Daniel's Reviews
I was pleasantly surprised by this release. The crunchier tracks like "Royal" and "CMND/CTRL" are really mosh-worthy & heavy as hell. There's no pointless guitar solos to be seen here. Just crushing power chord riffage which would come across brilliantly in a live environment. Vocalist Chino Moreno is very charismatic & leads the band brilliantly. Closer "This Place Is Death" is simply outstanding & is almost worth the purchase of this CD by itself. Unfortunately a couple of tracks in the second half of the album ("Sextape" in particular) let the band down a little with a hefty dosage of cheese. However the more I listen to this album the more it grows on me.
While “Around The Fur” & “White Pony” may have been Deftones finest moments they were also fairly similar sounding albums from a production point of view so I think they were due for a change when it came to their next release. It seems that the band had similar thoughts as “Deftones” presents some noticeable points of difference. The first thing that hit me was the much dirtier production. The vocals sound like they’ve been recorded with a shitty old microphone & there is an overall lack of brightness. It actually took me a couple of listens to get used to as I initially found it a little intrusive but with familiarity came acceptance & I don’t have any qualms with it now. I’m not sure I like it as much as the cleaner production on the previous couple of records but I’m also not sure that style of production would have suited this record as much.
Apparently vocalist Chino Moreno really screwed his voice on the tour for “White Pony” & needed extensive vocal training to help him recover. Well if that’s the case then I doubt he did himself any favours with his choice of vocal styles here. A large portion of the tracks feature him absolutely screaming his head off which is in direct contrast to the breathy melodies of his recent work. When you add the dirtier production & some of the heaviest down-tuned riffing of the bands career what you get is the most extreme Deftones material they’d released to that time. And then, in direct contrast, there are also some more laid back & experimental tracks where the band dabbles in trip hop & downtempo & it’s this variety that makes “Deftones” a more challenging & diverse album than people expected too.
Whether you like all of the ideas here is another question. Personally I don’t find any of the material here to be a failure. Some tracks certainly work better than others & you won’t find the instantly memorable hooks of the previous couple of albums here but it’s a different type of album. It’s less obvious & more ambitious but also less focused. To me it seems like a conscious attempt to prove they were not just another generic nu-metal band. It takes a few listens to come to terms with but the pay-off is worth the effort. It’s a heavily underrated album in my opinion & I really enjoy it.
This is a really solid metal album & a massive improvement on their debut. They got the production right this time & the song-writing is miles better. It's actually a pretty heavy record & the first couple of tracks are fantastic. I've always thought they sounded a lot like a metal version of Smashing Pumpkins & there's a lot of that here this time too. There's a couple of negatives in that I'm not a huge fan of "Headup" or the half hour of silence you have to skip through to get to the secret track at the end but I have no hesitation in giving it a 4/5. It's not quite as memorable as the follow-up "White Pony" but it's not far behind.
In 1988 Chuck Schuldiner had turned the underground metal scene on its ear with Death’s second album “Leprosy”. It had really raised the bar as far as extremity was concerned but had also combined it with some excellent song-writing & memorable hooks. Extreme metal fans lapped it up it & it ended up going down as one of the defining death metal records in history. When the release of Death’s third album was announced most people were expecting an even more brutal assault on their senses. It marked the first Death release since my conversion to death metal so I had more than a casual interest in it.
“Spiritual Healing” saw Chuck make a number of conscious changes to his tried & tested formula. Firstly he decided to tone down the brutality a touch & incorporated some more progressive ideas into his song-writing. Listening back now it doesn’t sound like anything major but at the time it was regarded as a fairly adventurous approach. Chuck brought in hired gun guitar shredder James Murphy to add some class to the solos & Terry Butler got the opportunity to contribute on bass guitar for the first time. There was also a notable change in Chuck’s lyrical direction. This time he was tackling real life issues like drugs & abortion instead of the standard death metal themes of zombies, murder & general nastiness. These changes contributed to a more mature & professional sounding Death; one that was obviously looking to continue leading the pack rather coasting on past successes. Not everyone was positive about Death’s new direction but personally I thought it opened up a world of new possibilities & was intrigued.
Upon first listen it’s immediately obvious that this was not going to be “Leprosy II”. The clean & powerful production is an obvious step up from the raw ugliness of the past & everything sounds quite precise. There are some more adventurous timings on offer than we’d heard from a death metal band to that time but I wouldn’t say it’s anything over the top by today’s standards. In fact the drumming is quite simple throughout the album & that has always annoyed me a little. Bill Andrews drumming during the fast sections is simply not brutal or interesting enough for my liking & I feel that Chuck would have been much better served by recruiting someone more capable. Terry Butler puts in a solid performance on bass although I must say that I prefer the more progressive & challenging bass lines that are a feature of all subsequent Death releases.
