Daniel's Forum Replies
To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that every release on my list wasn't metal. Just that they at least deserve a dual tag with glam metal. The WASP, Twisted Sister & Motley Crue releases on my list are all metal releases as well in my opinion.
Also, "Pyromania" would have made my list but I made the decision not to consider it as glam metal.
Dokken - "Under Lock & Key" (1985)
Los Angeles hard rockers Dokken made quite an impact on me back in the late 80’s/early 90’s, mainly due to my obsession with guitar virtuoso George Lynch who represents one of my biggest inspirations as a musician. I first discovered Dokken through their 1987 “Back For The Attack” album which I ripped from a school mate’s older brother & it would lead me to investigate George’s 1990 “Wicked Sensation” debut album from the Lynch Mob project he’d begin after leaving the band in 1989. Lynch’s tone & style were pretty much identical to my own preferences in shredding lead guitar so the fact that both bands were a bit more commercially accessible than I’d usually go for became much less of an issue. However, my commitment to more extreme forms of music would see my interest drifting away from bands like Dokken & I’d only find myself returning to them during my research for the Metal Academy podcast in the mid-2010’s. It was there that I first heard their 1981 debut album “Breaking The Chains” & 1984 sophomore effort “Tooth & Nail” but I’d only just started digging my teeth into 1985’s “Under Lock & Key” when we’d decide to end of 3.5 year run of shows so I never got the chance to properly develop a firm position on its qualities. This week I decided it was time to rectify that.
Dokken’s sound has always bled across a few related subgenres. “Breaking The Chains” was an immature blend of glam metal & heavy metal that I struggled with while “Tooth & Nail” saw them concentrating on the heavier side of their sound which would appeal to me a lot more. With “Under Lock & Key” we see Dokken finally breaking out into the US mainstream radio circuit in a big way with a sound that’s dominated by the poppy choruses & straight forward beats of the LA Sunset Strip. Around 80% of the tracklisting falls into glam metal territory with Lynch’s spectacular metal guitar work being combined with a commercial hard rock rhythm section & simple melodic vocal hooks that take away most of the band’s edge. That can be a problem for me at times & around half of the tracklisting is a bit of a struggle for this particular extreme metal devotee. The other half includes some high quality hooks though with the couple of genuine heavy metal tracks being amongst the strongest on the album (see wonderful album highlight “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” & respectable closer “Til The Livin’ End”).
Don Dokken may be the band leader but his vocals do tend to be one of the components that leads Dokken astray at times as he can sound pretty bubblegum on occasion, along with the use of cowbell & some easy-listening backing vocals. Ironically the album’s two most iconic songs “In My Dreams” & “Unchain The Night” fall into this category & do very little for me while the ballad “Slippin’ Away” is simply awful. Thankfully the band manage to come up with some of the more respectable glam metal tunes you’ll find to offset those misfires a bit (see “The Hunter”, “It’s Not Love” & particularly the very solid “Will The Sun Rise”) but you probably need to be able to accept a more radio-friendly brand of hard rock & heavy metal (think WASP, Scorpions, Motley Crue, etc.) if you’re any chance of falling in love with Dokken’s third album. “Under Lock & & Key” may be Dokken’s most highly regarded release these days but it’s certainly not my personal favourite. “Tooth & Nail” is a much more palatable & enjoyable listen for me personally & it’s got me wondering what I’ll think of “Back For The Attack” these days. I think I’ll pull it out over the coming month & see.
3/5
Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)
It’s been many years since I’ve revisited the highly regarded 1994 sophomore album from Finland’s Amorphis. “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” was a very big record in my household back in the day but I recall it being a much more important release for my younger brother Ben than it was for myself. I certainly rmember finding it to be a very creative & inventive effort (particularly melodically) however I don’t think I was the target audience Amorphis had in mind when they wrote it, despite my being quite fond of their earlier work which was closer to your classic death metal model. If I had to guess at what score I’d end up awarding it though I would have been pretty confident of it being a 4/5 so I went into this re-evaluation exercise with the expectation of a rewarding outcome.
“Tales From The Thousand Lakes” kicks off with a beautifully executed darkwave piece by the name of “Thousand Lakes” which I really enjoy & it sets the scene nicely for what’s to come. The more melodic end of death metal has been something that I’ve had a rocky relationship with over the years though & it took me a few tracks to find my feet once the metal material kicked off to tell you the truth. I had no trouble recalling just about every note of the album once I got my teeth into it as the hooks entrenched themselves in me from a relatively young age but I think I’d forgotten that I didn’t buy into Amorphis as much as the metalheads around me did, at least not at that point in their evolution. Thankfully things start to really get cracking as we approach the middle of the record with the one-two punch of “First Doom” & album highlight “Black Winter Day” which saw my attention being fully engaged for the first time but despite the fact that there’s only one track of the ten on the tracklisting that I don’t get much out of (ironically one of the more popular tracks in the folky “The Castaway”) I’d be lying if I said that I ever find myself kneeling at the altar of Amorphis’ here.
