Throne of Ahaz - Nifelheim (1995)

I guess it was sometime in 2001 I picked up a compilation titled, 'No Fashion Classics,' which from what I remember was a 2CD ten year anniversary release for Swedish label, No Fashion Records. Although I don't own that comp anymore, regrettably, it gave me my first taste of killer bands, such as; Unanimated, Mörk Gryning, Decameron and Throne of Ahaz. I remember ToA above all else really stuck out for me, but I never found their albums and largely I forgot all about the band eventually. That is until a few weeks ago when a routine visit to the record store turned up this gem within the used section.

'Nifelheim' was recorded in late February of '93, but for whatever reason wasn't released until '95, which is a shame since had this album been released in mid to late '93 it may very well have had an impact on the Swedish black metal scene since it would have been released before or shortly after albums like, 'The Somberlain' or 'Those of the Unlight.' By passing that unfortunate tidbit, ToA conjure up some seriously grim and highly impressive black metal on this debut.

The entirety of the album has a very old school vibe to it that straddles between typical tremolo picked melodies and something very similar to Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory and in a way it almost sounds like the Swedish version of, 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' at times. The riffs have all the buzzing raw glory of the early 90's black metal scene, as well the nocturnal pulse of an ominous bass guitar buried underneath it all. The actually movement of the music varies a bit too, as sometimes its semi melodic, at others its mid-paced and gloomy while alternatively its somewhat doom-ish too, but a lot of the time the band blasts away in an early Marduk-ish style, though again this albums recording pre-dates Marduk's full-on embracement of black metal.

The atmosphere really is something on this release too. This is one of those records where temperatures fall and hairs standup on the back of your neck. Some very occasionally placed keyboard arrangements also aid in this frosty dark mood, though the riffs and Beretorn's blood curdling tormented screams are surely massively enough.

Unfortunately like many other records from this time period its never been re-released and is in a lot of ways just a forgotten piece of black metal history. Regardless, 'Nifelheim' is an utterly mesmerizing record well worth hunting down.

Morningstar - Finnish Metal (2004)

Of course I can't resist an album titled, 'Finnish Metal,' especially when its a mere $4 at a second hand store.

Morningstar hails from Aanekoski, Finland and have a history that dates back to '92, though the band was formed as early as '89. I haven't heard the demos or any of the bands earlier albums, but I've seen it described as something along the lines of being either Hellhammer worship or blackened heavy metal, which raises a question or two.

At least on, 'Finnish Metal,' Ari (guitar/vocals), Jani (bass) and Benjam (drums) play old school sounding epic heavy metal. The production is dirty and raw and nothings been done to hide that, the vocals are performed in a sort of heroic-ish manner while the music itself is filled with catchy riffs and cool solos. These riffs/solos and especially the entirety of, 'Damned Child' & 'In the Night...' radiate a sort of majestic quality within them that reminds of Manilla Road or Bathory with it slower but regal pace. Alternatively the whole thing just has this vintage spirit, which brings you back to the 80's, also on songs, such as, 'The Land of Vipers' or 'Diehard Rocker' a drunken mood feels right, a bit like the Swedish band, Gehennah, and I'll probably eventually find myself pumping my fists and singing to these ones the next time this one is playing with booze & friends around.

The lyrics have a strong fantasy theme or could be based around Kalevala and Tolkien lore too, but what makes them fun is that I get the impression that Ari doesn't have a perfect grasp on the English language and his words have that sort of good time corniness to them, for example, "My amps are made in hell, Manufactured by the devil himself, People say I'm evil, but I'm a rocker. True metal comes from the underground..." or "Eastern trolls, Western Christians, Are always trying to conquer our land, But they died by the venom (of vipers), And they cried in pain..." or maybe its just the tone of his voice and delivery. I dig it though.

Although the band released six albums, I don't think their sound every caught on much since I'd never heard of them until stumbling upon this little gem. 'Finnish Metal' also ended up being the bands last record after breaking up in '07 due to creative differences and lack of time, though it seems Ari and Jani are rockin' out in Heathen Hoof these days.

Icon of Phobos - Icon of Phobos (2011)

Its unfortunate that American black metal bands almost always get the fucking shaft! I suspect this common practice has already nailed Los Angeles, Californian black metalers, Icon of Phobus, down hardly since the release of their debut self titled release on Baneful Genesis Records. Perhaps it could be because this band and many other American BM bands end up on tiny labels or simply because somewhere along the way word spread that Americans can't create genuinely awesome black metal. If talking about bands like, Xasthur, Leviathan or Krieg I can definitely understand that, since those bands are truly awful, but there really is a great scene over here if people would just take the time to hunt them out and not be stubborn fucks about it all the time.

