A Tribute to the Songs of Ozzy Osbourne & Black Sabbath (2004)

 

Cost: $1.00

A tribute CD of female artists doing acoustic covers of Sabbath and Ozzy. I've never heard of any of them before, but I saw several of them also appear on a Fleetwood Mac tribute on the same label. Oh dear. As you will note, the tracklisting skews towards very popular tracks, and there are no mellower songs like "Planet Caravan" or "Changes" that might have a decent chance of translating well. The whole concept seems extremely lame, but it can't be as bad as the Stryper tribute, right? Let's find out...

1. Linda Benskin - Hole in the Sky 

Not a big fan of this as a cover. The vocals feel weird in this context, although the arrangement is well done. This will probably be a recurring theme. 

 

2. Robin McDonald - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

I like the arrangement, but the vocals feel stilted and overly talk-singy at times. There's a slight reverb(?) effect on the vocals during the verses which makes them sound like an old woman.

 

3. Julie Griffin - Never Say Die

Much more soulful vocals here. Even if they come off a bit overzealous at times, at least they sound enthusiastic.

 

4. Linda Benskin - Crazy Train

Sounded promising from the opening melody but the rest of the arrangement is kind of simplified. It's the lethargic vocals that really bring this down, though.

 

5. Heather Nolan - Flying High Again

Southern lilt to the singing which gives this a bit of a country feel. Vocals are very unenthused sounding but it's not as bad as the last track.

 

6. Camille Boscardin - Iron Man

Stands out a bit from the previous tracks due to the somewhat folksier arrangement and the layered vocals. Not great, though.

 

7. Aj Kusuhara - Paranoid

Not how I ever want to hear "Paranoid," but at least it's not as bad as some of the other versions.

 

8. Cindy Mendenhall - War Pigs

This song just doesn't translate to the style that they're going for well.

 

9. Jen Lettellier - Bark at the Moon

Again, weird choice to cover in this type of fashion. Vocals remind me a little of Lisa Loeb.

10. Julia Orr - Sweet Leaf

As a song this works better for this than some of the others. Vocals sound a bit like if the "Never Say Die" singer reined it in a little.

 

11. Kim Coger - N.I.B.

This was the cover I was most curious about, because I could see it working as an acoustic version, but given some of the other tracks, I was prepared for a trainwreck. This song certainly works a lot better in this style than a lot of the others. Vocals aren't the worst but not the best on this album, either.

 

12. Kymberly Evans - No More Tears

Strictly as a cover version, this is probably the best track on here. I only think the original song is okay (especially in comparison to some of the Sabbath classics on here), which says a lot about the compilation.

 

I noticed the booklet only credits the singers, and the guitar playing is of a uniform quality all across the tracks, so it's obvious the same person/team recorded all the guitarwork. While that aspect it's bad per se, this just has no reason to exist--there's not even the fun factor that can come out of string tributes or even those baby song tributes. If it must exist at all, this kind of stuff should stay at a coffeehouse's open mic night, there's no need to make it a CD.

 

Morfin - Inoculation (2014)

 

Cost: $2.99

Was curious to hear these guys, as they spawned from that California mini-movement of bands (largely) influenced by the Floridian-sounding death metal of the late '80s. Skeletal Remains and Rude are the others that come to mind, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few more. I also kind of wonder if these guys picked a bad time to do music like this. The music certainly owes a lot to Death, but around this time a certain Exhumed member came out with a band doing pure Death worship at, quite frankly, a far higher level.

Also, just to be clear, while the thrashier parts here definitely evoke Leprosy, to my ears Morfin sounds more like the most Death-inspired early Morgoth stuff than Death themselves. The vocals certainly bring to mind an American-accented Marc Grewe, although it could be equally accurate to compare them to a less extreme John Tardy mixed together with Leprosy-era Chuck. Compared to Skeletal Remains, there aren't really any direct Pestilence or Massacre influences. "Lethal Progeny" has some slight Obituary-ness to it, and while I'm sure Morfin are fans, they generally stay away from doomier or Frostier sounds. There are also some scattered not-sure-if-they're-paying-homage-to-Autopsy-or-Gorguts-debut-or-maybe-both moments.