So why is that? I certainly admire the record from a creative point of view as it sounded so unlike anything else that was around at the time & seems to succeed in most of its more expansive musical endeavours. I think it’s that some of those endeavours take Amorphis into more accessible territories that have me hesitating to jump on the train as it’s moving slowly out from the station though. You see, while “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” is generally tagged as melodic death metal, there are a lot more elements at play here. The doom/death metal sound of Paradise Lost is the most obvious point of reference & I really enjoy the more crushing doom sections. There are a few crunchy Swedish death metal moments too which can’t be a bad thing but there are also some less imposing influences on display. I really enjoy the clean vocals & think they add greatly to the infectiousness of Amorphis’ sound here. The prog rock influences are generally refreshing too but are a little hit & miss in their execution, particularly in the use of keyboards which can bounce from being a masterstroke to being a touch underwhelming in fairly quick time. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, the incorporation of folk melodies in several of the songs is something that I find a little difficult to stomach as folk metal has never been my bag. Tomi Koivusaari’s death growls aren’t particularly interesting either. In fact, I’m tempted to suggest that they sound pretty generic which perhaps goes a fair way to explaining why I enjoy the clean vocals so much.
Amorphis would go on to move away from death metal entirely over the next couple of records by focusing their attention on a more progressive sound. Their 1996 third album “Elegy” would be somewhat of a transition album in that regard but I’ve always remembered it as being a step up from “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” from a creative point of view. Perhaps that’s simply a case of misguided nostalgia & I might make a point of revisiting that album some time soon so as to see how it compares but there can be no doubt that its predecessor was a resounding success in its own right. It’s perhaps a touch too melodic for my taste but “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” certainly compares very well with other prominent melodeath releases & would still make my all-time top ten for the subgenre overall at this point.
3.5/5
And here's my updated Top Ten Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time list:
01. At The Gates – “Slaughter Of The Soul” (1995)
02. Carcass – “Heartwork” (1993)
03. Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery” (1995)
04. Merciless – “Unbound” (1994)
05. Sentenced – “North From Here” (1993)
06. In Mourning – “The Weight Of Oceans” (2012)
07. The Breathing Process - “Odyssey (un)Dead” (2010)
08. Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)
09. The Chasm - "The Spell Of Retribution" (2004)
10. Edge Of Sanity – “Crimson” (1996)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/147
They’re both doing great thanks Vinny. We’re very pleased with our beautiful little girl.
Just arrived at the hospital for the birth of my third child today. Pumped to meet her!
I've always loved "Violent Restitution" so there's not much point in me returning to it at this stage as we're already well acquainted. I quite like all of Razor's earlier full-lengths (I found the speed/heavy metal of their 1984 "Armed and Dangerous" E.P. to be a bit flat) but this was the album that continually drew me back for more. It may well have benefited from being my entry point to the band back in my late teenage years but I tend to think it's the impressive consistency & gnarly energy that really connects with me at a primal level. I'd suggest that this is still Razor's best work.
4/5
Kamelot - "One Cold Winter's Night" (2006)
I thought I'd give this double live album a crack given that Kamelot's 2005 "The Black Halo" album is my all-time favourite power metal release & this was recorded on the tour for that particular record. The recorded gig took place in Oslo, Norway which is the home of front man Roy Khan who puts in a lovely performance for his home crowd too with his operatic James LaBrie (Dream Theater) style vocals. Unsurprisingly, it's the tracks from the darker "The Black Halo" album that are by far & away the highlights of the release with several of the fluffier earlier tracks failing to connect with me at all (see "Center of the Universe", "Nights of Arabia", "Forever", "Karma"). I do quite like the previous record "Epica" but there's really no comparison with it's older sibling in terms of appeal for me personally. A lot of that is due to the fact that I'm less inclined towards the symphonic power metal material with my strong preference being for the more progressive, Dream Theater-inspired stuff of which there's a lot on offer here. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that this should be regarded as a progressive power metal release & should probably have a dual clan & genre tagging.
Everyone here is probably aware that power metal isn't a genre that I have a lot of tolerance for but this is live release is definitely one of the better power metal releases I've heard & has done well enough to just slip into my all-time top ten power metal releases.
