Blind Buy Surprise Albums Pt. 2: Deceased...: As the Weird Travel On

When I was not paying attention, I had heard the band name "Deceased..." thrown around. But I was not paying attention. My assumption was that this was just another death metal band and I would wait until either I had heard something more concrete or had a chance to look at them. Then I started actually paying attention a little more closely. It was clear I was missing out on something. There was an entire thread about the band on Metal Archives with universal praise. I read an essay critiquing impure metal on another site, which spoke glowingly of Deceased... being a band that was honest and pure and even dare I say true metal. That essay claimed one of the band's albums was a masterpiece.

It was at around that time that I had money to burn. I had just gotten my tax refund that year and was planning on buying a bunch of records over at Hell's Headbangers. I saw an album by Deceased... and decided to add it to the mix. Holy shit am I ever glad I did that.

Deceased... is not a death metal band, or at least they are not now. They have death metal influences, mixed with thrash metal influences, and delivered in a traditionaly metal style. They started out as a thrash metal band, evolved into a death metal band, and then combined everything to end up with a stunning mix of styles that seems odd at first but works incredibly well.

It's difficult to describe exactly what the sound is on this album, but traditional metal with some thrash influences and death metal-sounding vocals is probably pretty close. It sounds like a cross between Motorhead and Overkill with David Vincent of Morbid Angel on vocals. The riffs fly by at a breakneck speed with overlapping guitar leads and solos to keep things melodic and King Foley's smoky snarling vocals.

This is a great album by a great, underrated band. Check this album out as well as anything else by the band.

Nergal of Behemoth Destroys Bible, Possibly Faces Prison

http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/03/09/behemoths-nergal-faces-up-to-two-years-in-prison-for-destruction-of-a-bible/

Well, the Polish are definitely sensitive about religion. I think most of us knew that. But Behemoth singer Nergal apparently knows this first hand now. In Poland, offending someone based on their religion is a criminal act. Nergal is a very outspoken critic against Christianity, and Catholicism in particular. In a concert in 2007, he called the church "the most murderous cult on the planet" and then proceeded to tear apart a Bible onstage. Ryszard Nowak, Head of the All-Polish Committe for Defense Against Sects was not amused and tried to sue Nergal soon after. This was unsuccessful however as there have to be multiple complaints to bring the action under Polish law. Undaunted, he found some other willing people to help him out.

Nergal's stance is that he has artistic license to do what he wants as it is entertainment when he is onstage and no one should be offended.

I do not know anything about Polish law to be able to comment on what should or will happen in this case. I know this would be considered Free Speech in the U.S. and would be subject to the First Amendment. But Poland does not have the same rules and laws as the U.S. At any rate, this is more fuel for the fire of hatred Nergal feels towards Christianity.

Initial Impressions: The Sword: Gods of the Earth

I saw The Sword in concert awhile back. They were the opening band in a three band concert that included Down and Metallica. I was actually fairly impressed with the band at the time, although I did not pick up their album until just recently. It was clear that The Sword were not nearly as experienced in large concert venues as the other two bands, but they still managed to do a decent job.

The Sword came under fire early in their careers when they were attached to a major label seemingly without doing anything to deserve it. They were at the forefront of the retro rock movement along with Wolfmother and people were turned off by them not adding anything new to their music, just rehashing old ideas. They were also branded "hipster metal" due to the band members not being involved with metal their entire lives leading up to the formation of the band. I do not know whether any of these arguments have merit or not. It's not my place to judge these things. I only hear their music.

The Sword played stoner/doom metal on the band's first album. This album still retains a lot of the doom and stoner metal elements, but also adds NWOBHM and other 1980's metal styled riffing to the mix. The band has expanded their sound a little more on this release while retaining the overall retro feel of their first album. Their musicianship and songwriting skills have also improved.

The band is known for their extremely heavy, monolithic riffs and powerful drumming. Both elements return with greater vitality here. J.D. Cronise has a very distinctive voice that many have compared to Ozzy Osbourne during his Black Sabbath days. I am not sure I agree, but it is a decent style nonetheless.

The Sword's songs are long and tend to meander a little at times. They are nevertheless good, in general. They are very catchy. The lyrics tend towards the fantasy and swords and dragons side of things.

This is a very good sophomore album by the band which hopefully replaced any doubt in the band's metal credibility. I guess we'll find out when their third album is released this year.

Initial Impressions: Forbidden: Twisted Into Form

When I saw a used copy of this album sitting in the cheap bins at the local bookstore/music store, I had to get it. Forbidden albums are not very easy to find all the time. Certainly not in stores. So, this was easily one of my favorite buys, still not quite my favorite (I will have a post about that one later), but certainly a very good one.

Forbidden is a thrash metal band from the San Franciso Bay Area. However, as far as popularity goes from the time, they were somewhere in the third tier, below Metallica (which occupied a tier by itself), below Exodus and Testament, and somewhere along with Heathen, Laaz Rockit, Vio-lence, and Death Angel. Nevertheless, Forbidden was (and is as they have recently reformed) an excellent band.

Musically, Forbidden is not dissimilar from the other bands in the Bay Area scene. They are probably closest to Exodus. The riffs are fast and inspired by a mix of punk and NWOBHM. Guitar leads frequently stand out from the riffs. The drumming is also fast and guitar solos are frequent. The songs are often around the five minute mark and are performed in a more progressive structure.

Where Forbidden is distinguished from other Bay Area thrash metal bands is the vocals. Russ Anderson possesses a higher singing voice, similar to power metal bands of the day. These vocals add more melody and power to the already energetic performance of the musicians. Anderson is a very underrated vocalist.

This is an underrated gem of an album. Forbidden is not an unknown band, but they certainly have not managed the same type of career as their peers in Exodus, Metallica, and Testament. However, they recently reformed, and may soon be in for the kind of success they just missed the first time around.

Initial Impressions: Dark Fortress: Ylem

Germany's melodic black metal masters have been going at it for quite some time. However, this is only the second album that has been released to a wide market in the U.S. On this release, Dark Fortress is going for a bit more of a melodic, slower, and overall far more sinister sound. Prior albums have been more similar in tone to Naglfar and Lord Belial. Here, the band branches out a little more.

Dark Fortress retains the black metal base to their sound, but have added some slower parts open to a bit more experimentation. Some near psychedelic moments shine through when the band is not blasting away. The band also benefits from a clearer, more crisp production sound. Every instrument can be heard well and nothing is buried in the mix.

Some of the songs on this album almost sound as if Dark Fortress has been taking influence from Nachtmystium. The songs are longer, a little more progressive in structure, and with some non-black metal elements showing through. It's an interesting take, and not one I was really expecting to hear on this album. The Dissection-esque riffs and rough vocals are still present, but there is a lot more going on this time around.

I am not sure what to think of this album yet. I really enjoyed the band's last album, and this is not all that similar to that. It might be a grower, but there's nothing wrong with that. Some of the songs are a little on the long side, but there's nothing really wrong with that either. I don't know. We'll see how I feel after the album has had some time to sink in.

Initial Impressions: Exciter: Heavy Metal Maniac

Canada apparently had a great metal scene in the 1980's. Exciter, Anvil, and Razor were all playing fast thrash/speed metal. Meanwhile, Slaughter, Sacrifice, and Voivod were playing on the heavier end of the thrash spectrum. It's too bad many of those bands were not as well-known south of the border.

Exciter plays speed metal influenced by the NWOBHM, Judas Priest, and early thrash metal acts. It's very fast and also aggressive. The album starts out slowly with the opening track and sounds of an oncoming storm. Then it kicks into gear and does not slow down until it's over. The riffs are impressive, but they could stand to be higher in the mix.

The vocals are a little bit of a weak point. Perhaps the problem lies more in the production values of the album though, as the vocals are certainly not bad. They just kind of echo which gets a little annoying after awhile. Like I said, this is probably more due to the production than the actual vocals.

This album is just another example of some great Canadian metal that went largely unnoticed in the U.S. It's unfortunate, but with the internet, all of this stuff that was only heard regionally can now make its way to the masses.

