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GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1987
- Thread starter no country for old wainds
- Start date
crimsonfloyd
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Solid year, not as mind-blowing as some are making it out to be though. There are a lot of 2nd and 3rd favorite albums from bands in this year, but I'm not sure anything is a pure masterpiece. I could make the case for Bathory, but there are a few less than stellar tracks on that one. This Dark Quarterer album might be though. Playing it twice a day ATM.
If you don't like thrash, sure. I, on the other hand, am having a hard time making a solid order.
HamburgerBoy
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I need to give Flames of Hell another listen because the song posted in the mixtape game was great and I'd probably enjoy the album a lot more now.
crimsonfloyd
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I like thrash, but less than black, death, power, and traditional. Hopefully I'll find some gems that I am presently unfamiliar with as I go through this year.
Sleestaks
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This year is ludicrous. Right around this time I was making the time honored metalhead transition between hard rock and "the heavy shit," sort of moving from stuff like KISS, AC/DC, Rush, etc., to Maiden, Priest, and Metallica -- then bam, having my mind fucking blown when Reign in Blood, Pleasure to Kill, Game Over, and ultimately Scream Bloody Gore came crashing down into my biosphere. I had no historical frame of reference for any of this, and because albums like Somewhere in Time, Turbo, and Master of Puppets* already were being talked about as "stuff the older dudes listen to," things were moving faster than I could even bother to process anyway. Such is teenagerdom.
Despite catching up years later -- and in some cases decades later -- with stuff like Terror and Submission, World Circus, Forward to Termination, albums that at the time no one in my metalhead crew had ever heard of, I have to align my ballot with nostalgia and personal impact, and stick to the ones that made their way into my DNA from repeated listens on the bus, in study hall, in bed, wherever. Refuge Denied may be a flawed album, but it's been plunged into my bloodstream a hundred more times than None Shall Defy. (I do have to wonder how my teenaged self would have reacted to this "under the underground" kind of thing, though. At the time we all thought Sepultura and Kreator were the most UG shit in the world.)
*I remember asking the long-haired record store employee about Metallica; he was a couple years older than I, and even at this stage of the game, in an immediately post-MoP world, he was like, "this is all you need," and handed me the fucking "Creeping Death" cassette single.
01) King Diamond - Abigail
02) Death - Scream Bloody Gore
03) Voivod - Killing Technology
04) Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
05) Candlemass - Nightfall
06) Sepultura - Schizophrenia
07) Sanctuary - Refuge Denied
08) Carnivore - Retaliation
09) Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence
10) Lizzy Borden - Visual Lies
Despite catching up years later -- and in some cases decades later -- with stuff like Terror and Submission, World Circus, Forward to Termination, albums that at the time no one in my metalhead crew had ever heard of, I have to align my ballot with nostalgia and personal impact, and stick to the ones that made their way into my DNA from repeated listens on the bus, in study hall, in bed, wherever. Refuge Denied may be a flawed album, but it's been plunged into my bloodstream a hundred more times than None Shall Defy. (I do have to wonder how my teenaged self would have reacted to this "under the underground" kind of thing, though. At the time we all thought Sepultura and Kreator were the most UG shit in the world.)
*I remember asking the long-haired record store employee about Metallica; he was a couple years older than I, and even at this stage of the game, in an immediately post-MoP world, he was like, "this is all you need," and handed me the fucking "Creeping Death" cassette single.
01) King Diamond - Abigail
02) Death - Scream Bloody Gore
03) Voivod - Killing Technology
04) Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King
05) Candlemass - Nightfall
06) Sepultura - Schizophrenia
07) Sanctuary - Refuge Denied
08) Carnivore - Retaliation
09) Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence
10) Lizzy Borden - Visual Lies
Phylactery
Active Member
Oh, did we do 1994 after 1998? Not sure if my comment holds true then, but perhaps it does. 1987 is probably my favourite year of the 80s! So much killer shit.
I’ve already pimped it in this thread, but in case you haven’t heard it Poison’s Into the Abyss is some of the best extreme shit of the 80s. A primordial melting pot of black/death/thrash with excellent compositional skills. Lurching and disgusting but with an air of cerebral sophistication that other proto extreme metal was lacking.
