Cannibal Corpse - "Bloodthirst"
October 19, 1999
Producer: Colin Richardson
Change is necessary for a band to evolve whether the results are bad or good. Up to 1999 Cannibal Corpse's 'home away from home' so to speak was the now legendary Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida. Also in this time frame Cannibal Corpse had worked with only two different producers up to this point. The legendary Scott Burns (who played a major role in the development of Death Metal sitting at the throne of the soundboards) and the very talented Jim Morris. It seems the theme of 1999 was 'change' for the Death Metal Kings. The results gave us their 7th studio offering: "Bloodthirst".
Packing their bags and heading west, Cannibal was headed to Village Productions in the small border-town of Tornillo, Texas. Where they would begin their working relationship with renowned producer Colin Richardson, who has worked with dozens of different metal groups around the world. Including the group Carcass on their record "Heartwork", which is arguably the first Melodic Death Metal record ever recorded. Excited by the new face at the soundboards and their completely new surroundings, they began to write.
On their previous record 1998's "Gallery of Suicide" with the addition of guitarist Pat O'Brien coming to the fold and the always improving skills of lead songwriter bassist Alex Webster. The band's music was gaining a more technical edge.
With "Bloodthirst" this trend continues to the delight of myself and all the Cannibal fans I know personally. Songs like "Dead Human Collection", "Coffinfeeder" and "Ecstacy In Decay" showcase the band's ever improving mastery and maturity of their instruments. While tracks like "Pounded Into Dust", "Blowtorch Slaughter" and "Raped By The Beast" still show the band remembers what brought them to the masses.
The band didn't make a mistake deciding to work with Colin Richardson, as he complimented their sound beyond expectations. The results, "Bloodthist" is their heaviest set of tunes since 1992's "Tomb of The Mutilated", a feat at the time most fans didn't deem possible.
While some things change, others will always remain the same. While the evolving musicianship and songwriting carries them to new horizons, they will always remain one of the heaviest and brutal bands metal has to offer. "Bloodthirst" is another priceless release by the group. Pick this record up, it will indeed quench your Death Metal "thirst".
My Killer Kutz: "Hacksaw Decapitation", "Dead Human Collection" & "The Spine Splitter"
Thursday, January 20, 2011
"Blessed Are The Sick"
Morbid Angel - "Blessed Are The Sick"
May 2, 1991
Producer(s): Morbid Angel
In 1989 Florida Death Metal Icons Morbid Angel released their first full length studio record titled "Altars of Madness". To this very day it is considered one of the very first true Death Metal records. Containing complex riffing, drumming that is dominated by blast beats, very raw vocals and leads that were more chaotic than melodic.
Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse describes the record best by saying "That whole album is so amazing.". So needless to say, fans and fellow bands were extremely hungry for their next record, 1991's "Blessed Are The Sick".
In my eyes "Blessed Are The Sick" is the album that showed me Morbid Angel is the real deal, not one of those countless bands that will settle for making the same record again and again. The improvements on this record is like night and day.
David Vincent (who is also the band's bassist) voice improved significantly, gaining a more guttural sound on this record while on the previous record his voice had a more 'thrashy' sound (found more so in acts like Kreator and Sodom two legendary thrash metal acts.).
For me personally the greatest thing about this record was the fact that the band decided to produce this album themselves. Rather than hire another outside party who they couldn't explain to what they wanted to accomplish with this record. Quite frankly I think they made the right decision, as producers at the time would probably have been shocked at what the band had up their sleeves.
"Blessed Are The Sick" showed a completely different side of the band. While still containing very fast tracks like "Brainstorm" and "Day of Suffering", the album had an overall slower sound then it's processer and contains very strong classical undertones throughout the record containing accoustic guitars and keyboards in certain sections (a rarity in the early years of Death Metal).
Also, this record has a greater sense of melody which in my opinion comes from maturer songwriting and shows how much the band has improved in a little more than two years. True, while still containing the 'chaotic' leads as I mentioned before they are becoming of lesser use as the leadwork starts to blossom into more technical playing, you can clearly hear this in my favorite cut from this record "Fall From Grace". It is also prominent in the lightning fast track "Rebel Lands", as the lead section in that tune is a perfect mixture of melody and chaos rolled into one creating a very standout track on this record.
However, while not my favorite track on the record, the album's title track is the best example of what Morbid Angel was looking to accomplish with this record. It shows the 'slower' sound of the record, David's improved vocals and main songwriter guitarist Trey Azagthoth's very quickly improving songwriting abilities, the outro of the song containing a very spooky classical sounding interlude that could have been written by Mozart himself.
With "Blessed Are The Sick" Morbid Angel broke a lot of boundaries that many thought that couldn't be broken in the Death Metal genre without the risk of selling out. Morbid Angel did it very tastefully as "Blessed Are The Sick" remains a fan favorite in their discography to this very day. An album that will not be leaving my cd player for a long time.