One last thing though: there are three interview tracks on this album at the end as bonus. That's awful. It's one thing to have bonus tracks, it's quite another to have them be separate interviews.

Initial Impressions: Diamond Head: Lighting to the Nations

Diamond Head is a somewhat well-known band, but not for what they themselves have done. This album, also known as The White Album, features four songs that were covered by Metallica over the years. The NWOBHM band was a major influence on the career of the pioneering thrash metal band. This is a very solid album and people who enjoy Metallica should check out one of the bands responsible for leading them in the metal direction.

Diamond Head plays faster songs than many of their contemporaries. Of course this is partially due to the punk influences. The punk influences though merely caused the band to play faster. Diamond Head sounds more like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden than any punk band.

The musicianship is very impressive. The riffs are incredible. This is easily one of the best early metal albums from a riff standpoint. Every song here is memorable and the reason for that is the catchy riffs. The guitar solos are also very well-played and add a lot to the music. The vocals are a little on the high side, and are really the only weakness on the album. Metallica covered "The Prince", "Am I Evil", "It's Electric", and "Helpless".

Before I sum things up, here's a little rant. I like it when record companies reissue albums. I even sometimes like it when they put bonus tracks on the album. I don't like it when they add a bunch of random bonus tracks that ruin the overall feel of the album. This is the reissue. There are seven bonus tracks on it, as many songs as the original album. That means this is twice as long as intended. The bonus tracks are nowhere near as strong as the original material either, making the last half of the album somewhat boring. If you want this album, try to get one without the bonus songs.

Other than that, this is a great NWOBHM album. It was the last one on my list when I started looking into the scene a little bit more. It's the best one I have heard so far.

Weekly Recap: Feb. 28-Mar. 6

It was a somewhat busy week this week. At work, I got quite a bit done, including a couple of hearings early in the week and then two hearings that were continued. Mrs. Metallattorney was still sick for the first three days of the week. She's feeling better now.

I got albums from Riot, Diamond Head, Exciter, Dark Fortress, Forbidden, and The Sword this week. Look for reviews later in the week.

As mentioned in an earlier post, this month is Metal Month. What does that mean? Who really knows. There's a sampler CD at participating stores of which there are a couple in Nebraska. Hopefully I will have a chance to stop by one of the stores. It depends on how busy things are this week.

Burzum finally released a long-awaited album. Varg Vikernes was released from prison last year. Indications are that it is decent, if a little behind the times. But Vikernes has been in prison for 15 years, so what do you expect?

Amon Amarth: Versus the World
Arsis: United in Regret
Blaspherian: Allegiance to the Will of Damnation
Bloodbath: Nightmares Made Flesh
Bloodbath: Resurrection Through Carnage
Bloodbath: The Fathomless Mastery
Cephalic Carnage: XenosapienCruachan: Folk-Lore
Cryptopsy: Blasphemy Made Flesh
Daath: The Hinderers
Dawn of Azazel: Bloodforged Abdication
Diamond Head: Lightning to the Nations
Dismember: Where Iron Crosses Grow
Eluveitie: Slania
Emperor: In the Nightside Eclipse
Enslaved: Isa
Entombed: Left Hand Path
Exciter: Heavy Metal Maniac
Fear Factory: Archetype
Goatwhore/Epoch of Unlight: Corruption in Increments Vol. 1
Gojira: From Mars to Sirius
Iced Earth: Something Wicked This Way Comes
In Flames: The Jester Race/Black-Ash Inheritance
Kalmah: They Will Return
Kamelot: The Black Halo
Kreator: Enemy of God
Lord Belial: Enter the Moonlight Gate
Lord Belial: Nocturnal Beast
Lord Belial: Revelation-The 7th Seal
Lord Belial: The Black Curse
Machine Head: Burn My Eyes
Mictlantecuhtli: Warriors of the Black Sun
Nevermore: Nevermore
Nightrage: A New Disease is Born
Nile: In Their Darkened Shrines
Norther: Mirror of Madness
Pantera: Reinventing the Steel
Primordial: A Journey's End
Riot: Fire Down Under
Rusty Eye: Possessor
Sacred Reich: Independent
Seance: Awakening of the Gods
Shadows Fall: The Art of Balance
Skyclad: Prince of the Poverty Line
Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss
Sodom: Agent Orange
Sodom: In the Sign of Evil/Obsessed by Cruelty
Sodom: Persecution Mania
Suffocation: Effigy of the Forgotten
The Chasm: The Spell of Retribution
Trench Hell: Alcoholic Disaster
Trench Hell: Southern Cross Ripper
Tristania: Beyond the Veil
Waylander: Honour Amongst Chaos

Favorite New Bands of 2000's Pt. 3: Arsis

Arsis was just discussed briefly on this blog recently on an Initial Impressions piece for the band's new album. Arsis is a band that is somewhat difficult to categorize as they possess influences from thrash, death, melodic death, and even some black metal. The band's music is rooted in standard death metal, but it often features technical riffs and melodic solos running throughout.

Arsis formed in Virginia in 2000. Since inception, the band has gone through numerous lineup changes. The one sole member that has been with the band since the beginning has been guitarist/singer James Malone. It's his band, everyone else is temporary.

I own three albums by Arsis.

United in Regret is the band's second album. It is the album in my collection closest in sound to death metal. The album's lyrical theme is basically one big "fuck you" to a former flame. The album even features a Depeche Mode cover to go with the bleakness inherent in the musical facets.
We are the Nightmare is the band's third album and this is much more varied than the previous album. It features more technical riffs and solos and is overall, a darker sounding album.
The band recently released Starve for the Devil, so named because of Malone's problems with an eating disorder last year. The album features the tongue-in-cheek song "Forced to Rock".

Gojira: "From the Sky": Heaviest Song Ever?

Is there a heavier song than this? Holy shit, it starts off with a bludgeoning riff played on the bass and guitar which then switches gears into a a continually pounding power chord. Meanwhile, the bass drum is rapidly firing on all cylinders throughout and Joe Duplantier provides coarse yelling vocals. This song is seriously powerful and has earth-shaking bottom end. It slows down for a brief moment and then speeds off to its conclusion, returning with the opening riff. Wow.

Favorite New Bands of the 2000's Pt. 2: Eluveitie

Eluveitie, formed in 2002, is a Swiss band that plays melodic death metal interspersed with Celtic folk instruments and elements. It took me by surprise that the band was actually Swiss with the Celtic influences, but I don't claim to know much about European influences and cultural spread, so what the hell. The only thing I know is that this band is great.

Most folk metal bands are closer to black metal than other genres, not so in this case. Eluveitie has far more in common with groups like Dark Tranquillity and Amon Amarth than black metal bands.

The band uses traditional Celtic instrumentation mixed with their metal. For instance, various members play the bagpipes, the hurdy gurdy, bodhran, mandola, and pipes. The mix of these traditional influences sounds amazing next to the melodic death metal that makes up the majority of the band's sound. The lyrics are often done in the extinct language Gaulish to add to the traditional nature of the influences.

Thus far, I only own the album Slania, which to date is the band's best album. It's fast and extreme with moments of beauty and melody. The band will be releasing their new album in just a few days. Hopefully, I will be able to find it quickly.

Initial Impressions: Riot: Fire Down Under

Riot is an early U.S. heavy metal band, rising out of New York in the mid 1970's. This is the band's third album and one that broke to a very wide audience. It was released in 1981, right during the midst of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explosion that was starting to find its way over to U.S. shores. It was pretty good timing as this album has a lot in common with the NWOBHM. Riot had also found an audience across the sea.

To begin with, there's the crazy ass cover. I have no idea what this creature is. It's some sort of man with a seal's head. And it appeared on the band's first five album covers. After the band nearly broke up after their 1983 album, it did not appear again, at least not that I have seen.

Musically, the band sounds a lot like very early Iron Maiden. The opening riff on the first track "Swords and Tequila" sounds a lot like the opening riff to Maiden's "2 Minutes to Midnight". The rest of the music on the album continues to tread the line between sounding like NWOBHM and American hard rock/metal bands of the day. The riffs have a Judas Priest feel to them and the vocals, while not as overpowering as some of the band's British peers, are well-done. The guitar solos are where things really shine. Guitarist Mark Reale is a very talented player and soloist.

