Dawnbringer - In Sickness and in Dreams (2006)

In Sickness and Dreams is somewhat of a continuation of Catharsis Instinct, but also somewhat of an identity crisis, one of the more unusual albums in the Dawnbringer catalogue. It's characterized by a lot of very short songs, few over two minutes in length, and though Chris and Scott still manage to pack in a lot of ideas, I rarely felt as if they were fleshed out enough to really grasp onto them. The core style here is still melodic black and death metal, perhaps leaning more towards the latter due to the vocals, but it's also got some cleaner vocals, soothing or even hypnotic in parts, and a few straight heavy metal leanings which will foreshadow where they'll be ending up down the road. The opening piece, "Scream and Run", seems to portend a proggier, psychedelic style, and that does appear a few times, but it's more of a tease for later records.

The production on this thing is dingy, and that's one of my biggest issues. Chris is using a more croaked, death metal vocal and it sort of disintegrates against some of the guitars, almost like he's not putting enough force into the inflection or it's just mixed terribly. Sometimes it comes across breathy, and when he's using the cleaner vocals it can almost sound like Lemmy ("There and Back") chilling out behind the guitars, or brought to mind the later Swedish band Bombus ("Under No Flag").. It's a strange contrast with the blazing, melodic guitars, which definitely prove highlights on the records with a lot of riffs that sent a lot of the trendier Swedish death-inspired US metalcore bands home on a stretcher. However, there are some weird sections where they just keep jamming on the same repetitive notes, like almost the whole shorter tune "You Get Nothing" or the end of "Hell is a Desert", strange choices that feel like they almost exist on the album solely to floss out the listener's brain or palate.

It gets weirder..."11:58" has Rob Halford style power vocals, sounding like some sort of mock tribute, and then morphing into faster acoustic guitars. "Death in Time" is a 16 second fugue with a little doom lick that shouldn't have even been bothered with. Both feel unnecessary. On the other hand, there are some fun tracks deeper into the list, like "Attack of the Spiders" with some great speedy NWOBHM licks, or "Endless Guilt" which is a catchy melo-death tune with some organs in there. Overall, the music is pretty solid, I just wish there had been less songs, more focus making the better ones more substantial, and a brighter mix that would have benefited them. Some of the vocals here are my second least favorite after the Sacrament EP, and while the whole album clocks in at 24 minutes, and you never get a chance to get bored, the overall production is just underwhelming. Like an experimental EP sending out feelers for where Dawnbringer would adventure next. Some great riffs keep it hovering just above the precipice of mediocrity, but it's not one of their better offerings.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

Dawnbringer - Catharsis Instinct (2000)

Three years later, Catharsis Instinct answers some of the production shortcomings of Unbleed, with a louder, fatter, more straightforward mix more representative of more mainstream extreme metal in its era, but musically this feels quite close to the debut. The emphasis is on the driving melodic, harmonized passages, lead breaks, shuffling if not terribly powerful drum beats, and black metal vocals. You can hear Chris Black getting a little more comfortable with the playing here as he busts out some more traditional heavy metal/hard rock leads, but there's no obnoxious wanking or showing off whatsoever, they always seem to service the song they are splashed over. The acoustics are also still pretty important as they create the biggest contrasts on the record, but I did not find them as tasty as those on the debut, even in their better moments like the "Bleeding City" interlude they are just a forgettable support for the melodies.

I think one issue this has it 12 songs, about half of them doing the same sort of style of the debut, and then the rest are headed off into more thrashing or death/metal territory, like "Halfman" or "Mudslicer" which occasionally border on a less brash At the Gates sound. They still have their moments mind you, or even "What Are You Running From?" which reminds me of In Flames at the turn of the millennium, maybe a little Edge of Sanity circa Purgatory Afterflow or Infernal. Chris had been joined by another guitarist for this one, longtime member Scott Hoffman, and the pair are certainly adept at exploring all these more trendy sounds, especially with their penchant for the melodies and leads, but I do feel as if part of this record is headed down the wrong direction, away from that blindingly melodic stuff that captured my imagination in the first place. Another thing is that I feel the vocals get sort of crushed by the guitars in a lot of places, they're a little deeper and less raspy than on the last album and I think, especially when the guitars get the most melodic, they are just drowned between them.

There are a few other new touches, like the cleaner howling vocals on "Cosmos Disease", a pretty cool tune with the proggy keys too, and this is obviously something Chris will explore a lot more in his other bands later. So it's unquestionable that this is a progression from Unbleed, a modernization of the style that keeps holding on to large chunks of its past, and though I like most of what's here, and certainly the production level is a welcome upgrade, the songs themselves are often a mixed bag, and maybe in an ironic twist, that cleaner sound might have sapped away some of the atmosphere that I found myself lost in. At any rate, Catharsis Instinct has its moments; it's one of my less favorite albums in their backlog, but there's plenty of creativity and evolution left in this band's future. Might just take a few tries.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

Dawnbringer - Unbleed (1997)

Full disclosure: Unbleed is my favorite Dawnbringer album, but that does come with a few caveats. The production here leaves a lot to be desired, and I realize that eventually their style drifts far away enough from this debut full-length to almost seem like an entirely different band, so some listeners that might never have heard it, and joined in on their more directly heavy-metal oriented efforts, might be surprised. But this is the first album I picked up in a bargain bin at the place my friends and I would grab import metal CDs, with its curious, idyllic nature scene and waterfall, and despite thinking the mix was thin even back in the 90s, I was instantly smitten by the passionate contrast of ear-bleeding riff melodicism, atmosphere, and rasping vocals. I remember sharing this with one of my bandmates from that era (also on guitars) and I think the playing here might even have rubbed off on both of us.

It's still the same style as the Sacrament EP, which I only encountered 25 years after this, with passages of driving melodic black metal interspersed with flourishes of classical acoustic guitars, and this time out they dropped the stupid, boxed off vocal effects, for a more effective and traditional black metal rasp, and added in some tasteful touches of organ in tunes like "Waterbreath" that really elevate them. I'll say this now, if it had a slightly bulkier mix and some actual visibility, Unbleed might have been a record that fans of vintage In Flames or Dark Tranquillity would have attached to immediately, possibly Dissection, and I'd even wonder if later groups like the excellent Obsequiae had ever heard this, because there is that same sense for centralized melodicism in both, even though the execution isn't quite the same. Now, the mix isn't even really that bad, the guitars, beats and organs all mingle seamlessly, the acoustics tasteful and elegant. The bass isn't super standout here (neither on the EP) but you can hear it cruising below like a faster take on Steve Harris, simply subordinate to the bristling melodies in tunes like "Witness", which ironically also have a strong Iron Maiden influence.

But it's all a little narrow in tone, so some of the depth to the songwriting and guitar tone has to come in through the listener's imagination, which it does, but had this been beefed up then it might have wound up in a lot more stereos and headphones. Also, though the vocals are improved, when you listen up closely they still don't seem to be recorded perfectly, and they can come off a little overbearing next to the instruments, but nowhere soiling my admiration for this disc. It's not entirely a one-man show this time, I believe Chris had picked up another guitarist, and they work well in tandem, and it's really this excellent little US melodic black metal gem that I'm not sure many have even listened to. It seems like that whole scene was ushered over to the States by all the hardcore/metalcore bands that heard Slaughter of the Soul and then changed their styles to match, but in fact we already had Dawnbringer and a few others at the vanguard (and frankly, a lot better). You'll note that I love a lot of this band's output, but Unbleed has that personal connection which maintains the top spot for me.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

Dawnbringer - Sacrament EP (1996)

Before deciding to run through Dawnbringer's catalog and offer some thoughts, I'd never even heard the Sacrament EP. I wasn't even aware that it existed. But here it is, one of (if not THE) first releases from the prolific Chris Black, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist that would go on to at least a half dozen excellent bands including Aktor, Superchrist, High Spirits and even a stint in Pharaoh. Dawnbringer would clearly be seen as one of the more extreme projects in his canon, a sort of heavy and black metal fusion which wasn't too out of place with a lot of the Scandinavian melodic black or death metal acts of the mid-90s. This initial EP is a strange one, as it mixes some fairly well produced riffs with shoddy, effects-ridden vocals and lots of acoustic guitars.

