Daniel's Forum Replies

Here's the February feature release nomination list:

THE FALLEN: Sonny, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Karl, Xephyr

THE HORDE: Vinny, Sonny, Ben, Daniel, Karl

THE INFINITE: Saxy, Andi, Xephyr

THE NORTH: Karl, Xephyr, Sonny, Daniel, Ben

THE PIT: Sonny, Daniel, Vinny, Ben

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi

The Amenta – “Twined Towers” (from “Revelator”, 2021)

I don't have any nominations this month Andi.

Sepultura – “Last Time” (from “Quadra”, 2020)

Hobbs Angel of Death – “The Journey” (from “Virgin Metal Invasion From Down Under” demo, 1988) [Can be found on the “Hobbs Satan’s Crusade” compilation]

Rampage – “Terrortaphobia (Fear of Giving Birth to a Monster)” (from “Veil of Mourn”, 1988)

Aggressa – “Tunks” (from “Nuclear Death” E.P., 1988)

Mass Confusion – “Die by the Ward” (from “Rolling in Stitches” demo, 1988) [Can be found on the “The Demos 88-92” compilation]

Novembre – “Let Me Hate” (from “Dreams d’azur”, 2002) [Progressive black metal]

Bestial Warlust – “At the Graveyard of God” (from “Vengeance War ‘Till Death”, 1994) [War metal]

The Black – “The Black Opal Eye” (from “The Priest of Satan”, 1994) [Black metal]

Impaled Nazarene – “Steelvagina” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994) [Black metal]

Aggressa – “VooDoo Doll” (from “Nuclear Death” E.P., 1988) [Blackened thrash]

Dark Funeral – “My Dark Desires” (from “Dark Funeral” E.P., 1994) [Black metal]

Dismember – “Fleshless” (from “Indecent & Obscene”, 1993)

Gorguts – “The Erosion of Sanity” (from “The Erosion of Sanity”, 1993)

Mortician – “Brutally Mutilated” (from “Brutally Mutilated” single, 1990)

Exhumed – “Oozing Rectal Feast” (from “Dissecting the Caseated Omentum” demo, 1992)

Pathologist – “Progression of Putrefaction” (from “Forensic Medicine & Pathology” demo, 1992)

Illdisposed – “When You Scream” (from “1-800 Vindication”, 2004)

Embalmer – “Rotten Body Fluids” (from “Rotting Remains” demo, 1993)

Avulsed – “Morgue Defilement” (from “Dead Flesh” compilation, 1993)

Slaughter Lord – “Die by Power” (from “Taste of Blood” demo, 1987)

Rampage – “Benevolent Approach” (from “Acid Storm” demo, 1986) [Can be found on the "Veil of Mourn" album]

The God Machine – “The Blind Man” (from “Scenes From The Second Story”, 1993)

I haven't listened to much in the way of genuine The Fallen releases over the past month Sonny but I think that all of these tracks fit the criteria anyway. Feel free to reject any (or all of them) if you disagree.

Orphaned Land – “My Requiem” (from “Sahara”, 1994)

Impaled Nazarene – “Quasb/The Burning” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994)

Hypocrisy – “Apocalypse” (from “The Fourth Dimension”, 1994)

January 2025

01. Engulfed – “In the Abyss of Death’s Obscurity” (from “Unearthly Litanies of Despair”, 2024 [Submitted by Karl]

02. Krisiun – “Whore of the Unlight” (from “Southern Storm”, 2008) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

03. Uninhibited – “Overwhelming Dejection” (from “Reign of the Unholy”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

04. Rotten Tomb – “Oblivion” (from “The Relief of Death”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

05. Soul Remnants – “Cauldron of Blood” (from “Black & Blood”, 2013) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

06. Nocturnus – “Alter Reality” (from “Thresholds”, 1992) [Submitted by Karl]

07. Spiritual Deception – “Dirac Sea” (from “Semitae Mentis”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

08. Unaussprechlichen Kulten – “Cuatro Velas de Cebo Infantil” (from “Haxan Sabaoth”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

09. Brujeria – “Sida de la Mente” (from “Brujerizmo”, 2000) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

10. Sentenced – “My Sky is Darker Than Thine” (from “North From Here”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Utumno – “The Light of Day” (from “Across the Horizon” E.P., 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Edge of Sanity – “Lost” (from “The Spectral Sorrows”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Kanonenfieber – “Gott mit der Kavallerie” (from “Die Urkatastrophe”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Obituary – “Paralyzing” (from “World Demise”, 1994) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Hemotoxin – “Reborn in Tragedy” (from “When Time Becomes Loss”, 2024) [Submitted by Daniel]

16. Mefitis – “The Untwined One” (from “The Untwined One”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

17. Malevolent Creation – “Stillborn” (from “Stillborn”, 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

18. Benediction – “Foetus Noose” (from “Dark is the Season” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Witch Vomit – “Black Wings of Desolation” (from “Funeral Sanctum”, 2024) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Gigan – “Trans-Dimensional Crossing of the Alta-Tenuis” (from “Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

21. Morbid Angel – “Fall From Grace” (from “Blessed Are The Sick”, 1991) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Paganizer – “Life of Decay” (from “Flesh Requiem”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. Emasculator – “In Resplendent Terror” (from “The Disfigured & the Divine”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Cryptopsy – “Gravaged (Acryptopsy)” (from “Ungentle Exhumation” demo, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

25. Inhuman Depravity – “Obsessed With the Mummified” (from “The Experimendead”, 2022) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

26. Carnophage – “Underneath the Horrendous One” (from “Matter of a Darker Nature”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

Mass Confusion - "Rolling in Stitches" demo (1988)

A pretty decent second demo from this Melbourne crossover thrash four-piece from Melbourne, Australia. Plenty of energy & some great hardcore vocals from front man Darren Walsh. Drummer Chris Phillips (Depression/Tyrus) sets the scene nicely for a session of hectic thrashing with some driving beats too. There's a bit of a psychotic Scatterbrain & a progressive Voivod edge to their sound at times. It's just a shame that closing track "Upper Storey to Let" is a bit of a fizzer as the other four songs are all pretty good, particularly the classic Aussie thrasher that is "Die by the Ward", a real favourite of mine when I was on the piss as a young fella as the best bits have a classic Exodus/Vio-lence feel to them. This demo is definitely worth a few listens for crossover thrash fans.

For fans of Nuclear Assault, S.O.D. & Municipal Waste.

3.5/5

Mournful Congregation - "Weeping" demo (1994)

This early funeral doom demo absolutely blew me away when I first purchased it from the band back at the time of release & it still marks the high point for the entire subgenre as far as I'm concerned. I was tape trading with these Adelaide dudes at the time & found it almost impossible to believe that this material was coming from a few kids in such an unlikely location. "Weeping" is the very definition of doom, combining the incredible harmonies of early Anathema & Cathedral with the deeper & even more depressive atmospherics of Thergothon & Skepticism. The minimal production is perfectly suited to the material with the down-tuned guitar tones of Damon Good (Cauldron Black Ram/Martire/Misery's Omen/StarGazer/VoidCeremony) & Ben Petch allowing some utterly breath-taking twin-guitar doom riffs to reverberate throughout your body. The performances aren't perfect & the transitions could still do with some work but the quality in the song-writing is nothing short of incredible & is easily able to overcome those minor flaws with the deep death growls of Nick Hansen beautifully portraying the pain in the lyrics. I'm sure you all know that I rarely gush this hard but "Weeping" is honestly a top ten metal release for me personally & is one of the most rewarding underground gems you'll ever find. If you can't deal with the plodding tempos of most funeral doom metal then I'd steer well clear of this one though. It's as sombre & downtrodden as they come.

For fans of Ahab, Thergothon & Skepticism.

5/5

Here's my adjusted Top Ten Funeral Doom Metal Releases of All Time list:

01. Mournful Congregation - "Weeping" demo (1994)

02. Esoteric - "The Maniacal Vale" (2008)

03. Esoteric – “Paragon of Dissonance” (2011)

04. Shape of Despair - "Monotony Fields" (2015)

05. Esoteric – “Metamorphogenesis” (1999)

06. Esoteric - "A Pyrrhic Existence" (2019)

07. Ahab - "The Call of The Wretched Sea" (2006)

08. Esoteric - "The Pernicious Enigma" (1997)

09. Evoken – “Atra Mors” (2012)

10. The Howling Void – “Shadows Over The Cosmos” (2010)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/132

Isn't it just a cover version sung in Japanese?

Neutron 9000 - "The Green House Effect" (1990)

UK ambient house.

The Grid - "Electric Head" (1990)

Early UK house music featuring Dave Ball from Soft Cell.

Dark Funeral - "Dark Funeral" E.P. (1994)

I’ve wasn’t even slightly aware of Swedish black metallers Dark Funeral when Ben brought home a CD copy of their self-titled debut E.P. shortly after it was released. I’d only recently been successful in converting Ben to the dark art of black metal & we were now collaborating in our blasphemous indulgences. Dark Funeral were one of the rare crop of extreme metal artists to appear without first paying their dues in the underground tape trading scene through cheaply recorded demo tapes so it’s not too surprising that I hadn’t come across them previously. They were already a very professional act though & I found myself really digging Ben’s new purchase, perhaps even more than he did to be honest. I think I’ve always been a little more inclined towards the more pure & faithful reenactments of the core extreme metal genres whereas Ben seems to command a little more in the way of innovation. Whatever the case may be though, I harbour many fond memories of the “Dark Funeral” E.P. & have returned to it several times over the years so I’ve been looking forward to this week’s revisit for some time now.

“Dark Funeral” was recorded & mixed at Sweden’s Unisound Studios in January 1994 under the watchful eye of renowned metal producer Dan Swanö & would mark the initial release for the newly formed Sweden extreme metal label Hellspawn Records. Swanö ensured that Dark Funeral received a suitably bright, clear & exciting production job here too with the E.P. sounding very professional for a first up effort. The drums cut through the mix nicely while the guitars are beautifully unified & the vocals are positioned in a commanding position at the front of the black metal assault. The four-piece band also show themselves to be quite capable musicians who clearly had a good understanding of their craft, not just focusing on writing cool riffs but also creating catchy hooks through intelligent song-writing.

