Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: October 2023

Black Sabbath – Reunion (1998)
metal

Black Sabbath – Reunion (1998)

I was a bit young when this came out so I didn’t really get involved with the hype at the time, but I understand how big a deal this was at the time. It is sad in retrospect to see the Tony Martin line-up finally go under for once and for all, but the people wanted Ozzy-Sabbath and the people got what they wanted with this release. Trouble is, I couldn’t give a bloody fuck to hear all of these songs again. As classic as the old shit is, and yeah it will always rank up there at the top for me along with the greatest albums of all time, but Ozzy is by far my least favourite Sabbath vocalist. The set is serviceable, actually pretty fun (better than The End shit that went on recently), It’s also a pleasure to hear Bill Ward playing with Sabbath, as well as hearing Geoff Nicholls performing with the original four (although this was not to last). The two original songs are fucking garbage though let’s be honest.

Bryan Ferry – Bête Noire (1987)
pop

Bryan Ferry – Bête Noire (1987)

Damn son this makes me want to stand on a street corner in a light drizzle outside some nondiscript cafe or bar in an anonymous western European city. I’ve just lit a cigarette and I’m watching the pretty girls walk by, huddled in their coats and black tights. Inside, the bar man is pouring aperitifs into small crystal glasses for me and my faceless date, who is also impossibly beautiful. Her face is cloaked in a low hanging cloud of smoke that hangs like unmovable fog inside the building. Once I finish my cigarette and head back inside (I came out to listen to the sounds of the city and feel the rain on my face) the title track of this record is playing softly over the stereo. My beautiful date speaks to me in fluent French, and I haven’t a fucking clue what she is saying. But it doesn’t matter. I’m here in this time and space, and that is all that matters. “Kiss and Tell” now plays over the speakers, and she takes my hand and demands that I take her for a dance. We are the only two people in the bar, and we dance in the smoke. The bar man, furiously polishing the inside of a bier glass with a soft rag, watches us with a smirk.

The Angels of Light – Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home (2003)
folk, neofolk & acoustic

The Angels of Light – Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home (2003)

This is probably the first time that I have felt bad giving a record 3.5 out of 5. Everything Is Good Here is so achingly beautiful that I feel it deserves more, but the reality is that there are quite a lot of songs on this album that just don’t really stand out for me. If Sing Other People didn’t exist, then Everything Is Good Here would probably be my least favourite Angels Of Light album. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t ay good. The production, I think by Gira and long-time collaborator in that regard Martin Bisi, is absolutely stunning. You can tell that so much love and care has gone into producing this record properly in a quality recording studio. “All Souls Rising” is one of my favourite Angels tracks, and “What Will Come” is a perfect album closing track. I do miss Angels Of Light. Their demise is a small price to pay in order to have Swans around still in 2023.

Pentagram – Sub-Basement (2001)
doom metal

Pentagram – Sub-Basement (2001)

Sub-Basement is nowhere near as crummy as its album title or album art would perhaps lead you to believe. Whist Bobby L’s vocal style is an acquired taste, the instrumental end of this thing is some top notch doomery. Heavy, dense riffs and oddly triggered / compressed drums make for an interesting combo (especially with the vocals). Only downer for me is that it sounds like it came from a certain time and place and also isn’t the most inspired thing in the world, but either way, I really enjoyed this one.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse (2009)
grindcore

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse (2009)

Agorapocalypse sometimes seems to get it in the neck for not being quite like the stuff that came before it (that being, of course, absurdly fast bursts of micro-grind). All the pieces are still here though; the savage riffs, the ridiculous drum programming, and the multi-throated triple vocal attack. It’s just, the songs are longer than a usual average of about 24 seconds, and the influences span the metal world, rather than just the ABCs of grindcore: “Agoraphobos / One-dimensional hatross / Alesis Time Machine / Seventh bastard son of the seventh bastard son/ With deicidal tendencies” The final three tracks on this thing are near perfect aural destruction, but the whole album is well worth your time. At under half-hour its a fast-paced thrashy attack of insane lyrics and insane music. YOU WANNA TALK TO ME ABOUT PIG DESTROYER!? WELL I SMOKED CRACK WITH A FUCKING COP!

