Shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Reviews

Textures gained some fame early on with their debut Polars allowing them to win the "Most Promising Act" Essent Award. Though shortly after, ex-vocalist Pieter Verpaalen left. Their next vocalist Eric Kalsbeek stepped in for their second album, Drawing Circles!

What do progressive metal fans have in mind with what they refer to as progressive? It can be the wackiness of Dream Theater or the experimentation of Isis. Textures is never afraid to take things through unconventional ideas highly different from the mainstream. They don't repeat the same thing nor do they follow the mundane verse-chorus structure. There are so many twists that it's hard to count them all, and with Drawing Circles, you know that things only end when they want it to end.

We start off with a short driving buildup in "Drive" that introduces the vocal talent of Eric Kalsbeek. "Regenesis" blasts through with a bit of the progressive metalcore later shaped up by Northlane and the background ambience of Cult of Luna. "Denying Gravity" has killer shapeshifting between Fear Factory and Meshuggah.

"Illumination" takes a break from the Becoming the Archetype-esque extreme progressiveness to cool down in illuminating ether. Then thrashing around is "Stream of Consciousness". Then we have more ambient textures (ha ha) in "Upwards". And "Circular" has more of the Dream Theater circles.

"Millstone" is a little more, but the band's innovative skills never cease. "Touching the Absolute" has pretty much touched so many different places. Whether they're going as dramatic as Trail of Tears at that time, or as hardcore as Architects and Gaza (the band), they don't stray from what they are, and that's what makes Textures unique. "Surreal State of Enlightenment" is a beautiful outro to end this offering, far better than the long ambient track closing their debut.

When it comes to progressiveness, forget the rules! You just gotta appreciate what you can do and not stick to what's so popular nowadays. Wild experimentation is an essential thing for Textures, and Drawing Circles, like many of their albums, shall not be taken for granted!

Favorites: "Regenesis", "Denying Gravity", "Stream of Consciousness", "Upwards", "Touching the Absolute"

By the mid-2000s, djent was still starting off low-key. We have the originator, Meshuggah, and Sikth made their entrance with their djenty progressive metal sound. Named after an instrumental from Cynic's debut Focus, Textures was determined to give their music the many aspects and layers including djenty guitars. And it all starts with their debut Polars, their only album with talented ex-vocalist Pieter Verpaalen. RIP...

There's no underestimating the complexity of this music. As often done by Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan, heavy aggression and soft relaxation are covered in different grounds of sonic emotion.

The hardcore "Swandive" opens the album in extreme madness. The one track from the album released as a single, "Ostensibly Impregnable" is the perfect track I would give to anyone wanting to step in this textured world for the first time while starting small. It has everything including minimalistic riffing, clean vocal harmonies, and the deathly djent of Meshuggah. "Young Man" blasts through At the Gates-esque melodic riffing while having some of Devin Townsend's progressiveness.

The metallic instrumentation continues blasting through in "Transgression". Then "The Barrier" has more of that, harsher while in contrast with the mesmerizing melody. The extreme talent never lets down!

The interlude "Effluent" is rather so-so, but it serves as a nice intermission before the big centerpiece... The title track is the band's longest song, a true 18-minute epic with lots of innovative experimentation reaching its height, not to mention Pieter's vocal talent. "Heave" is just 15 minutes of droning ambience. This album would've been greater if they didn't include that here, or at the very least, shorten it to be as short as "Effluent".

Textures is a band for anyone wanting to explore the extreme edge of progressive metal/djent, and their debut Polars has all you can ask for from the band. It would've been as glorious as their subsequent albums if not for that final overlong ambient track....

Favorites: "Ostensibly Impregnable", "Young Man", "The Barrier", "Polars"

Guitar wizard from Australia Plini is back at it again with another beautiful prog-rock/metal journey for you to have a break from the grim reality of the virus. Impulse Voices has light spirit drifting in and out of heavy grounds and emotion. Any instrumental composition can be used for either imagination or meditation, but Plini can have music teleport between the two. Though it's not exactly background music, yet can stun your progressive metal heart!

He has proven himself a master before; take Handmade Cities and Sunhead for example, prolific experiences to revisit every now and then. Impulse Voices continues those experiences while enchanted with new texture ideas. You can immerse yourself in an unpredictable blend of ambient and heavy, all in playfully creative fashion.

Opening the album is "I’ll Tell You Someday" where masterful guitar melody has pleasant repetition. It's the album's first single, and the pace can shroud listeners in a warm embrace. "Papelillo" takes on lighter breeze while in a hefty balance. "Perfume" has strong dark electronics that would fit well on Stranger Things. While the rest of the album stays organic, that track's the most modern/electronic of the bunch.

"Last Call" definitely proves Plini's love for the guitar music of Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson in this jazzy track. Now don't try to calm yourself down too much as change is inevitable. There's nice cloudy synth for Dave Mackay who has recently joined Cynic. Another heavy highlight is the groove-filled title track. The highly significant "Pan" is the absolute pinnacle of the album. This is one of the most incredible songs I've heard, with a bad-a** mix of guitar heaviness and saxophone jazz. The last two minutes give me crying chills and the urge to become a symphony conductor. F***ing amazing, beyond good! The last minute has superb Dream Theater-like soloing.

Then there's the ballad-like track "Ona / 1154" that is practically another Joe Satriani tribute with Peanuts-like piano while standing by Plini's usual sound. There's never any rush, just a smooth journey. Finale "The Glass Bead Game" is a more impressive journey, his longest track at exactly 9 minutes! A gentle mix of guitar, harp, and piano guide you to your home run, much better than the previous album's ending.

Plini continues his emotional music progression with Impulse Voices. He sure knows how to think of inspiration when it strikes and allows him to create. The album has flavorful textures of life and this progressive voyager continues his wild unconventional path. Doesn't get any more beautiful than this. Over and out!

Favorites: "I’ll Tell You Someday", "Impulse Voices", "Pan", "The Glass Bead Game"

I've been enjoying progressive metal for nearly 8 years now, and nowadays I'm changing my focus from the melodic past to a heavier future. Despite my attempt to revisit said melodic past, it ultimately hasn't worked as greatly as I wanted it to be and I ended up moving away from a big chunk of melodic bands. That includes instrumental bands Animals as Leaders and Liquid Tension Experiment. However, one artist I don't plan on letting go any time soon is Australian guitarist Plini!

Reviving progressive rock/metal in a djent-ish yet melodic wave, Plini has unleashed a calming storm from his own bedroom. I wish I could do that! Handmade Cities marks his full-length debut after several EPs, displaying his astonishing writing ability.

"Electric Sunrise" opens the album with incredible strength, starting with a catchy rhythm before the guitars rise. The title track is a solid mix of funk, djent, and progressive rock with immaculate drum breakdowns. It's well-known for the guitar rhythm during its solo being plagiarized for that of the guitar solo in American pop singer Doja Cat's 2020 metal remix of "Say So". Despite the slight controversy, the original solo at the 3 and a half minute mark is so melodic.

Shortly after, "Inhale" starts slow and mystical before it gets heavier. Next track "Every Piece Matters" has me slightly worried that the sort of generic soloing and plodding rhythm would detract the album's perfection, but the funky fills make up for it, and so does the anthemic chanting towards the end, the closest this album has to vocals!

Relatively, "Pastures" is a necessary pause in the intensity of the earlier music. Then we have the splendid expansion of sound near the end "Here We Are Again", which works awesomely despite its short length. The closer "Cascade" can be considered the climax of the album. However, it's as scatterbrained as the cover art, so it's not really a satisfying way to end, though keeping the album's perfect score intact once again.

Does curiosity pay off when you hear Plini expanding his progressive comfort zone? Yes, while it's necessary to not sound too forced or stagnant in some places. But in the end, we have absolute true melodic instrumental prog-rock/metal! I would give this album just 96% with some slight fat needing trimming, but he's still at his very strongest!

Favorites: "Electric Sunrise", "Handmade Cities", "Pastures", "Here We Are Again"

Collaborative albums can cause quite some mixed reactions, but sometimes it makes a lot of sense and you see it as a dream come true that should've been done sooner but astonishing either way. After a few post-sludge bands like Neurosis and Cult of Luna have done their collaborative albums, it's Converge's turn on the 30th anniversary of their formation and the 20th anniversary of the game-changing Jane Doe. This is... Bloodmoon!

For this band's 10th studio album, they've joined forces with goth singer Chelsea Wolfe, along with her bandmate Ben Chisholm and former Converge member Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) for a 7-person team-up. The results? Something different than before...

The album's opening title track welcomes us to a haunting new world with clean vocals by Jacob Bannon, with Chelsea Wolfe joining in for her verses. A devastating riff knocks us straight into this realm, and would work well for live performances. "Viscera of Men" starts with a brief blast into Converge's chaotic past before slowing down again with more of Chelsea's vocals and the post-sludge drama. Her influence shines strongly in "Coil", a grand acoustic/orchestral rock single of heartbreak.

The spooky fun "Flower Moon" continues the grand experimentation of the album with all the creators in union, with Brodsky having some fun in his vocal performance and guitarist Kurt Ballou throwing around his guitar talents. The pummeling "Tongues Play Dead" allows Bannon to really shine in his vocals. The anguish-fueled "Lord of Liars" has some strain, but Ballou takes the strain out on his guitar with cool results. You can feel in "Failure Forever" the smoothness in Brodsky's vocals. A more bluesy-like tempo is used for "Scorpion's Sting", with stings a bit, but doesn't hurt.

The doomy "Daimon" once again executes the string/key ambience very well. "Crimson Stone" pulls off a lot without extra effort. Wolfe and Bannon sing together in an ethereal duet before a climatic grand finale (for the song anyway). The stunning goth-pop "Blood Dawn" marks an easy pleasant end to the journey, would make you wanna get your hands on Bloodmoon: II.

Yep, the title says Bloodmoon: I, so you know that a sequel might come in a year or a few. Anyway, this album's Converge expanding their comfort zone with the guidance of Wolfe and Brodsky through this gothic-ish avant-garde post-sludge darkness. A new era for this band is awaiting!

Favorites: "Blood Moon", "Coil", "Flower Moon", "Tongues Play Dead", "Daimon", "Crimson Stone"

There seemed to be a few cryptic hints about a new era for Bullet for My Valentine. Frontman Matt Tuck said that their upcoming album would an aggressive passionate beginning of "Bullet 2.0", and the album was later announced to be self-titled. And holy sh*t, this is accurate!

The new self-titled BFMV album marks a near-return to their earlier heaviness. BFMV has been part of my metalcore arsenal for 4 years, and their latest album at that time, Venom is a real headbanger with slight redemption of quality. Then in 2018, Gravity is a half-sh*tty nu metal backstabber. I thought if they released another album like that, I would start avoiding that band for good. Fast forward to the present with their self-titled album grabbing my attention by the b*lls. This is genuine heavy metalcore!

"Parasite" proves that right away after a minute of half of distorted brief radio samples of the band's greatest hits from practically every album. The song itself blasts through pure metal to have you fist-pumping and headbanging in no time. The riff in "Knives" will make you headbang so hard that your neck would be severed like a knife stab. I'm glad to still be living to write this review. Matt Tuck delivers lyrics of hatred and pain in vocals that could easily smash through concrete walls at command. That's quite what Robb Flynn of Machine Head had in The Blackening, but Matt does it slightly better.

After that one-two blast, "My Reverie" has slower groove, with the blend of clean vocals and growls being effective especially in the great dynamic chorus. The guitar solo can be thought of as a tribute to Dimebag, among other influences. "No Happy Ever After" cracks the sky of modern death metal influences while their land is still blessed with metalcore. During COVID lockdowns, production for the album was delayed several times before the band members agreed to record their parts separately from each other. The isolation really adds aggression to all the members' abilities, especially the soaring thrash leads from Padge. It would be interesting when the band actually play this song live and start a heavy moshpit. "Can’t Escape the Waves" brings back some of their earlier metalcore for longtime fans, while the ammo still sounds modern. Oh look, another song that gives the band something in common with Machine Head, a song titled "B****rds". However, unlike Machine Head's f***ing sh*tter, this is a real call-to-arms fight song of rebellion, perfectly nailing the semi-apocalyptic mood of their homeland of Wales. They really fire off one h*ll of a headbanger!

Changing the pace again, "Rainbow Veins" continues the monstrous groove, but with more clean singing than the unclean growls of the other songs. This rhythmic tune emphasizes on waves of sorrow in the aftermath of a revolution, containing a melancholic chorus followed by a destructive bridge. You feelin' it now? So after that slight ballad, there's more Hell to unleash with "Shatter", with rising feedback before the dark verses and fierce moshing chorus. "Paralysed" attacks with full-on Metallica/Slayer-esque thrash. "Death by a Thousand Cuts" ends the album on a heavy cliffhanger that would make you either demand the next album or just repeat this one again.

Like their older ancestors that are Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden, Bullet for My Valentine is not afraid to unearth unique sounds from the genre founded in the UK that is heavy metal. This band sure knows how to bring on their heavy artillery. Trivium has also done that with their new album the prior month, and if Bring Me the Horizon fully return to metalcore with their next Post Human release, that would make my day. Despite the quality not being same as earlier, BFMV deserves greatness for their killer comeback....