“Dark Funeral” certainly isn’t the most original black metal release you’ll find & there is merit in those that claim it to be generic, even for 1994. If you need something fresh & different in your metal then I’d suggest that this record may not be for you. If you simply enjoy well-executed black metal with an authentic atmosphere though then you’ll no doubt find plenty to enjoy here. Dark Funeral had clearly spent a fair bit of time with records like Marduk’s “Those of the Unlight”, Immortal’s “Pure Holocaust” & Emperor’s self-titled E.P. when they wrote this material as there are regular points of reference included but there’s also an underlying melodicism to Dark Funeral’s sound that hints at a strong affiliation with Dissection’s classic debut album “The Somberlain”, particularly in closing track “In the Sign of the Horns”. This isn’t as brutal a Dark Funeral release as some of their later material would have you believe either. It’s simpler & catchier than a lot of their back catalogue which arguably makes it a more accessible listen as it doesn’t require the listener to absorb a constant wall of blast-beats.

The four-song tracklisting is quite consistent with the quality levels ranging from pretty decent to very solid. None of these pieces threaten to reach classic status & I think that was always gonna be a struggle when you settle for such a tried & true (not to mention fairly simple) format. Opener “Open The Gates” & my personal favourite “My Dark Desires” are excellent examples of their type though, only being held back a little by some fairly immature lyrics. I mean, “Open the Gates…. Sataaaaaaannnn” isn’t exactly poetry or gothic literature now, is it? The best moments come when guitarists Lord Ahriman & Blackmoon (Necorphobic/War) hit on a genuinely dark riff with bass player Themgoroth’s searing black metal screams summoning you towards a life of evil. Themgoroth is a real highlight here actually, despite the fact that his basslines are pretty hard to make out in the mix. It won’t surprise too many of you that I find the darker & more brutal parts of the release to be far more enjoyable than the more melodically inclined ones though with drummer Draugen (Sigrblot/Svartsyn) making a reasonable fist of his task, even if he’s not in the same league as some of his replacements like the infamous Dominator who is one of the best in the business.

Look, “Dark Funeral” certainly isn’t the most remarkable of black metal records but it does make for an entertaining sixteen minutes of blasphemy & hellfire. The extra space & greater concentration on song-writing make it arguably Dark Funeral’s most memorable release too which has led me to keep checking out each subsequent record the band have pushed out over the three decades since. If you like your black metal in the classic style of the Second Wave with that signature Swedish melodic twist then “Dark Funeral” should definitely be on your list.

For fans of Marduk, Setherial & early Emperor.

4/5

Carlton - "The Call Is Strong" (1990)

Early Bristol trip hop from a vocalist who is best known for her contributions to one of my all-time favourite bands in Massive Attack.

Necrodeath - "Arimortis"

The album will be the last recorded testimony before the definitive dissolution of the band. The release will be followed by a farewell tour, which will last throughout 2025. After which the curtain will fall.

'Arimortis' is a term of Latin origin which indicates the end of a war, the moment in which the fallen are honoured and altars are erected in their name ('arae mortis', the altars of death). Even today in some parts of Italy the term 'arimo' is used to declare the end of the games. We wanted to use this allegory to seal a path that lasted forty years, full of satisfactions, disappointments and revenge. The songs that make up the album contain several references to our long career”.

Messa - "The Spin"

The Italian doom metallers MESSA announced through their facebook post the successor of two years ago "Close" titled "The Spin" in 2025. "The Spin" will be the band's first album through the historical Metal Blade Records with whom they signed last month. Other information has not yet been released.

The MESSA stated the following about "The Spin":

We're excited to present it in its entirety at the upcoming Roadburn. It's going to be intense and we're looking forward to it. There is no better place for us to play this new album and share this experience with you, releasing everything. See you in Tilburg!

Avartarium - "Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead"

Female fronted doom rock band AVATARIUM returns with their new album "Between You, God, The Devil and The Dead". Get ready for a great combination of gloomy hard rock with gentle doom metal accents.

This special mixture gives the Swedish band their very unique sound and is one of the reason why they became a big name in the scene Masters of melancholic heavy metal since 2013, Avatarium are a unique and formidable musical force.

Originally formed as an extracurricular project by Candlemass legend Leif Edling, the Stockholm-based doom mavericks have since evolved far beyond their roots and become one of the most creative and unpredictable hard rock bands on the planet.

Now led by real life partners, vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith and guitarist Marcus Jidell, Avatarium have continued on their singular journey and grown even more powerful along the way.

From the acclaimed doom purism of their self-titled debut, to the richly-detailed rock indulgence of 2022's Death, Where Is Your Sting?, each chapter in the band's recorded history has been a benchmark for substance and soul in heavy music.

On January 24th, 2025, the Swedes release their sixth studio album, Between You, God, The Devil & The Dead.

As with each of their previous five records, the new opus reveals previously unseen shades and textures in their classic but malleable sound.

Full of giant riffs, otherworldly atmosphere and astonishing melodies, Between You, God, The Devil & The Dead has been gestating for the last 18 months.

Mexican atmospheric black metal artist Trhä has released not one but TWO new albums this month.

Trhä - "monta ana also"

Trhä - "faj den EnΩëtonëghappan nvona Tóvarba dëhajnva ëfpalte∫ eh yënảles §anënbe cetmac eh den léhams selb'ºe nêbam'o∫nëb ◊u∫an d‡éf§"

 Labyrinthus Stellarum - "Rift in Reality"

The promise of a new album which will be even more experimental and diverse than the previous one and will include both epic melodic tracks and heavy aggressive ones seems to be fulfilled as atmospheric Black Metal band, Labyrinthus Stellarum who hail from Ukraine, offer new single “Lost in the Void“. Adorned by artwork created by Mark Cooper (Rings of Saturn, Brand of Sacrifice), “Rift in Reality” is set to arrive early in 2025 from the writing partnership of brothers Oleksandr and Misha Andronati.

The band comment: “Lost in the Void is an atmospheric, saturated with space synths, song dedicated to the end of the journey of a group of inhabitants from the planet Nirlakh, who, after the opening of a rift in reality, find themselves in the Void – the original world, the gods of which the Nirlakhians worshiped. However, having got into the Void, they understand that they will not find there what they were looking for, but on the contrary – the Void will become the grave of their kind”

Dark Fortress - "Anthems From Beyond The Grave - Live In Europe 2023"

DARK FORTRESS's march to the grave was inevitable. The journey from signing with American independent Red Stream Records in 2001 to The Cosmic End Tour (with The Spirit and Asphagor) in 2023 was circuitous, full of highs and lows and rife with raw potential. Ultimately, DARK FORTRESS ended life after releasing their lauded final album, “Spectres from the Old World”, in 2020. By all metrics, self-imposed death is better than zombie-lurching into oblivion. Many fans didn't see DARK FORTRESS writing their ‘early’ epitaph, however. DARK FORTRESS uncoiled on their terms, leaving their only live album, “Anthems from Beyond the Grave”, as their final offering to the ancient and unspeakable forces of darkness and evil.

V. Santura says: “I never thought DARK FORTRESS would have a live album. The technical situation–we had multi-track recordings of two shows [Rotterdam and Bochum]–allowed for ‘Anthems from Beyond the Grave’ to happen. I didn’t even listen to the recordings for months after the tour. When I finally did, I thought, ‘Holy shit!’ We sounded incredible, and I'm hardly ever happy with our shows. All of our hard work had finally fallen into place on that tour. When Century Media heard it, they said, ‘We’re gotta release it–it’s too good not to’! If this is our end and it definitely is, then it’s a fitting end to DARK FORTRESS.”

“Anthems from Beyond the Grave” isn’t solely a live album but works as the perfect “best of” that comes with liner notes reflecting on 29 years of pitch-black history.

DARK FORTRESS is dead, long live DARK FORTRESS! 

Motörhead - "The Löst Tapes Vol. 6: Live in Berlin"

Recorded on 14th December 1992 on the tour in support of the ill-fated "March ör Die" album.

S.I.C. - "Screaming in Churches" E.P. (1988)

Melbourne crossover thrashers S.I.C. (or Screaming in Churches as they were also known) were yet another underground Australian act that I discovered shortly after I joined the local metal scene & started associating with older & more experienced metalheads. I believe I came into possession of a cassette that contained all three of their releases in their 1987 “Sick” demo, their 1988 “Screaming in Churches” E.P. & their 1989 “Spastics Inflicting Carnage” demo on the one side along with a bunch other Aussie crossover stuff on the other. I’ve recently sought out those two demos to see what they sound like in the modern day but I’ve been unable to find them anywhere online thus far so I’ve had to satisfy myself with the E.P. which I had some fairly foggy memories of enjoying when I was a kid.

Much like the two demos, the “Screaming in Churches” E.P. is a short burst of thrashing hardcore energy that includes eight fairly brief songs across just a thirteen-minute runtime. The band members co-produced it with a trio of external contributors including Vicious Circle front man Paul Lindsay, Reactor Records owner Phil MacDougall & Warwick Thomas who had worked with Lindsay on the last few Vicious Circle releases. The result of their efforts is a rough & ready record with all of the sharp edges having been left on in classic hardcore fashion. It sounds very live yet you can easily discern all of the instruments & it simply feels very appropriate for the content its attempting to showcase. The record would end up being released through Melbourne punk label Au Go Go Records which surprised me as they weren’t known as a metal label, instead making a name for themselves through more accessible artists like The Scientists, God, Spiderbait, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Magic Dirt & The Hellacopters.

S.I.C.’s sound was nothing new for the time & one gets the feeling that that wasn’t really the point either. They were a straight down the line crossover thrash band that closely emulated their US counterparts, particularly those who also went by initialist monikors like S.O.D., M.O.D. & D.R.I. There’s a similar sense of fun & not taking yourself too seriously here with the surf & skate themes that those bands often pushed being evident as well. Each song contains moments of sheer violence that work to offset the silliness & its those moments that make “Screaming in Churches” an enjoyable listen for someone like myself. I can do without all of the tongue-in-cheek bullshit & prefer a more serious approach to my metal so I’m thankful that S.I.C. obviously know how to thrash out with sheer hardcore aggression. Front man Luke may not be a technical wizard but he certainly knows how to spit out a compelling hardcore performance while his band mates (who interestingly included bassist Damian Gardiner who would later go on to experience significant local success with Victorian alternative rockers 28 Days) throw themselves into a series of lightning-fast thrash riffs.

