Daniel's Forum Replies
It was a pretty mixed month of features for me actually. There wasn't anything that would make my Hall of Metal Glory but there were some strong releases that I got a lot of enjoyment out of nonetheless. There were also a couple of records that I didn't get much out of to be honest. I was already somewhat familiar with the Atka, Thy Darkened Shade, The Chasm & Machine Head releases but the rest were totally new for me with the new Northlane album being my discovery of the month. The Lord Vigo record may have been somewhat divisive but I thought it was a great submission personally. Here are my results in order of preference:
THE REVOLUTION: Atka - "Untitled Album 1" (2018) 4/5
THE GATEWAY: Northlane - "Obsidian" (2022) 4/5
THE FALLEN: Lord Vigo - "Danse de noir" (2020) 4/5
THE NORTH: Thy Darkened Shade - "Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet" (2014) 3.5/5
THE HORDE: The Chasm - "Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm" (2009) 3.5/5
THE INFINITE: Devin Townsend Project - "Deconstruction" (2011) 3.5/5
THE PIT: Machine Head - "The Blackening" (2007) 3.5/5
THE GUARDIANS: Loudness - "Soldier of Fortune" (1989) 3/5
THE SPHERE: Deathstars - "Termination Bliss" (2006) 3/5
Just thinking about it now, my Big Four would be Slayer, Metallica, Kreator & Sepultura.
I disagree. I'd take "Spreading The Disease", "Among The Living" & even "Armed & Dangerous" over anything Testament has released. I've never considered Testament to be a tier one thrash band to be honest.
I'd have Sepultura in my Big Four ahead of Anthrax, Testament or Megadeth.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Super-extreme German mathgrind.
PURE…… CHAOS……
PURE… UNADULTERATED…. UNMITIGATED…. RELENTLESS CHAOS!!!!
That’s what German mathgrind outfit Atka bring to the table alright. Seventeen short, sharp shocks to the system through incredible insanity, complexity, urgency & savagery & a front man who must surely be only moments away from a hernia given just how nuts he goes on every track. I’m honestly not sure how a band like Atka can keep this up for more than one or two releases & that seems to have rung true for Atka who haven’t been seen or heard of since.
I really am a sucker for inexcusably brutal yet well produced extreme metal music, aren’t I? Particularly when the level of musicianship is as high as it is here. I mean if The Dillinger Escape Plan looked side to side I’m sure they’d see Atka sitting right alongside them in that department only they’re carrying a whole array of super-intense blast-beats to scare your boss, your girlfriend & your Aunty’s best friend right back to wherever it is they came from. At just thirty minutes in duration you would think that a record like this one would be well-served by the short runtime but I would think that even such a brief dalliance with the senses would be almost too much to bare in one sitting for the majority of casual metal fans. Thankfully I’m not a casual metal fan by any means & this record was right up my alley. May the song structures have ADD & the blast-beats be eternal I say!
For fans of Discordance Axis, Antigama & Fuck The Facts.
4/5
Welcome to the Academy Rexorcist. It's great to have you here. I think you'll find a lot to enjoy as there's a whole bunch of cool ideas & functionality hidden away within the different tabs of the Academy site just waiting for you to discover them. Let me know if I can help you with anything as that's what I'm here for. Get amongst it!
Fucking cool avatar too! Well done!
Have just updated my top ten after checking out this month's The Revolution feature release in Atka's "Untitled Album 1" & finding that it has to command a place in my list at the expense of Napalm Death's "The Peel Sessions":
01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)
02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)
03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)
04. Nasum - "Helvete" (2003)
05. Atka - "Untitled Album 1" (2018)
06. Terrorizer - "World Downfall" (1989)
07. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)
08. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)
09. Nails - "Unsilent Death" (2010)
10. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/149
To clarify my intent with asking this question on Twitter, Andi is correct. The discussion was brought on by my bewilderment at how Deathstars' "Termination Bliss" managed to get lumped in with Industrial Metal when it doesn't contain any of the main attributes of that sound & the only answer I could come up with was that people needed to find somewhere to stick them due to not them not being German enough to qualify as Neue Deutsche Harte. I've seen evidence of that being discussed online since to partially validate that theory too.
