English Dogs: Forward Into Battle (1985)

For much of their early existence, English Dogs were a punk band, arising out of the fertile U.K. scene in the late 1970's/early 1980's.  That all changed however with this release.  The band went in a much more metal direction over the coming years, but this is where things really began to head in that direction.

The music here is heavily influenced by that other heavy music scene that rose out of the U.K. around the same time period, the NWOBHM.  English Dogs began incorporating speedy riffs from groups like Iron Maiden, and even some early thrash metal from groups like Metallica and Overkill.  The riffs are raucous and raw, with frenetic intensity. 

The last vestige of the band's prior punk sound can be found in the vocals.  Vocalist Adie Bailey possesses a gruff, punkish snarl.  It does not really fit the music, but it is an interesting element that helps the album stand out in its own way and provides a callback to the band's roots.

This is something of a forgotten gem.  I had no idea it existed until seeing someone mention it on a forum, and speed metal riffs with punk vocals kind of caught my attention.  This is an interesting blend of two huge heavy music scenes from the time period.  And for that, it should get a little more attention that it does.

Girlschool: Hit and Run (1981)

I am not really sure why it is that Girlschool has never really broken through to the mainstream.  It seems to me that an all-female metal band would have made some big waves.  I suppose it is quite likely that the band was viewed as some sort of gimmick, even though Girlschool had the chops to show that they were absolutely for real.  Maybe they formed too early.  Metal unfortunately has a bit of a history of not being the most open-minded and inclusive of genres, though it has come a very long way now.  It certainly did not start that way and Girlschool formed during the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, certainly early on in the genre's history.  So I guess maybe the metal world was not quite ready for Girlschool.  But they were undeniably important in the history of women in metal. 

This is Girlschool's second full-length release, and my first real exposure to the band.  The sound is certainly interesting.  Given that it came out in 1981 it is not shocking that this is not the heaviest of metal bands.  They do sound a great deal like Motörhead, with the same kind of dirty, booze-fueled, rollicking riff style.  They have a bit more of a punk energy though and the vocals are clearly more punk-derived than metal, particularly with the shouted choruses and occasional gang vocals.  The riffs are often rooted in blues, which is not unusual given the time period.  It is very clear that the band was having a damn good time recording the album and this is the kind of thing that would be fun to hear in a dive bar.  It just sort of fits.

Any complaints that I have are kind of nitpicky.  The production is not great, but it does give the band an unrefined feel to the music which does fit well.  Otherwise, there is one point in the song "Yeah Right" where there is a brief sort of skit where the band members are defying rules and talking back to some authority figure or other.  I fucking hate those skits in songs.  Glam bands did it a lot, particularly Van Halen and Slaughter.  It really fucking annoys me.  This one is not as bad, because at least it's short.

Girlschool probably should have been huge.  I guess one of the big problems was that the band was blossoming when the NWOBHM was sort of on its way out and they tried to adapt to the glam sound, which they sort of failed at.  What is impressive though is that the band is still around, becoming the longest active all-female band in rock, not just metal.  That is certainly impressive.

Iron Maiden: No Prayer for the Dying (1990)

I remember being disappointed when I heard Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark.  Not because I had been a long-time fan and their sound on that album was a departure from what I was used to.  No, Fear of the Dark was actually the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard.  I was familiar with the name, but not the band.  It was considerably lighter than I thought it would be.  Keep in mind that my first exposure to metal was with thrash metal bands like Metallica and Megadeth.  So Iron Maiden's much more melodic take on metal caught me by surprise.  I eventually grew to love the album, songs like "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Judas Be My Guide", and of course the title track are all terrific.  And eventually I started checking out the band's earlier material.  Of course as I did that, my feelings for the first Iron Maiden album I ever heard lessened significantly. 

It took a long time for me to get around to the album immediately preceding Fear of the Dark because it is a generally poorly-received album and because of its proximity to Fear of the Dark.  The other reason is that the big hit from the album is "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter", which has never been a particular favorite of mine.  In fact, I really do not care for the song much at all.  It is a little too mainstream pop-metal for me.  So it was with trepidation that I finally took the plunge on the album.  I was more concerned with filling holes than really getting into the release.