'Icon of Phobos' was released in late 2011 and was formed by former members of the bands; Dona Eis Requiem, Bestial Incarnation and Spiculum Iratus (another fantastic overlooked band). The five individuals involved create heavily orthodox and atmospherically charged black metal which brings to mind Deathspell Omega the most as well as bands like Inquisition and Ascension, though my experience is somewhat limited with those last two. The majority of the albums music presented is generally fast and blasting with most riffs being tremolo in style, though some slower slightly melodic parts can be found as well the riffage can be very dissonant and drawn out creating a bit of an atmospheric vibe. There are also some slower almost doom-ish sounding parts, a vibrant bass guitar presence, galloping fast skillfully performed commanding drums and even a few guitar solos to be heard during this seven song forty one minute album. The vocals also really instantly bring Mikko Aspa to mind, so its hard to shake off the Deathspell Omega and Clandestine Blaze similarities, but that's definitely not a bad thing in my book.

The production is also reasonably clean with all instruments being heard, though its still dirty enough to sound like a black metal record and provide the atmosphere you'd expect this sort of music to yield.

'Icon of Phobos' has much of if not all of what fans of truer black metal crave, except for the fact that its not from Norway or Sweden... which somehow means its not worth listening to. Nevertheless I'm quite pleased with this release and look forward to hearing what they come up with next.

Oskoreien - Oskoreien (2011)

In Pagan lore, the Oskoreien were the only connection between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. In the black metal genre, Oskoreien is the solo project of Jay Valena from Valencia, California, who released his first self titled album last year on Seventh Seal Records.

Oskoreien is truly a solo effort in the most literal sense as Jay wrote all music & lyrics, performed all the instruments and recorded, mixed and mastered this recording, he even took all the nature shots which grace this sharp looking fold-out digipak. Not too bad for a guy that's just 22 years old nowadays.

At just a little over eleven minutes, 'Illusions Parish' kicks the album off with thundering percussion, raw distorted rhythm guitar and barbarous screams, while mostly retaining its brutal edge the song also has a bit of that post metal sound appearing, which seems to be very popular amongst North American black metal bands, and although I don't know what it implicates exactly, I'm sure someone would dub this Cascadian black metal too since Wolves in the Throne Room seems like an influence. Regardless of exact sub-sub-sub-genre placement, the song has impressive riffs and more than enough atmosphere to go around. 'Entropic Collapse' is fairly similar in overall structure, though the song starts out far calmer, progressive and post like, and also features some echoed cleanly sung parts a few minutes in. Again some really great riffs can be heard through its nine minute duration and the guitar solo in the middle is a fantastic hair raising one too, which is eventually followed by a gorgeous ending.

'River of Eternity' is a full on acoustic piece with some nature samples running in the background. At almost six minutes its an absolutely beautiful piece of nature inspired music that takes me to a place of tranquility and comfort. 'Transcendence' is the albums longest song at over thirteen minutes and similar to the last song it opens with a warm acoustic melody before diving into more blasting fast material similar to the first two songs. Although by no means paling in comparison, in fact just as dynamic as before, this one is made even more epic in its overall scope by the inclusion of some operatic vocals around the eight minute mark, which amazingly are pulled off well too. 'Ashen Remains' concludes the album with a six minute piano piece, which sounds very classically music inspired with an overall mood that seems very dismal, yet beautiful in its overall delivery.

Although just five songs and forty five minutes long, 'Oskoreien' is a massive album of black and post metal with progressive, acoustic and classical characteristics coming together to form something truly special and memorable. Fans of Wolves in the Throne Room, Alcest, Altar of Plagues, Skagos and Fen will be all over this.

As it stands the album can be downloaded for free HERE, although you can also go with the limited edition package deal, which scores you the album in a digipak format, a t-shirt and a 8x10 nature shot for just $20. I guess you know which version I went for.

Borknagar - Borknagar (1996)

As Øystein Garnes Brun's death metal band, Molested, was nearing its end and black metal was already a well established genre in Norway, Borknagar rose in '95 as his new project and eventually his main project when Molested faded in '97. Longing to create something far more melodic and epic in character, Borknagar was meant to push the boundaries of black metal into new realms. With the line-up of, Øystein (guitars), Garm from Ulver (Vocals), Grim of Immortal (Drums), Infernus of Gorgoroth (Bass) and Ivar Bjørnson from Enslaved (keyboards) the band was offered a contract without even recording a demo and in the summer of '96, 'Borknagar' was released by Malicious Records.

If you've heard anything Borknagar has released in the past decade you've probably noticed that its all very much alike, cleanly produced, far more progressive and generally just not all that good, save for a few random songs spread out through those five albums. This debut however is incredibly diverse and its also very much a black metal record, whereas everything after this would continuously lack in the blackness and add more and more progressive metal touches.

