The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

Trollheart · 10-03-2014, 02:58 PM

Sure, we all take our Metal seriously, but sometimes it's nice to just kick back and laugh at it all. Time to take

Some Metal albums that will never be made...

**Janszoon** · 10-03-2014, 06:43 PM

Oh Trollheart. Whether you enjoy it or not, surely you can hear that Gridlink songs are indeed tightly written and precisely played compositions consisting of riffs and beats which are only "just noise" to same extent to which all music is just organized noise.

At any rate, it's certainly interesting to read your take on my favorite metal albums and I appreciate you taking the time to listen to each of them. Also, I was happy to see that you enjoyed Lykathea Aflame's "On the Way Home" at least a tiny bit. That's probably my favorite song on that album.

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 05:33 AM

Okay then, that last one was a bust, let's hope this is better. Suggested by self-undelcared-but-being-a-fact guitar god Plankton (watch for a review of his new album before Christmas), I had not heard of this band (oh how surprising!) but on clicking the Wiki page and seeing the album cover panicked slightly, as it looked like a Nazi or neo-Nazi symbol. But now that I've read up on the band I see it's just two Cs back to back on a red background. Still, the shock was something, I can tell you. Not that I wouldn't review an album by a neo-Nazi band if I had to, I'd just rather not if it's all the same to you.

Inflikted --- Cavalera Conspiracy --- 2008 (Roadrunner)
Recommended by Plankton

Born out of the ashes of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy marks the end of a decade-long rift between brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, mostly centred around the efforts to replace the band's manager, Gloria, Max's wife. Following the tragic death of their son in a road accident, things became strained at Camp Sepultura and when Igor suggested firing Gloria Max stood up for her and quit the band. Igor continued on for another ten years then quit himself. A few months later the brothers reconciled and formed Cavalera Conspiracy. This is their debut album, with two more following it, the most recent released only this year.

The title starts off with screaming guitar and rolling drums, then explodes into a battering assault on the drumkit before Max comes in with the vocal. His voice is dark and growly but you can hear what he's singing, and he doesn't sing at twice the speed of light either. It's not the kind of singing I prefer to listen to --- too raw and ragged ---- but it's okay. The music acquires a kind of eastern tinge, perhaps to reflect the fact that this song was based on a self-harming ritual Max witnessed while in India. It's a good heavy song; “Sanctuary” brings us into the mind of a mad killer (again) with the tempo ramping up considerably as Marc Rizzo blows everyone away with extreme prejudice on the guitar before Max joins him and they trade licks.

“Terrorize” is something of a cruncher, with flashes of speed from the axemen and a hilarious lyric that gets right to the point: ”Fuck art --- let's kill! / Fuck this --- let's kill! / Fuck that --- let's kill! Fuck them --- let's kill!” but it's a little of a parody of the likes of a Slayer song, giving you the impression the Cavalera boys are trying a little too hard, while “Black ark” has a lot more about it, with an ominous, sort of held-back vocal for a few lines before it takes off. I like the idea though, and there's some stratospheric guitar work on display. I also like the line ”Whatever you are/ We're against it!” --- kind of reminds me of Anti-Nowhere League's “I hate ... people”. Cool. I wonder what “Ultra-violent” could be about? A thoughtful critique of the war in Iraq perhaps? A comment on the state of America's health system? Um, nice try. Seems like it's about the Apocalypse, with the words “dies irae” mentioned. A slow, punching, stomper with dark energy and hammering guitars, bellowed vocal and thunderous bass.

You would however expect a song titled “Hex” to be about witches and black magic, but in fact it seems to be a politically-charged accusation levelled at those in power, the idea of being held under their spell. Interesting. One of the fastest songs on the album so far, it just cannons along on the twin guitars and manic drumming, a short song, just over two minutes then we're into another short song, “The doom of all fires”, with some clever lines --- ”The song remains insane” is one I particularly like, and also the way they namecheck Igor's other project, Mixhell. It's fast, but not as breakneck as the previous track, with the lyric quite simple, repeating phrases but it works very well. One of my favourites on the album I would say. Kicks into high gear for the last minute or so and we plunge into “Bloodbrawl”, which I think may be the tale of soldiers coming back from the war and looking for something to expend their pent-up fury and testosterone on, maybe illegal cage fighting? A hard, mid-paced song with a really roared vocal from Max and a guitar assault that makes your ears bleed, perhaps appropriately.

Interestingly, of the last four tracks on the album, the titles of three are madeup words created by pushing two other words together ---”Bloodbrawl”, “Nevertrust” and “Mustkill”. There's an extended guitar passage --- not quite a solo, as Max is still bawling his vocal over it --- at the end of “Bloodbrawl”, then unaccountably it ends with a soft laidback guitar, almost acoustic, that takes us into the aforementioned “Nevertrust”, another two-minuter with a simple message: basically, never trust anybody. It barrels along, Max screaming in anger, Marc's guitar screaming in sympathy and agreement, but there's not a lot to say about it other than it's fast and heavy and angry. “Hearts of darkness”, by contrast, has a great infectious beat and seems to be an anti-war anthem with some scorching solos. Given that a famous novel was written about the Vietnam War called “Heart of darkness”, this may be referring to that. Or not. Strong song though, and it takes us towards the closer.

Again there's not much to really say lyrically about a song titled “MustKill”, and it may be another anti-war song, but it's hard to be sure. What we can be sure about is that it's the longest song on the album, just shy of six minutes, and blasts along at hyperspeed, bringing the album to a devastating and climactic conclusion.

TRACKLISTING

1. Inflikted
2. Sanctuary
3. Terrorize
4. Black ark
5. Ultra-violent
6. Hex
7. The doom of all fires
8. Bloodbrawl
9. Nevertrust
10. Hearts of darkness
11. MustKill

Not my sort of music, certainly, and my only real experience of their parent band was, I'm told, the wrong one, which I featured last year. But listening to Slayer over the past month has somewhat inured me to these ragged vocals and the faster, thrash melody to the extent that not only can I now stand it, I can even begin to enjoy some of it. This album was pretty good. Not that I'd necessarily seek out more of their work, but at least I'm not in the shower, scrubbing frantically while silently screaming “Still dirty! It won't come off!” And reading the story of the Cavalera brothers, it's always nice to see an end to a family feud, especially when they come together in the name of music and memory.

