Daniel's Forum Replies

All the best for your recovery Andi. COVID has been making a resurgence in my area in recent weeks thanks to a new strain. I'm not sure how it's being handled in your part of the world but we're not even required to isolate after registering a positive test any more, despite hospitalizations rising fairly sharply. It's a fine balance & I'm not sure we've quite got it right just yet.

Ben, please add NWOBHM band Mythra's four-song "The Death & Destiny" E.P. from 1979.

Liturgy - "H.A.Q.Q." (2019)

This is some fucking weird-assed shit from this Brooklyn outfit. I wasn't much of a fan of Liturgy prior to this record but they managed to get my attention with this fourth album. What we get here is a swirling mass of avant-garde dissonant black metal noise & screaming combined with glitchy electronic sound manipulation, cinematic orchestration that sounds like it could have been the soundtrack to "The Wizard of Oz" & several stripped back interludes that remind me of the totalism branch of the minimalism movement. Does it all work? Well, in a word no but the majority of it does & when they get it right it's hard not to be impressed by how much sense can be made from such chaotic components. The interludes are pretty boring & don't add a lot to the album in my opinion but the majority of the black metal oriented material is quite entertaining. I'm just not sure I'll ever find all of my metal boxes being ticked by such obscure sounds unless it can achieve some catchier melodic ideas.

For fans of Krallice, Jute Gyte & Mastery.

3.5/5

Def Leppard - "The Def Leppard E.P." (1979)

I've never liked Sheffield-based NWOBHM legends Def Leppard's 1980 debut album "On Through the Night" much to be honest. Def Leppard didn't offer much interest for me until 1981's very solid "High 'n' Dry" record (which is probably still their best work in my opinion) but I have to admit that I'd only ever given their seminal 1979 debut E.P. a passing listen during my Metal Academy podcast research many years ago so thought I'd better rectify that in the interest of completism. It didn't sound much like metal at the time so I didn't give it much attention at the time & nothing's changed there. As with a lot of early NWOBHM releases, "The Def Leppard E.P." is nothing more than a hard rock release & I wouldn't say that it's a particular good one either. It includes three tracks with the first two both being pretty generic & uninteresting. Thankfully the seven minute epic "The Overture" is much stronger & goes some of the way to justifying the effort but unfortunately it's not enough to make this release worthy of my attention, despite coming a little closer to the mark than "On Through The Night".

For fans of Tygers of Pan Tang, Heavy Pettin' & Saxon.

3/5

It may have taken me a couple of years but I've finally gotten around to giving our August 2020 feature release a good few listens & I've gotta say that I've once again been impressed by Primus' musicianship, ambition & ingenuity. This is probably a little more quirky & whacky than their 1990 debut "Frizzle Fry" was & that may well be to its detriment with this particular listener however that doesn't stop me marveling at Les Claypool's ridiculous chops or Larry LaLonde's wonderful jazz fusion guitar work. It definitely isn't the sort of music that I would generally go for but its hard not to become engaged by the unstructured madness going on, especially given that it sounds so foreign compared to literally everything else I've ever heard.

In saying that, "Sailing The Seas of Cheese" definitely takes a little while to get going. The first four tracks are all pretty entertaining but I didn't really feel myself becoming fully engaged until their very familiar hit single "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver" kicks into play & begins a very strong three track run. The back end of the record sees them matching that quality with the lengthy psychedelic number "Fish On" (Fisherman Chronicles, Chapter II)" being my clear album highlight. As with the debut, this definitely isn't a metal record though & I really struggle to see where people can even start to see that as a possibility. I'd describe it as experimental alternative/funk rock personally but that's not important though as, despite the fact that this sophomore effort may not appeal to me quite as much as "Frizzle Fry" which is still my favourite Primus record, "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" is another damn fine example of just how enjoyable the sheer lunacy of early 90's Primus' can be.

For fans of Nuclear Rabbit, Mr. Bungle & Praxis.

4/5

Alkana - "Welcome To My Paradise" (1978)

A fairly underground one-off album from this obscure Californian band that included future Warlord front man Jack Rucker (aka Damien King) behind the mike. I'd describe Alkana's sound as being based in the hard rock of bands like Boston, Deep Purple, Van Halen & Queen with the addition of the progressive rock stylings of Yes & the proto-metal riffage of early Judas Priest. Instrumentally it's a pretty decent record but I find the light-weight vocals of Rucker to be a real let-down, particularly on the less ambitious & more traditional hard rock fodder. Unfortunately that flaw taints the overall product enough to ensure that I won't be enticed into return visits any time soon.

For fans of Van Halen, Yes & early Judas Priest.

3/5

Scorpions - "Tokyo Tapes" (1978)

I always enjoy the German hard rockers 1970's releases but I can never seem to get my scoring up over the 3.5 star mark & this double live album is no exception. It's an 80 minute/18 song journey through the band's first five albums with a few covers & an unreleased track thrown in for good measure. Some of the tracks are extended through some entertaining & most welcome instrumental experimentation with guitar legend Uli Jon Roth (in his very last show for Scorpions) being the obvious superstar. Front man Klaus Meine proves what a talented singer he can be too while the rest of the band perform their duties with a great deal of professionalism. The weak point certainly comes when Roth takes over the vocal duties on "Polar Nights" as he can't sing in key & sounds like some sort of dying animal while the high points come during the more progressive & expansive numbers, especially the brilliant one-two punch of "In Search of the Peace of Mind" & "Fly To The Rainbow" which is nothing short of breath-taking. Unfortunately there are enough generic hard rockers here to taint the elite level stuff which is generally the case with Scorpions. And for the record, Scorpions never have & never will be a metal band. That belief is a complete falsity. Still... this is definitely worth a listen for those that wanna see what the band were like in their prime or guitar heads like myself who want to marvel at one of the finest exponents of his craft the 1970's had to offer. If I'm being honest though I'd probably reach for studio albums like "Taken By Force", "Blackout", "Lovedrive" or "Animal Magentism" before this one though.

For fans of Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple & Rainbow.

3.5/5

I've decided that the YES 5 NO 0 vote tally is enough to pass this nomination so "Mekong Delta" has been added to The Infinite under the Progressive Metal genre on top of its position in The Pit.

