Arise From Worms : "A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction"

 I guess the fact Dream Theater's keyboardist is on tis album should have been the clue this would be more progressive than I expected since I'm here for the Steve Tucker factor. Sonny from Incantation is the brainchild of this project; he got the idea on the tour I caught with them opening up for Morbid Angel. The drummer from Cryptopsy is driving this manic machine. He gets pretty blasty in the face of the angular riffs coming at you on "Power Obsessed". Tucker does a great job of approaching this differently than he did with Morbid Angel, as he navigates tricky tempo changes.This does cross over into technical death metal. 

There is more of a haos to "Raize Demon Breath".I suppose the shreddy aspect of it is impressive to those of you into that sort of thing. Tucker's layered and articulated approach to the vocals is the most interesting aspect. "Psionice Being" bleeds out of the previous song; it is a mix of darker Morbid Angel riffing around prog keyboard harmony runs.  "Nine Walls" perhaps packs even more twists and turns into things/. As an instrumental without the harsher growls to rein it in, things go deep into prog. Rapid-fire riffing and sweeping guitar solos become this album's dominant force, the further into the songs you go. There is a talent on display here, but nothing hooks me in.

The vocals return for "The Axes of Voivode" it does not have as much purposeful groove as what Tucker had to work with earlier in the album. The second part of this second is not much different than the first perhaps with more furious blasting from the drums. I like Tucker's vocal approach on this album and there is no denying the chops at play here though I feel at times this can come to their detriment and counterbalances the heaviness. I will give this album an 8.5, it's Tucker's vocals that will bring me back for repeat listens 

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Top 10 Albums of 1995

If you aren't aware that Reza Mills from Clean Sheets and Sleeping Shaman has been breaking down the decades with me to uncover our top 5 songs in pivotal anniversaries for these years, then you uare missing out. You should check out our insights here...

 

Here I am taking my top 5 choices and expanding them into the top 10 albums of 1995, and also ranking them in order of their impact and staying power, so here are my top 10 albums of 1995. Be sure to check out the episode above for a more in-depth look at the top 5 here. 

10-PJ Harvey- "To Bring You My Love." 

This album broke her through to the alternative radio market, the grooves covering the darker underbelly of her lyrics.

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9-Bjork -"Post" 

She set the standard for electronic music in the 90s 

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8-Ozzy Osbourne- "Ozzmosis" 

Darker and heavier even when it comes to the ballads on this album that shook loose to the people who bought "No More Tears" for Momma I'm Coming Home."

   

7-Dissection- 'Storm of the Lightsbane"

This found the band at the peak of Jon's original incarnation of this band before things took a darker turn in his life, which wa his destiny, only lending weight to the message the album carries. 

 

6-Deicide -"Once Upon the Cross."

The first few albums that mark a transition in the band's career step from greatness as an era ends, which is what this brutal piece of religious-inspired anger serves up.

 

5-Deftones- "Adrenaline"

For many bands on this list, an era was ending, but fot this band, one was beginning. 

4-Radiohead-"The Bends." 

The last album that would find them as the grunge cousin of Britpop and transform into depressive paranoid androids that would change music. 

3-White Zombie- "Astro-Creep 2000'

The changing of the guard theme continues, as this would be the farewell for these guys, but not before this album allowed them to rule the world and goth clubs alike, as the industrial touches crossed them over into a place where they had their claws in every alternative culture.

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2-Morbid Angel-"Domination"

The last great album of this era. The death metal bands of today are still trying to catch up with what these guys did here. 

1-Faith No More-"King for a Day, Fool For a Lifetime."  

Even the more streamlined approach without Jim Martin was changing the game . Not as dark as "Angel Dust," but it works for where they were at as a band, and head and shoulders above everyone else. 

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Happy Bicycle Day- The Top 10 Metal Songs to Trip To.

These days, I no longer take LSD, but I used to do it all the time and unlike kids these day never listened to electronic music or hippy shit, when I did, as light and love is not really my thing. Here are the songs that were my soundtrack for those days. If you are celebrating Albert Hoffman's bicycle ride today, then here are some songs that set the mood for my many meetings with demons, Aliens, and keepers of cosmic planes. Give these tunes a shot to tape into a heftier vibrational frequency that is more aggressive than passive. Perhaps a little darker, but you gotta get in touch with your shadow side somehow, so here are the top 10 metal songs to trip to.  

