Daniel's Reviews
Some fairly basic black metal along the lines of Darkthrone. There's a little bit of atmosphere but not enough to maintain much interest. There's also plenty of riffs taken straight out of "My First Black Metal Riff" & "Black Metal For Dummies" but there is some authenticity to their sound at times (usually through the half time sections). "Into The Cryosphere" is lacking a bit of class.
Very noisy early-Napalm Death influenced UK grindcore. Most of the riffs are indecipherable. Vocals are simply screamed repeatedly over the top of pure chaos. I find this very difficult to get into. It's hard to say any more than that as I have absolutely no idea of what is going on most of the time.
A decent mixture of progressive rock & gothic metal which is let down by a muddy production. It features both clean vocals (which remind me of Burton C Bell of Fear Factory at times) and some unnecessary death growls. There are some really nice tracks here with catchy vocal hooks & big anthemic choruses however there are also a few really weak tracks (such as "Soft Whispers Of The Chemical Sun") which take away from the overall feel. I'd check out the next album as they show some promise.
Not a bad technical death metal album from these Swedes. They're some seriously talented musicians with the guitar solos being particularly inventive. However I feel that Soreption fall into the trap of overdoing the technicality to the detriment of the songs at times. I'll be interested to see what they can do with an increased level of production in future as they show some promise.
Dutch band Severe Torture have released a really impressive album of intense, energetic death metal which sits somewhere between the classic 90's Florida sound of bands like Morbid Angel & Death & the blasting brutality of Cannibal Corpse & Suffocation. Don't let the band name or album cover fool you as there is a lot more on offer here than your average splatter/gore merchants are capable of. The production is excellent & all of the performances are well executed. The thing that sets Severe Torture apart from the rest of the field is their ability to include plenty of melody without losing any of the modern brutality. They don't go overboard with the technicality like most of the modern death metal scene seem to do & consequently there is more reliance on the strength of the riffs which is very refreshing. The guitar leads are certainly reminiscent of 1990s Death. There is also plenty of variety in tempo to keep the listener interested. This is nothing dramatically new or original but that's not necessarily a problem when the death metal is of such a high quality. "Slaughtered" should appeal to anyone with an interest in modern death metal.
Septycal Gorge's second full-length "Erase The Insignificant" is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a modern Italian brutal death metal band. It's ultra-brutal, ultra-technical & not very high on originality. In fact, it's pretty much an exact replica of the faster early Suffocation material. Having said that, this is not necessarily a bad thing in a genre where brutality & technique is far more important than innovation. The production could've done with a bit of work. The kick drum is seriously over-clicky & the snare sounds like an upside-down ice-cream container. The guitars come off a little muddy too but overall you can hear all of the riffs which is pretty amazing given the incredible technicality of the arrangements. There are no guitar solos on show here. Just pounding, slamming death metal of the most extreme nature. The vocals are super-deep & remind me of "Tomb Of The Mutilated"-era Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse). Not a bad effort but could do with some more originality & a bit better production next time.
Psycroptic's debut album "The Isle Of Disenchantment" was a promising start & a pretty enjoyable listen but they really upped the ante with the follow-up. All of my criticisms of the previous album had been improved upon & the result is a far more polished & engaging package. A stronger Coroner influence in the riffs is enhanced by a much thicker guitar sound than the debuts which was substantially weaker. The vocal performance is more varied & convincing too. Dave Haley's drumming was the highlight of the debut but it's even more impressive on this occasion. He effortlessly switches between ferocity & subtlety & is comfortably the main focal point of the band.
Overall this is a much more brutal record than "The Isle Of Disenchantment" but it's also much more complex & technical. The balance they've achieved is quite impressive. There are no weak tracks which makes for a very consistent listening experience. Opener "The Colour Of Sleep" is probably my favourite song but it can be difficult to differentiate between tracks given that there is so much going on & very little repetition. That's certainly not a criticism though as my interest rarely wanes. There's always something interesting going on & at any moment you know that you are only moments away from another exciting Dave Haley blast beat barrage. This is comfortably the best thing I've heard from Psycroptic.
While I generally liked the last couple of albums from these Tasmanian tech deathsters, they never quite captured me completely. The talent was clearly there but they tended to sound a bit samey & the vocals weren't terribly wonderful. Their debut album "The Isle Of Disenchantment" sounds a bit different from those records. The inclusion of original vocalist Matthew 'Chalky' Chalk is positive as he's certainly more varied in his delivery than current vocalist Jason Peppiatt although there's still plenty of room for improvement. The guitar sound is a bit raw & could definitely have been a bit thicker. It's nice that the bass lines are so clear & easily heard though. I quite like the drum sounds too. The cymbals in particular sound quite fresh & vibrant. In fact, Dave Haley's drumming performance is the clear highlight of the album. He adds plenty of great fills & cymbal work which make for a much more interesting listen. Psycroptic don't overdo the technicality in the riffs themselves. It's the song structures that are quite technical as there is very little repetition going on.
The album gets off to a great start as opening track "Carnival Of Vulgarity" is real stormer & is easily the pick of the bunch. I also really like "Condemned By Discontent". Other than that, most tracks promise a lot but don't quite give you that payoff. "Netherworld Reality" is probably the weakest moment but there's a pretty obvious rip-off of Deicide's "Sacrificial Suicide" going on at the start of the title track too. The band is at their best when they just go for it in my opinion. There's more consistency in their more brutal moments than their fiddly ones. Overall this is another Psycroptic record that is quite enjoyable without really demanding your attention.
French outfit Remembrance's third full-length release "Fall, Obsidian Night" is everything you want from a funeral doom album. It's a seriously deep, emotive & captivating piece of metal music. Matthieu's death vocals are deep & brooding. The drums are slow & hypnotic. The melodies are devastating & the riffs are crushing. This is the type of album that reveals more of itself with each listen & envelopes the listener once they allow themselves to become involved. Opening track "Ageless Fever" is particularly engaging & is the highlight of the album in my opinion. However "Fall, Obsidian Night" is not perfect. There are small sections that don't entirely work such as the acoustic guitar overlay towards the end of "Winter Tides". Closer "Obsidian" is probably the weakest point of the album which was a little bit of a let-down. I'd also like to see the band work on better ways to end their tracks as some of them just seem to... well... end. Regardless, all fans of funeral doom will love this CD & I expect the next Remembrance release to be a cranker.