3.5/5
Here's my new Top Ten Power Metal Releases of All Time list with Eternity's End's 2021 "Embers of War" album being the unlucky record to slip out:
01. Kamelot - "The Black Halo" (2005)
02. Iced Earth - "Alive In Athens" (1999)
03. Unleash The Archers - "Apex" (2017)
04. Lost Horizon - "Awakening The World" (2001)
05. Blind Guardian - "Imaginations From The Other Side" (1995)
06. Lost Horizon - "A Flame To The Ground Beneath" (2003)
07. Blind Guardian - "Nightfall In Middle-Earth" (1998)
08. Blind Guardian - "Live" (2003)
09. Blind Guardian - "Somewhere Far Beyond" (1992)
10. Kamelot - "One Cold Winter's Night" (2006)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/139
Slipknot - "Slipknot" (1999)
To tell you the truth, I had only ever heard one Slipknot song before deciding that I'd finally take the plunge & see what they are all about this week. It was "Eyeless" from their self-titled 1999 debut album & it didn't sound too bad although wasn't strong enough to lure me into further exploration at the time. I've actually been surprised by what I've heard over the last couple of days though to be honest, not because Slipknot are better or worse than I was expecting but more because of the fact that it's a glaringly flawed yet still generally satisfactory metal album. Saxy's review summarizes the faults very nicely. The inconsistent production is very ordinary with the drum sound being grossly inadequate (particularly the awful snare sound) while the use of DJ scratching & clean vocals are total misfires. But then on the positive there are some pretty cool groove metal style riffs included on this album along with some suitably aggressive vocals & a decent amount of energy. The Korn influence is obvious throughout & you'll never be in doubt about the album's nu metal credentials. There's certainly worse metal records out there but I can't say that I can see why Slipknot blew up off the back of this record. It's got slightly more wins than losses but it's really left to the lengthy "Scissors" (my clear album highlight) to step up at the end of the tracklisting & ensure that my rating finishes a little on the positive side of my enjoyment line rather than on the negative one.
3.5/5
I was just thinking that this is something that’s gonna start happening more & more often now given that metal is now more than half a decade old & most of the classic exponents are reaching a reasonable vintage.
The drummer from Artillery died on the same day. Not a great one for thrash metal it has to be said.
Suffocation - "Souls to Deny" (2004)
Most people associated with Metal Academy for any sort of period will already be aware that New York brutal/technical death metal legends Suffocation are my favourite band & have been for many years. There are certainly releases from other bands that have matched or even surpassed the masters of muscular death metal extremity but there is no one whose style better fits my concept of what metal should aspire to be or who ticks all of my creative boxes as regularly. I was totally obsessed with the band from the very start of their career & throughout the 1990’s but Suffocation’s unfortunate demise after their classic 1998 “Despise The Sun” E.P. would signal the beginning of a six year hiatus that would come to an end during my own self-imposed decade-long exile from metal. You can bet your life that they were the first band I checked in on upon my return to metal in 2009 though but I have to admit to being a touch disappointed with 2004’s “Souls to Deny” fourth album at the time. It’s been many years since I’ve revisited it though so it’ll be interesting to see whether anything’s changed in that regard.
Upon pressing play on “Souls to Deny”, one of it’s Achilles Heals becomes immediately obvious. As with 1993’s heavily tarnished “Breeding The Spawn” sophomore album, the production gods have not been kind to Suffocation here although the impact is nowhere near as severe as it was with that unfortunate release. This time we get a noticeably bass-heavy mix where the rhythm section sounds full & beefy but the rhythm guitars are hamstrung by a muddy mix that lacks brightness & articulation. The guitar solos sound very thin too & struggle to cut through the mix while Frank Mullen’s monstrous vocals lack depth & power. The real winner in this battle is returned extreme metal drumming superhero Mike Smith who puts in a stellar performance with his light-speed blast-beats coming at you with the weight of a thousand giants. In fact, this may well be his best performance to the time which is saying something. The other thing that I feel may have limited my scoring in the past is the programming of the tracklisting with the album opening with what I consider to be its two most melodic & least intense tracks, both of which are pretty entertaining but lack the unbelievable intensity of Suffocation in their prime. Things pick up significantly after that though with the two best inclusions on the album hitting you in quick succession in the title track (my personal favourite & possibly the most brutal of the eight songs) & the very popular “Surgery of Impalement”. The B side is extremely solid & rarely puts a foot wrong but I think I’ve found it hard to look past those opening two tracks in the past which has caused me to score “Souls to Deny” a touch lower than it deserved.
At the end of the day this is another high-quality death metal release from a band whose class is unparalleled in the brutal death metal scene. The production issues certainly see this record being restricted to the also-rans of Suffocation’s back-catalogue but it’s by no means a failure. In fact, I found it to be really enjoyable & I think the fact that my listening habits don’t touch on brutal death metal as much as they used to helps to enable a record like this one to have the impact it rightfully deserves. There’s no doubt that Suffocation are guilty of a bit of self-plagiarism though. You shouldn’t go into one of their releases (or any BDM release for that matter) expecting them to reinvent the wheel but there are some pretty obvious references to past glories here & very few elements that you haven’t heard before. In fact, the more melodic approach to those first two tracks may well be the most significant change-up & I’ve already pooh-poohed that so maybe I’m a part of the problem.
At the end of the day I simply love Suffocation. I love their sound. I love their lyrics. I love their look. I love their girlfriends. I love their dirty socks. Yep, everything about them. So, while “Souls to Deny” may not compete with their best work, it certainly deserves credit for reigniting their flame in a scene that still had a big hole where this band used to sit. There’s only one Suffocation after all. Thousands have tried to match them & failed dismally over the years & brutal death metal MVP Terrence Hobbs puts them all to shame with very little effort here as he's the absolute master of the super-charged death metal riff, whether it be a fast & complex up-tempo blaster or a gutt-wrenchingly slow breakdown chugger. It’s just a shame that all of the hard work wasn’t rewarded with a more appropriate production job to better highlight how strong a death metal album “Souls to Deny” really is.