10- Marilyn Manson- "Cake and Sodomy"

There was an entire summer where I listened to this song at the onset of every trip, and dropped acid on an almost daily basis that summer.

 

9- Metallica- "Orion" 

This was always a good one to transition from a lucid state into the onset of altered consciousness.

   

8-Sugartooth- "Black Queen" 

Despite the double bass sections, this was a staple of my tripping sessions. 

7- Morbid Angel- "Where the Slive Live" 

One of the few death metal songs that sounds great tripping. If you want to scare hippies, crank this one while you are peaking.

 

6-Tiamat- "Whatever That Hurts"  

An underrated band, I tripped to the "Wildhoney" album many a night. Almost like a metal version of Psychic TV.

 

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5-Voivod- "Astronomy Domine" 

You can't have a list about tripping without one Pink Floyd cover on it, and it might as well be the best. 

4-Type O Negative- "Green Man" 

Pink Floyd covers aside, this song comes the closest to the kind of hippy vibes I am not normally about, but the dusky shadows underlying this forest stroll are what work.

3-Neurosis - "Souls at Zero" 

I had some major altered experiences that the song "Locust Star' played heavily into; this song set an overall better mood.

   

2-Monster Magnet -"Ego the Living Planet" 

Most of my friends know the story about my most intense trip that involved this song and my Ouija Board. I talk to planets, baby

1-Black Sabbath- "Megalomania" 

Ozzy has stated that Black Sabbath were not a rock band that dabbled in drugs, but a drug band that dabbled in rock, and none of the other bands on this list would exist without them, so they take the top song.

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Nocturnus AD : "Unicursal"

Mike Browning from Morbid Angel returns with his other class band Nocturnus, now Nocturnus AD. I had to go back and listen to "The Key" again to see if I was just not remembering things right or if something was weirdly different. Things are weirdly different as "the Key" sounds just like I remembered it. By the song "Mesolithic" it sounds like the same band, the first couple of songs just take some getting used to as Browning is not getting any younger so his approach to things might have changed. His snarls are more spoken than not. While it helps him to narrate this HP Lovecraft-like yarn he is continuing with this album, it does create an odd cadence at times. It reminds me of Coroner to some extent. I am never sure about the drummer being the lead vocalist. 

The synths are similar to the sounds heard on "The Key" so that works for me. I know it sounds like I am pretending "Paradox" was not released. I gave "Paradox" a 9, but it's not the album they are going to be measured against. It is interesting going back to read that review, as I mentioned many of the same things I am noticing with the sound on this album The vocals really are the only glaring weak spot the rest of the music compensates for. Things are more progressive and less angular on this album. "Mission Malkuth" finds the vocal style more spoken, though this makes the lyrics stand out there is not a great deal of grit to it. The riffs are pretty awesome and balance it out like a more acrobatic version of Morbid Angel, though the album does not hold the same kind of crunchy production of a Morbid Angel album, leaving things to sound like a thrash version of Pestilence at times. 

"Yesod..." finds more of a death metal groove forming as the pace picks. Portals are a huge theme on this album. Which is fine with me, works as well as Satanic themes for me, and could be interchangeable. At times, even occult themes are thrown in with the sci-fi which is on brand for this project. The riffs really improve here. "Hod the Stellar Light" is yet another song referencing the Tree of Life, and finds Browning's drumming excelling. Though I have always thought Pete Sandoval was best for Morbid Angel. There is a more Morbid Angel-like mood at the onset of this song, though the cosmic ambiance does take over in places. The delivery of the vocals might find him spitting the lyrics out in the most awkward manner yet, but the music continues to compensate. 

