Dead on Arrival - Alive and Kickin' (1995)

Cost: $1.00
This CD is available for trade.

Expected--and got--indie hard rock. Unbeknownst to me when snagging this, the bassist is Mike LePond of Heathen's Rage and Symphony X fame.  Despite that and the list of metal singers in the vocalist's thanks list, I must stress there's no actual metal here.

Performance wise this is ok, but the music and lyrics all seem super cliche and uninspired.  Worst are the schmaltzy attempts at '80s style power ballads.  This is the kind of stuff I call state fair hard rock--the type of band you'd hear as free entertainment at some local event. It probably sounds better with muscle car displays or booths selling custom airbrushed t-shirts nearby.

Blatant Disarray - Everyone Dies Alone (2010)

Cost: $1.50

This CD is available for trade.

Main influence here is the commercially successful US thrash of the mid/late '80s to very early '90s-- when most bands and labels wanted a piece of that Big 4 pie--mixed with a more modern sound and playing technique.  It's not overly modern, groove-laden Andy Sneap produced crap, but neither it is super old school sounding.  Vocals are a mid-range style that remind me of Chuck Billy...Due to the band's major influence, it would be prudent to say they're quite reminiscent of Hetfield as well, but Chuck definitely moreso.  One thing that struck me as odd is that many of the the choruses are overly accessible sounding.  Not as in catchy, but as in written with a deliberate modern hard rock influence.  They're not CD ruiners, but I found it weird some of the choruses were sudden introductions of quite Disturbed or Avenged Sevenfold sounding stuff into thrash.

The band is at their best when they tighten the focus to blatantly Metallica-influenced material.   Much of the album, particularly the second half, sounds like a very modernized take on Master of Puppets-inspired ideas ("Faithless," in particular), while actually falling far short of that kind of greatness.  "Eye Fortune" has a very AJFA-sounding part with twin acoustic guitars.

Mitra - All Gods Kill (2006)

Cost: 99¢

 

Unbeknownst to me when buying this, the drummer here is Rigor Mortis' Harden Harrison, and the vocalist is Kurt Grayson, who was on that third, very Testament-sounding Wrath album.  I found out immediately prior to listening.  I point that out because normally that sort of bandmember pedigree would make me stupidly optimistic, but it didn't here.  Too many letdowns have taken their toll, I guess.

 

The fast and mid-paced material here is groove metal.  There's some punkish energy in the fastest stuff and there's a thrashy riff here and there, but nothing terribly interesting for the classic thrash fan (namely, me).  The other half of the album goes for a slow-paced, sludgy, southern type of sound, perhaps like a b-level version of Down, who I don't particularly like in the first place.  Unfortunately the main vocals are aggro nonsense.  "War Horse" has some doomy stoner riffs approaching something you might find in a Wino project, but any potential it might have had is killed for me by those lame Anselmo-style vocals.

Opiate for the Masses - Manifesto (2008)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Picked this up solely because it was on Century Media.  I know, I know, nowadays that's hardly an indicator of quality.  I have only myself to blame.  But I saw the chick in the band pic and figured some sort of gothic/power metal mix at best, alternative stuff like later Lacuna Coil/The Gathering at worst.

Very unexpectedly, it's mostly in the vein of '90s mainstream industrial rock--think Stabbing Westward, Nine Inch Nails, Filter, etc.  Also has a bit of an Alice in Chains vibe to it at times, though obviously with more electronic and industrial elements.  Nothing here to interest me, so the best I can say is that the opening track and the cover of Portishead's "Wandering Star" have catchy choruses.

Ascension Theory - Answers (2002)

Cost: $1.00

Melodic prog. metal, not mind-blowing but certainly worth the buck.

Nocturne - Guide to Extinction (2005)

Cost: around $1 (bought as part of a lot)
This CD is available for trade.

Not metal.  The band/album name and album art might indicate the possibility of metal, but as soon as I saw the band logo, I suspected it would be industrial or electronica (which is vaguely true).  

Most of the CD's first half sounds like female-fronted '90s alternative rock, with relatively minimal industrial and gothic influences tacked on.  In the later songs, they lose the overly sweet vocals and increase the industrial influences a bit, and it comes off like a mix of Bile, White Zombie, Hole, and a little bit of Marilyn Manson.   No thanks.

7000 Dying Rats - Fanning the Flames of Fire (1998)

Cost $1.00

Make no mistake, this album is first and foremost a delivery system for humorous and ironic songtitles.  In many cases, they even surpass Anal Cunt at it.  I was pleasantly surprised because while I expected a comedic novelty listen, which this certainly is, a couple of the straightforward parts are pretty good grindcore.  The pure grind stuff is broken up by all sorts of strange and humorous material, and the CD just gets weirder and weirder as it goes on.  The album as a whole is much less monotonous than old Agoraphobic Nosebleed, most AxCx (they're generally not as noisecore-sounding, although there are obvious influences and a tribute track called--what else--"Anal Cunt is Gay"), and Meat Shits (they're not as reliant on samples, although there are plenty--and I actually wish they had included more) material.  

