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Album Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Genre, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Thrash Metal

Venom – Welcome to Hell (Album Review)

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Venom - Welcome to Hell
Venom – Welcome to Hell

Extreme Metal pioneers Venom waged war from the very depths of Hell, raging against the early-80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands they considered tame and the heroes that they felt had pulled their punches.

They combined the filth and fury of Punk and Motörhead with the larger-than-life images of KISS and Priest and the kind of Devilish allegiance that would have Sabbath crying “Please God help me!” Conrad, Tony and Jeff became the far more demonic-sounding Cronos, Abaddon and Mantas and their classic album cover set out their allegiance to Beelzebub in black and gold. And they had the sound to match their demonic image.

Another trip to the beach ruined
Another trip to the beach ruined

The band used demo sessions for the final album, signalling their primitive purity and honesty. Welcome to Hell sounded under-produced and unholy. The Motörhead influences are obvious, especially in the opening tracks Sons of Satan and Welcome to Hell, but the brio with which they mangle these rockers is thrillingly rudimentary. Cronos’ appropriately named “Bulldozer” bass piles over everything, Mantas peels off some fun wild solos and Abaddon’s caveman drumming tries to keep up. The sense of limits being pushed gives the performance a chaotic edge, especially during the lurching changes of pace. The debauchery of tracks like Poison and Red Light Fever is often criticized but really it all just adds to the shock factor and what’s the point of being one of the Great Horned One’s Legion if you can’t indulge in a bit of hellraising hedonism?

On Side 2 the band enter more original and scarier territory. Witching Hour is seminal proto-Thrash, Angel Dust is face-ripping and In League with Satan is addictively catchy while still sounding ominous and threatening. The band tightens their Metal grip as the album progresses and the most influential musical moments come from the record’s second half. Welcome to Hell has many elements of the Heavy music that preceded it and its fast pace, growled vocals and evil vibe can be heard in so much Metal that came after. But it remains unique and divisive. In fact, it’s a hellish maelstrom of just about everything I love about Heavy Metal while also embodying everything the genre is criticised for.

Venom’s raw, no-holds barred approach would prove to be massively influential on Thrash, Death and particularly Black Metal. Although Venom hadn’t gotten around to christening it yet, many key components of BM began here: particularly the occult, evil atmosphere and rotten production values but also the iconography, aliases and instrument descriptions (Bulldozer Bass, Chainsaw Guitars and Nuclear Warheads!)

But most importantly, Venom’s greatest legacy was their harder/faster/scarier mind-set which became the ethos of much of the Metal that followed. With Welcome to Hell Metal became Extreme and for that we should all praise Satan.

2013-09-21 18.32.34 2013-09-21 18.29.37

Album Reviews, Death Metal, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal

Carcass – Swansong (Album Review)

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Fuck all on the telly as usual
Fuck all on the telly as usual

Swansong was released in 1996 after Extreme Metal pioneers Carcass had an unlikely stint as a major-label act in the US. With Columbia unwilling to release the album it was given back to the band and their UK indie label Earache to release, by which time the band had already split up (hence the title). The album met with a muted reception. While the diehard Metal underground felt it was too watered-down it was also way too extreme for mainstream acceptance.

This is Carcass’ “Rot n’ Roll” album. The groovy, stripped-down feel of the performance gives the album a Classic Rock vibe but the up-front delivery is defiantly Metallic with speaker-rattling production from Colin Richardson. Meaty and sophisticated guitar riffs are topped with deft, melodic solos and underpinned with a powerful bass sound. Ken Owen’s drumming is sublime and Jeff Walker’s exasperated snarl and nihilistic lyrics offer the album’s most extreme components. In many ways, the qualities Carcass exhibits on Swansong are very similar to those of Megadeth’s 90s output, albeit a Death Metal equivalent.

Carcass - (on left panel) Jeff Walker (v,b), Carlo Regads (g), Ken Owens (d), Bill Steer (g)
Carcass – (on left panel) Jeff Walker (v,b), Carlo Regadas (g), Ken Owens (d), Bill Steer (g)

Opener Keep on Rotting in the Free World’s rumination on the Western economy still sounds relevant and, as the seriously weighty guitars open up into the harmonised chorus riff, it’s a truly exciting way to kick off an album. Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody’s opening riff salvo is just about the best HM riffing you’ll ever hear and the arpeggios of Child’s Play offer the album’s uplifting lighter-waving moment.

However, Swansong suffers from a mid-album lull that it struggles to recover from, largely due to the lack of variation in tempo. The album regains its footing in the second half with Generation Hexed, Firm Hand and the Thin Lizzy-esque R**k the Vote standing out as album highlights.

Although flawed, Swansong’s enthralling blend of power and flair has a strong appeal. The combination of Classic Metal sensibility and grinding delivery make this an ideal starting point for anyone interested in exploring heavier terrain and there is enough depth to reward repeated listens. On the eve of their comeback album Surgical Steel there is no better time to revisit their great underdog album.

[Carcass – Tomorrow Belongs to Nobody]

The Swansong DualDisc edition. With Part 5 of "The Pathologist's Report" on DVD and stickers!
The Swansong DualDisc edition. With Part 5 of “The Pathologist’s Report” on DVD and stickers!
Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Genre, Heavy Metal

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz (Album Review)

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2011 Edition - The one to buy
2011 Edition – The one to buy

I imagine few people expected Ozzy’s first musical venture after his expulsion from Sabbath to be this good. In fact, I imagine few people expected any musical ventures at all (including Ozzy, who would have probably just continued wallowing in a last hurrah of beer and pizza deliveries if a pep talk/kick up the arse from his management hadn’t sent him out looking for new bandmates). But then, who knew about Ozzy’s talent for assembling shit-hot bands? Ex-Rainbow bassist Bob Daisley and ex-Heep drummer Lee Kerslake were joined by US guitarist Randy Rhoads whose astonishing playing had the flash and glamour of Van Halen and the Blues-free, hard-edged style that fit in with the burgeoning NWOBHM scene.

2002 Edition - The one to avoid
2002 Edition – The one to avoid

The band’s performance is top notch. Joyous, bouncy tunes like I Don’t Know, Crazy Train and No Bone Movies are topped with deft, choppy guitar riffs and euphoric soloing. Dramatic, epic compositions Mr. Crowley and Revelation (Mother Earth) are the album’s centrepieces, Rhoads’ neo-classical runs and phrasing reaching almost unassailable heights on these tracks. Buoyed by his band’s energy, support and creativity, Ozzy came into his own as a vocalist and performer, establishing his now-famous persona in crazy tales of booze and sex, with a hint of the diabolic in Mr. Crowley and in the sinister cover art. And, while his delivery is warm and upbeat, there are hints of doubt and desperation. These endearing chinks in Ozzy’s wild-man armour are a large part of the album’s emotional power (and the power of much of Ozzy’s solo work).

1995 Edition - The one with the shitey cover
1995 Edition – The one with the shitey cover

It could be argued that subsequent Ozzy albums improved on this but, as a statement of intent, Blizzard of Ozz is hard to beat, and provided many of the classics that remain at the core of Ozzy’s live setlists. It’s an absolute comfort-blanket of a record and a genuine Metal classic. Ozzy might not remember much of the 80s but this album remains unforgettable.

Thanks to Mike! His review of The Ultimate Sin put me in a right old Ozzy mood.