All Shall Perish-Awaken the Dreamers

I really, REALLY don't like deathcore. I've never seen the attraction to what I think is watered down death metal with misogynistic lyrics and a giant abundance of breakdowns. The closest thing I've ever come to liking within the genre was Glass Casket and the Red Chord, and most would consider those bands more akin to metalcore than the dreaded genre mentioned at the beginning.

But at the request of many people I know, I was urged to listen to this album. People told me it was "fuckin sick" and "brutal" which will never really sway me, but when I heard the word "diverse" being thrown around, I scoffed, but was now intrigued. I was never a fan of ASP's previous material, though I didn't hate the band. They were one of the originals in this now stagnant and stale genre, and like Job for a Cowboy (another band I've never been fond of), I can't really blame them for turning the term/genre into the joke that it's become (I'd give that dubious "honor" to bands like Carnifex, Suicide Silence, and Emmure, who have nothing but plagiarize more successful bands and dumb it further to appeal to the lowest common denominator).


The first song "When Life Meant More..." kicks off with an intro that reminded me of Decapitated, which leads into an okay death metal groove. I already hear some vocals in the middle that remind me somewhat of James Hetfield. Seriously. A little cheesy, but it raised my eyebrow. Some great solos are unfortunately ruined by cutting into a rather bland breakdown. Hopefully this doesn't become a pattern here.

Everyone told me about how awesome "Black Gold Reign" was and I gotta say...they're mostly right. 2/3 of the track consists of some appreciated nods to the gothenburg scene (which about 90% of the American metal scene now owes much to), but the other third's experimentation falls flat. Their (to my knowledge) first foray into power metal sounds like a drunken, bearded guy singing 3 Inches of Blo....hey wait a minute!

The guitars in "Never...Again" are actually charmingly over the top. They also sound strikingly similar to a video game soundtrack. The same sort of groove/half breakdown returns from the first song, but without the repetitive breakdown that ruined that song's ending. Pretty solid.

We get an instrumental break next that is actually fairly refreshing, though it's a shame that it's only a minute or so long. So far, this is much more of a melodic album than I thought it would be. Most of the experimenting (if you call singing clean experimenting) isn't too grating.

The title track tries to force some Opeth influence in , and is rather commendable for their first try. But uh oh, it allllmost goes into a typical "bro chant," one of the things that I have always despised about the genre. Keep the bro chants in youth crew hardcore please. Thankfully, it's saved by another melodic chorus and catchy riff towards the end.


"Memories of a Glass Sanctuary" sounds like the band had a day off and made the decision to smoke dope and blast "Damnation" on repeat. It's a rather soft song that you could probably give to your girl, so long as the name wouldn't drive her away. Trust me, trying to make a member of the opposite sex who ISN'T a fan of aggressive music appreciate artists with names like "Napalm Death" and "Vital Remains" is a pretty big task.

"Stabbing to Purge Dissimulation" is a good reminder about why I never liked this band before. Pig squeals, monotonous, lifeless breakdowns, and a distinct lack of guitar prowess that was seen on previous songs. Bleck. I know that those who were disappointed in the album not being "heavy enough" will most likely adore this song.

"Gagged, Bound, Shelved, and Forgotten" isn't helping the stereotype of deathcore being seemingly anti-women, and it continues the bland direction of the previous track (plus bringing back those underwhelming power metal shrieks). I also couldn't help but notice the little "cyber riff" towards the beginning. It's fairly common amongst most modern "chug chug" bands like Emmure (if you can tolerate it, go listen to the beginning of "When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong" and you'll see what I mean). It just sounds like a tactic to get the kids in the pit to move, nothing more, nothing less.

I remember Guy from the Red Chord saying he found that deathcore had more in common with nu-metal than death metal, and the beginning of "Until the End" could prove him right. It isn't hard to imagine a kid with a Disturbed shirt and baggy pants getting down to this one. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a catchy song. But catchy doesn't necessarily equal good. It turns into typical territory towards the end though. At this point, I'm already yearning to turn this off and just put on Cursed-III again.

