Toxik - Think This

If you like Queensrych "Operation: Mindcrime", Megadeth, Joey Belladona-Era Anthrax, and decent metal, then you'll love:

TOXIK - THINK THIS

This album came out in 1989 for Peekskill, New York "Progressive Thrash" metal band Toxik. The band has the unfortunate distinction of coming out right at the peak (no pun intended) of the metal movement, and this album came out only a year after the like-minded progressive-metal opus that was Queensryche "Operation:Mindcrime". The band, though, has the distinct honor of truly defining "Progressive Thrash Metal", and after hearing this, I pray it comes back!

Right now, I have "Greed" on, and it's tough to focus outside of wanting to air guitar like crazy and headbang like a madman at the front row of a concert! For well over a few months now, this has been one of my favorite albums, and it's strange in large part of the fact that I despised this album at first. So before I go on, let me talk about that first.

Toxik's style is very strange. The album sometimes suffers from the vocals being a bit too high-flying, and the guitars are a bit out of place at times. The album, for the first listen, never sat well with me. At times, the disc seems to suffer from A.D.D., guitars and vocals not falling exactly in place. More than anything, the vocals will either make you love or hate this disc.

But now? It's tough not to love it! The guitar work on this album by Josh Christians is incredibly heavy, nearly even echoing the work of Dimebag's manic attacks that were to take the world by storm in the Pantera! The man shreds like a maniac, and it's a crime that not many people today have heard it! The album seems to tip it's hat to even death and black metal-style blast beats, throwing in an occasional bit of then-classic hair-metal vocal bliss. It is, without a doubt, the type of album that makes you wonder why it never caught on.

The production of the album is not to be dismissed; the entire album feels as if it was being performed in a massive arena. This is thanks largely to their songwriting skills; The band was aiming high and every song seems to be written with the goal of entertaining 10,000 screaming fans every night. A ballad like "There Stood the Fence" plays incredibly well! The various sounds of someone clicking through a television set add even more value to the album, adding to the general concept of the disc.

The concept of this disc? That the world is being controlled more and more by our TV's, and that we re all being brainwashed. Throw in some Regan-Bush era politics, a music scene peaking, and it is impossible not to see how this album is brilliant!

Honestly? I haven't blushed this much writing a review in a long time! Hearing the band rip away at songs like "Black and White", "Spontaneous", and "Shotgun Logic" is incredible! On the flip, "Machine Dream" and "There Stood the Fence" add a nice sense of melody and softness to the disc. "War NJN 8/In God" mixes gods with politics in a delightful stew! Throw in "Think This" and this disc is a masterpiece!

I can't recommend this album enough! It's powerful, it's epic, and for some, it will add a lot of nostalgia as well. The album was re-released by Roadrunner and MetalMind last year on Gold Discs, sold the sound is incredible!

This is a tough one to review, and I'm going to give it a fair rating. As much as I love this disc, the flaws of the vocals and the arrangement of a few songs border between sloppy and experimental, largely on "Technical Arrogance".

9.2 out of 10! The album is a treasure!

Exodus - Shovel Headed Kill Machine

If you like thrash metal, Anthrax, Shadows Fall, and Municipal Waste, you'll love:

Exodus - Shovel Headed Kill Machine

If your Gary Holt in 2005, your wondering just what the hell your going to do. Your the only member left standing in a band that's been around for over 20 years. Your drummer leaves, your lead singer leaves, and now the only member who's been around as long as you, guitarist Rick Hunlot, decides to leave, too. You just finished touring with Megadeth for what is your most successful album in nearly 15 years! It's just you and your bassist. What is a man to do?

What else? KILL EVERYTHING!

Exodus, now spouting Paul Bostaph on drums, Lee Altus on drums, and manning the vocal helm Rob Dukes, immediately demanded that you know one thing; There will still be blood upon the stage, for you WILL bang your head upon the stage!

"Raze" kicks the album off with a devastating attack! "Burn this motherfucker like a roman candle, burn it straight to the ground!", screams Rob Dukes! As Paul Bostaph drums harder than he may have his entire life, Holt brings to a head that classic Exodus sound we all know and love!

