Probably better to post it in the Review Feedback Workshop: https://www.metal-archives.com/board/vi ... =4&t=16487

The nuclear drum explosions on that record are part of its charm. I mean, it's still nuts in terms of its sound.

DESSLIKE *ACK ACK ACK* SILLEENCEEE *ACK* *ACK* *ACK*

The sound is part of why it's such an important record in the development of black metal.

Also, Sodom were very much an amateur band at that point. I highly, highly doubt they'd have any influence in the distribution of their record.

Re-recording albums is like George Lucas digitally altering the original Star Wars trilogy. Either it's fixing what's not broken or removing imperfections that gave it character. I can understand the artist's perspective of wanting a redo of something they're not satisfied with, but fans demanding it makes less sense.

Also, what the fuck is "penguin-bamboozling"?

Just read Valfar's Ghost Cemetary_Evil Shade of Grey write-up... I remember gleaning Sundown way back in the day (high school still even) and diggin' it somewhat, then completely tossed the Swedes' to the wayside...until now! Good read + I'm looking forward to giving it an enthusiast's sample spin...Readily dug this line as well, what a great metaphor, as well as subtle reference to his MA handle:

Throughout the rest of the album, other tracks have plenty to offer as well, whether it’s the sudden bass breaks and tempo changes in ‘Where the Rivers of Madness Stream’, the scorching gallops and grooves in ‘Sidereal Passing’, or the tense, creeping lead guitar work that slips into the middle of ‘Scars’ -- like a ghost floating through the wall, -- there’s plenty here that will stick with you.

Haha, it the title reminds me of that 50 shades of grey crap or whatnot!

In general I do agree with your statement about re-recordings, but a loud drum sound that drowns out what is supposed to be the primary instrument of a genre is not an imperfection that gives it character. I'm also curious as to where everyone is reading that Tom Angelripper is happy with the OBC sound.

I made a joke about raping nuns as well as penguins that look like nuns in my Necrophobic Mark of the Necrogram review. I'm rather proud of that one, so I'm carrying on.

Great! Rape jokes! Well done.

To be honest it's an assumption; for the reason you stated in your review of The Final Sign of Evil. It'd be too big of an opportunity to miss not re-recording OBC if he was unhappy with it, so the fact he didn't says a lot to many. This is especially true since he managed to get Witchhunter back for its recording, and he one of the two guys left who recorded OBC.

Of course, there could be any number of reasons why he didn't want to do re-record OBC. Perhaps it didn't feel right to Tom to redo it without Destructor; if he went to the effort of getting the line-up of In the Sign of Evil back just for said EP's re-recording that seems plausible.

I think he's really onto something and will be the next great music critic with material like that.

Phenomenal write-up of Overdose's "Circus Of Death" by Hells_Unicorn. I'm currently in the middle of a discography review of them (that one happens to be next in line), and there's no way in hell I'll be able to match that. I'm curious what you think of their first record.

Thanks, Overdose has been on the back burner of my collection for the better part of 4 years, but I happened upon Noktorn's ham-fisted panning of the album in question and felt a need to set the record straight. Their first record is a bit low-fi in terms of production, but is an overall solid listen that I'd actually put slightly ahead of "Circus Of Death", definitely a bit closer to the power/thrash sound I alluded to in the first paragraph of my review attributed to Flotsam And Jetsam and Scanner. Good luck with the discography, and feel free to hit the one I just did even if you feel I hit all the important points, that album deserves a lot better than the cumulative score it has now thanks to MA's infamously departed thrash metal hater.

No problem, I saw that as well and thought it was atrocious, so I'm glad someone besides myself decided to dive into them! I personally couldn't get into the first album, even after multiple spins. I think their golden days were the three that followed it. Cheers!

On an unrelated note, psychoticnicholai's review of Jar Of Flies could not have been more on point. Like word for word how I would describe it. All of the AIC albums hold a special place in my heart, because of how beautifully they convey the emotions. I can honestly feel their pain every time I listen to them, and seeing that I can relate with some of the lyrical themes myself, it hits extra hard.

Pretty much any review that Noktorn did of either a thrash or OSDM album from between 1987 and 1992 is guaranteed to be terrible, the guy had this bizarre ideological hostility to both styles that I still can't quite wrap my head around. But yeah, ...Conscience... is kind of an acquired taste, it suffers from what I call Manilla Road syndrome with regard to its production, namely being extremely rough even by mid-1980s standards (it sounds like it was recorded in 1981 instead of 1987) and the drums were a bit too high in the mix. I'm kind of used to these production quirks and tend to tune them out and focus a bit more on the notes being played, and the guitar work on said album is what really does it for me.

Nice Lucifer II review, Twisted_P...(haha, I actually said in my own Lucifer I review I could hardly wait for "Lucifer II"...prophetic indeed!).

I'd like to join you on that one, that is, write 'er up as well, but I've yet to glean a full copy...maybe through GR?

Very nice review of Blind Guardian's Follow the Blind by DesecratorJ. He exposes his ideas in a nice way, brings one interesting aspect and I personally agreed with everything he said.

I find it funny how few people seem to acknowledge that the chanting on Inquisition is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's too distinct not to notice.

Great write-ups on that Blind Guardian along with the ones for Iced Earth and Alice in Chains. That take on Sap in particular is really good.

Because it's not really anymore what we could call modern humor. A lot of people like me actually never saw an MP film though we know it. Therefore it's hard to get the reference.

I'd notice it right away if I heard the track. Holy Grail was a staple in my house, that's why I titled a review for a sludgy doom band, "There's Some Lovely Filth Over Here". Can you give me a link?

