Acheron: Lex Talionis (1994)

This is the second of three Acheron posts.  This one will be covering the band's second full-length album, released in 1994.  It is kind of surprising to find a release with this kind of sound in the early 1990's.  Both death metal and black metal were still fairly new at this point, so to find a band that could blend the genres so early is a little bizarre. 

As mentioned in yesterday's post, Acheron's primary member is one Vincent Crowley who was for a time a reverend in the Church of Satan.  Lex Talionis is the law of retaliation, which is something of an important principle in Laveyan Satanism.  As Anton Lavey, writer of the Satanic Bible, has said, "if a man smite thee on one cheek, smash him on the other".  And this album is something of a tribute to Satanism, featuring occasional spoken word sections that seem lifted from the Satanic Bible.  It has been awhile since I have read it (and I no longer have a copy), but I am almost sure. 

The album's sound is primarily a particularly brutal form of death metal, borne out of the sound of groups like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Incantation and Immolation with a very dark and evil atmosphere.  The vocals are delivered in a gruff, yet easily understood style.  The proper songs on the album sound great, and if the album were just those songs, this would be a fairly impressive release.

Unfortunately, for some reason, Acheron has chosen to completely frustrate the ability to truly get into this album by including a minute-long intro before every single song.  Usually these are keyboard sections, but occasionally take another form.  The result is an album that sounds really choppy and can sometimes be hard to get into.  That is unfortunate, because when Acheron is playing a full song, it can oftentimes be great.

Acheron: Tribute to the Devil's Music (2003)

The next three posts will cover albums by the long-running blackened death metal band Acheron.  Acheron is primarily the project of Vincent Crowley, who was once a reverend in Anton Lavey's Church of Satan.  The band started out in Tampa, Florida around the same time as the beginnings of the death metal scene, then later moved to Ohio, of all places.

This album, as could be surmised from the title, is a cover album.  Acheron is paying tribute to a number of their musical influences and it is also more of a compilation as the tracks were not all recorded at one time, but rather over the course of the band's history.  As such, the recording quality varies wildly, as does the musicianship.

Unfortunately, there is a little bit of an issue here that makes the covers concept a bit difficult for Acheron to pull off.  Acheron has never been the most dynamic of bands.  Their typical sound is more of a bludgeoning monster and is decidedly one-dimensional.  So when Acheron is covering songs from groups like Judas Priest ("Devil's Child"), KISS ("War Machine") and Iron Maiden ("Wrathchild"), they kind of fall flat.  It's not all bad, their covers of Celtic Frost ("Dawn of Meggido") and Kreator ("Flag of Hate") are pretty decent.

This is absolutely not an essential release among Acheron's discography.  Only hardcore fans will really appreciate this, and even then, I'm not so sure.

Tormentor: Anno Domini (1989)

I previously discussed Tormentor with their 1987 demo/album The 7th Day of Doom.  Despite the fact that Tormentor has never released a true full-length album (I am not even counting that mess released in 2000 when the band had changed their sound so drastically as to be unrecognizable as the same band), they remain one of the primary influences on the burgeoning black metal genre in the early 1990's.  This release, their second demo, is perhaps even more of a foundation for the black metal scene.  And just like the previous release, it is notable for featuring Attila Csihar prior to his run in Mayhem.

Tormentor's sound on this release is a very primitive form of black metal, with massive influences from groups like Mercyful Fate and Venom.  In that respect, it is much closer to a traditional metal album than it is to what is classified as black metal these days.  There are definitely some elements though that have never changed with the genre that are present here.  The entire release is awash with a dark, malevolent and evil atmosphere that can be heard from the riffs down to the psychotic wailing vocals. 

The biggest highlight of the release is the vocals of Csihar.  His vocals are absolutely chilling, able to rise from a soft whisper to a blood-curdling shriek with ease.  And he definitely engages in some vocal acrobatics on this release, taking on a variety of vocal styles and shifting between them quickly and jarringly.  It is a true virtuosic performance.

There are a number of classic black metal tracks on this release, such as "Tormentor" and "Elisabeth Bathory".  This release is a true landmark in the formation of black metal, taking its cues from Mercyful Fate and expanding even further into the black void.  This absolutely needs to be checked out.

Holocausto: Diário de Guerra (2019)

Holocausto's history dates all the way back to the mid 1980's, rising out of Brazil around the same time as the much better known Sarcófago and Sepultura.  And honestly, the music definitely shows.  While the aforementioned bands have adapted and evolved over time, Holocausto's sound now still sounds like it has not changed at all.

This is the band's first album since 2005, which is not the band's only hiatus, as that was their first album since 1993.  The band's sound on this release is rooted in the sound of Sodom demos (and the album cover proves the obvious Sodom influence) and the early extreme metal sound from South America, like the bands mentioned above.  The songs are mostly simplistic, based around one or two riffs per song and only really diversifying their sound through the use of samples of warfare that break through at times.  There are exceptions of course.  The title track is the best song on the album as it breaks into a groove-laden thrash break that will have heads banging.  But for the most part, this is extremely raw and ferocious, yet simple tracks.

This is probably not for everyone.  There is nothing particularly pretty here and it is just pure raw aggression.  It is also not particularly original.  Those who do not care for the early roots of South American extreme metal will probably not care for it.  This is nothing new, but it's still a lot of fun.

Infernal Conjuration: Infernale Metallum Mortis (2019)

Infernal Conjuration was one of the opening acts when I saw The Chasm last July.  I had not previously heard of them, but their performance was excellent.  I was so impressed that I picked up the vinyl issue of this album, the band's debut. 

To begin with, let's just say there is a pretty good reason why Infernal Conjuration would have been on tour with The Chasm in the first place.  Like The Chasm, Infernal Conjuration is a death metal band from Mexico with an eye towards progressive song structures and some technical riffs. 

The music here is a combination of The Chasm, Sadistic Intent, Death and Morbid Angel.  The songs are jam-packed with jagged riffs that often come out of nowhere and shifts in sound seemingly at random.  The most surprising aspect is that despite the almost constant shifts in tempo and riffs, the songs are actually coherent.  The album seems more like one long song that is completely unhinged, offering no chance at respite from the constant barrage of murky, demonic-sounding riffs.

I have spoken several times about the massive number of great death metal albums released recently.  Infernal Conjuration's full-length debut is definitely on that list, even if it did not make my Top 10 list.  It certainly came close. 

Lords of the North: A Tribute to Bathory (2019)

Bathory has one of the more intriguing legacies in all of metal.  Primarily the one-man project of one Thomas Forsberg, a.k.a. Quorthon, Bathory was instrumental in the formation of black metal.  Then later, tired of that genre, Quorthon began experimenting with an epic, folk-laden heavy metal style that became the basis for what we now refer to as "viking metal".  Quorthon died in 2004 at the still young age of 38 (my age now). 

