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Thread: Album Reviews

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    Beastmilk – Climax (2013)

    I am deeply suspicious of hipster records, which have a tendency to fall into one of four categories: gimmicky, pretentious, naval gazing, or whatever world music is trendy this week. Beastmilk, however, are genuinely worth the hype and ‘Climax’ is one of the best rock records I’ve heard in years and years. Fuck The Killers, fuck Kings Of Leon, fuck all of those tight-jean wearing bands that sound like them (why be a pastiche or a pastiche?) and fuck all self-consciously ‘retro’ bands. Here is a band making rock ‘n’ roll the way it should be: familiar, yet unique; immediate, yet challenging; and purely their own.

    To be clear: this isn’t ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ in the AC/DC/ Led Zep variety, it takes its cues from a far wider spectrum of guitar-based music from the past forty years. ‘Death Reflects Us’ has a New Wave riff and ‘80s alternative vocals, a heavier Replacements doused with The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and The Cure. ‘Fear Your Mind’ is a furious burst of yearning, a claustrophobic punk rock which bleeds vicious lyrics; ‘Genocidal Crush’ takes the sweep of ‘80s alternative rock and amps it up with rock ‘n’ roll abandon; whilst ‘You Are Now Under Our Control’ is a hymn to Killing Joke wrapped up in the claustrophobic goth of Nick Cave; and ‘Ghosts Out Of Focus’ is a twisting, swirling morass of music which takes in the early Goth of The Sisters of Mercy and the poppier dynamics of Blondie and The Pretenders. These are songs which need to be heard. In the hands of producer Kurt Ballou, they sound raw, primal and very, very much alive.

    By all rights, this band should be huge. If I was a thirteen year old kid right now, I’d feel lucky to be here for this album. Staggering stuff.
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    The new Slash album KICKS ASS!

    Gene Simmons doesn't know shit! Rock ain't dead!
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    Binnie! Have you reviewed the Gemini Syndrome album "Lux"?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post

    Gene Simmons doesn't know shit! Rock ain't dead!
    Not yet but it's an endangered species.
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    Review. Slash World On Fire. If you like Slash buy it. Good tunes. Maybe a little long.
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    Quote Originally Posted by 78/84 guy View Post
    Review. Slash World On Fire. If you like Slash buy it. Good tunes. Maybe a little long.
    It is long, but I like how some of the songs are short. Kind of like the old VH albums. Grab you. Rip your face off. Done.

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    True. I ran through it a few times. Good stuff.

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    I actually listened to the first Slash CD, It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere, in it's entirety for the first time in along while at work the other day. It occurred to me that, even though it was recorded in '95, it actually serves as a much better follow to Appetite than those abysmal Illusion CDs with Axhole.
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    The 2nd Snakepit record was even better if you ask me. Had more balls too it. This stuff with Myles is really good but Slash got away from the gritty songwriting. I like it all. He has one hell of a music library at this point. Unlike his former singer/partner Axhole.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 78/84 guy View Post
    The 2nd Snakepit record was even better if you ask me. Had more balls too it. This stuff with Myles is really good but Slash got away from the gritty songwriting. I like it all. He has one hell of a music library at this point. Unlike his former singer/partner Axhole.
    Indeed. I reviewed the 2nd Snakepit record - 'Ain't Life Grand' - on page 4 of this thread. You'll see that I think it is one of the great unheralded rock records, and the second best thing Slash has ever played on.

    I WILL review the new Slash record. I'm snowed under with work at the moment, so I'm a bit slower than normal. I think Slash's first solo CD (with the different singers) was good, the second one ('Apocalyptic Love') was only OK. It felt a little tepid in places to these ears.

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    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    I'm snowed under with work at the moment, so I'm a bit slower than normal. I think Slash's first solo CD (with the different singers) was good...
    Hey bin, when you shovel your way out, see if you can check out the self titled CD by the band Imperial Drag from '95 or '96. It features some amazing vocals by Eric Dover, who was the main singer on 5 O' Clock. His guitar playing ain't too shabby, either.

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    Sesh, I think we're paying Binnie too much. He seems to be getting fat and lazy.

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    Thrash Back!

    Ok, so we all know the Thrash Classics, the 'Master Of Puppets', Reign in Bloods' and 'Rust In Piece's' of the world. Some of us may even familiar with Exodus's 'Bonded By Blood', Testaments 'New Order', Kreator's 'Pleasure Of Kill' and Celtic Frost's 'To Mega Therion'. But these twelve Thrash records are from the less heralded corners of the metal world. Records that kill but never got the recognition.

    I recommend that you work your necks in!

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    Thrash Back: Dark Angel – Darkness Descends (1986)

    1986 saw the release of four pinnacle Thrash releases. Three of them – Slayer’s ‘Reign In Blood’, Megadeth’s ‘Peace Sells….but Who’s Buying?’ and Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ – you’ve heard of. The fourth – Dark Angel’s ‘Darkness Descends’ – you probably haven’t, but it can stand and trade with any of them. This was a record of sweaty, frenzied fury, relentless in its pursuit of relentlessness as each track sought to outdo the previous in its channelling of unbridled anger. Even at the height of Thrash metal, this was unbelievably fast and ridiculously heavy. But what separated Dark Angel from the pack was that their bile-black savagery was balanced with compositional poise and incredible playing (especially from drummer, Gene ‘The Atomic Clock’ Hoglan). In the hands of producer Randy Burns (who would go on to be a Death Metal producer-extraordinaire) this album didn’t just sound raw, it sounded wounded.

