I like this because even though on paper it's a pretty standard Rome Streetz album with not much creative progression present, except for maybe 'Sage', this record still finds itself in a pretty unique position being a Rome album in the style of the buffalo classics opposed to the NYC centric sound he'd have on most of his other albums. Daringer has a very unique and stripped down production style that really built up the snowy and isolated back-alley feeling you'd get ... read more

Death Angel's first 3 album run showed a group of extremely talented group of musicians slowly but surely growing into the legends of the scene they were supposed to be. "The Ultra-Violence" was their juvenile thrasher debut that did well enough to put the band on everyone's radar, they brought really authentic energy and measured skill to every track giving them a rightfully earned reputation. However, I wasn't fully impressed by the theatrics put on there, the album ... read more

“Tapping the Vein” is a pretty overlooked thrash record that I think comfortably sits neck and neck with the classics of Sodom’s discography. I love that this record doesn’t try to fit in with any one sound, instead showcasing some of the best of Sodom’s abilities in as many sectors as the band has mastered. The thrash on here can range from pretty much death metal, like one the utterly gigantic ‘The Crippler’, to ambitious war anthems like the ... read more

While there are certainly moments on this album that absolutely live up to its legendary status, I don't find "The Ultra-Violence" to be this super compelling essential thrash record that some say will chalk it up to be, in fact, I think one of the biggest selling points of this album would actually be a slight detriment to the final project made here. If you know anything about Death Angel you'll know that this record was made when most of the members were quite young, ... read more

Post his legendary run on the first two Pestilence albums, Martin Van Drunen would import his moody and dreadful vocal style way more appropriately into the equally as dreadful sounding death doom band Asphyx. I feel like almost no other death metal band, especially this early in the 90s, captured the raw, unfiltered emotions their songs would portray quite like Asphyx ever did and that is the main reason why I hold this band and specifically this album, “Last One on Earth”, to such ... read more

"War Master" always came off to me as the superior record in Bolt Thrower's ever so consistent discography. While their first album would lean heavily towards grind and the next "Realm Of Chaos" would often flirt with messy grindcore passages, this record feels like the first pure blooded, death metal Bolt Thrower record. You'll notice the aggression hasn't really been turned down at all even with this slightly more polished production quality, so the riffing ... read more

Full to the brim with those dissonant harmonics, punky time signatures, and earsplitting guitar tones that make you just wanna appreciate life for what it is. You can really feel the creative vision on every track because the execution is beyond perfect with slow treacherous chugging leading a lot of these songs into the speedy punk riffs that the UKDM scene is all too known for, especially Bolt Thrower with their debut album. However unlike that album, we'd get a lot more measure of a ... read more

This is probably the most underrated metal album ever. LA thrashers, Hexen, would pull off one of the most exciting thrash performances since the end of the 90s with their debut album "State of Insurgency" which stops at absolutely nothing to push the envelope on the outer layers of thrash metal especially compared to most of their peers at the time. Here Hexen enters the cage with a bang showing off a very measured approach to songwriting and world building while also maintaining the ... read more

“Today, I Wrote Nothing” is such a unique entry in woods’ discography because it’s sandwiched between his two Blockhead albums, and where they tried to revolve around a central subject, this record is interesting in that it feels like a very loose collection of song that bounce from idea to idea rapidly. A lot of the underground greats that would become longtime partners of woods would come out of the woodworks here like Messiah Musik, junclassic, and Steel Tipped Dove, ... read more

The UKDM scene always stuck out for its thriving grindcore influences, most of the major bands like Napalm Death and Carcass would have stuck their hand in the punky jar of grindcore at least a few times in their career before transitioning into this really grimy sounding take on OSDM. Other than the 10/10 album art, the first thing you’ll notice here on "Death Shall Rise" is the production, it lends itself towards this thick and uneasy feeling as if the entire record is covered ... read more

