Metallattorney's Top Twenty of 2013

I am sorry I am late, I was working on this for quite awhile.  I have not been as active in the last year with the blog or listening to music in general.  A lot has happened in the last year, including buying a home and the long process of moving.  I have also been working a lot.  Nevertheless, I did hear a number of impressive albums.  Many of these have yet to appear as reviews here, but they will soon.

So without further ado, Metallattorney's Top 20 of 2013:

20.  WATAIN:  WILD HUNT

Okay, this one is pretty weird.  Every time I pick up a Watain album, I have a certain sound in mind that I am expecting to hear.  I expect them to sound like Dissection at the height of their sound.  This completely blew me away.  Obviously the biggest takeaway is the slow song with clean vocals.  That came as quite a shock, let me tell you.  But when you get past the shock, this is a very compelling album.

19.  REVOCATION:  REVOCATION

Revocation is the best of the retro thrash metal bands.  Although they do not entirely fit in with that group because of their late 80's death metal influences and an ability to take influences from a variety of other musical styles.  Banjos anyone?

18.  COFFINS: THE FLESHLAND

Probably my favorite album by the Japanese doom/death band so far, which is really saying something as I have enjoyed everything I have heard from them.  This album finds the band incorporating a lot more faster-paced, crunchier sections while retaining the same Hellhammer-at-half-speed sound the band typically had.  Yet it has not lost any of the grime and decay from previous releases.

17.  TOXIC HOLOCAUST:  CHEMISTRY OF CONSCIOUSNESS

There is something to be said for simplicity.  Toxic Holocaust has been doing their thing for years now and their thing is a mix of Motorhead, Venom, Bathory, and Hellhammer.  Every album is about a half hour of rampaging speed and proto-thrash riffs.  It goes by quickly but it is a hell of a lot of fun.

16.  SUFFOCATION:  PINNACLE OF BEDLAM

Yet another terrific album from the undisputed masters of brutal death metal.  Suffocation proves they still have it on this release.  The pioneering band is still going strong as always.

15.  MORTILLERY: ORIGIN OF EXTINCTION

Canada has some damn good thrash metal.  Mortillery is the latest thrash metal band to arrive out of the Great White North.  This is an underrated thrash metal album that went largely unnoticed.  That's unfortunate.  Cara McCutchen is a vocalist on par with Sabine Classen.

14.  BLACK SABBATH: 13

Is it possible to both anticipate and dread something?  Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Ozzy Osbourne reunited to write new music for the first time in several years and this time we got a full album out of them.  This reunion resulted in a surprisingly strong album that did not disappoint.  It is, quite simply, a Black Sabbath album played with a modern flair.

13.  DENOUNCEMENT PYRE:  ALMIGHTY ARCANUM

Blackened death metal the way it should be.  Denouncement Pyre is one of the darkest, most brutal bands still going out of the Australian "war metal" scene.  They were always a little too blackened to really fit in with Destroyer 666, Atomizer, and the like, but that just made them that much more interesting.  This is their best album yet.

12.  DEFEATED SANITY:  PASSAGES INTO DEFORMITY

Not an easy album to digest, but Defeated Sanity continues to impress.  Their brutal technicality is on display in spades here.  I considered their last album to be one of my favorite slam death albums of all time.  If anything this one tops even that.

11.  SATAN'S HOST:  VIRGIN SAILS

I liked their black metal sound, but their blackened power metal is absolutely incredible.  Since reuniting with Harry Conklin from Jag Panzer, their original singer, Satan's Host has been on a completely different level.  This album, while not as powerful as its predecessor, continues in that vein.

10.  HYPOCRISY:  END OF DISCLOSURE

Hypocrisy does not really fit in with either of the two big Swedish death metal scenes.  They are too melodic for the Stockholm sound and too heavy for the Gothenburg sound.  But what they do is continue to put out fiercely powerful albums every single time.  And they continued to do so with this release.

9.  LORD DYING:  SUMMON THE FAITHLESS

I love good sludge metal and Lord Dying definitely qualifies.  Sludge has become known more for groups like Baroness in the last few years.  It is great to have a band step in and play it the way it should be played.  Much more like Crowbar.  This was one hell of an impressive debut and I found myself listening to it over and over again.

8.  VASTUM:  PATRICIDAL LUST

This is one I have not heard a lot yet.  I just recently decided to check it out due to its placement in Full Metal Attorney's Top Albums list, but I like it a lot.  It is decidedly old school death metal, sounding like the genre did back when it was truly evil-sounding.  Vastum does a terrific job of bringing back that vibe, sounding like a mix of old Immolation, Incantation, Sinister, and others that made death metal terrifying.

7.  WORMED: EXODROMOS

It was a good year for good slam/brutal death.  Especially the more bizarre groups like Wormed and Defeated Sanity.  This album has been a very long time coming.  Wormed's last album came out in 2003 and we have only had a split and an EP since then.  But the band definitely made this one worth the wait.  The technical slam death metal band from Spain has put out an amazing album.

6.  AMORPHIS: CIRCLE

I am a big fan of the sort of melodic metal that Amorphis has been putting out over the last several albums, since Tomi Joutsen joined the band, but even I admit that it was in danger of becoming a little too predictable.  Then we got this one which reinforced how truly great Amorphis can be.  This album marked a return at least somewhat of their harder-edged sound.  There are still elements of the previous sound, but this is Amorphis's heaviest album in years.

5.  HUNTRESS:  STARBOUND BEAST

I know I say this every year, but each year some album by a traditional metal band comes around and completely blows me away.  Enforcer, Christian Mistress, Grand Magus, and others have all done this in the past.  This last year, it was Huntress.  From the Judas Priest-inspired music style, to the sultry, yet commanding vocals of Jill Janus, Huntress's album is an incredible listen.  Or maybe I am just taken with the singer.  I don't really know.

