part 3 of You must listen to the album below you:canon edition by 
Mercury 
- Chart updated: 07/02/2022 01:15
- (Created: 03/15/2022 16:51).
- Chart size: 15 albums.
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I have not been in the mood for funky or soulful music recently, so getting into this and chiseling out a time to just vibe with this great artist and this album has been a long time coming. Well, I am feeling the inclination now and I am listening a couple times and my basic as basic gets thoughts can now flow forth.
This is a work of profound genius. My mind has only processed probably 10% of its details and brilliance, but I feel like I'm listening to something completely new and artistically free, utterly uninterested in compromising anything for popularity or for a hit or for slightly easier digestion. The music is Neo-Soul, sure, but it feels like this record goes to places that few others within Neo-Soul ever went. I was expecting something brilliant because it is Badu we are speaking of, but I wasn't expecting this. This album is completely unpredictable and yet it flows from one fascinating message and point and sound and style to the next with nimbleness. Politically unflinching, these songs are deeply affecting and in your face and they tackle shit that most artists wouldn't and if they did, they'd do it in a more palatable way. Badu and Co. instead just dive in bravely and brazenly.
Musically this is, again, so detailed and nearly all-encompassing it is hard to express. The usual soul and hip hop elements are here as can be expected from a Neo-Soul album. But that doesn't fully express it. There are tracks here that seem to be growing out of other songs and pulling in elements that, at first, seem too different and alien to work. But without fail those sounds grow and by the time you are in this new sound, it feels right and natural and purposeful.
All in all, the vocals and lyrics here are fabulous and inspiring. The music is equally fabulous and mindboggling. The flow is excellent. This album can be listened to as a vibe, while you write or clean or whatever, but it can also be poured over and dissected and listened to with eyes closed as you try to listen closely to every sound possible. Its an artistic achievement.
It feels like by this point in her career Badu was not interested in gaining platinum recognition, she was there at the forefront of the Neo-Soul explosion a decade or more earlier, and that was nice but she seems utterly rebellious, completely committed to the integrity of her vision and her messages and her sound. Its an amazing thing. Her other albums I've heard are also great to masterpiece level as well, and perhaps as of now I still prefer Mama's Gun, but this sounds like an extension or next stage in her music. More complex and even less interested in easy listening or I suppose more accurately, easy classification than even Mama's Gun. The albums or records I can most easily compare this to (although still very different, similar only in their unflinching sound and the tendency to float from sound to sound with no clear hook or easy description) would be D'Angelo's 2014 album Black Messiah, or perhaps J Dilla's music.
Anyway, I am underqualified after 2 listens to describe much more about what I loved or thought about this album. I think its fantastic and damn near a transcendent experience. I also am just not a good enough writer or smart enough musical mind to dissect this album even with 20 listens. It should just be experienced.
Later added thought: I just looked and she apparently hasn't released an LP since 2010. With an artist as brilliant as her I can only respect this, but man, this is a bummer. Is she just kind of done with the whole music making nonsense at this point in her life? D'Angelo similarly has a tendency to release no albums for years and years and it is amazing that these 2 artists are so connected in my mind, like the twin towers of Neo-Soul genius. I have no data on either's lives or their relationship or whether they are friends, but man can you imagine if they collaborated on an album? that would be badass. And what if they also contacted Lauryn Hill and got her out of retirement and they came together to make a double album of brilliance. Silly thought, but that is where my mind goes when I see these things. That would be the most anticipated album ever fucking made. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
This is a work of profound genius. My mind has only processed probably 10% of its details and brilliance, but I feel like I'm listening to something completely new and artistically free, utterly uninterested in compromising anything for popularity or for a hit or for slightly easier digestion. The music is Neo-Soul, sure, but it feels like this record goes to places that few others within Neo-Soul ever went. I was expecting something brilliant because it is Badu we are speaking of, but I wasn't expecting this. This album is completely unpredictable and yet it flows from one fascinating message and point and sound and style to the next with nimbleness. Politically unflinching, these songs are deeply affecting and in your face and they tackle shit that most artists wouldn't and if they did, they'd do it in a more palatable way. Badu and Co. instead just dive in bravely and brazenly.
Musically this is, again, so detailed and nearly all-encompassing it is hard to express. The usual soul and hip hop elements are here as can be expected from a Neo-Soul album. But that doesn't fully express it. There are tracks here that seem to be growing out of other songs and pulling in elements that, at first, seem too different and alien to work. But without fail those sounds grow and by the time you are in this new sound, it feels right and natural and purposeful.
