Daniel's Forum Threads
Rhythm & Sound - "See Mi Yah" (2005)
The fourth & final CD I purchased from this incredible German artist during the 2000's is a compilation of vinyl releases from the period. The interesting thing is that all of them come with basically the same backing track, only with slight variations in the arrangements & different Jamaican vocalists who each take different lyrical & melodic directions. And boy does it work too! I could honestly listen to that backing track in isolation for the entire duration of this release to tell you the truth as it puts me into a level of relaxation that I rarely achieve. Highlight tracks like "Lightning Storm", "See Mi" & "Free For All" are some of Rhythm & Sound's very best material, although I do think that their previous releases are just slightly better than this one which sees them abandoning their techno roots for a pure dub & roots reggae sound.
For fans of Babe Roots, Frenk Dublin & Deepchord Presents: Echospace.
4.5/5
Unfortunately, my old Darkthrone "Transilvanian Hunger" long-sleeve now has enormous holes in the elbows & I've finally laid it to rest so that I receive the sheer joy of replacing it with another awesome band shirt.
Saint Etienne - "Foxbase Alpha" (1991)
The debut album from this London-based trio offers a broad array of easy-listening, springtime vibes from a whole slew of different subgenres, from alternative dance to downtempo to UK street soul. The fifteen-song tracklisting is highly inconsistent but, when Saint Etienne get it right, they can hit some serious peaks, as seen in atmospheric EDM highlight "Stoned to Say the Least" & downtempo gem "Like the Swallow". Unfortunately, there are some noticeable periods of lethargy, particularly on the B side, which takes away some of the gloss while vocalist Sarah Cracknell isn't exactly a star which doesn't help. There's certainly enough to keep me interested though.
For fans of Stereolab, The Avalanches & Broadcast.
3.5/5
Grief - "Dismal" compilation (1992)
Boston's Grief are one of my favourite exponents of filthy sludge metal, particularly their 1994 debut album "Come to Grief" which I regard as being a genuinely classic metal record. I've also really enjoyed their 1992 "Dismal" E.P. this year which has led me to check out this compilation release which draws that release together with their 1992 self-titled E.P. & their two tracks from the 1993 split single with Californian sludgers Dystopia (both of which I was previously unfamiliar). Needless to say that this collection makes for a formidable listening experience too with all three releases offering some very solid & ultra-heavy material. If I had to pick, I'd suggest that the tracks taken from the split release are the most consistently impressive but this is a very consistent record without any real blemishes so there's not much in it. I simply love this cold & oppressive, doom-laden sludge sound & if that sounds like you then I'd urge you to check this compilation out at some point.
For fans of Noothgrush, Eyehategod & Dystopia.
4/5
Oh... & I almost forgot... this record is an excellent release in its own right too:
Grief - "Grief" E.P. (1992)
4/5
Brodequin - "Instruments of Torture" (2000)
I first discovered Tennessee brutal death metallers Brodequin through their 2001 sophomore album "Festival of Death" back in 2009 & very quickly found myself indulging myself in the rest of their back catalogue. I'd only recently returned to metal after spending a decade in the electronic dance music scene & was looking to satisfy my long-standing urges for the sort of devastatingly brutal death metal I'd drenched myself in during the mid-1990's. These guys produced some of the most brutal death metal you'll ever find during the early 2000's so I perhaps gave them more time than they actually deserved if I'm being honest. This debut album "Instruments of Death" is a clear case in point because it's nowhere near as good as it's made out to be.
There are two main gripes that I have with it that prevent me from being able to connect with a release like "Instruments of Torture" in 2026. The first & most obvious is the ridiculous vocal performance of bass player Jamie Bailey who makes no attempt whatsoever to enunciate actual words here, instead producing an almost never-ending drainpipe pig-grunt that I find enormously annoying, single-handedly destroying my chances of finding any genuine enjoyment in "Instruments of Torture". The second is the sloppy drumming of Chad Walls who doesn't seem to possess the endurance to consistently keep up with Michael Bailey's at times very solid death metal riffage. This is a real shame because the pieces are all here but Brodequin simply can't manage to put them all together in a similar way to how they've done with their much cleaner 2024 comeback record "Harbinger of Woe" which I really enjoy. There is certainly better brutal death metal out there than "Instruments of Torture" so perhaps it's for the best that its runtime is limited to just twenty-five minutes. Oh well... I guess you can't win 'em all.
