Daniel's Forum Replies

Southern metalcore from Alabama, USA.

Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - "Maylene & the Sons of Disaster" (2005)

Given that this debut album is tagged as both Metalcore & Southern Metal on RYM, I was pretty skeptical about its chances of being a genuine Southern Metal release & was more or less expecting a similar outcome to the one I got with the He Is Legend record. But you know what? Those tags are actually very accurate because this is a pretty unique sounding release. The basis of their sound is certainly Metalcore but there are stoner metal riffs included on most tracks as well as a clear Southern feel to the screamed vocals & slide guitar parts that are layered over the top at times. Unfortunately all of that doesn't make the album appeal to me any more though. The metalcore breakdowns are lacking in ambition while the Stoner riffs are a bit too groovy for my taste too. I do really enjoy the harsh vocals & they're probably the best thing about the record but I could certainly have done without the poppy clean vocal sections which remind me of commercial pop punk. Interestingly the clear highlight of the album is the stunning Southern Rock closer "Just Wanted to Make Mother Proud" which was an unexpected yet quite wonderful way to end the tracklisting. Overall though? Nup, this one's not for me even though it undoubtedly offers a fresh & original sound & does fit the mold for a Southern Metal release. 

3/5

The opening track from Alabama Thunderpussy's 2006 album "Open Fire" which kinda straddles both stoner metal & heavy metal simultaneously.

A crunchy heavy metal beast from Virginia-based stoner/heavy metallers Alabama Thunderpussy.

A Slayer-inspired thrasher from Virginia-based stoner/heavy metallers Alabama Thunderpussy featuring Exhorder front man Kyle Thomas behind the microphone.

Alabama Thunderpussy - "Open Fire" (2007)

I was really expecting this one to be a no-brainer when it came to Southern Metal qualification however it ended up being anything but. You see, while "Open Fire" might possess an undeniable stoner metal attitude, there's really no sign of the required Southern Rock influence here. In fact, the music compiled within "Open Fire" is a more of a combination of your more traditional heavy metal riffs & song structures with a stoner metal production job & aesthetic. You definitely get your fair share of stoner groove but those moments are comfortably out-weighed by fast-paced Judas Priest riffage, Saxon-esque hard rock crunch & Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies. I honestly think that the Southern Metal tag is only being associated with this record because Alabama Thunderpussy hail from Virginia. The only other thing I can think of would be if people are hearing the guitar harmonies & thinking they're influenced by someone like Lynard Skynard instead of Iron Maiden who would appear to be the clear source of inspiration to an old Maiden tragic like myself. It's actually a really consistent album though. The band are tight as fuck & have a wonderful hard rock guitar crunch. Exhorder front man Kyle Thomas is real highlight & sounds so much like WASP singer Blackie Lawless with his super-masculine & totally bad-ass delivery. The thrashing title track even draws upon classic Slayer in a similar way to High On Fire's more intense moments which can't be a bad thing either. Unfortunately "Open Fire" just needs a few genuine highlight tracks to command future revisits but it's a solid little stoner/heavy metal record nonetheless. It's just not a genuine Southern Metal release in my opinion.

3.5/5

Some rip-roaring metalcore from North Carolina, USA.

He Is Legend - "Suck Out The Poison" (2006)

OK, so who the fuck decided to cause my whole experiment to implode by including this particular record under the Southern Metal banner then?? It's tagged with dual genres on RYM under Hard Rock (17-0) & Southern Metal (6-0) yet I'll be fucked if it's anything like either of those. This is a Melodic Metalcore record with Post-Hardcore & Alternative Metal influences. There are a few riffs that would be similar to Stoner Metal if they had a more appropriate guitar tone as well as one or two Southern Rock inspired guitar licks but so the fuck what?? To claim the entire record as being Southern Metal on that basis is absolutely absurd & I get the distinct feeling that the tagging is based more around He Is Legend's home of residence being North Carolina than it does anything to do with sound or style. And don't even get me started on Hard Rock. There's not a second of it on here. "Suck Out The Poison" is not a bad record as far as Melodic Metalcore goes to be fair. It's just a touch inconsistent.

3.5/5

Try this Southern Metal disaster on for size too. Simply awful stuff from three quarters of Pantera!

Rebel Meets Rebel - "Rebel Meets Rebel" (2006)

Ok, so here we have another release that throws a major spanner in my previous position on the whole Southern metal thing & it comes in the form of a one-off collaboration album between Dimebag Darrel, Rex Brown & Vinny Paul from Pantera & old country singer David Allan Coe (who was in his 60's when the record was recorded). The album was always intended on being something that Dimebag described as a "country metal" record & that might not be all that far off the truth but it was also a pretty crap idea if the outcome is anything to go by & I don't think it would have been spared from being crucified if not for Dimebag's tragic death (in fact it may not have been released at all if not for the obvious cash-in factor). You see, the two elements really aren't very well combined here & Coe sounds positively awful at times. In fact, I often found myself reaching for comparisons with the ill-fated Metallica & Lou Reed collaboration which can't be a good thing now, can it? You'll easily be able to pick out a few classic Pantera groove metal riffs spread across the tracklisting along along with a significant amount of traditional heavy metal, a couple of hard rock numbers & some bits & piece of blues rock, Southern rock, speed metal & country but don't think you'll miss the Southern Metal component with this album as it's standing out front for all to see. It's just that it hasn't got the slightest bit to do with stoner or sludge metal which pretty much pooh-poohs my thoughts on Southern Metal being a subgenre of Stoner Metal in the Metal Academy database as this release doesn't belong anywhere near The Fallen. It should probably be in The Guardians & there's also an argument for it being in The Pit although I don't think it's consistently thrashy enough for that personally. Interestingly I find the three country tracks to be by far the best material on display which is definitely an indication of just how mismatched the vocals are with the metal instrumentation & I ultimately found "Rebel Meets Rebel" to be a chore to sit through.

