Eriaminell - Enraged

Perhaps someone out there might recall the highly unproductive Italian outfit of Pope John Paul II enthusiasts called Ghoulvault, who in the late '90s released a sole mCD called Wojtyla Masturbation. It's fairly standard (read: neither completely awful nor terribly impressive) '90s black metal given a somewhat industrial feel by a prominent drum machine. One track had some limited electronic elements added, and most notably, the last few minutes of the CD consisted of whispered anti-religious rhetoric and encouragements for the listener to kill themselves--all in heavily accented English--making it some sort of early blasphemous ASMR. It's the kind of thing a distro might politely label as "weird black metal" on a mailorder list in order not to dissaude potential buyers, much to the great dismay of Oxiplegatz and early Nastrond fans everywhere.

I can't say I've ever spent any time wondering what became of Ghoulvault, but the two brothers from the band resurfaced in Eriaminell a few years later. I didn't actively seek this out or even know anything about the band, as it was just among a mass purchase of several clearance titles at a mailorder. Visually, it didn't seem like a particularly noteworthy release until I saw this in the booklet:

This struck me as amusingly odd. Again, this endorsement is printed directly on the back cover of the booklet--it's not from a press sheet, ad, or hype sticker. Aside from that Rick Bizzaro gas mask guy, who's at the very bottom of the list, I can't think of any other person involved with Nocturnus that I would NOT want to give a noncommittal-yet-polite endorsement to a musical project more than Mr. Mowery (on the other hand, if Jeff Estes gave a band a glowing review, I'd be inclined to seek their work out immediately). Also keep in mind I don't think Nocturnus even existed at this point, as it was a couple years after Ethereal Tomb, so it would have been one of the lowest points of scene credibility for anyone who served time in the band besides the foursome from the original 1987 demo. It feels particularly weird because at first it reads very informally, like positive comments they gleaned from a casual e-mail, but the last line makes it sound like the band actively asked him to shill for them. 

 

The vocals are indeed a highlight, as they are distorted and appropriately inhuman sounding. Good job on the vocals Lugdush! The music is extremely cacophonous--it's black/death with an extremely artificial-sounding, hyperactive drum machine which gives it a very industrialized feel, and the whole thing is laden with synths and lead guitarwork which just frantically shreds over everything, often with no regard for the underlying music. It can get very disjointed, often to a point where it sounds oddly progressive. 

 

I'm curious how calculated the sound was, and whether they were ultimately aiming more for chaotic and failed or more for weird and succeeded. The drum machine dictates the majority of the band's sound, but it's light-hitting and lower in the mix, so it's not percussive and punishing enough to work effectively as industrial metal. Similarly, the artificial drums and constant guitar noodling rob the music of power, sabotaging any potential they might have had as a more brutal black/death band. The music isn't bad enough to be amusing, but neither is it good enough to be compelling, and it ends up just being a mild metal oddity. 

Dismantle - Satanic Force

I'm back just to do a timely review of a 2009 release. This had been languishing in my ridiculously large to-be-listened-to pile for quite some time, and while I slightly regret it now, I had good reasons. Can't think of any newer AreaDeath signees that I've found all that engaging, and I've always been more interested in their reissues anyway. The band had less-than-stellar aesthetic sense, which normally isn't a good sign--the Ed Repka cover is one of the sillier pieces I've seen by him, the extra pentagrams they didn't even bother to directly integrate into the logo feel overdone, and then there's the lineup pic:

So from left to right, we have unamused young Ryan Waste doppelgänger, a Hispanic fellow with both a very unfortunate haircut and a similarly unfortunate upper body physique (to be fair, based on the cover, I assume it's a unstiffened fat guy mohawk like the one Possessor guitarist had, and not some weird side-shaved shit), and 13-year old Igor Cavalera, who does not have the benefit of a Wehrmacht-style helmet here.

