Daniel's Forum Replies

Cannibal Corpse - "Bloodthirst" (1999)

I thought the quality dropped a touch with 1998's "Gallery of Suicide" album which was mildly entertaining but a step down from the previous four Cannibal Corpse albums. They stepped things back up with their 1999 seventh full-length though & I still find it to be another professionally produced example of the modern death metal sound. It's not quite as consistent as the band's early 90's material but it's solid enough to draw similar ratings from me. It kinda defines the George Fisher-era sound in my opinion with a touch more technicality than you'll find on some of their albums. Paul Mazurkiewicz' drumming is always a bit of a limiter for me as he really does only have three beats & his blast beats sound particularly repetitive given that he doesn't add any sort of variation. You know full well what to expect from George's vocals these days & he delivers on those expectations in fine style. He's very much the postman of death metal front men. Yes, if you've already got three Cannibal Corpse albums then you've unquestionably heard this all before but I can't deny how much I enjoy this style of precise & aggressive US death metal.

4/5

The only error still around that I can think of is when a new thread doesn't appear in the "Recent Topics" thing until someone replies in a different post, so could you please keep that in mind for the next round of improvements? 

Are you aware of this topic Ben? It's the first I've heard of it.

Blackened melodeath from Mexico.

The Chasm - "The Spell Of Retribution" (2004)

This weekend's revisit to Mexican death metallers The Chasm's 2004 sixth full-length has seen my previous position waning a little as I've found that (despite the incredible cult following the band seems to have garnered from the underground scene over the years) "The Spell Of Retribution" is simply a little too melodic for my higher scores these days. It's a record that's generally tagged as Death Metal on other sites but I have to say that there's really very little in the way of your classic death metal sound included here. Instead I'd suggest that a much more accurate tag is Blackened Melodic Death Metal as there's way more Swedish melodeath & Dissection/Rotting Christ style melodic black metal evident in their sound than there is Death or Morbid Angel. There's also an enormous amount of complexity in the song structures that often hints at Technical Death Metal as well as a noticeable thrashiness to some of the riffs themselves. It's all very well done but I can't escape the feeling that I'm a little outside of my comfort zone a lot of the time with tracks like "Retribution of the Lost Years (I, The Pastfinder III)" & "Remains of the Covenant" pushing me a touch further in the accessibility stakes than I'd like so I subsequently find "The Spell Of Retribution" to be a bit of a step down from The Chasm's stronger efforts like 2000's "Procession to the Infraworld" even though it's generally an enjoyable listen.

3.5/5

My updated top ten list:

01. At The Gates – “Slaughter Of The Soul” (1995)

02. Carcass – “Heartwork” (1993)

03. Dark Tranquillity – “The Gallery” (1995)

04. Amorphis – “Tales From The Thousand Lakes” (1994)

05. Merciless – “Unbound” (1994)

06. Sentenced – “North From Here” (1993)

07. In Mourning – “The Weight Of Oceans” (2012)

08. The Breathing Process - “Odyssey (un)Dead” (2010)

09. The Chasm - "The Spell Of Retribution" (2004)

10. Edge Of Sanity – “Crimson” (1996)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/147

Norwegian progressive metal with an alternative metal slant.

Extol - "The Blueprint Dives" (2005)

Ben recently recommended the fourth full-length album from Norwegian progressive metallers Extol to me as he feels that it's not received the credit it's due & I have to agree with him. I was familiar with Extol's 1998-2003 work but had never attempted their later material for some reason, potentially being put off by news of the band's move away from extreme metal. In hindsight this was clearly a mistake as "The Blueprint Dives" is a classy release that's built on both ambition & technique in equal measure. Extol's sound here is lightyears away from their death & thrash metal past, instead using alternative metal as it's basis with a dash of post-hardcore thrown in here & there. In fact, I pick up a fair bit of Deftones influence across the tracklisting with At The Drive-In making the odd appearance as well. I'd actually be surprised if front man Peter Espevoll hasn't listened to his fair share of Björk too given the unusual phrasing he attempts at times too. The instrumentation is consistently complex with the vocals utilizing a combination of clean & screamed tones to good effect. There are no weak tracks included & I get the feeling that the band aren't really capable of it at this point in their career. The highlight of the album is clearly the longest & heaviest piece of the record in "The Things I Found" but the short single "Pearl" has a wonderful hook to it too. I also love it when Extol build tension by borrowing from post-rock song structures like they do on closer "The Death Sedative". I have to say that they potentially missed a trick by not including the bonus track "Riding for a Fall" on the proper album as it's clearly stronger than some of the less impressive tracks like "From the Everyday Mountain Top", "Another Adam's Escape" & "Lost in Dismay". Sometimes us extreme metallers have to accept that artists have more to say than simply blasting away at full throttle & "The Blueprint Dives" is a fine example of that. As Ben suggested, it certainly deserves more attention than it's received over the years & I'd be surprised if it didn't offer plenty of appeal for fans of bands like Leprous & members of The Infinite in general.

