Windir - 1184 (2001)

1184 seems like it's the first Windir album which is considered more of a 'band' effort. Valfar is still the chieftain of this clan, performing some of all the instruments (even some drum beats), but the rest of the roster has been fleshed out. Strangely, it doesn't seem like a step beyond the previous record Arntor, but a more mechanical experience churning out a similar product from the same ingredients. A large part of this is the programming, the kick drums here feel way too forceful and robotic and it's a tangible distraction from everything else, if not a deal breaker. I do like that Windir doubled down a bit on the black metal component, this is clearly trying to be more intense than the albums before it while still maintaining the amazing melodic scope Valfar created there.

And to that extent, 1184 delivers in spades. The instruments are much more level here in the mix, and it does feel more processed, so the melodies don't poke through like the glistening spikes of ice they once did. However, they are LEGION, and not a track throughout this experience lacks a rich bevy of riffs that will have you coming back to them. Nothing is skippable, but they're all delivered in this harder hitting, steadier experience which doesn't go for the dynamics as they did on Arntor. I will say, though, the heavier riffs are fucking rad on this, like "Dance of Mortal Lust" with its thrashing complexity, or "Destroy" which ups the hammers straight to your mullet. "Heidra" with its unforgettable intro melody, evil and twisting and treated with some of the best bass-line support in their catalogue. "The Spiritlord" has a bit of that simpler, mid-paced black metal groove that they don't often mete out, and I love the proggy bits that close "Black New Age", so there is a good variation between individual tracks, but most are singularly committed to their individual intensity.

In fact, the last six songs on this album totally crush the first two, they are all brilliant, and because the music is superior you can forgive the mechanistic drumming a little more. The vocals sound really great here, in this case I will say that 1184 is superior to either of the earlier albums. His rasp is more full-bodied and nasty. The keys and accordion are interwoven more directly into the music so it has more of an overall 'orchestrated' feel, you constantly pay attention to hear all the details as they bounce off one another. I don't like the production as much as Arntor, but apart from the drumming it definitely seers itself directly into your skull. I think on the strength of those last six tracks, this is probably the equal of Arntor, but if the drums had been less distracting and the production had felt more natural, it would rank among my favorite Norwegian black metal albums. It's up there, but not on the top shelf.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

Cirith Ungol - Servants of Chaos (2001)

Servants of Chaos makes for an interesting fan package in that it offers an extensive exposure to what the band was up to in that entire decade before they dropped their debut record. Largely comprised of their 1978 and 79 demos, each album-length in of itself, with some live tunes tacked on, it's about as comprehensive a backlog as one might ask for and really rounds out the collection of any completist. Naturally the presumption is that this material is going to embrace the 70s hard rock aesthetics even more than their first few official studio efforts, and I think that holds true, but even then I wasn't prepared for just how wild and adventurous the band was going to be. This shit is raw, it's often all over the place, but you can generally hear how they formulated the heavier hitting sound they would progress with.

"Hype Performance", the opener slaps you with some very Hawkwind-sounding spacey hard prog rock, with weird sounds and keys glitching through the guitars, where some of the other tunes like "Last Laugh" have more of the vibe you'd expect from their era, bluesy hard rock with some talky vocals that almost remind me of punk and garage, or even later grunge stuff like Mudhoney. There are a number of the recognizable tracks like "Frost and Fire", but they sound even quirkier with the acid synthesizers, or "Better Off Dead" which sounds like you're jamming it through even more of a marijuana haze coming from the back of some airbrushed van. Even "1000 M.P.H." makes an appearance, sounding a little more suited to this mesh of material than on One Foot in Hell where it ended up. Tim's voice is already in that grating, warlike mode on many of these earlier tunes, and to be fair, the demo-level production has a good raw charm to it that makes the band sound absolutely savage, despite the nerdy prog cheese that they are often escaping towards.

Some highlights for me were the instrumental duo of "Ill Met in Lankhmar" and "Return to Lankhmar", based on the Fritz Leiber classic fantasy stories, they really manage to capture the vibe of those old anthologies with the prog rhythms, synthesizers and blazing leads, making me which they'd have these all re-recorded on some possible concept album in the Lankhmar setting. In fact a lot of the stuff from that '79 demo is instrumental, and while it does feel weird not to have Baker's voice present, they experiment with some weird sounds in "Witchdance" and "Feeding the Ants" too. To that extent, much of the material does feel unfinished or not properly organized, it's clearly not the full band spread we'd expect since there are also a lot of drums missing, but it's definitely imaginative. 

The live recordings are from the 80s and kick some ass, raw and ripping and Baker himself sounds phenomenal, potentially even more menacing than he does in-studio. The cover of "Secret Agent Man" was unexpected and doesn't feel as if it belongs, but they definitely create a dirtier and amusing version of that song which feels like it's filtered through acid trips in some abandoned garage. There are also some rehearsal recordings which sound alright, again the rawness seems to work with the vocal style and certainly makes the rhythm guitar sound more crushing. All told, there's a lot going on with this compilation, they include some extensive notes on their earlier years, and while I can't say I'd make a recommendation for new fans, or that it's got a high ratio of quality to the quantity, old heads who already love Cirith Ungol band might find it an entertaining, flawed retrospective.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/cirithungolofficial

Diabolical Masquerade - Death's Design: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2001)

As a fan of the first three Diabolical Masquerade albums waiting for Blakkheim to finally unleash some inevitable masterpiece, I admit that I found and continue to find Death's Design an obnoxious chore, even if it ultimately has enough to offer that I'll spin it infrequently. At 61 tracks, split into 20 'movements' over just 43 minutes, and a pseudo-score to some nonexistent horror film, one could argue it's the most ambitious thing he's ever produced with this project, and from a technical angle I don't know that I'd disagree. However, the means of its presentation in so many little snippets of what might be better fleshed out tracks, this comes across to me like a dumping ground for all the ideas he couldn't work into any proper successors to the great 1998 album Nightwork.

That's probably not the case, and perhaps this is all planned out exactly like it is, but considering how the different sections of the album might be presumed to stay thematically consistent, a lot of the individual pieces feel jarring and don't flow well as a whole. It's a shame, because the riffing here is fucking fantastic, it just never lasts long enough, and how he integrates the soundtrack components, acoustics, clean and harsh vocals, and symphonics are seamless...just across such short spaces. It doesn't much surprise me that Dan Swanö had a lot to do with this record, because he'd also later put out his Crimson II record for Edge of Sanity which was more of a solo thing, and suffers from a lot of the same issues I had with this...snippets of ideas that deserved far more, generally less than a minute long, and while the flow isn't terrible between them, it just lacks the impact these good riffs would have in full tracks. It certainly sounds like one of his more mature recordings of that time, super clear across all the varied instrumentation, accessible but still capturing a punch to the lower guitars, and the evil rasps of Blakkheim which are admittedly formidably throughout this.

