Seriously good shit! For those into the world of messy, disgusting goregrind, then this is the creme de la creme of sick, twisted, splattered metal. Germen and Tu Carne are like spiritual successors (the latter of the former), so having them both on one CD makes a ton of sense. The new find for me here is AxTxS who are just downright fucking sinister. Musically they are also not too dissimilar to Germen, but the vocals, goddamn; echoing shrieks of agonizing pain! Vocals sound like someone being amputated with a chainsaw (no anaesthetic!) at the bottom of an elevator shaft. Suuuuuper sick shit all round, 100% linesinwaxxx approved – need to hunt down a physical copy of this shit pronto!
Very relaxing, evocative neofolk that seems genuinely steeped in traditional folklore and tales as olde as time. Totally however, as a cohesive album, it’s a bit inconsistent, and also a little bit on the long side, but that’s OK. You can really lose yourself in this one.
The first ever 1349 EP lacks the finesse and absolute complete sonic carnage that would be perfected on later records but it is still not an EP to be sniffed at. The drums are astoundingly fast, and the riffs fall into some interesting and complex-sounding patterns, which adds to the frantic energy. Vocally, things work better on the later offerings but to say the vocals here are bad would be an outright lie.
The first Exploited full length starts everything off with a bang. Boasting a now dated but still fantastic production job (the drums hit like sacks of sand but the bass pops through the mix like a needle though wet paper), Punks’ Not Dead sets out to prove to the 1980s exactly what is declared in the title. The title track, “Cop Cars”, “Blown To Bits”, “Dole Q” and “I Believe In Anarchy” are all instant classics in my book. Make what you will of the band’s later flirtations with crossover thrash but this shit is as punk as it gets. Exploited barmy army!
My only experience with Christ Denied was seeing Anaal Nathrakh having their set cut short at OEF 2013 so that these guys could play. It was one guy with a guitar and a drum machine, and a vocalist dude who stood completely still and wore sunglasses even at like midnight. I was like, WTF is this bullshit? Lmao – it seemed like Mickey Mouse bedroom death metal compared to the shortened aural assault of the ever excellent Anaal Nathrakh. That experience put me off checking out Christ Denied for many years, but the loss is truly mine own, as Got What He Deserved is an excellent slab of death metal. I love me some fuckin drum machines so the upfront honestly of the drum sound chosen for this thing immediately grabbed my attention. Took me right back to the 2006 obsession with drum machine goregrind and death metal haha – in all seriousness though, this is a great record. No frills, perhaps, but there’s some surprising twists and turns with the riffs and the whole thing is brutal as fuck.
Super heavy, super slow, super sludgy, super depressing. There’s something about the 4 tracks on the original release of Dismal which is just so purely and utterly disgustingly beautiful. I think the production has a lot to do with it: the drums are crisp as fuck, the guitars hit like a ton of bricks. I’m not always the biggest listener of “sludge” metal but this shit is up there with the best of the genre.
Not many bands bounce back after a personal tragedy and such a gap between records, but Blasted Pancreas are here to show everyone that they are stronger than ever. Gone is the overarching theme of worshipping Lymphatic Phlegm (though no doubt they are still a massive influence), instead we get a much more chunky and robust style of goregrind. The vocals fit more a brutal death / “tupa tupa” style of goregrind, but the percussion and guitars are fast as fuck.
Unusual but really fucking cool black metal from Russia – supposedly the first Russian black metal band, even. Not sure if that is true but this is awesome either way. Gives me Graveland vibes in places (hypnotic repetitive tracks with folky instruments and odd parts) but has more of a grounded 90s metal feel underneath the medieval / pagan pomp and ritual that accompanies it. Well worth a look in if you’re after something off the beaten track that doesn’t sound like it was recorded on a wax cylinder.
Humanure was the first Cattle Decapitation CD I ever owned. I remember seeing the artwork on their website (which was completely decked out in this theme back in 2004/05 – damn I miss old websites) and I was immediately sold. At the time, the gory metallic mush that is their sound was super intimidating and impenetrable. I thought it was the coolest thing, though. Going back through the band’s discography chronologically now, it’s easy to see the massive step up that Humanure was. It doesn’t sound like a different band or anything too drastic (although Dave Astor was replaced on drums), but the gore and disgust of the first few releases and the sporadic noodling of To Serve Man come together on Humanure in a more focussed way than ever before. Granted the songs are still considerably messy, but there is a technical precision underpinning it all, not to mention a solid production effort. Humanure is probably the last true “gore” related Cattle Decapitation record, with the sound getting cleaner and more precise – and ranging in more dare I say meaty subject matter – from this point onwards.
When Cathedral announced they were throwing in the towel my friends and I rushed to London to witness their final show (having seen Cathedral live several times I can safely say the finale was the best) where this 12” was for sale. With Rise Above being, well, Rise Above, I assumed that this would be a crazy collectors item and a great momento of the last show. Well, turns out I was wrong on both accounts because A.) it’s not worth shit and B.) they didn’t play any of this stuff live lmao To be honest though, that personal anecdote aside, this is a fucking great 12”. Both tracks are decent in their own right, with the band’s trademark latter era CHUNKY production style and heaviness. The Last Spire may not exactly thrilled me but this preceding / companion single I found to be well worth my time. Sabbath worship out da ass!
A harrowing collection of socio-political clips set to a gruelling background of industrial soundscapes and clanking, pounding machine percussion. Lyrics are sparse but effective, and the whole work gives off a unique sense of claustrophobia and desperation.
A great album, but one that is sometimes dragged down by the tedium of tracks such as “Come Away Melinda” or “Lucy Blues”, which really affects the pacing in the middle. It is a crying shame because this thing bolts out the door with its opening track, “Gypsy”, a song that is easily one of the greatest rock songs of all time. In fact, this album is worth it for “Gypsy”’s organ performance alone. Side B again, is excellent, so I try not to be put off too much by the previously mentioned offending tracks.
