Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (2007)

Witchcult Today is one of those records that feels so simple and primal that you could just plug in, write it and record it on the spot, and that's not something I can always get down with unless its in the hands of a band like Electric Wizard. The Brits had long mastered their most daunting and crushing extremes with records like Dopethrone and Let Us Prey, and by the later 00s were settling into this catchier flow of raw, effective doom and sludge which I found just as hypnotizing as their formative releases. There is nothing pretentious or boring here, the music can speak for itself, exceedingly basic in construction yet just catchy enough to sing along with; this isn't some exercise in vapid repetition like Jerusalem but something with just enough variation and experimentation to fully immerse the listener whilst slowly punching them in the face.

Noisy, huge walls of fuzz that cascade at a crawled pace through Sabbath-like doom licks, it's that 70s foundation taken out to a wasted extreme, with very little concern for blowing out your speakers or sounding produced or polished...yet, the levels do somehow find a balance. The bass largely just plods along with the rhythm guitar, but that latter is so enormous that it's not about to find any competition in the mix other than Jus Oborn's wavering, drugged vocals, and that's only because they are genetically constructed to pierce through them. The drums might as well be trash cans, as long as they can provide the attention span with a steady pace to follow the catchy drudging. I can't tell you that a single riff on this record is original in any capacity, and yet I still enjoy it that much, because there's such a hideous conviction to how they're delivered. To be fair, they do layer in some melodies and bluesy wailings (as in the bridge of the title track) to create more depth, but this is the sort of record I might hate in the hands of someone less 'cool', if that makes any sense?

There are definitely some more psychedelic escapes here, like the noisy, quivering feedback of the interlude "Raptus" or the the moody mire of "Black Magic Rituals & Perversion", which sounds like the most atmospheric trad doom ever, given some ritualistic clout by the crazy fills and percussion as it transforms into this fuzz-fucked behemoth, only to later transform again into tribal droning noise with what sound like some reversed vocal samples. This shit is some of the most frightening they'd sounded since the aforementioned Dopethrone, and thankfully ground things back on planet Earth with the closer "Saturnine" and it's super-bluesy Sabbath lick and vocals that saturate the audience in stoner bliss, even if their lungs are as clean as a cathedral. Witchcult is just a transitive experience, like some of its own predecessors, the sort of record you come away from different than you went in, staggeringly heavy in tone but strangely accessible other than the weird bits. Cool blokes, cool cover, damn cool tracks, Lovecraftian and occult themes, what fucking else would you sign up for?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.electricfuckinwizard.com/

Megadeth - United Abominations (2007)

United Abominations ushers in the 'Drover' era of the band, with Dave picking up brothers Glen and Shawn from the consistent Canadian power/thrashers Eidolon, about as perfect a fit that he was going to find from that scene north of the border outside of drafting Jeff Waters of Annihilator into the fold (which I still think should happen). The duo lends an instant seriousness and edge to the material which catapults this record right back to what might have been a follow-up for Rust in Peace, not that the riffs ever reach that same level of immortal, blazing catchiness, but this is clearly the product of much more effort than almost anything in the 15 years before it, with any cobwebs shaken out of the joints and the band sounding, I daresay it, 'young' again.

That's not to say it's the 'best' material in that timespan, but it joins the records sandwiching it as a sort of 'second wind' for Megadeth. Dave's vocal soar over the opener "Sleepwalker", as he shifts between a melody and more of his snarling, sneery attitude through the verses, with a busy lattice of thrash riffing and lead-work below that holds your attention, occasionally giving me a "Take No Prisoners" vibe. And it doesn't really apply the breaks, ever, I mean there's plenty of variation in tempo, but like its predecessor The System Has Failed, there's no real wimping out to honor some midlife crisis or emotional side of the creator's ego. A few tracks here don't work for me, like the title track on which the chorus of the title sounds a little obvious, repetitive and lame. Or "Amerikhastan" which also had some cheesy sounding vocals and political raving, not that I necessarily disagree with all his points but it just comes off in that cringeworthy "Sweating Bullets" intonation at some points.

The decision to revisit "A tout le monde" is also a strange one, though comparing this with the original from Youthanasia, it's got more pep and energy, lacking that version's darker, drearier mood. But both of them do fit within their surrounding track-list and production style, even though I don't need the guest vocals from Christina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil, and I'm half-wondering if that affected the decision to re-record it, because they needed a tune she should contribute to? Probably not. However, I'd rather have included the cover of Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles", a bonus track from other releases of the disc, which is pretty well-rendered, although not as kinetic as the version Toxik did on their 1989 masterwork Think This. If there's one other complaint, I still don't think the bass playing is where it needs to be, because it lacks Dave Ellefson. James LoMenzo joins in here, coming over from various Zakk Wylde projects, and he's certainly a decent presence, but he just lacks that strength in his lines which could complement and even rival Mustaine in places; he's just a solid support.

For me, United Abominations is probably the weakest of the 'trilogy' in this particular Megadeth surge, since I thought the tunes on the glorified solo album The System Has Failed were catchier, and Endgame triggers all the Rust in Peace nostalgia in all the right ways. That said, it's still largely a quality album, and the one of the three that most feels like it could have had an original release in the 90s after Rust and Countdown. There are definitely some subtle callbacks, when you're listening to a tune her and remembering enough, for instance some of the low end in "You're Dead" brought back thoughts of the thrash/groove in "Architecture of Aggression", or the other I mentioned earlier, but no real direct rip-offs. It's a decent one, the Drover brothers were definitely the right guys for the job, and that would become even more apparent two years later.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.megadeth.com/

Annihilator - Metal (2007)

I get that it's supposed to be a 'profound' title, a reaffirmation for the band that they're just playing some good old metal, and that maybe you shouldn't label it, but so deep into the career of an exceptional thrash axeman like Jeff Waters, I come to expect that he will PROGRESS, and ADVANCE his sound, plumb the depths of his playing and come up with something genius. All this dumbing down and simplifying just doesn't fit the bill for me. Not that Metal is some idiotically basic thrash record, it partially feels like a cut and paste of its predecessor, Schizo Deluxe, but it comes across like the laziest form of pent up energy, like when you're watching your 100th Battle Royale on PPV and all that excitement and drama just isn't there anymore, it becomes a more obligatory and mechanical experience with no heart behind it.

Metal might as well be any pastiche of 90s thrash trends, there are moments here like some of the tough guy vocals and snarls in "Couple Suicide" where they are just aping Pantera, the James Hetfield style vocals are also all over the place. There are also a bunch of vocal lines here in tracks like "Army of One" where they almost feel a bit rappy, maybe like a mix of Mike Patton and Mike Muir. I guess you could say that parts of this album border on nu-metal or mall-core, but it's all dumb, with laughable lyrics and a singer that still has yet to register much of a distinct personality for himself. I know I sound like a broken record, but almost ALL the highlights of this disc are when Jeff Waters plays in his clinical, technical, choppy style ("Downright Demise"); those are the only moments in which my ears perk up and the album seems to slightly stretch its fingers from the mediocre mire in which it stagnates, to grasp something much more exciting and rare. And even in these spots, he does sound like he's just self-plagiarizing from a bunch of other riffs he's already written before, these just don't have the benefit of other choice elements like a Randy Rampage or Coburn Pharr vocal line.

