Archive for April 2024

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

I’m probably not qualified to talk about this in all that much detail, but what I can say is that Nail is a bizarre collection of sounds, sitting somewhere between Holy Money era Swans, Big Black, Test Dept., Mr. Bungle, The Cramps and Nine Inch Nails, whilst also having the honour of predating most of the bands in that list. It is an album that’s taken me multiple attempts to digest, not because I find…

Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, there is absolutely no denying that Kaevum are one of the strongest black metal outfits around at the moment. Kultur takes place 12 years after Natur, but expands on the excellent sonic groundwork already laid in place on the debut. Don’t take my word for it, I implore you to give this a go instead of reading my shitty review.

Beautiful piece of work from Graveland. Memory and Destiny is not an album I see recommended all that much, but it’s a great example of the band’s shambling yet majestic sound. I’m pretty sure the guys had switched up drummers by this point but the percussion is still pretty shambolic. In this big, clear production it has nowhere to hide. Thankfully, the songwriting is outstanding on this record, and a bit of shakey drumming can…

What a gem! I’m I randomly stumbled upon this one (thanks to Ken’s Death Metal Crypt). This demo / EP is incredibly good. Immediately I draw parallels between this and Akercocke, is it possible those gentle brits (lmao) took a lot of influence from this? The clanking bass and subterranean low vocal screams yes to me. An easier comparison would perhaps be Deicide, but the two bands don’t quite match up aurally. Anyway, my shitty…

Colour me surprised when I went back to this record to review it and found out it was now 7 years old this year (lmao). Like, we need a Wizard to fucking rewind time because that shit is fucking bizarre! This shit only came out last month, right? Right!? Anyway, Electric Wizard’s “latest” studio effort seemed to have been met with a resounding “meh” and whilst I initially wasn’t super into the pared back sound,…

The Sarcastic Terror material here is a bit clearer than their debut demo / EP, but I can’t say that they have evolved much musically in the 3 years between the 2 releases. I’m not knocking it though, their decrepit grinding death led with demonic pitchshifter vokills is well worth checking out. In-Quest are a new discovery for me, with this split, and they are a bit busier and more energetic than Sarcastic Terror. The…

I’ve gotta give props to Choppin Headz zine for pointing me in the direction of Sarcastic Terror (I can’t remember which issue, sorry!). This is some true underground sickness right here; some proper off the beaten path shit. Sarcastic Terror toe the line between grind and death, with the muddy, chugging riffs of the latter meeting the sensibilities and pitchshifter vocals of the former. Take Fascination With Mutilation era Agathocles and throw them in a…