Favorites: "Parasite", "Knives", "No Happy Ever After", "B****rds", "Rainbow Veins" 

As I continue my ultimate Pit test, I thought I would review the remaining Demolition Hammer album to fill in the gap. I'm amazed about what an underrated album Time Bomb is! I mean, this is the album where they abandoned most of the deathly thrash from their first two albums for the groove metal that was taking over the reign, but it made me have a great feeling about the genre! I might just be looking forward to the groove metal part of the test...

Apparently, Time Bomb was to be a different project, but it was still released as Demolition Hammer. New fans might be up for it, while longtime fans may not. Drummer Vinny Daze (dead from globefish poisoning, RIP) and fast soloing wizard James Reilly are out. Drummer Alex Marquez comes in, and so does the Hammer's new groove.

The album begins with a 15-second intro audio sample from Prince Of The City where a couple guys plan to lock someone up, yelling "F*** him! F*** them! F*** you!... F*** YOU!!!" Then "Under the Table" sets up what to expect in the album; heavy yet simple riffing in the face. There are also some samples from the films Serpico and Scarface. Next song "Power Struggle" stands out as a 5-minute sludge-ish groove metal epic (all other songs are just 3 to 4 minutes long).

"Mindrot" is also slow in a way similar to a blend of Pantera and Obituary. The guitar soloing absence may lets many metalheads, but it gets things more to the point. That also can also be said for "Bread and Water". Then "Missing: 5/7/89" is effective despite the lack of thrash fury. However, the earlier sound returns for the outro of "Waste".

Rocking out hard in the guitars is "Unidentified", though the basic repetition in the structure doesn't do the song any favors. "Blowtorch" stands out in some deathly riffing to remind some of Malevolent Creation. I like their cover of Devo's "Mongoloid" (despite the title being a derogatory word for someone with Down syndrome), fitting well for this different sound. The title track is almost different from the rest of the album, as f***ing heavy and fast as the other Demolition Hammer albums in its second half.

Yeah, I know, Time Bomb is all different and repetitive, but guess what? It's almost as enjoyable as their Teutonic Big 4-inspired speedy thrash albums. Time Bomb would be better appreciated by fans of Pantera and Machine Head. The slower heaviness might turn off longtime fans. Let's hope for more of this band since their recent reformation!

Favorites: "Under the Table", "Power Struggle", "Mindrot", "Blowtorch", "Time Bomb"

Brutal deathrash. At least that's what bassist/vocalist Steve Reynolds describes his band. After reviewing the classic thrash era of the melodic Annihilator, it's off to the side of spectrum with the vicious Demolition Hammer. The brutality from Tortured Existence continues in their second album Epidemic of Violence. Relentless thrash to the max!

The boundaries of the extreme side of thrash are torn down, without having to go too full-on deathly. The instrumentation has more furious intensity than before. That doesn't mean this album is fastest though, there are a few crushing mid-tempo sections. The band knows how to alternate between fast and mid-tempo at such ease, and that contrast adds to the high levels of aggression that occur here.

"Skull Fracturing Nightmare" explodes into the thrash action right away before a menacing section one minute and 40 seconds in. Another one minute and 40 seconds later, a wicked thrashy instrumental bridge starts that includes some shredding soloing. One more solo that occurs ANOTHER one minute and 40 seconds later is so memorable. The instrumental passages put less focus on the rhythmic onslaught, in order for the listener to breathe. One and a half minutes into "Human Dissection" is insane fast thrash, suddenly shifting from the slower verse, adding some more unpredictable heaviness. The violent lyrics from the debut continue in "Pyroclastic Annihilation": "Catastrophic purge, tephra plague, flaming fragments inundate, combustive turbid brume, smothering, fumaroles permeate". The last 30 seconds rage in a ballistic burst.

"Envenomed" has more prominent vocal layers from Reynolds, especially one minute and 20 seconds in, with his vocals coming close to growling. That's probably one of the most vicious thrash songs I've heard, filled with hatred and rage! Not even Megadeth, Exodus, and Evildead can beat that amount of aggression. One minute and 20 seconds into "Carnivorous Obsession", the band once again bursts out of a slower intro into rapid extreme thrash in no time flat. "Orgy of Destruction" is a heavy one-minute interlude, similar to the end of Coroner's R.I.P, though ending with battle sound effects.

The vocal anger from Reynolds is quite important from the start of the title track. His vocals add to the extreme fury with sudden changes in the tempo. Though there is a catchy chorus. The band continues to pull off great surprises one minute and 20 seconds into "Omnivore", with subtle guitar reflection. The lyrical theme of predatory hunting can be seen as graphic in a juvenile way, but it adds gravity for the savage thrash to pulverize the targeted ground. Halfway through "Aborticide" has more reflective soloing.

This album, Epidemic of Violence is a true brutal way to close the classic thrash metal scene. I can already hear the greatness of thrash from some of the wildest the genre has to offer. It can be a struggle at first, but once you're fully ready, you're in for some merciless blood-spilling. Essential for fans of thrash metal and any other metal genre!

Favorites: "Skull Fracturing Nightmare", "Human Dissection", "Envenomed", "Epidemic of Violence", "Omnivore"

So what do you get when you blend southern metal and hardcore punk together into a heroic unique style of metalcore? Every Time I Die!! They've observed that timing is everything for the best results. Their radical album Radical was completed in early 2020... Then the virus of damnation attacked. COVID changed everything and prevented concerts from opening. The band waited until they could start touring to release the album, and after playing a couple shows recently, they decided that it was time...

In the human race's battle against the pandemic, Every Time I Die have observed the progress. And finally, the 5-year wait for a new album is over. The 16 songs waiting to be have been unleashed to pummel the world like a raging monster and wipe out the virus for good! OK, maybe not that last part.

A blast right back into their discography, "Dark Distance" will stun you into stone. The band has delivered a furious frenzy in higher heights of heaviness. I've heard that the band took quite a tribute to their previous albums in this one, with that track putting a Daughters-like spin into the sound of their previous couple albums and first couple albums. "Sly" continues the action from both the previous track and the previous album, with theatrical vocal experimentation inspired by Queen. An angry lookback musically at the previous decade, and lyrically at the world, "Planet Sh*t" throw their instrumentation around in outrage like Molotov cocktails. "Post-Boredom" is the catchiest song of the album and probably their most sing-along song similar to Taking Back Sunday, while maintaining their identity. "Colossal Wreck" has colossal intensity. "Desperate Pleasures" takes an approach closer to early mewithoutyou in the political songwriting to add to the hardcore sound as they point their middle finger to the disbelievers and destroyers, to show that the Hell we're in is real.

Up next, "All This and War" is my personal favorite of the album, a throwback to the early 2000s sound of Norma Jean, and I think that band's vocalist Josh Scogin guest appears in that song. Despite this album leaning more towards chaotic metalcore, that song is a midway monstrosity of nu-mathcore. "Thing With Feathers" shows that the band is more than what the title says, spreading their eagle wings into the unknown with guest vocals by Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra (the band, not the orchestra), creating a daring venture into indie rock, before things get wilder later in the album. "Hostile Architecture" continues the hostile approach from the band's 2009-era approach in wonderful achievement. "AWOL" is basically if Glassjaw performed Converge's masterpiece album You Fail Me, an astounding mix to adore! "The Whip" continues their speed from a decade prior in wild metalcore inspired by early Zao.

Coming in at second place for the best song of the album is "White Void" that could give you the urge to rename this band The Damned Deftones of Shai Visions (try to guess which 4 bands I'm referring to) with each random component miraculously appearing. "Distress Rehearsal" adds some Metallica-like thrash together with the usual mathy metalcore breakdowns. "Sexsexsex" starts off like post-grunge before heading back to what they had in From Parts Unknown with Coalesce-ish mathcore. "People Verses" once again continues where Low Teens has left off, and while still being a rocking hardcore song, this could fit well as the soundtrack for a battle scene in Game of Thrones. "We Go Together" ends the album similarly to Between the Buried and Me's Automata pair of albums, a theatrical metal ending encouraging us to go together.

Many films in a franchise are released 5 years apart because of the long production process, but while Radical didn't take an ultra-long time to make, it's all about the timing, and with the anticipation paying off, there really should be a Best Metalcore Comeback Album award. The outraged monster shall continue its savage ravage and beyond!

Favorites: "Dark Distance", "Sly", "Post-Boredom", "All This and War", "Thing with Feathers", "AWOL", "White Void", "We Go Together"

I'm glad I got this album the other day, not just because of scarily awesome this is, but also because I can do this review of its most appropriate day... HALLOWEEN. So get ready for lots of tricks to go with this treat!

Sequels, whether to albums or films, are something to love or hate. As the tagline from Scream 2 would say about some of them, "Sequels suck." However, this one doesn't! The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood is the sequel to the band's most successful album, in response to fans' demands for more. I personally think they should've tackled a different horror topic like TV shows or video games, but it's still a superb sequel. So let me show you the ways through this horror-metalcore journey...

"Opening Night" is an introductory disclaimer by famous horror film actor Bill Moseley, explaining that the 13 tracks were what remains of what seems to be a more horrifying concept album from long ago that would've been about brutal killings, similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The title track, "Welcome to Horrorwood" begins similarly to Every Trick in the Book, with Spencer Charnas' vocals, piano, and strings (“ink fills the page, a classic killer completes the cast”). Then the quietness is broken by a guttural scream and furious drum pounding. The song isn't based on any horror films, but establishes what to expect in the album; film violence that sometimes bleeds into reality, all part of the album's main concept. So continuing the story from my Silver Scream review, you leave the theater and find yourself in a mysterious town known as Horrorwood, where violence from movies is real and you have to stay alive and not get killed. You successfully avoid the brutal madness and escape the town. "A Rash Decision" is based on the Cabin Fever franchise, and mixes the fast tempo, screams, and riffs of metalcore with the melodic experiments of electronica, horns and choir. Lots of contrasting layers! You find a cabin in the woods and camp out there, but then you find out that the previous owners were decomposed alive by a flesh-eating virus, so you take the time to consider fleeing. The experimentation continues in "Assault & Batteries", based on the Chucky series (Child's Play), where after a couple news broadcast samples, child singing adds to the incoming terror. While mostly referring to the first Chucky film, his bride is sometimes mentioned ("stitched back together it seems, by the evil bride of his dreams"), further expanding the concept to the rest of the franchise. You find a doll in an old abandoned shelf, but it comes to life and tries to murder you, but you outrun it and hide in a room with the door locked.

You already know what "The Shower Scene" is about! I was a little surprised that the band didn't reference Psycho, one of the most iconic 20th century horror films of all time in the first Silver Scream album, so I'm glad they haven't forgotten about it in this one. The frantic chaos of the first 3 songs is replaced with melody while keeping the usual horror-themed metalcore, evident in the catchy chorus and vocals. They've really done that film justice here, with the sound effects from the eponymous shower scene kept in, including the violin sting, knife sounds, and terrified screams. In that room, you find a bathroom and decide to shower in there to refresh yourself after feeling a bit filthy from your journey so far. However, a shadowy figure appears and tries to kill you, but you knock it out with the shower head and take its knife, then quickly dry yourself off, put your clothes back on and escape the cabin via a window. "Funeral Derangements" is a heavy fast one based on Pet Sematary, in fact basing the music and lyrics on the score and sounds of the movie, the latter coming from a truck horn and a laughing child. While running through the woods, you find a pet cemetery where animals rise from their graves as the undead. "Rainy Day" is based on the Resident Evil movie, which itself is based on the video game series and that makes me wonder if they should've saved it for a horror video game tribute album. The highly different gamer-industrial tones produce a vibe of video games and early 2000s action film soundtracks. After escaping the cemetery, you find a manhole and crawl down, but end up in a sewer filled with human zombies infected by the T-virus that can possess humans and animals. You fight off the zombies and climb up another manhole into the streets of a different town on a rainy day. "Hip to Be Scared" is based on American Psycho, and the first single of the album. They've really executed their sound like an execution! Great parts of the song include the sample of the original Huey Lewis song, and background vocals by Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach. You run into a banker who happens to be a serial killer preying on random innocent people. You incapacitate him and run off.

"Take Your Pick", based on My Bloody Valentine, features Cannibal Corpse vocalist Corpsegrinder in probably the most brutal heaviest song of the album, an outright mix of death metal and metalcore (equals deathcore). This collaboration would really hack your face with a pickaxe. You end up in a Valentine's Day festival which seems nice at first until a powerful serial killer in mining gear attacks. You hide under a booth and wait helplessly for the massacre to be over. The hellishly killer "The Box", based on the Hellraiser films, adds in melodic harmonies, especially in the emotional chorus, helped out by Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and guttural growls backed up by Ryan Kirby (Fit For A King), both guest vocalists adding to the metalcore greatness. Once you safely emerge from the booth and find yourself in the abandoned aftermath of the slaughter, you see a mystical puzzle box and accidentally use it to summon the deadly Cenobites. Fortunately, before they could have the chance to attack, you reverse the motions needed to open the box and send them back to whence they came. You throw the box away and wander off. "F.L.Y." focuses on melodies with Charnas singing alongside Senses Fail's Buddy Nielsen, while still having the kick-A guitars. Contrary to speculations, this wasn't based on The Silence of the Lambs which uses the motto "First Love Yourself", instead it's based on The Fly, which I guess makes more sense. After leaving the massacred Valentine's Day Festival, you find a laboratory but a fly monster crashes outta there and you outrun it. German growling starts the German-phrase-littered "Wurst Vacation" based on the porno-torture film Hostel. Those German phrases, along with strings and an electronic chorus, give the song a Rammstein vibe. You find a hotel, but out of nowhere, you are knocked out and sent to a torture chamber.