It's professional, it's polished, it's punch enough for the crowds who just want to hear anything heavy and 'thrash' surviving into the 'oughts. Mike Mangini brings a lot of rumbling low end and energy that the songs don't even necessarily deserve, but the chameleon vocals and lack of really memorable hooks prevent this one from ever setting in. Quality is squarely between All For You and Schizo Deluxe and that's not exactly a compliment. Shouldn't the 'mid-life' crisis return to form album have happened by this point in Annihilator's career? It seemed like they were headed in that direction some records before this but it all fizzled out and broke on the rocky beach.

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]

https://www.annihilatormetal.com/

Soilwork - Sworn to a Great Divide (2007)

The 2005-2010 era of Soilwork is undoubtedly my least favorite, not that it's terrible, but there seemed to be a neutering of the astonishing potential of their early material, like they hit a brick wall around Figure Number Five and the only way to go was more polished and poppy with Stabbing the Drama. Fortunately, they were pretty quick to issue a course correction on Sworn to a Great Divide, an album that might not rank among their most memorable, but carves back towards a more distinctly metallic direction and has a lot more going on to entertain these ears, while keeping the great melodic chorus parts on board so Speed can keep honing his pop chops for future projects. In fact, going back to explore this one I think I've grown a greater appreciation than whenever I first heard it.

Certainly the formula on tunes like "Exile" is directly descended from Stabbing the Drama, but through the production and songwriting it just seems more effective and atmospheric to me, there's a greater resonance to the mix and it's not so direct and over-polished. Lead guitars and melodies are consistently worthy throughout the track list, and a lot of the rhythm guitars were written with a more fiery and thrashing intensity, clearly drawing upon the first few albums. Thusly, the chorus parts here feel a lot more epic and deserved, and the band seems to have realized it went a little too far the last time out. Don't worry, if you were really feeling the Swedes at their most commercial, a lot of those grooves still remain, you can still play this stuff in the closing credits of an MTV tween horror/drama or maybe even risk it on the radio after a block of Creed and post-1988 Metallica, but it's quite ironclad in production and there aren't any stinker tunes that I ever feel are mandatory to skip.

At the same time, it's difficult for me to point out highlights, because the tunes here are just consistently 'good' and never truly great. The material at its most thrashing clip ("The Pittsburgh Syndrome", "As the Sleeper Awakes") is on the same level as the catchier pieces like the title track, "Breeding Thorns", or "Your Beloved Scapegoat", the slower grooving of "I, Vermin" with its guitar harmonies fluttering over the shouted breaks, there are even a small handful of more genuinely mean sounding riffs or vocals that pop up from time to time. Ultimately, Sworn to a Great Divide feels like the band blending their roots of Steelbath Suicide and The Chainheart Machine with the more accessible direction of the mid 00s, and pulling it off, with only a few individual moments that come off too sappy. This is one case as I'm treading this discography where an album has appreciated in value for me.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.soilwork.org

Cauldron - Into the Cauldron EP (2007)

Born from the dying embers of Goat Horn, Cauldron was an act that sought to hone some of those same influences, but dropping off the doom metal for a more pure retro heavy metal sound redolent of, but not entirely relying upon the 80s. I think this was an important maneuver, because while the Canadians might be a little underrated even to this day, and have truthfully been inconsistent with some of the ensuing full-length albums, I think their arrival was one of a number of portents that cravings, both newfound and nostalgic for classic metal sounds were to once again explode across the metalscape, as they tend to do in cycles. It doesn't hurt that their Into the Cauldron EP is a fucking barnstormer that, at least for me, rendered Goat Horn irrelevant within about two tracks, it is just THAT much better...

This is STILL some of their best material to date, with riffing that comes across like a mix of West Coast sounds of the 80s, with the catch that it's heavier and more iron-clad. Maybe combine the first two Armored Saint records with a more aggressive Dokken, and it might turn out like this. The guitars are potent, the bass loud, the leads effective it not entirely catchy, but for me the selling point to the band has always been the vocals of Jason Decay. Down to earth, memorable, melodic and a little acidic, this guy is the epitome of the 'guy next door' heavy metal frontman, and that is what lends his presence such character. Sure you will hear a one-off higher scream or growl, but his voice just brings me back to a bunch of low rent heavy metal records that never got their due, that I'd actually find throughout the 90s in the bargain and cut-out bins on tape and LP, in Boston or at one of the many record dives near my alma mater UMass. A few friends and I would snatch these things up and take them back to our apartment or dorm room and just revel in the cheese, more often than not truly falling in love with what we've heard. Cauldron does that for me, and I thank them profusely, even if I don't like all their albums equally.

Four tunes. Three burners and "Restless", which is a little more measured, but no less powerful once it gets into those plodding triplets that Decay sounds great soaring over, and his lines there definitely expose the roots to some of the great material they'd write for their better albums like In Ruin in 2016. The mix here is really dense and home-grown, with guitars taking the forefront but not in any way clouding out the thundering drums, bass-lines or vocal track. I don't have many criticisms, I could do without some of the snarled vocals but they are so sparse it doesn't matter, the cover art is terrible, and I'm sure a few of these could be catchier than they are, but all told this was a fine introduction to the band that I will still spin alongside some of their stronger full-lengths when I need a dip in the Cauldron.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Helloween - Gambling With the Devil (2007)

I really do like the idea of the 'dark carnival' with regards to all of Helloween's aesthetics in general...quirky and silly but with a more sinister and aggressive edge to it, and that very accurately describes the songwriting for Gambling With the Devil. Just don't look too closely at the cover, because from afar it looks good, but when you scrutinize the details it looks like pretty crappy digital art. Just think if they'd gone with a more classical, colorful illustration using similar imagery, in the style of Better Than Raw. Would have knocked this one out of the proverbial amusement park. However, graphic aesthetics are pretty much where my complaints end, because Gambling With the Devil is another hard-hitting wonderwork from a lineup that just won't quit.

Okay, the intro bit is dumb, but the rest of the songs proper rule. This album features what MIGHT be my favorite Helloween track of all time in "Paint a New World", which is for me the perfect example of taking those traditional power metal aesthetics and making them fresh for the 21st century. Passionate, fast, and moving in both its lyrical matter, heavy riffing, and fucking astounding vocals from Andi Deris. This is what it's all about with this genre, the ability to elevate you into a melodic plane so emotionally overwhelming that you want to fight, cry, and explode at the same time. THAT is the value of power metal to me, and while I don't say that I necessarily favor it more or less than the other sub-genres I enjoy, this is the uniqueness it brings to my collection, the void it feels, and I'm always happy to call upon it. Having said that, this one song does sort of leave the rest of the album in the dust, but as a testament to the quality of the album overall, I still love it, because matching an anomalous eargasm like that is just too tall an order for anyone, really. Tracks like "Final Fortune", "Falling to Pieces" and "I.M.E." all more than deliver the goods with memorable chorus, raging riffs and the same sort of viral energy. "Kill It" grounds us to dust with some of that showoff speed picking and very brief, hilarious 'extreme metal' growl, and "The Bells of the 7 Hells" has some weird stuff in it that leads to another climactic chorus with great backing vocals.

