The Retarded Mosh Pit

This made my day watching these crazy fools

LaZarus A.D. @ Summerfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 07.26.10

On Sunday two friends and I went down to Summerfest. In case you’re not familiar with the event, it’s an eleven day music fest held at Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The fest proclaims itself to be the, ‘The World’s Largest Music Festival,’ and I suppose it probably is true due to the simple fact that there is eleven different stages (ranging from huge amphitheatre stages to small tent stages) with apparently over 700 bands performing over the eleven day stretch. As for the actual music, well, I’m quite sure there is just about every genre of music available at this thing, unfortunately very little metal music, and the bigger named bands that close out each evening you have to pay a lot to see. Fortunately it’s just $15 to get into the thing otherwise and see the smaller named bands during the day, so therefore that’s why we decided to go and check out hometown thrash heroes, LaZarus A.D.

Although I had expected the band to play on one of the smaller stages they actually ended up playing on a fairly large stage called the, ‘TheCoolTV Stage.’ The band actually drew in a fairly large crowd too, but it could have been that some were just there to see the stage’s closing band, Nonpoint. Nevertheless they were there and they were about to get their goddamn heads smoked off by a truly impressive metal band.

What I really like about these guys is that they truly are a talented band and I’m absolutely positive once everyone saw lead guitarist Dan Gapen ripping through some of the bands complex solos everyone was thinking the same. Anyway, the band opened with, ‘Last Breath,’ which truly woke up everyone in the crowd and got them interested in what was happening onstage. Although I’m sure the band was nervous playing on such a large stage (with it being filmed of course too) and playing to most likely one of their biggest crowds to date they still managed to handle themselves well. Bassist/vocalist Jeff seemed somewhat reluctant to talk much to the crowd, but it was fun that he made a few comments about some insanely popular teen kid named Justin Bieber who was playing one of the stages later in the evening.

Unfortunately after just two songs Dan’s amp gave out and they had to take a good five minute break to repair the thing. Fortunately once it was back up the band was once again roaring through their songs with renewed ferocity.

As far as I can remember the band played every song from their debut album, ‘The Onslaught’ as well as a cover song, which I believe they said was called, ‘Onstage,’ but I really don’t know. It was a cool cover with another really superb solo too. They also played a new untitled song from the forthcoming album, which Jeff stated would be out in November. Collectively I guess the band must have played for a solid hour and I’m sure they won many new fans with this gig too.

All in all it was great to see at least one genuinely awesome band at Summerfest this year and I hope they play here again next year and perhaps a few other cool metal bands will be joining them too.

After LaZarus A.D. my buddies and I hung out around the Festival for a few more hours while trying to figure out if there was really anything else worth seeing tonight, but decided that there really wasn’t much. So, we hoped the shuttle back home, went to a bar, plugged the jukebox full of metal songs and continued to have a great evening.

Edge of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow (1994)

For whatever reason I’ve generally overlooked most everything legendary Swedish musician Dan Swanö has been a part of and if you know anything about Dan, then you know this guy has been in quite a few different bands. Oh sure, I have a few albums from some of the bands he’s done guess work in like Diabolical Masquerade, Katatonia and Bloodbath, but it’s his longer running main bands from the 90’s, Pan.Thy.Monium, Nightingale and of course Edge of Sanity that I have been complete ignorant of despite the fact that I’ve known these bands names for at least a decade now. Well, that all changed a few weeks ago when I found this album at a second hand store for $5 and believe me after hearing this beast I’m going to make sure I hear more Edge of Sanity too.

Anyway, Edge of Sanity was formed in 1989 when Dan was just sixteen years old and for many years it was his most dear project, but by the late 90’s he split from the band, EoS hired Robert Karlsson to do vocals and they created, ‘Cryptic’ together in ’97 and laid the band to rest, while Dan recorded his solo album, ‘Moontower’ in ‘99, which is considered an Edge of Sanity record by some and eventually in ’03, Dan resurrected EoS and recorded, ‘Crimson II’ by himself and let the band again rest in peace.

For those not familiar with EoS, they were truly the first band to fuse Swedish styled death metal with a genuine progressive rock sound. Yes, its true folks, Opeth isn’t as original as we all thought they were. What separates EoS (at least on this release) from Opeth is simply the fact that their music is more Swedish death metal with progressive characteristics while the music that Opeth would eventually create is more progressive music with death metal elements.

The album kicks off with a song called, ‘Twilight,’ which best exemplifies the EoS sound with light ethereal synth passages, both growled, spoken and cleanly sung vocals, melodic guitars with killer riffs/solos and of course the fusion of progressive, ambient and death metal music within this eight minute song. It’s interesting how on various moments of this song (and the album in general) you can feel sentiments of absolute peace while at other times you’ll feel a mad rush of energy with the need to violently bang your head to the music.

However some of the other songs on this record are not as courageous as they lean more towards the classic Swedish death metal sound with plenty of melody and only minor progressive traits. Of course some songs are almost entirely death metal too. There are also two complete oddballs on the album too. ‘Black Tears’ is an insanely catchy melodic metal/hard rock song with a great folky main guitar riff as well as an entirely cleanly sung vocal delivery from Dan on this one. The other weirdo of the album is, ‘Song of the Sirens,’ which isn’t death, progressive or ambient, but rather it’s a short hardcore song, and, well, this is the albums only blunder. I’ll leave it at that.

Throughout this record guitarists Andreas and Sami treat my ears to some of the most memorable riffs and solos I think I’ve ever heard and needless to say it’s these guitars that have kept me coming back for more and more. Anders bass work is a bit buried in the mix, but he’s there if you pay attention and I just love the way drummer Benny switches between blast beats and slower hard rock beats throughout the record. Of course anyone that has heard Dan’s voice knows it’s among the best out there, whether he’s singing cleanly or using his hard growled style.

All in all, in the month that I’ve had this album I’ve played it a lot and intend to continue doing so since it’s absolutely excellent. I also am very much looking forward to purchasing more EoS releases and hearing the bands progression from album to album.

Finally all I can say is if you enjoy bands that fuse death metal with progressive music then look no further than Edge of Sanity as they were the first and surely the best there ever will be.