Out of the ten songs five of them are actually instrumentals, while the main portion of this album is mostly blasting fast black metal with ample backing synth, melodic touches, occasional acoustic guitars and both the brutally shrieked wails and passionately sung operatic-ish clean vocals of, Garm. At its core, Borknagar really shows all its members bands styles off flawlessly. The epic nature and synth charged sections of this album are incredibly similar to early Enslaved, specifically the debut, 'Vikingligr Veldi,' while the blasting and rawness of the whole thing is quite similar to what was going on in Immortal and Gorgoroth, while the acoustic parts, melodic characteristics, the cleanly sung sections and the overall uniqueness of the whole thing is quite on par with early Ulver.

The five black metal songs, 'Vintervredets Sjelesagn,' 'Svartskogs Gilde,' 'Dauden,' 'Grimskalle Trell' and 'Fandens Allheim' are beyond exceptional, in fact I wouldn't hesitate to say that they are five of the best black metal songs ever. Everything mentioned above is well in place and perfected; the guitars buzz loudly and harshly, yet show off many melodious qualities constantly, the synths are full of character and atmosphere, the blasting raging nature of Grim's drums knock you out and Garm's maleficent screams are by far the best he ever performed.

Meanwhile, the five instrumentals all offer up something different. 'Tanker Mot Tind (Kvelding)' is an entirely synth based piece, which is quite majestic in nature, though it sort of sounds like ancient video game music by today's synth standards, though its still highly atmospheric and powerful in its delivery. 'Ved Steingard' on the other hand is a short two minute piece with both acoustic guitars and a catchy folk based melodic electric guitar playing over it, while, 'Krigsstev' maintains the blackened nature of the main songs, but Garm's non-word, "Ahhhhh" singing makes its presence as well as some acoustics. 'Nord Naagauk' is similar to Ved, though a variety of strange animalistic sounds appear within the background making it a bit unusual, whilst, 'Tanker Mot Tind (Gryning)' the albums final song combines acoustic guitar, piano and synth to create quite a heroic conclusion to this album.

In the end this is by far Borknagar's crowning achievement and absolutely one of the best black metal records too. Simply a must own.

Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (2004)

Back sometime in 2000 when I was first introducing myself to the black metal genre through Norwegian bands, such as; Emperor, Dimmu Borgir and Satyricon I came across this band named, Nokturnal Mortum, who were not from northern Europe, but rather from a city named Kharkiv in a country known as Ukraine. As much as I enjoyed all my Norwegian black metal back then I remember this Ukrainian band absolutely possessing me and not letting me go until several months later. Flash forward several years later (February of this year to be exact) and a friend that works at a record store is asking me if I ever heard Drudkh, who happen to come from the same ancient Slavic land as Nokturnal Mortum. A quick once through in the store while browsing and watching said friend get overly passionate about the album and being equally impressed myself, I throw down my buck and give this Ukrainian band a proper listening through their second album, 'Autumn Aurora.'

Drudkh, meaning "Wood" in Romanised Sanskrit is largely the brainchild of one Roman Saenko, whom has also done time in Hate Forest, Dark Ages, Blood of Kingu and most recently Old Silver Key, while alongside his mates in Drudkh has been highly prolific releasing no less than nine albums since 2003 and capturing a large audience of black metal fanatics during those years. 'Autumn Aurora,' the bands second album along with their debut, 'Forgotten Legends' are largely seen as the bands masterwork and honestly just one private listening to this record revealed that to me quickly.

The album opens with, 'Fading,' which is simply just the sounds of birds chirping and an ominous acoustic guitar melody for the first 1:30 of the album before diving into, 'Summoning the Rain.' Within seconds I found myself hit with this wave of coldness as an incredibly atmospheric yet epic and memorable riff welcomes me to the world of Drudkh. Backing synths of the utmost aerial and involving quality also guide me through their forest while soon enough vocalist, Thurios begins screaming. For nearly six minutes the song remains utterly mesmerizing and grim when it suddenly bleeds directly into, 'Glare of Autumn.' Introduced once again by gorgeous acoustic guitar melodies and this time a sample of heavy downpour, at the one minute mark a repetitive riff and synth melody cascade and devours me with one of the most massive and haunting black metal moments I've personally ever heard. This feeling of utter coldness and loneliness is present for the remainder of this instrumental song as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and my senses remain in awe.

'Sunwheel' is something entirely different however, unexpectantly it feels as if the skies are clearing and the rains have dispersed when the highly folky and dare I saw upbeat riffs of this song enter my ears. For its entire nine minute duration the song remains bouncy, colorful and fun and has this sense of renewal to it, almost as if a long dark winter has passed and the spring season has arrived to warm the lands. 'Wind of the Night Forest,' on the other hand brings back the darker qualities of the three earlier songs. Again absolutely colossal riffs, an awesome solo, haunting synth melodies, great vocals and superb drumming carry this song for its entire nine and a half minute duration without a boring moment to be found.

