Windir - Likferd (2003)

The fourth and final Windir record is the darkest. Not simply because I associate it with the untimely passing of its main protagonist Valfar in the year following its released (in a fucking blizzard of all things), but because it's got this more suffocating extremity about it. As I mentioned with 1184, rather than going more accessible with the winning formula of melodic clarity and folkish multi-instrumentation, Valfar and his shipmates moved off into a more aggressive direction, seeking to embrace the black metal fundamentals rather than shun them. Likferd goes even harder than the last album, and with the increasingly savage vocals and sheer velocity of the riffs and drumming.

That's not to say you don't get some variation, some brilliant moments of pause like the dark synthscape that punctuates "Resurrection of the Wild" or the bass-driven grooves of "Blodssvik" which sounds more like a Gothic rock song until those familiar melodies surge forward. But overall, Likferd is content to hammer away at your corporal body and then let the melodies and awesome male choir vocals carry you off into Valhalla. Despite the kinetic, melodic glaze found in tracks like "Martyrium" or "On the Mountain of Goats", they thrive off the strength of the riffing and sheer force. And there is riffing aplenty, with Valfar trying a whole array of new patterns that pull from thrash or melodic death metal but then plant them directly into the Viking furor. There are windows of proggy sounds and structures also placed throughout the 48 minute visceral structure of this experience, and one wonders if they had continued they might have pursued paths more akin to how Enslaved was already evolving at that very moment.

The mix still isn't my favorite, it's very steady but also kind of got a murk to it despite all the melodic strivings. That said, I think the drums sound a lot better than the last record, or at least the kicks and snares aren't distracting me throughout the experience as much, so I can better appreciate everything else that's happening. A worthwhile swansong for Windir. It's absolute rubbish that we lost such an obviously talented and visionary musician as Terje Bakken at such a young age, as many others have said before me. I can't imagine he would have disappointed us if we'd gotten 20+ more years of music from his atavist mind. I don't approach this one as often as Arntor or 1184, but it's rich enough with ideas both familiar and new that it's just a hair's breadth behind them in quality.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

Deströyer 666 - Terror Abraxas EP (2003)

Terror Abraxas is a shorter release than the albums before it, an EP released through Iron Pegasus Records in Germany, which more or less continues the style expressed on Cold Steel... for an Iron Age, with a similar commitment to that raw production, although at points I think the vocals here are a little louder and the instrumentals a little less balanced. It's charmingly crude, however, so you can still make out everything well enough and nothing can detract from the hellish energy that their hybrid of black and thrash metal creates. But the best thing I can say is that all of the originals her are full-length worthy, had they written and released these alongside Cold Steel... then I think they'd have blended in with only a little rhythmic redundancy.

I really like the pacing here, with some faster, more volatile tunes to lead things off, especially "Those Who Dare Beyond" which has a great rhythm and riffs, plus I like K.K.'s barking over this one as those more burning, melodic lead-lines erupt. "Trialed by Fire" is another standout, a longer and more epic rack where they play around with some cleaner chanted vocals and bring back a lot of that Blood Fire Death/Hammerheart vibe, perhaps to an extent that they'd never gone before. I was also very impressed with the band's cover of Wendy Rule's "Prometheus". I had never heard of the woman, nor the song, I guess it's some sort of neofolk/pop from Australia, and I went back to listen to the original and really enjoyed it with her voice, the percussion, the bass, strings, etc. That said, it's just as awesome in the hands of Deströyer 666, they totally adapt it to their own style, with little walls of melody that connect it to the original. Pretty much the best tribute you can pay when doing a cover song, transforming it rather than copying it, showing how timeless its ideas are across numerous genres.

Ultimately, this is great stuff, the idea being to tide over the fans for a follow-up to Cold Steel..., but that would end up taking a lot longer than anyone probably thought.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.destroyer666.uk/

Gardens of Gehenna - Mechanism Masochism (2003)

With a title like Mechanism Masochism, you'd expect that the little industrial footprints on Dead Body Music might have taken full control of the Gardens of Gehenna style on their third label in just as many albums. The elements are still present, but by and large the Germans maintain their brand of loping, patient death and doom without much of a payoff by way of tempo shifting, nuance or progression. It's more or less a direct continuation of the sophomore with little difference, a handful of the guitar riffs might have more of a traditional doom vibe about them, but when mixed in with the light use of the synthesizers and the occasional, other electronic influences, it still resorts to a lot of the simple chugging moments that just aren't that effective unless they can lead up to some payoff riff, which almost never happens...

They've got some perfectly passable background noise though, if you just want to hear some growling and low guitars off in the distance, struck through by an occasional keyboard for some gravitas and alarm. I find that the more exotic this album grows, with even more electronic beats ("Sestra") and occult atmospheres, it peps up and becomes a little more interesting, and in those few moments we've clearly come as close to the proper industrial metal as we're going to. The strange thing is that the industrial components are more groovy-oriented but then they go into the melancholic doom real heavy with the melodies in something like "Opus Noctis", and it becomes perplexing just how these two things are really going to work out together. And they don't, and Gardens of Gehenna strides forward only with baby steps, apprehensive to go all out into an industrial metal attack...

That said, I don't hate this one, it arguably has the best production, surpassing Dead Body Music, and the vocals have a cleaner grit to them, though I can't say I liked them much more. The band itself sounds on disc like its interest in this whole affair is draining away, but it's by no means awful, there were just so many more enticing options at this time and you wonder what audience Gardens was truly going to appeal towards. Decent ritualistic lyrics, somber melodies, a few compelling moments where the electronics support the grueling vocals and guitars, but otherwise forgettable.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

Soilwork - Figure Number Five (2003)

Coming off an album as strong as Natural Born Chaos, there was likely little to no chance that Soilwork was going to match itself, and that is precisely how the course of events would pan out, especially in lieu of the band continuing to crank out such a level of productivity. A year passed, and while I was still in the throes of heat for its predecessor, Figure Number Five arrived. I admit that, at the time, I felt like this was an album composed off some left-over ideas or cutting room floor materials that just weren't good enough to qualify for the last few, but in hindsight that was probably premature. The album largely lacks the dynamic strength of the last, and it does seem lazy at times, in particular the heavier riffs and grooves, but at the very least it's consistent and smooth and maintains a high production standard.

There are a few dreamy, catchy cuts on the album like "Distortion Sleep", "Downfall 24", or "Overload" with its great verse grooves, cute little bouncy synthesizers, and memorable chorus; some of these do arguably forge a fraction of new terrain, but just as many others tend to blend together and don't have a chorus or single riff that really impacts me. Speed's vocals are on roughly the same level as Natural Born Chaos, but they don't have as much to really say when the songwriting doesn't always set them up well. The synthesizers are fine, but I feel a few of the tracks here might have been improved if they added something a little fancier to show for themselves. Otherwise, I can't exactly describe the content here as particularly 'bad', since it's a fully listenable album, doesn't waste too much of your time and also does continue some of that positive, uplifting, potent vibe that the previous album mastered.

I definitely think this one might have suffered from that prolific the band were on, even more so than A Predator's Portrait. With another year or two between these full-lengths, a bit more variation could be achived, a few chorus parts sharpened, and they might have turned out stronger. As it stands, there aren't even many lead guitars on Figure Number Five that I can remember, which were a real positive for the band before this point. If I were putting together a longer playlist of their material, I'd probably include a few of the songs I mentioned above, maybe "Brickwalker" too, and ultimately this is one I can listen through without ever feeling too letdown or pissed off, but I'm just not going to pull it down off the shelf when I can head for The Chainheart Machine or Natural Born Chaos instead. Probably good enough to keep the the band's momentum intact, but nothing bordering on mindblowing here.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.soilwork.org/

Helloween - Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003)

Rabbit Don't Come Easy is probably the only 21st century album in the Helloween catalog that I've seen some smack aimed at, and I can't quite fathom why, because I think it's for the most part another satisfactory expedition into that modern, anthemic style they launched into with the Andi Deris era, Master of the Rings and Time of the Oath. Do I like the tunes as much as those? Probably not, but certainly there was no effort spared here to come up with an impactful, well-performed set of tunes. I also realize that, next to Pink Bubbles Go Ape, this one has the silliest title and cover artwork, but it's not really all that bad...judging by this band's sense of humor, the title kind of makes sense and the artwork does at least fit it, my only question is the robotic hand and android look of the magician, but I'm sure there's some 'deeper' meaning to all that.

