Compilations: Metallurgy

This is an album released by Metallurgy magazine, a short-lived metal/hard rock magazine in the 1990's, I think. Honestly I have no idea. I remember finding the CD at Best Buy, and it was cheap and there were a few bands I liked on it. So, I bought it. Now, I hardly ever listen to it. Many of the tracks are demos or unreleased, or live. Very few of them are really worth the purchase of the compilation. There's also a lot of crap on it.

The nice thing about it is the 192 page booklet that comes with it. It features interviews and writeups of the bands involved as well as various other stuff. There's a list of the ten heaviest albums, which features metal artists Black Sabbath, Metallica, and others as well as other artists like Public Enemy (what the fuck?). There's a look at the then-upcoming Down album as well and some humorous jabs at well-known metal musicians. The booklet probably makes the album worthwhile, but that's about it. I still have it somewhere, but I haven't seen it in a long time. Perhaps when I find it, I will take a closer look at it.

There was a second and third volume of this released. I never picked those up though because this one really wasn't all that great and I don't think I liked the bands on the other ones as well.

Here's a look at the songs:

SEPULTURA: REFUSE/RESIST (LIVE)
Well, this is the best song on the album. It's an absolutely punishing live version of one of the best songs off of the band's Chaos A.D. album. This was the first time I had heard an original Sepultura song. I was blown away and very soon after became a big fan of the band. This is a great song. I now own an EP with this same version on it.

ELEVEN PICTURES: EP TWO
I can not find much information about this band. This sounds like some sort of heavier alternative rock. Very similar to groups like Jane's Addiction, Stone Temple Pilots, and other bands. It's an okay song, just not one I'm all that interested in. Also, NFM.

GZR: DRIVE BOY, SHOOTING (DEMO)
Ah yes, the Geezer Butler project. This came at a time when Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi were having an argument over the Black Sabbath name. Geezer formed his own band to capitalize on a style he was interested in playing. This is industrial-tinged groove metal, and boy are Geezer's riffs heavy as fuck. Burton Bell of Fear Factory supplies the vocals. I picked this album up pretty much immediately after hearing this. Unfortunately GZR put out a couple more very lackluster albums after this one.

YOUNG GODS: KISSING THE SUN
Young Gods is an early industrial rock band. This is just basically some industrial sounds with vocals attached. I really did not care for this track. And this came when I was still very interested in industrial rock. NFM.

THE DAWN: SECOND SUN
This seems to be some sort of psychedelic/stoner rock. It's not too bad, it's slow-paced and very heavy. I like this stuff sometimes. They sound a little bit like Fu Manchu and Monster Magnet, groups that were becoming popular at the time. NFM though.

STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT: YOU'RE THE VULGARIAN
This, I don't like. This is just some hardcore band. I suppose the riffs are okay, but the vocals are horrible and I really don't like hardcore much at all. It sounds like a more hardcore version of Green Day from this time period, which will probably REALLY piss these guys off. NFM.

FAITH NO MORE: ENGOVE (CAFFEINE)
I love Faith No More, but I have no idea what the fuck this track is. This is like the slow buildup to a song that could be pretty good, but it never comes. There are no vocals, it's just the music building into nothing. At one point we have what sounds like it could be some pretty heavy riffs, but it doesn't last long. I think it's really the instrumental track to one of their songs. Why put that here? I first heard that Faith No More broke up in the accompanying booklet.

KYUSS: SHINE
This one was even more disappointing. It's also just an instrumental track, but it's longer. Also, I had not heard Kyuss before this album and because I did not care much for the band, I still have not picked up a Kyuss album, despite enjoying stoner doom and hearing that they were very good. Some day I will get over that, but yeah this compilation had that effect. Listening to it now, it's really an okay track, it just is not good enough to be a showcase for the band. Hard to belive Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age was in this band.

HELMET: STREET CRAB (LIVE)
Helmet isn't a band I have ever been a big fan of. Nothing against them, other than the fact that they had a big influence on the rise of nu-metal. They themselves are more of an alternative/metal band. They have heavy metal riffs, but not really the attitude. This is an okay track but I never got into the band.

FEAR FACTORY: NEW BREED (REMIX)
This is a remix of the Fear Factory track that can be found on the special edition of their Demanufacture album. I already owned that album at the time I got this. It's a good track, and that's all I really have to say about it because I already had it.

STANLEY: SPREADER
More hardcore. More yawns. NFM.

SKYSCRAPER: PLEASE DON'T HURT ME
This is again some sort of alternative rock with hardcore influences. I am not a big fan of this either. Next. NFM.

QUICKSAND: SHOVEL
What's with the hardcore bands on this thing? NFM.

NAPALM DEATH: GREED KILLINGS (DEMO)
This is another track that put me off checking out the band in any sort of real fashion. It's a demo track and it's just not very heavy. I mean, all the elements are there, except the distortion. So yeah, I did not check out Napalm Death further for several years after this album. It's a shame, I have a lot of catching up to do.

CHOCOLATE: SUGAR FREE PROMISE/MR. PEEPER/BULLY BARS/HOW AND WHEN/SERIOUS LOSS OF DOWN
Do we really need five songs from these guys? Hardcore shit. NFM.