The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

Trollheart · 10-27-2013, 06:35 AM

Utopia banished --- Napalm Death --- 1992 (Realtivity)

Okay well I've survived Death Metal, Black Metal and Pagan Metal but now I'm scared. Grindcore is a term that freezes me to the bone, but somehow I've added Napalm Death to my list of bands I need to cover for Metal Month (damn you, "Metal Hammer"!) and I'm committed now. But I fear this is going to be the biggest noise assault on my poor ears since I listened to Carcass, what seems weeks ago now. And may be, depending on when this is getting posted. To add to that, there are a total of fifteen tracks on this, though mercifully most are quite short, some less than two minutes long. I looked for other Napalm Death albums that had less tracks but they all seem to have about the same, so I decided to go with this one.

The title of the first track doesn't provide any hope for me, though "Discordance" opens with what appears to be a radio broadcast of some sort, then a snarling guitar, sounding like a raging beast waiting to be let loose, growls in the distance threateningly. It's one of those short tracks, about a minute and a half, then "I abstain" opens with decent enough metal guitar, and when the vocal comes in it's --- surprise, surprise! --- a growler, but considering what I've suffered though, sorry, listened to in the last few months it's not the shock it would have been before I started this. It's certainly not melodic, but then I wasn't expecting that. To be honest, I was expecting just noise really, and this is at least music of a sort.

Good guitar solo with the drums pounding at a hundred miles an hour, and it's one of the longer tracks at over three minutes, but Napalm Death play so fast that it's over fairly quickly and we're into "Dementia access". Another good hard guitar opening then a scream from Mark "Barney" Greenway, before he's off growling and roaring again. I don't know: Batlord I'm sure still thinks I'm a girl in disguise and listens to this with his amp at ten and his windows wide open, but I think I'm getting a little used to this, perhaps inured to the sort of Metal I would prior to this never have dreamed of listening to. Not that I'd listen to Napalm Death again --- I'd rather have my head removed with a blunt spoon --- but I reckon I can make it through this.

"Christening of the blind" is another longer track, and bit more of a boogie-along rhythm to it, but I honestly don't see me reporting too much in the way of difference in the tracks here; they all already sound fairly similar. Drummer goes a bit mad(der) near the end of this. "Idiosyncratic" kicks the tempo up --- yes, it's possible --- while "Aryanisms" has some pretty energetic guitar (look, I'm tring to find good things to say about this album, or at least not be too critical of it ok?) and there's a good solo at the end of "Judicial slime", but yeah it's all sounding pretty much the same to me.

I should point out that growly as he is, I can at least understand what Greenway is singing, which is not always the case with this sort of vocal style, so points for that. I guess Napalm Death only have one speed though, and you wouldn't want to get in their way! "Exile" gets a tiny bit slower, but that's still faster than most bands, possibly even punk ones. My old friend melody of course doesn't even get a look in: it's all about power, aggression and speed with little thought for song structure, or indeed, songs. Rather surprisingly, the closer, "Contemptuous", sounds like it might actually slow to human levels! The drums are discernible now, single beats as opposed to a wall of noise, the guitar is playing heavy but normally, as opposed to, well, a wall of noise. Greenway's still growling, sort of chanting really, and damned if something resembling a melody of sorts isn't creeping into the song, which turns out to be the longest on the album at just shy of four and a half minutes. An unexpected end, without a doubt.

TRACKLISTING

1. Discordance
2. I abstain
3. Dementia access
4. Christening of the blind
5. The world keeps turning
6. Idiosyncratic
7. Aryanisms
8. Cause and effect (Part II)
9. Judicial slime
10. Distorting the medium
11. Got time to kill
12. Upward and uninterested
13. Exile
14. Awake (To a life of misery)
15. Contemptuous

Hands up all those who thought I'd like this music? Hmm. Not a one. Well, no surprise. You all know my limits by now, and Grindcore was always going to push those. But in fairness it's not as messy or noisy as I thought it would be. I honestly expected almost discordant fuzz with nothing I could even latch onto as a tune, but though this music certainly doesn't appeal to me, it's not the worst. Given that, it would be a very cold day in Hell before I'd listen to it again, but it's interesting that it didn't break the sort of boundaries I had expected it to. I thought it would be totally alien, and, well, it's not.

