For a short period of time a few years back, Landmine Marathon was the subject of a ton of hype. Most of it was due to Revolver Magazine slobbering all over themselves at the thought of a pretty girl fronting a death/grind band. Actually, that was damn near all of it. Unfortunately, Landmine Marathon was much better known for Grace Perry than for their sound, which is kind of a shame. I actually really enjoyed the band and picked up their first two full-length albums on CD when they were fairly new. They were also featured in my Honorable Mentions post for my Favorite New Bands of the 2000's.
I sort of drifted away from the band after their second album. I did not even know they released anything else, much less two other albums before Perry left the band. I do not really know why that happened, but Landmine Marathon attempted to move forward, replacing Perry with Krysta Curry. Technically the band is still active but has not released anything since the switch in singers. I am curious as to what Perry is up to these days. It does not appear she stayed in metal.
This is not a complete box set collection, it only contains the second, third, and fourth albums out of the band's five total albums. That is okay because these are the better albums from the band and contain two of the releases of which I am most familiar. Landmine Marathon's sound is based mostly in the sounds of early death/grind bands like Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Napalm Death. Grace Perry is the star of the band on these releases, with her impressive full-throated roar, through she is not the band's driving force.
This could be a better box set if it included everything from the band. It is nice to get a few of the albums together, but there are two albums missing. And those are the harder ones to find. So, not a bad set, but not as good as it could be.
I picked up both of these albums from a seller in Canada off of Discogs. I'm not sure how I ended up with two underrated U.K. albums from the same seller in Canada, but whatever.
ONSLAUGHT: THE FORCE (1986)
This is actually my third Onslaught album, and thus far the best one I have heard. I do not know nearly as much as I should about this amazing U.K.-based thrash metal band. My first experience with the band was 2013's VI, which was a very good modern thrash metal album. After that, I picked up the Steve Grimmett-led In Search of Sanity, which is apparently not terribly representative of the band's typical sound. So I tried this one, and holy fuck I am glad I did. You see, I am a big fan of Slayer, but my absolute favorite album by them is Show No Mercy which was their debut album and was more of a NWOBHM-influenced album than the brutal brand of thrash metal that most people know of their sound. This album by Onslaught is very similar to Show No Mercy. It is pure Venom-worshipping thrash metal with some absolutely incredible songs. This is not only my favorite album by Onslaught, it might be up there with Sabbat's Dreamweaver as my favorite U.K. thrash metal album.
SKYCLAD: THE WAYWARD SONS OF MOTHER EARTH (1991)
Speaking of Sabbat, Skyclad is frontman Martin Walkyier's band after leaving the great, underrated thrash metal band. Skyclad was one of the pioneering bands in folk metal, fusing Irish melodies and instrumentation into thrashy, Iron Maiden-esque riffs. Of course the highlight of the album is Walkyier's staccato barking vocals. Walkyier has one of the great vocal styles in thrash metal and it is on full display throughout this album. As much as I love Walkyier's work, for some reason I have just not gone through much of his stuff. I have just one Sabbat album, which I absolutely love, and now two Skyclad albums, both of which I really enjoy as well. Well, that will likely become one of my goals. There is really only one other Sabbat album, which will likely be the next one I check out, but there is quite a bit of Skyclad material.
RUNNING WILD: DEATH OR GLORY (1989)
For some reason, I only recently decided to check out Running Wild. The German power/speed metal band has been around for 40 years, yet I never took the plunge. It was only a few months ago that I added Blazon Stone to my collection and loved it. So I picked up this release which was the album that immediately preceded Blazon Stone and I love it even more. Running Wild, along with Blind Guardian and Helloween, really helped usher in the European style of power metal. This album is filled with terrific, pulse-pounding burners with infectious hooks and choruses. The middle tracks drag just a little bit, particularly with the instrumental "Highland Glory" and its oddly bouncy bass riff, but it picks right back up on "Marooned". I was a little concerned when I saw the tile "Bad to the Bone" that Running Wild might be attempting an ill-advised cover, but this song is an original and quite catchy. After two positive experiences, I will be checking out additional material by Running Wild. There is a lot of stuff to go through yet.
NUCLEAR ASSAULT: GAME OVER (1986)
Nuclear Assault is the band that really got me into crossover. I had heard groups like Suicidal Tendencies and Prong, and even the Corrosion of Conformity stuff that was more crossover-oriented, but it was when I checked out "Critical Mass" again that I was really sold on the genre. I loved the album that that song appeared on Handle with Care as well. So, when I had an opportunity to add their debut album to my collection, I jumped on it. I do not like this one quite as much as the aforementioned album though. The band had not fully grown into their sound on this release. It is more of a straight thrash metal album than the later release. There are a lot of great songs on this album, but some of the tracks are clearly done to be humorous and end up falling a little flat. There is nothing inherently wrong with doing humor in metal, but it does not always work, and this is one of those occasions. The more serious tracks are definitely the standouts and keep the album interesting.
GRUESOME: DIMENSIONS OF HORROR (2016)
First of all, I love this album cover. Just some excellent Lovecraftian-style horror. I have been somewhat familiar with Gruesome for a little while. The band was started by Matt Harvey (not the Mets pitcher, the guitarist for Exhumed, Dekapitator, and others) and some other longtime death metal musicians, as a way to pay tribute to Death. The sound of the band is clearly based on the early works of the great death metal pioneers, particularly Scream Bloody Gore. There is a breakdown in the title track that absolutely calls to mind one in Death's "Zombie Ritual". Gruesome has only released one full-length album so far, which brings me to the only problem that I have with this release: it is just an EP. Hopefully Gruesome will release a new full-length album soon. In the meantime, this is some good stuff for anyone looking for something like the early Death albums.
These are just some random tapes that did not fit in with any real category.
FVRLVRN: DEMO 2016 (2016)
I am pretty sure that pronunciation is supposed to be "Forlorn", but I could be way off base. This is an extremely quick and dirty demo from a band experimenting with combining black metal and grindcore, two styles that I am not sure get mixed together too often. The band features two members of blackened slam (also two styles that do not get mixed often) outfit Hateful Transgression, a band whose demo tape I am still trying to find after originally ordering it from the label only to find that it was no longer active. There are some interesting moments on this release, in particular the drum blast in opening track "Crawling Inside" that is so fast it sounds like a motor sputtering to life. The black metal parts mostly come from the vocal style, which is often a rasping shriek rather than the more typical grindcore style. There are some riffs here and there that are more black metal in nature as well. Otherwise, it is more of a death/grind release. Fvrlvrn deserves credit for trying something new. I still prefer Hateful Transgression personally and will hopefully one day find that demo tape. Fvrlvrn recently changed their name to Morgue Walker.
