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Posts by SeanO)))
![Organ Grinder – Les Maitres De L’univers (2007) Organ Grinder – Les Maitres De L’univers (2007)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/organgrinder_lesmaitres.jpeg)
Organ Grinder – Les Maitres De L’univers (2007)
October 26, 2022Dirty, drab, rehearsal room feel hybrid of death metal and grindcore, with an amateurish edge that actually lends a lot of fun to proceedings. Despite the production quality, everything is audible here, but the drums do get drowned out now and then by the guitar. I don’t think Organ Grinder (at least, this particular French band with the name Organ Grinder – its a popular name it seems) went on to do all that much,…
![Sunken Grove – Precious Solitude (2020) Sunken Grove – Precious Solitude (2020)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sunkengrove_precious.jpeg)
Sunken Grove – Precious Solitude (2020)
This is one of those cases where the record sounds like it was recorded in the early 90s, rather than in 2020, year of the ‘VID. Sunken Grove then, obviously have the classic DS vibe pinned down. In a similar vein, the compositions are not intricately involved, instead forming and morphing from simple yet pure satisfying melodic progressions, lapping over in a meditative state. There is a layer of darkness here too, but it is…
![Impetigo – Horror Of The Zombies (1992) Impetigo – Horror Of The Zombies (1992)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/impetigo_horror.jpeg)
Impetigo – Horror Of The Zombies (1992)
September 7, 2022Arguably the definitive Impetigo record? It’s hard to say. I’ve struggled to get into Impetigo in the past but with Horror Of The Zombies, that all changed. This has to be one of my favourite sounds in all of metal, punk and grind. It’s just so dirty, grimy and dusty. I just want a million cassettes of this thing, so you can bury them with me once I die. Impetigo perhaps need no introduction, but…
![Sikfuk – Teabagged At Birth (2008) Sikfuk – Teabagged At Birth (2008)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sikfuk_tbag.jpeg)
Sikfuk – Teabagged At Birth (2008)
Trust Sikfuk to further devolve an already disgusting death metal reference into something even more puerile and gross. Do not be put off by the childish album title however, as Sikfuk do not fuck (or is that fuk?) around. It may take you a short while to adjust to the hollowness of the production, but once that little bit of trouble is aside, the sheer brilliance of this technical yet messy brutal death metal album…
![Shaggy 2 Dope – F.T.F.O. (2006) Shaggy 2 Dope – F.T.F.O. (2006)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/shaggy2dope_ftfo.jpeg)
Shaggy 2 Dope – F.T.F.O. (2006)
I was well into ICP when I was in my teens but I don’t actually recall buying this. I think it was from Play.com or some such archaic method of acquiring physical media. For the most part, these songs are ICP cutting room floor grade of hip hop / horrorcore cheese. I use horrorcore in the lightest sense also, despite this being one half of one of the genre’s most defining acts, the link here…
![Death In June – Heilige! (2000) Death In June – Heilige! (2000)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/di6_heilige.jpeg)
Death In June – Heilige! (2000)
This is probably the best live album I’ve heard from this project so far. It seems to offer something interesting aside from the usual 1 man acoustic renditions of all the hits. The recently deceased Albin Julius is a part of the live show, providing a layer of electronic sounds. This live document was taken around the Operation Hummingbird era, so that makes sense. But yeah, a lot of classics from various eras of Di6’s…
![Путь – Песни смерти (2018) Путь – Песни смерти (2018)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/path_deathsongs.jpeg)
Путь – Песни смерти (2018)
I believe the name of this group more less translates to Path, and the record is called Death Songs, which is very fitting with the excellent cover art. I find the metal styles on display a collaborative form between black metal and progressive. The songs are often long and weighty, and the vocals and production are excellent. It’s not really my cup of tea and I went in on the strength of the sleeve alone,…
![Örnatorpet – Vid Himinsenda (2019) Örnatorpet – Vid Himinsenda (2019)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/ornatorpet_vh.jpeg)
Örnatorpet – Vid Himinsenda (2019)
I was a huge fan of others works by this project but Vid Himinsenda fell to the side somewhat. I listened to them both for the first time in the summer of the 2020 lockdown, but whilst Fjällets Gyllene Slott stayed with me, this was lost on me a bit. Everything sounds great, but its a bit derivative and plodding in parts, playing into the safe area of dungeon synth that basically just rips off…
![Infinity Frequencies – Between Two Worlds (2018) Infinity Frequencies – Between Two Worlds (2018)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/infinityfrequencies_b2w.jpeg)
Infinity Frequencies – Between Two Worlds (2018)
Short, fragmented visions into a static-filled future (or past). Each track acts as a snippet into a different world, each world punctuated by its own version of a dreamy or somewhat haunting synthesizer mood or melody (I use melody in the loosest sense of the word). It’s kinda like channel hopping, or band hopping on the radio, and finding nothing but floating synthesizer soundscapes on every channel. One for the small hours. (Also, if that’s…
![Revenant Marquis – Cyflymiad o’r Holl Arferion Ocwlt (2021) Revenant Marquis – Cyflymiad o’r Holl Arferion Ocwlt (2021)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/revenantmarquis_cyfly.jpeg)
Revenant Marquis – Cyflymiad o’r Holl Arferion Ocwlt (2021)
I was thinking recently on the mystery of Revenant Marquis and I went over to Spotify to see if any of the records were there and what do you know, turns out the project has a new(ish) release that I haven’t heard yet! Eagerly excited for more muffled kvlt metal that I can’t make head or tail of due to the extra rubbish production, I instead was met with a very invocative series of atmospheric…
![Ulver – Bergtatt (1995) Ulver – Bergtatt (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/ulver_bergtatt.jpeg)
Ulver – Bergtatt (1995)
I’ve always preferred electronic/experimental Ulver to the black metal era of the band but you cannot argue with the sheer genius that is Bergtatt. Easily my favourite of the 3 original “metal” (or folk) records, this is up there with the other classics of the genre in the early 90s. Do not expect intense harshness; the mix is fairly balanced, but the record is all the greater for it.
