Daniel's Forum Replies
Earth - "Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version" (1993)
Earth's 1993 debut full-length "Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version" is arguably the most important & influential drone metal release of all-time. Interestingly though I've never regarded it as a genuine classic up until now & have always preferred Earth's 1991 debut E.P. "Extra-Capsular Extraction". I think this revisit may have seen me changing my tune though as I've come out of it finding it noticeably harder to deny its classic status than I have previously.
I think there's a couple of reason why I've not managed to get there previously with the most obvious one being that the shortest & most popular track on the album (15 minute opener "Seven Angels) has never struck me as being anything particularly special even though I do find it enjoyable. It's the most traditionally structured of the three lengthy pieces which I feel is probably what makes it the most popular as it's clearly the most accessible but I do think it sounds a fair bit like Tom Warrior & Martin Ain from Celtic Frost testing their rigs during a Celtic Frost soundcheck. Thankfully I'd happily listen to those guys all day long but I can't say that it blows my mind as it seems to me to be incomplete without further accompaniment. Things pick up very quickly though with the 27 minute "Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine" which is a less structured drone metal piece that still maintains some semblance of riffs amidst an almost industrial atmosphere. That's some very solid & outrageously heavy drone metal right there & it's worth remembering that no one else was making anything like this shit at the time. But the real reason that I can't help but gush over "Earth 2" these days is my sheer delight at the half hour monster that is "Like Gold & Faceted" which sees the band completely abandoning traditional rock tools & creating a wonderfully monotonous & highly cerebral journey through the darkest terrain imaginable. I mean this muthafucka sounds utterly triumphant but also as evil as any black metal act known to man. It invariably draws me to conjure up images of Lord Satan himself standing atop a mountainous peak in front of a huge army of his demonic minions & slowly raising his hands to the Heavens while all of mankind is forced to instantly accept that evil has finally overcome the last ray of hope for humanity. I can very easily see what Earth were trying to achieve with this track as it's undoubtedly been modelled on similar drone works from the previous decades but the outcome is absolutely immense, making it by far & away one of the best examples of the genre you'll find. In fact, I'll be fucked if this track alone isn't enough to warrant the inclusion of "Earth 2" in my Hall of Metal Glory so I simply couldn't resist the urge to elevate my score a bit further.
"Earth 2" certainly wasn't made to appeal to everyone but those that "get it" are in for a transcendent experience. I highly recommend the commitment to "active listening" with this one because if you let it become background music it'll no doubt SOUND like background music. Patience is required to wade through the murky sludge in search of transcendence but rest assured that it is in there waiting for you & the rewards easily justify the effort. "Earth 2" was made for a dark room & a good pair of headphones at high volume whilst lying on a bed with your eyes shut. If you let it engulf you then it's actually possible to see the event horizon that Sonny portrayed so beautifully in his review. This should be essential listening for all drone metal fans.
For fans of Sunn O))), Boris & Nadja.
4.5/5
Lusine Zakaryan - "Կոմիտասի երգերը և հայկական հինավուրց մեղեդիներ / Песни Комитаса и старинные армянские мелодии" (1969)
I've been really pissing my wife off over the last few days by playing this old Armenian church opera record on repeat. It features the truly divine vocal of Lusine Zakaryan who absolutely soars here. It's certainly located a fair way outside of my usual comfort zone but I find it to have a soothing & relaxing effect on me while I'm winding down from a hard day's work by taking my time to prepare two lots of dinners for my wife & kids. Unfortunately I don't think I'll get away with it for much longer as the missus simply can't tolerate anything a bit different. It's top 40 hits that she's known for decades or nothing at all I'm afraid. Anyway.... this is good stuff for a complete change-up.
San Francisco Bay Area thrash at its finest.