The albums contiues to slaughter anything in it's way! With tracks like "I Am Abomination" and "Altered Boy", the hits just keep on coming! In particular, "Altered Boy" has some potent lyrics, namely dealing with the Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal. Then you come to a track like "44 Magnum Opus" that is just hammering!

All in all, there isn't much that I can say about this album. I hated it the first few months I had it, and that was largely due to the fact that, for me, Souza WAS the voice of Exodus. I think a lot of people feel the same way. Losing him, especially for me, didn't bode to well for the future of the band, and the initial resentment I had for Dukes is now, finally, gone. Sometimes, I think it's safe to say we all judge something for what we think it could or should be, and not for what it is.

This album is a hard-hitting album that is warranted to some heavy repeated listening. While not perfect by any means, it is still incredibly heavy and a solid disc. It isn't exactly a "OK, this is just to get us over the hump" album; This IS a full-on metal assault!

BEWARE THE SHOVEL HEADED KILL MACHINE!

7.5 out of 10!

Judas Priest - Hell Bent for Leather/ Killing Machine

"HELL BENT! HELL BENT FOR LEATHER!" Such is the common refrain of metal heads around the world who worship at the alter of one of the greatest metal bands of all time, none other than Judas Priest. It's tough to find anyone into metal who doesn't know the words to most of the title track, and quite frankly, it's something that has transcended even genre as those who don't even listen to heavy metal could just as easily scream the refrain from memory!

Now, nearly 30 years, after it's release, I take a look back at this album.

The album opens up "Delivering the Goods", a track that introduces the Judas Priest sound of pounding drums in sync with the hard-hitting drumming that Binks has been delivering since Stained Class. You have the anthem tracks like "Take on the World", and arena-rock track that pounds and pounds and can inspire anyone to achieve victory!

"Burning Up" is yet another track that stands out on this disc. As Rob and K.K. Downing and Tipton start the build, the song finally explodes with Rob singing, "We've got to make love/ We've got to make love tonight!" "Running Wild" may have influenced a few aspiring guitarists with the pounding opening riff, giving way to the smooth-flowing guitar harmonies that flow in and out of the song!

But of course, the highights are many! "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)" stands as a classic, despite actually being a... shudder... Fleetwood Mac cover! Damn it, who knew the Mac were so damn metal? And the title track, "Hell Bent for Leather"... the track could rip you to shreds and make you demand seconds!

Without a doubt, Hellbent for Leather stands as a definite classic of not just Judas Priest, but heavy metal in general. Honestly, I was shocked to find myself enjoying this, largely because of the fact that, at least for me growing up, the early material of this material was dubbed by many as not that good. The album stands the test of time, and has gotten a bit better with age as now it stands heads and shoulders above many.

Yes, this album does rock hard!

This album gets a 8 out of 10!

SUM 41- Underclass Hero

I would like to state that, first and foremost, yes, I am a fan of Sum 41. I have all of their albums, and whenever I get into the mood, I will blare "Fat Lip" or the entire "Does This Look Infected?" album. I thought I would clear that much first.

SUM 41. For many members of the metal community, it's a band they look down upon as nothing more than a group of annoying Canadians who play punk and disgrace the metal riffs they sometimes play. For others, they are a nice breath of fresh air, a way of looking at the genre of metal we all know and love and smile upon. In 2004, they released Chuck. To many, including myself, the album is a masterpiece and stands as just what the mixture of pop-punk riffs with the mentality of writing heavy songs with a metal tinge can create. It's fast, quirky, and is a damn fine disc! So it's no wonder that I was wondering when the follow-up was going to come out.

Now, I wish it didn't.

After the departure of Dave Brownsound in May 2006, many feared the band would suffer since one of the bands chief song writers and the metal pulse of the band was now gone. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened!

The album begins with the title track, although at first you think, "Wait, isn't this 'Fat Lip'?" Same riff, same song structure, different lyrics, and slightly altered, this is the song that sets the pace for the rest of the album. The rest of the songs borrow heavily from their old catalog of songs, borrowed riffs from Blink-182, and an unfortunate result of this being... A CONCEPT ALBUM!