SEAX: SPEED METAL MANIA (2016)
Well, with a title like that, you pretty much know what to expect: balls-to-the-wall pure fucking metal, and that is what you get. The Motorhead and Exciter covers hidden in the album cover art are some additional clues. The combination of those two bands is a pretty decent way to describe the band's sound, definitely fast-paced with soaring vocals and sing-along choruses. Seax has apparently been around for some time as this is the band's third full-length album. There have been a lot of bands popping up in recent years playing this kind of retro heavy metal, so Seax has their work cut out for them if they want to break through. They definitely have the chops though, as this album attests.
UNSPEAKABLE: EXPULSION OF THE TRIUMPHANT BEAST (2017)
I discovered Unspeakable through recommendations by various people on Facebook and Youtube. The band is a black/death metal band in the vein of Archgoat, Black Witchery, and the like and from St. Louis. This band is certainly raw and primitive-sounding, which I can definitely appreciate. The songs are fast-paced and intense and sound like the kind of thing that would have been recorded in the mid-1980's. Of particular note is "Fevered Dreams in the Witch House", not just for the face-melting riffs, but I dig the Lovecraft reference. Final track "Unspeakable" caught me by surprise at first as I kept thinking this sounds a lot like very early black metal bands. Sure enough, it is a cover of an NME song from their debut demo in 1985. That makes sense. I love this tape so much I ordered their previous release and will be keeping an eye out for a full-length, which is apparently coming soon.
I have been collecting all of my music on cassettes lately. Not really sure why, I just decided that is the format I enjoy the best. My wife thinks I am crazy. She is probably correct.
ARMORED SAINT: RAISING FEAR (1987)
Despite how much I love Symbol of Salvation and John Bush's work with Anthrax, I never really checked out any more of Armored Saint's early work. Part of this is likely due to not really enjoying the more recent output by the band. Part of it may be due to simply lack of opportunity. But after I saw them live in support of Queensryche a year or so ago, I decided I would take a chance on them again. It seems odd now that I did not give their earlier work a chance because this album is terrific and is definitely closer to Symbol than their later material, which only makes sense because this album immediately preceded it. Now, there are not any truly awesome songs like "Hanging Judge" or "Reign of Fire" on this one, but there are some damn good ones. Ultimately, I will probably always prefer Symbol over this one, but this is definitely a good album, and much better than anything the band has been putting out in recent years.
BANSHEE: RACE AGAINST TIME (1989)
I have been on a 1980's metal kick lately. I blame my wife. It seems reasonable. Anyway, I have been trying to find bands that were overlooked in the 1980's that definitely played metal. I have been mostly using the Metal Archives as a source to look bands up when I come across them on sites like Tapehead City. This album received some a very favorable review on that site, and it was cheap, so I took a flyer. This album is definitely a product of its time. It is a metal album, clearly there are metal riffs, but the band is more of a combination of U.S. power metal and the more popular styles of hard rock/heavy metal from the time period. There are some damn catchy songs here, such as the title track, which absolutely would fit in on an album by Manowar or Helstar. There are some other highlights as well. This album would have been avoided based entirely on the super cheesy cover, but it is an example of why one should not judge an album just by its cover.
DREAD: RAVAGED (1996)
One of the things that I have really enjoyed since starting to really collect cassettes has been finding old demo tapes, particularly of bands that never made it. And Tapehead City seems to have a number of obscure demos. Demos from bands that are well-known are usually a bit pricey, so this is just fine. I picked up this demo from a Massachusetts-based band based on the fact that they are listed as a thrash metal band on the Metal Archives and because it was pretty cheap. Well, if they ever were a thrash metal band, they are not on this demo. This is the last of five demos the band released in their short existence and it is very clear that the band was aiming for more of a Pantera/Machine Head/Exhorder style of groove metal. It is not bad, but it is not really what I expected either, and I am not typically much of a groove metal fan. It is interesting to note that one of the former band members from this group went on to play in Godless Rising and Goreality, two bands of whom I am familiar.
INTERNAL VOID: STANDING ON THE SUN (1993)
This was a little-known doom metal band that existed for a few years in the late 1980's/early 1990's. They released this album, their debut, before going on hiatus for a few years, released albums in 2000 and 2004 before disbanding. Recently, they have re-formed again. This is the first time I have had a chance to check them out. This is a very bluesy style of doom metal, calling to mind the early Black Sabbath albums. The album is somewhat long and most of the songs are very slow, making it seem that much longer. That is not really a problem, though it would be nice if there was a little bit more variety. The better tracks are those that are faster-paced. This is certainly an interesting album and would definitely appeal to the true doom metal fans out there.
LIZZY BORDEN: THE MURDERESS METAL ROAD SHOW (1986)
This is not actually what I ordered. Usually I avoid live albums and I ordered one of the band's early studio albums. But when it arrived, the J-card was correct, but the tape was this live release. I gave it a shot anyway and I am damn glad I did. I avoided Lizzy Borden for a long period of time due to assuming they were just another glam band. Honestly, the band definitely looks ridiculous, however musically, they have more in common with early Iron Maiden than Poison. This is 100% pure 1980's heavy metal with searing guitar solos, infectious riffs, and soaring vocals. Yes, it is a live album, but the production is so good that the songs do not lose anything. In an ongoing review of 1980's groups, Lizzy Borden stands along with W.A.S.P. as truly impressive metal bands in an ocean of forgettable glam bands.
I recently placed an order on a small record label, mostly to check out the reissue of Summoning's debut. Deciding not to get just one album, I also picked out a demo that I thought I would like.
SUMMONING: LUGBURZ (1995)
I went about discovering Summoning in a weird order. The Austrian black metal band has been around for a long time, forming in 1993, but I just decided to check them out this year. I started with their newest release, 2018's With Doom We Come. That review is coming soon, but it was not quite what I expected. Nevertheless, I gave them another chance, picking up the reissue of their debut album here. It is clear from this release that Summoning was still looking for their niche, this is a much more typical black metal release from this time period, but there are moments where the band's future sound shines through. Certain songs lean heavily on atmospheric keyboard melodies, which became the band's calling card later on. I definitely enjoyed this release a lot more than their new album, which I am still working on discovering.
VOMIT: DESECRATION (2017)
This is the first demo from a Chilean death metal trio. South America tends to produce some filthy and raw old school metal and Vomit is no exception. Taking their cues mainly from the very early death metal bands, Vomit is completely filthy. I can definitely identify a strong influence from Possessed, particularly in second track "Vomiting Death" which has a riff clearly resembling Possessed's "The Exorcist". But Vomit is definitely not a clone of older bands. They do add their own twists onto things. This is just the band's first demo and they did release a second one last year too, but I have not managed to find that one. I will be keeping an eye on this band. I have been a fan of South American extreme metal since first hearing Sepultura and the continent has not let me down yet.