The last of those excel out of the starting gates in the opening instrumental, relished with some weird ambient sounds and pianos. Then we're treated some driving melodic riffs that were probably pretty tasty for melo-death/black fans at that time, and barking, semi-BM vocals which have an unfortunate effect on them that feels like it was ported over from a telephone call or tape recorded, and they kind of spoil the rest of the mix which is admittedly smooth. The acoustics are lush, the drums are well executed though if they're a machine or not it fools me, and the bass is present if not a major factor. It's really those faster electric guitars which are the highlight here and setup for what was to come later. I'm assuming that Chris plays ALL the instruments on this, I know at least two of the three band pseudonyms are attributed to him and having heard his guitar work later, that's probably him too, but regardless, this EP is really only compelling to me as a historical artifact establishing the excellence that would follow. "Sacrament" and "In a Handful of Dust" have some strong riffing material, shredding and atmosphere but still feel a bit 'demo' or incomplete due to the beats and vocals.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

Creeping Fear - Realm of the Impaled (2025)

I wasn't super familiar with Creeping Fear going into this third album. I recognized the demonic mascot, perhaps I'd sampled an earlier song or two in the past, but Realm of the Impaled is probably my first complete exposure, and they struck me for having a sound that, on the surface might be meat & potatoes death metal, but reminds me a lot of USDM stuff emerging in the 90s, particularly Immolation. Maybe not like those New Yorkers at their most rhythmically weird or extreme, but more like where they started to transition to that after Dawn of Possession. You've got the fundamentals here like the guttural vocals, chugging and chunky death metal foundation, and then lots of slightly adventurous little twists  and turns through the guitar-work, while the drumming is just pretty sick all around and helps meaty the whole production up.

I suppose there are also a lot of monolithic grooves here reminiscent of Morbid Angel as well, like in "Demonic Ascent" when that more atmospheric intro just erupts into a chugging wall of force, or "Torture Wheel" which might have felt at home on Domination; but it's really the details of how the guitars are being played that piqued my interest, lots of pinches and squeals that create a canvas of extremity to accompany the concussion of the tireless drummer. The vocals have a pretty standard nihilistic sustain to the growling, not highly interesting but certainly function, especially where he belts out a growl over the more complex structure of the riffing, or where a lead guitar starts to spit out, and these are also handled tastefully. Weird and jazzy and alien just like the rhythm-work. The riffs are multitude, I can't promise that many of them catchy as opposed to functional, but there is no shortage of them throughout this abusive, 35 minute discourse, it's jam-packed for that playtime and at the very least I can say you'll never be bored.

Does this stand out with the greats? Perhaps not yet, but Creeping Fear have all the ingredients that would be required, they just need more exposure and to continue their course, layering in even more musicality and some more memorable individual riffs would go a long way. But they've got the drumming, the primal vocal savagery, the endless array of guitars, rhythmic versatility in spades, killer leads (especially in "Et ils se couvrirent de gloire"), and most importantly, a good atmosphere, all settled into a great production that lets you capture the whole experience. I don't focus in on French death metal as much as I do the black, but these guys are easily one of the stronger I've heard, and we're not talking Gojira but highly Florida/NY-influenced stuff, maybe a little earlier Gorguts with that Immolation, lots of effort and a reliable spin.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://creepingfear.bandcamp.com/

Khôra - Ananke (2025)

Khôra's hauntingly psychedelic-looking debut Timaeus was a pretty interesting entrant into the more dissonant and modern black metal field established by bands like Blut Aus Nord, there was a warmer and progressive vibe about that record that rewarded with repeat listens. The successor, Ananke, has a much starker appearance, but with that golden spear-tongue. In fact, the album starts off giving the brief impression it's going for a more traditional, blistering black metal aesthetic with the opening moments of "Empyreal Spindle", but very soon you're hearing those zipping bass-lines and flourishes of synthesizer, vocals that don't remain only in the rasp-territory but also explore some deeper gutturals, cleaner chants and then the tune gets proggy deep after the bridge.

And that's par for the course here, the sort of 'sheep-in-wolf's clothing' approach where the conventional BM aesthetics are merely a disguise for their more adventurous ideas, though I don't mean this as any sort of criticism; in fact, the opposite, for this is what keeps Ananke so compelling. They can blast and sneer along with the vilest of them, but taken in as a whole, there's just that exploratory subtext which you feel can turn in any direction at any moment, and usually manifests quickly and keeps you bewildered before it moves on to the next period of storm-surge drumming and utterly hostile black metal vocals. It's a lot to take in, whether the little death metal breaks in "Wrestling with the Gods", or the operatic orchestral maneuvers of the "Arcane Creation" interlude, the amazing intro to "Supernal Light" with those fresh, jangling, eerie guitars and the bass-lines that remind me of Voivod. The Germans can venture out into almost any territory...

And they're good at all of them, whether the cleaner Arcturus-like vocals or the detailed instrumentation, this is certainly one of the more technical bands in that German black metal scene, but it never comes across as excessive or self-indulgent, all of the little twists and turns the record takes serve the music, and thus it's just as strong as its predecessor, but with superior production where the little nuances become more obvious. They approach this off-kilter black metal style differently than their French counterparts, and I'm hearing almost infinite potential just from the first two works. Put them on your radars, because if they continue at this consistently, you'll be hearing of them anyway.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://khoraband.bandcamp.com/album/m-lenkij-robot-demo-2016

Darkenhöld - Le fléau du rocher (2025)

While they're still not very well known outside of their home region,  Darkenhöld is one of the top and most consistent bands performing French black metal of a Medieval/fantastical nature, and their sixth album Le fléau du rocher continues to elevate their presence with a flowing, slightly adventurous sense to the songwriting. That's not to imply that it's a major evolution beyond what they'd created for the last few, but I don't ever get the sense that they're repeating themselves; the basics are the same, but they're presenting new melodies and rhythmic structures and the result is the sort of escapism I think a lot of fans of fantasy based black metal might enjoy. They're not quite as seethingly historical as Aorlhac or bleedingly melodic as Vehemence, two of their most obvious parallels, but they occupy a balanced middle ground.

Lots of lush acoustics and synthesizers are implemented to complement the tremolo-picked charging of the guitars, while the drums are also a dominant force here with lots of intense fills and thundering, almost martial sounding patterns that boost the sense of anachronism and escapism. The riffing patterns are not always cold and bleak or dissonant, but rather glorious and warm as they highlight myths and battles and sorcery. Guitars don't always bore into your ears with the most memorable progressions, as you've heard a lot of them before, but I think they do a grand job at mixing together folk-like Medieval vibes with the darker Scandinavian black metal mysteries, and fine leads or melodies will break out gallivanting through tunes like "Le cortège royal" or the title track. They can pick up on the intensity a bit with "L'ascension du mage noir" or do something more mug-swilling in "Troubadour" which might have been the product of some more directly folk metal band, with the deep male chants.

