Vex - Uncontrolled Aggression (1996)

This German band's logo suggests a more extreme type of metal, which arguably would have been more appealing than what you actually get.  Thrash here, and while some of the guitarwork recalls a more oldschool sound, this is firmly rooted in the '90s modern thrash/aggro thrash trends of the day.  "Destroy Myself" even starts off with a requisite mellow/balladish part.  Not an agonizing listen, but thankfully, this is only a short mCD.   

A Tribute to Judas Priest: Delivering the Goods Vol. II (2000)

 

Cost: $2.00

This is another years-old purchase which I bought at one of those seasonal book sales...You probably know the kind.  They're like the fly-by-night Halloween and fireworks dealers.  They take over a vacant building for a set amount of time to peddle their overstocks and scratch-and-dents, and then disappear without a trace.  Along with M.O.D.'s Rhythm of Fear, this tribute was the only decent and/or metal CD I ever saw at such a sale, unless you count a short stack of Overkill Extended Versions discs.  I don't.  All CDs were $2, and despite the busted case and tattered shrinkwrap, this was just beckoning to me.

I should add that Century Media played some weird pressing games with the Judas Priest tributes.  The two volumes were released in Europe in 1997.  When the US finally got domestic versions, not only were the tracks scattered differently across the volumes, but some weren't included at all.  There was also some digipak pressing in there somewhere so despite there technically only being two volumes of the tribute there are something like 5 discs associated with it.  I think the US may have gotten a condensed single-disc version of the tribute at first.  This is the only one I have so I'm not going to get things straight anyway.

While in most cases I'm not a big fan of the newer material of the bands here, I will say that Century Media's size/status allowed them to compile bands that, for the most part, were better suited to covering Priest than those from Dwell's Hell Bent for Metal tributes.

1. Gamma Ray (feat. Ralf Scheepers) - Exciter
Fantastic.  Mr. Scheepers doesn't really sound much like Halford during the verses (not that his vocals are bad there), but the high notes are wonderful.  Hearing this, it's hard to believe he didn't get the gig fronting Priest. 

2. Blind Guardian - Beyond the Realms of Death
Instrumentally, it's fine, but the vocals lack the emotion that made the original such a masterpiece.  What really drags it down is that in places where Halford originally did high vocals for emphasis, Hansi Kürsch uses very forced angry-style vocals. 

3. Devin Townsend - Sinner
Liked this a lot more than I thought I would.  The extremity of the vocals sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't.  Good song choice and high quality musical chops carried this through.  Reading the lineup info made me curious about when this was recorded, as Devin and Jed Simon are listed, but the rhythm section is the Ocean Mind guys. 

4. Stratovarius - Bloodstone
Not awful, but a pointless endeavor compared to the original.  The vocals are no match for the real thing.

5. Angra - Painkiller
Executed very well (the guitarwork is particularly great) but lacks some of the urgency and ferocity that the original had.  

6. U.D.O. - Metal Gods
The verses are almost exactly how I imagined them with those signature vox, though the choruses are a bit rough.  But hey, it's Udo, it would be pointless to try and emulate Halford, so there's no hint of an attempt.  I noticed some small nuances that deviate from the original...At the beginning, the main riff isn't quite exactly spot on.  They also use subtle choir vocals along with the marching sound effect (I doubt they were actually banging cutlery trays for the cover) at the end, which I liked. 

7. Forbidden - Dissident Aggressor
It's very good, but I'm slightly disappointed they didn't tackle this earlier in their career, as the vocals here are mainly midrange all the way through--their old live version of "Victim of Changes" showed Russ Anderson could easily take on high-pitched Halford vocals!  Oh yes, and since a comparison is inevitable, this is slighty better than Slayer's version.  Slayer's is more guitar-dominated while Forbidden's is slightier groovier and the vocal patterns are truer to the original.

8. Iron Savior - Desert Plains
Pretty standard power metal version, nothing particularly good or bad about it.

9. Rage - Jawbreaker
Good.  Was more melodic than I was expecting, for some reason.

10. Virgin Steele - Screaming for Vengeance
The majority of the song is not bad, but what's with that pointless bass intro-ed-and-ominous-whispered-vocal part after the solo section?  This song needed nothing added.

11. Gamma Ray - Victim of Changes
Excellent.  When reading the booklet I saw that Kai was on vocals here.  Of course I like early Helloween, but I questioned how good this was really going to be without a Mr. Kiske or Mr. Scheepers type on vocals.  This is "Victim of Changes," after all.  With the exception of the final high "victim of changes" at the end of the song, he does an admirable job though.  Stellar instrumentation too.   

12. Radakka - Night Crawler
Another case of a song done well, but obviously not as good as the original.  Doesn't have enough of a unique stamp on it to make it notable.

13. Saxon - You've Got Another Thing Comin'
It sounds how you would expect Saxon covering Priest to sound.  Fun cover.

Aug. 25, 2012 Finds (Pt. 2)

Last store of the day yielded lots of goodies (one in particular), and in fact, I ended up browsing there until closing time.  Found a higher concentration of metal there than I usually do, but that was a relatively small slice of my purchases since I bought quite a lot of HC/punk/electic-looking stuff (which will not be listed here) to trade/resell/smash with extreme prejudice. 

Oh, and get this...After we finished hitting all the stores, it was so late that the most feasible dining option for The Sweet and myself was the strip mall Chinese buffet.  After having our fill of coconut chicken and soft serve, I notice on the way out that the guy half of the other couple eating there is wearing one of those black "do you want to die" Reign in Blood tour shirts (strangely enough, both times I've seen someone wearing this shirt in person have been at buffets.  Huh.).  Was it some sort of sign?  I was so happy at having a successful CD hunting trip I didn't think to stop and argue the superiority of Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits.

All CDs were $1 apiece:

Bolt Thrower - Mercenary
Well, it's Bolt Thrower!  No surprises to be found.  Good stuff as usual, although I don't think the songwriting is quite as strong as on the older albums.  Only unfortunate thing is that this is the jewel case version, so as with all their Metal Blade albums I'll have to eventually get the digipaks for the bonus tracks.
Fun fact: I got War Master at this very same store for a dollar almost 2 decades ago--one of my earliest purchases there, in fact.

Brody's Militia - The Appalachian Twelve Gauge Massacre

Recognized their name from the split with Nunslaughter.  I knew it was punk of some sort, but I guess I was expecting something more like Antiseen (well, just look in the booklet) or the Murder Junkies, more old-school.  But this is extremely fast and violent--I like it overall, but occasionally they push it into hyperfast territory and it becomes uncomprehensible grind to me.  The Cocknoose cover seems downright metallic compared to the original, and I think I may even like it a tad better.  Even had I hated it, the hilarious piece of "fan mail" (which seems to be from a rather young and clueless girl--perhaps an anarcho-punk fan?) reprinted in the booklet alone was worth a buck.   

Dark Sanctuary - De Lumière et d'Obscurité

Neoclassical with female vocals.

Engorged/Gruesome Stuff Relish - split 
12 minutes of death/grind, Dead Infection cover at the end.

Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
One long song divvied up over 12 parts.  Very progressive, even for Fates Warning.  Already have it, so it's up for trade.

Gruesome Stuff Relish - Teenage Giallo Grind
More GSR, but this is one I have already.  Despite their obvious love of Italian horror flicks, movie samples are used pretty sparingly (don't know if that's necessarily good or bad...With some bands, listening to the audio clips is the best part of the experience since they're better than the music--Mortician, Meat Shits, I'm looking at you...).  The main thing I do like about GSR is that there's appreciable Carcass--or perhaps more accurately, Carcass by way of Sweden, ala Carnage/Necrony--influence in many songs.  Unfortunately, that's not always the case, and where the old school influence isn't as heavy, their goregrind really isn't any better or worse than other bands in the style.  

Head of David - Seed State 
Picked this up as trade fodder due to the Godflesh connection, but the joke is on me, as Justin Broadrick had left the band by this point.  Their least extreme material, rather upbeat industrial rock here. 

Hellkrusher - Wasteland 
Definitely the find of the day--didn't even know this was on CD!  This was one of the first discs I found in there, so I probably had an overly enthusiastic, slightly psychotic demeanor (well, moreso than usual) while doing most of the disc digging.  Reissue of their '90 debut album with some bonustracks.  Although the reissue itself is from 1998, finding it now was excellent timing, as the original vinyl was released on R.K.T. and a couple of the other R.K.T. releases were finally released on CD recently.  Member of Hellbastard/Energetic Krusher here, hence the bandname.  Especially compared to their later stuff, it's surprising how heavy and metallic this is, save for the vocals.  Maybe not quite so much so as say Hellbastard's Natural Order or the Energetic Krusher LP,  but this sounds much more like Onslaught's Power from Hell than it does any Amebix material. On later material and the '93/'94 bonus tracks here, they play the more standard crust/punk style they're typically associated with.

Job for a Cowboy - Genesis
Much better than I thought it would be.  I never sat down and listened to these guys before but I had a vague general idea of what happened with them...They were deathcore flavor of the month at one point, then changed styles, alienating some old fans and causing accusations of being bandwagon jumpers (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but admittedly, I don't much care anyway).  Modern semi-technical death metal here, with no -core elements.  Listenable to be sure, but not particularly interesting, and there's nothing here that would make me choose this over any other band playing the style.   

Judas Iscariot - Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten
Already have this, so it's up for trade.  I noticed something seemed a bit off when I was looking at this newly purchased copy...As it turns out, this is a later pressing, and for whatever reason they rendered the cover photo almost completely black (looks like the cover was actively edited rather than just having the contrast jacked up).  I was never all that enthusiastic about this mini-CD as the focus seems to be on faster tempos and  a more aggressive sound overall.  It lacks much of the atmosphere that all of the earlier full-lengths had in varying degrees.

Midnattsol - Where Twilight Dwells (Icarus pressing)
Looking at this I assumed this was either going to be a second rate Nightwish clone or gothic metal.  While it does have elements in common with those, this is a mix of symphonic, gothic, and folk metal with female vocals--the main selling point being said vocals are provided by Liv Kristine's sister (I can only assume she put her family ties to good use, as Alex Krull produced the album.  Also keep in mind despite the Norwegian bandname/occasional songtitle, everyone else in the band is German).  The folk element of the music ranges from being more integrated (i.e., folk metal) to entire acoustic passages.  About 3/4 of the way through the album there are even a set of songs that evoke a bit of a Celtic metal feel, particularly because of Ms. Espenæs' accent (on the early songs, her accent--not her singing style-- even reminds me a tad of O'what'shername from The Cranberries).

Onward - The Neverending Sun
Standard US power metal, solid stuff.  This is a posthumous release of demos that would have been for a 3rd Onward album--it's quite underproduced compared to their earlier Century Media albums.

Upheaval - Downfall of the Ascendancy of Man
Hmm.  I had read that this mini-CD was metalcore and that it wasn't until their full album that they became death metal...I think that may be a case of exaggeration on behalf of straightedge/HC people not wanting to be associated with metal.  Musically, I really only hear death metal in the riffs, with no HC structures/breakdowns.  The vocals may be what's causing the metalcore tag, as they're forced rasping, but they're not what I typically think of as HC vocals.  I think had these guys not been straightedge and had they used different vox, this would have been tagged as Suffocation-style DM.  This is something I doubt I'd actively choose to listen to, but I will admit it is far better than I was expecting it to be.

WxHxNx? - The First Year
Picked this up along with the other punk/HC-type stuff, not really expecting to keep it...It's old-style crossover/thrashcore, which really isn't my thing, but it's metallic enough where I'll hold on to it for now.  There's a pretty good Attitude Adjustment cover (of "Bombs") that also aided in making that decision.  Oh yeah, this is on New Disorder Rec., so apparently it's the reissue version from 2004 (there's no date release info anywhere).

What Happens Next?/Life's Halt! - Start Something split CD
Eh...Not exactly a CD you'll find me giving a rousing endorsement for.  The What Happens Next? side is punkier than the disc above, which in my case is a bad thing.  Life's Halt! are pure hardcore punk so I had no interest in them, although the Spinal Tap and Public Enemy samples on their half make for the most interesting listen on the disc.

Aug. 25, 2012 Finds (Pt. 1)

This installment, the report of my haul of digital audible delights will have to be split into two parts. 
Initially I thought this was going to be a pretty bad day, as I found a few things, but nothing super.  I was also totally dejected that I traveled to a out-of-the-way store about an hour away and didn't find a single stinking CD to buy!  I can't even remember the last time that occurred at that particular place, if ever.

Things ended happily, though.  I got to the final store of the day quite late, but ended up buying over 50 CDs (not the maximum I've bought by far, mind you).  So ultimately I felt quite vindicated.

This first part will be what I found everywhere else, and the second part will cover that last store.

First store I found anything at had a couple of things.  Nothing particularly great, but since on average I only find 2-3 discs there at a time, it was a pretty decent amount of discs:

Allura - A Change in the Winds - $1.00
2007 mini-CD.  By the looks of it, this was obviously some sort of hardcore/metalcore release.  Since the bassist and guitarists were all longhairs, I figured it would probably be somewhat metallic, so I went ahead and took a chance for a buck.  Not a great decision.  This started out as the primarily hardcore, breakdown-laden, dual-harsh-vocalled stuff I was expecting.  What I had not expected was the band making frequent shifts into a melodic, overtly commercial MTV-friendly emo style with vocals to match (I listed to some online samples of the band's later full-length, and it's almost totally in this style.  Some may argue that's a slight improvement from ultra-forced hardcore, but I'm equally disinterested by both).  I'm sure one of these guys listened to a metal album once upon a time and if you dissected the guitar parts thoroughly, there would be instances having some semblance to melodic death metal bands.  As a whole, nothing of redeeming musical value here for me, though.  Blech.

