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 their 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 especially 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 almost everything here is at least somewhat reminiscent of Something Wild. Frozen Eternity don't go as heavy on the keyboard usage, but even then, 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.

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 I'm all that into this style of metal, but it is energetic and proficient enough to rise above being a low quality clone. Worth what I paid, at the very least.

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. Just as cheapo CDs, they're okay, though.

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 gotten over 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 Summoning 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 far better. In fact, before I shelved this, I had mistakenly thought I only owned 2 Summoning CDs, but it turns out I already had a whopping 5 discs of theirs. Just 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.