The Batlord

I was being ironic, you nitwit.


You really should. I've always wondered just what exactly American metal sounded like in between the NWOBHM and thrash. You hear isolated bands here and there, like Jag Panzer and Whiplash, but other than that the pickings can be kind of slim. These comps really let you know what the scene sounded like at the time.

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The Batlord

Well, since the whole point of listening to these comps should be to discover new music and not just to show you how much of a pretentious elitist I am I figure I should go back and check some of these bands out in more detail. Especially before I move on and completely forget about these dudes.

Metal Massacre I

Pandemonium - Flight of the Demon EP - 1982

I believe I remember saying that they had a kind of Mercyful Fate vibe with the vocals and was curious where they would go with their sound, but this band only ever got to release one three-song EP before breaking up, which is actually more than a lot of the bands in this series can claim. So unfortunately they never got to really show if they had any potential beyond just being a straight-forward heavy/speed metal band. Too bad, cause this EP is a minor gem. Not necessarily required listening, but fans of early-eighties metal should get a kick out of this. I know I'm banging ye ol' head.







My, oh my, but that is one ****ty album cover. Still, I count myself lucky that this band actually has albums (plural) for me to listen to. Alright this isn't so much Sabbathy as it is just melodic metal. Kinda dull to be honest. Perhaps Unknown Soldier might get more out of this, but this is far too tepid and generic for me to get anything out of. Jesus Christ that cover is an abortion.

Malice - In the Beginning... - 1985

Their debut was released three years after the first Metal Massacre, so I'm curious if they've evolved any. Well, they've got a bit more polish, the uber-cheesy vocals from Metal Massacre have been toned down to a more eighties rock'n'roll style (though he still belts it out when it's called for), and the raw speed metal now sounds more like Judas Priest with more of a cock rock swagger, but I'm not sure if I'd call that evolution. I'm sure a lot of cretins might call this hair metal, but they'd be fools. This is straight-up, anthemic heavy ****ing metal and I'm ****ing loving it so far. They can't even spell original, but who gives a ****? And these guys have an unselfconscious love of rock and metal that brings to mind Manowar and Hammerfall, and that cheeseball passion is what I love most about those bands, so these dudes are making me happy. Listen to this band.

Dude, "Stellar Masters" is a killer ****ing track.

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Unknown Soldier

There was always a huge void when it came to American metal outside of the big bands throughout most of the 1970s, as it was so hard for new metal bands to get a record deal to record an album, also the size of the country saw so many of these bands isolated and therefore they lacked any type of strong movement as there would've been in the UK. This void also continued to as you say between the NWOBHM and thrash to a degree as well, even though American metal started its first real revolution in the early 1980s with glam metal, which is not surprising given that the biggest US bands/artists had been Kiss, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Van Halen, and nearly all these glam metal bands used these artists as their focal points and just looking at the comp in general (Metal Massacre 1) three things come to mind 1) A chunk of these bands would record their debuts under the 'glam metal' banner between the 1983 and 1984. 2) Most of the others are speed metal bands, something that American metal embraced 3) Most of the glam bands would set themselves up in LA, soon to be the glam metal capital of the world, which all unsurprisingly led to the glam metal explosion, because America had been waiting for some kind of metal revolution for about a decade.

Anyway listening to the comp 1 and as you know there are various pressings for it.

Yes this was the first band of Yngwie Malmsteen and their debut album is highly regarded.

They were known as 'dominatrix metal' nice!

You're pretty much spot on with their influences from NWOBHM and looking on google seemed to have struggled to get a deal to record an album initially.

I like Ratt a lot.

Never heard of them, but agree I can't see why an instrumental from an unknown band should've been put on a comp, since the object of the comp was to expose them to a wider audience.

Love this band and their terrible singing and had selected their debut for my 1980 list, but as I was struggling to fit so many good albums into the list, I saw it was re-released in 1981 (so it will be in my 1981 list instead)

A band I've never heard of either.

...... also they have a Rush tinge to them as well (at the beginning of the song) and I guess like most doom metal bands of that time went unnoticed, as doom was well down the list when it came to metal at that time.

This ain't like Motorhead bitch, this is more like Judas Priest and the best song on the album!

Good song, never heard of these guys, maybe I should check them out

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

You twat. I said the opening drumbeat. Reminded me of the start of "Overkill". And if you dig them you should definitely check out their debut, which I've already mentioned in the thread.

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The Batlord

Armored Saint - March of the Saints - 1984

Yeah, I know who they are and I've listened to them, but I've always been meaning to listen to more Armored Saint and this is a good opportunity. Man, I've been missing out too. Two songs in and I'm in love. There's a touch of speed metal to these guys, but at heart this is a hard rock/trad metal band. Melodic yet truly badass, driving metal riffs collide with John Bush's unmistakable vocals and semen is released into one's undershorts. **** yeah Armored Saint! It's amazing that they come right out of the starting gate with sound fully formed and capable of some honest songcraft. These guys totally deserved to rule the airwaves in the eighties.