The tracklisting kinda hovers over that line between mildly enjoyable & fairly disposable to be honest but the wins just manage to outweigh the losses which has left me with a generally positive taste in my mouth. As you may have gathered already, it’s the sillier moments that see my interest waning a bit with “Skatehead”, “Don’t Nag Me” & “Gadgetry” (complete with its rendition of the “Mr.Gadget” theme song) all leaving me fairly cold. Opener “Radiation”, “Brown Paper Bag Man”, the short hardcore blast that is “S.I.C.” & “Little Boy” are all pretty entertaining though & make up for S.I.C’s failings through uncompromising spurts of violence & vitriol.

Look, there are no doubt better crossover releases out there but I think there should be enough quality here to satisfy most fans of the subgenre, particularly those who have enjoyed a drunken laugh with their skater or surfer mates on occasion. Crossover thrash has never played a particularly major role in my listening habits but S.I.C. make a good fist of that sound here & are worthy of a few casual spins if you’re partial to that sort of thing.

For fans of S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies & M.O.D.

3.5/5

Honestly, I don't think my experiences with running the Metal Academy site with Ben have resulted in my metal taste being expanded as much as other people because I always felt the need to keep abreast of all parts of the global metal scene. What there can be no question it has done though is keep me focused on metal when I might otherwise have ventured off in some other musical direction for extended periods of time like I have in the past. I feel somewhat of an obligation to keep the forum content moving which may sound like a bad thing but has ultimately resulted in me enjoying metal as much as I ever have. Despite what some people may have you belief, I honestly think that the metal scene is in a golden age right now & I'm always discovering something amazing that I was previously unaware of. I know it might appear that my review focus tends to be on older releases but, contrary to how that may appear on the surface, I spend just as much time with new releases. I just don't tend to give them the attention required for a full review or rating, instead just enjoying the listening experience & pushing my agendas to the side for a while.

As far as my taste profile goes, I've definitely found that I don't enjoy the modern side of The Gateway all that much in recent times & there's only pockets of The Revolution that I get much out of too. I'd suggest that Metal Academy has resulted in me discovering more power metal bands that I quite like though. Ultimately, my long-term preferences are still my preferences today although there's a now a case to say that sludge metal is one of my favourite genres when that wasn't always the case. I don't think that the Academy is responsible for that though. I think I probably would have gotten there anyway. The same can be said for my fairly recent interest in blackgaze.

All that said, it makes me feel really great that the Academy has had such an impact on others. I can't tell how much I appreciate all of our regulars who make my life a better place to be by sharing in my metal experience. The site may not have grown as much as we'd like to date but, if it never grew any further, I'd still be happy with the result.

This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement Andi. And for the record, I completely agree with you.

https://metal.academy/hall/563

I've passed this nomination uncontested Andi.

Ben, please add Melbourne crossover thrash outfit S.I.C. (aka Screaming in Churches).

Yngwie Malmseetn - "The Seventh Sign" (1994)

By the middle of the 1990’s, I would definitely class myself as a complete shred-head. I simply couldn’t get enough soaring guitar solos & searing technique in my life at that point & would go well out of my way to keep track of what the key players in that field were doing, despite my obvious affiliations with the extreme metal scene. That passion would see me continuing to purchase each successive Yngwie Malmsteen release as they hit the shelves, having first discovered him through 1988’s excellent “Odyssey” fourth full-length. Yngwie had been pretty consistent in his ability to keep me interested over the five or so years too with just the one blemish in 1990’s fairly flat “Eclipse” album. But I have to admit that my patience was weighing a little thin given that each record was generally pretty similar to the last one & offered little in the way of innovation or experimentation so I could definitely see my enthusiasm wavering a touch with each record. I think I was just starting that descent when 1994’s “The Seventh Sign” hit my CD player & I’d only stay with Yngwie for another year before admitting that I owned more than enough of the Swedish guitar god to keep me satisfied. I do remember “The Seventh Sign” being a little flat anyway though so perhaps that played a role in my defection? I thought I’d find out this week.

“The Seventh Sign” was recorded at New River Studios in Florida & was his first album for Japanese record label Pony Canyon after leaving his US label Elektra Records who had released 1992’s “Fire & Ice”. I’m not really surprised at the move given how massive Yngwie has always been in Japan. As with “Fire & Ice”, Malmsteen would once again elect to produce the record himself & the results are pretty decent with all of the different elements being very well balanced. There are a few moments when I’d suggest that the rhythm guitars are a little dirty & could have been cleaned up a bit but, in general, “The Seventh Sign” sounds bright & in your face with a big rhythm section & suitably anthemic vocal hooks. As was often the case with Yngwie records, the band lineup he’s gone with for his seventh album had changed significantly from the one we’d received on “Fire & Ice”. Hired gun vocalist Goran Edman (Madison/Time Requiem/Brazen Abbot/Glory/Johansson/John Norum/Karmakanic/Nikolo Kotzev’s Nostradamus/Talisman/Vinnie Vincent Invasion) had departed after contributing to the last two Malmsteen records with another vocal journeyman Michael Vescera (Loudness/Magic Kingdom/Obsession) jumping in for the next two. Yngwie elected to handle the bass guitar tracks himself this time with Svante Henryson moving on to Brazen Abbot while drummer Bo Werner had been replaced after just the one record with prolific skinsman-for-hire Mike Terrana (Artension/Avalanch/Axel Rudi Pell/Emir Hot/Hardline/Iron Mask/Masterplan/Metalium/Rage/Savage Circus/Tarja/Tony MacAlpine/Vision Divine/The Ferrymen). In fact, keyboardist Mats Olausson (Ark/Glory/Iron Mask/Silver Mountain) was the only remaining member from the group that recorded the “Fire & Ice” album & I’m gonna presume that he & Yngwie were fairly tight as Olausson would remain with the band for the entirety of the 1990’s.

If you have even a vague understanding of Yngwie’s previous work then you won’t be terribly surprised by the musical direction of “The Seventh Sign” although it admittedly traverses a number of different subgenres along the way. As with most of his recent releases, we get a mixture of power metal, hard rock, glam metal, heavy metal, neoclassical metal & classical guitar pieces with heavy metal being the thread that ties them altogether in my opinion. That being said, I see no reason to throw any additional primary tags at this record. As with the vast majority of Yngwie’s work, the tendency to want to go with a neoclassical metal tag is overstating the importance of the classically-inspired solos with most of the song structures being more traditionally metal or rock based. Those solos do make the album more cohesive than it might otherwise have been though given the genre-hopping that takes place but Yngwie is most certainly guilty of self-plagiarism as there’s very little that you haven’t heard dozens of times before in that regard. He’s no doubt the finest exponent of his craft that we’ve ever seen but the scope of his creative ideas is very limited & I think this contributed to me tiring of him over time.

Most of “The Seventh Sign” is pretty good to be honest & it certainly starts in solid fashion but, as with most Yngwie albums, there are a few genuine stinkers thrown into the mix & this time I’ve found a couple of them to be disastrous enough to taint my overall impression of the album as a whole. The utterly disgusting attempt at glam metal commercialism that is “Prisoner of Your Love” is by far the worst of them & sits amongst the worst travesties ever attempted in metal in my opinion. The cheesy neoclassical instrumental “Brothers” isn’t much better though & I think it’s fair to say that “The Seventh Sign” would have been a pretty decent Yngwie record without those two. Neoclassical heavy metal number “Forever One” is pretty flat too but it’s not in the same post code as that detrimental duo. The best material can be found in Yngwie’s heavier power metal efforts on this occasion with opener “Never Die”, the doomy “Pyramid of Cheops” & the exciting “Crash & Burn” being my personal highlights but I’m afraid that all that good work has been tarnished by the previously mentioned shockers which have simply left too bad a taste in my mouth.

Up until this point, 1990’s “Eclipse” album was the only Yngwie record that I’ve struggled with but I’m afraid to say the gratuitous repetition & my general tiredness of Malmsteen’s approach have collaborated with the ill-advised commercial indulgences enough to see me painting “The Seventh Sign” with the same brush. The experiences of this week have seen me finding it completely understandable that I would only give Malmsteen one more crack before moving onto new musical challenges. The better material here is easily up to the task but the album’s failings sit solely with the few duds which overpower the album’s strengths, seeing it simply commanding more cringes than I’m comfortable with in my metal.

For fans of Cacophony, Axel Rudi Pell & Alcatrazz.

3/5

Quiet Force - "Flow" (1988)

German electronic/new age.

Aggressa - "Nuclear Death" E.P. (1988)

Underground Australian metal band Aggressa aren't the most well-known of local acts to come out of my home country. Hell... if you weren't deeply involved in the early movement over here then you'd almost certainly have missed them as they weren't the most prolific of artists in terms of recorded output, having only put to tape one crude demo & an almost as crude E.P. that sounds like it was recorded with a handheld cassette recorder. But that level of inaccessibility can often become a source of attraction for some of our more devoted metal aficionados so it's probably worth revisiting Aggressa in the modern day, if only to make sure that there isn't some sort of unheralded gem sitting undiscovered between the two pieces of cardboard that originally housed its charms. My own experiences with Aggressa came through the E.P. rather than the demo which has only recently been made available as a bonus inclusion on the re-release of "Nuclear Death" & I'm gonna guess that the presence of a certain drummer that I had a mild association with back in the Sydney metal scene of the early 90's was likely the catalyst for me becoming aware of it at the time. I can't say that "Nuclear Death" made all that big an impression on me back then though & I was hoping that I might be better prepared for it in the modern day, particularly given the context of my recent explorations into the earliest roots of the Australian extreme metal scene.

Aggressa recorded the self-financed "Nuclear Death" E.P. at Sydney's The Loft Studio in 1987 & would release it to the public in a vinyl format that didn't even come with a proper cover the following year. I'd be very surprised if there was a producer involved as the sound quality is so raw that it could easily be mistaken for a rehearsal tape or cheap demo recording. In fact, I'd suggest that there was almost certainly no mastering done at the time as the tracks often contain count-ins or brief snippets of pre/post-track discussion. The start of "Tunks" even hints that it was recorded at a live show but I don't believe that to be the case so it was a strange decision to announce the song in that way. The Spotify version of the release was clearly taken from a vinyl rip too as there are obvious vinyl crackles running all the way through it. In saying all of that, all of the instruments can easily be identified & are reasonably well balanced. The rhythm guitars do drop out while some of the guitar solos are taking place which is a little annoying but the recording captures Aggressa's live energy pretty well & I'd imagine that they must have been a force to be reckoned with on stage.