4/5

For this weekend's top ten list I've gone for my Top Ten Conventional Thrash Metal Releases Of All Time. It's turned out to be pretty predictable really but it's my list & I'll cry if I want to. See what you think & feel free to post your own lists:

01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood" (1986)

02. Metallica - "...And Justice For All" (1988)

03. Slayer - "South Of Heaven" (1988)

04. Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (1986)

05. Sepultura - "Beneath The Remains" (1989)

06. Slayer - "Season In The Abyss" (1990)

07. Exodus - "Bonded By Blood" (1985)

08. Slayer - "Decade Of Aggression: Live" (1991)

09. Sepultura - "Arise" (1991)

10. Metallica - "Ride The Lightning" (1984)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/172

I can completely understand you feeling that way Sonny & you certainly shouldn't feel any obligation to contribute to all of our monthly initiatives.

This month was one of our stronger lists of feature releases for me personally as I enjoyed all nine records with four of them reminding me as to why I already have them in my Hall of Metal Glory. Those Monarch!, Godflesh, Sinister & War From A Harlots Mouth releases all reached classic status with me many years ago & none have lost anything over time either. The Slice The Cake album was the biggest discovery for me this month & I got a lot of pleasure in unpacking it's many complexities. The Evanscence record was certainly the biggest surprise for me though as I wasn't expecting to get much out of it but instead found that I enjoyed it more than a few of our other features while I was also pleasantly surprised by the Sear Bliss album which Ben had given me prior warning about as he knows how much I've struggled with similar records over the years. The Kamelot album was perhaps a little disappointing given how much I love its follow-up but still offered enough to keep me interested while D.R.I. simply did what D.R.I. do best & made it hard not to find the fun in their signature crossover thrash sound.

Here's my list in order of preference:

1. Monarch! - "Omens" (2012)  4.5/5

2. Godflesh - "Merciless" E.P. (1994)  4.5/5

3. Sinister - "Diabolical Summoning" (1993)  4.5/5

4. War From A Harlots Mouth - "MMX" (2010)  4.5/5

5. Slice The Cake - "Odyssey To The West" (2016)  4/5

6. Evanescence - "The Bitter Truth" (2021)  3.5/5

7. Kamelot - "Epica" (2003)  3.5/5

8. Sear Bliss - "Glory & Perdition" (2004)  3.5/5

9. D.R.I. - "Full Speed Ahead" (1995)  3.5/5

Slow doomy industrial metal from one of the pioneering forces of the genre:

This industrial doom metal monster from my late teenage years is absolutely my track of the day.

As I said in my introduction piece for this feature release, Godflesh were absolutely huge for me back in the early 90's & this release certainly played it's part in that. On the surface it may seem like an also-ran in the band's discography & can come across as more of a collection of disparate pieces of work rather than a cohesive & intentionally structured album-style tracklisting but when examined in greater detail you might discover that the sum of it's parts amounts to much more than is initially apparent. You see "Merciless" showcases a wonderful cross-section of Godflesh's various different styles & techniques & is universally successful in doing so. The opening track is an anomaly in the band's career with it's crushingly heavy industrial doom metal sound being something you won't find anywhere else. It's one of the best tracks of Godflesh's entire back catalogue with the two main riffs both having a timeless quality that perfectly represents what metal music is all about. Then we see Justin & co. moving away from metal altogether for a couple of tracks in "Blind" & "Unworthy" which both take on more of a traditional industrial sound before the wonderfully trance-inducing post-industrial metal of closer "Flowers" creates an atmosphere that borders on beauty through the use of natural harmonics & a repeated mechanical pulse. It's interesting that Andi has stated that this is "pure industrial metal" & "one of Godflesh's more metallic releases" because I disagree with that. The opener is certainly one their most metal tracks in the traditional sense of the term but the other three tracks aren't particularly metal with the two pieces in the middle of the E.P. having nothing to do with metal whatsoever in my opinion. I can understand why Sonny has trouble with Justin's pitchy vocals but I think their imperfections are kinda the point as they provide a much needed counterpoint for the precisely programmed mechanical soundscape around them. I guess I'm suggesting that their fragility represents the human element in Godflesh's sound which enables the listener to have something they can relate to amidst what is essentially a very foreign & robotic machine world with G.C. Green's dense & weighty bass lines repeatedly punishing the listener.

While the opener & closer are the clear high points of the E.P. for me & it would be fairly easy to see the two colder industrial pieces between them as filler, there's an undeniable quality about everything Godflesh touch here which enables the two senior tracks to carry this E.P. into true classic territory in my opinion & this is why I've selected it as a feature release this month. I'm not suggesting that it's an underrated release because it's generally very highly regarded but it certainly doesn't receive the attention that many of the band's full-lengths or their self-titled debut E.P. do & I think that's a shame as it's easily as strong as the majority of Godflesh's albums. I can't help but think that "Merciless" & "Flowers" should have been kept for a full-length album actually because they're almost wasted in the E.P. format. This should be essential listening for fans of the band & industrial music as a whole.

4.5/5

Superb Dutch death metal from the genre's mid-90's hey day.

