Psychosomatic - Another Disease (2010)

 

Cost: $2.00

Chuggy thrash, sometimes with just a punky crossover edge, and other times going full-on crossover. The thrashier material on here has a more modern feel which, while not my favorite, doesn't offend me either. In these thrashier parts, the riffing can sound vaguely Slayerish to varying degrees depending on the tempo. Don't mean to imply the production is overly polished and sterile the way a lot of modern non-underground metal is, but there's something about the recording cleanliness that doesn't sit right with me. It's probably beneficial for the clarity of the guitars on the thrashier stuff, but it makes the crossover parts seem overly sanitized. I should also add there were some points where I found the drums to be really distracting. The ride cymbal seems to be really high in the mix most of the time. The vocals are definitely in a more crossover style, and at their most spastic sound a lot like Blaine from The Accused.

A few times, like in "Gang of Grenades" and "Sociopathic Child," the speed and ferocity of the crossover parts will briefly into grind territory. "Built for Speed" and "Gang of Grenades" both use a bit of guttural vocals. As a fan of more extreme metal, I liked all these touches but sadly, they're extremely underutilized. 

In general, the crossover songs come off better due to their energy and just meshing better with the vocal style. The punkiest song on here, "The Knife," is dripping with Accused influences. "C-Wing Blues" is a crossover thrasher that stands out due to the gang vocal choruses, which totally reminded me of Municipal Waste's "You're Cut Off."

There's definitely $2 worth of decent material on here, but unfortunately it's too inconsistent for me to classify this as a really great find. For the style, it also feels rather bloated--18 real tracks clocking in at 45 minutes. Leaner and meaner would have probably made for a more enjoyable listen.

Alex Masi - Steel String Bach (2000)

 

Cost: $2.00

Apparently this is a US pressing of the In the Name of Bach album released on a classical label. The only Masi-related stuff I'd ever heard before was the Downtown Dreamers CD on Metal Blade and some of the early Dark Lord stuff. I owned the Dark Lord CD compiling their early material for an embarrassingly long time before I even realized Masi was in the band--I thought of him more as a mysterious, flashily-attired guitarist who spontaneously materialized to appear in the "God Promised a Paradise" video, not realizing he had serious classic metal credentials.

This is not the neoclassical metal renditions of classical pieces (think some of Vitalij Kuprij's stuff) I was expecting at all. In fact, there's no metal or rock here, it's all straight up classical guitar versions of the Bach pieces. They're extremely faithful and it seems wrong to call them something like covers or renditions or interpretations--the liner notes even note how it was more important to Masi to adapt the guitar to the pieces than the pieces to the guitar. As a casual fan of classical music, I enjoyed it, although honestly most of the "classical" music I tend to actively listen to nowadays are very transformative 20th century interpretations of it by Walter Carlos, Isao Tomita, and the like. Still, I can see this being something I pick for a mellower mood.

Rival CDs

 

Cost: $1 each 

The first two discs showed up at one of my normal CD watering holes, and musically, they're one of my best finds there. Then State of Mind happened to show up at a completely different store not too long after.

Rival - Rival (1991/1998)

Disc is from 1998, but was originally released on tape in '91. Straightforward heavy metal. I would hesitate to call it traditional or classic metal as it doesn't sound like mid-'80s USPM or the Priest/Maiden worship I would associate with that. Even though they seem to like playing at faster tempos, it's not really speed metal overall. I wouldn't strongly object to hearing it called heavy/power metal as Metal-Archives classifies the band, as there are definitely some power and even melodic metal sensibilities here that make sense for a late '80s/early '90s release. In any case, it's very good. The "Beast of the Night" intro fooled me into thinking it was going to be a 6 min. ballad, but it ends up being one of the best songs.

 

Rival - Modern World (2000)

Almost a decade later, and no big changes to their sound. Several tracks lean farther into power metal, and as a full length, it feels more varied than the previous CD, but that's about it. Should also add that I saw some German reviews for the band making lots of strong musical and vocal comparisons to Omen, which I didn't get at all until the end of this disc, where you can definitely hear musical similarities in "The Chosen." Also makes it the best song.

