Evangelist - Self Confidence! (2011)

 

Cost: $1.99

Found this brand new and still sealed a while ago, but when I looked up info about the band online, I saw their Bandcamp site mentioned it was limited to 200, which made me think it was almost certainly just a duplicated CD-R. So I set it aside for a while, unopened. The other day I finally decided to open it up, and I was very pleasantly surprised that it was a factory-pressed disc. 

I find bands like this kind of strange, because they present themselves in a very facetious manner via aesthetics and songtitles, but this is not reflected much at all in the actual music, which I found pretty meh, but more on that in a bit. It feels equal parts inside joke, corny gimmick, and total lack of self awareness. While I don't mind bands being overtly silly in and of itself, keep in mind that several grindcore bands solely exist more or less as cleverly absurd songtitle generators--"Your Hands Are Very Soft" and "Fire on Blastbeat Hill" seem very lacking. 

Aforementioned Bandcamp page refers to the band as "progressive metal," so between that and the songtitles, I was expecting something far more left-field. Instead, it's fairly straightforward death metal. The guitar in the first track is a little on the technical side in parts and there's some somewhat shreddy soloing, which I thought were elements that might hint at more fully technical/proggy material to come. These never manifest, although there are more spots of showy guitarwork throughout the tracks. Because of some tremolo riffs, blasting parts, and the second vocals, some sections have more of a black metal edge soundwise, although it's nowhere near enough where I'm tempted to classify the music as death/black metal or anything like that.

There's also one outlier song. The 9+ minute "Go! Go! Go!" is a lumbering doom/depressive rock piece with guest female vocals. It feels a good deal more engaging than the death metal material. I'm sure at least some of that has to do with the diversion of the drastic style change, but if they had done an entire album in this style, I think I would have marginally preferred it. 

This is competent enough for what I paid, but I don't hear anything here to justify listening to this again over numerous other death metal bands, most of which have better songwriting ability and/or more unique musical attributes (and generally way better cover art, too!).

Distrust - No Good Deed Shall Go Unpunished (2008 reissue)

 

Cost: 99¢

Of all the weird (and typically crappy) mixes of metal and hardcore put to disc that I've covered here, this is easily one of the best ones. It mixes deaththrashing guitars with hardcore groove and breakdowns, death metal influences, and some crossover parts (which are cool, but sadly underutilized compared to the HC stuff). The sole Metal-Archives review for this does a great job of breaking down the band's sound--I don't think later Deceased is a band I would have thought to bring up when describing their sound, but it's a very apt comparison for some of the leadwork.

The angry guy vocals obviously fit with the hardcore influences here, but I find them way too shouty. It's especially disappointing because at times the singer slips into a more growly style that I would have preferred as the main vox. In general, I'm not too thrilled with any of the HC influences that appear here, but the guitarist really carries this album with those leads. Not my favorite, but if metal/hardcore hyrbids have to exist, I wish more of them were in this vein. Great taste in movie samples, too.

Viking Skull - Born in Hell (2005)

 

Cost: $2.00

This album draws primarily from several '70s metal and hard rock influences. I was a little surprised at how much of a Sabbath undercurrent was in the riffage and guitar grooves, despite the music being quite upbeat and never slowing down beyond mid-paced (with one notable exception). For music so boisterous and gruff-vocalled, I would have expected the Motörhead influence to be far greater here.

The boogier tracks like "Red Hot Woman" and "Dirty Dirty Hole" display some AC/DC influences, and "Frostbite" mixes heavier guitars with a Rose Tattoo swagger. "Beer Drugs & Bitches" initially sounds more fitting of the song's title, but 3/4 of the way through, they suddenly segue into a excellent piece of gloomy Sabbath worship. 

The more intricate twin guitar parts are often reminiscent of NWOBHM, and closer "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll" is somewhat Saxonesque, at least until the more hard rock end section. It's seriously bugging me because the beginning of the track is super similar to some song (an NWOBHM tune, I think) that I can't come up with at the moment. I'll have to update the post if I ever remember.

