Daniel's Forum Replies
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This release is already listed under Non-Metal Sonny. I haven't head it personally but if Demon's first two albums are anything to go by then I completely agree that they're not worthy of metal credentials.
Here's my review:
I feel that I’ll probably be in the extreme minority of metalheads in that I have previously had some experience with Boston thrash metallers Wargasm (who included two members of Boston thrash/heavy/power metallers Meliah Rage whose first couple of albums were fairly popular in the late 1980's & early 1990's). I picked up their 1988 debut album “Why Play Around?” through a tape trader back in the early 1990's & gave it several spins before dumping it on the top of the immense pile of material that I found to be pretty enjoyable but not engaging enough to warrant a return visit. I can recall very few of the details of that experience now but needless to say that it didn’t result in me being encouraged to investigate Wargasm’s subsequent releases so I haven’t gone into this revisit with much hope of finding an undiscovered gem.
By 1988 the thrash scene had well & truly matured. Prior to then you’d find a large portion of the more underground releases to be extremely raw & unpolished but by the time the last couple of the years of the decade rolled around there was a lot more class & capability being shown by your average thrash exponent given that the Big Four had managed to cross over into the mainstream to an extent with their more recent material. “Why Play Around?” is one of these records in that it’s professionally produced & executed which sees it being given every chance to impress your average fan & it does so to a reasonable extent too it has to be said. The riffs are tight & thrashy, the lead guitar work is surprisingly capable for such an underground band & the vocals are delivered with confidence.
But the thing with a band like Wargasm is that there’s simply not much to talk about. They take a mid-paced approach to their thrash for the most part with the majority of the riffage coming across as pretty generic & overly basic. It’s hard to pin point the issue with the vocals as they’re certainly serviceable but I’d hazard to suggest that they’re simply lacking a bit of x factor &, despite the fact that the seven proper songs steer well of anything that could be considered to be subpar, it’s rare that they take me close to the upper echelon as far as aggression & energy go. Instead, I find myself perennially sitting in a beige room where everything looks & feels easy on the eye but nothing really encourages me to leave my seat. The couple of highlight tracks “Undead” & “Humanoid” invariably occur when Wargasm throw their shackles aside for a while & thrash out a bit more so it’s a shame that they didn’t embrace their raucous side more often to tell you the truth. The two interludes also offer very little of any substance & could easily have been omitted without too much fuss given the 44 minute run time.
At the end of the day, any major music scene will inevitably have talented also-rans as not everyone can crack the big time. Unfortunately for Wargasm they’ve found themselves coming too late in the game for a record like “Why Play Around?” to register much of a blip on the thrash radar, despite the fact that it’s a mildly enjoyable & fairly capable example of the subgenre. You’ll easily be able to pick up on the band’s wide array of influences across the tracklisting with any number of prominent bands featuring at any one time but it’s rare that they find themselves competing on the same level as a Testament, Overkill or even Xentrix. Unfortunately Wargasm simply lack the sophistication required to stand out in a market that was well & truly saturated by that stage but you can't say that they don't perform their roles admirably nonetheless. In fairness, I never really found myself considering a poor score for Wargasm here but it’s fairly telling that I also never threatened to award them a higher one either as there’s just not enough pizzazz on offer to see “Why Play Around?” differentiating itself from the masses.
3.5/5
That album’s fucking awesome just quietly Ben.
I bought that Altar album on CD as soon as it was released based on rave reviews that stated it was as evil as Deicide. Spoiler alert: I recall being very disappointed.
“At War With Satan” is my favourite Venom album just quietly.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Boris - "Amplifier Worship" (1998)
As many of you are probably already aware, I’ve enjoyed a long & fruitful relationship with adventurous Japanese trio Boris & regard three or four of their 2000’s releases to be genuine classics. Their back catalogue is so extensive that I’ve still got a lot to explore if I’m even to come close to understanding the full scope & breadth of their musical influence though. In saying that, I probably should have ventured towards their 1998 debut album “Amplifier Worship long before now given the general consensus that it’s somewhat of a pinnacle of drone/sludge metal as that idea is clearly so closely aligned with my personal taste profile. Even the album title just reeks of appeal for someone like myself so I’ve gone into this massive 64 minute journey with a great deal of positivity & hope.