On the more positive side of things James Murphy’s guitar solos are quite special & add an entirely new element to the band; one that would be a constant for the band even after his departure. Chuck’s riffs are consistently brilliant & I think his vocals sound more powerful & intimidating than ever before. Opening track “Living Monstrosity” is an absolute corker & is my favourite track on the album but the next four are all very solid pieces of death metal. There really aren’t any weak songs but I think the last three are probably a touch lower in quality than the rest of the album so things do just tail off a little in the back end. Most tracks have some cracking riffs that really utilize the production advancements & you are constantly reminded that this is a more mature Death than you’d heard on their first two albums.
"Spiritual Healing" is an often overlooked album in Death's back catalogue due to the classic releases either side of it but if you disregard those & look at it as a singular piece of art then it offers a clinical & fresh take on the death metal concept & a damn fine listening experience. In fact I probably favour it slightly over Death's ground-breaking debut album "Scream Bloody Gore" to be honest. "Spiritual Healing" is generally regarded as a transition album (& that idea is not without merit as 1991’s “Human” would expand & improve on the ideas Chuck presents here) but there is more to this album than that. This is high quality death metal that oozes class.
No matter what sort of death metal fan you talk to it’s rare to find one that doesn’t love at least one of the various ever-changing incarnations of Death. Everyone has their preferences which generally correspond closely with age, taste & exposure. That’s what makes Death such a classic death metal band. Perhaps the most important of all. My first encounter with Death was as a 13 year old. I was newly into the more underground end of thrash metal & had started religiously tuning in to some late-night metal radio programs. Death’s second album “Leprosy” had just been released & had taken the underground metal scene by storm so it didn’t take long for me to jump onboard with this new death metal sound. It was more extreme than anything I’d ever heard before & it intrigued me. It felt like I was a part of some exclusive club that my parents & the vast majority of my friends couldn’t understand. It wasn’t long until I became a part of the underground tape trading scene & I quickly picked up a dubbed copy of “Scream Bloody Gore”.
As a death metal album “Scream Bloody Gore” may not compare favourably when sitting alongside some of the classics of the genre but there are few albums that have had a greater influence. What makes “Scream Bloody Gore” unique is that Death managed to present a new, refined & fully realized genre on their first attempt; taking the earlier Possessed model & shaving off the edges that would still have people questioning the death metal credentials of an album like "Seven Churches". If you listen to "Scream Bloody Gore" today it is undeniably death metal even by today’s standards. Most other albums that were influential in the creation of new genres could only provide elements that were then combined with others to create the finished product. It was an amazing achievement really & that shouldn’t be underestimated.
The overall consistency of “Scream Bloody Gore” is very good for a debut album too. In fact I think that the primitive “Torn To Pieces” is probably the only track that I think is a little weaker. The rest of the songs are of a generally high quality with “Baptized In Blood”, “Infernal Death” & “Zombie Ritual” (possibly the first death metal song I ever learned to play on guitar) being my personal favourites. The raw production really suits the music. In fact I think it adds to the dark atmosphere. There are plenty of classic palm-muted tremolo-picked death metal riffs on offer but early Death unquestionably still included a hefty dose of the more extreme thrash metal that was around at the time. You can easily hear the influence of bands like Slayer & Possessed here but that element faded as Chuck’s death metal style became more defined over the next couple of albums. Chuck’s guitar solos may have lacked sophistication at this stage but they made up for it in pure energy with blazing high-speed fretboard workouts the order of the day here. The lack of a full-time bass player led to Chuck assuming the bass guitar duties as well; a role that he performs very effectively in fact. The bass is easily heard throughout & it grumbles along nicely.
Much was made of Chuck’s vocal approach. It was amongst the first true death metal performances on a major metal release. Personally I’ve always felt that guys like Jeff Becerra (Possessed) & Mille Petrozza (Kreator) were heavily influential in the push for more extreme vocal sounds. In fact you could probably throw in Quorthon (Bathory) too but there was something undeniably different about the new growlier style that Chuck Schuldiner was pushing & when you combined the deathly lyrical content it all just seemed so bad ass to a young teenager like myself. By late 1989 I’d discovered the likes of Carcass & Morbid Angel & the flood gates were well & truly opened wide.