This release focuses for the most part on the viking metal era of Bathory (obvious from looking at the album cover), an era I have been exploring more and more over the last couple of years, but which I was aware of early on in my discovery of the band due to picking up Twilight of the Gods before I picked up any of the earlier black metal material.  I love tribute albums and have been striving to find more of them recently, so it was an easy call to grab this.

UNREQUITED: "SONG TO HALL UP HIGH"

Appearing on Hammerheart, I do not really understand the inclusion of this song.  The original version does feature some clean singing, but that is completely removed here, making this a two-and-a-half minute acoustic opener that really does not go anywhere.  I guess I sort of understand, Bathory became known for having epic openers.  This does not tell me anything about Unrequited as a band though.

ESKAPISM: "ENTER THE ETERNAL FIRE"

That's more like it.  This is one of the few songs from Bathory's black metal era to make it onto the album, originally appearing on the utterly fantastic Under the Sign of the Black Mark.  It is an intense, heavy track that nonetheless foreshadowed Quorthon's burgeoning interest in more epic fare.  Eskapism captures this atmosphere well, with raspy vocals that match the more abrupt riffing style well.

BEORN'S HALL: "FOREVERDARK WOODS"

I had heard this specific cover before as it appeared on Beorn's Hall's 2019 album.  "Foreverdark Woods" originally appeared on Bathory's Nordland I, which was one of the band's latter albums.  It starts off with acoustic music before building into an immense and powerful song that exemplifies Bathory's viking metal era, hitting all of the high notes.  Beorn's Hall does a masterful job with this track.  The band wears their Bathory viking metal era influence on their sleeve, so they better be good at this.

DWARROWDELF: "NORDLAND"

U.K.-based black metal project Dwarrowdelf tackles the lengthy title track from Bathory's first Nordland album.  That is a bit of a change from the band's normal Tolkien-influenced music, but the music does fit with what the band typically does.  The lilting flute melodies and minstrel-esque vocals give the song a light-hearted feel that is occasionally broken through with darkness.  It is one of the more uplifting Bathory songs.

FOREFATHER: "MAN OF IRON"

This is a much shorter song off of the amazing Blood on Ice album which I only recently picked up and fell in love with.  This is another song whose inclusion on this kind of baffles me.  It is a much more melodic track, but it is at least a true song, and not just an intro track.  I have no idea what to think of Forefather though.

FOURTEEN SEVENTY SIX: "BLOOD FIRE DEATH"

Ah yes, here we go.  This is the title track, and one of Bathory's best songs ever, to my favorite Bathory album.  I can find very little about this band, it might be the same band as 1476, a duo out of Salem, MA.  They do a decent job with this track, though it sounds a little sludgier than the original version.  That is not a problem though.    

WINDFAERER: "BLOODED SHORE"

Windfaerer is another band who owes much of their existence to Bathory's second ere and they tackle the first real song off of the second Nordland album.  That was Bathory's final album.  This is a brighter song with a lot of fanfare at the beginning.  The vocals are delivered in more of a typical black metal rasp with clean backing vocals though, while the original only had clean vocals.  I understand the choice though and Windfaerer does a decent job with it.

LOSTREGOS: "A FINE DAY TO DIE"

Lostregos is a Spanish black metal band whose lyrics are all in Spanish.  This song is actually titled "Un Bo Dia Pra Morrer" as the band translates the song into Spanish.  This is perhaps Bathory's most famous song from the viking metal period and appears on Blood Fire Death.  Lostregos firmly emphasizes the black metal elements of the song, flooding the melodic portions with distortion and down-tuning the guitars.  What results is a rather different arrangement of the song.

ULVESANG: "THE LAKE"

Ulvesang is a neofolk band from Canada that has decided to cover "The Lake" from Blood On Ice.  This is a slower, more melodic song, that still has some heavy riffs.  Ulvesang though takes it in an acoustic direction, eschewing the heavy riffs.  The vocals are also delivered in a spoken word style, when they are present at all.

FUNERARY DESCENT: "CALL FROM THE GRAVE"

This is another track from the decidedly more black metal Under the Sign of the Black Mark.  Funerary Descent, as might be inferred from their name, is more of a doom metal band, with some black metal influences.  The original is a mid-paced crusher, but Funerary Descent is not the kind of band to perform something like that, opting to slow things to a creeping crawl instead.  

This is a decent tribute album.  I did not really discover too many new bands I am itching to check out, maybe Windfaerer and Eskapism.  Some of the more interesting arrangements were by Funerary Descent and Lostregos.  I am not the biggest fan of the Unrequited track.  Even the less metal tracks by Forefather and Ulvesang had some nice touches, but Unrequited is just wasted.  Beorn's Hall wins the award for sounding most like the original.

This is hardly an essential release, but interesting if you are a big Bathory fan.  

Monarque: Jusqu'à la mort (2019)

Like Synteleia a few days back, I can probably spoil how I feel about this EP by referring to its placement on my Best EPs of 2019 list.  It topped the list.  That's how good this is. 

Over the last couple of years I have been exploring a variety of underground metal scenes, some of which I had not been previously aware, such as the black metal scene in Quebec.  Apparently I have missed out on a rich and vibrant scene with some amazing bands.  I touched on this very briefly discussing Cantique Lépreux last year.  Well, Monarque are one of the marquee names in the scene, so I had to find something. 

It was the album cover that drew me in here, rather than any desire to give a listen to a major part in a scene of which I was just becoming aware.  But this is an absolutely amazing release that has convinced me to find more from not only Monarque, but many of the other bands in the Quebec scene in general. 

The first two tracks are stunning examples of what makes the scene so compelling.  Through all of the darkness of the songs, and there is plenty with the riffs and the smoky, snarled vocals, there exists a kind of breathtaking beauty underlying everything.  The third track takes a much longer time getting going, but it soon follows suit and is the decidedly more dynamic of the three songs.  The album feels like the soundtrack to a blizzard sweeping over a desolate landscape.  It is chilling.

I love this EP, as is obvious from its lofty placement on my end of the year list.  I am definitely looking into more of this band's music and checking out associated acts.  I have been missing out.

English Dogs: Forward Into Battle (1985)

For much of their early existence, English Dogs were a punk band, arising out of the fertile U.K. scene in the late 1970's/early 1980's.  That all changed however with this release.  The band went in a much more metal direction over the coming years, but this is where things really began to head in that direction.

The music here is heavily influenced by that other heavy music scene that rose out of the U.K. around the same time period, the NWOBHM.  English Dogs began incorporating speedy riffs from groups like Iron Maiden, and even some early thrash metal from groups like Metallica and Overkill.  The riffs are raucous and raw, with frenetic intensity. 

The last vestige of the band's prior punk sound can be found in the vocals.  Vocalist Adie Bailey possesses a gruff, punkish snarl.  It does not really fit the music, but it is an interesting element that helps the album stand out in its own way and provides a callback to the band's roots.