Despite Deryck, now the only songwriter for the band, saying it isn't, there are underlying concepts that flow throughout the album. In other words, this is their American Idiot. It deals with politics, relationships gone bad, and life in general. Unfortunately, we're left with the worst album of their careers. It seems Deryck took songs he wrote for Avril Laveigne and decided to make some of them his own.

Even though this album overall is bad, there are a few good tracks worth the time. "March of the Dogs" is hard-hitting and fast. Lyrically, the song could be better, the opening line of "Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass/The president of the United States of America is dead". The band was almost deported for it. So, yes, credit where's credits due!

Bottom line? I can't say it's god-awful, and I can't say it's good. It falls into that category of things you want to hate, but it has that thing about it so you can't. I was going to turn it off half-way through, but... damn it, I couldn't! All I can really say is that if you like SUM 41, try to get it as cheap as possible. Otherwise, your not missing much of anything.

1 out of 10

WE'RE BACK!

FANS OF METAL, REJOICE! Mark Skull's Metal Album of the Day Blog is BACK!

So, why the hiatus? Well, I'm currently am running for mayor here in Philadelphia and, until this point, I had no time to sit at my computer and discuss, in depth, the merits of any album at all. Before that, there was just a basic problem of not even wanting to do it. The frustration of buying so many bad albums at once... well, it was all too much!

Now we're back, and ready to review a lot of albums! So far, 2007 has had more great albums than any year I can remember, and what better time to start writing reviews then now?

666: The Number One Beast - A Tribute To Iron Maiden

666: The Number One Beast - A Tribute To Iron Maiden

Every once in a great while, some critic will review an album and decide upon themselves that a particular disc is not good, that it has no redeeming quality whatsoever and that the CD only takes up space on a shelf. I always thought it was a sad thing to see. And then I bought this album.

This is, without question, the most unnecessary album I’ve EVER heard!

It’s unmitigated crap! Honestly, what was the POINT in making this album?! You have a singer like Steve Overland who takes every single word and tries to make it into some half-assed opera production, accentuating every word as if it’s life or death. To make matters worst, the guitars are mediocre at best on his tracks, and then solos are pure crap.

Paul Di'anno is the only redeeming factor on Volume 1. He only tackles the material done during his stint with Maiden, and the re-recordings of “Wrathchild” and “Iron Maiden” are incredbile.

But the rest of the 2-Volume set (also sold separately, to double your pain and steal your cash) is pure, unmitigated shit! It plays less as a tribute to Iron Maiden and more as a cheap cash-grab attempt by artists in bands no one gave two-shits about in the 80's (save Paul) and calling it a “Tribute”! It is a simply horrid album! Honestly, it’s... it’s just the worst damn album I’ve heard in my entire life, and I’ve listened to “Soundtrack to Your Escape” by In Flames!

1 out of 10, ONLY because of those 2 tracks by Paul saved it.

Hirax - Not Dead Yet

Hirax - Not Dead Yet

There are 3 types of people who like Hirax: Their friends and family, “metal hipsters”, or people who simply say they like an artist just because no one else does, thus making that band “cool” and those who don’t like it “lame” and have “no taste in metal”.

But the final group are the poor, misguided idiots who, for some reason, like Hirax. These are most likely the same people who went through high school in the 80's always trying to be the “cool, metal kid”. They had the hair, the vest, the look... but they had the shittiest taste in metal! Hirax is the band the symbolizes all of that into one album of sheer, unrelenting shit.

I got this album for 2 reasons. The first was because I heard their name tossed around a lot in metal circles, and the second was because they had an album cover done by Pushead. And I have to say, that cover kicks all sorts of ass! Too bad the music it contains is anything BUT!

The main appeal of this band and album is that it was one of the earliest cross-over albums to exist, taking metal, punk, and hardcore together and making something. I would say “good”, but it isn’t. The best way I can put it is this: Imagine D.R.I.’s insane playing style mixed with the style of Joey-era Anthrax. The idea of putting soaring vocals over a D.R.I. song is enough to give some fans enough joy to live happily.

Essentially, that’s what this album is, but with one major flaw; The vocals are shit! No, no, that’s not it. It’s more like they don’t know how to place the vocals right with the music! Instead of getting what could have been an awesome record, your left with an album that is nothing more than a ball of shit. Imagine a ball of shit. Now imagine a really angry bug stuck in that ball, trying to get out. That’s the amount of an impact and frustration this album is to listen to.

Despite the horrible mess the vocals are, the rest of the band is actually in decent shape. The guitar work, especially on the later part of the disc (the EP) is incredibly well-done. It's just the vocals that destroy the album, and it's a sheer shame. That's the bug, and the vocals are the shit.

By the time they get to the “Hate, Fear and Power” disc, the album is pretty much dead. “The Plague” is the best track out of the entire disc, and the only one worth your time. Keep the cover and throw away the CD.

0.1 out of 10. Pure shit!

Strapping Young Lad – City

Strapping Young Lad – City

It is hard to think of an album more worthy of praise than this disc. Not only did Devin Townsend secure his final line-up for the band on this album, but he forever earned his reputation as the musical genius of metal. While other metal guitarists and artists are more than happy to list that their inspiration came from other metal acts, it's the like of Townsend that name the classical composers of the 1880's as his heroes.

City is a masterpiece in every since of the word. For those of you not familiar with what the word is supposed to mean, it's very simple; a Masterpiece, or Masterwork, is suppose to be the very embodiment of everything an artist has learned put into one piece. If one wanted to, Leonardo's “The Last Supper” could be considered just that thanks to his use of technique and as it was, in essence, everything he knew and learned and pioneered thanks to his genius.

In that same vein, City by Strapping Young Lad is just that; It is THE embodiment of everything that Devin Townsend is capable of.

If there was ever any album that could be called the very portrait of anger and rage, this is it. There is, and never again will be, something that could describe the very anger and rage that goes through the mind of a person in the history of music. Devin Townsend himself has bi-polar disorder. While others would say he “suffers” from it, it's quite the contrary; It has done nothing, in terms of his art, but to act as the single greatest driving force possible. I have known people who have that disorder; I, myself, suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.). I may have Bi-Polar, too, which wouldn't be too surprising.

Without question, this is the most dangerous album ever recorded.

City opens with “Velvet Kevorkian”, the Deceleration of Independence according to Devin. It states in simple terms that he is sick and tired of it all and he wants more from life, his art, and his future. It's followed up by “All Hail the New Flesh”, the musical embodiment of the previous track. It is an insanely complex song that sounds like he is has actually recorded an anxiety attack with a metal band! It ends with a temper with pulsing drums and Devin screaming, “I want it all! I want it all! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”; the very sound of anger itself, put on record!

“Oh My Fucking God” starts out as manic as you can get; Devin starts out with a relatively clam scream, leading into a non-stop verbal rant about modern society. This gives way later on to a fierce battle of guitars with Devin snarling like a man possessed, leading way to an intense drum blast that must have clocked close to the speed of sound! Soon, they are over-lapped with a chant of “la-la-la-la” over and over again, getting louder and louder and louder until it's enough to... yes, you have finally reached a point beyond anger and into insanity, greeted simply with yelling “Oh My Fucking God”.

“Detox” works just like that. You've been plunged into the world where you now have taken something, drugs, alcohol... something, anything to kill the pain and anger you were just feeling. The song leaves you feeling better than you came. You finally awaken half-way through this song wondering just how you got to the place you came to, feeling paranoid that your looking like an ass in some manner, only to return to the state you cam from. But your still thankful for the experience.

“Home Nucleonics” acts as the cry against all mankind; a “Fuck the world, I hope you all die” kind of sense. Your left feeling insanely angry, warning everyone not to get in your way. The song is essentially written from the perspective of a rouge robot in a future world. “AAA” is an intensely personal song about... well, we can only assume it was written from personal perspective, though I am not one to take 100% belief in it in this case.

