Sonny's Forum Replies

OK, so this four-track EP is really only about two tracks, the first being an intro to the title track and the third being a fairly faithful cover of Judas Priest's The Ripper which reveals nothing other than that maybe Priest should have recruited John Cyriis insted of Ripper Owens when Rob Halford jumped ship.

So the two tracks in question, the title track and closer Let It Be Done / The Day at Guyana, are fairly decent thrashers that tick a lot of the boxes instrumentally but, a lot like this month's Fallen feature, suffer for me in the vocal department. Basically I don't like Cyriis' screeching vocals very much at all which, considering that I have no issue with either King Diamond or Cirith Ungol's Tim Baker, is damning indeed! I think Let It Be Done is by far the stronger of the two tracks (where the singing does least damage) and the closing Day at Guyana riff is a killer that seems wasted as a mere fade-out for the track. The title track is OK, but I wouldn't go overboard for it, although if Tom Araya was singing on it instead of Cyriis then it may have been a thrash classic.

I guess I would have to say that this slight EP has had very little impact on me and I don't really feel that I missed out on anything by it slipping past me first time around.

Thrash - yes. Speed - no.

3/5

Invernal is composed of thick, dense riffs that are common in sludge metal but which also possess a thrashiness and complexity that is much less common in the genre. This makes the album sound more kinetic than the vast majority of sludge, which by it's very nature is a slothful style of metal, but there is more than enough doominess present, despite the uptempo pacing, to justify it sitting under the Fallen's umbrella. Instrumentally this is a really fine album, the complexity of the busy riffing on a track like Somnae tenebrae is exceedingly interesting and doesn't fall into the trap of excessive "jerkiness" that I feel with a lot of technical metal and all the tracks flow along really nicely. When the band do turn in a slower-paced riff like the early riff in Corrosion Fields then they build a nice, ominous atmosphere and they aren't afraid to occasionally insert a gentle post-metal section, such as during Abyss, to break things up a little and build anticipation for their next aural assault. The production is great and very clean-sounding, which isn't always a plus for a sludge metal album, but doesn't hurt the sound here and the riffs, although they aren't as muddy as those on many other sludge releases, have a depth and "crunch" that should satisfy all but the most demanding of sludge metal fundamentalists. It is fairly unbelievable to me that this has no bass at all, because the guitar sound has such amazing depth to it that you don't even notice the four-string's absence. The drumming is excellent, but is occasionally drowned out a little, particularly on faster sections like during the middle of Erebus Dawn, however, Rafael Martinez is a busy little bee and he turns in a performance to rival even Animal from the Muppets!

The "but" is coming now I am afraid, and it is the vocals that are the subject of it. Like Vinny I think the vocals are the weak point. I actually don't mind them per se, they are not as grating or ascerbic as some sludge vocals and they don't have the shouty, "spoilt toddler" quality that turns me off to other releases so often, but they just don't sit comfortably here with the instrumental work. I have seen elsewhere that there is little variety to be found on Invernal, which I would ascribe to the singing as it does seem to sound the same on nearly every track and the accusation of lack of variety can't really be laid at the door of the instrumentalists. Invernal would definitely benefit from a more aggressive-sounding and harsher singer I feel.

In summation, this is a really excellent album musically and the two guys have done a great job of sounding like twice that many, but they really should look at drafting in another singer to push them into the top echelon of sludge metal marvellousness.

4/5

It's an understatement to say that I am not the world's biggest European Power Metal fan, but I can get along with it in small doses and whenever I am confronted by an album of EUPM, I hold out some hope that this will be the one to change my mind on the genre as a whole. Spoiler alert: this is not that album, but I didn't find listening to it to be a terrible chore either. Instrumentally When Eden Burns had a fair bit to enjoy with the odd killer, thrashy riff and some nice soloing on display. However, my primary and perennial issue with EUPM is in the vocal department where OTT delivery seems to be a requirement, as does the Queen-like layered backing vocals, all of which do sweet FA for me I'm afraid. Sure, I like vocalists who have range - I really dig such metal stalwarts as Dickinson, Halford and even Joey Belladonna - but there is just something about the lead vocals in EUPM that rubs me up the wrong way. The earnestness with which the lyrics are delivered is often just too much for me to take seriously and ultimately I find this area to be where the cheesy odour that pervades EUPM smells strongest. To be sure, Persuader vocalist Jens Carlsson is far from the most egregious example of OTT vocalists, but it's still a part of Persuader's sound, as are those irritating, choral backing vocals. Thankfully Persuader don't feel the need to double-down on the excess by drenching their sound with layer upon layer of keyboards and this is a wise move, because when they are at their best, ie when they are at their most thrashy they have quite a visceral sound, not unlike early Iced Earth.

I can't claim any great urge to revisit When Eden Burns after this and I know it may feel like I am damning with faint praise, but it is one of the least annoying euro-pm albums I have heard.

3/5

Hi Ben, could you please add Moon Curse from Milwaukee. Ta.

Could you please add California's Worship of Keres, Ben. They only released a couple of EPs back in 2016/2017, but I quite like their female-voiced stoner doom sound.

Could you add Poland's Above Aurora please Ben?

Klone are yet another band I have been blissfully unaware of until now. Meanwhile is the latest of the band's eight albums and is quite a nice album of progressive alternative metal. The band are very accomplished musicians, obviously, and their sound is highly polished, as is their songwriting, for me a little too polished. At first this sounded great, but as the album proceeded it felt so controlled that it came over like it was lacking in character and more than once I wished that the band would just let rip and let themselves go. Although it sounds quite proggy it doesn't really contain any extended instrumental sections, in the vein of a band like Riverside, which would make the whole a lot more interesting. As it is, it just sounds like an exceedingly professional collection of songs that pass by without me being able to make any emotional connection with, other than in a chin-stroking admiration for their musical adroitness, but that isn't enough for me to return to a record. Although I do genuinely admire the band's skill, I am unable to engage with Meanwhile on an emotional level, so no, it isn't really for me I'm afraid.