One of the best things about discography reviews is forcing myself to get back in touch with those albums from some of my favorite bands that I probably never spent enough time with, and this is absolutely one of those cases. Bought it day one, listened to it a fair amount at first, discussed it a little but it just never quite left the same mark on me as some of their others. Revisiting it now, though, I think it's pretty sweet, with some tight and powerful tunes like "Just a Little Sign", "The Tune" and "Never Be a Star", the last of which is cut from that same uber-catchy stock as a tune like "I Want Out" or "Perfect Gentlemen", in fact it does sound probably a little too much like the pacing and melody behind the latter, however the way the lyrics and vocal harmonies are fit over it is quite different, so it's not too big a deal. As I sit listening to it again, though, I can't say there are too many weak numbers...I mean the power ballad "Don't Stop Being Crazy" is no "In the Middle of a Heartbeat", but it's not so bad that I feel the urge to skip it. Even as deep as "Listen to the Flies" I'm hearing some vocals that turn my head. Some of the lyrics are rather generic and weak, but I think they're at least delivered with conviction because Andi has a ton of great melodies and harmonies throughout, and this is a solid exercise for his full range.

The guitar riffs are generally good, and it should be noted that it's the first album with ex-Freedom Call string-slinger Sascha Gerstner, who brought some youth back into the fold, and I think it shows with all the energy they embedded into this and its successors. Roland Grapow is not an easy man to replace, and I don't think this is the album where we can say we were definitively satisfied with that change, but this guy is beyond competent, and I can only imagine the thrill of transitioning from an act that many consider a bit of a Helloween-clone to the genuine article (not to sell Freedom Call short, they've got some good stuff), and as you'll see from future offerings, the guy isn't just here to fill a seat on the bus and dance around a stage, he's also a huge writer and contributor going forward, and he fits this squad like a glove. But overall, all performances are wonderful...it's not their most varied attack, and it's not as good as The Dark Ride, Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy or Gambling With the Devil, but so what? Not much is, my friends.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.helloween.org/

Rage - Soundchaser (2003)

With albums as ranged and excellent as Ghosts and Unity, Rage had REALLY started to shift back onto my radar in those early 'oughts, in a way they hadn't since the beloved 80s. Sure, I had never abandoned the band, and there are efforts they've produced every decade since their arrival that I enjoy, but against the surging scenes of melodic death metal, metalcore and Gothic drear that permeated that pivotal turning of the century, it was great to hear a great veteran band like that bark back, and bark back hard. Soundchaser, named for the band's biomechanical mascot, was the third album with the Peavy Wagner, Mike Terrana and Victor Smolski lineup, which had clearly shaken out any of the kinks before even the previous album had been released, and where Unity could have been seen as the band putting its foot in the ground, and re-affirming the band's long-held strengths, Soundchaser could be heard as the press forward across the battlefield.

It could certainly be seen as a Unity Part II, because stylistically it falls very close, with a lot of the bulky, grooving, chugging guitars, and if I'm being honest, there are transitions or individual riffs here which I often confuse with its predecessor, or might even be interchangeable in particular songs. However, I think they were trying to go a little more aggressive, and create a slightly more evil theme overall, with some lyrics that were a little more inspired by science fiction and horror, like in the title track, or "Great Old Ones", or maybe even the post-intro slammer "War of Worlds" which in at least title only recalls the great H.G. Wells but then applies that to the context of modern geopolitics. A lot of Victor's nastiest riffs are present through the album, seeded with his spurious, showy little leads and melodies, although it's only rare that Rage actually sounds 'evil'; I mean they've generally been a thundering, anthemic, uplifting sort of band, so you have to take that with a grain of salt, but certainly there's always been a darker influence to some of the lyrics, and the mascot, while awesome, was always a bit of a creepy enigma.

There are a few corny bits on the album like the filtered growl vocals in the verse of the title track, but then again it's all playing into this more futuristic Rage, and yet they can shift between the choppier and heavier parts to smoother, melodic passages where Peavy issues some mellower vocals and the overall tone goes for a more decidedly prog/power leaning. What's most important is that I don't think there is even a single track that goes by here without some excellent part, "Defenders of the Ancient Life" is just choked with these awesome Smolski riffs and a nice rhythmic shift for the chorus, whereas "Human Metal" has possibly the coolest lyrical sentiments you could hope for from the already-aged band...and a breakdown in the bridge that should have you flailing your arms around the room and fists into the nearest available poseur. It's almost pointless to repeat just how good these three musicians are...Mike and Victor are icons on their respective instruments, and Peavy deftly balances the bass and vocals like few others...he may not have the shrieking capabilities of his youth, sure, but just about every line on the album is delivered with character, grit and passion.

Along with Unity, this represents my favorite material from the band in the 21st century, and like so much other work in their catalog, it really holds up, the further evolution and refinement of a band that absolutely belongs in the top tier of any German metal conversation. Blow for blow, album for album, Rage might not be as historically important as bands like Accept or the Scorpions, nor do they have the same sorts of accessible hit singles, but they are clearly a lot more consistent, more engaging and just overall superior, and they're given us more great music than we can ever repay. They're just one of those long-enduring Euro power metal bands which has hardly ever taken a misstep while keeping its own identity about it, in the same class as a Helloween or Running Wild or Blind Guardian. I am all the richer for having ever discovered them and witnessed their transformations through the decades.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (now the beast has come)

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

Machine Head - Through the Ashes of Empires (2003)

Before you've even heard a note of Through the Ashes of Empire you can already tell that some important change has been made. The title of the album is probably the best they've had, and the cover art leaves a more lasting impression with its haunting photographic effect. Perhaps some maturity has settled into this band, which had clearly not been struggling financially, but had been creatively bankrupt from the offset. After sitting through the actual content of the album, I'd concede that it's more thorough and ambitious than anything the band had released prior, with more of an ear for detail and at least some effort expended in assembling the songs together, tabulating a few more complex ideas than we'd heard from Robb Flynn across this project's backlog. All of this might seem like I'm setting up Machine Head for some glowing praise, but I assure you, I do not actually like Through the Ashes of Empire. It's not a good album, it's not even acceptable, but it's surely less shitty than the three leading up to it between 1997-2001.

Machine Head drops some of the nu metal influence (I said 'some', not all) and comes to the decision that it really misses sounding like the band it was originally created to sound like. Yes, Through the Ashes of Empires is a Pantera wannabe about 60-70% of the time. The guitar tone, and the way a lot of the riffs are structured sound like Dimebag left them on the cutting room floor during the Vulgar Display of Power sessions, with a few spare lines of other members' cocaine. Flynn's harsher vocals sound a hell of a lot like Anselmo, excepting for a different regional accent that lends a difference in natural intonation. This isn't to say that the Californians had suddenly dumped their other influences; you still get some of those childish, angry Jonathan Davis buildups, you get a lot of those ditzy little organic hip hop/Korn influences like the weird guitars in "Left Unfinished". There are some lead sequences which sound a lot like they're trying to pull a Kirk Hammett from the Black Album era, and there are still a WHOLE lot of shitty bro chorus parts which are still trying to tap into that good old All-American contemporary hard rock zeitgeist that bands like Godsmack, Creed, Silverchair, Fighters and Nickelback appeal to, or nowadays Five Finger Death Punch...

