BALATONIZER:

• Occlused In Ottusity (2004) On the wackier side of things we have Balatonizer. Somewhere between death metal (for some of the riffs), grind (for the overall style, short songs and long tracklist) and technometal (for it's use of samples and electronic sounding intros), this 3 piece manages to do something rare, it manages to use a drum machine well. I mean, don't get me wrong, you know it's a drum machine, but it's obvious the band knows enough about real drumming to program something that at least follows that conventions of what a real drummer would do, instead of just hitting the "doublekick 64 notes all the time" button. The riffs are pretty good as well, with just the right mix of slow stuff, fast stuff, and chunky stuff to make them real songs instead of just random riffs. The guitar sound is really big and ballsy, obviously plenty of overdubs. Vocals are low Broken Hope style. I guess if I had to explain the band's overall feel, imagine Blood Duster's "Yeest" album mixed with early Broken Hope with a drum machine. The album comes with a short comic strip about the band's wacky adventures (one wearing a decepticon t-shirt no less!), which shows they aren't taking things too seriously, and that's fine, the music is solid, the album is good clean fun and I can certainly recommend it if you happen to come across your path.
  

BANISHED:

Previous to 1993, this band was called Baphomet, see below for past reviews.

• 7" Banished (1993, EP) A special 7" blue vinyl with two Banished songs from an unreleased 1993 demo session. The two songs are 'Altered Minds' and 'Cast Out The Flesh'. Both songs are available on their later album, although the guitar crunch on this record is (in my opinion) a lot stronger than on the CD. Definitely worth owning.
• Deliver Me Unto Pain (1993) Very cool riffs, big, in your face chunky sound. I wish these guys would release another album. Slick production and a guitar/bass sound that makes them distinct in a world of conformity, as well as great song writing makes the CD a must have.

• The Dead Shall Inherit (1992) After a name change to avoid confusion with another band, Banished went on to produce one of the best death metal albums of the early 90s that no one heard. Their first album, under the band name Baphomet, is a nice glimpse into the elements that made their second album so memorable. Not only does this album include a few tracks that were rerecorded for their second album, but also a number of riffs on this album were stolen and reassembled in their later material. You can also hear the basic crunchy guitar tone that was later perfected, and the rather unique drum style in it's infancy. So in many ways, this is like a demo for their second album. As a stand alone album, this is OK death metal, but in context to its second album, I found it really interesting. If you've never heard of this band before, do yourself a favor and buy Banished's "Deliver Me Unto Pain", and if you dig them, then pick this album up as well. More people need to be exposed to this band, and their (sadly) short career.
  

• Souldead (1995, Demo)
• Perpetual Mockery (1998)
• Resurgence Of Oblivion (1999, EP)
• Recounts Of Disembodiment (2002) Death metal in the style of Deranged. So lots of tremolo picking, catch-your-breath-if-you-can drumming mixed with some slower moshable bits. Think the sound and intensity of "High On Blood" but with some slower parts to break up the pace. Production is good although slightly muffled, and of course a little messy, but that's sort of what the style dictates. Lowish vocals (but not super low). The performance is good and these guys can certainly play some intense music, but without either really, really memorable riffs or something very original about the music, this cd will probably get lost in the mess of other similar sounding bands. I don't want to be too harsh because there's plenty to enjoy here, it's well worth a listen for sure, but not sure if it has the necessary staying power.
  

• Thelema.6 (2001)
• Zos Kia Cultus (2002)
• Conjuration (2003, EP)
• Demigod (2005) This is the album we would have had if you take Krisiun's "Conquerors Of Armageddon" and added more variety to the drumming. The guitarwork on this album is very reminiscent of "Conquerors", the chord progressions, the mixture of held chords, low tremolo picking and higher passages, even some of the riffs are damn near identical. There's also a touch of Morbid Angel in here, but not in a copycat kinda way. Vocalwise, the voice is highly processed, they've taken a midrange growl and done some voice harmonizing to it to achieve that "girl from exorcist" voice. While I'm usually not a fan of processed voices except when used as an accent to a normal set of vocals, they do it pretty well, and it's not too over the top. And in a way it helps the album avoid just being a Krisiun clone. As mentioned before, the drumming is top notch, highly triggered, but instead of just doublebass the whole time there's plenty of complexity here without getting overly complicated. Overall, I think this album is really good, the riffs are intense and memorable, the band has just the right level of musicianship and great songwriting skills, the pacing of the album is perfect, my only complaint is how similar it is to Krisiun, but I have to give them credit for possibly even improving in a few ways over the original source material. Highly recommended.
• The Apostasy (2007) If you liked their first cd, you'll like this one too. The same crazy intensity level, the same sorts of riffs. Lots of cool symphonic bits and pieces to help add atmosphere to the songs. The music is really well performed, written and produced, I guess my only complaint is that it sounds too alike to their last album. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily, their last album was good, this album is good, but don't expect any personal growth as a band or anything. This is high quality death metal, and while the lack of uniqueness may hamper its replay value, anytime you do decide to invest an hour and listen to this CD, I'm sure you will enjoy yourself.