Here are my genre-taggings:

01. Nothin' to Lose                           Speed Metal

02. Rebel Meets Rebel                     Southern/Heavy Metal

03. Cowboys Do More Dope           Southern/Groove metal

04. Panfilo                                          Flamenco/Country

05. Heart Worn Highway                  Southern/Heavy Metal

06. One Nite Stands                          Blues Rock/Hard Rock

07. Arizona Rivers                             Psychedelic Country

08. Get Outta My Life                       Southern/Groove Metal

09. Cherokee Cry                               Hard/Southern Rock

10. Time                                             Southern/Heavy Metal

11. No Compromise                         Southern/Groove Metal

12. N.Y.C. Streets                              Country Rock

2.5/5

I'd wager that some of the lesser known bands achieve a purer southern metal sound, but even those are few and far between. I think the Polish band Death Denied fit the bill, but they're obviously not something to base your decision on.

Thanks for the tip. I'll add them to the list.

Pride & Glory - "Pride & Glory" (1994)

Zakk Wylde's one-off side-project with Black Label Society bass player James LoMenzo & future Whitesnake/Foreigner drummer Brain Tichy really does nothing to clear things up for me. It's obviously the most Southern inspired release of the four so far however it's also not a metal record with none of the fourteen individual tracks qualifying for metal status in my opinion. Instead it sits somewhere between Hard Rock & Southern Rock with far too much blues in their sound for the few heavier tracks to breach the confines of Hard Rock. There are definitely a few metal riffs thrown in here & there but every time that happens the songs are brought back into more commercial territory by some classic Hard Rock choruses or vocal hooks. In saying that though, I definitely prefer "Pride & Glory" to the Black Label Society record & would suggest that it just shaves the Corrosion of Conformity one too. Zakk's voice sounds great in this bluesier Southern style & often reminds me of my all-time favourite singer in Soundgarden's Chris Cornell. Check out the stunning album highlight that is Piano Rock ballad "Fadin' Away" for example with it's wonderful vocal harmonies & sentimental string arrangements. The album gets off to a very strong start with the A side being very impressive indeed. Unfortunately, much like a couple of the other releases I've explored during this expose so far, the B side contains a few light-weight & disposable Country & Southern Rock songs to ensure that I wouldn't be tempted to reach for my higher scores. Still... there's a lot of class in the majority of "Pride & Glory" so I can see why it's generally fairly highly regarded. If we were to include it on the Academy database I'd be recommending that it sits under Non-Metal though so it hasn't really helped me much in this process. In fact, I'm starting to wonder whether the Southern Metal tag was developed to cover the sound of a couple of bands (Down & Corrosion of Conformity) but was then completely misused by the market to describe anything that had even the slightest connection with a bluesier Southern sound instead of what it was originally intended to describe. There's also a strong chance that people have used it more from a locational point of view than anything musical. Hopefully I can come to an answer on that over the next week & a half.

Here's how I genre-tagged it:

01. Losin' Your Mind                   Southern/Hard Rock

02. Horse Called War                  Hard Rock

03. Shine On                                 Southern/Hard Rock

04. Lovin' Woman                        Southern Rock

05. Harvester of Pain                  Southern/Hard Rock

06. The Chosen One                    Hard Rock

07. Sweet Jesus                           Southern Rock

08. Troubled Wine                        Southern/Hard Rock

09. Machine Gun Man                 Southern Rock

10. Cry Me a River                        Country

11. Toe'n the Line                         Hard Rock

12. Found a Friend                       Blues Rock

13. Fadin' Away                             Piano Rock

14. Hate Your Guts                       Country

3.5/5

I bought "Icon" upon release & was initially underwhelmed too as I had a preconceived expectation of what I was going to hear & what I got certainly wasn't that. But after a couple of repeat listens I was able to accept the band's new direction & found the song-writing to be the strongest of their career. For the record, Anathema are my pick of the Peaceville Three because I find their music to be much more complex & sophisticated than the other two as well being the most consistently capable of pulling on my heart-strings. I'm not just talking about their early works either. They've had a wonderful career with a slew of fantastic releases spread right across their discography. My Dying Bride's early work was equal to anything they've done however they've tended to repeat themselves & haven't been as consistent since their early-to-mid 90's peak in my opinion. 

What a waste of space this cheesy Country Rock bonus track is from Zakk Wylde-fronted Los Angeles Heavy Metal outfit Black Label Society's 2005 "Mafia" album.

I think some of you thrashers might enjoy this chunky Groove Metal number from Zakk Wylde-fronted Los Angeles Heavy Metal outfit Black Label Society.

Love love love this monster heavy metal anthem from Zakk Wylde-fronted Los Angeles Heavy Metal outfit Black Label Society.