But the Pantera similarities definitely distract away from the rest, and so Through the Ashes of Empires feels like another album that was trying to be a composite of heavy music trends, playing it safe with some of the big names' inspiration entwined into the songwriting, and it just feels like they were trying to win over whatever 'metal' audience was left that looks no further than Pantera or Black Label Society when they're browsing through the record store for some new HARD SHIT. It's all dressed up pretty enough...there are lots of pinch harmonics thrown around to give the riffs a sense they have more dimension to them, or a few faster thrash parts that go more for a Cowboys From Hell vibe than Far Beyond Driven. I'd even say a few of the cooler moments on the album were some of the more unexpected, clean guitars that sadly cede to more boring groove metal riffs, or when they step outside a little further with "Elegy", which starts off with a chugging doom/sludge vibe and some more hypnotic, wasted vocals before also ruining itself. There were compulsions behind some of the ideas that end up here which were probably strong to begin with, but Robb and the boys just can't seem to stick the landing on any of them.

The lyrics are about 80% awful cliches about emotional disenfranchisement and other social issues, that like most rock is supposed to sound genuinely angry and connect with the day-to-day struggles of the mainstream rock crowd that expects little more from it, plenty of F-bombs added to create just the right blast radius of pedestrian rage. A lot of the clean chorus parts here are pretty elaborate, he was trying to stretch himself as a singer, so why then are so few of them even remotely catchy? I mean, I'll give Machine Head that this one doesn't sound so phoned-in as The More Things Change... or Supercharger, but why can't I remember a single song 15 minutes later? It's a whole lot of effort dumped into just not enough. There are single riffs on Vulgar Display of Power that are better than this entire album. There are single Vio-lence songs better than Machine Head's entire discography for that matter, but how the mighty have fallen. In the interest of fairness, I think if this had just been the album they put out after Burn My Eyes, a lot of cringe material could have been avoided, and it would seem a sensible evolution there, but that still doesn't make it an album I'd ever listen to again if I weren't committing to giving their catalog another chance.

Could it be a sign of better things to come?

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

https://www.machinehead1.com/

Machine Head - Hellalive (2003)

Machine Head's first proper live album came about a decade into their career, more time than some superstars wait for sure, so one can't really hold their feet to the fire for wanting to get a substantial studio backlog behind them before trying to sell such a product. It features a pretty even distribution of material from the four albums they'd put out before it, but that just means almost all of it is going to be really, really bad. You've got your 'crowd pleasers' like "Old", "Ten Ton Hammer", "Take My Scars", and...okay, I'm sorry, I just can't keep a straight face while trying to type this sentence. Let's cut to the chase: Hellalive is a terrible live album, but it's terrible for its content, not AS a live album, if that makes any sense.

Technically, it's passable in most respects. The guitars and vocals are pretty level, and sound at least as good if not better than their studio counterparts on many riffs. They go for a more straightforward sound on stage, you can still make out some of the guitar effects and subtleties of the studio work but it hits much more like a blunt object. Although Robb is trying to represent the range of trite emotions he brings to the studio, he's a little dumbed down on the delivery through this set and that's actually a good thing. Apart from whisking off into some of his clean-cut jock chorus parts, he doesn't sound as laughable as he's done on a few of the albums. Then again, some of the drifty, dreamy melodic mouth breathing he does on tunes like "The Blood, The Sweat, the Tears" sounds a little dopey and it's on a part like that where you can hear more effects on the voices. The bass isn't quite as fat on stage here, so the tunes do lose a little bit of depth, but the drums make up for it with a little more fiery energy beneath them.

It's not a pure proper live set because a few songs are yanked from a second date in Germany and added here or substituted for the UK gig, but a lot of live albums do this and its all for presenting to the fans who want a more seamless listening experience and maybe cutting out a few awkward flaws. As live records go, this one does a fair representation for the band, I cannot imagine a longtime fan of Machine Head in 2003 putting this in the car stereo and feeling let down. They pound on you with a lot of their cheesy groove metal songs and leave enough space to get their emo on too. But I simply cannot reconcile with this shitty music, because I do not enjoy what I'm listening to. Is this a better experience than Supercharger, The Burning Red, or the More Things Change...? Yes. Does it bring hte pain? The siccness? If you're 11, yes. Is it worth checking out when there are literally tens of thousands of better albums and better bands across every niche of the metal spectrum? Hard no.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

https://www.machinehead1.com/

Prong - Scorpio Rising (2003)

I don't think there's any question that Prong was already flirting with groove and nu metal on their 90s albums like Cleansing or Rude Awakening, and they were possibly even an influence on a few of the bands in that style; but Scorpio Rising was the first unfortunate instance in which they themselves started to adopt the style to the point where it felt intrusive and distracting, like they were trying to bring on some of those more modern influence and in the process dumbing down their own unique aesthetics. This was not as shocking, or as awful as, say, Diabolus in Musica, because Tommy Victor and friends eased us into this evolution It's not quite the disaster that some of the bigger metal bands ran into as they were trying to court an even more mainstream audience, but it IS bad, the worst Prong album in the discography and remains awkward to listen to even today.

The riffs here are mostly big, dumb groove metal riffs, not the first they've written, but they don't really stand out as other than flexing some muscle in a niche that had already gotten annoying and tired even by the early 21st century. They still have some nods to their industrial/thrash era as in "All Knowing Force", but even then those aren't as good as "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" and a few come across as just bad Ministry wannabe progressions. The bass playing is still quite pumping and fun, but when you haven't really got any good riffs to play under it also eventually dips into the inevitable mediocrity. The drumming is fine in that groovy hip hop style with some occasional industrial programming embellishments, but by far the biggest offender on the album are the vocals of Tommy Victor. Sure, they still sound like he always has, but he adds in these over the top gorilla grunts to his already gruff style and it ends up sounding too moronic to take seriously. On a track like "Embrace the Depth" he's back to himself and it doesn't sound so bad, he can surge into one of those catchier chorus parts, but there are other times here where I nearly had to shut off the album it was just so goofy sounding. A few of his howls even sound like an angrier, burlier Glen Danzig, so it seems like the other, bigger bands Victor had played with (or would play with) rubbed off here, and the lyrics are largely awful...

I can't completely decimate this album, because about 30-40% of it sounds like the band did in the decade prior, but apart from a few of those splashes of more warm, melodic chords, the bass lines and a few of the chorus vocals, this is just weak. The better songs like "Assurances" and "Out of This Realm" are wedged pretty deeply into the album, but they wouldn't be enough to save it even if they were the first two in the track list. Maybe it was all that time off, Tommy was just trying to rekindle the flames of what Prong was prior, but mix in a few flavors of the week, a process that clearly worked in the previous decade but just falls apart here. At its best, Scorpio Rising is just lazily copying previous material, but at its worst it's unintentionally hilarious. Not the sort of career nadir I'd want to run over with my car like Load or Virtual XI, but this album just seems so unnecessary in retrospect, since they've done a pretty decent job with most of their other output. Even the cover artwork on this one left something to be desired. Is that a skeleton with a beetle head wielding a scythe? What the fuck does that have to do with anything?

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

https://prongmusic.com/

Virus - Carheart (2003)

I first encountered this album in early 2004 after finding it in a stack in the basement jam room of a drummer i was playing with, and had no idea what it was, thinking that it looked like some sort of alternative rock or post-hardcore record. When inquiring about it, he told me it was the new project of Ved Buens Ende, who I had already been exposed to, and thus I was intrigued enough to take it home, check it out, and then never really look back. The band's unusual stylistic interpretation of groovy, maudlin post-metal was one of a kind, aesthetically informed by everything from jazz to noise rock to a heavy smattering of Voivod in the bass, guitar and vocal departments, and being that that was one of if not my fave band in the world at that time, I was delighted to hear something new take any kind of related approach...