I remember this coming out like it was yesterday, which in hindsight makes me feel real fucking old! Looking at this now, at this insane cast of characters – this fucking STACKED release filled with incredible guest spots – it makes me realise I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was talking about when it came to metal in 2004. I thought I was the bees knees but I didn’t know shit, clearly. Anyway, this fucking rules. The production is fantastic. Proper solid stuff. Fucking shout out to Dave Grohl for playing every single instrument on this thing. I’m not the biggest fan of his bands but props are due where props are due. I could go track by track on this thing but honestly every song slaps. I’m not too fussed on the King Diamond track, the Jack Black track or the Mike Dean track but otherwise every other collab is incredible. A fantastic album.
Serviceable offerings from Lymphatic Phlegm, who come to us here with chunky, clear production (unless I’m out of the loop on the ongoings of the ‘Phlegm then that’s news to me brah brah). Tracks are solid goregrind but I’ll be honest, they’ve done far, far better elsewhere in their long and crazy discography. Morgue Breath kill it here. Muddy, heavy death metal for the whole family to enjoy. Has that gory edge to proceedings which makes it even more delicious. Suuuuper fucking solid and detailed production too, you can hear every single detail suspended in its own part of the sound stage.
Three tracks of promising death metal madness, much in the vein of Fluids if I had to compare it to anyone, but not quite the same. Sick art, absolutely outstanding logo, and the promising bludgeoning fury to back it up aurally. I look forward to finding out what else this project brings.
Nasty goregrind with razor sharp guitars and million-mile-a-minute dustbin drums. I’m not super sure what the source of that artwork is either, I’ve seen it around, but it’s pretty hideous stuff. For blast-addict gorehounds only!
Sick, manic, pitch shifter vocals lead this hybrid mince / grind attack. Featuring a more varied production and level of instrumentation than you’d usually get from gory mincecore, this EP by Toughguy is well worth your time.
Good initial AGx session, padded out significantly with unnecessary live tracks but the intial studio session (very rough quality) is great. Just what I come to Agathocles for. CxTxDx on the other hand are maybe not so great, low quality “mincecore” that is basically just noisecore. Very frantic / hectic / chaotic, but blurs together into one big session save for some punctuation marks in the form of samples (which I think are taken from the Slave To The Grind movie?).
I’m not an expert on early British psych / rock music, but Return To The Sabbat is the supposed original version of the Black Widow debut. I am incredibly glad that it saw the light of day however because this archival recording from the dying embers of the 60s is head and shoulders above anything else that I have heard under the Black Widow name. Granted, I have not heard it all at this point but the difference is night and day. The analogue warmth of the tape recording is to die for, and the general vibe of the session is as smooth as butter, with Zoot Taylor’s organ being a particular highlight. Honestly, every second of this thing is just an absolute pleasure to listen to. I’ve had it on repeat for a few days now, which says a lot. Fantastic stuff.
Acts beautiful as a companion to / introduction to / extension of the enormous Everywhere At The End Of Time series. As groundbreaking as that is, it can be an intimidating listen – one that I have only made it through from start to finish once. Everywhere, An Empty Bliss pulls from most of the different stages present in the End Of Time series, and compresses them into a far more digestible – and dare I say enjoyable – album. It feels a little odd talking about The Caretakers aural experiments in presenting dementia as “enjoyable”, but it is hard not to appreciate the artistry that has gone into configuring this web of fractured samples and haunting electronics. Truly, a unique experience.
No frills death metal from The Netherlands. Sometimes what you need is a straight forward shot of brutality right to your brain. In such a use case, Antropomorphia does not disappoint. The production is not how I would personally like, but it is fully serviceable and once you’ve adjusted to the explosion of sound that you’re about to be subjected to, you can begin to appreciate the meat and potatoes of the songwriting on display. For when you don’t want to fuck around, this is the record to spin. The art is fantastic too.
A strange one (that’s saying something!) from the early series of Tangerine Dream albums. The unfolding soundscape is almost sinister in its composition, although it is ultimately enjoyable and even relaxing, despite the unexpected presence of drumming. I’m getting a personal sense of dissonance between the tracks; as in, there is no harmonous link between them all, and they seem very disjointed. For a project like Tangerine Dream, I think it is in important that an album can speak for itself as a whole. Atem cannot do that. This does not mean that the contents are not worthy of examining, however. There are some excellent compositions here. Unfortunately, on the sheer scale of the quality present in other early offerings from Tangerine Dream, Atem is unlikely to recieve repeat listens from me.
Feel good hard rock / proto heavy metal is the order of the day. I’ll be honest with you, I was not aware of the sheer age of the original recordings when I listened to this thing. I am blown away, in that regard. The production should have been a give away, really. The guitars are ear-piercingly thin, but their distorted jangle gives this thing it’s charm, along with the loose feel of the drums and the thrum of the bass. I’m not super fussed on the vocals, which vary in quality and sound somewhat amateurish, but otherwise this is a highly enjoyable listen.
A storming split from two long-running bands of varying legendary status. I’ve not much been the biggest fan of Behexen, but they shine here too, in the strongest form I’ve encountered them in to date. Their four tracks are sweeping, glorious epics in the misty yet muddy black metal style. Horna have a slightly rougher production, only just, but offer slightly better songwriting, opening up the first half of this split with dare I say gorgeous compositions of hostility and darkness. The drumming is particularily of note, but the whole group is firing on all cylinders here. The vocals are rabid as fuck. This split is well worth hunting down.
Tis most like that yon wulde indeede suff’r a e death in the tymes of olde. When thy lords send thee to batt’l and thon axe clea’v or thon sword strike true, then a terr’ble death wulde b’falle ye. There be no glory on the batt’l fielde, only terr’ble death. Curta’n Wall then, is here to provide the soundtrack to such an unfortunate fate. Terr’ble Death is one of the stronger earlier efforts from this excellent little project, which a coherency to proceedings that is not quite present elsewhere. There is less focus on the mad instrumentation here, instead the “metal” side of the Wall shines through better here. All in all, tis a welcome entry to the Curta’n Wall discography.
Crocodile Moat is peak Curta’n Wall. Move over Siege Ubsessed, because the Moat is where it’s at. Crocodile Moat just flows better, and the songs that do repeat have superior versions here than on the full length. Not sure what it is exactly; but this one just hits different. It hits perfect, in fact. Like a flail to the back of the head. Tidy.
