Daniel's Forum Threads

Martire - "Demo 1" (1988)

I still quite like this early Australian extreme metal demo tape from a notorious Adelaide band that typifies the sound that my homeland has become known for over the years. The production job on this five-song effort is muffled & distant but the riffs still manage to cut through in hectic, rip-roaring fashion nonetheless which sees me able to overlook the primitive aesthetic. The black metal component of Martire's sound wasn't quite as developed as it would be on their 1991 self-titled E.P. although opener "Evilution" is certainly a devilish example of blackened death metal & is the clear highlight in my opinion. The rest of the cassette is a bit thrashier which sees this release sitting more comfortably under a death/thrash tag than a purely death metal one. I don't think many people would consider this to be an essential release (even for the early Australian scene) but it certainly offers something of interest if you're into stuff like Sextrash,  early Sepultura or 1987-91 era Sadistik Exekution. It's worth noting that there's a track missing from the YouTube version though.

3.5/5

I was trying to ease myself through the drama of As I Lay Dying falling apart and their frontman Tim Lambesis involved in domestic violence

What in the actual f***ing h*ll is going on here?!?! Is this drama ever going to end?! A recent case of animal abuse was perpetrated by Tim Lambesis towards his dog. I'm usually one to separate art from the artist, but that's just crossing the line and reminding me more about how bad his past misdeeds are. And I have a pet cat now whom my family and I treat with love and respect. My patience is getting close to its limit, and I have doubts about the future of his band.

This really does suck, but you have to do what you need for your health.  That's obviously more important.

Daevar - Amber Eyes (2024)

Daevar are a german trio playing a version of stoner doom metal with female vocals that will be instantly familiar to any fans of Richmond's Windhand. Amber Eyes is their sophomore full-length, following hot on the heels of 2023's Delirious Rites debut. Thick and syrupy, heavily distorted, downtuned riffs are the order of the day here, crawling from speaker to ear like lumbering behemoths with such weight and heft that it feels like you can lose yourself in them and let them just carry you along. Vocalist and bassist Pardis Latifi has a very pleasant voice and croons and cajoles, mesmerising the listener into a hypnotic, dream-like state. In other words, this is the very essence of stoner doom and it is executed impressively. Pardis's elephantine bass lines and drummer Moritz Ermen Bausch's thunderous, but spare, drumming slowly heaves the tracks forward and provide the thick foundations required by the ponderous weight of the uber-distorted riffs. Guitar solos are quite sparingly used and are efficient in their execution, not becoming excessively noodling or swamped in psychedelic explorations.

The songwriting is very good and the tracks are quite catchy, particularly the title track and opener Lilith's Lullaby and these are the sort of songs that may find you humming them to yourself long after you have stopped listening to the album itself. Stoner doom can sometimes become self-indulgent, but Daevar's songwriting is fairly economical and none of the tracks are extended unnecessarily and never seem to drag, quite the opposite in fact. As I said at the beginning, they are very reminiscent of Windhand and some may say too similar, but if you are going to ape anyone's style then it may as well be the best in your given field and it isn't like blatant Band X-worship is rare in the metal world, is it? I enjoyed this far more than I expected to going in and with us entering the seventh year without a new Windhand album, then Daevar provide me with a nice warm and fuzzy hit of that particular doom metal drug I have been craving for so long.

4/5

Severoth - By the Way of Light (2024)

Severoth is the atmospheric black metal solo project of Ukraine's Illia Rafalskyi, also known as Galdur (dungeon synth) and Morok (conventional black metal). I only caught up with this project with the release of previous album, Vsesvit, back in 2020, very much enjoying it's sweeping soundscapes that struck me as similar to Andy Marshall's Saor, a project I have an enormous amount of time for. By the Way of Light continues in similar vein, the shortest of it's five tracks being just shy of nine minutes in length, so ample time is allowed for the epic and expansive atmospherics of the tracks to take root and fill the imagination with images of wild and wind-blown, remote panoramas where nature is given full reign.

Instrumentally, the album consists of thin, repetitive tremolo riffs and programmed drums, overlaid with lush synths which provide added depth via their sonic layering. Skirling lead work suggests the accompaniment of folk instrumentation, such as pipes for a sweeping, folk-centric atmosphere which fans of Saor will certainly recognise immediately. The vocals are ragged howling shrieks, pushed down in the mix slightly suggesting distance both metaphorical and real, apart from a couple of clean sung sections, one in the second half of opening track, "Sunrise Will Come", and another during "To the Stars!" which are more to the fore and in an epic folk style.