Granted, the more in that direction the music ever aims with this album, it does feel slightly more generic, I actually prefer when they get darker or use the synths to create an almost dungeon synth/black metal hybrid, but all of it is handled in a balance so the record never grows dull. The vocals are a fairly standard rasp, but you do get some of those aforementioned choirs for some variation. Although this record is more musically developed than previous, I don't know that it stands out for me as much as a Castellum or their 2010 debut A Passage to the Towers..., but Darkenhöld has never released a dud, and if you've enjoyed their other records, or the aforementioned countrymen, or others like Griffin and Seth from that same scene, then you'll probably appreciate the effort these guys have been meting out for the last 15+ years.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://darkenhold.bandcamp.com/

Chapel of Disease - Echoes of Light (2024)

I'd hate to repeat a comparison I've already made over my last couple Chapel of Disease reviews, but Echoes of Light once again walks a parallel course to Swedes Tribulation in pursuing a more accessible, moody and atmospheric sound quite farm removed from their death metal roots, while retaining the harsh vocals for their contrast value against the more ear-pleasing riffs. They had already mastered this with the last time out, and this album doesn't show quite as much a transition as that between its two predecessors, so there is a little bit of a vibe that the band were really feeling out where to go here. It's a bit shorter, still at six songs, and seems to focus on fleshing out some of same ideas while giving them some more breathing room.

None of this is 'experimental', but the way the songs are composed aren't reduced to the most basic verse chorus structures, they will fuel any melodic inkling at any time and pursue that to a glorious end, and those are honestly the better parts of this record in tunes like the titular opener or "A Death Through No Loss". The album is heavily leaning on bluesy leads, hard rock or classic heavy metal riffing patterns as well as some soothing acoustic sequences, and through all of this, the bass guitar is able to stick out more than ever, with some simpler and steadier grooves than the last record, but they really anchor all the adventurous noodling. But if you heard those calmer sections of "A Death Through No Loss" and then went back to listen through 2012's Summoning Black Gods, you wouldn't recognize the Germans as the same band. Even further, they are starting to implement some clean singing here ("Shallow Nights", "Gold/Dust") to go along with some of the bluesy, emotional moments. They don't seem too confident in that respect, however, and they wind up a little bit shoegaze, but they're not bad.

The production is glinting and clear, a little more bold than ...and As We Have Seen the Storm... and there are still lots of great guitar licks throughout, while the holdover of the harsh vocals definitely continues to make this feel like Tribulation if they had gone for a more classic hard rock basis rather than the Gothic (although a few sections here also give off that impression). All told, this one doesn't feel like a step back in vision so much, but quality for sure. The cleaner vocals don't really sell me yet, the cover art choice seems a little dull after a similar, swirly look on the last record, and I don't know that I enjoy the continued progress into lighter rock fare, perhaps because it's just not always catchy enough to justify that. On the other hand, it still has plenty of wondrous moments through the riffing, good bass, and it's not at all a chore to listen through. Growing pains, maybe, but still enjoyable.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Chapel of Disease - ...and As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)

The third Chapel of Disease full-length (don't expect me to type out the whole title) is probably a smaller stylistic transition than what we got between the first and second, but instead a further refinement of their dedication to crafting atmospheric and melodic material. They really dig in here with the songwriting, making the tracks slightly more varied and developing more emotional impact, while adding a few more hard rock or heavy metal touches (the bluesy lead in "Null"). The production on pieces like "Song of the Gods" or"Oblivious/Obnoxious/Defiant" is chef's kiss awesome, with more polish and layers to soothe the stereo-seeker, but at the same time, the vocals are quite consistent with The Mysterious Ways... and thus it stays mired in that underground death metal aesthetic they cultivated on the prior releases...I am once again reminded of Tribulation had they taken an alternate path from the weirdly proggy The Formulas of Death and not gone quite as goth.

I do love that band and all their directions, mind you, so I also love this one, and this is the record that I would first recommend anyone check out; it's the wealthiest in terms of riffs and pacing, with lots of escapism created through the guitar-work that matches up with the swirling skies of the cover art. The melody here might be too engraved into the band's skeleton for passionate advocates of the debut, but it's so tasteful and transformative that you can't imagine tunes like "Null" or "The Sound of Shallow Grey" without it. The bass playing also steps up a little, it's a little less frontal than the other guitars or vocals, but there are loads of little grooves that enrich the rest of the band, where I felt on the previous album it took a slight backseat. There are some who will probably find the vocal performance to hinder the rest, surely at this point most bands would incorporate a lot of clean singing to match the direction of the writing, but I actually respect that they held back and gave us the same raucous grunts as before.

Previously, I would have cited the sophomore as my favorite in the Chapel of Disease catalogue, only ...and As We Have Seen the Storm (still not typing it all) has been the one to grow upon me over the years and it's another of those sublime, thoughtful mutations on death metal that I'll spin with a similar anticipation and wonder as Opeth, Stargazer, Horrendous, Tribulation, or other bands that have spun out their roots into something captivating, where they might not have contributed as well to the genre if they had stuck more with the fundamentals. This one is well worth tracking down if you just enjoy great guitar work and adventurous, unpredictable songwriting, even if it's not ultimately creating the most unique riffs at every step of the journey. Underrated for sure.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Chapel of Disease - The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art (2015)

The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art seems like a pretty huge step forward for a sophomore outing, trading in the brash (if appreciable) old school death metal overtures of its predecessor for a more expansive, atmospheric, interesting experience without abandoning those same roots. There are structural similarities, this is not breaking the mold and transforming the medium into something necessarily new, but there's a constant vibe of the musicians losing themselves into the world they are creating with their instruments that is rare outside of a handful of other bands like Stargazer, Morbus Chron, maybe some modern Tribulation without the Goth, etc. It's a lot of death, a little doom metal, tremolo picked melodies, decent leads, and a little bit of reverb and airiness that foreshadow some of the even more progressive alterations they'd make in their sound to the future.

It's also a record which is catchy enough, but not so catchy that individual riffs or passages outshine its sum presentation. This is a roadmap with a lot of small details, like brief flurries of acoustic guitars that match up well to the doomy chords ("Masquerade in Red", "Symbolic Realms"), blackened barrages alternated with even more psychedelic, spooky clean guitar segues ("Life is But a Burning Being"), or even some blitzing death/thrash passages like those that populate the 10+ minute half of the 'titular' tracks that bookmark the disc. The vocals still possess the harshness of the debut record, but they also remind me of a more aggressive version of Johannes from Tribulation, that same atmospheric and blunt nihilism to the delivery which works well against either the more sinister or melodic instrumentation. The drums are another feature, rolling and thundering all over the panoply of riffs which are slathered in a stone that feels appropriately distorted but organic, punchy and impactful but also nestling right into the rhythm without blaring over anything else.