"Diabolical Summoning" was a HHUUGGEE record for me back at the time of release & would become a significant influence on my approach to writing death metal music throughout the mid-1990's. I had been very big on Sinister's 1992 debut album "Cross The Styx" but the band's sophomore effort just seemed to take everything I loved about that record & accentuated it even further. The riffs are chunky & catchy as hell, the drum sound is super brutal (particularly during the blast beat parts which are powerfully performed with genuine precision & are a real highlight for me) & the vocals are... well... sinister surprisingly enough. The band not only do an amazing job at replicating the US death metal sound of bands like Cannibal Corpse, Monstrosity & Malevolent Creation but they manage to take the extremity levels even higher without ever losing their sense of songmanship. I have to admit that some of the thrashier sections aren't Sinister's strongest moments but when they get on a roll they can be truly devastating, as seen on genuinely classic death metal tracks like "Sadistic Intent", "Diabolical Summoning", "Leviathan" & "Mystical Illusions". They have a real knack for creating impact through their transitions too with drummer Aad Kloosterwaard being the key player there. Any fan of the classic death metal sound will love this record which I regard as not only Sinister's finest work but also a classic for the genre.

4.5/5

So we've finally finished our move to the Gold Coast & are currently setting ourselves up in a very spacious five bedroom house with a big pool. It's a huge change for the family after so many years spent cramped in a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney's Northern Beaches. It's just a shame that I've gotten sick at an inopportune time with the house still relatively full of boxes. By the way, I place removalists on the same level as politicians & parking inspectors after last week's experience. They quite simply have no morals whatsoever.

Prince Of Denmark - "Live at Planet Uterus" (2014)

A spectacular 70 minute mix of ultra-minimal & heavily cerebral dub-infused minimal techno from this German producer. Fucking sensational stuff!

Good question Sonny. I'd suggest there's a number of reasons that the Americans didn't take to dance culture as strongly as the Europeans, despite the US being the home of genres like house music (i.e. Chicago) & techno (i.e. Detroit):

1. The strength of hip hop in America.

2. The fact that very few US clubs had late night liquor licenses which meant that most had to close before 2 AM.

3. Much stronger US drug laws which could see people incarcerated for what we'd generally consider to be minor discretions in other parts of the world.

4. Racism & homophobia i.e. the fact that dance music was strongly associated with gay & black demographics.

Well, the answer is yes but I don't think death metal was a response to rave culture as it was originally developed in the USA & dance music didn't really take off to the same level there in the same way that it did in Europe. In my opinion the extreme metal scene was a response to a) 80's hair metal & b) the early 90’s grunge/alternative movement.

Andi, I think we can all do without any more of these threads. I think I speak for all of our regulars when I say that no one else is too concerned with what styles of music you listen to so you don't need to justify your listening habits with anyone other than yourself. Metal Academy is widely promoted as the best place to discover new music & as long as you keep awarding "melodic" metal releases 4/5, 4.5/5 or 5/5 ratings then you're gonna see people thinking that this is the sound that you really dig & suggesting similar releases to you. It's really that simple. It's your rating system that's the reason that people make these recommendations to you as your scores often don't seem to have much of a reflection on your interest in the release in question. Take this month's feature releases for example. You awarded both the Slice The Cake & War From A Harlots Mouth releases a very solid & respectable 4/5 (which for anyone else on the site would mean that you've made a new discovery & very much enjoyed those records) but then proceeded to call them flawed & say that you won't be returning to those bands. This doesn't compute for the rest of us as a 4/5 rating is a very good result indeed. In fact, a quick look at your profile page shows me that an astounding 65% of all of your ratings on this site have fallen within the 4.5-5 star bracket which is generally reserved only for the most elite classics & 89% score at least 4/5. Given that we don't have a large contributing membership as yet this sort of scoring will always skew our charts towards releases that you have rated, not to mention our end of year clan awards. Now, Ben & I don't like to dictate to people on how they should rate their music as we strive for the most inclusive environment possible but you have to admit that this is a pretty major difference compared to someone like myself who has a 4.5-5 star rating percentage of just 13%. In fact, I would guess that all of our regulars would sit at below 20% in that regard. 

I'm also confused by your position on what subgenres (or sub-subgenres) you're limiting yourself to here. Based on your feedback over the last couple of years I would suggest that some of the bands you're looking to move away from sit amongst your favourites in all of metal (Leprous, Opeth, etc.) so I can't fathom why you would want to distance yourself from them. You're very quickly running out of subgenres here & will likely end up only listening to melodic metalcore shortly at this rate (which is fine if that's what you want to do of course). Why this agenda for "developing a heavier, more modern taste in metal"? Most of the bands & subgenres you've stuck with aren't in any way heavier than the subgenres you're giving up either to be honest. In fact, a lot of the alternative metal & melodic metalcore bands you seem to be digging of late are amongst the more melodic & commercially focused in the whole metal spectrum which has seen some of our regulars struggling with your feature release submissions in recent months. I can only think that our definitions of the words "heavy" & "melodic" are different.

Let's be clear that I'm not intending to take a dig at you here so please don't take offense. I'm just looking to open your eyes to the perception you're leaving us with. 