4.  VOIVOD:  TARGET EARTH

Voivod has released their first album without any input from the late Denis "Piggy" D'Amour.  After his death in 2005, the band used recorded material he created to continue to put out music.  This album saw the band recruit Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain to take over the guitar and the album was their best in years.  Voivod still has it and remains one of the most unique metal bands ever.

3.  FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE: LABYRINTH

Holy shit this band just keeps getting better and better.  The Italian band proves that a band can have symphonic elements and still be brutal and powerful.  The symphonic elements never threaten to take attention away from the death metal foundation.  If anything, it works incredibly well in conjunction to create an incredible, theatrical metal album.

2.  SKELETONWITCH:  SERPENTS UNLEASHED

Skeletonwitch never fails.  In fact, if anything they continue to get better.  Every time I hear a new album by the band, I am blown away.  Yes, this is their best album to date, the same thing I said about each of their last few albums.  So here we are again.

1.  POWER TRIP:  MANIFEST DECIMATION

Holy shit.  That's all I have to say.  It was not until this year that I really started to enjoy crossover in a big way.  And the major reason for this was this album.  Power Trip absolutely crushes on this album.  It is fast, heavy, loud, and I keep coming back for more.  It is Metallattorney's 2013 Album of the Year.

Iliac Thorns: It (2013)

Melodeath still exists as a genre.  It's true.  Most of the Gothenburg-style bands have gone by the wayside or altered their sound to an almost unrecognizable bastardization of what the genre used to be (I'm looking at you In Flames), but there are still some bands out there that take what was once good about the genre and release some good stuff.  Most of those bands seem to be coming out of Finland these days.

Iliac Thorns joins the ranks of fellow melodeath countrymen as Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Mors Principium Est, and others.  But there is a bit of a difference in that Iliac Thorns is far more on the death side of things that the melodic part.  This is absolutely death metal, that just so happens to have a fair amount of melodicism in it.  The vocals certainly give it away, but there is also the fact that the riffing is far more severe and brutal.  The other Finnish melodeath bands mentioned seem to try particularly hard to create a sullen atmosphere, Iliac Thorns on the other hand, just want to crush some skulls.

As mentioned, the vocals of singer Ilkka Lonnqvist certainly stand out for this genre of metal.  They are delivered in a very deep and throaty roar with the occasional raspy scream thrown in for good measure.  These are much more typical of the more gore-soaked extreme death metal bands like Suffocation, Broken Hope, and others than the good cop/bad cop vocal style that Gothenburg was known for.  This is much of the reason that Iliac Thorns is far closer to death metal than melodeath.

Musically, Iliac Thorns represents the heavier side of melodeath as well.  The music is fast with razor-sharp riffs with just the right amount of melody to make the individual tracks stand out but to still be heavy and intense.  There is the occasional tremolo riff suggesting some black metal influence as well but Iliac Thorns does not overdo it.  The production could stand a beefier lower end, but seems to fit the music quite well.

This is an impressive debut from a band that should make waves in a vastly underrated scene.

Impiety: The Impious Crusade (2013)

Impiety has been a personal favorite of mine since I first heard their 2007 album.  The Singaporean group perfectly captures the various extreme styles of death, thrash, and black metal and welds them together into a caustic, aggressive mix.  It's abrasive as hell, but that's part of the beauty of it.  So of course, I am on board when the band releases something new, even if, in this case, it's an EP.

Things kick off immediately with a bang with some evil riffing courtesy of the introductory track.  From there, Impiety rolls forward in their standard take-no-prisoners style.  Impiety do not simply play their instruments.  They use them as weapons to attack the listener.  Everything flies by at the speed of light, but that is not to say that they are not accomplished musicians.  They most certainly are, they just believe in making things as brutal and vicious as possible.  Mission accomplished.  The EP ends with a cover of a Sorcery song, not a band I am familiar with.

Of course the star of Impiety continues to be vocalist/bassist Shyaithan.  This is his band and he controls every aspect of it.  His sinister bark propels the band forward and keeps the band from becoming another Sarcofago/Vulcano clone.

I always enjoy a new Impiety release, and this one is certainly no different.

Hypocrisy: End of Disclosure (2013)

This just sounds like an appropriate name for an album for an attorney who listens to heavy metal.  To be honest the name of the album completely eluded me for a long time.  The only thing I really cared about was that Hypocrisy had a new album out.  I can honestly say that since 2004's The Arrival, Hypocrisy has been lurking on a short list of my favorite bands.  With this album, they are pretty high on the list.  Hypocrisy have been an amazingly consistent band over the years, with only one real miss as far as albums go.  But this album finds the band at a creative peak that they have sustained for the past few releases.

Figuring out where Hypocrisy fits in in the lauded and impressive Swedish death metal scene has always been a tad difficult.  They never really fit in with the Stockholm groups like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave.  They were far too melodic for that.  They were also too extreme for the Gothenburg groups like Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and At the Gates.  It is fitting that the band was not from either of those cities, they have always been their own entity, not really sounding much like any of their other famous countrymen.

Here that is evident.  Hypocrisy hits with their typically heavy and atmospheric death metal with plenty of melody to go around.  The album begins with one of the band's usual sci-fi-sounding opening tracks that lays the foundation for the sound to follow.  The second track is one of Hypocrisy's most punishing in years and features one hell of a breakdown.  The album does not feature a single weak track and is a terrific album to get the blood pumping.

Of course the highlight of the album is Peter Tagtren's growling vocals.  Tagtren has been one of the best death metal singers since the advent of the genre.  He proves why he is one of the most influential vocalists in death metal with this album.

Hypocrisy has once again put out an extremely powerful release.  This will likely be a Top 10 album for 2013.

Happy New Year

One of my resolutions this year will be to get back to blogging here with more regularity.  It has been a little tough finding time lately.  I have been quite busy with work, the new home, and the holidays.  I also have not been as active in finding new music lately.  I will have a top albums of 2013 going up as soon as I have it written.  I have to work on it though because I have not even begun to compile it.