The first thing presented to the listener when confronted by this sixth album from Italian death metallers Sadist is the extraordinary front cover. Who the hell thought an evil snowman was a good idea? I cannot comprehend this but let's see if I can let the music do the talking. I have not heard anything from Sadist for a number of years now but I am not really surprised by the musical direction they have taken with "Season In Silence". As usual their sound is based around techniciality with the musical prowess fairly obvious right from the start. I have always felt that Sadist lacked a bit of balls & that is again the case here. I feel that this release will probably appeal more to the progressive fans more than the death metal fans for that reason. Everything is very well put together with a very strong Atheist & Dream Theater influence throughout. Not a bad release but tends to drift past fairly uneventfully without the drive necessary to really get me going.
This release features a well-produced combination of Dream Theater style progressive metal & death metal. The song-writing & musicianship is excellent. The shredding guitar solos are a definite highlight. However I find that the Dream Theater influence is far too obvious at times (particularly in “The Past Within” which displays some sections that are direct rip-offs) & the bands sound is a bit too light for my taste. Not technical enough to dazzle me with technique & not heavy enough to kick my arse. Not bad though.
This is a very rough attempt at atmospheric black metal with acoustic interludes. The acoustic guitar stuff is well performed & sounds quite nice but the black metal sections are very amateurish indeed. The production is no better than a rehearsal tape & the drum machines sound overly mechanical (especially on the opening track "Dryad (I Make My Home)"). There is no real flow between the clean & intense parts. They're just pasted together. A very average release.
This debut EP from Melbourne-based melodic death metallers Orpheus Omega sounds very much like "Slaughter Of The Soul"-era At The Gates. So much so that it's pretty close to plagiarism. They even use a sneaky "Let's go!" as the opening track kicks into gear. Admittedly they do it pretty well though. The riffs are nice & chunky & the production is very good too. The main point of difference here is the extensive use of keyboards. Unfortunately this element takes an otherwise pretty heavy melodic death metal sound & adds just enough cheese to taint the overall atmosphere for me. I appreciate that they tried something a bit different but it's not really to my taste.
Comprised of a single track cut into three parts, "A Collapse Of Faith" is a fairly uneventful example of the folk/black metal movement. These guys have obviously spent a fair bit of time listening to albums like Ulver's "Bergtatt", Katatonia's "Dance Of December Souls" & Opeth's "Morningrise" & present their ideas in similar ways but the outcome is not nearly as interesting. The riffs are just not as memorable & the atmosphere fails to capture me on an emotional level. Everything is just a bit too friendly for my liking & I find my interest waning fairly quickly. The production is OK although the kickdrum is almost non-existant. I actually find the classical/folk sections to be the most entertaining parts of the album. I am sure this will appeal to a lot of people but unfortunately I find it overly melancholic & a bit dull. Gimme more evil!
This album starts out fairly promisingly but I soon found myself becoming distracted. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that I struggle with the authenticity of their black metal sound. This was a problem that I had with a lot of the US black metal bands back in the 1990s but many seem to have overcome this now. Order Of Ennead just don't seem to create much of a dark atmosphere. One of the reasons for this would be John Li's guitar solos. John is a very good lead guitarist but I don't think his Yngwie Malmsteen-meets-Eric Johnson style guitar solos really do the atmosphere much good. They are just too melodic & are not aggressive enough. Steve Asheim sounds like he is trying to break the world record for the clickiest kick drums too. This is not a bad record by any stretch but I don't find much here that is likely to draw me back in for repeat listens.
This CD is a blast from the past. It's pure 1980s thrash metal of the European variety. Kreator's "Extreme Aggression" & early Coroner immediately spring to mind. I find this more interesting than most of the bigger US thrash releases I've heard in recent years as I've always enjoyed the more intense Euro thrash sound more than the US stuff. Although it's a pretty fun listen, you probably won't come back for too many repeat listens. It's more likely that it'll entice you to bust out your old favourites instead as this is just not quite on the same level. *Goes to cupboard to pull out "Flag Of Hate".*
French black metallers Nyseius show quite a bit of promise on this release but really fail to fully deliver due to a lack of originality. Considering the amount of experimentation I've heard out of the French black metal scene over the past decade or so it's surprising just how generic this EP(?) is. The first & last tracks are ambient mood pieces which are pretty effective but nothing to write home about. The other four tracks are strictly in the classic 1990s Norwegian black metal sound. There is a nice dark & aggressive atmosphere throughout but there's nothing you haven't heard many times before. The musicianship is OK without being anything special & the vocals are mixed in a way that they occasionally mask the guitars behind them. I'm not a huge fan of the drumming. I've always liked this style of black metal & therefore I don't mind this release but I can't see myself listening to it regularly as there is much better examples of this style of black metal.
A very good black/death metal hybrid with some excellent musicianship on display. Martriden's sound is based more on the black metal model with death metal riffs used within the black metal context & plenty of melodic content. The drumming is very interesting & well done & the vocals follow a typically aggressive black metal style. There is definitely a progressive metal influence which is especially obvious in the 10 minute instrumental epic "Death & Transfiguration" which closes the album. The production is very good & allows Martriden's complexities to flourish. This album should appeal to a wide cross-section of the metal community.
A really professional & powerful album of post metal sludgy stuff. Great crushing riffs. The drumming is outstanding & definitely pushes each track to greater energy levels. Vocalist Reno's gruffness really suits the Kruger sound & the performance is tight as hell. Very good stuff!
"Colossal Titan Strife" is a very well produced & executed example of modern death metal. It's difficult to categorize Kronos' sound as it sits somewhere between a few different sub-genres. It features the blasting intensity of brutal death metal but with a much greater sense of melody within both the riffs & the songwriting. It's quite refreshing in a way & I feel that this melodic element has contributed to Kronos becoming a more accessible artist than your average slamming brutality merchant. The musicianship & production quality are exceptional although the bass guitar certainly lost out in the battle behind the mixing desk. I enjoyed this CD all the more because the riffs sound so precise & well-executed & I can hear everything so clearly. I was a bit disappointed with the vocal delivery as it's so one-dimensional & unintelligible that there may as well not be any lyrics (or vocals for that matter). The guitar solos are very nice indeed with plenty of melodic sweep-picked arpeggios.