You'll even hear Dan's clean vocals, which are unmistakable if you've heard his myriad other projects. There are a few moments where the drum programming gets a little too obvious and dull, and some ill choices like the clean vocal in "The Inverted Dream: No Sleep in Peace" which I can't quite place, but sounds like the melody is ripped off from a James Bond theme or sci-fi film or something. The roots are still cinematic black metal, but Diabolical Masquerade reaches further away from the structures of Ravendusk in My Heart of The Phantom Lodge. The individual tracks can't reach the creepy majesty and atmosphere of "Astray Within the Coffinwood Mill" because they're never given the space to, and there are plenty of tunes like "Spinning Back the Clocks", "A Bad Case of Nerves" or a few dozen more which could have been developed into stunning evolutions upon the Nightwork style. Had this been condensed together, with a lot of the scraps tossed out and the better riffs expanded into full length tunes, it would easily have been the most progressive and symphonic stuff Blakkheim had put out here, itself a natural successor to the first three albums, but the fragmentation just doesn't work for me.

That goes even deeper into the themes...obviously they cover such a vast array of supernatural and Gothic subjects and images that there's no way this was the real soundtrack to anything, and there too I feel like it comes across as a big jumbled mess of ideas. So many great song titles, too, like "Soaring Over Dead Rooms", "A Hurricane of Rotten Air", "The Remains of Galactic Expulsions", as if Anders was just emptying out a notebook of stuff he had lying around (kind of like the songs themselves). I realize the guy was busy with his other, more successful bands like Katatonia or Bloodbath and this one had to take a back seat, but I can't help but feel a little spurned that this was where it all ended, and in over two decades we haven't heard a peep. It just doesn't seem like a strong note to end off on, and I realize I'm in the minority as some seem to hold this up as a bastion of progressive black metal genius, which I simply cannot agree with as the presentation is so frustrating, even when I play it all straight through and try to blend the components into my imagination as a cohesive whole.

Now, having voiced these complaints, I will say that there is enough ear candy to explore here that I'll still give it a pass. A positive. I try and think of it like the little samples you get on a pre-programmed keyboard or some recording software...short, catchy, showing the range and potential of the technology but not the depth of emotion and composition. Bite-sized morbid bliss, like a grind album of fractured horror metal where you just wish this or that riff would repeat or transform into something more explosive and memorable. It's just all over the place, and at least a few dozen of the tracks could be tossed out and I would never know the difference. I wanted more of what I so enjoyed about the first three albums, and I get it, just in such tiny spurts that the greatness is forever evaded. Once every couple Halloweens, I might loop a few tracks from this, but it's one of the most 'could have been' albums in my entire collection. Blakkheim's Woolgathering Exit From A Fascinating And Underrated Band Which Best Manifest His Individual Personality. Cue the curtain.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

Armored Saint - Nod to the Old School (2001)

I remember being most excited for Nod to the Old School because it would include Armored Saint's original s/t EP, which I had not ever gotten the chance to own, being introduced to their music through March of the Saint (which does include "False Alarm"). So, if nothing else, it would be worthwhile for collection purposes, although after hearing Revelation the year before, that prospect was probably less exciting. This is in fact a smattering of many things, from a handful of live tunes, acoustics, covers, rarities and new originals, and thus pretty important for the long-term fan, because at least a few of the tunes are better than anything they'd drop on their 2000 or 2010 studio albums. And unlike a lot of shitty cash grabs, some care and effort was put here to give those same fans something fresh.

The new track "Real Swagger" is passable, but probably not good enough for any of the records, while "Unstable" promises a little heaviness and groove but also doesn't really hit the marks. There's an updated 2001 version of "March of the Saint" which is decently produced, but lacks a little of the original's magic, and a couple live cuts from Revelation which don't sound half bad on the stage, being that "After Me, the Flood" and "Creepy Feelings" were at least some of the better tunes on that disc. But these are captured with a cleaner sound than Saints Will Conquer, for better or worse, and as weird as it is just to wedge in a couple of these onto a studio collection, they don't detract much. The cover of "Never Satisfied" by Judas Priest is pretty awesome, one of the best tunes here, and "Day of the Eagle" from Robin Trower is also present, though a little rougher in production, and without much familiarity with the original it didn't have the same impact. There's a tasteful acoustic version of "Tainted Past" off Symbol of Salvation, which works, but obviously just doesn't leave me with the impact of the original.

So that was the WEAKER half of the compilation, and the rest is what I was really looking forward to, because you don't only get the 1983 EP, but also some demo stuff from 1988-1989, some of which was recorded on a 4-track demo, but sounds fucking excellent all things considered, like "Pirates" and "Get Lost", fun heavy metal tracks on which the more raw production can't hide John's great vocal lines. The only sucker here is the rehearsal of "Betty '79", a stupid ditty, but this is made up for by a demo for "Reign of Fire" from a few years before it came out, and this version sounds awesome. As for the original s/t EP, I am happily to have finally had it, "Lesson Well Learned" and "On the Way" are both pretty good, clearly establishing March of the Saint with some late 70s Judas Priest vibes, especially on the latter. "False Alarm" is good too and in a way this has more pumping energy to it than the album version, but I'm not sure which I'd prefer.

Nod to the Old School is definitely your textbook case of odds and ends thrown together, with a great variation in quality, but it does at least feel comprehensive, even more so if you've got the limited edition or later pressing with a few more bonus tracks. You don't get the impression that they've left a lot off there that you'll have to track down later, for a Nod to the Old School II. And maybe there is enough material out there for that, especially these couple decades later, but when you put this on the shelf with the albums it feels like a complete set. Nothing amazing, and I don't know that anything here will become your favorite, but a few of the older tunes and demos are really great and if history had been kinder, they might have been inspired to put out a follow-up to this which explored those roots. Instead we had to wait almost a decade for La raza. Imagine having to contain our excitement.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.armoredsaint.com/

Megadeth - The World Needs a Hero (2001)

The World Needs a Hero is certainly not among the stronger albums Megadeth have released these last 40 years, but it's at least a step back towards a more decidedly metal direction, and kicks the shit out of its predecessor. To me, the production and songwriting here seems like a shift towards Countdown to Extinction, with perhaps a bit of the more accessible flourishes of Youthanasia, but at the same time there are riffs and structures here that feel fresher for the canon, grooves and ideas that were relatively well-developed. Jimmy DeGrasso had joined on drums for the previous album, but this was Al Pitrelli's debut in the lineup, and though I'm not ever going to be sure of the level of his input here, he brings a slightly different feel playing alongside Dave. It's also his only studio full-length in the fold, the rest of his tenure was live albums and compilations, so it's not like you're going to get a chance to settle in with his contributions.

This one is mixed slickly, reminding me a of a mix of Cryptic Writings and Countdown to Extinction, very mainstream and poppy but also a little digitized in the crunch of the rhythm guitars. There are also a few tracks which I found embarrassing, like the acoustic country/folk track "Coming Home" which goes all in on its rustic persuasions, and is honestly probably not bad for that style, but I'm just not into it, whether it's Bon Jovi or Dave Mustaine crossing genres. "Promises" is likewise akward, this is just not a ballad band, I'm sorry. "Moto Psycho" might be the real nadir here, though, an extremely goofy tune driven by mediocre riffs and really lame chorus; I remember this was one of the singles off the album, the first I heard and couldn't even believe how dumb it was, even just the title. The other acoustic stuff here is a mixed bag, like the setup in "Recipe for Hate...Warhorse", and his spoken word vocals made me cringe a little, but at least it has some good bass lines. The rest of the tracks are passable if not terribly exciting, slightly stronger than Cryptic Writings on a one-for-one basis, realizing that is not saying much. The truly blazing and unforgettable speed/thrash riffs are still evading this material, though there is clearly a sense that the band wants to ramp back up to that.

