Metal Mail: Landmine Marathon Cassette Box Set

For a short period of time a few years back, Landmine Marathon was the subject of a ton of hype.  Most of it was due to Revolver Magazine slobbering all over themselves at the thought of a pretty girl fronting a death/grind band.  Actually, that was damn near all of it.  Unfortunately, Landmine Marathon was much better known for Grace Perry than for their sound, which is kind of a shame.  I actually really enjoyed the band and picked up their first two full-length albums on CD when they were fairly new.  They were also featured in my Honorable Mentions post for my Favorite New Bands of the 2000's. 

I sort of drifted away from the band after their second album.  I did not even know they released anything else, much less two other albums before Perry left the band.  I do not really know why that happened, but Landmine Marathon attempted to move forward, replacing Perry with Krysta Curry.  Technically the band is still active but has not released anything since the switch in singers.  I am curious as to what Perry is up to these days.  It does not appear she stayed in metal.

This is not a complete box set collection, it only contains the second, third, and fourth albums out of the band's five total albums.  That is okay because these are the better albums from the band and contain two of the releases of which I am most familiar.  Landmine Marathon's sound is based mostly in the sounds of early death/grind bands like Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Napalm Death.  Grace Perry is the star of the band on these releases, with her impressive full-throated roar, through she is not the band's driving force.

This could be a better box set if it included everything from the band.  It is nice to get a few of the albums together, but there are two albums missing.  And those are the harder ones to find.  So, not a bad set, but not as good as it could be.

Favorite New Bands of the 2000's: Honorable Mentions

When I was forming the list of bands that formed in the 2000's, I had several other bands in mind. Eventually, I decided to shorten the list to ten bands. But that left off a lot of other deserving bands that I really enjoy. So, I put together an honorable mentions list.

In no particular order:

QUINTA ESSENTIAQuinta Essentia is a band that formed in Alabama of all places. The band combine black, death, and thrash metal into an extremely powerful and malevolent sound. It is one hell of a mix. The lyrical themes of the band deal mainly with the occult and magic. The dark themes and darker music combine into one hell of an evil sounding band. But, the musicianship is also very good. Their songs are all long, but they succeed in keeping the attention of the listener due to the intricate riffs and melodies. Quinta Essentia have been around since 2004 and have only two albums to their credit, but if they continue down the same path as their latest album, they will very quickly make a big name for themselves.

BLASPHERIANBlaspherian was briefly covered in my post on Texas black and death metal bands. Their sound is extremely raw and with some death/doom metal influences. Essentially, they sound like a combination of Immolation and Incantation. It's extremely dirty sounding and ugly. The band is focused on anti-Christian themes and evil. It's one hell of a listening experience with jagged riffs, pounding drums, and deep death growls.

VICTIMIZERVictimizer is a Danish speed/thrash metal band with some minor punk influences. The band essentially sounds like early Teutonic thrash metal bands like Destruction, Kreator, and Sodom. They sound like they would have been very much at home in the early to mid 1980's. They have a gift for killer riffs and memorable songs. They are melodic, but at the same time, very aggressive and primal. Victimizer is unfortunately on hold at the moment. Hopefully they will get back to playing thrash the way it should be played in the near future.

BLOOD TSUNAMIBlood Tsunami is a Norwegian thrash metal band. Drummer Faust is a well-known drummer in several black metal bands, such as Emperor and Aborym. Blood Tsunami plays thrash metal, as the name of their album suggests, in the vein of the German thrash metal bands mentioned in the Victimizer information. The riffs are fast and razor sharp. The vocals are delivered in a manic sneer and the songs are very memorable. Blood Tsunami is not a retro thrash metal band, much like Victimizer above, they just play thrash the way they want to play it. And the results are very impressive indeed.

TRIVIUMShut up, I kind of like Trivium. Yes, they started out as a metalcore band. Yes, they shamelessly ripped off Metallica on their third album. However, the band can write some damn infectious songs. Even if you hate the band, you have to admit that they are damn good musicians as well. This is a very talented band that unfortunately started out looking for money, and probably still is to a certain extent. So now, everything they do is met with scorn and derision. Get over it and give the band another chance.

