My Top-10 Black Metal Albums Of All Time

It's time for my top-10 list of black metal albums. I just have to confess a few things: it wasn't a long time ago since I really got into black metal. It was like in the summer of 2013 that I really started listening to the genre. I have listened to a few bands, mostly (the true) Mayhem since 2007 and Bathory since 2006. I am also fully aware of the metal elitism in black metal, with people seriously being trve and all that. I'm pretty sure I am not. I am open-minded. I also listen to more modern black metal rather than old, which I suppose is "gay" and all that as well. What I do dig the most with black metal is it's primitive music and lyrical content. As a Luciferian, critic and opposer to religion, I find much relevance in black metal's common lyrical content. Anyway, here is my list:


#10: Ondskapt - Arisen From The Ashes (2010)

Ondskapt is a Swedish black metal band that I guess have some ties with Watain. They record their stuff in the same studio (Necromorbus) and the sound is therefore pretty similar, both musically and sonically. I don't really have much to say about this album to sum it up rightfully, but I have listened to it a lot because I really dig the Necromorbus sound. With that said, this is not to be taken as a Watain clone, they're not. They are a similar band, and a very good band at that.

#9: Immortal - All Shall Fall (2009)

The only Norwegian black metal band that made my list. I don't dislike their black, they're were responsible for pretty much all the classic black metal in the 90's, but I just find myself more rooted in the Swedish, more melodic stuff. But if there is one, apart from Darkthrone, that should've had battled for this list, it's Immortal. What I really like about them is this album. How they after so many years and albums just put out this one, and it's so damn good. I think they're the Norwegian black metal equivalent to the Swedish death metallers Unleased - they just get better as they age. Most of the Norwegian band also lost much of their original black metal sound - Darkthrone is essentially a viking metal band today, Mayhem is too experimental, and Satyricon blows today. Immortal still sounds black metal in my ears, and some damn good black metal at that.

#8: Chaos Invocation - Black Mirror Hours (2013)

This band is quite unknown I think. They're a German band that play a great style of black metal with lots of almost gothic guitar harmonies and stuff. While maybe not anything groundbreaking, this album really is a very solid listen. There's a certain evil within this record, especially in the vocals, that really makes for a hateful atmosphere when you need it. I would probably describe this album as: what the album cover shows you, stylistically, is what you will hear. It's great!

#7: Valkyrja - Contamination (2010)

Another Swedish band that records in the infamous Necromorbus studios like so many modern death metal bands. Valkyrja to me seems to be a band that is getting ignored by many people for sounding too much like fellow Swedish black metal masters Watain. I can hear why that is, and at times it's possibly even a little too obvious, but at the same time they're more progressive to my ears. While Watain sounds very much like a 80's black metal band, Valkyrja strike me as more laid to complex rhythms and time-signatures, that kind of stuff. They have lots of cool drumming and riffing going on, and the production is fucking sweet.

#6: Inferno - Omniabsence Filled By His Greatness (2013)

I don't know much about this band or their music, really. This album is not quite the regular black metal album. This one is...experimental, I guess you could say, in some ways. It's got lengthy tunes with lots of black metal-progressive parts and fills. Don't let this scare you away, though. This album has got a very nice melancholic, depressing and evil sound-scape going on throughout. It's not the kind of album that I would put on whenever, but really when I'm in the mood for some really atmospheric stuff. I really like this album a lot.

#5: Raise Hell - Holy Target (1998)

A late 90's band from Sweden that went by pretty unnoticed, I believe? I could imagine why as well. After this album they changed their sound to more of a straight, simple and quite boring thrash sound (Swedes can't do good thrash. Death metal is our excellency!). This album, however, is very much a black metal album very much in the same vein as fellow, by then split-up, Swedes Dissection. Now this can come off as a second-rate "rip-off" of Dissection, and maybe it is, but it still some fucking neat second-rate shit in any case. What I particularly like about this album is its sweet riffs and melancholic melodies. I guess that this album, if you haven't heard it, would sure please fans of Dissection, Unanimated and Watain.

