AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH - Proprioception (www.earache.com)

Mindblowing, and not in a good way either. It remains mindblowing to me that people are still fooled by faux brutality. Take a 7 sting guitar, detune it as low as it can go before all sense of note definition is lost, alternate between tired tremolo and breakdown riffs, gurgle as low as you can, have an inconsequential bassline strictly out of necessity, conjure up the most fake drum tone imaginable (pick your poison: triggers, electric pads, or sample replacement), cut and paste ad nauseum in ProTools, slap on an “evil” looking cover, and sell to idiot kids looking to “fuck shit up” in the pit. Do I have that, right? Deathcore is indeed an abomination to extreme metal, and AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH are absolutely no exception. There is not one redeeming quality about this album. Everything about this record is simply tiring and painful to listen to. It is absolutely infuriating to me that someone might confuse this tripe with actual death metal. Real death metal is played with passion, intensity, power, and skill-all of which this band is 100% lacking in. This is an egregious cash grab, nothing more, nothing less. The promo sheet that accompanied my copy of this record has the audacity to use the word “progressive” when describing this band’s “music” (“angelic progressiveness” is the exact quote). Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me? This is the most idiotic, mindless, regressive bullshit I’ve ever had the pure misfortune of hearing! You could not pay me any amount of money to steal this awful garbage off of the shelf! It is an absolute travesty that this band will sell a shitload of records and get a ton of recognition, while bands like INCANTATION, THE CHASM (as an aside, there is an underlying irony in my mentioning THE CHASM that I should not have to explain), or hundreds of others-real, pure death metal bands playing real, pure death metal-will largely be ignored. If you truly love metal, then please do all that is possible to pretend that this record does not exist; eventually all the scene kids will move on from their brutality phase and onto the next hip thing, and real death metal will continue to thrive in the underground.

ANNIHILATOR- Annihilator (www.earache.com)

As long as I’ve been into metal, ANNHILATOR is a band that I’ve simply never got into, for whatever reason. I’ve heard their music described as anything from power metal, thrash metal, groove metal, and any other sort of “traditional” type of non-extreme metal. I am also somewhat aware of the band’s storied history, where guitarist/mainman Jeff Waters is the only constant member of a largely rotating lineup. I only bring this up because I am listening to this record with no real prior context of this legendary band. First off, let me just say “holy shit”! Jeff Waters is an undeniable madman on the guitar-both his leads are crisp and piercing and his rhythms are amongst the tightest, most controlled and focused in all of metal. The opening minute or so of “Coward” had me pumping my fist and air guitar-ing like I never had before. Listening to this record, I do not really hear much of a groove metal sound (thankfully), and the influence of power metal is minimal at best. This is just straight up thrash metal with some choice traditional heavy metal sections blended in. As each song passes, I am more and more astounded by Waters’ guitar prowess-but a guitar wank record this is not. Each riff, lead, and passage is purposeful in making each song the best it could possibly be. There’s a harmonized tapping lead guitar section 2:24 into “25 Seconds” that is just jaw dropping. The only thing that’s kind of holding this record back is Dave Padden’s vocal performance. True, the lyrics themselves are somewhat cheesy, I can deal with that, but his delivery comes across to me as a straight up Devin Townsend impression. I mean, from his cleans all the way down to his screaming, Padden truly does sound as if he’s channeling HevyDevy himself. A bit of a gripe, but not enough to denounce this record (the lame VAN HALEN comes closer), as the riffing and leads more than make up for it. I’m actually surprised by how much I dig this; makes me wonder what I’ve been missing out on. If you dig thrash or traditional metal played the right way, then by all means check this out.

BONDED BY BLOOD - Exiled To Earth (www.earache.com)

Despite their awful name (“dude! Let’s name our band Master Of Puppets, lolololololol!”), BONDED BY BLOOD’s brand of retro thrash doesn’t totally suck. It’s not exactly amazing either; it’s competent, but mediocre. As always with these retro thrash acts, the best aspect is the guitars-Alex Lee and Juan Juarez’s playing is what truly caries this band. And it’s not even their solos, as the solos tend to be very atypical thrash solos-lots of whammy, tapping, fast picking-it’s the strength of their riffs that truly propel this band. There’s a ton of choice riffing on this record (check out “Prototype: Death Machine” and “Genetic Encryption”). What absolutely kills this record for me is Jose “Aladdin” Barrales’ (seriously dude, Aladdin?) truly forced and contrived vocals. Again, going by the name, this band obviously carries a huge EXODUS influence, but Barrales’ laughable attempt of recapturing Paul Baloff’s raw, untrained, unhinged hellish throat is actually sad to listen to. It’s bad enough that these retro thrash bands are blatant in their ripping off of an established sound, but this is a whole new level-at least try to find your own voice. That, and the concept behind the lyrics to this record-a very archetypical us vs. them story about thwarting an alien race from world domination 600 years in the future (it sounds even more absurd when I type it out)-had me shaking my head in disbelief. I’ve always been lukewarm to the retro thrash movement, and BONDED BY BLOOD do absolutely nothing to persuade me to think otherwise. There are other bands doing this whole retro thrash thing much better (see EVILIE), but really, if I want Bonded By Blood, I’ll reach for the EXODUS classic before the namesake band.

DECEPTION OF A GHOST - Speak Up, You’re Not Alone (www.bullettooth.com)

Wow, metalcore’s not dead yet? Could’ve fooled me. Anyways, what we have here is yet another very typical commercial metalcore band. Within two and a half minutes of opener “In Case You Forgot”, DECEPTION OF A GHOST burns through all of their tricks; lame pseudo-melodic death metal riffs, breakdowns, “brootal” death grunts, gang vocals, and a cleanly sung chorus sweeter than high fructose corn syrup. Now what do they do for the next 36 or so minutes? Repeat that two and half minute formula 15 and a half times and you end up with this 38 and a half minute record. Ooh, “I Once Knew A Man” has glockenspiel on it; big fucking deal. RUSH had glockenspiel on their records 20 or so years ago, and even then, they were not likely the first to do it. I simply do not know what to say about DECEPTION OF A GHOST that I haven’t said countless times before when talking about these stunted metalcore/deathcore bands; learn about metal’s history, cash grab, decent lead guitar playing, derivative songwriting, made solely for Hot Topic kids, etc, etc, etc. Take your pick; there is truly nothing new under the sun here. DECEPTION OF A GHOST is simply yet another in a long line of bands that are aping an extremely commercial scene in a soulless and passionless attempt to earn a living. Which, at base level, is fine-everyone’s got a right to earn a living. But please spare me of the attempts to legitimize what you’re doing and stop trying to pass yourselves off as artists with integrity. Just don’t do it. I’ve truly had it with these bands; I’m not even going to bother to try and point out any good aspects or name check any comparable bands (or any better bands to check out). It’s pointless; the fans of this type of feces seem to be content to wallow in it (until they latch onto something new and equally terrible to wallow in), and real metalheads will always shun this as an affront to the artform they love so very much. Such is life.

ENFORCER - Diamonds (www.earache.com)

Look, I know what to expect with this record-straight up, old school 80’s styled heavy metal, almost to the point of parody. Equal parts NWOBHM (despite ENFORCER hailing from Sweden), Mercyful Fate (without the Satanic theme), and Judas Priest, Diamonds is a truly unoriginal and derivative record. But goddamnit, it’s a fun one when you suspend disbelief. There’s more than a good amount of excellent riffs, awesome twin leads, thunderous drumming, and catchy, anthemic choruses (courtesy of vocalist Olof “Enforcer” Wikstrand, who at one point was the band’s sole member). Hell, it even sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s. The first two tracks, “Midnight Vice” and “Roll The Dice” fly by with aggressive potency and “Katana” brings the MAIDEN worship (complete with Steve Harrris-esque basslines from Tobias Lindqvist; his bass playing throughout the record is a definite highlight). Instrumental title track “Diamonds” is another standout, as there are great riffs and bass playing aplenty. “Live For The Night” is a nice little thrasher with a short, but sweet solo trade off section. Sure, the lyrics and image are beyond cheesy. But try as I might, I cannot hate this-this is what those asshats in WHITE WIZZARD can only hope to aspire to be. Everyone who reads this column knows how I feel about retro movements. But this one is just too fun and authentic to bash. Again, don’t come here looking for innovation, come here looking for a slightly sleazy, headbanging good time.

LAMB OF GOD - Hourglass (www.epicrecords.com)

It’s hard to believe that the band that was practically booed off the stage at the old Birch Hill when opening for THE HAUNTED, DIMMU BORGIR, and CANNIBAL CORPSE circa 2000 is one of the biggest names in metal ten years later. A little simplistic buffoonery and shallow heaviness goes a long way, huh? If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m no LAMB OF GOD fan. Never have been, never will be. These guys are right up there with PANTERA; the ultimate starter metal bands. But in 2000 I was well beyond my metal starter phase, and I’m certainly not regressing in 2010. Give the devil his due, Chris Adler is mindblowing on the kit and Mark Morton and Willie Adler on guitar are nothing to sneeze at either. But good musicians (and an absolutely terrible vocalist in Randy Blythe) don’t always make good music (and the inverse holds true more often than not). At any rate, Hourglass is a 15 year anniversary release, available in no less than 7 different configurations- 2 single CD versions (one early best of and one Epic records best of), 3 CD anthology (which includes both best of’s and a third disc of rarities), vinyl/USB box sets (including all of their studio albums including Burn The Priest, but curiously not the rarities disc), a deluxe set (including all mentioned plus a book) and a “super deluxe” set (which includes the deluxe set and, of all things, a Mark Morton signature series Jackson guitar in a custom Coffin Case-all yours for $1,000!). Normally I’d be screaming cash grab, but I do think these types of sets are awesome for hardcore fans. If I were a LAMB OF GOD fan with $1,000 to burn, I’d be all over that super deluxe set. Hell, if I were a LAMB OF GOD fan with $30 or so to burn I’d be all over that 3 CD set with the rarities disc (of which, Epic records has kindly provided me a copy to review). It’s that third disc, subtitled “The Vault”, which will have hardcore fans on a budget seeking this set out. 18 rare tracks spanning the entire length of LAMB OF GOD’s career including early demos, recent demos, as well as Japanese pressing bonus tracks, it’s this collection that will ultimately make this set worthwhile to LAMB OF GOD fans. The rest of the goodies are gravy, I suppose. Look, I’m not gonna trash LAMB OF GOD’s music (as much as I so desperately want to) as these sets are obviously made for LAMB OF GOD’s hardcore fan base and not to draw in more jaded metalheads such as myself (except for maybe the single disc best of compilations, which are likely geared toward more casual listeners). So if you partake in the “wall of death” every time LAMB OF GOD passes through your town, then you owe it to yourself to at the very least check out the 3CD set simply for the rare tracks disc. And if you’ve got money to burn, indulge in one of the swankier limited edition packages. As for me, I’m gonna put on the TRIPTYKON record and continue to live blissfully unaware of LAMB OF GOD’s existence.

