Undead - Existential Horror (2019)

If you put Existential Horror on the turntables for me while you had me in a blindfold, no access to any other information beyond the sound, I'd surmise that this was yet another band playing on that 'uglier' fringe of classic Swedish death metal. The rhythms have a punk-like push to them akin to the Discharge influence adapted by many in that scene, though they don't always do this through the traditional D-beat. A lot of the faster tremolo riffs here definitely take me back to the debuts by Dismember and Entombed, the guitar tone has that abrasive density, and the vocals are just horrific growls, with a good level of sustain on some lines, but they don't really delve far into the morbid guttural depths. The mix of the album is also putrid and raw, clearly not going for that later death & roll punch but something totally putrescent for the cemetery-minded.

So imagine my surprise that this is a Spanish band, and with the blindfold off, I can now see the very cool if minimalist horror film artwork that instantly gives off its Fulci zombie vibes. Which, admittedly, is a great fit for this sound, and not only do I like the look of the album, but also the tunes. In saying that, though, I do feel like I'm breaking a few personal rules, because I think Existential Horror is a record with an overall entertainment value that is sketched together from some fairly average components. Most of the riff patterns play out in accordance with those we've heard thousands of time, there is little variation and they it wouldn't kill them to spurt out some surprising melodies or dissonant twists to help spice up the festivities. The pacing is largely the same throughout the track-list, with a couple points where they break it down to something almost more mid-speed, or early Death-like in the tremolo-picked groove of "Curse of the Undead", and if I'm not quite in the mood, this debut can feel quite monotonous...

But I still like it. The earthy guitar tone feels like dead meat being packed in a morgue, the bass is thick and swarthy, and the tinny crashing of the drums proves to be a cool foil for the other instruments. If a lead erupts, it's usually messy and ugly and distorted sounding but somehow works for all its flaws, and the vocalist has that cool, raving mid-range growl which feels perfectly hostile among the grimness of the band's carnal momentum. I know that if I stop to think about it, parts of this could feel dull, it's certainly not an album I'm listening to based upon the strengths of its individual riffs or solos, but more from a general gore-whore sensibility where I'm beholden to some frenzied carnage and don't need to think much beyond the pain of every blow from the meat tenderizing, every tendon clipped by the scalpel, every limb hacked off by the chainsaw and then used to bludgeoning someone else. It's a sugar rush of morbid intensity that offers nothing more or less than what it promises from the cover.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.curseoftheundead.com/

Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race (2019)

If Starspawn was a record that exploded its own audience through a shitstorm of positive critical response and massive scene hype, Hidden History of the Human Race was the record that had to LIVE UP to all of that; and I can remember the high anticipation levels, palpable, like heaving and sweating Shoggoth's as this thing was first introduced. The full-length sophomore was in no way a disappointment, not to say that I think it's quite as good as the album before it, but again, like that from the EP before it, the band seems to have taken some baby steps in evolution. I was also pretty surprised to see the familiar cover artwork, not only from the Canadian Agony album from the 90s, but at the UMass sci fi library we had a copy of the Brian Aldiss sci-fi book it was first used on, and I guess it remains as intriguing here as then, if not quite so novel (har har).

I felt like this album, at only four tracks, really unleashes with a lot more death metal and less of the experimentation I might have expected. Loads of Morbid Angel, Nile, Cannibal Corpse vibes coming off "Slave Species of the Gods" and "The Giza Power Plant", where I would have thought they'd get stranger and spacier from the artwork and the lyrics which embrace the extraterrestrial themes and Chariot of the Gods stuff. It's not until "Inner Paths (To Outer Space)" that I get what I was honestly looking forward to, a piece that evolves from ambient adventurism to a proggy and forward-thinking style reminiscent of Cynic, Atheist and mid-era Pestilence. This is a much better instrumental than the one on the album before it, and sets you up for the 18 minute epic closer which is by far the most dizzying and impressive piece on the album, every bit the measure of the two previous releases. In fact I'll say that the latter half of this album is more compelling in general than the former, and even the flighty, crazy death metal riffing has more going for it as it fragments off into more unpredictable directions.

That's not to say the first two cuts are throwaways by any means, they're quality death metal, but the otherworldy/intellectual side of the band just isn't as present there. Fortunately, the rest does compensate for this, and I can only imagine if we were to get a full-length with 2-3 tracks that are as frenzied and bonkers as "Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Our Reality (Mirror of the Soul)", the title of which is obviously a little throwback to how Demilich used to label their tunes with the ridiculous word-count. Musically, those Finns are also a reference in this one, but where they focused more on the grooves, this takes that style and thrusts it into hypserspace oblivion, so that when they DO break out into something slower and more roiling, you really feel it. They also spin it off into another ambient section, so the writing is really on the wall for where the band might head next. I just didn't expect how FAR. As it stands, Hidden History is another success for the Coloradans, but I feel it frontloads its less interesting (but still solid) material and is lacking just a little as a result.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/BloodIncantationOfficial/

Creeping Death - Wretched Illusions (2019)

Wretched Illusions didn't leave a huge impression on me the first time I heard it, possibly because I was just so inundated with epic throwback death metal sounds at the time that it came across a little cookie cutter. The EPs were certainly cool, and this doesn't betray them in any way whatsoever, but there were definitely riffs or tracks I remembered being a little bit of a chore on a longer, 40 minute record. In hindsight, I was likely not giving this one a proper chance, because it is actually quite solid, and understandable as the release that would spearhead their developing popularity among the fresher death metal crowd that was likely hearing a lot of this stuff before its own influences, or crossing over from the hardcore and deathcore genres to a niche like this that felt immediately more 'pure' and impressive.

Creeping Death definitely felt denser and busier here than the EPs, not because the style had shifted but rather that they were filling in the spaces better. The rhythm guitars are the vehicle, with constantly bruising, winding and chugging riffs that play around in the death metal of antiquity, with a little street mentality and also a few dives into a more death/doom crawlspace. They're not the sort that are unique or catchy individually, but always attention-getting enough that they can propel the listener along through the track, where he/she will receive the reward of some frilly little lead or breakdown that gives a dopamine payoff in the brain. The bass melds a little more into the guitars, where it had stood out more on Specter of War, and thus the dynamics here are sometimes too consistent, although it's all pretty awesome sounding if you isolate it. Reese Alavi's vocals, though, are a lot more gruesome and entertaining, he sounds ripping fucking pissed through a lot of these tracks and is starting to develop away from his influences, even though he carries them onward.