I don't think it'll surprise too many of you to hear that I struggled with this one & I was always expecting to if I'm honest. I've encountered Deathstars a number of times over the years while programming the monthly The Sphere playlists & it was always clear to me that they sit well outside of my musical taste profile so I've never felt the need to fill in the gaps by venturing into a full album before. Now having done that over the last 24 hours I'm left feeling exactly as a thought I would. You see the sound that Deathstars are pushing here is a fair bit poppier than I'm generally comfortable with & if you're going to go that way then you'd better have the hooks to back it up. There are a few tracks that succeed in that regard (see "Cyanide", "Termination Bliss" & to a lesser extent "Virtue To Vice") but unfortunately I don't think they've nailed them consistently enough to draw my attention away from my stylistic concerns here.
On the positive side, the production job is clear, bright & glistening & does a great job at highlighting the band's main strength which is the contrast between the chunky guitar riffs & the lush & spacey synthesizer component. The simple groove-laden riffs have so clearly been stolen from the template that Rammstein developed that it's bordering on plagiarism while the synths give the overall package a noticeable cyber metal feel. For that reason I see this release as sitting somewhere in between the German Neue Deutsche Härte sound & a cyber metal one. There's absolutely no industrial metal here whatsoever so I'm absolutely baffled as to how this release has been lumped into that category. I'd encourage all members of The Sphere to correct that mistake ASAP. The other interesting element is the gothic one as the super-deep male vocals & dancey tempos have pretty obviously been borrowed from Sisters of Mercy, once again bordering on plagiarism at times. You'll also find some accompanying blackened vocals scattered across the tracklisting & those are pretty poorly executed & a little grating if I'm honest. Thankfully the few tracks that I do enjoy are really quite strong & there's nothing here that I regard as utterly horrendous so my overall opinion is that "Termination Bliss" simply isn't for me.
For fans of Rammstein, The Kovenant & Sisters of Mercy.
3/5
P.S. I was pretty surprised to discover that Deathstars were born out of the ashes of melodic black metal outfit Swordmaster whose "Wraths of Time" E.P. I was across during my tape trading days back in the mid-1990's. Also, guitarist/keyboardist Emil Nödtveidt is the brother of deceased Dissection mastermind Jon Nödtveidt while drummer Ole Öhman played on Dissection's classic albums. Both of these guys were also in melodic black metal band Ophthalamia who you might have heard of too.
Swedish cyber metal.
Interesting thoughts Andi. My perspective is a little different to your own. See both Ben & I have problems with what we call "locational genre tagging" Andi. The NWOBHM & US Power Metal scenes are prime examples of that given that there really isn't an easily identifiable sound they're encompassing but instead envelope a wider cross-section of different sounds. Unlike yourself though, I'm very much of the opinion that Neue Deutsche Harte is a well-defined sound that's clearly differentiated from your conventional industrial metal sound. The reason I feel this way is because I was responsible for programming the playlists for The Sphere for years & every month those tracks stood out like a sore thumb. Now that brings us to the question of what subgenres are really for. In my opinion they're to help people to identify music that they are likely to enjoy & I don't see how an artist's location or the language the artist has chosen to deliver their lyrics in fits into that. If you have one band from Germany who have a specific sound & then another band from another country with almost exactly the same sound (I'm not referring to anyone in particular at the moment) then why shouldn't they have the same subgenre tag? They absolutely should as far as I can see. My feeling is that we should have a harder look at how we use this subgenre because I'm not comfortable to separate like-artists based on location at the Academy.
This submission has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This submission has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Epic doom metal from Germany.
I have to admit that after giving this record a good few spins over the last couple of days I've found my opinion sitting at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum to some of those detailed above in that I feel "Danse de noir" fits the description for an epic doom metal release very accurately, so much so in fact that I'm gonna submit a Hall entry to have it removed from The Guardians because I don't feel the Heavy Metal tag is relevant given that it's more of an influence than it is a primary genre & is a necessary component of the Epic Doom Metal sound. Also, I really enjoyed this album & found it be a welcome addition to our list of feature releases. I thought the interludes were all really well done (particularly "Are You Human" which is outstanding) & the vocal delivery is something very different from what I'm used to hearing which gives it a strange appeal (think Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra meets the upper register delivery of Type O Negative's Pete Steele & you'd be pretty close). It's interesting that front man Patrick "Vinz Clortho" Palm is actually Lord Vigo's drummer too which isn't all that common. The incorporation of synthesizer accompaniment works well to enhance the epic atmosphere with Viking-period Bathory often springing to mind & the record finishes on a high with the chorus of album highlight "Memento Mori" possessing a dark anthemic quality that really hit the spot for me. There's a bit of a lull in the second half of the album when the band steer away from the doom for a couple of tracks with both the Maiden-inspired heavy metal number "And Then The Planets Will Align" & the noticeably flat Gothic Post-Punk song "Between Despair & Ecstasy" falling short of the mark but there's more than enough quality across the rest of the tracklisting to not only make up for those blemishes but to keep me very well entertained as well. Great stuff!
