Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 43

ARTIST:  Ozzy Osbourne
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Ozzmosis
LABEL:  Epic Sony
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "I Just Want You"
NOTES:  The last of the four CDs I got in Christmas 1995.  This was the year that I got my first CD player.  There are some decent tracks on this one, but there are a lot of ballads, making this a somewhat trying album to listen to.  The first half is decent, but the second half really drags.  

Kamelot: Silverthorn

It is always tough to tell what a band is going to do after a particularly noteworthy member leaves the band.  A band risks alienating their fanbase if they do not find an adequate replacement.  Such was the situation that Kamelot found themselves in after longtime vocalist Roy Khan left the group.  Khan was not the band's original singer, but he had quickly become one of the most distinctive features in the band.  I probably would not have cared much for the band without Khan's crooning vocals.

As it is, Kamelot did not have a whole lot to worry about.  New singer Tommy Karevik sounds a lot like Roy Khan.  In fact, if I did not know that Kamelot had a new singer, I probably never would have guessed this was not Khan.  Maybe that means I do not pay that much attention, or maybe it is because Karevik is doing a damn good job trying to sound like Khan.

Musically, the last couple of Kamelot albums have been a little bit lackluster.  Kamelot has never really been the most aggressive American power metal band.  In fact their sound is far closer to the Scandinavian power metal bands like Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, and the other so-called "flower" metal bands.  The music is dark and romantic, instead of powerful and aggressive.  This trend has gone a little far in Kamelot's recent output to the point that it barely seems metallic at all.  But that is where this one differs a little bit.  Granted it is not a complete change in the opposite direction.  This band is never going to sound like Grave Digger or Hibria, but the more aggressive riffing style is back and a sound similar to their earlier works is present.

The songs are once again quite catchy.  That is something that Kamelot has always brought to the table.  And yes the dark, romantic vibe is still present.  Kamelot is one of the few bands that my wife approves of and even really likes.  She usually requests me to bring Kamelot on any roadtrips.  That will not change with this new album.  If you have enjoyed Kamelot in the past, you will likely enjoy this too.  Some bands do not change that drastically.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 42

ARTIST:  Ozzy Osbourne
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Diary of a Madman
LABEL:  Jet Records
YEAR:  1981
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "S.A.T.O."
NOTES:  To this day, this is my favorite Ozzy Osbourne album.  The problem that I have with a lot of Ozzy's albums is the filler tracks, and this is one of the few with no real filler tracks.  There are also some really great tracks on this with the title track, "S.A.T.O." and "Over the Mountain" being the most noteworthy songs.  Ozzy sounds great on it as well, as does Randy Rhoads.

Cataoguing My Metal Collection Pt. 41

ARTIST:  Megadeth
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA (United States)
TITLE:  So Far, So Good...So What!
LABEL:  Capitol Records
YEAR:  1988
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "In My Darkest Hour"
NOTES:  I got this one for Christmas along with the next two.  For some reason this has never really been one of my favorite Megadeth albums.  It definitely has some good songs on it, but some bad ones too.  I have never liked the "Anarchy in the U.K." cover, perhaps because I do not care at all for the Sex Pistols.  Other than "In My Darkest Hour", this album just feels rushed without as many of the classic tracks that Megadeth has become known for.  That being said, it is a decent fun thrash metal album to listen to.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 40

ARTIST:  Alice in Chains
ORIGIN:  Seattle, WA (United States)
TITLE:  Alice in Chains
LABEL:  Columbia Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Head Creeps"
NOTES:  This was my first CD.  I got it for Christmas Eve my freshman year of high school.  Of course it kind of spoiled one of my upcoming presents because I did not have a CD player yet when I opened this.  A lot of metalheads are kind of revisionist about their views on the grunge scene and claim that they were only ever into Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.  Those really were the only bands I cared for much from that scene.  They are certainly the only ones out of the big four of grunge that I ever obtained albums by.  Although I did have some other groups like Bush and Candlebox for some odd reason I never got Nirvana or Pearl Jam.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 39

ARTIST:  Spinal Tap
ORIGIN:  East London, England
TITLE:  Spinal Tap
LABEL:  Polydor Records
YEAR:  1984
GENRE:  Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
FAVORITE SONG:  "Stonehenge"
NOTES:  This is the soundtrack to This is Spinal Tap, one of the greatest movies of all time.  This is another one that was in the box of cassettes that my parents found by a lake one day, so I did not spend any money on this.  There are some okay songs on here, but a lot that are not terribly good as well.  These are the fake songs that the "band" played throughout the movie.  Notice the cover is none more black.

FMA Reviews: Nunslaughter/Abigail: Fucking Satan

Originally reviewed here.

Japan's Abigail and Ohio's Nunslaughter share some things in common, not the least of which is their prolific output of recordings. It was only a matter of time before these two bands, who each manage to put out a dozen new releases every year, paired up. Well here we have it, with the none-too-subtle title Fucking Satan. I am sure we are in for a hell of a ride with this one (pun not intended, but definitely appropriate).

Nunslaughter kicks things off and we are immediately treated to their style of punk-inflected death metal insanity. The first track is actually one of the longer ones Nunslaughter has done, a much more complete song than the usual one quick riff with some Satanic lyrics and done. It actually goes on for a couple of minutes and is one of the better Nunslaughter songs I have heard. The second track is much more typical Nunslaughter and lasts about 30 seconds.

I was not familiar with Abigail before this split but I can see why they would work well on a split with Nunslaughter. The blackened thrash metal maniacs have quite a bit of punk influence as well, as can be discerned from their second track. Their music bears a resemblance to fellow blackened countrymen Sabbat. It is closer to first wave black metal where thrash riffs could still be identified in the music. The vocals are mostly blackened shrieking.

I like splits because of the chance to hear a couple of bands vying for attention. I definitely came away more impressed with the Nunslaughter side here, but Abigail caught my attention.

This is a very short, but filthy and raw split with both bands doing their best to make eardrums bleed. They both succeed.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 38

ARTIST:  Corrosion of Conformity
ORIGIN:  Raleigh, NC (United States)
TITLE:  Blind
LABEL:  Relativity Records
YEAR:  1991
GENRE:  Thrash/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Dance of the Dead"
NOTES:  This is kind of an unusual album for Corrosion of Conformity.  It was a bridge between the band's more hardcore leanings of their early years and their sludge/southern metal sound.  This is much more of a thrash/heavy metal album and featured Karl Agell on vocals, with Pepper Keenan singing one song.  It was the first album for both Keenan and Agell.  This is an energetic and highly underrated album.