Chapel of Disease had discovered a means to take their sound into something more distinct than Summoning Black Gods, not that there was anything wrong with that debut sound, in fact some of the vocals on that record were a lot wilder and more memorable than these. But the production here, while certainly more laid back, just does a superior job at transporting the listener, peaking in the bridge lead melodies of "Lord of All Death" which completely hypnotized me. The Mysterious Ways is a far more balanced and immersive affair, regardless of whatever death metal cred it drops, and it shouldn't, because this record is still metal as hell, never overly polished and occasionally quite ominous, elevating them into one of the better German death metal acts with ease.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Skeletal Remains - Desolate Isolation (2021)

Desolate Isolation is a compact little fan package released through Century Media for completists to own the 2011 Skeletal Remains demo of the same name, remastered, with some bonus content. I have to admit that, having the Beyond the Flesh full-length already gives me all the original music from the demo, but I was attracted to the cover of "Chronic Infection" by Pestilence, that also happens to be one of my favorite tunes from the Dutchmen, and one of my favorite death metal tunes in general. Further disclosure: if you've grabbed the 2021 reissue of Beyond the Flesh, then all of this demo stuff is already included, INCLUDING the cover. So what does that really leave here? Some live tunes, a couple bonus tracks, and an additional cover of Asphyx's "Evocation" taken from a compilation.

The three demo remaster tracks do sound fun and chunky, a little denser than what I've listened to of the original release, and the Pestilence cover doesn't quite match the original for me, but it plays it fairly close, and you get that same amazing sense of groove and almost 'rappy' vocals in the verses, which sound so over the top, unforgettable from van Drunen and that is what Chris Monroy is also aping here. But the bridge, the drumming and some of the little details throw me off. That said, it's proof that this band has excellent taste, although if you've heard their full-length albums and noted the influences then this will offer you no surprise. The Asphyx cover fares pretty well too, and here he gets a little closer to van Drunen, though the mix offered on this one doesn't really compare to any of their original albums. Considering that the live tracks are taken from pretty early off in their career, I do think they sound excellent, drawn from a Tokyo performance and sounding almost studio quality; I'd have been mighty impressed if I were there to make the comparison directly.

Otherwise, the two 'rare tracks' are pretty solid, with "Crippled Sanity" which has another of those meatier tributes to early Death that were so prevalent on the first two records. "Planetary Genocide" was released as a single around the time of Devouring Mortality and fits more with the content of that album, and that is to say that's pretty much peak Skeletal Remains in my opinion. Old school and evil with some Death, Obituary, Pestilence and Asphyx vibes, but also just clinical and modern enough to parallel the Californians' transition into what they've come today. So, in summary, Desolate Isolation is going to have more value if you don't already have the reissued debut CD without half the content, and its core is limited to stuff that already exists on another full-length to begin with, but it's by no means a bad product and the extras are at least enjoyable or well recorded in the case of the live offerings.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless (2024)

If the title doesn't sort of tip you off, the first track on Fragments of the Ageless will begin to show a new influence emanating heavily and centrally from the Skeletal Remains crew, and that is Morbid Angel, or rather a more sleek, modern, hyper-technical evolution of that band's sound circa the 90s. There are still plenty of Cannibal Corpse and Vader chops, and through a few of the picking patterns, thrashing and grooving sections I feel a little Pestilence still poke through, but this fifth record is most assuredly one that cements the band as a more brutally honed entity than their earlier records with their Death-like old school vibes. That's not to say the foundation isn't there on a few tracks, but this definitely seems like they are pushing themselves even harder than on The Entombment of Chaos, and frankly, writing better songs.

From the production to the precision this thing is their most flawless execution, and carries a good variety with it to boot. The drumming is by far the most intense it's ever been, again with that Morbid Angel influence of 'more is better', from blasting to fills there's not really a moment to catch your breath. The grooves are significantly more complex than those they've performed in the past, with busier riffing patterns and the same incessant drums that roll out below them. The vocals definitely have lost a lot of that Chuck/Martin style and follow a more David Vincent mold, another element that makes me feel like their most important influence has fully shifted over from one Florida legend to another. That said, the riffs are certainly more excellent and memorable than anything Trey has written in decades, and the leads here have the usual Skeletal Remains penchant for being catchy and well constructed, technical and flashy but never going too overboard where it sounds like self-flagellation. And the rhythm guitars are 'holy fuck' awesome in both their potency and dexterity, creating a framework with the drums that the bass can hardly penetrate, but thankfully you can still here that too cruising along.

There are a few places where they do give you some space like the sweet interlude "Ceremony of Impiety" with its evil piano and percussion sounds, or the intro to "...Evocation (The Rebirth)" with its dark acoustic twangs that erupt into some more awesome, rolling riffs, or the proggy bits in there where you can hear the bass take control, but this is still pretty soundly the most aggressive they've sounded through their career. Rather than sounding completely soulless, there are just a billion riffs in there that make my ears perk up, and the album plays out like an unholy and delicious union of Domination and Bloodthirst, which I have no major complaints about; for my money, this album is second only to Devouring Mortality in their catalogue and in many technical departments it sends that one away in an ambulance.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

Skeletal Remains - The Entombment of Chaos (2020)

I know several death metal fanatics that consider The Entombment of Chaos to be the best Skeletal Remains album, and it's an entirely understandable perspective, since this feels even more visceral and intense than Devouring Mortality before it. It's largely on the same level creative field, but I would say that they do incorporate some even more atmospheric elements like the synth intro "Cosmic Chasm" or the eerie acoustic interlude "Enshrined in Agony" which feel like a great way to round out and diversify their sound. Also, this is the first album where they do start to drop out the more obvious overtures to some of their influences...this one feels more like its converted those basic building blocks and energies into a more strictly brutal modern death metal offering...you get traces, here or there, but this is much angrier and in more direct contention with the bands of its age that rely more directly on technicality and brutality.

The riffs don't quite stick with me as much a Devouring Mortality, although a lot of this stuff does have me reminiscing of bands like Cannibal Corpse, Vader and Severe Torture, which I do appreciate, since they have long thrived on the level of speed and punishment that this record operates on. The vocals do seem a little more straightforward, not aping Schuldiner or van Drunen too much, maybe the latter more than the former, but I'd also say that they're just not as distinct as either, or even as their own attempts at either that were worn on their sleeves. Still, though, very brutal and destructive in how they mete out the blunt force against the more dexterous and detailed riffing barrages, and for good measure they also spit out some more snarled goregrind-like backups to offer a little more dimension (although these are not a standout for me). I'd say the real strengths to this record are the dizzying levels of musicianship that all hands have achieved, with lightning drums and guitar patterns that pack a lot into a reasonable song length that usually hangs around 4-5 minutes.

This still has its love letters to the 80s/90s death metal scene that birthed the band, for instance they go without another amazing Dan Seagrave cover art, and the album itself is second in a row produced by Dan Swano of Edge of Sanity, Infestdead, Bloodbath and a million other bands. It's also got a thrifty cover of Disincarnate's "Stench of Paradise Burning", fitting as that one-shot band was clearly another part of the Skeletal Remains DNA even on the earlier albums. But apart from the intro and interlude, it does stick out as noticeably less intense than the new originals due to its age. All told, Entombment is a disc I'm more likely to break out than the first two, but it rarely hooked me as much as the last one, though it's clearly a sign that the band isn't afraid to keep mutating and intensifying its sound, as if it was always intended to scope out all the decades before it until catching up to the now.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

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Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality (2018)

While I enjoyed the first two Skeletal Remains records as competent entries into the death metal throwback machine, it wasn't until their third outing, Devouring Mortality, that I was truly impressed. They haven't exactly dropped the obvious influences that informed them, but taken those and transmuted them into a more modern context that can run toe to toe with a lot of the more technical and brutal death metal acts of the 2000s and beyond. Yes, somewhere in the skeleton of this music you'll find the DNA belonging to Chuck Schuldiner and Death, or Patrick Mameli and Pestilence, or perhaps a little Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, the list goes on, but here it's all canvased over with a fresh, punishing coat of paint, and plants itself into the more brickwork-like production of a lot of the 21st century peers.

