A Sound of Thunder - Out of the Darkness (2011)

 

Cost: $2.00

Wasn't expecting much from this. I'm generally not a fan of female vocals in metal anyway, but I was never motivated to check out A Sound of Thunder. I thought many of their themes and aesthetics were kind of corny, and some aspects of the band (including, obviously, the name itself) came off as a extremely contrived attempt to appear highbrow and nerdier-than-thou. Lord Weird Slough Feg, they are not. Also, especially considering they are fairly prolific in terms of releases, I've never seen them get much attention in classic metal circles or in any of the metal media I typically consume. It can't be just me, because as far as I know, this is the only album of theirs to have a non-self-released version (although the one I found in the cheap bin was the independent version and not the Nightmare Rec. press).

Ironically, I think having low expectations meant this made more of an impact. There are certainly plenty of traditional metal influences here, and although they aren't as retro as I would typically associate with the movement, I wouldn't have any issue with them being lumped in as a NWOTHM band. Still, this is hardly pure classic metal worship or '80s emulation, and the band don't hesitate using slicker, more commercial hard rock parts, as well as going the other way and getting pretty thrashy. Viewed solely as an oldschool metal album this would be a pretty big disappointment, but approaching it as a modern power/heavy metal album that blends some old influences with more contemporary elements, it's pretty good.

I have mixed feelings about the vocals. There's no doubt they're very powerful, but also very clean, and I have come to terms with the fact that I typically prefer metal frontwomen to have some sort of Leather Leone or Betsy Bitch grit to their voice. Her singing works a little better during thrashier parts in conjunction with the higher energy, but I thought her most expressive and emotive singing was a more mellow, restrained style used in the "This Too Shall Pass" ballad and a few other places. All that said, the best vocals on the entire disc are John Gallagher's guest appearance on "Out of the Darkness," which just made me keeping thinking how much more awesome the album would have been had he sung everything. 

Finally, not a real complaint or anything, just an observation. The beginning of the album seems to contain all the material that has more overt '70s Priest and Rainbow influence in the guitarwork, while the latter half of the album has the more mid-paced, galloping, and/or epic material that has more obvious Maiden/Manowar influences.

Worth the 2 bucks, and I'd even be open to revisiting this once in a while or checking out some of their other releases. It's not bad. But I also found myself asking if A Sound of Thunder was preferable to female-fronted bands that took a far more purist/traditionalist approach to metal, even if that admittedly made them more generic soundwise (I was specifically thinking of something like Savage Master). The answer was definitely no.

Power from the Vault compilation (1997)

 

Cost: $2.00

Wasn't expecting much from this, although one band in particular necessitated me picking this up.

 

The tracklisting swaps the order of Amboog-a-lard and Raped Ape, so the song order below is correct. Should add this CD only has the tracklist on the disc face and nowhere on the inserts, which is a layout/design choice I absolutely hate. It's only barely excusable if the CD doesn't have inserts or paperwork to put a tracklisting on, like say a promo or magazine pack-in disc.

 

1. L.U.N.G.S. - Mess Around (clean version)

2. L.U.N.G.S. - Kick the Can

3. L.U.N.G.S. - Around (I assume F**k around?, Mess Around explicit version)

I only know these guys because back in the mid-'90s, Pavement Music sent me a L.U.N.G.S. cassette single one time when I placed an order. While I consider nu-metal to be just some sort of heavy alternative rock with varying degrees of hip hop influence in the vocals, this has a dedicated rapping frontman, so it both leans more into the rap side (like Stuck Mojo) and the music, even if not totally metal, is at least somewhat groove metal adjacent. The two versions of "Mess Around" remind me of Biohazard during their Onyx collaboration days, while "Kick the Can" is full-on rap, just with some lead guitar in the backing track.

 

4. Raped Ape - Easy Way Out

5. Raped Ape - Self Made Man

Ugh. Their inclusion was the main reason I even bought this disc, but these aren't even technically Raped Ape tracks, they're from the 1995 Paingod demo (these 2 tracks were recorded in a different session from the rest, so perhaps they were originally intended to be Raped Ape songs. But the disc mentions the band name change, so no idea why the RA name and logo are used here).  Hardly anything of the thrashy Raped Ape sound left, as they went full in on groove metal. Huge disappointment.

 

6. Amboog-a-lard - The Wounded

7. Amboog-a-lard - Alone

While somewhat familiar with the band, I wasn't particularly interested with their inclusion here since I assumed they had gone in a completely weird and/or trendy direction. So I was very pleasantly surprised that these songs are still pretty similar to their earlier full length. '90s thrash with deep, sometimes nearly guttural vocals. Both tracks use limited sound samples and have some minor progressive touches, but it's nowhere near as avant-garde or weird as they have gotten. Among other thrash bands they'd probably come off as a slightly quirky oddity rather than anything all that great, but on a compilation like this they really shine.

 

8. Excessive - Spiritual Bliss

9. Excessive - Bored

10. Excessive - Manhole

First two tracks are a mishmash of rock, groove, and thrash elements. There are definitely metal influences in the mix but the songs don't give off an overwhelmingly metal vibe. "Manhole" is a punkier song. 

 

11. Quit - Remember

12. Quit - Did You?

13. Quit - Where Were You?

Pop punk. "Remember" has a pleasantly unexpected proggy mellow section in the middle. 

 

14. Bone China - I Think It Works

15. Bone China - Aliens

16. Bone China - Crystal Carry

The first two tracks are kind of oddball/quirky hard rock (especially "I Think It Works" could pass for a short Mike Patton-era Faith No More or even a Scatterbrain track).  "Crystal Carry" has a heavier, groovy swagger. Some definite metal influences in the guitars but they come off like a hard rock band.

17. In Your Face - Treading Water

18. In Your Face - Mother

19. In Your Face - Monkey

'90s hard rock, maybe even with some vague similarities to Bone China. The first two tracks have pretty impressive guitar solo sections, especially the very progressive sounding one in "Mother." 

