First I hit a couple of used CD outlets I hadn't been to in a while. All of them had a single bargain bin disc I would have bought had they not all been pretty trashed. Nothing to get super excited about anyway (M.O.D., Therion, and Norther), but obviously it sucked to come away empty handed.
Then went to my usual place, which hasn't had a lot of stuff in the past couple of visits, but they had a higher-than-usual concentration of death metal in the bargain bin, so I did pretty well.
$1.00 each:
Benumb - Soul of the Martyr
Not gonna complain for a buck, but admittedly way more on the HC/powerviolence side of the grindcore spectrum than I personally like. "Deprivation" (from the
Gear in the Machine 7") is doomy/sludgy stuff, completely different from the rest of the CD. The last track on the CD is a short live set that includes a Slayer medley ("Raining Blood" intro + the beginning of "Angel of Death") at the end.
Cellador - Enter Deception
Already had. Pretty good power metal. Overall they sound like a slightly thrashier Helloween derivative, especially with the Kiske-like vox, but many of the choruses and speedy twin guitar sections are reminiscent of Dragonforce--albeit keyboardless and without the showy shredding.
Cradle of Filth - Mannequin DVD
This comes in a normal jewel case and was in with the bargain bin audio CDs. While their '90s vampyric era had themes and aesthetics well suited to videos, here the band look silly and the videos seem very uninspired and generic. "The Promise of Fever" is studio playback over some unexciting live footage with constant annoying rapid-fire cuts. "Serpent Tongue" is just a short portion of the song accompanied by some stock graphics and simple CGI effects which amounts to a glorified Youtube fan video. Waste of space. As for the actual production videos, the budget on "Mannequin" was clearly squandered on footage of the band looking corny and of a young girl chasing a piece of fabric through the woods. It's all chopped up anyway by that overly spastic style of editing with constant seizure-inducing jump cuts--at least a stop-motion animation video with the deformed doll and the other creatures would have had some potential to be interesting. I did appreciate the attempt at something very
Salò feeling in "Babalon AD," but framing it as a toilet-scrubber's found footage just added an unnecessary layer of cheese.
Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor
Progressive melodic death metal. I expected this to be more of a polarizing listen, as I've seen get it all sorts of rave reviews and accolades, though not from anyone really sharing my musical taste or that I'd consider to be deeply into classic metal. Especially for a buck, it's not something I actively dislike at all, but it seems very underwhelming for being so hyped.
They do a decent job of combining melodic DM with progressive and epic sensibilities which seem to be largely influenced by Dream Theater. Unfortunately there are a few ill-conceived spots which reminded me too much of alt or nu-rock, which only serve to reinforce how Serj Tankian-like the main vocals are (which honestly I didn't really mind otherwise). The overall atmosphere is also a bit uneven--some parts seem very fluidly constructed, but other times the use of mellow/extreme, light/shade or whatever you want to call it seems a bit forced, like they're merely cycling through musical parts to provide some variety. In that sense it reminds me of some Opeth--compositionally, not musically.
Erimha - Reign Through Immortality
The title caught my eye, and it certainly looked like it could be metal when I pulled it out. It was on Victory Rec., so I assumed it might be deathcore, but then I saw the corpsepainted pictures of the band--I don't think trends have gotten that convoluted yet. The idea of Victory signing a black metal band is kind of amusing, but not terribly farfetched considering their signings of Jungle Rot and Pathology.
Black metal of the more marketable Nuclear Blast variety. Dimmu Borgir is the obvious influence here, although a couple tracks have a stronger death metal approach to the riffs and up sounding more like later Behemoth. The symphonic elements are integrated pretty well and don't seem too terribly overblown, but otherwise perhaps they emulate their influences too well, as I found this pretty sterile and bland apart from an occasional decent guitar solo.
Ex Dementia - The Red Mass
I wasn't blown away, but the catchiness of several riffs and some well-placed later Autopsy influences admittedly elevate this above just being okay. The closing "Welcome to Hell" cover is disappointing, especially since it's what I was most excited about when buying the disc. The guitar tone on it is great and the chorus sounds decent, but otherwise it's a bit off, and the generic DM vox don't help any. I'm amused this wasn't released on Razorback, because with the overall sound, horror themes, tongue-in-cheekness, and even some of the layout elements, this would have fit right in with their roster back when it was released.
Godgory - Resurrection
Quite a nice find as I had nothing by the band. The tracks basically alternate between two DM styles. First, there's the extremely atmospheric, somewhat doomy stuff. Though there are definite similarities to gothic metal, this comes off more to me as death/doom-lite. The atmospheric passages are a bit reminiscent of Edge of Sanity, although there are several nice acoustic guitar sections which immediately bring early Opeth to mind. Sometimes you have to endure pretty long stretches between anything heavy, but for mellower stuff it's not bad.
On the other hand, the faster-paced tracks are just generic sounding mid-'90s Gothenburg-style melodic DM, although the shreddy solos may be among the best for this style along with the Armageddon debut. They're not quite
exactly the same and they're not particularly unusual for DM vox, but I found it a bit funny the first mental connection I made to the vocals was Mystifier's
Göetia. The cover of Accept's "Princess of the Dawn" is fine musically, but unfortunately the verses are croaked out in a ridiculous artificially deep voice--apparently someone thought a metal classic needed some cheesy gothing up.
Poverty's No Crime - One in a Million
My requisite prog. metal pickup at this store. I've seen some of their '90s stuff around, but never actually heard them. Good, solid prog. metal that doesn't go too overboard or get too wimpy, and no power metal or overly modern tendencies either. A Rush cover closes things out.
