The Temple of Doom

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-10-2021, 09:56 PM

EYEHATEGOD - TAKE AS NEEDED FOR PAIN (1993)

Are you angry? Are you angry... at every living thing? Are you filled with loathing, self loathing, hatred, despair and ****ing bile every waking moment? Do you just want to live in trash and filth and slowly ****ing die shooting dope and whiskey? Do you want to smoke meth and ****ing get in barfights and ****? DO YOU JUST WANT TO ****ING KILL PEOPLE?

Ok probably not. I hope not. But anyway eyehategod makes really loud rock music, you should check them out. This is a very hardcore based album, and that's most apparent in the vocals. Not that there aren't plenty of speedy moments, but much of this is like a really crusty sabbath with a head full of bad pharmaceuticals and paint fumes.

It impresses me a lot just how smashy smashy livid EYEHATEGOD manages to be, despite the fact that many riffs here are just the blues. It's full of whirling feedback and bludgeoning tone, like they woke up on the wrong side of the year. These are not happy people, and they are not making music to be happy to. The brutality here feels really painful and raw, and the band's punky swagger allows them to keep it loose, thick, and just bust your mother****ing ear drums. Billowing, doomy monster. The title track is one of the most hateful things ever. Who hurt you?

It's not flashy and compared to the trudging precision of Odd Fellows Rest it's a whole mess, but it's a beautiful mess. It's a violent, chaotic, loud, MEAN ****ing mess and it hates you and everyone so SUFFER and ****ing DIE. Thank you for reading my review.

Great racket for catharsis when you're unhappy. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-11-2021, 12:04 AM

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

Paranoid is one of the most consistent, tightest track lists in rock history. From the first, crushing drone on War Pigs to the climactic end it's perfect, dark purple bliss. Black Sabbath's self titled album nailed its jammier sections, and it nailed building an evil, satanic atmosphere. Comparatively, Paranoid has little in the way of improvising and, in very relative terms, a brighter mood (though in some ways, a heavier sound). Instead, it has one iconic, brilliant, groundbreaking song after another.

Paranoid speaks for itself. It's one of those few albums where nothing feels out of place, and every second is pure compositional genius played by people who invented and, perhaps, perfected playing that way. It's a perfect rock album, and as much as I think there's oceans of good music inspired by it there's nothing that's quite like going to the source.

It's also one of the best recorded albums ever. For 1970, Sabbath sounds massive and forceful. Iomi's atomic fuzz on Paranoid is utterly face melting and beautiful. C'mon, what's ever been truly heavier than the oozing riff that kicks off Electric Funeral? In addition to the guitars, I think the way the bass is recorded is especially lush and succulent.

Yea. You're probably already heard it, and if you haven't, don't tell me because I'll respect you less. SABBATH IS HEAVY 2 THE SOUL. Paranoid is an artefact of a band at the peak of creativity, skill and taste. Everything about paranoid is so punchy and captivating and unassailable.

But you knew that already.

rubber soul · 10-11-2021, 06:15 AM

Not a metal fan myself, but even I like Paranoid. A friend of mine used to play Iron Man to death (I'm partial to War Pigs myself). Anyway, maybe the greatest metal album ever.

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-11-2021, 05:57 PM

Today I rest and listen casually to thrashcore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubber soul

Not a metal fan myself, but even I like Paranoid. A friend of mine used to play Iron Man to death (I'm partial to War Pigs myself). Anyway, maybe the greatest metal album ever.

Everyone likes Paranoid.

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-16-2021, 08:30 PM

ASPHYX - LAST ONE ON EARTH (1992)

I guess I sort of neglected The Temple of Doom for a few days. I went and listened to a lot of old hardcore and thrashcore, and now I've circled back to classic death metal stuff. That being the case, Asphyx seemed like a perfect thing to cover.

