Geist & the Sacred Ensemble : "Waning Hymns"

After a month of death metal, I will take some doom folk to cleanse my palate. The emphasis here might be more on doom. The vocals are low moaned baritone, that begins to make me think these guys might be a Swans tribute act in disguise. The way the vocals shift pitch is very Gira. At least his more recent work. They drone is cool. I also like how brooding this is. I love Swans . That means I have mixed emotions. I get the ritual part. That is cool for what it is. Though feels almost like they are trying too hard. Opening you album with an ll minute song is asking a lot from me. But the Swans do it you say. They earned their place showing me they can write all kinds of songs. So what we have here might be a case of sound achieved , now write a song.

I like the wavering melody summoned on the second song. Once again however the vocals are just moaning out notes . I like the fact he is using his voice as a narrative, but Micheal Gira makes it all stick. If you want to be him, you gotta make it stick. Gira knows less is more. He also know when to bring the more. With that said there is a more minimal atmosphere to "Volition". The band claims this is a study of western attention spans. From what I have read on these guys I like the social commentary they might be capable of. If we were given more lyrics to work with then perhaps we might find this coming through. The post rock vibes I am getting from this song are more enjoyable than the first song. It not that I did not like the first song . I just had a lot to sort through in regards to it. "Closed Eye" drones out and I space out.

I was listening to the last song when I looked up and it was back on the first song which was better than I remembered it being the first time. This means two things. 1 - These songs all have a similar throb to them. 2- this album has the potential to grow on me. Though it is more likely I will dry out "the Great Annihilator" when I am in the mood for this sort of thing. I will give this one an 8. It has more depth than most of the stuff out there, but if you are looking for catchy songs keep clicking.

Horseneck : "Fever Dream"

Not sure why I waited this long to give the album a shot. It came out back in Febuary , which is our Black Metal History Month, so it slipped between the cracks as I was focused on black metal. Seems like they are more in a rock n roll direction on this one. The vocals coast along not unlike Queens of the Stoneage. There is a great deal of retro fanfare to what they do. They dial up the intensity for the second song. The vocals are more explosive and screamed , think hardcore not metal. They get pretty pummelling in this meth addled race. "Happy Level Lafter" is more bass driven and dual vocals to give more of a groove. There is a good dynamic shift to "Porcelin Ass". The screaming feels like old Kvelertak. Since Kvelertak doesn't do that any more then you know where to get your fix for drunken punk party rock.

They are good at drunken punk party rock, but the darker more melodic feeling captured on "Red Curtain" works better for me. Julie Bee of Sea of Bees lends her voice to the song. They continue down a moody road, with the Chelsea Wolfe influence coming out on "A Discarded Mess" .  They lumber back with a powerful sludge riff for "Matt Lauer's Secret Button". They certainly score points for song titles. How much of this is reflected in the lyrics, I am not sure. "Sleeping With Sliverfish" is more of a moody grunge ballad. Then they are back to kicking up dust and thunder with the rowdy rock fest that is "Grease".

There is more of a noise rock stomp to "Mr. Funny Guy, Full of Bullshit". The yelled vocals keep the drunken punk party rock going . The drunk punk party rock  vibes are proved true by the title of the last song "Margaritadelphia". There is a chant in it of "Every thing in moderation" .  I will give this one a 9, its kinda sludge kinda drunk punk party rock, and even grunge in spots, what it is not is a sophomore slump, as they came back with their songwriting hats on.

Death is June -The Top 50 Death Metal Albums of all Time : 10 to 1

Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. With death metal it tends to unify around certain works, so you might have hundreds of bands trying to be Morbid Angel. This means that some artists are more impactful. They made an impact because of the quality of their work so if they have released abums that are so dominating to the genre that they deserve multiple slots, only two bands got three slot, four other bands took two slots. There is a wide array of sub genre's represented here, granted this is my list so darker more satanic death metal and progressive death metal might out number tech death or grind core. Not al ofthe bands remained death metal bands , but they made a death metal album deserving of this list. If I have reviewed said album then I will include the link to the review.  Ok, it's death metal not quantum mechanics , so here we go into the top 10 death metal albums of all time.




10-Obituary-"the End Complete"1992 



 We have now reached a place where brutality alone will not do. Their 3rd abum finds them with songwriting dialed in to almost perfect.



 



9- Bolt Thrower - "Realm of Chaos" 1989



This album has more groove and hook to the riffs than the others .



 



8-Nocturnus- "the Key" 1990



 Morbid Angel's orignal drummer decided it was time to take Satan into space and made the most under rated death band ever. The keyoards stand out rather than just add texture.



 


7- Sepultura - "Arise" 1991 


 With the album that followed they would step away from death metal, here they just attacked it with a refined thrashing fury. And wrote great songs while they were at it.




 



6-Entombed - "Wolverine Blues"


1993 Why did it beat out Left Hand Path for this spot ? Better songs. "Full of Hell" alone beats that album. Called the beginning of death n roll, perhaps but it is still plenty aggressive.



 



5-Opeth -Black Water Park" - 2001



 Melodic yet capable of darkness and brutality. Deliverence is also a great album, this one just retains the death metal bite.



 



4-Deicide -Deicide" 1990


' Feral and their most evil sounding. Might take the number one spot if I was making a top ten most satanic death metal albums, even diverting into songs about Charles Manson and Evil Dead.


 


3-Cynic -"Focus" -1993

This is what progressive death metal should be like. It has all the shred you might want and still have songs that are not just bookends for guitar solos. Mind blowing


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/06/death-is-june-looking-back-in-anger-at.html


 


2-Carcass -"Necroticism Descanting the Insalubrious" 1991


 Having evolved from grind core , they decided to write some fucking songs that would rule, with riffs that command head banging decades later.

 



1-Morbid Angel- "Blessed Are the Sick"

 Not only the best death metal album, but one of the best metal abums ever made period.



