Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 11

ARTIST:  Pantera
ORIGIN:  Arlington, TX (United States)
TITLE:  Cowboys from Hell
LABEL:  Atlantic Records
YEAR:  1990
GENRE:  Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Cemetery Gates"
NOTES:  At the time, this was the most extreme album I had ever heard.  It actually gave me a headache the first time I heard it. But I did not give up on it and kept listening to it to the point that it was a favorite album pretty quickly.  At the time, "Cemetery Gates" had been played a lot on the local hard rock radio station as a result of appearing on a soundtrack.  Of course Pantera changed their sound soon after this release, but it remains my favorite Pantera album.

Initial Impressions: Enslaved: RIITIIR

A few years ago my interest in Enslaved skyrocketed as a result of seeing them in concert with fellow prog-metal masters Opeth.  Prior to that I enjoyed them quite a bit but would not have gone so far as to say that they were one of my favorite bands.  However after that concert, their status was elevated quite a bit.  I developed an appreciation for their sprawling sound with all of its quirks.  Ordinarily the overly progressive metal stuff has not done much for me, but Enslaved has been an exception.  So I look forward to each new Enslaved album.

This one gave me some pause as some individuals that I usually expect to really enjoy Enslaved have not cared as much for it, calling the album a disappointment or even boring.  Nevertheless, I still felt like I had to check it out.  I have heard every single album since Below the Lights and I was not about to start missing albums now.

I think this one is definitely a grower.  Enslaved have stripped away almost all of their black metal sound.  Of course that has been happening for several albums now at this point.  They have stripped away more and more with each release since the aforementioned Below the Lights.  There are still traces here and there, but this is mostly a progressive metal release.

The album does start fairly strong with "Thoughts Like Hammers", but it slows way down for several songs after the opening track.  The next several songs are kind of a blur, before the band picks things back up with "Materal", probably my favorite song on the album.  This is definitely Enslaved.  They do not do anything markedly different from anything they have done on the last several albums.  As such I am not really sure what a lot of the complaints have been about.  I certainly do not feel the same way about this release as some others do.

I would not say that this is one of Enslaved's stronger releases, but I do like it well enough.  I do not think there is anything markedly different this time around.  Is it a masterpiece?  No, but it is good enough.  I find myself enjoying it more and more with each successive listen.

FMA Reviews: Eïs: Wetterkreuz

Originally reviewed here.

My German is non-existent so the first thing I will say is that I do not understand a word these guys are saying. Ever. But luckily music is consistent across language barriers. And one thing I do understand is black metal when I hear it.

This is Eis's third full-length since a messy legal dispute forced them to change their name from Geist. They released three albums under that name prior to the change, giving them six full-length albums since 2005. Eis is apparently quite prolific. The band is currently made up of only two members. Alboin handles the vocals and all of the instruments except the drums. Marlek covers the drums.

Eis is a black metal band that is clearly heavily influenced by some of the more atmospheric black metal acts. Sort of like the more epic material of Immortal crossed with early Satyricon. The music gives off a very cold feeling and is driven by tremolo riffing and pounding drums. The keyboards add some melody to parts that otherwise lack it, but it is clear that the atmosphere is the most important aspect of Eis's music. The songs are all very long. All of them exceed the seven minute mark with two breaking ten. But they really do not seem long. The songs are so engrossing that it is not even noticed how long the songs really are.

The lyrics are all done in German. The vocals are also typically harsh though they are spoken at some points. The harsh vocals combined with German lyrics lead to a very sinister overall feel from this aspect of the music. Again, I have no idea what the lyrics are about so they could be singing about puppies and it would still sound menacing. That's German for you.

This is a decent enough release. It does not do a lot to stand out from the pack of other black metal bands out there, but it is entertaining. I am not sure how much staying power it really has. I do not envision too many scenarios in which I will really want to listen to Eis, if it happens to be on, it will keep me entertained.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 10

ARTIST:  Megadeth
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
LABEL:  Capitol Records
YEAR:  1986
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Peace Sells"
NOTES:  Megadeth's sophomore album produced one of their biggest early songs in "Peace Sells".  The opening bass riff is iconic.  This is one of many great thrash metal releases from 1986.  Megadeth's sound has always been much more raw and angrier than Metallica's sound.  Perhaps this is due to Dave Mustaine's inferiority complex about Metallica.  This was my second album by the band which was quickly becoming a favorite.

Initial Impressions: Rumpelstiltskin Grinder: Ghostmaker

Their name is ridiculous of course, but Rumpelstiltskin Grinder is absolutely one of my favorite bands from the nu-thrash wave.  Part of that is their bizarre and morbid sense of humor.  Thrash metal has never really been humorless, groups like Anthrax, Exodus, and some others have definitely shown their sense of humor through their work.  Rumpelstiltskin Grinder is not as off-the-wall as Lich King, but they definitely show their sense of humor throughout.

Part of what makes Rumpelstiltskin Grinder so compelling musically is that the band does not really sound like anyone else.  With a lot of the newer thrash metal acts, it is fairly easy to trace their influences, oftentimes it is obvious by the band's name, but there are some definite giveaways in the music itself just as often.  That is not the case with Rumpelstiltskin Grinder.  This is a band that stands out from the litany of groups aping their sound from more-established acts.  Rumpelstiltskin Grinder utilizes influences from a variety of non-thrash metal genres as well, but incorporates those influences into their thrash sound rather than toe the line between genres.

In the past, RG's albums have been a little messy and all over the place.  That rawness was part of their charm.  This was a band that really seemed like a bunch of oddball guys that got together and played some ferocious thrash metal.  On this release though, the band has really tightened up their sound.  Nothing has been lost as far as their ferocity is concerned, but the riffing is tight and packs a considerable punch.  The vocals sound great along with the music and the outside influences mesh well with the thrash riffing.

What results is a truly impressive album by a band that has been steadily improving with each new album.  This is their best album yet and is a very strong contender for the thrash metal album of the year.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 9

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey: Music from the Motion Picture
LABEL:  Interscope Records
YEAR:  1991
GENRE:  Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  Megadeth: "Go to Hell"
NOTES:  I think this cost me a buck and I bought it at the same time as the previous Queensryche album.  It was cheap and featured music by a bunch of bands I felt that I should be listening to as an impressionable young metalhead, such as Kiss, Slaughter, and others.  Hey, I was pretty naive.  There is some terrible stuff on here too.  That being said, it does feature some hard-to-find tracks by Megadeth, Faith No More, and King's X which are about the only reasons to actually listen to it.  I am not the proudest of owning this but at least it was cheap.

FMA Reviews: Finsterforst: Rastlos

Originally reviewed here.

