Excellent reviews as always, Merc. Have to play that Husker Du EP soon, seems like an essential piece of music history.
Quote:
VERDICT: I’d be an idiot to say it’s not Essential… it is… But personally I just enjoy this and think it’s good but not really my style.
I have to say I'm perplexed 🤣 Ofc, it's essential and it's completely ok to not be moved by the classics, but for some reason I thought Melissa (even more so than Don't Break the Oath) would be right up your alley. King Diamond has always had the "it" factor in my eyes - when someone's not into a bit cheesy 80s metal, him and Mercyful Fate are my first recs. Even more so than Priest, Maiden, Helloween, Cirith Ungol, Dio or Manilla Road. It's a bit edgier, darker and more ridiculous(ly good) music, which might just interest an average non-metal fan more.
Yes! I am perplexed a bit as well. I can’t seem to get where my tastes land with heavy metal. Am I just a simpleton who just have his metal either dark and ghoulish in a messy way or extreme and fast and heavy in some way? Maybe: but then why do I love Judas Priest so much?
Also; again, their debut EP was fabulous and I liked it a good deal more than this album. Not sure why exactly. Al the hardcore punk may have addled my attention span a bit and old fashioned 35-50 minute albums are just too much lol.
Like I mentioned, with this album and with Mercyful Fate in general, it’s SUPER inconsistent how much I like it. _________________ -Ryan
I think a large issue for me historically with King Diamond and Mercyful Fate is the mixing/production just isn't as good as Maiden's, Priest's or even some of the lesser groups of the time. The songwriting is there, but its not as palatable to me.
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
I think a large issue for me historically with King Diamond and Mercyful Fate is the mixing/production just isn't as good as Maiden's, Priest's or even some of the lesser groups of the time. The songwriting is there, but its not as palatable to me.
I think that may be it, actually. Like, those bass lines in Maiden songs totally thump and jump out of the speakers/headphones. Those Halford screams and Tipton/downing solos have oomph and presence. The production and mixing makes those things have presence or more obvious presence and clarity and “wow-factor”. Mercyful fate’s production on Melissa anyway struck me as a bit more subdued and the riffs and solos and even the vocals weren’t accentuated the same way or as well.
Your comment I think clarified at least some of the reason/reasons I haven’t clicked with MF despite hearing and recognizing the incredible tightness, skill and songwriting chops on display. _________________ -Ryan
Don't Break the Oath is a little better than Melissa at least...
Okay cool.
Just looking at my RYM grades I gave em a couple years ago when I was working through the most highly rated metal, I gave 3.5 to Melissa and 4.0 to Don’t Break The Oath. I don’t remember anything about that album. Apparently I enjoyed it a bit more on first venture. _________________ -Ryan
Metal Circus was indeed a turning point as they were moving to more melodic hardcore without losing the hardcore spirit.
I’m glad that you dug it so much and a very good write-up especially since you also give credit to the other two “forgotten” members who do play their part in the overall sound of my favorite band.
😁🤣😁😁😁😁 :D
I assume you mean Hart gets all the attention? From the outside I always felt like Hart and Mould got equal attention - especially as a sort of rivalry or yin Yang dynamic… - although yes the bass of Norton gets so little love compared to the 2 songwriters it’s criminal. But understandable
Also yeah I’m glad you’re happy I’ve come around in this band. Stellar.
No in fact I meant the bass by Norton and the drumming by Hart which indeed doesn’t receive a lot of attention opposed to his obvious talent as a songwriter and his singing: I split him up in two because I generally think a three man band is too small :P
Just saw this comment.
Yeah that makes sense. Guitarists always get major shine lol. When you have a trio you really need everyone or the 3 to hold down their parts excellently to fill up the sound (if that is what the band wants to do). And these 3 as a unit do that
All this listening to Husker Du and talk of the Replacements and Black Flag and Minor Threat and and and… has REALLY made me want to go back and re-read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life. It was reading that book back in 2004 or so that really got me interested in all these classic American indie underground bands. _________________ -Ryan
Okay, here are some disorganized thoughts I have as I listen:
Love the cold yet articulated and thiccc bass lines here. Very reminiscent of Public Image Ltd. Can hear some PIL influences fucking all over this album – especially in the chilly grooves and almost industrial detachment.
This is a fucking downer of an album. I mean I love me some truly HATEFUL music. Especially in grindcore. But the advantage there is I don’t understand a friggin word of it. So I can just fume and hate the world WITH the musicians in Napalm Death or whatever. But with this and especially with this lead singer… jesus. I can practically HEAR his contorted, scathing, hateful, gritted-teeth face as he looks me square in my little fat face with all the disdain he can muster. This stuff sounds personal and like he means it and he most definitely includes his listeners in his rants about how useless every one is. Brutal.
This and Swans’ Filth LP from earlier this year make for a nice double matinee listening party. Similar in their utter hatred of everyone, and their similar ways of taking even the most banal shit and sayings and delivering them with a metric ton of loathing behind ‘em, and similar in their industrial, noisy, unrelentingly cold and hopeless atmospheres. Swans’ debut sounds more elemental, this No Trend debut sounds more like you’re in a mad man’s mind and his mind is constructed like a dank, steamy plant or factory. So, different, obviously. This is not as proto-sludge and HEAVY as Swans, and Swans isn’t as lithe and sharp and grating as No Trend.