The Call Of The Kraken is one of the more pleasant Burzum NEW drops in recent days. It harks back to the gentler moments of his immediate post-prison releases, Fallen in particular. It is not overly long, or boring, but conjures that unique atmosphere that only Burzum can.
It’s hard to explain how strange it is to see a legendary act fall apart in real time like this. Especially, I suppose, after said act was supposedly retired, especially from guitar-based music / black metal. This 12 minute “epic” sees more GarageBand drums, more lacklustre mixing, and more overlong meandering songwriting that goes nowhere. I must give props where they are due, and that is for the excellent frosted tapestry of riffs that sit beneath this one, but it still leaves a lot to be desired.
After a series of splits and EPs, the bizarre Curta’n Wall drops a full length album. I was a tad concerned that something so whacky would translate into a full length format, but for the most part it seems to fare quite well. Every time I feel like things are about to get a little stale, Curta’n Wall switches things up, or transitions into a new song / section / instrument that immediately renews my interest. Speaking of instruments, this thing is loaded to the gills with all sorts of crazy medieval sounds. If you too are Siege Ubsessed (lol), then this record will serve you well, my liege. Some things I will say however is that a few of the tracks contain what I can only describe as guest vocals from Elvya, whose dulcet tones I don’t quite think match the freak show that is Curta’n Wall. Also, I’m no scholar of this project but there’s a number of tracks here I notice as being rerecorded, some with what feels like new instrumentation, and in every single case I have preferred the originals. I don’t think it would surprise anyone if I just summarised by saying that this an interesting album but not something that is going to appeal to everyone.
Impaled’s sophomore record is a fairly mature interpretation of the “Carcass” template, turning biting, gore-tinged metal numbers into something a bit more three dimensional. The strong production job helps, but it’s the compositions which sell this. They really make this one stand alone; unique, instantly recognisable as Impaled, despite featuring all of the hallmarks of the melodic yet brutal pathological sound. The “custom made” samples / interludes are also a nice touch, adding even further to the albums character. A strong offering, for sure.
The importance of Shadowthrone for Satyricon cannot be understated. It is a record of progress, seemingly with the band taking massive strides since Dark Medieval Times, both in the complexity of their music and the delivery of said music via a cleaner production style. The production is of course still absolutely raw enough for fans of 90s black metal but expect a clear, balanced soundstage in which every instrument hangs in its own space, fully audible and enjoyable, which is a rarity for black metal, I can tell you that much. A highlight of any Satyricon record is always going to be Frost’s drumming. His fills and accents are one thing, but his precision and accuracy is another. Fantastic work. Sonically, the strings and the keyboards that augment them all go together perfectly, the guitar like several frosted layers of tapestry. Vocally, this is a strong album for Satyr, too. I feel like Shagrath from Dimmu may have taken a lot of inspiration here for Enthrone Darkness Triumphant onwards. Shadowthrone is an excellent record. I can only hope that the recent remaster brought some extra listeners back to this icy classic.
Savage dual vocal crust with death metal and grindcore elements. Very well produced, with a decent balance of raw aggression and aural clarity (it’s a hard balance to achieve for many, trust me haha – but this band nails it). Vocals range from throat shredding shrieks to bellowing growls, which is just lovely.
Black metal Scooby Doo music for clinically depressed maniacs and / or Pitchfork readers from 2010. I’m joking of course, but Portal Of Sorrow barely feels like an album, with its neither here nor there semi-instrumental takes. Expect the usual Xasthur production, but a whole truckload of weirdness and different vibes that just ends up sounding pretty disjointed.
Haemorrhage are – as per usual – on top form here. Grisly, gnarly, slightly sloppy (but it’s OK) goregrind from the masters. Riffs for days, sickness for a few days more, from the opening chainsaw sample to the finale note played. Dead on the other hand are a bit chonkier. Their “sexy” goregrind / death metal hybrid hits like a slab of roast beef to the back of the head (eyyy!), more in the vein of CBT / Gut without actually sounding like those bands. Cool shit.
Taking the early days Cat Decap platters of splatter in a tighter, more precise and streamlined a direction. To Serve Man is like one of those injections that makes you throw up all over yourself, shit yourself, and then pass out. But only after hearing this whole album first. Some of the directions can be nauseating, with neck snapping changes in ideas / riffs but the delivery is so totes brutes that I’m all for it, to be honest.
The Negation is the band’s follow up to the legendary and IMO game changing Nihility. On the surface of it, The Negation is like Nihility part 2, which should be a good thing I guess considering how incredible that album is, but for reasons I’ve not really addressed until now, The Negation never really landed with me and this was when I parted ways with Decapitated back in’t day. Don’t get me wrong, some of the songs here are absolutely incredible. That lightning in a bottle feeling from Nihility and even Winds… is still here (kind of), with the dream team of superfukkenfastblurzovdeffmetal in Vogg, Martin and Vitek delivering deliciously complex yet insanely brutal compositions of sound. It’s the band’s final album also with original vocalist Sauron, so this should be a fitting end to the original trilogy, right? The issues that do come then, are with the flow of the album. I think. Maybe there’s something about the way these tracks are ordered, maybe it’s just the nature of the tracks in general. I’m still not completely and entirely sure, but whilst they might be great in isolation, in the form of an album they don’t really work all that well. It’s a strange one, I’ll be honest.
I found Roads To Judah, whilst engaging, to not be as fully realised as the vision of “blackgaze” the band perfected with Sunbather. The songs are sprawling epics much in the same vein, but if anything, having less screamo / shoegaze elements in the music and instead being more “nice” regular black metal (like Alcest, yknow?) actually does harm rather than good. Never thought I’d be calling for more of either of those two genres in my black metal I’ll be honest with you, but here we are. I understand of course, that Roads To Judah came first, and this was a more formative version of their sound, so I have taken that into account whilst rating this one.
Kairos is another latter day Sepultura record that whilst being pretty fun and actually very well made / produced, still ultimately falls into just being “OK”. There is nothing about Kairos, for all its excellent musicianship and fantastic vocal performances from Derrick Green, that is particularly bad or even boring. It’s just somehow the album blurs into one gelatinous blob no matter how many times I spin it. Well played, I’ll give it that, but dangerously generic.
