Halloween - E.vil P.ieces (2006)

 

Cost: $2.00

 

No, this post isn't the result of any lucky holiday-appropriate bargain bin find on my part. Found this several months ago, and no better day to finally post about it.

This is my first time hearing any post-No One Gets Out! material. I'm not sure why, but for some reason I had thought they descended into awful "scary music" trends (think Marilyn Manson/Slipknot) for their late '90s reformation, and while there are plenty of things to criticize the band about nowadays, that isn't one of them.

 

It's immediately evident their sound has succumbed to more modern sound and production sensibilities, as the guitars are very chuggy. Of the two new tracks, one is good and one is bad. The songwriting of "Angel of Evil" seems quite old school (I was actually surprised that it's apparently new and not a reworked demo track or something), and it's pretty decent even though it would have greatly benefited being played by the 1985 version of the band. "Hell," on the other hand, is rather bland groove metal.

Then there are three re-recordings of older tracks. Although these are the best material on the EP, the more modern sound condemns them to being inferior to the originals even though the actual songs haven't been significantly changed. "Don't Metal with Evil" and "Evil Nation" are pleasant enough, but the rumbly guitars on "To Fight the Beast" make it feel way over-modernized and thus the worst of the reworked tracks. Brian Thomas' voice has obviously aged a bit, especially in terms of hitting highs, but since he makes no attempts at more modern or extreme vocals anywhere on the EP (which I had somewhat feared, given the chuggy riffage), I find it perfectly acceptable.

The closing cover of Alice Cooper's "Go to Hell" is so-so. Musically it's alright for a stripped down and heavied up version, but the vocals don't feel right--too much sneer, not enough menace. I can see it translating well as a metal cover, but this isn't it. It's also another song that would have been better served by the band's '80s lineup.

This was fine for its short novelty spin, but there's nothing here worth listening to over their old material, and it doesn't inspire much confidence from me in their newer stuff. It actually reinforces the songwriting strength of their classic material--"Don't Metal with Evil" still shines as a shock metal anthem, even recorded nearly 20 years later with crappy modern sound. A nice find for 2 bucks, and not something I would have expected to find in the bargain bin here.

Metal Massacre XI (1991)

 

Cost: $2.00

This is part of my big Sept. 23 haul that'll hopefully be on the blog shortly, but in the meantime, I wanted to give it its own post.

Sadly, this represents the last classic volume of Metal Massacre. 12 came after a brief hiatus and tried to be more current with the inclusion of both more extreme and boundary-defying bands, but ended up being a mishmash comp. of mid-'90s trends and some bewildering non-metal inclusions. 13 was a ridiculous misuse of the series name by a Metal Blade sampler that should have been a Deathmeister or Metalmeister installment instead. 14 is musically okay, and while it's got a decent linup for a modern reset of the series, it feels more like a compilation of (then) hot NWOTHM acts than something in the spirit of the old Metal Massacres. 15 is in the same vein but with an uninspiring collection of bands, most of whom were already well past the demo stage. It was obviously meant more as a novelty vinyl release than a showcase of quality metal.

This happened to be the only volume of the original 12 which I had never seen in a store before--the very first time I saw the cover was when I purchased the CD boxset. Of course, pretty soon after, I started going to a store that had two used copies, but they were normal price so I never bothered to get them. It's nice to get an original pressing at a bargain bin price.

No fading here (this will make sense when I post about the entire haul), but someone marked up the booklet tracklist with pen. Ugh.

Have to hand it to Metal Blade--for a 1991 comp. (from the label that signed Cannibal Corpse, no less), it's a pretty gutsy move to completely ignore extreme metal. It's a pretty solid assortment, and while not as legendary as the older volumes, it's definitely a step up from 10 overall:

1. Mystic Force - Shipwrecked with the Wicked

Their prog.-tinged heavy/power may seem quaint compared to some of the thrash stuff on here, but it makes for a classy, fantastic opener.

2. Epidemic - Circle of Fools 

Punishing thrash with crossover/HC overtones--the vocals even remind me of a more HC Troy Dixler. It's good, but the version on the Decameron album is even more furious with all the added death metal influence, and it's not quite as great as some of the more violent songs from their debut album.