Reader Submissions: After Oblivion: Stamina

One of my favorite albums by Death is The Sound of Perseverance.  This is important and relevant to any discussion on After Oblivion's newest release Stamina.  Because if I were to play this to someone without telling them who it is, they would probably guess Death on their long-awaited follow-up to that album.  I am very sorry for the bad joke there.  But seriously this album sounds almost exactly like the Death swansong.  It is certainly not unusual for a band to try to copy a sound, bands do it all the time.  It is just weird how closely this band came.  The only thing really missing is the overwhelming feeling of loss that Death had on that final album.

After Oblivion is from Bosnia and Herzegovina, not exactly a heavy metal hotbed.  I think they may be the first band I have heard from there.  This is the band's debut album after a couple of smaller releases.  It is a very good debut if you can get around the whole sounds-exactly-like-Death thing.  They definitely play up their influences on this release.

If you had not already guessed, After Oblivion play a kind of progressive death metal with some thrash metal riffs thrown in from time to time.  The music is fast and melodic with riffs and leads that seem ripped directly from Death.  Even the vocals sound very much like Chuck Schuldiner on the last few Death albums.  There are frequent tempo changes, again a throwback to Death.  After Oblivion never let one riff last too long before they are off to the next one or completely shift tempos.  The result is an ever-changing album that is very easy to get lost within.  The one word that comes to mind over and over to me to describe this is incendiary.

The songs tend to fly by in the blink of an eye.  And with the fact that the band is never really content to sit still on one riff or melody for very long, it seems like it goes by even faster.  The songs also feature unusual structures, not your typical verse-chorus-verse structure.  This leads to a little bit of a problem when it comes to the memorability of the album and individual songs.

After Oblivion have some things to work on.  It would be nice to see them grow out of sounding so much like Death, and writing some more memorable material would also be helpful.  But this band has a ton of talent and it must be remembered that this is only their debut full-length.  That is shockingly impressive.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 37

ARTIST:  Pantera
ORIGIN:  Arlington, TX (United States)
TITLE:  Far Beyond Driven
LABEL:  Eastwest Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Shedding Skin"
NOTES:  This is quite possibly the album most people think of when they think of Pantera.  Well it's probably between this one and the one preceding it.  This is mostly due to "I'm Broken", one of the band's most well-known songs.  For the most part though, this is not one of the band's better albums.  It does contain a lot of filler tracks, including the dreadful "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills".  Nevertheless there are some decent songs on here.

Reader Submissions: Amputation Spree: Koyaanisqatsi

In the Hopi language, "Koyaanisqatsi" means "unbalanced life".  I cannot think of a better description for this twenty minute long track, the latest from "thinking man's slam" band Amputation Spree.  Just as any good twenty minute song should, this track covers a broad spectrum of sounds and tempos.  It is unsettling and noisy, and yet oddly charming.

This is the third time I have reviewed something by Amputation Spree and the band always seems to surprise me.  The last time around, I commented that "Amputation Spree continues to push the boundaries of slam death metal, forcing the genre to evolve somewhat away from the simplistic style it has largely become known for."  This is once again true with this track.  There are not a lot of slam moments, as Amputation Spree relies mostly on progressiveness and unusual structures, but slam moments do still shine through once in awhile.  It is becoming increasingly tougher to categorize the band though, especially as this song really moves away from the mostly predictable slam death metal genre.

For the most part though, this is a haunting and harrowing track, alternating between extremely heavy moments and more psychedelic and trancelike moments.  There are even some clean vocals thrown in from time to time to keep things very interesting.  The song reminds me of Edge of Sanity's masterpiece Crimson in that it is a lengthy single track that manages to retain interest throughout due to a constantly shifting narrative.  The end of the song bears very little resemblance to the beginning as the song ebbs and flows constantly through several movements.

Amputation Spree continues to impress me.  Their sound is constantly shifting and constantly evolving.  Maybe one day they should be signed to Relapse Records, despite what their Bandcamp page says.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 36

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Skullcrushers
LABEL:  Relativity Records
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Various
FAVORITE SONG:  Suicidal Tendencies: "You Can't Bring Me Down"
NOTES:   This is without a doubt my favorite compilation album in my collection.  As you can tell I was picking up a lot of these things in my early years as a metalhead.  Much of the reason for that was to discover new music.  This one definitely helped.  I eventually picked up albums by every band on here with only the exception of Nuclear Assault.  And it is not as if I have been avoiding that band.  This one featured great songs by Exodus, Celtic Frost, Voivod, Death, and Obituary among others.  A terrific compilation.

Wormphlegm: Tomb of the Ancient King

Readers might have guessed that I have been on a bit of a funeral doom kick lately.  Wormphlegm is yet another example of this.  I checked them out particularly after noting that members in Tyranny were also involved in Wormphlegm.  Wormphlegm's sound though is quite a bit different than the music of Tyranny and the other funeral doom metal bands I have been checking out lately.

The music of Wormphlegm is terrifying, even moreso than the typical music from the genre.  There is a certain cold atmosphere to Wormphlegm, similar to black metal, that is missing in other funeral doom metal bands.  The songs are all extremely long, but they are suffocating and spine-chilling.  The music is slow but crushingly heavy and tortuous.  The production is similar to black metal, being somewhat thinner than many other bands from the genre.  That adds to the colder atmosphere however and adds to the darker feel to the album.

All of the typical hallmarks of a funeral doom metal album are present on this release.  The music crawls along at a snail's pace.  The riffs are alternately extremely heavy or droning.  The vocals are deep and guttural roars.

Wormphlegm have definitely succeeded in crafting one of the most dark and disturbing albums I have personally ever heard.  The band takes the oppressiveness of funeral doom and the cold atmosphere of black metal and combined them into one disgusting mass.  The result is not something that should be listened to in solitary darkness.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 35

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Tribute to Black Sabbath: Eternal Masters
LABEL:  Priority Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Various
FAVORITE SONG:  Exhorder: "Into the Void"
NOTES:  Yes another Black Sabbath tribute album.  I own three actually.  This one features some, shall we say unusual performances.  We have death metal versions of "Zero the Hero" (Cannibal Corpse) and "Sweet Leaf" (Cadaver).  We have an industrial rock version of "Paranoid" by The Clay People.  Some strange choices definitely.  I don't listen to this a lot, but it did help me discover Sacred Reich, Exhorder, and Cadaver.

