Death Metal Tuesday - Torture 2012

25 years and 12 albums worth of death metal is an impressive achievement in itself, but the fact that Cannibal Corpse has remained so consistently dedicated to the genre that they helped make infamous back in 90-91 is something else all together.Cannibal is basically death metal’s answer to Slayer: year-after-year, album-after-album, they never risk alienating their original fan base. I can appreciate this, as Cannibal has never made me suffer through a Illud Divinum Insanus, or a Swansong, or aInsineratehymn. At the same time, it is starting to feel rather redundant and lifeless. 

I was skeptical when Barnes parted ways in 94, but Corpsegrinder finally converted me with Bloodthirst and then Gore Obsessed in 2002. It think Owens’ departure in 2004 has left a bigger hole in the band however. How do they keep things fresh and avoid repeating themselves? Well, the simple answer is: they don't. Cannibal fans expect consistency and that is what they get. Torture is Corpse-by-the-numbers with no real surprises. Starting with 2006’s Kill, I’ve started to feel like they keep writing the same album over and over. I just find it hard to imagine anyone in the pit before their show saying “man, I hope they play tons of shit off of Torture.” And I wonder how Mazurkiewicz and Webster feel when, after a block of new stuff live, Corpsegrinder announces “Skull Full of Maggots” and the crowd acts like the headliner finally took the stage.

The technical aspects and the production of this album is solid. My true hangup with the newer Corpse stuff is the sterility - it is so precise and technically sound, that it really lacks a personality. The songs are delivered with surgical precision and are plenty rocking, there are choice riffs, brutal vocals, and plenty of change ups. “Encased in Concrete” has some life, but then there is “Scourge of Iron,” “Intestinal Crank,” or the serialism of “Rabid” that just sounds like they’re stringing notes and words together out of habit more than anything else. I

Again, the Slayer metaphor is appropriate: You can’t knock a band that has stayed true to form and vision for 20+ years. So, I’m not knocking them, I’m just bored, and I feel like it’s their boredom that’s the problem. It also might be a deeper, philosophical issue regarding aging. Seeing my adolescent heroes grow old and tired, reminds me that I’m growing old and tired. Torture isn’t awful - I can put it on and not turn it off out of frustration, but I also won’t notice anything until it stops playing and my attention is drawn to how quiet it is now. 2 out of 5.

Death Metal Tuesday - Jester Race

In Flames is a band that has received a ton of flack for their change in musical direction. Over the years, they’ve enjoyed a sizable surge in popularity which inevitably alienated their original fan base. In Flames fans are polarized into two camps - pre or post 2002’s “Reroute to Remain.” That album marks the band’s completed shift to a more commercial sound - abandoning their melodic death metal roots for a more “groove metal” approach. 

If you’ve read this blog before, it is probably no shock that I tend to fall into the first group of fans - believing their death metal sound was superior. I understand bands need to evolve, but I just can’t hang with that new stuff. The personal affront that some fans take at the band’s shift, speaks to the strength of their earlier material. 

As Swedish death metal was evolving and splintering off into other sub genres, there was talk about the emerging “Gothenburg sound” which combined the traditional elements of Swedish death metal, with the melodic guitars of more traditional metal forms (specifically, Iron Maiden). This sound would eventually become what we call “melodic death metal” nowadays, but the key bands (At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, and In Flames) had no idea what they were starting - as far as they were concerned, they were just playing Swedish death metal with a twist.

In Flames’ debut, “Lunar Strain” has a rough production and menacing vocals from Michael Stanne (sounding akin to At the Gates’ Lindberg). On “Jester Race,” they clean up the sound, boost the lows, and bring in Anders Friden for vocals. All the elements that made “Strain” effective are enhanced and bolstered here, but the song writing is the real key. Opening track, “Moonshield” starts with acoustic guitars and transitions into a riff that is more harmonious and melancholic than heavy. There is immediately a noticeable departure from anything that could be construed as traditional DM, however the guitars are still crunchy as hell. There is an emphasis on catchy, traditional metal melodies that makes it sound both old school and fresh at the same time. Check out those major scales on "Goliaths Disarm Their David's," or the instrumental, "Wayfaerer." This is the most positive and upbeat sounding death metal there is - it's a crazy contrast. Of course, now this shit has been done to death, but in 96 this was revolutionary stuff. 

Every once in a while, a band gets in a spot where they are in the zone and simply can’t do anything wrong. In Flames’ 1996 sophomore effort, “Jester Race,” is one of those albums. This is on par with Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Death’s Symbolic, or Atheist’s Unquestionable Presence. It is re-playable to a dangerous degree (perhaps annoying others). After this one came the mighty Whoracle which is great, but not as consistent. After that… It was a somewhat rocky trip downward. 5 out of 5.