For fans of Liturgy, Disgorge & Orchidectomy.
2.5/5
Babasónicos - "Babasónica" (1997)
I usually struggle with clean-sung Spanish vocals (particularly male ones) but I have to admit that the quality of the music produced by this Argentinian rock outfit has won me over in the end. I hadn't heard them previously but, on the evidence here, their sound would seem to sit somewhere between stoner rock & alternative rock with a smattering of more stripped back psychedelic material spread across the thirteen song tracklisting. There are certainly four or five tracks included where I find myself failing to connect (generally where those vocals are at their weakest) but there are more where I've managed to identify the sort of appeal that's seen "Babasónica" being placed on a pedestal by South American audiences over the last couple of decades. I'm not sure I can see myself returning to "Babasónica" in the future but it's been an interesting experience nonetheless.
For fans of Queens of the Stone Age, Los Brujos & El Otro Yo.
3.5/5
Këkht Aräkh - "Pale Swordsman" (2021)
I have to admit that it's taken me a good five years to build up the courage to decide how I feel about this controversial black metal hit whose primary claim to fame was the succession of memes that were drawn from its ridiculous cover photo. The black metal scene generally isn't too kind to artists who present themselves in such a vulnerable fashion so you do tend to get a skewed view of the quality of a product like this one based on the triggering of people's gag reflex but I choose to base my judgement purely on the musical quality of such a release & it did take me a few listens to overcome, not only that cover, but also the unintimidating sound of this Ukraine one-man outfits second full-length. I mean, despite being influenced by classic black metal artists like Burzum & Darkthrone, "Pale Swordsman" does make most blackgaze acts sound pretty sinister in comparison but that doesn't mean that there's no substance behind it.
Lone contributor Crying Orc isn't exactly a virtuoso but he presents his ideas with passion & authenticity, almost thumbing his nose at the black metal traditionalists out there. There's a fragility to his melodicism & a boldness to his tendency to want to showcase his own vulnerability, as best showcased in gentle closer "Swordsman". Don't get me wrong. I do still have to confess that I definitely crave a darker format for my black metal. I just find that there's nothing terribly wrong with "Pale Swordsman" when taken as a purely artistic form of expression instead of comparing it with my long-standing ideals about what black metal should be. Album highlight "In the Garden" is a prime example of this as it's bookmarked by some fairly lightweight tremolo-picked riffage but, at its gooey centre, you can find the sort of atmosphere that I crave from my European black metal with the Orc's easily intelligible snarled vocals sitting very well over some highly melancholic guitar arpeggios.
If I was being critical, I'd suggest that the couple of piano-driven interludes are pretty flat & some of that is due to the production which has stolen the brightness that could have given these pieces a bit of life & replaced it with artificial vinyl crackles. Apart from that though, I've found enough quality in these simple black metal songs to keep me interested. It's very easy for people to dismiss the album based on a cursory listen because we are a flawed species with a tendency to want things to be as they first appear. A deeper investigation can sometimes surprise us though & I've found "Pale Swordsman" to have grown on me over time. Not enough to see me returning to it in the future I suspect, but enough for me to afford it a respectable score.
For fans of Draugveil, Felvum & Ebony Pendant.