The opening line of “into the abyss I fall” was later used by Darkthrone for their song Cromlech, so I’m pretty sure this was a big influence on them. Also the line “walls of darkness will entomb you” should be forever immortalised and burned into any extreme metaller’s brain!
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HamburgerBoy
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Into the Abyss is really overrated. Very pedestrian stuff and the Metallica influence was rubbing off in all the wrong ways. A song like Alive (Undead) would have been among the least heavy on an album like Master of Puppets, let alone what others in the underground were doing. The redeeming moments are usually literally moments, one cool riff or melody or dissonant section buried in a bridge somewhere. Mefisto's demos are far better at doing what Poison was trying to do with that one.
Mort Divine
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rms
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dude drops 80 albums from this year and calls Poison overrated. Hamburger knows no bounds!
HamburgerBoy
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Awakening the Dead is the superior demo, the necro recording hides the fact that their riffs weren't that good.
Into the Abyss certainly isn't a bad demo but I think the reputation comes largely second-hand. Release a twelve song kvlt demo in 1984 for every objectivist poser to masturbate to but never listen, gain a reputation, release a far more accessible demo a few years later after having been surpassed by bands like Mayhem, Kreator, and Mutilator, and since the objectivists are actually capable of enjoying the accessible demo, they praise it. It's sort of the
I'd put it in my top 50 or so if the songs were at least two minutes shorter on average. A basic thrash song with a metronome drummer doesn't need to be nine minutes long, even if you pad it out with a bit of doom metal.
Into the Abyss certainly isn't a bad demo but I think the reputation comes largely second-hand. Release a twelve song kvlt demo in 1984 for every objectivist poser to masturbate to but never listen, gain a reputation, release a far more accessible demo a few years later after having been surpassed by bands like Mayhem, Kreator, and Mutilator, and since the objectivists are actually capable of enjoying the accessible demo, they praise it. It's sort of the
I'd put it in my top 50 or so if the songs were at least two minutes shorter on average. A basic thrash song with a metronome drummer doesn't need to be nine minutes long, even if you pad it out with a bit of doom metal.
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Phylactery
Active Member
I mean obviously you’re free to have your opinion and I can’t argue with it being more accessible than the things you mentioned but since when is that automatically a bad thing? However, I don’t think you can call it pedestrian at all.
Oh and also, Into the Abyss shits on Deathcrush.
Oh and also, Into the Abyss shits on Deathcrush.
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HamburgerBoy
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In the context of my previous post, accessibility isn't a bad thing, it's just an explanation for why that demo gets the most attention.
The writing is quite pedestrian, just lacking good editing which might confuse some people into using words like 'ambitious' or 'epic' to describe it. Similar to Sodom, the demo only implements a few basic riffing styles for the bulk of the songs. Superior to Sodom they demonstrate that they were capable of adding some flavor (the ringing spooky chords under Yog-Sothoth's chorus and Slaves' bridge, the doom riffs and Middle-Eastern solo in Sphinx), but that makes up like ~15% of each song on average and isn't nearly enough. It's no surprise that by the 90s they'd continue in the opposite direction from necro and deathrashing, and transform into suicide soda thrash.
EDIT: I think the Expurse of Sodomy EP might actually be better tbh.
The writing is quite pedestrian, just lacking good editing which might confuse some people into using words like 'ambitious' or 'epic' to describe it. Similar to Sodom, the demo only implements a few basic riffing styles for the bulk of the songs. Superior to Sodom they demonstrate that they were capable of adding some flavor (the ringing spooky chords under Yog-Sothoth's chorus and Slaves' bridge, the doom riffs and Middle-Eastern solo in Sphinx), but that makes up like ~15% of each song on average and isn't nearly enough. It's no surprise that by the 90s they'd continue in the opposite direction from necro and deathrashing, and transform into suicide soda thrash.
EDIT: I think the Expurse of Sodomy EP might actually be better tbh.
I gave Into the Abyss a shot and it was OK but the tracks are hilariously overlong (that are indeed padded out by doom segments, as HBB pointed out) and pretty basic. There are some interesting ideas here or there but they do not occur anywhere near often enough. This thing came out in the year of Mission Executed, Release from Agony, Terror and Submission, Killing Technology, None Shall Defy, etc. By the 1987 thrash it will be inevitably compared to, it's kind of underwhelming.