My Killer Kutz: "Fall From Grace", "Unholy Blasphemies" & "Rebel Lands"
May 2, 1991
Producer(s): Morbid Angel
In 1989 Florida Death Metal Icons Morbid Angel released their first full length studio record titled "Altars of Madness". To this very day it is considered one of the very first true Death Metal records. Containing complex riffing, drumming that is dominated by blast beats, very raw vocals and leads that were more chaotic than melodic.
Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse describes the record best by saying "That whole album is so amazing.". So needless to say, fans and fellow bands were extremely hungry for their next record, 1991's "Blessed Are The Sick".
In my eyes "Blessed Are The Sick" is the album that showed me Morbid Angel is the real deal, not one of those countless bands that will settle for making the same record again and again. The improvements on this record is like night and day.
David Vincent (who is also the band's bassist) voice improved significantly, gaining a more guttural sound on this record while on the previous record his voice had a more 'thrashy' sound (found more so in acts like Kreator and Sodom two legendary thrash metal acts.).
For me personally the greatest thing about this record was the fact that the band decided to produce this album themselves. Rather than hire another outside party who they couldn't explain to what they wanted to accomplish with this record. Quite frankly I think they made the right decision, as producers at the time would probably have been shocked at what the band had up their sleeves.
"Blessed Are The Sick" showed a completely different side of the band. While still containing very fast tracks like "Brainstorm" and "Day of Suffering", the album had an overall slower sound then it's processer and contains very strong classical undertones throughout the record containing accoustic guitars and keyboards in certain sections (a rarity in the early years of Death Metal).
Also, this record has a greater sense of melody which in my opinion comes from maturer songwriting and shows how much the band has improved in a little more than two years. True, while still containing the 'chaotic' leads as I mentioned before they are becoming of lesser use as the leadwork starts to blossom into more technical playing, you can clearly hear this in my favorite cut from this record "Fall From Grace". It is also prominent in the lightning fast track "Rebel Lands", as the lead section in that tune is a perfect mixture of melody and chaos rolled into one creating a very standout track on this record.
However, while not my favorite track on the record, the album's title track is the best example of what Morbid Angel was looking to accomplish with this record. It shows the 'slower' sound of the record, David's improved vocals and main songwriter guitarist Trey Azagthoth's very quickly improving songwriting abilities, the outro of the song containing a very spooky classical sounding interlude that could have been written by Mozart himself.
With "Blessed Are The Sick" Morbid Angel broke a lot of boundaries that many thought that couldn't be broken in the Death Metal genre without the risk of selling out. Morbid Angel did it very tastefully as "Blessed Are The Sick" remains a fan favorite in their discography to this very day. An album that will not be leaving my cd player for a long time.
My Killer Kutz: "Fall From Grace", "Unholy Blasphemies" & "Rebel Lands"
"Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1"
Helloween - "Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1"
February 1987
Producer: Tommy Newton
Sometimes when a band tries to broden their horizons and explore their options musically sometimes long time supporters of the group may not approve of the change of direction, believing in notion 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. However, if the band can appeal to new fans that may not have given them a fair listen before, most bands will tell you it was a risk worth taking. This is the situation that faced German Heavy Metal Legends Helloween with their second full length record 1987's "Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1"
In 1985 Helloween released their first record "Walls of Jericho" and it was a major success across Germany. Featuring guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen as the front-man. Helloween in those days consisted of a very thrashy sound that most people that discover the band these days would be shocked to learn that such a sound existed on a Helloween record.
It was at some point in 1986 that the band decided to a hire a vocal specialist. At the time Helloween was a four-piece band consisting of: Guitarist/Vocalist Kai Hansen, Guitarist Michael Weikath, Bassist Markus Grosskopf and Drummer Ingo Scwichtenberg. They knew they were getting a very talented vocalist but I don`t think they realized how much of an influential figure he`d become for future vocalists in a form of metal that was later coined "Power Metal". Believe it or not in 1987 he was only 18 his name: Michael Kiske.
True, while Hansen and Kiske were both melodic singers the major difference between the two were Kiske's significant higher range. Helloween needed a more operatic and flamboyant voice to match the melodies that were being written and beyond.
The making of this record would be one of the first real 'tests' that the band of endure. During the writing and creative stages of the album, guitarist Michael Weikath would suffer a nervous breakdown, therefore causing his contributions to be very little in this record, in fact he only wrote one song on this record the ballad-esk "A Tale That Wasn't Right". However, with the negative there is a positive and that turned out to be guitarist Kai Hansen in this situation. On this record out of the eight tracks, Kai solely wrote five of them himself showing everybody that he is indeed a very strong songwriter. Also on this album because of Michael's illness Kai recorded all rhythm guitars you hear on the record, and also a fair amount of lead work as well. Despite his illness Michael was allowed to record his own lead parts but that's all he was able to do on this album.