Asphyx was a band that leaned very heavily in the direction of very classic, old school death metal. Fans of no BS death metal in the vein of Pestilence (also Dutch), or Obituary are going to feel very at home here. However, Asphyx pushed Obituary's gloomy mids in an even slower, more crushing direction. This is perhaps ODSM at its most sabbathy, with some riffs even settling into an identifiably bluesy rumble.

Despite that (though it's perhaps more accurate to say because of it), Asphyx serve up some really hideous, detuned, evil sounding music for the early 90s. Lots of this is just pummelling and while it's not super pristine or expensive sounding, the guitars really pound and grind. Not a lot of showing off, but very competently performed and full of titanic momentum. Not only is this very classic sounding, it's also just some of the best OSDM period.

There isn't a lot of melody here, but we get the occasional mournful, and very gothic and spindly sounding, guitar solo like on the title track, which is great. Very refreshing relative to very shreddy or unmelodic death metal soloing. The growls are nice too, and sit at a relatively punky mid range (without approaching anything like a scream or shout). On that front, Obituary comparisons definitely also apply, though it's hard to be as grotesque as John Tardy and I won't pretend the band does that here. Still, as someone who got into extreme music via punk, this is an approach that I favour.

Fans of straightforward (unlike towering monstrosities like Disembowelment and ilk) death metal that still dips into doomy, sludgy goodness are in for a treat. It's blunt force trauma to Morbid Angel's precision attack. Also, anyone who has an appreciation for 90s OSDM fundamentals will probably recognize this as a standout, and Asphyx as deserving of their reputation. I'll probably also do their more groundbreaking debut, but this is my preference.

Turn it the **** up or get burnt to a chrisp.

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-16-2021, 09:32 PM

AUTOPSY - MENTAL FUNERAL (1991)

This is another early death/doom release that doesn't fall far from the OSDM tree, but boy does it have some very doomy and sedated riffs. A natural step past Obituary.

While Deicide went for blunt directness and Morbid Angel languished in satanic fury, Autopsy decided to take things into a far more grotesque and surreal direction with Mental Funeral. Here you'll find very low, guttural barks, odd, often angular guitar flourishes and an impending sense of dread. Autopsy's sound is like that of an abomination, unfit to live and so slowly screaming to death in agony.

The band trades between sabbathian dirges and midtempo pummelling. The former often has quite a powerful groove and at times even invokes the likes of Crowbar. There is some very evil and depressive Master of Reality worship, and that's rare to hear quite so directly on a death metal release. The later are chunky, rarely very fast either, and, if you're into that kind of thing, are well suited to headbanging.

We also get some more spooky, atmospheric guitar playing like on the interlude Fleshcrawl or the quiet moment on In the Grip of Winter before real violence kicks in. This is all really well accomplished and grafts to the more muscular moments in a way that gives this album a really cool, unique vibe and structure. All of the songwriting, for that matter, is really distinct and hideous.

This is a release I can only describe as freakish, and freaks like me eat this **** up. Autopsy had great songwriting and atmosphere, riffs with the best of them, and a very unique approach to low and slow that sets them apart from the pack. Totally essential and just a bit left field of your Deicides etc.

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-16-2021, 10:33 PM

CENOTAPH - THE GLOOMY REFLECTION OF OUR HIDDEN SORROWS (1992)

Cenotaph, from Mexico, took the formative death doom rumblings of bands like Sempiternal Deathreign and Autopsy into an entirely harsher direction on The Gloomy Reflection (and so on). Now, perhaps this is a case where I feel like a band would benefit from a nicer recording. The cymbals here, in particular, are whispy and, if I felt inclined to be uncharitable, I'd say they sound like sleigh bells. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me a little.

Luckily, I'm inclined to be charitable, because this band is a delight. Yes, if you imagined that autopsy got really into grindcore, you'd be in the ballpark. This really is a release that edges towards that "brutal" tag, though it's still as much a brass tacks OSDM affair as the other albums I've covered tonight. And there's plenty of straight up grindcore sections, complete with blast beats. But we also get tons of really low, rumbling, mid paced chugging and slow dirges. The slower riffs are discordant, and don't so much groove as careen. I'd connect a band like this to Sabbath far less directly than I would for Autopsy or Obituary.

