Absu
The Temples of Offal / Return of the Ancients
Dark Descent Records
2015 CD
This is classified differently depending on where you look. Is it a reissue of Absu's 1992 EP with demo tracks tacked on as a bonus, or is it an EP/demo compilation? Who knows! I'll go with the latter.
This is actually pure death metal, not too surprising given the original 1991 recording dates. Very reminiscent of Suffocation. The EP tracks are the best. Comically fast, but the guitar riffs turn to sludge beneath the flurry of drums and growls (both a bit too high in the mix). The demo stuff is (obviously) much rougher. Absolute potato quality recording. Not a terrible little assortment here, but a lot of this goes in one ear and out the other. And CDs like this are really collector's items more than anything. Would have been cool (maybe) to hear a whole album in the style of the EP, but of course Absu changed their sound drastically after this.
Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewed: 11/10/25
Anathema
The Crestfallen EP
Peaceville Records
1992 2025 CD
I remember hearing this for the first time back in the 90s. The way I felt... well, maybe it's how boomers felt when they heard Black Sabbath for the first time. Feels like the reputation of The Crestfallen EP has fallen in recent years. Maybe this was due to it being out of print, at least as a standalone CD, for decades. Anyways, that's too bad because this is top-tier death doom metal (or metal period). Perhaps the recent (2025) repressing will bring it back into the fray.
The first two tracks are essentially perfect, the platonic ideals of how death doom metal should sound. Dreary, with a yearning evoked by the shimmering guitar leads. Some absolutely sublime riffs here, and Darren White has an excellent voice. Eschewing the more standard death growls he's instead moaning and lurching and spewing forth every line. Really convincing stuff. There's a female-fronted acoustic interlude -- a throwaway time-killer on a stereotypical metal record, this one's absolutely beautiful. Brilliantly produced, this girl's voice sounds like it's traveling enveloped in mist, across a still moonlit lake. Closing tracks are more standard (for both the band and genre), big wretched chuggers. But very well done. The reissue has a couple of bonus tracks of crummy demo quality, one of which is a primordial version of a proper track. The inclusion of these doesn't really sway my opinion one way or another.
Essential.
Rating: 5/5
Reviewed: 10/09/25
Anathema
Serenades
Peaceville Records
1993 2003 CD
The debut full-length by the British doomsters. Serenades is sandwiched between two superior EPs, and ya know what, maybe this should have been an EP as well. They really struggled to squeeze out a proper album here (even the earliest vinyl pressing feels too long and disjointed despite being "only" 42 minutes).
Which isn't to say this is a "bad" album. It isn't... but it's absolutely carried by four songs while the others flounder. Three of the "decent" tracks sound like the Crestfallen material -- actually, one is a rerecorded song -- with a notable addition being the inclusion of hazy Casio keyboard chords. Then there's "Sleepless" -- it kicks ass but stands out like a sore thumb. More of a gothic rock (not metal) track, it's uptempo with some tasty pinch harmonics and relatively "clean" vocals. A fantastic composition, but it feels odd stuck in there among the plodders. There are no less than three "interlude/outro" type tracks. While "Scars of the Old Stream" is almost charmingly lethargic, the others aren't especially compelling, and this time the female-fronted ditty has some terribly mixed vocals.
Now, most CD pressings contain an instrumental ambient song. This was the 90s and the most metal thing you could do in the 90s was include unambiguously nonmetal music on your metal album. Ambient is one of the more subjective genres, but I really don't find this track to be, well, anything beyond semi-pleasant background music. Also, it's twenty-three minutes long. Yes, TWENTY-THREE. The particular CD reissue I possess also contains the (improvised) tracks from the rare We Are the Bible 7 inch. And they aren't good. All told, this bastard ends up clocking in at an exhausting 76 minutes. Brutal.
