This is the fourth LP by Chuck Schuldiner’s Death and it features an all new line up. Chuck recruited Steve DiGiorgio from Sadus to help out with the bass tracks, and Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal from Cynic on drums and guitar, respectively. I’ll give Chuck credit, he knows how to pick ‘em. Sean’s drum-work is nothing short of perfect. Chuck and Paul work flawlessly together on the guitars. Their sound is not really that heavy, though. It’s more akin to Forbidden than to one of the founding Death Metal bands. But this is more precise than brutal. Like surgery instead of a nuclear strike. Steve’s bass tracks are inspiring. Chucks vocals continue to become less raw and more understandable, although they are still far from smooth. For the most part, I like the lyrics and there is even an instrumental, “Cosmic Sea.” But this is not the Death of old, Chuck traded aggression and brutality for technicality, complexity and precision. If he could’ve stayed as brutal as Scream Bloody Gore and had this precision, then this would be a ten. Although it’s still pretty close. And yes, I still think Chuck is a dick.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys, but I was pleasantly surprised. Deadspot are not super heavy, but they do have a lot of energy. It’s something like Gang Green meets Black Flag, with a bit of Thrash thrown in. They are enjoyable to listen to, and the title track really stands out. They even cover The Damned’s “New Rose.” Very Cool. Anyway, Deadspot is unusual and I like ‘em. So check them out.

The production on this tape is easily the best I have ever heard on a “rehearsal.” That’s not to say it’s great, but it gets the job done. And that job is to give us a taste of what The Dead Youth’s next album will be like. Well, if it’s like these four songs, but with better production (which, of course it will have), it will fucking destroy everything. These new songs show a marked improvement over the already good songs on their debut album. My favorite here is “Family of Sodom,” simply because Dave (vox) Death-screams the word “cunts” for about 25 seconds. It completely rules! I’m really dying to hear these songs with quality production. If you don’t get this tape, you must be insane (in a bad way).

Well, first of all, even though they are signed to Grindcore, The Dead Youth are not a Grind band. They are a Death Metal band, albeit a pretty fast one. Occasionally their bassist, John, will do something really cool and sometimes the guitarist, Rick, will too. Usually I am very happy with the music in general, although there is a rough spot here and there. Dave’s vocals are, for the most part, more than acceptable, but they range from nearly awesome to simply wrong. But like I said, usually everything is cool. This LP shows a lot of potential and they just need a little more time to perfect everything. This is a solid debut.

This is the second Dead Horse LP, but it’s their first for Big Chief. This is an interesting band and they won’t be limited to only one style of music. There is everything from a B-52’s cover, “Rock Lobster,” to the Noise tune “Sawbone,” which is a bunch-of-screams-and-noise kind of thing. However, the majority of the music on this LP is pretty heavy Thrash with powerful, raw vocals. Sometimes Michael sounds like he’s in a Death Metal band, sometimes he’s a lot more melodic. The guitar sound is thick and heavy, and there is plenty of double bass action. And it’s all done Dead Horse style. This is an album you have to listen to, there’s a lot going on that’s easy to miss on the first few listens. It would be difficult to pick a favorite song, but my top three are (in no order): the mighty “Turn,” “Cod Piece Face” (formerly “Waiting for the Sun”) and “Like Asrielle.” There is one song, “Snowdogs,” that just doesn’t grab me for some reason, but that’s only one song out of 13. All things considered, this is a diverse and impressive effort.

I must start off by saying that 1991 is quite a year for Death Metal! Left and right, quality bands are being signed. And, to me, this is the best one. Darkthrone is so ahead of most bands due to their musicianship and great composition. There are a lot of “good” musicians, but only a handful of good composers. I mean, each member of this band is very adept at his instrument. Especially the rhythm section. Now this album was done at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm, which seems to be very popular with Scandinavian bands. It has that “Entombed sound,” but in no way do they actually sound like Entombed (except, maybe the vocals). I don’t think you could compare songs like: “Neptune Towers,” “Grave with a View,” or “Nor the Silent (Whispers)” to anything! This band flat out reeks of originality. Only a few debut albums have impressed me like this one (Malleus Maleficarum, 7 Churches, Slowly We Rot, and Left Hand Path, to name some). So buy this, or hate yourself forever!

Dark Angel. Think about that name. It suggests power, evil power. You don’t know the half of it. I wasn’t too impressed by Live Scars (Dark Angel’s live LP), so I can’t honestly say that I rushed to my tape player and popped this in the second I got it. Okay, so I’m a fuck up. This LP is unbelievable! No shit. Now you have to understand that Ron actually sings, but this is more like a heavy Forbidden sort of thing. It’s not wimpy singing at all. In fact, it’s extremely effective and almost always adds to the music’s power. Which, by the way, is nuclear. Now, about the music: Gene Hoglan is the best drummer on Earth or in Hell. I would not lie! The music is very complex, heavy, powerful and fast. This is one of the best LP’s I’ve ever heard. Awe-fucking-some. Don’t pass this one up. Highly Recommended.

{I’ll probably get some arguments over this, but I still think that is one of the best albums of it’s genre of all time. And yeah, I’ve heard Darkness Descends and We Have Arrived.}

[Notes in {curly brackets} are from the Metal Curse 1 - 4 Collected Edition (1999)]

This has excellent production and eight songs. The style is more commercial Metal with some Thrashy elements. The musicianship is excellent, and the songs are all pretty catchy. I think there are two vocalists, and I like the female vocals much better than the male. Different, but pretty cool.

Fairly awesome 5-song Thrash demo. Influences of early Exodus and Iron Maiden can be detected. So basically, the energy of early Thrash, a Harris disciple bassist (which is cool, Mr. Tuggle), and a powerful vocalist that is occasionally pretty raw. All five songs are memorable, heavy and speedy. The musicianship is great, especially the bass. Pro copied, color cover and lyrics. One of the best remaining Thrash bands.