"Netzah the Fire of Victory"  might slow down into a cool doomier riff, by the time we get to the song I can not shake the thought that Browning should have just stuck to drumming and gotten someone who could have growled the lyrics, which would have better served the songs. Yeah I know he has always been the vocalist for this band, but if you can't cut it, oh, well. `The instrumental outro works well enough for what it is, and that is perhaps for the best as the vocals had gotten on my nerves.  Due to the vocals, I will round this down to an 8.5, I recognize that I am picky about vocals and do not see them as a thought but my primary focus and I factored that in when taking things into consideration regarding this album, I have always felt these guys were the most underrated death metal band out of Tampa, but his delivery makes it hardly death metal this time around. The album drops May 17th thanks to Profound Lore and you can make up your own mind about it then. 

pst198

VLTIMAS : "Epic"

 

A super group of sorts that finds David Vincent fronting a band with the guitarist from Mayhem and the drummer from Crptopsy. Vincent's voice sounds pretty great, he has made some stylistic shifts so it is not just his trademark growl. Sometimes he now bellows with vibrato. It comes across more like singing than growling. When they pick up the speed on "Misere" that works as well without the more deliberate groove. There is an even more rapid-fire attack after this song, that has more of a Morbid Angel feel. His lyrics are articulated well. 

"Mephisto Manifesto" is an example of what it sounds like when this project is playing to their strengths. There is a slight hint of "Where the Slime Live" which makes sense as they should take influence from Vincent's work in Morbid Angel. It is more mid-paced so the song is allowed to groove in a way that the vocals flow with ease over. "Scorcher" is faster, but works in an almost Judas Priest-like manner. It also shows the strengths of the producers as they dialed everything in just right, despite the guitar behind less forward in the mix. 

"Invictus" works more often than it does not. "Nature's Fangs" offers a more death metal-like hammering. It is also allowed to ring out with melodic dissonance, as Vincent offers some of his death metal growls proving he can still do them he is just choosing this different vocal expression. The last song is the first one that strikes me as having a black metal vibe. I will give this album an 8.5, it finds a balance between their styles and makes it work. 

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Voidceremony : "Threads of Unknowing"

 

This death metal band features the current drummer for Morbid Angel and Incantation, Charles Koryn. At 29 he is an all around session guy. He has the chops to sit on the throne for death metal with jazz leanings. The bass player has played in Mournful Congregation, though the music being thrashed out here has little to do with doom. Throw in the guitarist for Worm, and you have an idea of the direction you are heading in. The jazz elements could be more frequent. They are pretty much a death metal band with jazzy solos. The drums get loose and lose the stiffness that often haunts death metal. However for as creative as most reviews and press releases might try to color their sound it is pretty much just death metal with a more technical streak. The precision here is perhaps a side effect of the jazz influence. 

They rubbery bass flourishes at the start of "Entropic Reflections Continuum" give jazz more of a wink. They do grind things into more of a groove, which helps to separate this song from the kind of hyper aggression that dominates their sound. Plenty of homage is paid to the roots of old school death metal. If the mix was not so layered and dense they would sound like they came from the 90s in many places. The low growled vocals , do their job, to an almost obligatory level as this is what is expected from death metal. I can hear where guitar players might listen to this album with orgasmic glee when it comes to the solos. However they do not benefit the songs as much. A lot is throw at you in the jumbled chaos of the arrangements. 

I am not listening for how complex things are or the notes crammed into guitar solos. I listen for songs. Do they hook me in? What is this band doing that sets themselves apart for the pack? This is not answered on "At the Periphery of Human Realms" . It is just an instrumental that is more of an interlude as it really goes no where. The last song finds them revisiting themes already established earlier in the album, the part I found the most interesting where they few measures of spoken vocals run through a ton of effects. Three minutes into this eleven minute closer I am wondering where they hell they are going to go in order to summon another 8 minutes of song. Am I going to be forced to endure four more minutes of guitar solos? Will there be any melody or groove? It is pretty much more of the same, they are good at what they do and the wheel is not being reinvented here I will give this one a 7.5, no bad songs, just dense collections of riffs that hold their solos. However way heavier than most of the so called technical death metal. Dropping on 20 Buck Spin

Death is June - Morbid Angel's COVENANT VS DOMINATION

 Two of the legendary death metal kings best albums go head to head . I make them duke it out in a track back track comparison. Covenant is one of Morbid Angel's biggest albums . Domination is not to shabby but as we gear up for the top 20 Death Metal Albums of the 90s only one can make the cut. Which one is the best.. lets find out.