It was certainly an improvement on the debut but they still had a way to go before they'd develop into the well-oiled machine that they'd eventually become in my opinion. It may not be something that people outside of the extreme metal community are too aware of but it requires a fair bit of time & practice to come to grips with playing heavily down-tuned guitars in that you need to a) figure out how to control the floppier strings which require more finesse not to go out of tune, have a greater tendency to shake around & produce excess noise & also feel very different to a regularly tuned instrument & b) find a style that works well with that tuning i.e. doesn't sound too messy & noisy regardless of how precisely you might be playing. "Realm Of Chaos" is tuned down to A which is much lower than 99% of death metal bands would dare to go. These days you would certainly play a seven string guitar if you were going to attempt that & even then you'd be detuning a full two semitones. I don't think they'd quite found their perfect sweet spot in that regard just yet & I can hear them noticeably struggling at times. It was no surprise that they opted to only detune half as far for "War Master" which was tuned to C#.
Here are my thought in "Realm Of Chaos" after revisiting it a while back:
Revisited this old friend for the first time in many years this morning. It was my introduction to Bolt Thrower around 1989/90 & I would go on to purchase the album on cassette a short time afterwards. "Realm Of Chaos" showcases a band that was starting to find their sound but was still waiting for their technical skills to catch up with their ambition because the production & performances are pretty sloppy but this doesn't take away from a gloriously pure death metal atmosphere. There's a much stronger grindcore influence to this album than you'll hear on Bolt Thrower's later material with early Napalm Death & Carcass clearly having been an inspiration along with "Reign In Blood" era Slayer. You'll get the odd hint at those signature Bolt Thrower melodies here & there but the catchy song-writing is already in full effect, despite the rawer, faster & more blast-beat driven approach. This is still a very solid death metal record that possibly hasn't aged as well as some which has subsequently seen me rating it behind later releases like "The IVth Crusade", "...For Victory" & "Those Once Loyal".
For fans of Benediction, Hail of Bullets & 90's Napalm Death.
4/5
Ben, please add the brand new Static Dress album "Rouge Carpet Disaster".
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - "Infest The Rats' Nest" (2019)
I remember being very surprised when I first discovered that Melbourne psychedelic rock legends King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard had somehow made it onto the radars of extreme metal fans all around the world. I’d never really committed to investigating them for myself but I'd always intended to & it was very hard to ignore the impact they’d made on my local Aussie rock scene in a relatively short period of time. Boy, had they made every effort to cash in on their fame too. I mean any band that manages to release a full fourteen full-length albums in just seven years in the modern day is running well against the curve these days, aren’t they? And that’s just what the Gizzard had managed to achieve going into this record which would see them breaking the two records per year barrier. They’d been very much the local buzz band for a good five years by this point with critics & fans alike gushing over their druggy, retro vibe ever since 2014’s “I’m In Your Mind Fuzz” album but I have to admit that I’d never heard them referred to as being a metal band before so I was intrigued by 2019’s “Infest The Rats’ Nest” & wasted little time in giving it the once over.
Now let’s put it out there straight off the bat that the general tendency to tag “Infest The Rats’ nest” as a thrash metal record isn’t exactly accurate. Sure, there are a fair few fast tracks that definitely include more than the odd thrash riff but this simply doesn’t feel like a thrash record in any way, shape or form thanks to the fuzzy, 1970’s style production job. It’s not slicing & abrasive like thrash should be & doesn’t sound half as metal as a “Bonded By Blood” or a “Pleasure To Kill” which is why my inclusion of the opening track “Planet B” on a monthly playlist for The Pit never quite seemed to sit too well with me. Instead we get a record that feels much more like a stoner metal release, kinda like the thrashier High On Fire material in many ways. There is one monster stoner doom epic included here that reminds me a lot of bluesy early Black Sabbath meets stoner monsters Sleep too & it may well be my favourite track on the album. The more up-tempo numbers like “Organ Farmer” leave me with more of a Ministry vibe in that the thrashy riffs are pretty simple & rhythmic but are invariably effective.