![Mgła – Exercises In Futility (2015) Mgła – Exercises In Futility (2015)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/mgla_eif.jpeg)
Mgła – Exercises In Futility (2015)
These guys catch a lot of shit for their association with Mikko Aspa, having all of their records so far released on his label, Northern Heritage. But anyway, I’d downloaded and listened to this thing before I knew that so – how does Mgła sound? These guys are intensely hyped in the scene, and to be honest, I can kinda see why. Exercises In Futility is an intricately woven blanket of sound. Broken into six…
![Sarcoughagus – Delusions Of The Sick (2021) Sarcoughagus – Delusions Of The Sick (2021)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sarcoughagus_dots.jpeg)
Sarcoughagus – Delusions Of The Sick (2021)
A random suggestion (cheers Ifan!) was one I couldn’t turn down once I’d checked out that cover art. Some solid death metal is afoot, played in the “new” old school style, but with the clarity of a modern production. There’s a ton of this stuff around at the moment and its becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in the bog. Thankfully however Sarcoughagus do just that, with a tidy delivery of disgusting death, released (of…
![Annotations Of An Autopsy – Welcome To Sludge City (2007) Annotations Of An Autopsy – Welcome To Sludge City (2007)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/aoaa_wtsc.jpeg)
Annotations Of An Autopsy – Welcome To Sludge City (2007)
Mashing slam and death metal with the boisterousness of the UK hardcore scene, AOAA exploded onto the underground circuit with this EP. I remember being a little pissed off at all the core and emo kids all of a sudden being into heavy shit (I was a battle-jacket wearing dickhead back then), but I was also low-key super into the slams, bro. Especially after seeing these guys live. Some of the lyrics have aged like…
![Betty Davis – Betty Davis (1973) Betty Davis – Betty Davis (1973)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/bettydavis_st.jpeg)
Betty Davis – Betty Davis (1973)
Probably high time I reviewed this as today I got the news that Betty Davis had passed on. RIP. (This review was written in February 2022 – Ed). Her voice is something else, really pushing that cracked, strained and from-the-soul delivery, even if most of her songs are about getting dicked down instead of having a broken heart (perhaps both? Haha). Honestly though this thing is absolutely dripping with style, funk and passion. I bet…
![King Dude – Sex (2016) King Dude – Sex (2016)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/kingdude_sex.jpeg)
King Dude – Sex (2016)
I enjoyed the previous King Dude record heavily (if you mean Love then that was several albums back – Ed). It seemed to blend the mystique of the neofolk world with that of a more Type O Negative sensibility, if you get what I mean. Sadly, on Sex, King’s stripped down occult swagger is replaced instead with fairly basic rock and roll. There is still a Satanic feel to it, and your Dude here still…
![Bolt Thrower – Realm Of Chaos (1989) Bolt Thrower – Realm Of Chaos (1989)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/boltthrower_roc.png)
Bolt Thrower – Realm Of Chaos (1989)
Updated June 2024: In September 2022, I wrote the following about Realm Of Chaos: “I’ve never been the biggest fan of Bolt Thrower. I think that’s entirely because I never really bought into the hype, more than out of any dislike for what I’ve heard. My knowledge of this band however, begins and ends with this album. I’ve never heard any others. That may change however, as I’ve spun this a few times recently and…
![Towers – Towers (2019) Towers – Towers (2019)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/towers_towers.jpeg)
Towers – Towers (2019)
This ambient piece seems to be revered online, and I suppose with good reason. Towers presents 4 enormous atmospheric chunks, where the sounds of life and – I guess – the city, are mangled and distorted into surreal passages of relaxing noise. It is as equally daunting in parts as it is uplifting. Words can only do so much for this kind of cerebral recording; it’s best to just listen to it.
![Sanguelia – Axeman Holocaust (2014) Sanguelia – Axeman Holocaust (2014)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sanguelia_ah.jpeg)
Sanguelia – Axeman Holocaust (2014)
September 5, 2022We’re about to drop a new Sanguelia album on our label Two Man Tape Co, so it was cool to look back several years to this debut. Inspired by the music present in Italian horrors and giallos, and driven thematically by a similar horror aesthetic, Sanguelia combine synthesizers with real live drumming for a performance that reminds of Goblin or Zombi, if I could make such bold comparisons.
![Brother – Brother (2019) Brother – Brother (2019)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/brother_st.jpeg)
Brother – Brother (2019)
Starting things off with a Twin Peaks sample is always gonna get my attention. To be honest, it’s not needed, because Brother’s self titled is punishing powerviolence from the word go. It’s got that buzzsaw modern PV production but with an old school hardcore punk feel to some of the tunes. All in all, this is a nifty EP.
![Eyehategod – Take As Needed For Pain (1993) Eyehategod – Take As Needed For Pain (1993)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/eyehategod_tanfp.jpeg)
Eyehategod – Take As Needed For Pain (1993)
September 1, 2022A pillar of the sludge world, both as a band in Eyehategod and as an album. This record is a pure classic. There is few things that can touch it for pure sleaze and alcohol / narcotic fuelled depression. Opening track “Blank” sets the pace and really, if you are only ever gonna listen to one Eyehategod song, make it this one. The remaining tracks are filled out with such ditties as “30$ Bag”, and…
![Ice-T – Valuable Game (12″ Version) (1999) Ice-T – Valuable Game (12″ Version) (1999)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/icet_vg2.jpeg)
Ice-T – Valuable Game (12″ Version) (1999)
I got this 12″ free with a Discogs order probably about a decade ago, and I finally listened to it. Featuring a few cuts and extras from his 7 Deadly Sins album sessions, Valuable Game is actually a pretty fun listen. My favourite song has to be “Always Wanted To Be A Ho”, which is tongue in cheek but actually heavily calls out those who prey on vulnerable women, which is nice considering how misogynistic…
![Merzbow – Venereology (1994) Merzbow – Venereology (1994)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/merzbow_venereology.jpeg)
Merzbow – Venereology (1994)
Pulse Demon takes the crown – or should I say the spotlight – when it comes to Merzbow’s most famous release. As the man transitions from the worlds of analogue into digital noise, we saw a bit of a shift in the sounds in general. This mid-90s period was specifically harsh. Venereology, which quickly followed that very famous Pulse Demon album, seems to step up the harshness, if you’ll forgive me for my lack of…
![V/A – Sludgesicle Records – 10-Way Grind Split – Compilation Tape (2011) V/A – Sludgesicle Records – 10-Way Grind Split – Compilation Tape (2011)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/va_sludgesicle_10waygrind.jpeg)
V/A – Sludgesicle Records – 10-Way Grind Split – Compilation Tape (2011)
The Yacopsae stuff opening up this is clearly pushed to the front due to the underground weight that this act brings. However, it sounds like complete shit, if I can be so bold as to declare that in such an environment. LOL. But yeah, the Gdorks stuff that follows (RIP Katz) I’m pretty sure is the stuff from our failed split, which was also released on its own through Grindcore Karaoke. Here it is again,…
![Blood Axis – The Gospel Of Inhumanity (1995) Blood Axis – The Gospel Of Inhumanity (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/bloodaxis_goi.jpeg)
Blood Axis – The Gospel Of Inhumanity (1995)
I got into a bit of a shit-slinging incident with a bunch of randos on the internet when Mortiis of all people, posted a picture of himself on his Instagram with who I could only assume from comments was the dude from Blood Axis. The guy had a shaved head, a t-shirt sporting the crutch cross, boots and a belt sporting the reichsadler eagle. Now, wearing boots doesn’t make you a Neo Nazi, but they…
![Wolvserpent – Aporia:Kāla:Ananta (2016) Wolvserpent – Aporia:Kāla:Ananta (2016)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/wolvserpent_aka.jpeg)
Wolvserpent – Aporia:Kāla:Ananta (2016)
I remember hearing this when it came out and struggling to really get my head around what they were trying to do. Personally, I’ve had a go at this several times over the year but have always failed to make it through to completion. Why am I still trying? Well, the concept of it is right up my street. Longform, intense songs covering a gamut of extreme metal genres, including other stuff like noise and…
![Mortician – Darkest Day Of Horror (2003) Mortician – Darkest Day Of Horror (2003)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/mortician_ddoh.jpeg)
Mortician – Darkest Day Of Horror (2003)
I think I prefer the songs on the earlier classic releases but this thing sounds absolutely enormous. Mortician’s intense fuzz hits you in the face like 10,000 dirty hypodermic needles. The production is huge, allowing those buzzsaw riffs to fully be appreciated. What more can I say? It’s Mortician. I bought a Darkest Day Of Horror shirt back in 2006/2007 and I still have and wear it to this day. LOL.