As is usually the case with Boris records, the genre tagging for “Amplifier Worship” simply doesn’t do it justice & isn’t exactly the best representation of what you should expect to hear as there are a number of elements at play. There is definitely some Earth-inspired drone metal on offer here in the first half of opener “Huge” & the entirety of the epic 16 minute closer “Vomitself” however I don’t think that’s enough to make it a primary genre given that there are other components that are more prevalent with a Melvins style sludge metal sound being one of them. In fact, I’ve never heard Boris sound so sludgy before & I’ve gotta say that I really enjoy the filthy hardcore aggression that raises its head a few times here, particularly in the savage guitar attack & screaming vocal delivery which is as angry as you’ll hear from this band. You’ll find plenty of sludge across the first four of the five tracks but you’ll inevitably also uncover a shit-tonne of post-rock in epic excursions like “Ganbou-Ki”, “Hama” & “Kuruimizu”, enough to warrant “Amplifier Worship” being labelled as a post-sludge metal release in my opinion actually. There’s a deeply psychedelic feel to some of this material too though, so much so that I’ve found myself reaching to krautrock artists like Can for comparison on occasion which can’t be a bad thing.
The overall consistency of the tracklisting is excellent. It’s almost a completely flat line to tell you the truth with each successive track being found to be just as strong as the last. There’s definitely a lack of that knock-out blow that Boris have proven themselves to be so capable of over the years though with none of the five songs scaling the heights that we now know Boris to be capable of when they’re at the top of their game. This isn’t a major criticism mind you as “Amplifier Worship” is unlikely to disappoint many fans but it does prevent it from competing with Boris’ more complete works like “Boris At Last -Feedbacker-“, “Rock Dream”, Akuma no Uta” or “Pink”. I do slightly favour it over releases like “flood” or the first couple of “Heavy Rocks” albums though which isn’t something to be sneezed at. There’s something to be said for an approach that takes the album title quite literally. As a guitarist myself, I revel & thrive in the warm yet crushingly heavy sound of many high quality quad boxes reverberating at extreme volumes & Boris have mastered the art of creating organised pieces out of seemingly unstructured jams. They’re a very rare beast in today’s market & I’m sure will continue to offer me a lot of joy as I continue to unlock more of their massive discography for a good while yet.
4/5
Here's the feature release roster for May:
THE FALLEN: Daniel, Sonny, Ben, Vinny
THE GATEWAY: Saxy, Andi
THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Daniel
THE HORDE: Daniel, Vinny, Ben
THE INFINITE: Andi, Xephyr, Saxy
THE NORTH: Xephyr, Ben, Vinny, Sonny, Daniel
THE PIT: Daniel, Ben, Sonny, Vinny
THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel
THE SPHERE: Daniel, Andi
There will be no submissions from me this month Andi.
Here are my submissions for the May playlist Vinny:
Destruction - "Mad Butcher" (from "Bestial Invasion Of Hell" demo, 1984)
Tormentor (aka Kreator) - "Tormentor - End Of The World Demo Version" (from "Endless Pain (Bonus Track Edition)", 1985)
Gojira - "Silvera" (from "Magma", 2016)
Here are my submissions for the May playlist Ben:
Conqueror - "Domitor Invictus" (from "War.Cult.Supremacy", 2016)
Alcest - "Faiseurs de mondes" (from "Les voyages de l'ame", 2012)
Here are my submissions for the May playlist:
Decapitated - "Spheres Of Madness" 9from "Nihility", 2002)
Suffocation - "Souls To Deny" (from "Souls To Deny", 2004)
Amorphis - "First Doom" (from "Tales From The Thousand Lakes", 1994)
Here's my submission for the May playlist Xephyr:
Yngwie J. Malmsteen - "You Don't Remember, I'll Never Forget" (from "Trilogy", 1986)
Here's my May playlist submission Saxy:
Linkin Park - "Crawling" (from "Hybrid Theory", 2000)
Here are my May playlist submissions Sonny:
Saturnus - "I Love Thee" (from "Paradise Belongs To You", 1997)
Chelsea Wolfe - "Dragged Out" (from "Abyss", 2015)
Boris - "Huge" (from "Amplifier Worship", 1998)
My track submission wasn’t considered for inclusion this month Saxy?