"Rapture" vs "Dominate"  

'Rapture"  is hard to beat it has catchy riffs, yet is fast and aggressive as you want death metal to . "Dominate" is a strong song, the only weakness it has that really gives "Rapture" the edge is vocals are to articulated to the point of being spoken, and do not have enough growl to them

Winner- "Rapture" 

Covenant - 1 

Domination -0 

  'Pain Divine" vs " Where the Slime Live" 

What gave "Rapture" the edge in the feral rawness of energy, plays against it when pitted against a darker more groove laden riff . 

Winner - "Where the Slime Live" 

Covenant -1 

Domination- 1 

"World of Shit"  vs " Eyes to See , Ears to Hear" 

"World of Shit" is a great song, but the chorus to "Eyes to See..." is too hooky and just better song writing that wins out over brutality 

Covenant- 1 

Domination- 2 

  "Vengeance is Mine" vs " Nothing But Fear" 

"Vengeance" comes the closest to sounding like it could have been on "Blessed are the Sick" there feels like it has more passion for it's evil than " Nothing But Fear" 

Winner- "Vengeance is Mine" 

Covenant- 2 

Domination- 2 

"Lions Den" vs "Dawn of the Angry" 

This is where things are going to get tough. |"Dawn of the Angry" is driven by great drumming and juggernaut riffing, but "Lions Den" are these guys at their top of their songwriting . 

Winner - "Lions Den' 

Covenant- 3 

Domination 2 

"Blood on My Hands" vs " This Means War" 

The first thing that strikes me about "Blood On My Hands' is despite the fact it is blazing fast the vocals have a purpose. "This Means War' is even faster, but not as purposeful in terms of songwriting. 

Winner- "Blood on My Hands" 

Covenant- 4 

Domination- 2 

"Angel of Disease" vs " Cesare's Palace' 

There was no need to even press play on this one as "Angel of Disease" is one of their beast songs ever 

Winner - "Angel of Disease" 

Covenant- 5

Domination 2 

"Sworn to the Black" vs "Inquisition"    

This one was a surprise as I never really gave much a listen to "Inquisition" but it is hookier and better written than "Sworn to the Black    

Winner- "Inquisition" 

Covenant- 5

Domination- 3 

"God of Emptiness"  vs "Hatework" 

I mean is this even fair?  I had to go back to listen to "Hatework" as I forgot it is a melodramatic and almost an instrumental. No contest

Winner -God of Emptiness  

Final score- Covenant wins 6 to 3, not even close.       

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 :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



 

the Top 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time : 50 - 41

The idea to make this list came as I was trying to make an apocalypse playlist. These are heavy times and they make me want to listen to the most crushing music I have. Metal is like drugs. What seemed heavy at first no longer does after a time so you have to up your dose of heaviness in order to get the same result. I extended the invitation on social media for people to nominate albums with the caveat that the bar for heaviness these albums needed to surpass was Morbid Angel's "Blessed Are the Sick " album. It's the band's heaviest and while Morbid Angel is one of my favorite death metal bands they are not the most crushing . They are good at what they do. Some of the albums that got nominated did make the cut. There was however a great deal of mention of bands like Mercyful Fate and Black Sabbath, both of whom are among my favorite bands not just metal , but off all time. However this is not a list of my favorite bands. Nor is it s list of the most influential albums . It is a list of the heaviest albums. Ones that are crushing in a way that makes listeners of lesser metal uncomfortable. When you put Black Sabbath up against the albums on this list, while they influenced most if not all of the musicians playing on them Sabbath comes across as just harder edge rock. This is not taking away from Ozzy and the boys that is just how it is.  

When asked how is heavy being defined the best answer I have given is " the density of sound, sonically intense with an malevolent emotional intention behind it" . So just loud and distorted are less than the bare minimum. I need musicians using their instruments to create darkness and torment. Things like playing fast might factor in here and there , but speed alone doesn't make anything heavy. There are tons of fast punk bands that are not heavy. Just tuning low is not heavy, Korn certainly is not on here. There are many different factors that play into each album to earn it's place here and different genres as well with Death Metal, Black Metal , Grind Core and Sludge having the best showing those a few thrash bands and doom bands made the cut . Any ways here are the top 50 heaviest albums of all time.  

