Until the Ink Runs Out (2000)

My first of many early 00s metalcore appreciation posts. This record made my jaw drop. I'd heard some other OC bands from the late 90s right when I got into hardcore around 99/2000 and I was hooked on all of it. Partially, because of how easily of a transitioning period, being 100% into metal, then Misfits/Danzig/Samhain/Michale Graves and then the entire OC metalcore craze. Eighteen Visions blew me away. I got this record and the compilation of all their 7" and eps (The Best Of) at the same time, from a distro table at a bar/venue in Fort Lauderdale, along with a ton of other great CDs. 

One part death metal, one part spastic Botchy sounding riffs, one part rock n' roll, all dark and mysterious. This was when the band was still balls-to-the-wall heavy, they still utilized Brandan Schiepatti as a guitar player alongside one of my favorite riff-lords, Keith Barney, James Hart's voice was still ferocious and gutteral, the lyrics were dark, satirical and nihilistic, it was perfect. I was lucky enough to catch them on support still, for this record, in 2002, when they still had this lineup as well. Music like this flat out does not exist anymore.

Today a plane flew over London.

Anselmo Appreciation

Lightning struck down twice. Black mass, latin fire.

Bang your head.




 

"The more you play, the more you realize that hipsters are gonna hipster themselves off and... wear their Hot Topic gear to some asshole bar... We don't need costumes, we don't need ideology. All we need to do is jam and I love it. All you other fucking bands suck my giant dick"

For Victory (1994)

I haven't posted any Death Metal since we started this blog, which is strange considering how much of it I like listening to. So here's my hands-down favorite DM band ever.  

To be fair, Bolt Thrower don't sound like your average 90's Death Metal band. That is to say they weren't ripping off Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel (not that there's anything wrong with that if you ask me) but instead they crafted their own brand of DM and infused it with healthy doses of Punk and Doom. There are no blast beats and little, if any, Thrash influences here. Their whole discography sounds like they were paying more attention to Discharge and Candlemass than to Possessed or Death. That unique sound is only one of the things that set them apart from their contemporaries. Lyrically, BT strayed from the Gore/Satanic/Lovecraftian themes that dominated the scene and instead focused on examining the subtleties of war. The end result is one of the most captivating musical entities you could listen to.  

The mid-paced style on this record makes every riff and every song sound massive, while the melodies give it an epic feel that few bands (Sulphur Aeon comes to mind) since them have been able to pull off as flawlessly.

Bolt Thrower is crushing. They lumber forward like a WWII tank crushing everything in its path. Every single record that they ever put out it is worth checking out, but in the mean-time here's a good one to get you started. Released in 1994, "For Victory" STILL obliterates everything out there.

                      

                                          To future generations, a legacy of hate.