Daniel's Forum Replies

Highly inventive progressive/technical death metal from the Czech Republic. For fans of Appalling Spawn, Nile & !T.O.O.H.!.

For this weekend's top ten list I've decided to go with grindcore. Please be aware that I've omitted releases that are generally regarded as deathgrind as I'll do a separate list for that particular subgenre. Here's my Top Ten Grindcore Releases Of All Time:

01. Discordance Axis – “The Inalienable Dreamless” (2000)

02. Pig Destroyer – “Prowler In The Yard” (2001)

03. Pig Destroyer – “Terrifyer” (2004)

04. Repulsion – “Horrified” (1989)

05. Unseen Terror – “The Peel Sessions” (1989)

06. Cretin – “Stranger” (2014)

07. Napalm Death – “The Peel Sessions” (1987)

08. Napalm Death – “From Enslavement To Obliteration” (1988)

09. Napalm Death – “Scum” (1987)

10. Fuck The Facts – “Die Miserable” (2011)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/149

What do you top tens look like?

Adjusted my list after Ben has added the Isis live releases yesterday:

01. Rosetta – “The Galilean Satellites” (2005)

02. Neurosis – “Souls At Zero” (1992)

03. Isis – “Panopticon” (2004)

04. Neurosis – “Times Of Grace” (1999)

05. Neurosis – “A Sun That Never Sets” (2001)

06. Cult Of Luna – “Somewhere Along The Highway” (2006)

07. Neurosis – “The Eye Of Every Storm” (2004)

08. Isis – “Oceanic” (2002)

09. Isis - "Live II 03.19.03" (2004)

10. Neurosis – “Through Silver In Blood” (1996)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/140

Welcome Scarecrow! It's always great to see well-informed new academics joining our ranks. We're a very accommodating bunch so don't be shy. Feel free to have as much or as little involvement with the site as you wish. Ben & I administer the site & would be more than happy to help you with any queries you may have.

Here are some of the cool site activities you have available to you if you choose to participate:

1. Clan Challenges - where you can work to secure a fourth clan.

2. Public Lists - where you can create your own release lists i.e. best-of, year-end, etc.

3. Monthly clan playlists - you'll find track submission threads in each clan forum where you can contribute tracks you've been digging throughout the previous month. Let me know if you'd like to contribute & I can adjust the time allocations for each member to accommodate you.

4. Feature releases - Clan members take turns in nominating the monthly feature release for each clan which we all listen to & discuss. This is probably my favourite part of the site to be honest. Let me know if you'd like to be added to the rosters to nominate the releases for your three clans.

Canadian brutal death metal for fans of Wormed, Dying Fetus & "Human Waste"-era Suffocation.

Cryptopsy - "Blasphemy Made Flesh" (1994)

Canadian brutal death metal outfit Cryptopsy popped up at the perfect time to grab my interest as I'd become totally infatuated with the more extreme end of death metal through Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse & the like a couple of years earlier & was totally obsessed with tape trading so when their 1993 "Ungentle Exhumation" demo tape made its way into my eager hands shortly after release I really wanted to like it. I think I managed to convince myself that I did too as I'd never heard blast beats that possessed the speed & fury of Flo Mounier's & the sheer insanity of Lord Worm's vocals were nothing short of hilarious. I guess you could say that it held far more novelty value than it did substance & the same can be said for their 1994 debut album "Blasphemy Made Flesh" which contains mostly the same material.

"Blasphemy Made Flesh" has gone on to become somewhat of an underground classic over the years but I feel that this is largely off the back of the band's sophomore album "None So Vile" as it really isn't terribly special when you examine it closely with a number of obvious flaws being hard to overlook. Despite what people might tell you, I'd suggest that it's sound possesses just as much old-school death metal as it does blasting brutal death metal. It's just the ultra-fast blast beats & stupidly gutteral vocal delivery that see it so unanimously slated as the most brutal of the brutal. There's definitely a strong deathgrind influence to some of it too actually. The production is often criticized & rightly so but it's not the fuzzy rhythm guitar sound that annoys me as that was pretty common at the time. The things that I struggle with are the poppy bass guitar sound which is too high is the mix & stands out too obviously over the top of the guitars & the heavily reverbed & quite pingy snare sound that's really hard not to obsess over given the amount of times that Mounier is capable of hitting it per second. Plus, Lord Worm makes no attempt whatsoever to enunciate words, instead choosing to act like a drunken fan who has grabbed the mike but has no understanding of the lyrics. Are there some good riffs here? Sure there are (particularly during the half-time sections where Mounier goes double-time on his ride cymbal) but the reality is that this style of death metal can be done so much better than this. The melodic guitar solos seem almost a touch TOO melodic in the context of Cryptopsy's sound & Flo needed to lay off those bouncy 1-2 beats he had a habit of turning to once or twice every track too. Admittedly Flo doesn't over-extend the human ability for speed as often as he does on "None So Vile" where you can obviously hear his endurance failing at the end of the faster blast beats sections which was something that really annoyed me about that record at times.