• Subconscious Terror (1990)
• Grand Leveller (1991)
• Dark Is The Season (1992, EP) 5 songs, several odds and ends from the band. Track 1 is a new, good quality fast Benediction song, track 2 is a cover song, track 3 is another new track, very heavy, slow and plodding. Track 4 is 'Jumping At Shadows' from "The Grand Leveler", track 5 is a new version of 'Experimental Stage'. Good production, fans of the band should probably grab a copy for the third track alone.
• Transcend the Rubicon (1993) While it never reaches a spectacular level, this album has good sound with strong song writing and just enough hooks and new riffs to make listening to it enjoyable. A good mixture of slow and fast songs.
• The Grotesque / Ashen Epitaph (1994) Two new songs (both of which are good, similar to the stuff from "Rubicon"), and then three live songs played in front of a small audience. The live production is great, well mixed, clear and bassy.
• The Dreams You Dread (1994) This album was sort of a let down. The riffs are muddier than their last album, and the songs are slower, and the whole album just falls a bit flat.
• Grind Bastard (1998) This album rocks a little too much for my taste, but it's actually pretty decent. A combination of old school death / heavy metal and punk. Better than their last album, it has some decent riffs, clear production and well written songs. Above average, but not my personal favorite type of music.
• Organized Chaos (2001) Straight forward, catchy death metal. This album doesn't stray far at all from previous albums, mid paced songs, simple song structures. The new vocalist sounds a lot like Dave (the former vocalist). I'd have to label this album the cake, as in, it may not have as much icing as other albums by other bands (there are still a few riffs here and there that made me take instant notice), but everything is very very solid and consistent, with very little bad material. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's not over the top brutal, but it sticks in my head.

• Soul of the Martyr (1998)
• Withering Strands Of Hope (2000) 32 really fast and short songs in the same style as any of Napalm Death's first albums (like Scum). The production is about as good as any of napalm's first albums as well, I assume that's a stylistic choice to go for the limited technology sound quality. Fans of retro grindcore from the 80s will probably like this release, as for me, it's pretty fun, but I tend to prefer modern day production and well thought through songwriting, but if you're in the mood for some mindless oldschool grind, check it out.

• Between the Buried and Me (2000)
  
• The Silent Circus (2003)
  
• Alaska (2005) Something vaguely in the vein of The Black Dahlia Murders, Despised Icon or The Red Chord, crossed with Dream Theater if you believe it. A lot of screaming, fast crazy guitar bits, changing time signatures every few second, most of the usual metalcore staples, but then you get these long instrumental parts with keyboards, acoustic guitars and complex melodies played in unison straight from Dream Theater or other similar progrock bands. At first the combination is a little bizarre, but I really started to dig it a few songs in, it certainly provides some good variety. Like the song "Breath In, Breath Out" has this soft gentle Joe Satriani clean guitar feel going on, then all of a sudden 'Roboturner" kicks in with a vicious scream and super fast drum beat. The contrast is really well done and I dig the epic song thing (many are 7 to 8 min long). The vocalist when he growls sound a lot like Jens Kidman of Meshuggah, but thankfully the music is different enough that there's really no obvious comparison between the two bands. As a fan of prog and metalcore, I would have never thought they'd go well together, but this band has proven me wrong and the combination allows the group to standout as something really different sounding. If you can only buy one album this week, this gets my recommendation.
• The Anatomy Of (2006, Covers) Ever wondered who the bands were that influenced Between The Buried and Me? Well, no, actually I didn't, but since they decided to tell me anyways, I figured I might as well listen. The album starts off with 'Blackened' by Metallica, which isn't too different from the Metallica version (with the exception of a few blast beats, death metal style vocals, and a more synth guitar / harmony oriented solo). Next comes 'Kick Start My Heart' by Motley Crue, which is sung instead of growled, and other than a slightly more distorted guitar tone, is pretty similar again to the source material. You may see where I'm going with this. Now I haven't heard the original versions of all these songs, but from the songs I do know, it seems the band is more interested in staying true to the source material than trying something different or creative. And so the big question from me is why make these recordings if they're not going to be that different from the original? Like a cover of Queen's 'Bicycle Race', I'm thinking "That would be cool to hear all super heavy and angry", but no, it's almost exactly like the original. Why not do 'Blackened' all serene and 'Bicycle' all super heavy? Now that would be cool. Anyways, other songs of notes, Sepultura's 'Territory' and Pantera's 'Cemetery Gates', which, while again similar to the original, is just such an excellent song, and they do a good job. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this cd, but I don't see this as a repeat listen sort of album, because I might as well listen to the originals instead.
• Colors (2007) "Colors" opens with a very Dream Theater-esque piece, similar to the beginning two songs on "Scenes From a Memory", or maybe Devin Townsend's "Synchestra". But they get to the blastbeats pretty quickly. Lots of variety, from the prog elements to the really heavy influences like hardcore and death metal. I feel the songs could use a few more standout riffs, while these songs are far from filler, their last album had a few catchier riffs here and there which gave you something to grab onto. And more than a few riffs are almost direct ripoffs from Dream Theater, it's obvious that the band listened to "Scenes From a Memory" a lot before writing this record. The songs are again, epic in length, 11, 13, 14 minutes long. Overall, a bit of a step down from "Alaska", but still a decent album and worth checking out.
  