3.5/5
Holocaust - "Hypnosis of Birds" (1992)
I hadn't heard the third full-length from this Scottish NWOBHM act before but this week's experience with 1992's "Hypnosis of Birds" has been unanimously positive as well as quite surprising. You see, I wasn't much of a fan of Holocaust's 1981 debut album "The Nightcomers" which is by far their most well-known release. It was a very basic, rough-&-ready heavy metal affair that's light-years away from the sophisticated & quite technical progressive metal we find here. There are some hints of Holocaust's roots to be found here & there (see the first half of the opening title track or the re-recording of the band's signature piece "The Small Hours" which Metallica covered on their 1987 "Garage Days Re-Revisited" E.P.) but, for the most part, Holocaust have moved on creatively with only guitarist John Mortimer remaining from the lineup that delivered the debut. Mortimer also handles the vocals this time which are admittedly nothing special. It's the instrumentation that's the real win here with some of this material reminding me a lot of more popular progressive metal artists like Mastodon, Devin Townsend or Dream Theater. Unfortunately, there are no genuine classic of offer but the quality is consistently strong enough to make "Hypnosis of Birds" a great listen nonetheless, even if the production is a little rougher than you'd generally expect from a prog record. This is definitely my new favourite Holocaust release, over-taking the fairly underground 1980 "Heavy Metal Mania" E.P. which I quite like. And by the way, please ignore the RYM tagging which includes Avant-Garde Metal & Heavy Metal, neither of which are relevant.
For fans of Voivod, Anacrusis & The Thought Industry.
4/5
Cecil Taylor - The Cecil Taylor Unit (1978)
Genres: Free Jazz
Next up on my free jazz binge is the self-titled The Cecil Taylor Unit, an hour of more classical-infused surrealism hand delivered on a gold platter with a side plate of sample cheeses and wine. This album was the first of Cecil's attempts at bringing classicism to free jazz, and the most obvious effort in that vein. But this kind of sophistication isn't built on Mozart melodies and Beethoven drama. This is free jazz, and Cecil's band sets everything on FIRE.
Idut, track 1, is basically a shark's feeding frenzy of cheese and wine, proud and bombastic to whatever extreme they can achieve without breaking the surrealism. Track 2, Serdab, starts out much more quietly, but soon uses erratic violins and piano to create some very chilling atmospheres. But in these chills also comes a sense of wonder, one that looses none of the bombast of the previous track but rather sacrifices the loud tone for something more mellow. Even when the brass comes in, the build up tricks you out and loosens four minutes in. It goes into several places, recycling old sounds with new combinations, until we get to a gorgeous yet bizarre piano solo by Cecil himself. I'd say that this track was miles ahead of the Idut (no Miles David biopic ref intended). Now track 3 is the one that worried me. Holiday En Masque is a whopping 30 minutes long, so I was quite concerned with possible meandering. But the surprise is: it didn't meander as much as I thought, not until the last ten minutes or so. This was easily the most interesting of the three tracks. This was everywhere around whatever music spectrum the band could provide, and every step forward into another territory was built entyirely on natural progression and pacing. Maybe they stayed in a couple locations for just a little longer than necessary, but overall it was mysterious in all of its fury. It's probably even the best Cecil track I've heard so far.
SO even though the first track managed to be fun and interesting, each track upped the antes and delivered even more goods each time. This was exactly the kind of chaos one wants to experience with free jazz. Currently, this is the best Cecil Taylor album I've heard.
96
BTS - Wake Up (2014)
Genres: K-Pop, Pop Rap, Boy Band
I'm tired of avoiding this band and not knowing what the hype is. These guys are apparently big record-breakers, which isn't surprising considering that this is the first choice for a K-pop band that Americans will literally watch concert films for. Not a K-pop guy myself, usually just using the bands of said scene for chart filler, but whatever. Anyway, I went into this expecting more k-pop crap, especially since its genre tagging n RYM included "boy band" as a genre choice and not just a piece of a scene. So if RYM's acknowledging that, then that likely means this specific album took writing cues from 90's pop bands like Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Initially, a bad sign. But nope. This one actually makes a strict point of slapping. Hard. Whatever tropes exist in this album are heavily backed up by the band's energy and some surprisingly tight instrumentation for a bunch of boy band songs. It suffered from a soggy middle syndomer, but I would even go as far as to say that this album shows more class than any Backstreet album. The first half is the superior half, but there's still fun to be had in the second. Anyway, even a non-K-pop fan can see that this delivers a good deal of goods, more so than a lot of average pop, and personality and independence drive it the whole way through.