 

20. Opposite Earth - Always Now

Kinda Sabbathy progressive metal with a thick, somewhat doomy guitar tone. In the company of other good bands this would be perfectly ok but probably not stand out as much. Here, it's one of the saving graces of the disc.

Demon Dog Sperm - Hopeless (2007)

 

Cost: $1.00

Figured I'd take a chance on this for a buck. The band name and cover art had me thinking some sort of stoner, doom, or hard rock, but the cursive script in the layout and the floral pattern on the back of the booklet made me think hardcore/metalcore. No band pic to aid me, either. 

The first track is very thick, rumbly sludge metal. I wasn't a huge fan of the ultra-forced guttural vocals, but they fit the music well enough. A sludge album wouldn't have been my first choice, but if the rest of the disc had been in the same vein as the opener, I would have been ok with it.

Unfortunately, rather than sticking consistently with straightforward sludge, there's a tendency to explore their stoner and groove metal influences with bouncy, chuggy riffs. Admittedly, some of the stoner metal elements are not unwelcome and give the album some variety, but coupled with the vocals, the groove metal parts just feel like generic aggro chugging. They also use secondary clean vocals in several places which come off as weak Southern metal vox, and I'm even less of a fan of these than the forced gutturals.

Also, just as a warning to anyone interested in checking out the band, I've seen an online review and some online shop descriptions paint this as some sort of stoner metal/death metal hybrid. I assume this is coming from the "growled vocals = death metal crowd."  Aside from the most superficial of similarities like extreme vocals (I neglected to mention they use a third type of BM-style backing vox in a few places) and downtuning, the more swarming guitar parts in "Dead Heart" are the only thing on this entire CD that could possibly be considered a tangible influence from death metal.

For just a dollar, not a big deal. Seriously doubt I'm ever going to relisten to it, though.

Virgin Black - Requiem - Fortissimo (2008)

 

Cost: $2.00

What a pleasant surprise. The other Virgin Black material I've heard was very symphonic and quite gothic-influenced. This album tones those elements way, way down, dials up the doom, and replaces the clean male vocals with gutturals, resulting in a very nice doom/death disc. As with the other parts of the Requiem trilogy, they recorded with a full orchestra, although since the symphonic aspects of the music have been scaled back, I really only took great notice during "In Winters Ash" and the string ending of "God in Dust." The choir backing vocals even seem more prevalent than the orchestral stuff.

The style here is not as unique as the band's older material, but that's no problem, as I personally prefer this old Peaceville 3-influenced sound much more.

Noctis - For Future's Past (2007)

 

Cost: $1.00

Quite morose and doomy progressive metal that primarily uses death metal style vox (as well as some black metal ones in "Eternity's Worth). The extremity of the vocals makes a world of difference to the sound, and beefs up the music considerably. They're certainly a doomy band, but I wouldn't say they have a particularly crushing guitar tone, and there's even a certain airiness to many of the riffs. But whenever those vocals kick in, everything seems way more doomdeath-like. There are also a fair amount of clean vocals, usually during the mellower, more progressive-forward parts. At these points, the music takes on somewhat of a (doom-adjacent) gothic metal character. Also really liked the "Nostalgia" instrumental, which is a great mix of ethereal and melancholic.

Nice little EP, glad I found it. 

White House Burning - I Am Hatred (2015)

 

Cost: $1.00

I wasn't really paying attention to the copyright date when I bought this, so based solely on the simplistic CG art, I kinda just assumed this was from the early '00s. I was a little shocked it was from 2015, because the cover would have already looked pretty dated in the '90s. The feel of the cheap-looking CGI art reminds me a little bit of the cover of the Corum CD I posted about ages ago, although the jail bars make me think of the 2nd Zoetrope album.

While the budget cover with non-logo and politically-charged band name would normally scream groove metal, I was actually quite optimistic about this disc. When I looked it up, I saw that the guitar was Damon Bernklau of Seventh Omen, who were a terribly underrated heavy/power metal band I liked quite a bit. 

I have mixed feelings about the CD depending on the song. For an old school metal devotee like me, the overall sound feels way too modern for me, and some of the tracks get pretty groove metal-ly or do too much playing around with vocal effects. They're obviously not trying to be an consciously old school band in any respect, from production to aesthetics. But at the same time, a lot of the individual riffs and solos don't feel very modern at all (the guitarwork is, as expected, very proficient) and there's a pleasing thrashiness to several of the songs, particularly "American Christ" and the title track. This comparison might be a bit of a stretch that is overly biased by the politically charged lyrics here, but a couple of riffs feel they should have been used in The System has Failed/United Abominations-era Megadeth. Even the ballad "Stay the Course" has a solid melody once it gets going, although it feels terribly out of place among the other songs. 

The vocals are a gruff, mildly hoarse style which I disliked at first, though you get used to them. Even without being overly HC or aggro-sounding, admittedly they're not particularly good vocals, although they work pretty well on "White House Burning."

In the context of a bargain bin find, I think there's certainly enough decent material here to justify spending a buck or two. But I would have been quite disappointed and/or livid to have paid normal used CD price or even worse, full retail for this disc. 

 

Avang'Hard 2 compilation (1994)

 

Cost: $1.99

Compilation with 5 obscure French bands who get 3 songs each:

Broken Arrow

The intro to "Highway Stranger" reminds me a bit of Anthrax's "In My World," then it becomes some kinda-thrashy-but-not-really-thrash stuff. The solo section is great though. "Sword and Sorcery" has some nice '80s sounding galloping trad. HM sections and an awesome solo, but it's let down by too many plodding parts and ill-fitting vocals. Last track is bass-driven, mellower, and has more of a proggy feel.