• Black Earth (2001, EP) If you have a hankering for the late seventies / early eightiest right before glam hit the stage, you may find lots to love with this band. The group hits the listener with a strong groove and simple songs. The vocalist sounds a little like Chuck Billy from Testament (all midrange, no high pitched stuff), the rest of the band think motorhead on steroids. None of the music goes too fast, the band chooses the midground and definately puts a lot of soul into what they do. Production wise, the release is a little bottom heavy, but it's still clear (ie, not bottom heavy and muffled, which is a nono). If you're into say the new Soil CD, or grew up in the late seventies, you may enjoy this EP. Not my cup of tea, but good quality stuff. To get a copy of the demo, go here.

• No Exit (1989, Demo)
• Back To Reality (1990, Demo)
• Loosing My Mind (1992, Demo)
• Demo (1993, Demo)

• Breeding Death (1999, EP) 3 song EP. The sound is a little more stripped down than their first album, the guitar tone isn't quite as huge, but still good production (if "Entombed" were a sound, this would have an Entombed value of 6 instead of 10). The songs are straight forward death metal, good hooks and simple structure. A good indication of the album to come, while I may not go out of my way to find and get this EP, if you happen to see it in the CD rack, it's worth picking up.
  
• Resurrection Through Carnage (2002) Labeled as the ultimate Swedish supergroup (considering the band members, including Mikael Åkerfeldt and Dan Swanö, I'm not surprised), this album is, well, basically the best Entombed style band I've ever heard. For fans of "Left Hand Path" or "Clandestine", this is about as close as you're gonna get. I wasn't surprised at all when I went to the band's website and both of these albums rate in the top 1 or 2 of each band member's favorite album list. But anyways, similarities aside, this stuff is done very, very well, the songs are very memorable, mostly midpaced with excellent production. Track 9 is now one of my now all-time favorite heavy chugging / slow double bass riffs ever, you'll know what I mean when you hear it, it's the kind of musical moment you only get once or twice a year if you're lucky. If I had to have any critique it's that the drums are sometimes too simple, a straight "boom-chick" beat could have been replaced with something a little more complex now and again. Anyways, if you like old Entombed, you absolutely, positively need to get this album.
• Nightmares Made Flesh (2004) Their first album slowly but surely worked it's way up to being one of my favorite albums of a few years ago, and so when I heard that the european market was going to get their new albums months before the North American market, I was like "fuck that!" and paid the premium to have it shipped over (please Century Media, I don't know what the issue is but it would be really cool to have simultaneous release on the music worldwide.) The resulting album is fantastic, not quite as good as their first, but still great. Productionwise, the guitar's are still very thick and heavy, but there's a little more mids this time which makes it sound less like Entombed. Songwise, the thing I love about this band is they somehow take chord progressions we've all heard before and put a fresh spin on them, plenty of great songs, my favorite so far is probably 'Eaten' which is this slow sludgy song in the same vein as 'Where the Slim Lives' from Morbid Angel. The drumming has more blast beats this time while retaining the original midpaced style of their first album. Basically this sounds like their first album but ever so slightly modified in a few subtle ways. "Nightmares Made Flesh" should be considered mandatory for any classic death metal head.
• Unblessing The Purity (2008, EP) New 4 song EP from the band. My first impression, this is Bloodbath? While their last 2 albums had the strong Entombed sound, this CD has very muddy and echoey guitars, far way sounding and filled with reverb. After getting over the production shock, I guess some of these riffs do sound like the band, but they sound more run-of-the-mill. Despite the fact the band's style was never original, there were always a lot of really catchy, standout riffs, and the riffs on this EP just don't stand out to me. This EP isn't bad, the songs are decent, but I expect better songs and a more vicious sound from the band. So hopefully any CDs they release in the future will be closer to their earlier material.
• The Wacken Carnage (2008, Live CD/DVD) The band's first, and I believe still only live show, recorded for your pleasure on CD and DVD. The main thing I look for in a live album is some sort of experience that you don't get from listening to the album versions. That could mean extended songs, different production, or the sound of the crowd adding an extra dimension to the music. In this case, the crowd is almost non existent except between the songs, the songs are identical to the songs off their 2 albums, the main difference is the sound. It's still the core Bloodbath sound (i.e., sounds a lot like Entombed), but it has a little more depth to it thanks to some extra reverb, and a highly scooped mix. Many of the songs are faster as well than their album counterparts, which is a nice change (not that the slow versions are bad, it's just an enjoyable difference). The song selection is good, they play a number of songs off their original hard to find EP, as well as lots of stuff off their main 2 albums. They also play my favorite Bloodbath songs 'Like Fire' and 'Eaten', so I'm well pleased. The DVD contains the same songs as the CD, it's fun to see the group all covered in blood belting out some powerful metal. The band members move around plenty, the camerawork is great, and it's nice to see a crowd of like 10,000 people banging their heads in unison. The concert is 1 hour, so just enough time to get some good songs in there, not so long as to become boring. While nothing revolutionary, this CD / DVD combo has enough good points to warrant picking it up if you're a fan of the band.
  