This record is mainly known for two tracks. The first being a Helloween classic and a staple in their setlist to this very day in the tune "Future World", which tells us a story about the glory of living in a Utopian society. However, perhaps this song I'm about to tell you of might be what the album is known for best. It's my personal favorite cut off the record, Kai Hansen's 13-minute epic titled "Halloween", which tells us a tongue-in-cheek tale about the happenings and going-ons on Halloween night. In the track "Halloween" I feel it was the measuring stick in all of Power Metal at the time of it's release. It contains all the elements perfectly balanced in which make a killer Power Metal tune, they are: melodic and soaring sing-along vocals, very catchy but aggressive riffs, incredible melodic lead work and twin harmonies that are permanently embedded in your brain. Indeed the perfect Power Metal track.
I should just quickly mention that this album has a couple of hidden gems that sometimes get overlooked because of Helloween's very lengthy discography. They are "I'm Alive" and "Twilight of The Gods". They are both very fast and upbeat anthem like tracks, with lots of memorable fret work and vocals.
All in all Helloween prove that sometimes taking your music in a new direction can be for the better good for a band. Although they might have lost some fans who preferred their aggressive sound over their more euphoric sound. Helloween was at the start of a new movement in heavy metal, that would start gathering many bands in the years to follow. Weather your a Power Metal devout or your interest in the genre is only starting to peek, if you ever stumble across "Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1" do not hesitate pick up this very prestigious record, as it is a "keeper" for your collection.
My Killer Kutz: "Halloween", "Future World" & "I'm Alive"
February 1987
Producer: Tommy Newton
Sometimes when a band tries to broden their horizons and explore their options musically sometimes long time supporters of the group may not approve of the change of direction, believing in notion 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. However, if the band can appeal to new fans that may not have given them a fair listen before, most bands will tell you it was a risk worth taking. This is the situation that faced German Heavy Metal Legends Helloween with their second full length record 1987's "Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1"
In 1985 Helloween released their first record "Walls of Jericho" and it was a major success across Germany. Featuring guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen as the front-man. Helloween in those days consisted of a very thrashy sound that most people that discover the band these days would be shocked to learn that such a sound existed on a Helloween record.
It was at some point in 1986 that the band decided to a hire a vocal specialist. At the time Helloween was a four-piece band consisting of: Guitarist/Vocalist Kai Hansen, Guitarist Michael Weikath, Bassist Markus Grosskopf and Drummer Ingo Scwichtenberg. They knew they were getting a very talented vocalist but I don`t think they realized how much of an influential figure he`d become for future vocalists in a form of metal that was later coined "Power Metal". Believe it or not in 1987 he was only 18 his name: Michael Kiske.
True, while Hansen and Kiske were both melodic singers the major difference between the two were Kiske's significant higher range. Helloween needed a more operatic and flamboyant voice to match the melodies that were being written and beyond.
The making of this record would be one of the first real 'tests' that the band of endure. During the writing and creative stages of the album, guitarist Michael Weikath would suffer a nervous breakdown, therefore causing his contributions to be very little in this record, in fact he only wrote one song on this record the ballad-esk "A Tale That Wasn't Right". However, with the negative there is a positive and that turned out to be guitarist Kai Hansen in this situation. On this record out of the eight tracks, Kai solely wrote five of them himself showing everybody that he is indeed a very strong songwriter. Also on this album because of Michael's illness Kai recorded all rhythm guitars you hear on the record, and also a fair amount of lead work as well. Despite his illness Michael was allowed to record his own lead parts but that's all he was able to do on this album.
This record is mainly known for two tracks. The first being a Helloween classic and a staple in their setlist to this very day in the tune "Future World", which tells us a story about the glory of living in a Utopian society. However, perhaps this song I'm about to tell you of might be what the album is known for best. It's my personal favorite cut off the record, Kai Hansen's 13-minute epic titled "Halloween", which tells us a tongue-in-cheek tale about the happenings and going-ons on Halloween night. In the track "Halloween" I feel it was the measuring stick in all of Power Metal at the time of it's release. It contains all the elements perfectly balanced in which make a killer Power Metal tune, they are: melodic and soaring sing-along vocals, very catchy but aggressive riffs, incredible melodic lead work and twin harmonies that are permanently embedded in your brain. Indeed the perfect Power Metal track.
I should just quickly mention that this album has a couple of hidden gems that sometimes get overlooked because of Helloween's very lengthy discography. They are "I'm Alive" and "Twilight of The Gods". They are both very fast and upbeat anthem like tracks, with lots of memorable fret work and vocals.
All in all Helloween prove that sometimes taking your music in a new direction can be for the better good for a band. Although they might have lost some fans who preferred their aggressive sound over their more euphoric sound. Helloween was at the start of a new movement in heavy metal, that would start gathering many bands in the years to follow. Weather your a Power Metal devout or your interest in the genre is only starting to peek, if you ever stumble across "Keeper of The Seven Keys Pt. 1" do not hesitate pick up this very prestigious record, as it is a "keeper" for your collection.
My Killer Kutz: "Halloween", "Future World" & "I'm Alive"
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