Black Label Society - "Mafia" (2005)

Now this brings me to the final member of the big three Southern Metal bands in the Zakk Wylde-fronted Black Label Society, a band that I've had very limited exposure to over the years with the exception of seeing them perform live at Soundwave 2012 in Sydney which was essentially one long (admittedly very impressive) super-shredding Zakk guitar solo. I came in very interested to check out BLS's sound given that they are the first artist in the experiment that doesn't also command additional The Fallen primary genre-tags along with the Southern Metal one so I wanted to see whether they'd cause us any problems & I have to say that "Mafia" (Black Label Society's most well-known release) certainly throws a cat amongst the pigeons in that regard. You see, "Mafia" wasn't at all what I expected, at least not in relation to this deep-dive exercise. There is absolutely none of the Southern Metal sound I've previously identified on the two Down & Corrosion of Conformity albums here. In fact, I'll be fucked if I can hear any Southern Rock influence on this album whatsoever! It's pretty much a traditional Heavy Metal record with a few Groove Metal & Hard Rock moments thrown in here & there. The only reason I can see for the link to Southern Metal is the inclusion of a few crappy Country tracks which don't really have much to do with my understanding of Southern Rock. If the Southern Metal sound is supposedly linked to Stoner Metal & Sludge Metal then there's no sign of either of those genres here. You do often see Southern Metal being linked to Groove Metal on some online sites but this begs the question as to whether the whole Southern Metal tag is being incorrectly used as more of a tool for grouping bands that come from a particular region. In saying that though, Black Label Society are from Los Angeles & Zakk is from New Jersey so I'd suggest that it's more about his image than anything else.

So let's actually take a deeper look at the music that actually IS here then, shall we? Most of the material isn't too far removed from the traditional Heavy Metal of Zakk's work with Ozzy Osbourne & highlights his chunky, super-charged metal riffs & signature artificial harmonic squeals. His lead work is obviously the highlight of the album but that was always going to be the case. His vocals are interesting as he sounds distinctly like he's trying to combine Guns 'n' Roses' Axl Rose & Alice In Chains' "Layne Stayley, complete with AIC vocal harmonies. In fact, there's a noticeable AIC influence across the album even though I wouldn't say that any of the tracks fall into the Grunge/Alternative Metal bucket. There are a couple of tracks that champion more of a Pantera/Hellyeah style Groove Metal riff structure too & the guitar tone in general leans more towards that genre than it does to the classic Heavy Metal one. The three ballads all fall into a poppy Country Rock space that's really very cheesy & ending the album with two of those was clearly a very poor idea (even if the God-awful final track is labelled as a bonus track I tend to think that it needs to be regarded as an album track given that the vast majority of versions of the album include it). In fact, the record really does peter out after a very promising start.

When I look at "Mafia" overall I can see that about a third of the fifteen tracks really float my boat with their thick, bottom-heavy, riff-based metal assault, particularly the clear album highlight in Heavy Metal monster "Death March". Another third is comprised of some pretty decent & respectable metal tunes that probably don't possess the hooks to dig their teeth in too far. And then the last third is comprised of material that I regard as obvious filler, most of which could easily have been left off the album given it's length. When looked at holistically it's the weakest of the three Southern Metal releases we've looked at so far but not by a significant margin. It's still a good listen even if it has fuck-all to do with Southern Metal as far as I can see. Perhaps this album is an anomaly in the BLS back-catalogue in that respect & the others are far more closely aligned with the Southern Rock influence I was expecting? I dunno but it certainly makes the rest of this experiment pretty interesting given that "Mafia" definitely doesn't belong in The Fallen.

Here's how I genre-tagged the individual tracks:

01. Fire It Up                                Heavy Metal

02. What's in You                        Groove Metal

03. Suicide Messiah                   Heavy Metal

04. Forever Down                        Heavy Metal

05. In This River                           Country

06. You Must Be Blind                Heavy Metal

07. Death March                          Heavy Metal

08. Dr. Octavia                              Hard Rock

09. Say What You Will                 Heavy Metal

10. Too Tough to Die                   Heavy Metal

11. Electric Hellfire                      Hard Rock

12. Spread Your Wing                 Heavy Metal

13. Been a Long Time                 Groove Metal

14. Dirt on the Grave                   Country Rock

15. I Never Dreamed                   Country Rock

3.5/5

I've never quite seen the appeal in "Lost Paradise" to be honest. It always sounded a little bit flat to me. It's admittedly been many years since I heard it though & even "Gothic" didn't blow me away like it did most other doom/death fans. Paradise Lost were always trailing the other two members of the Peaceville Three by a fair margin for me personally. They didn't really capture me until they dropped their doom/death sound altogether on "Icon" & "Draconian Times".

North Carolina Southern Metal champions Corrosion of Conformity put their doomy Alice In Chains hats.

Corrosion of Conformity - "Deliverance" (1994)

I was fairly well versed in Corrosion of Conformity's earlier material before going into their influential fourth album "Deliverance" which is widely regarded as the birth of the Southern Metal sound. I quite liked the crossover thrash of their 1985 sophomore album "Animosity" back in my tape trading days although I found the 1986 "Technocracy" E.P. to be pretty flat. 1991's third album "Blind" was all over underground metal radio at the time so I couldn't help but gain an affection for it's catchy sludge/heavy metal anthems & I even saw Corrosion of Conformity play live back in 2014 although I admittedly found them to be a little underwhelming after being thoroughly trampled by opening local act Lo! who were sensational. Let's just say that I was optimistic about the chances of "Deliverance" being able to win me over & was curious to see where the links to Southern Metal might have started.