• Menstrual Soup (1991, Demo)
• Fisting The Dead (1993, EP) This album consists of short bursts of speed and unparalleled brutality (in the style of old carcass) mixed with sound clips from reeeeally corny australian horror films. While it's been done before, the film clips they've picked are completely hilarious, and strangely enough makes the album a must-have.
• Yeest EP (1995, EP) Seven new songs from the band. It has has better production, and some of the riffs are damn good, but there aren't as many sound clips (d'oh!).
• Yeest (1996) Yeest EP + Fisting the Dead released on one CD.
• Str8 Outta Nortcote (1998) Nothing very different from their previous albums. Lots of strange sound clips which are damn funny, lots of screaming, blast beats, and thick, raw, chunky production. Good riffs here and there. Buy it if you like their previous stuff.
• Cunt (2001) It's been a long time since we had new material from the band, and overall, this album is a lot better than their previous release. I think part of what does it is that the album works better thematically. All the songs and soundclips revolve around porn, whether it be a clip from "Boogie Nights" or the simple statement "This is a giant cock" that begins one of their songs. Fisting The Dead was all australian slasher films, their Nortcote album was just too all over the place, sound clips from too many different genres, and too experimental. You won't find an organ on this album, just lots of blasting, noisy guitars, 1 minute songs and garbled lyrics. All fans of grindcore should check it out.
• D.F.F (2002) 6 tracks of mayhem. Well, not much mayhem, while there's a few good spots, there's also some pretty corny parts that sound like old punk with lots of 3 chord progressions, and silly chanted vocals. Track 4 is primarily feedback. Then the last track is over 58 minutes of silence, you know when you have this big silent period, and then a quick sound byte of hidden song at the end of the CD? well, these guys have 58 minutes of silence, and then the CD ends on, well, silence. Damn you!! If you take out all the crap and only keep the good stuff, you have about 2 minutes of material. Now I don't think the band has gone soft or anything, but it seems this cd is primarily a joke, and not a terribly funny one, and as such I really can't recommend to pick this up. Find a copy of "Cunt" instead or their new self titled album which should be out now.
  