 

Hysteria

"La Raie Publique" is pleasant, rumbly metal. There's something in there that reminds me of a mid-paced Vulcain song, but it's not Motörheadish at all. From this, I had high hopes they'd be the best band on the compilation, but "Never Die" is kind of generic hard rocking, while "Extasy" brings back some heaviness but isn't nearly as interesting as that first song.

 

Queensway

Kinda disappointing. "Just Fight" seems hard-driving at first but the sleazy vocals and hair band touches put me off.  "No Excuses" seems like it's going to be cool with a very interesting Egyptian melody, but then the chorus parts drastically shift to very hair band-sounding stuff. "Don't Be Afraid" balances the metal and the L.A. influences a little better, but I'm not sure how I feel about the weird chorus and vocal effects. At least it stands out I guess...

 

Revert

Was not expecting this at all! Very shreddy all-instrumental stuff with a drum machine. These almost feel like stock music or backing tracks (I mean this in the best way possible) you'd hear in an older video game or other media when heavy music is needed. Even with no vocals and a drum machine, they're the most consistent band on here by leaps and bounds, and these songs come off as more fully formed and well-composed than the other bands. 

 

Daggers Drawn 

The name made me expect a punk/HC band. First 2 tracks are very alternative rock sounding. I suppose the last track starts to approach being some sort of prog./avant-garde/funk metal hybrid, but it's nowhere near interesting enough for me to want to further dissect it.

 

Not really that great in itself as a compilation, but somewhat interesting as a look at some unknown demo-level French bands. To the credit of the bands, I will say that with the exception of Daggers Drawn, any of this material would be believable as earlier '90s or even late '80s recordings.

Arnaud Krakowka - Antic Journey (2011)

 

Cost: $2.00

The first actual song on here, "Lifeforce," is progressive neoclassical metal with some nice shredding, and then "Apollo's Northern Land" is a much mellower prog. metal/prog rock piece. After that, while there's still some shreddy guitarwork here and there, the album largely shifts away from anything particularly heavy and/or metal. The last track does pick up with enough neoclassical guitarwork that I wouldn't argue if someone called it shred.

The bulk of the album is guitar-centric progressive rock, and with Arnaud's obvious love of ethnic melodies (such as the electric sitar use in "The Truth Behind Horus"), several songs exhibit a lot of world music influence, often bordering on some sort of progressive/ambient fusion. Often not very appropriate for the scope of this blog, but pleasant musically.

However, while Arnaud may be a talented guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, his vocals are plain and sub-par. "Lifeforce" could have been improved with a stronger singer, but since there aren't any super compelling vocal lines here anyway and several tracks (which tend to be more interesting) are already vocal-less, I think the album would have benefited from being completely instrumental.

Also should add the booklet has two pages of text with some new age-sounding diatribe (the lyrics also vaguely lean towards those types of topics, although no more than a lot of power metal bands do). Not really clear how serious it's supposed to be or whether it's an attempt to artificially inject the album with some sort of spirituality to make it seem deeper. I mention this because while the various world melodies somewhat play into this concept, I would have expected a far more psychedelic album from reading through the booklet.

Not something I'd put on if I needed a metal or even a shred fix, but I could see revisiting it in the future as mellower background music.

Celtic Frost - Into the Pandemonium (1999 reissue)

 

Cost: $1.99

I think my first exposures to Celtic Frost in any capacity were the video clips on the old Noise Rec. VHS compilations, but I'm fairly certain "Mesmerized" (on the Doomsday News compilation) from this album was the first Frost I ever owned on CD format. It definitely wasn't as cool as the "Circle of the Tyrants" video, but we'll get to that shortly. Despite that single song being early in my metal history, I ironically didn't hear the album in its entirety until after everything else in their original run (and nope, haven't heard Monotheist yet) because I just never saw it for sale anywhere.

It's not my favorite, but I don't really mind most of the avant-garde experimentation on this album. Considering this was from 1987, the strings and symphonic elements are integrated quite well, and I personally find "Oriental Masquerade" to be one of metal's standout outro tracks. "Babylon Fell," "Caress into Oblivion," and "Sorrows of the Moon" all seem like fairly natural progressions from the To Mega Therion sound into more experimental and atmospheric territory. The "Mexican Radio" cover is pretty fun. But there's one thing that helps to kill a lot of potential enjoyment I would get from the album.

Those crap vocals. 

Yes, when I heard "Mesmerized" all those years ago, I thought the semi-moaned, heavily-accented gothic crooning was goofy, and whenever it pops up on the whole album, I still feel the same. Even when they're restricted to a fairly short section, like in "Babylon Fell," they help spoil the entire track with their corniness. That's why "Inner Sanctum" is my favorite track from the album, because it's free of those silly moanings. It's also fairly thrashy and even hints at the sound of some of the Vanity/Nemesis material.

So yeah, even as a die-hard Emperor's Return fan, I don't think the album is terrible so much as it is the victim of a very poor artistic decision in that one vocal style. I can completely understand people who think Cold Lake is a better album--I definitely thought so myself, although I haven't listened to Cold Lake in its entirety for years, so my views may very well have softened. Plus, those weird vocals aside, the more straightforward sections are quite good. The guitar sound is a little subdued and obviously better-produced from the earlier material, but the classic Frost tone is still there in some form.

Should also add while this album is often invoked as a groundbreaking influence on the more experimental and weird fringes of metal, which are largely irrelevant to my listening preferences, I don't think this album gets quite as much credit for its influence on the symphonic/atmospheric doom/death scene. I have vague memories of hearing My Dying Bride for the first time, and the juxtaposition of the heavy riffs and the violin immediately made me think of Into the Pandemonium and the influence it must have been on them.

Cwn Annwn - Blood of the Djinn (2008)

 

Cost: $2.00

Would have expected a band using this name to be more in a folk/pagan metal style, but the cover aesthetic and band picture were giving off groove metal vibes, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that the first track sounded a lot like some kind of contemporary heavy metal--not overly old-school sounding, but the guitarists have obviously listened to some classic metal before. However, right out of the gate on the first song, they also introduce the two things I dislike the most about this EP. 