Vaudeville throwback "Ex Mortis", based on Evil Dead, continues the theatrical vibe from the previous album's epic finale. Horns and piano add to the song's groovy action. It also fits well with the madness of Army of Darkness. Once you wake up, you find yourself surrounded by demons and spirits, waiting to possess you. After fading out from the previous song, bees start buzzing while "Farewell II Flesh" begins, the longest INK song at 5 minutes since the debut's "Family Unites", based on Candyman, with soothing yet eerie piano as the story of the Candyman is introduced. After layers of dramatic atmosphere, more layers come in thanks to the other instruments that create metalcore riffing from the guitars. The leader of the spirits is the legendary Candyman who plans to kill you if you say his name repeatedly. You refuse to say his name and instead attack him and the spirits. You find a fireplace in the torture chamber and shove the Candyman, destroying him. The spirits freeze and graphically decompose. During the string bridge, you leave the chamber and find yourself in a different forest, with the chamber being just another cabin. Then when the last chorus comes in, an unseen entity attacks you from behind and possesses you. As it turns out, the entity is a spirit similar to the ones led by Candyman, but it's a different one summoned by the surviving villains of the scenarios from my reviews for the previous two albums; Dracula, Carrie, Killer Santa, and Pennywise. During the final growling outro, you come to and are possessed to become part of this league of evil horror. To be continued... (maybe?) Cue more bee noises to end the album and experience.

Nope, this sequel does not suck at all. The sequel movies I would compare this album to would be Terminator 2 and Aliens; as great as the first whether it's the subtlety or the action that you like. Hope you have a killer experience with The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood. I've done so, with an insane scenario to come along with it!

Favorites: "Welcome to Horrorwood", "A Rash Decision", "The Shower Scene", "Hip to Be Scared", "The Box", "F.L.Y.", "Farewell II Flesh"

I'm quite selective with thrash metal. I like the genre when it's heavy and technical at best. I don't feel up to exploring more of the Big 4 beyond a few songs at the moment. Yet I'm still up for bands that aren't as big as the big ones but take influence and are closer to my generation. This is where bands like Demolition Hammer come in. So despite the horrific cover artwork that might've inspired the aftermath of the "This is fine" dog, what you're gonna witness is some of the most intense thrash around!

That's the kind of intensity Exodus and Slayer don't have, but the intensity those bands have to get more credit. For Demolition Hammer, they've added a lot of catchiness and violence that should reach the top of thrash mountain to avalanche away any naysayers. 30 years before this review, Tortured Existence was quite a metal underground hit album, at a time when most other thrash bands started disbanding or (d)evolving into the dreaded groove/nu metal. Needless to say, Demolition Hammer would fall into both traps a few years later. But before that impending fate, they've released some of the most savage thrash with a few influences from the rising death metal scene.

This headbanging thrash marathon opens with the insane ".44 Caliber Brain Surgery". The more insane "Neanderthal" has killer music that would make you wanna f***ing destroy everything in sight. That song and "Gelid Remains" stomp around with riffing that could cause massive earthquakes if blasted through a thousand loudspeakers. The dueling solos shine as well there.

"Crippling Velocity" is one of the more violent songs here in an effortless blend of fast thrash riff-fury and heavy passages of crushing chaos. So speedy as f***! The entirely memorable "Infectious Hospital Waste" is probably one of the catchiest songs in thrash with a chilling breakdown. Though not as catchy as the more melodic "Hydrophobia".

"Paracidal Epitaph" has thick monstrous bass in presence, performed by frontman Steve Reynolds besides his usual decimating vocals. "Mercenary Aggression" springs through comprehensive aggression harder than a fist in the b*lls, though not in the same heavy weight as those previous couple tracks. For anyone wanting an extra 6 minutes of thrash fury, check out the monstrous bonus track "Cataclysm" that continues of the brilliance of the frontman's vocals and bass.

Tortured Existence has some of the most violent thrash I can stand, enough to be able to come back again for more enjoyment. The more popular thrash albums don't quite top this one, and Demolition Hammer would continue the skull-blowing thrash for one more album. But for now, enjoy the fury!

Favorites: "Neanderthal", "Crippling Velocity", "Infectious Hospital Waste", "Hydrophobia", "Cataclysm" (bonus track)

With their 2005 sophomore breakthrough Ascendancy and since 2008's Shogun, Trivium has marked their spot as one of the greatest discography-expanding bands of modern times, despite the flaws of albums #1 and #3. The slightly underrated 2011 masterpiece In Waves began their venture to show great concepts and executions that would carry on in subsequent albums, except in 2015's Silence in the Snow when vocalist Matt Heafy temporarily lost his growling ability. So where does it all lead?

Into the Court of the Dragon! In 2020 after the previous album What the Dead Men Say, when Trivium was in lockdown during the virus and couldn't do any live performances, they decided to not waste any time. They spent the rest of that year writing an album that would later be recorded as almost a sequel to the epic thrash-metalcore of Shogun with greater hints of its surrounding albums' sounds. While staying stellar as ever, their performance is probably the most powerful since Ascendancy. The guitars have more fire and crunch than the spiciest crunchiest KFC meal. The drumming is more brutal as well, and the vocals add a greater blend of mature cleans and convincing screams.

In the Court of the Dragon begins our descent with the anticipation-building intro "X", but unlike the previous album's heavy intro, this one is an ominous orchestral intro composed by Ihsahn. Then the furious title track erupts with Matt Heafy's f***ing beastly growling vocals. The blast-beat onslaught carries on into the cleanly-sung chorus, occurring before a brutal breakdown. The shredding soloing makes you visualize a bad-a** battle with the dragon in the pit, with your weapon being that guitar soloing. A tune of heavy brilliance! "Like a Sword Over Damocles" showcase the band's Nevermore influences in a prog-thrasher where Matt adds aggression to his singing then rises to the usual growling. The d*mn epic clean chorus should definitely get fists pumping in future live festivals. The title fits well with the perilously powerful pandemic and how our leaders are trying to prevent it from spreading further. Some more epic guitar fire in the dueling solo trade! After those first two real songs starting the album heavy, the radio anthem "Feast of Fire" has a different riff that spawned from an unknown demo. There's killer strength and maturity that levels this song up more than the similar mid-tempo songs from The Crusade. The balance between heaviness and melody continues to suit the album and makes sure it's not just a sequel to the one from last year.

Ascendancy-style heavy throwback "A Crisis of Revelation" still manages to fit well with the other high-quality tracks. The different brooding "The Shadow of the Abattoir" is the first of not one, not two, but THREE 7+ minute epics!!! This one might just have Heafy's best vocals EVER!! The verses go slow like a power ballad from Blind Guardian or Slough Feg with deep baritone vocals before rising to higher power in the chorus in a depressive journey ("Don't go searching for the battle, you won't find any beasts to slay, you'll rip yourself to pieces, you'll drive yourself insane, in the shadow of the abattoir...") The heavier bridge is more complex with key-switching breakdowns and extensive soloing that ends by perfectly replicating the chorus vocal harmony, before the final chorus itself where the background vocal harmony of bassist Paolo Gregoletto puts more emphasis in the harmony than before. EPIC!! "No Way Back Just Through" continues the heavy rage, while having a great chorus ready for future gigs.

While it's tough to pick highlights for perfect albums like this one because of how strong the songs are that make the album as cohesive as true heavy metal classics from the 80s, "Fall Into Your Hands" comes close, a headbanging epic that is the longest song by the band to not be an album's title track or a cover song. It has vocally the best chorus of the album with all 3 vocalists (one lead + two background) uniting. You get to hear killer thrashy riffing along with lots of soloing and instrumentation good for air-guitar. Besides the album's intro, Ihsahn has performed strings that are buried in the background, but this song is where those strings really shine, especially in their own glorious outro. Next up, "From Dawn to Decadence" really combines blasting thrash in the verses with hard rock in the chorus worth humming to. The triumphant closer "The Phalanx" starts with grand intro riffing before a mid-tempo verse that starts building up speed when Heafy starts his usual screaming. Strings return to prominence again in the pre-chorus before the chorus of heroic glory. This epic pretty much summarizes everything they've had in the album, with sublime soloing by Corey Beaulieu. Drummer Alex Bent really keeps his pace with the riffs and elevating them. The song's lyrical theme of fighting demons fit the song's music video like a glove, and that video is a collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios based on the Elder Scrolls Online. And to cap it all off beautifully is an ultra-epic two-minute outro as Matt's vocals lead the band and the one-man orchestra to victory, until next time...

So going out on a whim here, In the Court of the Dragon marks the band's best and strongest album since In Waves. I would recommend this to anyone who has followed the band far through their over two-decade career. The band's later greatness continues in power and glory. An amazing masterpiece that's probably, for me, the best of the year!

Favorites: "In the Court of the Dragon", "Like a Sword of Damocles", "The Shadow of the Abattoir", "Fall Into Your Hands", "The Phalanx"

Rivers of Nihil is back! And I guess I am too, temporarily, after my departure from death metal that occurred earlier this year. Based on what I've heard about this album, far more progressive while staying tech-death, this might just be the listening return to this band I've truly wanted! Well, maybe not completely, but this is still very cool. Fans of their heavier tech-death sound might be p*ssed off, but I guess you can't please everyone...

This band has the rights to be different from all the other prog/tech-death bands like Alarum, Anata, Arsis, Atheist, and other bands that start with A. Here they go the Cynic Focus route and far more progressive metal tools in the box while staying tech-death. Would they keep the tech-death elements or start discarding them? Who knows...

First song "The Tower" you might expect to be an extreme opener, but NO. Instead there's a weird soft tone I f***ing hate. It starts the album with a numb boring waltz that is unlike the progressive metal that's more extreme than Dream Theater. Only the heavier growling part adds promise. What a relief when "Dreaming Black Clockwork" starts! This is the extreme tech-death riff-wrath to enjoy! However, after only over a minute of that, the soft instrumentation returns to unfairly steal the spotlight. But hold on to your seats, because there's still more extreme to the prog to continue, while switching back and forth. A killer highlight! "Wait" is a twist in the prog-death script, close to that radio pop sh*t I'm trying to get over. Here we have melodic singing, straight rhythm, classic soloing, and a sobering vibe. The stylistic journey has been taken slightly too far, while making sure nothing is sacrificed. "Focus" shows a bit of influence from Cynic and that band's similarly titled debut, albeit with slight industrial.

"Clean" can be described as anything but the title, with the vibe and riffing pounding like a jackhammer, especially that monolithic djent-death section around the two-minute mark. The next song, "The Void From Which No Sound Escapes" adds some sweet melody and jazz that only naysayers would hate and not understand. Fortunately, the djent-death drives again for a minute surrounding the two-minute point, yet still doesn't add hope to those haters. Now do you want "More?" More?! MORE?!? There's heavy riffing in the beginning that persists in later sections for a greater prog-djent-tech-deathcore mix than that of Within the Ruins. How better can that genre mix be?

"Tower 2" is a reprise of that boring intro, with slightly more Pink Floyd influence in the acoustic strumming, still not getting any better... "Episode" starts soft, then catchy, then chaotic. Not much else to say there... As if colliding a bunch of genres into one could be done more, "Maybe One Day" is unlike anything Rivers of Nihil has done before, an uplifting ballad that would be more appropriate in a recent Opeth album, but those previous few somewhat poor tracks... "Terrestria IV: Work", holy f***, now this is a closing epic!! It's the longest track by the band at 11 and a half minutes (as much as the title track of Trivium's Shogun) and not only concludes this offering but also keeps up the "Terrestria" song suite from all their albums. Probably more epic than Cult of Luna's "Cygnus"! This is too astonishing for words. Hope you have a rewarded listen!

The Work is indeed a pretty great work of art. Not quite the best of the year, but needs respect and focus for a deserving experience. Excellent writing and nearly perfect arrangement should convince people to go with this album. They were more deathly earlier on, but now look how mature and progressive they've become. Just try it!

Favorites: "Dreaming Black Clockwork", "Focus", "Clean", "More?", "Terrestria IV: Work"

You might consider Green Carnation something like a progressive Paradise Lost. After making it big with their masterpiece album (for Green Carnation, Light of Day, Day of Darkness), they soften things up over the course of 3 albums. It's not until 14 years after the last of the 3 that they would finally return to their roots! For Green Carnation, they're back with new drummer Jonathan Perez (Sirenia, Trail of Tears), who had already performed with them at the 15 anniversary performance of Light of Day.

