Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives :: View topic - Weekly Metal Analysis (read and understand original post!)

I got several thrash albums last week, but the ones that were most awe inspiring are by Messiah.

Hymn to Abramelin and Extreme Cold Weather
These are both must have albums for any thrash/black/death metal fan. Maybe they were too underground to be much of an influence in their day, but after listening to these albums, I feel like they were way ahead of their time. Messiah could be described as the archetype for blackened thrash, but they also have elements of death metal. The vocals are evil and raw, perhaps, even moreso than Possessed or Sodom - like a camel spitting blood in your face. Listening to these albums got my juices flowing. The production is very raw, but I like that. There should be way more reviews on the Archives for Messiah!!!

Deathcorpse, that "Band of Gypsies" album really does smoke .. "Machine Gun" in particular. Was just listening to that on Sunday!

strongbad, don't post replies like that please.

Robot Lords Of Tokyo
Whiskey, Blood, And Napalm

The guitars rip your face off with some of the most infectious yet heavy blues riffs I've ever heard. These aren't your archetype Southern riffs either.

Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace

A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style.

The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense.

I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better.

ANationalAcrobat wrote:

I've been listening to this a lot of late as well, though I still don't think I fully grasp it. The one thing that it does that I really like, is takes what would appear as somewhat superfluous technical guitar shredding and gives it this weird, obscure sense of urgency, or nervousness maybe, making these sections feel oddly unnerving and schizophrenic. It's tough to describe but it's cool.

I'm also impressed by the surprising level of coherency and memorability that the album possesses, considering how completely strange it is.

ThrashingMad wrote:

ANationalAcrobat wrote:

The aforementioned "I Remember" is one of the best metal songs I've heard lately; absolutely killer. The whole thing is just a feast for the prog fan, old school and new school alike.

ANationalAcrobat wrote:

PS, some one mentioned Sodom bootlegs. Please tell me they are from the 90/91 period!

Completely never heard of them ever before. I think i bought it so that I would get free shipping on the other stuff sent which were some bootlegs of sodom or something. So total whim and I paid the price. I would have rather just paid for shipping then gotten such an abomination of a video.

Yeah, terrible band. Dont waste your time listening to them.

YOB - The Illusion of Motion

Holy crap, what an impressive album! I figured, being the doomwhore I've become, that YOB would simply tickle my pickle. Little did I know that they would be this fucking good. The album is your typical doom - heavy, slow, and dense as fuck, but what sets this apart is the songwriting, each song flowing wonderfully and smoothly, keeping the listener simply enthralled all the way through. And the vocals? Wierd. Mostly this rather peculiar clean vocal style that can't really be described - just heard - and very shrill growl-screams.

Highly recommended.

Satanic_Shoe wrote:

Yes, this is a good one. Although I would have preferred it if the clean, spacey vocals were a bit more present, since I think they fit the heavy and slow music perfectly. Don't really think that highly of the more extreme vocals. It's a good thing YOB decided to reform!

Anyhow, I recently happened across Death's The Sound of Perservance.

Definitely. Sorry about my first long post, I tend to get too wrapped up in the whole specifics sometimes.

As every Fri/Sat night I listen to lots of stuff as well during the week so I will be contributing again. I hope it's ok that I include other music besides metal in this post; although I'll try to stick it being metal-related. I'll make my post on Sunday night.

Alright, I got a big haul of brutal death this week. The album I'm discussing however is Orchidectomy-"A Prelate's Attrition".

Simply put, this album is heavy as fuck. It's fast, it's brutal, and has a slightly raw production. The vocals are low end froggy croaks mostly, but don't sound bad at all. They add to the heaviness if anything. Guitar work is typically tremolo riffs, but rarely a note past the 5th fret or D string (I may be exaggerating slightly). Drums are pretty tight, great blasting. The slams are heavy and headbanging coolness. Despite the raw production, nothing is really lost in the mix. It's all audible, all heavy, all cool as fuck. I definitely recommend this to any fans of brutal/slam death.

Also, the record is quite innovative for Morbid Angel: they used the keyboards on this album for the first time.