This is fine for what it is, and if you're not gonna do classic doom, I think something like this is the next best use of Black Sabbath influence (certainly moreso than the umpteenth meh stoner metal/rock hybrid band). That said, this is an entertaining album rather than a great or special one. Decent enough find for two bucks, though.

Rude Awakening - Headbutter (1996)

 

Cost: 99¢ 

Yeah, that cover art doesn't look much like a metal album, but luckily, it intrigued me enough to open the case, and the band pic did look like a metal band. Kinda varied heavy/power metal. "Dignity" sounds like a '90s alternative rock song injected with some heavier parts, "They Had to Die" seems to have a vague '70s rock influence, "Billycakes" has more of a '80s traditional metal gallop to it than the other songs, and "Lemming Instinct" is quite a bit thrashier than the rest of the album. Also, while the singer doesn't directly sound much like him the majority of the time, there's a quality to his vocals that reminds me a lot of Jon Oliva. 

Cyst - Concussion Symphony (2002)

 

Cost: 99¢

Had seen this album hyped up a few times online over the years, so was super excited to come across it in a cheapo bin. Unfortunately the disc was way more scuffed up than I would have liked, but I can live with it for the price.

This isn't the most brutal thrash album ever, but it's still super intense, especially considering the year it was released, and that intensity helps carry the music tremendously. Musically it largely avoids any modern trends of the late '90s or '00s, but it doesn't feel consciously old-school, either. The hardest thing to accurately describe here is the significant death metal component to the music. When the band are playing fast, it generally sounds very thrashy, and the DM influence is usually negligible except for a beefiness to the guitars. But there are definitely some death metal grooves in some of the slower material, and this is only compounded by the guttural secondary vocals (some of the blastier parts also get rapid-fire grindcore vox). I'm unsure how exactly I'd label the band overall. It never quite feels like deaththrash in the old school way I'd use the term, and saying something like thrash with death influences feels kind of wonky too. The CD feels much more on the thrashy side to me overall, but just calling it plain thrash with no mention of any kind of death metal influence at all seems extremely disingenuous.

I'm not a huge fan of the vocals, which are more on the shouty side. They're serviceable, but the style edges this towards more of a modern thrash vibe that I could do without. Would have much rather had caustic Morbid Saint/Kreator-style vox. My other minor complaint is that songwriting seems kind of samey at times and a little underwhelming. Again, the speed and intensity here (the 9 tracks clock in at ~33min.) allow the band to power right through, but after the CD was over, I found that overall feeling of intensity to be way more notable than any of the individual songs or riffs...With one exception.

The final track is an unlisted cover of Slayer's "Angel of Death." Musically it might be the best cover of it I've ever heard thus far. My only gripe is the vocals unnecessarily switch to the guttural style for the choruses. They did such a great job with it that it ends up being a double-edged sword, as it overshadows their original material to a significant extent, easily being the most memorable track.

I also noticed that the album title and some of the songtitles initially seem like they'd fit better for a groove metal or beatdown HC band. Then of course there's the band name, which seems far more appropriate for a death or grind band rather than a thrash one. Even the album cover, which I could see working for a variety of underground music styles, feels more like grind or HC art than thrash. I wonder if some of these things further contributed to the band being comparatively obscure.

Despite my minor criticisms, still a very nice find. Hopefully another copy in better condition will show up in the bargain bin!

Lizzy Borden - Master of Disguise (1989)

 

Cost: $2.00

Liked this more than I thought I would. For decades, my only exposure to this album was the video for "We Got the Power" on Metal Blade's Video Meltdown VHS, which I thought was overly commercial and corny. I remember my favorite local CD store had 2 copies of this disc in the racks for years, but between prioritizing much better stuff and being turned off by the aforementioned music video, I never bothered buying one.