This is something of a forgotten gem.  I had no idea it existed until seeing someone mention it on a forum, and speed metal riffs with punk vocals kind of caught my attention.  This is an interesting blend of two huge heavy music scenes from the time period.  And for that, it should get a little more attention that it does.

Razor: Malicious Intent (1986)

It figures that I have been recently able to find one of Razor's earlier releases right as a box set of all of their releases has been announced.  Their earlier stuff has been so hard to find, but I have managed to get most of them, at some expense.  Now, I could get everything for a very reasonable price.  Ugh.

Malicious Intent is Razor's third album and the earliest one in their discography that I have heard so far.  It presents a decidedly different sound for the band than the more aggressive thrash metal of most of the releases I have heard.  This album finds the band in a much more speed metal sound with some obvious NWOBHM influences.  It appears thrash metal had not yet made its way up to the Great White North by the time this album was released.  That's probably not completely true as Voivod still existed at this time.  But still.

This album is a fast-paced and energetic one with a barrage of riffs and wailing leads.  The vocals are gruff and intense with some truly ear-piercing shrieks at times.  It is an extremely raw and unrestrained sound and one can tell that the musicians here are still finding their way, but that just adds to the charm of the release. 

This is not my favorite Razor album, but it is damn good.  It is clear the band is still finding their voice on this release, though I have yet to hear their first two albums at this time.  It just does not seem as focused as some of their later output.  That's fine though because the rawness of this album makes it appealing in the same way that Kill 'Em All by Metallica is so interesting.

Nunslaughter: Wrath Unleashed (2017)

I am not 100% sure why this release exists.  It is a demo and essentially a rehearsal recording.  Nunslaughter had been active for thirty years when this was released and had released a number of EPs, splits and even a handful of albums (though not as many as one would think for as long and as active as Nunslaughter has been).  So it comes as somewhat odd timing to release a rehearsal demo so long into the band's career.

Still though, this is Nunslaughter and I try to grab their lengthier releases.  If I tried to grab every single split and EP, I would go completely nuts, but I do try to grab the longer ones.  Most of these songs are re-recorded Nunslaughter songs with somewhat new arrangements.  For some reason "Hex" (which is still one of my favorite songs by the band) is on here twice.  I have no idea why.  The production is crisp and clear though, giving the songs a little extra punch, which is kind of saying something for this band. 

This is Nunslaughter we are talking about, and not much has changed about the music.  Nunslaughter plays short, sharp death metal tracks with a lot of hardcore influence.  The band has not changed much in thirty-plus years they have been around and I would be shocked if they ever do.

This release is far from an essential Nunslaughter release.  For those, I would stick to the four full-length albums.  But this is still a lot of fun and would be a decent introduction to the band.  Those full-lengths are not super easy to find.

Synteleia: Ending of the Unknown Path (2019)

Spoiler alert, this album was on my Top 10 Albums list, in particular, the number eight spot.  So yes, I love this album. 

From the legendary city of Athens, Greece, Synteleia is a new band who released their debut album in 2019 after previously only having a demo to their name.  Most of the members appear to be in their first band, so this is a truly new group.  That being said, they sound like they have been doing this for thirty years.  Particularly since the sound Synteleia opts for is one that emerged in the early 1990's.

Synteleia's sound is rooted in the early days of the Hellenic black metal sound.  Think early Varathron, Kawir and slightly less early Rotting Christ (they were more of a grind band on their first few demos after all).  The sound is something of a mixture of that sound and melodic death metal with a lot of atmosphere to go with the crushing riffs.  Yet Synteleia's sound does not sound forced, as if the band were trying to dwell on the past.  They put their own spin and melody over the source material, making this album sound fresh and new.  No easy feat for a sound that has been expanded on so much by the aforementioned bands for so long.

There is not much more to say about this release.  I talked about it briefly in my Top Albums post (this is how far behind I am on getting reviews out).  I love this sound and I love this album.  It made my Top 10 easily.

Toxodeth: Mysteries About Life and Death (1990)

Wild Rags Records had something of a reputation for off-the-wall releases in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  They also had a reputation for fucking over customers, but that is neither here nor there at this point.  I have long been interested in gathering some of the releases over the years, but they are not super easy to come by in their original formats.  Some of that fucking over customers thing probably helps in that regard.  I did come across this one though and off-the-wall is a pretty good description for it.

Toxodeth is a Mexican death metal band with some massive Possessed influence and an obsession with horror movies.  The song lyrics each tell a different story, many of them lifted directly from movies or novels, including "Phantasm" which is a massively underrated horror movie and one of my personal favorites.  Several well-known horror movie themes also make appearances throughout the album.  

What makes this album sort of weird though is that it seems to be much more of a glamour project for Raul Guzman, who plays guitar and keyboards and provides vocals.  There are a drummer and a bassist, but Guzman even plays bass on the final instrumental track which, surprise surprise, features a bass solo.  Otherwise the album feels like a lead guitar solo album as the songs are based more around the lead guitar melodies and squealing solos.  Guzman is a hell of a guitar player, that is for sure and he sort of beats the listener over the head with his abilities on this album.

Toxodeth is still technically active, but have not released much new material since the follow-up to this album.  This one is an intriguing listen, with a lot of interesting elements, particularly the obsession with horror.  As a fellow horror fan, that definitely speaks to me.  This would be an appropriate album for Halloween listening.

Arizmenda: Stillbirth in the Temple of Venus (2014)

This is the last of the Black Twilight Circle posts for the time being.  And we are going out with a bang.

I covered Arizmenda just a few days ago for their debut album.  I enjoyed that album but found it to be somewhat of a difficult listen, and more of a wall of noise than anything.  It had few, if any, dynamics. 

I am not really sure what changed in the five years between that album and this one, but Arizmenda have improved leaps and bounds.  It does not help that I have not heard the album that was released in between these two.  Maybe the evolution was more subtle.  Maybe not.  I do know that this album is terrific.

For the first half of the album, there are minor differences from what came before.  The production is significantly better, allowing the musical elements to truly be heard, which is a massive improvement.  But while much of the chaos from the previous release is still present, Arizmenda has reined it in somewhat and introduced a fair amount of melody, particularly in the second half of the album.  The songs are still lengthy and somewhat repetitive, but Arizmenda have mastered crafting a dark and imposing atmosphere to the point that the repetitiveness comes across as horrifyingly nightmarish, like a bad dream from which one cannot wake. 

This is a mammoth of a record, one that is at the very top of what the Black Twilight Circle offers.  After reviewing so many of the albums in the last several days, plus a few more, I can honestly say that this is probably my favorite of the bunch, just barely surpassing the Odz Manouk release and the Volahn full-length.  So, if anyone is interested in checking out this scene, those are probably my top three recommendations.