Yet, much to my surprise, the music was far superior to the average American retrothrash band of the '00s. On the surface, the album is largely Teutonic-sounding, with lots of early Destruction influences in the melodies specifically (especially "Satanic Metal"), and perhaps a bit of Persecution Mania too. But I was surprised about how many subtle Death influences I heard, though in a purer thrash context. Several of the songs have a very Leprosy-feeling flow to the guitars (sadly, there are no Rick Rozz divebombs). "Exorcistic Rites" has that part that's slightly similar to the "Left to Die" intro, there's a "Vile Spell" riff that sounds vaguely like the "Evil Dead" melody, and "Ritual of the Dead" sounds like it could be a song by a much more blatantly Death-influenced band like Morfin. Despite this, I must stress that Dismantle rarely edge towards death/thrash, let alone death metal. Then on top of everything else, there are some very tasty Possessed/Whiplash style leads. The solo sections range from being very decent to unremarkable, although even the less-inspired ones never impede the music.

Then comes the vocals, which I imagine are very divisive. The guy is extremely fond of throwing in lots and lots of shrieks, an obvious homage to Schmier/Araya, but unfortunately for him, he literally screams like a girl. It's so over the top I actually found it rather charming. I do wish the normal vocals were a little better, though--you can tell the vocalist is on the younger side, and I would have liked a little more character and charisma in the vocals. Still, they come off as more energetic than something like the lethargic Merciless Death vocals, and they fit the music better than the snottier pseudo-punk style a lot of pizzathrash used.

While quite good, this is nowhere near the level of its influences, and the album is seriously lacking in variety at times--it just powers through any genericness and samey-ness with speed. Still, while it's on, it's an enjoyable listen.

Luvart - Necromantical Invocation

Not knowing the band, I had no particular expectations going into this, but it turned out to be quite an enjoyable CD.  However, I must stress something, lest anyone get overly excited about the bands I'm going to namedrop when describing them--while they certainly have great influences and it's wonderful that a band was doing music like this in 2012, I think they fall a bit short in truly carrying on the legacy of their influences.  I do respect that the music is generally utterly oblivious to the Scandinavian black metal scene; this is mid-paced-to-slow black metal that owes nearly everything to the early '90s Greek and Brazilian scenes.  A one sentence summary from me would be something like "less overtly Greek sounding Murder Rape debut with deep, somewhat Göetia-like vocals."  Speaking of which, it's a bit of a shame Mystifier is not mentioned in the thanks list, as I definitely get some Göetia (and later) vibes from Luvart, although they're nowhere near as fucked up and ritualistic sounding as Mystifier's prime stuff. Otherwise, the booklet shouts out almost every other older band I was reminded of significantly (Murder Rape, Mortuary Drape, Varathron, Mythological Cold Towers--even the mentions of Headhunter D.C. and Acheron make sense in context, as in many ways this style is stylistically closer to death metal than it is to the stereotypical Nordic BM sound).  The one slight annoyance I have is they didn't totally commit to the production qualities and guitar/drum sound which are integral to the charm of the old Hellenic black metal sound, instead opting for a decent contemporary sounding production.  So yeah, there's a lot of that sound in the riffs, but it's watered down somewhat by the production and playing style--if you're looking for total Greek BM immersion, you'd be better off with Cemetery Lights or something similar.  Still a very solid listen.

Dead - Hell's Morbid Disciples of Hate

 

I have mixed feelings about this compilation.  Much of the material here (whether the old stuff or the re-recordings) isn't a bad listen per se, but it's largely too unfocused and generically primitive to make much of an impact--think noisier and less organized Mantas reh. stuff/far less catchy Slaughter demo stuff and you're in the ballpark.  The demo stuff here came a little too late to be particularly impressive in terms of extremity for the time.  Also, while I'm not in any way against silliness or sophomoric shock humor in metal, I found the band monikers and general atmosphere to be a bit too childish (keep in mind, this comes from someone who was okay with the Impaler-like costuming/makeup and green monster on the cover of the E-X-E debut but found the naming of the album sides "Icky" and "Pooey" distasteful.  Go figure).  Still, this doesn't feel as highbrow as say, old Impetigo or Hideous Mangleus.

The reason I'm not completely dismissive is that at certain points (much like pre-album Death, they're at their best when they slow down), this scratches a very specific embryonic extreme metal itch.  Flashes of Hellhammer show up here and there (particularly "Maggot Phlegm") and "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead" even made me think of Poison(!).  

While I'm a firm believer in REISSUING ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING for archival purposes if nothing else, I won't deny that Dead's music is probably more effective presented on a dubbed TDK than with the Repka-lite cover here (I can actually see it working for Massacre, though).  An enthusiasm for early extreme metal and a sense of irreverent fun shine through on here, and hearing that in the music is often more enjoyable than the actual songs themselves.