'The First Snow' closes out the album with a song that almost sounds like a bow to Burzum's infinite classic, 'Det Som En Gang Var.' Perhaps its just the synth melody, but some serious similarities exist, although acoustic guitar is present alongside the synths and heavily buzzing electric guitars for the entire nine minute duration of this instrumental song. Drudkh are one of the rare black metal bands out there that employ the repetitive riff technique and get away with it flawlessly, simply because their riffs are outstanding and the atmosphere is nearly unmatched.

As previously mentioned this is my first foray into Drudkh (despite knowing their name for years and only hearing a few random songs previously) and I look forward to exploring their other creations. Though I'm the sort of listener that doesn't dive into it all at once, in fact I haven't gotten my hands on any of their other releases just yet, because I haven't gotten enough of this one yet.

'Autumn Aurora' is truly a modern day classic in every sense of the word and if highly atmospheric, enthralling and well composed black metal is your thing, then you surely can do no wrong with this one.

Archgoat - Heavenly Vulva (Christ's Last Rites) (2011)

Formed back in '89, Archgoat are among one of the first black metal bands to emerge out of Finland, alongside Beherit, Impaled Nazarene and Barathrum. Although differently to those bands, this Turku based band only released two demos and an EP before breaking up in late '93. Fast forward eleven years to 2004 when Lord Angelslayer (bass/vocals) and Ritual Butcher (guitar) decided to don the corpsepaint and reek havoc upon the Finnish countryside once again. With new drummer Sinisterror the first full length, 'Whore of Bethlehem' came in '06 as well as, 'The Light-Devouring Darkness' in '09 and most recently this EP, 'Heavenly Vulva (Christ's Last Rites).'

Musically Archgoat hammers out filthy ancient sounding war metal on this release with obvious nods to Beherit, Blasphemy and Sarcofago, but its more than simple mimicry on display here. Most of the songs are characterized by bestial roars and relentless blasting, though many slower highly atmospheric and almost doom-ish trudges can also be found within these six short songs. Keyboards are also sparingly used to add further depth during the slower sections and a lot of these parts truly bring me back to Beherit's, 'Drawing Down the Moon.'

Perhaps what makes the material so intriguing is that it has something of a trance like character to it, which just seems to pull you in and not let you go until the EP expires. The production is also interesting since its not just simply raw, but its raw and thick sounding; very, very heavy with audible bass guitar, pummeling drum work and a chunky guitar tone. Plus some of the riffs are total head banging ones too.

At just a little over sixteen minutes this could either be the perfect introduction to Archgoat or a complete waste of time depending on your fondness for this sort of primal brutality. In any case, I either need the next album soon or need to exhume the bands past a bit, because I freakin' love this sort of age-old black/death metal.

Mayhem - Of Lord Satans Mysteries (2009)

Probably not just everyone knows that there is something like 30+ bootleg recordings floating around out there of ancient demo, rehearsal and live material from Mayhem's classic line-up, (i.e., Euronymous, Dead, Necrobutcher and Hellhammer) many of which boast themselves to contain exclusive and never before heard material. Chances are most of this material is just continuously re-packaged and billed as being new, and in the case of, 'Of Lord Satans Mysteries' that may just be true.

Apparently, the seven songs are taken from a spring rehearsal in 1989 and originally just eleven copies of this material was created and passed out among Dead's friends back in the day, making it perhaps the most rare of early Mayhem rehearsal's out there. Well, after doing a little research I uncovered that the songs are in fact taken from an old bootleg 12" vinyl called, 'Out From the Dark,' but since I don't own it I really can't confirm it for you. What I can tell you is that for well over a decade now I've had an absolute affinity for all things old Mayhem and even if this is a rehash I really don't care, because simply put - It fucking rocks!

The production is about as grim and underground as rehearsals get with Euronymous' guitar being heavily distorted and filled with static and treble, yet the overall volume is surprisingly loud and the riffs are easily recognizable. Hellhammer's drums are but a thunderous repetitious pounding in the background while Necrobutcher's bass lines are pretty much absent. Dead's throaty scathing croaks are the most audible part of this bootleg and if you've heard any other Mayhem rehearsal's or the, 'Live in Leipzig' album then you know what to expect here.

The band rips through seven classics, like, 'Buried by Time and Dust,' 'Deathcrush,' 'Necrolust' and 'Funeral Fog' in under thirty minutes without much pause or even any between song chatter, though Dead does introduce, 'Freezing Moon' with his, "When its cold, when its dark..." speech before the band starts jamming. The version of, 'Pure Fucking Armageddon' is also quite cool and since the original demo is awful its always good to hear a decent version of this song, even more so since when the band reformed they'd just do 30 second blast version of it at gigs.

By no means is the rehearsal perfect, neither is the bands performance, especially Dead who seems a little delayed at times with his screams. Nevertheless, like I said I've got a thing for these old Mayhem recordings and honestly I don't even know why. Chalk it down as just being cool hearing early versions of songs I love or because its just always interesting hearing relentless violent metal aggression from the 80's.