75
Alice Coltrane - "Turiya Sings" (1982)
I discovered this lovely, meditative release many years ago now & have returned to it semi-regularly in the time since. "Turiya Sings" sees the iconic jazz artist & former wife of the legendary John Coltrane taking a dramatic stylistic departure from her jazz roots by composing nine deep new age pieces that utilize her own mantra-style vocals in praise of the Lord. It's quite a transcendental experience with the better inclusions relaxing & soothing me in a way that few others can.
For fans of Nala Sinephro, Sofie Birch & Mary Lattimore.
4/5
Drudkh - "Відлига [Thaw] EP" (2026)
This latest release from the ukrainian atmospheric black metallers is a three-track, twenty-minute EP and it exudes an air of melancholic reflectiveness that is reminiscent of the opening instrumental from previous album, 2025's "Shadow Play". This may well be all-new material, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out to be leftover tracks from that album because it fits in so well as a companion piece. This turn in tone from Drudkh is unsurprising given the situation in Ukraine over the last four years, particularly around the band's hometown of Kharkiv which has seen some of the war's most intense fighting. Who wouldn't become pensive in such a situation? Although they don't address the war directly in their lyrics I think lines like "Only their silhouettes, Touched once by an indifferent hand, Take up faded places, In memory" (from "Memory") are fairly unambiguous in their sentiment.
The opener is indeed a reflective piece that, whilst still sitting comfortably under atmospheric black metal has such a melancholy air to it, emphasised beautifully by some subtly applied keys, that it also feels like it has one foot in the post-metal camp. The second track, "Somewhere, Sometime" is an instrumental that possibly feels even more wistful than the opener with its main melodic theme having a reflective, folky air, as if looking back fondly on simpler times now lost. Add in some picked guitar lines and, again, those subtle, melancholy-sounding synths and you have a fairly simple, melodic and exceedingly effective instrumental break at the heart of the EP.
The closer, "A Moment in Eternity" is probably the track most recognisable to long-standing Drudkh fans, being a more conventional slice of atmospheric black metal. Even here, though, the vicious bite that used to hone the edge of Drudkh's sound feels muted, as if the sorrow being felt by the musicians is so great as to infuse their very being and leave them changed as a result. Once more, even though the track is of a higher tempo and has a traditional black metal structure, the air of wistful reflection still permeates it and rather than being a celebration of ukrainian culture and history as a lot of Drudkh's past work seemed to be, this is more like a eulogy to something that has been lost, possibly for ever.
I understand if some long-time fans were to be unsure of this direction the band have taken as it is quite different to their best-loved releases but, as someone who is often drawn to the more downbeat and melancholy in metal, I have to say that I actually really like this, even though, unfortunately, its sentiments may well be rooted in real world tragedy which i am sure we all wish had never happened.
4/5
Napalm Death - "Death by Manipulation" (1992)
This 1992 compilation popped up in my Spotify feed while I was driving this week & it has been a while since I last checked it out so I decided to give it another crack. "Death by Manipulation" compiles a number of Napalm Death's early singles & E.P.'s & falls very much in line with my feelings on 1987-1992 era Napalm Death in general in that I find it to be generally enjoyable but fail to really connect with it to a point that I feel like reaching for it for future revisits. I sit very much in the camp that feels Napalm's best work was still to come through records like "Utopia Banished" & "Fear, Emptiness, Despair", although I do really dig 1988's "The Curse" E.P. & their 1989 split with S.O.B. (admittedly due to the S.O.B. material). It's handy to have all of these records collected together on the one release but I don't think it's as essential as people seem to think.
For fans of Terrorizer, Brutal Truth & early Carcass.
3.5/5
Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list:
01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)
02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)
03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)
04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choir" (2019)
05. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)
06. Brutal Truth - "Need to Control" (1994)
07. Exhumed - "Dissecting the Caseated Omentum" demo (1992)
08. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)
09. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)
10. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/223
Monolord - "Neverending" Released May 29th
Swedes Monolord also have a new album out this spring. Three tracks are up on Spotify and Bandcamp and this sounds like it could be their best since Veanir back in 2015.