“Scream Bloody Gore” is far from the pinnacle of death metal but it’s very hard to deny that it has a lot of endearing qualities. Chuck always understood how to walk the fine line between brutality & memorability & there’s a distinct catchiness to most of this material. “Leprosy” improved on this idea & further defined the genre a year later but the youthful exuberance & infectious energy of the debut deserves all of the respect it has garnered in the underground metal scene over the years.
After my first listen to "Circle The Wagons" I am left wondering whether I am capable of writing an unbiased review. You see, I was one of the many people who were deeply affected by Darkthrone in the early 1990s. They're raw darkness was so appealing to a teenage kid that didn't fit in. So to hear this release saddened me deeply. It seems totally disposable to me. I feel like they have chosen the regression route for regressions sake. What is the point of making an album that sounds like Motorhead or Venom in today's musical climate? If I want to hear this outdated & simplistic style then surely I would simply pull out my old classic (& more authentic) stuff. I'm sure the band had fun making this record but why taint the name of Darkthrone? This album could easily have been released under another moniker & have kept the bands reputation in tact. Having gotten that off my chest I can admit that I can still recognise some of the elements of the Darkthrone I love in this release but if you are a true Darkthrone fan then I suggest you skip this release & read the reviews of future releases before risking a listen.
I've given "Surgical Steel" some time to sink in & it's now time to throw in my two cents worth. The first thing I noticed was how awesome the production is. It sounds bloody brilliant in my opinion. Forget all the talk about clicky kick drum sounds. Yes it's got some click (no more than the latest Gorguts which doesn't seem to offend people) but it's also got some depth & I actually find the change in drummer quite refreshing. I think it has certainly contributed to the extra energy found on this album. The musicianship is absolutely top notch & the guitar solos are amongst the most meaningful & well thought out in metal these days. Jeff's vocals are very good. Maybe not quite as good as on their classic material but still right up there for this type of music. I was disappointed that there wasn't more of Bill's vocals after all the talk about his comeback to the mike stand though.
As for where the band is stylistically I have a bit of mixture of positive & negative feedback really. Yes there are some fast blasting sections on offer (which sound suspiciously like riffs off their classic albums to me) but I wouldn't call the majority of the album death metal exactly. It's really a homage to classic heavy metal & thrash metal. It may be more energetic than "Heartwork" but it's also a lot more melodic & subsequently doesn't have as dark an atmosphere as the classic Carcass albums. I was never entirely OK with the way that "Heartwork" was labelled as melodic death metal whereas this one seems to fit that term much more comfortably.
There's plenty of riffs that leave me thinking "Where have I heard that before?" "Unfit For Human Consumption" is a prime example. It opens with what are basically variations on classic riffs out of Megadeth's "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" & "Wake Up Dead". "A Congealed Clot Of Blood" starts with a couple that are extremely similar to Disincarnate's "Stench Of Paradise Burning" & Deicide's "Sacrificial Suicide". And there are also plenty of moments where you can hear old Carcass riffs reworked. Strangely I'm OK with this as the production & execution makes the whole feel fresh.
Overall I'm giving it a 3.5/5 but that mostly comes down to taste. I think it's a quality release but it's really a bit too far in the melodic direction for my liking. I can't deny that the production & musicianship makes it an entertaining listen for me anyway though.
1993's "Heartwork" took a while for me to come around to but once I did it really dug it's teeth in & I found a lot to enjoy. A part of me undoubtedly still craved the excitement & aggression of their previous two classic death metal albums but the professionalism & class that the "Heartwork" material possessed was more than enough to satisfy my Carcass cravings. By the time "Swansong" came around I was quite open to the idea of Carcass presenting me with a cleaner & more melodic brand of metal. In fact my expectations for their follow-up were very high.
On the day of release I raced home from the record store & chucked it into the CD player in great haste. What ensued was unexpected though. That first listen was a strange experience for me. The production & performances were clearly top notch with some impressive guitar solos & some great vocals from Jeff Walker but something was still very.... different..... & I must admit that I haven't really come to grips with it even today. Many of these are rock & roll songs in both style & structure only performed using death metal tools. The song-writing is not amazing but it's not horrible either so it would appear that my major problem with the album comes from a mostly stylistic viewpoint. The music is simply not aggressive enough for my taste. Songs like "R**k The Vote", "Generation Hexed" & "Go To Hell" sound so "easy listening" that they really don't get close to fulfilling my extreme metal needs. They are really no heavier than post-"Rust In Peace" Megadeth & in all these years I've never been able to get my head around that fact. That being said there is the odd track that I quite enjoy here. "Black Star" is pretty catchy & album highlight "Don't Believe A Word" really gets me going. Unfortunately the rest of the album just feels a little flat to me. I was happy to hear of the band's reformation & subsequent album as I have never considered this to be a fitting "Swansong" for a band as great as Carcass.