3. Forte - Dementia by Design

No-brakes speed metal riffage mixed with powerthrash aggression and soaring vocals. Although quite a few bands on here made albums, Forte were certainly the most prolific (and successful) of the bunch.

 

4. My Victim - Authority Lies

Not what I'd expect from several members of the San Francisco Assassin. Kind of mellow metal with vocals that give off a groovy Faith No More vibe. Quirky, but not as bad as it sounds, and the guitarwork towards the end of the song is cool.

 

5. Havoc Mass - Tormented Souls

Competent but unspectacular thrash. For some reason the vocals keep making me think of Attila (the Rolling Thunder band) even though they're not terribly similar.

6. Divine Right - The Dream Turns to Dread

Decent progressive metal, with riffage reminding me a bit of Perfect Symmetry-era Fates Warning.

 

7. Ministers of Anger - The Great Escape

Starts out like it's going to be prog. metal, but there are two sudden fast bursts of thrashy speed--I have no problem with these musically, but the vocalist seems ill-equipped and comes off kinda mushmouthed during these parts. The production makes the drums feel kind of flat. Maybe something of interest for progressive thrash fans.

 

8. Dominance - Resurrected

The Anvil Bitch guys with a different singer. Solid early '90s thrash (I don't mind the Planet of the Apes samples, but I could do without the two instances of vocal effects), but lacks the campy charm and reckless enthusiasm of the old Anvil Bitch stuff.

 

9. Mortal Reign - Sorcery of the Wicked

Not really bad, but the stop/start thrash riffage gives this a more modern vibe that rubs me the wrong way.

10. Nightcrawler - Eternal Call

The most traditional metal track here. Vocals might even be a little better than on the Soldier in Time LP material. Overall the song is fine; Nightcrawler has better songs but also worse.

 

11. Harum Scarum - Bad Habits

Nothing super exciting, but pleasant enough thrash that trundles along.  Not terribly aggressive or technical, the music--coupled with the anti-drug theme and gang vox at the end--brings to mind a lot of the Bay Area styled B- and C-leaguers that major labels were signing in the late '80s in hopes of making some Metallica$h.

 

12. Chemikill - Consumed by Hate

While this isn't going to be anyone's favorite thrash band (except the parents of the band members), they're good enough where you wish even a small label had given them a chance to release something. Vocals are like a mix of Steve Souza with a severe sore throat and Phil Rind.

 

13. Tynator - Excuses

Forgettable thrash, but they do enough right that it seems ok while listening. Like the material from the two earlier demos compiled on the Living in Pain CD, feels kind of disjointed, and although this comp. track feels less amateurish, I think they lost a bit of their campy ultra-generic charm too.

 

14. Spudmonsters - The Monkey Beat-Man

If they maintained the initial velocity throughout the song, this would be great crossover/speedcore. Unfortunately it's broken up by groovy riffs which are starting down the path to something like Pro-Pain, so the lost potential here is disappointing.

Pantera - Cowboys from Hell (1990)

 

Cost: $2.00

Had never heard the album in its entirety before, and since the stuff I was familiar with--the title track and "Cemetery Gates"--always seemed a bit silly to me, I wasn't very positively predisposed to it going in. But since unabused Pantera discs are a bargain bin rarity, thought I'd give it a chance.

It's easiest to think of this as a hybrid album with a lot of varying song types and blended influences, much like their previous material contained actual metal right alongside extremely glammy commercial hard rockin' stuff, or even something like The Black Album mixes rock and metal. The more aggro groove stuff like "Primal Concrete Sledge" is clearly in the vein of subsequent Pantera albums, there are residual elements from Power Metal in some of the guitarwork and in Phil's higher vocals, there's groovier more rocking stuff ("Psycho Holiday") with elements that remind me of early Alice in Chains or even the 2nd White Zombie album, and then there are the thrashy parts. Don't get me wrong, they're a welcome relief on an album like this, and while they represent the most interesting parts for me personally, they never rise above being rather generic Metallica homages. While there is certainly thrashiness here, this is definitely not a thrash album overall, no matter what deluded fans or whitewashers may say.