Yes, this is a Pantera album. The band in the 1990's wanted everyone to think that their first album was Cowboys From Hell, but that is not true in the least. That was actually their FIFTH album. Pantera disavowed their first four albums and that is not terribly surprising given the large difference in sound and quality, but I would argue that this is a pretty damn good album. In fact, it is not all that dissimilar from the aforementioned Cowboys.
This was the first album with the classic Pantera lineup as Phil Anselmo joined the band as singer. His style at the time was less tough-guy hardcore and much more dynamic. Anselmo can truly sing on this release among some truly impressive shrieking. Seriously, he does one hell of a Rob Halford impression here.
Another highlight to this album is the amazing guitar work of "Diamond" Darrell. He would of course go by "Dimebag" later on, but he was "Diamond" here. People have long claimed that he was one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time, but I was never totally impressed with the groove metal work, much preferring his work on Cowboys. He has some of his greatest riffs on this album and some damn good solos as well.
There are some less-than-stellar songs here, such as the regrettable "P.S.T. 88", but most of the songs are actually damn good. "Proud to be Loud" is the kind of anthemic track that would have been at home on an early 80's Judas Priest album and the first half of the album is full of some of the best and catchiest songs of the band's career.
If you are looking for something like Vulgar Display of Power, you are going to be disappointed with this album. However, if you are like me and Cowboys is far and away your favorite Pantera album, you should at least give this album a shot.
Last night, Iced Earth brought their Incorruptible World Tour to Omaha with support from Sanctuary and Kill Ritual, as well as a performance from local band The Clincher. The venue was Sokol Auditorium, but it was in the basement instead of the main stage, which was definitely weird. The basement was pretty musty and featured a small stage. It was a shockingly small crowd for a band of Iced Earth's stature and the band seemed somewhat dismayed by it (that and some douchebaggery in the crowd). I do not blame them. I thought that Omaha was doing a better job of supporting metal bands in concert, but this was a step backwards.
Omaha band The Clincher was the first to take the stage. I will admit I knew next to nothing about the band before last night. They had a strong performance, and I would be interested in checking them out a little bit more. Vocalist Lori Piper was the main draw with her ability to change her vocal style from a soft croon to a blood-curdling shriek quickly.
Kill Ritual was next, and I was able to get a little bit of information from the Metal Archives on them, though I feel that information needs to be corrected. The band is much more of a power metal band than a thrash metal band. The riffs were definitely not all that thrashy and the vocals were the driving force. They were catchy enough at the time, but not terribly memorable.
Up next was Sanctuary, a band who has hit some major hardship recently. Legendary vocalist Warrel Dane died suddenly while the band was in Brazil on tour in December. Somehow, the band managed to find a replacement singer to continue with their commitments, and that singer does do a hell of a Dane impression. After overcoming a few sound issues (we were treated to a very loud bass solo randomly), the band performed an incredible set that covered all of their albums. I recently discovered Sanctuary's early albums before forming Nevermore and kicked myself for not looking into them earlier. The performance was of course dedicated to the departed Dane.
Iced Earth finally took the stage and they were absolutely incredible. The band is celebrating 30 years of releasing material under the name "Iced Earth". Of course, guitarist Jon Schaffer is the only continuous member of the band during all of that time, with a variety of other members over the years. Of particular note is that Stu Block, formerly of the underrated Into Eternity, has been the singer for the last few years. Block does a shockingly good job performing a number of songs that were originally written for Matt Barlow. I was a little disappointed there were no tracks from the Ripper Owens era. I think Block could have handled them well. They played songs from all eras of their history. The biggest surprise for me was seeing Schafer himself sing on "Stormrider" from the band's first album. I was not overly impressed with the new songs from last year's album, but a lot of the other songs were great. Iced Earth really does put on a terrific live performance and a lot more people should have been there to see them.
The highlight of the night from my wife's perspective was likely the compliments she received about her clothes and the fact that another woman acknowledged to her that it was nice to see another woman there. She has long referred to metal concerts as sausage parties.
Despite the fact that I have long considered Testament one of my favorite bands (and, in fact, if pressed I would probably name them my favorite band of all time), I never picked up every single one of their releases. It has only been over the last couple of years that I picked up The Legacy and The New Order, even though those are arguably their most popular albums. I blame part of that on the fact that I grew up with their mid-paced stuff like Low and The Gathering and part of it on the fact that I had numerous compilations and live albums that covered most of that era.
Even after picking up those two early albums, I was still missing a few things. Not any more. Nuclear Blast reissued a bunch of Testament's stuff on cassette and vinyl and I was able to fill the holes in my collection. There were three major releases that I had to grab, each with new artwork.
DEMONIC (1997)
I am honestly not sure how I never picked up Demonic. It was the band's next album after Low, an album I absolutely adore and still consider my favorite by the band. Demonic is probably the band's weakest release, and maybe that was part of it. I enjoyed the title track when I heard it (it was on one of the aforementioned compilations), though not to the same level as any of their other stuff. So I really do not know why I never picked it up. After hearing it, I can see why it is not well-received, though I do enjoy it. Testament was definitely trying to alter their sound to keep up with the groove metal style popularized by Pantera, yet also trying to get heavier to keep up with the rise of death metal. What results is kind of a confused album with some decent tracks that call to mind thrash-era Testament ("Hatreds Rise") and other tracks trying to be more modern (the explosive title track). Like I said, I do enjoy this album, but I would definitely pick up any of their other releases before it.
FIRST STRIKE STILL DEADLY (2001)
I stayed away from this one for awhile, mostly because it seemed so unnecessary. This came out at a time when a bunch of bands were re-recording a lot of their early work. It led to mistakes like Exodus's Let There be Blood, a re-recording of their landmark debut Bonded By Blood. Testament re-recorded a number of songs from their first two albums with more modern recording equipment and techniques. It is actually not all that bad. A couple of the songs are not nearly as good, in particular "The Preacher" which has some questionable decisions. The most unusual and interesting aspect of this release though is the last two songs "Alone in the Dark" and "Reign of Terror" which feature Steve "Zetro" Souza on lead vocals instead of Chuck Billy. Souza of course made his name with Exodus but was actually Testament's first singer. These songs are an interesting look at what might have been had Souza stayed with the band and are the major reason to check out this album.