Vomir – Application à Aphistemi (2011)
noise & power electronics

Vomir – Application à Aphistemi (2011)

I decided to spice up my life and go for a bit of variety and therefore selected a Vomir live album instead of a studio album. Now, I don’t want to take the piss out of Vomir. It is the project that introduced me to the strange world of “HNW” after all. Vomir has had some real world application for me (it is perfect for meditation, for example), but I fear that despite all of this, with Application A Aphistemi being my third Vomir review, I can only sum this record up using the following sentence: Heh heh noise wall goes brrrrrrrrrrrr

Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music (2007)
pop

Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music (2007)

I’m sure there are many others out there just like me who have David Lynch to thank for including Au Revoir Simone’s music in Twin Peaks: The Return. Their “performances” were highlights of the somewhat dreary musical acts to appear in the returned TV show, and I made with haste to the very album from which those cuts originated. Unfortunately, I did not process this review with the same haste in which I visited the album initially lol. I listened to The Bird Of Music twice back-to-back last night so the timing is now right for me to come here and declare how much I love this album and to implore you to listen to it if you are on the fence or just lost and stumbling across random music on the internet. I haven’t heard any other records by this three piece but The Bird Of Music is a beautiful piece of work, full of subtle pop music built on top of hypnotic, droning synthesiser work. Songs are dreamy; unfolding with a treacle-like pace and consistency, but held together by sweet, tender vocals that stop the music veering too far off into the wilderness. If I had to pick standouts I would pick both “Lark” and “A Violent Yet Flammable World” only because these are the songs that made me fall in love with this thing in the first place.

Sol Invictus – In The Rain (1995)
folk, neofolk & acoustic

Sol Invictus – In The Rain (1995)

I wish that I had some sort of big brain take on this record, only because it offers far more in its lyrical content than I can hope to ever analyse, but I only truly stumbled upon this because of the Death In June connection. Nevertheless, In The Rain is a beautiful record, one that I have listened to many, many times over the last few months to truly acclimatise to the songs it possesses. Addressing the vocal performances, I don’t really find the singing to be particularily offensive. I’ve yet to come across a neofolk singer that isn’t rough around the edges in one way or another, but I can totally understand why this may be too much for some people. I genuinely enjoyed every song on this thing, which is not something that I can say for a lot of albums.

Black Sabbath – The Manor Tapes (1983/2011)
metal

Black Sabbath – The Manor Tapes (1983/2011)

I need to get myself a copy of this. Born Again is one of the better latter Sabbath albums (fight me), but the mix is a fucking abomination. The Manor Tapes not only clears up the production so that the record is appreciatable in its definitive form, but we also get extended / different version of “Stonehenge” and “Zero The Hero”, and on top of that we also get the unreleased track “The Fallen”. This is THE way to listen to Born Again, and the fact that it was ever released in any other form is absolutely fucking perplexing to me.

Judas Priest – British Steel (1980)
metal rock

Judas Priest – British Steel (1980)

Perhaps a bit silly, and a bit flimsy on the production end, but damn is this a classic. Stuff like “Living After Midnight” is what I’m referring to here, but there’s a place for that kind of thing (shit rock bars hahaha). I’m joking of course, but I’m more interested in some of the other songs on this record like the amazing “Grinder”, “Metal Gods” or the legendary “Breaking The Law”. My most recent listen of this was in a hired Mazda CX-5 whilst careening down coastal roads in Pembrokeshire. Really good fun. I don’t know what to say about this album that hasn’t been said a thousand times, but if you are looking for an “in road” to Judas Priest this is probably a good a place as any.

Judas Priest – Point Of Entry (1981)
metal rock

Judas Priest – Point Of Entry (1981)

A bit of a weaker entry into the extensive Judas Priest catalog, but not an album without it’s charms. Supposedly written after Halford relocated to Arizona, Point Of Entry is the perfect driving album. I decided to try that out, and being stuck in traffic on the M4 wasn’t exactly the perfect vision I had in mind, but I could not deny the tunes coming from my car stereo. My biggest complaint with this is that it seems like such a step back from the personality the band were creating for themselves with albums like Killing Machine and British Steel.

Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990)
metal

Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990)

At the time of writing I’ve yet to have the pleasure of hearing every single Priest album, but I’ve heard enough so far to comfortably say that Painkiller is my favourite by a long shot. That isn’t to say that I dislike the other material, but there’s something about Painkiller, like it is some sort of perfect culmunation of the band’s sound up and to that point distilled into one LP. I really wish Halford hadn’t quit and we had more albums in this style (yes I know about Turbo and Ram It Down I just will wonder forever what could have come afterward). This thing is stacked with powerhouse metallic tunage, and whilst I’m not super fussed on the closing trio of songs I honestly don’t think there’s a bad song on this album. Scott Travis feels like an injection of new energy into the band with his double kicks and huge drum sound. I was going to write something about the opening tracks just being banger after banger after banger but let’s be honest, this thing doesn’t relent all the way to the end of track 7, “Between The Hammer & The Anvil”. My three year old son seems to enjoy this too (plus he loves the album cover) so this gets bonus points for that haha.

Discharge – Discharge (2002)
punk & hardcore

Discharge – Discharge (2002)

And just like that, it’s as if the 90s hadn’t even happened. Gone are the absurd genre experiments, back are some of the classic players. Peace and harmony is restored to the world because Discharge are playing d-beat again. There are some metallic holdovers remaining in the sound but generally this is punk as fuck and an absolute relief to hear after a trio of listless, rudderless albums. Take away the remixes at the end and this is short as fuck but I’m OK with that. Stand out tracks for me are “Accessories by Molotov” and “War is Hell” (I’m sure I’ve heard this before? haha) Your man on the cover looks like he’s struggling to hold that gun though.

Discharge – End Of Days (2016)
punk & hardcore

Discharge – End Of Days (2016)

Is it possible for a band to ape themselves? To rehash old shit into new shit? Of course it is. But in the case of Discharge, there’s the peculiar fact that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of bands the world over (many named Dis-something) who have happily gouged at the niche that these guys carved for themselves in the eary 80s. So I think we can give Discharge a pass then, for revisiting the template of their glory days and reimagining it, especially after some of the more disasterous attempts to branch out made by other line ups of this band. What is a divisive idea however is sampling David Icke, talking about pandemics made in labs, New World Orders and false flags, etc. etc. – there’s a fine line between “standing up against” the system and spouting utter conspiracy theory bullshit like any other moron on the internet (speaking of morons on the internet, from one to another I’d like to say hello! haha). I’m not saying ol’ Dai “bad knees” Icke is the enemy or anything like that but as soon as his sample kicked in, I said “oh no” out loud. I’m looking forward to the d-beat concept album about the shapeshifting lizards and their moon base. Until then, End Of Days will have to do 😉

Barn Owl – Lost In The Glare (2011)
electronic noise & power electronics

Barn Owl – Lost In The Glare (2011)

I first heard Barn Owl when they were announced for (I think) Roadburn 2012. I’ve been in love with Lost In The Glare ever since. Combining smoky, laid back rock with soul-gazing atmospheric drones, the album is an instrumental journey that is at times low-key and at other times all-encompassing atmosphere. Comparisons to Earth are apt, but Barn Owl really are their own interesting beast and one that I would heavily recommend checking out.

Judas Priest – Killing Machine (1978)
metal rock

Judas Priest – Killing Machine (1978)

I find it mad that in the 70s it seemed almost common place for big mainstream acts to drop more than one album in a year. It is the only time Priest do this (I think), and the slight drop in quality perhaps shows, as this was a bit of a rush job? IDK, it’s really not that bad, and quite endearing, even though they would hit the nail on the head with this style much better in British Steel. The most damning thing about this album is that it was released in the same year as Stained Class, and whilst it isn’t necessarily the better album (Killing Machine is far more digestable), Stained Class reeked of individuality. This doesn’t. Either way, “Hell Bent For Leather” is one of my favourite Priest songs. Inversly, “Evil Fantasies” has to be one of the worst songs ever recorded in the history of time.

