2000's Favorite Melodic Death Albums

Amon Amarth: The Crusher: Tough to pick just one album from this band, but if forced, this one wins.

Apophis: I am Your Blindness: Criminally underrated German death metal band with powerful melodies.

Arsis: United in Regret: Technical melodeath band from America proves to have stunning abilities for both technicality and catchiness.

Dark Tranquillity: Character: Melodeath masters on one of their most powerful albums.

In Flames: Clayman: The last great album by the Swedish melodeath powerhouse.

Insomnium: Above the Weeping World: Heart-wrenching melodic death with doom elements from Finland.

Kalmah: They Will Return: Finnish melodic death metal speedsters inject some elements of power metal a la their countrymen Children of Bodom.

Mors Principium Est: Liberation=Termination: Finnish band massively influenced by Gothenburg style and incorporating technoesque effects.

Omnium Gatherum: The Red Shift: Finnish band that is part of a new wave of melodic death.

Skyfire: Spectral: Swedish melodeath band that mixes in elements of power and progressive metal.

Happy 40th Birthday Heavy Metal

On today's date 40 years ago, a landmark album was released. It was the album that kick-started the entire heavy metal genre. Even today, this album sounds as fresh, original, and scary as it did when it was first released. It has now been 40 years since Black Sabbath was first released. By virtue of this fact, heavy metal is now 40 years old. And it is still going strong. Happy Birthday heavy metal.

Blog Link: Bands You Love to Hate?

http://www.anus.com/metal/about/metal/hate/
Metalheads have wide-ranging opinions about their music. I often tell my fiancee that metalheads are very elitist. We were watching the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey the other day and she remarked that she clearly understood just what I mean when I say that we're elitist. A lot of us genuinely believe that we are somehow better than others because of what we listen to. I may or may not be one of those people. It depends on my mood and on the type of clients I have had that day. One thing is for sure though: oftentimes we even look down on other metalheads for the bands they like. The above linked article is a clear example of that.

Here we have an individual who is very outspoken in his criticism against bands. He takes his music very seriously. While I hate a great deal of bands (particularly bands who try to latch onto the metal label while not actually playing metal), it's rare for me to really despise a metal band. It happens. I have mentioned on this blog my disdain for groups like Sunn O))), Isis, Neurosis, and the like. But I don't vehemently oppose these bands. This guy hates quite a few groups, many of which have managed to gain a significant amount of mainstream success. Some of the bands just have annoying fans, and he seems to hate the bands because of the fans.

I want to run down the list and give my personal opinion. I won't complain about his choices or reasoning, just air my own feelings.

Dethklok: This is the cartoon "band" from the Metalocalypse TV show on Cartoon Network. I am not a fan of the show, though I have seen it on a few occasions. I've never been entirely sure if it was laughing at metal or laughing with metal. It's even less clear when the "band" goes on tour with non-metal bands, as they often do. I have heard a couple of songs and while they are obviously not serious songs, they don't completely turn me off. This is a joke band, like Spinal Tap. It's not offensive, it's not great, it just exists.

Cannibal Corpse: I happen to thoroughly enjoy some of Cannibal Corpse's stuff. Yes they're violent, yes they're silly, yes they're grotesque. They are all of these things. But they also enjoy what they're doing and work hard to improve. It's obvious just how much when you listen to Eaten Back to Life and Evisceration Plague back to back. They don't take themselves seriously. Cannibal Corpse is made up of a bunch of nerds who love horror movies and wanted to express that in their own medium.

Opeth: Opeth is a band I have enjoyed for a very long time, since I started getting into extreme metal. While their later albums tend towards more of the progressive passages, it is their ability to move between the heavy and the beautiful that is captivating. There are not a lot of bands capable of these dynamic changes. Their mid-era material is without peer.

Meshuggah: This is one of those bands with really annoying fans. I like Meshuggah's earliest material when they were a death/thrash metal band experimenting with odd time signatures and eternally fluctuating riffs. Their Contradictions Collapse album is an absolute mindfuck. Unfortunately, as time went on, they became obsessed with out-teching themselves and other upstart bands and the music was lost. Now, it's often difficult to listen to Meshuggah. Worse yet, their distorted riffs are beginning to attain a Slipknot quality. Yikes.