For fans of Candlemass, Solstice & Sorcerer.
4/5
New Order - "Technique" (1989)
The Manchester alternative dance gods' highly acclaimed fifth album used to get played at messy early morning after parties all the time back when I was a DJ in the 2000's. It sounds pretty dated these days & is probably a little too jangly & uplifting for my taste too. Still... undoubtedly a very important record for the dance scene at the time.
The Magnolia Electric Co. - "The Magnolia Electric Co." (2003)
The debut album from this Buffalo-based project fronted by Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia fame. It takes an alternative/country rock sound & has some truly devastating song-writing on it. It's not all gold but there's easily enough quality & integrity in this release to warrant repeat listens from this ol' metalhead with the highlights shining like a beacon. A really enjoyable change of scenery.
I think you might really dig this Xephyr.
Wim Sonneveld - "Ssst! Wim Sonneveld zingt" (1958)
Some casual Dutch cabaret while I make dinner after a hard day's work.
Late 80's heavy metal from Japan.
There were actually quite a lot of Japanese heavy metal bands around during the '80s, most notably Anthem, Earthshaker and Seikima-II. Its just that most of them ended up doing poorly outside of Japan or just never bothered to begin with. I think the only ones that managed well were these guys, Bow Wow and Show-Ya, and the latter two moreso with the rock crowd than with metalheads.
Another fun fact, Loudness might just possibly be the band where its members have the most side projects in existence. The guitarist, Akira Takasaki, and I think the bassist and vocalist each have their own solo albums. There's also a quasi-supergroup by the name of M.T. Fuji. Finally, most of the band also created the music for the albums of '80s Japanese singer Misako Honjoh. They were busy little bees during the '80s.
As to this album, its been a long time since I listened to it, but I believe this is the album where they got rid of their original vocalist to try to chase more American success with an American vocalist. Guess it worked, though I myself was introduced to the band through Thunder in the East.
Don't forget the awful Lazy who were a precursor to Loudness. They were essentially a record company-instigated teenage boy band who decided to change direction & go in a heavier direction at some stage. The album I've heard from them (i.e 1980's "Uchusen Chikyugo") was an absolutely atrocious blend of heavy metal & pop rock & I regard it as one of the worst metal releases I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
Ok, so I feel like I should kick off this review with a clear disclaimer. I’ve had quite a bit of exposure to Loudness over the years but have never been a fan of what I’ve heard. My experiences largely sit within the band’s first four albums which saw the light of day between 1981 & 1984 &, while none of those releases were exactly horrible, they each left me feeling decidedly underwhelmed & wondering how records like “Disillusion” & “The Law of Devil’s Land” have become so popular with fans of the classic heavy metal sound. Akira Takasaki is certainly a wonderful guitar virtuoso but that was never enough to combat the cheesy & generic song-writing & the horrible Japanese-accented lyrics. Regardless, I’ve never been one to let internal bias direct my views on a release that I’ve previously been unacquainted with so let’s see what “Soldier of Fortune” is all about, shall we?
Loudness have certainly proven themselves to be quite prolific over the years as they’d released a full four albums in the time between 1984’s “Disillusion” (arguably their most highly acclaimed record) & 1989’s “Soldier of Fortune”. I remember some of their earlier material having a noticeable Rush-style progressive rock influence but by this stage they’d dropped that altogether with the late 80’s model of Loudness opting for a more straight-down-the-line hard rock-infused heavy metal sound. Akira’s devastating axe-slinging skills are the clear highlight of the album & this may just be the finest performance I’ve heard from him to date with Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads & Yngwie Malmsteen influences all being combined into a truly slaying example of the late 80’s shred phenomenon. The other noteworthy element of “Solder of Fortune” is the incorporation of a new American vocalist in Mike Vescera who offers the band a newly found accessibility. He also goes a long way to solving the problems I mentioned earlier with original singer Minoru Niihara as the vocal delivery is no longer an issue for me here.