Riot is one of the early American metal bands to truly make a name for themselves. They played a style very similar to bands from England of that time period which helped them to attract an audience. Unfortunately, their career peaked in the early 1980's. While they stayed around, they never matched it.

March is Metal Month

http://marchismetalmonth.com/

Just as the title says, March is Metal Month. Several metal websites will be running contests and having special features. There will be a sampler CD at independent music stores across the country. Homer's in Omaha is a participating store, as is FYE. Please help support our music.

Rusty Eye: Possessor

Rusty Eye is a band that originally formed in Mexico City, Mexico in 1995 and later relocated to sunny Hollywood, CA. I was recently contacted by bassist and singer Mr. Rust to introduce me to his band. It's just the kind of DIY strategy that the band has been utilizing to get themselves notice over the last few years. Sometimes, in the underground metal scene, that's the only way to accomplish things. Well, I have been won over. This album, the band's fourth, is surprisingly original and creative. Why have I not heard this band before?

The band is very interested in horror movies and this influence shines through like a beacon. The entire atmosphere of the album gives off a 1960's or 1970's psychedelic horror movie vibe. Everything about it feels dingy and unclean. Even the packaging of the album gives off that feel, with the well-done cover art and the inside artwork. The cover is colorful and sinister and chaotic, all at once. The CD itself is made to look like a vinyl record. Another nice touch.

The vocals are provided by the aforementioned Mr. Rust as well as drummer Miss Randall. Mr. Rust has a dirty, gravelly-sounding voice, which adds to the atmospheric tension of the overall sound. His extreme vocals could use a little work. They are not bad, just not as impressive as his full-throated snarls. His clean vocals on "The Serial Kind" sound like a demented Jim Morrison. Miss Randall provides backing vocals early in the album and as it progresses, she takes more and more of a lead vocal role. Miss Randall's vocals are typically delivered in femme fatale-esque sultry voice beckoning unwary men into danger.

Musically, it's not easy to pigeonhole Rusty Eye. Any given song may be different and a wide variety of musical styles are present on the album. The band seems to be rooted in a combination of thrash metal, progressive metal, and psychedelic rock. But again, this may be completely different from one song to the next.

The album opens up with an instrumental "At the House by the Cemetary" which builds into the uptempo "11.02 Day of the Dead" about the Mexican holiday. "Mondo Cane"'s opening riff sounds lifted from a garage band, but the song is fast and raw once it gets going. The pace is kept up until "The Serial Kind" which slows things down quite a bit and features Miss Randall on lead vocals. After that, the thrash attack comes crashing back through for a few more tracks before slowing down on the last two tracks.

As for the instrumentation, Rusty Eye features three very talented musicians. Miss Randall is an incredible drumming talent. Her fills and cadences capture the listener's attention and do not let go. Baron Murtland is a very talented guitarist and creates much of the atmosphere and soundscapes with his take on psychedelia-inspired metal. His solos sound as if they would be at home in any stoner doom metal band. Mr. Rust's bass talents are also on full display here as it rumbles along shaking the ground beneath.

The only disappointment I have with the album is its tendency to lose steam near the end. The songs are not as well-constructed after "Jerusalem Cricket Souffle" and lose the listener's attention a little bit. A strong album closer would have been a good way to end this album on a high point, but instead we have "Rituales de Sangre" which is more of a soundtrack to an old horror movie during a drug-induced ritual. It then descends into only an occasional ding. If the last song had been more of a barnburner, it may have awakened the listener, bringing them back more and more. That being said, the album as a whole is a quality listening experience.

This is a strong album by a band devoted to its craft and to making a name for themselves. The band certainly has a strong work ethic and a fierce desire to succeed. If the band keeps putting out albums like this one, they should be able to be successful. This is an overall very good album. It's varied and chaotic, but with enough of a common thread running through it so as not to completely lose any listeners. The whole thing feels dirty and grungy, but it's a good feeling.

Favorite New Bands of the 2000's Pt. 1: Trench Hell

I am starting a ten part list of my favorite bands I have heard that formed this last decade. I will then have an honorable mentions post. This is the first part, and these are not ranked.

I have covered this band before, when I did the piece on Australian "war metal". Trench Hell is a thrash metal band with occasional black and death metal influences, although thrash is their root sound. In particular, Trench Hell seems most interested in playing a style of metal heavily influenced by Celtic Frost's sound on To Mega Therion. Their sound is gritty and raw and they closely approximate the sinister guitar tone Frost made famous on their riffs. Their singer has even come close to perfecting Tom G. Warrior's trademarked grunt vocalizations.

This is not to say that the band is a Celtic Frost copycat, merely that the influence is fairly clear in their music. Nevertheless, Trench Hell is an extremely effective and aggressive thrash metal band. They play fast, furious, and ugly, and steamroll the listener with their sound.

I own two releases by Trench Hell.

The first release is the self-released demo Alcoholic Disaster, which featured two original songs and a cover of a Hellhammer song, thus further reinforcing the idea of the band's influences. The songs are raw and fast, and an excellent hint at what was to come from the band.
The second release is the Southern Cross Ripper EP. This album represents the band's current sound. It features six songs that are much more polished, while losing none of the band's aggression and power. The band continues to grow. Hopefully we will see a full length at some point in the near future.

Weekly Recap Feb. 21-Feb. 27

This one will be short since there is little to no news this week.

My fiancee came down with a cold, or the flu, or something late this week. I am home today taking care of her. Poor baby.

I picked up the new High on Fire album earlier in the week, which I have already reviewed. Today I got a CD in the mail from a band called Rusty Eye who asked me to review their album. That review will be prepared by midweek.

That's it for the week.

3 Inches of Blood: Advance and Vanquish
Amon Amarth: The Crusher
Anacrusis: Manic Impressions
Ancient: The Halls of Eternity
Anvil: Forged in Fire
Apophis: Heliopolis
Arsis: Starve for the Devil
Atheist: Piece of Time
Behemoth: Pandemonic Incantations
Believer: Gabriel
Cannibal Corpse: Eaten Back to Life
Carnifex: Hell Chose Me
Cellador: Enter Deception
Celtic Frost: Monotheist
Dark Funeral: Attera Totus Sanctus
Dark Tranquillity: Damage Done
Dark Tranquillity: The Gallery
Dawn of Azazel: Vita Est Militia Super Terram
Destroyer 666: Unchain the Wolves
Dew-Scented: Issue VI
Dismember: Massive Killing CapacityDomine: Dragonlord (Tales of the Noble Steel)
Down: NOLA
Dying Fetus: War of Attrition
Enslaved: Ruun
Enslaved: Vertebrae
Gardenian: Sindustries
Grave: As Rapture Comes
Halford: Resurrection
Hammerfall: Threshold
Hecate Enthroned: Upon Promeathean Shores
Hell's Headbangers Compilation Vol. 2
High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine
Misery's Omen: Hope Dies
Misery's Omen: Misery's Omen
Nailbomb: Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide
Napalm Death: Fear, Emptiness, Despair
Orphaned Land: The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Portal: Outre'
Quinta Essentia: Archetypal Transformation
Revocation: Existence is Futile
Rotting Christ: Khronos 666
Rotting Christ: Sanctus Diavolos
Rotting Christ: Theogonia
Satanic Slaughter: The Early Years: Dawn of Darkness
Six Feet Under: Commandment
Skyfire: Spectral
Sonata Arctica: Silence
Testament: Souls of Black
The Crown: Crowned in Terror
Vader: Impressions in Blood
Vital Remains: Icons of Evil
Watchtower: Energetic Disassembly

Hell's Headbangers Compilation Vol. 2

HELL'S HEADBANGERS COMPILATION VOL. 2
This is a sampler CD from the label Hell's Headbangers, specializing in black, thrash, and death metal that is often infused with punk influences. This CD was given free when I placed a large order with the company. Many of the bands have more than one song. This was a good way to be exposed to more bands.