Going into this with lowered expectations probably helped, as it's far more of an '80s hard rock opera than a metal album. It's not completely devoid of metal (the title track is probably the best song of the bunch), but it's nowhere near as heavy overall as any previous Lizzy Borden album. While the band's image was obviously heavily rooted in a sense of theatricality, here it extends quite a bit into music. But rather than taking on a lot of proggy tendencies, this is a deeper exploration of the commercial aspects that were already on Visual Lies in spades, with a big focus on the multi-layered vocal melodies and hooky riffs. It's not as heavy as I would have liked, but it's done pretty tastefully, and even "We Got the Power" stands out as being vapid compared to the other tracks. It's also the last track, making it seem like a afterthought, like a grab for a commercially viable single or something.

This is another case of an album being fine for what it is, it's just that "it" happens to be something I'm rarely inclined to want to throw on and listen to. For all its slickness and catchiness, none of these songs have the immediate appeal to me as any song from Love You to Pieces, which I consider to be one of the great USPM albums. Still, well worth 2 bucks, even if only to fill the gap in my collection.

Frozen Eternity - Forgotten Past (2006)

 

Cost: $2.99

This was a blind buy--saw the Christophe Szpajdel logo on the front, took a moment to verify the disc was in good shape, and bought it without bothering to look up the band or even scrutinize the booklet much. I would have expected black or black/death metal based on the logo, but these guys are clearly fans of the Children of Bodom debut. The power metal influence and flashiness/shreddiness of the guitars is toned down slightly, and I wouldn't argue if someone pointed out that specific parts are actually much closer to some specific melodic DM band (I do kinda hear Ensiferum in a few places), but there's almost nothing here that isn't at least somewhat reminiscent of Something Wild. Frozen Eternity doesn't use keyboards quite as much and it still reminds me of how Children of Bodom incorporate them. About the only thing that didn't remind me of CoB to some extent musically was the blasting section that opens "Wasted Life."

The drums are programmed but it's not particularly noticeable so I didn't mind them. The only musical misstep I can really point out here are the out-of-tune secondary/backing vox on the closing track "Frozen Eternity." They sound like they might have been doubled up, which makes me think they were a very clumsy attempt at choral vocals.

Obviously, there's nothing particularly original here, and this obviously shares some similarities with any power metal-tinged melodeath band that uses raspier, more BM-style vocals, not just Children of Bodom. Can't say it's one of my favorite styles of metal, either. But it is energetic and proficient enough to not seem very derivative, as well as be worth what I paid for it.

Apnea - Ethereal Solitude (2014)

 

Cost: 99¢

Post-black metal/shoegaze stuff here. The shoegaze sections are probably the strongest component of the music, as they're very effective at generating atmosphere. They never quite reach Alcest levels in terms of sheer ambiance, but the final instrumental track (aptly titled "Warm") certainly isn't lacking in warmth and dreaminess.

The black metal component of the music is a mixed bag for me. The full-on black metal sections seem more substantial than many other bands of this style, and I was even slightly taken aback when the blastbeating kicked in on the first track (thankfully, it's not all just relentless blasting, which I admittedly find tedious). Something about the BM vocals on the disc really bugs me though. They're not particularly odd for the style, but there's just a certain forced delivery and screaminess to them that rubs me the wrong way. They work fine during the harsher parts, but any time they try something more atmospheric and that vocal style is used, they're screamy enough to impede the mood a little. I actually think this disc would have worked better as an instrumental album.

OK find for the price. Since this is a style I listen to rather sparingly, if I was in the mood for it, I'd probably pick another band to listen to, though.

All Out War & Nerve Gas Tragedy CDs

 

 

Got these on opposite sides of town on different weeks, but since it's the same guitarists and drummer on both albums, they get a combined writeup. 

 

All Out War - Condemned to Suffer (2003) (Cost: $2.00) (This CD is for trade)

This is extremely thrashy for something so hardcore-influenced released post-'80s. The guitarwork is obviously very Slayer-influenced, with the faster songs (especially opener "Straight Towards Extinction") having a definite Reign in Blood vibe to the guitars, and I still hear some Seasons in the Abyss influence when they're slower. It's funny, because this reminds me of when I first heard Integrity (I read them being touted somewhere as "the Slayer of the hardcore scene") and thought their Slayer influence was relatively mild. I was expecting something more like this!