 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/06/death-is-june-looking-back-in-anger-at_15.html

Death is June - the Top 50 Death Metal Albums of All Time : 20 to 11

 Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. With death metal it tends to unify around certain works, so you might have hundreds of bands trying to be Morbid Angel. This means that some artists are more impactful. They made an impact because of the quality of their work so if they have released abums that are so dominating to the genre that they deserve multiple slots, only two bands got three slot, four other bands took two slots. There is a wide array of sub genre's represented here, granted this is my list so darker more satanic death metal and progressive death metal might out number tech death or grind core. Not al ofthe bands remained death metal bands , but they made a death metal album deserving of this list. If I have reviewed said album then I will include the link to the review.  Ok, it's death metal not quantum mechanics , so here we go .


20-Pulchra Morte- "Divina Autem et Aniles" 2019


 This was the number one death metal album here for 2019



 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/02/pulchra-morte-divina-autem-et-aniles.html


 



19-Daath - "the Hinderers" 2006


Balanced shredding with tasteful song writing and hooky riffs.



 




18-Unleashed- "Where No Life Dwells" 1991 


 When this came out it felt like the darkest juggernaut of death metal I had heard. It might not be the case now, but the songs have held up over time, which is more than you can say for many bands from this era.



 




17-Edge of Sanity- "Crimson" 1996 



Another album that was way ahead of it's time. Dan Swano is a genius.



 


15-Tribulation- 'Children of the Night" 2015



Not only the best death metal album of 2015, but the best metal album of 2015.



   https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2015/03/tribulation-children-of-night.html



 




14-Fear Factory-"Soul of a New Machine" 1992


 They went in a more industrial groove direction , but let us not forget their death metal beginnings.


 


13- Cannibal Corpse-"the Bleeding"


Once upon a time death metal was mean spirited and did not give a fuck. I miss those days, this album embodies them.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/06/death-is-june-looking-back-in-anger-at_18.html



 




12- Meshuggah- "Nothing" 2002 


 These guys at one time where even more death metal. The vocals shifted into more of a bark that you hear here and their music went to a galaxy far away. This album was them at the threshold of stepping away from death metal, but still rooted in death metal aggression, they became so progressive that evolved into the infinate.




 



11- Morbid Angel- " Altars of Madness"


 This is without a doubt a justified classic. But did the band grow beyond this? I think so .


 

Mix Tape Mania - Summer Edition

Cognitive Behavorial Therapy teaches distraction as a tool to deal with distress tolerance. Aside from masturbation music is one of the best forms of distraction. In fact some days all I need is to have my soundtrack reset. Considering the stressors from the outside world these days we need many sound track resets, almost on a daily basis. So if the batteries are dead or lube has been squeezed dry, these songs might help. All of them but one are from 2020, and the song that is from 2019 is still less than a year old so it might stilll have that new car smell.






Carpenter Brut : "Gone now "


 



Nadine Shah : Ladies For Babies "


 


 Sound VVitch : "Like Leather, Like Flesh"


 

 Mushroom Head : "Heresy"


 


 Paradise Lost - "Ending Days"


 


 Mrs. Piss -"You Took Everything"


 


Strvngers- "Crucifixx"



 


Charli XCX- "C.20"


 


 Katatonia : "Neon Epitaph"


 


 Igorrr- "Downgrade Desert"



 

Death is June - the Top 50 Death Metal Albums of All Time - 30 to 21

-

Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. With death metal it tends to unify around certain works, so you might have hundreds of bands trying to be Morbid Angel. This means that some artists are more impactful. They made an impact because of the quality of their work so if they have released abums that are so dominating to the genre that they deserve multiple slots, only two bands got three slot, four other bands took two slots. There is a wide array of sub genre's represented here, granted this is my list so darker more satanic death metal and progressive death metal might out number tech death or grind core. Not al ofthe bands remained death metal bands , but they made a death metal album deserving of this list. If I have reviewed said album then I will include the link to the review.  Ok, it's death metal not quantum mechanics , so here we go .



30-Necros Christos -"Doom of the Occult" 2011


The album that got me into this band that flies the "occult death metal" banner the highest. What does that even mean? Well really fucking dark.


 





29-Incantation - "Dirges of Elysium" 2014


 Better riffs and more dynamic than "Onward to Galgotha"


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/11/incantation-dirges-of-elysium.html



 


28-GoatWhore - "Vengeful Ascension" 2017


 With the blackness out of their system they settled down on made an awesome death metal album.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/05/goatwhore-vengeful-ascension.html



 



27- VADER- "Return to the Morbid Reich" 2011


 In the midway into their career they hit the perfect songwriting blend of thrash and death metal.



 



 26-ACID WITCH - "EVIL SOUND SCREAMERS"2017


 Halloween death metal ...how can you go wrong ? You can't



 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2017/10/gothtober-acid-witch-evil-sound.html



  >



25-Morbid Angel - "Domination" 1995



1995 The last great David Vincent album.


 




24- Mortuary Drape - "Spiritual Independence"



Italian blackened death metal, bigger on being creepy than blast beats .


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2014/12/mortuary-drape-spiritual-independence.html



 



23-Obituary -" World Demise"1994

When this album came out I was not ready for it. Listening back you can hear how fucking crushing it is and one of the few 90s abums where production stood the test of time.






22-Deicide -" Legion" 1992



 Relentless from the moment you press play and they never let up.


 



21-Sepultura - "Beneath the Remains" 1989 



 When this album came out it felt like it was ahead of it's time. Now the rest of the world has caught up to it



.


\

Hum : "Inlet"

Here is a band that was ahead of their time. They never fit neatly into any one sub genre. Alternative being a broad umbrella in the 90s. They are ctied as an influence from bands such as the Deftones and Deafheaven heaven . They are metal adjacent though were much closer  to being metal on their first to independent albums than when they made it to MTV. If you are counting their 1995 album "You'r Prefer an Astronaut" as their first album then this would be their third. The hazey shoe gaze waver of guitars is even more pronounced as if they are self aware of being thought of as the more mainstream rock version of My Bloody Valentine.