Just not something I ever intend listening to again, if the Metal Gods are kind.

(Or am I being too generous here?)

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm_Death

Trollheart · 10-27-2013, 06:42 AM

Master of puppets --- Metallica --- 1983 (Elektra)

Sure it's a bit obvious to those of you who know the album, but I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and have not heard as much of their catalogue as many of you may have done, so this is a first listen for me. Someone help the Batlord up: I think he fainted there!

Anyhoo, it's supposed to be one of their masterpieces, so I thought I'd give it an airing and see if it deserves that title.

I see two, no, three eight-minute tracks. Hmm. Opens on soft acoustic or maybe Spanish guitar, slow and relaxed but hell I'm not fooled. With a title like "Battery" it's bound to ... ah, there it goes. Hard electric cuts in and the drums pound their way into the tune, it kicks up in tempo and rhythm and we're away. Rapid-fire delivery on the vocals from James Hetfield, with more than a hint of the punk in the chorus --- well, one line: the title of the song. Great screaming solo --- oh no wait, it's not: cut off a few seconds later. Sort of slows down in the midsection with some nice guitarwork and a sort of instrumental break rather than a solo, which follows it as Kirk Hammet gives it all he's got. Must be honest, I'm not that gone on this as an opener. Bit basic really, but we'll see how the album develops.

The title track is up next, and it's one of those eight-minuters I mentioned. Big hard guitar intro with both Hetfield and Hammet working overtime, Lars Ulrich bashing out an energetic rhythm on the drumkit, a lot of energy and anger in the vocal when Hetfield comes in. Reminds me of a cross between Tank and Iron Maiden, then about halfway in with get a lovely laidback guitar piece that's classic Lizzy or Maiden, slowing everything down but still keeping the heavy aspect of the song. A very politically-charged lyric of course, and ties in nicely with the album artwork. A storming solo from, I assume, Kirk Hammet, and a big evil laugh at the end to bring it all to a close. Impressive.

I think it may be slide guitar that opens "The thing that should not be", then it marches along on the back of solid guitar and percussion and takes as its lyrical inspiration "The Lord of the Rings", instantly making Metallica a favourite with nerds, and also making being a nerd cool. Great grinding rhythm to this and it really suits the subject matter. Everything slows down then for "Welcome home (Sanitarium)" with some rising guitar work at the opening and a less frenzied vocal from Hetfield, though of course it does speed up and Hammet goes a little wild on the frets, which is all good. Great powerful dramatic ending too. On we go, into "Disposable heroes", another eight-minute epic. Again opening with a huge guitar fest, and it rattles along nicely with another heavy political lyric as you would expect.

With a "One! Two! One-two-three-four!" we're off into "Leper messiah", kind of a fast grinder which actually puts me in mind of one of the few Metallica songs I know well, that everyone knows, and though it's not really "Enter Sandman" I hear some similarities in the melody. The final eight-minute track is an instrumental that goes under the title of "Orion", and gives Kirk Hammet a chance to show what he can really do when let loose. He doesn't disappoint, himself and bassist Cliff Burton giving a virtuoso show, sadly the last Burton would play on any Metallica album, as during the tour to support this one in Stockholm he was tragically killed in a road accident. Perhaps horribly ironic that the last album he worked on before passing away is one that features crosses and headstones on its cover?

Finishing up with some fine slide guitar before "Damage, Inc." brings down the curtain, it's a fine closer with hard, heavy guitar and thunderous drumming, a return to the faster Metallica of songs like "Disposable heroes" and the title track, and an angry vocal from Hetfield with some nice staccato guitar from Hammet, and a screeching, finger-burning solo just to add the icing on an already very tasty cake.

TRACKLISTING

1. Battery
2. Master of puppets
3. The thing that should not be
4. Welcome home (Sanitarium)
5. Disposable heroes
6. Leper messiah
7. Orion
8. Damage, Inc.

It's clear to see why this is so revered an album, showing a band who would go on to more or less dominate the thrash and speed metal scene for the next few years at the top of their game. There's very little bad you can say about it --- or would dare! --- other than as I mentioned the opener could be a bit more hard-hitting, but once the album gets into its stride there's no stopping it. With songs that have stood the test of time and still appear regularly on Metallica's setlist, and have been covered by more artists than I want to count, "Master of puppets" has to be one of not only the most seminal Metallica albums ever, but also one of the most important in the thrash subgenre overall.

