I don't agree with that passage partly because the album itself is good, but more because what bitterman wants metal to be is much worse than that in my opinion.

I don't agree with that passage partly because the album itself is good, but more because what bitterman wants metal to be is much worse than that in my opinion.

I can't imagine something much worse than that. What is it that you think Bitterman wants metal to be?

That obnoxious intellectualizing of things just to masturbate their own egos - that whole "metal died in 1993" crap, which obviously has no basis in reality. Very small minded way to look at music. I'm sure part of it is just bullshit trolling, but even so. And really, insulting a band just because some of their fans are a bunch of meth head truckers just isn't really a sound argument for criticism, and doesn't make sense much at all.

I highly doubt that bitterman was an actual guy, though. I always saw it as a character, a joke caricature of how self-proclaimed "open-minded" metalheads see "elitists". So thus I was mildly annoyed that he fucked up the score for "Dreams of the Carrion Kind" and "Surgical Steel", which were the only two albums I love that I recall him doing, but that was it. Besides, that caricature's not entirely accurate as at this point, a lot of the younger kids will call you an 'elitist' only because you don't like his favorite band (to illustrate this point, I heard that All That Remains wrote a song called "Trve-Kvlt-Metal" attacking 'elitists' who "want them to return to 'The Fall of Ideals'" sound ). I absolutely agree with everything you're saying though.

I was pretty disappointed with Surgical Steel but Bitterman's review is pretty lame but it doesn't have anything on that horrendous review from LeMiserable. It's one of the most painful reviews I've ever read. He acts like a Carcass expert but admits he didn't hear about Carcass until after Surgical Steel was released.

After Varg Vikernes had released his debut album, the self-titled 'Burzum' and the EP 'Aske', 'Det som engang var' was released swiftly.

Being Burzum's second full-length album and one of the four or so albums recorded in just over a year, one would think that it would sound a lot like 'Burzum' or 'Aske',

since black metal is fairly one-dimensonial by nature.

This, however, was not the case. 'Det som engang var' is black metal. Absolutely. But it's surprisingly varied when compared to Burzum's earlier releases, as well as in comparison to other Norwegian black metal acts releasing stuff at the same time, for instance Darkthrone and Immortal.

It was clear that Varg had a pretty good idea what he wanted his Burzum-project to sound like already when he started out.

He wanted to combine the harsh, chaotic nature of raw black metal with the atmospheric and almost cinematic nature of ambient music.

This, combined with the fantasy-based lyrical themes (most notably J.R.R. Tolkien's work) worked out superbly, and 'Det som engang var' is the album where the whole package comes together properly.

This album has the cold, harsh raw black metal sound

"Lost Wisdom" is song akin to "Key to the Gate", but it's a bit more old-school like with the Hellhammer influence. It's got a very groovy and memorable main-riff that has a great deal a swagger to it. The song remains fairly original, though, because nobody at the time used the terrifying shrieks for vocals as Varg did.

'Det som engang var' is very much the old-school Burzum we know. A bit less "mature" than later releases from the 90s (face it, 'Hvis lyset tar oss' and 'Filosofem' are the ultimate black metal albums), but the excellent execution of the combination of raw black metal and dark ambient make this album great. I would also consider it a tad bit more accessible than Burzum's other 90s albums.

I couldn't disagree more with Empyreal's review of Noble Beast. The album is just nonstop boner inducing riffs. I agree that they could have cut some of the album's 60 minutes (basically the whole last song, really), but everything else just obliterates. I think the lengthy tracks give the album a really expansive, epic feel. And the singer's voice takes some getting used to, but it slays!

Because not everything good needs to be stretched out as long as possible? Succinctness is a good thing, which NB don't have at all...if I have to force myself to finish an album, it's not a good thing.

TheStormIRide's review of the new Abominator album was also a great read. I don't agree 100% with his assessment because I thought it was worth a little more than what he gave it, but he made his points well and overall, as usual from him, a great review.