#4: Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites (1994)

This album is the first on any of my lists made so far that really isn't my favorite album by the band, since Samael so drastically changed their musical style after this album, I cannot really choose my favorite album of theirs. That'll have to wait for the industrial metal top-10 list. But still album, Samael's last pure full-length black metal album, is a classic of the genre. I'm not a too big fan of Samael's early doom-y, Celtic Frost influenced black metal albums, but it was with this one that they really got their own thing going. A dark, sinister metal album with quite a unique metal sound, as Samael always have been - a unique band, and Vorph's evil vocals just makes the band perfect. I imagine this album would probably please most of the black metal fans out there. It's a great album!

#3: Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark (1986)

Most likely, without a question, the most trve black metal album on this list. I see most fans of the mighty Bathory either favoring the debut, "Blood, Fire, Death", or the viking metal-era. I for one really favor this album. It's very raw, primitive, dark, brutal and with an amazing set of tunes. It's simply a classic metal album. What's also to keep in mind about this album is when it was released, which was in 1986. That was the year when thrash classics like Slayer's "Reign In Blood" and Kreator's "Pleasure To Kill" came out, and everyone thought it was the most bad-ass, brutal albums ever. They apparently didn't hear this one that year, or had heard any of the older Bathory material for that matter. For the time being released, this album is very much a truly extreme metal album. It would only take a fool to deny that.

#2: Dissection - Storm Of The Light's Bane (1995)

Sweden's Dissection is one of the most appreciated black metal bands of all time. Maybe that is because they're just as accepted with the (melodic, particularly) death metal fans as well. After releasing their excellent debut "The Somberlain", which honestly could've been their best as well, Dissection released this legendary album. Sounding heavily influenced by my all-time favorite death metal band Dismember, this stuff is bound to catch my attention. The have majestic melodies, sinister riffs, and blasting drums of hell that just perfectly creates this evil, Satanic, melancholic, cold atmosphere that I just love about black metal. Trve perfection.

#1: Watain - Lawless Darkness (2010)

And the King on the hill, the Lords of the lawless darkness - Watain. Not the first black metal band that I discovered, but the one that really got me into it. What I really dig about this album, and the band as a whole, is their creativity and quality music. I truly find very record of theirs to be a masterpiece, and everyone is also different from each other. I also like how they do not only sound raw, brutal and primitive, but with a great sence of melancholic, 80's heavy metal inspired melody. They sound like a mix of first-gen black metal like Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost and particularly Bathory, combined with with the classic 90's stuff like Dissection and Darkthrone. Watain is more than just simple black metal - it's a whole universe of dark entities, black magic, evil and death.

My Top-10 Groove Metal Albums Of All Time

This is my next top-10 list, this time rating groove metal albums and bands. As usual there is one record per band that gets to represent them as a whole, as good as it's possible. This particular genre was quite a challenge to put a list for. I love groove metal, which mostly reigned in the mid-90's, but this metal genre is probably the hardest genre to find good bands within. Believe me, I've listened to almost every single groove metal band that you can find out about, especially from the 90's, and it's really no wonder that most of them went by (totally) unnoticed - because most of them suck. But anyway, I manged to make a top-10 while even naming a few honorable candidates. Here it is:


#10: Farmer Boys - Countrified (1995)

My last spot was the most difficult to place, as usual. There are several album that are pretty equal to battle for this position, but I ultimately went with this one. This is a band whose name and lyrical themes aren't to be taken too seriously, obviously. Despite the shitty band name, the music on this debut of theirs is solid. It's kind of a gothic groove metal album. Think if The Gathering played groove metal, and you should quite nail it, I believe. That's why I gave this one the last spot on my list - because it's more unique than it's last-spot opponents.

#9: Hate Squad - I.Q. Zero (1995)

This album might be wrongfully placed on this to some metal purists, as it's a very hardcore-thrashing album, but I am not that conservative. I still think this album, and the band, fits in the groove folder. This is quite an intense album with lots of groovy hardcore-influenced thrash-riffing, a little like "Cowboys From Hell"-era Pantera. This album has got many solid tunes that gets me moshing and banging my head. The opening track is a neat underground 90's classic called "Not My God", which has later been covered by some modern, shit 'core band.

