Catching Up: 2020 Part 1

My last Top Albums of the Year post was in 2019.  I thought I would try to come back and do a post for each year I have missed out on, but I would have to go back and listen to everything again.  This is going to take some time.  I have a LOT to go through to get my thoughts out on some recent releases.  I thought the easiest way of doing this was to highlight five random albums and eventually be able to formulate some type of list as I get to the end of the additions to my collection.  These are physical copies only, so if I am missing something when all is said and done, it's because I was not able to procure a physical copy for whatever reason.

AKHLYS: MELINOE

Melinoe is the Greek goddess of nightmares and madness, and that is an appropriate jumping-off point for this album.  This is what nightmares sound like.  The sound is dense and chaotic with pounding drums and murky riffs, combined with sepulchral vocals.  It does an astounding job of building a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere and refusing to relent.  There is very little here I would classify as melodic, even the lighter tones come across as more dissonant, adding to the oppressive nature of the rest of the music.  This is not an album to listen to alone with the lights off.

MONGREL'S CROSS: ARCANA, SCRYING AND REVELATION

I checked out an album by Aussie blackened thrashers Mongrel's Cross several years back but kind of lost track of them afterwards.  This is their third full-length and the band has matured their sound somewhat.  This time around Absu mastermind Proscriptor has joined the fray as the primary vocalist.  One thing Mongrel's Cross does quite well is weave intricate guitar leads into their particular brand of savagery.  The reference point is latter-day Destroyer 666, which is definitely an admirable goal, but the execution is just not quite there.

PERDITION TEMPLE: SACRAMENTS OF DESCENSION

Tampa, FL has long been a hotbed for evil-sounding death metal and Perdition Temple are a more recent entry into that history.  Something of a supergroup, the band features members of other stalwart bands such as Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Malevolent Creation and Impiety.  With that kind of pedigree, it is easy to imagine what the band would sound like: raw and primal death metal with a focus on intensity and dark atmosphere.  This is an absolutely filthy, bludgeoning assault on the listener. 

TESTAMENT: TITANS OF CREATION

Testament has been my favorite band, or damn near the top of the list, since I bought Low back when I was in middle school.  That album made an immediate impact on me and every album (with the possible exception of Demonic) have similarly made an impact.  We are now four albums into the second stage of Testament's career after Chuck Billy's cancer scare forced the band into hiatus for a few years, and each album has surpassed the one before it.  This is the best Testament album since The Gathering with one of the best Testament songs of all time ("Dream Deceiver").  It is an instant classic in the band's already impressive discography.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: VERMINOUS 

As it turned out, this was the last album we would get from The Black Dahlia Murder with iconic frontman Trevor Strnad who died suddenly in 2022.  That is absolutely a shame because TBDM had really become an incredible band over the years.  Wearing their influences on their sleeves, you knew what to expect from each release: frenetic melodeath that would simply steamroll the listener.  This was probably my favorite album from the band since Nocturnal.  It will be interesting to see how the band moves on.  Strnad's death was an absolute tragedy.

Suffocation and The Black Dahlia Murder in Omaha: October 24

Technically, The Black Dahlia Murder was the headliner at this show, but Suffocation is getting top billing in this post because that was the band that I really wanted to see.  Not to say that The Black Dahlia Murder is not a good band, I actually really enjoy the band's brand of At the Gates worship, but I would likely not have attended just for them.  Luckily, Suffocation was one of the openers, and three more bands were coming along for the ride.  Unfortunately, a couple of unwelcome surprises diminished the show a little bit.

The venue was The Slowdown, one of my favorite venues, though it was just the second time I have been there.  Exodus played there a few weeks ago.  The bar has a decent-sized stage and a nice bar area where, while you really can not see anything, at least you can easily hear.

We were just a little bit late again, as a result of having to drive two hours, but the opening band was still on the stage when I walked in while my wife ran out for ice cream, she was not super excited for the death metal-heavy show.  Wormwitch was the opener and they were incredibly impressive, playing more of a black metal mixed with later Entombed style.  They had some damn catchy songs and I may just have to check out their album.  Necrot was the next band on the stage, and I was fairly familiar with them, having recently picked up their Blood Offerings album, which is a fantastic slab of old school death metal.  I was so impressed, I picked up a t-shirt.  Both Wormwitch and Necrot had the kind of poise and presence as bands that have been around for decades, yet each of them have just recently released their first full length albums.     

