Municipal Waste: Slime and Punishment (2017)

For reasons that are not at all clear to me, this is actually the first time I have checked out Municipal Waste.  Based on my typical listening habits and my love of crossover/thrash metal, it would seem like Municipal Waste would be high on my list of bands to check out.  Hell, I'm perplexed as to why this has taken so long.  It is not as if I was unaware of the band.  I have been aware of them since 2007's The Art of Partying.  And yet, here we are.

As mentioned, Municipal Waste plays a crossover, though much more on the thrash metal side of things.  Given my love of Nuclear Assault, S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies and Power Trip, among others, this would be an ideal band to check out.  I don't know why it has taken so long, but I will be going back after hearing this release.

The songs on this album are all fast and short.  Not a single one makes it to the three minute mark and the entire album is over in less than half an hour.  In the meantime, Municipal Waste makes sure to fully utilize as much of that time as possible, filling it with riffs upon riffs and the manic shouting of vocalist Tony Foresta.  There is not much time for melody, though the band does throw in some blazing guitar solos at times.  The punk energy of the band is on full display throughout and there is not a dull moment on the album.  It is true that the songs kind of blend together after awhile as Municipal Waste do not really change up the tempo much throughout. 

Municipal Waste does not reinvent the wheel on this album.  There is really nothing here that cannot be found on other crossover bands' albums.  Yet, their manic energy is infectious and this is a fun album to listen to, and I have found it makes good workout music.  It may be formulaic, but it is still damn fun.

Magic Circle: Journey Blind (2015)

This is about as retro as retro metal can get.  Magic Circle is a heavy/doom metal band from Massachusetts that sounds as if they started out in the early 1980's.  It is surprising then to find out that the band has only really been around since about 2011.  This is the band's second album, and the first one by Magic Circle that I have checked out, but not the last.

The music here is an intriguing blend of a number of the early doom metal bands such as Trouble and Pentagram, and of course Black Sabbath, with more traditional styles of heavy metal.  The riffs are hard-driving with some killer fuzzy guitar tone.  The production overall is spectacular, clear and crisp with just the right amount of distortion to lend an authenticity to the band's sound.  It also allows all instruments to be heard perfectly.

One of the best songs on this album is second track "The Damned Man", which has a heavy, rumbling riff that Tony Iommi would have been proud to write.  The combination of that riff and singer Brendan Radigan's howling vocals make this a difficult song to resist getting swept up in. 

Magic Circle is at their best when they are playing faster-paced songs.  The slower ones sometimes tend to fail to keep the listener's attention, such as the lumbering "A Ballad for the Vulture".  Admittedly, that is an awesome song name however.  The latter part of the song, when the band gets locked into a heavy groove though is terrific. 

There is a lot of talent in this band.  Magic Circle manages to sound retro, without sounding dated.  There are some damn good songs on this thing and a lot of good riffs.  I was impressed enough to check out their 2019 release.  That will be reviewed soon.

Supergroups Pt. 1: Vhol: Deeper Than Sky (2015)

A supergroup is a band made up of musicians from other famous (or at least famous in the scene) bands.  Most of the names in this particular group are not going to mean anything to people who are not big metalheads, but believe me when I say that this is a supergroup.

On vocals, we have Mike Scheidt, primarily from Yob.  John Cobbett contributes guitars and he has played in a number of bands, most notably The Lord Weird Slough Feg and Hammers of Misfortune.  The drummer is Aesop Dekker from Agalloch, among others.  And the bassist is Sigrid Sheie, also from Hammers of Misfortune.  Agalloch probably has the biggest following of those bands, but the rest are more cult favorites.  I have seen Yob live, though I went primarily to see Bell Witch that day.