Just some comments about the end of the disc..."Ozzy Looked like Bea Arthur on the Ultimate Sin Tour" is one of the greatest songtitles ever, and at just over 13 min. long I had high hopes.  Unfortunately it's a much-too-short cover medley of Sabbath's "It's Alright" and "Back Street Kids" with some Ozzy stage banter samples, and then 10 minutes of silence.  There are several untitled 4 and 5 second tracks--most of these are dedicated to studio foolery inspired by the lyrics to Venom's "Sacrifice," and later on Gus Backus' '60s hit "Der Mann Im Mond" is sampled.  Disappointingly, since the last track is listed as "99) Luft Balloons," I was hoping for the actual Nena cover, but it's just a short audio clip of some hockey commentators bookended by silence.

Worth the buck just for the Sabbath renditions and the vintage pic of Bruce Dickinson in his silly feathered "Powerslave" mask on top of the disc.

Heavy Metal Killers compilation (2009)

Cost: 99¢

Yep, another Earache compilation from the same store where I got the Thrashing Like a Maniac disc last month.  I'd say this is the far superior CD since even discounting the genre difference, it's a much stronger roster and less uneven musically.  But as with Thrashing..., it's somewhat disappointing there are so few demo/rare tracks.

Initially I thought Hospital of Death was a very out-of-place inclusion, since I think of them as a much thrashier band, but their track has enough traditional HM and power metal influences to fit in well.  The Cauldron track actually stands out rather negatively among the songs due to the noticeably slicker style.  Speaking of Cauldron, it finally hit me when listening who their nasal vocal style reminds me of so much--Halloween.

Forgive me for passing on doing a full track-by-track review, but there are only so many ways one can indicate "this song is pretty good" before the 'ol writing creativity dries up.

Old Grandad - The Last Upper (1999)

Cost: 99¢

This CD is available for trade.

Very old find I'm just getting around to.  This came from a store that gave metal/punk/HC its own separate clearance section, so it may have been a totally blind purchase, but I think I may have seen an ad/review in Pit or similar. I certainly did not know at the time that it was Erik Moggridge's post-Epidemic band.

Weird stuff for sure...to summarize the music, I think it's easiest to break it down into two general parts--there are noisier punk/HC/grind/speedcore elements, and then there are Sabbath-influenced groovy/stoner/sludge elements. These parts are arranged and mixed in various ways, but aside from the mellow final track, there's nothing that really deviates from those elements musically.   Vocals are all over the place--I'd say the most used are distorted punkish vox, but there are also various kinds of clean vocals, very Seth Putnam sounding vocals on the opening track, and even some guttural death metal vocals.

The humorous attitude and somewhat schizophrenic fusion of various styles reminds me of a more musically extreme version of what many of the so-called "alternative metal" bands were trying to do when mixing genres, though thankfully there's no funk crap here.  There are also some minor similarities to some of the more avant-garde grindcore and sludge bands which came later, although this seems more spontaneously silly and less consciously artsy.

Interesting CD as a listening experience, although the only tracks I came away liking to any extent were the last two--"Daly City Crackhouse" is spastic hardcore (those vocals at 2:15 crack me up), and aforementioned closer "Zero Sky" is kinda doomy and surprisingly contemplative.

Brother Von Doom - Relentless (2008)

Cost: 99¢

Silly band name, but better than I expected.  There are too many Slaughter of the Soul-inspired bands out there, but at least this isn't metalcore/deathcore masquerading as melodeath; the band largely--but not completely--avoids those kinds of sounds.  There's no clean singing of any kind, just high and guttural low vocals, but the vox seem quite forced, which don't doesn't mesh with the music all that well (sadly, they are somewhat reminiscent of -core bands).  The band is pretty generous with decent guitar harmonies, but things feel quite one-dimensional from song to song, and the disc lacks distinctive material (aside from the cool power metallish/"Mars, the Bringer of War"-esque intro).

Bloodsoaked - Religious Apocalypse (2014)

Cost: 99¢

This CD is available for trade. 

 

EP with some new tracks, a pair of covers, and some live tracks.  The new stuff is okay for nowadays death metal--it's not old-school by any stretch, but there's definitely some '90s Floridian influence in the riffs.  But I'm not a big fan of the blastbeating, and it's disappointing that there are no guitar solos (especially considering that Peter's guitar playing on the covers is very good).  The live stuff is just space filler so I'm not going to bother talking about it. 

That leaves the Cinderella and Ratt covers which are of course the main point of interest on the disc.  Other than the downtuning and DM vocals, both are played pretty faithfully, with the solos and lead work being especially well done.  Being the less metallic of the two songs, "Shake Me" doesn't translate as well, and the chorus sounds goofy with extreme vocals.  "You're in Love" isn't the first Ratt cover I would have thought of for a death metal cover (obviously "Round and Round" for the notoriety, or maybe one of the heavier cuts from the first EP like "Sweet Cheater") but the Bloodsoaked version works surprisingly well.

Taraxacum - Rainmaker (2003)

Cost: 99¢

Disappointing for the most part--I was expecting power metal (especially based on the pedigree of the band members), but this is melodic hard rock, with relatively minor metal influences here and there.

Ankhelgloknar - Mortuus Deus (1999)

Cost: $1.00

Not sure whether the stupid band name (and concept behind it, as explained in the booklet) are just childish attempts to seem obscure and nihilistic, or whether it's supposed to be a parody of black metal.  I suspect the former.