A really well-defined sound. I must admit that I was initially hesitant when I bought this back in 1993 as I was a huge fan of their previous material & this was clearly heading in another direction altogether. Ultimately I couldn't deny that the catchy song-writing & cleaner production had a brand new appeal all of their own though. I still definitely prefer the previous two albums but find "Heartwork" to be a really enjoyable & professional experience. Jeff's vocals are superb throughout. As are the guitar solos. I think it's probably a little restrained to get a higher mark out of me & it does tend to flatten out a little bit in the back end in my opinion. I saw them play live on the "Heartwork" tour & this material worked brilliantly in a live environment.
This was a massive album for me. I bought it on the day of release (after being a big fan of “Symphonies Of Sickness”) & was blown away by their new sound. At the time I leaned further in a death metal direction than a grindcore one so I was delighted at the increased focus on the cleaner deathier side of their sound whilst still retaining small elements of their grind roots. There’s also a much stronger focus on melody which they would obviously push a lot further on subsequent releases.
Jeff Walker’s vocals are a real highlight for me as I hadn’t heard anyone sound quite like him at the time. The raspy but intelligible approach really appealed to me & when combined with Bill Steer’s deeper vocals & a gore-soaked lyric sheet it made for an impressive combination. I think they got the balance just right with the perfect amount of brutality & just the right amount of melody. The guitar solos were another highlight as they’re all so melodic & memorable which contrasts beautifully with the down-tuned extremity of the riffs.
The production was good for the time but probably seems a bit soft by today’s standards. I’ve always found the addition of the surgical intros to add to the nasty atmosphere the band creates. A simply perfect death metal album in my opinion.
When I first heard this album back in the late 80's I was really taken off guard. I hadn't heard anything like it before & it took me a few listens to become adjusted to the sheer ugliness & ferocity. Having said that I'm not too sure that I've ever really reached a stage where I'm totally comfortable with it. There are certainly some fun tracks here (see "Festerday" & my personal favourite "Fermenting Innards") but there are plenty of others that sound like a complete mess thanks to the extraordinarily poor production & some fairly sloppy performances. The lead guitar sound is almost unlistenably bad. I like the multiple vocal thing they had going on & the gore-drenched lyrical content is great fun but I'm just not sure the sound that comes out of those speakers is worth my time. I can understand people's attraction to it but it's never really hit the spot for me. The next few Carcass albums are where it's at in my opinion.
I've always found this little EP to be an invaluable part of any serious Carcass fan's collection. Sure it only features one brand new track but it still has plenty to offer. Not only is the title track an absolute cracker but you also get the album version of "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" (arguably their career highlight) as well as re-recorded versions of two early Carcass songs that had not previously had the opportunity to be presented with a decent production. The fresh versions of "Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore") & "Hepatic Tissue Fermentation II" are great improvements on the originals in my opinion. The fact that the tracks all seem to have been recorded during the "Necroticism" sessions is also a welcome bonus as it makes for a more even & flowing listening experience; a trait that isn't always made a priority when putting together EPs like this one.
For those that aren’t aware, Bathory is essentially a solo project from a gentleman going by the name of Quorthon who released a string of seminal records sporting various different styles during the 80’s & 90’s, & in doing so, led to the formation of at least two major subgenres of extreme metal. Quorthon’s real name was Tomas Forsberg & his formative years were spent as a rebellious punk in the city of Stockholm where he started several unsuccessful punk bands. A pivotal moment in black metal came in 1981 when he was lucky enough to score himself a work experience position at his father’s record label Tyfon Records performing basic maintenance & administrative tasks which gave him his first real taste of the recorded music industry. Tomas continued to work there on & off for the next few years & in 1983 took it upon himself to create a band that was more in line with the darker metal & punk sounds he’d started to immerse himself in with heavy emphasis placed on bands like Black Sabbath, Motorhead, The Exploited & GBH. This resulted in the formation of the earliest lineup of Bathory.