Exiled From Light - There is no beauty left here... (2010)

Exiled from Light is a depressive black metal band hailing from Auckland, New Zealand. Now, when I think of New Zealand I think of two things and neither are actually black metal. First I think of that old Nintendo came called Kiwi Kraze (AKA ‘The New Zealand Adventure’), which was probably one of my most cherished games when I was a little kid, and I also think of the classic kick ass horror movie, ‘Evil Dead,’ which was directed by Peter Jackson. That’s what I think of. Not black metal. Nevertheless with two albums behind him now, Exiled from Light’s one and only member, Mort, may very well get me to start thinking about his band when New Zealand is brought to mind.

Anyway, ‘There is no beauty left here…’ is the latest release from Mort and it comes packaged as a special two CD version. The first CD contains three new songs, which run for no less than thirty eight minutes while the second CD contains three additional new songs as well as three songs from one of Mort’s other side-projects called, ‘Funereal.’ Speaking of side projects it would seem Mort is quite the prolific musician as he has no less than eight other solo side projects (yes, you read that correctly), which at least according to metal-archives are all within the depressive black & ambient black metal genres. Talk about repeating yourself. Anyway, carrying onwards.

Musically as already stated this is depressive black metal and therefore that means slow doomy fuzzed up electric guitars, ominous synth melodies, painfully screamed vocals and a rather crude production job to boot. Admittedly, I don’t listen to music like this very often or even at all since generally I like to feel optimistic in my day to day affairs and because music like this also brings to mind horrible bands like Xasthur, which I was very pleased to see finally gave up and retired, but that’s another story. On the other hand I can honestly feel Mort’s extension of emotion he puts in to his music and that I can totally admire since if you’re labeled a depressive black metal band than you best be able to carry such emotions through your music. Not many bands within this genre are able to do this, not in my opinion at least, and it’s pleasing to hear an artist who actually lives up to his defined genre.

The three bonus songs from Mort’s other band Funereal are (surprise! Surprise!) actually very similar although they seem to have a slightly cleaner production job though the atmosphere is just the same. There doesn’t seem to be any info out there on this band so I have no idea if it’s still going, but considering all of his bands are very, very similar then why not, you know, maybe just do one solo band? Lastly I must also admit the grim artwork created by Neils Geybels is totally spot on and truly reflects the music herein.

So, all in all, if you’re the depressive type or just the sort that enjoys this style of music then I’d really have to recommend this one since it’s surely one of the best I’ve heard out the genre thus far. Now excuse me, I need to listen to something a little more cheery before I feel the need to go and kill myself.

The Big Four Theatre Extravaganza 06.22.10

My buddy Ryan and I decided to go and check out the Metallica big four theatre extravaganza (or whatever it’s called) and in case you’re not familiar with this, basically it’s a one of the big four of thrash metal shows (that’s Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica) transmitted to theatres all over the USA, Canada, Europe and Latin America just hours after the bands walked off stage. This particular show was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, and, you know what I’m not even sure where Bulgaria is so I’m going to hop over to Wikipedia for a moment and look that up. Okay, so it’s in South East Europe next to Romania, that’s actually kind of what I thought, really, anyway…

What made this whole experience so fun is that it actually (at times) felt like I was there in Sofia with everyone cheering for the songs they know and love. For example, I never thought I’d be clapping, hooting and howling, headbanging and stomping my feet in a theatre, but sure it happened, I admit it. I wasn’t the only one though, because most everyone else was doing it. In fact there were a few people that were being a little too passionate about things. There was one guy who at first was just standing up in his seat yelling for it to be louder and thankfully they did turn it up (it was really quiet at first), but eventually this guy was out of his seat and was headbanging and running around in front of the screen screaming. I remember someone near me yelling, ‘Dude you’re not in Bulgaria,’ but I don’t think he cared much about that fact. Eventually mid-way through Anthrax’s set the ushers had enough of his chaos and I believe they kicked him. Kind of sucks for him, but I guess you shouldn’t drink a 12-pack or take hits of acid before going to the theatre.

However before the actual music started we were shown a view of the fans standing around waiting for the show to start as well as interviews with Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian, Dave Mustaine and Kerry King where they basically just talked about their influences, their thoughts on the Big Four tour and some other stuff I missed because I was running to an ATM machine to get money for a beer. Yeah, they were selling beer in the theatre. I guess they really wanted to make it as close to a real concert experience as possible.

At any rate, Anthrax was the first band up and I must admit they played with much heart and conviction. With Joey Belladonna at the vocal spot, again, they ripped through classics like, ‘Caught in a Mosh,’ ‘Madhouse,’ ‘Antisocial,’ ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’ and ‘Indians’ with a little break in this song to play part of Black Sabbath’s, ‘Heaven and Hell.’ I would have liked to have also heard songs such as; ‘Lone Justice’ & ‘N.F.L.,’ but I guess not this time.

Anyway, each band probably played for at least an hour and a half, but for this theatre showing we only got an hour of each bands set. So, collectively we were in the theatre for over four hours, but it was certainly worth it. Seeing Anthrax on the big stage again really made me hungry to see them play for me here in my home town and perhaps if they ever release a new album that day will soon come. I shall be there.

Soon as Anthrax walked off stage it was Megadeth walking onstage and with them came the rain and we had a bunch of wet Bulgarians. Thankfully they didn’t dump water on us in the theatre. It was pleasing to see that David Ellefson was back onstage with Megadeth playing bass after an eight year absence, but it’s also somewhat funny seeing Dave Mustaine once again realigning himself with a musician he had serious issues with in the past.

Anyhow, as much as I like old Anthrax songs I’ve got quite a bit more love for old Megadeth songs and they played many classics like, ‘Holy Wars,’ ‘Hangar 18,’ ‘In my Darkest Hour,’ ‘Hook in Mouth,’ ‘Sweating Bullets’ and ‘Peace Sells.’ ‘Headcrusher’ from the new album was also played, but besides this one song it was all stuff from the 80’s and early 90’s when Megadeth was at their best. What impresses me about Megadeth nowadays is that even though the lead guitar and drum slots have changed and obviously the band members are getting older it seems like they still have as much passion and play as flawlessly as a band in their early 20’s. Now, that’s really saying something since some bands continue onward endlessly driven not by their passion for playing and writing great music but simply to satisfy their own greed. You know what bands I’m talking about. In any case, by the time Megadeth was finished I was quite hyped up and absolutely flying just as I was when I saw them live last November. A great set from a great band. ‘nuff said.