Evil Army:
Kicking things off with a militaristic snare drum cadence is the thrash metal band Evil Army who sound like a mix between Overkill, Dark Angel, and Exodus. They have two songs off of their EP. Their songs are short, fast, and violent, with just a trace of a punk edge to them. I would definitely pick up something by this band.

Gospel of the Horns:
I have discussed this band before. GotH is part of the "war metal" scene in Australia, providing lightning fast blackened thrash metal with vocals that sound like the singer just finished drinking a gallon of battery acid. I have two albums from this band already.

Destruktor:
Another band from the "war metal" scene, Destrukor sounds most similar to Destroyer 666. This song is off their split with Bestial Mockery. I have one album and an EP from this band and have discussed them before.

Profanatica:
This was a very early black metal band from the U.S. They are buried deep in the underground and only producing an EP and a couple of demos from their first go-round, but re-emerging 16 years later to bless (curse?) us with a full-length album. Their shows are extreme and their music is blasphemous. Their music is very simple and riff-based. Not bad, but I doubt I would check them out more.

Mutilated Messiah:
Similar name to Rotting Christ, but not very similar musically, Mutilated Messiah is an Irish death metal band with only an EP, a split, and an appearance on a tribute album to their name. The music is most similar to a very extreme Jungle Rot, which is saying something. If only they released something more substantive.

Nunslaughter:
The legendary Nunslaughter formed in the late 1980's and have been deeply underground since then. The band runs this record label in some capacity and releases a ton of stuff through it. Their music can best be described as punk-infused death metal. It's short and aggressive as all hell. A great band. I own one of their albums.

Havohej:
It's Jehovah spelled backwards. You can already tell this band is blasphemous. That they were formed by Paul Ledney after Profanatica first broke up tells even more. They would actually be okay if you could hear what the hell was going on in the music. Pass.

Grenade:
Yet another Aussie band, this one is not as affiliated with the "war metal" scene, mostly due to the lyrical subject matter. Musically, they seem to fit in with their style being more closely in line with death metal. I have their only full-length as they broke up soon after releasing it.

Church Bizarre:
For some reason, I was expecting doom metal here, maybe that's because of the similar name to Reverend Bizarre. What we have here is actually a black metal band in the vein of Absu, but with a bit more melody and deeper vocals. Seriously, this is some good shit. I don't know why I haven't picked this up yet. I have plans to make an order with HHB later this month, perhaps it's time to do so.

Victimizer:
The Danish thrash metal band was discussed earlier in my thrash metal bands of the world post. They play teutonic thrash metal similar to Sodom, Destruction, and Kreator. It's extremely fast and aggressive and is one hell of a good time. Excellent album too.

Witchtrap:
Witchtrap is a Colombian thrash/speed metal band. Their album was also reviewed in the same post as Victimizer's. Another great album, plus the first song here is called "Heavy Drinker". Ah, beer metal. We have Tankard to thank for that.

Evil Incarnate:
Evil Incarnate is a very extreme death metal band. Firmly rooted in the old school style, but harsh and aggressive, and very evil. Hence the name. They are similar in sound to Nunslaughter but noisier. This is a pretty good band that has been around for a long time. I may have to check them out further, one song on a compilation is not enough.

War Ripper:
War Ripper is a blackened thrash metal band that plays a very old school style. The sound quality is not good and the band has only released an EP at this point. We'll see what they do in the future.

Satanic Threat:
This is just terrible. The vocals are just yelled by what sounds like a 15 year old kid. The music is the same on both tracks, basically. Just bad. Pass.

Initial Impressions: High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine

High on Fire's roots go back a little ways. The band itself formed in 1998, but frontman Matt Pike has been at this game since the very early 1990's when he was in the extremely influential stoner doom metal band Sleep. Pike brings some of the stoner doom elements from his previous band and blends them with Bay Area thrash metal influences to create the sludgy thrash sound of High on Fire. Nowhere is that more obvious than on this album, which amps up the thrash metal influences considerably more than on prior albums.

Musically, all of the elements that have made the band so critically successful (at least in metal circles) have returned. The sludgy, thrash-inspired riifs, pounding drums, and Pike's gravelly vocals are all in good, working order. The songs are complex, and often a little long and tell stories of monsters and fantasy themes. High on Fire has been doing this for years now without any hiccups in the road. Until now.

This is a good album, but it suffers from one glaring problem that decreased the overall quality of the album. The sound is terrible. One thing that has made High on Fire such a formidable listen has been their beefy low-end of the sound: bass guitar and heavy drums. Somehow, the producer robbed the band of this important element to the band's sound. This makes the sound too high-pitched it does not have the same earth-moving feel as the prior albums. The sound is also too thin. High on Fire normally sounds like a lumbering monster, this album sounds more like one trying not to wake its victims tip-toeing through the house. It's still ugly-sounding, but not as powerful.

It's a shame, because this would have been a great album. High on Fire does not sound like any other band, only Lair of the Minotaur is really close, and that band is a little heavier on the thrash side of things than HoF. It is amazing how the wrong production can sink an album, but that's what happened here. Maybe it will grow on me in time, it's just so different from their last album. I hope it does.

Initial Impressions: Enslaved: Ruun

This album is often considered Enslaved's masterpiece from their progressive viking metal era. It is the culmination of what they had been building to for several years. Enslaved has become one of my favorite bands since I saw them in concert last spring and was thoroughly impressed.

The music retains the progressive elements that began to distinguish Enslaved from other Norwegian bands from the time period. It also remains rooted in black/viking metal for the most part, particularly where the vocals are concerned. This is one of the band's heavier albums from this stage in their career. It is also extremely melodic and powerful.

This is the album where everything came together for Enslaved. The progressive elements that had been becoming more and more prevalent over the years had materialized into a major area of the band's sound. Still, it featured enough of the old black metal aspects of the music to keep old time fans happy. This is quite possibly the band's masterpiece.

This album has a very well-deserved reputation in metal circles. It's not the most aggressive album, but it's not the most progressive either. The two sounds are in equal balance on this album. This is a terrific album by a very talented band.

Initial Impressions: Carnifex: Hell Chose Me

Yes, occasionally I still pick up an album by a band because the cover art is really cool. Yes, that's why I picked this up. It was also cheap and I had at least an idea of what to expect from this band. I knew they were a brutal death metal band, bordering on deathcore at some places. I knew that I had read a review which claimed a lot of their riffing style was based on melodic death. Sometimes, blindly purchasing an album based on the cover art works out really well. Unfortunately, this is not one of those blind buy surprise albums that will become a favorite in my collection.

The album is certainly brutal, there is no denying that. However, it is relentlessly brutal without any real variation. The riffs and pounding drums never stop or slow down, except for in the chugging breakdowns, which oddly mostly occur towards the end of the songs. The vocals are all deep throated growls, with the occasionally raspier shrieks. The guitar solos are decent, if very short-lived. Some of the riffing is somewhat reminiscent of melodic death, but without any change in tempo, it's often hard to pick up on.

Yes, there are quite a few breakdowns, which will probably cause people to label this a deathcore band. I'm not entirely convinced that's accurate, and if it is, then this is one of the better deathcore bands, with Through the Eyes of the Dead and others. But being a decent deathcore band still makes this a mostly mediocre death metal band.

This is not a terribly good album. It's okay for what it is and I certainly prefer it to groups liek Job for a Cowboy and Suicide Silence and others. However, unless you're a fan of deathcore, don't bother with this.

Initial Impressions: Anvil: Forged in Fire

Anvil has certainly made a name for themselves lately. Unfortunately, that's almost wholly the responsibility of the documentary in which they were featured. It's not as if music fans have rediscovered the band, or that their most recent releases were so good as to renew interest in the band. In fact, their albums are still somewhat difficult to find with only their most recent album being the exception. Even that one I have only seen at one Best Buy. No, their resurgence is completely based on that documentary which overexaggerates a little when it comes to the influence Anvil actually had. I have not seen the movie yet, but plan to, but I do not believe that Anvil's problems were just bad luck and bad management. Not all bands make it, not even the most talented. So where does Anvil fit?