    The title-track is colossal, an apocalypse of hardcore and Slayer riffs that still makes you wince three decades on. ‘The Burning of Sodom’ is warp-speed and possesses a demented level of fury far beyond anything the ‘Big Four’ could muster – here was a song which bridged the gap between ‘Thrash Metal’ and ‘Death Metal’ before the latter termed had being coined properly. And the power just keeps coming and coming. ‘Perish In Flames’ is a vortex of anger, whilst ‘Hunger Of The Undead’ features some of the most vicious, muscular riffs every committed to music, the perfect vehicle for Eric Meyer and Jim Durkin’s nasty, malicious guitar tones. There is zero filler – not even a part of a song, or a riff, was allowed to pass under the grade. Is it naïve in places? Certainly, but that was part of Thrash’s DIY charm. Some lyrics are typically ghoulish, but elsewhere (‘Death Is Certain (Life If Not)’) the band branched out into novel territories (a theme which continued on later releases).

    It is hard to conceive of music heavier than ‘Darkness Descends’. This is an album to punch walls to. An album of pure cathartic, cleansing anger. In 1986 Dark Angel could live with anyone.

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    Thrash Back: Heathen - Evolution of Chaos (2010)

    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    Heathen – Evolution of Chaos (2010)

    A gentle, sitar led introduction and then BOOM. MOSH…MOSH…MOSH. BWAAAARGGGHHH……too….much….metal. When they take particles up to the speed of light in the Hadron Collider, it probably sounds a whole lot like this, the return of thrash pioneers Heathen. It’s an incredible – and incredibly heavy – record choked with neck wrenching anthems and prog-metal sags. But it’s the chops that kill. David White sings his ass off here, and is one of the best guys in metal at laying vocals and melodies over music this fast. Axemen Lee Altus and Kragon Lam are one of metal’s best partnerships – delivering a battalion of crunch here, they also serve up solo after dazzling solo which drive these songs into the metal heavens. Always at the more technical end of thrash, fans will be relieved to learn that Heathen have managed to maintain the balance which prevents them from slipping into indolent showmanship.

    Indeed what you get here are not so much songs as beast, rampant and savage. ‘Control By Chaos’ is a serious of punchy almost Prong-like riffs at speed, 6 minutes of metallic heaven. ‘No Stone Unturned’ is a mid-paced battleaxe of a tune, an anthem which evolves into a progressive thrash-a-thon workout – shit, Metallica used to deliver stuff like this. ‘Arrows of Agony’ and ‘Fade Away’ are hook-heavy anthems, whilst the furious ‘Dying Season’ deserves to be hailed as a classic. If only more people could hear it. MOSH…..MOSH…BWWARRRRGHHHHHHH….FUCK…..MY…NECK…..HUR TS.

    The flipside is that there’s almost too much metal here – these songs are very long, often overwhelming, and reward repeated and persistent listening. But it’s worth it. This record is better than some many other ‘reunion’ thrash albums. Better than anything which bigger hitters like Kreator, Forbidden or Exodus have produced, and in many ways its as good as some of Megadeth’s latter records (put a gun to my head and I might say better). Why? Because its not a throwback – Heathen have taken all the ingredients of the classic sound and updated them for the modern palate.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    Sesh, I think we're paying Binnie too much. He seems to be getting fat and lazy.
    So, I guess that's my way of saying: blow me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    So, I guess that's my way of saying: blow me.
    Why are you reviewing these pointless fringe thrash albums when Slash is doing a major world tour at the moment?
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    Thrash Back: Coroner – No More Color (1989)

    Album number 3 from Swiss thrashers Coroner is love at first listen. In 1989 Thrash was on the cusp of eschewing the primal fury of its original wave in favour a more technical, increasingly progressive, style of heaviness. Annihilator and Megadeth are usually the two bands deemed pivotal to this shift – and thus to allowing Thrash to open metal up in important new directions – but in truth ‘No More Color’ predates those band’s pivotal records (‘Alice In Hell’ and ‘Rust In Peace’). It is also superior to both.

    The key to its power is the guitar of Tommy T. Baron. Put simply, there are some absolutely dazzling riffs here, and some playing that wails with the best of them.
    ‘Die By My Hand’ welds the muscularity of Metallica to the intricacy of Megadeth and is quite simply one of the heaviest songs you’ve never heard. ‘No Need To Be Human’ makes some eerie premonitions of Gojira’s angular heaviness, a maelstrom of dark and sinewy riffs which crushes with mid-paced power and balances beauty and the beast in true Metallica style. ‘D.O.A’ features an incisor riff and melodic finesse, and also demonstrates an aspect of Coroner which separated them from the Thrash pack: the lyrics. Far more than the usual ‘death/ doom/ destruction’ themes, here we witness a band exploring more adult and real topics in a way which is never clumsy. ‘Tunnel Of Pain’ is unrelentingly heavy – a testament to the fact that metal was heavier in the ‘80s than it’s been at any time since – and ‘Read My Scars’ combines dazzling technical playing with a chorus worthy of a stadium. That it hangs together so well testifies to this band’s songwriting prowess.

