Sonny's Forum Replies

Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

So, armed with my new-found knowledge of the Swedish death metal sound (thanks Ben and Daniel for enlightening me), I turn to Sweden's Entombed and their debut Left Hand Path. Now that it's been pointed out, the difference between the mainly US death metal that went before and the more heavily distorted sound produced by these Swedes is pretty obvious, even to my untrained ear. At the risk of being lambasted for such heresy, for me this increased distortion and the wall-of-sound it creates (the buzzsaw sound) is a large distraction from the riffs, which feel like they are buried under a thick layer that takes away from their efficacy. A further result of this is that the lack of definition in the riffs means that the songs then seem to blur into one another and rob them of their individuality. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for heavy distortion (you can't be as big a doom fan as me without it) but I really don't feel it particularly adds anything to the death metal sound and this lack of definition in the riffs robs them of their power to my ears. That said, this does not make Left Hand Path a poor album, but I found I had to approach it from the point of view of the overall effect of it as a whole rather than focussing on individual tracks, the diversity of which isn't massive. When taken as such it is a fairly evil-sounding release and that guitar sound does have a kind of hypnotic effect if you stop trying to differentiate the riffs and let it just overwhelm you, a lot like listening to the droning of a large (angry) bee colony.

The rhythm section seems pretty solid, if not spectacular and the growls are suitably gruff and threatening. The lead guitar work though is possibly my favourite part of the album and the solos seem to have lost the chaotic, Slayeresque aspect of so many predecessors and, in fact, sound far more like the work James Murphy put in on Death's Spiritual Healing.

Overall, I understand why Entombed are beloved by death metal fans, their sound was certainly a new direction for death metal at the time, but I prefer the greater clarity of the US sound or, at the very least, the all-in atmospheric representation of decay and death as peddled by the likes of Autopsy and Sempiternal Deathreign.
3.5/5

Hi Vinny, my suggestions for August are:

Pestilence - " Systematic Instruction" from "Malleus Maleficarum" (1988)
Deathhammer - "Thrown to the Abyss" from "Electric Warfare" (2022)
Hallows Eve - "Plunging to Megadeath" from "Tales of Terror" (1985)
Death Angel - "Voracious Souls" from "The Ultra-Violence" (1987)
Witchery - "Witching Hour" from "Witching Hour" single (2022)
Toxic Holocaust - "Nuke the Cross" from "An Overdose of Death... " (2008)

Don’t feel pressured to do so but with Daniel having a month off I am open to you adding more than your usual allotted minutes Sonny.  Fine if you want to stick with this though.

OK Vinny. When do you want any additional suggestions in by?

Hi Vinny, my suggestions for August are:

Pestilence - " Systematic Instruction" from "Malleus Maleficarum" (1988)
Deathhammer - "Thrown to the Abyss" from "Electric Warfare" (2022)
Hallows Eve - "Plunging to Megadeath" from "Tales of Terror" (1985)
Death Angel - "Voracious Souls" from "The Ultra-Violence" (1987)
Witchery - "Witching Hour" from "Witching Hour" single (2022)
Toxic Holocaust - "Nuke the Cross" from "An Overdose of Death... " (2008)

Hi Ben, I've only really been listening to my own CD classics in the car for my black metal fix this last month, so my suggestions for August are:

Darkthrone - "Crossing the Triangle of Flames" (6:13) from "Under a Funeral Moon" (1993)

Burzum - "Det som en gang var (14:20) from "Hvis lyset tar oss" (1994)

Overall an enjoyable listen, although I personally struggled with the tech-thrash trio after Pantera (although following them with that Voivod track was genius as all was then forgiven!). The rest was pretty kick-ass and Sick Boogie Murder deserves special mention for being so fucking off-the-wall. Nice job, Vinny.

Immolation - Close To A  World Below (2000)

A couple of days ago I was having a look at the Academy charts and thought I would start listening to some of the albums I haven't heard yet, starting with the current #1 and ...holy fucking shit!! I may well have finally found my all-time favourite death metal album right here, hiding in plain sight at the top of the Metal Academy all-time chart. I can't think of another album that sounds so efforlessly evil as this motherfucker. As much as I have found some great albums during my early death metal discovery project and also discovered several through monthly features etc, such as Incantation's Mortal Throne of Nazarene, this inhabits a whole new level. I am unable to summon a half-decent review just yet as I don't think I can do it justice, but it seems to feature the best of the old-school alongside later ideas and smashes a wrecking ball through what I understood death metal to be.

5/5 - but is one of those exceedingly rare albums that gives me the feeling I need to revisit all my other death metal ratings and drop them all at least half a star as the bar has just been irreversibly raised! Added it into my Top 20 at #15 initially (my top death metal release if you don't count Opeth), causing Ahab's Call of the Wretched Sea to drop out.

Here's my review:

The Chilean thrash scene is one of the more vital and vibrant iterations of the genre in these early decades of the 21st century. Bands like Demoniac, Critical Defiance and Ripper are but the tip of the Chilean iceberg and Parkcrest are another extremely talented bunch of thrashers. It does seem like quite a tight scene however, with Parkcrest guitarist Diego Armijo and drummer Nicolás Villanueva also playing in Ripper and vocalist/guitarist Javier Salgado playing in Critical Defiance and Hellish amongst several others. Formed in 2011, Parkcrest didn't release their first album until 2016's Hallucinative Minds hit the metaphorical Bandcamp shelves. Whilst being an energetic and raw album, Hallucinative Minds is far from the finished product, but did show some promise. So did the follow up, ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red deliver on that promise? Well, I would have to say that, by and large, yes it has and it is a massive leap forward when compared to the debut.

The first difference is that the production this time round is much improved from the debut and sounds powerful, yet has an impressive clarity that allows all the band member's contributions to distinctly be heard. The rhythm section of bassist Cristoffer Pinto and Villanueva are the particular benefactors of this improvement in production values. Pinto's bass throbs along, providing a super-solid foundation from which the others can weave their magic. Villanueva's drumming is possibly the biggest revelation for me on this record, it is furious yet controlled and is much more than just straightforward pummelling. His work here is reminiscent of Dave Lombardo and praise for a thrash metal drummer doesn't get much higher than that does it?

