Zombie Holocaust - Strike Force

If there's one scene I wish I could be in right now, it would have to be the LA thrash metal scene. It's honestly one of the most over crowded and hotly contested scenes metal music has ever seen. Every time one of the local big boys rolls back into town after a tour or two (and by big boys I mean Warbringer, Bonded by Blood, Merciless Death, etc.) they'll throw together a local gig and co headline with another one of the bigger LA thrashers. Of course, they get some bands to open and there are literally tons of them lying in wait. Go to the myspace page of BBB or Witchaven, check out the "flyers" photo album, and you'll see what I mean. Bands like Tormenter, Hatchet, Nihilist, Fog of War, Devastator, Scythe, Armored Assassin, Premunition, Horrid, and on and on are all eager to get together for a hoedown.

Zombie Holocaust is one of those bands. So far their only significant effort has been the self released Strike Force full length, and it's got all the good stuff you'd expect from a new wave thrash band. Tons of 80's references, impressive shredding guitars, a fun DIY attitude, a genuine love of the music, and solid overall musicianship. The only problem? This has all been done before. Yeah, yeah, a song about a Star Wars character? It's been done. Party song? Municipal Waste did a whole album on the subject 2 years ago. LA Punk vocal style? Please, it's been done to death for decades.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with this release, there's nothing right about it either. There's a reason why this band hasn't been signed and that's because they haven't made any splash in the scene yet. They're just along for the ride and picking up where everyone's been for quite sometime now. Hell, they're probably don't even care about getting signed and are just doing it for shit's a giggles. Who am I to judge? If they're genuinely having fun with it, and deciding to self release some material every now and again, by all means go for it. If they ever stop by close (they've done just one US tour and it only hit 14 cities)I'll gladly pay my five dollars to see 'em jam. However if I lived in LA, I'd shit bricks to see these guys open with half a dozen of their contemporaries and be stoked every time.

Bolt Thrower - Honour, Valour, Pride

The impeccable riff factory that is Bolt Thrower just plow through record after record. Their second to last effort, is what I have lined up for today.

Now, Dave Ingram makes his debut with the band on this album, replacing long time vocalist Karl Willets. Due to this fact, a lot of people overlook HVP. But the new kid on the block does his job and does it extremely well. So well in fact that you get familiar with his voice extremely quick and take it as the new standard after a few songs.

The musicianship is everything that you've come to expect from Bolt Thrower. The riffs are crushing, catchy, and provide the patented Bolt Thrower sound that we all love so much. The solos are excruciatingly good, and there is not any point in any of the songs that doesn't make you want to bang your head and go completely batshit. The thick trademark "War Metal" sound carries the songs along and before you know it, the ride's over and you're left standing in line for the next go 'round. Everything is executed flawlessly with nothing left out of place.

If there's one complaint I can make about Bolt Thrower it's that reviewing their work can be somewhat boring. Everything's just so consistently good there's nothing to pick at or make fun of. It's just so extremely solid, solid, solid.

Nocturnus - The Key

Well, no job at the fast food joint to finance my concert going habits, and my English class is heaping tons of work on me so no review Thursday or yesterday as I tended to more important shit. Oh and I got hit with four inches of snow. Have no fear though! I'll give ye a double dose today to make up for it.

And we'll start out with one of the most innovative early death metal albums ever released. Remember, this album was released in 1990. At the time Atheist wer just starting to go down their ultra jazzy progressive route and Death had just put out Spiritual Healing, arguably the first technical death metal album ever. So when Nocturnus released The Key complete with keyboards and technical out of this world guitars, it blew some minds away. And hell, it still does to this day.

The album art is kickass to start with, almost all early death metal albums had great artwork. Having never listened to Nocturnus before, I thought the music would not live up to the epicness of the cover, but I was dead fucking wrong. The art and the music complement each other perfectly, and you can't help but get this spacey 70's vibe when you listen to the tracks roll on and stare at the front cover.