If an album was meant to put down a marker and showcase a band who were in it for the long haul, not just fly-by-nighters who intended to make their money quickly and retire, Metallica's third album said it all. And could there be a better tribute, if unintentional, to the memory of their tragically departed bass player?

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica

Trollheart · 10-27-2013, 07:14 AM

UFO: More hard rock than Heavy Metal, but there ain't much for this letter so... UFO (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VAN HALEN: American Heavy Metal band famous for giving the world one of the most accomplished guitarists in the genre. Van Halen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VARDIS: British metal band active during the NWOBHM Vardis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VENOM: Seminal Black Metal band who coined the very phrase "black metal" Venom (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VIRGIN STEELE: American power metal band Virgin Steele - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WHITESNAKE: Again, you probably wouldn't really call them Heavy Metal, but we're into the letters that have less and less bands assigned to them, so the other spinoff band from Deep Purple, formed by David Coverdale, gets a slot here. Whitesnake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WHITE SPIRIT: English Metal band who gave us guitarist Janick Gers, who now plays with Iron Maiden. White Spirit (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WITCHFINDER GENERAL: English Doom Metal band most famous for dodgy, almost porno album covers! Witchfinder General (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WITCHFYNDE: Another English metal band, active in the NWOBHM. Witchfynde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WRATHCHILD: Not to be confused with an American band of the same name. Glam Metal band from the UK who took their name, obviously, from one of Iron Maiden's early songs. Wrathchild - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

djchameleon · 10-27-2013, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Having listened to "Blackbird" I couldn't say for certain whether Alter Bridge can be considered metal. They're certainly heavy but I don't know if they qualify as a heavy metal band or just a rock one. But they're certainly heavy enough for inclusion here, and whatever they are, I like them on the basis of this album. Feel I may be checking out some of their other material in the near future.

Alter Bridge is considered Hard Rock. I think I got into them because one of their songs was used as the entrance theme for a wrestler. They also ended up popping up on the Elektra Soundtrack. I need to listen to their fourth album which was released recently called Fortress. I downloaded it but my albums to listen to list is pretty long at the moment. I would recommend One Day Remains next but if you want to hear what Alter Bridge sounds like when they go darker lyrically then go with ABIII instead.

Trollheart · 10-28-2013, 07:11 AM

Outshine the sun --- Neonfly --- 2011 (Rising Records)

A silly name certainly but from what I heard before I bought the album this band's music is anything but silly. Hailing from London, they've only been together since 2007 and this is their first full album, but seems to be a pretty decent debut. "Broken wings" gets us started with a fast, powerful, uptempo rocker and one of the hallmarks of power metal, catchy hooks and melodies. Willy Norton is a good vocalist and both the guitarists earn their wages, as Frederick Thunder (his real name?) and Patrick Harrington (his too, golf fans!) put in a fine shift, sharing the plethora of solos between them.

Keeping things fast "The enemy" rocks along with a super guitar riff running through it, and a thick little bass opening to "Ship with no sails" which then takes off on what appears to be a piano melody, though no keyboard player is credited. Nice little eastern-tinged riff in it, and "The revenant" is a real rockalong track, with an anthemic chorus. Nice slide guitar to open "The ornament" before it fires off in high gear, and those have to be keyboards. Turns out to be a rather powerful instrumental, nice change of pace. Speaking of a change of pace, there's piano and violin as "Reality shift" gets going, with some fine guitar interplay between Thunder and Harrington and great vocal harmonies.

Really nice slow neoclassical instrumental in the middle with piano, cello and guitar then it ramps back up as it hammers towards the end of the song, ushering in "Spitting blood", which I'm gonna go out on a limb and say is not going to be a ballad with a title like that! There's actually an ominous, dark feel about it even when it hits into top speed, then we get sitar, piano and fiddle (!) in "Morning star" and it certainly sounds like female backing vocals in the chorus, though again not credited. Excellent acapella ending. Big dramatic sound to "The messenger", with lush, deep synth and piano, a passionate and strong vocal from Willy Norton and a sudden explosion of speed and guitar histrionics about halfway through, that takes the song almost into its last minute. Pealing bells and harpsichordal keyboard with violin finishes a near-perfect job.

