MOTD - Happy Thanksgiving! And a $4000 death metal album for you!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Sororicide
Song: Human Recycling
Album: The Entity
Style: Death Metal
country/location: Reykjavik, Iceland
release: 1991

This band is quite the collector's entity. I mean, who can resist a semi-obscure death metal album from Iceland? I know I couldn't. Certainly I'd want to spend up to $4000 for a rare CD for a death metal band from Iceland! Ok, maybe not. I'd love to have a rare album by a semi-obscure metal band, but $4000?! No way! Fortunately for you and I, there is the internet where you can hear said semi-obscure metal band that sells for $4000 on ebay for the price of your fingertips.

So is Sororicide really worth $4000? Honestly, no. However, are they worth the obscure cult following that they seem to have picked up? I'd say so! They are a traditional old school death metal band with a lot of unique aspects to their sound. I read somewhere that they have a little bit of a Candlemass doom influence. I could believe it for a lot of their riffs combine that old death metal distortion with very slow, brooding and very doomy lines. This song has starts off with a sense of forbidding that molds into a really awesome slow guitar riff. This then explodes into full blasting, unrelenting death metal with pounding drums and thrashy guitars. Like all good old death metal, there are solos! Very well executed solos utilizing melodic slow licks and faster shreddings. I can see why this band is sought after by collectors for they definitely have their own sound and style. Underrated would be a good word for them. I'd love to find a physical copy of this, however I wouldn't spend $4000 on this....


Sororicide - Human Recycling

And for my Thanksgiving gift to all of you, here is the full album in all of it's $4000 glory! hehe


Sororicide - The Entity
(rapidshare, zip, mp3)

MOTD - Abysmal Torment: Brutal Death Metal Done (Malta) Right!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Abysmal Torment
Song: Flayed Dismembered and Feasted Upon
Album: Epoch Of Methodic Carnage
Style: Brutal Death Metal
country/location: Malta
release: 2006

So while I don't really take traditional requests, I definitely take suggestions and such. Like for example, when I posted Animals Killing People, I was given the suggestion that I post Wormed or Abysmal Torment. After acquiring the latter, I decided that I should post Abysmal Torment! Many reasons for this: 1. They're from Malta which goes with my love of searching for metal bands from less well known metal scenes. 2. I had already heard Wormed and I wanted to hear something else. 3. They use a lot of generic elements of brutal death metal and make something totally awesome and strong with them! 4. They're a bit unique in the sense that they have two vocalists.

Abysmal Torment is about as traditional brutal death as you can get, with blasting snare drums, fast and chaotic guitar riffs, slamming brutal death breakdowns (NOT deathcore breakdowns), gory disgusting lyrics, and brutal in-your-face and inhuman vocals ranging from deep guttural sounds to the infamous pig squeals. I have a feeling that the latter part will turn away a lot of people haha. However, if there was ever a style where they were incredibly appropriate, it is in this band and it's ilk. I've always associated with that vocal style with the most brutal of bands and minus all the metalcore influences. Here, Abysmal Torment utilize two vocalists to provide maximum annihilation. Though I must admit there are only a few places where this works well. Both vocalists have slightly different guttural and pig squeal registers that when done together creates brutal death harmony (haha). However on their own, it's hard to tell the difference. The guitar work here is a mixture of headbanging riffs and some pretty technical licks. I have a feeling that this band will bring bipolar response with some people loving this and some people hating this haha. Personally I love these guys! They do their style incredibly well and they are completely unrelenting! Excruciatingly awesome would be how I put them!

Abysmal Torment - Flayed Dismembered and Feasted Upon

disclaimer: if you do have an suggestion, it may or may not be fulfilled right away (I was suggested this band last month. The next track was suggested last week and maybe or may not appear tomorrow or the next day or even the next day hehe). Just saying!