ORDER OF ENNEAD - An Examination Of Being (www.earache.com)

So, here we have the second record from the once-side project of DEICIDE’S Steve Asheim alongside new DEICIDE guitarist Kevin Quirion (and also including members of COUNCIL OF THE FALEN). ORDER OF ENNEAD’s mildly technical, black metal tinged, old school death metal is a brutal breath of fresh air. Comparisons to DEICIDE are unquestionably inevitable; so let me get mine out of the way. Asheim’s “day job” is bordering on self-parody at this point (To Hell With God? Seriously?), and in listening to this record, one can really tell where Asheim’s passions lie as his drumming on this record in fiery, powerful, and invigorated, especially when compared to the by the numbers performance (by everyone involved) on Till Death Do Us Part. But this isn’t the Steve Asheim show, as ORDER OF ENNEAD has far more redeeming traits in addition to excellent drumming. John Li on lead guitar is simply beastly, as the neoclassical influenced soloing kicks the overall quality of this record up quite a few notches. Check out the solo roughly 1:20 into “…In The Mirror”-pure fretboard wizardry backed up by Asheim, Quirion, and bassist Scott Patrick trashing out on a beautifully old school riff. Quirion’s vocals are simply frothing over with venom, sporting a mostly higher ranged, black metal influenced rasp, with occasional touches of classic, lower pitched death growls. I’m glad I had a chance to hear this record, as I’ve always blown ORDER OF ENNEAD off as just another side project. I highly recommend this to any extreme metal fan, as this hangs with and occasionally surpasses (especially in the lead guitar department) the likes of BEHEMOTH, ANGELCORPSE and similar blackened death metal bands, all while carving out a distinct niche for themselves. Good stuff.

DANZIG - Deth Red Sabaoth (www.theendrecords.com)

Well, this caught me off guard. I was never the biggest DANZIG fan (preferring his work with THE MISFITS), and I very casually followed Glenn’s eponymous band up until Blackacidevil-the flirtations with industrial on that record was off putting to me at the time, and from there I kind of lost interest in this band. I was unaware DANZIG had retuned to a more traditional, dark, bluesy metal sound. The first thing that really struck me about this record is how damn good it sounds. Much was made in the bio accompanying the CD that this record was recorded in analog, and man, it shows. This record sounds like humans playing instruments, with a very warm and dark tone providing the right vibe and atmosphere. In particular, Johnny Kelly’s drums sound like they’re right there in the room with you; just a very natural, live tone. Now, there are a lot of records that are sonically amazing, but are creatively lacking - how does this record stack up against DANZIG’s previous works? This record is like a heavier, darker version of the first four records, and it feels like a logical successor to 1994’s 4p. Lead single “On A Wicked Night” is quintessential DANZIG; a sludgy, thick as molasses dirge with Glenn’s unmistakable, infectious howls hovering over. “Deth Red Moon” is yet another excellent and catchy tune, probably the closest thing to an upbeat rocker and should be the logical choice for the second single. Tommy Victor kind of shocked me here, as I’m used to his cold, calculated work in PRONG. Here, he lets loose with the proper bluesy swagger, perfectly in line with DANZIG’s back catalog. Ultimately, what we have here is DANZIG doing what DANZIG does best, and he/they sound amazing doing it. If you’re a fan of DANZIG’s early works, then you have no excuse to not pick this up, as it is as good as anything he’s/they’ve done in the past. Highly recommended. –Dan Siano

GRAVE - Burial Ground (www.regainrecords.com)

Holy shit. What the hell happened to GRAVE? Maybe it’s me; maybe I’ve been out of the loop. My last encounter with GRAVE was in 1996 and their album Hating Life. I actually hated that album with a passion at the time, as it was another case of a classic Swedish death metal band gone groove/death n’ roll (see ENTOMBED, DESULTORY, and even DISMEMBER albums from in and around the same time). I totally wrote GRAVE off then, and this is my first encounter with this band since then (despite being aware that they had become a reactivated band around 2002). I am totally blown away by the unbridled savagery on display here! Opener “Liberation” simply blasts through my speakers, grabbing my by the throat and caving my face in with repeated blows. This album is nothing more, absolutely nothing less than the finest in old school Swedish death metal (and I don’t mean that pussified Gothenburg melodeath nonsense that helped spawn metalcore), right up there with the recent DISMEMBER albums. This album totally sounds like it was recorded in 1992, even down to that legendary signature crushing as fuck guitar tone; everything about this record just screams “old school”. There’s really not much more that needs to be said here; this is old school death metal played the way it’s supposed to be played, made simply for old school metalheads. “Sexual Mutilation” is without a doubt an instant classic, and if this song doesn’t get you headbanging, then I call into question your metal credentials. If you’ve never dug old school Swedish death metal, chances are you aren’t gonna dig this. Either that or you’re one of these idiotically misguided kids who only care about “da breakdownz, dood!!!”, in which case, steer the fuck clear of this monstrosity of a record, cause it’s far too heavy for your feeble mind to comprehend. –Dan Siano

GLOOMINOUS DOOM - The Feature (www.drprecords.com)

The first 30 seconds of this record is this reggae sort of vibe, and from there GLOOMINOUS DOOM busts out the thrash. That sentence alone should give you a clear indication that this is not your usual metal record. And that seems to be GLOOMINOUS DOOM’s m.o. - the juxtaposition of thrash with ska, reggae, prog, and whatever else they can muster up. Even then, that’s kind of selling short some of the more unique aspects of this record. The metal element (which is predominant) is firmly rooted in thrash, with plenty of unusual, progressive metal segments to keep things interesting (when they’re not busting out reggae or ska). Ironically, there’s really no doom to speak of (aside from “Lager Jam 87”, which is reminiscent of mid-period CATHEDRAL), but I digress. GLOOMINOUS DOOM is an unapologetically experimental and creative unit, and they don’t seem to be afraid to stick their necks out there to try something new. Witness “The Feature” which in the blink of an eye bounces between country, ska, and blasting death metal quite seamlessly before launching a full on thrash assault. Or check out “White Worms From Hell”, which GLOOMINOUS DOOM “kitchen sinks” it; psychedelic blues, ska, thrash, death metal, whistling-you name it, it’s likely here. Finally, here’s a band who’s not content to simply copy the templates laid out before them; the only drawback to this approach is that it’ll likely take a few listens for everything to fully sink in. This is a very bizarre and challenging record, but is extremely rewarding when it clicks with you. The only thing I personally didn’t care for is the humor element of some of the song titles (and assuming by extension, the lyrics, which I was not provided a lyric sheet). Having song titles such as “Portal Potty”, “Urine Trouble” and “Thrashphault” could make it somewhat difficult for casual listeners to take this record seriously. It’s really difficult for me to name drop bands to compare this to, cause I could easily recommend this to fans of ATHEIST or CYNIC, but that would not be accurate at all. GLOOMINOUS DOOM has carved out a niche for themselves that should have mass appeal to all open minded, forward thinking metalheads. If you don’t like to be challenged by your music, then avoid this like the plague. But if you have an appreciation for truly progressive metal, and not just wank for wank’s sake, I urge you to give this record a chance. –Dan Siano

SETHERIAL-Ekpryosis (www.regainrecords.com)

Wow. This is not what I expected at all. SETHERIAL is a name I was familiar with, but their music always flew under my radar. I had a pre-conceived notion in my head of second-rate DARK FUNERAL worship, and had always written SETHERIAL off because of that. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The first few seconds of “A World In Hell” struck me with it’s unusual, somewhat progressive riffing. Then, I caught onto the production-an absolutely grimy, suffocating affair, perfectly capturing the intended vibe and atmosphere. SETHERIAL is firmly rooted in raw second wave black metal, yet they keep it interesting with segments of unusual, progressive riffing and drumming, as well as some subtle synth passages. I know when one thinks of synths in black metal, DIMMU BORGIR styled symphonic cheese is the first thing that usually comes to mind. There are some vague elements of that, but what I’m picking up on are the synths buried in the mix in “The Devouring Eye”, which are akin to a more prog rock type tone. But make no mistake; the bulk of this record is guitar driven, ugly as fuck black metal. 13 minute “The Mournful Sunset Of The Forsaken” might be the most epic song I’ve heard all year; just riff after riff of melodic, yet grim excellence. SETHERIAL isn’t out to reinvent the wheel; they hold true to the roots of the genre with brutal, yet melodic and atmospheric riffing, violent drumming, and the sickening vocals of Infaustus, while carefully and subtly experimenting with the aforementioned synths and somewhat prog-ish riffing. I was pleasantly surprised by this record after having the lowest of expectations, and this record easily gives something like the somewhat over-hyped (yet damn good) new WATAIN record a run for its money. If you dig traditional raw Scandinavian black metal, you cannot possibly go wrong with this record. –Dan Siano

