Meanstreak - Scitso (1995)

Cost: $1.00

Had no idea what to expect with this one.  The band name, album title, and logo style indicated punk or metal to me, and the cartoonish demon cover art brought Green Jellÿ to mind.  Some songtitles and lyrical themes were not very serious,  making me think it could be some overly experimental stuff like Faith No More or Primus.  The layout has a very minimalist DIY feel which screamed rare indie, so I ultimately picked this up doubting I'd ever get another chance.  I was feeling more optimistic after I got it home, as the live pics in the booklet looked like a '90s thrash band to me.

The CD goes all over the place, although the majority of the disc can be comfortably called metal. The guitars are consistently heavy and metallic through the disc, but the style of the first two songs and the weird vocals (on the first track they're very nasal, on the second they have some loudspeaker effect on them) had me thinking that it was going to be overly quirky.  Suddenly, the title track kicks in with a main riff that sounds like a heavier version of old Dokken.  It's sadly the only song of its type on there, but some songs get pretty thrashy.  Sometimes it's done pretty well, as on "Chess" (I actually kind of like those ridiculously high vocals during the chorus), and at other times it's a more generic chugfest.  It's not all straightforward, though--there's the closing tune, "Mr. Cricket," about wiping out annoying crickets by eating them (yeah...), and that incorporates some slap bass and even a mock-rap section.

Had I known what this sounded like beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered to actively seek it out.  Worth the buck, though.

Sekond Skyn - Addicted to Chaos (2009)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Ugh...Wasn't expecting much with this one, but took a chance hoping this would be modern aggro thrash--instead it's nu-crap.  The cover of Men at Work's "Down Under" is fun, but not worth buying the album for.

Vex - Uncontrolled Aggression (1996)

This German band's logo suggests a more extreme type of metal, which arguably would have been more appealing than what you actually get.  Thrash here, and while some of the guitarwork recalls a more oldschool sound, this is firmly rooted in the '90s modern thrash/aggro thrash trends of the day.  "Destroy Myself" even starts off with a requisite mellow/balladish part.  Not an agonizing listen, but thankfully, this is only a short mCD.   

A Tribute to Judas Priest: Delivering the Goods Vol. II (2000)

 

Cost: $2.00

This is another years-old purchase which I bought at one of those seasonal book sales...You probably know the kind.  They're like the fly-by-night Halloween and fireworks dealers.  They take over a vacant building for a set amount of time to peddle their overstocks and scratch-and-dents, and then disappear without a trace.  Along with M.O.D.'s Rhythm of Fear, this tribute was the only decent and/or metal CD I ever saw at such a sale, unless you count a short stack of Overkill Extended Versions discs.  I don't.  All CDs were $2, and despite the busted case and tattered shrinkwrap, this was just beckoning to me.

I should add that Century Media played some weird pressing games with the Judas Priest tributes.  The two volumes were released in Europe in 1997.  When the US finally got domestic versions, not only were the tracks scattered differently across the volumes, but some weren't included at all.  There was also some digipak pressing in there somewhere so despite there technically only being two volumes of the tribute there are something like 5 discs associated with it.  I think the US may have gotten a condensed single-disc version of the tribute at first.  This is the only one I have so I'm not going to get things straight anyway.

While in most cases I'm not a big fan of the newer material of the bands here, I will say that Century Media's size/status allowed them to compile bands that, for the most part, were better suited to covering Priest than those from Dwell's Hell Bent for Metal tributes.

1. Gamma Ray (feat. Ralf Scheepers) - Exciter
Fantastic.  Mr. Scheepers doesn't really sound much like Halford during the verses (not that his vocals are bad there), but the high notes are wonderful.  Hearing this, it's hard to believe he didn't get the gig fronting Priest. 

2. Blind Guardian - Beyond the Realms of Death
Instrumentally, it's fine, but the vocals lack the emotion that made the original such a masterpiece.  What really drags it down is that in places where Halford originally did high vocals for emphasis, Hansi Kürsch uses very forced angry-style vocals. 

3. Devin Townsend - Sinner
Liked this a lot more than I thought I would.  The extremity of the vocals sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't.  Good song choice and high quality musical chops carried this through.  Reading the lineup info made me curious about when this was recorded, as Devin and Jed Simon are listed, but the rhythm section is the Ocean Mind guys. 