Next up was Slayer and at first besides noticing that Kerry king was wearing the spiky gauntlets I also noticed that Dave Lombardo’s drum set is absolutely colossal in size. As crazy as the people in Bulgaria and in the theatre previously got it seems like for Slayer the excitement was turned up even more. Slayer opened with a few songs from the last two albums, which I’m unfortunately not familiar with, but they all sounded good to my ears. They eventually got to classics like, ‘Angel of Death,’ ‘Mandatory Suicide,’ ‘Chemical Warfare,’ ‘South of Heaven’ and of course ‘Raining Blood.’ Unfortunately nothing from ‘Show no Mercy’ or ‘Hell Awaits’ were played, which is completely asinine to me, but I was still having a good time during the bands set. In particular I really like the epic build up for Raining Blood and the way both the crowd and the people in the theatre exploded once the song took off. Good times indeed, but it was almost time for Metallica and the atmosphere around me was about to change considerably.

Before Metallica hit the stage there was a small tribute to Ronnie James Dio whom I’m sure you know passed away recently. Again it was Kerry, Lars, Scott and Dave talking about Dio and some of their personal experiences meeting and touring with him. All very interesting and funny stuff, but after this short break it was time for Metallica.

About two or three songs into Metallica’s set I noticed something. The metal fans (me, my buddy and a whole lot of other people) were suddenly just not into it and the only people that were really into it were the Metallica fan boys and other folks that are only metal on their days off. Pretty sad really, but I saw it coming. It’s funny to think that Metallica has more or less been the same band member wise for their entire existence, but it’s just amazing how much they truly are not the same people from the 80’s and early 90’s. From James frat boy haircut and onstage doucheness to Lars scrawny drum set, Kirk’s arrogance and the big retarded monkey they have playing bass now it’s just not the same band. In fact mid-way through the set my friend leaned over and mentioned to me how Metallica sounds more like a Metallica cover band than actually Metallica. Oh, and so true it is. I just also have to say, what the fuck happened to James voice? Seriously his voice sounded like he’d sucked down a tank of helium before going onstage. What the fuck? Really? Ugh, it’s just a nightmare.

The band opened with, ‘Creeping Death,’ which initially had me going, but by the time they got to ‘Harvester of Sorrow’ two songs later I was already losing interest. The band also played old songs like, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ ‘One’ and ‘Master of Puppets.’ However there was no heart or sincerity behind their performance and they basically just sounded like four guys at the office. However as already said both Bulgaria and the theatre were filled with Metallica fan boys so things were at times pretty crazy. The funny thing was it seemed like the band displayed the most enthusiasm for one of the new songs from, ‘Death Magnetic,’ and although I haven’t heard the album this song actually sounded good. Definitely not thrash metal or even close to anything from the first three albums, but still it sounded good.

They also played, ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ which sounded utterly terrible and their big radio cash in song, ‘Enter Sandman.’ For their encore they had all of the bands (except Slayer) come back onstage to play, ‘Am I Evil,’ which was the most catastrophic and ridiculous thing I think I’ve ever seen. What a mistake. Finally they played, ‘Hit the Lights’ & ‘Seek & Destroy,’ which didn’t even sound like these classic songs. Weird how that works. Oh, and midway through Seek the big retarded monkey decided to start spinning around rather than playing his bass guitar. Ah huh…

So, all in all three of four bands were quite entertaining and I’m very happy I went, but as expected Metallica was just the same laughable fools they’ve been for fifteen plus years now. It also seems fairly likely that the Big Four tour will eventually come to the USA and I’d definitely go, but after watching Metallica last night I’m really not sure I’d be able to stomach an entire performance of theirs. If you missed this and you have some love for those first three bands then I can only say you missed one hell of an experience. If you were there then you know.

Epicurean - A Consequence of Design (2008)

If memory serves me correctly, I first heard Epicurean back in 2003 at Milwaukee Metalfest when someone (probably one of the members) was handing out promos/demos to every person who happened to walk past him/them. I don’t seem to own that demo anymore (probably tossed it out or gave it to a friend), but back earlier in the year me and a few friends were bored, wanted to be drunk and decided to go check the band out when they were playing at a local venue. I remember within my drunken hysteria I found myself really enjoying these guys and decided to buy their album. At first the merch girl wanted $15, so I told her no fucking way. After the bands set she said, ‘How about $10.’ I said sure. Haggling a price is thee only way, my friends.

Anywho, Epicurean is a Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA based band, which formed back in 2001, released their debut album, ‘V.II R.VI’ in 2003 and followed it up with this album, ‘A Consequence of Design’ in 2006, although two years later Metal Blade Records signed the band and they re-released/re-remastered this album with two additional songs.

Epicurean plays a fairly standard version of modern melodic death metal although what makes them a bit different from the average band out there is that they have a keyboardist in the band whose input is almost constant within their brand of Melodeath music. I’ve seen some people say these keyboard symphonies sound like late 90’s Dimmu Borgir, but that’s pushing it a bit as the keyboards in Epicurean are merely just there for backing ambiance and very rarely do they take the center stage. Nevertheless they are a cool little addition and they really do serve to make the music more interesting.

Speaking of interest it seems guitarists Jared Mills and John Major are quite good at their instruments and you’ll find plenty of cool solos and catchy riffs spread out through this album. The bands weakest link however is their vocalist John Laramy who doesn’t growl or scream like the traditional Melodeath front man, but rather he sounds more like he should be fronting a metalcore band. Generally I find metalcore vocalists to be annoying, thus I can’t really say too much about John’s voice on this album. He also throws in some cleanly sung parts too, which sound alright, but you can tell there was a ridiculous amount of studio touch up done on them after he recorded them. Meh.

Of course I can somewhat look past lackluster vocalists if the music remains great the whole way through and frankly it does. Problem is this album is to fucking long! Get this, a sixty three minute Melodeath album. Ugh. I can honestly say getting the whole way through this album and remaining interested is not an easy task even if there are some cool songs present. It’s just too much Melodeath in one sitting. I mean, maybe if you’re favorite genre is Melodeath and you really have a thing for Melodeath with keyboards, then maybe, maybe you’ll thoroughly enjoy this sucker, but I just don’t know.

I do hope Epicurean is working on a new album since this release is technically already four years old and I’m sure if they want to expand their crowd they really need to hit the studio soon before they are forgotten. At any rate, you know your tastes, so check this album out if it sounds like something you’d enjoy.

