Trollheart

Members' Top Ten Lists

Having got through Janszoon's list (even if he scoffed at my fear of grindcore!) we're on to the selection chosen by our second member who was plucked from the hat. And so we move on to the top ten list submitted by my good friend Plankton the guitar god. Thankfully he chose a lot of albums I have already reviewed, so this makes my job much simpler and allows me to get through his list a lot more quickly. Thanks mate!

He’s chosen (although he says he numbered them randomly, I’m going to take them in the order they were presented) for his number
10

Inflikted --- Cavalera Conspiracy --- 2008

As you know by now, Plankton already asked me to review this in the “Don’t listen to that --- listen to this!” section, and I have, so there’s nothing more I can add. And so we move on to number
9

Angel dust --- Faith No More -- 1992

Again, I looked at this in my journal “Classic albums I have never heard”, and I was not as I recall impressed, certainly not to the extent Plankton, and indeed Janszoon and later Mondo, obviously were.

And at number
8
one of my alltime favourite albums, not just Metal albums…

The Number of the Beast --- Iron Maiden ---1982

What can I say about this album that I have not already? I can’t praise it highly enough, no matter what anyone else says about the structure, running order, weak tracks: I love every bit of it and it was my very first Metal album, kicking off a love affair both with the genre and with Maiden in particular. It had such an effect on me that I featured it as one of the “Albums that changed my life”! Totally stunning and a stone cold classic.

While at number
7
another of my favourites

Powerslave --- Iron Maiden --- 1984

Second only in my estimation to the above album, this was pretty much Maiden’s finest hour, containing the longest Maiden song ever and sitting smack bang in the middle of what I would consider their golden age. Again, I featured this extensively last year in the section “The Metal that made Me”, so no more to say or I’ll be here all night!

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Wpnfire

I wanted to respond to a lot of things here. Yeah Mastodon is indeed rather boring.

Wow a sepultura album that has some acoustic parts in it? Sounds like something I would hate, but I may check that out just 'cause. Also those lyrics for "Terrorize" sound grand.

Plankton is a guitar god? Well, I hope to steal that title from him by the time I'm through here.

they were known as APPALLING SPAWN? Oh...I can see the expression on Trollheart's face when he read that tidbit. Like the last nail in his coffin before he even began.

Epic cover!

Yeah I've never been a fan of hell awaits. I've always treated it as sort of the odd man out in early Slayer's discography. Also I guess that's one thing you and I have in common Trollheart: we can't tell the difference between Slayer guitar solos.


I've never thought about that line "rancid, angel of death/flying free!" Till you mentioned it. Yeah, that could be what it is about. I, like Batty and Janzs though, feel that Slayer's lyrics aren't ever trying to make a statement, but that interpretation does sound fairly reasonable.

Also yeah Jesus saves is one of my favorite tracks from that album, for obvious reasons (the riffs!)

Well Trollheart likes death metal guys, but jansz's grindcore albums can apparently still go **** themselves though. LOL

Ahahahaha Lord Worm? Dang Batty, I thought that was going kill Trollheart, I'm surprised he survived.

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Epic band.

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Trollheart

I think this is the first time you've been in, or at least commented in my journal, LHJ, so welcome! And thanks for the observations.

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Plankton

You're welcome to it. I have no delusions about who I am, and I am no Guitar God. Just an old dude that likes to play is all.

...and thanks TH. It warms my heart when someone appreciates what I do. Fuels the fire too.

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Wpnfire

Wow this is like the death metal equivalent of dark angel. For comparison, this is way better than that grindcore song you made me listen to the other day. Sick!


First I have to learn how to play guitar. lol

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And "god" is so 2013, he's a Guitar Elder Thing.

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Trollheart

A GET? Doesn't sound right. How about Guitar General? Lord of the Frets? Shred Supremo? But yeah, he's good isn't he? Have you heard his albums?

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Trollheart

For our final look at Brazilian Metal I have selected a band who only had two EPs and one album, but who, unlike any of the others featured, are described as “traditional Heavy Metal”. They were formed in 1982, as the NWOBHM was sweeping across Britain and remodelling what we knew of as Heavy Metal, and though they seem to have had some lineup and name changes over the years they appear still to be listed as active. Their only album came out in 1997, with thirteen tracks, though the last six were all instrumentals oddly, and as I can’t find anything else on them we’re going with this, their first EP and therefore their debut recording.