Carheart is the record I've had the most time to gel with, and fascinatingly, while there have been small evolutions in the band's sound over the four albums and two EPs, it's surprising how early they sort of found their niche and rarely ever wandered away from it. Not that I'm complaining, because this was such an unusual concoction in the first place, and the song quality itself would improve for their last two full-lengths, but they could put together a playlist or live set of anything in their output and it would flow pretty smoothly together. Thick, barreling bass grooves serve as alchemic constant, from which just about everything else flows, unless they're taking a pause to let the guitars' jangly, hazy dissonant note patterns. The drums are very rock & jazz oriented, a nice construct in which to settle the endless curving low end note patterns and their haunted, unnerving upper strings, and they will occasionally cycle in some additional percussion to clap and snap along. To top that all off, you have Czral switching between two vocal patterns, one very haughty sounding and the other more drugged, monotonous and subliminal, which creates this dope-addled atmosphere which sounds like you're hearing this in a dazed state after having your tonsils removed.

Within that range, I will say there's a good degree of versatility. Maybe not as much as something like a Primus album, but some tunes will go a little more moody and eerie, like "Road", letting the guitar and it's drizzly, slightly-twanged out tone take the fore. Others like "Gum, Meet, Mother", go for a more technical and proficient pacing which is sure to keep you glued to its subtleties as that almost numbing, fat bass tone collides with all the little distorted intricacies. In fact, Carheart is arguably the Norwegians' most varied effort just in terms of its rhythm and weird vocals, even lapsing for a pure ambient piece like "Dogs With Wheels" to break up the successions of vertigo-inducing rhythm. Once upon a time, I considered this my least favorite of their output, but I think through the years it has grown on me as one of the more monumental progressions of a formerly black metal or black metal adjacent act from this scene, and nowadays I like it more than the sophomore, The Black Flux, although that's also quite good. I would easily recommend this stuff to fans of Solefald, Ihsahn, Dodheimsgard, Ulver, Arcturus and the like, just as much as I'd offer it to a fan of Voivod or their fellow Canadians NoMeansNo. Exceptional, creative, deconstructive, timeless music seeped in evocative lyrical minimalism.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (As we whip ourselves to sleep)

http://virusnorway.com/

Necrophagia - The Divine Art of Torture (2003)

Say what you want about whether Necrophagia was ever putting out top of the line albums for the genre, but one thing I can assure the viewer is that of all death metal gurus, Killjoy was one most committed to the actual ugliness of the medium. Whether that's a virtue or a vice is up to everyone to decide for him or herself; this was never a band that was going to release polished, wanky tech death albums, or melodic death metal, but instead appeal to the most primitive and then plaster on the usual suspect horror tropes like samples, narrative and synthesizers which fulfill the themes of gore, giallo, and cinematic camp. The Divine Art of Torture, the band's fourth full-length, is certainly one of its most ugly creations, if lacking stylistic refinement or many truly memorable tracks.

Does that matter here? Yes and no...there's a primal hideousness coursing through the ten cuts of this album which is certainly engaging and abusive. Like a lot of bands out of the NOLA scene, or Cali's cult crushers Autopsy, there's quite a chunk of punk or hardcore influence, only rather than cultivate a crust, sludge or doom center, Necrophagia channels it directly into a raw, pummeling death metal. Riffs are meaty and atrocious, with a raw, thrashy and crunchy tone to the rhythm guitars that does get a bit noisy in the recording. They do delve into some slower, groovier, doomy riffs at points, and there are also some really minimalist, bottom of the barrel sorts groove/nu metal riffs that they clog up some of the choruses with. Really, though, while a lot of the riffs can feel creatively bankrupt or flat-out predictable, they do suffice at least as a basis from which to launch the keyboards or other effects, not to mention they are angry, violent and abusive enough to compete with Killjoy's savage, tortured barking, forever the hallmark of this project.

It's kind of an odd sound because apart from maybe something like Autopsy, Impetigo, Slaughter or Sarcofago, it doesn't really wedge itself easy into other classifications of death metal. It's 'brutal' by its own standards, but the riffs feel more based in thrash and punk than the influence of the Swedish, British or Florida scenes. You don't get the feeling that there are any 'rules' in motion, or any real ambition, other than pounding the guitars into your skull like nails. The basslines and drums provided by the international rhythm section of Iscariah and Titta Tani, are very barebones and rock & roll in prowess, which also stands out like a sore thumb among the more technical and brutal inclined acts, but then again serving the style on this disc pretty well. Unlike a lot of the faceless hordes of bands that fit snugly into some category, when I hear a Necrophagia tune in a radio lineup I'm going to be pretty sure of who it is, and that's not a bad position to be in.

Mirai of the godlike Sigh provides the keyboards on the album, and he retains his penchant for choosing lines and tones that sound like they're somewhere between carnival music, giallo scores and prototypical New Age. I did not quite like how they were mixed here, feeling a bit too acidic or grating especially when coupled up with that brash guitar tone. Occasionally, as in "Rue Morgue Disciple", the band will break away into some simpler chugging and melodic guitars, where Mirai offers a more fulfilling, symphonic background, and these were some of my favorite parts. Overall though, with all the special effects coming and going through the music, Killjoy's lung puncturing roars, and anything else going on, I do feel like it can all devolve into quite a clamor, and isn't really mixed very well, a flaw that I think could prove a deal breaker for many listeners.

A horror guru like few others, Killjoy picks some interesting subjects here, like a tune about the Parasite Eve video game, or the "Flowers of Flesh and Blood" episode of the Guinea Pig torture-porn series. Not the sort of stuff you expect on your average horror-inspired death metal album which will mine the same old slashers from the 80s, and that much is appreciated here. The Divine Art of Torture is certainly one of the Necrophagia records with the most potential and cool concepts, but the lack of really sticky riff passages, as well as the production hold it back a step.

Horror-Meter: Seven out of ten phobia-driven heart seizures.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Arphaxat - Ex Inferis 12" (2003)

Just under 18 minutes of primal, incendiary filth, Ex Inferis was originally released as a demo by the French black metal duo Arphaxat back in 2003, but has now been revived as a 12" vinyl through the same label (Hell's Headbangers) which put out their sole full-length Loudun la maudite in 2008. What makes them somewhat unique is that they used a bass guitar/drum combo slathered with caustic black metal rasps, rather than the traditional roster setup with rhythm and lead guitars. Not entirely unheard of from Europe in those days, what with Necromantia having had exemplified that technique, but this stuff is far cruder, lacking the slow plod, occult atmosphere and use of synthesizers which was crucial to the Greeks' sound.

No, this is about as wretched as you can get for a demo recording with just those two instruments, raw and hostile vocals and absolutely no fucks given. Definitely some parallels to Von, Beherit or the earlier, less pomp-filled Barathrum records, the four tracks here just repeatedly beat you in the fucking eardrums with simplistic low-end note patterns dowsed in so much distorted bass buzz that it sounds like a cacophony angry insects being conducted into taut, bludgeoning swarms. The riffs sort of roil along without much by way of interesting patterns, but that's because the intent here was just to throw off the shackles of anything resembling melody, intricacy or innovation and just being as belligerent and anti-life as fuck. Drums are as obnoxious and splashy as you can imagine without losing the ability to support the guitars, and the vocals are a scathing but otherwise featureless bark which exhibits almost no variation in pitch or lyrical-line development, it's very level in its delivery and again, just no concern at all for diversifying its arsenal.

