Witchaven - The Golden Rings Of Blood – 8/10
Surprisingly good, somehow it felt much longer than it was but not in a bad way, a lot of ideas and interesting riffs packed into this one. Will have to give them a fair chance after this. Bonus point for piquing my interest.
Bathory - Blood Fire Death – 5/10
A solid second-rate Manowar clone bloated enough to hold Quorthon’s ego. Not bad for a talentless hack, though.
At The Gates - Night Comes, Blood Black – 8/10
Great song, not quite a favorite on the album but full of awesome lurchy riffs and ideas made fluid in a way few others could do.
Slauter Xstroyes - Blood In The Streets – 10/10
Gods of schizo tech-power, it makes me sad that there will never be another band with both vocals and bass work as over-the-top as this.
Suffocation - Thrones of Blood – 4/10
Kind of boring. It’s amazing how I used to see them as such an inaccessible band when I was first getting into extreme metal, and now all I hear are chuggy lower-tuned thrash and melodeath riffs.
Hail Spirit Noir - Blood Guru – 7/10
I feel like I’ve shit on at least one of their songs posted on this forum at some point, but maybe it was another band. This is quirky avant-stuffs the way I actually like it, a hint of gimmick but it flows very nicely.
Exodus - Bonded By Blood – 9/10
Fuck yeah Exodus. I’ve always considered the title track and (especially) their eponymous song to be a little overrated compared to many of their other songs, but it’s still kickass all the way through.
Helstar - Baptized In Blood – 6/10
Weakest song on the album by far. Thrashy and heavy but some of their most rudimentary songwriting, aside from the neato bridge. I’ll never get why many consider this to be their best song. Still not at all bad, but it’s nothing special.
The Chasm - Revenge Rises/Drowned In The Mournful Blood – 5/10
There are parts that sound cool, especially the romantic waltzy bit a little over four minutes in, but man these guys try so hard but just can’t write a good riff or sensible melody.
Morbid Angel - Blood On My Hands – 6/10
Solid.
Judas Priest - Blood Red Skies – 10/10
One of the most quintessentially 80s-sounding metal songs around. I wish someone would make an entire album like this.