I have always defended Metalcore. When it was a fresh, budding genre, I was just as excited about it as I was in the early ’90s when Death Metal changed my life. Early albums from the likes of Poison the Well, Eighteen Visions, and Heaven Shall Burn couldn’t be removed from my stereo with a crowbar for the majority of the last decade. Haters were hating from the get-go, and I raised my middle finger high in devout defense. That being said, even I am getting tired of the shit. When you consider the mind-numbing plethora of Metalcore/Deathcore bands to surface of late, which have caused many of the genre’s giants to abandon ship, one has to wonder if the limits have been stretched to the point of being torn to shreds. Take Switzerland’s A Thousand Years Slavery. Good band, good breakdowns, good Swedish Death melodies, great brutal vocals, great clean vocals… not enough. It’s been done to death and thensome to the point where doing it well is just not enough anymore. More like a thousand years too late.

A punishing blend of melodic Death Metal and wicked fast Metalcore. One of the better manipulations of the Gothenburg sound entwined with a blasting ferocity reminiscent of the earlier works of Between the Buried and Me, The Red Chord, and Job for a Cowboy. I tend to prefer more of a brutal voice for this kind of thing, as you could not pick Dustin Curtis out of a Myspace page of basic Metalcore throats, but he gets the job done and is often very understandable.

I haven’t really been into much of what this band’s done since 1995’s Draconian Times, which in itself was a step down from its predecessor. (It’s all pretty much been downhill since Gothic, really.) Still, every time Paradise Lost puts out a new album, I am promised some kind of return to form. And every few years, like some jackass Alzheimer’s patient, I fall for it hook, line and sinker. “Maybe this will be the one,” say I, the naive retard. And every single time I get let down. “Hey… I got my fucking hopes up for nothing!” Well, when promised that long overdue return to form this time, I vowed not to hope, for all hope is pain. Upon hearing the music for In Requiem, my hopes slightly shot up a little. It’s Thrashier, it’s heavier, and it’s as youthful as they’ve sounded in aeons. But then all it took was a little taste of Nick Holmes’ new-found backwoods hillbilly, James Hetfield, trailer park mating call. He sounds like Chuck Billy with Downs! A few scattered traditional Paradise Lost melodies throughout the album only serve as a sad reminder of what, if they wanted to, could be again. Paradise lost indeed.

This band’s last album, Pariah, was impressive, stunning even, and one of the best Black Metal albums of 2005. But Harvest is perfection. The interweaving of melody and intensity is flawlessly executed and Kristoffer’s vocals are agonizingly, supremely effective in delivering his suicidal/nihilistic lyrics. This majestic Black Metal album is truly one for the vaults. My review copy is unfortunately without it, but the retail version comes with a bonus DVD featuring live footage, a video clip, and an interview. While appreciated (or so I would imagine), Harvest doesn’t need the DVD-bonus-features to push it over the top.

It’s safe to say that if by this point you aren’t aware of what you’ll get with an Impaled Nazarene record, you simply don’t matter. An objective analysis of goat worship would therefore only be acknowledging you exist. A real waste of time for everyone. I will say that Manifest is a sort of amalgam of everything this band has put to disc in the last decade or so, but with all the filler omitted. Despite some of the press you may have read, nothing at all has changed about the band’s sound whatsoever. It’s especially in the vein of their last 3 or 4 releases, straightforward Finnish filth. P.S. Any fuckhead who writes that the few slow songs on Manifest are this band’s first “foray” into Doom territory is simply poser scum who has apparently never heard Suomi Finland Perkele. Sorry to call you out, but someone had to.

Do these guys ever tire of putting out quality albums? It’s been one right after another for the last 13 years (yes, they’ve been around longer than that, but I honestly didn’t care for Dawn of Possession). Shadows in the Light is pure Immolation, and that’s really saying something. They have established themselves as Death Metal legends over the years with a unique, trademark style all their own. Almost impossible to duplicate, therefore rarely attempted. You have to hold them in the same regard as Morbid Angel, Deicide, Vader, any Death Metal band with an instantly recognizable sound. This is a concrete culmination of everything this band’s been up to since Here in After, and while I don’t think it quite tops the perfection of Harnessing Ruin, it’s essential Immolation. The two words now officially synonyms. The proof: “Hate’s Plague,” “Passion Kill,” “World Agony,” “Deliverer of Evil,” and “Lying with Demons.”

The follow-up to the band’s 1987 Combat Records debut, Breaking the Silence, this 1991 album (originally reviewed in Metal Curse #5) was a triumph for Heathen. In the interim between albums, they switched singers, briefly employing Exodus’s Paul Baloff (whose style couldn’t have meshed well with the band’s established sound), before screamer David White rejoined them. Sadly, I think that everyone who has ever sung for this band is now dead.
Although from the SF Bay Area, Heathen’s Thrash was a little more intense than usual, other than the kind of early-Anthrax-style vocals, which might be something of an acquired taste, especially now. Victims… has help up pretty well over the years, and not only is the original CD-only bonus track present, we also get the previously unheard (outside of Japan, at least) bonus track “Hellbound.” I do prefer Breaking the Silence, but this is still classic Thrash.

This 1993 follow-up to Considered Dead sees the band thankfully only barely hinting at the changes to come on later albums, and as such is quite good. The production seems a little less thick here, which was probably seen as a positive “evolution” by the band. The somewhat increased complexity of the songs still allows for a heavy dose of brutality, which is certainly appreciated. Not quite the classic that the debut was, but still an important album. And one with two bonus tracks (once again, raw demo versions of album tracks) this time!