MOTD - Rachel Mother Goose: Totally Worth 2 Years of Searching

Mp3 Of The Day




Band/Artist: Rachel Mother Goose
Song: Another World
Album: Signs
Style: Melodic Heavy Metal
country/location: Japan
release: 2006

So about maybe two years ago I was browsing the metal archives with some friends of mine and we were looking up band names with our names in them. My friend Rachel was among those people. I found a band called Rachel Mother Goose. Immediately we decided that they must be the best band ever for they have such a fantastic band name! Obviously we had to have an album or song by them. I found a measly song sample that sounded pretty good, but no album. For the next two years on and off, I searched for a full length album or demo for download or for purchase. Nothing showed up. I even requested my girlfriend at the time to search in Japan when she went for a summer (she broke up with me before she left, so no luck there, though she did introduce me to Formloff, but that's another story ). Even asked a friend of mine from Japan to look for me with no luck. Last week, on a whim, I did a quick search using all my searching techniques and low and behold, I found a download of their last full length album Signs. (downloading it was a bit of a task for the website had the links go to this weird joke site, but if you looked at the url, there was a link to the rapidshare site. It was really weird)

Now after all that searching was it worth it? Well, YES! haha! Totally worth it! I've been listening to this album off and on for about a week now. This song in particular has become a favorite of mine. Rachel Mother Goose is a weird (how Japanese) blend of power metal, organ-driven classic rock, anime soundtrack like music (the jazzier/jam band kind), strong Onmyo-Za influences and not sure what else. They are far from the weirdest band other there, but they definitely have a sound of their own and it works really well. I think at one point they had a male vocalist, but now they have a pretty powerful almost-jazzy female singer. They're a seriously awesome band with a great sense of composition, while still being a lot of fun to listen to. There are some really catchy melodies and riffs with some semi-unorthodox sections. If you like this song (fuel my attention-whore-ness and comment :-D), you may click on the cover to download the full album. Normally I'd say "go find your own copy," but considering how long it took me, I won't subject you to the same epic story! hehe

Rachel Mother Goose - Another World

MOTD - Exit 69: Melodic Power/Heavy Metal, that is all!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Exit 69
Song: The Guardian
Album: No Tomorrows
Style: Melodic Power/Heavy Metal
country/location: Pocatello, Idaho, US
release: 2002

Wow, it's been a little while. I've been kinda busy over the last couple days and I've had a bit of writer's block. In any event, I conclude my little tribute to the Idaho metal scene with this simple heavy metal band from Pocatello, Idaho. Exit 69 is labeled on the metal archives as melodic power metal, but honestly they're not that, how should I say, "powerful." I see them more as a traditional heavy metal/hard rock band. On the metal spectrum, they are about as heavy as a leaf falling from a tree, but the leaf is pretty sharp. The vocalist has a pretty powerful semi-high voice, but it has a kinda cheesy gruffiness to it. The distortion sound is a bit weak, but it kinda works in this case. The riffs are melodic and catchy, with some nice simple but skillful soloing. The lyrics attempt to be epic by telling the story of The Guardian (whoever he might be), but it's pretty cheesy stuff (That part is very power metal hehe). I doubt many will like this, but check it out! I'll be interested to see your reactions! hehe

Exit 69 - The Guardian

MOTD - Cerebral Deformity: Decent Technical

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Cerebral Deformity
Song: The Tomb
Album: Surgical Genocide (I assume)
Style: Technical Death Metal (instrumental)
country/location: Sometime in the last two or three years
release: Nampa, Idaho

Now this is a band that with the right materials and production could be quite good. Coming from a part of Idaho near Boise, Cerebral Deformity is a technical death metal band (one man project?) that takes influence from Beneath The Massacre, Necrophagist and other bands of that ilk. The guitar work here is blisteringly fast, hugely technical, and surprisingly melodic. There are parts that are just blasts of riffing, with others being slower melodic passages. The guitarist is quite skillful in his playing and he's not bad at the idea of composition. Each passage seem to flow into each other, which is kinda difficult to do well in this kind of music. With that said, there's not much here that stands out particularly. The production is what you might expect from a basement project, thin sounding but not quite raw enough to be kvlt. The drums come from a very poor sounding drum machine, which you can barely hear anyways. I have a feeling a lot of people will ignore this band and I can't say I blame you hehe. Cerebral Deformity has talent and skill, they just need some work. I bet someone is going to comment on the band logo...