The instrumentals are really solid. A fascinating mix of slowed down, off kilter punk rock, dreary PIL-esque Post-Punk, shrieking and writhing noise rock, and some somewhat industrial sounding rhythmic aspects. The vocals and lyrics wear out their welcome fast. There is no doubt the vocalist Jeff Mentges means every syllable of the anti-human, misanthropic filth he spews and he does a great job of conveying the hate in his vocal shredding and in his Johnny Rotten-ish intentionally discordant attack on steroids… but fuck man, I don’t like hearing it. And the songwriting sometimes is great for what it is, like the real doozy of a laugher “YOU BREED LIKE RATS... AND YOU'RE NO FUCKING BETTER!!” (later a very similar lyric was made legendary by Godflesh, … did they borrow or steal this from No Trend?)… But there are also supremely lazy sections of lyrical songwriting where he does a similar thing to what Gira did with his 1983 song “Stay Here”, in that he takes banal, meaningless phrases or words or whatever and just lists ‘em out with no context but says them with sheer hatred so you can’t miss that he feels nothing but disdain for these words, the people who say them, and the culture from whence they came. For example:
“Industrial Countryside… Average Intelligence…Public Opinion…Nielson Ratings…Three’s Company…People Magazine…Superbowl Game…” etc etc… It loses it’s luster quick and he comes back to it in later songs as well and not just in that song, the album opener called “Family Style” is pretty cool and, again, I adore PIL and Metal Box/Flowers Of Romance as much as the next nerd so I love the influences of them in the instrumental and even the lyrics start out really cool by painting a picture with related lyrics that flow one to the next in order to make a song. It’s when he starts listing shit and putting them on little flash cards where I lose my love for the song.
The pacing of this album is also a bit odd. The last 2 tracks comprise about 1/3rd the running time and they are these at best pretty cool/okay instrumentals. Not the most climactic way to close this album.
I really respect the mix of styles here and the band is pretty great – the bass and those drum fills are the perfect mix of fast and showy and also cold and mechanical. Drummer and bassist kill it throughout and the guitarist does a lot of heavy lifting by creating these claustrophobic, anxious soundscapes with the weird effects and discordant and fractious guitar lines. The industrial/noise sound effects layered on top are usually pretty cool as well. And I respect how weird and alien this must have sounded to the DC/Maryland hardcore punk kids of the time. No Trend were pushing fucking boundaries, slowing stuff down, mixing in industrial and noise and no wave and helping create “Post-Hardcore, laying off the blasting beats and 2-3 chord riffs (I mean probably if I were a musico I’d see that its STILL 2-3 chords but just done in weird and inventive ways) and they were doing what in many ways Black Flag and Minutemen were doing for LA/Southern Cal hardcore punks and what Butthole Surfers were doing for the Texas punks and what Mission of Burma were doing for Boston, all at basically the same time. These bands were tiring of the generic punk and hardcore sound and saying “enough is enough! Let’s fucking experiment!”. The love and respect and admiration I have for the instrumentals here and the what this album represents is immense. Don’t like how this album makes me feel, I don’t like the vocalist at all (outside of very short doses), don’t like the overbearing misanthropy and hopelessness on this album – the way it’s presented here (As you know I love, love, LOVE it in myriad other albums and styles like Grind and death metal and black metal and power electronics and so forth, just not the way it’s done and overtly conveyed here) and so, this album is a bit of a clash of opinions. A mixed bag you might say.
That’s all I have to say abou’ that.
VERDICT: Undoubtedly an Essential album in the development of many sub-genres of underground rock. Often times this has GREAT musicianship. Also, Overall it’s a fucking downer and the vocals I don’t like.
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The Early Months by No Trend The Early Months (archival) by No Trend/Recorded early 1983 and Released 28 March 1995
Listened once and this is a pretty interesting collection of the EP No Trend made in early 1983 as well as some other early and less developed versions of songs found on their debut LP as well as some early live recordings. It was fine. Not sure I have much enthusiasm for the band or the sound here (even here the scathing hatred is set to 11 and the tracks are less artful and more ragged and somewhat more traditional punk rock-y – I say “somewhat” because they were doing weird things with noise rock and no wave and so forth even early on when the songs were in a more rudimentary state). But if you are into the development of bands or a fan of this band, this is a cool collection to hear.
VERDICT: Meh, much like that Extra Circus EP, I won’t be placing this on tier list. Not essential but a fun listen.
I like this. Don’t love it or think there’s anything truly y’know “HOLY CANNOLI!” about it. But there is a purified, manic energy here that is so fucking cool. Right about here in 1983 is when the Japanese HC scene really started to take off and it’s due to albums overflowing with fervor and an odd willingness to just be WILD that this scene became one of the greatest in punk history.
The songs here are fast and in your face most of the time, but not to a crazy degree like what many thrashcore bands were doing. The riffs are heavy and stray into metal here and there and they have a good heft and power to them. And the vocals are just awesome! The female vocalist comes in in track 2 here and other points thereafter and steals the show with how truly maniacal and insane the delivery is. Have no idea what she is saying, but the way she says it is a show stopper.