As you can hear, the band has taken on the melodic gothic-ish progressive sound of their first 3 albums, brushing aside the soft failures of the other two. Kjetil Nordhus continues to shine with his vocals that are never worn out. And within the catchy progressiveness is some heavy technicality to shake things up a bit.

The title opener starts with deep gloom that is almost like Dark Tranquillity's clean ballads, but when we get to the melodic riffs and leads, instead of the growls of Dark Tranquillity, we have the usual stunning vocals, especially the chorus that greatly balances darkness and light. There are also some sweet atmospheric keys. The many different twists and emotion in prog metal are all right here for a grand structure in this perfect gem. The chorus in "Sentinels" has nice clarity.

Now we get to the re-recording of an epic from their debut Journey to the End of the Night, the 15-minute centerpiece "My Dark Reflections of Life and Death". The melody fades in before the drumming starts to build up, going from doomy to mid-paced. And finally, the distorted guitar enters and we get some cool doomy riffing. Vocals don't start until just under the 4-minute mark (the over a minute intro of ambient noise is left out), and it has to be said, Kjetil Nordhus is a much better male vocalist than Rx Draumtanzer, the latter's singing being too stretched out in the original. It would still be nice if we could get some death growls in place of that. Never mind that, he's great with his deep drama. Soon the heavy distortion drops, having more of that acoustic clean guitar. It used to fade to practically silence, but the music can still be heard as everything rises back up, including more of Kjetil's drama. By the way, there's also none of the female chanting that occurs in the original. Still, different melodies in the music and vocals make that epic the true highlight of the album, like the original is for the debut.

Continuing those extensive progressive tendencies is another epic, the 10-minute "Hounds". The acoustic/bass intro is a little too long, and the chorus is a little repetitive, but everything else I enjoy enough to make it another highlight. The album ends with a cover of "Solitude" by Black Sabbath. It's a nice and delicate ballad, and they should've recorded it for their previous album Acoustic Verses to replace that album's lame 15-minute "epic".

Leaves of Yesteryear is filled with the wonders of Green Carnation in their return from the void. And it makes up for not continuing The Chronicles of Doom trilogy that was planned before their breakup. Here's to more of this band in later years!

Favorites: "Leaves of Yesteryear", "My Dark Reflections of Life and Death", "Hounds"

So now we've gotten to Green Carnation's 5th album Acoustic Verses. And just like the title suggests, they taken a dip into soft acoustic territory, with none of the metal from their other albums. The instruments consist mainly of acoustic guitar, mellotron, percussion and strings. I guess what this album can be used for is when you're having a pleasant evening drive. But in any other situation, it's pretty much boring and not something to listen to when you're in a headbanging mood.

I'm surprised by the amount of people out there who think this is better than their other albums, particularly The Quiet Offspring. Well, you can't deny the rich production, but does the lack of variety or heaviness ring any bells? Seems like the radio music bug crawled into their a**es when listening to this sh*t...

Admittedly, "Sweet Leaf" is quite solid. NO it's not a cover of a song from Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, although they covered "Solitude" in their comeback album Leaves of Yesteryear. "The Burden Is Mine...Alone" sounds too much like a mainstream ballad, a cross between 2010s Opeth and what Ed Sheeran would write in that decade. Even if it was released as a standalone single, it's really out of place for Green Carnation. "Maybe" really lays it back. Nothing explosive, just soft disappointment.

The string-filled "Alone" has more variety than just vocals and acoustics. Short and soft but solid and sweet! The droning "9-29-045" is, at 15 minutes, way too long for an acoustic song. I don't think I can ever fully revisit this one after that first listen. I'm glad they're going back to the earlier long epics, but that's not the right one for that aspect.

"Childs Play Part III" is an instrumental piano-led continuation of a series of songs from The Quiet Offspring. I didn't like those first two tracks, but for this one... It's actually another solid track! Probably because almost every other track in this album is worse. Though it could've been expanded upon, it's probably the best part of the whole album. Final track "High Tide Waves" sounds way too modest while still closing the album decently.

Look, as much as I love Green Carnation who are one of the most underrated bands in progressive metal, they kinda f***ed up with Acoustic Verses and its sh*tty lack of variety. At least they split up for around a decade, unlike Opeth who spent the 2010s pretending Porcupine Tree was still alive despite that band's inactivity around that time. And while I would recommend 3 of the songs for anyone wanting something soft while still progressive, I don't think it would ever catch on for my fellow metalheads. And I'm glad they would return later to become heavy again....

Favorites (only tracks I like): "Sweet Leaf", "Alone", "Childs Play Part III"

Founded by guitarist Tchort, Green Carnation was intended to be far different from the black metal bands he was in like Emperor and Carpathian Forest. They started out as doomy progressive metal, reaching their height with the one-hour single-track epic masterpiece Light of Day, Day of Darkness. And not a single thing was similar to the pure black metal of those other bands. After hinting at a more alternative sound in A Blessing in Disguise, The Quiet Offspring seals that deal. Respectable, yet nothing improved...

Although it may seem like Green Carnation was taking a more mainstream direction, they still haven't reached the popularity of the more famous bands out there. Still the structures are lighter and take you straight to the point, as opposed to the earlier heavy complexity. Anyone who has listened to the long epics of their first two albums would get put off by the majority of the tracks each being trimmed down to a 4-minute formula. Quite jarring, but hey, there's still some prog-metal to go with the alt-metal. The Quiet Offspring continues their motive of mixing together progressiveness and accessibility. And there are a few decent songs to like here.

The opening title track is never really the best track the band has ever done, but a good highlight for those who wanna hear this hard rock/alt-metal style better executed than Metallica's Load albums. "Between the Gentle Small and the Standing Tall" has some progressive aspects later utilized by In Vain, yet it's still a rock-out track. Another great highlight, "Just When You Think You're Safe" speeds through guitars and keyboards, leading up to a climatic catchy chorus. Then it leads to the piano-led "A Place for Me".

The frustration you may get from that previous track is guaranteed to vanish with the riff-fueled "The Everlasting Moment". Through just 4 minutes, "Purple Door, Pitch Black" takes you on a journey through terrific instrumentation, including heavy riffing and whimsical keys. Unfortunately, the alt-prog metal riffing is mostly discarded in "Childsplay - Part I", leaning more towards an acoustic/orchestral sound than anything. "Dead But Dreaming" has some progressiveness from Into Eternity, though its alt-metal side reminds me of one of Light the Torch's slower songs.

Up next is perhaps is the best alt-metal highlight here, "Pile of Doubt". I've heard talk about this song ending up in a few 2K sports games. I don't know that for sure, but what I would really like to see if this song reaching the charts instead of the sh*tty ones from the radio. Despite having already come out two decades ago, the insane deep beauty never fades away. The ending part from the 5-minute mark onwards is the best part! Great kick-A song. "When I Was You" takes some time to build up, and if you're patient enough, you'll be rewarded with another progressive experience. It might just make up for all the album's downfalls, although there's one more still lurking... "Childsplay - Part II" relies entirely on ambient orchestration while sounding too much like the first part and thereby being worse than that. And that's the sound of their next album...

As good as some of these tracks are in The Quiet Offering, I just don't feel the magic of going towards of a hard rock-ish alt-metal direction. Nonetheless, I can feel the depth the album has in the music and lyrics. And it's worth listening to despite all the dumbing down....

Favorites: "The Quiet Offspring", "Just When You Think You're Safe", "The Everlasting Moment", "Pile of Doubt", "When I Was You"

Green Carnation was one of the most stylistically diverse bands in terms of changing their sound in every release one by one. Each album in their initial run is heavier than the next, softer than the last. The first two albums have exemplifed their doomy progressive metal sound. Then their mid-2000s material went down to just alt-metal and acoustic rock. And in between is one album that would stand as the transitional release between those two eras...

A Blessing in Disguise is a good offering to appreciate and respect. Here they discard their earlier doomy elements for more of an atmospheric prog-metal/rock sound. The drama and sorrow in the music and lyrics brings to mind what Amorphis and Anathema were doing at that time.

The early 2000s Amorphis comparisons hold true with the punk-ish opener "Crushed to Dust", a great song that's one of the first I've heard from the band besides Light of Day, Day of Darkness, and I still enjoy it in the past 4 years before this review. I also just noticed that the lyrics are close to what to expect in DSBM, but they're still good, in mighty contrast with the upbeat music. "Lullaby for Winter" brings it closer to the Anathema side of things, around their late 90s gothic metal/alt-rock era. Quite impressive when they experiment with a hammond-filled rock composition with emotion and energy. Also, great singing from Kjetil Nordhus, who performs all the vocals instead of being in a league of guest vocalists. Then comes another highlight, "Writings on the Wall", a Paradise Lost-infused track with a great chorus despite the suicidal lyrics.

Despite the greatness of the opening trio, the writing gets more, well, extra in "Into Deep". Also troubling is "The Boy in the Attic" which barely has any heaviness, mostly just piano-led. "Two Seconds in Life" is another boring ballad-ish track, though the midsection bridge sounds nice and lively.

"Myron and Cole" is a heavy return to the gothic-ish progressive metal sound expected in the album, with crushing heaviness and esoteric experimentation. "As Life Flows By" has good balance in the variation. "Rain" is the 8-minute final epic of strength and melancholy. While the intro and outro may be too long for the impatient, they both know how to build up and down in those respective sections. With that and the heavy riffing and melodic chorus, this feels like the closing track anyone would wanna hear.

All in all, A Blessing in Disguise has a good blend of melody, progressiveness, and accessibility. The more extreme metal elitists may want to stay though, especially from those 3 tracks in the middle than are a little too soft, even for me. Still it's a good album to rock out to....

Favorites: "Crushed to Dust", "Lullaby for Winter", "Writings on the Wall", "Myron and Cole", "Rain"

It was only a few years before this review when I started listening to Green Carnation via one of the best doomy progressive metal albums, the one-hour single-track epic Light of Day, Day of Darkness. At that time, I was losing touch with the gothic/doom metal of bands like Katatonia, so I'm glad the first two Green Carnation albums have still stuck with me. Journey to the End of the Night is a great album despite not living up to the glory of its follow-up...

Their debut shows Green Carnation at their doomiest and can be considered progressive gothic doom, slow while filled with both darkness and lightness. There are 4 beautiful epics that each last 15-20 minutes, or at least that's what they should be thought of as. Not sure why they had to split parts of some epics into smaller tracks.

See, the opening intro "Falling Into Darkness" could've been better as part of the first epic instead of its own track. Still it's fine listening to on its own, starting soft with clean guitars, slow and steady drums, and operatic female chanting. Then the riffing and drumming speeds up, and the chanting intensifies before it all comes to a halt. Then the main part of the epic begins, "In the Realm of the Midnight Sun". There's a lot of female vocals in here, whether it's chanting, singing, or spoken word. That and the D-flat tuned riffing may remind some of Therion without the symphonics. Guest vocalist Atle Dorum eventually comes in, but I don't like his singing as much as I like their later vocalist Kjetil Nordhus. The drumming is slow with nothing diverse. This 16-minute epic (including intro) is nice and dark, but not one I would repeatedly listen to entirely.

Now we get to the more exciting epics, starting with the 18-minute centerpiece "My Dark Reflections of Life and Death". To get you geared up for the darkness, two minutes of ambience occurs before you can hear actual music. In all honesty, this is the kind of glory the band would have in Light of Day, Day of Darkness. Anyway, the melody fades in as the noise fades out, while the drumming starts to build up, going from doomy to mid-paced. And finally, the distorted guitar enters and we get some cool doomy riffing. Vocals don't start until the 5-minute mark, sung by Rx Draumtanzer. He's better than that other male vocalist from the previous track, but his singing being stretched out I'm not really into. Would be nice if we could get some death growls in place of that. Never mind that, he's great with his deep drama. Soon the heavy distortion drops, having more of that acoustic clean guitar, before fading into practically silence. That happens 10 minutes into the track, and you might think it's over, but then everything rises back up, including more of Rx's drama and some of the earlier female chanting. Different melodies in the music and vocals make that epic the true highlight of the album. The next epic "Under Eternal Stars" follows. There's more of that female singing and clean guitarwork, the latter quickly becoming distorted again for slow riffing. Once again, all this might remind you of a less symphonic Therion. Oh I almost forgot, that female vocalist is Vibeke Stene (ex-Tristania), and her high soprano singing makes me up for more of her former main band. The song is so dark and gothic, yet it becomes more melodic and progressive. Oh, and there's more of the male singing too. All in all, a fun highlight!

The title track is supposed to be a 20-minute epic, but for whatever reason, they split some parts into different tracks. The 11 and a half minute main part is doomy while sometimes speeding things up a bit, and there's some great singing too. Add in some death-growls, and we would've had a more progressive Trail of Tears. "Echoes of Despair" is an ambient interlude. It would've been OK if part of the epic, but on its own it's just sh*tty filler. The mix of speed and doom continues in "End of Journey", and some of the best vocals in the epic are found here. "Shattered" unleashes the last bit of fast riffing to close the album. Again, would've been better as part of the epic.