![Serenity – Then Came Silence (1995) Serenity – Then Came Silence (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/serenity_tcs.jpeg)
Serenity – Then Came Silence (1995)
I got given this tape by someone at Leeds Deathfest in either 2009 or 2010. I can’t remember who it was, which is really annoying – it may have been someone from Lazarus Blackstar. But anyway, it was one of the dudes who played in this band too. I never really played it all that much, always losing interest after a few songs. I decided this week to finally play through the whole thing and…
![Jean-Michel Jarre – Chronologie (1993) Jean-Michel Jarre – Chronologie (1993)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/jeanmicheljarre_chronologie.jpeg)
Jean-Michel Jarre – Chronologie (1993)
Following on from my recent foray back into Oxygen (a classic), I followed up with Chronology, which is perfect music for keeping your mind sharp whilst reading or engaging in some other task of concentration. To say Chronology is not “spacey” would be a lie, there is just a different vibe here.
![Borknagar – Borknagar (1996) Borknagar – Borknagar (1996)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/borknagar_st.jpeg)
Borknagar – Borknagar (1996)
The 2021 remaster of this cold classic is admittedly my first brush with Borknagar. I’ve known the name for seemingly aeons, but as is the way with this game (as with many others), time is my greatest enemy. The production was a little too crisp for me, if I could be so bold in announcing such; I had to turn down the treble a bit on my stereo to stop the harshness of the cymbals…
![Verletzen – Evil Will Triumph (2021) Verletzen – Evil Will Triumph (2021)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/verletzen_evilwilltriumph.jpeg)
Verletzen – Evil Will Triumph (2021)
August 3, 2022As I covered in the review of the band’s demo, Verletzen are a local black metal band to me here in South Wales. The demo was great, with a very traditional yet clean approach to weaving tunes of blackest misery and grimness. Evil Will Triumph continues this trend much in the same vein as the debut demo, but with a bigger studio sound. For the most part, this works quite well, and it is nice…
![Esion – For The Shit Hits The Fans (1.5″, Lathe) (2013) Esion – For The Shit Hits The Fans (1.5″, Lathe) (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/esion_ftshtf.png)
Esion – For The Shit Hits The Fans (1.5″, Lathe) (2013)
Quite possibly the stupidest thing in my record collection, which is definitely the whole point of this thing. I remember, in the early 2010s, a race amongst the noisecore / experimental projects and labels to release the smallest record possible. Technically, RxTx’s Bleached Anus takes the win, being fully playable (if only for a few seconds) at 1.5″ in size. Esion’s 1.5″ however, is actually not playable at all, and is in fact, designed to…
![VRV – 2008 (2008) VRV – 2008 (2008)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/vrv_2008.jpeg)
VRV – 2008 (2008)
VRV are one of those projects that is fairly awful on record but absolutely amazing live. Unless you have a particular penchant for drum machine fuelled noisecore with no direction or purpose, then please do not let me stop you. This 2008 CDr (I believe, from the man himself when I bought the VRV split with Agathocles) contains 2 sessions of improv madness, followed by an unlistenable live final session.
![Behemoth – Satanica (1999) Behemoth – Satanica (1999)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/behemoth_satanica.jpeg)
Behemoth – Satanica (1999)
I had this when I was a kid but I don’t know what the fuck I was listening to because that was some 2 x CD set I pirated off a Russian website that had tons of bad demos and crappy synth passages. Satanica, not to be confused with The Satanist by the same band (way to go for original album titles, Nergal my guy hahaha), is none of the above, instead it is, of…
![Godflesh – Messiah (2000/2003) Godflesh – Messiah (2000/2003)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/godflesh_messiah_rp.jpeg)
Godflesh – Messiah (2000/2003)
Low key, posthumous release from Godflesh during their initial break up, or just before. I think it was recorded in the early 90s originally. Anyway, here are 4 tracks of stunning introspective industrial metal, followed by 4 dub remixes of those same tracks. It gives Messiah a circular feel, as themes you hear at the start are reprised in the dubs at the end. It’s a great mix of stuff.
![Darkthrone – Eternal Hails…… (2021) Darkthrone – Eternal Hails…… (2021)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/darkthrone_eternalhails.jpeg)
Darkthrone – Eternal Hails…… (2021)
Stunning recent outing from Darkthrone, with a robust yet natural production and the usual predilection for slaying riffs. Expect slightly longer songs, I suppose Eternal Hails is not a million miles from Old Star, but the vibe is much different. The closing track here in particular is a tidy slice of epic metal. Long live Darkthrone.
![Cannibal Corpse – Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992) Cannibal Corpse – Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/cannibalcorpse_totm.jpg)
Cannibal Corpse – Tomb Of The Mutilated (1992)
Where do I begin with Tomb Of The Mutilated? I mean, just look at that art work! Just when you thought music couldn’t get heavier, couldn’t get more brutal, couldn’t get more disgusting, the 90s brought the wave of death metal full on and with it came Cannibal Corpse. This is a beast of an album.