Of course, what we all turn to thrash metal for is the riffs isn't it and here Parkcrest certainly deliver, firing them off like they're going out of style from a seemingly inexhaustible supply. There may not be quite as many as on, say, Time Does Not Heal, but they certainly come thick and fast. Guitarist Javier Salgado doubles up as vocalist and his harsh, barking vocal style is particularly reminiscent o f Kreator's Mille Petrozza and, in fact, I have seen several plausible comparisons to Kreator, Slayer and early Sepultura and while they do take inspiration from these more aggressive purveyors of thrash, their sound is distinctly their own with a degree of technicality coupled with the aforementioned aggressiveness, this being a hallmark of the "Chilean sound" it would seem.

The songwriting is fantastic with several really great tracks on here, the opening duo of Impossible to Hide and Darkest Fear are a killer opening salvo and the instrumental Dwelling of the Moonlights may be my favourite thrash track since the early nineties. This is an album with a surfeit of riffs coupled with searing, meteoric soloing and a tempo that is unrelenting. I don't say this often but this is a modern thrash offering that is more than capable of holding it's own against all but the very best the genre has ever produced and Parkcrest comfortably sit in the vanguard of the latest thrash metal revitalisation.

Nah... I'll just listen to those tracks elsewhere. The irony of Mournful Congregation being unavailable to the Aussie audience though.

Maybe they feel they should get a better deal from Spotify in their own country, or perhaps they released the ep on a different label that doesn't have a deal with Spotify in Australia. Out of interest, can you see any of their other stuff?

I can see those two tracks in your Spotify playlist now that I'm on my usual work laptop Sonny but they're still not accessioble in my region. I've added them to the playlist.

I guess the vagaries of licensing deals are likely to be an issue from time to time. Luckily we don't seem to come up against it too often. It's an unfortunate coincidence that two consecutive tracks are affected this time and a bit of a shame as it eviscerates the list a to some extent. Sadly, as yourself and Ben are probably the only others who listen to it, this Pacific region issue will affect most of it's audience! 

Do you want me to substitute either or both of them?

For some reason I can't seem to see the Mournful Congregation track on Spotify Sonny. I also had to go with the German version of the Reverend Bizarre one.

That must be an Australian rights issue with Mournful Congregation because I have listened to it several times on Spotify and I ran through the whole playlist earlier this week with no problems. I found no issue with Reverend Bizarre either. Do you want me to change anything?

Saor - Origins (2022)

I have been a huge fan of Andy Marshall's Saor project since virtually it's inception and I own physical copies of all his previous albums (in fact I own both CD and vinyl copies of previous album Forgotten Paths) and I have rated three of his four albums as 4.5/5 or better. First glimpse of new album Origins was the gorgeous cover art which is one of my favourite covers ever. So, initial thoughts after a couple of listen-throughs are that I have got to admit to being horribly disappointed. There seems to be hardly any black metal here at all, the beautiful and stirring atmospheric black metal soundscapes Saor have become synonymous with being replaced by fairly pedestrian celtic and folk metal. I have made no secret of my dislike of folk metal and I'm gutted that one of my favourite acts has resorted to such a banal trope. I will persevere with it just because I have such huge respect for Andy Marshall and I would love to own a vinyl copy for that amazing cover alone, but for the time being I remain unconvinced.

3/5

July 2022:

1. Caronte - "Black Mandala" from "Church of Shamanic Goetia" (2014) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Moonspell - "Dreamless (Lucifer and Lilith)" from "Night Eternal" (2008)
3. Epitaphe - "Insignificant" from "II" (2022) [submitted by Ben]
4. Chelsea Wolfe - "16 Psyche" from "Hiss Spun" (2017) [submitted by Sonny]
5. Reverend Bizarre - "Burn in Hell!" from "In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend " (2002) [submitted by Sonny]
6. Mournful Congregation - "Mountainous Shadows, Cast Through Time" from "The Exuviae of Gods - Part I" (2022)
7. Kyuss - "Green Machine" from "Blues for the Red Sun" (1992)
8. Ramesses - "Witchampton" from "We Will Lead You to Glorious Times" (2005)
9. Primitive Man - "This Life" from "Insurmountable" (2022) [submitted by Ben]
10. Doomraiser - "In Winter" from "Reverse (Passaggio inverso)" (2015) [submitted by Sonny]
11. Earth - "Like Gold and Faceted" from "Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version" (1993) [submitted by Daniel]

The content of the list is fairly irrelevant as any list compiled by a corporate entity means FA to me. If I'm going to read a list of greatest metal albums I would much rather read one compiled by someone who actually gives a shit about metal in the first place - at least it's gonna be honest. The point I was trying to make is that metal was originally derided and scorned, when not just ignored, by the established music commentators. Compare this to the advent of punk rock when everyone in the music press wet themselves over it from the get-go because it was controversial and would sell copies -  which is the only thing that ever matters to these cultural vampires. 

In fact, here in the UK, metal and hard rock (that wasn't The Stooges or the New York Dolls) got even more of a hard time and was mercilessly derided. That is unti the advent of the NWOBHM when suddenly everyone in the music press - surprise, surprise - were smelling money and were suddenly lifelong mealheads. This was all in pre-internet days obviously when the only alternative to these charlatans was our friends and peers who helped each other to form and pollinate their own metal taste and so form bonds within a scene that no amount of corporate bullshit could penetrate.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I view Metal Academy as very much akin to that clique of friends and peers who helped shape my metal world in the face of outside derision and hostility, as represented not only by the corporate media, but also clickbait-addicted hipsters on other sites (hello RYM) who's sole purpose seems to be to deride metal and metalheads. So let's all keep on doing what we're doing and fuck those assholes who just don't "get it" because we don't need their scorn and we don't need their approval.

Sorry - rant over.

Well this was really interesting and a pleasant surprise. After the first few bars I thought we were in for another dissonant release of the kind I struggle with, but although this does dabble with dissonant elements, it has more going on than just that. Here Flourishing infuse their death metal with elements from outside of metal circles, post-punk and noise rock for example, and so provide, at least in my experience, a unique and refreshing take on extreme metal. The Sum of All Fossils is an album of contrasting textures, but that work together exceedingly well, be it the cloying and suffocating layers of their dissonant death metal, or the more expansive post-punk-inspired sections and the abrasiveness of the noise rock / post-hardcore passages. The transitions between these various textural contrasts are also handled masterfully. There was quite a few times when I was reminded of Akercocke's Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone album, particularly with how some of the transitions were handled.