The rock part of this equation is more pronounced on the second song. There are not just dialing it and replicating previous albums.There is more of the Helmet like stomp to "Step Into You" . The vocal falls into their typical relaxed almost crooned indifference . They retained the more punchy sound going into "the Summoning" which despite their metal past sounds like a more metal song title than I would expect from them. The masterfully atmosphere when the sludge like amble of the verse riff. "Cloud City" is dynamic and floats with a pleasing bob. Another indicator at how they are capable of balancing two polarities. They hit their classic sound in a very compact fashion on "Falling". The last song delves deeper into shoe gaze than we have heard from the band before . 22 years later and still able to pick up where they left off. I will give this one a 9.5

Death is June - The Top 50 Death Metal Albums of All Time :40 to 31

Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. With death metal it tends to unify around certain works, so you might have hundreds of bands trying to be Morbid Angel. This means that some artists are more impactful. They made an impact because of the quality of their work so if they have released abums that are so dominating to the genre that they deserve multiple slots, only two bands got three slot, four other bands took two slots. There is a wide array of sub genre's represented here, granted this is my list so darker more satanic death metal and progressive death metal might out number tech death or grind core. Not al ofthe bands remained death metal bands , but they made a death metal album deserving of this list. If I have reviewed said album then I will include the link to the review.  Ok, it's death metal not quantum mechanics , so here we go .




40-Creeping Death - 'Wretched Illusions" 2019 


 Not all great death metal comes from the 90s, some just sounds like it does

.
 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/08/creeping-death-wretched-illusions.html


 


 39 -Death -"Individual thought patterns" - 1993 



 The Death metal super group. Stunning playing and Gene kills it on the kit.



 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2020/06/death-is-june-looking-back-in-anger-at_35.html



 



38- Deicide- 'Once Upon the Cross" 1995





Of the first three albums this one is the most well produced, though lacks the multitracked vocals. Angrier but not as crazed demonic.



 



37 Nightffell- " the Living Ever Mourn" 2015

 Yes, dudes from Hardcore bands can play metal. Borders on death doom, before that became a thing.

 



36-Rotting Christ- "Aealo" 2010



 They are often thought of as a black metal band, but despite the goth trappings added to their sound it has more of an epic death metal aggression to it.



 


35-Cancer-"Death Shall Rise" 1991 


 I wore this tape out in high school. This British band  is very grooving and song oriented.



 




34-Pestilence- " Consuming Impulse" 1989



 This is a mean machine. It goes for the throat where their later albums got weird in the best ways . This one was ahead of it's time.




 


33 - Morbid Angel- "Domination"1995 



1995 The last album with David Vincent that mattered . They peaked with song writing here.




 


32- Entombed - " Left hand path  " 1990


 Yes, this is a great album. No it is not the best death metal album. It is not even the best album by Entombed.



 



31- Ruin -"Human Annihilation" 2018


 The dark ugliness of this album grew on me and lyrically it is even more relevent.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/11/ruin-human-annihilation.html



 

Death is June - The Top 50 Death Metal Albums of All Time : 50 to 41

In 2016 I wrote an article called "What is Good Death Metal" , the link is below

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/07/what-is-good-death-metal.html

 My thought on what makes for effective death metal has not changed in the past 4 years. This is reflected in the albums that will be listed here. Normally I try to limit it to one album per artist. With death metal it tends to unify around certain works, so you might have hundreds of bands trying to be Morbid Angel. This means that some artists are more impactful. They made an impact because of the quality of their work so if they have released abums that are so dominating to the genre that they deserve multiple slots, only two bands got three slot, four other bands took two slots. There is a wide array of sub genre's represented here, granted this is my list so darker more satanic death metal and progressive death metal might out number tech death or grind core. Not al ofthe bands remained death metal bands , but they made a death metal album deserving of this list. If I have reviewed said album then I will include the link to the review.  Ok, it's death metal not quantum mechanics , so here we go .

50- Terrorizer- "World Downfall" 1989

 Pete from Morbid Angel blasted into one of the earliest meetings of grind core and death metal with help from the vocalist of Nausea.

 
49- Withered - Grief Relic" 2016 At the time I reviewed this four years ago, I gave it an 8.5 , needless to say it grew on me. https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2016/05/withered-grief-relic.html



48- the Faceless - "Planetary Duaity 2 " 2008 


 This progressive death meta band is one of the few new school technical death metal bands that is going to be on here. There are some Myspace like break downs but it is balanced out by lyrics about aliens .


 


47-Arsis- "A Ceebration of Guilt" 2004 


 This album found the band both tightly coiled and angry, they would eventually go in more of a thrash direction , but this album has a catchy snarl to it.



 



46-Dismember- "Like an Everflowing Stream" 1991


 Rough edged Swedish death metal before all the death metal bands coming out of Sweden sounded like this .


 


45 Six Feet  Under- "Haunted" 1995

 When Chris Barnes left Cannibal Corpse he had something to prove. More mainstream metal moments occur hear, but it stands shoulder to shoulder with Cannibal Corpse in terms of songwriting. 







44- Disma - "Towards the Megalith" 2011


 One of the heaviest albums ever made. Boasting members of Incantation, they pretty much pick up where "Onward to Galgotha" left off.



 





43- Assuck- "Misery Index" 1997

The most grind core album on the entire list, but it is still firmly rooted in death metal, so all those crust punks with these patches really just listen to death metal.


 

42-Sentenced -"North From Here" 1993 

Moving a more melodic direction this band from Finland carried the agression of the first album and continued to refined it.

 



41-Dethklok- " the Dethalbum" - 2007


 This belongs here if for nothing else ...Murmaider"



 

Rosegarden Funeral Party : "At the Stake"

What I can tell I am going to need from this project one minute into it , is to hear where the Siouxsie tribute ends and where they begin. Vocally she does make different choice in where her intervals go in terms of melody. Tonal is where the Siouxsie Tribute begins. Her backing band is not doing her any real favors , though the guitar offers the most chance of redemption as it can hit a bouncy punk jangle after droning on the same single note melody most of the song. Perhaps it is where they sit in the mix but the drums and bass do not slither or drive the way they should. The arrangement of the first song played into this to some extent as they are more present going into "Tortured Decline". Lyrically it lost love lamentations. The guitar continue to push for a more rock direction and vocally she is willing to accomodate.