The album really is not that bad.  I do not think it is as good as Fear of the Dark, and of course it does not even come close to the album that preceded it, the masterpiece Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, arguably Iron Maiden's finest album.  This is quite the letdown from that album.  This album is very much a safe album.  It does not really push anything, the songs are all fine, with the exception of the aforementioned "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and "Hooks in You", which are both pretty terrible.  The problem is that there really is no standout.  As I said, there is just nothing really here that comes close to any of the band's prior legacy.  It is almost like an Iron Maiden tribute band.

The other issue is the lackluster performances by the band members.  Bruce Dickinson, he of the air-raid siren, operatic vocals in the past, just sounds tired and bored.  He is trying some edgier vocals this time around, but there is not a lot of feeling behind them.  Steve Harris, whose bass rhythms have been the primary driving force behind the band, just is not doing anything terribly interesting, and his songwriting suffers as a result.  The guitar solos do not grab the attention of the listener as they have in the past.  The result is an album that sounds sort of rushed and more of a cash-in than a heartfelt, creative Iron Maiden release.

Honestly this is not a bad album, but it absolutely pales in comparison to the band's prior releases and comes up incredibly short next to the album that came just before it.  It is a disappointment.  But damn if it does not have a cool album cover.

Onslaught: Power from Hell (1985)

Onslaught has had a lot of different styles over the years.  Starting out life as a hardcore punk band, they later morphed into Slayer-like thrash metal band, then going in a more progressive thrash direction when Grim Reaper legend Steve Grimmett briefly joined the band.  They then split up and re-formed a few years later with Sy Keeler back behind the mic. 

During this time period, Onslaught released a number of should-be classic metal albums, yet remained very much in the underground, rarely capturing much attention.  This is a shame because Onslaught is probably one of the best thrash metal bands from England, ever.  I would put them behind only Sabbat, and a little ahead of Xentrix.

This album is Onslaught's debut, and the band is firmly in the thrash metal portion of their career.  Blackened thrash is perhaps a decent description, fitting in well with the sounds of Bathory and Sodom at the time.  And the Show No Mercy Slayer-isms come through loud and clear as well.  The album is a fast-paced tour-de-force of rampaging riffs, pounding drums and gritty vocals.  And the album does a damn fine job of capturing an effectively evil atmosphere.  And again with that I must bring up the similarities to early Slayer. 

Onslaught is a criminally underrated band who has released a number of great albums over the years.  Their debut is one of those releases and should be held up as a classic of the fledgling thrash metal scene.  The fact that it is not is a damn shame.

Possessor: Stay Dead (2015)

I am approaching this band in reverse order apparently.  I have previously covered their 2019 album and yesterday, did their 2017 album.  This is an EP the band released early on in their existence from 2015. 

As this release is so early in the band's history, it reflects a much more raw sound.  The songs are mostly short and simple, revolving around one primary riff.  Only one song lasts longer than three and a half minutes, that being the closer "Lights Out/Crypt of the Sorceror", which is kind of two songs combined anyway.  The group's penchant for memorable, rocking riffs is present, even this early in the band's history. 

The EP, while very short, is a pretty good indicator of what Possessor would sound like later on.  Though it does not match the quality of their 2019 album, it is nevertheless an intriguing listen to a group that is just getting under way.

Possessor: The Ripper (2017)

After being thoroughly impressed by UK stoner doom metal band Possessor's 2019 release, Gravelands, I sought out a couple of their earlier releases.  This is their 2017 album, their third overall album.  At this point in time, the band was a duo with one member playing drums and the other doing everything else.  For their most recent album, they added a full-time bassist.

Possessor stands out a bit from other bands in the genre with their ability to mix in thrash metal influences with the rumbling, rollicking rhythms.  This is especially evident on tracks like "Conjure and Possess" and "Guillotine".  Otherwise, the songs rock hard with catchy riffs and hooks that make it easy to headbang along to.  The lyrics generally deal with horror themes and there is the occasional sample back that up.  The songs do tend to run together at times and it becomes somewhat difficult to tell which song is which.