#8: Lamb of God - Wrath (2009)

One of the few modern bands that carry on today with what Pantera reigned with in the 90's. Again, some purists might not agree with the inclusion of LoG on this list. Many people consider them metalcore, but really. I've discussed this matter a number of times with my buds and we all agree on that Lamb of God is a groove metal band, not a metalcore one. Why? Well, metalcore to me is shit like Devildriver, All That Remains and whatever they're called - shit that I genuinely don't like. I don't think, at least I don't hear it, that LoG sound like them other metalcore bands. LoG is groove, and this album blew me away when it dropped in early 2009. I remember the day I bought it, like in the first week after its release. Good times, and groovy times as well.

#7: Fear Factory - Demanufacture (1995)

Here we've got a real 90's classic. This album was a pretty big success back in the mid-90's and one of Roadrunner Records' best-selling bands at the time, I believe. FF is categorized as industrial metal and they have a lot of those sound effects and atmospheres, but they're essentially a groove metal band musically. Focusing a lot on fast, machine-like and groovy drum rhythms, accompanied with great rhythm riffs and angry as well as clean vocals, FF is a good start of what would really influence the metalcore bands of the last ten years and more. But this was still the real deal back in the day. It's a damn good record. Unfortunately, FF didn't really keep up with any quality releases like this in the future, but this is enough of a great legacy, I guess. Their debut before this album is good as well, with more of a death metal sound.

#6: Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (1995)

Sweden's Meshuggah, my kinsmen, is a truly unique band. Playing a groovy thrash/death kind of metal style with a lot of weird time signatures that I can't even discuss details about (because I know nothing about that stuff), they take their sound a make it sound huge. This album is a perfect record that stands the test of time. I was very modern and groundbreaking back in its day, but it's still just as fresh today. This album is one heavy motherfucker, and I suggest you put this on when you're fucking pissed off. You won't be disappointed!

#5: Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power (1992)

My favorite Pantera record for many years now, VDOP took the sound they introduced on the mighty "Cowboys From Hell", dropped the power metal influences and made it all more brutal and heavy oriented. The result is a perfection of groove metal. This is probably one of the, if not the most, obvious choice you can go with if you wanna discover the groove metal genre. Featuring classics like "Walk", "This Love", "Fucking Hostile" and "Mouth For War" that I take for granted that you all are familiar with, says enough. I don't need to give this album any boost. You should already know it.

#4: Coroner - Grin (1993)

One of my favorite bands, especially in the thrash metal folder, Coroner ended their full-length album span with this one. While their earlier releases were technical thrash, this one is certainly more groove oriented. However, they do not take a cheap shot at playing Pantera wanna-be's, but rather do it their own way with their unique sound and style. The result is great, and while many of their fans consider this album to be their least good, I can't agree with that. It's not their best, but not their least good either. It is, however, probably their most interesting record musically, as it's the most different album of their career. They would release a compilation album in 1995 with a few new tunes, which sound very much like the material on this masterpiece, if you're interested.

#3: Exhorder - Slaughter In The Vatican (1990)

Exhorder is a band that I give a lot of rightful credit to. Most metalheads haven't heard about them. What's sad about this great band is that they're more famous for being inventors of the style that Pantera got their breakthrough with. Many people including myself have researched within this matter, and Exhorder's late 80's demos clearly shows that Pantera must've "stolen" their sound, and simply got their stuff out first. Pantera became huge, Exhorder went by unnoticed. Such a shame, because this fucking album is of some crushing quality metal that Pantera never even were able to touch. This album is a groovy thrash classic like nothing else!

#2: Machine Head - Burn My Eyes (1994)

This is one of the genre's definite classics. To my ears, I've always thought that Machine Head sounded like a more hardcore-influenced, and maybe even groovier, version of Pantera. With drums inspired of jazz, funk and hip-hop, they get a kind of groove going that no other band here really has. With heavy riffing, angry vocals, and great compositions, Machine Head made their best record already from the start. I know some people might disagree with me on this, while many will agree as well, but I really prefer the sound they had going here than later on in their career. This is nothing less but a must-have for all metal fans. It's just that good. A classic.

#1: Face Down - Mindfield (1995)

My winner of this genre. This is an album I've reviewed here before as I like this band very much. Coming from my homeland Sweden, Face Down is something of a Swedish Machine Head (they were even called Machine God until "Burn My Eyes" was released in 1994), clearly drawing influences from them, Sepultura, Pantera and Slayer. The difference between Face Down and Machine Head, and the other bands of the genre as well, is that FD has a lot of that sweet Swedish death metal ingredient in their music. This, in my opinion, makes their music even heavier than the others. Essentially this is a groovy thrash/death album, also sporting some obvious industrial influences with its samples and keyboards, and the result is crushing! I simply love this damn album. It's awesome.


