Dismember 'Indecent and Obscene' (Nuclear Blast, 1993). HOME PHOTOS BEETLES OTHER STUFF SIGN GUESTBOOK VIEW GUESTBOOK
My Choice Cuts
My passion for thrash and death metal originates from when I lived in Al-Ain, U.A.E. My earliest recollection of this kind of music was one day in late 1992 when by brother's friend, a certain Tasman Papworth, stayed over. Taz had recently been paid a visit by his elder brother Adrian (the father of death metal in Al-Ain) who had come over from Australia by way of Kuala Lampur, and had thus secured him a collection of new tapes. I decided to borrow one of his tapes, and immediately selected the one with the weirdest cover. That night I fell asleep listening to it on my walkman and since waking up I have never been the same. That tape was Sepultura 'Arise'.
I soon got copies of all his other tapes which included; Sepultura 'Beneath the Remains', Kreator 'Extreme Aggressions', Obituary 'Slowly we rot', and Pungent Stench 'Been Caught Buttering', plus several compilations. In fact it was a one minute cut on one of those compilations that lead me to discover my all time favourite death metal album: Carcass 'Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious'
I guess what I love about death metal is the overall darkness and aggression of the music. The guitars are always distorted to give a crunching, grinding dynamic, the drumming is usually a frenzied pummeling often with stupendously fast double-bass, whilst the bass guitar provides a sinister murky background to the proceedings. The vocals take the music one step deeper into the grave with growling, barking, and vomiting (?) being the preferred styles adopted. Lyrics are invariably malevolent, with common recurring themes of mutilation and murder, destruction and war, or desecration and sacrilege.
Most of the death metal that I like are by bands that incorporate lugubrious, haunting melodies with vicious riffing. For me the best death metal sound was achieved in the early 90's (in particular 1990 & 1991) with albums such as; Obituary 'Cause of Death' (1990), Entombed 'Clandestine' and Morbid Angel 'Blessed are the Sick' (both 1991).
I am also a fan of thrash and in particular Slayer (who doesn't love these guys? everyone needs to have a copy of their double live album 'Decade of Aggression', they are the best live band ever!) and Kreator (German thrash - need I say more), as well as more mainstream metal such as Metallica and Megadeth ('Rust in Peace' is killer!). I also listen to a lot of other stuff but this page is dedicated to the music I hold dearest - death metal.
What's Playing On My Stereo This Month:
This is a selection of some of the death metal records that I have been listening to recently, fellow enthusiasts will note that most of what I like is pretty old school, so to all you Black metallers; 'suffer'.
1) Cannibal Corpse 'Butchered at Birth'.
2) Pungent Stench 'For God your Soul... for me your Flesh'.
3) Dismember 'Indecent and Obscene'.
4) At the Gates 'The Red in the Sky is ours'.
5) Entombed 'Left Hand Path'.
Cover Of The Month:
Rather than having loads of photos of all my favourite albums I have decided to put up one or two every now and again.
Dismember 'Indecent and Obscene' (Nuclear Blast, 1993).
Lyrics Of The Month:
Every time I update this page I will try to change the morbid ode below, of course the guttural vokills synonymous with this genre and the usual lack of lyric sheets won't help me, so bear with me.
"Scattered and scrambled, your teasement grows
-A bloody caricature to make whole
A squirming grisly jigsaw, detrital fragments fit so snug
-That missing piece will leave you stumped
Totally disassembled, nicely sliced and diced
-A human being this once resembled
Real cranium teaser, carved from flesh and bone
-So mystifying"
(Walker.J, Corporal Jigsore Quandry)
My Favourite Death Metal or Thrash Leads:
(In no order, a selection from different bands)
All the leads in Carcass 'Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious'. And they have titles, how cool is that!
The one towards the end of 'Body Bag' by J. Murphy, Obituary (Cause of Death). Although all his solos on this record are fabulous.
The ones from 'Seasons in the Abyss' by J. Hanneman & K. King, Slayer (Seasons in the Abyss). Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are tremolo gods! Actually I change my mind......anything from these guys!!
The one in the middle of 'Desperate Cry' by A. Kisser, Sepultura (Arise). All the Sepultura solos from 'Schizophrenia', 'Beneath the Remains' and 'Arise' are fantastic....before they turned shite.
The ones at the start of 'The Ancient Ones' by T. Azagthoth & R. Brunelle, Morbid Angel (Blessed are the Sick). Trey Azagthoth is an evil guitar sorcerer!! Wicked.
The ones after the keyboard break in 'Left hand Path' by Cederlund and Hellid, Entombed (Left hand Path).
The one in 'Viva la Meurte' by Perkowski, Pungent Stench (Dirty Rhymes and Psychotronic beats e.p).
The ones at the start and end of 'Dreaming in red' by Dismember (Indecent and Obscene).
The Greatest Riffs, Fast or Slow:
There are far too many excellent riffs for a definitive list and so this is only a small guide to the ones currently tickling my fancy.
currently under thought....
The Bands:
Abramelin, Autopsy, Atheist, Atrophy, At the Gates, Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Butcher, Cancer, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Carnage, Cryptopsy, Death, Deicide, Dismember, Entombed, Gorguts, Grave, Hypocrisy, Immolation, Incantation, Jumpin' Jesus, Malevolent Creation, Master, Misery, Morbid Angel, Morgoth, Napalm Death, Nocturnus, Obituary, Pestilence, Pungent Stench, Ressurection, Rotting Corpse, Sadus, Sepultura, Suffocation, Sinister, Vader, etc.....
You will find most of these bands (...the few that still exist) on the following record companies; RoadRunner (Road Racer), Earache, Metal Blade, Nuclear Blast, Peaceville, Relapse, Relativity, Noise, Century Media. (although many older albums are no longer in press).
Check out my tribute to CARCASS or try out
Adrian's death metal radio site, the awesome Infernalnoize for the best from the underground.
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