Black Sabbath – Born In Hell (1983)
metal

Black Sabbath – Born In Hell (1983)

Pretty great boot, which showcases some of the cuts from the Gillan era in a live setting but with good quality sound. It is a shame that this was never officially released, as Gillan was in Sabbath for such a short time. Heck, the entire rest of the band are on Born Again so Gillan’s era is as valid as Dio’s / Heaven And Hell, so even the nay-sayers who quote the Sabbath revolving door lineups as unspeakable years can get fucked. However, by the time this tour was under way, Bev Bevan was behind the kit as Bill Ward had fallen off the wagon again. The best thing about recordings like this live set is that we get to hear Ian Gillan’s take on some of the Sabbath classics like “War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, “Black Sabbath” and “Paranoid” (the latter two are really really good intepretations). Oh, and Sabbath covering “Smoke On The Water” is a real treat.

Cradle Of Filth – Live Bait For The Dead (2002)
black metal

Cradle Of Filth – Live Bait For The Dead (2002)

I had this live album as a kid because I was obsessed with Cradle and wanted to collect all their CDs. I remember also queuing up at HMV or Virgin Megastore (I forget which) with a copy of 11 Burial Masses in my hand. I was nonchalantly reading the tracklist on the back when I realised: “shit, I already own this!”. I have absolutely no fucking idea why Live Bait For The Dead was rereleased as 11 Burial Masses (sans bonus disc of material). If you throw in the DVD too then this live set has been released three fucking times. Which is a bit much, to be honest. Looking back now however, after Cradle continued to lose members and evolve into something that is barely recognisable to what is on display here, it is perhaps difficult to not analyse Live Bait through rose tinted glasses. Released in the Succubi… era, when the band were addressing older material anyway (with new-old members lol), Live Bait was the perfect concoction of the Cradle material available at the time. The sound is a bit muddy. but everyone sounds great individually. The bonus disc contains a whole bunch of stinkers and pointless crap but the Twisted Sister cover is unironically fucking amazing. Dani’s vocals on this thing are outstanding.

Coffins – Craving To Eternal Slumber (2015)
death metal

Coffins – Craving To Eternal Slumber (2015)

I’m finding it pretty fucking wild that I’ve made it to 2023 without really writing about Coffins (sans their split with XXX Maniak). I’ve never been the biggest fan but coffins have been a mainstay in the sloooooooooooow side of death metal for many a year now, so just out of pure numbers and math I should have reviewed one of their records. Alas, here we are. Craving To Eternal Slumber is a nice little EP (that’s as long as some band’s LPs lol) which isn’t quite as dark and dreary as earlier efforts, and has a clear and warm production sound. Keeping pace at more of an “Autopsy” level rather than something more funeral-paced, Coffins plod through some chugging metal salvos that a well worth your time if groove and doom are ingredients that you like in your death metal.

Slipknot – Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. (1996)
metal

Slipknot – Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. (1996)

I have a soft spot for this thing, as I do with most of the earlier Slipknot records. When I was in school, I think 13 years old, my friend Ross burned a copy of this thing off the internet for me, as well as a few other tracks from the supposed “Crowz” sessions. Some of us like to look back at the glory days of the internet as if things were actually different back then, but honestly the internet has always been a sea of misinformation. I had no fucking idea what or who I was listening to whilst incorrectly marked as “SlipKnoT”, but hey, the core MFKR album was legit at least. As many others have commented, this is a fucking weird release. I’ve gone on, perhaps unsurprisingly, to become a huge fan of stuff like Mr. Bungle and The Residents, but even now, having plumbed the depths of both musical experimentation as well as musical extremity, MFKR stands unique. Never has death metal so awkwardly mixed with jazz, lounge and fucking rap music. This isn’t Cynic folks – the lines between the genres are not blurred. The music is chunky, awkward and lurching. That being said, earlier versions of tracks that would go on to become Slipknot classics are an absolute treat to listen to here, especially “Gently” (except “Tattered & Torn”, that can get in the fucking bin). Bonus points goes to the excellent bass work on “Confessions”, which is probably my favourite song on this thing. When I was a scruffy kid with my crappy Slipknot biography that I carried everywhere (written by Joel McIver) I always felt that the band did Anders Colsefni dirty, but there is no way in hell that they would have gotten as big as they did with him as a vocalist. Nevertheless, he works well here. Also, how funny is it that the producer is called Sean McMahon. I always imagined him in my head to look like Shane McMahon lol BAAHHH GAWWWDD HE’S BROKEN IN HAALLLF!!!!