THE ABSENCEThis band is melodic death metal in the true sense of the term. The band is not poppy like the forefathers of the genre In Flames. They are much closer in sound to Amon Amarth, another death metal band that happens to be very melodic. This is one of the better American bands to develop over the last decade. I list them as an honorable mention only because I have not been able to find more than one of their albums. It's a great album though and if the rest of their stuff sounds like it, this is one hell of a band.

LANDMINE MARATHONArizona's Landmine Marathon are a young band that borrows heavily from a sound that is more than 20 years old. The band sound like an early grind band such as England's Carcass, Bolt Thrower, or Napalm Death. The singer is one of the most aggressively powerful singers to come out in awhile, and she's female. This is a blessing and a curse of course, but the fact that she is very good at what she does means that once people look past that aspect and look at the music, they will take off.

REVOCATIONI just found out about this band last year. The band is part of the thrash revival scene, but they play technical thrash. It's quite a welcome change of pace. This has always been a bit of an underappreciated style. Groups like Anacrusis and Heathen had a hand in the formation of it. Revocation is extremely talented musically with a gift for writing catchy songs and riffs. It's technical, but not so much that it's unlistenable. This band could be huge.

NOCTURNAL FEARNocturnal Fear is a Michigan-based thrash metal band. They are a little bit of a throwback band, but they don't try to copy the Bay Area scene of the 1980's like so many other bands out there starved for attention. Nocturnal Fear's thrash roots lie across the Atlantic Ocean in Germany. Sounding like a cross between the big three bands of German thrash, Nocturnal Fear is punishing and intense. Their album covers even call to mind Sodom as they often feature graphic depictions of warfare.

MISERY INDEXBaltimore's death/grind masters formed in 2001 but have already released four full-length albums, three EPs, five splits, and even a DVD. In other words, this band is quite prolific in the studio. Misery Index formed when Jason Netherton left Dying Fetus and brought many of his musical influences in. The band is fast and brutally heavy and are one of the few grind-influenced bands I listen to.

Women Fronting Metal Bands

I'm fascinated by bands that feature a strong female as their singer. I have no idea why. And I'm not talking about groups like Nightwish, Leaves' Eyes, Lacuna Coil, or others. No, I am talking about real metal: traditional metal, thrash metal, death metal, black metal, and more. None of this gothic metal stuff, not that I mind it, it just does not have the same effect as listening to an aggressive, powerful metal band and finding out that their singer is a woman.

We have long since passed the point where these bands were novelties, yet many of them still are not held up on the same pedestal as their peers. Many of these bands should be regarded as highly as other bands in their individual scene, but are not. They are still viewed as sex objects or in some innate way inferior to other bands. I would like to see this end.

With that being said, here are some of my favorite metal bands with female lead singers. Check them out, you will not be sorry. I am also always looking for more recommendations. I am aware of some other bands that I just have not been able to check out in depth yet, such as Znowhite, Ignitor, Darkestrah, Crystal Viper, Nuclear Death, Voetsek, Madder Mortem, Astarte, Pyrrah, and Ludicra.

HOLY MOSESHoly Moses was around during the 1980's German thrash metal scene. They were a bit more melodic than groups like Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom, but no less punishing. The band has put out several great releases and Sabina Classen's rabid, snarling vocals lead the charge. A great, underrated thrash metal band that is still going strong.
RECOMMENDATION: FINISHED WITH THE DOGS

ARCH ENEMYMost metalheads have heard of Arch Enemy by now. The melodeath band was started by the Amott brothers and originally featured a man by the name of Johan Axelsson on vocals. It was after Angela Gossow, with her psychotic shrieking death growls, took over that the band's mainstream popularity skyrocketed. Yes, that is pretty much entirely due to the female singer doing death growls.
RECOMMENDATION: WAGES OF SIN

CRISISCrisis played an unholy mix of death metal and thrash metal on their early recordings Karyn Crisis's vocals sound seriously disturbed and maniacally sinister. Able to fluctuate between a soft whisper and a primal roar and everything in between in the span of the same lyrical sentence, she truly unnerves the listener.
RECOMMENDATION: DEATHSHED EXTERMINATION

BENEDICTUMBenedictum is a relatively recent band that plays traditional-sounding metal, capitalizing on the recent retro craze. The band is similar musically to Grave Digger and other longtime true metal bands. Veronica Freeman possesses soaring vocals that she puts to great use on their music.
RECOMMENDATION: SEASONS OF TRAGEDY