Volahn/Tukaaria Split (2011)

As might be expected with their close association and the frequent overlap of musicians in these bands, there were a number of splits shared by bands in the Black Twilight Circle.  Volahn and Tukaaria are each one-man projects, though their paths crossed in Ashdautas and Muknal.  And of course, they put this split together.

VOLAHN

Volahn may be the quintessential Black Twilight Circle band.  The sound is mostly representative of many of the other bands, it is one of the more active projects and is still going strong, and the lyrical subject matter is something that most of the other bands have in common.  That being mythology of indigenous peoples from in and around Mexico.  Volahn provides just two tracks to this split, a short two-minute song which mostly acts as an introduction to the ten-minute epic that makes up their other track.  The sound is as chaotic as I expected given my previous exposures to Volahn.  The first track does not do much, but the second one is a massive, pounding epic with reeling leads and tortured, grotesque vocals.  

TUKAARIA

Tukaaria is a band I have previously only heard on the compilation I reviewed, but I enjoyed that song quite a bit.  Their dedication to second wave Norwegian black metal still comes through here as the band sounds like a Darkthrone record on a higher setting.  The first two tracks sound a little too much alike, with the same crashing drum sound and riffs.  The third song is quite a bit more dynamic, starting off with a slower, melodic sound before getting into a variation of the riffs from the previous two songs.  Ultimately, this side suffers a bit compared to the Volahn side due to the band kind of getting stuck on the same riff.  

I would not call this an essential release for getting into the Black Twilight Circle.  Volahn has sounded much better on the full-length I have heard and I am still not quite sure what to think of Tukaaria.  The Volahn side here is slightly better than the Tukaaria side.  It is an interesting split, and enjoyable in its own right, but there are better Black Twilight Circle releases out there.

Kuxan Suum: Kinich Ahau (2010)

Kuxan Suum was the leadoff band on the Black Twilight Circle compilation I reviewed a little while ago.  That was a lengthy song that went in a multitude of directions.  And I guess it was an adequate preparation for what an actual Kuxan Suum release would be like. 

Yesterday's post was a release from Odz Manouk, an uncompromising, hellish blast of sound.  Today's could not be any more different and still exist under the black metal umbrella.  This is far more experimental and largely softer in scope.  This release is just one 17 minute long song that takes a long time to get going, building up atmosphere among jangling guitar rhythms for the first several minutes.  It eventually does take off, but it is much more of a post black metal sound, with psychedelic noise accompanying the raw black metal riffs and howling vocals.  And it basically stays that way for the remainder of the song, and by extension, the release, eventually flaming out in a hypnotic fashion.

This one is not really my thing.  It is certainly an interesting release, but one 17 minute track of mostly psychedelic noise does not do that much for me.  Maybe that's just me though.

Odz Manouk: Odz Manouk (2010)

While Odz Manouk is yet another of the Black Twilight Circle bands, their name is a bit more unusual in that it is a reference to Armenian mythology.  Specifically, Odz Manouk is the name of a son of a king that was born as a serpent then later fell in love with a girl that was supposed to be fed to him and became a human.

As loud and noisy as Arizmenda was yesterday, Odz Manouk likely has that band beat.  This is an extremely caustic and violent brand of black metal with grinding riffs and pounding drums.  The bass too can be heard fairly well for the style and is just as manic.  It calls to mind some of the masters of the second wave Norwegian black metal scene, channeling Darkthrone, Burzum and even Mayhem.  This is extremely raw and hateful black metal, but with a surprisingly ethereal atmosphere, like watching a malevolent spirit through the fog and being afraid to reach out for fear that it may grab you.  And just when it seems that the band has no more surprises, a beautiful, eerie melody takes over, for just a short amount of time, before plunging back into the depths of chaos.

This is easily one of the most impressive recordings of a Black Twilight Circle band I have yet heard.  I have heard a number of great releases, but this is so far one of my favorites.  Everything about this release fits in well together, from the lo-fi production, to the reverb-soaked riffs, to the spine-tingling melodies, to the grotesque vocals.  This is an incredible trip through truly primal black metal.

Arizmenda: Within the Vacuum of Infinity (2009)

Arizmenda is another Black Twilight Circle band.  It is a one-man project of Murdunbad who has also done work in Dolorvotre, Kuxan Suum and Ashdautas, mostly as a drummer.  He has branched out significantly for his Arizmenda project.

This is Arizmenda's first full-length album and the best way to describe the sound is as a wall of noise.  The album is completely chaotic with lo-fi distortion, pounding drums and shrieking vocals.  The songs are all quite long and for the most part, fairly repetitive.  Each song is at least eight minutes long.  The album itself is something of an exercise in patience for the listener.  There is very little melody and very little reprieve from the constant, bludgeoning noise.  It is still recognizable as black metal, but Arizmenda's goal seems to be to make as much noise as possible.

This is a difficult album to listen to, but it is impressive in its own right.  The music is vile and hateful, but well, this is black metal after all.  And I have said time and again that the more hateful styles of black metal are the ones that speak to me the most.  That continues to be true with this album.  This is yet another shining example of a Black Twilight Circle release and proof that the scene is kind of all over the place when it comes to the sound.

Blue Hummingbird on the Left: Bloodflower (2010)

Blue Hummingbird on the Left is another band from the Black Twilight Circle that appeared on the compilation I reviewed recently.  The band certainly has an unusual name and I did some checking on it, because it is just too weird to not have some kind of meaning.  Turns out, the name is the English translation of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli, sort of a major deity in their religion.

BHL is one of the few Black Twilight Circle bands still going strong.  They released their first full-length album just last year.  Previously, they had a handful of demos and splits out there.  This release was their first.  As is typical for these bands, the members are all also involved in a number of the other Black Twilight Circle bands, including Volahn, Acualli, Axeman, Ashdautas, and lots more.

This is a very short EP, featuring just three songs and lasting less than ten minutes.  But the songs here are a better introduction to the band than their track from the compilation.  The production is a little better, still not great, but it is much easier to hear everything that is going on.  And part of that is a massive wall of sound featuring clanging drums and a tornado of riffs.  The best moments though are the slightly softer ones at the beginning of "Southern Rules Supreme" where the band utilizes indigenous elements like flutes and whooping vocals.  These lead into some tribal drumming patterns that helps make that track a standout.

This is an impressive release, though it is far too short to truly recommend it.  I will have to track down their album from last year.  If it builds on these ideas, it could be truly impressive.

Acualli/The Haunting Presence: Transform with Limitless Will (2014)

We are about to dive deep into the Black Twilight Circle over the next few days.  I have covered a few of the bands on their own, such as Ashdautas and Volahn, and then I had the very large compilation.  And I purchased a number of individual releases from a seller recently.

Up first is a split between two of the bands that were included on the compilation.  This is a short split, consisting of just two songs, though the songs are each a little longer.