Really guttural, hateful, evil and chaotic stuff and it's cool to see the band match the grinder sections' more speed based aggression with doomy trudges, which don't skimp on raw power by any stretch of the imagination either. The grindy moments still retain a certain weight and density that allows them to integrate well, but it's a really bile filled excercise in whiplash, and works great. The atmosphere is appropriately sickly, horrified (and is benefitted by spooooky guitar leads and, luckily reserved, use of synths) Vocals and guitars are low down in a pit.

This band really makes we want to look more into Mexican death metal, because to my ear they are quite unique in combining these influences as early as this. If you enjoy classic, heavy death/doom but want something with a little more horsepower in rotation, this is pretty mean and can definitely stand up alongside those bands. Deserves more shine.

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-17-2021, 12:10 AM

SEMPITERNAL DEATHREIGN - THE SPOOKY GLOOM (1989)

Sempiternal Deathreign, from the Netherlands, is perhaps, arguably, the very first death/doom band in the world (RYM lists their demo as the first release in the style, but some earlier releases may have pointed in this direction). The wonderfully named The Spooky Gloom was their debut, and only, LP, and it's great.

What we've got here is essentially Trouble by way of late 80s (!) death metal. Which is to say, there's a lot of energetic ripping, but they also know how to slow things down and smash your face in. Perhaps surprisingly, this band isn't very detuned at all, and at times they remind me a little of thrash metal. But the doomy sections are very very doomy and slow, especially considering that this album came out before Winter's Into Darkness. One track even stretches for 11 minutes, a rarity for the time..

The drumming is great and powerful, and sits very high in the mix. Vocals are hoarse, and sit further back. Definitely not a high rent recording, but it does the job and especially the drumming sounds superb. Heavy as **** for 1989, but they have a sense of melody too and it's used to great effect when they doom.

Sempiternal Deathreign, from very early on, made remarkably fully formed and refined death/doom music with complicated songwriting, menacing melodies, and a willingness to go really ****ing slow when they need to. A great transitional moment from the traditional sounds of Saint Vitus and Candlemass to a new world of extremity and weight. And it kicks ass, it's actually really great too boot.

Sabbath meets Pestilence. Hear it.

The Batlord · 10-17-2021, 12:22 AM

Bro you heard Dream Death?

LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER · 10-17-2021, 01:16 AM

BLACK SABBATH - MASTER OF REALITY (1971)

Relative to the jazzy improvisation of their self titled album, and Paranoid's concise songwriting, Black Sabbath's third album Master of Reality is really going for something very simple. This is the riff album. Yes. This is the album with the best riffs. And for such a release, there is no more power mission statement than Sweet Leaf, an ode, of course, to marijuana, over one of the greatest riffs of all time. How fitting, given this albums particular importance to sludge and stoner metal.

Children of the Grave is also a barn-burner underpinned by one of my all-time favourite riffs and powerfully melodic bass playing. After Forever, similarly, has great, classic riffs and cheeky pondering and where we go when we die. And then there's ****ing Lord of This world F U C K. Yea, master of reality has the best riffs of all time ****. I also love the interludes Embryo and Orchid, which contribute a lot to Master of Reality's strange, druggy atmosphere with some very unexpected textures, as does Solitude's surreal balladry.

The recording, too, is fantastic (like Sabbath's outings up to this point I suppose). The basslines sound juicy and the guitars are even more central here. I love it.

And it is, of course, Black Sabbath's marijuana album (perhaps in the way that Rubber Soul is for The Beatles). Vol. 4 is their cocaine album, so comparing that releases' manic scattershot energy to the repetitive grooves here might be informative. Smoke to it. You should probably smoke to it.