The songwriting is more confident, and extended outward, incorporating more death metal techniques from both the OSDM contingents and the 90s brutal style, and this variation actually helps to make the old school parts stand out much more when they erupt like the tremolo riff in "Sinner's Torch", or a Swedish d-beat arrives in "Corroded from Within". Weirdly, while this isn't at all 'cavern core' like you'd expect from the artwork, it definitely has a claustrophobic feel because it's just so tightly executed and matured. An impenetrable wall. It's another Creeping Death album which I might not instantly grab for on my shelf when I'm in the mood for the style, but as I sit here listening through it again, it's hard to really find much wrong with it. Average-to-good riffing patterns, competent playing all around, savage vocals, firm production values, loyalty to the styles that birthed it, and as the years have passed I can absolutely understand why it helped the band blow up like they have.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/

Sanguisugabogg - Pornographic Seizures EP (2019)

I'm probably a bit guilty of riding the whole 'caveman riff' death metal wave circa Maggot Stomp and a few other labels as much as the next guy. Like so many throwback sounds, I appreciated how the gents in all these bands were tracing death metal back to its source and then sort of reconfiguring it into some alternate universe sound which didn't sound terribly different than what I already had, but still entertained. Here we've got rudimentary slam or groove/death metal plastered with just enough of the machismo and brutality to get the pit stirring but without too much of the technical bluster or studio polish, and Ohio's starlings Sanguisugabogg are arguably one of the bands to best to capitalize on the style, leading to larger label deals and a lot of notoriety across the US scene and beyond.

Part of this is because of the band's absurd name and logo, which they themselves have so often joked about on their amusing yet down-to-Earth social media presence, which they also manage a lot more personally than some other bands on the same level. There's a bit of 'class clown' to their whole schtick, but they have the muscle and groove to back it all up, and this debut release, the first I actually picked up from Sanguisugabogg, is dope for what it offers. Bro-core distilled into death metal, with grooving and organic drums, loaded up with some interesting fills, and then plastered in these epic, crunching rhythm guitars which make it impossible to remain still. I'm not promising you that the actual riffs are always catchy, but Cameron Boggs is clearly adventuring a little bit more than you'd expect, with a few winding patterns that he alternates into the usual double-bass driven tremolo evil of vintage late 80s death. The bass is also pretty ruddy and dense in the traditions of grind and death and it adds some bombast to the already knuckle-dragging neolithic brutality inherent to the songs.

Devin Swank takes it over the top though with his stark, evil gutturals, splayed out with just the right amount of reverb to make them sound appropriately ominous, even when he ups the pitch just a bit for a deep snarl. That's where so much of this EP's 'don't give a fuck' attitude manifests, and the band can just stand aloft the pit of flailing meathead bodies and dominate for 11 minutes. There's nothing really novel about what this band has put out there...maybe some more fills than you'd expect, a couple riffs that go into more depth than you hear coming, but all of these techniques were writ large across thousands of seminal and underground death metal/brutal death metal acts in the 90s. It's like a dash of Finnish guttural slime to top off some street level New York butchery via a dumbed-down Suffocation with Mortician overtures and cheesy Cannibal Corpse-style lyrics. Sanguisabogg just recycles this aesthetic into its own grim, humorous personality and for my money, tunes like "Turkish Blood Orgy" and "Succulent Dedecent" rank among their best. A fun introduction.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://sanguisugabogg.com/

Blind Guardian Twilight Orchestra - Legacy of the Dark Lands (2019)

Legacy of the Dark Lands is a vanity project, perhaps misbranded under the Blind Guardian moniker, in which Hansi Kursch gets his fantasy nerdery on in an even more hardcore manner than he ever did with his mainstay. Granted, there's a pretty huge crossover audience for this stuff, with lots of Blind Guardian tunes devoted to various fictional universes, some of which probably brought new fans over to the band and to the power metal genre in general, so it's not all that unusual to tie this in with the band. There's also some orchestration involved with some of their heavier albums, but nowhere near this level of overt, pompous cheese. Hansi drafts up the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, who seem to appear on a lot of metal or metal adjacent works, and a whole slew of guest vocalists to join him in exploring his epic fantasy milieu, his 'Twilight Orchestra'. It even features narration!

Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings this is not, but more of a serious if a bit generic fantasy saga like you'd find on a string of Rhapsody of Fire albums. It's certainly not intentionally stupid or silly, and there's a dark tone to the 24 tracks and 75 minutes, which range from intros and interludes, with the narrators telling the tale, to epic symphonic tracks in which Hansi flexes his pipes against the choir. If you enjoy opera or glorious Wagnerian compositions, these will probably have some appeal for you, between the calmer and whimsical flights and the sweltering belligerence. Despite the vocal presence, Kursch really lets the symphony itself shine, and they get in a lot of time and for my dollar many of the better moments on the album like "War Feeds War" and "In the Red Dwarf's Tower", the title of which does make me crack up, as much as I love the vertically stunted fantasy race in a number of IPs. The tunes have wonder, they have magnificence, they have conflict, and if you find some of the narration and chorus parts to be too dweeby or cringeworthy, you can always put on the instrumental side, which would be a far better accompaniment for your night of fiddling with your...Baldur's Gate 3, or as a soundtrack to your D&D session.

You MIGHT even hear a little of the reflection in how Hansi contributes to the Blind Guardian writing process, because there are more than a few points where I'm just imagining one of Olbrich's charging, squealing, processed guitar lines ringing out, and I was a little surprised that the tunes weren't more metalized, or that a version like that wasn't included on an extra disc. Some of the instruments and key tones (like in "Point of No Return") even feel like they might have appeared on A Twist in the Myth or something. There are also versions of this without the interludes, or an 'audio book' approach which I'm assuming must have more of the narration at the forefront with the music taking on a backing role. The production is pretty nice, and it's all pretty pro...the conductor is obviously great, as are most of the guest roles, a few of which are metal guys used to these sorts of massive projects. Does the music stir me as much as proper fantasy soundtrack? No, and it's not something I get absorbed into as much as Blind Guardian proper, but it's clearly a labor of love for Hansi and I don't mind an occasional spin.

Let's put it this way, if your inroads was "Sacred Worlds" and you dug the Sacred tie-in but thought the metal stuff was too heavy, this has your name written all over it. Otherwise, if you're a metalhead, just know what this is, and if you're not into the same sort of epic fantasy fiction and the hilarious pretentiousness of the whole thing, it's probably one to avoid at all cost.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.blind-guardian.com/

Silver Bullet - Mooncult (2019)

Silver Bullet is another band that could be considered alongside the more pompous, heavily orchestrated Euro heavy/power metal acts, specifically a group like Sabaton or Powerwolf, albeit performing with a lot more speed and finesse in the traditions of the Euro power metal of the 80s and 90s like Gamma Ray, Helloween and Blind Guardian. I'm honestly shocked that they haven't become a bigger name amidst this towering scene, because they're quite good, across all their three LPs to date, with this sophomore Mooncult my personal favorite, the point at which they are best balancing these two halves, never becoming quite so goofy sounding as the former can attain, but definitely going for a more accessible and commercial sound than the latter. As a plus, if their name didn't tip you off, they focus exclusively on horror themes!