This is pretty cool (despite my personal preference for more Rick Rozz divebombs), and the "Leprosy" cover is very well done. But in all honesty, early Skeletal Remains and early Gruesome were both much better at songwriting and riffcraft.

 

Beastmaker - Eye of the Storm (2019)

 

Cost: $2.00

When I found this, the band name was vaguely familiar to me, but I had never actually heard them, and certainly had no idea about the direct Haunt connection. The general aesthetic made me think it was going to be some kind of traditional metal. When I briefly looked them up pre-listen, I was rather surprised to see they were a doom band. I then learned after more research post-listen that they shed some of the fuzzier doom elements and incorporated more heavy metal on this particular release. My keen metal intuition strikes again.

While it's easy to identify doomy riffs and passages when listening, this ultimately doesn't feel much like doom metal overall. Typically when doom and traditional metal are mixed, I think of more epic metal sounding bands like Doomsword, Coven (13), Solstice, or even various Cirith Ungol-inspired stuff. This doesn't really have that kind of vibe. The harmonized guitarwork is very NWOBHM-ish, and the vocals have a very "British" feel as well. They're generally reminiscent of Kevin Heybourne, especially on "My Only Wish," but I can hear bits of Sean Harris in them as well. Ironically, some of the vocal layering on "Shadows" brought to mind the singing on the first White Wizzard EP.

 A solid EP with excellent guitarwork, well worth the 2 bucks. Releases like this remind me of the nearly incomprehensible amount of recorded heavy metal out there--while I fully recognize this is very good material in a modern context, it hardly leaves an impression compared to bands I consider excellent.

Garudas Mission - Omen in Onyx (2004)

 

Cost: $2.00

Progressive metal, with the heavier tracks showing off more power metal influences. Metal Archives specifically mentions them as having "dark ambient influences"--while I can see where this comes from, I think emphasizing it in their genre category is a bit misleading. The atmospheric keyboard work in the background is certainly more reminiscent of ambient music than in other prog. metal bands, although had I never seen dark ambient mentioned, I would likely have just described them as having slight tinges of gothic metal in their atmosphere.

Not my favorite kind of thing, but generally solid stuff, with two minor exceptions. The (thankfully) seldom-used extreme vocals (in "Solitude" and "Machine," specifically) are overly forced and screamy, sounding like they should be in a -core band. There are also a few places with more modern, chuggier/groovier riffs ("Spellbound" and "Poisons"), although again, they're used so sparingly, it's more surprising when they show up than actually annoying.

Speaking of surprising, the final track starts out very mellow, but then halfway through, some playful, retro-futuristic keyboards and chimes suddenly come in. It immediately brought to mind the music from some of those old '80s and '90s VHS tapes showcasing computer animation. Not really my thing either, but it made the track very unique.

Darkcell - Nightmare Document Part 2 (2013)

 

Cost: $1.00

This combines black metal and ambient, so obviously, several tracks are similar to what I would stereotypically think of as ambient black metal and are rather discordant. The purer dark ambient sections are decent, though they tend towards dreamier rather than sinister. Other times the ambient sounds seem to be mild attempts to make the music weirder or vaguely psychedelic. Personally I think it would have been interesting if some of these elements were taken to further extremes, even at the risk of going overboard. Still, the riff in "Mantis and Ants" is a lot catchier than other bands in the same vein, so it's not that bad of a find for a buck.

Sabbra Cadabra - Live

 

Cost: $1.00

This was a super interesting find, as practically no metal tribute acts make it even close to a point where releasing a factory-pressed CD would be feasible. The only other example I can even think of is the Iron Maidens.

Didn't realize it when picking this up, but the singer is Joe Donnelly, who was later the vocalist of Iron Man around the time period of the I Have Returned album. 