Elite level droney sludge metal of the highest order from Bayonne, France.

Now, THIS.. ladies & gentlemen.. is what I regard as some elite level The Fallen material. It utterly destroyed me back on my solo trip to Europe back in 2012 & it still leaves me completely decimated today. The super-dense & immersive drone metal guitar tone & dark ambience of this release sees me thoroughly captivated throughout & it's only Emilie's sweet clean vocals during the first third of epic nineteen minute drone metal monster "Black Becomes the Sun" that leave me falling a smidge short of a full five star rating, the first two of the three tracks included having been nothing short of perfectly aligned with my personal taste profile. The twelve minute opener "Blood Seeress" is my pick of the three songs offering a cripplingly dark sludge metal assault with Emilie sounding truly demonic as she screams & shrieks like it's her last moment on Earth. Four minute dark ambient piece "Transylvanian Incantations" opts for an alternative approach but is no less emotionally engaging & intoxicatingly cerebral. It's hard to see how "Omens" hasn't made more of a dent of the underground scene but I guess that's just an indication of how challenging the appeal of drone metal can be for your average punter, even those that have been raised on extreme metal. But you know what? Fuck what anyone thinks because this record was meticulously designed for people like Sonny & I (yes, I did pick this one specifically for you mate) & I'll be fucked if I'm not gonna celebrate it in all of it's bowel-movement inducing sludgery & trance-like majesty.

4.5/5

A lovely atmospheric interlude from this unique Hungarian melodic black metal outfit.

I think any hesitance on Ben's part was mainly directed at me Vinny as he knows how much I hate the horns in Summoning & that I'm not all that big on melodic black metal in general. For that reason I went into "Glory & Perdition" with great trepidation but it's ended up overachieving on my expectations. There's a lot more to this record than the admittedly silly horn sounds which were presumably performed by their full-time trombonist which is certainly a gimmick I could without in my black metal. The strength of Sear Bliss' sound is in the tight & well-defined traditional black metal component. They simply perform everything with the utmost confidence & as a cohesive unit which helps them to overcome the occasional dodgy riff they include in almost every track. The production job seems well suited to highlighting the band's strengths too which also helps. The lush keyboard accompaniments are strong contributors to the creation of some fairly unique & cosmic atmospheres that sometimes even remind me of my beloved Burzum only not nearly as dark. The snarls of front man András Nagy are just how I like my black metal vocals while the addition of Attila Csihar on a couple of tracks is most welcome.

It has to be said that around 40% of the tracklisting isn't to my taste with "Night Journey", "Two Worlds Collide", "Blood Serenade" & "Lacus Somniorum" not doing very much for me. Thankfully there's just enough quality in the remaining six tracks for the whole experience to come across as positive though. Admittedly the album's chances weren't done any harm by the inclusion of a couple of great interludes which were the best part of the record for me personally (particularly "Reverie" which seems like a missed opportunity for something more significant in hindsight). On the negative, the album does peter out noticeably at the end which meant that it took me a few listens to come out with a positive score.

Overall, "Glory & Perdition" isn't gonna change my opinion on the use of those god awful horn sounds but it was a welcome reminder that I need to keep myself open to new ideas. It's interesting that the album is generally labelled as "melodic black metal" but I hear very little meloblack here. Yes, there's melody utilized fairly consistently but the tag is meant to draw together bands with a specific sound (i.e. those utilizing complex melodic harmonies in a similar vein to Swedish death metal e.g. Dissection) & Sear Bliss leave us with something much closer to conventional black metal with atmospheric black metal & symphonic black metal secondary components. Ben agrees with me but feels that melodic black metal fans are most likely to enjoy the record so he's comfortable with it's tagging. That may be true but I'm far more hard & fast with my tagging so I've voted down the meloblack tag & proposed a Conventional Black Metal one even though this isn't exactly a conventional black metal release. Anyway... not a bad extreme metal album overall but it doesn't reach deep enough inside of me to warrant too many return visits in the future.

3.5/5

Super-extreme mathcore from Berlin, Germany.

Yep! "MMX" is every bit the absolute belter I thought it was back at the time of release. I hadn't heard of War From A Harlots Mouth going into the album but they thoroughly blew my socks off with their combination of mathcore athletics with elements of deathcore, djent, grindcore & sludge metal. The level of musicianship is really high throughout with current The Ocean drummer Paul Seidel being the star of the show. His blast beats are so tight it's not funny & he handles the more technical stuff with absolute ease too. The use of multiple vocal styles is very much in line with the grindcore model with frontman Nico Webers (also formerly of The Ocean) sporting a variety of screams & barks. His barkier style reminds me very much of Aussie progressive metallers Alchemist's Adam Agius. This is some very extreme music for The Revolution & it won't surprise me if Andi struggles with it as I've often found that to be the case with my more abrasive metalcore selections. There are some more subdued moments spread across the tracklisting though with a few random atmospheric pieces tossed into the mix. These are generally a little less effective than when War From A Harlots Mouth simply put the pedal to the metal & tear your face completely off your skull. I'm still a sucker for extreme music performed with precision & these guys don't disappoint in that area. In doing so they've created a minor underground classic in my opinion. How it's not metal enough to be included on Metal Archives is anyone's guess though.