Sadly, I'm probably making it sound cooler than it really is, because other than a pure flossing of all the gray matter between my ears with its barbed-wire battering production, I don't know that the bass lines really come across as evil sounding, which might have been accomplished with just a few shifts in the note patterns. It's ominousness relies almost entirely on its raw recording, and so a sense of ennui kicks in once it's clear that no surprises or interesting riffs are ever going to occur. Granted, you can definitely develop a hostile, hypnotic reaction to this which doesn't make it completely unpleasant, especially in the bowels of the last track "The Pact", but the whole experience feels just a little too monotonous, and I even feel like the full-length, which took no strides in composition or style beyond this, just sounded a little better, where this is more of an intentional clamor. If you're really into the rawest of war metal, the ugliest of black metal's muddy originators, then this might harbor some curiosity or collectibility for you, but I found it only functioned all too well as intended, as hideous, repetitious, nihilistic noise.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

Gorerotted - Only Tools and Corpses (2003)

You know you're probably in trouble when the bookend samples for the first cut on an album are of the Crypt Keeper from HBO's Tales from the Crypt, that's about as obvious a choice you can get from the horror field apart from a Freddy Krueger quote or biting off the theme from Halloween. Also obvious is that England's Gorerotted were a bunch of young hopefuls barking up the tree of Cannibal Corpse, in particular the transitory period between Chris Barnes and Corpsegrinder...records like The Bleeding. I seem to remember a cloud of buzz surrounding their sophomore effort when it was released in 2003 through Metal Blade Records, but after going back to listen again, I was mistaken. It was merely flies.

That's not to say Only Tools and Corpses is a heaping helping of dogshit, but at best it was a fairly middling affair which probably just played upon some folks' nostalgia for the previous decade. I can't exaggerate how some of the death/thrashing verses in tunes like "Hacked in the Back, Dumped in a Sack" sound EXACTLY like stuff Cannibal Corpse was doing around the same time is this, though they often seem more reliant on bland tremolo picked progressions. Sure, they can lay out a thuggish groove from time to time which isn't going to disappoint one who's just there to throw his bulk about a pit, but so much of the material is centered upon the typical alternating 4x chug/burst mechanic that it continues to beat that script to death long after it was already passe. Vary rarely a sequence of notes will surprise you from nowhere, or they'll cut out to some syrupy bass playing which is reminiscent of Alex Webster's aesthetic, but by and large you feel like hearing one song here qualifies that you've heard them all. Not always going to be a problem for devotees of the genre, but the individual riffs and constructions just don't have the personality of their forebears, and it reeks of 'also ran'.

One area of distinction between this band and that other I keep mentioning would be in the vocals, which sort of trade off between four styles. You've got the standard, gruff beatdown-guttural which sounds a little bit like a David Vincent meets Infestdead, and then a rapacious stock snarls of the Deicide double-up variety. But then they'll also implement some of the deeper, gurgling inflection attributed to the more toilet bowl variety of brutal death metal, as well as some hooligan barks that sound like really pissed off punk or hardcore molded to the context of death metal. None of these are impressive or interesting, but there at least exists that level of versatility distributed at just the right amounts over the riffs. Lyrics exude a fine odor of Limey violence and misogyny: "Fuck Your Arse With Broken Glass" or "Zombie Graveyard Rape Bonanza", and they're fun if you're into that, but again, this was arriving at a time in which it was all old hat...not only did you have mainstream shockers like Corpse, but Gorgasm, Lividity, Mortal Decay, and on and on, many of which were just more vicious and memorable.

All told, Only Tools and Corpses is not a miserable effort, it's just too easily lost in the crowd. The cover art is by an artist who did a splatter comic called Tales from Uranus and has a fun style, and the mix of instruments here is functional and punishing. It just lacks for delivering the riffs that make me want to keep it around and listen through it consistently, and the few points at which I've gone back to it have me slaked for Bloodthirst or some other masterpiece of the medium.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10] (I find live people and I play with them)

https://www.facebook.com/gorerottedofficial

All Shall Perish - Hate.Malice.Revenge (2003)

Is there anything more frustrating than an extreme metal record which wastes so little time in dispensing its potential qualities to reveal its true nature: a reductionist, lazy bro-down mosh vehicle? All Shall Perish has long been presented to me (by acquaintances) as one of the most 'legit' acts in the deathcore field, an example of toughguycore backed by some real Oakland street cred, tight musicianship and something I might get into since I have both a soft spot for NYHC and a few of the more musical efforts in this particular niche (like Job for a Cowboy's recent output). So I decided to delve into their catalog, of which I only had a cursory knowledge from a few videos, and thus far I'm turning up blanks folks...this, lamentably, sort of sucks, and what makes it worse is that if I went at it with a paring knife I could probably carve out a 10-15 chunk of decency.

Unlike some of their later stuff I've heard, which seems to thrive more on that In Flames/Black Dahlia Murder axis with the more technical, perky melodic riffing, Hate.Malice.Revenge seems to dwell in a space between a more surgical, brutal death metal influence and the unnecessary neanderthal slog-core that soils it as an experience (at least for me). You've got some fairly apt tremolo picking selections here which range from Carcass to Deicide to Morbid Angel and these are broken up by some of the most banal palm muted chug sequences you've heard since bands like Earth Crisis capitalized on them in the earlier 90s. To the Californians' credit, they do incorporate a lot of slower, dreary melodies which might even belong to the Bolt Thrower camp if weren't based around such basic pit structures, but in general you range from the faster picked tremolo death to the breakdown and that's the majority of what I hear on this, without any real clue on how to incorporate the tempo shifts with any tact or style. The notes match, the shift in pacing is not unappreciated, I just found myself hoping for some nuance or cleverness in how they distributed the blunt punishment. It's kid stuff...with something more mature struggling to break free.

Vocals are incredibly generic here, but it's all too rare among the deathcore crowd that they are anything else? This was before they got the better known Hernan Hermida (who has since moved over to replace Mitch in Suicide Silence), who became synonymous with their sound, but here you've just got a selection of generic 'look, Mom, I can growl too' gutturals and higher pitched, retching snarls. Not awful, but overbearing in that typical American fashion where sounding brutal and oppressive trumps having any character or true distinction to one's performance. You could interchange this guy with almost any kid you pulled off the street and arrive at similar results, whereas death metal was once about having some uniqueness or charisma...can you imagine if a deathcore band boisted a frontman as compelling as a Martin van Drunen, John Tardy or Paul Speckmann? Yes, I know, that's a grand idea, so if you've got some in mind, do point them out, as the vocals always seem such a shortcoming for this subgenre. Gurgle like an indistinct toilet over the pathetic palm mutes: for the win! Fuck off!

Everything just seems so custom-made for moshing on this disc that it seems entirely inconsequential when you're outside of that setting, and that might work out for some records, but here it just doesn't equate to a pleasurable listening experience. Surprisingly, there are few production pitfalls. I like the way Hate.Malice. Revenge actually SOUNDS, just not the choices the band makes in sculpting that sound. Roiling, chuggy guitars that don't dowse themselves in unnecessary effects. Tribal like drumming that lurches along with every groove, and a nice and fat bass tone which at least adds to the mix, if not a lot of interesting notes and fills. The vocals are loud, which is a constant in deathcore and metalcore, but not to the point of distracting away from the chords. Elsewhere, the aesthetics of this debut are fucking pitiful. The 'three harsh words separated by period punctuation' album title has already been done by bands like Revenge and Watchmaker, who are actually good, so that never needed to be revisted. Also can't stand this band's logo...it just reads like any generic House of Pain-era tattoo from the 90s, and I don't even find that acceptable or interesting even when a straight up hardcore band does it...groups like Hatebreed started a nasty trend, methinks.