Folk metal has been one of the latest genres I have really gotten into. Finntroll was the first folk metal band I heard and I soon realized that not all folk metal sounded like that. While I still like the fun, beer-drinking music that Finntroll specializes in, I gravitate more towards darker and more serious-sounding folk metal. Finsterforst, whose name means "dark forest" in German, seemed like it would be likely to be up my alley in that respect.

I will admit this one was a little bit daunting when looking at the track lengths. This band writes some very long songs, including the 22 minute opus "Flammenrausch". But long songs can be very entertaining when they are well-written and variable enough to keep things interesting. Luckily, this is what Finsterforst does here. There are five tracks that break the ten minute barrier, but it does not feel like that.

The music is, in a word, epic. It is extremely dramatic with impressive guitar riffs and melodies. Even the accordion sounds great in this music. Finsterforst does a great job of molding the folk elements with the metallic elements. The vocals are typically delivered in a harsh snarl which is to be expected from this type of metal.

The only real issue I have with this album is that it does not do much to stand out from the pack. Other than the ridiculously long songs, there is not much to say that Finsterforst does that is appreciably better than most other folk metal bands. The music is certainly interesting, but that does not mean that I would be clamoring for Finsterforst over a group like Thyrfing or Moonsorrow.

The Greatest Music Video Ever

Poor Goblin.  All he wants is the girl and a little respect.  What is a goblin to do?

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 8

ARTIST:  Queensryche
ORIGIN:  Bellevue, WA (United States)
TITLE:  Promised Land
LABEL:  EMI Music
YEAR:  1994
GENRE: Progressive Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "One More Time"
NOTES:  I picked this one up on the aforementioned trip to Indiana.  Songs off of this album were getting a lot of play on the local hard rock radio station at the time.  I remember three songs being played somewhat frequently, all of which I liked quite a bit.  Queensryche was a bit of a departure musically for me as to that point thrash metal was the major genre I was getting into.  "Someone Else?" is an extremely powerful song with just a piano and Geoff Tate's incredible vocals.

Initial Impressions: Witchcraft: Legend

Witchcraft is another of those bands that I have heard a lot of great things about but sadly never checked out.  It is strange though because it would seem that the band is up my alley.  So I have no idea why it is that I have not checked them out before.  Perhaps it is due to the fact that there are so many bands these days playing the same style of traditional doom/1970's hard rock that Witchcraft plays.  That's probably what it is.  But given the fact that I am a huge fan of groups like Grand Magus means that the chances of me enjoying Witchcraft were probably pretty good.  That coupled with the fact that I have only seen good reviews for the band's latest had my hopes high for this release.

Well it was definitely worth it.  The influences are obvious from the opening strains in the album.  This is clearly a band that takes its sound from the early metal bands like Black Sabbath and Pentagram and adds in some classic hard rock groups like Thin Lizzy and other groups of their ilk to fill out the gaps.  The result is a sound that would have fit in perfectly in the 1970's rock scene but yet is fresh and relevant even today.  It is not truly retro-sounding even though there really are no modern influences, but it definitely is not modern either.  It is kind of a conundrum.

The songs vary quite a bit from slower-paced doomy-sounding songs to faster-paced crunching rock songs. It is hard to classify this as a doom metal album.  That feeling and atmosphere is for the most part absent, but calling it a traditional metal/hard rock album is definitely accurate.  Not that that is really a problem, I just think the misclassification can throw people at times expecting a Sabbathian record.

I really enjoyed this album.  I find myself wanting to listen to stuff like this more and more lately.  It is melodic, yet still relatively heavy.  The vocals sound amazing, and the songs are powerful and yet catchy enough to induce singing along.  It is a terrific album and the band definitely sounds like they had a lot of fun creating it.  I definitely have a lot of fun listening to it.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 7

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath
LABEL:  Sony Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  White Zombie: "Children of the Grave"
NOTES:  I bought this at the same time as the Megadeth album of the last post.  This was my first various artists compilation and tribute album.  Featuring a variety of popular metal artists of the time such as Megadeth, White Zombie, Corrosion of Conformity, Sepultura, Faith No More, and Type O Negative, all covering classic Black Sabbath songs.  This was also my first experience with Black Sabbath material.

FMA Reviews: The Sorrow: Misery-Escape

Originally reviewed here.

Maybe it's time to actually look into some of the bands that I am asked to review before agreeing to it. I had no idea that there still were bands like this. I might have really liked this seven years ago or so back when I liked Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and the like. If you have not figured it out yet, this is metalcore tinged with melodeath. Most metalcore bands by now have changed their sound somewhat, but this is definitely early 2000's metalcore sound.

The Sorrow has been around since about 2005, so they should have missed out on the scene that would have most welcomed them. But they are from Austria so maybe they were just a little bit behind and metalcore was just getting to that country. So yeah in addition to being a metalcore band, they also sound stale. That is not helping.

All of the metalcore cliches are present here. Chugging riffs, frequent breakdowns, good cop/bad cop vocals. Add in Christian-tinged lyrics and swooped haircuts and we have an extremely stereotypical metalcore band. Some of the songs are a little catchy but this is nothing that has not been done thousands of times before.

This one was very difficult to make it through. I might have liked this several years ago, but now it does absolutely nothing for me.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 6

ARTIST:  Megadeth
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Youthanasia
LABEL:  Capitol Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Thrash/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Train of Consequences"
NOTES:  My first metal album by a band that was not Metallica was of course Megadeth.  I picked this one up with some Christmas money along with one other album shortly before going to Indiana on a family vacation to see my grandparents.  At this point my parents were starting to get concerned about my burgeoning love of heavy metal.  I had been exposed to Megadeth before by my older brother, and saw the video for "Train of Consequences".  That was the driving force behind me getting this one.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 5

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Kill 'Em All
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1983
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "The Four Horsemen"
NOTES:  Metallica's debut was the last of their albums I picked up, that they had released to that point in time.  It is another one I find myself going back to time and time again.  The raw energy on this album is unmatched by anything else Metallica has ever done.  Dave Mustaine wrote most of the most riffs on this album and it would have been interesting to hear Metallica with Mustaine on lead guitar.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 4

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Master of Puppets
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1986
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"
NOTES:  When I was younger, my parents used to make me go to church.  One of the advantages was that every summer there would be a work camp trip.  On my first trip to Chicago, I picked up this album.  This is one of my favorite Metallica albums and is easily one of their most complete.  Every song on this album is great and it is one of the albums I have listened to the most.  It is also widely considered the greatest metal album of all time.