P.S. I'd never noticed that the final track fades out with the same riff that the opening track fades in with before now. It's kinda cool when you play the album multiple times back to back.
4/5
Well spotted Sonny. I wasn't aware of that myself. I look forward to hearing Ben's reasoning around that.
It sounds a little confusing so I'm not sure I completely understand but are open to contributing if I know the releases in question. My available time to fill in gaps is fairly limited with a new baby coming in five days time though so I'd agree with picking the biggest bands to begin with. If there were lesser known bands selected where I had to investigate several releases in a short period then I'd be unlikely to do that to be honest. Shall we just see how we go?
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
I have to admit that I did a bit of a double take when I saw the release date attached to this fairly underground E.P. as it certainly doesn't sound like it was released post-2000. In fact, if you came into it blind you'd probably suggest that it was released in the second half of the 1980's & I'm fairly sure that was the intention too as the production & performances have had all of their rough edges left in place in order to give Isen Torr a significant bump in authenticity & credibility. The performances on this 17 minute affair aren't wonderful with the lead guitar work lacking in subtlety & the Queensryche style operatic vocals being a little pitchy at times but these things also give "Mighty & Superior" an endearing quality & I can see why someone like Sonny might find it quite relatable, especially when combined with the links to a highly regarded member of the epic doom metal community in Solstice.
This is certainly one epic as fuck release, isn't it? So much so that it leaves me baffled as to how Isen Torr have avoided the power metal tag. There's obviously a crap-tonne of Iron Maiden worship going on here in the galloping rhythms & guitar harmonies but the consistently high tempos, epic atmosphere & metal-for-metals-sake attitude sit further towards power metal than they do traditional heavy metal in my opinion so there'll be a Hall of Judgement entry coming up. The consistent focus on epic lead guitar lines is quite unique & I feel that this element is probably Isen Torr's calling card because it sounds quite fresh even if the lead guitarists vibrato leaves a bit to be desired. I've quite enjoyed this brief hint at what could have been to be honest &, despite it's UK heritage, feel that it will very likely appeal to fans of US power metal acts like Slough Feg, Manilla Road & Cirith Ungol. It's the very definition of a 3.5/5 release in that I find myself getting a consistent level of enjoyment out of it without ever feeling like it'll become a record that I'll be returning to again & again.
3.5/5
System of a Down - "Hypnotize" (2005)
SOTD's most recent studio album doesn't offer anything all that different to what they'd offered previously. The nu metal influence that popped up occasionally on their early works is nowhere to be found & there's perhaps a stronger thrash metal & punk influence than on some of the band's previous releases but you won't find anything terribly surprising here. I quite like "Hypnotize" but it's not on the same level as SOTD's elite releases in "Toxicity" & this album's companion album from the same year "Mezmerize". It sits very much on par with the band's 1998 self-titled debut album in terms of quality in my opinion. In fact, I'd probably take this one over that more highly regarded release. "Hypnotize" is worth a couple of listens but I don't think it'll be one that SOAD are remembered for.
3.5/5
My take is a bit different to Vinny's in that I've always thought of "Nihility" as a very high quality example of the tech death subgenre. There's plenty of technicality on offer but it's never at the expense of the song-writing & the riffs are always memorable. The performances are astounding for such a young group of dudes too, particularly the drumming & the beautifully composed guitar solos which are both highlights. There's obviously some strong Vader/Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse style classic death metal influences going on here but the technicality in the riff structures sees Decapitated playing more in the Nile or particularly Psycroptic space. The death growls are pretty standard but well executed & suitably aggressive. I know this album is often criticized for sounding too clinical due to the heavily triggered drum sounds & scooped 90's guitar tone but I think that's being very harsh as the whole thing just comes off as being a really classy extreme metal record to my ears. No complaints from me.
4/5
Upon revisiting this old fave I've found that my passion for it is as strong as it's ever been & that I still regard it as a genuine classic of the industrial metal genre. Sure, the material is generally faithful to the originals but the consistently high quality of the six tracks on offer & the electric energy & urgent vitality that Ministry have always possessed in a live environment sees them inevitably getting my juices pumping. The versions of "Deity", "Burning Inside" & album highlight "Thieves" are nothing short of exhilarating here. I last saw Ministry play live back in 2015 on the "From Beer to EternaTour" which was hardly their strongest creative period but they still absolutely rocked the Soundwave Festival at Sydney's Olympic Park which is a strong indication of their live talents. This should be essential listening for fans of the band & the industrial metal genre in general.