I'm not a fan of any of the vocals on here, including the main female vocals, which I'll admit are at least serviceable. She doesn't have a bad voice, but she doesn't really modulate her tone much at all, just the power level. It's the same kind of clean singing through most of the disc with no attempts at aggression and little variation, so it comes off as monotonous. Even some of the variations in Cwn Annwn's music make it clear her style would fit better in a gothic or progressive metal band. However I might feel about her, she's not as awful as the secondary vocals, which thankfully are used somewhat sparingly, (but still way too much for my taste). There's a sort of semi-shouted style, aggro screaming, and less obnoxious growling, which of course is used the least. That leads me into my other complaint, which is the decision to throw groove metal parts into the music. It's not a major component of the music and they seem to draw other aggressive influences from elsewhere, so I found the chuggy stuff needless.

The Scion 

This starts out with almost melodeath-sounding riffage. As mentioned before, they chose to put a chuggy break in the middle, but there's a cool, progressive, vaguely Middle Eastern sounding part (I guess technically the solo section) with harmonized guitars. There are some more substantial progressive metal parts later on in the disc, but they also have a habit of throwing in little proggy parts or bass licks here and there, which I quite like.

 

Calypso

This is the first and most abundant use of the backing vocals, and on top of that, I find the main vocal melody to be off-putting in this one. The underlying guitarwork isn't as bad as the backing vocals make it feel, but still the worst track.

 

Recoil

Nice prog. metal. The vocals are a better fit with the mellower sound. 

The Djinn

Easily the most aggressive song on the EP, very melodeath adjacent. Opens with quite a thrashy riff. The growlier backing vocals are introduced here, which fit the tune, but unfortunately but the backing screams and some chuggy riffs return. I would say this is the singer's strongest performance, and at times the juxtaposition of strong clean vocal melodies over harder music gave me After Forever/Within Temptation vibes, even though the music is a bit more extreme than that symphonic power metal type stuff.

The Fury

This track is from their earlier debut full-length prior to the female vocalist joining. Her vocals are on it and the CD calls it a remix, so I'm not sure if it's just the original track with new vox mixed in, or a complete re-recording. This is by far the most traditional metal-influenced track with some nice galloping riffs that are bridged by proggier "Recoil"-type mellow sections. I wish the entire disc had been like this!

 

So yeah, even with the interesting parts, nothing particularly great, but for the bargain bin price, this indie EP was definitely better than I was expecting. 

 

Post-listening update: So I quickly checked out some of the band's other material online. I was especially curious if more material from the band's first CD was in the vein of "The Fury." While it does have much more of a traditional metal feel than the EP I've covered here, I was rather taken aback by the awful and amateurish semi-shouted vocals, which ruin any old-school feel that album might have had. While I still don't think the singing gal is a great fit, she's a definite improvement over the vox on their earlier material.

 

Since Blood of the Djinn is a pretty varied EP, I briefly skimmed through some of their newer material to see if they leaned in any particular direction. A few tracks seemed like they moved in more of a progressive power metal direction, although I heard at least one track that was unfortunately very groove-metal sounding. 

 

I'm a little surprised the more extreme side of the music seemed to be greatly reduced. I thought there was a fair amount of modern melodic death/thrash and melodeath-sounding riffwork on the EP, but since it doesn't always feel predominant, I would guess that comes from general contemporary metal trends and influences, and not conscious influence from any old Gothenburg bands or anything. It could also be some of the shared classic metal influences in the guitar harmonies and axework making me think it's a bit more melodeath inspired than it actually is. Anyway, hopefully I'll come across more of their stuff in the cheapo bin sometime so I can do a proper comparison.

Graveyard Rodeo - On the Verge (1994)

 

$2.00

This album was hastily done with a mostly-new lineup to fulfill contractual obligations with Century Media, since Graveyard Rodeo had imploded after their first album. I know the story is that a lot of the album was material already composed by the old lineup, just with rewritten lyrics, but because of the extreme stylistic change (and how well the new vocals completely fit the style of supposedly previously written material), I honestly find that very hard to believe. 

So unfortunately, they've jumped on the groove metal bandwagon, and all other influences that had made their first album such a weird mixture have been pushed far to the fringes of their sound. Vocals are the expected aggro style. While I do slightly prefer the vocals from the debut, those were very hardcore punk-styled, so it's really just choosing the lesser of two evils. Also, to be fair, both vocal styles fit in with the sound of their respective albums.

Speaking of HC influences, that was a major element on the first album, but here it's limited to closer "Nothing to Say" and a few sparse faster parts spread throughout the disc. But by far the worst thing about the album is how much they scaled back the doom and death metal influences from the debut. The best part of the album is right at the beginning, with the great doomy riffage that starts "Self Holyness" off. It made me quite optimistic when I first put the CD on, as I thought maybe not much had changed aside from the vocals. The death metal influence is almost completely gone--the aforementioned beginning of "Self Holyness" is heavy enough to qualify as doomdeath for me, but otherwise, there's really only the fast parts that at the start of the verses in "Taught Well." That's pretty much it for anything DM-like.

If you were to ask me if I liked this album, I wouldn't hesitate to say no, but because of the price, it's not that big of a letdown, and it's not so bad where it feels like a total waste of two bucks. The guitar sound is pleasantly heavy, and there's just enough residual doom and sludginess left in the sound where it's not just generic Pantera cloning. I'm not a huge fan of Sowing Discord in the Haunts of Man, but it managed to mix varied influenced in an interesting way. Most of On The Verge just lets the groove sound dominate lazily.

Haieeta - Mvemjsun (p) (2007)

 

Cost: 99¢

This is too varied for a comprehensive general description, so a quick track-by-track:

1. Dragonflies Terrain

This wasn't a great first impression, because while there's a sludgy, stoner-y feel to the music, the bounciness and vocals give off strong groove metal vibes.