It is impossible to listen to the album and read the lyrics and ignore the context in which they have been written. As a resident of Dnipro in Ukraine, Illia is obviously seriously affected by the war and the album, in particular the first two tracks, reflects the mindset of Ukrainians caught up in the horrors. "Sunrise Will Come" with lyrics such as "Sunrise will come, and with it’s own light reveals to us, this new brave world" is certainly a reference to the fact that the current situation cannot last forever and a belief that things will end well. "Sons of Steel Will", the album's most aggressive-sounding track, meanwhile pronounces, "In blaze of the battle, by heat of the bloodshed, We are Sons Of Steel Will" paying tribute to the Ukrainians' indomitability.

In truth, there isn't a whole deal you haven't heard many times before, but it is artfully put together and very competently performed with a steely heart that says, even in the depths of horror, hope and beauty can be found. I found it to actually be a very uplifting album, it's sonic depictions of wide-open natural expanses allowing the listener to metaphorically fill their lungs with the glory of nature in the midst of their busy everyday lives, which is a gift that none but the best can pull off this effectively. If a whole people can be inspired to this in the midst of war, then surely we can in the context of our (thankfully) humdrum lives. This is probably an album for the more romantically-inclined black metal listener rather than the trve kvlt hordes, but if you have any kind of empathy or love of the human spirit in your heart then give it a listen.

4/5

I've really enjoyed the new Gigan album over the last few months & think it's probably their best work thus far. It's certainly a very solid example of avant-garde dissonant death metal but I wouldn't place it in the same class as the Ulcerate, Civerous or Carnophage records so it's not coming into consideration for this award. If you love shit like Artificial Brain, Pyrrhon & Mithras though, I'd definitely recommend that you check it out.

Thanks very much, Daniel and Shadowdoom9!

I might give this a try as I have enjoyed one or two deathcore bands I have heard recently.

Dream Theater - "Parasomnia"

The progressive metal gods sixteenth full-length album is due for release on 7th Feburary & will no doubt dominate all proghead's thoughts & discussions for several months afterwards.

Tokyo Blade - "Time is the Fire"

The twelfth full-length from this NWOBHM act. I'm well across their first two album but haven't heard anything they've released since 1981. I wasn't too fond of their 1980 self-titled debut but didn't mind the follow-up "Night of the Blade". All the Iron Maiden tragics out there might wanna investigate this one but I'm not sure it interests me enough to explore if I'm being honest.

Gigan's very solid fourth full-length offers a unique take on the dissonant death metal sound with the trio attempting an array of unusual & often quite psychedelic sounds that I feel puts at least a good half of the album into Avant-Garde Metal territory. With that in mind, I'd like to see "Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus" added to The Infinite on top of its existing position in The Horde. 

https://metal.academy/hall/566

Oranssi Pazuzu's sixth full-length isn't as psychedelic as we've heard from them in the past. I labelled their last two albums as blackened post-metal but I don't think this one fits as nicely under post-metal. In fact, there's really very little metal to be found in the instrumentation which is drawn from a collection of wildly disparate influences including noise rock, trip hop, progressive electronic & dark ambient. The vocals are 100% black metal though & I feel that this ties the album to The North along with the dark themes so I'd like to see "Muuntautuja" being added to that clan under the Black Metal genre along with its current position in The Infinite.

https://metal.academy/hall/565

Yeah, the first half of both of those songs main riffs is certainly identical. It's hard to say whether that's coincidence or not though as it's such a common technique for heavy guitarists.

Just updated my Top Ten Dissonant Death Metal Releases of All Time list after reviewing Ulcerate's "Cutting the Throat of God" album last week & found that it's still heavily weighted towards the two clear subgenre leaders:

01. Ulcerate - "Stare Into Death & Be Still" (2020)

02. Ulcerate - "Cutting the Throat of God" (2024)

03. Gorguts - "Colored Sands" (2013)

04. Ulcerate - "Everything Is Fire" (2009)

05. Ad Nauseam - "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse" (2021)

06. Gorguts - "From Wisdom to Hate" (2001)

07. Ulcerate - "The Destroyers of All" (2011)

08. Ulcerate - "Vermis" (2013)

09. Gorguts - "Obscura" (1998)

10. Ulcerate - "Shrines of Paralysis" (2016)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/181

Anthony Linell - "Outlines (Repurposed) - 2013-2019"

I checked out Knocked Loose's "You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To" this week & found it to be a damn fine metalcore record that will be hard to beat for our The Revolution award. I'd suggest that it's a step up from 2021's "A Tear in the Fabric of Life" which was my only other experience with the band.