And there's still one track to go. The rather silly title "I think I saw a UFO" is about --- anyone? Yeah. It's okay but frankly after the sublime "The messenger" it's a bit of a letdown and not what I would call a decent song to close the album on.

TRACKLISTING

1. Broken wings
2. The enemy
3. Ship with no sails
4. A gift to remember
5. The revenant
6. The ornament
7. Reality shift
8. Spitting blood
9. Morning star
10. The messenger
11. I think I saw a UFO

To be honest, I remember the sample impressing me more than the album now does. I mean, it's a good album but I feel a little disappointed considering how the samples struck me. Maybe I was expecting too much --- you can't get that much from a sixty-second example of a song after all --- but the end product, though not at all bad, seems to fall a little short of what I had expected. A little generic in some ways, a few good ideas not properly explored but a few really good tracks.

So in the end, I'd have to say a good, perhaps very good album, but not a great album, and certainly failing to live up to the expectations in its title.

Read more here http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Neonfly/3540261191

Trollheart · 10-28-2013, 07:15 AM

As the palaces burn --- Lamb of God --- 2003 (Prosthetic)

I think it's actually quite funny to have a metal band --- particularly one considered extreme --- with a name that comes not only out of the Bible, but also evokes one of the quietest, most innocent and submissive images you can think of. Lamb of God, the band, are the farthest thing from any of these three states you can get. Hard crashing guitars greet us as the appropriately-titled "Ruin" kicks in the door, and yes, vocalist Randy Blythe is another growler. Heavy, staccato guitar work from Mark Morton and Willie Adler and thunderous, crunching drumming from John Campbell. We crash into the title track as the tempo kicks up higher with some fine shredding and I can at least make out most of what Blythe is singing this time round. Just about.

Chris Poland straps on the guitar to take centre stage in "Purified", have to say I don't see the difference but I'm not that familiar with his work. Have only heard him on the one album from Damn the Machine and wasn't overly impressed with him then. "11th hour" trundles along nicely with a sort of heads-down, three-guitars-on-stage feel, while "For your malice" is a little more grindy but still fast as hell. Yeah, but I'm just not feeling it with these guys. All seems very similar. The guitar in "Boot scraper" is very annoying, if you can imagine such a thing, and Devin Townsend, who helped produce this album, makes an appearance on guitar in "A devil in God's country".

"In defence of our good name" is a chugging grinder with a snarly vocal, and some good effective feedback guitar, picking up near the end with a fast guitar solo, and it's more or less the same for the next two tracks, finishing up on "Vigil", rather surprisingly a laidback opening with some nice acoustic guitar, but am I fooled? It's kind of grunge meets Metallica, and Blythe proves, unlike other death growlers who are a little more versatile when needed, that he can only sing one way, which is to growl, so the nice atmosphere built up at the start is pretty much destroyed. Pointless.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ruin
2. As the palaces burn
3. Purified
4. 11th hour
5. For your malice
6. Boot scraper
7. A devil in God's country
8. In defence of our good name
9. Blood junkie
10. Vigil

Yeah, there's nothing good I can say here. Very run-of-the-mill, nothing special, no great songs, can't make out the vocals, and even when they try to diversify a little at the end the vocalist is not up to the change required, which renders the whole thing frankly laughable. Not a band I'll be returning to.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God_%28band%29

The Batlord · 10-28-2013, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

The title track is up next, and it's one of those eight-minuters I mentioned. Big hard guitar intro with both Hetfield and Hammet working overtime, Lars Ulrich bashing out an energetic rhythm on the drumkit, a lot of energy and anger in the vocal when Hetfield comes in. Reminds me of a cross between Tank and Iron Maiden, then about halfway in with get a lovely laidback guitar piece that's classic Lizzy or Maiden, slowing everything down but still keeping the heavy aspect of the song. A very politically-charged lyric of course, and ties in nicely with the album artwork. A storming solo from, I assume, Kirk Hammet, and a big evil laugh at the end to bring it all to a close. Impressive.

It's about cocaine.