This is a fun album to listen to.  I was not quite as impressed by it as I was by Gravelands, mostly due to the lack of a real standout track.  Gravelands has "Breathe Fire", which is just a great song and really grabs the listener's attention.  This one does not have that one killer track that brings me back for more.  It is still a very good album, just not quite exceptional.

Dream Tröll: Second to None (2019)

Dream Tröll is one of my favorite bands that I have discovered this year.  That is mostly based on the strength of The Witch's Curse EP, though their first full-length, The Knight of Rebellion, is a fantastic release as well.  So, of course I was excited about their new release.

The first four songs on this release are awesome, and insanely catchy.  The choruses in "Steel Winged Warrior", "I Will Not Die Today" and "Chrome Skull Viper" in particular are absolute ear-worms.  Where the songs really succeed is in their ability to combine power metal with 1980's style arena rock.  And the infectious hooks and choruses are just a part of that.  This combination is particularly prevalent on "Checkmate...Annihilate!" which has several moments, such as the climax, that would make Van Halen proud.  The song genuinely starts off sounding like Bon Jovi.

The album is driven by incredibly strong performances on guitar, vocals and keyboards.  Dream Tröll comes damn close to synth-rock in several places and there are multiple shredding keyboard solos.  If that is what you would call such an instrumentally-proficient solo. 

If there are any negatives, the major one would be that the album is quite long and some of the songs tend to overstay their welcome.  "Chrome Skull Viper" is a great song, but it could have easily been just a four or five minute song, instead of the over seven minutes that it lasts.  The chorus repeats more often than it really needs to.  The only other quibble is that after the awesome first half, the second half kind of disappoints.  The best songs are all on the first half and could have been placed in a better sequence.  But these are fairly minor quibbles.

This is the third release I have picked up from Dream Tröll this year and each one has been very impressive.  I still do not think that it quite matches the incredible EP that I mentioned before, but I do like it better than the debut full-length.  This is a band that I am vowing to follow as they continue to put out music. 

Grave Miasma: Endless Pilgrimage (2016)

I covered Cruciamentum a couple of months ago, a U.K.-based death metal band, which is not a remarkably common thing.  Grave Miasma is very similar, in that they are a death metal band from the U.K. and their sound is very similar.  The band was previously formed under the name Goat Molestör, because of they did.  The drummer even spent time in Cruciamentum.  And so now we have Grave Miasma.

This is the band's fourth release, and three of them have been EPs.  As mentioned, Grave Miasma's sound is similar to Cruciamentum.  It is based in old school occult death metal bands like Incantation and Immolation, featuring jagged, disgustingly grimy riffs and guttural roaring vocals.  The big highlight is the rumbling bass that is often playing counter-rhythms to the main riffs.  Grave Miasma also incorporates some interesting instrumentation, including a sitar in EP opener "Yama Transforms to the Afterlife". 

This is an excellent EP and a short introduction to the band.  There's just five songs here, but they are longer with a lot of twists and turns.  Grave Miasma definitely shows promise.

Paradise Lost: Shades of God (1992)

Paradise Lost holds a special place in my history of becoming a metal fan, and this time of year is appropriate to be talking about it.  They were one of the earliest non-mainstream metal bands I ever heard.  I remember seeing a review of their album Draconian Times in a music magazine and had heard "Once Solemn" on an underground metal radio show.  I was interested enough that their album was on a list that I gave my family when they asked for Christmas ideas.  Someone got it for me, and I fell in love with it immediately.  Unfortunately, in those pre-internet days, their albums were really hard to find.  It has taken several years, but I have gradually been checking out most of their older releases, as well as their newer stuff.

Shades of God was Paradise Lost's third album and it features the kind of rumbling mixture of doom metal and death metal that most of their earlier material was known for, as well as touches of the gothic sound that they had a hand in creating.  This album though is a little heavier on the doom metal than the other albums by the band around the same time.  But it is doom metal in the vein of groups like Candlemass and Trouble, rolling riffs and infectious hooks.  There are a few faster tracks to really get the blood pumping like "Pity the Sadness", one of my favorite Paradise Lost tracks.