2.5/5

For June could you add:

Ningen Isu - りんごの泪 (it's on two different albums, but it doesn't matter which one you pick)

Added. Thanks Morpheus.

Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten (1991)

I have a strong aversion to brutal death metal that stretches back to when I returned to metalhood around the turn of the millenium and I was still reading metal mags. Every cover disc from Terrorizer or Zero Tolerance seemed to be made up of about 60% crappy brutal death metal bands, so I gained a disdain for the genre as it all sounded basically the same. Suffocation is a name that I have come across many, many times over the years, but my distaste for the more brutal flavour of death metal meant that I had never investigated them further, at least until now. I had, of course, listened to a fair bit of Cannibal Corpse's discography and didn't mind them too much, especially in small doses, so there was hope yet that Suffocation might do it for me.

It's pretty obvious from the very off that Effigy of the Forgotten is superior to 99.9% of the shit that "adorned" those metal mag cover discs as, despite Suffocation's brutality, there are a whole heap of subtleties and nuances contained within it's nine tracks. Now I am not going to insult anyone's intelligence by making out that I know what makes a great death metal album (brutal or not), but I will say that these seemingly insignificant subtleties make all the difference to a borderline "fan" like myself.

Suffocation certainly seem to be aptly named because, initially at least, their sound is so dense that it feels claustrophobic and asphyxiating, leaving the listener gasping for air come albums end. Repeated listens, however, reveal that the band don't just seem to be about blasting you away with sheer bravado and brutality, although they certainly don't lack in that department either, but the ever-shifting riffs, searing, laser-focussed soloing and the technically superb-sounding, but totally badass, maniac behind the drum kit all combine to produce a ridiculously tight sound that contains far more than at first appears and rewards the listener the more invested in it they become. Hell, there are even times when the riffs turn downright "groovy" although those sections are short-lived, so don't let me mislead you that this is anything other than the unmitigated assault on your senses that it is. The vocals are one of the possible sticking points for me as sometimes this style feels far more forced and "put on" than, say, Chris Reifert or Dave Vincent. I don't hate Frank Mullen's growls altogether, but I feel they are one of the weaker aspects of Effigy of the Forgotten although they are much better than some of the "stuck pig" style of vocals that seem to have become popular in more modern brutal DM.

In summation, I would probably have to say that this is as good as it gets for me with brutal death metal as it isn't a genre I think I will ever come to truly love, but this is an album I could listen to again and whilst it doesn't tick all my boxes, there is more than enough here for me to get my teeth into without being overwhelmed by a band seeking brutality for brutality's sake.

4/5

Ben, do you have any suggestions for June as I would like to get the playlist boxed off a little earlier than usual this month?

Immolation - Dawn of Possession (1991)

The only Immolation album I was familiar with prior to checking out this, Immolation's debut, was their classic 2000 album, Close to a World Below, to which I awarded a five star rating, so it has been interesting to check out how the debut stacks up to that behemoth. Back in 1991, when Dawn of Possession was released, death metal was solidifying it's identity and had finally severed it's ties with the thrash metal scene that had spawned it. So too had Immolation, as they had left the thrash-based death metal of their early incarnation, Rigor Mortis, behind (none of the founding members of Rigor Mortis remained in the band at this point) and had evolved their sound into true death metal.

The riffs come thick and fast and seem to be constantly changing, but not in a choppy, distracting manner that some of the more technical death metal bands employ, but rather in a way that maintains the impetus of the tracks whilst still injecting a feeling of controlled chaos, which is often reinforced by the intense and savage soloing. The drumming is well worthy of note as Craig Smilowski turns in a superb performance behind the kit, deploying every trick in the book whilst not missing a beat and the positioning of the drums in the mix is perfect, allowing every beat to be heard without overwhelming the other performers. Last and not least come Ross Dolan's vocals which feel quite unique, the raspiness of his gutteral delivery seems unlike most other death metal growler's to my ears and he manages to create a brooding sense of menace in his exhortations to devilish forces and his celebrations of evil-doing.

I suppose Dawn of Possession could be cited as an early evolution towards the use of dissonance in death metal, but I never found it grating as I often do with modern disso-death, but rather it engenders a feeling of brutality and chaos and never allows the listener to get into a comfort zone where the tracks wash over them, as you have to constantly stay on your toes with this one. Not quite the classic that Close to a World Below is, but a damn fine debut nevertheless that any OSDM freak should love and goes some way to cementing Immolation as one of my favourite death metal bands along with Autopsy and Incantation.

4.5/5

Anthrax - Among the Living (1987)

You know, it really chafes me that Anthrax get so much shit and people scorn their inclusion in the so-called "Big Four". I'm sure this was originally because of some west coast / east coast thing. With three great albums, Among the Living, Spreading the Disease and Persistence of Time surely they did as much as the others to justify inclusion? Certainly no less than Megadeth I would suggest. They also had quite a unique sound within the B4, with Scott Ian's choppy riffs and Joey Belladonna's more USPM-like vocals. Sure, they went off a bit of a cliff in the end, but, to one degree or another, all four bands did. Anyway, this is one of my all-time favourite thrash albums and I would sit it proudly next to Reign in Blood and Master of Puppets without any qualms whatsoever, fuck whatever anyone else thinks.

Black Widow's Sacrifice from 1970? Latterly, Blood Ceremony have quite a few tracks that would suit the descriptor I would suggest. There are probably loads of examples, slower songs that conjure an atmosphere of dread aren't restricted to metal by any means. Early-70's underground  heavy psych is almost certainly full of such tracks.