This is the band's third full length album. Anvil plays a style of metal that is much more similar to NWOBHM and speed metal. The band sounds like a Canadian version of Judas Priest essentially. Anvil was one of the bands that had a strong influence on the development of the Canadian heavy metal scene in the 1980's.

Anvil does play fast, riff-oriented metal with an emphasis on catchy choruses and blistering guitar solos. The vocals do sound like a lower-registered Rob Halford without quite the same dramatic vocal acrobatics.

While this is a pretty decent album, I do not see what the fuss over this band is all about. There were lots of bands that sounded like this in the mid 1980's. Anvil were pretty good, sure, but they weren't so different and unique as to explain why, nearly twenty years later so much fuss is being made about them. I applaud the band for finally finding that success they have been looking for all these years without sacrificing their artistic vision, that success just seems as if it will be ultimately short-lived.

Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy vs. Revolver

http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/02/23/angela-gossow-slams-revolvers-hottest-chicks-in-metal/#more-30450

Ah Revolver, what hell have you unleashed now?

A little backstory. Revolver has this thing called the Hottest Chicks in Metal issue. It's been going for awhile now and usually features pictures of girls in metal bands in some state of undress or other. Well, a few years back, Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy appeared the issue. Then she decided she did not care for the image that portrayed and refused to be photographed again. She wanted to be judged based on her talent, not her appearance. Well Revolver kept running the same pictures of her in subsequent issues. Gossow called them on it and one of the editors said that if she did not want to be in that issue, then the magazine would stop covering Arch Enemy.

Seriously, what the fuck kind of attitude is that? I don't have a problem with the women who want to show a little skin. Obviously that's their choice to be viewed in that way. I also don't have a problem with the women who decide not to show skin, that's their choice. However, I think we have to respect their choices both ways. For a magazine to flat out tell someone they will not cover their band because they don't want to be objectified is flat out wrong. By trying to force Gossow into this issue and threatening her with no future coverage of the band just for this one stupid issue is beyond pathetic. It's extremely sexist and Gossow has a right to be outraged.

The fact of the matter is that this is a fucking music magazine. There is no Hottest Dudes in Metal issue. Revolved hit upon a way to make some easy money by showing these women in their magazine. But that doesn't mean it should be required of the women in metal to shed their clothes in order to sell Revolver's magazine. After all, the issue has little to nothing to do with the music. They may mention what band each person is from, but they don't discuss the band.

This whole debacle just proves my theory that Revolver is not a magazine for the metal underground. It's essentially pop fluff aimed at people who have no minds of their own. It's for those people who have barely escaped the MTV world of image-conscious pop music and latched onto Hot Topic. I like seeing half-naked women as much as the next red-blooded American male, hell I have posted pictures of metal women on this very blog, but you can't force someone to take it off. That's what Revolver apparently decided to do.

Initial Impressions: Orphaned Land: The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR

My fiancee gave me this album for Valentine's Day. Orphaned Land is a majestic and epic progressive metal band from Irael. They incorporate various Middle Eastern instruments and musical styles into their extremely beautiful metal sound. This is metal that is at once melodic and powerful, yet aggressive. Despite forming nearly twenty years ago, this is only the band's fourth full length album. It takes a lot of time and effort to create this music and it shows.

This is the band's second concept album. It tells the story of a warrior of light in the battle against darkness. The album is made up of three parts. It begins with the life of an orphan who eventually becomes a warrior. As with the previous album, the singer utilizes different vocal styles to represent the perspective of different characters. Using clean singing for the protagonist and a rough style for the evil forces.

The music is sweeping and powerful. There are frequent moments with string sections and others with a female vocalist to add to the beauty of the arrangements. This is still a metal band and there are metal riffs played with varying degrees of aggressiveness throughout the album. Just do not expect a death metal or black metal band here.

I was extremely impressed with the band's prior album and so when I heard that this album was coming out, I was very excited. After all, it had been five years since they released their last album (two since I first heard it). It was worth it. This is an early contender for Album of the Year for me. It's definitely my favorite of 2010 so far.

CD Universe is Confused

So I checked my email today and noticed one from CD Universe, a website similar to Amazon that I have used in the past to pick up CDs. It was entitled New Heavy Metal Music. So, I checked it out. Not a bad bunch of albums, several of which I already had (Charred Walls of the Damned, Orphaned Land, Overkill), and one I have been looking for (Heathen). However, there's a few odd choices in there. Rob Zombie was the featured artist, and while he has not been metal for quite some time (or ever really since he left White Zombie), it's at least a somewhat understandable choice. No, there were two other choices that left me scratching my head. First, Santana. Now I kind of like Santana's blend of Latin music driven by 1960's guitar rock, but it's not metal. Not really even close. Then there was the other album: Nick Jonas and the Administration. Nick Jonas. Of the Jonas Brothers. The Disney Jonas Brothers. I hate you CD Universe. Fuck you. Fuck you to hell.

Initial Impressions: Enslaved: Vertebrae

Enslaved was touring in support of this album when my fiancee and I saw them last spring. Enslaved had been pushing the boundaries of black metal for quite some time and over the last few albums, most of the black metal aspects of the music have disappeared. What has emerged is a very strong progressive extreme metal sound. Touring with Opeth was quite natural for the band. Both bands have basically abandoned their root sound in favor of progressive experimentation, and both bands have been very successful at it. Enslaved was one of the first bands to really embrace the viking metal sound. It is still evident to this day.

The music on this album sounds essentially like a cross between Pink Floyd, Dream Theater, Opeth, and Norwegian black metal. The vocals are often delivered in a black metal style rasp, but there are often more cleanly sung vocals as well. There is a heavy use of keyboards as a backing instrument, but otherwise, the music is driven by very strong guitar riffs. The drums are thunderous and helped build each song into a powerful experience leaving the listener wanting more.

The songs themselves are somewhat long and winding, but never leave the listener feeling bored. There is a lot going on in any given Enslaved song. The band is one of the more talented bands in progressive metal. The songs do occasionally meander off into psychedelic territory featuring swirling keyboards and lengthy guitar solos, but the music remains very interesting and well-played.

It's difficult to determine which album is Enslaved's best. This album certainly makes a statement for consideration. It is melodic without losing any of the metallic intensity the band has built its career upon. While the band can not be considered a black metal band at this point, they have emerged as a very interesting and musically gifted band.

Initial Impressions: Arsis: Starve for the Devil

Arsis has been making waves over the last decade. The Virginia band plays a style of death metal featuring technical riffs and quite a bit of melodic touches as well. They have quickly become one of the better U.S. melodic death metal bands, without descending into the mainstream Gothenburg style.

This album finds the band honing their style and focusing on the melodic aspects of the music without sacrificing any of their technical abilities. The riffs remain as razor-sharp as ever and the guitar solos never cease to impress. The drumming is technical and powerful. The vocals are delivered in a deep growl, although they come close to venturing into black metal style territory at a few points.

One of the most underrated aspects of Arsis is vocalist James Malone's gift for dark poetic lyrics. Malone is a very good lyricist with a strong style and use of language.

Arsis has been going for about ten years now. They are not as brutal and technical as they were in the early days, but they have nevertheless been improving on each album. This album is further proof of their growth as a powerful American death metal band.

Blind Buy Surprise Album Pt. 1: Apophis: Heliopolis

This is the first part of a series on albums that I picked up as throw-ins to a larger purchase, picked up because the album cover was cool, or came across in some other way that have become personal favorites. These are albums I was not expecting much from but that have blown me away.

I bought this album along with four other albums off of an ebay seller. Each album cost a little more than $1.00. The other four bands were bands that I was at least somewhat familiar with: Dismember, Ancient, Domine, and Gardenian. I threw this one in just because of the extremely low cost. It became my favorite album of the group.

Apophis is a German death metal band with some heavy melodic touches. Essentially, they sound like Amon Amarth if the band was obsessed with Egyptian mythology, not Vikings. The band features some incredibly solid, melodic riffs grounded in death metal with frequent guitar solos. The vocals are very deep and growled. The production is murky, but not so bad that one cannot hear the music, it is just enough to sound dark.