Carcass - "Symphonies of Sickness" (1989)

Carcass' classic sophomore release was hugely influential on my conversion from thrash-obsessed madman to death metal lunatic back at the time of release however I have to say that I've been shocked by just how far it's come down in my estimations in modern times. I think it was easy to overlook the faults when I didn't have a lot to compare it to but now that I have that knowledge I've struggled to see it in the same light. It's still unquestionably my favourite goregrind release & in hindsight the freshly introduced death metal component is significantly out-weighed by the goregrind one. Ken Owen's drumming is very loose & the production is absolutely filthy but that's kinda in line with the disgusting atmosphere & both are still significant improvements on their first-up effort. Jeez, Bill Steer couldn't have got himself a worse lead guitar sound though & I have to wonder if it was intentional as he didn't fair any better on the debut. The three-pronged vocal approach is undoubtedly a major differentiator but some of it sounds pretty try-hard to be honest. I find that the A side is much stronger than the B side with most of the highlights residing there but there aren't any weak tracks as such. They tend to range from pretty good to excellent but these days I find the pretty good stuff outweigh the higher quality material. The pure grind sections where Owens goes for relentless blast-beats are great & went a long way to defining an entire genre but I can no longer say that I regard this as the classic I always have. What a shame it is when you have your childhood illusions overwritten. It's depressing!

For fans of Exhumed, Impetigo & Pharmacist.

3.5/5

Ben, can you please add Cavurn's  2017 "Rehearsal" E.P. to the site?

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

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

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

Cavurn - "Rehearsal" (2017)

Well, what have we here then?? Fucking hell! Ladies & gentlemen, this relatively unknown rehearsal demo is an absolute fucking beast of a doom/death metal release. In fact, it's forced me to heavily revisit the all-time top ten I submitted only yesterday! It's super-dark, ultra-cavernous & as weighty as any extreme doomster could ever want. I actually don't buy that it's a rehearsal tape as it's simply not possible to get one to sound this good. This shit doesn't look out of place with the absolute elite examples of the subgenre in my opinion.

For fans of Mortiferum, Bloodsoaked Necrovoid & Burial.

4.5/5

And here's my adjusted top ten:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)

04. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

05. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

06. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

07. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

08. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

09. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

10. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

It was a mixed month of feature releases for me this month really. The debut album from Dvvell was brilliant & really hit my sweet spot. The Critical Defiance & The Ocean albums were also very impressive. I had some fun with the Old, Sevendust, Tanith & Esoctrilihum albums but unfortunately I couldn't get into the Lorna Shore or Edge of Sanity records. Well done Sonny for taking the prize this month.

Here's the list of releases in order of preference:

THE FALLEN: Dvvell - "Quiescent" (2022)  4.5/5

THE INFINITE: The Ocean - "Pelagial" (2013)  4/5

THE PIT: Critical Defiance - "No Life Forms" (2022)  4/5

THE SPHERE: Old - "The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak" (1993)  3.5/5

THE GATEWAY: Sevendust - "Animosity" (2001)  3.5/5

THE GUARDIANS: Tanith - "In Another Time" (2019)  3.5/5

THE NORTH: Esoctrilihum - "Saopth's" (2022)  3.5/5

THE REVOLUTION: Lorna Shore - "...And I Return To Nothingness" E.P. (2021)  3/5

THE HORDE: Edge of Sanity - "Purgatory Afterglow" (1994)  3/5

Dying Fetus - "Killing On Adrenaline" (1998)

Another Dying Fetus release that brings you exactly what you expect with eight brutal death metal tunes chock full of hardcore grooves & techy sweep-picked wankery. As usual I find it hard to fault but rarely fully connect with it. It's not a bad record but I'd probably reach for albums like "Reign Supreme", "Destroy The Opposition" or "Wrong One To Fuck With" before this one.

For fans of Aborted, Benighted & Suffocation.

3.5/5

Bow Wow - "Signal Fire" (1977)

A seminal record in the Japanese metal scene. It's just not very good though & it certainly shouldn't qualify as metal either in my opinion. Of the ten tracks there's only two that I'd consider as being metal. The occasional Black Sabbath or Judas Priest style riff pops up here & there & the vocals do try for their best Rob Halford impersonation at times too but the rest is a fairly light-weight take on 70's hard rock. The musicianship is very good but the vocals & song-writing aren't really up to it to be honest.

For fans of Deep Purple, Budgie & Loudness.

3/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases Of All Time list which has seen My Dying Bride's "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" E.P. jumping a few spots up the list after yesterday's revisit:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

05. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

06. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

07. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

08. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

09. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

10. Daylight Dies – “A Frail Becoming” (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

I revisited this release a few times yesterday & have to say that I still find it to be an amazing release all these years later. I'd already heard the "Towards The Sinister" demo by that point but it hadn't done very much for me to be honest so this was the first MDB release that I could really connect with. The gothic monster that is the classic doom/death title track was a revelation while the heavily Bolt Thrower influenced "God Is Alone" is some of the finest death metal you'll hear. It really doesn't matter all that much that the instrumentalists technical skills were still very basic & the production job isn't all that strong.

For fans of Paradise Lost, Anathema & Novembers Doom.

4.5/5

I have to say that I agree with your submission Andi as only "God Is Alone" could be classed as legitimate death metal. It's a YES vote from me.

I struggled with this one a bit to be honest. The drumming is certainly nice & brutal but the symphonics are pulled straight out of European power metal which takes most of that edge off & everything sounds far too clinical. It's records like this one that make me question the relevance of the -core reference in the deathcore tagging too because this E.P. is about as far away from the DIY hardcore punk ethos as you're likely to find. 

For fans of Worm Shepherd, Mental Cruelty & Make Them Suffer.

3/5

I really enjoyed this one. It was right inside my wheelhouse. "No Life Forms" is suitably aggressive & just techy enough without seeming to be consciously so. The song structures never stay on the one thing for very long & are constantly changing. The musicianship is excellent too, particularly the bass playing which benefits from a great mix. I don't mind the typically South American vocal style either to be honest. I must say that it's great to hear some high quality thrash metal in 2022. Well done gents.

For fans of Ripper, Kreator & Slayer.

4/5

I didn't mind this one. The death metal influence of Esoctrilihum's past seems to have been cast aside for a purely black metal oriented sound with a significant symphonic component to it on this occasion. I'm not the biggest fan of symphonic metal in general but this example is highly gothic with an epic, grandiose atmosphere that doesn't see me wanting to shy away at any point. The cover art is the perfect fit for the music too actually. "Saopth's" is certainly a very brutal record with it's consistent use of machine-gun style blast-beats & that's generally a positive for someone with my long-standing preference for ultra-extreme metal. Unfortunately I find the programmed nature of the drums to be a bit annoying, particularly the lack of drum rolls which could of added a lot of impact in my opinion. A bigger weakness is the vocals though as I'm not really sure they're up to the task. Overall I found this to be an enjoyable yet flawed release that gave me some enjoyment but it is unlikely to receive return visits.

For fans of Emperor, Hecate Enthroned & Necromantia.

