Daniel's Forum Replies

I dunno where that Vanilla Ice track came from but it wasn’t there before. I just removed it.

Loving this dark breakbeat-driven industrial metal track from Heaven Pierce Her's 2020 "ULTRAKILL: INFINITE HYPERDEATH" video game soundtrack this morning.

Six Feet Under's 2016 "Graveyard Classics IV: The Number of the Priest" Iron Maiden/Judas Priest covers album certainly offers more than its fair share of genuine stinkers (see "Invader", "The Evil That Men Do", "Night Crawler" & "Flash Of The Blade" for example) but I think this particular musical travesty may be the worst of them.

Hi everyone. I'm very pleased to advise that one of our newer members Morpheus Kitami has requested to be added to the feature release nomination roster so I've made some adjustments to include him under his three clans. The new August roster will be as follows so as to give him a chance to start immediately:

THE FALLEN: Morpheus, Sonny, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Morpheus

THE HORDE: Daniel, Vinny, Ben

THE INFINITE: Andi, Xephyr, Saxy

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

THE PIT: Vinny, Morpheus, Ben, Daniel

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

OK, so I'm a couple of full listens into this release & I'll be interested to hear some of your thoughts around whether there's enough genuine metal on offer to qualify as a metal release at the Academy or not.

Here's my synopsis from the time of release:

I first became acquainted with Buffalo-based metalcore outfit Every Time I Die back in 2012 through their "Ex Lives" album which I really enjoyed so I thought I'd check this one out after seeing it receiving a fair bit of praise from fans & media. It's a very solid release too. You'll find all of the usual metalcore traits here but the difference is that Every Time I Die are a class act & execute everything splendidly. There's a sophistication to the instrumentation which occasionally borders on mathcore complexity but there's also plenty of variation with the band throwing in a few more commercially focused alternative rock influenced numbers that show off a surprising amount of talent in song-writing & hook-development amidst their usual hardcore-fuelled ferocity. Front man Keith Buckley screams his fucking head off as expected but also showcases a variety of alternative influences from Tom Araya to Serj Tankian to Zack de la Rocha at various times. The album opens & closes with its best tracks which are both absolutely sublime & I left the experience feeling well satisfied with my efforts.

For fans of Coalesce, Ithaca & Drowningman.

4/5

Yes. There's nine other Mournful Congregation releases available to us.

Nah... I'll just listen to those tracks elsewhere. The irony of Mournful Congregation being unavailable to the Aussie audience though.

For the record, I simply cut & paste the entire playlists across so if there's a track missing at any stage then it'll be because I can't see it at all under the Metal Academy account.

Also, it would appear that Spotify is having some issues with track durations today. Ben & I have done a bit of testing with multiple accounts & there are quite a few releases which are showing 0:29 for all tracks. See Carcass' "Torn Arteries" for example. The tracks all seem to play to their full length though as far as I can tell.

I can see those two tracks in your Spotify playlist now that I'm on my usual work laptop Sonny but they're still not accessioble in my region. I've added them to the playlist.

July 2022

01. Blood Incantation – “Inner Paths (To Outer Space)” (from “Hidden History Of The Human Race”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Horrified – “Elisaph” (from “In The Garden Of The Unearthly Delights”, 1993)

03. Disharmonic Orchestra – “A Mental Sequence” (from “Not To Be Undimensional Conscious”, 1991)

04. Entombed A.D. – “Down To Mars To Ride” (from “Dead Dawn”, 2016)

05. Carcass – “Wake Up & Smell The Carcass / Caveat Emptor” (from “Torn Arteries”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

06. Repulsion – “Black Breath” (from “Horrified”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. General Surgery – “Restrained Remains” (from “Corpus In Extremis: Analysing Necroticism”, 2008)

08. Horrendous – “Soothsayer” (from “Idol”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Obituary – “Infected” (from “Cause Of Death”, 1990) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Grave – “Haunted” (from “Into The Grave”, 1991) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Suppression – “Lifelessness” (from “The Sorrow Of Soul Through Flesh”, 2022)

12. Malthusian – “Dissolution Of Consciousness” (from “Time’s Withering Shadow”, 2022)

13. Rotting – “Sexually Tortured” (from “Crushed”, 1998)

14. The Chasm – “No Mercy (Our Time Is Near)” (from “Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Bolt Thrower – “War Master” (from “War Master”, 1991) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Napalm Death – “Scum” (from “Scum”, 1987) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Septicflesh – “Coming Storm” (from “Modern Primitive”, 2022)

18. Haunter – “Overgrown With The Moss” (from “Discarnate Ails”, 2022)

19. Immolation – “Incineration Procession” (from “Acts Of God”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Lock Up – “After Life In Purgatory” (from “Pleasure Paves Sewers”, 1999)

21. Misery Index – “The Eaters & The Eaten” (from “Complete Control”, 2022)

22. Hate – “Erebos” (from “Erebos”, 2010) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. Dying Fetus – “From Womb To Waste” (from “Reign Supreme”, 2012) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. Infernal Revulsion – “Deep Down Human Being” (from “Devastate Under Hallucination”, 2007)

25. Disentomb – “An Edifice Of Archbestial Impurity” (from “Misery”, 2014) [Submitted by Vinny]

26. Nails – “Conform” (from “Unsilent Death”, 2010) [Submitted by Daniel]

27. Decapitated – “Just A Cigarette” (from “Cancer Culture”, 2022)

Playlist tracklisting now submitted using a USB keybopard I bought from K-Mart for $7.50.