As with the first two Down records, "Deliverance" offers a real mixed bag of sounds & subgenres. There's once again been a conscious effort to expand outside of the metal spectrum & I don't doubt that those efforts have seen people being more inclined to reach for the Southern Metal tag. But, unlike "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow...", "Deliverance" champions that true Southern Metal sound much more often than your more conventional Stoner Metal one & I've ended up being converted to the idea that this is indeed a Southern Metal record with no requirement for additional primary subgenres. The vocals of Pepper Keenan sound an awful lot like a Southern take on James Hetfield/Nick Holmes & play a big role in the Southern links. As do the guitar solos which have clearly been styled around the Lynard Skynard model. You do get a taste of a whole bunch of other metal/rock subgenres across the fourteen tracks but I have to admit that Southern Metal is the most common theme here so I'm gonna run with it. I still can't say that it's deserving of being a primary genre as it's still much too close to the Stoner Metal model but I'm definitely starting to be convinced that it's deserving of a differentiator.

Overall I found "Deliverance" to be pretty entertaining. I prefer "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow..."  but it's not far behind. Both albums contain a few tracks that don't do much for me & I generally find myself more attracted to the sludgier/doomier tracks & the deeper, stripped back non-metal material. The genuine Southern Metal & Stoner songs just don't appeal to my taste as much.

01. Heaven's Not Overflowing        Stoner Rock

02. Albatross                                     Southern Metal

03. Clean My Wounds                      Alternative Metal

04. Without Wings                            Chamber Folk

05. Broken Man                                 Sludge Metal

06. Señor Limpio                               Southern Metal

07. Mano de Mono                           Gothic Country

08. Seven Days                                  Southern Metal

09. #2121313                                    Art Rock

10. My Grain                                       Southern Metal

11. Deliverance                                  Southern Metal

12. Shake Like You                            Heavy Metal

13. Shelter                                          Country

14. Pearls Before Swine                   Doom Metal

3.5/5

Here's a classic example of the Southern metal sound & arguably the track that started the whole movement:

This lengthy acoustic closer reminds me so much of my favourite Led Zeppelin album "Houses Of The Holy".

Down - "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow..." (2002)

I was previously well across the 1995 debut album "NOLA" from New Orleans supergroup Down & consider myself to be quite a fan but had never ventured further into the band's discography up until now. Given my familiarity with "NOLA" I felt it best to start fresh with the much anticipated sophomore record from Southern Metal's most celebrated act, a release that finally popped up a surprisingly long seven years later. Much like "NOLA", "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow..." is very much a mixed bag of different sounds & subgenres & I once again found myself being most interested in Down's more stripped back, psychedelic & metal-free material where front man Phil Anselmo gets to showcase his not insignificant vocal talents with a little more freedom. The quality is generally a bit up & down across the fifteen tracks which leaves the album falling well short of the bar set by its highly regarded predecessor but it was still an enjoyable enough listen.

As for the Southern Metal topic, this first leg of my experiment hasn't done much to alter my pre-existing opinions. Here's how I genre-tagged the tracklisting:

01. Lysergik Funeral Procession                                    Stoner Metal

02. There's Something on My Side                                Stoner Metal

03. The Man That Follows Hell                                      Southern Metal

04. Stained Glass Cross                                                  Southern Rock  

05. Ghosts Along the Mississippi                                  Stoner Metal

06. Learn From This Mistake                                          Blues Rock

07. Beautifully Depressed                                               Southern Metal

08. Where I'm Going                                                         Country Blues

09. Doobinterlude                                                             Psychedelic Rock

10. New Orleans Is a Dying Whore                                Sludge Metal

11. The Seed                                                                     Stoner Metal

12. Lies, I Don't Know What They Say But...                 Blues Rock

13. Flambeaux's Jamming With St. Aug                       Experimental Rock

14. Dog Tired                                                                     Stoner Metal

15. Landing on the Mountains of Meggido                  Psychedelic Rock

As you can see, there are only a couple of tracks that push the Southern Metal sound above all other subgenres but even then the difference from your classic Stoner Metal model isn't significant enough to require its own genre in my opinion. It's really the inclusion of a whole slew of bluesy, Southern inspired non-metal tracks that dictate the requirement for the Southern Metal tag rather than the album having an overall style that's dominated by the Southern Metal sound in all honesty. If we made the subgenre available on Metal Academy then I'd probably tag this album with both Stoner Metal & Southern Metal for that very reason but I don't see anything here that convinces me of the necessity for that additional tag at this stage. If we did go down that path though I'd suggest that it would be a subgenre of Stoner Metal on the evidence of this experience.

3.5/5

Here are the couple of tracks from the album that I feel best showcase the Southern Metal sound:

I receive emails every time someone private messages me. Do you not receive those emails?

Yeah, I agree with you Sonny. Stoner & Sludge are not all that far away from being Doom subgenres & those three genres represent the very basis of The Fallen in all honesty.

My brief experiences with Southern Metal previously have seen me developing an inkling that there is a Southern Metal sound that people are referring to but it's only a very small deviation from the Stoner Metal model, is rarely represented in more than a few tunes per album & has nothing whatsoever to do with Sludge Metal. It's always seemed more like a descriptor than a genre to me. Time will tell as to whether that's true though as I've really only heard a few Southern Metal-tagged releases in full up until now.