3.5/5

Cool Feet - "Burning Desire" (1976)

I saw this record pop up quite often while researching the early metal scene during my Metal Academy podcast preparations back in the mid-2010’s & it seems to be quite highly regarded but I can’t say that I’ve ever gotten around to checking out Luxembourg four-piece Cool Feet before now. This 1976 debut album goes for ridiculous money on the second-hand vinyl market these days but if my experience tells me anything it’s that value doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. I couldn’t imagine that “Burning Desire” was likely to break any records in regard to intensity so a long drive with the kids over the weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to see what this obscure proto-metal outfit had to offer before heading off in a much poppier direction in the early 1990’s.

I think it’s fair to say that the poor production & mastering jobs are a definite weakness for “Burning Desire” as the guitars aren’t prominent enough & the levels of the individual tracks differ from each other. This doesn’t prevent the stronger material from making the desired impact though & I find the heavier tracks to all be very enjoyable, particularly the metallic “The Man From Marakesh” & closing hard rocker “Alone In Your Cage” which are both very solid tracks in their own right. There are really only two tracks of the eight included that I regard as fitting the criteria for metal classification though (i.e. "The Man From Marakesh" & opening title track) &, as with so many 70’s proto-metal releases, I find it to be a significant stretch to claim this album as an early metal record.

It sounds to me like Cool Feet were still trying to find their sound with “Burning Desire” as it jumps around sporadically in regard to feel & accessibility. A couple of the more traditional bluesy hard rock numbers sound pretty uneventful when placed around the more melodically expansive metal tunes but the real failing of this record comes with the two awful attempts at commercialism that reside on the B side. Cool Feet are often claimed to be Scorpions disciples & “The Fool” provides a clear indication of that & had me instantly reaching for my plagiarism card given just how close it is to the German hard rock legends' seminal “He’s A Woman – She’s A Man”. Strangely it took a day or so before I realized that “Burning Desire” was actually released a full two years before Scorpions’ “Taken By Force” album which had me wondering whether I had it completely ass about. “The Fool” is a terrible track so I find it hard to believe that Scorpions would have wanted to copy it. Perhaps "Shes A Woman - He's A Man" was an old Scorpions song that didn’t hit an album until later on? I’m not sure but one of the two bands is guilty. The other major failure is even worse though with “Now I Know I’m Free” seeing the entire tracklisting falling on its ass. Thankfully Cool Feet were able to turn things around with a very strong ending to the album.

There are some high quality moments to be found on “Burning Desire” & I found a good half of the tracklisting to be very enjoyable. Front man Don Cardwell has a great hard rock voice & leads the band with confidence during the heavier material but unfortunately the band’s attempts at pop stardom & the generic nature of a couple of the bluesier rock tunes combine with a thin production job to derail Cool Feet’s chances of rock immortality. This is very much the sort of album where you’d be best served by adding the highlight tracks to your Spotify playlist & turfing the remainder.

For fans of Sir Lord Baltimore, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell & Scorpions.

3/5

Here's my review:

I wasn’t familiar with Brooklyn-based retro four-piece Tanith prior to investigating this month’s The Guardians feature release but they’re hardly a household name in metal circles. A quick look at the band photos left me wondering what I was in store for as they look a little more seasoned than most bands releasing their debut albums these days while the presence on Satan guitarist Russ Tippins intrigued me as I’ve always admired his work on an album like 1983’s “Court In The Act”. Could I expect another metal-as-fuck shred-fest like that one? Well, the reality is anything but.

Tanith place their cards down on the table right from the offset with a warm & organic production job that’s much more in line with 70’s rock than it is with the modern metal model. I really like the way they’ve left plenty of room for the guitars & bass to interact with each other. It’s light-years from the dense metal production we’ve come to expect in more recent times. The dual vocal approach of Tippins & bassist Cindy Maynard is interesting too with both opting for a clean & fairly light-weight delivery that never heads into overly aggressive territory, instead sticking to melodic tones that draw to mind the greats of 1970’s progressive rock. The lead guitar work amplifies that feel further through the consistent execution of simple yet emotive guitar harmonies that showcase a strong Thin Lizzy influence. It’s not the heaviest sound you’ll find but there’s a certain magic about it nonetheless.

It’s interesting that “In Another Time” has been embraced by the metal audience as I’m not really sure it should qualify as metal to be honest. Opening track “Citadel (Galantia Pt. 1)” & “Dionysus” are close enough to metal as they certainly draw upon familiar tools but the rest of the album sits predominantly in hard rock & progressive rock territory. In fact, I’m baffled as to why most metal websites have this record tagged as a hard rock/heavy metal hybrid because the predominant subgenre is comfortably prog rock in my opinion with bands like Yes & Rush being the source of inspiration for much of the content. There’s a magical atmosphere to some of this material that’s seeped in fantasy & wonder & I can see this being a major drawcard for some metalheads. As the album title indicates, this is music from another time only it’s presented with a modern professionalism that showcases the skills of some experienced campaigners who possess a deep understanding of tone & texture.

The thing with “In Another Time” though is that I’m not sure I’m ever completely comfortable with its unintimidating & whispy nature. Apart from the clear album highlight in the gorgeous “Book Of Changes”, I’m not sure I ever find myself engaging with the album on a deeply emotional level. Despite being very well executed, the song-writing is more pleasant than it is enthralling. I very much enjoy those lovely guitar harmonies but the vocals are a little too clean-cut for my taste while the basslines conduct themselves predominantly in fairly unintimidating spaces too. The folky acoustic sections sound sweet enough but I’m not sure that I can say that they pull on my heart-strings. It probably doesn’t help that the album loses its way through the middle of the tracklisting either with both “Cassini's Deadly Plunge” & “Under The Stars” being a bit flat. I’m glad that Tanith could recover for the remainder of the album but I don’t think I ever found myself in a space where I could say that I loved most of the material.

“In Another Time” certainly sounds pretty fresh & there’s a lot to like about the guitar tone but it’s just missing a bit of danger for mine. I appreciate the sentiment but I crave a little more in the way of intensity as the musicians seem to stay very much within themselves for the most part. Give it some more dynamic vocals & this could have been another story. Perhaps even go a little further with the psychedelia. As it is though I find this to be an entertaining little record that should bring Tanith quite a bit of crossover appeal, perhaps not always from the metal market though.

For fans of Wytch Hazel, Thin Lizzy & Night.

3.5/5

Buffalo - "Volcanic Rock" (1973)

The sophomore album from this seminal band from the beloved town of my birth in Sydney, Australia was pretty much regarded as heavy music royalty by the older metalheads when I was first getting into underground metal in the very late 80's. It's not a metal release as such although I'd suggest that the opening & closing tracks should qualify as they're not all that far off Black Sabbath. The rest of the tracklisting is closer to heavy psych & hard rock in my opinion but "Volcanic Rock" is a high quality release in its own right with no weak tunes included. Front man Dave Tice sounds almost exactly like my all-time favourite singer in Soundgarden's Chris Cornell & is the clear focal point of the album although the more stripped back, repetitive & psychedelic guitar work is a real treat too, especially the nine minute album highlight "Freedom" which is nothing short of mind-blowing. If you dig 70's psychedelic/hard rock & proto-metal then you can't go wrong with this record.