Metantione's review of Mausoleum Gate was also great. That album is special in so many ways because of so many different influences and Tony pointed out almost all of them....because I hear a lot of Uriah Heep in that album. But that didn't take away from the review. I enjoyed reading a great review of an excellent album.

You wanna get someone into Darkthrone? Grab a flask of whiskey or equivalent, at least one of their full-length albums, and a boombox; take the prospective listener to a defaced local castle/landmark (graffiti preferred) or a woodland or park littered with abandoned automobiles and other social detritus. The closer to winter, the more effective. Take a swig and trade off. Apply volume liberally. Bonfires or oil-drum-fires welcome.

Always enjoy autothrall's reviews of compilations for the way he tears them apart. The one for that pointless Introducing Darkthrone release is no different

Always enjoy autothrall's reviews of compilations

They all espouse the same grievances

You can call it thorough if you want, I'd call it redundant...

Users browsing this forum: Brainded Binky

“They had always discussed about the possibility to develope a band/side-project in order to worship and show respect toward those bands they hailed since they were teenagers like Entombed, Asphyx, Dismember, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Edge Of Sanity, At The Gates, Venom, Autopsy, Carnage, Morbid Angel, Grave or Bolt Thrower”.

I had notified Brainded_Binky of this thread but he obviously isn't going to respond, nor is MT_90. Probably out of embarrassment to the former, as he started making a bunch of tiny edits to his Slayer reviews. MT_90 hears us loud and clear, and doesn't care. So you are wasting your time complaining about him at this point.

The worst thing about all of these reviewers like joecubbie, POD, Braindead Binky, etc, is that they keep reviewing these classic albums under the lens of whatever they perceive in their 15-year-old brains as being "the most metal" influences...they constantly refer to Sabbath albums as albums that "get away with" incorporating non metal influences, like the band back then was measuring their songs and going 'hmm, can we include this? Is it metal enough?' They seem to operate under this idea that metal is a quantifiable thing and all bands who were included in this site considered "being metal" the highest artistic pursuit, dogmatically consistent, unable to include outside influences without "getting away with them." More emphasis is placed on how much of something is metal and not metal, than how good the songs are, or how unprecedented and exciting it was back then to hear some of those old Sabbath albums.



Jesus Christ what a depressing view of music...yeah, simplicity like old Sabbath would be the worst thing ever today, truly.

The reason Black Sabbath had so many "non-metal" influences is because they didn't even consider themselves to be a "metal band" at the time as the term was new. Sabbath was influenced by everything from blues rockers like Cream and The Yardbirds, to progressive rockers such as Yes and Queen, as well as The Beatles.

As for saying that I believe, "being metal the highest artistic pursuit", that isn't true as I could name off a million "non metal" groups I'd listen to as apposed to a lot of the obscure garage/basement death metal/black metal garbage on here.

I believe any metal group can "get away" with incorporating any outside elements. This doesn't mean they do it good. For example, Wolves in the Throne Room has done a great job mixing ambient with a unique brand of USBM. A bad example would be Metallica's last 25 years. While their first 4 records make them legends, it was to their detriment on the black album to experiment with a commercial sound.

But back to the main idea: if anyone on this site thinks what's "most metal" is surperior, it's the elitists who dominate this site that call Faith No More and Pantera "mallcore" or make up fake genre names to describe something they don't like.

Users browsing this forum: Metal_Thrasher90, mjollnir and 1 guest

Thanks for being the only one mentioned to respond. I'm not sure of Empyreal's objections overall but I can speak for myself. I'm not a 20 year old who's only exposure to metal was their dad. I lived it. I may have been a young person when Ozzy Sabbath was in it's heyday but I remember it well. I agree that there were many more elements to Sabbath's early music than just metal because they were creating and defining the genre...just as bands like Purple, Uriah Heep (I agree they should be here too) were defining the genre in a different way. Hel, I even think Zeppelin is the first folk metal band and should be here but I don't bitch...I understand the reason's given by the staff why they're not here.