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 08:26 AM

Blood of legends --- Battleroar --- 2014 (Cruz del Sur)

With a name like Battleroar you're not really left in too much doubt as to what to expect, and if you still aren't sure, look at the cover. Expect powerfully driven songs about heroes, battles, gods and wizards and scantily-clad maidens. Yeah, this is power metal! But with a slight twist, as these guys hail from the gentle shores of Greece, famous for myth and legend certainly, but hardly a hotbed of power metal, or any metal. This is their fourth album, the guys having been together since 2001, with their first album released in 2003. It's the first I've ever heard from them, so let's jump right in.

We get an instrumental to start us off, perhaps predictably, with a rather grandiose yet intriguing title. “Stormgiven” opens on, well, a storm: thunder booms and rain falls, then a nice acoustic guitar is accompanied by choral vocals and something which will become a feature of Battleroar's music it would seem, and very welcome too, violin. Nothing quite so mournful or stately as a violin. The acoustic then changes to faster Spanish guitar and the violin picks up too, a sort of a gypsy rhythm coming into the music, and you can see this being played at a campfire as sparks jump into the night air and lithe women with dark hair and much cheap jewellery clinking at their necks dance and writhe before the flames. Very evocative.

Quite long for an instrumental, almost four minutes, and it takes us into “The swords are drawn”, as searing electric guitar punches its way in and we're off on a typical power metal trip, chugalong bass and rolling percussion providing the backdrop to vocalist Gerrit Mutz, who has a strong and powerful voice, joined by backing vocals from the others in the band. Effective instrumental passage in about the third minute adding in some fine solos from the two guitarists, Antreas Sotiropoulos and Kostas “HK” Tzortzis (whom we'll just refer to from now on as Antreas and HK. OK?) A cold wind blows in, ushering in “Poisoned well” on the crying violin of Alex Papadiamantis before the two axemen take the song, a slower, more crunching song than the opener.

Here Gerrit gets to show what he can really do behind the mike, backed almost only by sparse guitar and effortlessly rising to the occasion. Alex's violin, though a little subsumed in the mix, is still there, lamenting and calling, and overall it's a really good juxtapositioning after the speedy first track (leaving the instrumental to one side of course). Battleroar don't use keyboards, but there's a certain keyboard sound to the midsection here, with again nice backing vocals as Gerrit moans ”My heart's a poisoned well/ Enchanted by dark spells” --- not the most original of lyrics I'll grant you, but what do you expect with power metal? A good powerful ending then leads us, via Alex's violin into the title track.

The tale of a minstrel recording the deeds of fallen heroes, “Blood of legends” is something of an anthem, the double guitar working very well here as the song rocks along with a good hook and some machinegun drumming from Nick Papadopoulous. I'm beginning to wonder if there are keys on this album, even if not credited, as the opening to “Immortal chariot” definitely sounds like some sort of synth or organ. Chronicling the exploits of the ancient Greek hero Achilles, it's a fast, pounding number driven on the twin guitars of Antreas and HK, with Gerrit attempting a death vocal but not quite pulling it off, and sensibly very quickly returning to his own normal singing voice. Could have been embarrassing, that!

With an opening rather a little too close to Maiden's “Powerslave” for my tastes, “The curse of Medea” is the song of a woman who kills her children and is cursed by the gods. It's another tale from ancient Greece, so go look it up if you want to know more: I'm not your Wiki!

It's a slow, grinding tempo in sympathy with the pain of the narrator, and Alex's violin plays a prominent part in the song; I think this would qualify as “epic power metal”, if such a subgenre exists. If not, I claim its creation. It picks up speed and intensity in the last minute, resulting in a very satisfying and rip-roaring ending. The longest track then on the album is “Valkyries above”, and I think there are few among us who don't know what a Valkyrie was, yes? Running for almost nine minutes, it begins on a gentle picked guitar allied to a soft acoustic with soft, sussurating percussion before the song punches up, giving us the dying thoughts of a warrior on the battlefield who watches the sky for Odin's handmaidens to take him to Valhalla, but is deemed unworthy and left behind, a doomed lost soul, condemned to wander the Earth for eternity.

Great backing vocals here again, and I'm sure I hear female voices in there, though again they're not credited, at least not on the website I'm reading. More great work from Alex on the violin, backed by the two guys on the frets, and a thumping, funereal beat from Nick as Gerrit complains ”All meaningless/ Just utter lies/ They led us to our doom” perhaps realising there are no Valkyries, no Valhalla, no gods, nothing but death and darkness awaiting he and his comrades. I really like the angle on this song. It's seldom you hear ancient man questioning his beliefs, wondering if all his sacrifices were in vain, if he has fought and died for nothing, and it's a sobering rending of the fairytale as he realises there are ”No hymns of praise/ No words of grief.../ No help in sight.”

Another great rocker is “Chivalry (Noble armour)” with a very Manowar “protect the weak” ideal. Oh dear! Gerrit's going all death metal again. Really doesn't suit you, son. Give it up: you've a great enough voice as it is without forcing unclean vocals and grunts out of it. We walk in strange lands then, alone and far from home with the “Exile eternal” who laments his fate, and again it's Alex on the mournful violin who carries much of this bleak tale of a man cast out from his own kingdom, nevermore to see his family or loved ones again. There's a strong determination in the guitars though that speaks of a defiance, a refusal to give in and an abiding desire to remember the faces of those who matter most to him. Some dark vocals and cool chanting near the end part, then a big chorus and chant to take it to its triumphant finish.

And that's it. We end as we began, with an instrumental, this time titled “Relentless waves”, and somehow I doubt the guys are talking about a day at the beach! Although it does start off with the sound of surf ebbing and flowing, then a nice laidback guitar with Alex's gorgeous violin passage fitting right in. It's a slow, langorous melody, sort of in keeping with the movements of the tides. I must admit, I thought the title was going to refer to wave after wave of an army, but from what I'm hearing my “joke” was more on the money, as this seems to be an ode to the power of the sea. Unless there's one in there, Alex makes his violin sound like a sax at times, and there are some effects there that surely must be made on a synth? Kind of like the calm after the storm, the quiet after the battle, it's very relaxing, quite unexpected and a really cool way to end an album that has really impressed me.