For fans of Sir Lord Baltimore, Flower Travellin' Band & Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell.

4/5

Here's my review:

For someone that’s built such a long & passionate history with the death metal genre, I have to say that my relationship with Swedish melodic death metal outfit Edge of Sanity has never been anywhere near as strong as that of most of my extreme metal loving peers. I first became aware of them very early on in their recording career through their 1991 debut album “Nothing But Death Remains” & continued to be kept up to date as they continued on their musical journey via an Aussie tape trading colleague of mine who was utterly obsessed with the Swedish death metal phenomenon. Edge of Sanity’s 1996 fifth full-length “Crimson” (a forty minute single track progressive affair) would obviously become their pièce de resistance & I do have some time for that particular release but I still can’t say that I regard it as anything particularly special so I think it’s fair to say that Edge of Sanity’s true value has always managed to elude me, even though I’m across pretty much their entire back-catalogue to some extent. I was reminded of this fact a couple of weeks ago while contributing to a conversation with a couple of very enthusiastic fans on Twitter & that encounter got me wondering if it might be time to take another crack at Edge of Sanity’s highly regarded 1994 fourth album “Purgatory Afterglow” as it certainly seems to have grown in stature over the years & I can’t say that I’ve listened to much from the band in the last decade or so outside of “Crimson”. This month’s The Horde feature release seemed like a good way to open up some healthy discussion with listeners who will inevitably have differing opinions too so here we are.

The production job on “Purgatory Afterglow” is full & bright which gives the album every chance to impress the listener right from the offset. It’s interesting that Bathory mastermind Quorthon’s father Börje Forsberg is credited as the executive producer & it begs the question as to whether band leader Dan Swanö took any significant learnings away from his time with Börje given the long & illustrious production career that Dan's created for himself since. The sound of the album is quintessentially Swedish as it straddles the two major strands of death metal the country is known for with the melodic death metal sound of At The Gates & Hypocrisy being offset by glimpses of the classic Dismember/Entombed crunch. The use of clean vocals seems to draw influence from gothic rock legends Sisters of Mercy in their phrasing (although admittedly nowhere near as deep) while there are several rockier beats employed across the tracklisting. We even see the band tackling an alternative metalcore sound on closer “Song of Sirens”. Despite the attempts at creative variation, I’m not sure I hear too many signs of the progressive direction that Edge of Sanity would employ in the near future although I've admittedly been known to question how progressive a record like "Crimson" really is at times.

As with so many melodic death metal records, I unfortunately find myself struggling with the more melodically inclined & accessible material included here. I’m kinda used to this with the melodeath subgenre after all these years & it’s no surprise at all that I find the most popular tracks like “Twilight” & “Black Tears” to offer the least appeal while the songs that steer closer to the conventional death metal model (see “Of Darksome Origin” or album highlight “The Sinner & the Sadness”) got my ears pricking up the most. The better melodic moments offer hints at the quality of a record like Amorphis' classic "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" album from the same year but these glimmers of hope are sadly nowhere near as consistent as the Fins were able to achieve. The length of the album seems appropriate at 44 minutes & there’s definitely enough variety on offer to see the individual songs owning their own unique character but the whole thing just seems to feel a little bit short of the final product due to a lack of focus & perhaps the subsequent existence of “Crimson” has proven that statement to be true. It doesn’t explain the significant following that “Purgatory Afterglow” seems to enjoy these days though & I have to wonder whether that would be the case if “Crimson” had never eventuated. I suspect not but then this album was always going to see me being dragged from my musical comfort zone kicking & screaming so what would I know.

For fans of Hypocrisy, At The Gates & “Tales From The Thousand Lakes”-era Amorphis.

3/5

Here's my review:

Despite the fact that German post-sludge metal icons The Ocean have been regarded as one of the premier exponents in their field for a full two decades now, I haven’t been particularly impressed with my limited encounters with them over the years &, as a result, I’m afraid to say that I’ve got a fairly significant gap in my knowledge of their back catalogue when you consider my passion for the post-sludge subgenre in general. My initial experiences with the band came through their pair of 2010 albums “Heliocentric” & “Anthropocentric”, neither of which I had much time for which resulted in me giving The Ocean a wide berth ever since so it’s probably time for me to review that position given that they're so highly revered by fans of the more progressive end of post-metal.

2013’s ocean-themed seventh full-length album “Pelagial” immediately saw me pricking my ears up due to its highly professional packaging & execution. The technicality is the composition & performances is outstanding & compares very well alongside the gods of the progressive metal world. In fact, despite what you may read to the contrary, “Pelagial” isn’t actually a post-sludge metal record at all. If you look closely you’ll discover that there’s only really a short one minute interlude that fits that description across the entire 53 minutes duration of the album. Instead I’d suggest that what we have here is a progressive metal record at its core with the post-metal & sludge metal components being more or less secondary in the grand scheme of things. This imaginative & creative record will see your more educated metal fans picking out the influence of bands like Mastodon, Tool, Opeth & Dream Theater a lot more than the Cult of Luna & Isis references that highlighted most of The Ocean’s earlier works with the band only turning their focus towards sludgier territory for any extended period of time right at the end of the tracklisting via progressive sludge epic “Demersal: Cognitive Dissonance” & the pure sludge-fest of closer “Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes”. I’d suggest that it’s only the gruff hardcore vocal delivery of front man Loïc Rossetti that sees people being tempted into the sludgier genre tags but in truth he spends just as much time (if not more) exploring his cleaner & more melodic side of his creative repertoire.

“Pelagial” is an extremely consistent record with every one of the eleven tracks being very solid indeed. There are a few really impressive highlight tracks included (see “Bathyalpelagic I: Impasses”, “Abyssopelagic II: Signals of Anxiety” & “Benthic: The Origin of Our Wishes”) but they don’t tend to be the lengthier inclusions which sees me tending to steer away from my higher ratings. The rest of the songs are all very well written & executed but I’m not sure they have the hooks to fully differentiate themselves from each other. I do think it was a bit of a strange decision to tie the two 9+ minute epics together at the back end of the tracklisting as this makes the album drag a bit & seem a little more elongated than it actually is. On the positive side of things though, both of the short interludes are outstanding inclusions & add a lot to the album in my opinion.