This was originally released way back in 1991, before the band was obsessed with being so complex and weird that no one could manage to sit through a song, much less an entire album. No, this was a simpler, heavier, better time. Considered Dead is prime Death Metal, and it’s great to see this back in print after all these years. At the time of this album’s initial release, the competition was so fierce that it may have been somewhat overlooked. Perhaps this is what led the band to more and more “experimentation” on subsequent releases, I don’t know, but this classic holds up very well. Plus we’re treated to a pair of previously unheard (and raw!) demo versions of album cuts as bonus tracks.

This band’s albums are all varying levels of amazing, but live… holy fuck! The energy displayed on this 1990 live album (recorded at the Marquee Club in London, of all places) is stunning and builds throughout the set until the absolutely nuclear rendition of the band’s most known song, “Alcohol.” The two studio bonus tracks on this 2007 reissue are from the King of Bands “hits” compilation, and are appreciated, but sort of distract from the live set. But that’s like complaining about too much of a good thing, and Gang Green would never do that.

Another classic from the Hardcore legends Gang Green, this time from 1989. “There’s no Bible, and brews are god.” No wonder Impaled Nazarene covered one of their songs (“Alcohol,” from the Another Wasted Night album). With each release this band injected a little more (Thrash) Metal into its sound, which I liked at the time and like just as much now. I’ve listened to Older… 666 times over the years, and its one of my all-time favorites. And 1988’s entire I81B4U EP is included as bonus tracks on this 2007 reissue, which is the first time those song have ever been available on CD as far as I know. I didn’t think that this album could possibly be any better, but that did it.

This is what Hardcore sounded like 20 years ago (1987). Yes, I’m ancient. I don’t know how long this album has been out of print, but I’d like to thank Metal Mind for correcting that problem with this limited edition (of 2000 - on gold discs!) reissue. I’ve been a Gang Green fan for about a million years, and listening to this really takes me back. I’d be lying if I said that every single song on here made me want to jump around and break stuff, but most of them do, even now. Fans of old-school Hardcore, beer, and Satan should check out this legendary band and album. Oddly, there is no extra stuff on this reissue, but don’t let that stop you.

The Khaarnus layouts for their releases are so awkwardly confusing, I’m only going on a good guess which is band name and which is album title. What I am sure of, whatever the band’s name is, is that they’re seriously fucked up and enjoying every minute of it. Proof that comedy can coexist with Extreme Metal without destroying it, these Polish freaks epitomize what it means to entertain. For the most part, they are a Grind band and a seriously fucking heavy one at that, but they will throw an occasional curveball. Their song titles are paragraphs that brutalize the English language much like their riffs do your eardrums, but we’ll just say that the lounge music featured on “the first song,” and the tongue-in-cheek Techno cover that is “the last song” are two examples of how this album can simultaneously make you want to kill, and piss your pants laughing. A rarely successful feat.

Trite “Folk” elements detract from what would have otherwise been a solid symphonic Black Metal record. The Metal equivalent to Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly, and other like-minded one trick ponies.

Described on the press release as “Iron Maiden meets Pantera,” I was already offended and disgusted before I even put this disc in the player. After listening to it, I was relieved to discover that the press release was simply wrong (as they often are), and horrible though this is, there is zero trace of Iron Maiden influence. I don’t even think this band has two guitarists (no lineup info is available anywhere, including the band’s stupidly bare-bones website), nor is the bassist even noticeable, and the vocals are the lamest Emo/Metalcore combination I’ve ever heard. And as gay as Pantera is/was, this is often musically far gayer. I absolutely knew that this would suck, but I was honestly surprised by exactly how it sucks. It’s not the first time that a press release has lied. To be completely honest, if the band burnt their “Emo” singer at the stake as a sacrifice to Satan, and demanded that the screamer (assuming that they’re different people) “nut up or shut up,” as Hardcore Bob Holly would say, this Mallcore excrement might evolve into something barely tolerable. Maybe. Probably not. But, as is? Weakness enshrined.

I’m not sure why the press release calls this “melodic Thrash.” I guess that it’s so necessary to label things that even an inaccurate label is better than none at all. What we really have from this German band is a weird mix of styles that does incorporate a dash of Thrash (think Kreator or Destruction), but concentrates on newer ideas such as Mallcore-style “clean” vocals on the choruses, staccato riffing, goofy keyboards and synth f/x, and pretty much anything else you might think of. When not being weird for its own sake, these guys can manage some cool moments. But they never last, and that just makes it all the more frustrating to sit though the duration of this album. Every time I started to really enjoy what was going on, something popped up to ruin it. A more focused approach seems like the way to go to me. However, I’d bet that FMT does the exact opposite, and subsequent releases only get more and more strange and disjointed. They’ll consider that to be “growth,” I’m sure.

It’s 2008… and Debbie Gibson Metal… it still lives…

Sincere, well-played, technical Death/Thrash with exceptionally brutal female vocals and a few traditional Heavy Metal elements. Not very memorable, though. Beyond the skill and Zdenka Prado’s patented guttural bark, there isn’t much to be remembered at all. “100% no bullshit,” the group proclaims of its second album. I hate to say it, but maybe a little bullshit here and there wouldn’t hurt.

Basic, average, demo-level Black Metal from Iowa. Nothing terrible, nothing outstanding. Fast and melodic, with unpatterned, traditional Blackened screeching and sub par production. The overall vibe reminds me of old Abigor, just not as good. Every song is essentially the same. To quote Throwdown, “…I’ve heard it before and I’ve had enough.”

A subtle mixture of Mr. Big, Bon Jovi, and Finntroll. I think I’d rather drive a nail straight through the head of my dick.