So what happens when these bands, who are primarily traditional-sounding metal bands but also include doom and black metal influences, get together?  Well, it is hard to pigeonhole this band.  There are definitely some traditional metal influences and some rock and doom metal influences.  But there is also a heavy crust/thrash metal influence and some black metal thrown in for good measure.  More than anything, this band just plain rocks.  The songs are typically fast-paced with rumbling riffs and some primal energy.  But there are a lot of truly odd moments thrown in that make this a schizoprenic, off-kilter listen.  Scheidt's raw, grunting vocal style fits in well, giving this album a grittiness and dirtiness that adds to the character of the riffing.

This is an impressive release.  I am not a huge fan of any of the bands that the other members of this group spend most of their time in (I like them all though), but I do really enjoy this album.  It is definitely weird and out there, but it is a ton of fun.

Cyclone Temple: I Hate Therefore I Am (1991)

This is a hidden gem of an album.  Released at a time when thrash metal was on its way back out of the public eye (thanks to Metallica's black album and the rise in grunge), it captures the spirit of early thrash metal and evolves the sound.  Cyclone Temple was formed by the musicians from Znöwhite when vocalist Debbie Gunn left the band.  I first heard about this release when I saw that drum legend Gene Hoglan listed it as one of his favorite metal albums of all time.  I had to check it out.

The music fits in well with the direction that thrash metal was going.  And no, I am not referring to the more radio rock-friendly sound Metallica was heading in.  This is progressive-leaning thrash metal that retains a lot of the aggression of the past, yet develops a strong musical viability.  The musicianship here is incredible.  The riffs are complex, the bass is intriguing, and there are some amazing solos.

Now the band is not nearly as devastating as the Znöwhite albums, which were bordering on brutal thrash metal, challenging the likes of Slayer.  But Cyclone Temple is devastating in a different way.  There is a very somber tone to the entire album and the band tackles some weighty subject material, such as the death of a sister and suicidal thoughts.  Brian Troch's dry, yet melodic vocals capture this dark mood incredibly well.  The highlight of the album is "Words are Just Words" which is maudlin and melodic throughout the first half of the song and then turns punishing and brutally fast in the second half.  It is a bit of a callback to the Znöwhite era. 

Thrash metal was barely holding on in the early 1990's, but a few bands were still putting out quality releases.  This is easily one of the best albums I have heard from the genre around this time.  It is sadly forgotten for the most part because it arrived at such a bad time for thrash.  That's a shame.  This is a hell of a release.

One and Done? Pt. 14: Control Denied

Control Denied was an ambitious new project created by Chuck Schuldiner of Death to explore more progressive styles of metal.  He brought on world-class metal musicians and frequent collaborators Steve DiGiorgio (he of the bewildering fretless bass) and Richard Christy on drums.  He also brought on Shannon Hamm to play guitar and Psycho Scream's Tim Aymar for vocals.  It was an incredible collection of musicians.

The band released one album, 1999's The Fragile Art of Existence.  Unfortunately, it would be Schuldiner's final album as he succumbed to brain cancer in 2001.  But it was a terrific album.

The album is so obviously a Schuldiner project.  His very distinct style of progressive, extreme metal riffs is on display throughout the album.  It sounds very much like the direction Death was logically heading after the very progressive The Sound of Perseverance.  It also provides multiple opportunities for the other musicians, particularly DiGiorgio, to shine.  The songs sound incredible with some truly amazing musical moments.

The only weak point in the album is some of the vocals.  Aymar is obviously a talented singer and has some great moments on this release.  However, when he is attempting to shriek at the top of his lungs, it sometimes comes out sounding flat and powerless.  I wonder what the album would have sounded like had Schuldiner provided the vocals.

There were plans to release a second album and several songs were recorded, but after the death of Schuldiner, the band abandoned plans to release it out of respect for him.  This album is a testament to the immense talent the metal world lost when Schuldiner died.

Cosmic Void Ritual: Vitriol Tablet Instructions: Rehearsing Speeches for When You Die (2018)

This is my third release from Cosmic Void Ritual, including another demo and a split that the so-called "Unknown Entity" did with Fetid Zombie.  The band has six releases, none of which is a full-length, since forming in 2017.  So Unknown Entity has been pretty busy.