I listen to this album fairly frequently and it never fails to grab my attention and get my blood pumping. This is how melodic death metal should sound. I picked up one of the band's other albums after this, and while featuring many of the same qualities as this, it does not leave quite as strong of an impression. This is a great, underrated album. And it should be able to be found cheap.

3 Inches of Blood

Since the Olympics are going on right now in Vancouver, I wanted to look at a metal band from the area that has not gotten much mention here on my blog.

3 Inches of Blood is a traditional-sounding metal band drawing a lot of influence from the NWOBHM scene. They are often very unfairly lumped in with the metalcore genre. This is perhaps due to being on Roadrunner at one point and the hardcore backgrounds of a lot of the band's original members. Nevertheless, it is extremely obvious that this is a metal band. And a pretty good one at that.

As mentioned, the band was started by some members that were not really into metal. Over the years, all of those original members had left the band. 3IOB brought Cam Pipes in as singer early on and his falsetto vocals reminiscent of Rob Halford and King Diamond quickly became the focal point of the band as well as its traditional-sounding metal riffs. Pipes was previously in a black metal band called Allfather. The band also used a hardcore vocalist to back up Pipes by the name of Jamie Hooper. Hooper eventually left the band and guitarist Justin Hagberg took over the backing vocals. At this point in time, 3IOB is made up of individuals who want to play metal. And it shows.

The band has released four full-length albums and have been steadily making a name for themselves. Their second album still has their strongest songs, especially the fist-pumping "Deadly Sinners".

3IOB started off a bit on the wrong foot but have become a very good retro metal band. There have been missteps but the band seems devoted to bringing the sound of early 1980's metal to the modern age.

My Metal History Pt. 6: Concerts

I was thinking about concerts today, since I recently bought tickets to see Overkill with a bunch of other bands, and there are three other concerts this year that I am considering, but not necessarily definitely attending. I have been to several concerts in my lifetime. I want to briefly review them, even though many are not metal concerts due to Nebraska being a somewhat popular place for nu metal concerts some time ago when The Royal Grove still existed. I won't go into all the jazz concerts, since I don't remember all of them. I saw The Count Basie Band, Wynton Marsalis, and Arturo Sandoval as a result of being involved in jazz band in high school, but I don't remember much about those individual concerts. I only want to cover the rock and metal concerts.

JACKYL
I saw Jackyl outside of Homer's in Lincoln my senior year of high school. They were on some tour to play 50 shows in 50 days. Lincoln was one of the last stops before they stopped playing in different cities. Jackyl has never been a band I was much interested in, they play 1980's style hard rock, but it was a free concert. It was okay, but the sound quality wasn't terribly good.

SEVENDUST/ DISTURBED/ TRUST
My best friend and I went to see this concert at The Royal Grove our first year in college. I remember that P.O.D. and Fu Manchu were supposed to be there but couldn't for some reason. Disturbed was completely unknown at the time but broke huge pretty much the next week.

Sevendust was a favorite band of mine at the time. They were pretty decent. Lajon Witherspoon has a pretty good voice. The only thing that really stands out was the playing of Pantera's "Walk" and Lajon asking for weed. Disturbed stole the show. David Draiman was wheeled out on a gurney in a straightjacket and a muzzle. They let him out and he put on one hell of a show. Very impressive for the time. Trust was awful.

STATIC-X/ GODHEAD/ ENDO
Static-X was again a favorite of mine. They were supposed to be in Omaha earlier with Powerman 5000 but the show was cancelled. My same friend, who I went to almost all of these concerts with, and I got tickets because we both liked Static-X. This was prior to their second album being released and they played a bunch of songs off of it. Godhead was decent, the singer wore a gasmask for a lot of the show. Pretty trippy stuff. Endo was awful.

MARILYN MANSON/ STAIND/ MONSTER MAGNET/ BUCKCHERRY/ COLD/ STABBING WESTWARD/ OLEANDER/ SALIVA/ PUDDLE OF MUDD/ FROM ZERO
This was a big concert festival in Council Bluffs, IA. My friend and I and several other people travelled out there to see the outdoor all day event. I may never do that again. Water prices were ridiculous, food prices were ridiculous, and I had heatstroke the next day.

I don't even remember much about the individual performances. I did not actually see Puddle of Mudd or Saliva. No loss there. I remember a lot of girls taking their tops off. That's about it. From Zero was awful. Oleander was awful. Buckcherry was really awful, and disgusting. Monster Magnet had strippers wearing pasties and thongs. Staind singer Aaron Lewis kept stopping the show to beg people in the pit to stop feeling up the girls. Cold singer Scooter Ward said that he didn't get out in the sun much, it was pretty obvious with his pasty skin. We did not stick around long when Marilyn Manson started, didn't really want to see him much. All in all, I remember this as kind of a waste of money. Monster Magnet was at least decent.

ROB ZOMBIE/ SINISSTAR
My friend and our respective girlfriends at the time (his future wife in fact and the girl I dated throughout the last half of college) went to this concert in Lincoln at Pershing Auditorium. It remains one of the most visually spectacular concerts I have seen. Rob Zombie is known for including pyrotechnics and elaborate stage costumes in his stage show. He played a large selection of White Zombie songs as well, making this a very good concert experience. Zombie performed even though he had a lingering throat infection. Very impressive for a singer.

Sinisstar was awful. They tried to use the lame "our record label didn't want us to play this song" shit at one point. The song was terrible. So was the rest of the show.

The most interesting moment came before Zombie's part of the show. A bunch of girls were flashing the crowd and my friend kept standing up to look at them. His girlfriend got tired of it and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled him back into the seat. It was hysterical.

METALLICA/ GODSMACK
My best friend and I saw Metallica with Godsmack opening in Omaha at the Qwest Center. Metallica was on tour on some sort of greatest hits package. This was some time after St. Anger was released, but the band did not play many songs off that album. They played a lot of their earliest material, which was great. Godsmack did not leave much of an impression honestly. I think they were okay, but nothing compared to Metallica.

METALLICA/ DOWN/ THE SWORD
The second time I saw Metallica was in Des Moines with my friend and a bunch of his colleagues at Iowa State. Metallica was supporting Death Magnetic. This show was awesome and is one of my favorite concerts I have been to. I was also very impressed with the doom metal band The Sword, which is often derided for being hipster metal. I didn't see any reason for this. Down was awesome as well, even though there was a point where Phil Anselmo's microphone was not working.

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA
My fiancee and I went to Kansas City to see this band for a Christmas program the weekend after Thanksgiving. This was one of the first trips we had taken together. This was also an incredible visual spectacle. The first part of the concert was for the most part their Christmas section. The second half was neo-classical power metal/hard rock. A very good show.

OPETH/ ENSLAVED
Last spring, my fiancee went and saw this concert in Omaha. I did a full review on it back then, so I won't go back over it this time.

Amon Amarth Rant

I wanted to say something. Amon Amarth is NOT viking metal. I see them frequently categorized as viking metal, they do not play viking metal. Viking metal bands include Einherjer, Enslaved, later Bathory, Borknagar, Ensiferum, and others. It is rooted in black metal but with a galloping pace and folk music elements. Amon Amarth may have Viking-themed lyrics, but their music is clearly melodic death metal. They have little to nothing in common with viking metal bands. Stop lumping them in with that genre. That is all.

Weekly Recap: Feb. 14-Feb. 20

Oh man, what a week it has been. It's been another somewhat slow week for work. I did have a deposition on Tuesday. Other than that, it's just been a few research projects and crap like that.