To the Anonymous idiot who commented the other day on a four-plus-year-old post complaining of my views on Soulfly, one of the advantages of writing my own blog means that my opinion is the only one that matters here.  If you don't like it, go somewhere else.  Soulfly sucked for a long time, they are only slightly better now.  Or had you forgotten the "Jumpdafuckup" era?  Sepultura sucks now too, so I have no idea what you were trying to prove by telling me that.

Ghost B.C.: Infestissuman (2013)

I had this album going on a continuous loop on Halloween.  It was not the greatest day in the world.  I worked and then went back to the old house to finish cleaning it up so we could turn the keys over to the landlord.  After that was finally finished we went to the new house and watched Event Horizon.

But at least it felt a little like Halloween to have this album playing while I was working or driving in the car.  This album has a pretty good Halloween vibe to it, it is kind of spooky in a somewhat campy way.  Ghost followed up on their highly-acclaimed debut full-length with an album that builds on their sound that captivated so many on their previous release.  It is a strange and varied album that was not immediately rewarding, but it grew on me so much with repeated listens that it could make my Top Ten for the year.

When Ghost (as they were known then) released their debut many were comparing them to a mix between Blue Oyster Cult and Mercyful Fate.  I have no idea where the Mercyful Fate comparisons came from, honestly, other than the dark and ominous sound.  Blue Oyster Cult is a much better comparison due to their often eclectic sound.  On any given album you had no idea what the next song would sound like.  That is much the case here where the band can go from straight-forward 70's rock to the bizarrely campy "Guleh/Zombie Queen" which would not sound out of place played after "The Monster Mash".

I said earlier that this album was somewhat disappointing the first time I heard it.  Maybe it's because I was looking for more of the same as their first album.  But it was a grower and it formed the perfect soundtrack to Halloween this year for me.  It is clear we are never going to know what to expect from Ghost.  And that's kind of a good thing.

Happy Halloween

I know I have not been around much.  I bought a house and am putting the finishing touches on moving out of the old house.  Things have been busy.  My hope is that I will be able to return to posting by early next week.

A Little Update

Right now I am working on buying a house which has greatly decreased the amount of time I have had to devote to listening to music.  Unfortunately packing has also taken a lot of time away as well.  I have been able to do a little bit occasionally.  I know I have a lot of stuff to catch up on.  It's become a bit daunting.  But I will catch up at some point.  Thanks for your patience.

FMA Reviews: Azure Emote: The Gravity of Impermanence

Originally reviewed here.

What a weird album. I am not even really sure how to classify this band. I suppose the best way would be to compare them to a group like Hollenthon, Septicflesh, Sigh, or the oddball projects of Dan Swanö. In other words, they seem to have influences from a wide variety of metal styles, such as black, death, and industrial. Never has the term avant-garde been more fitting than when listening to this album from Azure Emote.

This is Azure Emote's second album and it has gained them a fair amount of interest. I have been in a little bit of a metal black hole in the last few months due to an extremely busy work schedule and even I have heard some hype about this release. Azure Emote is the new band of former Monstrosity frontman Mike Hrubovcak. But it definitely does not follow in the footsteps of Monstrosity. Monstrosity was a fairly paint-by-numbers death metal band. As previously stated, this is anything but formulaic. The songs do not follow any traditional song structure and the music is widely varied, crushing and intense one minute, slow and dissonant the next, and allows with a number of sonic surprises.

Azure Emote is at their best when they are pushing the boundaries of extreme metal. Utilizing synthesizers, strings, saxophones, and all kinds of other weird and eclectic instrumentation (harmonica, really?), Azure Emote never settle on anything that can be considered traditional metal structure and instrumentation. These moments are frequent and lend a schizophrenic feel to the overall listening experience. There are still obvious metal riffs, but those seem somewhat lackluster when not accompanied by some off-the-wall instrument or sample.

The only real complaint I have about this album is that the band sometimes does too much. There is a lack of cohesion to a lot of the moments and the whole thing feels like a collection of disparate parts rather than one impressive whole. It can be a little off-putting at times.

Azure Emote is certainly unpredictable and have a lot of talent, but at times they just appear to be weird for weirdness's sake. That can be problematic and often prevents any real connection with the listener.

FMA Reviews: Lord: Digital Lies

Originally reviewed here.

First things first, the awful title. This is the kind of title you would have expected in the 1990's when that newfangled internet showed up, but now it just seems outdated. That, added to the cover that looks like something out of a cheap SyFy channel movie is not really the best way to make a first impression.

I will admit I was a little surprised by the sound. I probably shouldn't be anymore, but I was a little surprised by the upbeat power metal. I was expecting something darker. But this is not the "flower" metal style made popular by bands like Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody, or anyone like that. This is the more extreme form of power metal which found its roots in groups like Jag Panzer in the United States. Lord is the new band of Lord Tim (pretty sure that's a Monty Python reference), who previously headed Dungeon in Australia. I was never really familiar with Dungeon other than hearing the name occasionally, but they had a decent track record.

Lord's sound is typical of modern power metal bands. There are some aggressive riffs and some very impressive vocals. The band focuses on crafting memorable songs with catchy choruses and hooks. It is not something unusual for this genre but it has become increasingly unusual in other metal genres. What results is a fun, high-paced and energetic album that actually sticks in the memory. This reminds me a lot of Dream Evil, the sound is very similar, light-hearted power metal with strong vocals that does not descend into the dreaded "flower" metal sound.

For the most part, the songs are pretty well-written and stay away from the standard "swords and sorcery" lyrical themes that a lot of power metal bands gravitate towards. There are still some cheesy moments, the song "2D Person in a 3D World" is really awful. The gang vocals and ridiculous lyrics certainly do not help. But that is the one bad song in the bunch. The rest are solid songs without any real high highs but no low lows either.

This is a pretty solid release. It does not really do anything we have not heard before in power metal but it does not descend to the cheesiness that so much of the genre does.