There is a smoother dynamic dialing back of intensity for what is the best song so far with "Salvation and Saving Face". This shows the Siouxsie influnce can work and nbe molded into their won thing. Does it still have that vibe? Yes, and the melodies are strong enough that it doesn't matter. There are other bands who can take a band's sound and make it work by writing damn good songs to distract you from this fact. Chevelle and their early Tool fixation being one case in point. They are more explosive on "Justifacation" and while it might work well live it is still not as good as the previous song. She does go into more of a head register, which is what I need to hear more of from her. She does have some power to her voice , but not get a great deal of vocal colors . Though she has  nice alto rnage she dip down into .

The singer of Sub Sahara joins her on "Ghost of You" . It goes past Siouxsie and feels more like Savages. The bass is not as beefy as Savages , nor are they as aggressive as Savages. The song is very well written. I will give this album a 9. See you thought since I was going to be a little bristly about the Siouxsie thing that I would just pick this apart in the worst way, and I am a tough audience when it comes to this sort of thing , because I have been listening to Siouxsie for 25 years , but they are good at what they do and excellent song writers worthy of carrying the goth torch now that we have not heard anything from Savages.

Carach Angren : "Frankensteina Strataemontanus"

I normally have to brace myself for the theatrical narrative of this band, but this album is about "Frankenstein" or at least monsters as the lyrics from the first song throws black cats and other ghoulds into the mix. The drums are a little thin and the vocals are way up front. Might just need head phones for this album. They stay at a pretty speedy pace, but while in the same sonic zip code as Cradle of Filth, I prefer what these guys do. The bounce to the title track gives a nice groove that I can get on board with. Not as heavy, but it is cool,There is also carnival like bounce to "the Necromancer'. They are like a more playful less proggy version of Sigh with how the strings sit on "Sewn for Solitude" . The sung vocals are even better than when they first appear. Not giving a hook , but introspective musing. Normally the vocals are an articulate snarl.

They get more death metal on "Operation Compass" . It gets more melodic as it progresses. "Monster" is more deliberatly paces almost likea death metal version of Tom Waits. "Der Vampir von Number" we have skipped over to Nazi scientists, so maybe it is the concept of re-animating that this album is about unless we are tying that into Frankenstein mythology , which the movie  "Frankenstein's Army' did. This song is more jarring in the fun house turns it takes. They return to the heaviness on "Skull With a Forked Tongue" . It is not in your face a hundred percent, but has a more aggressive death metal drive aside from how a few blast beats are used. We are not even going to talk about what happened with these guys being black metal as they crossed that bridge moons ago. The drumming is pretty impressive how he comes around the kit. Their synth player is also earning his pay, every one else does their job and serves the song , but do not take the spotlight.

"Like a Conscious Parasite Roam" could very well be a Dimmu Borgir song, as it indulges in symphonic bloat. It loses the flair that gives this band it's personality. While well done it could be one of a hundred symphonic metal bands. They regain their sense of self on "Fredrick's Explosion" that loses some of the song writing magic they had and feels like Stephen King dialing in an edngin just to finish. Overall this is one of their better albums so I will give it a 9. If you are a fan you will like it.

Report to the Dance Floor : Carpenter Brut : "Blood Machines Soundtrack"

It is hard to review something like this is the normal way I approach albums as being very song based. I think this soundtrack was an essential part of the movie "Blood Machines" . The movie was like an acid trip in the sense you heard everything you saw, and saw everything you heard. I did a review of the movie on my horror blog, so I will give my short review of it which is "Give director Seth Ickerman all the money in Hollywood so he can make every cosmic Marvel movie that is going to come out along with any adaptations of Lovecraft. He needs to make "At the Mountains of Madness" as he shows that he undestands the scop of a cosmic creature like Cthulhu. The vintage snyth sounds made other worldly set the stage.

If you take away the movie and sit this music on it's own it is still enjoyable. Perhaps not as much so. Synth wave is not my thing. I no longer to the kind of drugs that make listening to Vangelis or Tangerine Dream my jam. On "Souls Wreck" things get into darker atmosphere than the kraut rock this comes from. Not industrial, but there are more metallic synth sounds, to convey the aggression. This was no a violent movie. Violent acts did occur, but tonally the femenine nergy to this film toned it down. 'Heart Ship" bubbles with atmosphere , but does not have the kind of moving groove found in the theme songs played earlier on. Distant choirs echo in the abyss.

The tense pulse that moved the film in the third chapter is more fun to listen to. The bigger melodies that worked off the dynamics of the story still connect. There is more brooding as the antagonist was not clear throughout the bulk of the movie. More grooving than Queen's "Flash Gordon" soundtrack, just without the anthemic vocals. Yes I could here some of these peices worked into a dj's set. I guess I will need to make a dj set to show you how it's done. Granted even the most moving peices here are working off the established theme.  French dream pop band Pencey Sloe collaborates on the theme song that is more of a song called "Gone Now". I will give this a 9 it is good for what it is and a must if you are already into synth wave.

Death is June - Looking Back in Anger at Death's "Individual Thought Patterns"

So how does this album hold up over time ? If for no other reason I have to love this album because Andy Larocque , my favorite metal guitarist plays on it. You can hear some of Andy's influence in the riffing "In Human Form" comes to mind. Gene Hoglan joined the band for this album.  Sadus bassist Steve Di Giorgio played on "Human" so stuck around for this album making this the most impressive line up of this band. 'Jealousy" is a good song ,but lyrically , I think much like Carcass when this album came out in 1993 I was pissed because they were growling about getting their feelings hurt. As far as more technocal metal goes the opening riff to "Trapped in a Corner' is pretty cool. Like most of the songs on here the riffs wind around each other and are aided by the rubbery bass lines of Di Giorgio who plays around them like jazz. When they hit the grooves and lock in all together the results are fucking sick.

"Nothing is Everything" allows Gene to prove he might be the best metal drummer ever. "Mentally Blind" is best when is slows into the more melodic section, when it is off to the races I begin to check out. They pulls out some classic metal moments that work pretty well after the solo. There are some cool accented section in the title track , but here is when the math becomes dense and I once again begin to check out slightly, I think back when I was smoking pot this kind of death metal was easier to pay attention to. I check back in for 'Out of Touch" . There is alos kind of a John Tardy emoting to Chuck's voice that is evolved since "Leprosy" .  The bass freak out is pretty awesome leading into the solo. But as a song well, it's metal.