Valentine's Day was nearly a total disaster. We had a little bit of snow and a whole lot of wind, which coupled with the snow made driving conditions extremely hazardous. My fiancee and I had plans to go to Omaha for the Lipizzaner horse show at 2:00 in the afternoon. We left around 10:30 to get there, we planned to get lunch and go to the show then come home early that night. Well driving through the hills proved a little treacherous and we did see a vehicle that had gotten stuck in a snowdrift. We made it to a small town about 20 miles east of home when we were stopped by an emergency vehicle roadblock. Apparently there was a seven car pile up a little ways farther east and we were told to park in the small town nearby and wait it out. Unacceptable to my fiancee. She was upset, so we took our chances, went back to our town and went south to try to get there. We made it about halfway when we were again stopped by an emergency roadblock. We again tried to get there by taking county roads and made it to North Bend where the highway was closed on both sides. We were stuck and my fiancee was devastated. It was already 2:00. I called the Qwest Center to try to get a refund knowing the chances were slim. They told me they could exchange the tickets for the later show that night. Eureeka. We managed to make it to Omaha by 4:30 after they opened the highway back up. We grabbed a quick bite at Subway, shopped for a little bit at Homer's Music Store and then went to the show. My fiancee loved it and her Valentine's Day present. The road back home was also a little iffy but we made it in one piece.

The CD player in my car stopped working Sunday which meant we had to listen to the radio most of the day. We found a 1980's hard rock station and listened to groups like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Billy Idol, and others most of the way home. Not bad, but not preferable.

I bought concert tickets for Lincoln in April to see Overkill, Vader, God Dethroned, Warbringer, Evile, and Woe of Tyrants. I'm excited to see those bands. Vader has been in Nebraska twice in recent years, once while backing up Nile and once on the Summer Slaughter tour and I missed them both times. I was pissed both times, but now I can see them. God Dethroned released one of my favorite albums of 2009. Overkill released a great disc this year and Warbringer and Evile are two great young thrash metal bands. Woe of Tyrants is the only band I am not familiar with.

I bought two albums this week from Enslaved, and albums by Arsis, Anvil, and Carnifex. My fiancee gave me the new Orphaned Land CD for Valentine's Day. It's a great album.

In metal this week:
Vocalist James Lee left Origin. That's a shame. Origin is one of the better technical death metal bands around these days. Lee had a distinctive deep death growl. Apparently the singer for The Faceless will be joining the band. I have no opinions on him at all.

This happened awhile ago actually but Harry Conklin has rejoined Satan's Host. He was in the band in the 1980's when they were a dark power metal band. Since Conklin left and focused on Jag Panzer, Satan's Host became a thrashy melodic black metal band. I am not sure what this means for Satan's Host. Will they become a dark power metal band again? Will they reissue their debut album? What will happen to former singer Eli? I actually liked Satan's Host's black metal stuff. I will keep an eye on this.

Mike Portnoy, drummer for Dream Theater, will be recording with Avenged Sevenfold. Blech.

2/14-2/20
Amon Amarth: Versus the World Bonus Disc
Angra: Temple of Shadows
Anvil: Forged in Fire
Arsis: Starve for the Devil
Black Sabbath: Heaven and Hell
Carnifex: Hell Chose Me
Charred Walls of the Damned: Charred Walls of the Damned
Cradle of Filth: Nymphetamine
Dark Moor: Beyond the Sea
Death: Symbolic
Dew-Scented: Incinerate
Dream Evil: The Book of Heavy Metal
Einherjer: Blot
Enslaved: Ruun
Enslaved: Vertebrae
Faith No More: The Real Thing
Force of Evil: Black Empire
Grave: Hating Life
Havok: Burn
I: Between Two Worlds
Immortal: All Shall Fall
Immortal: Battles in the North
Immortal: Pure Holocaust
Immortal: Sons of Northern Darkness
Impiety: Terroreign
Iron Fire: To the Grave
Iron Maiden: Powerslave
Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith
Kamelot: Ghost Opera
Katatonia: Brave Yester Days
King Diamond: Abigail
Laethora: March of the ParasiteLandmine Marathon: Rusted Eyes Awake
Motorhead: The Very Best of Motorhead
Opeth: Blackwater Park
Orphaned Land: The Never-Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Overkill: Horrorscope
Overkill: Ironbound
Rumpelstiltskin Grinder: Living for Death, Destroying the Rest
Satyricon: Rebel Extravaganza
Sepultura: Arise
Sepultura: Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation
Symphorce: Become Death
Testament: The Ritual
The Haunted: Versus
Toxic Holocaust: An Overdose of Death...
Vader: Live in Japan
Warbringer: Waking Into Nightmares
Warbringer: War Without End

Revolver Golden Gods 2010 Nominees

Two days ago, the nominees for Revolver's 2010 Golden Gods award show were announced. Last year was a clusterfuck. Let's see if they can make it worse:

http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/revolver-golden-gods-awards-2010-nominees-announced

Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. This is something I can agree with as Motorhead has been around for a long time now and were one of the early popular metal bands.

Rob Halford will receive the Golden God Award. Again, this is well-received as Halford has fronted Judas Priest for most of their albums and has also been in Fight and Halford, two underrated metal bands.

Performing will be Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, As I Lay Dying, The Devil Wears Prada, and an all star band picked by Brian Posehn, the nerdy mail clerk from Just Shoot Me. Zakk Wylde will also perform. Ugh. Rob Zombie really hasn't been good in years and The Devil Wears Prada is fucking awful. The rest of the stuff is just mediocre.

Hosts will be Andrew W.K. and Chris Jericho, the wrestler that also sings for Fozzy. Ugh again.

And now for the nominees:

BEST GUITARIST
Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
Tony Iommi (Heaven & Hell)
Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Street Sweeper Social Club)
Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)
Slash
Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society)

THOUGHTS: Did Tom Morello release anything this last year? Kirk Hammett? Slash? Wylde? What's the standard for getting a nomination? My pick is Mustaine.


BEST DRUMMER
Chris Adler (Lamb of God)
Brann Dailor (Mastodon)
Dave Grohl (Them Crooked Vultures)
Gene Hoglan (Dethklok, Fear Factory)
Dave Lombardo (Slayer)
Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan (Avenged Sevenfold)

THOUGHTS: "The Rev" was only nominated because he died recently, so he'll probably win despite being mediocre. Hoglan or Lombardo better win.


BEST VOCALIST
Jonathan Davis (Korn)
Ronnie James Dio (Heaven & Hell)
Neil Fallon (Clutch)
Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
Serj Tankian (Serj Tankian, System Of A Down)
Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour)

THOUGHTS:Awful list. Dio is the only decent choice here.


ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Alice in Chains, Black Gives Way to Blue
Heaven & Hell, The Devil You Know
Mastodon, Crack the Skye
Megadeth, Endgame
Slayer, World Painted Blood
Them Crooked Vultures, Them Crooked Vultures

THOUGHTS: I'm sure Mastodon will win, but would like to see it go to Megadeth, Heaven & Hell, or Slayer. Them Crooked Vultures? Really?


BEST LIVE BAND
The Devil Wears Prada
Lamb of God
Metallica
Motörhead
Rob Zombie
Slayer

THOUGHTS:What the fuck? The Devil Wears Prada? C'mon Metallica or Slayer.


BEST UNDERGROUND BAND
Behemoth
Between the Buried and Me
The Black Dahlia Murder
Converge
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Obituary

THOUGHTS:None of these bands are underground. Again, my definition of underground is a band you can't find at Best Buy. None of these bands qualify. I'm pretty sure Converge is only on here because every other metal magazine drools all over them. I doubt Revolver has ever heard of them. My pick is Behemoth.


MOST METAL ATHLETE
Josh Barnett (MMA fighting)
Marc Colombo, Cory Procter, and Leonard Davis (NFL football)
Chris Jericho (WWE wrestling)
Mike Piazza (MLB baseball)
Jason Ellis (Pro skateboarding)
Jolene Van Vugt (Pro motocrosser)

THOUGHTS: Pass.


HOTTEST CHICK(S) IN METAL
Pearl Aday (Pearl)
Maria Brink (In This Moment)
Lzzy Hale (Halestorm)
Lacey Mosley (Flyleaf)
Alexia & Anissa Rodriguez (Eyes Set to Kill)
Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil)

THOUGHTS: This should go to my fiancee, but those bastards did not nominate her. It's gotta be Scabbia from these choices right?


COMEBACK OF THE YEAR
AC/DC
Alice in Chains
Anvil
Fear Factory
Heaven & Hell
KISS

THOUGHTS: Alice in Chains should be the favorite here due to length of absence, circumstances, etc. I could see an argument for Fear Factory, since they sorta broke up, and Heaven & Hell. Anvil never went anywhere, ever. Therefore, they had nothing to come back to. AC/DC has been churning out the same album for years, it wasn't that long ago that they released their last one. I don't give a fuck about Kiss.