"Ankhelgloknar is destined to redefine the Black/Thrash metal category. The 6 piece European brood boasts a manic and violent style that will be sure to shred even the most jaded ears. The bands razor sharp vocals, screaming twin guitar solos and ballistic rhythm section will make this group a hit with true fans of this genre! The band, having honed their individual styles in various bands in various areas of Europe, seems to have found a dark and nefarious style that they can lay claim to as their own. They have formed a belief in the ancient arts taught by the religious pariah and their namesake "Ankhelgloknar" that feeds their musical sound and lyric style. This can be witnessed in their debut album "Mortuus Deus" which delivers it's deadly goods with over 60 minuets of unholy metal! These guys are scary and not recommended for the impressionable or faint of heart. They play with the convictions of their beliefs and it shows. Give them a listen....We dare you!"

Ironically, after all that cheesy hype, the band end up not even being black/thrash.  They don't seem to be European either--the vocalist is obviously the guy from the band O.C.D. on the same record label, so I expect at least some of the other members are too.

So imagine it's the late '90s, and you want to cash in on the black metal trend.  Except you've never really heard any black metal before, maybe just read a oversimplified text description ("raspy vocals and dark riffs").  You're in a groove/modern thrash metal band, so you figure if you evil things up a little, you can present yourselves as a black/thrash band.  That's pretty much what it feels like.  I must stress that the end result has very limited resemblance to anything black metal, so it's not the typical Cradle of Filth or Norwegian emulation you might expect from a bandwagon jumping band.

The songs are midpaced, with chuggy, groovy thrash riffs.   The longer songs sometimes have riffs closer to the traditional black metal tremolo style, but even then, in this context it doesn't really sound much like BM.  The guitar solos are interesting but inconsistent--sometimes they're more traditional shredding, other times they'll be discordant and squelchy.  The vocals are probably the oddest and most disconcerting thing here, as rather than any kind of extreme metal vocals, they sound more like an affected trollish voice you might find on a cartoon villain's henchman or lackey (the main villain would probably have a cooler, more ominous voice).  After getting used to them they were more weird than bad, although they often have a strange cadence.  The drumming seems like organic playing, but the sound (the snare in some tracks is annoying and industrialish) definitely makes me think they're triggered or an electronic kit.

There are only six tracks, but they're quite long--the shortest is 6:30, and three of them run almost 12 minutes or more.  The best stuff on the disc is the atmospheric parts on two of the longer tracks.   "Dead End" has a mellow, contemplative end section with acoustic guitar and chanting vocals.  The last half of "The Summoning" turns unexpectedly ambient with tribal drumming and almost mantra-like chanted vox (even better, the outro is another 5+ min. reprise of the "Dead End" ending).

So yeah, odd CD, and the overall listening experience reminded me much more of some kind of weird, dark progressive metal than anything black metal.  Completely stupid marketing for this.  Wish they had expanded on some of the atmospheric/avant-garde elements, but this ended up being unexpectedly ok at times for a buck.

Jacknife - Moment of Reckoning (2005)

Cost: $1.00

Mix of metalcore, modern thrash, and groove metal.  Initially I thought this was going to be better than I expected, since the opening track starts out as very thrashy groove metal.  As the CD went on, the breakdowns and metalcore elements began showing themselves more and more, and it became less of an interesting listen.  Vocals are a hoarse HC style, not my favorite but not as cheesily forced as Hatebreed/Pantera aggro vox.  There are also quite a few nice Swedish melodeath style guitar harmonies.  For more modern stuff this is alright since it's on the thrashier and more metallic side in terms of riffs.  However, it's that common problem again--the music is just enough to hint at potential and keep me listening, but ultimately there are far more interesting options out there.

Covered in Filth - A Tribute to Cradle of Filth (2003)

Cost: $1.00

Upon seeing this I immediately assumed it was a Dwell Records release...Except it's actually on Deadline Music (considering they're a Cleopatra sublabel, the tribute is thankfully light on gothic cheese).   The liner notes and band descriptions are laughable, a mix of corny overzealous attempts to seem metal ("Horns Up") and label PR hyperbole.

Note that for better or for worse, most bands did not attempt to emulate Dani's really high vocals.

1. Wehrwolfe - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh

Relatively straight up cover.  Guitars are upfront, so it sounds less atmospheric and more brutal than the original.  The guitar solo has been tweaked into something more technically proficient.  Vocals seem kind of monotonous.

2. Born of Thorns - To Eve the Art of Witchcraft

One of the most CoF sounding covers on the CD.  They decided to throw in some deep clean vocals that are more associated with later CoF--they don't sound out of place, but the original didn't have them.  Also, the heavy accent on the female narration at the end sort of detracts from the atmosphere.

3. Serpents Aria - Born in a Burial Gown

Ex-Fog/Fear of God.  Not bad per se, but lacks the atmosphere and subtlety of the original.  The vocals are buried pretty deeply in the mix and the keyboards are much simpler than the original.  Oddly, the first part of the song has some random guitar shredding.  There's more added guitar at the end, although there it makes sense as they substituted it for the original's synths.

4. Mirzadeh - Malice Through the Looking Glass

Musically this is one of the more faithful covers, although the main vocals seem a little off.  The mellow sections with piano are covered quite accurately, so this cover stays truer to the feeling of the original than most of the others. 