There are some parts here and there when they really embrace utterly outta left field ideas, like in track 4 where these rudimentary drums come in slow and easy and then a groovy guitar line and these almost Choral vocals start humming… totally caught me off guard. Then the great vocals of Chitose come through with another rabid and engaging performance.
Overall the sounds and style here are, by and large, straight forward punk rock pushed to a nice overdrive with a peppering of oddities. The album is only 18 minutes so it gets its point across fast and before it can wear out it’s welcome, it’s left having left a great impression.
Not much else to say about this. This has been the album I’ve listened to the most for this slate of releases in this post (outside of the Amebix records I will cover shortly, actually). And yet I have less to say. It’s comforting how effective and familiar this album is without sounding like a totally derivative album either. It strikes a nice balance and it makes sense that this has been my go-to album the last week when I wanna hear some kickass punk rock.
VERDICT: Not sure if it’s ESSENTIAL for the development of Japanese Hardcore scene as I am just not a historian of that country’s punk scene, but I know this is an A-tier punk record which stays mostly in its lane and does a great job with the classic hardcore tools.
Winter/Beginning Of The End (Single) by Amebix/Released 12 February 1983
I wanted to circle back to this single that Amebix released in early 1983 before diving headlong into their second EP, No Sanctuary. The reason being that this is a monumental jump forward for Amebix. And this is a song that drips atmosphere and doom and end of days solemn grandeur. It also sounds like just about the perfect marriage of Discharge, First Wave Black Metal, and Post Punk that I can imagine.
Man side 1, “Winter” is such an earth-shattering and HUGE track. It sounds like some epic, cloudy, ornery blizzard/thunderstorm is making its way implacably and slowly and deliberately into a village. It’s like a force of unthinking nature being revealed to be an evil force of destruction. Etc, etc… I could go on with corny stuff like that. But I won’t.
Just, everyone who likes sludge or Neurosis, or Black metal, or Post Punk or Crust Punk or Discharge or Killing Joke or Rudimentary Peni or Deathrock or whatever, absolutely needs to hear this track. The bass and guitar are pummeling and gritty and disgusting and crusty. The vocals are like the vocals of Discharge or even Neurosis but, like, more haunted and hopeless and less rage-filled. The atmosphere is both deathly cold and almost disconnected – like you are the storm looking down upon a mass of starving and freezing and utterly panicked masses. And the way the refrain of “WINTER!” is growled is haunting and very grunty. The way the 5.5 minute song rolls along and builds and engulfs the listener is impressive as hell.
Side B, Beginning of the End” is great too. The fast bass work is cool and the staticy guitar and vibe is very much akin to Hellhammer as much as any straight hardcore of the time. This is like 1 slight degree separated from being hailed as one of the best early black metal releases. Just a great mixture of the chilling post punk, devilish wintery cold of Black Metal and the heavy thumping power of crust punk and heavy metal. The way they combine these sounds makes for a beautiful meal or stew of sounds and gives Amebix a style all their own. Track 2 is less obviously heavy, but its in many ways even more haunting and frightening. The way the guitar lines sort of float in and out like ghosts is particularly cool to me.
This single is a great stepping stone in development from the amateurish and energetic and pretty good band we find on their 1982 debut EP to the more cohesive and ideas-rich and influential boundary-pushing band we find on their follow up second EP No Sanctuary late 1983. This should be hailed as one of the towering singles of the early 1980s in my opinion.
Okay, now let’s see how they build off of this creative breakthrough on their next release…
VERDICT: It’s a single and won’t be put on the tier. But holy shit, this is essential as hell according to me. For fans of the various bands I name-dropped in the above write up I can’t recommend this enough. If for historical “WTF they made this in February ’83?!?” if nothing else.
Just to get out of the way my feelings on this, I love it and it just keeps growing in my estimation with each successive listen. On this EP they continue their hot streak and growth. Nothing about this album is cliché or stale in any way. There are some slight hiccups (such as the first 2 minutes of “Sunshine Ward”), which is why I’d say this isn’t quite a masterpiece. That said, this EP kinda blows me away.
Genre-or-style-wise Amebix are all their own. I mentioned in the last little comment I made that I hear some almost 1990s Neurosis in their sound. I hear it all over this as well. This isn’t sludge exactly even if some of these riffs are incredibly thick and dominant. Nor is it so called “Post Metal” even though there are guitar and bass parts here that aren’t traditional metal/punk riffs at all and instead are these textured monoliths. The vocals and production are intensely morbid and apocalyptic. I think Neurosis was for sure very familiar with Amebix is what I’m roundabout sayin’.
This is the best Crust Punk I’ve heard up to this point. I have been trying to delve into the genre’s early days in recent months and while a lot of it is cool and intriguing, I feel this was the moment when the elements coalesced into a true statement. Ugly, haunted, heavy, furious, claustrophobic, artful, savage, metallic and punk rock through and through.