 

It's kind of a pain to try to classify this accurately in a succinct way, both because of modern genre-naming conventions as well as where it sits on the spectrum of metal/HC intersection. It seems insulting to just call it metalcore and lump it in with bands that often have tiny amounts of metal influence. Metallic hardcore is perhaps technically correct in a literal sense, but it's a bit too modern sounding, and doesn't share that many deep characteristics with the older bands associated with the genre. Even though they're still a bit awkward, I think hardcore/thrash or thrashy metalcore are better descriptors.

 

Considering their thrashiness, I was a little surprised how contemporary a lot of the HC influence in their overall sound is, particularly the breakdowns. Yeah, there are some classic NYHC aspects to their sound, but it mostly comes out in very superficial ways like crew vocals and mosh riffs. The vocals, while not total aggro, are more of a forced screamy style. Even though they make sense stylistically, I'm personally not a fan, and would have much rather heard these songs with more typical crossover or thrash vocals.

 

This is one of the better post-'80s fusions of hardcore and metal I've heard, and the sheer intensity and ferocity of the music help to carry it quite a bit. But especially with the vocals, I'd be unlikely to pick this instead of just listening to a thrash band.

 

Nerve Gas Tragedy - No Tomorrow (2006) (Cost: $1.49)

So this is the band a couple of All Out War members formed when they briefly broke up (coincidentally, not too long after the above album). There's still some residual hardcore influence here, but it's been scaled way, way back. The dominant influence here is now death metal, mostly of the melodic variety, but there's enough hardcore and thrash in the mix here that it never feels like they've totally committed to melodeath. The thrashiness in the music also feels a lot more generic and is nowhere near as blatantly Slayer-influenced. I was disappointed that they try their hand at a doomdeath part towards the end of "Die Fighting," and pull it off very well, but then there's nothing else like that on the rest of the album. On the plus side, I do prefer the vocalist here, who is more on the extreme metal side and feels less tedious to listen to. 

 

Ultimately, I found both albums to be lacking. I wish more of the Slayer influences and speed from Condemned to Suffer had been incorporated into Nerve Gas Tragedy, since it feels more derivative and far less powerful. But I do like that they shed some of All Out War's hardcore influences. But just as cheapo CDs, they're okay.

Hell Hound - Confederate Steel (2005)

 

Cost: $1.99

My expectations were not very high based on the band pic here. In fairness, it's slightly better than the band pics from their earlier album I saw online, where one guy is wearing Kiss-style makeup, one has whiteface with red stripes across his mouth and chin, one guy just has on corpsepaint, and the drummer has eye black underneath just one eye. They still haven't quite fixed their weird facial makeup addiction here though. Especially considering the Confederate theme of the CD, I was kinda expecting music more on the Southern or groove metal side.

Instead, this is a hard rock/metal mix that unfortunately tends to skew way more towards the rock side. If an album has a song called "Calling Metal Warriors" with lyrics that have clearly been inspired by Manowar, I think it's fair to expect a higher amount of heavy metal content than what's here. The music seems a tad on the simplistic side and they seem to favor slower and mid-paced tempos. Considering that, I think they could have leaned into doomier material for great effect, as the somewhat Sabbathy "Wizard in the West" is one of the better tracks. "Calling Metal Warriors" is also comparatively good but falls way short of deserving its name. The dual guitar part in "I'll Never Love Another," while not really all that intricate or flashy, does seem more inspired than some of the other guitarwork on display here.

Also have to mention the vocals, which sound oddly strained. They waver a bit in some places, and overall it just sounds like the singer is constipated. Aside from that, even though the amount of metal here is quite disappointing, the music is simple and straightforward enough that it's not terribly offensive. Didn't give me much back for my $1.99 though...