    Indeed, complexity and aggression rarely make good bedfellows. ‘No More Color’, however, sees them fucking like nymphomaniac rabbits who’ve just been informed that the apocalypse is imminent. For the listener, this is somewhat disconcerting – you’re compelled to sit back and listener in awe, but also to headbang with pure abandon. But what truly makes this remarkable is that whereas most Thrash albums became an exercise in maniacal speed for its own sake, her was a band doing more than hypnotic palm-muted riffage. In the hands of producer Scott Burns – who would go on to be an uber Death Metal knob twidler – the crunch of this metallic feast is prominent and raw and loses none of its crisp complexity.

    Depth with immediacy; darkness with good, not-so-friendly violent fun, and progression without pretentiousness, Coroner were a truly remarkable band. In 1989, the metal world was going ga-ga from Sepultura as the ‘saviours’ of Thrash. Few could deny the primitive bludgeon of Brazil’s favourite sons, but that far, far more inventive bands like Coroner are over-looked is a damn shame.

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    Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)

    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    From the vaults: Sodom – Agent Orange (1989)

    Thrash was – originally, at least – an American form of metal, perhaps the point at which the US took over the ‘Heavy Metal’ mantle formulated by the UK in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We all know that the ‘Big 4’ of thrash (and some of their ‘smaller’ peers) delivered some genre-changing, life-fulfilling ode-to-the-riff packed albums in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. But what is often overlooked is that fact that Germany’s ‘Big Three’ (Sodom, Kreator and Destruction) served up their fair share of metallic goodness, too. If the debate regarding ‘best album’ for the Big 4 falls roundly between ‘Master Of Puppets’ and ‘Reign In Blood’ (it’s the former, by the way), for the ‘Big Three’ it comes down to Kreator’s delightfully evil ‘Pleasure To Kill’ and ‘Agent Orange’, the third album from Sodom. Most would opt for Kreator, a band who served up something heavier than just about anything conceivable in 1986. But for my money, ‘Agent Orange’ is the superior record – certainly not as fast, or as rabid, but the maturity of song-writing and delivery here makes for a record which is truly crushing in its hyper-fast Teutonic march and relentlessly tight. The German bands were always more brutal, and this is no exception. But ‘Agent Orange’ combined that organic savagery with the complexity of what the ‘Big 4’ were doing, and tempered it in places with some Celtic Frost style atmospherics. Far from gun-metal grey, the result is a band which paints in many shades of heaviness. The cement-mixer bass is high in the mix; the blood-curdling vocals are downright mean; Chris Witchhunter (RIP) hits the drums like an angry gorilla; and Frankie Blackfire’s riffs are utterly, utterly savage.

    This album was light-years ahead of the band’s debut ‘Persecution Mania’ in terms of focus and precision. The title-track serves up pulverising riff after pulverising riff on a bedrock of Slayer-esque time-changes to amp up the energy. This is aggression of mesmerizing proportions, the sort of heaviness that owns you, and which has rarely been matched since. Quite how Tom Angelripper’s bark manages to chisel its way through the mountainface of metal is beyond me. Like all classic records, ‘Agent Orange’ combines variety with a unity of theme and purpose. Thus the mid-paced stomper ‘Remember The Fallen’ is distinct from the punk fury of ‘Incest’ (the nastiest song ever written?) but yet not apart from it or the greasy evilness of the Motorhead-esque ‘Ausgebombt’. ‘Magic Dragon’ features 3 or 4 riffs which most band’s spend a life-time never being able to match and builds and builds its power through a machine-gun like delivery of spitting rage and is outdone in the ‘my fucking neck hurts’ stakes only by ‘Tired & Red’, an epic which spans from punk to Maiden via a melodic interlude. Like a Metallica epic, it’s true beauty and the beast stuff. Sodom would certainly become better musicians in future years; and they would also become more comfortable with the concept of melody. But even as good as their records in the ‘00s have been, they’ve never come close to the sheer other-worldly vibrancy and vitality of ‘Agent Orange’.

    What makes ‘Agent Orange’ such a joy almost a quarter of a century on is the unbridled fury it exhibits. The sound here is ‘Kill ‘em All’ raw, a hypnotic crunch of metal on metal guitars recorded on a small budget and capturing a certain type of power which bigger productions don’t possess. Easily a top 10 all-time thrash classic, this is a record which should be hailed in the same way as anything produced by Sodom’s American peers, a purchased by the same hairy teenage palms that lap up ‘Hell Awaits’ with such glee. Few records capture a time so aptly without becoming limited to it, but ‘Agent Orange’ is certainly one of them.