FMA Reviews: Paragon: Force of Destruction

Originally reviewed here.

If I had to think of one genre that Germany is particularly well-known for in the metal world, I would probably have to pick power metal. Not to suggest that other genres are not done well, obviously I am a huge fan of German thrash, but the country really produces a lot of good power metal bands. And not the overly flowery types like Sonata Arctica, real power metal. With groups like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Grave Digger, and Running Wild among others, Germany is definitely a hotbed for power metal.

Paragon is a German power metal band that has apparently been around for more than 20 years but has heretofore escaped my notice. I do not seem to be alone in this respect as a cursory glance at their discography on the Encyclopedia Metallum indicates only one or two reviews for most of their full-length albums. This is the band's first release on a more recognizable label.

This is definitely high-quality power metal without any of the elements that have caused the genre to come under scorn. There are no symphonic elements. There are no hapless ballads. There are no overly-wrought vocals. This is just straightforward power metal. It is fast and exciting. Paragon live up to the reputation of some of their more famous power metal countrymen here.

Paragon sound a lot like Grave Digger. The music is fast and intense and infectious as all hell. The guitar riffs are clearly influenced by giants of the genre like Judas Priest and Accept. The vocals are even harsh and gritty, sounding much more like Grave Digger's own Chris Boltendahl. This is no-frills, take-no-prisoners power metal. If that sounds good, then this should definitely be checked out.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 34

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Live at Last
LABEL:  NEMS Enterprises
YEAR:  1980
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Children of the Grave"
NOTES:  The first live album I ever bought was by the great Black Sabbath.  This was a very cheap buy as I recall.  A couple of bucks maybe.  It did a pretty decent job of capturing most of the great Black Sabbath songs from the first five albums, even though "Iron Man" is conspicuously absent.  "Wicked World" turned into an extended jam session, complete with drum solo, pretty boring.  They make up for it with an absolutely ripping version of "Paranoid" though.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 33

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Stomp 442
LABEL:  Elektra Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Random Acts of Senseless Violence"
NOTES:  Anthrax's second album with John Bush singing is one of the band's most reviled albums.  I never quite got why.  It definitely does not hold a candle to their early material with Joey Belladonna, and it is not as good as their first album with Bush, but I do not think it is a terrible release.  There are some pretty good tracks here, such as the song listed above, "Tester", and a few others.  That being said, I do not listen to this as often as some of the band's albums.

My Top 5 Favorite Bands Right Now...

I have said it before and I will say it again, my tastes change all the time.  I have long been hesitant to tell people my favorite band, because in a couple of weeks it could be someone completely different.  There are certain albums I always come back to, but bands may change over time, and quite drastically.  I will always love the early Metallica and Black Sabbath albums, but neither of those two bands are considered favorites of mine right now.  So without further ado, my top five favorite bands at this moment.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 32

ARTIST:  White Zombie
ORIGIN: Haverhill, MA (United States)
TITLE:  La Sexorcisto - Devil Music Vol. 1
LABEL:  Geffen Records
YEAR:  1992
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag"
NOTES:  This is the album that put White Zombie on the map.  It was the release of "Thunderkiss '65" that garnered the band a lot of attention and it was well-deserved.  This is a very energetic album that was most notable for its sense of campy, yet sinister, fun.  The most impressive aspect of this release is that it is something that could be danced to, odd in the metal universe.  Not that I ever danced, mind you.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 31

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Monsters of Rock Vol. 2: Metal Masters
LABEL:  Priority Records
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
FAVORITE SONG:  Scorpions: "Rock You Like a Hurricane"
NOTES:  Yet another compilation album, this one features songs from metal bands Scorpions, Accept, and Krokus.  There are also tracks from hard rock groups like Kiss, Vixen, Warrant, and some extremely regrettable hair bands.  This is not one of my favorite albums in my collection.  In fact I rarely listen to it at all.  I do like the Scorpions and Accept songs but that is it.

Your Hard Rock/Metal Grammy Nominees Are...

Anthrax: "I'm Alive"
I actually really like this song and I like the latest Anthrax album a lot.

Halestorm:  "Love Bites (So Do I)"
I have never heard of this band.

Iron Maiden: "Blood Brothers" (Live)
The live version of a poor song originally on an album released twelve years ago.

Lamb of God: "Ghost Walking"
Have not heard it.  Nothing from Lamb of God has been worthwhile in several years.

Marilyn Manson: "No Reflection"
See Lamb of God.  I had no idea Marilyn Manson was still around.

Megadeth: "Whose Life (Is is Anyway?)"
I did not care much for this track, though I do love Megadeth.

Now I am not going to claim I really give much of a damn about the Grammys.  That being said, Anthrax would be my preference to win based on these tracks, but I would guess it will go to Iron Maiden or Megadeth.  Possibly Halestorm if I had any fucking clue who they were.

FMA Reviews: Plector: Punishment Day

Originally reviewed here.

This is apparently it for Plector. According to the promotional information, Plector will be no more after the release of this album. A lack of forward progression apparently led to the decision to end things for this band. So this, their second full-length, will also be their last.

Plector's sound is mostly thrash metal with the occasional death metal influence creeping in at times. The riffs have a lot of bottom end to them and are heavy and muscular. Coupled with the commanding and deep vocals, Plector has a meaty sound with a lot of crunch. This is Swedish thrash metal in the vein of Carnal Forge and early The Crown. It also has a very modern feel to it. This is not retro thrash metal.

The band seem to play music because they genuinely enjoy it. Tracks like "Postal" have something of a playful feel to them. As if this is a band made up of a couple of friends who just want to play to have a good time. There is nothing overly serious here, no real message to glean, just some guys having fun playing metal. There is something to be said for that. It is kind of a rare thing these days. There is not a lot musically that makes the band stand out. They are a fairly typical Swedish thrash metal band. There are some decent tracks and some good riffs, but it is not anything that has not been heard before.

Through the entire album, there is an air of finality. Plector knows that this is the last gasp for them and the final two tracks show that. Obviously the titles "The Ending" and "Devotion" betray some sense that the band is done after the last note has been played. This comes across through the music. "The Ending" is an instrumental track with a somewhat somber tone, even though it is hardly a soft song. "Devotion" is a tale from the band about how this is their life and it is coming to an end. The song ends abruptly and the sense of loss can be felt.