Mooncult being a conceptual album about the witch-burnings of the 16th century in Europe, as opposed to the normal Salem, Massachusetts trials. Now, I won't go and tell you that these Finns succeed on many level at making music that sounds actually creepy or frightening...it turns out that the very typical sorts of choirs, orchestration and pirate-shanty style backing vocals don't really breathe horror into the material, especially when affixed to such harmonious, majestic sounding metal. Maybe the intro to "Maiden, Mother and Crone", or the doomy swells and creeping riffs of "Light the Lanterns", but even that isn't exactly the darkest heavy metal you're going to hear. But what it IS, is excellently written, packed with good leads and melodies, and a vocalist in Nils Nordling who really stands out with a style that is somewhere between Dio's more operatic leanings and Ralf Scheepers' screams and sustain, he's a total package power metal frontman that maintains a personality through every track, even as he's backed up by lots of the gang shouts, synth-estrahs and choirs arrangements.

The rest of the band are no slouches, mind you, and this record hits like a truck when it needs to on a thundering mid-pacer like "The Witches Hammer" or a detailed, frenetic piece like "Burn the Witch". No, these guys aren't winning awards for unique song titles, but Mooncult is a well produced exhibition for its style, an album you can have fun with throughout, with plenty of variation as it ventures into its more operatic, narrative, or folksy segments, and while it's not as scary as it might have been were the band to tread some darker, more dissonant waters, the message behind the lyrics is strong enough, an aegis against paranoid persecution, delivered with glittering power and precision. Easily a band that should be considered more than some of their scene's other upstarts like Battle Beast.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://silverbulletofficial.com/

Soilwork - Underworld EP (2019)

As a poor sucker whose copy of Verkligheten did not include the bonus content comprises the Underworld EP, I had to check this one out digitally as it became available for a download. And frankly I am happy that I did so, because at least two of the tracks here are among my favorites the band has released over the last decade, and in fact all three of the tunes new to me here are great. There's an alternative version of "Needles and Kin" which is perhaps the one component here I don't care for all that much, it's a little more blunt than its counterpart but I don't know that the differences are broad enough to justify it, I had no issue with the version of Verkligheten and rather enjoyed it. So this is not completely fire, but it certainly struck the top of my thermometer.

"Summerburned and Winterblown" is just awesome, with its snapping pace, weaving melodies and emotional riff-fest, and this should EASILY have been featured on the full-length, along with "In This Master's Tale" that opens with a strong melody bringing to mind all those Swedish greats, in particular the In Flames of the millennium's turn. Again, this one is just as memorable for me as most of the other tunes on Verkligheten, Speed powers through with a good mix of harsh and soaring vocals and it just feels like this warm, epic surge. "The Undying Eye" is likewise worthy with its great exhibition of pinpoint prog metal riffing and occasional crushing chords, flashy but grounded at the same time. I mean, outside of The Ride Majestic, this trio of tunes might be the most exciting I've heard them, it all fits in well with the full-length material, of course, but there are certainly three tunes there that these could have replaced. However, I realize most of you are not schmucks like I am and probably have the nice digipack which includes it all together, so praise be to you! I will upgrade, I'm sure.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.soilwork.org/

Soilwork - Verkligheten (2019)

Just looking upon Verkligheten, without playing a single note, you can tell that something's different. Valnoir's artwork has an almost Roger Dean quality to it, leading me to believe that Soilwork might be venturing into a more purely progressive rock/metal territory, something they'd always flirted with but never completely capitalized on. The title of the album is in Swedish (for 'The Reality'), also a first in the band's catalogue, and the entire thing gives off a conceptual feel. Well, as it turns out, this is indeed the most broadly ranged record the band would have put out to its day. I tend to believe that the groups' side projects, like Speed's Night Flight Orchestra, might have rubbed off here, not in that it attempts to pull on all that wonderful 80s cheese, but just as a catalyst to spread the wings out wider, catch a few new airstreams...to an extent.

Because if you were worried that the Swedes would somehow drop the lavish, propulsive melodic death metal that made them, fear not, because Verkligheten really balances the scales. In fact, the heavier moments on this one draw me right back to their formative years, only they're attempting some new twists on the melodies, new rhythmic configurations and vocal layers, and it makes for a welcome contrast against the album's quieter, more accessible moments. I think that the progginess does exist here, in the classic organ tones, the softer segues threading through pieces like "Full Moon Shoals", but as the full album unfolds these are clearly in the majority, and this is largely recognizable as pure, passionate and aggressive Soilwork threaded with plenty of harmonic chorus parts, excellent musicianship all around, and one of the smoother productions of their catalogue, just as welcoming as any of their more commercial fare (Stabbing the Drama), but still ready to drop the hammer on you with a harder hitting, more technical performance.

I can't cite this as a personal favorite, but there are quite a few interesting tracks like "Needles and Kin" with its punchy, unique riffing below the growls and chorus, or the intense "When the Universe Spoke", fast and modern and dramatic but possessive of textures and melodies that remind me of in spots of proggier rock from decades before it. I have no problem spinning this one from time to time, and it reminds me a lot of The Ride Majestic just in how it proves there is plenty of fuel left in the tank, an incessant stream of creativity and development which remains loyal to the band's original goals while feeling fresh, very few moments of Verkligheten feel derivative at all of the band's now substantial back catalogue. You could connect the dots on some of the vocal parts, maybe a small handful of riffs, but here is a highly seasoned band propelling itself fearless into both the future and past, building something new out of both ends.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.soilwork.org/

Tribulation - Alive & Dead at Södra Teatern (2019)

The real question I had when I saw that Tribulation had announced its first live album was just how well their diverse slate of material was going to jive together in that setting. I can totally hear The Formula of Death mixing in with their more Goth-oriented records Children of the Night and Down Below, but how would an audience react to tracks off The Horror and its far different, intense death/thrash sound? To be frank, as much as I've enjoyed their evolutions, that record is still my favorite due to its reckless, explosive songwriting and carnal sound, but I can understand why the band would want to leave it behind them as they explored their gloomier new territory, the contrast might be a little jarring when you're trying to set a mood on stage. Stranger things...have happened? Maybe an encore with the masterful "Beyond the Horror"?