The production is primitive sounding, but it doesn't take away from the music, quite the contrary. They're so many layers and textures going on all at once it's hard to grasp completely what's going on, so major points for replay value there. they keyboards play a major roll here, giving fantastic intro and outros as well as performing underlying layers that would normally fall under bass duties. Speaking of which, the bass is all but missing here. In parts where I thought I did here it the keyboards were to credit, playing lower synths. The drums do their job and do it well. Thought they seem to be mixed back, they still carry a sharp sound to them when struck. The vocals are reminiscent of David Vincent from early, thrashy, Morbid Angel. And then we get to the guitars which are front and center, as should be expected of death metal. Mike Davis and Sean McNenney both provide pounding pulsing technical riffs on top of it all. Often, there are multiple solos per song, and some of the riffs are so complicated they could be solos for lesser bands.

There hasn't been another pressing of this album for quite some time, so if you find a good copy of this somewhere buy it. Disappointment is no where to be found in this record.

I Declare War - Admist the Bloodshed

Ignoring the totally wank band name, I Declare War have been hailed as one of the better deathcore bands in existence by my metal listening friends, and trust me, among my friends the list of good deathcore bands is incredibly short. I decided to check out IDW's 2007 sophomore effort and see if there was indeed such a thing as good deathcore. [spoiler] I should've checked out All Shall Parish first [/spoiler].

The first track, the title track, shows some promise. The breakdowns were few in number and generally well placed as opposed to the cluster fuck of chugging that plagues most modern day -core bands, and yet the scenesters are perplexed as to why most metalheads detest the genre. The second track's quality should have been indicated by the wigger-esque title. "Whoop Dat Trick" unfortunately sets the stage for the rest of the tracks from here on out: a constant chug fest devoid of any feeling or balls for that matter. Almost every riff is followed by a breakdown, and just when you think they're done and play two actual riffs back-to-back they crush your hopes with some well timed chug/bree. Yes, the art of pig squeals also finds its way into the mix. You'd figure some deathcore bands would break the mold and do some actually interesting death growls but they seem content to bree until they're placed well within the ranks of banality. The rest of the album isn't really worth talking about to be quite honest, because if you've ever listened to deathcore you know what to expect. Take some pointers from The Black Dahlia Murder or even Job For a Cowboy for that matter and start doing some conventional DM. You'll sound like a poor imitation of Suffocation, but at least the metal community won't laugh at you. . . at least not as much anyway.

Apparently We Still Like To Pretend It's the 80's

Holy feckin' sheet! David Ellefson has officially rejoined Megadeth! As if having two back-to-back North American tours wasn't awesome enough, it appears that Dave Mustaine has decided to crank the awesome box up to twelvity-bajillion by picking up his founding bassist. So, when Megadeth comes through my neck o' the woods in mid to late March with Exodus and Testament in tow, I will also be treated to a blast from the fucking past. As if having 3 of the top 80's thrash bands ever on the same bill wasn't enough to blow your fucking mind into think MTV still played music and Regan was in power.

I've got an interview tomorrow with Corporate Death Burger to finance my $40 concert ticket back to the future, and if that doesn't work out by the time the date comes around I will take out a fucking loan to see that shit. Hopefully I won't get my nose busted like the last concert I went to. Thank you Cauldron for having 300 pound skinheads in your pit that like to break people's facial features.

Hexen - State of Insurgency

The LA thrash scene is booming (or was) but back in 2008 the new wave of thrash was at its zenith and new thrashers with skinny ripped jeans, flipped caps, and terrible late 80's sunglasses were popping up almost on a weekly basis. On top of that, these newbies were putting out full-lengths with good production almost as soon as they came into being. Hexen however, were not one of the Johnny Come Lately types, they had been formed since '03 and had a demo out by '04, so they're certainly not trying to cash in suddenly.

But regardless of whether or not SoI was an attempt to catch the wave of fun retro-ness that was the NWOTM is completely irrelevant, because the music was actually good. This is a band that knows their own strong points and knows them well. They put the guitars right up from and center delivering melodic thrash riffs on top of flashy solo work and a few progressive influences. Think, modern day Toxik with less high-pitch vocals.

The crunchy riffs seem to be almost out of the power metal stable of riffs-n-such. That being said, expect to see landscapes of epicness when you close your eyes while listening to the record. Nothing on the scale of dragons and ridiculous fantasy settings as per usual power metal, but more down to earth and believable kind of epic. This is compounded by the lyrics which paint a pretty detailed picture all by themselves. Though the bass has sweet little high toned solo in "Blast Radius" it's barely audible 'neath the uber thrash guitars. Same goes for the drums which, while they do keep a beat and don't get sloppy, they're hardly interesting or prominent.