“Soldier of Fortune” kicks off pretty well to be honest & after the first few songs I was wondering whether I may have found a Loudness record I could actually appreciate. Unfortunately though, things start to got noticeably rocky through the middle of the album with hard rocker “Red Light Shooter” falling pretty flat & the two ballads “Twenty-Five Days” & “Lost Without Your Love” reminding me of my qualms with the band’s earlier releases. Things do start to pick up late in the piece before tripping over themselves again with lazy power metal closer “Demon Disease”. Don’t get me wrong. There are some decent tunes here & I get enjoyment out of a good 60% of the tracklisting. It’s just that there are no obvious highlight tracks to balance out the low points & that leaves me feeling like the whole experience is more of a chore than it would have been if there had of been one or two real belters included.
Poor Loudness. They try so hard but may be destined never to see my head turn in admiration, despite the presence of a guitar god of the highest order. “Soldier of Fortune” is a more straight forward heavy metal record than earlier outings & this is both its strength & weakness. It can sound pretty basic in its makeup at times but also seems a touch more focused at the same time. If pushed I’d suggest that it’s the Loudness record that’s come the closest to hitting the mark in my experiences with the band to date but they’ve still got a lot of work to do if they want to see me singing their praises.
For fans of Yngwie Malmsteen, Dokken & Accept.
3/5
This submission has now been added to the Hall of Judgement.
Umm Kulthum - "Inta Omri" (1964)
Arabic classical/pop music from Egypt. It's not really my thing to be honest but was worth having a flirt with in the name of expanding my musical knowledge nonetheless.
Aren't you really taking more about Cyber Metal there though Andi? Industrial metal must be cold & mechanical in nature in my opinion. That's kinda the whole point of the genre & there's absolutely none of that here as far as I can see. There's not even any samples. I mean put this next to a Godflesh, Ministry or Strapping Young Lad record & they're like chalk & cheese. The electronic component on "Obsidian" is almost entirely Trance-based which I would have thought was covered by the Trance Metal tag. The rhythmic element sits in Djent territory for the most part.
A sublime djenty nu metal tune from this alternative trancecore outfit from Sydney, Australia.
This submission has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Please keep these three Hall of Judgement entries in mind when checking out this feature release:
https://metal.academy/hall/235
I may have recently relocated to Queensland but I’m still well & truly a Sydneysider at heart which is why it seems almost insane that I’ve never heard a full Northlane record before. I mean these guys have been pretty much a staple of the local scene for more than a decade now but I have to admit that they’ve always sounded like the they’d be none of my business & I perhaps didn’t give the material I did hear much of a chance. Anyway… Andi’s feature release submission has seen me rectifying that situation & I’m really glad that I did because “Obsidian” isn’t what I was expecting at all.
The first thing I noticed was that for a release that’s tagged as industrial/alternative metal there’s a lot more going on than that. In fact, there’s absolutely zero industrial metal here so I have no idea where people are drawing that tag from. The combination of alternative metal, nu metal, trance, djent, metalcore & trip hop that we do get is extremely hard to tag. The djent component is very strong throughout however this record doesn’t belong in The Infinite so I wouldn’t opt for it as a primary on that tag. Overall, I’d suggest that calling this record alternative trancecore is about as close as I can come up with but the result is so much better than that sounds on paper.
You see, “Obsidian” is a beautifully comp[osed, executed & produced effort from a classy artist that knows their sound & how to best present it very well. The band are in complete unison, the breakdowns are thick & chunky, the trancey crescendos are glistening & epic & the vocal hooks are tasty & memorable so the album delivers on everything that this sort of poppy metal release promises on the cover. Front man Marcus Bridge is the clear focal point & the highlight of the album (as he should be with records like this one). The chorus hooks on wonderful tracks like “Dark Solitaire”, “Plenty”, “Cypher” & the brilliant album high point “Carbonized” are nothing short of breath-taking & draw on the very best that Linkin Park had to offer for inspiration. In fact, I’ll be surprised if Northlane’s star doesn’t rise across the globe at a great rate of knots off the back of this record.