This is it for Plector, but it has been a fun ride.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 30

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
LABEL:  Warner Bros. Records
YEAR:  1973
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "A National Acrobat"
NOTES:  For a long time this was my favorite Black Sabbath album.  It had some heavy tracks, but it also had some of the most ridiculously catchy songs in the band's history.  Notably "Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath", "A National Acrobat", "Sabbra Cadabra" and "Spiral Architect" are incredibly infectious, sing-along songs.  There is some filler here of course, but this is still one of my favorite releases from the band.

Flashback Song: Anthrax: "I am the Law"

This is the song that inspired my subtitle.  Yes the whole song is about Judge Dredd, not really a character I am well familiar with.  I have never read the comics and I have only seen parts of the Sylvester Stallone movie.  I do plan to check out the Karl Urban movie released this year.  But no, I am not greatly familiar with Judge Dredd.  That said, I do love Anthrax, especially the early stuff.  And "I am the Law" is one of my favorite Anthrax tracks, and a great subtitle for a metalhead lawyer.

Reader Submissions: Arkham Witch: Legions of the Deep

One thing that never fails to grab my attention for albums is Lovecraft-inspired artwork.  So of course the cover of the sophomore album from the U.K.'s Arkham Witch jumped out at me right away.  Of course the name Arkham Witch also contains a Lovecraft reference, as do several of the song titles.  So it was with great anticipation that I looked into this album.

Arkham Witch is a very traditional-sounding metal band combining 1980's style metal with doom metal.  Oftentimes, the band sounds like a cross between faster-paced Reverend Bizarre and Iron Butterfly.  Think about the Reverend Bizarre covering "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and that's probably an accurate representation of Arkham Witch's style.

This is a very entertaining and varied album with a lot of highlights.  The album features some slower-paced and epic, plodding doom metal tracks (e.g. "David Lund"), some mid-paced, crunching stoner doom tracks (e.g. "Infernal Machine"), and some angrier, fast-paced tracks that border on thrash metal (e.g. "On a Horse Called Vengeance").  The variation in the individual tracks make this a highly interesting album.  It is never boring and captures and holds attention.  The album sounds like it would have made a terrific soundtrack to 1970's horror b-movies.  And yes that is a compliment.

The instrumentation is well-done, with a heavy, crunchy sound to the riffs.  The production is clear and allows all of the individual instruments to come out cleanly.  Arkham Witch does a terrific job of catching the sound and feel of heavy metal in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

The only complaint that I have is with some of the spoken vocal lines.  Particularly with the mostly forgettable "We're from Keighley".  The opening line in that track is regrettable and mars an otherwise highly impressive album.  But then I just rewind it to the rocking "On a Horse Called Vengeance" and all is forgiven.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 29

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Paranoid
LABEL:  Warner Bros. Records
YEAR:  1970
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Electric Funeral"
NOTES:  This was my first actual full-length album by the original metal band, Black Sabbath.  This is the band's sophomore album and is arguably their biggest album from a popularity point of view.  It features "Paranoid", "Iron Man", and "War Pigs", three of the band's most well-known songs.  This was the album that really put Black Sabbath on the map.

Tyranny: Tides of Awakening

Well since it is unclear whether Catacombs will ever release another album of Lovecraftian-inspired funeral doom metal again, I was concerned about what to do.  Luckily I found Tyranny.  Tyranny specializes in Lovecraft-inspired funeral doom.  Sound familiar?  Tyranny is a little bit different than Catacombs of course. They are from Finland and there are two members in the band, whose roles are a little mysterious.

As I have stated in my review of the Catacombs album, I cannot imagine a more fitting style of music to accompany Lovecraftian imagery.  The album cover is what drew my attention to the band, and the song titles certainly helped.  The song titles read like Lovecraft, though are not direct references as far as I am aware.  "Coalescent of the Inhumane Awareness" and "In the Arcane Clasp of Unwritten Horrors" are two great examples.

Tyranny is made up of members of Wormphlegm (a band I will cover soon) and they play a style of funeral doom very similar to the aforementioned Catacombs, somewhat different than Wormphlegm.  The music is harsh and epic, with an incredibly powerful atmosphere.  It is slow and extremely heavy, obviously, as that is essentially what makes funeral doom.  The album is made up of four highly impressive longer songs and one moody instrumental at the very end.  The album is difficult to listen to as background, it demands attention and takes some time to absorb.  Again, this is typical of the genre.

This is not a vastly different album than other funeral doom releases, but it is always good to have some more Lovecraft-inspired funeral doom.  It creates an oppressive atmosphere and is uncomfortable to listen to, which is the sign of a good funeral doom album.  This is a good funeral doom album.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 28

ARTIST:  Danzig
ORIGIN:  Lodi, NJ (United States)
TITLE:  How the Gods Kill
LABEL:  Def American
YEAR:  1992
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Left Hand Black"
NOTES:  Danzig is another band that I was familiar with due to my older brother.  He had the Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP and the live version of "Mother" was all over MTV for a while.  I picked this one up as my first album by the band mostly on the strength of "Dirty Black Summer".  I had also heard a live version of "Sistinas" on the aforementioned EP.  I love the H.R. Giger artwork, he is one of my favorite artists.

FMA Reviews: Skálmöld: Börn Loka

Originally reviewed here.

Well with the opening track on this one I was once again a little nervous that I was going to strongly dislike another album from Napalm Records. The first track is extremely cheesy and sounds like the kind of overly-wrought opening anthem that Manowar would put out. But just when I was getting prepared for some ridiculous Manowar-covering-Bathory ludicrousness, the opening of the second track started.

"Sleipnir" kicks things into high gear with a galloping riff and leads into the harsh vocal style. Everything is still kind of upbeat and sunny but at least it is not as over-the-top as the opening intro lead me to believe it would be. Of course then it went all happy and flowery again on the next track. Many of the rest of the songs continue with this more happy-sounding style.

I think the problem that I have here is that I was expecting Viking metal. This is much more akin to groups like Finntroll and Korpiklaani than it is to Einherjer, Enslaved, Thyrfing, or any of the other Viking hordes. This is much more a bouncy folk metal album with some thrash metal riffs thrown in than a serious and solemn viking metal album anchored in black metal coldness. There are a lot of keyboard melodies shining through along with some moments of almost choir-like group vocals in addition to the bounciness of the riffs. Not even the harsh vocals are able to convey enough darkness to overshadow the light.