5. D.D.T. - No Time to Cry

Yeah, the booklet has some excuse for the "cover of a cover" thing.   This is Jim Dofka playing all instruments, with a vocalist who went on to do short stints in -core related bands.  I prefer the original Sisters of Mercy song to the Cradle cover, but as a cover of the CoF rendition this is extremely good.  I'm kind of divided on the main vocals, which work ok but are on the verge of being silly--they're too deep and kind of monotonous, almost like a mumbling parody of Type O Negative vocals.

6. Chronzon - Cthulhu Dawn

This band has a ridiculous write-up in the booklet, so honestly I was expecting an awful cover.   Some of the guitar parts towards the end don't translate well and sound more like generic chunky DM, but otherwise their cover is played pretty straightforward.  They actually have one of the better Dani-like vocalists and some of the best keyboards on the tribute.   There's also an added piano outro--it's more interesting than the ending of the original song, although it doesn't sound very CoF-ish.

7. Veil of Anguish - Summer Dying Fast

As with the Born of Thorns cover, very Cradle sounding.

8. Kaul - Suicide and Other Comforts
Starts out as if it's going to be some sort of mellow, deconstructed gothic rockish/almost ambient-like cover (far better than it sounds), but by about halfway through it becomes a more traditional cover.  One of only two bands that tried to do something creative/experimental with their covers.

9. Noctuary - The Black Goddess Rises
Keyboard-less (they use guitars for the melodies instead), but otherwise straightforward cover.

10. Lucifer - Desire in Violent Overture
Stripped down, simplified keyboard-less cover.  Not bad.  Actually, sort of sounds like something from The Principle of Evil... album like this.

11. Dark Army - From the Cradle to Enslave
Based on the band "bio"/write-up, I expected this to be crappy one man black metal.  Admittedly, it's probably the worst track on here, but it's not completely terrible.  The vocal effects and drum machine make it sound cheap (not in a good way), but the riffs and keyboard work are pretty solid for a cover.

12. Willow Wisp - The Forest Whispers My Name
Another very Cradle-like cover, not surprising considering the straightforward parts on their Full Moon Productions CD were CoF worship.

13. Kekal - Dance Macabre 
Starts out with a lengthy drum and bass intro bit.  "Dance Macabre" was basically a techno remix (of "Tortured Soul Asylum," I think?)...Here the techno is dropped and the meat of the cover sounds more like traditional CoF, albeit with strong progressive touches.  The least faithful cover on here, though much better than the original.

Mastery - Lethal Legacy (2006)

Cost: $1.00

I usually see this described as instrumental thrash--don't want to be purposefully finicky with semantics here, but vocal-less thrash may be a better descriptor.  As far as I understand, the band was open to having a vocalist but just didn't find the right one, as opposed to a band forming with the intent of being an instrumental act.  After listening, it definitely sounds like the material was written with a vocalist in mind rather than composed as some sort of instrumental metal EP, though obviously I wasn't privy to the recording process.

The music itself is fairly aggressive modern thrash, and while competent, the musicianship isn't dazzling enough to make up for the lack of vocals.  It's a slippery slope, because I generally DON'T like instrumental metal forays (beyond the individual song here and there) because they tend to get overly progressive or avant-garde.  It feels like they just took the vocals out of the formula without compensating for the loss--by the time the CD was only about half over, it was a struggle for me to concentrate on the music.  It was certainly worth the dollar I paid, as they don't make any major missteps, and ultimately, it's an ok release. However, the reality of the situation is that this is a listening option competing against literally thousands and thousands of other thrash recordings.

When they did get a vocalist for their full-length, it was...Billy Milano! Haven't heard it, but hopefully I'll snag it from a bargain bin as well someday. Admittedly, the idea of him on vocals isn't terribly appealing.

Oh yeah, should add that the booklet is die-cut in the shape of the band logo (when folded up, the front logo is showing through two layers of paper).  I've seen die-cut CD inserts a few times before, but this is probably the most intricate design. Seems like a needless layout extravagance, especially given the rather generic fiery background cover art, but hey, it held my interest for 15 seconds when I saw it.

Humiliation - Battalion (2014)

Cost: $2.00

I was very excited to find this so cheaply, and this crushes the majority of my usual bargain bin finds musically.  Outside the context of the bargain bin, it's still a solid release, but not fantastic.  Bolt Thrower is the main reference point here, though they don't quite sound as close as a lot of the reviews I've read would have you believe.  Imagine a distillation of Bolt Thrower's '90s output (they bypass the grindy/chaotic stuff of the first two albums completely) passed through a musically simplified, mid-paced filter, and you're pretty close.  I liked the album before this one a lot more, as it threw in some slower tempo-ed stuff, reminiscent of both old UK doom/death and the gloomy atmospheres on some of the old Sunlight DM.  Here it's almost exclusively mid-paced, with few exceptions.  The material here doesn't completely overcome the lack of variety.

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

Cost: $2.00

This is the old Jet Records press (previously I only had the 1995 and rightfully loathed 2002 remasters).  I picked this up at a thrift store, and was rather surprised that it was clean and in pretty good condition.  "S.A.T.O." is my favorite Ozzy song ever, and "Over the Mountain" and "Flying High Again" are okay, but I've never found the rest of the album to be very interesting.