• Blood Duster (2004) Sorry, after a really great last album, this is a disappointment. The main problem, far too little grind, far too much rocking out. If I wanted a punk cd, I'd buy a punk cd. The first riff on the album screams 80s glam. Glam, punk, motorhead, what happened to the true evil? Track 2 we get back into grind, but then it deviates again for track 3. It just makes me want to scream "waaaaaooow!!!" The production on the album is rougher than their last album too, more noisy. Sorry, just not digging it. Hopefully this is just something they have to get out of their system and will return to bloody grindcore next album.
• The Shape of Death to Come (2005, DVD) I love music, but I have to admit, I just don't have the time or funds to pick up every single DVD out there, especially since everyone and their mother are releasing one. But when Blood Duster released a DVD, I decided I needed to pick it up, mostly out of curiosity, I had really never seen any good photos of the band, and wanted to put some faces to the name. Sure enough, the band takes the stage shirtless, covered in blood, and smoking up a storm, not only was I seeing the band, but seeing more of them then I really wanted to. After a quick song, the concert shifts to a new venue, and then proceeds to hop from show to show (I really dig the titles at the bottom of the screen that happen before every song saying what the band is playing, wish that happened on more DVDs), with tons of interludes of the band doing crazy shit like bongs in the car, eating vomit (I really didn't need to see that), hell, one of the band members pulls out his dick (in full view) and starts pissing on the cameraman. This goes on for about a hour, concerts from their tour followed by random craziness and destruction. These guys do seem to really live the life, not just sing about it, a bunch of young crazy guys doing fucked up shit. But really, after it was all said and done, I have to ask, why did I need to see all this? Stuff like that is funny when you're doing it with your friends, but just doesn't have the same effect when you're watching strangers on TV (for me anyways, I know that groups like Jackass made a healthy career doing this stuff). I was about to write off the whole DVD when  I noticed on the menu I could switch to a 45min concert from DingDong (clips of which were in the hour long main program), and I'll tell ya, this show is what saves the thing. Yes, the production isn't perfect (with the bass drum missing and the vocals sorta low in the mix), but the band was never about perfect production, it's about crazy fast songs, fucked up lyrics and brutality, and the band provides. The last 20min or so is material off their most recent album and EP which I wasn't a big fan of, but the beginning of the concert is mostly old material. So, I guess I can recommend the DVD, but I recommend watching the concert over the random clips that make up the main program, unless you love stuff like Jackass, in which case you'll probably love this to death.
• Lyden Na (2007) Rock has always been an important part of the Blood Duster sound. Even in their first album, they'd have a crazy grind riff, followed by a more rockin riff, then back to the grinding. But then the band released their self titled album that was almost 100% rock, and I just didn't dig it. So now, in an attempt to make everyone happy, the band releases a 2CD set that has one rock album, and one grind album. Sounds like a good compromise, but after a listen, I really just wish they would go back to keeping the two styles together. What makes an act unique is the way they combine elements into something new. You may have heard the old saying "Greater than the sum of its parts", well, here are the parts, and the results are good but not as good as they'd be if combined. The first CD is the rock album, which is actually pretty decent. Still not really my thing, but some of the riffs are cool, nothing overly original, but good loud music to rock out to. Or maybe I feel this way because I know there's a grind album on CD 2, perhaps that knowledge somehow makes the rock album more enjoyable (because you're not sitting there all angry that these guys have changed style). The grind album should have held my interest more, but unfortunately, the songs are pretty non distinct. One thing I loved about their previous albums is the way the sound bytes formed a little narrative. The first album had all horror films. Their album "Cunt" was porn related. The sound clips were like little landmarks in a sea of grind, which helped make the songs distinct. On this grind album, there are almost no sound clips, and the ones that are there don't seem to follow any common theme. Some of the songs are cool, but it's just not as instantly classic as their older stuff. The album also contains info on downloading a special 20min 3rd album, which is the doom side of "Lyden Na". This song is slow, plodding, lots of slow held distorted guitars, feedback and noise experimentation. I actually kinda dig it, but then again, I am a fan of doom metal. Overall, I enjoyed this album way more than their last, but I still have to rate it below classics like "Yeest" or "Cunt". I appreciate them trying to make everyone happy, but I still believe combining all the elements into a cohesive whole is the way to go. Not a must buy, but still enjoyable.

• I Dwell on Thoughts of You (1998) 7 song mini-album, very similar in style and sound to "Novella Of Uriel". The production on this one is ever so slightly quieter, the songs have slightly more melody and aren't quite as intense (only by a very slim margin). Otherwise, these two albums are pretty much identical, ie, if you happen across it, definitely pick this up as well.
  
• Novella Of Uriel (2001) Well, I'm glad I listened past the first song. We start the album with some vaguely melodic / black metal stuff, violins, and sung vocals. I quickly spin the cd around and wonder why again did I buy this thing. Then track 2 hits, and it all comes back to me, oh ya, I heard track 2 in mp3 format and liked it so much I bought the album. Track 2 and the rest of the album is far more in step with what I wanted to hear. Vocalwise, lots of screaming, sorta hardcore (think Chimaira) with a few sung bits. While the guitar sound is a little messy and bass heavy (wall of sound style, plenty of overdubs), it really doesn't bother me too much, since it adds to the ferocity of the album. Drum wise, very strong, powerful drumming, this guy hits those skins hard, and he has enough technicality to avoid any obviously simple beats. And the riffs, wow, fucking brutal stuff. You know the deal when the band is playing really slow chunky riffs, and the drummer is following them with the cymbals and snare but on the double bass he's just tearing away at top speed? Plenty of that here, and I'm loving every moment of it. Highly, highly recommended, just skip track 1 please.
• Spirals (2003) Slightly noisier and more chaotic than "Uriel". Think the difference between Meshuggah's "DEI" and "Chaosphere", the stuff on this album has a few more songs that consist mainly of repeated stop and start patterns, there's also some groovier parts that remind me vaguely of Pantera. Neither of these two points should be taken as criticism, it's just variations on a theme, although I do have to admit a few of the last songs on the album seem a little too Meshuggah'ish to me (not that Meshuggah is bad, but you know me, I generally like a band to be doing its own thing). Otherwise, the usual stuff, plenty of screaming, a few sung bits, really low, slow, chunky riffs mixed with the occasional blast segment, production hasn't changed much which is fine with me. Not quite as strong as "Uriel" songwriting wise, so I recommend getting that album first, but this one shouldn't be much further down that list.
  