TRIUMFALL - Antithesis Of All Flesh (www.regainrecords.com)

Here we have Serbian symphonic black metallers TRIUMFALL’s debut album, Antithesis Of All Flesh, released by Infernus’ Forces Of Satan Records, distributed worldwide by Regain. I point this out because without any prior knowledge of this band, one would assume they are something special if such a legendary black metal figure would sign them to his label for their debut album. Unfortunately, while solid, this record is nothing to necessarily write home about. TRIUMFALL almost lost me with “Atrium Mortis”, a 5-minute intro. Few bands can pull this type of thing off, and TRIUMFALL is sadly not one of those bands. When the first proper song, “One With The Darkside Eternal”, kicks in, I am bombarded with a bunch of good ideas, but no cohesive, memorable song. And that is the underlying issue with this record as a whole; there’s a ton of great playing and some excellent individual riffs (in an early DISSECTION or fittingly, GORGOROTH vein), but nothing comes together long enough to form truly great songs. What saves this record is the instrumental interplay-in particular, the guitar tandem of Vorzloth and Usud really is the high point and most interesting aspect of this record. These guys crank out some excellent riffage (in particular, check out the beginning of “Rise Of Pantheon”-the first three riffs are pretty choice). Again, it’s too bad the song structuring is lacking. Additionally, the production is a bit too clean for this genre, robbing the music of its much-needed atmosphere. The guitars in particular, are lacking bite and aggression, instead opting for a somewhat mellow tone, leaving the keys of Phantom to try and carry the bulk of the atmosphere. Bad move, as the keys are the least interesting aspect of this record, relying on the been there done that, cheesy as all hell string/choir/piano sounds. Vocalist Atterigner has a powerful and venomous rasp, but I have to knock off points for those embarrassingly bad clean vocals in “Within Their Midnight”. Ultimately, this record is merely mediocre, when there’s enough good playing and riffs for it to have been a standout. To their credit, TRIUMFALL has high potential to make something great, and I do expect them to make a better second record. I cautiously recommend this record to those who dig symphonic black metal, as this record will go down as the underwhelming debut of a potentially soon to be great band. –Dan Siano

WORMROT - Abuse (www.earache.com)

Total awesomeness. Singaporean grind fiends WORMOT throw down in the most vicious, violent way imaginable. This is no-bones, no-frills, 80’s grind worship and the intensity does not let up for one second of the 23 song, 22 minute run time. Bolstered by a thick as fuck, yet perfectly crusty production, this record is crushing in every possible way. The only truly questionable moment is the pseudo-rapped vocals in the beginning of “Good Times”, and even still, it seems to be more of a mockery than anything else. Oh, and they tear through a barely recognizable grind version of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Rich”. That’s right, a grind version of a YYY’s tune. As a YYY’s fan, I got a chuckle out of it, but not much else aside from the absurd novelty. Regardless, the original tunes more than make up for it, and I would highly, highly recommend this excellent record to any fan of NASUM, NAPALM DEATH, INSECT WARFARE, and the like. There’s a 2-disc version that comes with 34 bonus tracks witch I’m going to immediately seek out; I’d suggest you’d do the same. –Dan Siano

EVILE - Infected Nations (www.earache.com)

Anybody who knows me, or even reads this column, knows that I’m not big on “fad” metal genres. Metalcore, deathcore, nu metal, and lately, retro-thrash - they’re all kind of bullshit cash-in genres as far as I’m concerned. What does this gave to do with EVILE? Some can successfully accuse EVILE of riding the retro-thrash bandwagon. But fuck that, this record is simply too damn good to dismiss. Instead of merely aping every thrash cliché and rehashing them without shame, ELIVE takes the templates laid out before them and moulds them into their own. This is not a highly original record, but a great one nonetheless. The songs actually go somewhere, and have lots of interesting twists, turns, and nuances. Every single song is an epic, with all but one approaching six minutes (including the absolutely mammoth 11 minute instrumental closer “Hundred Wrathful Deities”). Sure guitarist/vocalist Matt Drake is channeling Hetfield, both guitar and vocal wise, but even Hetfield may stand to learn something by checking EVILE out. And the riffs; holy shit this record is absolutely riff-tastic. Seriously, “Infected Nation”, “Devoid Of Thought”, and “Nosophoros” have some of the finest riffs I’ve ever heard, giving a guy like Patrik Jensen (riff master for WITCHERY and THE HAUNTED for those who don’t know) a run for his money. In fact all of these guys-Drake, lead guitarist Ol Drake, drummer Ben Carter, and bassist Mike Alexander (who sadly passed away 15 days after this album’s release)-are beyond capable players, who flaunt the song-smithing techniques and instrumental chops of far more seasoned veterans. This is simply an excellent metal record made by a hungry young band that knows and respects their roots, and are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Check it out.

MUNICIPAL WASTE - Massive Aggressive (www.earache.com)

MUNICIPAL WASTE drummer Dave Witte is a phenomenal drummer. Too bad this album will get al the attention, while his best work from last year was on BURNT BY THE SUN’s criminally overlooked Heart Of Darkness. MUNICIPAL WATSE is kind of a joke to me, kind of like the antithesis of EVILE (see above). Whereas EVILE is actually creative with their retro-thrash sound, MUNICIPAL WASTE is kind of just there, offering nothing really interesting outside of hype and aggression. This isn’t necessarily a bad record, and the other musicians in the band are no slouches either, but it is a highly unoriginal and derivative retro-thrash record. The best aspect of this record-aside from the tremendous drumming-is its breakneck pace. In the time it took me to type this, 5 songs have flown by. You get 13 songs in 28 minutes, with the longest one being closer “Acid Sentence” at 3:02. So these guys aren’t fucking around with clean intros, mid paced sections, and technical wankery-just thrash, thrash, thrash. But that same advantage is also MUNICIPAL WATSE’S downfall, as the songs just kind of blend together and I’m convinced it’d be impossible to tell one song from another if this album was played on shuffle. If you’re a thrash enthusiast, check this out, otherwise there’s much better metal out there. Not bad, but rather meh.

WHITE WIZZARD - High Speed GTO and Over The Top (www.earache.com)

Man, I just don’t get this whole retro fad, especially when it comes to trad metal. It’s all well and good for what it is I suppose, but it doesn’t do a single damn thing for me. Yes, these guys are good players (look no further than “Into The Night” or “Over The Top” for proof); yes their production values are clean and slick (a.k.a “professional”). What kills this for me is the total ridiculousness of the lyrics. I don’t dig cheesy, “oh baby” kind of stuff, and this EP and album is chock full of it. I mean, seriously, “Oh baby lookin' mighty fine/What I gotta do to make you mine?/I gotta tell ya somethin' on my mind” (poetry from “Celestina”)? Give. Me. A. Break. That is some utterly ridiculous glam shit right there. And what the hell is up with those falsettos in “Megalodon”? King Diamond you are not. “Red Desert Skies”? You mean “Blood Red Skies”? Or maybe “Desert Plains”? Fucking spare me. I can’t fathom that there is someone in one of Earache’s two international offices who thinks this is marketable. Look, there is only one PREIST and only one MAIDEN. Why bother trying to ape such legendary and identifiable sounds? At least try, try and do something of your own, whether it’s a new take of an established sound or something original. But put some fucking effort into it. I’m gonna put Stained Class on and forget the last hour and 15 minutes. “40 Deuces”? How appropriate.

YOUR DEMISE - Ignorance Never Dies (www.earache.com)

“Fad” metal, or heavy music in this particular case, seems to be a running theme in this installment. After 4 retro-trash/metal records, now we get some metalcore. Awesome. YOUR DEMISE is actually pretty intense, but intensity is all this band seems to have going on for them. Musicianship, songwriting, and originality are lacking. So what if these guys can two-step? Who if this band does breakdowns? YOUR DEMISE’s approach is heavy on the hardcore, lean on the metal, which is actually somewhat refreshing (compared to most metalcore bands), and there’s nary a clean vocal passage to be heard anywhere on this disc. So these guys come to just bludgeon you, and they effectively do just that-there’s no complicated playing, no syrup-y choruses, no shredding (I think there was one guitar solo, in “The Clocks Aren’t Ticking Backwards”), just brutal, metal influenced hardcore. Unfortunately, this type of monotonous, mindless brutality-geared more for kids in the pit-does nothing for me. I was all about ready to write this band off until I got to “Unknown Dub”; a dark trip-hop/industrial instrumental. This is easily the best five minutes on this record. Couple that with “Great Shape”, which is like dark techno, and “Hypochondriac” (industrial noise), you have 10 solid minutes of dark electronic music. If this band abandoned metalcore and went with this type of stuff, then I’d be way more inclined to listen to them. Either way, this record’s totally forgettable-three songs can’t save it. I’d reckon this band goes down like a storm at a hardcore show, but that type of shallow aggression doesn’t translate well to record in this case. I’ll recommend this to hardcore and metalcore kids, but no one else really. Mediocre.

