100 METAL ALBUMS IN 100 DAYS • Page 2

DAY 53



Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious (1991)

I enjoyed Heartwork, despite the label 'melodeath' that is attributed to it. I was eager to delve into Carcass' earlier years, to get a feel for their trve death metal roots.

What I found was wicked, disturbing, and downright metal as hell. Apparently this album is mostly about disposing bodies and murder and whatnot. What's more metal than that? Everything is evil sounding, from the vocals to the riffs to the drums that change beats almost fanatically. One minute, circle pit. Next, thunderous blast beats. The song titles are pretty gross (nothing quite Cannibal Corpse-level). What even is a jigsore? I can only imagine what parents said about this stuff when it came out in the early 90's. Either way, this is better than Heartwork.

Overall: 8.5/10

Favorite songs: all are great, but I thoroughly enjoyed "Symposium of Sickness"

 

I've added ratings for the albums I've listened to in the OP since the transition to this site. That being said...

DAY 54



Meshuggah - obZen (2008)

When I went through my whole djent phase, I never made the time to listen to Meshuggah. Mostly because they're not djent - whether or not they unintentionally gave birth to the genre or if it even is a genre is a conversation for another day. Destroy Erase Improve was a decent first exposure to the band, although it did feel sort of repetitive. This album feels the same, for the most part - although it's much cleaner.

One thing Meshuggah is is heavy. They are heavy as goddamn hell. I would probably die at their show. It literally feels like nonstop hammers to the chest. The drums always stick out because they're in 4/4 while the rest of the band plays in weird polyrhythms and whatnot, which is another trademark of the band. It's entertaining, but only for so long. It's actually kind of exhausting. By the time the lead single "Bleed" came on, I felt assaulted, sonically speaking. And that song felt like a freaking jackhammer. I swear these guys invented the chug-chug guitars. It's not really my thing (anymore), even if the tone is flawless. Seriously, that guitar tone is just gorgeous.

If non-stop heaviness with little variation mixed in with some weird math time signatures is your thing, then you'll love this album. As for me, I need minimal doses of it or I just get worn out. It's fun, but not for long.

Overall: 7.5/10

Favorite songs: "Lethargica" "Dancers to a Discordant System"

 

It's crazy you gave Godflesh only a 4/10. That album is pretty sick IMO. How many times do you listen to an album before you review it? Godflesh is a band that takes repeat listens to truly digest because there is so much going on. I think the best way to listen to Streetcleaner is to pick up the deluxe edition that has instrumental and stripped down tracks and shows you how complex the songs really are. Also, you don't listen to the albums in order? You just pick them at random?

 

I usually listen to every album at least twice, sometimes 3. If I really like it, I'll listen to it multiple times before posting about it. Godflesh was unique because it was the first album I didn't enjoy. I'm not really into industrial metal, so it didn't have that going for it. Secondly, it just kind of sounded like a bunch of Neanderthals grunting with some weird tribal beats and whatnot. It totally wasn't my thing. I listened to it twice, but I might give it another go in the manner you suggested. There's only been one album that I couldn't get all the way through, and that was the Dimmu Borgir one.

I use an RNG to pick my album listening order. Some days I'll pick whatever I want (I did that with Reign In Blood) but mostly I just go with what comes up.

 

I like the RNG idea and you description of that record is pretty hysterical. I would give it another go. I am not a huge fan of industrial either but that album and Godflesh in general are just "different" in some weird way.

 

DAY 55



Mastodon - Crack the Skye (2009)

Until now, Leviathan had been my only exposure to this band. I wasn't sure what to expect by skipping Blood Mountain and heading straight to their fourth album. Things are definitely more on the prog side, with some stoner and sludge thrown in. I only have Leviathan to compare this to, and this album feels much more grandiose as a whole. It sounds as if the band sat down and pondered on how to make a record about the end of the world, and this album came out. The different dynamics are all over the place - I mentioned stoner, sludge, and prog. There are riffs for days and three different lead vocalists, so nothing feels forced or stale. Some transitions are killer - there was a crazy shift in tempo and mood in the middle of the third song that blew my mind. That happens plenty on this album.

I won't try to make sense of the story - some guy flies close to the sun and his umbilical cord melts and he goes to this spirit world and then joins a Russian cult and takes residence in Rasputin's body and the Devil chases him blah blah blah

Either way, it's a fantastic album.

Overall: 8.5/10

Favorite songs: "Oblivion" "Quintessence"

 

I am glad you got to this album. Crack the Skye was definitely the album that showcased the transition in sound for the band. Mastodon has always been one of my favorite bands and I have seen them grow in so many ways. They never disappoint. It is funny, I have seen them a few times but I got to see them on their very first show when Remission was released and it is insane how big they are now. One of the coolest tours I saw them on was the BlackDiamondSkye tour. It was actually on this album cycle as the name suggests and they toured with Alice in Chains and The Deftones. It was a pretty sick tour!

 

Holy shit AiC and Deftones?? That's an insane lineup!

