Bolt Thrower - In Battle There Is No Law (1988)

For those of you who haven't heard of Bolt Thrower, they are a 5 piece Death Metal/Grindcore band from Coventry, England who formed in 1986. They consist of Karl Willetts (Vocals), Barry Thompson (Guitar), Gavin Ward (Guitar), Jo-Anne Bench (Bass), and Martin "Kiddie" Kearns (Drums). They originally got their name from a weapon used in the tabletop strategy game of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records.

In Battle There Is No Law is Bolt Thrower's first album, which was preceded by 4 demo albums and 1 EP. The album consists of 9 tracks which include "In Battle There Is No Law", "Challenge for Power", "Forgotten Existence", "Denial of Destiny", "Blind to Defeat", "Concession of Pain", "Attack in the Aftermath", "Psychological Warfare", and "Nuclear Annihilation". The album was recorded with most of their current line-up, except instead of Martin Kearns, they had Andrew Whale on the drums. The album overall is quite different from other Grindcore albums around this time (mainly, Napalm Death's album Scum), in that while Napalm Death was (and still is) fast paced and constantly spitting out the vocals at you, Bolt Thrower takes a slower approach to their tracks. They start slow and then progressively speed up (this is more evident on their later albums, mainly 1992's album "The IVth Crusade"). I'm still surprised that this album was released in 1988, as Karl sounds more and more like the modern day Death Metal bands, his growl is low and purposeful (if a growl can be that). The guitars on the album mix so well together as well. The drums were really loud (mainly the bass drum) but they didn't overpower the mix. The bass is extremely well done, and (little bit of a fact here) Jo-Anne Bench is one of the first female Death Metal musicians (not a screamer, but still a part of the Death Metal scene). The album just kicked ass.

Overall, an extremely well done first album in a time when the genre was first emerging. If you're into Napalm Death, Obituary, Unleashed, Benediction, Dismember, Grave, or Hail of Bullets, you should check out Bolt Thrower. The album was released on June 12, 1988 and is available on amazon (although not currently available) and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0

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Bolt Thrower's Website

Powerglove - Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man (2007)

Powerglove, for those of you who haven't heard of them yet, are a 4 piece Instrumental Power Metal band (that's the best way I could describe it) from Boston, Massachusetts. They consist of Alex Berkson (Guitar), Chris Marchiel (Guitar), Nick Avila (Bass), and Bassil Silver-Hajo (Drums). They are currently Unsigned.

Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man is Powerglove's first full-length release following their 2005 EP release Total Pwnage. Their album consists of 11 tracks which include "So Sexy Robotnik", "Mario Minor", "Fight On", "Vanquish the Horrible Night", "Blasting the Hornet", "The Duck Grinder", "Power, Wisdom, Courage", "Omnishred (We're Gonna Need a Bigger Sword)", "Holy Orders (Be Quick and Just Shred)", "Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man", and "Red Wings Over Baron". The album was quite interesting to say the least, I haven't really listened to a fully instrumental metal album before, so it was quite a ride. Where to begin, it just sounded awesome. Normally, I look to lyrics to tell a story, but there really isn't need for a story with this album. The guitar work is insane and really well refined, as is with the bass and the drums. It can go from slow and relaxing, to blast beats, normally I wouldn't like this, but since there aren't vocals attached to them, it flows nicely. There are technically vocals on two songs "Mario Minor" where they shout the words Super Mario, and on "Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man" where they should Mortal Kombat.