4. Stratovarius - Bloodstone
Not awful, but a pointless endeavor compared to the original.  The vocals are no match for the real thing.

5. Angra - Painkiller
Executed very well (the guitarwork is particularly great) but lacks some of the urgency and ferocity that the original had.  

6. U.D.O. - Metal Gods
The verses are almost exactly how I imagined them with those signature vox, though the choruses are a bit rough.  But hey, it's Udo, it would be pointless to try and emulate Halford, so there's no hint of an attempt.  I noticed some small nuances that deviate from the original...At the beginning, the main riff isn't quite exactly spot on.  They also use subtle choir vocals along with the marching sound effect (I doubt they were actually banging cutlery trays for the cover) at the end, which I liked. 

7. Forbidden - Dissident Aggressor
It's very good, but I'm slightly disappointed they didn't tackle this earlier in their career, as the vocals here are mainly midrange all the way through--their old live version of "Victim of Changes" showed Russ Anderson could easily take on high-pitched Halford vocals!  Oh yes, and since a comparison is inevitable, this is slighty better than Slayer's version.  Slayer's is more guitar-dominated while Forbidden's is slightier groovier and the vocal patterns are truer to the original.

8. Iron Savior - Desert Plains
Pretty standard power metal version, nothing particularly good or bad about it.

9. Rage - Jawbreaker
Good.  Was more melodic than I was expecting, for some reason.

10. Virgin Steele - Screaming for Vengeance
The majority of the song is not bad, but what's with that pointless bass intro-ed-and-ominous-whispered-vocal part after the solo section?  This song needed nothing added.

11. Gamma Ray - Victim of Changes
Excellent.  When reading the booklet I saw that Kai was on vocals here.  Of course I like early Helloween, but I questioned how good this was really going to be without a Mr. Kiske or Mr. Scheepers type on vocals.  This is "Victim of Changes," after all.  With the exception of the final high "victim of changes" at the end of the song, he does an admirable job though.  Stellar instrumentation too.   

12. Radakka - Night Crawler
Another case of a song done well, but obviously not as good as the original.  Doesn't have enough of a unique stamp on it to make it notable.

13. Saxon - You've Got Another Thing Comin'
It sounds how you would expect Saxon covering Priest to sound.  Fun cover.

Aug. 25, 2012 Finds (Pt. 2)

Last store of the day yielded lots of goodies (one in particular), and in fact, I ended up browsing there until closing time.  Found a higher concentration of metal there than I usually do, but that was a relatively small slice of my purchases since I bought quite a lot of HC/punk/electic-looking stuff (which will not be listed here) to trade/resell/smash with extreme prejudice. 

Oh, and get this...After we finished hitting all the stores, it was so late that the most feasible dining option for The Sweet and myself was the strip mall Chinese buffet.  After having our fill of coconut chicken and soft serve, I notice on the way out that the guy half of the other couple eating there is wearing one of those black "do you want to die" Reign in Blood tour shirts (strangely enough, both times I've seen someone wearing this shirt in person have been at buffets.  Huh.).  Was it some sort of sign?  I was so happy at having a successful CD hunting trip I didn't think to stop and argue the superiority of Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits.

All CDs were $1 apiece:

Bolt Thrower - Mercenary
Well, it's Bolt Thrower!  No surprises to be found.  Good stuff as usual, although I don't think the songwriting is quite as strong as on the older albums.  Only unfortunate thing is that this is the jewel case version, so as with all their Metal Blade albums I'll have to eventually get the digipaks for the bonus tracks.
Fun fact: I got War Master at this very same store for a dollar almost 2 decades ago--one of my earliest purchases there, in fact.

Brody's Militia - The Appalachian Twelve Gauge Massacre

Recognized their name from the split with Nunslaughter.  I knew it was punk of some sort, but I guess I was expecting something more like Antiseen (well, just look in the booklet) or the Murder Junkies, more old-school.  But this is extremely fast and violent--I like it overall, but occasionally they push it into hyperfast territory and it becomes uncomprehensible grind to me.  The Cocknoose cover seems downright metallic compared to the original, and I think I may even like it a tad better.  Even had I hated it, the hilarious piece of "fan mail" (which seems to be from a rather young and clueless girl--perhaps an anarcho-punk fan?) reprinted in the booklet alone was worth a buck.   