April 2023
01. Insomnium – “Lilian” (from “Anno 1696”, 2023)
02. Majesties – “The World Unseen” (from “Vast Reaches Unclaimed”, 2023)
03. Hieronymus Bosch – “The Human Abstract” (from “The Human Abstract”, 1995)
04. Bolt Thrower – “Zeroed” (from “Mercenary”, 1998) [Submitted by Vinny]
05. Napalm Death – “Politicians” (from “Leaders Not Followers” E.P., 1999)
06. Gorod – “We Are The Sun Gods” (from “The Orb”, 2023)
07. Benediction – “Nightfear” (from “Transcend The Rubicon”, 1993) [Submitted by Vinny]
08. Gorement – “My Ending Quest” (from “The Ending Quest”, 1994) [Submitted by Daniel]
09. Ulthar – “Helionomicon” (from Helionomicon”, 2023)
10. Ripspreader – “Slasher’s Night Out” (from “Crypt World”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
11. Memoriam – “All Is Lost” (from “Rise To Power”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
12. Haemorrhage – “Mortuary Riot” (from “Morgue Sweet Home”, 2002)
13. Kruelty – “Burn The System” (from “Untopia”, 2023)
14. Ghoul – “Tomb After Tomb” (from “We Came For The Dead!!!”, 2002)
15. Whourkr – “Squirk” (from “Concrete”, 2008) [Submitted by Daniel]
16. Deicide – “In Hell I Burn” (from “Legion”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]
17. Portal – “Larvae” (from “Swarth”, 2009)
18. Ulcerate – “Burning Skies” (from “The Destroyers Of All”, 2011)
19. Autophagy – “Becoming” (from “Bacteriophage”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
20. Languish – “Failed State” (from “Feeding The Flames Of Annihilation”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
21. Bologna Violenta – “Sono diventati mostri” (from “Il nuovissimo mondo”, 2010) [Submitted by Daniel]
22. Genghis Tron – “Ride The Steambolt” (from “Cloak of Love” E.P., 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]
23. Thotcrime – “Pog Destroyer” (from “onyourcomputer”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]
24. Rotten Sound – “Calm” (from “Drain”, 1999)
25. The Berzerker – “Reality” (from “The Berzerker”, 2000) [Submitted by Daniel]
26. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – “Just Ten Cents A Day…” (from “Altered States of America”, 2003) [Submitted by Daniel]
27. Kraanium – “Post Mortal Fixation” (from “Post Mortal Coital Fixation”, 2012)
28. Ezophagothomia – “Instinct of Inhuman Devourment” (from “Instinct of Inhuman Devourment”, 2011)
29. 7 H. Target – “Brahmastra” (from “Yantra Creating”, 2023)
30. Defeated Sanity – “Conceived Through Savagery” (from “The Sanguinary Impetus”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]
The nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
These nominations have been passed.
This nomination has been passed.
This nomination has been passed.
I don't have a middle name as I find them to be unsophisticated.
"Mental Funeral" is Autopsy's finest work in my opinion. I'm possibly not as big an Autopsy fan as most extreme metal nuts are as I tend to favour a more sophisticated brand of death metal but they really hit a sweet spot with this record as well as the "Retribution For The Dead" E.P. from the same year, both of which I found to be a clear step up from "Severed Survival" (3.5/5) which I've always found to be overrated. The enhanced doom component was certainly most welcome.
4/5
Dokken - "Back For The Attack" (1987)
Following on from last week’s disappointing investigation of Los Angeles glam metal legends Dokken’s 1985 third album “Under Lock & Key”, I thought it would be worth me reassessing the record that first drew me to the band (& more specifically their wonderful guitarist George Lynch) iback in the late 1980's in order to see whether my positivity around 1987’s “Back For The Attack” (Dokken’s highest selling record) was more about teen nostalgia than it was genuine merit. The unpolished hard rock of Don Dokken’s 1981 debut album “Breakin’ The Chains” didn’t do much for me when I checked it out during my Metal Academy podcast research many years ago now but it’s 1984 follow-up “Tooth & Nail” was much more metal & subsequently fit in closer to my taste profile so my experience with arguably the band’s most highly regarded release (i.e. “Under Lock & Key”) was a touch underwhelming. This saw me going into “Back For The Attack” a little tentatively but with high hopes of a glam metal revival.