Honorable mentions:

Grip Inc. - Power Of Inner Strength
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
White Zombie - Astro-Creep: 2000

My Top-10 Death Metal Albums Of All Time

It's time to my top-10 list of my personal favorite death metal albums ever! Just like the other two lists before this one, I'm just gonna choose one record for each band that will represent the best of that band specifically. Here goes...

#10: Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade (1992)

Bolt Thrower will start off this list with the last spot. There were many bands and albums battling for this spot, but I guess BT just had a great artillery at the end of the day. I really dig their made-for-combat death metal sound, even though it tends to get somewhat repetitive, but I just couldn't deny them a spot on this list. Choosing a favorite album of theirs was no easy task either. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that this one is one of their more varied albums, including some doom-y influences to make their sound even more heavy. Think like if Black Sabbath made death metal. Well, that's kind of it, I think. This album is just shit-heavy fucking death metal perfect for fighting!

#9: Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God (2008)

One of the "newer" (still old, actually, just a late bloomer) Swedish DM bands that has really become one of Sweden's biggest bands of the past ten years, Amon Amarth is a very nice and heavy answer on Sweden's Gothenburg death metal sound. While I never was quite a fan of Gothenburg bands like At The Gates or Dark Tranquility, AA really is something else. It's like they combine the Gothenburg melodies with the heavy approach of the Stockholm scene, which I really like. There is no other record in their discography that I think does this better than this one. This is an almost flawless metal album with many great songs that surely will get you headbanging. The band also manages something on this album, that I probably have to admit that no other death metal band ever has managed, and that is the inclusion of the closing-track "Embrace Of The Endless Ocean". I truly believe that it might be the most epic and amazing death metal song ever recorded.

#8: Carnage - Dark Recollections (1990)

Pretty much a hybrid record combining the sound of early Dismember and of what Carcass would become very soon. Featuring three members of Dismember as well as band founder and future Carcass and Arch Enemy, guitarist Mike Amott, this album is essentially a Dismember record with a strong Carcass '89-'91 era influence. Many of the songs even are old Dismember tunes that appeared on their demo-tapes back in the late 80's, and the sound is very obvious. This album also makes use of the legendary buzz-saw guitar sound that Dismember had used, but as Entombed had just put out "Left Hand Path" short before this one, that one got all the credit. Carnage eventually went on pretty unnoticed, as the band had already split-up by this album's release, due to Mike Amott joining Carcass (well fitting, though). The other guys quickly reformed Dismember and the rest is (great) history. But this album still is here, having caught the attention of death metal enthusiasts like me, and it's a damn good record. While the band splitting up paved the way for two of the best outcomes ever, it would've been fun to hear what else they could've put out.

#7: Unleashed - Odalheim (2012)

These Swedes were the first and true death metal vikings. Any fan of Amon Amarth should really give these guys some fucking cred - they're the old school, real deal kind of band. This is also really the only death metal band, at least in Sweden, that really manages to put out even greater records nowadays, than they did back in the death metal heydays. That's saying a lot. The only other band could possibly be Grave, but I'm not sure. At least no other Swedish DM band manages it. Unleashed has just gotten better with each album released in the last, like, twenty years. This album is my favorite of theirs, and their most recent one! That is not a bad achievement!

#6: Benediction - Transcend The Rubicon (1993)

A band whose sound is pretty similar to Bolt Thrower, but with more variety (though BT has made more records of great quality than Benediction has), this album is a raw, high-energy output. It's got some great riffing that fucking rips you apart. They do kind of a melodic yet raw approach to their riffing style, with some pissed-off drumming accompanied to it. The bass is also audible, even if not really as forthcoming as the other instruments. It's a well-balanced album and the songs are essentially very riff-oriented. I usually put this one on when I feel like doing some angry death metal air guitar.