“Obsidian” isn’t my usual type of metal record by any means & it took me keeping an open mind in order to leave myself open to its charms but once I did I was transported to somewhere I didn’t know existed, certainly not from an artist from my home town. The idea of the Trance Metal subgenre has always left a very bad taste in my mouth & my experiences with it to date haven’t proven to be anything other than negative however if this record is anything to go by then there are avenues it can take that can be not only successful but genuinely captivating.
For fans of Enter Shikari, Motionless In White & Linkin Park.
4/5
It'd be great if you can keep this Hall of Judgement submission in mind while checking out this month's feature release guys:
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
It'd be great if you can all keep this Hall of Judgement entry in mind while checking out this month's feature release guys.
Ry Cooder - "Paris, Texas" Soundtrack (1985)
This film soundtrack has been one of my all-time favourites since the early 1990's. The film has been too actually. The soundtrack is essentially just Cooder playing some stunningly emotive & relaxing unaccompanied slide guitar but you won't find a better example of acoustic blues than this. I basically have to stop whatever I'm doing & melt into the floor every time it comes on.
Sonny, you should really get on this one if you haven't already.
This nomination has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This submission has been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Californian groove metal/
I have an admission to make. Despite being aware of Californian groove head establishment since the very beginning of their recording career & having seen them perform live in years gone past, this is the only Machine Head record I’ve ever listened to in full before now. This omission is a little unusual as I usually pride myself on my willingness to step outside of my musical comfort zone in the interest of maintaining the broadest knowledge of metal music I possibly can, perhaps being driven by my Metal Academy responsibilities in recent years if I’m being completely honest. I was certainly aware of the significant impact that Machine Head made on the metal scene with their 1994 debut album “Burn My Eyes” & I know the bigger tracks on that record by heart thanks to the consistent exposure I received from other parties at the time but the early 90’s groove metal explosion perhaps didn’t have the same impact on me that it did other metal fans as I was already well & truly immersed in extreme metal. Was I missing out? Well, if “The Blackening” is an elite example of the genre then I’d suggest that I didn’t as I still struggle a bit with the lack of substance & the general focus on macho posturing but I can’t deny that this is a decent metal record & my score here reflects that.
I do appreciate the tight performances from the band & the solid, chunky production which does a good job at highlighting the strengths of the individual musicians. There’s still a truckload of Pantera influence in Machine Head’s sound even all these years later with Rob Flynn’s vocals sounding uncannily like he’s trying to emulate Phil Anselmo at times. There are a few differentiators to be found though & they’re well worth discussing. For starters, the extreme length of many of the eight tracks on offer pushes up into self-indulgent territory at times. The tracks aren’t boring or anything but I have to ask what the point was as it’s not like there’s much of a progressive component to these song structures so they really are just extended groove metal songs. There’s also a significant thrash metal influence to some of the tracks here, perhaps more than I’ve noticed in the Machine Head material I’ve heard from other releases. It’s not enough to justify a primary thrash tag but it’s definitely there. I’m not much of a fan of the clean vocals which seem to be a clear attempt at commercialism but the biggest surprise for me was the inclusion of Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies & often for extended periods. I can’t say that they work all that well as they try their level best to drag the band into a cheesier territory that’s somewhat at odds with their masculine image. I wouldn’t say that this is a deal breaker by any means but I think the implementation could have been executed in a more subtle way. The lead guitar work is pretty effective though & is often a highlight.
The tracklisting is pretty solid with only the one obvious dud in the more commercial “Beautiful Mourning” but there aren’t really any genuine classics for me personally. I generally like the vast majority of the album but the only track that really gets me going on a physical level is “Now I Lay Thee Down” which I find to be the clear album highlight. From what I can tell though, “The Blackening” not only seems to compete with “Burn My Eyes” for Machine Head’s most popular record these days but is also one of groove metal’s most highly regarded releases overall so I can only really assume that my personal taste is restricting its appeal. I do remember enjoying the tracks I know from the debut a bit more than what I’ve taken from “The Blackening” though so it might be worth my while giving it a chance at long last over the coming months. I have to admit that “The Blackening” is unlikely to disappoint fans of quality metal music but it was never going to threaten my upper scores from a purely stylistic point of view.
For fans of Pantera, Sepultura & Soulfly.
3.5/5
Part of the problem I had with Machine Head's The Blackening is the lyrics in a few songs here, like in this f***ing slanderous stinker:
Two years since I've reviewed this album and I still haven't forgotten this atrocity.