Cradle of Filth: Cradle of Filth is a bit of a difficult band to categorize. They have played styles similar to black metal, gothic metal, and death metal, with the occasional thrash riff thrown in. Oftentimes, the biggest complaint is with Dani Filth's high-pitched screeching vocals. But the band's lyrics and storytelling are amazing. Filth has clearly studied a lot of gothic horror and puts this knowledge to great use in crafting the band's sordid tales of lust and death. That and his unique phrasing of the lyrics make this an interesting band to listen to. The music is very atmospheric and dark as well.

Ulver: I admit it. I am not familiar with this band. I will not comment further.

Necrophagist: Necrophagist is like Meshuggah, except where Meshuggah's instrumental focus is on the drums, Necrophagist concentrates on the guitar. Fast, wheedling guitar leads are interwoven throughout the pounding drums. Clearly based in death metal, Necrophagist's greatest strength is in these technical, blazing guitar lines. Their songs are not nearly as long as Meshuggah's, making for an intense listening experience.

Baroness: I am only somewhat familiar with this band. I know Decibel was all over them last year as they took home the coveted (?) Album of the Year from the magazine. I know they play a style of stoner doom, but that's all I know.

In Flames: Sure they play death metal versions of Iron Maiden riffs. That's what's interesting about them. Or, at least it was, until the band was able to break through to the mainstream and vastly simplified their sound. Still, the one thing they kept was their pop sensibility. In Flames has always been able to write a real catchy chorus. They had some great albums in the late 1990's too.

Rammstein: NFM. No comment.

Cynic: Cynic is an enigma. Clearly beginning as a death metal band, they started infusing their music with jazz fusion influences. It sounds a hell of a lot better than one would think. Extremely gifted musicians, Cynic is also able to put together some great songs. However, their most notable feature is the use of vocoder vocals, which was done by accident on Focus. It caught on, so they kept at it.

Wolves in the Throne Room: It wasn't all that long ago that this band was all over every metal board. I'm not sure what happened that people have moved away from them. Maybe they realized the band was fairly boring. As you can tell, I am not a fan.

Boris: This is one of those weird bands that almost plays a different style every album. None of their styles have appealed to me so I have never taken the time to listen to them. No regrets.

Sunn O))): Pass.

Pantera: Pantera has always been a bit of a controversial band in metal circles. On one hand, they were trendhoppers. On the other, they essentially kept the genre afloat in the mainstream when grunge hit. At first, they were a terrible glam band. Then they began mixing power and thrash metal on the awesome Cowboys from Hell album. Then they stole Exhorder's style of groove metal. While not a bad band, the groove metal style quickly became a joke. But Pantera was still far better at it than most other copycats. The music may be simple, but it's also quite good at getting people moving in the pit.

2000's Favorite Death Metal Albums

Behemoth: Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond): Polish purveyors of darkness begin their death metal period after playing black metal for several albums.

Bolt Thrower: Those Once Loyal: One of the most consistent death metal bands on possibly their best album.

Deicide: The Stench of Redemption: The most evil band in the U.S. is reinvigorated on this album by the inclusion of Ralph Santolla on lead guitar.

Hacavitz: Katun: Mexican death metal band proves that it's not all sunshine south of the border.

Immolation: Shadows in the Light: Pioneering brutal death metal band still has it nearly 20 years later.

Nile: In Their Darkened Shrines: Everyone's favorite Egyptian-themed death metallers on arguably, their best and heaviest album.

Nox: Ixaxaar: Sick, brutal, and heavily Satanic death metal from Netherlands.

Septicflesh: Communion: Death metal with a Greek feel and some interesting instrumentation.

Thornafire: Exacerbated Gnostic Manifestation: Chilean band mixes the best of old school death and modern death metal.

Yyrkoon: Occult Medicine: French death metal band with a tribute album to Dr. Herbert West, Lovecraft's Re-Animator.

Great Band, Terrible Album Pt. 7: Opeth: Damnation

I really like Opeth. I know there are a lot of metalheads out there that believe the band is boring as hell, but I'm not one of them. Opeth was one of the first extreme metal bands I really got into. I remember buying my first Opeth album on Halloween night back in 2001 along with the Tristania album World of Glass. It was an amazing listen. It was heavy, yet melodic. The band took breaks from rumbling death metal parts to play beautiful acoustic passages. It gave the band dynamics I had not heard much in the genre up to that point. I like the band so much that they were the first real metal band I took my fiancee to see with me. I had taken her to Trans-Siberian Orchestra the fall before, but that doesn't quite count for obvious reasons.