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know (2009)
doom metal

Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know (2009)

The Devil You Know occupies an interesting space. It is – by far – the heaviest Sabbath album with Dio on vocals, with epic, doom-laden guitar playing (Geezer’s bass is off the charts here, fair play). Iommi’s relationship with Mike Exeter means of course he is at the helm here, and there can be no denying that the record sounds absolutely huge. However, my issue lies with the songwriting. When it hits, it hits, and there are some stunning performances here by all involved, primarily I would say in the first half, but there are also undeniable moments where things start to blur together, to become a plodding mush of indeterminable boredom. Thankfully, as I say, these moments are punctuating by moments of sheer brilliance; a doomy riff from Iommi here, or a particulary stunning vocal croon from Dio there. I feel that maybe a 1/3 could have been shaved from the running time here and this album would have been all the stronger for it.

Zheani – The Spiritual Meat Grinder (2023)
electronic pop

Zheani – The Spiritual Meat Grinder (2023)

I have absolutely no fucking idea how I stumbled onto Zheani’s music, but Spiritual Meat Grinder is something of an aural palate cleanser. Insane, headache-inducing electronics meet absolutely manic vocal performances from sweet singing, yelping, growling to auto-tuned warbling. It’s like witnessing some sort of aural overdose of sugar. 19 minutes later and I’m sat here like “WTF was that?” but for some reason I want to listen to it again.

Judas Priest – Stained Class (1978)
metal rock

Judas Priest – Stained Class (1978)

Man O Man is that fuckin’ cover art something, huh? I’m not sure what it is about it exactly that is so endearing to me but I really like it. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Stained Class, for as brilliant as it is, it fails to strike a chord with me as much as Sin After Sin or Sad Wings… did. Despite this, this is fantastic record with that lovely 70s rock production. It’s so warm and cozy that it comes out of my stereo and wraps around me like a blanket. Stand-out tracks for me are “Exciter” and “Invader”. Also some of the riffs in “Heroes End” are doomy as fuck.

Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes: Live (1995)
metal

Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes: Live (1995)

I have this DVD (bootleg) and it is actually a very good set. Recorded in 1994 and released in 1995, the line-up is Geezer and Tony, with Bobby Rondinelli on drums (I think this is when Cozy Powell was still recovering from accident with the horse). Tony Martin is back on vocals after a brief stint with Dio back in the band for one album. So we get Martin here performing songs by all eras of the band. You get rare performances of him singing recent Dio-era Dehumanizer stuff, as well as stuff from his own albums as well as earlier Dio and Ozzy stuff. It really is a great mix of all of their material. Iommi looks coked off his nut, on some mad tunnel vision thing, and it sucks ass that they made Geoff Nicholls stand off the stage for this tour, but the sound is great. It’s really cool to have Geezer back in the band and despite the fact that Forbidden came not longer after this, I would have been very interested to see what this era of Black Sabbath would have produced had they not reunited with Ozzy and become permanently stuck as a legacy act. Oh well.

Corpsefucking Art / Goretrade – Split CD (2001)
death metal

Corpsefucking Art / Goretrade – Split CD (2001)

This little fucker has the honour of being one of the first brutal death / underground releases that I ever downloaded off the internet. It is a shame then really, that this just isn’t very good at all. Corpsefucking Art in general are pretty entertaining, but here there’s Mortician worship meets Mortician covers meets Mortician grade horror samples, and I’m not here for it, tbh. Goretrade is just also quite possibly the most boring death metal band I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Perhaps they have good releases? This isn’t one of them, though.

Engorgement – Excurciating Intestinal Lacerations (2012)
death metal

Engorgement – Excurciating Intestinal Lacerations (2012)

Oi oi English facking brutal deff metal innit brahvahhhhhhh! Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. All in all, this is a pretty fuckin’ disgusting offering of rancid, turbid, aural slop. It certainly ticks all the right boxes and if you looked up “slamming brutal death metal” in the dictionary you may or may not be lucky to find Engorgement listed under there. Speaking of becoming engorged, death metal perverts may find that Excruciating Intestinal Lacerations is enough to send them past half mast, perhaps even past full chub into that rapterous, aching, throbbing arousal, but perhaps there is not enough in the way of unique moments within the cacophony of butchering sounds here to warrant the full-blown readiness of your festering engorgement leaking its cloudy juices in peak excitement. Can’t believe I’ve just actually written all that out but hey, it’s done now.