The title to this demo is probably longer than the actual runtime of the demo.  There are just two songs here.  The band seems to like to title their songs in such a way as to lead the listener to believe that they are continuations of prior songs.  For instance, the second track is called "The Veil of Space Prevails (Dead Stars: II)", but I cannot find reference to a "Dead Stars: I".  Kind of confusing.

The music is riff-heavy death metal with something of a progressive bent to it.  The songs usually focus on one or two riffs, but do not seem to have a real conventional structure.  It sounds kind of spacey and weird, which is what the band is quite obviously going for.  My only real issue is the lack of bass.  The releases of Cosmic Void Ritual would sound a little better with some hefty bottom end that is lacking.

As could probably be guessed by the fact that I already have three releases from this band that has yet to issue a full-length, I quite like the band.  This is probably their best release yet.  I have a feeling the best is yet to come though.

Malevolent Creation: Stillborn (1993)

Ah, the days when Roadrunner Records actually had legitimate metal bands on their roster.  The early '90's saw Roadrunner as one of the leading labels in releasing death metal bands.  And Malevolent Creation was one of many.  Malevolent Creation was always one of my favorite band names, but I have not really gotten into much of their music.  Not really sure why that is. 

I decided recently to check out one of the band's earlier releases to see if I could see why they are revered in the death metal scene.  This is the band's third release, and it does not have very good reviews on the Metal Archives, so I may have missed the boat here, but if this is a bad early Malevolent Creation album, then I definitely need to hear the good ones.

I love this album.  The riffs are rabid and hard-hitting and the vocals have an incredibly aggressive bark that is captivating.  There are some damn impressive riffs here that stand out from a lot of the other bands in the Florida death metal scene and the solos absolutely slay.  The vocals are not the typical early death metal fare, bearing more resemblance to brutal thrash metal than death metal. 

The only real issues with this album are fairly minor.  The production is a little murky, but that is not unusual for death metal of this time period.  And the album tends to sound a little too much the same at times.  There are not a lot of melodic moments, with Malevolent Creation preferring to just bludgeon the listener.  But again, these are minor complaints.

This is just the third album I have picked up by Malevolent Creation, and I think I need to check out more.  Next stop will be the first two albums I think.

Demolition Hammer: Tortured Existence (1990)

This may be one of the heaviest thrash metal albums I have ever heard.  I have been well familiar with this band, and even this album, for quite some time, having acquired it in a two CD release covering all of Demolition Hammer's music.  But there is nothing quite like having the album in its original format.  It feels more natural that way, the way the album was supposed to have been heard.

Demolition Hammer released just three full-length albums, and the last one was supposed to be released under the name of a new band, so really, they only had two albums.  This is the band's debut and it is a terrific one at that.  The band is still very raw, but their unbridled aggression and brutality shines through.  It is because of this rawness that this album has gained a cult following among metalheads. 

The songs are fast-paced and intense with neck-breaking riffs.  I love the sound of the bass, which is a massive part of Demolition Hammer's sound.  It is clearly audible, driving the riffs and playing some complex rhythms at times.  It is one of the better bass performances in thrash metal, though not quite on the same level as work by Steve DiGiorgio or Cliff Burton. 

The only complaints I really have about the album are the somewhat limited production and the vocals.  With regard to the production, it would have been nice to have a meatier sound with the heavy, bass-driven riffs.  The vocals are just sort of plain for the genre and do not really do enough to stand out.

This is yet another thoroughly underrated thrash metal album.  Demolition Hammer straddle the line often between thrash and death and end up with an amazing, brutal thrash metal album.

Whiplash: Ticket to Mayhem (1987)

Despite the kind of ridiculous album cover on this one, I have been looking for it for a long time.  Whiplash is kind of known for having a few ridiculous album covers.  Their debut puts this one to shame.  This is one of those hugely underrated thrash metal albums that has been a target of mine for quite some time, just like Wargasm's Why Play Around? and a few others that I have picked up recently. 