I'll be completely honest. I loved their song on the comp, and was totally for these dudes. Then I found out that Yngwie Malmsteen produced their only EP and I started to root against them just a bit. **** that boring turd. Alright they're still pretty sweet, but they've changed a bit. They had a serious Rainbow thing going on, with fantasy lyrics and a power metal vibe (even if the music was more heavy than power metal). Now they have a more prog rock feel to them. It's taken some of that great atmosphere out, and now it has more of an eighties feel that's slightly disappointing. If I find out the Malmsteen had anything to do with this that's one more reason to kill him. Still, this is pretty good. Just not amazing. Maybe Trollheart needs these guys in his life. Damn it these guys are growing on me. I still prefer the Metal Massacre song, but this is quite dig-worthy.







Alright, first thing's first. "The Dominatress"? Hahahahahahahaha! You're ****ing kidding me, right? God damn it, eighties metal, sometimes you make it really hard to defend you. I'm not gonna lie though, I gave that cover the eye. Good thing the music kicks the proper amount of ass. Their song on the comp was definitely cool, but they seem to have upped the ante in the song-writing department. This is some quality heavy/speed metal. For whatever reason though they decided to make half the songs on here high energy, early power metal and the other half mid-tempo rockers. But except for the dull "Curse the Night" it's not really a problem. A little bit of searching on the Metal Archives reveals that the guy behind Omen was in the band at the time, and is likely responsible for the faster side of their sound, though he would leave after this. I have been assured that they became heavier after this, so now I'm curious.

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The Batlord

Well that is certainly one rapetastic cover. These guys were nothing if not classy. And from what I can tell it seems there was an even more explicit cover for this album out there. **** it. I'm too curious about what's inside the cover to bother with worrying about a little bit of cretinous stupidity. And some heavy-as-**** drumming right out of the gate is making any disingenuous guilt go right away. Aw, man. They got rid of the old singer for one that's not nearly as good. He works, but...*sigh* Musically though they're definitely going into full-on power metal territory. You know, the music is all well and good, but without a knock-out singer this band just doesn't have the chops to compete with Jag Panzer or Omen or Savatage. Not bad, but I'm losing interest.

Trauma - Scratch and Scream - 1984

I wasn't particularly impressed with Trauma, but I just wanna see whatever happened to Cliff Burton's original band. They only had the one album, so obviously not much, but I'm still curious. They're the kind of band that you listen to one song and go, "Meh," then you listen to a few more and you're like, "You know that's actually kind of cool," then by the end your head is banging quite respectably. It helps that they know how to change up the tempo between furious speed metal riffing and a more mid-paced, heavy approach that seems to be as much influenced by Priest as by the Bay Area thrash scene of which they were a part (even if they had a bit more in common with Iron Maiden than Exodus). Really helps to add some dimension to their song-writing. As time goes on you see that, though you assume them to be just generic speed metal, these dudes really have a grasp of songcraft. I wasn't expecting to like these guys as much as I do, but Trauma kind of rule. This is totally an undiscovered gem of an album.

Also, the singer does a fair job of a Bruce Dickinson impression.







I completely forgot what this band sounded like, but I remember digging them. The ****? I don't remember them being some hard rock band. I'm not even entirely sure how to categorize them. I guess I'm getting kind of an Aerosmith vibe at times, but they have little to do with glam metal. Maybe Unknown Soldier would be better at talking about this band. Kinda sweet though.

Hyksos - Hyksos - 1982

At heart I guess these guys are proto-power metal, but soundwise they have more in common with more seventies metal bands. Maybe a bit of Sabbath at their least doomy, or maybe Blue Oyster Cult (can't really say since I'm not that familiar with them). I'm assuming there's something proggy going on here, cause there are quite a few tempo and songwriting shifts. Dudes are kinda fun, but they're not rearranging my ******* or anything.

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The Batlord

I was only slightly familiar with this band before this, but they're becoming a new favorite now that they've delivered gold on the last two comps. So I'm stoked to listen to more of them. Man, right from the start they're setting themselves apart from the pack. This band really knows how to build atmosphere. "Deliver Us from Evil" (yeah they're a Christian band) is just epic and dark and beautiful. It's melodic and proggy (I suck at recognizing musical complexity and technicality but it feels like prog to me) but at the same time it's metal credentials are unquestionable. Catchy, badass, epic trad/power metal is one of my favorite things on this Earth, and these guys are all that and more. This is quite simply ****ing fantastic. Best thing I've "discovered" on this lark by far. If anyone ever claims that Christian rock/metal sucks I'm gonna punch them in the face, say "Warlord", and walk away without any explanation.

Oh ****! I just could swear that I'd heard "Child of the Damned" somewhere, and then I realized that Hammerfall had covered it. If Hammerfall gives these guys the seal of approval then they are officially gods. And the fact that they are holding their own against Hammerfall's version just cements their awesomeness. Just power metal gloriousness. Trollheart, Unknown Soldier, Anteater, and Briks need to stop whatever the **** they're doing and listen to this band if they haven't already.

Oh my god. They've reformed and have a new album that has two 100% reviews on the Metal Archives. I've just ejaculated.

