Mayhem - Live In Leipzig [1993]

Fortunately, notoriety isn't all that's needed to gain recognition within black metal circles. Sure, Mayhem have it in spades, due to the whole Euronymous business, and the suicide of Dead, after which band members allegedly took pieces of his skull and made them into necklaces, but it is difficult to deny that their music is some of the finest black metal art to ever grace this planet. This is the final official release done with Dead, and it is also one of the most effective live albums that this humble author has heard. It really puts across the atmosphere for those of us who, for whatever reason, never got the chance to see Mayhem in their prime, and, in addition, draws a delightful contrast between the more primitive material off Deathcrush and Pure Fucking Armageddon and the more refined, genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Although I personally find Attila to be a more interesting vocalist (heresy, I know), this is also a vital opportunity to hear the legendary Per Ohlin.

v1 VBR (can re-upload in 320 if needs be)

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Dying Fetus - Destroy The Opposition [2000]

Although Dying Fetus have a large role in unleashing the hordes of shitty deathcore bands at the moment, no-one hates 'Slaughter Of The Soul' for what it influenced, so why should this be hated? Dying Fetus' first two suffered from horrific production values, so this was their first album which could really stand on compositional ability alone.

320 kbps

DMCA complaint received. For a dead link. For an album released 12 years ago.

Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless [2001]

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of this album. Sure, I like it, but I don't deify it as many latter-day grindcore fans seem to. But then again, I'm not a fan of the likes of Gridlink and Cellgraft which this undeniably influenced largely - I like my grindcore punky, not technical. That said, it clearly is a seminal album, and one of the best examples of the style it pioneered. For that reason, it's worth a listen even if you only listen to grindcore from time to time as a novelty. It will never, in my eyes, reach the level of seminality (is that a word?) of the likes of Terrorizer and Brutal Truth, let alone Repulsion and Napalm Death, but it's on the second tier certainly. Don't be influenced by the torrent of over-technical shit it spawned.

192 kbps

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Blasphemy - Blood Upon The Altar demo [1989]

The surprising thing about this demo, the precursor to the legendary album Fallen Angel of Doom, is that its production is actually clearer than that of the full-length. Certainly, when just getting into Blasphemy, it helped me personally to overcome the murkiness of the full-length, especially with my then-predisposition to more overtly melodic forms of black metal. That's not to say it isn't completely ferocious - it is - but it's a little more accessible than the album. But it's more than just alternative recordings of the songs found on FAoD - not only do four of its full tracks not appear on the album, but the structure of the recording offers an entirely different perspective. Really, this is, if not equally seminal, almost as seminal as Fallen Angel of Doom. It's worth a listen if you have any interest in black metal (and for what it's worth, it's also easier to get on CD due to the 2007 Osmose reissue with Gods of War).

v1 VBR

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Re-re-upload: Blasphemy - Fallen Angel Of Doom [1990]

Another debut, Fallen Angel Of Doom should be played to all poseurs at maximum volume. Ahem. Now banned from playing in the USA, Canada's Blasphemy were surely one of the best early black/thrash bands, not to mention the pioneers of the whole bestial black metal scene. Although much aped since, especially by their countrymen, Fallen Angel Of Doom remains untouched in its pure uncompromising aggression and quality. Not to be passed up upon.

Re-upload notes: I've added a little bit to the description to reflect the general higher quality of the bios of recent uploads, but I'm not sure I'm going to do this for every album as it would simply take too long. Also, it's a different rip with a better bitrate.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Ulver - Bergtatt: Et Eeventyr 5 Capitler [1994]

Ulver were always overlooked in terms of Norwegian black metal's second wave, but this album, which implemented folk element to a much greater extent than 'Nattens Madrigal...' illustrates why that shouldn't be the case.

Re-upload notes: No particular reason for re-upping this one other than the fact that it's the oldest one that I haven't received a DMCA notification for.

270kbps VBR

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Re-upload: Strapping Young Lad - City [1997]

The insane genius Devin Townsend has created in his lifetime some of the world's craziest, and best music, but this is his best - that's certainly saying a lot. A piece of industrial metal that is avant-garde despite largely holding popular structure, it should not be missed in any metal fan's collection.