My two cents:

Pagan Black Metal = Black Metal music that utilizes tools borrowed from Folk &/or Viking Metal music without sacrificing on the trademark Black Metal atmosphere & aesthetic.

Folk Metal = Metal music built around Folk melodies & attributes. Often borrows the tools of Black Metal however the Folk components play the role of the protagonist & this doesn't allow the music to consistently achieve the dark & evil atmosphere & aesthetic that defines a genuine Black Metal release.

I've never seen the need for a Pagan Black Metal subgenre to tell you the truth & that may be something that we look at in the future.

It was more of a mixed bag of feature releases for me this month with records at either end of the spectrum & a few sitting in between as well. On the one hand we had a couple of utter belters from Ode & Elegy (a new find for me) & Evoken (an old favourite of mine). On the other we had two albums that didn't do much for me at all (i.e. the "Call Of Duty" soundtrack & the Sabbat album which failed dismally in its attempts to capture my affection after I so generously gave it a second chance after all these years). The Flourishing, Code Orange, Abigor & Mercyful Fate albums were all pretty enjoyable but the only other one that really hit my musical sweet spot was the outstanding Snapcase record which really surprised me. Here were my results in order of preference with Xephyr getting my nomination for release of the month (well done mate):

1. THE INFINITE: Ode & Elegy - "Ode & Elegy" (2022)  4.5/5

2. THE FALLEN: Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)  4.5/5

3. THE REVOLUTION: Snapcase - "Progression Through Unlearning" (1997)  4/5

4. THE HORDE: Flourishing - "The Sum Of All Fossils" (2011)  3.5/5

5. THE SPHERE: Code Orange - "Underneath" (2020)  3.5/5

6. THE NORTH: Abigor - "Totschläger (A Saintslayer's Songbook)" (2020)  3.5/5

7. THE GUARDIANS: Mercyful Fate - "In The Shadows" (1993)  3.5/5

8. THE GATEWAY: Treyarch Sound - "Call of Duty: Black Ops - Zombies Soundtrack" (2011)  3/5

9. THE PIT: Sabbat - "The Dwelling" (1996)  3/5

A hardcore-driven metalcore anthem from New York, USA.

Here's my updated top ten after Snapcase have seen Gulch being unceremoniously dumped from the list:

01. Converge – “All We Love We Leave Behind” (2012)

02. Converge – “You Fail Me” (2004)

03. Converge – “Axe To Fall” (2009)

04. Loathe – “I Let It In & It Took Everything” (2020)

05. Converge – “When Forever Comes Crashing” (1998)

06. Between The Buried & Me - “Colors_Live” (2008)

07. Snapcase - "Progression Through Unlearning" (1997)

08. Every Time I Die – “Radical” (2021)

09. Converge – “Jane Doe” (2001)

10. Disembodied – “If God Only Knew The Rest Were Dead” E.P. (1998)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/178

Ok, so this is a fantastic example of metallic New York hardcore that will surely appeal to the vast majority of our regulars. Snapcase have an extremely well-defined sound that's tight as a nun's nasty & heavy as a bulldozer. You can easily pick out the much talked about influence of alternative metal stars Helmet in the staccato riff structures. The vocals of front man Daryl Taberski are suitably aggressive & entirely captivating while the guitar tone is simply devastating. I can't say that I understand the affection for the snare drum sound which would seem to be a little thin & tinny & stands out like a sore thumb on top of an otherwise superb production job in my opinion but otherwise this is an extremely consistent & thoroughly rewarding hardcore-driven experience that's placed "Progression Through Unlearning" straight into the middle of my all-time top ten for Conventional Metalcore.

4/5

Adam Green - "Musik For A Play" (2010)

This fifth album from New York indie-pop singer/songwriter Adam Green was supposedly intended as a soundtrack to a film about a dog but I'm not sure it's translated all that well to the purely audio format as I found it's quirky instrumental mix of folk, jazz & classical to be pretty poorly executed & frankly pretty boring. And WOW! That cover artwork is pretty special, isn't it?

As I now move into covering 1990 it is becoming obvious that death metal was beginning to mushroom. In 1988 RYM lists 13 death metal albums on it's death metal charts, in 1989 there was 29 and for 1990 there was 59 (incidentally, for 2021 there was 906!!). This means that I will need to be more circumspect in what I cover as I have no intention of covering all 59 albums. I have put together a shortlist of 17 albums, which I won't list here, but I would like Horde members to list a few essentials that you think I should definitely cover. I will be covering all the 1990 albums featured on the Horde 1st Decade Clan Challenge list - Deicide, Left Hand Path, Cause of Death and The Key so if you guys could do me a solid and suggest six or seven others that you think I should definitely listen to in addition to those four then that would be great.

I don't think this exercise would be complete without visiting Atheist's "Piece Of Time", Death's "Spiritual Healing", Napalm Death's "Harmony Corruption", Carnage's "Dark Recollections" & Cannibal Corpse's "Eaten Back To Life".

Pestilence - Conuming Impulse (1989)

I am going to round off my coverage of 1989 with Pestilence's highly praised sophomore full-length, Consuming Impulse. The Dutch masters' debut, Malleus Maleficarum, was a pretty brutal sounding thrash metal album, one I have always had a huge amount of time for, but despite the deathly vocals of future Asphyx frontman Martin van Drunen, it was still a thrash album in the vein of Possessed or Sepultura with little actual death metal. Consuming Impulse on the other hand exhibits a further descent down the extremity rabbit-hole and marks the transformation from brutal thrash to actual death metal.