Aggressa's style sits somewhere between heavy metal & thrash metal most of the time with many of the seven songs included containing elements of both genres in classic US power metal fashion. Many critics would call that sort of hybrid speed metal but I don't think that's entirely warranted. It's more accurate to simply use a dual tag in this situation as there were clearly two sides to Aggressa's sonic arsenal with the overall aesthetic generally leaning a little more to the heavy metal side than the thrash one. The riffs aren't terribly inspired & neither is the song-writing but I do really enjoy the vocals of front man Darren Jones as he possessed a muscular rasp that would have worked really well with a band like Exodus. The guitar solos of Craig Martin & Carl are frantic & chaotic without being too polished which works well in this context while the drumming of Sadistik Exekution/Reverend Kriss Hades drummer Sloth (who had only recently replaced original drummer Adam Marsh who had left to form prominent Sydney thrash metallers Frozen Doberman) is quite accomplished with his occasional use of blast beats representing some of the better moments on the release.

The tracklisting isn't exactly star-studded but one gets the feeling that a decent production job could have improved things significantly. The previously mentioned "Tunks" is really the only one of the seven tracks that I find to be genuinely enjoyable with its short & violent crossover thrash format working pretty well to get me throwing myself around my lounge room. The more intense material is certainly were I find the most appeal though with speed metal opener "Torture & Pain" & the more expansive death/thrasher "Voo Doo Doll" not falling as far short of the mark as other inclusions with the sub-standard heavy metal of "Break Down the Walls", "Phantom Stage Diver" & the title track failing to capture me much at all. Closer "D.O.A." is probably the best of the more traditional heavy metal on offer but even then I wouldn't say that it manages to raise much of a sweat. There's nothing all that horrible here but there's also not much to write home about either.

It's not hard to see why Aggressa failed to break out of the underground because "Nuclear Death" is really a pretty inaccessible listen. The re-release of the record was clearly intended for a niche market of dedicated fans who crave a simpler time when the tape trading scene was at its peak & was the only way to discover lesser known or unsigned artists. Although I was very much a part of that demographic, I can't quite see past the fact that there was so much better stuff out there than this at the time, even in the fairly isolated Australian scene, & this has left Aggressa floundering in obscurity for the most part & not without justification either. Perhaps a stronger production job & some label backing might have helped a bit but I think it would be a mistake to place the blame in that area as "Nuclear Death" simply isn't a particularly sophisticated release & is best served as drunken background music if I'm being honest.

For fans of Nothing Sacred, Metal Church & "Acid Storm"-period Rampage.

3.5

Hypocrisy - "The Fourth Dimension" (1994)

While the early releases from Swedish death metallers Hypocrisy may not have changed my life, they did offer me a fair amount of enjoyment as a young fella during the early 1990's. I'd first discovered them through their 1992 debut album "Penetralia" which Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann had brought to my attention shortly after it was released & I'd subsequently followed them through their 1993 sophomore album "Osculum Obscenum" & 1994 "Inferior Devoties" E.P., both of which had performed a similar role in providing a fairly traditional brand of death metal that stayed largely within the limited capabilities of the various band members. "Inferior Devoties" had seen Hypocrisy further reducing their lineup from the five-piece they originally started as though with band leader Peter Tägtgren (Pain/Bloodbath/Lindemann/Lock Up/The Abyss/War) taking over the vocal duties from original front man Masse Broberg (Dark Funeral/Demonoid/Obscurity/Witchery) on top of his existing guitar & keyboard responsibilities which would see Hypocrisy going to market as a trio for the first time. They must have liked the simplicity it provided them with as the Swedes would return with that same lineup for 1994's "The Fourth Dimension" third album, a record that is known as being somewhat of a transitional record for Hypocrisy & one that I remember fairly fondly. A recent read of Ben's review of "The Fourth Dimension" has seen my interest being renewed though as Ben expressed that this record was somewhat of a step up for Tägtgren & co. with the adjustments that had been made to the more traditional Hypocrisy sound being most welcome. Let's see if I feel similarly then, shall we?

"The Fourth Dimension" was recorded & mastered at Park Studio in Stockholm during March & April of 1994 with Tägtgren once again handling the production duties as he had on all of Hypocrisy's previous releases. Those first three records all sound a little different from each other but there seems to be a feeling amongst fans that "The Fourth Dimension" sports a cleaner sound in terms of production. I see things a little differently though & would actually suggest that Hypocrisy's third full-length sounds a little weaker than the Swedes first two records with the murkier guitar tone not really complementing the powerful bottom-end of rhythm section, although it admittedly works better than it might have due to the slower tempo range that Hypocrisy tend to work within compared to their earlier work. Tägtgren had handled the vocals on several tracks from the band's earlier releases so he doesn't sound completely foreign here but I do have to mention that I prefer Broberg's more sinister tone over his deeper & slightly more gutteral growls which don't summon as much darkness & energy as his predecessor.

There's been a lot said about Hypocrisy's transition from a very conventional death metal sound to a far more Swedish melodic death metal one over the years with "The Fourth Dimension" most often described as the link between the two but, while I'm not disputing that theory, I will say that it's a fairly narrow-minded view to claim Hypocrisy's third album as a genuine melodeath release because it's not nearly as simple as that. You see, Hypocrisy tackle a few different sounds across the thirteen-song track-listing with classic death metal, melodeath & a slower doom/death style all receiving a decent airing. The album is bookended by the two excellent doom/death tracks in "Apocalypse" & the title track, both which form the highlights of the album along with the beautifully executed neoclassical darkwave closer "The Arrival of the Demons". That's right folks, the slower tempos & more atmospheric soundscapes employed here actually work very well for Hypocrisy & are somewhat of a highlight of the record. The remainder of the album sees the band switching quite regularly between their conventional death metal sound & the more melodic one their countrymen had been making into a national calling card at around this time. Unlike many punters though, I'm gonna have to bring things back to reality a bit by stating that this is still more of a death metal record than it is a melodeath one. In fact, I don't even think there's enough melody here to justify a dual primary tag & are comfortable for Hypocrisy to maintain their traditional death metal status at this point in their recording career. I feel that the fact that most of the more melodic material appears during the early parts of the album has certainly played a role in people incorrectly tarnishing "The Fourth Dimension" with the melodeath brush (depending on your preferences of course).

Given the dalliances with extra melody though, it was perhaps inevitable that I'd struggle with parts of "The Fourth Dimension". In fact, I'm gonna have to suggest that it was Hypocrisy's least consistent record to the time with the quality levels fluctuating as often as the band's stylistic direction did. You could easily respond to those claims with statements about my affiliations to the melodeath subgenre & I'd face a serious challenge in attempting to defend my position as there's no doubt that the more melodic A side is where I see my attention wavering. Thankfully there are a couple of the best tracks on the album (see "Apocalypse" & "Black Forest") mixed in with the flatter material during the early stages of the record but the B side is noticeably heavier which appeals to my taste profile much more than the more open & commercially accessible song structures presented on tracks like "Mind Corruption", "Reincarnation" or "Never to Return". It's not that I mind the reduced tempos & greater focus on atmospherics. In fact, I really enjoy those attributes when they're done well. It's more that the more melodic material sounds a little basic & lacking in sophistication which could perhaps be explained by Hypocrisy's still fairly limited technical abilities which are left more visible by the more open structures. Tägtgren's vocals aren't as unique as Broberg's either & I find them to be merely serviceable than they do genuinely engaging.

Despite these failings, I can't deny that there's still plenty to enjoy about "The Fourth Dimension", particularly during the back end of the album which tends to drag it out of the mire that I felt it would almost certainly end up in during parts of the record. I can't agree with Ben's statements about this being the first Hypocrisy release that's worthy of your purchase though as I actually think it was the Swedes weakest full-length to that time with their more US-inspired debut "Penetralia" still (perhaps unsurprisingly) being my pick of the three. I don't think this just comes down to the added melody though folks. While Hypocrisy may have expanded their repertoire a little with "The Fourth Dimension", they hadn't necessarily nailed those adjustments which leaves it feeling a little patchy as an holistic artistic statement. The first two Hypocrisy albums may have been less ambitious but I feel that they were more consistently successful at what they were trying to achieve, even if neither should be considered to be essential listening for our The Horde members either.

For fans of Kataklysm, At the Gates & Bloodbath.

3.5/5

The Durutti Columns - "Obey the Time" (1990)

The Art of Noise - "Moments in Love" single (1985)

Taking a trip back to the early 1990's chillout boom while preparing for the girls to wake up on Xmas morning:

Mappa Mundi - "Musaics" (1990)

Art of Noise - "The Ambient Collection" (1990)

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - "Mustt Mustt" (1990)

Enigma - "MCMXC a.D." (1990)

Sudefed - "Race to Oblivion" demo (1988)

The first demo tape from this obscure Adelaide-based thrash metal crew. It's pretty good too with the band showing a good understanding of how to create inspiring & energetic thrash riffs. The vocals are a little unusual within the context of a thrash band & would probably suit a punky alternative rock sound a little better but they're still quite catchy at times. It's a shame that these guys didn't amount to much because there's a lot of promise shown here. Good luck tracking it down though.

For fans of Anthrax, Flotsam & Jetsam & Allegiance.

3.5/5

Ben, please add Melbourne thrashers Mass Confusion's "The Demo's '88-'92" compilation & also fellow Melbourne thrashers S.I.C..

Rampage - "Veil of Mourn" (1988)

Melbourne thrash metal trio Rampage are definitely one of those bands that you would only have come across if you were heavily involved in the underground Australian metal scene back in the latter part of the 1980's & first half of the 1990's. They released just two demo tapes & a single full-length album across a four-year life span but wouldn't manage to achieve much commercial success & eventually decided to call it quits two months after vocalist/guitarist George Mitrov found God & promptly left Rampage in May 1988. The Spotify age has seen the band's legacy being revitalized for a new generation of Aussie metalheads to indulge in though & the question is now whether that commitment is actually worth the effort or not. My recollections of Rampage's "Veil of Mourn" album weren't that great if I'm being honest but I have been wondering whether a little context might see it taking on some additional importance. My recent revisits to the two Rampage demo tapes have done nothing for my confidence but I did recall "Veil of Mourn" sounding a little different to those two releases so I decided to grit my teeth & battle my way through one of the less understood records from a time when the Aussie thrash scene was still in its infancy.