Rotting Christ: Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού (2013)

I really have no idea what I managed to cut and paste up there.  I am not even sure what language it is, but due to the fact that Rotting Christ is from Greece, I can take a wild stab in the dark.  I could look it up, but it's late as I am writing this and I just finished mowing the lawn.  My motivation to do anything is pretty low.  Someday I will, but not today.

Rotting Christ has been one of my favorite bands since I discovered them on Theogonia back in 2007.  This is the second full-length they have released since then and I have also picked up almost all of their past albums.  They have yet to disappoint me.

This one is a little different though.  There is not a lot sonically different from Rotting Christ's last couple of albums.  It is still the same gothic/black metal with symphonic elements.  But the songs feel less complete.  The best way I can think of to describe the music on this album is that it sounds as if it is the soundtrack to a Greek mythology-based movie.  Think Clash of the Titans or something of that ilk.  The hooks are not as present.  None of the songs really sink in like they have on past albums and they all sort of run together.

None of this is to suggest that this is a bad album.  It just is not quite what I was hoping for.  The music still has the same sinister quality that has been such an impressive element in the band's sound for so long.  Sakis Tolis's vocals still sound amazing after so many years.  If anything, this album makes some terrific background music.  It just does not rise to the same level as past releases.    

FMA Reviews: Power Trip: Manifest Decimation (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

If there is one style of metal that has kind of passed me by to my regret, it is crossover. I just do not have a lot of experience listening to the subgenre. But that is slowly starting to change. It all started a few months ago when I was listening to my Skullcrushers compilation, which has tracks from Exodus, Megadeth, Celtic Frost, Voivod and more, when all of a sudden this track came up that I had heard a million times before, but it just stuck with me. That song was from Nuclear Assault and it was called "Critical Mass". Corrosion of Conformity's "Loss for Words" and Prong's "Beg to Differ" also appeared in the compilation and grabbed my attention. All of a sudden, crossover clicked for me.

Obviously I would not be telling this long-ass, boring story if there were not some connection to this review. Some day I will tell a boring long story that has absolutely no relevance to the review just to keep readers on their toes.  But that will not be this day.

Anyway, Power Trip is a crossover band whose sound shows a very strong Nuclear Assault influence. It is an incredibly harsh and chaotic sound. It is aggressive, biting, and angry. And most of all, it gets the blood pumping. This is terrific music to listen to while working out because of its speed and intensity. It is just a vicious album all the way through. A lot of people may think of Suicidal Tendencies or other bands who use a lot of humor and light-hearted party attitudes toward music. This is definitely not in the same ballpark. This is angry, much more like Nuclear Assault.

For some reason this came from Southern Lord, which is very surprising. That label is well-know for doom, black, and sludge, so this album really stands out.

The only complaint that I have about this one is that it flies by so fast and once it is done, it is hard to think of any real highlights, other than the crushing "Crossbreaker". But it is a hell of a ride.

VladPromotion Quick Reviews Pt. 1

I have a ton of Reader Submissions to slog my way through.  So in an effort to catch up, I am going to do some of these together in kind of a quick hits sort of way.

BETRAYER F.T.M.:  No Life Till Fury (2010)

I have no idea what "F.T.M." means.  Fuck the Mormons?  Full Throttle Mongooses (Mongeese?)?  Forging the Mississippi?  No idea.  But it does not really matter.  Betrayer F.T.M. are a thrash metal band with some punk influences shining in.  It is more of a retro sound.  Think early Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, etc.  The vocals are a little too high in the mix and threaten to take too much focus away from the music.  Musically, this is pretty decent.  If you are a fan of early party-thrash-type stuff, this is definitely for you.  It is a fast and intense record that I found myself tapping my foot to quite a bit.  Tough to bang my head when I am at my workdesk.  I love the cover art too.

D.A.M.:  Human Wreckage (1989) and Inside Out (1991)

England actually had a decent thrash metal scene in the late 1980's/early 1990's.  It is mostly overlooked these days and Sabbat is probably the best-known band from that scene.  D.A.M. also produced a couple of albums in this time period.  D.A.M. was mostly forgotten, even on their own label due to the presence of standouts Coroner, Helloween, Voivod, Celtic Frost, and others.  So it is not shocking that few people remember them.  These two albums are another example of the oversaturation of re-releases into the metal market.  Not every single metal album really deserves to be dug up and resurrected.  These albums are okay in their own right, but they are certainly not exceptional.  These are not exactly lost gems.  They are fine, but there are a lot of other bands with a similar sound out there.

Demise Awaits: 2009 EP (2009)

Demise Awaits is a newer group without a lot of recorded material to their name yet.  This is their first EP and they also have a demo out.  The Pennsylvania band plays a 1980's-sounding hybrid of thrash and heavy, American power metal.  They have a very raw and primal sound, helped out significantly by the lower quality of the production.  What results is something similar to the early Metallica recordings prior to Kill 'Em All.  I am not going to come out and say this is the next Metallica or anything like that, but they have a decent sound.  It's not one we have not heard over and over though.  A good effort.

Enforcer: Death By Fire (2013)

I was pretty excited for this one.  I loved Enforcer's 2010 album Diamonds.  The band struck the right chord with their take on NWOBHM crossed with speed metal.  Not only that, their songs were catchy as hell.  The album was a ton of fun, and even my wife liked the album quite a bit, which is pretty damn rare.

The first time I heard this one though I was slightly disappointed.  All of the elements from the previous album were present, but there was no track like "Running in Menace", which was the standout song to me on this one.  That is not to say that the songs were not good, there just was not that one track that made the entire album.  However, with repeated listens, the album grew on me.  I still do not think that I like it quite as well as Enforcer's last album, but it is no longer a disappointment.

The sound on this album is a little bit different.  The NWOBHM sound is still very much present, but instead of focusing on the poppier groups as they did on the last album, this time around they went for a heavier Diamond Head-meets-Blitzkrieg sound.  "Satan" even sounds like Metallica pre-Kill 'Em All.