The bassist (and singer) Rob Miller absolutely takes over this album. Truly at times the bass work is astounding. I am no musician and so I don’t know how “clean” or “professional” the bass playing is. I do know that throughout this EP I am consistently impressed by how Miller’s playing both accentuates the crushing heavy parts as well as adds color throughout the instrumental passages. Like, there is a part where the bass sounds like moaning voices rising from the earth, and there are parts that gurgle and others that just rumble in the most badass way. I love it.
The vocals and the guitar are also fantastic. Can’t say I am blown away by the drumming, but it’s powerful and strident enough to get across the energy and the drums do their jobs well I suppose.
The opening track is sick and starts with a really cool held note, and then when the riff comes crashing down it has a somewhat Wire sound, very heartless and heavy like the first track of Wire’s Pink Flag. Track 2, “Control”, is probably my favorite track here and features some distinctly dark and post-punky grooves that mix well with the heavy riff work. Oh and yeah that is the song with the cool moaning bass and some weird, deadened back up vocal chanting or something. “Progress?” is evil proto-black metal, Venom-esque snarls and riff work… oh and more mesmerizing bass work. I could go through each song and they all are awesome, even the short sub-2-minute closing instrumental that features somewhat faltering and off beat clapping and maybe a tinge of middle eastern melodies (I don’t know shit about what that melodic style is in the world, but whatever, it’s interesting. “Church Is For Sinners” is maybe the least notable of the 7 songs here, but it still is cool and heavy and has some really punishing moments.
I mentioned “Sunshine Ward” earlier and I want to say that, yes, the first 2 minutes are not good. BUT isn’t cool that Amebix went there? The soft, sad intro with no trace of punk or metal or aggression with those SUNG, sad-sack vocals! What? Now, are the vocals very silly and almost Dracula esque and off and liable to make one cringe? Yes. Still, I respect the major departure. Then the final 3 minutes represent possibly the highlight of the album, so the song redeems itself. The riff at the end is minimalist, mean and awesome. The female screaming in the background is creepy, the more raspy shrieked vocals are stellar and ahead-of-their-time, etc… the point is almost everything about the last half of this track is classic stuff.
Okay, and so let’s see I touched on the genre mix, the bass work, the cool songs, how much I like this, and I think that is all I wanted to touch upon.
VERDICT: ESSENTIAL as hell and deserves way more love and attention from both punks and black metal heads.
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Tier List/Ranking for a NEW AGE OF MADNESS:
ADORED, MASTERFUL, FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAME:
. . . None quite of this caliber yet. In this diary project I have placed here on this level only 2 releases: in Minor Threat’s early EPs, and Black Flag’s Damaged. May have placed others, actually, but changed my mind a bit. For sure Ride The Lightning will go here for example… let’s see if anything else approaches this tier before then!
NEAR-PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
1. No Sanctuary (EP) by Amebix (26 November 1983) – exemplary track, “Control”
2. Metal Circus (EP) by Hüsker Dü (October 1983) – exemplary track, “Diane”
3. Butthole Surfers (EP) by Butthole Surfers (July 1983) – exemplary track, “Bar-B-Q Pope”
4. Kill “Em All by Metallica (25 June 1983) – exemplary track, “Whiplash”
GREAT:
5. Suicidal Tendencies by Suicidal Tendencies (5 July 1983) – exemplary track, “Institutionalized”
VERY GOOD:
6. No Side by The Comes (November 1983) – exemplary track, “W – Ka – Me”
7. Tied Down by Negative Approach (31 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Nothing”
8. Court In The Act by Satan (1983) – exemplary track, “Trial By Fire”
9. Just an American Band by Verbal Abuse (1983) – exemplary track, “I Hate You”
GOOD:
10. Melissa by Mercyful Fate (30 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Melissa”
11. Warning: Her Majesty’s Government Can Seriously Damage Your Health EP by Discharge (1 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Anger Burning”
NEUTRAL, DON’T LIKE NOR REALLY DISLIKE or THE GOOD AND BAD CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT:
12. Too Many Humans by No Trend (Released November 1983) – exemplary track, “Too Many Humans”
I DIDN'T LIKE:
…nothing yet that I can say I dislike. At worst neutral thus far.
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Okay, and I think I’ll wrap this up here. This was a fun batch of releases. I will be getting into some cool industrial stuff in next post as well as some truly awesome early Ramleh Power Electronics madness, which will be fun.
I think I will be doing some more metal in next post as well (which I have moved away from a little recently while covering more punk or weird noise rock releases).
As always, let me know if you have thoughts on these. Until next time, have a great life. _________________ -Ryan
This is fabulous. Groundbreaking, super high energy. Cool as hell. Works as a direct descendant and heir to the throne of Venom. Works as one of the first Thrash documents. Works as just a kick ass, metal as fuck LP made by 18, 19 and 21 year old blokes in Cali. It just works.
The songs are sick, and the highlights here can go toe to toe with the highlights of Kill Em All. “Black Magic”, “Antichrist”, “Tormentor”, “Crionics”, “Die By The Sword”, “Show No Mercy”, “Evil Has No Boundaries” and “Metal Storm/Face The Slayer” all hold up as A-Tier metal gems.