![The Locust – The Locust (1998) The Locust – The Locust (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/locust_locust98.jpeg)
The Locust – The Locust (1998)
This “album”, at just over quarter of an hour long, marks – for me – the point where The Locust “became” The Locust we all know and love. Granted, the line-up which made some of the greatest records of all time didn’t solidify until 2001, but this self-titled record is an absolute explosion of grinding synthesizer madness. It is hard to explain really, but there’s just something about the frantic energy of The Locust that…
![The Locust – The Locust (1997) The Locust – The Locust (1997)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/locust_locust97.jpeg)
The Locust – The Locust (1997)
This is the first of two self-titled releases the band did. The first is called, technically I guess, just Locust rather than The Locust. As a historical listener, the most striking thing for me about this 7″ is how the band’s sound develops from the more rudimentary powerviolence approach of the 1996 splits into what we could consider the more recognisable Locust sound. Hydra-headed jackal-like vocal attacks punctuate intense stabs of grinding noise. Most importantly,…
![Streets Of Rage 4 (Game) / V/A – Streets Of Rage 4 OST (2020) Streets Of Rage 4 (Game) / V/A – Streets Of Rage 4 OST (2020)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/misc/sor4.png)
Streets Of Rage 4 (Game) / V/A – Streets Of Rage 4 OST (2020)
I’ve been meaning to check this out for a while, and to be honest it wasn’t bad, give or take the fairly weak story line. Musically, I think the soundtrack manages to strike a good balance between modern and nostalgic, with more callbacks to the original run of 90s games happening in the gameplay rather than in the audio. On the downside however no particular artist here stands out, especially as I pored over the…
![Wongraven – Fjelltronen (1995) Wongraven – Fjelltronen (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/wongraven_ft.jpeg)
Wongraven – Fjelltronen (1995)
August 1, 2022A beautifully composed album from the mid-90s, led by Satyricon’s Satyr Wongraven (I guess this dude loves naming bands after himself, huh?). Discogs credits Norwegian percussionist Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen as having contributed to this record, as well as Ihsahn from Emperor, but for the most part, this is a solo outing. What we get is a solid 30 minutes or so of excellent ambient / dungeon synth music (before the term really existed, remember) that…
![細野晴臣 (Haruomi Hosono) – 花に水 (Watering A Flower) (1984) 細野晴臣 (Haruomi Hosono) – 花に水 (Watering A Flower) (1984)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/hh_wateringaflower.jpeg)
細野晴臣 (Haruomi Hosono) – 花に水 (Watering A Flower) (1984)
I was recommended this off the back of finding Lunar Womb’s Planets record. There I was in awe of the vaporwave-decades-before-vaporwave sound mixed with dark ambient (or dungeon synth to you modern kids). Watering A Flower is however, a different creature. There is a similarity in floating synthesisers and dreamlike pacing, but otherwise Haruomi Hosono invokes an entirely different listening experience. One I admittedly enjoyed in all its minimal, trance-inducing goodness, and I will seek…
![Death In June – The World That Summer (1986) Death In June – The World That Summer (1986)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/di6_worldthatsummer.png)
Death In June – The World That Summer (1986)
The World That Summer is the third album from Death In June. It still retains a lot of the dance / drum machine elements of Nada! but Douglas’ experimental and acoustic sides are starting to flourish more. The album as a whole has a treacle-like pace, despite a few popping beats here or there. The music doesn’t match the pitch black cover art. It’s super chill, though.
![Dimmu Borgir – Godless Savage Garden (1998) Dimmu Borgir – Godless Savage Garden (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/dimmuborgir_godless.jpeg)
Dimmu Borgir – Godless Savage Garden (1998)
Godless Savage Garden seems like something of a stop-gap after Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. I see it as more of an EP than an album, but its not a million miles away from CoF’s From The Cradle… EP or stop-gap Bitter Suites record. It would perhaps be callous to call these songs leftovers from the Enthrone… sessions but they do have the similar excellent, spoopy vibe with plenty of reverb. The band in this time dealt…
![Feminazgul – No Dawn For Men (2020) Feminazgul – No Dawn For Men (2020)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/feminazgul_ndfm.jpeg)
Feminazgul – No Dawn For Men (2020)
I feel dirty because a few of the black metal related things I’ve touched recently have leaned more towards the unsavoury (both Clandestine Blaze and Deathspell Omega which I’ve covered contain the unsavoury Mikko Aspa), so it was almost with a sigh of relief that I remembered I had a Feminazgul record to check out. I can’t decide if the name is pure genius or just downright awful, but either way, it certainly turns heads…
![Streetcleaner – Mother Curse (2008) Streetcleaner – Mother Curse (2008)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/streetcleaner_mothercurse.jpeg)
Streetcleaner – Mother Curse (2008)
A 7” I’ve had for about 15 years and have listened to multiple times with a purpose to review it, yet I can never remember what the thing sounds like. It’s not bad, but the fact it’s so forgettable hardly looks good, does it?
![Nargaroth – Spectral Visions Of Mental Warfare (2011) Nargaroth – Spectral Visions Of Mental Warfare (2011)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/nargaroth_spectral.jpeg)
Nargaroth – Spectral Visions Of Mental Warfare (2011)
I downloaded a bunch of Nargaroth records 7 years ago when they were coming to my town so it’s probably a good idea if I actually listen to them. Spectral Visions… is as much introspective electronic music as it is dingy black metal. When the metal does flow, the songs are slow and atmospheric. Personally, I prefer the electronic passages here, which come across like a techno version of Tangerine Dream drowning in dusty dungeon…
![Sulsa / Cystoblastosis – Split Tape (2018) Sulsa / Cystoblastosis – Split Tape (2018)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sulsa_cysto_split.jpeg)
Sulsa / Cystoblastosis – Split Tape (2018)
This was originally recorded and released digitally in 2018 but the tape eventually came from Haunted Hotel Records in 2020. Sulsa are at the absolute peak of what decent goregrind should sound like. There’s a little mince stomp (only just), but otherwise this is punishing gore with a fat, disgusting bass leading the way. The vocals are putrid as all hell, and I cannot recommend this band heavily enough. Cystoblastosis have some good old school…
![Lurker Of Chalice – Lurker Of Chalice (2005) Lurker Of Chalice – Lurker Of Chalice (2005)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/lurkerofchalice_st.jpeg)
Lurker Of Chalice – Lurker Of Chalice (2005)
July 25, 2022Lurker Of Chalice is a strange concoction of vibes. The over-arching plot is black metal, but many different fathomless depths are plumbed to bring you this record. Atmospheric electronics interwine dissonant, almost DSBM tracks in their purest form. Towards the latter end of the record, the metallic structure falls away and the more drone-like tracks swarm forth to suffocate your brain. A mixed bag, but some dark shit. A side project of the dude behind…