What's your problem with this one Andi? I don't mind it to be honest. I never pay much attention to lyrics but these seem to be criticizing the way we force minorities into isolation which is a message that I'm 100% behind. Of course they've chosen to use a few naughty words but they've used them in a third person way that's critical of our use of them as a society & I can understand why they've done so. The fact that it's shocked you completely justifies the message.
My highlight from Mexican death metallers The Chasm's seventh album takes more of a progressive black metal approach.
I'm right there with you Vinny. I was familiar with the first couple of albums from The Chasm through the tape trading scene back in the 1990's with one of my trading partners from Chile keeping me well up to date with everything that was happening in the South American extreme metal scene. Neither appeared to be anything particularly special though even if both were quite enjoyable. It wasn't until I returned to metal in 2009 that I had the opportunity to run through The Chasm's highly celebrated run of albums from 1998-2009 though & (very much like yourself Vinny) I found that "Procession to the Infraworld" was the clear standout. The other four records were a mixed bag for me & you've probably noticed that I've been revisiting all of these releases over the last few months to see if my opinion has changed. If anything I'd suggest that my feelings have declined a bit though with 1998's "Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph" & 2003's "Conjuration of the Spectral Empire" doing very little for me. I quite like 2004's The Spell of Retribution" but 2009's "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm" is probably the best of the rest in my opinion.
As with all of The Chasm's classic era releases, "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm" is a wide array of subgenres & is subsequently very hard to categorize. I've often pondered over whether this ambiguity of sound might be why the band have managed to achieve such a strong underground following over the years actually. Despite generally being labelled as a death metal band, you'll often find that there's just as much melodeath, thrash metal, black metal, progressive metal & doom metal about their records as there is genuine death metal & "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm" is no exception. I'm pleased that the melodeath thing has been tapered off on this occasion though as, even though I generally liked "The Spell of Retribution", I can't deny that it put me outside of my comfort zone a little more than I would have liked.
With their seventh album we find The Chasm at their most creative & ambitious from a song structure point of view with several really lengthy pieces & a strong instrumental component. The band are known for chucking ten thousand riffs into every song & that's never been more the case you'll find here. If you're a riff-master then you certainly won't be disappointed but there's also a more progressive approach being taken on this record with a significant rise in the complexity of the riff structures. In fact, I'm often drawn to reference the technical thrash metal of Vektor. The Chasm have also made the open-string arpeggiated black metal style a consistent part of their arsenal & they pull it off with ease here along with the occasional dipping of toes into doomier territories (particularly on lengthy closer "The Mission / Arrival to Hopeless Shores (Calling the Paranormal Abysm)").
This is all sounds very good on paper so why haven't I scored "Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm" higher? Well, for all their creative ambition, The Chasm have never been a band that was completely in control of their instruments. They lack subtlety & finesse & that can be clearly seen in the short progressive metal piece "Farseeing..." with the heavy-handed lead work leaving me fighting back cringes. I sometimes wonder weather this lack of polish is a part of The Chasm's underground appeal though actually. It probably makes them sound a little more underground even though their package isn't all that extreme for death metal. The production jobs usually sound pretty underground too which has further accentuated their street credibility. Personally I don't pay any attention to any of that. I call 'em like I see 'em & "Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm" is a pretty entertaining listen that doesn't quite manage to excite me consistently enough to compete with the premier death metal bands.
For fans of Cenotaph, Shub Niggurath & Blood Incantation.
3.5/5
Shum - "Levegő" (2018)
A lovely example of Hungarian ambient music that utilizes droning walls of noise in conjunction with gorgeously subtle synth pads.
Once again the least popular track on an album appeals to me the most. Avant-garde progressive metal from Canada.
Hhhmmm.... I have to admit that I initially found "Deconstruction" to be a bit of a struggle as it's so clearly not targeted at me as an audience. I usually steer well clear of words like "wacky", "quirky" & "theatrical" when it comes my metal & this record has all of them in spades with Devin seemingly throwing the kitchen sink at every track on this lengthy third album under the Devin Townsend Project moniker. I quite liked 2009's "Addicted" but had no time whatsoever for the prog rock of "Ki" from the same year. This time he released both "Deconstruction" (an avant-garde progressive metal beast) simultaneously with another ambient new age album in "Ghost" which I really despised & perhaps that's what kept me away from "Deconstruction" up until now.