Dance Club Massacre - Feast of the Blood Monsters - $1.00
This had a Metal Blade logo, how could I resist?  Another one of those spastic technical bands with a cutesy name and cutesy songtitles.  Mostly sounded like hyperactive death/grind to me, but with lots of time changes, some sparingly used keyboards and effects, and those awful forced HC-attempt-at-black-metal vocals.  The intro to "Murders Come with Smiles" (also reprised near the end of the song) is in the vein of classic horror scores/themes and struck me as the only memorable thing about the album.

Defleshed - Death... The High Cost of Living - $1.00
I usually get unnaturally excited when I find later (late '90s and later) Pavement/Crash releases locally...They don't show up all that often, which is frustrating since they're so prevalent online--for a buck or two they're great as collection filler, but face it, when you tack on another $3 or so for shipping, most of the releases aren't worth it.  Anyway, this is a live EP with 2 tracks from their first album and 5 from Under the Blade.  Sound quality is good but the drums are too high in the mix.  This is a good live representation of their later style--fast and energetic death/thrash, albeit a bit monotonous.  For trade.

Fireball Ministry - FMEP - $1.00
I thought I recognized the bandname (turns out I did) but I wasn't sure if this was the '70s influenced band I was thinking of,  mainstream retro-rock ala The Darkness, or more commercial stoner rock like Fu Manchu or Monster Magnet.  It's a moot point since I bought it anyway, but I should have just looked at the tracklisting, as seeing "Victim of Changes" would have immediately compelled me to buy it.  There are three originals here, covers of Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, and three additional bonus Blue Cheer/Misfits/Aerosmith covers taken from tribute albums I've never seen or heard of before.  I found the originals to be disappointing, as they're essentially hard rock with some doomy influence from early Sabbath...Not sufficiently heavy, sufficiently raw/freewheeling (see Nashville Pussy), or sufficiently '70s inspired to really grab me.  The covers are the most interesting part of the EP--I'd say the best of the bunch is Blue Cheer's "Fortunes," which is the most faithful to the original.  The Priest cover ("Victim of Changes," as mentioned before) is surprisingly well done and they give it a doomy vibe, but the vocals just don't cut it by the end of the song.  I don't just mean that infamous final high note either--the vocals are pretty monotonous and there's no attempt to show any additional emotion during the last couple of lines.  Finally, I want to add that the cover is a quite blatant adaptation of Caspar David Friedrich's Klosterfriedhof im Schnee (can be seen on the covers of Mythic's EP and the Goddified/Goddefied mCD) but it doesn't get a mention anywhere.  Kinda assholish.

Legacy of Pain - Legacy of Pain - $1.00 
I assumed this was some sort of metalcore.  Saw there was a Behemoth shirt in the band photo (not that that's a mark of quality these days...) so I went ahead and bought it.  This fits in the deathcore category, although the vocals aren't as forced and overexaggerated as that normally implies.  The first song had some melodic twin guitarwork but for the most part sounded like generic modern death metal with breakdowns.  The other tracks had a much stronger Swedish melodic death influence and were more along the lines of typical At the Gates-emulating style metalcore, just with growled vocals. 

Styx - Edge of the Century - $1.00
This was the result after the band reformed for the first time.  I was just looking through the booklet to check the condition was okay, and I didn't realize Tommy Shaw didn't play on this one!  Crazy stuff.  But this is only trade fodder--I'm not even going to listen to it.  Ha!  For trade.

Terminal Choice - New Born Enemies - $1.00 
Electronic rock.  Chris Pohl's (Blutengel/Seelenkrank) band.  Trade fodder.

Van Halen - Van Halen - $1.00
A nice looking copy for trade fodder.  Certainly influential and a very good for what it is--a rock album.  I can't help but scoff at anyone who calls this full-on heavy metal--the culprits are usually old-timers and regular rock fans who want to beef up their musical taste without having to sully their ears with actual metal.  Have successfully traded through a couple copies of this already, and I don't like the album enough to be concerned about holding on to it at all.  For trade.

Second-farthest store only yielded one disc (which I already had, no less), and by then I assumed that would be the day's best find:

Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What! - $2.00
One I already have, but it was a nice-looking copy of the original unremastered version and the price was right.  This is the one that never really resonated with me.  I don't dislike this album, but it seems quite unspectacular compared to all of their other old material, and I never understood the widespread praise it received.  The "Anarchy in the U.K." cover is definitely the best thing on here.  Certainly least favorite of the Megadeth albums up to Countdown... (possibly Youthanasia too, depending on my mood).

However, there was more to be had...

Altar the Sky - Plight of the Vomit Eagle (2004)

This CD is available for trade.

A solid example of not being able to judge a CD by its cover.  Nothing about this disc--from the layout to the odd jogging inside a pipe(?) cover art to the band name to the songtitles to the ridiculous album title--even hints that it's black metal, and even saying that, you'd expect it to be some hipster band or something overly avant-garde.  This is a solo project of total mid-'90s-Scandinavian-style BM by Andrew LaBarre, previously of Impaled/Ghoul fame and recorded around the time he was in both bands.  The guitarwork is quite good here, as to be expected from an ex-member of those bands.  Even having just listened to the album, I'm still having trouble grasping that this is fairly standard black metal because it seems so incompatible with the package it's presented in.  The intro and outro aren't typical of the genre, but that's seriously the only audio deviation from black metal.  I'm just left wondering whether the titles and such are a purposeful attempt to distance Altar the Sky from black metal cliche (I would suspect so), or whether there's some sort of story or weird concept here (the booklet offers little help).

Lorenguard - Of Tales to Come (2005)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Fantasy-themed power metal.  This is quite solid for a first release and the musicianship is very good overall, particularly the guitarwork.  There is keyboard usage, and while they aren't terribly intrusive, I found they don't add much to the sound other than the harpsichord effects in "Glade of Mists."  The guitars are the main focus in the mix anyway.  The vocalist is the weakest link here--the standard singing is plain and unnoteworthy, and the attempts at falsetto aren't very good.  Especially for the musical style, this is just a short CD-EP at 19 minutes (albeit with a 2 minute opening narration track and another 2 minute atmospheric keyboard interlude).  The music itself doesn't really reveal any overblown epicness or grandeur, but...

The inner booklet just reeks of schlocky nerdiness.  Rather than regular pseudonyms, there's a sort of cast list where each member is a fantasy character.  Reading the thanks list, it wouldn't surprise me if the band was formed during some Dungeons and Dragons sessions (just for full disclosure, I was so isolated and universally hated growing up I never had the chance to play any role-playing games--I think that was for the best).  I didn't find the fantasy world of the lyrics to be a particularly compelling or engrossing one.  That's not to say other bands haven't used concepts I find equally ludicrous, but this is ultimately a self-financed debut EP.

I should note these guys finally released a full-length in 2011 with a new lineup (including new singer).  If I see it in the bargain bin I'll certainly buy it and give the full album a fair shot, but the two tracks I heard sounded like typical European neoclassical-influenced, keyboard-laden power metal.  That style certainly has its share of fans but it's also pretty bloated.  The drummer also wrote a self-published book about the band's fantasy world.  Go figure.