Quote:

I think it may be slide guitar that opens "The thing that should not be", then it marches along on the back of solid guitar and percussion and takes as its lyrical inspiration "The Lord of the Rings", instantly making Metallica a favourite with nerds, and also making being a nerd cool. Great grinding rhythm to this and it really suits the subject matter. Everything slows down then for "Welcome home (Sanitarium)" with some rising guitar work at the opening and a less frenzied vocal from Hetfield, though of course it does speed up and Hammet goes a little wild on the frets, which is all good. Great powerful dramatic ending too. On we go, into "Disposable heroes", another eight-minute epic. Again opening with a huge guitar fest, and it rattles along nicely with another heavy political lyric as you would expect.

Actually it's from H.P. Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu".

Trollheart · 10-28-2013, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

It's about cocaine.

Really? You're the expert but I thought it was, you know, generals sitting in their offices while ordering the troops to their deaths...

Quote:

Actually it's from H.P. Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu".

Then why do they keep talking about Mordor??

Engine · 10-28-2013, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Then why do they keep talking about Mordor??

They never mention Mordor in that song. Perhaps you mistook their use of the word "immortal"?

Trollheart · 10-28-2013, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engine

They never mention Mordor in that song. Perhaps you mistook their use of the word "immortal"?

Could very well be. Dammit! There goes a whole line of reasoning then. Like the time I mistook the line in Toto's "Africa" for "there's nothing that a hundred men on Mars could ever do..." !!!

Ah, nuts!
Thanks though Engine: suppose I should check the lyrics before commenting on them.

10-27-2013, 06:35 AM	#2001 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Utopia banished --- Napalm Death --- 1992 (Realtivity) Okay well I've survived Death Metal, Black Metal and Pagan Metal but now I'm scared. Grindcore is a term that freezes me to the bone, but somehow I've added Napalm Death to my list of bands I need to cover for Metal Month (damn you, "Metal Hammer"!) and I'm committed now. But I fear this is going to be the biggest noise assault on my poor ears since I listened to Carcass, what seems weeks ago now. And may be, depending on when this is getting posted. To add to that, there are a total of fifteen tracks on this, though mercifully most are quite short, some less than two minutes long. I looked for other Napalm Death albums that had less tracks but they all seem to have about the same, so I decided to go with this one. The title of the first track doesn't provide any hope for me, though "Discordance" opens with what appears to be a radio broadcast of some sort, then a snarling guitar, sounding like a raging beast waiting to be let loose, growls in the distance threateningly. It's one of those short tracks, about a minute and a half, then "I abstain" opens with decent enough metal guitar, and when the vocal comes in it's --- surprise, surprise! --- a growler, but considering what I've suffered though, sorry, listened to in the last few months it's not the shock it would have been before I started this. It's certainly not melodic, but then I wasn't expecting that. To be honest, I was expecting just noise really, and this is at least music of a sort. Good guitar solo with the drums pounding at a hundred miles an hour, and it's one of the longer tracks at over three minutes, but Napalm Death play so fast that it's over fairly quickly and we're into "Dementia access". Another good hard guitar opening then a scream from Mark "Barney" Greenway, before he's off growling and roaring again. I don't know: Batlord I'm sure still thinks I'm a girl in disguise and listens to this with his amp at ten and his windows wide open, but I think I'm getting a little used to this, perhaps inured to the sort of Metal I would prior to this never have dreamed of listening to. Not that I'd listen to Napalm Death again --- I'd rather have my head removed with a blunt spoon --- but I reckon I can make it through this. "Christening of the blind" is another longer track, and bit more of a boogie-along rhythm to it, but I honestly don't see me reporting too much in the way of difference in the tracks here; they all already sound fairly similar. Drummer goes a bit mad(der) near the end of this. "Idiosyncratic" kicks the tempo up --- yes, it's possible --- while "Aryanisms" has some pretty energetic guitar (look, I'm tring to find good things to say about this album, or at least not be too critical of it ok?) and there's a good solo at the end of "Judicial slime", but yeah it's all sounding pretty much the same to me. I should point out that growly as he is, I can at least understand what Greenway is singing, which is not always the case with this sort of vocal style, so points for that. I guess Napalm Death only have one speed though, and you wouldn't want to get in their way! "Exile" gets a tiny bit slower, but that's still faster than most bands, possibly even punk ones. My old friend melody of course doesn't even get a look in: it's all about power, aggression and speed with little thought for song structure, or indeed, songs. Rather surprisingly, the closer, "Contemptuous", sounds like it might actually slow to human levels! The drums are discernible now, single beats as opposed to a wall of noise, the guitar is playing heavy but normally, as opposed to, well, a wall of noise. Greenway's still growling, sort of chanting really, and damned if something resembling a melody of sorts isn't creeping into the song, which turns out to be the longest on the album at just shy of four and a half minutes. An unexpected end, without a doubt. TRACKLISTING 1. Discordance 2. I abstain 3. Dementia access 4. Christening of the blind 5. The world keeps turning 6. Idiosyncratic 7. Aryanisms 8. Cause and effect (Part II) 9. Judicial slime 10. Distorting the medium 11. Got time to kill 12. Upward and uninterested 13. Exile 14. Awake (To a life of misery) 15. Contemptuous Hands up all those who thought I'd like this music? Hmm. Not a one. Well, no surprise. You all know my limits by now, and Grindcore was always going to push those. But in fairness it's not as messy or noisy as I thought it would be. I honestly expected almost discordant fuzz with nothing I could even latch onto as a tune, but though this music certainly doesn't appeal to me, it's not the worst. Given that, it would be a very cold day in Hell before I'd listen to it again, but it's interesting that it didn't break the sort of boundaries I had expected it to. I thought it would be totally alien, and, well, it's not. Just not something I ever intend listening to again, if the Metal Gods are kind. (Or am I being too generous here?) Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm_Death __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:07 PM.