LIVE AT EINDHOVEN '87 (2009)
Yes, this is a reissue of a reissue of the band's first live album released shortly after their debut album. I think the reason I missed out on this way is a combination of my general disdain for live albums and the fact that I just did not know about it. But, I do love Live at the Fillmore, and I have been enjoying going to concerts a lot more lately, so I took a chance on it. This is early Testament and it is clear that the band is very raw, but the performance is nonetheless quite impressive. Testament has always been a very good live act and it appears as if that was something they became very early on in their careers. This is by no means an essential pick-up for anyone other than a huge fan of the band, but Testament is my favorite band, so I had to pick it up.
I would be hard-pressed to recommend any of these albums to casual fans, but for huge fans of the band like myself, they are definitely worthwhile.
I have accumulated a lot of these this year. Rather than have each one get its own post, due to their lengths, I figured I would just do a roundup post.
BONE AWL: THE LOWEST ROAD
Despite the fact that Bone Awl has been going strong since 2002, the band has only released one full-length album. But they are pretty prolific all the same, putting out at least one release every year until 2011 when the band suddenly went on hiatus. This demo was the band's first release since that time. According to liner notes, these songs were recorded as demos for a full-length that was supposed to have come out in 2013. That apparently never happened. I had always heard a lot about Bone Awl, but never really checked them out. Their mix of black metal and punk is not exactly reinventing the wheel, but it is an impressive blend nonetheless.
COSMIC VOID RITUAL: THE EXECRATED REMAINS OF THE SABATIER SYSTEM
Technically, this one is a compilation. It collects together each of the band's demos and combines them onto one release. It still only comes out to four songs though. Cosmic Void Ritual is an American one-person death metal band that sounds Finnish. The one individual in the band goes by the "name" Unknown Entity. I was definitely drawn into picking this up by the Lovecraftian album cover. The riffs are dark and twisted with an unsettling guitar tone. Unknown Entity is clearly heavily influenced by the early 1990's Finnish death metal scene, with music that calls to mind Demilich (unfortunately, the vocals do not really measure up), Convulse, and others. This is nightmarish death metal that more than lives up to the album art.
CRIME: FIRST CRIME
Ah, yes. I can get behind this band's name. It is simple, yet very effective. Crime is a very new band from Chile, and this is their first release. They play a sleazy brand of traditional metal, which is not at all surprising given their South American location. The band definitely seems to use their name as a theme, opening things up with a hair-raising sample leading into the fist-shaking "Highway Robbery". The best song on the album is the anthemic "Give Your Life to the Ruin". This is a great start from a promising band.
DRAGHKAR: WORLD UNRAVELED
Draghkar is another new death metal band that sounds like they would have been more at home in the early 1990's when death metal was really starting to come around. Draghkar has a raw and filthy, malevolent sound that calls to mind groups like Incantation and Morbid Angel. With those kinds of influences, it is no wonder that this demo tape has garnered some attention. Draghkar do a great job of subverting expectations on this release. Instead of blazing through each song, the band slows things down masterfully, crafting an occasional doom/death sound that Asphyx would be proud to play. Another promising debut.
ENSEPULCHER: NO SANCTITY IN DEATH
And here we have yet another death metal band that is clearly stuck in the past, not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Ensepulcher's frame of reference is the early 1990's Swedish death metal scene. Think Dismember, Nihilist, and others and you have the idea. They even manage to have a similar buzzsaw guitar tone that the Swedish scene was well-known for. If I did not know any better, I would have sworn I was listening to some early Dismember demos when I put this one on. The music is fast-paced and intense, with rough, snarled vocals. Whether or not to check this one out depends entirely upon opinions of the Swedish death scene. I love it, but freely admit that this band really does not offer anything new and innovative.
GHOST HORIZON: THE EROTICS OF DISGUST
I did not choose this one. I placed a decent-sized order with a distro and they sent me a couple of tapes as a bonus. I do not turn down free stuff, but while one of the tapes was a pretty decent melodeath band called Mistweaver, this one is more of a black-gaze album with post-rock influences and not the kind of thing I typically listen to. I probably would not have chosen it at all. This is an emotional release, full of anguished and tortured vocals. There are some decent moments where the black metal influences shine through and it sounds pretty decent, but then a crooning vocal section will start in and change the dynamic completely. I do not mind the album over all, but there are definitely moments that I could do without. It is a little weak for my typical tastes.
KATAKOMB: CHAINED TO A WOLF
Katakomb is a Swedish black metal band of whom there is very little information on the internet. I think it is a one-man act, but I am not even sure of that. This is a two-song demo and the first song is fairly standard for Swedish black metal, with clear influences of Marduk and early Watain. It is a very dark and foreboding release. It is hostile and harsh and not terribly melodic. The only real problem with this release is an extended sample at the end featuring a man singing in what sounds like Russian while flies are buzzing. It sounds like something out of Fiddler on the Roof, other than the flies, which sounds woefully out of place on the rest of this release. And like I said, this continues for about five minutes. Other than that, this is an impressive first release for an uber-kvlt black metal band.
NERVE SAW: CALL OF THE CASKET
Nerve Saw is the one-man death metal project of former Hooded Menace bassist Markus Makkonen. As would be expected for a well-known member of a doom metal band, Nerve Saw's sound is generally slower and heavier, with the exception of third track "We, the People", which is a much faster-paced track. The songs are filthy and grimy, just what one would expect from a Finnish death metal band. This is an impressive release and I look forward to more from Nerve Saw.
PARTY CANNON: PERVERSE PARTY PLATTER
Okay, it is pretty easy to see that this band is absolutely not serious about anything. With the Toys 'R Us-inspired band logo, ridiculous name, and even more ridiculous cover art, this group is definitely tongue-in-cheek. The song names don't really give off a serious vibe either. Of particular note is "Fornicating in Ethically Sourced Fair Trade Chocolate". Party Cannon is a slam band. More particularly, they refer to themselves as "party slam". However, there is nothing that sets Party Cannon apart from other slam bands musically, and you really can not understand the lyrics in most slam bands, so despite the much different and much more positive lyrical content, ultimately it is a difference without an effect. But I like a good slam band and Party Cannon is a good slam band, so I can overlook any of the other issues.
SABRETOOTH: METAL ANIMALS
I was a little disappointed with this one. I love the album cover in a cheesy, sort-of-ironic way. Most of the song titles reference animals ("Steel Falcon", "Iron Rhino", "Sabretooth Strike"), and this is a traditional metal band from Finland. I did not think it could possibly go wrong. Unfortunately, despite some decent ideas, there is one flaw to this release that pretty much completely ruins it. The band uses an echo effect on the vocals. Through. The. Whole. Damn. Thing. It is really fucking annoying. It is impossible to focus on what is actually happening in the music because that damn echo keeps going and going. Honestly, I first thought that I had some sort of defective tape, but I listened to it online and the echo effect is there too. So, Sabretooth, lose the echo effects. Seriously.