There are generations of metal in these riffs. You can definitely hear this album in particular in most sludge and stoner metal, I think because this was Sabbath's chunkiest, most straightforward riff-fest. Still a very high watermark for this kind of riffing and it really has to be heard to be believed. All killer no filler masterpiece.

10-16-2021, 09:32 PM	#36 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	AUTOPSY - MENTAL FUNERAL (1991) This is another early death/doom release that doesn't fall far from the OSDM tree, but boy does it have some very doomy and sedated riffs. A natural step past Obituary. While Deicide went for blunt directness and Morbid Angel languished in satanic fury, Autopsy decided to take things into a far more grotesque and surreal direction with Mental Funeral. Here you'll find very low, guttural barks, odd, often angular guitar flourishes and an impending sense of dread. Autopsy's sound is like that of an abomination, unfit to live and so slowly screaming to death in agony. The band trades between sabbathian dirges and midtempo pummelling. The former often has quite a powerful groove and at times even invokes the likes of Crowbar. There is some very evil and depressive Master of Reality worship, and that's rare to hear quite so directly on a death metal release. The later are chunky, rarely very fast either, and, if you're into that kind of thing, are well suited to headbanging. We also get some more spooky, atmospheric guitar playing like on the interlude Fleshcrawl or the quiet moment on In the Grip of Winter before real violence kicks in. This is all really well accomplished and grafts to the more muscular moments in a way that gives this album a really cool, unique vibe and structure. All of the songwriting, for that matter, is really distinct and hideous. This is a release I can only describe as freakish, and freaks like me eat this **** up. Autopsy had great songwriting and atmosphere, riffs with the best of them, and a very unique approach to low and slow that sets them apart from the pack. Totally essential and just a bit left field of your Deicides etc. Last edited by LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER; 10-16-2021 at 09:41 PM.

10-16-2021, 10:33 PM	#37 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	CENOTAPH - THE GLOOMY REFLECTION OF OUR HIDDEN SORROWS (1992) Cenotaph, from Mexico, took the formative death doom rumblings of bands like Sempiternal Deathreign and Autopsy into an entirely harsher direction on The Gloomy Reflection (and so on). Now, perhaps this is a case where I feel like a band would benefit from a nicer recording. The cymbals here, in particular, are whispy and, if I felt inclined to be uncharitable, I'd say they sound like sleigh bells. I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me a little. Luckily, I'm inclined to be charitable, because this band is a delight. Yes, if you imagined that autopsy got really into grindcore, you'd be in the ballpark. This really is a release that edges towards that "brutal" tag, though it's still as much a brass tacks OSDM affair as the other albums I've covered tonight. And there's plenty of straight up grindcore sections, complete with blast beats. But we also get tons of really low, rumbling, mid paced chugging and slow dirges. The slower riffs are discordant, and don't so much groove as careen. I'd connect a band like this to Sabbath far less directly than I would for Autopsy or Obituary. Really guttural, hateful, evil and chaotic stuff and it's cool to see the band match the grinder sections' more speed based aggression with doomy trudges, which don't skimp on raw power by any stretch of the imagination either. The grindy moments still retain a certain weight and density that allows them to integrate well, but it's a really bile filled excercise in whiplash, and works great. The atmosphere is appropriately sickly, horrified (and is benefitted by spooooky guitar leads and, luckily reserved, use of synths) Vocals and guitars are low down in a pit. This band really makes we want to look more into Mexican death metal, because to my ear they are quite unique in combining these influences as early as this. If you enjoy classic, heavy death/doom but want something with a little more horsepower in rotation, this is pretty mean and can definitely stand up alongside those bands. Deserves more shine. Last edited by LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER; 10-16-2021 at 10:41 PM.

