GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1996

While The Dark Saga is one of the weakest albums during Iced Earth's prime era, it still has lots of good stuff in it. As for Carcass, Steer's lead guitar work here still blows almost everyone/everything else away.
 
Well, in fairness not a single in-crowd representative included it in their top 10 here, but I don't really remember anyone hating on it. Looks like I might be wrong. Apparently Mort Divine liked Cryptopsy until Dodens told him not to in 2006, then a year later he finds Cryptopsy totally boring apparently. Manic Ferocity made a couple posts calling them extremely boring in 2010. Omni never mentioned them. no wainds was shitting all over them in 2003 before Dodens even got on board, hot damn.
 
Production is dissonant and shrill, it's also replete with earsplitting treble spikes. There's an annoying amount of bass slapping. Vocals are decent, talent is displayed at times but the performance is generic overall. They'd be acceptable if the music was better. Songs are devoid of structure and direction. Tempo changes are inexplicable, they exist merely for the sake of it. Drumming is the standard blast-fill, sure it's done capably but who really cares? The release is energetic, but it grates on the listener's nerves over an extended period of time.
 
I'm definitely unlike any of them, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped lumping me in with them.
Ungentle Exhumation was one of the first metal CDs I ever purchased, Cryptopsy fucking rule.