KOM-teatteri - "Porvari nukkuu huonosti" (1972)

A musical theatre soundtrack featuring a folky sound that's uniquely Finnish. I didn't find it to be particularly interesting.

Don't do anything as yet Sonny. Let's wait until I get my work laptop going again because it seems that there's quite a few tracks that I can't see on my old personal laptop but I didn't experience similar problems with my work one. FYI my kids knocked a full glass of wine on the keyboard last night & now the ENTER button doesn't work so I can't even enter the BitLocker code to start to laptop up.

Andi, I can't see that Sinisstar track at all so I can't add it. Please wait until I get my work laptop going again because it seems that there's quite a few tracks I can't see on my old laptop but I didn't experience similar problems with my work one.

Please change my track submission to "Erasure Scan" from the same album.

Here's my submission for the August playlist Andi:

Code Orange - "Underneath" (from "Underneath", 2020)

Here's my track submission for the August playlist Andi:

Snapcase - "Killing Yourself To Live" (from "Progression Through Unlearning", 1997)

I won't be submitting any tracks for August Vinny. My month was consumed with my Southern Metal research & the only The Pit related release I listened to was the Sabbat feature which a) isn't on Spotify & b) would be too long anyway.

Here are my August track submissions Ben:

Abigor - "Gomorrha Rising/Nightside Rebellion" (from "Totschlager: A Saintslayer's Songbook", 2020)

Glorior Belli - "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" (from "Meet Us At The Southern Sign", 2009)

Here are my August track submissions:

Flourishing - "Momentary Senses" (from "The Sum Of All Fossils", 2011)

Six Feet Under - "Genocide" (from "Graveyard Classics IV: The Number Of The Priest" (2016)

Skinless - "Endvisioned" (from "Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead", 2006)

Here's my submission for the August playlist Xephyr:

Black Label Society - "Death March" (from "Mafia", 2005)

Here's my submission for the August playlist Saxy:

Floodgate - "Running With Sodden Legs" (from "Penalty", 1996)

Here are my submissions for the August playlist Sonny:

Evoken - "Embrace The Emptiness" (from "Quietus", 2001)

Corrosion of Conformity - "Pearls Before Swine" (from "Deliverance", 1994)

Acid King - "Four Minutes" (from "Free..." E.P., 2001)

Here are the nominators for the August feature releases:

THE FALLEN: Sonny, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Andi, Saxy

THE GUARDIANS: Xephyr, Daniel

THE HORDE: Daniel, Vinny, Ben

THE INFINITE: Andi, Xephyr, Saxy

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

THE PIT: Vinny, Ben, Daniel, Sonny

THE REVOLUTION: Daniel, Andi

THE SPHERE: Andi, Daniel

For some reason I can't seem to see the Mournful Congregation track on Spotify Sonny. I also had to go with the German version of the Reverend Bizarre one.

Jan Johansson - "Jazz på svenska" (1964)

A pretty cool, laidback jazz record from this highly regarded Swedish pianist. It's basically just piano & double bass & makes for great dinner music (or dinner-making music after a hard day at work which is how I've listened to it).

Brutal death metal from New York, USA.

Florida death 'n' roll. This ridiculous Judas Priest cover version has proven to be a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Skinless - "Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead" (2006)

Some fairly straight forward yet very effective brutal death metal from New York. I really dig the vocals which remind me of Grave. The production is thick & chunky & there's enough of a classic death metal sensibility to the riffs to see Skinless offering some appeal outside of the BDM space too. I could definitely have done without the Black Sabbath cover that closes the album though as it stands out like a sore thumb.

For fans of Dying Fetus, Aborted & Broken Hope.

4/5

I've been listening to the 2001 self-titled debut album from Japanese experimental act Dark Revolution Collective over the last few days & I have to say that it was complete crap . It sounds very much like a bunch of thirteen year old kids banging randomly on kitchen utensils which shouldn't really have surprised given that that's exactly what it is. Shit like this really shouldn't qualify as music.