50 Morbid Angel- " Blessed are the Sick"

The bands heaviest album, it sounds like they are using their instruments to worship ancient demon gods. The music lives up to the blasphemous declarations of the lyrics. 

49- Starkweather - "Into the Wire" 


Metal mixed with hardcore once worked. These guys are proof. They sound totally unhinged with t the darkness spewed out on this album .  

48- Watain- "Sworn to the Dark"

Black metal can fall into the trap of relying on blast beats , which becomes an atmospheric drone rather than carrying any kind of heft. These guys believe in what they are snarling about which gives an added intention to the spirit of their music. It is most pummeling on this album. 

47-Wayfarer - " World's Blood"

Blending black metal with sludge this band proves you do not have to forsake all semblance of melody in order to be heavy. In fact it is the creepy quality of the guitar melodies that make this heavier. 

46-Godflesh- "Streetcleaner"

This 1989 album has stood the test of time and is just as crushing today as when it come out . 

45- Fister- " No Spirit Within"

These nasty sludge bringers bring a balanced blend of density and darkness with a doomy hopelessness pervading the songs. 

44-Entombed- Left hand Path


In 1990 this album created the template for death metal coming out of Sweden from that point on. With a more jagged guitar one and riffs that hit like hammers.

43-Coffins - "the Fleshland"

Tokyo's death doom warlords destroys your ear drums like a zombie Godzilla on this album. 

 42-Brutal Truth- "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses"

Helmed by Dan Lilker  from Nuclear Assault when this album came out in 1992 it was on of the heaviest things going at the time . 

41- Today is the Day- " In the Eyes of God"

Vocals can often become an after thought in more extreme forms of metal, this album uses them to create a more deranged narrative that furthers the deranged atmosphere.

The Weekly Playlist : Apocalypse Edition

What is even more discouraging than a wimpy apocalypse play list is a metal musician saying they can not take any more gloom and doom. Yes, this came up on my Facebook feed. No, they were not joking.Well not only will an apocalypse thin the herd, but the very threat of one will show us who the fucking poseurs are. Death should be celebrated. Why listen to death metal and not celebrate death? It is the only thing that is certain. Why be afraid of it ? Oh, people are afraid. Hoping their city gets shut down, so they get permission to give up and not face the world out side. Here I am hoping for some Mad Max level shit so I have an excuse to try out cannibalism and ride the wasteland as Lord Humongous. This could literally come down to survival of the fittest. Could is the operative word. Every apocalypse I have looked forward to has let me down. In a few weeks things will return to the boring status quo and I will still remember all of you who were hiding  under your beds wanting something happy. Here is a fitting playlist for the rest of you who celebrate chaos like I do. Next week I will make you guys the dystopian future industrial play list , until here is your metal.



Obituary- 'Infected"





Sepultura - "Dead Embryonic Cells" 






Voivod - "Bacteria"






 Morbid Angel - "Angel of Disease" 





Anaal Nathrakh- "the Apocalypse is About You"


 


Slayer - " Epidemic"


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Cattle Decapitation- "Bring Back the Plague "


 


Asphyx - "Last One On Earth"


 

Integrity - "Dawn of a New Apocalypse" 






Behemoth- "Christgrinding Ave" 

Live Review : Morbid Angel, Watain & Incantation @ the Buckhead Theater

This was a concert I had been looking forward to since it was announced. Three of my favorite metal bands on one bill. Let me go into this by saying the Buckhead Theater is not the best venue for a metal show. Yes, it is a nice venue, but this is the second time I have seen a rock show there where it was not loud enough .Their sound crystal clear. But with death metal you need volume to provide the density. This is was effected my first impression of Incantation who had taken the stage by the time I got there.This was my first time ever seeing them live, I have seen both Morbid Angel and Watain several times live. It is hard to say which I have seen more.   Incantation are great at what they do , however just coming out and playing with all the lights on made them feel like just another death metal band. I good one, but there was little to set them aside in the live setting. The atmosphere and the darkness churned up from their music needs to be replicated with dimmer lighting. Incantation did not need to go the lengths that Watain did. But anything would have enhanced the experience beyond what felt mediocre to me, thus really killing my desire to listen to them the next day.