The big breakthrough for Bathory came when Tyfon Records were putting together a metal compilation called “Scandinavian Metal Attack” in January 1984 featuring five bands who were signed to the label with each contributing two songs. Out of interest, popular Finnish heavy metallers Oz were amongst the bands included but anyway… One of the five artists had to pull out at the last minute due to some conflicting military duties & Tyfon was left to find a suitable replacement in quick time. Tomas jumped at the opportunity & put his band forward as a ready-made replacement. And one would imagine that his father provided enough encouragement to push the idea through so within days of the arrangement being proposed, Bathory found themselves in Elektra Studios recording their contribution to the compilation.
Once it was released in March 1984, the label were pleasantly surprised at the huge response generated by Bathory’s two tracks with the compilation quickly selling out & becoming Tyfon’s biggest selling release to date. It seemed that Bathory were the main drawcard too with most comments directed towards the young band so Tyfon swiftly proceeded to offer Tomas a recording contract; completely in the dark about the fact that the band had actually split up in the couple of months since the release of the compilation. That wasn’t going to stop Quorthon & after signing the contract he frantically began the hunt for a suitable backing band in time for their album recording in just one month’s time. Thankfully he managed to secure the services of bassist Rickard Bergman & drummer Stefan Larsson just in the knick of time & they managed to fit in one rehearsal before heading into the studio with Quorthon’s father (who goes by the name of The Boss throughout the Bathory story) taking on production duties.
It’s definitely worth noting that there were a number of obstacles for the band to overcome during the recording process due to the primitive nature of the equipment & facilities at the studio. Plus, the band were only able to afford a small amount of tape to record on which meant that they’d have to record at half speed & subsequently deal with a reduction in sound quality. But looking back, it would seem that (intentional or not) these issues have actively contributed to the development of the black metal sound. I mean when you really examine these songs closely from a stylistic & structural point of view there is very little going on that hadn’t been done previously. It’s really the primitive nature of the production & performances that contribute to the uniquely dark atmosphere that we now associate with black metal, along with Quorthon’s ultra-raw & abrasive vocal approach of course. The actual song-writing is mostly built on concepts that had been around for a while & didn’t generally sound as extreme as they’re presented here. I’d suggest that a good half of the eight songs included are simply speed metal tracks at their core with influence taken from the faster Venom, Tank & Motorhead material & a long-term love of hardcore punk. There are a couple of tracks that utilize the more subdued tempos of traditional heavy metal but Bathory mostly seem to enjoy a more up-tempo approach.
The musicianship is very primitive & I think this definitely contributes to the black metal atmosphere. The drumming is particularly dodgy & there are various moments across the tracklisting where you can noticeably hear the tempo drifting. When you really think about it, the lack of technical skills also might have drawn Bathory to take the musical direction they did. I mean pulling off something similar to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica or Slayer was never really on the cards for them now, was it? And that may well be the difference between the Sodom’s, Hellhammer’s & Bathory’s in comparison to the Mercyful Fate’s or Destruction’s of the world. I’d be very surprised if their technical limitations didn’t ultimately contribute, in at least a minor way, to the formation of the black metal sound. Having said that, there are a couple of up-tempo numbers that transcend the speed metal core of most of the material & sound a bit closer to the modern black metal sound & this generally lines up with the more hardcore punk influenced moments which really shows us the importance of hardcore on early black metal. Think about it… the three main players in the early black metal movement were all influenced by Venom & Motorhead but also have a strong hardcore background. Was it just coincidence that none of them were technically capable of playing the more melodic & complex styles of thrash or classic heavy metal? Perhaps… but it’s worth thinking about. It’s also interesting that a large percentage of people seem to consider this record to be as much a thrash release as it is a black metal one but to be perfectly honest, there wouldn’t be more than one or two riffs on the whole album that resemble thrash & those both kinda remind me of Slayer’s “Show No Mercy” which is mainly due to the fact that it’s got a similar hardcore edge to it.
Motorhead’s Lemmy Killmeister has onviously had a huge influence on some of this material. Songs like “Sacrifice” & “War” are pure Motorhead worship with those jangly basslines sounding noticeably similar to Lemmy’s trademark sound. But it’s Quorthon’s vocals that represent the biggest advancement for the black metal genre. The world hadn’t heard anyone sound as tortured or evil up until this stage & it’s this element above all else that separates Bathory’s debut from the more bad-ass European speed metal that was out there at the time. As soon as you hear that unique vocal delivery you’re left in absolutely no doubt as to the genre of music you’re listening to. Quorthon seems to have combined the styles of Lemmy & Venom’s Cronos but put his own darker spin on it & it was an absolute master stroke that would make him a legend. It’s interesting that Quorthon has always denied the influence of Venom which is pretty obviously there for anyone familiar with their early works. In fact, there’s a case for this record simply being the result of pure Venom worship with Bathory having stolen several song-titles, lyrics, their image, their album cover & even their band name from their idols. This wouldn’t be the only time that Quorthon would lie to the media however as he developed a reputation for it over his career.