I'd often heard from non-fans that "Domination" was the best track on here, and I suppose it's alright. Personally I like "Heresy" more, as it's the thrashiest track on the CD. But again, I don't like it because of any distinct identity or particularly great songwriting, it's just because it sounds very Master of Puppets-era Metallica-ish (especially when coupled with Phil's gruffer vocals), which I can appreciate.

So yeah, this is about what I expected. Certainly as close to thrash as they ever got. Not as ridiculous as their later stuff, but nowhere near as good as Power Metal or the heavier songs from the first 3 albums. While I don't mind if someone likes this album, for anyone to insinuate that this was the heaviest, most aggressive, most brutal metal someone could easily access at the time (in the early '90s, any well-stocked major music retailer had plenty of releases from the bigger indie labels) is just laughable.

Deceased - The Blueprints for Madness (1995)

 

Cost: $2.00

Believe it or not, although it's the first one I'm writing about, this is actually the third Deceased CD I've found in a bargain bin just this year (I was about to say ever, but I just remembered I paid $2 for my copy of As the Weird Travel On many, many years ago, on a distant shore).

This was a fantastic score in itself, but I have mixed feelings about the actual album. Deceased, from their second demo through 13 Frightened Souls, is some of my favorite death metal ever. Not just in a hyperbolic special-to-me way, either. If someone asks my favorite death metal albums, Luck of the Corpse is right in there with Seven Churches, Left Hand Path, etc. I like Fearless Undead Machines for its thrashiness, and I came to appreciate Supernatural Addiction, but aside from covers and some individual songs, later Deceased has always lost me a bit. Nothing they've released is terrible, and they haven't changed in the same way that makes me drop out with most bands, but I think they lost something special. I know mourning the lack of traditional heavy metal influences in Deceased seems very odd considering their current sound, but one of the things that was so special to me was the integration of real heavy metal sensibilities into actual death metal--I remember hearing "Psychedelic Warriors" for the first time,  and being reminded of a crazy death metal version of "Doomed by the Living Dead!" The new stuff is fine, but it feels more or less like a lot of old school influences and more melodic stuff beefed up, rather than SICK THRASH. Considering the time period, I always wondered if some of King's more straightforward HM influences in writing were getting diverted to October 31 and whether it affected the band a little.

For whatever reason, I didn't buy this album when it was released. It certainly wasn't because of low expectations, because the first song I ever heard from the album was "Midnight," (off the UHF/VHF comp.) which I loved--still my favorite track. I finally got it when reissues came out, and I thought it was okay, but I didn't love it. Now revisiting it, it's grown on me a bit, but I see it more as an album with a couple good songs on it than a great album overall. I wouldn't call this generic by any means, but this is the one Deceased release that feels the most like "typical" '90s death metal. It's never going to match the debut for me, but I even prefer the succeeding two albums a little bit. This also marks when they started to get a lot more cerebral with the horror themes, which obviously has continued to this day. And despite any fan criticisms I have, let's be realistic in context--for a two buck score, this is great.

The Crashing Falcon - The Bitter Glamour of the Heavenly Panorama (2003)

 

Cost: $2.00

Was very surprised when the vocals kicked in on this one. Based on the music I was expecting standard -core/screamo vocals, but they're standard death metal sounding gutturals that don't deviate. Aside from some limited screamy background vocals in the last two tracks, there are none of the vox you'd typically associate with -core stuff, which is a huge plus. The music itself is unfortunately quite core-rooted which I was expecting from the aesthetics and some of the tongue-in-cheek songtitles--it's a mix of progressive metalcore/mathcore and (mostly melodic) DM. It's not all bad, as the opening riff to "Magic Can Only Be Taken Seriously When You're Wearing a Tuxedo" seems very reminiscent of some (Scandanavian?) deathdoom riff I can't place. Sadly, little cool parts like this are quickly lost to the time changes of the spastic "progressive" songwriting. While this is still not my kind of thing, it's quite remarkable how the vocal style alone raises this from music I would probably find quite annoying to something tolerable.