If you're a guitar freak, check dis shit out brah. If you couldn't give a toss about that six stringed contraption that gets all the glory, you may wanna pass this one up. However, let it be known you're passing up some good modern-day power thrash.

Capharnaum - Fractured

Like most technical/progressive death metal bands coming down the pipe nowadays, Capharnaum continue the fast growing tradition of making unpronounceable band names. They also fall into one of the two trends for these bands and that's generally making mind blowing music or making aimless over the top wank. Thankfully Fractured is a dose of the former.

Now before I discuss the music I must point out that this is a side project of Matt Heafy of Trivium fame. Yes, you read that correctly. Trivium's front man performs the vocals on this album and the usually pansy screams that he pathetically belts out are no where to be found on this record. It really sounds like he's giving it his all here. He enthusiastically goes through the lyrics with a familiar sounding voice but and unfamiliar sense of balls, for the lack of a better word.

The guitar work is simply inexorable. Though the progressive elements are there, the riffing is the sort of heaviness that you come to expect from death metal, which is more than what I can say for bands like Necrophagist that have higher pitched guitars that sound nothing like death metal. I'll give them some major points for nailing that sweet spot between tones. The solos are blistering exciting and a few effects here and there to wrap up solos or start up songs are quick to grab your attention and not let you even think of nodding off during the album.

The rhythm section is a tale of two instruments. While the bass is inaudible, Jordan Suecof wails on the drums for all he's worth and shows he can hang with the big boys in the genre. His long intricate fills and just general solidarity in a tech death band is a testament to the man's talent. His brother on one of the guitars also performs vocals on some of the later tracks and I'm guessing he also performs lead vox on touring while Heafy is off playing with his cash cow.

Anyway, this 2004 effort still stands today as a great example of good tech death, and don't let Heafy at the top of the line-up fool you. This band is one to check out.

Koro - 700 Club

I'm surprised that Knoxville doesn't have a bigger music scene. I mean seriously, wtf? That close to Nashville, Atlanta, and Charlotte, the city itself isn't exactly tiny, and I can't recall one band from the area. Who knows, I might be missing someone obvious, but so far only Koro comes to mind.

Okay, the last two punk EP's had some deviation between songs, but not these 8 blistering tracks. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though because these 8 tracks are just pure angst with solid guitar work. Honestly, "Dear Sirs" sounds like it could have been a Municipal Waste song at some point and "Blap!" is something that I'd expect from D.R.I.. Give these guys some more time and they could have surprised us with some crossover thrash stuff after a while of tinkering with their already brilliant style of hardcore.

I honestly can't think of anything else to say other than it's fecking good and you should find a way of listening to this right the fuck now. Seriously, stop reading this and go download it or buy it somewhere now. Shit's cash. My only complaint was that it was all over too fast. It's like meth, I need MOAR!

Hated Youth - Hardcore Rules

"My name is. . .God. . .FUCK YOU! *incoherent craziness*"

This is how Gainesville Florida's Hated Youth debut kicks off, and it never really lets up from there. I'm almost tempted to say just get a hold of it for the opening track, but the rest of the 7 inch is stellar too.

Most of the songs here clock in at just over a minute so expect a little more structure and a more artsy punk approach, if it can be called that. It's still hardcore so don't expect Mozart or anything. The production (and why I'm talking about production on an early 80's hardcore album is beyond me at this moment in time) is worse than most other bands from the scene at this time, but who gives a fuck? I'm just saying it could be remastered someday.

There's some good variety between songs and you don't get the feeling that you have certain tracks on repeat like you do with other hardcore records. Every song has it's own identity and angst behind it, and with twelve tracks, that's saying something for a little punk band in the college town of Gainesville. This record is the best of the three that I'll review today, but make no mistake about it all of these EP's are great.