It's hard to be too critical of an album that possesses the sheer class that “Pelagial” undeniably does. It’s challenging in all the right ways & I rarely find myself losing engagement. Perhaps it’s just the victim of a little “style over substance” at times but it’s not easy to get the technically vs memorability ratio exactly right & The Ocean come a lot closer to the mark than the vast majority of their peers so I’d have to say that I’ve been converted by this record. I’ll not only be returning to it in the future but will also make a point of doing a little more experimentation with the band’s back catalogue in the future too.

For fans of Mastodon, Intronaut & Ghost Brigade.

4/5

With a vote tally of YES 5 NO 0, I've decided to uphold my submission to have "Misanthropy" added to The Horde under the Death Metal (Conventional) genre.

Here's my review:

I must admit that I’ve experienced relatively little of Atlanta alternative metal legends Sevendust for such a significant band. My only targeted effort to explore what they’re all about came at the end of 2010 when I gave their eighth full-length “Cold Day Memory” (3.5/5) a few spins & found it to be a reasonably enjoyable yet largely forgettable experience. I’ve since heard many of the band’s individual tracks due to their inclusion in the monthly The Gateway playlists but have never ventured any further so I’ve gone into this month’s feature release with an open mind & a hopeful attitude.

The first thing I noticed about Sevendust’s highly successful third album is that it contains a stronger nu metal component than I remember from “Cold Day Memory”. In fact, the record kicks off with a song that sounds noticeably similar to Korn while album highlight “Dead Set” also leans very heavily in that direction too. A large percentage of the other tracks contain nu-metal riffs or sections even though the highly melodic chorus hooks & vocals in general see “Animosity” still tending to leave the overarching impression of being an alternative metal album at its core. At the end of the day I think we have a bit of a hybrid here though with a few tracks steering away from metal altogether via some more commercially accessible alternative rock or post-grunge sounds.

As seems to be the norm for Sevendust, “Animosity” relies very heavily on the chorus hooks of front man Lejon Witherspoon & the listener’s final impressions will no doubt hang on their ability to connect with his performance. He’s a class act for the most part & can really sing but I find those hooks to be a little hit & miss. There aren’t any absolute bombs here, despite songs like “Crucified”, “Dead Set”, “Beautiful” & “Angel’s Son” all being high quality examples of their type. There are a couple of pretty flat tracks though with hit single “Praise” & album weak point “Live Again” failing to connect with me. The rest of the album is just kinda middling to be honest. It’s definitely a pleasant listen but I just don’t find it to have the hooks to offer the sort of memorability that will have me singing along to them in my head for the rest of the day. The gruffer backing vocals of guitarist Clint Lowery do offer a nice juxtaposition to Lajon's more clean cut sound though, it must be said.

Sevendust are certainly very good at what they do & I don’t think “Animosity” will disappoint too many alternative/nu metal fans but it doesn’t surprise me that they’ve never reached the same levels of popularity as the elite bands in their field. The band is very tight & everything's executed in a highly professional manner but I rarely find the song-writing to command the same level of excitement as Tool or Deftones seem to muster up quite regularly. Perhaps Sevendust are simply a little closer to the dreaded accessibility line than I'd like. In saying that, I’d probably take "Animosity" over “Cold Day Memory” (from what I can remember of that record anyway) & are glad to have conducted the exercise as there’s really very little to regret here. It’s a more than decent example of its chosen subgenre set, nothing more, nothing less.

For fans of Taproot, Staind & Adema.

3.5/5

Here's my review of this outstanding feature release nomination:

I hadn’t had the pleasure of being introduced to Californian five-piece Dvvell before Sonny selected their brand new debut full-length “Quiescent” as the November feature release for our The Fallen clan but you can mark me down as being emphatically converted in a short space of time because this four-track album fits my taste profile to a tee. What we have here is a crushingly heavy & unapologetically dark piece of work that is relentless in its commitment to undiluted doom & it sounds just as good as that description sounds. That’s not to say that it’s a perfect record as there are some small challenges to overcome if you're to fully uncover the album's charms but there’s certainly enough quality here to satisfy the vast majority of the extreme doom audience.

“Quiescent” is benefitted from a thick & super-heavy production job which highlights the superbly tight rhythm section through a big bass guitar sound. The riffs invariably sit in the slow to medium-slow range & if the album has a weakness it’s definitely in its lack of variety because Dvvell define their sound very early on & stick to their guns throughout the entire hour’s duration. The Dvvell sound is really very simple to describe in all honesty. Slow riffs based entirely on open power-chords, ethereal tremolo-picked higher-register melodies that draw influence from post-rock & anguished female black metal screams… yep, that about sums it up really. So why is it so effective? I think it’s because of the execution which is absolutely top notch, particularly that of drummer Brett Weiser who is the clear highlight with his powerful metronomic performance giving the material the extra clout & precision it requires to consistently pummel the listener into submission. Brett’s kick drum hits in exact unity with every dinosauric power chord & his fills maintain my interest during the sections where the music is completely devoid of hooks. The melodies I mentioned don’t always hit exactly on the sweet spot they’re aiming for but when they do (as in the first half of closing track & album highlight “Daughter”) they can be seriously effective & I find myself hanging out for those moments while sitting through the album as a whole.

It's interesting that most websites seem to label “Quiescent” (& most albums like it) as sludge metal, often with the doom component being tagged as funeral doom metal. I struggle to find the sludge metal in this release to be honest as there’s not a lot of abrasive hardcore anger going on. Personally, I’d suggest that this release represents a strong case for the “blackened doom metal” tag as the music is clearly doom metal & the vocals just as obviously come from black metal realms rather than sludge metal aggression. The consistently slow tempos do hint at funeral doom metal at times & I find myself being reminded of England’s Moss in that regard but I don’t think the atmosphere is ever in line with the mournful slumbers that we generally expect from that particular subgenre. Instead I'd suggest that it shares more similarities with that of artists like fellow Californians Chrch or Oregon’s Hell although those bands admittedly change things up a bit more than Dvvell do.

Despite the saminess that “Quiescent” is undeniably guilty of, I simply can’t deny the appeal of an unapologetically dark & doomy release like this one, particularly when the execution is as powerful as it is here. “Quiescent” commands the listener to play it super-loud so as to become engulfed by the sheer weight of sound with the blackened vocals of Kristy Senko-Hall beckoning you to embrace the darkness.

For fans of Chrch, Hell & Moss.

4.5/5

Here's my review:

It’s been fifteen months since I boldly opted to select New Jersey industrial metallers O.L.D.’s 1991 “Lo Flux Tube” sophomore album for feature release status here at the Metal Academy. I was familiar with their 1988 debut album “Old Lady Drivers” from my early tape trading days & it was essentially a fairly uneventful novelty grindcore release but their second effort saw the trio taking a succession of bold creative risks whose combined merits amounted to a unique & much more challenging avant-garde industrial metal record. It wasn’t without its faults of course but I generally enjoyed the experience & became interested to see where O.L.D. might take things from there given their undeniable passion for the obscure & unusual.