Ultimately "Colossal Titan Strife" is just missing a bit of that elusive "X" factor. It's all very nicely written & presented but at times I'm left feeling a little numb. To be honest I'm more into the brutal side of death metal than the melodic & I think the extra melody prevents me from appreciating this more. Regardless, it will appeal to a large cross-section of the extreme metal audience.
Some fairly intense black metal which doesn't really make a huge impression due to it's generic nature & lack of variety. The vocals remind me of Darkthrone. Each of the four tracks is full of blast beats & screams. Could be tightened up a bit.
This album comprises of some seriously raw & dirty sludge & noise with a female singer who screams her bloody head off. She sounds like my a redneck version of your mother on a comedown ... and it's that time of month... & she's got Tourettes.... & she's possessed by demons. The album doesn't really flow as the production varies quite a lot between tracks. The really slow sludgy parts are quite effective but the rest is just far too underproduced. There are no guitar overdubs & all of the mistakes are left in. The album would've been so much heavier had they simply doubled the guitars like every other band in the world. It sounds like a live bootleg. I'm sure they'd be entertaining live but it doesn't work as an album release. Not much to interest me here.
Sweden's Istapp have given us some of the worst black metal of 2010 with this second full-length release. The guitar sound is very thin & the melodies are almost cheesy for the most part. Don't even start to think about a dark atmosphere here as "Blekinge" sounds more like a walk in the park on a summers day than any nocturnal forest experience. Quite a few of the riffs sound like late 70s Judas Priest to me. The rest is pretty much generic black metal fodder. Ignore this one.
I was pretty keen to hear this after reading some good things online but I ended up being very disappointed. Introrectalgestation's combination of brutal death metal & grindcore is simply awful. This is partially due to the horrible production & also the complete disregard for any form of song structure. Everything finishes up sounding like a complete shambles & I really struggle to keep track of what's going on. Tempo changes are sudden & intrusive & the guitar sound is particularly dirty which causes the riffs to sound sloppy. You can tell there is some technical ability in there somewhere but it's hidden beneath the mess. The vocals don't help matters either. They might as well be some kind of wild animal as they never come even close to sounding like words. This could be the worst brutal death metal release of 2010.
This album shows some real promise and it wouldn't take much for this band to step up alongside the big boys. There are some really nice atmospheric moments here. The band include quite a few lighter interludes which (although well-written & performed & lovely on the ears) kinda lose the dark atmosphere that a black metal band is generally after. They're probably a little long too. The more traditional black metal is mid-paced & mature along the lines of Burzum. I think the drumming is far too basic & could be a lot more aggressive. This reduces the intensity a bit. Needs a bit more evil.
Upon listening to the opening track from The Grotesquery's debut album "Tales Of The Coffin Born", I became very excited about this release. "Coffin Birth" is everything I love about death metal. A seriously raw & crunching guitar sound with powerful mid-paced riffs. Former Massacre front man Kam Lee's vocals were sounding as aggressive as ever & I love the sound overall. However as the album continues the song-writing begins to get weaker & weaker. The rhythm guitars are very sloppy for a band of this stature & there are quite a few obvious mistakes that have been left in. I'm not a fan of concept albums in general & (although I actually quite enjoy the twisted interludes between each track) I find the lyrics to be fairly immature. There are some really fantastic riffs on here that are let down by some very ordinary ones & some poor musicianship.
Thrash metal was still only a young pup in 1984 having first appeared on the scene only two years earlier in 1982 through a couple of groundbreaking underground demos from the likes of Metallica & Sodom. 1983 had seen the first proper album releases taking shape & they were to make an immediate impact on the underground metal scene with Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” & Slayer’s “Show No Mercy” getting thrash metal off to rollicking start & putting the rest of the world on notice that they’d have to step up their game if they wanted to compete with the new levels of extremity the Americans were dishing out. It would seem that their close neighbours in Canada were paying attention though because over the next couple of years we’d see several high quality & long-term Canadians thrash metal institutions making their initial forays into recorded music.
The first & arguably most important of these bands was the unusual Quebec four-piece known as Voivod who released an album-length demo entitled “Anachronism” in 1983. It was actually a live recording of the band’s very first live gig from the 25th June 1983 & the tracklisting was made up of five originals & 17 cover versions from bands like Judas Priest, Tank, Sweet Savage, Raven, A II Z, Budgie, Venom & Motorhead. Voivod would soon release some more original material though in the form of another album-length demo; this time a studio outing going by the name of “To The Death” which was released in January 1984. This grabbed the attention of Metal Blade Records head Brian Slagel & the label agreed to release the first Voivod studio record shortly afterwards. The resulting “War & Pain” album was released on 10th August 1984 & it perfectly showcases Voivod’s sound at that time through a raw & energetic production job full of electricity. To my ears it sounds very much like a live performance as it manages to harness the incredible urgency that the music emits when these musicians come together. Personally, I think it was the perfect production for early Voivod although it may not suit a more straight-forward & traditional thrash band.
These guys were all very accomplished musicians even at this very early stage & it’s hard not to think that they must have spent a significant amount of time paying their dues as they certainly sound like well-seasoned veterans here. Away’s drums have an organic quality to them that’s a long way from sounding mechanical like so many of his peers were starting to. His style is very much rooted in hardcore punk & this is a major contributor to Voivod’s raw velocity & aggression. Blacky’s bass sound is a filthy beast & he fills a very similar niche to Motorhead’s Lemmy Killmeister here in that you can almost consider him to be a second guitarist & that helps to allow the single guitarist more freedom & room to move. Front man Snake gives us a gnarly vocal delivery that sits somewhere between the punky gravel-throated approach of Tank’s Algy Ward & the raspier attack of some of Germany’s thrash metal elite. His lyrics are also a very important component of the Voivod package & have always been highly literary & intelligent with strong roots in science fiction. On this occasion he presents the vision of a dark post-apocalyptic world in the wake of nuclear war. But it’s guitarist Piggy that’s the real star here. His rhythm guitar style certainly emulates the bluesy but dangerous attack of Motorhead’s Fast Eddie Clarke to an extent however Piggy’s significant technical skills enable him to create something altogether new as he weaves psychotic lead solos into the songs at unusual moments with the raw aggression of early Tank springing to mind quite often.