![Amoebic Dysentery – Hospice Orgy (2006) Amoebic Dysentery – Hospice Orgy (2006)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/ambd_hospiceorgy.jpeg)
Amoebic Dysentery – Hospice Orgy (2006)
This is one of those things where the title should give you an adequate clue as to what to expect. Purile, nonsensical drum-machine grindcore is, of course, the order of the day, so I hope you’re down with that or I’m afraid you’re fucked out of luck. Where do I start with this? The subject matter is prime 2000s MySpace-era “grind is offensive” fare, but the songs are actually pretty savage, with intense bashings from…
![Marduk – Obedience (2000) Marduk – Obedience (2000)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/marduk_ob_3.jpeg)
Marduk – Obedience (2000)
Someone in Marduk must have been deep into some shady porn at the time this was put out. Its a bit outside of their wheelhouse in terms of artwork and vibe, at least visually. This was released on a variety of formats with a variety of different front covers, some perhaps complete reworkings that include no nudity or BDSM. Musically, this is OK, the cover track is the best thing on here IMO. Here’s a…
![Anal Cunt / Seven Minutes Of Nausea – Split 7″ (1989) Anal Cunt / Seven Minutes Of Nausea – Split 7″ (1989)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/axcx_7mon_split1.jpeg)
Anal Cunt / Seven Minutes Of Nausea – Split 7″ (1989)
I’ve probably heard this AxCx session a thousand times as I had a download pack of all the old AxCx shit (I think from Agz’ (is that name right?) Crustorrents blog). Its abrasive, nasty and an absolute mess. Everything you want then, from a noisecore band – one of the genre’s founders, no less. It really says something about 7MON, when back to back to classic AxCx, you can truly appreciate just how noisy and…
![Haggus / Glob – Split Tape (2016) Haggus / Glob – Split Tape (2016)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/haggus_glob_split.jpeg)
Haggus / Glob – Split Tape (2016)
Haggus are still the undisputed kings of vegan mince carnage. I feel like I say this about a lot of goregrind-based bands, but they truly do have one of the best shifted vokill attaxxx in the whole game. Just spin this up and find out. Of all places, the voxxx really shine on the Mob 47 cover (lol) that closes this thing out. Hardcore punk in a goregrind style? Yes please, drive. Glob offer a…
![Gorguts – Considered Dead (1991) Gorguts – Considered Dead (1991)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/gorguts_considereddead.jpg)
Gorguts – Considered Dead (1991)
I got into Gorguts through the more technical explosions of Obscura, so it was great fun to go back and unearth loved classics like this one, which are more in the traditional vein of death metal. Personally, I can’t think of anything more that I could want from old school death metal. Everything about this is just amazing, from the art to the production, the instrumentation and the vocals (which are a bit in the…
![Exhumed / Pantalones Abajo Marinero – Split 7″ (1998) Exhumed / Pantalones Abajo Marinero – Split 7″ (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/exhumed_pantalo_split1.jpeg)
Exhumed / Pantalones Abajo Marinero – Split 7″ (1998)
I love earlier Exhumed, and their stuff on this split 7″ is no different. Bark n growl, Carcass-baiting, thrashing death metal is the order of the day. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. The jewel on this 7″ however is my discovery of Pantalones Abajo Marinero. Shit, these guys are fucking awesome. Really fast, savage grindcore. Which is, of course, forever in my wheelhouse. Stunning.
![Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave (2022) Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave (2022)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/undeath_itstime.jpeg)
Undeath – It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave (2022)
May 13, 2022It’s time! I recently did a video review of my cassette of this which you can see at this link. Undeath keep their momentum up with their second record. The production is slightly different, but the riffs are chonky as fuck and the band are clearly on a roll so hey, let’s let them keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ (I’m sorry). “Necrobionics” is probably my favourite song, if I’m honest. I love the Doom video that…
![The Locust / Jenny Piccolo – Split 5″ (1996) The Locust / Jenny Piccolo – Split 5″ (1996)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/locust_jenny_1.jpeg)
The Locust / Jenny Piccolo – Split 5″ (1996)
I opened this review to start writing before the 5″ started, and it will no doubt end before I am finished. You gotta love 5″ records. They are ultimately pointless, but are so perfect – never has a format been more fitting to an individual genre, in this case grindcore. I’m not sure if this was recorded before or after the stuff on the MITB split, but this, whilst a lo-fi affair, is much more…
![Urophagia – Urine Consumption (2007) Urophagia – Urine Consumption (2007)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/urophagia_uc.jpeg)
Urophagia – Urine Consumption (2007)
(Excuse the crappy thumbnail on this one. This release seems to have fallen through the cracks of time into perma-obscurity. I can’t find my copy of this CDr anywhere, so the shitty thumb it is (oo er), apologies folks) I got sent this CDr by the dudes in the band, because we worked together briefly when I ran a label. They appeared on a compilation 7″ I did (where does a multiple split end and…
![Primitive Graven Image – Traversing The Awesome Night (2007) Primitive Graven Image – Traversing The Awesome Night (2007)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/primitivegravenimage_tra.jpeg)
Primitive Graven Image – Traversing The Awesome Night (2007)
Cold, harrowing black metal from the UK. This one has been on the to-do list for a while (I wonder how many times I’ve written than exact sentence out?), but I’m glad I finally got around to it because its everything that the cover art promised and much more. The production is a little hollow, leaning heavily into treble territory with buzzsaw guitars and percussion that is drenched in reverb, but the songwriting is superb….
![Obituary – Cause Of Death (1990) Obituary – Cause Of Death (1990)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/obituary_cod.jpeg)
Obituary – Cause Of Death (1990)
For all the farmyard variety in death metal and grindcore vocals from around the globe and across modern history (lol), few are as animalistic and primal and disgusting as John Tardy. Your man here sounds like Taz on bath salts with one leg stuck in a bear trap. The art is a bit pants, but it is a classic after all so that can be forgiven (no shade at the artist, I’m just not sure…
![Intrepid Corpse – Mincecore Wet Dreams (2020) Intrepid Corpse – Mincecore Wet Dreams (2020)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/intrepidcorpse_mwd.png)
Intrepid Corpse – Mincecore Wet Dreams (2020)
The final release from the seemingly defunct Intrepid Corpse. More intense mincecore stomping goodness, in the vein of Haggus, Hyperemesis or earlier Agathocles. I remember the first release from this project and how it had that mince element underpinning it, but here, this is all-out stomp. Love it! The perfect soundtrack to blasting heads off on Doom. 2022 edit: This, along with Intrepid Corpse in general, appears to have disappeared off the internet without trace.