I think it's safe to say Green Carnation's debut is a solid start. All I ask is for Rx Draumtanzer to replace that guy in the first epic and not stretch out his singing, and for the epics to be indexed as full epics. Still this is great dark progressive gothic doom. If you wanna get into Green Carnation, start with their first two albums. You won't regret it....

Favorites: "My Dark Reflections of Life and Death", "Under Eternal Stars", "Journey to the End of the Night", "End of Journey"

So... French hardcore metal, eh? Um, NO. This CD, Les 150 Passions Meurtrieres doesn't really do metalcore a lot of favors. Sure there is intense brutality, but it seems like their "inspirations" are mainly rip-offs. There may be some lyrical copying from Whitehouse and De Sade, especially in the title track, all mangled in the French tongue. I'm not really pleased by this. I still appreciate a bit of the heaviness though, along with its mix with melody in that title track. However... well, better luck (and review) some other time....

Favorites: just the title track

Progressive metal is one of the most characteristically difficult genres of all time, when it comes to playing, composing, and sometimes listening. If you're an expert at composing excellent progressive music, you'll create wonderful results, otherwise everything would be incorrect. If you're new creating progressive metal, surely a 10-minute epic would be difficult to start with, but it's still easy to keep interesting. It would definitely be more difficult to attempt a 20-minute track with half of it is long instrumental sections and the other half is filled with ambitious vocals, all with no coherent pace. You can even challenge yourself further with 30 minutes. Now 60 minutes, an exact hour, THAT's the ultimate challenge! You have to be the master of getting used to prog to enjoy this hour-long epic, Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness!

Green Carnation's music for this album can be described as progressive metal with slight doom. Dark sorrow in the atmosphere fits well with the high-quality composition. Probably a third (20 minutes) of the track is instrumental while not straying away from the concept, with a continuous pattern throughout the progressive complexity. Unlike Dream Theater or Rush, the album is more doom-inspired than upbeat, including the mid-range vocals and the riffs that contain slow dark heaviness to fit nicely with the sorrowful leads. The album also includes saxophone, sitar, strings, synthesizers, and other instruments starting with "S", greatly enhancing the guitar and atmosphere.

It all begins with an intro that might've made any metalhead who bought this album on the month of its release think this is a brand new Dream Theater album. Of course, the heavy doom-paced riffing might make you think otherwise. The instrumental sections are enjoyable despite being colorless. Then death growls start roaming in as of around the 8-minute mark before the pace continues being changed. Another 8 minutes later, at near the 16-minute mark, the pace picks up and flows easily. Another 16 minutes later, sometime after the 32-minute mark comes an out-of-place stretcher; 5 minutes of female operatic chanting. That almost made drop the score a half-star. You could've added some Kreator-like thrash soloing, but nope!! Fortunately, the perfection is redeemed with more heaviness, at slightly over the 40-minute mark is followed by a two-minute acoustic/piano solo, before the excellent guitar solo I've waited for. Finally, the last 5 minutes are mostly soft instrumental and be considered the track's "end credits".

What an achievement in the progressive metal realm! You can probably guess Light of Day, Day of Darkness, as the longest track from a prominent rock or metal band, but it's surpassed by Fantomas' Delirium Cordia, Transatlantic's The Whirlwind, and Bell Witch's Mirror Reaper. Everything flows without being too loose or out of place (for the most part). This is a must-have for all progressive fans, and while I didn't start my prog journey here, for anyone wanting to start on this genre for the first time....welcome!

Favorites: The entire track (though I've struggled with the female operatic chanting)

Hopesfall is an alt-hardcore band that had a more metalcore sound 20 years before this review. They were signed to Trustkill Records, an infamous record label that took their own name seriously. This EP, No Wings to Speak of acts as a bridge in the 3-year gap between their debut The Frailty of Words and The Satellite Years. The band's Christian-themed debut is an under-recorded under-promoted album that failed to spread through a greater audience. The EP No Wings to Speak of is a greater display of their earlier work with underground spirit dug into the surface. And when I finally got the chance to listen, it was indeed a jaw-dropping experience!

Hopesfall was part of the rising hybrid band scene that included hardcore bands like this one and the more famous rap/metal hybrids like Hybrid Theory-era Linkin Park. For Hopesfall, they were one of the earliest metalcore hybrid bands, mixing the genre with emo and post-hardcore, and slight hints at the indie rock that would dominate their sound in the mid-2000s and beyond, all in dense sound layers. Despite this hybrid, their main focus isn't on metalcore's moshing chaos, but rather on smooth beauty in their sound. These 4 songs are harmoniously written compositions while still using heavy grooves and breakdowns in the song structures. Heavy but mellow compared to what their previous record label Takehold Records had then. The band stays strong with emotional chords and beautiful riffs overlapped with harsh vocals in spiritual purity.

The opener "Open Hands to the Wind" is not bad at all, but it's my least favorite song and not the best song to start with. It's a less unique melodic metallic hardcore song that  seems to rip-off from Poison the Well and Evergreen Terrace, yet a minute into the song onwards, the subtle sublime changes commence so it stays good. That's where I know that the hope for perfection has never fallen! "April Left With Silence" starts with somber groove and discordant melody with pounding bass to spread out throughout at least the first half. Then you get stunned by the heaviness of dissonant chords over melodic riffs like a spring flower blooming on top of a cold winter mountain. "The End of an Era" is the best one here, with nearly 7 minutes of beauty and fury combined. A haunting opening riff turns into a towering breakdown overlapped with bright guitar which, in turn, adds dense chords and fast drums, followed by highly emotional passages, stunning tempos, dark beautiful screams, and finally a soft gentle instrumental passage at the center. So d*mn beautiful... "The Far Pavilions" runs through the snare drum more frantically before ending the album with bright power.

Yeah, I already noticed this band being Christian, and I've heard about their debut album The Frailty of Words being a Christian album. Whether they intended to keep that going, and whether your religion, Hopesfall made one of the most spiritual metallic hardcore releases to this day with No Wings to Speak of! Their music combines elemental metaphors of wind and water, and that's already seen in the bleakly beautiful cover art of black & blue & green clouds. The band has indeed taken on less Christian influences than their debut album, with its simplistic beauty that can almost be suitable for a Buddhist monastery. If you can just take that soft gentle instrumental passage from "The End of an Era" and have it seamlessly repeat without any of the heavier parts, that would be excellent meditation music. No Wings to Speak of is also more suitable for a night drive with yourself or friends than just a live show. With music filled with brilliance, beauty and a breakdown or a few, metalcore youngsters like myself would love it!

Favorites: "April Left With Silence", "The End of an Era"

In Flames was once a band that I listened to before leaving the death metal realm, a Swedish metal band that started with glorious melodeath but (d)evolved into the alt-/nu metal that metalheads hate. And while this live album isn't as terrible as some of their later albums, the fault is in the quality...

Seeing this live album in the anniversaries thread yesterday as of this review, I thought it would be worth giving this band another go to see if anything's good in this album. As it turns out, some things are very good, others are horrible, like the production sounding more stereo-like. The vocals sound horrible compared to their studio works, f***ing up the songs that stand out, while some others still sound good. Do I dare talk about them all? I guess so...

Kicking off the show and the album is "Bullet Ride", with a nice riff before Anders' singing takes over, though only the bass and drums stand out more than the rest, thereby butchering the song. Anders sounded much better and less sucky in studio than this live sh*t. "Embody the Invisible" stays close to the original from the Colony album, but nothing special is added except for the bad quality of the production and vocals. "Jotun" kicks real a** in the instrumentation, but the vocals hit a new low there. "Food for the Gods" has much better vocals to bring the quality to higher average. "Moonshield" is one of the best songs from the melodeath era of the band, but for the performance here... WHAT THE F***?!? Why in the h*ll did they skip the acoustic intro?! That's the best part of the song!! The f***ed up production does not help at all. This is sad, man...

"Clayman" is just sh*tty here, too whiny-sounding. "Swim" is another one from the at-the-time latest album Clayman, still cr*ppy enough to skip. The next track begins with Anders shouting to the audience, "We're gonna take all of you behind space!" Cheesy, right?? Anders once again ruins it all with his Rabbid-like voice. That's why I prefer only the original version with Dark Tranquillity's Mikael Stanne. "Only for the Weak" is the best song of Clayman and almost this live album, though it's degraded by the cheesy "Jump!" chant and the absence of background vocals. The way he pronounces the next track title "Gyroscope" is amusing, but the rest of this song still sounds sh*t here.

"Scorn" sounds much worse than the original. The only upside is the "Raining Blood" break in the middle. "Ordinary Story" does a good job doing the original justice, but I'll still complain about the production and vocals. "Pinball Map" is absolutely worth skipping and the live version should be called "Pimple Map". The title track for Colony isn't as bad as the other songs from the album performed here. "Episode 666" is very good, almost not lame at all, with kick-A singalong moments, though not too spectacular.

All in all, this is a good live album in some parts. Their previous albums, especially their first 3, are much better than this live sh*t. D*mn bummer, man, especially since this was meant to be a nice throwback for me. The production and setlist should've been made better. Now if you'll excuse me, my time away from death metal continues....

Favorites (one song per album, I liked the original versions better): "Food for the Gods", "Moonshield", "Behind Space", "Only for the Weak", "Colony"

I've been in the hardcore/metalcore zone for longer than 3 years now, and I barely despise anything from that genre. I enjoy many Revolution classics, even ones before this album like Calculating Infinity by The Dillinger Escape Plan and We are the Romans by Botch. Maybe someday I can get into other metalcore bands like Poison the Well and Hopesfall, but this band, Skycamefalling is what I'll start with, all thanks to another one of Daniel's Revolution recommendations!

This is one of those albums that essential for the hardcore/metalcore scene in the new millennium. The sole Skycamefalling album 10.21 and Converge's Jane Doe are two of the first metalcore albums with more poetic lyrics than just uniting a brotherhood of rebellion.

The instrumental "Intro" starts the album. Then "With Paper Wings" kickstarts the action. This is probably the band's greatest hit, filled with driving guitar intensity, one of my favorite metalcore songs to remember! I might just feel up to screaming along to the chorus. After grabbing your throat throughout the song, there's a beautiful piano outro that would inspire hundreds of other bands to add something like that to their songs. You know who "Laura Palmer" is, a murdered girl whose investigation serves as the plot to the series Twin Peaks. This is more aggressive than when Swallow the Sun made a song about Laura Palmer. "The Nothing" is a great way to describe where a relationship leads to: "So where were you when one heart became two?! When three words became more than you could chew?!?" I highly recommended listening to that song!

"-" is just a short instrumental. "Porcelain Heart Promises" covers pretty much everything you need to hear from this band. Another recommendation! "Healing Yesteryear" shows what TDEP and Botch should've done the previous year. "Shallow Like the Sand" is definitely what you should come for poetic lyrics: "Trees fall like iron on their way down, we bury our hands in their hearts and waste away again, because I have tried to turn words to stone, tried to fight the day with my eyes closed." Way more thought out than other hardcore bands! "The Truth Machine" continues the classic metallic hardcore, at a time when progressive innovators like Devin Townsend were on the rise.

The instrumental title epic contains 9 minutes of acoustic guitar, clean piano sounding a bit Eastern, and light percussion, leading to an ending crescendo. A soft break while you breathe in the flames of creativity! "November’s Neverending" gives you the idea of an eternal dark winter with no point in moving on. The album closes with "An Ocean Apart", staying strong even after 5 minutes of silence. A fitting end to a hardcore metal album of a beauty and intensity!

I still can't believe this talented group of musicians split up after only one album, but hopefully there would be more after a few recent reunion shows in the 2010s. As much as I enjoy other metalcore bands, I already miss these guys and hope they'll come back again. A metalcore classic of sheer poetry!

Favorites: "With Paper Wings", "The Nothing", "Porcelain Heart Promises", "Shallow Like the Sand", "10.21", "An Ocean Apart"

Like a book-writer having finished making his anticipated masterpiece and what started as a small decay turned into a big one when the pandemic hit, prog-death/metalcore masters Born of Osiris suffered a similar fate. The band made a 26-minute "studio album" (nearly as long as Cryptic Shift's "Moonbelt Immolator"), The Simulation, released in early 2019. After spending the first half of the year touring, they started writing the album that was supposed to follow, but for the production, like I said, a small decay turned into a big one. Their pre-recordings fell apart when the world was altered. After spending 2020 writing more material, they were able to hit the studio again to record what turned out to be a 55-minute actual studio album, Angel or Alien!

The band has made quite a 12-year prog-death/metalcore journey of studio albums since A Higher Place (Happy 12th anniversary as of this review!!). Throughout their tenure, their passion and dedication have never died out, with their sound evolving in a time when very low tunings where a thing in the djent lands. Bands are like some foods; you wanna keep enjoying it but eventually you might end up spitting them out before you can swallow. To make sure Born of Osiris is a relevant band and never an acquired taste, they still have the will to continue to push away from the complacent dark abyss. The band that has consisted of Ronnie Canizaro (unclean vocals), Joe Buras (keyboards and clean vocals), Lee McKinney (guitars), Nick Rossi (bass while switching to guitars), and Cameron Losch (drums) make the right turn of igniting the inner fire of their roots that they embrace along with new authentic surprises through this 14-song offering.