Recording is excellent for a self-financed live CD, the band is tight, guitar tone is great, and the Ozzy emulation is pretty decent. I was a little surprised at the setlist, since there are two Technical Ecstasy songs and the last track is "Selling My Soul," one of the then-brand new studio tracks from the Reunion live album. "Dirty Women" is kinda cool to hear but as for the others, I would personally rather heard "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," "Symptom of the Universe," or even "Sweet Leaf." I do appreciate that they're trying to incorporate some less known stuff in the set, but also a bit saddened that there's nothing from Sabotage on here, making it the only Ozzy album at the time of this recording (1998) that they didn't play anything from.

Minor Utopia - Withering in the Concrete (2012)

 

Cost: $2.00

At first I was curious what this would be like, but my expectations hit rock bottom when I saw the singer/guitarist. I don't know if his name indicates trans stuff or not, but he has a rather unfortunate Hot Topic goth appearance (for any German readers, he would look more at home in the pages of Zillo than in a good metal band).

Surprisingly, the music is not as bad as I feared, although it's not super interesting either. It's a sort of somewhat thrashy, upbeast modern metal, with occasional power metal influences in some of the galloping melodies, as well as some progressive metal touches. "Pneuma," the best song, is a decent thrasher, but unfortunately it's the only time they fully commit to thrash. There are also a couple of flirtations with more extreme metal, like on "Ethical Knockout" and "Hole in the Sky." The vocals aren't the worst I've ever heard, but they're inconsistent and often come off as whiny and amateurish. 

In a way this exceeded my expectations, since they don't deviate from metal or incorporate any outside influences. But there's nothing interesting or showing potential here to me either, so I'm unlikely to revisit it.

Sweet Family Music - A Tribute to Stryper (1996)

 

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

 

I remember reading a few angry online reviews about this tribute that bashed it for basically being open mockery of Stryper (personally I find it far less offensive than when so many Christian metal bands like Deliverance, Bride, etc. abandoned metal). So when I saw it for a buck, my curiosity got the better of me, even though I knew it was going to be terrible. I was expecting absolutely ZERO metal here, so I guess the minuscule amount here means it somewhat exceeded my expectations?

 

1. The Abyss

Not really a cover of the Stryper intro, just sounds like a noisy industrial/extreme metal intro track.

2. Steve Hindalong - To Hell with the Devil

Rather loose interpretation as an acoustic guitar driven über-mellow parody version. Corny.

 

3. Morella's Forest - Calling On You

'90s female-fronted alternative style version. Been a long time since I heard that kind of stuff but it brings to mind what I remember The Breeders and Veruca Salt sounding like. This is such a different arrangement it could pass as an original.

 

4. Klank - The Way

I was quite surprised when this started as it seemed like it was going to be a straight up metal cover. Of course, that's not gonna happen on this type of compilation, and the vocals end up being distorted industrial vocals which are very annoying. While the band's original music seems to all be industrial/electronic stuff, there's no trace of that here instrumentally. 

 

5. Cricket - Makes Me Wanna Sing

Pop punk version. No interest in hearing it again but it translates decently for the style.

 

6. Havalina Rail Co. - Always There for You

Lounge jazz version? Nearly unrecognizable aside from the lyrics.

 

7. Dinner Mint featuring Jesse Sprinkle - All for One

Redone as a serious '90s acoustic rock ballad. Not my thing but comes off better than a lot of the earlier tracks.

 

8. Argyle Park - Lonely (Two-Timing Mix)

Electronic/industrial, also barely recognizable.

 

9. Grammatrain - More Than a Man

Modern rock version. Phone intro is probably more interesting than the music.

 

10. Combat Chuck - You Know What to Do

Jangly alternative rock version. Purposefully cheesy intro is definitely more interesting than the music.

 

11. Ghoti Hook - First Love

Speedy punk cover. The solo is actually much better than you'd expect for this style.