Mountain Mirrors - Mountain Mirrors (2005)

Lead by Jeffrey J. Sanders of Fairhaven, Massachusetts (with a host of session musicians), Mountain Mirrors takes the best moments of Opeth’s stunning Damnation album and adds a tough 60’s/70’s psychedelic folk and progressive rock influence forming something I would label as acoustic progressive folk rock music. Take softly plucked acoustic guitars, light percussion, trippy/groovy keyboards, symphonic undertones, breathtaking vocals and thoughtful lyrics alongside a slew of emotional sentiments and I've almost described what Mountain Mirrors sounds like. Problem is though Mountain Mirrors sound really goes beyond simple description.

Songs like, ‘Stay Evil’ or ‘Your Time Has Come’ are more upbeat and showcase the strongest psychedelic/progressive influences, while, ‘Calm Before the Storm’ or ‘Deploribus Unum’ are much more melancholic sounding, whilst the album concludes with a stunning dark atmospheric instrumental calle,d ‘Praying Mantis.’ What’s more everything on the album is performed superbly; the musicianship, production, artwork, vocals, lyrics…everything, simply marvelous.

Since this second album Jeffrey went on to release another full-length album in 2008 called, 'Dreadnought' as well as an EP the following year. As good as they were they still fell short of capturing the same feeling this album holds. I must admit if you have any love for bands like Pink Floyd, Opeth, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Nick Drake and Alice in Chain's acoustic work, than be absolutely sure to check out Jeffrey’s masterful Mountain Mirrors.

KMFDM - NIHIL (1995)

I’ve always, always had a really soft spot in my heart for KMFDM. When it comes to heavy electronics, industrial, EBM and heavy metal styled music few do it better than KMFDM. The band first formed way back in 1984 by Sascha Konietzko and En Esch and is considered by many to be one of the pioneers of the industrial/EBM/metal crossover genre. After several albums they were forced to change their name to MDFMK in 1999 due to some legal issue, but eventually went back to the KMFDM banner in 2002, and went for a more hard rock/metal sound. However here on their 1995 classic, ‘Nihil’ they delivered there trademark industrial/EBM/metal style, and ask any KMFDM fan and they’ll tell you Nihil is KMFDM at the top of their game.

Featuring such classics as the hard hitting, ‘Ultra,’ which I first heard several years ago when I purchased the Street Fighter animated movie or the especially catchy, ‘Juke Joint Jezebel,’ which is probably there most popular song and also a song you can always expect to hear at any Goth club. While most people know those songs let us not forget the kick ass, ‘Search & Destroy,’ which has a really excellent guitar riff present in it or the ultra memorable chorus of, ‘Beast’ featuring great backing vocals from Dorona Albert. I’m also quite fond of, ‘Revolution,’ which features cool electronics, great guitar riffs and again the great backing female vocals of Dorona Albert and En Esch’s sinister lead vocals on this song.

If you’ve ever expressed any interest in KMFDM or this particular genre of music then all I can say is that this is probably KMFDM’s finest and perhaps even one of the best ever in this genre. Of course I can't say for sure since I don't have much experience with this genre, but I've seriously owned this album pretty much since it first came out and I've always enjoyed it. There isn’t one bad song on the whole recording and from start to finish you will be addicted by KMFDM’s mixture of catchy electronics, industrial and heavy metal riffing. Truly great stuff!

The Resurrection Macabre Tour @ Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago, Illinois, USA - 06.14.10

On Monday afternoon my buddy, Mike and I drove down to Chicago, Illinois to see legendary reunited death metal act, Pestilence. For me the band’s 1988 album, ‘Consuming Impulse’ remains as an absolute landmark within the death metal genre with its only competition being Morbid Angel’s, ‘Altars of Madness,’ but will save the best death metal ever rant for another time. While the two or so hour drive down to Chicago is a bit undesirable, this time it was actually worth it since all of the five bands that played were quite enjoyable.

This was also my first time visiting Reggie’s Rock Club. It’s not a very big place and it’s not exactly in the best neighborhood either, but I liked the place. It doubled up as both a bar & restaurant, so we were able to get some food and have a few drinks before the show started, which is always a nice thing. Both the bar/restaurant and the venue itself was appealing to look at with a bunch of crazy things on the wall, mostly sports memorabilia, but still interesting, I suppose. Also the sound was surprisingly good though the room for us the fans was somewhat limited and of course when the moshers started their crazy antics things became even more compact. I didn’t appreciate the guy that bumped into me while I was snapping photos either, but I suppose that’s the risk I take for lowering my guard. That aside though I liked the place and I’ll definitely visit this venue again if some interesting bands come to town.

Oh, and there was also a music store on the top floor of Reggie’s called, Record Breakers. It happened to be a rather big place with a huge selection of genres available, but the actual amount of metal releases was a bit less. Also the place was ridiculously overpriced; though strangle my friend found the Katatonia live album for $11. A rare find, I suppose, since I couldn’t find anything interesting except the $30 vinyls, which I wasn’t about to fork over, but, yeah, anyway on to the show.


Sacrificial Slaughter: Hitting the stage a little after 6PM was a band named, ‘Sacrificial Slaughter’ from Anaheim, California. These guys have been around for nearly ten years now and have two albums behind them, but this was the first time I’d ever heard their name. Anyway, they played a fairly standard form of death metal with some melodic hooks and plenty of energy to get the moshers going and the headbangers bangin’. All in all it was a good start for the evening, but like I said it was just standard and nothing that really provoked me to run over to the merch table and buy their album. Even so if I find them ever opening a show again I’ll definitely be on time to see them perform again since I enjoyed what I saw.


Enfold Darkness: Following Sacrificial was, ‘Enfold Darkness’ from Nashville, Tennessee. I actually caught Enfold Darkness live back in March when they were touring with Goatwhore, and while I’ll admit it was a good set, it wasn’t superb. It seems in the months since that show the band has been practicing a lot because what I heard tonight was much more convincing and overall quite good. Musically ED plays melodic death metal with some thrash characteristics as well as black metal style vocals. What I really liked about these guys is that they brought a lot of energy to the stage and it seems lead singer Justin was really able to get the crowd interested in what they were doing up there. There wasn’t any specific song that really stuck out or really grabbed my attention, but rather the whole set was just enjoyable thanks to the good amount of energy and the musicians ability to play interesting songs with cool riffs and killer solos. I guess I probably should have bought their album while I was there, but maybe next time.