As was the case with his Canadian counterparts Exciter, Piggy doesn’t employ much palm-muting in his riffs; instead preferring an approach that’s much more in line with the hardcore punk model than the more rhythmic thrash metal one. But there’s also a little more going on here than that with many of the song structures showing hints of the progressive rock influence that Voivod would expand on with future releases. In fact, some of the solos are given a noticeably psychedelic quality through the intelligent use of effects. This is incredibly violent music that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat & you get the distinct feeling that almost anything could happen. To be honest, Voivod make an awful racket for a single guitar band too. At times they can make some wildly chaotic music that gives you the feeling that the whole band were suffering from ADD & were simply incapable of sitting still although those that truly understand Voivod’s vision will find their experimentation to be both intriguing & inspired.
But please be warned, “War & Pain” is not the sort of record that will give you a quick fix. It can sound pretty cold & inaccessible to the first-time listener & taking it all in over a short period is a daunting task. The industrial landscapes we’re presented with here require many listens to dig their teeth in & I have to admit that I wasn’t always onboard. Some of that is undoubtedly due to the fact that despite the widespread reports to contrary… this isn’t actually a thrash metal record. In truth there is very little legitimate thrash on offer here. To my ears it’s a speed metal album with a strong hardcore punk core & an overarching prog rock attitude. I’ve never understood how anyone could confuse it with thrash to be honest because it doesn’t employ any of the signature techniques that the genre has built its reputation on. I mean if you can show me more than a couple of thrash riffs on “War & Pain” you’ll be doing well. Sure.. there’s a strong NWOBHM influence on display but it comes entirely from the more bad-assed & punk-driven side of the movement. Certainly not the Iron Maidens, Saxons & Def Leppards. If I had to describe Voivod’s sound I’d suggest that it’s a combination of the grimy heavy metal of Motorhead, Tank & Venom & the full-throttle energy of hardcore punk bands like Discharge & GBH with a little bit of the ambition of prog rockers like King Crimson & Rush thrown in for good measure. There’s also the odd touch of Killing Joke & Hawkwind there too.
It’s a really interesting listen but there’s a limit to how much I can commit. I don’t think that I ever find myself going absolutely nuts over any of these songs despite finding almost all of them to be enjoyable. I’m just not sure that I can relate to this sound enough for it to be a real favourite. Instead I’ll continue to come back to it every now & then in the hope that I can break down the remaining barriers that are stopping me from placing it on the sort of pedestal that some diehard fans do.
Legendary US black metallers Nightbringer's second full-length release "Apocalypse Sun" is like one long wall of sound for the most part with the guitarists showing no restraint. Pure blasting black metal in the vein of Dark Funeral/Marduk that is full of intensity. The tremolo-picked melodies are not exactly ground-breaking but they're effective nonetheless (even though the higher pitched stuff sounds a little out of tune at times). The kick & snare sounds could certainly be less clicky as they tend to make the impressive drumming sound a bit artificial. At 66 minutes in duration, "Apocalypse Sun" is a challenging listen (especially when the huge wall-of-sound production tends to make the tracks a little indistinguishable from each other) but I'm a big fan of pure evil black metal & this album is full of it. Not for the faint hearted.
1984's "Vengeance Of Hell" album represents the debut full-length effort from a five-piece German outfit going by the name of Living Death. Well in truth they were actually only a four-piece by the time they entered the studio. Their drummer had quit just prior to the recording sessions commencing which meant that they were forced to engage a session drummer in order to complete the record as planned which isn’t a good start to be honest. But the band forged ahead regardless & the resulting album is worth mentioning as it was released just prior to the birth of the Teutonic thrash metal scene which (much like its more celebrated US brother) would develop its own Big Four in Kreator, Destruction, Sodom & Tankard.
And the reason that this is relevant is because “Vengeance Of Hell” isn’t a pure speed metal release. In fact, despite its general reputation for being a predominantly speed metal focused affair, I’d suggest that it's actually comprised of just as much traditional heavy metal & even a few tracks that qualify as legitimate thrash metal which would make Living Death the root of the Teutonic thrash scene; at least as far as proper album releases go. And as for that variation in style across the tracklisting, I’d suggest that it’s a pretty safe bet that what we’re hearing here is the progression of a band that started out as exponents of the classic heavy metal sound & subsequently decided to move into speed & thrash metal territory. Only they’ve recorded their debut album before they’d fully completed the transition which has left it sounding a little unfocused.
The record was released through Belgian label Mausoleum Records which was also the home of several other noteworthy European releases such as Ostrogoth’s “Ecstasy & Danger”, Wolf’s “Edge Of The World” & Warlock’s “Burning The Witches” but sadly time hasn’t seen Mausoleum being remembered too fondly by underground metal fans as they developed a bit of a reputation for inconsistent quality & less than acceptable production jobs. The Wolf record is a fine example of what I’m talking about here & sadly, Living Death would fall victim to the same production curse because “Vengeance Of Hell” sounds truly awful with the instruments all combined into one muddy & overly bass-heavy mess for the most part. There are even some inconsistencies across the tracklisting with noticeable changes in sound from one track to the next. The absolutely woeful “Riding A Virgin” is the worst example with the engineer having apparently forgotten to turn the guitars up to the same level as they are on the rest of the album. I’m honestly not sure how this can go through unnoticed or how the label could possibly deem it to be acceptable to release it like that. Perhaps they just thought that this particular song was so horrible that it really made very little difference & they’d probably be right because I’ve come across very few tracks that are as unlistenably bad as this one in my entire metal journey.