2. Freeze the Flame

The intro has a super-heavy, doomy riff which are easily the best musical idea the band comes up with on the entire CD. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes more of a groovy rock song, and the vocals often have a sort of swaggery rap-adjacent delivery. At least the heavy riff recurs a few times. 

 

3. Haunted Gangster

More of a Southern metal vibe here, still with sludge/groove/stoner metal influences. While not my favorite kind of thing, the vocals and music mesh better here than on the other tracks.

 

4. White Knuckle

More upbeat and rocking, perhaps with some Black Label Society influence. 

 

5. Telepathic Love

Groovy stoner metal/rock, the closest they get to straightforward stoner rock on the disc. 

 

6. Residual Hill 

Stoner metal with some sludgy and even slightly doomy undertones. It's a 15 minute track containing nothing to justify that length, though. I was amused that there's a recurring riff that starts getting used about halfway through that has a chord progression that made me think ever so slightly of Metal Church's eponymous song.

 

This has a barcode so I'm not sure if it ever got legit distribution, but the presentation and even overall musical feel are much more like a demo CD. Can't say I was impressed by anything on here, but for 99 cents, I can't really complain. Don't think it's something I will ever listen to again, though.

Dio - Holy Diver

 

Cost: $1.99

I had completely forgotten I found a copy of Holy Diver at the end of 2022 and had already blogged about it. I would have bought this as a tradeable anyway, so that's what it will end up being.

I gave the disc a listen before I even realized I had already covered the album on the blog, so without the bias of reading or remembering my old work, I can say my thoughts about the album are exactly the same. I can give myself a pat on the back for consistency, I guess. So yeah, first 2 tracks and "Rainbow in the Dark" are the strongest songs, and the middle of the album gets kind of weak. The recurring melody from the intro from "Shame on the Night" is kinda neat, so while I wouldn't call it one of the best tracks, it's probably one of the more interesting middling ones.

The band were capable of crafting some fantastic individual tracks, but I think the first two Dio albums fall short of reaching the sheer excellence of old Priest/Maiden/Saxon/etc. in terms of being all killer, no filler. Ironically I feel this is also the case for Sabbath (regardless of singer) and Ozzy's solo stuff as well. In some ways, I wish the material of the first two Dio albums had been amalgamated into one excellent album instead of two pretty good ones.

Skullwinx - The Relic (2016)

 

Cost: $2.00

Awful band name. Especially when you consider the band name versus the actual music, this could easily rank as one of the worst ever. It immediately evokes associations with Winx Club, which I assume was not the intent. The logo they used for this album doesn't do them any favors either, since it looks like the generic graphic design you'd see from a hard rock band (their older logo is just an Old English font with wings, which I think looks a lot cooler).

The band combine epic heavy metal with speed metal parts. They call themselves epic speed metal, which is a fair enough way to cover both bases, although since the epic stuff greatly outweighs the speed, and only "Carved in Stone" might really qualify as a pure speed metal song overall, I personally wouldn't feel comfortable calling them speed metal without an extra descriptor. As far as the speed component goes, they never get super furious, so think influences from the slightly less lead-footed German bands.

The epic metal influences vary depending on the song. "Hammer of the Gods" is a re-recording of an older track, and is the most overtly old US metal-sounding. Most of the other tracks remind me a bit of the more epic side of Grave Digger's '90s/'00s material, though Skullwinx aren't as power metal-y.

I wouldn't have minded a much higher concentration of speed metal, but otherwise, all I can really critique are a couple spots in the vocals. They're in a rougher mid-range which works just fine most of the time, but there are a couple places where he drifts outside his range trying to hit high notes. I was expecting the worst, so this was quite a pleasant surprise. Since I found this so enjoyable, I can't help but be harsh on the band name--it seems like a huge impediment in an already overcrowded metal scene. $2 well spent.

Action - Overload (1988)

 

Cost: 99¢

Was quite shocked to find this. Even the early Action stuff has quite a lot of rock-oriented songs, though they definitely had some metal in their repertoire too. Unfortunately by this album, they went the route of other Japanese bands like Blizard and Reaction by ditching any sort of real band logo on their covers and switching to hard rock. For hard rock, this is fine. There's some residual heaviness in the guitarwork, and opener "Blow the Night Away" and closer "Violence" are pretty good. Not my musical preference, but it was worth checking out for 99 cents.

For Those About to Rot: A Tribute to AC/DC (2000)

 

Cost: $2.00

The title suggests much more of a death/extreme metal-focused tribute than it ends up being, although compared to some of Dwell's other tributes to non-metal bands, there is, well, surprisingly little non-metal on here.

1. Locomotive - Highway to Hell

Groove metal (with sped-up death metal chorus sections) version with ultra-forced aggro vox. Not the best way to start things off.

 

2. Dementia - Back in Black

I assume this is the same band from the Mötley Crüe tribute I covered on the blog years ago. I was a bit surprised at first, as they look like a nu/alternative band in their booklet photo, but instrumentally the cover was excellent. The singer smartly stayed away from Brian Johnson emulation aside from some mild swagger in the vocals, and while they aren't great, they're serviceable. I should have trusted my instincts about their picture, though...Two-thirds of the way through the song, they put in a angst-y Rage Against the Machine-style rapped section. I wish I was joking! Ridiculous. 

 

3. Colp - T.N.T.

This is somewhat similar to Locomotive's cover, as it's groove metal heavied up with death metal influences. It comes off far better, though. That said, I don't think it's quite as good and definitely not as fun to listen to as Six Feet Under's version. 

  

4. Wasteland - Riff Raff

This is the mid '90s German thrash band. Great musically but the extreme black metal-sounding vox aren't a great fit.