GRIND MADNESS AT THE BBC (www.earache.com)

Extreme Noise Terror-22 tracks. Almost just as intense as Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror retains a sloppier punk edge. This is a band I shamefully admit I’m not familiar with, despite knowing their historical significance and integral role in the development of grind as a cohesive genre. These tracks are complied from 3 sessions, and all tracks have previously been released, most recently by Discipline Records in 1998 (although it wouldn’t surprise me if that comp is out of print, hereby making this the only officially available version of this collection of songs). Man, listening to this stuff is like a fist repeatedly to the face and I’m loving it when every blow lands. As I understand it, nowadays Extreme Noise Terror is a hybrid of grind, death metal, and crust punk, which to me sounds fucking amazing and is a testament to Extreme Noise Terror’s longstanding contribution to grindcore-they never forsook their punk roots. Essential stuff.

Carcass-8 tracks. Carcass was known for bringing the “gore” angle to grind over blunt politics (even though they were initially subliminally political-the early lyrics were indeed gory, but coming from a vegan/animal lib angle as opposed to outright sadism or misogyny). These tracks were pulled from two sessions and were previously released by Earache on the Choice Cuts compilation. These songs are from Carcass’ early era, before they went full on technical melodic death metal (even though Carcass was one of the early bands considered grind that was always more death metal oriented and had a less overall punk influence). Personally, I prefer a more developed, death metal Carcass, as the stuff on Necroticism and Heartwork is superior to the early records. But even then, their early records were far more technically developed than what their peers were doing at the time. Carcass’ contribution to this comp is essential for those reasons alone-the gore theme and higher caliber musicianship- even though they would go on to make better music. Sadly, Carcass never recorded another session with the BBC to showcase said improved music.

Bolt Thrower-12 tracks. Bolt Thrower is a band that I’ve never personally seen as grind, being pretty much death metal from the start with a smidge of grind influence. Their lyrical themes of war and epic, metal as fuck musical approach were and remain alien to grindcore. These tracks are taken from 3 sessions, and were previously released by Strange Fruit in 1991 but, like Extreme Noise Terror, I would not be surprised if that comp is out of print and this is the only way you can get your hands on these recordings. The first session is interesting because it’s the only widespread release-aside from some early demos-with original vocalist Alan West. Solid stuff here.

Godflesh-4 tracks. This is the real gem for me on a personal level, as Godflesh is a recent obsession of mine. Not grind at all, Godflesh’s mechanical industrial metal is harsh, dissonant, martial, repetitive, yet extreme in a way that no one has accurately done since. This lone session is being released in its entirety for the first time on this compilation (2 songs, “Tiny Tears” and “Pulp” were previously released on the In All Languages compilation). Godflesh is a totally different kind of heavy. Never approaching anything that resembles an extreme tempo, Broadrick and Green pummel you with harsh guitar noise and sterile, monotonous beats. The only thing grind about Godflesh’s music is the fact that their music vaguely resembles the metallic harshness of machine parts grinding together. The versions of “Pulp” and “Like Rats” included here are simply devastating. The inclusion of the unreleased material makes the acquisition of this comp worthwhile. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Unseen Terror-8 tracks. Unseen Terror is a one-time side project of Shane Embury of Napalm Death and this one session features Mick Harris from Napalm on vocals. This session was previously released by Strange Fruit in 1989 and, again, this comp is most likely the only way you can get these recordings. Sloppy, punk-ish grind with some vaguely thrash-influenced breaks is Unseen Terror’s M.O. Quite possibly the least interesting material on this comp, the music is merely OK and the vocals are quite redundant. Decent stuff, but on the merits of the material alone, it’s not worth seeking out this comp just for these recordings. The likely rarity of this material may be a selling point for grind and/or Napalm Death collectors.

Heresy-19 tracks. Very interesting stuff here. Heresy’s version of grind is likely the truest to the genre’s roots on this collection. This is basically extreme punk rock-a precursor to crust punk. There’s nary a metal influenced riff to be found here, and the vocals are mostly cleanly sung (some grunting/screaming pops up here and there). The only thing that ties this to metal influenced grind is the use of blast beats. These tracks are pulled from 3 sessions, and as far as I can ascertain, all 19 tracks are previously unreleased, making Heresy’s contribution to this comp quite valuable. This is some raw, high-energy stuff. To reiterate, this is (seemingly) the first official release of these recordings, which makes the acquisition of this compilation that much more worthwhile.

Intense Degree-11 tracks. Like Heresy, Intense Degree falls more on the punk side of grind. These recordings are from one session, and were previously released by Strange Fruit in 1988. And like Extreme Noise Terror, Bolt Thrower, and Unseen Terror, this is probably the only official version of this session currently in print. This material is; again, quite similar to Heresy, as it is mostly punk riffing over blast beats with cleanly sung vocals. The slight differentiating factor between the two bands is that Intense Degree dials in a slight thrash influence. Solid and full throttle way to close out the comp.

To sum it up, this compilation is an absolutely mandatory purchase for all those into early extreme music. This is the very definition of (mostly) grindcore, recorded in its element-live and raw. The unreleased material by HERESY and especially GODFLESH, and the likely rarity of all the other material, solidifies this comp as an essential historical document. Don’t wait-snatch this up immediately, and thank me later.

THE OFFICIAL HEAVY METAL BOOK OF LISTS by Eric Danville (Backbeat Press)

It shouldn’t need to be said that this book is extremely light on serious content. It is what the title says it is - a book of lists. There’s nary a lengthy paragraph to be found anywhere on these 226 pages. It’s broken down into 7 loose conceptual chapters with two chapters overlapping-Drugs/Alcohol, Occult, Violence, Sex/Obscenity, Noise (freeform lists), On the Road (touring lifestyle), and Whole Lotta Lists (more freeform lists). There is roughly 140 some odd lists herein and I’ll just give you a sample of the topics without spoiling the content of the lists: 50 Heavy Metal Drinking Songs, Kittie’s Top 6 “Get Drunk For Under $30” Wines, 8 Heavy Metal Bands Who Got Their Name From Horror Movies, Pure Fucking Armageddon: The Norwegian Black Metal Body Count, 51 Awesomely Violent Band Names, 9 Metal Suicides, 52 Band Names About…Pussy!, Director Matt Zane Of Society 1 Remembers 25 Metalheads Who Appeared In His Porn Movies, 21 All Chick Metal Cover Bands, 12 Gibson Flying V Guitars, 6 Songs About Roadies, 17 Metalhead’s Stage Names And How The Got Them, 32 Great Moments In Kiss Merchandising, and 21 Hair Metal Video Fashion Tips. If this sort of largely inoffensive, inane content is your sort of thing, then I’m sure you’ll get a few chuckles out of this. It’s as well researched as it needs to be-the band name lists (which there are a few of) seem to be lacking a bit in effort, as if the author went to Metal Archives or some similar site and did a quick search for gory/sexual band names. The only thing I truly find objectionable about this book is in Chapter 3, Violence, there’s a list called 8 Heavy Metal Songs The Government Has Used To Torture Prisoners At Abu Ghraib And Guantanamo Bay. I absolutely find it sickening and appalling to make light of the injustice against human rights in the name of “freedom” committed by the leaders of our nation (and only 2 on the list of 8 are actual metal songs). This section should’ve absolutely been cut form the final print-there’s no excuse for this level of tastelessness.

All in all, this book is simply a “for fun” affair. An easy read (the fonts are humungous-I wonder if that’s a subliminal knock on the perceived intelligence level of the average metalhead) with shallow content, don’t come to this looking for seriousness and you won’t be disappointed.

HATEBREED-Hatebreed (www.e1entertainment.com)

STRIKE ANYWHERE-Iron Front (www.bridge9.com)

DEAD SWANS - Sleepwalkers (www.bridge9.com)

DETHKLOK - Dethalbum II (www.adultswim.com)

KITTIE - In The Black (www.e1ent.com)

MUCKY PUP - A Boy In A Man’s World/Now (Reissues) (www.iscreamrecords.com)

DIRGE WITHIN-Force Fed Lies (www.e1music.us)

It’s a tale as old as time - a metalcore band with thrash and melodic death metal influences, a decent rhythm section, a guitar shredder, and an angsty vocalist who alternates from shouts to clean singing. This was somewhat of an original sound circa 2000-when bands like SHADOWS FALL and GOD FORBID were just getting noticed. But almost a decade later, this formula is about as stale as 3 day old Krispy Kreme’s. Sugary, but disgusting. And now we have DIRGE WITHIN. Bringing absolutely nothing new to the table, this band-which formed roughly two years ago-seems to exist solely for profit. And I say that with good reason-this is guitarist Shaun Glass’ second attempt at commercial music glory. You see Mr. Glass first well-known band was BROKEN HOPE, an excellent brutal death metal band (with such charmers as “Erotic Zoophilism”, “Penis Envy”, and “Hobo Stew”). Brutal, gore soaked death metal is hardly profitable business-CANIBAL CORPSE being the notable exception. So when that didn’t bring him to great fortune, he sold his soul to CREED-esque rockers SOIL. Now, when that didn’t pan out as hoped, he jumped on the metalcore bandwagon and rode it. Hard. Anyways, DIRGE WITHTIN is an entirely forgettable band, and its only redeeming factor is the choice lead guitar work (promotional materials provided leave it ambiguous as to whether Glass or fellow axe slinger Matthew Szlachta is responsible). But even then, how many commercialized metalcore bands have excellent lead guitarists? Quite a few. It’s simply not enough to save this wholly terrible band. There is not one memorable moment on this record. I shudder to think that some impressionable kid is going to stumble upon DIRGE WITHTIN and proclaim it to be the most elite underground metal band. As for me? I’m gonna go induce vomiting to hopefully quell the nauseating feeling I got while listening to this.