It doesn't hurt that they kick off with some of the better songs, riffing storms like "Ripperology" which integrates some excellent leads that never seem as forced or excessive as some on the previous album, but probably occupy the same-sized chunk of the tune. Or a "Seismic Abyss" which seems like a brutal mixture of Death and Pestilence carrying the 2010s torch towards another decade. You hear a few other elements from classic bands, like the title track opening volley that sounds like a more intense Bolt Thrower until it curves over to an Asphyx/Pestilence verse. The rhythm guitar here sends that of the prior two albums home on a stretcher; sure you can write it off as being too 'polished' but it definitely gives me a potent meatgrinder vibe that perfectly matches up with the clinical vibes of the riffing. I also think the songs are just generally stronger, something like "Torture Labyrinth" or "Ripperology" I'm often heading straight for without necessarily visiting the entire album, yet none of it is weak at all, and even into the bowels of the closer "Internal Detestation" I'm still hanging on to my seat because it's fucking awesome.

I realize I said the band had come unto its own and then name dropped so many of the usual suspects, and I guess I do think that more than anything, it sounds like a potential successor to both Mallevs Malifecarvm and Consuming Impulse SIMULTANEOUSLY, if it had been put out instead of Testimony of the Ancients, but then thrust forward 30 years in terms of studio wizardry. The writing, structure, lyrics are all improved, the Dan Seagrave artwork definitely gives the impression that the band were mentally moving into the more brutal territory of the 90s and 00s bands, but despite that they keep a lot of the core values of death metal intact. To make it a bit frightening, menacing, rather than just an exercise in pummeling and moshing and vapid technicality. They clearly mapped out these 11 tracks very well, and there's always something special...some lead, some melody, nestled into the formula that appeals. I think this album also hits a creative peak for the Californian trio, but that's not to say they can't capture this lightning in a bottle again.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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Skeletal Remains - Condemned to Misery (2015)

Condemned to Misery continues to act as an amalgamation of the same familiar influences that defined the Skeletal Remains debut, but that's hardly a negative when those components are drawn from the rare breed of Death, Pestilence and their ilk throughout their 80s and 90s tenures as spearheads for the death metal genre. That's not to say this band is ever performing a 1:1 ripoff of anyone, but it's clear that some of the riffing patterns and style are drawn from the first three Death records, the vocals channel Chuck with a little Martin van Drunen or John Tardy over the top, and frankly if these first couple records by the Californians arrived in a parallel reality, they might well have been successors to Spiritual Healing had the O.G.s gone for something sideways and slightly more brutal rather than the nerdy and progressive.

I do hear a smattering of new elements here, like the brutal rhythmic choices in "Euphoric Bloodfeast" or the opening to "Atrocious Calamity" which sound as if they might have come from Cannibal Corpse's Bloodthirst, and that's important to note since I feel that, as good as they already were, the more choppy and aggressive the band would grow on subsequent albums would only improve them. In addition, a lot of the palm muted tremolo picked rhythms often have a little bit more harmony woven into them, it's just a fraction different than what their influences would write, but makes a difference. The leads are also a bit more involved here, generally well written and implementing a number of techniques, but I feel that they do often suffer from a little extra lengthiness where they pass some emotional climax and then feel more like an exercise until the band escapes the bridge. The drums are unending thunder, with lots of nice fills, and the bass is efficiently bodied but only gets a few moments to roll off on its own. The rhythm guitar has a good punch to it, a modernized Morrisound vibe but without too much of the muffling that marred a few of those old albums at the dawn of the 90s.

There are a decent variety of riffs, most memorable enough to justify their existence, although I don't feel that the band excels here on any particular tune more than its neighbors, and there's never quite a section that I would have wanted to spin repeatedly. The lyrics definitely read like some of Chuck Schuldiner's darker philosophical musings but occasionally get more visceral and violent like, say, earlier Suffocation. Condemned to Misery is, for my money, just as good as the debut and perhaps a little more advanced, but the derivation does hold it back some, never a facsimile of its forebears, but close enough in certain rhythm guitar riffs or vocal patterns that you feel they haven't quite broken out of tribute mode to their own idols. That said, those happen to also be some of MY idols, so I have a fun time whenever I spin through this sophomore outing, so it's worthwhile, just know what you're getting.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (2023)

With the news that Cirith Ungol has retired from touring after 2024, one can only wonder what the future might hold for the studio side of their collective career. But if Dark Parade ends up being the last that they record (and perhaps it isn't), they could retired with full confidence that they survived a quarter century hiatus and returned to rival all of their original output. Though my heart belongs to One Foot in Hell, there is no question that this record is the best-balanced, most impressively produced and heaviest proof of concept they've ever released, one that hooks you directly with its first and most exciting tune (unlike the Half Past Human EP before it), and then never really lets the listener go from its dour and overpowering paean to epic swords and sorcery, through the might of American heavy/doom metal!

This album sounds so fantastic that it almost feels like clones of the band from another dimension found the secret to immortality and transported themselves into our reality to continue the Californians' sound forward. Most of the guys in the band were in, what, their 60s, and sound like they can crush the fuck out of you with the simple squeeze of a hand. Tim Baker's voice sounds as mighty as ever, and I often find myself wondering how he can do that stuff without it hurting. (Maybe it does?) Robert Garven lays down a simplistic and straightforward set of beats but puts so much power into them you can just feel yourself lurching along with ever kick and snare, there isn't a single strike misplaced, and the bass has a great presence curving along with the slate-carved rhythm guitars, though it doesn't pop out as much as on the EP. The mix is loud, crystal clear but man do the guitars slam into you as they're chugging along, and the bluesy, burning leads are just dirty and dusty enough to send me flying back to my early teens and One Foot in Hell obsession. It sometimes feels like they tapped into my love of "Blood & Iron" and made a whole album just out of that.

"Velocity (E.S.P.)" is so awesome that I remember repeating it several times before I'd even pay any attention to the rest of the disc, which by the way, did not let me down. Other favorites include the glorious, fell majesty of the Moorcock tribute "Sailor on the Seas of Fate", the hammering "Looking Glass" which has verses that feel the perfect soundtrack to a smithy forging instruments of war, and the epic finale "Down Below" which has thunder fucking drum fills and some of Baker's most angry and bitter howls that seem to condemn the very listener to the implied underworld to perish eternally in its most sulfurous and fiery pits. With age, Cirith Ungol seems to get ANGRIER, and it's a beautiful thing, not that they can't lay in some nice acoustic segues or wa wa leads to evoke the wonder of 70s and 80s fantastical sword & sorcerous landscapes, but this one gets the best at its heaviest and though the songs might not rign out in my memory as much as "Blood and Iron", "Chaos Descends", "Nadoskor" or "Doomed Planet",this record deserves all the praise I could hoist upon that one, and TECHNICALLY you might say this is their peak performance. I mean if I were picking an album to introduce someone new to their sound, this is that choice. Can they top it? Will they? Do they even need to?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Half Past Human EP (2021)

Half Past Human is not only impressive in that it proves the new era of Cirith Ungol wasn't going to be a one and done, but also that it does such a great job of revisiting older material and updating it to the production qualities of Forever Black. Dropping just a year after the reunion record, it's got one re-recorded track from their album-length 1978 demo and a couple others that Greg Lindstrom had reused in another of his bands called Falcon. Regardless, they all fit in pretty well with what the Californians had been doing in the later 80s or the new full-length, and a couple are decent enough to be staples on anyone's Cirith Ungol playlist. "Route 666" does give me a little of a "100 MPH" vibe, which doesn't quite put the short-player's best material to the fore, but like that song, it's still pretty catchy with some good lead glazing, a thumping bass tone and some aggressive vocals from Baker.