The bootleg also does come as a factory pressed release, which also features various drawings done by Dead in the booklet, traycard and on the CD, as well as all the lyrics and a few rare live shots I don't think I've seen before. All in all, a pretty cool package and said to be limited to just 300 copies, which makes the $10 price tag seem fairly reasonable too. Yet, obviously its not for the timid and only for the most hardcore of classic Mayhem fans, which I guess I must be since I always love this stuff.

Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve (2012)

Barren Earth's 2010 debut, 'Curse of the Red River' made an extraordinary impression on me, as well seeing and meeting some of the guys from the band during my journey to Finland last year really made me a fan for life that quickly. However, all new bands eventually have to release a follow-up, which sometimes either makes or breaks a band. So, do these Finnish all-stars square up on, 'The Devil's Resolve?' Well, keep on reading.

I think the most profound aspect of this release is that its a progressive band actually progressing and adding new elements to their music and refining their already highly enjoyable sound. At its core its still very much progressive melodic death metal, which bares a lot of similarity to old Amorphis releases like, 'Elegy' & 'Tuonela,' which is no surprise since ex-Amorphis bassist, Olli-Pekka Laine, is the founder and main song writer of the band. What you can expect on this release though is greater keyboard wizardry and overall depth, tons of killer and catchy riffs and solos from the hands of Janne and Sami, as well a superb vocal delivery of both clear passionate singing and low guttural bawls from Mikko all mixed together in a well composed, progressive and exciting package.

The albums absolute highlight and my favorite song the past couple of weeks, namely, 'As it is Written' is a progressive death wet dream come true. At seven and a half minutes there's so much in this song; a bag pipe intro, piano solos, tripped out groovy keyboard and breathtaking guitar work spread throughout and amazingly memorable chorus' lines and vocals, which just force you to play the song again and again. 'The Dead Exiles' stands out because it almost sounds like progressive doom/death metal, if you can imagine such a thing, plus the Peter Steele-ish sounding vocals near the beginning are cool too. Other songs, such as, 'Oriental Pyre' or 'Where all Stories End' are also impressive with just everything that makes this band so special, as well, 'The Rains Begin' is probably the catchiest song on the album after, 'As it is Written.' Oh, and I've got a bit of a thing for, 'Passing Of The Crimson Shadows' since its one of the songs I saw live last summer months before the album was even out. That's pretty cool.

All in all, 'The Devil's Resolve' is a superb record, but does it top the debut? Hard to say, but I can honestly say this album will be getting many, many more plays from me during the coming months. In the end though, if you dig any sort of progressive melodic death metal with lots of late 60's/early 70's proggy keyboard doodles, exciting guitar work, fantastic vocals and just overall memorable and fantastic song writing then you're going to want to check out this one out.

My Metal Vest

Something different entirely for today. No review, not even much written text. Just a video of me showing off and talking a little bit about my metal vest and the many patches on it. Not sure if such things will immediately interest my usual visitors, but I want to start doing at least a few different things every month. So, this is basically a continuation started with my Finnish Winter Metal Patch Jacket from a few months back. Make a tally of every time I swear. Enjoy!

The Beavis And Butt-Head Experience (1993)

Has it really been twenty years since Mike Judge first created his short film, 'Frog Baseball,' which then spawned a cultural changing cartoon on MTV called, 'Beavis And Butt-Head' a year later? Well, the answer to that question is most definitely a yes. I'll also reluctantly admit that just thinking about that makes me feel old as fucking shit.

Looking back I probably bought this compilation sometime in '94, more than likely specifically for the Megadeth and for some unexplainable reason the Nirvana, Aerosmith, White Zombie and Red Hot Chili Peppers songs too.

To be completely fourth right with you I haven’t watched the original Beavis and Butt-Head episodes since MTV pulled it off the network in the late 90's, but I have seen some of the newer ones. So sitting down with this CD and listening to a few cool bands and chuckling to some dirty B&BH humor is a nice trip back to my youthful days.

I was only twelve years old in 1993, and at the time I remember really liking this compilation and the various skits included. Who could resist the boys funny encounter with Anthrax where Scott Ian and the guys make fun of Butt-Head’s hair and Beavis does the nasty on the bands photo album of naked chicks. Also the encounter with and their weak attempt at acting "hip" in front of RUN DMC is equally funny, and although its corny the collaborative song with Cher is hilarious and it was a fairly popular video in MTVs rotation at the time, which I think also revived Cher's career too. The only problem with the various skits is that there tied into each song thus forcing the listener to either listen to the skit first or fast forward to the song. They really should have been separate tracks.

