What Are You Listening To?

[Yannis]

Scattered Remnants - Procreating Mass Carnage

 

[MacabreEternal]

Ponte del Diavolo - Fire Blades From the Tomb (2024)

Undiscovered/completely missed album from February of this year.  Italian doom with some black metal tremolos loosely included.  Darkwave style female vocals are a sure winner for me.

[Yannis]

Limbonic Art - Moon In The Scorpio

 

[AlSymerz]

Dunwich Ritual - The Weird Tapes Session

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Duat - Duat (self titled EP)

Duat Demo | Duat (bandcamp.com)

New band from Belgium playing death metal with some pretty clear middle-eastern or Hindi flavor in the guitar work. I like that they're fully committed to the phrygian scales, giving the songs a vibe similar to Melechesch, but with traditional death vocals. It's only a three song EP as they seem very new, but it's enough to put them in 'band to watch' status. 

[AlSymerz]

Nasty Savage - Psycho Pyscho

[Yannis]

Theatre Of Tragedy - Velvet Darkness They Fear

Mortal Love - I Have Lost

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

1 hour ago, AlSymerz said:

Nasty Savage - Psycho Pyscho

Was wondering if I was going to see a little of my namesake band floating around given the new one's out in about a week.

NP: Incult - The Burnt Offering

Another unsigned band out of Belgium. This is their first full length thus far. Seems very riff focused with one foot planted firmly on the thrashy side of things. Definitely death though, and a really good flow from song to song.

[Yannis]

5 minutes ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Was wondering if I was going to see a little of my namesake band floating around given the new one's out in about a week.

NP: Incult - The Burnt Offering

Another unsigned band out of Belgium. This is their first full length thus far. Seems very riff focused with one foot planted firmly on the thrashy side of things. Definitely death though, and a really good flow from song to song.

I had the same thought when i listened to their album "Indulgence", i was like hmm this reminds me of someone 😄

Tears Of Magdalena - Myths And Legends

 

[AlSymerz]

1 hour ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Was wondering if I was going to see a little of my namesake band floating around given the new one's out in about a week.

I've never given them much time. The early stuff really hasn't caught my ear, the later stuff is better. I'll probably give the new one a listen but I'm not sure it will be a buyer.

 

NP: Amon Amarth - Once Sent From The Golden Hall

[Yannis]

Fates Warning - The Spectre Within

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

58 minutes ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

my namesake band

 

NP: Incult - The Burnt Offering

Another unsigned band out of Belgium. This is their first full length thus far. Seems very riff focused with one foot planted firmly on the thrashy side of things. Definitely death though, and a really good flow from song to song.

I had never put that together 'til just now, Nasty Cabbage = Nasty Savage. I've heard of them, and I guess I remember seeing their records in the stores back in the day, but nothing about their name or those album covers ever made me curious enough to bother checking them out. I think the problem is it sounds kinda like a name one-a them cock rock bands might choose. Guess I'll have to dial them up now just to see what their schtick is.

 

Nasty Savage - Nasty Savage, speed metal Tampa Florida 1985. Their debut. They're obviously reasonably talented musicians, and the production has plenty of bass which is always cool. But it's hard for me to put myself into my own head back circa 1985 and try to guess how I might've received something this back then. It does sound like your typical generic non-thrash 80's metal. There were a ton of 80's bands that I can't even really remember anymore now who sounded basically just like this, nothing really unique about their sound. I could live without some of these Sanctuary-ish Dane-esque high pitched notes, but at least he keeps them to somewhat of a minimum, it's not high pitched screams all throughout. Yeah, 23 minutes into this now, halfway, and I guess I probably would have been pretty into this once upon a time. Not to the point where they would've been one of my favorite bands alongside Metallica and Exciter and Slayer or anything, but this probably would have gotten some spins. I hadn't gone down the filth rabbit hole yet in '85 you see, I was still petty much just a regular metalhead back then. There's some decent riffs here. It's not making me want to get up and beak shit like Slayer or Exciter do, but I haven't turned it off yet either. Stuck with it longer than the Incult record which started out strong and then got boring to me. See? Never too old to discover a new band from 40 years ago. Now I know who Nasty Cabbage is.