The opening riffs of "From So Far Away" actually surprisingly reminiscent of Baroness. It turns into another wank session almost immediately afterwards, though it retains some of the slow churning that it had at the beginning. It's another instrumental as well, and feels like half Malmsteen, half Mastodon.

"Misery's Introduction" is just that; an acoustic guitar/orchestral introduction to the final song on the album, "Songs for the Damned." I originally mistook this as a Soilwork cover, which would have ruled, seeing as how their knack for decent melody probably would have worked well. Alas...oh yeah the song. It's kind of underwhelming. The song more or less feels like something that should have been placed in the middle of the record, and GOD some of the lyrics are lame ("It's 2 minutes past the midnight hour and you hate my voice like sugar coated sour"). I will give props to the clean singing at the end though. I'm not big on the good cop/bad cop routine anymore, but it was rather well done.


Overall, I went into this album dreading it, and actually came out pretty surprised. This has more in common with modern melodic death metal than deathcore (minus a few tracks in the middle) and shows me that there might be some life left in the rotting carcass of this genre. Not all of these new ideas work out, but there are enough that do that warrant it from being forgettable. I think some of my friends big into European metal could find several things to like with this, as could the band's fans who are looking for them to grow. A strong 7/10.

Wish

Wish I knew safety.
Wish nothing phased me.
Wish I felt more than just feelings of unrest.
Wish the darkness didn't cloud me.
Wish I wasn't an emotional wreck.

Maladjusted, forever fucked

The two weeks or so have surprisingly been rather satisfactory. Actually makes up for the lackluster months I've had before it. Well, almost.


The only thing that really sucked was the whole post office ordeal turning out to be a scam. I really don't even want to go into further detail about it since I've explained far too many times now, and it really boils my blood to even think about it.

But on to the positives:

-Going to Opeth/High on Fire/Baroness in Raleigh was one hell of a great time. Despite being incredibly irritated by a large portion of that crowd, I had a blast and loved every performance that night. High on Fire should have played longer, Opeth took an HOUR to set up, and I wish Baroness had a better sound mix, but overall it was great. What really pleased me was that I was actually able to shoot the show and add these 3 (relatively) big bands to an already extensive portfolio.

-Trash Talk/Bracewar/Alpha & Omega/Torch Runner/Capital Ill/The Shotdowns the next week was even better. For all concertgoers like myself, you ever have that one show that you just absolutely NEED to happen? This was it. I had a lot of built up rage that I needed to let out, and this was the perfect place to do it. I suppose my only complaint was that I was nailed right in my manhood during A&O's set, but I quickly recovered, as I do after most blows below my waist. Trash Talk was on fire tonight, and A&O made a fan out of me for sure. Torch Runner is still the best unsigned band in NC right now. Get into them while you can. Soon they'll be big. What may have been even more memorable than the show itself was the experience afterwards. I had 3 people in tow with me (drives to Raleigh by yourself suuuuck), so per their suggestion, we went to a place called Cookout, which was reminiscent of Checkers and Sonic. Unfortunately, I decided to trust my GPS with directions, which did indeed take us to Cookout, albeit a GHETTO one. We were repeatedly harassed by a homeless gentleman, who most likely was on more drugs that night than what may have been humanly possible. After I gave him a couple or so bucks, he went up to the poor guy working the place, and spouted a lot of gibberish and anti-Mexican slurs at him. Fucked up.

-More extras work on One Tree Hill. Paycheck for that should be coming soon. Ironically, we filmed a scene inside of a church. Luckily lightning didn't come down and strike me. Sophia Bush looks a lot better in person than I thought, and there was another girl shooting scenes who might have had one of the smallest frames I've ever seen, but was one gorgeous creature. If anyone knows anything about the show and its regular cast of females (this one had brown hair), lemme know about this chick.

-Caught a screening of Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I enjoyed a good portion of it, but it seemed like a lot of the humor fell flat. I know everyone is saying that it looks like Kevin Smith is trying too hard to copy Judd Apatow with this one, but one forgets that if anything, Apatow's films are more similar to Smith's older works (occasional grossout humor, smart, realistic dialogue, an awkward serious act towards the end). Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, and Justin Long were the highlights. I definitely can't watch Superman Returns again after seeing Brandon Routh's role in here. I'm sure another screening of it will cause it to grow on me, but for now, I'd say just catch it on video.