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    Thrash back: Dew Scented - Icarus (2012)

    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    Dew Scented – Icarus

    ‘Dew Scented’ are – no arguments please – the most inaccurately named band ever: given the sheer unbridled ferocity of their brand of thrash, ‘Crack Pitbull’ would be far, far more appropriate! Scrabbling around to conjure suitable adjectives to describe the intensity of this metal, terms like ‘brutal’, ‘savage’, ‘rampant’ or ‘furious’ seem woefully inadequate. ‘Maniacal’ is how this sounds. That is not to say that the music is particularly extreme – this is post-Haunted thrash metal which steers well clear of death, black or more angular aspects of the genre. What we get, then, is ultra-aggression in palatable forms and, crucially, delivered in some of the best songs your ears will have heard for years. Up to this point Dew Scented have been competent and commendable rather than classic – with ‘Icarus’, they just stepped into the big leagues. Just when you thought that a genre of music was becoming over-saturated, someone delivers an album as special as this.

    Fucking hell it’s good. ‘Sworn To Obey’ is a bristling burst of warp-factor fury; ‘Thrown To The Lions’ is built from a series of tasty riffs, tempo-changes and licks good enough to leap into the ‘A’ league; ‘Storm Within’ sounds like modern-day Slayer, a skull-fucker riff and demonic melody working in sync to inject a double-dose of heaviness; whilst ‘A Final Procession’ features a riff that could slip discs – Marvin Vriesde is a Heavy Metal beast. Lyrically, it all sticks to the ‘3 Ds of Thrash’: Death, Destruction and Defiance – sure, you’ve heard it all before, but it fits the bill perfectly and often comes in the form of some interesting and thoughtful wording. When you have artwork as cool as this – a sort of post-apocalyptic take on the ‘Icarus’ story – that has to be the case.

    But what really makes this album work is the emphasis on the whole over the individual parts. The songs are all – refreshingly – under 5 minutes. There is little in the way of flash, no self-indulgence or anything to lessen the whole. Delivered in a production which is very ‘live’ in its feel, Dew Scented neatly side-step the trend of most newer thrash bands to pursue the ‘technical’ route, which is often a short-route to sterility. Not so here: the sound is raw, buoyant, bottom-heavy and bristling with energy. The Haunted should take note, because these Germans have taken their template far beyond the level that they have reached in recent years. Put simply, ‘Icarus’ deserves to become a familiar part of metal’s landscape – if you were to compile a list of ‘The Best Thrash Records since “The Haunted Made Me Do It”’ this would be right near the top.

    Sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do something exciting with it.

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    Thrash back: Exodus – Pleasures of the Flesh (1987)

    Sometimes making a classic album can be a real pain in the ass. Whilst no-one would dispute that ‘Bonded By Blood’ (1985) – Exodus’s debut record – is a bonafide Metal classic, in truth it is often the case that people look no further once they own it. That is a crying shame. Although Exodus have never repeated the unbridled fury of that release, their subsequent discography is packed full of molten metal which deserves to be heard more widely. ‘Pleasures of The Flesh’ – the band’s second record – is one of those records. It may be one of the most underrated metal albums ever recorded.

    Here the band realised that they couldn’t repeat the unbridled fury of ‘Bonded….’ so they didn’t try. Instead, they looked for musical growth, something which all of the ‘Big 4’ and many of the 2nd wave of Bay Area Thrash bands (Testament, Death Angel, Forbidden) were injecting into the genre. Gone were the days when Thrash was about speed and speed only. Here the band explored soft/heavy dynamics, made greater use of twin guitar work and wrote what is easily their best collection of rabble-rousing choruses (the bane of many a Thrash band). New vocalist Steve Souza also brought breadth to the band – he may never have become as iconic as original vocalist Paul Baloff, but his raspy tone added a snarl and a subtle sense of melody which gave the band more breadth. Lyrically, they were able to begin to move away from tired ‘evil’ metal clichés into the realm of social commentary which always suited metal this gritty better.

    None of this should suggest, of course, that ‘Pleasures….’ is not a monstrously heavy record. It certainly is. Opener ‘Deranged’ has the kind of crunch that kills and drips with the relentless violence you expect from the Kings of the Bay Area; and ‘Choose Your Weapon’ and ‘Faster Than You’ll Ever Live To Be’ are some of the finest Thrash tunes you’ve never heard. Here the guitar is a sonic chisel – the tone could flay skin. None of the power is lost as the band grows. ‘Seeds Of Hate’ is brutally heavy and melodic, whilst the seven-minute title-track shows more than a little love for Maiden’s melodies and sense of grandeur. Slowing down a little if anything added power. The riff to ‘Parasite’, for example, is a neck breaker which propels this underheralded metal anthem into the stratosphere. The menace is chilling: ‘run….but you can’t hide’. Bang your head, motherfucker! By the time you get to ‘Brain Dead’ – which is heavy enough to level cities – you’ll wonder why it wasn’t the ‘Big 5’.