4.5/5
I don't have time for full reviews at the moment as work & family life are too hectic at the moment with my wife due to give birth to my third daughter in a week but needless to say that I really enjoyed this feature. Conqueror have managed to produce a very consistent release here although the better tracks tend to be the tighter ones. I would have preferred there were more of the super-intense chromatic guitar solos that the war metal subgenre is known to champion (think Bestial Warlust) but that's not a major criticism because the vocals are gnarly & the blast-beats are relentless. Sure, it's really hard to make out the riffs in this wall of white noise so this isn't a record for the faint hearted but your more seasoned underground extreme metal fans should take solace in the sheer rawness & ferocity on offer which is pure savagery. War metal is very much my bag though so I think I was always gonna enjoy this one.
4/5
Feel free to try that Rex. I don't think there are too many examples of people posting proper reviews in the forums but not on the album pages though. It's mainly just when people don't want to go to the effort of writing something comprehensive & only want to add some quick thoughts like I did on the Between The Buried & Me feature release thread yesterday.
My view is that instead of discouraging people from veering outside of their chosen lanes we should be encouraging it. The whole point of the site is to enable people to discover new sounds at their own pace & to allow them to express themselves in a safe environment that's free of slander & elitism. The key differentiator is that we use the clan system to minimize the damage on the more polarizing subgenres & to point their fans to the elite releases regardless. Sure, you're gonna get the odd review like you mentioned above Morpheus but how does someone know if they might come around to a specific subgenre if they don't give it a chance? I would never have gotten into subgenres like post-metal, dissonant death metal or deathcore if I hadn't let my initial impressions go & given them some time to evolve within my taste profile. Besides, the scenario you're referring to really isn't all that common here in my opinion & our members generally try to articulate what it is that makes them feel that way when they do.
I found "The Great Misdirect" to be another very high quality progressive metal record from this mob. It must have been a huge task to put together as there's simply so much to it. The complexity & ambition in the composition is top notch while the arrangements regularly veer off in unexpected directions. I definitely like the heavier & the jazzier moments best & could probably do without some of the more experimental sections but there's not a weak track included in the six with only the alt-country song "Desert of Song" seeing the quality levels dipping a touch. The metalcore vocals are OK but it's the more progressive instrumental excursions that see the band drawing upon the Dream Theaters & Opeths for inspiration that are where Between The Buried & Me manage to differentiate themselves. I may still rate their "Colors_Live" live album slightly higher than "The Great Misdirect" but it's not by much as this is another excellent record that should tick most prog-heads boxes.
4/5
Chelsea Wolfe - "Abyss" (2015)
A wonderfully deep & dark representation of modern darkwave & gothic rock.
It's admittedly been some time since I heard it but I can't say that I've ever felt "Repentless" had much to do with anything but thrash. I feel I'd have to revisit it in order to judge the merits of this nomination.
Yeah, it's an interesting discussion & there's no right answer of course. We're a metal website though so we don't offer rock tags like Stoner Rock or Heavy Psych. It's either metal or it's not & if it's not then the release in question likely wouldn't be included on the site at all unless the associated band had other releases that were legitimate metal. In this case too, we have a release where the vinyl editions of the album don't include the bonus track so I think it's best not to take that track into account when discussing the album's metal credentials. When you take that track out of the equation then the four metal tracks included amount to about 23 minutes of the total 42 minute run time which puts it into metal territory in my opinion. But this is why we have the Hall of Judgement so our clan members are free to express their opinions & my opinion is worth no more than that of any other member of The Fallen.
It’s also worth noting that the last track is a bonus track so half of the tracklisting falls under metal-related subgenres.
There’s enough metal warrant the release being here though so how would you handle that?
It's a mish mash of subgenres that all have a bit of crossover really but the Stoner Metal tag seems to fit better than the Doom Metal one in my opinion given that I tagged the individual tracks as follows:
1. I'll Cut You Down Stoner Rock
2. Death's Door Stoner Rock/Stoner Metal
3. Over & Over Again Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock
4. Curse In The Trees Stoner Metal
5. I'm Here To Kill You Heavy Psych
6. 13 Candles Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock
7. Ritual Knife Stoner Metal
8. Withered Hand Of Evil Traditional Doom Metal
9. Down To The Fire British Folk Rock
Rex, let me be frank with you. Whatever your grievances with the Metalforum moderators are (& for the record I don't blame them for feeling that it's inappropriate to be promoting a competitor on a subject-matter specific website), Ben & I are on a mission to make Metal Academy the most inclusive metal website on the web. We hate the elitist/judgmental bullshit that goes on at other sites & want everyone to be able to express themselves openly here, safe in the knowledge that they can be themselves without fear of reprisal. With that in mind, I have to ask that you (& all of our other members) steer well clear of aggressive &/or attacking posts on the Metal Academy forums. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your passion for the site & are really hoping you'll continue to contribute regularly as we value your input but it can't be at the expense of anyone else's comfort. Please feel free to continue this conversation with me over private message if you feel the need to.