The elements that made Enforcer's last album are still there.  The band combines an impressive melodic sensibility with some biting riffs and impressive vocal work.  The songs are catchy, though not as much as on their previous album.  I do not think this album will gain the band new fans, it is not quite as good as Diamonds after all, but it is a reasonably impressive follow-up.

FMA Reviews: Toxic Holocaust: From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

Hmmm. I am not quite sure why I am reviewing this. I did not realize it at first until listening to it for the first time that this is a compilation rather than a full-length release. I realized it finally when I kept thinking to myself "I know I have heard this song before". I guess it helps to pay attention occasionally.

Anyway, I am a big fan of Toxic Holocaust so even though this is a compilation, I enjoyed listening to it. This is a collection of tracks off of EPs and splits that the band has done over the years. Toxic Holocaust has a lot of music out there and this puts together some of the rarer tracks for easier consumption. That is what a good compilation does after all.

Toxic Holocaust is never going to break down any barriers to new musical ideas not previously heard. Joel Grind is perfectly content to play music bearing sonic similarity to the early days of blackened thrash, paying homage to groups like Sodom, Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory in their earliest incarnations. Back when playing ability took a backseat to playing raw and vile metal infused with punk. That too is what Toxic Holocaust does.

This is raw thrash metal without a care in the world. The band, mostly Joel Grind, is not the most musically-talented group in the world but it always sounds like they have an absolute blast ripping through short, sharp shards of metal. This is not for people who want their music to really say something. It just rocks, plain and simple.

I am not going to pretend that everyone should check this out. This is a compilation and is really just there for the completists and huge Toxic Holocaust fans

Coming Back Very Soon...

I had a busy few months but it looks like I am finally coming out of it.  I had a trial today and one two weeks ago.  So things have lightened a little.  I will be getting back into the swing of things next week, of course I will be on vacation soon after that.

FMA Reviews: Lair of the Minotaur: Godslayer (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

I have been a big fan of Lair of the Minotaur since I first heard their War Metal Battle Master album. Since then I have been able to track down most of their releases. LotM have not released a new full-length since 2010. I suspect this short EP was released to keep the fans happy while continuing to wait for the new release. This EP was released as part of this year's Record Store Day, an event which I have unfortunately never been able to attend as I do not live within two hours of any independent record store.

This is a very short EP, featuring only two songs and clocking in at less than nine minutes but it exhibits all of the best characteristics of LotM. The riffs are fast with a lot of bottom end and the sound bears no small resemblance to a runaway train. It just steamrolls the listener into submission, but that is all part of the fun.

Of course they slow things down a tad at points with some ridiculously heavy riffing and the frantic howls of Steven Rathbone.

All in all this is exactly what I expect from a Lair of the Minotaur release and I am definitely looking forward to more.

Quick Update

Yes I am still alive and yes I fully intend to get back to writing soon.  It's been pretty busy lately.  Summers usually are for some reason.  Next month I fully expect to have at least two jury trials.  Hopefully after that there will be a little bit of a respite.

I know there are a ton of albums that have been sent to me that I need to get to.  I assure you, I will at some point soon.  I have not forgotten.  I just have not had the time.

Suffocation: Pinnacle of Bedlam

Suffocation has never put out a bad album.  That is impressive.  Since rising out of the early 1990's New York death metal scene, Suffocation has been one of the most influential metal bands in the world.  Think of all of the genres we would not have without Suffocation.  We would not have brutal death metal, slam death metal, technical death metal, or deathcore.  It does not matter what you may or may not think of those genres, Suffocation is the band to which all bands in those genres strive to be.

Despite the band's long history, this is just their seventh full-length album.  This is due to a long hiatus from 1998 through 2004.  This is the band's first full-length without pioneering drummer Mike Smith who left the band in 2012.  Dave Culcross had been with the band briefly in the late 1990's so he was no stranger to the large shoes he had to fill.  Smith revolutionized death metal drumming and is largely responsible for the blastbeat style of drumming.

Well enough introductions, it's time for a new Suffocation album.  I was slightly disappointed with Blood Oath, which is not a big deal, since it was still a damn good album.  And I was a little concerned with how this album would go without Smith for the first time.  But it turned out to be business as usual in the Suffocation camp.  This album still absolutely crushes everything in sight.

All of the necessary elements for a Suffocation album are here: blastbeat-driven drums, heavier-than-fuck riffs, and the ferocious bark of frontman Frank Mullen.  Suffocation have once again proven that none of their imitators can ever hold a candle to the masters.  Suffocation is still one of the heaviest bands in the world and do not look like they will be giving up that title anytime soon.

It is Going to be a Busy Month

I want to get back to a normal posting schedule, but this month is going to be a killer.  I am currently scheduled for five trials, three of which are jury trials.  So I am going to try, but I am not going to make any promises.

FMA Reviews: De Profundis: The Emptiness Within

Originally reviewed here.

De Profundis is a melodeath band, despite the materials listing them as a black/doom metal hybrid. But do not let that word influence your decision about whether to check them out. Because that term has become diluted over the years the same way that the music has. Melodeath has come to be thought of as just recent In Flames, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, and the like, but it used to be something different. Something more aggressive and powerful. And that is what De Profundis is.

My personal favorite era of melodeath was the early years. Think Lunar Strain-era In Flames, Skydancer-era Dark Tranquillity, and the like. Back when melodeath bands were just more melodic death metal bands. De Profundis has that kind of sound. Yes there are elements of black metal and doom metal present, but the basis of this album is in the tremolo riff-driven style of the early wave of melodic death metal.

De Profundis uses much more progressive song structures. There are a lot of parts to the songs that flow together surprisingly well. That is often a problem with more progressive styles of metal. Sometimes the musicians focus too much on being unusual and forget to write coherent songs. That is never a problem with this release. The progressiveness only serves to make things more interesting and entertaining.

