Destroy Destroy Destroy - Battle Sluts (2009)

Cost: 99¢

This CD is available for trade.

Wasn't really sure what to expect here.  The band name and album title certainly seemed tongue-in-cheek, so I was somewhat expecting a parody, or perhaps a death, grind, or metalcore band satirizing power metal lyrically.  

Instead, the majority of this is more or less a pastiche of Children of Bodom and similar bands-- melodeath mixed with power metal sensibilities and galloping riffage, topped off with extreme vocals.  Unfortunately there are a few spots like in "Born of Thunder" and "The Berserker's Field of Whores" where more modern, metalcore-ish elments slip in.  There are also a few black metal sounding sections, especially coupled with the shrieky vocals.  Speaking of which, the main vox don't do the band any favors.  They're monotonous, overly forced, and seem more suitable for a core band or Cradle of Filth clone.  There are also a pair of epic symphonic intro/interlude tracks (they're nicer than most of the actual music, though they sound like they came straight from a generic fantasy MMORPG soundtrack), some keyboard use, and female vox in one track.

It's very telling that I actually wished for MORE folkish parts like those at the end of the album--I thought the drum/acoustic guitar intro of "Agents of Hypocrisy" and the folk metal elements of "Return of the Geishmal Undead" were easily the best parts of the CD.

Aside from the vocals, the musicianship itself isn't terrible--things would be far more interesting if it was--but that just means it's largely boring music played well.  This seems more like an empty listen for the Hot Topic-shopping, Decibel-reading, Metalocalypse-watching crowd.

Sly - Key (1996)

Cost: $1.00

I knew Loudness' Minoru Niihara was Sly's vocalist, but I didn't realize that Munetaka Higuchi was also in the band, as well as Earthshaker's guitarist and Blizard's bassist.  Sadly, it's far removed from the classic material of those bands and more in a groovier, less metallic '90s vein.  There are even some touches of progressiveness (particularly in the opener "Mankind's Children").  I'd still say the overall album qualifies as metal, although admittedly there are often strong rock influences and a couple of tracks are definitely more in a '90s hard rock vein.  Oh yeah, strangely enough, the opening riff from "Sleeping Dogs" very much reminds me of Sabbath's "Zero the Hero," even though when hearing it I realize there are only basic similarities.

Not really my thing, but it's well played (to be expected, given the pedigrees of the members), and there are enough interesting parts on here ("Magic Blood") to make it worth the buck.

Law of the Plague - The War Inside (2003)

Cost: 99¢

First impression:  Not good.  The lineup photos (which are some of the worst--and oddest--I've ever seen) look like a nu-metal band ready for a paintball game.  Ultimately bought it because I was curious about the "Bite It You Scum" cover.

Initially I was thrown for a loop because the first song opened with groovy/chuggy riffs that weren't entirely unexpected, but then they suddenly speed up into death/thrash parts (and then wind down into groovier stuff at the end of the track).  Unfortunately this is about as good as it gets aside from the decent instrumental "Call to Arms."   The rest of the disc is a weird combination of a groove metal base, but with some quite thrashy or chunky death metallish riffing at times, and a very nice DM-like guitar tone.  The heavier elements make this more interesting and certainly more palatable than straightforward groove metal, but I have no interest in hearing the modern/groove stuff in the first place, and I can't imagine any classic death or thrash metal fan finding the mixture here to be a benefit.

The GG Allin cover is kind of disappointing except for the chorus.  It's sped up a little and sounds quite upbeat compared to their original material.  The vocal phrasings are odd at times, and they throw in some needless groove part before the solo section.

Lobotomy - Born in Hell (2000)

Cost: 99¢

This CD is available for trade. 

Previously had this.  I couldn't remember anything specifically about the album, although I recall being generally underwhelmed and disappointed with Lobotomy's music as a whole after their demos (particularly the first two).  I mostly remember them as one of the comparatively obscure Swedish DM bands (along with Vermin and Hetsheads) who had their demo material put out on CD in the mid-'90s, way before such reissues were common.

It's actually a little better than I expected, but I'd still just give it an OK overall.   Groove-filled Sunlight DM with some dabbling in more death'n'roll-styled riffs here and there, not too different in approach from the mid-'90s output of Grave and Konkhra.  "Ashes" and "Bloodangel" have some riffs and leads very reminiscent of '90s Slayer.

Random 2017 finds

A buck each:

Howling Syn - Devilries
Average gothic metal.  It's not as overblown and theatrical as the band pics might suggest, but it's nothing great either.  The vocals are the weakest element here.  The clean vox are quite mediocre across the board.  It's as if they tested out several vocal styles just for the sake of variety, not caring about the quality or if they actually added anything to the atmosphere.  The female vocalist is the main offender since she shows up so much but isn't a particularly great singer--unspectacular on main vox, and adds none of the ethereal atmosphere you might expect from good backing vox.  The male vocals aren't that much better, especially the deep clean vox and the dramatic spoken word-style vocals.  There are some DM growls that work well with the music, but of course they're used very sparingly.  As for the rest of the music, it's okay for gothic metal, but nothing spectacular.

Lilitu - The Delores Lesion
This actually wasn't quite as avant-garde as I was expecting.  The majority of the music is Dark Tranquillity-style melodeath, but punctuated with various atmospheric parts and elements--most of these sections have a gothic metal/rock feel, although there are some Opeth influences too.  There are a couple of really nice acoustic guitar parts on the album, but unfortunately they're few and far between.  While most everything works pretty well together, the clean male vox used in several places don't contribute positively to the atmosphere.  I really liked the short instrumental interlude track "Ether," which seems like it's going in a depressive Katatonia-esque direction, then suddenly throws in that very dreamlike guitar part at a minute in.

Totimoshi - Ladron 
Think I'd heard of the band as the name seemed familiar, but didn't associate them with metal.  Mainly picked this up since it was on Crucial Blast.  Overall I'd describe them as some sort of heavy garage rock, though they occasionally get more experimental and play with twangy atmospheric acoustics.  At their most straightforward they go full-on stoner rock with clear 60s/70s influences, but as the album progresses there's a lot of more modern sounding material reminiscent of garage rock and Sabbath-inspired '90s alternative bands.  Think a weird 21st century mutation of sounds from the old SST Records roster--both straightforward rock and more experimental/jammy stuff.