Thrashing Like a Maniac compilation (2007)

Cost: 99¢

At first I was super excited to find this, since retrothrash hardly ever shows up in dollar bins.  Then reading the tracklist was kind of disappointing...It looked like it might be all previously released stuff, and I was hoping for unreleased material or more obscure/unsigned bands.  Of course I bought it anyway, and I felt better when I went through the booklet and saw there were a couple EP/demo tracks.  Some general observations:

1.) Like it or not, it does cover almost all of the heavy hitters of the US retrothrash scene at the time...Only Havok and perhaps Vektor are noticeably absent.

2.) In general, the quality of the vocals is weak across the board.  Not horrible in most cases, just weak.  No really vicious Morbid Saint or Kreator style vocals, and on the other end of the spectrum, no clean classic HM-styled vocals.  Suprisingly, not even any Araya or Souza emulators.  At best, there are a couple attempts at Schmier-ish shrieks with mixed results.

3.) In several cases the songs seemed to come off better here individually than on the actual releases they're taken from.  Unfortunately, I think that's because a lot of the bands don't have a tremendous amount of variety in their songwriting, so tracks stand out on their own more positively than on an album with several other similar tracks.

1. Bonded By Blood - Immortal Life
Okay, not great.  Quality-wise, middle of the pack compared to the rest of the CD.

2. Evile - Thrasher
One of their better songs despite the corny circle pitting lyrics.  As cliche as it sounds, mixes classic Metallica and Slayer influences well.

3. Municipal Waste - The Art of Partying
Not a fan.  The Brecht-like vocals worked well on their first album when they were doing the raw old-D.R.I. type thing, but they sound kinda lame on their thrashier material.

4. Dekapitator - Deathstrike Command
One of the more violent sounding tracks on here musically, but could have used more OTT or aggression in the vocals.  There's an attempt at a Sheepdog scream in the middle, but it just isn't enough for me.

5. Fueled by Fire - Massive Execution
No complaints here.  Again, this seems a little better than I remember their debut album being.

6. Decadence - Corrosion
Ironically, this sounds worse than I remember the 3rd Stage of Decay album being!  Grooviest and least old school sounding track on the album (to be fair, in the context of the entire genre they're not all that modern, but here they stick out).  Very forced vocals, like a higher pitched version of Sabina on the later Holy Moses stuff.  Worst track on here.  They even replaced this with a Crucifier track on the Japanese CD, which really should have been the case on all versions.

7. Warbringer - Total War
Yeah, these vocals are more like it!  One of the better tracks on here.  

8. SSS - Overload
For some reason I thought these guys were overly modern/hardcore influenced stuff like Stampin' Ground, but I was pleasantly surprised by raging crossover thrash.  Extra points for the Scum samples.

9. Gama Bomb - Zombi Brew
Good but doesn't change my relatively neutral opinion of them.  Never found them to be as fantastic as some hype them up to be, but I'm not bothered by their humor either.

10. Merciless Death - Exumer
Comes the closest to sounding like authentic '80s thrash in terms of sound and production, which is obviously a huge plus.  However, suffers from the same problem as all their material I've heard--solid music, but unenthusiastic vocals.

11. Deadfall - Resistance is Futile
Vocals remind me a bit of the deeper vox of Paul Arnold from At War, at least at first.

12. Lazarus - Last Breath
Okay track.  This is fairly modern sounding thrash compared to the other tracks.  Vocals seem a tad forced, but not enough to be bothersome.

13. Toxic Holocaust - War is Hell
Fine musically, but has those lethargic black metal vox with slight reverb that ruin a lot of their stuff for me.

14. Mutant - Psycho Therapy (actually "Psycho Surgery")
Quite good.  More towards the technical side of thrash than the other bands, which works well with the harsh vox.

15. Violator - Atomic Nightmare
As with the Merciless Death song, sounds considerably more like '80s thrash than the other tracks in terms of sound, and all the better for it.

16. Send More Paramedics - Twilight of the Flies
Rather punkish, especially with the semi-shouted vocals.  Not my cup of tea, but certainly more appealing than any metalcore the cutesy bandname might suggest.

John Arch - A Twist of Fate (2003)

Cost: 99¢

Take a wild guess as to which two bands the music made by three Fates Warning guys plus Mike Portnoy is going to sound most like.  Other than the admittedly strong selling point of having John Arch on vocals, this really isn't different enough from either later Fates Warning or Dream Theater for me to be very enthusiastic about it.  John's vocals are still in absolutely tremendous shape (see: Keep It True 2016), so it's disappointing he's only done more modern proggy stuff with Jim Matheos since his return, and nothing more in line with those classic first three Fates Warning albums.

Malformed Earthborn - Defiance of the Ugly by the Merely Repulsive (1995)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Despite the participation of Dan Lilker and Shane Embury, there's nothing grindy or even metallic here, though that's not too surprising since this is on Release.  I'm not sure if it's the label, the oni mask on the cover, something I read, or simply something my brain concocted, but for some reason I thought this had Japanese noise influences.  Instead, it's just industrialish stuff.  The obvious immediate comparison for a good chunk of the disc is Godflesh due to the guitar tone and drum loops, although the overall atmosphere isn't as bleak.  Some of the sample usage and quirkier stuff reminds me of a darker version of Throbbing Gristle, and at times the material is very rhythmic and danceable.   No thanks.

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.