Well, colour me surprised at how fucking good this is. Goddamn! Yes, Firepower and Angel Of Retribution were solid, consistent and more than serviceable, but I was strongly of the opinion that Priest hadn’t done an excellent album since Painkiller. Here comes Invincible Shield them, to knock me off my high horse. Bloody heck! At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this, because it has the same super slick and modern metal production as the albums I mentioned above. Whilst that kind of production is more than suitable for a bazillion metal bands, the sounds of classic Priest are not something I would associate with such a clean “pro tools” feeling sound. But the songs on this thing are so fucking good that I don’t even mind that it’s overproduced. Everything sounds fantastic, especially Halford, who is putting out incredible work for a man of his age. It’s a shame Tipton isn’t really involved anymore and of course KK hasn’t been around for a while but if Invincible Shield was the final Judas Priest album I wouldn’t even be mad.
What’s better than death metal? Why, sloppy goregrind mixed with death metal, obviously. Taking pages from the books of not only Carcass, but also Xysma, Impetigo and even Autopsy, this early daze incarnation of the now legendary Exhumed is a treat in primitive metal brutality done right. The demo grinds along like a rusty machine, but one that will hit you with lethal amounts of force if you are not careful.
Calderum’s Mystical Fortress Of Iberian Lands really took me by surprise. This thing goes hard! Combining melodies and hooks with ferocious blastbeats (the latter often becomes the focus of more “brutal” black metal) and balancing a “kvlt” sound with a clear and warm production, Calderum literally ticks all of my fucking boxes. Seriously, the drumming on this is absolutely fantastic; “Fortress Of Doom” will give you a good example as to why, with tons of inspired fills and variations, switch ups and cymbal flourishes that don’t overcrowd the song but instead contribute massively. The “dungeon synth” interludes are brilliant in their own right too, proper Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall energy going on here. Fucking class stuff.
One doesn’t want to ask such a question, but one feels one has to – would Castle Rat be popping off as much as they currently are if they didn’t look the way they do? I’m talking mostly regarding enigmatic and super-talented frontwoman Riley Pinkerton AKA The Rat Queen, but also the rest of the group with their various monikers and disguises. The Scooby Doo aesthetic, whilst clearly working, gives a whole Blood Ceremony meets Ghost feeling. The sad truth is that occult rock / trad doom / 70s “metal” revival bands are a dime a dozen, so does Into The Realm hold up once you take away all the theatrics and imagery? Does it work on an intrinsic musical level? Well, kind of. The previously mentioned Rat Queen has a great voice (when it’s not drowning in awful effects), reminding me of Rosalie Cunningham or Alia O’Brien, but the backing band, whilst serviceable, never quite offer anything that stands out. The production has this weird blown out sound on the percussion, I guess to make the soundstage artificially fuller than it actually is, but the guitar work is fun, if nothing else. Outside of highlights “Cry For Me” and closing track “Nightblood”, none of the tracks on this thing are any better than “Ok”, which is well, not really OK, at least not in a genre where a hundred million other bands are vying to replace you in an instant. Look, this is an entertaining album. It’s not like, actually bad (outside of a few choice effects / filters on the vocals which actively detracts from the overall experience), but I expected more.
The Snow Bunker Tapes is the same set of songs from Peaceful Snow but instead of piano we get the tunes in an OG Di6 configuration of acoustic guitar with additional sparse twinkles of percussive affectations. In some cases this works well, the guitar matching up well with a lot of the songs that failed to wow on piano (just do a side by side listen for both versions of opening track “Murder Made History” to see what I mean). Oddly, the inverse can also be the case, such as for the track “Peaceful Snow”, which in piano form is one of the best songs ever written yet the guitar version is bizarrely upbeat, trundling along at a fair clip which kills any mood the piano version had. I think the best thing to do is to listen to both sets of songs and then pick and choose the best from each session to make like a super cut called The Peaceful Snow Bunker or something. In fact I might actually do that right now…
Historically, I’ve had a hot / cold relationship with the solo albums of Devin Townsend. Much to my surprise then, when going back to the very first one from 1997, I found that I truly enjoyed this album. Devin’s “wall of sound” production is in its infancy but still mostly present; sheets of guitars and synths are the backdrop for this collection of compositions, setting the stage for the growing levels of bombast that would unfold on future records. As it stands alone, Ocean Machine is a record comparable as much to shoegaze as it is to prog or even metal. Favourite track: “Bastard”.
Noticeably different from the debut album in both in terms of tonality and general production, the Loser 7” sees Angel Witch adopting a more “fun”, cheeky approach to their dark NWOBHWM sound. Historically, it’s the start of a change that did not pay off for the group, but nevertheless this three track single is an interesting and enjoyable listen. “Dr. Phibes” is arguably the weakest of the three, but the other two are great little pieces of heavy metal.
These original versions of the tracks that would go on to make up The Eternal Idol are a treat to listen to. It’s not as groundbreaking a reveal as the original sessions for Born Again, but hearing Ray Gillen’s original vocals is a treat for Sabbath fans whichever way you cut the cake. The songs didn’t quite get the full studio polish up in these takes, but the roughness (it’s not exactly black metal haha) is a small price to pay in return for the songs sounding more natural, and then you’ve got the added benefit of Gillen’s voice mixing things up even further.
Listening back to back with Nachzehrer, the difference between the two full lengths is staggering. It’s like night and day (or two different bands). Here, Satanic Warmaster’s sound is polished up, this time more so than at any other point in his discography (at least chronologically and to my memory). The drumming is the most notable improvement; fast and ferocious and most importantly beautifully recorded. It helps lay an enviable foundation of brutality and precision, making the gulf between the noisier, slightly sloppier recording on the previous album even wider. On top of that, Werwolf’s guitars sound that extra bit sharper and his vocals bite that extra bit harder, too. From its opening moments until the closing lulls of the dungeon synth style closing track (Mortiis’ lawyers may be in touch over that one as it’s a smidge familiar sounding lmao), Fimbulwinter is a nonstop attack on the senses.
Without doing side by side listens it’s hard to really differentiate between these versions and the same tracks from the debut album, but both songs work rather pleasantly together as a 7” single release. Not to mention the art is cool as fuck, so if I ever saw this at a used record store for a decent price I’d probably pick it up because it’s a cool little package.