• In Battle There Is No Law (1988) This was the band way back in their early days. The sound is very muddy, the riffs are faster than in any other album by them, but they're not very inventive (yet).
• Realm Of Chaos (1989) I do like this album (even though the sound is horrible). Shows a glimpse of the brilliance that will appear later in their career.
• Warmaster (1991) While not as powerful as more recent albums, this album was the beginning of the "Bolt Thrower Sound". Good riffs, very arabian sounding. The production is clear, but it could have been a little more in-your-face.
• Cenotaph (1991, EP) See my review for "Who Dres Wins".
• The Peel Sessions (1991, Earache) A compilation of sorts with re-recorded versions of songs from their first three albums. The production is ok.
• 4th Crusade (1992) This is the album that really brought everything together. They have this huge wall of sound, the songs are well thought out, and the riffs are very inventive. Apparently they layer 8 guitars on top of each other on the CD, which should give you an idea just how big their sound is. An instant classic.
• Spearhead (1992, EP) An EP that exists only on 12", it contains an extended version of Spearhead, as well as some new songs including this great song called "Crown Of Life". The EP has been discontinued, which really sucks because I don't have a copy of it (although I have heard it).
• Where Next To Conquer (1993, Live) A bootleg album that has pretty poor production, but the songs are still brilliant. Gives you a taste of how Bolt Thrower sounds live.
• For Victory... (1994) Although not as strong as the 4th Crusade, it does offer us more songs in generally the same vein. If you liked the last album, get this one as well. A special double CD pack released in England has this CD as well as a live CD entitled "War". It's a sound board recording, and you really can't hear the crowd (so what's the point of a live album?).
• Mercenary (1998) The album is decent, but it just doesn't seem to live up to the Bolt Thrower name. Mid-tempo songs keep the album in a "4th Crusade" vein, but the riffs don't have the same freshness, inventiveness and intensity. The production is ok, but too bass heavy without any top end, it sounds pretty muffled, and not nearly as layered as in previous albums. I really expected something more from the band. Try before you buy, you may like it, but I'll keep listening to their previous albums.
• Who Dares Wins (1998, EP) An EP filled with hard to find Bolt Thrower material. The first 4 songs are from the out of print "Cenotaph" EP, 'Cenotaph' (the same as the version on "Warmaster"), 'Destructive Infinity' (available as a bonus track on some copies of "Warmaster"), 'Prophet of Hatred' (available as a bonus track to "Realm of Chaos") and a really badly recorded live version of 'Realm Of Chaos'. The second 4 songs are from the equally out of print "Spearhead" EP, which includes the extended remix of 'Spearhead', 'Crown of Life' and 'Lament' (new songs, but available as bonus tracks on some copies of the "IVth Crusade"), and Dying Creed (from the "IVth Crusade"). Lastly, 2 new songs including a rerecorded version of 'World Eater' which is great, and a copy of a rare song called 'Overlord'. Controversy has surrounded this EP since Bolt Thrower left Earache, and yet the label is still releasing Bolt Thrower material. The band has urged fans not to buy this EP, but it has so many hard to find goodies, it's tough to avoid. My recommendation is to follow your heart on this one, but I personally couldn't give up a chance to finally own the material from all of these out of print EPs.
• Honour - Valour - Pride (2002) To see how this album works in the grand scheme of things, it really need to be discussed with respect to two other Bolt Thrower albums: "the IV Crusade" and "Mercenary". The reason being that these two albums in my opinion are the perfect examples of the very best and very worst the band has produced. And "Honor Valour Pride" seems to fit nicely in between. Thankfully the thick Bolt Thrower production that was missing on Mercenary is back, big wall of sound with lots of overdubs. The new vocalist seems to fit in well with the band, not straying too far from Karl's style while remaining unique. My only complaint is that while the riffs are good, very few of them reach the spectacular level, the songs just don't remain as instantly memorable as stuff from "the 4th crusade" or "for victory". But overall, the album is very solid. I think most Bolt Thrower fans should be happy, if "4th crusade" is a 10, this hits a consistent 8.
• Those Once Loyal (2005) The two key elements to a good Bolt Thrower album are memorable songs and a big thunderous sound. And unfortunately this album has neither in much abundance. It's just beyond me how a band that produces such masterpieces as "The IVth Crusade" and "For Victory" could produce 3 ho-hum albums in a row. I mean, a few songs are kind of catchy, the last track 'When Cannons Fade' has a good intro, but comparing say 'The Killchain' to 'Cenotaph' (which both open the same way), it's not even a competition. Two listens all the way through and there's just not much sticking in my brain. And the production is missing that huge overdubbed feel, the army of 1000 guitars that made "The IVth Crusade" so monumental. It's certainly not a horrible album, and I'm happy to hear Karl back on vocals, but I just don't foresee this cd getting a lot of play in my daily rotation.