The first thing I noticed about “Back For The Attack” was the production with Lynch’s guitar tone being absolutely shredding. It’s very easy to see why people will want to lump Dokken in with your classic heavy metal sound based on that element alone, especially when you consider that Lynch’s performance is the clear highlight of the album. In fact, I think this is really where George comes of age because I’d found myself doubting myself a little while listening to the first three records. He was certainly pretty special but nothing like as mind-blowing as he is here. This right here is what placed him in my top few guitar influences & I can’t fully express how impressive his tone & phrasing are here, not to mention the dazzling technique. Don puts in possibly his best performance to date too with several of the chorus hooks drawing me in when the overall aesthetics of the song-writing sees me wanting to pull away. This wasn’t the case with “Under Lock & Key” which was simply too poppy & commercialized me for but “Back For The Attack” has a metal edge & stronger, more mature song-writing that allows the highlight tracks to more than compensate for the cheesier glam metal numbers like “So Many Tears”, “Burning Like A Flame” & the particularly poor “Stop Fighting Love”.
Dokken have never sounded tighter & more cohesive than they do on “Back For The Attack” &, when combined with an attractive album cover, it’s not hard to see why it might have been such a commercial success for the band. I particularly enjoy the gritty hard rock of “Heaven Sent”, the energetic glam metal of “Sleepless Night” & the clear album highlight “Mr. Scary” which sees Lynch being allowed to stand alone in the spotlight & show us all what he’s really capable of in what must surely be one of the greatest instrumental guitar displays of all time. “Breakin’ The Chains” & “Under Lock & Key” simply sound watered down compared to the best material on this record with some of the transitions hitting with a weightier crunch than Dokken had previously achieved to the time. I guess this begs the question of whether “Back For The Attack” is a genuine heavy metal record or not which I think is a really interesting question because, much like “Under Lock & Key”, the guitars sit very much in metal territory. I think the answer depends on the listener’s position on whether glam metal is a hard rock subgenre or a metal one. Here at Metal Academy we’ve generally taking the stance that it’s more rock than metal &, that being the case, I would have to suggest that this album sits outside of our scope. Sure, there are a few metal tunes included amongst the thirteen songs on the tracklisting but I don’t think that’s enough to compete with the lop-sided result of its battle with glam metal extravagance here. The chorus hooks, hard rock beats & gang vocals are simply too easy on the ear for this to be regarded as a genuine metal release in my opinion. Songs like “Kiss Of Death”, “Standing In The Shadows”, “Mr. Scary” & “Lost Behind The Wall” should offer heavy metal fans a fair bit of encouragement nonetheless though.
Overall, I’d suggest that “Back For The Attack” is the best of Dokken’s four 1980’s studio albums with it just pipping out “Tooth & Nail”. It may not be as sophisticated as I remember it being as a kid but it’s presented in an undeniably attractive package that may have a thick layer of icing sugar on the outside but also has a deliciously gooey centre that tastes bloody great at times.
3.5/5
P.S. I think I'm comfortable with where this release sits in the top ten list I posted earlier in this thread. No changes required.
Here's my Top Ten Metal Releases of 1986 list:
01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood"
02. Metallica - "Master of Puppets"
03. Iron Maiden - "Somewhere In Time"
04. Kreator - "Pleasure To Kill"
05. Megadeth - "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?"
06. Kreator - "Flag of Hate" E.P.
07. Agent Steel - "Mad Locust Rising" E.P.
08. Dark Angel - "Darkness Descends"
09. Crimson Glory - "Crimson Glory"
10. Saint Vitus - "Born Too Late"
https://metal.academy/lists/single/213
This would have to be in the running for the greatest year in all of metal. I mean "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" didn't even make my list!
Iron Maiden - "Maiden England" (1994)
English heavy metal heavy-weights Iron Maiden & I have travelled a life-long journey together that’s been full of mind-blowing peaks as well as a few devastatingly low troughs but I’ve found their huge quantity of live releases to generally be pretty reliable over the years. Whether it’s their all-time classic 1985 double album “Live After Death”, 2002’s very solid “Rock In Rio”, their highly regarded underground bootleg “Beast Over Hammersmith” or their early Paul Dianno-fronted EP’s like “Maiden Japan” or “Live!! +One”, Maiden have invariably managed to reproduce the rollicking good time their obsessive fan base experiences at every show & is no doubt helped by the ridiculously large quantity of metal anthems they have access to in their back catalogue. I’d not heard 1994’s “Maiden England” double album before though & was feeling like some familiar tunes to rock out to while running some errands over the last few days so it fit the bill perfectly.