    Few bands are more powerful than Exodus. Even with a piss-poor ‘80s production, the raw, bloody power of these songs blasts from the speakers. ‘Pleasures…’ is the sound of the band progressing and growing. It takes balls of steel not to repeat the formula of a classic debut, but balls are something which Exodus has never lacked.

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    I saw two really good bands open for Korn last night.

    Avatar - out of Sweden. They fucking kicked ass! Loud and heavy!

    Otherwise - out of Las Vegas, NV. Not as heavy as Avatar, but a damn good band.

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    A pic of the Avatar singer.


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    One of the Avatar guitar players.


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    Otherwise.




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    Not a quality pic by any means, but a cool perspective. Fucking lighting was horrible.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    I saw two really good bands open for Korn last night.

    Avatar - out of Sweden. They fucking kicked ass! Loud and heavy!

    Otherwise - out of Las Vegas, NV. Not as heavy as Avatar, but a damn good band.
    my cousin matt was at that show



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    Hey binnie. What are your thoughts on the "stoner" (or whatever the label is for that type of music) genre? You may have reviewed some of these types of bands, but I didn't take a look. I've recently checked out Weedeater, Fu Manchu and Orange Goblin. They all have good stuff, but nothing that made me want to run out and buy CDs. Then I came across The Black Code by Wo Fat. Man, what a good album. I was so impressed I actually did buy the CD.
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    Quote Originally Posted by PETE'S BROTHER View Post
    I don't have FB, so that link doesn't work for me. He was at the show in Flint last night?

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    Quote Originally Posted by chuckjitsu View Post
    Hey binnie. What are your thoughts on the "stoner" (or whatever the label is for that type of music) genre? You may have reviewed some of these types of bands, but I didn't take a look. I've recently checked out Weedeater, Fu Manchu and Orange Goblin. They all have good stuff, but nothing that made me want to run out and buy CDs. Then I came across The Black Code by Wo Fat. Man, what a good album. I was so impressed I actually did buy the CD.
    I love stoner rock (if you look at the index on page 25 you'll see I've reviewed some of those bands). Kyuss are the place to start ('Blues For The Red Sun' is THE stoner record) with Monster Magnet a close second, imo (check out 'Spine Of God', 'Superjudge' or, for a more overtly rocky vibe, 'Powertrip'). I love Orange Goblin, although they're more metal than stoner, and Fu Manchu, too - 'We Must Obey' and 'King Of The Road' by the latter are well worth you're time.

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    I've heard good things about Avatar, but I've yet to check 'em out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Von Halen View Post
    I don't have FB, so that link doesn't work for me. He was at the show in Flint last night?
    si

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    Thrash Back: Testament – The Formation of Damnation (2008)

    The album that put Testament back on the map is also the best album they have ever made. And in a back catalogue as illustriuous as their’s, that is really saying something. Release in the same year as Metallica’s ‘Death Magnetic’ and Megadeth’s ‘Endgame’ here was a record which crushed both – faster, heavier and far, far more focussed, Testament here put one over of two of the ‘Big 4’ by releasing a record with all the hallmarks of classic Thrash but injected into a style a production which was highly relevant in the 21st century. Put simply, there is no filler and everything oozes class: Eric Peterson produced his best set of songs; Paul Bostaph show-cased his chops as one of metal’s very best drummers, acting as hurricane up the band’s ass; Chuck Billy’s hooks – always Testament’s secret weapon, and the thing that elevated them from the rest of the Thrash pack – were sharper than they’d ever been; and the returing Alex Skolnick shredded like he had 25 fingers on each hand. ‘Formation….’ Might very well be the best Thrash album released since the end of genre’s heyday.

    Opening instrumental ‘For The Glory Of’ bursts into ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ in a classic ‘Hellion/Electric Eye’ style. It showcases some of the heaviest music this reviewer has ever heard – Thrash with the sophistication and muscularity of a 21st century production led to something that was, frankly, GIGANTIC. ‘The Evil Has Landed’ is awash with the drama, darkness and twisted power perfectly suited to its subject-matter: the 9/11 attacks. That this song feels much more epic than its 5 minute length is a testament (geddit?) to the quality of the band’s song-writing dynamics. The title-track is pure Thrash of the order that will make your neck ache and your throat hoarse – it feels like something from ‘New Order’ on steroids. ‘The Persecuted Won’t Forget’ matches it with speeds, intensity and venomosity of riff.

    But what really stands out about ‘Formation…’ is the variety. ‘Dangers of The Faithless’ showcases Testament’s more melodic side, and Chuck Billy serves up a killer chorus straight from the blood red skies. ‘Killing Season’ has the crunch and hulking weight of mid-paced Metallica, whilst ‘Leave Me Forever’ is more free-form and progressive, switching from psychedelia to something pounding – simultaneously eerie and epically heavy, it also features the most bile-ridden of Chuck Billy’s vocal performances. Chilling.

    Plenty of bands make Thrash records that are heavy; some even manage to capture to hypnotically captivating violence of the genre’s ‘80s heyday. What Testament achieved here, however, was more than that. ‘Formation…’ was a Thrash record without even the faintest whiff of throwback about it, a record which showed that this music could be highly relevant in a new century; and, far, far more importantly, it was just heavy, it was often emotive. And when a metal band achieves that, the result are as memorable as they are affecting.
    Last edited by binnie; 10-11-2014 at 01:19 PM.