All in all, the vocals and lyrics here are fabulous and inspiring. The music is equally fabulous and mindboggling. The flow is excellent. This album can be listened to as a vibe, while you write or clean or whatever, but it can also be poured over and dissected and listened to with eyes closed as you try to listen closely to every sound possible. Its an artistic achievement.
It feels like by this point in her career Badu was not interested in gaining platinum recognition, she was there at the forefront of the Neo-Soul explosion a decade or more earlier, and that was nice but she seems utterly rebellious, completely committed to the integrity of her vision and her messages and her sound. Its an amazing thing. Her other albums I've heard are also great to masterpiece level as well, and perhaps as of now I still prefer Mama's Gun, but this sounds like an extension or next stage in her music. More complex and even less interested in easy listening or I suppose more accurately, easy classification than even Mama's Gun. The albums or records I can most easily compare this to (although still very different, similar only in their unflinching sound and the tendency to float from sound to sound with no clear hook or easy description) would be D'Angelo's 2014 album Black Messiah, or perhaps J Dilla's music.
Anyway, I am underqualified after 2 listens to describe much more about what I loved or thought about this album. I think its fantastic and damn near a transcendent experience. I also am just not a good enough writer or smart enough musical mind to dissect this album even with 20 listens. It should just be experienced.
Later added thought: I just looked and she apparently hasn't released an LP since 2010. With an artist as brilliant as her I can only respect this, but man, this is a bummer. Is she just kind of done with the whole music making nonsense at this point in her life? D'Angelo similarly has a tendency to release no albums for years and years and it is amazing that these 2 artists are so connected in my mind, like the twin towers of Neo-Soul genius. I have no data on either's lives or their relationship or whether they are friends, but man can you imagine if they collaborated on an album? that would be badass. And what if they also contacted Lauryn Hill and got her out of retirement and they came together to make a double album of brilliance. Silly thought, but that is where my mind goes when I see these things. That would be the most anticipated album ever fucking made. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Year of Release:
2008
Appears in:
Rank Score:
309
Rank in 2008:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
2
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This is nice. Got slowed down on listening to this due to a couple little listening projects in recent weeks. Today I finally listened to this in full. I must say that the rock instrumentation and the more full-bodied pop rock sounds here are well done but they don’t hit me like his earlier albums. I think it reminds me most of XO but I suppose I have had more time and way more listens to that 1998 LP so that album has become more emotionally moving for me.
This album is full of the expected Smith melodies, and they are incredible. He just had a way with creating some truly amazing tunes. And, despite being draped with many layers of pop and rock and much more production work, the lyrics are brutal at times and really make things tragic sometimes right in the middle of a bright, sing-songy track. Which is dope.
I don’t have much else to say. I like this album a good deal and will return soon. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
This album is full of the expected Smith melodies, and they are incredible. He just had a way with creating some truly amazing tunes. And, despite being draped with many layers of pop and rock and much more production work, the lyrics are brutal at times and really make things tragic sometimes right in the middle of a bright, sing-songy track. Which is dope.
I don’t have much else to say. I like this album a good deal and will return soon. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,489
Rank in 2000:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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In almost every way this sounds like the little brother of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. I love their second album, its a classic. This album, being very similar, I also quite like. The shambolic, drunken, lostness of the sound and the vocals are so great and without fail they draw me in. And I relate to the whole attitude of this album. The way it gets all sad and weepy and drunk one minute and then all fiery and proud and... well, drunk the next. It's awesome. The production isn't yet there and not nearly as sharp or flattering as their next 2 classic LPs. The songwriting isn't quite there yet either. But yeah overall there isn't much here I didn't really like.
I apologize for my recent lackluster write ups. I haven't been struck with the inspiration as much lately. I mean, for example, I liked this album a lot and I love The Pogues a smuch as the next fan of such music... but I just can't feel that fire.
★★★½ to ★★★★
(I mostly posted that grading system there so I could copy paste it later for other albums because I have no idea how to do that star thing... found someone on RYM with 'em and I jumped at the easy and lazy solution of copy pasta) [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
I apologize for my recent lackluster write ups. I haven't been struck with the inspiration as much lately. I mean, for example, I liked this album a lot and I love The Pogues a smuch as the next fan of such music... but I just can't feel that fire.