Hi Ben, can you add Cryptal Echoes and their s/t EP from 2024. It only has 15 ratings on RYM and it looks (and sounds) like a demo, but it is an official release with a CD version available on Morbid Chapel Records. Thanks in advance.

Cryptal Echoes - S/T EP (2024)

Cryptal Echoes are a young death doom band from Klagenfurt in Austria and this self-titled, almost thirty-minute, EP is their first release since forming in 2021. At the time of the EP's recording they were a four-piece band, but a couple of lineup changes have since seen them reduced to a trio. They worship at the altar of the old-school death metal gods, with a thoroughly filthy and cavernous sound, which is exacerbated by a very raw, little better than demo-quality, production job. Heavily distorted, lumbering riffs accompanied by deep-throated growls and bellows for vocals are very much the order of the day for the band, punctuated by more uptempo bursts of deathly aggression. This is very much death doom rooted in the genre's early-nineties beginnings with no concession to the progressive tendencies or external genre incorporation of more modern death doom bands, delivering a pure and unfiltered, genuinely old-school death doom experience.

When the band let loose and increase the tempo into out-and-out death metal territory, the raw production values and heavy guitar distortion see things getting a little bit messy and start to blur into one deathly rumble, with the snare drum being the main discernible instrument still propelling the tracks along. I don't necessarily have a problem with this, having listened to a lot of lo-fi stuff over the years, but it could well be a deal-breaker for those raised on modern, crystal clear production jobs. The riffs are decent, although if you are familiar with a lot of early 90's death metal then you won't find them at all original, although that is never the aim here. Cryptal Echoes know exactly what they want to do and that is recreate the original death doom sound as faithfully as possible, a feat they pulled off very convincingly.

Of the six tracks on the EP, four hover around the six minute mark and these are where the meat of the album lie. There is a bit of a departure with tracks four and five, with the sub-two-minute "Spiritual Torture" verging on grindcore and short instrumental, "Dreaded Chasm" being a gently noodling breather prior to closing track, the lumbering and hulking "Desolate Return" with which the band finish in great style. This is my favourite of the six, it feeling the classiest and most developed track with the release's coolest riffs left until last.

This is probably one for hardcore death doom fanatics with a penchant for the old-school, but if that is you then you may well find enough raw meat to sink your teeth into with this.

3.5/5

Megadeth - Rust in Peace

A fairly underground thrash metal band from the 1990s that didn't get a lot of recognition back in the day and it sure is timely wouldn't you say? This record has everything you would expect out of a 1990s thrash clone band; a complete disregard for melody, a hodgepodge of hit-or-miss riffs, and a seemingly endless assault of guitar solo wanking. At least the album is produced well and that bass REALLY does some heavy lifting to make these tunes sound huge. 

Wait, this is guy who got kicked out of Metallica? No wonder.

3/5

Gaerea - Coma

Polish black metal (dubious) band Gaerea gave me a lot to think about when it came to what this album should be categorized as. It's a far cry from anything related to the original source material, but it does have some open ended tremolo guitar and pummeling blast beats. At times it did remind me of some of the atmospheric black metal records from bands like Summoning and Saor. But the lower guttural vocals and post-metal interludes leave this feeling more like progressive death metal. 

Not that this is a bad thing. The record sounds gorgeous and leaves me feeling uplifted when I hear it. However, it runs out of ideas pretty quickly and can be a slog to finish. But this style of death/black metal crossover project is rare as far as I can tell, so I'm willing to overlook it due to a lack of saturation.

3.5/5

Exodus have once again parted ways with front man Steve Souza & have once again replaced him with Rob Dukes with the recording of the new album imminent

Nice! I didn't mind Barshasketh's last couple of albums but haven't gotten around to listening to their new one yet. I'll place it on my to-do list.