• The Parasites (2006) A cross between Origin and Dying Fetus (with maybe a touch of Spawn Of Possession thrown in), this album proves without a doubt that if some band is trying to be the fastest, there's always someone else trying to be even faster. And that's the best way to describe the aptly named Brain Drill. Holy mother of god are these guys speedy. The drumming is just unrelenting, with tons of hyperblasting, gravity blasts, every sort of blast imaginable. The twin guitars (both performed by guitarist Dylan) are lightning fast with plenty of tremolo picking, tapped riffs and harmonized sweep picking. Vocals are midrange and high pitched screams. The production is good, although the inclusion of a bass to the band would certainly help round out the sound a bit. Areas to work on, a catchy riff or two extra would help solidify the songs (although there are some good riffs in here already). And the chaotic sound could be ever so slightly tighter, but that only comes with a band performing together for awhile, and these guys seem to have only been together for a year or so. This 6 song EP is only 20min long, but that's the perfect length IMO for such craziness. These guys have managed to create a really cool, totally enjoyable, short but sweet mini album that just put a huge smile on my face. Listen to it while you're eating your breakfast, it'll get you totally pumped for the rest of your day. Highly recommended.
• Apocalyptic Feasting (2008) If someone had told me there would be a band faster than Origin, I would have told them they were smokin crack. But it seems the people smockin crack is this band, because that's the only way they could possibly play this fast. This debut album for Metal Blade contains all the songs from their previous EP (rerecorded with better production), and 4 new compositions. The addition of a bass really helps the sound. And the production is way louder and more in your face. Otherwise, see my review of their EP, since most of the same stuff applies. A worthy debut, and well worth checking out, especially if you didn't pick up their original EP. Brain Drill is the new band to beat in the speed arena. Highly recommended.
  

• Swamped In Gore (1991) Lots of strong riffing, lots of slow grinding parts along with some brutal blasts of speed. The lyrics are a bit warped (ok, maybe more than a bit), but you don't have to read them. And boy is that vocalist low.
• Bowels Of Repugnance (1993) Probably my least favorite of their albums. The songs are super fast and brutal, but they're too short, and the whole album goes by way too quickly.
• Repulsive Conception (1995) Starting to show a little more song writing maturity, an explosive bottom end dominates this album. Some great riffs, and some very off-key acoustic interludes.
• Loathing (1997) More slow stuff, more fast stuff, their accuracy and brutality have increased (if that's possible). They've lost a bit of their bottom end that was in previous albums, but you won't care after you hear these riffs. I highly recommend this album.
• Grotesque Blessings (1999) Very similar to Loathing. Even more high end crazy scale based riffs, lower chunky riffs and harmonized solos. The CD has slightly bassier production then the last album, but still remains very treble oriented, I think they should try adding more bass to the mix and see what happens (although I admit, more bass might muddy up the incredible accuracy of these riffs). The songs and riffs are good, and will probably get even better with more listens (and I love these song titles, I mean: "Chemically Castrated" and "Necro-Fellatio", ya). The vocals are still super low, although not as booming as previous albums, they could have been pushed up in the mix a little bit. But all these critiques are small details, overall a solid album, if you like the band already, you'll like this CD.

• Raza Odiada (1995) Ok, figure this. Dino and Raymond from Fear Factory, one guy from Sepultura and a few more musicians get together, pretend to be mexican bandits, and then produce 40 minutes of metal all in Spanish. While the production is ok, they're a bit sloppy at times, and the songs are not exactly the most original in the world (the riffs sound like stuff that didn't quite make the cut on a Slayer or Sepultura album). It sounds a little like some guy setting up a few mike's in his basement, practicing for a few hours with some friends, and then cutting an album (which is apparently what they did). This sort of vibe helps out the fictitious plot to this CD, I wish I knew Spanish so I knew what they were saying. About the only song I can figure out is the title track which is subtitled 'Pito Wilson', where they pretend to kill Peter Wilson, the controversial political candidate who didn't hide the fact he wasn't fond of immigrants. All in all, as a concept album it's fantastic, but if you're looking for well thought out, well produced original sounding metal, look elsewhere. This album is about fun (in an angry mexican sort of way).