In this wee comment regarding Slayer’s debut, I have already compared to Metallica and I will again. And I probably will do the same on all subsequent Slayer and Metallica comments. The reason for this is I can’t think of many bands or artists as inextricably connected in my head. Much like Tupac/Biggie, Stones/Beatles, or these days with black midi and Black Country New Road, I just can’t help it when I compare this or that aspect of one group or album with another. These 8 dudes who made up these 2 bands came out of the same scene, were the same ages, the same years, revolutionizing metal by creating the same genre with similar trajectories and similar influences. And yet, while having so many similarities they are completely different in major ways in their style and messages and what they have come to represent.
Coming into this whole diary project I was eyeing Kill Em All and Show No Mercy as the true beginning of what I wanted to explore – namely, all the classic and not so classic Thrash albums and Proto-Thrash from say 1980 through 1991. I made a big ol’ list of like 140 albums and EPs and demos to tackle spanning that period. And the emergence of these 2 groups were the main attraction pulling me forward. Mainly this was just for fun and also a bit of an educational project – I wanted to really listen and experience where the style(s) I love came from and see it chronologically develop (somehow?) from Venom/Bad Brains to friggin Napalm Death and Morbid Angel and so forth within 6-8 years. Obviously Metallica and possibly even more so Slayer were 2 of major pushers of underground or extreme metal/punk in that period of time. So yeah I’m jazzed I am here now, and have made my way to that fateful date of 3 December 1983.
Okay, that detour out of the way, I have to say I came into this re-listen thinking “Yeah, this will probably be pretty good, I mean it’s slayer right? But nothing truly spectacular.” Then I listened and listened 4 or 5 more times and I have been proven wrong. This is GREAT. It’s not Slayer fully formed and indeed considering what the 1984 EP Haunting The Chapel presented in terms of change in sound, this is the only time we will hear this more Speed Metal-y, close to “traditional” metal sound from Slayer. You can hear it even in the solos. Here the soloing sounds really solid, melodic and biting and fast and all but almost none of that absolutely wild, dissonant, ugly sound that dominates later Slayer solos is here. The songs aren’t really as hardcore-influenced on this LP by and large and some are almost mid tempo especially as compared to Reign In Blood or their next album Hell Awaits. No Proto-Death Metal barrages of brutality here and also outside of the sort of eerie and evil “Black Magic”, I don’t hear the demonic atmosphere and the truly evil overtones that are all over their releases from ’84 to ’90.
I never gave this classic nearly the same attention as every other 80s through early 90s Slayer album. Even compared to Hell Awaits which I recently realized is a masterpiece and yet mostly slept on, I can say I have listened to that one much, much more than Show No Mercy. I am not sure why I only ever gave this a listen 2-3 times over my years as a fan of slayer. It was almost like Reign In Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons In The Abyss (especially RIB) were so special to me that whenever I’d go and listen to their debut I would change my mind and indulge in the GOAT album instead. That was a mistake because, while not nearly the album RIB or SOH are, this is a classic of magnitude.
My favorite drummer of all time is Dave Lombardo. He’s great here but not yet the absolute BEAST he became. He was only 18 years old when he recorded this (which blew my mind when I learned that!) and it’s clear from the jump the guy had a power and style which was his own. As the years went on he developed more and more and maybe that is the major advantage later slayer has over little baby slayer here.
Anyway, I don’t have much else to say and not much else to mention. This is great and I am happy I got a chance to check it out again. For sure some of the evilest, and heaviest metal of this era, and as much as I try to think about WHY this kicks ass and talk about it, it really just comes down to the fact that Slayer were The Ones, the greatest to ever do it and they were damn fine even on their debut.
This is an Industrial album. Borders on Death Industrial and even more noisy Power Electronics at times. Those more brutally cold and harsh moments are probably my favorite here. But anyway, I did generally enjoy the clattering, mechanical, less harsh moments as well.
The voices that waft in and out are cool, if underused by my preference. The first track has this propulsive noisy force that I actually LOVE and I was excited to explore the rest of the album after hearing that opening track, “Na Vilavilairevu”. Then the rest of the album is mostly preoccupied with a more dingy and introspective sound with occasional bursts of similar propulsive charm. The final track “Banishing Dirge” is another highlight. At 8 minutes, it’s the longest track here and it has a mesmerizing effect while still being very cold and unfeeling.
Not much else to say with this one. I was interested in exploring the early 80s Industrial and more extreme forms of Electronic music as part of this little diary project because I have had a soft spot for bands that combine grind and punk with harsh noise/noise (such as Knoll and Asterisk and some Japanese Hardcore bands) and wanted to see where this stuff really got started. I don’t really have much of a vocabulary to express my thoughts on Industrial. I am mostly listening for textures and, broadly, how the soundscapes make me feel and what images and atmospheres they conjure. Of the very, VERY few Industrial albums I’ve covered here, my favorite is still the absolutely vicious and abrasive 1981 album Information Overload Unit by System Planning Korporation. But this one ain’t bad either. Hunting Lodge does manage to separate itself from the early Industrial I have heard from this era of groups like SPK and Einsturzende Neubauten (just checked and I’m proud as shit of myself for remembering how to spell that! Lol) by dipping its legs into the Power Electronics style just emerging in 1983. Less of a focus on sharp sounds and angular industrial electronic rhythms, and more of a focus on overwhelming blasts of noise and walls and waves of kind of all-consuming, dismal noise.