Warlord - And the Cannons of Destruction Have Begun - 1984

I've decided to do the entirety of Warlord's discography. Their first two albums (the eighties stuff) on this part, and since they had a song on the next comp too I'll put their two reunion albums there. Stoked. Well, there are only seven songs on this, their full-length debut and final album for eighteen years, and four of them were on the EP, so we only have three new songs. The first thing that jumps out at me is that the production is different. It's a bit drier. On the EP the atmosphere was thick and dark and wonderful. It made the whole thing feel magical. That atmosphere is slightly less evident on this. This is only a tiny complaint, but it's still something I noticed. Their Deliver Us EP is probably gonna be their definitive release in my eyes. Regardless, this still rules every bit as much as Helloween and Crimson Glory. But not Manowar. Nothing rules as much as Manowar. Hail and kill.

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The Batlord

Edit: Thanks for not posting this like I asked. You are certainly not the worst mods on the internet.

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The Batlord

I first heard of this label around a decade ago when I bought some albums from the local hole-in-the-wall metal shop, Skinnies Records. Back then the store gave free comps whenever you bought something, and this one time they handed me Let There Be Doom II, which was a sampler of various artists on Southern Lord (still have it too). It introduced me to Goatsnake, St. Vitus, Orcustus, and Thorr's Hammer, among others, for which I am eternally grateful. Back then I was listening to mostly old school thrash and other assorted 80's metal bands, so most, if not all, of the stuff on here was new to my ears. It was probably the oddest record I had for a good long while. The label never had quite the clout of a Roadrunner or a Nuclear Blast, but what they did have were quality bands and a refusal to jump on trends like metal/deathcore or the thrash "revival" like so many of their peers, and yet they had some truly big names that set them apart from so many other ****ty little cult record companies. I never really dug into their back catalog before, so I think I'm gonna start from the beginning of their releases and just make my way up from there...




They haven't numbered the releases on their website, but they seem to be listed by date, so I'm assuming this was the first thing they ever put out. I've listened to this band once before, and know they're doom. Southern Lord has a lot of oddball artists in their roster, but their bread and butter has always been doom metal, so it makes sense to start with this.




Yep, that's doom. Heavy, slow, and droney, with some tortured vocals that make for some nihilistic vibes. Is that a chick singing? ... Nope. It's a dude. Calls himself "Edgy 59". I guess that was worth the effort of looking that up. They seem to like hitting you with some tastey, mid-paced sludge riffs, before slowing it down to wallow in drone. Never been much for drone, but the variety, relatively speaking, makes it go down a lot better.

The **** happened to the sludge? I'm about halfway through and now it's mostly just drone. Maybe Carpe would be more into this, but I'm starting to fade.

I had to cut this one short. I'm just not really that into drone.

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The Batlord

Oh yeah, I was doing this at some point. Why not pick it up again for ol' time sake?




Alright, the list on Southern Lord's site is supposed to be chronological, but as you can see, this album came out before the first one I reviewed, which I'm assuming was the label's first release. A little digging and I find out that this album was released only on cassette by a Moribund Records in 1996, but received a full album release two years later in 1998 by Southern Lord. So, that explains that. On to the goodness...

Don't need to listen to this album. I am listening to it right now, but I've already listened to it enough over the years that I don't need to do it for a review. This is a fantastic album that any fan of doom, and death/doom in particular, should memorize.

When I think of death/doom, I always think of this band first; not diSEMBOWELMENT, not Asphyx, not Winter, none of them. I think of Thorr's Hammer first, and last. A lot of these bands are death metal bands with a doom influence, often playing tag-team with faster death metal bits and slower doom passages. Thorr's Hammer are a pure doom band, who never plays faster than a crawl (though thankfully they never devolve into monotonous droning), but with death metal aesthetics (death growls and such). They're a totally crushing doom metal band as well, on par with block-levelers like Electric Wizard. Those riffs, oh God those riffs! And that brain-liquefying distortion! With the proper sound system this album is a war crime. I've seriously never heard a band that even comes close to perfectly epitomizing the concept of death/doom the way that Thorr's Hammer does. They're a ****ing force of nature.

One of my favorite things about this band is the "singer". Not only is this one of the heaviest bands of all time, but their vocalist has one of, if not the most brutal, guttural voices I've ever heard. Sounds like two jagged boulders grinding against one another. And with the slow/mid-pace of the songs, they also never sing faster than a crawl, which adds an extra few tons of weight to the music. As much as I love death metal, death vocals lose a lot of their physical force when sung fast. The best part? The singer is an adorable, blonde, seventeen-year-old girl. If I hadn't seen a picture of her with my own eyes I never would have believed it. It just doesn't make any sense the pure hate coming out of this girl's mouth. The only reason you'd even know a girl is associated with the band is that she occasionally breaks into more traditional, though totally bleak and monotone singing. Very occasionally.

The biggest crime is that they only released the one demo and EP before breaking up, both of which have the same three songs in the same order. If you dig doom and you haven't listened to these guys (and gal), then you're seriously depriving yourself.

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