy grail.

3.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list which sees "Mass Appeal Madness" dropping down from number four to number ten:

01. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)

02. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)

03. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)

04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choirs" (2019)

05. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)

06. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)

07. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)

08. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)

09. Napalm Death - "Mentally Murdered" E.P. (1989)

10. Napalm Death - "Mass Appeal Madness" E.P. (1991)