4.5/5

It's very hard to believe that Slice The Cake aren't metal enough to be listed on Metal Archives. Have they just never gotten around to adding them or is it the association with -core that's the issue? I dunno but this is quite obviously a metal record & a pretty fucking heavy one too.

This wonderful alternative metal anthem from Arkansas outfit Evanescence has snuck up on me over the last couple of days & I now can't get it out of my head.

My experience with Evanescence going into "The Bitter Truth" was limited to just the one song as far as I'm aware (you know the one). I've always assumed that they'd be too commercially focused for my taste & were unlikely to offer much in the way of genuine metal so I can't say that I was looking forward to immersing myself in this album for a couple of hours, particularly not after reading the couple of reviews listed immediately above this post. But my fears were quickly eased once I chucked the record on because it opens quite splendidly in all honesty. It certainly doesn't maintain that high standard throughout the tracklisting but there's easily enough quality here to keep me interested. In fact, I have to say that I'm surprised at the poor ratings for this one as it's nowhere near the artistic failure that I was being led to believe it might be.

There are two major stumbling blocks for "The Bitter Truth" though with the first being the production. After reading the reviews on RYM I was expecting to find that Amy's vocals were the issue with a couple of long-time fans noting that her voice sounds distant & muffled. In reality that isn't the case at all with her vocals sounding quite clear & sitting well towards the front of the mix. The issue is with the guitar tone which is fuzzy & weak. It's certainly not a deal breaker but I was left with the feeling that the weaker moments could have been done a few more favours by a heavier guitar sound to hide the flat hooks. The second issue is the inconsistency in the quality of the song-writing. Unlike many reviewers I actually believe that there are some very solid outings included on "The Bitter Truth" with a couple of them even reaching pretty close to alternative metal classic status for me personally. The opening atmospheric piece "Artifact / The Turn" & the anthemic "Use My Voice" are nothing short of phenomenal while "Broken Pieces Shine", "Better Without You", "Far From Heaven" & "Blind Belief" all became ear worms after a few spins through their use of some quality vocal hooks. It's just that there are also some duds along the way too with "Yeah Right", "Wasted on You", "Take Cover", & "Part of Me" all doing very little for me even though I wouldn't class any of them as being complete shockers.

Is this a metal album then? Well, yeah I think it is. There's no question that it falls under the pop metal banner but I don't think that Evanescence have ever tried to fool us that they were anything else, have they? There are certainly a few tracks that don't even try to be metal included here but more than half of the tracklisting draws its sonic palate from the metal toolkit. As usual though, I couldn't care less whether it's a metal releases or not. My ratings are based entirely on the quality of the work as a piece of art &, despite it's faults, "The Bitter Truth" is a long way from a creative failure. Amy's vocal skills are really pretty special in all honesty & I can't deny that each repeat listen saw her drawing me in a little further. I have to wonder whether the lack of the band's signature symphonic component has actually worked to this record's advantage with me as I've never been too fond of that element within my metal. Overall, I think everyone should put their preconceptions aside & give "The Bitter Truth" a few active listens before making judgement. It's very easy to identify the reasons that many metalheads don't like a band like Evanescence upon first listen but there are some diamonds to be found here if you're patient enough to sift through a few rocks.

3.5/5

A beautifully executed ballad from this Florida-based power metal outfit.

This one definitely took a couple of listens for me to get into as I was initially taken off-guard by how European it sounds. I mean there's a lot of melodic/symphonic stuff going on here, much more than on "The Black Halo" which offers a more mature sound than this. It's interesting that you see "Epica" as the darker album Andi because I see it very much the other way around. Thankfully repeat listens saw the quality in some of the chorus hooks starting to dig their teeth in & I eventually found myself enjoying "Epica", just nowhere near as much as I'd hoped I would given that "The Black Halo" is my all-time favourite power metal release. "Epica" on the other hand is a bit of a mixed bag for me personally with some really strong material being brought back to earth by some cheesier stuff. I struggled with the most popular track on the album "Center of the Universe" as well as "A Feast for the Vain" & "Lost & Damned" while the many short interludes were pretty hit & miss too. The stronger material was really very solid though, particularly my album highlight "Wander" (one of two ballads included), the muscular "Farewell" & the well-composed "The Mourning After (Carry On)". There's an absolute crap-tonne of Dream Theater worship going on on this record & frontman Roy Khan very clearly wants to be James LaBrie. Little does he know that he's actually the more talented vocalist of the two though & his power & control are one of the keys to the success of this album. I would have toned down the symphonics a bit but the rest of the instrumentation is splendidly executed. It's just that I could really do without some of the more European sounding power metal moments like the guitar melodies that kick off "Center of the Universe". Overall, "Epica" is not a bad power metal record. It just doesn't come close to reaching the dizzying heights of the anthems found on its follow-up. Awful cover artwork apart from the hotty with the wings too.