“Maiden England” is yet another double album/video package that has been remastered & re-released with the inclusion of a hefty amount of bonus material in recent years but I’ve opted to review the original version only for this exercise. On paper it really should be something utterly amazing too, at least for someone like myself whose favourite heavy metal releases of all time are Maiden’s more progressive late 80’s albums because “Maiden England” was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England on 27th & 28th November 1988 on the tour for the “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” record. The tracklisting is everything you could want from such a show too in that it includes a bunch of the big tracks from “Somewhere In Time” & “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” along with a selection of old classics, a couple of which seem to have been intentionally selected as tracks that weren’t included on “Live After Death” in “Still Life” & “The Prisoner”. So the scene was certainly set for a truly transcendent live release from one of the best in the business & there’s no doubt that it’s delivered a worthwhile outcome but there are a couple of obstacles here that prevent “Maiden England” from being held up on the same sort of pedestals as some of the other releases I mentioned above.
The first issue is the production which, despite not being inherently bad in any way, is a bit lacking. The guitars are sitting a little too far back in the mix with the rhythm section being more prominent & Steve Harris’ bass guitar sounding very jangly indeed which sees some of these songs lacking the punch of their cleaner studio counterparts. But the main issue here is front man Bruce Dickinson’s vocal performance which is patchy to say that least. He gets the job done just fine on more than half of the tracklisting but there are a few tracks where he’s noticeably pitchy, particularly struggling to reach the higher notes. This sees undeniable classics like “Wasted Years” being reduced to just solid inclusions which is a real shame as there was so much potential in this tracklisting, even though those deeper cuts I mentioned earlier were never classics to begin with. It also needs to be mentioned that I’ve never liked Iron Maiden’s title track which closes out this release. It’s always lacked sophistication to my ears so it wasn’t the best way to finish things up in my opinion.
While “Maiden England” may not be Maiden’s best live release, fans of the band are unlikely to be left disappointed as it still ticks so many of the required boxes, especially in the tracklisting. The execution isn’t perfect but it’s very hard to be too critical of a band that stands out there on their own in the world of classic heavy metal. Put this release on at a party & you’ll inevitably have a bunch of drunken dickheads poorly singing along to every word after a couple of tracks & I’d no doubt be one of them.
4/5
Here's my Top Ten Metal Releases of 1985 list:
01. Exodus - "Bonded By Blood"
02. Anthrax - "Spreading The Disease"
03. Iron Maiden - "Live After Death"
04. Pentagram - "Pentagram"
05.Anthrax - "Armed & Dangerous" E.P.
06. Slayer - "Hell Awaits"
07. Celtic Frost - "To Mega Therion"
08. S.O.D. - "Speak English Or Die"
09. Fates Warning - "The Spectre Within"
10. Exciter - "Long Live The Loud"
It's worth noting that Slaughter's "Surrender Or Die" demo would have made the list at number 7 if it had of been on our database though.
Don't forget to vote on the other Hall entry for this release too Andi.
Here's my updated Top ten Groove Metal Releases of All Time list after checking out Gojira's "Magma" album over the last couple of days & being well impressed:
01. Coroner – “Grin” (1993)
02. Grip Inc. – “Nemesis” (1997)
03. Exhorder – “The Law” (1992)
04. Gojira - "Magma" (2016)
05. Pantera – “Vulgar Display Of Power” (1992)
06. Pantera – “Cowboys From Hell” (1990)
07. Sepultura – “Chaos A.D.” (1993)
08. Pantera – “The Great Southern Trendkill” (1996)
09. Pantera – “Far Beyond Driven” (1994)
10. Anthrax – “Sound Of White Noise” (1993)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/175
Gojira - "Magma" (2016)
I came into the Gojira game a lot later than some of you might have as I was still on my metal sabbatical when 2005’s classic “From Mars To Sirius” third album dropped. It wouldn’t be for another four years that Ben would finally bring it to my attention & needless to say that it made an immediate impact on me. I’d quickly investigate the rest of Gojira’s back catalogue including their highly praised 2008 fourth album “The Way Of All Flesh” which I found to be very solid. When 2012’s “L’enfant sauvage” was released I was well a truly salivating for more Gojira & tended to heaps giant amounts of praise on it as a result, a position I’ve since reassessed & now regard it pretty similarly to its predecessor. Strangely though, that’s where the Gojira story has stagnated for me as I’ve not investigated their two subsequent full-lengths for one reason or another. Let’s rectify that oversight now by taking a look at Gojira’s 2016 sixth album “Magma”.