![Viper – I No She Hot, She No I’m Rich 5 (2016) Viper – I No She Hot, She No I’m Rich 5 (2016)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/viper_rich5.jpeg)
Viper – I No She Hot, She No I’m Rich 5 (2016)
Honestly, I don’t know why I do it to myself. With the absolute meltdown that is I No She Hot She No I’m Rich 5, I believe my time with Viper has come to an end. I just cannot invest any more time in listening to this absolute dreck. It was fun when it lasted. Like… this is so fucking bad, with absolutely zero endearing qualities. Plus it’s 1 hour and 40 minutes long. The…
![Clandestine Blaze – Fist Of The Northern Destroyer (2002) Clandestine Blaze – Fist Of The Northern Destroyer (2002)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/cb_fistnorthern.jpeg)
Clandestine Blaze – Fist Of The Northern Destroyer (2002)
Clandestine Blaze is the one man (I believe) black metal project of Mikko Aspa. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, then its probably a good thing. Mikko is linked to all sorts of unsavoury right wing garbage, and Clandestine Blaze is also linked to this kind of ideology. Its something I usually avoid and don’t tend to cover all that often, as it’s not something I agree with or like to shine a light…
![Anal Penetration – Pediculus Humanus Humanus (2013) Anal Penetration – Pediculus Humanus Humanus (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/axpx_phh.jpeg)
Anal Penetration – Pediculus Humanus Humanus (2013)
I got this tape from Roel back when it came out, and I have absolutely fucking no idea what I’ve done with it over the years. Thankfully, some kind soul has uploaded this to YouTube so I can remind myself of how it sounds. I can’t decide if the best thing about Anal Penetration (what a sentence) is the drum programming or the guitar work. Both are intensely good. Like, seriously, seriously good. For such…
![Anathema – Serenades (1993) Anathema – Serenades (1993)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/anathema_serenades.jpeg)
Anathema – Serenades (1993)
Serenades is another one of those records that I have heard probably hundreds of times. In my teens it quickly became one of my favourite doom metal records, and I remember going to watch Anathema in 2007 at a festival without having any idea they had changed into the whole indie / post-rock thing. What a shock I had haha Anyways, I love this. I’ve made the point on several other record blogs now, that…
![Sikfuk / Demented Retarded – Split CD (2013) Sikfuk / Demented Retarded – Split CD (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/sikfuk_dementedretarded.jpeg)
Sikfuk / Demented Retarded – Split CD (2013)
I loved Sikfuk when I was a teenager. It’s death metal, but silly as fuck and also technical as shit! What a duality! Much in the same vein here does the carnage continue, but with a whole slew of additional sounds added to the one man’s already chock-full barnyard of vocal styles. There are now punk rock / powerviolence shouts and grunts to go alongside the usual gurgles and gargles. There is also a catchiness…
![Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (1976) Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (1976)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/jmj_oxygen.jpeg)
Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène (1976)
Ah, Oxygène, one of the greats of the chill-out electronic genre, no? Before everything chilled out became house hi hats and moody loops, the genre was more attributed to “Mike Oldfield shit” – by which I mean huge 4 or 5 CD box sets of wishy washy hippy synthesizer music. You could guarantee a radio edit of Oxygène would be included on any one of those compilations worth its salt. I am of course doing…
![Dahmer – Dahmer 1997 / 2 Song 7″ (1997) Dahmer – Dahmer 1997 / 2 Song 7″ (1997)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/dahmer_dahmer97.jpeg)
Dahmer – Dahmer 1997 / 2 Song 7″ (1997)
Dahmer are a fuckin’ great grindcore act. I snoozed on this band for years think I only really checked them out for the first time in 2016. Anyways, the two tracks here are slightly longer than the usual grindcore fare, but suffer not in terms of pacing or ferocity. Throat shredding vocals, razor sharp yet dense riffs and bonkers drums – it’s all here.
![Ahumado Granujo / Utopia – Split CD (2002) Ahumado Granujo / Utopia – Split CD (2002)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/ahumadogran_utopia_1.jpeg)
Ahumado Granujo / Utopia – Split CD (2002)
This is a lengthy split from 20 years ago (damn, son) (23 years for the original cassette before this CD version). If you know what Ahumado Granujo are about then this will not disappoint. There are less techno passages and more groovy finger-pointy goregrind, but hey, I’m not complaining about that. Production is good as always, and a few Gut covers towards the end (and a cover of Impetigo’s “Boneyard” but much faster!) are the…
![I Shit On Your Face / Vulnus – Split CD (2006) I Shit On Your Face / Vulnus – Split CD (2006)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/isoyf_vulnus1.jpeg)
I Shit On Your Face / Vulnus – Split CD (2006)
Vulnus play intense, well-produced death metal. Despite this, there is a quality remaining of the feel of an underground demo, but the band’s overall tightness and professional sound does wonders for their crisp, precise carnage. As I listened to the split for ISOYF, discovering Vulnus was a pleasant surprise. ISOYF have thusfar failed to ever disappoint me. One could say that the band are not very adventurous with their sound, whilst another could then counteract…
![Anal Cunt – Everyone Should Be Killed (1993) Anal Cunt – Everyone Should Be Killed (1993)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/axcx_esbk.jpeg)
Anal Cunt – Everyone Should Be Killed (1993)
I’d like to think, that back in 1993, it was almost unimaginable that a band like Anal Cunt would do a full-length album. I mean, they crammed 5000+ “songs” onto a 7″ in one way or another, so who could comprehend a full-length? Similarly, with such an abrasive and intense sound, the formats of short, sharp shocks to the head worked perfectly. Who in their right mind would want to endure that in a full…
![Duncan Wilder Johnson – Heavy Metal Spoken Word (2000) Duncan Wilder Johnson – Heavy Metal Spoken Word (2000)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/dwj_hmsw.jpeg)
Duncan Wilder Johnson – Heavy Metal Spoken Word (2000)
This has to be one of, if not the most, random thing in my entire CD collection. I got it off the Relapse webstore back in the late 00s when it always seemed to be filled with the most random shit. This is a CD full of Duncan’s stand up, which is, to be fair, not that great. The material’s link to heavy metal is also tenuous at best. There is absolutely no merit to…
![Forced Expression – Forced Expression (1995) Forced Expression – Forced Expression (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/forcedexpression_st.jpeg)
Forced Expression – Forced Expression (1995)
This is what I’m talking about. Forced Expression do not fuck around. This 7″ of blistering hardcore intensity takes us firmly into classic powerviolence territory. Bouncy riffs meet pummelling drums and intense vocals, just what the doctor ordered in regards to total sonic annihilation. Tidy!
![Morbid Angel – Formulas Fatal To The Flesh (1998) Morbid Angel – Formulas Fatal To The Flesh (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/morbidangel_ffttf.jpeg)
Morbid Angel – Formulas Fatal To The Flesh (1998)
Oh fuck, this is great. I’ve always avoided later Morbid Angel because I wrongly assumed it would be total rubbish. I had this in mp3 format when I was a teenager and it had all the “lavas” with it (like a bonus disc of guitar solos or something), and that along with the multiple ambient/intermission tracks here really distracted me away from the meat of the project. Thankfully, all these years later I decided to…
![Permanent Death / LSD Mossel / De Madeliefjes – Split Tape (2006) Permanent Death / LSD Mossel / De Madeliefjes – Split Tape (2006)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/permanentdeath_lsdmossel_dm_split.jpeg)
Permanent Death / LSD Mossel / De Madeliefjes – Split Tape (2006)
Noise noise noise noise! All Dutch and Belgian bands here (or just Belgian maybe – I could be wrong). Permanent Death have always eluded me. I’ve always wanted to check them out because they have had both Tony from AGx (RIP) and Isaac from Fromtheashes and Leng T’che (and a bloody good bloke) on drums. Nonsensical noisecore is the order of the day here, as is much the case for LSD Mossel and De Madeliefjes….