Neither of Rampage's 1986 "Acid Storm" or 1987 self-titled demo tapes received a lot of record label attention which was a critical ingredient if you were going to take things to the next level at the time. Young bands rarely funded their own full-length albums & some of that came down to a lack of belief & understanding as much as it did anything else because the option was always there. But the lack of hype didn't stop Rampage who self-funded & self-produced their debut album in 1988 with a run of just 600 vinyl copies being manufactured after the recordings were completed. A gentleman going by the name of Rock was responsible for assisting the band through those sessions & I can't say that I'm surprised that he hasn't gone on to bigger things because the production job on "Veil of Mourn" is nothing short of a dog's breakfast, failing to even compete with that of the band's two demos, particularly the self-titled one which sounded much better than this mess which comes across more like a crude rehearsal recording than an album. The guitars are much too far back in the mix in comparison to the bass guitar while the cymbals possess a boomy white-noise characteristic. The performances are really quite loose too with guitarist George Mitrov's pitchy high-pitched vocals regularly seeing my face struggling to prevent a cringe. Rampage were far from a well-oiled machine at the time but, to be fair, they had other things going for them.

Rampage's lineup for the album was a little different to the one that had recorded the "Acid Storm" demo tape two years earlier. Original guitarist Mark Bailey had left the scene by this stage with Mitrov taking on the guitar duties on top of the vocals while drummer Rick Sorrentino had been replaced by future Hobbs Angel of Death skinsman Bruno Canziani. Former Tyrus bass player David Frew (who would join Canziani in Hobbs Angel of Death during the mid-1990's) was still onboard but it's worth mentioning the differences in sound between the two demo tapes & the one we receive on "Veil of Mourn", despite it containing a few of the same tracks as the demos in "Acid Storm", "Sinister at Sunrise" & "Producers Edge". The "Acid Storm" demo saw Rampage hovering somewhere between thrash metal & traditional heavy metal while the self-titled saw that heavy metal component heading more towards power metal. There isn't any heavy metal on "Veil of Mourn" while the power metal influence is limited to "Sinister at Sunrise". This time Rampage have expanded their sound with a very interesting progressive rock influence which sees them hitting on some highly unusual song & riffs structures & it's this element that would become the band's calling card. On the evidence here, I'd have to suggest that Rampage had been listening to a fair quantity of Voivod records in the lead-up to these sessions as I can clearly here the Canadian progressive metallers impact here, although I wouldn't suggest that it's enough to see me reaching for a dual tag as the thrash side of the trio's sound still sits comfortably in the ascendency.

Despite the intriguing complexities of Rampage's new sound though, I have to admit that I've once again struggled with this release in much the same way that I did with the two demo tapes. Yes, the band's sound certainly keeps you on your toes by maintaining the electricity of a live performance throughout but the obvious production & performance issues are simply too much to overcome the majority of the time. It's only really closing track "Transgression to Sin Under the Invisible Empire" that sees me able to look past the album's inadequacies & achieve true enjoyment but that's not to say that Rampage didn't come close on material like opener "Terrortaphobia (Fear of Giving Birth to a Monster)", the previously mentioned "Acid Storm" & prog thrasher "Autopsy". The other half of the album falls well short of the mark but has somehow managed to keep my attention in a similar way to a fatal car crash. You don't really want to see the horrors inside but you struggle to look away nonetheless. It's for this reason that "Veil of Mourn" has managed to avoid a more embarassing rating but I'd still suggest that the simpler "Acid Storm" demo is perhaps the release that saw Rampage coming the closest to producing a genuinely rewarding experience. Even it didn't quite get there though so I can't say that I'm disappointed to have finished my exploration of Rampage's quietly spoken back catalogue. While I seriously doubt that I'll be returning to them in the future, I do give Rampage some credit for producing one of the more unusual debut albums in Aussie thrash history.

For fans of Bezerker, Tyrus & Midas Touch.

3/5

Gorillaz - "Demon Days Live at the Manchester Opera House" (2011)

Been chilling out at home with my daughters today. Generally cleaning, playing & swimming in the pool. Pulled out some very appropriate soundtracks from my past.

Gustavo Cerati - "Bocanada" (1999)

Akira Yamaoka - "Silent Hill 3" (2003)

Boards of Canada - "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country" E.P. (2000)

Sadness/Soulless - "Burning as the First Light" split album

Two lengthy tracks each from these Mexican & Indonesian blackgaze outfits totaling 36 minutes.

Beherit - "Live in Praha CZ"

Aside from the involvement of Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (“NHV”), the only reliable constant of Beherit’s history is a persistent rejection of stasis. NHV has always insisted upon forging a unique path, one that is unpredictable and militantly unorthodox. Although the band’s history extends back some 35 years, they have played live on very few occasions, most of which were in the early days, when NHV and his confederates were still teenagers, and all took place in Beherit’s native country of Finland. Nearly three decades have passed since the last time Beherit took the stage, but they accepted the invitation to perform their first show outside of Finland at the NWN!/Hospital Fest in Osaka, JP in April of 2024. A few months later, on August 31, 2024, Beherit appeared in Prague, CZ. Accompanying NHV at these shows were Beherit’s original drummer, Sodomatic Slaughter; bassist Abyss, Twisted Baptizer, who played on the Engram album; and guitarist and vocalist Black Moon Necromancer, whose work with Witchcraft represents a tangible manifestation of Beherit’s legacy. With a setlist predominantly taken from Drawing Down the Moon, as well as a few tracks from The Oath of Black Blood and Engram, the band’s current live show is designed to be experiential for the listener, a curated atmosphere that only Beherit can produce. As those present for these shows will attest, the performances were not reducible to a mere recitation of fan favorites. Through the use of intros and interludes, samples and synthesizers, extended passages of hypnotic repetition, and thoughtful arrangements, Beherit created something extraordinary. This album, sourced from a soundboard recording of the Prague show, faithfully captures their entire performance. Whereas most live albums, especially in the underground, are mere catalog filler, this one—like all great live recordings—stands on its own, commanding repeated listens.

Judas Priest - "Whiskey Woman" single

Check this re-released 1973 demo from the Ancient Grease label out then! The Al Atkins & K. K. Downing penned "Whiskey Woman" was one of the two tracks that Priest's classic "Victim of Changes" was built off of along with Rob Halford's "Red Light Lady". It's a really interesting listen & one has to wonder how this song didn't end up making it onto "Rocka Rolla".

I revisited the 1988 demo tape from Brisbane four-piece Iziah this morning. I used to have it back in the day but didn't like it much so it only got a couple of listens. I can see why too as the sound quality is very ordinary & it's definitely not the power/thrash metal release that it's reported to be. It's a fairly basic heavy metal one that doesn't offer me much in the way of appeal.

Altar - "Youth Against Christ" (1994)

By the middle of the 1990's, I was absolutely obsessed with extreme metal to the point where my entire life virtually revolved around it. I had finished high school at the end of 1993 & was now attending an Electrical Engineering course at the local TAFE college during the week but the reality is that I couldn't have cared less about that & was 100% focused on living a life of metal glory. My tape trading addiction had grown so intense that there were few major bands that I wasn't well across so I'd begun searching out ever more underground acts in order to secure that much sought after adrenaline rush. This would lead me to reading a kazillion reviews of little-known artists in order to identify those that might offer me some level of appeal & it would be through a very positive write-up in Terrorizer magazine that I'd uncover Dutch death metallers Altar whose debut album "Youth Against Christ" was being touted as the most evil thing since Deicide's highly celebrated first effort. Ironically, Deicide were very much like gods to me at that point in time so a statement like that was always gonna see my interest being peaked & I'd find myself very quickly racing to the local record store to order my imported CD copy of Altar's first full-length which would arrive a month or so later. Unfortunately though, it didn't make the impact that I'd hoped & I'd end up casting it aside after a few listens in favour of more accomplished releases. It wasn't that it was bad as such. It was just an also-ran in the grand scheme of the thriving death metal market of the early-to-mid 1990's, a third-tier release that was obscured by the dazzling array of more significant ones. It's been three decades since I listened to "Youth Against Christ" now though so I thought I'd give it another chance to impress me this week. Perhaps I'd been too harsh on it given the landscape at the time?

Altar were a five-piece outfit that released a single demo tape called "And God Created Satan to Blame for His Mistakes" in 1992 & maintained the same lineup for their first full-length which was released on Dutch extreme metal label Displeased Records in 1994. The album was recorded at Franky's Recording Kitchen in Nieuwleusen during March & April of that year with Berthus Westerhuys & Dead Head/Asphyx/Beyond Belief guitarist Ronnie van der Wey sharing the production duties. Westerhuys was a very experienced & well credentialed contributor to the Dutch metal scene & the result that the duo managed to produce here is very clean & precise for a debut from a relatively unknown act which has perhaps given Altar the extra initiative it needed to reach people such as myself who resided on the other side of the globe. I have to admit that it certainly sounds like a decent death metal record which has given the band a great opportunity to make a significant dent in the scene. The guitars are very tightly performed with the blast beats of former God Dethroned drummer Marco Arends remaining well-articulated & cleanly presented throughout while the vocals of front man Edwin Kelder sit comfortably over the top. The basslines of Nils Vos are probably the only loser in this space as they aren't exactly highlighted in the mix but you can certainly feel the bottom end so there's very little to complain about in relation to the production.