THE PERENNIAL-Dissension (www.theperennial.net)

Modern hardcore. Yeah this stuff is intense, but it’s also quite banal. THE PERNNIAL throw down in “classic” HATEBREED fashion, but comparatively add a touch of guitar melody and keep the tempos quick, and not reliant on the ol’ breakdown. But that’s all they really have going for them; a slight edge from the pack. Otherwise, this is as formulaic as it gets. As usual, the vocals are the weakest link, being nothing more than a monotone bark. Not much more to say really, as this EP is over in the blink of an eye (3 songs in roughly 9 minutes). Recommended to those who dig HATEBREED, early POISION THE WELL, early CONVERGE, and the like. You can snag a free download from the band’s website, provided above.

MEMPHIS MAY FIRE-Sleepwalking (www.trustkill.com)

An intriguing and energetic, but ultimately unrewarding experience; MEMPHIS MAY FIRE play a blend of metalcore, post-hardcore, and southern rock. A weird combo, right? It doesn’t work though, as the post-hardcore (read: modern emo) influences dominate everything. The only metal element, borrowed from metalcore, is clichéd and tired breakdowns. I will say that the guitar work of Killen McGregor and Ryan Bentley is pretty damn scorching when it wants to be. When not in full-on breakdown or emo chorus mode, these guys do a ton of bluesy, legato riffs, licks, and solos. Mostly excellent work from these guys. However, Matt Mullins on vocals kills this band for me. I am just not into this type of high-pitched emo singing at all. I don’t mind the screaming, but those whiny clean vocals-which are all the rage these days-are plain fucking annoying. All in all, this is a short, high-octane record, that is merely inoffensive and nothing special. Imagine ESCAPE THE FATE, or a jacked-up THE USED drinking a shit-ton of whiskey and busting out their dad’s old SKYNYRD records. Not my thing at all, and not metal at all, but I’d reckon the kids who are into this type of stuff will gobble it up and beg for more.

VICIOUS CYCLE - Pale Blue Dot (www.derangedrecords.com)

Blistering and slightly melodic hardcore punk (in the original sense) is on VICIOUS CYCLE’s menu. Whilst it’s nothing groundbreaking, this record is totally fun and packed with adrenaline. And these guys are no slouches instrumentally either; there’s plenty of REFUSED-like dissonances, “The Waiting” has got some pretty cool odd time signatures, and “Death”, “For Carl”, and “Rebirth” are trippy soundscapes. Vocally, Nico Taus is channeling Earth A.D. era Danzig; deep howls and some deep bluesy clean singing (used very sporadically). The production quality is raw, dirty, and smacks of analog-it’s very “demo” like if you catch my drift. I have to imagine this record was made to be heard on vinyl. I’d also guess that VICIOUS CYCLE is a very intense and formidable live band. With 13 songs in 28 minutes, you know what you’re getting-an absolutely no frills, old-school punk record. Check it out.

SHADOWS FALL-Retribution (www.everblackindustries.com)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m a hypocrite cause I decry metalcore but dig SHADOWS FALL. Fucking sue me. I’ve been following these guys since 2000 (I must have seen them at least 7-8 times that year alone-they were practically on every tour package that year). They had somewhat of a unique sound back then, and everybody’s aped it and commercialized it since. I was looking forward to this record-after the drama surrounding their time with Atlantic Records for the disappointing Threads Of Life (supposed forced commercial leanings), and hearing how this record was going to be handled independently (with the assist from Ferret Records solely for distribution), I had expectations of an absolute thrashtastic barnburner. SHADOWS FALL were free to do as they please. After the obligatory acoustic intro, “The Path To Imminent Ruin”, “My Demise” kicks in with a neck breaking thrash intro. I was faked out soon thereafter, as this tune has many twists and turns. Mostly midpaced for the verses and choruses, it soon heads for an epic clean bridge, and a blistering neoclassical section-reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen-immediatley afterwards. I was kind of disappointed at first, coming from the thrashy intro to mostly midpaced metal, but then I realized it takes some balls to open your record with a seven-minute epic. And after one tune, I can say with certainty that Jon Donais is still one of the finest lead guitarists in metal; an absolute fucking beast. Some of the stuff he pulls off on this record is just mindblowing. And the rhythm section of guitarist Matt Bachand, drummer Jason Bittner, and bassist Paul Romanko is as tight as ever. I caught SHADOWS FALL on Jimmy Fallon performing “Still I Rise”; a decent tune, but nothing special, there to serve the function of the requisite “single” (along the lines of “Destroyer Of Senses” and “Inspiration On Demand”). The three-pronged vocal attack (Donais, Bachand, and lead throat Brian Fair) is as sharp as ever and used to great effect. The only drawback-and this is somewhat minor-is that the choruses are predominately cleanly sung and saccharine as all fuck. The hooks on this record scream “radio”. In fact, these choruses are the most accessible in their entire catalog; even more so than on Threads Of Life (you know, with the forced major label commercialism and all). I find it kind of weird that the band had total control over the content of this record, and chose to add such blatant radio hooks. Anyways, “War” satisfied my craving for thrash, as this one’s absolutely lethal. Diversity has always been SHADOWS FALL’s ultimate strength, and they play this aspect up more so than ever. There’s really something for every metalhead, from epic (“My Demise”), to midpaced (“King Of Nothing” and “The Taste Of Fear”), to melodic (“Still I Rise”), to extreme (“War”). This album is ace and completely pisses all over Threads Of Life and Somber Eyes To The Sky, and is on par with The Art Of Balance and The War Within. They still haven’t topped Of One Blood yet, though.

BLACK ARROWS OF FILTH AND IMPURITY-1984 (Eternal) (www.gileadmedia.net)

CHIMAIRA-The Infection (www.ferretstyle.com)

CYCLE OF PAIN-Cycle Of Pain (www.reformrecords.com)

DARKEST HOUR-The Eternal Return (www.victoryrecords.com)

GALLOWS-Grey Britain (Reprise)

BLOOD RED THRONE - Souls Of Damnation (www.earache.com)

EPHEL DUATH - Through My Dog’s Eyes (Elitist/Earache)

IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION - Of Winter Born (www.earache.com)

OCEANO - Depths (www.earache.com)

HEAVY METAL KILLERS (www.earache.com)

Powervice - “Behold The Hand Of Glory”. Fun, uptempo Di’Anno-era MAIDEN worship from the Netherlands. Lots of sweet guitar harmonies and a ripping guitar solo over an aggressive, punkish rhythm section. Title track from their 2005 demo.

RAM - “Sudden Impact”. A blend of fast traditional metal and mid-tempo thrash from this Swedish band. Features a killer and aggressive main riff, melodic vocals, and an abundance of shredding guitar solos. From their 2005 album Forced Entry.

Cauldron - “Chained Up In Chains”. A track from the Canadian band’s 2009 album Chained To The Nite, which I’ve previously reviewed in full. To reiterate, this is old-era solo OZZY worship, decently done instrumentally, but severely lacking vocally and topped off with a cheesy lyrical tale of a femme fatale.

Enforcer - “Mistress Of Hell”. ENFORCER from Sweden contribute a blazing speed metal tune reminiscent of early PRIEST. Unabashedly metal and featuring some great bass playing as well as some tasty leads and riffs. From their 2008 album Into The Night.

H.O.D. - “Kicked To The Kerb”. The UK’s H.O.D. (HOSPITAL OF DEATH) offer this nondescript midpaced thrasher from their 2008 album Beer, Bitches, & Blood. Some decent riffs, but not much else. Truly horrible lyrics here.

Portrait - “A Thousand Nightmares”. Pulled from their 2008 self titled album, this Swedish band tries to channel a poor man’s version of a speed metal MERCYFUL FATE, especially vocally. A commendable attempt, but falls short of the mark. The highlight of the song is the extended trade off solo section over multiple riffs-something more bands should be doing these days.

Crowning Glory - “Sea Of Dead Dreams”. Early Dickinson-era MAIDEN inspired tune from this British band, very reminiscent of “2 Minutes To Midnight”. Instrumentally very solid with a plethora of good riffs, but lacking power vocally. From their 2006 EP Path To Glory.

Celtic Legacy - “Live By The Sword”. More Dickinson-era MAIDEN worship, more in the midpaced style. The best vocal performance on this compilation by far with a huge, catchy chorus. Some excellent guitar work as well. Taken from the Irish band’s 2003 album Resurrection.

Voltax - “Steel Maker”. Mexico’s VOLTAX contribute this short anthem about longing for the times of old a.k.a. the 80’s. Nothing about this track stands out, and is merely average overall. From their 2007 self titled album.

In Solitude - “Witches Sabbath”. A decent early KING DIAMOND approximation. Not nearly as vocally powerful as the King himself, and the riffs are a little lacking, but a worthy attempt at recreating a Fatal Portrait type atmosphere. A little derivative overall. From their 2008 self titled album.

All in all, if you are seeking something new and/or groundbreaking, then it’s best to skip this comp. But, if you’re looking for a fun, nostalgic listen with a handful of decent to great bands, then by all means grab this. My personal recommendation is to seek out the standalone releases of POWERVICE, RAM, ENFORCER, and CELTIC LEGACY.

CAULDRON - Chained To The Nite (www.earache.com)

THE HAUNTED - Warning Shots (www.earache.com)

I can only really recommend this to hardcore THE HAUNTED completionists, and maybe someone who’s never hear of THE HAUNTED. But I would sooner say to that person, “skip this, buy the first three records, and skip the last three”. This kind of reeks of cash grab.