-I've landed a new job. Starting this Thursday, I'm working at Journey's in the mall. While it really pains me to go back to the hellhole that is Independence Mall, I'm just grateful to have landed a steady job right now. What is better is that when they open their kid's store, I'll transfer over to that, and most likely will be in the running for co-manager. Yay.

-Halloween downtown was a blast. Didn't really have to spend a lot of money on anything that day (costume-wise or drink-wise) but it still turned out to be quite fun. Dressing up as a bloody jesus surprisingly didn't get me killed. Jessica Gard and myself took quite a few pics which are up on my myspace page. Probably the best costume I saw all night was a tie between Mystique (from the comics) and the Greenman from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

-I attended Today is the Day/Jucifer/Monkeyknifefight at the soapbox. To call it an interesting show would be an understatement. While every band did a swell job, little things here and there prevented it from being an amazing show. Weedeater canceling (due to their guitarist breaking his hand) drove away a majority of the crowd, Jucifer having BAD guitar problems after their first song, and Today is the Day's films making no sense whatsoever. That being said, it was still one hell of a good show though. Can't wait to see Jucifer again at the end of the month in Raleigh with Black Skies.

-After the aforementioned show ended, I received a text and call from Rob Sullivan, vocalist for Ruiner, saying them and FC5 (a melodic hardcore band from Japan) were almost in town and were going to get in by about 4am. The gang of 10 did indeed get here by then and crashed overnight. I barely got any sleep due to my weird reactions with hearing rain outside. After everyone got up the next morning, we made a trip to the mall so FC5 could shop. According to the band, everything in Japan is more expensive than over here, so they wanted to do some clothes shopping. We spent a little over an hour there, and then made a trip to Walmart, so the van could have its oil changed. I made an offer for those interested to go record shopping, since I knew Walmart loves to take their sweet time with looking at automobiles. So, with three of the dudes from Ruiner tagging along, we went to Gravity and did some vinyl shopping. Everyone bought at least 2-3 items (myself included) and then we went back to Walmart. It took over THREE FUCKING HOURS to get oil in a van changed. Ridiculous. Before this, FC5 mentioned that they wanted a good priced steak from around here. So, like every red-blooded American doofus would do, I suggested Outback Steakhouse. :P Wasn't super cheap, but I noticed nobody had any complaints afterwards. :D After we got done eating, they went to the show to load in. I went back home and grabbed my camera and changed (was super smelly from being out all day and from the rain). The show itself was AWESOME. Right up there with MLIW in VA and Trash Talk as far as being one of the best hardcore shows of the year. A Shot Below the Belt and Conquer Me gave what I thought were their best performances they've had so far. Ambush wasn't too bad, but I thought the breakdowns seemed forced. FC5 though, stole the god damn show. For a group of quiet guys from Japan who just wanted steak and vans shoes, they were superb and on fire on stage. I haven't been that impressed by a hardcore band I had very little knowledge on since I saw At Half-Mast last year. They threw in a Refused cover as well (Rather Be Dead), and I think I was one of the few who noticed what it was. Ruiner did an great job themselves like always, and it was funny being fucked with/jokingly called out by Rob for being a drunk moron. The brief speeches that were given were very appreciated too (such as saying that nobody is special these days, and that Rick Ta Life is a jerkoff. That makes 2 bands I've seen this year that have called him out hahaha). What made this show worth it though was the turnout. Nobody really had any real idea about how well, if at all, this show would draw, but it seemed to be a damn good turnout for a Monday. Kids circle pitting and dancing a LOT for about 85% of the night. Made my little bad self smile. After the show was done, I picked up a few pieces of merch, got a big "end of tour" group photo and said my parting words. All great guys, and two of the best bands in melodic hardcore right now.


Thats it for now it seems. I'm sure some other fun stuff will come about this week. I'm watching the house from this Saturday until the next, and have MC Chris at the soapbox to attend. I'll keep my fingers crossed on the job and hope that I don't go insane being back in the cesspool that is our mall.