Cerebral Deformity - The Tomb

MOTD - Kryterium: A Nice Slab Of Groove Metal from Idaho

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Kryterium
Song: Control
Album: Control
Style: Half-Thrash/Groove Metal
country/location: 2007
release: Boise Idaho

Ok it's time back to the Idaho metal scene that I felt like sharing with you! This band seems to be one of the rising stars of the Idaho metal scene (at least they seem to be slightly more well known then many other Idaho bands). Kryterium play a raw but generically catchy style of groove metal. To say that Machine Head and Pantera are influences would be an understatement, however it's little bit less produced and the vocals are on the melodic death/metalcore side of things. I have a feeling that description will turn a lot of people off haha. Don't worry, for that style, the vocalist is far from awful. Not a huge fan of the style myself, but in this context they could be a lot worse. The riffs are chunky, chuggy and catchy. This song is particularly infectious and has a nice groove to it (hence the term groove metal). Lots of headbanging moments mixed with some simple solo-like moments. Some of the parts towards the end of the song that are nice touches to the overall composition. I wouldn't be surprised if people don't take to this band, can't say I'm crazy about them myself. However, I do enjoy a nice slab of pretty well down groove metal once in awhile, and this is a good band for that!


Kryterium - Control

MOTD - Crillson: A Surprisingly Awesome Power Metal Band from Sarah Palin's home town!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Crillson
Song: The Chosen One
Album: Coming Of A New Age
Style: Power Metal
country/location: Wasilla, Alaska
release: 1993

Well blow me a whale, who would've guessed that there was a metal band from Wasilla, Alaska, the hometown of Sarah Palin. Not only was there a metal band from Wasilla, there was a damn awesome one. Even I'm kinda surprised at this band's awesomeness. Yeah yeah, I probably wouldn't have discovered them if I wasn't curious to see if there were metal bands from Sarah Palin's home town, but man well worth it!

Crillson is a power metal band taking influences from early Fates Warning, King Diamond (some of the riffs and the bit of falsetto action remind me of the good King), Helloween and maybe a little bit of (early) Lizzy Borden. What that means for those who don't know is heavy guitar riffs, reverbed drums, high pitched vocals that border on cheesy but are kinda awesome, and lots and lots of POWER! And man these guys do this formula well. They have a little bit of a progressive tinge, especially in this song for they begin the song with a bang awesome riff and then it morphs into a slow chugging epic song with some heartfelt emotion guitar solos and lots and lots of POWER! This song comes from their only album, which is sad for they had a lot of potential. I'll warn you guys, the sound quality isn't as good as it could be, but even minus better production, it sounds awesome. A friend of mine was saying that they should've reunited this year as a result of the election, hehe. I would've loved to have seen that! Anyways, check out this awesome band!

Crillson - The Chosen One

MOTD - The Thunderlords: The First Metal Band For Kids

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: The Thunderlords
Song: I Like Dirt
Album: Noisy Songs for Noisy Kids
Style: Groove/Thrash/Heavy Metal
country/location: Woodland Hills, California, US
release: 2005

So there was a discussion about metal for kids and young people. What bands should one play for kids ages 10 or 9 or even younger to get them on the path to metal awesomeness? Well, I offer my suggestion! The Thunderlords: The first metal band for kids!

To quote last.fm, "What would happen if The Wiggles met Rob Zombie backstage at a Gwar concert and decided to form a band together? I'm not really sure, but I'd bet they would sound a lot like The Thunderlords! The Thunderlords play loud, heavy music with goofy, fun lyrics that everyone can enjoy. Except those looking for some peace and quiet." That's a pretty good description for this one man band. It's incredibly goofy (see above picture). I mean, this song is called I Like Dirt and the song's "chorus" consists of the dude saying in a gruff, "metal" voice "I LIKE DIRT!" The verse lyrics are actually pretty clever for their goofiness. I mean, when you were a kid, I bet a lot of you liked to play in the dirt (and eat it too. I didn't do that!)! Musically, it's very simple, chuggy thrashy heavy metal. Nothing fancy and at first I was a bit disappointed by it, but over time the music grew on me. The riffs are pretty decent! I probably wouldn't use this band to introduce metal to my kids (if and when I have them), but it's a fun listen that little kids might appreciate. Well, I like dirt!

The Thunderlords - I Like Dirt

MOTD - An Election Day anthem from an A cappella group - The Bobs

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: The Bobs
Song: Democratic Process
Album: The Bobs
Style: New Wave A Cappella (Metal in my mind)
country/location: San Francisco, California
release: 1983

With the historic election taking place, I found myself obligated to post a song in honor of this day. However, I couldn't find any metal songs that really fit the occasion. I suppose there are a whole slew of them but somehow none of them really drew me to post. In thinking about this election, I realized that the band that got me into music in general (and partially the inspiration for my screenname) have the perfect election day song. And this band is an a cappella group. A fantastic, amazing a cappella group.

The Bobs!