Author:	DerekBuhr [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:06 pm ]
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Robot Lords Of Tokyo *Whiskey, Blood, And Napalm* This album has slowly grown on me since I got it a month or two ago. It's a straight up heavy metal album but it carries so much more. A strong Southern influence pervades the entire album, but not in the cheesey hard rock way. They've put together a trashy blues heavy metal album with some of the most amazing song writing I've heard all year. Think ZZ Top meets modern day production and you've got this album. The guitars rip your face off with some of the most infectious yet heavy blues riffs I've ever heard. These aren't your archetype Southern riffs either. The solo's are next to godly and fit each song like OJ's glove. They all carry a hint of metal influence from various genres, as does each song. The background is solid with a nice strong bass and solid drum work. Neither is too technical, but simple, solid, and played with flavor. The vocals are astonishing. Strong blues vocals with just the right amount of Southern accent that work right into the heavy metal these guys play. Pick it up if you're looking for something heavy but entertaining and different.

Author:	Abominatrix [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:12 pm ]
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twophoton wrote: I got several thrash albums last week, but the ones that were most awe inspiring are by Messiah. Hymn to Abramelin and Extreme Cold Weather These are both must have albums for any thrash/black/death metal fan. Maybe they were too underground to be much of an influence in their day, but after listening to these albums, I feel like they were way ahead of their time. Messiah could be described as the archetype for blackened thrash, but they also have elements of death metal. The vocals are evil and raw, perhaps, even moreso than Possessed or Sodom - like a camel spitting blood in your face. Listening to these albums got my juices flowing. The production is very raw, but I like that. There should be way more reviews on the Archives for Messiah!!! Agreed. "Hymn" may not be too far ahead of its time, but "Extreme Cold Weather"? You fucking bet .. just listen to some of those frantic tromolo-picked melodies...that instrumental is just incredible to me, and the title track .. what the hell, who else was doing that sort of thing in 1987? Just so eerie and morbid. Reminds me of Tormentor's "Anno DOmini" which wouldn't emerge until a couple of years later. As far as Morbid Angel goes, II really do feel that "Covenant" is a distinct drop in quality from the first two, and yes, Rexz describes very well what happened with "DOmination". However, "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" picked things up nicely and I feel that it's one of the best things the band did ... there is a huge variety in tempos and I think the slow, sludgy bits have a lot more feeling and darkness than they did on the last two Vincent albums. Tucker is a bit nondescript vocally but it doesn't matter .. by this point Morbid Angel is all about Trey anyway. I don't think Vincent was all that integral to their sound, although his vocals on "Altars" in particular are fantastic ... pete Sandoval iss the man who brought that band to greatness, and Richard Brunelle's contributions can't be overlooked, either. I think giving Vincent too much sway in lyric and music-writing is part of why the band lost creativity in the mid-90s. Jonpo, there isn't much catchiness on the VBE album, it's true, but isn't the first track rather addictive? It was really wise of them to place that one at the beginning as it's a pretty streamlined piece and is the closest the album comes to .. well ... infectiously memorable. I get this feeling of exhilaration every time the music stops for a second, holding that guitar note for a while, and then drops into that sort of swingy beat and lets you focus on that brilliant triplet-based bassline before the vocals come in: "I went away .. away with my fathers, to gather the fallen". It's magic! Deathcorpse, that "Band of Gypsies" album really does smoke .. "Machine Gun" in particular. Was just listening to that on Sunday!

Author:	deathcorpse [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:33 pm ]
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Abominatrix wrote: Deathcorpse, that "Band of Gypsies" album really does smoke .. "Machine Gun" in particular. Was just listening to that on Sunday! I also have the LIVE AT THE FILLMORE double CD and that's great as well, although I kind of compare it to the same sort of completeness but yet almost losing in power and translation Cheap Trick's original LIVE AT BUDOKAN record versus THE COMPLETE BUDOKAN. In Miles Davis' autobiography he speaks about how moved he was with that particular version and song. It really exemplifies the whole end of the 60's obviously since it was recorded on the eve of the decade changing, and it really has a sadness about it that probably wraps up the whole ill feeling that generation had about the war. About Domination, I also like that album. I know it's their "commercial" album but I still think there are great songs on that album. I have no problem with slower songs in general.

