sweet ol` low production old school  death/black metal
596361
yes, so it was low porduction, but its not that bad, this was truely amaizing; however, i soo wish it was on dvd. dead is the most reconized voice in REAL black metal, listening to this, almost feels like the ohlin's ghost is sitting right next to you.

 i would not recomend it to people who are not already big into mayhem, but if you are a true mayhem fan, this is a must. the reason that that is the sound is a little bit of a mess, but true fans....how could it not be their favorit recording by them? I also recomend that you get this other cd titled "de mysteriis dom sathanas" along with it.

I still can't get over how much i wish this was on dvd, but if it is...PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

i think they screwed up funeral fog a lil bit, but pure f**king amagedon, wow, it sounds better than the origional.

let me also add that early mayhem was more of death metal than black metal,infact i say that de mysteriis dom sathanas was there first actual black metal recording. so that is why i put death/black metal at the top.

infact really, the fact that this is black metal barely shows up on the cd, but this cd really kicks ass, i defently recomend it.
2037006
Obituary was one of the originators of death metal as a style, and have returned due to the recent resurgence in metal's popularity to release two albums....2005's "Frozen In Time", and the new release "Xecutioner's Return" (a nice nod to fans of the band).

 Although I enjoyed both, "Xecutioner's" is definately the better of the two, primarily due to the addition of Ralph Santolla's well-phrased and shred-happy soloing style, and simply the fact that this disc features better riffs, more variety and experimentation, and slightly better production. Of course, part of the appeal of this band (for me, anyway) is the dry, "old-school" metal production, but "Frozen" just seemed muddy, to me. For the older fans, the vocals are great, the low-end bottom heavy riffs are there in spades, but the addition of a bajillion solos will either help or hinder your enjoyment of this disc; as the older Obituary albums actually sound quite a bit different compared to this....there must be about 40 or so solos on this disc, and they are not the spastic, "Slayer-esque" variety, but very over-the top, in control,  and flashy, which makes this sound much different than Obit's older discs. For me, that's awesome! For some die-hards, maybe not.
1346005
I grew up on death metal from the early 90's. Back when deathmetal was the real deal. Alot of bands have come and gone, and numerous genres have been accumilated in this day and age..Which brings us to Obscura.....to me it's like a cross between Death, Carcass, and something more melodic like Cynic. The bassist kicks much a$$. I like the album as a whole....instead of blastbeating the hell out of the whole album, they throw these tasty litttle melodies in there to add to the mix. Some might not like it, but if you are an open-minded deathmetal conissuer, then you will appreciate the stylings this band has to offer........Try them out!!!!!
1761804
AWESOME DRUM`S,  BRUTAL GUITAR RIFF`S, DEADLY VOCAL``S  PERFECT FOR THE TRUE DEATH METALFIEND LIKE MYSELF, PLAY AT MAXIMUM VOLUME......... \ KRISIUN RULE`S....................
3031972
...marred by really bad production values.  Don't get me wrong, I don't EXPECT a metal band in the early 90's to be able to put out a metallica-quality big-budget production.  However, that said, in metal the focus is the guitars, and using a mic placement that makes the guitars sound like they were recorded by a bootstrap sony micro tape player MISSES THE POINT.  Turns them into little tin-canny things, when they're supposed to be BIG.  If these bands went to play live with their guitars sounding like they do on their albums, they'd be laughed off the stage.  I have no idea why so many of the early bands in sweden had this lo-fi sound.  I know that in black metal it was largely deliberate.  Personally I think its because these bands recorded themselves, and instead of finding a friend who was an engineer, they got their other guitar buddy to be an engineer.  Guitarists and engineers are natural enemies.  Getting a good and big guitar tone isn't hard and can be done with crappy radio shack mics.

That said the only other real beef I have with pre-slaughter At the Gates is the vocals.  Dry bed of nails down the ears.  Raw, and not elegant.  Terminal Spirit Disease is where they found their sound however, and both this and their other album "With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness" are amazing explorations in ATG finding out who they were as musicians.  But know that they both suffer from a terminal lack of even rudimentary engineering that you can get from a $10 book and takes maybe a day for a neophyte to apply.