Initial Impressions: Weapon: Embers and Revelations

Weapon has been getting a lot of hype for this album and a little bit of negative publicity for trademarking the name "Weapon" forcing other bands called Weapon to change their names.  Bad publicity aside, I decided to take a flyer on the band due to the hype for the album.  Plus, they are from Canada and Canada is awesome.

Taking influence from a variety of deep underground black and death metal bands and twisting those influences into a darker, filthier sound, Weapon has definitely crafted their own unique sound on this release.  Weapon blurs the line between black and death metal so convincingly that it is hard to discern whether the band is a blackened death metal band or a black metal band with death metal leanings.  The line is ever-shifting throughout this album.  All that is unimportant however in light of how good this release actually is.

This album features an incredibly dark atmosphere.  That mixed with the impressive riffwork and pulsing drumming combine to create one hell of a sound, pun not intended but definitely a happy accident.  It is a very occultish sound, the kind of music you would expect to be played at a Satanic mass, if you attend such things.  I don't.

This is definitely an impressive release.  I remember the band having some hype surrounding their previous album but for some reason did not act.  I am glad I decided to check them out this time around.  

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 3

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Metallica
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1991
GENRE:  Thrash/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Holier than Thou"
NOTES:  I do not really remember when I got this one or how.  Obviously it was a matter of time until I did.  Metallica was huge at the time that I was getting into metal, so of course I got The Black Album.  Oddly though it never really grabbed me like their earlier stuff.  I liked it, I just did not love it.  Nevertheless, there are some great songs here.

Initial Impressions: Cattle Decapitation: Monolith of Inhumanity

Ultra gory death metal with grotesque lyrics and artwork has been a little lacking in recent years.  Oh sure there is always Cannibal Corpse, but nothing they do really comes off as shocking anymore.  However, Cattle Decapitation has been steadily filling that niche.  It is a little bit of a juvenile niche, but it is a niche all the same.

I am a little late in checking out Cattle Decapitation.  Mostly the reason for that is my disagreement with their politics when I actually cared about such a thing in a band.  Cattle Decapitation, until recently, was made up of all vegans and PETA activists.  There has been a little bit of band turnover and this is no longer entirely the case.  A few years ago that kind of pissed me off about them.  Now, I don't really give a fuck.

I chose to check them out this time around based on the hype that this album has been receiving and based on hearing "Forced Gender Reassignment", a particularly filthy slab of deathgrind.  Cattle Decapitation definitely bring the pain on this, their fifth full-length album.  The band is absolutely relentless, pounding the listener into submission with rampaging riffs and blasting drums, and some of the most brutal vocals I have ever heard.

The band does not just pound away pointlessly though.  There are melodies and some impressive guitar solos here and there.  While not technical or progressive, they add something more to the otherwise brutal proceedings.  The vocals are delivered in a variety of styles from deep guttural roars, to harsh screams, to some interesting dynamic screaming that is almost melodic.  The band does occasionally slow things down to incorporate some more melodies as well.

I may have been late in checking out Cattle Decapitation, but they have definitely left an impression.  This is a hell of an album.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 2

ARTIST:  Metallica
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  ...And Justice for All
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1988
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "One"
NOTES:  My second metal album.  I remember buying this at Target and having to return it once because there was a problem with the tape.  I lost the album insert a long time ago.  This is the album that put Metallica on the map from a mainstream sense due to the massive success of the epic video for "One", which is still one of my favorite music videos.  It would have been even better if you could hear the damn bass.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 1

ARTIST: Metallica
ORIGIN: San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE: Ride the Lightning
LABEL: Elektra
YEAR: 1984
GENRE: Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG: "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
NOTES: This is the first metal album I ever owned.  My grandmother bought it for me for my birthday when I was 13 years old.  I remember that I convinced her that Metallica did not use bad language, which was important to her.  So I lied.  This is still my favorite album of all time, partly due to the fact that it was my first.  I still have the cassette that I got way back then and it still plays well.  I also bought the reissue on vinyl a couple of years ago.

Initial Impressions: Voivod: Infini

Wrapping things up for my recent Voivod pickups is the band's latest album, which was released in 2009.  This was rumored to be the final Voivod album.  It was the second release after the death of longtime guitarist and founding member Denis "Piggy" D'Amour.  The album, like its predecessor, uses original recordings that Piggy recorded prior to his death from cancer.  It is something of an innovative idea and allowed Voivod to live on for a couple of albums.

It was recently announced that Voivod has a new album coming early in 2013 with a new guitarist.  This is the last recording Piggy will likely appear on but the band has found a way to keep going.

Well enough of that, how is the album?

It is certainly a catchy album.  Many of the songs stick after listening to it.  Like the prior album, it feels very stripped down, but this makes sense given the cut-and-paste nature of the recording.  It is impressive that the band was able to make this work.  The songs are all simple and straightforward without any of the progressive noodling that Voivod has used in the past.  Again, given the nature of the recording none of this is at all surprising.

Like the rest of Voivod's recent material, this is a grower.  I did not care for it much the first time I heard it, but it has grown on me.  Perhaps their self-titled will as well with time.

Initial Impressions: Voivod: Voivod

Continuing on with my recent Voivod kick, comes this album.  This is Voivod's tenth full-length album and their first one with former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted.

This is a very stripped-down album.  Most of the spacey riffs and sci-fi weirdness that typically accompany Voivod albums has been taken away.  What is left is still obviously Voivod, and I think that most people familiar enough with the band would be able to identify it as such.  But it is missing a lot of what made the band interesting in the first place.

This was a highly anticipated release at the time.  It was the first album with Snake back in vocals and there was a sense of excitement with Newsted coming aboard.  And there are definitely some good moments on this release.  All of the songs have a hard-driving feel to them and many of the riffs are very impressive.  Piggy has always been a terrific riff-writer and that ability shines through on this release.  The songs are definitely catchy.

The problems are as mentioned earlier, that there is a dearth of what made Voivod truly special on this release.  The riffs still have the typical Voivod feel but the band feels like a shell of its former self.  It feels more like a band trying to be Voivod than Voivod itself.

This is by no means a bad album, but it does not hold a candle to Voivod's first five albums.

FMA Reviews: Tiamat: The Scarred People

Originally reviewed here.

It was with great trepidation that I started listening to this album. My experiences with Tiamat have been inconsistent to put it lightly. I absolutely loved The Astral Sleep. It was a terrific album of atmospheric death metal and sounded quite unlike anything else I had heard to that point. I became aware that the band altered their sound drastically but checked out A Deeper Kind of Slumber anyway. That one bored me into a coma. So this is only the third full-length album that I have listened to by Tiamat. I guess we will see where this comes in.