Despite the borderline plagiarism & crude composition & performances, it’s hard to deny that Quorthon had a knack for song-writing because this is a very consistent record. There’s just the one misfire in my opinion with the slower tempo heavy metal based “Necromansy” falling a little flat but the rest of the tracklisting is genuinely enjoyable. There’s a youthful energy about these songs that compliments the dark atmosphere & it gives them an infectious quality. The album’s intro track is doomy as all fuck too despite being a clear attempt to replicate the intro to Black Sabbath’s title song. Including the full three minutes was pure genius because it really does engulf you in a shroud of pure darkness. Despite the strong speed metal influence, the slowest track on the album, "Raise The Dead", represents its greatest highlight. It’s probably the purest & most well defined black metal number on offer with no traces of speed metal or hardcore punk about it. It’s worth noting that the song-title & lyrical concept were clearly stolen from Venom’s “Black Metal” album but it was a seminal moment for the black metal genre nonetheless.
There's been a lot spoken about the legitimate roots of the black metal subgenre over the years & there were definitely several earlier examples that clearly showed elements of the sound but probably didn’t quite nail all of the criteria to be able to stake their claim on the title. It’s also worth noting that NONE of those examples came from proper releases too. Instead they all took the form of crude self-produced demo tapes from underground European bands like Sodom, Holy Moses & Hellhammer. But it was "Bathory" that signaled the long-awaited arrival of the true first wave of black metal sound in my opinion. Unlike the vast majority of the black metal releases you've heard over the years though, this one offers an element of fun that gives it an infectious quality that easily overcomes its primitive construction; yet another element that Bathory seems to have borrowed from their idols Venom.
I recently read a pre-release interview where Jerry Cantrell said that they'd created a "unique record that's completely different from anything we ever did". Well after giving the record a few spins that comment seems like a bit of an exageration to be honest. From a production point of view "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" sounds very similar to "Black Gives Way To Blue" (4.5/5). In fact these songs could easily be out-takes from the same sessions.
The release of BGWTB in 2009 saw a return to the more metal sound of AIC's first couple of albums but with a distinctly clean & modern production that made it sound a little more accessible. The overall heaviness of the riffs prevented it from ever treading too close to AOR territory though. I feel they've toed a bit closer to that line at times with TDPDH. It's definitely more of a traditional grunge record & champions a lighter feel to previous albums which is not necessarily a bad thing as long as the songs stand up. And there are certainly some fantastic songs here (see "Voices", ""Lab Monkey", "Choke" or album highlight "Phantom Limb" for example) but probably nothing to rival the highs on the previous record. The album as a whole doesn't make as immediate an impact & although the songs are fairly straight forward I found that they took more time for me get into. Given repeat listens I was singing along to quite a few of these choruses though (especially the first four tracks). They haven't held back on indulging in some long running times on some of these tracks with most songs breaching the five minute mark. There are definitely a couple of flat songs spread across the tracklisting (see "Low Ceiling" & "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" for example) & given the overall length of TDPDH they could probably have dropped a couple of tracks without too much trouble.
Vocalist William DuVall seems to be a little more prominent on this record than he was on BGWTB when he was still the new guy on the block & spent most of his time sharing the mike duties with Jerry. He's definitely got a good voice & to be honest he probably contributes to the lighter feel of the album as he's a bit more clean cut sounding than Layne Staley was.
Overall I think "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" is a strong inclusion in Alice In Chains discography. Alice In Chains are such a class act & everything they do is worth listening to but there's enough top quality material here to leave me wondering how it's been so universally underrated. I guess it could simply be a comparative thing because it's not an instant classic like a couple of their other albums.
1992’s “Dehumanizer” was a great return to a darker, heavier sound so I was hopeful that the follow-up would continue on in that vein however the return of former vocalist Tony Martin saw an immediate return to a less metal & more AOR-friendly sound. That's not necessarily such a bad thing as I quite enjoyed the previous three Martin-period Sabbath records. All of those albums had their weak moments but they also had some great ones & "Cross Purposes" seems to follow a similar pattern.