Altar's main calling card is their anti-religious & unapologetically Satanic lyrical approach which was likely the reason I encountered them in the first place. With titles such as "Jesus Is Dead!", "Divorced From God", "Hypochristianity" & "Cauterize the Church Council", Altar weren't exactly subtle about their attitudes towards the Christian faith & one gets the impression that they'd been majorly influenced by Deicide in that regard because there a whole bunch of musical references to the Florida's most blasphemous group of nutcases here too. I'm just not sure it's anywhere near as believable as it is with Deicide whose self-titled debut sits amongst the most intimidating records of all time. It probably doesn't help that Kelder's lyrics are so blatant in their approach as there's no sense of poetic artistry about them. They're far more obvious than that but Kelder's vocals are reasonably decent with his delivery being more of an angry bark than a growl. The song structures are quite ambitious compared to the lyrical themes with the track durations being a lot longer than they needed to be. Many of the songs simply feel like they've been needlessly extended. There's enough brutality here to keep me interested though & I think Altar are at their best when they're really going for it. Their mid-tempo material seems to highlight their limitations a little more while the guitar solos of Marcel van Haaf & Bert Huisjes are fairly primitive, lacking a bit of class, polish & control.

Altar's rhythm section were originally a part of another short-lived Dutch death metal band by the name of Manticore who produced a single 1990 demo tape called "Cauterize the Church Council" & it would seem that the duo didn't harbour any loyalties to their former band mates as they've taken a couple of the tracks from that obscure cassette across to Altar in the title track & "Psycho Damn", the latter having already been re-recorded for the "And God Created Satan to Blame for His Mistakes" demo. A couple of the better tracks from the record were taken from that demo tape too in opener "Throne of Fire" & "Forced Imprudence", both which sit amongst my album highlights along with "Divorced From God". It's interesting that Altar had been around for a good six years by the time the album was recorded so one gets the distinct impression that their material needed a fair while to mature & develop. There aren't any weak numbers included though with the shiny production job doing a good job at allowing the weaker material to offer some sort of appeal, even if there are definitely some parts of the album that are obviously lacking in sophistication & ambition. I just think that Altar needed to focus on what they do best which is blast away with relentless abandon rather than trying to be too clever. I don't think that they ARE all that clever & it kinda shows during the more subdued moments.

I think it's fair to say that "Youth Against Christ" was up against some formidable competition at the time so it's easy to be a bit harsh on it. It's not a bad death metal record after all. It's just not an outstanding one so I don't think it would have made too many end-of-year lists. Displeased Records were obviously hoping that Altar's Satanic imagery would be enough to see Altar receiving a level of underground notoriety but I don't think they sounded authentic enough to see that eventuating & they ended up drifting off into obscurity after this album. In fact, I don't think I've heard any of their other releases & they're still around today as far as I'm aware. Still... you could do a lot worse than "Youth Against Christ" & I'd suggest that most of our The Horde members will get a bit of mindless enjoyment out of it.

For fans of Deicide, Infestdead & Sinister.

3.5/5

Hobbs Angel of Death - "Hobbs Angel of Death" (1988)

After recently loving my revisits to both of Peter Hobbs' earlier demo tapes, I thought I'd give his debut album another chance as I'd rated both 1987's "Angel of Death" & 1988's "Virgin Metal Invasion from Down Under" a touch higher (i.e. four stars) than the much more widely celebrated full-length which I'd previously awarded a 3.5-star rating. Perhaps I need to give myself more credit though because "Hobbs Angel of Death" simply isn't as vital in my opinion. It's mostly made up of material that's been drawn from the two demos but there are also a couple of new songs included & those are the least impressive moments on the album in my opinion. The cleaner production has taken a little bit of the intensity away from these simple thrash metal numbers too so I'd recommend the 2003 "Hobbs Satan's Crusade" compilation over this one personally.

For fans of Infernäl Mäjesty, 1984-85 period Slayer & late 80's Sodom.

3.5/5

You can find a link to my full review from April 2023 here:

https://metal.academy/reviews/29548/15084

Nothing Sacred - "Let Us Prey" (1988)

A few months ago, I decided that it was well past time that I revisited some of the earliest roots of the Australian extreme metal scene in the interest of confirming or denying some suspicions that I'd long harboured about the true origins of the genre in this country & that exercise led me to Melbourne's Nothing Sacred almost immediately. Nothing Sacred are often referred to as being band one in the grand scheme of Aussie thrash metal but, looking back now, I can't say that either of their 1985 releases (i.e. a live demo & the infamous "Deathwish" E.P.) should really qualify as thrash. To be honest, I've always thought of the demo as being traditional heavy metal with "Deathwish" falling somewhere between heavy metal & power metal & I didn't recall Nothing Sacred's "Let Us Prey" debut album being all that different in that regard. I revisited it only relatively recently actually but didn't afford it the dedicated time required for a full review so I thought I'd rectify that now & also see how it compares with Nothing Sacred's earlier releases.

The "Let Us Prey" album was recorded with producer Mark Woods a good three or four years after the sessions for "Deathwish" are reported to have been taken place. Woods is the cousin of Graham Owens who was responsible for producing some of the 1970's releases from Aussie hard rockers Taste & he'd also produce Melbourne hardcore punk/crossover thrash outfit Depression's 1987 "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" live release & 1988 sophomore album "Thrash till Death - Studio Tapes" during this short period of activity with the local metal scene. Sadly though, the results of his labour on "Let Us Prey" weren't terribly successful as it's a very raw & primitive sounding metal record with a thick layer of white noise left sitting over the top. The guitars in particular sound tinny with a lot of high-end & the performances are a little patchy too which doesn't help. Still... this flaw is more of a hindrance than it is a deal breaker as Nothing Sacred clearly possessed enough class in their ability to write captivating metal songs with the oomph to overcome a few sound issues. That wasn't really in question though as they'd already proven that with the live demo which sported a very dodgy sound indeed but was somehow still reasonably enjoyable.

While "Deathwish" didn't offer much in the way of genuine thrash, "Let Us Prey" at least sees Nothing Sacred achieving a few songs that tick that box with the title track & the cover version of S.O.D.'s "Freddy Kruger" being clear examples of the mid-to-late 80's thrash sound. I'd suggest that opener "Warheads" & the excellent "This is War" should also qualify although both are more hybrids than they are pure thrash, the opener with speed metal & "This is War" with power metal. But given the fact that the album contains a healthy twelve tracks, that's not really enough to command a primary thrash tag in my opinion. The main genre at play here is heavy metal with early Iron Maiden being the most obvious influence, particularly in the vocal delivery of front man Mick Burnham whose performance is more than a bit patchy but manages to capture the listener through sheer charisma, despite his struggles from a purely theoretical point of view. He really does sound like Paul Dianno at times & has that rough & ready, punky hard rock vibe that the NWOBHM became known for but his pitchiness definitely holds Nothing Sacred back a little when the instrumentation is generally very well composed with each song containing a fair amount of class & ambition. The guitars of Mark Woolley (Hobbs Angel of Death) & Richard Snape exude a strong pedigree in metal music while the rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Karl Lean (Hobbs Angel of Death/Non Compos Mentis) & drummer Sham Littleman (Depression/Hobbs Angel of Death/Non Compos Mentis) provide the perfect driving platform for the band to work off.

Nothing Sacred cover a fair bit of creative ground across the thirty-six minute run time. 1980's speed metal gets an airing on the previously mentioned "Warheads" & the punky Motorhead style anthem "Dogs of War" while the more epic power metal sound that made up half of the "Deathwish" E.P. is represented on "No Tomorrow", "This is War" & "Guardian". There's even a more ambitious progressive metal number included in the very impressive "The Dark" which sits amongst my favourite tracks alongside "This is War". The rest of the album is best described as classic heavy metal & Nothing Sacred are very good at their craft too with the majority of the record being fairly entertaining. Things only start to tail off a bit across the back end of the tracklisting with the two thrashiest songs (i.e. the title track & "Freddy Kruger") both being fairly disappointing & closer "Damaged" seemingly having been phoned in. One gets the feeling that the band didn't quite have enough material to fill the album as a couple of the tracks included sound decidedly half-baked compared to the more fully realised material that preceded it. Still... there's more than enough decent heavy metal here to keep me interested & I've generally found this revisit to be a worthwhile exercise.

While I can't agree that "Let Us Prey" is in any way a classic Aussie metal release, it does offer a rewarding look into the roots of the local scene & proves that we would have had plenty to contribute to the global scene if we could have overcome the obvious geographical obstacles. Let's be very clear though that Nothing Sacred were NOT a thrash metal band with The Guardians being a much better fit for a record like this one. After revisiting both of Nothing Sacred's 1980's releases in quick succession, I feel that I slightly favour "Deathwish" over "Let Us Prey" these days as it's simply a little more consistent, even if Burnham's struggles behind the microphone were perhaps a little worse. Fans of the more metallic end of the NWOBHM could do a lot worse than to explore this old record as there's certainly something about Nothing Sacred that leaves you feeling like they may have been able to accomplish something special with a bit more financial backing & a decent international studio & producer.

For fans of Taramis, Iron Angel & Paul Dianno-era Iron Maiden.

3.5/5

Depression - "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" (1988)

Those readers that are regular contributors to the Metal Academy website would likely have witnessed my recent indulgence in the back catalogue of a relatively unknown Melbourne hardcore punk band from the mid-to-late 1980's by the name of Depression over the last couple of months & have wondered what all the fuss was about. Well, the truth is that I've been taken aback by my discovery that there is a lot more to Depression's legacy than I'd given them credit for back in the day. You see, I only ever familiarized myself with Depression's final studio effort "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" in my youth, trusting the consensus that the remainder of their discography stayed predominantly within the constraints of the hardcore punk sound. The reality is a bit different to that though & I've actually found a lot more that would be of interest to your average metalhead than I'd bargained for. In fact, I've uncovered the true roots of the Australian extreme metal scene along the way with 1985's "Australia, Australia" E.P. being the very first thrash-based release to be recorded in this country in my opinion. It's been a really interesting journey & one that I've found to be universally rewarding too but I've purposely left "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" to the end, electing to take a chronological path through Depression's back catalogue in order to gain the appropriate level of context along the way. Depression's sophomore album made quite an impression on me as a kid & I've returned to it a number of times over the years as a result but I've been wondering how it might stack up against some of Depression's earlier works, particularly given that it apparently saw many of the band's longer-term fans jumping ship due to the increased focus on metal.

"Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" arrived a year after Depression's previous release in the excellent 1987 "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" live album which documented the band's first live show in two years. Depression had parted ways with former vocalist Spike following the ground-breaking "Australia, Australia" E.P. & returned with a three-piece lineup fronted by talented guitarist Smeer (also of Melbourne hardcore act Gash) who first tested the waters behind the microphone on 1986's highly enjoyable "Big Brother" single. Producer Mark Woods (who was also responsible for producing Nothing Sacred's 1988 debut album "Let Us Prey") would once again oversee the recording sessions after the success of the "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" exercise & he does a reasonable job here with the album sporting enough clarity to allow all of the instruments to be easily discerned but maintaining enough raw grit to adhere to the expected hardcore aesthetic. The guitars are vibrant & full of life while the rhythm section offers plenty of power, particularly the bass guitar of Liddy & snare drum of Dakka (Persecution) which add some driving bottom-end depth to Depression's audio assault. Smeer's vocals sit beautifully over the top with his higher-register delivery cutting through the instrumentation with great vitriol.

As with the last few Depression releases, this material is pretty much as showcase of the breadth of the band member's various influences, rarely sticking to the one subgenre for too long. Metal & punk are both well represented but on this occasion we find the metal component outweighing the punk one in around a two-to-one ratio which could perhaps explain the loss of some of Depression's more punk-oriented fans. I'm a little confused as to why those fans didn't drop off earlier though as I'd suggest that both "Australia, Australia" & "Big Brother" followed a similar musical trajectory with the crossover thrash tag being more than appropriate to encompass the sound of both of those records & I don't think "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" is much more metal than those two in all honesty. It does, however, explore a few more of the various styles of metal music than Depression had touched on in the past with "Instrumental" toying with a more technically structured thrash metal sound, "Masters of the Universe" being a synth-backed heavy metal number that pays homage to the great Iron Maiden & closer "Spiritual Warrior" even reaching genuine speed metal status. The more straight-forward crossover thrash material is where the true gold can be found though with the incredible ode to heroine "Fifty Bucks" (one of my all-time favourite crossover tracks & the clear album highlight), the wonderfully short & violent "Civilisation of Destruction" & the powerful "Have a Look Around" being my picks of the bunch. As with most of Depression's back-catalogue, there are no weak moments to be found here as these guys were a class act & must have absolutely killed in a live capacity, particularly given that Smeer's guitar skills are pretty amazing for a punk. I mean, this dude can easily compete with (if not outclass) the best the local metal scene had to offer at the time. His ability to sing this stuff at the same time is pretty amazing really.

What can I tell you? This is really a case of another Depression record, another unheralded gem. I'm not sure whether my long-time affiliation with this album is seeing me holding any subconscious biases but I'm gonna suggest that this is Depression's best work & have now had to find room at the top of my Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list with "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" managing to usurp all but Slaughter & S.O.D. at number three on my list. It's also worth noting that Depression now hold a previously unheard of THREE places in that list which makes them arguably my favourite crossover band of all time now. Wow! I never would have thought that might end up being the case when I undertook for my first casual listen to their earliest demo recordings a few months ago now. But that's why our beloved metal scene is so great now, isn't it? No matter how experienced & knowledgeable we think we've become, there's always something unexpectedly incredible around the corner to pull us out of our own arses.

For fans of D.R.I., Discharge & Municipal Waste.

4/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list with Attitude Adjustment's "America Paranoia" being pushed out to make way for "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes":

01. Slaughter - "Surrender Or Die" demo (1985)

02. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (1985)

03. Depression - "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" (1988)

04. Depression - "Australia, Australia" E.P. (1985)

05. Agnostic Front – “Cause For Alarm” (1986)

06. Depression - "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" (1987)

07. Cryptic Slaughter – “Convicted” (1986)

08. The Accused – “The Return Of… Martha Splatterhead” (1986)

09. Agnostic Front – “Liberty & Justice For…” (1987)

10. Ratos de Porão - "Brasil" (1989)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/174

Just for reference, if you are checking this out on Spotify, they have made a right cock-up of the track listing. The short intro track isn't on the original album and they have all the titles wrong - track 2 on Spotify is actually "Bestial Warlust", track 3 is "Dweller of the Bottomless Pit" and so on, until you get to track 6 which is "Hammering Down the Law of the New Gods" / "Holocaust Wolves of the Apocalypse" with the first part being a short intro.

I'm glad you mentioned that because I based my review on the Spotify version so have had to change my track references now. It was bloody confusing while listening to the album as my recollections of my enjoyment of each track were drastically out of whack.

Impaled Nazarene - "Suomi Finland perkele" (1994)

Finnish black metallers Impaled Nazarene & I got off to a rip-roaring start to our relationship back in 1993. I'd been recommended their debut album "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." by a close associate of mine who worked at a Sydney metal record store by the name of Rock 'n' Roll Warehouse & had subsequently purchased it blind, culminating in a very positive & enjoyable few months of beer-drinking blasphemy. The follow-up album "Ugra-Karma" achieved almost as enthusiastic a response ten months later & saw Impaled Nazarene being confidently carved into my preferred band list. It also resulted in me religiously checking out the band's work for the rest of eternity, initially through their 1991 "Taog Eht Fo Htao Eht" demo tape & 1992 "Goat Perversion" E.P., both of which I quite liked. So, needless to say that I was feeling pretty hopeful when I returned home from the shops with Impaled Nazarene's third full-length CD in two years "Suomi Finland perkele" in October 1994 but my first few listens left me a little cold if I'm being honest. I would give the album a red-hot crack over the next month or so but it failed to capture me like the first two albums did & I'd soon cast it aside as a decent but inessential inclusion in the band's back catalogue. Yesterday's revisit is the first time I've returned to "Suomi Finland perkele" since the mid-1990's & I was hopeful that my reduced level of expectation might allow me to connect with the album on a deeper level.

July 1994 would see Impaled Nazarene returning to the same recording studio that had been so successful for them with their first two records in Kemi's Tico Tico studio. The strong production job on those two releases was certainly a selling point for me & "Suomi Finland perkele" doesn't disappoint in that department either with legendary Finnish metal producer Ahti Kortelainen once again affording Impaled Nazarene a clear yet powerful black metal sound with a huge snare drum. In fact, I feel like Kortelainen's contributions to the early Impaled Nazarene records were almost as important as that of the instrumentalists to be honest as he gave the band an accessibility that they may not otherwise have achieved. There had been no lineup changes between debut album "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." & third album "Suomi Finland perkele" & I feel that this could only have had a positive effect on the Impaled Nazarene's ability to naturally evolve from the battering war metal-inspired sound of their early works to a more traditional & slightly more melodic black metal sound over the course of those first few releases. The tongue-in-cheek element that was so obvious on those early releases is still very much at play on "Suomi Finland perkele" though & it once again feels like it's not intended to be taken all that seriously.

Critics of the band will likely refer to Impaled Nazarene as simplistic, one-dimensional &... well... a bit dumb... & I can certainly understand that point of view as there's not a lot of depth to a lot of their back catalogue. There is a level of creative integrity here though with the Luttinen brothers branching out from flat-chat black metal a little here & there. The melodic "Blood is Thicker Than Water" sees them taking a crack at a more atmospheric black metal sound while "Let's Fucking Die" gets its Motorhead on big-time with a pure black 'n' roll approach. Neither appeal to me much though which is fairly telling as I've always preferred the more intense & often grindcore-influenced end of the Impaled Nazarene spectrum. You get a bit of that here too but not nearly as much as we'd seen on the first two albums. With the exception of those two songs I already mentioned, the majority of the tracklisting is quite enjoyable with the fairly straight-forward "Ghettoblaster" being the only other dud. There aren't any certified classics here though & that's a major flaw with "Suomi Finland perkele". Hell, there isn't even anything that I'd suggest is crying out for playlist inclusion either to tell you the truth with the band failing to break out of the third tier on this occasion. "Steelvagina" (my personal favourite) & "Genocide" come the closest but even they only seem to achieve a mild amusement as opposed to an emphatic fist in my musical face. I dunno.... I certainly find "Suomi Finland perkele" to be a predominantly enjoyable experience but I can't say that it compares well with Impaled Nazarene's first two albums & I can completely understand why I haven't returned to it in so long as there has been a clear step down taken from past glories.

Perhaps it's simply a matter of taste as I've always favoured a darker & more intense form of extreme metal than your average metalhead but "Suami Finland perkele" seems like a slightly watered down version of the Impaled Nazarene that I so enjoyed during their early days. There's no doubt some enjoyment to be found in it if you allow yourself to overcome the tongue-in-cheek elements of the Nazarene approach but the added touch of melody doesn't work as well with these very straight forward song structures in my opinion. The blackened doom track "Quasb/The Burning" was an interesting inclusion but even then it stops short of commanding repeat listens which kinda sums up the appeal of an album like "Suomi Finland perkele". I see it as more of a supporting cast member in the feature film of Impaled Nazarene's early albums which is a bit of a shame but it's still a fun listen for those members of The North who can see past the mystical shadows of their maces & candelabras for a while.

For fans of Sadistik Exekution, Impiety & Belial.

3.5/5

The Black - "The Priest of Satan" (1994)

I think it's fair to say that 1994 was pretty much the peak of the Norwegian black metal boom. That particular year spawned so many of the greatest releases for the genre which kinda makes sense when you consider that it came two years after Darkthrone & Burzum's had placed the world on notice with their seminal first-up contributions. In a fast-moving movement where live performance was not valued highly, that would prove to be just enough time for the influence of the early gods to be filtered down to other creative & ambitious musicians & to see those influences resulting in new & original sounds. The Swedes were paying close attention too & 1994 would see the likes of Marduk, Dawn, Dark Funeral, Abruptum, Sacramentum, Ophthalamia & Arckanum all having a crack at black metal glory. Amongst the Swedish scene we would find Dissection, a group that had changed the face of black metal with their 1993 debut album "The Somberlain" which had combined the genre with the melodic death metal of their homeland & it would be Dissection's notorious band leader, guitarist & front man Jon Nödtveidt that would be the creative force behind The Black, a pure black metal trio from Eskilstuna, Södermanlands län.