"Forkboy" is certainly one of the greats of industrial metal. I can't say that I get anything at all out of "Pineapple Face" though to be honest. That & "Can God Fill Teeth?" are the two that I struggle with on "The Last Temptation of Reid".
Here's my review:
The 1997 debut album from Danish doom/death exponents Saturnus is an interesting one because, while I have a long history with it & can see why people seem to regard it so highly, I’ve always struggled to connect with it on the same level as my counterparts. My first exposure to it came way back in the late 1990’s in the tail end of my tape trading days as a couple of my local Aussie traders were doom/death nuts & made sure that I was across it. I gave it a couple of spins & found it to be mildly enjoyable but it didn’t really stick so I didn’t feel like it warranted return visits. Many years later I would hear Ben waxing lyrical about “Paradise Belongs To You” & it made me wonder whether I hadn’t given the album enough time to sink in. I again returned to it for a quick glance & was left with similar impressions to before so this is technically my third crack at Saturnus’ much acclaimed debut.
Right from the offset it becomes very clear that Saturnus are a quite professional & fairly ambitious extreme metal outfit. There’s a high level of musicality about their sound with lots of different melodic elements at play in their layered arrangements. There’s also a real openness in the way the album is produced & it soon became clear to me as to why. The drums & vocals are way forward in the mix with the bass & keyboards also dwarfing the rhythm guitars which are sitting too far back & lose some of their heaviness as a result in my opinion. I guess I just prefer a darker, heavier sound & it leads me to think that Saturnus have missed an opportunity here as the record sounds a bit light-weight with the piano & synth work being afforded a more prominent position in the mix than the key ingredient of any doom metal release. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means but it’s certainly worth mentioning as it’s definitely effected my overall enjoyment of this release.
“Paradise Belongs To You” is also a highly melodic example of the doom/death subgenre with the band regularly incorporating lighter gothic atmospherics, clean folk guitar work, Celtic new age elements & even the sound of birds singing on a Spring morning at times. The super-deep Septicflesh-style death growls attempt to keep things aligned with the darker side of metal but I don’t feel that they’re all that successful in that regard as this still feels like a more melodic & unintimidating record than I’d ideally like it to. The album cover probably doesn’t help in that regard as, despite the image being a portrayal of death, it’s got a lighter feel about its colour scheme. Saturnus’ logo kind of annoys me too as the reversed “s” on the end looks a bit silly & cheapens the overall effect.
Don’t get me wrong though, this is still a pretty good record. The tracklisting is without fault with the fairly lengthy 68 minute run time possessing a consistent level of class. I just don’t think there are any genuine highlights to speak of & the best moments don’t appear until the last few tracks with “I Love Thee” (the darkest track included & my personal favourite) & the final proper track “The Underworld” being a step up from the earlier metal songs. As usual with me, these two seem to be the least popular of the proper metal tracks on the album which shouldn’t surprise anyone. I also really enjoy the short folk interlude “As We Dance The Paths Of Fire & Solace” which offers some beautifully executed finger-picked nylon-string guitar work.
Look, there’s no doubt a big audience for this type of stuff & I have a lot of admiration for Saturnus’ approach but I still can’t quite get into “Paradise Belongs To You” to the same level as Ben. It just comes down to taste really with some of the best parts of the album sitting much too close to My Dying Bride plagiarism than I’d like. I certainly enjoy the experience while I’m sitting through it but I can’t say that I ever feel like returning to this album & would even go so far as to say that it offers me less appeal than it did on my previous visits.
3.5/5
Destruction/Tormentor - "Bestial Invasion of Hell/End of the World" split bootleg (1998)
I've been meaning to get around to revisiting this old bootleg CD that I picked up at the time of release for a while now. I'd secured primitive dubbed versions of both of the demos it compiles through the tape trading scene a few years earlier but when I saw that I could get them on a single CD (potentially with clearer sound quality) I jumped at the chance. It was mainly for the Destruction demo to tell you the truth as I rate it more highly than either of the band's first two proper releases in the widely praised "Sentence of Death" E.P. & "Infernal Overkill" debut album, neither of which I get much out of. "Bestial Invasion of Hell" (3.5.5) however offers a raw & exciting brand of speed metal-inspired thrash metal with a touch of hardcore about it & I'd imagine that tracks like "Mad Butcher" & "Frontbeast" will appeal to most members of the The Pit. Tormentor's "End Of The World" (3/5) is a lot rawer in terms of sound quality & general professionalism & it doesn't really compete other than a stellar version of "Tormentor". There's a noticeable blackened edge to its primitive structures which I quite like but the distant rehearsal-quality production goes a long way to nullifying the electricity in the performances. The high-pitched attempts at King Diamond style vocals certainly don't help matters & all four tracks were included on Kreator's debut album "Endless Pain" (generally in superior form) so there's not really much reason to explore this demo in isolation.