The album just has it 'together' more than Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, nearly an hour of awesome-sauce; there's really no chaff to be had anywhere, and I dig listening through the whole thing (first minute aside), even though you'll have to restrain me once "Paint a New World" starts, a Helloween track hadn't hit me quite that hard since "Sole Survivor" in 1994. The mix sounds great, with lots of synths and chorus vocals mixed in very well to accent the potent riff-set and lead guitar flares being set off all over the dark landscape. Andi has never sounded finer, and he even contributes quite a lot to the songwriting on this from the notes I've read. The newer members Sascha and Dani sound like they've already been in the ranks for decades, and this is the sort of performance which leads me to believe, that if the old-timers like Weikath, Grosskopf and even Andi had to retire from the band due to old age, as unthinkable as that is, Helloween might even be able to move forward in a positive way if they can round out the roster with newer talent like this. Helloween forever? Humanity could do much worse.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10]

https://www.helloween.org/

Helloween - Live in Sao Paulo (2007)

Metal is huge in South America. In Brazil. As it should be, because these people know their shit. Iron Maiden? Huge. Judas Priest? Massive. And Helloween? Why the hell not? Live in Sao Paulo captures the band on their Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy tour from 2005-2006, and almost the entirety of the two discs and two hours of content was recorded in that very place, with the exception of "Halloween" and "Occasion Avenue" from gigs in Czech Republic and Tokyo...which is a little weird, because I always prefer to hear a band give a steadfast performance at a single gig, which would be the experience the concert attendee has, but at least they're open about it ('Live on 3 Continents') and they're tacked on at the very end of the track list.

This is one of their more lauded live offerings and for a good reason, it pretty swell and has a rather dynamic range of material, a broader spread than on High Live which in itself was pretty damn good. The band is reaching for a balance of their early classics as well as some of the new material off the excellent Keeper Part III, but it blends in pretty well together. It's got a pretty atmospheric sound to it, with a great deal of crowd noise that manages not to drown out the band, but it's almost like you can hear them singing along to a HELL of a lot of the lyrics, and it's pretty amazing...especially when they're in the midst of an epic like "The King for 1000 Years" or "Keeper of the Seven Keys". All of the tunes, new and old seem to mesh really well with the production and performance of this lineup, and it's all smoothed over into that modern fold they emerged with on Master of the Rings. The rhythm guitars and kick drums thunder quite intensely, while the symphonic keys blaze brilliantly against that heavier undertow. Andi's a monster on this one, his screams sound great and although he doesn't sound too much like Kiske on the oldies, I think he still does a knockout job, and so many other people are singing along that who cares?!

It's not always seamless, because the atmosphere often overwhelms some of the details and nuances of the tunes, but you just cannot beat the energy here between the band and audience, and for that reason it's surely the most EXCITING of their lives. You really feel as if you're standing there in front of the band, something I've actually done, and everyone is partying and enjoying that the Germans flew over to their neck of the woods to offer a professional pounding. It was great to hear selections form albums like The Dark Ride like "Mr. Torture" and "If I Could Fly", although I wouldn't have minded more of a representation from Master of the Rings, or the absent material from Walls of Jericho. The audio quality on the non-Brazil recordings is actually superior, almost studio level, so that compensates for the less ballistic audience participation, and this version of "Halloween" is pretty great, even if they're not the vocals you are used to. I don't know that I like it more than High Live, which was a little better focused on material that suits Andi, but it's certainly a positive and elaborate presentation.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.helloween.org/

Machine Head - The Blackening (2007)

For all the ire I've cast upon Machine Head's recording history, there's no question that the band has been a successful venture, with plenty of profitable touring, media attention, and record sales, even well before Robb Flynn started letting a lot of sparks fly across his social media and interviews. Despite all the returns on investment, I'd like to pretend that, in the four years after Through the Ashes of Empires, when the band was throwing this album together, they came to realization that 'this was how it should always have been'. If The Blackening were the lead-in for the band's career, then it all might have made a lot more sense. I'm not saying this is a 'great' record, but it's certainly a decent one, brilliant by comparison to the long stretch of earsores the band had previously manifest. It's the first studio album that actually deserves even the hype wave they ever surfed in on.

It's evident immediately in "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" that a part of this turnaround is that Robb finally remembered he was a thrasher. In fact, he and Phil Demmel, who also plays here, were part of one of the greatest West Coast thrash albums ever crafted in Vio-lence's Eternal Nightmare, and you can clearly hear that sort of riffing influence being integrated up against the band's nu/groove stylings. Funny enough, when you throw in some neck-jerking, mid-to-fast paced thrash riffs before that moshpit focus group breakdown, it all feels more effective due to the powerful contrasts. I'm not saying that the band's lowbrow riffing fare suddenly becomes more interesting on its own, because there are plenty of effortless, lamentable grooves here, but The Blackening assaults you right up front with the competent upbeat thrash, walls of wailing leads and lots of other guitar atmospheres that dress up even its most mundane moments. That bridge riff feels a lot like something Metallica would have used on Master of Puppets if they were more into gang shouts, and there's just no questioning that this presentation is a more musically ambitious and rich experience regardless of what flaws it carries forward from their garbage daze.

Don't get me wrong here, this isn't a conscious fuck-you turnabout album which ignores the past; you're still getting a big chunk of Pantera worship, but I heard all manner of influences going into this one, from the Mike Muir-like 'emo' vocals of "Beautiful Morning", to the Tool-like structure of groove built into the verses of "Now I Lay Thee Down". You've still got a healthy heaping of those masculine radio rock chorus parts dominating the 'hard rock' channels since the mid-to-late 90s, but even there Flynn manages to string together some slightly more memorable lines and melodies than what you might expect from earlier records. His aggressive barks and roars are still heavily rooted in that whole Phil Anselmo/Skinlab/Pissing Razors style with a dash of generic metalcore angst, and they're for me one of the weaker parts of the album, outshined in almost every instance by the music itself, but I'd happily have this invade my earspace above nonsense like Supercharger or The Burning Red. The musicianship is by far the strongest they'd managed up to this point, and even though there are still a good percentage of pretty dull riffs that hold it back, you'll be surprised by some of the things that pop up.

A couple of the tracks are pretty long by their standards, such as "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" or "Wolves", but I'd say they actually offer enough dynamic range within these to pad them out without lapsing into boring repetition, and perhaps more importantly, that good old thrashing spirit just keeps rearing its head enough, as if its an anchor that's holding the entire process together, and at this point in their game they couldn't have chosen a better focus point. A lot of the lyrics are pretty weak, but at least they don't come off overly goofy in conjunction with terrible music. I also liked the cover art aesthetics, the stark simplicity of the logo font with some classic religious imagery, preferable to all of the choices they made prior to Through the Ashes of Empires at least. Now The Blackening is not an album I'd pick out of a lineup of other material in my thrash (or limited groove metal) library, but if someone were cranking this in the car I wouldn't cover my ears or make a stinky face, I can give some credit where it is due and if this was the sort of passion for the craft they had been meting out since 1994 then I'd never have had cause for complaint. But can they keep it up?

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.machinehead1.com/

Prong - Power of the Damager (2007)

Power of the Damager is by no means one of the highlights of the Prong discography, and it's nowhere near as distinct as the albums they were churning out through the 90s, but compared to Scorpio Rising before it, I had the sense that a metro commuter rail which had nearly fallen off its tracks had suddenly righted itself and then proceeded to the next station with few casualties. This album might best be described as the band's return to thrash, although it doesn't abandon any of the influences that had shaped Victor's songwriting in the previous decade. Another way to look at it is that's it quite similar to a record like Cleansing, only with most of the industrial bells & whistles removed for a more straightforward, street brawl structure that would more closely resemble how it was going to feel at a live event. Stylistically, also directly sets up the streak of albums to follow it, thankfully an era in which the group would get its groove back and no longer teeter on the brink of embarrassment.