That said I agree with everything else the other reviewers said, but they  only get 4 stars because of laziness in their recording technique.
2387132
A must have for any death metal fan whether you like old school death metal, new death metal, deathgrind, brutal death metal, whatever you like, this is a must have. don't let the sub-par quality fool you. this album is a masterpeice. everywhere from the vocals, guitar, bass, drums everything. guitars aren't very technical like some of todays technical death (I.E. suffocation, gorguts, embrinson, atheist, immolation etc.) buy this before it goes out of print. if you like obituary type death metal or ANY kind, buy it. please, for the love of god, buy it!
677353
Swedish band SYRON VANES have been around in one form or another since the early 1980s, releasing two albums back then, and then taking an almost 20 year long hiatus as recording artists before they returned again in 2003. "Evil Redux" is their fifth studio album overall, and their third since returning after the millennium. It was released through Denomination Records, a sublabel of Swedish Transubstans Records, in the spring of 2013.

"Evil Redux" is one of those albums that have given me a lot of minor frustrations. Not because there's anything wrong with the music, but because there's tons and tons of mostly minor details that sounds agonizingly familiar but that I'm unable to track down in my memory banks. The guitars in particular, riff constructions, certain common minor effects, some distinct guitar and drum combos that in sound or expression is of a kind I know I have encountered way back when I was a metalhead through and through.

Way back when is something of a key word for this production anyhow. This is a band that was active back in the good, old 1980s and they have their stylistic foundation firmly placed in that decade. Good, old fashioned heavy metal 1980s style with compact riff constructions pounding away, steady hammering drums backing it all and with powerful, melodic lead vocals on top. Judas Priest is probably the main influence for this band, and at times and especially in the vocals department Iron Maiden does come to mind. Possible traces of bands like Savatage and Empire-era Queensryche pops up on occasion, possibly some Dio thrown in there too for good measure, and certain recurring arrangements where light toned, frail guitar motifs are combined with harder edged riff constructions made me recall good, old Dokken. In addition certain tracks sports a subtly more modern sound, to my mind at least with some details fairly similar to the sound Alice Cooper explored on Brutal Planet.

The typical track on this album consist of chugging riffs with Judas Priest or Iron Maiden tendencies, instrumentation catering for the former and vocals for the latter, followed by an intermediate sequence somewhat more melodic in sound and fairly often with singalong qualities, leading on to a harder edged, impact heavy chorus. And these guys are fond of good, old fashioned anthemic chorus sections, in case anyone wonders.

Pleasant material at worst and fairly engaging at best, Syron Vanes have produced an album of the kind that warrants an inspection by those who long for heavy metal as it was made some 30 years ago. Those among them that appreciates the occasional singalong quality sequence and old school anthemic chorus sections a likely key audience specified.

My rating: 70/100
4894288
OK the sound quality is very low and the production is very poor, but hey this live show was recorded not to be an album is because of dead's death that the band decided to make a tribute CD to him and of all their live recordings they made, Live in Leipzig got the best sound of all so they decided to make this show an official live album.

Don't expect good sound of the musical instruments here. But dead's voice is very clear and loud. So I recommend this CD only to people that want to know how dead's voice was and how the band played some songs of de mysteriis with him.

If you are new with this band don't listen to this CD yet, get  de mysteriis or deathcrush first and then if you like them and want to know about dead's voice then try this live CD
217892
Fashion, By A Thread. Starts wimpy then rocks for 4+ minutes. Classic Alt vocal over great rocking band. Song title is the lyric which works, power playing band allow the singer to speak then they take over and rock, singer rocks to. Great song.

Pheasant by Shook Ones. Punchy punky band playing behind punky singer. 160 seconds of straight punk. Love it.

Higher Learning by Down To Nothing. Nice intro & nice guitar on loud punk song, harder & louder than previous track, bit'a metal roots, in your ears kinda chatty vocal, song kills for entire 138 seconds. Very nice.

Looking Back by Bold. More punk w/speedy play poor sound, high energy 133 seconds of intense, very nice.

Judge play Bringin' It Down. Another no apologies high energy punk song. Less than 2 minutes great.