Do you also hear a bit of an industrial sound here too, Daniel, particularly in the machine-like dehumanisation of tracks like the title track and "Ikikäärme"?

I do but I wouldn't say that it's worthy of aq secondary tag as it's not all that prominent in the overall direction of the album. The psychedelic side of the Oranssi Pazuzu sound has certainly been pushed to the back this time though, hasn't it? I'm gonna put up a Hall of Judgement poll to have the album put into The North at some stage today so make sure that you vote in that mate.

I just finished reviewing the latest Paysage d'Hiver album & it's another classic in my opinion. It honestly had the potential to be one of the all-time great black metal records if not for one flaw which I go into detail about but, as it stands, I'm gonna place it in second place for my The North award, slightly behind Oranssi Pazuzu (if we end up counting it here of course).

Here's my review:

Melbourne progressive metal outfit Taramis hold somewhat of a prestigious position in the story of Australian metal. They were arguably the first metal act of any note to start messing with progressive influences which gave them a distinct point of difference while still maintaining enough of a traditional heavy metal component to ensure that they didn't lose any of the old-schoolers along the way. I didn't become aware of them until their 1991 sophomore album "Stretch of the Imagination" which I regard as being their finest work however my recent investigations into the early roots of the Aussie metal scene have seen me finally exploring their 1985 "Blood and Honour" demo tape & 1987 debut album "Queen of Thieves", neither of which are as thrashy as the band would eventually become. The Prowler demo was a decent enough heavy metal release although it was a lot less expansive & more conventional than the Taramis releases. It was clear that there was some talent there though so I was interested to see how that would develop on "Queen of Thieves". It certainly has too as this is a far more sophisticated release than the demo ever aspired to be.

The impact of Taramis' debut album is a little restricted due to an overly raw production job that was fairly typical of underground releases of the time. It was recorded at Saturn Studios in Melbourne with unknown producer George Simak who isn't exactly a household name in the local metal scene. The results are pretty much as you would expect too with the guitars sounding tinny & far too far back in the mix while the vocals of operatic front man Shane Southby boom out over the top with no restraint whatsoever. It's a fairly unforgiving position for the theatrical Southby whose soaring, air-raid siren style, high-pitched voice often struggles for control, even spilling over into the pitchy & cringe-worthy on tracks like "The Chosen" where he completely ruins what was otherwise a very solid progressive metal number from an instrumental point of view. He's a lot more successful on other tracks though & I've found myself enjoying a good three quarters of the tracklisting with heavy metal closer "My Life" being the only other failure. Taramis are at their best when they're at their most adventurous & prove themselves to be highly capable musicians along the way. Iron Maiden have clearly been a major inspiration for them & you can easily pick up the influence of their more progressive mid-to-late 80's records on "Queen of Thieves", particularly on the basslines of Danny Komorr who forms a formidable partnership with former Nothing Sacred drummer Dave Browne. The guitar solos of Craig Robertson aren't the most polished or theoretically correct you'll find but they are always interesting & fit the purpose quite well. It's kinda hard to pigeon-hole Taramis' sound at this point though as they tend to jump around a bit but I think a progressive power metal tag is probably the best fit, despite the consistent presence of traditional heavy metal. I think Southby's vocal style simply points me in the direction of power metal every time I question myself & there's a similar feel to Manilla Road in the atmospheres at times too.

The raw production job does limit how far Taramis can take you to an extent but I've found more than enough appeal in "Queen of Thieves" to keep me interested. It's probably just lacking those couple of classic tracks to draw your attention away from its flaws with only the excellent progressive metal anthem "Doesn't Seem" pushing up into second tier territory. The rest of the album largely sits back in the third tier for this type of music but it was an admirable first-up effort for Taramis nonetheless. History has shown that it did just enough to afford them a rare status amongst a local scene that was still quite immature in terms of the more progressive end of metal so it deserves its place in Australian metal folklore.

For fans of Adramelch, Iron Maiden & Manilla Road.