★★★½ to ★★★★
(I mostly posted that grading system there so I could copy paste it later for other albums because I have no idea how to do that star thing... found someone on RYM with 'em and I jumped at the easy and lazy solution of copy pasta) [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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This one was a bit of a revelation to me. I adore this and I did so on first listen. IO have listened over and over and I just find this to be a masterpiece. It's a BRUTAL, insanely heavy and unrelenting 25 minute call to action. The sludge here is some of the most crushing and harrowing I have heard and the speedy harcore punk moments atrte so visceral and aggressive and the guitars all sound so sick. The bass work here is some of the best I have heard on any Sludge or punk (of any kind) album. The bass is what gives these otherwise already quite oppressive and almost apocalyptic songs that deep, cavernous, sludgy thick layer to push this over the top. The vocals are killer and really the vocals are for me ideal... they have the pained and hateful and agonized intensity of the best hardcore and the gravelly, harsh roar of the best sludge and death metal vocals, without any of the more theatrical or somewhat affected or put-on qualities that can make both those styles a little off for me. As for the drumming, well its sick.
I listened to their debut 15 Counts of Arson as well. And its a goodie as well. But it became clear to me that they took what made their debut LP great and distilled it down to all the essentials and added a new level of incisive, fiery, explosive fury. This is just way more focused and seminal. There is not a wasted moment here. As an album this thing flows and has a consistent sound without being repetitive or boring or redundant at any point. In a lot of ways this sounds like then much faster younger brother to peak-era Neurosis. There is that same sense of epic, end-of-days dread. As well as a hard to pull off mix of purest anger and hate with a certain agonized gloom. Hard to explain. Those first 2 Neurosis albums before they embraced and then perfected atmospheric sludge, is perhaps the most obvious analogous sound for me. Those early Neurosis albums aren't generally given much love, but they are solid hardcore punk meets sludge and, though not nearly as good as this album by His Hero Is Gone, I can hear the embryonic version of this album in those 2 early Neurosis LPs.
Anyway, this is a triumph in every way. It's one of the best punk albums of any subgenre released in the 90s (that I have heard) as well as being at times the best example of FAST sludge and menace this side of early Mastodon (again, that I have heard). Stellar stuff and this will go high on my 1990s chart for sure and be one I return to a lot I am thinking.
Also, I just love this family of genres... crust punk, grindcore, sludge metal, hardcore/anarcho punk stuff, death metal with grind elements and punk elements along with the crossover thrash bands of course... they all have similar foundational elements and they all intermingle so nicely and yet they all deviate off into interesting other realms. That wave of wilness that seemed to germinate from Black Flag's My War in 1984 as well as the emergence of Grindcore and Napalm Death in 1987 and to some degree the creation of Death Metal and how it blends so well with grind and gave us Deathgrind, ... the mid 1980s created my favorite little pocket of music maybe ever and I am just kind of in love with that. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
I listened to their debut 15 Counts of Arson as well. And its a goodie as well. But it became clear to me that they took what made their debut LP great and distilled it down to all the essentials and added a new level of incisive, fiery, explosive fury. This is just way more focused and seminal. There is not a wasted moment here. As an album this thing flows and has a consistent sound without being repetitive or boring or redundant at any point. In a lot of ways this sounds like then much faster younger brother to peak-era Neurosis. There is that same sense of epic, end-of-days dread. As well as a hard to pull off mix of purest anger and hate with a certain agonized gloom. Hard to explain. Those first 2 Neurosis albums before they embraced and then perfected atmospheric sludge, is perhaps the most obvious analogous sound for me. Those early Neurosis albums aren't generally given much love, but they are solid hardcore punk meets sludge and, though not nearly as good as this album by His Hero Is Gone, I can hear the embryonic version of this album in those 2 early Neurosis LPs.
Anyway, this is a triumph in every way. It's one of the best punk albums of any subgenre released in the 90s (that I have heard) as well as being at times the best example of FAST sludge and menace this side of early Mastodon (again, that I have heard). Stellar stuff and this will go high on my 1990s chart for sure and be one I return to a lot I am thinking.