Well this is gothic rock. There is the occasional metal influence but for the most part there is little to no aggression present in these songs. At the same time it is not as ethereal and dream-like as Slumber. The songs are slower paced with a lot of melody. There are guitar leads weaving around the mostly keyboard-driven melancholic music. The vocals are typically delivered in a dry, soothing baritone sounding similar to the vocals of Moonspell's Fernando Ribeiro.

If you are looking for atmospheric death metal, do not look here. This sounds like a completely different band than the one that recorded Astral Sleep. There are some metal influences present such as the driving force of the opening track and "Love Terrorists", but even those moments are fleeting. For the most part this is fairly straightforward gothic rock. The songs do grow old after awhile and I had a hard time retaining interest in it.

This is a perfectly acceptable release if you like this sort of thing. I however do not. There is a little bit more musically going on than on Slumber but I still will likely not listen to this very often, if at all.

FMA Reviews: Havok: Point of No Return

Originally reviewed here.

Havok is yet another retro-thrash metal band. They are often overlooked in the mountain of similar bands that have popped up over the years, but that is a little unfair. Havok has a way of showing off their influences but still making music that sounds fresh and vital. Unlike a lot of the retro thrash metal groups, Havok has not picked one particular style of thrash to try to emulate. Influences from the Bay Area, East Coast, Germany, South America, and the almighty Slayer can all be heard. As such, they are one of the more interesting retro thrash metal bands and one that I try to check out whenever they release something new.

Coming off a well-received full-length, Havok offers this short EP as a holdover until they can get a new full-length onto shelves. The EP features two original songs and two covers. The originals do a fantastic job of showcasing what Havok is all about. The opening title track is fast and furious with a throbbing bass line propelling the song forward. It has an almost Overkill-esque quality with its menacing sneer and use of gang vocals. "Cradle to the Grave" features the kind of frenetic energy that Anthrax was well-known for along with more use of gang vocals.

The final two tracks are covers of major influences on the band, Sepultura and Slayer. Both songs have been covered frequently so there may be some temptation to write them off and skip them. Havok does a nice job with them though. They capture the anger of "Arise" by Sepultura almost perfectly. The complaint that I have about "Postmortem/Raining Blood" is that it is kind of silly to combine them into one track. "Raining Blood" has always been a standalone classic in the genre. To combine it into one track with "Postmortem" is kind of a slap in the face.

Overall this is hardly a necessary release. It is a nice showcase of an impressive band, but an EP is almost never a can't-miss release. This is the case here as well.

Initial Impressions: Voivod: Katorz

I have been on a bit of a Voivod kick again lately which lead to the purchase of three of their newer albums. This was probably stirred by news of the band's upcoming album, but I do not really know for sure.

Katorz is Voivod's eleventh full-length album and was released in 2006.  To say that the band had changed somewhat since their heyday in the 1980's to this album is a bit of an understatement.  I was previously mostly familiar with the band's first five albums, although I had heard the sci-fi progressiveness of Negatron as well.  This was really one of my first forays into their later material and what I heard was kind of surprising to me.  I did not expect the same sound that the band perfected in their earlier material, but this was quite a bit different than I expected.

There is definitely still a weird science fiction vibe carrying through most of the material on this album.  The riffs in particular sound almost mechanical, which is something that Voivod had been doing for years.  For the most part though this a much more stripped-down version of Voivod.  Gone are most of the progressive metal meanderings and in their place are some just straightforward rock/metal/punk songs.  The riffs are heavy and feature a lot of groove and the vocals have a dirty rock sound to them.

This is kind of a grower, but I found myself enjoying it more and more with each listen.  The first song definitely captures attention early on and the rest of the songs really do nothing to lose it.  Do not go into this expecting Nothingface or Dimension Hatross and this will be an enjoyable album.

Happy Halloween: Here's Some Lovecraftian Album Art

I love the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  I know that I am not alone among metalheads in that.  So here is some cover art clearly influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  Some of these are obviously Lovecraft's creatures, others just have the same feel.

Proposed "Best Of" Lists

There was a thread on the Metal Archives recently where the original poster asked the following:

Pick out one of your favorite bands, famous or not, and create your own “Best Of” out of ten to twelve songs; link it to YouTube and say a little something about why you chose the songs. I think this could be awesome for people who want to get into a band, or who are just curious to what regular fans think of a bands output.

Here was my response:

For me, the band I would pick to do a best-of would be Amorphis. In particular, I picked later-period Amorphis with Tomi Joutsen singing. While I like their early death metal material, their later progressive material is what I find myself coming back to again and again. I would have loved to have Amorphis played at my wedding last year because I believe that a lot of their songs while not explicitly romantic, certainly carry with them a romantic and emotional feel. Many of the songs below capture that perfectly. I chose to start out with "House of Sleep" because that is the song that I believe best captures this feeling. I still find myself listening to Amorphis frequently when I am in a melancholic mood.

1. "House of Sleep" - Eclipse
2. "Her Alone" - Silent Waters
3. "Silver Bride" - Skyforger
4. "My Sun" - Skyforger
5. "Course of Fate" - Skyforger
6. "You I Need" - The Beginning of Times
7. "Mermaid" - The Beginning of Times
8. "Reformation" - The Beginning of Times
9. "Leaves Scar" - Eclipse
10. "I of Crimson Blood" - Silent Waters

Any thoughts?

FMA Reviews: Necroven: Worship of Humiliation

Originally reviewed here.

Occult death metal is a style that has remained underground out of necessity. To say that the style is extreme is a massive understatement. Though it formed from the music of Morbid Angel, Incantation, and Immolation, it has progressed beyond even those dark and sinister boundaries that those bands pushed. This is evil music.

Necroven is an occult death metal band in the vein of Drawn and Quartered, Angelcorpse, Nox, Lecherous Nocturne, and other much more underground bands. The riffs are jagged and distorted. The drumming is typically blastbeat-driven though not entirely. The production is fairly murky but not to the extent that the music can not be heard. A lot of other occult death metal bands make the mistake of having too muddy of production and it all sounds like a sloppy mess. This is not pristine, but at least everything can be heard. It is the kind of production that sounds best with this music. The vocals are incredibly deep.

There are some issues with this though, which are somewhat common issues with occult death metal. There is not a lot of melody, which is to be expected, but going along with that is that there are not too many truly memorable moments. The songs tend to run together as well. Most of them do not feel like complete ideas, rather some riffs thrown together with some vocals over them that just sort of end at some point.

The music is certainly filthy and once in a while I am in the mood for some good occult death metal. The positives outweigh the negatives, but this is by no means a great album.

One and Done? Pt. 11: Sothis: De Oppresso Liber

I had a subscription to Metal Maniacs in 2008.  This was the year that the magazine eventually folded.  For several months the magazine was running advertisements for Sothis's debut full-length.  Lots of different advertisements.  There was quite simply a lot of hype leading up to this album's release.  Well at the time I had a lot of disposable income so I figured what the hell I will give them a shot.