Origin-Antithesis

I'm incredibly picky with extreme metal, specifically death metal. I've always felt like most bands in the genre bored me, though I respect their talents. There have been a few notable exceptions over the years, such as Dark Tranquillity, Vital Remains, and the band I'm reviewing now, the mighty Origin.


This band can play better than you. Its a pretty established fact. Most of the focus goes to skinsman John Longstreth, who deservedly gets a lot of credit for helping make this band so (in)famous. But some of the real stars of this album are guitarists Paul Ryan and Jeremy Turner, whose speed and technical prowess could put most of the noodlers out there to shame. The previously mentioned three musicians don't leave you feeling bored like most tech-death bands, but rather floored. How can human play this fast without the assistance of computer tools and whatnot? Hell the intro to "Wrath of Vishnu" sounds like they smoked crack, put on Calculating Infinity and said "dude let's try this for a change." Its catchy as hell, and also confusing as hell (in a good way of course!).

What stood out to me about this record wasn't just how fast they played, but the underlying melodies and surprisingly catchy riffs. In these departments, the bands usually prefer to stray away and try to remain as "brutal" as possible, thus sometimes forgetting that you're writing, what do they call them again? Oh yeah, SONGS. Origin write SONGS that just happen to feel like you're getting hit in the face with an anvil repeatedly. And craft up some really insanely catchy riffs and melodies that might be hard at first to pick up with first listen, but with a few more, you're hooked.

I suppose if I had one complaint, it would be that the vocals are kind of buried in the mix. You can still hear them decently well, but they should stand out more on a death metal album if you ask me.

If you're finding yourself bored with extreme music, especially the overcrowded technical death metal scene, give this a shot. It might not be super-revolutionary or anything like that, but it sure is a lot of fun (and the fun of trying to air drum to this is certainly tiring).

Annihilation Time-III: Tales of the Ancient Age

Have you ever wondered what Black Flag might sound like had they grown up worshiping bands like Deep Purple and Iron Maiden? Well...this might not be the exact answer you've been looking for, but god DAMN if it doesn't come close. The album's subtitle is appropriate, as its a perfect blend of all the aforementioned bands, but also adding in Municipal Waste's partying attitude and retro appreciation. This, to my knowledge, is the third full length from these long time punk rockers, but its their first for retro-loving label TeePee Records. And it couldn't be more fitting. I know I've already discussed just how much of a love letter this is to the bands of yesterday, but thats why this record has so much charm. Sometimes its fun to revisit the past once in a while. Some hardcore purists might look down on this due to the length of most of the songs (though the longest is 4:29) but it shouldn't be that much of an issue to everyone else. Its also rare that most hardcore bands these days have RIFFS. Like the kind of riff that Tony Iommi would lay down on record and would cause many youngin's to break out their bong. Lyrically, its all the typical fun stuff that makes you wanna say "hey dude, lets get smashed and fucking RAGE tonight." Its pretty hard to hate an album with songs like "Just Guzzlin'."

I love this record. Its the best party album of the year, unless of course you're a frat who thinks punk is for "faggots" and would rather look for more intellectual music like Trapt. Get into this now. Like NOW.

Century Media: 20 Years of Extreme

For quite a good amount of years, Century Media was my favorite record label on the planet. They could do no wrong and were picking up fresh bands that could change the metal landscape (Shadows Fall, Lacuna Coil) or old timers who were already established as well-rounded reliable bands (The Haunted, Iced Earth, Dark Tranquillity, Napalm Death). Over the years though, they've made an abundance of questionable decisions that ranged from signing unoriginal bands that would most likely be forgotten in 10 years (In This Moment, IWABO and the Agonist anyone?), to bands only designed to cater to the new emerging deathcore phenomenon (Arsonists Get All the Girls, Winds of Plague, and, no offense to them, Despised Icon). They've become a shadow of their former selves, but with this new compilation, celebrating their 20 years of existence as one of the most "extreme" labels on the planet, they gathered together all of their current roster and asked them to cover a song from a band (past or present) to add to the piece.