The main reason for that is front man Thorsten “Toto” Bergmann whose vocal delivery seems to take the more divisive aspects of Accept’s Udo Dirkschneider & Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond & amplify them until you almost can’t bare to listen to him any more. The dude simply can’t sing to save his life & it’s truly baffling that the three or four instrumentalists would all have agreed to play in a band with him at the helm. What’s even more strange is that there are some songs where he’s noticeably more tolerable than others; where he sticks to more traditionally acceptable techniques instead of inserting ridiculous banshee squeals or random psychotic rants all over the place. So one can only assume that some of this ridiculously inaccessible garbage was actually intentional! And when you throw in some sexually focused lyrical content that’s got less class than your average 13 year-olds slumber party it makes for a very challenging listen indeed. This is a real shame because the music behind Thorsten isn’t half bad.
The rhythm section don’t do anything particularly special but there are some light-speed riff assaults included here with Living Death challenging the likes of Anthrax for sheer velocity. The thrashier material is not too far removed from Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” while the more speed metal focused tracks have clearly been influenced by the faster Accept material with early Running Wild also springing to mind. Of the few more traditional heavy metal tracks, the half decent “Night Light” utilizes a mid-paced & crunchy AC/DC feel while the lone instrumental track “Labyrinth” is clearly an attempt to imitate Iron Maiden.
There’s some definite promise here but I can’t see that it was ever going to be fulfilled with this little attention to detail in the production & with a front man who frankly leaves you wringing your ears. Living Death would go on to bigger & better things in the near future so I see no real reason to subject yourself to this album.
Right from the word go you can tell that the unfortunately named Fleshrot were yet another one of quality UK death metal bands that seemed to be coming out of the woodwork at the time. The intensity & execution here are excellent. The vocals (a mixture of deeper death grunts & screaming insanity) are quite powerful & the drumming is lightning fast & very precise. When you throw in a typically disgusting Cannibal Corpse style front cover, it ticks all the right boxes to make a good brutal death metal album. And it is really. The only thing stopping "Traumatic Reconfiguration" from rating higher is a distinct lack of variation. I find if I listen to one or two tracks I am blown away by the pure energy of the furious blastbeats but if I listen to the album as a whole my interest gradually drops as all the tracks pretty much follow the same formula & that shock impact is lost a little. Some melodic guitar solos provide a little respite at times but if Fleshrot can incorporate some different elements into their sound they could be something really special. As it stands their sound is simply not original enough to have so little variation. Regardless, "Traumatic Reconfiguration" has loads of grunt & certainly offered the promise of more impressive things to come. Unfortunately it's now nine years on & we're still yet to see what that might amount to.
By 1984 we'd seen very little in the way of high quality speed metal from the Americans with only some very minor releases having seen the light of day. Future Megadeth & Cacophony guitarist Marty Friedman’s early groups Hawaii & Vixen were probably the most noteworthy but also a band from New Jersey going by the name of The Beast who included future members of death metal bands like Ripping Corpse & Hate Eternal. However it wasn't until the debut studio album from New York’s Anthrax, a member of the exclusive Big Four of Thrash Metal & one of the biggest names in 80’s metal in general, that US speed metal began to put its name on the map.
Anthrax began life in Queens, New York back in July 1981 through guitarists Scott Ian & Dan Lilker with Ian choosing the band’s moniker after noticing it in a science class text book. As with most schoolyard bands, Anthrax went through a number of lineup changes early on with future White Lion drummer Greg D’Angelo & Nuclear Assault front man John Connelly amongst the various casualties. But things didn't really start to take shape until Ian brought in school mate Neil Turbin to handle the vocal duties. He also convinced Overkill guitarist Dan Spitz to jump ship & lured talented drummer Charlie Benante into the band so you’d imagine that he was a pretty persuasive character even from a very young age.
Two demo tapes were recorded in late 1982 & early 1983 & these allowed Anthrax to build up a friendship with Megaforce Records owner Jon Zazula which resulted in a recording contract. Zazula tested the waters with a 7” single by the name of “Soldiers Of Metal” (which was interestingly produced by Manowar guitarist Ross The Boss) before committing to put out the first full-length Anthrax album “Fistful Of Metal” in January 1984. One would imagine that Zazula was more than keen to continue to ride the wave he’d created with Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” only six months earlier & as with the Exciter debut, he recruited The Rods drummer Carl Canedy to handle the production duties. This was a role that Canedy seems to have performed very well because “Fistful Of Metal” sounds very good for the time & lacks none of the intense electricity of “Kill ‘Em All” but I’m sure that a lot of you are wondering why I'm referring to an Anthrax record in terms of speed metal when they've long been known as one of the undisputed gods of thrash.
Well to my ears “Fistful Of Metal” is definitely a transition record. Like most early thrash exponents, Anthrax began life as a traditional heavy metal band & slowly morphed into a full-blown thrash metal act over time & this record shows that progression quite well with equal attention being given to their early forays into the traditional heavy metal subgenre, their initial experiments with a much faster speed metal sound & their subsequent attempts at tackling a more rhythmic & aggressive thrash metal sound that had supposedly been taken on after experiencing Metallica. I actually can’t understand why “Fistful Of Metal” isn’t often referred to as US power metal because it seems to fit the bill really nicely & I think it sits pretty comfortably alongside the thrashier releases from that movement such as Laaz Rockit’s “City’s Gonna Burn” or Metal Church’s self-titled debut.
It was already very clear that Ian & Lilker had made some good choices with regards to the lineup as Anthrax already sounded like a class act from a purely technical point of view with Benante’s powerful drumming, Spitz’s flashy guitar solos & Ian’s precise rhythm guitar performance being amongst the main talking points. I don’t think this point should be underestimated actually as a lot of the early thrash releases showcased levels of musicianship that were still very much in their infancy but Anthrax were already pushing things into a more accomplished territory & I would guess that this would have had an impact on the rest of the scene.
Vocalist Neil Turbin’s performance has proven to be pretty polarizing over the years with many people unable to cope with his consistent use of high-pitched squeals. I don’t have a problem with him personally & think he does a reasonable job overall. His lower register delivery reminds me a lot of KISS’s Paul Stanley while those higher register screams fall very much into the territory of talented Manowar front man Eric Adams. The faster & thrashier tracks possess a sheer velocity that was unmatched at the time with Anthrax seeming to push the speed thing further than US thrash metal peers like Metallica & Slayer at this stage. I think the influence of more punk-driven outfits like DRI & Suicidal Tendencies was a major factor in this actually & Anthrax would keep that hardcore punk edge for quite a while yet.