I gave this album four spins over the last few days & I'm not sure I agree that it should qualify as a metal release. It's worth noting that I don't consider Kyuss to be a metal band either though. For "Reflections Of A Floating World" I'd go with a dual Progressive Rock & Stoner Rock tag with a Heavy Psych secondary. I think the psychedelic component is being overstated on RYM. To my ears the most prominent attribute is progressive rock (with Yes being a major influence) so it's really surprising that there's no progressive primary.

Elder - "Reflections of a Floating World" (2017)

I've been really digging the fourth album from this Massachusetts four-piece over the last couple of days. I was really impressed with their 2012 "Spires Burn/Release" E.P. some time ago & have always intended on checking out some of their other releases since. "Spires Burn/Release" sat somewhere between stoner metal & stoner rock whereas this one is noticeably more progressive & less metallic. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to call it progressive stoner rock with the dial sitting closer to the prog rock side than the stoner one due to the influence of Yes being quite pronounced on Elder's sound here. Front man Nick Disalvo's delivery reminds me a lot of Perry Farrell from Jane's Addiction & Porno For Pyros while the inclusion pf psychedelic guitar effects & the use of repetition as a tool for cerebral massage are most welcome. The musicianship is top notch throughout too. This is really classy stuff with lengthy & expansive passages taking the listener on rewarding journeys through otherworldy atmospheres. I'd suggest that members of The Infinite might find a lot to enjoy here. It just shades "Spires Burn/Release" in my opinion but there's not a lot in it.

4/5

OK, so I've now gone through thirteen of the most popular Southern Metal tagged bands/releases over the last two weeks which has been an interesting & enlightening experience. I now feel that I'm in a really good position to be able to answer the questions I was asking myself at the start of the experiment & make an informed decision of how (or whether) we handle the Southern metal genre. Here are my thoughts:

1. Is Southern Metal really a thing? Yes but it's not that straight forward. If you take the RYM definition word for word then it needs to be stoner/sludge based & the two major exponents in Down & Corrosion of Conformity are good examples of that. However the tag also seems to be used to draw together bands that have nothing whatsoever to do with stoner/sludge, instead using disparate genres like heavy metal, alternative metal & metalcore as the basis of their sounds. We even get bands being tagged with it who have such a minor Southern slant to their sound that it's hardly worth mentioning & also some that are lumped into it purely for locational or image reasons. My honest opinion is that the genre was originally derived to describe COC's sound on "Deliverance" but has been consistently blown way out proportion & used in ways that the author never intended since that time.

2. Does it have it's own consistently identifiable sound that differentiates it from other subgenres or is it more of a descriptor to throw on top of another subgenre?  Even though there are a few examples of a defined sound, Southern Metal is more of a descriptor in all honesty. There's no consistency in the way these releases sound & extremely few use that true Southern metal sound for more than a couple of tracks with the rest of the tracklistings residing within your more traditional space.

3. Are there releases that are deserving of a sole Southern Metal genre tag? (i.e. unaccompanied by other primary genres) The only one I found that fits this criteria is Corrosion of Conformity's "Deliverance" but it could just as easily sit under Stoner Metal & no one would give it a second thought as their particular brand of Southern Metal is built off a Stoner Metal backbone.

4. Is Southern Metal really a subgenre of a pre-existing genre? If I focused my answer purely on the sound that the term was originally penned to describe then Southern Metal would have to be a subgenre of Stoner Metal (if it existed at all) but there's too many discrepancies in the way it's used to tie it to the Stoner genre with any confidence.

5. Does Southern Metal belong in The Fallen as it's description would lead us to believe? If you isolate the Down/Corrosion of Conformity sound then that certainly sits within The Fallen but those two were the only legitimate Southern Metal releases I identified where that was the case with a wide array of alternate clans being preferable for the other few releases I highlighted. Therefore the answer has to be no.

6. Are there releases that belong to the Southern Metal genre that DON'T sit comfortably under The Fallen? Yes, definitely. Take the Rebel Meets Rebel, Maylene & the Sons of Disaster & Hank III releases as prime examples.

7. If so, how might we handle them in a way that makes sense from an holistic point of view? We simply couldn't. We'd have to decide that only releases associated with The Fallen subgenres could be labelled as Southern Metal which defeats the purpose.

Overall result: I don't think Southern Metal is a well defined enough genre to warrant inclusion as a Metal Academy genre/subgenre. Most releases only include the influence on a few tracks & some don't have any reference to Southern Rock at all. As far as I can see it's better of being a descriptor like "Technical", "Neoclassical", "Melodic" or "Symphonic". For that reason Ben & I have decided not to add Southern Metal to our database for the time being. If anyone feels strongly that this is the wrong decision then please feel free to reach out because we're a democrasy rather than a dictatorship here at the Academy.

For the record, here's where I think each of the thirteen releases should sit:

1. Down - "Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow..." (2002) : Should sit in The Fallen under Stoner Metal.

2, Corrosion of Conformity - "Deliverance" (1994) : Should sit in The Fallen under Stoner Metal.