 

Rival - State of Mind (2004)

At this point, Metal Blade had signed the band. Not a fan of the cover or alternating caps/lowercase font in the layout, which feel so generic that I can see them being used by any disposable power, prog., or even melodeath band. Even though only 4 years passed since Modern World, this feels like a bigger stylistic change than between the first two CDs. There is far more thrash influence, and in general it feels more contemporary than the previous discs, which I prefer. However, they did it once again, and brought out the firepower at the end of the CD. "Lord of the Knights" is nice and feels more consciously old-school sounding, but the thrashy closer "Hell Train" is really great. Reminds me of the thrashier Manilla Road circa Out of the Abyss beefed up.

Angelcorpse - The Inexorable (1999) (2016 reissue)

 

Cost: $1.99

Even though I own their first three albums, before finding this, I hadn't listened to Angelcorpse in years. Never outright disliked them (except for their cover songs, which thought atrociously butchered metal classics), but for all the hype they got, they never resonated that much with me.

I vaguely recall the Hammer of Gods debut having a lot of Trey Azagthoth influence in the solos, but the general Morbid Angel influences in the music weren't any more prominent than other death/black bands. Here, especially on the first half of the album, there's more of that swarming riff MA feel. Revisiting it made for a more enjoyable listen than what I remember, but it's still pretty forgettable for me. The best things about Angelcorpse are Pete Helmkamp's vocals and the lyrics, and again, both of those were coupled with better music in Order from Chaos.

I have mixed feelings about the new cover and layout since I can directly compare it to the original press. Never thought the original cover was one of Joe Petagno's better paintings, so the reissue artwork looks more tasteful even if it's less immediately exciting visually. However, the new layout is very dull aesthetically, and even if the band pics on the original aren't the most flattering, they still provide some much needed visual interest.

Metal Minded compilation (1987)

 

Cost: $2.00

In 1987, Prism Entertainment released two NWOBHM compilations--I owned the Metal City CD with Venom, Avenger, Warfare, and Saracen for years, but never came across this one until now. 

Initially I was super excited to get this, but it was kind of disappointing to find out that most of the tracks (but not quite all) are just from the old Neat Records 60 Minute Plus compilation, which had its own CD reissues later. Unfortunately, nearly 40 years after its release, all the songs are technically available on CD elsewhere in some capacity. Still, this CD deserves some recognition--considering this was released in 1987, I think it must certainly be one of the first times any sort of more obscure NWOBHM was put on CD.

I kinda like the cover, and even though it's similar thematically, it's much more interesting than the Metal City one. Yeah, visually it would probably fit more with some sort of progressive or avant-garde music, but it's way better than some of the crap artwork bigger labels tend to foist upon metal compilations.

1. Raven - At the Inferno

Yeah, obviously "Live at the Inferno." Over the top and infectiously energetic, one of the best tracks on Wiped Out.

 

2. Steel - All Systems Go

Both tracks on their 7" are good, but this B-side is uh, well, less rocking than "Rock Out," being a far speedier and more metallic song. Vocal patterns give me a bit of a Diamond Head vibe.

 

3. Crucifixion - The Fox

As much as I prefer "Green Eyes," still have to admit this is great.

 

4. Goldsmith - Give Me Your Love

While good, don't like this track as much as the songs on their 7". 

 

5. Jaguar - Dirty Tricks 

Fine but doesn't compete with their better material.

 

6. Persian Risk - 5000 Stallions

Unfortunately this compilation gave them 45,000 stallions less! Cool hard driving riff that sounds a bit like late '70s Priest, coupled with nice melodic vocal lines.

 

7. Dedringer - Lucy

This doesn't feel out of place on here until you get to the chorus, which is far more rock'n'roll than NWOBHM. Fine for what it is, though.

 

8. White Spirit - Watch Out

I know White Spirit aren't the heaviest of NWOBHM bands, but this feels quite polished and lightweight even for them.  Again, fine for what it is. The Deep Purple/Rainbow keyboards and cool guitar solo help a lot.

 

9. Warrior - Kansas City

Doesn't even crack the top 5 of NWOBHM songs about plane flights, but decent.

 

10. Hellanbach - All the Way

It's not particularly relevant to this song other than influences in the guitarwork, but I always found the Van Halen comparisons made with the Hellanbach debut EP and album to be extremely exaggerated, although not entirely untrue. I'd definitely rather listen to "All the Way" over "Atomic Punk," at least. 

