Cries from the Quiet World

domingo, 28 de mayo de 2017

Bathory "Hammerheart (1994 Reissue, Repress, Sweden, Black Mark Productions, BMCD 666-5)"

Hammerheart is the fifth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It continued the previous album Blood Fire Death's transition away from black metal to what became recognized as Viking metal, and is considered a cornerstone work of the genre.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Quorthon.

"Shores in Flames" 11:07
"Valhalla" 9:33
"Baptised in Fire and Ice" 7:57
"Father to Son" 6:28
"Song to Hall Up High" 2:30
"Home of Once Brave" 6:43
"One Rode to Asa Bay" 10:23
"Outro" 0:52

The 2003 remastered edition combines tracks 5 and 6.

Gatefold sleeve. Includes insert with lyrics.

There was a mispress version. It came in a standard sleeve, yet on the front there is printed "Limited edition gatefold cover". Lyrics are printed on the back. Vinyl comes in transparent innersleeve.

Album cover painting called The Funeral of a Viking by Sir Frank Dicksee (1853-1928).

A video was made for "One Rode to Asa Bay", scripted and produced (financed) by Quorthon.

Recording information:

Recorded at Heavenshore Studio, Stockholm, Sweden in August 1989.

sábado, 27 de mayo de 2017

Bathory "Nordland II (Russia, Irond Records, IROND CD 03-661)"

Nordland II is the twelfth and final studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It is the successor to Nordland I. It was released on 31 March 2003, through Black Mark Production. Nordland II was intended to be the second installment in a four-album series, but Quorthon's death precluded the completion of those projects.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Quorthon

"Fanfare" 3:37
"Blooded Shore" 5:46
"Sea Wolf" 5:26
"Vinland" 6:39
"The Land" 6:23
"Death and Resurrection of a Northern Son" 8:30
"The Messenger" 10:02
"Flash of the Silverhammer" 4:09
"The Wheel of Sun" 12:27
"Outro" 0:24

Total length: 63:23

It is also released as a limited digipak.

Under license from Black Mark Production.

The untitled track 10 doesn't appear in the tracklist.

Recording information:

Recorded in Nordland under the Northstar.

Bathory "Nordland I (2003 Reissue, Russia, Irond Records, IROND CD 03-660)"

Nordland I is the eleventh studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released on 18 November 2002 through Black Mark Production. It is a return to the Viking metal of Bathory's middle period, and features songs mainly concerning Norse mythology. It was to be the first in a projected four-album set, but Quorthon only lived long enough to finish the first two volumes (2003's Nordland II being the second).

Track listing

All tracks are written by Quorthon

"Prelude" 2:35
"Nordland" 9:21
"Vinterblot" 5:17
"Dragons Breath" 6:45
"Ring of Gold" 5:35
"Foreverdark Woods" 8:06
"Broken Sword" 5:35
"Great Hall Awaits a Fallen Brother" 8:17
"Mother Earth Father Thunder" 5:38
"Heimfard" 2:12

Total length: 59:21

Russian edition.

Under license from Black Mark Production.

The catalog id# is printed as "BMCD 666-18" on spine but as "BMCD666-18" on back cover and on the CD.

Recording information:

Recorded in Nordland under the Northstar.

All music and lyrics written by [...] for Bathory.

This album is a product of Nordland.

viernes, 26 de mayo de 2017

Anthrax "Sound of White Noise (USA, Elektra Records, 7559-61430-2)"

Sound of White Noise is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax, released in May 1993 on Elektra Records. It is the band's first album to feature vocalist John Bush, who replaced longtime Anthrax vocalist Joey Belladonna in 1992. It is also Anthrax's last studio album with longtime lead guitarist Dan Spitz. This was also the second album Bush worked with Jerden, as Jerden produced Symbol of Salvation for Bush's previous band, Armored Saint.

The album, produced by the band and Dave Jerden, includes the singles "Only", "Room for One More", "Hy Pro Glo" and "Black Lodge". This album marked a significant revision in the band's sound, with the departure of lead vocalist Joey Belladonna and the introduction of grunge influences. Jerden was known for producing the likes of Alice in Chains and Jane's Addiction.

With Sound of White Noise, Anthrax moved away from the rapid-fire thrash metal that had defined their earlier output, often emphasizing more melodic songwriting and abandoning the goofy humor. Songs like the walloping "Only" and stuttering, stop-start dynamics of "Hy Pro Glo" maintained a level of aggression on par with anything else the band recorded, but in a different alternative metal style. Other songs found Anthrax exploring new territory, like the mid-tempo "Room for One More," and the atmospheric "Black Lodge" (inspired by the Twin Peaks TV series and featuring keyboardist Angelo Badalamenti). Bush's lower-pitched, darker vocal style also was a drastic change from Belladona's tendency towards operatic falsetto.

The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 charts, Anthrax's highest ever chart position. Sound of White Noise was certified gold by the RIAA. "Only" and "Black Lodge" charted at No. 26 and No. 38 respectively on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Track listings

All tracks are written by John Bush, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante, except "Black Lodge" by Bush, Ian, Bello, Benante and Angelo Badalamenti

"Potters Field" 5:00
"Only" 4:56
"Room for One More" 4:54
"Packaged Rebellion" 6:18
"Hy Pro Glo" 4:30
"Invisible" 6:09
"1000 Points of Hate" 5:00
"Black Lodge" 5:24
"C11 H17 N2 O2 S Na" 4:24
"Burst" 3:35
"This Is Not an Exit" 6:49

Total length: 56:56

Trivia:

- C11 H17 N2 O2 S Na is the chemical formula for Sodium Pentathol, a truth serum drug.