1993’s “The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak” album definitely takes things to the next logical level with the psychedelic cover artwork giving the listener a pretty accurate impression of what lies beneath. The production job is greatly improved from “Lo Flux Tube” which is a definite plus given that record’s obvious flaws in that department. This time most of the tracks are given a lot more scope to create layers of mind-bending noise with your cerebellum being tweaked by high-pitched electronic wails & bizarre dissonance with great regularity. The influence of Godflesh in the beats & bass guitar work is still plain to see but I can’t say that “The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak” is as obviously industrial as its predecessor. Some tracks definitely push that sound harder than others but to my ears there’s more in the way of avant-garde metal & experimental rock included here with the rock-to-metal ratio finishing in fairly even proportions. Voivod is also still a huge player in the O.L.D. sound & it’s hard to imagine a record like this one being created without records like “Dimension Hatross” having first existed.

Front man & former Khanate vocalist Alan Dubin’s blackened scream is consistent with his approach on “Lo Flux Tube” but don’t expect to hear much in the way of traditional metal guitar work on this album because Phantomsmasher/Khanate axeman James Plotkin uses his instrument in ways that it was never originally intended & in the process makes one hell of a feedback-drenched racket. He also goes to town on the electronics which play the role of the protagonist on most occasions. The vast majority of the album absolutely oozes of space rock style psychedelia with the use of noise being a strong feature. It’s interesting that I pick up a Kraftwerk influence in some parts too which wasn’t something I was expecting at all. Does it work? Well yeah it does if being honest but I’m not too sure I want it to if I'm being honest.

The first fifteen minutes of the record are really interesting & I found myself immediately engaged but things don’t really reach their full potential until the amazing fourth track “Peri Cynthion” & the cerebral drone of “Creyap’nilla”, both of which are genuine classics of whatever bizarre amalgamation of subgenres this fucking record might be pushing. It’s really unfortunate though that the tracklisting finishes on such a weak note with the eleven minute “Backwards Through The Greedo Compressor” being not only the longest track but also a real stinker. I can’t help but think that O.L.D. could easily have left that track out given the lengthy 66 minute duration of the album & we would all have been happier campers for it. As it is though, “The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak” seems to tamely peter out after promising so much for an audience that’s actively looking for drug-fuelled shenanigans. Thankfully I was able to see past that error in judgement because the rest of the album sees O.L.D. producing sounds that are as much art as they are music.

Once again O.L.D. have produced an intriguing & highly original record that certainly won’t be for everyone. I fully appreciate the effort the band members have gone to to come up with such a whacked-out sound & when they get all of their ducks in a row it can be pretty fucking mind-blowing. It’s too bad that they can’t hit that mark consistently enough to see me wanting to come back for return visits in the future & some of that can be put down to the terrible way they’ve elected to close the album out. If pushed I’d probably suggest that “Lo Flux Tube” is still my O.L.D. record of choice but there’s very little in it so if you liked that release then you shouldn’t hesitate to check this one out too.

For fans of Voivod, Godflesh & Disharmonic Orchestra.

3.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Technical Death Metal Releases of All Time list:

01. 7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes Of Absolution" (2012)

02. Death - "Human" (1991)

03. Suffocation - "Despise The Sun" E.P. (1998)

04. Suffocation - "Pinnacle Of Bedlam" (2013)

05. Death – “Individual Thought Patterns” (1993)

06. Gorguts – “Colored Sands” (2013)

07. Cynic - "Focus"

08. Ulcerate – “Everything Is Fire” (2009)

09. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)

10. Death – “Symbolic” (1995)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/148

Ulcerate - "Stare Into Death & Be Still" (2020)

New Zealand death metal trio Ulcerate have been somewhat of a mainstay at the top of my musical ladder since first discovering them through their classic sophomore album “Everything Is Fire” back in 2009. It may have taken me some time to fully come to grips with the dissonant arm of the death metal scene at the time as it still sounded fairly foreign to my old-school ears but once I’d become accustomed to the more textural sonic palate with which these artists draw from I quickly became engulfed in a journey of discovery that found me ultimately placing the niche subgenre up on one of my higher musical pedestals. Ulcerate haven’t released anything that wasn’t of a sublime quality since those initial impressions either which certainly hasn’t hurt. The more traditional brutal tech death of their 2004 “The Coming of Genocide” E.P. may not have been anything terribly flash & their 2007 debut album “Of Fracture & Failure” might well have been more of an interesting transitional release than a record to be particularly revered but ever since that time the band have been in devastating form & have destroyed a great many fragile minds in the process.

Dissonant death metal bands like Ulcerate will inevitably always be at a higher risk of sounding “samey” than bands from other genres. When you make extreme music that doesn’t conform to traditional theoretical structures or melodic sensibilities then it can often be hard to give the song-writing the unique elements required to differentiate themselves from one another. I have to admit that I’ve kinda been waiting for Ulcerate to fall over in that regard but they just never seem to even stumble. With their 2020 sixth full-length “Stare Into Death & Be Still” we find Ulcerate sticking to their tried-&-tested dissonant model but infusing it with enough melody to make it appear to be a complete contradiction of terms. The use of open strings & dissonant chords is undeniably still the root of the band’s evil however they’ve managed to make it sound almost beautiful at the same time which is really pretty remarkable. There’s plenty of variation in tempo with a number of exploratory & introspective post-sludge sections adding layers to the glorious atmosphere. In fact, the slower & more stripped back post-metal sections are inevitably my favourite parts of the album & are responsible for giving each inclusion in the tracklisting its own identity.

The production job on “Stare Into Death & Be Still” is nothing short of splendid with the layers of dissonant guitars sounding full & lush & the drums offering plenty of clarity, power & brightness. If I had to be critical, I’d suggest that the bass guitar could have been louder in the mix but I don’t think it detracts from the overall product. The composition & execution are simply stunning with the three musicians being given the freedom to take expansive & quite intricate excursions through some of the band’s most ambitious yet strangely accessible material.

The vocals of Paul Kelland are aggressive & powerful, perhaps more so than I remember them being which is a nice contrast to some of the more stripped back material. Sole guitarist Michael Hoggard must have some major challenges on his hands when it comes to live performance as I’m honestly not sure how he could pull off the many layers of dense guitar work that are presented here. I really love the interplay between the different guitar tracks actually & find them to possess an artistic flair that’s pretty rare in extreme metal. While it may be Hoggard who ensures that Ulcerate always maintain some level of accessibility while never losing an ounce of integrity, it’s drummer Jamie Saint Merat that steals the show in no uncertain terms as he’s quite simply unparalleled in skill & creativity. Sure, he can blast 99% of the opposition away with relative ease but it’s the more subdued moments which offer him the most room to move & his cymbal work during these more atmospheric sections is nothing short of astounding. What a drummer this guy is! I’m not sure we’ve seen better in metal music to tell you the truth.