3.5/5

A short, ball of crossover thrash energy from San Francisco, USA.

Crossover thrash & I have had a bumpy journey over the years. I generally like the big name releases but it's very rare that I genuinely love them. I think a lot of this is due to the overall simplicity of the song-writing & composition & this is never more evident than it is on D.R.I.'s sixth & final full-length. I first encountered D.R.I. through my best mate's older cousin via their highly regarded 1985 debut album "Dealing With It" when I was only about 13 years old. I have to admit that I didn't really get it at the time & I still don't today but as I ventured further into their back catalogue I found that their was a fair bit to enjoy in D.R.I.'s late 80's releases which were more in line with my thrash obsession so I kept a casual eye on them moving forwards with each successive release. I would guess that I haven't given "Full Speed Ahead" a listen since the mid-90's though so let's see if my gradually increased affection for hardcore-affiliated metal releases has finally allowed me to fully commit to a record like this one.

"Full Speed Ahead" may have been released in a decade that's regarded by many as a graveyard for thrash metal but you shouldn't expect D.R.I. to have gone all grunge/alternative on us because this record is exactly what you'd expect from them. The thing that I do notice is that it sounds much more restrained & controlled than their early material did. The thrash metal component was certainly very strong by this point in their career with the double-kick drumming being a primary feature. "Full Speed Ahead" is a hugely riff-based album that never tries to over-complicate things & leaves plenty of breathing room. This works a treat on the more up-tempo numbers which showcase the energy & vitality that D.R.I. made their signature over their decade-long reign but the slower, lengthier numbers tend to sound a bit flat & dull at times. D.R.I. are at their best when they're reminding me of the influence they had on Slayer (at least they are for me which is not surprising given my life-long lover affair with the band). Songs like "Drawn & Quartered" leave you with no doubt whatsoever as to where Slayer drew their inspiration for "Reign In Blood" from while the sub-one minute album highlight "Broke" offers up a searing ball of aggression that never fails to get my blood pumping. Front man Kurt Brecht has maintained every bit of his punk integrity with a charismatic (if fairly loose & unpolished) performance that won't disappoint fans of the band's previous work. But it's the drumming of Rob Rampy that's the key contributor here as he plays the most prominent role in the winning or losing of each individual track & shows himself to have a fair amount of chops in the process.

As with so many similar releases over the years, I've found this crossover thrash record to possess enough energy & fun to keep me interested without ever threatening to see me reaching for my higher scores. I find myself quite enjoying about two thirds of the tracklisting but the other third is pretty uninteresting to tell you the truth. The length of the album is also a bit excessive for a crossover release & I have to wonder whether D.R.I. would simply have been better off culling a third of the album & presenting a record of a more consistent quality. In saying that, I'm not actually sure that would have seen me scoring "Full Speed Ahead" any higher than I have as there simply aren't enough high-scoring highlight tracks for that. Ultimately, if you like crossover thrash then you'll probably find some enjoyment here but I'll be surprised if it makes too many top tens.

3.5/5

Progressive deathcore from this trio featuring musicians from England, Sweden & Australia.

Let me just say up front that this is a release of high quality. I'd never heard of Slice The Cake prior to Saxy nominating this record for feature status but in hindsight this surprises me somewhat because they've got class flowing freely from every orifice. The band is essentially made up of a trio of talented individuals from all around the globe who have managed to produce an astoundingly ambitious & free-flowing record under the circumstances. Apparently it was recorded well before the release date too & was left to sit on the shelf for a number of years after the vocalist & the bass player & main song-writer had a major falling out. That's even more interesting because it's hard to imagine any of the band members not wanting to have this album hit some ear drums post-haste given the general professionalism in the composition & execution.

"Odyssey To The West" is generally touted as being a progressive deathcore record & that's a pretty apt description however it's worth knowing that the progressive metal portion outweighs the deathcore one fairly comfortably with the structures of both the songs & the riffs being far more ambitious than your average deathcore exponents can generally muster & the scope & variety of territory that's covered being a lot more impressive too. There are several vocal styles employed across the tracklisting ranging from spoken word to violent deathcore grunts & screams. There's clearly been an effort made to make a lot of the cleaner stuff sound a little bit unhinged & insane & it often reminds me of Korn's Jonathan Davis in this regard. It's also interesting that the RYM band page indicates that the drumming is programmed but if that's the case then I never would have picked it. It would have to have been a monumental effort to sit down & program the whole record beat by beat. I love the guitar solos which have clearly been influenced by Dream Theater's John Petrucci i.e. my all-time favourite lead guitarist. There's a djenty element to many of the riffs that's done extremely well too with the more complex rhythms being executed with the utmost ease & sounding far smoother than they would appear on paper.

It's hard to be critical of the consistency displayed across the fifteen tracks included as there are no genuinely weak moments. I definitely think the two cleaner balladish tracks are the weaker of the bunch although I also wouldn't argue with their inclusion as the album really needed them to break it up a bit given the lengthy 77 minute run time & that's the major weakness of "Odyssey To The West" in my opinion. Despite the undeiable quality of the material, the run time is simply too long which takes the edge off the whole thing a little bit during the back end of the record due to the listener's inability to take in this amount of complexity in one sitting & it subsequently tends to wash over you without a lot sticking during the first listen. For this reason, multiple listens are an absolute must in order to fully grasp the album as a piece of art.