Overall, the album was really good. It flowed seamlessly and really defined the band. If you're into Malice Mizer, X Japan, Dream Theater, Blind Guardian, or Sonata Arctica, you should check out Powerglove, and in case you haven't guessed it by now, they took their name from the NES attachment of the same name. The album was released in 2007 (can't find the exact date) and is currently not available on Amazon (but it is on amazon), and is not available on iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0

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Powerglove's Website

Dir en Grey - Withering to Death (2006)

For most of you who haven't heard of Dir en Grey, they are a 5 piece J-Rock, J-Metal, Metal, Alternative Rock, well, let's just go with Various Rock band from Osaka, Japan. They formed in 1997 and have had the same line-up of Kyo (Vocals), Kaoru (Guitar), Die (Guitar), Toshiya (Bass), and Shinya (Drums). Their first recognization outside of Japan into the US market of music was their 2006 release Withering to Death (other albums were released only in Asia while some were released in Asia and Europe). They are currently signed to Free-Will Records, which is a division of Sony Music.

Withering to Death is Dir en Grey's fifth studio album and was Dir en Grey's first official album released in Europe and North America (their previous album "Vulgar" was originally released in 2003 in Asia, but was released in Europe 3 months after Withering to Death). The album consists of fourteen tracks which include "Merciless Cult", "C", "Saku", "Kodoku ni Shisu, Yueni Kodoku", "Itoshisa Ha Fuhai ni Tsuki", "Jesus Christ R 'n R", "Garbage", "Machiavellism", "Dead Tree", "The Final", "Beautiful Dirt", "Spilled Milk", "Higeki wa Mabuta wo Oroshita Yasashiki Utsu", and "Kodou". Upon my first listening to the album (about 2 or 3 years ago now), I could only listen to the first three songs, which on my first listening, were amazing. Now that I have finally listened to the full album (I've listened to the track "The Final" in between those times), I can see how this got Dir en Grey onto the North American market. This album shows how talented Kyo is as a singer, at one point he can be singing so sincerely while in the next few seconds he can change to a death growl and back again to the nice side of his vocals. This is shown in depth in the songs "Merciless Cult" and "Saku" and is apparent in other songs as well. Saku was the album's second single and was voted as MTV2's Headbanger's Ball #1 Video of 2006, and it is a damn good song, it encompases screams, mid-tone vocals, fast paced growls, and even falsettos. All of that is over an already amazing band. To get a feeling for most of Dir en Grey's songs, if the guitars sound darker, it typically means that Kaoru wrote the song, while the more upbeat songs are usually written by Die.

Overall, the album was incredible, I honestly could not find anything wrong with it at all. Though not the band's best seller, it is their breakthrough album into North America and Europe. If you're into Maximum the Hormone, J-Metal, or even Metalcore to an extent, you should check them out. The album was released on May 16, 2006 in the US and is available on Amazon and itunes.

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

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Dir en Grey's Website

Quiet Riot - Metal Health (1983)

Most of you have probably heard of Quiet Riot, but incase you haven't, they were a 4 piece Heavy Metal band that formed in 1973. Their last line-up consisted of Kevin DuBrow (Vocals), Carlos Cavazo (Guitar), Rudy Sarzo (Bass), and Frankie Banali (Drums). Their most famous guitarist, Randy Rhoads, died in 1982 in a plane crash, while their founding vocalist, Kevin DuBrow, died in 2007 as a result of a Cocaine overdose, the band then spilt in 2008 as a result of his death. Their last album was signed to Chavis Records, while their album Metal Health was signed to Epic Records. And now to the review.

Metal Health was Quiet Riot's first album not to feature Randy Rhoads. After their album Quiet Riot II, he left to go join Ozzy Osbourne's band, and as mentioned before, died in a plane crash in 1982. The album consists of 10 tracks including "Metal Health", "Cum on Feel the Noize", "Don't Wanna Let You Go", "Slick Black Cadillac", "Love's a Bitch", "Breathless", "Run For Cover", "Battle Axe", "Let's Get Crazy", and "Thunderbird", which was a tribute song to Randy Rhoads. As I listened to this album, the first two tracks themselves, everyone has listened to these at some point, while the rest of the album I hardly ever heard of before. After the first two tracks, the quality of the tracks began to fade. It almost got hard to listen to after the first two tracks. (mind you, this is an album that has gone 6 times Platinum, and is one of the reasons that Metal went main stream). But some of the tracks stuck out as more arena rock type songs, those being Slick Black Cadillac, Run for Cover, and Let's Get Crazy. The one ballad on the album, Thunderbird, actually makes sense when you think about it, as it was about Randy Rhoads. There was also an instrumental track on the album, that being Battle Axe, which consisted of a bunch of scales and arpeggios. It was a great album in the beginning, a semi-decent album in the middle, and an okay album by the end.