I find myself extremely impressed with the instrumentation, particularly the guitar and bass work. And when was the last time a bass was that impressive in a metal album? That is how good it is. It almost brings to mind the type of bass-playing that would be featured in funk. This is probably something that might alienate fans of black metal, but I think it sounds amazing.

Overall this is a very strong album. It sounds very much like the early bands in the melodic death metal era, which is an era that I really enjoyed.

Womb/Hellcharge: This Knot...

I was recently sent this review request from HellDProd, or something like that, I am not really sure.  This small label has been sending me some really underground recordings for a little while now.  This is really raw stuff, stuff that most people have probably never heard of, but it is always fun to discover some deep underground material.

This is a split of a couple of black metal bands from Portugal.  It was released on Valentine's Day this year, making someone a very nice Valentine's Day present, I am sure.  I assume that this split is available only on cassette.

Womb is up first and they have a very punkish sound to their black metal, bearing more similarity to the early days of Venom, Sarcofago, and Sodom than to anything released under the black metal genre today.  It is all nasty and raw.  Utterly filthy stuff.  The songs are all very short and typically only feature one riff.  The Womb side consists of four tracks and less than eight minutes of music.  Short and not very sweet.

Next up is Hellcharge.  As low as the production values on the Womb side were, this is even lower.  The guitar can barely be heard and the vocals are even murkier.  The drums are about the only thing that can be heard that well at all.  That is a shame because I think Hellcharge's songs are a little more interesting.  I just wish I could actually hear them.  Hellcharge also has a big punk feel to the riffs and vocals.

Not a bad split.  Definitely geared more towards the ultra lo-fi black metal fans who like a hearty helping of punk in their sound.

Helloween: Straight Out of Hell (2013)

Helloween has been doing the same thing for thirty years now.  They are one of the pioneering bands in the power metal genre.  This is their 16th full-length album, an impressive pace for a band.  Helloween has not always put out quality releases though.  They have been a bit inconsistent over the years, but since 2007's surprisingly great Gambling With the Devil, they have been on a run of great albums that has been unmatched by the band since their first three albums.

This album proves that Helloween still has it.  The album is fast, which has always been Helloween's strongest point, they did start out as a speed metal band after all.  It features the consistently good, siren-like vocals of Andi Deris, who has been the singer since 1994 when Michael Kiske left the band.  Deris has been one of the best singers Helloween has ever had.  And of course there are a ton of catchy songs on this thing.

There really is not a lot to say about this release.  Longtime fans of Helloween will definitely appreciate it.  People who do not like the band or speed/power metal likely will not find anything to change their mind.  Helloween has continued on a recent hot streak as this album stands up well with other albums the band has released lately.

FMA Reviews: Be'lakor: Of Breath and Bone (2012)

Originally reviewed here.

Apparently "Be'lakor" is the name of a demon in the Warhammer series. I will admit to not knowing a damn thing about Warhammer, or any other table top/RPG game for that matter. I could not tell you the difference between Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons. It is just not something I have ever known about. What I do know is heavy metal. And I know what I like.

Be'lakor is a melodeath band in the vein of mid-era Dark Tranquillity. Oddly they are from Australia, which is kind of bizarre for a band of this style. I would have assumed Be'lakor hailed from Sweden or Finland or some other country in that area. Australia is not really known for its melodeath.

I will admit that I have listened to this album a number of times trying to figure out where I was going to go with this review. Unfortunately after listening to it that many times, I can honestly say that nothing really sticks in my mind about it. It is just kind of there. I do not think there is anything about it that is bad, it just exists.

As I have mentioned, Be'lakor is a Dark Tranquillity clone without the personality of Mikael Stanne. If I heard it without knowing what it was, I would think DT replaced Stanne on vocals. The vocals are the big complaint that I have. There is nothing really interesting or dramatic about them. And that is a shame because once in awhile the music is actually pretty decent, if a little bit stale.

The major thing this album did for me was to cause me to dig out my copy of The Gallery by Dark Tranquillity.

Satan's Host: Celebration - For the Love of Satan (2011)

As a general rule I do not typically check out re-recordings.  I usually prefer the original versions of songs and do not see any need to mess with it.  I made an exception with this release.  Of course this will be very rare.

As much as I liked the black/thrash metal period in Satan's Host's discography, I much prefer their blackened power metal style.  After Harry Conklin, aka Leviathan Thisiren, left the band, Satan's Host went for the black metal style.  I personally liked them quite a bit, particularly at the times in which Pat Evil was given free reign to simply shred on the guitar, but I can definitely see where some people would think they were not interesting enough to pay a lot of attention.

But their blackened power metal is different.  Because there are not a lot of bands out there playing in this style, Satan's Host stands out.  When Conklin came back, the band made waves in the metal underground.  Their debut album was an underrated classic.  Their most recent full-length was listed as my favorite album of 2011.  I was aware of this release but never really checked it out.  Until now.

I have to say that this release is incredible.  Satan's Host re-recorded some of their best songs from their black metal era, including the awesome songs "Dark Priest (Lord Ahriman)" and "Satanic Grimoire".  Musically the songs are virtually identical.  It is the vocals that have been changed.  Gone is the blackened rasp of L.C.F. Elixir, and in his place is the wail of Conklin.

I always enjoyed these songs with the prior singer, but they are given even more of a boost with Conklin.  I love it.  Looking forward to more blackened power metal from Satan's Host.

FMA Reviews: Amnion/Balmog: Grim Repulse of the Southern Lodge (2013)

Originally reviewed here.

I really enjoy splits. They are an excellent way to discover new music from a couple of different bands in one place. I usually prefer them when there are more than one song from each band on the split, as is the case with this one. No matter though. Amnion and Balmog are two black metal bands from Spain. Spain has quietly developed a fairly impressive black metal scene.