Ripsaw - An Evening in Chaos...

This feels slightly odd as a No Remorse release and I suspect was mainly put out due to the Manilla Road connections: Mark Shelton produced the '87 tracks, they played together, both hail from Kansas--but you can't really draw any strong musical connections to MR as with Stygian Shore. As a purely personal point of interest, I didn't know this had two pre-Psychic Pawn members, although then again, I've owned Decadent Delirium for years and had no clue Micha Kite had any sort of musical career outside of writing for Pit magazine in the mid-'90s until fairly recently (mercifully, Kurt Hubert doesn't seem to have had any musical projects).

The new 2013 material is too modern for my tastes and best avoided if you're here for the old material--it's modern thrash with some okay-ish riffs, some groove metal sections, and some odd riff and lyrical choices that would probably work far better in the context of a death metal band.  Unfortunately, the angry talk-singing vocals only further modernize the band's sound. "The Tempest" even has some laughable spoken narration babbling about Luciferian precepts or some nonsense. I'm here for violence, bitches, and brain damage, not awkward attempts to be deep or justify hedonism.

Hearing the newer stuff made me slightly apprehensive about the '87 material, but as usual, '80S METAL HARDLY EVER DISAPPOINTS. It's competent thrash leaning towards the more aggressive side of the west coast sound--think a mix of the Death Angel and Dark Angel debuts (ignoring the speed metal elements of the latter), maybe with some early Sacred Reich in there too. The vocals remind me of a less exaggeratedly snarly Mustaine crossed with Don Doty, although on "Brain Damage" I was pleasantly reminded of Piledriver's vocals. These tracks represent a band of the time playing their style well rather than some sort of incredible unearthed recording. But keeping that in mind, I have nothing bad to say about the tracks beyond them being somewhat generic.

The DVD is better than I expected--although presented as a "documentary," it's just then-recent band member interviews and recollections cut with vintage video footage. My only gripe is that there's obviously a fair amount of old video, but here it's only presented in relatively short, overdubbed bits. Perhaps it's just me, but I'd much rather see spotty video of an '80s thrash gig than find out who in the band really likes Tabasco sauce. Bonus points for the unexpected appearance of a Bathory t-shirt, though!

HB - Frozen Inside & White Wizzard - Over the Top

Apparently the band name stands for Holy Bible.  Huh.

Christian attempt to get a piece of that female-fronted symphonic metal pie popularized by Nightwish, Within Temptation, etc.  Can't say I have particular interest in the style, secular or otherwise, so aside from the lyrics, to me they seem quite interchangeable with any other band in the genre.  Vengeance Rising this is not.  I'm genuinely curious if anyone picks this as a full-on substitute for other symphonic metal rather than as an additional band in the genre, like someone choosing HB since After Forever is too blasphemous for them.  Don't have anything more to say about this that can't be readily observed on the cover (the drummer has a mohawk, the singer didn't receive any blessings in the breast department, etc.).  I do find it amusing the cover makes it look like each band member is representing a different kind of Hot Topic patron (ala Dethklok).  

Not as immediately likable as some of the material on the High Speed GTO EP-- here they're better at playing reasonably entertaining metal than at playing great metal.  The vocals are surprisingly strong and while there are some cool parts, the general songwriting seems weak for its influences.  I feel this is honestly a bit too overground, as the album largely chases after early-mid '80s Priest at the peak of their commercial popularity--along with "Iron Goddess of Vengeance" (their attempt at "Powerslave") and the usual traditional metal tropes--but severely lacks the catchiness and true wow factor associated with those sounds.  They do what they can, I suppose, but rather than hear a band fall short of such lofty goals, I'd just as soon prefer a band doing rougher USPM or 3rd string NWOBHM worship exceedingly well.  Middling as a retro-HM release.  

On to the covers, the real reason I got this:

• "Gates of Gehenna" - Decent musically, but the vocals have none of  the sinister authority of the original EP/album versions, and the exaggerated highs are lame.  DAVID POTTER WE MISS YOU.
• "Heading Out to the Highway" - On a technical level, it's a solid cover, and obviously stronger than their original material.  However, it falls into a perilous who-gives-a-fuck area--it's not impeccable enough where I can marvel how well they emulate JP, but it's so by-the-numbers there's no good reason to listen to it over the original.