Vital Remains: Next up was long running death metal act, Vital Remains from Providence, Rhode Island. I must admit VR are a band I’ve known about for a long time, but really didn’t get around to checking out until 2003 when Glen Benton from Deicide joined them as vocalist. Since ’08 Glen has parted ways with VR and returned to Deicide, but a new singer named Scott Wily joined a couple of years ago to replace him. I could be mistaken, but it seems like VR were the band that really stole the evening with their relentless and brutal death metal. I really can’t say if the band played a lot of new or old stuff, but all of it was quite enjoyable and I found myself headbanging a lot for this bands set. There was also quite a bit of fan participation with a few people hoping on stage and then diving off, even one guy who shared the mic with Scott for a few moments while the band was blasting through, ‘Dechristinize.’ All in all quite the death metal experience and between insane mosh pits, stage diving and plenty of headbanging, I can honestly say Vital Remains tore the place up. I’d have to suggest if you have any love for this band or just brutal death metal in general that you go see these guys. This is the real shit right here!


Warbringer: Finally it was time for Warbringer, and, well what can I say about this band that I haven’t already said? They basically are one of the best bands within the current new wave of thrash metal bands and this is no less than the fifth time I’ve seen them perform in the past three years. These guys have a song called, ‘The Road Warrior’ and they truly do live up to that name since it seems like in the past couple of years they’ve been doing nonstop touring around the world. However about midway through their set lead singer John announced that when the tour is finished they’ll be heading to the studio to start work on album number 3. I can’t wait.
Anyway, Warbringer’s set tonight was more or less the usual with songs like, ‘Total War,’ ‘Instruments of Torture,’ ‘Jackal,’ ‘Living in a Whirlwind’ and of course their usual set closer,’ Combat Shock.’ Towards the end a lot of people were shouting for a cover song, but instead they played, ‘Beneath the Waves,’ which was a great song to hear too. The odd thing about this show was it seemed like there was A LOT of teens at the show, which is mostly annoying especially since some of these kids had to be playing stupid little kissy games with their girlfriends, but that aside, I suppose it’s always good to see more youngsters getting possessed by metal. At any rate, another fantastic set from Warbringer.


Pestilence: At last, it was time for the band I came to see, the almighty, the amazing, the… the… Well, Pestilence really didn’t deliver and exciting performance like I had expected them too. Basically the problem was that lead singer/guitarist Patrick Mameli is absolutely the worst and most boring front man I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life. After each and every song he would talk to the crowd but it was so monotone and lacking emotion that it made me think that this guy wanted to be just about anywhere else in the world at that moment. Usually death metal vocalists will, ya know, yell and scream out song titles or ask us how were doing in some aggressive voice. But no, not Mr. Mameli tonight. His between song banter went something like this, ‘Hey… so, how you guys doing tonight? You happy to see Pestilence, huh, you happy to see Pestilence, huh? You want to hear a song from Consuming Impulse, huh, you want to hear a song from that album?’ Of course keep in mind once again he was completely monotone the whole way and with his heavy accent it made him seem even more uninterested in what was going on. It really wasn’t until the encore that he realized that yelling at us and trying to get us all pumped up was a good idea. Oh well.

Anyway, despite the lack of emotion the band actually performed quite well. They ripped through a bunch of new songs as well as some of the classic stuff from, ‘Consuming Impulse’ & ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ as well a few from other two albums though they didn’t seem to stand out as much as the stuff from the 80’s that I know so well. I have to admit though when they played songs like ‘The Process of Suffocation’ and ‘Dehydrated’ I lost myself for a moment and had to give into my insane headbanging desires just like everyone else there.

All in all this turned out to be an enjoyable evening and it was also cool checking out a new venue too. Of course I wish the guys in Pestilence could have displayed more emotion during their set, but I guess not everything is going to be perfect, nevertheless I enjoyed myself and had a great time.

To see the full-size versions of the photos I shot head on over HERE.

[Oh, and the guy that was on stage with Vital Remains. Please send me an email if you still want those photos. Thanks. luciferoverlondon@gmail.com]

1349 - Demonoir (2010)

Back in 2005, 1349 made a little modern classic within the Norwegian black metal scene with their album, ‘Hellfire,’ which was an album that truly lived up to its name too. They followed it up with, ‘Revelations of the Black Flame’ last year, and although I never heard it, I’m told this was 1349’s experimental album and largely it was dismissed by fans and critics alike. So, in 2010 they present us with, ‘Demonoir,’ which doesn’t sound too different from the bands hellish raging brutal black metal of previous albums, though there are notably differences.

Demonoir contains no less than thirteen songs, but that’s just because before each real song there’s a short ambient or acoustic piece, which honestly doesn’t do much other than to prolong the album further. The standard intro/outro pieces at the beginning and the end of the album are justifiable, but in-between each song really just makes me impatiently wait for the furious blackened mayhem that I had hoped to hear when I popped this CD in.

The other differences to be found are some minor vocal effects on Ravn’s voice, which at times make his voice take on a robotic like tone and there’s some piano tinkler named Tony Caputo on this album, which again doesn’t really add much to the recording. However these differences/complaints aside, Demonoir is actually quite the good album.

‘When I was Flesh’ stands out as the albums strongest point since it’s the auditory equivalent of a blistering firestorm of blackened hell transformed to music, while, ‘Psalm 7:77’ is very similar although it features a guitar solo; a first for 1349 as far as I remember. ‘Pandemonium War Bells’ also blasts away nicely with some great headbanging moments and ‘The Devil and the Desert’ definitely stands out as well. The title track is a bit slower, but still has this grand sort of arrangement to it, which makes it very interesting the whole way through.

Lastly if Revelations was indeed an experimental and botched effort, then Demonoir is definitely a return to form for this Norwegian black metal band. Filled with scorching blast-beats, heavy riffs and malevolent screams, I’m quite sure even with the little differences within this album you’ll still find much to enjoy if you’re a fan of the bands previous outputs.

Valkyrja - The Invocation of Demise (2007)

Back in September of 2005 I was introduced and highly impressed by the Swedish band, Valkyrja, who had sent me their debut demo, ‘Funeral Voices.’ Sure it wasn’t anything new to the scene musically, but it was a fine piece of high speed melodic black metal that was produced adequately and really had me yearning for more. Two years later the band’s debut full-length, ‘The Invocation Of Demise’ was released and it surely did not disappoint. The band, which at the time of this recording consisted of J. Lindgren on Bass, A.L. on Vocals, S.W. & A. Hed on Guitars and J. Wallgren on drums, offer up seven new songs and two older songs from the demos re-recorded on this album.