10-27-2013, 06:42 AM	#2002 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Master of puppets --- Metallica --- 1983 (Elektra) Sure it's a bit obvious to those of you who know the album, but I'm not a huge fan of Metallica and have not heard as much of their catalogue as many of you may have done, so this is a first listen for me. Someone help the Batlord up: I think he fainted there! Anyhoo, it's supposed to be one of their masterpieces, so I thought I'd give it an airing and see if it deserves that title. I see two, no, three eight-minute tracks. Hmm. Opens on soft acoustic or maybe Spanish guitar, slow and relaxed but hell I'm not fooled. With a title like "Battery" it's bound to ... ah, there it goes. Hard electric cuts in and the drums pound their way into the tune, it kicks up in tempo and rhythm and we're away. Rapid-fire delivery on the vocals from James Hetfield, with more than a hint of the punk in the chorus --- well, one line: the title of the song. Great screaming solo --- oh no wait, it's not: cut off a few seconds later. Sort of slows down in the midsection with some nice guitarwork and a sort of instrumental break rather than a solo, which follows it as Kirk Hammet gives it all he's got. Must be honest, I'm not that gone on this as an opener. Bit basic really, but we'll see how the album develops. The title track is up next, and it's one of those eight-minuters I mentioned. Big hard guitar intro with both Hetfield and Hammet working overtime, Lars Ulrich bashing out an energetic rhythm on the drumkit, a lot of energy and anger in the vocal when Hetfield comes in. Reminds me of a cross between Tank and Iron Maiden, then about halfway in with get a lovely laidback guitar piece that's classic Lizzy or Maiden, slowing everything down but still keeping the heavy aspect of the song. A very politically-charged lyric of course, and ties in nicely with the album artwork. A storming solo from, I assume, Kirk Hammet, and a big evil laugh at the end to bring it all to a close. Impressive. I think it may be slide guitar that opens "The thing that should not be", then it marches along on the back of solid guitar and percussion and takes as its lyrical inspiration "The Lord of the Rings", instantly making Metallica a favourite with nerds, and also making being a nerd cool. Great grinding rhythm to this and it really suits the subject matter. Everything slows down then for "Welcome home (Sanitarium)" with some rising guitar work at the opening and a less frenzied vocal from Hetfield, though of course it does speed up and Hammet goes a little wild on the frets, which is all good. Great powerful dramatic ending too. On we go, into "Disposable heroes", another eight-minute epic. Again opening with a huge guitar fest, and it rattles along nicely with another heavy political lyric as you would expect. With a "One! Two! One-two-three-four!" we're off into "Leper messiah", kind of a fast grinder which actually puts me in mind of one of the few Metallica songs I know well, that everyone knows, and though it's not really "Enter Sandman" I hear some similarities in the melody. The final eight-minute track is an instrumental that goes under the title of "Orion", and gives Kirk Hammet a chance to show what he can really do when let loose. He doesn't disappoint, himself and bassist Cliff Burton giving a virtuoso show, sadly the last Burton would play on any Metallica album, as during the tour to support this one in Stockholm he was tragically killed in a road accident. Perhaps horribly ironic that the last album he worked on before passing away is one that features crosses and headstones on its cover? Finishing up with some fine slide guitar before "Damage, Inc." brings down the curtain, it's a fine closer with hard, heavy guitar and thunderous drumming, a return to the faster Metallica of songs like "Disposable heroes" and the title track, and an angry vocal from Hetfield with some nice staccato guitar from Hammet, and a screeching, finger-burning solo just to add the icing on an already very tasty cake. TRACKLISTING 1. Battery 2. Master of puppets 3. The thing that should not be 4. Welcome home (Sanitarium) 5. Disposable heroes 6. Leper messiah 7. Orion 8. Damage, Inc. It's clear to see why this is so revered an album, showing a band who would go on to more or less dominate the thrash and speed metal scene for the next few years at the top of their game. There's very little bad you can say about it --- or would dare! --- other than as I mentioned the opener could be a bit more hard-hitting, but once the album gets into its stride there's no stopping it. With songs that have stood the test of time and still appear regularly on Metallica's setlist, and have been covered by more artists than I want to count, "Master of puppets" has to be one of not only the most seminal Metallica albums ever, but also one of the most important in the thrash subgenre overall. If an album was meant to put down a marker and showcase a band who were in it for the long haul, not just fly-by-nighters who intended to make their money quickly and retire, Metallica's third album said it all. And could there be a better tribute, if unintentional, to the memory of their tragically departed bass player? Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:28 PM.