Under the disc tray, we have a close up of the girl from the cover--surprise, it's a a rendering of La Toya Jackson during her SuicideGirls years!

Let thee not pass, Abaddon!

"His Slayer and Metallica covers weren't all that bad."

"I like Cronos' solo stuff, the first Mantas album is halfway decent, and it can't be as awful as that second Mantas album.*  I really should complete the trilogy."

"Industrial metal isn't so bad.  I love Mysticum and the first Fear Factory."

Look, justify it however you want, but just be warned--I don't see anyone getting much out of this unless they're really, really into industrial rock/metal (yes, rock).

My encounters with anything even vaguely industrial** usually involve BM bands with hyperactive drum machines, so I feel trying to make meaningful commentary on this album is a waste of time.

*It is.

**I think I may have a tenuous grasp of the concept of industrial music, as I knew someone who worked adjacent to a nightclub, and the muffled sound bleeding through the shared wall was described as being similar to Throbbing Gristle.  In all seriousness, in terms of any significant experiences with industrial music, I believe I heard some oddball Nuclear Blast signee that fit the bill on a compilation once, and occasionally when I pick up a cheapo CD that looks like something metal, it ends up being industrial or darkwave.

Skull Fist - Heavier Than Metal

Just by virtue of the style (NWOBHM-influenced '80s style/retro/New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal/not modern garbage), this automatically meets my personal quality requirements for a recording.  Obviously super-stringent.  Despite my innate positive bias, it's difficult to give this any overall praise beyond "fairly good."  

There's a certain atmosphere of unseriousness (or lack of self-awareness?) here that rubs me a bit the wrong way--the campy title, the purposely amateur genericness of the logo (it's hardly changed over the years aside from added bits to the Ss, perhaps to avoid associations with the naughty SS runic insignia), and the cover art (OK conceptually, but looks like a still from an Adult Swim show--and yes, I'm aware the cover of the first full length is even worse).   Unfortunately it's not purely limited to aesthetics, as the opener and last 2 tracks overuse silly, excessively high vocals that verge on parody.  The other two songs are more tolerable vocally since the extreme highs are limited to falsettos.  Even after getting somewhat used to the vocals, I still think the unnecessary helium only serves to lighten and weaken the music.  Otherwise things are solid if unremarkable musically, although they tend to needlessly overemphasize some choruses with gang backing vocals.  It's not an unpleasant listen and some of the stronger NWOBHM-sounding passages are quite enjoyable, but it often feels like there are somewhat forced attempts to be hooky and catchy-- and frankly, this mini-CD lacks truly killer songwriting.

Two of the members went on to Axxion, whose first EP is stylistically similar but comes off better with a rawer, more natural sound. The later Skull Fist material I have heard seems to tone down the vocals and places more emphasis on guitarwork, although like Cauldron, there's a perverse tendency to dip into very rock-based and commercial sounding melodies.

Danger - Keep Out

A lot of the online info about this album includes repeated reassurances that their extremely glammy/sleazy aesthetics don't extend into the music, and that they play real metal.  I was still quite skeptical--the band photos immediately brought Steel Panther to mind, and realistically I expected something like Crashdïet musically, or perhaps at best something like the heavier Priest-inspired tracks on Too Fast for Love.  I was quite taken aback when the opener "Enemy" turned out to be a speed metal tune, and I'm happy to confirm this is a legitimate heavy metal CD.

The bulk of the album is rooted in '80s traditional metal, though there are some injections of modern power metal influences and some general power metal overtones throughout the CD (they do indeed sound like they're the retro heavy metal sideproject of a Swedish or German power metal band).  Just by virtue of being '80s style metal, of course there are plenty of Maiden influences abound, but the galloping Egyptian melodies of "The Curse" are a clear homage to "Powerslave."  I also hear touches of "Strange World" early on in "The Fallen One," though it falls far, far short of that and ends up being more of a power metal power ballad.

This disc was definitely one of my most blatant "you can't judge a book by its cover" metal moments, since there isn't even a hint of L.A. influence here!  Sadly, some quick sampling on YouTube confirms their later material definitely fits their image.