Ultimately I just think that once the novelty factor wears off there's not a lot of meat on these bones & I don't actually find myself getting all that much enjoyment out of the experience these days even though I can definitely see why an 18 year-old me would have got into it. "None So Vile" was a much stronger & more mature record but I can't say that I can understand the unbridled obsession that fans seem to have with it either. Never mind... I'll always have my beloved Suffocation.

For fans of Wormed, Dying Fetus & "Human Waste"-era Suffocation.

3/5

P.S. Please be advised that (despite the common tendency to incorrectly label Cryptopsy's first two albums as technical death metal) there's nothing technical about this record whatsoever.

Powerviolence would definitely go into The Horde Andi. It's got very close ties to grindcore.

Trance would definitely go in The Guardians too. It's essentially the symphonic power metal of electronic dance music.

Electronic would go under The Gateway as it's usually a hybrid when used as a term in its own right.

Here's some of my own thoughts:

Trip Hop would go under The Gateway.

Techno would go into The Sphere.

Hard Techno (i.e. Schranz) & Hard Trance would go under the Horde.

Ambient would go under The Infinite.

Dark Ambient would go under The North.

Progressive House, Progressive Trance & Psytrance would go under The Infinite.

Psychedelic Rock would be a dual clan entry under The Fallen & The Infinite.

Heavy Psych would go under The Fallen.

Electro would go under The Gateway.

It was a very successful month of feature releases for me personally with a couple of newly discovered underground classics & only the one blemish due to my irreconcilable differences with a Christmas-themed symphonic power metal record. Here are my scores in order of preference. Interestingly, neither of the two major wins for me come from my chosen clans which is a clear indication of just how exciting & powerful our clan feature releases can be if you're willing to tread outside of your comfort zone.

THE SPHERE: Kill The Thrill - "Tellurique" (2005)  4.5/5

THE INFINITE: Kayo Dot - "Moss Grew On The Swords & Plowshares Alike" (2021)  4.5/5

THE FALLEN: Rapture - "Futile" (1999)  4/5

THE NORTH: Wodensthrone - "Loss" (2009)  4/5

THE HORDE: Cretin - "Stranger" (2014)  4/5

THE PIT: Condor - "Unstoppable Power" (2017)  3.5/5

THE GATEWAY: Bad Wolves - "Dear Monsters" (2021)  3.5/5

THE REVOLUTION: Cold As Life - "Born To Land Hard" (1998)  3.5/5

THE GUARDIANS: Majestica - "A Christmas Carol" (2020)  2/5

Californian grindcore for fans of Repulsion, Brutal Truth & Machetazo.

Grindcore is the type of genre where you don't need to be original or have a lot of variety to impress the diehard fans. It's all about energy & extremity & Cretin possess both in spades. You've almost certainly heard all of this before as it really does pay tribute to the gods of grind from start to finish while keeping its tongue stuck firmly in its cheek but you know what? I don't give a fuck because that's not why I listen to grindcore. It's just downright fun to listen to! Grindcore releases rarely see me being tempted by my higher scores but when it's done right it can brighten my day by giving me the strength & motivation to charge through my challenges & that's just what Cretin have managed to do with "Stranger" which doesn't offer a dud amongst the fourteen tracks included.

For fans of Repulsion, Brutal Truth & Machetazo.

4/5

Raw Norwegian thrash metal for fans of Deathhammer, Nekromantheon & Inculter.