Dark Sanctuary - De Lumière et d'Obscurité

Neoclassical with female vocals.

Engorged/Gruesome Stuff Relish - split 
12 minutes of death/grind, Dead Infection cover at the end.

Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray
One long song divvied up over 12 parts.  Very progressive, even for Fates Warning.  Already have it, so it's up for trade.

Gruesome Stuff Relish - Teenage Giallo Grind
More GSR, but this is one I have already.  Despite their obvious love of Italian horror flicks, movie samples are used pretty sparingly (don't know if that's necessarily good or bad...With some bands, listening to the audio clips is the best part of the experience since they're better than the music--Mortician, Meat Shits, I'm looking at you...).  The main thing I do like about GSR is that there's appreciable Carcass--or perhaps more accurately, Carcass by way of Sweden, ala Carnage/Necrony--influence in many songs.  Unfortunately, that's not always the case, and where the old school influence isn't as heavy, their goregrind really isn't any better or worse than other bands in the style.  

Head of David - Seed State 
Picked this up as trade fodder due to the Godflesh connection, but the joke is on me, as Justin Broadrick had left the band by this point.  Their least extreme material, rather upbeat industrial rock here. 

Hellkrusher - Wasteland 
Definitely the find of the day--didn't even know this was on CD!  This was one of the first discs I found in there, so I probably had an overly enthusiastic, slightly psychotic demeanor (well, moreso than usual) while doing most of the disc digging.  Reissue of their '90 debut album with some bonustracks.  Although the reissue itself is from 1998, finding it now was excellent timing, as the original vinyl was released on R.K.T. and a couple of the other R.K.T. releases were finally released on CD recently.  Member of Hellbastard/Energetic Krusher here, hence the bandname.  Especially compared to their later stuff, it's surprising how heavy and metallic this is, save for the vocals.  Maybe not quite so much so as say Hellbastard's Natural Order or the Energetic Krusher LP,  but this sounds much more like Onslaught's Power from Hell than it does any Amebix material. On later material and the '93/'94 bonus tracks here, they play the more standard crust/punk style they're typically associated with.

Job for a Cowboy - Genesis
Much better than I thought it would be.  I never sat down and listened to these guys before but I had a vague general idea of what happened with them...They were deathcore flavor of the month at one point, then changed styles, alienating some old fans and causing accusations of being bandwagon jumpers (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but admittedly, I don't much care anyway).  Modern semi-technical death metal here, with no -core elements.  Listenable to be sure, but not particularly interesting, and there's nothing here that would make me choose this over any other band playing the style.   

Judas Iscariot - Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten
Already have this, so it's up for trade.  I noticed something seemed a bit off when I was looking at this newly purchased copy...As it turns out, this is a later pressing, and for whatever reason they rendered the cover photo almost completely black (looks like the cover was actively edited rather than just having the contrast jacked up).  I was never all that enthusiastic about this mini-CD as the focus seems to be on faster tempos and  a more aggressive sound overall.  It lacks much of the atmosphere that all of the earlier full-lengths had in varying degrees.

Midnattsol - Where Twilight Dwells (Icarus pressing)
Looking at this I assumed this was either going to be a second rate Nightwish clone or gothic metal.  While it does have elements in common with those, this is a mix of symphonic, gothic, and folk metal with female vocals--the main selling point being said vocals are provided by Liv Kristine's sister (I can only assume she put her family ties to good use, as Alex Krull produced the album.  Also keep in mind despite the Norwegian bandname/occasional songtitle, everyone else in the band is German).  The folk element of the music ranges from being more integrated (i.e., folk metal) to entire acoustic passages.  About 3/4 of the way through the album there are even a set of songs that evoke a bit of a Celtic metal feel, particularly because of Ms. Espenæs' accent (on the early songs, her accent--not her singing style-- even reminds me a tad of O'what'shername from The Cranberries).

Onward - The Neverending Sun
Standard US power metal, solid stuff.  This is a posthumous release of demos that would have been for a 3rd Onward album--it's quite underproduced compared to their earlier Century Media albums.