“Underneath the Waves” returns you the intensely pissed off Devy that you met earlier. It is Devin screaming in frustration at how nothing is happening. “Tired of Waiting/Tired of Trying/Tired of Waiting/ For Fucking Nothing”, screams the chorus at the top of it's lungs! The guitars chug underneath, giving the cries even more presence.

“Spirituality” is the calmest of all and the perfect closer. It could possibly reveal that the entire album was written from the perspective of some robot, some experiment pondering it's existence, wondering if there is more to it's life than what it's seen. Something I think we can all relate to.

The album is incredibly powerful. Maybe that's why there's a diagram of a bomb on the front. It has the same power, the same intensity.

It deserves no less than a 10 out of 10.

Buy this album, damn it!

Kreator- Enemy of God

Kreator- Enemy of God

There's something I want to point out: This album came out Janauary 11, 2005. That's my 20th Birthday! WHOO-HOO! I didn't even know who Kreator was then, but one listen to this album a few months later... Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is a tough review to write because it's just damn close to something that doesn't seem to be explained. As I write this, it's widely is considered to be a masterpiece, and possibly the greatest Kreator album ever recorded. But why? Why is this true? Because the title track alone makes this album a must-have. What better way to kick off an album than with a thunderous assult of guitars and drums, all the while screaming "Enemy of God" at the top of every chorus? The song is even catchy, if you can believe that!

This album is mostly politcal, something not new to this German-Thrash outfit. And, yes, that was the cheesiest thing I could write, but it's 100% true, they're not afraid of political subject matter. That is plainly evident on "Suicide Terrorist" where they cut down to size the ego and ideologically behind what a suicide terrorist is and does. "Voices Of The Dead", "Impossible Brutality", and "Under A Totally Blackened Sky" deals with war, each one giving a harsh view on the futilities of it. "Murder Fantasies" is exactly as it seems; Someone dealing with their emotions on how they wish someone was dead.

I know this review is a bit thin, so let me try to explain why exactly you should get it; This album takes the same thrash metal started 20 years ago and takes it to the new millennium. The production on this album is just incredible, and the writing is top-notch. It's a remarkable experience to hear this band and this album. Admitedly, there are some moments that seem to just sit there, but the album just has a remarkable flow to it!

4.2 out of 5.

Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing

Discharge - Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing

What makes an album perfect? What makes an album do something that no album you have experinced do to you that none other has done before? It's impossible to explain, and it's impossible to pinpoint. But in what I consider to be over 8 years of REALLY listening to music, this is the first time that instead of saying, "I Want to Do something" because of the music, I actually DID something.

If this album doesn't make you do something violent, your not human!

Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing is as violent an album you will EVER hear! Yes, you have groups like Hatebreed, Terror, and Nile out there pushing the boundries of extrme music, but none of them have that same punch in comparisson to the rawness of this album. The riffs are simple but forceful, the drums simply just beat the living shit out of you, and the vocals simply tear your skin off! It's like going dtraight into a insanely nasty war! The lyrics are fiercly political, relying on anti-politics, anti-war, anti-human, even! It's not hard to see why this band influenced groups like Anthrax and Metallica, resulting in both doing covers from this album. The loud, distorted guitars tearing away at the world. It is simply insane.

The standout moment on this album is the combination of "Cries For Help" leading into "The Possibility of Life's Destruction". Dealing with the threat of a nuclear war, it isn't exactly cliche; Instead of some pointless drivle of a 5-minute song going on about how the world will die in a nuclear conflict, it instead uses something much more powerful! It invokes the same reaction as did Lyndon Johnson's 1964 Political Ad where the "images of a cute little girl counting daisy petals give way to those of a nuclear blast countdown in this still-haunting commercial from Lyndon Johnson." That line was taken from the AllPolitics archive on the subject, but I think it works well here. The impact is exactly the same, and that is the best example of what type of album you have.

5 out of 5. 'Nuff Said.

NOW BUY THE FUCKING THING! IT'S ONLY $12!