Vöetsek - Infernal Command

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Premonition - We Are Metal

For years, the only Premonition track I had ever heard was their Ozzy cover; based on that and their other sensible cover choices, I assumed they were a standard '80s loving traditional metal band. Then not too long ago I heard a song (from their first album, I think) that was unfortunately more like groove metal with gruff vocals. Now as much as I disagree with some of King Fowley's intentionally inflammatory hyperbolic statements and the direction of Deceased since Fearless Undead Machines, I was very skeptical he'd release any shit like that on Old Metal. I will be honest, though--the drummer's Pantera shirt had me somewhat worried.

Musically, this is close to what I originally expected--traditional HM with some slight power metal overtones. The vocals seem to have some sort of unfortunate reverb effect applied that makes them sound unnatural and warbly, and they're generally a bit off-putting, especially in conjunction with some of the clumsier lyrical phrasings. I actually tend to love unusual vocals in traditional metal (not just King Diamond and Nasty Ronnie crazyfalsettos, mind you--I actually actively seek out stuff like Living Death and Dark Wizard), but something seemed artificial about these. I'm hesitant to make a comparison to vocals I actually enjoy, but my brain finds some slight similarities to Ape De Martini in approach. There are also some hammy attempts to show "range" with lower vocals (including the aforementioned gruff ones) and some cringey falsettos. I can dismiss the vocals on the originals as just an odd stylistic choice, but the singing actively brings down the Twisted Sister "S.M.F." cover, which would have been great otherwise.  

Dezibel Zero - Dezibel Zero

Wasn't quite sure what to expect here.  The band seemed to have a decent pedigree, with a bassist/vocalist from Desert Storm and (briefly) Minotaur, the guitarist from a relatively obscure but solid thrash band, and a drummer who would later do a short stint in Zed Yago. I figured from the cover photo that the guys had jumped on the '90s groove bandwagon, but then I took a look at the back of the booklet:

HIP-HOP? THIS SEEMS LIKE SNEAKY KRAUT PROMOTIONALSPEAK FOR KORN/LIMP BIZKIT EMULATION.

It's not, but it's nothing great either. I can waste my time in far better ways than trying to thoroughly dissect the various musical influences here, but with the groove and funk influences I'm just going to use the bullshit "alternative metal" umbrella term and be done with it. I can see some of the heavier sections being considered kinda thrashy prog. metal, but that's being extremely generous.

Based on the lineup and reuse of songs from this CD, it seems that Dezibel Zero effectively became a later Desert Storm lineup.

I thought the cover might be some sort of strange homage to the art on Holocaust's Heavy Metal Mania EP, but that's a pretty big stretch my brain was making.  Upon actual comparison, they only share the common theme of very unhappy-looking winged things getting impaled, and nothing else. 

Speaking of homages, the older pics in the booklet are already great, sure--obviously, it's hard to go wrong with Possessed and Slayer shirts and a length of chain.  But I was blown away to see the Prowler 7" in one of the pics.  ATTACK OF METAL STRIKE YOUR CUNT !!  It took me a few moments to figure out why there was a rather scantily-clad guy across the bottom of the picture, until I realized they were posing in a parody of the EP cover. 

Anyway, my main reason for this post is to ask if anybody has any further information on the unlisted bonus track at the end of the disc.  Let me know if you do.  My own searches didn't yield info on the mystery track, but did produce this autotranslation gem:

I dunno about Bathroom's Quorthon, but Quorthon's bathroom makes me imagine the Occulta recordings stashed behind a commode somewhere, though more realistically it was probably the place where Destroyer of Worlds was conceived.

Pro-Fé-Cia - Hechos de Metal

Right off the bat, let me say that this CD is better than it looks.  The hyphenated bandname, logo, and layout could have easily been warning indicators for Hispanic groove metal, but luckily there's no such shit here.

If you've read my blogs, you know I have a fascination/mild obsession with the Heralds of Oblivion comp., and I was initially curious about this CD because I saw the drummer for Decomposed played on it.  As it turns out, ANOTHER Heralds alumni--Emilio Marquez--also plays on it.  There are 8 musicians pictured on the inside cover...So the guitarist and bassist were in Prophecy (CA)...There's a guy credited with "samplers" (this will come into play shortly)...Karlos Medina of Evildead/Agent Steel fame plays on a track...Oh, and there's a guy playing drums on that same track:

YEP.  I honestly did not notice it was Dave Lombardo the first time I looked at the booklet; I guess the knit hat made him really inconspicuous.