Thanks for suggesting this one Vinny. I quite enjoyed Condor's no-holds-barred take on the classic Teutonic thrash model. As soon as I saw the artwork I suspected that my old mate Rok from Sadistik Exekution had been involved & a quick Google search confirmed my suspicion. It's a perfect depiction of what you can expect to hear too. "Unstoppable Power" gets off to a rollicking start with two of the highlight tracks opening proceedings but the excitement does drop off a touch from there on with only the excellent "Malevolent Curse" seeing Condor returning to the same exhilarating level as ""Embraced By The Evil" & "Riders Of Violence". I'm not sure where people are pulling the "blackened" thing from because there's absolutely no black metal on display here but there's a crap-tonne of speed metal influence going on & the melodic work that's present in so many of Condor's riffs is drawn straight from early Destruction who also possessed a strong speed metal component. I'm more of a fan of the more pure thrash metal outings than the ones with a stronger speed metal component which is in line with what I'd expect given my taste profile. The vocals are nice & raw while the guitar solos sound a bit flat for the most part due to some clear technical & theoretical limitations. Overall I'd suggest that Condor offer a low commitment 36 minutes of nasty thrash with a raw aesthetic that resides predominantly in the underground which should be no surprise to those who are aware of the links to Darkthrone mastermind Fenriz.

For fans of Deathhammer, Nekromantheon & Inculter.

3.5/5

I'm feeling a little bit out of the loop here however I'm sure that it'll surprise approximately no one at all when I inform you that I really fucking struggled with this one guys. It's so at odds with what metal music is to me that I found the three full listens I gave this one to be a major chore. The most alienating moments in European power metal for me are when I find myself describing what I'm hearing as sounding like Christmas carols so an open attempt at that concept was never gonna go down well with this extreme metal fanatic. The sheer ambition & high quality execution on display is undeniable but there really wasn't ever gonna be any other outcome than a fail from me personally.

For fans of ReinXeed, Twilight Force & Rhapsody Of Fire.

2/5

Omar S - "Fabric 45: Detroit" (2009)

A lovely Detroit techno mix from a talented producer who has continued to maintain the essence of what made Detroit so special in the 80's & 90's into the post-2000 era. As with many of the Detroit bunch, the mixing & programming isn't amazing & plays second fiddle to depth, substance & soul. I dig it!

I've always rated "Doomsday For The Deceiver" very highly. It was such an ambitious undertaking for a debut album. Of course it doesn't compete on the same level as the albums Sonny mentioned but then that's hardly a major criticism given their enduring status as the elite releases of the whole metal genre. "Hammerhead" was a very solid opener but my favourite track is "Desecrator", closely followed by the two epics in the title track & "Metalshock".

Beatdown metalcore from Detroit, USA. For fans of Knocked Loose, Hatebreed & Sunami.

Yeah, I don't mind this album. I've developed a taste for beatdown metalcore over the last couple of years & this example is suitably violent & in-your-face. The vocals are absolutely vicious & help to cater for some of the more generic instrumentation. The tracklisting is a bit top-heavy with highlight tracks like the short & brutal "Little From the World" & my personal favourite "All Alone" being wheeled out very early in the game with the quality petering out a touch at the end with two of the last three tracks being pretty flat. The kick drum is way up there in the mix. In fact, there are times when the double kick sounds almost like blast beats which just about sums up what you can expect from "Born To Land Hard". You won't find much in the way of subtlety here but that's not what a band like Cold As Life are trying to achieve now, is it? They're more about creating an aggressive whirlwind of energy that ticks all of the boxes you need when you're just fucking fed up with the world & want an outlet to help you vent.

For fans of Knocked Loose, Hatebreed & Sunami.

3.5/5

For this weekend's top ten list I've decided to go with my Top Ten Technical Death Metal Releases of All Time. It's worth noting that I've elected to omit the more obviously brutal death metal bands who implement technicality (e.g. Suffocation, Hour Of Penance) & have chosen a few that are pretty borderline or are closer to progressive death metal (see "Human", "Testimony Of The Ancients") based solely on the general consensus. See what you think & feel free to post your own list.

01. Death - "Human" (1991)

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

03. Gorguts – “Colored Sands” (2013)

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

05. Death – “Symbolic” (1995)

06. Nile – “Annihilation Of The Wicked” (2005)

07. Atheist – “Unquestionable Presence” (1991)

08. Gorguts – “The Erosion Of Sanity” (1993)

09. Pestilence – “Testimony Of The Ancients” (1991)

10. Ulcerate – “The Destroyers Of All” (2011)

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

Gothic doom/death from Finland. For fans of Katatonia, Paradise Lost & Slumber.

