The early eighties was a rough time for Alice Cooper. After releasing a string of commercially unsuccessful albums that he to this day can’t recall making due to heavy substance abuse (Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin and DaDa), the shock rockin’ son of a preacher opted to take a three year break from writing and recording music.
Metal
Love the music, hate the kids
There was a time when I actually enjoyed being part of the online metal community. I don’t have a lot of metalhead friends in “real life,” so it was fun to finally be able to discuss the music I love with like minded people. For a long time it was a total blast.
See All You Were: Beyond the First Four Danzig Albums
For many metalheads, Danzig’s discography ends with either III: How the Gods Kill or 4p. I on the other hand, celebrate Danzig’s entire catalog. While there’s no doubt that many of his latter-day works signaled a shift away from the bluesy, metallic hard rock that the Evil Elvis made his name on, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad albums, it just means they’re different. So without further ado, let’s dig beyond the first four Danzig albums; deep, down you go…
Body Count – Bloodlust (Century Media, 2017)
Back in 2014, Body Count emerged from eight years in the shadows with all guns blazing in the form of Manslaughter; one of the year’s best metal albums, not to mention one of the year’s biggest surprises. It was a bludgeoning yet precise aural assault that deftly mixed mosh-ready riffage with lyrics that were by turns over-the-top violent, darkly humorous and delightfully un-PC.
The Dark Prison Massacre – Deformity of Human Consciousness (Pathologically Explicit Recordings, 2017)
Those of you that follow the brutal/slam death metal scene are likely well aware of the fact that Asia has been positively killing it for the last few years. While many of the continent’s most celebrated acts hail from Japan (Vomit Remnants, Gorevent, Infernal Revulsion, Medic Vomiting Pus, etc), neighboring China is no slouch either, as evidenced by Deformity of Human Consciousness, the second album from Tianjin’s The Dark Prison Massacre.
Internal Bleeding – “Final Justice”
I had been looking forward to writing about Internal Bleeding’s new single “Final Justice,” but given recent events, I now find myself doing so with a heavy heart. On April 20, 2017, IB’s drummer and founding member William Tolley died while serving his community, battling a two alarm blaze as a fourteen year veteran of the Fire Department of New York, who had previously assisted with the September 11, 2001 rescue efforts as a volunteer fire fighter. “Final Justice” is to my knowledge his last recorded work with the band.
Vomit Remnants – Hyper Groove Brutality (Unique Leader, 2017)
Ever since releasing the underrated classic Supreme Entity back in 1999, Japanese brutal death metallers Vomit Remnants have been something of an on again / off again band; Metal Archives lists their years active as 1997-2001, 2001-2005, 2015-present. This might explain why it took them nearly two decades to record and release a follow-up in the form of this year’s Hyper Groove Brutality, but rest assured it was more than worth the wait.