This even comes through on their own self-nostalgia so we get a "Return to Hangar", which is not even a fraction as memorable as the original off Rust in Peace, but thematically and stylistically it at least consistent, though it does sink so low as to ape lyrics and such, a pretty shallow way to handle a sequel, like trying to sell us an Expendables movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger just rehashes his old one liners instead of coming up with new ones. That could never happen, could it? Well yeah, and it doesn't really come off any better here than it does on those songs where veteran bands just list previous song titles in the lyrics. On the flipside, the opening duo of "Disconnect" and the title track were at least solid enough to reassert my relationship to their style, and the lengthy closer "When" is probably my favorite with the acoustics, an atmospheric mid-pacer which might sound eerily familiar to "Am I Evil?", sans being a proper cover like Dave's alma mater put out in their early years.

Ultimately, this one suffers from the inconsistent quality of the tracks, and still has a few lingering olive branches it's trying to make with a more mainstream realm, which are totally unnecessary as they always have been, but in some cases aren't executed too poorly. There's a chunk of material I could live without, but still around 30-40 of passable mid-tier Megadeth which if nothing else shows a slight determination to get back on the bull, just a mechanical bull at the bar, on a low setting, with one or two friends raising a beer bottle to you, rather than a bucking wild animal in front of a crazed live audience. The cover art is also real shitty, Vic the Chestburster must have looked better on paper than in execution

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

https://www.megadeth.com/

Annihilator - Carnival Diablos (2001)

As disheartening as it was to see Randy Rampage separated from the band again, and while they were on a minor uptick at that, all fears were quelled when it was announced that Joe Comeau, of Master Control fame with Liege Lord, and having recently performed guitar with Overkill for several albums over several years, would be assuming the vocal duties along with Jeff Waters and Ray Hartmann. And for the first few tracks of Carnival Diablos, I was absolutely blown away by the result. THIS was the modern thrash the band had needing for years, taking Waters' riffing strengths into a new millennium while honoring their better early material. Clinical, aggressive, somewhat technical but never dizzying or inaccessible, chops flying all over the fucking place, where have you been Annihilator?

Add to this Joe's performance, which is just awesome. It's not so much the pure USPM screaming of his Liege Lord performance, but a sleeker take on it, with some vicious mid-range and then only the higher pitches when they are needed. On tunes like "Denied" and "Battered" he sounds exceptional, putting the band into that range of power/thrash hybrids like Artillery, Agent Steel or Paradox, but even when the band slows down for a groovier/90s rhythm, he still elevates the material beneath him. The problem is that Waters just can't stop himself from fucking around, and Carnival Diablos once again decides to diverge in styles to include some almost pure hard rock pieces that totally betray the potential this album started off with. "Shallow Grave" sounds like an attempt at an AC/DC or early Accept track, and that tune is also sandwiched by some slower foot-stompers which slow the pace down without really offering much in return. "Time Bomb" at least has a little power and a decent lick or two, but the title track sounds to me like Stone Temple Pilots with Joe Comeau.

Things take a while to improve, because there some additional weaker tunes wedged onto the latter half of the disc, like the proggy acoustic instrumental "Liquid Oval" that never quite delivers on its potential, but there some decent aggressors like "Epic of War" and "Hunter Killer" which I feel like could have been merged with the first few tunes to create a rager of an EP. And then, for whatever fucking reason, Jeff throws a joke country/prog(?!) song on the end of the album, "Chicken and Corn", that makes "Kraf Dinner" less embarrassing by comparison. At this point I felt like I had entered the Twilight Zone, because Carnival Diablos had all it took to be THAT 'comeback album', and just squandered its good footing, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't get me wrong, the combination of Comeau and Waters is explosive on a lot of this material, but there are just a few too many dumb decisions to allow this to go the distance. When it works, its got some of the better Annihilator material of the 21st century. Too bad then that the author was committed to making sure it doesn't.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.annihilatormetal.com/

In Thy Dreams - Highest Beauty (2001)

Highest Beauty has all the hallmarks of its age...the digital artwork with some tattooed angel that might even look a little cyberpunk/futuristic if you stared at it from a distance, a tight-knit thrashing At the Gates spin on Swedish death metal, and a slightly more modern vibe to its mix and songwriting, which was comparable to groups like Darkane, Soilwork, and Dimension Zero. I remember this sophomore album also seemed to have greater availability in my area of New England, and thus a bit more penetration into the fans of this style; several friends bought the album and asked me about it, and it seemed In Thy Dreams were at last on the radar along with their influences. Ironically, I think the band might have already called it quits before this came out, and thus they wouldn't be progressing any further, but did they at least leave us with their best?

I'm not sure. If you asked me to recommend an interested party any of their material, this could be the clear choice, as I just find that it has the most to offer. But there are some downsides. I don't know that the production is superior to The Gate of Pleasure, in fact it's a little dry and uneven, but the riff patterns here retain a lot of that album's nastiness. Funnily enough, this album feels the most AND least like At the Gates to me, because it's got the vocals and the volleying aggression reminiscent of Slaughter of the Soul, but at the same time they embark on a few riffing patterns which don't sound like they'd ever be written in that camp (but maybe in The Haunted later). When they break their formula, as on the slower piece "Spirits Forge", or the churning thrash moments of "Control", you get the feeling the band should have been expanding its dynamics all along, not that these are remarkable tracks, but they show a range that might have helped the band achieve a bit more notoriety.

There are a few riffs on this one that are among their best, like the opening to "Selfpity Human", one of the better tracks here in general, or the glorious charge of "Lower Regions". Indeed, Highest Beauty seems to save a lot of its bangers for the later moments of the disc, and if you took the last seven songs, stacked a few more good ones on at the end, I'd have a higher opinion of it. But it gets its job done either way, flooding your earspace with snarling, thrashing death metal with an occasional outburst of majestic, melodic emotion in a chorus or breakdown. These are no slouches, but I just don't know that I'm grabbing this one over Rusted Angel, The Chainheart Machine, Natural Born Chaos, Steelbath Suicide, Colony, Clayman or Damage Done. It's B-team, clearly, but the guy on the B-team that cheers boisterously and loudly from the bench, and he's ready to play at a moment's notice. He's got spirit.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

Sins of Omission - Flesh On Your Bones (2001)

Flesh On Your Bones is more or less a direct continuation of the debut's style, although perhaps a bit blunter and more centrally thrash-oriented. They still bust out some of those precise, surgical harmonies in spots, and the production of the rhythm guitars still has that punch to it that sends them right past your defenses, but I don't know that the songs here had quite the same strength as their predecessors. That said, Flesh On Your Bones is a solid sophomore which I can revisit often enough without any tangible disappointment, because it keeps on mission and remains as professional and driven as the debut. Alright, the one real exception might be the cover art, which is some bland digital looking image of skeletons in a sandstorm or something, but I mean unless you're going to hire the same artist or another legend, what can ya do?