This bootleg compilation is definitely worth a few listens though, if only to witness the roots of Destruction which deserve a lot more credit than they've been afforded. If I'm being honest I'd have to say that I prefer this CD to all of the early Teutonic thrash releases of the 1982-1985 period with the exception of "Endless Pain" & there's enough quality here to see it holding its own in comparison there too. The early Holy Moses, Vectom & Sodom efforts don't really interest me all that much whereas there's some genuine excitement about this CD.
3.5/5
This is a common occurrence Andi so I wouldn't worry about it. Most of your playlists include a track or two that aren't available in Australia but it's too hard to manage so I don't do anything about it. Let's leave my submission as it is as that track is available here (unless of course Xephyr can't see the track in his location).
March 2023
01. Bloodbath – “Like Fire” (from “Resurrection Through Carnage”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]
02. In Flames – “State of Slow Decay” (from “Foregone”, 2023)
03. Decapitated – “Babylon’s Pride” (from “Nihility”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]
04. An Abstract Illusion – “Tear Down This Holy Mountain” (from “Woe”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
05. Memoriam – “Total War” (from “Rise To Power”, 2023)
06. Obituary – “Without A Conscience” (from “Dying of Everything”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]
07. Mithridatum – “Mournful Glow” (from “Harrowing”, 2023)
08. Intoxicated – “Watch You Burn” (from “Watch You Burn”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
09. Monstrosity – “Perpetual War” (from “In Dark Purity”, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]
10. Qrixkuor – “Zoetrope (Psychospiritual Sparagmos)” (from “Zoetrope” E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
11. Ulthar – “Saccades” (from “Anthronomicon”, 2023)
12. Artificial Brain – “A Lofty Grave” (from “Artificial Brain”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
13. Corpsessed – “Profane Phlegm” (from “Succumb To Rot”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]
14. Immolation – “Let The Darkness In” (from “Acts of God”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]
15. Nothingness – “Horrendous Incantation” (from “Supraliminal”, 2023)
16. Anachronism – “Meanders” (from “Meanders”, 2023)
17. Cannibal Corpse – “Pit of Zombies” (from “Gore Obsessed”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]
18. Conjureth – “Smothering Psalms” (from “The Parasitic Chambers”, 2023)
19. Cephalic Carnage – “Black Metal Sabbath” (from “Lucid Interval”, 2002)
20. Combatwoundedveteran – “My Spine! My Spine! My Spine!” (from “I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos”, 1999)
21. Sanguisugabogg – “Pissed” (from “Homicidal Ecstasy”, 2023)
22. Nile – “The Blessed Dead” (from “In Their Darkened Shrines”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]
Here's the updated feature release roster for April:
THE FALLEN: Vinny, Daniel, Sonny, Ben
THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy
THE GUARDIANS: Daniel, Xephyr
THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel, Vinny
THE INFINITE: Saxy, Andi, Xephyr
THE NORTH: Daniel, Xephyr, Ben, Vinny, Sonny
THE PIT: Vinny, Daniel, Ben, Sonny
THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi
THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel
There won't be a submission from me this month Andi.
Here's my submission for the April playlist Andi:
The Chariot - "The King" (from "Long Live", 2010)
Here are my submissions for the April playlist Vinny:
Anacrusis - "Grateful" (from "Screams & Whispers", 1993)
Boris - "Czechoslovakia" (from "Heavy Rocks", 2011)
Here are my submissions for the April playlist Ben:
Svartidaudi - "Aureum Lux" (from "Revelations of the Red Sword", 2018)
The Berzerker - "Ignorance" (from "The Berzerker", 2000)
Here are my submissions for the April playlist:
Gorement - "My Ending Quest" (from "The Ending Quest", 1994)
Genghis Tron - "Ride The Steambolt" (from "Cloak Of Love" E.P., 2005)
Bologna Violenta - "Sono diventati tutti mostri" (from "Il nuovissimo mondo", 2010)
Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "For Just Ten Cents A Day..." (from "Altered States of America", 2003)
The Berzerker - "Reality" (from "The Berzerker", 2000)
Whourkr - "Squirk" (from "Concrete", 2008)
Thotcrime - "Pog Destroyer" (from "onyourcomputer", 2020)
Defeated Sanity - "Conceived Through Savagery" (from "The Sanguinary Impetus", 2020)
Here's my submission for the April playlist Xephyr:
Angra - "Angels & Demons" (from "Temple of Shadows", 2004)
Here's my nomination for the April playlist Saxy::
Soundgarden - "Loud Love" (from "Louder Than Love", 1989)
Here's my submissions for the April playlist Sonny:
Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - "Ritual Knife" (from "Blood Lust", 2011)
OM - "Flight Of The Eagle" (from "Conference Of The Birds", 2006)
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement as two separate entries.