Malignant Tumour – In Full Swing (2008)
metal

Malignant Tumour – In Full Swing (2008)

Wait, is that Motorhead? No, it’s long-running and legendary Czech goregrind outfit Malignant Tumour on a bizarre death’n’roll’n’Motorhead’worship trip. Does it work? Well, yes it does. It is very, very well made, if I may say so. But, it is not what I come to Malignant Tumour for, so it’s taken me 15 years to muster up the energy to even write this short paragraph about this album.

Intestinal Disgorge / Smallpox Aroma – Split CD (2012)
grindcore

Intestinal Disgorge / Smallpox Aroma – Split CD (2012)

Intestinal Disgorge, here bringing their usual, dense digital goregrind with intense blasting mayhem, farmyard vocals and putrid subject matter, are (literally) music to my ears. I need to get into more from these guys. I was super into them years ago but need to fill in the gaps in their discography, as I’ve yet to hear a bad thing from them. Smallpox Aroma I remember from the MySpace grindcore days (lol) but I don’t think I ever heard them until now. They match ID for sickness here, with a slightly messier sound but that’s OK. Expect disgusting aural carnage. Tidy darts!

Sepultura – Revolusongs (2002)
metal

Sepultura – Revolusongs (2002)

You could argue for days whether the songs here “landed” or not, but one has to respect the effort involved here to cover different songs from all these different genres. It’s mad to listen to “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” and think, damn this is the same band who released Bestial Devastation lol, at least in name. Despite not really liking any of the songs here, I don’t hate Revolusongs (man, what a shit title). I respect the vision and the musicianship of Sepultura to try and pull this off.

Catasexual Urge Motivation – Death To Pigs (1997 / 2013)
grindcore

Catasexual Urge Motivation – Death To Pigs (1997 / 2013)

Solid drum machine grindcore with a bizarre, almost occult feel to it. I remember Grind Block re-releasing this like it was yesterday. Anyways, the original Death To Pigs cassette is expanded on with various additional sessions, which definitely bolsters the release and makes it feel like more of a long player. If the song titles don’t throw you off, some of the off-kilter vibes surely will. Come for the blasting grind, stay for the sleazy horror show.

Judas Priest – Sin After Sin (1977)
metal rock

Judas Priest – Sin After Sin (1977)

Sin After Sin, sounding absolutely massive and glorious in all of it’s golden-era analogue production, is another fantastic early offering from the legends that are Judas Priest. Personally, this doesn’t reach the heights of the sheer VIBE that is Sad Wings but I will note the stunning production (as above) as well as Rob’s vocals sounding particularly incredible here, case in point being “Here Come The Tears”, which is just absolutely phenomenal.

Wormrot – Dirge (2011)
grindcore

Wormrot – Dirge (2011)

Dirge takes the aural carnage of Abuse and streamlines it into a more focussed, primal grindcore attack. Don’t get me wrong here, Abuse is fucking amazing, but is a little rough around the edges compared to its slightly younger brother, Dirge. Here the production is smoother (without losing any of the “edge” needed for grindcore to work), and the songs hit that extra harder. The band were arguably at their original peak during the release and subsequent cycles of touring for Dirge. I caught them live many times around – and before – Dirge, and whilst the band are stilling going and pushing the boundaries of whatever grindcore music can be, this album is a testament to their “classic” era – to the universal language that is brutal, uncomprising grindcore.

Venom – Possessed (1985)
metal

Venom – Possessed (1985)

Not bad by any stretch of your twisted imagination, but definitely falls flat compared to the likes of what came before it. In isolation, Possessed is an enjoyable album, but has its predecessors to live up to and therefore kinda lives in their shadow a little bit, if I’m honest. Production wise, its par for the course for an early Venom album. Musically, the band seem a bit more put together, perhaps after the epic At War With Satan they have honed their instrumentational skill a bit more. Unfortunately, from a songwriting perspective, everything is very similar and this makes the whole album blur into one for me. I find it hard to ascertain any songs that I would consider stand outs.