As Dehydrated leaps kicking and clawing out of the blocks, it is immediately obvious that this is a very different beast to the debut. The production is fuller, clearer and is much more bottom heavy which accentuates the brutality of the performances and is much more in keeping with the band's evolution into a death metal machine. The legion of riffs are powerful, aggressive and exceedingly memorable - I find them running through my head long after I have finished listening, particularly those featured in Suspended Animation, The Trauma and Echoes of Death. Patricks Mameli and Uterwijk trade solos in the vein of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, their lead work being very strongly influenced by the Slayer guitarists it seems, although I would also say that influenced though they are, they don't just slavishly mimic the Slayer duo, but still stamp their soloing with their own personality.

Mention must also be made of Martin van Drunen's vocal performance. He sounds tortured, deranged and defiant as he rasps and shrieks his words of pain, suffering and death, turning in an archetypal death metal vocal performance. This would be his last recording with Pestilence before jumping ship to join Asphyx - so one death metal legend's loss is another's gain! Drummer Marco Foddis also turns in a fine performance, solid and machine gun-like, adding an understated solidity to the proceedings. There is also a sparse smattering of keyboards employed which, on the two or three occasions they are used, prove to be exceedingly effective.

There seems to be some contradiction as to the bass player on Consuming Impulse - Metal Archives attributes bass duties to guitarist Patrick Mameli, yet I have seen others comment that Martin van Drunen was the bassist on the album. Either way, the bass seems to be the most neglected aspect of the recording, buried as it is underneath the riffing and drum battery, so I don't know whether this confusion is the result of the band not being 100% happy with the bass track. This minor niggle aside, I think the Dutchmen can put their sophomore up against any of the early death metal albums coming out of the USA and hold their collective head high that they can be spoke of in the same sentence as Death, Morbid Angel and Obituary and not come up short.

4.5/5

I've always loved "Consuming Impulse" although I don't think Pestilence quite hit their peak until their next record "Testimony of the Ancients". Their sophomore album saw them borrowing Death's "Leprosy" model & giving it some additional sophistication & a cleaner, more accomplished & deliciously crunchy production job which resulted in another step up for death metal as an art form.

4/5

Ultimately it's always seemed silly to have Melodic Metalcore separated from Metalcore but the melodic branches of Black Metal & Death Metal wrapped under their umbrellas. I've wanted to change it for a long time now.

The Trance Metal topic is unresolved at this stage as far as I'm concerned but it's definitely still on our radar & will be receive attention at some point.

I noticed that & applaud the move. I've been wanting the dissonant brand of death metal to be differentiated from Technical Death Metal for many years as they're clearly two different things in my mind. I've never heard of the term "Skronk Death" to be honest but it sounds particularly shit. We'll definitely consider including a Dissonant Death Metal subgenre at Metal Academy in the future though.

 Ensemble Instrumental de Musique Contemporaine de Paris / Konstantin Simonovich / Luc Ferrari - "Presque rien no. 1; Société II" (1970)

A two track & 48 minute studio album that includes a 21 minute field recording & a 27 minute experimental classical piece, both composed by French musique concrète legend Luc Ferrari. I quite enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of the field recording however the classical piece is all over the place & seems to have very little substance of structure. It's not something I can see myself returning to.

Dissonant death metal from New York.

I remember giving this sole 2011 album from short-lived New York death metallers Flourishing a couple of spins back at the time of release & found it to be quite enjoyable however it didn’t quite captivate me enough to see me returning to it since so the prospect of a return visit to month’s The Horde feature releases was something I welcomed in order to see whether my affections had grown over time. The dissonant death metal crowd is chock full of Gorguts clones that may attempt all sorts of adventurous melodic & harmonic experimentation but rarely manage to identify themselves from the crowd. Flourishing on the other hand offer something a little left of field by incorporating a number of unusual influences which gives them a refreshing differentiator. There’s no question that the basis for their sound has been developed using the building blocks that Gorguts & Ulcerate have popularized however the band regularly stray into uncharted territories that are more reminiscent of an abrasive Godflesh sludge-fest, Sonic Youth’s super-cool take on noise rock or the post-hardcore adventures of bands like At The Drive-In or Fugazi.

Front man Garrett Bussanick possesses a raspy & tortured howl that’s pretty similar to Asphyx’s Martin van Drunen & he does an admirable job at keeping things deathly no matter how far the instrumentation drifts outside of that space too. Garrett’s dissonant guitar work regularly employs the use of natural harmonics to great effect, a tool that immediately sees my ears pricking up due to the similarities to Godflesh mastermind Justin Broadrick’s innovative take on the technique. The heavily down-tuned & distorted bass guitar tone of Eric Rizk also has Godlfesh written all over it & I have to say that I really dig it. Unfortunately drummer Brian Corcoran isn’t quite up to the requirements here which ultimately sees Flourishing leaving a portion of their potential on the table. If you threw a tier one extreme metal drummer into the mix then I feel that “The Sum Of All Fossils” had the potential to be much stronger but Corcoran sounds like his technique & creativity were capping out here which is a real shame. The murky production hasn’t done him any favours but it admittedly works really well for the other two musicians.