Be careful about lumping the garage/basement black metal bands as garbage. Most of the second wave band started out just that way and, for some of them, it was the artistry of it that made them what they are.


This is such a puzzling statement for me because WiiTR are doing nothing that Moonsorrow or Falkenbach haven't already done. They did not mix ambient with any brand of USBM. They play an epic brand of black metal that a lot of bands are doing. That type of sentiment always makes me laugh.


Okay, coming from someone who is somewhat elitist (my webzine name is part truth but actually supposed to be humorous) I don't consider what's most metal to be superior. I consider metal to be metal and something not metal to be....not metal. Faith No More is borderline metal and I actually liked The Real Thing when it came out and owned it! However, I don't think that anyone, including myself, called either band mallcore....but they did influence mallcore in profound ways. That's another thing that perplexes me...that mallcore is a fake or made up genre. It's not. It's not nu-metal because "nu" is not a word and it's not metal. It was the shitty -core based noise played at Hot Topic and Spencers....in the mall!

Out of all the reviewers we complained about and who are posting reviews with a somewhat revisionist take on classic metal, you are the only one to come in here and explain yourself. I give you many props for that. I personally have never complained about any of your reviews because I actually agree with most of them. But, at 16 years old, you have to remember that the music that you are reviewing is much older than you and there was a certain feel when that music came out. I love the Beatles post Rubber Soul albums but I can not begin to imagine what the "feeling" was like when that music came out so I would never review them. I don't even review the classic metal albums and I was there! I also think you and a lot of others take things the wrong way. Just because something is not considered metal, or has a lot of non metal elements, does not make it bad or inferior. It just isn't metal.


Edit: Lookie here....

I meant making made up genre names for metal groups they don't like. As far as calling Faith No More and Pantera "mallcore", this is based off of reviews of these bands I have read off of this site. As far as the "garage/basement black metal bands" thing goes, that is a reference to bands if say of about the past 15 years. While I'm not the biggest fan of the second wave, I still respect most of the bands as artists and I'm a huge fan of Ulver and Gorgoroth. Zeppelin's inclusion in the Archives could be argued come to think of it, solely based off of influence alone. As for the WiiTR thing, yes while they're not the first, I can safely say they are one of the few USBM bands at the moment (in my opinion) to do this and sound decent. Finally, I understand these albums are much older than me. I'm just trying to express how they make me feel now and how I feel about them, not how it was when they came out.

That statement about the music being much older than you was not directed totally at you. Like I said, I don't disagree with most of your reviews.

Not necessarily Empyreal. The reason Black Sabbath had so many "non-metal" influences is because they didn't even consider themselves to be a "metal band" at the time as the term was new. Sabbath was influenced by everything from blues rockers like Cream and The Yardbirds, to progressive rockers such as Yes and Queen, as well as The Beatles. As for saying that I believe, "being metal the highest artistic pursuit", that isn't true as I could name off a million "non metal" groups I'd listen to as apposed to a lot of the obscure garage/basement death metal/black metal garbage on here. I believe any metal group can "get away" with incorporating any outside elements. This doesn't mean they do it good. For example, Wolves in the Throne Room has done a great job mixing ambient with a unique brand of USBM. A bad example would be Metallica's last 25 years. While their first 4 records make them legends, it was to their detriment on the black album to experiment with a commercial sound. As for Braindead Binky, there were more "real metal" bands in 1970 besides Sabbath including Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Lucifer's Friend, and Uriah Heep (who for whatever reason or another is blacklisted from MA). But back to the main idea: if anyone on this site thinks what's "most metal" is surperior, it's the elitists who dominate this site that call Faith No More and Pantera "mallcore" or make up fake genre names to describe something they don't like.

I had notified Brainded_Binky of this thread but he obviously isn't going to respond, nor is MT_90. Probably out of embarrassment to the former, as he started making a bunch of tiny edits to his Slayer reviews. MT_90 hears us loud and clear, and doesn't care. So you are wasting your time complaining about him at this point.