By sheer coincidence two of this month's feature releases are from a couple of the first new bands I got into after returning to the bosom of metal brotherhood following a hiatus for most of the Nineties. One was Fear Factory and the other was Amorphis. I heard Black Winter Day somewhere (probably on a Metal Hammer cover disc) and was impressed by it's combination of death metal sensibilities and folky atmosphere. I obtained copies of Thousand Lakes, Elegy and Tuonela and they were all on regular rotation back in Sonnyville. 2001's Am Universum was a bit of a damp squib for me, however and eventually my love for Amorphis waned as I dived further down the extreme metal rabbit hole and I haven't listened to them a whole lot since the mid-2000s other than the odd track from Thousand Lakes, so this review will be a bit like catching up with an old friend and finding out what they have been up to since last we met.

Well, it would be wrong to say they haven't changed a bit, but I would have to admit that they have aged very well. I thought that by 2015 they would have become more technical and progressive than they actually were and I suspected that they wouldn't appeal to me that much, but I actually found Under the Red Cloud to be a very enjoyable and accessible slab of metal. Melodic death and folk metal are combined in an alchemical formula that shouldn't appeal to me in the slightest, but in the Finns' capable hands become an exceedingly palatable cocktail. I don't think I can praise the songwriting highly enough, for them to be able to combine genres I normally run a mile from into such an addictive release is testament to their songwriting skill. The folk metal element is quite prominent, but even so it never even hints at the cheesiness that so dogs the genre in other, less skilled hands, but makes complete sense in the context of this album and it is hard to imagine how it could exist without it. There are a couple of tracks where this element really transforms the melodic death metal skeleton of the tracks into something special, the oriental-flavoured Death of A King and Enemy At the Gates with it's exotic Middle-Eastern atmospherics and brilliant keyboard work. One track that made me smile was Tree of Ages, not because of any inherent cheesiness, but because the irish whistle featured sounds a lot like that featured in Aussie punk's The Rumjack's An Irish Pub Song - a track I love for it's vitality and catchy Irish theme. Amorphis have always been skilled performers and their performances on Under the Red Cloud are terrific, Tomi Joutsen's superb death growl / clean dual vocal attack, Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari's riffing and excellent leads, the layering of Santeri Kallio's keyboards and the faultless rhythms laid down by drummer Jan Rechberger and bassist Niclas Etelävuori underpinning everything the band does, are all absolutely top-notch.

There are several guest musicians featured on Under the Red Cloud, all of whom's contributions add a sheen that raises the album above the crowd, not least the much-lamented Aleah Stanbridge who contributes female vocals to three tracks, most noticeably official album closer, White Night. The Österäng Symphonic Orchestra are also featured and I don't think their contributions can be underestimated either, lending the album a sumptuousness that lifts it above the mundane.

All-in-all I loved Under the Red Cloud and it just seems to get better with each subsequent listen. I'm really glad Andi nominated it for this month's feature (thanks Andi) as it has allowed me to catch up with an old friend and to realise that I have actually missed them over the intervening years. I'll have to backtrack over their discography now and see what other marvels they have produced over the last twenty years or so.

4.5/5

Fear Factory were one of the first new bands I got into when I returned to metal fandom in the late 90s, playing the hell out of Demanufacture and Obsolete, then a bit later, Digimortal, yet for some reason I never got round to the band's debut. Coming to it so late and with the benefit of a huge chunk of hindsight, it is plain to hear that Soul of A New Machine is the product of a band that is in transition from an established genre to a brave new world as they explore interesting new directions for their sound. With this in mind, I would have to agree with those who say that Soul of A New Machine is more important historically than it is enjoyable, with the lack of any truly memorable tracks being the main case for the prosecution. That isn't to say that this is a bad record, because it isn't, but it does have the feel of a transitional piece with the band casting around for a solid indentity. I do hear what Daniel is saying about the groove metal element because one comparison that sprang to mind for me, particularly during the early tracks, was Sepultura's Chaos A.D. which was released a year later, although I would agree that it is only a secondary tag at best. Of course one of the main features of the album and the one for which Fear Factory would become synonomous is the industrial sound of the chugging riffs and the hard-hitting and machine-like drumming of Raymond Herrera. This is a sound that would be incredibly influential, for better or worse, on a new generation of bands like Marilyn Manson, Slipknot and Rammstein. There are still some tracks that are more rooted in death metal or even grind, but these seem to be some sort of vestigial anachronisms left over from the earliest incarnation of the band, like some kind of musical appendix.

One aspect of Fear Factory's earlier output which cannot be overstated is the importance of Burton C. Bell's dual harsh / clean vocals. Bell is an accomplished death metal growler, but his clean vocals are so well-suited to the material with a soaring, disembodied feel that seems to contain the soul of the narrator when confronted by the solid, dehumanising reality of the more tactile industrial atmospheres and the effectiveness of this contrast between human and machine perspectives is what sets FF apart from other industrial metal proponents. There are a few samples scatttered throughout and I suppose if you are going to use movie samples then you can't really go wrong with Blade Runner and Full Metal Jacket can you, although they are a bit predictable?

Decent enough though this debut is, for me it will always be merely the stepping stone to the classic that is Demanufacture, but it is still interesting enough in it's own right as it does illustrate exceedingly well how a seminal band transitions from a trend follower to a trend setter. They would seriously up the ante songwriting-wise on subsequent releases and lack of memorability would no longer be an issue for them, as they sorted out where they wanted their sound to go and then were able to concentrate on songwriting as they were no longer exploring what works and what doesn't. Interesting rather than indispensible.