The music itself is pretty generic mid-'90s style death metal.  A couple of riffs get a bit more groovy than I personally like, but nothing to an offensive degree.  "Fe muerta" has an acoustic guitar intro and some sludginess which makes it marginally more interesting than the other tracks.  The combination of a production on the lo-fi side, the rumbliness of the music, and the Spanish lyrics do make them sound like a Mexican/Central American DM band.  

However, from the very first track you'll notice there are sound effects in the background, courtesy of Mr. Samplers.  Things start off relatively lightly with pulsating electronic sounds and simple synthish stuff, but he seems to be emboldened as the CD goes on, and delves into more cosmic-sounding, oscillating effects.  I'm neutral about the effects overall.   There's some vaguely The Terminator score-sounding stuff that adds a tiny bit of atmosphere, but even the most out of place effects are too minimalist to be a big disruption.  Weird stylistic choice, but hardly the most bewildering musical embellishment on a metal album.

End of the disc has three cover songs:

"Desvaneser al abissmo" - This is Metallica's "Fade to Black."  In English.  They even put spacey effects here, and it's probably the highest concentration of them!  Weirdly interesting as a "cosmic" version, but the whispered vocals at the beginning are dumb.

"El enviado del infierno" - Transmetal cover.  WHAT A TRAINWRECK.  Here, the effects are very intrusive; before the guitars started, I thought this was going to be some sort of ridiculous electronica version.  Obviously just a throwaway track to show off Lombardo's guest drumming.

"Celula" - Cover of a Mexican band called Caifanes, who I had never heard of (I attempted to check out the original on YouTube as a point of comparison, but I bailed when it got uncomfortably close to mariachi music). The cover doesn't sound very much like what I did sample and seems like an extremely loose deathdoomy interpretation.  Approaching it just as a metal song and not as a cover, it's fairly decent except for the out-of-tune clean vox.

Thrust - "Invitation to Insanity"

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT.  Even the slightest semblance of Fist Held High or '80s metal here would have satisfied my meager expectations.  There should have been more advance warning of the content here--such as a wiggerized front cover or a shitty modernized logo.  The first indicator of something wrong was the band photo:

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER.   The rhythm section look like disgruntled bikers, but then there's the nose-bolted and knit capped singer, who looks like he would fit better in an industrial or alternative band.

The one slightly positive thing I can say about the CD is that it was not awful in the way I was expecting, which was Pantera emulation nonsense like Omen's Reopening the Gates. The riffing is groovy, but rather than angsty chugging, they seem to be attempts to be hooky.  Everything is quite mellow, there's some power balladish stuff, the production favors the vocals and drums, and there's a dearth of speed. A significant chunk of the disc sounds more like '90s hard rock than actual metal. Remember, this is the band who titled a song "Posers Will Die!" and whose debut revelled in heavy metal cliche (fantastically so, I might add). Despite my complaints about his appearance, the singer isn't an Anselloutmo clone, instead sounding like a mix of John Bush and old Chuck Billy. If only he had better material to sing over.

Even though everyone from the album except Mr. Boltnose is still in the current lineup, I noticed that on the band's official website, Invitation to Insanity isn't mentioned at all in the bio or discography (which even lists The Best of Metal Blade Vol. 1!). While disavowing this album is a sensible move, it's also pretty corny and Pantera-like to whitewash the band history.

Oh dear.

Chinese metal - Dying Legion releases



Tractor/Skullcrusher - Sexy Big Butt/Machine Gun split

Tractor - Sexy Big Butt
Based on exhaustive research consisting of watching nude scenes in Chinese kung-fu and action flicks, sexy big butts appear to be a rare and valuable commodity in China, much like high quality manufactured goods designed to last.  Motörhead is the obvious influence here.  That said, I liked the fastest songs--"Flying V Girl" and "Sexy Big Butt" the best for their punkish speed, and they're the least Motörheadish.  The vocals are sometimes strained in the attempt for a more Lemmy-like delivery (sorry, not even close--the vocalist is just too high and accented).