But not here, because the two-disc live album wisely avoids the answer by offering material just off the three most recent albums to its own release. The first disc is Down Below performed in its entirety, and the second disc is a mix of The Formula of Death, Children of the Night and a few fresh live bits. At any rate, the recordings sound quite excellent, with a great mix of the band's riffing melancholy, hoarse rasped vocals and drumming thunder. The band has a tendency this last decade to play pensive, melodic and sorrow-saturated material which really needs the air to breathe to lay in on the audience, and this live offers just that. Crisp clarity that doesn't drain the rhythm guitar of power, well-performed leads that scream straight into the mix where they belong, extremely professional beyond even the bands' years; there are legacy metal acts with 30-40 years experience that will often put out sub-par live products that cannot even come close to matching this. And the set is amazing, even the intro/organ instrumental that sets up the second disc, and the beautiful guitar instrumental later on. Turns out the slightly more adventurous, proggy pieces off The Formula of Death mixed in quite well with the black & white melodic Goth/death. That wafting gloom is never lifted throughout, and I can only imagine breaking out into the death/thrash of their formative years would have probably spoiled the spell this can cast on the listener...EVEN in the context of the live disc.

You also get a DVD of the performance with some added bonus materials, and it might even be my preferred way to experience the music, with a funereal din to it thanks to the lighting and the way the musicians' faces are pretty much obscured throughout. The whole package is a victory for Century Media, a live product that is wholly worth the money a Tribulation fan will spend on it, appreciated largely by folks like myself who haven't had the pleasure yet to actually catch them on a stage. After listening through and watching this several times, that's something I need to put on my bucket list, but even if tragedy strikes and I'm unable to do so, this feels like its nearly as good as being there.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.tribulation.se/

Powerwolf - Metallum Nostrum (2019)

I touched a little on this material when I was reviewing the Powerwolf full-length Blessed & Possessed that it was originally attached to, a whole disc of covers that added most of the value if you were lucky enough to grab the deluxe version of that album, which I thought was otherwise one of their weaker studio efforts which was starting to just sound redundant to what they'd already released. But I wanted to come back around to Metallum Nostrum, especially as its got its own release that can be picked up by anyone who missed out the first time around, and because it's developed into one of my go-to cover albums by a power metal band, standing proudly aside Hammerfall's Masterpieces from 2008.

Powerwolf is a band I really enjoy for both the quality of much of their output, as well as the blend of Gothic horror and sacrilegious snark that stands out as so unique among the rest of the German heavy/power metal field. They're basically the Universal Monsters of the scene, and listening through Metallum Nostrum they pretty much lay bare the sorts of influences you would have expected them to cultivate into what they've become. I've come to believe that just about every choice here was well-considered and makes for something that can naturally help pad out their sets when in need of a cover that will fit snugly with their originals. From the power metal of their countrymen Running Wild's "Consquistadores" and double coverage of Judas Priest's Painkiller with "Night Crawler" and "Touch of Evil", you can tell where a lot of the propulsion of their style originated, and then from others like "The Evil That Men Do", Ozzy's "Shot in the Dark" or Sabbath's "Headless Cross", they're touching on a lot of the classics without just picking the most obvious hits, and its much appreciated.

Something like Amon Amarth is a little more far afield, and yet they once again took this one and turned it into Powerwolf proper with all the pomp and majesty you equate with their own material. Most of this stuff is just glittering with the moonlit pipe organ tones they use fluently, and Attila does a fantastic job at maintaining his own vocal identity rather than just clinging to all the other bands. "Edge of Thorns" is a sore spot for me since I'm just not a fan of those first few Zak-fronted Savatage discs, but I can totally understand how these guys would be a fan of that, and although it's the weakest tune for me, I think I like it with Attila singing a little more these days. The production is just all-out here, there might be some points where it's a little blander than on their own albums, but a lot more went into this than just taking the piss in their garage with some covers and its a fun collection that stacks up well with the rest of their catalog.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Beast in Black - From Hell With Love (2019)

Although its formula isn't a far transition from that of the debut Berserker, From Hell With Love doesn't take more than a track or two to prove that it's already a better album than the debut. It starts off on a very strong footing with a full on arena rager, and then doesn't really let up as it cycles into its hybrid of chorus-grabbing power metal, synthesizer-heavy AOR and just the ever-so-slight breezes of proggier climes. This is all about those dressing up those enormous sing-a-long style choruses with competent riffing, lavish but tightly controlled avenues for shredding, and keyboards all over the place that play second fiddle to nobody, which becomes obvious as soon as the titular second track erupts.

Another curiosity is how they use a lot of the electric drum fills that seem like they're spun off the same 80s pop influences that the synths draw upon, they do such a great job of meshing that all together with the big chords and ever-improving performance of Yannis, who sounds on this album as if he's already cracked the all-time ranks of European power metal royalty. From Hell With Love is a veritable hit machine, and while it's apt to annoy anyone for the same reasons other groups like Sabaton would, it's honestly better crafted. As someone who was reared on a lot of hard rock at the same time I was delving into all the heavier, more evil and obscure metal, I can find an appreciation here because Beast in Black won't let me think any other way. 'This kicks ass...but it's soooo lame...but it's still kicking my ass. What is wrong with me?' I mean I'll be honest in that I don't really care for a lot of Anton's earlier band Battle Beast, I find myself nodding off at a lot of their riffs on the last couple albums...the singer's hot, but so what? 

I've got no such opportunity on this album, because it demands attention at every curve, from the throwback synth tones that should have stopped being cool 35 years ago, to the elevating chorus progressions and the way it just revels in all its cheesiness and does not give a fuck. There are a couple moments where it might go a little too far, like the track "Oceandeep" where it seems to be channeling a bit too much Nightwish, but at least the first five tracks in a row thoroughly rile up the hackles on my ghost-mullet, and it does later recover with scorchers like "Unlimited Sin", or "True Believer" which once again goes for this outrageous 80s synth wave sound and then just layers on the butt rock, or "This is War" which reminds us that metal is still with Beast in Black and we've got nothing much to worry about...they were just kinda sorta testing our limits.

They've also got some cool covers on here, having the audacity to throw some roiling synths into "Killed by Death" by Our Lord Lemmy and friends, while keeping the vocals kind of nasty. "No Easy Way Out" from Rocky IV is probably more obvious, I mean the whole band's sound is meant to sound something like that, so why not pay it back? Add the sexy sword & sorcery cover art, the massive modern production and it's just a fun banger to spin as you cruise the city streets, but maybe keep the windows up since you don't want those friends who think you only listen to Pissgrave and Teitanblood to catch you.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://beastinblack.com/

Helloween - United Alive in Madrid (2019)

Although the culmination of the entire 'Pumpkins United' concept for me will be whether or not they can pull of their new eponymous studio album, to take this idea FORWARD rather than just paying tribute to their laurels, I think it's completely understandable how many would find it this 3-disc live experience, with two of those discs recorded in the titular Madrid, Spain. Hearing the old voices again mixed with the newer voice, these singers selflessly entertaining the fans, having fun singing TOGETHER, and leaving their egos at the door is something I'd like to see and hear a lot more often from these legacy bands...and to be fair, it probably happens more than we know, with old band members doing live or recording guest spots, but Helloween have been one of the few bands in all rock to take it this extreme.