It seems Valkyrja stuck with a similar sound as displayed on their demos, but everything seems much more elaborate and perfected on this debut album. The music is of course still within the high speed brutal black metal genre with plenty of exciting riffs and killer solos, but it has a strange sort of catchiness to it since everything just flows perfectly and shows that the band worked their asses off and rehearsed endlessly to craft a compelling recording. I’m assuming the band draws some influence from their fellow countryman in Marduk, Watain and Ondskapt, though the band definitely has their own unique voice, which separates them from the flock of talentless clones out there.

While I will label the band as high speed or brutal black metal, it isn’t necessarily always the case. True most songs are brutal, but as already stated the band isn’t afraid to add some nice melodic sections, interesting breakdowns or just slower songs in general, such as, ‘The Vigil,’ which is the slowest and somewhat epic in its overall structure, while parts of the ‘Sinister Obsession’ are quite similar too.

The presence of sporadic acoustic guitars adds a peaceful side to the chaos and I’d say they compliment the music truly well too. It’s also interesting how despite the speed there are some truly ominous sounding riffs within this album, which is what all good black metal albums should have. However Valkyrja is all about playing fast and absolutely pulverizing the listener and this they do flawlessly on songs like, ‘As Everything Rupture’ & ‘Purification and Demise’ as well as most everything else on this album. It’s also worth mentioning that this album was recorded in Necromorbus studies and therefore the production is stellar and I must also admit that lead vocalist A.L. has a great growled rasp scream, which works perfectly with this music and actually sounds quite unique amongst the many black metal vocalists that all sound exactly the same.

Since this recording Valkyrja inked a deal with Metal Blade Records and released their sophomore recording, ‘Contamination’ earlier this year, which I still need to get my hands on. However until I get my ass to the record store I’ll keep spinning this album, because I really haven’t listened to it much in recent times and that’s a shame since Valkyrja absolutely kills!

Hel - Orloeg (1999)

Back about 8 or 9 years ago there was this Greek guy on eBay that I often times bought CDs and LPs from. Most of the time it would start out with this seller having one particular CD I was looking for but I’d always end up browsing the rest of his store because he had tons of great black and Viking metal CDs for $8 to $10 each and often times good descriptions to go with them, which often times lead me to making blind purchases of bands I’d never heard of before. I remember through this guy I heard bands like Wyrd, Taake and Hel for the very first time.

Hel (a being that presides over a realm of the same name in Norse Mythology) was formed in Germany back in 1994 and quickly released demos in ’95 & ’97 and later their debut album, ‘Orloeg’ arrived in 1999. Orloeg is a strange sounding album of mid-paced Viking/Pagan black metal with traces of some truly epic moments. I say this album sounds strange because I really can’t think of any other album that sounds exactly like it, though I might reference Falkenbach’s, ‘En Their Medh Riki Fara...’ album as a possible comparison since the speed of the music, epicness and production qualities seem to be quite similar though still the overall result is a bit different sounding.

The songs on Orloeg generally move at a mid-paced speed with keyboard/piano usage, some well placed guitar solos, acoustic guitars, a little Jew’s harp here and there and plenty of grand moments with only occasional flashes of extreme speed and chaos within this hour long album. The vocals range from raspy mostly understandable screams to heroic sounding clean vocals all of which is of course in the German language. I must also say that the song, ‘Wunden’ is definitely one of my favorite Viking/black metal song s ever, ‘Der See’ is super catchy and the outro, ‘Spuren’ is surely one of the most majestic synth endings out there.

Five years ago this album was re-released/re-mastered by Det Germanske Folket records with two bonus cover songs as well as a re-designed booklet/cover. Orloeg is definitely an album to check out, especially if you prefer your Viking metal to be a little more on the raw side and to actually show characteristics of black metal too.

Follow or Fall!

In recent weeks I’ve noticed more and more people stopping in here at Lunar Hypnosis, but what I haven’t seen is more people actually following the blog and commenting on the posts. Therefore if you have a blogger account make sure to follow the blog if you’re enjoying what you see happening around here. If you don’t have a blogger account, then go make one. If you’ve already got a Google account of some sort you can log in with that. It’s interesting for me to see you folks actually enjoying what we do here and if you comment on our writings then that’s certainly cool too. Anyway, when I check this page tomorrow I want to see some new followers. If not, Ashe, the quality control cat will find you and make you suffer ‘till yer last breath! I hath spoken, over and out.

Pin-Up Went Down - 342 (2010)

(Ascendance Records)

Sometimes in early 2007, Alexis Damien (former Wormfood, Carnival in Coal) and Asphodel (Penumbra, Lands of Past, Ad Inferna, ex-Nowonmai, Howdy Effect) formed Esthete Piggie which by the end of the same year would become Pin-Up Went Down.  Under this name, the French duo went on to release “2 Unlimited” in the following year, a fairly bold metal recording that takes the listener through a journey where death metal and electro Goth bizarrely co-exist through the combination of jazz, funk and pop among many other influences.  And “342”, does not fail in delivering another jaw-dropping-eye-popping hodgepodge of interwoven different music genres and styles that PUWD is now known for.  As the members of the band promised, this is not a follow up to their first album.  And they kept their promise.  As a result, the electro Goth feel from “2 Unlimited” is gone, leaving the room for unexpected and unexplored new crazy ideas.

This time around, Nicolas Damien, Alexis’ old bro, joins PUWD as a co-writer.  The title itself, “three for two” (also a play on word on the expression “tea for two”) is a welcoming wink to his arrival as a third member of the band.  As a result, PUWD seems tighter and the album greatly benefits from a more melodic approach.  Nico’s keyboard works can be heard throughout the album adding a lot of depth, character and texture to the compositions without overshadowing other instruments and can also stand on their own as it is the case in “Pictures to Speak to” and “Home”.  The later, Nico’s little baby, was one of the first songs written for “342”, a lullaby showcasing the mesmerizing voice of Asphodel accompanied by a beautiful and simple melody played on the piano, reminiscent to great classical composers.