After an introductory track featuring the sounds of intense warfare, the band immediately kicks off into some high-octane thrash metal on "Walk the Plank".  Right off the bat, it is clear that this is a much more aggressive and brutal type of thrash metal band than many of the Bay Area bands of the time period.  Whiplash is from New Jersey, but they are also more aggressive than the Garden State's favorite thrash metal band, Overkill. 

Despite a somewhat slower, yet still very intense, second track, the album generally continues in the same fast-paced and aggressive style throughout most of the rest of the album, other than a few slower melodic moments.  Whiplash write some damn catchy riffs which often sound like a mix of Bay Area and German thrash metal bands.  Something of a mix of Exodus and Destruction.  Several of the songs are highly infectious and should be thrash classics if this album was better known.

This is a terrific thrash metal album from the 1980's, but it just fell by the wayside in a big scene.  That is a shame, but it has gained cult status among old school thrash metal fans. 

Churchburn: None Shall Live...The Hymns of Misery (2018)

After his departure from death metal veterans Vital Remains, guitarist Dave Suzuki helped form Churchburn, somewhat abandoning the death metal sound and going for something even darker and more malevolent.  The band sounds quite a bit different, but the animosity towards religion is definitely still there, based on the band's name alone.

Churchburn is much more of a sludge/doom metal band, but this is not the kind of almost rock-ish, radio-friendly sludge played by groups like Baroness and Mastodon.  No, this is the kind of sick and demented sludge from the early days of Eyehategod and Acid Bath.  It's hateful, raw and undeniably heavy, with fuzzed-out riffs, slow-burning tempos and psychotic vocals, and there is precious little that can be remotely called pretty or melodic.

The album continues in that vein for the entire running time, only occasionally taking a breather with a less punishing moment.  For instance, the beginning of "Authorized to Cleanse" is a rare melodic moment with searing guitars, building into an extremely caustic atmospheric sound.  It also makes it the standout track on the album.  And then there is the eerie opening to "Before the Inferno", before it delves into utter madness.

This is one of the more interesting sludge metal albums I have heard in a long time.  It distances itself from what modern sludge metal has become and turns its sound back in time to the early days of the genre.  As a result, it achieves the kind of evil atmosphere that Dave Suzuki always sought in his days with Vital Remains.  This is not at all catchy or melodic, it is a blistering assault on the senses.  And it is all the better for its unrelenting aggression. 

Saint Vitus: Saint Vitus (2019)

A lot of bands have a self-titled album among their releases.  Not many bands can say that they have two.  Saint Vitus can though.  This is the band's second self-titled album, with the first one coming way back in 1984.  That was the band's debut and is a landmark album.  Saint Vitus was one of the first bands that took what Black Sabbath was doing in the early 1970's and really ran with it, becoming one of the first doom metal bands in the process.

This album sees the second return to the fold by original vocalist Scott Reagers.  Guitarist Dave Chandler has been the only member of Saint Vitus to stick with the band throughout their history.  The band has featured the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich in the past, during times in which Reagers has not been in the band.

With the Sabbath comparison from before, one can get the impression of what this band sounds like.  Dark, fuzzy riffs and slow tempos with mourning, soulful vocals with a harder edge.  The band does sometimes lock into a rumbling, faster-paced groove which breaks up the slower songs.  The band sounds absolutely raw, like they just woke up from a massive hangover and rolled into the studio to record.  There is nothing pretty here, just whiskey-fueled mayhem.

The minor quibble that I have is the guitar tone on the solos.  I do not have a ton of experience listening to Saint Vitus, but my god, Chandler uses an ugly, squealing guitar tone on his solos.  It fits reasonably well with the music because it is not the kind of thing that a well-trained classical guitarist would play.  It is ugly and gritty and it definitely matches the attitude of the band.

Saint Vitus has been around for a long time and their sound is truly timeless, sounding like a band who has been through some hard times and learned some tough lessons.  It is gritty and dark, doomy and gloomy.  But fuck, if I don't love it.  Pass the whiskey.