Also, I just love this family of genres... crust punk, grindcore, sludge metal, hardcore/anarcho punk stuff, death metal with grind elements and punk elements along with the crossover thrash bands of course... they all have similar foundational elements and they all intermingle so nicely and yet they all deviate off into interesting other realms. That wave of wilness that seemed to germinate from Black Flag's My War in 1984 as well as the emergence of Grindcore and Napalm Death in 1987 and to some degree the creation of Death Metal and how it blends so well with grind and gave us Deathgrind, ... the mid 1980s created my favorite little pocket of music maybe ever and I am just kind of in love with that. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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Carcass are one of those bands that I feel like I should borderline worship at the altar of. As one of the earliest and most successful Grindcore bands, essentailly the founder of Goregrind (I'm not a fan of this subgenre, I should add), the creators of some of the most revered Old School Death Metal, the creators of one of the most influential albums in Death Metal (especially for sub-sub-genre, Melodic Death Metal) in etc etc... they just have a range and have left such a mark on some of my favorite stuff. Yet... they aren't my favorite nor one of my favorites. Something ain't quite clicking.
Their debut album released a year before Symphonies of Sickness is gloriously ugly and disgusting and was recorded so poorly the prodcution becomes its own draw that separates it from so much else. Yet, even on their debut, their version of Grind is very very muddy and the grindy bits don't cut your ears so much as rub them with sandpaper. The sound of even their most clearly grind music is like a muted, deep, chainsaw sound. In comparison to some of their contemporaries, like Napalm Death or Repulsion, which sound razor sharp and almost aggressively angular (lol of course its aggressively angular), this band almost always have sounded gauzy and droning in their grind assaults if that makes sense. And I suppose I prefer the sharp, and angular side of grind more than the ugly, soupy sound.
This album is not Deathgrind. It is however an album that goes back and forth between OS DM and Goregrind and its clear when they are doing those respective things. In Deathgrind classics like World Downfall by Terrorizer released the same year as this album, there is a melding of the genres and most songs can be looked at as a hybrid of Grindcore and Death Metal. For this album, Carcass will go along with a mostly Death Metal song, with some cool atmospherics thrown in, some very slowed down and chunky DM riffs and some surprisingly quickly developed nifty guitar solos and work. Then the next song will start with a minute or so blast of that classic ultra fast, Grind blastbeat before transitioning to DM again and etc. This is a cool sound. And they do it well. And it should be noted again that within one year the fact that this band stepped up their solos, riffs, vocals, production, and almost everything on a technical front so substantially is impressive. Part of me prefers the atmosphere and the ridiculousness of their debut over this still. But they are such different animals that its a little tough for me to compare.
Goregrind is a genre that first off has a shitty name but also is based on the explicitly gross lyrics. I don't understand a fucking word they are saying nor do I look up the lyrics, so this aspect, this VERY important aspect of what makes this genre Goregrind I am just not paying attention to at all. At no point in my life have I found bloody and gory lyrics remotely interesting. But to each their own I suppose. The music is just cool DM with some grind moments. Nothing here really floors me and I know this album came out in 1989 so this maybe sounded very very fresh then, but to my ears this sounds like just a solid early Death Metal album. The albums released this year within Grind, Death Metal or Deathgrind that I find t5o be substantially better and have aged amazingly are World Downfall, Horrified, The Peel Sessions by Napalm Death (kinda cheating as those recordings are from 87-8Cool, of course Altars of Madness, and even Realm of Chaos by Bolt Thrower wows me more these days than this second Carcass LP.
Now as for Carcass as a whole, like I said I majorly respect and like them. ERven if they aren't held in as high regard as Napalm Death or other peers, I know that each of their fiorst 5 albums at least will be good to great. I recently had a small back and forth with LedZep on my diary thread and he mentioned how impressive Mastodon is/was for managing to master 2 very very distinct genres and make classics in both (Sludge and then Prog metal). I was wondering who else has done similar things and I think Carcass' career and run of 5 albums is just about as impressive. They made in 1993 no less an extremely forward thinking and innovative and very melodic death metal album with Heartwork. This was 2-3 years before the Swedes really ran with this sound. They made what is for many a top 10 Death Metal album in Necroticism. They essentially created the goregrind genre and were one of the first bands to make grindcore. They finally in 1995 made the very widely disliked album Swansong which is... very different, very melodic, much less death metal, very politically fiery (and I really like it). So yeah, not sure my point outside of showing some appreciation for Carcass, one of the most influential bands to emerge in 1987-1988 or so.