Beginning this collection is the catchy danger worth facing that is "Poster Child". At the end of that killer opener, some of their newer elements come in such as the synth-infused saxophone to smooth out the electronic synths. Then the explosion into "White Nile" is detonated with their expected matured refinement taken to the next level. What you may hear in the title track is a long-time-no-listen infectious hook, in which you can't deny its resemblance to their past material while moving the evolution forward. "Waves" conveniently waves for its needed attention. The more brutal "Oathbreaker" continues the expected mix of melodic synths and djenty explosion to please your ears.

The present once again allows the past to stomp through in "Threat of Your Presence", another notable highlight. The emotional "Love Story" is filled with confessional sincerity, far better than that Taylor Swift song. "Crossface" howls like a wolf, reaching a Crossfaith-level of metalcore mixed with EDM synths. "Echobreather" is so beautiful yet pummeling, as the heaviness and growls is balanced with Buras' synth melody and cleans. "Lost Souls" is another astounding composition.

The brutal slaughter continues "In for the Kill" as McKinney's fine guitar work dominates over the cinematic flourishes. A gut-punch of madness is unleashed onto you in "You are the Narrative" (can this "Narrative" really be beaten up??). The self-inflicted deliverance of "Truth and Denial" has Canizaro keeping his vocal edge and pushing it up with his earlier New Reign-era shrieking. The grand finale "Shadowmourne" is almost an anthem for my earlier Horde/Infinite/Revolution clan lineup. This instrumentation in this song alone is almost superior to those other songs and almost every other band with a similar style, and the saxophone makes its triumphant return throughout this piece.

While the semi-massive delay was the virus' fault, Born of Osiris continue igniting the inner fire of their roots as their sound continues evolving beyond bounds. While other bands try and fail, this band creates a strong storm of grace that never falls, and every track in Angel or Alien proves that point. This may not be the direct follow-up to The Simulation, but it's the start of a new era that will continue with another upcoming album Born of Osiris is currently writing. Whatever comes next, I'll be ready. Bring it!

Favorites: "Poster Child", "Angel or Alien", "Threat of Your Presence", "Love Story", "Lost Souls", "In for the Kill", "Shadowmourne"

I was thinking about trying to find one more thrash band that would be perfect enough to prove that I can fit well in The Pit, but ultimately, I decided that this can already be proven by a classic I'm already familiar with. One with... 246 RIFFS!!!! All of them rule as they strike through your mind and soul, taking control from beginning to end. Everyone has a different feeling when it comes to a certain album, and I find this album to be full of high-quality thrash genius!

The perfect lineup can show you more than just those killer riffs. The production is clean with audible instrumentation. Drummer Gene Hoglan adds some slower technicality alongside his usual fast thrash. Vocalist Ron Rinehart is a perfect fit here with strong vocals as the riffs from the guitarists slay away.

The title track starts with the first of those hundreds of riffs, slow before becoming lethally fast. The lyrics written by Hoglan are awesome, dealing with insanity and death in greater depths than the still perfect Darkness Descends. D*mn, even the music is incredible, including how well the bridges and choruses are structured. All that confirms that you're listening to one of the most complex and extreme thrash albums around. "Pain's Invention, Madness" has more of those many riffs, as Ron's flawless vocals continue following them. "Act Of Contrition" similar keeps up the variety of riffs to maintain your headbanging as always. The amazing soloing reaches the top compared to some other thrash albums. All this will make you stay in attention through the progressive length that most songs have.

Next one is one of my favorites, "The New Priesthood", in which lyrics detail modern technology surpassing religion. The intro riff is perhaps its most killer here. The most melodic and sinister at the same time track here is "Psychosexuality". Then comes one of my favorite songs in tech-thrash, and maybe all of thrash, "An Ancient Inherited Shame". The band's longest song at 9 minutes, all the riffs in the track kick a**. The progressive structure makes incredible tempo changes from slow to fast and in between. Dark Angel at their mightiest!

"Trauma and Catharsis" is f***ing superb, though the doom intro for nearly first two minutes is slightly unnecessary. However, the memorable fast riffing is still worth it, and the perfection is not affected. Rolling in a more sludge-ish pace, "Sensory Deprivation" is another magnificent track. While staying in the usual grand strength, the closing "A Subtle Induction" is the fastest song here and puts everything to a speedy end.

The Pit has spoken! This is what I truly desire from the clan, a technical heavy sound with awesome music and lyrics. People might think of Darkness Descends as the band's greatest album, and while they're right, Time Does Not Heal is very close to that reign as one of the greatest albums of thrash and tech-thrash. Truly standing the test of time!

Favorites: "Time Does Not Heal", "Act Of Contrition", "The New Priesthood", "An Ancient Inherited Shame", "Sensory Deprivation"

There are a couple reasons why I wanted to give this Anthrax album a listen and review. First off, I felt a little bad for missing out on that Anthrax concert in my home country that was originally for sometime last year before this review but got postponed anyway because of the virus. Second is the reason why I chose this album State of Euphoria, because it was near the bottom of the 10+ chart list in this site. It's time to see what went wrong for this album...

This album is pretty much the black sheep of Anthrax's classic era. You can SEE why by the trippy cover and HEAR why by the simplified slightly slower sound that thrash fans don't consider a real winner. Despite a small split in the fanbase, the album continued the band's gold-winning streak. It would take some adjustment to get used to this.

Straight into the opening track "Be All, End All", we hear cello. F***ING CELLO!! The heavier fans might think, "That's thrash!? Cello is classical! Blah blah blah..." A strange yet nice addition to a song I find brilliant! If they kept using that cello, they would be an early ancestor of Apocalyptica. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" is another a**-kicker. Joey Belladonna performs his strongest vocals there despite pressure from his bandmates. "Make Me Laugh" makes me laugh to hear anti-religious attempts to rule television.

What's considered the last winner of the album is their cover of Trust's "Antisocial" that everyone else has heard, but there are several more... The otherwise unimpressive "Who Cares Wins" can rule with Joey's singing from the heart. Another fantastic song "Now It's Dark" is shamefully shunned by other listeners, but it's one of the best for me.

However, I have an issue with the lyrical quality in "Schism", like where is the chorus?! Is that it when Joey scats "sc-sc-sc-schism"? That's quite fake and anti-climatic when expecting something different after the verses. This common issue would be fixed in their next album. Inspired by Stephen King, "Misery Loves Company" can please fans of dark-ish hardcore thrash. The interlude "13" is a small fault. However, "Finale" is a fan favorite that they should play live more often.

In my opinion, while State of Euphoria has a bit of dry gloom in their songs, it's still interesting and the necessary balance of thrash between the apparent light of Among the Living and the apparent darkness of Persistence of Time. F***ing h*ll, I enjoy this more than most other fans would, but it still doesn't get me in the mood for Anthrax....

Favorites: "Be All, End All", "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", "Who Cares Wins", "Now It's Dark", "Finale"

This is the only death metal album rating and review I'm gonna keep. I promised myself I would stop listening to death metal and avoid it at all costs, but I felt like giving myself an exception. I mean, it is quite understandable, right? Y'know, when a band you've heard for a few years has ended, followed a year later by the tragic passing of their guitarist/vocalist during a new project. You probably know how I felt...

Legendary melodeath band Children of Bodom split up when half of the band left, taking the rights to the name with them, so guitarist/vocalist Alexi Laiho formed a new band Bodom After Midnight. Sadly he passed away at the end of 2020, leaving behind a few songs for an upcoming album. The rest of the band released those 3 songs as an EP, and ended the project, knowing that this was Laiho's project and continuing under its name would put them in the same legal trouble he almost had over the name rights of Children of Bodom. As a tribute to their fallen leader, Paint the Sky With Blood does great justice to his absolutely astonishing career that's now gone too soon.

Beginning this 15-minute offering of melodeath entertainment, the title track has epic melody. Fast riffs and powerful rhythms battle against neo-classical solos and fun keyboards. Alexi Laiho has vocal charisma, especially in the catchy chorus supported by gang vocal fury. This is very well the best song he has ever written in his career, absolutely hungry for the epic fury he hadn't had for 20 years. The song does indeed sound fitting for that early era of Children of Bodom.

The second track is probably the least strong and most brutally lyrical of the EP, "Payback's a B***h". It starts with heavy breathing, then energetic rhythms, furious riffs, and relentless reckless vocals kick in. There's less catchiness but more brutal atmosphere that sounds fitting for the later part of Children of Bodom's middle era 10 years ago.

The EP ends with an excellent Dissection cover, "Where Dead Angels Lie", the longest song in the whole Bodom band universe, just a few seconds longer than "The Nail" from the 1997 Children of Bodom debut Something Wild. The sinister atmosphere and melody remain while adapting into the EP's impressive technical melodeath. The song has a slower pace than the other two, but it will keep you interesting throughout these 6 and a half minutes. The original Dissection song has been appreciated by melodic black-death fans. Two melodeath-ish bands, both split up, each with their guitarist/vocalist passing away shortly after.

At the end of it all, Bodom After Midnight have made their only studio appearance with Paint the Sky With Blood, an excellent swansong EP for the melodeath mastermind Alexi Laiho. I highly recommend this timeless piece of melodeath for fans of the genre who want to preserve it for many generations. RIP Alexi and Bodom....

Favorites: "Paint the Sky With Blood", "Where Dead Angels Lie"

Today is the day, a very special day... It's my time to try a bit of experimental noise-metal with Today is the Day! I tried reviewing one of their other albums that was an Infinite feature release, but I bailed out because it was too much for me. So let's find out how I'm gonna handle this one...

The 1997 Today is the Day release, Temple of the Morning Star has been known as a noise metal classic, and for its 20th anniversary in 2017, a deluxe reissue was released to include a bonus CD filled with demos and a live concert from the original release year that was released in 2007 but remastered for the album's reissue. It might seem amazing, but if I can stand the noise-ridden music in the original album, maybe then I'll proceed to those rarities. (spoiler alert: I didn't)

The opening acoustic intro starts the album in nihilistic nature ("I am slowly dying, I can’t be what you want me to be, I am dead") to summarize the views of lyricist/founder Steve Austin (not to be confused with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin). A pleasant acoustic start before the cathartic start of the sound that inspires metal acts like Converge and Thou. After that acoustic intro is a sample of Waylon Jennings' "Good-Hearted Woman", then the screaming chaos of "The Man Who Loves to Hurt Himself" starts to frighten those who aren't prepared. "Blindspot" sounds more repetitive in the riffing, but the sirens almost make the chorus sound like Pac-Man. The dark sludge to appear in later albums is hinted in "High as the Sky". My favorite track in the album is "Miracle". It's short but it sums up everything the band has from anger to doom.

The lyrics in the album are far too direct, especially in "Kill Yourself", when he gives clear instructions to take a blade and cut through the wrists, neck, thighs, heart, etc. ("Why hold back!? Kill Yourself!!! Take a blade!! Do it fast!! Do it clean!!!") No thanks! I got a lot to live for and I don't wanna waste my life by bleeding to death. A more experimental sound can be heard in "Mankind". The minimalistic noise rock of their earlier albums returns in "Pinnacle". More of the astounding noise layers come in "Crutch", keeping up the break from the emotional melody before the next track. "Root of All Evil" is a more melodic song in contrast to most of the songs so far, but before the heavier listeners could call it "filler", the powerful crescendo is still in possession. "Satan is Alive" has far more Satanic experimentation than reversed messages. Maybe playing it backwards would summon Satan itself, but do I dare to? NAH...

"Rabid Lassie" continues the melodic groove while still having rabid experimentation. "Friend for Life" is a pointless half-minute acoustic interlude that I want banned for life. Austin does a bit of clean singing in "My Life With You" (while still screaming), a tale of disappointment and demise of his ex-relationship. "I See You" can kinda be a sequel to that previous track, where he ends up seeing his ex in his dreams. We come near the end with the 8-minute doom epic "Hermaphrodite". The ending electric outro ends the album similarly to how it began, but of course more electric and tuned up a semitone. Technically the original album ends after a hidden cover of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".

Here's a bit of listening advice; play the album as loud as you can, but only in a soundproof room where no one can accuse you of "disturbing the peace". The only distortion you wanna hear is that of the guitars and not the production quality. The band has aced their sound but I still don't feel ready for more of that noise. Maybe some other day....

Favorites: "Temple of the Morning Star" (both versions), "The Man Who Loves to Hurt Himself", "Miracle", "Root of All Evil", "My Life with You", "Hermaphrodite", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (hidden Black Sabbath cover)

Jesu is a band formed by Justin Broadrick that was active during his decade-long breakup of his main band Godflesh. The name is spelled like "Jesus" but without the second S, and pronounced "yay-zoo", like when you say "Hey kids, we're going to the zoo!" and your kids are like "YAY, ZOO!!!" I decided to give this EP I requested to add to the site a listen to see if I'm up to completing my post-sludge elemental star. Probably not at the moment, but never say never...

Fans of Justin's work pretty much fell in love with Jesu's 2004 self-titled debut and were glad to hear him still in action. In an attempt to match its greatness, he continued the project with the EP Silver. This really does seem closer to post-sludge than the drone of their debut, but it still has the band has to offer.