Same goes with the opening of "The Virgin of Nuremberg" by Brodequin. They have wailing from the lashes but that rite in the opening is definitely from Braveheart. They even say it's the sample they used. Fucking sick nasty song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAtN18BOFZw It's like being choked by a cootah, taking a breath of air and diving in again. Brodequin is the Chip Chipperson of death metal, it fuggin rocks and it the hilarity doesn't stop.

Edit: One more thing. Congrats to SweetLeaf95 for taking on that Atlas album. I have it in the back catalog for reviewing and it really is a good piece, only heard it a couple of times, thanks for giving some good melodeath the appreciation it deserves.

I know I rated it too highly but check out Dessiderium, a one-man melodeath band. I can give you download links if you like. I like this guy and his compositions are gorgeous despite his terrible production.

It seems like 'Follow the Blind' has been the go-to Blind Guardian album to review around here for a while now. It's a fantastic album, but aside from 'Valhalla' and 'Banish from Sanctuary', I'd have thought it would be their 'forgotten album'. Nice review though, and I'm glad to see some love for 'Damned for All Time' - it's easily their most vicious song, and they NEED to play it live!

Good review for 'For Funerals to Come....' too, but I feel like that EP never gets as much love as it deserves. True, 'Epistel' is totally pointless, but the three actual songs are unique in their catalog and absolutely wonderful.

Have you even read the review?

If the two of you are serious, I will immediately make it my life-long quest to attack you if you ever say anything positive about an UltraBoris review again. Ever.

And I mean it.

Oh great, we found the guy who insists on constantly quoting Monty Python in real life much to the chagrin of everyone in earshot.

Meh, fair enough, I wouldn't care about any of those juvenile old UB reviews anymore either. Just silly.

Even George Carlin's rape jokes weren't funny. UB was good because he had spot on musical taste for the most part and good way of describing music. I could have done without the "rapes midgets and gives thrash boners" jokes.

Five_Nails: Glad you liked the review, and I'd surely give that a listen as well!

Just PM'd you.

Thanks for your feedback dude, greatly appreciated! I like doing such reviews, I wish I had the motivation to do more of them often hahah.

We'll have to agree to disagree on Obsessed by Cruelty. As far as the joke, I've never heard "bamboozling" used in reference to sexual assault. Personally, I think references to previous reviews should take one of two forms:
1- Explicitly mentioning the review in question, possibly with a direct quote.
2- So subtle it doesn't cause confusion for someone who doesn't know what's being referenced, though it will be amusing/entertaining/enlightening to those who catch it.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. Now go away or I will taunt you a second time!

I mean, he's not wrong.

How about that; I revisited Filth Pig only today and wondered what a great and underrated album it was. And lo and behold a positive review for it pops up just hours later.

I'm a big Python fan. I do the same thing.

GREAT Hoth write-up by Twisted_Psychology. Not a fan of the band, but that was a fun read, with solid descriptions.

I agree with Twisted P's Iron Hunter review: the guitars are killer but the vocals really drag it through the mud...

Thanks for the praise on both reviews, duders! Not gonna lie, I reviewed that Iron Hunter album last month and it was so forgettable that I had to listen to it again to make sure my assessment was still accurate. It was still accurate.

Also good writeup on The World Needs a Hero. I don't dislike it quite as much but it is easily the dullest Megadeth album.

Much appreciated! World and Th1rte3n are the only Megadeth records I actively dislike, but that one especially bores the hell out of me. If it was trimmed back and pieced together a lot better, it could have been at least decent.

Hey, SweetLeaf95. I liked your write-up of Dessiderium's 'Rain Gates', thanks for giving it a fair chance and really getting across that feeling that's so easy to get when an album is just flying past your ears without really digging in. Dessiderium is definitely more meandering and involved than Atlas was but I had spent a while on that band so it naturally came up when you mentioned Atlas. When you have a hammer everything looks like a nail.

Maybe the single released later on would be a bit more up your alley. It's called "Streaks" and clocks in at only six minutes. It has more a metalcore meets Decrepit Birth's 'Diminishing Between Worlds' direction and it's far more compact, plus the production finally gets it right.

No problem, always willing to give new things a spin!

Ha, I hit the big time. Someone outside of this site mentioned my review of Matianak's Non Compos Mentis. Admittedly, it's just because the first sentence is about lurking on that forum.

Arf! Gasmask C_'s latest, for Trouble's Run to the Light, is, well, a gas!

Dig these uproarious zingers:

1) However, even music noobs are likely to prick their ears up when Eric Wagner warbles out "Look at all the lonely people" on the title track, as if he had just hopped down from his dad's knee, where he was listening to 'Eleanor Rigby'. That is, provided that his dad could be Bobby Liebling.

and

2) He moulds better to the slower doom riffs and also the jaunty stop-start rhythms in ‘Thinking of the Past’, which sounds like the kind of song a dog-walker might whistle if they were taking Cerberus out for a stroll.

His closing line is quite masterful as well:

For a group who decided to name themselves Trouble, the music came together surprisingly easily.

Har!

Thanks for the props, ChairBear! Trouble haven't actually got so much attention on the Archives, so it felt good to give Run to the Light its first assessment here in 14 years. Took me almost two weeks to write that review though. I've been sitting on it for so long because of work stuff that I wanted to make it a memorable one.

Yeah, that title track is devastatingly awesome, especially the part you mentioned (and that I highlighted above!). My favorite Trouble track though has to be "Black Shapes of Doom", as it has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi, you know? While I didn't quite woolgather for my Randy review, know that it cause me immense writer's block at one point!