Pain - Rebirth (1999)

Cost: $2.00

Just to give you some idea of where I'm coming from, I very much like older Hypocrisy (especially Osculum..., which I think has a wonderfully organic/swarming sound that tends to only be associated with Morbid Angel).  I don't actively dislike their later stuff, nor am I particularly interested in it.  Similarly, I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of the majority of recordings done at Abyss Studios.

Hell, I'm writing the above just to waste some space.  I thought I'd have a much more polarized opinion about this since it combines techno/electronica and metal--in most cases, I'm the natural enemy to mutant hybrids of metal and non-metal.  I don't like this album, but I don't find it terribly offensive either.  The techno influence is so prevalent and dominant over the metal that with the pulsing beats, many parts are essentially heavy club music.  In that sense, it's amusing in a silly novelty sort of way.  I only found "Dark Fields of Pain" noteworthy with its slower pace and low vocals, as it has a definite Type O Negative vibe (ironic, as I was never a Type O fan.  Now, Carnivore, on the other hand...).

Destroyed By Anger - Destroyed By Anger (1997)

Cost: $0.99

Another years-old purchase I'm finally getting around to listening to.  But with that cover, can you blame me?  I recall reading a review or distro description saying this was in a classic NYHC-meets-death-metal style--not the most appealing of prospects, but I could see it being tolerable if it was energic and vicious.  Unfortunately, that turned out to be exaggerated scene journalism speak for downtuned metalcore.  

By the way, while all the other band members have their full names in the booklet, the vocalist--Jason Fligman, ex-Suffocation manager who also executive produced and released the CD--is just listed as "Jay."  Trying to distance himself from his own work?  Out of shame?  We may never know.

Paria - Misanthropos (2004)

Cost: $1.00

I had no positive expectations here, but hey, it was a buck and had a Metal Blade logo on the back.

Metalcore here, with the metallic component being that stuff that would nowadays be referred to as "technical metal" (I think that's a blatant misnomer as it implies Watchtower-style goodness)--really just a love of schizophrenic tempo changes.  I'm not even a fan of the metalcore bands who essentially play straight melodic death metal with shitty vox and breakdowns, so this brand of it was uninteresting to say the least.  I thought the last track "93rd and Paddock..." was ok because a.) it's a psychedelic heavy rock instrumental, which isn't really my thing either, but gives me a reprieve from the forced HC vox, and b.) the track is silent for several minutes before a hidden cover of Primus' "Too Many Puppies"--which is marginally better than the entire album as a whole--pops up. 

Immortal Cringe - Undying Fear (2000)

Cost: $3.00

'90s style technical death/thrash.  The usual hallmarks of the genre are here and for the most part, the band doesn't go overboard on the technicality or get overly progressive.  There are some jazzy bass runs, most notably in "Diminished" and "Mend Your Trend," and two non-metal instrumentals--"BC" is a world music sounding piece centered around acoustic guitar and percussion, and "Aimless" is 40 seconds of classical guitar (the latter is actually very pleasant).  The one unusual/stumbling point is the vocals...I think I've heard similar ones somewhere, perhaps in punk/hardcore or a non-metal band--possibly even a thrash band--but I can't give any specific sound reference, so it may be easier to try and describe them.  They're gruff in the way hardcore vocals could be but they're not really extreme or ultra-forced.  The execution is pretty clean as they're mostly enunciated vocals rather than truly sung.  Now you should either still have no idea what they sound like or you should be scared away, although I must stress they're not that bad, just very atypical.  One of the shames is I have the band's earlier CD (I got it in a dollar bin, so I'll probably eventually throw up a post about it)--the lineup is the same but the vocals are much better, so I actually consider Undying Fear to be a small step down even though it's in the same vein musically.  Nothing earth-shattering here, but it fits rather neatly between the more straightforward technical thrash bands and stuff like Atheist (not as heavy and ferocious as the first two and not as weird/progressive as Elements).

Brick Bath - Rebuilt (2003)

Cost: $1.00

Pantera-style groovecore crap.  Can't say that was a huge surprise based on the band name, but since this was released by Crash, I chanced it in case this was generic death metal.  Oh well.

By the way, the guitarist Eric Meyer here is not the Eric Meyer from Dark Angel, even though some ill-informed websites say otherwise.  Yes, I realize that post-Dark Angel projects like Hunger and Swine were not exactly what one would call good, but at the end of the day the man played on Darkness Descends, for crying out loud.  Let's not crucify him for additional transgressions he didn't partake in.

Ceremony - The Days Before the Death (2000)

Let's be honest--you can argue all you want about labels that actually care about music and quality, but the bottom line is that the music industry is based on business.  If releasing music wasn't profitable, labels wouldn't exist (well, except for possibly 2 or 3 bullheaded DIY guys doing it as a "statement," but they'd probably all be focused on releasing noise rock and ambient).  So cash-grab releases shouldn't come as a surprise, but this one is more blatant than most--a 14-minute mini-CD that exists to capitalize on the fact that a pre-Morbid Angel Steve Tucker and pre-Cannibal Corpse Pat O'Brien are in the ranks.  Steve Tucker writes in the liner notes that these later musical endeavors show the caliber of the musicians involved in Ceremony.  I'll admit joining two of death metal's most famous bands is no small feat, but both guys were just mid-'90s replacements in bands whose most defining moments and best material were already long behind them.

As critical as the above sounds, musically I actually have no real problem with this release.  It's a 1993 (I think--the recording notes mention '93 but Tucker mentions '92...See the obvious care that went into this?) demo recording, just 3 songs and a 43 sec. acoustic instrumental.  Fairly standard early '90s death metal, not super technical but more proficient than your typical demo-level band.  I was about to say there's a detectable Floridian vibe to it (the band is from Ohio), but then I read inside the booklet that this reissue was mastered at Morrisound.  Go figure.  This is not an obscure gem by any means, but to a certain extent I found it more enjoyable than the MA and CC material Messrs. Tucker and O'Brien played on.

The liner notes mention that this reissue was originally inspired by Darragh O'Leary of Invictus Prod., yet unfortunately this came out on Hammerheart, who gave it one of the most generic layouts possible.  This was obviously cranked out to turn a quick buck and wring the most out of minimal design effort.  There's at least one earlier Ceremony demo too, so I would have rather waited for a more comprehensive discography CD, as any label could have done a better job both presentation and content-wise.  But hey, this cost me 99 cents, and it's certainly worth that.

Machine - What Are You Looking At? (2000)

No, nobody lopped off part of the booklet in a fit of rage.  Not only does this come in a red jewel case, but for whatever perplexing reason, this was put out with one of those stupid undersized booklets that looks like it's missing an inch-wide strip from the right side.  The only similar CD I can think of off the top of my head is Jane Jensen's Comic Book Whore--yes, I know this purely from digging through clearance CDs for so long--where it serves as an element crucial to the layout.  There's no such excuse here.

What's most interesting about Machine is that they were the only new signee to the resurrected New Renaissance Records, and as far as I know the only new (at the time) recording the label put out other than some Hellion stuff and the bonus tracks on the Medieval reissue.