The more traditional heavy metal material includes the regular use of Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies but I don’t think that Maiden were as big a factor in the make-up of the Anthrax sound as some people make out. There is far more Judas Priest & Metallica here than anything else with Anvil popping up occasionally too. The awful Alice Cooper cover version “I’m Eighteen” is the clear weak point of the album & was obviously something that was pushed by the record label as I believe that Scott Ian refused to have any part of the recording of that song with lead guitarist Dan Spitz handling the rhythm guitar duties in his place. I honestly have no idea what they were thinking with that one as it sounds nothing like the rest of the album. I can still remember the first time I heard it back in the late 80’s actually. I thought that it sounded a lot like KISS & not in a good way. The more aggressive material often borrows more than a little bit from Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” but the sheer energy on display is quite infectious & it’s hard not to enjoy yourself. Unfortunately though, the record does tend to peter out over the last few tracks & this is mainly because the back end is predominantly made up of the older Anthrax demo material which doesn’t seem to be as closely in line with where the band were at musically at that point in time.
Overall, I consider “Fistful Of Metal” to be a pretty fun if flawed metal debut. It’s certainly the weakest of the three Big Four debuts released to the time however I do think it’s a little underrated. Sadly, it would be the only Anthrax album for Neil Turbin & Dan Lilker with both of them being fired shortly after release. Neil would never amount to anything substantial as far as metal music goes despite releasing a solo album & being involved in another couple of other failed ventures whereas Dan would go on to have a very successful metal career with a number of other quality metal outfits.
Australian technical death metallers Entrails Eradicated were first brought to my attention back in 2012 when I read that they had picked up one of the highly sought after support slots for the upcoming Cannibal Corpse Australian Torture tour due to take place in October of that year. I generally like to take the opportunity to check out the support bands in advance to see if they're worth rocking up early for so I tracked down this EP. Rightly or wrongly the bands name left me with the immediate impression that Entrails Eradicated would sit comfortably inside the confines of the brutal/slam death metal genre which was fine by me as I’ve always loved the more brutal end of the extreme metal spectrum. However the band may live to regret going for a title like Entrails Eradicated as it will immediately bias people against them if brutal death metal is not their genre of choice. Those thoughts were reinforced once I’d actually checked out the bands material which is certainly more ambitious than what your average brutality merchant has on offer.
Entrails Eradicated is the brainchild of Jim Parker who decided to form an as-yet-untitled technical death metal band in Perth, Western Australia in 2007. Jim recorded a single promo track with the title “Entrails Eradicated” which appears in a renamed form on this E.P. under the title “Harnessing Gravitational Endurance”. He then used the promo to attract talented musicians from the local Perth death metal scene. Guitarist Lynton Cessford (Gallows For Grace/Malignant Monster) was recruited alongside vocalist Tarren Whitfield (Visceral Mutation/ex-Grotesque) & drummer Ben Craig (Arterial Hemmorrhage/Blowtorch Abortion) to form a very experienced & competent death metal unit. It seems the band elected not to recruit a permanent bass player as I can find no record of one ever existing. I can only assume that they've used a session bassist when recording or that Jim has played the basslines himself (which would be no mean feat if that is the case). Once some more material was written the band decided on the band name & recorded a single track promo for “Impending Annihilation” (2008) & a two track one featuring “Collapsible Continuum” & “Viralocity” (2009) which are all present on this EP.
The next step for Entrails Eradicated was obviously to get a proper release on the shelves so the decision was made to self-finance the recording of an E.P. showcasing their best material to date. Hence this E.P. was recorded in April 2010 & rushed out to coincide with the band’s debut live performance at the 2010 Bali Extreme Metal Fest on 12th June 2012. It strikes me as a strange release really. The fact that the whole E.P. clocks in at just over 15 minutes (which amounts to about 10 minutes of metal after you exclude the intros & interludes) & that it only really includes one previously unrecorded song of 1:18 in duration hints that this is all of the material the band had to work with after 3 years together. That’s really not a lot of material. But in saying that, all of the older material here has had plenty of time to evolve & is now very tight & well presented.
Intro track “Visceral Winds” strikes me as something I’d expect Morbid Angel to use as an introduction to their live shows. It’s a menacing gothic march full of the type of foreboding atmosphere that made Wojciech Kilar’s soundtrack to the 1992 “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” film so captivating. The similarities are striking & I’d guess that they are probably not a coincidence.
“Harnessing Gravitational Endurance” blasts in quite suddenly at the conclusion of “Visceral Winds” & gives us a good taste of what Entrails Eradicated have on offer here. It was an obvious selection for the opening song as it is the most brutal track of the five. I think it's probably my favourite track too which is in no small part due to a slightly more straight-forward approach than the other more recent tracks. I believe they open with this track when playing live too which is not too surprising either. It’s immediately evident that Entrails Eradicated’s sound follows a similar path to ultra-technical death metal bands like Origin (USA) & Obscura (Germany). Everything flies past at lightspeed. The riffs are highly technical with sweep-picking being used heavily in the riffs. The drumming is frenetic throughout with a heavy use of blast beats. No time can be spared for breakdowns or guitar solos as Entrails Eradicated prefer to use that time for dark ambient/industrial interludes & outros like the one at the end of this track.
If “Harnessing Gravitational Endurance” doesn’t immediately grab your attention then I wouldn't bother moving forwards as subsequent tracks like “Impending Annihilation” & “Viralocity” (for which they released a promotional video) are very much along the same lines. The new inclusion “Disintegrating Complex Entities” is a short sharp blast that doesn’t really give you time to think before it’s all over. “Collapsible Continuum” is probably the least impressive track due to its heavy reliance on neo-classical guitar riffs. This is probably a good time to tell you that I am NOT a fan of the whole sweep-picked riff trend that is plaguing the death metal scene at the moment & Entrails Eradicated use it fairly heavily in every track which I find particularly wanky. It would be so much more impressive & exciting to hear if it was used more sparingly. There is also a strong case here for including more variation in tempo & style but it seems the band are pretty happy with their constantly fast & brutal approach. Time shall tell whether that will keep listeners interested over multiple releases; especially over the course of a full-length album.