The album opens with an exclusive Nirvana song titled, ‘I Hate myself and want to die,’ which is pretty fucking grim considering what happened a year later. The Anthrax song is terrible and at the time gave me a pretty bad impression of the band, making me not even realize that they wrote thrash metal during the 80’s instead of this poor ass rap metal stuff that we see here. Megadeth’s, ’99 Ways to Die’ is easily one of the most bad ass songs they ever recorded, and its actually a little puzzling to try and figure out why this was not used on any studio album. The RUN DMC song is pretty much typical late 80’s early 90’s hip hop, and even though I generally dislike that stuff I can stomach some (NWA & Geto Boys was always fun). Aerosmith’s ,‘Deuces are Wild’ is about as bad as they come, in fact pretty much everything this band released after the 70’s ended is rather horrible if you ask me.

White Zombie’s, ‘I am Hell’ is about as typical sounding as any White Zombie song back then or Rob Zombie song nowadays, but its actually one of the better ones he's wrote and it actually made me a fan back then. Primus’ weird rocking, ‘Poetry and Prose’ is a fun little experience, with Sir Mix-a-Lot’s, ‘Monsta Mack’ being definitely one of the better hip hop songs out there. Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Search and Destroy’ is also admirable even though pretty much everything they made after this time was horrible, I still dig some of their stuff from the 80’s though. I also always liked Jackyl’s groovy hard rocking, ‘Mental Masturbation’ and I remember at the time trying to get my mom to buy me one of their albums, but she refused due to some of the song titles, haha. I never did hear any other Jackyl songs either, haha. Have I missed something?

I guess I've always been a little perplexed by the hip hop songs and the Cher thing, especially since I was always under the impression that Beavis & Butt-Head were suppose to be mockeries of America’s typical metal head’s that were idiots and couldn’t get laid if there life depended on it?

So overall the compilation is really just so-so and until today had been sitting on my shelf a long time without any plays. Still, there's some serious memories attached to it and it introduced me to some new music back then. So, it would be pretty damn hard to ever sell it. Its a nice way to remember my youth and once again experience those crazy ass cartoon son’s-a-bitches that single handily ruined America’s youth and turned us all into retarded zombies constantly ending each sentence with. "Ah-huh-huh-huh-huh."

Trouble - Manic Frustration (1992)

As one the pioneers of the doom metal genre (along with - Black Sabbath, Pentagram, The Obsessed, Witchfinder General and Saint Vitus), Chicago, Illinois', Trouble became legends through their first four records, 'Psalm 9,' 'The Skull,' 'Run to the Light' and 'Trouble.' 1992, however marked a change within their sound and lyrics as well metal in general was changing quite a bit in terms of what was popular and happening around the early 90's.

'Manic Frustration' the bands fifth album is different because it really isn't doom metal, its hardly heavy and most of the songs have a semi-fast tempo with tons of rockin' riffs, cool solos and lyrical themes of hallucinations and psychedelia, whereas the previous efforts mostly centered on Christianity. I'd have to imagine at the time fans were a bit baffled, perhaps even pissed, but this isn't a bad album at all, its just different.

Both 'Come Touch the Sky' & 'Scuse Me' are superb hard rocking songs, as well, 'The Sleeper' has a tremendous amount of drive behind it that just makes the album a delight of fun so far. By the time, 'Fear' passes by you'll probably have noticed a bit of a stoner and groove metal influence on this record, while, 'Rain' is a ballad of sorts, but just not a very good one, in fact, terrible.

Moving all the way down to the 10th song we come to, 'Mr White.' An interesting personal story about this song is that I actually began listening to Trouble back in '05 as a result of Antimatter's really unique melancholy acoustic cover of this song which also had female vocals. When I finally heard the original version a few years after that I was really blown away and I knew I had to own this album someday, which I only just recently made happen. In any case, its an interesting slower but still rocking song with elusive lyrics which could be about drugs. A few other standouts among the album are also, 'Memory's Garden' & 'Manic Frustration.'

'Manic Frustration' isn't a must own album because its by no means a great album, but its certainly not bad as I'm sure a lot of people have made it sound over the years since its release. Basically though if you dig hard rocking stoner/groove semi-traditional-doom-ish stuff with catchy riffs, colossal solos and the always great lead vocal work of Eric Wagner, then you really can't go wrong with this album if you should happen to stumble upon it someday.

Black Widow - Sacrifice (1970)

Originally conceived in 1966 as Pesky Gee!, the band released, 'Exclamation Mark' in '69 and then reformed as Black Widow and unleashed, 'Sacrifice' in 1970. While there were other bands in the late 60's and early 70's that were involved in the whole black magic boom, few were as dedicated and serious as Black Widow. With lyrics centering around conjuring demons, rituals and Satan as well as having mock sacrifices with nude women onstage, it goes without saying, but Black Widow surely caused some controversy in their day.

Perhaps the lyrics and imagery are what most people find intriguing about this band, but overlooking all that you'll find a group of insanely talented and creative musicians creating some of the most diverse and interesting progressive/psychedelic rock I've personally ever heard.