Upheaval - Downfall of the Ascendancy of Man
Hmm.  I had read that this mini-CD was metalcore and that it wasn't until their full album that they became death metal...I think that may be a case of exaggeration on behalf of straightedge/HC people not wanting to be associated with metal.  Musically, I really only hear death metal in the riffs, with no HC structures/breakdowns.  The vocals may be what's causing the metalcore tag, as they're forced rasping, but they're not what I typically think of as HC vocals.  I think had these guys not been straightedge and had they used different vox, this would have been tagged as Suffocation-style DM.  This is something I doubt I'd actively choose to listen to, but I will admit it is far better than I was expecting it to be.

WxHxNx? - The First Year
Picked this up along with the other punk/HC-type stuff, not really expecting to keep it...It's old-style crossover/thrashcore, which really isn't my thing, but it's metallic enough where I'll hold on to it for now.  There's a pretty good Attitude Adjustment cover (of "Bombs") that also aided in making that decision.  Oh yeah, this is on New Disorder Rec., so apparently it's the reissue version from 2004 (there's no date release info anywhere).

What Happens Next?/Life's Halt! - Start Something split CD
Eh...Not exactly a CD you'll find me giving a rousing endorsement for.  The What Happens Next? side is punkier than the disc above, which in my case is a bad thing.  Life's Halt! are pure hardcore punk so I had no interest in them, although the Spinal Tap and Public Enemy samples on their half make for the most interesting listen on the disc.

Aug. 25, 2012 Finds (Pt. 1)

This installment, the report of my haul of digital audible delights will have to be split into two parts. 
Initially I thought this was going to be a pretty bad day, as I found a few things, but nothing super.  I was also totally dejected that I traveled to a out-of-the-way store about an hour away and didn't find a single stinking CD to buy!  I can't even remember the last time that occurred at that particular place, if ever.

Things ended happily, though.  I got to the final store of the day quite late, but ended up buying over 50 CDs (not the maximum I've bought by far, mind you).  So ultimately I felt quite vindicated.

This first part will be what I found everywhere else, and the second part will cover that last store.

First store I found anything at had a couple of things.  Nothing particularly great, but since on average I only find 2-3 discs there at a time, it was a pretty decent amount of discs:

Allura - A Change in the Winds - $1.00
2007 mini-CD. By the looks of it, this was obviously some sort of hardcore/metalcore release.  Since the bassist and guitarists were all longhairs, I figured it would probably be somewhat metallic, so I went ahead and took a chance for a buck. Not a great decision. This started out as the primarily hardcore, breakdown-laden, dual-harsh-vocalled stuff I was expecting. What I had not expected was the band making frequent shifts into a melodic, overtly commercial MTV-friendly emo style with vocals to match (I listed to some online samples of the band's later full-length, and it's almost totally in this style.  Some may argue that's a slight improvement from ultra-forced hardcore, but I'm equally disinterested by both). I'm sure one of these guys listened to a metal album once upon a time and if you dissected the guitar parts thoroughly, there would be instances having some semblance to melodic death metal bands. As a whole, nothing of redeeming musical value here for me, though. Blech.

Dance Club Massacre - Feast of the Blood Monsters - $1.00
This had a Metal Blade logo, how could I resist?  Another one of those spastic technical bands with a cutesy name and cutesy songtitles.  Mostly sounded like hyperactive death/grind to me, but with lots of time changes, some sparingly used keyboards and effects, and those awful forced HC-attempt-at-black-metal vocals.  The intro to "Murders Come with Smiles" (also reprised near the end of the song) is in the vein of classic horror scores/themes and struck me as the only memorable thing about the album.

Defleshed - Death... The High Cost of Living - $1.00
I usually get unnaturally excited when I find later (late '90s and later) Pavement/Crash releases locally...They don't show up all that often, which is frustrating since they're so prevalent online--for a buck or two they're great as collection filler, but face it, when you tack on another $3 or so for shipping, most of the releases aren't worth it.  Anyway, this is a live EP with 2 tracks from their first album and 5 from Under the Blade.  Sound quality is good but the drums are too high in the mix.  This is a good live representation of their later style--fast and energetic death/thrash, albeit a bit monotonous.  For trade.