This one comes out swinging, with a pair of punchy thrashers which actually deliver a small dose of NYHC in their chord constructions, while maintaining the pinches and squeals Tommy is so fond of embellishing his meatier riffs with. They could have opened up a Biohazard gig easily with some of this stuff. The guitars have this really processed, pugilistic feel to them which sound potent, but also can muddle up the rest of the mix. That's actually one of the areas where this one falls short, I just don't love how it sounds, perhaps a bit too bulky and I don't always love how the vocals and guitars drown out the little background melodies or even the drums. Also, there are a couple dumb grooves in tunes like "3rd Option" which by 2007 felt really passe even by meathead mallcore or nu metal standards around the turn of the century. Fortunately these are pretty scarce, and many of the riffs do deliver a modicum of thrashing entertainment, but I feel like a better production on the guitars would have made several of them shine a lot brighter. The rhythm section is as solid as always, but they do have to contend with that bludgeoning as well as a lot of Tommy's angrier brute vocals which have clearly rubbed off a little from Scorpio Rising, just not as awkwardly.

There's an EP worth of decent Prong material here, in particular "Pure Ether" and "Worst of It" which focus more on the balance of heaviness with catchier, melodic chord patterns that remind me of stuff they were doing on Rude Awakening or Cleansing that I liked. These aren't also without production issues, for example Victor's vocals on "Worst of It" sound almost like a badly mixed Mike Muir, but musically they get their point across and I enjoy the blend of thrash and post-hardcore elements. A few others also deliver, but on the whole I think you could erase half this material from existence and nobody would really miss it, possibly not even the band. However, I don't mean to imply that it's at all terrible, whereas Scorpio Rising made me cringe a whole lot just to get at the painfully few tasty bits, this one sees them in regular rotation, only they aren't being served well by the production choices or the weirdly 'blunt' cover artwork. See what I did there?

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://prongmusic.com/

Mock - Mock (2007)

Mock was essentially the predecessor to the longstanding Norse black metallers Kampfar, active through the early to mid 90s and releasing a demo (Cold Winter) and EP (Vinterlandet), both of which are collected for this compilation CD that Agonia Records dropped in 2007. I'm always interested in delving back into a band's backstory and seeing where its roots lies, especially one I enjoy, as I have through much of Kampfar's existence, so I was surprised to hear that the progression from this material flows quite naturally into where they were at when they the original Kampfar EP later on in 1996. That's not to say that there wasn't also a significant amount of progression in quality, because the Mock material is as simplistic as you might imagine from crude black metallers of olde.

It's also pretty poorly produced. Audible, but the levels are all borked to shit. Guitars are insanely minimalistic, but the loudest instrument, with an obvious Hellhammer influence that gleans through each series of brute chords blurted out. Once in awhile, they'll also hit a pretty evil groove, and that's a highlight of the material, but many of the riffs are just swollen sounding, primitive and boring. It's worse because the drums are quite cleanly produced, and lack the power to really contain that burly, raw guitar tone, and the rasped vocals often feel like weak whispers by comparison, while the bass just follows along to make that guitar even fatter sounding. The difference between something like this and Hellhammer is you can occasionally get a little Viking melody or something that shows these blokes were about to embark upon the Scandinavian path, and certain tunes like "Her af Vikingum, Black" are already boarding the longship, clear indicators of where Kampfar would get their own start, and the chord progressions are often 'warmer' in feel than evil or hostile. I'd also point out that on that particular track the bass is much more interesting, but that's ruined with a lame fade off that does the tune little service.

Once you move on to the EP's material, it's instantly more washed out and atmospheric, with some spoken word narrative and clean guitars set against the distant chords of the electric rhythms. This stuff is much more evenly produced and to be honest I rather enjoyed the three Vinterlandet songs, far more than the demo material. The vocals are more powerful, the use of the rhythms are certainly to be counted as another influence on how a lot of the Viking-themed black metal bands would travel, the keys are a decent, non-intrusive complement, and the whole deal just seems more potent, wintry and nasty. Unfortunately, these are balanced off with that humble, mediocre demo and aren't presented first on the collection, and the playtime is less, so it feels like you're getting a history lesson that doubles as an obstacle before anything you can truly enjoy. Obviously I think Kampfar is a major step ahead of Mock, but if you're a big fan of Norse, Blood Fire Death, Graveland or Enslaved's Frost then you might really dig the Vinterlandet material.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

Abscess - Horrorhammer (2007)

Dennis Dread has got to be one of my favorite cover artists working today, and California's filth merchants Abscess had the honor of dressing up their records with his distinct black and white artwork numerous times, my favorite of which was 2007's Horrorhammer. I'll also go against the grain and say that this was hands down one of my favorite albums from Reifert's post/pre-Autopsy project, while understanding the complaints against it...that it's not quite so gruesome as their output before it. But I'm not going to lie, I've had a bit of fun when cranking this record and I love its focus on the more upbeat material and really clobbering you over the ears. Horrorhammer lacks any degree of subtlety, it simply lives up to its title and for that I am grateful.

I'm not saying I entirely love the album, but when I'm in need for a grisly, high-body-count reel of death metal, speed metal, crossover and punk, graced with Reifert and company's unmistakable vocal ugliness, this one scratches my nethers. You could think of it as a halfway point between Autopsy and Seattle splatter-gods The Accüsed. Velocity meets carnage on a freeway of cult exploitation, but I don't want to mislead you into thinking this is monotonous. There are some faster, simpler cuts here like "Another Private Hell", or mid-paced like "Four Grey Walls", which are essentially pure punk adrenaline made different only through the vocal presence, but quite a lot of them have brief, slower sequences, sometimes just an atmospheric clench on a few dissonant chords, or some of the obvious death/doom that creeps back into the sound with a cut like "When Witches Burn", one of my favorites in their whole catalog. I love the guitar tone this time, not too abrasive but keeps its corpulence whether fast or slow, and sounds great with the rocking leads that often burst from the rhythms like a cannibal baby from its womb.

The drums and bass sound equally cool here, but all of this stuff is simply in support of the undead elephant in the room, those abusive vocals, just as loose and unhinged as Chris' mainstay, and thus more genuine feeling than most monotonous guttural orators which don't sound nearly as sick as they'd like. And even better, they sit equally as uncomfortable across whatever genre component Abscess is using at the time...the more accessible punk parts, the speed/death licks or the doomier sequences. Just enough effects on them at points to make them feel as if they're raving and barking at you from the sepulcher, or chasing you down a tight alleyway at night behind the butcher's shop. To some it might seem a bit garbled, but the energy there completely matches the waxing and waning of the musical muscle, or the oft-shoddy transitions between sub-styles. The instrumental title track is cool, as are the lyrics, simple and gory as they are. To be honest, there aren't a lot of truly catchy riffs, maybe a half dozen on the disc. But when those do appear, like the intro lick to "Hellhole", they do kick some serious posterior, and it's an album so compact I find no problem listening through the entire 35 minutes, as it congeals together so well like clotted blood.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

Asomvel - Full Moon Dog EP (2007)

If England's Asomvel bears more than a passing resemblance to the late, great Motörhead, one can hardly blame them, as Lemmy and company had such a simple, badass, fun style and disposition that who in their right mind wouldn't want to? It's not like they just kicked this off in the 21st century, in fact the group formed back in the earlier 90s, but didn't even start releasing much until over a decade later. Despite being put out in 2007, the Full Moon Dog EP is actually one of their earlier recordings, and one to feature their late, original bassist/vocalist Jay-Jay Winter, the 'Lemmy' for this particular production. From my experience, there actually aren't a ton of groups who play it this close to the London lords of filthy 'eavy metal, and that provides both Asomvel's strengths and their limitations.