Legendary, obviously, but drops off for me as the record goes on, generally. I’m talking in a songwriting sense only, because the production on this thing is just absolutely to die for; proper analogue warmth with space and definition between the bass and lead guitars, not to mention the percussion. Really makes tracks like the title-track, “Atlantis” and “White Witch” pop out of the stereo. As I kind of touched on, I love how strong this is at the start but it’s totally front loaded. I wouldn’t say that there’s a gradual decline in quality that tapers off as the record goes on, but the first third of the album is significantly stronger than the rest of it. Despite this, it is still a thoroughly entertaining listen.
Haven’t had the pleasure of hearing the full split, originally released with Kommandant, but the recent 2024 remaster of these tracks was a great way to come back to this session. It’s short, but it’s understandable considering it was from a split. This doesn’t necessarily mean it works all that well in EP format as a stand-alone, at least not for Minnenwerfer, where it is best to sit and immerse yourself in the sound and the growing atmosphere. Nevertheless, it’s a solid 20 minutes of excellent black metal, fast and with military precision, it does what Minnenwerfer does best.
I didn’t get off to a very good start with Graveland. The classic albums, which are fawned over so much, hit me with a resounding “meh”. I have gone on to develop an appreciation for albums like Thousands Swords but some of those early records are still so laughably bad that I cannot to this day understand what all the fuss is about. Mid/latter period Graveland however, has u-turned my scepticism around the group and solidified me as a fan of Darken’s music. The hat trick of Creed Of Iron, Memory And Destiny and now Fire Of Awakening has sealed the deal. Darken and his legions were on something of a roll in the early 2000s. Production is not hugely different here nor is the style of songwriting, but the tracks are just phenomenal, especially album closer “The Four Wings Of The Sun” (mmm I wonder what they could possibly be talking about there), which is probably my favourite Graveland track to date.
Stellar effort from Satanic Warmaster. I’m not sure what it is about this one that just hits so well compared to the others, but hit it does. As much as I appreciate Carelian Satanic Madness, I’ve not enjoyed a SW album as much as this since Strength & Honour. The production feels a little bit more lo-fi than usual, but this may just be how the drums have been recorded. The hat trick of “Warmaster Returns”, “One Shining Star” and “Bestial Darkness” is near unbeatable black metal.
It’s always a good day when Darkthrone release a new album. it’s something that can be consistently relied upon as something to look forward to, even if the result of each offering may vary slightly. Or in this case, perhaps not so much at all. It Beckons Us All is great, but it is very similar in production and approach to both Eternal Hails and Astral Fortress – whilst also reminding me of some of the doomier moments on Old Star a few years back. Mix all of this with a healthy does of Celtic Frost worship and you’ve got It Beckons Us All. Some may perhaps wish that Darkthrone would move on from this style, and whilst I do have some of my favourite Darkthrone tracks on Astral Fortress (“Impeccable Caverns Of Satan”, “Stalagmite Neckalce”), I feel like the band have truly taken this particular style to its apex here on this record. “Eon 3”, “The Bird People of Nordland” and opening number “Howling Primitive Colonies” are all world class examples of blackened doomery.
Easily the best of the three releases so far. It also has no guitars or drums, so go figure. “The Nature Of The Gods” is more akin to what we’ve heard on Thulean Mysteries or The Ways Of Yore. It is also far more stable and consistent, actually managing to conjure up an atmosphere. Perhaps not all hope is lost then? We shall see.
As bad as – if not worse than – the first single. The programmed drums are stepped up a notch but the production seems infinitely shittier, probably due to the guitar taking up so much of the track. Somehow the guitar manages to be hollow and lifeless yet also drowns out the drums and vocals too. Once again, the saving grace is that this is – hopefully – some sort of demo that will be polished up in time for the album. Failing that, if this is the finished product, things are not looking too clever.
I was checking out the latest Burzum tracks (sideshow.bob.steps.on.rake.sound.effect.mp3) when I realised I hadn’t ever written a little spot about the Aske EP. This was easily missed, I guess, what with Aske being bundled together as part of the self-titled releases on CD etc. since the early 90s. I think there was a stand-alone Aske recently, on cassette, as part of a bigger box set, but if you want an original stand-alone Aske, you’d best be prepared to spend the bigger bucks. Aske has an unfinished feel, to me at least. This may be because of the raw production coupled with the generally short length of the record as well as the fact that one of the songs, “Stemmen Fra Tarnet” (the best song, I might add), just cuts off unceremoniously at the end. Aske has a noticably warmer production than the frostbitten debut album, and has the notable inclusion of Samoth from Emperor on bass guitar, in what is I think the only time another musician has ever played on a Burzum release. It would be remiss of me to not mention the cover art for this EP, which is as legendary as the music itself – if not more so, to be honest. The church in question a site of arson from the creators of this music, boldly placed on the sleeve of the EP in an almost mocking tone. This is an essential black metal recording, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that.
When I heard there would be (NEW) Burzum music I was cautiously optimistic. Varg can be, after all, something of a music genius. He is responsible for some of the greatest albums of all time. This however, is bullshit. Man is just strumming a cheap guitar over a fucking GarageBand loop. It sounds like someone fed Umskiptar into one of those crappy AI music apps and instructed it to: “make this again, but as shit as possible”. I feel safe in my assumption that this was knocked together in two days because Varg documented it on fucking Twitter. This is the state of black metal in 2024, folks. If there’s going to be an album’s worth of this shit, then it needs a lot of work. Hopefully this is just a demo or something.
Solid. That much I can say: solid. Definitely one of the strongest records the band have done since 1990 onwards. I’m not super sure if a fat, overproduced modern sound really works for Judas Priest, what with the compression and the scooped mids and what have you, but there’s some bangeroonies here on Firepower. “Flame Thrower” is a bop, as is “Necromancer”, and these are probably my favourite tracks here. Firepower is a pretty long album, but not one that I find overstays its welcome.
