Isbjørn

Artist: Death
Album: Scream Bloody Gore
Year: 1987
Chronological position: Debut album
Genre: Death metal
Expectations before listening: Lots of ear-bleeding after listening

Prior to this I had heard close to no death metal at all. Batty posted a Nile song for the soundtrack in his Cave, and I half enjoyed it. There was some oriental music at the beginning, and then a zombie, maybe mummy, jumped out and rasped up my ears using a cheese grate. It felt alright.

Alright, so my friend and I have this pack system I mentioned yesterday, and for the first death metal album we chose Scream Bloody Gore by Death. After listening, I don't think it was all that bad. Sure, there were screams, shouts and growls, but I can get past that, and there was some hard drumming, but no blastbeats. The worst thing here was undoubtedly the lyrics, depictions of people being murdered, especially by zombies, in graphical ways. I'm not ashamed to say I felt a bit sick to my stomach when reading the lyrics. Anyway, there were some pretty good riffs on the album. Yet I don't want to rate it, as I have heard very little death metal and have close to nothing to compare it to. Avoid this if you have regurgitation issues or have previously had a heart attack.

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Isbjørn

Artist: Venom
Album: Black Metal
Year: 1982
Chronological position: Sophomore album
Genre: Speed metal
Expectations before listening: If not ear-bleeding, at least some aches

“Venom is not black metal, poser!” I know, and I warned you that I (or we) would push the definitions a tiny bit. We thought this would fit in under the black metal tag because of the fact that it's a giant middle finger to religious people, the murky production that would inspire virtually every following black metal band, and the title that gave name to the subgenre.

Anyway, the album. Trollheart, when you reviewed Reign in Blood, you said you'd rather listen to that than Venom, and what exactly did you mean by that? This is just cheap and simple rock and roll. The vocals aren't screechy and sharp like the stereotypical black metal shriek, I think cigarette-blemished shouting (see: Motörhead) is a better descriptor. This is, musically, pretty good. You know, listenable.

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Isbjørn

Artist: Helloween
Album: The Time of the Oath
Year: 1996
Chronological position: Seventh album
Genre: Power metal
Expectations before listening: Disappointment. Nothing compares to Keeper of the Seven Keys

Power metal is the favourite metal subgenre if both my friend and I, and we both praise the hell out of Keeper of the Seven Keys. I also had the impression that this was one of Helloween's greatest efforts, so it was only natural that we chose this one for our first power metal album.

Were my expectations fulfilled? Well, I expected disappointment, so yes. This is a good album, alright, but not even close to being in the same league as Keeper. I think part of what spoils it for me is the fact that Michael Kiske is gone. Andi Deris is not, in any way, a worthy replacement. He sings alright, but his voice isn't as high and powerful. Also, the vocals aren't harmonized the same way as on the Keeper albums. Tear. Still, it felt good returning to the "light side of metal" after Death and Venom.

Rating? 3/5.

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The Batlord

Eh, as you listen to more and more death metal I imagine you'll get kind of jaded to the lyrics. They're all basically the same thing: murder, gore, death, etc. After a while it all kind of turns into old hat and isn't very shocking anymore.

If you want some lyrics which are actually interesting then I would suggest Morbid Angel's Formulas Fatal to the Flesh. Their first few albums were heavy on the Satanism, but by FFtF they had pretty much ditched the Satan and replaced it with bizarre, creepy lyrics that were a combination of Sumerian mythology and Lovecraft.

I don't know how you'd feel about the music though honestly. They were kind of obtuse musically by that point, and could require multiple listens to let everything set in. But even though that kind of technical death metal isn't generally my thing they used it to create some truly unsettling atmosphere that's pretty unique. I highly suggest you listen to it in a dark room.

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Isbjørn

Artist: Van Halen
Album: Van Halen
Year: 1978
Chronological posision: Debut album
Genre: Hard rock
Expectations before listening: Some good hard rock full of hooks

Uhm, well, I'm not sure whether this can really pass as metal, and we were aware when selecting it, but it'll have to do. Wikipedia and Unknown Soldier both say it's metal, anyway.

Either way, and even if it's not metal, it's a pretty damn good album. Some great, cheesy fun, and yes, it's full of hooks, which means my expectations were fulfilled. I can see lots of 80s' hair bands ripping this off, and based on the reviews I read, this was hugely influential (especially the guitars), so I'm sure they did. I have a feeling that “Running With the Devil” and “Ain't Talking 'Bout Love” both will be stuck in my head for the next week. Lastly, I'll just say that these guys' guitarist sure knows how to solo!

4.5/5

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Isbjørn

Ah, a horror metal album of sorts? And while we're on the subject of Lovecraft, I reserved a collection of his short stories on the local library, I'm renting it tomorrow.

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Isbjørn

Artist: Mötley Crüe
Album: Too Fast for Love
Year: 1981
Chronological posision: Debut album
Genre: Heavy metal/glam metal
Expectations before listening: Infectious and hook-laden rock, like a heavier Van Halen maybe

The opinions on glam metal are hugely divided. Many claim that it's not “true metal”, and others just can't stand the cheese. One of the reasons grunge is so highly regarded is the fact that it killed off the whole 80s' glam metal thing. Then there's the people who CAN stand the cheese, which I learned to do at the very beginning. Back to the true metal thing: I think the phrase "true metal" is mainly used by fans of genres like power metal, black metal, death metal etc., where you can look like a man from the far past (you know, vikings) and still be accepted. Glam metal, however, is made from hairspray and makeup, which some say don't belong in metal, unless it's corpse paint, of course. Glam metal also tends to get dismissed as “simply hard rock” for not being fast, dark or heavy enough, or what have you. Anyway, objectively, I think glam metal is considered a subgenre of metal.

But the more I listen, the more I lose concept of where the line between hard rock and metal goes. The opening track, “Live Wire”, was fast and aggressive enough, but the rest is just... cowbell and hairspray. So again, is this really metal? I'm not sure. Still, I liked it. I generally avoid hair metal, but it's good in small doses.

3.889/5

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Urban Hat€monger ?

See the thing is these people who dismiss glam metal are looking at metal from a 2014 perspective after extreme forms of metal have been around for almost 3 decades.

Try looking at that Motley Crue album from a 1982 perspective when it was one of the heaviest mixes of 70s Metal, Glam Rock & Punk Rock around at that time and tell me it's not a metal album.

Plus the glam metal of 1981/82 was very different to the glam metal of 1988/89. And it was dying long before Grunge came along. Blame late 80s bands like RHCP, Faith No More & Jane's Addiction for the real downfall of hair metal.

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The Batlord

Totally. Early Crue, WASP, Twisted Sister, etc was a legitimately new take on what Urban already said, and was basically about taking that whole concept of rock'n'roll excess to its logical conclusion. Whereas later stuff like Poison was just a self-parody cash-in. Sorta like the difference between Nirvana and Tad vs Candlebox and Creed. Or I guess Pearl Jam vs Creed would be a better metaphor.

Not really. These are the lyrics to that song I posted. They're more about creating that same basic feeling of Satanic metal while cutting out the cheesy, Hollywood elements.

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Isbjørn

Then what's with Motörhead being classified by many as simply "hard rock"?

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