The first unwelcome surprise came next.  Decrepit Birth was supposed to be at this show.  I have really enjoyed some of their albums, though I have not kept up with them lately.  Unfortunately, apparently their guitarist had some medical issues crop up last week and the band had to cancel the rest of the tour. 

Suffocation was next and unfortunately brought out the next unwelcome surprise.  Apparently, it is fairly well-known at this point that vocalist Frank Mullen no longer tours full-time with the band as he has a job that pays him well enough that he simply cannot afford to do so.  I did not know that, so I was a little surprised when the vocalist was clearly not Mullen.  It took some looking, but it apparently was Kevin Muller of The Merciless Concept.  Muller absolutely did a fantastic job filling in for Mullen, but it was still a little disappointing not to see the full lineup in action.  Their show was terrific though and they played a nice mix of stuff from the new album and classic songs such as "Liege of Inveracity", "Pierced from Within", and "Effigy of the Forgotten".  It was absolutely worth seeing Suffocation live.

Afterwards, I got a chance to meet this guy:

My wife took the picture.

Finally, The Black Dahlia Murder took the stage.  TBDM was very unfairly lumped in with the metalcore bands despite the fact that their sound was clearly melodic death metal a la Slaughter of the Soul-era At the Gates.  They played a blistering set and because their songs are so short and fast, they were able to fit 20 or so songs in to a little more than an hour.  They sounded damn impressive, playing a lot of stuff from their fantastic new album as well as some classics like "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse" and "Miasma".  One of the more entertaining things occurred during TBDM when their merch guy was playing Connect 4 with some other guy.  My wife found that very amusing. 

This was a great concert, despite the surprises.  I would have liked to see Decrepit Birth and was disappointed Mullen did not perform for Suffocation, but all of the bands were very impressive. 

Favorite New Bands of 200's Pt. 5: The Black Dahlia Murder

It took quite awhile before I was willing to check out this band. I had heard of them, quite some time ago in fact. It was while I was still working at Target in the Assets Protection department. Target carried their Miasma album. Due to the band's name and the ambiguous cover shot, I had no idea what kind of music the band played, if it was even metal. Even after hearing the band was a metalcore band, it still took awhile to bite. I was pretty much over metalcore except for a few bands and did not feel it necessary to check out another one unless there was something special about them.

That's the thing though: The Black Dahlia Murder is NOT a metalcore band. Somehow they get lumped in with the scene because they came out about the same time, toured with a lot of metalcore bands, and had kind of a metalcore image. But again, The Black Dahlia Murder's music is NOT metalcore. Instead, the band plays a style very similar to Slaughter of the Soul by At the Gates.

I own the most recent two TBDM albums. I still have not brought myself to purchasing their earlier album.

Nocturnal was the first album that I picked up by the band. The reason this one caught my eye was due to the fantastic cover art which calls to mind classic albums by Emperor, Dark Funeral, and Lord Belial. I was blown away by the band's sound. It was great to hear a band so devoted to the true melodic death metal sound. The band even has some black metal influences, sounding like a fun mix of At the Gates and Dissection. The songs are exceptionally fast, with Travor Strnads blend of blackened shrieks and death-metal growling paving the way. This album sold me on the band.

Deflorate was a little disappointing only because it's pretty much exactly the same album as Nocturnal. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but it just did not have the same feel as their prior album. No matter, this is still a great band.

Super Huge Initial Impressions Roundup

Okay, this is it for new pickups for now. Let's do this.

INFERNAEON: A SYMPHONY OF SUFFERING

This album kind of slipped by a bunch of people. I had seen the cover before but never really thought much of it. I wasn't even totally sure of the type of metal this band played. Nevertheless, I traded a bunch of old CDs in a couple weeks ago and picked this one up. Not a bad pickup really.

Infernaeon plays symphonic blackened death metal. The album starts off with a soft piano intro and quickly segues into a powerful thrashing riff and the deep growled vocals that will be present for the rest of the album. The symphonic parts do continue throughout adding to the eerie feeling of the entire album. The band essentially adds to the attempts by groups like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth by layering their symphonic elements onto the blackened death metal. The whole effect is basically that of a deranged, evil symphony.