Skullcrusher - Machine Gun
Gruff, heavily accented Engrish vocals here--very reminiscent of Japanese thrash or HC.

• "Death of A.B.L." - "A.B.L." is apparently supposed to be Osama bin Laden.  Fucking killer Hellhammer "Messiah" worshipping main riff!
• "Machine Gun" - They switch to typical faster paced thrash here.  Not bad, but ordinary sounding compared to their first song.
• "Nuclear Threat" - This has the Hellhammerish tone, but takes a more galloping approach.  Reminds me a bit of "Captor of Sin" in some parts.   Vocals switch to oddly-catchy crooning during the chorus. 
• "Die by the Sword" (rehearsal) - Amateurish and killed by the weak vocals. 

Spoiler alert! Skullcrusher are the best band of this entire post, despite atrociously covering one of the greatest metal songs ever.



The Metaphor/Sudden Evil - Evil Rulz as Snake split

The Metaphor - Evil Rulz
The description promised black/thrash.  Uh, sort of...

• "Horror Attack" - Mostly generic black metal.  There are short thrash sections that are underutilized, which are of course the most interesting.
• "Devils in Human-Skin" - Like a lo-fi, dirty version of '90s Slayer with BM vocals.
• "Evil Rulz" - Black metal overall--I guess there's a recurring riff that's pretty thrashy, although not enough to really push it into black/thrash territory.
• "Black Thrash" - After the intro, there's a mid-paced Slayeresque section which then segues into what the songtitle promises.  The speed and ferocity here make it stand out positively compared to their other originals.
• "Darkness Descends" cover (live) - Ambitious choice.  Hard to tell with the so-so sound quality, but it seems like a faithful, well-done rendition.

Sudden Evil - As Snake
Sudden Evil's black/thrash is thrashier and generally more interesting riff-wise than The Metaphor's side.  Depending on the song, the main vocals range between some kind of raspy talk-singing and raspy moaning; although unconventional, I preferred it to the more standard BM secondary vox used a few times.  There are a couple (including right off the bat) unexpected Araya/Schmier high screams, but they're not strong enough to take seriously, and not numerous enough to provide tongue-in-cheek OTTness. 

The "Pleasure to Kill" cover might have bordered on being a passable one-man-band version, but the vocals make it comically awful.  The vox are a lethargic moaning--this guy is an evil Chinese version of Rodney Dunsmore!   When it got to the slow middle section and I heard "I return to the cemetery," I imagined a retarded kid singing Kreator in that gimp semi-whisper and I lost it completely.



The Metaphor - Strike Back
2010 live CD.  Compared to the split, they seem to have dropped the black metal (except for the harsh vocals) and opted for a more streamlined violent thrash sound.  Definitely a wise decision.

Tales of the Unexpected



Farcry - Slaves of Chaos
This was listed simply as "thrash" on a distro clearance list--a very confounding oversimplification that prompted me to give it a try. Fairly technical, groovy modern thrash with quite a lot of death metal influence at times--some parts sound like they cross into death/thrash (NOT in the classic sense) territory, but not enough where the album as a whole can be classified as such. Even the more straightforward parts are too uninteresting and modern for a quick thrash fix, and the vocals are an unfortunate forced style evocative of metalcore. There are some progressive interludes and the bassist does a few jazzy runs, but in this context, they seem less like nice progressive flourishes and more like routine attempts to inject monotony-breakers into the music.

Meatslab - Slaughter of the Human Pig

Here we have a perplexing fundamental disconnect. The band name, title, and cover artwork heavily suggest gore- or death/grind. Certainly what I expected.  Not a trace of death metal or grind here.  Internet sites classify them as death/thrash. Nope. The band's own hyperbolic, cliché-ridden bio (http://www.meatslab.com/bio.php) paints them as old-school thrash. Laughable. They play that awful '90s style of baggy pants and wallet chain groove/"thrash," which sounds dangerously similar to modern metalcore due to the groove sections and ultra-forced vocals. Imagine a band of individuals with only casual metal knowledge attempting to emulate Chaos A.D. musically and Phil Anselmo vocally, and you get the idea. 





Nefasto - Exterminador
Musically this doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the previous two modern metal turds, but it was quite different from what the plain "thrash" descriptor had me expecting. About as punkish as thrash can get before not calling it crossover is deceitful. Main letdown for me is the vocals, which are a gruff HC/crust style. Not exactly the South American thrash experience I was hoping for, but that's not the band's fault. Cover reminds me of a mutant commando version of the shyster from Jew memes.