- Black Lodge is a collaboration between Anthrax and Angelo Badalamenti, soundtrack composer for David Lynch's films and TV series. Black Lodge is the name of the alternate dimension in the Twin Peaks TV series.

The booklet folds out into a poster.

Recording information:

Co-produced by Anthrax.

Drums and bass recorded at A&M Studios.

Rhythm guitar recorded at Eldorado Studio.

Lead guitar and vocals recorded at Cherokee Studios.

Additional guitars recorded at Excalibur Studio.

Mastered at Future Disc.

Mixed at Right Track Recording.

Slayer "Divine Intervention (Japan, BMG-Victor, BVCP-774)"

Divine Intervention is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer. Released on September 27, 1994, through American Recordings, it was their first album to feature Paul Bostaph, replacing the band's original drummer Dave Lombardo. The production posed a challenge to the record company, as its marketing situation drew arguments over the album's explicitness. The band used the Decade of Aggression live album to give them time to decide the album's style. Since it was released nearly four years after Seasons in the Abyss, vocalist Tom Araya said that there was more time spent on production compared to the band's previous albums. The cover was painted and designed by Wes Benscoter as a re-imaging of the group's early "Slayergram" graphic.

Even though so much time was spent on production, Kerry King said that the mixing and mastering should have had more attention. The song's origins came not only from television shows, but were also inspired by various other things, including Rush Limbaugh, and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. In 1998 the album was banned in Germany due to the lyrics of "SS-3", "Circle of Beliefs", "Serenity in Murder", "213" and "Mind Control". Divine Intervention received mixed reviews by critics. The album sold 93,000 copies in its first week. It peaked number eight on the Billboard 200 and charted at number 15 on UK Albums Chart. It was rewarded gold in the United States and Canada. An EP entitled Serenity in Murder was released shortly after the album.

Tom Araya said that "when we did Divine Intervention, this was the last conference we ever had with a record label where they sat us down and sold us the idea of how they wanted to do "Divine", and how they were going to do this with the cover... and all these different ideas for the album. Then one guy looked at us and said, 'But we need a hit song.' And we said, 'But you've got eleven songs, and if you can't find a hit in one of them then you're shit out of luck because that's what we're giving you.' So we're like saying to them, 'Right, you write the fucking hit song and we'll record it.' That shut the guy up and that was the last time we had any kind of meetings like that!"

Araya described "For this one, I just kind of got inspired by watching TV. That gave me a whole lot of ideas. The whole idea about the dude with Slayer in his arms was brought about because reality is scarier than anything you can make up." The production of the album posed as a challenge to the record company, "how to market a group whose gore-soaked, extreme music is anathema to radio programmers." It is the company's first attempt to "hit the thrash band's core-audience of rabid enthusiasts with a fan-orientated marketing assault." Araya related: "We decided to take more time to bring this one together. We actually went into the studio with more written material than the past. We completed three out of seven songs outside the studio. We all sort of felt it was important to do it slowly. After the last tour, we had the intention to take the break."

The College Music Journal said that "the band deals almost exclusively with realism" in the album, and noted that it "shocks and splatters like a severed artery, painting crimson pictures of murders, necrophiliacs, and the ravaged, chaotic world they inhabit". Both the mixing and mastering were criticized, with guitarist Kerry King saying that the band should have "paid more attention to the mix", and Araya saying that it "is the one (if any) that he would not mind re-mastering". Neil Strauss from The New York Times explained many of the album's origins. "213" was described as a "love song" by Araya, which was something they had never done before. The song was named after serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer's old apartment number. "Dittohead", a partial tribute to Rush Limbaugh, begins by criticizing the legal system for "being too lenient on killers". The song "ended up not denouncing the system but advocating its permissiveness". "Sex, Murder, Art" was said by TheState.com to feature "roars about a maddening relationship and his 'pleasure in inflicting pain.'"

King said that the album contained origins relating to "war stories" and "explorations of madness". It is Paul Bostaph's first studio album with Slayer, resulting in Alex Henderson of AllMusic saying that it is a "positive, energizing influence on Slayer, which sounds better than ever on such dark triumphs as 'Killing Fields,' 'Serenity in Murder,' and 'Circle of Beliefs.'" Henderson also said that they "focus[ed] on the violently repressive nature of governments and the lengths to which they will go to wield power".

The album was issued in a clear jewel box with a die-cut cardboard O-card. It included sixteen pages, which fold out to be a poster, which displays the cover art. Both the disc and the disc tray feature — as described by Chris Morris — an "image reflective of the mania displayed by the group's fans, and exemplary of American frequently deployed shock tactics: a kid carving the band's name into his arms with a scalpel." Mike Bone from American Recordings said that "we captured this not only by photography, but with video — him actually doing it." The front cover was painted and designed by Wes Benscoter, an American artist who would later paint the covers for the other Slayer releases Undisputed Attitude and Live Intrusion. The album sleeve features for the second time the backronym Satan Laughs As You Eternally Rot. This phrase was first used on the vinyl edition of the album Show No Mercy where it was carved into the runout groove of the record.

Track listing