 

Yeah, Mastodon opened the show up. It was in Boston. So good!

 

DAY 56



Possessed - Seven Churches (1985)

Apparently this band/album gave birth to the term "death metal" - one of the songs on this album is literally called "Death Metal." They are also credited with bridging the gap between thrash and death metal. From what I've read, it was a landmark album in the metal world upon its release.

However, that doesn't mean I enjoyed it. Right away I noticed how buried the solos were in the mix and how boring the drums were. Seriously, the drummer must have gone to the "Lars Ulrich School of Straightforward Vanilla Drumming" or something. That's a bit harsh, but there was nothing exciting about it. While we're talking about Metallica, this album just sounds like a subpar version of them. The riffs are boring and some of the songs kind of go on long musical breaks with little direction. I don't know, nothing really struck me as inventive. I understand this album's historical contributions to the genre, I just don't care for it, even after a few listens.

Overall: 6/10

Favorite songs: Probably the title track?

 

Cool thread, will be keeping up! Interested to see your thoughts on the Morbid Angel album; been listening to Covenant a lot recently

 

DAY 57



Iron Maiden - Powerslave (1984)

The previous Iron Maiden album on this list, The Number of the Beast, was a favorable listen. To be honest, this is one of those bands where I could just have a whole separate list, but for the sake of this experiment I limited it to these two albums.

It's safe to say I consider Powerslave better than Number. The trademark galloping bass and dual guitar leads are something I'll never get tired of. Even the vocal style - while not my favorite style by a long shot - doesn't detract from the overall listening experience. I could honestly just listen to this band for the bass alone. I'm wondering what Bruce does when the band goes on their 3+ minute music breaks like in "The Duelist". The whole album is strong, with the only exception perhaps being "Back In The Village" which I consider to be the weakest track lyrically/vocally speaking.

Gives me flashbacks to trying to cover "2 Minute to Midnight" in my crappy high school band.

Overall: 8.5/10

Favorite songs: all of them except "Back In The Village"

 

I like Iron Maiden and can appreciate their songwriting but I need them in small doses just because their songs are so grandiose and long. Bruce is a an amazing vocalist as well.

 

DAY 58



Sepultura - Beneath the Remains (1989)

Another band my metal head friends praised all through high school, they mostly remained that "Brazilian metal band" that I never got around to. But damn, this album is thrashy as hell. It immediately invoked mild to heavy headbanging, much like Reign in Blood and Darkness Descends. Honestly, it sounds like it could have come straight from Master of Puppets. There's nothing flashy or innovative here - just a quick and solid thrash album. Everything is in the same key and the vocals show little to no range, but that's not too bothersome. Early Metallica taught me how to play guitar and this album makes me want to drag out the Schecter and learn some more thrash riffs.

Overall: 8/10

Favorite songs: "Inner Self" "Slaves of Pain"

 

Definitley worth checking out some more of their albums at some point to see how they progressed from Beneath up to Roots. Chaos AD is a ridiculously good album and is where they really started to bring their more South American roots to the forefront.

Also I'm glad you brought this thread over to Chorus as I was really enjoying it on AP.

 

Thanks for checking it out! I was a bit bummed because I found out that AP was going under the day it ceased to exist so I didn't get to save any of the blurbs, but I still have my list.

I definitely want to look more into Sepultura. Beneath the Remains isn't even their best album from what I've read. Will for sure dive deeper.

 

DAY 59



Death - Scream Bloody Gore (1987)

Death! This band has been one of the biggest takeaways from this list. Both Human and Symbolic were fantastic, and I'm only too happy to listen to more. Obviously, when you go from listening to their 4th and 6th albums to their debut, things may seem kind of worse. Either way, this sounded exactly how I expected it to sound - Death before they really figured themselves out. It's raw, the mix is whatever (vocals are kind of buried), there's little technicality - but the promise is there. The opening riff to "Evil Dead" hints at the more progressive side this band would explore down the road. Solid debut from a legendary band. Since this is the last Death album on this list, I'll absolutely be checking out the rest of their discography - which is exactly what this list set out to do in the first place - listen to what I've missed over the years and find the gold.

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Seven Churches by Possessed is often referred to as being the first true death metal album, while others disagree and mention this album. I've no horse in this race, but Scream Bloody Gore definitely fits the bill better.

Overall: 7.5/10

Favorite songs: "Zombie Ritual" "Evil Dead"

 

DAY 60 (3/5 of the way there!!)



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

I had irrationally painted this band to be God's gift to metal by their name alone. Those Once Loyal initially disappointed me but clicked after about 4-5 listens - and "The Killchain" is one of the best songs I've listened to throughout this whole list. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same excitement towards their debut. There are more elements of grindcore here, which through my experiences listening to Terrorizer and Napalm Death on this list has not done much to warm me to the genre. Everything is very muddy and blends together. The vocals are hard to hear. The drums hammer away like some automaton in a manufacturing plant. In fact, that's what this album is - factorycore. Dirty walls of sound. Not my thing.