Sothis is a U.S. symphonic black metal band.  Yes such things actually exist.  And of course you can imagine how well this sounded.  Somewhere along the veins of Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, and Limbonic Art, but nowhere near as impressive.  For the most part, this was just kind of a boring release without a whole lot going for it.  Well, I do enjoy "Defiance" quite a bit.  That song alone makes this somewhat interesting.  But nothing else really grabs me.

Well all the hype did not really do Sothis too many favors as the album was not well-received when it was actually released.  It's now been more than four years since that release and I have not heard anything about a new one.  Maybe the deflated egos have lead to the inability to come up with a follow-up.  Maybe the band is trying hard to come up with something decent.  Whatever the reason, four years is a long time for a sophomore album.

FMA Reviews: Ataraxy: Revelations of the Ethereal

Originally reviewed here.

I had previously pointed out that some death metal just has such an intense, filthy, otherworldly quality that makes it a ton of fun to listen to. I then pointed out a number of groups who had this unknown quality to just put out some amazing death metal. Well add Ataraxy to that list. This is the debut album for the Spanish death metal band and they truly do an amazing job on this release. Ataraxy will definitely be a band to continue watching.

I suppose the best point of reference for a sound is The Chasm along with Asphyx. The guitar tone here is incredible. It is crunchy and gives off a sinister and evil atmosphere. This is definitely an old-school death metal sounding album but at the same time, it sounds fresh. It is not stale, cookie-cutter death metal at all. Ataraxy do their best to craft their own sound, one not done thousands of times before.

As I mentioned, the best points of reference are probably The Chasm and Asphyx. This is due to the unusual song structure and general sound. The songs do not follow a standard death metal progression, opting to evolve naturally and without any real constraints. They flow well too. They utilize a lot of slower, doomy riffs as well to keep the atmosphere claustrophobic and eerie. The vocals sound very much like Martin Van Drunen's possessed wailing and that is definitely a plus in my book.

There has been a lot of talk about old-school death metal bands popping up and becoming a major trend. I will say that if bands sound as impressive as Ataraxy, I have no problem with it.

One and Done? Pt. 10: Catacombs: In the Depths of R'lyeh

I have covered this album before here.  Last night I was on kind of a funeral doom kick and since this is one of the few funeral doom albums I have, along with a couple by Ahab, I started thinking about the band a lot. Well, band is probably not the correct term as Catacombs is made up of Xathagorra Mlandroth, a Lovecraftian name if I have ever seen one.  He performs all of the instruments and all of the vocals on the album.  He also does the same for several other projects, such as Hierophant, Inimical, Origin of Darkness, and Sect.

But Catacombs is the only project I am familiar with.  It released an EP in 2003 and this album in 2006.  Catacombs is the only Mlandroth project that has released a full-length album.  The other projects have released EPs, demos, or splits, but no proper albums.  Catacombs is still listed as active though Origin of Darkness is the only project that has released anything in the last several years since this full-length.

So what is going on?  Is Catacombs still active?  Is Xathagorra Mlandroth still making music?  I have no idea.  I hope so, because this album is incredible.  As I mentioned, I do not really have all that much funeral doom, but I really enjoy the stuff I have.  And this guy makes some damn good funeral doom.  This album perfectly captures the dread and cosmic horror of Lovecraft's stories.  I would like to hear more.

Initial Impressions: Dawn of Demise: Rejoice in Vengeance

I saw this wonderfully disturbing piece of artwork staring at me from the CD racks in Hastings Bookstore and decided it was just disgusting enough to give a shot.  Especially since it was cheap.  I had no idea who Dawn of Demise were, the name vaguely rang a bell, but I had no definite idea.  But with the artwork, I knew it had to be some manner of brutal death.  Let's face it, not too many power metal bands feature artwork so deranged.

In cases like this, you really can judge a book by its cover, or music by its album art as it were.  This is brutal death metal, clearly influenced by Suffocation, Pyrexia, and some slamming brutal death metal bands as well. All of the typical brutal death metal cliches are present here.  Chugging and slamming riffs, pounding drums, and guttural vocals reign supreme in the music of Dawn of Demise.  Vocalist Scott Jensen actually has two vocal styles, a harsh bark that he uses most of the time, and the deep guttural gurgle that is common amongst slam death bands.

Dawn of Demise put together some suitably brutal tracks on this release, but it sadly lacks a sense of real identity.  There are a lot of things borrowed from other bands present here, but nothing really sticks out.  Every time I hear this album, I feel like I am hearing it for the first time, because nothing really captures the attention and sticks in the memory.  This is fine if you want to listen to something brutal, but it likely will not last much more than that.

Initial Impressions: Pathology: The Time of Great Purification

I will give Pathology this: they are surprisingly prolific.  I have been at this blog thing for since early 2009 and I have already reviewed three new Pathology albums in that time period.  One each year since 2010, and I missed their 2009 release.  All told, Pathology has already released six full-length albums since 2006.  That's one a year you math scholars.

Detractors will probably say something to the effect of it being easy to be prolific when you basically re-write the same album over and over again.  And there probably is something to that argument.  Pathology's music is not the most complex music in the world.  It is all heavy slamming riffs, guttural vocals, and pounding drums with a major emphasis on brutality.  But Pathology does all of this with a fairly strong ability for songwriting.  What results is some of the catchiest slamming brutal death metal imaginable.  And that is just plain weird.

Pathology's albums all basically follow the same formula.  They are there to brutally pound on the listener's ears for 30 minutes or so and then the album is over.  None of the songs are terribly long.  Dynamics are not incredibly important.  It is simply pounding riffs upon pounding riffs, bludgeoning brutality.  But they are the most accessible of slamming brutal death metal bands.

It continues to floor me that Pathology is on Victory Records, a label mostly known for hardcore acts.  This is a very brutal band for that label.  But I have basically given up on attempting to understand it.

Pathology has released yet another album of slamming insanity.  And I eat this stuff up.  As long as they do not change, I probably will not fail to pick up their records.

FMA Reviews: Bädr Vogu; Exitium

Originally reviewed here.

I will be completely honest up front and say that my experiences with crust are extremely limited. As in virtually non-existent, particularly in its pure form. I have heard a few bands that combined crust with forms of metal such as Gallhammer, but that is about it. Bädr Vogu is a band that combines crust with doom metal, so I am not in completely foreign territory on this release.