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    Thrash Back: Exhorder - The Law (1992)

    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    From the vaults: Exhorder - The Law (1992)

    Popular wisdom suggests that the first wave of a musical genre is generally substantially better than those that follow. Exhorder offer one of history's exceptions. This 3rd wave thrash band released two classic - and I mean CLASSIC - albums: 'Slaughter In The Vatican' and 'The Law'. They stand up there with the likes of Testament, Death Angel, Exodus or Forbidden. What Exhorder added was a burst of new ideas, and a variety on the classic sound. The guitar sound here is rich and muscular, with plenty of bottom end to beef-up the sound; and Kyle Thomas's groove-ridden, soulful vocals have since been hugely influential - you can tell Phil Anselmo was listening.

    What Exhorder realized is that speed doesn't necessarily equal power. Mixing extremes of tempos (death-defyingly fast with skull-numbingly slow) added dexterity and crunch to the songs and is a pattern which so many bands have emulated in subsequent years (most noticeably Machine Head, who have perfected it). With so much groove, power and crunch, comparrisons with Pantera are obvious. Exhorder certainly didn't have the songs to punch with that band; nor did they have the guitar pyrotechnics; but - as the likes of '(Cadence of) The Dirge' demonstrated - they did have the power. The heaviness here is oppressive. Opener 'Soul Searching' is bestial and savage, and could trade blows with anything any heavy band have put out in the last 20 years; and the leaden cover of Sabbath's 'Into The Void' is the sound of heavy being re-defined. In 1992 this was the sound of a game being upped. Metallica had taken metal into the mainstream; Megadeth were intent on making it more technical; and Anthrax were evolving away from their thrash roots. With Exodus, Forbidden, Death Angel and Possessed all having produced their best work, the unbriddled fury which had characterized thrash metal was in danger of passing. Exhorder played a significant role in keeping metal uncomplicated and powerful, and as a watershed album this remains pivotal.

    Perhaps 'The Law' was not as complete a record as 'Slaughter....' In truth, their are too many ideas - both musically and lyrically - in some of these songs, a fact which prevents them gelling as compositions. But when it all comes together, like on the title cut or 'Unforgiven', it is quite special. Meat and potatoes metal subject matter such as anti-religion and corrupt society are considered in the lyrics, but they sit alongside other subjects - namely morality and mortality - which show a band striving to push boundaries. Sometimes Thomas reaches for profound and grabs purple, but the ambition is admirable. Kyle Thomas might be metal's forgotten man. Alongside Exhorder, he handled vocals in another chronically underrated band: Floodgate. Both deserve your attention.

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    Thrash Back: The Haunted – The Haunted (1998)

    The Haunted’s debut album unleashed a Thrash classic on the world at a point when no-one was making them. The ‘90s saw a decline – we might even say a drought – in Thrash, as 3 of the Big 4 opted to move into more commercial musical climates and everyone else bought a plaid shirt, some heroin, and started whinging. But then these five dudes from Sweden ripped the metal world a new one. Emerging from the ashes of seminal Death Metal band At The Gates, The Haunted injected the classic Thrash template with hardcore bullishness and modern production which essentially set the bar for heavy music for the next decaded. Indeed, many of the metalcore bands which emerged in the ‘00s should be all rights pay The Haunted an honourary royalty for each of their records.

    Nothing was contrived here: this was a wholly honest blast of aggression seething with hunger. Opener ‘Hate Song’ marries tort, lean guitars with the muscularity of hardcore to produce a bile-fuelled sound that bites its way out of the speakers. ‘Chasm’ is the bastard love-child of Slayer and The Cro Mags, a whirlpool of rage which was ready-made for mosh pits across the globe. But it wasn’t just the heaviness – or the intensity – which made this killer: the songwriting was excellent. ‘Invein’ features a chorus which could level cities, and by all rights should be a metal anthem; and ‘Choke Hold’ is as dementedly fast and relentlessly heavy as anything from Thrash’s heyday – riff this could need to be heard. ‘Now You Know’ takes the Thrash template and injects it with rhythmic quirks and bullish machismo that injected the genre with new life for the twenty first century. By the time you get to ‘Shattered’, your brain has turned to goo…..MOSH……MOSH…..MOSH…… RAAAARRR. It’s some of the best – and purest – heavy music you’ll ever hear.

    The guitars of Patrik Jensen and Andreas Bjorler were the key to this maniacal display of power, laying down riff after killer riff which far more successful American bands would shamelessly plagiarise in future years. And in Peter Dolving, The Haunted had a truly special vocalist and lyricist whose sense of melody and timing takes every song up a notch. ‘The Haunted’ was a special record released at a time when the landscape of true metal was parched and barren. 15 years later, it still sounds like it could kill you at 50 paces. Lamb Of God are often hailed as the saviours of modern metal – they’ve never done anything which comes close to this.

