Holocaustia - The Sacrament Seed (2006)

Cost: $2.00

Although decent enough as a bargain bin score, this CD was very personally disappointing.  The band's first demo was an enjoyable mixture of '90s Nordic BM and thrash.  Unfortunately, the thrash is gone here, and it just sounds similar to the glut of straightforward, fast-paced Watain contemporaries from the early-mid '00s.  I haven't heard the second demo (though the song titles sound more appropriate for thrashier stuff), so I don't know how sudden their musical transition was.

Adamas - Evil All Its (2010)

 

Cost: $2.00

Was expecting straightforward thrash, and while the underlying music is mostly thrashy, every track has prominent, almost gothic metal-style synths.  Another review compares the vocals here to Dave Mustaine, and while there is a very vague similarity, the vocals sound far more like Steve Sylvester to me.  Coupled with the gothic keyboards (although on a few occasions the keys are in a proggier style) and atmospheric sections, it does sound like some sort of odd thrashy take on Death SS (I'd say Heavy Demons or the more straightforward stuff on Do What Thou Wilt, as it doesn't really have the traditional metal influences or creepy/horror vibes of the old classic material, but there's no industrial/weird left field stuff here either).  Stripped of the keys, the music would be some sort of modernish, mid-paced, melodic US-style thrash.  They manage to decently pull off an idea that sounds absolutely terrible on paper, but I'm not too sure what to think of this, as it doesn't scratch any musical itches for me, thrash, gothic, or otherwise.

Also, just for the record, my apologies to the band--ever since getting this I've mocked the awkward grammar of the title, but on closer inspection of the (very ugly) cover, it's supposed to be "Still Alive" backwards.  Huh.

Retaliador - Levantando Da Tumba 2004 - 2012 (2012)

 Cost: $1.00

A generous reader sold me two batches of distro clearance CDs for $1 each (if anyone out there is up for a similar arrangement, email me!).  A fair amount of My Kingdom Music filler, but plenty of more underground stuff as well. Hopefully I'll get around to posting about more of these, but here's the first, a disc from the second bunch.

The first half of the CD consists of 2012 & 2011 tracks.  Immediately the opening riff to "Legião Underground" reminded me a little of Turbo's "Żołnierz fortuny."  While it's hard to go wrong with raw '80s style South American thrash, the original tracks feel somewhat generic and nothing particularly stood out to me.  The cover of Frost's "Nocturnal Fear" is straightforward, but I liked the "Space Invaders" cover more (I think it's the first Messiah cover I've ever heard).   Then the 2006 Ultra Violência demo tracks were a pleasant surprise, as the songs feel a lot more developed and stronger riff-wise than their later stuff.  There also seems to be a more prominent speed metal edge on this demo.  I think these are the best originals on the entire CD, but sadly for me, this is the only recording here without a cover song.   Finally, there's the Comando das Trevas 2005 demo, which is far more primitive than the other recordings.  Again, the songs themselves aren't really noteworthy (aside from "Morte Infernal" starting with a bassline similar to Violent Force's "Dead City"),  but the early Cogumelo vibe and evil aura here makes these songs more interesting to me than the first half of the disc.  I can't decide if I like the "Blasphemer" cover or not--it's endearingly sloppy, but gets too sloppy and off time in parts.

Hateplow - Everybody Dies (1998)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

I was aware this was a side-project of Phil from Malevolent Creation, but I had no idea what the music was like.  While making this post I had very vague recollections of avoiding this years ago, thinking the music was overly angry and hardcore influenced (it's not, thankfully).   The cover looks like something a grind band might use (especially with the Drogheda-reminiscent ransom note logo), and with the politically incorrect songtitles and lyrical topics, I fully expected something either very spastic and Anal Cunt-ish or weirdly humorous like Gardy-Loo!  I was anticipating really over the top vocals and heavy use of audio samples.  

So I was somewhat surprised and slightly disconcerted that this ended up being standard grindy DM.  There's nothing particularly bad about it, and I suppose "Ass to Mouth Resuscitation" and "Compound" are marginally better than the other original tracks, but it still seems rather plain and uninspired for death metal.  Unfortunately the vocals are mostly unintelligible, so even the crude humor of the lyrics has little impact.  The Cream cover ("Sunshine of Your Love") is well done and (I think) played seriously, but the guttural vocals don't work very well.  Still, it's the most notable part of the album.   