The rest of the material is a little darker and stronger though, like "Shelob's Lair" and it's bluesy, stomping tribute to everyone's favorite giant spider, or the title track which has an atmospheric doom vibe that sits alongside some of the epics from the record before it. You can kind of discern that these overall might not be quite awesome enough to have included with Forever Black or Dark Parade, some of them do feel like recycled and polished-off B-sides, but I remember this was plenty enough to tide me over while I was waiting for something more elaborate. They're not hitting at their hardest here, but you could easily imagine any of these tracks being part of Paradise Lost, it has that same sort of smoother production without losing the towering angst of Tim Baker's tone. The drums sound great, the leads shine wherever they show up, the bass is possibly the most corpulent on any of the recordings and even the little chants and things you hear layered in for atmosphere do their job. The Michael Whelan cover art slays, in this case literally, but when doesn't it?

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Forever Black (2020)

What truly makes Forever Black such an excellent 'comeback' is not only that it maintains consistency with the records that came 30 years or more before it, but it also doesn't rest so much on its laurels to feel safe or redundant. There are new riffs to be found, song structures that are arguably more adventurous than Paradise Lost; but at the same time, it's so damn loyal to the Cirith Ungol aesthetic that you feel as if all that intervening time never happened...the band admirably avoided all the trends that might have poisoned its sound. There's no grunge here, no groove beyond what they already incorporated from their 70s hard rock influences, and no technical acceleration towards the more European power metal sound or polished, sterile modernization. This is the tried and true heavy/doom style, only with a production more in line with what younger and newer bands were meting out in the 21st century.

And even then, I'd say that mostly just applies to the volume of the mix and perhaps a bit of thickness to the rhythm guitars. Tim Baker's grating, unforgettable, tyrannical timbre sounds like his pipes haven't aged since the 80s, and it's mixed here with just enough air and reverb to flow perfectly above the charging and thundering of the instruments. Songs like "Legions Arise" hearken back to a favorite like "Blood & Iron", but they've also got steady proto-metal vibes in "The Frost Monstreme" with its dour, bluesy little licks, or "The Fire Divine" as an epic, primal stomper. "Stormbringer" is perhaps the most epic tune among the bunch, a tribute to the black sword which adorns Elric's person and most of their album covers, and given a properly moving chorus with some barbarian choir backing vocals that give it that fantastical atmosphere it so deserves. Even as you get deeper into the track list, there really are no weaknesses, with some killer little hooks appearing in the verse of "Nightmare" or the title track that rivals "Stormbringer" in strength.

This might in fact be their most consistent offering to its day, with nothing semi-silly like a "100 M.P.H." to break up the proceedings, and it's the perfect way for the band to return to Metal Blade, the Michael Whelan artwork, and also to a fanbase which had grown in the interim since the divisive Paradise Lost. Not only has their style of epic/doom become more popular with younger audiences thirsty for retro sincerity, but also the literature upon which they base a lot of their lyrics. The number of bands covering Moorcok, Tolkien, Howard and their ilk has only expanded drastically, and Forever Black slides in like a titan to those nostalgia-fueled expectations while satisfying modern standards as well. I don't know that I'd put it as their best album, but it's clearly in the upper half, and I'd even go so far to say that it's superior in craftsmanship and performance to One Foot in Hell, only the songs don't seem to stick with me quite as much...but time will tell.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Live at the Roxy (2025)

What if I told you Cirith Ungol didn't have but one awesome live record, but they actually have two? Live at the Roxy does feature a lot of crossover with I'm Alive, with regards to the second half of the set presented, but what makes this one stand out is that it kicks off with an astonishingly good performance of their ENTIRE excellent Dark Parade album from 2023. In fact, while I might be caught blaring the studio version more often from my motor vehicle at unhealthy volumes, I can honestly not tell you which version is better, because they perform the record with such clarity and conviction and prove beyond the shadow of any doubt that they are one of the most legit epic/fantasy heavy metal bands in the history of mankind.

That they get through all of that material and then announce 'they'll be back for some classics in five minutes', you have to wonder how these legends have anything left within them. How does the crowd, after being steamrolled by that flawless album performance? And yet, here they go with some recent renditions of "Frost and Fire", "Chaos Descends", "Master of the Pit", "Join the Legion", and the very track that got me into the band to begin with, "Blood and Iron". I'd also mark that I prefer these to the recordings on I'm Alive, for while that was a damn good live offering, the band sounds much more road worn and sinister here, there are just that many more cracks beneath the surface that make the clobber you all the harder. Tim's voice does sound slightly less studio perfect, but it's got a vicious wisdom and age to it that makes it all the more impressive, while the rhythm guitars and rhythm section perform everything a little harder, making it sound more natural than its live predecessor.

I do wish a little more love had been given to Half Past Human and Forever Black material, but at least we've got "The Frost Monstreme" to represent the latter, and it sounds awesome. For some of the earliest tunes, I think the versions here are so good that they supercede the original studio recordings as the place I'd most like to listen to them. Just an amazing release, and considering the band are on the verge of stopping live performances, they've really saved the best for last. As of my writing this, Live at the Roxy is only a couple weeks old, and it's well worth your time picking up, whether you're familiar with the band or just crave some badass traditional metal, it's one of the best live albums I've heard in recent years.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

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Cirith Ungol - I'm Alive (2019)

I'm Alive had the distinction of being our first proper Cirith Ungol recording after their 2015 reunion, but the catch was that it was a live recording from Greece's Up the Hammers Festival, featuring the modern lineup and 90 minutes of material from the first four albums, the last of which had been put out close to three decades before this. It's also spectacular, with almost studio quality sound that perfectly captures the band's doomed, epic metal vibes and even helps bulk up some of the earlier tunes with some well-needed muscle so they can tango at the gym with One Foot in Hell or Paradise Lost. There's probably a tiny fraction of sloppiness that one could attribute to any live performance, but it only adds to the personality and the glorious triumph of having this long underrated band deliver a solid beating to the audience.

The guitars are nice and chunky to carry the classics like "Blood and Iron" or "Atom the Smasher", and maybe if there were any complaint they almost sound a little too cleanly performed. However, once the leads erupt you get a great balance of atmosphere against the rhythm player and in this I think it does sound superior to even the studio takes. The bass sounds good and the drums have a simple shuffle to them but hit hard enough to support the straightforward riffing. Most importantly, Tim Baker sounds like an absolute menace, like there isn't even an iota of grime or age beyond which he already had on his delivery back on those 80s performances. I can only imagine if you were a longtime Greek fan just how ecstatic you would have been with this live set, the band playing almost all your favorites and sounding pretty much how you would have dreamed when you purchased your ticket. 