The “L’enfant sauvage” album had seen Gojira dropping their death metal roots for the first time in order focus on a groovier progressive metal sound &, despite what you might read, “Magma” is very much the next logical step in that evolution. Perhaps “Magma” might not be as overtly technical as previous efforts however this is still a progressive metal record at its core with djenty Meshuggah-style staccato riffage still being an important component of their sound. The final hints at death metal that were still evident on “L’enfant sauvage” are no longer visible on “Magma” with tracks like “The Cell”, “Stranded”, “Pray” & “Only Pain” pushing the groove metal associations to greater levels than ever before & “Chaos AD”-era Sepultura being an obvious point of reference in not only the heavier material but also the stripped back & casual folk closer “Liberation”. Interestingly, there are a couple of tracks that push out into doomier territory with stunning progressive sludge opener “The Shooting Star” sounding more like Mastodon than anyone else & outstanding interlude “Yellow Stone” sitting in post-sludge territory. I’m sure most listeners will also be left thinking of Fear Factory at times due to the brilliantly executed rhythmic precision in some of the riffage & perhaps even a little Korn in the few nu metal-ish moments but the main point of reference with “Magma” is definitely Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad in my opinion with Joe Duplantier’s vocal delivery reminding me a lot of Devin’s & the general style of the music falling into similar spaces as well.
This is a more restrained & controlled Gojira than we’ve ever heard before. There’s a newly found maturity in the way they milk every last drop out of each riff with great attention to detail having been placed on not over-playing their hands. When combined with a shorter run time (both for the individual tracks & the album as a whole) this makes for a fairly accessible metal record that was always going to promote crossover appeal & commercial success. Perhaps this has been to Gojira’s detriment with their more underground fan base but a good metal record is a good metal record as far as I’m concerned, particularly one as well produced as this one. I love the moodier parts of the album with the sludgier tracks & some amazingly well thought-out transitions being amongst the key elements that “Magma” has to offer along with some very consistent & mature song-writing. Joe’s vocals don’t suffer for the lack of death growls either as he’s got enough emotion & variation in his repertoire to captivate listeners who are open to the idea.
“Magma” may not be one of Gojira’s more intense releases but it is one of their most atmospheric & engaging & I for one am totally onboard with their new direction. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this might be the band’s best album since “From Mars To Sirius” which is a pretty big call when you consider how highly regarded “The Way Of All Flesh” & “L’enfant sauvage” are. Perhaps it’s time to see what 2021’s ill-fated “Fortitude” record has to offer.
4/5
Here's my Top Ten Metal Releases of 1984 list too:
01. Metallica - "Ride The Lightning"
02. Iron Maiden - "Powerslave"
03. Slayer - "Live Undead" E.P.
04. Slayer - "Haunting The Chapel" E.P.
05. Medieval Steel - "Medieval Steel" E.P.
06. Paul Chain Violet Theatre - "Detaching From Satan" E.P.
07. Judas Priest - "Defenders Of The Faith"
08. Saint Vitus - "Saint Vitus"
09. Queensryche - "The Warning"
10. Trouble - "Psalm 9"
Deep Purple & Guns 'n' Roses have been added to the database as Non-Metal purely because Rex intends to raise Hall entries for a few releases to have them added to The Guardians. As is Ben's usual process, he's added only the proposed metal releases & the ones released in between them.
Yes I was aware of that. Was just looking for an opportunity to share that example of blatant plagiarism.
I can't imagine Lars would ever have sanctioned ripping off another band's work!!
Quoted Sonny
Underground NWOBHM outfit Bleak House disagree. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" anyone?
In regard to Satan, I've always really dug the riffage & lead guitar work which was particularly metal for the time but I find Brian Ross' vocals to be pretty flat with a lack of quality hooks to be honest. He's generally placed on a pedestal by most metalheads so it appears to just be me.
Fields Of The Nephilim - "Elizium" (1990)
Gothic rock from Hertfordshire, England.
I quite like the Satan, Ritual & Black Sabbath records you listed Sonny but it's probably a reflection of how strong a year it was that none of them were ever really in the running for inclusion in my top ten. I'm afraid to say that Raven & I don't get on at all though. We have a long history of not seeing eye to eye.