3.5/5

This 1997 album appears to be the only release from the Aussie hardcore punk / metalcore outfit, which is a great shame because this was a genuine surprise and I enjoyed it massively. I don't know what "real" metalcore fans think of it because, to my ears, this sounds first and foremost like a punk album with a metallic guitar sound, which is no problem to me at all. I'm not a large consumer of metalcore, but one of my bugbears with it being that so many of the modern bands sound alike and I have real trouble telling both the bands and their songs apart. But because of the marked punk component, this has a lot more character than some of the more modern metalcore bands I have listened to. In fact I am not even sure that some of the punk component even counts as hardcore, sounding catchy and melodic, more like second wave UK punk acts like Angelic Upstarts or Anti-Nowhere League, although elsewhere they do have a Minor Threat vibe going on. One of my favourite punk albums is Suicidal Tendencies' debut (their best by a country mile) and I found that springing to mind several times whilst listening to this. I must admit I didn't even realise that Callous were a christian-themed band until reading Daniel's review but, to be honest, I don't care one way or the other because I am more interested in the abrasive timbre of the vocal performance than the actual lyrics themselves and it still sounds pissed off and angry, no matter the lyrical content. In fact, let's face it, some of the straight-edge punks could be even more preachy than any christian act are ever likely to be.

I think that ultimately "In the Memory Of..." appeals to me so much because it has a strong individuality and character due to it having such a prominent early punk influence - a trait which is often just vestigial in more modern metalcore, leaving it often sounding very samey with everyone wanting to be Converge. Sadly it seems that most genres tend towards conformity at some point - and even punk itself fell into that trap with the endless stream of cookie-cutter skate / pop punk acts that proliferated in the wake of Green Day and Bad Religion's early success. If I am going to explore metalcore further with any chance of satisfaction, then I guess these earlier days of the genre are the best place for me to start.

4/5

Siderean - "The Sacred Sea" (from "Spilling the Astral Chalice", 2024)

Antagonyze - "Deadly Sorrow" (from "Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness", 2024)

Bolt Thrower - "Celestial Sanctuary" (from "The IVth Crusade", 1992)

Eucharist - "Floating" (from "A Velvet Creation", 1993)

At the Gates - "Windows" (from "The Red in the Sky Is Ours", 1992)

Dissection - "Retribution" (from "Storm of the Light's Bane", 1995)*

*not sure whether this one qualifies - it's a quintessential melodeath track for me personally, but "Storm..." is absent from The Horde, so feel free to skip it if you consider its death metal credits not high enough.

Nice pick with the Invocation track, Sonny, it's my favourite from that record!

Kampfar - "Kledd i brynje og smykket blodorm" (from "Mellom skogkleedde aaser", 1997)

Ragnarok - "Minner om svunne tider" (from "Nattferd", 1995)

Смрт - "U raljama košave" (from "Na utrini", 2024)

Angantyr - "De dødes valg" (from "Indsigt", 2024)

Saxon - "Crusader" (from "Crusader", 1984)

Medieval Steel - "Medieval Steel" (from "Medieval Steel", 1984) *

Lethal - "Arrival" (from "Programmed", 1990)

Brocas Helm - "Fly High" (from "Black Death", 1988)

Attacker - "Downfall" (from "Battle at Helm's Deep", 1985)

Destiny's End - "Breathe Deep the Dark" (from "Breathe Deep the Dark", 1998)

*can be found on "The Dungeon Tapes" compilation, 2005

As much as the spoken interludes are useless, the one f***ing weak track in this Sabaton album is what sounds like a heavily butchered cover of DragonForce's "Cry Thunder", 4 years before that far better DragonForce track was released:

This progressive highlight still reigns as one of the best Sabaton songs for me today, the band's own Black Sabbath "Heaven and Hell":

I've just finished reviewing the Oranssi Pazuzu album & it's another genuine classic in my opinion. It's easily my front runner for The Infinite now.

Sounds interesting Vinny.

Häxkapell - "Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp"

Swedish one-man bm out Häxkapell releases his sophmore album some four years after his debut Eldhymner.  The two promo tracks are decent enough to see me park this for a full run through when it is released on 17th January.

A strong standout that's both accessible and anthemic, to get the live crowd moving:

The most haunting and heaviest part of a dark mini-saga:

All the beauty and brutality to expect in the new Chat Pile album is summarized right here:

I've just given that Chat Pile album some listening and a review, and I can hear what you mean, Daniel. It is much more, well, alternative than God's Country, and marks a solid offering of noise-ridden sludge/alt-metal. I'll contribute to your Hall of Judgement poll with a YES vote.