No, they don't play ALL the material from the earlier albums, some fun ones like "The Troll" are mysteriously absent, but all the surefire hits are played back to back for a very long set and, without knowing that the reunion would also be producing some great NEW records later on, this would have been a one and done experience, since it would be unlikely to get any better. They do a great job capturing the audio here with excellent quality, just a little hint of crow noise that's never intrusive, and it's so clean that you might even think part of it was overdubbed in the studio like some famous classic 'live albums'. Or Cirith Ungol were just damn serious about getting back and giving back to their fans, and even did so here with another Michael Wheln cover art featuring the legendary Elric. A benchmark live recording for epic heavy/doom metal fans or for anyone wanting to hear some veterans return from the dust, stand and deliver.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Servants of Chaos (2001)

Servants of Chaos makes for an interesting fan package in that it offers an extensive exposure to what the band was up to in that entire decade before they dropped their debut record. Largely comprised of their 1978 and 79 demos, each album-length in of itself, with some live tunes tacked on, it's about as comprehensive a backlog as one might ask for and really rounds out the collection of any completist. Naturally the presumption is that this material is going to embrace the 70s hard rock aesthetics even more than their first few official studio efforts, and I think that holds true, but even then I wasn't prepared for just how wild and adventurous the band was going to be. This shit is raw, it's often all over the place, but you can generally hear how they formulated the heavier hitting sound they would progress with.

"Hype Performance", the opener slaps you with some very Hawkwind-sounding spacey hard prog rock, with weird sounds and keys glitching through the guitars, where some of the other tunes like "Last Laugh" have more of the vibe you'd expect from their era, bluesy hard rock with some talky vocals that almost remind me of punk and garage, or even later grunge stuff like Mudhoney. There are a number of the recognizable tracks like "Frost and Fire", but they sound even quirkier with the acid synthesizers, or "Better Off Dead" which sounds like you're jamming it through even more of a marijuana haze coming from the back of some airbrushed van. Even "1000 M.P.H." makes an appearance, sounding a little more suited to this mesh of material than on One Foot in Hell where it ended up. Tim's voice is already in that grating, warlike mode on many of these earlier tunes, and to be fair, the demo-level production has a good raw charm to it that makes the band sound absolutely savage, despite the nerdy prog cheese that they are often escaping towards.

Some highlights for me were the instrumental duo of "Ill Met in Lankhmar" and "Return to Lankhmar", based on the Fritz Leiber classic fantasy stories, they really manage to capture the vibe of those old anthologies with the prog rhythms, synthesizers and blazing leads, making me which they'd have these all re-recorded on some possible concept album in the Lankhmar setting. In fact a lot of the stuff from that '79 demo is instrumental, and while it does feel weird not to have Baker's voice present, they experiment with some weird sounds in "Witchdance" and "Feeding the Ants" too. To that extent, much of the material does feel unfinished or not properly organized, it's clearly not the full band spread we'd expect since there are also a lot of drums missing, but it's definitely imaginative. 

The live recordings are from the 80s and kick some ass, raw and ripping and Baker himself sounds phenomenal, potentially even more menacing than he does in-studio. The cover of "Secret Agent Man" was unexpected and doesn't feel as if it belongs, but they definitely create a dirtier and amusing version of that song which feels like it's filtered through acid trips in some abandoned garage. There are also some rehearsal recordings which sound alright, again the rawness seems to work with the vocal style and certainly makes the rhythm guitar sound more crushing. All told, there's a lot going on with this compilation, they include some extensive notes on their earlier years, and while I can't say I'd make a recommendation for new fans, or that it's got a high ratio of quality to the quantity, old heads who already love Cirith Ungol band might find it an entertaining, flawed retrospective.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Paradise Lost (1991)

Paradise Lost came out a little too late to capitalize on the three albums before it, or at least that's how I felt back at the time, but it was also the first 'new' Cirith Ungol record for me, so I was elated to see the beautiful cover art and logo at the CD shop and made the purchase instantly. For 1991, it felt truly out of place against all the waning thrash metal, emergent death and black scenes, grunge and groove and The Black Album and all that jazz. It's also proven to be one of their more divisive offerings (even the drummer has spoken at length about the various issues with its production and release), but I have to say that Paradise Lost was pretty catchy out of the starting gates, for the most part it's another damn solid example of their style, and I kind of admire how defiantly traditional it felt in its day.

Cirith Ungol had the tendency to include a sillier sounding track or two on numerous of their efforts, the then-most recent example being "100 M.P.H." from the awesome One Foot in Hell. I would say that Paradise Lost has a few examples of this, one being the cover of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire", which they've heavied up and assimilated to their own style quite well. That said, while the lyrics seem somewhat relevant to their own dark fantasy themes, it does stand out a little, whereas Prophecy's "Go It Alone" is just absolutely cheesy here, not a deal-breaker so much, since the musicians and Baker make it sound slick and atmospheric, but unnecessary for sure. "The Troll", an original which features one of the catchiest verse riff patterns in all of metal history, also comes across a little goofier than probably intended. I love that song, so it doesn't bother me, but pair this up with other tunes that feel a little flightier and more melodic than their prior fare, such as "Heaven Help Us", and you've got a disc that doesn't quite match its kick-ass, crushing predecessor.

Beyond those exceptions, though, this is great stuff, with cuts like "Join the Legion", "Before the Lash" and "Fallen Idols" cut from the same cloth as all their epic heavy/doom greats, and could have been outtakes from One Foot in Hell. The band mixes up the vocals a little more here, with searing clean passages on "Chaos Rising" that work pretty well, and the album overall does feel like an evolution upon the ideas of its predecessors. They blend in some new tempos, some good atmospheric lead guitars (as in the title track finale), and a palette of riffs that ironically make it feel fresh and forward-thinking, despite how dated the band's appeal might have felt next to the more trendy and budding styles of the time. I personally enjoy "The Troll", I know others who don't, but I definitely think the covers could have been scrapped for one more serious original and the album might have gotten a warmer reception. But even then, I still break this one out at least as much as I do Frost and Fire, there are a number of essential tunes and it fits the legacy quite well.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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Cirith Ungol - One Foot in Hell (1986)

One Foot in Hell was the first Cirith Ungol record I picked up on cassette, smitten after repeated exposures to the opening track "Blood and Iron" on Best of Metal Blade Volume 2, which I played so much that I infuriated all my family and another family that were camping together in New Hampshire over the summers. While that might be my go-to anthem among the band's catalogue, I was satisfied to find that the rest of the album is nearly on par, and for me the most evocative in terms of the dark fantasy/sword & sorcery that influenced the Californians both lyrically and sonically. They basically took everything great from the earlier album and covered it with a suit of iron, occasionally flecked with some rusty spikes to poison the blood of the impaled.

While other bands were ratcheting up the technically and extremity, Cirith Ungol were sticking to their formula and just making it more consistent and engaging. I mean, this album dropped in a year that also produced Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood, two discs that have done lengthy (and often competing) rotations as my metal GOATS, which make for quite a contrast against this simpler sound. This band was already becoming an anachronism by the mid 80s, but that's exactly what makes One Foot in Hell so damn cool, the stark and straightforward blend of riffs and atmosphere. I do actually think this one is less varied than its two predecessors, but the production feels a little more '80s' in line with a lot of the band's Metal Blade peers, there's more of a reverb and resonance coming out of the speakers that it exchanges for the jam room feels of its older siblings, and this works in tandem for the soaring, brooding chorus parts as in "Nadsokor". The whole album here feels like it was written and performed by orcs as they beat their siege machines together and prepare to roll across the realms, stamping out the civilizations of man, elf and dwarf...