"Butchered at Birth” holds a special place in my heart because I'm not gonna lie, Chris Barnes on these first four corpse records was really untouchable, and watching how far a legend has fallen from grace really makes me appreciate them a lot more. Barnes was a uniquely grotesque figure on the mic and this album has some of his best showings, I'd say ever. His approach on these records was so legendary in fact that the exact style of a really deep guttural growl that ... read more

In a world where something to get mad or sad about is just a fingertip away, Denzel manages to weave in fun, laid back music between his more emotional opuses and the second installment of "King of the Mischievous South" serves exactly this purpose. While not holding up to some of his better albums, "King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2" is full of the same floridian trap energy that really made "ZUU" bounce, but where these albums really differ is that this is ... read more

Peggy in a way is kind of like Bolt Thrower, each album follows a general sound, but each also has its own unique flavor too so it never feels like you're listening to the same album over and over again despite a specific set of rules being followed on each project. I'd love to see JPEGMAFIA break the rules of his own music someday in an attempt to make a truly monumental piece of art that REALLY sticks out, cause as of now I'm really not sure what the community consensus on what ... read more

Naysayers, on your feet for sentencing.

Recently got this album on vinyl and it really got me thinking, this album is essential the new testament of the thrash revival (no not the band I'm referring to the Jesus book). Other than Vektor or Hexen, little to no bands apart of the late 2000s/2010s era were able to come anywhere near the explosive success of “Time Is Up”. The reason why I call this album the new testament is because structurally this isn’t much of an upgrade ... read more

“War Without End” is the raw thrash debut that suffers on the mixing end but brings a uniquely charming sound to life despite that. While not matching up toe to toe with some of their later records there is undeniable talent littered all around this recording that keeps me pretty invested. Never been a big fan of Warbringer’s vocalist, he sounds way too stereotypical at times, but the thrash is always high quality and the vocals don't take away much from the experience so ... read more

About as hypnotic as it is aggressive, Gospel of the Horns' debut album "A Call to Arms" boasts an incredible dedication to the theatrics of music making for a noticeably evil aura and slightly unsettling experience. For a blackened thrash record, the vocals are very unique, taking on this almost serpent like hiss mixed with a deep growl, which takes center stage most of the time because the mixing here seems to favor the vocals A LOT more than the instruments. Still, though the ... read more

Since death metal was the natural progression of thrash metal, it makes sense that the natural progression of thrash, especially with it being on its last leg in the '90s, would be bands that exploit about as much obscene material and down tuning as they can without ever fully committing to the death metal sound. In comes Demolition Hammer and right off the bat they club your fucking skull in with one of the best thrash openers you'll probably ever hear, "Skull Fracturation ... read more

Masterplan

Colorado based modern thrash band Havok has been a leading figure in the thrash revival that sprung out around the early 2010s/late 2000s. Their first two albums, "Burn" and "Time Is Up", stood out for their over-the-top and dramatic take on old-school thrash with near pinpoint precision. Taking a lot from legends like Testament, Megadeth, and Exodus, Havok constructed a violent, yet technical sound that incorporates big, flashy solos, throbbing, mosh erecting ... read more

For the most part, Gunna continues his long line of generic, lazy, sloppy, carried by production trap albums, however here on “a Gift & a Curse” Gunna delivers not only a different sound production-wise but also some more meaningful lyrics and a surprisingly hungry delivery. Most of this artistic direction shift is due to Gunna being cut off by a lot of his industry partners and long-time collaborators like Wheezy, Lil Baby, and of course Thug with him being in jail at the time, ... read more

Pearl Jam, much like most grunge bands at the time, followed the cliche rock sound that undoubtedly aged less favorably than most. The songwriting was simple and usually focused more on the band’s personality, I hold albums like “Dirt” and “In Utero” in such high regard because of the raw personality on those records, but with Pearl Jam, I just haven’t been able to catch that rawness so their music just never really piqued my interest like other grunge acts. ... read more