3.5/5

That seems to echo my understanding of sludge very closely, Daniel. I have always considered the thick guitar tone to be just as important as the angry, anguished vocal delivery and the sludge guitar tone is definitely different to that used in doom. Following your definition, Hart Gore is most definitely sludge metal in my book and I hadn't really cottoned on to how much the feedback / noise aspect defines the genre until listening to an instrumental album.

I've been getting a bit lackadaisical of late with feature releases and have only been listening to those from my chosen clans, so I have vowed to start listening to them all, even if I don't review all of them and first up is this month's Revolution representative, Gaza's second album He Is Never Coming Back. I did check out their debut, I Don't Care Where I Go When I Die, when it was a feature release a couple of years back and I fucking hated it. Consequently, this didn't fill me with a huge amount of enthusiasm for the sophomore and I can't lie, I nearly always struggle with The Revolution and it's metal/mathcore content. That said, I did get much more out of this than I expected to. I still struggle with the vocals as they (in common with so many whatever-core releases) often sound like a toddler having a temper tantrum in Tesco's (a steroid-fuelled, 220lb toddler admittedly, but still!) I did enjoy a large proportion of the musical content however, maybe because the sludge component is more prevalent here than on the debut, or maybe because it feels a bit more accomplished than the earlier release. Whichever way, I wouldn't go out of my way to obtain a copy, but if it was on I wouldn't switch it off either and I think I would enjoy it a whole lot more with a less shout-y vocalist (but I guess that is what The Revolution is all about). A couple of tracks grabbed my attention - the main riff of The Meat of a Leg Joint is brilliant and the epic-sounding, although short, instrumental piece that follows it, The Astronomer, is a gorgeous and portentious-sounding piece. The lengthy, unnamed closer, or hidden track if you will, appeals to my Fallen sensibilities with it's serene and measured build-up and is reminiscent of the likes of Neurosis, proving that Gaza don't have to be super-intense all the time, which is no bad thing (and it has no vocals). Overall, He Is Never Coming Back had some really good moments and I like the overarching structure with the instrumental interludes breaking up the super-intensity of the main tracks, so this is probably as good as it gets for me and The Revolution and as such I would probably have to call it a success.

On a side note, does anyone know if this is this a concept album with the connecting instrumental tracks having intellectual/scientific occupation names?

3.5/5

Hi Vinny, my suggestions for June are:

Exciter - "I Am the Beast" (from "Long Live the Loud", 1985)
Lååz Rockit - "Take No Prisoners" (from "City's Gonna Burn", 1984)
Parkcrest - "The End of Times" (from "Hallucinative Minds", 2017)
Enforced - "Hanged by My Hand" (from "War Remains", 2023)
Whiplash - "Last Man Alive"(from "Power and Pain", 1986)
Necrodeath - "At the Mountains of Madness" (from "Into the Macabre", 1987)
Holy Moses - "Cult of the Machine" (from "Invisible Queen", 2023)

Gore - Hart Gore (1986)

Now here's an interesting release that may raise a question or two, first of which is "what actually constitutes sludge metal?" If sludge metal is defined by it's hardcore-derived vocal style then where does that leave an album like Hart Gore as it is a completely instrumental release. If it's a thick, doomy, stonerised guitar tone instead that distinguishes sludge, then it's two thumbs up over here for the Gore guys. I don't know the answer to the question, but what we have here, I would suggest, is something that sounds suspiciously like early sludge metal, but without any singing. Thick, syrupy riffs abound, reinforced by a powerful drum sound and occasional use of feedback, but where you would expect an album of instrumentals to have a ton of guitar leads, this has very few and really does sound like a sludge album without the vocal track. It is dual-tagged on RYM with noise rock and I can kind of hear that as it does sound quite rock-y in places. Without any meaningful leads it does sort of pale a bit before the end, but it is only just over half an hour long as so doesn't require a huge commitment on the part of the listener. I enjoyed it, I must admit, as it's something a bit different and if the truth be told sometimes the vocals in sludge metal piss me off, so that is never an issue here - and I really loved that drum sound. This pre-dates any of the Melvins EPs or albums, so I guess sludge wasn't even really a thing back then, so if ultimately this isn't a sludge album because of the lack of vocals then I would posit that it must be a stoner rock/metal album. Either way, you should probably check it out because it is an interesting release in the history of sludge metal and it sounds ahead of it's time.

3.5/5

The highlights for me this month have been Smoulder, Chelsea Wolfe and Fistula.  I keep meaning to explore more of Monolord's discography beyond No Comfort and Vænir looks he likely candidate if I am honest.  Went all skip button on STAKE, Hanging Garden, The Wounded King and Goya (I mean not bad stuff but a tad too similar to Electric Wizard really).  Passed a wet bank holiday Monday nicely though Sonny, keep up the good work.

Thanks Vinny. For me, Vaenir is Monolord's best and I would heartily recommend it if you like any of their other stuff.

Parkcrest - Hallucinative Minds (2017)

Parkcrest's 2020 album, ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red, is one of my favourite modern day thrash albums and is one of the few good enough to stand up to the output of thrash metal's 80's heyday. That classic is the follow-up to this, the Chileans' 2017 debut, Hallucinative Minds. In the three years between the two releases, it is evident what huge strides the band made in both content and execution as the debut is very much an album by a band that still seemed to be developing their identity. This is rawer and more aggressive-sounding than the sophomore, presenting Parkcrest as little more than Slayer wannabes. Songwriting-wise the two are miles apart, the more complex and shifting tones of the latter release's tracks are a huge improvement on the straightforward and somewhat unadventurous efforts here on the debut.