Amnion is a bit of a mysterious band. I can not find much current information on the band. This song is very dark. It is particularly hateful styled black metal. Nothing pretty about it. The drums are a bit too high in the mix and there is nothing remarkable about the instrumentation or vocals. The riffing gets a little repetitive at times and the song kind of drags toward the end. This really is not anything terribly new.

Balmog is even darker and more sadistic-sounding. The production values are not quite as good though and the song sounds a little murky. The vocals are probably the most interesting part of the song. Oftentimes the vocals are just odd moaning and groaning while others they come close to forming words. There is a pretty decent guitar solo at the end though.

Overall these are interesting tracks but it is very hard to form any sort of real opinion on either band from them. It is just one track from each group after all.

Aura Noir: The Merciless (2004)

I checked out Aura Noir's latest album last year.  I loved that release and it made my Top Ten albums list for 2012.  So recently when I saw this album for cheap on I had to check it out.

Aura Noir is a blackened thrash metal band from Norway featuring Blasphemer, known mostly for his work with Mayhem, and a couple of other members who have played with a variety of Norwegian blackened-something metal bands, such as Immortal, Ved Buens Ende, Cadaver Inc., Nocturnal Breed, and many more.   I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal personally, so even though it has taken me a long time to get into Aura Noir, I am attempting to make up for lost time.

This is the band's third full-length album and came out after a hiatus that lasted several years.  It is a significantly more raw and primal sound than the relatively cleaner style in their latest album.  Which is saying something.  It is not as if Aura Noir are known for being clean anyway.

These songs have a little bit more of a punk vibe to them than their more recent material.  The music bears a strong resemblance to the early material of genre legends Sodom and Hellhammer.  It is raw and aggressive with absolutely no apologies.  The lyrics are a little ridiculous with song titles like "Black Metal Jaw" and "Condor", but that's not a problem.

I am definitely looking into more Aura Noir material in the future.

Once Again, an Apology

I really have been trying to get back to a regular posting schedule.  But thanks to a busy week with court last week and no let-up so far this week, my plans have once again changed.  Unfortunately work takes precedence because I have to eat.  So here we are.  Hopefully later this week I will be able to get some stuff up.

FMA Reviews: Mortillery: Origin of Extinction

Originally reviewed here.

A lot of ink has been spilled discussing the topic of women in heavy metal. I am not going to waste a bunch of time rehashing that mostly tired subject. Suffice to say that metal musicians are mostly male. The rare female member garners a lot of attention solely based on her gender, fair or not. What I will discuss briefly is the fact that even for metal, women are underrepresented in thrash. One very notable exception is Sabine Classen from the underrated German group Holy Moses. Classen is who I would classify the Queen of Thrash. Unfortunately she has not really opened the floodgates to many young bands with female lead singers and thrash remains mostly a man's game.

Mortillery is a very young band from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As one can probably guess by the opening paragraph, their singer Cara McCutchen is a female. Their bassist Miranda Gladeau is also female. So Mortillery has two female band members. Certainly rare for a thrash metal band.

I have spent a lot of time listening to groups coming out of Canada recently. It seems that there is a major resurgence in 1980's styled heavy and thrash metal coming out of the Great White North. Mortillery is definitely no exception to this. Their style remains staunchly rooted in early Canadian metal masters Sacrifice, Exciter, Razor, and others. They even reference Voivod with "F.O.A.D.", an acronym the sci-fi thrashers coined in "Fuck Off and Die". Mortillery does not really bring anything new to the table to this style, but it is still good-time, beer-drinking thrash metal.

What Mortillery may lack in originality they make up for in musicianship and energy. The riffwork is razor-sharp and uptempo. The vocals lack the ferociousness of the aforementioned Classen yet she definitely has a snarl all her own. The songs are fast-paced, neck-breaking tracks that grab attention and hold onto it.

This is Mortillery's second full-length album. It captured my attention. I will be looking for them in the future. Perhaps in time McCutchen and Gladeau will be ready to take over the throne as Queens of Thrash.

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman

As a longtime Slayer fan this one stings a little.  He was just 49 years old.

Link.

Holy Grail: Ride the Void

Hmmm.  I remember really enjoying Holy Grail's last album.  But upon hearing this one, I can not really remember much about it.  Easily fixed of course, I just need to go back and listen to it.  This one though does not really do all that much for me and I think I know why.

I actually liked a lot of metalcore bands back when that trend had really gotten going.  I liked Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, and other bands from that scene.  I even kind of liked Avenged Sevenfold at one point.  Here me out.  I had not really gotten into black and death metal yet and my knowledge of metal was mostly mainstream.  I don't make any excuses about that.  Nu metal and metalcore were big and I had not delved terribly deeply into the underground.  I had only a burned copy of Avenged Sevenfold's Waking the Fallen and I kind of liked it.  Some time later I heard City of Evil for the first time and I hated that one and that did it for me with Avenged Sevenfold.  I have never looked back at them.

Now why did I spend an entire paragraph talking about Avenged Sevenfold?  Because Holy Grail singer James Paul Luna sounds an awful lot like Zacky Vengeance on this album, and in particular the second song.  It is so close that it absolutely ruined the first time I heard this album.  It's bad.  I have listened to this album several times now and that is always the first thing I think.  "This reminds me of Avenged Sevenfold" is not the best thought when listening to an album.

Musically of course there is almost no similarity.  Holy Grail is a traditional heavy metal band with speed metal riffs and melodies.  The music is actually quite good.  But man, those vocals really threaten to ruin it all.

I hope some day to be able to block that similarity out of my mind, but so far it keeps coming back.  It makes it real damn hard to listen to.

Lightning Swords of Death: Baphometic Chaosivm

Lightning Swords of Death is one of those ridiculous names like Lair of the Minotaur that makes it hard to take the music seriously.  Not in a "this is terrible" sort of way, more in a cheesy, ironic sort of way.  It is just such a bizarre name, how could you look at it any other way?  And after their first album I still thought that the band name was more of a joke.  Then this one came out.