As it is the case on “Home”, Asphodel’s vocals on the other tracks are unparalleled as she pushes her vocal capabilities beyond their own limits, delivering beautiful shivering-down-your-spine lines reminding at times Alanis Morissette’s warm tone on “Escargot”, all the while remaining authentic and true to her own sound and style, or sounds and styles rather, constantly surprising the listener with her vocal skills.  The track “Vaginaal Nathrakh” – homage to Anaal Nathrakh – is a musical extravaganza on which Asphodel demonstrate how versatile her instrument is by delivering ever transforming vocals.  From j-pop style, to operatic, to squeals, she impersonates a singing child and even delivers grunts and growls that could put Cannibal Corpse’s George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher to shame.  Well…  Not quite.  But you get the picture.  And for those interested, she also grunts and growls on “Porcelain Hours”, “Khabod of my Aba” and “Murphy in the Sky with Daemons” just to name a few.  Asphodel also contributed to the album by writing all the lyrics.  And despite the fact that PUWD’s music might at times come across as happy-go-lucky, the lyrics on several tracks are the results of her painful introspection which in turns offer great contrast with the music.  Despite the humor, some of the texts are dead serious and deals with subjects such as religion (Khabod of my Aba), mental disorders (Diapositive) death and loneliness (Pictures to Speak to) among others.

Alexis touches everything: from vocals (clean/grunts/growls) to guitars, from production to recording and mixing, and drums of course.  As expected, Alexis delivers great percussion skills throughout the album, furiously pounding the drum skins during intense and tight sections while demonstrating great dynamics during slow and/or quieter segments.  As it should be, there is method to the madness with the guitar work and there are enough heavy guitar riffs to remind the listener that “342” is a metal album after all.  The guitar textures and sounds are almost as varied as Asphodel’s vocals can be.  The riffs are not too complex or over the top but very effective while leaving enough room for the bass lines which can be heard clearly throughout the album, a big plus. “Porcelain Hours” and “Parodoxical Sarabanda” are perfect examples of all this.  On singing duties, Alexis strong vocal lines hints a wilder, mean, or less composed demeanor at times as heard on “Diapositive”, and there is good chemistry between him and Asphodel.  The younger Damien brother is also responsible for some odd-goings-on on this recording like the eerie intro to “Aquarium” (a tweaked version of Gustav Mahler's 4th Movement from Symphony No.5) which closes the album.

On a closing note, “342” might prove to be too different from “2 Unlimited” for some, not enough for others.  While some might say there is too much of this, others will argue there is not enough that, and so on…  Truth of the matter is, it is impossible to please everyone.  But one thing is for sure, PUWD are releasing a solid album in “342” that will please open minded metalheads and music lovers who are craving something that is tight, well written, audacious, unusual and unpredictable.

Cult of Daath - The Grand Torturers of Hell (2005)

‘The Grand Torturers of Hell’ was originally released on War Hammer records back in 2001 in the limited amount of six hundred and sixty sixty copies. Five years ago, Deathgasm records felt the album needed a re-release and after hearing the album I’m quite happy they did. This new version features a new color cover, a slightly altered track listing and one bonus song called, ‘Terror Command’ (the booklet may be different as well).

Cult of Daath play black metal in the purist way available and that’s raw black metal with intense hatred and much pain involved. The music generally blows the listener away in a speedy typical raw black metal style with lots of groovy rocking & mid paced sections included. The bands definitely influenced by the likes of Darkthrone ('91-'95), Celtic Frost/Hellhammer and maybe even Beherit and Blasphemy. There’s more than enough tremendous head banging moments in the recording and there are lots of other ferocious brutal parts to keep you entertained for the thirty plus minutes that the album runs. So don’t expect any surprises or anything new, this is old school raw black metal done the right way.

Atrophy - Violent by Nature (1990)

Quite a few years ago I picked up this second and last album from Tucson, Arizona, USA based thrash metal band, Atrophy. I don’t remember why, but for some reason I have the album on cassette tape format, which probably means someone told me about the band and I found it at a second hand shop. Anyway, though after not playing this tape for a long time I’ve realized that I’ve had one solid thrash album sitting around for a long time now.

By the early 90’s thrash metal and somewhat metal in general was a dying breed thanks to the emerging grunge and alternative rock thing that was so huge during those years, but fortunately before all that went down, ‘Violent By Nature’ was released in 1990. Loaded with partly technical sounding riffs and solos, memorable chorus’, great song structures, plenty of headbanging energy and aggressive lead vocals (plus those great backing gang-like shouts that were so popular among thrash bands); Atrophy put out one impressive little piece of thrash metal with this one. It’s also worth noting that this album was released on Roadrunner Records (Yeah, there were days when this label did release good music).

Anyhow, it would seem Atrophy draws a lot of influence from their comrades in the Bay Area, namely Exodus, but I also pick up a little bit of influence from bands like Anthrax & Kreator too, but that may just be me. What I think I really like about this album is that from start to finish it’s brimming with energy and violence, which really just forces me to bang my goddamn head a lot while listening to this baby. I also love those backing vocal gang shouts I mentioned earlier, which pretty much force me to pump my fists and shout along with them while I listen. Great stuff! You’ve also got to love that artwork, which is both fairly cool, but also just a bit disturbing and creepy too.

At any rate, I feel a bit silly for not listening to this tape in so long since it’s quite enjoyable and perhaps even a hidden thrash metal gem. The album was re-released a few years ago with some bonus songs from their demo, and if you should come across it I’d have to highly suggest picking it up.

Sepultura - Morbid Visions (1986)

Back in 1985 the thrashin’ metal approach was becoming a more extreme musical creature and the death metal faction was set in motion when a young band from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, named Sepultura released a split album with fellow Brazilians, Overdose. Alongside Sepultura were such extremists as Possessed, Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, and Slayer, who at the time were sometimes labeled as death metal rather than thrash metal due to their faster intense sound, which included hastily pounded drums, frantic guitar riffing, maniacal vocals and lyrics dealing with death, evil, Satan, war, violence and other topics your mother probably wouldn’t approve of.

‘Morbid Visions’ came out a year later on a small Brazilian label called Cogumelo, and the youngsters Paulo Jr., Igor, Max, and soon to be replaced guitarist Jairo, had themselves one powerful debut album. Morbid Visions exhibits all the great qualities of an early death/thrash metal album, including the classic crude production qualities. Max’s vocals came in the form of a growly psycho voice, which is surely one of the earliest examples of death metal singing. Igor’s a fantastic drummer and even on these early recordings the man displays a decent amount of talent though the raw production seems to hinder things a little. while lead guitarist Jairo would be replaced by Andreas Kisser by the time ‘Schizophrenia’ came out, I must admit he was a rather good guitarist, and that’s probably why he continued playing guitar with Overdose, Eminence and The Mist.