 

5. Assisting Sorrow - Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Very interesting melodic death interpretation. Rather than typical death or black metal vox, the vocals here are gruff, shouty, and even kind of aggro, with a reverb effect. As with the previous track, they're an odd fit and feel weird.

 

6. Lesser Known - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Solid cover musically. I found the vocal affectations and effects slightly distracting at first, but they're not nearly as bad as some of the vocals on the other covers.

 

7. Neurosilence - Who Made Who

Very disjointed death/deaththrash version, light years away from their decent cover on the Death tribute. If it wasn't for the song's title right in the chorus, I don't think I would have recognized this at all. Worst track on here.

 

8. Deamon - Hells Bells

Again, aside from the bells intro and the main riff, it was very hard to hear "Hell's Bells" in here. Since this sounds pretty much like an original death metal song, it kind of defeats the purpose, although because they transformed it so much, it works a little better as an extreme version than some of the other songs.

 

9. Necrology - You Shook Me All Night Long

I was expecting this to be played closer to the original tempo, just downtuned and made extreme ala Six Feet Under. Instead, it's quite sped up, which I do admit I found funny. I think this would have worked better as a hidden bonus track on their own album than on a tribute CD, though.

 

10. Vladimirs - If You Want Blood (You Got It)

Musically, a cool punk-infused cover, but not a fan of the uncontrolled shouty vox.

 

11. Enertia - Walk All Over You 

One of the more faithful versions musically, but unfortunately the band uses regular clean vox, robbing it of any Bon Scott feel whatsoever. 

 

Blessed Agony - Confined Slaughter (2006)

 

Cost: $2.00

Unremarkable death metal EP. Sounds like late '90s "plain" death metal in that there's not really an extra descriptor (technical, brutal, melodic, old-school, etc.) that really fits it. If it were simply generic, I'd probably feel neutral about it, but there are enough little missteps that I feel it's slightly below average. Although I wouldn't hesitate to say it's not that good, it is cohesive enough where it's not terrible.

It doesn't happen too often throughout the course of the CD and it's not even that prominent, but occasionally there will be kinda chuggy riffs that rub me the wrong way and give this a slight metalcore or groove undercurrent. The vocals sometimes accentuate this, because the switches between gruffer shouted lows and forced manic near-BM screams come off very much like -core vox. The band also attempts to use shreddy melodic solo sections in songs like "Remnants of Humanity" and "Torment," but the solos come off as disjointed and amateurish. It's a shame, because they could have been a potential highlight, but it sounds like they were just too far beyond the guitarist's ability to effectively pull off. Even with all my criticisms, I thought "Torment" was an alright song.

After I listened to this I looked up the band on Metal-Archives and happened to notice they were categorized as "black/death metal." Judging by the shirts in some of the band photos, at least some of the members are into black metal, but it doesn't reflect in the music much. I suppose considering some of the tremolo picked parts together with the higher vocal style, certain riffs might have some slight black metal undertones. But calling this black/death overall seems like a stretch.

So yeah, I've done much better in the bargain bin, but it doesn't feel like I completely wasted two bucks either.

Fastway - Trick or Treat soundtrack

 

Cost: $1.99

Not only have I never seen the movie aside from a few clips, I'm really only familiar with Fastway from the videos for "All Fired Up" (pretty good tune) and "Tell Me" (the video is far more interesting than the song itself, though it can't compare to Priest's earlier guitar-aided bank robbery in the "Breaking the Law" vid).

One of the Trick or Treat scenes I have seen is the main character's mom going through some of his LPs, which all happen to be Combat releases. Any of these bands would have made for a far better soundtrack--obviously Possessed had no chance of being on the soundtrack for a commercially-released film, but I think Impaler would have been particularly appropriate thematically. I'd even gladly take Unveiling the Wicked-era Exciter.

Disappointingly, this disc only has hard rock tunes, with no metal at all. Given that it's a movie soundtrack, more accessible music is to be expected, but I figured they'd throw on at least one fast and heavy tune. No such luck. The music has much more of a slick L.A. hair band-y sound than those previous Fastway videos I was familiar with. The guitar licks often remind me of AC/DC, although I fully realize that comes from Fast Eddie's sharing boogie influences with the Young brothers rather than any direct influence.

So yeah, definitely not my kind of thing, and since I have no real history with the movie, there's not even a nostalgia or familiarity factor here for me. I would even say I prefer some of the songs King Kobra did for the Black Roses soundtrack than any of the songs here.

Black Task - Terms of Surrender (2015)

 

Cost: $2.00

On first seeing the cover, the logo style (and band name itself, for that matter) immediately made me think of the bands doing black metal/punk hybrids.

Somewhat technical, fairly proggy modern thrash. I wouldn't argue about calling the first half of the album some sort of progressive thrash, although the progressive influences manifest primarily in the guitarwork. The overall songwriting seldom sounds progressive rock-influenced as a whole, which is what I typically associate with older progressive thrash bands. Also, despite their musical chops and me throwing the progressive term around, things stay pretty straightforward and linear, so don't expect any Voivodian weirdness.

The latter half of the album seems to have more tangible influences from extreme metal. There are varying amounts of it right from the start, but the album just seems to lay it on thicker as it goes on. Other than some black metal-adjacent riffs in "Vacuous Idol" and some beefier riffs here and there, it's hard to pinpoint what's primarily responsible for this. It's like there's an undercurrent of melodeath in some of the songs without them actually feeling much like death metal or even death/thrash. The vocals (more on that in a moment) certainly contribute, but I also think some of it is the modern production and guitar tone creating a generic feel of homogenized contemporary metal.

That wouldn't even be that bad, since there are some okay songs on here ("To Propagate the Void," "Tongues of Silver," and "Haunted Vigil"), but I found the vocals to be way too forced and screamy. Think someone being a little overzealous when trying to do black metal vox and sounding almost as much like a metalcore singer as a BM one, and you're in the ballpark. Yeah, there are far worse vocals out there, but if you haven't noticed, there's not exactly a shortage of metal bands to listen to, so I'm far more inclined to gravitate towards something with less grating vocals.