TELEPORT: GALACTIC USURPER/STELLAR DAMNATION
Ah yes, here we go. Like the Cosmic Void Ritual release, this one is also a compilation, collecting together the band's 2011 and 2013 demos. I have actually covered this band before, in particular the Stellar Damnation demo, back in 2014 when the band contacted me. I remembered being fairly impressed with the band so when I saw this compilation tape for sale when I was buying some other stuff, I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a physical copy of it. Teleport is a Slovenian band that sounds like a somewhat blackened version of Vektor. They play highly technical thrash metal with vocals performed as more of a black metal rasp. This was the best release of all the stuff I have covered in this post. The only quibble that I have, and it is a very small one, is that it would have been better to have the demos on either side of the tape instead of both being on the same side and repeated on the other. Like I said, it is a small complaint.
VOID TENDRIL: ENSNARING THE DEMIURGE
Recently, I re-discovered the Decibel Blog, in particular their Hall of Fame features and the demo posts. I use both to discover new music and it led me to this demo by U.K. death/doom band Void Tendril. This is one of my favorite demos I have picked up in the last year. It is truly dark and disturbing. It creates an uneasy feeling with fast-pounding drums, but slower dissonant guitar riffs. The vocals are sepulchral and match the tone well. It is a slower, heavier beast of a release. There are some haunting melodies at times, particularly in the beginning of second track "Shivering Residue". I am very anxious to see what this band does next.
VOID TERROR: SOUL HARVEST
This is the other one of two demos that I picked up after reading about them on the Deciblog's demo roundup page (coincidentally both bands have "Void" as the first word in their name). This is the band's first ever release and it is some old-school-sounding death metal in the vein of early Immolation and Incantation. It is the type of filthy and raw, evil-sounding death metal that I love. Hopefully some more stuff will be coming out soon from these guys, because this demo contains just two songs and I would love to hear some more.
WITCH VOMIT: POISONED BLOOD
Witch Vomit is a very classy name for a death metal band. Between the band's name and the pretty cool album cover, I figured I would take a chance. The album cover is very appropriate because the band sounds like they just escaped from a tomb. From the cavernous production to the desiccated vocal style to the meaty riffs, this band pushes all the right buttons for a truly horrific death metal band. Witch Vomit has been around for a few years now, but have only released one full-length album and some other short recordings in addition to this EP. I will be keeping an eye out on this band.
FETID ZOMBIE: GROTESQUE CREATION (2015)
How is no one talking about this band? Seriously, this is fucking criminal. Mark Riddick has made a name in the underground metal scene with his amazing artwork (including the album cover shown here), but he also makes some really impressive death metal. Sounding like a cross between early Rotting Christ and a little bit of old school death metal, Fetid Zombie's music is haunting, captivating, and surprisingly melodic. I first found out about the band when I randomly picked up a split the band appeared on with Greek black/thrash band Swamp. I was blown away by Fetid Zombie's work, so when I randomly came across a full-length album, I jumped at it. And I am damn glad I did, because this album is fantastic. Seriously, Riddick's music is just as impressive as his artwork.
MAUSOLEUM: SUMMONING OF THE DAMNED (1992)
I used to read about stuff mentioning Wild Rags Records a ton, particularly on the old Metal Inquisition blog. It was an underground metal label in the late 1980's to late 1990's specializing in death metal and grindcore which was fairly infamous for being a bit sketchy in their business practices. Well that and the head of the label being wanted for income tax evasion and disappearing. Anyway, I came across a seller selling a bunch of old Wild Rags demos from the early 1990's and decided to pick something up for the hell of it. Previously, I only had an Impetigo album from the label, so this was something kind of new. Mausoleum is an old school death metal band and this is a quick three-song demo. It is fairly interesting stuff while listening to it, but ultimately not particularly memorable. There is likely a reason this band never released anything beyond two demos. Apparently, there was talk of a reunion at one point, but that never came to fruition.
MOTORHEAD: 1916 (1991)
Would you believe that this is actually the first proper album I have ever owned by Lemmy Kilmister and company? It is true. Previous to this, the only thing I owned by Motorhead was a Greatest Hits compilation, which I bought some time before deciding that such compilations were kind of lame. As much as I enjoyed it, I never really saw a need to pick up something else. I decided to change that and picked up a reasonably cheap one that contained a song I knew I enjoyed ("I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)"). I was a little surprised by the diversity of this album. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from Motorhead, but was shocked by some of the slower songs, in particular the heart-wrenching title track. Of course there were the fast-paced Jack-and-coke-fueled tracks, but the variety made this a damn good album.
WATCHTOWER: CONTROL AND RESISTANCE (1989)
In the late 1980's, a lot of thrash metal bands were becoming more and more progressive and technical. Bands like Heathen were at the forefront of this movement, but one of the best bands to tackle the style was the underrated Watchtower. Watchtower utilized influences from genres as diverse as jazz fusion in their brand of thrash metal. What results is a bizarre mix to say the least, yet Watchtower, in particular guitarist Ron Jarzombek, have the chops to pull it off and write some damn catchy songs to boot. The biggest problem with a lot of technical bands these days are that the technical ability oftentimes overshadows the hooks. Watchtower never fell into that trap. Unfortunately, this was their last full-length. There have been some short releases in recent years, so it is always possible we could see another Watchtower album soon.
X JAPAN: BLUE BLOOD (1989)
This is the second time I have bought this album. The first one I bought, I made it through the first side of the cassette and the tape snapped off the reel. I tried to fix it myself, but that did not work out so well. So, that was it. A lot of Japanese metal is just like the rest of Japanese pop culture, weird. X Japan (or just X) is incredibly diverse with some speed metal tracks to go with mid-paced rockers and ballads. The lyrics often alternate between Japanese and English. There are a number of highlights, including the touching "Endless Rain" and the infectious "Week End". This was a band I was just wanting to experiment with, along with other Japanese bands, such as the much more straightforward Loudness, but I am glad I took a chance on them.
SAXON: STRONG ARM OF THE LAW (1980)
There was a time a few years back when I really got into some massive New Wave of British Heavy Metal stuff. Obviously Iron Maiden was a focus, but I also was obsessed with finding stuff like Angel Witch, Blitzkrieg, Diamond Head, and others. But I never really got into Saxon for some reason. I decided to take a flyer on an early Saxon album. This album is a tale of two halves. The first half is somewhat mid-paced, radio-friendly hard rock which would not seem out of place on a Def Leppard album. The second half is much harder and faster and is what I was hoping to hear from a NWOBHM band. I still prefer Iron Maiden (of course), Angel Witch, Blitzkrieg, and Diamond Head, but I may have to do some more looking into Saxon.