So there you have it. Yikes. It's not as bad as last year, but there aren't any really compelling choices there either. Revolver still fucking sucks.

Initial Impressions: Landmine Marathon: Rusted Eyes Awake

This band has made a name for itself recently. It's just not entirely related to the sonic assault they provide in their music. Singer Grace Perry is a strikingly attractive woman who can shriek and snarl and growl as well or better than most male extreme metal singers. Ever since Arch Enemy hired Angela Gossow, there has been a long line of female singers drawn into extreme metal. Perry is even more powerful than Gossow.

If having a female singer were the only interesting thing about this band, Landmine Marathon would be considered a gimmick and their time in the spotlight would be mercifully quick. However, this band is actually pretty good. They have a gift for dirty, raw and primal-sounding extreme metal that is a mix of death, thrash, and early grindcore.

The riffs are fast, the drumming explosive, and the vocal shrieks ear-piercing. This is a band that definitely knows a thing or two about early grindcore. Sounding more like a band from the U.K. in the 1980's than Phoenix, AZ, Landmine Marathon has managed to put together a great slab of retro extreme metal. The similarities to early Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Napalm Death are clear.

This album is short, sweet, and to the point. Landmine Marathon is still developing as a band, but with a dirty retro sound, and an extremely gifted frontwoman, they should have no problem sticking around for awhile. They are pretty raw right now and definitely have not reached their full potential, but this is a band to watch, especially this year with a new album coming out in the next couple of months.

Initial Impressions: Einherjer: Blot

Einherjer is often categorized in one of a couple of different genres: viking metal, symphonic black metal, or progressive black metal. Any of those genres is probably adequate to describe the band's music, but none of them individually tell the whole story. To really get an idea of what this band sounds like, the three genres must be combined.

The music on this album essentially sounds like latter-era Enslaved with symphonic flourishes and more use of melody. The riffs remain rooted in second-wave Norwegian black metal style. Einherjer was part of that movement. But added to the riffs are extremely melodic guitar leads and orchestral synth lines giving the whole feeling of the album an epic, grandiose feel. The structure of the riffs also has a more progressive flair to it, which brings in to mind the comparison to countrymen and progressive black metal masters Enslaved. The music is beautiful and captivating.

The production is extremely crisp and clear, allowing each of the riffs to be heard without straining. The drums and bass are also powerful in the mix. This album truly has a great sound quality to it. Somewhat unusual for the genre really.

The vocals are delivered in a fairly normal black metal rasp, though it is deeper than other such bands. The lyrics deal with Viking mythology and legends. The songs are reasonable in length with most songs clocking in between four and six minutes or so. The epic length "Hammer Haus" being the only exception. The music remains varied enough though that the album never drags, despite lasting over an hour.

This was a big surprise album. It was very cheap at my local music store, so I picked it up and was amazed at how well I enjoyed the album. I strongly recommend this for anyone who likes latter Enslaved.

Initial Impressions: Charred Walls of the Damned: Charred Walls of the Damned

Okay, here's the deal on this one. This band was created by Richard Christy, former drummer of Acheron, Death, and Iced Earth who has been on a metal hiatus for about five years since joining the Howard Stern show as a personality performing prank calls, song parodies, and all kinds of other bizarre stuff. That's quite the career. The name of the band is a reference to prank calls made on the Howard Stern show to a tradio show on a Christian radio show in which the host prayed for Christy's soul where he would be put in his "nails in the charred walls of the damned".

Despite the recent comedy background of its founder, this is serious music. Christy formed this band and recruited some of the musicians he regards as the best in the world: bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Autopsy, Testament, Iced Earth, etc.), vocalist Ripper Owens (Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Beyond Fear, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force), and guitarist Jason Suecof (Capharnaum, producer for Trivium, All That Remains, etc.). That's quite the eclectic group of musicians, although three were in Iced Earth at one point, so that seems to be the jumping-off point from which this band's sound is derived.

The music on this album for the most part falls into the same general power/thrash metal as Iced Earth, but there are aspects that distinguish it. For one thing, the drumming and guitar riffs bear a closer resemblance to melodic death metal in parts. Indeed, oftentimes the only characteristic the music shares with power metal is the vocals of the very talented Ripper Owens, whose multi-octave range made him an ideal replacement for Rob Halford in Judas Priest at one point. The idea behind the music seems to be to combine some of the riffing style of more extreme metal with the power of early speed and traditional styles of metal. It works fairly well.

Richard Christy displays a remarkable gift for songwriting on this album. Despite being a very well-regarded and capable drummer, he has never really been the focus in a band before. The lyrics are well-written and do not venture into the silliness that Richard has staked his second career out of in recent years.

The guitar riffing of mostly metalcore producer Jason Suecof is another big surprise on this album. The only band he has spent considerable amount of time with from a music standpoint is the little-known technical death metal band Capharnaum with his brother and Trivium axeman/singer Matt Heafy. He displays his considerable ability for death and thrash metal inspired riffs on this album as well as strong solos.

Steve DiGiorgio and Ripper Owens are both known quantities and perform as well as expected. DiGiorgio is a big-name bass player in many old school death metal bands and brings this sensibility and playing style to the band. Ripper Owens's vocals are extremely powerful and melodic. He has had difficulty landing a long-term job, which is unfortunate as he remains one of the most gifted singers in modern metal.

This is a well-played, strong album from start to finish. It tends to drag a little bit in the second half, but it is fairly short meaning that this slight drag does not detract too much from the listening experience. It will be interesting to see where this band goes from here. Will they tour? Will they create another album? Or is this it for Charred Walls of the Damned?

Decibel's Albums of the Decade

I had been warming up to Decibel. I really was. This list almost single-handedly killed that change in stance. I wrote last year that Decibel is really a magazine for hipsters under the guise of a metal magazine. This list proves what lead me to that conclusion. Look, I don't give a fuck if you like a band and want to give it some publicity and whatever, but don't fucking call it a Best Metal list and include a bunch of noise rock and hardcore and shit. If you want to call it a Best Extreme Music list, fine, fucking do that, and then you can include whatever releases you want. But metal is a style of music, it has limits and boundaries. Many of these releases on this list, in fact, nearly one third of them, do not fit in with the definition of metal, existing more on the hardcore or hard rock side of things. As I said, do not call it a metal list and then include bands from other styles to take up nearly one-third of the spots. The problem with doing it that way is you leave off a lot of truly deserving metal albums.

As with Terrorizer, let's look at the Top 5, which only actually includes three metal bands, one of which I cannot stand.

1. Converge: Jane Doe: Again, what the hell is it about this band that has everyone fawning all over them? To call this the Best Metal Album of the Decade is an absolute travesty.

2. Cave In: Jupiter: Cave In are a horribly boring, uninteresting progressive hardcore band. Next.

3. Opeth: Blackwater Park: See my discussion about this album on the Terrorizer post. This is a legitimate pick. It's at least a good metal album.

4. Isis: Oceanic: As I have mentioned several times, I find Isis really boring. At least this is a metal album, sort of.

5. Mastodon: Remission: I don't understand. This is the other problem with this list, the writers seem particularly interested in seeking out the underground releases, or the less well-known ones. How did this one far outrank Leviathan? This one is not as mainstream accessible, that's how. Despite the fact that Leviathan is the far superior album.

Non-metal bands present: Battle of Mice, Coalesce, The Paper Chase, Psyopus, Drowningman, System of a Down, Fucked Up, Hatebreed, Converge (every album this band released this decade is on this godforsaken list), Deftones, Disfear, Jesu, At the Drive-In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between the Buried and Me, Shellac, Andrew W.K., Fugazi, Tragedy, Melt-Banana, Queens of the Stone Age, Cave In

I own 23 of the albums from this list, many of which are the same as on Terrorizer's.

Buy the issue here: http://store.decibelmagazine.com/collections/holiday-specials/products/top-100-albums-of-the-decade-special-issue