One change the band made on this album was to lengthen the songs somewhat and use more progressive song structures.  The change showed a band that was maturing and becoming more confident in their abilities, but sometimes the tracks tended to meander a bit longer than necessary.  The band deserved credit though for attempting to expand their horizons, and they never went way too far out there.

This album is a great combination of the melodic and aggressive sides of the band coming together.  It should be held up as a classic by the band, but seems to be one of the more overlooked albums.  Paradise Lost remains a favorite band of mine, and discovering some of these lost albums has certainly helped keep them there.

Conan: Existential Void Guardian (2018)

Presumably Conan is named after the barbarian played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and less popularly by Jason Momoa in movies based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, and not the red-headed late night television host.  I am not sure what a band named after Conan O'Brien should sound like (probably not a metal band I suspect), but I do know what a band named after Conan the Barbarian should sound like.  And quite frankly, Conan (the band) absolutely delivers.

Conan's sound is a combination of sludge metal and stoner doom metal, two styles not frequently associated with the U.K.  These are two much more typically American styles, so it is somewhat odd finding a band from the U.K. playing these styles of metal, much less combining them into such a seemless and powerful sound.

The riffs are massive and mostly slower-paced.  The songs lumber along like a behemoth, only occasionally speeding up to a mid-paced gallop.  But the monolithic power of the riffs is ever-present.  But what is odd is that despite how slowly most of the songs are played, they are not terribly long.  The entire album is under 40 minutes in length.  And the songs are also for the most part very catchy. 

If there is a downside to the album, it is the vocals.  The vocals seem a little bit strained and are mostly delivered in a harsh yell.  They fit the music fairly well, but can become a little grating at times.

Conan has been around for some time at this point.  This is their fourth full-length, though it is the first one I have heard.  There are definitely times when this type of metal really speaks to me, and so it is likely that this will enter regular rotation, alongside groups like The Gates of Slumber and Trouble.

Split: Archaic Tomb vs. Cryptworm

As mentioned before, I am treating splits as a contest between the two bands.  This one features two up and coming bands who have each contributed one song to the split.

ARCHAIC TOMB - "PERSECUTION PARAPHERNALIA"

Archaic Tomb is a Portuguese death metal band whose sound seems to be based more on occult death metal bands like Incantation and Angelcorpse.  Their sound is cavernous and malevolent with rumbling riffs and vocals that echo like they are rising from a cold tomb.  The song features several twists and turns but maintains a sepulchral atmosphere throughout.  

CRYPTWORM - "PUTREFACTIVE REGURGITATION"

Cryptworm is a U.K.-based death metal band who sound like they are from Finland.  Their song features a heavy, roiling riff that sounds like something that Convulse or Funebre would have cooked up.  The vocals are mostly comprised of deep, gurgling croaks, calling to mind Demilich.  Theirs is a slimy, gruesome sound, as of an undead beast crawling out of the swamp.

THE WINNER: CRYPTWORM

I gotta go with Cryptworm here.  I liked both songs quite a bit, but in general the Finnish death metal scene is a big favorite of mine and Cryptworm does an admirable job of replicating that sound.  I would be more likely to track down a Cryptworm album than an Archaic Tomb album.

Possessor: Gravelands (2019)

Sometimes, there is nothing better than listening to a really good stoner doom metal album.  And I am talking about those bands who do not meander too much and incorporate a lot of psychedelia.  I am referring to the bands who have a lot of rock elements, with grooving riffs and rumbling bass.

Here we have one such band, London's Possessor.  Possessor combines elements of thrash metal into their stoner doom, sounding more like a punkier version of High on Fire than anything else.  Possessor sounds like they are having an absolute blast playing these songs.  They are energetic and generally fast-paced, and with a lot of groove to the riffs, it is guaranteed to get heads banging.

The highlight on the album is the frantic crunching riffs in "Breathe Fire".  The song flies by with the best riff on the album (which is saying something), incorporating a rollicking bass line and spaced-out vocals.  The solo is not to be missed either. 

