Sodom

Legion of the Damned – Descent Into Chaos Review

By Steel Druhm on January 10, 2011 in 2011, 3.5, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 1 comment

Steel Druhm is a famously soft touch for a mean and angry thrash album. Because of this well know thrash predilection, I’ve celebrated the entire catalogue of Dutch death thrashers Legion of the Damned because these guys can really bring the pain. Over four albums, LOTD (formerly known as Occult) have consistently crafted intense, punishing thrash in the vein of old Slayer and Sodom mixed with the more modern death metal approach of bands like The Crown. They certainly aren’t reinventing the thrash metal genre in any way but they always produced quality material. Happily for thrash mavens, after a three year hiatus they manage to keep the spiked ball rolling with Descent Into Chaos and give yet another lesson in violence and aggressive thrashality.

Impaled Nazarene – Road to the Octagon Review

By Steel Druhm on December 20, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Black Metal, Finnish Metal, Heavy Metal, Osmose Productions, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Heavy Metal, 4 comments

Well, this album CLEARY isn’t in the spirit of the holidays! Christmas-unfriendly band name aside, it’s apparently time for another goat worshipping blast-fest from these blasphemous and blackened Finns. The Impaled ones have created an odd, morphing catalogue over their long life and drifted from pure black metal into something way more like punk-infused black thrash. That continues here as it did on 2007’s Manifest but with more energy and urgency this time out. At a scant thirty three minutes in length, this barely qualifies for a full-length and it goes by mighty fast, but if savage black/punk metal warms the cockles of your heart this time of year, then scream BAH HUMBUG and read on.

Sodom – In War and Pieces Review

By Steel Druhm on November 18, 2010 in 2010, 3.5, German Metal, Reviews, SPV, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 4 comments

Sodom, sweet Sodom, ever so reliable and happily predictable. They’re the thrash equivalent of your favorite concert t-shirt. It’s always there for you, it’s comfortable, beer soaked and you go way way back together. Since 1982 these German metal-meisters have given us thrash and more thrash with very little stylistic variation or experimentation and for most long time fans, that’s just how we want it. After all, Sodom always specialized in simple, brutal and dirty thrash metal with punk influences and they were proud to be a thrash band even when thrash wasn’t “cool” anymore. I never had to waste time worrying if they would start exploring jazz fusion, ambient soundscapes or become self important about the message in their music. No sir, Sodom was just Sodom. Thankfully, the comforting non-progression continues on In War and Pieces, their thirteenth platter and they continue to deliver their battle tested (and themed) thrash lunacy.

The Crown – Doomsday King Review

By Steel Druhm on October 6, 2010 in 2010, 4.5, Century Media, Death Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 3 comments

Comebacks. They ain’t so easy to pull off. For every band that produces a glorious reunion album there are four that crash, burn and damage their legacy. Earlier this summer we were blessed by an unexpectedly great reunion album from Accept and now Sweden’s The Crown have pulled off an equally monstrous comeback with Doomsday King. This is their first since 2006’s Possessed 13 and first with new vocalist Jonas Stalhammar (God Macabre) stepping in for Johan Lindstrand. However, make no mistake, this is The Crown of old and they’re storming with menace and out for blood! This is such a furious thrash/death assault that it’s hard to believe these guys were out of action for so long. Whatever they were doing during their down time, it obviously pissed them off and now they need to hurt somebody.

Watain – Lawless Darkness Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 3, 2010 in 2010, 4.0, Black Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 5 comments

This Angry Metal Guy rips on black metal a lot. One of the most overdone and ill-performed genres in the history of metal has to be black metal. The problem is that when black metal is performed poorly by individuals who are not invested in it, then black metal is boring, simplistic and uninteresting. But when black metal is performed with the force and fanaticism of Sweden’s very own Watain, then it is a force to be reckoned with. And finally Lawless Darkness the new full-length from this Uppsala/Stockholm, Sweden-based black metal act is here and it is a force be reckoned with. It harkens back to the days of yore, when black metal was new, vile and most importantly, dangerous and excellent.

Fatal Embrace – The Empires of Inhumanity Review

By Steel Druhm on June 3, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Metal Blade, Power Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Thrash Metal, 0 comments

Trends often start off with a good idea or at least a respectable inspiration. However, through imitation and copying, that original idea becomes a trend and the trend gets boring, overdone and ultimately becomes a joke. The retro 80’s power metal trend is in full bloom and many would say the 80’s retro thrash movement has been overdone for years already. As someone who grew up in the 80’s metal era, I may possess more tolerance for this whole “retro” thing since it does this old heart good to hear a quality metal album that truly captures the sound, energy and spirit of a time long gone. Therefore, my review of The Empires of Inhumanity, the new release by German thrashers Fatal Embrace will be more charitable than what it would have received from other angry metal guys. In all fairness, these Teutonic shredders have been around since 1993 so they could rightfully be considered part of the original thrash movement rather than a retro band. Either way though, over four albums Fatal Embrace have demonstrated an unwavering dedication to the 80’s thrash style of Slayer and Sodom while foregoing all modern styles and current trends completely.