 

 

[Yannis]

Master - On The Seventh Day God Created... Master

Zen Venom - From Another Planet

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I had never put that together 'til just now, Nasty Cabbage = Nasty Savage. I've heard of them, and I guess I remember seeing their records in the stores back in the day, but nothing about their name or those album covers ever made me curious enough to bother checking them out. I think the problem is it sounds kinda like a name one-a them cock rock bands might choose. Guess I'll have to dial them up now just to see what their schtick is.

 

Nasty Savage - Nasty Savage, speed metal Tampa Florida 1985. Their debut. They're obviously reasonably talented musicians, and the production has plenty of bass which is always cool. But it's hard for me to put myself into my own head back circa 1985 and try to guess how I might've received something this back then. It does sound like your typical generic non-thrash 80's metal. There were a ton of 80's bands that I can't even really remember anymore now who sounded basically just like this, nothing really unique about their sound. I could live without some of these Sanctuary-ish Dane-esque high pitched notes, but at least he keeps them to somewhat of a minimum, it's not high pitched screams all throughout. Yeah, 23 minutes into this now, halfway, and I guess I probably would have been pretty into this once upon a time. Not to the point where they would've been one of my favorite bands alongside Metallica and Exciter and Slayer or anything, but this probably would have gotten some spins. I hadn't gone down the filth rabbit hole yet in '85 you see, I was still petty much just a regular metalhead back then. There's some decent riffs here. It's not making me want to get up and beak shit like Slayer or Exciter do, but I haven't turned it off yet either. Stuck with it longer than the Incult record which started out strong and then got boring to me. See? Never too old to discover a new band from 40 years ago. Now I know who Nasty Cabbage is.

Well, given that I've got a bunch of German in me, I could forgive you for thinking I was just a sauerkraut enthusiast, a food that I can fully acknowledge is in point of fact, very nasty cabbage. Unfortunately my genetics basically compel me to love it, and I consume copious amounts whenever it's around.

Now Nasty Savages music, on the other hand, is one of those weird ones where they still have some traits of the bigger and glamier Monsters of Rocking Chairs vocals of the time, but the man does bring a ton of variety and character to the songs. Melodically I'd say they were coming more from the tradition of something like Metal Church's Blessing in Disguise, Hallow's Eve or Cirith Ungol, which for me makes all the difference. As long as it's based in trad metal I can enjoy it. The newer stuff often gets a little flack from traditionalists for being too technical, but again, for me that's not a problem. Glad that, even if you weren't exactly over the moon for it, it seems it at least didn't cause you violent convulsions.

4 hours ago, Yannis said:

I had the same thought when i listened to their album "Indulgence", i was like hmm this reminds me of someone 😄

That one I actually like even more than the debut.

[Arioch]

Hekseblad - Kaer Morhen (2024)

 

[Yannis]

Gabestok - Én gang rådden, altid rådden

 

[Yannis]

Attacker - Battle At Helms Deep 

 

[Arioch]

ADX - L'empire Du Crépuscule (2024)

 

[Arioch]

Deicide - Banished By Sin (2024)

 

[Yannis]

Immortal - Pure Holocaust

[AlSymerz]

Danzig - Danzig V Blackacidevil

[Yannis]

Inquisition - Into The Infernal Regions Of The Ancient Cult

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

6 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Nasty Savage's music, on the other hand, is one of those weird ones where they still have some traits of the bigger and glammier Monsters of Rocking Chairs vocals of the time, but the man does bring a ton of variety and character to the songs. Melodically I'd say they were coming more from the tradition of something like Metal Church's Blessing in Disguise, Hallow's Eve or Cirith Ungol, which for me makes all the difference. As long as it's based in trad metal I can enjoy it. The newer stuff often gets a little flack from traditionalists for being too technical, but again, for me that's not a problem. Glad that, even if you weren't exactly over the moon for it, it seems it at least didn't cause you violent convulsions.