It's been a while since I've revisited this album. From memory Ben first brought it to my attention shortly after my return to metal & I recall thoroughly enjoying the experience. It's no surprise that Ben's all over Rapture given that three of their five members also reside in his favourite band Shape Of Despair. There are also links to Impaled Nazarene & Finntroll too so Rapture are a bit of a supergroup of Finnish extreme metal really. To my ears "Futile" is very much a combination of the melodic doom/death of Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" & the gothic metal of Paradise Lost's "Draconian Times" with all of the up-tempo tracks being pretty blatant in their worship of the latter. It's interesting that the most enjoyable parts of the album for me are in direct contrast to Sonny's with the pure gothic metal tracks like "This Is Where I Am", "The Fall" & "(About) Leaving" offering me significantly less appeal than the more atmospheric & doomy material. The intro piece is stunning & left me salivating for more but I don't think "Futile" meets it's true potential until the wonderfully repetitive & hypnotic "Someone I (Don't) Know" (my album highlight), the back half of which I find to be truly exhilarating. There are no weak tracks included here as it's a very professionally put together piece of work but I actually feel that the more up-tempo material is a little more accessible than the rest of the material & wish they'd opted for less rocky Sisters Of Mercy style beats. I can see why Ben finds it to be so attractive given his taste profile though. Overall I find "Futile" to be a very enjoyable & high quality piece of gothic doom/death & a worthy feature release.

For fans of Katatonia, Paradise Lost & Slumber.

4/5

Alternative metal from Los Angeles, USA. A guilty pleasure for me at the moment thanks to the wonderful chorus hook. For fans of Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch & Ill Niño's "Till Death, La Familia" album.

You know what, I actually quite enjoyed this record. Yeah, the first listen was certainly very confronting indeed as there should be no question whatsoever that you're listening to a pop metal release here but once you come to accept that & allow yourself to knuckle down & enjoy the hooks then you'll find that it's really not half bad. (In fact, if I'm being completely honest I was nothing short of repulsed on first listen but found my affections growing in leaps & bounds with each subsequent listen. I find that this is not an uncommon occurrence when stepping well outside of my musical comfort zone & it's one of the reasons that I'll never be convinced that you can properly sum up your feelings on a release in less than three listens.) I think "Dear Monsters" is weighed down a touch by the fact that it doesn't start off really strongly though. The first couple of tracks are acceptable with opener "Sacred Kiss" being a bit borderline but being saved by some back end intensity & a solid chorus but "Lifeline" is pretty flat & "Wildfire" falls well short of the mark. From that point on though things begin to look up significantly & we even have a couple of tracks that I genuinely love in "Gone" & "Springfield Summer" (my personal fave) which both have amazing chorus hooks that leave me forgetting about the cheesier lead-ups. The melodic metalcore influence in the breakdowns is incorporated much more fluently than your average generic screamy hardcore kids are capable of & the production & musicianship are excellent. I definitely agree with Saxy's statement about the tracklisting being pretty samey though with similar structures & feels to most tracks. As with last month's Trivium feature release, the vocals definitely have more Nickelback about them than I'm comfortable with but Daniel Laskiewicz is a very capable singer in his own right & the hooks are always strong which enables him to overcome that comparison. I guess you could say that this is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me but (as you all know by now) I've never been shy about calling it as I see it.

For fans of Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch & Ill Niño's "Till Death, La Familia" album.

3.5/5

P.S. I'm looking forward to seeing what Sonny thinks of this one as I'm sure it'll draw a passionate response. :)

To be clear Andi, I just said that I don't hear anything gothic about this release. I don't see any links to gothic metal whatsoever.

This is such a fucking great inclusion for a feature release Xephyr. I can't tell you how impressed I am with this record. I was only previously familiar with Toby Driver's three most highly praised classics in Maudlin Of The Well's "Bath" & "Leaving Your Body Map" & Kayo Dot's debut album "Choirs Of The Eye" so I had no idea of what creative path he'd be taking eighteen years later. I actually never agreed with those records being labelled as "avant-garde" but 2021's "Moss Grew on the Swords & Plowshares Alike" is another story altogether. It's a weird & wonderful journey through sounds that appear to be completely foreign, sometimes welcoming the listener in & at others leaving them recoiling. It's incredibly ambitious but the vast majority of its run time seems to be so focused & fully realized making it a landmark record of truly avant-garde metal music.