A beautiful piece of neofolk, of which I’m happy to report blends effortlessly with other genres, such as displayed in some of the more electronic offerings found in the latter half of this album. Admittedly, I had not heard of Sonne Hagal until recently, and I feel that I am very late to the party. Glorious production reigns throughout, with twinkling guitars and instrumentation accenting the typical neofolk “low key” chilled yet anxious kind of songs. Highly recommended for any fans of neofolk music.
Powerful industrial music that sits somewhere between the greats like Godflesh or Throbbing Gristle and the more (dare I say) energetic styles of say, Youth Code. There’s only two tracks here but it gives you a perfect taste of what to expect in terms of theme, vibe and general sonic palette. Good stuff!
Excellent quality show. Even better than the perhaps more commended “When Death Called ‘89” from earlier in the same tour. Sure, there are a few audible artefacts on the recording, but it’s a small price to pay for what is an excellent line-up performing songs from all eras of Sabbath (Gillan and Hughes aside lol). As with other boots in this era, it’s a pleasure just to hear Cozy playing Ozzy and Dio era stuff. This Vienna set is one of the best for this tour though because of the variety and Tony Martin sounds on top form here. Well worth tracking down.
The best thing about this particular live recording is hearing Cozy Powell play with the band in the arena space; for his three albums with the band his time on the road with them was often fairly limited for various reasons. Hearing his super awesome interpretations of the fills on tracks like “War Pigs” is a real treat. Quality is pretty good here, although there is like a flutter effect that’s appeared on the tape, but what can you do. Considering it’s the Headless Cross tour the band don’t really bother all that much with songs from it, instead playing mainly Dio-era tunes and a few 70s classics. Martin sings mostly in a low register, which is a shame because he could still belt out the vocals back in 1989.
Is the album title spelt incorrectly on purpose? Discharge with Rat is probably my favourite incarnation of the band since the classic days. I’m probably biased there because this was the version of the band that I first started seeing live here or there around the UK when I was a young’un. Either way, Disensitise has a raw, demo-like quality without sounding like complete shit. Snare drum is the chef’s special of the day, with a side order of everything else in the band. Expect all the hallmarks of the classic sound recycled (thrashy guitars, listless solos, d-beat drum beats, yelped vocals) but in the most pleasing and entertaining way. Makes me want to open a circle pit in my living room.
Manson Child! Manson Child! Manson Child! Fucking hell, honestly… with that “epic” out of the way, Shootin’ Up The World isn’t too bad. Granted, the vocals, as per the two albums before this, are absolute fucking dogshit (with all due respect), but musically this is the strongest of the three Discharge “experiments” of the 80s and 90s. I still wouldn’t recommend checking it out unless you have a strong stomach for monotony.
As someone who found 13 to be rather tedious in both production and actual song content, it will be of no surprise that I find this little EP of left over tracks to be equally as uninspired and devoid of anything of worth. On top of that you have some of the most dogshit art the band have used in some time. It’s a no from me, Tony mate.
Wow, this get’s off to a shaky start! The drumming on “Black Sabbath” is so bad (not to mention Ozzy’s appalling singing) that I almost gave up before I started. I’m glad that I did stick with the whole record though, because I missed out on the Birmingham shows in person and felt like I had missed a momentous event in history. However, having consumed this entire live album several times, I don’t feel like I missed all that much. Many have commented on the heaviness here, especially of the low end and the percussion, and admittedly Geezer DOES sound incredible and the session drummer does pull it together nicely after the first song, I can’t shake the fact that Ozzy is well beyond his best and his performance here is painful, to be honest.
Judas Priest circa 2015 were a well oiled machine. This live album is tight as fuck. Some of the older classics sound a bit weird at first in such a modern form (I’m so used to them in their warm 70s analogue sound) but once that initial shock is out of the way, Battle Cry is a really fun listen. They went pretty heavy on the Redeemer Of Souls material too, which is a brave move for a band with a festival slot and a bazillion fan faves spanning (at the time) five decades.
Ancient Dreams feels like both a sequel to Nightfall and a spiritual successor to Epicus Doomicus. The trouble is, and I mean no disrespect as this is still a highly enjoyable record, is that Ancient Dreams is not quite as good as either of the two previously mentioned albums. Nevertheless, let the phenomenal cover art draw you into a world of powerful, epic doom metal like only Candlemass can so expertly craft. If you enjoyed Nightfall but the reverb-drenched bombast was just a little too much for you, then try this instead. Highlights for me include “Mirror Mirror”, “A Cry From The Crypt” and the title track.
Quite possibly one of – if not the – greatest live album that I have ever heard. The fact that I’ve been listening to Sabbath for over 20 years and have never stumbled upon this recording until this week is nothing short of embarrassing. I feel like I have unlocked some sort of secret. Anyway, the release itself is phenomenally good. The production, for a 1975 live recording, is absolutely fantastic. I’m not sure how much work has been done after the fact to clean it up, but either way, it sounds incredible. The entire band are firing on all cylinders – even Ozzy sounds brilliant – but Iommi’s riffs are just… I have no words. The version of “Symptom Of The Universe” here is off the chart. Forget Live At Last, Reunion and definitely put The End in the bin. This is THE live album for the classic lineup of Sabbath. This particular boot is from 1993 but this thing has been released on the black/grey market a million times.
Solid later effort from the legendary Priest. After the safe Angel Of Retribution and the uhhh “brave” (lmao) Nostradamus, Redeemer is a breath of fresh air. Long story short, here Priest stop fucking around and instead focus on doing what they do best. We all miss KK Downing, but honestly, like super honestly, at first I didn’t even notice he was missing. TLDR: not as good as some previous discography highs but a solid album nonetheless.
Seemingly pointless reworking of the original (pirate material lol!) classic. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely, but I’m not sure what purpose it serves. Does it need to serve a purpose? Dunno. I’m not going to get philosophical about it. It would be really cool to get more tracks from the first album reimagined like this, but on its own its ability to impress is limited.
This is what I’m talking about! Like being knocked off your feet after being hit by a bloody torso that’s been thrown through the air during a fucking hurricane. Absolute goregrind carnage! Septage pull no punches on this “full length” release. Blasting drums, bone crunching strings, subterranean vocals. Class.