Baphomet - Trust (1994)

Cost: $1.00

Used to have this one.  Several years ago, it was easy to snag this disc ultra-cheap (I'm assuming Massacre was liquidating overstock of the US pressing).  Pretty surprised to find this--it's still not a rare disc by any means, but it looks like the supply of cheapo copies has dried up.

On its own the music is ok and even if not great, it's a decent album for a dollar.  Still, I can't deny my personal disappointment in their change of style.  I liked the death/thrash of their debut the best, but then they toned that down significantly on their second album, and it's shed almost completely here.  The first two tracks aren't too far from the sound of Latest Jesus, but as things go on it's clear they've switched to a more relaxed and less frantic style of thrash, sounding like a mix of early 90's Bay Area influenced Euro bands (with the use of gang vocals and such) and a lethargic version of '89-'90 Kreator.

The vocals on the earlier material could get pretty wild, which I liked, but unfortunately the higher and raspier vocals of the first two albums are all but gone.  I do still like the main style of vocals here, which are reminiscent of Tom Angelripper, but again, I think the vocals would better serve more extreme music.  The production job and vocals make the album sound aggressive, but it lacks the rough viciousness of their debut.

Flatline - Pave the Way (2008)

Cost: $1.00

Didn't go in with high expectations on this one--most of the reviews I read referenced Pantera and Lamb of God, but interviews and bios seemed to indicate the band themselves saw themselves as some kind of old-school thrash.  Unfortunately, while pretty thrashy at times, it does definitely reek of the former: '90s-style groove metal with the aggro vox I loathe.  The guitarwork often has a melodeath feel.  Not enough here to make this disc particularly interesting for me.  If questioned I could honestly state I prefer this to something like say, Skinlab, but why listen to either in the first place?

As a side note, while most of the graphics and layout here aren't noteworthy (except for the last band photo where they're pretending to beat up their very nu-rock looking vocalist), the skull with bolts used in the artwork is pretty cool (aside from the dumb tribal designs slapped on it).  There's a winged version on the back of the booklet that reminds me of an industrialized version of Overkill's Chaly.

Malsain - They Never Die (2005)

Cost: 50¢

When buying this, I definitely expected something that was either very gothic-influenced or an overly experimental sort of BM.  Thankfully, it's very straightforward contemporary Norwegian black metal.  They were compared to Khold a lot (even by their own label PR, it seems), and while they aren't soundalikes, it's not an unfair general comparison.  Not my preferred stuff, but this was well worth the 50 cents.  I should add that the vocalist is female--since the vocals are done well, it may seem weird to mention it at all.  However, female vox in extreme metal are typically so sub-par, immediately recognizable, and falsely praised in the name of political correctness, that I need to emphasize that here they don't detract from the music.

Ironically, despite the music being very stereotypical BM in almost every aspect, the band tried to differentiate themselves from the black metal scene--for example, the corny statement in the booklet that "MALSAIN performs Claustrophobic Metal exclusively."  The lyrics touch on horror/nightmare themes, but they (the English ones at least) are too scant and simple to be effective psychological horror.   I could see the lyrics working better in conjunction with music like Woods of Infinity (consider the opening lines of the title track--A group of children playing outside/In my van I offered them a ride--hahaha), but there's nothing particularly weird or creepy about the music.  

Devin Townsend - Terria (2001)

Cost: $1.00

Rather disappointing that this was one of the only finds after a long day of CD hunting.  I'm not a fan of any of Devin's material that I've heard (including this), but by the middle of the album everything is extremely mellow and it just becomes inoffensive background music to me.  There are a few little bits of extremity which hint at Strapping Young Lad, mostly in the first few tracks, but luckily, they're rare.  Overall it brings to mind a mix of Dream Theater's most atmospheric material and the oddness/experimental tendencies of Steve Vai (but obviously far less guitar oriented).

Bloodlined Calligraphy - Ypsilanti (2006)

Cost: worked out to around 50¢

This was part of a CD lot I bought, which unfortunately was a mixed bag of actual metal and metalcore titles.  As if it wasn't obvious enough from the band photo and layout, generic breakdowncore (it's a bit shocking they're not on Victory Records).  Very surprised the band is on Metal-archives (judging by this, they must have made it in based on an earlier release).  No sense in wasting any more time talking about this.

Living Hell - Oblivion (2009)

Cost: $1.00

Metallic hardcore.  Initially the band name and album title set off my inner metal detector, but I was very disappointed when I saw this was on Eulogy, since that was a clear indicator of -core of some kind.  I sampled a few short soundclips of the album online, which all seemed to be raging HC, which I figured was enough to buy it as trade fodder even if it didn't end up being a keeper.

A sizeable chunk of the album is similar to what I heard.  They get compared to Integrity a lot, which only seems accurate in an extremely vague sense, or if you're pointing to a root Slayer influence in a few riffs.  However, it's not all fast stuff, and when the band slows down, they often shed the HC and veer right into doom/death sounding territory--the intro of the title track wouldn't sound out of place on the first Paradise Lost album.  Sadly, the vocals don't follow suit.

