Second Toughest In The Infants – Underworld

I bought this album on the back of the brilliance of Born Slippy which I had on the Trainspotting soundtrack. It’s an amazing song but cutting it short is a sin. I really love the ten minute build up once the main section is over. I can remember being at a wedding at the Weald Of Kent Golf Course and after imbibing rather too much alcohol I got a little angry with the DJ when he cut short Born Slippy. He did then go on to play the rest of the track and I loved it. Not sure anyone else did.

This album is a good chill out album I think. I haven’t played it in ages and I seem to remember it lacked the brutality that I wanted.

Seasons In The Abyss – Slayer

It’s been too long since I last wrote a review on this topic, I’d actually forgotten I had done some of the “S” albums. To have Seasons In The Abyss as a resumption of service is great. This album is absolutely fantastic. It’s hard, heavy, powerful and will smash you apart. I’m not a megafan of Slayer I have seen them twice I think and I enjoyed the shows. They are one of the big four and so deserve their place in history. Every now and then the music of Slayer is a requirement because it’s just right. Make no mistake this is thrash metal and a perfect example.

War Ensemble – fast, powerful, lasting lyrics, what’s not to like? I remember Slayer at the Clash Of The Titans concert in Wembley arena announcing that they were going to record the music video to this song and were going to play along to a backing track – that did not go down well with the crowd – so they played it live.

Expendable Youth – Very good song. I do like some heavy cymbal use.

Dead Skin Mask – creepy and scary. This song messed me up the first time I heard it. I bought this album on music cassette [tape] and was playing it while walking from the record shop. Towards the end of this song a girl’s voice comes on asking for help. I hadn’t realised it was part of the song and thought it was someone behind me asking. Pooped myself.

Hallowed Point – see below lyrics, need I say more?

High velocity bullet at close range
Can damage the mind
Shattering the skull shredding the brain
Severing the spine

Slayer – Hallowed Point

Seasons In The Abyss – a tour-de-force of a song. Absolutely amazing. Calming, heavy, spooky. All of that.

I know I haven’t written about every song and there are times when I do. I think the biggest endorsement I can give this album is that I don’t skip any of the songs and love the whole thing. It’s a well rounded collection of songs.

Screaming Symphony – Impellitteri

This is going to be a terrible review of this album. I’ll explain why in a moment. I wrote about Crunch much earlier on in this series of reviews and my gut instincts are still the same. At some point soon I will write about “Stand In Line” which is amazing – I love it. I was given a tape of this album in the late 80s and I have always enjoyed it.

I would describe this music as a cross between Yngwie J Malmsteen and Megadave. You have that speed melody and heavy crunching guitars at times. Sometimes the riffs sound almost Dio like, especially “Rat Race” and “You Are The Fire”.

This album is quite poor and derivative. It’s been done better elsewhere. I was listening to it while writing this but I am more looking forward to the next album review!!

Schematic – Senser

Communication number 1668. Here’s what was happening in England during that year; lots of people were born and lots died, Newton created a reflecting telescope, the British East India Company took control of Bombay by “Royal Charter”, William Penn was imprisoned for writing a pamphlet attacking trinitarian doctrine.

Schematic is a decent album by Senser. It’s worth getting. Am I aware of any of the songs in particular? No. But this is worth owning if you like their particular brand of rock.

Savages – Soulfly

When this is published on this site this will be communication number 1667. Here’s what was going on in England in 1667. The Dutch sailed up the Medway and destroyed part of the English Navy. The Dutch attempt to sail up the Thames but don’t make it. The Dutch then land in Suffolk but are beaten back. In July the Second Anglo-Dutch war is ended by treaty. Paradise Lost is published, I know nothing about this book. Robert Hooke was being a genius.

I’ve had this album on in the background while I wrote the previous communication and I have to say, it’s just a metal/nu-wave album. The song Fuck Reality is quite funny I guess.

SAP – Alice In Chains

This is really an EP and came as an extra CD with Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains. I bought this in the early days of CD players. If you want to listen to this properly then you need to be drunk, lying on the floor and wearing sunglasses in the dark. I can’t think of a better way to experience this.

Haunting.

That pretty much describes this album. It has all the classic vocal styles of Alice along with decent acoustic sounds followed by grunge/Seattle sounds. It is a masterpiece.

Rust In Peace – Megadeth

Well, what is there to say about an almost perfect album? This is an amazing collection of songs. Rust In Peace ends the current run of “R” albums and there have been some monsters here:

  • Rammstein
  • Randy Rhoads Tribute
  • Reign In Blood
  • Reise, Reise
  • Resident Evil
  • Ride The Lightning
  • Rio Grande Blood

And so now to the last “R”.

This album starts with the magnum opus that is:

  • Holy Wars . . . The Punishment Due – such an energetic song that will blow you away. It just keeps getting better and better. Mercy killings, mercy killings, killings, killings.
  • Hangar 18 – a very good song with a hilarious video. I mean, it isn’t true but the song is good. As far as I know they even wrote a follow up song but at least this isn’t that terrible song by ‘tallica. The change of pace / riff / syncopation half way through the song really gives me the shivers.
  • Take No Prisoners – power blasting through the bass bins. Amazing. High speed riffage. Lovely. Fast chord work. Cool. A fast bouncy verse that leads to speed changes. A pluckying bass line. This sound would pound you live.
  • Five Magics – more head hitting openings with a lovely melody on the bass. The introduction is two minutes long and then you get the main part of the song. The riff in the last minute of this song will have you running into the rest of the pit.
  • Poison Was The Cure – Another bass opening [good old Dave], then a high speed twisty verse with crazy riffs.
  • Lucretia – For some reason I don’t like the opening of this song. But I will say that once the main riff starts this is bloody amazing. There’s something special in the bouncy quality of this whole album. It would be brilliant to attend a concert where they played this whole album. The middle section of this song is so lyrical without any lyrics. Love it.
  • Tornado Of Souls – The way this song opens and just keeps the energy going means I get blown away every time I listen to it.
  • Dawn Patrol – There’s always one song that’s quite left-field on MegaDave albums and this is that one. But, it’s amazing. Creepy and dark. Foreboding. Brilliant.
  • Rust In Peace . . . . Polaris – Gosh how I wish that in the last thirty years since this album was released that our nukes had been destroyed and humankind had finally decided that having the power of fission/fusion bombs was beyond the responsibility of any single country or person. But that hasn’t happened. This song is the final flourish to an album that would still make a list of great ones. A lot of other albums I own are in the “I know it’s brilliant and was necessary to move music along but I no longer like it” category. This one is still in the real list.

Rosenrot – Rammstein

Look. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Rammstein are amazing. I love it. I can’t get enough and it just stuns me all the time. The thing is, and this is mentioned elsewhere within these communications, I forget song names. Bands I have grown to like over the last twenty years or so, Rammstein included, have suffered from a case of me not having the time to stare at the album packaging. It’s worse these days as I rarely buy physical copies of music and rarely look at the actual titles of songs I hear. This along with a propensity to not really listen to the lyrics combines to mean I don’t know song titles. Unless the chorus is the title over and over.

I know the songs and I know which ones I like but naming them? Almost impossible.

Just go and buy everything by Rammstein. You’ll not regret it.

This Was Warm
This Was Warm