Death Metal Tuesday - Inbreeding The Anthropophagi

First off, this album has one of the coolest titles ever - a reference to a hideously gory Italian film from the early 1980's. You gotta love that these guys are into obscure, low budget horror flicks. This is their second full length, released in 1998. A California band, Deeds sound quite a bit like New York's Suffocation - ultra fast, with technical and atonal riffing and crazy stop-and-start drumming. The first few times through, everything sounds the same - full tilt brutal DM with a nice double vocal attack and relentless, through-composed brutality. 

Fans of Suffocation should eat this up, but those longing for a hook or two may find it hard to stomach. This is very atonal stuff with very little to grab onto in the way of melody. This is an athletic offering - I imagine these guys sweating buckets on stage just trying to keep this intensity. Because this album is so full-throttle, all of the time, I can only take Deeds in small doses. I like to throw 1 or 2 of these on a playlist, but taking this album down in one sitting can be a challenge that most casual DM fans would likely fail miserably. Only for the die-hards, it gets a 2.5 out of 5. 

Death Metal Tuesday - Ancient God of Evil

Here's a bizarre entry for you - 1995's Ancient God of Evil, created by Stockholm's Unanimated, sports a sound more inline with the Gothenburg sound (In Flames / At The Gates) and at times, even leaning towards a modern black metal approach (much like Stockholm's heroes of the period, Dissection). Making genre distinctions with this album is a difficult task, because it is clearly a "roots" album, helping develop the sound of the growing "melodic death metal" and "Swedish black metal” movements.

"Life Demise" kicks off the album sounding like a lost track off of Dissection's classic, "Storm of the Light's Bane." Purists argue that the two bands sound nothing alike, but I don't know what the hell they're listening to. At The Gates are another clear influence on Unanimated's sound with Micke Broberg's vocals sounding remarkably similar to Lindberg's approach on late-period Gates stuff. "Oceans of Time" hits that mark too - even starting with a pogo-beat and Iron Maiden harmony-laden riff. It is rich with money riffs throughout, making this track one of the true standouts. “The Depths of a Black Sea” is downright triumphant, making me think, yet again, of Dissection (this time, their excellent “Where Dead Angels Lie”). While yes, this stuff is a little derivative, it is from the same time period, so who’s to say who ripped off who? The point is, it’s catchy as hell with so many choice riffs, you’ll want to spin it a few times in a row.

In Flames would make a living off of this melo-death approach, so I'm not sure what happened to Unanimated - it sounds like an extension of the same ideas (“Jester Race” with more edge maybe). Hell, they pretty much started at the same time. But while one band became a ridiculous success the other, has only this obscure little gem for you to seek out - it’s worth your time if you are a fan of melodic death or black. The debut is listenable, but not nearly as approachable as this one. Listenable and accessible death metal simply does not get any better than this one - seek it out at all costs! 5 out of 5.

Death Metal Tuesday - The IVth Crusade

BOLT THROWER - THE IVTH CRUSADE

After the two successful albums on Earache (War Master / Realm of Chaos), England's Bolt Thrower released The IVth Crusade in 1994. Evolving from a crust / grind sound, Bolt Thrower were one of the first death metal bands to slow things down and focus on double-bass mid-tempo grooves.

By this fourth album, mid-tempo became the rule and consequently, things begin to sound a little repetitive. All the tracks run in that 4-6 minute range and simply do not vary enough to warrant the duration. Bolt Thrower has generated a devout following with this sound, but it has never really grabbed me for more than a couple songs at a time. That being said - if I listen to a track at random from this album, I usually dig it. Ritual is a standout, as it slows to a crawl several times and that sludgy, down-tuned guitar just sounds beastly. Ditto for Spearhead which offers enough variety to stay interesting. Celestial Sanctuary also has some awesome riffs and a nice doomy pace to it. 

Lead throat, Karl Willetts, has always sounded a bit bored to me. His delivery is very monotonous with little enthusiasm or menace. The result is the vocals become a background piece and the focus falls on the riffs. This means a song is only as good as its riffs and after a few tracks, Bolt Thrower seem to be repeating themselves. They also tend to hit the same few scales in their riffs - a song will end and a new one will begin, sounding like an extension of the last track. 

I can't call myself a Bolt Thrower fan I guess, but in small doses I find them hard not to like. Longtime fans put this and "...For Victory" at the top of the list. I might recommend "...For Victory" over this release as the production is that much better. Not a bad album by any means - 3 out of 5. 

Death Metal Tuesday - Clandestine

ENTOMBED - CLANDESTINE

Entombed started as Nihilist in Sweden in 1987, when most of the members were 15 or 16 years old. Along with Dismember (Carnage), Entombed are considered the founding fathers of Swedish death metal. Their debut album, "Left Hand Path" is the blueprint for the SDM sound - the Sunlight studio sound, including those famous "buzzsaw" guitars, was copied by legions if Swedish followers to come. Entombed were the first SDM band to land a deal through England's Earache records and "Left Hand Path" was hugely successful (by 1990 death metal standards of course).