Now, having said that, and while United Alive in Madrid is indeed a solid product that will answer your questions as to how all this might sound, the risk of having too many cooks in the kitchen is certainly being run, and although Deris and Kiske and Kai do an excellent job of not cluttering up the lanes too much, the songs just aren't going to be the way you're used to them, and if you're seeking those pure performances of your favorites, you'll have to put up with an unexpected shift across the lyric lines, and it does sound a little too 'occupied' or busy at times. I mean that's kind of the point, this is a big silly party to celebrate a band getting near 40 years on Earth, and a fantastic band at that, but if you want the most ideal live versions of songs you're going to better off tracking down other releases like High Live, Live in Sao Paulo or even I Want Out Live, to hear the tracks as they were mostly intended. This is about going over the top, and so it does. But fortunately the instruments are on fire, the production is very clear, you get a lot of between-song banter, and the crowd is obviously eating this up. They love it.

As for the track selection, you've got the entire 2-disc spread from Madrid, with a blend of tunes that focuses largely on what you'd consider 'hits' in their catalogue, a lot of which are from Keeper of the Seven Keys I and II, with a smattering of great tracks from the Andi years. There is a 14-minute medley of the really old stuff for Kai and I think one other tune ("How Many Tears") from that era, and I don't like that they set it up that way, I think I'd rather they had more full songs from that 1984-1985 era spread about like the others. So you're getting "Halloween", "I Want Out" "Eagle Fly Free", "Future World" and all the mandatory 80s classics, and then the amazing "Sole Survivor", "If I Could Fly", "Forever and One", everybody is happy, they're not exactly about to dip into the archives for an event like this, so if you're expecting to hear Kiske singing on "Paint a New World" or more stuff from Straight Out of Hell (other than "Waiting for the Thunder", which they do include) and My God-Given Right, as cool as that would be, it's not going to happen. They gotta shake their moneymakers for all the old fans paying the big bux to come see the classics.

The third disc has tracks recorded from other dates around the world, and these are much more curious choices, like "Kids of the Century" from Pink Bubbles Go Ape, which I think sounds better here than on the studio album, and "Why" from Master of the Rings, a deeper cut than you'd expect, and that one actually sounds pretty cool with the multiple vocalists. It all closes off with "Pumpkins United", the new (for the time) studio track with all the vocalists, and that one sounds almost as energized and fun as it does on disc, and it's the best way to psyche up the audience for the future, even if it's not included from the bigger performance. 'We just did all these classics for you, but we wanted to let you know there are more memories to come.' Well done, and that's United Alive in Madrid in a nutshell, the spectacle and the successful realization of a project from a band that loves its history and loves its fans. It's not the greatest live record ever, but it's a good one, and with that novelty added on it's one that all Helloween fans should at least check out.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.helloween.org/

Xentrix - Bury the Pain (2019)

Xentrix was a competent if unexceptional British thrash band that, after two worthwhile albums and a goofy cover of the Ghostbusters theme, quickly fell victim to the 90s, when their subgenre dissolved in the face of grunge and death and black extremtiy. That's not to say that they gave up the fight, but the albums they produced after that were really generic and increasingly dumbed down without the catchier tracks like "Balance of Power" or "Questions" to guide them. Some 17 years after Scourge, they decided to get back together for real, and now we're seeing the fruits of that reunion in Bury the Pain, an album that is probably the best at capturing the style of the debut Shattered Existence and thrusting that into the 21st century with the expected louder and cleaner production values that will help modernize them with the current darlings of the era circa Warbringer, Evile, and their ilk.

There is no argument at all that this is about the purest thrash you're going to find, taking that heavy Bay Area/West Coast influence of the 80s and laying it out straight to the table. Choppy, propulsive riffs that all sound as if they've been paraphrased from the Testament backlog with a heavy helping of Master of Puppets. Solidly structured, with your normal verse/chorus builds but some decent riffs in the bridges, including a couple that have a slightly more clinical feel. The leads are all placed perfectly well but aren't terribly memorable, and the rhythm section here operates in perfect lockstep to provide what is on paper a flawless execution of the material. The biggest change to some might be the new vocalist/guitarist Jay Walsh, but to his credit he actually does a good job in emulating the original Chris Astley who has done various stings with the band. His timbre is slightly deeper, but possesses that same sort of grainy vibe, which also reminds me a hell of a lot of some of Steev Esquivel's stuff in Defiance, a band that is also quite a good comparison to Xentrix in general, as they were both sort of second stringers of the 80s thrash medium that had potential but very little originality...Aussies Mortal Sin also fell into this subset.

On a technical level I think this album is fine, but it does suffer a little bit from sounding uninspired, much like the modernized albums of their countrymen Onslaught. Bury the Pain is more melodic and catchy than some of that group's latest studio outings, but they both lack an element of personality which comes as a symptom of just how straightforward and structured they feel. Don't get me wrong, if you're just looking for an album that gives you the feel of a Shattered Existence, Face of Despair or Practice What You Preach, then Bury the Pain is more than serviceable. I think it's a far superior beast to either Kin or Scourge, but I think the album could really use some more blistering fast sequences or choruses that don't all feel the same. It just passes muster. It's almost like Xentrix is committing to be the best average thrash band they can be, and even if I found myself banging head to "The Red Mist Descends" or "Let the World Burn", they just didn't have the sorts of riff variety and qualities that will make them stand out to me long after. Now that they're back, and have successfully gotten back to the point that they were at in 1989, I'd like to hear a longer reach with more interesting songs that can reach outside the safety zone without sinking into the mediocrity of their post-1990 run.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.xentrix.co.uk/

Exhumed - Horror (2019)

Much like its simplified, stripped down title, Horror sees a stripped down version of Exhumed which is reaching back to its earlier turn-of-the-century roots as a proper post-Carcass death grind. In fact, it almost one-ups their debut Gore Metal in how it so rapidly executes the stylistic decision. That's not to say that all of the band's recordings in the interim lacked these aesthetics, in fact they were always present to an extent, but the band had focused on a lot of thrashier, even more melodic elements, and frankly it often ended up with some pretty great songwriting. Now, to be fair, this is no record of absolutes, there are some mid-paced thrash breakouts, and the same entertaining and frantic lead guitars they have been spewing forth the last decade or so, but it's certainly one of their fastest if not the single fastest album of their career.