Overall, this gets a 3/5 or a 6.8ish out of 10. Of the Carcass I have heard I rank em:
#1 - Heartwork (1993)
#2 - Necroticism... (1991)
#3 - Symphonies of Sickness (1989)
#4 - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
#5 - Swansong (1995)
all are good and only Heartwork and maybe Necroticsm (neeeed to listen again, that is the one I have heard the least randomly enough) is truly great. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Their debut album released a year before Symphonies of Sickness is gloriously ugly and disgusting and was recorded so poorly the prodcution becomes its own draw that separates it from so much else. Yet, even on their debut, their version of Grind is very very muddy and the grindy bits don't cut your ears so much as rub them with sandpaper. The sound of even their most clearly grind music is like a muted, deep, chainsaw sound. In comparison to some of their contemporaries, like Napalm Death or Repulsion, which sound razor sharp and almost aggressively angular (lol of course its aggressively angular), this band almost always have sounded gauzy and droning in their grind assaults if that makes sense. And I suppose I prefer the sharp, and angular side of grind more than the ugly, soupy sound.
This album is not Deathgrind. It is however an album that goes back and forth between OS DM and Goregrind and its clear when they are doing those respective things. In Deathgrind classics like World Downfall by Terrorizer released the same year as this album, there is a melding of the genres and most songs can be looked at as a hybrid of Grindcore and Death Metal. For this album, Carcass will go along with a mostly Death Metal song, with some cool atmospherics thrown in, some very slowed down and chunky DM riffs and some surprisingly quickly developed nifty guitar solos and work. Then the next song will start with a minute or so blast of that classic ultra fast, Grind blastbeat before transitioning to DM again and etc. This is a cool sound. And they do it well. And it should be noted again that within one year the fact that this band stepped up their solos, riffs, vocals, production, and almost everything on a technical front so substantially is impressive. Part of me prefers the atmosphere and the ridiculousness of their debut over this still. But they are such different animals that its a little tough for me to compare.
Goregrind is a genre that first off has a shitty name but also is based on the explicitly gross lyrics. I don't understand a fucking word they are saying nor do I look up the lyrics, so this aspect, this VERY important aspect of what makes this genre Goregrind I am just not paying attention to at all. At no point in my life have I found bloody and gory lyrics remotely interesting. But to each their own I suppose. The music is just cool DM with some grind moments. Nothing here really floors me and I know this album came out in 1989 so this maybe sounded very very fresh then, but to my ears this sounds like just a solid early Death Metal album. The albums released this year within Grind, Death Metal or Deathgrind that I find t5o be substantially better and have aged amazingly are World Downfall, Horrified, The Peel Sessions by Napalm Death (kinda cheating as those recordings are from 87-8Cool, of course Altars of Madness, and even Realm of Chaos by Bolt Thrower wows me more these days than this second Carcass LP.
Now as for Carcass as a whole, like I said I majorly respect and like them. ERven if they aren't held in as high regard as Napalm Death or other peers, I know that each of their fiorst 5 albums at least will be good to great. I recently had a small back and forth with LedZep on my diary thread and he mentioned how impressive Mastodon is/was for managing to master 2 very very distinct genres and make classics in both (Sludge and then Prog metal). I was wondering who else has done similar things and I think Carcass' career and run of 5 albums is just about as impressive. They made in 1993 no less an extremely forward thinking and innovative and very melodic death metal album with Heartwork. This was 2-3 years before the Swedes really ran with this sound. They made what is for many a top 10 Death Metal album in Necroticism. They essentially created the goregrind genre and were one of the first bands to make grindcore. They finally in 1995 made the very widely disliked album Swansong which is... very different, very melodic, much less death metal, very politically fiery (and I really like it). So yeah, not sure my point outside of showing some appreciation for Carcass, one of the most influential bands to emerge in 1987-1988 or so.
Overall, this gets a 3/5 or a 6.8ish out of 10. Of the Carcass I have heard I rank em:
#1 - Heartwork (1993)
#2 - Necroticism... (1991)
#3 - Symphonies of Sickness (1989)
#4 - Reek of Putrefaction (1988)
#5 - Swansong (1995)
all are good and only Heartwork and maybe Necroticsm (neeeed to listen again, that is the one I have heard the least randomly enough) is truly great. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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Less to say on this one than that carcass one I just spoke on. I was feeling chatty. Now, less so. Buuuut... this is cool. This band and this album had a truly unique sound. The artful use of french horn and other almost symphonic elements is awesome and works really well alongside some Discharge-esque rhythms and some great, punk riffs. The vocals are stoic, especially relative to most hardcore punk, they are cold and icey and almost would fit on a post punk album to some extent. The flow of the album wasn't for me the best. After the initial novelty and uniqueness appreciation wears off, I tended to get a bit uninterested the 2 times I listened.