Summoning - Minas Morgul (2007 reissue)

 

Cost: $2.00

When I spotted this in the cheapo racks, I was quite happy to find it. Although I had a general recollection of what they sounded like, it was vague at best, and I didn't really have any strong feelings about them one way or another other than remembering I thought the early Abigor stuff was much, much better. In fact, when I was shelving this, I had mistakenly thought I only owned 2 Summoning CDs, but it turns out I already had a whopping 5 discs by them. Goes to show how important they are to me.

So yeah, Minas Morgul didn't really change much for me. Not awful or lacking musical merit, just not something that resonated with me that much. I didn't find the interlude/synth/atmospheric stuff to be super appealing (I'd rather listen to old Mortiis), and its execution often feels a little jarring, like it wasn't integrated into the rest of the music as smoothly as it could be. The programmed drums aren't one of the main reasons I found this so meh, but they certainly didn't help, either.

Again, it's not awful--it's clear what they're trying to do, and they do succeed enough on "Morthond" and "Through the Forest of Dol Guldur" where I don't regret buying the album at all. I suspect if/when I ever revisit some of the releases that came after this, I'll find the non-metal elements to be incorporated better, though I suspect this will come at the expense of the black metal component in the music. But considering the rather medieval-sounding approach in its atmosphere, I think this album is completely slaughtered by the Godkiller mini-CD, or even the first Blazemth mini-CD, and a good chunk of the mid-'90s Polish BM scene as well. 

Noisemaster - The Return (2008)

 

Cost: $2.00

Had no idea what to expect here, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear a fairly Frosty guitar tone and old school-influenced, mid-paced riffs. I wouldn't object at all to calling this death metal for convenience, but at the same time, that doesn't feel quite right, either. The actual music has obvious Celtic Frost/Hellhammer influences that go beyond just the guitar tone, but it's nowhere near the level of any of the worship bands. Happily, they do throw in a single "HEY!" at the beginning of "Feasting Time." 

The Frosty guitars lend the music a certain doominess, but since the album's tempo rarely slows below  mid-paced, the music doesn't feel as close to CF emulation as other bands. The vocals are gruffer in style than growly/guttural, another aspect which makes it feel less overtly death metal sounding. There's also somewhat of a black metal undercurrent to the music at times, which I think is another result of Hellhammer and CF influence. It definitely has some of that early extreme metal vibe before the subgenres started branching away from each other on more codified paths, and that's why it seldom feels like full-on death metal even though it leans towards DM stylistically.

Along those lines, it makes me think of some of Scepter's early material, even though there are few superficial similarities. Noisemaster are nowhere near as blatantly Celtic Frost-sounding, and they never get as slow, thrashy, or traditional as Scepter did. Also, despite what I said before about Noisemaster being quite removed from the typical worship bands, if you were to make a Warhammer album consisting solely of more mid-paced material, significantly turned down the most blatant Hellhammer emulation, and ramped up the Frost-inspired DM influence, I think you'd land in the general vicinity of the Noisemaster sound.

This was a pleasant listen, but I will admit it didn't leave much of a lasting impression. I wish the songwriting had been a little stronger and made for more distinct tracks. Well worth the 2 bucks, but I can't see myself often picking this to listen over something like say, Pentacle.

Ride in the Underground 3 compilation (1995)

 

Cost: $3.00

Split CD of some obscure German bands. Bought this for one reason only...

S.A.S.T.

Rap rock. The harder edged stuff is more Rage Against the Machine style, but a lot of it sounds like mainstream '90s alternative rock with rap vocal sections. 

 

White Heat

"Rough Days" and "Incorruptibility" are swapped on the tracklisting. Their first track, "Rotten to the Core," is some sort of groove metal, and I was mildly amused that the vocal pattern for the chorus very vaguely sounds like the Overkill song of the same name despite the completely different music. I was even more amused that the harsh main vocals made me think of Gerre from Tankard having a tantrum and screaming at the top of his lungs. The other songs have rap vocal sections that give them more of a Biohazard feel, especially "Jump in the Rumble." 