The first half of the record is really pretty strong. "Cross Of Thorns" is a pretty decent 80's-style anthem, album highlight "Virtual Death" is a druggy dirge that seems to have been copied straight out of an Alice In Chains songbook & the crunchy metal riffage of "Immaculate Deception" is particularly solid too. Unfortunately things start to peter off in the second half of the record though with the horribly commercial "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" being the clear low point & the decidedly flat "Cardinal Sin" not being anything to write home about either. Tony Iommi tries hard as usual but even his best efforts can’t drag the couple of weaker songs over the line.
Overall “Cross Purposes” shows glimpses of real class but fails to fully capitalize on it's potential & instead ends up sitting more in the category of "mildly enjoyable". I’ve always been a strong defender of Martin-period Sabbath & thankfully I've managed to extend my faith just far enough to encapsulate this largely under-appreciated record.
Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler & Vinny Appice return to reform the classic early 80's lineup & they bring with them both a heavier sound & a more consistent record. Tony Iommi really brings the riffs on this album & there is definitely more of that classic Sabbath doom sound than we've heard from them in a long time. Geezer Butler's contribution is quite special & his bass lines really drive this material. Although I've enjoyed all of the Sabbath singers over the years there can be no denying that Ronnie James Dio is in a class of his own. His performance here does nothing to tarnish his reputation as one of the great heavy metal vocalists of all time. "Computer God" & "Too Late" aren't particularly to my taste but the rest of the album is very solid with "Master Of Insanity" & closer "Buried Alive" being my personal favourites. Songs like "I" & "Letters From Earth" quickly reignite old flames & leave you with little doubt that this was the best Sabbath had been since "Mob Rules".
Unlike many people, I found some enjoyment in all of the 80's Sabbath albums. The Dio ones were clearly of the higher quality however each of the subsequent albums featured some great tracks & were well worth a few listens. It's a shame that they were generally held back by the inclusion of a few weaker songs as well. Their first 90's album "Tyr" was much the same. It's a mixed bag really. There are some really solid & anthemic heavy metal tunes here like opener "Anno Mundi (The Vision)", the fist-pumping "Jerusalem" & the epic "Valhalla". But then we also have a few tracks that don't really hit the mark at all like "Heaven In Black", "Feels Good To Me" & "The Law Maker". Strangely the album highlight for me is probably the seductive acoustic number "Odin's Court" which flows straight into "Valhalla" in what is the clear climax of the album. All faults considered there's certainly still enough quality to make "Tyr" a worthy purchase for heavy metal fans but it's a little frustrating that the band have yet again failed to put together a full album of high grade material. I think their previous album "Headless Cross" was probably a touch more consistent than this one but there's not much in it. Another decent Black Sabbath record that pulls up just short of where I'd like it to be.
The last of Sabbath's 80's albums again features a decidedly 80's style in both the production & song-writing departments. This is understandably not to everyone's taste but being a child of the 80's myself... I don't mind it! There are certainly a couple of tracks where they veer too close to Whitesnake territory (see "Kill In The Spirit World" & "Black Moon") but the rest of the album is generally pretty enjoyable. The epic title track is the clear highlight with it's ridiculously memorable & highly anthemic chorus but tracks like "Nightwing", "When Death Calls" & "Call Of The Wild" are all quality heavy metal/hard rock songs. Tony Martin's vocals really soar at times & Tony Iommi again shows that he's not willing to be left behind by the 80's young guns as far as shredding lead solos go. "Headless Cross" is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the band or 80's heavy metal in general.
If you forget that this has the words "Black Sabbath" printed on the front cover & just accept it for what it is (which is a pretty decent example of 80's hard rock) then there's a fair bit to enjoy about this album. Tony's playing is great throughout & I really like Glenn Hughes vocal performance. There can be no denying that "No Stranger To Love" is a disgustingly cheesy abomination & "Turn To Stone" sounds a little flat but the rest of the songs are pretty decent really. I love the blues jam "Heart Like A Wheel" & to be honest it's probably my favourite track on the album. The production is very 80's with the drum sound featuring more reverb than was ever gonna be necessary but (unlike the previous album "Born Again") it's also nice & clear which gives the song-writing a chance of luring you in. It certainly sounds nothing like Black Sabbath & should absolutely not have been labelled as such but musically I feel it's an underrated release. Personally it does more for me than albums like "Never Say Die!" or "Technical Ecstasy".