Given the time though, "Odyssey To The West" has become one of the more impressive examples of the progressive deathcore sound. It doesn't quite reach the heights of The Contortionist's best work in my opinion but I'd probably take Slice The Cake over Born Of Osiris or After The Burial who don't have the same level of artistic credibility in my experience. Slice The Cake offer something a little bit different with musicality given as much focus as technicality & have succeeded in creating an intriguing & satisfying piece of work that will no doubt appeal to fans of the bands I've just mentioned.

4/5

I hadn't even noticed that Vinny. please replace it with this one:

Sentinel Beast - "Phantom Of The Opera" (from "Depths Of Death", 1986)

Yes, I'm in complete agreement with you there Sonny. Emperor were absolutely miles ahead of the rest. I also struggle with the subgenre most of the time too.

Here are my May submissions Vinny:

Hellfekted - "Woe To The Kingdom Of Blood" (from "Woe To The Kingdom Of Blood", 2020)

Holy Terror - "Do Unto Others" (from "Mind Wars", 1988) {You can find this one the "Total Terror" compilation on Spotify}

Sarcofago - "Screeches From The Silence" (from "The Laws Of Scourge", 1991)

Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (from "Master Of Puppets", 1986)

Nuclear Assault - "Nuclear War" (from "Game Over", 1986)

Possessed - "Seance" (from "Beyond The Gates", 1986)

Razor - "Grindstone" (from "Malicious Intent", 1986)

Here are my May submissions:

Vastum - "Amniosis" (from "Hole Below", 2015)

Dying Fetus - "Destroy The Opposition" (from "Destroy The Opposition", 2000)

Gorguts - "Elusive Treasures" (from "From Wisdon To Hate", 2001)

Infernal Coil - "Bodies Set In Ashen Death" (from "Within A World Forgotten", 2018)

Infester - "Chamber Of Reunion" (from "To The Depths, In Degradation", 1994)

Sarcofago - "The Laws Of Scourge" (from "The Laws Of Scourge", 1991)

Waking The Cadaver - "Type A Secretor" (from "Perverse Recollections Of A Necromangler", 2008)

Here are my May submissions Sonny:

MonumentuM - "Fade To Grey" (from "In Absentia Christi", 1995)

The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (from "Exuvia", 2017)

Type O Negative - "Love You To Death" (from "October Rust", 1996)

Here are my May submissions Ben:

Bestial Warlust - "Barbaric Horde" (from "Blood & Valour", 1995)

Infernal Coil - "Wounds Never Close" (from "Within A World Forgotten", 2018)

Dawn - "Malediction Murder" (from "Slaughtersun (Crown Of The Triarchy)", 1998)

Here's the plan for the May feature releases:

THE FALLEN: Sonny, Ben, Daniel

THE GATEWAY: Saxy S, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Vinny, Xephyr, Andi

THE HORDE: Daniel, Vinny, Ben

THE INFINITE: Andi, Xephyr, Saxy S

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

THE PIT: Ben, Daniel, Sonny, Vinny

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel

Here's my May submission:

Manes - "Diving With Your Hands Bound" (from "Vilosophe", 2003)

Here's my May submission:

Killing Joke - "Judas Goat" (from "Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell", 2006)

Here's my May submission Andi:

Demon Hunter - "This Is The Line" (from "The World Is A Thorn", 2010)

Blackened death metal from Poland.

Behemoth - "The Satanist" (2014)

I gave the eleventh album from Polish extreme metal superstars Behemoth a revisit over the last couple of days & found that it's held up well. "The Satanist" was generally regarded as a serious player by most of its target audience at the time & with good reason too as it's arguably the band's best record. I do have to question it's credentials as a genuine classic though as I don't think it's anything above a very solid outing that highlights all of the things that make Behemoth one of the more popular death metal artists on the planet. But there's more to "The Satanist" than just death metal as you can comfortably hear the band's black metal roots throughout the tracklisting, especially the Bathory worship that borders on being a tribute on tracks like "O Father O Satan O Sun!" which borrows from Quorthon's classic "Under The Runes" more obviously than front man Nergal would like to admit. The blackened death metal tag is more than appropriate for the task here in my opinion.

So why aren't I onboard with the feelings of Behemoth's fan boys out there then? Well there's a few reasons. Firstly, I don't think there are enough genuine classics on offer here. The exciting "Furor divinus" is my clear favourite but I'm not sure any of the other inclusions manage to breach the top echelon of extreme metal anthems. I also find that one of the more popular tracks on the album "Ora pro nobis Lucifer" offers me very little in the way of appeal while the title track isn't all that it's cracked up to be either, despite taking off & recovering things in the back end. When Behemoth are at their best it's when drummer Inferno is blasting away at full throttle & his performance here is nothing short of devastating, particularly his precision blast beats & double kick work. Morbid Angel has clearly been a major influence here with similar riff structures being employed quite often. But when the band start to lose momentum is when they consciously keep things simpler & more accessible, at which time they can sometimes sound a little flat & generic. Despite this though, it's hard to deny that "The Satanist" is a high quality example of the blackened death metal sound. It's just not the game-changer that it's so regularly reported to be.