Full of Hell: Weeping Choir (2019)

One of the most hyped releases of the year is Full of Hell's follow-up to 2017's Trumpeting Ecstacy and the band's first release since signing to Relapse Records.  This is a particularly hyped release from the Decibel crowd.  Full of Hell started their existence as a powerviolence/grindcore band, but began incorporating more and more death metal influence over the years.  The album cover this time around is also a bit of a variation of the theme of the band's last album cover, though I thought that was more visceral and stood out more. 

The first thing to note is that this album is incredibly short and incredibly violent and loud.  The band makes a lot of noise incredibly quickly and before you know it, it's over.  The album starts off with the incredibly chaotic trio of "Burning Myrrh", "Haunted Arches" and "Thundering Hammers".  The opening track is the lead single from the album and these three songs are among the strongest on the entire album.  Featuring extreme riffs and almost pig-squealing vocals, the songs are in-your-face and extremely aggressive.

Things kind of hit a brick wall on the follow-up track "Rainbow Coil" which is much more of an abrasive industrial noise track.  It does not help that it is one of the longest tracks on the album either.  It gives a sense of uneasiness throughout, but it kind of breaks up the flow of the album.  It might have worked better had the track been at the album.  Luckily, it gets back on track with the very next song.

"Armory of Obsidian Glass" stands out the most as it is the longest song on the album, at six-plus minutes, it is twice as long as the next longest.  It is also the slowest, being based around doom-laden deliberate riffing, as opposed to the grindcore-influenced riffs in most of the rest of the songs.  From there, the band takes on much more of an experimental style, shifting frequently and leaving the listener in a daze from the barrage.  The one constant is the raw fury present in every song.

Full of Hell have delivered one of the heaviest and most chaotic releases of the year.  It is pure aggression from start to finish with very little breathing room.  While I tend to lean towards the more obviously metal albums, this kind of death metal-infused grindcore does catch my attention from time to time.  I do not know how often this one will be played as it is definitely a tough listen, but it is truly impressive.

Idle Hands: Mana (2019)

When was the last really great gothic metal record?  Moonspell?  Type O Negative?  Paradise Lost?  Can we consider Cradle of Filth?  Eh, probably not on Cradle of Filth.  They are kind of their own beast.  My point is that gothic metal seems to be a genre that has fallen by the wayside for the most part since it had kind of a heyday in the late 1990's/early 2000's.  Moonspell is still decent enough, but most other bands have disbanded or worse (R.I.P. Peter Steele).

That brings us to Portland's Idle Hands, and, wait a minute.  Another Portland band?  Damn right, I could do a whole month with Portland bands lately.  Idle Hands has released their debut full-length album earlier this year after a well-received EP from last year.  I saw a lot of hype leading up to this release with many calling it a possible Album of the Year.  I think a lot of the hype has to do with the fact that Idle Hands plays a genre that is mostly M.I.A. in the last several years.  But the album is actually damn good.

One thing that Idle Hands does remarkably well is striking a balance between gothic rock and metal.  Vocalist Gabriel Franco's crooning voice sounds like a cross between The Cure's Robert Smith and Moonspell's Fernando Ribeiro.  The guitar leads are light and airy, but the heavy metal influence is obvious.  The band also manages some truly catchy hooks and songs like "Give Me to the Night" and "Nightfall" stay with the listener long after the album has ended.

The second half however is a bit weaker, abandoning most of the aggression and the metal riffing prevalent on the first half.  The band sounds much more gothic rock, which is fine, if that is what you are into.  The songs are still melodic, somber and very catchy.  They just do not hit as hard as those on the first half.

This really is a damn good album.  I don't yet have any clue where it will end up on my end of the year list, but it does produce some of the catchiest songs of the year.  This would fit in well on a playlist with Tribulation.

Agalloch: The Serpent & the Sphere (2014)

Yesterday's post was on a Portland, Oregon band called Bewitcher in which I discussed how much of a metal hotbed the Northwestern city has become.  When one thinks of metal from Portland, Oregon though, mostly the first band to come to mind would be Agalloch.  The band has become the quintessential band that has come to define the scene and the so-called "Cascadian" black metal sound in particular.