The actual execution is pretty good and it is obvious that these guys knew their way around their instruments at this point. The rhythm section comprises that dual component of busy and powerful drumming coupled with prominent, growling basslines, that are a particular feature of the modern chilean scene and these supply an interesting backdrop over which the rest of the tracks are built. However, the riffs, whilst solid, are derivative and the guitar soloing (in the main) is from the Hanneman / King short, sharp burst school. This does not, of course, make for a poor album, it is actually pretty damn solid and when they do take a few tentative steps towards progressing their sound, as on standout Dark Magicians, they are very good, but this does pale next to it's successor in every way. I woud say that Hallucinative Minds is Parkcrest's Kill 'em All, compared to ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red's Ride the Lightning. I hope their next album is their Master of Puppets then we will all be in for a treat!

3.5/5

I think this is actually the May playlist Ben! Whichever month it may or may not be, it was a sterling effort. It had an especially strong atmospheric black representation this month I thought, with Ulver, Burzum, Dark Space, Imperial Dekadenz and the new Aara being especially awesome. In fact, the only track that didn't really do it for me was the Abigail Williams track. Labyrinthus Stellarum and Totalselfhatred are two takeaways I need to explore further. Nicely done Ben and thanks for the effort to put together such a great list - it made my Sunday afternoon!

Metal Archives only list Nails on the basis of You Will Never Be One of Us, not this record also - wtf?

Quoted UnhinderedbyTalent

This is nothing unusual for Metal Archives which is inherently flawed in its approach. How bands like Converge, System Of A Down, Bring Me The Horizon & The Contortionist are deemed to be not metal enough to qualify for the site but Deep Purple, Scorpions & Rush are is anyone's guess. Even Meshuggah were only "accepted into the Metal Archives based on their material up to and including Contradictions Collapse."

Metal Archives are the very definition of gatekeepers. It is ludicrous that albums like Toxicity, Jane Doe, The Battle of Los Angeles and Mutter can't be listed, or (love them or hate them) bands like Slipknot and Korn, but 70's rock bands who don't play metal at all can. I think they harm their own credibility with this approach, especially their "It's our website, fuck off if you don't like it" attitude.

On a side note, RYM has this release dual-tagged as Black Metal & Dissonant Death Metal. For the record, there's absolutely zero death metal on offer here. It's yet another case of the inadequacies of the RYM genre-tagging model as people are simply voting up Dissonant Death Metal to cover the dissonance in the black metal.

For what it's worth, I thought the previous album sounded a lot more like blackened death metain a number of places and lazy voting may be one of the reasons for death metal being upvoted on this, i.e. the last album had some death metal on it, so this must have too.

Really fantastic playlist this month Vinny, I enjoyed it immensely. The Machine head, 4arm and Gojira tracks in the middle were a bit of  a flat spot for me personally, but other than that I loved it. Some brilliant classic tracks with a nice mix of lesser known stuff. New (to me) standouts were Power Trip and Toxic Wine. Nice work once more, my  friend.

OK, so a one-man black metal project, releasing their second album of the year only three months after the first, does not bode well too often I would suggest. Despite all the initial outward impressions of Hoplites promising Hellenic Black Metal, the project is actually from Ningbo in Zhejiang province, China and so has caught me on the back foot from the off. In order to get a better feel for Τρωθησομένη, I first went and listened to Hoplites' earlier release from the start of the year, Ψευδομένη. This is an album of full-blooded, blasting, dissonant black metal with a heavy death metal influence. Liu Zhenyang chucks everything at it, presenting a bit of a wall-of-sound with a drum machine that, even though it's a machine, sounds like it's about to have an aneurysm, so much blasting is it asked to do. Of course, I'm not keen on such obvious use of drum machines, so that is a minus point I'm afraid. The whole album feels constipated and restricted, despite the dissonant elements being to the fore and he doesn't allow the tracks any time to breathe, so the listener is just battered relentlessly with no time to take stock of things, which I think is something you need to be able to do with a technical/dissonant album of metal like this otherwise it just feels like a beating.

So to Τρωθησομένη, the album in question. Well, this time around the album doesn't feel like quite so much of a pummelling, even though it is in a very similar vein. I feel the drum machine takes a bit more of a back seat, sounding a bit more pushed down in the mix, allowing the riffs more ear time, especially as the dissonant leadwork seems to be less persistent, a lot of the dissonance being derived from the constantly-shifting rhythms - aided by a more prominent bass sound. The riffs are, may I say, a bit more accessible, even verging on thrash riffs on a number of occasions and the whole affair feels less intense than on the previous album. That said, it still doesn't do a whole lot for me and I continue to struggle with the dissonant elements in the same way as I do with excess technicality - it just doesn't rev my engine to be honest. I can hear what is being striven for here, but it isn't my cup of tea and I don't have enough knowledge of the genre to judge exactly how successful Hoplites has been in his endeavour.

3/5

Hi Ben, my suggestions for June:

Árstíðir Lifsins - "Ek sá halr at Hóars veðri hǫsvan serk Hrísgrísnis bar" from "Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjǫll né firðir" (2020)

Emperor - "Thus Spake the Nightspirit" from "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" (1997)

You can't go far wrong with Chilean thrash, so I'll take the Parkcrest debut.

I will take the Epheles EP.

I will take Rituals of the Oak.