Metal Church's Blessing in Disguise, Hallow's Eve or Cirith Ungol

I know that being a relic from the rocking chair generation I should be expected to know these bands and albums, but I don't. I do truly love the 1984 Metal Church debut, but that's as far as I go with them, just like that one album. Hallow's Eve is a bit like Nasty Savage in that I know the name, but it always sounded suspiciously like Iron Maiden or something, a band I'm not fond of so I never investigated. Cirith Ungol is a band whose name I've read is pronounced with a hard C like Kirith and it's based on some fantasy thing which just irritates me so I've intentionally ignored them all these years. It's bad enough I can't remember to pronounce Celtic Frost with the hard C like Tom does in the interviews, because back in the day we always called them Seltic Frost. It's a habit I've been trying to break, even though I'm just thinking the name in my head usually. But I could never turn my back on them, they're one of my all time favorite bands, and Tom G Warrior is one of my personal metal gods. One of the few 80's bands that still gets regular spins.

But anyway when judging 80's metal first and foremost I go by the riffs. That's where it all begins and ends for me. If I like the riffs and the guitar sound, and there isn't anything about the production that I specifically find annoying, (80's metal production was often hit or miss, see: The Legacy) then next I go to the vocals: can I tolerate them or not? That's my thought process. Don't have to like the vocals, just feel that I'd be able to tolerate them while focusing on the riffage. Most thrash and speed metal from that era had absolutely atrocious vocals as far as I was concerned, which is why there are only a handful of 80's thrash metal albums I'd ever want to revisit all these years later. 

 

Hallows Eve - Death & Insanity, Atlanta GA 1986. Yeah this fucking sucks, I'll only be staying with this one for as long as it takes me to type a couple of sentences about it. I sometimes forget just how bad some of the songwriting was in the 80's. Cringe City. It's so bad I'm embarrassed for them. No wonder these guys never went anywhere. Nasty Savages were way better than this crap.

 

Cirith Ungol - One Foot In Hell, LA 1986. I went with their highest rated (92%) album on M-A. This is 3rd tier low-grade generic low budget bargain bin 80's metal. Cover art is dog shit. But I'm immediately won over by the cool guitar solo in track 1. Vocals are much better for me here, this dude's not going for all these squealy high notes, he sounds like an adult whose testicles have already dropped into place. So already I like these guys a lot more than Hallow's Eve or the Nasty Savages. I might listen to this whole damn thing. 100 MPH song is a skipper biut I'll allow them one or two of those. This album isn't a 92%, but I'll give it a solid 80%. Reminding me of Razor a little but for some reason, might have to check in with those Canadians today.

 

Metal Church - Blessing in Disguise, Seattle 1989. Metal Church is the case of a band that shot their entire load on their first album and then couldn't ever get it up again. Their creative balls were forever dry after 1984. The only reason to listen to anything from these guys is based on the strength of that first album. If they had never released that 1984 self-titled classic onto the world no one would even remember them. Because this third album is straight garbage. How does a speed metal band decide it'll kick off the album with a boring slow song? Wasn't completely terrible, but it should've been buried on side 2 somewhere. Second song is just plain bad. Third song is a little bit better and faster, best track so far (relatively speaking) so why didn't they lead with this one? Still nothing here that can touch the first album. 4th track is the epic side 1 closer with the requisite acoustic intro, but as epic closers go it's lethargic and fails to captivate. Fellow 1961-er Vanderhoof can play, but since 1984 he hasn't been able to write good songs to save his life. Side 2 opener is another generic boring one, don't think I'll be finishing side 2. I'll go listen to the debut to get the bad taste of this crap out of my mouth. But wait track 6 just came on, The Spell Can't Be Broken. Holy crap, finally a good song! Pretty bad when you get all the way to track 6 (out of 9) before you've hit a good song. Track 7 is a banger, this absolutely should have been the album opener. With such a scarcity of quality material, why the fuck would they bury this in the middle of side 2? Track 8 was just meh, last song Powers That Be is alright though, nothing special but I can dig it.  My verdict is they should have shit-canned side 1 completely, just kept tracks 6, 7 and 9, and then just gone back to the drawing board to write some more songs. How this shit gets a 91% on M-A is truly baffling. I'd give this album more like a 67%.