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    Thrash Back: Vektor – Black Future (2010)

    Reviewing Vektor ultimately equates to struggling to compensate for the inadequacy of language. There are, simply, no adjectices which come close to suitably encapsulating the power of this band. ‘Vicious’, ‘furious’, ‘maniachal’ ‘vituperative’, ‘caustic’ – none of these words comes close to capturing the combination of relentless aggression and ambitious display of musical dexterity that this debut record encapsulates. Faster than Usein Bolt suffering from a bout of the shits, and more inventive than Tony Blair’s PR team, this is Thrash which manages to be progressive without diluting the savage intensity which is at the core of all great metal. ‘Black Future’ should be heralded as a metal classic.

    The title-track is a beast of a song. Riff after riff after motherfucking riff keeps coming as the song spirals through time-changes and multiple sections. ‘Oblivion’ features riffs which sound the way you wish Metallica would – metal played on the edge of broken souls, wounded and raging. Nods to Mercyful Fate and Celtic Frost dynamics make things sound twisted and macabre, but those influences come in a very contemporary dress. ‘Forests of Legend’ is 10 minutes which sound like nothing you’ve ever heard, a piece of music that is at once beautiful, inspiring and possessed and shot-through with the feavered energy which makes metal great. The guitars sound like light dying. ‘Destroying the Cosmos’ sounds like its title suggests – an epic of demented proportions; and on ‘Asteroid’ and ‘Hunger for Violence’ Vektor prove that they can out-Thrash ANYONE. This is some of the heaviest stuff these ears have ever heard – the sort of music that approaches a Converge-like intensity.

    Guitarist Erik Nelson solos like a man with 10 fingers on each hand and a brain wired backwards. The energy and savagery of his tone drives this album forward, compelled by the frenetic energy of drummer Blake Anderson. This is futurist playing for futuristic themes – outer space, DNA and the apocalypse. Perfect themes for epic, metal-strewn sonic tapestries. On 12-minutes closer ‘Accelerating Universe’ music becomes cinematic – the band take in Pink Floyd, Camel, and Isis. As Opeth gave Black Metal a creative shot in the arm, so Vektor do the same for Thrash.

    There is a lot of music here. But multiple listens prove rewarding. Unlike much Thrash metal, in which songs become ephemeral in the face of the hypnotic onslaught of riffs, Vektor manage to make songs which are lasting. One of the most exciting bands on the planet.

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    King 810 – Memoirs of A Murderer (2014)

    I am normally highly suspicious of hype, and few bands in the past 10 years have received more hype than King 810. Hailing from the darkened streets of Flint, Michigan, this bunch of tough-guys know what it’s like to see the dark side of urban decline and poverty – they, we are told, bring a much needed grittiness to the metal scene. They – to borrow urban parlance – are ‘real’. Excuse me while I stroke my chin.

    Not that ‘Memoirs….’ isn’t a good debut record – it is a very good debut record – but I’m not sure it needs the hype (or the overbearing spoken interludes from vocalist David Guin telling us how badass his life is) to sell it. Musically, King 810 are incredibly inventive. Is it metal? Not necessarily be conventional standards: not all of the songs feature heavy guitars, there’s certainly no nod to conventional sub-genres (Death, Thrash, metalcore), and much of what is here is not even riff-driven. Indeed, King 810 owe as much to punk, country and goth as they do Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath. And in that sense, ‘Memoirs…’ is incredibly refreshing. Honest, even. But lyrically – whilst certainly unconventional – the themes quickly become tired: guns, knives, gangs, urban neglect and the suffocation that comes with it. ‘Write what you know…’ they say – but you have to wonder how much of this is contrived. That sense of doubt leaves the record feeling ever so slightly incomplete.

    It’s hard not to be impressed, however. Opener ‘Killem All’ sounds like early Slipknot: intense, abrasive and channelling the vital eeriness of Nu Metal to highly effective ends. ‘Best Nite Of My Life’ welds hardcore to some brutal bottom-end and comes on with a psychotic intensity. Elsewhere, the acoustic ‘Take It’ is highly affective, and approaches the claustrophobic grandeur of Nick Cave, with the harrowing ‘Devil Don’t Cry’ trumping it as an exercise in the macabre. Few bands could switch styles so comfortably and still make the results feel like a complete record. Are all of the 16 songs here A+? No – but the whole is far, far more than the sum of its parts, and only an absolute cretin would doubt that King 810 have made one of the most refreshing debut records in a decade.

    But are they worthy of the hype surrounding them? Only time will tell. There are moments here where the violence of Flint appears to be glorified rather than chronicled. That’s not to say that ‘Memoirs….’ engages in cheap thrills (it is a harrowing piece of music), but you do wonder if the subject of over-bearing violence might have been treated with far, far greater sensitivity. Had that been the case, King 810 might have produced an album that was provocative rather than just provoking.