This is definitely an elbow greaser, dependable with lots of headbanging tracks even where the rhythm guitars don't spit out as many of the starker melodies to fetch your attention. They still exist, but they tend to be more compact or peripheral, and they instead flex between the thrashing low end thrust to some more atmospheric, open phrases as in the midst of "Revolution". The lead guitars are sill very well written, and I actually feel the drums here a bit more intense and thunderous than they were on The Creation. It's just an album that hangs down in that lower end more often as a rule. Some clean vocals are attempted which didn't really fire me up, but they were at least competent and confident and made as much sense as they could with the band taking a little risk or two. A lot of the album is so clinically thrashy that it almost reminds me of a Slaughter of the Soul infused with some of the Pestilence debut, Mallevs Maleficarvm, perhaps an obscure comparison but a lethal one I feel in tunes like "Angel Killers".

As I said with The Creation, this is a very good band, even if a bit derivative, and while I don't think they took this style to the new levels that Soilwork and Darkane did, their albums were and remain fun to listen through, and definitely a memorable name to sound off whenever I meet someone who is looking for more in this Swedish melodic death/thrash niche. They were built to last, and though they only endured a fairly short career, they never gave themselves the chance to burn out. Check out both albums and hear it done right.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait (2001)

It would feel a bit unusual calling A Predator's Portrait a 'step down' or a 'disappointment', because it's still a pretty darn good album, armed with a couple tracks I'd be happy to place on any Soilwork playlist. It's also sort of a direct blueprint to their direction for the next couple albums after it, but the fact remains that a couple of the tracks on this one never really permeated my musical tickle-zone, and even on some of the better tunes they'll veer into a riff or bridge that doesn't always have me hanging over the replay button. But putting it in context, this is by no means a dud of a faltering, at worst it feels like an extension of The Chainheart Machine which attempts to settle the music into a little bit more of an accessibility and groove. The pop and prog influences of the band's future are still quite far away, but some of that explosive At the Gates/mid-90s Swedish melodeath foundation is starting to chip away as Soilwork builds more of its own identity.

Speed is going for more clean vocals here, although he's still keeping them a bit restrained to a medium range ("Like the Average Stalker", "Needlefeast"), not as confident as he'd become later. The growls and rasps are still the primary vehicle for his performance, but he's swapping these things off pretty often here, creating a beauty & the beast microverse unto himself. The synths adopt even friendlier sorts of tones that you'd equate with atmospheric prog rock, and some of the leads are also starting to take on that nature, though they are consistently decent. The rhythm guitars are chunkier and chuggier and seem more heavily focused on both 'the mosh' and letting the thinner melodies serve as a counter, whereupon the first two albums it all blended a little more seamlessly. Still, there are some pump up riffs that get the blood coursing through you, and some of them seem like direct prototypes to later, better cuts. The band occasionally adopts some bluesy low-end metal grooves for the breakdowns, which for me shows a slight inspiration from the groove/nu metal of the 90s, although they had done this a few times earlier.

Now, a lot of these quips might seem like complaints, but that's not really the case, because A Predator's Portrait is still a busy album showing no lack for effort, especially in adjusting to the cleaner vocal alternations. There are no tracks whatsoever that I would consider outright bad, but a few of them just aren't as catchy as I would have hoped. I really do like of the flow of the record, from the passion and emotion of the harder moments to the little spikes of melodic, choppy picking. I feel that Soilwork might have been experience such an abundance and confluence of ideas in this first 5-6 years of being a signed, touring act, that they were releasing studio product at a rate just slightly higher than their own potential, and while some albums really delivered on all of this promise, A Predator's Portrait came up with one of the shorter straws. That said, I have known a few individuals who cite this as their personal favorite from Soilwork, and I can't blame them too much, a few of the rhythmic patterns here form a direct basis for tracks on my own.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.soilwork.org/

Mystic Circle - The Great Beast (2001)

Mystic Circle has long been a band so invested in the law of black metal averages that it's no wonder they made so little impact. The Germans are by no means bad musicians, not even bad composers, but they just hit at a time in which the Scandinavian acts meddling in this sort of melodic and symphonic black metal were literally exploding across the map, and though this group kept churning out numerous releases, they just never garnered the same level of excitement beyond deep-diving BM fans who were snatching up everything in the genre. The Great Beast isn't quite as flagrant or interesting as Emperor's first three discs, or even as pompous and potent as the Dimmu Borgir catalogue of the 90s, but honestly it's one of the better Mystic Circle records and those who are really into the current wave of symphonic 90s black metal throwbacks might actually enjoy going back to this authentic, also-ran article.

The band is hardly sinister-enough sounding to really do their Satanic theme justice here, but I do like the bombastic swell of the mid-paced, roiling black metal against the near-constant orchestration which calls to mind Gothic castles and haunted landscapes. The riffing is quite steady, often with a thrashing facade to its structure, but very often the rhythm guitars feel like they're afraid to strike out on their own, but rather they support the ethereal sweep and strings. That said, there are plenty of leads and melodies that show the band hasn't entirely thrown out the guitar as mere support, and it's rather a well-rounded recording, because the symphonic are elegant and really immerse me into the occult escapism. The vocals are a fairly monotonous rasped guttural, a little deeper than some of their black metal peers, but they fit in well, and the rhythm section is more than capable, making The Great Beast an extremely well-rounded effort with a nice production that sounds clean without becoming neutered through over-polish.

There are lots of licks here that sound like a IX: Equilibrium-lite or a less dense Spiritual Black Dimensions, but by no means does it fall down to cheap impersonation, this was always a band that wanted to take that earlier symphonic BM style and run with it. While The Great Beast doesn't manifest the same personality as those comparisons/influences, it's a pretty good listen that only suffers from a slightly monotonous pacing, since this isn't a band prone to blasting off endlessly, and it might have benefited from a few more such indulgences. But everything is tasteful, from the spectral female support vocal to the endless nightscape of orchestration that is really going to sit well with the more Gothic-oriented black metal advocate. Definitely one of their better albums, along with its follow-up Damien; fits the bill when I'm in the mood for something that sounds equally graceful and aggressive, even if it lacks much novelty.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/MysticCircleOfficial/

Rage - Welcome to the Other Side (2001)

As far as launching and showcasing the talents of a new band roster, few albums in my collection are quite as potent as Welcome to the Other Side. After the lovely, memorable, and conceptual Ghosts, Peavy parted ways with his longtime partners in crime Spiros and Chris Efthimiadis and Sven Fischer, and joined forces with a pair of absolute monsters in drummer, who had played alongside such unknowns as Artension, Tony MacAlpine and Yngwie Malmsteen, and Victor Smolski, arguably one of the more gifted guitarists in European metal to arrive in some time, who was somewhat of a newcomer but certainly didn't play like one. Smolski had recorded some guitars on Ghosts, so this wasn't entirely his Rage rodeo, but here he is let loose to exhibit his wide range of mastered disciplines like the progressive, neo-classical and jazz influences he can so effortless weave into the riff-oriented material required for the Germans' distinct power metal.