Just as an aside, I found the eulogy for Larry Hawke (the drummer, who died before this album was released) in the booklet to be a strange inclusion, especially since it's from someone not directly related to the band (besides, they have their own brief dedication anyway).  I found it pretty funny that it stresses what a positive influence the deceased was while the back insert has a caricature of him driving a monster truck with "R.A.P.E." on the side.  The eulogy is extremely hyperbolic--I think the guy who wrote it probably meant well, but it seems corny and out of place, especially on an album with songs like "$20.00 Blow Job" and "Anally Annie."  Would be interesting to know if the band really wanted it in there or they just felt compelled to include it.

May 21, 2018 finds

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.

CDs for trade

 Here's a list of the current CDs I have for trade that I'll keep updated regularly.

(Stuff marked in red in previous blog posts is probably still available even if not listed here)

 

Adonis Decay - Messenger

Atoll Nerat - Art of Ancient Seers

The Flaming Sideburns - Save Rock'n'Roll 

Hateplow - Everybody Dies 

Hitchhiker - Destination Unknown 

Jester - Digitalia

Manufactura - In the Company of Wolves

Pantera - Cowboys from Hell

Speeed - Powertrip Pigs

Thy Disease - Rat Age (brand new/sealed) 

Tokyo Dragons - Give Me the Fear (w/ hype sticker, drillhole through UPC)

Triumph - Surveillance 

W.A.S.P. - Live... in the Raw

ZZ Top - Afterburner

*No specific wants right now - I'd be pretty open to trade for any metal CDs I don't already have.  Just send an email if interested.

Dementors/Evil Force - Evil Reincarnation (2013)

 

Cost: $2.00

Split CD of two Chilean bands:

Dementors - Deaththrash, with the emphasis mostly on the thrash.  The vocals remind me of the first Chakal album, especially on the first 3 tracks.  Initially I thought the vox were a bit too extreme and modernized the music a bit too much, although after getting used to them they didn't bother me.  "Diabolical Crucifixion" has a chorus riff that is very similar to the one in Sodom's "Agent Orange."

Evil Force - Blackened thrash/speed.  Evil Force is a bit more blatantly old school; there are some scarce cases of speed and classic metal styled twin guitar acrobatics (sadly, very underutilized), and while most of the vox are in a vaguely black metal style with some additional growling, the singer also often goes into higher pitched yelps and crazy falsettos.  

Solid split I was very pleased to find.  Actually, with thrash at the forefront of both bands' sound, aside from the vocals, at times they don't sound tremendously different from each other.  Normally I think I would slightly prefer Evil Force's style of music, although it would have been helped tremendously by some tasty solos and guitar harmonics as well as more controlled vocals.  Dementors come off as the more vicious band with stronger individual tracks.

Humiliation - Turbulence from the Deep (2013)

 

Cost: 99¢

 

While Humilation are still fixated on mid-paced, simplified Bolt Thrower-style riffage, this album has them occasionally using slower tempos, I think to great effect.  When they do slow down, it's quite reminiscent of old UK death/doom or slower Asphyx stuff, and even used sparingly it does help break up some of the mid-paced monotony.  While I don't have any issues with the vocal style itself, admittedly they're very one dimensional with no real variety, and it gets a little tedious as the album goes on (to be fair, I do acknowledge that with all their mid-paced stuff, where would a nice Martin van Drunen or Kam Lee style OTT high scream really fit in smoothly?).  Still, out of the couple of releases I've heard from them, this is the best by far.  Count this as a huge bargain bin win.

Pestilence - Malleus Maleficarum

  

Cost: $1.99

Found this in February, appropriately/ironically in one of my last CD hauls before everything shut down because of the pandemic.  (The store also had the case for the Sepultura Arise remaster, but unfortunately the wrong disc was inside).  I don't dislike this album by any means--in fact, just listening to it again for this post made it grow on me tremendously--but even if it clicks further, I'm afraid it will always be in the shadow of Consuming Impulse for me, which is one of the earliest death metal albums (and CDs) I ever bought.  They're very good as thrash, but Consuming is just exceptional DM to me, one of the best albums in the genre.  

I've noticed some songs (particularly the first two) have fairly verbose lyrics that need to be sung in a relatively compact space, and van Drunen sometimes seems on the cusp of being mushmouthed trying to get them all out (the verses on the title track of Darkness Descends also suffer from this, and perhaps parts of "Hell Awaits" to a certain extent too).  

I often lament that I didn't have this blog during the late '90s-mid '00s to document the period when I was constantly finding gems in the bargain bins on a near weekly basis, so it was nice to find something old and classic like this show up.  Of course, I couldn't just enjoy my great luck and was slightly disappointed when I saw the matrix was for the '91 repress rather than the original '88 press.  Still, up until now I've only had the Displeased CDs with the bonus demo tracks, so this was a spectacular find regardless.