Goat Vulva - All demos [1988-1992]

Because we're all kvlt as fvck here at Court In The Act, I thought I'd provide you with some trve fvcking kvltness to begin this moderate-weather day. Goat Vulva is the band which sort of preceded Beherit - I say this because the two were run in parallel for a short while before Goat Vulva was finished in 1992. The production is sloppy, for sure, and if Beherit is too harsh for you looking elsewhere for your musical kicks might be an idea, but for degenerate kvlt fvckers like the rest of you (I will never use a v in place of a u again, promise! ...well, until the next black metal post), this could hit the mark. Included here are each of the five demos (Crucifixions, Blasphemous Sexfago, Baphometal, Capella, Erotic Worship) - some of them are sloppy to the extent of coming across as just noise, but on some of the others, an early inkling of the Beherit style starts to shine through.

Bitrate varies from 128 to 320 kbps

Mediafire
Depositfiles
Rapidshare (upload won't complete at the moment, if you need this link in particular, let me know and I'll try again)
iFolder

Ripping Corpse - Dreaming With The Dead [1991]

Erik Rutan's best musical venture (let's face it, beating Domination was the only problem there, because Hate Eternal is awful), Ripping Corpse are one of those bands that you desperately wish had released more material. Ripping (no pun intended) death/thrash which heads along at a blistering pace from start to finish, without forgetting that pleasing the listener to a certain extent is essentially the objective of music (yes, even noise). Its relatively short length (34 minutes) means that this never drags, and the band would, I don't doubt, be revered to the same extent as the likes of Morbid Angel had they released more material.

320 kbps

Megaupload

Massacre - From Beyond [1991]

Massacre, Massacre, Massacre, Massacre, you should know (Tribe points if you spotted the reference). This is truly a classic of death metal; although their later album fell a little short of the mark, this is simply essential thrashy, primal death metal. Although some find it simply too sloppy, that's most of the appeal for me. The calibre of the lineup - Kam Lee (Mantas, lots of recent DM), Rick Rozz (also Mantas, Death), Terry Butler (Death, Six Feet Under, recently joined Obituary), and Bill Andrews (also Death) - is representative of that of the album. File next to Scream Bloody Gore and Seven Churches under 'awesome' and 'primitive death metal'.

~195 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Cannibal Corpse - Butchered At Birth [1991]

The first of Cannibal's truly infamous albums, this is, surprisingly enough, not all hype. It's a reasonable death metal album for its time - it's not perfect, and not on the standard of Tomb Of The Mutilated, but it still is worth a good listen.

320 kbps

Megaupload

At The Gates - Gardens Of Grief EP [1991]

There is debate as to whether this was an EP or a demo - I'll tag it as both. It is a good piece of Swedeath; not as good as (the forthcoming) The Red In The Sky Is Ours, and Lindberg hadn't yet developed his trademark howl, but great stuff nonetheless.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Bolt Thrower - War Master [1991]

Although not quite on the same level as Realm Of Chaos, War Master is another fantastic Bolt Thrower album - to me their second best. It's pretty hard to write about Bolt Thrower albums - you either know what to expect or you don't (but if you don't, I highly suggest you rectify that immediately).

~240 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Sacrifice - Soldiers Of Misfortune [1991]

Sacrifice are a Canadian thrash band who are often overlooked, possibly due to their refusal to ever truly be more brutal or more melodic. This is nonetheless an excellent album - indeed, it strikes that careful balance cleverly.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Nocturnus - The Key [1991]

Heaven forbid I stray from the CITA norm for too long - this is one of the few technical death metal albums I really like, possibly due to the fact that it's more than simply shredding upon shredding upon other forms of fretboard wankery.

Similar artists: Demilich, Atheist, Death

192 kbps

Megaupload

Imperator - The Time Before Time [1991]

Some Old School Polish Death Metal for you. Their only album before going bankrupt after the planned release on Deathlike Silence fell through and they had to release it on a a label with big distribution problems. This album is great, full of awesome riffs and intense thrashing. This is not very well know but I would rate it as one of the best OSDM albums to come out of eastern Europe. A must for any OSDM fan.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick [1991]

And so this is the follow-up to that masterpiece. Although that album is literally impossible to top, this comes damn close. A story of yore to those who have heard 'Illud Divinum Insanus'. There was a time when Morbid Angel hadn't released a bad album.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Suffocation - Effigy Of The Forgotten [1991]

As said in my previous post, this suffers from a slightly lacklustre production job, but it is still one of the best death metal albums of its era - and considering it was released during the peak of DM, that's certainly saying something. This would influence many, but be matched by none in this style.

320 kbps

Megaupload

Suffocation - Human Waste EP [1991]

This, Suffocation's first release after the 'Reincremated' demo, is a sign of things to come. Containing 6 tracks of old-style brutality (none of this boring slamming), including some that would later be found on full-length 'Effigy Of The Forgotten', the only flaw to this, as to the debut, is a slightly poor production job.

320 kbps

Megaupload

Carbonized - For the Security [1991]

Carbonized are a rather unknown Swedish Death Metal band and this is their debut album, their sole death metal album before progressing to a more psycedelic grind sound. Carbonized may not be the best Old-School Death Metal band but they certainly match up to their counter-parts Entombed and Dismember and this album is full of the memorable and technical riffs that are so attractive in the Swedish Death Metal sound. This is a must for any Death Metal Fan.

320 kbps

megaupload

Erasure - Chorus [1991]

"Chorus" marked the end of the British synthpop duo's so-called 'classic' period, after which they began to move away from 3-minute pop songs and experimented with their sound more.

Nevertheless, "Chorus" contains 10 extremely catchy synthpop tunes which in themselves show a shimmer of what was to be the emerging dance sound of the '90s. Particular favourites of mine are the title track and "Breath Of Life". Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a very crisp synth sound.

256 kbps

Megaupload

Gorguts - Considered Dead [1991]

Although Gorguts went crazy-insane on 'Obscura' (coming in a minute), this is a solid piece of death metal - it doesn't really do anything new, but it's well composed, and is one of the best albums released by a band to have not yet hit their prime.

~230 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence [1991]

Atheist's 'Unquestionable Presence' was a landmark in metal, death metal, and just extreme music generally. It, along with Nocturnus' 'The Key', essentially defined the progressive death genre that was to come into vogue in the late 90s, yet doesn't suffer from 'Opeth syndrome' - that is, long meandering songs that ultimately go nowhere. Straight to the point.

~280 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting The Insalibrious [1991]

This is Carcass' best. Although grindfreaks may prefer the filthy feel of 'Reek Of Putrefaction' and melodeath fans will plump for 'Heartwork', this is the best all-round album. Grindcore elements are still present here, but to an even greater extent than 'Symphonies Of Sickness', the focus here is death metal.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Pungent Stench - Been Caught Buttering [1991]

Whether this is the best Pungent Stench album is debatable; what is not is that it is the only Pungent Stench album that I have. Despite the grotesque artwork, it is excellent, combining much of the doomy death of Autopsy with faster passages.

320 kbps

Megaupload

Dismember - Like An Everflowing Stream [1991]

Along with Entombed's 'Left Hand Path', Grave's 'Into The Grave', Carnage's 'Dark Recollections' and At The Gates' 'The Red In The Sky Is Ours', this is one of THE classic Swedeath albums. If that's not enough of an endorsement, then I despair.

256 kbps

Megaupload

Death - Human [1991]

The last Death album I'll be posting for now, 'Human' is the album that progressive-era Death fans usually point to as Death's defining album. To be honest, it's not hard to see why. R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner.

320 kbps

Megaupload