Now, to be clear, this is not one of my favorite albums they released with this lineup, I like the two follow-ups considerably more, but there are a number of catchy staples here like "The Mirror In Your Eyes" and the surging "No Lies", both of which feature the vast instrumental capabilities of the band while reigning it all in with great vocals lines in which Wagner still spits out a little higher range reminiscent of the group's earlier years. The best riffs on the album are usually the dextrous speed/power metal progressions long attached to the band, but Smolski integrates even further levels of melody, some jazzy chords and fusion feeling leads to imbue their material with elements I simply hadn't heard before. Almost as if a continuation of the prior album, this one could be considered mildly experimental...but not at all weird. There are a number of softer pieces like "R.I.P." and "Requiem" which are largely just pianos and spaced out, atmospheric guitar leads with some narration that feel like parts of a rock opera, which they are as there's about a 15 minute chunk of stuff here comprising the 'Tribute to Dishonour' suite.

Other pieces like the clean, hyper-picked classical exercise "Trauma" or the highly proggy, measured gait of "I'm Crucified" also stand out a little, the latter sometimes reminding me of Savatage in the later 80s or early 90s...in fact you can hear a bit of Gutter Ballet or Streets: A Rock Opera throughout this, despite the band having a different approach from a different continent. The same could be said of its predecessor Ghosts, of course, and a lot of that bled through onto this one, in fact the entire 'Lingua Mortis' concept from the 90s was returning until it would later be separated into its own things. All of this is perfectly acceptable and Rage are no chumps at performing it, but the mellower stuff takes a backseat for me to the aggressive writing that I prefer. "Deep in the Night" is well written and actually has a pretty catchy chorus build that feels like it belonged on Ghosts, but there are too many throw away tracks like the classical tapping of "Lunatic" which reminds me of Joe Satriani's "Midnight" only nowhere near as good. I get that Smolski likes to strut his stuff but I just don't feel this is the place, especially when he's not going to go all-in and shred your face off with something substantial.

Alas, there's a whole lot that went into this one, over 60 minutes worth, and the sum of its parts just isn't overall as valuable as a handful of its best cuts. However, the writing is on the wall: there just isn't much that these three will be unable to attain together, and while Welcome to the Other Side is surely a competent effort with a lot of elements that would please a lot of people, it's the album following this one which really tightens the trio and makes a statement.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (I'm anywhere, nowhere)

http://www.rage-official.com/

Deceased - Behind the Mourner's Veil EP (2001)

King Fowley and Deceased are no strangers to paying tribute to the influences that got them where they are, and on numerous occasions released entire albums with a considerable number of cover tunes. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if, by this time, they had recorded more covers than origins...between Zombie Hymns (2002), Rotten to the Core (2004) and the most recent Rotten to the Core Part 2: The Nightmare Continues (2020). The earliest I had heard from them was probably the "Voivod" cover from The 13th Frightened Souls EP, and then this little EP Behind the Mourner's Veil which was cool as it mixed exclusive new tracks with a handful of covers from recognizable names like D.R.I., Tankard, and Anthrax, which wouldn't surprise anyone as sources of inspiration for the horror death/thrashers whose aesthetics have always been so mired in the rougher, filthier aggressive metal of the 80s.

The new tunes are ragers, although I can understand why the band felt they'd probably be better spent here than on one of the full-length records like Supernatural Addiction or As the Weird Travel On. "It's Alive" and "The Mausoleum" both contain many of the band's hallmarks, charging thrash/speed metal laden with traditional heavy metal melodies and an occasional foray into the faster elements of primordial death, in particular with King's vocals. They're well-developed headbanger tracks, not as righteously catchy as some of the material on the couple proper albums before them, but certainly enough to help tide one over for the next. More dynamic would be the 10 minute closer "Victims of the Masterplan" which is lyrically based on the West Memphis Three saga, and divided into a 4-part metallic narrative which for me had most of the best original riffs on the EP and a bit more of a dynamic spread than the openers. Especially I liked the moody breakdown with the samples which really kind of put this all into perspective, I mean that was a horrifying fucking situation for the victims and also for the accused, one that I don't think we've collectively shaken off as Americans. Child killings are traumatizing for me, but Deceased actually tackle this with an inquisitive respect, even at the risk of creating an unbalanced tone against the sillier originals and covers.

The covers themselves are decent, but a tune like Tankard's "Zombie Attack" is so great to begin with that it's difficult to live up to. King and crew make it even more murky sounding and throw on some more death metal growls, but otherwise play it fairly straightforward. "Reaganomics" is over in a flash of course so something like this pick is more to score a few points. On the other hand, I actually really dug their version of Anthrax' "Deathriders", in fact I might listen to it more than the original, this more aggressive style suits the riffing and lyrics well, although they still throw a few screams in there too. Same with their version of "New Age of Total Warfare" from British speed/thrashers Warfare, I'd probably reach for this before the original, it just sounds that awesome. All told though, you're getting almost a half-hour of material here, cool cover art, and really their best release while you waited it out in the 5-year stretch between Supernatural Addiction and As the Weird Travel On. Not as formidable as most of their full-length albums but some quality fan service nonetheless.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/deceasedofficial/

Machine Head - Supercharger (2001)

There's about a minute in the first proper song here, "Bulldozer", after the pointless and uninteresting "Declaration" intro has ended, where Machine Head breaks into what sounds like it could have been a half-tolerable thrash/hardcore riff section, and I'd love to say that it almost fooled me into thinking I might be in for a sea change from the two miserable full-length albums previous. But I gotta level with ya, I don't fucking trust this band at ALL to write anything of quality, so sure enough, within seconds, that same song unraveled into an unkempt amalgamation of Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and God Hates Us All era Slayer that reassures me that Supercharger is in no danger of breaking the stink-streak that preceded it.

I could say a couple positive things about the production. The way the guitars and vocals here are produced is a little bit more edgy and cutting than the last album, and Robb is settling into his multiple vocal stylings a little more with each album. Unfortunately, all of those stylings are really lame even by 2001 standards. His rapping has gotten a little more dextrous and sounds like an actual attempt at rap, perhaps, but then it's all about laying on the angst and the nu-metal rage, once again a mid-90s Jonathan Davis with far less personality, or a try-hard Mike Patton, and both the lyrical content and delivery feel shallow. What's worse, he's obviously going for those cliche radio rock chorus tones and patterns that feel like he's trying to get Machine Head recruited for an 'Army of One' ad on TV, like they're trying to peddle themselves as my friendly local neighborhood Godsmack, a band that I must apologize for my neck of the woods (Southern NH/Northern MA) ever producing to plague your ears. But, be real, it's not as if Flynn's goofiness is any better.