In the time since I first started listening to Opeth, I have picked up almost all of their albums. The only ones I have not picked up to this point are Morningrise and their most recent album. That's not to say I won't pick them up in the future. It's entirely possible, though I have not been thrilled with some of their latest albums. Most Opeth albums are pretty decent though and the band always had that different dynamic. They could be really soft or really hard and they would alternate those sounds.

With one exception.

Damnation is an experimental album for the band. Opeth decided that it was not going to play with the alternating styles on one album. They cut out the heavy parts and kept all of the progressive, soft parts. Now these parts are okay in the context of the heavy metal the band normally plays, but when they are on their own, the general feel is lost. I'm not saying I would be interested in an Opeth album with all of the soft parts removed though. Opeth's appeal is their ability to play both styles and meld them effortlessly. When one style is taken away, it feels as though something huge is missing. This album does not feel complete, even though each song is clearly complete on its own. Some of the songs are very beautiful. The soft songs throughout the entire album just do not hold interest well enough to make the album worth it.

2000's Favorite Black Metal Albums

Averse Sefira: Tetragrammatical Astygmata: Texan black metallists prove America can do the style as well as anyone.

Dark Fortress: Eidolon: German melodic black metal band breaks through and puts earlier predecessors like Dimmu Borgir to shame.

Dawn of Azazel: The Law of the Strong: New Zealanders combine black, death, and thrash metal into an extremely toxic stew that explodes out of the speakers.

Destroyer 666: Defiance: The best album of 2009, no contest.

Goatwhore: Carving Out the Eyes of God: Toxic stew of black, death, thrash, and sludge metal.

Impaled Nazarene: All that You Fear: You know what you're getting with this band: lightning fast, chaotic punk-influenced black metal.

Impiety: Formidonis Nex Cultus: Pure hellish brutality from Singapore.

Melechesh: Emissaries: Black metal from Jerusalem that takes on Sumerian/Babylonian mythology with Middle Eastern folk influences.

Primordial: To the Nameless Dead: Heart-wrenching Celtic black metal from Ireland.

Rotting Christ: Theogonia: The band with one of the most blasphemous names imaginable is surprisingly melodic and extremely good.

2000's Favorite Doom Albums

Candlemass: Candlemass: Reformation of the band with its most popular singer, for one album before band members realized they still hated him.

Coffins: Buried Death: Japanese death/doom band sounds like a heavily medicated Celtic Frost.

Grand Magus: Iron Will: The best album from 2008 is a traditional doom metal album.

Heaven and Hell: The Devil You Know: The second Black Sabbath lineup reincarnated can still bring the doom.

High on Fire: Death is this Communion: Sludgy, dirty doom with thrash metal influences from a former member of Sleep.

Novembers Doom: The Novella Reservoir: Sullen, dreary doom metal from Chicago giants.

Reverend Bizarre: II-Crush the Insects: Trad doom throwbacks speed things up early then revert to agonizingly slow, long dirges.

Swallow the Sun: The Morning Never Came: Eerily beautiful but leaves the listener with a sense of dread and hopeless isolation.

Syrach: Days of Wrath: Norwegian doom metal that is catchy, haunting, and terrifying.

The Gates of Slumber: Conqueror: Great traditional doom metal that sounds like Sabbath and Candlemass in a blender.

Initial Impressions: Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King

Savatage is not nearly as well-known as the band that they later became. It's a shame. Savatage began as a traditional metal band but began adding progressive elements more and more, eventually becoming a full-fledged progressive metal band around the time that Queensryche and Fates Warning were around and predating Dream Theater. The band has always had a flair for the dramatic and also began incorporating more and more symphonic elements to their music. On their 1994 album, a song appeared called "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" and took the band in a different direction. They became Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

But this album came way before all of that, when they were just beginning to become the progressive metal Savatage.

