Straight out of Baltimore, Maryland comes the Death Metal of Misery Index.  Originally formed from former members of the legendary Dying Fetus, Misery Index’s brand of Death Metal is quite left wing in it’s content, and this album is no different. MI are relentless, from the opening track “We Never Come In Peace”, “Traitors” and the equally brutal “Ruling Class Canceled”. While maybe not an all-time legend, this is certainly a very solid album by the men from Baltimore, as they move to become a prominent name in the metal scene. This album has impressed me to great lengths, and has left me hungry for more brutality. All I can say is “Roll on the next album!” and here’s hoping they will play a gig here soon.

Well, to say this is rough around the edges is an understatement. This mix of Hardcore and Punk is about as politically incorrect as it can get, with the band never shying away from what they seem to love: Sexism. From start to finish, this album is full of hate, but served in an almost humerous way. Once even played on Howerd Stern’s radio show, The Raunchous Brothers are, in my opinion, a rather talented band. While their musical subjects may never earn them mainstream love, the album is actually quite well worked. Songs such as Womens Lib have quite a catchy sound in my opinion, even if you wouldn’t want to go singing it in public. I feel this album is quite worth it, although it is on the short side, and it may certainly not be for everyones tastes. I’d suggest giving it a listen with an open mind before you base your opinion on the lyrics, and maybe you will like this album as I did.

This album is a brilliant offering from Chidren of Bodom, dark, with fast riffs, pounding drums, bass lines and keyboard playing to rival the best. Perfectly accompanied by Alexi Laiho’s growls, this album is my personal favorite Children of Bodom album, offering melodious guitars, well suited drums and striking lyrics. Songs that particularly stood out for me were Warheart, Silent Night,Bodom Night, Bed of Razors and Towards Dead End. The speed and technicality of this album, as well as the brilliant production, and the great performance by Bodom (especially considering this was only their second album under this name) combine to make one angry, beautiful masterpiece. This is a great album to get if you  are interested in the Scandinavian Metal scene, as it really is a top class example of why this band has become so popular within the metal genre.  Overall, this is my favourite Bodom album, and the second one I ever got. So if this is your thing, I would advise giving this album a try, in my view it is well worth it.

The very first Death Metal album I bought, and is simply put, what got me into Cannibal Corpse. From the opening screams of “The Time to Kill is Now”, to the graphic lyrics in “Five Nails Through The Neck” to the riffs in “Infinite Misery”, this album is full of the heavy distorted sounds assossiated with Death Metal. It’s well produced, and bass and vocals get a lot of prominance, as do guitars in the heavy riffs littered throughout. This album will surely quench your thirst for bloodshed and mutilation, if you are a fan of death metal anyway. The standout song, personally, was “Five Nails Through the Neck”, with awesome riffs, more of George Fishers gutteral growls, great drums and bass, all blending to form a near perfect song. I would recommend this album to most fans of death Metal, or anyone interested in sampling what Death is all about. The songs are typical Corpse humour too, full of mutilation, zombies and gore, so not one for the faint hearted.

This is Children of Bodom’s sixth studio album, and is clearly more of a reversal for Bodom, after the “Are you Dead yet?” album, where many felt the band sold out. Returning to a more thrash and aggressive state, I feel this album shows that Bodom still have the ability to crank out a good album. There are several good guitar solos, like in the song “LoBodomy” (which also keeps up the tradition of having at least one song in an album having Bodom in the name) and “One Day You Will Cry”. The production is well carried out, done by Mikko Karmila and Peter Tagtgren, which is too be expected, as Tagtgren has worked with many heavy metal bands. Overall, I liked this album, and feel it is a vast improvement on “Are You Dead Yet?” (continue reading…)