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    Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – World On Fire (2014)

    There are two facts you need to know about Slash: 1) he played on one of the greatest albums ever made; and 2) it came out 27 years ago. That’s not meant to sound snippy. Some of the stuff Slash has done since then has been great (‘Ain’t Life Grand’) and much of it has been good (‘Velvet Revolver’), but could you really say, hand on heart, that Slash’s status as a guitar-player is matched by the calibre of material he’s played on? There’s nothing wrong with Velvet Revolver per se, but no-one is sat around equally anticipating the release of their b-sides; and Slash’s previous solo record – ‘Apocalyptic Love’ (2012) – sounded exactly like what it was – an unimaginatively solid rock record made by middle-aged men all too aware of the fact that they’d only ever play a handful of its tunes on the subsequent tour. Not bad; but far from exciting.

    It is comforting, then, to report that ‘World On Fire’ pisses all over ‘Apocalyptic Love’. There are moments here with serious vim, verve and lust. Sure, you know the solos are going to be good and that Slash has a seemingly endless supply of serpentine riffs, but you didn’t know that he had songs left in him like this. The title-track kicks things off with piss ‘n’ vinegar – a superb rock ‘n’ roll belter propelled by a euphoric Kennedy chorus. ‘Withered Delilah’ kicks like a mule and features the sort of riff you’d sell a kidney to write; ‘Beneath The Savage Sun’ – which is about elephant poaching – is impassioned and rips from the speakers; ‘Battleground’ is a beautiful, affecting ballad which screams ‘radio play’; and ’30 Years To Life’ features one of Kennedy’s best hooks. You often hear that rock is dying – here is proof that it ain’t.

    It’s a shame, however, that these songs aren’t given the opportunity to really shine. The sad fact is that they become lost in the surrounding clutter of an over-bloated album. No blues-based hard rock record needs to be 77 minutes long and feature 17 – seven-fucking-teen – songs. The world did not need to hear duds like ‘Stone Blind’ (cliché alert: man flees over-bearing women), ‘The Dissident’ (a b-side if I’ve ever heard one) and the instrumental ‘Safari Inn’). Nor did we need the Alter Bridge-lite power ballad ‘Bent To Fly’. And it’s also true that sometimes Kennedy fits into this band like a nun in a brothel. ‘Dirty Girl’ and ‘Automatic Overdrive’ possess sizzling riff, but Kennedy’s attempts to do sleaze sound excruciatingly uncomfortable. No-one could deny that he has an remarkable set of pipes. But he’s not a baddass – Slash’s band should be 4 tough dudes, not 3 men and a baby.

    ‘World On Fire’ is ultimately a good record overcooked. In straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll, less is more. Slash knows this about guitar playing – now all he needs to do is to learn it about album production, too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by binnie View Post
    King 810 – Memoirs of A Murderer (2014)

    I am normally highly suspicious of hype, and few bands in the past 10 years have received more hype than King 810. Hailing from the darkened streets of Flint, Michigan, this bunch of tough-guys know what it’s like to see the dark side of urban decline and poverty – they, we are told, bring a much needed grittiness to the metal scene. They – to borrow urban parlance – are ‘real’. Excuse me while I stroke my chin.

    Not that ‘Memoirs….’ isn’t a good debut record – it is a very good debut record – but I’m not sure it needs the hype (or the overbearing spoken interludes from vocalist David Guin telling us how badass his life is) to sell it. Musically, King 810 are incredibly inventive. Is it metal? Not necessarily be conventional standards: not all of the songs feature heavy guitars, there’s certainly no nod to conventional sub-genres (Death, Thrash, metalcore), and much of what is here is not even riff-driven. Indeed, King 810 owe as much to punk, country and goth as they do Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath. And in that sense, ‘Memoirs…’ is incredibly refreshing. Honest, even. But lyrically – whilst certainly unconventional – the themes quickly become tired: guns, knives, gangs, urban neglect and the suffocation that comes with it. ‘Write what you know…’ they say – but you have to wonder how much of this is contrived. That sense of doubt leaves the record feeling ever so slightly incomplete.

    It’s hard not to be impressed, however. Opener ‘Killem All’ sounds like early Slipknot: intense, abrasive and channelling the vital eeriness of Nu Metal to highly effective ends. ‘Best Nite Of My Life’ welds hardcore to some brutal bottom-end and comes on with a psychotic intensity. Elsewhere, the acoustic ‘Take It’ is highly affective, and approaches the claustrophobic grandeur of Nick Cave, with the harrowing ‘Devil Don’t Cry’ trumping it as an exercise in the macabre. Few bands could switch styles so comfortably and still make the results feel like a complete record. Are all of the 16 songs here A+? No – but the whole is far, far more than the sum of its parts, and only an absolute cretin would doubt that King 810 have made one of the most refreshing debut records in a decade.

    But are they worthy of the hype surrounding them? Only time will tell. There are moments here where the violence of Flint appears to be glorified rather than chronicled. That’s not to say that ‘Memoirs….’ engages in cheap thrills (it is a harrowing piece of music), but you do wonder if the subject of over-bearing violence might have been treated with far, far greater sensitivity. Had that been the case, King 810 might have produced an album that was provocative rather than just provoking.
    I'll be seeing these guys tomorrow night Binnie. Thanks for the review!

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