May 2023

1. Lord Mountain - "The Sacrifice" from "The Oath" (2023)
2. Smoulder - " Dragonslayer's Doom" from "Violent Creed of Vengeance" (2023)
3. Saturnus - "I Love Thee" from "Paradise Belongs to You" (1997) [submitted by Daniel]
4. Spectrum Mortis - "U-Anne-Dugga" from "Bit Meseri - The Incantation" (2022) [submitted by Vinny]
5. STAKE - "Photonic" from "The Hutch" (2013) [submitted by Ben]
6. Hanging Garden - "The Garden" from "The Garden" (2023)
7. Monolord - "Died a Million Times" from "Vaenir" (2015) [submitted by Sonny]
8. Fistula - "Morbid Incel" from "The Process of Opting Out" (2020)
9. Chelsea Wolfe - "Dragged Out" from "Abyss" (2015) [submitted by Daniel]
10. The Wounded Kings - "Vulture" from "Vision In Bone" (2016)
11. Boris - "Huge" from "Amplifier Worship" (1998) [submitted by Daniel]
12. The Howling Void - "Lord of the Black Gulf" from "Shadows Over the Cosmos" (2010) [submitted by Ben]
13. Goya - "No Place in the Sky" from "Obelisk" (2015) [submitted by Sonny]
14. Neurosis - "The Tide" from "A Sun That Never Sets" (2001) [submitted by Vinny]
15. Full of Hell & Primitive Man - "Rubble Home" from "Suffocating Hallucination" (2023)

Excellent idea, Morpheus! Having a similar feature to RYM so you can only see suggestive album covers when you're logged in and have certain filters off, with the ability to turn those filters on to hide specific topics, might get more people on to the site with no fear of anything they may be sensitive to, and therefore might boost the website's popularity. It might certainly help me a bit, as I'm still living with my sometimes suspicious parents. I know Cannibal Corpse and other standard/brutal death metal bands would get the hidden album cover treatment for their violence and gore. Same with the first few Type O Negative albums (pair of naked women about to kiss, close-up of the frontman's a****le, etc.), which is a good reason I stopped listening to that band besides my break from gothic/doom metal. So what do you think of Morpheus' idea, all?

Not a fan.  I simply skip over/hit the back button on anything I see I don't like (I find most of the depiction of women on metal album covers unpleasant but simply ignore them).  Do you really think Andi that the reason why MA isn't crawling with users is because there are some album covers that are offensive?  Creating a cottage industry out of album cover content (which I imagine can soon become a laborious task for admins) is precisely the wrong thing to do on a site that needs more members, surely a more open and transparent site is what would attract people. 

Let's stop believing that everyone else out there lives by our values, needs and wants - there are some out there who would actively seek such artwork as described on this thread (for whatever reason).  I am not saying it is wrong to be offended by violence, fascism, sexism, gore etc just that I believe that it is my own responsibility to decide if I want to look at it or not.

In all seriousness, I am with Vinny on this one - anything that smells of censorship raises suspicion in me. Filters of this kind just remove the need for any kind of personal responsibility for what we see and look at. Life isn't always pretty and neither are metal album covers. Metal is often a genre that likes to go for the "shock" factor and those of a sensitive nature need to bear that in mind.

Like Vinny, some of the depictions of women in particular on some metal covers I find particularly unpleasant, but I don't expect Ben to have to look at them all in order to keep the site's content comprehensive then have myself pretend that they don't exist by filtering them out.

Well, the weather's getting better here in the UK, so I can spend more times outdoors and the monthly playlists are excellent company whilst working in the garden or whatever. As a result I managed to squeeze this month's Horde playlist in and got a lot from it. I didn't have the actual tracklist in front of me while listening, so I'm not too sure who played what, but it was an enjoyable listen nonetheless. Yes, there were some tracks that weren't up my alley, the cybergrind of Whourkr (I think it was) is something I don't think I will ever come round to. Similarly some of the slam death towards the back end of the playlist wasn't really for me. Other than that, though, there was plenty of great stuff, the first ten tracks were a brilliant start and one in particular I checked out later was the Benediction track, a band I have heard a lot about, but not listened to much, but will definitely do so going forward. So nice work Daniel and hopefully I will try to check out the Horde playlist every month.

Excellent idea, Morpheus! Having a similar feature to RYM so you can only see suggestive album covers when you're logged in and have certain filters off, with the ability to turn those filters on to hide specific topics, might get more people on to the site with no fear of anything they may be sensitive to, and therefore might boost the website's popularity. It might certainly help me a bit, as I'm still living with my sometimes suspicious parents. I know Cannibal Corpse and other standard/brutal death metal bands would get the hidden album cover treatment for their violence and gore. Same with the first few Type O Negative albums (pair of naked women about to kiss, close-up of the frontman's a****le, etc.), which is a good reason I stopped listening to that band besides my break from gothic/doom metal. So what do you think of Morpheus' idea, all?

I agree if we can have a filter that prevents me from seeing any more of those cutesy anime covers that seem to be becoming ever more popular among certain types of bands!

I have been wondering if there is any chance of a "Collection" feature with a button on each release that says "add to my collection" and then a link on each member's homepage to a "My Collection" page. I know a lot of people just d/l or stream their metal nowadays, but an avid collector like myself (and possibly Vinny) may get some good use out of it - I know I would like to be able to see my collection here on Metal Academy - and maybe it would entice new members to stick around a bit.

Also, in a similar vein, how about a "Wishlist" feature to allow member's to keep tabs on albums they want to check out?

They have this on Metal Storm and of course Discogs.  I think it would be a neat idea.  I have slowed down on the physical copies so far this year (he says with an Aosoth album about to be shipped from Season of Mist - ahem) largely due to other financial priorities.  Will always have a physical collection of some kind alongside streaming which is still my majority means of listening to music.

Yeah, I've had to slow down too. Prices have become a bit silly just lately. A couple of examples - a charity shop in town wanted £9 for My Dying Bride's For Lies I Sire secondhand, HMV want £55 for a vinyl of Jethro Tull's Aqualung and I just tried to order the new Lord Mountain CD from Bandcamp and the CD was £9 but postage was £20!! Got it for £13 off amazon in the end.

I have got (most of) my collection logged on both Discogs and Metal Storm, but I would really like to be able to have it here on the #1 metal website too. I really do think it might encourage some new members to return to the site as well, to update their collections.

