The Batlord

Protector: Golem

Debut full length from Protector. I've gotta say, the cover of the EP was goofy, but it was just kinda generic. But this album cover? Woof. It's so terrible that nobody could even be bothered to upload a halfway decent pic of it in the right size and I was reduced to this ugliness. Let's just hope that the quality of the cover isn't representative of the quality of the album. Seriously, woof.




Well the production is "better". The EP had a slightly-better-than-demo quality to it, but considering the nature of the music the production fit. This is more of a generic thrash production. It gives it weight, but it definitely hurts the energy that is otherwise just as intact as on the EP.

The band seem to have slightly improved their songwriting. Relatively speaking of course. Death/thrash has little room for anything so repugnant as "originality" or "innovation". Perish the thought. But the band seems to have given themselves some slight room to breath and the songs almost sound kinda/sorta/maybe a little/but not really mature. On second though, nah. But they have more to them than the EP. Shame that the production takes away a lot of the vicious energy that had made me so happy.

Better luck next time I hope.

P.S. I just realized that I was only four songs into this when I lost interest. Please god let the next one be better. It should be. It has to be.

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The Batlord

Protector: Urm the Mad

You might say that this album has a shit name. Well fuck you! I think it has a certain silly charm to it that makes me happy. It makes me think of a hermit in medieval Europe who talks to himself and keeps a mummified cat for company. Perhaps that's not terribly metal, but I still dig the name. The cover is also a vast improvement over the last one. We've gone from generic to just plain fugly to actually unique and quite awesome looking. That's actually a rather striking cover that I will remember for a good minute. Too bad I couldn't find a pic with better resolution, but just look at this awesomeness.



Sweet.




Well the blackened death/thrash has pretty much been jettisoned for a much more brutal sounding death/thrash assault. It's still Kreator worship, but it's a much more brutal Kreator tribute than before. The vocals have dropped the Mille from Kreator thing though and have crossed over into proto-cookie monster territory. It's superior to the last album, but it's still not an album that I would choose over Morbid Saint or Exhorder on any day of the week.

I'm being won over. The production is much denser and heavier than the debut and is really giving this some quality brutality. The vocals are a little low in the mix, while the guitars are a bit high, but with riffs these good and I can't really complain. I have now gotten my ass kicked by several songs and while this is still not as good as Exhorder, I approve. Although "Decadence" might just give them some competition.

Hey, they even seem to have improved their songwriting so that someone other than a drunk wombat on crack could appreciate it! Still death/thrash though, so it's not like it's David Bowie or anything, but it's still a vast improvement.

Damn, I just reopened this review because this album is continuing to grow on me. I'm coming to the conclusion that this album is a minor classic. I'm now thoroughly looking forward to the next album. If this is anything to go by they had found their stride after some early fumbling and were hopefully on their way to some greatness.

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The Batlord

Death Angel: The Art of Dying

Alright, I was gonna finish Protector's discography, but then I got caught up in my Batcave journal, and now I've lost interest. But, I'm still on a big thrash metal kick, so here we are. But as much as I love thrash I am ashamed to say that, except for Exodus, I haven't really been keeping up with a lot of the reformed thrash bands out of either laziness, lack of internet, or lack of money. Time to rectify that. First up, Death Angel. I heard mediocre things about this album back when it came out, so I was a bit leery about throwing my money down or wasting my dial-up bandwidth on some possibly washed-up band. Here's hoping they were wrong.




Why is it the law that the first song on a thrash metal album has to start with melodic guitar before going into some welcome-to-the-thrash-fest song. Don't get me wrong, it's not a big deal for me, but it's still kind of a cliche. First song is suitably badass, but not exactly the most memorable thing ever.

A few songs in, and this pretty much sounds like the melodic thrash of Frolic Through the Park/Act III, but with modern metal production upping the ante . So, this is heavier than those albums; not quite The Ultra-Violence's level of thrashtasticness, but more than badass enough for my tastes. Which is great, because even though I enjoy Frolic and Act III, they have a middle-of-the-road quality that feels like the kind of music that was made for Headbanger's Ball. Thrashy, but not so much that they'd turn off the thrash bandwagoneers. Unfortunately, the song level, while fairly strong, isn't as strong as it once was. Again, this is far from bad, but it doesn't quite justify their reformation.

Alright, "The Devil Incarnate" just raised the stakes. It's a bit different, and really kills with some mid-paced heaviness.

I'm not sure if it's just growing on me, but this definitely seems to be getting better as I go on.