The album does have a solid ending I will give it a 9.5 , some of that is my threshold hold for high wanking metal tapered in the second act. If that is your sort of thing then round it up I think for sure for what this is it deserves to be some where among the great death metal albums. Andy's playing is stellar and I think this album serves as a testament to what this kind of tech/. prog metal can , be and no that was not meant as a pun since half of this band is now Testament.





4

Death is June - "the End Complete" vs "World Demise"

I had so much fun pitting "Slowly We Rot" against "Cause of Death" I decided I needed to to the same with "the End Complete" and "World Demise".  The 1992 album might have the advantage over their 1994 one , but I have never gone track by track to see how they stack up against one another so here we go.

"I'm in Pain"  vs " Don't Care"

Wow , where the scales are tipped here is production wise "Don't Care" is more in your face and urgent.

EC-

WD- 1

"Back to One" vs " World Demise"

'Back to One" is a good song the title track is just more powerful.

EC-
WD-2

"Dead Silent" vs ""Burned in"

"Dead Silent" is one of my favorite Obituary songs, so very little contest here.

EC 1
WD 2

 ' In the End of Life " vs "Redefine"

The further we get into the 90s the weirder of a time it gets for metal. "End Compete" can not touch it in terms of production so where were they as song writers? These are two very different types of songs but "Redefine" is better

EC 1
WD 3

"Sickness"  vs  " Paralyzing"

"Sickness" has a nasty punk thing to it's attitude that does not compensate against the more weighted chug of the other song.

EC 1
WD 4

"Corrosive" vs "Lost"

"Corrisive " edges out the more powerful lost , just on the merties of better writing.

EC 2
WD 4

 "Killing Time" vs "Solid State"

As "the End Complete" progresses the songs get stronger, so we are seeing it become a battle of sound vs songs. Songs always win.

EC 3
WD 4

 'End Complete"  vs  " Splattered "

Very close, both great songs the title track edges it out.

EC 4
WD 4


"Rotting Ways" vs "Final Thoughts"

"Final Thoughts" just has catchier punches and is more nuanced writing.  Making the winner 'World Demise"  5 to 4

Death is June - "Slowly We Rot " Vs "Cause of Death"

I am going to do something different and put two Obituary albums head to head. Their 1989 is going up against their 1990 album. We are going track by track to see which album is better.

"Internal Bleeding" vs "Infected"

Both are good songs this is hard I think "Internal Bleeding" edges it out for the win

SWR-1
COD

"Godly Beings" Vs "Body Bag"

The question is where did they use blasts of speed the most tastefully ? "Body Bag" wins

SWR-1
COD-1

"Til Death" vs "Chopped in Half"

There is a mean groove that shows up in "Til Death"  and "Chopped in Half' " is a pretty straightforward flurry of double bass. "Til Death" takes it

SWR 2
COD- 1


"Slowly We Rot" vs "Circle of the Tyrants"

At first I thought it would not be  fair to put them upagainst a Celtic Frost cover, but the title track is a better song , than I remembered , but the cover wins out. 

SWR-2
COD-2

"Immortal Visions" vs "Dying"

"Dying" has more restraint and a better double bass pattern thus winning,

SWR-2
COD-3

"Gates of Hell " vs "Find the Arise"

"Gates of Hell" is more sonically interesting than the rather feral " Find the Arise"

SWR-3
COD- 3

"Words of Evil"  vs "Cause of Death"

The more nuanced guitar of the title track trumps the explosive "Words of Evil"

SWR-3
COD- 4

"Suffocation"  vs "Memories Remain"

This is a pretty tough one. I think "Suffocation" is too good of a demostration of how they can play with lots of drive without letting their momentum get the best of them. When they slow back down it just has more dynamic range despite the melodic moments of the other song.

SWR-4
COD-4

It now comes down to

"Intoxicated" vs "Turned Inside Out"

At the one minute mark they are mean as fuck on " Intoxicated" . It is going to boild down to which song uses more restaint over speed. The vocals on "Turned Inside Out" rule. They lock around the riff and it is just catchier

"Cause of Death" takes it 5 to 4

Mushroomhead :" A Wonderful Life"

The first hurdle I had to get past with this band was the idea they are just a rip off of Slipknot. This is still not a 100 percent off base assumption, but listening to them I can hear the difference and this band's distinct personality. The other issue was the  two vocalists thing is something I havea hard tme accepting as I am of the mind set why not get a vocalist that can do both. Now where I can accept this is with KMFDM, as one is male the other female. That is acceptable. Here they have three, having added their female vocalist Jackie LaPonza, who has been touring with the band to the permenant line up. I am fine with this.  I know there have been some line up changes so this is not going to be much of a sticking point for me as I had not given much of their previous work a listen until last night, from what I have heard it sounds like their new singer has a wider range as is better than their previous singer whose voice was too similar to their gravelly rapper singer.

I would say there are more overt goth / industrial influence that Slipknot and they might be influenced by Coal Chamber more than Slipknot. The slight circus feel to "What a Shame" some weight to this. This first four songs are all very well written and catchy.I think LaPonza, is on of their strengths as a band . Her  voice adds a soulful blues vibe not unlike Maria from In This Moment. "Pulse" has more of a radio rock feel, with Jackie's vocals proving more accessible. A similar vibe can be felt on the more rapped verses of "Carry On".  I can understand where long time fans might find this departure from their heavier nu-metal fare thinking this is a sell out , and I guess in some ways it is, though unsure what they are selling out to , not sure this is getting mainstream radio air play. I do know these songs are refined and well done, so that is an improvement in their over all musical quality and sheds some of the nu-metal tropes.

At 16 songs this is a double album. I can hear Faith No More influence on "the Time Has Come", not as bad as a band like 12 Foor Ninja pulls from. After some almost power ballad like moments they get more aggressive on " I am the One". These more common "Last Cup of Sorrow" moments do not begin to wear on me until "the Flood". The it is not bad , but I already own all the Faith No More albums, and the bark of the drill sargent vocals are not going to add or distract from this. With 16 songs I think they could have trimmed some fat and given us 11 great songs. I am glad Jackie returns on " When the End Begins" even if it is more of a ballad. I do not think this more melodic direction would have worked with their old singer. After a couple interludes one dramatic choral the other instrumental they return with what I am guessing is their more standard formula for rocking that should please long time fans .  I will give this a 9 due to the Faith No More power ballad drag in places, but over all impressive. As far as nu metal goes this has transcended the genre.