This makes "Clandestine" one of the most highly anticipated follow up albums of 1991. Most of the guys in the band were 18-19 by this time, and they had become overnight metal gods in the eyes of their Swedish faithful. Nicke Andersson says this stardom led to cockiness which led to him firing Petrov from vocal duties just prior to recording their follow up. Consequently, Andersson fills in on vocals (having it credited to someone else in the liner notes). 

Andersson's voice is really the only downside of Clandestine, as there are a fair amount of kickass SDM tunes on board here - "Chaos Breed" and "Crawl" being my two favorites - well composed and both with stellar middle sections that evolve and keep the listener engaged throughout. "Stranger Aeons" was the single off this one, and it starts with a haunting intro which makes the guitars sound doubly crunchy when they eventually come in. It's a weird choice for a single though, as the intro and outro instrumental sections dominate the duration of the song. "Evilyn" was always the other standout track on this one, because it was mostly slow and mid-tempo with great groove sections. 

The production is a meatier "Left Hand Path" with the guitars sporting even more low end crunch than they did on the debut. The vocals really are such a shame, even Andersson himself admits he was not up for the task. I wish they'd go back and let Pertov sing the tracks for a re-release, these songs are just so good. 

The pressure of being Swedish Death Metal's poster boys would lead to Entombed drastically changing their sound on the follow up to this album, "Wolverine Blues." This would have a Metallica-Black-Album-effect on the Swedish scene, causing most of the key SDM bands to follow suit, slow their tempos, and crank out that horrid Rot & Roll crap. It would take years before most of them realized SDM was what they should be doing again. 4 out of 5. 

Blame Metallica : A Rant on the Death of Thrash Metal

The eventual death of thrash metal in the early nineties has often been blamed on the rise of Nirvana, but I think the mighty Metallica deserve as much credit for killing the genre. After the success of the “One” video on MTV, Metallica had broken through to a larger audience never thought possible by a thrash metal act. "One" was the power ballad track off of "...And Justice for All" - an overproduced and somewhat self-indulgent album (but still plenty heavy, and loyal to the genre). Heading back into the studio in 1990, the band had big name producer, Bob Rock and millions of dollars of commercial backing for what was to be the biggest thrash metal release in the history of the relatively new genre. 

Thrash metal's birthday is somewhere around 1981-82 in San Francisco and Los Angeles California. A fair number of bands started around that time, combining the technicality of the growing "new wave of British Heavy Metal" with the aggression and speed of the hardcore punk scene. 1983 saw the initial thrash metal releases, the first of which being Metallica's debut, Kill'em All. Though it had much in common with the NWOBHM overseas, there was an sharper edge and more aggression to it that started the ball rolling for other acts. Exodus, Slayer, Testament, and Anthrax all followed shortly after, and by 1985 it was a bonafide movement. 

Metallica had always carried the torch for the American thrash bands, setting the rules and then changing them. Though many bands had imitators, Metallica were the fathers of the genre, and clearly had the largest fan base. In the late eighties, independent record labels had grown and developed entire catalogs based solely on thrash metal. Germany, England, and other parts of Europe soon developed thrash movements of their own. Though still rather underground, a handful of bands had started to gain significant followings: Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, and, of course, Metallica. 

Each Metallica release was bigger than the last. Ride the Lightning in 1985, and Master of Puppets in 1986 are still classics of the genre. While on tour in Europe, a bus accident resulted in the death of Cliff Burton, Metallica’s bassist. The genre lost one of its leaders, but the band carried on, releasing …And Justice for All in 1988. The popularity of Master of Puppets allowed the band to over-produce their 4th album - mixing their new bass player, Jason Newsted, completely out of the mix and boosting the lows in their guitars so much, that the palm-muted parts distort on average speaker systems.

Despite the production, the album was well received. I’ve always felt it lacked the songwriting of the previous two albums. Some tracks play like a collection of cool riffs rather than a proper song (Harvester of Sorrow, Frayed End of Sanity, Eye of the Beholder), other tracks are fairly strong (Blackened, And Justice for All). One was an obvious pick for their single. It had an approachable verse and chorus, and then thrashed proper towards the end. The response to the single really started the events that led to thrash’s demise.

Music is a business, and Metallica showed music execs that there was money to be made in this relatively untapped sub genre. So, as the 80’s came to a close, the major thrash bands were suddenly being snatched up by major labels at a fervent pace, and with that, came audible market influence into the music. Metallica started to bring in some real money, so the labels were trying desperately to find the next Metallica. 