It has only really been recently that I have gotten into Agalloch.  For a long time I kind of avoided them due to their being lumped in with groups like Neurosis and Isis and their post-metal leanings.  It did not help that the band was often embraced by the more hipster-leaning metal crowd.  And so, it took some time before I got around to checking out the band.  I am sorry it took so long.

There are a lot of post-metal moments, moments where the aggression drains from the music and what is left is some melodic guitar noodling and not much else.  But these are often juxtaposed against much heavier sections, and in moments like "Celestial Effigy", even though the post-metal noodling is the primary part of the song, the band keeps things ever interesting by combining it with blackened growled vocals.  Tracks like "The Astral Dialogue" are as close to the band's black metal foundation as it gets, but even that one is not immune from some post-metal musings.  Much of the album is somber and there is a heavy doom metal influence.  The various sound textures explored by the band come off as beautiful, yet hostile, a sound that reflects nature itself, something the band has sought to do from the very beginning.

The album seems to be a concept piece, which would not be unusual for Agalloch.  Sort of a universal creation centered around the idea of a great serpent eating its own tail: where something ends, something begins.  And the album itself follows suit with the final track "(Serpens Cauda)" leading back into the opening track when the album is played over again. 

This is Agalloch's final album and they went out on a high note.  It takes a few listens to begin to understand and it is certainly not as immediate as say, the album from yesterday.  There are a lot of layers to the album's sound and repeated listens inevitably lead to more discoveries.  That being said, it is an incredibly thought-out and dense release that wraps up the band's career remarkably well.

Bewitcher: Under the Witching Cross (2019)

Bewitcher is yet another great metal band from the Pacific Northwest, and in particular, the recent metal hotbed of Portland, Oregon.  But unlike a lot of the other bands from the region, Bewitcher blends their black metal with speed and thrash metal.  The band's debut was a very good, if somewhat unoriginal, release.  But the infectiousness of it stood out far more than the lack of innovation.  And so, I was interested in how the follow-up would turn out.

The band has gotten more melodic on this release, honing their NWOBHM chops and oftentimes sounding more like a more blackened version of Venom.  Throw in some Riot and Iron Maiden riffs and you basically have Bewitcher.  Nowhere is this more evident than in second track "Hexenkrieg" which features a number of moments that could almost be mistaken for Venom references.  And tracks like "Heathen Women" are almost anthemic with a fist-pumping chorus and pedal-to-the-metal riffs.  And the thrash break toward the end is definitely going to snap some necks.

Far from being one-note and boring, Bewitcher is able to switch things up as needed.  "In the Sign of the Goat" is a far more deliberate song, slowing things down just enough to truly stand out from the rest of the songs.  It also features the catchiest chorus of all of the catchy choruses on this release.  That is saying something.  And the solo toward the end is face-melting.

This is a terrific album from yet another terrific Portland-based band.  There is definitely something in the water up there because the city continues to churn out amazing metal bands all the time.

Dream Theater: Images and Words (1992)

I might get in some trouble for this one.  I have never been the biggest Dream Theater fan.  In fact I can count on one hand the number of albums I have checked out.  Two.  It's this one and Awake.  Truth be told, I actually really like Awake.  It has some excellent songs and even the ballads are generally pretty good.  But my favorite Dream Theater song has always been "Pull Me Under".  So recently I had a chance to pick up this album with my favorite Dream Theater song on it and decided to pull the trigger. 

The album starts off with the great song and it is a little extended from the version I have previously been aware of, which is not really a problem.  It is still a great song.  But from there, things quickly decline.  The very next track is a ballad.  James LaBrie's vocals sound somewhat strained hitting the high notes and there is a saxophone solo that really sounds like something Kenny G. would record.  Sax in metal is not inherently bad, for instance Amorphis has done some tremendous songs featuring sax solos, but this one just sounds laughably cheesy.  Unfortunately, the band never really gets back to the high point they set in the first track.  I kept waiting for another "Pull Me Under", but it never happened.