 

Souls of Doom

Yes, even if you are on a split CD of '90s trend crap, if you look like an actual metal band in your pics, I will find you (thanks for wearing the Vader shirt!). First track is good mid-paced death metal with typical guttural vox (maybe a slight touch of van Drunen to them). The subsequent songs add faster, thrashier sections and seem more varied. The second song also introduces a snarlier Jeff Walker vocal style (because of the time frame, it might have very well been more of a black metal influence), and in the thrashy "Depressive Aggressions" there are even quite Mille-sounding vocals.

 

All of the songs are good, but let's not pretend they're amazing unknowns. It's nowhere in the league of any of the classic '80s/'90s death metal cornerstones, but they're not wallowing in mediocrity either. Many people tend to think of the US and Sweden as being the only ultra-prolific death metal scenes, completely overlooking how saturated the German scene was with indie DM bands from the mid to late '90s. Having heard a fair amount of that stuff, this is definitely above average.  

 

Impact Squad

The band name obviously sounds like something more appropriate for groove/aggro stuff. The first three sample-laden tracks are, respectively, punky alternative, alternative rock, and then a ska track. Then the comparatively heavier riffing and more melancholy feel of  "Crumbled Page in My Diary" makes it feel more like a somewhat metallic gothic rock song. 

 

Red Ink 

I vaguely remember hearing some of this band's material before, and it too modern, groovy, and industrialized for me. I assume it's considered to be in the Neue Deutsche Härte. They only get a single track here which is pretty straightforward gothic metal, aside from the "extreme" section during the solo that has angrier-sounding vocals. It's heavier and more interesting musically than the three non-metal bands, but had Souls of Doom not been on the split, I wouldn't have bothered picking it up for just this track.

Dryline - Reach for the Surface (2006)

 

Cost: $2.00

Let's not pretend this is going to be some surprise gem. Taking the bandname, aesthetic, sepia-toned cover, and year of release into account, this isn't a question of whether the CD is any good, it's a question of just how bad it is. 

My initial prejudices softened a little during the first track, because their music does lean way farther into the melodeath-influenced side of metalcore than I would have assumed. Unfortunately, there's still a fair amount of hardcore influence in the music and its breakdowns, and later songs incorporate emo-ish clean vocalled sections so they can incorporate the good ol' harsh/clean contrast dynamic. It seems especially silly of them to even bother when the acoustic interlude "Needless to Say" is easily the most emotive thing on the album. The main vocals aren't super aggro in their delivery, but not great either and feel very dry.

Due to the melodic DM edge in the guitarwork, this is marginally better than the bands I assume are the main influences here (think of the bands that incorporate the word "dies" or "dying" into a 3-or-4 word band name), but they still feel derivative enough where pointing out hypothetical highlights if they tweaked their sound a bit seems pointless. Yeah, they clearly sit on the more metal side of the fence, but enough elements from the more commercial side of metalcore are included here to keep this a few steps away from better bands doing more overt Gothenburg-inspired music. 

Would have felt better paying 50¢ for this. Some songs are tolerable, and for its genre, it doesn't quite scrape the bottom of the barrel.

The Devil's Blood - Fire Burning (Rock Hard version) (2011)

 

Cost: $1.00

 

Just to be clear, this is the 6-track version of the EP that came bunded with Rock Hard magazine, not the regularly released version. Only the first 2 songs are the same, and a different set of Party San live tracks are included.

 

I was aware of the band, but had never checked them out before. Knew they were considered occult rock, but at least on these songs, they often feel more like a straight up retro-hard rock band dabbling with some eviler and more esoteric influences. I was kinda surprised how light this goes on overt Coven/Black Widow/etc. worship based on the bits and pieces I had read about their sound. Most notably, it's lacking the '70s guitar tone, and I thought the amount of weirdness and psych rock influence here was comparatively minimal. Just compare this to something like Norrsken and some of the Witchcraft material, or most of the non-vintage Black Widow Records signees.