Just a weird album overall. Keeps oscillating between "rules" and "sucks" in a whiplash-inducing fashion. Still mandatory for anyone interested in this band, or the beginnings of this niche genre.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed: 10/09/25
Anathema
The Silent Enigma
Peaceville Records
1995 2008 CD
First Anathema full-length with the four-piece line-up. Guitarist Vincent Cavanaugh is on vocals now. He sounds like a harsher British Tom G. Warrior, though there are some (borderline) death growls thrown in as well. Keyboards have returned, still a backing instrument but this time with a more orchestral sound. But what I'm really struck by is how damn catchy this album can be. "Restless Oblivion" and "A Dying Wish" are absolute rippers, for instance, not letting up a bit during their respective eight-minute runtimes. And despite being still firmly rooted in death/doom/Gothic aesthetics they're probably accessible enough to pull in your average "hard rock heavy metal" boomer type. The bass tone is completely different here, compared to prior releases: high in the mix, metallic, and as heavy as pee-filled balls. Production is vast and spacey, coinciding with the cover art and liner notes images. I do find the shorter tracks to be on the weaker side. One is called "Nocturnal Emission" and has these weird panting and screaming segments. I mean, come on, what the hell dudes. The bonus tracks are a bit awkward. One is instrumental, which is fine, but it comes right after the proper album's instrument outro, creating a rather extended period without vocals. The other is a wholly unnecessary reworking of "Sleepless" with explosions at the end.
Speaking of this repressing, it's advertised as a "2 Disc Edition" which is technically true but deceptive. The second disc is a DVD of a concert. I gotta be honest, I never watch those things ("I can't watch a man sing a song" -Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld, Season 6, Episode 19).
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed: 10/11/25
Anathema
Pentecost III + The Crestfallen EP
Peaceville Records
1996 2014 CD
Pentecost III, the second great early EP by Anathema, is hard to find in its original state (or was, it looks like it was just repressed in July 2025). Much easier to find is a compilation with Crestfallen and Pentecost III squished onto one disc. Seems straightforward enough, right? Apparently not. Some versions have the Crestfallen tracks first, while others are flipped and Crestfallen comes last. Additionally, pressings from 2004 and 2014 (like this one) remove the final two tracks from Crestfallen and replace them with different earlier versions of the same songs, from a super-obscure 7 inch from 1992. The quality of these tracks is pretty dodgy and the vocals are downright NASTY. And why are they here? Was the band/label claiming that these are actually the definitive versions of these two songs? It wasn't done for space issues (ie: to keep the CD under 80 minutes), so why? I've never found an exact answer. I won't say anything else about the Crestfallen material. I wrote about it earlier, it rules, though it isn't all properly represented here, moving on...
Pentecost III is the final collection of Darren White material, and it also sounds different from anything else Anathema has recorded. It's got some massive thicc ass songs that all follow a similar formula: slow/quiet rambling opening, gradual build-up, big climax. This is done to great effect in both the searingly heavy opening ("Kingdom"), as well as "We, the Gods" which explodes into this Maiden-esque style of galloping. Incredible stuff. Darren White's vocals are a bit off here -- it sounds like he's actually attempting some semblance of singing. Apparently the band wanted to go in a more "singing" direction and didn't like how he sounded which is why he was kicked out after this was recorded (at least that's what I've heard from a very reliable source [the internet]). There are a couple of weak musical moments too, irrepsecptive of the vocals. A few dull riffs here and there, and a rather useless instrumental tucked in near the end. Holistically pretty awesome though.
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed: 10/10/25
Ancient Wisdom
For Snow Covered the Northland
Peaceville Records
1996 2022 CD
Man I got Mandela Effect'ed hard by this one. I could have sworn it was called From the Snow Covered Northland. But alas...
The debut of Ancient Wisdom is something of an atypical 90s Swedish BM release. It's not blasting "Norsecore" and while certainly "melodic" it's a far cry from charging guitar hero music à la Dissection. This is mid-tempo comfy BM, as serene as the nature scene depicted on the cover. Incredibly nostalgic in vibes and aesthetic, this is the kind of thing to listen to while playing Fourth Edition Magic: The Gathering or an old WRPG. While certainly a "nice" and "good" listen there are unfortunately only a few standout tracks, the best being "Through Rivers of the Eternal Blackness" which builds up and fades out beautifully. This particular reissue contains a second disc with all the band's demo tracks. Pretty cool but also redundant, as a lot of this was rerecorded for the album proper.
One of the few old black metal bands to not use pseudonyms for the band members. You look in the booklet and there's a dude all decked out in spikes and corpse paint and surrounded by fog and then he's just called Fredrik Jakobsson lol.
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed: 10/01/25
Arcturus
Aspera Hiems Symfonia
Prophecy
1996 2022 CD
Synth-drenched extraterrestrial black metal by way of Norway. Considered something of a side project supergroup as the members here also grace(d) Ulver, Borknagar, Covenant, Mayhem, and many more. Excellent vibes here, with the aforementioned Covenant probably being the closest comparison. Huge symphonic atmospheres with progressive/folk guitar melodies and some juicy solos. This dude "Garm" from Ulver has a neat voice, with oddly legible screens. There are also some decent cleans and even some oddball backwards vocals. The impeccable drumming ties it all together. Bass could be louder, and I think it is beefed up on this remaster, though I don't expect much fancy bass work in my BM. I will say this is a bit frontloaded, as the first three tracks really stand out among the bunch. Some truly raucous and headbanging stuff in the opener; absolutely rips.