Ramleh as you will see later in this write up/post were the coolest at this stuff in 1983 and they managed to blow me away with their full commitment to the newer sounds in their 1983 EP “The Hand of Glory”. But more on that later.
Oh and side note, disrelated to anything of note but a way to pad these word numbers lol… There is a track here on Hunting Lodge’s LP called “Hand of Glory” and also the name of the EP by Ramleh in 1983 is The Hand of Glory. I saw that and was like “what the fuck is that? Am I stupid or is this some sort of fucked up thing that I should know the meaning of before singing the praises of the music named this way? Are the members of The Hunting Lodge and Ramleh members of some terrorist organization…?” So I did “in-depth” research and spent a good 10 minutes googling and reading about Hand of Glory. Apparently it comes from a practice of cutting off a hanged man’s left hand or the hand they used to kill in the case of murder and preserving it. That’s the “Hand of Glory”. This was something done in Europe or something awhile back, like the early 2000s or something and also they would make a candle from the fat of the same hanged and condemned man. Idk, it’s weird and very metal and now I know what it means. Still a bit perplexed why the noisier side of industrial circa 1983 were so fascinated by this…
Anyway, that’s all. I liked this. Didn’t majorly move me. But I was engaged and enjoying myself the whole way through this album.
VERDICT: Not essential nor something I really like a lot. But it’s a good, atmospheric, pretty cutting edge industrial album for 1983.
The Hand of Glory (EP) by Ramleh/Released 1983 – per ze internet, recorded in November 1983
I am mostly familiar with one (INCREDIBLE) Ramleh release and that is the 1987 album Hole In The Heart. That album is so dense and so damn profoundly incredible I have a hard time expressing in words how much I respect it. So when I made the decision to include some early 1980s Death Industrial and Power Electronics and Noise projects in this project a few months ago, I was doing it mostly so I could explore early Ramleh and also so I could hopefully find more albums in these areas that really made me go “Holy shit that’s amazing!”.
This is an EP, 4 tracks just under 20 minutes so doesn’t qualify for BEA charts sadly. Fair warning, when you push play on this bad thing, you will be entering a whole new world of pain and agony and roiling hatred. The buzzing sound that forcefully enters your skull at the beginning of this EP signals the crossing of the threshold, after which, as you walk down the closed-in corridors of this space you soon start hearing THEM. The rabid, mad voices of utter agony, the voices of men and women and children trapped in the lightless underground, screaming and shouting and condemning themselves and everyone they’ve ever known. And the great thing is in this 19 minute EP you really aren’t given a climactic moment, a respite from the agony and the dank, lost, hellish factory floor for the entire run time.
Does this sound “entertaining” to you? Probably not. But I can’t help but be blown away by the execution. This album is dismal and dark and unlike any album I’ve heard – certainly from this era. There are no melodies or lyrics or chords to latch onto. This is a record of scratching, scraping, buzzing, and breaking… this is a world of hurt and yawning chasms and echoing and lightless rooms. The voices are talking over each other. None of them seem able to hear and understand what any of the others are saying. Haunted and haunting. This is just incredible art. Horrid and painful experience that I find myself listening to surprisingly often. Is that a weird reflection of me or my personality in some way?
Well it’s not just the pain and horribleness of the sounds that draw me, but also the execution. This, mostly, sounds great and is produced in such a way that the “music” impinges on me majorly. The way the various noises and notes crackle and burst and fracture and the way they intermingle with the pained voices which also are often manipulated and warped and perverted, all of that is brilliantly done. This is not an album with a lot of variation or really a lot of ideas. Basically the image or idea of people trapped in a hopeless living hell persists the whole way through. Ramleh simply laser focus on every detail of that one picture or scene and make a meal of it. Rather than dabbling in several things or an arc, this is just a deep analysis of inhumanity and torture.
Some of the sounds especially when it suddenly gets manipulated into a high pitched electronic squeak, are a little off and I don’t really love that. Everything else I think is pretty fuckin aces here.
VERDICT: Mind-blowing and I can’t think of much that could have been added to or deleted from this record that would have made the atmosphere or message or noise any better. Not an easy listen per se, but a great one.
This is great. Probably the greatest album they ever made. Better than Walk Among Us (spoiler) and better than Chaos AD/Wolfs Blood (another spoiler). Possibly matched by Static Age. The tunes here are awesome. This is not really hardcore punk to me, or if it is its essentially pop hardcore. Sounds like pop punk with horror themes. Just great fun. Not much else to say. Like the Ramones (just not as great) I don’t have much to say about Misfits songs and releases, I simply am happy to hear ‘em every once in awhile.
The main thing that annoys me more than I should let it is how goddamn confusing or strange misfits’ discography is. Their first officially released album, their “debut”, is actually their 3rd album. And the first album Static Age and second album 12 Hits from Hell aren’t on streaming and their fourth album, Chaos AD/Wolfsblood IS on streaming but is mangled and mixed with their 1984 EP Die Die My Darling… like, wtf… why do they have this situation with their stuff? They are one of the most iconic punk rock bands ever yet they can’t make their 4 LPs easily listenable and buyable and in correct sequence?