3. Black Label Society - "Mafia" (2005) : Should sit in The Guardians under Heavy Metal.

4. Pride & Glory - "Pride & Glory" (1994) : Should sit under Non-Metal.

5. Rebel Meets Rebel - "Rebel Meets Rebel" (2006) : Should sit in The Guardians under Heavy Metal.

6. He Is Legend - "Suck Out The Poison" (2006) : Should sit in The Revolution under Melodic Metalcore.

7. Alabama Thunderpussy - "Open Fire" (2007) : Should sit under both The Fallen & The Guardians under Stoner Metal & Heavy Metal respectively.

8. Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - "Maylene & the Sons of Disaster" (2005) : Should sit in The Revolution under Metalcore.

9. Glorior Belli - "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" (2009) : Should sit in The North under Black Metal.

10. Fireball Ministry - "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock" (2005) : Should sit in The Fallen under Stoner Metal.

11. Acid King/The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight - "Free.../The Father, The Son & The Holy Smoke" split album (2001) : Should sit in The Fallen under Stoner Metal.

12. Floodgate - "Penalty" (1996) : Should sit in The Fallen & The Gateway under Stoner metal & Alternative Metal respectively.

13. Hank III - "Hillbilly Joker" (2011) : Should sit in The Gateway under Alternative Metal.

Hank III - "Hillbilly Joker" (2011)

If there was one release I was sure I would find Southern Metal on it was this one from legendary outlaw country star Hank Williams, III  (who is also a member of Phil Anselmo side projects Arson Asylum & Superjoint Ritual just quietly). Hank's apparently recorded several metal-related releases over the years but a few of them (including this one) were released without his permission following his sudden exodus from Curb Records. What we get with "Hillbilly Joker" is a mixture of Cowpunk (a country/punk hybrid) & Alternative Metal with a strong Southern theme throughout. I wouldn't say there's anything remotely like the Stoner Metal-dominated branch of Southern Metal I highlighted earlier in this little experiment included here but it's very hard to think of a world that has Southern Metal as a genre tag but doesn't have this record sitting underneath it because the redneck element is just so (intentionally) extreme. About 60% of the tracklisting is metal-based & if you want to know what to expect then I'd suggest that you imagine a psychotic Mike Patton/Faith No More alternative metal sound crossed with an even more drug-fucked Ministry. There's plenty of energy (presumably due to the copious amounts of speed being taken by the musicians if the lyrics are even remotely true) & some of the material is really pretty fucking heavy too, especially highlight tracks like "Pistol Packin'" & "I'm Drunk Again". Sure, there are a few duds on offer (Hint: they all fall into the Cowpunk space unsurprisingly) but I actually quite enjoyed the experience for something different. Hank certainly has his own sound & I can't say I've heard anything quite like him to be honest.

3.5/5

Try this one on for a dose of Southern Metal (minus the stoner/sludge angle):

New Orleans alternative/stoner metal featuring Exhorder/Alabama Thunderpussy/Trouble front man Kyle Thomas.

New Orleans stoner metal featuring Exhorder/Alabama Thunderpussy/Trouble front man Kyle Thomas.

Floodgate - "Penalty" (1996)

This sole album from New Orleans four-piece Floodgate sees Exhorder/Alabama Thunderpussy/Trouble frontman Kyle Thomas leading us on an excursion that travels directly along the boundary that separates Stoner Metal & Alternative Metal. In fact, it sounds very much like Down meets Alice In Chains/Soundgarden which is a pretty appealing reference point on paper.  I'd even go so far as to say that the psychedelic acoustic number "Whole" is a combination of Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" & Nirvana's "Something In The Way" which can't be a bad thing now, can it? The reality though is that "Penalty" is a touch inconsistent with a couple of flatter tracks included across the eleven songs but Thomas' masculine, powerful tone gives the highlight tracks the clout they need to stick in your brain. I do prefer the more grungy material to the groovier stoner riffs but that's just personal preference. As far as Southern Metal goes, there's one clear example in "Till My Soil" (which reminds me very much Corrosion of Conformity's "Albatross" & is the clear weak point of the album for me personally which is once again down to taste) but that's about it really. I can only think the associations with the genre are purely locational. Anyway... "Penalty" is worth a few spins for fans of both stoner & the more metal side of grunge.

3.5/5

This is what it sounds like when Floodgate DO put their Southern Metal pants on:

Kanye West - "Late Registration" (2005)

Quite enjoyed Kanye's sophomore album for a bit of cheeky & fairly accessible hip hop while doing work in the back yard this morning. He was certainly a story-teller. What happened to the dude in recent years?!