Author:	Acrobat [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:56 pm ]
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Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style. The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense. I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better.

Author:	rexxz [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:13 pm ]
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strongbad, don't post replies like that please.

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Author:	strongbad [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:15 pm ]
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rexxz wrote: strongbad, don't post replies like that please. shit sorry i was actually just in the process of editing it because i realised it was stupidly short! but when i clicked submit it said post does not exist! ah well serves me right i guess haha

Author:	rexxz [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:30 pm ]
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DerekBuhr wrote: Robot Lords Of Tokyo *Whiskey, Blood, And Napalm* The guitars rip your face off with some of the most infectious yet heavy blues riffs I've ever heard. These aren't your archetype Southern riffs either. What sets them apart from the average blues riffs?

Author:	~Guest 126069 [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:57 pm ]
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ANationalAcrobat wrote: Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style. The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense. I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better. I've been listening to this a lot of late as well, though I still don't think I fully grasp it. The one thing that it does that I really like, is takes what would appear as somewhat superfluous technical guitar shredding and gives it this weird, obscure sense of urgency, or nervousness maybe, making these sections feel oddly unnerving and schizophrenic. It's tough to describe but it's cool. I'm also impressed by the surprising level of coherency and memorability that the album possesses, considering how completely strange it is.

Author:	rexxz [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:59 pm ]
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Abominatrix, what is your overall opinion on Morbid Angel's first 2 records? I think they are a very unique band. Most early death metal bands can more or less be classified by their regional sounds, but there are a few such as Morbid Angel who never really had a huge, distinct trend-setting pattern, despite being a major influence for many bands to follow.

Author:	Empyreal [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:00 am ]
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ThrashingMad wrote: ANationalAcrobat wrote: Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style. The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense. I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better. I've been listening to this a lot of late as well, though I still don't think I fully grasp it. The one thing that it does that I really like, is takes what would appear as somewhat superfluous technical guitar shredding and gives it this weird, obscure sense of urgency, or nervousness maybe, making these sections feel oddly unnerving and schizophrenic. It's tough to describe but it's cool. I'm also impressed by the surprising level of coherency and memorability that the album possesses, considering how completely strange it is. The aforementioned "I Remember" is one of the best metal songs I've heard lately; absolutely killer. The whole thing is just a feast for the prog fan, old school and new school alike.

Author:	failsafeman [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:32 am ]
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Empyreal wrote: ThrashingMad wrote: ANationalAcrobat wrote: Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style. The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense. I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better. I've been listening to this a lot of late as well, though I still don't think I fully grasp it. The one thing that it does that I really like, is takes what would appear as somewhat superfluous technical guitar shredding and gives it this weird, obscure sense of urgency, or nervousness maybe, making these sections feel oddly unnerving and schizophrenic. It's tough to describe but it's cool. I'm also impressed by the surprising level of coherency and memorability that the album possesses, considering how completely strange it is. The aforementioned "I Remember" is one of the best metal songs I've heard lately; absolutely killer. The whole thing is just a feast for the prog fan, old school and new school alike. It's not just prog, though (thrash or plain ol' heavy metal, even power metal); it's one of those rare albums that can appeal to fans of many styles. The thing I like about it is it really captures a lot of not only the progressive structural elements of prog, but also a lot of the mood of prog rock as well; that kind of bleak and intellectual yet at the same time somehow playful in an unpretentiously ironic way...sort of like King Crimson or (naturally) Jethro Tull. Of course they're still METAL, with heavy riffs and headbanging and Satan galore, but unlike so many other bands they take strength from both genres and combine them to create something excellent judged from either camp (it is loved both among metalheads and prog fans, or at least those few who have heard it). Well, I guess anyone could tell by taking a look at my review, but I hold that album in extremely high regard. One of my all-time favorites, and to think I bought it randomly in a mall because the cover looked cool!