For death & grind diehards who probably dropped the band after Slaughtercult, or staunch fanatics for earlier Carcass, Napalm Death and Repulsion, this is probably a godse....goresend?! They're getting all of that primal energy, short tracks that almost all fall between the 1-2 minute duration, the mix of snarls and gory guttural vocals that the band has always championed in the Carcass tradition, and if they're also gore/horror fans, a very sweet retro artstyle on the cover which is nearly as cool looking as the last album Death Revenge. The chainsaw guitars and buzzing bass lines come fast and furious, the drumming is intense, and the core of the group's sound is all present. The energy is palpable, Exhumed show no signs whatsoever of slowing down or experimenting beyond what is expected of them, and the lyrical topics are a pretty stock selection of paeans to horror tropes like slashers and zombie flicks. Horror checks off almost all the boxes that it should, but if I'm being honest, as much of a fan of this band as I've become through the years, I found this one solid, but also lacking...not in kills, but in thrills beyond a few select riffs and leads.

To me, lot of grind music falls into the trap of constructing a string of average, derivative punk, thrash or death metal guitar riffs and accelerating them to the degree that their momentum alone can seem to obfuscate the fact that they're quite dull when dissected. The better albums of the genre are the ones that rise to this challenge and manage to offer a new spin, a new sound into the pummeling velocity. Take bands like Antigama, or some of the recent Napalm Death albums, as examples of how this can be kept fresh and alive; but for every one of those, there are scores of others which simply exist like an echo chamber of aggression. Granted, you could say this same thing about any other metal sub-genre, sure, but with grind and deathgrind it always stood out more, since the music was just so spastic and frenzied that I felt I should be more engaged. A lot of the tunes go in one ear and out the other, with the only reaction being 'that was fast' or 'that was angry'. A very temporal visceral response. Horror suffers from this to an extent, but it maintains just enough of Exhumed's charm, production standards and competence over its 15 tracks that 26 minutes that it gets a pass. But there's simply no way I'd break this out over Death Revenge, Necrocacy, Anatomy is Destiny, or their first two, Gore Metal and Slaughtercult, which already gave me what I'd want out of this one, only with better songs.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ExhumedOfficial

Fulci - Tropical Sun (2019)

When you're taking on the mantle of one of the grand masters of Italian horror, and you yourselves ARE an Italian band, I think that shoots the expectations for your music through the roof. Thankfully, while they can hardly be deemed a unique voice among the death metal hordes, Fulci delivers on most fronts an entertaining sophomore effort which taps back into the birth-throes of the brutal death metal genre, when it was more about ugly, knuckle-dragging primitive aggression than technical flash and inhuman instrumental exercises. Not to say that Tropical Sun ignores all the little quirks of its medium that have arrived since the mid 90s, but this is definitely not some New Standard Elite or contemporary Unique Leader style of release, it sounds like it's directly influenced by earlier Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation with a couple add-ons like the occasional deeper pig-squeal variant on the vocals.

If it's not obvious, this album is based on the 1979 film Zombi 2, and the excellent cover artwork via Chris 'Misanthropic Art' Kiesling perfectly captures that feel, an island vibe with the old school rotters lurching about. Steady wins the race, steady feeds your face. I remember being freaked out by the film for any of its flaws, and really appreciated the atmosphere its setting created since it just felt so different than the Romero zombie flicks I was accustomed to. These days we've had stuff like the Dead Island video game franchise to honor it, and I'm positive it's been lauded by a number of other death metal or goregrind bands in the past, but to have it as a central theme is really cool and earns the record some extra flesh-stripes. The theme is really only present through the lyrics, samples and synth pieces like the intro "Voodoo Gore Ritual", but it dresses up the brutality just enough to create a more fulfilling type of experience than your average, insanely illustrated BDM effort, and the overall package just stands out.

Musically, this is pummeling, groove-reliant death metal which is almost wholly pit-ready, with a lot of evil little trill riffs and zipping leads redolent of the Cannibal Corpse era I hinted at above, the first four records with possibly a bit more Corpsegrinder to some of the vocal patterns than Barnes. Though the riff construction largely feels as if you've heard it before, they manage to string enough catchy chops together that you feel like your back in the early days of the style. Chugging, bludgeoning, and lumbering forward at a generally casual pace, with an occasional death/thrash or OSDM outbreak that reminds me again of that aforementioned act in their younger years. You'll get some sparse surprises like the eerie clean guitars they toss onto "Splatter Fatality", or a bleak yet melodic guitar harmony in something like "Legion of the Resurrected" which had me thinking of vintage Bolt Thrower, or some un-intrusive synths, but on the whole the style between the tracks doesn't deviate all that much from its crushing, confident formula.

Production here is quite clean, but still packs a lot of punch because of the guitar tone. The beats are programmed to be effective and workmanlike, but they don't try to bite off more than they can chew and just do their job. The bass has a good volume and adds a little chunkiness to the rich saturation on the rhythm guitars, while the vocals are all broad, burly and well mixed whether they're switching or matching up the growls and snarls or the borderline toilet bowl gutturals they use sparsely. None of the tracks ever wear out their welcomes, and although they don't really experiment that much, there's just enough variety provided as they trade off between more melodic chords and chugging. It's a fun album, it'll take you right back, the lyrics are solid, the packaging awesome. As I'm pretty sure these guys' debut was at least partly devoted to Lucio Fulci's "Gates of Hell" movies like City of the Living Dead, I actually hope these guys will continue the trend going forward. Can you imagine a cool death metal record based solely on The New York Ripper? The Cat in the Brain? Don't Torture a Duckling? Hell, they wouldn't even have to stick with Fulci, numerous other cult directors could be visited.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/fulciband

Prong - Age of Defiance EP (2019)

Age of Defiance is, I'm assuming, a teaser for whatever the band is to release as a follow-up to 2017's full-length Zero Days, paired up with a trio of live cuts from a German club date back in the middle of this last decade. I was immediately taken with the dense sound they pulled off in the studio, whether they're banging out heavier chords or chugging along this one sounds like what we might have expected of a modern Prong in the 21st century, and yet it manages not to lose the subtleties created by the warmer melodic chords and Victor's voice. A full-length album with punch like this is going to turn a lot of heads and work wonders towards the trio's relevance movement forward into yet another decade, but at the same time I'm not going to say that these are necessarily their best songs.

Essentially you're getting a microcosm of many of the band's evolutionary shifts all in one package. There are still plenty of basic thrashing guitars, especially in "End of Sanity", though they were rather bland riff-wise, reminding me there of maybe Testament. The vocals are great with all the backups, and the chorus chords tend to be the more interesting parts of the songs, with some nice lead guitars to flesh them out. The rhythm section sounds great in this mix, the drums thunder along and though the bass doesn't do much of its own thing, it's thick enough to be noticed against the meat of those guitars. I think "Age of Defiance" itself is the better of the two new tunes, largely because of that melodic airiness created through the guitars in contrast to the churning, chuggy lows. It doesn't sound unlike a track from the Cleansing era, there are even some small electronic flourishes, and just a very satisfying chorus even if the verses feel underwhelming outside of their production. I think these work well enough as a sampling of what the next album could sound like, I just hope Tommy has stocked up some better, more varied riffs to go with the excellent vocal performances.