For all intensive purposes, this is a well-produced effort with clear, rocking guitars anchored by the tangible and fat-toned bass lines. The drums sound great, and the vocals are also pretty even in the mix. Winter had a gritty style not unlike Lemmy, but with a little bite and bark of his own that comes off with a bit more of an accent than his influence. Unfortunately it often sounds a bit looser in the verses, almost drunken-natured, and lends a lot to how they have an overall sound like a bar band, which is sort of the point, but not terribly memorable. They do really simplistic verse/choruses with some leads splashed in there and attitude all around, with a bit less of a speed, punk or even thrash metal influence that Motörhead often toyed around with in their 21st century recordings; this leans more on bluesy hard rock side of those efforts, which in my opinion can often turn into insipid songs that are impossible to pick out from too massive a crowd of bottoms-up blues rock.

If there were a little more grit, a little more danger, or vitriol...it would work a little better than it does, but musically Full Moon Dog is a bit generic and doesn't take any risks. I'm not saying that Motörhead broke away from its own formula all that often...there was some variation and evolution, but it was gradual over the decades. But the thing is...it was THEIR formula. I'm all for bands taking on that influence, but I'd like to hear some interesting spins on it, like how Tank veered more into pure heavy metal territory, or how the younger Swedish band Bombus worked it into their own massive sounding style which I really enjoy. This Asomvel disc is just par for the course, and it doesn't do anything particularly well that I'd listen to it over even my least favorite's in Lemmy's backlogs. Werewolves are cool and all, but the leather was a little stretched here, the spikes dulled. I'd much rather recommend checking out their 2013 album Knuckle Duster or their brand new World Shaker, which kick a lot more ass in the same exact niche.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.asomvel.com/

Gorgeous Frankenstein - Gorgeous Frankenstein (2007)

Misfits alumnus Doyle has a solid history of attempting to mesh together the horror swagger of that infamous punk entity with a more metallic edge. The best example of this was probably Kryst the Conqueror's Deliver Us from Evil EP in 1990, which had a bit of a Christian streak running through it and was surprisingly not all that bad; I can remember a few friends and I listening to it back in the middle of our high school days. Granted, that material never really turned into anything long term, and if the quality of this eponymous Gorgeous Frankenstein album is anything to judge by, perhaps the sealing off of that particular punk/metal path is really for the better; because this is quite bad.

The core here is a slightly more muscular Danzig style of simplistic hard rock and metal with a bit of Glenn's vocal antics being delivered through the performance of Landon Blood. The riffs are a sort of amalgam of very basic thrash, heavy metal, stoner doom and swaggering bluesy bar metal possessing the banality of a Black Label Society, only far less of the guitar proficiency. The riffs progressions are extremely mediocre across the whole album, with some predictable chugging and groove riffs meant only to work up the manliness of the vocals and the gang shouted chorus parts. It doesn't help that the tone of the rhythms sounds like crap, going for a noticeably more live feel but ending up rather annoying and amateur, especially when being used to perform some of the most insipidly boring chugs and squeals you've ever heard. There are some decent attempts by some backing synths and other atmospherics to try and dress this all up in a more appealing package, but it's really just a clutter of stuff that Pantera would have laughed out of their recording sessions back in 1989.

As mentioned, the vocals are real similar to Glenn Danzig, although once they pick up into a more howled, angry timber as in the depths of "Man or Monster", there's also a clear Rob Zombie style, strained growling influence, only nowhere near as harsh, memorable and charismatic. The drums are loud and clappy, while some of the bass lines seem a little too buzzy and filtered, used often to anchor the really bland bluesy swinging riffs in cuts like "Devilgirl". The lyrics are also very basic, but I wouldn't say they were one of the weak points, occasionally offering out some engrossing or titillating horror lines. Gorgeous Frankenstein is essentially a flesh golem stitched together by numerous other bands before it which have carved out excellent careers imbuing their hard rock, punk or industrial metal with the macabre, Gothic and kitschy traces of horror...but take away the life-giving lightning of catchy songs, or the distinction of those bands, for a fairly lazy and easygoing impersonation. It's not completely awful or incompetent, as there are a couple ideas here or there which make good sense, but I forgot it entirely in less time than the 35 minutes it took to get through the songs. You've got a lot better options out there, including some of the other albums members of this band have been involved with.

Horror-meter: Five gestalt corpse-things out of ten.

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]

Samael - Solar Soul (2007)

While Samael wouldn't ultimately jump back on the horse for me until the angrier, 2009 effort Above, their seventh full-length 'heavy' album (discounting the experimental contractual filler Era One/Lesson in Magick #1) Solar Soul at least pulled out a little damage control for the stunningly mediocre Reign of Light. In other words, it was clear by this point that they had hit their nadir, swirled around the bottom of whatever bottle was indulging their respective identity crises, and decided to swim back up to the surface and take a few breaths. Once again, I really, really enjoyed this when I first came across it, but was obviously listening through rose-colored...ear. After a few months or so, I came to the decision that this was not in fact some savior of a record to reaffirm they could attain the brilliant level they were at in the mid 90s.

However, the songwriting chops here seem to hearken to their glory days, and there are actually a few tunes on this one which I'd include with any career-wide highlight reel. It's still quite a bit cheesy in the lyrical department, recycling the 'let's all hold hands together' globalist hippie garbage promoted so heavily on the prior few albums, almost like this band of former Swiss occultists had suddenly discovered Krishna, or tantra, or universal unitarianism, or whatever. But at least the music here serves up a serious beating when matched against the electroid detritus of Reign of Light and Era One... The guitars still bounce back and forth between the inspirational hooks and chords of earlier works and the vapid dumbell chugging of the most LCD industrial metal you can fathom, but there is far more effort placed in the context of harmonies and other melodic structures. It's a busier album than Eternal, for example, and I really like that the guitars were reasserting themselves as a riffing force rather than passive accompaniment to the beats and synthesizers. Remarkably, it still adheres to that sense of Romantic escapism which defined that album as so unique at the end of the 90s...

...to the point that I really feel like, if you stripped off its production and just analyzed how the songs played out, it's like an amalgamation of tracks that were left on the cutting room floor during both the Eternal and Reign of Light sessions, but with a refined production that itself is stronger than either. There are a couple dragging, lame tracks where they err on the electronic side a little too much (like "Western Ground" or the Rammstein-in-the-Orient vibes of "Quasar Waves") but they also beat you over the head a few times, foreshadowing the aggression level of Above ("On the Rise", or the chorus to "Valkyries'"). The synthesized horns smack of Reign of Light and Passage both, the vocals are largely in the style they had been since 1994, but once awhile they'd surprise me with a tune that follows in the 'spirit' of a precursor, but adds a new twist in the keyboard pads used, or the direct construction of the rhythm guitars. For instance, "Olympus" seems like a callback to "Jupiterian Vibe", but the guitars are nearly as interesting, more so than something like "Ave!", which isn't so compelling, or the prior decade's "Tribes of Cain" which was obviously a less inspired rehash they didn't want on Passage itself due to the redundancy it would create for the listener.