This is a good album, but it is entirely too short and the band hasn't really been heard from since its release. We'll see what happens in the future. I have a feeling they just missed the boat as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth have waned in popularity in recent years.

BLACK SABBATH: BLACK SABBATH

I needed to fill in some holes in my collection and this was a big hole. This is Black Sabbath's debut album, and therefore the first metal album ever. Wow. I have no idea why it took me so long to pick this up. Perhaps it is because Black Sabbath was basically just a real heavy blues rock band at this time while only hinting at what was to come on some of the songs. Nevertheless, there are some true classics on this album, and overall, it is a metal album, although no one knew what metal was at the time.

The album starts off with the incredibly evil title track (also the band's name). "Black Sabbath" is one of the most sinister songs of all time. It tells the story of one coming across a dark shadowy figure, allegedly a true story that happened to bassist Geezer Butler one night. The song uses the tritone to form the main guitar riff, once considered to be a way of summoning demons, it's clear that Black Sabbath was out to shock the world with it's debut. From there, the songs range from the mid-paced metal stomp of "N.I.B." to the heavily blues-inspired "Warning". All of the elements that would make the band famous are present and accounted for: Tony Iommi's flesh-melting, downtuned riffs, Geezer Butler's thunderous bass, Bill Ward's pounding drums, and Ozzy Osbourne's haunted vocals and demonic lyrics.

The fact that this album was released at the height of the hippie movement is icing on the cake. Black Sabbath took a happy, drug-induced movement and brought it to its knees. The band was hated early on by critics and never really achieved the same kind of hindsighted praise that Led Zeppelin did. Perhaps that's because this album was the beginning of heavy metal, a genre overall ignored by critics. It's a shame. This band was one of a kind. All hail Black Sabbath.

DANZIG: DANZIG

Ah Danzig. Danzig was one of the earliest metal bands I discovered. The band was somewhat popular at the time I was getting into metal on account of the live version of "Mother" off of the Thrall-Demonsweatlive EP. Somehow that track made it onto regular rotation on MTV. This was of course at the time that MTV a) played the occasional metal video during regular hours and b) played music videos at all, both statements now false.

This album is Danzig's debut album, although he had previously released albums with The Misfits and Samhain. The Misfits was something of a horror-influenced pop/punk band, a more intimidating version of The Ramones. Samhain took that and added a metal edge. Danzig delved even deeper into metal and gloom and doom.

This lineup released the first four Danzig albums together, afterwards the band became a bit of a revolving door of musicians other than the eponymous Glenn Danzig. The riffs were heavily blues-inspired and Danzig's vocals were sort of a grotesque Jim Morrison meets Elvis. The song topics were a little controversial, touching on perverse sexuality and evil.

Danzig was dangerous. This was just the beginning.

DIO: THE LAST IN LINE

Ronnie James Dio left the relative obscurity of Rainbow and joined Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne was booted. After a couple of very strong albums, he left and formed a band named after himself. Their first album was the iconic Holy Diver, featuring hits "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark". This was the band's second release and it builds on the foundations laid out in the debut. This is good, powerful, traditional heavy metal that takes no prisoners.

The album starts out fairly strong with the anthemic "We Rock" and doesn't let go of the throttle. The album is catchy and powerful with Dio's terrific vocals leading the charge. The guitar riffs are rooted in traditional metal. The songs are all a reasonable length for the style of music that is played.

Dio is one of the icons of heavy metal. This was only his second solo album but he had been around for years before that. This is a great testament to one of the greatest vocalists in metal history. Get well soon Dio.

SLAYER: HELL AWAITS

The great Slayer hit the ground running with their debut album Show No Mercy which was an album full of Venom and NWOBHM-inspired riff madness. This second album cuts much of the NWOBHM-isms and finds the band finding their own voice.

This album is a combination of two distinct sounds: the NWOBHM and the early days of thrash. Slayer has begun making the transition into the powerful, riff-hungry, thrashing death machine that would later completely encompass their sound and image. The riffs are generally faster, the drumming is louder, and the vocals are angrier.