Death is June - Looking Back in Anger at Bolt Thrower's "Realm of Chaos"

This is a band where I have all their albums on my computer , and know there is a certain era I prefer , so when I dug into to How well has the band's 1992 album stood the test of time is what we are listening for here. I liked how dark the over all sound is. The guitars are not as refined as the production on some albums. It gives is a rawer murkier sound which works for what they are doing here., I am not sure what they are doin here, lends itself to the kind of song writing I find to be the band's best. Then "War Master" had more of the groove I was looking for. Later albums were more dialed in as far as production , but did not have the mean streak I wanted. Then went to my iTunes and figured out it was  "Realm of Chaos" I was looking for. It has "Plague Bearer" which is one of my favorite songs by these guys.


Some of the more speed centered moments of the opener I am not as into. "Through the Eyes of Terror" has that weighty chug that crushes at it's mid paced stomp I think when they do get caught up in the flurries of speed they are not playing to their strengths as much. The drumming is great and the guitar playing focuses on the songs rather than getting too technical. The growls used are farily easy to make out so when the chugs fall behind them like a wave or iron horses crashing down onto the battle field it feels very inspiring. Inspiring me to play D&D or lift weights. They are at times like Slayer on steroids. The riff to "Lost Souls Domain' is pretty savage. After osrting through half their albums to find this one, it is clear to me this is where they had their dark magic working best. 'World Eater is a good example as they are ferocious but still focused on the song. "Drowned in Torment" also works on a similar formula. There is almost a Deicide vibe, just not as mean spirited.

The groove to the title track is unstoppable. The double bass speeds things up on the last song "Porphet of Hatred". This kind of vibe reminds me a little of something from "IV Crusade" I think it just comes together better than the songs from that album. I can round this up to a 10 pretty easilly, so I think we will be seeing this album on our top 50 death metal albums of all time list.

Death is June - Looking Back in Anger at Hypocrisy 's "the Fourth Dimension"

As I sort through albums for the top 50 death metal albums of all time list , we are going back to take a listen at some album highly regarded to hear if they really belong there, This refresher course has offereed some eye opening facts about how well certain albums have stood the test of time. Here we find this band has  slowed things down and focused on the songs. This 1994 same year as At the Gates most popular album. Both bands are from Sweden.These guys have sung vocals in places, none of the good cop bad cop dynamic. It is just about whatever fit where it should fit. The doom paced opener borders on what we might call death doom today. The pace picks up on the second song going more into death metal. The vocals hold more purpose than your average growling. "Reborn" holds more groove.

The guitar parts on thsi album are very nuanced. "Black Forest " rages full speed ahead in a more deliberate fashion. "Never to Return" is more straight forward though it does have a slight swing to it. The solo section is more rock n roll , but everything else is very stompy mid paced death metal.
"Slaughtered" goes beyond just being a mean riff . Yes the rule here is ...cool riffs alone does not a good song make, yet the way they ride this riff is what makes it. "Orgy in Blood" is more typical for Swedish death metal in terms of the tightly coiled thrash influence in the riff. But will they stay mired in this sort of death metal ? The opening rif to " the North Wind" suggests otherwise, and even despite the more straight forward gallop, they give a little more groove to things. "T.E.M.P.T" is alos pretty groove heavy though not as compelling since it pretty much focuses on just speed.

Thankfully the title track backs off on some of the speed and focuses more on the dark mood we found earlier in the album. Overall this is a solid album, it does stick to death metal conventions more than I remembered , but has held up over time so I will give it a 9. Does that mean it is to be numbered among the top 50 death metal albums of all time? Not likely.

Death is June -Looking Back in Anger at At the Gates' "Slaughter of the Soul"

Among the cool kids of the metal scene this album has been held in high regard. It is a high water mark in terms of the Swedish death metal sound. Though the opener is equal parts thrash and death metal. How does this album stack up among their peers. This album came out in 1995 so a decade behind the first wave of death metal .  The shout of go before the title track explodes would ignite any pit for sure. Without question the title track is a great song. Have many bands that came after them drawn inspiration from what is going on here ? Yes. Does this hold it's own against classics like "Blessed Are the Sick". This is a more accesible beast than early Morbid Angel. I can also hear where kids that might have gotten in hard core or punk, might find this album a good entry point to European metal. 'Cold" really doesn't set it'self apart from the pack as much as  the title track. There is a melodic section and a cool riff preceeding it, but the rule here is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make" .

The one dimensional nature of what they do begins to click into place on " Under the Serpent Sun" . Lyrically it's a bunch of heavy metal nonsense metaphors. There are some melodic nuance, but not enough to really draw me in. Yeah , I have heard this album before, and never really paid a great deal of attention to it. They are mean and fast, but for some reason it does not strike me as all that dark. There is more grit to "Suicide Nation". It is odd that this is their fourth album that is held in such high regard when it is normally the band's first that get's this kind of fanfare. They race pretty furiously through "World of Lies". "Unto Others" is another high speed riff chase that offers a little more dynamic shift, but not much in terms of melody. The speed blasting chug fest continues on "Nausea". By this time I am beginning to get a little bored.

I guess if I was doing coke and just wanted to head bang the single minded aggression this album devolves into might be my cup of bloody tea. If you are a guitar player, then "Need" might be fun to play along with. The guitar tones on this album are also pretty impressive if you are looking to emmulate a mean spirited metal guitar sound. But song wise. It is just more of the same. I will give this one a 8.5. Is it a really good album , yeah for the most part. Is it a classic that rubs shoulders with the best ever , not so much.