'In Ancient Days' initiates the record with a swirling hypnotic Hammond organ intro, which pans from right to left, when at nearly the two minute mark some fast acoustic guitars, synth washes, trippy saxophone and drums enter the song followed by Kip Trevor's incredible lead vocals. The song continues onward for seven full minutes, alternating between grooved out trippy parts and just feel good classic rock with basically everything that made 60's psychedelia and the still early progressive rock scene so superb. 'Come to the Sabbat' is the hit of sorts from the album, which starts with pounding ritualistic drums and flutes, before spooky chanting enters the song. The remainder of the song almost has this playful sort of quality to it, with vibrant flutes, fast drumming and acoustic guitar, while at various points Kip both sings and chants, "Come, come come to the Sabbat - Satan's there!" in an increasingly manic manner.

'Conjuration' again has vibrant brass instruments, backing orchestration, ritualistic drums, great lead vocals as well as lyrics about conjuring the devil, which may sound a bit odd, but its overwhelmingly psychedelic and just plain cool sounding. 'Seduction' is the calmest song on the album, which features just singing and backing orchestration, flute and bass guitar. 'Attack of the Demon' is a bit more fast paced and fun, but certainly just as freaky and weird as the others, with a groovy bass guitar, waves of synth, impressive drumming and Kip singing, "All of my sins have left me in Hell" with so much passion during the chorus.

The albums climax and true highlight however is with the final and title song, a vivid masterpiece known as, 'Sacrifice.' Over eleven minutes long, it starts out rather lively with crazed flutes, fast drums and freaked out singing about, well, a sacrifice, before going into a long calmer chill-out instrumental part with tons of proggy synth, heavy bass guitar and flute playing alongside each other brilliantly.

After, 'Sacrifice', Black Widow would go on to release two more albums, 'Black Widow' in the same year as well as, 'III' in '71, though dropping the Satanic themes in favor of more conventional and easily digestible subject matter. Personally I haven't heard these yet, but I surely intend to do do soon. I can't imagine they are better, because this is one breathtaking and trippy record unlike really anything else I've heard from the era or really even after it. Although its not required, I'm sure some sort of mind alternating substance plus this record go hand in hand. Truly these Satanic hippies were onto something grand with this one. This seven song album demands your attention, a classic is what I'm trying to say. Check it out!

Chalice - Chronicles of Dysphoria (2000)

It can sometimes be nervewracking the way certain songs or albums seem to always flood memories back in my brain when I listen to them. In the case of Australian gothic/doom metalers, Chalice, this album always reminds me of this gal I took out on a date two or three times back in early 2001. No, its not like she was a fan of Chalice, I don't think she even liked metal much, but as it turned out this gal happened to look a hell of a lot like Chalice vocalist/keyboardist, Shiralee Morgan. So, in an odd sort of way every time I see a photo of Shiralee I think of that gal, and its not that I'm hung up on her or something like that a decade later, but I guess sometimes we just remember weird random events like that in our lives. Or at least I do.

Regardless of that incidental connection for me, 'Chronicles of Dysphoria' has been one of my favorite albums since picking it up in the late months of 2000. Originally recorded and released in '98 with a different line-up, Chronicles was re-recorded and re-arranged when the band signed to Modern Invasion Music in early 2000. On this album Chalice specialized in a mid-paced gothic/doom metal style, which was heavily despondent in mood and characterized by the impressive guitar work of Sean Graetz & Justin Hartwig, as well as the sorrow filled violin of an unknown session member and of course the heavenly and haunting keyboard and female vocals of, Shiralee Morgan.

For what its worth, Shiralee has one of the most marvelous and alluring female vocal abilities I've personal ever heard. Her range is incredible and just the sheer unmatched power was something to behold. I remember back then seeing gals like Tarja Turunen & Cristina Scabbia getting all the recognition without a mentioning of Shiralee anywhere, but being from Australia and signed to a tiny Australian label probably wasn't doing her any favors. A shame the real talents always get the shaft.

Aside from the vocals, the overall feel of the album is massively somber sounding throughout most of it, with really only two songs having a little more force within them, and even those are fairly depressing sounding, namely, 'Solitary Waves' & 'Interlunar Dreams.' The album is also highly ethereal throughout with a great flow within each song as well each one seems to have their own identity that makes them unique.

Besides the two fabulous songs mentioned above, I also really enjoy, 'Solvieg's Song' a lot since its probably the albums bleakest statement, as well the interplay between the guitars, keys and violin during the last couple minutes of, 'Memorial Embers' is breathtaking. However, the albums finest moment is surely, 'The Amber Twilight,' which is nothing short of being astoundingly gorgeous, especially the guitar solo near the end and the way Shiralee's vocals absolutely soar with grace here. Speechless artistry. Honestly, one of my all-time favs right here.