The next album would be the all time class Reign in Blood. Unfortunately, that album kind of takes over much of the focus in the band's discography. Their earlier material was much more raw and edgier. It's a shame that most people don't even look at their material prior to that album. The band was truly something in the early days.

ALICE IN CHAINS: DIRT

To be fair, this probably is not an initial impression of this album. I have heard most, if not all, of these songs many times in the past. Particularly since my older brother was a big Alice in Chains fan and this is then, one of the first metal bands I have had much exposure to.

Alice in Chains is a metal band dammit. There are a lot of purists out there who disagree with that statement, and maybe in certain songs in their later years they are correct. Not here though, this album is metal through and through.

This is the band's masterpiece. It contains many hit songs like "Would?", "Rooster", "Down in a Hole", and "Them Bones". This album strips everything down and is heartfelt, emotional, heartbreaking, and angry all at the same time. Layne Staley was having problems with drugs and his lyrics and vocals conveyed his pain and the music emphasized it. Jerry Cantrell's guitar solos were masterful and his vocals harmonized with Layne's provided a haunting soundscape of emotion.

This album is incredible. There is no doubt in my mind that Alice in Chains was an amazing band, filled with amazing musicians. It's too bad their time in the sun was spent hiding from the glare. Layne is sorely missed.

EMBALMER: THERE WAS BLOOD EVERYWHERE

Late 1990's death metal was not real exciting. There was a bit of a lull in all things metal at the time. The genre was still reeling from the grunge movement which killed a lot of bands. Nu-metal was becoming much more popular and was drawing attention away from the genre. Many of the early death metal bands were declining in quality and there were not a lot of bands to take over.

Which brings us to Embalmer, one of the death metal bands to form in the late 1990's and do reasonably well. Death metal had become even more underground and there was a thriving scene in Cleveland, where Embalmer, Nunslaughter, and other bands formed.

Bands from the late 1990's death metal genre were typically a little more stripped-down and basic. Embalmer is a gore-obsessed death metal band that plays a very primal, raw form of death metal that is also extremely brutal. There is little technical proficiency involved. The band just plays straightforward riffs. There is a very thin line between brutal death metal and slam death and Embalmer seems to be toeing that line.

This is a collection of Embalmer's recordings and it is clear that this band was a decent entry into late 1990's death metal. The album is pure brutality from opening to closing. It is a quick and easy listen taking up less than half an hour. Not bad.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: DEFLORATE

The Black Dahlia Murder is somewhat unfairly lumped in with the metalcore movement, often being mentioned alongside groups like Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, and Trivium. The truth is that the band actually has very little -core present in their music. The group is basically a throwback to At the Gates and other early Swedish melodeath bands.

TBDM play fast, extremely fast. The riffs fly by at a mile a minute and the drums pummel away. The vocals are often high-pitched raspy shrieks with some deeper death growls thrown in for good measure. This album is typical fo their current style, I'm not sure if they ever had any -core influences or not, but there are certainly none here.

I can't decide if I like this one better than Nocturnal or not, so I'll go with no. But it's not by much. TBDM is well-schooled in extreme metal and they typically show it. Since At the Gates is no longer around, this band steps into their shoes. They've always been considered one of the better metalcore bands, but that's selling them way too short. TBDM is not metalcore, they are clearly melodeath.

PRIMORDIAL: A JOURNEY'S END

Primordial is a folk/pagan black metal band out of Ireland. They are a little strange for that genre though as they use frequent clean vocals. They also use some black metal-styled shrieking and growling, but the clean vocals definitely are the most recognizably Primordial.

This is one of their early albums that was re-released this year due to the band's burgeoning popularity after their last album. At this time, the band was not quite as melodic and melancholic as their latest album, but this is nevertheless a very strong album and a sign of things to come from the band.

As part of the reissue, there is a bonus live disc. I sometimes like to hear the live stuff because I don't get to go to a lot of concerts. All I have to say about this one though it that this band better sound better than this now. Maybe it's the really shitty production, but this sounds terrible. I really do not know if I will be listening to this live album much in the future. It does no justice to the band's sound at all.