10-10-2021, 09:56 PM	#31 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	EYEHATEGOD - TAKE AS NEEDED FOR PAIN (1993) Are you angry? Are you angry... at every living thing? Are you filled with loathing, self loathing, hatred, despair and **ing bile every waking moment? Do you just want to live in trash and filth and slowly ing die shooting dope and whiskey? Do you want to smoke meth and ing get in barfights and ? DO YOU JUST WANT TO ING KILL PEOPLE? Ok probably not. I hope not. But anyway eyehategod makes really loud rock music, you should check them out. This is a very hardcore based album, and that's most apparent in the vocals. Not that there aren't plenty of speedy moments, but much of this is like a really crusty sabbath with a head full of bad pharmaceuticals and paint fumes. It impresses me a lot just how smashy smashy livid EYEHATEGOD manages to be, despite the fact that many riffs here are just the blues. It's full of whirling feedback and bludgeoning tone, like they woke up on the wrong side of the year. These are not happy people, and they are not making music to be happy to. The brutality here feels really painful and raw, and the band's punky swagger allows them to keep it loose, thick, and just bust your mothering ear drums. Billowing, doomy monster. The title track is one of the most hateful things ever. Who hurt you? It's not flashy and compared to the trudging precision of Odd Fellows Rest it's a whole mess, but it's a beautiful mess. It's a violent, chaotic, loud, MEAN ing mess and it hates you and everyone so SUFFER and **ing DIE. Thank you for reading my review. Great racket for catharsis when you're unhappy. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

10-11-2021, 12:04 AM	#32 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970) Paranoid is one of the most consistent, tightest track lists in rock history. From the first, crushing drone on War Pigs to the climactic end it's perfect, dark purple bliss. Black Sabbath's self titled album nailed its jammier sections, and it nailed building an evil, satanic atmosphere. Comparatively, Paranoid has little in the way of improvising and, in very relative terms, a brighter mood (though in some ways, a heavier sound). Instead, it has one iconic, brilliant, groundbreaking song after another. Paranoid speaks for itself. It's one of those few albums where nothing feels out of place, and every second is pure compositional genius played by people who invented and, perhaps, perfected playing that way. It's a perfect rock album, and as much as I think there's oceans of good music inspired by it there's nothing that's quite like going to the source. It's also one of the best recorded albums ever. For 1970, Sabbath sounds massive and forceful. Iomi's atomic fuzz on Paranoid is utterly face melting and beautiful. C'mon, what's ever been truly heavier than the oozing riff that kicks off Electric Funeral? In addition to the guitars, I think the way the bass is recorded is especially lush and succulent. Yea. You're probably already heard it, and if you haven't, don't tell me because I'll respect you less. SABBATH IS HEAVY 2 THE SOUL. Paranoid is an artefact of a band at the peak of creativity, skill and taste. Everything about paranoid is so punchy and captivating and unassailable. But you knew that already.

10-16-2021, 08:30 PM	#35 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	ASPHYX - LAST ONE ON EARTH (1992) I guess I sort of neglected The Temple of Doom for a few days. I went and listened to a lot of old hardcore and thrashcore, and now I've circled back to classic death metal stuff. That being the case, Asphyx seemed like a perfect thing to cover. Asphyx was a band that leaned very heavily in the direction of very classic, old school death metal. Fans of no BS death metal in the vein of Pestilence (also Dutch), or Obituary are going to feel very at home here. However, Asphyx pushed Obituary's gloomy mids in an even slower, more crushing direction. This is perhaps ODSM at its most sabbathy, with some riffs even settling into an identifiably bluesy rumble. Despite that (though it's perhaps more accurate to say because of it), Asphyx serve up some really hideous, detuned, evil sounding music for the early 90s. Lots of this is just pummelling and while it's not super pristine or expensive sounding, the guitars really pound and grind. Not a lot of showing off, but very competently performed and full of titanic momentum. Not only is this very classic sounding, it's also just some of the best OSDM period. There isn't a lot of melody here, but we get the occasional mournful, and very gothic and spindly sounding, guitar solo like on the title track, which is great. Very refreshing relative to very shreddy or unmelodic death metal soloing. The growls are nice too, and sit at a relatively punky mid range (without approaching anything like a scream or shout). On that front, Obituary comparisons definitely also apply, though it's hard to be as grotesque as John Tardy and I won't pretend the band does that here. Still, as someone who got into extreme music via punk, this is an approach that I favour. Fans of straightforward (unlike towering monstrosities like Disembowelment and ilk) death metal that still dips into doomy, sludgy goodness are in for a treat. It's blunt force trauma to Morbid Angel's precision attack. Also, anyone who has an appreciation for 90s OSDM fundamentals will probably recognize this as a standout, and Asphyx as deserving of their reputation. I'll probably also do their more groundbreaking debut, but this is my preference. Turn it the **** up or get burnt to a chrisp.