This was the band's first commercially successful album. The title track was made into a video (a very cheesy one featuring a dwarf stealing treasure from the lair of a sleeping giant) which was aired on MTV. There was also a video made for "24 Hours Ago". The album was much more complex than the earlier works of the band which were more straightforward traditional metal. The arrangements were more intricate and the band often incorporated classical music elements. In particular, the track "Prelude to Madness" which leads into "Hall of the Mountain King" is an arrangement of the classical piece "In the Hall of the Mountain King" as well as featuring a partial arrangement of "Mars, the Bringer of War".

This was the album that pushed Savatage in the progressive metal direction, but it would be a little while before they perfected the sound. This album mostly features traditional heavy metal songs with the occasional complex arrangement or progressive structure. The vocals are mostly delivered in a high-pitched, harsher tone.

This is probably the band's most well-known and best album. A couple of albums later, they would start doing rock operas. Then, guitarist Criss Oliva (brother of vocalist Jon Oliva), died in a car accident and the band was never the same. This album came at a much brighter time for Savatage.

Initial Impressions: Angel Witch: Angel Witch

For some reason, a lot of the bands from the NWOBHM have not become real well-known. Oh sure, there are the huge bands that everyone knows like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard (early years), and Motorhead. And there is the second tier of bands that most metalheads have heard of, like Venom, Saxon, Diamond Head, Blitzkrieg, and Girlschool. But there were a ton of NWOBHM bands. Many of whom only released a 7 inch vinyl single. Angel Witch is one of the second tier bands. They are reasonably well-known, mostly because of this album, their debut release. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth even recently appeared on the cover of an issue of Decibel wearing an Angel Witch t-shirt.

This is the third reissue of the album, labelled the 25th Anniversary Edition. The album came out in 1980 with ten tracks. In 1990, it was reissued with an additional three tracks. In 2000, it was reissued again with three more tracks in addition to the other thirteen. Then in 2005, this edition was released with four more tracks, bringing the total to 20 and 78 minutes of music. That's probably a bit much.

The music is fairly typical for the NWOBHM: fast riffs, catchy choruses, higher register vocals, short songs, and an overall lively sound. The NWOBHM for the most part brought speed to heavy metal. Bands played faster than the original metal band Black Sabbath. It's why the genre was so instrumental in the formation of thrash.

The best song on the album is the title track "Angel Witch" which has become a classic track and even appeared on the Brutal Legend soundtrack. It represents an almost perfect view of the NWOBHM in general. It features all of the well-known qualities of the music. The rest of the songs follow in much the same formula.

In recent months, I have worked to become better acquainted with the 1980's metal scene in general. In particular, the NWOBHM has been a goal. This album is one of the best representations of that genre for good reason. It is essential listening for anyone interested in the short-lived NWOBHM.

Initial Impressions: Omen: Battle Cry

When most people think of American metal in the 1980's, they think of hair bands that may or may not actually be metal. They think of groups like Motley Crue, Poison, Whitesnake, Warrant, and the like. However, other forms of metal were also taking hold. There was of course the thrash metal scene. Arising out of that was the death metal scene. But the power metal scene was also taking form in the U.S. Influenced by the NWOBHM almost exclusively, a sound was emerging that was not as frenzied as thrash, but was by no means less powerful. Manowar was perhaps the best example of this. Omen is another one.

One can easily hear that Omen is influenced by Iron Maiden. It is obvious from the interweaving guitar melodies around the main drum and bass riff and the soaring vocals. The band also occasionally shows off its ability to do the galloping riffs Iron Maiden is well-known for. The music is mid-paced, not real fast, but not slow either. The vocals are delivered in a rich, low tenor. The songs are all right around the four minute mark and are very catchy. They don't drag at all or rush things. Everything is well-developed.

This is a band that is somewhat forgotten from the mid 1980's. But, they were an important part of the development of power metal in the U.S. Along with groups like Manowar and Manilla Road, Omen helped to push this newer genre further in the U.S.

Initial Impressions: Saxorior: Volkerschlacht

I admit, this band was not what I thought it would be. I first heard the band a couple of years back when they appeared on a sampler CD in an issue of Metal Maniacs. There was also a brief article on the band. I was, for some reason, under the impression that they were much more of a folk black metal band. I was wrong. Saxorior plays melodic black metal. But, they play it real well and incorporate some interesting elements.

The band certainly doesn't make its genre of music obvious from the album cover, featuring an 18th century battle on horseback. It's the kind of thing you see from Arghoslent covers as well. Nevertheless, once you get past that album artwork, on comes the blackened onslaught.