 

11. Fist  - Lost and Found

While this song is listed on the CD reissues of the 60 Minute Plus compilation, they erroneously included the song "Throwing in the Towel." However, here you get the correct "Lost and Found." Not bad, but more of an emotional and brooding mood than what I'd normally associate Fist with. There's a subtle recurring guitar lick in there that immediately makes me think of "Victim of Changes," which is kind of cool. 

 

(The next four tracks are the ones not on 60 Minute Plus. In fact, aside from the Dedringer track, they seem to have nothing to do with Neat Records at all.) 

 

12. Demon - Wonderland

As an AOR track, this isn't a great fit for this compilation, but I like a lot of Demon's hard rock material (definitely including this) so I don't personally mind it at all. Only complaint is the audio samples are kind of jarring and intrusive, and they could have been mixed into the song better.

 

13. Stormbringer - Searchin'

The Swiss band. Great Joe Lynn Turner-era Rainbow worship.

 

14. Limelight - Whitefire

Probably the most out-of-place and lightweight inclusion on the CD, this is the band's song for the action/adventure b-movie White Fire. It's alright for the style, but aside from the vocal similarities, it differs quite a lot from both the more metallic stuff on their early singles and the proggier stuff on their album.

 

15. Dedringer - Comin' Out Fightin' 

Inoffensive hard rockin'. Not as good as their other track. 

 

Kryst the Conqueror - Deliver Us from Evil (1989)

Cost: $2.00

Finally! I remember first seeing this disc in the early-mid '90s at a used CD store in the same town where my aunt and uncle lived. It must have had the original hype sticker mentioning Jerry and Doyle on it, because I knew of the Misfits connection without ever hearing of the band before. It may have even turned me off to the band a little. The sword cover definitely looked rather metal, but ultimately I didn't get it, and probably bought something else that looked cooler or that I was already familiar with. I was only able to go there sporadically when visiting family, so it may have already been sold the very next time I went to the store. In any case, by the time I lived much closer to the store and knew it was worth whatever their regular used CD price was, it was long, long gone. Since this copy was from the cheapo bin, I felt a little vindicated after not buying it decades ago.

If you are like me and not a particularly big fan of punk, don't be concerned. This is quite traditional, full-on heavy metal, and certainly the most unambiguously metal project anyone from the Misfits (or Skid Row--Dave Sabo does some guest guitarwork on a track) sphere has ever been involved with. Even better, it leans more on the underground-sounding side and feels like it could have realistically been released a couple of years before it was. I can't think of any really good sound comparisons at the moment, but "March of the Mega-Mites" definitely has some galloping rhythms and tempo speed-ups that bring mid-'80s Maiden to mind.

I must say that I don't think Jeff Scott Soto was a great choice for vocals. Unlike Rising Force, Panther, or even Skrapp Mettle, there's hardly any room here for him to show off his range. Without much in high ranges for him to do, he sounds flat and unenthusiastic (in interviews he's said that he didn't particularly like the material musically and did it for the pay, which jibes with how it sounds). It's Jeff Scott Soto after all, so the performance has an acceptable baseline quality level, but I think the songs would have benefited from a more generic but better-fitting singer, like a gruffer USPM vocalist.

This is never gonna break into my list of all-time favorite US metal, but it's nice to see Jerry and Doyle had some real metal in them. Solid EP that I'll probably spin every once in a while.

W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P.

 

Cost: $2.00

Found this late '80s pressing with no bonus tracks and a rather sparse (aka blank inside) booklet, but hey, the price was right. I got into W.A.S.P. quite late comparatively because of a number of factors--their stuff never ever showed up in the used bins at the height of my CD hunting, I assumed most of their material was overly glammy/hair band-y, and I was way too focused on underground metal to bother to go out of my way to check them out. 

That's a shame, because no matter what they would become, this first album is great. "Hellion" alone is better than everything else they've done combined (so is "Tormentor," for that matter. "L.O.V.E. Machine" too.). Aside from some decent material on The Headless Children, I've never found anything Blackie has done after the debut to be particularly appealing.

I'm not a huge fan of the 3 tracks that close out the first side of the album, though. Always found "The Flame" to be overly upbeat and sappy, and in some ways it feels like it would fit better stylistically on one of the 2 albums after this. "B.A.D." has a cheesy chorus, but I do think the solo section is good. "School Daze" is just filler to me. 

Also, never even noticed the eyes on the sides of the cover until right before I typed up this post. 