10-27-2013, 07:14 AM	#2003 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	UFO: More hard rock than Heavy Metal, but there ain't much for this letter so... UFO (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia VAN HALEN: American Heavy Metal band famous for giving the world one of the most accomplished guitarists in the genre. Van Halen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia VARDIS: British metal band active during the NWOBHM Vardis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia VENOM: Seminal Black Metal band who coined the very phrase "black metal" Venom (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia VIRGIN STEELE: American power metal band Virgin Steele - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WHITESNAKE: Again, you probably wouldn't really call them Heavy Metal, but we're into the letters that have less and less bands assigned to them, so the other spinoff band from Deep Purple, formed by David Coverdale, gets a slot here. Whitesnake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WHITE SPIRIT: English Metal band who gave us guitarist Janick Gers, who now plays with Iron Maiden. White Spirit (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WITCHFINDER GENERAL: English Doom Metal band most famous for dodgy, almost porno album covers! Witchfinder General (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WITCHFYNDE: Another English metal band, active in the NWOBHM. Witchfynde - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia WRATHCHILD: Not to be confused with an American band of the same name. Glam Metal band from the UK who took their name, obviously, from one of Iron Maiden's early songs. Wrathchild - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-28-2013, 07:11 AM	#2005 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Outshine the sun --- Neonfly --- 2011 (Rising Records) A silly name certainly but from what I heard before I bought the album this band's music is anything but silly. Hailing from London, they've only been together since 2007 and this is their first full album, but seems to be a pretty decent debut. "Broken wings" gets us started with a fast, powerful, uptempo rocker and one of the hallmarks of power metal, catchy hooks and melodies. Willy Norton is a good vocalist and both the guitarists earn their wages, as Frederick Thunder (his real name?) and Patrick Harrington (his too, golf fans!) put in a fine shift, sharing the plethora of solos between them. Keeping things fast "The enemy" rocks along with a super guitar riff running through it, and a thick little bass opening to "Ship with no sails" which then takes off on what appears to be a piano melody, though no keyboard player is credited. Nice little eastern-tinged riff in it, and "The revenant" is a real rockalong track, with an anthemic chorus. Nice slide guitar to open "The ornament" before it fires off in high gear, and those have to be keyboards. Turns out to be a rather powerful instrumental, nice change of pace. Speaking of a change of pace, there's piano and violin as "Reality shift" gets going, with some fine guitar interplay between Thunder and Harrington and great vocal harmonies. Really nice slow neoclassical instrumental in the middle with piano, cello and guitar then it ramps back up as it hammers towards the end of the song, ushering in "Spitting blood", which I'm gonna go out on a limb and say is not going to be a ballad with a title like that! There's actually an ominous, dark feel about it even when it hits into top speed, then we get sitar, piano and fiddle (!) in "Morning star" and it certainly sounds like female backing vocals in the chorus, though again not credited. Excellent acapella ending. Big dramatic sound to "The messenger", with lush, deep synth and piano, a passionate and strong vocal from Willy Norton and a sudden explosion of speed and guitar histrionics about halfway through, that takes the song almost into its last minute. Pealing bells and harpsichordal keyboard with violin finishes a near-perfect job. And there's still one track to go. The rather silly title "I think I saw a UFO" is about --- anyone? Yeah. It's okay but frankly after the sublime "The messenger" it's a bit of a letdown and not what I would call a decent song to close the album on. TRACKLISTING 1. Broken wings 2. The enemy 3. Ship with no sails 4. A gift to remember 5. The revenant 6. The ornament 7. Reality shift 8. Spitting blood 9. Morning star 10. The messenger 11. I think I saw a UFO To be honest, I remember the sample impressing me more than the album now does. I mean, it's a good album but I feel a little disappointed considering how the samples struck me. Maybe I was expecting too much --- you can't get that much from a sixty-second example of a song after all --- but the end product, though not at all bad, seems to fall a little short of what I had expected. A little generic in some ways, a few good ideas not properly explored but a few really good tracks. So in the end, I'd have to say a good, perhaps very good album, but not a great album, and certainly failing to live up to the expectations in its title. Read more here http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Neonfly/3540261191 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:32 PM.