The Bobs are a groundbreaking, fun, original, hilarious and really awesome a cappella group. They're one of the major groups of the NWONWAC (New Wave Of New Wave A Cappella) back in the early 80s. Unlike most a cappella groups, they think of themselves as a band which translates into rock-like and unique arrangements. With this band mentality they add tons of humor and wit to their lyrics. Still around after 25 years of rocking out, they're still all brilliant and fun. I may be biased since I grew up with them and they're now friends of mine (which is the coolest thing in the world), but they're one of the best groups out there! (If you can, go to one of their shows, they're a blast both musically and humorously for their stage conversations are blasts of comedy and hilarity.)

They also have the distinction of inadvertently predicted Sarah Palin. This song was written back in 1983 and is a hilarious song that "explains" how vice-presidential candidates are chosen. The song has the feeling of being a news broadcast with a spoken word verse and a really catchy chorus. Perfect I say for this historic moment hehe. Outside of the election, it's still a hilarious and fun song to be addicted to! One of their best I have to say!

I know you've all been bombarded with messages, but don't forget to vote!

The Bobs - Democratic Process

MOTD - Someone requested Ween, so I give you Weena hehe!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Weena
Song: 21st Century
Album: Land Of Mind
Style: Symphonic/Gothic/Power Metal
country/location: Ingelheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
release: 2007

(this post was supposed to be posted the day after Halloween, so pretend it's the day after Halloween!)

So a buddy of mine threatened to slap me if I posted something Ween in honor of Halloween because it has the word ween in it. I wasn't originally planning it, but since he mentioned it. Well, who am I to deny him? So I found Weena! hehe

Before you start throwing bottles and tomatoes, I just want to let it be known that I had some trouble finding anything by this band illegal or legal! There was some effort involved in posting this band!

Now this band Weena is a female fronted metal band that takes almost all of it's cues from Nightwish. Ok, they're pretty much a Nightwish clone, an opera singer as the front person, with a guy occasionally dueting with her (this song in particular), heavy symphonic/orchestral elements (though not as produced nor full as Nightwish, even in their early years), and simple distorted guitar riffs. The opera singer is even more classically operatic than Tarja. A lot more vibratto and that weird accent you sometimes here in opera. Not sure if that makes her better or worse though, just a little different I suppose. The male vocalist is really bland unfortunately. It's all honestly kinda bland, but at the same time really hilarious the first time you listen and then when it grows on you a bit kinda cool. The keyboard arrangements are a bit different than the usual operatic power metal bands. There are some parts that are pretty cool, there's this one section with the opera singer doing that scat like singing thing. Weena is far from the best band, but they get points for effort!

Anyways, I'm going to get tomatoed for this one, but hehe, it was worth it! Honestly, this might be a fun listen for some of you!

Weena - 21st Century

MOTD - Happy (Belated) Halloween!

Mp3 Of The Day



Band/Artist: Van Helsing's Curse
Song: Tubular Hell
Album: Oculus Infernum: A Halloween Tale
Style: Symphonic/epic heavy metal
country/location: United States, bitch!
release: 2004

(disclaimer, this was in fact written and prepared on Halloween, however for various annoying reasons, I couldn't upload the damn song. Now that I have, I present to you the Halloween MOTD! Pretend it's still Halloween!)

Happy Halloween my friends! Deciding what song/band would be perfect for today was partially difficult for there's a lot to choose from, but in the interest of time and awesomeness I present to you VAN HELSING'S CURSE! CURSE! CURSE! Curse! Curse! ....

Van Helsing's Curse is to Halloween as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is to Christmas, though VHC has a little bit of an edge. This edge comes from the fact that this is a side project of Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. So it's a little cheesier, but at the same time heavier and more epic! This album is a fun little concept album with a dark and epic narrated story with dark and epic orchestral metal. This song is less of an original composition but more an arrangement and sampling of different classical and horror movie themes that come together in the most awesome way possible. There's the classic Tubular Bells theme from the Exorcist (which apparently comes from a 2 part 48 minute album hehe), as well as In the Hall of the Mountain King, and even some Dies Irae to make things really dark! All this plus some excellent guitar work giving that metal crunch and some heavily reverbed drums adding to the epicness of it all. All this coming from the mind (or inspiration to) Dee Snider, so you know it's going to be awesome and fun! Happy Halloween my friends! I hope you survive the night! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! >:-D

Van Helsing's Curse - Tubular Hell