Overall, this is one of Quiet Riot's most famous albums with two of their most famous songs on it. If you've ever heard Metal Health or Cum on Feel the Noize, then you should have this album. I'd recommend it to you if you're into Hair Metal more than Heavy Metal, cause it takes on a Hair Metal feel, also if you're into Arena Rock, you should check this out. It was released on February 8, 1983, and is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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Testament - The Legacy (1987)

Testament, for those of you who haven't heard of them before, is a 5 piece Speed/Thrash Metal band formed in 1983 in Oakland, California under the name "Legacy". They consist of Chuck Billy (Vocals), Eric Peterson (Guitar), Alex Skolnick (Guitar), Greg Christian (Bass), and Paul Bostaph (Drums). They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast Records (The Formation of Damnation), but have been signed to Atlantic Records (The Legacy, The New Order, Practice What You Preach, Souls of Black, The Ritual, and Low), Megaforce Records (The New Order, Practice What You Preach, and Souls of Black), Burnt Offerings Records (Demonic), and Spitfire Records (The Gathering). And now to the review part.

Testament's first full length release, 1987's "The Legacy", was recorded with the current lineup of Testament, except the drummer position was held by Louie Clemente. The album was recorded in Ithica, New York at Pyramid Sounds Studios, and released on July 7, 1987. The album contains 9 tracks, those being "Over the Wall", "The Haunting", "Burnt Offerings", "Raging Waters", "C.O.T.L.O.D." (Curse of the Legions of Death), "First Strike is Deadly", "Do or Die", "Alone in the Dark", and "Apocalyptic City". The album starts off with a quick guitar riff and then goes right into full gear with all members playing at what seems like their top speed. Chuck then comes in with his piercing lyrics hitting you as if being fired at you, even hitting high pitched falsettos at times, which I found a little bit odd, cause in some of the other tracks, he starts at an almost death metal growl, goes to his normal singing tone, and then hits the really high vocals (at times sounding like Rob Halford). This continues throughout the album, with the begining of "Burnt Offerings" sounding almost like a string quartet, only to hit you with a solid slow riff, only then to have both guitars doing a scale down the fretboard kicking off the main riff which is sped up significantly compared to the beginning riff. The lyrical stylings throughout the album seem to deal with Religion and Society in general. For the first release of Testament, it's one of the band's best albums, but wasn't enough to break them into mainstream media, which came later in the band's history.

Overall, it's a great album, if you're a fan of Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, or just Metal in general, you should have this album. Get this if you're into the classics, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, SLAYER!!!, Exodus, Over Kill, and Iron Maiden. Like mentioned before, the album was released on July 7, 1987, so it's in stores, or you can pick it up on itunes or amazon (link at the end)

Overall Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Buy the Album Here
Testament's Website

Annotations of an Autopsy - II: The Reign of Darkness (2010)

For those of you who haven't heard of AOAA, they're a 5 piece death metal band (earlier works could be considered more deathcore than anything else) from Lowestoft, England which formed in 2006. They consist of Steve "Sewer Mouth" Regan (Vocals), Jamie "Chinstrap" Sweeney (Guitar), Sam Dawkins (Guitar), Nath Applegate (Bass), and Brad Merry (Drums). They are currently signed to Nuclear Blast and Siege of Amida, previous works were signed to This City is Burning Records (2007's Welcome to Sludge City EP, currently out of print), and Ferret Records (2008's Before the Throne of Infection, their first full-length album). And now onto the review.