At the end of the day I can’t deny that I’m really intrigued by the eccentricities “The Sum Of All Fossils” contains however it doesn’t quite manage to hit my sweet spot consistently enough to warrant my higher scores which has no doubt been contributed to by my struggles with Corcoran. Flourishing’s more dissonant & deathly material is generally at a slightly lower standard to their more expansive excursions through alternate genres but it’s nonetheless a very consistent record that offers plenty to analyse & dissect.

For fans of Aeviterne, Pyrrhon & Gigan.

3.5/5

Please be aware that after much deliberation & discussion the Trancecore subgenre has been removed from the database with the vast majority of releases having been tossed into the Melodic Metalcore basket.

These two submissions have now be posted in the Hall of Judgement.

This closing instrumental progressive rock shredder was my pick from the album Andi:

I have to admit that this release is an interesting choice for a feature release for The Gateway as there's really only two of the seventeen tracks that I consider to fall under the subgenres included under The Gateway. In fact, I'm not even sure that this release qualifies for metal status at all given that only there's only three tracks that are obviously metal & one that's kinda borderline. Of the tracks that I do consider to be metal, one is traditional heavy metal ("Lullaby of a Dead Man"), one is alternative metal ("Beauty of Annihilation") & one is melodic metalcore ("115"). "The One" is more of an alternative rock track that pushes out into alternative metal territory as it builds through the latter half. Other than that we have the usual mixed bag that is the modern video game soundtrack with the rest of the tracklisting covering disparate subgenres like ambient, electronica, chiptune, techno, psytrance & progressive rock. In truth there's a lot more electronic music here than there is rock/metal so I'm inclined to suggest that this shouldn't be regarded as a metal release. The quality also travels the full spectrum from amazingly atmospheric (see gorgeous ambient piece "Voice In Your Head" & closing instrumental prog rock guitar shredder "Undone" for example) to disposable rubbish (see dire chiptune inclusions "Zombies Don't Surf" & "Temple").

Overall I'd suggest that I get enjoyment out of about half of the tracklisting but the other material is simply too far from my comfort zone to allow me a positive overall experience. The female vocals are pretty cheesy but do come up with some nice melodies & I do quite dig some of the less bleepy/quirky electronic stuff but I often find that these video game soundtracks sound very artificial & generic, particularly in their use of dime-a-dozen software synths that come across as lacking in sophistication. The ambient pieces are where this release is most consistent & I do enjoy four of the five rock/metal tunes so this isn't a horrible experience by any stretch but I can't say that it ever really threatened to have me returning for repeat visits in the future.

For fans of metal-related video game soundtrack artists like Mick Gordon, Heaven Pierce Her & Machinae Supremacy.

3/5

Infected - Dark Century (1989)

A completely new one on me - I have never even heard of these Swiss death thrashers before, in fact they seem quite obscure even amongst those in the know. They were very short-lived, forming in '87 and splitting in '90 and Dark Century seems to be their only release. Now this seems to be a great shame as this is a great slab of metal, haunting those hinterlands between death and thrash where so many excellent late-80's releases dwelt. The riffs are energetic and enervating, the drumming is relentless and the bass is fairly pronounced in the manner of the modern Chilean thrash scene. The solos may not be the most invigorating I have ever heard, but they are fine as far as they go and vocalist Amos Gersmann has a pretty decent deathly growl. The production isn't the best, it must be said, but it gives it a cavernous murkiness that gives the album even more underground cred I guess.

I found this to be pretty enjoyable and am stumped as to why it isn't better known - although 1989 had some fucking phenomenal stuff coming out, this is still better than a lot of shit I've heard from the late eighties. Sometimes you've just got to be in the right place at the right time I suppose. Anyway if you have a particular love of early death thrash then I strongly recommend you wrap your ears around this bad-ass slab of red-hot metal goodness. Unfortunately it's not available on Spotify (or anywhere except some ancient rip on YouTube it seems).

4/5

You've got me on this one Sonny. I've honesty never heard of it.

Terrorizer - World Downfall (1989)

I quite like Grindcore but I wouldn't say I love it. I do however love World Downfall - it is one of my all-time favourite metal albums. Much as I enjoy some of Carcass and Napalm Death's earlier albums, when it comes to grindcore I would always reach for World Downfall first. I am not the most clued-in person when it comes to grind and death metal, but I feel that World Downfall is as much death metal as grindcore and comes across as the bastard child of Altars of Madness and Scum - and that is one hell of a lineage. It takes the punky energy of Discharge or Black Flag that has been transformed by being fed raw death metal riffs and shits out a heap of hyper-aggressive, brutal, but still somehow eminently catchy tracks that hit home like a jackhammer to the sternum. The Altars of Madness comparison is probably inevitable and understandable, as half the lineup of Terrorizer were also in Morbid Angel - bassist Dave Vincent and drummer Pete Sandoval (whose skinwork here sounds amazing). Vocalist Oscar Garcia sounds very much like Barney Greenaway with his deep, hoarse, bark/shout vocal delivery and guitarist Jesse Pintado unleashes brutalising riff after brutalising riff like a young Mike Tyson unleashed punches - and to a similar devastating effect.