Still, this is a solid debut. If you like symphonic stuff or crusty punk with some slight nods to similar ground later covered by black metal bands, or if you like french horns and unique punk music, you'll like this. They released some more metallic, almost avant garde metal albums later on. I listened to one of them from 1994 and it is cool. They are really a fascinating band that more people should be aware of. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Still, this is a solid debut. If you like symphonic stuff or crusty punk with some slight nods to similar ground later covered by black metal bands, or if you like french horns and unique punk music, you'll like this. They released some more metallic, almost avant garde metal albums later on. I listened to one of them from 1994 and it is cool. They are really a fascinating band that more people should be aware of. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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Okay, I get not really beingi nto Grind and wanting to nominate things you have a bit more love for. It just so happens this is a pretty damn extreme screamo album, so it is a nice appetizer for other more absurd stuff like Nasum. Anyway, where next?...
Okay, so this is as I said an extreme screamo bordering on emoviolence album from a pretty iconic screamo band. This is punk as hell, abrasive, emotive, with some surprisingly sick playing as well. These folks can play the shit out of their instruments and, as the opening sample spoken word mentions, this is good and full of passion. So it works.
It's 27 minutes of pretty cool and passionate stuff. I can't say I loved it. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate it and at times the guitars and the drums were a bit TOO clattery and messy. And the screamo vocals, while being damn great and exemplary for the style, were rubbing me the wrong way while I listened to this a couple times yesterday.
Still, if you like emocore or emo or screamo or post hardcore or or or ... you should check this out if you haven't already as it is some of the most viscerally passionate and intense shit that I have heard within that umbrella of related genres. There is a bit of a screamo revival happening the last couple years and I have heard a lot of those more recent albums and generally liked them a lot (hell just last year one of my fave albums was the new Dreamwell), so it was great hearing one of the older and very influential bands and albums in that genre's history. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Okay, so this is as I said an extreme screamo bordering on emoviolence album from a pretty iconic screamo band. This is punk as hell, abrasive, emotive, with some surprisingly sick playing as well. These folks can play the shit out of their instruments and, as the opening sample spoken word mentions, this is good and full of passion. So it works.
It's 27 minutes of pretty cool and passionate stuff. I can't say I loved it. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate it and at times the guitars and the drums were a bit TOO clattery and messy. And the screamo vocals, while being damn great and exemplary for the style, were rubbing me the wrong way while I listened to this a couple times yesterday.
Still, if you like emocore or emo or screamo or post hardcore or or or ... you should check this out if you haven't already as it is some of the most viscerally passionate and intense shit that I have heard within that umbrella of related genres. There is a bit of a screamo revival happening the last couple years and I have heard a lot of those more recent albums and generally liked them a lot (hell just last year one of my fave albums was the new Dreamwell), so it was great hearing one of the older and very influential bands and albums in that genre's history. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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This is a pretty kickass 22 minute japanese hardcore album. The star of the show is the vocals, both when solo and especially when the group screams and shouts come in (which is often). The bass work is cool and surprisingly accentuated. The riffs are basically a non-stop barrage of hardcore punk energy. The drumming is cool. The whole album is just super SUPER high energy and very pissed off and crusty. And the guitarist even manages to fit in some red hot solos into the album.
Overall, this was cool. I haven't explored Japanese Hardcore before and I think I maybe will now based off this album. I don't understand a word of it as I don't speak the language and even if I did I never understand the lyrics when shouted or screamed. But I can FEEL the passion here.
It is a bit one note (as can be expected from hardcore punk) and the production is perhaps a bit too muddy and not quite as defined as I would like it - like it doesn'yt have much punch. This can also be expected from an underground hardcore punk album. So, not a masterpiece in my opinion. But every instrument and member of the band shines at times here and I enjoyed it. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Overall, this was cool. I haven't explored Japanese Hardcore before and I think I maybe will now based off this album. I don't understand a word of it as I don't speak the language and even if I did I never understand the lyrics when shouted or screamed. But I can FEEL the passion here.