Anyway, that’s all. I don’t have much to say here or with the other misfits albums I, on a whim, included here.
VERDICT: some of the catchiest and funnest melodic poppy hardcore punk/punk rock ever.
Their 3rd LP, but first to be released officially, this was the album I was introduced to as my first Misfits album back in like 2005. I remember thinking it was really solid but didn’t blow me away. THEN I got Collection II followed by Collection I and I started to really get the hype.
That’s not to say this is bad or anything. It’s just the crispness of some of the more poppy and exuberant 1978-1980 tracks felt lacking here and it was less hit-filled for me.
Listened again just recently and I like it and think it’s solid. Not the first place I’d go. In fact of the LPs and compilations I have heard from this band, all of them being between very good and GREAT, I may put this in last place behind Static Age, 12 Hits From Hell, Chaos AD/Wolfs Blood/Collection I and II.
Edit/added later: after relistening I have decided I am being a little unfair here. The songs here are often times the same as 12 Hits… and they are just about as good, the main difference being just more hardcore thrust and heaviness and a bit less pop “hookery”. Still quite a solid LP.
VERDICT: Very good punk/bordering on hardcore punk. This one is more hardcore and less brilliantly catchy than their first 2 recorded LPs, but still damn catchy and fun.
Apparently by the time they were recording this album there was shit tons of drama and dysfunction within the band. Perhaps that is reflected in the sound of the band here – angrier, rawer, more vicious and hardcore than on any previous album with still tons of great huge melodies and choruses.
Kind of love the savagery yet tunefulness of the recordings and songs here. Nothing else to say. Misfits are good and all but I kinda wonder.
VERDICT: Great and heavy and yeah that’s all.
Oh and edit/correction: I mentioned at some point earlier when talking misfits that they had 4 LPs, but they have 5 (forgot about Legacy of Brutality) if you include Static Age and 12 Hits From Hell along with Walk Among Us and Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood.
Sortilège (EP) by Sortilège /Released September 1983
I liked this right away. The first thing that sticks out is the production… holy shit! This record just sounds punchy and clean and powerful as hell. Everything from the crunchy, heavy sound of the riffs, to the biting and shredding solos to the howling vocals, it all is done a great service by the producer.
The other thing that I love about this is a bit silly, but it’s that it’s in French. All of the more soaring, epic, traditional heavy metal and power metal that I have thus far covered – the ones where the vocalist is flamboyant and rangy – have been in English. And generally I dislike or am neutral on the lyrics and subjects of these types of albums – whether silly satan stuff or fantasy stuff or whatever. The fact that I can’t understand a lick of what he’s saying allows me to focus simply on the vocals as a melodic instrument and how they work within the grooves and songs and riffs of the band. And as far as wild heavy metal pipes go, this one is a really, really solid one!
This is one of those records where everyone is clicking and putting in the work and no one really outshines anyone else, so I can’t even point to which aspect of the sound or which member of the band steals the show, so to speak. I guess the way I started writing about the EP and my rave about the production would indicate the star of the show is how damn dynamic and powerful the songs are. Despite none of the music here sounding particularly groundbreaking as far as I can tell and despite it not being my usual EXTREME cuppa tea, I find myself engrossed and vibing the whole way through this 20 or so minute EP.
After listening once I read some reviews and some data about the band and it was interesting. And one thing I found fascinating is the great and powerful legend himself, Chuck Schuldiner was HUGE fan of this band and said they were a major influence on him. That surprised and fascinated me. Can’t say I hear much resemblance between the early Death sound and this.
Anyway, not much else to say. This is really REALLY solid stuff that I loved way more than I expected. I actually had this OFF my list of records to cover. Before I came back to continue this metal/punk project, back when I was just over getting burnt out and losing interest, I had included this album on my 1983 list and had it in chronological order for September 1983. Then I stripped a good 50-60% of the list off to just the stuff I really was interested in at that time. That meant removing this. I only on a whim re-added this bad boy when I saw how much love it gets on RYM. Glad I did.
Of the Heavy metal/Power Metal highly regarded EPs I have covered for 1983 (and late 1982 so I can include Mercuful Fate), this may be my favorite. But let me see… okay, I just looked and this is how I’d order them in terms of my enjoyment:
1. Mercyful Fate EP
2. Deliver Us by Warlord (still my fave of this group)
3. Sortilège
4. Queensryche debut EP
So I guess actually the French band came 3rd of 4… less impressive. But really the fact is I really really like or LOVE all of these and I am starting to think I just tend to enjoy the 15-25 minute bite-size servings of these styles of music. I am starting to also think maybe my constant exposure to genres of music where an epic is 30 minutes is starting to wear away at my attention span. That’s neither here nor there. This EP kicks ass. If you like dynamic, fast and furious and kickass heavy metal and you haven’t listened to this, I recommend you do.
VERDICT: Fabulous, high energy, dynamic heavy metal. Sounds pretty essential to me.