The songs generally don’t differ too much, but that matters very little as all of them are speedy extreme death/thrash metal songs that keep you hooked for the entire thirty foure minutes. Of course some people will complain about the crude production as the album was recorded in a 16 track studio only, but this was completely normal in these old days. Aside from that though this is an excellent look at thrash at its most extreme and a good example of where death metal began and where it would soon be going.

Years of Rice and Salt - Service Bell (2009)

I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but a lot of really great albums that were released last year managed to slip past me. One such album (EP technically) was "Service Bell", which was released last year by London-based 6 piece Years of Rice and Salt.

While YORAS is definitely a part of the post-rock genre, they delve deeper into other categories than most, and stand out from the masses as a result. Listen closely, and you'll hear light folk tinges (think Balmorhea, but heavier on the post-rock) and a touch of darker pop. Mesmerizing, reverbed vocals and stirring string sections counter-balance the normal post-rock sounds of the guitars, bass, and drums. The notes say the EP charts the catastrophe of a shipwreck, and I think that is great imagery for the sounds on the album.

"Plankton" opens the EP with a simple lush strum and quiet vocal melody, then leads itself to a music-box like arrangement. The guitar remains steady, as other instruments and voices come and go throughout the remainder of the track, lending the theme when necessary or just adding another layer the soundscape builds upon. Then the familiar post-rock crescendo kicks in and carries itself almost until the end.

"Splendid Isolation" is one track that stands out. It takes the traditional 'post-rock' sound and leads a meandering folk soundscape into a rush of celebratory rhythm. Then, almost as quickly as it came, it disappears back into lush, delay-filled guitar. The guitar leads you for a few moments until they reach the peak of the music mountain, bringing back the theme of the song and allowing almost a release of all the energy the track built up earlier. The band shows a great ability to correctly balance their different instrumental ingredients to create the prefect mix of sounds.

"(Rearranging)Deckchairs" is a track where the folk influence stands out almost from the very beginning. It has a slight Celtic tinge to it, which stands in perfect counterpoint to the heavier sounds behind it. The track eventually leads into an unexpected, upbeat breakdown. Once everything comes together, it is a beautifully executed bit of songwriting.

"Occasional Flashes of Warmth" starts as a much more straightforward track that reminds me of another UK band: Her Name is Calla. Towards the end the track repeats its rhythms and vocal melodies, but at an ever more frantic pace. Honestly, if I had one complaint with this song, it's that I wish instead of a simple fade out, they had brought the song to the edge of the frantic mountain they had built up and simply cut it off.

This is an incredibly strong debut EP from a band I expect big things out of in the future. Don't have the cash to buy it? Don't worry, the band has it available for free download here.

Kreator - Endless Pain (1985)

1985 was a pretty big year for thrash metal. Possessed released the monumental, ‘Seven Churches,’ Slayer’s sophomore release, ‘Hell Awaits’ was unleashed and both Destruction and Kreator debuted with, ‘Infernal Overkill’ and ‘Endless Pain.’ What’s interesting about all of these releases is that there not just thrash classics, but also albums that proved to be quite influential on the rising death metal genre.

Anyway, ‘Endless Pain’ is a raw and visceral onslaught of thrash metal, which I can only assume was one of the most extreme recordings created at the time. Throughout this record there’s surely no lack of ominous riffs and killer solos and the bass even has an odd sort of throbbing quality to it while the speedy drum work suffocates under the raw production, but somehow it all works well together. On this record Mille and Ventor actually share vocal duties and while Mille’s are the same basic style he would always use, Ventor’s are quite different. Ventor’s voice is more akin to black metal somewhat similar to Quorthon from Bathory. It’s fascinating simply because I’ve always enjoyed finding and hearing the roots of extreme metal and I remember years ago when I was first getting into this stuff it was always motivating to find the bands that could play the fastest and scream the loudest.

While Endless Pain isn’t the most entertaining release from Kreator (Pleasure to Kill & Coma of Souls receive that honor) it’s surely their most extreme offering in terms of brutality and vocal delivery. Still this a fun record to play when your pissed off and at war with the world. Between the brutal playing and screaming you’ll find much appeal here and as I said earlier it’s always exciting to hear where all of the black and death metal we love today started.

Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)

As sad as it sounds this is the only Sodom record I’ve heard and since I’ve known about the band for a long time it really just doesn’t make sense. Nevertheless its true and I’ve come to realize recently that I just don’t care much about new music, I really don’t. Sure, I’ll still buy the new albums from my favorite bands, but truly the days of randomly trying new bands is not something I’m much into. Especially when there are just so many amazing albums from the 80’s and even the 90’s that I haven’t gotten my hands on yet. Anyway, though, let’s talk about Agent Orange.

Released twenty one years ago today, ‘Agent Orange’ was the third album for these Germans and although I’ve heard that earlier Sodom is quite intense and fast, this album is a bit toned down. Of course some songs like, ‘Agent Orange’ & ‘Incest’ are quite fast and frantic thrash metal songs, but then there’s the slower almost epic sounding, ‘Remember the Fallen’ and you’ve also just got to love Sodom’s cover version of Tank’s, ‘Don’t Walk Away,’ which is not thrash at all, but pure NWOBHM styled music. ‘Ausgebombt’ has always been my favorite from this album since it’s actually quite catchy and ‘Exhibition Bout’ is just pure headbanging thrash metal bliss. As well I think it’s interesting the way the band throws in the acoustic part in the middle of ‘Tired and Red.’ While a band like Metallica had used acoustic intros to their songs I don’t seem to recall any other thrash band in the 80’s having acoustic guitars popping up two minutes into their song.

In the booklet the band writes, ‘This album is dedicated to all people - soldiers and civilians - who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world,’ but of course the title of the album is a reference to the chemical the U.S. army sprayed across the Vietnam countryside during the Vietnam war.

When all's said and done, Agent Orange is a fantastic record, although it’s a bit interesting how different this album is when compared to the records their German comrades in Destruction and Kreator were making at the same time. Nevertheless a great release and as stated in my opening paragraph it’s time to turn back to the past and get my hands on all these old treasures I’ve been neglecting all these years.