The live cuts sound alright, perhaps not as good as on the 100% Live album, but the tones sound pretty thick and effective on "Rude Awakening", "Another Worldly Device", and "Cut Rate", the latter two kicking some butt like they used to. It's interesting that all three of those tunes are from that 1994-1996 era, maybe Prong is telling us that those styles will be the focus in the near future, or perhaps I'm just reading too much into it. At any rate, while these lives don't disappoint, they will never be a reason for me to spin this, I'd rather have had more originals, so they're not exactly a huge value, though they do work well aesthetically with the new material. We'll have to hear where it all goes from this point, but if nothing else Age of Defiance reveals that Prong could potentially put out a more substantial, killer sounding disc, and the tracks at least have some seeds of memorable ideas.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://prongmusic.com/

Satans Taint - Destruction Ritual (2019)

If the cover to Destruction Ritual is any indicator, Gustafson wasn't about to deviate far from the Satans Taint debut album, possibly diving a little further into the generic Viking theme pasted on to the project, or at least its artwork and typography. This was a slightly higher profile album than the first, since it seemed to get a limited CD release through the rekindled Megaforce imprint, and Bobby decided to work with a couple of the same musicians, so I went into this expecting some cohesion and improvements. Unfortunately, there is still a bit of the stylistic inconsistency and disconnect that dominated its predecessor, with the two vocalists flipping back and forth between a higher pitched, almost Joey Belladonna style vocal with Halford screams and then the harsher, biting THRASH vocals. Neither of these guys is a slouch for his respective style, mind you, but the album just never seems to settle into anything and it almost constantly feels more like a 'recording project'.

To me, the first track here "Sumbel" was a decent power/thrash style song and I wouldn't have been put out if the whole album continued along this thread, but as soon as it launches into the meatier thrash of "Sorry You Were Ever Born" I was already feeling that thread unravel. It's not a terrible song, but wants very badly to be 90s-00s Overkill with a different vocalist. The keyboards in the chorus were a surprise, but they too feel at odds with the rest of the track. And then, to capitalize on its downward spiral, it launches into an awful, Pantera-like groove metal track, and there are a number of others which also fit this bill, immediately turning me off; don't get me wrong, I'm not some hater for the original, but unfortunately so many of their bar-level knockoffs are less than compelling and can't really match the attitude. Amusingly enough, there's a "Skullkrusher II" track here which mirrors the doom vibe of the Overkill original, from Bobby's last studio album with the band, and it's actually a half-decent one which is better than most of the other songs you'll find here, not unlike how "Gothic Serpent" stood out on the debut. Had Satans Taint been a doom metal band with the same singer, I think you'd hear a lot more about it, because it's fairly tight...

Instead, we get a lot more of the ho-hum Viking thrash, which isn't lacking for some energy and keeps a pretty professional style, but just feels like a lot of other throwaway 'modern' thrash circa the later 90s or early 00s when it wasn't exactly taboo to return to the form, but bands still peppered it with a lotta unwelcome groove metal elements from the past decade. Rhythm section is solid over the course of the album, and Bobby's tone has that same saturated bite you remember from the 80s, only a fraction more modernized, like Germany's Destruction through the last 20 years. It actually sounds great when an actual decent riff happens, but they are in scarce supply throughout Destruction Ritual and a lot of the banal chugging is just sleep-inducing. In fact a lot of these riffs would have cured insomnia back in the 80s. I know I'm being harsh here, but this sophomore is yet another record which doesn't play to its strengths. It's poundingly heavy, but fleshed out with too many effortless filler rhythm guitars. Bobby's a very good guitarist, hell he played on my favorite Overkill album Taking Over, but this just doesn't have that magic. I did read somewhere that he recently started playing with Vio-lence, and his tone and style are an amazing fit for their style, especially Eternal Nightmare and Oppressing the Masses, so I'm a lot more hopeful for what might come of that. Destruction Ritual isn't awful by any means, but I found it a small step below even Axe to the Head of My Enemies.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

Massemord - Luciferi Imperium (2019)

Initially, the Norwegian Massemord wasn't a band I spent much time hunting down, partially because of their general obscurity and probably also because I was more enamored with what I had heard of the Polish band with the same name. Through the years, as I've gone back to revisit their backlog, I've grown to appreciate a few of their records, particularly the 2003 full-length debut Skogen kaller; some well-written, appreciably enough atmospheric black metal. A couple countries and lineups later, the group is still out there, ready to make whatever statement a black metal band can with a cool pic of a battle jacketed hesher in a humble amount of corpse paint and a pistol pointed straight in your fucking face.

And I have to say, the charms and wiles of Luciferi Imperium are just as direct...slower to mid paced black metal which is just as true to its own history as it is to a lot of what some purists demand from the genre, with few to no outside influences or cross-pollination. Sometime's that enough, and as I crank up the album though my PC speakers, the mix of melancholic and evil chord patterns and the raw, wartorn rasp of Sicarius help carry this one towards appreciation. There's little sense of nuance or surprised through any of the tracks, nor are there any sorts of riffs that you won't have heard a thousand times in the past if you've ever deep-dived into this genre, but the album is dynamic and humble enough that I didn't really feel the loss. The beats can get a little brazen and loud, like some of the percussive breaks in "Inri", but the rest of the mix is level and effective at making you feel like you're being stalked through the woodland by such a maniac. I especially like the vocals on this, the slightly sloppy syllabic delivery really drives the whole thing home as a love letter to its medium.

I've probably got hundreds or thousands of these mid-list black metal records lying around in my CD piles or promo folders, but there's just something timeless about the style, that when performed to a degree of competence, doesn't fail me. There were stretches of the album where it felt too creatively dry to hold my attention, but then I readjusted expectations and got drawn back into its riff patterns. The album doesn't really ever threaten to bore you since it's barely over a half-hour in length. If I were to make a more specific comparison, it reminds me of Carpathian Forest circa 1998-2003, but not quite as memorable in either the guitars, drums or vocal departments. It's definitely better than a couple of the other Massemord records in the past, though I think the debut still has the most appeal. Those who aren't already settled in with their old 90s black metal records from this scene might at least catch a whiff of semi-stale nostalgia, burning wood for the past when music like this was considered dangerous and exciting...although the compositions themselves aren't terribly so.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://officialmassemord.bandcamp.com/

Borknagar - True North (2019)

True North is arguably the most 'friendly' or accessible album in the entire Borknagar line to date, and I don't mean that as any sort of criticism, because it's fantastic nonetheless. Memorable, melodic melodrama for all of us would-be woodsman and Viking-alikes the globe over, captured with expert songwriting and performances all around giving well over 100%. It's also one of those albums well into a band's career which seemed to vault a number of fans back up on the bandwagon; at least in my circle of acquaintances, I had to remind numerous friends that Borknagar had already put out two excellent albums leading up to it in Urd and Winter Thrice. But for whatever reason it seems they're finally being appreciated as the Scandinavian savants some of us always held them up to be, and that is absolutely fine. But there's probably also a slice of the audience that finds a bittersweetness to this one...