I was incredibly impressed by my first shot listening to Possessor.  So much so that I picked up what I could by the album.  This is a whole lot of fun.

Cruciamentum: Charnel Passages (2015)

One of my favorite things about attending concerts is the possibility of discovering new bands.  There have been a couple of concerts this year that have been helpful in that respect.  The UADA concert featured Wormwitch and Cloak, both of which were extremely impressive.  And when I saw The Chasm, the opening bands were Infernal Conjuration and Cruciamentum.  I actually placed an order for this album during the Cruciamentum performance.  That is how impressive they were.

Cruciamentum is a U.K.-based death metal band whose sound is rooted in old-school occult death metal bands like Incantation, Immolation and Angelcorpse with a little bit of Swedish death metal thrown in for good measure, all done with a modern flair.  The songs are mostly on the lengthy side, with progressive song structures and grinding riffs that envelop the listener.  The band is technical, yet dark and malevolent.  The band utilizes blasting double bass drumming and blazing guitar leads. 

The one criticism I have about the album is a little nitpicky.  The songs do not vary a whole lot and tend to run together.  The tempo does not change a whole lot and the riffs tend to be very similar to those in other songs.  The other side of this is that the album works much better as a whole rather than a collection of songs. 

This is Cruciamentum's first full-length album and the band has developed a large following in the metal underground, and for good reason.  This is a damn impressive album and proof that there is still some great modern death metal. 

Dream Tröll: The Knight of Rebellion (2017)

After I loved The Witch's Curse so much, it was only a matter of time before I picked up some of the other material by the Leeds-based band Dream Tröll.  I started with the band's debut album which was released the prior year. 

First of all, let's talk about the album cover.  Now, I could be wrong (though I seldom am), but I am pretty sure the band basically adapted an image from He-Man for that cover.  In fact, having been a huge fan when I was young, I am almost positive that is what we are looking at.  He-Man holding up the Power Sword in front of the Castle Greyskull.  So, that is pretty damn awesome.

Now onto the music.  Honestly, after The Witch's Curse, I was slightly disappointed with this release.  I was kind of hoping all of the band's albums would basically be a rock/metal opera, and that was not the case with this album.  These are much more straightforward power/heavy metal songs and they do not appear to tell a cohesive story.  There are moments where the theatricality appears, particularly in "A Fairy's Tale", which features a few moments of spoken-word narration. 

My disappointment in the lack of story-telling notwithstanding, the album is quite good.  It is mostly slower to mid-paced, lengthier songs with a lot of melody.  The vocals and the lead guitar mostly compete for attention.  The choruses are infectious as hell, particularly on "Velvet Drawbridge" and "Lost in the Pages".  They are not to the same level as those on The Witch's Curse, but they are damn good in their own right.

This album has been growing on me since picking it up.  It is not what I expected, but the album is still very good.  I will still be exploring the music of Dream Tröll, even if The Witch's Curse is more of the exception, rather than the rule.

Tank: Tank (1987)

If you pay close attention while watching the latest season of Netflix's Stranger Things, during a scene in Billy's room, a poster for Tank can be seen on the wall.  This is a little unusual due to the fact that Tank never really garnered much of a following in the United States.  The NWOBHM band released some great albums in the early part of the 1980's and eventually disbanded for the first time in the late 1980's.  The band eventually split into two bands, both calling themselves Tank and claiming to be the rightful band. 

This self-titled release was the last full-length album by Tank before calling it quits the first time and finds the band softening their previously raw, Motörhead-influenced sound.  What results is a much more mainstream-sounding Tank.  With the increased melodic tendencies, Tank sounds more like mid-1980's Judas Priest or Accept with songs that would not sound out of place on hard rock radio of the time period.

Some of the best songs on the album are "With Your Life", with its infectious sing-along chorus and the doom-laden "It Fell from the Sky".  Many of the lyrics, particularly on the latter song and on "(The Hell They Must) Suffer", are heavy, dealing with the horrors of war.  Others, like "The Enemy Below" are more tongue-in-cheek, likely dealing with sexual conquest.