There's a significant 70's progressive rock component on display here that I really dig. The complexity of the instrumentation is quite brilliant with the sheer psychedelia of some of the climaxes really hitting a sweet spot for me. I don't love the harsh vocals. They're definitely the weakest element in Kayo Dot's sonic arsenal however the clean vocals are the spitting image of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour & hit a lot closer to home for this old Floyd tragic. That's not the only reference to the masters of timeless prog rock either with some of the atmospheres presented here having a similar feel & the unusual open-string guitar parts making reference to similarly Floyd-inspired Canadian progressive metal outfit Voivod. The way the rhythm section is incorporated within the more complex sections is nothing short of invigorating while the melodic lead guitar work provides a wonderful juxtaposition to the chaos ensuing beneath with the more intense Morbid Angel influenced metal sections providing a similar counterpoint for the smoother progressive meanderings of tracks like "Void in Virgo (The Nature of Sacrifice)".

This all amounts to a genuinely captivating & unique musical experience that's reinvigorated my appetite for the more avant-garde strains of metal music. How an album can sound so bizarre yet so intensely ethereal at the same time is a huge feather in Toby's cap. The closing drone passage of epic closer "Epipsychidion" & the slowly building psychedelia & crescendo of album highlight "Get Out of the Tower" are a marvel to behold. Don't get me wrong, "Moss Grew on the Swords & Plowshares Alike" is not a perfect record but it's certainly an intriguing & rewarding one that should be on the radar of all members of The Infinite. I think I still favour the Kayo Dot's classic 2003 debut album "Choirs of the Eye" over this one but there's not a lot in it & I think that in time this release will be spoken in the same terms.

For fans of Maudlin Of The Well, Voivod & Ehnahre.

4.5/5

P.S. Am I the only one that hears absolutely bugger-all gothic metal here? The open-string riffs sound like something that might have come from an early 80's goth rock artist like Bauhaus but doesn't the music have to actually sound gothic for a gothic metal tag to be relevant? Why is the RYM community so adamant about having this record tagged as such? I'd suggest that there's actually more of a post-punk influence personally. I can definitely hear where the post-metal references are coming from but it's only a small piece of the overall puzzle so I feel that an Avant-Garde Metal primary & a Progressive Rock secondary is the most appropriate tagging. 

Avant-garde metal from Boston, USA. For fans of Maudlin of the Well, Voivod & Ehnahre.

Richie Hawtin - "DE9 | Closer to the Edit" (2001)

This classic DJ mix single-handedly took the minimal techno sound from underground German clubs & presented it to a wider global audience.

English atmospheric black metal for fans of Winterfylleth, Saor & mid-90's Drudkh.

I first encountered six-piece English black metal outfit Wodensthrone's debut album "Loss" shortly after returning to metal back in 2009 & remember finding it to be generally pretty enjoyable on first listen but struggling a little with a few elements. The strong use of keyboards & the implementation of some pretty positive sounding melodies were a little bit at odds with my usual taste in black metal while the drumming isn't very good & those that know me would be well aware of how important good drumming is to my listening experience. Repeat listens would see me warming  to the album's qualities significantly though & by the end of my third or fourth listen the grandiose atmospheres were drawing me in nicely. This revisit has thankfully seen me picking up where I left off twelve years ago with nothing much having changed in regard to my overall feelings on the album's merits.

The Pagan black metal tag is perhaps a bit ambitious for this release. Yes, the atmosphere certainly hints at an organic, natural feel but there's not really enough of a folk component to warrant a primary tag in my opinion. The atmospheric black metal tag is sufficient for the purpose as far as I can see with the symphonic element pushing for a minor mention a lot of the time too. "Loss" isn't the most imposing or dark of black metal releases which is part of the reason for my initial hesitations. Light & melody play a major part in Wodensthrone's appeal however that shouldn't necessarily be viewed as such a bad thing. There are a few moments that hint at the sort of positivity usually reserved for blackgaze though & several of the tracks also seem to make a conscious attempt to emulate the epic atmosphere of Viking metal, particularly the strong closer "That Which Is Now Forgotten - 597".