II: The Reign of Darkness contains 11 tracks. The album starts off with the intro track "And So It Begins...", which starts off with what appears to be a beating heart and other ambient noises. As the track progresses, it gets, what can best be described as metal being sharpened, while a recording of a broadcast message plays and an air raid siren goes off. This begins to set the mood of the album as sort of a post-apocalyptic take over (thus the album title "The Reign of Darkness"). The track then goes silent for a split second before the broadcasted message states "We're Doomed!" and then kicks off into the cd with a quick 2 second blast of drums starting off the track "In Snakes I Bathe", which leads to "Born Dead", "Bone Crown" (Featuring guest vocalist Erik Rutan, most famous for his work with Morbid Angel), "Emptiness", "Catastrophic Hybridization", "VII: The Horror, The Destruction...", "Impale the Sun", "Portrait of Souls", "Cryogenica", and ends with "Into the Black Slumber". Throughout the album, the tracks vary from subject to subject, as AOAA's lyrical styles mostly deal with subjects such as Gore, Death, and Sodomy, but it all holds together throughly. Certain tracks stick out as almost anthems, mainly "Bone Crown" as it starts and ends with Steve Regan chanting "I Am Hell" with the feeling that there is a large mob chanting with him. The album also contains what is rarely seen in death metal, that being the instrumental track, in this case it being "VII: The Horror, The Destruction..." which feels as though it's been influenced by Mastodon (mainly the song "Battle at Sea" from their EP "Lifesblood"), and it really holds up with the rest of the album. There was only one thing I didn't like about the album and that was the track "Into the Black Slumber". The track starts off sounding like there's a rain storm taking place. Normally I would start to think of Raining Blood and automatically go "SLAYER!!!!!" but alas, it was not so. After the raining, the track gets a sort of groove going, with the effect of thunder in the background. There's some pretty fast and technical drumming throughout the track, which I love in a song, the downside of the song for myself is in the ending. The track itself is 8:26 in length, yet the song itself starts at 20 seconds and ends at 6:24, you might be wondering at this point "what about the other 2:30?", like I said before, all omnious rain effects, it just seems drawn out.

Overall though, a solid performance throughout, would definitely reccommend it. If you're a fan of bands such as Whitechapel, Between the Buried and Me (Steve Regan's growls sound like a combination of Phil Bozeman and Tommy Giles Rogers), Job for a Cowboy, Suicide Silence, and even Cannibal Corpse, you might want to check Annotations of an Autopsy out. If you're looking for a copy of the album, it was released on January 18th, 2010 in the UK and was released worldwide on February 9, 2010, you can purchase the album on amazon (link at the end) or check out itunes as they're on there as well.

Overall rating: 4.2 out of 5

Buy the Album Here
Annotation of an Autopsy's Website

Introduction and What's to Come

In case this is your first time to the site, then welcome. This is where I plan on reviewing at least one album (mostly metal, but might change between other genres) a day for the next long period of time. Most postings will be done in the evening, so check back around midnight or so if you'd like to read the next album review. To start things off this week, I'm gonna cover a wide range of the genre's of metal as well as other genre's. Anything from Power Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, Black Metal, Goth Metal, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, Noise Metal, Grindcore, Deathcore, Mathcore, Unblack Metal, Hair Metal, Doom Metal, Drone Metal, Thrash Metal, Extreme Metal, Groove Metal, Metalcore, Industrial Metal, Alternative Metal, Nu-Metal, Symphonic Metal, Traditional Heavy Metal, and as the Monarch demands, 80's Speed Metal. There's also going to be time where I'll go off the beaten path and review something that's not metal. Those will range from Trance, to Reggae, to Blues, to anything else, endless possibilities there. Again, these will be my own viewpoints, feel free to comment about these, everyone has their own opinion. So enjoy the music. Gonna start things off this blog with two reviews, look for them at midnight