TEMTRISThe Australian traditional metal band is not real well-known at this point. That may soon change as the band is every bit as competent musically as Benedictum. Genevieve Rodda does not have the same range as Veronica Freeman, but may have a more emotional-sounding voice.
RECOMMENDATION: MASQUERADE

ESTUARYWhy the hell isn't this band better known? And when will they have a new album out? Zdenka Prado's inhuman death growls are easily the equal of any man's and the band's style of death/thrash is infectiously brutal.
RECOMMENDATION: THE CRAFT OF CONTRADICTION

GALLHAMMERJapan's Gallhammer is the result of three girls with a taste for Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and crust punk. They are at their best when they just let the grooving style of Hellhammer/Frost dictate the direction they go. Lead vocalist Vivian Slaughter has a corroded, decayed vocal style that matches the bleakness of the band's music quite well.
RECOMMENDATION: III INNOCENCE

LANDMINE MARATHONI don't know how this band has gotten the tag of hipster metal. Revolver also loves them, which isn't doing them any favors in the metal underground either. But the band plays a mean brand of death/grind most similar to groups like Napalm Death, Carcass, and Bolt Thrower. Vocalist Grace Perry sounds possessed.
RECOMMENDATION: RUSTED EYES AWAKE

DREAMING DEADThis is a very new band, combining elements of black metal, death metal, and thrash metal all together. They play very fast and very brutal and are amazingly talented. This band could be very big someday soon. Vocalist Elizabeth Schall is also one hell of a guitar player, prompting comparisons to Death's Chuck Schuldiner in musical and vocal style.
RECOMMENDATION: WITHIN ONE

Do not sleep on these bands.

Initial Impressions: Landmine Marathon: Sovereign Descent

Landmine Marathon burst onto the metal scene recently and drew raves (including on this blog) for their old-school approach, sounding like early Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, and Carcass. They also drew attention due to the fact that their head screamer Jordan Perry is an attractive woman, with one hell of a growl. This is the band's third full-length and the band does not do anything to change up the formula that brought them notice last time out.

The riffs are still rooted in death/grind, with the occasional thrashy riff thrown in for good measure. Perry's manic screams are still highly present, without drowning out the rest of the band's sound. The improvement in guitar leads and solos is probably the most notable musical difference on this album. The drumming is still proficient and thunders along with the riffs.

This is a good follow-up to the band's breakthrough Rusted Eyes Awake. The only real issue is whether this band has some staying power or whether they are mostly short-lived due to the perceived gimmick of a pretty woman doing old school grindcore vocals. I think the band is clearly very talented, but the element that has drawn them attention, may also be their undoing. Revolver magazine has spent the most time of any metal magazine covering the band, and their real interest seems to be to get Perry into their magazine to sell their Hottest Chicks in Metal issue. If no other metal magazine picks up on the band, they may begin to have problems.

Initial Impressions: Landmine Marathon: Rusted Eyes Awake

This band has made a name for itself recently. It's just not entirely related to the sonic assault they provide in their music. Singer Grace Perry is a strikingly attractive woman who can shriek and snarl and growl as well or better than most male extreme metal singers. Ever since Arch Enemy hired Angela Gossow, there has been a long line of female singers drawn into extreme metal. Perry is even more powerful than Gossow.

If having a female singer were the only interesting thing about this band, Landmine Marathon would be considered a gimmick and their time in the spotlight would be mercifully quick. However, this band is actually pretty good. They have a gift for dirty, raw and primal-sounding extreme metal that is a mix of death, thrash, and early grindcore.

The riffs are fast, the drumming explosive, and the vocal shrieks ear-piercing. This is a band that definitely knows a thing or two about early grindcore. Sounding more like a band from the U.K. in the 1980's than Phoenix, AZ, Landmine Marathon has managed to put together a great slab of retro extreme metal. The similarities to early Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Napalm Death are clear.

This album is short, sweet, and to the point. Landmine Marathon is still developing as a band, but with a dirty retro sound, and an extremely gifted frontwoman, they should have no problem sticking around for awhile. They are pretty raw right now and definitely have not reached their full potential, but this is a band to watch, especially this year with a new album coming out in the next couple of months.