ABSU: BARATHRUM: V.I.T.R.I.O.L. (1993)
No, I have no idea what that title means. Absu is one of the most highly-regarded American black metal bands, but they are a band that for some reason, I just have not checked out all that much. Previously, I only had their 2009 self-titled album on vinyl, and I love that album so it is a big mystery why I have never checked anything else out. This album is quite a bit different from that release as the band is more of a death metal band here. The Celtic Frost influence is pretty clear, especially in some of the experimentation that the band uses which calls to mind Into the Pandemonium. Despite the much different sound, this is a terrific release, and maybe it is finally time to delve more into Absu's discography.
DECEASED...: THE 13 FRIGHTENED SOULS (1993)
On the other hand, this is a band that I am very familiar with, even if I have not heard quite everything the band has done. I generally have heard all of their full-length releases, but the band releases lots of other stuff in between albums, and that is where I am still filling in some gaps. This is an EP released shortly after they released their first full-length album and features four new songs and a cover of Voivod's eponymous song. All of the songs are terrific, as is to be expected with Deceased. This is absolutely one of the most underrated metal bands of all time. Everything they have done is absolutely killer and this EP is no exception. It is nice to find something rare like this for my collection.
NOCTURNUS: THRESHOLDS (1992)
Over the last six months or so, I have been really digging into my old cassettes and listening to that stuff over and over again, while adding to that particular part of my collection. I previously had Nocturnus's The Key, and while I enjoyed it, it did not make a huge impact on me. That really changed recently and the album has been catapulted into one of my favorite death metal albums of all time. So, it was time to check out some of the band's other releases and this is the follow-up. It is clear that Nocturnus was trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice as the band took the aspects that worked on The Key and ramped them up on this one. What results is a pretty decent follow-up that just does not quite have the same charm to it. I still really like this one, but it is not quite up to the same level. Maybe in time it will be as The Key did not immediately have a huge impact on me either.
Guest post from Mrs. Metallattorney, because I did not feel like it.
I've been informed that Metallattorney
will not do a review for the concert we attended last Thursday
evening in Omaha. Apparently, he draws the line at Autograph opening
for 38 Special. Regardless, this concert deserves a review, and not
entirely for good reasons. It took place at the Ralston Arena, which
is a small arena in Omaha. (Or as the band, while technically
correct, but wrong in spirit, kept referring to as Ralston.) We were
in a bit of a rush to get to this one because of other commitments
earlier in the day, and the Ralston Arena did not make anything
simple. The tickets we had required us to enter a certain door (on
the complete opposite side of the building from where we parked), and
the tickets themselves said nothing about any of this. We eventually
made it in, and found our seats.
Autograph opened, and they played for
45-60 minutes, including “Blondes in Black Cars”, “My
Girlfriends Boyfriend Isn't Me”, “Loud and Clear”, and of
course they closed with “Turn Up the Radio”. They also played
some stuff off of their new album, including the title track, “Get
Off Your Ass”. Autograph was the primary reason we attended this
concert, because I missed seeing them in December (with Slaughter).
Unfortunately, the sound for Autograph was objectively terrible. The
guitars could not be heard at all (unless they were the only thing
playing, and then it sounded like a hoard of angry bees in a tin
can), and even the vocals were tough to hear at times. Luckily,
drummer Marc Wieland, and bassist Randy Rand were very capable, since
they were the only ones we were able to hear. I don't know who was
to blame for this debacle, but they really should reevaluate their
chosen profession. By the time Autograph finished playing I was
extremely bitter that we even spent money on this concert.
Thankfully, the sound for 38 Special
was significantly better. To be honest, I am not overly familiar
with most of 38 Special's music. They seem to fall into the category
of band's that Metallattorney has lumped Foreigner into, Bands Who
Make You Say, Hmmmm.... I Didn't Know That Song Was by That Band.
While neither of us knew many of the songs by name, they played
numerous songs that we recognized. They opened with “Rockin' Into
the Night” (one of the songs we recognized), and played “Wild
Eyed Southern Boys”, “Fantasy Girl”, “Trooper With Attitude”,
“Second Chance”, and a medley including “Teacher Teacher”.
Of course they closed the main show with “Caught Up in You” and
returned for an encore to play “Chain Lightning”, “Hold On
Loosely” and “Travelin' Band”. 38 Special was enjoyable
enough, and although I was getting pretty tired by the end of their
show (I'd had a long week), that was through no fault of their own.
Perhaps, the most entertaining part of
the entire experience was a gentleman on the floor who seemed to be
at the wrong concert. He appeared to be moshing. Apparently no one
told him he was at a 38 Special show. But, I found his enthusiasm
adorably refreshing. So, here's to you, Mr. Mosh Pit Dude at a 38
Special concert. You do you!
All in all, I suppose I'm glad that I
finally saw Autograph, and 38 Special was a pleasant surprise.
However, I find myself feeling that I need to see Autograph again in
the hope that they may sound better (like an actual band rather than
a bass and drum duet), which is disappointing because I am cheap.
Mrs. Metallattorney (The Better
Metallattorney) :)
In order to get a few more posts going, I am going to start doing a quick and easy write-up whenever I get something in. This should help getting things going a little bit.
So, today I received four albums in the mail.
BELIEVER: SANITY OBSCURE (1990)
Yes, there are some decent Christian metal bands out there. Believer is probably my favorite of the bunch, with the possible exception of Trouble. Believer plays technical/progressive thrash metal in the vein of their antitheses Heathen and Atheist, with a little bit of Voivod thrown in for good measure. When you look at the song titles and the lyrics, the band's religious leanings are pretty obvious, but the music is so damn good that it is pretty easy to not have to focus on that. Satanic bands can be just as annoying about their "message" too, but for some reason Christian bands sacrifice quality of music for the message more often. That is not true in Believer's case.
BOLT THROWER: ...FOR VICTORY (1994)
Fuck yeah, Bolt Thrower. Honestly, this is probably my favorite name for a metal band, ever. Plus, it helps that Bolt Thrower is fucking awesome. Unfortunately, the band no longer exists, so I will never get the chance to see them live, but I am still in the process of discovering some of their older stuff. Really, I only had a few of their albums previously, so there is a long way to go. This is one of the band's higher-rated albums and it is not hard to see why that is. The band's trademarked grinding riff assault is on full display, accompanied by Karl Willetts's gruff roar. There are some great riffs and songs on this one and it has quickly taken the spot as my favorite Bolt Thrower album. It only took one listen. It is that good.