I will not be in any great hurry to revisit this, but there's enough decent material here to justify the two bucks.

Bobnoxious - Ho Ho Ho (2006)

 

Cost: $1.99

 

So the Bob in Bobnoxious happens to be Bob Reid of Razor fame. Obviously, this has nothing to do with Razor, so I'll save any commentary about Bob's tenure in Razor for a more suitable post in the future, i.e. when Cycle of Contempt shows up in the cheap bins.

Mix of original Christmas songs and covers of holiday standards done in a jolly, almost pop-punkish style, so don't be expecting metal (although their version of "Fa La La" might sorta qualify). I thought the first 2 tracks were the best--the "Merry Christmas/Jingle Bells" medley has sort of a Bad News feel to it, and "Police Nabbed My Dad" is a fun take on the "Feliz Navidad" melody. All of the traditional songs are arranged well, and it was a wise decision to keep the disc quite short (not even 20 minutes) so as not to wear out its welcome. Still, this is ultimately just a somewhat entertaining novelty, and I'm not sure if I'd be terribly inclined to throw it on even during Christmastime. We shall see. But it's alright for what it is.

Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations (2008)

Cost: $2.00

This one was quite a surprise, as I had seen it among the stores regularly-priced used CDs, and I wasn't expecting it to stick around long enough to get marked down. Original Razorback press too.

I was aware of the band for a while, but had never actually heard them before or even looked into them that much, so my only preconception was weird doom metal. The band name also obviously conjures up inaccurate stoner metal vibes, although I can see how it ultimately fits well with their concept. I wasn't expecting all the doom/death on here and had no idea there would be guttural vocals. I've since read some interviews and the band really seem to downplay the death metal element in the music as being little more than the vocals, but there is definitely a DM influence to some of the riffage that goes beyond just being the guitar tuning or vox.

Rather than being straightforward doom/death, the doom in the band's sound owes a lot to the doomier side of the NWOBHM. The lead guitar often pops up as tinny '70s sounding shredding, and is happily quite Pagan Altar-influenced at times.

There are also the sound effects which are responsible for the band's "psychedelic" descriptor. Aside from intros and interludes, there are occasional pulsating effects which do succeed in giving kind of a '70s/early '80s horror movie vibe despite being fairly minimal. Actually, before I ever heard the band but knew of their Halloween themes coupled with doom, I assumed there would be a much stronger Italian musical influence from say, Goblin, or Paul Chain. There's not at all. In a strange way, the effects sometimes remind me of when Sigh was starting to get super weird in the late '90s, although again, here it's far more restrained.

A few of the songs are very good, but often I think this has more of a unique/interesting vibe going for it than being truly great. I think the musical influences here are sometimes too disparate and don't mesh well in every song. I thought "Cauldron Cave" was one of the better tracks even though that has them leaning most heavily into traditional doom/death (at least after the intro stuff). I find the more upbeat riffage often holds the songs back from being really doomy and crushing, but on the other hand, the brutal vox and chunkiness aren't helpful in creating a mournful Pagan Altar sound. Then again, sometimes it totally works, as on "The Black Witch," which feels like Witchfinder General gone extreme.

Boanerges - Señales antes del fin (1998)

 

Cost: $1.00

Argentine imports aren't exactly common in the bargain bin, so I was already quite happy to find this, but I wasn't expecting to be this impressed by an unfamiliar band's dollar CD. This is the best power metal (that I wasn't previously familiar with) I've heard in recent memory, and has to be one of the best power metal albums released after the early '90s. Considering the modern state of the genre, I realize that may not even be a terribly high bar, but still.

Teeming with classic metal influences, this is generally fast and powerful stuff. The guitarwork is excellent and gets quite showy and flashy with lots of shredding solos, but the greatest moments are the tandem axework, such as in "El tiempo final." I'm not advocating trying to take back the term in any way, as that would be a fool's errand, but to me this exemplifies what power metal was meant to be and should have been--a beefing up of traditional metal to make it more bombastic and contemporary.

I only have two mild criticisms, both extremely minor.  The female singer is fine and there's nothing in the performance that detracts from the album. But due to the strength of the songs, I couldn't help but imagine a singer with more range and power. Also, the intro is just some generic symphonic stuff that seems very underwhelming. The only reason I'm even bothering to specifically gripe about the intro is because the outro track "Majestad" is a fantastic, triumphant-sounding closing flourish.

Black Tusk - Tend No Wounds (2013)

 

Cost: $1.50

When I was first looking the disc over, I will fully admit I had completely confused them for Black Anvil (to be fair, when this was released they were Relapse labelmates). I would have preferred a Black Anvil CD too, although I realized my mental mix up pretty quickly.

Pretty straightforward sludge metal. There's some grooviness to the riffs, so expect something more rocking than old Crowbar or Grief, but on the positive side they don't go overboard with either Southern influences or stoner/Sabbathy influences. Not the biggest fan of the semi-shouted vocal style, but it doesn't fit the music too badly. The instrumental intro "A Cold Embrace" builds up into a cool mid-paced riff that would be great in a death metal context. "The Weak and the Wise" has a bass intro with a chord progression that totally reminds me of Marilyn Manson's cover of  "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)." Aside from the intro, "Internal/Eternal" stood out as being catchier than the other tracks. A pretty meh release for me since the sludge I like tends to be on the doomier side, but it's decent enough for the bargain bin price.

Carcass - Despicable (2020)

 

Cost: $2.00

This is my first time hearing any Carcass material after their reformation. I couldn't be bothered to check out even a single newer song online, so I have no points of reference in terms of comparisons to the other reunion material.