Lyrically, all of the tracks on the E.P. are interlinked by a common concept. The idea is that all of the negative energy being created by the human race will eventually be absorbed by the Earth & will result in the planet itself becoming an all-consuming incurable virus that infects the rest of the cosmos at an ever-increasing rate. So “viralocity” is basically a virus travelling faster than the speed of light. Ooookkkaaayyy!! So it’s a bit of a far-fetched idea but at least it’s something different from the run-of-the-mill guts-&-gore style followed by most other brutal death metal bands.
Entrails Eradicated were lucky enough to be able to secure the artistic skills of the legendary Jon Zig for the cover art. If you're reading this review then you will definitely be familiar with Jon’s work on dozens of brutal death metal albums from bands such as Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Inherit Disease, Septical Gorge, etc. Here he has managed to present the bands concept very well with a depiction of mutated humans being sucked from the Earth by the viralocity (which is displayed as a big spiraling tunnel of evil). It’s pretty suitable really.
There can certainly not be any doubting the musical abilities of the band members. Both guitarists put in faultless displays of virtuosity here. They certainly look the part too. The promotional video for “Viralocity” shows they are both heavily tattooed & look suitably impressive whilst thrashing away over their matching BC Rich Ironbird guitars. Drummer Ben Craig takes a more brutal approach than other technical death metal drummers. There are none of the progressive fills here. Ben is more focused on blinding speed & precision & he pulls it off very well indeed. The triggered snare sound could probably do with some work as it’s not as powerful as it could be but the rest of the production is very good. The guitars are up higher in the mix than the drums but everything is clear. The bass playing is exceptional too so I’d really like to know who is responsible for it. There are plenty of bass sweeps & tapping employed to good effect. Vocalist Tarren performs admirably too with a combination of deep gutteral & higher pitched screaming employed throughout.
Overall, while I am very impressed with most elements of “Viralocity”, it is still lacking in one key department. As impressive as the technicality is it doesn’t really demand repeat listens. I find this to be a common problem with this particular sub-genre of death metal. Entrails Eradicated are a bit of a one-trick-pony in this respect. They need to work on writing more memorable songs with more variation as otherwise a full-length album in this style is going to become stale pretty quickly. Apparently the band has been writing material for their debut full-length for many years now so there’s been plenty of time for them to reflect on things & to develop accordingly. Why do I get the feeling that we are in for more of the same though? Regardless, fans of the new breed of technical death metal bands will not be disappointed with “Viralocity” as it fulfills what it set out to do very well indeed. It certainly did enough for me to ensure that I showed up early to see what they were like in a live environment later on that year. Unfortunately the experience was ruined by some awful sound problems.
A high class example of modern thrash metal with some excellent musicianship & crystal clear production. The music is very much in the style of Exodus who seem to have been a massive influence on the new school of thrash bands. I like the more aggressive vocal style & the guitar solos are very well executed. There's even the odd blast beat thrown in for good measure. Although this is not a classic for the genre, I think it is one of the better thrash metal albums I've heard in a while.
1984 saw the Danes starting to elaborate on the amazing contribution that Mercyful Fate had made to heavy metal with a few promising (if less substantial) offerings. Witch Cross would be one of the prominent representatives & they championed a more classic brand of heavy metal that steers well clear of the gloss & frills that a band like Pretty Maids was pushing. They were a five-piece outfit who hailed from the city of Kobenhavn which is the very same city that spawned King Diamond & his cronies.
Witch Cross first formed way back in 1979 so it took them a full five years to get their debut studio album “Fit For Fight” onto the shelves following a couple of demos & a 7” single. And sadly, it would prove to be the band’s ONLY major release for almost 30 YEARS as Witch Cross are yet another one of those underground European bands that have jumped on the reformation bandwagon in recent times. And when you think about it, it’s not terribly surprising as, much like countrymen Pretty Maids' "Red, Hot & Heavy" debut from the same year, this release has gone on to become one of the elite examples of the classic heavy metal sound to come out of Denmark. If anything though, this might be a good representation of just how scarce quality heavy metal has been in the country because this is not a classic release by any stretch of the imagination. Enjoyable… sure… but nothing terribly special.
For starters, the production quality is very poor & you’d really struggle to differentiate this from the myriad of underground NWOBHM 7” singles that had flooded the market in the previous few years. It’s got that authentic early 80’s feel that, despite it’s primitive nature, seems to have an endearing quality that makes what might seem like a shitty production on the surface strangely morph into a more appealing result. I have to admit that I kinda fall for it in a way & I’m not too sure how I would feel about the record if it had a more polished production job like Pretty Maids went for. This just seems to have some serious street cred going for it & I like that. There’s a thick layer of distortion sitting over the top of everything that saps some of the power out of the band but it doesn’t manage to restrain the raw energy of Witch Cross who seem to have a very good understanding of the ins & outs of making decent NWOBHM style heavy metal.
It’s often easy to discount the level of musicianship on records like this. When the production sounds this shitty I often see people tending to overlook that element of the band & assume that the musicians skills are also primitive but that’s not always the case; as witnessed here. These guys can all play their instruments with the lead guitarists & vocalist being particularly capable. In fact, the guitar solos & the performance of front man Alex Savage are the clear highlights of the album & they manage to overcome some inconsistent song-writing to make this a worthwhile listen for old metalheads like me. Alex possesses some serious talent & his higher register delivery is quite distinctive in the way it cuts through the mix & soars over the top of the instrumentalists. I’ve often read people comparing him to Riot’s Tony Moore but there’s a little bit of Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan about him during his more operatic moments with a couple of his most extravagant screams drawing comparisons with Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond. But that’s not the only place I can hear a little Fate actually. The guitar solos really do seem to have a similar feel to the ones I loved so much on the early Fate releases & that could be related to the fact that “Fit For Fight” was recorded at Easy Sound Studios with producer Henrik Lund; the very same combination that produced those classic Mercyful Fate releases. It’s strange then that the rest of the production job sounds so sub-par though given the stature of the tools at the band’s disposal though. Oh well… I’m sure there’s a story of some sort behind that.