The songs seem to alternate a little bit so that I can not really tell if this is a doom metal band with crust punk influences or a crust punk band with doom metal influences. Not that it really matters that much. On some songs, the band is slow with grinding riffs and a definite punk energy shining through, but on others, the music is actually faster but with some heavy, down-tuned riffs. There are a lot of movie samples present as well. The vocals are done in a deep, death/doom style with some occasionally more primal roars.

This was kind of an unusual album for me, but there was a lot to like. It is a very raw sound but I found myself enjoying it more and more with repeated listens.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 52: Pantera: Far Beyond Driven

Apart from Cowboys from Hell, I never really got Pantera.  To be fair I have not checked out their material prior to that album, their more glam phase was just not something I chose to check out.  That being said, I still bought most of the band's albums because I was a young metalhead and I felt it was my duty to check them out as Pantera pretty much was the be-all and end-all of metal in the mid 1990's.  I was in middle school and did not really have much exposure to the metal underground.

Far Beyond Driven was released in 1994.  By this point, Pantera had perfected their groove metal sound.  Of course Vulgar Display of Power was the release that got the band headed in that direction.  But this is the one that a lot of mainstream people think of when they think of Pantera, mostly due to the minor hit "I'm Broken".

There are some decent songs on this release, and by and large I do like it better than Vulgar Display of Power.  For some reason that album never really did anything for more.  I think the reason I like this one better is due to the fact that the songs on this one are not as stripped-down and simple as they are on the prior album.  Dimebag's riffs are generally more impressive on this release as well.

However there is one truly terrible song on here.  "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" is an absolutely horrible song.  There is no redeeming quality at all on that song.

I do tend to listen to this album occasionally, more than Vulgar certainly.  But this is not the Pantera I choose to remember.  Their tough-guy, macho image on this release is annoying.  I much prefer Cowboys.

Initial Impressions: Accept: Blood of the Nations

Okay I admit it.  I have never really gotten into Accept before.  I never really tried.  I recognize that they have been around for a very long time, dating back to the NWOBHM in fact.  But I never really checked them out.  I have heard "Balls to the Wall"  many, many times and in fact love that song.  But for some reason I just never really got around to picking up an album by them.  Then this album was voted Album of the Year on the Metal Maniacs website in 2010.  So I decided at some point I would start with this one.

Accept does not get the recognition they deserve.  A lot of that is probably geographical.  Accept came out of Germany with their first album in 1979.  This was at the height of the NWOBHM and Accept was left out in the cold even though they had a minor hit with the aforementioned "Balls to the Wall" and some well-received albums.  However, the band continued until a hiatus from 1996 to 2010, putting out some decent music in fact if the reviews on the Metal Archives are to be believed.  That is a longer shelf life than most of the NWOBHM bands enjoyed.

Musically, Accept sounds like a heavier version of Judas Priest.  They have traditional-sounding metal riffs, strong melodic sensibility, a liberal usage of guitar solos, and a strong and gritty vocal performance.  While diminutive frontman Udo Dirkschneider is no longer with the group, the new vocalist does a passable job at sounding like him.  This does still sound like the band that recorded "Balls to the Wall".  The band does not sound like they were coming off a 15 year hiatus.  This album sounds great.  Every song on here is terrific.

I will be looking into Accept's prior discography after hearing this.

The People v. Dissection: Reinkaos

If it pleases the Court, your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here today to discuss the merits of Dissection's swansong.  Reinkaos is often mentioned among in the same breath as St. Anger, Risk, and The Unspoken King, among many other huge flops by heretofore famous bands.  The problem is one of reputation and prior albums.  Dissection's early work is held up as classics by a large number of metalheads.  Their brand of freezing cold, melodic black metal had never really been heard before.  And Dissection did it well.  Their first two albums have stood the test of time and truly are classics.

So what happened with Reinkaos?  To begin with, there was an eleven year gap between Storm of the Light's Bane and Reinkaos.  In that time, Dissection ceased to be a truly original band.  Many other groups took what Dissection was doing and crafted their own sound.  Lord Belial, Naglfar, and many other melodic black metal bands arose during the time Dissection was on hiatus.

Secondly, the sound on this release was significantly different.  Instead of the cold and dark atmospheric black metal Dissection previously crafted, this was a melodic death metal album.  Most of the black metal elements, apart from the vocal style had been stripped away.  Furthermore, the sound was more streamlined on this release.  The songs were much more straightforward and had a more typical structure and progression.  The songs were catchy, insanely so.  And that just is not well-received by a band that had previously been beloved as a melodic black metal pioneer.

Reinkaos is a good album though.  And that is why we are here ladies and gentlemen.  To discuss the merits of this much-maligned album.  For one, as mentioned before, it is incredibly catchy.  I know I find myself singing "Starless Aeon", "Dark Mother Divine", and "Maha Kali" over and over again every time I hear this album.  They are, in a word, infectious.  And the entire album is like that.

Furthermore, you simply cannot judge this album against the band's prior albums.  As stated, there was a long gap between albums.  Many bands change their sound drastically over a long period of time, it just so happened that Dissection's change seemed like night and day because there was a dearth of releases between them instead of a gradual progression like other groups.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I urge you to reconsider Dissection's final album.  It is not the terrible release that many make it out to be.  If it was created by any other band, it would be considered a classic.  Thank you.    

FMA Reviews: Bestial Summoning: The Dark War has Begun

Originally reviewed here.

Apparently this is a reissue of a 20 year old album from the Netherlands-based Bestial Summoning. This was originally released when black metal was just starting to make waves in Norway. It actually pre-dates many of the big-name black metal releases of the Second Wave. It is a very overlooked gem that I have actually not heard of myself.

This is tremolo riff-based black metal with some incredibly intense drumming driving things. The riffs are down-tuned giving off an evil-sounding tone. Most of the songs are broken up briefly with the occasional slower moment. This keeps things from becoming too one-dimensional. The drums are blast-beat driven and are absolutely crushing. The vocals are delivered in an Attila Csihar-esque groaning screech. They do not have the same distinct personality, but do have the other-worldly quality.

The songs do tend to sound kind of the same after awhile, but that is certainly not anything completely unusual in early black metal. The songs are mostly shorter so there is not a lot of time to experiment with different ideas. Most of the tracks have one basic riff and a slight change of pace interlude at some point. This is not at all technical music. It's just early black metal, plain and simple.

I was a little surprised this was such an old release originally. It is certainly an overlooked early black metal gem.

Initial Impressions: Down IV: Part 1 - The Purple EP

Down is my favorite side project band.  And it is not even particularly close.  I have been listening to the band since I first heard about them around the time that NOLA was released.  As most are aware, Down was originally formed from members of Pantera, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Eyehategod.  There has been a little bit of turnover at the bass guitar, but the basic idea is still there.