Overall, the band fit into the modern thrash category well enough, but the vocal style and the punkish tempo of the majority of the songs make much of the album crossover.  Speed is definitely an asset--unfortunately when they slow things down (see the beginning of "Saw is Family"), they just become generic, groovy "jump" thrash.  There's also a cover of Joan Osbourne's "One of Us."  Shortly into it the band just adapt it to their regular crossover style, but that kills a lot of the novelty and humor I presume the band were going for by covering it.  It becomes unrecognizable save for the lyrics of the chorus.

They also succumb to a fatal flaw often found in grindcore and gore metal--including samples and intros that are more interesting than the music itself!  "I Wish My Chick was Dead" (cool title!) has audio of a distraught chick leaving an answering machine message...And indeed, after hearing it, I find myself wishing she was dead too.  "Necronomicon" is indexed as a 26+ minute track, the majority of which is audio from a porno.  Sorry, but there are few bands out there that can compete with a sultry plea of "Stovepipe me, mister!"
This isn't all that bad, and I can't complain because I got it cheaply, but let's face it--had there not been some hair band signings like Tuff Luck and Pretty Vacant, this would be my least favorite New Renaissance release.

I should also note that the band changed their name to 8mm Overdose and this may have been re-released as the Harder Than Hardcore album.  Except for the Joan Osbourne cover (there's another track in its place) and (I think) the hidden stuff/porn audio after "Necronomicon," the tracklist is the same and they reuse the cover photo, leading me to believe it's probably the same recording. 

I found Jesus

...In the bargain bin.  Well, not really, but I do find a lot of white metal CDs in there, which is close enough.  Keep in mind I didn't get all of these at once (in fact some of them were purchased several years ago), but they were all bargain bin finds languishing in the to-be-organized-on-the-shelves-later pile, so they all get a combined writeup.

Barren Cross - Hotter Than Hell! Live (original Medusa press) - $2.00
Live album from the end of the Atomic Arena tour with lots of positive, feel-good stage banter.  Of course, one can't bring up Barren Cross without mentioning Mike Lee's vocals, whose singing tone is probably as close to Bruce Dickinson as humanly possible.  Never found their music to be overly Maiden-inspired, though.  The guy introducing the band at the beginning is Pastor Bob Beeman of Sanctuary ministry.

Believer - Sanity Obscure (R.E.X. press) - $2.00
Believer - Dimensions (R.E.X. press) - $2.00
I can't remember where I got the notion from, but I remember before hearing them, I had the idea that the 2nd/3rd Believer albums were technical death metal rather than technical thrash.  My first exposure to Believer was the Roadrunner At Death's Door compilation, so I don't know if that colored my perception (though the song there was from the 1st album).  Okay albums, but they don't pique my interest as much as Extraction from Mortality.

Bloodgood - Rock Theater: Shakin' the World - $2.00
This is just a newer cheapo version of the 1990 Bloodgood Live Volume Two: Shakin' the World disc (ironically, I saw Frontline has reissued Shakin' the World and the first live volume with their original live shot covers recently).  Not sure if the other versions of the discs have them (I'm doubtful), but there are minigaps between tracks here that really kill the live atmosphere.  I like a majority of the material on the first two Bloodgood albums when they were at their heaviest, but I'm not enough of a fan to get really excited over a live album.  I will say that it's a decent mix of stuff from their first 4 albums, with only one song from their more lightweight 3rd album--although even some of their earliest stuff has a bit of a commercial side. 

Bride - Kinetic Faith - $1.00
Unfortunately, this is the band's first non-metal full-length.  Bluesy hard rock here with lots of Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith influence.  They do the style well enough, but that doesn't help me, does it?  On the plus side, the logo is kinda cool--wish they had used it for their earlier releases, particularly since the first two albums don't have real logos...

Deliverance - Learn - $3.00
With the abundance of flannel and the graffiti font of the album title, I was half-expecting Suicidal Tendencies emulation.  The actual music is a bit of a surprise, as the speed of their earliest thrash releases is gone and they've gotten quite progressive.  Imagine the poor man's version of post-The Warning era Queensrÿche, but with crunchy guitars that beef it up and make it more substantial.  I'm neutral about this album--I initially feared this would be in the trendy '90s aggro/jump post-thrash vein, and thankfully it's not.  The vocals are clean and the progressive nature of the music doesn't allow for start/stop riffage.  But it doesn't really excite me either.  The one exception is "Desperate Cries" (yes, the thrashiest song, no surprise there!) which has a main riff that is pleasingly reminiscent of the chorus part of "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

Die  Happy - Intense Live Series Vol. 4 - $1.00
You probably know the story.  After Once Dead, Vengeance Rising dissolved, and Roger Martinez ultimately put out two more Vengeance Rising albums with a new lineup.  While not anywhere in the Human Sacrifice league, they were still decent thrash releases.  The other original Vengeance Rising members went on to...this.  A sound full of grooviness and blues influence (the only straightforward thrasher they did was a reworked Vengeance Rising song--go figure).  As much as I dislike them, Die Happy's 2 studio albums had some semblance of metal.  This, a recording of a mellow jam session, does not.  I realize this is just a little live-in-the-studio EP, but it's pretty frightening when, comparatively speaking, one of the heaviest songs is a Petra cover.

Gnashing of Teeth - self-titled - $1.00 or $2.00 (don't remember)
Being groovy metalcore all of the time would be bad enough, but the band decide to throw in lots of  nu-metal (or should I say no-metal) sections and breakdowns.  Yuck.  Sadly, this is another case of wasted potential, as after a atmospheric intro with clean guitar and female vocals, "Pyro" starts out like it's going to be full-on death metal.  Then the lame vocals begin and their usual style rears its ugly head.  It's especially maddening as there are some good growling vox that are used sparingly--in that one song they showed they had the elements to be a generic--if not decent--death metal band.

Living Sacrifice - Conceived in Fire - $1.00
Living Sacrifice - The Hammering Process - $1.00
I knew these guys had changed drastically over the years, so these didn't come as a surprise.  Both albums are metalcore, with no traces of the band's earlier sound.

Slamcat - El Gato De La Slam - $1.00
Groove metal.  I'd like to think I'm not the type of person who would buy a CD that has a glow-in-the-dark cat with a rockabilly haircut on the cover without good reason.  I can't remember if I saw this, looked it up online, and then purchased it, or just bought it outright because it didn't look mainstream and I needed to buy 4 dollar bin discs to get a free one.  Nothing I needed to hear here, although the uptempo "S.S.C." ("Sunday School Cool."  Yes, really.) is a fun little ditty that deviates from the band's normal formula.