Watain had their backs to the wall. They came into this tour under the hardship of having guitarist Pelle denied entry into the country by customs. This forced The bass player to play guitar and Erik to play bass . They handled this shift well and I think it added to their performance., Erik had played bass previously for Dissection so was certainly capable. Truth be told Watain pretty much stole the show. It was not just the stage show, that had their typical fire and lights in the ritual setting, but they were the one band who it felt did not have their sound comprised and they were not only louder than Incantation, but came across as louder and more intense than Morbid Angel. They stuck to a set of their more in your face fast and furious songs, which worked well. Where death metal can be the image of evil it is the sound of black metal that actually emanates darkness and I think this was proved here .


.

This was my second time seeing Morbid Angel without David Vincent. I think "Kingdoms of Disdained" is the first album of their's that really picks up where they left off after "Domination".   They were much more intense when I saw them with Tucker open up for Pantera back in the day. The problems I previously stated with the venue that plagued Incantation were the same ones that befell Morbid Angel. They came on with little fanfare and the lights on. Trey walked onto the stage and mumbled something to the crow, making me think he was really high Where Morbid Angel came out on top of Incantation is the fact that despite the problems with volume, which might have made them marginally louder than Incantation, when they played old stuff the songs powered through. The new stuff not as much , even the songs off of "Kingdoms Disdained". The evil felt more obligatory than when I have seen them in the past.  I still bought a Morbid Angel shirt, partially because I already have two Watain shirts, but they did not make me feel bad about their performance it was jsut not what I have seen them to be capable of in the past.

the Top Ten Death Metal Albums of the Decade

The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre.I am not going for what is the most crushing death metal albums, but the ones with songs worth listening to again and again. There is nothing really tech about these albums as wanking around doesn't make for listening that stands the test of time.  Maybe these are not the hippest albums of the decade when it comes to this genre, but what matters more is the fact these are the albums I listened to the most when it came to this sort of thing. ; Any ways here are the Top 10 Death Metal  albums of the decade.



10-Disma -"Towards the Megalith"- 2011









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









8-Incantation -  "Dirges of Elysium" 2014














7-Goatwhore- "Constricting Rage of the Merciless"- 2014 












6-Vader  "Return to the Morbid Reich" 2011













5- Acid Witch- "Evil Sound Screamers" 2017













4-Pulchra Morte- "Divina Autem Et Aniles" - 2019 













3-Tribulation- "Children of the Night" - 2015 










< br />The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. This is not something I can just thumb back through reviews for , I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre. Stoner rock in past years was often lumped in with sludge and doom, but this year I seperated everything out. Maybe these are not the hippest albums of the decade when it comes to this genre, btu what matters more is the fact these are the albums I listened to the most when it came to this sort of thing. ; Any ways here are the Top 10 Stoner rock albums of the decade.

2-Mortuary Drape -"Spiritual Independence"- 2014










1-Morbid Angel -" Kingdoms Disdained"2017

Nocturnus AD : "Paradox"

Drummer Mike Browning was one of the founding members of Morbid Angel. Is he as good as Pete? No, but he is pretty solid and he sings and, growls on top of playing. "the Key" was one of the best albums of the early days of death metal. There is not the same level of feral chaos. Calling this a mature  performance might be premature. He is a more refined songwriter. Which a veteran player should be.  The opener is pretty solid and hearkens back to the classic death metal sound. Keyboards helped set these guys apart and are still a big part of their sound, though there is less of a sci-fi tone to them. On the second song, he lets up on his growl and it gives the song more of a thrash feel til they speed up. In some parts, he even sounds like Tom Warrior.

Sometimes their sound takes on a more angular feel. "Procession of the Equinoxes" is more focused on its aggression to the point that it establishes some solid head-banging grooves. The vocals are not this album's strong point. I think if they had more menace it might make certain passages feel less awkward. The guitars and drums are capable of doing the heavy lifting, and the phrasing of the vocals would help smooth it out song-wise."Return of the Lost Key" tries to pick up where the first album left off. Some of the more intricate noodling guitar parts are not as powerful as the more direct approach. The vocals do take on more of a snarl on this one which is an improvement.

