UltraMantis Black - UltraMantis Black (2014)

Cost: 99¢

This CD is available for trade.

Apart from the Relapse logo, went in blind on this one.  I had never heard of the wrestler before, so I had no idea the guy on the front was one, or that he was even in the band.  I chalked it up as just being bizarre modern cover art.  Expectations weren't high, but I was figuring on sludge at best, indie rock at worst.

...So of course it ends up being HC/powerviolence.  A couple songs add some grind into the mix too, but it's still nothing that interests me.  Luckily for my attention span the whole album is less than 14 minutes long.

Bloodstream Parade - The Apocalypse In Retrospect (2009)

Cost: 99¢

 This CD is available for trade.

Modern thrash/groove stuff. Initially I'm inclined to say this is (marginally) better than other bands in the style since the vocals are less annoying, and occasionally they come up with something okay musically.  What's frustrating is that these parts are all VERY brief.  Literally every single time I heard potential in a riff, within seconds they'd switch to generic chugging.  Check out "Future Eyes Only"--it starts out as fast, energetic thrash, but that only lasts...11 SECONDS.

On the plus side, their fun crossover-ish cover of The Beastie Boys "Fight for Your Right" is very good and easily the best part of the disc.

Driven by Hate - Done with Life (2006)

Cost: 99¢

Coupled with the band name, that awful cover reeks of hardcore.  Still, the band pic (they're all older, except for the drummer) did look like a metal band, so I decided to take a closer look at the CD.  The booklet was pretty encouraging--there's a tribute photo of their deceased former guitarist where he's wearing a Slayer shirt, and there are credits for an unlisted Black Sabbath medley--so I went ahead and bought the disc.

The first track was pretty much what I was expecting--downtuned, groovy modern thrash.  Since it was metal and the vocalist wasn't a aggro shouter or hardcore barker, I was still relatively okay with it.   Then "Gods of the Severed Sky" starts.  Suddenly they're blazing power/thrash, with the singer doing very Painkiller-esque highs to match (though they're more like a mix of Ripper Owens and David Wayne than pure Halford).  "Outcast" sounds like a Black Album-era Metallica semi-ballad, but most of the rest of the disc is a mix of the groovy thrash with those very cool Painkiller-style parts thrown in.  It's kinda disappointing they felt the need to put in the more modern sounding stuff at all, but it's still way, way better than I was expecting.

Last track is an unlisted 9-minute Sabbath medley: "War Pigs"/a very short bit of "Symptom of the Universe"/"N.I.B."/"Black Sabbath"/"Electric Funeral."  I was kind of surprised as the vocalist's "regular" midrange vox are much stronger here than on the band's original material.  The medley itself is excellent, but unfortunately there's fake crowd noise playing through the entire track.