It is a bit one note (as can be expected from hardcore punk) and the production is perhaps a bit too muddy and not quite as defined as I would like it - like it doesn'yt have much punch. This can also be expected from an underground hardcore punk album. So, not a masterpiece in my opinion. But every instrument and member of the band shines at times here and I enjoyed it. [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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Well, these 7 songs over 17 or so minutes has something for the whole family. If you like Death and Chuck's absolutely iconic vocals so full of pain and rage, you'll get a kick out of hearing him over tracks that are very different than anything on Symbolic released just a year earlier. If you like the absurd drumming of Dave Witte of Discordance Axis fame or if you've heard the Inalienable Dreamless and thought "shit that is some insane drum work, wonder what that beast would sound like over knotty, mathy, avant-death and grind?" well this will be a fascianting treat for you. If you like super speed racer grindcore, this is, again, something of interest to you. If you like Avant garde metal where the compositions are often times so gnarly and unorthodox you have a hard time finding the groove or rhyme-and-reason to the music, you guessed it, this is for you. And if you like Mathy and dense Converge-like stuff, maybe this will also scratch that itch. Agan, all within 16-17 minutes. It's wild man.
I liked this a lot. It was easy to listen to half a dozen times rather than 1 or 2 times because of its length. Also something kept making me want to listen again. I suppose it was because at the end of each play through I felt like I hadn't really come to grips with any of the music. This is interesting and a bit of a bad thing in my opinion. The grooves and songs here elude my understanding. The DNA of all these all time favorites of mine are right here in this EP and yet I can't find anything here that really raises it above the associated music. Chuck Schuldiner is such an icon and this was right in the middle of his boundary-pushing peak, that it is impossible not to be at least a little fascinated by this nugget of avant garde nastiness, right?
Anyway, I don't have much of substance to say. This is a cool little EP and I bet fans of Death or Discordance Axis will get more out of it than me on average. This is just extremely dense and mathematical and wild and adorned and it is crazy how technical and aggressive it is at the same time. On songs like "Swollen" there are actually some sick riffs and grooves, and after 6 listens I am hearing more of the details and the beauty contained in this stew of sounds. So in real time I am starting to get some slight handle on this bad boy. 3-3.5/5 [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
I liked this a lot. It was easy to listen to half a dozen times rather than 1 or 2 times because of its length. Also something kept making me want to listen again. I suppose it was because at the end of each play through I felt like I hadn't really come to grips with any of the music. This is interesting and a bit of a bad thing in my opinion. The grooves and songs here elude my understanding. The DNA of all these all time favorites of mine are right here in this EP and yet I can't find anything here that really raises it above the associated music. Chuck Schuldiner is such an icon and this was right in the middle of his boundary-pushing peak, that it is impossible not to be at least a little fascinated by this nugget of avant garde nastiness, right?
Anyway, I don't have much of substance to say. This is a cool little EP and I bet fans of Death or Discordance Axis will get more out of it than me on average. This is just extremely dense and mathematical and wild and adorned and it is crazy how technical and aggressive it is at the same time. On songs like "Swollen" there are actually some sick riffs and grooves, and after 6 listens I am hearing more of the details and the beauty contained in this stew of sounds. So in real time I am starting to get some slight handle on this bad boy. 3-3.5/5 [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
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Assück are giants in this genre. And this album is indisputably one of the classics of anything grindcore related. And yet before listening several times today I hadn't yet clicked with it as much as I had their contemporaries' classic albums nor many of the bands that came later like Pig Destroyer. In 1992 they released a classic debut album and they released it alongside Brutal Truth's even more amazing debut album, and those 2 massive Deathgrind albums being released at the same time tended to put their debut (Anticapital) in a shadow. Because Brutal Truth's 1992 album is just such a fucking towering achievement of incredible riff work, vocals, drumming and it manages to be as heavy as any death metal band and as brutally fast as any grind band and it's got great and well written guitar work etc etc and in comparison Assück just came across as a much less developed more rabid little brother. At least they did in 1992 when comparing introductory LP statements.
But now this album, their second "L"P (its 15 songs/15 minutes) and their final album before breaking up in 1998, is a different beast. This is just a fantastic album. The recordings are much less lofi than their debut. The blast beats have a live wire brutality that is invigorating, the riffs are AWESOME! Really, the band slows down and trudges like a doomy death metal band for brief moments and the ultra menacing and fuzzy as fuck tone just shines gorgeously when they do that, there are cool stacatto guitar riffs that pop up on this album that have a definite hardcore punk energy, and of course the rest of the time they go full bore brutal grindy deathy maniacs. And the vocals are killer as well and a big improvement over their debut (from what I remember, cuz much like this album, I listened to their debut once or twice and sort of bounced off of it and went and listened to Pig Destroyer instead). The vocal work is growly and has a lot of character... insofar as the vocals don't sound fake or unreal like some death metal vocals. They do indeed sound like a human's vocals just a human's vocals doing very unhealthy things to his voice. I can even hear and understand some of the words which is nice. The vocals aren't varied like on much of the other Deathgrind I've heard where traditionally the vocals vacillate between high pitched grind screeching and deep toned death metal growling. Instead it just stays in their lane and become almost another rhythmic instrument, riding along with the drums and guitars when they also come together for a full frontal assault.