TRACKLISTING

1. Stormgiven
2. The swords are drawn
3. Poisoned well
4. Blood of legends
5. Immortal chariot
6. The curse of Medea
7. Valkyries above
8. Chivalry (Noble armour)
9. Exile eternal
10. Relentless waves

When I first began reviewing this, as you may have guessed, the title, the band name and some of the lyrics glanced at led me to believe that Battleroar were just another sword-and-sorcery, we-are-warriors, riffing power metal band, but you know, they are actually so much more. I see that now. At least on this album. They've taken time and put a lot of thought and imagination into their lyrics and have chosen to steer away from some of the stock fare pursued by bands of this ilk. There are few if any songs about battles and glory, instead they tend to focus on the human aspect of war --- loss of life, faith in gods, defeat, the afterlife and so on --- and they certainly know their mythology. Their vocalist is a real find, and the use of violin lends this band a gravitas they might not otherwise possess, and serves in my mind at least to set them apart from the herd.

Very much more than the sum of their parts, this band from Greece merits further checking into, as they have three albums prior to this. I'm not saying they're going to put their homeland on the metal map, or take the world by storm, but Battleroar, despite the somewhat cliched and silly name, deserve more than just to be brushed aside with a whole lot of other copycat bands. These guys really have something, and I look forward to hearing more from them.

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 08:33 AM

To the Unknown --- Desert Lord --- 2014 (Under a Serpent Sun Records)

I’m not sure how well established stoner metal is in Finland, and Desert Lord have only really been together for four years now, with this being their debut album, but I’ve heard some pretty damn fine music come out of this part of Scandinavia and am interested in checking this one out. If nothing else the label name is cool --- kind of ironic that the catalogue reference becomes USSR! But this is a short album, only six tracks in total and none of them epic monsters: the longest is just under ten minutes. Still, the whole thing clocks in at a respectable fifty minutes total time. But who are Desert Lord?

That’s a really good question. I’ve mentioned before that I have a real problem with bands who have MySpace, Facebook, Soundcloud or Bandcamp pages but refuse to put any information about themselves there. Desert Lord appear to be another, more concerned with gig dates and selling their album than letting us in on who they are. We’re not all fans, you know, though maybe we will be. But it would be nice to know who you are! But no. Not a thing. Even the band members give only their first names, which we’ll get to. Other than that I’m in the dark. I’m assuming this is not the goth metal band Dessert Lord, whose debut album “Don’t trifle with me” was followed by the successful “Ice cream in the sun” …. okay, I’ll stop now.

Armed with absolutely no information other than vague references to Sabbath and words like “cool”, “great” and, yes, the eternally annoying and most overused word in the American language, “awesome”, let’s step away from the city walls and ride off into the desert, to see if we can meet this mysterious entity and figure out what it’s all about.

Good hard guitar to get “Forlorn caravan” underway, and while Sampo the vocalist has a raw, tough voice it’s certainly nothing on the lines of death growlers; sort of reminds me of Lemmy or Danny Joe Brown. Good punchy rocker with a lot of traditional Metal influences, sort of a 70s hard rock thing going on too. Actually, to be fair, this sounds rather dated. Not the best of openings I must admit. “Wonderland”, one of three nine-minute songs on the album, starts much slower, kind of a Doom Metal idea to it, the obvious comparison being Sabbath. Good work from Janne on the guitar, and slow steady percussion from Mika behind the kit. Instrumental for the first nearly three minutes then Sampo comes in with a sort of pained, wounded vocal.

Gets a little --- only a little --- faster, sort of slow boogie feel, but so far I’m a little disappointed and more than a little bored. Let’s hope it gets better. Okay. okay. A nice acoustic guitar opening to “Expanding egos” with more than a hint of Genesis’s “Horizons” in it, a slower, more laidback piece, though it’s another nine --- almost ten --- minuter, so I doubt it will stay this way all through the song. Decent sound effects, very ambient, then a harder guitar comes through on punching drums as we move into the second minute, and the tempo becomes grindy, doomy, thick and heavy. Vocals in the third minute, speeds up in the sixth, but for me it’s still pretty much a case of this band being a poor Sabs ripoff.

Some nice work on the bass there by Roni, but though there are extended guitar passages I haven’t really yet heard anything I could call a solo … oh. Now I have. Just near the end here. “New dimensions” is exactly the opposite, just more of the same and I’m getting really bored now. These guys need to try something different if they want to stand out, and right now they’re just fading into the background as yet another generic doom/stoner metal band. Nice bit of acoustic there again, with a sort of spoken vocal, but that’s soon pushed aside and we’re back to the grind, literally. Well, following this seems Sampo channels Nick Cave on “Manic survivor’s song”, and it’s not half bad. Kind of slow blues with a weary, doomed feel about it, acoustic guitar, slow drums, nice bassline.

Pretty damn good guitar solo and I think this is the first song where Desert Lord may have woken me up, nudged me and had me maybe begin to take notice. Mind you, it’s the fifth of six tracks, so unless the closer is phenomenal (and even if it is) they’ve probably left it too late. Yeah, they have. “Become aware” is just a rehash of everything else, bar the above, they’ve done on the album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Forlorn caravan
2. Wonderland
3. Expanding egos
4. New dimensions
5. Manic survivor’s song
6. Become aware

Nothing else to say really. A big let down. Just relieved there are only the six tracks, as I don’t think I could have sat through much more. Totally generic, nothing new, nothing stands out other than “Manic survivor’s song”, and that’s a bit of a pearl among swine, but the rest is completely derivative and this album gets a big fat MEH from me.

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 08:43 AM

Members' Top Ten Metal Albums Lists

Time to continue the countdown selected by Janszoon, and a band I know The Batlord is also very fond of is at number
7

Death is this communion --- High on Fire --- 2007

Is there a reason, I wonder, why so many of Jansz’s top albums are all from the 21st century? Four so far. Interesting. This may be a little more accessible for me. Maybe. Yeah, this is much better. I dig this kind of metal. Vocal is a little gravelly but not off-putting; anyway, I’m slowly learning to live with those sort of vocals. Really like “Khanrad’s Wall”, very eastern-sounding and some great guitar work that doesn’t shake my fillings loose. “Thorazine” is very good too, basically just a drum solo but cool. I also really like “DII” --- are they cellos at the end? “Ethereal” is quite excellent too. Yeah, really like this album. Nice one, Jansz!

And on to number
6
which is

Angel dust --- Faith No More --- 1992

The first record in Jansz’s list that comes from the twentieth century!

What’s there to say about this that has not already been said? It’s a classic album, which I had not heard till last year when I reviewed in it my journal, so I’ll say no more except to report that I was not blown away by it, but then this mix of rap and rock never really sits well with me. Damn successful album though, and one of their most loved.

