I saw Destruction perform once in the terrible Schmier-less days, at the Milwaukee Metalfest (may it rest in festering slime). It was a sad thing to behold. After their set was mercifully over, a friend asked me why I’d bothered. She laughed, “Did you think Schmier would show up?” Of course I didn’t think that (although he did rejoin the band a year or so later), but I had hoped that Neo-Destruction would be better. Well, main-man Schmier is thankfully still here, but I’d hoped that Day of Reckoning would be better, too. Don’t misunderstand: If this were from an unknown band, I’d be singing its praises. And I’m also overjoyed that whatever happened to Exodus and Onslaught has not befouled the Mad Butchers. But… for all the intensity and energy on display, there are a couple lame riffs here and there (like the one that starts just after the 2:00 mark in “The Price”), and unnecessary backing vocals (Power Metal-style in the “Armageddonizer” chorus) which don’t help. Some versions of this CD have a bonus cover of Dio’s “Stand Up and Shout,” which I appreciate in theory, but does not translate well at all to Destruction’s style. The real issue, though, is that it feels as if the band was somewhat rushed with this release, perhaps to have a new product out in time for a Spring tour and Summer festival dates. That said, even a less-than-perfectly-polished Destruction album is still easily at the top of the Thrash heap in 2011.

What a roller coaster ride the career of Belphegor has been. Is a little consistency too much to ask for from these sick Austrian fucks? Starting out as a raw, lower tier Black Metal band is understandable and common, but looking at their last few releases shows a good-album, bad-album, good-album, bad-album pattern that is hard to explain. One would think by your 9th studio full-length you would have some kind of formula down. Why not stick with the dynamic Behemoth/Nile-infused Blackness that made Goatreich-Fleshcult and Bondage Goat Zombie such devastating albums? File Blood Magick Necromance under their “bad album” category. Maybe bad is the wrong word, how about excruciatingly boring? Speed, speed, speed, tired vocal, speed, tired vocal, speed, goat, speed, scream, goat, speed, cult, speed, sex, tired vocal, semen, goat… it’s even boring to read isn’t it? It’s such a waste of their ferocious talent. Even the Doomy “Discipline Through Punishment” has the same tedious feel as the fast songs due to Helmuth’s “somebody please wake me up” vocal vibe. Perhaps they are as tired of making the same recycled shit over and over again as I am of hearing it?

Afterlife is the first release from this new Italian Melodic Death Metal band, but you’d never know it. I have nearly zero information on these guys, but they must have been in some other bands before this, or they’ve spent their entire lives so far practicing their instruments, because they’re very impressive. The amazing recording and sound quality really allow the complexities of the music to be heard, from the bass to the well-integrated keyboards, and everything else. Ranging from intense to moody and melancholy, this EP never fails to impress, especially considering that as far as I can tell, it’s the debut of a previously unheard-of band. Oblyvion “hide” a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark” after the last song (why not make it its own track?), and it is musically dead on, with the added bonus of more intense drumming. It can be difficult for Death Metal growls to sound good with something like an Iron Maiden cover, but Vincenzo’s raspy snarl somehow seems to fit. I can hardly wait to hear what Oblyvion can do with a full-length album. Hopefully I’ll find out soon.

Oh man, The Meads of Asphodel is so fucking schizophrenic. The guys just keep getting weirder with each new recording. Their Black Metal base is still there, but they juxtapose that with Prog Rock wankery, horns, choirs, Punk Rock influences, Medieval Folk goofiness, spoken word passages, possibly a kazoo, and other various insanity within the songs. It’s just too much. If the different elements were somehow layered, maybe this many diverse styles could work together (although I don’t see how), but one thing after another like this destroys any flow the tracks might have, and makes these more collections of disparate ideas (and many bad ones, at that) than songs. Imagine a steak. You’d likely want some type of spices on it and a potato to go along. Some people add grilled onions or even disgusting mushrooms. And all that might make sense, like Black Metal with some Death Metal or Doom added in for flavor. But The Meads start out with perhaps not the best steak and then season it with coconut, burnt wood shavings, and snail slime, roll it up like a burrito, beat it with a small hammer, and sprinkle on some Ortho Max pesticide, and then declare that if you don’t like the resulting toxic mess, well, you just don’t understand gourmet food! My point being that some things go well together and some do not. The Meads of Asphodel is weird for weirdness’ sake alone, and would like for you to believe that constitutes art. Write a song that actually makes sense, and that I can remember, and maybe I’ll call that art. The frustrating part is that these eccentric Englishmen could easily compose compelling songs -there are hints of them all over this album- but apparently have no desire to do so.