...and for a 12 year old, that was MIGHTY FUCKING AWESOME. And still is! Whether because such an idea is timeless, or because I never stopped being 12, that's a conversation we can have another time, but judging by the band's continued popularity and the fact that the following three records they would produce over the 30+ years after this one, seem more like attempts to revisit this magic than that of the first two records. So I am not alone. Now, having heaped such praise upon this one, I can't quite say it's perfect, there's a little bit of goofiness here with the obvious party track "100 M.P.H.", which is fun in its outright, but sounds like they're trying to create their own "Ballroom Blitz", still keeping it well within the realm of the heavy metal lyrics, but had this one been replaced by another more serious piece like all its neighbors, the album would be even better than it is. Just saying. At least the lead at the end is really slick.

Otherwise, this is everything you want. Tim Baker's harrowing vocals launch over the mix like a stone heaved over some poor castle's wall by a trebuchet, especially in the doomiest tunes like "Chaos Descends" or "Doomed Planet", where the voice is such a weapon against the slower churn of the guitars. The rhythm guitar tone has a lot more 80s steel to it than the 70s-cloaked earlier albums, and I also think the lead guitar blends in better where it often seemed to bleed a little on the debut. There is a bit of passivity to the drums, if only because they are just crushed by the awesome weight of the riffs and vocals, but in a way that works in its favor, and I'd say the same for the bass...it doesn't have that pop to it like it did on the first two, but it definitely bulks up enough to enforce the rhythms, and I think that approach just worked better for this material.

One Foot in Hell is a bonafide American metal classic that deserves to be placed on the same pedestal as classics from Manowar or Twisted Sister, and to this day remains my favorite of the whole Cirith Ungol canon. It has one track that doesn't live up to the rest for me, sure, and it got absolutely buried the year it came out by so many other amazing releases, but it's totally timeless, sounding just as potent now as it did when I was hitting puberty. I think the band really hit the level they wanted musically, and where they would remain barring slight tweaks to production and aggression. A nice "Waaagh!" we could stick in the faces of our poseur friends and siblings who listened to Poison and Bon Jovi.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

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Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead (1984)

King of the Dead might not have hit peak Cirith Ungol for me, but this record was certainly meaner and more substantial than its predecessor, and even the younger Me appreciated it a little more right out of the box than the debut. Stylistically, it's not a lot different, there's still a lot of bluesy hard rock coursing through its 60s-70s fantasy veins, but Tim Baker's vocal performance here is a lot more evil and over the top and that alone gives the tunes a darker atmosphere. They still maintain that pop to the bass guitars which made them stand out against a lot of other heavy metal bands of the day, and the focus on memorable, simple rhythm guitars with plenty of groove to them, and melodic leads definitely stood alongside bands like Trouble and Pentagram to help the doom metal style evolve from Sabbath into a genre.

For many fans, this is the de facto Cirith Ungol experience, and while I'm an outlier to that idea, I can certainly understand why. It kicks your teeth in with steady blazers "Atom Smasher" and "Black Machine", but then after dispatching the minion hordes on the surface, creeps through the caverns in "Master of the Pit" with its bass line and leads, or the lumbering title track, which is both understated and epic in equal measures, Baker spitting out some of his most dangerous elongated screams to the slightly choppy, proggy grooves in the bridge. This also has a much mightier second half than the debut, with awesome pieces like "Death of the Sun", or the doomy power 'ballad' "Finger of Scorn" which once again features some of Baker's more eerie wailing dowsing it with atmosphere. The instrumental "Toccata in Dm" was something slightly different, a classical adaptation spun into a nice contrast of effected leads and spooky bass lines. They also pace this whole 46 minute journey quite well, and end on a strong note with their namesake track that exemplifies all their patient, pounding dynamics.

King of the Dead is more or less a template for One Foot in Hell, and that I appreciate, but it's also the perfect accompaniment for a night paging through your old epic fantasy paperbacks by Moorcock, Tolkien, Howard or Cook, or perhaps your Warlord comics. It's sword & sorcery writ into musical form, something not a lot of bands were doing at the time as the hair metal was starting to rage, thrash was in its infancy and a lot of Cirith Ungol's own Metal Blade peers were starting to eke out their own strains of what we'd now dub USPM. An umbrella they themselves might belong to, but has a pretty diverse palette...Omen and Manowar, Lizzy Borden and this band all sound quite different, with just enough overlap to interest a mutual audience. In the end, though, this sophomore just feels more committed to the sound established on the debut, slightly more consistent in production and songwriting and there's a pretty understandable reason why fans might hand you this first if you express interest in the band.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

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Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire (1981)

Though I was introduced to metal music at a very early age, it wasn't until The Best of Metal Blade Volume 2 cassette that I really ran across Cirith Ungol's music. I was obsessed with that entire compilation during Middle School and especially at summer camp where their Orcish anthem "Blood and Iron" really sparked off a lot of fiery inspiration in me for various D&D games. As I backtracked to the Californians' first two records, I was obviously hooked by the unforgettable Michael Whelan artwork, but truth be told I wasn't as immediately taken by the music of the debut, which existed (understandably) on a more 70s hard rock threshold and lacked a little of the ironclad threat that a record like One Foot in Hell would later muster.

Gradually, I grew to appreciate these formative albums, and looking back now it seems silly to have spent years undervaluing Frost and Fire, because the DNA is much the same, and for the time it dropped it probably delivered the same punch as I associated with the later 80s stuff. I don't think this is their most consistent offering, and it probably remains the least visited in their catalogue for me personally, but it was quite a novel epic heavy metal piece, a sound felt like a midway between AC/DC, Judas Priest and early Manowar, rooted in blues and groove and injected with a bit of prog rock adventurism through the use of the crispy acid organ synthesizers on "What Does It Take". There are a few party tracks like "Edge of a Knife" which seem like they dip a little into a Rolling Stones or Stooges vibe, but even there you get some more epic guitars in the bridge, and clearly if they hadn't already arrived at their stylistic destination, they were well underrway in most of the instrumental categories.

The most important two are how the stark, blue collar weight of the guitar riffs collides with the more adventurous phrasing and plotting, almost like a West Coast counterpart to the Budgie stuff which was so great throughout the 70s; and the grating intonations of the legendary Tim Baker, who seems like an Udo, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson if they were forged thousands of years ago in Middle Earth along with a particular set of rings. The guy just sounds downright and nasty as early as this debut, whether it's the full on metal charge of the titular opener or the dirty hard rock bar blues in "Better Off Death". There's an acid to this higher pitch which seems to drip directly into your brain and there forever remain, as melodic as it is vicious, and when you think about it in retrospect, it brought something different to what would later be known as 'doom metal' from an Ozzy or Bobby Liebling.

Elsewhere, the drums are crisp and clean, and another big feature is the bass which has a nice pop to it where it pokes out from the other instruments. The whole band is fairly clear, and though the album might lack the 'heaviness' of later outings, I think the production here is quite perfect for the time, and has an organic, boxy nature to it which sounds like you'd experience in the jam room, though they can get a lot of resonance and atmosphere where needed like the intro to the closing instrumental "Maybe That's Why" with its acoustic guitars and droning electric harmonies. Some of the mixes aren't as balanced as others, and the leads can sound a little noisy or crude. Also, it's hard not to feel that the record is front-loaded with its catchiest tunes in "Frost and Fire", "I'm Alive" and "A Little Fire", but with age I definitely find myself exploring its nether regions rather than just skipping past them. A worthwhile introduction to a formidable band, and despite how 'dated' I might have initially found this one when rubbed against the band's first 'Reckless' records offering, it ironically ages well, and deserves new life amidst all the recent exploration of proto-metal and retro-doom styles which have spawned so many tasty throwback acts.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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