Several moments remind me of a death metal version of Coroner. "Apotheosis" is one of them.  I think some of the more progressive grooves work best on this song. "Aeon of the Ancient Ones " takes on a darker and more traditional side of death metal. Chaos only breaks out around the guitar solos. With an old-school ethic to songwriting, they are very compact and pack most songs in at under seven minutes. So not much time is wasted on the atmosphere. The guitars are technically sound, but also pretty mean when they want to be. I'll round this album up to a 9 and see how it grows on me. It is being released on Profound Lore.

Black Metal History Month - Nordjevel : "Necrogenesis"

This metal super group of sorts features members of  Morbid Angel, Abbath,and Dark Funeral.  If you add all those components together then you have a good picture of the more mainstream black metal direction this band is going in. The guitars are massive. They are also very hooky. The vocals are croaked more than screamed. The drumming is fucking blinding fast and insane. The first two songs are polished and crushing. It's good that they added a slight tinge of creepy darkness to "the Idea Of One" . Then they go for a more melodic icy Swedish feel for the pulse of "Black Lights..." its sounds like cross between Dimmu Borgir and Watain.

While this album is not blast beat heavy there are some. One of the faster songs is "Amen Whores".  At this speed it sounds like everyone else and doesn't do much for me. "Fevered Lands" which is full blast ahead. I do like this one better than the previous song as it sounds more like amped up Immortal. They keep stomping on the gas even though "Nazarene Necrophilia " is more deliberate. I like the lyrics to this one. Its rare you can make them out in most black metal. I don't mind fast. I like black metal enough to devote an entire month to it , so it's not the speed that is the problem. It's relying on speed instead of songwriting. When they do both there is almost more of a thrash feel.

There is more fanfare at the beginning of the album's closing song. It like most of the album's 3rd act tends to fall safely on the blasting side . 2 minutes in they do lock into a pretty powerful chug, but lets be reminded of the rule here, which is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. If you are into guitar solos there are a lot of over indulgent sweeps on this one. I'll round this down to a 8, as it begins to sound the same toward the end. If you are looking for more mainstream sounding black metal these guys are for you.

Metal 101 (in 666 words)

This is all a wolf needs to know about metal in 666 words. First thing to know is Black Sabbath is where it started and what defines metal. Formed in 1968 as a blues band, guitarist Toni Iommi combined the tritone with enough distortion and evil took sonic form. Most “Doom” metal bands are direct rip offs of Sabbath, but all other sub-genres to some aspect of what the band did. Thus the two defining qualities of metal are evil & darkness. Just darkness and you have goth.Sure volume and aggression are also needed qualities but rock and punk can take those on.





Metal continued on in Britain with Judas Priest who formed in 1969, but did not acquire vocalist Rob Halford whose voice defined their sound until 1972. Priest picked up where Deep Purple left off, but with more aggressive sound. Then in 1975 Iron Maiden formed. While Judas Priest had a more radio friendly arena rock sound, Iron Maiden whose songs were driven by the bass playing of Steve Harris took progressive rock and made it metal. Vocalist Paul DiAnno sang on their first two albums which are good, but it was the powerhouse pipes of Bruce Dickinson who joined 1981 that made them larger than life. Their songs became epic tales rivaling Wagner. Most power metal bands were influenced by Maiden as well as some California kids who formed Metallica.


 

 Metal is a drug and like drugs you build a tolerance and need more extreme doses. Up until this point evil might have felt real but it was in 1981 that Dannish singer King Diamond an avowed Satanist made evil a reality with his band Mercyful Fate. Kiss and Alice Cooper had already donned ghoulish makeup , King Diamond took these theatrics in a more sinister direction with his piercing falsetto that he could drop into a guttural growl. Bands like Venom and Celtic Frost also came crawling out of England at this time, but Mercyful Fate was clearly the blueprint the black metal bands from Scandinavia would later follow in their spiked leather corpse painted church burning rampage.


 

 1981 was a key year for metal as two other seminal bands would form. One being Metallica, who ran the gallop of Iron Maiden through a dirty leather filter of Motorhead to create thrash. Metallica also drew influence from Killing Joke, whose song “the Wait” they would cover. Killing Joke also spawned what would be known as industrial. Metallica refined the thrash sound until it had more hooks. Creating massive power ballads with balls. Eventually they took this sound into the mainstream, though it still continued to influence bands like Pantera and White Zombie.