ACUALLI: "BECOMING ONE"

Honestly, this track is fantastic.  I was not blown away by Acualli on the compilation, finding the song far too short to get much out of.  That is not the case this time around as the song is a swirling opus of chaotic riffs and deep, snarled vocals.  It is the sound of death and decay.  This time around, Acualli did grab my attention.  Unfortunately there is not much out there by this band.  Beyond this split and their appearance on the compilation, they only have one demo.  That is a shame because after hearing this track, I definitely want to hear more from Acualli.

THE HAUNTING PRESENCE: "THE ULTIMATE CLIMAX OF MADNESS AND PARANOIA WHICH ALTERED THE JUDGMENT OF THE USELESS MASSES"

Well, the title is certainly a mouthful.  I enjoyed The Haunting Presence's addition to the compilation, but was disappointed with the production.  The production has not improved.  The vocals are absolutely buried in the mix, which is sort of a shame, because the music is horrifying, the soundtrack to a particularly eerie horror movie.  The song is extremely eerie and malevolent sounding, with riffs that more closely resemble death metal.  The vocals, what can be heard of them, are particularly savage, and would have made the song that much better with a decent mix.

I prefer Acualli of these two bands, but that is mostly due to the significantly better production value.  I probably would have like The Haunting Presence more if the mix was better.  

Acherontas: Faustian Ethos (2018)

Here we have the last of the Acherontas albums of the box set.  This was a much smaller set, focusing on the Reptilian albums, and Faustian Ethos does seem to tie into those somewhat.  And I have seen something somewhere where this one was officially the sequel to the previous two albums, but I am not sure where that was, so perhaps it is more obviously the case that this was a trilogy of albums.  It would certainly explain why they were packaged together.  If I had bothered to actually look at the box before beginning this post, I would have picked up on that.

Musically, as could be expected given that this is a continuation of the story of the previous albums, it is very similar to the last couple releases.  Which is to say, completely unpredictable and all over the place from a composition standpoint.  Once again there is a lot going on here, though much of the album is at least threaded through with tremolo riffing, giving the album some cohesion. 

The vocals again are also all over the place.  There are a variety of vocal styles used, from clean singing to chanting, to a much more typical black metal rasp.  And once more the difference in style is often done to mark changes in the story line of the album.  Though I have admittedly not done a ton of looking into the album to figure out what exactly the story is.

This album is a little strange.  I am not sure what exactly differentiates it from the previous two albums.  It just feels a little off and I am not sure why.  It is a decent release, but it does not really live up to the previous two albums.

Acherontas: Amarta अमर्त (Formulas of Reptilian Unification Part II) (2017)

Apparently, the language in the title is Hindi and translates to "Amart" and means immortality.  No, I am not sure why a Greek band would be using a Hindi word, and no, I really have no fucking clue what that happens to do with "reptilian unification".  Maybe David Icke knows.  Probably not, he's not exactly the world's foremost expert on anything, other than crazy.

This album is a sequel to the last one and builds on much of the musical ideas present in that release.  The album feels less like a musical release and much more like an audio story put to music.  With the differing vocal styles, it feels like a complete and cohesive concept album.  That would not surprise me given that it is a sequel album. 

The music is complicated to put it mildly.  Do not go into this album expecting some catchy hooks and sing-along choruses.  There is none of that here.  The music is dense and the songs are often lengthy.  There is little variation in the pace of the songs, but there is so much going on that that that really does not matter.  The instrumentation is certainly impressive and the band does well to build an eerie atmosphere throughout the release.

Acherontas is primarily building on what they did on the last release.  The result is an impressive and entertaining listen that absolutely requires listening to it in its entirety in one sitting.  This is not a release to pick and choose songs, it is a cohesive unit and it sounds best with that understanding.

Acherontas: Ma-IoN (Formulas of Reptilian Unification) (2015)

I know, it has been such a long time since I did a box set from a Greek black metal band.  Acherontas though is quite a bit different from their countrymen in Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord, Varathron and Kawir.  There are some very vague musical similarities, but for the most part, the approach to the music and the content is entirely different.

Acherontas formed quite late compared to the bands listed above, and that is a primary reason that Acherontas is so very different from those other bands.  This is the band's fifth album since forming in 2007, a fairly impressive sign of productivity. 

This album is quite lengthy, at over an hour, and several songs are eight or more minutes in length.  That is a lot of room for some kind of wild ideas, and Acherontas definitely proves to have a few of those.  The music of Acherontas is much more atmospheric, and I would say ceremonial than other bands from the scene.  Whereas many other Greek bands take their lyrical subject matter from mythology of their home country, Acherontas's is far more esoteric, dealing with mysticism, Gnosticism, and the occult.  And the music reflects that, sounding much more like the soundtrack to a Satanic black mass than the more riff-based music of their peers.  There are extended sections where the sound is limited to light percussion and chanted vocals, giving off an extremely eerie vibe.  This genuinely disconcerting atmosphere is present throughout the album.

I was not familiar with Acherontas prior to picking up this box set.  They are not at all what I thought they would sound like, but far from being a disappointment, this is actually a very good thing.  This is much more interesting than another Rotting Christ clone.

Slaughtbbath: Alchemical Warfare (2019)

I am not really sure what this band name means.  It appears to be a combination of the words "Slaughter" and "Sabbath".  Maybe it is a reference to the Canadian thrash metal band Slaughter and metal founders Black Sabbath.  I really have no idea.  What I do know is that South America has a long history of producing exceptional extreme metal since the mid 1980's when Sepultura formed.  And Slaughtbbath hails from Chile, a country that has given us Thornafire, Ripper, Apostasy and others. 

Slaughtbbath have been around for nearly 20 years, but this is only the band's second full-length album.  They have a lot of splits, demos and EPs out there though and tend to release something new almost every year.  No idea why the full-lengths are so rare then.

The album's title also seems to reference another potential influence: Slayer.  The band's sound is rooted in the primitive black/death metal of groups like the aforementioned Slayer and Sepultura (Morbid Visions and Bestial Devastation only) and Sarcófago.  It is an extremely hateful and angry sound, filled with monstrous riffs, battering blast beats and demonic vocals.  It is filthy, vile, extremely fast and I fucking love it.

Slaughtbbath is not exactly the most original band out there, owing a lot to their South American forebears.  But that is not that important when the music is this good.  This narrowly missed my top ten list from last year.

Barbarian: To No God Shall I Kneel (2019)

First, props to the awesome album title.  I kind of love it.  Now that that is over, at one point it seemed like blackened thrash metal was kind of a rare thing.  I am not really sure what has happened over the last decade, but suddenly there are tons of these bands out there.  And from all over the world.  There are groups in Asia, South America, North America, and many countries in Europe.  It has kind of become THE underground sound.