In the end, though, Solar Soul just doesn't go far enough into either a new direction or back into the past to really have made much of a difference. It thankfully and deservedly avoided the dumping on that Reign of Light took, but after perhaps a half dozen listens I recall shelving it and rarely having the interest in hearing it again when Passage, Ceremony of Opposites or Eternal were available to me. A tight album, which fixes some of that awkwardness which stunted its predecessor, and confirms to the more confused corner of their audience that they weren't going vocal electronica full-time (which a few folks might have feared when hearing Era One); and not unpleasant to listen to. In 2007, I might have ranked this a point or so higher, but time hasn't been the kindest in terms of keeping this set of songs moored in my memory banks, so it remains among their least visited albums in my collection, excepting the two before it. If nothing else, Samael seemed to be gaining ground again, instead of losing it, and the gradual incline in quality it hastened has since continued through Above and Lux Mundi.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (push aside yesterday)

http://www.samael.info/Above/index.html

Samael - Aeonics - An Anthology (2007)

If Aeonics wasn't inevitable, then I don't know what is. Like other 'top shelf' metal record labels (Roadrunner, for example), Century Media has a history, especially over the last 10-15 years, of putting together anthologies of reprinted material to lure in suckers (i.e. listeners new to the band, or utter completionsts). They even tried to get me on the hook by visually stimulating the simplistic celestial body cover imagery that so worked for their masterpiece Passage. Of course, this is no simple cash in, on the very word of the label itself: This album is not a simple cash-in Best-Of CD, but a sophisticatedly and carefully arranged collection of musical milestones spanning SAMAEL’s entire career. The album contains 19 tracks (clocking for over 79 minutes), which as a whole transport all the uniqueness of this black & gothic metal pioneers. Sold, guys! I'll take two copies, in case I wear one out...

Sure, it comes packed with a big pictorial booklet and was assembled in collaboration with the band, but it's nothing more than songs picked off previous products, and in many cases not even working together in unison. For instance, I can't envision how their electronic/experimental stuff off Era One/ Lessons in Magic #1 necessarily fits in with the rest, being that it wasn't originally going to be put out under the band's name, and it's surely not going to give a prospective listener an accurate picture of what the band is generally all about. There are loads of amazing songs here, don't get me wrong, but "Moonskin" and "Rain" are best experienced with Passage, and the same goes for the rest. By taking and transplanting these few tunes from their original contexts you are almost teasing the hypothetical that they're 'best of', which is not necessarily the case for the Passage, Blood Ritual or Ceremony of Opposites material and these are all albums that need to be experienced in full to properly appreciate. Even Worship Him deserves that level of attention, so I feel confident in saying that Aeonics doesn't even have enough heft to serve as a door stopper.

It's also a missed opportunity, because instead of just squeezing a career anthology onto a single 80 minute disc, they could have had a 2-3 disc treatment, with perhaps an album of all the band's demo content, a live set, a collection of covers, electronic/symphonic remakes of older tunes (like the disc Xytras did of Passage without the metal elements), or even just remastered or recorded songs that bring the earlier, crude stuff up to speed with the latest material. Granted, purists tend to loathe such things, and I'm often one of them, but ANYTHING except photographer credits to exhibit that some effort was placed into this, some love for the band's fans, going above and beyond to give them something extra...a true and proper celebration of the Swiss band's career, which was, at least for the first decade and change, a truly wonderful and magnanimous musical evolution. But, no, we've got a product that might have just been some label intern randomly handed a stack of Samael CDs and told to pick out and randomly distribute tunes into an arbitrary track order that I assume was meant to fabricate some 'emotional' strength...but really doesn't anymore than my IPod 'shuffle' function. I do like the artwork and the booklet, its sleek and stylish and oh so metro-Samael, but what if this had just been a new album, dropping the 'subtitle' of 'An Anthology' and presenting us with Passage II (they'd do this later, but one can imagine). Anyway, enough of my pipe dreams...if you have any intention of buying this, strike yourself in the temple hard with a blunt object. Otherwise, I shepherd thee back to sample and/or purchase the first five albums and leave it at that.

Verdict: Epic Fail [.25/10]

http://www.samael.info/Above/index.html

Carnal Forge - Testify for My Victims (2007)

No matter how you slice it, Testify for My Victims is the best written of Carnal Forge's albums to date, and a very easy recommendation to make for anyone who is by this point still interested in Swedish melodic death metal of the 21st century, and I realize that is a diminishing (or long since diminished) group of people. Improving the archetypal death/thrash of their earlier material while simultaneously widening the level of variation in their songwriting, you've got light traces of groove metal or death & roll applied to the rigorous balance of melodies and punchy, clinical thrashing rhythms to die for, all delivered with the moderation and care of seasoned veterans. There is a depth to the composition which isn't necessarily a broad deviation from previous records, but even the basest chugging patterns here are glazed with just enough mood and melody to make them efficacious to explore.

Perhaps it's the most 'progressive' of their outings, and that's not a bad thing...you've still got much of that propulsive thrash pacing, but a lot more emphasis on mid-speed tunes that explore more complex bridge sections, and take more risks than the older albums without alienating anyone who enjoyed them. The mix here is probably the cleanest I've experienced, but there's quite a lot going on, and even if Testify... might not match its predecessors in sheer momentum and heaviness, it's just so more likely to be remembered weeks, months, or even years after you've heard it. I admit a little bias, since aesthetically this plays out like a kid sibling to Darkane's phenomenal Layers of Lies, one of the best records to ever emerge from this scene and be systematically ignored. It's artsy, modern, surgical in its musicianship, and at times profound, but most importantly it might have carried a note of nuance or originality if not for that other album predating it by a couple years. Not to write this off as some ripoff, because Carnal Forge always worked in parallel to several of their Swedish peers, but it's certainly an album that takes a few spins to fully appreciate and unravel, despite so much of the content being instantly accessible to the At the Gates/Soilwork fan. They obviously took more time releasing this than any of the older works, and it shows.

There's also a similarity to Darkane in vocals: new front man Jens C. Mortensen, who some might have remembered from the Swede-thrash act Slapdash in the 90s, has that same passionate desperate rasp that characterized a Lawrence Mackrory, or more specifically Andreas Sydow. You still get a smattering of the multi-tracked shouts, but Jens is somewhat superior to his predecessor Jonas Kjellgren at embedding some textured, harmonic howls into the verbal battery, while feeling really raw and off his fucking nuts the rest of the time. As clinically polished as the recording is, he always reminds you that this is essentially serial killer death/thrash and better embraces the psychopathy or sociopathy that subject matter entails. To an extent you can still trace the lineage back to Lindberg of At the Gates, but Jens makes it feel like you are being stabbed by a knife through some rift in reality opens up in a dank back-alley or a butcher-shop which is now being used for more nefarious purposes than cheeseburger patties. I don't have the fondest recollections of Slapdash's 240.25 Actual Reality but it was certainly energetic, and he surpasses himself this time around.