I forgot to post this on the thread when I reviewed it recently, so here it is now:

Carnage - Dark Recollections (1990)

OK, surprise, surprise Carnage are another death metal band whose existence I was completely oblivious to. It appears these Swedes had quite a short run, the band being formed by several members of Dismember who were joined by Michael Amott, future Arch Enemy mainman, originally playing grindcore. By the time of the release of their sole full-length, Dark Recollections, in March of 1990, they had lost their grindcore beginnings and produced an album of pretty lethal, out-and-out death metal. Now I have insufficient knowledge of the minutiae of death metal as to the differences between, say, the Floridian scene and the burgeoning Swedish scene (if someone could enlighten me then please do), but I can only assume this played a significant part in the latter (along with Entombed's imminent Left Hand Path debut album).

I love the guitar tone here, it's down and dirty enough but still has plenty of bite and the bass fortifies the sound as it seems to be prominently placed in the mix. Fred Estby's drum work, whilst being quite straightforward, is exceedingly effective and vocalist Matti Kärki has a great line in earnest bellowing. I have seen a number of complaints that this is merely generic death metal. Well, I disagree. There are some really nice riffs here and the lead work is rough but energetic, but more importantly, how can a death metal album that is one of the early examples, particularly of the Swedish scene, be generic? Surely the later albums these commentators are basing this judgement on are the generic ones.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that I am much better disposed to early death metal than the later, more technical or dissonant stuff that garners so much praise and this is a great example of youthful exuberance (the musicians were all in their teens still) made manifest. Sure it doesn't have the really memorable tracks of an Altars of Madness or any of the other releases from the big noises in the death metal scene of the time, but it does brutalise and batter with a relentless onslaught of dark and violent metal. And there is nothing at all wrong with that.
4/5

I always really enjoyed this one. It's a very strong example of its type in my opinion.

Death - Spiritual Healing (1990)

Spiritual Healing is one of the two Death albums I was still yet to listen to prior to this (the other being The Sound of Perseverance). There is a certain degree of progression throughout all of the Death discography and here Chuck Schuldiner decides (for Death were a band in name only and were essentially Chuck and a band of hired guns, all band decisions taken by he alone) on a stylistic departure from the first two albums. Gone are the cartoonish, horror-themed lyrics and cover art of SBG and Leprosy and in comes actual horrors from the real world - drug addiction, mental health issues, even abortion and the death penalty all come in for scrutiny from Chuck's lyrical examination. This lyrical evolution being just one of several obvious indicators of his increasing maturity as a songwriter and his refusal to keep retreading the same ground.

Death had pretty much established and refined the definition of death metal with their first two classics, but it is clear that Chuck wanted more. He had ditched guitarist Rick Rozz because he wasn't willing or able to go along with that ride and brought in the technically more impressive Hallows Eve guitarist James Murphy. The songs on Spiritual Healing have a greater level of complexity than on the first two albums, not exactly progressive, but certainly not mere simplistic head-banging material, most consisting of multiple riffs, tempo changes and guitar solos.

The overall sound is much clearer than previously and the guitar tone is great with a chunkiness that allows the stellar riffs to hammer home but is also precise and clean allowing James Murphy's shredding solos to absolutely slay. His soloing is arguably the most enervating and melodic in all of death metal up to this point, sounding more influenced by classic heavy metal guitarists than the Slayer duo of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King that most death metal guitarists of the time referenced. Chuck's vocals are great and sound better than ever here, his earnest gruffness exemplifying the best of death metal singing at the time. Terry Butler turns in a solid performance on bass and Bill Andrews comes in for his usual technical kicking by those who know better than I, but Spiritual Healing is all about those riffs and solos, the functional rhythm section merely providing a base.

I have pointed out recently that there were a few albums released around this time that were really solid workouts but which didn't live long in my memory after they had finished (Massacra and Carnage to name a couple) but that is an accusation that certainly can't be levelled at Death, the opener Living Monstrosity, the title track and my personal favourite, the convoluted Low Life with it's insane solos, all had enough personality to keep them running through my mind long into the night! All in all I loved this album and it is yet another key to the lock that was my previous misunderstanding of how amazing Death were as a legendary metal outfit and the influence that Chuch Schuldiner had on the world of death metal. In fact I find it almost impossible to reconcile where I now stand with my previously held beliefs about Death.

4.5/5

This was my review of "Spiritual Healing" from many years ago:

In 1988 Chuck Schuldiner had turned the underground metal scene on its ear with Death’s second album “Leprosy”. It had really raised the bar as far as extremity was concerned but had also combined it with some excellent song-writing & memorable hooks. Extreme metal fans lapped it up it & it ended up going down as one of the defining death metal records in history. When the release of Death’s third album was announced most people were expecting an even more brutal assault on their senses. It marked the first Death release since my conversion to death metal so I had more than a casual interest in it.