Motörhead Tribute: Headin' for the North (1995)

 

Cost: $3.00

Found this one at a semi-local indie record store. They've never had a dedicated bargain bin, so I was quite surprised to find something priced as cheaply as $3--especially a disc I actually wanted to buy.

Nearly all-Swedish (the only exception I'm aware of is Havana Black) tribute. Was familiar with Lost Souls, Omnitron, The Hellacopters, and Entombed, but the rest of the roster was completely unknown to me. I was expecting the tribute to be on the punkier side overall, but the covers actually end up being somewhat varied in style.

1. Castaway - Killed by Death

Straightforward hard rock cover. Female lead vox don't seem like an optimal choice for a Motörhead cover, but these are serviceable.

 

2. Sator - Over the Top

Not bad performance-wise, but without the nasty guitar tone and Lemmy vocals, this feels very lightweight compared to the original. 

 

3. Cosa Nostra - Iron Fist

Solid, somewhat punkish cover. The vocalist manages to combine a little bit of Lemmy gruffness with some snottiness in his delivery without it sounding completely lame. 

 

4. Havana Black - We are the Road Crew

No complaints here. 

 

5. Livin' Sacrifice - Hellraiser

Out of curiosity, I checked out some of this band's original material. They started as a noisy all-female punk band in the early '80s, but the cover is in more of a late '80s or early '90s commercial hard rock style. The female vocals are probably better technically (though a tad oversung) than Castaway's, but they feel like a less appropriate fit. They aren't completely terrible given the song choice I suppose, but still way too clean and proficient for Motörhead.

 

6. Lost Souls - Sweet Revenge

Don't think I ever actually heard these guys, but I used to see their final album on Nuclear Blast around a lot. Never picked it up as it didn't seem like my kind of thing. Heavily industrialized groove/thrash cover. Wouldn't care about original music in this style, but the cover is an interesting interpretation.

 

7. Gone - Die You Bastard

Bouncy, groovy alt-rock sounding cover. Worst track on the tribute. Worth noting that the vocalist here is Björn Flodkvist, who was the late '90s Candlemass singer.

 

8. Omnitron - Ace of Spades

Only cover I had previously heard. Speedy rendition which is probably the most straightforward metal to be found on this tribute. Thumbs up. Because of the speed and lack of oddball songwriting, this reminds me a bit more of the later Krixhjälters material (although it's far less weird than that stuff, too) than the Omnitron debut CD (where this cover originally appeared).

 

9. Full Metal Jacketz - Eat the Rich

Another cover which is solid musically, but missing the filth and grit of the original. 

 

10. Nomads - Motörhead

Fun country and western version.

 

11. Cat Rapes Dog - Deaf Forever

Electronica/EBM cover, nearly unrecognizeable.

 

12. Hiroshima - Overkill

Not that awful, but they took a lot of liberties with such a well-known song and it just feels off. Though I will say, the mid-paced section they put in to replace the entire solo of the original is kind of cool in its own way.

 

13. Kurt Olvars Rebeller - The Hammer

Instrumentally one of the most faithful covers on here. Unfortunately it's brought down by the vocals, which are overly forced and way too shouty. Still good overall.

 

14. Röjkommandot - Damage Case

The guitar tone made me think this was the Entombed song for a moment. This is sped up to a nearly unrecognizable level, although it kind of works. However, the vocals aren't that great.

 

15. Hellacopters - Speedfreak

I had to edit my comments for "The Hammer" as this might even be a closer to the original by a hair or two. Annoyingly tepid vocals though. 

 

16. Entombed - One Track Mind 

Interesting choice of song, and sounds pretty much how you'd expect for mid '90s death'n'roll Entombed. The original song isn't a favorite of mine (and this era of Entombed certainly isn't either), but it's an okay cover.

Hitchhiker - Destination Unknown (1996)

 

Cost: $2.00

This CD is available for trade.

Hard rock indie. This doesn't really fit the concept of the blog and I wasn't expecting it to be metal when buying it, so I was debating whether to even post about it. So this is mainly to advertise that it's available for trade.

Even with all the photos of VW buses in the layout, I was a little surprised how '70s influenced this is at times (unfortunately, the keyboards often sound cheap and undermine this). But there are also very straightforward '80s style rockers like "Can't Walk Away" and "Love-Love-Love," and there's a good amount of AOR-sounding stuff as well.