The annoying vocals would be one thing, but the vast majority of riffs here are just pathetic, yet again bouncing back and forth between a couple chords that require no imagination whatsoever, just to cling to the grooves that the fat bass tone is laying out, which sound good studio-wise, but are really just as awful once you dissect them. I'd say Supercharger is slightly more technical and dynamic than The Burning Red; you will come across a couple riffs that have a genuine energy flowing to them, and they use a lot more guitar effects like wah-wah sounds all over the place to make this sound like much more of an organized mess, but any attempt at validity is ruined by the shitty commercial radio vocals and the obnoxious pandering that this album constantly gets into. This is 'metal' by numbers, the lowest common denominator kind, trying to cash in on the audiences of emotional rock and angry wallet-chain Lollapaloser mosh. Any time any rhythmic maneuver comes close to engaging my brain, it's almost instantly shat upon by a quick morph into the tedium that I've described above.

It's very clear that Machine Head were trying to follow the Korn trajectory around the turn of the century, with a lot more soft atmospheric parts contrasting against bleaker emotional outbursts, and Robb was also trying to get a decisive, pointed delivery to his chorus parts that David of Disturbed always had ("Only the Names" is a textbook example of all this). But that's the problem, we already had those bands, and this one did absolutely nothing as well as any of them. Not that I'm asking you to listen to them instead, I could probably count the number of metal albums I enjoy on a single hand with a missing thumb, but this is just more also-ran rubbish that time will swallow up, even the fans of Machine Head's earlier output don't seem so enamored with this one, and it doesn't take a degree to understand why.

Verdict: Fail [2.25/10]

https://www.machinehead1.com/

Borknagar - Empiricism (2001)

The replacement of ICS Vortex with Sweden's Vintersorg on the vocals was one that took some time getting used to, as I've long been a fan of the latter's musical ability and composition style far more than his vocals. Frankly I thought his alma mater Otyg was quite weak in that department, but he started to hit his stride with his solo records, and the philosophical, progressive folksy bent of his lyrics and songwriting does seem like a natural fit for what the Norsemen had been developing. Already a seasoned presence by the time Empiricism came about, Hedlund shows up here and does his job quite fluently, with an even distribution of his passable black metal rasp and his mid-ranged crooning. So while I immediately missed Vortex's higher pitched caterwauling style that I so adored on The Archaic Course, Vintersorg definitely contributes a lot to making this fifth album work, and instantly dissolving any apprehension of how he'd work within the group.

In fact, this is an album that not only continues to cultivate the ideas of Brun and company from the 90s, but you could also see it as an evolution on the Vintersorg solo path, a followup to the previous year's Cosmic Genesis just as much as it honors Quintessence or The Olden Domain. His own folk black metal style would be heavily permeated with progressive sounds and influences on efforts like Visions from the Spiral Generator and The Focusing Blur, and while Empiricsm is a little heavier, flowery and dramatic than those, they certainly share some roots. This album fosters some of the faster moments of Quintessence, but integrates a lot more dynamic range, with a wide array of instrumentation thanks to the lush synthesizers, Hammond organs, six-string or fretless bass lines, and tasteful acoustics. Few of these things are new to Borknagar, sure, but the way they strike a balance across these 10 tracks and 50 minutes is certainly a slightly different vibe than what I got on the records preceding it. With a crisp production, intricate musicianship, lots happening, never a second that betrays their origins, it's just another feather in the cap of one of Norway's finest, maybe not the plume I'd admire the most upon first glance, but a robust and well-crafted experience that holds up today like so many of their other works.

In fact, it's just another album they've written that I continue to grow fonder every time I revisit it. Extremely consistent across it's entire duration, I wouldn't say they take many risks, but it features another of their better instrumentals, or 'mostly'-instrumentals, "Matter and Motion", with its superb, brooding piano lines that only escalate once the percussion and electric guitar chords arrive. There are some swaggering, potent mid-paced cuts like "The Stellar Dome" in which Vintersorg really has to flex himself over numerous vocal tracks that show some of his better work at that mid-to-slightly-higher range that he finds himself so comfortable in. And then there are plenty of surging pieces like "The Genuine Pulse" or "Four Element Synchronicity" which should sate those that appreciated the fiercer material on the s/t or Quintessence, and even these themselves feature a microcosmos of textures and tempos. The lyrics are very tight, parades of eloquent grammar residing in philosophical and natural subjects; perhaps a bridge too far on the dorky side if you're expecting more Viking or Satanic-themes with your black metal, but for those of us who like to sniff our own fumes as we wax poetic pretentious on the underlying truths of the universe, they are pretty intoxicating.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

http://borknagar.com/

Morgul - Sketch of Supposed Murder (2001)

Sketch of Supposed Murder is not nearly the leap that The Horror Grandeur was over the first two Morgul albums, but its certainly an enforcement of the notion that Jack D. Ripper was content with his newfound industrial influence going forward, and if anything this is just a fraction more accessible and varied, but clinging to the horror concepts all the while, with an emphasis on torture, murder and misanthropy. It's also an album that sounds a little dated in its ideas. Many black metal bands had turned towards electronic, Goth and symphonic stylings throughout the late 90s and beyond, and many in the audience found these genre maneuvers unwelcome, so it might be considered a bit of a trend-jumper. There are parts to this album that might sound like a ghastlier Marilyn Manson. Or other parts which sound like Cradle of Filth's snarled vocal channeled through Samael's electronic beats and simplistic chord progressions which serve only to add some beef to the industrial beats.

More accurately, there are parts here, like the track "The Dog and the Master", which sound almost identical to what fellow Norwegians The Kovenant were up to, so mileage is going to vary, and those who want nothing of these musicians beyond their black metal roots should probably stick a fork in Morgul beyond just Lost in Shadows Grey and Parody of the Mass. Despite the obvious cheesy or cringeworthy elements, I still enjoy this one a bit because the production is fantastic. Orchestrated or ambient components are these resonant tapestries against which the heavier frontal rhythms and snarled, goofy vocals balance perfectly, and just when you think some of the guitars might be too dull, or things are getting predictable, Ripper will throw some great new beat at you, or orchestral sweep, or one of the handful great choruses here. It's only rarely pure black metal, except the electrified blast beat in "Dead for a While", but the overall atmosphere throughout will certainly give a shiver or two to fans that don't mind when releases in this medium sound like they belong in a cheap, second-rate haunted house or carousel ride.

Programming is really great, as are the synths, organs, and guest violins. The guitars sound very good in the mix, but again with a lot of industrial metal or Neue Deutsche Härte they are extremely banal and only rarely involve any semblance of creative, instead settling for a percussive effect to keep this vaguely within the 'metal' realm at all. Over this, Ripper splatters all manner of grumbles, growls, goofy narratives, dramatic cleaner ravings ala Vortex or Garm, and some really warped vocal effects that create a psychotic phantasmagoria which lasts through pretty much all the original tunes here; he's also a little experimental in the use of the violins, crowd sounds, etc. The cover of "She" by the mighty KISS, however, is rather ill-advised, and although it's tacked on at the end of the album, it kind of botches up the cohesion of whatever came before it. I remember that dragging it all down for me when I first heard it, and even more so now. Not like it's an awful cover in of itself, but just has so little to do with the rest of the material.

