Pretty lame haul for all the time and effort. Hit a place nearly two hours away which I'd been to twice before. Their CDs are very cheap and they always have a pretty eclectic mix of stuff, although my purchases were a lot less interesting than the finds from previous visits.
Stopped at two more stores on the way back home that I seldom visit anymore, and turned up nothing at either.
45¢ each:
Age of Ruin - Autumn Lanterns
Metalcore. Fair amount of Swedish melodic DM influence here with some of the guitar harmonies, which does help a little, but not as much as I would have hoped for. Thankfully, no screamo/aggro vocals--the vox are a throaty, raspy style which would could easily pass for black metal vocals in another context. Not that interesting.
Animosity - Shut it Down
Oh joy, another Tribunal disc. Mix of death/grind and some -core influences (thankfully not in the vocals). Aesthetically, this looks like a pure punk/HC release due to the stencil logo, molotov cocktail guy on the cover, and cops in riot gear inside the booklet. So while not great, it did exceed my expectations a little.
Congress - Blackened Persistance
Already found this several years ago in another bargain bin, so trade fodder. Stuff like this is much more deserving of the metalcore label than the breakdown happy stretched earlobe crowd. I'm not that into it, but I will say to their credit that a) there are some solid thrash riffs to be found here and b) the vocals here are hoarser and a bit less shouty compared to other HC bands. So while I can appreciate their metallic influences, at the end of the day it's not really my thing and I'd get much more out of listening to a good full-on thrash album.
Dodd - Dodd (1998)
Initially I was very excited because I had seen this band mentioned online as having Powermad members. Unfortunately it's nu-
Dodd himself drummed for Powermad briefly and appeared on that single song they released after their long hiatus. Unfortunately I happened to look at the band lineup and Powermad guitarist Todd Haug played on this garbage. What a letdown.
Fields of the Nephilim - One More Nightmare/Darkcell AD CD-single
Trade fodder. New/reworked versions of "Trees Come Down" and "Darkcell" from their debut EP. This is the first time I've ever heard any of their newer material, and these versions are vastly different from the 80s goth rock of the originals. They have a modernized industrialized sound and utilize vocal effects.
Sepultura - Choke CD-single
Title track, Bad Brains cover, and demo version of "Against."
Trial of the Bow - Ornamentation
Trade fodder. Ambient take on world music. I like Disembowelment, but this does nothing for me.
Urn - Dancing with the Demigods
Gothic metal, although some of the songs have a strong folk metal feel (normally when they break out the flute and/or acoustic guitars). The main male vocals are very off-putting.
$2.00 each:
Avignon - Regression into Animal
Indie with nothing conclusively identifying the style. I was hoping for more from the skull on the cover, but unfortunately, this is just Pantera-influenced aggrocore.