I'm going to assume All Shall Perish was a pretty young group when this dropped a decade ago, but the lyrics are mediocre in the way most 'heartfelt' hardcore/metalcore emotional stuff was in the early 90s, reading like the scrawls and soul-searching of a 14 year old in his freshman notebook. To be fair, a few of them have that same apocalyptic vibes to them (common in deathcore), but others are about relationships and being betrayed and hurt and how awful that all is, whether in a domestic situation or a girl/boyfriend. Hey dudes, there's plenty of pussy in this world (or dick, if that's your fix), but if you're going to write about how you've been squashed, how about trying some metaphor? Some lasting imagery? Interesting syllabic patterns? If bros could write like that close to a thousand years ago, why can't you? I think bands like Converge or Trap Them really set the standard for all lyrical things 'core, so it's a fraction painful to read the more primitive sentiments...not that primitive is always bad, but if it's not going to be entertaining, it's not enough.

Hate.Malice.Revenge was a pretty unusual release for Amputated Vein since the label focuses almost exclusively on brutal death, but I can see how they might wanna take a chance on this since the style did not immediately create such friction among the diehard goremongers. However, I feel like they might have taken this chance with a better band. Granted, I'm in the minority, and these guys blew up pretty big with their Nuclear Blast deal (which produced a few superior albums that I'll cover later), but I get the impression from Hate.Malice.Revenge that these guys were just the local neighborhood flavor who just had their shit together enough to put on some raging pits at their gigs, and that seems to be the only musical momentum this material is capable of. Brief glimpses of something more engaging throughout, but ultimately a sodden and underwhelming experience beyond balling up your fist and juicin' the testosterone. Dude metal for dudes who wanna hit other dudes repeatedly, but those into music for the MUSIC would be better served with the later All Shall Perish outings.

Verdict: Fail [4/10] (your grasp won't follow me to the grave)

http://www.allshallperish.com/

Gorguts - Demo Anthology (2003)

The concept of having quality cover art abandoned Gorguts after their sophomore effort (The Erosion of Sanity) in 1993; a pity, since they had some of the best of that generation. Perhaps they had never had the money or the desire, but suffice to say that if they couldn't make the Olympic Recordings efforts Obscura or From Wisdom to Hate the apple of anyone's eyes, a limited print demo collection through a teensy Montreal indie imprint (Galy Records) wasn't going to receive much more attention. But hey, this is Gorguts, they've got fans, and if those individuals wish to experience the band's formative late 80s material or their various album demos gathered in one place, in an official capacity, here is where it shall be done. Sadly enough, until the long awaited new hypothetical record arrives (supposedly this year in 2013), this was the most 'recent' material I've heard from the Canadians (there's a rare Netherlands live album floating around, but I've never heard it).

I'll say up front that I'm not the sort of person who often finds the demo recordings of albums superior to the later album cuts, which I tend to assume are the manifestation of the band's real vision for the material. It DOES happen, and certainly some of the 'official' versions are trumped by the more raw, energetic demos which possess a more authentic, visceral aesthetic. Gorguts' Demo Anthology is not such a case, and the later material sounds polished enough that I'd might as well listen to the album anyway. Differences are, at best, cosmetic. The Erosion cuts like "Hideous Infirmity" and the title track definitely sound suppressed, as if they were going for those muffled Morrisound chugging guitars to follow up closely with the debut, but probably the only curiosity among these is "Dissected the Adopted", a 1992 demo that was later renamed "Orphans of Sickness" for the sophomore; and only for that reason. The first album offerings like "Haemotological Allergy" and "Considered Dead" itself naturally sound the most raw due to their transfer, but I have to say that I did actually dig the more resonant atmosphere, the very pluggy and distinguished bass; a pretty live/rehearsal vibe happening there if just for the age.

By far the most attractive material here was the full 1990 demo ...And Then Comes Lividity, if I'm not mistaken their second (but the two tunes on the original are recycled for this), and it's a sweet deal due to the presence of non-album material. Surprisingly, this is not your usual thrash evolution of a death metal band, but the same straight up clinical, morbid songwriting style that made its way onto Considered Dead. Vocals were pretty close to Chuck Schuldiner in approach, perhaps a little deeper; bass is swarthy, bustling and just as loud as the rhythm guitars, which shift between chugging grooves and flights of tremolo or bristling melody from a mortuary slab. Though the demo shows its age, it was incredibly tight and consistent through the 15 minutes, and no question largely responsible for their Roadrunner signing during the death metal boom. All the songs are good, and the recording, by Obliveon guitarist Pierre Rémillard, was to me just as clear and quality as the studio work for the debut. 

In short, ...And Then Comes Lividity a treat, and if you're interested in purchasing or auctioning a copy of Demo Anthology, it's going to come down to wanting this and not being content with a download of just the demo. Otherwise, I can't say that this is a highly effectual collection; none of the later material was interesting to listen to anymore than the updated renditions on the albums. Sort of a waste of space, and drags down the overall value of the anthology; but hey, that one demo was pretty good.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www.gorguts.com/

Gorgasm - Masticate to Dominate (2003)

The few times I've rolled through Indiana, likely en route to some Midwestern metal festival, it always seemed like a pretty peaceful place. Golden fields all around, nice people, tranquil roads... Masturbating corpses, torture cellars/cabins, and bloody, bursting wombs never crossed my path, but I bet it was all just a 'show' those folk were puttin' on. For, lurking in the rank corners and back roads of the Hoosier State was Gorgasm, a quartet of merciless murder mavens who were at that very moment thinking up perverse means to mine own end, in the form of Masticate to Dominate, their second and best full length effort wrought upon Unique Leader Records, and judging by the sound of the thing, I'm not sure it could have found a more suitable home...

The formula here was not an immense deviation from Bleeding Profusely, but perhaps why I hold this in higher regard is that it really finds the perfect balanced between the genre's penchant for brutality and the more musical, melodic tendencies Gorgasm wasn't shying away from on their older releases. That's not to say they evoke any 'warm' or 'tingly' feelings through their selected note progressions, unless depravity and necrophilia are your thing, but clearly these guys were never just content with plugging away uselessly on the same forgettable chug to blast patterns beaten to death by scores of undergrounders. That said, I did feel that Masticate to Dominate was a slightly more 'typical' sounding brutal death effort than its predecessor, little more than a smorgasboard of ideas previously manifest through Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Deeds of Flesh, Malevolent Creation, Cryptopsy and the first few Cannibal Corpse efforts helmed by Corpsegrinder (Vile, Gallery of Suicide, Bloodthirst). Fortunately, that doesn't hinder the material from slurping your entrails out through a gaping puncture wound and then stomping on them while you watch.

A few carefully timed splatter/smut samples. Loads of start/stop tempos used to set up blasted patterns with their staccato streams of surgical muted rhythm guitars. Thicker, chugging breakdowns which hurt so bad you can feel them on your own palm. Guttural verbal secretions with a syllabic punctuation somewhere in between George Fisher and Lord Worm, with a slight tendency to return to those toilet bowl intonations the guys used on the older material. Muddied, acrobatic spikes of classical-guitar influenced scaling patterns pop up in places like the bridge of the title track, also paid forward from the earlier works. Gorgasm acquired not only another drummer here (their third in three records) in Terrence Manauis, but also a new bassist in Paul Garcia, so basically an entirely new rhythm section. But they pull it off, keeping the beats organic and rampant, the bass lines audible and instinctual against the rapid churning and spitting of the rhythm guitar.