The lead-in track features some snare drumming similar to that of the British in the Revolutionary War. Bit it leads into something far more sinister-sounding. The drum patterns do continue throughout and there are frequent parts that sound like battle hymns. There are some elements of music that can be considered folk-inspired, but the majority of the music is strongly based around black metal.

This was a sleeper release a couple of years back for this German band. It's another of those rare gems that can be uncovered with a little bit of digging. It's an extremely interesting album and well worth the listen.

Initial Impressions: Sarcolytic: Thee Arcane Progeny

Sarcolytic is a brutal death metal band that was originally formed as a side project of members of Disgorge and Images of Violence. This is the first very good release of 2010.

There are basically two styles of brutal death metal. The first style is pure brutality without a trace of melody. The second type has melody and some very technical riffing and guitar leads. Sarcolytic falls into the second style. The blastbeating drums and thundering bass is often accompanied by melodic guitar leads playing highly technical melodies. The tiem signature changes somehwat frequently and the tempo fluctuates wildly. The vocals are delivered in a typical growling death metal style.

As mentioned, this is the first very good release of the new year. This band puts more mainstream brutal death metal acts to shame. The constant barrage of riffs and drumming makes for a brutal listening experience, but this is one album that deserves to be noticed. It's a shame that it will more than likely fly under the radar.

Initial Impressions: Evile: Infected Nations

Evile is part of the so-called "retro thrash" movement. The band is based out of the U.K. which, despite its legacy as the de facto birthplace of metal, actually does not have many thrash metal bands to call its own. Evile, Onslaught, and Sabbat are the most notable. This was the band's final album with bassist Mike Alexander who died of a pulmonary embolism in 2009.

Evile is obviously heavily influenced by thrash metal acts of the 1980's such as Exodus, Dark Angel, Overkill, and others. Their clearest influence though is Slayer. It has often been stated that the band's debut album was "the best Slayer album in years". Or, it was just stated by me. Whatever.

The band has created its own sound on this album, distancing themselves from the Slayer comparisons. The music is aggressive and powerful, featuring fast riffs and faster guitar solos. The songs are a little on the longer side, only one song is less than five minutes. The riffs repeat endlessly, giving the listener the effect of being steamrolled. It is angry, violent music.

Evile has been considered by many people to be one of the better "retro thrash" bands and they prove why here. This is a very good up-and-coming band. Along with Warbringer and Skeletonwitch, Evile proves there is some originality in this mostly backwards-looking movement.

Initial Impressions: Razor: Violent Restitution

Somewhere in the Great White North in the 1980's, metal was taking hold. Canada has a fairly rich history of heavy metal developing in the 1980's. Canadian bands ran the gamut between thrash (Sacrifice, Slaughter, Voivod) to death (Cryptopsy, Gorguts). Canadian bands often play with some more experimentation than their American counterparts. Nevertheless, there are some bands highly equipped to deal with the straighforward metal styles. Razor is a terrific thrash metal band from Canada.

Being from Canada, Razor is not real well-known, even by the standards of their home country. Most people think of groups like Slaughter and Sacrifice when they think of Canadian thrash metal. It's a shame too, because this is a very underrated band.

Razor plays fast thrash metal most similar to the East Coast thrash acts like Overkill and Anthrax. The riffs fly past at a lightning-fast clip, with pummelling drum patterns and throbbing bass. The vocals are shouted in a style similar to many American thrash metal acts. The songs are fast and somewhat short, making this a short, but frenzied listen. The album has 14 tracks on it, but they fly by so fast it seems like they have half that.

This is a truly underrated album by a truly underrated band. If you're looking for good 1980's thrash and are tired of the Bay Area and German scenes, check this band out.

Initial Impressions: Metal Church: Metal Church

When I was just getting into metal and looking for Metallica albums, I often saw Metal Church albums right around the same area. I often wondered what the band sounded like, because they were on the same label as Metallica Elektra, and had a somewhat similar name, in that both bands have "metal" in their name. Lars Ulrich even tried out for the band on drums at one point and was instrumental in getting them signed to their label. Nevertheless, it would be years before I actually picked up an album by the band. I don't really have an explanation, that's just how it worked out.