![Bastard Noise / L’idiot Du Village – Split 7″ (2003) Bastard Noise / L’idiot Du Village – Split 7″ (2003)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/bastardnoise_lidv_1.jpeg)
Bastard Noise / L’idiot Du Village – Split 7″ (2003)
I love Bastard Noise (or anything Eric Wood) but my experiences with his discography are few and far between. This is a fairly haunting session, where each band on the split sound fairly similar, but there’s a bit more dreadful atmosphere to the Bastard Noise stuff. L’Idiot Du Village (lol) is a bit more abrupt with the “song” lengths, but offers as equally pleasing a contribution of horrible noise. Tidy split!
![Ingrowing – Ætherpartus (2009) Ingrowing – Ætherpartus (2009)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/ingrowing_ae.jpeg)
Ingrowing – Ætherpartus (2009)
May 4, 2022Totes brutes death metal is the order of the day, with a chunky digital production holding everything in a surprising state of clarity. The drums pierce the mix brilliantly, whilst the riffs are fully distuishable underneath the vocals, despite their technical complexity. All in all, sounds good, and doesn’t fuck around on the savagery scale.
![Medieval – Medieval Kills! (1987) Medieval – Medieval Kills! (1987)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/medieval_kills.jpeg)
Medieval – Medieval Kills! (1987)
Another one of those dusty old 80s gems that I have absolutely no idea where I got the recommendation from. There is no way I would have stumbled upon this on my own, but here it is. A mystery! Anyway, this thing fuckin’ rules, if I could be so direct. I love the warm, analog production, and really wish that more stuff was recorded this way. That being said Medieval Kills! does sound pretty ancient…
![The Locust / Man Is The Bastard Noise – Split 10″ (1996) The Locust / Man Is The Bastard Noise – Split 10″ (1996)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/locust_mitb_1.jpeg)
The Locust / Man Is The Bastard Noise – Split 10″ (1996)
I just love how confusing the Man Is The Bastard (Noise) AKA Charred Remains discography is. So… is this Man Is The Bastard? Or is it Bastard Noise? Discogs has Man Is The Bastard Noise looping back to Man Is The Bastard, but this record is clearly a noise release. Perhaps I’m just thinking too much into it. LOL. Either way, it is the crushing power electronics headfuck you can expect from these guys, with…
![Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine (2005) Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine (2005)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/archenemy_dm.jpeg)
Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine (2005)
It’s crazy to think how long this band have been going and how many eras they have had to their sound. These days, with the huge popularity and of course, striking appearance of Alissa White-Gluz, its hard to imagine Arch Enemy being fronted by anyone else. Angela Gossow abso kills it on this thing, however. Its an album I’ve heard many times in my youth, but I never really fell in love with the band….
![Abattoir – Viscous Attack (1985) Abattoir – Viscous Attack (1985)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/abattoir_va.jpeg)
Abattoir – Viscous Attack (1985)
I have absolutely zero clue where I picked this recommendation up, but its been on the to-do list for a few years. Viscous Attack is an excercise in mid-80s thrash, I guess where the genre was finally coming into its own away from the speed metal tag. I’m no metal scholar, but that’s where I place this stuff anyway. Honestly, I figured this was out of Brazil or something (it really gives me that vibe)…
![Savage Man Savage Beast – The Stiffs Are Looking Lively (2016) Savage Man Savage Beast – The Stiffs Are Looking Lively (2016)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/smsb_thestiffs.jpeg)
Savage Man Savage Beast – The Stiffs Are Looking Lively (2016)
The Stiffs Are Looking Lively (what a name!) is a colossal compilation record of all (I believe ‘all’ at least) the Savage Man Savage Beast demo stuff and unreleased tracks. The runtime is massive, but if you’re down for 60+ tracks of one man drum machine grindcore (leaning towards the gore), then by all means pull up a chair, you’re gonna be here a while. Despite being culled from I think 5 or 6 different…
![Clown Core – Toilet (2018) Clown Core – Toilet (2018)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/clowncore_toilet.jpeg)
Clown Core – Toilet (2018)
What an absolute beauty of an EP. I first marked this down for LIW’ing in 2020, so it was a pleasure to come back and check it out for this review. I absolutely love the mix of jazz, noise and I suppose, even grindcore. There are muted electronic passages that invoke the realms of vaporwave and 80s nostalgia, before the madness comes back and smacks you upside the head. A topsy turvy listen, for sure.
![Megasphere – Master Levels For Doom II 25th Anniversary MIDI Pack (2021) Megasphere – Master Levels For Doom II 25th Anniversary MIDI Pack (2021)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/megasphere_masterlevels25.jpeg)
Megasphere – Master Levels For Doom II 25th Anniversary MIDI Pack (2021)
The Doom II Master Levels is a mixed bag. One of the most irritating things about it, is that whilst a lot of the files occupy map slot 01, you get the same soundtrack over and over and over as you play. Thank any metaphorical heavens then, for the Doom community. Megasphere has popped up a few times in regards to soundtracking WADs, but this was my first encounter with his work. Honestly, he puts…
![Europe – The Final Countdown (1986) Europe – The Final Countdown (1986)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/europe_tiefinalcount.jpeg)
Europe – The Final Countdown (1986)
April 29, 2022The Final Countdown is the title of this album, of course also the single, and its also the title of the band’s ‘best of’ album too. For a group that apparently doesn’t like to milk their biggest hit, that’s a bad look. I understand there’s probably a ton of label meddling in these decisions, but still. I’ve always loved the title track, since I was a wee lad studying music in school. So I figured…
![Morbid Angel – Illud Divinum Insanus (2011) Morbid Angel – Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/morbidangel_insanus.jpeg)
Morbid Angel – Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)
Oh boy. So. I’d never actually listened to this all the way through before. Sure, we all know those tracks that people hate so much, and I saw the band live during this tour cycle and witnessed a lot of the death metal songs here sounding pretty impressive, I won’t lie. How do I even tackle this? This record is considered one of the most universally reviled metal albums of all time. Playing it through…
![Nile – Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka (1998) Nile – Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/nile_amongthecata.jpeg)
Nile – Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka (1998)
Nile’s debut album (not counting the demo, even though that feels long enough to be an album) is a blocky and solid affair that introduces the world to the band’s unique take on combining ancient Egypt with death metal. This is far from the polish of Annihilation Of The Wicked or In Their Darkened Shrines, but its great to see where the band’s musical journey truly started to begin and flourish. At a first listen,…
![Killing Joke – Democracy (1996) Killing Joke – Democracy (1996)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/killingjoke_democracy.jpeg)
Killing Joke – Democracy (1996)
April 22, 2022I have to say off the bat that I find Democracy underwhelming. I’ve listened to it twice now, and it just doesn’t jump out at me. It’s not bad, but it’s just very uneventful. The mix is very wishy washy and everything gets lost and buried. Kinda like the shoegaze hoover effect, but not in desired way. Democracy, unfortunately, sees Killing Joke on auto-pilot. This is a crying shame after the return to form thay…