When I first heard about this, to say I had mixed feelings might be an understatement. I was happy to hear some of the bands on the roster giving us new materal, though I was just as unenthusiastic to hear about some of their choices of bands

And now, I shall break down and review each cover, letting you which might warrant you picking this up and which are better off downloaded from random music blogs. Or if ANY of these might just be a better excuse for you to check out the original track instead.

1) Arch Enemy-The Book of Heavy Metal (originally done by Dream Evil). The intro certainly feels like Arch Enemy thats for sure, as does the first verse. Angela's vocals on here are definitely NOT a plus though. She tries to above and beyond her typical death growl on this (no, don't worry, she is NOT doing clean singing). If you were to listen right after Amott's solo, you'll see what I mean. She sounds more like Minnie Mouse getting a vasectomy on here than the strong female she's set out to sound like on their past few albums. Disappointing, but not overall bad. Just please Angela, don't do that higher than high voice again. Ever.

2) Dark Tranquillity-Broken (originally done by Sentenced) This was my most anticipated cover on here, being a HUGE DT fan and though I was never a huge Sentenced fan, I thought their lyrics were kind of close to the other. Mikael rarely uses his clean vocals in songs these days, but uses them to GREAT effect here, before bring out the "good cop/bad cop" part towards the end of the verse. Kind of depressing that this was the last track to feature long time bassist Michael Nicklasson, who departed the band not too long ago. So far, my favorite of the album and one that'll probably keep listening to even after tiring of this.

3) Heaven Shall Burn-Whatever That Hurts (originally done by Tiamat) While the first two covers on here kind of make sense (Arch Enemy had Gus G. of Dream Evil tour with them once, as did DT and Sentenced tour in the states together for their first times over here), this is an oddball. One is a German straightedge, vegan metalcore band, the other being a Swedish doomy, goth metal band. This is very cool though. They've given the track an almost Daylight Dies/heavier Katatonia vibe, and the sparse female vocals work wonderfully here. A pleasant surprise.

4) Shadows Fall-December (originally done by Only Living Witness) If I'm not mistaken, they've already released this elsewhere. Good for the Shads to give props to the old metallic hardcore scene that they grew out of, now just go on and make good music again dang it! Oh yeah the song. Brian doesn't hold a candle Jonah Jenkins when it comes to singing (go listen to his contribution on "Grim Heart/Black Rose by Converge to see what I mean). Not too shabby, definitely one of the groovier things they've done lately (groove n gloom baby). Solid job.

5) Brand New Sin-Watching Over Me (originally done by Iced Earth). This was one of the few ones I was very nervous on. One thing is certain, this dude ain't Matt Barlow. Nor is he trying to be. BNS has always been a hard rock band with some slight southern metal influences, so I would expect that covering a power/thrash band wouldn't come out perfectly. The solo is pretty spot on, and it retains some of the same sorrow that the original had. I was actually hoping the whole song would be done acoustically like the intro was. But it wasn't. Pretty good one here. Now if Godbelow (their old band) had done this...hahahaha.

6) Wolf-Alma Matter (originally done by Moonspell). Well another odd combo haha. Wolf rule, Moonspell kinda do. But they ain't down to do the evil thing. They managed to turn a rather dark, evil track into quite a drinking song that sounds like something that could have come out of the early 80s. I wonder if the Moonspell guys even party, because if they do, I'm sure they'll get a kick out of this. This ruled.

7) Mercenary-Burning Angel (originally done by Mercenary). One band I kinda like covering one I got sick of. But hot DAMN do the Danish blokes give this song balls again! Mercenary's high vocals have always been one of their high points and it doesn't disappoint. The guitars sound just as tight as the original, with the solo actually sounding even more varied than Amott's from 2001. Probably up there with the DT and Wolf tracks as my favs so far.

8) God Forbid-Master Killer (originally done by Merauder). I AM DA MASTA KEEELAAAA. Oh what a classic of NYHC. Good to see they haven't forgotten their roots either. The production makes it sound like an outtake from "Gone Forever." Its a good two-stepper much like the original was, though I think the drums get to sound like overkill at times. Byron sounds a little bored here too. Though GF has had some tendencies to do covers live these days (they covered Sepultura's "Propaganda" when I saw them last year), I doubt they'd perform this even after numerous requests.