Of course, Barbarian is another one of these.  The Italian band has been around for a little more than a decade now and I do own their 2016 album Cult of the Empty Grave.  All of the hallmarks of the genre are here: filthy and dirty riffs, belligerent attitude, and snarled vocals.  But far more than just going through the motions, Barbarian is sincere in their approach.  Sort of odd for a band who penned a song called "Obtuse Metal", which I just find hilarious.

The songs are all catchy as hell, particularly tracks like "Sheep Shall Obey" and the title track.  And that is the best part of the album, just how easy it is to get caught up in the riff and start banging your head. 

You would think I would be getting tired of this genre, but when bands keep putting out stuff that is this insanely infectious, I will keep getting the stuff.  And Barbarian definitely does this style well.

Metal Church: The Dark (1986)

Metal Church never really got the attention they deserved.  They remain one of the more underrated bands in American metal.  Despite being on the same label as Metallica and doing big tours with the thrash titans, they never really seemed to catch on in the same way.  Lineup changes played a big part in that, losing the lead singer just as the band is breaking through is usually catastrophic.  As did the fact that they were a little too melodic for the thrash metal crowd and too thrashy for the traditional metal crowd, so they just never really seemed to fit in anywhere.  Geographical isolation also likely played a part.  They were from Washington, which did spawn groups like Sanctuary and Queensryche, but was still a few years from being a major music scene.

The Dark did reasonably well for the band and it is not hard to see why.  It is a truly dynamic album with equal parts raw aggression and scintillating melody.  Songs like "Ton of Bricks" and "Start the Fire" hit hard with neck-snapping riffs.  On the other hand, "Watch the Children Play" is a spine-chilling track with an absolutely perfect guitar solo.

It is clear from listening to the album that the band as then-constructed had limitless talent.  The guitar work of Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells was peerless, particularly with regard to the guitar solos.  David Wayne was one of the best vocalists the band ever had, and they have had a number of great singers.  His ability to meld outstanding vocal range with Udo Dirkschneider-style rasp is truly amazing.  And the rhythm section does some terrific work as well. 

This is one of the more famous albums by Metal Church and it lives up to its reputation.  It is a fantastic album that exists somewhere in the area between thrash metal and traditional heavy metal.  Understanding that it does not fit in neatly with any given subgenre is important to grasping what makes it so damn good. 

Girlschool: Hit and Run (1981)

I am not really sure why it is that Girlschool has never really broken through to the mainstream.  It seems to me that an all-female metal band would have made some big waves.  I suppose it is quite likely that the band was viewed as some sort of gimmick, even though Girlschool had the chops to show that they were absolutely for real.  Maybe they formed too early.  Metal unfortunately has a bit of a history of not being the most open-minded and inclusive of genres, though it has come a very long way now.  It certainly did not start that way and Girlschool formed during the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, certainly early on in the genre's history.  So I guess maybe the metal world was not quite ready for Girlschool.  But they were undeniably important in the history of women in metal. 

This is Girlschool's second full-length release, and my first real exposure to the band.  The sound is certainly interesting.  Given that it came out in 1981 it is not shocking that this is not the heaviest of metal bands.  They do sound a great deal like Motörhead, with the same kind of dirty, booze-fueled, rollicking riff style.  They have a bit more of a punk energy though and the vocals are clearly more punk-derived than metal, particularly with the shouted choruses and occasional gang vocals.  The riffs are often rooted in blues, which is not unusual given the time period.  It is very clear that the band was having a damn good time recording the album and this is the kind of thing that would be fun to hear in a dive bar.  It just sort of fits.

Any complaints that I have are kind of nitpicky.  The production is not great, but it does give the band an unrefined feel to the music which does fit well.  Otherwise, there is one point in the song "Yeah Right" where there is a brief sort of skit where the band members are defying rules and talking back to some authority figure or other.  I fucking hate those skits in songs.  Glam bands did it a lot, particularly Van Halen and Slaughter.  It really fucking annoys me.  This one is not as bad, because at least it's short.

Girlschool probably should have been huge.  I guess one of the big problems was that the band was blossoming when the NWOBHM was sort of on its way out and they tried to adapt to the glam sound, which they sort of failed at.  What is impressive though is that the band is still around, becoming the longest active all-female band in rock, not just metal.  That is certainly impressive.

Iron Maiden: No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

I remember being disappointed when I heard Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark.  Not because I had been a long-time fan and their sound on that album was a departure from what I was used to.  No, Fear of the Dark was actually the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard.  I was familiar with the name, but not the band.  It was considerably lighter than I thought it would be.  Keep in mind that my first exposure to metal was with thrash metal bands like Metallica and Megadeth.  So Iron Maiden's much more melodic take on metal caught me by surprise.  I eventually grew to love the album, songs like "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Judas Be My Guide", and of course the title track are all terrific.  And eventually I started checking out the band's earlier material.  Of course as I did that, my feelings for the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard lessened significantly. 

It took a long time for me to get around to the album immediately preceding Fear of the Dark because it is a generally poorly-received album and because of its proximity to Fear of the Dark.  The other reason is that the big hit from the album is "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter", which has never been a particular favorite of mine.  In fact, I really do not care for the song much at all.  It is a little too mainstream pop-metal for me.  So it was with trepidation that I finally took the plunge on the album.  I was more concerned with filling holes than really getting into the release.

The album really is not that bad.  I do not think it is as good as Fear of the Dark, and of course it does not even come close to the album that preceded it, the masterpiece Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, arguably Iron Maiden's finest album.  This is quite the letdown from that album.  This album is very much a safe album.  It does not really push anything, the songs are all fine, with the exception of the aforementioned "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and "Hooks in You", which are both pretty terrible.  The problem is that there really is no standout.  As I said, there is just nothing really here that comes close to any of the band's prior legacy.  It is almost like an Iron Maiden tribute band.

The other issue is the lackluster performances by the band members.  Bruce Dickinson, he of the air-raid siren, operatic vocals in the past, just sounds tired and bored.  He is trying some edgier vocals this time around, but there is not a lot of feeling behind them.  Steve Harris, whose bass rhythms have been the primary driving force behind the band, just is not doing anything terribly interesting, and his songwriting suffers as a result.  The guitar solos do not grab the attention of the listener as they have in the past.  The result is an album that sounds sort of rushed and more of a cash-in than a heartfelt, creative Iron Maiden release.

Honestly this is not a bad album, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the band's prior releases and comes up incredibly short next to the album that came just before it.  It is a disappointment.  But damn if it does not have a cool album cover.

Tliltic Tlapoyauak (2013)

Yeah, I am not even going to try to pronounce that thing.  I have recently reviewed a couple of releases from bands associated with the Black Twilight Circle, a group of bands out of Southern California noted for usage of indigenous mythology from Central and South America.  I have covered Volahn and Ashdautas.  This album is a compilation of tracks from Black Twilight Circle bands and does include a track by Volahn.  And so, here we go.