Musically, this is very much in line with the NWOBHM model of heavy metal & as with most New Wave releases there is a hard rock track included in the very ordinary “Rocking The Night Away” but the rest of the material leaves you under no misapprehensions that this is anything other than a pure metal release & it even touches of speed metal on occasion. The influence of bands like Iron Maiden & Judas Priest is very clear but I can also hear a fair bit of US heavy metallers Riot as well as German hard rock legends Scorpions at times during the more commercially focused moments.
I like the band’s sound & concept quite a lot but unfortunately the inconsistent song-writing leaves “Fit For Fight” just creeping over the line in the end. The strength of the highlight tracks is barely able to hold on following some of the simpler & more generic sounding tracks. Sadly, this would be the last time we'd hear from frontman Alex Savage. He went on to join a Led Zeppelin cover band after his time in Witch Cross & didn’t appear in the reunited version of the band which is a bit of a shame.
Up until the mid-80's the Danes hadn’t been a regular contributor to the global heavy metal phenomenon with only the legendary & highly influential Mercyful Fate making much of an impact on the early European scene. But 1984 would see that start to change quite quickly with three or four Danish releases making a notable impact, including one that came from a five-piece outfit from Horsens sporting the particularly lame moniker of Pretty Maids. Now why in Satan’s name any budding young metal musician would choose that name for their band is beyond me. In fact, they actually began their career under the name Pretty Pretty Panick which isn’t much better it has to be said. Both clearly point to a product that’s far more likely to sound like the LA glam metal scene than anything else but while there’s an undeniable influence here it would be very unfair to toss Pretty Maids in with the likes of Warrant or Poison.
The band’s story began in 1981 with a self-financed demo resulting in a recording deal with English record label Bullet Records. A self-titled & quite well respected six-song EP would finally see the light of day in 1983 & it would see Pretty Maids making a very successful trek to the UK where they would showcase their strong live show. The buzz around the band saw them upgrading their recording contract with CBS Records in 1984 & the band’s debut album “Red, Hot & Heavy” would see the light of day later the same year; an album that would go on to be quite a success.
Now the first thing you’ll notice about the “Red, Hot & Heavy” album is the professionalism of the overall package. The quality of the sound production is very good for the time & this is certainly a long way from the primitive NWOBHM debuts that had flooded the market in the earlier part of the 80's. In fact, the New Wave is at the complete other end of the spectrum to Pretty Maids. There’s a lot more polish & gloss about them with more expansive arrangements including the extensive use of keyboards & other random studio effects. But that’s not necessarily a good thing mind you. I don't use the term “over-produced” all that often but this album is a fine example of an over-produced record. The use of keyboards & additional frills is excessive & I think this element only has a negative impact on the overall result. Fans of European power metal might disagree on that though because I can hear a lot of influence on the later European scene here.
Vocalist Ronnie Atkins has a fairly broad range of styles in his repertoire & for every cleaner & more melodic phrase you’ll get a more aggressive & grunty passage that reminds me quite a bit of Tank’s Algy Ward at times. The musicianship is excellent & it’s very clear that Pretty Maids are more than capable musicians. If I’m honest, the combination of skilled musicality & bright production values is a bit of a drawcard for me despite the overly zealous production.
Musically, I’d suggest that this is a traditional heavy metal album at its core. I’ve seen numerous examples of people claiming it as a rock record but that’s definitely not the case. Having said that though there are definitely a few more rock driven tracks with a couple sounding perfectly suited to the glam metal label. Actually, you can tell that Pretty Maids have cut their teeth playing a more commercial brand of hard rock music in the way that they handle themselves. There’s a very strong focus on melody here that can overstep the cheese line at times but it’s hard to deny the quality of most of the hooks on offer; even in the cheesier songs on the tracklisting. Sure there are a couple of weaker numbers here but nothing too awful with a fairly consistent level of quality. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a definitely power metal edge to a couple of the songs & the use of keyboards provides an even tighter link to that particular subgenre but fear not… it’s not all cheesy pop hooks here. Some of the more metal material is pretty exciting & Pretty Maids even reach speed metal intensity on a couple of tracks.
To summarize, this is a more than decent heavy metal album. I don’t love the overall concept but the execution provides more than enough to keep me interested. Pretty Maids remind me a lot of Danish hard rockers Krokus in that way. Krokus are nothing more than AC/DC clones which on paper doesn’t sound like something I’d have much time for but in practice I find their impressive delivery very hard to resist & I feel a similar way about Pretty Maids. I'd recommend you give it a crack if you like a more polished & professional brand of European heavy metal.
Some pretty promising Greek technical death metal with strong jazz influences. Needs to tighten up a bit before they can compete with the big boys. There is a very strong Atheist/Cynic influence although Echidna are differentiated by the use of blast beats on occasions. The vocals in particular sound very similar to Kelly Shaefer (Atheist). Ultimately the songwriting is not quite strong enough to maintain interest for the whole album but I can see potential. It will be interesting to see what they can do with some label backing.
Some very brutal death metal on display here & it certainly has its moments however Defeated Sanity have pretty much ripped their sound directly from Suffocation's "Effigy Of The Forgotten". They sound exactly the same as Suffocation for the most part but go way overboard with the technicality thing which doesn't give the listener much of a chance to really dig their teeth into any of the chunky riffs on display. The unintelligible vocals sound exactly like Frank Mullen (Suffocation) too. The jazzier drumming & bass parts sound pretty ridiculous with the gutteral vocals. Am I the only one who thinks that the modern brutal death metal bands are going overboard with the blast beats? I think that once blast beats pass a certain speed they sound like a parody of themselves & lose all their intensity. Worth a listen but very overrated.
Some fairly standard UK death metal which you've heard many times before. Dead Beyond Buried have clearly spent quite a bit of time listening to Morbid Angel as the influence is quite obvious. Unfortunately "Inheritors Of Hell" doesn't stand up too well in comparison. The production is fairly muddy & the musicianship is nothing special. There are none of the wonderful captivating Trey Azagthoth style guitar solos on show & John Biscomb is certainly no Pete Sandoval. However, having said all of this, there are some riffs on here that show some promise & I wouldn't discount some good material coming from this band in the future once they find their own sound.
This fourth full-length album from French black metallers Celestia doesn't really present anything new or attractive. It's run-of-the-mill black metal with simple generic riffs & a less than exciting atmosphere. I just find it to be quite dull to be honest.