At least Deathcrush didn't attempt to pad out the song length for no reason whatsoever like Into the Abyss does. Not to mention that the drumming alone on Deathcrush makes it a more worthwhile album.
HamburgerBoy
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Deathcrush is such a unique gem. Those riffs have so much swing they've almost got a surf rock vibe to them. I wish I knew a single band that successfully copied and improved on a song like Chainsaw Gutsfuck. I mean I guess some of the OSSDM Carnage/Dismember stuff sometimes has that feel, big ugly buzzsaw riffs with shittons of groove, but obviously without the same intensity.
Phylactery
Active Member
Deathcrush is pretty good, but rather overrated if you ask me. Obviously DMDS is literally light years ahead of it. And I wouldn't say Chainsaw Gutsfuck is particularly intense. The vocals are also pretty shitty. Definitely not on the level of Into the Abyss which is far superior compositionally and vocally. I don't think the track lengths are an issue at all - they give the songs the time to develop and build an atmosphere. How anyone could listen to the song I posted and describe it as pedestrian, especially for 1987, is beyond me. The winding compositions and structure bring to mind Hell Awaits.
It's pretty much better than all of those, save perhaps None Shall Defy, and I really like Terror and Submission btw.
It's pretty much better than all of those, save perhaps None Shall Defy, and I really like Terror and Submission btw.
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HamburgerBoy
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I don't know where you hear "winding compositions and structure" or anything close to Hell Awaits.
intro_1 0:00 - 0:12 / basic doomy "epic" riff, almost nothing
intro_2 0:12 - 1:00 / basic thrash riff repeated a bunch of times over slower marching drum pattern
intro_3 1:03 - 1:07 / brief descending power chords telegraphing where the song actually starts, straight out of the 1983 Exodus playbook
pre-A 1:07 - 1:17 / faster riff repeated twice without backing drum track before the verse starts telegraphing the verse again, more Exodus 101
A 1:17 - 1:43 / there it is for the entire verse
A' 1:43 - 2:03 / mild pattern change once the verse exits
A_short 2:03 - 2:13 / back to the verse briefly
pre-B 2:13 - 2:28 / first significant change to the formula, a little melodic though it clearly serves as another discrete kind of intro piece rather than something deftly interwoven into the structure as Hell Awaits or None Shall Defy would do
B 2:28 - 2:48 / doom metal section
A 2:48 - 3:17 / back to the verse
A' 3:17 - 3:34 / mild pattern change
A_short 3:34 - 3:43 / back to the verse briefly
3:58 / pre-B again
3:58 - 4:18 / B again
pre-C 4:18 - 4:28 / NWOBHM-y pedal point riff without drum track, again telegraphing, the Middle-Eastern trill is neat though
C 4:28 - 4:38 / drums and next verse enters
C' 4:38 - 4:48 / riff goes down a step, kind of gives it a sinister vibe but Venom was doing this in 1981
C 4:48 - 4:58
C' 4:58 - 5:07
5:07 - 5:17 / brief break and Middle-Eastern lead
pre-A 5:17 - 5:26 / totally pointless to lead in like this
solo 5:26 - 6:00 / solo is legitimately great and sells the evil undead mummy vibe better than a lot of bands were doing, a couple different riffs backing it as well
A'' 6:00 - 6:25 / takes the fast A' riff and turns it on its head, nice and fluid, this is how that earlier section should have progressed to begin with
A' 6:25 - 6:35
pre-B 6:35 - 6:49
B 6:49 - 7:09
solo2/outro 7:09 - end / actually leads out of the doom metal part this time and provides a nice climax
So what you basically have are three very distinct song fragments, A, B, and C, and a lot of superfluous padding. None of the individual fragments are amazing or particularly atmospheric. They're competently performed aside from some sloppy drumming (no biggie though) which is reasonable considering where the band was at a couple years prior, but it's a very conscious attempt at writing an epic out of what could have instead been broken down into a Strike of the Beast copy and a Welcome to Hell copy. The highlights, mostly the lead guitar, together with an all around solid performance elevate it to about a 3-star song.