Hail Spirit Noir : " Eden in Reverse"

How much are you into keyboards ? Not the first black metal band to evolve into a prog band. The opening track is devoid of any rock power which does not show up untoil the second song which for the  purpose of this review will be the first actual song, sense the first track is just an intro of weirdness. The vocals are all sung. Sung with the same British pretense you would except from say Hawkwind. Synths are all over the place. It's really the intensity of the drumming that is giving any heft as the guitar is just power chord accents. It begins to float off into Syd Barret era weird. The thing about prog is it can wander off into the wonderment of it's own creation and become so obtuse we forget about songs and just become fixated on the journey.

They achieve the prog sound. They have levelled up on it for sure. But the best prog albums, like say "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" is made of really well written songs. They rule here is ...cool riffs alone does not a good song make. While this tends to hit heavy bands the hardest, prog bands are not exempt. They just use more of them. The make a labyrinth of them. Their mazes however do not always lead you some where cool. They continue through the cosmos on "Alien Lip Reading". Cosmic is certainly a word I feel that describes where they have been going. The sedate croon has a futuristic robotic sheen to it. There is more of a rock feel to the guitar of this song. It is only as dark as say the 'Stranger Things" soundtrack is dark. "Crossroads" is the first song with any sort of aggressive slant to it's rocking that resembles metal. Then it is more along the lines of Opeth. Prog Opeth not death metal Opeth. The dramatic soar of the vocals does also get a little Borknagar. The final moments of the song find it building into some what of a blast beat. Do not get your hopes up.

Things gradually do get heavier. Starting with the instrumental "the Devil's Blind Spot" . The it works from there to add intensity to " the First Ape of New Earth" . I like the lyrics to this as it hints at one of my favorite theories that mankind is engineered by aliens. It makes sense considering the concept that they wanted to rewrite the Eden story from a Richard Dawkins like slant. This kind of ambitons is what also spurned Rush. The ten minute closing saga of " Autmata 1980" I had to listen to twice to fully ingest. The first minute of which is  strange analog synth noise. Then there is another two minutes of build. So this could have been a 7 minute song if the excess was trimmed. They still dramatically hover without commiting to kicking in until the five and a half minute mark. I will give this album an 8.5 , which is fair as they are good at creating sounds, song wise it is grandiose and obtuse in a way that would not have me busting it out for regular listens.Relased on Agonia Records.

Death is June - Phobetor : "When Life Falls Silent"

This death metal band did not hook me in until the second song. I would not say this is metal core, though it is a newer school of death metal than the bulk of what I have been reviewing for this months Death is June. I like how they use disonance and keep their melodies ugly. Yes there is also some degree of black metal influence particularly when it comes to the darker side of their ugly sound , but they are not blackened death metal. Branded as just extreme metal, I find most of this he this is used they are just a death metal band, and that is the case here. They have a more organic sound than many of the more modern death metal bands doing similar.

Their lead screamer is female. Debora Conserva who prvoes she can also sing on "Whispers of Dissonance" . She does so rather sparinginly and the emphasis is placed on keeping the death metal thing going.  The first hint on the kind of break down metal core thing is on " Blind Widow". This is more stompy and mid paced with a dynamic sense of eerie atmosphere at the corners of the song. There are also perhaps even darker and more melodic dynamic shifts on "Pyschopathy". It has more of a metal core flavored stomp to it. They back off some going into "Bury My Name" and still come roaring back. There is a pretty powerful chug to "Harmony of Solitude" . The vocals have a chanted quality to their growl.

"Dysmorphia" runs off cut and paste modern death metal riffs. Aside from the trade off with the low to high growls and screams nothings really makes it stand out. It is more listenable than the bullk of new metal core / death metal coming out. The last song "When Life Falls Silent" at least has more nuanced guitars going into it and Debora using a more spoken vocal to give some dynamics to when they crunch in with the heaviness. I will give this album a 9, for what it is they excel at what they do and Conserva's voice helps push it over the edge and add more dimensions. This comes out July 17th on Black Jasper Records.

Vile Creature : "Glory Glory, Apathy Took Helm"

This band might have some real sjw lyrics, but it doesn't matter when they are screamed in a way that you can not understand anyway. Metal press tends to be fairly liberal these days, here I am chaotic neutral when it comes to politics, being a Satanist...not from the hipster temple, but of the socially darwinistic branch, I am all for every one fighting for their own individual rights, but be strong enough to do it yourself and do not rely on anyone to do it for you. Now that we got that out of the way we can get onto the music which , is clanging angry sludge , nothing different from any Eyehategodliness we can hear a hundred other places. Midway into the 11 minute first song things get a little more interesting  as it ebbs down dynamically and reminds me of their 2018 album that so far I can say I liked more , but we are only one song into things so they might turn around and really impress me over the course of the next 5 songs, unless they decide to have this kind of temper tantrum then I will be less than impressed.

There is a moodier tone going into "When the Path Is Unclear".  The vocals shift to spoken under a wall of feed back before lurching back into more screaming. It is a full on unbhinged temper tantrum, but the atmosphere in the back ground makes it easier to stomach. I am going to need some effort into making actual songs soon though. Sure building tension with a chug is cool, but a song I would get stuck in my head and look forward to listening to again is really where it is at. "You Who Has Never Slept" has a little more driving it as it pounds boldy forward. There are some mean sounds on this album, but we have had this talk before about how any one can get a good sound not every one can write a good song. On their 2018 album I remember them being better song writers . Some atmosphere does creep into the beating they give their instruments midway into the song. There is a more metallic intent in their attack here.

The first song comes via the title track which opens with female vocals that are actually sung. I am not saying they have to break down things this much to make a song. They could have kept the heavier dynamic and given it a groove or some how drawn you in. This is almost too etherreal. It is more like hymn. We go from one extreme to another. This leads into the last song that shifts them back to the other polarity. There are still elements from the previous song present so it's the closest they get to finding a balance.This is the second part of the title of the album so a title track that is two songs.  I will  around thiss album an 7.5 despite the more throbbing anger of the album , it was still a decent enough listen and I hope they will focus on songs more, the last song was a step in the right direction in this regard. If you do not want virtue singalling lyrics, it is ok, as you can't understand them . Out on Prosthetic Records

Cro-Mags - "In the Beginning"

John Bloodclot and Harley need to have cage match to the death under the subways of New York and the winner gets the  Cro-mags. It looks like Harley has one the legel name game. His wife beinga lawyer certainly helped here. It is his incarnation on this album. I loved "Best Wishes". I saw them on "the Best Wishes" tour rocking the fuck out of a small all-ages club and it was awesome. I was also 12 so what did I know , it was my first hard core show. Keep that in mind next time you feel like questioning my hard core cred. Cus you can only say shit if you saw them on the "Age of Quarell " tour. If not you are not shit , unless you are like a member of Agnostic Front or Minor Threat , then you have more hardcore cred than me for sure. In some ways this album picks up where "Best Wishes". left off. It is not as good as "Best Wishes' and here are the reasons why.