One of the more noteworthy events in heavy metal in 1982 was the unfortunate break-up of the world’s greatest metal band following the departure of singer Ronnie James Dio & drummer Vinny Appice from Black Sabbath with 1983 heralding what could only be regarded as a celebration of the subsequent resurrection of those two in the context of their newly formed Dio project. But the remaining Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi & Geezer Butler were not willing to rest on their laurels following the separation either with the answer to Sabbath’s drumming problem ending up being fairly straight forward. The band’s original drummer Bill Ward had quit the band several years earlier due to long-term drug & alcohol problems however Bill was now completely sober so a reunion with his the old crew was the obvious choice for Tony & Geezer. The question of their empty microphone stand however would prove to be a little harder to answer.
The band’s management (i.e. Sharon Osbourne’s father Don Arden) immediately set about proposing all of the world’s greatest front men with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant & Deep Purple & Whitesnake’s David Coverdale high on the list. Interestingly enough they even received a demo tape from a young Michael Bolton which is surprising. Oh what come have been I guess. But the decision was eventually made to go with Ian Gillan; the amazingly talented front man from the classic Deep Purple lineup. Strangely this decision was made without Gillan even having jammed with the band. The arrangement was simply assumed it would be a winner. Gillan was originally a bit reluctant to agree however a night of heavy drinking was all that was required to convince him that he & his drinking buddies would make an appropriate union.
The new band was never intended to be a new lineup of Black Sabbath though. It was to be more of a super group of its own so that was the way that the band went about recording it’s first album together. But once the recordings were presented to the record label the band were informed that the final product would actually be being released under the Black Sabbath moniker whether they liked it or not. It makes you wonder if that sort of thing would happen today but I seriously doubt that labels have that much control now. Anyway.. the album would be released in August 1983 & would be known as “Born Again”. It featured such horrific cover art featuring a big red devil child on a bright blue background. Ian Gillan is reported to have vomited when he first saw it while Don Arden took pleasure in saying that it greatly resembled his offspring in reference to his well -known personal issues with his estranged daughter Sharon. This cover has gone on to be known as being amongst the worst in rock music history these days. I do think that’s a little harsh but it wasn’t the only obstacle that fans would be asked to overcome with “Born Again”.
Another problem was that the production was simply atrocious. It’s by far the worst sounding Sabbath record with a muddy & muffled sound doing it’s very best to nullify all artistic merit on display. The album includes some really heavy material but there can be no question that it takes effort to find it by sifting through the murky results of their studio labour. And the other major problem is that Ian Gillan seemed to really struggle to find his niche within the Black Sabbath sound. His bluesy style with his stunning higher register screams initially sounds quite out of place & most people have never been able to see past those initial feelings. Thankfully I’ve found “Born Again” to be a grower over the years after originally discarding it. A number of subsequent revisits have seen my opinions continue to rise until today I find it quite an interesting listen. The song-writing is generally pretty good with a couple of exceptions but there are no absolute disasters. There are a couple of ambient pieces included with varied results. The beautiful “Stonehenge” being a master stroke in my opinion & it led to the band including a hugely oversized prop for their stage show which would prove to be too big for most venues & subsequently became the inspirations for one of heavy metal spoof movie “This Is Spinal Tap”s funniest scenes. Tony’s guitar solos are excellent despite having to battle with the poor production while Geezer’s bass lines are as powerful as ever. There was so much potential here & I find it hard to believe that this record was never remixed because I actually quite like it these days even with the wealth of issues.
While it’s clearly apparent that drug & alcohol abuse had started to take its toll on the band by this stage “Technical Ecstasy” isn’t a complete failure in my opinion. I’ve always quite enjoyed the opening two tracks (“Back Street Kids” & “You Won’t Change Me”) as well as the two that close out the album (“She’s Gone” & “Dirty Women”). It’s really just the four in between that let them down. “It’s Alright” was easily the weakest song the band had recorded to that time & “Rock ’n’ Roll Doctor” wasn’t far behind it to be honest. The album really lacks those couple of truly classic songs that were so apparent on each of the first six Sabbath records too. It feels like a compilation of random songs from a band that was struggling for direction which is hardly surprising given the band’s personal issues at the time. Whilst some of the material is directed towards a more traditional hard rock sound as opposed to their signature heavy metal one that's not necessarily a problem if the songs are there. Unfortunately half of the album doesn't quite reach the benchmark. Having said that, Tony Iommi really does try his best to drag the ship along & his performance is commendable. Overall "Technical Ecstasy" is not far from being a decent Sabbath album but the highlights aren’t quite impressive enough to carry the weaker tracks.