Other than the live bonus, the album is perfectly fine. I like Primordial quite a bit. They are a bit softer than most other black metal bands, but there is nothing wrong with that. I can use a little melancholy now and again.

MORBID ANGEL: BLESSED ARE THE SICK

Morbid Angel is quite possibly the most important and best death metal band of all time. They put out three classic death metal albums early on and despite declining in quality afterwards, those three albums are still easily on par with any three albums by any other death metal band. This is their second album.

Morbid Angel's first album was all about extreme speed and thrashing, down-tuned riffs. Things are starting to slow down a little bit on this album, although it would be a few more albums before the band really opts for a mid-paced attack a majority of the time. This album balances the all-out blazing fast attack and slower, doomed-out madness. Trey Azagthoth's out-of-this-world riffs are still present as well as David Vincent's frightening vocals. The problem is that it just isn't quite as memorable as the albums that came before and after it. It's a great album to be sure and perhaps it will grow to be as favored as the other two.

W.A.S.P.: W.A.S.P. and THE LAST COMMAND

I mentioned earlier being on a little bit of a 1980's metal kick. W.A.S.P. has always been a band that has intrigued me and yet I was never terribly familiar with their music. Blackie Lawless has always seemed like such a larger than life character. He wears a flame-shooting codpiece, throws raw meat into the crowds, was considered for the role of the T1000 in Terminator 2 (he was determined to be too tall), and in general is kind of a badass. He's also got some bizarre political theories which I won't go into here. Yet for some reason I never really got into the band.

I saw this double CD reissue of the band's first two CDs on a recent trip to the music store and decided to pick it up as the band was on my list of 80's metal bands to check out. These were not the optimal albums I wanted to hear, but no big deal, I figured if I liked them well enough perhaps I will find some of their other material.

W.A.S.P. arose out of the same scene as Motley Crue and Quiet Riot among other glam/hair rock/metal bands. So, of course their music is kind of sleazy and their lyrics are sex-obsessed and misogynistic. Oh well. The music is catchy as hell and the band was basically a joke anyway at the time so no one took them too seriously. The albums are similar, each one having some barn-burners, some slower tracks, and some mid-paced anthems. At this point the pattern of rock single, then power ballad had not yet been established. There are no blatant radio-manufactured songs on these albums.

W.A.S.P. was always a little sleazier than the other bands from those days. Perhaps that's what made them more interesting. This double album was a pretty decent pickup, especially for the price and the relative obscurity of the band's earlier material these days.

Ahh Christians

http://www.metalsucks.net/2009/10/28/toxic-holocaust-the-black-dahlia-murder-combat-rampant-religious-idiocy/

Interesting news day.

It's funny really. Apparently, some people are getting all up in arms that The Black Dahlia Murder and Toxic Holocaust are playing at a Christian teen hangout, referring to the bands as "satanic metal" bands. I'm not totally sure of either band's religious leanings, but I can make a pretty good guess that they are NOT satanists. Honestly, some of their lyrics are a little questionable and possibly a little violent, but for the most part, both bands are a bunch of goofy metal fans that formed bands to pay tribute to their influences. They're people having a good time doing what they love. They're not sending any messages with their music.

Ultimately, I look at metal music for the most part the same way I look at horror movies. It is entertainment, no more, no less. Some bands may have beliefs that they try to push on other people, but the vast majority do not have an agenda.

Parents are free to tell their children that they don't want them going to a concert just as they have the same right to tell them not to see a movie, but in the end, it's probably the choice of the teens to go or not. Protesting concerts for some reason has become somewhat normal in Christian communities. You don't hear too many examples of them protesting movies like that though, probably because it wouldn't make any difference. Why is music different then?

Strange Album Covers Pt. 4: Horror Again, Only One More After This

I promise, tomorrow will be the last one of these, I just wanted to cover some of my favorite scary album covers.

DECREPIT BIRTH: DIMINISHING BETWEEN WORLDS

Decrepit Birth is a technical death metal band in the vain of Origin and Necrophagist, with perhaps better songwriting ability. This is another cover that reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft. I can't tell if that thing in the middle is supposed to be alive or not, somehow not knowing makes it even more unnerving.