We now reach the mid-point, and for his number
5
Jansz has chosen

Il secondo tragico --- Psychofagist (THAT gave the filter a problem!) --- 2009

I can’t find the album online, and though Jansz offered to send me any album I couldn’t locate, as I see this is grindcore I’m gonna be a little scared girl and wimp out here, use the excuse I couldn’t find it and move on. Sorry man!

And as we get closer to his number uno album, we check out number
4
on his list, to find

Witchcult today --- Electric Wizard --- 2007

Now this is one I’m actually interested to hear. I’m getting a little into Doom Metal and though Jansz describes this more as Thrash Metal, well I like that too, so this may not be the worst album I’ve ever listened to. Well it’s only one track in and I already love this. Don’t see the thrash in it, not yet, but crushingly heavy and no Cookie Monster vocals. That’ll do for me. Yeah, there’s nothing bad I have to say about this album, and I can see why it’s high in Jansz’s list. Have to listen to more of these guys’ music.

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 08:53 AM

In stark contrast to their debut, Slayer's second album was professionally produced, this being possible as their label paid to finance it. In many ways I guess it could be said that this was their first real album, though of course many of their fans retain an admiration and love for the first salvo Slayer sent across the bows of the music world, announcing the arrival of a new power and a seachange in the world of Heavy Metal, especially in the USA.

Hell awaits --- Slayer --- 1985 (Metal Blade)

Again, it's a short album, with only seven tracks --- nine on the special edition, but as they're two of the tracks off “Haunting the chapel” I don't feel that adds anything --- and it kicks off with the title track, another powerful guitar attack as King stamps his authority on the album, Araya's voice kind of more on a par with Brian Johnson or Biff Byford this time, a sort of higher-pitched tone to it. Another fast track following in the steps trodden by “Haunting the chapel”, it's nevertheless not on the same blistering pace as the likes of “Chemical warfare” or “Haunting the chapel” itself, though King fires off some impressive solos. At least, I assume it's him. This is always the problem with bands containing two guitarists: how do you know who's playing the solo? It's a constant conundrum for me when reviewing Iron Maiden albums --- is that Dave or Adrian, or indeed Janick? In the long run I guess it doesn't matter too much, but as he's seen as the main guitarist here I'm just gonna assume all the solos are by Kerry King. “Kill again” is even slower, in relation to the other tracks, or at least starts that way, with an extended guitar intro and some fine power drumming, and when the vocal comes in it's more almost spoken by Araya this time, dark and bleak. This, I feel, comes a little closer to punk rock, in the execution of the riffs and the almost manic drumming. I don't like this very much I must admit: it feels like it's just been thrown together.

You can definitely see the difference in the production though all through the album, especially on “At dawn they sleep”, one of the more progressively-leaning tracks on the album. It betrays to me a certain sense of Purple around the “In Rock” era, or maybe “Machine head”, a sort of blues feel to it. It's much more restrained than “Kill again”, even if King does prove there's (probably) nobody who shreds as well as him. This seems to be the first Slayer song on which Tom Araya has a songwriting input, and the difference shows. A long song --- over six minutes --- it goes through tempo changes and moods, building up an atmosphere and showing that Slayer can --- or could --- construct really quite well-written songs. Slayer as a prog metal band may seem highly unlikely at best --- and probably is --- but this song definitely displays many of the trademarks of that subgenre, while of course not losing the basic thrash and aggression and speed that this band built their fanbase upon.

“Praise of death” is back to the basic thrash, a ravening monster hurtling along at twice the speed of light, Araya snarling the vocal again and to hell (hah!) with time signature changes or any of that pansy nonsense! This is Metal: pure, brutal, fast as hell and loud enough to make your brain leak out of your ears. To underline the fact, King looses off another perfectly-timed solo, the kind of guitar work that starts revolutions and plants in young minds the sudden desire to buy a Fender and put a band together. No doubt a title that caused many a sleepless night among those who safeguard our morals and led to the almost coveted “Parental Advisory” label being hastily slapped on the cover of this album, “Necrophiliac” begins on a growly, stop-start guitar then takes off at speed, Tom at his darkest and revelling in the lyric, knowing how much it will bother certain people.

Of course, one thing about Slayer is that often the way Tom sings you don't need to worry about the lyrics, as you may not be able to make them out, but this is worth listening to, if for no other reason, to catch the superb solos from Kerry King and the tight-knit rhythm section blasting the song along. Sounding more like it belongs on a progressive rock album, at least from the title, “Crypts of eternity” seems to concern the Pyramids, possibly grabbing elements of “Powerslave” --- or maybe not. It's hard to say, but if something could be termed a crypt of eternity I think it would be the famous Egyptian monuments. It's a good song, and rocks along well without screaming off the rails, with some dark guitar work from Hanneman and King, kind of reminiscent of Lep at their rockin' best, and of course Maiden.

Yeah, reading through the lyric it's nothing to do with the Pyramids. Good song though and as usual superb solos, taking us into the closer, “Hardening of the arteries”, which brings the curtain down in powerful style, thundering along like an out-of-control freight train. Why not an out-of-control passenger train, you ask? Don't ask me: I don't coin these phrases, I just rob 'em. It's a short track in comparison to the previous, less than four minutes and it rockets along, taking us to the end of the album in a breathless dash for the finish, leaving us exhausted and drained again.

TRACKLISTING

1. Hell awaits
2. Kill again
3. At dawn they sleep
4. Praise of death
5. Necrophiliac
6. Crypts of eternity
7. Hardening of the arteries

There are, as I alluded to, two bonus tracks on certain versions but they're just the title track from the EP as well as “Captor of sin” from the same EP, and we've heard them already. For a second album this is definitely good, but it doesn't, to my mind, foreshadow the behemoth that was lurking on the horizon and that would take Slayer from the underground right into the glare of the spotlight, making of them bona fide superstars and gods of Metal. What a difference one year can make!

**Janszoon** · 10-04-2014, 08:53 AM

It was actually the High on Fire album that I described as thrashy, not the Electric Wizard one so not surprising you didn't hear any thrash in Witchcult Today. Glad you enjoyed both though.

You can't wimp out on the Psychofagist album though man! Come on, you can do it!

Trollheart · 10-04-2014, 01:21 PM

The Batlord · 10-04-2014, 02:49 PM

Awesome reviews, bro.