The only real negative thing I have to say about this is the inclusion of one of my pet peeves on "March On, Sons of Nippon".  That is one of those ridiculous spoken-word "skits" in the middle of the song.  These were particularly prevalent in the 1980's and they drive me fucking nuts.  I hate them.

Other than that one issue, this is a damn good release by Tank.  The band was never one of the top NWOBHM bands, but they did churn out some damn good music.  This is not one of their better releases, but it is still quite good.

Dream Tröll: The Witch's Curse (2018)

I fucking LOVE this EP.  Honestly, I have probably listened to this EP more than any other album in my collection since I picked it up.  It is absolutely an incredible listen, musically and lyrically.  There is a theatricality about it as well that calls to mind the concept albums by groups like King Diamond and others.

The EP tells the story of a witch's curse and the battle of one man to free his beloved from the effects of the curse.  The characters are Cyrian, the protagonist who is sent to kill his father Enki in order to lift the curse.  But Enki, after a protracted battle, decides he will not kill his son and decides to lift the curse instead.  And so Cyrian returns to the witch's lair in order to reclaim his beloved Isabella.  It is an incredibly detailed and ambitious story and shocking that it is something original written by the band.  It is also not finally resolved, leaving open the possibility that a sequel could be coming.

Musically, Dream Tröll's sound on this one is a style of heavy metal that has influences from power metal and doom metal.  There are frequent guitar solos and keyboard lines as well as gang vocals.  There is a lot going on musically here, but it is the storytelling that is really the key to this release.  I mentioned the theatricality previously.  The vocals are delivered in different styles depending on the character's point of view.

I fell for this EP the first time I heard it and that has not lessened ever since.  I have checked out Dream Tröll's other releases.  Unfortunately, those releases, while quite good in their own rights, are missing the theatricality and story-telling that is present on this one.  They are much more typical power metal releases while this one skirts the line with hard rock.  This is one of the greatest rock opera concept albums metal has seen in quite some time.

Xentrix: Bury the Pain (2019)

The U.K. is not really known for thrash metal.  Despite being the birthplace of heavy metal as we know it, for all intents and purposes, and being a major breeding ground for punk, the two major ingredients in thrash metal, there are not a ton of U.K. thrash metal bands who have made a long-lasting impact.  Basically, there is Onslaught, Sabbat, Xentrix, and in recent years, Evile.  Xentrix released a couple of great albums in the heyday of thrash metal, then disappeared for awhile.  But, like many other metal bands, they have re-formed recently with a new singer, and this is their first album since 1996.

I am not overly familiar with the previous Xentrix releases.  I have heard them, but do not own copies of them, though that's not due to not wanting them.  This is a terrific return to the form that made those earlier albums (I am not talking about the 1992 and 1996 releases) so great.  

The music sounds like a combination of Practice What You Preach-era Testament and ...And Justice for All-era Metallica.  It is aggressive thrash metal with staccato riffs and a lot of intensity.  The vocals sound like a gruffer version of James Hetfield's AJFA shout.  Xentrix generally do not waste time doing acoustic interludes or melodic sections.  The band simply goes out and makes as much harsh thrash metal as possible.  It's thrash metal that recalls the spirit and anger of the genre in its early years, before a bunch of bands started incorporating humor and progressive elements.  Some of the highlights of the album include the blistering title track and the punishing "Let the World Burn".  

A lot of thrash metal bands from the genre's golden period have reunited over the last decade or so, but not many have done so as convincingly as Xentrix.  This is a terrific comeback album and cements the band as one of the best thrash metal bands to come from the U.K.  There is not a lot of competition, but still.

Memoriam: Requiem for Mankind (2019)

Memoriam is the band created by former members of Bolt Thrower formed as a tribute to former drummer Martin Kearns.  The band has now released three albums and the cover art on all three releases seems to tell some sort of story.   The band has been reasonably well-received, though there are a lot of Bolt Thrower fans out there that do not seem taken with the band.  I have never quite understood that.