10-17-2021, 12:10 AM	#38 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	SEMPITERNAL DEATHREIGN - THE SPOOKY GLOOM (1989) Sempiternal Deathreign, from the Netherlands, is perhaps, arguably, the very first death/doom band in the world (RYM lists their demo as the first release in the style, but some earlier releases may have pointed in this direction). The wonderfully named The Spooky Gloom was their debut, and only, LP, and it's great. What we've got here is essentially Trouble by way of late 80s (!) death metal. Which is to say, there's a lot of energetic ripping, but they also know how to slow things down and smash your face in. Perhaps surprisingly, this band isn't very detuned at all, and at times they remind me a little of thrash metal. But the doomy sections are very very doomy and slow, especially considering that this album came out before Winter's Into Darkness. One track even stretches for 11 minutes, a rarity for the time.. The drumming is great and powerful, and sits very high in the mix. Vocals are hoarse, and sit further back. Definitely not a high rent recording, but it does the job and especially the drumming sounds superb. Heavy as ** for 1989, but they have a sense of melody too and it's used to great effect when they doom. Sempiternal Deathreign, from very early on, made remarkably fully formed and refined death/doom music with complicated songwriting, menacing melodies, and a willingness to go really **ing slow when they need to. A great transitional moment from the traditional sounds of Saint Vitus and Candlemass to a new world of extremity and weight. And it kicks ass, it's actually really great too boot. Sabbath meets Pestilence. Hear it.

10-17-2021, 01:16 AM	#40 (permalink)
LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2021 Posts: 94	BLACK SABBATH - MASTER OF REALITY (1971) Relative to the jazzy improvisation of their self titled album, and Paranoid's concise songwriting, Black Sabbath's third album Master of Reality is really going for something very simple. This is the riff album. Yes. This is the album with the best riffs. And for such a release, there is no more power mission statement than Sweet Leaf, an ode, of course, to marijuana, over one of the greatest riffs of all time. How fitting, given this albums particular importance to sludge and stoner metal. Children of the Grave is also a barn-burner underpinned by one of my all-time favourite riffs and powerfully melodic bass playing. After Forever, similarly, has great, classic riffs and cheeky pondering and where we go when we die. And then there's **ing Lord of This world F U C K. Yea, master of reality has the best riffs of all time **. I also love the interludes Embryo and Orchid, which contribute a lot to Master of Reality's strange, druggy atmosphere with some very unexpected textures, as does Solitude's surreal balladry. The recording, too, is fantastic (like Sabbath's outings up to this point I suppose). The basslines sound juicy and the guitars are even more central here. I love it. And it is, of course, Black Sabbath's marijuana album (perhaps in the way that Rubber Soul is for The Beatles). Vol. 4 is their cocaine album, so comparing that releases' manic scattershot energy to the repetitive grooves here might be informative. Smoke to it. You should probably smoke to it. There are generations of metal in these riffs. You can definitely hear this album in particular in most sludge and stoner metal, I think because this was Sabbath's chunkiest, most straightforward riff-fest. Still a very high watermark for this kind of riffing and it really has to be heard to be believed. All killer no filler masterpiece.