There's a new Vader E.P. called "Humanihility" coming out shortly followed by the recording of a new album later in the year.

Unlike Chat Pile's debut album, "Cool World" sees the band offering just as much (if not more) alternative metal than sludge metal with influences like Helmet, Primus & Korn showing up quite regularly across the tracklisting. For that reason, I'd like to see the album added to The Gateway on top of its existing position in The Fallen.

https://metal.academy/hall/564

I've just reviewed the Chat Pile album. It's another really solid effort too & I tend to prefer it over 2022's "God's Country" debut which I also really enjoyed. I think the Thou record is the better of the two though when it comes to the more popular sludge metal releases though.

Here's my review:

There are many theories about where metal music originated from in my home country of Australia & there are a generally a few different names that tend to pop up in such discussions, from Ash to Buffalo, to Taste & Bengal Tigers. But the truth is that none of those artists managed to produce a significant enough release that consistently tapped into the metal sounds we’d been hearing from other parts of the world in the first decade of the heavy metal genres existence. There were certainly of few genuine metal songs included here & there (Hell, Ash’s 1971 “Midnight Witch/Warrant” single was basically stoner metal) but there wasn’t a full album or E.P. full of music that I would class as being predominantly metal. That is, until a Melbourne four-piece by the name of Storm appeared on the scene in 1981 with their live shows doing enough to convince renowned Melbourne record store Central Station Records & Tapes to release a four-song E.P. on 7” vinyl. It would be here that we’d find the earliest of the true metal releases to come out of this country.

Storm would enter York Street Studios in Melbourne late in the summer of 1981 to record the self-produced E.P. with Central Station Records owner Jo Palumbo overseeing the project as executive producer. During the sessions, it would be discovered that there could potentially be legal implications in continuing on under the Storm moniker which had been copyrighted overseas so the band elected to change their name to Taipan, a highly venomous & distinctly Australian snake that seemed entirely suitable for the band’s incisive sound. There are conflicting reports about when the E.P. would eventually be released though, some claiming that it was later in 1981 & others suggesting that the band would have to wait more than a full year until June 1982 to see the fruit of their efforts hitting the shelves. I tend to believe it was the latter but it’s of little consequence in the grand scheme of Australian metal folklore as that still gave Taipan at least a year’s head-start on their competition.

The self-titled Taipan E.P. (or “Breakout” as it would be retitled for the 1984 Bullet Records 12” vinyl reissue) certainly sounds pretty rough & ready by modern standards, instead tapping into the DIY aesthetic that most of the British NWOBHM scene was built on. It’s quite noisy & unceremoniously announces itself as a raucous racket that’s chock full of live rock ‘n’ roll electricity & the energy of youth. All of the instruments can comfortably be made out though & you can easily picture the various band members rocking out on the sweat-soaked stage of a small, smoky suburban pub while listening to it. Like the majority of the NWOBHM that the band were no doubt indulging themselves in at the time, there’s a clear hard rock influence to Taipan’s sound although the regular use of chuggy, palm-muted bottom-string pedal notes & upbeat tempos should leave you with no doubt as to Taipan’s metal credentials. The influence of the first Iron Maiden album is undeniable, particularly the impact of it’s opening song “Prowler” which I’d be very surprised if Taipan didn’t cover prior to this release given the similarities to many of their riff structures. Guitarist Dave Zerafa’s vocals present themselves with a similar punky vibe to Maiden front man Paul Dianno, perhaps with more of the naïve, snot-nosed arrogance of Tygers of Pan Tang’s Jess Cox or Holocaust’s Gary Lettice. Zerafa & Chuck Vandenbelt’s guitar solos come more from the bluesy Motorhead camp though & are really effective, proving both exponents to possess a clear understanding of what made 70’s hard rock so exciting even if neither are as accomplished as many of their overseas peers.