Shai Hulud play This Song: For The True And Passionate Lovers Of Music. More metal here, a lot of shouting straight vocal over hardcore band play.

Twisted Again by Dag Nasty. Indie sound until the chorus when they turn it up a notch and rock. Great track.

Track 8 is Carpe Diem by Will Haven. Noise Metal sound. Metal vocal over Death metal band (to me). Driving guitar, strong drums, equal vocal grab you until you bow down. Raw and harsh. Like it, you may not.

Single White Female by The Movie life. Speedy song whiny singer neat chorus busy sound very punk very nice.

Drive Onto Me by Elliott. Slow opening to quality bouncy Indie/Alt song. Busy band that pauses to allow nice vocal to do it's thing. Chorus is the song title, works for me. Like it.

Fall Of The All American by The Nerve Agents. Best band name on the sampler brings us classic 70's style punk song, singer nearly sings, band plays nearly keeps up, short and sweet, love it.

Back And To The Left by Texas Is The Reason. Alternative punk song from long gone band. Great song.

Building by Sense Field. 90 seconds of classic punk band singer and song, nothing wasted, love it.

Audience by Far Side. Another long gone band, great track more rock than punk to my worn ears. Very nice.

Track 15 is No Spiritual Surrender by Inside Out. Disbanded in 1991, hardcore punk track that features loud vocal, great screaming guitar riffs and sometimes metal echoes.

Omission by Quicksand. Post Hardcore band that disbanded in 1999. Track is raw, yelling vocal strong band holds it all together. Nice.

New Direction from Gorilla Biscuits. Love a fake opening, this one leads to in your ears vocal over hardcore punk song that rocks.

True Till Death, Chain Of Strength. Defunct band, great hardcore song that zooms volume is subdued crank it up. Singer and band battle the vocal and rock.

Break Down The Walls by Youth Of Today. Simple lyric and song reminds of Sham 69. Ain't nothin' wrong with this.

It's Clobberin' Time by Sick Of It All. 45 seconds to tell you what you already know, It's Clobberin' Time.

Final track, Where It Went, Down To Nothing. This is Positive Hardcore (I dunno). Sounds like Beastie Boys meet great metal. Very nice.

Late review for this great punk, hardcore little bit 'a metal free sampler. You know if you like it. Download it to keep. Reminds me of years ago it rocks.
Track listing shows every track w/Explicit warning not sure it's every track, there are plenty.
3471978
Did I get the wrong record in the mail. This has got to be the worst thing ever recorded. I just don't get people's fascination with this band, I see them everywhere these days and they are god-awful. There is no way you can take this band seriously or take black metal seriously as a genre. I love metal more than anything but i've never gotten into the black metal scene, it makes me cringe just thinking about it. WITTR sound like a bunch of 14 year olds listened to Reign in Blood for the first time and dusted off some old instruments in their parents basement and just went for it. Someone should tell these guys to give it up.
4722573
The production is fantastic.  This album RIPS!  Lots of old school Metallica and Testament in this old school thrash session.
4057138
First of all let me say I'm a fan of these guys.  For sheer brutality in a pretty extensive catalog of music you really need not look much farther.  If you like fast, thrashy, aggravated, blast-laden death metal with a sense of melody this is it.  The production on this disc rivals any of their others...the mix comes through your speakers like a tornado.  The sound is huge and air tight allowing for very little room to breathe but the problem I have with it is the same problem i have with all of their other albums...the guitar production really is left to be desired...really muddy...think early Entombed without the clarity in the higher register. The drum work is as aggressive as it has ever been if not more and are mixed perfectly...in fact i would probably go out on a limb and say they maybe have one of the best recorded drum sounds on the planet.  Not their best stuff but i would say the most aggressive to date and definitely worth a listen or five
3481164
Someone obviously took meticulous notes in the melodic death metal workshop Dark Tranquility put on. Wish I could have made that.  Then again there's nothing wrong with being influenced by one of the best bands in the genre and they do still maintain their own sound. That is, the sound of band ripping DT method.  But I guess you could say that DT has severe Maiden influence along with every other melodic metal band worth their jockstrap. Regardless, they do a vicious job of it.  This album is flat out sick from start to finish.  I also hear some Incomplete influence in their music as well.