10-28-2013, 07:15 AM	#2006 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	As the palaces burn --- Lamb of God --- 2003 (Prosthetic) I think it's actually quite funny to have a metal band --- particularly one considered extreme --- with a name that comes not only out of the Bible, but also evokes one of the quietest, most innocent and submissive images you can think of. Lamb of God, the band, are the farthest thing from any of these three states you can get. Hard crashing guitars greet us as the appropriately-titled "Ruin" kicks in the door, and yes, vocalist Randy Blythe is another growler. Heavy, staccato guitar work from Mark Morton and Willie Adler and thunderous, crunching drumming from John Campbell. We crash into the title track as the tempo kicks up higher with some fine shredding and I can at least make out most of what Blythe is singing this time round. Just about. Chris Poland straps on the guitar to take centre stage in "Purified", have to say I don't see the difference but I'm not that familiar with his work. Have only heard him on the one album from Damn the Machine and wasn't overly impressed with him then. "11th hour" trundles along nicely with a sort of heads-down, three-guitars-on-stage feel, while "For your malice" is a little more grindy but still fast as hell. Yeah, but I'm just not feeling it with these guys. All seems very similar. The guitar in "Boot scraper" is very annoying, if you can imagine such a thing, and Devin Townsend, who helped produce this album, makes an appearance on guitar in "A devil in God's country". "In defence of our good name" is a chugging grinder with a snarly vocal, and some good effective feedback guitar, picking up near the end with a fast guitar solo, and it's more or less the same for the next two tracks, finishing up on "Vigil", rather surprisingly a laidback opening with some nice acoustic guitar, but am I fooled? It's kind of grunge meets Metallica, and Blythe proves, unlike other death growlers who are a little more versatile when needed, that he can only sing one way, which is to growl, so the nice atmosphere built up at the start is pretty much destroyed. Pointless. TRACKLISTING 1. Ruin 2. As the palaces burn 3. Purified 4. 11th hour 5. For your malice 6. Boot scraper 7. A devil in God's country 8. In defence of our good name 9. Blood junkie 10. Vigil Yeah, there's nothing good I can say here. Very run-of-the-mill, nothing special, no great songs, can't make out the vocals, and even when they try to diversify a little at the end the vocalist is not up to the change required, which renders the whole thing frankly laughable. Not a band I'll be returning to. Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God_%28band%29 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-01-2013 at 02:34 PM.