Author:	Strock_Coker [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:07 am ]
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Legionz ov Hell - Goatstar Legionz ov Hell supposedly play a black metal/speedcore fusion, but if you've heard any of their other releases, it is bassically speedcore with dimmu borgir/cradle of filth style keyboards and some black metal rasps. Not good at all and even speedcore fans don't like it, which is saying a lot becuase they'll accept pretty much any crap that is marketed as "speedcore" (actually a lot like most black metal fans, hmmm? ha ha ha). This single has one song like that, which sucks, but also a cover of "Von", which is surprisingly good. It is the only song of theirs I've ever heard that actually has something like metal riffs, and it is just a thoughtfully arranged, drawn out rendition of "Von" with some electronic music elements. One of the better Von covers I've heard becuase they actually try to do something with the song instead of just another straight up metal play through. Why bother doing that when Von already did it perfectly themselves? That makes sense to me but most bands on the Von tributes don't seem to agree for some reason. I like the cover, but the rest of entire project is pretty much a throwaway.

Author:	orionmetalhead [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:13 am ]
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Well, Last week I watched Tristania's Widows Tour VHS which I bought off someone in the trade forum a while back. I will not be listening to any more Tristania, ever again. The quality of the DVD is excellent, multiple cameras, a lot of good footage and an excellent sound quality. The sad thing that really gets me is that I know Tristania paid out their asses to produce the thing. As a band, they really are not at all worth all the attention they are giving themselves - the guitar work is uneventful and decisively bland. The songs are the same. The band as a whole is boring to watch as well - they try to hide this fact by incorporating some video footage for "Evenfall" but by this late in the video, I was already wavering in and out of sleep. The one thing that I enjoyed was watching Vibeke Stene waver around and flap her cloak and make silly goth poses and dance moves. I had to laugh out loud at moments while she did her best "I am a spooky ghost searching for my soul" arm movements. Hilarious. Don't watch this if you like yourself sane.

Author:	rexxz [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:15 am ]
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Heh, you bought a Tristania video from a guy, yet you don't like the band. Did you not listen to them previously, or did you only hear a little bit of their stuff that happened to be interesting? I've never heard the band, for the record.

Author:	Weerwolf [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:48 pm ]
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The Wounded Kings - Embrace of the Narrow House Finally, some occult doom that is not rooted in '70 style, but instead continues the lovecraftian tradition of Witchcult Today but with an own unique, oppressive twist. Organs are prominently present, the singing is all about taking the gloomy ambiance to a disturbing level and creates a morbidness seldomly seen. This is Requiem of December done the traditional way and mandatory for early CATHEDRAL or as previously stated new ELECTRIC WIZARD admirers. These Brits have immediately released their debut full-length one year after their formation, no previous material was officially released before this one, and have managed to sneak into my TOP 5 records of 2008 and together with ANCESTORS released the strongest debuts of 2008.

Author:	Nhorf [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:58 pm ]
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Fixed.

Author:	Acrobat [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:02 am ]
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ThrashingMad wrote: ANationalAcrobat wrote: Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace A very unusual album for me and indeed anyone else. Buddy Lackey's voice in particular stands out - on the one hand some really unsettling melodies and tones that recall singers like John Arch, Halford and I even drew some comparisons between him and Sabotage era Ozzy (though I can't remember what they were right now). But there's something uneasy about his voice and it's brilliant. But then you get a complete change in mood on I Remember, which is a really convincing and earthy take on Ian Anderson's style. The guitars are wonderful too, the use of layering is really impressive. On Only in a Dream, which I now realise is a bonus track, it's one part whale noise and the other is like youtube styled shred... if that makes any sense. I've been listening to this as a whole (bonus tracks and all) for quite a while now and sometimes it feels like a little too much to take in. I'm going to give the original 10 tracks a play later and see if that works better. I've been listening to this a lot of late as well, though I still don't think I fully grasp it. The one thing that it does that I really like, is takes what would appear as somewhat superfluous technical guitar shredding and gives it this weird, obscure sense of urgency, or nervousness maybe, making these sections feel oddly unnerving and schizophrenic. It's tough to describe but it's cool. I'm also impressed by the surprising level of coherency and memorability that the album possesses, considering how completely strange it is. That's a very good description. What appeals to me most about it is the fact that every progressive and technical passage serves a purpose both in the overall feel and emotion of the song. It's one of those albums that I feel if I were in a certain mindset I couldn't listen to it, if I were feeling a bit down or going through a slightly crazy patch I don't think I could listen to it because it would just be too unsettling. I like it how it's such an amalgamation of styles, it doesn't truly fit anywhere - except heavy metal, of course - but all the separate aspects combined work. Fuck, even if I didn't like the album I'd just sit and look at the cover art all day. It reminds me of Cathedral's Forest of Equilibrium only cooler, FOE takes the biscuit for being more mental though. PS, some one mentioned Sodom bootlegs. Please tell me they are from the 90/91 period!