Love this shit. Comparisons to Aphex Twin are lazy but apt, let’s be honest. A clanking, clattering collection of electronic madness that’s over way too soon. Production is fantastic, and really shines on tracks like “Kill Robok”. The Joy Division cover is pretty dumb but otherwise this is solid.
Rain Dogs comes in the middle of a trio of absolutely classic releases from Tom Waits. The man was, truly, on a roll with these studio albums. There’s something so magical and unique about these songs and the feelings that they conjure up. Rain Dogs is also a rare album where its remaster has caused me to appreciate it more, at least in regards to listening digitally. Such a brilliant album.
Stunning LP from St Vincent. I’m not much informed on her music other than Mass Education, but this random pick was fantastic. Sultry and sassy, with a nice dollop of funk in between the lush, low key vocal performances.
I’d originally written off Past Lives for being the “official” version of Live At Last but with a bunch of extra shit added onto the end. In some rather dim world views that is perhaps correct, but Past Lives is so much more than that, as I have recently found out. Yes, disc 1 is the same as the Live At Last album so if you’ve heard that, there’s no point in bothering with the first disc at all, really. The reward really comes with disc 2, which is a collection of live tracks that were previously only released in bootleg configurations. Whether those bootlegs have cooler art, release notes etc., I am not here to argue, but Past Lives collects these sessions together in one place and over its two-hour run time I suppose it could be argued that it makes a definitive “classic” Sabbath live album. Some of the sessions on the second disc are just incredible, such as the versions here of “Hole In The Sky”, “Symptom Of The Universe” and “Black Sabbath”. Great stuff.
I’ve thought quite long and hard (oo er) about how to rate this one, and half marks seems like the best idea. Musically, of course, Judas Priest are not to be sniffed it. It is however, the misguided energy of which they have thrown themselves into such a massive concept album that is perhaps worthy of criticism. I appreciate the concept, as well as the vision involved, but unfortunately, Nostradamus is a bloated corpse of mostly middling songs that do absolutely nothing for even the most die-hard Priest appreciator. Do not get me wrong, there is a baseline of excellent on which such mediocre ideas are built, but that is not enough to save Nostradamus from being one of the least entertaining records that ever got given the Priest name – nor for that matter is the presence of several tracks which are actually really good; they are drowned out in the sheer mass of everything else. A shame.
It’s very cool to see the Tony Martin era music start to get some of the attention it deserves. I’ve probably been a bit harsh on some of the material myself. But I gotta say the remaster of both the title track of Headless Cross as well as “Anno Mundi” from Tyr sounds absolutely great. This single has definitely raised my excitement for the rereleases of all of these albums. I’m not going to buy them all again as I spent plenty of time and money hunting down the originals (more fool me), but I’m hoping these remasters bring a new generation of fans to this forgotten era of Black Sabbath.
Forbidden’s vocalist Russ Anderson is cheesy as fuck but let’s not allow that to detract from the fact that this is an excellent thrash record with extremely good production, amazing riffs and solid-as-fuck drumming. I’m not familair with the people who produced this thing but truly it is a marvel of consistent yet punchy sound, delivered perfectly by the band in the first instance, then hammered home by the engineering team. As I eluded to, I’m not totally sold on the vocals here, but I’m sure they will grow on me with time.
Ah, isn’t it such a beautiful thing? Blasting goregrind to the point where the drums are tuned so high they are floating in outer space. The guitars are so fast that they have turned to a liquid, and possibily a little to gas also. The vocals are the dying (or birthing?) sounds of a creature (or creatures) flopping about in a vat of hideous bright blue liquid in a secret subterranean laboratory. Truly, this is glorious.
Hex is Earth reborn anew – the dawn of their “clean” period. It started here, reflected backwards with Hibernaculum, and was then arguably perfected on Bees Made Honey… but here is where it all began. Hex is probably one of my least listened to releases from Earth. I’m not really sure why, but the songs have never stuck with me. They are not necessarily bad in any way, in fact they are very much enjoyable, and the production is very well put together.
Fantastic cross section of busy, involved jazz, that also has the excellent duality of appearing as chilled and relaxed as it is complex and engaging. The production is subtle but all-encompassing with a wide sound stage. Great stuff!
Oh what hath we done to deserve the best part of 80 minutes of gargling goregrind? We are not worthy! We are not worthy! Lesser bands could no doubt have turned this same session into four separate “albums” or a lifetime’s supply of split material. Here however, Human Pancake treats us to a veritable buffet of 80s sci fi horror villain vokill-fronted, trashcan snare drum banging, guitars tuned so low they basically sound like bodily fluids sliding from corrupting gaseous corpses shredding mayhem. Yeah. Top shit.
An interesting set of remixes, which is more than I expected. Perhaps unsurprisingly, drone is the buzzword of the day, and whilst like any remix album the quality varies track to track, the general overall level of quality is pretty high. Legacy Of Dissolution presents us with a shockingly pleasant set of reinterpreted textures – one that was quite uplifting, despite its heaviness, to listen to on a Sunday morning with a black coffee, watching the sun come up through the valley. The Justin Broadrick remix of “Harvey” sounds like some extra spacey Jesu outtake.
Phase 3 has always been my least favourite of the early Earth releases. Moving away from the crushing drones of the earlier releases, Earth instead turned to shorter tracks of varying texture and feel. Whilst the band would refine this approach for the excellent Pentastar, Phase 3 is, frankly, a disjointed mess of ideas. Granted, a lot of these ideas are very pleasant and fun to listen to, but the album as a whole has a rushed, unfinished and “that’ll do” vibe to it. Is it bad? No. Does much better music come both immediately before and after it? Yes.
Rougher than what would come on the much more well-formed First Spell, but surprisingly more clarified than Ancestors… which soon followed. It is likely that most modern listeners will have heard these songs tacked onto the end of rereleases of First Spell, rather than have hunted down the demo itself, but these are still worth your time. There are some bizarre choices, such as the synth that opens “Angelwings and Ravenclaws” or the guitar that opens “Black Seared Heart”, but these are small niggles in the grand scheme of things.
This one easily falls between the cracks of the other early Gehenna releases. The production here is chunkier but we lose a lot of fidelity in the blunt trauma attack of the sound. Add to the fact that these are the same songs that appear on the debut and First Spell and that makes revisiting Ancestor a fairly pointless activity, unless for those who prefer these studio sessions to the other early recordings.