“Spiritual Healing” saw Chuck make a number of conscious changes to his tried & tested formula. Firstly he decided to tone down the brutality a touch & incorporated some more progressive ideas into his song-writing. Listening back now it doesn’t sound like anything major but at the time it was regarded as a fairly adventurous approach. Chuck brought in hired gun guitar shredder James Murphy to add some class to the solos & Terry Butler got the opportunity to contribute on bass guitar for the first time. There was also a notable change in Chuck’s lyrical direction. This time he was tackling real life issues like drugs & abortion instead of the standard death metal themes of zombies, murder & general nastiness. These changes contributed to a more mature & professional sounding Death; one that was obviously looking to continue leading the pack rather coasting on past successes. Not everyone was positive about Death’s new direction but personally I thought it opened up a world of new possibilities & was intrigued.

Upon first listen it’s immediately obvious that this was not going to be “Leprosy II”. The clean & powerful production is an obvious step up from the raw ugliness of the past & everything sounds quite precise. There are some more adventurous timings on offer than we’d heard from a death metal band to that time but I wouldn’t say it’s anything over the top by today’s standards. In fact the drumming is quite simple throughout the album & that has always annoyed me a little. Bill Andrews drumming during the fast sections is simply not brutal or interesting enough for my liking & I feel that Chuck would have been much better served by recruiting someone more capable. Terry Butler puts in a solid performance on bass although I must say that I prefer the more progressive & challenging bass lines that are a feature of all subsequent Death releases.

On the more positive side of things James Murphy’s guitar solos are quite special & add an entirely new element to the band; one that would be a constant for the band even after his departure. Chuck’s riffs are consistently brilliant & I think his vocals sound more powerful & intimidating than ever before. Opening track “Living Monstrosity” is an absolute corker & is my favourite track on the album but the next four are all very solid pieces of death metal. There really aren’t any weak songs but I think the last three are probably a touch lower in quality than the rest of the album so things do just tail off a little in the back end. Most tracks have some cracking riffs that really utilize the production advancements & you are constantly reminded that this is a more mature Death than you’d heard on their first two albums.

"Spiritual Healing" is an often overlooked album in Death's back catalogue due to the classic releases either side of it but if you disregard those & look at it as a singular piece of art then it offers a clinical & fresh take on the death metal concept & a damn fine listening experience. In fact I probably favour it slightly over Death's ground-breaking debut album "Scream Bloody Gore" to be honest. "Spiritual Healing" is generally regarded as a transition album (& that idea is not without merit as 1991’s “Human” would expand & improve on the ideas Chuck presents here) but there is more to this album than that. This is high quality death metal that oozes class.

4/5

Here' my updated Top Ten Stoner Metal Releases of All Time list after Acid King left my jaw on the ground & forced me to drop Electric Wizard's "Witchcult Today":

01. Electric Wizard – “We Live” (2004)

02. Acid King - "Free..." E.P. (2014)

03. High On Fire – “De vermis mysteriis” (2012)

04. Electric Wizard – “Let Us Prey” (2002)

05. Adrift For Days – “The Lunar Maria” (2010)

06. Electric Wizard – “Supercoven” E.P. (1998)

07. Electric Wizard – “Dopethrone” (2000)

08. Boris – “あくまのうた (Akuma no uta)” (2003)

09. Electric Wizard – “Come My Fanatics…” (1997)

10. Elder – “Spires Burn/Release” E.P. (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/135

Crushingly heavy female-fronted doom metal from San Francisco, USA.

Acid King/The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight - "Free.../The Father, The Son & The Holy Smoke" split album (2001)

This one is a split collaboration album from female-fronted San Francisco stoner/doom outfit Acid King (featuring French drummer Guy Pinhas who has also been involved with Fireball Ministry, Goatsnake & The Obsessed) & New Orleans psychedelic Southern rock/metal project The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight (featuring guitarist Jimmy Bower who has played with just about everyone including Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Down, Eyehategod & Superjoint Ritual). The two bands sound completely different so the tracklisting doesn't exactly flow from one to the next. I fucking loved the Acid King material which can also be found as an isolated E.P. that was released in 2014. Their sound is super-dense & heavy as fuck with Lori S's vocals sounding very much like Hole front woman Courtney Love at times. When they get their doom on Acid King seriously crush & I'd highly recommend them to fans of Electric Wizard & Sleep. The two tracks from The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight are a very different proposition with "Buzzard Hill (My Backyard)" being a genuine Southern Metal groove-fest & the epic eleven minute closer "Veiled" starting off in Southern/stoner metal territory before veering off into a spectacular drawn-out psychedelic rock excursion of the highest calibre for the last seven minutes which was the highlight of the whole release for me personally. I can't say that The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight's groovy Southern/Stoner Metal stylings do much for me but when they decide to strip things back & get all trippy on me I find myself in a musical Heaven that I rarely encounter.

