Blatant Disarray - Everyone Dies Alone (2010)

Cost: $1.50

This CD is available for trade.

Main influence here is the commercially successful US thrash of the mid/late '80s to very early '90s-- when most bands and labels wanted a piece of that Big 4 pie--mixed with a more modern sound and playing technique.  It's not overly modern, groove-laden Andy Sneap produced crap, but neither it is super old school sounding.  Vocals are a mid-range style that remind me of Chuck Billy...Due to the band's major influence, it would be prudent to say they're quite reminiscent of Hetfield as well, but Chuck definitely moreso.  One thing that struck me as odd is that many of the the choruses are overly accessible sounding.  Not as in catchy, but as in written with a deliberate modern hard rock influence.  They're not CD ruiners, but I found it weird some of the choruses were sudden introductions of quite Disturbed or Avenged Sevenfold sounding stuff into thrash.

The band is at their best when they tighten the focus to blatantly Metallica-influenced material.   Much of the album, particularly the second half, sounds like a very modernized take on Master of Puppets-inspired ideas ("Faithless," in particular), while actually falling far short of that kind of greatness.  "Eye Fortune" has a very AJFA-sounding part with twin acoustic guitars.

Mitra - All Gods Kill (2006)

Cost: 99¢

 

Unbeknownst to me when buying this, the drummer here is Rigor Mortis' Harden Harrison, and the vocalist is Kurt Grayson, who was on that third, very Testament-sounding Wrath album.  I found out immediately prior to listening.  I point that out because normally that sort of bandmember pedigree would make me stupidly optimistic, but it didn't here.  Too many letdowns have taken their toll, I guess.

 

The fast and mid-paced material here is groove metal.  There's some punkish energy in the fastest stuff and there's a thrashy riff here and there, but nothing terribly interesting for the classic thrash fan (namely, me).  The other half of the album goes for a slow-paced, sludgy, southern type of sound, perhaps like a b-level version of Down, who I don't particularly like in the first place.  Unfortunately the main vocals are aggro nonsense.  "War Horse" has some doomy stoner riffs approaching something you might find in a Wino project, but any potential it might have had is killed for me by those lame Anselmo-style vocals.

Opiate for the Masses - Manifesto (2008)

Cost: $1.00

This CD is available for trade.

Picked this up solely because it was on Century Media.  I know, I know, nowadays that's hardly an indicator of quality.  I have only myself to blame.  But I saw the chick in the band pic and figured some sort of gothic/power metal mix at best, alternative stuff like later Lacuna Coil/The Gathering at worst.

Very unexpectedly, it's mostly in the vein of '90s mainstream industrial rock--think Stabbing Westward, Nine Inch Nails, Filter, etc.  Also has a bit of an Alice in Chains vibe to it at times, though obviously with more electronic and industrial elements.  Nothing here to interest me, so the best I can say is that the opening track and the cover of Portishead's "Wandering Star" have catchy choruses.

Ascension Theory - Answers (2002)

Cost: $1.00

Melodic prog. metal, not mind-blowing but certainly worth the buck.

Nocturne - Guide to Extinction (2005)

Cost: around $1 (bought as part of a lot)
This CD is available for trade.

Not metal.  The band/album name and album art might indicate the possibility of metal, but as soon as I saw the band logo, I suspected it would be industrial or electronica (which is vaguely true).  

Most of the CD's first half sounds like female-fronted '90s alternative rock, with relatively minimal industrial and gothic influences tacked on.  In the later songs, they lose the overly sweet vocals and increase the industrial influences a bit, and it comes off like a mix of Bile, White Zombie, Hole, and a little bit of Marilyn Manson.   No thanks.

7000 Dying Rats - Fanning the Flames of Fire (1998)

Cost $1.00

Make no mistake, this album is first and foremost a delivery system for humorous and ironic songtitles. In many cases, they even surpass Anal Cunt at it. I was pleasantly surprised because while I expected a comedic novelty listen, which this certainly is, a couple of the straightforward parts are pretty good grindcore. The pure grind stuff is broken up by all sorts of strange and humorous material, and the CD just gets weirder and weirder as it goes on. The album as a whole is much less monotonous than old Agoraphobic Nosebleed, most AxCx (they're generally not as noisecore-sounding, although there are obvious influences and a tribute track called--what else--"Anal Cunt is Gay"), and Meat Shits (they're not as reliant on samples, although there are plenty--and I actually wish they had included more) material.  

Just some comments about the end of the disc..."Ozzy Looked like Bea Arthur on the Ultimate Sin Tour" is one of the greatest songtitles ever, and at just over 13 min. long I had high hopes. Unfortunately it's a much-too-short cover medley of Sabbath's "It's Alright" and "Back Street Kids" with some Ozzy stage banter samples, and then 10 minutes of silence. There are several untitled 4 and 5 second tracks--most of these are dedicated to studio foolery inspired by the lyrics to Venom's "Sacrifice," and later on Gus Backus' '60s hit "Der Mann Im Mond" is sampled. Disappointingly, since the last track is listed as "99) Luft Balloons" (a play on its tracklisting position), I was hoping for the actual Nena cover, but it's just a short audio clip of some hockey commentators bookended by silence.

Worth the buck just for the Sabbath renditions and the vintage pic of Bruce Dickinson in his silly feathered "Powerslave" mask on top of the disc.

Heavy Metal Killers compilation (2009)

Cost: 99¢

Yep, another Earache compilation from the same store where I got the Thrashing Like a Maniac disc last month.  I'd say this is the far superior CD since even discounting the genre difference, it's a much stronger roster and less uneven musically.  But as with Thrashing..., it's somewhat disappointing there are so few demo/rare tracks.

Initially I thought Hospital of Death was a very out-of-place inclusion, since I think of them as a much thrashier band, but their track has enough traditional HM and power metal influences to fit in well.  The Cauldron track actually stands out rather negatively among the songs due to the noticeably slicker style.  Speaking of Cauldron, it finally hit me when listening who their nasal vocal style reminds me of so much--Halloween.

Forgive me for passing on doing a full track-by-track review, but there are only so many ways one can indicate "this song is pretty good" before the 'ol writing creativity dries up.