Author:	orionmetalhead [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:28 pm ]
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ANationalAcrobat wrote: PS, some one mentioned Sodom bootlegs. Please tell me they are from the 90/91 period! I have two: Live in Der Zeche Carl 1994 Live: 5/20/88 I haven't watched the 1994 one yet but the 88 one is pretty neat. They are in a gym somewhere and playing to a bunch of crazy germans. The audio isn't spectacular but it isnt bad either. You can tell that they are all pretty terribly musicians though

Author:	SladeCraven [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 4:22 pm ]
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Averse Sefira-"Tetragrammatical Astygmata" I am quite fond of this band and this album. Very intense black metal with a particular emphasis on well constructed and intelligent riffs. No generic tremelo riffs just for the sake of putting blast beats and screeches on top and behind them. The vocals are superb IMO, and I am thoroughly enjoying this band's contribution to the tiny, but growing, black metal scene in the U.S.

Author:	Slats [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:47 pm ]
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Finally got around today to giving Exodus - Force of Habit a proper listen. A while back I listened to this album and wrote it off as garbage after about a few songs. I don't know why, though, since after a 2nd listen I have come to the conclusion that this is a good album overall, in my opinion. My initial write-off was probably due to this being the first Exodus release I listened to after Bonded by Blood, and it sounding so radically different from it. After listening to Fabulous Disaster, though, I was able to appreciate the Souza-era sound, and subsequently, decided to give this another spin, and it was almost a completely new experience. The speed may have been down, but there was no shortage of riffage, and they didn't go St. Anger style on the solos. Every song (minus the shitty covers) is enjoyable at worst (Architect of Pain), and kickass at best (Thorn in My Side, Me Myself & I). Another main difference between this and older Exodus is the heavier guitar sound, which may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it matches Steve Souza's nasally voice well. With this sound and Paul Baloff at the front, it would sound like crap, but it works here.

Author:	Satanic_Shoe [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:56 pm ]
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YOB - The Illusion of Motion Holy crap, what an impressive album! I figured, being the doomwhore I've become, that YOB would simply tickle my pickle. Little did I know that they would be this fucking good. The album is your typical doom - heavy, slow, and dense as fuck, but what sets this apart is the songwriting, each song flowing wonderfully and smoothly, keeping the listener simply enthralled all the way through. And the vocals? Wierd. Mostly this rather peculiar clean vocal style that can't really be described - just heard - and very shrill growl-screams. Highly recommended.

Author:	EmbraceTheDeath [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:00 pm ]
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Phlebotomized- Immense, Intense, Suspense After having time to fully digest this album, I must say it has jumped into my top 20 favorite death metal releases of all time. Arguably being the only "symphonic" death metal band anyone has ever heard of (Psypheria come close, but they really aren't symphonic in nature, they just use keyboards), this album is truly one of a kind. The growls are very powerful, and I love the clean vocals on this album. There is just the right amount of the clean vox, creeping into some very heavy parts to give the listener a nice little suprise. Overall, the album is very atmospheric and the violin and keyboards aren't just added in mindlessly, but greatly contribute to the overall sound. I recommend this album to any death metal enthusiast or someone who wants to hear something "different" in the metal underground.

