Random purchases

Here's some random older bargain bin purchases.  Don't remember all of the specific prices, but everything was 2 bucks or under.

Anterior - This Age of Silence - $1.00

Monotonous, super-forced screamed vocals here, which really put me off as they unfortunately make the band seem far more -core sounding than they really are. Other than a few breakdowns and some limited modern groovy stuff, the underlying music seems to be decent lead-focused melodeath, but it's not noteworthy enough to make up for those vox.

Asterisk* - Dogma
Grindcore, compilation of various material.  The majority of the tracks are the noisier sort of grindcore, although individual songs vary and some are a more metallic type of grind.  The short "cover" of Queen's "Ogre Battle" is quite fun even though it becomes barely recognizable after the intro.

Artimus Pyledriver - Artimus Pyledriver - $1.00
Based on descriptions that I read that this was "Southern metal," I was anticipating something more like Alabama Thunderpussy, later CoC, or some of the NOLA bands.  This is more upbeat, less sludgy, and has far more of a rock'n'roll influence than I was expecting, especially since the vocals seem quite Brian Johnson influenced.  I'd say this is more like a heavier Nashville Pussy or a Southern rock influenced Fireball Ministry.

Corporation 187 - Perfection in Pain  - $2.00 
Modern death/thrash.  Everything Swedish in this style inevitably gets compared to The Haunted, although this is more aggressive and has less direct melodic DM influence in the guitarwork, so I hear more general similarities to something like Carnal Forge or The Forsaken.  The vocals are quite vicious but the aggression here doesn't translate into interesting songs, and I don't really see listening to this again.

Ewigheim - Mord Nicht Ohne Grund - $1.00
The logo and band name had me hoping for black metal.  Since this was on Prophecy Prod., I realistically expected something more avant-garde, but this still ended up being pretty disappointing.  This is primarily gothic rock that mixes in electronic rock and some EDM-ish rhythms, some metallic guitarwork, and some Neue Deutsche Härte influences.  Out of the 8 tracks, the title track is the only one that that genuinely qualifies as gothic metal due to the consistent guitar riffage (it also happens to have more extreme vocals).

Masakari - The Profit Feeds - $1.00
Bought this since it was a buck and on Southern Lord, which usually doesn't indicate quality but does usually indicate something metal or metal related.   However, this is crustcore.   Pretty raging stuff, but not up my alley at all.  The first and 9th tracks have low/sludgy sections which I thought the disc could have used more of (probably because they're as close to metal as it gets).

Piss off - Authority - $1.00
Pretty sparse inserts here without a band photo or thanks list, so this was a totally blind purchase. CD is from 2007--I hate the term "alternative metal" (I think it's a complete misnomer) but yeah, this is that sort of heavy '90s rock stuff.  Songs vary quite a bit and their guitar sound is surprisingly heavy at times, but rather than actual metal, it's more like a slightly heavier Godsmack.  Three tracks of note:

1. "Tazer Tag" - Intro skit, hokey but not cringeworthy.  The production is impressive since it legitimately sounds like a zany morning zoo bit from a local radio station. 
2. "U.S. of M." ("United States of Mexico, if you were wondering)  Nice prog. metallish intro.  Unfortunately the rest of the song isn't as good as the intro, although it's probably the most metallic track on here.  I'm not against the anti-illegal immigration message but it's very ham-fisted here...The "THEY'RE BRINGING IN THE DOPE" chant just made me laugh.
3. "If Tomorrow Were Yesterday" - Mellow, atmospheric outro instrumental.  Stood out positively just because it's so different from the rest of the disc.

Rivendel - The Meaning - $1.00 
Based on the record label and band name, was hoping for folk or prog. metal.  Progressive rock.

Sender Receiver - Plague Notes - $1.00
Grindcore.  The songtitles are meant to be cutesy and tongue in cheek, but fall way short of 7000 Dying Rats or Anal Cunt standards (the actual lyrics have nothing to do with the titles and are actually overly melodramatic dreck better suited for emo or metalcore).  Should also add the CD only lasts four and a half minutes--I would have been pretty livid if I'd paid more than a buck for it.

Watchmaker - Erased from the Memory of Man
Willowtip press.  Admittedly I'm not a big grind fan (aside from the usual classic suspects), but this is even less interesting than I thought it would be.  I'd heard quite a lot of hype about them and was expecting something over the top, and while this certainly grinds in a noisy and chaotic way, it falls way short of totally destroying for me.  I suppose I was also expecting them to be more or less pure grindcore along the lines of say, Insect Warfare, but this has quite a bit of noise and crust influence too. 

Asian Typhoon - Wings (2008)

Cost: 99¢

Ok, so this is actually the US re-release of X.Y.Z.→A's Wings album under the less cryptic Asian Typhoon bandname (which was also the name of their first album).  I found it odd the spines read "Asian Typhoon / X.Y.Z.→A" to stress the name change while neglecting the actual album title.

I knew Minoru Niihara was the vocalist beforehand, but didn't realize until reading the liner notes just before listening that Fumihiko Kitsutaka was the guitarist.  That got my hopes up, since Minoru did some guest vocals on Fumihiko's Never Ending Story album, which were the best tracks there.  His guitar playing is the highlight of the CD, and his largely neoclassical style gives the album an extremely strong power metal edge at times, although there's a lot of more rocking material here, and a hard rock undercurrent in general.  I suppose in a general sense, like current Loudness, you could classify it as some kind of contemporary heavy metal, although it doesn't get either as groovy or thrashy/extreme as newer Loudness, and the guitar playing is very different from Akira Takasaki's.  In some ways I'd say this is musically closer to Sly or Niihara's solo stuff than any era of Loudness.

My first impression wasn't that great as the first track is a ballad, and the second has off-putting barked gang backing vocals which are used in a couple songs.  It did grow on me, although the album is a bit uneven at times, and I definitely preferred the speedier/heavier material as a whole.  There is some token Japanese weirdness with "Optimism-Self Therapy"--the verses are essentially spoken word motivational speech/pep talk stuff in Japanese, with a chorus of "Wo wo wo, let's get happy."  Yeah... 

Day of Mourning - Your Future's End (1999)

Cost: 99¢

 

This is an old find (~10 years ago) that I stored away among some other more punk/HC oriented bargain bin finds I was in no hurry to listen to.  In fact, this came from the previous record store that was in the location I get most of my bargain bin discs from now.

 

Metallic hardcore with the distinction of having more guttural vocals, definitely a rarity for this style of music. I generally loathe the traditional HC tough talk/aggro vocals, so this CD was way more enjoyable than I anticipated. Unfortunately, they throw some screaming guest backing vox in (Integrity's Dwid on one track, and Jimmy Bulloch of Ringworm on another), which are easily the worst parts of the disc.  Also gotta commend them for some nice intro/outro samples (Charles Manson and Amityville Horror I & II especially).