 

All that said, I don't think it's bad at all, just different (and honestly, probably a tad less unique) from what I was expecting. The vocal lines and harmonies are extremely well done. While it is lacking that very live-wire and unsanitized '70s guitar tone, and I don't consider them to be an emulation of any kind of proto-metal sound, a lot of the dual guitar attacks and various licks have quite a NWOBHM feel to them.

 

Not my favorite kind of thing, but there are definitely some appealing moments, and it was well worth the dollar.

Terrible Silence CDs

 

Cost: 99¢ each

 

Terrible Silence - Legacy of Silence (2006)

Terrible Silence - Regent (2012) 

 

Knew absolutely nothing about these, but the band name and logo caught my eye initially. I think I would have ended up buying these anyway, but seeing a dedication to Quorthon in the booklet of Legacy of Silence immediately sealed the deal on me getting these. Seemed like that would make them a pretty safe bet...

 

Sadly, these discs were total letdowns. It's quite hard to describe the music, even in very broad terms. It mixes various forms of rock (alternative, hard, and maybe some minor prog. influence in places), but there's definitely a metal undercurrent that mostly comes from the guitars. While it's hard to find any semblance of full-on, unambiguous metal without the rock elements, almost everything has a certain amount of guitar heaviness and metal influence. There aren't any direct extreme metal influences, but a couple parts made me wonder if gothic metal was a conscious influence on the sound. One song had riffage that reminded me a little of "Sad But True," but I was so disinterested I didn't even bother noting which track it was! Overall, the music feels extremely unfocused, like the spitballing of musical ideas without much editing or quality control. Also, even taking the music for what it is, nothing struck me as musically impressive.

 

The Regent disc is actually a reissue of an earlier 1998 cassette album with a live bonus track added, and a couple of songs appear across both CDs. Legacy of Silence seems marginally heavier, and because there aren't any big stylistic differences, I assume it's mostly due to the production. The Legacy of Silence version of "Tears" is the one track I'd feel most comfortable calling full-on metal--of a simplistic, rumbly, and semi-thrashy sort. Oh well, better luck next time.

Revenge - Titties-N-Beer (2006)

 

Cost: $2.00 

 

This is the same band that self-released the First Blood LP way back in 1987, and I was at first somewhat amused, then disappointed that all of the major problems with that first album still persist here. The main issue is how much of their material is on the hard rock side, with very little tangible metal influence in most songs, except perhaps some of the solos. There are numerous references to rocking and rolling in the lyrics, and it's clear they thought of themselves as more of a rock band. While I have no qualms with that if that's what they want to do, their old website refers to them as '80s style metal, so I don't feel bad about judging them harshly for not being particularly heavy. 

 

As on the old LP, the music comes across as overly garage-y, underproduced, and simplistic. The musicianship isn't even particularly bad, but the amateurish, uninspired songwriting leaves a lot to be desired. I'm fully aware that recordings can have a certain DIY charm, but because the music here is so rock-based, didn't find that to be the case here. I suppose a minor positive is that the raw guitar tone coupled with relatively prominent and quite rumbly bass make the music seem marginally heavier than it really is. Also as with the '87 album, I'm not a fan of the female vocals (the husband/wife team in the band trade off on lead vocal duties), as they come off as way too saccharine.

The heavier tracks are saved for the back half of the disc. "Jack the Ripper" isn't quite as heavy as I hoped based on the title, but on an album like this, I'll take what I can get. Plus, the chorus is still pretty decent. "The Wolves" was one of the heavier tracks on the first album, so I'm pleased to see it re-recorded and included here. The tempo is slower than the original, but it benefits from less over-the-top vocals and the heavier Titties-N-Beer guitar tone.

 

Although I wasn't impressed by most of the other original songs, the hard rocking simplicity works for the title track, which ends up being a fun little lewd anthem. The Wrabit, Nick Gilder, and Cheap Trick covers on the first half of the CD also come off quite well. I think the "Hot Child in the City" cover is the one place where the female vocals make sense, and the extra line they added to the end of the song certainly doesn't hurt.

