Nuclear Desecration - Desecrated Temple of Impurity

So around the time this album came out, metal was up to it's eardrums in bestial metal. Things seem to be slowly refocusing to a more "traditionally satanic" style, but there's still a LOT of bestial metal coming out -- a lot of it not particularly memorable or good. For those that may not know, the term 'bestial' is usually used to describe black or death metal that's considerably rawer than the traditional style -- less technique, more speed, noise and distortion. Lyrical themes also tend to be focused on satanism, goats, the impending nuklear holocaust, or all three. Moving on though...

Despite coming out during an influx bestial metal, Nuclear Desecration's full-length album is quite fantastic. It's a really good, solid example of what quality bestial black metal should sound like. Even though it's technically generic in the sense that it fits exactly what bestial black metal is supposed to sound like to a T, it ends up being more of a benchmark album than anything else.. You've got everything: goats, gasmasks, impending nuklear destruction, noize, satan, BLACK FUCKING METAL!

It's unfortunate that they were only around a couple of years, because they'd probably be right up there with bands like Blasphemophagher and Proclamation in terms of notoriety if they continued to produce material as good as this. Ah well. Enjoy!

ARTIST: NUCLEAR DESECRATION

ALBUM: DESECRATED TEMPLE OF IMPURITY

GENRE: BESTIAL BLACK/DEATH METAL

MEDIAFIRE

Baxaxaxa - Hellfire (Demo 1992)

Baxaxaxa was an extremely short-lived (like a year or two) side-project from members of Ungod. They play raw black metal, and while it isn't necessarily in the same vein as LLN material, it definitely bares some similarities. It's a little more focused on riffs/speed and a little less on atmosphere than this style of black metal normally would be. Both Ungod and Baxaxaxa play some really solid straight up black metal, and I'll probably get around to posting the Ungod full-length shortly. Enjoy!

ARTIST: BAXAXAXA

ALBUM: HELLFIRE (DEMO 1992)

GENRE: BLACK METAL

MEDIAFIRE

Violent Force - Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow

Violent Force were a German thrash metal band. They released a handful of demos, with their work culminating in the 1987 full-length, Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow. If you've heard German thrash metal before, you have a good idea of what to expect: fast as hell, harsh vokills, total beer soaked madness! And if you don't...well, you're in for a treat! In terms of representing "the best of German thrash," I wouldn't put Violent Force at the top of the list, but they'd definitely be mentioned.

Similar to a lot of late 80s thrash metal (at least when you start listening to boatloads of it like me), it's the type of album that sounds generic if you're not really paying attention to what's going on, and requires a bit more "active listening." There's actually some really talented musicianship and songwriting going on here, it's just unfortunate that this type of music was INCREDIBLY popular/over done at this time period, so it was easy to get left in the dust (kind of like bestial metal nowadays, *cough* *cough*).

Anyways, metal-archives says they're active again, so maybe we'll hear from them again soon. The mediafire link for this album is below. Enjoy!

ARTIST: VIOLENT FORCE

ALBUM: MALEVOLENT ASSAULT OF TOMORROW

GENRE: THRASH METAL

MEDIAFIRE

Master - S/T (1990)

Master are an American death metal band (though they've relocated to the Czech Republic) that don't get nearly the credit they deserve. Despite sounding more like something that would've come out in the late 1980s, their 1990 self-titled album is an awesome piece of fast, thrashing death metal. I've heard there's some really interesting history to this band, but unfortunately I'm not the person to educate the masses on it.

Really, if you're a fan of old-school American or thrash (reminds me of Darkness Descends-era Dark Angel or Altars of Madness-era Morbid Angel), I imagine you'll be into this. Enjoy!

ARTIST: MASTER

ALBUM: S/T 1990

GENRE: DEATH METAL

MEDIAFIRE

Radioactive Vomit - Witchblood (Demo 2012)

Radioactive Vomit is a black metal band from Vancouver, BC, Canada. There's not a whole lot to say about these guys other than they play a wicked blend of noisy black metal with d-beat influences, and Witchblood is their second demo tape. It's really wicked, and I hope to hear an EP or full-length from these guys soon! Original tape rip by VONFROST, whose blog you can find here.

ARTIST: RADIOACTIVE VOMIT

ALBUM: WITCHBLOOD (DEMO 2012)

GENRE: BLACK METAL

PURCHASE MC

ZIPPYSHARE

Gospel of the Horns - The Satanist's Dream (Demo 1994)

The Satanist's Dream is the very first release by Aussie black/thrashers Gospel of the Horns. guess the original label that put this band out completely stabbed the band in the back by releasing a a shoddy product, completely with a picture of an entirely different band on the label. I'm not sure if the band even received any money for it, as the band has asked fans not to buy that particular edition of the demo. Fortunately for metalheads, Kneel Before the Master's Throne records gave it the "diehard" vinyl treatment in 2009. I believe they're sold out of the release, but you might be able to snag it in a trade or get it on ebay or some shit if you /really/ want it.

But moving on! This demo is some great Celtic Frost/Hellhammer worship. It sounds great for a demo, and while it doesn't give you that much of an idea of the band's sound to come, it's nonetheless a ton of fun to listen to. Even though it's a very "simple" sounding album in terms of composition, it's well-played and apparent that the musicians are all proficient at their various instruments. This demo showcases the black metal side of the band more than later releases, and comes highly recommended from myself. A great demo from a great band. Enjoy!

ARTIST: GOSPEL OF THE HORNS

ALBUM: THE SATANIST'S DREAM (DEMO 1994)

GENRE: BLACK/THRASH METAL

SATAN

Grenade - The Howling Damned

Grenade were a black/thrash metal band from Sydney, NSW, Australia. They never got as far as a lot other bands in the Australian scene, but they're still well regarded among those who remember them. Probably the most forgettable part of their material is the vocals to be honest -- they're not bad, but they tend to fade into the guitars (which, luckily for them, are really good!) If you enjoy black/thrash metal, you'll definitely like this album. However, if you're not already, this probably won't be the album to make or break the bank. It certainly SOUNDS like Aussie black/thrash, and I wouldn't go as far to say that Grenade are mediocre -- just don't expect anything particularly groundbreaking here.

The Howling Damned is not actually a full-length, but a compilation of all their previous material. Some of the members have gone on to perform in the black/thrash project Innsmouth, whom I'm sure I will post about here soon, because they're also fantastic!

ARTIST: GRENADE

ALBUM: THE HOWLING DAMNED

GENRE: BLACK/THRASH METAL

MEDIAFIRE