#5: Carcass - Heartwork (1993)

Without a doubt Carcass' most melodic release, to my ears at least. This might come as an obvious choice, but hey, it's a fucking great record. This is very the band truly hit the spot-on button in the studio. I really like how this album is like death metal discretely flirting with stoner metal, really bringing forth a heavy-oriented side while maintaining the brutality and melody from their earlier death metal albums. I also really dig the production on this album. It's so clear yet raw and heavy, just a perfect balance and every instrument is audible and clear - rare for a death metal record. Just a masterpiece, nothing less.

#4: Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

My introduction to death metal. I remember putting this record on and instantly being blown-away during the opening. It was just so crushing and brutal, so spot-on what I needed to discover at the time. This is the first official release with the legendary Swedish buzz-saw guitar sound, and damn if I didn't cum my pants when I first heard it. Just is just some pure, hardcore-punky death metal that will crush your spine and neck because you will headbang too hard. It was a perfect introduction to the genre.

#3: Nocturnus - The Key (1990)

This is one of the most interesting metal records ever made, as well as pioneering. From what I've heard, this album, or band at least, is the first death metal band to make heavy use of keyboards in their music, and the result is phenomenal! This is very much a typical Tampa death style, very Morbid Angel (even containing former MA drummer/vocalist Mike Browning), records with great, atmospheric keyboard intros and supports throughout. The songs are great as a whole, too. The only thing really lacking with this album would be the somewhat primitive drumming. The bass drumming is rarely real solid, but I guess that's because they recorded it all live on tape, with Mike Browning being a little distracted while singing at the same time as drumming. I don't know. But nonetheless, this album is fucking killer! The best out of the American Tampa scene.

#2:  Septic Flesh - Mystic Places Of Dawn (1994)

This is an album that I discovered many years after I first ventured into death metal, but I'd be damned if it didn't struck me down with its huge, epic, melodic, and Gothic atmospheric sound. It's 99.9 % perfection here, the only slight miss being the use of a drum-machine. But it's one of the best-working (most acceptable) ones I've heard accompanied to the music it's serving. These Greek guys really know what they're doing on this album. An overseen masterpiece!

#1: Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream (1991)

This one is the true one, my one true love of death metal. No other record of the genre, and not many other records in music overall, have meant as much to me as this one does. This one is like one sexy chick - it's got that fat, Swedish Sunlight Studios production, with them fat buzz-saw guitars (my favorite guitar sound ever), live-like drumming, and neat fucking riffs. On top of that is some creamy, melodic guitar soloing, which I just love. The album cover really suits the music perfectly as well. It's just as sexy as the music it's containing is. An immortal classic. One of my most precious records in my collection.

My Top-10 Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time

I did a top-10 list of my personal favorite thrash metal albums ever, with one album per band representing their style and musical peak, to my ears. I thought that I'd do the same, but with my top-10 heavy metal albums. The same rule applies for this list - one album per band, their finest moment in my opinion, will represent the band as a whole.

#10: Warlock - Burning The Witches (1984)

The best metal ever made with a female singer. At least that is my ears' opinion. Back when I discovered this at 14, I couldn't stop listening to it. It's some raw German heavy/speed metal with Doro Pesch. While I can admit that her vocal performance here, her as well as the band's debut, is not the best of her career, the album as a whole is. This is satanic-themed heavy metal, totally '84-like metal cliché, but nothing but great and headbang-addictive. The riffing here is especially great.

#9: Madison - Diamond Mistress (1984)

A pretty unknown old band from Sweden sounding like some Priest wanna-be's. This was the first band of singer Göran Edman who would later become known for his work with guitarists John Norum and Yngwie Malmsteen's solo work respectively. This is some great, high-energy heavy metal somewhere in between 80's Priest and Maiden's '81-'82 era. This is one of those true "forgotten" heavy metal gems out there. Hunt this one down!

#8: Steelwing - Zone Of Alienation (2012)

A fun surprise! It was my dear love who introduced me into these guys back before we actually got together. I listened non-stop to this album after that. It's some great, young heavy/speed metal primarily influenced by Judas Priest, but also Iron Maiden and the others, of course (which band is not?). It sounds true to the genres origin, sounding like a product of the 80's that could've as well been released back in the day. It's got some great fucking tunes on it, I promise you!