Weird how the Prophecy release has album art that's different, yet so similar to the original. Both are beautiful. No bonus tracks or any other bullshit added to this to beef up the runtime. I appreciate that.
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed: 09/27/25
Arcturus
Constellation / My Angel
Prophecy
2022 CD
Early works from the "spacey" black metal wizards. This compilation combines two early EPs, with the typical reverse chronology (the 1994 tracks play before the 1991 ones). The Constellation material is a bit redundant, as all four tracks would go on to be rerecorded for the band's debut full-length. Still, it's interesting to hear them here in their primordial (and bassless) form. The mix is a bit odd, with keyboards mogging every other instrument. As for the My Angel material, it sounds like a completely different band! A kind of murky slurry of death, black, and doom with some creeping avant-garde tendencies. A somewhat difficult listening experience, to be honest.
Always cool to see old metal demos and peripheral content rereleased. This is all far from essential, but engaging nonetheless.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed: 09/27/25
The Candyland Carcrash
The Candyland Carcrash
Fountainhead Records
1996 7"
One of the best emo 7 inch records of all time. A bridge between the classic Indian Summer style of emocore and the screamo that would blow up in the following few years. Vocals are very unique with two contrasting styles: high-pitched screams plus these odd clean(-ish) shouts with a "megaphone" distortion. Guitars alternate between twinkles and crashes, with some great poppy hooks bubbling up from time to time. Production is just assy enough to make this sound like it was recorded in a basement but not so bad that it detracts from the experience. There are three tracks, with the one that consumes an entire side of the record being the highlight. Two fast manic parts sandwiching a beautiful (almost twee-ish) spoken word segment.
There's a strange layer of mystique about this record too. In addition to the band being obscure as hell, the record sides aren't labeled as A or B or 1 or 2 or whatever, so the track order (and song names) are a bit of mystery, with every mp3 rip labeling things a bit differently. I've got a physical copy but the liner notes are of no use: rambles in an absolutely unintelligible font. Anyway, fantastic record, hard as hell to track down!
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed: 09/27/25
Cigaretteman / Discount
Cigaretteman / Discount
Suburban Home Records
1996 1998 7"
Extremely fun little split. This is how I want my pop punk to sound. Short songs, catchy riffs, cozy DIY production. The female vocals (both bands) are a huge plus. The fact that one band is Japanese and is called "Cigaretteman" is also a plus. Looks like I have a reprint as the original was on an obscure Japanese label. Kinda wish this was longer overall, though if it was it wouldn't be a 7 inch now would it??
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed: 09/29/25
Evol
The Tale of the Dark Dreamquest – Demo Tape 1993 / 1994
Obskure Chaos Distro
2019 CD
Incredibly obscure (I'm sorry, "obskure") release -- compiling this long-defunct Italian black metal band's two 1990s demos -- released on a Brazilian label. Actually, this disc also includes material from the 2000 EP, so it almost contains everything not on their full-lengths, though the 1998 EP songs are omitted for who the hell knows why.
Evol had a weird aesthetic, even for BM standards, combining the corny Nordic pagan-Satanism with Italian Gothic horror and Lovecraft. But how does the music actually sound? Well, the demo tracks suck. The production is (obviously) terrible, with fuzz guitars and vocals way too high in the mix. But the compostions are weak too. Flaccid riffs and too much aimless "atmospheric" keyboard noodling. Though once in a while the keyboardist (who was the lead vocalist / band leader) locks into something cool -- it's been said before that Evol really should have just played dungeon synth and ditched the metal altogether. There's a dedicated female vocalist (called "Suspiria" lol) who is hilariously awful with all these heavily-accented overwrought spoken word parts. Incredibly dated in a way that's almost charming.
I had higher hopes for the closing three tracks, which comprise Evol's final official output. Unfortunately one is a live recording with ASS quality. No one -- I mean NO ONE -- wants random ass live recordings thrown into something like this. Just abysmal. The two songs that follow are actually kind of cool. Almost redeem the whole compilation. Almost.
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed: 10/15/25