I understand that this 7-inch EP is supposed to be “Necro and back to the roots of ugly Black Metal.” Well, mission accomplished. Everything about this is raw and noisy, from the simplistic music, to the painfully wretched vocals, to what could be humorously called “the production.” The title track is the more horrible of the two here, especially the sloppy drumming, which was apparently done by Urgehal main-man Trondr Nefas himself, who should really stick to his usual guitar and vocal cackles. The other song, “Beyond the Nightmare,” is more tolerable, at its slower tempos even sounding a little like Celtic Frost. I had never heard Urgehal before this, despite this Norwegian Black Metal horde having been around for nearly twenty years, so I don’t know if this is the band’s normal style/sound, but if I had to guess I’d think that it’s more refined than this. It would almost have to be. Death Is Complete is strictly for Urgehal completists only - if such a thing exists.

Sometimes I take a chance on an unknown band based on something stupid, like the group’s name, album title, cover art, or back in the old days, even the record label (which I might still do with labels like Obscene Productions or Razorback). So, as a true worshipper of Godzilla and most things Japanese, how could I pass up on a Death Metal band called Kaiju?!? I could not. A quick look-up on Encyclopaedia Metallum tells me that these fellow monster-lovers are from a Chicago suburb, and they use stage names, so I am holding out some hope that noted daikaiju otaku, and Cianide bassist/singer, Mike Perun, is secretly among their ranks, or at least a consultant. Although, were that the case, I think that he might have suggested altering the Anthrax tribute riff (from “Be All, End All”) in “Oath of the Pentagram.” Honestly, all the songs on this EP seem a little undercooked, with the occasional out-of-place Thrash riff, or sudden ending spoiling the vibe. There are, however, a lot of great ideas here, and all Kaiju needs is to take more time to fully explore and develop those ideas before recording them (hopefully in a better studio next time).

Motorhead is my favorite band and the best band on this fucked-up planet, so this review is going to be a little biased. Some people say that you always know what you’re getting with a new Motorhead album, as if that’s a bad thing. Those people are fools, of course. Yes, Lemmy, Mikkey and Phil have what might be called a formula when it comes to writing songs, but really they simply know that you don’t mess with perfection. And that’s what The World Is Yours is. Even on a flawless release, some tracks can stand out, and “Get Back in Line” and “Brotherhood of Man” are the gems of gems here.
We even get a bonus DVD this time! Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing it yet, and there seems to be some confusion about what’s on it (video clip and bonus track, or live show - perhaps different territories get different bonus DVDs?), but who cares. All you really need to know is this: There is a new Motorhead CD available. Track it down immediately!
And while you’re at it, pre-order a copy of the upcoming Lemmy documentary movie, Lemmy: 49% Motherfucker, 51% Son of a Bitch.

I or anyone I know haven’t really given a shit about Deicide in many years. Their last two albums for Roadrunner (Insineratehymn and In Torment in Hell) were the last time I was really feeling them, and just about anyone will tell you that the band phoned those albums in. They were leagues above the next three albums that would follow for Earache, however, when Glen and the boys stopped writing Death Metal songs and started playing inhumanly fast, unmemorable Satanic Tech/Grind. So, will a new record label mark yet another change? Yes and no. They’ve started writing actual songs with actual good riffs again, and the patented riff-following vocal patterns are back, but it might be too little too late. Lyrically I shouldn’t even have to explain what’s going on here. In fact, if I have to hear Benton bark “your god is dead” one more fucking time I’m going to become a Christian just to spite him! Musically, as I said, there is improvement. They’re back to aping Slayer riffs (“Conviction”), while “Witness of Death” and “Empowered by Blasphemy” stand out as the album’s highlights, short and fast songs with actual hooks. The solos are higher quality than I ever remember on a Deicide album (see “Witness of Death”), while closer “How Can You Call Yourself a God” begins with a very unique, dynamic intro piece. Those are the positives. The negatives being basically any song not listed above is pure filler, plus Glen Benton’s voice just isn’t what it was decades ago. Listen to his “tone” on “Into the Darkness You Go.” Is that not a dead horse being beaten by an even deader esophagus? Maybe I’m being too hard on them, but they spent the better part of the ’90s setting their own bar legendarily high. Maybe I’m not being hard enough. Listen to any Deicide output from 1990-1997 and then pop this one in. Night and day. In summary, much better than their last three records, but most things are.

The press release for this album described Tesseract as “Leaders of the djent movement.” Thank Satan I don’t know what “djent” means, but I’m assuming that it has something to do with chugging equine semen, because the aptly named One sucks horse dick. I’m not sure if the little girl squealing the Emo vocals is worse than the absolutely weird guitar tone and ridiculously terrible staccato “riffs” that typically sound as if multiple (shitty) songs are being played simultaneously, but the overdose of Prog Rock lameness is the last bit of corn in this turd sandwich.