To describe this as brutal and aggressive, although obviously factual, is to do it a great disservice. It's sixteen tracks are skillfully executed by guys who seriously know what they are about - which is it's great strength as it prevents it from just deteriorating into a moshpit of identikit riffs, blastbeats and growls, but rather it is a precisely executed manifesto of intense extreme metal that would reverberate down through the decades and can still be held up as a masterclass in extremity. For the longest time this was Terrorizer's only full-length and stood as a monolithic testament to a short-lived, but extremely influential band of guys who reshaped extreme metal in their own image. Despite reforming in the mid-2000's the shadow of World Downfall was long and they never approached this level of awesome again, but to have reached these heights even once is not to be easily dismissed. Unfortunately I never discovered World Downfall until much later, but I can only imagine the tear in the fabric of reality it's discovery would have shown me had I come across it in 1989.

5/5

I picked "World Downfall" up on cassette in the early 90's & it very quickly became my grindcore release of choice. I have to admit that I've never thought there was very much of a death metal component though. I seem to be in the minority in taking that position to be fair. Perhaps if there was more death metal on offer I could have got my score up to where I'd always hoped it would eventually sit. As it is I find it to be a very strong release that I throw on whenever I want a shot of adrenaline & aggression.

4/5

Industrial metalcore from Pittsburgh, USA.

Industrial metalcore from Pittsburgh, USA.

I have some time for this album, despite finding some sections to be a little more commercially accessible than I'm comfortable with. It's very much a combination of metalcore & alternative metal with the industrial elements layered over the top. In fact, I'm surprised that it's not already in The Gateway actually as the the alternative component is easily as strong as the industrial one in my opinion. There's plenty of alternative metal & even Linkin Park/Korn style nu metal in Code Orange's sound with a number of tracks that have nothing to do with metalcore whatsoever. "Underneath" doesn't exactly have that cold mechanical atmosphere you would usually expect from a record that's tagged as industrial metal though. I guess you could say that the industrial elements are used more superficially & are layered over the top of Code Orange's base alternative metalcore sound but they're significant enough for a primary nonetheless in my opinion. I agree with Saxy's assessment that they could have better combined the melodic & aggressive extremes to their sound instead of presenting the two separately but Code Orange's most significant weaknesses are that they haven't got the hooks to compete at the elite level & also lack a bit of sophistication at times. They certainly know how to present a crushing metalcore riff or two which can't be a bad thing. 

For fans of Northlane, Motionless In White & Loathe.

3.5/5

The Residents - "Not Available" (1978)

Some weird-ass experimental shit from this highly regarded Los Angeles outfit. TOO weird for me personally. In fact, this record pushes the definition of what constitutes "music" a fair bit further than I'm comfortable with.

Kraftwerk - "Trans Europa Express" (1977)

Classic early electronica from Germany. It's always been a little too quirky for my taste but I still enjoy whacking it on every now & then as it's got a truly unique atmosphere.

3.5/5

Austrian black metal.

Ben & I have been well acquainted with Austrian black metal establishment Abigor since the very beginning of their existence back in the mid-1990’s with releases such as “Orkblut - The Retaliation” & “Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)” playing a very major role in our teenage household. Abigor were everything we wanted black metal to be at the time. They were dark, brutal, mysterious & totally underground. It was just the recipe for any aspiring young black metal elitist. Unfortunately though, I’ve found them to be a little hit & miss over the years with records like 2010’s “Time Is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint - An Excursion on Satan's Fragmenting Principle” doing very little for me however the news of a resurgence has peaked my interest so I’ve headed into Abigor’s thirteenth full-length with a significant amount of hope.

The album starts off well with a couple of the early tracks offering both strength & depth. I particularly enjoy the urgency & aggression of opener “Gomorrah Rising - Nightside Rebellion” which is probably my album highlight. The avant-garde direction Abigor had taken on their releases from the early 2010’s seems to have been pushed to the wayside in favour of a return to the band’s roots. The drumming is very fast & highly proficient while the dual guitar work is as complex as ever but I wouldn’t say it reaches for the dissonance of Deathspell Omega as often as some reviewers have claimed. There’s simply a lot going on simultaneously & the production job is full of high end which leaves everything fighting with each other a bit & the vocals & solos aren’t really highlighted as much as you would usually expect. It's not all that different from Emperor's overthetop wall-of-sound production approach to be honest but it can be a little exhausting given the lack of dynamics & does tend to leave everything sounding a little samey after a while. Personally I would have liked T.T.’s drums to be a little further forward in the mix in order to better showcase his precision brutality as he’s got some impressive blast beat chops & is capable of some pretty interesting cymbal work too.

There are a few weird moments that don’t quite work scattered across the tracklisting & they sometimes see the song structures threatening to fall over a bit. I’m not too much of a fan of the chanty vocal stuff on a track like “Tartaros Tides” which is the clear weak spot on the album in my opinion too. Silenius’ vocal delivery can be a bit hit & miss as he tries his level best to match Mayhem legend Attila Csihar for general insanity but there’s a decent amount of quality about what Abigor do here overall. They’ve clearly got more technical ability than the majority of the competition & showcase a deep-seated black metal pedigree in every move they make. The use of symphonic elements is professionally composed & executed with an obvious reference to classic Emperor but never seems to overstep the cheese line while the band aren’t afraid to step outside of their dedicated genre for a quick look at more progressive territories on occasion either. Is this the return to form that people are promising? Well, in a word no it’s not but I don’t doubt that it’s probably the band’s best effort in twenty-five years nonetheless.

For fans of Emperor, Lunar Aurora & early Dødheimsgard.

3.5/5