9) Warbringer-Execute Them All (originally done by Unleashed). And here, one of thrash's new upstarts covers one of death metal's OGs. Fitting that the guys obsessed with war and the apocalypse would choose a true viking anthem. Lyrically, I could actually have believed Warbringer would write a song like this. Quite thrashy, with some of the same death metal attitude left intact. I'm sure it'll be easy to get the kids in the pit to scream along to "EXECUTE THEM ALL! THAT'S MY FINAL WORD!"

10) Grave-Vermin (originally done by Asphyx) Grave only reformed a few years ago and decide to cover the recently reformed Asphyx (playing at MDF next year!). These two were always underrated in the death metal scene (Phil from ATR said Grave influenced him to start singing), so it should be perfect. And it is. This is the first track to actually almost make me headbang. Groovy, catchy, heavy as hell. I actually hit replay on this one.

11) Architects-Officer Down (originally done by Stampin' Ground). And now we approach CM's newer roster of mostly "odd" bands. Architects are from the UK, as were the band they're covering (if you've never heard of SG, you're better off). They're touring with Sceneacide Silence and Manure, but I don't know why. This is fucking GOOD. They've got bits of the same chaotic noise that I find in bands of the heavy hardcore variety, though that could always be parts of the SG song that I'm hearing.
UPDATE: after listening to Architects online, its definitely the SG parts. Oh well. Architect (no s) is better anyway. :P

12) Napalm Death-Outconditioned (originally by Despair). Its ND, what do ya expect? This went by rather short, though I suppose thats common practice for Barney and co. At first I had trouble trying to figure out which "Despair" band this was. Turns out its the old thrash band who put out 3 albums between the late 80s and early 90s. This song is half the time that the original was but it still thrashes quite well. Cool, but Napalm's had better covers.

13) Krisiun-Human Dissection (originally done by Demolition Hammer). I've always had trouble getting into Krisiun due to most of their production, but ironically its a cover that lets me finally listen without getting irritated. Yet another nod to an underrated thrash band. Lyrically, this song still sounds silly, even with a trio of crazy dudes from Brazil singing over it. Definitely a good headbanger though for the thrash and death dudes who would be interested in this comp.

14) Cryptopsy-Oh My Fucking God (originally done by Strapping Young Lad). Probably my 2nd most anticipated cover on here for various reasons. Partly, I wanted to see if there was ANY ounce of the old Cryptopsy left after that ATROCIOUS album they released this year, and partly because anybody covering SYL better do it right. Or Devin's skullet may find them and eat them. The sample is still in there. The drums sound off in the distance towards the beginning, but once the sample is done, it kicks in. Its got some of the same vibes as the classic, but the vocalist sounds like he's trying to be Devin a little too much at times instead of himself. Flo's drumming on here is top notch though. Weird to see one drumming great cover another. However the big blunder that knocks this down a peg, is the lack of a certain classic line from the original. It helps make the song so unique, but yet I guess a "serious" death metal would rather not demean themselves with such silly song banter. Boo at you gentlemen. Boo.

15) Maroon-Baphomet's Throne (originally done by Samael). Another case of HSB/Tiamat here, though Samael has more flirts with black and industrial than doom. Instead of playing it slow though, they kick it into overdrive. Vocals are quite wicked, with the keyboards keeping its original black metal feel intact. It develops an almost metalcoreish groove towards the beginning, which started to scare me, but its saved by one little fast break at the end. Okay.

16) Watch Them Die-Breeding Death (originally done by Bloodbath). Love the intro sample. Don't remember if it was in the original. WTD is an interesting band, crust punk one minute, death/thrash the next, metalcore the next. But thats why they rule. The gross out lyrics of Mikael Akerfeldt's other band, oddly fits them. Obviously, Mikael's growls are better. The middle of the song is where it goes from good to fucking awesome. Pat's delivery here makes him sound like a demented killer, whereas Mikael kinda sounded like another gruff death metal d00d. Another pleasant surprise.