"Take the Time" is decent, but has something of a clumsy beginning and it kind of goes in a million directions throughout the song, including kind of a weird funk section.  But then the band throws in a second ballad in the first four songs.  That just can not stand.  I do not mind ballads generally, if they are not overused, but Dream Theater does overuse them on this album.  It would be okay if the ballads were better than these were as well.  For instance, "Space-Dye Vest" from Awake is an amazing ballad for a metal band, it is poignant and powerful.  The ones on this album are just boring.

Much of the rest of the album features most of the hallmarks of progressive metal: long, meandering songs ("Learning to Live" is eleven-and-a-half minutes long) with lots of solos, riffs and Rush-like song structures.  There are some good moments, but the band still fails to live up to the excellent first track. 

I can not really envision checking out this band much further.  I still really enjoy Awake, but I found myself very disappointed in this album.  I was hoping that an earlier album and one that featured my favorite song by the band would be even better, but it did not work out that way.  I know this is a landmark album and considered a masterpiece by a lot of metalheads, but it just does not do much for me.  

Possessed: Revelations of Oblivion (2019)

We are kind of beyond the point where it is surprising when bands reunite.  That has been a trend over the last 10-15 years or more so the only surprising reunions would be groups like Death and Dissection where the principal member is currently dead.  Even then, Static-X pulled it off.  So it is unsurprising that Possessed is back with their first album of new material since 1986's Beyond the Gates.

Truthfully, this is not a complete reunion.  Bassist/vocalist Jeff Becerra is the only original member.  Most of the other band members have been in other death metal bands like Sadistic Intent and Gruesome.  Possessed is of course notable for being one of the earliest death metal bands, and many would argue the first.  Their debut Seven Churches is a landmark for the death metal genre.  With so much time passed though, it was questionable how new material would sound from the band.

The album starts off in similar fashion to their previous releases, with an ominous bell ringing and atmospheric sound producing a dark and sinister tone.  Eventually this gives way to some classical-sounding music that would be at home in The Exorcist.  That then is punched through by one hell of a death metal riff and we are off.  The first song is called "No More Room in Hell" and possesses all of the hallmarks that one would expect from a Possessed song, including fast, razor-sharp riffs, pounding drums, Becerra's rabid snarl and blasphemous lyrics.  From that point forward, it is clear that even though a lot of time has passed, Possessed still sounds as fresh and vital as they did in the mid 1980's.

Some of the lyrics on this album are a little ridiculous.  Obviously in this genre we have a lot of lyrics that attempt to sound evil and scary.  This would have turned some heads in 1985, but it is no longer ground-breaking.  I am not really singling Possessed out because this is fairly normal for the genre, but sometimes it does sound a little tired.  Luckily I can overlook that when the music is as good as it is on this album.  This really does sound like something the band would have released to follow up their last proper full-length.

I was much more impressed with this album than I thought I was going to be.  It is a terrific return of a legendary pioneer in death metal and a worthy follow-up to the band's prior work.  It is also possibly an Album of the Year contender.

Ripped: Easter Island (1992)

Ripped congealed in the same Ohio cesspool that produced the likes of Embalmer and Necrophagia.  The band straddled the line between thrash and death metal and began incorporating more progressive influences as thrash was fading into obscurity.  This is a very short little EP that was released between the band's only two full-length albums, and judging from the cover, is not to be taken too seriously.  It was released on Wild Rags which had something of a controversial history as a label.

This EP consists of just five tracks, none of which make it to three minutes in length, and only three of which are actually songs.  The songs are definitely weird, with spastic riff changes and the psychotic barking vocals of singer Rick Fisher.  The band proves adept at changing speeds and time signatures.  The bass is particularly intriguing, not content to simply provide rhythm, it is playing something of a funk-inspired throbbing bass line.  Beyond that, there is some truly bizarre stuff happening with the guitar solo on "Happy Trails".  The whole album is something of a mind-bender.