 

Razor - Shotgun Justice, speed metal Toronto 1990. I almost always go with Violent Restitution or Evil Invaders so I'm consciously changing it up here. In Shotgun Justice we have another undeserved 91% album on M-A. I mean it's alright, but this is no 91%. 75% maybe. The other two Razor titles I mentioned would be 90's probably, or close to it. But hey this album is still way better than other more well known 1990 titles like: Seasons in the Abyss, Impact is Imminent, Persistence of Time or Coma of Souls. But it's not up on the level of a Spectrum of Death, Souls of Black or The American Way. I knew I should have gone with Malicious Intent.

 

1 hour ago, Yannis said:

Inquisition - Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult

Their least great album IMHO (aside from the latest one which I still haven't made up my mind about yet) but it's still great in its own right.

[Nasty_Cabbage]

I do really love Razor, and I appreciate you taking the time to line those listens up. The reason I brought up a lot of those bands was because so much of the early Metalblade roster were in excellent position to take advantage of thrash moving toward greater extremes while still holding onto the trad. metal melodicism and... wait...

35 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

 it's based on some fantasy thing 

*utter disbelieving befuddlement and flabberghastery ensues in my very soul

...

Okay. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. That part of your post left a small fissure in my brain. Obviously you DO know what you're talking about being the veteran metal fan that you are. I had to take a step back and clutch the part of me that loves Cirith Ungol the band, and Lord of the Rings. I had to pull the smarmy response valve because there was nowhere else for that pressure to go.

Sorry again. Didn't mean it. Okay back to business. You are correct about that particular Metal Church album shedding it's thrash roots with it's longer songs and non-traditional structures. The vocalist is a little hard to adjust to since he never really stretches his range that much and it feels like the songs are following him. The actual trad. stuff though is very much in tact, much like with Nasty Savage although I'm a bit of an apologist for their vocalist since he does stretch his range (for better or worse) and brings the dynamics. Anyway maybe I should have used different examples, but the intent was to show the sort of traditional metal armored in thrash is a big part of their sound, and what makes them charming to me.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

7 hours ago, Yannis said:

Attacker - Battle at Helms Deep 1985

 

What have we here? These guys are from right here in New Jersey and I was absolutely in the market for shit like this in 1985. Yet I've never even heard of them. Takes the Greek Gen-Z selfie king to introduce my old Boomer ass to 40 year old speed metal bands from right here in my own backyard. True that I don't generally go in for stuff with the super high pitched ear-piercing vox like this, but these aren't bothering me at all for some reason. I'm totally digging this, kicks all kinds of ass. Good shit alani. I might even have to see if I can find this one digitally somewhere. Alright well look at that, it's on Bandcamp for $8, that was easy. Guess I assumed that since I'd never heard of this before it'd be hard to find.

 

Exciter - Long Live the Loud, Toronto 1985, Since I'm all 80'sed out today guess I might as well hit up some of my old favorites while this mood lasts. This 3rd Exciter album often gets overlooked in favor of the first two, but Dan the man himself says it's maybe the album he's most proud of. I love it, although I could never rank the first 3, I love them all equally.

 

Grave Digger - Witch Hunter, Germany 1985. One of the better German heavy metal bands from the 80's, these guys should have been much bigger than they were. This particular album falls apart just a little on side 2 and I do skip the ballad on side 1, but there's still enough here to keep me satisfied.