Of course with a side project it is sometimes difficult to find time to record which explains why the band has only released three full length albums since their formation in the early 1990's.  This is just an EP, but the band has announced that they will attempt to release four such EPs in quick succession.  All with new songs. It is a lot easier for the members to get together and put out shorter releases.

As much as I love the band though, none of their subsequent releases have really held a candle to NOLA.  There was just something about the energy on that album.  And every single track was a classic.  It ranks as one of my favorite albums of all time.  The other releases have just not come close to that one.  It is still the one I spin the most frequently when I am in the mood for some Southern fried metal.

This is probably one of the strongest releases, if not the strongest, that Down has put out since their great debut album.  Because there are only six tracks, there is no filler here.  Each song is well-crafted and sounds incredible.  Of particular note are the lead single "Witchtripper" and "Misfortune Teller".  Phil Anselmo's tortured croon is used to full effect on this album.  The riffs are as heavy as anything you would expect when you have Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein on guitars.  The band does a terrific job of taking their influences from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Southern rock and mixing it into one package.  This has always been the band's trademark and it sounds just as good here as it did on the first album.

This is an incredible EP, one of the best releases Down has ever put out.  It is just six killer tracks with absolutely no filler.

Initial Impressions: Trivium: In Waves

Everyone has bands that they are ashamed to admit that they love.  No one's tastes are impeccable.  This being my blog, I do not really care what other people think of the bands that I enjoy.  I will not be afraid to admit that there are some groups that I love that other people hate and there are some groups that I hate that a lot of people seem to love.  I have previously mentioned my love of Cradle of Filth as one example.  I also despise Neurosis, Isis, and a lot of the so-called "atmospheric sludge" groups.  I also happen to really like Trivium.

I considered not checking this one out.  In fact it took a long time before I eventually did.  At one point I was ignoring it because I did not care much for Shogun.  I figured that was it for this band and me.  But over the last few weeks I had been reading some surprisingly good reviews for it.  So I decided eventually to go for it.

Whatever went wrong on the last album has been fixed and Trivium is actually sounding like a much more mature band on this release.  They have always been gifted at writing infectious hooks and melodies and that is certainly evident here on tracks like the title track and "Built to Fall".  The band had long ago filtered out much of their metalcore influence, though they do still utilize hardcore vocals somewhat frequently.  But the chugging riffs and frequent breakdowns have gone by the wayside.  What remains is a fairly streamlined, melodic, and very catchy album.

The guitar work is the star here.  Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu are both talented guitarists with an ability to write decent riffs and solos.  They also complement each other well.  The hardcore vocals do grow a little stale at times.  I do prefer the cleaner vocals from this band.  But there is enough of a variety to keep things entertaining at least.

This is probably still not likely to be popular with the true metalheads.  This is Trivium after all, and their undeniable Trivium-ness is on full display here.  But the band has crafted their own sound and grown into it.  There is something to be said for that.

FMA Reviews: Blutvial: Curses Thorns Blood

Originally reviewed here.

While black metal is definitely the genre that has seen the most evolution in recent years, my taste in it has not evolved quite as much. I am still much more of a fan of the raw and sinister black metal perfected in Norway and Sweden during the early 1990's. I still like my black metal owing a lot to thrash and death metal, the style present in the albums of Immortal, Darkthrone, and Mayhem, among others. So when a black metal band comes around that sounds like the more traditional style, I become very interested.

Blutvial is one such band. Hailing from the U.K., Blutvial's sound is unashamedly rooted in the Norwegian style with some nods to Blasphemy and other progenitors of the bestial war metal style. This is harsh and caustic black metal with thrash metal-style riffing and shrieking vocals. This is the kind of black metal I personally love. It is the kind that first captured my attention when I heard Dissection and Emperor for the first time.

From the first moments of this album, it is clear that Blutvial are not here to build an atmosphere. They immediately pummel the listener upon starting the album and they never really relent. The riffs sound a little fuzzy, which is the way that black metal should be produced, but the production is not so bad as to make it hard to hear. The first half of the album is a wall of riffs and darkness, somewhat rare these days in black metal.

The second half of the album sees the length of songs increasing and atmosphere becoming more prevalent. But that is not to say that the band descends into purely atmospheric black metal. The riffs are still harsh and the music is still energetic and violent. Just not quite as much as in the first half.

I am extremely impressed with this release. It is what I personally look for in black metal.

Initial Impressions: Electric Wizard: Black Masses

This one took me awhile to finally track down.  I have gotten away from ordering albums online unless I really want them.  This did not interest me enough to go that route although I did love Witchcult Today.  But as much as I did enjoy that album I have to be in the right mood for it.

Electric Wizard sounds like the soundtrack to some old 1970's low-budget occult horror movie.  I think that is part of the idea in fact.  I remember an interview with Jus Osborn in Metal Maniacs a few years back (obviously) in which there was a special segment of movies that he recommended.  They were mostly obscure films with the exception of Suspiria.  I checked a few of them out, all the ones I could find on Netflix.  These are the types of movies that I can imagine an Electric Wizard soundtrack to.

The major complaint I have had about Electric Wizard in the past and the reason I have to be in the right mindset to listen to them is their repetitiveness.  The band will frequently drone on and on with one idea with little variation.  Othertimes they will start in on a psychedelic section that will go on for a very long time.  For the most part on this album, the band tends to avoid that.  Most of these tracks are complete and straightforward songs without a lot of meandering parts.  The second half of the album drags a little bit at times and seems to lose steam.  The more interesting songs come in the first half.

This is still very slow music, but that is to be expected.  Electric Wizard has always relied on crushing grooves and extremely heavy riffs.  Those are definitely present here.  They have always been at their most interesting when those riffs move at a little bit of a faster pace and there are some songs on here that do that.  I did have a little bit of an issue with the nasally vocal delivery on "Venus in Furs" at first but it gradually grew on me.

As a full album I think I enjoy this one more than Witchcult Today.  It is a bit more accessible due to the lack of overly-long, drawn-out psychedelia.  However, it does not have a track that stands out far in my mind.  Witchcult had "Dunwich" which is such a terrific song.  This one came close with the title track, but it is just not quite there.  Overall though this is a better album than their previous one.  That has been the extent of my Electric Wizard experience thus far.

Initial Impressions: Coffinworm: Great Bringer of Night

Just like Hooded Menace, which I reviewed a few days ago, Coffinworm released an album a couple of years back that I heard a lot of hype about and wanted to check out.  Also like Hooded Menace, I never really got a chance to do that.  This is not to suggest Coffinworm is anything like Hooded Menace sonically, just that my experiences were similar.