The first thing that needs to be discussed is the stylistic change.  Lightning Swords of Death definitely had some black metal influences shining (darkening?) through, but thrash and death metal seemed to be the foundation on which the band built their sound.  This album though is almost entirely black metal.  I am not quite sure how to feel about that in this case.  I enjoyed the last album, but I always like black metal as well.  This album bears very little sonic resemblance to their last one.  This album sounds more like something one would expect from melodic black metal acts like Naglfar or Nifelheim.

LSoD went for more of an occult, mystical vibe with this release.  The atmospheric riffs, vocals that sound like they were recorded in the pits of hell, occasional chanting sections, and swirling melodies add to the mysticism.  But there is still something of a lighter sense of fun going on at the same time.  It is strange.  Black metal is not typically known for having a sense of humor about itself, but there is something about this album that tells me that it is not entirely meant to be taken seriously.  I missed it the first few times but as I listened more and more it became more evident.

This album has been a grower for me.  I was initially turned off by the perception that LSoD had gone completely serious.  I no longer think that is the case.  The music is much more rooted in black metal than their previous work, but it is still well-done.  This is not terribly original, but there is an energy that is surprisingly infectious.  This has grown on me.

An Apology

Things have been extremely busy with work the last several weeks.  I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule next week some time.  Much of the issue has been the fact that up here we had two judges retire last Fall.  This has caused things to get backlogged which is only now starting to unclog.

I have a lot of reader submissions that have built up and a lot of new stuff to review from the last few months.  Hopefully I can start getting to that soon.

FMA Reviews: Striker: Armed to the Teeth

Originally reviewed here.

I took one look at that cover art and knew that I absolutely had to check this one out. It is an animated skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur, can not tell which one, possibly a tyrannosaurus. But the skeleton is equipped with two machine guns on its arms and a mini gun on its back. It is seriously awesome.

So the album art definitely grabs attention, but the music really keeps it. An album is disappointing if the music does not live up to the artwork on the cover. Luckily Striker is not a disappointment. This is Canadian speed metal, very much in the vein of Exciter and other underground bands from the Great White North. The music is certainly energetic and fast-paced and it is almost impossible not to find your self keeping time with it.

I will say that my first listen to Striker did not lead to me being terribly impressive. The vocals kind of turned me off on the first attempt at the album, but on repeated listens, this was less and less of a problem. The vocals are very similar to those in other power/speed metal bands like Hibria and Lost Horizon. So if you enjoy those bands, you will likely not have any problems with Striker's vocalist.

The music really resembles the kind of album that would have come out in the early 1980's when metal was still finding its own voice away from the glam and arena rock sound. The result is music that definitely gets blood pumping while remaining heavy enough that it would not have been heard on the LA strip in the mid 1980's. There are a lot of bands playing this style of metal these days, so groups need to be really impressive to stand out from the litany of groups that sound the same. Luckily for Striker, their keen sense of songwriting and penchant for writing fist-pumping anthems like "It Could be Worse" and "Feed the Fire" is just what they need to stand out.

Forlorn Chambers: Unborn and Hollow

I mentioned some time ago that I have been getting some random packages from Finnish bands.  Well I initially thought this was pretty random until I was digging through some old emails and actually came across the email requesting me to review Forlorn Chambers.  I must be getting old.  I am slipping.  I will blame work for it.

Anyway, on to Forlorn Chambers.  This is a very short, three-song EP, which is disappointing because there is some really intriguing stuff here.  Forlorn Chambers is a death/doom metal band in the vein of Insomnium, a band I very much enjoy.  The music is oftentimes incredibly solemn, and yet it retains an aggressive bite to it.  The lead vocals in particular are delivered in a sharp and aggressive low-pitched growl.

The first track is a slower one with a lot of emotion behind the tremolo riffs and melodic guitar leads.  The second track is a little faster, but it retains the melodic tremolo riffs.  The backing vocals are clean and add a level of eeriness to the sound.  The final track sounds a lot like the aforementioned Insomnium with a pained delivery and sense of mourning throughout much of the proceedings with the occasional much more hopeful moment, such as the buildup halfway through.  It is fittingly titled "Desolate Resolution".

I really enjoyed this EP.  I like a lot of the melodic death/doom metal bands and Forlorn Chambers definitely belongs in this group.  Forlorn Chambers has a strong grasp on blending the solemness of doom metal with the aggression of death metal.  This mix is particularly potent in the hands of this band.

FMA Reviews: Joel Grind's Yellowgoat: The Yellowgoat Sessions

Originally reviewed here.

I am not really sure what this session is that is referred to in the above title. Joel Grind is the mastermind behind Toxic Holocaust, which is a band I particularly enjoy due to its mix of thrash and early punk, calling to mind Hellhammer, Bathory, and Venom. This Yellowgoat project is not considerably different than Toxic Holocaust although it tends to settle more on the speed metal/hard rock stylings of Motorhead, which of course was a big influence on the earlier-named bands. So I am not really sure what to say to introduce this recording. It's basically Toxic Holocaust but with a different name.

I suppose the major distinction between this release and the more recent Toxic Holocaust albums is that this has a little bit more of a rock 'n roll vibe to it. It grooves and swings a bit more than previous albums. Is that enough to distinguish entirely from Grind's other big project? Who knows? But at least it is something of a distinction rather than saying that this is a Joel Grind project with a different name but the same sound.

Obviously if you have heard Toxic Holocaust before, you are going to have an idea of what this project sounds like. But for those that have not, it is fast-paced, thrashy speed metal with some early black metal influences. Yellowgoat sounds like a band out of the early 1980's at the time that Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory were just starting to break. First wave black metal with a lot of Motorhead influences.

This album is a lot of fun. It is a fun album to listen to while exceeding the speed limit down the highway. Probably. I don't know I haven't done it, I swear. But I am still not completely sure why this is not just a new Toxic Holocaust album.