The Vintersorg years are over. Hedlund had an amicable parting with the band and bounced back over to his eponymous mainstay to produce a (worthy) sequel to his debut Till fjälls decades before, and his absence can certainly be felt here. Not through a dive in quality, but just in how True North does not attempt to come across as busy as some of its predecessors. You don't have the massive vocal arrangements they all pulled off together on the albums running up to this...still some duets, but in general the vocal patterns are more straightforward. Fortunately, they're also AMAZING, with ICS Vortex giving one of the best performances of his entire career, both his epic cleans and his harshes. There was also some new blood in the fold here, with drummer Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow, the third in three albums, and guitarist Jostein Thomassen, aka Pendragon, who had played with Rønnow before, as well as a little late 90s/early 00s black metal outfit you might have encountered called Source of Tide. Both of them fit into Borknagar so well that you'd have thought they were already playing with them for a good decade or so already, and in fact the drumming is quite potent, which gives a lot of life to such a dynamic effort which to my ears sounds like the most modern thing they've ever done from a pure production standpoint.

Now, I'm not going to lie, True North is a bit heavily front-loaded, but damn are these first 4-5 cuts epics that match almost anything the band had produced before. "Thunderous" is quite an accurate description of itself, a powerhouse that isn't without its own acoustic, emotional self-balancing sequences that include some very tasty guest violins. "Up North" might be the most presentable use yet of Vortex's yodeling, melodic cleans, so damn catchy that one weekend when my wife and I were driving the kids through the White Mountains to Santa's Village in New Hampshire, I had all of them trying to yodel along to that part. And they're a bunch of squares! To them, Loki is just a Marvel action figure they have lying in a toy bin with so many others. "The Fire That Burns" is another mighty tune, a more mid-paced joint that makes you feel like you're watching your landscape transform into the Nine Worlds in slow motion, vocally impressive with some great little proggy bits and acoustics. "Wild Father's Hearts" stands out for being a better Borknagar ballad than almost anything you'll find on Origin, some powerful choruses, and when the electric guitars arrive they are brilliant.

After that point, the album shifts down to just regular old 'greatness' and some of the brilliance might subside, if not the magnificence. Tracks like "Into the White" and "Tidal" have some wonderful moments, but they also have a few riffs in there that don't quite stick the landing as well as others, or might feel a little redundant with other Borknagar tracks here or in the past; for instance I heard some callbacks to The Olden Domain in the latter. Nothing wrong with that, but that initial rush in which I couldn't believe what I was hearing faded away and I was left with just a pleasant listen to material which is still far better than most anything else I'd listen to in any genre in 2019. So, not much of a downer and not only a few points get shaved as a result. Altogether, True North just exemplifies the resilience and continual growth of the group, even with these lineup changes they pull together one of their strongest albums, and in fact after listening to this one for the last six months and change I'm happy to say it's my second favorite in their whole catalog, just marginally nudging out its bad ass predecessor.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10] (where the air is clear)

http://borknagar.com/

Artillery - In the Trash (2019)

In the Trash is not Artillery's first flirtation with a compilation of their demo and pre-signing material, but it thankfully differs from the 1998 anthology Deadly Relics by including the one full demo that wasn't available there, as well as the Terror Squad demo which was dropped between their first two albums. And I think that's going to be the major draw for anyone who wants to acquire this, the fact that the two collections complement each other, maybe rubbing a few toes together but not planting themselves firmly down on one another's feet. Having said that, the appeal will still find itself limited for anyone who had grown accustomed to or fond of the brand of more elaborate, technical power/thrash that the band had evolved into with the magnum opus By Inheritance, or the later albums which bite from that same fruit but don't quite match the same sweet taste. By that token, this might not even be all that charming for fans into their earlier, more straightforward albums Fear of Tomorrow and Terror Squad, coming before the Stützer brothers had taken on both guitar positions and found that brilliant rhythmic lockstep that would define their sound henceforth.

We Are the Dead is the band's 1982 demo, and moves along at a generally mid-paced gait, brash, chunky and raw, although not terribly produced for such an early tape. It features the band's original vocalist Per Onink, who has an everyman, punkish vibe about him that is occasionally struck with some howls or higher pitched screaming attempts, but much less impressive than his any of his numerous successors through the decades. Still, it's got an honest quality to it that doesn't detract entirely from the listening, and the guitars are so fuzzy, heavy and loud over the pulpy bass lines and slap of the drums that there's a rude, drunken charm to it all, like these guys were recording the demo late at night in a rehearsal space after sharing a 24-pack. Some of these songs like "Mind of No Return" have gotten revisions as recent as The Face of Fear in 2018, and have become a little more functional within the band's overall discography, but I just thought it was amazing evolution to hear them on this material and then pop in the flawless By Inheritance, one of my favorite thrash albums (or albums in general) of all time, and heard how the riffs evolved into something really original and brazenly melodic from these decidedly humble origins.

On the other hand, some of the other recordings here, from a few years later in 1984, are quite good. "Bitch" has a real thunder about it, slightly less crude than the first demo, with much more aggressive and over the top vocals and superior thrash riffs. The Terror Squad demo is a rehearsal demo for the album, and thus some of the most raw shit on the collection, but you can already hear how the band's riffing had progressed into its forward-momentum excellence, and with Flemming coming in on the vocals its a whole lot more fun, even though I'd probably stick to the Terror Squad full-length itself if given the choice. Overall, I think I dug this one quite a bit more than Deadly Relics, which I simply have never really needed to revisit since writing about it, much preferring just to spin the albums again. I'm not saying this one will fare much better, but I think it flowed a little better, even with slightly less material present. Look, if you ask me about Artillery I'm pointing you straight at the first three albums and not necessarily in that order, the demos amount to nothing when compared with the effort that went into much of the Danes' legacy to date...this is a middling collection or reprints that don't offer even a fraction of the reward, but if you're hardcore about collecting your favorite band, or you're just into the historical curiosity, you could do worse.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ARTILLERY.DK