Once I got past the issue with what kind of music this was, this was a very enjoyable release. My expectations may have been for something serious, but after that was over with I was able to let loose a little bit and revel in the music which the band clearly had a blast playing. Now I need a beer.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 27

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Greatest Hits
LABEL:  NEMS Enterprises
YEAR:  1977
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Iron Man"
NOTES:  My first album with the original Black Sabbath lineup was a Greatest Hits package.  This has a lot of the big songs, such as "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "War Pigs", and of course "Black Sabbath".  So it was a decent introduction to the pioneering metal band.  I could have done without "Laguna Sunrise" and "Changes" personally, as I do not care as much for those tracks.  This was just a taste of the band though and I definitely had to get more.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 26

ARTIST:  Type O Negative
ORIGIN:  New York, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Bloody Kisses
LABEL:  Roadrunner Records
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Gothic Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Blood and Fire"
NOTES:  I bought this at the same time as the Black Sabbath album from yesterday and a Monster Magnet album that featured a naked woman on the cover.  On a church trip.  I had wanted to get the album for months but always avoided it because of the album cover and the introductory track of a woman moaning.  Yet I got it finally on a church trip.  It is still my favorite album by the band.

Top 10 New Thrash Metal Songs

Recently Lich King posted a question on Facebook asking users to name their top ten favorite songs from thrash metal bands that have formed since 2001.  Since I love thrash metal, I will list mine.  Youtube clips are after the jump.  Some of these are not pure thrash metal bands, with some black, death, or speed metal influence, but they will all lead to broken necks.

Goddammit Decibel

Today I picked up Decibel's Top 40 of 2012 issue.  I had a feeling I would have complaints.  Boy was I right.  I will not mention who took the top spot.  I will not reprint the list.  If you want to know, check it out.  Suffice to say I don't see eye to eye with Decibel about a lot of things, and their pick for the top spot is probably the biggest one.  I have tried listening to this band over and over again just trying to see the point and I can not.  I even tried to listen to this album earlier today and I still do not get it.  I certainly do not see making this album their top album of the year, their last album was album of the year if I recall and one of their albums was the magazine's album of the decade.  I don't get it.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 25

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath

ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England

TITLE:  Forbidden

LABEL:  I.R.S. Records

YEAR:  1995

GENRE:  Doom Metal/Heavy Metal

FAVORITE SONG:  "Shaking Off the Chains"

NOTES:  To date, this is the last full-length album of new material that Black Sabbath has released.  It features Tony Martin once more on vocals.  This however is not a terribly noteworthy album.  It only features Tony Iommi from the original lineup on it and features a guest appearance from Ice-T.  Yeah.  I actually bought this one on a church trip with a couple of other albums.  All of which had inappropriate album covers for when I bought them.

Interview with Cadaverous Condition

Last January, I was sent an album to review by the Austrian band Cadaverous Condition.  I was asked about the possibility of an interview at the time, but due to my own busy schedule was not really able to put one together.  Until now.  I sent some interview questions, dealing with the band's progression from death metal to death/neofolk hybrid and the scene in Austria, to founding member and vocalist Wolfgang Weiss.  After the jump, you can see the interview.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 24

ARTIST:  Megadeth
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Rust in Peace
LABEL:  Capitol Records
YEAR:  1990
GENRE:  Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Tornado of Souls"
NOTES:  My favorite album by Megadeth, this is also one of my favorite albums of all time.  Top five even.  It is that good.  This is when it all came together with Megadeth, the speed and intensity is there, but it is melodic and quite frankly epic.  There are a ton of great songs on here, including live favorites "Holy Wars" and "Hangar 18", both of which were played at the concert I saw just this year.

Evoken: Atra Mors

I have listened to this album over and over again today, just taking in the sound.  It is an extremely intense album and definitely takes some time to fully absorb.  That is what I have been doing today.  This is my first experience with Evoken, and what an experience it is.  This is an incredibly dense and challenging album, but once absorbed it is definitely worth it.

Evoken is about as bleak and desolate as music gets.  Fitting for funeral doom of course.  But the somber tone that Evoken has mastered is incredibly dark even for the genre.  The songs are all long epics with an atmosphere of desolation and pain.  But it is the clean vocals and clean riffs that really capture the listener's attention.  Many funeral doom bands utilize a wall of sound, oppressive and intense, but Evoken are able to convey the same misery and hopelessness with even their cleaner moments, soulful wailing and acoustic melodies.

It is extremely difficult to talk about this album.  I am not going to waste space talking about why you should check this out.  It is an all-encompassing experience.  It is truly something that one has to pay full attention to and interpret for themselves.  This is an incredible album, quite possibly one of the best albums in the funeral doom genre.  A modern-day masterpiece.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 23

ARTIST:  Testament
ORIGIN:  Oakland, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Low
LABEL:  Atlantic Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Thrash Metal/Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Legions (In Hiding)"
NOTES:  This was a very extreme album for me at the time.  Testament used a much more gruff vocal style than anything I was used to.  Nevertheless, this album really clicked for me.  I loved it from the first time I heard it.  "Low" had been played on the radio quite a bit which lead me to check out the album.  Testament was a favorite band of mine throughout high school and I even got to meet the band.  Unfortunately I was too young to see them in concert at the time.  Some day I will.

Corrosion of Conformity: Megalodon

Corrosion of Conformity did not waste much time following up their self-titled reunion album.  The band just this year released an album as a reformed trio made up of the three original members.  Pepper Keenan, quite possibly the driving force of the band over the previous fifteen years of the band's existence, is gone.  So the band's sound reverted to more of a sludgy hardcore, the sound that the band first rose to prominence with.

As I have previously mentioned Deliverance is where I got on board with Corrosion of Conformity.  As far as I am concerned, the band has never done better than that album before or since.  But I did enjoy some of their other work, including on their self-titled album released earlier this year.  So I did not really have any qualms about checking this one out.  Especially since it was free.

There are a couple of moments on this album where the band really does sound like Deliverance-era C.O.C.  "Feed On" and "The Megalodon" both really have that Southern metal swing to them.  The only thing missing on those tracks are the vocals of Keenan.  Not to say that the three members of C.O.C. (I honestly do not know enough about them to tell their vocals apart) are not fine vocalists, a couple of them anyway.  I just do not think they quite have the same charm.  Again, perhaps that is due to when I got into the band and I might have felt differently if I had gotten into them earlier.  Most of the songs on this EP would have fit in reasonably well on Deliverance, so I am definitely liking it, at least musically.  My only real complaint is with the vocals which do not grab me as much.