Various - East Coast Metal - $2.00
One of several white metal compilations put out by Regency, from 1988. As far as I know none of the tracks were from regular albums and were all either demo tracks or exclusive recordings (aside from the Believer track, I'm unaware if any of them were later put on reissues).
Apostle - "The Sword" - Best song here.  Galloping traditional metal. 
Rage of Angels - "Reason to Rock" - Two of these guys went on to Steelheart, and it quickly becomes apparent that wouldn't have been a huge musical stretch for them.  Heavier than typical hair bands, though--maybe comparable to Skid Row's heaviest stuff. 
Arsenal - "Message of Love," "Stand Strong" - Same Florida band that later released Armored Choir.  Mid-paced, female-fronted, and reeking of commerciality.  The chick vocals are mostly clean, but she gets gruffer to emphasize certain lyrics (however, Betsy Bitch she is not).  There was a glimmer of potential, but they waited to show it--at the end of "Stand Strong" the tempo speeds up and there's some great shredding, but by then it's too late.
The Lead - "Tunnel Vision" - Thrashy crossover with an unexpected yet tasteful instrumental passage near the end.  Goofy, semi-snotty female talk-singing vocals, though.  She yells "Hey you" in the lyrics a couple of times, and I always expect there to be a "guys!" tacked on the end ala The Electric Company opening.
Taker - "Living By Faith," "Yesterday, Today and Forever" - "Living By Faith" is more galloping metal with helium-infused vocals and gang choruses.  Nicely done.  "Yesterday..." is a relatively uninteresting synth-laden ballad that sounds like an entirely different band!
Second Chance - "(Liberation from) The Blazing Wasteland" -  Pre-Armageddon.  A bit like early Savatage/Metal Church, although the the guitar/drum tone brings to mind Screaming/Defenders era Priest.  The vocalist's normal singing voice even sounds quite a bit like John Oliva--he throws in some shamelessly over-the-top grunting and yelping, though it just can't compare to the fanastically OTT shrieks at the end of "Sirens."
Believer - "The Chosen" - Not bad by any means, but lacks the bite of the debut.

Rumpelstiltskin Grinder - Buried in the Front Yard... (2005)

Cost: $1.00

When buying this I had heard of the band due to the comedic infamy of their name, but knew nothing about them musically.  Obviously based on the name I thought they would be some sort of humorous death/grind--I ended up being quite surprised, and not necessarily pleasantly.  This is contemporary thrash that does nothing for me.  Other than the twin guitars there's nothing that even suggests classic thrash, as it's quite modern sounding and some songs have minor traces of death metal in them.  But the final nail in the coffin for me is the vocals, which veer into the dangerous realm of HC territory (and saying the guy was attempting Sound of Perserverance-style vox isn't really any better...).

Nightstick - Ultimatum (1998)

Cost: $1.00

Bob Williams' post-Siege band.  Sludgy, noisy stuff with the occasional (or not-so-occasional) burst of squealing saxophone.  Do you feel cheated when I write about this sort of eclectic stuff?  You should!   I'm not motivated enough to dissect it musically so I end up writing something vague in the hopes that since it's not pure heavy metal, people will avoid it anyway.

Speaking of feeling cheated, I feel cheated by Nightstick a bit.  They have that Padoinka the Clown character who appears in the album layouts and is credited with "interpretive dance"--in all seriousness, I like the comedic air he lends to the proceedings.  So it finally dawns on me that I may be able to find live footage on Youtube and see what the clown actually does at the live shows.  I found some footage--only maybe it's of a bad gig, because the only thing I interpreted from his dancing was that he was tired.  Padoinka essentially did nothing but sway timidly near the drumkit during the whole show (which included various feats of musical instrument abuse and destruction by the other members).  Kind of a bummer.

I see this more as a quirky oddity of musical experimentation.  Keep in mind I actually do like some of the catchy stuff they did on the Death to Music album, like the new version of "Dahmer's Room" and what is undoubtedly a Marine Corps favorite, "Jarhead."

All Hallow's Evil - This Faustian Flesh (pro-printed CD-R, 2006)

Cost: $1.00

I found this sealed and I originally got it as trade fodder, thinking it was an indie gothic or horror punk release based on the front/back cover.  I opened it to replace the cracked case and one of the two fellows (I should point out now for the sake of clarity that it's basically a one-man project with assistance on his various releases) is wearing a Kreator shirt.  So of course based on that alone I'm compelled to listen to it.  Speaking of which, I've often pondered why non-metal bands--particularly punk/hardcore bands--don't wear metal t-shirts prominently in photos placed strategically in the CD layouts to trick me and like-minded individuals (yes, what a terrible thought) into buying their albums.  Then I realized they wouldn't see any money from it as I'd just wait for said albums to show up in the dollar bin.

This is a sort of dark progressive metal with jangly guitars.  Part III (the album is a single song indexed into sections) employs some black metal guitarwork and vocals--probably the most interesting part of the whole thing, yet used only briefly.  Musically, it's not terrible, except for the normal vocals, which have a trying-to-be-dramatic inflection and enunciation I found kind of silly.  But it didn't evoke any strong response from me and failed to create any real atmosphere.

I should also note All Hallow's Evil have been quite prolific in putting out releases (the others seem to have varying degrees of metal content/influence).  I suspect that to whatever extent, there's a problem with overabundance of ideas and a compulsion to document everything musically without regards to quality control.  If this is a truly self-serving project then that's fine, but then why even bother to put it on CD-R? 

X-Seed - Desolation (1995)

Groovy post-thrash, one of the dime-a-dozen bands playing this style in the '90s.  Notable only because the vocalist is none other than Mark Duffy of Toranaga/Millennium fame--his style is gruffer here, as befits the music.

Mourning Sign - Alienor (1995)

Mourning Sign changed quite a bit the few years they were around in the early to mid '90s, but Alienor--in my opinion their best material by far--is the only release that ever really matched their band name and logo style.  Good doomy death metal here with occasional clean singing passages.  This was released the same year as their full-length debut, but it's actually a mini-CD pressing of the band's '93 promo.  Unfortunately, this wasn't a style they stuck with.  Their '92 Last Chamber demo was rather pedestrian death metal--okay stuff, but not a hidden gem by any means and definitely outclassed by legions of bands in the burgeoning early Swedish DM scene.  I haven't heard their s/t debut but apparently they lost the doom edge and got much more contemporary.  The '96 Multiverse album is very progressive and throws all sorts of varied influences into the mix.  Maybe Godhead Rec. was slipping these guys the same drugs (obtained from Acrimony, obviously) that caused such unwelcome changes in Mind Riot and Expulsion?

I Love Metal / I ♥ Metal compilation (1999)

Obviously, with bargain bin in the blog title, things would eventually delve into the realm of tribute albums.  Not only tribute albums, but novelty tribute albums.  Some punk/ska/alternative bands cover '80s metal:

1. Reggie & the Full Effect - Raining Blood (Slayer)
Initially, when I heard the opening riff, I thought this might have some novelty value and uniqueness as a more electronic take on Slayer.  Then the distorted shouts of the vocals began. 

2. Avail - Iron Fist (Motörhead)
Pretty good musically.  I suspect the vocalist realized he couldn't emulate Lemmy, so there are
just generic gruff vocals.

3. Less Than Jake - We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister)
Sped-up, punkish, and lightweight, which is actually what I had envisioned most of the covers would be like.  Not good or interesting, though.