Overall, I'd suggest that labelling this split release as Southern Metal is disingenuous as there's really only one & a half tracks that fall into that category. It's more accurate to tag it with the overarching Stoner Metal banner with Doom Metal & Southern Metal secondaries in my opinion. I really enjoyed this record though. It's been one of the finds of the month for me, mainly for the Acid King stuff which is some of the best Stoner/Doom I've ever encountered to be honest. I'm gonna go with 4.5/5 for Acid King & 3.5/5 for The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight.

4/5

Here's an example of the Southern Metal sound:

Los Angeles Stoner Metal.

Fireball Ministry - "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock" (2005)

The third full-length from this Los Angeles outfit is a pretty enjoyable if fairly light-weight combination of Stoner Rock & Stoner Metal with the Southern Metal link being way too ambitious for my liking. There is a mild Southerm tinge to Fireball Ministry's sound however it's not in any way any more extreme than your average Stoner artist so I see no reason to highlight it when the band's sound falls so obviously into the more well-known genres. The album starts out pretty well with all of the five tracks on the A side possessing enough catchy hooks to draw me in but things start to go "south" (see what I did there?) a little in the back end with songs like "Two Tears", "Under The Thunder" & "Rising From The Deep" failing to hit the mark due to some flat & lethargic choruses. The use of cheesy halftime cowbell brings things right back into the more accessible rock spectrum on several occasions too. Thankfully closing number "Save The Saved" sees Fireball Ministry finishing with a bang & is the album highlight. The vocals of front man Rev. James A. Rota II alternate between that standard trucker hat-wearing growl & Ozzy Osbourne worship while the wall-of-sound Stoner guitar tone is thick & heavy. Overall it was a fairly intimidating but generally pleasant piece of Stoner Rock/Metal that won't change your life but won't see you reaching for the dial either. It's the type of record that lives & dies on it's vocal hooks so each song will either stick or it won't. Once again though... I don't see the need for the Southern Metal tag.

3.5/5

Massacra - Final Holocaust (1990)

Massacra's debut marks the point at which the French throw their hat into the death metal ring and try to stand toe-to-toe with the big boys. Final Holocaust epitomises that death/thrash crossover sound that was a hallmark of the late-eighties' transition from brutal thrash to death metal and is an aggressive and relentless blast through ten tracks of vicious and venomous death metal that still maintains a significant proportion of thrash sensibilities, the Teutonic influence of Kreator being particularly apparent I would suggest. There are some cool riffs and solos with energy aplenty to be found within the ten tracks, but unfortunately I don't find that much of the album "sticks" with me. Don't get me wrong, I find Final Holocaust to be a really good blast while it's on, but by the time you get halfway through most of the tracks start to blur one into another and the second it stops I have trouble recalling any of the songs. I really don't want to be too critical because I have heard far worse albums, but this lack of memorability is a significant stumbling block. Would I put it on in preference to Kreator, Slayer, Morbid Angel or Death? No of course I wouldn't, but I wouldn't turn it off and replace it with something else if it was already on either because there is plenty here that I enjoyed. Not every album can be earth-shattering or life-changing, but Massacra do what they do extremely well and deserve some praise for what is a consistent and energetic release. I have been getting more from it the more spins it receives, yet I still struggle to recall many of the tracks later, so maybe it's just me.

3.5/5

I picked this one up through tape trading back in the day & really enjoyed it. It's been eons since I've heard it but I'm feeling like it might have to be pulled out again.

And so to the first big-hitter of 1990:

Atheist - Piece of Time (1990)

I'm not the biggest champion of technical death metal to say the least and Piece of Time is an album I have heard before, without it really making much impression on me. So I went into it this time with a determination to get to the bottom of why it is so well-received and simultaneously to try to get something out of tech-death that has eluded me in the main up to this point. The first thing that leaps out at me is that this is quite obviously a unique record for early 1990 and, to use a much-abused cliche which is actually true on this occasion, it genuinely sounds ahead of it's time - maybe it should have been entitled Piece Out of Time! OK, so I don't know what I was thinking when I originally rated this as a 3/5 because I got far more out of it this time around than that score suggests, so it is definitely long overdue for a reappraisal.

Firstly, this is not that overtly technical as I have come to understand the term. I associate the phrase "technical" metal, be it thrash or death metal, with unlistenable time changes and excessive guitar wankery, bass lines bursting in and out seemingly at random and a drummer who desperarely seems to be trying to make up for the fact that he is the drummer! In other words a general lack of the things that originally drew me to metal music - riffs that will blow your bollocks off at fifty yards. For me "technical" metal (as opposed to progressive metal) is more for students of music theory and those who understand what the musicians are about - which I can assure you does not include me - rather than a visceral, emotional experience which is much more what I look for in music. So either I have completely misrepresented tech-death in my own mind or this isn't as technical as I thought it was because this has got some awesome riffing and the technical work is nothing like as jarring as I have found it elsewhere, being more interesting than annoying to my more literal way of thinking.