Again, it should be acknowledged how impressive this 15 minute album is. Despite it being very short, it fits soooo much badass riff work and detail and tempo changes and cool aggressive music in. By the time I was done listening to this today each of the 5 times, I felt like 1. pushing play again and 2. like I had experienced a well rounded hardcore deathgrind album with a lot of soul and savagery and character and its awesome! Highly recommended for everyone despite most of you almost guaranteed to not enjoy it. It's one of the peaks of the genre(s) and this alongside Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, should be the first thing you listen to AFTER World Downfall by Terrorizer (which is still the Deathgrind gold standard). - distinguishing deathgrind from grindcore of course. there are a few grindcore or powerviolence albums i'd put in this league as well... but this a sub-sub-genre to the sub genre called grindcore. Honestly, I have lost track and I am now just enjoying typing out those words at this point. lol [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
But now this album, their second "L"P (its 15 songs/15 minutes) and their final album before breaking up in 1998, is a different beast. This is just a fantastic album. The recordings are much less lofi than their debut. The blast beats have a live wire brutality that is invigorating, the riffs are AWESOME! Really, the band slows down and trudges like a doomy death metal band for brief moments and the ultra menacing and fuzzy as fuck tone just shines gorgeously when they do that, there are cool stacatto guitar riffs that pop up on this album that have a definite hardcore punk energy, and of course the rest of the time they go full bore brutal grindy deathy maniacs. And the vocals are killer as well and a big improvement over their debut (from what I remember, cuz much like this album, I listened to their debut once or twice and sort of bounced off of it and went and listened to Pig Destroyer instead). The vocal work is growly and has a lot of character... insofar as the vocals don't sound fake or unreal like some death metal vocals. They do indeed sound like a human's vocals just a human's vocals doing very unhealthy things to his voice. I can even hear and understand some of the words which is nice. The vocals aren't varied like on much of the other Deathgrind I've heard where traditionally the vocals vacillate between high pitched grind screeching and deep toned death metal growling. Instead it just stays in their lane and become almost another rhythmic instrument, riding along with the drums and guitars when they also come together for a full frontal assault.
Again, it should be acknowledged how impressive this 15 minute album is. Despite it being very short, it fits soooo much badass riff work and detail and tempo changes and cool aggressive music in. By the time I was done listening to this today each of the 5 times, I felt like 1. pushing play again and 2. like I had experienced a well rounded hardcore deathgrind album with a lot of soul and savagery and character and its awesome! Highly recommended for everyone despite most of you almost guaranteed to not enjoy it. It's one of the peaks of the genre(s) and this alongside Brutal Truth's Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, should be the first thing you listen to AFTER World Downfall by Terrorizer (which is still the Deathgrind gold standard). - distinguishing deathgrind from grindcore of course. there are a few grindcore or powerviolence albums i'd put in this league as well... but this a sub-sub-genre to the sub genre called grindcore. Honestly, I have lost track and I am now just enjoying typing out those words at this point. lol [First added to this chart: 03/15/2022]
Total albums: 15. Page 1 of 2
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part 3 of You must listen to the album below you:canon edition composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1980s | 2 | 13% | |
| 1990s | 4 | 27% | |
| 2000s | 6 | 40% | |
| 2010s | 3 | 20% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Elliott Smith | 1 | 7% | |
| Asterisk* | 1 | 7% | |
| The Pogues | 1 | 7% | |
| Tragedy (2000s) | 1 | 7% | |
| His Hero Is Gone | 1 | 7% | |
| Protomartyr | 1 | 7% | |
| Carcass | 1 | 7% | |
| Show all | |||
part 3 of You must listen to the album below you:canon edition chart changes
| New entries |
|---|
 Solitudeby Lord Snow |
| Sadness Will Prevail by Today Is The Day |
| Dogma by Asterisk* |
| Vengeance by Tragedy (2000s) |
| Relatives In Descent by Protomartyr |
part 3 of You must listen to the album below you:canon edition similarity to your chart(s)
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