The major criticism of Memoriam seems to be the mid-paced riffing style that the band seems to get locked into at times, instead of the more dynamic style of Bolt Thrower.  That seems to have fallen by the wayside with this release.  This is the kind of album fans have really been waiting for since the announcement of the formation of this new group.  The band does a fantastic job of recapturing the spirit and aggression of the old band.

The improvement is evident from the very beginning of opening track "Shell Shock", which would have fit in well on Those Once Loyal.  The riffs are melodic and aggressive and even Karl Willetts's vocals have improved, after being somewhat lackluster on the previous two albums.  That intensity continues throughout the album, with highlights being "Undefeated", "Refuse to be Led" and the title track.

I am a big fan of Memoriam personally.  Obviously they will never truly be able to get out of the shadow of Bolt Thrower and will likely never eclipse the best albums by the legendary forebears, but Memoriam is quite good in their own right.  And this is their best album so far.

Bal-Sagoth: Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule (1996)

Yep, that title is a mouthful.  That is just the tip of the iceberg for the weirdness in this album.  Bal-Sagoth is a deeply weird and unique band, which will be described later on.  I have been familiar with Bal-Sagoth and all of their weirdness for some time.  Suffice to say, you kind of have to be in the mood to listen to one of their albums.  I wondered if the band had always been so weird, so when I had an opportunity to pick up one of their earlier albums, I took it.

This is Bal-Sagoth's second album, and yes, they have apparently always been weird.  The music is damn impressive, an epic-feeling take on black metal.  The music is bombastic and triumphant, with big riffs and lots of keyboards.  The album starts off with some keyboard-laden majestic fanfare before kicking off into the first real song on the album, which showcases the band's black metal influence, well at least in the early riffs.  From there it takes on the more typical epic, melodic sound.

The weirdness of Bal-Sagoth, and their most identifiable characteristic is the vocals.  Bal-Sagoth's vocals are performed in two distinct styles.  The first is a somewhat typical raspy screech that is normal for black metal and often performed when the music is considerably more aggressive.  The second though is a baritone-heavy spoken style, used to narrate the story line and sounding like someone telling scary stories around the campfire.  It is a very unique aspect that sets Bal-Sagoth apart.

The lyrics tell a story and basically read as a book with complete paragraphs and sentences, rather than song lyrics.  It just so happens that it is put to music.  Even the song titles are long-winded.  The first song is called "To Dethrone the Witch-Queen of Mytos K'unn (The Legend of the Battle of Blackhelm Vale)".  And that is one of the shorter titles.  The story combines dark fantasy, science fiction and horror elements.  One day I will actually sit down and read the damn thing to try to figure it all out. 

As I said, this is not for everyone and it is something that takes a lot to get used to.  It is a very unique sound for a band.  This is however, one of the better albums I have heard from Bal-Sagoth, and once one gets used to the bizarre nature of the band, it is rewarding.

Heathen Fury: Heathen Fury (2011)

Here is a one-man band from West Yorkshire, England whose sound is derived almost completely from the early days of black metal.  I am not really sure what is currently happening with this project.  This demo was released back in 2011, and there has been no follow-up since.  The sole member has about 20 other projects going so it is entirely possible that this was meant to just be a one-off.

The cover is a tad misleading.  One would think with the colorful cover and the font and everything else that this would more likely be a a traditional metal album or at least a viking metal sound.  Instead, this album has much more in common with early black metal artists like Bathory, Mayhem and even a little Master's Hammer.  Opening track "Russian Winter Sacrifice" in particular sounds like an early Master's Hammer track, due to the weird groove it locks into.

The sound is raw and primal, with heavy, galloping riffs.  Several of the songs have a very retro sound to them.  "The Power of Mighty Thor" for instance sounds like something that an early doom metal band (think Cirith Ungol or Trouble) would produce.  With the gang vocals (where did those come from by the way?), it is easily the catchiest song on the demo.  "Valkarye" then is the slowest and most melodic track on the release, but with a deep sense of unease.

This is an intriguing demo.  It would have been interesting to see something more from Heathen Fury, but I really think this is probably it from them.  It was a Hel of a ride.