That Aosoth album cost me just as much for shipping as it did for the record.  Bonkers.

It's no wonder Bezos is a f***ing billionaire - that free shipping is as hard to resist as crack-covered Pringles!!

I have been wondering if there is any chance of a "Collection" feature with a button on each release that says "add to my collection" and then a link on each member's homepage to a "My Collection" page. I know a lot of people just d/l or stream their metal nowadays, but an avid collector like myself (and possibly Vinny) may get some good use out of it - I know I would like to be able to see my collection here on Metal Academy - and maybe it would entice new members to stick around a bit.

Also, in a similar vein, how about a "Wishlist" feature to allow member's to keep tabs on albums they want to check out?

They have this on Metal Storm and of course Discogs.  I think it would be a neat idea.  I have slowed down on the physical copies so far this year (he says with an Aosoth album about to be shipped from Season of Mist - ahem) largely due to other financial priorities.  Will always have a physical collection of some kind alongside streaming which is still my majority means of listening to music.

Yeah, I've had to slow down too. Prices have become a bit silly just lately. A couple of examples - a charity shop in town wanted £9 for My Dying Bride's For Lies I Sire secondhand, HMV want £55 for a vinyl of Jethro Tull's Aqualung and I just tried to order the new Lord Mountain CD from Bandcamp and the CD was £9 but postage was £20!! Got it for £13 off amazon in the end.

I have got (most of) my collection logged on both Discogs and Metal Storm, but I would really like to be able to have it here on the #1 metal website too. I really do think it might encourage some new members to return to the site as well, to update their collections.

My initial take was that this is a great example of underground 80s thrash metal that deserves to be held up as an equal to contempories like Testament and Exodus. The opening couple of tracks are pretty good thrashers, with Revenge having a truly memorable chorus to rival anything around at the time (despite the track dragging on a little bit too long) and both tracks having decent riffs,  In fact, I would suggest that the whole album is all about the riffs as singer Bob Mayo has a nice rasping delivery, but is restricted in range and the lead guitar work is too understated, almost to the point of non-existence bar a couple of notable exceptions (Revenge again being one such). It even seems a couple of times like a solo is coming, but then one never materialises and they just keep playing the riff over and over. And therein lies the problem - when an album is primarily about the riffs they need to be absolutely top-knotch and those on Why Play Around? aren't really that, never accelerating much beyond mid-pace and never leaping out and grabbing you by the throat. So my initial rose-tinted view was soon dispelled because, basically, that is all there is to the album. This is especially problematic when taken in context, with a plethora of death/thrash hybrids abounding in the underground at this time and starting to break out into the wider metal world, when these kind of plodding riffs just weren't cutting the mustard anymore and it's easy to see why Wargasm got left behind.

Ultimately Why Play Around? doesn't really offer enough to hold the attention over repeated listens, although for a quick punching-the-air headbanging workout it is fine. Throw in a couple of redundant interludes that add absolutely nothing and we are on a downward spiral really. Essentially this is nothing more than a footnote in thrash metal history for good reason and if any of the tracks other than Revenge popped up on the monthly playlist then I doubt they would raise much of an eyebrow from me.

3/5

I have been wondering if there is any chance of a "Collection" feature with a button on each release that says "add to my collection" and then a link on each member's homepage to a "My Collection" page. I know a lot of people just d/l or stream their metal nowadays, but an avid collector like myself (and possibly Vinny) may get some good use out of it - I know I would like to be able to see my collection here on Metal Academy - and maybe it would entice new members to stick around a bit.

Also, in a similar vein, how about a "Wishlist" feature to allow member's to keep tabs on albums they want to check out?

1782 -  Clamor Luciferi (2023)

Released 14th April on Heavy Psych Records

1782 are a Sardinian three-piece who were formed by members of stoner / heavy psych band Raikinas back in 2018 and are a band I have been following fairly closely. They hadn't yet produced anything earth-shattering, but I could hear that they had potential for some decent stuff so stuck with them. Clamor Luciferi (Scream of Satan) is their third full-length since 2019 (so they aren't hanging around) and marks yet another step up the stoner doom ladder for the Italians. They are heavily redolent of stoner doom masters Electric Wizard, who I suspect are a major influence, not just on their sound but also on their subject matter, the occult and anti-religion featuring heavily in their lyrical themes.

Starting off with a short, foreboding organ piece, A Merciful Suffering, (not exactly an original device in occult stoner doom circles, but effective nonetheless) 1782 set the scene for the journey through the house of the devil that is Clamor Luciferi. As the organ subsides that thick, syrupy, fuzzed-up guitar kicks in, joined by a ponderous drum-beat that portends ill like some bell of doom. The vocals are of the rough, but washed-out, distant-sounding variety, heard as if from a great fog-ridden distance, that intone all manner of devilry and misdeed. The following forty minutes comprise unrelenting hugely distorted, ponderous riffs that diverge very little from stoner doom orthodoxy and an ominous atmosphere derived from occult horror themes of demon-summoning and devil worship. There are a couple of short solos on the album, but that isn't what this is about, it's all about the atmosphere.

All-in-all this hasn't got much by way of originality, but it is pretty damn heavy and ticks all the boxes you would expect from a band so heavily influenced by Electric Wizard, so if that sounds like something you would enjoy then give it a spin. Personally, I enjoyed it, but I have always been a sucker for stonerized doom, so that's not too much of a surprise (like the album).

3.5/5

Hi again, Ben. Could you add 1782's latest  Clamor Luciferi please?