It's neither rocket science nor the most complex material of its field, but the run and gun riff progressions and incessant hostility were a sadistic satisfaction guaranteed for the record's intended audience. Novelty and nuance are rarely felt through the composition, and it lacks some of the incendiary lead work that provided a number of the highlighted moments on Bleeding Profusely, but all in all the balance of riffing and tempo variation here is superior. Not to mention that they draw out the tracks to a more palatable duration of over 3 minutes, so the listener is given more time to actually 'get into' the contrast of blasts and grooves. I even felt a bit of giddy, gruesome, mortuary slab fun here in "Concubine of Despise" that reminded me fondly of the post-Carcass West Coasters like Impaled and Exhumed, though the vocals definitely remain loyally in the gurgling category without the growl/imp interchange you'd expect.

Admittedly, I wasn't immensely fond of the production here. The rhythm guitars are punchy, but both they and the melodic sequences feel a bit dry, especially in unison. Some added reverb, chorus, or other effects would have given Masticate to Dominate a more engrossing atmosphere, but at least it feels functional, and you can make out all the grunts and bass notes if you listen closely enough. The lyrics are grotesque, sexual perversions upon both the living and dead, zero political correctness, 'peaking' with the closer "Deadfuck" which is as accurate a summation of the entire experience as you'll get here. Jon Zig's arwork was easily identifiable and the best Gorgasm has yet used, but not something you'd want to show off to your Sorority sisters and their mothers at the next sponsorship gala. Masticate isn't perfect, and I've long crossed my fingers for the leads, atmosphere and maybe even an occasional synth line (as on the debut EP) would take a more prevalent role to balance out the brutality, but this was definitely an entertaining onslaught that they could be proud of. And MAYBE their moms and pops...but I doubt it.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (scream if you like)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/GORGASMofficial/141398662565879

Fleshgrind - Murder Without End (2003)

Had Fleshgrind delivered an album that improved upon The Seeds of Abysmal Torment as much as that had vaulted past Destined for Defilement, then we might have been looking at our first genuinely worthwhile experience. Instead, Murder Without End is rather a step in reverse, seeking instead to inhabit the aesthetic space between the first two albums. That this ultimately proved to be their swan song is not surprising, since the wells of inspiration seemingly suffered from drought conditions and the band were at best writing a mixture of half-decent riffs in the vein of their sophomore, or incredibly mediocre note progressions that went absolutely nowhere; emphasis on the latter! I can't pinpoint exactly why, but whenever I see this album I think back on all those moderately uninteresting discs that choke up the Malevolent Creation discography; Fleshgrind were writing at a similar level of abuse, albeit with a slightly more guttural relish.

The novelties or new ideas here are reduced to a few piano intros and outros, a few chord textures that I don't recall from the older works, and one very surprisingly melodic tremolo riff sequence that erupts in the middle of the track "Displayed Decay", which wouldn't have been out of place on a power metal or melodic death record. Otherwise, the most I can say for Murder Without End is that its got a more accessible, approachable mix than either of the other albums. The guitars are denser with a lot of punch, but are very often belting out 2-3 note patterns that leech any possible interest or inspiration from the listener, since any death metal band with even a modicum of experience could compose 150 such riffs in a few jamming hours without thinking twice. This was the one studio album with Derek Hoffman on drums (he had played on that Stabwound Intercourse EP circa Gorgasm), and he implements a lot more straight blasting and admittedly drives much of the energy and enthusiasm; but without good songs, it's all in vain. Guitar progressions vary between entirely forgettable chugs to faster, vapid blast parts with tremolo picking that remind me of some of Krisiun's least inspired tunes. Certainly a bit more of a Napalm Death 'grind' undercurrent, but that's nothing to write home about when its very originators can rarely make heads or tails of the style.

The bass is audible, carving out a cleaner tone not unlike that on the debut, but other than the occasional line of interest its not sticking its neck out very far. Rich's vocals were less interesting as well; a series of grunts that sound like Barney Greenway communicating with pigs, with a few raspy, snarling rodents occasionally chiming in when accidentally stepped on by the bacon aspirants. Again, this definitely all sounds fine and dandy if you're looking for generic brutal death band of the 'oughts #1,768, but significantly less 'brutal' and promising than the cuts I was hearing on The Seeds of Abysmal Torment. The composition is more athletic and aggressive than Destined for Defilement, to be sure, yet so is the gunning of most motorcycles. Sadly, while it remains almost as tightly knits as its predecessors (each album is expanding about 3 minutes), there is just too little value here, and 'meh' lyrics and boring grinders like "Pistolwhipped", "Enslaved to My Wrath" and an updated rendition of their 1993 demo track "Holy Pedophile" do their best to ensure that some of the less obnoxious efforts here get muddled down to oblivion. A handful of worthwhile riffs against a whole lotta derivative and mundane friction. The story of many brutal death metal acts' lives.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10] (forever choking)

Decrepit Birth - ...And Time Begins (2003)

Like a number of their other Californian peers, my investment in the music of Decrepit Birth has directly correlated to their inclination with their movements towards further musicality. In retrospect, they've grown into quite a fascinating, progressive death metal powerhouse with a solid grasp of melody and contrast, but turn back the clock about a decade, and you've got a pretty average brutal death metal act that struggled to distinguish itself from numerous others. I remember a bit of buzz over ...And Time Begins, but I feel like people are often too forgiving or have pretty low standards when it comes to this niche. For me, it's not simply about sick drumming and gorgeous, gruesome, cover art (both of which this debut clearly possesses). One of my criteria for brutal/technical death is the following: if I can listen to a single track at random from your album, and receive just about everything I need to know, all of its potential emotional impact; and then subsequently confirm this with numerous runs through the entirety of the play length, then there is something seriously lacking...

A criteria from which, unfortunately, the Decrepit Birth debut failed to redeem itself. The inaugural battering of the Californians was essentially a Suffocation clone with a few Cannibal Corpse-inspired riff structures. Also with a strong hint of their fellow statesmen and label mates Deeds of Flesh, not only during the faster, percussive spurts of muted guitars, but also the very design of their logo. ...And Time Begins is brutal to a fault, and it's performed with no dearth of competence or dexterity, but the fact is I can select about 2-3 minutes of material here and have heard all I really care to know. The music falls short of evoking any sort of true menace or evil atmosphere, it's merely jocked up on steroids and attempts to steamroll its listenership into stunned submission, only it doesn't have the riffing strength to do so. It entirely wastes its meticulous and clinical nature on boring rhythm guitar progressions that lack depth and variation. On a strictly rhythmic level, there were some flighty and bombastic passages scattered throughout the 30 minutes which, under a better choice of notation, might have shined, but they're thrown away on predictable and uninteresting streams of palm mutes that don't show a lot of effort beyond their sheer acrobatics.

They try to vary it up occasionally, like the roiling, dissonant grooves that open "Of Genocide" which feel like a mix of Consuming Impulse Pestilence and Bloodthirst era Cannibal Corpse, but those don't seem to pay off either. The vocals are a genre standard, blunt guttural with a little growled out sustain, once in a while flirting with a toilet bowl tone; perfectly suitable for the style, and never really the forte of Decrepit Birth even on their ensuing, compelling efforts, but yet another element that fails to evoke any sort of menace. I mean, let's lay it on the line: when I see a horrific, enthralling cyclone of lost souls or demons against an alien, harrowing landscape of cyclopean, Lovecraftian proportions, I want the music it represents to scare the living shit out of me. I want to be afraid. I'm PAYING to be afraid. But the constant, spurious concussions being wrought with the guitars, vocals and drums feel like little more than an exercise. Like the soundtrack to a crowd of neanderthals grunting and wagering the bones of their latest kills over a chicken fight. Or death eagles, or whatever the shit they used back in those times when they crawled out of their caves for a social.