Across Tundras - Dark Songs of the Prairie (2006)

Cost: $1.00

 

I looked this up before buying, and everything online indicated it was going to be some sort of weird sludge/doom--not terribly enticing, but for a dollar, I can check it out.  Even with low expectations, this was disappointing.  Overall it's more like psychedelic post-rock.  The distorted guitar and psychedelic feel occasionally hint at Sabbathy influences, which are often too far removed to make anything on here positively metal.  At times they seem to be going for a bleak atmosphere, but it's largely undermined by the upbeat, rockish riffing and the folksy overtones they put into the music.  This would have been far more interesting with a funeral doom guitar tone and riffing approach.  Speaking of folksy, two songs ("The Old Sexton" and "Aura Lea...") go off completely from the style on the rest of the album into ambient folk/country music territory.  I can see the Western themes making sense as album art or lyrical inspirations, but the way they're integrated into the actual music here comes off as a bit of a tryhard attempt to seem unique.

Indulgence, Inc. - A Tribute To Mötley Crüe (1999)

Cost: $1.00

Had this several years ago and traded it, I think without even listening to it.  I only really really like a relatively small amount of Mötley Crüe songs, and together with the fact that this is a non-metal tribute make it pretty uninteresting, even by Dwell Rec. tribute standards.

Also quite surprised that "Looks That Kill" and "Kickstart My Heart" weren't covered on here...

1. Rewind - Dr. Feelgood

 Downtuned, straight-up cover, and the best track on here due to the strength of the original.  Not sure why the singer does the "Welcome to the Jungle" intro after the solo...

2. Doom Kounty Electric Chair - Too Fast for Love

Punky version, but the faux-Elvis crooned vocals make it sound kinda rockabilly (and also very dumb).

3. Needulhed - Wild Side

Industrial/electronica flavored version.  Not as bad as that sounds.

4. Streetwalkin' Cheetahs - Live Wire

Punk version.  Okay for what it is but given the song I'm disappointed a metal band didn't step up to do it here.

5. Revlon Red - Stick to Your Guns

Okay musically, but there's no way to take this seriously--the prominent cowbell and ridiculously exaggerated effeminate vocals make this seem like a parody version.

6. The Bastards - Come On and Dance

Has sort of a weird Kiss vibe to it (which is a little strange as they don't seem to be a retro-styled band).

7. NC Thirteens - Shout at the Devil

Ska version.  Doesn't translate well.

8. Sinisters - Bastard

I'm divided on whether the vocals work or not.  Sort of freewheeling rock'n'roll/'70s punk cover.

9. Doorslammer - On with the Show

Weak vocals.  Female backing vox, which remind me of both X and of '90s alternative rock.

10. Libertine - 10 Seconds to Love

Punk version, quite Rancid sounding.

11. Tuuli - Girls, Girls, Girls

Fine musically.  I realize it's done on purpose, but the female main vox are way too sugary-sounding (the all-female version of the chorus is fun, though).  I have no idea why, but they threw a Jerky Boys quote into the song!

12. B-Movie Rats - Knock Em' Dead, Kid

Kinda punky but pretty straight up musically.  The highness to the vocals is kind of odd, like the singer is trying to go outside of a comfortable range to emulate Vince Neil more.

13. Dementia - Starry Eyes

Heavy guitar tone.  The gruff, semi-shouted vox give it sort of a HC feel.

Dead Man's Hand - The Combination (2009)

Cost: $2.00

This was cheap and on Agonia so I grabbed it without giving it much thought, although I was kind of expecting death'n'roll, probably due to the style of the band logo.  Death/thrash in the basic vein of Carnal Forge, Dew-Scented, all The Haunted-type bands, you get the picture.  No real need for more of that kind of stuff, but since these guys don't make any real missteps--they're not overly modern/groovy nor overly melodic DM influenced--this wasn't bad for a two buck disc.

Enfold Darkness - Our Cursed Rapture (2009)

Cost: $2.00

Most of the time I find modern hype stickers on metal albums to be a silly waste of printing.  They're often filled with laughable hyperbole, they offer ridiculous sound comparisons based in marketing and not in reality, and they quote reviews, ratings, and people I don't care about.  Here, the sticker mentions Cradle of Filth and The Black Dahlia Murder, which is surprisingly spot-on in terms of the vocals (the music, not so much).  

The overall vocal style and range quite literally scream CoF--high and exaggerated raspy main vocals (with accompanying screams), deep DM-style backing vocals, and a couple cases of those gothic narration/deep-voiced spoken word vox.  The main vocals aren't always as piercing or as consistently high and shrieky as Dani, and that's where the TBDM comparison comes in, the Nocturnal album specifically.  I realize those vocal comparisons bring to mind all sorts of negative associations, including with me, and while I probably would have preferred vocals that weren't so high, they're tolerable.

The music itself is blackened modern melodic death metal--not necessarily a description to be terribly excited about, but I can't stress how much the excellent guitarwork carries this album.   There are lots of tasty leads, and the dual harmonies are some of the most interesting I've heard in recent extreme metal.

Candiria

These have been sitting in the "to be listened to eventually" pile for quite some time.  I never actually heard the band before (that I can recall--due to the name similarity I used to mentally associate them with the Relapse band Candiru) but may as well throw these on and give them a fair shot.

Post-listen spoiler alert: they suck.

Candiria - The Process of Self.Development (1999)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is for trade.