4. Hot Rod Circuit - Sin City (AC/DC)
The playing is competent, but has none of the dirt or grit of the original.

5. The Get Up Kids - On With the Show (Mötley Crüe)
Emo vocals.

6. Jejune - No One Like You (Scorpions)
Along with the later Girlschool cover, this is the most musically-faithful rendition on the comp.  They try to do it straight up, but the vocalist really doesn't have the chops for it.

7. The Killingtons - Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) (W.A.S.P.)
This is such a lethargic version that it sounds like a legitimate, non-cover alternative song (don't misconstrue that comment as being positive in any way).  And the chorus lyrics aren't even right.

8. Supernova - The Trooper (Iron Maiden)
This may have been an attempt at a freewheelin' rock'n'roll version, but it's devoid of energy.  Unfortunately, it's not devoid of intrusive electronic sounds during the whole thing.

9. Mephiskapheles - Necromantical Screams (Celtic Frost)
They nailed the Frost guitar tone, and I thought the sparingly used ska horns and intentionally-ridiculous-to-mock-the-original operatic backing vox were the only truly humorous elements of this entire compilation.
Vocals really bring it down though, as they're forced and monotonous.

10. Lounge - Living After Midnight (Judas Priest)
Lame pop-punk version.


11. Electric Frankenstein - Not for Sale (Girlschool)
Unexpected yet pleasant surprise both in song choice and execution.  Vocals are weak but great instrumentally.

12. Modest Mouse + Califone - South of Heaven (Slayer)
Acoustic nonsense.

13. Gardner (special live bonus track) - Flying High Again (Ozzy Osbourne)
Too easygoing; severely lacking in energy.

I was actually going into this expecting most of the covers to be hyperactive and simplified punk versions played at more manic tempos, but to the contrary, quite a few songs suffer from having no power or energy.  There's a lot less in terms of experimentation and parody than I would have guessed too.  This isn't quite the equivalent of throwing a dollar into the gutter, but looking at the layout (a school binder covered in pen graffiti) was more fulfilling than a lot of the musical content.

Starwood - If It Ain't Broke, Break It! (2004)

Three of the four Starwood members are from Lizzy Borden, including Lizzy himself.  I've seen the album touted as kind of a modern take on '70s/'80s glam rock, which would have been alright, but I was quite disappointed that it didn't seem very retro.  A couple of the choruses hint at the '70s, but this just doesn't have the over-the-top execution or hooks of '70s glam, nor the sleaziness or bite of  the '80s glam bands.  The older Lizzy Borden material shows more of a Sweet/Kiss/Alice Cooper/Slade/etc. influence than this!
In a way this reminds me of the more commercial fare on Lizzy Borden's Master of Disguise, though Starwood is nowhere near as experimental and suffers from modern production values.

Between the Frost - Instinct of Surliness (1998)

 

Dear readers, I kid you not, I staked this CD out for close to a year, waiting for it to move from the regularly-priced used CDs into the dollar bin.  And when it did?  Oh, the relief.  Oh, the elation.

Anyhow, somebody's been listening to Storm of the Light's Bane.  Yup, total Dissection-styled black/death here.  The vocals (done in a black metal style) are quite high--they don't quite reach anything like a Dani Filth level where they actually cause annoyance, but given the amount of black/death bands who emulated Dissection, the vox aren't doing the band any favors when there are so many options for this sound available.

May/June 2012 Finds

I've been holding off on reporting local hauls since the finds have been relatively weak lately, but I have to start sometime:

Amorphis - Black Winter Day - $2.00
Already have, just trade fodder.

Divine Regale - Horizons - $1.00
Definitely the best of my recent finds.  Progressive metal, their '94 self-released CD.

Divine Regale - Ocean Mind - $1.00 
Well, whaddya know?  Didn't find this on the same trip as Horizons and at a different store, but nice coincidence anyway.  Their Metal Blade full length.

Dokken - Under Lock and Key - $1.00
I'm indifferent about Dokken--I think they're often underestimated as being just a generic hair band, but on the other hand, a lot of overzealous people tend to exaggerate their heaviness a bit in defending them.  I personally only really like "Breaking the Chains" and "Paris is Burning" from the debut, and the "Mr. Scary" instrumental from Back for the Attack.  The rest I have no strong feelings about, same with this album.  "Unchain the Night," "Til the Livin' End," and "Lightnin' Strikes Again" are the best songs here (obviously, they're also the heaviest and fastest tunes), but there's lots of commercial slickness and sugary melodies abound to wade through.  

Fates Warning - FWX - $1.00 
Huh. This is from 2004, and I didn't realize as of this writing they haven't released a studio album since then.  In my head I assumed they were much more prolific.

Fates Warning - Inside Out - $2.00
All of the Ray Alder-era stuff after Perfect Symmetry (and even then, only because of the "Through Different Eyes" video) really just sounds the same to me unless they do something deliberately different, like the multi-part song gimmick of A Pleasant Shade of Gray.

Green Jelly - 333 - $1.00
Yep, you'll find the entertainment value of something increases exponentially when it's dirt cheap.  Strange thing is, I've had to re-buy their first CD a few times since I would get it cheap and someone would inevitably want to trade for it 1-2 years later.  For the most part, it's not as blatantly silly as Cereal Killer, which is both a pro and con.  Best stuff is the stylistic parody material at the end of the album, like "Jump," which sounds like an sincere alternative band wrote it.  "The Bear Song" is that "the bear went over the mountain..." children's tune, which Macabre parodied in a much more killer (pun intended) fashion.

Halo - Guattari (From the West Flows Grey Ash And Pestilence) - $1.00
Mix of doom and noise/ambient.  I was looking for some reviews on this after I initially got it, as I only purchased it because it was on Relapse--there are a lot of comparisons made to industrial metal (it's not as inorganic and structured as that generally implies) and drone (not as minimalist as that generally implies). Not my thing, but I found it metallic enough to be tolerable. 

Impellitteri - Stand in Line - $1.00
Should have been ecstatic--had never even seen a used Impellitteri CD in a brick-and-mortar store before, and in the bargain bin for a buck, no less!  Booklet already had a corner clipped, but someone did the further injustice of writing 50¢ on the cover in marker.  Messrs. Bonnet and Impellitteri in fine form here.

Mahavatar - From the Sun, the Sun, the Wind, the Soil - $1.00
Saw this on a previous trip but had to check online that it was even metal.  This tries to do the hybrid thing and mix a number of metal styles and some outside musical influences but ultimately I found it too modern and unfocused.  The vocals are unfortunately of the female variety and range from clean to growling, although they're never as laughably hysterical as say, Karyn Crisis.  I can easily imagine Mahavatar being the token "heavy" band at some alternative musical fest or being praised by people who don't normally listen to metal and find it monotonous.

Oh yeah, and the info sticker on the front is hilarious.  "THE ENCHANTING DEBUT RELEASE FROM AGGRESSIVE NYC BASED REVOLUTIONARIES - RECORDS/MIXED BY MICHAEL BARILE (CANDIRIA, 40 BELOW SUMMER, E-TOWN CONCRETE)"  Now, strictly speaking, this isn't their debut, although it includes all 8 songs from it (I don't know if these are re-recordings or it's just meant to be a re-release of sorts, and I frankly don't care).  But enchanting music from aggressive revolutionaries?  And are those 3 namedropped bands supposed to encourage anyone to buy this?  I'm curious if sticker blurbs are written by rejects who couldn't cut it writing awful masturbatory press sheets.  Maybe they offer a discounted rate.