Out of interest, if you take another listen to Ritual's "Rebecca", do you think it's possible that Metallica copped the main riff to "For Whom The Bell Tolls" from that song? It's obviously a much rawer, messier version of it but I'd suggest that they did personally. What do you think?
While I agree that "Forged In Fire" was certainly the best of Anvil's first three records, they'll forever be a band that's simply not for me. 3/5
What a year for metal!
Daniel's Top Ten Metal Releases of 1983
01. Slayer - "Show No Mercy"
02. Manowar - "Into Glory Ride"
03. Iron Maiden - "Piece Of Mind"
04. Dio - "Holy Diver"
05. Metallica - "Kill 'Em All"
06. Mercyful Fate - "Melissa"
07. Saxon - "Power & The Glory"
08. High Power - "High Power"
09. Acid - "Maniac"
10. Queensryche - "Queensryche" E.P.
Nice review Morpheus. It's good to have you back onboard.
Vinnie Moore - "Mind's Eye" (1986)
Delaware-based guitar virtuoso Vinnie Moore was a major influence on me as a young musician. I picked up his 1986 debut album “Mind’s Eye” on CD through my father who had spotted it for cheap in a second-hand store & thought I might like it some time in the very early 1990’s & I then followed it up by purchasing Vinnie’s 1991 third album “Meltdown” shortly afterwards, both proving to be important players in the shaping of who I wanted to be as a guitarist. Swedish icon Yngwie J. Malmsteen had already opened my eyes to the possibilities in regard to super-high velocity, ultra-technique-heavy instrumental guitar music but, despite the fact that Vinnie was clearly influenced by Yngwie, he offered something additional that gave him the edge over the great man in my opinion, at least from a compositional point of view. You see, Vinnie knew how to write great melodies & construct pieces that work as songs as well as they do demonstrations of his technical proficiencies. Yngwie wasn’t as adept in these areas & also tended to verge on the cheesy a lot more often. He also pushed the neoclassical component much further than Vinnie who used it more sparingly & subsequently gained maximum impact from it.
Vinnie was already very well connected when he recorded “Mind’s Eye” & you can see evidence of that in both the fact that the album was released on Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records label (which would go on to become the premier label for this style of music shortly afterwards) & also in the amazing line-up of musicians he had supporting him. I would imagine that Mike had connected him with fellow Shrapnel shredder Tony MacAlpine who provides some amazingly accomplished keyboard work here for a multi-instrumentalist. Tony would release his debut solo album through Shrapnel the following year but his contribution to “Mind’s Eye” is the most significant of the supporting musicians with his performance leaving most full-time keyboardists in the dust. The rhythm section is no less well credentialled though with talented Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West & legendary Ozzy Osbourne/Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake drummer Tommy Aldridge ensuring that Vinnie had a rock-solid basis from which to showcase his astounding skills.
The purely instrumental tracklisting begins in a rich vein of form with the entire A side being very solid indeed & highlighted by the spectacular “Daydream” which is a genuine shred classic in my eyes (& as usual for me it’s the least popular track on the album – go figure). The way that Vinnie balances out some truly memorable melodies with extreme technique is remarkable & is a very rare talent in this niche marketplace. The B side isn’t quite as strong with the quality level dipping a touch on a few tracks & this is usually the result of melodies that edge towards the cheese line a little or licks & structures that take too much of a neoclassical route as I’ve never found that style of guitar playing to be as attractive as Vinnie’s more mysterious & exotic one. You see, regardless of the technique on display, it’s Vinnie’s ability to create spacey, moody atmospheres that’s the real differentiator from his peers & represents the main attraction for an album like “Mind’s Eye”.
It's interesting that “Mind’s Eye” is almost universally tossed into the neoclassical metal bucket alongside the Yngwies & Jason Beckers because there really isn’t all that much of a classical influence in the song structures & accompaniment here. It’s really just Vinnie’s use of similar lead guitar techniques to those guys (i.e. sweep-picking, strong use of pedal notes, etc.) that provides the link with classical music but that’s not enough for me to want to label “Mind’s Eye” as being inherently neoclassical & it’s perhaps this distinction as much as any that sees my favouring a record like “Mind’s Eye” over other highly regarded releases from the genre like “Rising Force” or “Perpetual Burn”. To my ears this album sits somewhere between your classic heavy metal sound & a more expansive progressive metal one with MacAlpine’s keyboard work being the main link to the progressive side of that equation.