There are two major reasons, it is all Harley's show. Writing in a vacuum when every one else is showing up for a paycheck is problematic. This leads to all the songs to sound the same.The first two songs come out swinging so this is not noticeable until 3 songs in.By "From the Grave" it has become almost silly.   If there ws another equal member in the band from say the original line up, then perhaps they would call him out on this. The other element is also a matter of the line up. Rocky George is  playing guitar on this. Along side the Cro-mags , Suicidal Tendencies was a band I grew up with. However this is New York hard core and Rocky is a west coast guy. I do not feel his vibe being the same.  The bass tone sounds like shit compared to "Best Wishes" , sounds like farting leading into "No One's Coming" . The song it self is saw by the lyrics which are the most real thing on the album.

Though it's hinted at in vocals mixed as background tracks , Harley's actual crooning singing voice does not come into play until 7 songs in on "the Final Test" . This was more of a thing on "Best Wishes". I loved that about wishes and at the time liked him as a singer better than John. He offers a more forceful yet melodic performance on "One Bad Descision" . His voice has aged well and 53 has retained it's youth . In fact age has given it more beef. "Don't Talk About It " find them chugging on the same path the bulk of the songs have. "Between Wars" is an instrumnetal which seems like an odd choice for a hard core band. It is more atmospheric than you might expect. I am for even the tough guy Biohazard hints on "No Turning Back" as it doesn't sound like the chug of the other songs. It closes with a more atypical hard core song, which from these guys is fine. I will give this album a 9.

1   

Death is June - Looking Back in Anger at Death's " Leprosy"

Why am I choosing to dig into this album instead of "Scream Bloody Gore"?  The reason is the same as why I do any of these Look Back in Anger reviews, the pedastal we put some albums up on is based soley on their reputations and the sometimes inaccurate memories of when we first heard the, . How well do they actually hold up over time. Their first album was less death metal and more still crawling from the thrash from whence they were concieved. I think Slayer's "Hell Awaits" album served as the catalyst to bridge from thrash to what would be death metal.It was meaner, darker and uglier, though owed more to metal than to punk, where many thrash band's had a combat boot on both sides of the fence.

"Pull the Plug" would with out question be in the top 10 death metal songs of all time. The riffs wrap themselves around the drums in a more progressive manner than I picked up on when I first got this album back in 1988. Scott Burns would produce most of the classic death metal from this era . "Born Dead" is still catchier than most death metal today however it is more ofa return to the kind of thrashing found on their first album. "Forgotten Past" races along and sometimes is muddled in the speed but they still wrote songs with hooks to bring it back to. "Left to Die " being even more hook orientied .

"Open Casket" is no "Pull Plug", but it was still way ahead of it's time. "Pull the Plug" benefitted from the empahsis being place on the growl on the chorus that made it the strongest vocal on the album. The vocals were not the focal point of things like this . Though not as obligatory as the vocal used by thrash bands like Rigor Mortis. There is almost the thrash groove to "Open Casket" , but the more primal drumming gives it more attack., The catch being when we get into that stiff snare pattern it represents what I do not like about death metal from this time period. Other albums from this band could be argued as being among the best like "Individual Thought Patterns" which would be worth considering, though "Human" is the one most would defualt to, however musically they are more like technical thrash albums. The last few ones on this one after repeat listens begin to feel like filler . They do end strong here with "Choke on It" . Not "Pull the Plug" strong, but more nuanced song writing, some what Slayer influenced. I will give this album a 9, it's solid and certainly note worth for it's time ,but as the best death metal of all time. I am not sure it holds it's weight.

Dunwich : "Tail Tied Hearts"

June has been our death metal month here at Abysmal Hymns so this album was a breath of fresh air I needed after having been on a steady diet of single single minded aggression. The first song focuses more on the darker and more mood setting atmosphere of what this trio from Russia does, while the second song, packs more of a metallic punch and finds frontwoman Margarita Dunwich, really proving herself in terms of dynamics with a convncing snarl. Blackend Doom might be the closest genre to describe them as , but heavy in the metallic sense is only one side of what they do. "Wooden Heart" has a more western folk rock feel, the emphasis being on the rock part as the song builds with an almost 60s occult rock feel.

The organ going into "Mouth of Darkness" colors this song with more goth overtones. It is cool that they do not default to wanting to be Siouxsie and the Banshees to express this and there is more of a Deep Purple vibe until it breaks down on the verse. It is however the vocal melodies that make this and the dynamic shift with her growl punching the point home. I do not have an expectations of what music like this coming out of Russia should sound like. I think the only Russian bands I listen to are black metal. "Fall"sounds like something you might find on the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie, This album has a wide range of sonic colors thanks to all the places they chose to pull from . The fact her voice is capable at both ends of her spectrum also helps things. You could hear this song and just take it at face value that this is how she sings based on first impressions.

The thickly reverbed guitars give "Sanctuary" more of a 60s psyche rock feel. It is brooding rather than basking in acid glazed wonderment. It does build witha heavier intensity and finds her digging into the guts of her growl. They close the album with stunning ambiance of "the Sea" . It is cinematic in the feeling it evokes conjuring the images of the vast waters with the spacious melody the guitars offer. Her voice on this makes me think of the eerie feel conveyed by the theme song to "Rosemary's Baby". The songs flows like waves rocking a sleep to slumber as a storm looms. I will give this album a 10 it is flaw less and a must for fans of dark rock / metal.  This album comes out August 21st on Caligari Records. It will be well worth the wait and here in time for Halloween. I start getting ready for Halloween in July, but August should be more than enough time the way things are now.