The production is excellent.  I would prefer the drums tones be a little fatter and more noticeable in the mix, but I almost always feel that way. The drummer keeps good time but is definitely not a maestro and is not the most creative.  The vocals really vary from everything from a hardcore yell to death growls and are good but nothing exceptional.

Out of 5 stars, I would give it a must hear B+, and had they not had such obvious inspiration, probably would have been an a solid A, out of 5 stars that is.
256407
The new Venom lineup with Abaddon, Mantas, new bassist/vocalist Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan & rythem guitarist Al Barnes (the weak guy here-thankfully he left a little later) made a good attempt at playing black metal but never really reached the level of "rawness" or evil that the original did, but it was a good attempt. Strangely, on the back cover photos, Mantas, Abaddon & Barnes are all wearing cross (right side up no less). Very odd. When you listen to this it might be best not to think of this as Venom, but as some band "related" to them. Still, there are some pretty good songs here. The title track & opening number, "Prime Evil" is probably the best song this lineup ever recorded. It's really loud & has some great riffs; "Parasite" (not the Kiss song) is a good thrasher; "Blackened Are the Priests" is reminiscent of older Venom & sounds really powerful, especially with the chanting intro; "Harder Than Ever" is kind of like an anthem, like Kiss' "Rock & Roll All Nite", but is good & rowdy; "Into the Fire" is another powerful song that should be played extra loud; "Skool Daze", a "sequel" to "Teacher's Pet" is full of that nice Venom sleaze. Weak spots are their cover of Black Sabbath's "Megalomania". It's ok, but they only play the second half of it. Too bad they couldn't go for the whole thing. "Skeletal Dance" sounds kind of sloppy, mainly due to Abaddon's drumming. And why they had to re-do "Live Like An Angel-Die Like a Devil" when the original is perfectly good is beyond me. Also, even though Cronos co-wrote it, he isn't credited as doing so. They kind of make you think that this new lineup wrote it. Oh well. All in all, this is a pretty solid thrash album, but I wish it had more "blackness" in it, but you can't have everything, I guess.
956770
Saw the death metal merchants play live here recently. Until a month or so ago, I had sort of forgotten about this band, which of course features former Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes. I still run across patrons at metal shows that didn't know that. Only downside about this seven track EP is that it's WAY too short. I mean, 25 minutes. Come on! Nonetheless,'Alive And Dead' is still a semi-worthy title. Tunes I liked the most were their head-riveting cover of Judas Priest's "Grinder" and a couple of the live cuts, "Suffering In Ecstasy" and "Beneath A Black Sky". Should appeal to fans of Cannibal Corpse, early Celtic Frost, Nuclear Death, Cradle Of Filth and possibly King Diamond.
1152543
man. I usually would never give a Black/Death metal CD a 4 or 5. The genre is just too limited. Usually lacking in production and sound quality. gets old, fast. But I still have a place for it. Enhances many of my moods.

So took a chance on this. I do have a few Immortal CD's scattered in my thousands of discs, and they were ok. But lacked in quality, though EXCELLENT musically. But yet, there they sit, un-listened to. So I won't compare this to anything they did because i had not bought an Immortal CD in over a decade. As I said, I like some death metal, but it has to be different and of good sound quality. The only other Death metal band that actually sounded good with bad production was Bathory back in the day. This has a lot of Bathory vibe.

I like this a LOT because the Vocals at many times sound like the (immortal) Quorthon in his Death Metal days. But this CD is GREAT sounding. The riffs are clear, Drumming thunderous and the songs themselves have real staying power. Some excellent Guitar solo's. Not 100% thrash, some good interludes. But its just done right on here. Sounds fresh and complete. Even the Priest cover of 'Riding on the Wind' is done well.

As I said, Black Metal is a limited Genre, this doesn't recreate anything. But its AWESOME nonetheless. Highly recommend to any Metal enthusiast. It does Black Metal right. Excellent CD with no real throw out tracks.

When in the mood, if you like Death/Black Metal, you will like this as I do.
2348602
First DT album I heard. Wasn't so much different on vinyl, but it was a bit more relaxed when it comes to compression