"Loss" is a very consistent release & I wouldn't say that there are any weak tracks included however there also aren't any obvious classics amongst the eight tracks either with most suffering from a minor flaw or two along the way. Overall, I'd suggest that it's a pretty good place to start with Wodensthrone though as I'd be surprised if it disappointed too many fans of the more atmospheric & organic side of black metal. It's been a while since I listened to it but I think I still slightly favour Wodensthrone's 2012 sophomore album "Curse" over this one. There's not a lot in it though as both are high quality black metal records.

For fans of Winterfylleth, Saor & mid-90's Drudkh.

4/5

For this weekend's top ten list I thought I'd have a crack at my Top Ten Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time. See what you think:

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. Edge Of Sanity – “Crimson” (1996)

10. Be’lakor – “Of Breath & Bone” (2012)

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

Wonderful French industrial rock/metal with a strong post-metal influence. For fans of Godflesh, Killing Joke & Jesu.

OH WOW! Jesus fucking Christ this is an amazing record! I was blown away by the opening track from this album when I discovered it while searching for tracks to include in the monthly The Sphere Spotify playlist some time ago & immediately put "Tellurique" into the memory bank as a record of interest. It's probably been a year or more since that experience but boy am I glad that I remembered to investigate this record because it's right up my alley. I'd probably describe it's basis as sitting somewhere between industrial rock & industrial metal with obvious Godflesh & Killing Joke influences however Kill The Thrill also utilize the sweeping atmospheres, slowly building tension-&-release & crushingly noisy crescendos of post-rock artists like Sigur Ros & Swans in a way that adds significant light & substance to the end result. The vocals of front man Nicolas Dick are full of attitude & charisma too which gives proceedings an air of professionalism that's uncommon in artists that are this underground. In fact, I have to ask why I haven't heard more of Kill The Thrill because they're a class act & this is a top five release for the industrial metal genre for me personally.

For fans of Godflesh, Killing Joke & Jesu.

4.5/5

(just thought I would mix up the format a bit, OK? Anyway...)

Quoted shadowdoom9 (Andi)

Using graphics is a great idea Andi. I'd encourage you to continue with that as long as you're not in breach of any sort of copyright (that goes for the use of an artist's music too as I noticed that you used snippets on your YouTube ad). In saying that though, I'm not comfortable with clan members attaching their names to the playlists they're programming though. They're intended as a representation of the clan, not the individual.

Overkill - "E.vil N.ever D.ies" (from "The Years Of Decay", 1989)

Morbid Saint - "Depth Of Sanity" (from "Destruction System", 1992)  [Note: You can find this on the Extended Edition of "Spectrum Of Death"]

Testament - "Fall Of Sipledome" (from "The Gathering", 1999)

Nevermore - "The Psalm Of Lydia" (from "This Godless Endeavour", 2005)

Metreya - "Machines Of War" (from "Machines Of War" E.P., 2014)

Slayer - "Repentless" (from "Repentless", 2015)

Pestilence - "Out Of The Body" (from "Consuming Impulse", 1989)

Cannibal Corpse - "Hammer Smashed Face" (from "Tomb Of The Mutilated", 1992)

Devourment - "Choking On Bile" (from "Molesting The Decapitated", 1999)

Nile - "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten" (from "Annihilation Of The Wicked", 2005)

Dead Congregation - "Subjugation" (from "Graves Of The Archangels", 2008)

The Amenta - "VO1D" (from "VO1D", 2010)

Andrew Hulshult - "DUSK" (from "DUSK (Original Game Soundtrack", 2018)

Trouble - "The Skull" (from "The Skull", 1985)

Katatonia - "Without God" (from "Dance Of December Souls", 1993)

Isis - "Celestial (The Tower)" (from "Celestial", 2000)

Messa - "Da tariki tariqat" (from "Feast For Water", 2018)

Knocked Loose - "Where Light Divides The Holler" (from "A Tear In The Fabric Of Life" E.P., 2021)

Sun Of The Blind - "Fire & Thirst" (from "Skullreader", 2009)

Blasphemy - "Hording Of Evil Vengeance" (from "Fallen Angel Of Doom...", 1990)

Darkthrone - "Quintessence" (from "Panzerfaust", 1995)

Spiritbox - "Sun Killer" (from "Eternal Blue", 2021)