Newk - The 1st. Escaping from Myself (2003)

 

Cost: $1.99

Even after many years of unusual finds when CD hunting, I'm always more surprised than I probably should be to find cheap discs from relatively exotic locales. South Korean CDs like this are certainly a rarity in the bargain bins, but I've found at least one before, so not entirely unheard of.

The "Metal will never die!" text and sword illustration on the cover meant I was going to buy this no matter what, but the inside of the booklet was far less promising. The band photos look like a (decidedly unheavy) contemporary rock band of some sort, and the opening track is an acoustic ballad. Ultimately, it ends up being an uneven album. Tracks 2, 3, and "I Wanna Be Free" are all solid heavy/power metal and well worth the purchase, but the rest of the album isn't that noteworthy. There are 4 balladish songs which felt a bit excessive given the cover proclamation and the album's running time. The other 5 tracks have the same metallic guitars and even some decent riffs and soloing at times, but the songwriting and execution feel a lot more rock-ish and upbeat than the full-on metal tracks. It's also evident that the mix and slick production benefit these types of tracks more than the heavier ones. I probably still would have bought it if the album were just comprised of these types of songs, although I wouldn't have been particularly excited about it. Despite some inconsistency, well worth the price for the 3 good songs.

Agnostic Front - Last Warning (1993)

Cost: $2.00

Not that big of an Agnostic Front fan, but I like both the "Eliminator" and "Your Mistake," which are on here, and the price was certainly right. I understand the historical importance of releasing this recording, since it was their last US show before the band initially dissolved (this was a posthumous release back in 1993). The sound quality is good, and it's not a bad show, but it doesn't seem like a particularly special or noteworthy one. The vocals are a bit low in the mix so that may be partially to blame, but Roger's singing sounds really worn out and unenergetic at times.

The latter part of the CD contains the 1983 United Blood EP. While their crossover stuff is okay, I really have no interest in AF's early pure NYHC stuff. It has plenty of punky speed, but I find it to be severely lacking in aggression or cool riffs. If I had to listen to early hardcore, I'd definitely pick something else.

Adonis Decay - Messenger (2007)

 

Cost: $2.00

This CD is available for trade.

I was more or less expecting typical metalcore and hesitantly bought this in case it was Slaughter of the Soul-core, but it was quite surprising how technical and progressive this is. The sole online review I could find for this compares them unfavorably to Between the Buried and Me, and while early BTBAM might be a vaguely fair comparison in regards to prog. elements, Adonis Decay are far more melodeath-influenced, have less generic -core aggro-ness, and place far less emphasis on contrasting extreme/clean sections. The vocals here also help further push the -core into the background--a wide range of extreme and clean vocal styles are used, but none of them are ultra-forced toughguy shouting. The main vocals are more of a raspy black metal style. 

The unusual time signatures as well as the more metallic music make this marginally more interesting than your typical breakdown laden shouty stuff (which is, quite honestly, exactly what this CD looks like it will be). But I'd still much rather listen to something else entirely.

Chronic Rage - Self Induced (1997)

 

Cost: 99¢ 

 

Make no mistake, this doesn't shy away from '90s groove metal trends, but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of actual thrashing here in tracks like "Confined Ways" and "Sense of Balance," and the guitarwork and soloing seems to be of a much higher quality than your typical Pantera or Machine Head styled band (I suspect all of this is largely due to two of the members playing in more traditional '80s Cleveland metal bands). The band seems to be extremely fond of gang vocals, which often lends the music a strong crossover flavor and makes the groove stuff more palatable. The main vocals are a gruff style--not my favorite but they don't seem terribly forced. Someone else contributes lame yelling vocals, but thankfully they aren't used that much.

 

Up until about halfway through the disc I was thinking about this fairly positively, at least for the style. Then "Meant Not to Speak" suddenly throws in a section with jokey crooned Elvis parody vocals. I thought this was a one time gag, but then towards the end both "Turmoil" and "Something Different" have more silly clean warbles. Who ever thought that was a good idea? There's even an overly long unlisted throwaday track of the band playing a simple instrumental line underneath samples of jet engines and radio chatter, and they could have easily thrown the clean vocals in there if they had to be included at all.