Despite their association, Metal Church is not terribly similar to Metallica musically. Metal Church was an early band considered thrash metal, but their style was more closely related to 1980's American power metal or traditional metal than thrash metal. They were heavily influenced by the NWOBHM, but not as much by punk, and they did not play nearly as fast as other early thrash metal acts like Metallica, Slayer, and Overkill.

This is the band's self-titled debut album. It features the sound that the band would become known for. It is melodic and heavy, but not nearly as harsh as other thrash metal acts of the time. The music is mid-paced, but lively. The riffs are memorable and catchy. There are frequent guitar solos. The vocals are typically delivered in a harsher raspy singing voice similar to NWOBHM acts.

This is a classic metal album and it's not hard to see why. The songs are very well-written and infectious. All of the individual musicians are extremely competent. Metal Church's career lasted approximately 25 years and though they never had much mainstream success, they were a beloved band in the metal underground.

Initial Impressions: Militia: Released

Some labels have picked up on bands that have never issued a full length release, but instead are limited to a collection of demos and compilations. Militia is one of those bands, like XINR, Nirvana 2002, and Nihilist. Militia was a power/thrash metal band in the 1980's that released a series of demos, but no full-length album. One label eventually picked up the rights to the demos and released them as a compilation. It's nice that there are labels like that out there. Otherwise, a lot of music might never be heard.

I ordered this album off of the Rockadrome label site along with Devastation, Slauter Xstroyes, and Watchtower. So what do we have here?

The label lists their The Sybling EP as a collectors' classic. That might be overstating things a bit, but this is clearly some well-written 1980's style metal. The production value is a little muddy, but it's cleaned up enough to fully hear all of the instrumentation. The bass seems to be the driving force behind this band, thundering away beneath the guitar riffs and soaring vocals. The singer has a powerful voice somewhat reminiscent of Flotsam and Jetsam's early vocals. The vocals do get a little painful to listen to once in awhile, but it's rare. Anyone who listens to 1980's metal probably can listen to this without a problem.

Overall, the album is a good look at a band who never made it.

Metal Pets Pt. 7: Voodoo Vegas

Meet the newest member of the Metallattorney family. This is Voodoo. He is a kitten from my fiancee's parents' recent farm cat litter. He is related to Twizzy. Most likely he is both his grandchild and nephew. Therefore, grandson/nephew. We've had him for a couple of months now. He has definitely livened up the household and keeps the other animals on their toes. His favorite thing to do is to take his cat cube around for a drive around the living room, attacking all animals and people that get in his way. He doesn't know it yet, but eventually he will lose those damn claws.

Weekly Recap: Jan. 31-Feb. 6

Well it's the first week of February and it was again a very busy week. I spent most of the week trying to track down one of my clients to sign settlement documents. Eventually, she turned up in jail. I spent all day yesterday driving down to the jail to collect the necessary signatures. Beyond that, we got more snow each of the last two days. Just when it looked like it was actually going to warm up and the snow would be gone.

In the metal world:
-The Grammys were on Sunday. I did not watch but Judas Priest finally won one. Good for them. Apparently someone won the award for best album, etc. but I have no idea who.

-Trivium replaced their drummer Travis Smith with Nick Augusto. Drums haven't been one of the band's strengths.

-Charred Walls of the Damned released their debut album. The band is a side project of drummer Richard Christy, now better known for his work on the Howard Stern radio program. The band also has bass mercenary Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Autopsy, Testament, Iced Earth, Sadus, etc., etc., etc.), Jason Suecof, best known for his production work on Trivium and other mainstream metal bands, and Ripper Owens, onetime singer for Judas Priest and Iced Earth.

-Triptykon released their album cover. It's H.R. Giger, so it's freaky. Triptykon is the new band of Tom G. Warrior after the latest breakup of Celtic Frost.

-Everyone's favorite a cappella metal band Van Canto released their new video, which features the first ever (I think, and it damn well better be) a cappella breakdown. It's about what you would expect.

-Slayer, Megadeth, and Testament will be on tour together and have one stop in Kansas City, only about five hours from here. Which begs the question, should I try to convince the fiancee to go to that concert or stick to Kamelot/Leaves' Eyes/Blackguard instead? Hmm. I'm sure she'll weigh in.

