For those of us who have never been Deep Purple fans, the following analysis of their roots shows us the utility of classical music in making great heavy metal:
11 CommentsTags: Bathory, burzum, Classical, classical music, deep purple, Heavy Metal
A.H.A.B. Movement Takes Over America
Following weeks of unrest, quarantine, government debt, and widespread distrust of social institutions, many Americans have taken the infinity black pill and joined a movement with zero use for hope: AHAB or “All Humans Are Bastards.” Not surprisingly, this has concerned law enforcement.
4 CommentsTags: ahab, eugenics, french revolution, journalism
Monstrosity Millennium: The Pinnacle of Technical Death Metal
Guest article by Svennerick
Released in August of 1996, Monstrosity’s second effort Millennium is an album I personally hold in very high regards, considering I nearly spent eight months listening to it multiple times a day. This is an addictive album and each new listen made it clearer why this album stands head and shoulders above anything released under the term “technical death metal.”
9 CommentsTags: analysis, death metal, millenium, monstrosity, Technical Death Metal
Earache Records Unveils Morbid Angel Altars of Madness: Ultimate Edition 2CD
Record companies continue digging in their vaults to release rare material and actual remasters from classic underground metal bands, bypassing the tendency for ProTools “remasters” that amounted to compression of tracks ripped from the existing CD, in an effort to appeal to Generation X as they head toward five decades.
4 CommentsTags: death metal, earache records, morbid angel
Eucharist “Wounded and Alone” Opening Analysis
Eucharist A Velvet Creation straddled the line between the metal of old and the “melodic death” metal that would ravage the Scandinavian scene. Intelligently the band still remained enough grit and the compositional maturity of the better genre while not being afraid to integrate an overt admiration for Iron Maiden and the occasional rhythmic tool. “Alone and Wounded” is a bonus track that manages to shape Melodic Death metal into what it should have been. The opening sequence however is so remarkable that it merits a closer look.
7 CommentsTags: a velvet creation, death metal, eucharist, riff analysis, wounded and alone
Retrospective: Septic Flesh – Ophidian Wheel
In the modern metal lexicon, European metal has often been used to denote bands that relied extensively on Iron Maiden harmonies, keyboards, pseudo-classical melodies, female vocalists, tremolo picked riffs and overall less influence from Pantera and Metallica. Septic Flesh have come to epitomize this style despite adding a lot more Metalcore elements to keep with the times. Before the name change, the band were once an overlooked force and presented many ideas that metal as a whole was never fully able to capitalize on. Ophidian Wheel is the summit of the band’s creativity and pushes the romantic qualities of metal even further.
75 CommentsTags: death metal, Heavy Metal, hellenic black metal, septic flesh, the ophidian wheel
The Greatest Idiot Riff : Bolt Thrower’s “World Eater”
Master’s Paul Speckmann is known for taking an idea and squeezing everything he can from it through repetition and then utilizing the most direct route to return to that idea. Though this mentality would fail many bands because the riffs didn’t have the necessary urgency and creativity to work. Bolt Thrower on the other hand took this approach and pushed it to the logical extreme as each individual riff became the central focus while narrative development was relegated to an afterthought despite somehow still being present. What made Bolt Thrower so intriguing was that they possessed powerful riffs that were caveman like and more often than not completely idiotic yet the band managed to soar where others failed miserably.
17 CommentsTags: Bolt Thrower, death metal, Realm of Chaos, world eater
Supuration The Cube: Death Metal’s Most Unique Album
It is commonly assumed that the most unique album in death metal is Nespithe and while there is a very strong case for such a claim, Supuration’s The Cube has a stronger claim to such a title. Demilich have a large number of failed imitators while Supuration have none at all. The first listen to Demilich immediately shows the band’s intentions and dizzying whirlwinds of ideas in elaborate riff mazes. Supuration sounds like a rock hybrid that borders on modern metal but with much depth and just as unique but requiring many more listens to dig past the highly accessible aesthetics. Here are a few tools that Supuration used to create the most unique album in Death metal.
21 CommentsTags: death metal, supuration, the cube
Funereal Presence – Achatius
Following the tale of one of the fourteen holy helpers Achatius, more commonly known under the name of Saint Agathius, the patron saint against headaches and more importantly a central figure in the various wars against the Ottomans. His story is that of a soldier who was tortured and decapitated for not relinquishing his faith and therefore becoming a martyr. Funeral Presence expand on this brief tale by playing a form of Black metal that exists within the confines of the first wave yet but with subtle influences in overall scope and direction from the second wave.
17 CommentsTags: 2019, achatius, Black Metal, funereal presence
Brief Thoughts On Deeds Of Flesh Path of the Weakening
guest article by Svennerick
A fan favourite and the band’s third offering Path Of The Weakening whichalso the first record released through the band’s own label which showed the comeback of former drummer Joey Heaslet and the inclusion of second guitarist, Jim Tkacz completing the line-up and giving the band an even more thicker and dense sound.
6 CommentsTags: analysis, death metal, deeds of flesh, path of the weakening, unique leader records