Re-upload notes: This contains a few demo versions of tracks as bonuses. I've got to admit I'm not much of a fan of Townsend's post-SYL work but most of the SYL stuff is great.

160 kbps

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Sanctuary - Into The Mirror Black [1990]

Okay, I admit it, I am a power metal fan/faggot (depending on your point of view). I can't help it when some of it is as awesome as this, Sanctuary's second and last album from 1990. You see, power metal is at its best not when writing 7-hour long conceptual odysseys, but rather when they write some ballsy songs (see: Running Wild, early Blind Guardian). And here, Sanctuary write songs with surprisingly socially aware lyrics for metal music - admittedly, the 'Long Since Dark'/'Epitaph' duo isn't quite up to the par of the rest of the album, but the quality of the likes of 'Future Tense', 'The Mirror Black' and 'One More Murder' is beyond question. It's quite thrashy in places too, so could provide an entry album to power metal for those into the more extreme ends of metal. Unfortunately often overlooked when considering the genre, this album is a classic.

192 kbps

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Nurse With Wound - Rock 'n Roll Station [1994]

'Do you remember? It was 1959. The observatory. What a strange story. Rock and roll session is a session where we can do what we want to do. [...] Everything is possible.' These lyrics from the opening title track of Nurse With Wound's 1994 magnum opus Rock 'n Roll Station. Although their (well, really 'his' - it's a project of Steven Stapleton) music is fairly indefinable, to newcomers it's normally a mixture of industrial and avant-garde, but on this, Stapleton took a break from the norm to make a more rhythmic record, which was controversial among existing fans to say the least. Regardless, it's far from mainstream and is a stunning album which should be listened to again and again and again.

N.B. This is a 1996 re-release which features a remix of the closing track.

192 kbps


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Re-upload: Cro-Mags - The Age Of Quarrel [1986]

N.B. The archive and files have the WRONG year on them.

Cro-Mags' debut is one of the quintessential albums of the New York hardcore (punk, not techno) scene. Although I'm not normally one for talk of 'Street Justice' and the like, preferring my comfortable bedroom, this is catchy and essential.

Re-upload notes: Don't think the N.B. is still true after the re-upload but I can't be bothered checking. Also, don't bother checking out any of the other material, very little of it's any good (OOH CONTROVERSIAL).

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Whitehouse - Mummy And Daddy [1998]

Along with the splendid Dedicated to Peter Kürten, this is probably Whitehouse's most celebrated work. As varied as power electronics is ever likely to get (ahem), this is something worth listening to for all fans of the odd.

Re-upload notes: Realised I hadn't posted anything for a few days so I decided to pick a page of old posts at random and re-upload the first thing that took my fancy. 'A Cunt Like You' is a splendid song.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Immolation - Close To A World Below [2000]

It really is astounding how Immolation, just one year after their defining Failures For Gods, could produce such an immense follow-up. Once again leading the scene (Incantation notwithstanding), this is not an album to be missed.

Re-upload notes: Okay, I've been convinced that this is their defining moment rather than my beloved Failures For Gods, and I suppose it is a little bit idiosyncratic than their other work. Regardless, I strongly suggest you listen to both - they're both wonderful albums and some of the best music death metal has to offer.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Doom - Police Bastard EP [1989]

Although it's but a few minutes long, this is my favourite release of Doom's - and considering how most of their releases are considered seminal in the crust genre, that is saying something. The title is very much linked to the police brutality that took place in the UK in the late 90s - peaceful protestors were beaten up and hassled purely for arguing a cause.

Re-upload notes: Best Doom material, this EP is among my 10 favourite records ever. If you haven't heard it, listen to it.

256 kbps

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Re-upload: Doom - War Crimes: Inhuman Beings [1988]

This highly politicised record is one of the key records of the entire crust punk sound, which would in the future influence bands from an entirely different background (Darkthrone being a good example). 37 minutes of pure punk energy.