Off in a good start is the title track that marks the beginning of what the sound has; electronic ambient sludge instead of drone. A good but not too shocking opener. "Star" is an upbeat alt-like shocker. Jesu fans might have trouble digesting it, but it's all good once you get used to it. The second half is where things slow down to the drone style of their debut album and EP. "Wolves" is good, though sounds closer to the drone of their debut. The last track, "Dead Eyes" discards most of the guitar heaviness for synths, thereby being the EP's black synth sheep. I really like this song because of the well-placed synth-ambience, so it's my black synth sheep of favorite songs...

There are two bonus tracks in the Japanese release, which are original mixes of "Silver" and "Wolves", but seeing how the EP versions are the slightly lower quality half, I'll skip those two bonuses. Despite that, I really enjoy Silver, and how can a band not have even the slightest complaint, right? JK Broadrick has still got it!

Favorites: "Star", "Dead Eyes"

Shadow Work is known as the swansong album for Warrel Dane, who suffered a fatal heart attack while recording. He was one of the best singers in metal, and now we get to experience his last ever material. Despite being incomplete, this album is incredible! All fans of Nevermore and the recent Sanctuary should enjoy this twisted darkness.

This album was released 10 years after Praises to the War Machine, when he still had the light of Nevermore while using less of that band's virtuosic technicality. Shadow Work is so heavy and impressive, and he recorded the album in Brazil with a local band. I'm guessing those two guitarists Johnny Moraes and Thiago Oliveira were trained by Jeff Loomis before recording with Warrel Dane. The riffing balance between heavy and melodic sure has been inspired by Nevermore.

High-quality ethnic sounds perfectly fill the overture "Ethereal Blessing". Then the intense "Madame Satan" starts the extreme action in a bang. "Disconnection System" is closer sounding to the second Nevermore album The Politics of Ecstasy, even recycling some lyrics from that album. The best song to sample before the rest!

"As Fast as the Others" is ironically not as the title says, but it does have an arena rock vibe. The title track distinguishes the album from its atmosphere with its killer heaviness that make the song a highlight. The intro to their cover of The Cure's "The Hanging Garden" is probably the darkest and most extreme section of any song Warrel Dane had worked on. The guitar stays both vicious and atmospheric with a few unexpected twists, as Dane's melodic vocal emotion shines over prog-death instrumentation.

The ballad "Rain" is more accessible while still gloomy. "Mother is the Word for God" is the epic closer with all his vocals heard for the final time, from snarling to whispering. All that's missing is his falsetto from the earlier Sanctuary, but he has worn it out. This really echoes the title epic of Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor without copying.

In the beginning of this review, I mentioned that this album is incomplete, right? Yeah it was supposed to be almost twice as long, near the 80-minute CD time limit, but after Dane's passing, they used the songs he completed and thus came Shadow Work. Those recordings were made possible thanks to Dane's band and the last of his emotional vocal drama. It might seem a little rough on the edges, but this is the best album for his singing at the very end of his over 3-decade career. Thank you, Warrel Dane..... RIP

Favorites: "Madame Satan", "Disconnection System", "Shadow Work", "Mother is the Word for God"

I've never really been a Kylesa fan, but I recently stumbled upon a couple of their songs, each from one of their albums, when searching for Spotify recommendations for my private-at-the-moment playlists. While the first song, "Tired Climb" from Spiral Shadow, was a restrained pop-ish metal disappointment, the second song which appears in this album, Ultraviolet (I'll tell you which one when we come to it) is heavier and more superior. This made me surprised that this album is considered non-metal, when I hear stoner metal all over in that song, but having learned my lesson after my Alcest review/judgement submission, I decided I won't submit this album into the Hall until I make a full review. So let's dive into this offering from a sludgy stoner metal band from Georgia!

I am quite curious to see if there's metal here or not, but while the metal strength is prominent enough to be in a clan, it seems more diminished than most other metal albums I've listened to. That might sound awful, but the approach works better than you might expect because it has way more psychedelic abstract than mainstream sugar. Instead of 21 Century Blink 182-inspired music, they've gone backwards in time with their influences ranging from 90s alt-rock to 80s post-punk to 70s Pink Floyd. Baroness and Kylesa stay king and queen of present-day stoner/sludge, but the latter's sound is more evident, proving that this album is, once and for all, considered metal.

"Exhale" sounds great with cool downtuned fuzz, but the lyrics can come out hilarious. The band's combination of heavy sludge metal with psychedelic trance is so obvious in "Unspoken", their most accomplished mission in reminding me of how metal they are. In fact, that's the song from this album I found when I was adding recommended songs to one of my playlists to my Spotify account, and the main reason for this review. "Grounded" is another great song.

"We're Taking This" is short but has f***ing intense vocals with insane lyrics. The guitars sound fresh, especially at the two-minute mark that reminds me of Mastodon, though not as amazing as "Unspoken". Except in this one, you hear massive atmosphere with amazing riffs suitable for metalheads. Seriously, those sinister vocals are awesome! You'll find a lot of sludge stacking up more than Red Fang or Stake, and did I mention the heavy uncompromising riff in the psych section. It's so short, unlike Mastodon's longer songs, but I love it! I also say h*ll yeah to the awesome "Long Gone". The short "What Does It Take?" is faster, but in a Placebo-gone-metal kinda way. Philip Cope goes solo when doing the vocals for that song. "Steady Breakdown" starts with what the title says, but over the stoner rhythm is a memorable melody. However, the melancholic passages make the band have a Beach House-like sound. Laura Pleasants returns with her vocals and riffs there.

"Low Tide" is a somber flashback to Joy Division. "Vulture’s Landing" continues the speed with Laura's vocals soaring through the air, along with a short solo trip. A killer heavy tune! "Quicksand" is a quick song with not a lot to note here. "Drifting" starts off sounding more suitable for stoner smokers before increasing heaviness.

Ultraviolet is a pleasant break from the extreme metal realm of growls and blast-beats, but there are a few outstanding riffs and heavy solos, though with barely any doom in the guitars. However, what's really missing that would make the album more appealing would be any tribal drumming jams that would make the dreamy soundscape and the heavy vocals more solid. Ultraviolet might not make Kylesa reach my interest, I love the mystique of this album! Kylesa have really evolved their sound along with fellow prog-sludgers Mastodon and Baroness. Ultraviolet is an album I would recommend to people with broader stoner tastes who might find this kind of metal fascinating....

Favorites: "Unspoken", "We're Taking This", "Long Gone", "Steady Breakdown", "Vulture's Landing"

Wow... Vektor has changed a lot since we last heard of them! First off, they set the tuning to the standard E, as opposed to the slightly higher F tuning in all their previous releases, and that's a bummer because I was kinda hoping for them to pick up some C-tuned 7-string guitars for a heavier yet ethereal sound. Second, the vocals! David DiSanto has been known for his high shrieking, yet the vocals here are mainly more melodic and clean, with a small bit of the shrieks only in the background. I think he lost most of his screaming ability after using it all up on his ex-wife (sorry, I know, poor taste).

With the E tuning and mostly cleaner vocals, "Activate" sounds closer to the 80s albums of Voivod and Coroner (both bands I enjoy) than the unique style Vektor has been known for. That song is, in my opinion, the band's fourth-worst song (second-worst being "Collapse" and first-worst being "Mountains Above the Sun"), though it's not bad enough to be a sh*tter and it still remains solid. What is the third-worst Vektor song, you may ask? Well that would be the other song of the EP...

I spend some time wondering if this other song, "Dead By Dawn" would have this new sound as well or their unique style from before, and if they both have this new sound, is it just one-off for that EP, or will it affect their upcoming album and become permanent?? Only time will tell for the latter, but now I know the answer to the former. IT'S THE NEW SOUND!! The first half is a clean Pink Floyd-like prog ballad while the second half continues Vektor's signature thrash, like a "Collapse/Ultimate Artificer 2.0" or some sh*t. My third least-favorite Vektor song behind "Collapse" and "Mountains Above the Sun" while still staying solid.

With that, I decided to check out the other band of the split EP, Cryptosis, and let me just say... They're like a Vektor-ized Revocation! Born out of the ashes of Distillator, the death-ish tech-thrash complexity they started developing along with Vektor-inspired sci-fi themes. Their two songs in the EP, "Decypher" and "Prospect of Immortality" are great singles.

Who knows what Vektor would sound like in their next album? Is this their new normal of just a one-off thing? That's probably one of two things I wanna know from Vektor, the other being whether or not they'll re-record the Demolition epic "Moonbase". For now, I shall enjoy this band and new fellows Cryptosis....

Favorites: "Decypher", "Prospect of Immortality" (yeah, I like the Cryptosis songs better the Vektor ones)

So... 5 tracks in under 40 minutes. I guess this can kinda be considered an EP, being only half as long as A Dawn to Fear. It looks as if The Raging River was created as the then-unknown third nearly 40-minute disc for A Dawn to Fear, but and it certainly sounds that way too. This EP can be considered both a perfect post-sludge continuation to A Dawn of Fear and a look-back at their magnum opus Somewhere Along the Highway. Even the order of songs is kinda similar while staying new!

"Three Bridges" starts experimental, but then it builds up to epic post-sludge Cult of Luna fans want. The twists and turns that combine heaviness and emotion just continues rolling. "What I Leave Behind" fills your heart with pain and despair in sludgy destruction.

"Inside of a Dream" is a short pretty ballad with nice ambience. Mark Lanegan, known as a former member of Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age does great soft clean vocals. "I Remember" is another epic-sounding song with better riffs and amazing vocals. The finale epic "Wave After Wave" does exactly what the title says; hit you with wave after wave of massive flowing transcendence. An epic climax of weaving instrumentation fills up the last few minutes, keeping up the band's lucky album-ending streak.

All in all, Cult of Luna have released another perfect energetic release. You can play A Dawn to Fear and The Raging River back-to-back, or listen to the EP on its own, whichever seems better for each fan. Feel the rage!

Favorites: "Three Bridges", "I Remember", "Wave After Wave"

Godflesh have made two amazing albums in the 2010s! They haven't sound this good since the early 90s. They went a little downhill with a few experimental albums and would eventually break up after 2001's Hymns.

Fast forward to 2009 and these industrial metal innovators reformed as a live band. It wasn't until 5 years later when they rewarded fans for their patience with their first EP and album in over a decade. I enjoyed A World Lit Only by Fire quite a lot, a straight throwback to their earlier sound. And here we are again with another golden album in 2017, Post Self! Their 8th album with strong conviction.

The title track opens with the band's classic sound; a pounding drum beat and simple heavy riffing. The soundscape is relaxing yet dissonant. Nothing's out of place! This cohesive sound is still doing well after all those years of experience. This is also proven in "Parasite". While "No Body" brings back the groove of Selfless.

Laying back the sounds a bit is the ethereal "Mirror of Finite Light". Though more industrial-driven, it's a nice break from the earlier monolith metal ambience. However, that returns in the doomy "Be God". Whereas "The Cyclic End" adds more spacey atmosphere, the kind to expect in Jesu. So things get a little more ethereal at this point of the album, and you're about to get more...

The trek peaks up with "Pre Self", continuing the spacey post-rock sound, to remind some of the sonic grief of early Swans. "Mortality Sorrow" recalls the band's earlier electronics, as G.C. Green's bass thunders through with his bass, bring something old into the new in a strange mix. For "In Your Shadow", I've talked before about how the earlier Godflesh material would inspire the sludgy vibe of Converge's You Fail Me, and that's recalled again there, though mostly dominated by hip-hop instrumentation. "The Infinite End" lets everything out from the band before ending with eerie synths, though it sounds like there should be more to come from the band. To be continued, I guess...

Whatever concerns me, Godflesh continues to impress us with the strength they've regained since their reformation. While they're all shorter than half the amount of songs from the previous album, more of the new ground has broken without too much force. Broadrick is so brilliant at putting together this industrial metal sound he's had since the late 80s. Whether old or new, Godflesh fans can find great pleasure in Post Self, and expect more of the best from the band in the future!

Favorites: "Post Self", "Mirror of Finite Light", "The Cyclic End", "In Your Shadow", "The Infinite End"

Justin Broadrick has restarted the band he's been mostly known for, with an awesome comeback! A World Lit Only by Fire marks a return to their crushing roots, twisted to become more interesting. To recap this band dynamic career leading up to this album, first they made a trio of albums that solidified their freshly invented industrial metal with the apocalyptic Streetcleaner, the monolithic Pure, and the harsh Selfless. Then they brought in a diverse cauldron of drum 'n' bass, IDM, and hip-hop in the mellow Songs of Love and Hate and the overly groovy Us and Them. Finally, Hymns was a more experimental post-metal-ish album that would hint at Broadrick's next project Jesu.

13 years later, Godflesh fans thought there would be a Hymns Part II, but they ended up getting a pleasant surprise. The earlier violent darkness of industrial metal is back in form, continuing what they had 25 years prior in Streetcleaner! Of course it's not really a sellout plan, instead being a return to what they do best, like what Black Sabbath and Carcass did in their comeback albums the previous year. Don't get me wrong, this isn't just recreating Streetcleaner, this is a brand new direction based on that. Some things are different and more modern without making any sacrifices, like for example, crushing 8-string riffing! They now have the axes forged by Meshuggah for djent descendants, and it sounds insane. Of course, it's just dissonant chords and atmospheric riffs that are far away from what would be considered djent.