INSECT WARFARE-World Extermination (www.earache.com)

MASTODON-Crack The Skye (repriserecords.com)

The vocal interplay of guitarist Brent Hinds and bassist Troy Sanders-and now incorporating drummer Brann Dailor-is the most impressive area of improvement here. These guys are now singing their asses off, with every word being heartfelt and intense. The only screamed vocals provided here are by perennial guest vocalist Scott Kelly (of NEUROSIS) on “Crack The Skye”. The lyrics tell an interesting and deep tale of astral projection. All this is a welcome surprise, as I’ve always thought of MASTODON primarily as an instrumental band with vocal sections. For the most part I still think that, but it seems on this outing that a lot more care was put into the vocal aspect. But that doesn’t mean one bit that they’ve slacked off instrumentally. The playing on Crack The Skye is absolutely on fire. Now, you might think that a prog-metal band “on fire” might mean notes flying all over that place in nonsensical fashion, but absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. There is no shortage of technical and complex riffing, but it never once enters “wank” territory-each note serves it’s purpose and is tastefully and carefully played. 10+ minute epic “The Czar” is by far the highlight of the album with it’s middle two sections of heavy, insane riffing sandwiched between two very ethereal, ambient, and organ heavy sections. The only time they go balls out crazy and unhinged is a 30 second section roughly six minutes into 13-minute monster “The Last Baron”. Guitar wise Hinds and Bill Kelliher play up their very unique and distinct style-heavy riffs, high legato licks, bluesy solos, and unusual chords. These guys are making a mark for themselves with each passing album, and should be recognized alongside some of the greatest guitar tandems in metal history. Sanders’ bass is a subtle, yet key ingredient to the mix-never overplayed but never understated. Dailor’s drumming style on this record caught me off guard-his trademark fast and fluid fill approach is surprisingly subdued here and his performance is overall quite restrained. He unleashes some of his signature fills, but only at the right time as opposed to all the time.

Expertly produced by Brendan O’Brien, I cannot recommend this album enough. This is a dense and powerful listen, and as much as I’ve touched upon here, there’s still so much more to be explored. MASTODON has blown me away from my first encounter with them (live at the Relapse Records Contamination Festival in 2003), and they continue to impress. This is the best record of 2009 so far, and looks like a strong contender to close out the year with such honors. Seek out the special edition with the bonus DVD, which has two featurettes-one on the making of the album and one of track-by-track commentary by the band. These two pieces provide invaluable insight into Crack The Skye as well as MASTODON itself. What are you waiting for? Get your hands on this now.

THE BOY WILL DROWN-Fetish (www.earache.com)

LIVE REVIEW:
ESCAPE THE FATE/
BLACK TIDE/WILLIAM CONTROL/ATTACK ATTACK! The Fillmore At Irving Plaza 2/21/2009

As I approached the venue, I was simply astounded by the sheer amount of emo kids that wrapped around from the Irving Plaza’s entrance on 15th & Irving al the way to 16th & Union Sq. E. It was a long fucking line. What’s even more trippy is when these kids popped (“pop” in this context is pro wrestling jargon for an extremely positive crowd reaction) for a 90’s TV theme compilation played between BLACK TIDE’S and ESCAPE THE FATE’S sets. I don’t know, maybe it’s me, but I just have a problem with these misguided emo kids showing up at a show like this and thinking they’re real deal metalheads when they’ve probably never heard PANTERA (the ultimate starter metal band), let alone something more extreme, underground, and legitimate.

Onto the music: I’m going to touch briefly on the two bands mentioned above as not metal: WILLIAM CONTROL and ESCAPE THE FATE. WILLIAM CONTROL went on second and I have to say, I was totally flabbergasted. Brace yourselves: A two-piece punk/new wave/goth/industrial/dance act. One lead singer, one bassist/backing vocalist, and a whole fuckton of prerecorded backing tracks. Drums, keys, guitars, backing vocals, all on tape. Personally, I don’t see the need for the bassist to be on stage,; if you’re going to have all that instrumentation on tape, why have the bass be live? Wouldn’t it make more sense aesthetically to have a lead guitarist on stage? Anyhow, I was not too impressed by the tunes, as it came across to me as a second rate ORGY. But the kids ate it up; especially the girls. I have never been to a show where girls are screaming their lungs out. It was extremely surreal, especially taking into account the audience’s average age.

ESCAPE THE FATE closed the night out, and if you’ve read my previous review of their This War Is Ours album., then you already know this band does not impress me. Their live show, while adequate and tight, did nothing to change my opinion. These guys had all the “right moves”, and while they looked like MOTEY CRUE (complete with Robert Ortiz’s Tommy lee-esque huge double bass drum kit), they sounded like THE USED. Not a good combination. I ended up staying for about 5 of their songs, and I just wasn’t feeling it at all. I opted to leave and beat the post-show rush out of the building and headed home.

ATTACK ATTACK! opened the show, and due to a bit of confusion on my part outside the venue (apparently, there is a separate line for the guest list, as opposed to general ticket holders), I only caught the second half of their set. I certainly did not feel like I missed anything, though. Run of the mill metalcore at it’s most banal, ATTACK ATTACK! utilized all of the gimmicky tricks generic metalcore bands use, and added zero innovation. Should I start with the monotone lead screaming vocals? How about the “classic” melodeath verse, punk chorus, and breakdown song structure? Maybe it’s the lack of guitar solos (or lead guitars in general) or the useless keys (used mostly for intros and outros and adding no substance to the bulk of the songs)? Either way, this band embodies mediocre. Even worse was the treated clean vocals. I can’t decipher by ear weather it was a vocoder or an auto tuner, but these vocals were definitely effected, every single second of their presence. They looked totally ridiculous on stage too, with both guitarists and the bassist doing an obviously rehearsed run-in-place maneuver. You can really tell they spent hours practicing this routine. I shook my head in shame that someone somewhere considers this legitimate metal. To my astonishment, the crowd was chanting “one more song” after their set. Maybe it’s me.

BLACK TIDE was up third, and despite not being blown away on record, I walked away from this show with a decent amount of respect for this band. I know people think of this band as the beacons of a new generation championing a traditional, old school Metal sound, and they are on the right track to getting there, but they still have a lot of work to do. The material presented that night was a more rock /commercialized interpretation of traditional Metal, but there were plenty of riffs and passages with a strong NWOBHM and thrash influence. I attribute this to being young - the average age of its members is somewhere around 17. For dudes their age, they certainly have a handle on their instruments, as the overall level of musicianship was very high. Their stage presence echoes the days of old, opting to headbang as opposed to throwing themselves and jumping around like idiots. I chuckled when they went for the easy pop with a cover of METALLICA’S “Hit The Lights”, but they played it pretty well overall. The only point in their set which left a bad taste in my mouth was bassist Zachary Sandler’s constant pissing and moaning about the monitor mix, going so far as to kick a wedge during a hissy fit. I will not chalk this up to their age, as I’ve witnessed plenty of older, more established bands throw fits over the very same issue. I just personally feel that any musicians calling themselves “pro” should be able to adapt to any adverse situation without making the crowd aware of the problem. Roll with it man. I overall ended up thinking of this band on a more positive note and they bring the goods as a live act; their songwriting is just a tad lacking. Again, it’s probably because of being so young. They need to delve into the roots of Metal, some NWOBHM, some Power Metal bands, and some classic thrash. Once they’ve acclimated themselves to these styles, and worked these influences into their music, they may be a force to reckon with. Time will tell.

Overall, this show was quite the experience. Mostly crap, but there was a big glimmer of hope from BLACK TIDE. As far as ATTACK ATTACK!, WILLIAM CONTROL, and ESCAPE THE FATE go, don’t buy their records, don’t go to the shows, and let these band’s careers die a obscure death. The emo kids can then go back to their FALL OUT BOY shows, and leave their corrupting influence out of Metal. It’s all for the greater good. - Dan Siano

CROOKED X - Crooked X (www.meteor17.com)

MONO - Hymn To The Immortal Wind (www.temporaryresidence.com)

DAN SIANO'S BEST ALBUMS OF 2008:

METAL:
Nachtmystium-Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1
Leviathan-Massive Conspiracy Against All Life
Opeth-Watershed
Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy
Darkthrone-Dark Thrones And Black Flags
Ihsahn-angL
Cynic-Traced In Air
Horna-Sanojesi Äärelle
Behexen-My Soul For His Glory
Tiamat-Amanethes

NON-METAL:
Guns N' Roses-Chinese Democracy
Sigur Ros- M e d S u d Ì E y r u m V i d S p i l u m E n d a l a u s t
Spiraling-Time Travel Made Easy
Coldplay-Viva La Vida (Or Death And All His Friends)
Nine Inch Nails-The Slip
Longwave-Secrets Are Sinister
Sponge- Galore Galore
The Mars Volta-The Bedlam In Goliath
The Brian Jonestown Massacre-My Bloody Underground
The Killers-Day & Age

DARK FUNERAL - Attera Orbis Terrarum Part 2 (www.regainrecords.com)

I do have a few gripes, however. Firstly, they put these brief captions up with the song titles for every song in the Buenos Aries footage. Two reasons this irks me: 1-it kills the “live” flow of the performance and 2-I don’t think a hardcore DARK FUNERAL fan-the ones this DVD and it’s predecessor are aimed at-is going to not recognize “Open The Gates”, “666 Voices Inside”, or “An Apprentice Of Satan” for example. Secondly, the set lists for the two pro shot shows are-with the exception of the addition of “Godhate” to Sao Paulo and the swapping of “Attera Totus Sanctus” and “The Secrets Of The Black Arts” between the two sequences-exactly the same! So, with 4 full-length albums of material to choose from, we get the same DVD twice for all intents and purposes. Thirdly, and most importantly, NO SURROUND SOUND! It’s obvious that a lot of time and care was put into the visual aspect, presentation, and packaging of this DVD set. And most DVDs of this ilk also include a tremendous surround audio mix. So what gives here? A major disappointment!