DREAM DEATH: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1987)
A criminally underrated album from 1987. I first heard about this album from perusing the Decibel Hall of Fame. I had never heard of this band, so I looked into it a little bit, and then quickly decided I had to find it. This is possibly a very early progenitor of the death/doom sound, with quite a bit of thrash thrown in for good measure. The Celtic Frost influence is obvious from the muddy riffing style and singer Brian Lawrence's angry bark. The Lovecraftian and horror-filled lyrics match well with the band's dark and dreary sound. How this album managed to escape me for so long is beyond me. As with many other bands, Dream Death has re-formed in recent years. I may have to check them out.
GHOST TOWER: HEAD OF NIGHT (2012)
I love finding obscure albums from bands from my home state of Nebraska. Technically, almost all bands from Nebraska count as obscure as Cellador, Xenomorph, and maybe Narcotic Self are the only Nebraska metal bands to make any sort of impact on the metal scene outside the state, though Garoted seem to be on their way. Ghost Tower is a short-lived band that released two full-length albums and play a mix of thrash and doom metal with some impressive occult-sounding melodies throughout. The vocals take a little bit of getting used to, but the music is pretty damn impressive to make it worthwhile. The band does actually kind of remind me of a thrashier Ghost at times. It is a shame they no longer exist as they had some real talent.
Over the last couple of years, the number of concerts that I have attended has skyrocketed. A huge part of that is the fact that my wife has realized that even though she may not enjoy the bands, she does enjoy going to concerts. And she has started liking a lot more metal, making it more palatable for her to attend the concerts. She may never really like thrash or black metal, but more melodic bands do tend speak to her to some extent. For a time, it seemed like the only time I posted was after attending concerts, though I am trying to fix that. With concerts becoming such a major part of my own metal fandom, I thought it would be interesting to name the five concerts of 2017 I enjoyed the most:
5. KREATOR, EZRA, GAROTED
I have seen a lot of local bands in recent years, but Garoted at this show was the one that blew me away the most. Garoted has started to make a little bit of noise in the metal underground and they put on a blistering performance this night. They were not the headliners though and Kreator, a band I never expected to see live, was as good as they are on any of their albums. The German thrash metal band was incredibly impressive, as I had hoped.
4. THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, SUFFOCATION, NECROT, WORMWITCH
I am not the biggest TBDM fan, though I do enjoy their particular brand of At The Gates worship. If TBDM was the only band playing, I may not have attended. This concert was all about seeing Suffocation, and the veteran brutal death metal band exceeded my expectations, even though Frank Mullen did not sing. But what pushes this concert so high in my mind was the fantastic performances by Necrot and Wormwitch, two up-and-coming death metal bands that will be very interesting to watch in the next few years.
3. IRON MAIDEN, GHOST
There were two bands in particular coming into 2017 that I have always wanted to see. I ended up seeing both bands last year. Iron Maiden is certainly the highest profile band from that short list. Somehow they ended up playing in Lincoln, Nebraska, which I never would have expected. So of course, I had to go. Their show was incredible. I just hope it leads to more metal bands playing in Lincoln. The best part of the night though was that my dad was able to get my wife and I seats in the luxury boxes, elevating this from another concert to a huge event. It might have been the concert of the year, but the next two were tough to top.
2. MAYHEM, IMMOLATION, BLACK ANVIL
I really do not know what to say about Mayhem's performance. It was the most memorable live show I have ever seen. The theatricality of it and the atmosphere were both extremely tough to top. The notorious band lived up to their reputation with an incredibly dark and powerful show. The supporting groups were certainly no slouches either. Like Kreator, I never expected to be able to see Mayhem live.
Testament was the other band I was referring to in the Iron Maiden entry. I knew there would one day be a chance to see them, but I have long wanted to see them anyway. I was devastated when I was 18 and was not able to see them in Lincoln because the show was a 19 and over show. Testament has long been a favorite band of mine, so I desperately wanted to see them live. The fact that they were touring with Sepultura was that much better because they were also once one of my favorite bands.
Additional Notes
-I finally saw the last of the Big 4 in 2017 when I saw Anthrax. And honestly, Anthrax quite possibly put up the best performance of any of the Big 4. They were certainly the most energetic and that energy was infectious. I wanted to put that concert in my Top 5 based on their performance alone, but the other bands on the bill were Code Orange, The Devil Wears Prada, and Killswitch Engage. So, I just could not justify a spot on the list.
-The Goatwhore concert also almost made the list. They played with four local bands and that is probably the biggest development in the concerts I have attended. I have seen Garoted, Ezra, Drowning in the Platte, Exit Sanity, Orpheus, Autopsick, and Narcotic Self this year. They have all been surprisingly good, with Garoted being the main highlight. The Nebraska metal scene is improving drastically over the last few years and it is great to see local bands get a chance to share the stage with major metal bands.
-I would be interested in my wife's list. I doubt it looks very similar.
Yeah yeah. I am late to the party. As usual. I actually prefer doing my list around the first of the year because I often pick up something late in the year that might make the list. That was actually not the case this last year, but it helps to plan for that possibility. So, without further ado, here is my Top 20 of 2017. I will be doing a couple of other year in review posts in the next few days as well. But here is the big one.
20. WITCHTRAP: TRAP THE WITCH
Leading things off is Colombian blackened thrash maniacs Witchtrap, a group that I have been following for several years now. Witchtrap is the very definition of a Hells Headbangers band, playing filthy Motorhead-meets-Venom-style metal with whiskey-soaked vocals. Hell, the first song on the album is even called "Lemmy". There is nothing really original or ground-breaking here, it is simply sleazy and dirty heavy metal. There is always something to be said for that.
19. BELL WITCH: MIRROR REAPER
The winner for Album Cover of the Year is this amazing piece of artwork here. It would be a shame if the album itself did not live up to it. Luckily, it does. This is an amazing, somber sonicscape that really takes time and patience to truly appreciate it. The album is one 85-minute long song and is one of the best funeral doom metal albums I have heard in a long time. It does not quite reach the heights of the band's "I Wait", but it is an incredibly impressive work of art. Just like the album cover.
18. DYING FETUS: WRONG ONE TO FUCK WITH
Dying Fetus remains one of my favorite brutal death/slam bands. They were the first such group I truly got into and they still put out some of the best albums in the genre. But after over 20 years, some of the energy the band once had was starting to wane on their last album. The new album title and artwork though promised uncompromising brutality, and it definitely delivered. This is the most fresh and vital as the genre as a whole has sounded in years. Dying Fetus is definitely back.