The vocals feel a little buried at times, which isn't so much of a problem for the death growls (which often sound to be more of a black metal shriek), but the post-hardcore cleans sound a bit like they are fighting against the tide. The band's use of dissonance isn't especially overbearing, luckily for me as I find an excess of dissonance to be off-putting, but is tempered by the more melodic passages derived from the non-metal genres. Technically, it all sounds very much to my non-musician's ear like these guys know their way around their instruments and the songwriting is adventurous and exhilarating.

For me, this was a genuine revelation and although it isn't a perfect release for my particular sensibilities, it is one that has impressed me mightily and is definitely one I can see me revisiting in the future. An excellent choice for a monthly feature might I add, as I am guessing it is somewhat of an underground release that offers something a little different and is thoroughly deserving of greater exposure.

4/5

A few colleagues who came to Florida have since gone down with COVID upon return (I am not among the infected thankfully).  Florida was stupid hot (95 degrees Fahrenheit at one point) but was still a blast even though I had to work. Mad busy since getting back just over a week ago as been working in Scotland this past week so had little time to shake the jet-lag before getting out on the road.  Only this coming week to go then a long weekend in cabin near Snowdonia in Wales that has a hot tub so I will plonk myself in that for four days and enjoy some long overdue downtime.

Welcome back Vinny. Nice to hear from you. Enjoy your break.

What can I say about Quietus other than it is a sublime combination of funeral and death doom that comfortably sits very high on my list of all-time great albums. Evoken cannot be accused of being a band who rush things. Forming in 1994, debut album Embrace the Emptiness wasn't released until four years later with sophomore Quietus emerging another three years after that. In fact their twenty-eight years have so far only seen six albums released, so I think we can safely say that the New Jersey five-piece are a band who like to take the time to properly work up their newest material before unleashing it upon their fans. This meticulousness reveals itself in the extremely consistent quality of Evoken's published material and never more so than here with this hour of extreme doom metal nirvana.

5/5

Death - Spiritual Healing (1990)

Spiritual Healing is one of the two Death albums I was still yet to listen to prior to this (the other being The Sound of Perseverance). There is a certain degree of progression throughout all of the Death discography and here Chuck Schuldiner decides (for Death were a band in name only and were essentially Chuck and a band of hired guns, all band decisions taken by he alone) on a stylistic departure from the first two albums. Gone are the cartoonish, horror-themed lyrics and cover art of SBG and Leprosy and in comes actual horrors from the real world - drug addiction, mental health issues, even abortion and the death penalty all come in for scrutiny from Chuck's lyrical examination. This lyrical evolution being just one of several obvious indicators of his increasing maturity as a songwriter and his refusal to keep retreading the same ground.

Death had pretty much established and refined the definition of death metal with their first two classics, but it is clear that Chuck wanted more. He had ditched guitarist Rick Rozz because he wasn't willing or able to go along with that ride and brought in the technically more impressive Hallows Eve guitarist James Murphy. The songs on Spiritual Healing have a greater level of complexity than on the first two albums, not exactly progressive, but certainly not mere simplistic head-banging material, most consisting of multiple riffs, tempo changes and guitar solos.

The overall sound is much clearer than previously and the guitar tone is great with a chunkiness that allows the stellar riffs to hammer home but is also precise and clean allowing James Murphy's shredding solos to absolutely slay. His soloing is arguably the most enervating and melodic in all of death metal up to this point, sounding more influenced by classic heavy metal guitarists than the Slayer duo of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King that most death metal guitarists of the time referenced. Chuck's vocals are great and sound better than ever here, his earnest gruffness exemplifying the best of death metal singing at the time. Terry Butler turns in a solid performance on bass and Bill Andrews comes in for his usual technical kicking by those who know better than I, but Spiritual Healing is all about those riffs and solos, the functional rhythm section merely providing a base.

I have pointed out recently that there were a few albums released around this time that were really solid workouts but which didn't live long in my memory after they had finished (Massacra and Carnage to name a couple) but that is an accusation that certainly can't be levelled at Death, the opener Living Monstrosity, the title track and my personal favourite, the convoluted Low Life with it's insane solos, all had enough personality to keep them running through my mind long into the night! All in all I loved this album and it is yet another key to the lock that was my previous misunderstanding of how amazing Death were as a legendary metal outfit and the influence that Chuch Schuldiner had on the world of death metal. In fact I find it almost impossible to reconcile where I now stand with my previously held beliefs about Death.

4.5/5

I forgot to post this on the thread when I reviewed it recently, so here it is now:

Carnage - Dark Recollections (1990)

OK, surprise, surprise Carnage are another death metal band whose existence I was completely oblivious to. It appears these Swedes had quite a short run, the band being formed by several members of Dismember who were joined by Michael Amott, future Arch Enemy mainman, originally playing grindcore. By the time of the release of their sole full-length, Dark Recollections, in March of 1990, they had lost their grindcore beginnings and produced an album of pretty lethal, out-and-out death metal. Now I have insufficient knowledge of the minutiae of death metal as to the differences between, say, the Floridian scene and the burgeoning Swedish scene (if someone could enlighten me then please do), but I can only assume this played a significant part in the latter (along with Entombed's imminent Left Hand Path debut album).

I love the guitar tone here, it's down and dirty enough but still has plenty of bite and the bass fortifies the sound as it seems to be prominently placed in the mix. Fred Estby's drum work, whilst being quite straightforward, is exceedingly effective and vocalist Matti Kärki has a great line in earnest bellowing. I have seen a number of complaints that this is merely generic death metal. Well, I disagree. There are some really nice riffs here and the lead work is rough but energetic, but more importantly, how can a death metal album that is one of the early examples, particularly of the Swedish scene, be generic? Surely the later albums these commentators are basing this judgement on are the generic ones.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that I am much better disposed to early death metal than the later, more technical or dissonant stuff that garners so much praise and this is a great example of youthful exuberance (the musicians were all in their teens still) made manifest. Sure it doesn't have the really memorable tracks of an Altars of Madness or any of the other releases from the big noises in the death metal scene of the time, but it does brutalise and batter with a relentless onslaught of dark and violent metal. And there is nothing at all wrong with that.
4/5

It's Entombed's "Clandestine" for me personally. Sonny 

I have actually owned Clandestine on CD for years. Weirdly though, it just seemed to appear in my collection and I had absolutely no idea where it came from! I had no recollection of ever buying it and I'm pretty sure I didn't borrow it from anyone either. In fact, until I found it on the shelf I hadn't even heard of Entombed before. Like I say, weird!