Megadeth - United Abominations - $2.00
First let me state that in recent years, Megadeth CDs have been by far the most prevalent in local bargain bins compared to any of the other big 4 (this does, in fact, surprise me, because that *includes* copies of Stomp 442 and Sound of White Noise).  This is a tolerable album and acceptable output at this point in Mustaine's career, though the political lyrics are notably clumsy compared to almost anything coming out of the late '80s thrash scene.

Speaking of abominations, what's with the cover and back insert art?  I realize both bands and labels are capable of making exceptionally retarded creative decisions, but something seemed weird, especially since the artwork everywhere else in the layout was quite good.  So I checked, and sure enough this is the result of some misguided fan art contest--while that's still a lame thing to do, I do acknowledge it's cheaper than using Repka.

Merauder - Master Killer - $2.00
Knew/liked the title track since I've had it for years on Century Media's second Identity comp.  NYHC-inspired metal/aggro, and actually one of the only bands in the entire style I can stomach (maybe B-Thong, too? Heh...)--probably because the vocals are mean without being ultra-forced and there's not a lot of stop/start riffing.  Unfortunately, I happened to see the video for the title track, which is full of ridiculous tough guy posturing...

Motherload - Burns Like Whiskey - $2.00 
Went ahead and took a chance with this one as 4 out of the 5 members were longhairs, Ozzy was mentioned in a member's thanks-list, and the band name/album title screamed stoner rock.  Turns out this is heavy rock with a bluesy vocalist, kinda bar band type fare.  Even with the relative heaviness of the instrumentation, the vocals whip this right out of my musical interest zone. 

Pyogenesis - Sweet X-Rated Nothings - $2.00

Rage - Carved in Stone promo - $1.00 

Reign - Embrace - $2.00
Used to have this.  It's not as bad as I recalled, although it's not death metal as the Gigeresque cover art and songtitles might suggest.  There are chugging downtuned guitars and a hoarse vocalist (perhaps somewhat like a more monotonous, accentless Max Cavalera?) typical of '90s thrash, but the song tempos are generally very slow.  Even with the slowness, it doesn't feel very doomy, so things just plod along.  Only 4 of the 10 tracks are under 7 minutes, and two of those are just short interludes--there's not enough here to sustain songs that long.

Subterranean Masquerade - Temporary Psychotic State - $1.00
Progressive stuff in a general Katatonia/Opeth sort of vein.  Prominent violin and occasional growled vox.

Y&T - Ten - $2.00
Don't think I'd heard any of their post-mid-'80s stuff before.  Quite melodic and commercial, as can be expected of the time.  "Goin' Off the Deep End," the heaviest/fastest song here, stands out well, but the rest of the album leaves me wanting the rawness and speed of their older stuff.


Assorted finds and older stuff:

Battlelust - Of Battle and Ancient Warcraft - $1.00
I already had the original Hammerheart digipak (which I regret paying regular used CD price for now)--this is the Pavement licensed-jewel case version.  Fast and monotonous black metal, with the only reprieve being some acoustic guitar and keyboard use on the last 3 tracks (the mid-song keyboard passage in "With the Blackstorms I Came" is actually the best thing on the album, so perhaps they should have bit the bullet and used them everywhere).  Musically it's competent and the album is decent as background music.  But with just the speed and no real violence, bite, or significant variation to back it up, 42 minutes of this is too much.

The Pestilence Choir - s/t (2006 4-song CD-EP)
This is the only release with impaled bodies on the cover (yeah, but done in a lame tribalish computer-generated art way) I can think of that holds no musical value for me.  4 songs of that indeterminate mix of melodic death, thrash, and metalcore elements.  Vocals are of the forced HC "hysterical" variety--think someone with laryngitis attempting black metal vox.  Most annoying thing is that it's metallic enough where I'm compelled to give it a fair shot and sit it out rather than turning it off.

Vorace - Vorace (1998)

I bought this from a distro around the time it was released, and I'm glad it was described briefly there, because I don't know what I would have thought based on the minimalist lime green inserts marked with fleurs-de-lis.  The sole picture in the layout--an inner booklet pic of a home studio in a room with Mickey Mouse wallpaper--doesn't help much either.  This is a French one man band playing thrashy, mid-paced death metal (I'm hesitant to call this death/thrash since that brings to mind a more frantic style--Massacra or Agressor this is not).  It's obvious that a drum machine is being used, but the tempo of the music never gets fast enough where it becomes annoying.  The vocals are a peculiar hoarse growl; I couldn't think of anything exactly like them but they had a strange familiarity...Then it hit me--there's a certain tonality that reminds me of Lemmy! Think lower vocal passages on Motörhead stuff from the '90s and later.

This chugs along pleasantly enough, but there's nothing particularly compelling about it.  A single 2010 track from the Vorace Myspace shows more of a  melodic death metal influence, and I preferred it to most of the CD tracks.

Sirius - Spectral Transition - Dimension Sirius (2001)

 Price: Don't recall, around $2

Based on the cover art or the cosmic-sounding songtitles, it might be expected that this is an industrial or electronic-influenced black metal album (I was somewhat expecting crap of the Tidfall/Zyklon type).  Thankfully, aside from the intro, that's not the case, and this is a standard fast-paced symphonic black metal album.  Keyboard use is constant, but they're low in the mix considering how much they're used, and that results in a different sound dynamic than say, Limbonic Art, who I've seen them compared to.

The album closes with a cover of Emperor's "The Majesty of the Nightsky" with guest playing by Samoth and Faust.  It's played well (the keyboards may be better than the original) but is a bit lacking in the atmosphere; the original has those kind of ethereal subdued spoken vocals towards the end of the symphonic section, and here they're harsh and accented.

Fleshold - Pathetic

This Illinois band's first release was the '91 The Finer Arts of Dismemberment demo, and looking at the band logo, demo cover, and songtitles, the signs accurately pointed to death metal of the generic yet competent variety.  Rather than full on brutal or guttural vox, the singer had a fast-paced, more-spoken-than-sung style that was more common for thrash bands, which I didn't mind.

Pathetic, on the other hand, is very nondescript.  The guitars have a death metal like crunchiness, but nothing here is pure death metal.  Particularly on the second half of the album, there are faster parts ("Surface Tension," the beginning of "Realidream") that hark back to the debut demo--but only parts, not full songs.  There's a '90s thrash style grooviness to some of the riffs, and doomier sections here and there, but nothing that definitively categorizes the music.  The vocals are a bit gruffer than the '91 demo but still in the same basic style.

There are enough elements at play here where it's easier to just describe the music than try to categorize it.  Not great, but at least it escapes the Pantera-emulation plague of the '90s.  Have done both much better and much worse for the buck I paid.