The use of short & highly psychedelic guitar solos is most welcome & always maintains the link to the Gizzard’s retro roots too. I love the way that front man Stu Mackenzie never allows them to overstay their welcome & this conscious restraint definitely helps to accentuate the song-writing which is a real strength for the band. Stu’s voice is as powerful as it is gruff & the tight doubling of his voice in the production phase was nothing short of a master stroke. One criticism I do have though is that “Infest the Rats’ Nest” is a very top heavy record with the opening four tracks being the clear highlights of the nine track set, despite there being no signs of anything subpar included. I can’t help but think that it might have been a better option to finish with the epic doom of “Superbug” in order to crush the listener into a pulp on the way out & leave a greater impression but I guess it wasn’t to be.
Ultimately it’s pretty hard to be critical of an album like “Infest the Rats’ Nest” that has so much soul for a release that’s widely (& incorrectly) touted as extreme metal. The contrast of 70’s warmth with the incisive urgency of the 80’s is unusual & at the very least interesting. I can’t say that I was ever completely sold on the concept though. Perhaps my thrash metal roots are just a little too stuck in their ways & for that reason I teetered on the edge between a respectable 3.5/5 score & a very solid 4/5 for some time before allowing myself to commit to the more impressive option, a call that was largely contributed to by my admiration for the sheer class that King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ooze of from every pore on this release. I don't think I'll be alone in going that direction though & I'm not surprised that metalheads from around the globe have found "Infest the Rats' Nest" to be such an addictive record given just how accessible it is for heavy music fans from such different backgrounds & scenes.
For fans of High On Fire, Sleep & Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats.
4/5
High quality stoner doom from Melbourne, Australia.
Aussie.. Aussie.. Aussie...... Oi.. Oi.. Oi!
Thrashy stoner metal from Melbourne, Australia.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could vote on the Hall of Judgement entry for this release Xephyr.
I've corrected this release's clan associations & removed the Hall entry Andi.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
The nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
The nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has no been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement. We've already fixed up the War Metal tagging as it legitimately qualifies now anyway.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
Andi, this release now legitimately qualifies for The Pit so I'm simply going to add it.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
I've always loved "Mentally Murdered". It's one of my favourite Napalm Death releases.
I haven't revisited "Resurrection Absurd" since way back in the day but I'm generally inclined to agree with your assessment that it was enjoyable but inessential. Morgoth's next couple of releases were definitely stronger in my opinion.
This track sounds far closer to melodic black metal than it does to death metal & is very poorly executed in my opinion. I really struggle with it even though it seems to be the most popular track on the album with most fans. Am I trippin' here?
Melodic/blackened death metal from Mexico.
The Chasm - "Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph" (1998)
Admittedly I didn't get to this underground cult classic until just over a decade after its release but I have to say that it was a disappointing experience at the time & it still is today. The musicianship on display is pretty dismal & the vocals can be laughable at times. Of course the sheer quantity of riffs crammed into each track is a part of the attraction for fans but I can't seem to get past the poor execution to be honest. Also, how in the hell does anyone not hear this record for what it really is i.e. a melodic black metal record? There's a bit of melodeath about a few of the songs but this is far more Dissection than it is Morbid Angel with a consistently strong focus on melody & atmosphere. Of course, my favourite song on the tracklisting is the LEAST popular one (i.e. "No Mercy (Our Time Is Near)") & the one that I have the most trouble with is the MOST popular (see "In Superior Torment...") but that's kinda par for the course with me these days. It really hasn't helped that all of the weakest material is lumped into the back end of the album either. I generally think The Chasm are overrated but records like "Procession to the Infraworld" (4/5) & "The Spell Of Retribution" (3.5/5) have more than enough quality to keep me interested. This one? Not so much.
3/5
This nomination has now been posted in the Hall of Judgement.
We're very close to a result on this one guys so if you know the record & are eligible to vote but haven't done so as yet then I'd encourage you to do so.
We're very close to a result on this one guys so if you know the record & are eligible to vote but haven't done so as yet then I'd encourage you to do so.
We're very close to a result on this one guys so if you know the record & are eligible to vote but haven't done so as yet then I'd encourage you to do so.