I dig Sketch of Supposed Murder, and it makes a nice combo with The Horror Grandeur around this time of year when the Halloween decoration are up and you can feel all that anticipation brought on by both the holiday and the autumnal season in general, but can fully appreciate that it's not going to satisfy everyone. Think of it like The Sham Mirrors' weird older sibling decked out in mascara, Gothic hosiery, sipping absinthe while he's watching a marathon of noir mystery murders. If that sounds like a party you want to attend, then I think this is also an album you'd like to attend. But stop it after the 8th track.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/morgulmusic/

Auberon - Crossworld (2001)

The titular intro track to Auberon's sophomore outing Crossworld was a little bit off putting...a chugging, boring, simplistic riff glazed in mystical, spacey synthesizers and with the vocalist piling on a bit of distorted, spoken word narrative. From the onset it seemed that the fantasy-tinged melodeath of their debut had gone off into outer space, and the band was aesthetically pairing that up with a more tangibly 'modern', chugressive style. However, once "Vanities Fall" explodes forth with its little nod to "Carmina Burana", it becomes clear that they're still performing within the same wheelhouse as A Tale of Black..., only with a futuristic spin on it that might have been more thematically engaging for them than just repeating what they had already released three years earlier.

I'd liken this to At the Gates, Darkane or Soilwork if it were infested with the sorts of chords and octave patterns that thrashers like Testament and Vicious Rumors used a lot on their later 80s and early 90s material. It's quite a cool match with the Lindberg-like snarls and punishing riffs that kick off cuts like "The Beast Within", one of the best songs here which perfectly executes what they are going for. They still implement the cleaner vocals to contrast against the savage rasping, but even there you get a slightly more affected, post-modern vibe. Truth to be told, I thought the aggressive vocals on this were actually much better than the debut...they seem better welded to these slightly less complex riffing patterns, to the point that you can make out more of their tortured imperfections and that enables them with a lot more staying power. The album also goes for bigger, simpler, rocking rhythms that are checks in the bank for an audience interested in banging heads and bodies against one another. The drums are thundering, especially on the low end, and the album possesses an almost tireless energy about it which reminded me a lot of 'go for the throat' entries to this subgenre like Soilwork's Steelbath Suicide, Darkane's Rusted Angel or Sins of Omission's Flesh On Your Bones.

Considering when this album actually dropped, and that level of intensity they pull off, I was really surprised that this one didn't take in a much larger audience, but I think like a lot of the second or third tier Black Mark releases it lacked any amount of perceivable promotion. There are also a few issues I had with the production...for all the sleeker, bruising aesthetics it was intended for, some of the guitars seem a little too boxy and uneven, and the mix levels have actually given me more than one headache throughout the years. Not a deal breaker when you're searching for something to scratch this specific itch, or spent the six years before this blaring Slaughter of the Soul to all your DM-curious nu metal and metalcore friends, but I felt that A Tale of Black..., albeit more controlled, was the easier of the two albums to ingest. That said, if it were a fist fight, Crossworld would beat its elder sibling to a pasty red pulp; it's far more wild and testosterone driven, and even if the riffs are a little more pedestrian it just puts more punch behind them. So I like both albums, the debut just a fraction more, but if you're a fan of others I've listened in this review then it's worth tracking down.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (the ugly trifles of our existence)

http://auberonswe.blogspot.com/

Hoth - Rites of the Black Goddess (2001)

Had Rites of the Black Goddess arrived in full force a half-decade or so earlier than it did, it might have been automatically granted the status of a lesser known classic, and an example of black metal's parallel development in countries outside Scandinavia. The catch is: it DID, as a demo tape in 1995, but from what I gather this album was a new recording, and so I'm assuming had a better production. At any rate, Portugal's Hoth was and remains an example of how the crudest of paeans to this medium can exude a charm which can outweigh or offset it's lack of musical value; the sort of recording that is hit or miss when produced in more modern times but does generally tend to get a pass from the genre's audience due solely to its placement in history, and ability to evoke that unwashed 'innocence' of proto black metal.

Drudging and ritualistic, Hoth could hardly be dubbed riffing masters when most of the rhythms involve a scant few chords repeated ad nauseam to the point that any change whatsoever comes as a sigh of relief in cuts like "Impious Congregation" or "Hellish Revelation".  Any enjoyment here is derived solely from the raw, bludgeoning buzz off the guitars, and the thinly toned synthesizer lines, usually done in somnolent or organ-based pads, which accompany them. Fairly predictable in most songs, but there is nonetheless a timeless sort of charisma which dusts off the cobwebbed atavism at the core of your brain. Loose, wailing leads and bare bones beats round out the experience, as well as the growled vocal lines which certainly distinguished it from a lot of other black metal, which had been pioneered and evolved through the higher pitched snarling intonations. Hoth was also not above a few risks, like the acoustic/keyboard piece "Celebration of Isis", or the inverse ambient bookends.

Somewhere in here, I want to say there's a Hellhammer/Celtic Frost foundation to which the sole member JA's most dingy perception of horror/occult was to be applied. You can definitely hear this in the chord progression of "Pagan Melodies", as well as the overall murk of the production. Black Goddess is like some rare offshoot species of that style, which might have burgeoned forth into the musical gene-streams even if the northern, popular form of black metal had never taken off. Add to that the alluring cover art, and I'm really shocked this doesn't get picked up more, or discussed. That's not to say I have any ringing endorsement for the record. It's compelling as a window to obscurity, but not musically or atmospherically on the level of something I'd want to continually revisit. Still, if you find yourself wandering the grimy underground of antiquity, and don't mind the raw, simplistic, ambition-free riffing, dull if eerie keyboard lines and bare minimum DIY beats, Rites of the Black Goddess might induce a haze of corpse candles, dust and nostalgic rot into your lungs. And J.A. is still doing this, having put out a 'sequel' to the album just last year.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

The Provenance - 25th Hour; Bleeding (2001)

I can only conjecture that The Provenance's lack of a breakthrough was due to a glut of Gothic metal acts being released during the crack of the new millennium, and that their material was simply too heady and dynamic for those simply seeking out lascivious fae metal thrills to accompany their guyliner, fishnet stockings and caramel lattes. An amalgamation of a heavier Anneke-led The Gathering, progressive rock and even folk elements, there was no narrow path of sound for the Swedes. Song structures were rather complex by this niche's standards, wandering without meandering over a goodly number of riffing patterns that covered a broader spectrum of emotion and heaviness, but it's also this arguable lack of specificity and focus that placed them in a border-zone between numerous subgenres, neatly defying categorization and thus the audiences of infinitely lamer bands abusing the 'beauty & beast' vocal juxtaposition.

As mentioned, Emma Hellström had a soothing, rich pitch reminiscent of Anneke van Giersbergen, but she also could hit an eerier, I.C.S. Vortex keening during the less comfortable moments. Yet she was not alone here, joined by a panoply of grunts, growls and Goth-speak by guitarist/vocalist Tobias Martinsson, to the point that they're fairly even distributed with their own lines, and also capable of some rather elegant harmonies as in "Frequencynic". The guitars ranged from lamentations of crisp Goth/doom to more biting patterns that recalled mid-paced progressive thrash, offset by some dingier, cleaner tones. Though 25th Hour; Bleeding is stylistically consistent, there was quite enough going on here that each composition eschewed predictability to create a jagged landscape of ideas that would both calm the listener and jerk him about within a small cluster of measures. The drums set a grooving pace with lots of great little fills and an almost jazzy angel of approach in spots, while the bass bounced back and forth between a smooth low end and its own cavorting grooves that lend the album an impression of murky, druggy 70s psychedelia.