Thanks Ben and Daniel for your comments on my review of Dark Recollections explaining the Swedish Death Metal sound to me, I think I'm getting the picture. So what, in your opinions, is the pinnacle release of the Swedish Sound?

This may be the first playlist that features a track from each of the big four and their contributions show why they are so-called - Slayer and Metallica both turning in genre-defining contributions. There's a few other big names too - Sodom, Sepultura and Possessed are all represented by kick-ass tracks too. Revelation of the list though must go to the final track from Terminalist - absolutely loved this one. All around, another damn fine list Vinny - thanks a lot.

Sorry for being so late on this Sonny. Things are hectic at the moment. If you haven't already made the list, I'd like to include...

• Primitive Man - This Life off Insurmountable (2022)
• Epitaphe - Insignificant off II (2022)

That's fine Ben, I understand. I'm going to work on this during this week so you are still in time.

And so to the first big-hitter of 1990:

Atheist - Piece of Time (1990)

I'm not the biggest champion of technical death metal to say the least and Piece of Time is an album I have heard before, without it really making much impression on me. So I went into it this time with a determination to get to the bottom of why it is so well-received and simultaneously to try to get something out of tech-death that has eluded me in the main up to this point. The first thing that leaps out at me is that this is quite obviously a unique record for early 1990 and, to use a much-abused cliche which is actually true on this occasion, it genuinely sounds ahead of it's time - maybe it should have been entitled Piece Out of Time! OK, so I don't know what I was thinking when I originally rated this as a 3/5 because I got far more out of it this time around than that score suggests, so it is definitely long overdue for a reappraisal.

Firstly, this is not that overtly technical as I have come to understand the term. I associate the phrase "technical" metal, be it thrash or death metal, with unlistenable time changes and excessive guitar wankery, bass lines bursting in and out seemingly at random and a drummer who desperarely seems to be trying to make up for the fact that he is the drummer! In other words a general lack of the things that originally drew me to metal music - riffs that will blow your bollocks off at fifty yards. For me "technical" metal (as opposed to progressive metal) is more for students of music theory and those who understand what the musicians are about - which I can assure you does not include me - rather than a visceral, emotional experience which is much more what I look for in music. So either I have completely misrepresented tech-death in my own mind or this isn't as technical as I thought it was because this has got some awesome riffing and the technical work is nothing like as jarring as I have found it elsewhere, being more interesting than annoying to my more literal way of thinking.

Basically, on Piece of Time, Atheist have taken the nascent death metal genre as a foundation and recast it with a completely different approach from the full-on brutalisation of Morbid Angel, Autopsy or Obituary, producing the tightest-sounding death metal album released up to this point. The technical, jazzy showcasing does definitely rear it's head at many points, but it never seems to be merely for it's own sake and it never disrupts the flow of the tracks which is where I think many tech bands go wrong when they sacrifice the songs upon the altar of technicality. Anyway, I have harped on about the technical nature of Piece of Time for long enough now - what we really have here is a super-energetic death metal album that is full of life and is a powerful representation of what can be achieved when a band take a different approach to what is becoming established as the norm in any given genre without sacrificing what has made that genre so appealing in the first place. The guitar work is exemplary, the riffs and leads are plenty aggressive as are the vocals spat out by Kelly Shaefer whose delivery is especially venomous-sounding. The drums and bass are given more freedom than usual up to this point, but this certainly doesn't undermine their ability to propel the tracks forwards, rather they enhance the lead work with interesting contributions of their own.

In conclusion, I have got to say that I was originally very, very wrong about Piece of Time and, having stripped away the prejudices the "technical" tag produce in me, can now see it for the ground-breaking and original piece of work that it really was and found myself enjoying it immensely. Maybe I have mellowed over the intervening years and have become more accepting of diverse elements in metal music and if that is the reason why this sounds so awesome then I am extremely glad. I'm really looking forward to reviewing Unquestionable Presence now if that is supposed to be even better!

4.5/5

Massacra - Final Holocaust (1990)

Massacra's debut marks the point at which the French throw their hat into the death metal ring and try to stand toe-to-toe with the big boys. Final Holocaust epitomises that death/thrash crossover sound that was a hallmark of the late-eighties' transition from brutal thrash to death metal and is an aggressive and relentless blast through ten tracks of vicious and venomous death metal that still maintains a significant proportion of thrash sensibilities, the Teutonic influence of Kreator being particularly apparent I would suggest. There are some cool riffs and solos with energy aplenty to be found within the ten tracks, but unfortunately I don't find that much of the album "sticks" with me. Don't get me wrong, I find Final Holocaust to be a really good blast while it's on, but by the time you get halfway through most of the tracks start to blur one into another and the second it stops I have trouble recalling any of the songs. I really don't want to be too critical because I have heard far worse albums, but this lack of memorability is a significant stumbling block. Would I put it on in preference to Kreator, Slayer, Morbid Angel or Death? No of course I wouldn't, but I wouldn't turn it off and replace it with something else if it was already on either because there is plenty here that I enjoyed. Not every album can be earth-shattering or life-changing, but Massacra do what they do extremely well and deserve some praise for what is a consistent and energetic release. I have been getting more from it the more spins it receives, yet I still struggle to recall many of the tracks later, so maybe it's just me.

3.5/5

I may have to revisit Anathema at some point too - maybe a Peaceville Three rediscovery project is in the offing!

My Dying Bride, despite some good early material, became too theatrical-sounding for me - a bit like a doom metal Cradle of Filth.