A prescient warning of unfortunate musical trends to come.  I know the band is still going, but this album could easily sit among contemporary stuff as avant-garde -core or jazz-influenced mathcore.  I remember a big fuss (both pro and con) being made about the rap influences here, so I was half-expecting something like Stuck Mojo.  The core (pun intended) of the music is relatively standard -core--perhaps with throatier vox--but of course with all sorts of disparate elements added to the mix.  On paper, with rap sections, pure jazz instrumental parts, trumpet, a bagpipe outro to one song, etc., it sounds way more chaotic and experimental than it actually ends up being.  Due to the fusion aspects, I can see where comparisons might be made to Mr. Bungle or some of the jazzier stuff on Ipecac, but this completely lacks the fun and zany atmosphere.  Also, the album isolates and compartmentalizes some of the influences it brings in.  There are entire rap tracks and entire jazz instrumental tracks (given the history of the band members, keep in mind it's not just a jazzy rhythm or jazzy bassline like you might find on a DM or prog. metal album--this has pure instrumental jazz sections).  So ironically, rather than hating all of the fusion elements from a purist standpoint, I thought the jazz parts and mellow instrumental tracks were well-played and completely overshadowed the rather boring -core part of the music.  But since I'm not combing bargain bins for jazz discs, this ended up being pretty uninteresting.

Candiria - 300 Percent Density (2001)

Cost: 50¢

 This CD is for trade. 

This is far more angry and NYHC sounding than the previous album, so I immediately liked it even less.  The fusion influences seem more directly integrated into the music, and have also been changed up a bit.  There's more of an emphasis on rap and hip-hop influence and rap-like vocals, and while there are still jazz influences, there are no longer any dedicated jazz tracks.  There are also more world/tribal music and ambient influences.  Yet again, an instrumental piece outshined everything else.  There's a hidden track at the end that uses ambient guitar and bongos to create a very dreamy soundscape that makes me feel like I'm on a tropical island staring at clouds.  It's not the main focus of their music and not what I'm looking for when I buy music though, so no reason to keep this.

Just from a few minutes of poking around online, it's embarassing how often this band is called metal--without any extra descriptors, no less--and by people who should probably know better.  I'm not sure if it's just sheer ignorance, or a lazy way out of trying to describe the band's multifaceted sound.

Dead World - The Machine (1993)

Cost: 99¢

Surprised how long it took for a cheap copy of this to show up.  Personally, I find The Machine less interesting than the debut, which mixed death metal and strong Godflesh influences.  This throws out the death metal elements and is more standard industrial metal fare--very percussion heavy (now using a drum machine) and with distorted spoken/whispered vocals.  Not really my thing, but I prefer the weird and atmospheric vibe this gives off to the stereotypically mechanical and angry industrial acts.  Even the layout (factories and bridges) and the lyrics (social commentary) fit more with a bleak industrial theme than the usual bio-mechanical schtick.

One element that did survive from the first album is the inclusion of ambient tracks, although there they existed as short interludes.  Here two sizeable tracks are dedicated to sample-laden ambient.

Wonderfully, "Blood Everywhere" contains audio samples of James Vance (of Judas Priest trial fame).

Darkside - Masquerade (1999)

Cost: $1.00

Impossible not to have high hopes when you find something in the bargain bin with Judas Priest in the thanks list ("for the influence") as well as W.A.S.P. and Lizzy Borden.  It's okay overall compared to some of the dollar disc garbage I come across, but it's far from the traditional HM I was hoping for.  It's in the 90s style of contemporary HM, with downtuned guitars and lots of groovy riffs.  Obviously for me, the less modern influences, the better, but here they aren't overboard enough to make me instantly hate it.  Also, this is just straightforward '90s heavy metal.  No thrash parts.  No power metal influence.  No forays into non-metal stuff either.  Metal-archives calls them "progressive heavy metal"--perhaps some isolated bits here and there, and there's a short bass solo track, but I think any sort of progressive tag is a huge misnomer.

One of the biggest strikes against the disc is the vocal performance.  The guy uses an inoffensive midrange and isn't bad per se, but the first time I listened to the CD, the vocals began to annoy me more and more, and I couldn't immediately pinpoint why.  First, they're monotonous.  The vocal cadence sounds similar in most of the songs, and beyond some sparingly used growly backing vox and gang choruses, there's not much variety.  They do a cover of "Jenny" (yep, the 867-5309 song),  and it's sung in the same style and flat tone as the rest of the CD.  It's played pretty straight-up as a metal version, but the growling chorus vox suggest some tongue-in-cheekiness.

There are also some corny vocal mannerisms which seem more fitting for a hard rock or alternative rock vocalist.   He's fond of extending the very ends of vocal lines for emphasis--either drawing them out, repeating them, or throwing a "yeah" in there, like Hetfield.  Wouldn't be hard to build a drinking game around it.  Unfortunately his vocals still come off as monotonous and fairly uncharismatic, and coupled with some of the groovy riffs, I think this makes the music seem more inclined towards '90s trend stuff than it actually is.

Without Face - Deep Inside (2000)

Cost: $1.00

The majority of the music here is progressive gothic metal with dual male/female vocals.  What stands out rather negatively are the occasional "aggressive" parts, which have rumbly, groovy riffs and kinda overly forced vocals that would be better suited for an unlikable '90s thrash band.  This is a relatively minor part of the music, but the core of the music here--the gothic metal--is alright, not great.  With so many gothic metal bands around that utilize this same basic style, I'd rather listen to one that doesn't have the out of place elements.

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).