I have a soft spot for Overkill. They represent the most NYHC-steeped side of early thrash and that’s cool. Their later albums (as I will eventually get to barring sudden loss of interest of death) are some of the most wild, heavy and fast romps ever put to tape under the thrash metal umbrella.
This demo is pretty cool. If it were recorded better I could see this being regarded as equal to No Life Till Leather. Much like that iconic Metallica demo (and most demos of these types ever made lol) most of the songs featured here are later re-recorded and included in their 1985 debut LP. The versions here are roughly recorded, yes, but the band shines through the messy recordings. The drumming of Rat Skates in particular was fun and lively throughout.
Not much to say here, I just saw this existed and I wanted to indulge in all the very VERY early thrash stuff I can from this year. There are so few 1983 albums or records that one can say are truly thrash metal, after all. The band does get better and they benefit from sharper and more impactful production. But this is a good, solid demo nonetheless.
VERDICT: Not essential. Gave it one listen and quite enjoyed it but not a total underground lost classic in my opinion.
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Tier List/Ranking for a NEW AGE OF MADNESS:
ADORED, MASTERFUL, FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAME:
---Nothing Yet---
NEAR-PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
1. No Sanctuary (EP) by Amebix (26 November 1983) – exemplary track, “Control”
2. Metal Circus (EP) by Hüsker Dü (October 1983) – exemplary track, “Diane”
3. Kill “Em All by Metallica (25 June 1983) – exemplary track, “Whiplash”
4. Show No Mercy by Slayer (3 December 1983) – exemplary track, “Black Magic”
VERY GOOD to GREAT:
5. Butthole Surfers (EP) by Butthole Surfers (July 1983) – exemplary track, “Bar-B-Q Pope”
6. The Hand Of Glory (EP) by Ramleh (1983, recorded November 1983) – exemplary track, “The Hand of Glory, Part I”
7. 12 Hits From Hell: The MSP Sessions by Misfits (Recorded 7 August 1980 and Released 2001) – exemplary track, “London Dungeon”
8. Suicidal Tendencies by Suicidal Tendencies (5 July 1983) – exemplary track, “Institutionalized”
9. Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood by Misfits (12 December 1983) – exemplary track, “Earth A.D.”
10. Sortilège (EP) by Sortilège (September 1983) – exemplary track, “Progéniture”
11. No Side by The Comes (November 1983) – exemplary track, “W – Ka – Me”
12. Tied Down by Negative Approach (31 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Nothing”
13. Walk Among Us by Misfits (March 1982) – exemplary track, “Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight (Live)”
14. Court In The Act by Satan (1983) – exemplary track, “Trial By Fire”
GOOD:
15. Just an American Band by Verbal Abuse (1983) – exemplary track, “I Hate You”
16. Melissa by Mercyful Fate (30 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Melissa”
17. Warning: Her Majesty’s Government Can Seriously Damage Your Health EP by Discharge (1 October 1983) – exemplary track, “Anger Burning”
18. Will by Hunting Lodge (1983) – exemplary track, “Na Vilavilairevu”
NEUTRAL, DON’T LIKE NOR REALLY DISLIKE or THE GOOD AND BAD CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT: 19. Power In Black (Demo EP) by Overkill (1983) – exemplary track, “Raise The Dead”
20. Too Many Humans by No Trend (Released November 1983) – exemplary track, “Too Many Humans”
I DIDN’T LIKE:
---Nothing Yet---
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Okay, that was a bigger post than I’ve been doing recently. It was mildly taxing so maybe I’ll stick to 3-4 at a time.
Also, sorry I gave short shrift to Misfits. They are incredible and essential but they just don’t fit with what I have been wanting to cover here and idk, their sound is just too straight forward to write much about. Blah blah blah. Let me know what you think. _________________ -Ryan
This is fabulous. Groundbreaking, super high energy. Cool as hell. Works as a direct descendant and heir to the throne of Venom. Works as one of the first Thrash documents. Works as just a kick ass, metal as fuck LP... For sure some of the evilest, and heaviest metal of this era, and as much as I try to think about WHY this kicks ass and talk about it, it really just comes down to the fact that Slayer were The Ones, the greatest to ever do it and they were damn fine even on their debut.
VERDICT: Absolute classic
Damn straight! 😉😜 >
So psyched you loved it!!! 😈 Great write up!
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
This is fabulous. Groundbreaking, super high energy. Cool as hell. Works as a direct descendant and heir to the throne of Venom. Works as one of the first Thrash documents. Works as just a kick ass, metal as fuck LP... For sure some of the evilest, and heaviest metal of this era, and as much as I try to think about WHY this kicks ass and talk about it, it really just comes down to the fact that Slayer were The Ones, the greatest to ever do it and they were damn fine even on their debut.
VERDICT: Absolute classic
Damn straight! 😉😜 >
So psyched you loved it!!! 😈 Great write up!
Hell yeah! I have finally come around on your enthusiastic love for this album! I am now very excited to listen to the rest of their 80s discog newly. I think they simply did not miss once from 83-91... the absolute greatest.
Show No Mercy and Kill Em All are neck and neck, really just about equally great. Which would you say is the greater LP? _________________ -Ryan
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