Here's the January feature release nominators:

THE FALLEN: Daniel, Sonny, Ben

THE GATEWAY: Saxy S, Andi

THE GUARDIANS: Andi, Vinny, Xephyr

THE HORDE: Ben, Daniel, Vinny

THE INFINITE: Saxy S, Andi, Xephyr

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

THE PIT: Ben, Daniel, Sonny, Vinny

THE REVOLUTION: Andi, Daniel

THE SPHERE: Daniel

Playlist compilers, I've now updated the tracklistings in each of the clans playlists so please feel free to create the monthly playlist threads & to add the tracklistings to the Past Tracklisting threads in each clan forum at your leisure.

December 2021

01. Samael – “Let My People Be” (from “Lux Mundi”, 2011)

02. Keygen Church – “H A R E K L A V I T” (from “░█░█░░█░█░█░”, 2021)

03. Oomph! – “Breathtaker” (from “Sperm”, 1994)

04. Rob Zombie – “Boom-Boom-Boom” (from “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy”, 2021)

05. Autarkh – “Impasse” (from “Form In Motion”, 2021)

06. Pitchshifter – “Condescension” (from “Deviant”, 2000)

07. 1000 Homo DJs – “Apathy” (from “Supernaut” E.P., 1990)

08. Wayne Static – “Slave” (from “Pighammer”, 2011)

09. Static-X – “Cold” (from “Machine”, 2001)

10. Ghostemane – “Crime Time” (from “Fear Network II” E.P., 2021)

11. Eisbrecher – “Böse Mädchen” (from “Eiszeit”, 2010)

12. Godflesh – “Wounds” (bonus track from “Godflesh” E.P., 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Old – “Citient Null” (from “Lo Flux Tube”, 1991)

14. Ministry – “Sabotage Is Sex” (from “Moral Hygiene”, 2021)

15. Mechina – “The Worst In Us” (from “Siege”, 2021)

16. Author & Punisher – “The Speaker Is Systematically Blown” (from “Beastland”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Youth Code & King Yosef – “The World Stage” (from “A Skeleton Key In The Doors Of Depression”, 2021)

18. Nine Inch Nails – “Last” (from “Broken” E.P., 1992)

19. Morbid Angel – “Profundis - Mea Culpa” (from “Illud Divinum Insanus”, 2011)

20. Fear Factory – “End Of Line” (from “Aggression Continuum”, 2021)

21. Fange – “Tombé pour la France” (from “Pantocrator”, 2021)

22. Thorns – “Shifting Channels” (from “Thorns”, 2001)

23. Red Harvest – “Absolut Dunkel:heit” (from “Cold Dark Matter”, 2000)

December 2021

01. Dragged Into Sunlight – “Lashed To The Grinder & Stoned To Death” (from “Hatred For Mankind”, 2009) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Be’lakor – “Hidden Window” (from “Coherence”, 2021) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Necrophagist – “Only Ash Remains” (from “Epitaph”, 2004) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Bologna Violenta – “Valium Tavor Serenase” (from “Utopie e piccole soddisfazioni”, 2012)

05. Illdisposed – “Now We’re History” (from “1-800 Vindication”, 2004) [Submitted by Ben]

06. Six Feet Under – “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” (from “Graveyard Classics III”, 2010)

07. Edge Of Sanity – “The Masque” (from “The Spectral Sorrows”, 1993)

08. Soilent Green – “Slapfuck” (from “Pussysoul”, 1994)

09. Apparition – “Nonlocality” (from “Feel”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Asphyx – “Asphyx (Forgotten War)” (from “Last One On Earth”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Coffinrot – “Reduced To Visceral Sludge” (from “Reduced To Visceral Sludge” single, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. 200 Stab Wounds – “Drilling Your Head” (from “Slave To The Scalpel”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Cryptopsy – “Cold Hate, Warm Blood” (from “Whisper Supremacy”, 1998) [Submitted by Ben]

14. Suffering Hour – “Obscuration” (from “The Cyclic Reckoning”, 2021)

15. Wombbath – “A World Of Destruction” (from “Agma”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. No One Knows What The Dead Think – “Autumn Flower” (from “No One Knows What The Dead Think”, 2019) [Submitted by Ben]