 


Another key band from 1981 also hailing from California was Slayer. Slayer was more influenced by hard core punk. They played faster and meaner than Metallica. Pretending to be satanic to give their music a darker aura, their lyrics dealt with serial killers and Nazis. Later as metal became more extreme it was hard to tell Slayer apart from the hardcore bands they were influencing.


 

 In 1983 things heated up in Tampa Florida as death metal was born. Death released “Scream Bloody Gore” in 1987, two years later Morbid Angel releases “ Altars of Madness” Not just aggressive , but was chaotic evil. Darker than “Scream Bloody Gore” the lyrics reflected the dark soul of their guitarist Trey Azagthoth, who held a genuine interest in the occult and steered the band’s later albums into being more of a exploration of the Necronomicon. The darkness in their sound would go on to influence scores of death and black metal bands.The metal that followed tuned lower and blasted faster to create something that was a more extreme version of what Morbid Angel did, though Morbid Angels songs held up over time which is more than can said of those bands. But metal doesn’t have to be so dark and evil you might say. This is true but if it isn’t it will also suck.

 

The Top 50 Metal Guitarists - 20 to 11

The death of a guitarist I played with turned my thoughts to what makes a good guitarist great. Metal finds the stakes for guitarists high. Shredding can come before playing a fucking song. While all of these guitarists can play a solo, I was also looking for tone, impact on the genre as a whole and how their personalities came through in their playing. So this list of the top 50 Metal Guitarists. If you don't find your favorite guitar player here then know they were just wankers.



20- Kerry King

Sure his solos are formulaic,and has a punk sloppiness to it at times but his playing has a fire to it that helps define the sound of his band. Marrying metal and punk at the cross roads that became thrash. He uses an evil chaos in his playing that made his band darker than the other thrash bands at the time.




19-Ihsahn

His playing goes beyond black metal. Romantic touches of neo-classical gives a more gothic touch to the architecture of his songs.He has branched out to 8 strings for his solo work. More of a shredder than you might expect he will go down as underrated except on this list where he is earning his rightful place.



18-Adam Jones

He doesn't solo in the traditional sense. He does add sonic dynamics where solos would go and is almost jazz like in the way he gives the drums and bass room to breathe. He knows how to keep the tension and get a big arena rock sound when needed. He influenced an entire generation of progressive metal players who live for the groove no matter how complex or simple.


 17-Kirk Hammett

He has some memorable solos. His band is known for their big riffs, but he works around the chugs and gallops owing more of a rock sensibility to his playing that heavy metal thunder. I don't think his band could work without him even though he stepped in to replace Dave Mustaine many moons ago.



 16-Kim Thayll

How could he beat out Hammet you ask? His playing is more creative and darker. He uses up more sonic space to create a sense of unease on his band's earlier work, but is able to solo with the best of them when it is called for. He weaves in noise and chaos while still managing to create grunge anthems that dominated the air waves.




15-Zakk Wylde

He had some big shoes to fill. Rather than living in the shadow of the great players who stood beside he boss before he, Wylde carved out his own sound and brought something new to the table. He could pulls off the Randy Rhodes stuff with his own flair which was impressive live.





14 Arve Isdal

Until you see this guy rock it live you have no idea. He is the prime reason his band almost blew Dimmu Borgir off the stage. They might play viking prog, but his playing keeps the band rooted in the rock side of classic metal.




13- Don Anderson

He can pulls a sweep arpeggio out of thin air, despite the fact he is mainly adding melody to the more post-rock side of his former band Agalloch. I haven't sought out his current project as Agalloch is a moment in time I do not want to put down.



12- Ace Frehely

You wanted the best you got the best. He plays guitar for the hottest band in the land.  Technically he is outclassed by many players ranked lower than him, but chances are they would not have picked up a guitar in the first place if it was not for him.His solo work is also pretty decent for all you rock soldiers who want the Ace back like he told you so.




11- Trey Azagthoth

He took what Kerry King did and sacrificed it to the Ancient Ones. It returned back to this plan as death metal and crushed many souls. The unique twisted on his personification of chaos, sets him aside as his own island in a genre guilty of rehashing the same old grind. He is the Eddie Van Halen of death metal.