The tracklisting is very consistent, particularly for a debut release, with all four songs awarding the listener with the sort of energy hit that might see a younger audience using it as a backdrop for all sorts of ungodly mischief. The driving basslines & rhythms play a strong role in that effect as they command a physical response. I can’t say that Taipan’s sound is particularly my thing given that my roots lie in the latter part of the decade when metal had already dropped all of its bluesy hard rock influence but it’s pretty much impossible not to identify the appeal in this material nonetheless. In saying that, I’m not sure that I can say that my life would have been any worse off for not ever having experienced Taipan which is perhaps the main reason why I couldn’t muster a higher score than the 3.5 stars I’ve dished out here. Of the four songs included, I’d suggest that the first songs from each side (i.e. “Breakout” & “Tired of You”) are probably the strongest but there’s not much between all of them to be honest. Closer “The Cellar” feels a little different to the other three tracks, partially because bassist Emilio Sarpa handles the vocals on that one but possibly more because it’s comfortably the most metal track of the four, dropping the bluesy hard rock influence & focusing purely on chunky down-picked metal riffs. You know what? It also sounds very similar to Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy” which I always felt had been written as a variation on some of the ideas presented in Judas Priest’s “Victim of Changes” & Diamond Head’s “Dead Reckoning” but are now wondering whether Dave, Lars & James might also have heard Taipan’s debut at some stage too. Admittedly “The Cellar” sounds very much like Diamond Head too though & I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an influence there.

Look, I’m not sure too many of you will find the “Taipan” E.P. to offer terribly much that you haven’t already heard but it’s certainly a fun listen that provides a rewarding look into the roots of the Aussie metal scene. It’s a shame that Taipan didn’t go on with things after it’s release given that their next release (1985’s “1770” E.P.) didn’t arrive until several years afterwards & strangely showed Taipan to have dropped their metal sound altogether in favour of a more sophisticated progressive rock one. They would, however, reform in 2007 when they’d return to their heavy metal roots & I believe are still applying their craft today. I’d encourage all of our The Guardians members to check the band’s debut effort out though, if only to enjoy fifteen minutes of the sort of beer-fuelled, hard rock-infused heavy metal shenanigans that would no doubt have Lemmy smiling over his whiskey glass.

For fans of Black Jack, Trilogy & early Iron Maiden.

3.5/5

The epic finale of this Project Hate album, having the melancholic melodeath of Omnium Gatherum while still covered in electro-industrial beauty:

A 15-minute deathly storm, apart from some strange but quite welcome dubstep in the middle:

Here's my updated Top Ten Brutal Death Metal Releases of All Time list after absolutely loving this month's The Horde feature release from Turkey's Carnophage:

01. Suffocation – “Pierced From Within” (1995)

02. Suffocation – “Despise The Sun” E.P. (1998)

03. Suffocation – “Effigy Of The Forgotten” (1991)

04. Suffocation – “Human Waste” E.P. (1991)

05. Hour Of Penance – “The Vile Conception” (2008)

06. Hour Of Penance – “Paradogma” (2010)

07. Carnophage - "Matter of a Darker Nature" (2024)

08. Suffocation – “Pinnacle Of Bedlam” (2013)

09. Suffocation – “Suffocation” (2006)

10. Deadly Remains – “Severing Humanity” (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/144

The greatest place to start with fantastic riffing in this speedy tech-thrash offering:

I was going to say the only thing I've heard was the new Nasty Savage, but I remembered I heard new band I Am the Intimidator, which absolutely amazing despite the batshit insane premise. Seriously, every single metal related thread on every forum I've been to has had someone praising the later, not bad considering their debut is basically just above a demo.

Crypt Sermon, Savage Oath, and Judas Priest pretty much wrap up the high placing ones for me. 

Lower quality than those three in my opinion, but Traveler's Prequel To Madness and Writhen Hilt's Ancient Sword Cult are the only two others I can think of. Really weak year for Power Metal this year overall, apart from Savage Oath and even then, they're not exactly my style. 

The Black Dahlia Murder - Servitude

The Black Dahlia Murder are the melo-death band that got popular with metalcore scene kids during the 2000s with appearances on main stages of Mayhem Festival alongside Job For a Cowboy and Whitechapel. The bands 2010s material is not earth shattering, but it is consistent; solid melodic songwriting, tight production and grooves, and minimal self indulgence. This is the first album by the band since the passing of their previous frontman, Trevor Strnad, and it feels like nothing has changed for the band. Some might view this as stagnation, which I can agree with to an extent, but when the songwriting is as good as it is here, you can almost overlook it for a moment. 

3.5/5

Drum blasts, symphonic keys, and a guest vocal appearance by Shadow of Intent's Ben Duerr make this song guaranteed to be a classic in epic deathcore: