Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. Today's pick: another one of The Voiceless Apparition's all-time favorites. As I noted before, the man, as you may have noticed, is on a goddamn roll with these retrospectives. Once you're done with this retrospective, check out some of these look-backs on underrated classics! ![]() Written by: The Voiceless Apparition ...And just like that, we are back. Hello everyone. Today we're gonna take a small detour from the black metal-leanings of the last few reviews and go for where my heart lies: death metal. I'm happy to say that today's review is the debut album from Austrian death metal gods Pungent Stench, and their album entitled For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh, released on April 9th, 1990, via Nuclear Blast Records. This is a monumental album in the growth of the European death metal scene, and while it may be still underappreciated compared to it's peers, this is a bonafide classic to the ones who adore it. The album begins with really eerie intro before being led into "Extreme Deformity." This is the perfect way to start the album. Tasty and filthy grooves combine with pummeling death metal and grindcore brutality, but without sacrificing hooks and catchiness. A major facet of this album that I like quite a lot is the prominent use of bass on this album, courtesy of Jacek Perkowski. He gets time to shine with 2 glorious bass solos that mix well with everything on this song, but that's just a small aspect of this album as he is heard really well in the mix throughout the whole album. Track two, "Hypnos," is a bruiser. The groove sections on this song are glorious, they are simple and catchy but they still keep that energy and rawness to the song. Another fantastic tune on this fantastic album.
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Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. Today's pick: another one of The Voiceless Apparition's all-time favorites. The man, as you may have noticed, is on a goddamn roll with these retrospectives!
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Written by: The Voiceless Apparition
Germany is quite known for their metal scene, whether it's the thrash of Sodom, the metalcore of Heaven Shall Burn, the death metal brutality of Morgoth...but then there's Bethlehem. Bethlehem is quite an enigma in the German metal scene. They're pioneers (hell, they basically created dark metal) but also remain underlooked and underappreciated. So for my next review I decided to take on their legendary and underrated debut album known as Dark Metal, released in August of 1994 (exact date unknown) on Adipocere Records. Let's dive in to one of metal's more obscure albums. "The Eleventh Commandment" begins the album on a catchy and eerily groovy note. The opening riff is superb: filled with melody, dread, and atmosphere. While this song is a great way to begin the album, it DOES NOT represent the album as whole, in my opinion. To drive that point home, track two, "Apocalyptic Dance," is where the album really kicks off. This song is the definition of dynamic. Melding in between spaced out sections and crushing doom, this song is a journey. My favorite part of the song is the last few minutes, because the song fades out, only to re-emerge into a down-trodden and depressive section with piano and a really memorable bass-line to keep you engaged, courtesy of founder Jurgen Bartsch. Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. Today's pick: another one of The Voiceless Apparition's all-time favorites. Read on! ![]() Written by: The Voiceless Apparition Part III of my retrospective review series! Today's review is brought to you by the highly underrated Italian black metal band Opera IX and their second studio album entitled Sacro Culto, released on April 18th, 1998, on Shiver Records. This album marked an evolution in the band's sound compared to their first album, bringing in more elements of doom metal, gothic metal, classical, and small hints of folk, while still retaining their black metal roots. Does this extension of the bands sound work in their favor? Let's dive in. Right off the bat, opening track "The Oak" swings out the gate and beats you over the head with a barrage of brutal and heavy riffs, but there's also a strong emphasis on the keyboards being a major part of the band, as they are implemented throughout Sacro Culto as a whole. This song is pretty pummeling the whole way through and serves as a teaser to what's to come, but without showing too much. Followup "Fronds of the Ancient Walnut" is a beast of a track. While still being brutal, there is a lot more atmospheric compared to the previous song. The stars of this song are the riffs, and the keyboards/piano. They really complement each other so well, the guitar riffs/tone are so heavy and the keys are so pretty and spacious and gothic--all told, it really mixes well together. This is a definite highlight on the album. Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. Today's pick: another one of The Voiceless Apparition's all-time favorites. Read on! ![]() Written by: The Voiceless Apparition Hello everyone. Here is part II of my retrospective review series. Today I'm going to be reviewing the second studio album from Chicago dark metal pioneers Novembers Doom. Entitled Of Sculpted Ivy and Stone Flowers, this album was released on May 25th, 1999. This album marks a huge shift in the band's sound compared to their debut album, as they almost completely shed their death/doom bruteness (not entirely) and went instead for a more melancholy and melodic gothic metal sound. The album begins on a melancholic note, as "With Rue and Fire" is a hauntingly painful song. Drowning in despair and regret, this song pulls at your heartstrings. With such heartbreaking lyrics like: "In some sick way, I enjoy my pain/It always seems to indulge me," you can't help but feel for vocalist Paul Kuhr as he belts out growls with such agony and conviction. "The Jealous Sun" picks up the pace a little bit, albeit with dynamic and mood shifts. I really liked the choice of layering the growls and clean vocals together in the first verse, it gives it more of an epic feeling to it. Major praise needs to be given to guitarist Eric Burnley as his choice of chords and melodies is fantastic. Towards the 4:00 mark we segue into a beautiful section of gorgeous clean guitars and the amazing vocals of Cathy Jo Hejna. Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. Today's pick: one of The Voiceless Apparition's favorites--an album with which this slumbering administrator was sadly unfamiliar. Until now. Read on! ![]() Written by: The Voiceless Apparition I've decided to do a small retrospective series during this quarantine and review some of my favorite classic and underrated metal bands. Today's review is the sole studio album from Cabal entitled Midian. This album features legendary Necrophagia singer Killjoy on vokills. "Images in Blood" begins on a mighty note. Strong frantic riffs, groove, and hooks. Killjoy's vocals are absolutely unhinged on this album, ranging from maniacal throaty screams and evil growls. "Midian" starts out with this really airy and sinister riff before exploding into a thrashing fury. There's one particular section in the song I want to talk about and it's around the 2:47 mark: this riff is beastly and I love the way they open with the tom hits and keep building up until we go into the most insanely catchy groovy section ever. "Dark Desires" is once again another highlight. While still having fast parts, this song is far more groovy in my opinion. The riffs are infectious. So memorable and catchy, I guess that could be said about all of the riffs on the album. A fantastic way to close out the first half of this album. |
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