I think it's apparent however from my published views that for me personally complex & sophisticated aren't the first things I look for in metal. My favourite bands in each of my clans are Darkthrone, Reverend Bizarre and Slayer - all pretty much no-frills metal bands. That's what is so annoying when non-metal music fans criticise metalheads for all being the same (the rym-core adherents for example, a more sheep-like bunch of music fans you would be hard-pressed to find). Metal is in fact, for want of a better phrase, a very broad church and that diversity of thought is reflected nowhere better than here on Metal Academy. Despite being few in number, most of the regular contributors here all have very different takes on our uniting passion, metal music, and I respect each and every one of them for their differing views whether agreeing with them or not.

I've never quite seen the appeal in "Lost Paradise" to be honest. It always sounded a little bit flat to me. It's admittedly been many years since I heard it though & even "Gothic" didn't blow me away like it did most other doom/death fans. Paradise Lost were always trailing the other two members of the Peaceville Three by a fair margin for me personally. They didn't really capture me until they dropped their doom/death sound altogether on "Icon" & "Draconian Times".

Yeah, I'm kind of the inverse to that. I picked up Icon cheap, second-hand in a local music shop years ago. I had heard of Paradise Lost obviously but never listened to them before that. To be honest that album put me off them for ages as I really wasn't much for it and it wasn't until I forced myself to listen to Gothic that I discovered that perhaps they did have something I could be interested in. Maybe I'll dig that Icon CD out and give it a re-evaluation just in case my perception has altered sufficiently.

Of the Peaceville Three it's Anathema that I struggle with most. I may be being unkind, but I just can't get why they are so revered at all.

So, as promised (or threatened, depending on your point of view) I am now moving into the nineties with my voyage of death metal discovery and am beginning with an album I have never heard before, despite being quite familiar with the band in question.

Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise (1990)

February of 1990 saw the release of an album that I have found to be very interesting indeed - Paradise Lost's debut, Lost Paradise. I have hardly been reticent in my oft-spouted dismissal of a fair bit of the output of the so-named Peaceville Three, but this is a whole different kettle of fish entirely. Anyone, like me, approaching this after hearing their later gothic death doom output first may be a little wrong-footed by the rawness of this debut. It takes the downtuned and dirty approach of Autopsy's Severed Survival and slows it down further, incorporating even more Sabbath/Pentagram doom riffs and as a result turn in a slab of very early death doom which would go on to be extremely influential, certainly upon the UK death doom scene but further afield too. This is quite a different beast to the band's subsequent releases, with their gothic leanings, which are virtually non-existent here other than a few seconds of haunting female vocals during Breeding Fear.

I was particularly impressed by Nick Holmes' phlegmy, guttural growl which is a great iteration of death metal singing and one I would like to hear in a more conventional death metal setting. I see he also provides vocals for Bloodbath (after replacing Mikael Akerfeldt) a band I have inexcusably never listened to yet, so I think I will have to give them a shot to see if he is as effective with a more direct death metal style, as I suspect he may be. Despite Holmes' impressive vocals, I think it is quite apparent that Lost Paradise is the product of a band who are still finding their way, learning their craft and searching for an identity of their own. It is a raw-sounding album, there are plenty of decent riffs and guitar phrases and the slower tempo and doomy atmosphere add a different dimension to the death metal template, exploring this avenue even further than forerunners Autopsy and Sempiternal Deathreign and giving a good pointer to the direction Paradise Lost intended to take their sound.

At first I didn't really "feel" Lost Paradise, but as I have got to know it better over the last week or two, I have come to recognise that there are some really interesting tracks here and that this shouldn't merely be dismissed as a "warm-up" for the band's more celebrated material. It is almost impossible to discuss Lost Paradise with at least some mention of the follow-up Gothic, which is an album I was at first very reticent about but which has since wormed it's way up in my affections and now is one of my most-favoured gothic death doom releases. That album actually contains a lot more of the debut's DNA than I at first thought and it is the inspired addition of Sisters of Mercy-like gothic tendencies and Holmes' incorporation of Andrew Eldritch's vocal stylings into his own death metal growl that proved to be the move that allowed Paradise Lost to find their own (now much-aped) voice.

As I said at the beginning of these ramblings, I found this to be a particularly interesting release with some good, if not great material on it. Ultimately it indicated a band who were still a work in progress, but who were looking for a unique sound and, in hindsight, provided ample proof that they would be up to the task of taking that sound to the next level.

4/5

Ah, Basarabian Hills, the winners of the "Most Indecipherable Band Logo Competition"!

I receive emails every time someone private messages me. Do you not receive those emails?

I don't have a smartphone so I only see e-mails when I log into my e-mail account on my laptop. I only check them every three or four days usually as I fucking hate e-mails! Don't forget I'm old and extremely antisocial!

Ben, do you have any suggestions for July's playlist as I would like to start work on it soon.

So earlier today, I went to send a PM to Ben because I noticed an error in the year of an album release, since I guess that's how its done. Lo, and behold, I had received a PM pretty quickly after I joined, without even noticing I had ever gotten it. Could there be an indicator of some kind to show if such a thing has happened? For instance a (1) or so next to one's name, possibly in a fancy color. Even a (1) next to the messages on my profile would be something.

Unless there is one and I completely missed it...

Yes, I agree that this would be helpful. I have missed a few myself and unless you actively check, you can't tell if you have had a PM.

1. Yes. Southern metal is a thing, with bands like Down, Corrosion of Conformity, Black Label Society, and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.

2. It's Southern rock influences are much more prominent than other genres, so it's definitely identifiable and different.

3. Many of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster's releases for sure.

4. It's a descendant of Southern rock, but it stands out as its own genre.

5. I've mentioned this before, but Southern metal should have its own clan, The South. It has nothing to do with the traditional doom metal, gothic metal, and drone metal of the clan, and there are currently so many genres in that clan (5 genres). And because of Southern metal's relation with sludge metal and stoner metal, I think those two genres can be taken out of The Fallen and reside in The South as well.

6. Black Label Society and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster do NOT belong in The Fallen. Black Label Society is comfortable in its place in The Guardians for their heavy metal sound mixed with Southern metal that would get them in hypothetically The South.

7. That, of course, is where The South clan comes in.

So those are my answers based on my Southern metal knowledge (which isn't much, by the way), and I hope to have given you enough info, Daniel. Good luck and take it easy!

Stoner and Sludge absolutely belong.in the Fallen Andi as their relationship to doom metal is fairly intrinsic. To create a new clan for what amounts to a single spurious sub genre sounds a bit much in itself, but.to then shoehorn two further genres that are perfectly well positioned would be ridiculous. 

I think you've got all the necessary releases now. If you want to go deeper, you could check out Hellwitch, Merciless, Massacra, Master, Atrocity and Cancer.

I have some of those on my shortlist already, Ben, but I have added Atrocity and Hellwitch so thanks for the suggestions. The first album I have been checking out from 1990 is one I'm surprised you haven't listed - Paradise Lost's debut, Lost Paradise - which is not quite what I expected!

Despite being responsible for programming Southern Metal as part of the Fallen playlist, I too have reservations about whether it is a thing and if it is, whether it is utilised correctly. I assumed it was a sludgy take on stoner metal with a bit of southern (US) flavour thrown in for good measure. When I see bands like Black Label Society and Alabama Thunderpussy so tagged, I seriously doubt if anyone really knows what it is! Most of the bands on the rym southern metal chart have zero sludge in their respective genre Venn diagram and some don't even have a metal genre other than southern metal. I always thought the sludge aspect was important as the likes of Eyehategod and Acid Bath are seen as influential to the whole southern metal thing. I suspect that, rather like NWOBHM, it is a scene rather than a genre, but I look forward to your ongoing reporting Daniel.

As I now move into covering 1990 it is becoming obvious that death metal was beginning to mushroom. In 1988 RYM lists 13 death metal albums on it's death metal charts, in 1989 there was 29 and for 1990 there was 59 (incidentally, for 2021 there was 906!!). This means that I will need to be more circumspect in what I cover as I have no intention of covering all 59 albums. I have put together a shortlist of 17 albums, which I won't list here, but I would like Horde members to list a few essentials that you think I should definitely cover. I will be covering all the 1990 albums featured on the Horde 1st Decade Clan Challenge list - Deicide, Left Hand Path, Cause of Death and The Key so if you guys could do me a solid and suggest six or seven others that you think I should definitely listen to in addition to those four then that would be great.

I don't think this exercise would be complete without visiting Atheist's "Piece Of Time", Death's "Spiritual Healing", Napalm Death's "Harmony Corruption", Carnage's "Dark Recollections" & Cannibal Corpse's "Eaten Back To Life".

All added to the list.

The Delirium album I've recommended to you last month seems like a good addition, Sonny.

Thanks Andi, I will put it on the list.

As I now move into covering 1990 it is becoming obvious that death metal was beginning to mushroom. In 1988 RYM lists 13 death metal albums on it's death metal charts, in 1989 there was 29 and for 1990 there was 59 (incidentally, for 2021 there was 906!!). This means that I will need to be more circumspect in what I cover as I have no intention of covering all 59 albums. I have put together a shortlist of 17 albums, which I won't list here, but I would like Horde members to list a few essentials that you think I should definitely cover. I will be covering all the 1990 albums featured on the Horde 1st Decade Clan Challenge list - Deicide, Left Hand Path, Cause of Death and The Key so if you guys could do me a solid and suggest six or seven others that you think I should definitely listen to in addition to those four then that would be great.

Pestilence - Conuming Impulse (1989)

I am going to round off my coverage of 1989 with Pestilence's highly praised sophomore full-length, Consuming Impulse. The Dutch masters' debut, Malleus Maleficarum, was a pretty brutal sounding thrash metal album, one I have always had a huge amount of time for, but despite the deathly vocals of future Asphyx frontman Martin van Drunen, it was still a thrash album in the vein of Possessed or Sepultura with little actual death metal. Consuming Impulse on the other hand exhibits a further descent down the extremity rabbit-hole and marks the transformation from brutal thrash to actual death metal.

As Dehydrated leaps kicking and clawing out of the blocks, it is immediately obvious that this is a very different beast to the debut. The production is fuller, clearer and is much more bottom heavy which accentuates the brutality of the performances and is much more in keeping with the band's evolution into a death metal machine. The legion of riffs are powerful, aggressive and exceedingly memorable - I find them running through my head long after I have finished listening, particularly those featured in Suspended Animation, The Trauma and Echoes of Death. Patricks Mameli and Uterwijk trade solos in the vein of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, their lead work being very strongly influenced by the Slayer guitarists it seems, although I would also say that influenced though they are, they don't just slavishly mimic the Slayer duo, but still stamp their soloing with their own personality.

Mention must also be made of Martin van Drunen's vocal performance. He sounds tortured, deranged and defiant as he rasps and shrieks his words of pain, suffering and death, turning in an archetypal death metal vocal performance. This would be his last recording with Pestilence before jumping ship to join Asphyx - so one death metal legend's loss is another's gain! Drummer Marco Foddis also turns in a fine performance, solid and machine gun-like, adding an understated solidity to the proceedings. There is also a sparse smattering of keyboards employed which, on the two or three occasions they are used, prove to be exceedingly effective.

There seems to be some contradiction as to the bass player on Consuming Impulse - Metal Archives attributes bass duties to guitarist Patrick Mameli, yet I have seen others comment that Martin van Drunen was the bassist on the album. Either way, the bass seems to be the most neglected aspect of the recording, buried as it is underneath the riffing and drum battery, so I don't know whether this confusion is the result of the band not being 100% happy with the bass track. This minor niggle aside, I think the Dutchmen can put their sophomore up against any of the early death metal albums coming out of the USA and hold their collective head high that they can be spoke of in the same sentence as Death, Morbid Angel and Obituary and not come up short.

4.5/5

I don't know much about dissonant death metal, but there has been much discussion on the RYM official metal board over the past few days about it as it has just been passed as a sub-genre over there. Apparently it is also called "Skronk Death" - what the fuck does that mean? Does anyone know? Must be the dumbest metal genre name yet.