Add to this the judicious use of flute, in a tasteful, Tull-like fashion, and a bevy of synthesizers, pianos and organ tones that enhance the rhythm guitars rather than compete with them for your attentions, and you had quite an engaging listen. In fact, I was quite sure the first time I spun 25th Hour; Bleeding that I was listening to the 'next big thing'. The lyrics were mildly more poetic and poignant than the droopy-eyed standards of the niche, and the music, while maintaining a slightly serrated edge, had this refreshing, hopeful quality to its aggression which stood out. Paired up with some really catchy vocal and guitar hooks, this is just one of those debut records that deserved more. The cover image was shite with its silhouette, and Scarlet Records was unable to effectively market a number of its more compelling bands, but otherwise this was a very good disc which I'd recommend to those seeking off-kilter Scandinavian mash-ups, somewhere between Theater of Tragedy and The Sins of Thy Beloved and the eclectics of Solefald and Ulver.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (suppressed by all mankind)

Hail - Bestial Storms of the Abyssal Pit [DEMO] (2001, re-released 2015)

Before critiquing a demo like Bestial Storms of the Abyssal Pit, it's probably important to place it into context. This is a recording by Finland's Hail from just after the turn of the century, now seeing the light as an accompaniment to their new Lawgiver EP, but made of somewhat cruder material than their prior full-length Inheritance of Evilness from 2003, which was an unknown gem of the scene. So, hailing (sorry) from the birth of the band in 2001, one shouldn't really expect a high level of cohesion and professionalism, and thus there can't really be much of a sense of disappointment when that is exactly how the material here is delivered. Raw, slightly chaotic black metal which likely doesn't sound distinct from a hundred or so other bands at the demo stage, but that is not to say that it is necessarily bad, and even from these earlier details one can assume that Hail were not completely relying on the 'blast first, think later' qualities of the medium. They can certainly perform in that capacity, but the core aesthetic to this EP and so many of it ilk is that resonating, evil vibe off the riffing and lack of production values.

The cover of this new MCD release is indeed surreal and compelling, but I can't claim that the music quite lived up to it, even though it offers visual cues to the songs. These guys vomit forth tracks with amusing titles such as "Lava of the Cavernous Cave" or "The Great Semen of Satan's Mantis", and I'm not sure whether or not they were intentionally going for a laugh, or it's just a translation issue, but where some might see that as a flaw, I found it personable. As for the material itself, it is comprised of extremely loud, ghastly vocals which veer between the genre's traditional rasping and some hoarser, disheveled elements that actually sound like a human being regurgitating toxic waste. The vocals are so echoed and stand out so much from the other instruments that they can prove a distraction, however when they disappear you can hear the clashing clutter of the drums, especially the cymbals, and the wildly aberrant leads (like in the closing of "The Great Semen..."). The riff structure of the rhythm guitar is rooted in speed, thrash and punk as most trad black metal of the Bathory lineage, and not a lot of the chord progressions really stand out, but then I'm not so sure that's the point of them, but rather to contribute to the wishy-washy, hostile lo-fi atmosphere.

The third track, "Evocations in a Crypt at an Ominous Forest" is the darkest sounding of the three, because it lacks the firmer riffing qualities and is instead feeling almost improvisational with its crashing percussion and mix of acidic and melancholic guitars. Unfortunately, I didn't find the musical choices on the guitars as creepy as I'd have liked, and the vocals just seem to run away with the whole recording. So far as I can tell, the band has only had one member, the Dirtmaster, and he lives up to his handle by composing aural atrocities that only a small slice of even the black metal audience are going to find merit with...at LEAST on this demo, because the Lawgiver and first full-length have better sounding production that doesn't detract from the sinister intentions. So Bestial Storms of the Abyssal Pit is really meant to suit its purpose as an artifact of this musician's career, and appeal strictly to those who enjoy the rawest, most loosely structured demo recordings of black metal's past. And to that extent, it maintains enough of a crude charisma to satisfy the purpose, but if prompted I would far rather listen to the other Hail recordings.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

Exmortem - Berzerker Legions (2001)

Exmortem's third album, Berzerker Legions is perhaps their least interesting and most straightforward, but that their nadir is still a relatively good time speaks to how solid they've always been. Never quite a dull moment if you like your death metal blasted and relentless, but what I thought was the most curious about this one was the lineup. After seven years, not a single original member remained...Exmortem now revolved around the Dejected in Obscurity guitarist Sigtyr, and he hooked up with a pair of total powerhouses to record this. One is Reno Killerich, who by that point hadn't quite carved out a name for himself as the temporary Dimmu Borgir drummer, but had played on Panzerchrist Soul Collector; and the other, vocalist Simon 'Smerte' Petersen, who may be known to you for fronting the excellent Horned Almighty, where his wretched growls are really a lot more impressive than he is here, but not so much that you can't make a distinction.

With Killerich, you know this thing is going to be a blasterpiece, and to that extent you won't be let down. A lot of faster paced material circa Morbid Angel/Hate Eternal with a fibrous level of distortion that tears out a gajillion tremolo picked riffs, some of which are assembled catchier than I might have dreaded. There is notably less variation than on Dejected in Obscurity, so I felt entirely dependent on the riffing patterns and vocals to carry the material, and thankfully it succeeds, with the caveat that it's not the sort of record I want to spin often or in its entirety. Honestly, I feel similar to a lot of the Panzerchrist offerings, in that the disc is meticulously constructed aggression which simply doesn't rise above its brutality, its genre standards, to walk with the giants of the genre. Just a lot of intense drumming and traditional death metal riffing with a ghastly vocal presence that sometimes gets lost in the barbarism if you're not paying close enough attention. I just find Smerte's attack far more effective over the black/punk or black/rock leanings of his currently active band, but if you listen in you can here he's got a great sustain to his growl and they seem to often throw a few filters on him which gives the album a somewhat futuristic/apocalyptic impression.

Berzerker Legions is quite unforgiving, and not always in a good way, so it suffers for the same reasons records by Diabolic, Krisiun or Malevolent Creation often fall into systemic dispassion...the real lack of a distinguished or resonant atmosphere. To this point, granted, the Danes had only put out two records that weren't exactly bastions of depth in songwriting, but this one further cemented them as third or fourth stringers on the European scene, and it just lacks the character of the better efforts. It could really use some great lead sequences or pulverizing breakdowns to help break up the speed. That said, it's a real neckbreaker and not at all a bad album to pick through if you really value intensity and couldn't care less about subtlety or song diversity. Beyond the intro it goes into nuclear overdrive, nothing nuanced or unique ever happening, just a load of repetition that makes use of Killerich's speed without ever teaching us why he's this fantastic, up and coming drummer beyond his ability to batter away for a half hour. And that's frankly just too much for this to match any of the other Exmortem full-lengths, and coupled with the forgettable cover image of bursting, incendiary bodies, its reasonable why this seems to have been entirely neglected.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (waiting for a new age)