![Total Fucking Destruction – Hater (2011) Total Fucking Destruction – Hater (2011)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/tfd_hater.jpeg)
Total Fucking Destruction – Hater (2011)
Hater is now 11 years old. Damn, son. Anyways, this little fucker is probably my favourite TFD stuff, outside of the sessions that appeared on the Slimewave splits (I absolutely love the drum sound on those sessions). Here Rich Hoak and chums perfect their spastic, jazzy grind down to the very last blast or chug. The songs are just brilliant. From “Weaponization Of The Mega-Self”, “Everything You Need But Nothing You Want”, “It’s Only Attitude”…
![Thecorpseinthecrawlspace – Let There Be Corpse (2013) Thecorpseinthecrawlspace – Let There Be Corpse (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/thecorpseinthecrawlspace_lettherebecorpse.jpeg)
Thecorpseinthecrawlspace – Let There Be Corpse (2013)
Thecorpseinthecrawlspace is one of the more “musical” things that Bobby Maggard and chums were involved in. In fact, I can’t remember if this was actually a solo project or if it had other members (some of the main-line bands on Stoma Stew had some other people involved, I’m sure). Anyways, blasting goregrind is the order of the day, only here we are happily engulfed in riffs and some excellent drum programming, rather than the endless…
![Tetrahydrocannibal – Tetrahydrocannibal (2013) Tetrahydrocannibal – Tetrahydrocannibal (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/thc_st.jpeg)
Tetrahydrocannibal – Tetrahydrocannibal (2013)
This was a project that I put together in late 2013. I’d decided that I wanted to do some gorenoise, but with the genre feeling rather saturated, I initially figured I’d fire up some “pornoise” shtick but eventually settled on using a bong for long, watery vocal effects. In fact, this was a ton easier than using actual pitch-shifted vocals. The bong is run through the same kind of effects that you would use on…
![The Miles Davis Quintet – Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintent (1958) The Miles Davis Quintet – Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintent (1958)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/milesdavis_relaxin.jpeg)
The Miles Davis Quintet – Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintent (1958)
I’m no jazz expert, as I’m sure I’ve declared numerous times already. With that in mind, I sometimes struggle to review jazz records, even in this micro-format of a short paragraph or two. This is great, old-fashioned and busy jazz; just what the doctor ordered if something of the more classic variety is what you were after. If you want spacey 25-minute fusion epics, you’re looking in the wrong place.
![Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell – Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission (2001) Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell – Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission (2001)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/jahwobble_billlaswell_bassthefinal.jpeg)
Jah Wobble & Bill Laswell – Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission (2001)
I’ve heard the name Jah Wobble many, many times, but have never had the pleasure of partaking in any of his music. Thank the dub heavens then, for this collab with the legendary Bill Laswell. A Dub Transmission takes you on an hour of ticking, chill-out beats underpinned by intense, fat sub-bass. It won’t blow a hole in your speaker cone, but you can definitely feel its presence, which is fantastic. A bit later on,…
![Death In June – Rose Clouds Of Holocaust (1995) Death In June – Rose Clouds Of Holocaust (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/deatjinjune_roseclouds.jpeg)
Death In June – Rose Clouds Of Holocaust (1995)
I’m going to have to address Douglas P’s politics at some point. Probably in the form of a YouTube video so nothing is lost through hard text. That is an unfortunate reality I am faced with have now covered several Death In June records here. I love Death In June. There is no other band that sounds quite like them, despite them being a highly imitated pillar of the neo folk movement. In the early…
![Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food (1995) Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food (1995)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/thadoggpound_df.jpeg)
Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food (1995)
This is a long overdue listen for me. Dogg Pound, is perhaps, quite famously, a duo comprising of Kurupt and Daz Dillinger, who you may know from Dr. Dre’s albums or Snoop Dogg’s legendary Doggystyle album. These are the two guys that fill out a good chunk of guest spots on some high profile releases in the hip hop world during the 90s and it was high time (lol) that I checked out their debut…
![Intestinal Disgorge – Drowning In Rectal Sluge (2000) Intestinal Disgorge – Drowning In Rectal Sluge (2000)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/intestinaldisgorge_drowned.jpeg)
Intestinal Disgorge – Drowning In Rectal Sluge (2000)
Intestinal Disgorge’s first album is as fuckin’ batshit crazy as you’d expect to be. By this point, the band have a long and surprisingly varied career (who saw that coming?), so its nice to go back and check out the very sordid beginnings. In fact, Intestinal Disgorge got seedier and more brutal as they progressed into the 2000s (Depravity is probably one of the sickest and most unrelenting things ever recorded, at 60 tracks long)….
![Burial – Rival Dealer (2013) Burial – Rival Dealer (2013)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/burial_rivaldealer.jpeg)
Burial – Rival Dealer (2013)
Hrmmmm. This is a rare misstep for Burial. Let me preface this by saying that the music here isn’t bad, nor is its production inferior. Everything is above board. I’m just…. confused by the vibes. The name Rival Dealer of course conjures the usual Burial magic of urban grit filtered through fractured and almost ambient dance/dub sound pieces. All of them are unique yet united as a whole. On Rival Dealer however, which contains some…
![Jucifer – Calling All Cars On The Vegas Strip (1998) Jucifer – Calling All Cars On The Vegas Strip (1998)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/jucifer_callingallcars.jpeg)
Jucifer – Calling All Cars On The Vegas Strip (1998)
April 21, 2022Juicer are a sonic force to be reckoned with. Calling All Cars shows their all-encompassing sound in its infancy, from sweet, lullaby-esque vocal pieces to stomping grunge and or sludge bangers. The duo would get heavier, more experimental and more extreme as time went on, but their debut is a sunny slice of all the things that makes this project so brilliant.
![Cave State – Cave State (2014) Cave State – Cave State (2014)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/cavestate_st.jpeg)
Cave State – Cave State (2014)
Very angery. Straight up heavy as shit, balls out powerviolence. I love the aesthetic, I love the production, and I love the rabid vocals and unstoppable instrumentation. As with most compositions in this style, it doesn’t last forever, but it doesn’t need to. Highly recommended.
![Death In June – Burial (1984) Death In June – Burial (1984)](https://linesinwax.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/music_covers4/deathinjune_burial.jpeg)
Death In June – Burial (1984)
Burial is a dissapointing transition between The Guilty Have No Pride and the absolute classic that is Nada!. What we do get in the way of genuine new material is fantastic, I personally enjoy “Sons Of Europe” and “Death In The West”, even the seemingly hated “Black Radio” sound collage. Unfortunately side B is crammed with nothing more than a shitty live recording, so to call Burial a second album by this band is really…
Well, the "vast majority" can suck a fat one. I'm not gonna argue about NSBM with you, from your comment…