Another point in the record's favors is how the drums and bass here really seem to round out the rhythm guitars, rather than just stubbornly support them. The riffs are a little thinner in production, so a meatier warmth to the bass and potent snare strikes seem a better complement. For some reason I was reminded a lot of Tomas Haake's flawless industrialized-human-hybrid style, only Carnal Forge don't play in the same unusual time signatures and the guitars don't cultivate the traditional djent tone. Simpler groove/chugs here all seem to have a direction to them, pointing to the more accelerated passages and also the moodier, more atmospheric sequences. Lyrically, the themes here flow a better between the murderous mayhem that fascinated the Swedes on their earlier efforts to sacrilegious anthems like the wonderfully titled "Godsend Gods End". I really feel that passionate, personal torment and desperation that I so enjoyed on Darkane tracks like "Secondary Effects", and on occasion the meticulous melodies, pinpoint rhythmic punch and Mortensen's grating antipathy make me want to pull my own intestines out and then strangle other people with them...it's futurist, visceral fucking mayhem akin to a high definition slasher flick in which some stylish suit takes out his own imperfections on those around him, a Patrick Bateman for a Swedish Psycho and I heartily recommend it over anything they've ever done before; the promise of Please...die! embodied in the brash control of Layers in Lies, and still a lot of fun to experience years later. It doesn't look like much, but it sounds like much more.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (that mask: it's coming off now)

http://www.carnalforge.se/

One Man Army and the Undead Quartet - Error in Evolution (2007)

While Error in Evolution develops a set of problems all its own (hell, the title even implies such), and I was hesitant to even check this out after so mild a reaction to the debut album, One Man Army and the Undead Quartet at least came off to me as entertaining here. As meek and primitive as some of the techniques were, and despite an obvious intention to implement cleaner, emotional vocals (which were sparse on 21st Century Killing Machine), there's an appreciable integration of melody into the chugging rhythm guitars. Most importantly, a few of the chorus sequences on this album actually stand out, whereas last time the best you'd get was some growling over a boring riff that was presumably supposed to be the most intense in that given song...

I think it's clear that a bit of Swedish melodeath influence crept in here in both the muscular momentum of the more traditional picking patterns, not to mention the dime a dozen melodies that break out in tunes like "Heaven Knows No Pain" or "Knights in Satan's Service" (an offhanded KISS tribute?!?) which you could find on any random clone of Dark Tranquillity or early In Flames. There's also a lot more jubilation in the lyrical/vocal construction and the pacing, which seems to be faster than the debut without going to extremes. A track like "The Supreme Butcher" almost seems like post-Exodus party thrash, where "Mine for the Taking" goes straight for the chorus and a great bridge. Much of the punctuality in the riffing reminds me of Children of Bodom, only without the ceaseless added level of noodling leads and synthesizers (if that makes sense). Lindstrand is definitely trying to stretch his pipes with some whinier clean vocals, developing a charisma somewhere between Anders Fridén's modern vulnerability and Alexi Laiho's rapaciousness, and then supporting this with his own blunt guttural force.

The peppiness of the drumming and pump of the bass from the first album both return here, but this time out I definitely felt a greater punch to the stomach when listening to the constant chugging, which helped ramp up my own enthusiasm. Rhythm guitar riffs are still largely bland and derivative, but the small choices being made in there are more pleasing to the ear, and they actually load up some slightly technical fills in tunes like "The Sun Never Shines". A few of the 'jump da fuc up' style progressions can seem distracting, but they actually conjure some interesting things with them where they integrate them in "See Them Burn" against the multiple vocal styles and the slower paced melodies. One track, the straight up metal anthem "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", seems like it was meant to retroactively score some long forgotten 80s slasher gem, but the accented chorus melody might prove too cheesy to stomach for a number of listeners who just fucking hate everything Swedish post-Somberlain anyway. It IS an Alice Cooper cover, in their defense.

No doubt Error in Evolution would prove groan-inducing to that same crowd, and some fans of the debut might also not have appreciated its playfulness, since the band seems not to take itself so seriously. There's also no doubt that One Man Army and the Undead Quartet were aiming at a more pedestrian, everyman spin on the melodic death/thrash niche (comparable with The Haunted, or a clowny late 90s In Flames), while peers like Darkane were taking it into a more interesting, technical and dystopian direction. Naturally, the latter was more my style, but I walked out of this record with at least a fraction of amusement, while I can't remember even cracking a smile at 21st Century Killing Machine. Goofy, crowd pleasing, and self-consciously idiotic in places, Error in Evolution is not exactly a 'good' album, but it taught me that Lindstrand's new vehicle might have been capable of writing one.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (I am aging against the wind)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Onemanarmyofficial/127506483942832

Abominable Putridity - In the End of Human Existence (2012)

So, as I was planning to roll out my series of mosh-oriented workout videos, painstakingly transferred to the good old VHS format, I was contacted by an international patent organization that the idea had already been snapped up by a group of Moscovians working under the corporate handle of Abominable Putridity. Angered at the news, I nonetheless sought out their first film, In the End of Human Existence, to get a closer look at the competition. Suffice to say, there's very little chance I'll be breaking into this market any time soon, because these Russians seem to have a knack for knuckle sandwich metal that affirms the buzz surrounding them. My only hope is that internal squabbling or poor sales might tear them apart, that I might later sweep in like a vulture of brocore fitness and stake my claim on this emergent trend in entertainment...

Abominable Putridity, at least on this debut, provides a definitive blueprint for brutal slam death techniques, albeit a generic one that's about as interesting as arranging vocabulary blocks in kindergarten. Though the production levels are nothing to scoff at, and the musicianship is about as taut as you'd expect, there are simply no ideas here which haven't been lifted off about 15 years worth of brutal death breakdowns, and then rendered down to the simple principle of palm muted belligerence entirely devoid of melody or truly interesting chord progressions. Take a few Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse or Earth Crisis chugs, and then base about 23 minutes of music around just these. That's not to imply that the Russians are necessarily bad at carving out their niche on this debut, it's just that there are too few unexpected dressings, glimmers of hope or individual songs that distinguish themselves from one another (with one exception). In the End of Human Existence is damn fucking consistent, I'll grant it that, but in this case I'm not using that adjective in a strictly complementary sense...because musically this is as memorable as tying your shoelaces.

The primary concern is the riffing configurations, which are little more than the same half-dozen chords or notes re-arranged into similar, bouncing structures that creep along at half-step intervals on the fretboard. Once in a blue moon they'll break out some wilder, open chords, or even a small handful of more clinical harmonic patterns to the notation, but the lion's share of the material here is moving at a mid-paced groove and then occasionally lapsing into some slower chug, very often embellished with the same end-phrase squealing that has become so uninspired and drone-like to the genre. It's not that Abominal Putridity do not encourage some small degree of variation, wherein plodding, neanderthal numbers like "Entrails Full of Vermin" are marginally contrasted against the roughneck tank-tread rumble of "Victims Stuffed with Nails", but the rhythmic dynamism is just not broad enough to fill even a short album like this.

There is next to nothing in terms of atmospheric flourish, and I can only imagine, for example, just how much a little of that immediate, wondrous industrial resonance of the titular outro track would have improved the central songwriting if it had been induced to several of the bridges. Or what some eerie leads or melodies might have accomplished above the churning, fist-balling flesh of the rhythm guitars. The bass is clearly felt through the recording, but it never does anything besides cling to the guitar patterns...even a few fifths or individualistic runs could have dramatically upped the ante. Drums are mixed with an almost mechanical din to them, but otherwise they offer the proper balance of muscular double-bass rolls and grooves, and heavily favor the kicks and toms to the weaker cymbal strikes. The vocals are an ominous frog guttural which, to its credit, never go so far over the top that they reduce the material to silliness; in fact, they fit the notation like a cock to a condom, but despite their broad and clamorous depth, their bouncing, often hip hopping syllabic are decidely monotonous beyond just a few lines.