Author:	rexxz [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 1:28 am ]
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Immense, Intense, Suspense really is something of a record. There are a few other albums that I'd properly label as symphonic (ugh) death metal too, but none of them quite so captures the best of both qualities in a unified fabrication of musical ideals.

Author:	thomash [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:43 am ]
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Ondskapt I actually listened to this band's entire discography this week. Granted, that's only three releases, but I still felt like I had accomplished something. I concluded that Slave Under His Immortal Will and Doedens Evangelium were quite good but Draco Sit Mihi Dux was mediocre at best. The band has some unusual vocals, which were the most noticeable gauge of the individual releases' respective qualities; when they were annoying, the songs seemed to be underwritten as well. At their best, though, I think Ondskapt presents some good, atmospheric, evil-sounding black metal and that their 'Orthodox Satanism' helps them to write some pretty evil black metal. (Take that, Kruel.)

Author:	Khull [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:47 am ]
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orionmetalhead wrote: Completely never heard of them ever before. I think i bought it so that I would get free shipping on the other stuff sent which were some bootlegs of sodom or something. So total whim and I paid the price. I would have rather just paid for shipping then gotten such an abomination of a video. Yeah, terrible band. Dont waste your time listening to them. Not to nit-pick; however, Widow's Tour happens to be a live album released directly after their debut. What you heard was essentially lives of their debut and perhaps demo work, and while I won't deny the negative aspects of the video, I also believe their next two albums, Beyond the Veil and World of Glass, might change your opinion on them, if you'd be willing to give it a second try. They're both excellent examples of gothic metal done well. If it's a matter of simply not liking the style of music, then that's another story, obviously. Anyhow, I recently happened across Death's The Sound of Perservance. I hadn't had much experience with death metal outside the brutal and technical areas, and neither of those particularly thrilled me because of the downright silly and obnoxious vocals. However, I've heard so much good shit about Chuck that I had to find out what made this guy so goddamned amazing. Needless to say, I couldn't put this album down after the first spin. The clear guitar sound and sheer amazing riffage, on top of Chuck's razor-like vocals, make this album impossible to put down for me. Hell, I've listened to "Spirit Crusher" over a dozen and a half times alone.

Author:	Weerwolf [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:02 pm ]
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Satanic_Shoe wrote: YOB - The Illusion of Motion Holy crap, what an impressive album! I figured, being the doomwhore I've become, that YOB would simply tickle my pickle. Little did I know that they would be this fucking good. The album is your typical doom - heavy, slow, and dense as fuck, but what sets this apart is the songwriting, each song flowing wonderfully and smoothly, keeping the listener simply enthralled all the way through. And the vocals? Wierd. Mostly this rather peculiar clean vocal style that can't really be described - just heard - and very shrill growl-screams. Highly recommended. Yes, this is a good one. Although I would have preferred it if the clean, spacey vocals were a bit more present, since I think they fit the heavy and slow music perfectly. Don't really think that highly of the more extreme vocals. It's a good thing YOB decided to reform!

Author:	Abominatrix [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:48 pm ]
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Weerwolf wrote: Satanic_Shoe wrote: YOB - The Illusion of Motion Holy crap, what an impressive album! I figured, being the doomwhore I've become, that YOB would simply tickle my pickle. Little did I know that they would be this fucking good. The album is your typical doom - heavy, slow, and dense as fuck, but what sets this apart is the songwriting, each song flowing wonderfully and smoothly, keeping the listener simply enthralled all the way through. And the vocals? Wierd. Mostly this rather peculiar clean vocal style that can't really be described - just heard - and very shrill growl-screams. Highly recommended. Yes, this is a good one. Although I would have preferred it if the clean, spacey vocals were a bit more present, since I think they fit the heavy and slow music perfectly. Don't really think that highly of the more extreme vocals. It's a good thing YOB decided to reform! Yeah, those weird clean vocals are one of the coolest things about Yob. I don't listen to this band too often but I bet they rule live. Rexz, I love those early Morbid Angel albums. I think that MIke Browning held the band back a bit when he was around, and so I don't rate the "Abominations" sessions as highly as some old-school fanatics do. I bought "Blessed are the Sick" pretty early in my exploration of death metal and admired how there seemed to be so much going on in the compositions and thought Pete Sandoval was just a monster behind the kit .. I held off on really giving "Altars" a chance for a long time though, maybe because I thought it'd be too intense or simple or something .. honestly I don't know what kept me from getting this one untill I'd acquired all of the other MA albums I wanted, but these days it is my favourite. The speedd factor makes it pretty exciting, but Trey's twisted riffing sure doesn't sound like anybody else (especially from 1989!) and there's so muchh happening at such an urgent pace that I feel like I haven't really discovered every nuance even to this day, and I think that's awesome.