17. Morbid Angel – “Brainstorm” (from “Blessed Are The Sick”, 1991) [Submitted by Ben]

18. Aeon – “Queen Of Lies” (from “God Ends Here”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

19. Spawn Of Possession – “Scorched” (from “Noctambulant”, 2006) [Submitted by Ben]

20. Cannibal Corpse – “Meathook Sodomy” (from “Butchered At Birth”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. Exhumed – “Worming” (from “Worming” E.P., 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

22. Regurgitate – “Deranged Menarche Injection” (from “Hatefilled Vengeance” E.P., 2002)

23. Archspire – “Drone Corpse Aviator” (from “Bleed The Future”, 2021) [Submitted by Ben]

24. Phyllomedusa – “Nook Modification (A Startiling Modification)” (from “Suburban Pest”, 2015)

25. Mortician – “World Domination” (from “House By The Cemetery”, 1994)

26. Vomit The Soul – “The Lost Aurea” (from “Cold”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

27. Devourment – “A Virulent Strain Of Retaliation” (from “Obscene Majesty”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

Highly energetic Bay Area thrash for fans of Metallica, Exodus & Death Angel.

Testament - "The Gathering" (1999)

Californian thrash metal establishment Testament's eighth album seems to be held in very high regard these days which perhaps has more to the amazing lineup than it does the musical result. Don't take that comment the wrong way though. "The Gathering" is certainly a quality release from a super-capable group of musicians but I'm not sure it comes close to being a genuine classic at any point. The inclusion of James Murphy (Cancer/Death/Hallows Eve/Disincarnate/Obituary) on lead guitar, Steve DiGiorgio (Autopsy/Control Denied/Death/Iced Earth/Sadus/Soen) on bass & Dave Lombardo (Slayer/Dead Cross/Fantômas/Grip Inc./Misfits/Mr. Bungle/Suicidal Tendencies) on drums is a salivating idea for any thrasher worth his salt however I think the eventual outcome is somewhat of a missed opportunity. I mean the talent of these musicians hasn't really been fully utilized here, particularly that of Murphy whose solos are generally pretty short & uneventful & DiGiorgio who seems quite restrained for the most part. There seems to be a groove metal influence creeping into Testament's sound at times too & I have to admit that the groovier moments inevitably represent some of the weaker parts of the album for me personally.

The tracklisting is fairly inconsistent with thrashing belters like "Legions of the Dead" & album highlight "Fall of Sipledome" being mixed in with disappointing inclusions like "Eyes of Wrath", "Allegiance" & the depressingly flat "Careful What You Wish For".  Despite the hits & misses though, front man Chuck Billy puts in a commanding performance & is definitely the focal point of the star-studded band, his powerful bellows often bordering on death metal. He carries some of the weaker tracks & adds some much needed weight to the record. Overall I think "The Gathering" is a more than decent thrash metal album that's worthy of a few spins but is certainly not as mind-blowing as a lot of people make out & is a clear step down from Testament's classic first two records.

For fans of Metallica, Exodus & Death Angel.

3.5/5

Wonderful Norwegian black metal that sounds a lot like early Burzum.

Danish power metal with folk/symphonic influences. For fans of Falconer, Manticora & Lost Horizon.

Wuthering Heights - "The Shadow Cabinet" (2006)

The fourth album from this Danish power metal outfit falls firmly into the "none of my business" category I'm afraid. The polished & glistening package is beautifully produced & executed but unfortunately it's all a bit too pompous & cheesy for my taste. The guitar solos are spectacular but they can't make up for the gag-worthy folk metal melodies, the overuse of synthesizers & the consciously anthemic choruses. Sure it sounds pretty epic & all but it's just too far removed from my wheelhouse I'm afraid. Xephyr & Andi will probably love this stuff though.

For fans of Falconer, Manticora & Lost Horizon.

2.5/5

Playlist compilers, please get your playlist links over to me in the next 24 hours so that I'm ready to transfer them into the live playlists on Wednesday morning.

Kode9 & Burial - "Fabriclive 100" (2018)

I was expecting a DJ mix from these two highly acclaimed dubstep/future garage/footwork/UK bass producers but "Fabriclive 100" ended up being more of compilation given that there's very little actual mixing going on. There are some really interesting & extremely varied tracks included but it certainly sounds pretty jerky & tossed together when taken as an holistic piece. I don't think I'll be returning to this one any time soon.