I enjoyed a few of the minor aesthetics here, like the band logo, John Zig's great zombie apocalype artwork, the ghoulish interlude "Dissected from Within", and the aforementioned industrial/ambient closer, but despite its brevity, In the End of Human Existence is a slog to experience in more than brief spurts. The song titles and themes are little more than paraphrased from many of the group's forebears, and the musical structure is all too samey without providing intense or interesting riff progressions so the listener can ignore that fact. In truth, there are a handful of bands out there like Kraanium or Ingested who have succeeded in much the same base formula, so it's not impossible to pull off; but both seem superior at putting the notes together. I can't say I really developed much of a hate-on for the Russians' debut. It's not as if the band is incompetent. Meathead metal mission accomplished. But considering the level of hype once surrounding it (at least in this particular niche of a niche), I expected much more than this. Time to return some videotapes.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.facebook.com/abominableputridityrus

Queensrÿche - Mindcrime at the Moore (2007)

I wanted to review Mindcrime at the Moore simultaneously with its spiritual predecessor, Operation: Livecrime, since they essentially provide the same service to the Queensrÿche fan, a complete live performance of the group's popular Operation: Mindcrime album in full, separated by the span of about 16 years. The caveat is that this release also features the album's sequel, Operation: Mindcrime II in all its own...err...glory on stage. My original reaction to these albums was like night and day. Loved the original, but almost completely hated its successor, so needless to say I was not much interested in hearing it in the live setting, more curious as to how the older songs would hold up after nearly two decades.

Like Livecrime, this has been released in both audio and video formats, the former a 2 disc spread with each 'chapter' occupying its own, and the latter shows the group prancing around the Moore theater in the band's home territory of Seattle, Washington. If you've watched Livecrime, you'll note that this has a more 'street' feeling to its presentation rather than the arena rock atmosphere there, with purplish bricks in the background and a lot of purple/blue lighting in general. The stage seems a little more tight here, but in both cases the band had plenty of space to move around, so I'd say that their 'presence' was adequate. With the exception of guitarist Mike Stone, this is also the original Queensrÿche lineup, with Pamela Moore once again guesting as Sister Mary, and Ronny James Dio showing up to perform his part as Dr. X on the song "The Chase" from Mindcrime II (which I'm guessing is impetus enough for a lot of folks to check out the record, even those who could care less about the primary band responsible).

I admit, I was expecting this record to suck pretty hard, but the performances of the original Mindcrime material do hold up rather well. The guitarists mete out pretty clean renditions of the rhythms with an added bite to them that differentiates them from the earlier live album, but they still sound rather accurate. Tate is not quite himself from the 80s, and he does seem to shrivel a little when he's attempting his higher pitch, but let's be fair: he's a lot older here, and he still does a pretty bang up job. Moore is still herself, adding a little sass and self-groping to the sausage fest on the stage. However, when Tate lurches into the more narrative bits like the end of "Spreading the Disease", it comes off a little goofier than on the original album, largely due to the gulf in years and relevance. Jackson and Rockenfield sound themselves, which is to say they implement their roles incredibly well, and overall the balance of all rhythm instruments is a little closer than Livecrime, where the leads could lash out rather loudly like the vocals. Ultimately, though, I think I really preferred the production of the original, it just felt larger than life and well suited to its times, where this environment (aural and video) seems more constrained.

Also, since I didn't care about the material much on the sequel album, the second disc did very little to change that fact. It's great to hear Dio and Tate, two of the premiere metal sirens, dueling out their roles in "The Chase", but the music is still pretty bland and the lines not as catchy as I would have hoped. I did like that they included an encore of "Walk In the Shadows" and "Jet City Woman", both superior to any of the Mindcrime II tunes. I have to wonder though...Tate seems pretty enthusiastic through the performance, to the point that I have to question the modern opinion that he's sick of playing all the old material. His pipes might have rusted up a fraction, but he's clearly having a good time with it, and this rubs off on the product as a whole: it seems more like a genuine tribute to the audience more than a shallow attempt at profiteering on nostalgia. Combine this with the substantial amount of material involved, and that Queensrÿche do not fuck up too noticeably in nearly 2 and a half hours of performance, and you've got a solid product. Not as good as Livecrime, but better than anything else the band has put out since the early 90s. I wouldn't advise paying for the audio CDs alone, go for the DVD release, which isn't a shabby addition to your collection.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

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Queensrÿche - Take Cover (2007)

It's one thing when you've got some upcoming band releasing a covers album of groups that influenced them, or participating in a tribute to a single artist with others of a like mind. Or even when an established act performs some rip roaring rendition of a classic and tucks it onto an album amongst originals. But hearing a (once) commercially successful outfit like Queensrÿche tackle an eclectic selection as they do here is always a risky proposition, and Take Cover's few worthwhile tributes simply do not compensate for all the missed opportunities and bland rock reductions of tracks that once possessed a spark of actual life in their earlier incarnations. Like British pop royals Duran Duran, whose 1995 collection Thank You celebrated a surprising assortment of influences in a very shitty way (nonetheless charting on Billboard), Take Cover is largely inconsequential and unmemorable, especially coming from a band whose prime era of creativity is itself covered quite often.

If one was hoping Queensrÿche was about to reach back through history and grab itself by the balls and rip out a record of metal tracks, then they will be sadly disappointed with this album. Apart from the limp but passable version of Sabbath's "Neon Knight", which has been covered more times than the news of JFK's assassination by this point, this is largely drawn from the band's 70s and 80s rock influences. I doubt too many people would be surprised that they take on Queen, Pink Floyd, or The Police, all of whom played a part in the Qs' creative inspiration from about 1986 to the present, but of these only Floyd's "Welcome to the Machine" worked for me, since Queensrÿche deal well in that same sense of spatial, open atmosphere that defined the original. I was actually more satisfied with the songs I just wasn't expecting, like Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" which doesn't actually sound all that bad with some heavier guitars, and Tate's timbre transforms it into a sort of Gothic rock aesthetic. U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky" is presented in a raucous and loud live format which fills out its 10+ minutes nicely, and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth", one of the least expected tracks, is at least catchier than most of the humdrum acoustic rock Tate and his former cronies were ferreting through the 90s and 00's.

Most of these, discounting the live cut, are rendered in the polished, fat production the band had been using for their own albums in the years leading up to Take Cover,  pop and radio oriented and not exactly screaming with the addictive energy this band has so desperately lacked. If I'm to give Queensrÿche any credit here, it would be that they seem to make these tunes their own, thanks to Tate's unique presence. Aside from the thicker guitar tone, though, they don't deviate far from the originals, but on something like "Almost Cut My Hair" (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) or the rocked up Jesus Christ Superstar staple "Heaven On their Mind", they've managed to transform something naturally alien to their usual sound into a piece that might flow well in a live set alongside Promised Land or Tribe cuts. In short, Take Cover is adequate, seasoned gentlemen covering safe bets, but its hardly inspirational and in no case would I ever deign to experience any of these over their originals, even to compare and contrast. This isn't entirely awful, but neither is it worth much unless you're the sort of Queensrÿche lunatic that just can't say no.

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]

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