Sorry Vinny, I forgot all about you requesting them be in by the 10th. If it's too late then no worries, but if you want to use my suggestions here they are:

Possessed - "Fallen Angel" from "Seven Churches" (1985)
Incubus (on Spotify as Opprobrium) - "The Battle of Armageddon" from "Serpent Temptation" (1988)
Ripper - "The Last Day" from "Raising the Corpse" (2014)

Infected - Dark Century (1989)

A completely new one on me - I have never even heard of these Swiss death thrashers before, in fact they seem quite obscure even amongst those in the know. They were very short-lived, forming in '87 and splitting in '90 and Dark Century seems to be their only release. Now this seems to be a great shame as this is a great slab of metal, haunting those hinterlands between death and thrash where so many excellent late-80's releases dwelt. The riffs are energetic and enervating, the drumming is relentless and the bass is fairly pronounced in the manner of the modern Chilean thrash scene. The solos may not be the most invigorating I have ever heard, but they are fine as far as they go and vocalist Amos Gersmann has a pretty decent deathly growl. The production isn't the best, it must be said, but it gives it a cavernous murkiness that gives the album even more underground cred I guess.

I found this to be pretty enjoyable and am stumped as to why it isn't better known - although 1989 had some fucking phenomenal stuff coming out, this is still better than a lot of shit I've heard from the late eighties. Sometimes you've just got to be in the right place at the right time I suppose. Anyway if you have a particular love of early death thrash then I strongly recommend you wrap your ears around this bad-ass slab of red-hot metal goodness. Unfortunately it's not available on Spotify (or anywhere except some ancient rip on YouTube it seems).

4/5

Terrorizer - World Downfall (1989)

I quite like Grindcore but I wouldn't say I love it. I do however love World Downfall - it is one of my all-time favourite metal albums. Much as I enjoy some of Carcass and Napalm Death's earlier albums, when it comes to grindcore I would always reach for World Downfall first. I am not the most clued-in person when it comes to grind and death metal, but I feel that World Downfall is as much death metal as grindcore and comes across as the bastard child of Altars of Madness and Scum - and that is one hell of a lineage. It takes the punky energy of Discharge or Black Flag that has been transformed by being fed raw death metal riffs and shits out a heap of hyper-aggressive, brutal, but still somehow eminently catchy tracks that hit home like a jackhammer to the sternum. The Altars of Madness comparison is probably inevitable and understandable, as half the lineup of Terrorizer were also in Morbid Angel - bassist Dave Vincent and drummer Pete Sandoval (whose skinwork here sounds amazing). Vocalist Oscar Garcia sounds very much like Barney Greenaway with his deep, hoarse, bark/shout vocal delivery and guitarist Jesse Pintado unleashes brutalising riff after brutalising riff like a young Mike Tyson unleashed punches - and to a similar devastating effect.

To describe this as brutal and aggressive, although obviously factual, is to do it a great disservice. It's sixteen tracks are skillfully executed by guys who seriously know what they are about - which is it's great strength as it prevents it from just deteriorating into a moshpit of identikit riffs, blastbeats and growls, but rather it is a precisely executed manifesto of intense extreme metal that would reverberate down through the decades and can still be held up as a masterclass in extremity. For the longest time this was Terrorizer's only full-length and stood as a monolithic testament to a short-lived, but extremely influential band of guys who reshaped extreme metal in their own image. Despite reforming in the mid-2000's the shadow of World Downfall was long and they never approached this level of awesome again, but to have reached these heights even once is not to be easily dismissed. Unfortunately I never discovered World Downfall until much later, but I can only imagine the tear in the fabric of reality it's discovery would have shown me had I come across it in 1989.

5/5

Forteresse - Métal noir québécois (2006)

I've spent the last couple of days on a Forteresse binge after discovering Thèmes pour la rébellion via this month's North playlist and being completely bowled over by it. Métal noir québécois is Forteresse's debut and was released a decade before Thèmes. The difference between the two releases isn't as big as it first appears, but there had been some significant evolution in the intervening decade. Although Thèmes had implied rawness in spades, this is a lot more directly raw from a production point of view at least. The tracks of the debut are also longer and more repetitive and are increasingly hypnotic as a result, drawing the listener into a more passive state of listening when compared to it's aggressive and energetic younger sibling. This isn't a criticism per se, as this hypnotic, passive listening experience is a feature of a lot of atmospheric black metal. Part of the genre's appeal is often that you can allow it to wash over you and sweep you along with it and had I not heard Thèmes I would probably not even have commented on it. The characteristic tremolo-led melodies are also present but I found them to be significantly less memorable than those employed on Thèmes.

Production-wise this feels light-years away from the clarity of the later release and is quite muddy-sounding - those booming drums are often virtually inaudible here, much to it's detriment. Athros' vocals are still terrific and his shrieks cut through the muddiness quite easily. I think it is worth pointing out at this point that for the debut Forteresse were only a duo and mainman Moribond handled all the instruments whilst Athros contributed lyrics and vocals, whereas by the time of Thèmes pour la rébellion they had expanded to a four-piece with the addition of drummer Fiel and second guitarist Matrak, with all four members contributing to the songwriting. I think this expansion into a full band worked very much in their favour compared with Métal noir québécois which comes off very much as a typical solo black metal effort in comparison to the later work.

Now, after spending the last two paragraphs on all this negative comparison with their later release, I am still going to claim the debut as a solid effort of raw, hypnotic atmo-black metal that should appeal to anyone who is a fan of Burzum, Paysage d'Hiver, early Ulver or Drudkh and I'm familiar enough with black metal fans' opinions to know that there will be plenty of them who will prefer the rawness of Métal noir québécois over their clearer-sounding later work. Either way, Forteresse are a quality black metal band who deserve a decent audience.

4/5

Absolutely sublime atmospheric black metal from Quebecois band Forteresse as featured on June's North playlist.

Forteresse - Thèmes pour la rébellion (2016)

I felt duty-bound to check out the Quebecois four-piece's fifth album after being impressed by the track Spectre de la rébellion on June's playlist for the North and I am pleased to report that the album more than lived up to the promise of that sneak peak. This at once manages to sound beautifully lush and majesterial whilst also projecting a thrilling rawness - which is exactly how I love my atmospheric black metal to sound. Tremolo riffing and booming drum work combine to propel the tracks along with a triumphant sound that speaks of righteous rebellion. The vocals are of the distant-sounding shrieking variety and perfectly suit the mood, invoking tradition and calling the faithful to the ramparts. Despite this blistering aggressiveness however, the tracks never just blur together, each is memorable in it's own right and is distinct enough to remain in your mind long after the album has finished.