Fireball Ministry - FMEP - $1.00
I thought I recognized the bandname (turns out I did) but I wasn't sure if this was the '70s influenced band I was thinking of, mainstream retro-rock ala The Darkness, or more commercial stoner rock like Fu Manchu or Monster Magnet. It's a moot point since I bought it anyway, but I should have just looked at the tracklisting, as seeing "Victim of Changes" would have immediately compelled me to buy it. There are three originals here, covers of Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, and three additional bonus Blue Cheer/Misfits/Aerosmith covers taken from tribute albums I had never heard of before. I found the originals to be disappointing, as they're essentially hard rock with some doomy influence from early Sabbath...Not sufficiently heavy, sufficiently raw/freewheeling (see Nashville Pussy), or sufficiently '70s inspired to really grab me.  The covers are the most interesting part of the EP--I'd say the best of the bunch is Blue Cheer's "Fortunes," which is the most faithful to the original. The Priest cover ("Victim of Changes," as mentioned before) is surprisingly well done and they give it a doomy vibe, but the vocals just don't cut it by the end of the song. I don't just mean that infamous final high note either--the vocals are pretty monotonous and there's no attempt to show any additional emotion during the last couple of lines. Finally, I want to add that the cover is a quite blatant adaptation of Caspar David Friedrich's Klosterfriedhof im Schnee (can be seen on the covers of Mythic's EP and the Goddified/Goddefied mCD) but it doesn't get a mention anywhere. Kinda assholish.

Legacy of Pain - Legacy of Pain - $1.00 
I assumed this was going to be some sort of metalcore. Saw there was a Behemoth shirt in the band photo (not that that's a mark of quality these days...), so I went ahead and bought it. The first song has some melodic twin guitarwork, but overall sounds mostly like modern death metal with breakdowns incorporated. For deathcore, the vocals are thankfully more like standard DM vox and aren't very forced or overexaggerated for the style. The other tracks have a stronger melodeath influence and sound like typical Slaughter of the Soul-core mixed with the sound of the first track.  

Styx - Edge of the Century - $1.00
This was the result after the band reformed for the first time. I was just looking through the booklet to check the condition was okay, and I didn't realize Tommy Shaw didn't play on this one! Crazy stuff.  But this is only trade fodder--I'm not even going to listen to it. Ha! For trade.

Terminal Choice - New Born Enemies - $1.00 
Electronic rock. Chris Pohl's (Blutengel/Seelenkrank) band. Trade fodder.

Van Halen - Van Halen - $1.00
A nice looking copy for trade fodder. Certainly influential and a very good for what it is--a rock album.  I can't help but scoff at anyone who calls this full-on heavy metal--the culprits are usually old-timers and regular rock fans who want to beef up their musical taste without having to sully their ears with actual metal. Have successfully traded through a couple copies of this already, and I don't like the album enough to be concerned about holding on to it at all. For trade.

Second-farthest store only yielded one disc (which I already had, no less), and by then I assumed that would be the day's best find:

Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What! - $2.00
One I already have, but it was a nice-looking copy of the original unremastered version and the price was right. This album never really resonated with me at all. I'm not even a particularly big Megadeth fan, but this seems so lackluster compared to all of their other old material. Only two things I really like here. The cover of "Anarchy in the U.K." is great, and the way Dave venomously sings the "as long as there's a P.M.R.C." lines in "Hook in Mouth" is very striking (I'm not even into the song as a whole that much, although it's probably one of the better originals on the album). Certainly my least favorite of the Megadeth albums up to Countdown... (possibly Youthanasia too, depending on my mood).

However, there was more to be had...

Altar the Sky - Plight of the Vomit Eagle (2004)

This CD is available for trade.

A solid example of not being able to judge a CD by its cover.  Nothing about this disc--from the layout to the odd jogging inside a pipe(?) cover art to the band name to the songtitles to the ridiculous album title--even hints that it's black metal, and even saying that, you'd expect it to be some hipster band or something overly avant-garde.  This is a solo project of total mid-'90s-Scandinavian-style BM by Andrew LaBarre, previously of Impaled/Ghoul fame and recorded around the time he was in both bands.  The guitarwork is quite good here, as to be expected from an ex-member of those bands.  Even having just listened to the album, I'm still having trouble grasping that this is fairly standard black metal because it seems so incompatible with the package it's presented in.  The intro and outro aren't typical of the genre, but that's seriously the only audio deviation from black metal.  I'm just left wondering whether the titles and such are a purposeful attempt to distance Altar the Sky from black metal cliche (I would suspect so), or whether there's some sort of story or weird concept here (the booklet offers little help).