Overall - 6.5/10

Favorite songs: the first one is decent


DAY 61



Manilla Road - Crystal Logic (1983)

Hell yeah! I had to find a bigger picture of the album art because the art is so glorious. It takes the right amount of cheesiness for me to not pass over an album cover without a glance. This one is perfect. I would kill to have this poster.

Anyways, the music. I'd never even heard of these guys, much less familiarized myself with their sound. If you would have shown me this album a year ago I would have laughed. In fact, I was smiling throughout the whole first (second) song - it was so cheesy but damn catchy! As I listened to this album, the lyrics painted a pretty epic picture to go along with the album cover. The theme of fantasy is only slightly interrupted by the seemingly out of place "Feeling Free Again" -which is by no means a bad song - just feels a little random, tone wise. "The Riddle Master" may just be my jam of the year, it's such a great song. Be sure to turn your volume down as the 12 minute final track winds down - there's a terrifying loud scream in the final seconds that caught me off guard. Well played, guys.

Overall - 8/10

Favorite songs: "Necropolis" "The Riddle Master"

 

Real life is trying to get in the way of what I'm doing up in here, but that's not gonna happen. The metal lives on. That being said...

DAY GODDAMN 62



Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

What's more metal than the Papyrus font? This album championed what is apparently known as the "buzzsaw" guitar tone, which basically means tuning a guitar to B and maxing out two distortion pedals. Initially, the tone sounded pretty awesome; it was very distinct. After about five songs of the same tone, it began to get old - especially because pretty much all of the songs are in the same key. It sounds like something Chevelle would use on one of their albums nowadays.

Honestly, I wanted to like this album more. It started off strong, and the ambient section in the opening title track sounded like a theme from one of the Golden Sun games. But nothing really wowed me or made me want to listen to it again. I actually had to sit down and restart this album a number of times because other stuff kept getting in the way and each time I remember thinking "this is kind of boring." I'm willing to give this album a higher rating due to those circumstances, but in all honesty it's nothing special. Just some solid early 90's death metal.

Overall: 7.5/10

Favorite songs: : "But Life Goes On" "The Truth Beyond"


DAY 63



Testament - The New Order (1988)

This album on the other hand is great. I'm really enjoying the thrash bands I've 'discovered' through this list (Dark Angel, Exodus) that aren't named Metallica or Megadeth, and this band is no exception. I didn't actually know they were a thrash band until after the first song exploded into chaos after a soft intro - which is how I like my thrash. Everything was great - the solos, the vox, the acoustic parts - nothing was over the top or underwhelming. The bass can really dance around. The Aerosmith cover is random as hell but it's super catchy and a nice change of pace. Overall, a fun album.

Overall: 8/10

Favorite songs: "Disciples of the Watch" "Into the Pit"

 

Entombed \m/

 

I prefer Wolverine Blues as my Entombed album of choice. Death 'n' Roll!

 

Yeah I read into their pioneering of this genre. Perhaps I should add one of their later albums to the list!

 

DAY 65



Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath (1984)

At long last, my first encounter with the legendary King Diamond and his ridiculous vocals. I always thought that was just the name of a band, not a person. I also didn't know he was in another band called Mercyful Fate. I guess it's a good thing I'm doing this because I don't know shit.

Well, count me as one of the blowhards that don't enjoy King's absurd falsetto vocals. I get that he's extremely talented, but that style of vocals never has and never will be my thing. It's not enough to drag the album down by any means, but I think I'd rather listen to Diamond's voice in doses. On the other hand, the music is amazing. The guitar riffs are just outstanding, especially the intro to "Night of the Unborn" - then the vocals kick in and it just kind of ruins it. I mean, the dude sounds like a Latin American opera singer at times, it's crazy. I think the band is much better without it, but then that wouldn't be Mercyful Fate.

Overall: 8.5/10 (Without vox it's a 9)

Favorite songs: "Gypsy" "Night of the Unborn"

PS that album art is the best on this list so far.

 

DAY 66



Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness (1989)

I chose a larger image because that art is badass, like all of Dan Seagrave's album covers. He also did a few others on this list, namely Like An Everflowing Stream by Dismember and Effigy of the Forgotten by Suffocation. So if that's your thing, check out his work.

On to the music. This album has been dubbed responsible for killing thrash metal. I won't say whether that's good or bad, but I can say that this album is amazing and I'd put an old genre behind me to jump on the hype train for Morbid Angel. Seriously, this is one of the best albums on this list. The vocals are outstanding - they don't come in grunted bursts of two or three words but rather in rapid fire salvos. The guitar work is dirty and evil. In fact, this whole album is just evil and eerie. I'm not so sure I'd advocate what the lyrics say: "Attack with hate/turning crosses upside down/blaspheme the Holy Ghost," but damn it if the music isn't good. This album even made me air drum and I can't drum for shit.

I understand the hype now. This is a work of art.

Overall: 9/10

Favorite song: all of them are great but standouts include "Suffocation" "Visions From the Dark Side" "Evil Spells"

 

all Morbid Angel rules