Me Oog! Me crush you! Imagine that if it were repeated about a million times, accelerated and decelerated and then layered across numerous tracks and tempos, and you've got a fair approximation of the range of these concise tunes. That'd actually be fine if there was a riff or two worth a damn in each. Not gonna happen here! Tim Yeung turns in his usual, mercenary brand of annihilation, but he's almost overworking himself, because he's not used to support anything worthwhile. The production of the guitars and drums is decent, a slightly more iron clad approximation of the Deeds of Flesh records of this time, but I felt like the bass playing was largely lost in the shuffle. The chugging simply crushes it to a single flat dimension. Lyrics, which eschew the stereotypical gore for more cosmic and nihilistic themes, are honestly the best part of ...And Time Begins (aside from Dan Seagrave's artwork), but they too are suffocated by the bludgeoning, bland songwriting. As I was revisiting this, I kept thinking to myself: put something here! A lead! A sample! A keyboard! A melody! A REAL RIFF. Decrepit Birth would not oblige me here, and though it's hard to be peeved in retrospect, since they too were aware of such limitations and evolved significantly, I'll oblige in return by putting any thoughts of this debut to rest.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10] (a prison so perfectly concealed)

http://www.facebook.com/decrepitbirth

Cryptopsy - None So Live (2003)

None So Live is a bit of an anomaly in Cryptopsy's career in that it's really their only record to feature Canadian vocalist/artist Martin Lacroix belching his brute gutturals into a microphone. After the sad performance of DiSalvo on the shitty, goofy And Then You'll Beg, he and the band parted ways, and Lacroix served as an interim member until they were able to reconnect with Lord Worm for the ensuing Once Was Not. It, was not, however, Martin's first dance with the medium. I'm not sure how many people remember the pre-Augury band Spasme, who had one record out (Deep Inside) through Neoblast at the dawn of the new millennium, but it's worth tracking down, a spastic blend of technicality and guttural intensity that is well within the ballpark of a Cryptopsy or Neuraxis. In other words, the guy was a natural choice for the spot here, and for what it's worth, he does perform well enough over the older material...

The older material, that, thankfully populates most of this Montreal live recording from the summer of 2002. Of the ten tracks (discounting the audience noise intro and drum solo), eight are taken from the first three albums, with only two stinkers ("Shroud" and "We Bleed") from And Then You'll Beg; so it's clear that Cryptopsy knew what the audience wanted, and that was primarily their seminal brutality. I've only seen the band a few times back in the day (though never with Lacroix), and can attest that this is a fairly accurate representation of their tone on stage, though there's no question some of the intricacies of the technical guitar progressions get lost in translation as they do with many similar death metal acts. The rhythm guitar is rich and punchy enough that it doesn't get shown up by the drums, and yet if anyone had any skepticism of Flo Mounier's abilities, they are splayed out here like a single-man marching band. The snares sound like heavy hail battering down on the roof of some tin shed, while the kicks drop dextrous thunder with superb timing. Langlois' bass lines are deep and muddy here, not popping or squelching with the same authority that they do on the studio records, but ample enough when there are breaks (as in "Slit Your Guts").

As for Lacroix, he doesn't quite imbue the tracks with as much character as his predecessors, but he does have a nice, hoarse bluntness to his tone which is a good fit for the hammering, percussive rhythms. It might have been interesting to hear what he could have pulled off in studio, but he's hardly distinguishable from a number of other potential options the Canadians might have run with. The leads here sound a bit sloppy, and the remaining rhythm guitar gets a bit more difficult to perceive in these sections, but it's probably to be expected if the mixer wasn't going to turn them up. Accurate to the live setting. I was actually somewhat relieved that the two And Then You'll Bet tracks sounded far heavier and more appropriate on stage to their earlier neighbors, largely because the vocals are less goofy and the drums and bass sound thicker with the rhythm guitar, but "Shroud" at least still sounds pretty dorky in a bad way. That was a phase of the band I am all too happy to forget (apart from joking), so I wasn't thrilled that they were partnered up with far better cuts. Overall track selection? I would have loved if a few other tracks like "Emaciate" made it onto this, but it could have been far worse...

I was worried that the drum solo would be too long, but it's really only about 3 and a half minutes of Flo showing off (hey, if you got it, flaunt it), and then they leap into another track. The mix of the crowd is decent, constantly present but not overpowering, and easily drowned up when the band is blasting and churning full bore. All in all, it's a decent accounting of the band's performance prowess, but far from a mandatory purchase unless you're completely smitten with the idea of owning everything they produce. The sound is decent if a bit lopsided towards the lower end, and the track selection is not ideal, even if it offers up a comprehensive taste of the four studio albums to its day. I wasn't inspired by None So Live, but neither was I really turned off.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://cryptopsy.ca/

Frightmare - Midnight Murder Mania (2003)

Midnight Murder Mania might seem like a relatively typical release for Razorback Recordings, but in actuality it's one of the label's seminal releases, dropped just as the label was reaching its stride in the earlier 21st century. Alongside Ghoul, Frightmare was probably one of the most rounded and accessible acts on the label, generated a fair share of buzz (at least among my circle), and they also had this 'home court' advantage for the niche, with a roster that included members of other Razorback and associated acts like Lord Gore, Splatterhouse, Whore, Engorged and Blood Freak; including Maniac Neil himself. Basically the lineup was a raucous rogues' gallery of that Portland, Oregon splatter death/grind scene, and this explains why the actual musical output bears so much similarity to those other acts.

Midnight Murder Mania is probably one of the most earnest and entertaining paeans to the fictional killers of slasher cinema in my metal collection, with most of its original tracks adhering to specific flicks like Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine, Slumber Party Massacre, Black Christmas, and Maniac. A heavy emphasis on the 80s. A few movie samples are included, but unlike some of their peers in this field they never tend to overdo it, letting the music perform its own hatchet to the faces of the audience. As usual, the music is a mixture of grind and death metal aesthetics with some thrash and punk influences, and it never takes itself too seriously, thanks to the lightheartedness created by the band's mesh of toilet flush gutturals, sinister Carcass snarls and haughty barked lyrics with feel a little 'tough guy'. I've never found the band to be quite so riffy as Ghoul in terms of overall quality, but they incorporate loads of leads, tapped melodies and other techniques to keep the music fresh, varied and multi-dimensional rather than heaping on saturated and banal deathgrind riffs you've heard a million times before.

Structurally there were a lot of riffs in the Carcass (Reek of Putrefaction/Symphonies of Sickness) and Napalm Death (1989-1990), and the band thrives at an uptempo-to-blasting pace with only a few notable breakdowns worth their salt. Most of the rhythm guitars aren't incredibly interesting on their own, but once the energetic drumming and hoarse barks and gargles are applied they definitely cut like a trick or treat bag full of taffy-coated razor blades. The instruments are all quite clear, with a nice churning tone to the tremolo mute riffs and a deep, if not all that exciting bass with an appropriate fuzz. They implement a few brutal 90s death techniques like squeals boringly in pieces like "Slasher Holocaust", but almost without exception the highlights here in the songwriting are all leads or melodies that outclass the rhythms. Drummer is pretty damn good, blasting and grinding with tenacity, though often at the expense of interesting beats or fills.

I doubt this debut was written with the intention of taking over the world...it's functional, fun and remains so almost a decade after its release, but I wouldn't place it past the first few Ghoul outings; more on the level of Splatterhouse's The House That Dead Built. The cover of the Misfits' "Devilock" is translated into a more potent, pummeling form reminiscent of the Frightmare originals, so its a worthwhile conclusion even if this treatment doesn't quite ramp up its energy level or impact. In summation, Midnight Murder Mania's a disc worth picking up if you're interesting in goofy goregrind, though it's not quite that intense. A more comic adaptation of Carcass, perhaps, or the usual Razorback crowd who likely need no introduction. A few stabbings short of setting serial killer records, but you wouldn't want to lock yourself away in a vacation cabin with a few friends if this was anywhere in a 30 mile radius.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.slashermetal.com/