If you just did a basic Audacity edit, cutting the intro and pre-A bits entirely, plopping the C section in at 2:13, letting it progress through the first solo and A'' section, then revisit the A verse again but this time going into the second B section leading into the second solo and outro, it would be pushing 4-stars. That would be a bit disjointed obviously, and the individual riffs would still not have reach the heights of their best competition, but it would be much closer to the tumult of Hell Awaits/None Shall Defy/Journey Into Mystery that way, and it would shave off a few pointless minutes.
intro_1 0:00 - 0:12 / basic doomy "epic" riff, almost nothing
intro_2 0:12 - 1:00 / basic thrash riff repeated a bunch of times over slower marching drum pattern
intro_3 1:03 - 1:07 / brief descending power chords telegraphing where the song actually starts, straight out of the 1983 Exodus playbook
pre-A 1:07 - 1:17 / faster riff repeated twice without backing drum track before the verse starts telegraphing the verse again, more Exodus 101
A 1:17 - 1:43 / there it is for the entire verse
A' 1:43 - 2:03 / mild pattern change once the verse exits
A_short 2:03 - 2:13 / back to the verse briefly
pre-B 2:13 - 2:28 / first significant change to the formula, a little melodic though it clearly serves as another discrete kind of intro piece rather than something deftly interwoven into the structure as Hell Awaits or None Shall Defy would do
B 2:28 - 2:48 / doom metal section
A 2:48 - 3:17 / back to the verse
A' 3:17 - 3:34 / mild pattern change
A_short 3:34 - 3:43 / back to the verse briefly
3:58 / pre-B again
3:58 - 4:18 / B again
pre-C 4:18 - 4:28 / NWOBHM-y pedal point riff without drum track, again telegraphing, the Middle-Eastern trill is neat though
C 4:28 - 4:38 / drums and next verse enters
C' 4:38 - 4:48 / riff goes down a step, kind of gives it a sinister vibe but Venom was doing this in 1981
C 4:48 - 4:58
C' 4:58 - 5:07
5:07 - 5:17 / brief break and Middle-Eastern lead
pre-A 5:17 - 5:26 / totally pointless to lead in like this
solo 5:26 - 6:00 / solo is legitimately great and sells the evil undead mummy vibe better than a lot of bands were doing, a couple different riffs backing it as well
A'' 6:00 - 6:25 / takes the fast A' riff and turns it on its head, nice and fluid, this is how that earlier section should have progressed to begin with
A' 6:25 - 6:35
pre-B 6:35 - 6:49
B 6:49 - 7:09
solo2/outro 7:09 - end / actually leads out of the doom metal part this time and provides a nice climax
So what you basically have are three very distinct song fragments, A, B, and C, and a lot of superfluous padding. None of the individual fragments are amazing or particularly atmospheric. They're competently performed aside from some sloppy drumming (no biggie though) which is reasonable considering where the band was at a couple years prior, but it's a very conscious attempt at writing an epic out of what could have instead been broken down into a Strike of the Beast copy and a Welcome to Hell copy. The highlights, mostly the lead guitar, together with an all around solid performance elevate it to about a 3-star song.
If you just did a basic Audacity edit, cutting the intro and pre-A bits entirely, plopping the C section in at 2:13, letting it progress through the first solo and A'' section, then revisit the A verse again but this time going into the second B section leading into the second solo and outro, it would be pushing 4-stars. That would be a bit disjointed obviously, and the individual riffs would still not have reach the heights of their best competition, but it would be much closer to the tumult of Hell Awaits/None Shall Defy/Journey Into Mystery that way, and it would shave off a few pointless minutes.
HamburgerBoy
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And comparing Deathcrush and DMDS is silly, they're totally different albums from totally different time periods with totally different appeals.
Yeah, all Destruction needed to do in order to improve Release from Agony was add some protracted doom metal sections that extend the album to about an hour in length and then it would have a masterpiece. You have truly opened my eyes.
Bloopy
Active Member
An MRI showed I'd had a so-called silent cerebellar stroke when I was much younger, and I've come to learn it was a priceless gift. Apparently the cerebellum is heavily involved in appreciating music over noise. If I woke up one day with undamaged grey matter and a fixation on analysing songs to this level I'd probably find out my favourite music is shit.
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