Discharge – Massacre Divine (1991)
metal

Discharge – Massacre Divine (1991)

Uhhhhhhh OK, then. So. Off the bat, this isn’t anywhere near as bad as Grave New World. In fact, it is, on a sliding scale, probably quite a bit better. The general style of “funk” / groove metal (think the more “fun” end of thrash meeting Faith No More and Helmet style stuff) is a massive improvement on the Motley Crue shite they tried to do on Grave New World. At least you can make it through to the end of this thing without ending up looking like one of those folks out of Event Horizon. Massacre Divine is however, still incredibly bland and monotonous. Even as an example of the style of metal that it plays, it is beyond sub par. Get in the bin.

Discharge – Grave New World (1986)
rock

Discharge – Grave New World (1986)

My God, those vocals….please make it stop! Holy fucking Mother of Kazan is this bad!??? Like, I knew Discharge had some less-than-popular albums in their illustrous career but this really takes the biscuit. Grave New World, honestly, has to be one of the worst albums I have ever heard in my entire life, and that really is saying something. Gone is the punk / d-beat that the band pioneered (and gone is the band, mostly), with a skeleton staff going on to develop a new…. fucking glam metal sound? lmao I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe.

Discharge – Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing (1982)
punk & hardcore

Discharge – Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing (1982)

Ahhhhh fucking hell! I wanna put on a (vegan) leather jacket and go out into the street and headbutt a racist neighbour. I also have a strong urge to wear Dr. Marten boots and start drinking cider for the first time in my life, both of which I can only attribute to over-doing it with the d-beat madness of this record as of late. Honestly, this thing is fucking great. I look back now – having owned this CD since I was 17 or so – and can’t even imagine the “meh” feeling I used to have towards it when I was younger (I guess it was the production? I have no idea). If you only ever listen to one Discharge release ever, make sure it’s this one. The hat-trick of “Hell On Earth”, “Cries Of Help” and “The Possibility Of Life’s Destruction” is peak Discharge and therefore peak d-beat (the samples are pretty fucking disturbing too).

Nmesh – Welcome To Warp Zone! (2014)
electronic vaporwave

Nmesh – Welcome To Warp Zone! (2014)

I was searching RYM on the off-chance it had a listing already in place for Sam Powell’s work on the Sega Genesis Jurassic Park soundtrack when this DJ session came back in the search results (it samples one of the tracks from the Sega JP OST). What a happy little coincidence then, because this opened up an impromptu 4 hour journey that I listened to over the course of the rest of the day whilst working from home. Welcome To The Warp Zone mixes all sorts of things together but primarily consists of snippets of old video game music mixed with that kind of “far away” sampling you get in nostalgic vaporwave albums. Towards the end, the pattern fractures more and more, allowing more ambient / moody pieces of music to take over. This works really well as you get a bit sleepy, and perhaps lose track of time. “How long have I been listening to this thing!?” That is until a sample from the end of Mr. Bungle’s California album snaps you out of your trance lol All in all, I really enjoyed this mix. Great stuff.

Cock And Ball Torture – Opus(sy) VI (2000)
grindcore

Cock And Ball Torture – Opus(sy) VI (2000)

Bulldozer gore groove! And lots of it. Listening to shit like this is one of life’s simple pleasures. However, I will say, for gore/pornogrind and the reputation that this band itself has, the levels of degeneracy here are fairly low, as is any unfavourable sampling that you wouldn’t want coming out of your stereo at full pelt for the neighbours to hear. Similarly, production is not only fully audible but actually packs a hell of a punch. There’s riffs for days under that gargling sound. Someone once told me that CBT play “music to beat your Mrs. to, but the twist is she’s low key into it”. That description has always stuck with me.

Gadget – The Funeral March (2006)
grindcore

Gadget – The Funeral March (2006)

What a clashing, clattering cacophony of cantankerous claustrophobic compositions, culled credously of criteria concocted by contemporary carnage constructors called Nasum (sorry about that, I got stuck in some sort of literary loop). The aptly-titled Funeral March is a blast and a half through blistering high-production grindcore (think the aforementioned Nasum and stuff like Rotten Sound, later Wormrot etc). Expect total aural carnage.