Author:	rexxz [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:40 pm ]
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Alright, remember everyone try to keep the weekly "mini-reviews" submitted on the weekends. I allowed for tuesday and wednesday because I started the thread on tuesday, but let's hold off for a couple more days. I'm sorry if it seems dumb or unfair, but there is a method to my madness; I think if we post our summarizations on a couple of days and then hold off for the next weekend, we can put a temporary stopgap to prevent a ton of them from flooding in during the week in favor of talking about what each of us has "reviewed" so we can actually get some real good discussion going on about all of the stuff that we've listened to. So far I am very pleased with the thread. We've witnessed some great discussions about Morbid Angel, Psychotic Waltz, and others! I think this is really the key to having an environment conducive to great and useful conversation, if we moderate ourselves on how much new information we input to the thread so we can take the time to observe what has already been said, and to talk more about it.

Author:	deathcorpse [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:20 pm ]
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Definitely. Sorry about my first long post, I tend to get too wrapped up in the whole specifics sometimes. As every Fri/Sat night I listen to lots of stuff as well during the week so I will be contributing again. I hope it's ok that I include other music besides metal in this post; although I'll try to stick it being metal-related. I'll make my post on Sunday night.

Author:	deathcorpse [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:28 pm ]
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Khull wrote: Anyhow, I recently happened across Death's The Sound of Perservance. My bandmate back in 90' was into DEATH (now since I have grown to be a bit of a fan, that must have been right before HUMAN was released) and I didn't dig them. He also had some live boot of them and I felt they were too disconnected. FFWD to 2003 and when I started digging into extreme metal, bought this release and I fell in love with it. Although I must say even though I like Richard Christy's drumming on it; that on the LIVE LA DVD that it's a bit too busy for my taste and I think it takes away from the effectiveness live. But on the actual SOP record, I like what he did. Suffice to say, I dug backward and have all the Death releases now. What I like most about the album is the riffing and the recording/mixing of it is excellent.

Author:	rexxz [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:40 pm ]
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deathcorpse wrote: Definitely. Sorry about my first long post, I tend to get too wrapped up in the whole specifics sometimes. As every Fri/Sat night I listen to lots of stuff as well during the week so I will be contributing again. I hope it's ok that I include other music besides metal in this post; although I'll try to stick it being metal-related. I'll make my post on Sunday night. Well, ideally we'll do metal. As long as it's very closely metal related then I believe we can let it pass. By the way your first post was very good. You kept each mini-review rather concise and informative, and did 3 of them which was a rather good limit. Concerning TSoP, I really like the Painkiller cover. I know it is reviled by many but I believe Chuck's vocals are incredibly suitable. He retains his rough-ish edge and is able to sing in a suitable pitch throughout the song. Rather tasetfully done. I am only disappointed that the solos were... well, I'll say altered and not butchered, to be nice

Author:	divine_torture [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:07 am ]
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Alright, I got a big haul of brutal death this week. The album I'm discussing however is Orchidectomy-"A Prelate's Attrition". Simply put, this album is heavy as fuck. It's fast, it's brutal, and has a slightly raw production. The vocals are low end froggy croaks mostly, but don't sound bad at all. They add to the heaviness if anything. Guitar work is typically tremolo riffs, but rarely a note past the 5th fret or D string (I may be exaggerating slightly). Drums are pretty tight, great blasting. The slams are heavy and headbanging coolness. Despite the raw production, nothing is really lost in the mix. It's all audible, all heavy, all cool as fuck. I definitely recommend this to any fans of brutal/slam death.