A ferro e fogo --- Harppia --- 1985 (Baratos Afins)

Having no knowledge of Portuguese and the very barest Spanish, I can only guess at titles but I think the name of the band is too close to the Harpies of Greek legend to be coincidental, and the title of the album looks to be something along the lines of “From metal to fire” or “Metal through fire” or something like that. Or maybe “Forged in metal”? Like our previous friends Stress, they sing all their material in their native language. There are only six tracks on this EP, two of which are instrumentals, but even at that, the ratio is better than it is on their only album.

“Harpago” opens proceedings, and it’s one of those two instrumentals, with nice harmony guitars, a slow, measured drumbeat and then a sort of “Lightning to the nations” feel to the melody. It of course takes a double guitar lineup to get this sort of sound, and Marcos Patriota accompanies Helcio Aguirra, who sadly died this year. It’s a short intro to the EP, and then we’re heading into “Salem (A cidade das bruxas)” where we hear the vocalist, Jack Santiago, for the first time. He’s not bad, but to be fair he’s nothing terribly special. Good rocking song, trips along nicely on a fast guitar beat with the rhythm section of Tibiero Correa on drums and Ricardo Ravache on bass keeping the line nice and steady. Next up is “Naufrago”, a slower, crunchier piece with a sort of chugalong rhythm, and something more approaching a hook in the melody.

Good, very NWOBHM-style solo begins but then seems to be pared back, however it does take off a few moments later. It’s not quite as fretburning as I would have preferred, though. The title track starts on a kind of Sabbathesque guitar but quickly kicks up into a much faster vibe, though I have to admit the more I hear Santiago sing the less I like him. I’m not sure whether it’s a case of bad production or lack of talent, but he really does sound very tinny and one-dimensional. The rest of the music sounds good though, so maybe he’s just the weak link in the chain? Decent solo from the two guys that really pulls the song along, as well as some fine stickswork from Correa.

“Incitatus” is the other instrumental, a mid-paced, marching-along tempo driven on both Patriota and Aguirra’s axe histrionics, then we close on “Asas cortadas” with a reasonably fast-paced rhythm and again some good NWOBHM-style guitar. Sort of reminds me of really early Tygers of Pan-Tang, like around the “Wild cat” era, before they got too AOR and poppy.

TRACKLISTING

1. Harpago
2. Salem (A cidade das bruxas)
3. Naufrago
4. A ferro e fogo
5. Incitatus
6. Asas cortadas

What have I to say about Harppia in the end? Not much. They’re a pretty bog-standard traditional metal band with no real standout points, a below-par singer and nothing much interesting in the music, well played though it is. Even the instrumentals seem copied from the likes of Maiden et al. Very derivative, very formulaic, very boring. A sad end to my trip across the ocean.

Next week I’m heading back northeast to sample the delights of German Metal, and see what Europe has to offer. Must dash! The boat is getting ready to leave. See you on Friday!

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Trollheart

Never ones to stay in the same groove, Slayer had already changed their sound for their seminal “Reign in blood” album and now surprised --- and in many cases, disappointed and possibly alienated some of --- their fans by taking a new musical direction with their fourth album, their last on the Def Jam label . A much slower, more serious album, this was the first to feature a cover version, this being Judas Priest's “Dissident aggressor”.


South of Heaven --- Slayer --- 1988 (Def Jam)

To even see the word Heaven used on a Slayer album seems odd, considering how much their previous ones all referenced the other place, but when you think about it, south of Heaven you find Hell, so it's not really that much of a change, titlewise. Nevertheless, after titles like “Show no mercy” and “Hell awaits”, this certainly seemed a little hard for some Slayer fans to take. The music within the album would also prove to be a challenge to their established powerbase, perhaps making some of their followers wondering if the Thrash foursome had shot their load too soon?

You can hear the change immediately, as the title track begins with a much more, um, melodic guitar line, slower and more restrained, then big booming drums give you the feeling that maybe this is just a blip, but no. Even Tom's vocals are, well, cleaner, much more discernible and, most importantly, slower. Compared to the speed he delivered some of the songs on “Reign in blood”, this time he's positively crawling. In fact, on face value this album sounds more like doom metal than Thrash. It does pick up a little, but so far there's nothing of the breakneck pace we've become used to over three albums. That said, it's a great opener and I really like it. Were this played to me out of context I feel unsure that I would recognise it as a Slayer song at all.

At least Kerry's guitar prowess hasn't suffered the slightest bit, even if his solos are less fingerburning than before, but the lyrical content seems to have undergone almost a climatic shift, with this being the tale of the Last Days, but not a hint of “Praise Satan!” in there anywhere. That speed we've come to know and love hits back though as we pump into “Silent scream”, which could be about child abuse, abortion or ... God knows what. It's more like the Slayer of old though, and they even throw in a middle finger to Jesus as Tom roars (well, sings really: he's not growling on this album so far!) ”Crucify the bastard son!” Ah, good times, good times! Another ripping solo as Lombardo batters the kit like a man possessed, and then a song about, er, vampires. Or zombies. Maybe. “Live undead” doesn't really pull any punches lyrically, with lines like ”A cannibal's desire feeds/ The fire in your head” and ”Forms of hanging flesh/ Shredded carcass”, but musically it's again a slower Slayer than we've come to know, though not very much less heavier.