And now on to disc 2:


16) Firewind-Believe in Nothing (originally done by Nevermore). Wow TWO covers of this song this year? All That Remains did a pretty decent on their newest album. Sadly, one of my most anticipated songs on here is also the most disappointing on here so far. I love both bands, seriously. But Firewind just sound BORED here. Where's the same explosive passion they usually have? I mean yes this is a slow song, but the original still had some crunch to it! And those vocals toward the end...ughhh. At least Gus G. does a pretty good impression of Jeff Loomis' solo.

17) Dream Evil-Let the Killing Begin (originally done by Arch Enemy) Wow TWO AE covers on here? Kinda cool, I guess. At least this is from the Johan-era. Thankfully, the main singer doesn't try to sing like Johan (sorry AE fans reading, but I think the dude sucked on those first few records). I always thought this track needed a clean singer over it and I'll be damned, they took a mediocre song and turned it into an awesome, fist banging power metal song! The guitars, ironically still sound like Michael Amott's though. Like his exact tuning, production over it, etc. Maybe they did some wonders in the studio and just took out their own guitars, while throwing in the original's.

18) Fear My Thoughts-The Weapon They Fear (originally done by Heaven Shall Burn). One German band covering the other, difference being that the intro this time is spoken as opposed to being screamed. This is definitely not the same. Feels kind of like FMT gave this their own little spin, but with the frontman trying to imitate the singer from A7X. Too bad its spinning in the wrong direction. I'm ever so stoked that German nu-metal is still alive, though I wonder if it were ever even alive. This was an interesting one to say the least, though not in a good way.

19) The Agonist-Monochromatic Stains (originally done by Dark Tranquillity).






































20) The Forsaken-You'll Never See (originally done by Grave). The Forsaken have always worked better as a cover band than an actual band (go seek their Metallica covers to see what I mean), so its no surprise that this is pretty cool. Vocals are kind of comical, and don't really have the same impact that the original Swedish band has. Kind of disposable, though fun.


21) Devian-Isolated (originally done by Morgoth). Well I'll be honest. This is the first track where I've heard of neither band, so this was like a completely new experience for me. I'm sure there are many death metal fanboys who are taking a break from metal-archives to call me a poser while reading this. As for the song itself, its got quite an evil riff towards the beginning. Vocals kind of remind me of Jeff Walker and Ross Sewage (Impaled) at times. When its slow parts kick in, its a little reminiscent of Morbid Angel and Obituary. Its a pretty rockin tune, very early 90s sounding.

22) Heaven Shall Burn-Downfall of Christ (originally done by Merauder). Two HSB tunes, and a second Merauder cover? Look nothing against either band, but I'm sure there are plenty of bands that you haven't paid homage to yet. Song's kinda standard stuff. At least they're playing this one at normal HSB speed. I can't imagine slowing down a Merauder song and having it sound like anything but garbage.

23) Aborted-Playing Dead (originally done by Turmoil). WHAT THE FUCK. ARE. YOU! DOING. ABORTED. THIS. COVER. BLOWS. See I made a little Turmoil pun/reference. I r teh funnaye. Well, at least its more ironic than this joke of a cover. I suppose its fitting considering Aborted talk about death and gore so much to pick Turmoil's most "violent" sounding song. Too bad none of the lyrics are gorey/bloody you imbeciles. I suppose it does take some talent in order to turn a classic metallic hardcore song into a completely unlistenable deathcore turd. Skip this one.

24) Terror-Boxed In (originally done by Subzero). I wasn't even aware Subzero was on CM. Though I love Terror, I kind of wish they had picked a band to cover that didn't sound so similar to them. I know at one point the Cro-Mags had a brief partnership with CM. That would have been rad to hear Scott Vogel singing "Don't Tread on Me."

25) Napalm Death-Messiah (originally done by Hellhammer). This is from an older CM Napalm Death release (Leaders Not Followers Part 2) that came out 4 years ago. Kinda feels weak that they'd throw this one on here considering most people have already heard it. Don't get me wrong, this still rules hard. But I wonder if they could have used this vacant spot for something else.