About a year after this album, Chalice recorded, 'An Illusion to the Temporary Real,' which was quite good too, though the doom characteristics and violin were gone and replaced with a more straightforward female fronted gothic metal sound and a flute was used in favor of the violin. 'Augmented' followed in 2003, which was sent to me personally by Miss Morgan and finally in 2006 an EP titled, 'The Calm That Was The Storm' passed through, but I never heard it. Sometime there after the band broke up with apparently the entire band turned their backs on Shiralee and then starting a new band called, Black Orchid, with a different female singer.

Although Chalice stuck it out for a little over ten years, only the three albums and the EP were recorded, all of which were on the same label, and as such their sound missed a lot of ears around the world. A shame, but it happens and is surely continuing to happen to other bands out there.

In the end if melodic, atmospheric, female fronted gothic/doom metal is your thing, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to track this album down. Simply put, its one of the best, ever!

Judas Priest - Turbo (1986)

It seems like Judas Priest's 1986 effort, 'Turbo' is often viewed as the bands lowest and most embarrassing statement as well as a departure from heavy metal towards something glamier in character. Sure, the album has that 80's mechanical drum sound, there's a bunch of stupid keyboard doodles and synth effects scattered about the album, the guitars are not particularly heavy and the lyrics are about as corny as corny ass lyrics get, BUT there's just something special about cheese ball metal/rock albums.

Its likely that most people that hate this album have either never actually heard it or have only heard the title track. Perhaps what I dig on this album is the simple fact that the whole thing is pretty darn catchy in that ridiculous 80's way. I mean, the lyrics generally do just make me laugh, because knowing that Rob is gay it just seems like you can listen to the album the whole way through and every last bit of it sounds like a homosexual love letter. And what is that on the cover, anyway? A hand grasping a gear stick and shifting it? Or... a hand grasping a dildo and ramming it on down somewhere inappropriate? Or..., well, I guess only JP knows that answer.

I also have to specifically speak about the song, 'Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days,' because this song reminds me something totally random from my childhood years in the 80's. I seem to recall seeing a lot of movies back then that had to deal with California, Californian life style and fucking surfing, in fact I even remember one that went by the title of, 'Wet and Wild Summer,' which would also be a smashing title for a JP song, but then again my memory could be betraying me and that might just be a porno I watched last month. Umm... never mind.

Seriously though I can understand a metal listener at the time hating this, because this was a bit of departure from previous JP records and it certainly wasn't as metal as Slayer or Metallica either, but when the damn synths are not getting in the way there are some neat riffs as well as a few cool solos, likewise Halford delivers a great performance singing, as always.

In the end it really just depends on your appreciation for lame 80's corniness and whether or not you find the the whole thing to be memorable or not. Its by no means a mandatory listen, but having found the vinyl for a whole $4 a few months ago I found it simply impossible to pass up.

Devil - Time to Repent (2011)

"I'm back, baby!"

Hailing from Nes, Akershus, Norway, these five Norwegian devil's (Joakim, Stian, Thomas, Kai and Ronny, if you fancy their names) offer us some highly 70's rock influenced stoner/doom metal in the classic vein of bands like Black Sabbath, The Obsessed and Pentagram. Devil themselves tell us they play "Bluesdoom" with riffs made of whisky, wood and wild women, which honestly sounds better to me, anyway. So, will go with that.

What to expect then; classy grooving crunchy guitars with some chuggier parts, feel good rockin' solos, audible heavy bass guitar, decent stickwork and some pretty good lead vocals, which have a echoey sort of effect on them, which makes the album sound rather vintage. The bulk of the albums thirty five minutes is mostly made up of infectious grooving faster songs, with only one slower number, but its still quite a good song.

'Time to Repent' definitely thrills with very little spills along the way, or in other words; these guys don't fuck around. Each song feels familiar in a good way and its really not hard to figure out what these guys enjoy jamming to, but that's good since I don't expect nor do I care for much of a musical revolution within the stoner/doom genre. Also I've found the more I've listened the more I've enjoyed this album. Its a great one to put on when putting back a few brews or when driving fast down the street or just when you feel like listening to some goddamn old school cheerful sounding tunes. I also really dig the album art too. Totally tattooable. Howlin'! I love it! I love these Devils!

It don't matter which song you go with first, because they are all quite good. 'Break the Curse' kicks things off famously and lets the listener know what Devil is all about within a few short licks. 'Blood is Boiling' is superb and I just love the obvious Pentagram vibe this one holds, while, 'Time to Repent' really kind of steals the show with them grooving heavy guitars, strong vocals and that solo, damn! 'Crazy Woman' is a bit more hard rocking in its overall delivery, but still fantastic, also, 'Death of the Sorcerer' would be the slower one I mentioned earlier; acoustic guitars, chanting, slow guitar and bass grooviness, man, but it lightens up and comes to an almost epic climax. Also you gotta love the ultra fun, Howling I & II, which close out the album on a high note.

'Time to Repent' definitely delivers and considering I bought the album mostly because the artwork struck me inside as being brilliant, it was great to also find thirty five minutes of first class stoner/doom metal inside too.