For a free EP, I am definitely not complaining.  This is a pretty good release from C.O.C. and is shockingly even better than the full-length from earlier.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 22

ARTIST:  Soundgarden
ORIGIN:  Seattle, WA (United States)
TITLE:  Superunknown
LABEL:  A&M Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Heavy Metal/Hard Rock/Grunge
FAVORITE SONG:  "My Wave"
NOTES:  I was getting into music when grunge was popular, but the two bands associated with the grunge scene that I loved most were Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.  And no, that is not revisionist history on my part trying to claim I never really liked grunge and only liked metal.  My older brother had albums by Nirvana and Pearl Jam and I recorded songs off those albums, but only certain songs and I never owned any albums by them, though I did have Bush and Candlebox.  I had Soundgarden and Alice in Chains though.  This album was huge when it was released.  It had at least five big songs, including "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman".

Ahab: The Giant

One look at the cover art of this release reveals that this is going to be a little bit different than Ahab's previous works.  Where the past two albums had stunning and realistic paintings for their covers, this one features more of a psychedelic and mythological artwork.  It just did not really look like the Ahab I had grown to love.

But it's not just the cover art that is different.  Ahab has changed things up in the sound department as well with this release.  Where the past two albums were morosely slow and monolithically heavy, this one has moments where it veers dangerously close to traditional doom metal and has a much cleaner overall tone.  It is still slow and heavy, but not in the same bleak way that their past albums were.  This is by no means a complete departure for the band, but there is enough of a change to make it quite obvious.

The album starts off with the very typical slow and haunting build.  Ahab has always used this.  But instead of a crushing riff immediately, the acoustic music continues on for awhile and the singing is done in sorrowful clean manner rather than the gruff roars done in the past.  That heavy riff does kick in eventually.  As do the deep vocals, but the cleaner parts are there to stay, popping up frequently throughout the album.  Ahab definitely focused their attention on adding some melodies to this one.  The riffs are cleaner as well as the vocals.

This album is not nearly as bleak as Ahab's previous works.  There is almost a glimmer of hopefulness with each track, something lacking on their other albums.  Oh it is still very funereal at times, just not as hopeless.  I do not want to give off the impression that I dislike this album.  I like it very much.  It just does not measure up to the other albums in my eyes.

FMA Reviews: Nails: Obscene Humanity

Originally reviewed here.

It was with a lot of trepidation that I agreed to take a listen to this release. I was not familiar with Nails before so I had to look them up. What I found concerned me even more. Nails is a hardcore band. I do not care much for hardcore music. Nails is often associated with Converge. I really do not care for Converge. And Nails is on Southern Lord Records. With the exception of Lair of the Minotaur, I have never really cared for that label. But I did agree to give this a shot, and the fact that the release is three songs from an upcoming seven inch, I figured it would not be too painful. I can probably handle ten to fifteen minutes of hardcore.

Yes I can. This is a very impressive release, which is likely made better by the fact that it is so short. I am not sure I could listen to a full album of this, but I can definitely listen to these three songs.

This is a short but very intense release of metallic hardcore. And no, not metalcore in the sense of Avenged Sevenfold, etc. It is all pummeling riffing, pounding drums, and shrieked vocals. The third track "Lies" is the highlight as it features a very quick guitar solo and one hell of a breakdown leading to the end of the release.

The complaints are typical for this style of hardcore. There is a bit of a lack of dynamics, particularly with the vocalist. He shrieks all the way through. Other than the closing breakdown, there is a lack of any real tempo shift throughout the runtime. And the first two tracks are basically the same song. The third track stands out due to the soloing and the tempo shift but it basically starts the same way as well.

This is not likely something I would listen to often, but I can see some good things in it.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 21

ARTIST:  Faith No More
ORIGIN:  San Francisco, CA (United States)
TITLE:  King for a Day...Fool for a Lifetime
LABEL:  Slash Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Alternative Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Digging the Grave"
NOTES:  This was my first full-length album by Faith No More but I had been aware of them for years.  In fact, they may have been the first metal band I really heard as my older brother was a big fan of theirs for quite some time.  I think I was in fourth grade when my brother got The Real Thing and I heard it a lot.  This was a bit of a different sound from Faith No More.  It is more stripped down and does not have some of the rap elements that first garnered the band attention.  There are some filler tracks on this release, but as a whole, it is a fairly strong album.

Mortalicum Interview

As I think I have mentioned many times on this blog, there has been a resurgence in 1970's/1980's style heavy metal.  You know, the classic stuff, stuff like Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and others.  Much of it is incredibly catchy and melodic.  One such band that I had the chance to review earlier is an upstart group from Sweden called Mortalicum.  Their album is a contender for Metallattorney's Album of the Year.  So I jumped at the opportunity to interview the band.  After the jump, you can see answers from bassist Patrick Backlund.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 20

ARTIST:  White Zombie
ORIGIN:  Haverhill, MA (United States)
TITLE:  Astro-Creep: 2000 - Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head
LABEL:  Geffen Records
YEAR:  1995
GENRE:  Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Blur the Technicolor"
NOTES:  White Zombie was massive in 1995, easily one of the biggest metal bands in the world.  With great videos, amazing live shows, and a kickass album, the band had a great year.  Unfortunately it was all downhill for the band after that.  Their tour took them through Lincoln that year, but I was 14 and missed it.  Damn.  Still, I love this album.

FMA Reviews: God Seed: I Begin

Originally reviewed here.

Any discussion of God Seed will necessarily include some discussion about the band's origins. The album title here is particularly apt because of this. God Seed is made up of King ov Hell and Gaahl, formerly of black metal psychos Gorgoroth. In actuality, these two members attempted to carry forward with the name Gorgoroth after splitting from Infernus. A lengthy court battle ensued with Infernus actually being granted the rights to the name Gorgoroth. In the meantime, God Seed formed for a couple of months and then disbanded when Gaahl retired temporarily. King used the material written for God Seed for a project with Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath which was called Ov Hell. Gaahl eventually returned and God Seed was formed.

