Witchaven - The Golden Rings Of Blood
i really like the guitar tone here especially at the start, has that kind of spare, angular, introspective thing going on that i'd usually associate more with NWOBHM. i'm also a sucker for verses with lengthy phrasing that takes its time resolving, and these noodlings at the verse ends work for me big time too. the slower BM *chorus* is a little generic, but it doesn't last long before quickly exploding into a really lovely cathartic solo and subsequent melody (who the fuck is that reminding me of?). always nice when a BM tune doesn't outstay its welcome, too. one of the better things i've heard in these games by a band i'd never heard before. 8/10
Bathory - Blood Fire Death
i just love that stirring, deliberate, earthy sound quorthon started to peddle in with this album's bookends and subsequent releases, even at times when the songwriting is dubious. it totally bridges mid-'80s epic trad and '90s BM (the part at 2:30-3:00 is so manowar it hurts btw), embodying the qualities which overlap both eras. i do think this one goes on a bit unnecessarily long without developing enough to justify it, and i prefer 'a fine day to die', but it's classic. 8/10
At The Gates - Night Comes, Blood Black
to reiterate, i don't think this is one of the better songs on TRITSIO, an album i worship. still, it more or less captures what they were about. some of the most original DM i've heard, with complex yet intuitive musicianship and a vivid, palpable atmosphere. this is dark, intense, psychologically violent music with breathtaking sprinklings of cathartic emotion. most bands sound so goofy and cartoonish in comparison, including many of the classics. 9/10
Slauter Xstroyes - Blood In The Streets
aside from the fabulously nutty WINTER KILL they're one of my deaf spots! like some of that album i find this pretty disjointed with too many jarring transitions, but maybe it'll make more sense when i familiarise myself. i love everything about the actual instrumentation and vocals, and the way it starts out sounding like fucking EVIL INVADERS or something. probably a superficial comparison but some parts remind me of confessor, too. 7/10
Suffocation - Thrones of Blood
i prefer their earlier material, more fluid and subtle. it's aight though. 6/10
Hail Spirit Noir - Blood Guru
omg, it's oi magoi. stop wasting my satan. 4/10
Exodus - Bonded By Blood
again not one of the stronger songs on the album - i prefer the more demonic material to the more anthemic posturing stuff. still sick though, all time top 3 thrash vocalist + top 3 thrash riffing style = win. 8/10
Helstar - Baptized In Blood
actually might be the first USPM song i ever fell in love with. yeah it's direct and streamlined compared to some other helstar stuff, but so's your face. there's so much focus and force and personality driving this, it never misses a step and gives me a massive fucking adrenaline rush. they sound like such a badass, iconic band here. i wish you picked the youtube with the intro attached though because that enhances it. 10/10
The Chasm - Revenge Rises/Drowned In The Mournful Blood
speaking of adrenaline rushes, that intro alone is better than any of us will achieve with our measly excuses for lives - the way it builds and explodes is unlike anything else i've ever heard. obviously their overall style has its influences, but i don't know of anyone who writes melodies quite like they did on this album (later they became more repetitive and formulaic) nor composes these winding classical-tinged song structures revolving around key melodic and rhythmic ideas, and i think it explores unique moods while still flowing beautifully once you've heard it a few times. it's a totally fucking exhilarating vocal performance too, drummer fills in all the right places, the production is a little boxed in especially compared to their most recent stuff but the actual sound of the instruments is perfect (the recent remaster sounded good when i not very attentively listened to it). such a mystical, arcane atmosphere they conjure. this isn't even one of the best songs on here. 10/10
Morbid Angel - Blood On My Hands
i need to break COVENANT out again because i like this band a lot more than i used to. love the tightly controlled, busy drumming that trips over itself at points. 9/10
Judas Priest - Blood Red Skies
halford owns the shit out of this gloriously '80s nonsense. 6/10