Oh, man! "No" says "Yes" to infectious energy! "No" is a song in case you're not picking up what I'm putting down.

For all this album's diversity, "Spirit" is the first song that's really had Act III's level of melody, though it is still more of a metal song than "A Room with a View".

Alright, the last three songs have been increasingly melodic. They're pretty sweet songs, but I think it's a bit of a cop out to put them all the way at the end of the album. If you believe in these songs (and they should, they're pretty rad) then you should have the balls to mix them in with the rest of the album. I think they would have added a some real diversity that would really have made this an even better album.

Alright, going in for a second listen and I'm definitely enjoying the first few songs much more than before. This is far, far better than the lukewarm reviews led me to believe. And since I keep hearing amazing things about their next album, Killing Season, and how it's closer to The Ultra-Violence, which is hands down one of the best thrash metal albums I've ever heard, I'm totally stoked for the next review.

Fuck yeah Death Angel!

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The Batlord

Death Angel: Killing Season

Death Angel's second album since their reformation and supposedly closer to the sound of their debut, The Ultra-Violence. It's highly possible that this is just backtracking to please their meathead thrash metal fanbase, but if they can deliver the goods, then I won't complain too much.




And again with the melodic guitar intro. I know it's the law, but I'm a rebel.

There we go. Yeah, that's definitely more abrasive than The Art of Dying. Pretty awesome riff too.

My ass is definitely getting kicked to all hell and back. I don't even feel embarrassed to be sounding like a knuckle-dragger talking about this album. And Mark Osugueda has brought back the scream. Yes. I love how on the debut he had a scream that he would only break out occasionally, just to maximize the badassery.

Death Angel definitely have a groove metal influence now that they're back. It's not so pronounced as Exodus, but on a song like "Dethroned" or "Resurrection Machine" they come at you with a heaviness that could move a city block. Hell yeah.

God damn. The Art of Dying was definitely cool, but this album is kicking its ass. Not just in viciousness, but the song quality is just amazing. I'm gonna have to compare this to The Ultra-Violence, because there's an off chance that this is the best album of their career. Either way, this is an essential listen for anybody who is any kind of a fan


P.S. You know, for all their purist snobbery, I've always had some level of trust in the opinions on the Metal Archives, but when it comes to new thrash albums by old bands they are some whiny tools. If a band shows even the slightest Pantera influence they throw a tantrum.

P.P.S. I just spent the last half hour (at least) trying to figure out what songs to put in the spoiler, and eventually I just gave up on my usual four song limit and used six. God this album rules.

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The Batlord

Death Angel: Relentless Retribution

Death Angel's most recent album. Sweet.




Alright, no cliched melodic guitar intro. This seems even like it's going to be an even more abrasive album than the last. The guitar tone is like a buzzsaw, the band sound more pissed off than they have ever sounded before, and Mark Osegueda has a new snarl that is totally unlike his more clean singing style of the past. I'm not sure how much I like the new vocals, but they do have a certain bite to them.

Oh. Second song, "Claws In so Deep" is showing signs of metalcore-ness. That breakdown wouldn't sound out of place on a new Machine Head album, and those melodic choruses wouldn't be either. But that flamenco guitar (?) at the end is pretty awesome.

Edit: Apparently the acoustic outro was done by Rodrigo y Gabriela, which is cool. I saw them do a show on Austin City Limits on PBS a while back and they were pretty fantastic. It also makes sense that they would do this since they apparently started out in a thrash metal band. They even did a quick medley with "Master of Puppets" at the end of their show. I need to listen to more of them.

Alright, I've heard "Truce" before. And it wasn't this song. I think this is, or at least the beginning, has been ripped off from...I'll think of it. It's clear in my head the beginning of the song, but I just can't remember the rest of it. I'm thinking Slayer, but I can't be sure. Well, either way, they do a great job with this song.

My fears are being allayed so far. This is definitely a modern take on Death Angel that will be palatable to people who I find to be...unfortunate, but this sounds nothing like Trivium, which is about my only criteria these days. So long as my ass is being kicked I'll let my purism alarm go off all it wants to. And it certainly is.

That's where I remember "Truce" from! The opening riffs sounds suspiciously like Evile's "Enter the Grave". Perhaps not a complete lift, but there's definitely a similarity.

You know, I'm about halfway through, and I'm kind of losing interest. The chugging riffs and melodic choruses and Machine Head worship are becoming a bit dull. I keep forgetting to listen to the songs and just end up using them for background listening. The first few are pretty awesome, but...losing interest.