Neon Christ - Parental Suppresion

Sorry for not posting the past two days but I was busy Tuesday and Wednesday I just plain forgot so here's a triple does of a few EP's I've obtained >:}

With Alice in Chains's new front man comes the inevitable probing into his background and as I did some unnecessary digging I found that William Duvall was part of a curious thing in Atlanta during the early 80's. Southern hardcore was (and still is) hard to find, and if you have one of the original 7 inches put out by the likes of Neon Christ, Graven Image, Koro, White Cross, Hated Youth, etc. then you may be sitting on a lot of money if you cash in via Ebay.

The music is it's own brand of '83-ish hardcore in a way. Maybe it's just the idea of William at the guitar that makes the music seem more focused, but while the early songs on the record are crazy fast they're not out-of-control chaotic. There's catchy hooks and lyrics to keep you interested and make you wish you could have attended one of their shows and shouted along.

As I've said, the first five songs are fast-as-shit balls out hardcore that just make you wanna mosh and go batshit. The next five, however, are a completely different animal. They tend to be slower and more structured in the vein of traditional punk, possibly due to the influence of Mr. Duvall again (hate to pick on you), and this is probably what set in motion the formation of his above decent alt rock band Comes With the Fall and eventual joining of AiC. You especially get that sense when you listen to the last track "After" which describes waking up in a post-apocalyptic world while an eerie almost melancholy guitar riff goes on throughout the song.

This is a good quick shot of hardcore punk that will clock in at well under nine minutes and leave you very satisfied, unlike me with my girlfriend >:(

Pestilence - Testimony of the Ancients

Little update first: I plan to blog on a Monday through Friday basis, but don't be too surprised to see weekend posts every now and then.

Ok, back when Roadrunner was still a good label, before they signed such trash as Slipknot, Trivium, and Nickelback, they had spectacular bands such as Cynic, Exhorder, Sadus, Suffocation, and Xentrix in their catalog. Among the bands on the "good list" were Pestilence, a rising death metal powerhouse from the Netherlands. Roadrunner did something with the exploding death metal scene akin to what Sub Pop was doing at the same time with grunge: exploit the rising bands from the tiny scenes and become millionaires while the bands are hung out to dry and end up disbanding within the next few years. Both movements would be dead or close to it by the time 1994 was out.

Pestilence's last great gasp was in 1991, before the love-it-or-hate-it Spheres was released. Testimony is a concept album of sorts. I don't even think that's the right word for it, but this album is whatever it is when a band feels compelled to put a thirty second sample between every track and call it a song. Seriously, this album has 16 tracks half of which are sample tracks, but I guess it's no big deal and you can just skip over them or delete them when you rip it.

On to the actual music now that I've talked/complained about random shit the past two paragraphs. Pestilence decided to do what was hip and in style at that point in the death metal community and that was to get more technical, more progressive, and just plain better. The thrash/death metal that they, Atheist, Death and pretty much everyone else had been doing was great and all, but this jazzy progressive stuff was just fucking mind blowing. The Secrecies Of Horror kicks things off and pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album. Those fast, classic Pestilence patented death metal riffs pummel throughout the song leading up to the solo which is usually quite melodic, but in some cases is just insane wankery that fits perfectly into the song. Patrick Mameli now performs vocals on top of dual lead guitars with Patrick Uterwijk and does both jobs admirably. The Patrick and Patrick tag team is always doing something to keep you interested and their riffs exert a broad array of emotions from up tempo stuff like Stigmatized and Secrecies, to creepier tunes like Land of Tears and Prophetic Revelations.

The production is quite good, and even though the guitars aren't exactly the heaviest sounding, that's to be expected of this brand of death metal. The producer, Scott Burns, gains massive kudos in my book for making the bass actually audible through most of the album. The only bad point is the drums which seem to be under mixed and part of the background, which is a tragedy because Marco Foddis does some good work behind his kit and manages to find the sweet spot between impressive and retardily chaotic.

Overall, the record is a fun listen and though there are no bad tracks here (besides the unnecessary segue tracks)some songs are better than others and make otherwise good works seem like filler, and I think the sample tracks might be to blame for this. My favorite songs off the CD are "Lost Souls" "Stigmatized" and "Prophetic Revelations".

The song "Land of Tears" is of note for the fact that it features guest vocals from the witch in Left 4 Dead, seventeen years before the game's release. You gotta get your start early, right?