• Society Kill Catalyst (1999, Demo) What starts off as an old ragtime piece that my dad would enjoy all of a sudden explodes into some pretty powerful grindcore thanks to this 5 piece. The quality is good for a demo, obviously a full studio recording would make it better, but all the instruments are still clear and lots of bass with only a slightly muffled treble. Pure grindcore has never been known for innovations, so don't expect something you've never heard before (similar in nature to Exhumed or Blood Duster), but this band has many memorable riffs, as well as a few goofy moments that makes the genre so much fun to listen to. Vocals are the standard low guttural stuff with the occasional scream, lots of bast beats, overall not unique but well done, you won't hear any complaints from this camp.

• Screams Of Anguish (1993) A good mixture of brutal death metal and symphonic metal. One minute the band will be blasting, the next it will slide into a powerful and epic doomy riff with tons of guitar and keyboard layers. High quality riffs and good song writing and song structure keeps this music going strong. The drummer can certainly play fast and complex when he has to (lots of blast beats and double kicks), but his tempo changes are equally quick, and he keeps things interesting even when he's playing reeeeal slow. The vocals remain pretty standard death metal the entire time. Guitar wise, a little muffled, but pretty thick, lots of overdubs. Some nice note-for-note clear tremolo picking, as well as sections with simpler held chords. Emotional and heartfelt solos with lots of harmonizing and held notes. Some ok acoustic and keyboard interludes. Nothing super innovative, but I enjoyed it.
• When The Sky Turns Black (1994) Somewhere between their first and third album. The riffs aren't as good as the first, but still quite decent, and worth listening to. Good production. If you liked the first album, this one is really similar in style and sound, so you'll probably like it too.
• In Mourning (1997) I really feel this CD could have been better. It needs more standout riffs & better song writing to catch my ear. The guitars tend to do low tremolo picking in reasonably obvious & unoriginal patterns, not to mention too much repetition. They also never leave the mid paced tempo much. The production is excellent with a good mix, but a little more work on the songs would have gotten this CD a better than average score. As it stands now, there's better stuff to grab.

• SlachtBeest (2003) While unique leader is not really known for releasing "unique" acts (what is with that record label name anyways?), this album manages to stay interesting with it's combination of brutality, excellent production and great musicianship. Music wise, very standard death metal in the style of, well, everybody (ok, well, Iniquity, Disgorge, Deeds Of Flesh, you know the lot). Production wise, very powerful scooped sound. Vocals are very low cookie-monster stuff, and the guitars remain pretty low as well all the way through, definitely tuned lower than your average 7 string. The drums are, well, as it says on the back of the album, total blasting time 31:41. But the thing that keeps this from disappearing into the mess of everything else out there is the band's ability at assembling a reasonable song structure so the songs aren't just a never ending collection of random bits and pieces, and having some killer riffs that get your attention. Like Spawn Of Possession's first album, the riffs, production and performance win out over the fact you've heard this kind of stuff before. So personally, I gotta give this the thumbs up.

• Color Of Money (2005) In the hardcore style of Lungbrush or a heavier Corrosion Of Conformity, this band bashes the listener with some seriously pummeling riffs. A mixture of more rockin material and start / stop chunky riffs, the band keeps the aggression level high all the way through. Vocals are shouted (as the genre defines). Production is perfect, the mix is well balanced. A few oddities do help define the band such as the fact all their songs are named after Tom Cruise films (films that seem to have no connection to the songs or their lyrical content), and all band photos show them in tuxes, I wonder if they perform in that gear? Ok, so it's not the most mind-blowingly "wow, I've never heard a song like that before" kinda deal, but it's well executed, and it'll make you want to scream "Fuck You!" to the person sitting next to you and give them the finger. And isn't that feeling worth the purchase price?
• Beauty And The Breakdown (2006) Exactly like their last album. And that's usually a bad thing, but for some reason I just don't care in this case. Fuck progress, just smack me with thunderous riffs, pounding drumming and hardcore shouts. Oh sorry, there is a difference, instead of all the song titles being named after Tom Cruise films, it's all notable quotes from Fairy Tales. Otherwise, it's the same stuff, great riffs, tons of energy and anger. Not much else to say. Definitely buy this.
• Bury Your Dead (2008) A bit of a departure for the band. While all the core elements are there (tight start stop rhythms and hardcore vocals), they've added some dare I say "melodic" elements, whether it be sung vocals or spooky keyboards and samples. Some of the songs work better than others, I like the first track 'Sympathy Orchestra', the wailing keyboards add to the mood of the song. But the singing in 'Fever Dream' is just lame. I assume they added this extra stuff because they wanted to try something a little different (their last 2 albums were pretty much identical), some may say they've sold out, but I can't imagine adding these melodic elements gaining them any real popularity with people who like lighter music. So in general this album is a mixed bag of good, soso and bad songs, it may be worth listening to the whole album and then buying just the songs that you enjoy.