This one has been something of a grower for me.  I really did not like it much at all the first time I heard it.  It is kind of jarring, off-kilter and abrasive.  There is definitely nothing melodic or pretty here, not that I expected as much, but the EP struck me as too much weird for weirdness sake.  Repeated listens have uncovered some intriguing rhythmic talent in the band members.  I still would not recommend this to just anyone and I am still not totally sure I like it all that well, but there is some interesting stuff happening and I definitely do not dislike it anymore.

One and Done? Pt. 15: Meanstreak

I am not really sure how to check this, but Meanstreak may have been the first U.S. all-female metal band.  Girlschool from the U.K. was likely the first all-female metal band, but it gets kind of fuzzy after that.  At some point, Phantom Blue arrived, but that seems to have been a couple of years after the formation of Meanstreak.  Also, Meanstreak was likely the first all-female thrash metal band, though the band was more of a borderline band, straddling the line between thrash and heavy metal.

Even more interesting is the fact that three of the members are married to three current and former members of Dream Theater.  Guitarist Rena Sands is married to John Petrucci.  Guitarist Marlene Apuzzo is married to Mike Portnoy.  Finally, bassist Lisa Pace is married to John Myung.  Sort of an odd fact there, but ultimately completely irrelevant to the music at hand.  Meanstreak sounds absolutely nothing like Dream Theater.

And of course the most interesting fact is that this album is fucking good.  Featuring big, meaty riffs and the howling vocals of Bettina France, this is a straightforward rocking album.  Meanstreak is at their best when they are playing the faster, more thrash-oriented stuff.  Songs like the title track, "Searching Forever", "Nostradamus" and "Lost Stranger" are terrific with loud and nasty guitar riffs
and the sneering vocals of France.  There are some weaker tracks here such as "Snake Pit" that just does not really do enough to keep the flow of the album, but the weaker moments are few and far between.

Unfortunately with just one full-length to their name, Meanstreak is kind of a forgotten band.  That's a shame because this is a very good album.

Nocturnus A.D.: Paradox (2019)

Taking a cue from Entombed, whose members re-formed after several years' hiatus under the same moniker plus "A.D." at the end, Nocturnus has returned with their first album since 1999.  Due to legal issues with ownership of the name "Nocturnus" several original members (who were not on Nocturnus's last album) have re-formed, adding "A.D." to the end of the name to distance themselves from the original band.  Sounds complicated, but essentially this is Nocturnus.  The sound is generally the same and this is a sequel to the concept album found on the Nocturnus The Key.  And I could not be happier about it.

Nocturnus is a highly-underrated band from the Florida death metal scene and The Key is quite possibly my favorite album from the entire scene.  It was just so different from anything else out there, combining Morbid Angel-style riffs and leads (Browning was Morbid Angel's original singer and drummer) with lots of keyboards and a science fiction theme, Nocturnus stood out among all of the death and brutality in the scene.  The Key told the story of a cyborg sent back in time to assassinate Jesus, thus preventing Christianity and beginning a new empire.  Sure it borrows from Terminator, but it was different than what the other death metal bands were doing.

Paradox tells the story of Dr. Magus who, ravaged by disease, creates a bio-suit in order to survive.  The music is a return to form of The Key.  It features tons of riffs, leads and solos and keyboard lines that sound like the soundtrack to a bad sci-fi b-movie.  It really does sound like a continuation of the band's debut album, almost like the last 20 years never happened.  Browning's voice has weathered a little bit and he delivers most of the lyrics in more of a harsh grunt, but otherwise it sounds as if absolutely nothing has changed.  Sure it's ridiculous and cheesy, but it is so damn much fun.  And that is something that is often missing in today's death metal.

This is a return to the form of a band who created one of my absolute favorite death metal albums, even though it is technically a different band.  I am thrilled to death that Nocturnus A.D. has managed to recapture that magic.  This is an Album of the Year contender.  It is that good.