Despite it’s flaws, this DVD is both excellent and overwhelming. I cannot recommend this enough for fans of DARK FUNERAL, as well as similar tiered black metal bands (i.e. EMPEROR, MADRUK, etc.). It is an exhausting viewing to take in one sitting, but is well worth it to see one of the finest touring black metal bands thrive in their element. Highly, highly recommended. –Dan Siano

BIBLE OF THE DEVIL - Freedom Metal (www.cruzdelsurmusic.com)

PRO-PAIN - No End In Sight (www.regainrecords.com)

SLANK - Anthem For The Broken Hearted (www.slank.com)

XYSTUS - Equilibrio (www.lasersedgegroup.com)

BRING ME THE HORIZON - Suicide Season (www.epitaph.com)

ESCAPE THE FATE-This War Is Ours (www.epitaph.com)

GRAILS-Doomsdayer’s Holiday (www.temporaryresidence.com)

HATE - Morphosis (www.listenable.net)

MARIONETTE-Spite (www.listenable.net)

SONIC SYNDICATE-Love And Other Disasters (www.nuclearblastusa.com)

SYBREED-Antares (www.listenable.net)

SUSPYRE-When Time Fades… (www.lasersedgegroup.com)

TEXTURES-Silhouettes (www.listenable.net)

WAYLANDER-Honour Amongst Chaos (www.listenable.net)

BLEEDING THROUGH - Declaration (www.trustkill.com)

Oh brother. I usually don’t bother reading the bios that come with the CD’s sent to me. And I’m not too sure why I started here, cause the first sentence made me literally sick to my stomach. Death metal? Black Metal? BLEEDING THROUGH? Fail, fail, and fail. This is the epitome of trend-whoring metalcore. There is NOTHING death/black metal about the purest of trendy core breakdowns 1:40 into the first real song “Declaration (You Can’t Destroy What You Can Not Replace)”. I don’t care how many blast beats or tremolo picked riffs this band attempts, BLEEDING THROUGH can never be death metal. And holding one chord with a string patch does not black metal atmosphere make. Keyboardist “OMG! Hawt chick!” Marta (no last name, only Marta) has literally two sounds-a hokey symphonic string patch and a piano patch. It’s so tiring and gimmicky. I can sum up the gist of this whole album in one sentence-kick off with some pseudo death/thrash riffing/drumming, dive straight into breakdown, add piano/strings, growl along rhythmically, sing cleanly every so often, add plenty of angst-y swear words, and repeat ad nauseam. You can take two seconds to read that sentence, or waste 46:16 listening to this record. I can’t comment on individual songs, because they absolutely sound exactly alike. BLEEDING THROUGH are just another run of the mill, race to the breakdown metalcore band. Heard one, heard ‘em all. Blah, blah, blah, I sound like a broken record. The only thing I can credit to this album is Devin Townsend’s meaty and huge production. But that’s pretty much guaranteed when Mr. Townsend is involved. I can’t even honestly recommend this to the 13 year old, Hot Topic lovin’ target audience for this band. Chances are, said teenybopper “metal” fan already owns a BLEEDING THROUGH record. And since BLEEDING THROUGH albums are interchangeable, she/he would be best advised to not waste her/his money. I’m going to have to listen to GORGOROTH for weeks straight to purge this record from my short-term memory. Ugh. –Dan Siano

BROTHER VON DOOM-Relentless (www.deathcoterecords.com)

You’d think I’d learn my lesson from the BLEEDING THROUGH review to not read the supplied bios. I’m not totally disgusted by this one-more of a head shaking apathy. BROTHER VON DOOM’s (nice name, by the way) references both DETHKLOK and WALL-E. Cartoon Network and Disney. So far, we’re not off to a good start. Musically, we have ever so slightly above average deathcore. BROTHER VON DOOM can get pretty technical at times; witness the cool pull off riff :48 into “A Beautiful Masquerade”. Decent stuff. Like most core bands, BROTHER VON DOOM relies a little heavily on the good old breakdown, as well as recycled Swedish melodic death metal riffs. Mercifully, BROTHER VON DOOM spares us of any clean vocal tomfoolery. But that’s all you’re going to get here, folks. BROTHER VON DOOM does nothing to separate them from the pack. DARKEST HOUR has been doing this type of stuff much better since 1995 (and continues to do so to this very day). These guys are all great players, and Chris Elliot has a distinctly brutal growl, but the sum is not greater than the parts. This band’s songwriting is way too formulaic and generic. BROTHER VON DOOM certainly has the chops to be a truly sick band-the opening of “Coffins For The Cursed” is pretty wild. But only time will tell if they’ll forge their own path or continue riding the wave of the metalcore/deathcore fad. –Dan Siano

GAMA BOMB-Citizen Brain (www.earache.com)

Well, I wanted to totally hate this, but try as I might, I just cannot. Make no mistake, I don’t love this, but I will say it’s damn solid. Totally derivative retro thrash, but fun nonetheless. Storming out of the gates with “Zombie Blood Nightmare”, GAMA BOMB waste no time busting out all the right tricks-razor sharp riffs, speedy double kick drumming, face melting solos, rapid fire lead vocals, and ANTHRAX-esque gang vocals. Songs are short and to the point, the longest one being closer “Bullet Belt” at 3:28. It’s all not without flaw, however, and GAMA BOMB fails in two areas. Firstly, and most importantly, the imagery and lyrics are way too tongue-in-cheek almost to the point of parody. I mean check out this nugget from the 41 second, over before it begins “OCP”: “I don’t like cops and cops don’t like me”. Totally juvenile and it sounds like they are trying too hard to be funny. Secondly, and this is a very minor gripe, all the songs can sound a little same-y. 15 tunes can seem like an eternity when all the songs are similar sounding (ironically enough, the record doesn’t even crack 40 minutes). But that’s just collateral damage when you play rip-roaring thrash. Overall, very solid, but if I’m going for thrash, I’d prefer something with a more serious bent like BLOOD TSUNAMI, WITCHERY, or early THE HAUNTED. –Dan Siano

GET THRASHED (DVD) (www.lightyear.com)

GET THRASHED is a fairly comprehensive, highly nostalgic documentary of the history of-you guessed it-thrash metal. The main feature is packed to the hilt with fantastic vintage and current interview and performance footage as well as great vintage pictures and artifacts (ticket stubs, flyers, posters, etc.). Interviews include members of METALLICA, MEGADETH, EXODUS, SLAYER, DARK ANGEL, DEATH ANGEL, ANTHRAX, PANTERA, TESTAMENT, KREATOR, SODOM, DESTURCTION, SEPULTURA, HIRAX, OVERKILL, SHADOWS FALL, LAMB OF GOD, THE HAUNTED, IN FLAMES, MESHUGGAH, as well as personalities such as Eddie Trunk, Chris Jericho, Ron Quintana, DJ Will, Opie, Danny Shipman, Ian Christe, Charles Florio, the Old Bridge Militia, Jon & Marsha Zazula, Brian Slagel among a slew of others. The 100 minute film, complete with a soundtrack of all the featured bands, goes back to the start of the movement in San Fran and L.A. and covers a variety of topics such as tape trading, Megaforce & Metal Blade records, the opposition to the glam scene, the dedication of the fans, the “dress code” (you know-high tops, tight jeans, black band t-shirts, long hair, and the obligatory leather jacket with a sleeves-cut-off jeans jacket adorned with band logo patches over it), headbanging, moshing, stage diving, the NY scene, crossover, touring conditions, the German scene, the Clash Of The Titans tour, and nu metal. There are also brief band histories of METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER, EXODUS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, KREATOR, and PANTERA. No stone is left unturned, and it is put together with the utmost respect for each band’s well-deserved legacies.

It is not without flaw, however, as there is definitely some highly questionable content here. For starters, there is the inclusion of interview footage with members of some truly suspect bands; namely SLIPKNOT, GODSMACK, CHIMAIRA, HATEBREED, KITTIE, and SOILWORK. These bands have absolutely nothing to do with thrash metal, and are here purely for the sake of getting this film some mainstream cred. KITTIE, a gimmicky all female nu metal band, have the balls (no pun intended) to decry nu metal during one of their interview clips. I laughed quite hard at the irony. Scott Ian of ANTHRAX loses all credibility with me when he refers to SYSTEM OF A DOWN as true thrash metal. Huh? Finally, I feel the timeline is way off. When we get to the 90’s, we go straight from the Clash Of The Titans tour-the supposed end of an era, to how grunge “killed” metal, to nu metal, to the recent faux-retro thrash trend (see my GAMA BOMB and BLACK TIDE reviews). Yeah, that’s how it happened in the mainstream, but what about the underground movements? They touch on the topics of death and black metal-thrash’s logical successors-for a combined five seconds. The filmmakers give PANTERA all the credit for keeping metal alive during the 90’s-which any self-respecting underground metalhead will tell you is total bullshit. I kind of get infuriated when 90’s metal is discredited simply because it was not 80’s thrash. Metal was never “dead” in the 90’s; you just had to actually put an effort into looking harder for it.

All in all, despite it’s misgivings, this film come recommended on two fronts. One is for the old school metalheads looking for an accurate trip down memory lane. The other is for all the kids who think metalcore is the end all be all. This would serve well to educate them on extreme metal’s true beginnings.