Kuxan Suum: "Tzolk'in"

Kicking things off is a lengthy track by one of the lesser-known bands in the scene.  The track starts off with some tribal drumming and flute before violently changing gears into a more traditional black metal sound.  There is sort of a weird, jangly guitar tone to the riffs that definitely stands out and the band again transitions into an acoustic section before kicking back in.  I will say that this song is certainly unique.

Cempopoloah: "En el Ombligo de la Luna"

This is the only thing I can find that this band ever did.  Cempopoloah does not even have a demo out there.  This is another lengthy song, but it has a decidedly more raw black metal feel to it.  The primary influence is likely Transilvanian Hunger-era Darkthrone and Mayhem, though the vocals are more of a harsh shout than a black metal rasp and the bass is extremely important to the sound.  It is sort of a shame that there is nothing else out there by this band.  I am intrigued by the sound.

Blue Hummingbird on the Left: "Storm"

It takes a lot for one of these bands to come through with the strangest name, as you will see, but Blue Hummingbird on the Left probably takes the prize.  This is one of the more well-known bands and one of the few that is still going strong.  They just released a terrific album last year on Iron Bonehead, moving away from the label that has been the backbone of the scene.  This is just pure-hateful black metal without much in the way of outside influences.  The production is not great, which is disappointing because there seems to be some interesting stuff going on.  The drum sound in particular is pretty bad.  

The Haunting Presence: "Dead Souls Scream"

Again, we have an extremely rough production and a very raw black metal sound here.  The band's name is quite appropriate because this song has an extremely eerie and unsettling feel to it.  The savage snarling vocals and occasional animalistic grunts certainly add to the feel.  The sound here is otherworldly and the occult death metal riffing style certainly adds to the mystique.  I am definitely interested in hearing more from this band.

In Lakech Ala Kin: "Ometeotl"

Like Cempopoloah, this is the only recorded output I have been able to locate from this band.  This song has more of a psychedelic feel to the music that is almost hypnotizing early on, before descending into more of a traditional black metal style.  The song retains the hypnotic effect throughout even while it is more of a pummeling aural assault.  

Muknal: "Bringers of Filth"

This is one of the more death metal-oriented bands on the compilation.  The song kicks off with a drum lead-in then absolutely buries the listener beneath crushing riffs.  The production could use a bit of work, mostly with the drums which sound kind of like St. Anger's maligned drum sound.  But the riffs are damn impressive and this is one of the heavier tracks on the release.  With a better drum sound, the song would be that much better.

Dolorvotre: "Upward Spiraling"

More raw black metal here, though with decidedly better production.  The lead guitar is a little bit distracting as it is so high in the mix and loud that it is almost ear-piercing.  That being said, this is a terrific song that captures the spirit of early 1990's black metal.  It is not particularly original-sounding at the beginning, but that is not really a problem.  I do like the slower section where the band does kind of stretch the bounds of black metal, with an almost jazz-influenced guitar solo.

Tukaaria: "Nekaroa"

Again, this is an extremely raw-sounding black metal song that is one of the fastest-paced songs on the compilation.  This is like Darkthrone played at twice the normal speed, relying on repetitive riffs that are ferocious and aggressive.  The star here though is the vocals which sound utterly crazed and insane.  There are some truly blood-curdling roars present in this song that gives it that much more of a savage feel to it.

Kampilan: "Battle of Mactan"

And again we have a band who has never released anything outside of their appearance on this compilation.  That is sort of weird for the longest song on the album by far.  Kampilan stands out from the rest of the bands on here by playing something akin to blackened funeral doom metal during the first half of the song.  The first half is extremely slow-moving and utterly menacing.  It is the soundtrack to a nightmare, all doom and gloom without a single point of light.  It then kicks into another gear without losing any of the hostility.  It is a shame there is nothing else out there by Kampilan.

Volahn: "Yaxche"  

Ah, here we have one of the two Black Twilight Circle bands I was previously aware of, and the only one of the two to appear on this release.  I knew what to expect with Volahn.  It was going to be fast and loud, and really chaotic.  And this is true.  As with the album, the lead guitar seems to be playing something completely different than the rest of the band, but that lends more of a sense of unease to the song.  What I was not expecting was for this song to be likely the most melodic on the compilation.  And this is one of the more professional production jobs on the album as well, making this song stand out quite a bit.

Kallathon: "Universe of Constant Ages and in the Mist of Eternity"

That song title is a mouthful.  This song has a decidedly post-black metal sound to it.  It is clearly built around the riffs, but there is so much fluidity to the riffs that it does not feel overly aggressive.  The vocals also seem like more of an afterthought than a major part of the song.  That is not to say they are not important, but the song may work just as well as an instrumental.  Like Volahn, Kallathon's production is impressive, sounding much more like a final product than some of the rawer bands on this compilation.

Shataan: "Born to the Earth, Return Through the Body"

Here is a song that has fully embraced the indigenous sounds of Central and South America.  It features flute melodies permeating the entire song, never really going away and playing a major part in the melody of the song.  The vocals are delivered in a much cleaner style, moving away from extreme metal styles.  The result is a more atmospheric take on black metal with folk elements that seem to be more of the primary element than just used to supplement the sound.

Blood Play: "Screams Transcends"

Just judging by the band name and song title, it is sort of questionable why this band is present.  They are yet another band that never released anything else and everything about them screams traditional death metal.  The band is made up of members who are in several of these other bands.  They do have a more atmospheric take on blackened death metal, with eerie, dissonant guitar tones and banshee shrieking vocals.  It is a very interesting sound ultimately, even if it seems somewhat out of place here.  

Acualli: "Rites of Mockery"

This is the shortest song on the album.  This is another song that is decidedly more death metal-oriented though there are some black metal influences as well.  It is more of a take on early black metal bands like Blasphemy that existed somewhere in between death and black metal.  The vocals are an impressive growling sneer that is the highlight of the song.  Unfortunately this song is just too short to get much out of.

Arizmenda: "Rites of Deconsecration"

I had heard of Arizmenda prior to finding this compilation, though I was not aware they were part of this scene.  This song starts off with a lengthy melodic introduction that builds up a spooky atmosphere then turns to a decidedly more aggressive form of black metal with howling, pain-filled vocals.  Their sound has much more in common with groups like Leviathan and Xasthur, more of a depressive black metal, than the rawer bands above.  Arizmenda is apparently one of the more active bands in the scene though it is a one-man project.  This is one of the more dynamic songs on the compilation, and also one of the best.

Axeman: "Ride Into the Night"

Finally, this is the last song on the compilation.  With a name like Axeman, one would expect either a guitar virtuoso performance, or a death metal band.  What we get is something decidedly more atmospheric that is much more of a slow-burning track, but once it gets going, it is definitely impressive.  And yes there is a spectacular guitar solo.  The extreme vocals could use a little work, but the riffs and solos make up for them in a big way.  The song is a fitting way to close out the compilation as a whole.