Re-upload notes: This is, along with the Police Bastard EP, the best crust record in my opinion. Unparalleled in simplistic, but great compositional capabilites, although some of Doom's later stuff would pale in comparison (World Of Shit is rather mediocre), this has stood the test of time.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Amebix - Arise! [1985]

The dawn of crust, literally. Probably just about perfected it too in the same album. Many other influential bands (for instance, Doom, Napalm Death, etc.) drew influence themselves from this. Unerringly creepy.

Re-upload notes: I really can't be bothered to write much more at this point but the above seemed so uninformative I should add to it by saying that most of the other Amebix stuff is great too (including Sonic Mass) - I just can't bring myself to like the demos and struggle a little with the Who's Your Enemy? EP. 

128 kbps

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Iced Earth - Burnt Offerings [1995]

Sorry for the long absence - I was sure I'd scheduled that Hubelyska review for a point in the interim. Huh. Anyway, this is in my eyes Iced Earth's best album - although admittedly this opinion must be qualified by the fact that I haven't yet heard Night Of The Stormrider. Regardless, this is a stunning display of semi-thrashy power metal, its highlights being 'Creator Failure' and 'Dante's Inferno' in my eyes. That said, this is one of the few albums for which I can honestly say every song is a winner - I may appear to say it rather a lot, but that's just because I post lots of good albums here, right? Anyway, if you think power metal's normally 'gay' this might be a good place to start on your road to having a second fucking think about it. Yeah. I'm a power metal tough fairy.

320 kbps

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Napalm Death - Live Corruption [1990]

N.B. Yes, I know the date of the CD release was 1993, but as the VHS was released in 1990 and it's the same thing, this seems to make sense.

Probably one of the first gigs with Barney Greenway at the mic, this is one of the best live albums ever. Perenially underappreciated within Napalm Death's discography, if you ever wanted to hear fuller-bodied versions of tunes from the first couple of albums, this is where to go. The sound quality is about as you'd expect for a professionally-released live album, and the performance is tight and good without losing any of the organic feeling. For anyone who can't get to a Napalm concert at some point, this is about as close to an ample replacement as you'll get.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss [1993]

To me, this is not quite Vikernes' best album under the Burzum moniker (that honour goes to the stupendous 'Filosofem'), but it certainly follows that. This was the first album on which Burzum began to take a more dreamy, almost ambient approach (although don't worry, this still sounds nothing like 'Dauði Baldrs').

Re-upload notes: Upon revision, I think I do prefer this to Filosofem, largely due to the fact that the ambient track on this one ('Tomhet') is interesting and not 26 fucking minutes long.

192 kbps (if anyone wants, I can re-rip this one at a higher bitrate)

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Re-upload: Nuclear Assault - Survive [1988]

Re-upload notes: Disregard the below, it's largely bullshit, but I can't be arsed re-writing a whole bio right now. This is a great thrash album though.

It may be a cliche to say that a band have 'matured' over the course of two albums, but it is not the case at all here. If anything, this is even faster and crazier than debut 'Game Over'. It's my favourite Nuclear Assault album.

Similar artists: S.O.D., M.O.D., D.R.I.

320 kbps

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Re-upload: Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption [1990]

Re-upload notes: This post's clearly from when I began writing a little bit more than a couple of sentences so the initial post should provide plenty of information.

No self-respecting extreme music blog should go too long without having this gem of death/grind, and considering Napalm are my favourite band, I'm surprised it took more than ten posts! Harmony Corruption develops upon Napalm's raw grind fury of Scum and FETO, and adds death metal influences - probably derived from European and US tours with the likes of Bolt Thrower, Death, and Obituary (whose vocalist, John Tardy, guests along with Deicide's Glen Benton on 'Unfit Earth'). This is probably Napalm's most underappreciated release - after the NME 'britcore' exposure, but before the relative commercial success of the likes of Utopia Banished (which is many miles worse), but the likes of 'Suffer The Children', probably their most famed song (as opposed to whatever 'You Suffer' is) demand your attention. Now.

192 kbps

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