“Stare Into Death & Be Still” is yet another wonderful example of modern death from one of the absolute elite exponents of the craft. It's undoubtedly Ulcerate’s most melodic album to date but its also their most creatively advanced too. I count myself as being a big fan of the dissonant death metal sound these days but I’m not sure I’ve hear a better example of it than this one right here & that includes Ulcerate's most highly celebrated releases like "Everything Is Fire".

For fans of Gorguts, Portal & Baring Teeth.

4.5/5

I've just adjusted my Top Ten Dissonant Death Metal Releases of All Time list following this week's spectacular revisit of Ulcerate's "Stare Into Death & Be Still" album:

01. Ulcerate - "Stare Into Death & Be Still" (2020)

02. Gorguts - "Colored Sands" (2013)

03. Ulcerate - "Everything Is Fire" (2009)

04. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)

05. Gorguts - "From Wisdom To Hate" (2001)

06. Ulcerate - "The Destroyers Of All" (2011)

07. Ulcerate - "Vermis" (2013)

08. Gorguts - "Obscura" (1998)

09. Portal - "Seepia" (2003)

10. Flourishing - "The Sum Of All Fossils" (2011)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/181

Here's the schedule for the December feature release nominations:

THE FALLEN: Ben, Daniel, Sonny

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Daniel, Xephyr

THE HORDE: Vinny, Ben, Daniel

THE INFINITE: Xephyr, Saxy, Andi

THE NORTH: Daniel, Ben, Vinny, Xephyr

THE PIT: Vinny, Daniel, Ben

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

Here's my submission for the December playlist Andi:

Godflesh - "Anthem" (from "Hymns", 2001)

Here's my submission for the December playlist Andi:

Bleeding Through - "Buried" (from "Love Will Kill All", 2018)

Here are my submissions for the December playlist Vinny:

Agent Steel - "Mad Locust Rising" (from "Mad Locust Rising" E.P., 1986)

Liege Lord - "Rapture" (from "Master Control", 1988)

Rage - "Deceiver" (from "Reign of Fear", 1986)

Midnight - "Telepathic Nightmare" (from "Let There Be Witchery", 2022)

Speedwolf - "Ride With Death" (from "Ride With Death", 2011)

Black Viper - "Hellions of Fire" (from "Hellions of Fire", 2018)

Bewitcher - "Death Returns..." (from "Cursed Be Thy Kingdom", 2021)

Here are my submissions for the December playlist:

Cryptopsy - "Carrionshine" (from "Once Was Not", 2005)

Deicide - "Revocate The Agitator" (from "Legion", 1992)

Ulcerate - "There Is No Horizon" (from "Staring Into Death & Be Still", 2020)

Here's my submission for the December playlist Xephyr:

King Diamond - "Behind These Walls" (from "The Eye", 1990)

Here's my submission for the December playlist Saxy:

Coldrain - "Boys & Girls" (from "Nonnegative", 2022)

Here's my submission for the December playlist Sonny:

Elder - "Gemini" (from "Dead Roots Stirring", 2011)

November 2022

01. Amken – “Somewhere Past the Burning Sun” (from “Passive Aggression”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Sodom – “Nicht mehr mein Land” (from “Genesis XIX”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

03. Demoniac – “Equilibrio Fatal” (from “So It Goes”, 2020) [Submitted by Sonny]

04. F.K.Ü. – “Corpse Mania” (from “1981”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

05. Ghoul - “Off With Their Heads” (from “Transmission Zero”, 2011) [Submitted by Vinny]

06. Mace – “Drilling for Brains” (from “Process of Elimination”, 1985)

07. Concrete Sox – “No Trust No Faith” (from “Whoops Sorry Vicar”, 1987)

08. Fusion Bomb – “Bird of Prey” (from “Concrete Jungle”, 2019)

09. Machine Head – “Davidian” (from “Burn My Eyes”, 1994)

10. Texas Hippie Coalition – “Hands Up” (from “Peacemaker”, 2012)

11. Sepultura – “We Who Are Not As Others” (from “Chaos A.D.”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Ektomorf – “Fury” (from “Fury”, 2018)

13. Krushhammer – “Evil Domain” (from “Blood, Violence & Blasphemy”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. Intent – “Victims of Conquest” (from “Exile”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Traitor – “Total Thrash” (from “Exiled to the Surface”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Wraith – “Seven Serpents” (from “Faster Than The Fucking Devil”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Mezzrow – “Then Came the Killing” (from “Then Came the Killing”, 1990)

18. Mordred – “State of Mind” (from “Fool’s Game”, 1989)

19. Lucifuge – “Infernal Power” (from “Infernal Power”, 2021)

20. Maze of Terror – “Angels of Acid” (from “Offer to the Fucking Beasts”, 2021)

21. Killing – “Kill Everyone” (from “Face the Madness”, 2021)

22. Znöwhite – “Bringing the Hammer Down” (from “All Hail to Thee”, 1984)

23. Airwolf – “Victory Bells” (from “Victory Bells”, 1988)

24. Pessimist – “The Massacre of Nanking” (from “Call to War”, 2010)

25. Nuclear – “Eleventh Block” (from “Ten Broken Codes”, 2008) [Submitted by Sonny]

26. Dead Head – “Helhuizen” (from “Swine Plague” 2017)

27. Comaniac – “1,2 Rage” (from “Return to the Wasteland”, 2015)

28. Coroner – “Son of Lilith” (from “Mental Vortex”, 1991)

29. Vektor – “LCD (Liquid Crystal Disease” (from “Terminal Redux”, 2016)

November 2022

01. Deathsiege – “Throne Of Heresy” (from “Throne Of Heresy”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. At The Gates – “The Swarm” (from “Terminal Spirit Disease”, 1994)

03. Nocturnus – “Possess The Priest” (from “Nocturnus” E.P., 1993)

04. Brujeria – “Marijuana” (from “Marijuana” E.P., 1997)

05. Cynic – “Celestial Voyage” (from “Focus”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Genghis Tron – “Thing Don’t Look Good” (from “Board Up The House”, 2008)

07. An Abstract Illusion – “In The Heavens Above, You Will Become A Monster” (from “Woe”, 2022)

08. Autopsy – “Stab The Brain” (from “Morbidity Triumphant”, 2022)

09. Drumcorps – “Botch Up & Die” (from “Grist”, 2006)

10. Pharmacist – “Gardening On Human Soils” (from “Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition”, 2020)

11. Demilich – “When The Sun Drank The Weight Of Water” (from “Nespithe”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Rotten Sound – “Dominion” (from “Under Pressure”, 1997)