17. NIGHT DEMON: DARKNESS REMAINS
I love a good traditional metal album and finding a band that combines the aesthetics and sound of early 1980's Iron Maiden is usually a pretty damn good thing. Night Demon is unapologetically retro, in the best way possible, but still manages to find their own identity. The songs are catchy as hell too. Night Demon is more than just another New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal band. They have the ability and songwriting skills to stand out.
16. PALLBEARER: HEARTLESS
Pallbearer took the metal world by storm a few years back with their breathtaking debut album. The doom metal band is capable of some truly heartbreaking melodies while still maintaining a metallic edge. The band has become a little more progressive this time around, but the doom riffs still shine through. I do not like this one quite as much as their debut, but it is still a seriously impressive release.
15. SUFFOCATION: ... OF DARK LIGHT
In what is likely to be a running theme, Suffocation released one of their best albums in years. This happened with several bands this year. Suffocation does not do anything new on this release, they just continue to pummel the listener with their trademarked technical brutality. The band brought in two new members which have really helped the band rediscover some of the energy that made them one of the greatest death metal bands of all time.
14. SINISTER: SYNCRETISM
Sinister has never gotten the respect they deserve. They have simply put out terrific death metal album after terrific death metal album for almost thirty years. And yet, many people do not have any idea the band even exists. Sinister remains one of the most evil-sounding death metal bands going, a quality they have had since the very beginning. They simply have a knack for this sound. This time around, they sound rejuvenated by the addition of a couple of new members. It results in a very strong album.
13. SKELETHAL: OF THE DEPTHS...
Oftentimes the best death metal comes from completely unexpected sources. This is not the best death metal album of the year, nor even the best debut album by a death metal band, but it is a damn good release. The French death metal group Skelethal is at their best when they are playing fast-paced, grinding songs, and their slower stuff tends to bring things down a little bit. But this album is mostly full of the high-energy, frenetic riffing that the band does best. And so it is that this debut album makes the list.
12. IMMOLATION: ATONEMENT
There are still a lot of imitators coming out these days, but Immolation remains an incredibly original and influential death metal band. They have also been one of the most consistently amazing bands in the genre. Every single album is great. And yet, this is one of their best ever.
11. ENSLAVED: E
Of course Enslaved is going to make my list. I honestly did not expect them to this time around. For some reason I do not really get excited about new Enslaved albums, though I will pick them up every time and I always enjoy them. This one in particular is one of the better prog-Viking metal-era Enslaved albums. The album starts off a little bit slowly, but it turns around quickly and becomes a terrific release from the band.
10. KALOPSIA: ANGELPLAGUE
This is the best album of the year that was sent to me from a band or label. Kalopsia plays an old-school style of occult death metal that is recommended for people who like Sinister, Angelcorpse, and others. I am damn glad this label found me, because it introduced me to an incredible death metal band that I otherwise would not have come across.
9. MEMORIAM: FOR THE FALLEN
Rising out of Bolt Thrower's ashes, Memoriam pays tribute to the band and its fallen member in a variety of ways. Featuring both slow-burning tracks and faster-paced songs that bulldoze the listener, Memoriam does a terrific job of making up for the loss of the influential band it was born out of. The band is a little more dreary and it is clear that loss drives this album, but it is still as sharp and vital as anything Bolt Thrower ever did.
8. NE OBLIVISCARIS: URN
I have seen a lot of negative reviews of this album from people who have been big fans of their previous material, but this is the first release I have heard from them, and it blew me away. I am not the biggest fan of progressive metal, but this one really got to me. It has some beautifully crafted songs with complex structures. There is a lot going on on this album and it is worth listening to over and over to hear everything.
7. SOULROT: NAMELESS HIDEOUS MANIFESTATIONS
2017 must be the year of the death metal debut because this Chilean group is the second debut to make this list. It is obvious by the name of the album and the album cover artwork that this band's specialty is Lovecraftian themes, and the music definitely fits. Soulrot's sound is more rooted in Immolation with a little Morbid Angel for good measure. It is a hideous, beastly sound. The band has been pretty prolific in their short lifespan, and I am definitely keeping an eye on them.
6. SEPTICFLESH: CODEX OMEGA
I am starting to enjoy Septicflesh even more than their Greek countrymen Rotting Christ. Their last couple of albums have definitely been better than Rotting Christ's last couple. Septicflesh has perfected the sound of symphonic extreme metal, surpassing Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir, Carach Angren, and others. They are now the leaders in the subgenre and now, ten albums into their careers, they have quite possibly released their masterpiece.
5. TEMPLE OF VOID: LORDS OF DEATH
Now this is what death/doom should sound like. Temple of Void's sound calls to mind the progenitors of the genre. Toss in some elements from the debuts by Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, add a little Celtic Frost and Asphyx, and there you have it. The music is full of crunching, chugging riffs and deep, growled vocals. Temple of Void is still capable of putting together some haunting melodies to contrast with the roaring, beastly riffs that make up the majority of the album, and these are the biggest highlights.
4. NECROT: BLOOD OFFERINGS
Here is the Debut Album of the Year. There have been a ton of great death metal debuts, but Necrot takes the cake. One of the many bands that I have seen live this year, Necrot blew me away and this release carries that forward. Necrot's style calls to mind a combination of the slow, grind of Bolt Thrower along with the buzzsaw riffs of Dismember and other early Swedeath bands. It is quite simply the best death metal album of the year.
3. CRAVEN IDOL: THE SHACKLES OF MAMMON
In a year without a Destroyer 666 release, this is as close as it gets. Featuring some razor sharp riffs, this blackened thrash metal band from the U.K. creates a maelstrom of chaotic noise. This has long been one of my favorite styles of metal and Craven Idol does a damn good job of stepping into the shoes of some of the Aussie groups that have quit (looking at you Atomizer). But Craven Idol are not simply imitators, they bring their own style to the genre.
2. VENOMOUS MAXIMUS: NO WARNING
Mastodon's "Show Yourself" was probably the catchiest metal song of the year, but doom metal band Venomous Maximus's "Spellbound" is really fucking close. Sounding something like The Cure playing Black Sabbath, this album really came out of nowhere to completely blow me away. Featuring some of the most infectious riffs I have heard all year, plus some terrific crooning vocals, and fantastic songwriting, this is a great album from start to finish.
1. POWER TRIP: NIGHTMARE LOGIC
I struggled with this decision for awhile. I have never had a band be the Album of the Year more than once and Power Trip took my Album of the Year honor back in 2013. But, this album is head and shoulders above any other release from 2017. It is an absolutely crushing release with fantastic riffs and some great songs. And so, for the first time ever, Power Trip takes home their second Album of the Year from this blog. And it is well-deserved.