You can expect a real wall of sound with all sorts of things layered over the top of each other here. It's very clear that Devin has made a conscious attempt to sound as off-the-wall & bizarre as possible with his strange sense of humour coming into play at various times too. There's a significant symphonic component incorporated throughout the record & Devin tries all sorts of vocal techniques across the tracklisting along with a variety of musical styles from electronic music & opera right through to blast-beat-driven death metal. A couple of listens saw my ears starting to become adjusted to what was in store for me & by the end of the third listen I found myself showing some appreciation for what is undoubtedly an extraordinarily original & generally very consistent piece of art. It's just not something that appeals to me enough to see me returning to it too often. "Deconstruction" is highly progressive, is over the top in every way & pushes the insanity dial up to eleven for its entire duration. "Addicted" still gets my vote for Devin Townsend Project's best work but not by a lot & I feel sure that there's a healthy fanbase out there for records like this.
For fans of Strapping Young Lad, Ihsahn & Buckethead.
3.5/5
Progressive black metal from Greece.
I quite liked this album although it hasn't really realized its full potential in my opinion. It's a classic case of style over substance with great emphasis being placed on the strong level of musicianship that each band member possesses, especially session drummer Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist/Eternity's End/Hate Eternal/Obscura/Triptykon) who I've always admired. Grossmann's blast beats are nothing short of exceptional here & are the clear highlight of the album, despite some wonderfully inventive & quite melodic black metal guitar work. I don't know where the links to death metal are coming from as this is quite clearly a black metal release however I'd be happy enough with a progressive black metal tag as it's clearly a more ambitious record than your average tremolo-picked Satanfest. Perhaps the deeper vocal delivery is where people are drawing the death metal reference from but if that's the case then they're perhaps not all that familiar with the Greek black metal scene. I do think that Thy Darkened Shade were pushing the friendship a little with the 76 minute run time but admittedly they maintain a consistent quality throughout. The songs do tend to sound a little samey after a while though & I can't but feel that a bit of quality control might have resulted in a much stronger product. Still... there's a lot to like about "Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet". I'm just not sure I can see myself returning to it all that often.
For fans of Acrimonious, Abigor & Dissection.
3.5/5
My observations:
1. Sonny has likely listened to over 222 doom metal releases this decade.
2. Neoclassical Metal & Southern Metal are not a metal subgenres.
3. Ben has far too much time on his hands.
4. I am well behind on modern metal & are progressively getting more so.
Can someone please tell me how this track became a single & is one of the most popular & high regarded songs on Sepultura's 1996 "Roots" album? It's absolutely awful in my opinion.
Enslaved - "Vikingligr veldi" (1994)
Revisited this oldie for the first time in ages this week. I picked the CD up upon release back in the day after being impressed by Enslaved on the Emperor split & the album didn't disappoint me either. The majority of the tracklisting takes an expansive Norwegian black metal approach but there's also a Viking Metal component that differentiated it from some of the competition along with the regular use of keyboards without ever threatening to push out into "symphonic black metal" territory. I have to say that time hasn't been that kind to those synthesizers as they sound very dated & more than a little cheesy these days. Grutle Kjellson's vocals were pretty gurgly at this point too & could have been a little better. There's some wonderfully classic black metal on here though & I was heading towards awarding it a premier rating until the decidedly Moonsorrow-ish closing instrumental piece "Norvegr" popped up at the last minute to bring me back to earth. It's not a bad track but it's folky Viking Metal stylings aren't anywhere near as much to my taste as a blasting black metal monster like "Vetrarnótt" (my album highlight) or "Midgards eldar" with it's obvious early-90's Bathory influence. After revisiting Enslaved's super-popular 2003 album "Below the Lights" recently I'd have to say that I prefer "Vikingligr veldi" these days & I wonder how much of that is nostalgia. I'm not too sure but I can't say that I think of "Vikingligr veldi" as sitting amongst the elite Norwegian black metal releases. It's a second tier record for mine but a strong one at that.
For fans of early Emperor/Windir & Viking-era Bathory.
4/5
Excellent. Sounds like it might be right up my alley then!
Parkcrest - "Midnight Chasm" (from "And That Blue Will Turn To Red", 2019)
Pantera - "Message In Blood" (from "Cowboys From Hell", 1990)
Sepultura - "Cut-Throat" (from "Roots", 1996)