T.O.M.B. - Macabre Noize Royale (2007)

 

Cost: $2.00

Didn't have particularly high expectations for this disc, as I was already vaguely aware they were some sort of black metal/noise or black metal/industrial mix. More importantly, Jack Gannon, the guy behind T.O.M.B., was the vocalist for the post-Rotting in Hell Deteriorate material, when they made the extremely unfortunate stylistic choice of shifting to a black metal sound.

I was prepared for something much more extreme and harsh noise-influenced, but this wasn't nearly as sonically abrasive as I feared. The amount of musical variety here was also a bit surprising. Yes, the noise genre is an obvious component to the sound, but many tracks tread in dark ambient or death industrial territory. There are martial influences in some of the more rhythmic tracks, as well as minor touches of power electronics in spots. It's odd, because I went in expecting some basic similarities to the early Abruptum albums, but the general feel of the disc reminds me much more of the ambient Casus Luciferi despite its lack of metal. Make no mistake though, there's plenty of black metal here, of the noisier but not incompetently lo-fi variety. In this context, it works well as a break from all the noise/ambient stuff, but if the BM elements of the music were isolated, it wouldn't be a particularly impressive example. 

Worth what I paid but not something I'm likely to return to.

Circle - Tulikoira (2005)

 

Cost: $2.00

I had never heard of these guys until after the Thor reissues on Ektro Records came out, exposing me to some of the other bands on the label roster. No surprise they flew under my radar, because even though they've been super prolific since starting in the early '90s, most of their material seems to be more prog. and psych-rock oriented with smatterings of metal/metal adjacent influences. Several years ago they actually leased out the band name to a completely different lineup who apparently recorded a death metal album, but alas, I've yet to hear anything from it. 

This particular album intrigued me since they were using the "New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal" tag and in one instance, I saw it described as a mashup of '70s Judas Priest and psychedelic rock. Obviously my brain knew the music was going to fall far short of the lofty expectations any Priest comparison creates, but I was still very interested in hearing it. And again, we have something weird enough to get a track by track:

1. Rautakäärme 

This boils down to a minimalist ambient track broken up by two fast metallic sections, the second of which has soft, almost moaned vocals. I do agree with comments I've seen that these metal sections are very black metal sounding in approach, although I think it's stupid to assign any black metal tag to the band's sound as a whole.

 

2. Tulilintu

The "normal" song of the bunch, being the shortest at just under 4 min., and the most straightforward. In a retro late '70s metal/hard rock vein, although it feels punkier during the intro because of the gang shouts. The vocals remind me a lot of a Finnish version of Kai Hansen's Walls of Jericho vocals, and more specifically, some of the vocal patterns and mannerisms in this song make me think of the "Phantoms of Death" vox.

 

3. Berserk

Nothing heavy here, just a quirky and atmospheric 8 min. track with a lightly pulsing main riff. Feels kinda cosmic/psych-rock sounding at times due to the somewhat whale song-sounding guitarwork.

 

4. Puutiikeri 

This has a promising start, with about 3 min. of a recurring mid-paced anthemic riff that manages to be vaguely reminiscent of both "Holy Diver" and "Metal Gods" at the same time. I can't tell if the soft vocals are supposed to be emulation of an old man voice or a drunkard. Most of the rest of the 24 min. track (they heavy it back up for the last 20 seconds) is low-key and similar to "Berserk"--more on the atmospheric and ambient side, with random guitar effects, limited electronic effects, and strange vocal mutterings.

I found this to be quite underwhelming, although it's more odd than it is outright disappointing. It doesn't give me the feeling of having absolutely wasted two bucks like some discs do. But the heavier parts here feel woefully underdeveloped, and there's not nearly as much prog/psych/krautrock influence as I was expecting. The music feels way too lightweight and minimalist to justify the longer song lengths. Still, this wouldn't dissuade me from checking out some of their other material in the future.