Basically, on Piece of Time, Atheist have taken the nascent death metal genre as a foundation and recast it with a completely different approach from the full-on brutalisation of Morbid Angel, Autopsy or Obituary, producing the tightest-sounding death metal album released up to this point. The technical, jazzy showcasing does definitely rear it's head at many points, but it never seems to be merely for it's own sake and it never disrupts the flow of the tracks which is where I think many tech bands go wrong when they sacrifice the songs upon the altar of technicality. Anyway, I have harped on about the technical nature of Piece of Time for long enough now - what we really have here is a super-energetic death metal album that is full of life and is a powerful representation of what can be achieved when a band take a different approach to what is becoming established as the norm in any given genre without sacrificing what has made that genre so appealing in the first place. The guitar work is exemplary, the riffs and leads are plenty aggressive as are the vocals spat out by Kelly Shaefer whose delivery is especially venomous-sounding. The drums and bass are given more freedom than usual up to this point, but this certainly doesn't undermine their ability to propel the tracks forwards, rather they enhance the lead work with interesting contributions of their own.

In conclusion, I have got to say that I was originally very, very wrong about Piece of Time and, having stripped away the prejudices the "technical" tag produce in me, can now see it for the ground-breaking and original piece of work that it really was and found myself enjoying it immensely. Maybe I have mellowed over the intervening years and have become more accepting of diverse elements in metal music and if that is the reason why this sounds so awesome then I am extremely glad. I'm really looking forward to reviewing Unquestionable Presence now if that is supposed to be even better!

4.5/5

Here are my thoughts on "Piece Of Time":

Florida tech death/thrash legends Atheist's 1990 debut album "Piece Of Time" made a significant impact on me & was high on my rotation list at the time but as soon as their follow-up "Unquestionable Presence" was released I kinda forgot about it as the band's sophomore effort was a clear step up from the debut & an undeniable classic. It's been interesting to rediscover the point that Atheist were at in their creative & artistic journey with "Piece Of Time" this week as it's generally regarded as somewhat of a classic too.

The opening title track is an absolute belter & sounds exactly like the material from "Unquestionable Presence" which is a sure-fire indication that it was the most recently composed track included on the album. The other material sees them varying the amount of traditional thrash metal & more progressive elements & I'm willing to bet that I could piece together the exact order that the tracks were written because you can easily hear the band developing their sound over the course of the nine songs. For that reason, I've never found "Piece Of Time" to be quite the finished product however it undeniably represents a huge step up in ambition for the extreme metal movement. No one had attempted anything like this before & the more atmospheric & progressive parts of the album were a particular revelation that would be expanded upon significantly on later releases. Death, Cynic & Pestilence can all be found to be trying very similar things in the years that followed too & I don't think that's a coincidence.

The level of musicianship on display here is absolutely outstanding, particularly the shredding lead guitar work & Roger Patterson's super-interesting bass lines which take an up-front position in the mix. Kelly Shaefer's vocal delivery has never really struck me as being particularly "death metal" though & sounds more like a raspier thrash front man like Sadus' front man Darren Travis than it does Chuck Schuldiner. I probably would have preferred a little more extremity there to be honest but then again... that may have changed the feel of the album completely so it may be for the best.

Overall, "Piece Of Time" is a ground-breaking & highly influential debut that offers consistent quality & strong hints at the potential that was to be fulfilled in the coming years.

For fans of 90's Death, early Cynic & the more technical Pestilence albums.

4/5

It's Entombed's "Clandestine" for me personally. Sonny 

Elite French black metal.

Glorior Belli - "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" (2009)

I was really looking forward to revisiting "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" as I've been a long-time fan of this record but don't recall ever thinking it was worthy of another tag outside of your standard Black Metal one. After giving it a few listens, I can't say that my feelings have changed all that much either. Sure, there's a noticeable Americana feel to a few tracks due to the use of string bends as a part of the riff structures & a few short & rootsy interludes but there's no way that Glorior Belli ever step all that far outside the scope of the modern Black Metal model. To say that this album qualifies as Southern Metal is simply not true & it would sound completely out of place if it was to be placed in The Fallen. I mean there's absolutely no hint at a Stoner Metal or Sludge Metal sound here & I wouldn't even say that the influences I mentioned earlier have anything to do with Southern Rock either so it seems completely misguided in my opinion. In saying that though, this is a fantastic fucking Black Metal record with wonderfully grim vocals & classy compositional work. The atmosphere is top notch, the production job is appropriate & the incorporation of the outside influences I mentioned earlier is done so fluently that there's no reason to reach too far outside of the Black Metal spectrum for additional genre tags. The only complaint I have is around the execution of the blast beats which isn't exactly at the elite level but this is by far the best release I've encountered in this month's Southern Metal experiment.

4.5/5