Yeah, interest lost. Good to know. I was thinking of picking this up. Will skip.

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Plankton

Rodrigo y Gabriela Comment on “Relentless Retribution” | Death Angel

Of course Rodrigo is gonna sugar it up a bit, but these are two bands that are incredibly talented. Letting RYG do the outro presents two questions to me:

1. Aguilar and Cavestany couldn't cut the mustard when it comes to flamenco.

2. They are aquaintances and figured the exposure would be beneficial to both parties.

I'd really like to find the back story to how it all went down.

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See location...

The Batlord

Some people have been talking about doing there own version of Trollheart's Metal Month, but I figured I'd have nothing much to contribute there so I dismissed the idea. After all, what am I gonna do? An ironic Metal Month where I extol the virtues of Bullet for My Valentine and Pretty Boy Floyd. Amusing, but lame after the second day. But then I had a thought. What kind of music could I do a month on that nobody on this site could possibly give the slightest fuck about? And then it dawned on me. So without further ado I present to you what nobody asked for or even wants...



























































































































































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Almost there...

Why Am I Subjecting Myself to this Horrible, Horrible Crap?

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The Batlord

All right, real talk? I totally used to be into ICP. For about a year I hung with a bunch of juggalos who almost turned me (gimme a break, I didn't even know what a juggalo was at the time). I've since lost interest in them for the most part, but I still get the odd urge to play some of my old records every now and again.

Having only been into them for a year about four years ago my knowledge is pretty patchy, so I'm gonna start my exploration with their debut. Actually it's not their debut but it's the first one where they used the whole "Wicked Clown" schtick and I'll be damned if I listen to ICP doing straight gangsta rap. Sounds like ear cancer. Anyway, since this is year zero for the whole shebang I figured it'd make sense to do this album.

Oh yeah, and this is also the first of ICP's six "Joker's Cards", a collection of semi-kinda-sorta-not-really concept albums introducing different aspects of the Dark Carnival and it's attractions. I've never been able to see much of a unique theme to any of them though besides the intros, so I'm not sure how much it matters. Still, as far as ICP is concerned they're "important" so I'm gonna do all six of them.



God damn it. Why do they insist on a two track-long introduction on every album? They always suck ass. Listening to an ICP album basically begins by skipping the first two tracks.

I've been listening to this for a while and it feels like a transitional album. The schtick is there, but the personas still feel like bad, eighties gangsta rap. Like if Eazy E dropped too much acid and pooped on a mike. Honestly, the longer I listen the more this sounds like a cut-rate Amerikkka's Most Wanted. This album shows as much talent as anything else they've ever done, the lyrics are pretty much the same, though they're not as off-the-wall as they would become a little later ("Wizard In the Hood" doesn't count since it sounds like a ripoff of Ice-Cube's "A Gangsta's Fairytale"), but it's ICP so you get what you expect.

So that's where the "psychopatchic" thing comes from. Violent J just tried to force "psychopathic" to rhyme with "hatchet". I don't know if I feel contempt or amusement. Since taking ICP seriously is missing the point and I've long since come to accept ICP's lyrical mediocrity I choose amusement.

Alright the shitty, lo-fi production on "Psychopathic" has me by the nuts. We might be onto something here.

Yeah I'm definitely feeling this at this point. Apparently a song about giving a woman a black eye resonates with me. Worrying. Almost as worrying as liking ICP in the first place.

Good lord the production on this album is two-dimensional. It sounds like they had a broken keyboard and just played the same two or three notes over and over again. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it's just dull.

I had some fun with this, and it could very well grow on me, but it's definitely no Riddlebox, though more than a few songs definitely speak to me. Still, a promising start. I'd say my reputation on this site is about to go all the way down the toilet, but for a guy who publicly raves over Manowar I guess digging ICP isn't necessarily all that big a surprise.

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Isbjørn

ICP is just one of those bands I know I don't like without actually having heard one of their albums. Kind of like Slipknot. You hear a couple of songs, see their stupid costumes, and make up your mind. Then again, I think Saves the Day are kinda good, no matter what die-hard emo indies might say.

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The Batlord

Everything that people say about them is true: they're dumb, they can't rap, and their fans are morons. But ICP are more than the sum of their mediocre parts. Say what you want about their juvenile personas, but they have a charisma that is undeniable. If you can get over your understandable prejudice you might just find them to be irresistibly likable. At least until they mock science and education as pointless. That's just sad.

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