NIFELHEIM: ENVOY OF LUCIFER

Nifelheim is a Swedish band very similar musically to Dissection, in that the band plays a blend of death and black metal. The band utilizes tremolo riffs and blasting drum beats similar to their mentioned countrymen. The band is also blatantly Anti-Christian as shown on the cover featuring the Reaper (not my dog, the Grim Reaper) entering the gates of Hell.

PATHS OF POSSESSION: THE END OF THE HOUR

Paths of Possession is a death metal band with an emphasis on some melodic ability. The band is much more similar musically to groups like Amon Amarth and Dismember than other Florida death metal bands. The band features Cannibal Corpse's Corpsegrinder on vocals. The album is a concept album about a soldier coming back from the war and slowly losing his sanity from the horrors he witnessed and participated in while at war. I can't even explain the artwork, but it is incredible.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER: NOCTURNAL

The Black Dahlia Murder is a band from the metalcore movement, that is perhaps unfairly labeled as such. Having heard the band, I am not convinced that they are not more of a melodic death metal band similar to At The Gates. There is not much hardcore present in their sound. The cover is reminiscent of second wave black metal bands such as Emperor and Dark Funeral. It is atmospheric and cold and a little forbidding.

PORTAL: OUTRE

I can't even explain this artwork or this band. All I know is that musically and visually, this band is strange. That's really all there is to say about this.

Metal Edge Magazine: The Redheaded Stepchild of Metal Maniacs

Technically, it's the sister publication of Metal Maniacs, which doesn't help explain why it so terrible. After Metal Maniacs folded, I was left without a decent metal magazine. Metal Edge folded at the same time. I am significantly less saddened by that though. However in moving to a new town, I uncovered two issues of Metal Edge that I forgot that I had. I would have thought that I had thrown them away, but no, there they were in a tub with a bunch of my law school books, mocking me. Bastards.

Let's look at this magazine for a second, before I pitch them in the trash where they belong. I got them shortly after subscribing to Metal Maniacs. For the first two months, they sent me this magazine instead. Something I was unhappy about from the very beginning. I had to call twice in order to get the company to send me the right magazine.

I knew I was doomed from the very beginning when the band featured on the cover was the whiny gothic rock band HIM. The rest of the magazine featured such false metal luminaries as 12 Stones, Of Hearts and Shadows, and Yakuza. There were also features on incredibly mainstream metal acts like Machine Head and Still Remains. There was some coverage on groups like Candlemass, Dark Tranquillity, and Immolation, but nothing that had not been done better in Metal Maniacs. The review section was awful with glowing reviews of false metal trash like Adema (formerly known as the terrible nu-metal band with Jonathan Davis's inept half-brother on vocals), August Burns Red, and Bloodsimple. The only saving graces of this magazine were a few reviews on real metal releases and the information on Amoeba Music in Los Angeles, a store I would like to see some time soon.

The second issue featured a decent, albeit mainstream band on the cover, The Black Dahlia Murder. But it quickly shot that goodwill in the foot by featuring a large article on Coheed & Cambria, a band not metal by any stretch of the imagination. Coheed & Cambria plays obnoxious progressive geek rock with terrible high-pitched vocals. I am not a fan. There's also a large article on Avenged Sevenfold, a band discussed in this blog a few times. Seriously, every time I see a picture of this band, I want to wretch. Once again, there is some decent material, a page discussing Witchcraft, Aeon, Epica, an article about Annete Olzon of Nightwish and Flor Jansen of After Forever, an article about Katatonia, and some decent reviews including one discussing recent Metal Mind reissues of Artillery, Defiance, Paradox, and Znowhite. Then there is the glowing review of Dillinger Escape Plan's recent clusterfuck of noise Ire Works, calling it a fucking masterpiece.

Metal Edge also includes a free CD with the magazine. Out of 14 songs on the first month's CD, six were by actual metal bands. Of the 15 songs on the second month's CD, seven were by actual metal bands. That's less than half, a very poor average for a magazine with "Metal" in it's fucking name.

Overall, I would have only recommended this magazine to early teenagers just getting into the music with the advice to use it as a stepping stone to something better. I will keep looking for a new metal magazine. Thankfully this one folded along with Metal Maniacs. Maybe one day, Metal Maniacs will be revived.