I do like the “new” Tom Araya, as it's now possible to hear all the lyrics as he sings them, but you wonder if they were deliberately trying not to top “Reign in blood”, knowing that it was impossible, and hoping people would not compare the two? Sometimes that's the problem: an album that's so successful, so groundbreaking and so much a future classic that it doesn't matter what you do, you're just never going to top it. Ask Maiden, Floyd or Metallica about that. “Behind the crooked cross” would seem, to me, not to be talking about the Christian crucifix but the Swastika, and the plight of those forced to fight and kill for the Nazis. Maybe. It's another sort of mid-paced rocker (and who thought we'd ever describe a Slayer song in those words?) but with Kerry keeping the searing solos going. The song speeds up in the last minute or so, and takes us into “Mandatory suicide”, which was to go on to become a fan favourite and feature at most if not all of their gigs.

Another puncher/cruncher, it has dark basslines from Tom and grindy guitar from Jeff and Kerry, while even the drumming is more restrained, for now, as Dave holds himself in check, waiting, no doubt, to be unleashed. Perhaps unsurprisingly this is a song about warfare, somewhat in the lyrical vein of Metallica's “Disposable heroes”, and features some interesting effects, the first time I've really heard Slayer use them. It certainly gives the song a very spooky, atmospheric feel and I can see why this one became such a hit with the fans. “Ghosts of war”, obviously, continues this theme, though it's a much faster and angrier song, more in the mould of the “older” Slayer material. “Read between the lies” (clever guys, clever!) gives Jesus a break for once and focusses its scorn on those who claim to speak in his name, the evangelical preachers who line their own pockets with the “donations” from the faithful. It's a powerful song, banging along nicely with a great beat and of course the obligatory solo, Hanneman's guitar almost like a blaring klaxon, warning of a reckoning to come.

I'm not entirely sure what “Cleanse the soul” is about, unless maybe they're mocking the idea of funeral rites, and by extension the belief in an afterlife, but it's a much faster, thrashier song than just about anything else on this album, only “Silent scream” really coming close to it in terms of speed. Slayer began their career covering songs by the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, so if they're going to cover any band then it's probably fitting it should be one of these Metal giants, and “Dissident aggressor”, from the Priest album “Sin after sin” is given the full Slayer treatment. I have to assume it's to do with someone trying to escape from what would have been at the time (both when Priest wrote it and when Slayer recorded it here) East Germany, with its references to “the Wall” and its refrain ”I know who I am/ I'm Berlin!” Yeah, kinda gives it away, huh? Good song though and very much in Slayer's playground as it were.

We come to a close then with quite possibly that reckoning I mentioned a little bit back, as with a very laidback guitar we head into “Spill the blood”, reminding me thematically of Manowar's “Bridge of Death”, where the sins of the past must be paid for at the end, as Arya snarls ”You've spilt the blood/ I'll have your soul!” In many ways, surprisingly, it's what I'd characterise as the weakest track on the album, with a sort of droned vocal which almost sounds like Tom is bored. Not the best way to end an album which was already going to be something of a polarising factor among their fans. Still, there's always Kerry King, and he never disappoints!

TRACKLISTING

1. South of Heaven
2. Silent scream
3. Live undead
4. Behind the crooked cross
5. Mandatory suicide
6. Ghosts of war
7. Read between the lies
8. Dissident aggressor
9. Spill the blood

No extra tracks on any versions of this album, and it was the only one to ever feature a cover version of someone else's song. If “South of Heaven” was an experiment it seems like it failed, because after this Slayer upped the tempo again and have been screeching along at top speed ever since. Fans who were hesitant, perhaps, about buying a new Slayer album after this would be gratified to realise that the foursome returned to their old ways --- mostly --- for their fifth offering, which hit the shelves two years later, with a possible appropriately ironic title to tie in with their “wilderness years”.

For me, this was an interesting departure from the superfast Slayer I had been getting used to, and people may think me odd for saying this, considering it's me, but to be honest I was just a little offput and slightly bored by this album, and kind of looking for a return to the headbanging thrash that had made these guys darlings of the heavy set. Guess I'll live to regret that. “Seasons in the abyss” up next!

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