This looks like is shaping up to be a good year for doom metal. Alongside these two giants there are also new releases from Khemmis, Witchsorrow and Doomcult due over the next two months
Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch - "Twin Peaks: Season Two Music & More" (2007)
This is third Twin Peaks soundtrack release I've checked out over the years & I'd also suggest that it's also the weakest of the three. 1990's "Soundtrack From Twin Peaks" (i.e. the soundtrack from the original TV series) is comfortably the best of them & I return to it semi-regularly. 1992's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (i.e. the score from the film) is a little hit & miss but is generally enjoyable while this release offers a similarly wide array of wins & losses, coming out on top overall though thanks to some remarkable highlight pieces that usually come from the deeper, darker side of Badalamenti's creative mind. I don't really think you need all three of these releases if you've already got the first one as it provides all of the Twin Peaks you really need in my opinion. I'll be taking some nice playlist inclusions from this one though.
For fans of Dean Hurley, Bohren & der Club of Gore & Johnny Jewel.
3.5/5
JPEGMAFIA - Experimental Rap (2026)
Genres: Hardcore Hip Hop
This one goes for some extra-edgy influences I never expected from him: brostep, industrial metal, 2000's stuff. Gonna repeat what I said on Movieforums: The fans are hating on it since it's such a farcry, but I don't really hate it. The production is quite skillful, the samples work, the attitude is effective. The vocals take a big backstep, but it's not bad. Of course, I consider JPEGMAFIA a hip hop giant just as the rest of the world does, but this is more in acknowledgement of his talent rather than a deep emotional devotion, and I promote the idea of expanding horizons anyway. If JPEGMAFIA hasn't earned that yet, who has? I wouldn't mind more albums that sound like this, if he does more with his vocals.
73/100
Nine Inch Nails - "Pretty Hate Machine" (1989)
I introduced Ben to NIN off the back of the bangin' industrial metal tunes on 1992's "Broken" E.P. which saw him becoming a little bit obsessed with them during the early 1990's. He soon picked up their debut full-length "Pretty Hate Machine" on CD & found that it was much less metal than the much heavier E.P. he'd grown to love so much. From memory, I ended up stealing his CD & playing it day & night in my bedroom with my first real girlfriend who was heavily into the grunge scene & alternative rock. In fact, I think I may have lost my virginity to this album (I'm sure Ben will immediately throw his CD out now if he still has it). While it's certainly not as strong as NIN's next couple of releases, "Pretty Hate Machine" is devoid of any real blemishes & still has some great stuff on it, particularly when Trent Reznor strips things back & goes for more of an introspective sound (see the brilliant "Sanctified" & "Ringfinger" or spectacular album highlight "Something I Can Never Have"). If you're into NIN in any capacity then you really should devour their debut at some point as it's a high-quality industrial rock/electro-industrial record in its own right.
For fans of Filter, Gary Numan & "Sins of the Flesh"-era Sister Machine Gun.
4/5
Empyrium - "Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays" (1999)
This German act began life as a folk metal outfit before deciding to drop the metal altogether in favour of a purely organic dark folk sound with their third full-length "Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays" which is essentially the product of multi-instrumentalist Markus Stock (Noekk/Sun of the Sleepless/The Vision Bleak/Autumnblaze/Deinonychus) & his flutist wife Nadine Mölter with Empyrium & Noekk band mate Thomas Helm providing some guest vocals here & there. It's obviously been inspired by Ulver's "Kveldssanger" sophomore album & certainly has its moments (see wonderful album highlight "Dying Brokenhearted" or the excellent "The Sad Song of the Wind" for example) but it fails to reach those peaks regularly enough to see this becoming one of my go-to dark folk releases. I do think the duo have managed to achieve a similar level of quality to the Ulver record that inspired it though. In fact, I think I might slightly favour "Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays" to tell you the truth but I won't be placing Empyrium on the same shelf as artists like Tenhi or Vàli just yet.
For fans of Uaral, Vàli & "Kveldssanger"-era Ulver.
3.5/5