I noticed The Black's debut album "The Priest of Satan" on the shelves of my local record store as soon as it arrived but, given the wealth of exceptional releases that were perpetuating the fast growth the black metal genre was experiencing at the time, I steered clear of committing to it for a couple of months until a close associate of my death metal band Neuropath decided that it should be him that finally made the purchase. I would rip a copy from him right away & would give "The Priest of Satan" a few attentive listens over the next week or so. I don't recall being blown away but I do remember it being a very basic & fairly generic record that focused on the more pure end of the black metal spectrum, a sound that I've grown to value enormously in a world where every man & his dog is now trying to dilute the true essence of black metal with any number of external influences. Despite being mildly entertaining, the album failed to compete with the classic records that Burzum, Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone & Enslaved were dishing out at the time (which was admittedly a tough feat to accomplish) & my dubbed cassette copy of "The Priest of Satan" would quickly drift to the back of my tape trading collection. This will be my first revisit since that time, a gap of around three decades.

Recorded and mixed at Underground Studio during April/May 1993 with unknown producer Kribbe Lagerwall collaborating with drummer Make Pesonen (Eternal Darkness/Karjalan Sissit) behind the mixing desk, "The Priest of Satan" achieves a faithful rendition of the classic black metal sound. Pesonen (also known as The Black himself) had self-produced The Black's 1992 "Black Blood" demo tape so he already had some runs on the board when it came to recorded sound production. The result is an uncluttered black metal sound that doesn't try to reach too far outside of the tried & tested model that bands like Mayhem, Marduk & Darkthrone had already traversed but does it in a professional enough way to keep the listener engaged throughout. The occasional addition of atmospheric keyboards from Nödtveidt in order to break things up is most welcome but for the most part the three-piece group tend to stick to the same pathway as their highly celebrated forefathers.

Apart from Nödtveidt & Pesonen, The Black was made up of bassist Marcus Pedersén (Crypt of Kerberos) & the trio had completed the "Black Blood" demo tape with another guitarist who went by the name of Black Demon. That individual had been dropped from the lineup by the time "The Priest of Satan" was recorded but the material had not with all seven tracks included on "Black Blood" having been revisited for the album which amounted to twelve songs at just under 39 minutes in duration. The material is extremely consistent & if you find yourself enjoying the first proper black metal song "The Book of Leviathan" then you'll likely find enjoyment in the remainder of the album as well as it doesn't stray too far from the formula showcased in the opener. In fact, it's really hard to pick out any highlights here as the album is simply so similar in terms of quality. If pushed though, I'd probably suggest that “Black Blood”, "After My Prayers" & "The Goat of Mendes" might be the most memorable inclusions for me personally. Admittedly none of them really get me going all that much because, I'm not gonna lie, The Black have produced a fairly middling record here & one that's the very definition of a 3.5-star album in that it's unanimously enjoyable but rarely all that compelling.

Nödtveidt's riffs are purposely kept very simple with only a few chords changes within the predominantly tremolo-picked assault. You should be able to pick up the basslines of Pedersén fairly easily but they generally only double to bass notes of the riffs while Pesonen's drumming alternates between some fairly basic blast-beats & some equally simple lower-tempo 4/4 beats. The blackened screams of Nödtveidt are the clear highlight of The Black's sound but even they don't sound all that dissimilar to any number of other black metal front men. As boring as all that sounds though, I can't deny that The Black pull it all off really well & rarely disappoint. Perhaps that's not too surprising given the presence of Nödtveidt but what is surprising is that one of his projects is so happy to stay within the lane of what had already been done so many times before, even back in 1994. Still, for a third-tier black metal release, you could certainly do far worse than "The Priest of Satan" as there's a clear & consistent competence in the way The Black handle themselves.

Look, if you're looking for an unheralded gem of the black metal underground then I'm not sure you'll find it here but you could also do a lot worse than "The Priest of Satan". The inclusion of a few well executed ambient sections can't hide the fact that The Black had opted for pure emulation over any attempt at creating an original take on the genre though & I'm not surprised that I haven't returned to the album over such a long period. Still... there's nothing terribly offensive to be found on this old Swedish black metal release & it ticked most of my boxes for an entertaining drive to & from work on Friday.

For fans of Armagedda, Throne of Ahaz & The Abyss.

3.5/5

Nice review Vinny. Feel free to vote in the two Hall of Judgement polls that are currently running to decide where “Quadra” should best fit within the genre-tree spectrum.

For the record, I don't think that "After Forever" is a metal song at all (i.e. it's more of a heavy psych/hard rock number in my opinion) but "Sweet Leaf" certainly is & it's predominantly centered around the modern-day understanding of the stoner metal sound as far as I can see.

This person's argument is completely invalid really. Stoner metal is not a scene. It's a subgenre. Only scenes or movements can be governed by limited time slots in history. For example, you could say that Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" isn't a NWOBHM release because it was released after 1983. If a song or album fits the technical requirements for it to be labelled as stoner metal then there should be no reason why people should feel shy about doing so. There are plenty of examples of new subgenre tags being created that encompass large chunks of historical releases. For example, we only recently admitted that there is justification for a dissonant death metal subgenre at the Academy but that doesn't mean that there were no releases that had that sound prior to that realization. In fact, it's impossible for a subgenre to become necessary if there's not already a reasonable scope for it to cover. The fact that this scope goes back so far in the metal journey is irrelevant really. It's my honest opinion that if half of the legitimate "heavy metal" from the early 1970's was released today then a large chunk of it would be labelled as stoner metal so it makes perfect sense to me that I should tag it as such.

Gorefest - "Erase" (1994)

I've been a bit of a fan of Dutch death metallers Gorefest since very early on in their recording career which has seen them becoming an artist that I've followed with keen interest throughout most of their existence. They did lose me for a period during the late 1990's when their transition towards more of a death 'n' roll sound reached its ultimate culmination but their early days as a chunky death metal band were unanimously rewarding with 1990's "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" demo tape, 1991's "Mindloss" debut album & 1992's "False" sophomore record all being pretty interesting, if not particularly essential. "False" has always been my favourite of Gorefest's studio albums but I was recently left a little disappointed when my latest revisit only resulted in a 3.5-star rating which left me wondering whether I'd overrated Gorefest a touch over the years. At that point I committed to reexamining 1994's "Erase" third album which was a record that I spent a fair bit of time with at the time of release but haven't returned to since. My memories of it were largely positive but I've always considered it to be the point in which Gorefest started their death 'n' roll transition which culminated in 1998's disappointing "Chapter 13" fifth full-length & that would perhaps explain why I haven't been so keen to return to "Erase". Regardless, I held significant hope for it going into my first listen as I remembered it being pretty solid in its own right.

"Erase" would be Gorefest's second album for the illustrious Nuclear Blast label & would see them venturing outside of the Netherlands for the recording sessions for the first time, this time choosing to record in Germany at T & T Studio in Gelsenkirchen with English producer Pete Coleman who had made a name for himself working behind the mixing desk for bands like Cancer, Demon, Discharge, Disincarnate, Napalm Death & Paradise Lost. The result is another heavy-weight death metal record with a thick down-tuned guitar tune & a bottom-heavy rhythm section. I love the bass guitar tone & the depth that's afforded to the toms & kick drum with the snare drum being really punchy, all of which works really well in support of bassist Jan-Chris de Koeijer's ultra-deep death grunts. The band lineup had remained stable from the one that recorded "False" two years earlier which is a real positive that has seen Gorefest able to continue their musical development unhindered. The guitar solos of Boudewijn Bonebakker that were arguably the low point of "False" have improved significantly here, still being fairly basic from a technical point of view but this time having much more direction & structure than they did on "False". The drumming of Ed Warby (Demiurg/Elegy/Hail of Bullets/The 11th Hour) is rock-solid too & gives the rest of the instrumentalists a beautiful platform with which to work off. He never over-plays his hand here & clearly knew the true meaning of the term "rhythm section".

Gorefest's sound definitely wasn't as deathly on "Erase" as it was on their previous work & it's easy to see why some fans may have been a little put off by the overall direction. Unlike some critics, I wouldn't say that it was a death 'n' roll record as such though. It's still a death metal release for mine but it's certainly one that showcases a fair amount of groove in its controlled & unanimously mid-paced approach. I feel that Carcass' classic 1993 fourth album "Heartwork" has played a significant role in the riff structures on "Erase" actually, not in a melodic sense but in the way they've structured their riffs, always keeping things simple & open in order to maximize the impact of the song-writing. Entombed's "Wolverine Blues" is another record that I find myself calling upon as a point of reference while the more pure groove metal riffs have me reaching for comparisons to California's Machine Head. It all works very nicely although I will say that de Koeijer's vocals don't sit as comfortably over this sound as they did over the more intense death metal of their roots which does limit the appeal of the album a touch. The more intense sections (such as the beautifully executed blast beat riff on "Peace of Paper") definitely see me perking up a lot which is an indication of where my allegiances lie but the band use those parts well in order to create climaxes within their more controlled song structures.

The tracklisting is generally pretty consistent with only the slightly clunky "I Walk My Way" failing to capture my attention. The more hard-hitting & deathly tracks tend to be the ones that grab me more than the rest with the excellent title track, the previously mentioned "Peace of Paper" & the brooding downtempo atmosphere of "Goddess in Black" being the clear standouts. The rest of the material is all pretty entertaining but rarely sees me wanting to stand up & applaud & I think that's the thing that hinders the album's chances of becoming a genuine favourite. It's all professionally written & produced but it's also fairly easy-listening when it comes to extreme metal, instead seeming to target the same sort of crossover appeal that the Carcass & Entombed records I mentioned earlier managed to gain. It does a pretty reasonable job at it too as I've bought into what its selling & that's no easy feat when it comes to my fairly extreme taste profile. But I can't deny that the heights that it's possible to take me to with this sound are limited by the very same thing that gives "Erase" the potential to break through the boundaries of the death metal audience i.e. its accessibility.

"Erase" is another decent death metal record from Gorefest but, as with all of their previous material, I still find myself falling short of claiming it as an essential one. There's no doubt that they were a well-oiled machine who knew what they were doing but they simply can't crack into that second-tier consistently enough to see me wanting to return to them very often. In saying that, I do think that "Erase" is a touch underrated because it doesn't sit all that far behind Gorefest's more obviously deathly early works in terms of quality in my opinion. I'm actually surprised that it didn't make more of a fist of cracking into more commercial metal market to be honest but I think some of that is due to de Koeijer's vocals in all honesty as they're hardly Top of the Pops stuff now, are they?

For fans of Pungent Stench, Entombed & "Heartwork"-era Carcass.

3.5/5