Since this is a Pulverised release, let me stress how glad I am the super jewel box never really took off except with them, Spinefarm, and Peaceville.  I don't think reinforcing jewel case hinges so they don't break as easily is worth the inferior changes in design that were made.  Who really needs spines on all four edges?  I've seen lots of cracked super jewel boxes, so they don't seem particularly sturdier.  The worst aspect is having to flex the booklet in order to get it out.  The one thing I genuinely like is the locking mechanism on the case--in case you are a plastic manufacturing magnate and happen to read this post, please put these locking mechanisms in high quality regular jewel cases and I'll buy thousands of them from you.

This has somewhat of a modern The Haunted vibe to it, which is strange considering Patrick Jensen has long been out of the band.  It's a more straightforward album, so in that sense I would say it's stylically closer to Fornever Laid..., though it's not as brutal and American DM influenced. Respectable output but didn't excite me (a Morgue, Total Death, or Orchriste CD reissue would, though).

I'm neutral.  This was a 2006 album, so going in expecting anything remotely like Illusions is a level of optimism that crosses into retarded.  The more modern mid-paced chug stuff is uninteresting, but they're hardly the worst offenders.  Every couple of songs they throw in a fast, straightforward thrash riff, as if to make things more palatable for older fans, but these seem very tame compared to the craziness of that first LP.  The main riff from "Sick" is the only time things hearken back to the first 2 albums in a significant way, but even that is sabotaged by the chorus coming in.  Oh, and for some reason Darren's vocals on "Smackdown" remind me a lot of Rob Urbinati circa Torment in Fire.

Let's move on to the bonus disc, the real reason for picking this up:

Black March - The speedy part at the end makes it better than anything on Elements of Anger--so naturally it's the only '94 demo track not on the album.

Invaders cover - Okay musically, but obviously the normal Sadus vocals are a hindrance here.

Merciless Death cover - Best thing they have recorded since 1992.

When the tomb beckons...

It's been a while since I've been so excited about anything that could be remotely classified as a recent recording (I realize this is already a couple years old and consists of a lot of re-recorded old material).  Stylistically nothing has really changed since The Heralds of Oblivion days.  The updated production value is most notable in the guitars, which are a lot more distinct, though in some spots I miss the evil aura of the murky demo production.  It definitely fit the kind of death metal they were trying to do.  As for individual track comments/comparisons:

Matanza - Not bad, but lacks the sinister feel of the original.  This is the one song where I preferred the old Heralds version by a wide margin.

The Catapult, When the Tomb Beckons - I prefer the older versions slightly and probably always will since I'm so used to them.  There are just little things I miss like the effects on the vocals in "When the Tomb Beckons."

Necromancy - Just listen to that opening riff now!  This one was tightened up quite a lot; the song is worthy of its title now and blows the Los Angeles Death Coalition version away.  After hearing this new version, the only thing the old one has in its favor is the Beetlejuice intro.

Hallucinations - Not sure if this is an old or new song.  The intro riff reminds me of that part from Goatlord's "Chicken Dance," and the main riff has a Acheron "Prayer of Hell" vibe to it.  Killer stuff.

Seems more straightforward and consciously old-school than their debut.  The album as a whole is an enjoyable listening experience but I don't really have that much to say about it because while solid DM, it's not exemplary.  Well-done Demigod cover but as is often the case, the choice of strong cover material overshadows the original material to some extent.

Monotonous modern DM here--two things interested me here, and neither was the music.  I really like the cover art, since all the military hardware reminds me of those Illustrated Guide to Modern Weapons of the USA-type books I used to love as a kid, with vehicles and ordinance spread out on the covers.  The color scheme and flying jet also immediately bring the first Raise Hell album to mind.

The guitarist is Gene Hoglan's girlfriend, which I found impressive given his body type.  Based on some videos I saw, she seems like a bit of a horn-throwing "WIMMEN RAWK!" airhead though, so perhaps there was a bit of a tradeoff there (don't get me wrong, I wouldn't hesitate to mock Gene's weight or many of the bands he's been involved with, but he seems like a well-spoken guy).