From what I've read these guys are Quebecois separatists, so there's plenty of political commentary surrounding their material, but to me it's all just blah, blah, blah... because what I'm here for is the music and that is exceptional. In truth, Thèmes pour la rébellion stands up as a premier atmospheric black metal release that is only bettered by the absolute best of the atmo-black world like Drudkh and WitTR. What I love about this kind of atmospheric black metal is that no matter where the band are from or what they believe, there is a certain unity of expression that speaks to common purpose and yet each manages to imbue it with an essence that is distinct and unique. This is a release I will definitely return to and will endeavour to procure a physical copy immediately.

4.5/5

OK, now I've got the correct month let's start again...

With not a lot to do on a pissing down Sunday morning in Platinum Jubilee-ravaged England I gave this a blast and found another solid playlist complete with some personal favourites - aside from my own choices I would include Immortal, Blasphemy and Caladan Brood in this category. Inquisition, Forteresse and Sacramentum were new to me and were tracks I enjoyed immensely. I also got a lot out of the Yellow Eyes track, Tómarúm, the new Aara, the Sear Bliss track from April's featured album and I enjoyed the Bethlehem track more than I expected as I am not a big fan usually. Watain, Månegarm, Mistur and Abigor were misses for me personally, feeling either overblown or just too dissonant (Abigor) for my taste. Massively more enjoyable than standing in the rain waving a soggy Union Jack (and you can print that on the cover!!)

Think this is in the wrong thread Sonny.

Well spotted Vinny. Prize is a Jubilee mug*

*note: there may not be an actual prize.

With not a lot to do on a pissing down Sunday morning in Platinum Jubilee-ravaged England I gave this a blast and found another solid playlist complete with some personal favourites - aside from my own choices I would include Immortal, Blasphemy and Caladan Brood in this category. Inquisition, Forteresse and Sacramentum were new to me and were tracks I enjoyed immensely. I also got a lot out of the Yellow Eyes track, Tómarúm, the new Aara, the Sear Bliss track from April's featured album and I enjoyed the Bethlehem track more than I expected as I am not a big fan usually. Watain, Månegarm, Mistur and Abigor were misses for me personally, feeling either overblown or just too dissonant (Abigor) for my taste. Massively more enjoyable than standing in the rain waving a soggy Union Jack (and you can print that on the cover!!)

Abigor have mostly passed me by to be honest and what I have heard hasn't really resonated with me in the same way as it seems to have with a great many black metal fans. Then again, I haven't exactly gone out of my way to get into the Austrians' discography, so I was determined to do so with this 2020 full-length. After an initial couple listens it was apparent that this was going to take a lot of concentration as there is a huge amount to unpack during Totschläger's fifty minute runtime. This is a dense sounding album with layered guitar work and epic songwriting that has a very dramatic feel to it. The sound is exceptionally clear and the multifarous facets are allowed equal chance to shine, so technically all seems well. Whilst the songs don't all sound the same, they do have a similar style, dense, complex and with a degree of dissonance which seems to sit somewhere between latter-era Emperor and Deathspell Omega. I must confess, it sometimes feels a bit overwhelming, as if the sheer density and technical ambition of the tracks swamps my ability to take it all in and ultimately ends up washing over me, as sometimes happens with tracks that employ a lot of dissonance and heavy layering, overwhelming my ability to enjoy them fully. This is not a criticism per se, as I applaud their ability to produce such technically gifted work, rather it is an acknowledgement that it may possibly be beyond my own ability to properly appreciate it. Even I can tell that this is a band who have been around the block a good few times and who are consummately at ease with what they are trying to achieve.

I realise I may have made this sound like some technical snoozefest, but that is definitely not the case and sometimes an absolutely killer riff will rise to the surface, such as the one that closes out the album towards the end of Terrorkommando Eligos. There are also some demented-sounding solos which is always something I can get behind. Overall, though, I think I have to chalk this up as an album I appreciate and respect a lot more than I actually enjoyed, but I can definitely tell why others who may be more inclined to this style of black metal would derive a huge amount from it.

3.5/5

Mercyful Fate, despite being held in high regard by many heavy metal fans are an inordinately divisive band. Or, to be more accurate, singer King Diamond with his falsetto histrionics is able to elicit singularly strong negative reactions in some. Personally I don't have a problem with him, sure sometimes I wish he would reign it in, but generally I don't have a problem with his vocal style, but I can definitely hear why others might. One thing we will never know is whether the band would have had as much success as they have without Diamond's unique vocal approach to set them apart. Personally I believe the songs and riffs are strong enough to have ensured a considerable following, but you just never know do you - the music business is a notoriously capricious beast.

Anyway, the good news for both the King Diamond pro and con camps is that on this first reunion release KD seems to have toned down his more outlandish vocal tendencies and utilises them more effectively by confining them to passages to which they seem to be more suited (of course, alternatively, this may just annoy both camps equally). Personally I think In the Shadows (ironically) allows the rest of the band to emerge from King's shadow and to shine on their own terms with the lead guitar work especially benefitting from this curtailing of vocal excess. As on their early releases there are plenty of memorable riffs present, the opening brace of Egypt and Bell Witch in particular having brilliant main riffs, as does the following track, The Old Oak, but this track does give in to some songwriting excess and becomes a bit cheesy in the middle section despite some excellent soloing. Room of Golden Air even features a riff that sounds a lot like Dave Mustaine on Hangar 18. For me the riffs and the solos are the real strength of this album and I found that it succeeded in spades where both these aspects are concerned, axemen Shermann and Denner deserving great praise for their work here. Lyrically it's a bit silly at times and KD will always present a problem for some listeners, but as I mentioned earlier he has reined it in a bit, although he does try to break free occasionally - Thirteen Invitations for example - and I found these to be the less enjoyable parts.

I had not listened to In the Shadows before this month's feature, although I was familiar with a couple of tracks and whilst it isn't quite up there with the band's earlier material it is still a strong heavy metal release and certainly shouldn't disappointed anyone who is already a Mercyful Fate fan.

4/5