Bonus features include 90 minutes of unused band history footage of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE, FORBIDDEN, POSSESED, HEATHEN, DARK ANGEL, HIRAX, AGENT STEEL, OVERKILL, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, S.O.D., M.O.D., PRONG, CARNIVORE, WHIPLASH, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, SACRED REICH, ATROPHY, NASTY SAVAGE, HALLOW’S EVE, METAL CHURCH, D.R.I., EXCITER, RAZOR, SACRIFICE, ANNIHILATOR, ANVIL, DESTRUCTION, SODOM, ASSASSIN, TANKARD, CORONER, HELLHAMMER, MOTORHEAD, VENOM, RAVEN, ONSLAUGHT, SABBAT, MERCYFUL FATE, MORTAL SIN and synopses of regional scenes from Texas, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, and Japan.-Dan Siano

36 CRAZYFISTS - The Tide And It’s Takers (www.ferretstyle.com)

APOCALYPTICA-Worlds Collide (www.zombalabelgroup.com)

APOCALYPTICA-The Life Burns Tour DVD (www.zombalabelgroup.com)

I will give these guys a ton of credit though; “Master Of Puppets” is hard enough to play on a guitar. I can’t even fathom how hard it must be to adapt that to cello. I kind of wrote them off in my review of the Worlds Collide album, but actually visualizing this stuff puts it into a different perspective for me. It is uncanny how a distorted cello resembles a distorted guitar. I still feel that these guys are a total novelty act, but try as I might, I just cannot fault them musically. These guys are top-notch virtuosos. “Fight Fire With Fire”? Holy shit. These guys are shredding like Hammett note for note on a goddamn cello. That’s mind boggling to me. The novelty of this band shredding METALLICA and SEPULTURA (“Inquisition Symphony”(!) and “Refuse/Resist”) on cellos wears off quick when they launch into their original tunes. This is where this band is sorely lacking. While there are quite a bit of impressive sections, like the 16th note triplet sequence throughout “Betrayal”, the songs in of themselves are not noteworthy by any means.

The production values of the DVD are excellent. Multiple cameras catch all the nuances of all 4 cellists (as well a drummer Mikko Siren). The color scheme is nteresting; it’s not very saturated and teeters on black and white. It fits the mood of the sort of gothic image the band is running with. The audio mix is a pristine 5.1 surround, with (like most live DVD’s mixed in 5.1) the extraneous crowd mixed in the rear speakers. You really get the sense of their musicianship with a mix like this; all the playing comes at you from the front.

Bonus features include a tour documentary, a behind the scenes in the studio video for “Repressed”, and 7 music videos. Get it if you are a die-hard APOCALTYPTICA fan, or if you are looking for a break from your usual metal intake.

BLOODBATH-“Unblessing The Purity” EP (www.peaceville.com)

Fuck YES. BLOODBATH has returned from a 4-year layoff with an absolutely vicious EP, which triumphantly marks the return of Mikael Akerfeldt of OPETH on vocals. For those who aren’t in the know, BLOODBATH was initially assembled in 1999 as a tribute to old-school Swedish death metal (of the Stockholm variety) by members of OPETH, KATATONIA, and EDGE OF SANITY. They have progressed since then, incorporating a more American death metal influence (a la MORBID ANGEL) on this EP as well as their last full length, 2004’s Nightmares Made Flesh. This EP continues in this vein, as well a introducing a very subtle black metal influence (most notably on opener “Blasting The Virginborn”). But make no mistake, BLOODBATH is still full on death metal, with the bulk of the material following along in a DISMEMBER meets MORBID ANGEL in a dark alleyway vibe. Martin “Axe” Axenrot is a monster behind the kit, the riffs of Anders “Blakkheim” Nystrom and new guitarist Per “Sodomizer” Eriksson slay with no mercy, and Akerfeldt is truly brutal on vocals. What more do you need to know? Buy it.

TESTAMENT-The Formation Of Damnation (www.nuclearblastusa.com)

There is a ton of hoopla surrounding this new TESTAMENT record. Firstly, and most significantly, Alex Skolnick and Greg Christian return to the fold since 1993 and 1996, on lead guitars and bass, respectively. Along side vocalist Chuck Billy and rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, this signifies the reunion of the “classic” lineup (cannot be called “original” because of drummer Louie Clemente’s non participation; he was first replaced by Nick Barker (ex-CRADLE OF FILTH/DIMMU BORGIR/LOCKUP) and currently by Paul Bostaph (ex-SLAYER/FORBIDDEN/EXODUS).) Secondly, this is the first new material from TESTAMENT in nearly 10 years, since 1999’s The Gathering.

So how does it stack up to all the hype and anticipation? Truthfully, it’s not horrible, but it isn’t awesome either. Overall it can be most accurately compared to any record from 1989-1992. “More Than Meets The Eye” and “The Evil Has Landed”, the first two proper songs, chug along in a mid-paced mode. The band is in great musical form, but these songs are just lacking a spark that’s crucial to thrash. The title track is where things get going; a storming thrasher this one is. This is the only song that has truly retained the elements introduced to the band on 1994’s Low and onward-relentless speed, and harsh death metal influenced vocals. But after this they, for the most part, continue to chug at mid-paced tempi. Then there is case of TESTAMENT being influenced by the bands that TESTAMENT influenced. “The Persecuted Won’t Forget” literally sounds like Gossow-era ARCH ENEMY. I chalk this up to TESTAMENT’s need to stay current; and I guess there are worse bands they can be influenced by. “Henchmen Ride” is a cool stomper with a ripping thrash mid-section. This one hearkens back to Practice What You Preach and earlier. Thankfully, they have spared us of any “Return To Serenity”-esque ballad tomfoolery.

I will say this; the musicianship on this record is outstanding. Peterson and Christian lock in tight as hell-like they never parted ways in 1996. Skolnick’s playing is as it always was-fluid, melodic, modal, and very vocal like. The years spent out of metal and playing jazz has really pushed his leads into a whole other dimension. Taken out of context, one can almost envision these guitar leads played on an alto or soprano sax. Paul Bostaph, however, steals the show here. The double kicks are fast, clean, and accurate. His hands are just blazing, and strictly in terms of tone, this is the best he’s ever sounded. This album, as well as EXODUS’ Shovel Headed Kill Machine, proves that SLAYER was holding him back. Bold claim I know, but seriously, when has anyone ever heard this guy play this viciously, this fiery, and as powerful as he’s playing now? Not even on Divine Intervention. This is the best drum performance on a TESTAMENT record, even besting Dave Lombardo on The Gathering, Gene Hoglan on Demonic (the only good thing about that record), and John Tempesta on Low. Chuck Billy is in top form as well, his clean raspy singing voice dominating the proceedings. He does manage to sneak in some harsh vocals, most notably in the title track.

This is not a horrible album by any means and it is definitely worthy of the TESTAMENT name. I’d sooner put on Low, The Gathering, or Practice What You Preach before this, but this is a solid album nonetheless. Recommended to TESTAMENT fans as well as anyone doesn’t like to get any more extreme than say ARCH ENEMY or SLAYER. Decent stuff.

5IVE-Hesperus (www.tortugarecordings.com)

DEAD TO FALL - Are You Serious? (www.victoryrecords.com)

…and in an interesting epilogue to this review, DEAD TO FALL split up on 4/8/2008, less than two months after this record’s 2/19/2008 release date. Way to go, gents. –Dan Siano

SPYDER BABY - Let Us Prey (www.blindprophecyrecords.com)

BLACK TIDE - Light From Above (www.interscope.com)

My feeling of suspicion is doubly compounded when I read the bio and find out that they are kids. Literally. The average age of these band members is 16, with vocalist, lead guitarist, and visionary Gabriel Garcia being the ripe old age of 14. The bio also states that this band will “introduce a harder rocking sound to those who are too young to remember.” Now don’t get me wrong, I am mildly impressed by the skill level on display, but I don’t need a 14-year-old kid to tell me about metal. This just reeks of a pure major label gimmick band with a bunch of P.R. guys pulling all the strings. I’m insulted.

INHUMAN - Last Rites (www.iscreamrecords.com)

Good old fashioned hardcore. Heavy, simplistic, and totally pit ready. I’m not a fan of hardcore, and this is no exception. For the most part INHUMAN coasts along with a brand of hardcore that is generic and by the numbers. There are a few notable exceptions, one being standout track “What You Wanted”. This one is a cool melodic punk sing-along. Good tune. The stronger tunes are the more up-tempo ones like “Fashist”, “The Dream Is Not Dead”, and “A Fine Line”. These guys don’t screw around with the formula (two-step to breakdown), and it works for them. Solid, play it safe hardcore for fans who don’t need anything else. Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, and Madball fans take note.

OPETH - The Roundhouse Tapes (www.peaceville.com)

Despite the complexity and length of these compositions, OPETH never misses a beat and only seem to be getting better and more confident. Mikael Akerfeldt’s vocals are as strong as ever and the transitions from growling to singing is always amazing to me as the harsh, deep growling never seems to affect the singing. The soft spoken, mellow demeanor and in-jokes between songs are hilarious as usual as it is in extreme contrast to the music (it’s particularly funny when he dismisses the lyrics of “Under The Weeping Moon” as “black metal nonsense”). This is guitarist Peter Lindgren’s swan song with the band and his presence will be missed. The rapport as guitar players between Lindgren and Akerfeldt is uncanny and integral to the OPETH sound. I have not seen them live with new guitarist Fredrik Akesson yet, but he has some mighty big shoes to fill. Per Wiberg has fully assimilated himself into the band by this point providing tasteful organ, piano, and mellotron to the old pieces and harmonizing flawlessly with Akerfeldt. This is Martin Axenrot’s recorded debut with the band and I initially approached his entrance with the band with trepidation. Axenrot and former drummer Martin Lopez have very different approaches to drumming. Generally, Lopez plays more loose and improvisational and Axenrot is more stiff and precise. But when I saw them live in 2006 and further cemented by this live album, Axenrot was an excellent choice and provides and excellent foundation for the rest of the band. I eagerly await the studio debut of Axenrot (and Akesson, a supposed amazing shredder) in 2008. Stalwart Martin Mendez rounds off the band’s lineup on bass and subtly adds color when needed but primarily holds the harmonic structure of the pieces together like glue.

I can’t praise this band or this live album any more than I already have. If you are a OPETH fan, or a fan of progressive metal, and you don’t already own this, then what are you waiting for? Essential.

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