10-03-2014, 02:58 PM	#2261 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Sure, we all take our Metal seriously, but sometimes it's nice to just kick back and laugh at it all. Time to take Some Metal albums that will never be made... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-03-2014, 06:43 PM	#2262 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Oh Trollheart. Whether you enjoy it or not, surely you can hear that Gridlink songs are indeed tightly written and precisely played compositions consisting of riffs and beats which are only "just noise" to same extent to which all music is just organized noise. At any rate, it's certainly interesting to read your take on my favorite metal albums and I appreciate you taking the time to listen to each of them. Also, I was happy to see that you enjoyed Lykathea Aflame's "On the Way Home" at least a tiny bit. That's probably my favorite song on that album. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

10-04-2014, 05:33 AM	#2263 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Okay then, that last one was a bust, let's hope this is better. Suggested by self-undelcared-but-being-a-fact guitar god Plankton (watch for a review of his new album before Christmas), I had not heard of this band (oh how surprising!) but on clicking the Wiki page and seeing the album cover panicked slightly, as it looked like a Nazi or neo-Nazi symbol. But now that I've read up on the band I see it's just two Cs back to back on a red background. Still, the shock was something, I can tell you. Not that I wouldn't review an album by a neo-Nazi band if I had to, I'd just rather not if it's all the same to you. Inflikted --- Cavalera Conspiracy --- 2008 (Roadrunner) Recommended by Plankton Born out of the ashes of Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy marks the end of a decade-long rift between brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, mostly centred around the efforts to replace the band's manager, Gloria, Max's wife. Following the tragic death of their son in a road accident, things became strained at Camp Sepultura and when Igor suggested firing Gloria Max stood up for her and quit the band. Igor continued on for another ten years then quit himself. A few months later the brothers reconciled and formed Cavalera Conspiracy. This is their debut album, with two more following it, the most recent released only this year. The title starts off with screaming guitar and rolling drums, then explodes into a battering assault on the drumkit before Max comes in with the vocal. His voice is dark and growly but you can hear what he's singing, and he doesn't sing at twice the speed of light either. It's not the kind of singing I prefer to listen to --- too raw and ragged ---- but it's okay. The music acquires a kind of eastern tinge, perhaps to reflect the fact that this song was based on a self-harming ritual Max witnessed while in India. It's a good heavy song; “Sanctuary” brings us into the mind of a mad killer (again) with the tempo ramping up considerably as Marc Rizzo blows everyone away with extreme prejudice on the guitar before Max joins him and they trade licks. “Terrorize” is something of a cruncher, with flashes of speed from the axemen and a hilarious lyric that gets right to the point: ”Fuck art --- let's kill! / Fuck this --- let's kill! / Fuck that --- let's kill! Fuck them --- let's kill!” but it's a little of a parody of the likes of a Slayer song, giving you the impression the Cavalera boys are trying a little too hard, while “Black ark” has a lot more about it, with an ominous, sort of held-back vocal for a few lines before it takes off. I like the idea though, and there's some stratospheric guitar work on display. I also like the line ”Whatever you are/ We're against it!” --- kind of reminds me of Anti-Nowhere League's “I hate ... people”. Cool. I wonder what “Ultra-violent” could be about? A thoughtful critique of the war in Iraq perhaps? A comment on the state of America's health system? Um, nice try. Seems like it's about the Apocalypse, with the words “dies irae” mentioned. A slow, punching, stomper with dark energy and hammering guitars, bellowed vocal and thunderous bass. You would however expect a song titled “Hex” to be about witches and black magic, but in fact it seems to be a politically-charged accusation levelled at those in power, the idea of being held under their spell. Interesting. One of the fastest songs on the album so far, it just cannons along on the twin guitars and manic drumming, a short song, just over two minutes then we're into another short song, “The doom of all fires”, with some clever lines --- ”The song remains insane” is one I particularly like, and also the way they namecheck Igor's other project, Mixhell. It's fast, but not as breakneck as the previous track, with the lyric quite simple, repeating phrases but it works very well. One of my favourites on the album I would say. Kicks into high gear for the last minute or so and we plunge into “Bloodbrawl”, which I think may be the tale of soldiers coming back from the war and looking for something to expend their pent-up fury and testosterone on, maybe illegal cage fighting? A hard, mid-paced song with a really roared vocal from Max and a guitar assault that makes your ears bleed, perhaps appropriately. Interestingly, of the last four tracks on the album, the titles of three are madeup words created by pushing two other words together ---”Bloodbrawl”, “Nevertrust” and “Mustkill”. There's an extended guitar passage --- not quite a solo, as Max is still bawling his vocal over it --- at the end of “Bloodbrawl”, then unaccountably it ends with a soft laidback guitar, almost acoustic, that takes us into the aforementioned “Nevertrust”, another two-minuter with a simple message: basically, never trust anybody. It barrels along, Max screaming in anger, Marc's guitar screaming in sympathy and agreement, but there's not a lot to say about it other than it's fast and heavy and angry. “Hearts of darkness”, by contrast, has a great infectious beat and seems to be an anti-war anthem with some scorching solos. Given that a famous novel was written about the Vietnam War called “Heart of darkness”, this may be referring to that. Or not. Strong song though, and it takes us towards the closer. Again there's not much to really say lyrically about a song titled “MustKill”, and it may be another anti-war song, but it's hard to be sure. What we can be sure about is that it's the longest song on the album, just shy of six minutes, and blasts along at hyperspeed, bringing the album to a devastating and climactic conclusion. TRACKLISTING 1. Inflikted 2. Sanctuary 3. Terrorize 4. Black ark 5. Ultra-violent 6. Hex 7. The doom of all fires 8. Bloodbrawl 9. Nevertrust 10. Hearts of darkness 11. MustKill Not my sort of music, certainly, and my only real experience of their parent band was, I'm told, the wrong one, which I featured last year. But listening to Slayer over the past month has somewhat inured me to these ragged vocals and the faster, thrash melody to the extent that not only can I now stand it, I can even begin to enjoy some of it. This album was pretty good. Not that I'd necessarily seek out more of their work, but at least I'm not in the shower, scrubbing frantically while silently screaming “Still dirty! It won't come off!” And reading the story of the Cavalera brothers, it's always nice to see an end to a family feud, especially when they come together in the name of music and memory. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2014, 08:26 AM	#2264 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Blood of legends --- Battleroar --- 2014 (Cruz del Sur) With a name like Battleroar you're not really left in too much doubt as to what to expect, and if you still aren't sure, look at the cover. Expect powerfully driven songs about heroes, battles, gods and wizards and scantily-clad maidens. Yeah, this is power metal! But with a slight twist, as these guys hail from the gentle shores of Greece, famous for myth and legend certainly, but hardly a hotbed of power metal, or any metal. This is their fourth album, the guys having been together since 2001, with their first album released in 2003. It's the first I've ever heard from them, so let's jump right in. We get an instrumental to start us off, perhaps predictably, with a rather grandiose yet intriguing title. “Stormgiven” opens on, well, a storm: thunder booms and rain falls, then a nice acoustic guitar is accompanied by choral vocals and something which will become a feature of Battleroar's music it would seem, and very welcome too, violin. Nothing quite so mournful or stately as a violin. The acoustic then changes to faster Spanish guitar and the violin picks up too, a sort of a gypsy rhythm coming into the music, and you can see this being played at a campfire as sparks jump into the night air and lithe women with dark hair and much cheap jewellery clinking at their necks dance and writhe before the flames. Very evocative. Quite long for an instrumental, almost four minutes, and it takes us into “The swords are drawn”, as searing electric guitar punches its way in and we're off on a typical power metal trip, chugalong bass and rolling percussion providing the backdrop to vocalist Gerrit Mutz, who has a strong and powerful voice, joined by backing vocals from the others in the band. Effective instrumental passage in about the third minute adding in some fine solos from the two guitarists, Antreas Sotiropoulos and Kostas “HK” Tzortzis (whom we'll just refer to from now on as Antreas and HK. OK?) A cold wind blows in, ushering in “Poisoned well” on the crying violin of Alex Papadiamantis before the two axemen take the song, a slower, more crunching song than the opener. Here Gerrit gets to show what he can really do behind the mike, backed almost only by sparse guitar and effortlessly rising to the occasion. Alex's violin, though a little subsumed in the mix, is still there, lamenting and calling, and overall it's a really good juxtapositioning after the speedy first track (leaving the instrumental to one side of course). Battleroar don't use keyboards, but there's a certain keyboard sound to the midsection here, with again nice backing vocals as Gerrit moans ”My heart's a poisoned well/ Enchanted by dark spells” --- not the most original of lyrics I'll grant you, but what do you expect with power metal? A good powerful ending then leads us, via Alex's violin into the title track. The tale of a minstrel recording the deeds of fallen heroes, “Blood of legends” is something of an anthem, the double guitar working very well here as the song rocks along with a good hook and some machinegun drumming from Nick Papadopoulous. I'm beginning to wonder if there are keys on this album, even if not credited, as the opening to “Immortal chariot” definitely sounds like some sort of synth or organ. Chronicling the exploits of the ancient Greek hero Achilles, it's a fast, pounding number driven on the twin guitars of Antreas and HK, with Gerrit attempting a death vocal but not quite pulling it off, and sensibly very quickly returning to his own normal singing voice. Could have been embarrassing, that! With an opening rather a little too close to Maiden's “Powerslave” for my tastes, “The curse of Medea” is the song of a woman who kills her children and is cursed by the gods. It's another tale from ancient Greece, so go look it up if you want to know more: I'm not your Wiki! It's a slow, grinding tempo in sympathy with the pain of the narrator, and Alex's violin plays a prominent part in the song; I think this would qualify as “epic power metal”, if such a subgenre exists. If not, I claim its creation. It picks up speed and intensity in the last minute, resulting in a very satisfying and rip-roaring ending. The longest track then on the album is “Valkyries above”, and I think there are few among us who don't know what a Valkyrie was, yes? Running for almost nine minutes, it begins on a gentle picked guitar allied to a soft acoustic with soft, sussurating percussion before the song punches up, giving us the dying thoughts of a warrior on the battlefield who watches the sky for Odin's handmaidens to take him to Valhalla, but is deemed unworthy and left behind, a doomed lost soul, condemned to wander the Earth for eternity. Great backing vocals here again, and I'm sure I hear female voices in there, though again they're not credited, at least not on the website I'm reading. More great work from Alex on the violin, backed by the two guys on the frets, and a thumping, funereal beat from Nick as Gerrit complains ”All meaningless/ Just utter lies/ They led us to our doom” perhaps realising there are no Valkyries, no Valhalla, no gods, nothing but death and darkness awaiting he and his comrades. I really like the angle on this song. It's seldom you hear ancient man questioning his beliefs, wondering if all his sacrifices were in vain, if he has fought and died for nothing, and it's a sobering rending of the fairytale as he realises there are ”No hymns of praise/ No words of grief.../ No help in sight.” Another great rocker is “Chivalry (Noble armour)” with a very Manowar “protect the weak” ideal. Oh dear! Gerrit's going all death metal again. Really doesn't suit you, son. Give it up: you've a great enough voice as it is without forcing unclean vocals and grunts out of it. We walk in strange lands then, alone and far from home with the “Exile eternal” who laments his fate, and again it's Alex on the mournful violin who carries much of this bleak tale of a man cast out from his own kingdom, nevermore to see his family or loved ones again. There's a strong determination in the guitars though that speaks of a defiance, a refusal to give in and an abiding desire to remember the faces of those who matter most to him. Some dark vocals and cool chanting near the end part, then a big chorus and chant to take it to its triumphant finish. And that's it. We end as we began, with an instrumental, this time titled “Relentless waves”, and somehow I doubt the guys are talking about a day at the beach! Although it does start off with the sound of surf ebbing and flowing, then a nice laidback guitar with Alex's gorgeous violin passage fitting right in. It's a slow, langorous melody, sort of in keeping with the movements of the tides. I must admit, I thought the title was going to refer to wave after wave of an army, but from what I'm hearing my “joke” was more on the money, as this seems to be an ode to the power of the sea. Unless there's one in there, Alex makes his violin sound like a sax at times, and there are some effects there that surely must be made on a synth? Kind of like the calm after the storm, the quiet after the battle, it's very relaxing, quite unexpected and a really cool way to end an album that has really impressed me. TRACKLISTING 1. Stormgiven 2. The swords are drawn 3. Poisoned well 4. Blood of legends 5. Immortal chariot 6. The curse of Medea 7. Valkyries above 8. Chivalry (Noble armour) 9. Exile eternal 10. Relentless waves When I first began reviewing this, as you may have guessed, the title, the band name and some of the lyrics glanced at led me to believe that Battleroar were just