 

12. Echoing Green - You Won't Be Lonely

Synthpop.

 

13. The Blamed - Soldiers Under Command

Kind of punky (to be expected since it's a hardcore band covering them), but the most straightforward cover since Klank's. However, the forced screamy vocals are very irritating.

 

14. Aleixa - Makes Me Wanna ...

Industrial/electronic version with a heavy guitar backbone and (initially whispered) female vocals. Weirdly catchy and far more compositionally interesting than the Cricket cover.

 

15. Joe Christmas - (Waiting for) A Love That's Real

When this started the organ and acoustic guitar made me think it was going to be folksier than it ended up being. Mellow, acoustic indie singer/songwriter sort of stuff.

 

16. Fluffy featuring Ralph Melish- Honestly 

Definitely the weirdest track on here. Spoken-word (not sung) lyrics and guitar feedback/shredding over a background of ambient music. I know a lot of the covers are meant to be purposefully silly, but this is the only one that actually made me chuckle because of how absurd it was. Still would not listen again, though.

 

17. Marriage is Madness - Free

Purposefully amateurish/ultra lo-fi "cover." Easily the worst track on here, which is quite an accomplishment for a compilation full of stinkers.

18. (unlisted outro) 

Faux end-of-concert stage banter in a retarded British accent. 

Unleashed - Victory (1995)

 

Cost: $3.00

One of metal's great tragedies is how Century Media completely castrated the majority of their extreme metal roster in the mid-'90s. The bands certainly aren't blameless either, but I never thought this was mere coincidence. I truly believe the label was nefariously pushing hard for bands to go towards more marketable, modern, and atmospheric pastures. We'll get back to that in a moment.

As for the disc itself, I was very happy to find this for $3, as it filled a longtime gap in my Swedish DM collection, and despite it having some old store stickers on the case, it was in excellent condition.

 My (non-)history with this album is a bit unusual. When the album was new, I heard the lumbering anthem "Hail the New Age" on the Identity compilation and immediately loved it. I like the song more than any individual track on the 2nd and 3rd Unleashed albums. Unfortunately, the only time I came across it back in the day was a copy for full used price which was missing its back insert. I obviously passed. As time went on it seemed like the album wasn't terribly well-regarded, so it never became a big priority to me.

The glaring problem with Victory is the opener "Victims of War," an absolutely terrible choice because of the start/stop groove metal-esque riffage. It immediately soured me on rest of the album, thinking they were going down the route Grave did on Hating Life, but thankfully, it turned out to be a one off. 

Despite "Hail the New Age," I don't like this as much overall as the first 3 albums. It's still a solid listen and there's not a particularly big step down in quality or anything, it just comes off as simpler and lacks some of the extra touches that contributed to the atmosphere of the earlier stuff. There seems to be a greater focus on faster tracks here ("Legal Rapes," "In the Name of God," "Revenge") than on Across the Open Sea (the only one I can remember off the top of my head is "Forever Goodbye"), and these are all fine. If you overlook the first track, this seems to be an album that largely escaped the Century Media curse, especially compared to the aforementioned Grave album or Asphyx's God Cries.

Overkill - Feel the Fire

 

Cost: $2.00 

Obviously, I would have bought any pressing of this album for two bucks, but I was especially pleased to see that this was the very first CD pressing on Megaforce when I looked it up on Discogs.

I never gave it much thought before, but I realize now that aside from "There's No Tomorrow," all of the stuff I personally like is concentrated on the second half of the album. Rarely see the greatness of "Kill at Command" mentioned, and while I don't think it would be my favorite song, it's certainly one of the better ones.

In my head, I often tend to severely overestimate the amount of USPM influence here. Sure, there are parts strewn across the album and there are varying amounts of traditional metal in the guitarwork, but for some reason I always think of it having fairly pure USPM songs like Show No Mercy. Not a nitpick at all, just a peculiar false mental association I seem to make whenever I reach for this.