"New Dark Ages" marks the band's killer return, starting a new dark age for their industrial metal sound. Another worthwhile track is the aggressive march of "Deadend", where the drums and bass (I mean the instruments this time) shine along with the harsh yells. I also like the shuffled rhythm in "Shut Me Down". Next song "Life Giver Life Taker" once again makes sure there's nothing stale or repetitive here, unlike the previous 3 albums.

Obey the demanding power of "Obeyed"! Rhythms keep stomping through in "Curse Us All". Then sludge crawls through in "Carrion", similar to what the band in late 80s when their industrial sludge sound was fresh and new.

There's some more cleans in "Imperator", a bit surprising for first-time listeners of the album. Adding in something unexpected in very sparse gaps can help keep listeners interested. His decent singing through post-drone is a nice break from the earlier harsh yelling. Oh the audacity while maintaining the atmosphere! "Towers of Emptiness" is probably my favorite track here, just listen to it! "Forgive Our Fathers" has dreamy atmosphere that's never out of place. Justin continues his vocal variation once more, from his usual low growls to the occasional usage of clean singing.

All in all, A World Lit Only by Fire shows Godflesh making a solid comeback; modern production, heavier djent-sounding riffs, and amazing vocals in fun crushing songs with lots of background textures. Despite the bass and drums not getting much of the spotlight, it's still a solid interesting album, like a modern Streetcleaner 2.0. A promising start of the band's new dark age!

Favorites: "New Dark Ages", "Deadend", "Obeyed", "Imperator", "Towers of Emptiness"

Hymns would mark the last Godflesh album before their decade-long split-up. They've definitely had more industrial metal in their earlier works. While this one does not have as much industrial, there's barely any weakness. Most of the keyboards are dropped with more emphasis on guitar, bass, and real drums, and it actually sounds strong. This trio actually worked pretty well, unlike other trios that end up sounding boring as a tea party (both the band and literally). Why did they have to break up with a steady lineup?!

For this album, the industrial beat is more of a background aspect. This group of geniuses know how to add small amounts of drum loops and keyboard into the songs and somehow make them sound so big. It's great for the music's diversity!

The album opener "Defeated" starts slow in the intro. Despite the guitar strums and hit-hats, you might start to fall asleep until your jolted awake at around the one and a half minute mark where things get more interesting as the action begins. After that slow fitting intro, the heavy beats and guitars are brought forward and continue from there. Then there's hip-hop-inspired riffing in "Deaf, Dumb & Blind" (3 things I don't wanna be altogether). "Paralyzed" would have you paralyzed by the industrial metal groove. An interesting highlight is "Anthem". After 3 songs of shouted vocals, this one focuses on clean singing. Such an amazing anthem! A haunting vibe is added to the guitar thanks to those vocals. Sadly, "Voidhead" doesn't really work well when it comes to those clean vocals.

The tyrannical aggression returns in "Tyrant" when the cleans are replaced with the shouts. I enjoy the atmospheric sludge anthem "White Flag", but the clean vocals sound so terrible that there's no chance it would ever be a highlight. However, "For Life" is a heavy groove track that would become a fan favorite for life. Then we swing into even more groove with "Animals" with great riffs.

"Vampires" has a darker vibe. Same with "Antihuman". However, reigning over them is the most triumphant song here, "Regal". However, what really deserved mentioning is "Jesu" (pronounced "yay-zoo", like when you say "Hey kids, we're going to the zoo!" and your kids are like "YAY, ZOO!!!"). Not many of the other songs can surpass this one, it's so beautifully haunting. The beauty is especially found in the clean hidden track, a good hint at the project Jesu, which Justin Broadrick would start in the aftermath of losing everything including his main band, money, house, and marriage, but with that project, he would slowly get his life and Godflesh back on track.

While many sound repetitive, they all have a unique identity despite lack of the elements that made their signature sound. Still, Hymns is pretty solid, though not as great as their classic releases. I understand how far this duo (for the most part) of technical industrial metal had come to that point, to fill your ears and drums with heavy hymns....

Favorites: "Defeated", "Anthem", "Tyrant", "For Life", "Regal", "Jesu" and the hidden track

So the album before this one, Songs of Love and Hate, was kind of a half-good album that doesn't live up to the strength of Godflesh's first 3 albums. But if you think any of the songs in that album are bad, wait until you hear what they got in Us and Them...

Godflesh decided to break out of the earlier humanistic approach for something more technological. Most of the harsh industrial metal is stripped down into broader ideas of trip-hop, drum 'n' bass, and ambient textures. It's the kind of trend that ends up getting outdated, yet when the usual monolithic bass and dark riffing come in every now and then, it's a fresh refreshment as opposed to this eclectic techno sh*t. Expansive while lacking innovation resulting in something somewhat dull.

The drum 'n' bass beat patterns of "I, Me, Mine" sound OK in quality, but for many listeners, it might cause some boredom. Then we have the hip-hop sample-infused title track. After that, we have something I might enjoy in "Endgames" with dark layers of bass textures. Of course, we go back to moronic failures with the b***hy "Witchhunt".

"Whose Truth is Your Truth?" is nowhere close to a good track. The dark-ragga-metal-jungle "Defiled" follows a looping pattern with a cool beat and solid writing, but with the music and vocals have that style throughout, it's just not right. However, "Bittersweet" master the shoegaze-influenced sound well. "Nail" brings back the stronger fare.

Crashing through heavy drumming is "Descent". After that, "Control Freak" is another filler track that doesn't go anywhere. "The Internal" continues the airy shoegaze in a much better form that would probably inspire Justin Broadrick's later project Jesu. "Live to Lose" is probably the best track of the album if you wish to explore more of Godflesh's heavy riffing. It is a bonus track recorded during the Songs of Love and Hate sessions that ended up in this album.

An ominous yet alienating formula plagues Us and Them and left the band's fanbase puzzled. They would bring back some of their metal while kept stripped down in their next and final album before their temporary split-up Hymns. Us and Them is definitely not the place to start when it comes to Godflesh. Better stick with Streetcleaner....

Favorites (only songs I truly like in this album): "Endgames", "Nail", "The Internal", "Live to Lose"

I think most Godflesh fans would agree with me when I say their first 3 albums (Streetcleaner, Pure, and Selfless) are their best era. They're one of the first bands to mix industrial with metal, and they've really shown what they've made in those 3 albums. When they started adding real drums and hip-hop groove in this album, it can repel the audience while adding newer fans.

So yeah, this album is a little more average, but it's still something I enjoy. Godflesh once again releases an 11-track bass industrial metal album with songs for you to love and hate. I guess that album title really makes sense...

The first song "Wake" is guaranteed to wake you up so you can smell the industrial metal spirit. There's wonderful riffing in "Sterile Prophet" among other infectious elements. However, "Circle of Sh*t" is where the hip-hop sh*t begins to rise. Metal elitists should not stick around for that stinker. "Hunter" would make you wonder, "What happened to the Mastodon-influencing sludge this band once had!?"

Redeeming the quality with emotion, "Gift From Heaven" levels things up with guitar groove, alongside a shouting chorus ("I am nothing, feel like everything") and a mumbling verse ("I am love, I am hate, hate my love, love my hate"). "Amoral" has more technical atmosphere. Next song "Angel Domain" has infectious bass to go with melodic guitar, along with catchy vocals. This is worth headbanging to in a way that you can enjoy without going as vicious as when you listen to death metal. Drum looping occurs in then next song, "Kingdom Come", though it sounds repetitive.

"Time, Death and Wastefulness" is just a waste of time, even after f***ing death. However, my favorite song in this album is "Frail", practically close to post-metal with the ethereal atmosphere. It fits much better in Hymns, but that's my only complaint there. "Almost Heaven" almost seems like a sequel to "Gift From Heaven", but sadly no. All we get is just industrial hip-hop sh*t. Thankfully, it's not available on vinyl for any vinyl collectors out there.

So the music is strong in half the amount of songs, especially the well-done samples and synths, and the vocals really stand out, but the lyrics and beat are painful to hear at times. Despite the negative aspects, I'm sure both the old and new fans might dig some songs, though there's no chance at some of those songs reaching touring....

Favorites: "Wake", "Sterile Prophet", "Gift From Heaven", "Angel Domain", "Frail"

I started my Godflesh journey with their first two releases, their self-titled EP and Streetcleaner. I have clearly understood the appeal of industrial metal ever since, and recently I've reviewed Pure and the Merciless EP. I continue my brave Godflesh quest with Selfless!

This is where the band expands their repertoire while becoming more accessible in the riffing. Selfless is not as strong as the aforementioned first two releases, but it's worth frequent listens. Despite their usual minimalistic sound, there's the fear of being condemned as selling out when the earlier harsh density is being moved away from. With that said, this ain't pretty mainstream music, Godflesh's heaviness is still unbreakable.

"Xnoybis" is an interesting start, with a heavy riff as the drum machine marches on alongside shouted vocals, the latter relied on while adding clean-singing melancholy. However, during the times clean singing prevails, it sounds a bit off-key, yet fits the atmosphere. Going big on the industrial metal is "Bigot". Same with "Black Boned Angel".

"Anything is Mine" is the only song here that takes on more of an industrial death 'n' roll tone. It's fury lets you stomp your cleated boots to the ground and grind anything underneath to dust. Hinting at Justin Broadrick's later project Jesu, "Empyreal" is a beautiful fragile song, distancing itself from the sound of their previous entries. Some might be bored, while others, like myself, might find it entrancing. The heaviness has never before sounded so light. Stretching out the skeletal structure is "Crush My Soul", delivering more traditional industrial sounds, with electronic samples reminding some of Aphex Twin at that time. Though being released as the first single might've tricked fans into thinking the entire album would be like that. "Body Dome Light" adds a bit of an EBM vibe to the industrial metal sound.

"Toll" is pretty cool, though not significantly decent. The slower "Heartless" might've inspired the sludgy vibe of Converge's You Fail Me. "Mantra" seems to drone on like a mantra, another early hint of Jesu. The CD version includes a special track, the nearly 24-minute "Go Spread Your Wings", the longest Godflesh song and my favorite of the album, possibly of the band. It is a modern epic journey through Broadrick's tunnel of imagination, as drums and guitars pound along. This might surely beat the previous album's "Pure II" as Godflesh's ultimate epic!

Not one Godflesh album is identical to one another, and while that's good, it's hard to tell exactly what represents them the most. As the usual elements are kept, the progression helps keep the albums separate. Selfless isn't the best part of the band's peak period, but it is a momentous album that I love. Accessibility aside, it's an emotional helper. Of course, what you prefer is up to you, whether or not you really want this album to crush your soul!

Favorites: "Xnoybis", "Anything is Mine", "Empyreal", "Crush My Soul", "Heartless", "Go Spread Your Wings"

Godflesh is one of a few bands to start their own league, that league being industrial metal, with one side of the genre being heavy and the other being skinny...Puppy. You might think Godflesh is being indecisive, but it's part of what makes them unique.

This is pure industrial metal, fresh from the 90s. Earache is an essential record label for game-changing albums from bands like At the Gates, Cult of Luna, Woods of Ypres, and of course, Godflesh. The bass really drives through as G.C. Green pounds away, while Justin Broadrick plays his droning distorted guitarwork. The guitar and bass are in a nice loud balance with distorted tone. It sounds so raw and clear, and the drum machine almost sounds like real drums!

The title track is so slow and doomy, with powerful riffs crushing your spine and ripping it out from your neck. That's the kind of feeling induced from the sludgy bass and the heaviness brought forward from the 45-second mark onwards. The crushing riff may sound redundant, but the repetition is worth it. Justin's smashing vocals come close to growling. This could be used in a dramatic slow-motion movie fight scene. Midway through is a clean bridge that's also repeated. Everything is memorable here! "Blind" follows, sounding more industrial with low beats. The guitar and bass have some sound effects in the tone. Justin's vocals are the usual deep and dark with no cleans. The lyrics are the same throughout the repetition, but that's what makes them memorable. However, too many stanzas spoil the structure a little. On the other hand, even without a proper chorus, the music and lyrics stay memorable. The lyrics are so simple yet have powerful meaning. Justin can help Godflesh possess the greatness it really needs.

"Unworthy" has more sounds and more speed. Not really the greatest of the EP, but worth listening to. The vocals sounding clean in the beginning seem out of place. Other than that, it's still pretty good. Lastly, "Flowers" is just a strange drone instrumental based on "Don't Bring Me Flowers" from the Pure album. It can work as both an eerie piece of music in a dark haunted house and relaxing background music when chilling in a lounge.

Godflesh has made another simple EP that you can listen to without disappointment. It focuses on minimalism instead of technicality that never fails to amaze me. This is one of Godflesh's more metallic releases and an underrated offering that should be picked up. Merciless deserves listening mercy!

Favorites: "Merciless", "Blind"