There are a number of bands here who truly impressed me.  I do have releases from a few of them that are yet to be reviewed here.  I think Kampilan and Arizmenda were the groups who impressed me the most.  None of the bands were bad in any way, and I would at least entertain the idea of listening to full albums by each one of the bands present.  That is a sign of a damn good compilation.  And this is one of the better compilations I have picked up in a long time.  I certainly recommend it as a good starting point into the Black Twilight Circle scene in particular.  Most of the major bands in the scene appear here and all of the songs impress in their own way. 

For the Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records by Brian Slagel with Mark Eglinton

I am going to do something a little bit different today.  I just finished reading this book, which was a gift from my wife (I am a little disappointed she did not get me the version with the cassette compilation included, but that's okay).  It is the history of the Metal Blade record label written by founder and CEO Brian Slagel, with Mark Eglinton presumably helping put it together.  Given that it is written by the label's founder, there are two things that could be gleaned.  First of all, this man lived through all of this so he is going to have a better recollection for how things happened than a third party.  Second, it is going to be fairly one-sided.

I was excited to read the book because Metal Blade has been generally a favorite metal label of mine for quite a long time.  Metal Blade was not the first label I really noticed popping up in my collection a lot, that distinction went to Roadrunner.  But Metal Blade has always been the most consistent.  Roadrunner turned into a major trend-hopper, ditching death metal bands that it helped gain exposure to when they were no longer as profitable and jumping with both feet into the nu-metal trend.  Then doing the same with metalcore.  At this point in time, there are very few legitimate metal bands still on the Roadrunner roster.  That has never been the case with Metal Blade.  And that is reflected in the book where Slagel sounds more like a gushing fanboy of the genre than someone who has a legitimate impact on the kind of music that gets out there.

The primary strength of this book is the quick statements by other individuals, including employees and members of bands on the label roster, as well as lengthier interviews.  Slagel's comments show him to be a huge fan who cares about the music more than money and that is corroborated by the other interviews.  It is to the point that Slagel's reflections on himself and the label are legitimized by other people and one really does get the feeling that Metal Blade Records is a family environment where anything really goes.  Slagel stays out of the way of the artistic output of his bands and really just seems like a big fan first and foremost.  This comes through when he discusses specific instances where he actually weakened one of his bands in order to strengthen another group.  The primary example is referring bassist Jason Newsted of Metal Blade band Flotsam and Jetsam to non-Metal Blade band Metallica after the death of Cliff Burton.  Newsted was the heart and soul of Flotsam and Jetsam.  But that move kept Metallica going and the band eventually blew up to be the biggest heavy metal band of all time.

I was rather pleased at some of the individual anecdotes.  Of course there was going to be a big discussion about Metal Blade's part in the creation of Metallica.  Drummer Lars Ulrich was a friend of Slagel's and knew about Slagel's attempt to put together a compilation for the first official Metal Blade release.  Ulrich asked for a spot, even though he technically did not have a band yet and Slagel okayed it.  If not for that, who knows if Metallica would have ever gotten started?  But beyond that, there is a lengthy discussion about Slayer and how they were discovered, then how they left the label.  Two things I was curious about were also discussed.  First, there is the fact that the label seemed to stay away from nu-metal, even during a period of time in which traditional metal was a not selling well.  Slagel indicated he liked Korn and attempted to sign them but was blown out of the water by major labels and that he did not feel the rest of the nu-metal scene was really heavy metal and did not like it.  So he stayed away.  The second thing was just how in the hell the Goo Goo Dolls of all bands ended up on Metal Blade and actually did well.  I knew they were originally a little more punky and they were initially signed to a label imprint that did more punk that was then folded back into Metal Blade.  That makes a little more sense.  The label lost them though when they split from their distribution deal with Warner Bros. over a fight about the lyrical content of a new Gwar album.  Warner Bros. let Metal Blade out of their contract but insisted on retaining the rights to the Goo Goo Dolls. 

If I had to pick a complaint about the book, it would be the overly positive tone.  The book avoids any real controversy, which is fine, but I wanted a little bit of dirt too.  Every band is described as incredible.  Every album is amazing.  Every record sold well.  And the last part I find very disingenuous.  For instance, he talks about Lizzy Borden and Armored Saint being flagship bands of the label.  Quality aside, most casual metal fans have never heard of either band.  They should, but neither band is exactly a major force in the genre.  Like I said, I wanted a little dirt.

The book is a decent, if slightly underwhelming history of a very important metal label.  It has some interesting anecdotes, even though it is primarily about the business aspect of the label.  Do not go into it thinking you will get a lot of new information about bands, that is simply not the point of this book.  But it is a quick and enjoyable read.  Just know that there are limitations to it.

And so, to close this review up, I will do the same thing that the book ends with: my five favorite Metal Blade releases:

1.  Slayer: Show No Mercy
2.  Voivod: War and Pain
3.  Flotsam and Jetsam: Doomsday for the Deceiver
4.  Armored Saint: Symbol of Salvation
5.  Trouble: Trouble

Best recent Metal Blade release: Cattle Decapitation: Death Atlas

Best under-the-radar Metal Blade release: Lethal: Programmed

Tyrant Goatgaldrakona: Horns in the Dark (2013)

I first heard about this release when my former law school colleague Kelly reviewed it on his blog last summer.  It sounded like the kind of thing that I would be fairly interested in so I checked it out.

This is the Hungarian band's debut full-length and their only full-length thus far.  They have released three EPs, one as recently as last year, so perhaps there is still something coming sometime soon.  That would be good because I was very impressed with this release.

Tyrant Goatgaldrakona's sound is rooted in old-school occult death metal, particularly groups like Incantation and Immolation, with some Morbid Angel thrown in for good measure.  The riffs go through a number of styles from heavy thrash to tremolo riffs found in black metal.  The element that stands out the most in listening to the album is the solo and lead guitar work, which is exceptional for this type of band.

As Kelly says, the songs kind of run together and the band is not exactly a fount of originality, but it is an enjoyable listen and it does exactly what an album of this genre should do, and there is something to be said for that.

Usurper: Diabolosis... (1989)

I do this a lot.  I went backwards in my reviews.  Today's post is Usurper's debut album, released in 1989.  Now I could save time here and just say look at the last two posts for an idea of what Usurper's debut album sounds like.  But why the hell would I do that?

Usurper's debut definitely borrows heavily from the sound of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, and yes I have said that over and over again in the last two posts.  Honestly though that is simply the best way to describe Usurper's sound.  In fact there are moments where I was sure that Usurper turned to covering Celtic Frost.  But that was not the case.  Even the vocals sound like a carbon copy of Tom G. Warrior.

The band does craft a dark and foreboding atmosphere, with crawling riffs and impressive songwriting.  The result is a strong album that, while certainly not original in the slightest, at least holds the listener's attention.  Usurper is one of the better Celtic Frost imitators out there.