13. Hypocrisy – “Reborn” (from “The Fourth Dimension”, 1994)

14. Rectal Smegma – “Hitler Only Had One Ball” (from “Keep On Smiling”, 2009)

15. Metrorrhagia – “Animalistic Defecation of Partially Digested Human Remains” (from “Metrorrhagia”, 2020)

16. Tribal Gaze – “And How They Wept For Eternity” (from “The Nine Choirs”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Celestial Sanctuary – “Trapped Within The Rank Membrane” (from “Perilaxe Occlusion/Fumes/Celestial Sanctuary/Thorn” split E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Portal – “Omnipotent Crawling Chaos” (from “Outre”, 2007)

19. Negativa – “Chaos In Motion” (from “Negativa” E.P., 2006)

20. Houkago Grind Time – “Bakyunsified (Moe To The Gore)“ (from “Bakyunsified (Moe To The Gore)”, 2020)

21. Mortuous – “Graveyard Rain” (from “Upon Desolation”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

22. Short Bus Pile Up – “Ball-Peen Beating” (from “Repulsive Display Of Human Upholstery”, 2010)

23. Brutal Truth – “Stench of Prophet” (from “Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. 1 Body 6 Graves – “Cleaved In Half” (from “1 Body 6 Graves” E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

25. Dying Fetus – “Ideological Subjugation” (from “Wrong One To Fuck With”, 2017) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Pathology – “Code Injection” (from “Legacy Of The Ancients”, 2010)

27. Mortician – “Zombie Apocalypse” (from “Zombie Apocalypse” E.P., 1998)

28. Deeds of Flesh – “Feeding Time” (from “Inbreeding The Anthropophagi”, 1998)

29. Extreme Noise Terror – “One Truth, One Hate” (from “Being & Nothing”, 2001)

30. Inhume – “Gargling Guts” (from “Decomposing From Inside”, 2000)

31. Nails – “No Surrender” (from “Abandon All Life”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

32. Fluids – “Hounded” (from “Nunslaughter/Fluids” split E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

You need to click the little picture of the video camera above the text box & paste your link in there.

Welcome to the club Vinny! 

Deicide - "Legion" (1992)

The 1990 self-titled debut album from notorious Florida death metallers Deicide came into my life at a time when I had only recently become infatuated with the genre so it enjoyed the perfect conditions to maximize its impact on my life & I think it’s fair to say that it couldn’t have been more influential on this young metalhead. I’d certainly never heard anything so evil before but despite the utter blasphemy & devastating brutality of the music, the song-writing was some of the catchiest you’ll find in death metal which gave “Deicide” the endurance to still reside in my top ten for the genre today. So by the time the follow-up album was released in 1992 I was absolutely chomping at the bit to throw myself into it. “Legion” certainly had a hard act to follow but I was very confident that it would deliver & there's no doubt that it did to an extent.

It’s probably been over a decade since I last revisited “Legion” but I listened to it enough in my teenage years to know very well what to expect. I’ve traditionally always regarded it as a classic death metal record but have never placed it alongside the debut at the very pinnacle of the genre. This revisit was something I’d planned for some time with the intention of being able to more accurately place “Legion” within the myriad of early 90’s classics & I had a little inkling that it might not be as good as I’d once thought. I knew it’d be full-on & confronting but would it be complete enough to play with the Morbid Angels of the world? Let’s see, shall we?

The first thing I noticed upon digging my teeth into “Legion” was the messy production which is a little surprising given the involvement of Scott Burns behind the mixing desk. The rhythm guitar tone is pretty noisy which makes the whole album seem a little more chaotic than it might otherwise have appeared & this is amplified by the exhilarating opening track “Satan Spawn, The Caco-Daemon” which is completely off the hook from a structural point of view. Each song possesses a number of drastic tempo-changes with chuggy mid-paced riffage giving way to blast-beat driven annihilation & returning again quite often. The riff structures are much more technical than the debut which seems to have been a conscious decision but I’m not sure that Deicide were quite up to the task just yet as there are number of sections across the tracklisting that find the song structures falling apart. Drummer Steve Asheim is the main culprit here & (despite the fact the Steve was held up on a pedestal by most of the extreme metal scene at the time) he struggles a bit for control across the whole duration of the album. He’s certainly not helped by the production but I tend to think that he’d pushed himself a little farther than his capabilities could support at the time with some of this material.

On the positive side though, the enraged vocals of head Satanist Glen Benton sound positively demonic on “Legion” as he leads his band to Hell & back multiple times during the short 29 minute run time. The screamed backing vocals aren’t as effective but are helped by the intelligent use of delay for some cool effects at key moments. The rhythm guitar work is actually very solid & there are some ripper death metal riffs on offer with Deicide's real strength being in the mid-paced chuggers which sound genuinely evil. The highlight of the album for me though is the controlled chaos that is the lead guitar work. I’ve always loved the lead tone these boys achieved on the early Deicide albums & you won’t find a better example than the searing mid-range of these ultra-shredding efforts. In fact, I’d suggest that the solos represent the climax of many of the eight tracks included & I’m often reminded of Slayer & Morbid Angel in the way both brothers maintain their focus on face-ripping insanity rather than complementary melody.

Despite the flaws I mentioned above, there can be no denying that “Legion” slips very easily into my musical comfort zone & I don’t have to try very hard to get my jollies out of it. However the reason that it doesn’t compare all that favourably alongside the debut can be found in its consistency. None of the tracks are weak as such but I can’t deny that there are some lighter-weight sections in “Behead The Prophet (No Lord Shall Live)” & “In Hell I Burn” that see me dropping my score from the lofty heights of a good half of the album. The shorter & more focused tracks are the strongest with the unwavering brutality of “Trifixion” & “Revocate The Agitator” being the most successful in their unholy mission. There's no time for mucking around on those tracks which makes it clearer that Deicide's weaknesses generally appear when they have more time on their hands & become guilty of trying too hard to sound evil (see the unintelligent chorus from "In Hell I Burn" for example).

So, ultimately I think my suspicions that I may have overrated “Legion” were pretty accurate even though I still very much enjoyed revisiting this high quality death metal release from my youth. It’s not the classic I tried so hard to make it into back in 1992 (& I do remember really wanting it to be just quietly). It’s an over-the-top & relentless experience that will satisfy the vast majority of its audience though & shouldn’t be scoffed at by any means. It’s funny how sloppy it sounds when I listen to it today but that element also gives it an endearing quality that reminds me of a simpler time in my life when such concerns weren’t worth bothering about.

For fans of Vital Remains, Cannibal Corpse & Amon.

4/5

Andi, I've removed this release from The Horde, added it to The North & created a Hall of Judgement entry to have it added to the Sphere.