Jeff Walker's vocals are immediately identifiable, and the first, second, and last tracks open with melodic riffage that's very reminiscent of the Heartwork style (though in the case of "The Long and Winding Bier Road," there's a strong Megadeth-ish vibe too). I hear references to all of the '90s Carcass styles across the EP, although they're not always particularly strong, and the modern production values push them farther away from the older releases. The melodic leads have somewhat of a Heartwork feel. The slower tempo-ed groovy parts are a little bit like Swansong, although there's nothing nearly as rhythmic, catchy, or thrashy here. There are even some hints of Necroticism DNA contained here in the more straightforward DM parts and sections with frenzied blasting. I should also add that while the actual sound of the songs is probably much closer to some sort of Heartwork/Swansong hybrid, the varied song structures remind me of Necroticism the most, at least compositionally.

Ultimately, it's okay, but I probably got more enjoyment out of finding this at the store than listening to it. Any of the first 5 Carcass albums would be a far superior listening experience. That said, the vocals and guitarwork give this enough of a Carcass touch that I can't condemn this as being on the level of some newer generic melodeath or death'n'roll band. Fine for $2.

 Oh yeah, before I forget--the artwork on the disc face is awesome, and even the ribcage art on the back cover is pretty cool. Either one of those would have made for one of the best Carcass cover artworks ever. Conceptually, I think a death metal version of the Rod of Asclepius is an interesting idea, and I'll even concede the Carcass logo scalpel is pretty cool. But the serpent skull looks more dinosaur than snake to me, and that it was used on the cover above some of the other art in the layout shows someone (not sure if the band or label are directly responsible) has totally lost the plot.

Bible of the Devil - Freedom Metal (2008)

 

Cost: $2.00

 

Originally discovered this band after seeing a t-shirt, and I remember the band name conjuring up associations with Southern/sludge/stoner metal. It took me quite a while to actually hear them, because they use very, uh, ill-fitting album covers that dissuaded me from checking them out. Their album art aesthetic almost always tends to look like some sort of modern generic retro-hard rock band. This point was even brought up in an interview, and the band revealed they delegate the album art and layout decisions to other parties, like the record label. Terrible idea. This is probably the least worst of their album covers at representing the music, as at least the Flying V in the logo and the album title indicate something metal. The comic-style artwork of a cop chasing motorbikers seems like an odd choice, though. I associate retro motorcyclists with accosting Speed Racer or people in A-Ha videos rather than heavy metal. Even the logo has the chevron thing and superfluous graphic embellishments that scream "made by a graphic designer, not a metalhead." I already have one of the band's older albums, and the cover art looks like a tattoo someone obsessed with Affliction t-shirts would get. 

 

Now that I think about it, Boulder has problems with terrible album covers as well, so I wonder if part of the problem is bands with significant '70s hard rock influences trying to consciously avoid anything that could be seen as an '80s metal trope while working within an indie label budget. I'm sure that cuts out a lot of cool aesthetics, but I'm not convinced it automatically condemns bands to crappy cover art options.

 

On the album I previously heard, the solos and guitarwork were quite good, but the metal in the band's sound was negatively diluted by all the '70s rock and stoner influences. "Freedom Metal" has all of those same basic elements, but they seem to be more balanced in favor of the metal influences, and it comes off as more enjoyable. The first half of the disc is the strongest, dense with heaviness, very NWOBHM-inspired leadwork, and nice catchy choruses. I read something online comparing the vocals to Paul Stanley, and that's strangely accurate--especially on "Night Oath," they sound like Paul with some nasally effect added.

 

Unfortunately, "Heat Feeler" kills a lot of earlier momentum. For its first half, it's an acoustic guitar-anchored Southern (or even country?)-tinged mellow number. After it heavies up it's much better, but the first part is so dissimilar from the previous tracks, it's very jarring. Then there's "Ol' Girl," which on the one hand is cool for being full of Thin Lizzy worship, but it's so much more blatant than on any other song and feels out of place. "Greek Fire" shows the band doing Sabbathy stuff riff wise, but it's all underneath a monotonous drumbeat which I can't decide if I like or not.

 

As a cheapo find, this was fine. The first 3 songs alone are well worth the 2 bucks. But I can't help but think this is a band that is more to be enjoyed in small doses or in a live setting. I'm far more a classic metal fan than a hard rock one, and it constantly feels like the guitarwork is making promises the rest of the album often struggles to keep. I think it's a waste that some of the tasty harmonized twin guitar attacks here aren't being used in more overtly NWOBHM-influenced band. 

Hydra Vein CDs

 

Cost: $2.00 each

 

Hydra Vein - Rather Death than False of Faith

Hydra Vein - After the Dream 

Could not believe these were in the bargain bin and I went absolutely nuts when I saw these Back on Black reissues. I do have the older 2-on-1 CD that compiles both albums together, but these are much nicer in terms of layout. While it was nice to hear the demo bonus tracks on the debut, this is a case where I much prefer the album versions of the songs over the more clean-vocalled demo tracks.

 

After the Dream turned out to be a lot better than I remember. It's a very close call, but I think I'd pick the first album as my favorite of the two just for the better songwriting. The second album still has its own charms, and is a little faster and more vicious in certain parts.

 

I've seen vocalist Mike Keen get compared to Martin Walkyier, which I don't hear at all. Especially on Rather Death..., I hear a lot of the faux-English accent Holy Terror's Keith Deen slipped into (not his vocals as a whole, though). Then, oddly enough, I hear a version of Sy Keeler that I don't think technically exists--no crazy high stuff like on The Force, but not as hoarse and growly as on the Onslaught reunion stuff. 

 

While these are both very good albums, they're not my favorite British thrash by a longshot. In fact, I don't know what album I'd pick as my favorite (Xyster perhaps? Second Deathwish? Maybe even the D.A.M. debut). Quality-wise, I'd group them alongside stuff like Anihilated or the second Decimator album--solid and dependable listens, not quite top of the heap, but far above the Xentrixes, Slammers, Acid Reigns, and Re-Animators.

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.