26) Asphyx-Os Abysmi Vel Daath (originally done by Celtic Frost). These old timers just got back together, and for their first new piece of work, they covered one of Celtic Frost's NEW songs from 2006's Monotheist. A lot of old time CF fans didn't care for their new record, complaining that it was "slowed down" as opposed to being fast and evil like the CF of old, so its odd that any band, much less an old legend like Asphyx, would choose to cover one of the songs from that record. This is a pretty decent one, though it gets somewhat boring halfway through.

27) Zimmer's Hole-Doommaker (originally done by Old Man's Child). Zimmers Hole brings teh lulz, OMC does not. Its quite a task to take a serious black metal song and strip it down to a groovy, beer-raisin' thrasher while still throwing in their little brand of ZH humor. But my god Jed and co. did it. This must not have been hard for Gene Hoglan to do, seeing as how he drummed for both bands. Another one I hit repeat on.

28) Fu Manchu-Words to Live By (originally done by Penance). Modern doom/stoner gods Fu Manchu have never really gotten the credit they deserve, and neither has the band they're covering here. This. Fucking. Rules. Go smoke a bowl and listen to this one. This is the equivalent of finally getting the hot girl you've been lusting after for so long. It may have actually taken the top spot for my favorite song on the record.

29) Manntis featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment-Heaven's a Lie (originally done by Lacuna Coil). Much like my review of The Agonist, I think this sums up my thoughts on this one.



God that was painful.

30) Kivimetsan Druidi-Leaves (originally done by the Gathering). How does one go about pronouncing that name anyway? Anyways, pagan/folk metal covering one of the classic bands of the gothic metal genre. This one just doesn't work. The harsh male vocals sound awkward, and the female singer doesn't carry nearly the same range or emotion that Anneke (who if you're reading this, I love you and want to father many babies with you). I'm sure this band's own material sounds great, but they can't seem to pull off a cover well. At all.

31) Intronaut-Dixie Whiskey (originally done by Eyehategod). Oy FINALLY we reach the end. And what an end! Slooooowwww and heavy covering sllloowwwweeerrrrr and heavierrrrrrr. It seems like a match made in heaven, or rather, maybe in an ABC store. Even though CM's been a bad signing spree lately, Intronaut was one of the few ones that stood apart. And for good reason. They aren't playing grade-D metalcore and aren't trying to please the br00tal kids looking for something to wear under their Emmure and Carnifex hoodies. Its progressive metal for the sludge/doom crowd, and they cover this song with class. Bravo gentlemen. May you have a bright future in the world of extreme music.



In conclusion, its a much more solid release than one might expect. Though there are quite a few mediocre, and downright awful tracks here (most of the former and latter are from the newer signings), there are just as many that remind us of when this label used to be the king. Its a nice addition to any metal fan's collection, and remind us that cover songs can still be fun and even a joy to listen to. If I had to rate this, I'd give it, oh, 7 out of 10. If you can find this cheap, buy it. If not, download it and keep the tracks you like (though I hope you don't like the Manntis and Agonist tracks. Them shits sucked yo). I myself, will most likely be uploading some of the tracks I appreciated most from this to the blog in the next few days from now.

Until then...I AM DA MASTA KILLAAAAAA.

Recent Downloadzzz part 2

Century Media: 20 Years of Extreme
Origin-Anthithesis
Coffins-Buried Death
Atavist-II: Ruined
Ringworm-Justice Replaced by Revenge
Rot in Hell-Discography
Rosetta-Wake/Lift
Rise and Fall-Hellmouth (because I realized I have everything of theirs minus this)
Kylesa-No Ending/ A 100 Degree Heat Index
Masaru Sato-Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla OST (go ahead make fun of me. ;____;)
Give Em Hell-We Are the Wolves.


Most of these will have real reviews come tomorrow (though I can say already that Rosetta is amazing, and the Kylesa EP is solid as shit), with the CM compilation getting its own entry due to it being just covers.

Sorry theres been such a small amount of activity lately. Being sick + having an ear infection + job hunting still=no time for the bloggy blog.


So uh, see you soon folks.