Glorious early second wave black metal with a fantastic, dark atmosphere. The keyboard usage is pretty heavy, but not so much in the orchestral, bombastic way. More so that it just adds another layer to the sound. The production is organic and balanced and the whole thing breathes, which is rare for black metal, and is also a refreshing change from some of the other earlier Gehenna stuff (none of which is super badly produced but First Spell is a clear improvement).
A good way to get all of the early Gehenna stuff in one place. At first I was pretty sure this included the Ancestor Of The Darkly Sky stuff as well, otherwise the track list literally makes zero sense, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s the same stuff as Black Seared Heart, but when you do a side by side comparison, it’s a different session.
Solid fuckin effort from the legendary Deicide. For some reason I was always under the impression that this was where Deicide started to fall off, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. This shit slaps. Hell, even J-Dawg likes it! Darkness and evil, goddamnit, what’s not to love? I gotta level with you all – I think I prefer this to Serpents Of The Light. I may have had one too many knocks to the head but that’s how I’m feeling right now. Savage, savage shit.
Not sure if enjoy this soundtrack for what it is on its base electronic compositions, or whether because I played MK Trilogy religiously when I was a kid. The OST for the game, which shared a lot of tunes with MK3 and Ultimate MK3 if I’m not mistaken, hardly breaks new ground, but the dirty new urban sound the MK tunes got given for this era of the franchise seemed to really get the blood pumping, to really get the craving for a death match or six into your head. Whatever the reason for my occasional spin of this thing, the effect the soundtrack has for me is unmistakable. For that reason it will always hold a special place in my heart (lol). Tooooooasssstyyy
Nice collection of sounds. Not essential or anything, but pulls together some early Bathory goodness into one compilation. It’s a bit disjointed, and some of the tracks are pretty sloppy, but this is to be expected.
I used to think this was the shit, but honestly it’s pretty messy and disorganised. And it’s like, OK, you’re talking about raw underground grind / powerviolence here – what do you expect? Whilst there are plenty of barrages of blasting carnage to inflame the senses (lmao) its the “downtime” in between where SOV loses me; there is an irritating harshness to the cymbals which almost drowns out everything else, as well as a general sloppiness to anything thats not a blastbeat that gets a bit draining after a while. I’m sure this band sounded fucking insane live, but this 6 minute EP is more than enough whilst listening at home.
Amazing quality early demo from the legendary and unbeatable Autopsy. Am I biased? Of course, I fucking love Autopsy. But I mentioned something similar in a recent Immolation review; this demo is of such high quality that it comes off as more of an EP than an early demo. Without wanting to repeat myself as I did there, I can only say that this early offering is well, well worth exploring if you are after more of that early sick sound the band gave us. This session is hardly a long one, but every second is purely amazing.
I’m no scholar on the work of Chuck and Death / Mantis, but this noisy rehearsal demo featuring the now legendary line up of Chuck, Rick Rozz and Kam Lee, is nothing but an absolute pleasure to listen to. It is perhaps easy to put this up on a pedestal due to its historical significance, but it is, at the end of the day, a noisy thrash-becoming-death metal demo made by a bunch of very talented kids. Beneath the haze of the production you can hear the incredible riffs and strong song structures. If I had to compare to other / later bands, parts of this gives me Autopsy vibes whilst other bits are more in the school of Kreator. Good shit.
Immolation’s self-titled demo was nowhere near as dusty, shitty and low quality as I expected it to be. Instead, the band presented to us, in 1989, something which is more akin to an EP than a demo, such is the quality of the production and songwriting. Of course, all three of these songs go on to appear on the debut proper anyway, but this is worth checking out because the band were firing on all cylinders, even from the very early days.
My brothers in gore! If Reek Of Putrefaction wasn’t enough for you, or, inversely, it was too much for you (lmao), I implore all of you to work backwards to Carcass’ early demo offering, the aptly-titled Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment. Now, somehow magically sounding better than the band’s actual debut album, Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment is a foundation brick in the wobbly, fleshy building that we can call goregrind. Therefore, to silly idiots like me, it is a vital release. Thankfully, it is not an shaky, prototype kinda “vital” gem, yknow, the kind of ones that are historically important but you don’t listen to all that much because, well, they aren’t all that good. No – Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment is absolute aural carnage in its finest form and a total poser filter for those who claim to love “goregrind” (I’m looking at all you tupa-tupa OEF party goregrind listening fuckwads).
Calm Before The Storm marks the point where I first was bitterly disappointed with a Venom album. Gone is Mantis, replaced by “Jim and Mike”. It says a lot about a guitar player if it takes two separate people to replace you, I think. Anyway, Calm… still has Abaddon and most importantly in this regard Cronos, so it is not immediately indistinguishable as a Venom release. After a few minutes however you begin to get the feeling that something is off, and even though this is Venom in name and has Cronos barking all over it, there’s just something about it which feels false and hollow. The production is pretty bad but I’m not really bothered by that. I wasn’t a fan of this one. It feels half-arsed.
This has aged pretty terribly, like all nu metal, but of course with Limp Bizkit in general. There is no changing however, that I listened to the absolute fuck out of this record when I was a kid. I remember it as if it was yesterday, following along – or at least trying because the lyrics were so small in the booklet. I remember rumours of there being a hidden track with Eminem on it hidden between the tracks on the CD – I guess this spawned because Eminem is mentioned in the booklet (and shows up in the “Break Stuff” video). The truth of the matter is that Durst and Em recorded together, but the song didn’t appear on this album. Anyway, production-wise this is really solid. Terry Date is always a good choice when it comes to nu metal, and whilst he can produce albums that are too homogenous or “safe”, Significant Other still sounds amazing and fresh 25 years later, considering the contents. Some of the musical collabs are a bit wet (the album would be even better without Jon D from Korn, Aaron from Staind and Scott from Stone Temple Pilots crowding it) – you can leave Method Man where he is though, everything is automatically better when Method Man is involved. Oh, and I guess I’ll give this a bonus “half point” (lol) for having “Re-Arranged”, which is hands down the best song the band ever made.