Breaking Benjamin - "We Are Not Alone" (2004)
I know this might sound strange to those of you located in the USA but I had literally never heard a Breaking Benjamin song until the last couple of days when I explored their sophomore album. It seemed like an unintimidating thing to play while my wife & kids were around & my suspicion was right about that so it served the purpose quite well. What we have here is a combination of Bush/Nickelback style post-grunge & alternative rock with a bit of Tool & Korn style alternative metal & nu metal tossed in there here & there. It's certainly not a metal release in my opinion as there are really only two full metal songs on this bad-boy & both of them a pretty much clones of the two metal bands I mentioned above. It's not as bad an album as a lot of people would have you believe though, even if there are a few pretty ordinary attempts of commercialism included (see the radio-friendly alternative rock of "Follow", the cheesy pop-rock of "Forget It" & the poppy acoustic ballad "Rain"). I quite liked the rest of the album to be honest but can't see any reason that a record like this one should belong here at the Academy.
3.5/5
I can't say that I'm surprised to hear your feelings on these two releases Andi. I mean, the definition of cybergrind is "the combination of the standard conventions of Grindcore taken to an even more discordant and rapidfire extreme, with the added Electronic dimensions of computer generated noises and drum machines i.e. grindcore with electronics layered over the top for added extremity. You've historically always hated grindcore from what I've seen so I never would have suggested that you might get a lot out of these releases. Has this experience changed your opinion on the cybergrind qualifiations of Genghis Tron's "Cloak of Love" at all now that you've had the opportunity to hear a couple of releases that I consider to be genuine cybergrind?
P.S. Sub-one-minute tracks are par for the course with grindcore. In fact, the Agoraphobic Nosebleed record I reviewed last week included 100 tracks over the course of it's brief 21 minute duration.
For those that are interested, I've put together my Top Ten Cybergrind Releases of All Time list & have included any release that is commonly regarded as being a part of the genre, despite my strong opinions on the eligibility of some of these records. See what you think:
01. Genghis Tron - "Dead Mountain Mouth" (2006)
02. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "Altered States of America" (2003)
03. Noism - "±" (2008)
04. Whourkr - "Concrete" (2008)
05. Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Converge - "The Poacher Diaries" split album (1999)
06. Thotcrime - "ønyøurcømputer" (2020)"
07. The Berzerker - "The Berzerker" (2000)
08. Genghis Tron - "Cloak of Love" E.P. (2005)
09. Phantomsmasher - "Atomsmasher" (2001)
10. Gigantic Brain - "The Invasion Discography" (2004)
Defeated Sanity - "The Sanguinary Impetus" (2020)
German brutal/technical death metallers Defeated Sanity have been a very consistent performer over the years with every new album commanding a level of respect from a small niche market within the underground extreme metal scene that I once dedicated my life to. They’re a more challenging prospect than many of their peers at times due to their flat-out refusal to compromise on technicality in the interest of brutality & I can’t deny that there have been times when I’ve struggled to make sense of all the chaos over the years but I inherently WANT to like this band as they tick so many of my musical boxes with 2020’s “The Sanguinary Impetus” album (their sixth full-length) being a prime example of what I’m talking about.
Upon first listen it’s very easy for Defeated Sanity’s savage wall of noise to wash over you without much sticking as “The Sanguinary Impetus” is astoundingly technical & complex yet possesses a production job that’s been left intentionally dark & murky. It’s only upon repeat listens that the nuances start to become clear. You see, this record is surprisingly ambitious in its structure & scope. The band have seriously thrown the kitchen sink at both the brutal & technical elements of their sound here. It doesn’t always work but there can be no denying that it’s a consistently intriguing & challenging experience with the rewards eventually coming for those that are willing to persist.
Despite being one of the most relentlessly brutal bands in death metal, Defeated Sanity present a jazzy influence at times & I suspect that bands like Atheist & Watchtower have received many plays in the band’s rehearsal room. You can hear the clear technical proficiency in the instrumentation but the production job does it’s best to mask it with the overall soundscape regularly being tempted to descend into a mess but usually pulling back just in time through a more traditionally structured section. Drummer/band leader Lille Gruber doesn’t sit still for a second & while he may not be the tightest skinsman in the scene he’s certainly one of the most interesting. The rhythmic complexities on display even move into polyrhythmic territory at times which won’t be for the ears of the faint-hearted when presented within the scope of a brutal death metal backbone. Front man Josh Welshman’s indecipherable grunts remind me very much of an early 90’s Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse) meets Lord Worm (Cryptospy) hybrid & he does a pretty good job to be fair but I think a touch more intelligibility could give Defeated Sanity more appeal.
"The Sanguinary Impetus" certainly contains some exhilarating material in its own right & I’ve really enjoyed the experience, even if I can never quite let go of that niggling voice in my head that wishes that Defeated Sanity would tighten up a little more. They're clearly wanting to play in the same space as my favourite band Suffocation in their approach to creating music. They manage to match them in terms of brutality & even surpass them in the technicality stakes but they lack the same level of precision in their execution for an album like this one to play at the elite level of the subgenre. In saying that though, it’s this characteristic that separates the band from their peers as they don’t sound anything like copycats & have created their own identifiable sound.
4/5
Héroes del Silencio - "Senderos de traición" (1990)
Spanish gothic/alternative rock.