God Seed has already released a live album from Wacken and a single. This is the debut full-length however and the first exposure that a lot of people will get to the band. Expectations are certainly high as Gorgoroth has been a stalwart in the Norwegian black metal scene for a very long time.

Gorgoroth has always been known for particularly hateful black metal that had moments of softness to it. God Seed for the most part follows this same formula. The riffs are explosive and Earth-shaking. The atmosphere is still cold and terrifying. One of the things that I always liked most about Gorgoroth was their ability to be punishing and brutal one second and be dissonant and unsettling the next. God Seed accomplishes this same fluid shift throughout most of this album. For example, the band shifts easily from the darkwave-sounding "Hinstu Daga" to the much more traditional black metal crunch of "Aldrande Tre".

The truly unusual moments are the usage of electronics, keyboards, and organs. Gorgoroth did not do a lot of experimenting with different instrumentation in their releases, but God Seed actually employs a member to play the keyboards. This is kind of an unusual thing for a black metal band that does not fall into the melodic black metal genre. But the keyboard moments do work. They add a certain unsettling flair to the already destructive and evil riffing and vocals.

This is a widely varied album. Gorgoroth had been working towards that and perfected it. Their early albums were simply fast barrages of riffs. The band slowly added more and more atmosphere to their music. God Seed does a fantastic job in carrying this forward on this release. Gaahl's vocals fit in well with this constantly evolving sound. He uses a variety of vocal styles from high-pitched rasp, to deep-throated bellow, to some actual clean moments. One thing is for certain though, they are never boring.

So we finally got that God Seed album from the dismissed members of Gorgoroth and it is everything it was hoped to be. This album proves that the second wave Norwegian black metal band members are still capable of putting out some high-quality releases.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 19

ARTIST:  Queensryche
ORIGIN:  Bellevue, WA (United States)
TITLE:  Empire
LABEL:  EMI Music
YEAR:  1990
GENRE:  Progressive Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Empire"
NOTES:  Another album that I got for my 14th birthday from my grandmother (she really came through on this one).  This was my second album by the Washington-based progressive metal outfit.  Though I never quite liked this one as much as my first album by the band, even though it is arguably heavier.  "Silent Lucidity" is probably Queensryche's most well-known song.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 18

ARTIST:  Ozzy Osbourne
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  No More Tears
LABEL:  Epic
YEAR:  1991
GENRE:  Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "No More Tears"
NOTES:  I got this for my birthday from my grandmother at the same time as the prior Black Sabbath album.  It is kind of odd that I got an Ozzy album and a Black Sabbath album at the same time but the Black Sabbath album did not feature Ozzy on vocals.  I was aware by this time that Ozzy did sing for Sabbath early on, even though I did not have anything that featured him.  This is still one of my favorite albums by Ozzy, and his last really good one.

Reader Submissions: Inquisitor: Dark Ages of Witchery

I love it when a band comes out of nowhere to blow me away with a release.  Enter Portugal's Inquisitor.  They have only been around for a few years now and have yet to release a full-length.  Thus far their entire discography consists of a demo, this 7" EP, and a split with Virgin Killer.  But if this EP is any indication, Inquisitor should have a bright future.

Inquisitor is a thrash/speed metal band with a sound firmly rooted in the 1980's.  Their music strongly resembles bands that straddled the line between thrash metal and more melodic styles.  Names like Flotsam and Jetsam, Exciter, and Razor come to mind.  The vocals are done in more of an early extreme thrash metal style, most similar to Teutonic thrash masters Destruction, Kreator, and Sodom.  The riffs are fast-paced and memorable and the band possesses some impressive songwriting chops.

The production on this sounds great.  The sound is beefy and muscular, which befits the style of music.  There is a heavy bottom-end which is sometimes missing in more traditionally-minded metal albums.  Everything is clear without sounding sterile.

This is an extremely impressive release, but it is just a teaser.  There are only two tracks here and they both sound very good.  I am looking forward to something longer.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 17

ARTIST:  Black Sabbath
ORIGIN:  Birmingham, England
TITLE:  Cross Purposes
LABEL:  I.R.S. Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Doom Metal/Heavy Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Cross of Thorns"
NOTES:  My very first Black Sabbath album was one with Tony Martin on vocals.  I still think that this is one of the most underrated Black Sabbath albums.  There are some truly great songs on this thing and it is a shame that it is so often overlooked.  I have a lot of memories of playing video games with this album on, to the point that I still think of Super Metroid whenever I listen to it.  Odd.  I got this around my 14th birthday from my grandmother.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 16

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Monsters of Rock Vol. 3: Molten Metal
LABEL:  Priority Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Various
FAVORITE SONG:  Fear Factory: "Scapegoat"
NOTES:  Another compilation that I picked up early on.  This one featured songs by Motorhead, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Fear Factory that I eventually checked out.  It also featured White Zombie and Aversion.  There were some non-metal bands such as L.A. Guns, Mudhoney, Kiss, and Biohazard as well.

Reader Submissions: Mystical: Demo I

One of the results of our current technology-dominated society is that just about anyone can now make music.  And it is much easier to get music out to people as well.  I do not mean to start this out on a negative note, but it is fairly clear from the quality of this release that the members of Portuguese black metal band Mystical are fairly new to the game.  A cursory glance at the members' respective backgrounds would confirm this, beyond guitarist BHJS.  But this is just a demo, so it is hard to be too hard on the guys.

The big complaint that I have here is that it sounds too synthetic.  The drums are programmed, the keyboards sound a little bit too sterile, and the samples are an odd choice.  The only real instrument is the guitar which simply plays some basic black metal riff, usually just one or two riffs per song.  It is hard to achieve a good black metal atmosphere when the instruments do not sound real.  The music is fairly simple and direct.  The songs are all very short as well and rely on a couple of ideas per song.

There are a couple of silver linings for this band, glimmers of hope that could be improved on and result in a decent next recording.  "Eternal Damnation" is a pretty decent song, with some interesting riffs and a decent sound, despite the overly-programmed drumming.  A couple of the other tracks also have the hint of some good ideas present, such as the keyboard-driven break in "Torture of the Damned" and the riffs in "The Cursed Earth".  In addition, the vocals, despite being stereotypical for black metal, do sound pretty good.