4/5

Ben, can you please rename this thread to April rather than March?

Ben, can you please rename this thread to April rather than March? I really shouldn't post these threads whilst cripplingly hungover.

April 2022

01. Code Orange – “(deeperthanbefore)” (from “Underneath”, 2020)

02. Samael – “For A Thousand Years” (from “Lux Mundi”, 2011)

03. Neurotech – “Awaiting Deception” (from “Antagonist”, 2011)

04. Unheilig – “Für immer” (from “Grosse Freiheit”, 2010)

05. Kong – “Horse L.” (from “Phlegm”, 1992)

06. Eisbrecher – “Die Engel” (from “Eiszeit”, 2010)

07. Pitchshifter – “Wafer Thin” (from “Deviant”, 2000)

08. Killing Joke – “Invocation” (from “Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell”, 2006) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Author & Punisher – “Misery” (from “Krüller”, 2022)

10. Ministry – “Never Believe” (from “The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste”, 1989)

11. Lard – “Pineapple Face” (from “The Last Temptation Of Reid”, 1990)

12. Crisis Sigil – “Shape.” (from “Small Towns.”, 2020)

13. In This Moment – “Fly Like An Eagle” (from “Mother”, 2020)

14. Nine Inch Nails – “Gave Up” (from “Broken” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Apartment 26 – “Slicedbeats” (from “Hallucinating”, 2000)

16. Static-X – “This Is Not” (from “Machine”, 2001)

17. Godflesh – “Spinebender” (from “Godflesh” E.P., 1988)

18. Scorn – “Lick Forever Dog” (from “Vae Solis”, 1992)

19. Ghostemane – “Intro.Destitute” (from “ANTI-ICON”, 2020)

20. Morbid Angel – “Destructos vs. the Earth / Attack” (from “Illud Divinum Insanus”, 2011)

21. Skrew – “Charlemagne” (from “Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame”, 1992)

22. Mechina – “The Embers Of Old Earth” (from “Venator”, 2022)

23. Rammstein – “Feuer frei!” (from “Mutter”, 2001)

24. Old – “Disassemble” (from “Lo Flux Tube”, 1991)

25. Napalm Death – “Narcissus” (from “Resentment Is Always Seismic - A Final Throw of Throes” E.P., 2022)

26. Red Harvest – “Death In Cyborg Era” (from “Cold Dark Matter”, 2000)

27. Fear Factory – “Fear Campaign” (from “Mechanize”, 2010)

April 2022

01. Kanonenfieber – “Die Schlacht bei Tannenberg” (from “Menschenmühle”, 2021)

02. Before The Dawn – “Fear Me” (from “Deadlight”, 2007) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Allegaeon – “Into Embers” (from “Damnum”, 2022) [Submitted by Ben]

04. Damaged – “Token Remedies Research” (from “Token Remedies Research”, 1997)

05. Schizophrenia – “Cranial Disintegration” (from “Recollections Of The Insane”, 2022)

06. 7 Horns 7 Eyes – “Divine Amnesty” (from “Throes Of Absolution”, 2012) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Napalm Death – “Narcissus” (from “Resentment Is Always Seismic - A Final Throw of Throes” E.P., 2022)

08. Mortiferum – “Incubus Of Bloodstained Visions” (from “Preserved In Torment”, 2021)

09. Ritual Necromancy – “Enter The Depths” (from “Ritual Necromancy/Fossilization” split E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Ben]

10. Earth Rot – “Towards A Godless Shrine” (from “Black Tides Of Obscurity”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Immolation – “Into Everlasting Fire” (from “Dawn Of Possession”, 1991) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Corpsegrinder – “On Wings Of Carnage” (from “Corpsegrinder”, 2022)

13. Nile – “The Black Flame” (from “Black Seeds Of Vengeance”, 2000) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Tribulation – “Sacrilegious Darkness” (from “The Horror”, 2009) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Aeon – “Aeons Black” (from “Aeons Black”, 2012) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Morbid Angel – “Garden Of Disdain” (from “Kingdoms Disdained”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Ulcerate – “We Are Nil” (from “Everything Is Fire”, 2009) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Hath – “All That Was Promised” (from “All That Was Promised”, 2022) [Submitted by Ben]

19. The Amenta – “Mictlan” (from “Mictlan” E.P., 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Cannibal Corpse – “Compelled To Lacerate” (from “Gore Obsessed”, 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. Blood Red Throne – “Altered Genesis” (from “Altered Genesis”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]

22. Suffocation – “Surgery Of Impalement” (from “Souls To Deny”, 2004) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. Abominable Putridity – “Intracranial Parasite” (from “In The End Of Human Existence”, 2007)

The new playlists have just gone live everyone. Sorry for the delay & appreciate your patience.