Author:	Oflick [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:56 am ]
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divine_torture wrote: Alright, I got a big haul of brutal death this week. The album I'm discussing however is Orchidectomy-"A Prelate's Attrition". Simply put, this album is heavy as fuck. It's fast, it's brutal, and has a slightly raw production. The vocals are low end froggy croaks mostly, but don't sound bad at all. They add to the heaviness if anything. Guitar work is typically tremolo riffs, but rarely a note past the 5th fret or D string (I may be exaggerating slightly). Drums are pretty tight, great blasting. The slams are heavy and headbanging coolness. Despite the raw production, nothing is really lost in the mix. It's all audible, all heavy, all cool as fuck. I definitely recommend this to any fans of brutal/slam death. I've never heard anything by Orchidectomy, or much in the way of brutal/slam death in general. Would you recomend them to someone who mainly listens to bands like Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Death and Obituary when it comes to death metal? Or, would there be other bands that would be best to try and make a transition from more classic death metal to brutal death metal? An album that I've had for a while and listened to quite regularly, but only listened to the whole way through from start to finish a few days ago is Mastodon's "Blood Mountain". This album is one of the quickest for me to ever get into. It's good to hear them experiment with less and less screamed vocals. The album was very well put together, and the theme, while I didn't particularly follow it throughout the album, was interesting. Some of the songs repeated themselves towards the end (Such as The Wolf is lose and Hunters of the sky), but I wouldn't say there is a bad track. Obviously, some are weaker than others, but there is no track that I would definitely want to avoid. The riffs are good, and unlike many modern metal bands, not all the songs go the same speed or have similar sounding riffs. The band experiments a bit, sometimes working (The Instrumental "Bladecatcher), sometimes not (The Robotic voice in "Circle of Cysquatch). Overall, This is a very good album. Recommended to anyone who likes Non-extreme modern Metal.

Author:	divine_torture [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:06 am ]
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Maybe start with some Suffocation. "Effigy of the Forgotten" is somewhat the beginning of brutal death metal. Brutal death is much faster and lower vocals than the bands you've named. And it never hurts to just give it a shot. Start with Suffocation-"Effigy" like I said, then some old Severe Torture. The essential bands for brutal death generally are Devourment and Wormed. See what you think and let me know if you're interested in other stuff. As for your album, I've yet to hear "Blood Mountain". I have "Leviathan" which overall I enjoy. Comparable?

Author:	Oflick [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:18 am ]
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OK, I will check out some of those bands you mentioned when I have the chance. As for comparing "Blood Mountain" to "Leviathan": It has a slightly different feel to it than Leviathan, which I can't really explain. It's the music that gives a different feel, but that could be in part due to the different theme of the two albums (Leviathan being based around the element water, and Blood Moutain around Earth). Blood Mountain is also less rough than Leviathan. As I said before, the rough/screamed vocals are toned down a bit, and more "Clean" singing is incorporated. I guess you could say it's a refinement of what they did on Leviathan, but with them still experimenting. Overall, if you enjoy Leviathan, I see no reason why you wouldn't find Blood Mountain enjoyable as well.

Author:	RedMisanthrope [ Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:23 pm ]
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Electric Wizard- Dopethrone Definitely not one of the best albums ever made, nor the best of 2000, or EW's discography. However, this is an overall noteworthy album for metal heads and doom metal fans alike. It's a swirling haze of riffs, static, and noise, and is surprisingly enjoyable for most of its duration. While the vocals could be construed as annoying, I think the layers of effects on them add to the overall "trippy" atmosphere. It's also nice to see the fuzzy bass play such a large role in the music, where as most doom metal relies on lamenting guitars and guttural vocals. All in all, a fine album that makes for good noise while driving.