Regardless of what you label it as though, there can be little doubt that “Mind’s Eye” is a magnificent example of instrumental guitar wizardry & it was always going to appeal to someone like myself who not only understands just how difficult it is to pull off a lot of this stuff but also lives for soaring lead guitar hooks. If any of you ever listen to my 1999 solo CD you’ll no doubt hear a strong Vinnie Moore influence in the opening track as I get the feeling that I might have taken a fair amount of inspiration from “Mind’s Eye”. If this is neoclassical metal then it’s the finest example I’ve ever heard & it should be essential listening for any budding young shredder. Just don’t take it too personally when you inevitably discover that you’ll never be half as good as this bloke because none of us will be. He’s nothing less than a total freak of nature.
4/5
I find this breakout of my ratings to be quite interesting too:
5 star 1.9%
4.5 star 11.3%
4 star 26.8%
3.5 star 30.6%
3 star 18.2%
2.5 star 7.7%
2 star 3.3%
1.5 star 1.5%
1 star 0.5%
0.5 star 0.2%
I'm comfortable with that spread to be honest. It shows that I save the 5/5 ratings for the elite of the elite & it also shows that I don't consciously go looking for music that's clearly not gonna fall anywhere near my wheelhouse all that often either.
Here' mine which is heavily impacted by the years that Ben & I spent doing the Metal Academy podcast (i.e. The Guardians being at the top):
The Guardians 20.5%
The Horde 18.9%
The Pit 15.8%
The North 13.6%
The Fallen 11.7%
The Infinite 10.1%
The Revolution 4.0%
The Gateway 3.2%
The Sphere 2.1%
If this was reflective of the reality across my life then my 90's tape trading years would see my four clans being much further out in front.
Unfortunately not Sonny. It's a real shame because I'd suggest that that stuff was amongst the material I'm most proud of as a composer.
Once Neuropath disbanded I quickly joined a doom/death band from Penrith called Elysium for about six months as I was writing some really great harmonized melodic stuff similar to Anathema & Katatonia in my spare time & was keen to get it out there. I was really starting to get disillusioned with the scene by that stage though & it was more about the people & their continuous focus on image & talking shit about other people that eventually saw me removing myself completely, along with my relationship issues that were playing out in full view of the Sydney scene. I then did an instrumental guitar shred solo project which amounted to one CD called "My Ebony Tomorrows" which was released in 1999. Think Joe Satriani & Steve Vai & you won't be far off the mark. I wrote & played all of the instruments on that one & it was a more rewarding exercise for it but was also immensely draining at the same time. At that point I discovered techno & house music & my next decade changed significantly.
Out of interest, Elysium would later become Stone Wings who would release their "Bird of Stone Wings" album in 2003. Elysium included a virtual who's-who of Sydney extreme metal at the time I was involved with them with vocalist Jamie Marsh (ex-Lord Kaos/ex-Crucible of Agony/ex-Isaacaron), guitarist Stuart Prickett (Horrisonous, Illimitable Dolor, The Slow Death, ex-Backyard Mortuary, ex-Bludgeoner, ex-Broken Anatomy, ex-Decayed Divinity, ex-Of Grief Everlasting, ex-Mournful Congregation (live)), bassist Beau Dyer (Lord Kaos, ex-Across the Scarlet Moat, ex-Innsmouth, ex-Pogrom, ex-Grenade) & drummer Lachlan Donaldson (ex-Of Grief Everlasting, ex-Lycanthia) all being a part of it at that point.
I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "The Cage" is simply a hard rock record as far as I can see & not a very good one either it has to be said. It should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place in my opinion.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
I completely agree with your assessment here Sonny. "Firepower" is a combination of progressive rock & hard rock as far as I can see & it should never have been drawn in under the NWOBHM banner in the first place. I do quite like it though.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Some of you may recall me mentioning that a record label called Sphere of Apparition was interested in mastering & re-releasing the two mid-1990's demo tapes from my old brutal death metal band Neuropath. Well, things have been progressing nicely since I last provided an update. The mastering has been completed & both tapes sound as good as it's possible to get them. The CD cover layout is almost finalized. Options for the front cover artwork are being explored at the moment too. I'd guess that the final release date will be some time in the middle of the year depending on how quickly we can get the cover art signed off. It'll be starting in a CD only format but there's potential to expand on that depending on demand. There may be t-shirts too. It's very exciting stuff for an ol' metalhead like myself.