When all is said and done, this is a demo.  It is hard to have high expectations and it is hard to be disappointed.  There are some things that Mystical could do to improve, but that is typical for bands on their first demo.  There is room for growth.  It will be interesting to see where they go from here.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 15

ARTIST:  Various
ORIGIN:  Various
TITLE:  Metal Mayhem
LABEL:  Priority Records
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Various
FAVORITE SONG:  Flotsam and Jetsam: "Iron Tears"
NOTES:  I started picking up some cheap various artist compilations early on in order to find new bands to check out.  This was one of the first ones.  It included songs by Flotsam and Jetsam, Prong, Gwar, Voivod, and Pro-Pain that I eventually checked out, partially on the power of these songs.  Suicidal Tendencies and a few non-metal bands appeared as well.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 14

ARTIST:  Anthrax
ORIGIN:  Yonkers, NY (United States)
TITLE:  Sound of White Noise
LABEL:  Elektra
YEAR:  1993
GENRE:  Thrash Metal/Groove Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Hy Pro Glo"
NOTES:  Maybe it is because it was my first Anthrax album, but I really like this one.  Maybe it would have been different if it was heard after some material with Joey Belladonna on it, but it does not really matter at this point.  This was Anthrax's first album with former Armored Saint wailer John Bush behind the mic.  His voice never quite fit the typical Anthrax sound, but the band sounds a little different, a little more serious this time around.

Initial Impressions: Cradle of Filth: The Manticore and Other Horrors

Just like clockwork.  Every two years or so around the end of October (Halloween time kiddies), English gothic extreme metal mavens Cradle of Filth drop a new album of horror stories upon us.  And every time, I feel absolutely compelled to pick it up.  Let's face it, I am a Cradle of Filth fan.  I know they have their detractors, but I cannot help but love what they are doing every time.  It's a sickness I know.

This one is a little bit different sounding than the band's typical fare.  For one thing, the sound has been stripped down a little bit.  And this even effects the run-time of the release.  There are no ridiculously long songs, everything is tightened up and a lot of the musical meanderings have been cut out.  The riffs have become much more prominent on this release, replacing a lot of the keyboard melodies.  This is the most aggressive Cradle of Filth has sounded in years.  The riffs frequently resemble punk and thrash metal riffs.  Again, this is something that has been missing from Cradle's sound for a long time.  It is a welcome change.  After so many albums of the band doing basically the same thing, it was time to change up the formula a little bit.

No review of Cradle of Filth's new record would be complete without discussing Dani Filth, the only constant element in the band.  Dani's vocals are not as strong as they used to be, that is an unfortunate inevitability when a band has been around as long as Cradle of Filth has been.  But that is not to say that he does not have anything left, he certainly does.  His high-pitched shrieks and low grumbles still do the trick.  And of course, his songwriting has always been very impressive.  His ability to weave stories of gothic horror into the darkly melodic, atmospheric music of which Cradle of Filth specializes.

This is not one of Cradle of Filth's greatest albums, but it is one of their best in years.  It does not touch the levels of Dusk...and Her Embrace, Midian, or Cruelty and the Beast, but I would stack it up against anything from Nymphetamine onward and it would hold its own.  The riffwork definitely stands out as a welcome change from their previous albums and the stripped-down songs make this a slightly easier listening experience.

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 13

ARTIST:  Corrosion of Conformity
ORIGIN:  Raleigh, NC (United States)
TITLE:  Deliverance
LABEL:  Columbia Records
YEAR:  1994
GENRE:  Southern Metal/Sludge Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "Clean My Wounds"
NOTES:  Corrosion of Conformity frequently changes their sound, and this definitely stands out from anything the band had done previously.  Taking a Southern/sludge metal sound, this was quite a bit different than anything I had heard before.  But the results, including the tracks "Clean My Wounds" and "Alabatross" were incredible.  A great album.

Non-Metal Post: Misfits

For a long time I did listen to a number of non-metal bands.  It's true.  I seldomly listen to non-metal bands now, but there are a few exceptions.

Misfits is the biggest exception.  I started out on them after hearing the numerous Metallica covers of Misfits songs and finding out that Glenn Danzig used to be their singer.  I am not the biggest punk fan in the world, but Misfits are so ridiculously catchy that it is hard not to get into them.  Their lyrics deal almost strictly with horror themes and the music is infectious.  It is not the most technically impressive, in fact far from it, and the musicians were certainly not terribly talented, but they could write a damn good song.

I have the Walk Among Us album and have been listening to it over and over again today.  It is the only album I have picked up from the group, but I love tracks like "I Turned into a Martian", "Skulls", "All Hell Breaks Loose", and pretty much everything else on the album.  The fact that it is only a 25 minute album certainly makes it easy to turn it on, rock out for a little while, and move on.  I keep meaning to check out more, but for now, this is a fun album to put on when I am in the mood for it.  Today I definitely was in the mood. 

Cataloguing My Metal Collection Pt. 12

ARTIST:  Suicidal Tendencies
ORIGIN:  Los Angeles, CA (United States)
TITLE:  Join the Army
LABEL:  Caroline Records
YEAR:  1987
GENRE:  Crossover/Thrash Metal
FAVORITE SONG:  "War Inside My Head"
NOTES:  As I recall when I was younger, my parents found a bunch of tapes abandoned by a lake.  This was one of the tapes in there.  They never did anything with them, so they were fair game.  This was the only thing remotely metallic in the tapes, so when I was getting into metal, I claimed it.  This is a short and very fast album with a ton of energy.  I am not the biggest Suicidal Tendencies fan, but this is a very good release.

One and Done? Pt. 12: Church Bizarre

Among the many styles of metal that I am a big fan of, there is melodic black/death metal, particularly of the Swedish variety.  You know the type, Dissection, Watain, Naglfar, and the like.  One band I discovered in this vein a couple of years ago is the Danish group Church Bizarre.  Their album, Sinister Glorification, was an excellent example of the style with catchy tremolo riffing and some of the most decayed vocals ever.  The band actually released a few demos and EPs as well, but nothing since 2006 after the full-length.  The reasons for the ending of the band are unknown.

It is a shame.  Their release is terrific and it would have been interesting to see what happened next.  They had a unique sound amongst their genre.  Cerekloth formed out of the ashes of Church Bizarre and fellow Danish black/thrash metal act Victimizer.  But Cerekloth does not have the same feel as Church Bizarre and is not quite an acceptable substitute.

There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon though.  It appears as if Church Bizarre will likely release another EP for Hell's Headbangers in 2013.  Maybe they will rise from the grave and curse us with another full-length some day.  One can hope.