Here's the list of albums I listened to this week, brought to you apparently by the letter A. That was totally unintentional.
3 Inches of Blood: Advance and Vanquish
Abominable Putridity: In the End of Human Existence
Absu: Absu
Alice in Chains: Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains: Dirt
Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue
Alice in Chains: Unplugged
Amon Amarth: The Crusher
Anal Vomit: Depravation
Angel Witch: Angel Witch
Apophis: Heliopolis
Arsis: United in Regret
Asphyx: Death...The Brutal Way
Asphyx: Last One on Earth
At the Gates: The Red in the Sky is Ours
Atomizer: The Only Weapon of Choice-13 Odes to Power, Decimation, and Conquest
Black Sabbath: Vol. 4
Blind Guardian: A Twist in the Myth
Bolt Thrower: Those Once Loyal
Borknagar: Empiricism
Death: Symbolic
Devastation: Idolatry
Devourment: 1.3.8
Enslaved: Below the LightsEvocation: Tales from the Tomb
Fight: War of Words
Forgotten Tomb: Negative Megalomania
Graveworm: Scourge of Malice
Hail of Bullets: ...Of Frost and War
Helloween: Gambling with the Devil
Immolation: Shadows in the Light
Jerry Cantrell: Boggy Depot
Judas Priest: Angel of Retribution
Katalepsy: Musick Brings Injuries
Kawir: Ophiolatreia
Krisiun: Southern Storm
Machine Head: The Burning Red
Manowar: Kings of Metal
Megadeth: Countdown to Extinction
Metallica: Garage Inc.
Moonspell: Darkness and Hope
Omen: Battle Cry
Orphaned Land: Mabool
Ozzy Osbourne: Diary of a Madman
Rotting Christ: Sanctus Diavolos
Rotting Christ: Theogonia
Sarcofago: Rotting
Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King
Saxorior: Volkerschlacht
Sepultura: Chaos A.D.
Skyfire: Spectral
Slauter Xstroyes: Winter Kill
Slayer: Diabolus in Musicana
Sonata Arctica: Silence
Thanatos: Justified Genocide
Thornafire: Exacerbated Gnostic Manifestation
Thornafire: Vorex Deconstruccion
Vomit Remnants: Supreme Vehemence
Watchtower: Energetic Disassembly
Wormed: Planisphaerium

Initial Impressions: Devastation: Idolatry

Devastation is an early death/thrash metal band from the U.S. The most comparable band is probably Demolition Hammer. Extremely heavy thrash metal bordering on death with harsh vocals. The album is largely forgotten because it came out just shortly before the grunge wave occurred which effectively killed off most metal as far as mainstream interest and success is concerned.

The band features several talented musicians and has explosive riffs, powerful drumming, and incendiary guitar solos. The vocals as mentioned above are harsh, but not quite death growls. The music is generally mid-paced thrash that occasionally moves into very fast tempos, particularly around the guitar solos. The solos themselves come from the Kerry King school of though: cram as many notes into a solo as fast as possible, but generally these solos are a bit longer than King's.

The album is a bit on the long side. Devastation is a band, like Metallica, Intruder, Dark Angel, and others, that believes is more is better. More riffs, more verses, more solos. Nevertheless, the band never wears out its welcome. This is a good album that is a forgotten gem.

Initial Impressions: Watchtower: Energetic Disassembly

Watchtower is another band from the 1980's. Watchtower, along with Anacrusis, was one of the first thrash metal bands to begin incorporating progressive metal elements in their music. Arguably, Watchtower may have hit upon this mixture prior to Anacrusis. The band is yet another 1980's band that broke up in the early to mid 1990's when metal was not selling very well, only to reunite some time later.

Watchtower has been getting some more publicity in recent years. Decibel recently inducted their 1989 album into its Hall of Fame and metal fans have been discovering the band.

The music is essentially a combination of Bay Area thrash with Rush-style prog-metal. The music is complex with frequently changing riffs and swirling guitar leads. The drumming is complex and the bass has some occasional elements similar to funk. The vocals sound similar to those of other thrash wailers and sound most similar to Phil Anselmo's higher pitched vocals on songs like "Domination" and "Heresy".

This is a really good album that kind of got lost in the shuffle of great 1980's metal. It's a good thing that this band has developed a cult following that has allowed it to reform and continue assaulting the ears of listeners.