Coffinworm is kind of a unique beast.  Their genre is very difficult to pin down as they show off elements of black metal, doom metal, and sludge metal.  What results is filthy, raw, and eclectic.  One moment they will be coasting along on an uptempo heavy riff, the next they will be pounding away a slow, monolithic section.  The slower parts do outnumber the faster moments, and the faster parts typically do not last long.  The vocals never rise above a harsh, almost shouted rasp, the sort of thing you would expect if Kirk Windstein were to try to sing for Watain.

This is kind of an interesting release.  It has the same name as the band's 2009 demo and also features what I assume are re-recorded versions of all three tracks from the demo as well as two new tracks.  The best thing I can figure out is that this is not meant to be a sophomore full-length.  It is a re-recording of their demo with a couple of additional tracks.  Add in the fact that this was not released by Profound Lore but by a small label called The Flenser, and it is only on vinyl, and that seems to be the most likely situation.

If there is one complaint that I have about this it is that the faster moments seem to sound better but they are not very frequent and typically do not last long.  I like the slower stuff fine, but the faster material really captures my attention.

This is definitely a nasty piece of metallic filth.  I quite like it.  Maybe I will still get around to checking out their last full-length album some day.

Initial Impressions: Aborted: Global Flatline

Belgian bashers Aborted are all about brutality.  There is absolutely nothing pretty or melodic about them.  At all.  Also as you can see from the band's name, they are not the most subtle lyricists in the world.  Everything about the band is chaotic and loud as hell.  But there is always something to be said for that kind of music.  And once in awhile I want to listen to something that is likely to cause brain hemorrhaging.  Good thing too.

Aborted is coming off releasing a couple of albums that were not real well-received.  Their last album was reviewed very poorly by most.  That is due to the band's experimentation with the dreaded deathcore.  But this album sees Aborted returning to the crushing brutal death metal that they had perfected for years before attempting to branch out a little bit.  Let that be a lesson.  Never experiment.  Ever.

I am kidding about those last two sentences of course, but I am not kidding about how much I enjoy this album.  This is bone-crushing death metal the way it should be.  It's brutal and uncompromising, grinding death.  This is how a band that calls themselves Aborted should sound.  The dual vocal sound of Sven De Caluwe even sounds refreshed and as psychotically menacing as ever.

Aborted has undergone an almost complete overhaul of members, apart from the ever-present De Caluwe of course, since their last album.  Perhaps De Caluwe felt this was the only way to purge the disappointment of the last two albums.  It is not unusual for the band to be constantly changing however.  It is De Caluwe's project and his alone. 

I love this album.  I love a flesh-peeling death metal album and this one definitely qualifies.

Initial Impressions: Marduk: Serpent Sermon

Marduk has always been one of the more impressive black metal bands from Sweden.  Most of the reasoning for this is due to their emphasis on songwriting rather than just blasting away like some of their countrymen.  Nowhere is that more evident than on this album.

The above is not to suggest that Marduk is in any way less brutal than some of the other black metal bands to come out of Sweden, they certainly do have their chaotic moments of blasting frenzy.  But they are hardly ever brutal for brutality's sake.  But while there are certainly brutal moments, this whole album has a heavy and dark atmosphere surrounding it.  It is evil-sounding black metal the way that it was when it first crawled out of the depths of Scandinavia in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

The band still utilizes some of the staples that they always have.  There are still plenty of tremolo riffs and blastbeats present.  The vocals are still a sharp, raspy growl.  And the overall sound is still evil as hell.  What has changed a bit more is that the atmosphere is probably more prominent than it has ever been and the melodic guitar lines have gotten more impressive.

This is an absolutely compelling album from Marduk, possibly their best in years.  

Initial Impressions: Napalm Death: Utilitarian

I have been on a big Napalm Death kick lately.  So when I saw their newest release marked down recently, I had to get it.  Napalm Death has been consistently great for three decades now so I did not have any reservations about picking this one up.  It certainly helped that I loved their last release and of course, Napalm Death know who they are and are not likely to change drastically any time soon.

So what do we have here?  Unsurprisingly it's a Napalm Death album.  Seventeen tracks of grinding brutality.  Napalm Death pull no punches and just blast away for seventeen songs.  We do not expect anything more or less from them.

Of course it would not be a Napalm Death album without some form of experimentation or other.  While the core sound remains unequivocally Napalm Death, they do throw in some unusual moments.  We have a bit of a doomy opening, some almost chanted vocals, and an atonal saxophone thrown in at various points.  None of those moments overwhelm the rest of the music, they get put in almost as an aside.

Beyond the odd moments, this is a typical release from the band.  Barney Greenway still does his full-throated roar, and Shane Embury, Danny Herrera and Mitch Harris still blast away on their instruments.  The  band has lost none of its ferocity over the years and remains as uncompromisingly brutal as ever.  

Ridiculousness

Pitchfork has posted a review of Enslaved's newest album which I have yet to hear thanks to the damn music store here not getting it in today.  In this review they complain about people calling this album a classic.  That's right, Pitchfork is calling people out for calling an album a classic before hearing it.  Pitchfork.  Because they never have preconceived notions about music.  Oh the irony.

Initial Impressions: Gorod: A Perfect Absolution

I will give my standard response to technical death metal first.  I like technical death metal when it sounds organic.  When it sounds like it is not overly sterile and machine-like.  When there is a human element.  I do not like polished technical death that sounds like Pro Tools is as much to credit for the composition as the individual musicians.

Gorod has been around for a little while.  They were previously called Gorgasm but changed their name to avoid confusion with another band with the same name.  Gorod is a French technical death metal band.  France is not real well-known for technical death but a lot of the bands I have heard from the country seem to have their own unique style.  I was anxious to see if Gorod would be the same way.

This is very technical stuff here.  There are a lot of noodling guitar lines and fluctuating song structures.  But at the same time, there is a more organic feel than you will find in groups like Brain Drill.  Gorod do a pretty good job of avoiding the technicality for the sake of technicality that a lot of other groups fall into.  Yes there is a lot of technicality but it is framed around an actual song, not just a series of technical riffs piled on top of each other without any clear direction.

The last half of this album is where things get really interesting.  This is where a lot of the technical riffing and noodling takes on an almost jazzy improvisational style.  In particular the funk-laden opening of "Varangian Paradise".  Another improvement Gorod makes on typical technical death metal is the variation in vocal styles.  Yes there are some harsh, death metal growls and roars but there is a lot of other styles as well, including some clean singing.

Gorod brings a bit more to the table than a lot of technical death metal bands.  That is why I enjoy this album quite a bit.  They enter the realm of Decrepit Birth, Obscura, Psycroptic, and the like as technical death metal bands with some actual personality.