There were positives to this reaction - the production values got much better, as did distribution. Thrash bands were now getting wide exposure - influencing the rest of the world. On the other hand, there was also the obvious market influence in the music’s sound. Just look at the differences between 86-88 albums and the 89/90 albums of key thrash acts: Sacred Reich, Testament, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus, Flotsam and Jetsam, Sepultura, Death Angel. Yes, one could argue that the bands were all changing with the scene, and Metallica were merely trend-setters. That would be plausible, if not for what happened next. Metallica emerged from the studio on August 12, 1991, with an album without a title and void of cover art that you could really see - reminding all of us old schoolers of a joke from the movie Spinal Tap about “how much more black can you get?… The answer is none… none more black.”

Anyway, cover art aside, “Metallica” had twelve tracks of over-produced metal that fans immediately noticed was “dumbed-down.” The complex arrangements and abnormal time signatures were gone. Any of their previous progressive elements were gone. What Metallica had done, essentially, was take their thrash metal sound and dumb it down for a wider audience. And it worked… to an unforeseen level. Metallica became huge, opening up for big time acts like Guns and Roses.

The idea that Metallica, the fathers of thrash metal, were co-headlining arenas with a band from the LA “hair metal” scene was dripping with irony. You see, thrash metal was birthed out of a loathing for the hair metal scene. Metallica actually relocated from LA to San Francisco to get away from a scene that didn’t really accept them. Now, they were peas in a pod… playing the same bill.

Nirvana’s hugely successful Nevermind was released on September 24, 1991 - 42 days after Metallica’s “Black Album.” Did it add to the genre’s decline? Undoubtedly. But the proverbial nail in the coffin was thrash’s other major acts following in Metallica’s wake with their own attempts at a “Black Album” album to gather more fans. It wasn’t really until 1992-93 when you began to hear the full impact:

• Megadeth’s phenomenal “Rust in Peace,” was followed by the watered-down and occasionally comical “Countdown to Extinction.” (92)
• Testament released “The Ritual” (92) which barely sounded like the same band.
• Sean Killian sounds like he was told to “stop screaming” on Vio-lence’s depressing “Nothing to Gain.”(93)
• Exodus turned into groove metal on “Force of Habit”(92)
• Germany’s mighty Kreator changed their sound completely on the transparently named “Renewal” (92)
• What the hell happened to Anthrax on “The Sound of White Noise” (93)
• Overkill had their own ironic title with the slowed down, and much tamer “I Hear Black” (93)
• Flotsam and Jetsam sound like plagiarists on “Cuatro” (92) - a blatant Metallica wannabe
• Nuclear Assault stretch their sound to places it just can’t go on “Something Wicked” (93)

So, as Thrash Metal’s torch carrier led their followers down paths of false hope for stardom, a new genre started poaching thrash metal’s audience, many of whom had been alienated and disenfranchised by their favorite band’s lastest albums. I can’t explain why “The Black Album” hit gold and nothing else did. I’m not sure it’s any better than any of those albums I mentioned above, but Metallica went on to depart even further from their sound, now sounding like a cover band when they play those classic tracks live. 

The grunge that the radio referred to was really alternative rock, and they called it “college rock” before that. It had it’s day and over-saturated the market. In the world of metal, more extreme genres took over: death metal, black metal, and grindcore gave the true metal heads what they needed. Then in 2003-4, a new band emerged, flying the thrash metal flag for the next generation: Lamb of God. 

The past ten years has seen a thrash metal revival of sorts. New bands have emerged with a “classic sound” and many of the original bands have reformed, or never really went away. Many of the bands I mentioned in my “sell-out” list have released “comeback” albums over the past ten years. In addition, they have set out on special tours where they play an entire album from start to finish. And guess what, they’re not playing their album from 1993 are they? No, they’re playing the album that was written from their heart and out of their hopes for stardom. Ironically, they’re probably more successful now then they ever were in the 90’s, and they’re doing it by playing thrash metal, and not that watered-down bullshit they were whoring themselves out for. And Metallica? They finally issued their apology in the form of “Death Magnetic” in 2008. It’s by no means on par with those classic first four, but after a decade and a half of crap, it sounds halfway decent. 

Thrash metal came into my life at the impressionable age of 13 and because of that, the metal genre has always been what I pour my energy into, even 25 years later. In the nineties, I ran to death metal, dissatisfied with what my childhood thrash heroes were becoming. Sadly, even death metal got commercialized to an extent towards 2000. Then, we metal heads got old enough to have enough money to demand what we wanted: musicianship, creativity, and brutality. Metal is enjoying more exposure now than ever before, probably because it is comfortable with its spot on the commercial end of things, and not trying to be the “next big thing.” And yes, pop music still sucks.