I have actually listened to Wintaar a bit and have rated two or three of his albums, the best of which is Nordic Glares Bless the Dead which I described at the time as "Rabid-sounding, blasting, russian black metal that will strip the paint off your car at fifty paces!" Not bad, but not great either. I guess it's easier for a lone wolf outfit to keep going in the face of massive indifference than it is a full band. You have got to admire artist's like these tenacity in a way. Might check a couple more of his albums out now you've reminded me of him, Ben, as I haven't listened to him for a while.

Lord Mountain - The Oath (2023)

Lord Mountain are a four-piece from Santa Rosa, California who have a really nice trad doom sound. They released a solid four-track ep in 2016, which was then re-released as a split album with Oakland doomsters, Mesmer. Now 2023 sees the release of their debut full-length, The Oath. If, like me, you are a fan of traditional doom with a stoner twist, then The Oath should hold at least some appeal for you. These guys aren't trying to reinvent the wheel, but are taking a tried and tested recipe and producing a tasty treat for anyone who likes this particular flavour of doom metal. The Oath has an excellent guitar tone, with just the right amount of distortion and a satisfying depth that really ticks my boxes. The riffs are suitably weighty and are fairly memorable in the main, sometimes straying into heavy metal territory when the pace picks up and there is also some quite tasty lead work - such as during second track, The Giant. The rhythm section is clear as a bell with a throbbing bass and a drummer who is exceedingly competent without being flashy. The vocals are pretty decent, albeit functional, as they are in a lot of traditional doom (it is very rare for a trad doom outfit to have really outstanding vocalist) but they suit the material perfectly well and are possibly even above average for this style of doom metal.

Reading this back it feels a little bit like damning with faint praise but, believe me, Lord Mountain have released a really nice slab of trad doom here and although it makes no attempt to rewrite any of the rules it is highly enjoyable and should appeal to any fans of trad doom who just want another quality fix of the doomy stuff.

4/5

I think a chronological approach to certain subjects can certainly be helpful. For instance, when I was struggling to get into death metal my Death Metal: A Voyage of (Re-)Discovery project really helped by taking it back to the very early demos and seminal releases and in so doing I gained a better insight into, and appreciation of, death metal and so found myself a way into a genre which I now "get" much better and am really enjoying exploring (when time allows).

Nice review Daniel and a real insider's view of a little-known, albeit influential, act from days gone by. It's great to get a picture of such an underground band from someone who was a contemporary of theirs. I, in common with many others I suspect, had never heard of them before.

Is that release on u-toob?

I think the members of a clan are probably best to judge if a release belongs in that clan. If moving a release out of a clan results in it being moved to non-metal there is surely nothing stopping someone else from submitting a further Hall request for it to be included elsewhere if they feel it deserves inclusion in a different clan. I would have thought this would be a very rare occurence as usually Hall requests are quite well considered before being submitted.

If a release is tagged as some kind of extreme Horde genre such as gorenoise or grindcore for example, yet the Horde members don't believe it has enough metal to qualify - maybe it is just harsh noise or extreme hardcore punk - I don't think most non-Horde members would really have enough knowledge of those extreme non-metal genres to judge it's merits accurately. So, what I am saying is, I think things are best left as they are.

So, a quick question to the playlist compilers: Which of the sub-genres you encounter when compiling the playlists do you least enjoy checking out for new playlist entries. I think I have never made any secret of my aversion to a lot of gothic metal, so it is that which irritates me most when I need to find new tracks to include in The Fallen playlist. Which are your particular sub-genres where you have to bite the bullet for the greater good?

Sorry I haven't been adding any suggestions recently, Ben. I haven't been listening to much black metal lately, but I did check out the playlist and it was terrific. The only one that didn't do much for me was Falaise, but I have always struggled with them. Nice to hear a track from Moonsorrow's Tulimyrsky EP - the title track is my favourite Moonsorrow track and Back To North is very good too (despite being a cover). It's always brilliant to hear tracks from Mayhem and Panopticon as well. I really must get it together and check out the new albums from Azaghal and Sarcoptes as both sound great. Nice work once more and I will endeavour to get a suggestion or two in next month.

Cheers, Ben. I'll squeeze them in, don't worry.

The closing track from Lååz Rockit's underwhelming second album, No Stranger to Danger, is clearly the album's highlight:

Lååz Rockit - No Stranger to Danger (1985)

I could be quite stubborn when I was younger and if I took against something then that was that. One thing I despised with a passion (and still do, to be honest) was glam/hair metal and anything connected to it. The problem was, that if I got it into my head that something was glam metal then I completely blanked it from my life. Lååz Rockit were one of those who fell foul of my prejudice, by the most tenuous of excuses which was that they had a name that sounded glam. Yes, I really was that pigheaded that I didn't even look into it further, but condemned them even without a trial!
Anyway, I have since found out, of course, that Lååz Rockit aren't glam metal at all, nor were they ever and so I have recently been checking them out, first via third album, Know Your Enemy, which was a terrific thrash / USPM metal record that I enjoyed a lot. I then moved onto the debut, City's Gonna Burn which was a reasonable example of mid-eighties, twin guitar heavy and speed metal.

So today I have been checking out sophomore No Stranger to Danger and I gotta say upfront, this is my least favoured of the band's first three albums. The band seem to have been making a conscious effort to produce an album of sing-along metal anthems and the majority of the tracks feel a bit flaccid to me as a result. Guitarists Phil Kettner and Aaron Jellum do make a plucky effort to save these tracks with some high velocity solos, but the riffs are quite mundane and the choruses are designed to get a crowd singing along. Unsurprisingly my favourite tracks are the more thrashy Backbreaker and Wrecking Machine which are more indicative of where the band were heading for the follow-up and stand head and shoulders above the rest of the material, particularly Wrecking Machine, which at least ends the album on a high.

Ultimately, for me, an unsatisfying slab of heavy metal that only offers occasional glimpses of what the band are really capable of.

3/5