another sword-and-sorcery, we-are-warriors, riffing power metal band, but you know, they are actually so much more. I see that now. At least on this album. They've taken time and put a lot of thought and imagination into their lyrics and have chosen to steer away from some of the stock fare pursued by bands of this ilk. There are few if any songs about battles and glory, instead they tend to focus on the human aspect of war --- loss of life, faith in gods, defeat, the afterlife and so on --- and they certainly know their mythology. Their vocalist is a real find, and the use of violin lends this band a gravitas they might not otherwise possess, and serves in my mind at least to set them apart from the herd. Very much more than the sum of their parts, this band from Greece merits further checking into, as they have three albums prior to this. I'm not saying they're going to put their homeland on the metal map, or take the world by storm, but Battleroar, despite the somewhat cliched and silly name, deserve more than just to be brushed aside with a whole lot of other copycat bands. These guys really have something, and I look forward to hearing more from them. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2014, 08:33 AM	#2265 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	To the Unknown --- Desert Lord --- 2014 (Under a Serpent Sun Records) I’m not sure how well established stoner metal is in Finland, and Desert Lord have only really been together for four years now, with this being their debut album, but I’ve heard some pretty damn fine music come out of this part of Scandinavia and am interested in checking this one out. If nothing else the label name is cool --- kind of ironic that the catalogue reference becomes USSR! But this is a short album, only six tracks in total and none of them epic monsters: the longest is just under ten minutes. Still, the whole thing clocks in at a respectable fifty minutes total time. But who are Desert Lord? That’s a really good question. I’ve mentioned before that I have a real problem with bands who have MySpace, Facebook, Soundcloud or Bandcamp pages but refuse to put any information about themselves there. Desert Lord appear to be another, more concerned with gig dates and selling their album than letting us in on who they are. We’re not all fans, you know, though maybe we will be. But it would be nice to know who you are! But no. Not a thing. Even the band members give only their first names, which we’ll get to. Other than that I’m in the dark. I’m assuming this is not the goth metal band Dessert Lord, whose debut album “Don’t trifle with me” was followed by the successful “Ice cream in the sun” …. okay, I’ll stop now. Armed with absolutely no information other than vague references to Sabbath and words like “cool”, “great” and, yes, the eternally annoying and most overused word in the American language, “awesome”, let’s step away from the city walls and ride off into the desert, to see if we can meet this mysterious entity and figure out what it’s all about. Good hard guitar to get “Forlorn caravan” underway, and while Sampo the vocalist has a raw, tough voice it’s certainly nothing on the lines of death growlers; sort of reminds me of Lemmy or Danny Joe Brown. Good punchy rocker with a lot of traditional Metal influences, sort of a 70s hard rock thing going on too. Actually, to be fair, this sounds rather dated. Not the best of openings I must admit. “Wonderland”, one of three nine-minute songs on the album, starts much slower, kind of a Doom Metal idea to it, the obvious comparison being Sabbath. Good work from Janne on the guitar, and slow steady percussion from Mika behind the kit. Instrumental for the first nearly three minutes then Sampo comes in with a sort of pained, wounded vocal. Gets a little --- only a little --- faster, sort of slow boogie feel, but so far I’m a little disappointed and more than a little bored. Let’s hope it gets better. Okay. okay. A nice acoustic guitar opening to “Expanding egos” with more than a hint of Genesis’s “Horizons” in it, a slower, more laidback piece, though it’s another nine --- almost ten --- minuter, so I doubt it will stay this way all through the song. Decent sound effects, very ambient, then a harder guitar comes through on punching drums as we move into the second minute, and the tempo becomes grindy, doomy, thick and heavy. Vocals in the third minute, speeds up in the sixth, but for me it’s still pretty much a case of this band being a poor Sabs ripoff. Some nice work on the bass there by Roni, but though there are extended guitar passages I haven’t really yet heard anything I could call a solo … oh. Now I have. Just near the end here. “New dimensions” is exactly the opposite, just more of the same and I’m getting really bored now. These guys need to try something different if they want to stand out, and right now they’re just fading into the background as yet another generic doom/stoner metal band. Nice bit of acoustic there again, with a sort of spoken vocal, but that’s soon pushed aside and we’re back to the grind, literally. Well, following this seems Sampo channels Nick Cave on “Manic survivor’s song”, and it’s not half bad. Kind of slow blues with a weary, doomed feel about it, acoustic guitar, slow drums, nice bassline. Pretty damn good guitar solo and I think this is the first song where Desert Lord may have woken me up, nudged me and had me maybe begin to take notice. Mind you, it’s the fifth of six tracks, so unless the closer is phenomenal (and even if it is) they’ve probably left it too late. Yeah, they have. “Become aware” is just a rehash of everything else, bar the above, they’ve done on the album. TRACKLISTING 1. Forlorn caravan 2. Wonderland 3. Expanding egos 4. New dimensions 5. Manic survivor’s song 6. Become aware Nothing else to say really. A big let down. Just relieved there are only the six tracks, as I don’t think I could have sat through much more. Totally generic, nothing new, nothing stands out other than “Manic survivor’s song”, and that’s a bit of a pearl among swine, but the rest is completely derivative and this album gets a big fat MEH from me. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2014, 08:43 AM	#2266 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Members' Top Ten Metal Albums Lists Time to continue the countdown selected by Janszoon, and a band I know The Batlord is also very fond of is at number 7 Death is this communion --- High on Fire --- 2007 Is there a reason, I wonder, why so many of Jansz’s top albums are all from the 21st century? Four so far. Interesting. This may be a little more accessible for me. Maybe. Yeah, this is much better. I dig this kind of metal. Vocal is a little gravelly but not off-putting; anyway, I’m slowly learning to live with those sort of vocals. Really like “Khanrad’s Wall”, very eastern-sounding and some great guitar work that doesn’t shake my fillings loose. “Thorazine” is very good too, basically just a drum solo but cool. I also really like “DII” --- are they cellos at the end? “Ethereal” is quite excellent too. Yeah, really like this album. Nice one, Jansz! And on to number 6 which is Angel dust --- Faith No More --- 1992 The first record in Jansz’s list that comes from the twentieth century! What’s there to say about this that has not already been said? It’s a classic album, which I had not heard till last year when I reviewed in it my journal, so I’ll say no more except to report that I was not blown away by it, but then this mix of rap and rock never really sits well with me. Damn successful album though, and one of their most loved. We now reach the mid-point, and for his number 5 Jansz has chosen Il secondo tragico --- Psychofagist (THAT gave the filter a problem!) --- 2009 I can’t find the album online, and though Jansz offered to send me any album I couldn’t locate, as I see this is grindcore I’m gonna be a little scared girl and wimp out here, use the excuse I couldn’t find it and move on. Sorry man! And as we get closer to his number uno album, we check out number 4 on his list, to find Witchcult today --- Electric Wizard --- 2007 Now this is one I’m actually interested to hear. I’m getting a little into Doom Metal and though Jansz describes this more as Thrash Metal, well I like that too, so this may not be the worst album I’ve ever listened to. Well it’s only one track in and I already love this. Don’t see the thrash in it, not yet, but crushingly heavy and no Cookie Monster vocals. That’ll do for me. Yeah, there’s nothing bad I have to say about this album, and I can see why it’s high in Jansz’s list. Have to listen to more of these guys’ music. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2014, 08:53 AM	#2267 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	In stark contrast to their debut, Slayer's second album was professionally produced, this being possible as their label paid to finance it. In many ways I guess it could be said that this was their first real album, though of course many of their fans retain an admiration and love for the first salvo Slayer sent across the bows of the music world, announcing the arrival of a new power and a seachange in the world of Heavy Metal, especially in the USA. Hell awaits --- Slayer --- 1985 (Metal Blade) Again, it's a short album, with only seven tracks --- nine on the special edition, but as they're two of the tracks off “Haunting the chapel” I don't feel that adds anything --- and it kicks off with the title track, another powerful guitar attack as King stamps his authority on the album, Araya's voice kind of more on a par with Brian Johnson or Biff Byford this time, a sort of higher-pitched tone to it. Another fast track following in the steps trodden by “Haunting the chapel”, it's nevertheless not on the same blistering pace as the likes of “Chemical warfare” or “Haunting the chapel” itself, though King fires off some impressive solos. At least, I assume it's him. This is always the problem with bands containing two guitarists: how do you know who's playing the solo? It's a constant conundrum for me when reviewing Iron Maiden albums --- is that Dave or Adrian, or indeed Janick? In the long run I guess it doesn't matter too much, but as he's seen as the main guitarist here I'm just gonna assume all the solos are by Kerry King. “Kill again” is even slower, in relation to the other tracks, or at least starts that way, with an extended guitar intro and some fine power drumming, and when the vocal comes in it's more almost spoken by Araya this time, dark and bleak. This, I feel, comes a little closer to punk rock, in the execution of the riffs and the almost manic drumming. I don't like this very much I must admit: it feels like it's just been thrown together. You can definitely see the difference in the production though all through the album, especially on “At dawn they sleep”, one of the more progressively-leaning tracks on the album. It betrays to me a certain sense of Purple around the “In Rock” era, or maybe “Machine head”, a sort of blues feel to it. It's much more restrained than “Kill again”, even if King does prove there's (probably) nobody who shreds as well as him. This seems to be the first Slayer song on which Tom Araya has a songwriting input, and the difference shows. A long song --- over six minutes --- it goes through tempo changes and moods, building up an atmosphere and showing that Slayer can --- or could --- construct really quite well-written songs. Slayer as a prog metal band may seem highly unlikely at best --- and probably is --- but this song definitely displays many of the trademarks of that subgenre, while of course not losing the basic thrash and aggression and speed that this band built their fanbase upon. “Praise of death” is back to the basic thrash, a ravening monster hurtling along at twice the speed of light, Araya snarling the vocal again and to hell (hah!) with time signature changes or any of that pansy nonsense! This is Metal: pure, brutal, fast as hell and loud enough to make your brain leak out of your ears. To underline the fact, King looses off another perfectly-timed solo, the kind of guitar work that starts revolutions and plants in young minds the sudden desire to buy a Fender and put a band together. No doubt a title that caused many a sleepless night among those who safeguard our morals and led to the almost coveted “Parental Advisory” label being hastily slapped on the cover of this album, “Necrophiliac” begins on a growly, stop-start guitar then takes off at speed, Tom at his darkest and revelling in the lyric, knowing how much it will bother certain people. Of course, one thing about Slayer is that often the way Tom sings you don't need to worry about the lyrics, as you may not be able to make them out, but this is worth listening to, if for no other reason, to catch the superb solos from Kerry King and the tight-knit rhythm section blasting the song along. Sounding more like it belongs on a progressive rock album, at least from the title, “Crypts of eternity” seems to concern the Pyramids, possibly grabbing elements of “Powerslave” --- or maybe not. It's hard to say, but if something could be termed a crypt of eternity I think it would be the famous Egyptian monuments. It's a good song, and rocks along well without screaming off the rails, with some dark guitar work from Hanneman and King, kind of reminiscent of Lep at their rockin' best, and of course Maiden. Yeah, reading through the lyric it's nothing to do with the Pyramids. Good song though and as usual superb solos, taking us into the closer, “Hardening of the arteries”, which brings the curtain down in powerful style, thundering along like an out-of-control freight train. Why not an out-of-control passenger train, you ask? Don't ask me: I don't coin these phrases, I just rob 'em. It's a short track in comparison to the previous, less than four minutes and it rockets along, taking us to the end of the album in a breathless dash for the finish, leaving us exhausted and drained again. TRACKLISTING 1. Hell awaits 2. Kill again 3. At dawn they sleep 4. Praise of death 5. Necrophiliac 6. Crypts of eternity 7. Hardening of the arteries There are, as I alluded to, two bonus tracks on certain versions but they're just the title track from the EP as well as “Captor of sin” from the same EP, and we've heard them already. For a second album this is definitely good, but it doesn't, to my mind, foreshadow the behemoth that was lurking on the horizon and that would take Slayer from the underground right into the glare of the spotlight, making of them bona fide superstars and gods of Metal. What a difference one year can make! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2014, 08:53 AM	#2268 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	It was actually the High on Fire album that I described as thrashy, not the Electric Wizard one so not surprising you didn't hear any thrash in Witchcult Today. Glad you enjoyed both though. You can't wimp out on the Psychofagist album though man! Come on, you can do it! __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

10-04-2014, 01:21 PM	#2269 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	__________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018