#7: Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time (1986)

My very favorite Maiden album. This is where they started to explore wider areas and got more interesting, while maintaining their usual quality heavy metal sound. Everybody shines on this album, especially Adrian Smith and Nicko McBrain. Smith is my favorite songwriter in Maiden, and this is pretty much "his" album, so it's just amazing to my ears. "Stranger In A Strange Land" is one my personal, as well as my dad's, favorite Maiden tracks ever. That solo is the greatest thing ever in a Maiden song!

#6: Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath (1984)

Evil and like it was forged in hell itself. This album has got a neat fucking guitar tone that just shreds you into pieces. The best album ever featuring King Diamond at the mic stand. This album is nothing but a sinister heavy metal, or first wave black metal if you prefer, masterpiece that every headbanger must have in his/her collection. You don't break the oath!

#5: Enforcer - Death By Fire (2013)

This might come as a surprise to many, places so high and all, but when a band like Enforcer puts out records, they fucking do it right and truthfully - even more so than most of the bands that actually were around back in the day. Along with Watain, I probably have to say that Enforcer is my favorite young/modern heavy metal band. They play the best speed metal I've ever fucking heard, and their albums even sound like they were released back in '83. This album is fucking killer, which is why I changed my Iron Maiden - Live After Death backpatch to Enforcer's "Total Metal" backpatch! Oh, and I won tickets to a show with Enforcer and Skull Fist earlier this year. That was fucking intense!

#4: Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith (1984)

It was either this one or "Screaming For Vengeance", which has got a better production, but this one's got the slightly better songs. Classics like "The Sentinel", "Freewheel Burning", "Jawbreaker", and my personal favorite "Rock Hard, Ride Free", never lose my attention or energy. I think this album, maybe apart from it's shitty drum-sound, stands the test of time the best out of all Priest records.

#3: Accept - Balls To The Wall (1983)

There's one word that describes this album as a whole: Perfection. It's heavy, both musically and production/sound-wise. Sweet riffs and vocal melodies. The drums are loud and heavy, the best put on record since Kiss' "Creatures Of The Night" album. It's a pure classic from the start till the end. I have listened to this album countless times since I was a fat, short-haired fucking twelve year old wanker. It never gets old!

#2: Dio - The Last In Line (1984)

This is probably the hardest choice. I love Dio's solo work, and I mean like almost every album. Obviously the best era of his I believe was 1983-1994, with all records released in between there being simply great! But I have to choose one, so I chose this one. It's got great tunes on it, apart from maybe "Mystery" which I'm not too fond of, too poppy even for Dio's standards. Vivian Campbell was also the greatest guitarist Dio ever had, and he fucking nails every single note on this album. I'm also weak for the album's closer, "Egypt (The Chains Are On)". Amazing album.

#1: Ozzy Osbourne - No Rest For The Wicked (1988)

Ozzy Osbourne - the Godfather of heavy metal. MY Godfather of heavy metal. He was the one who made me love (heavy) metal music, my ticket into this world of amazing music. My idol. I have been going back and forth for years whether this one or "Diary Of A Madman" is my favorite album of his, but at the moment this one feels like the one. It's a pretty dark and heavy album coming from him, and the debut of Zakk Wylde. I for one actually dig Zakk and he's fucking great on this album. There are almost only songs that I love on this one - "Breakin' All The Rules", "Miracle Man", "Fire In The Sky", "Crazy Babies", and "Bloodbath In Paradise", and the others. It's full of great and thick riffing, sweet soloing and some of the Ozzman's greatest vocal melodies ever! I'll love this album to death!

My Top-10 Thrash Metal Albums Of All Time

Hello, it's been a while! I've been a little busy for the last few months. It was my birthday back in October, and pretty much everyone else I know has got their birthdays during fall as well. My music has changed yet again, too. Right now it's some thrash nostalgia roaring out of my speakers on a daily basis. Back in 2006 I used to be a hardcore 80's thrash fan - not just the big 4, but everybody else too. I used to listen so much to all those old classics, known as obscure, and I thought it would be fun to actually list like my ten favorite thrash records of all time, so I'm gonna give it a try even though it'll be fucking hard... I will also only choose one album per band that will represent them the best from my personal taste.

Oh well, here goes:

#10: Mordred - In This Life (1991)

I was unsure about including this one. It's one of my all-time favorite records, but as much as it's thrash, it's equally as much funk and rap metal. This album is kind of a Faith No More and (the) Red Hot Chili Peppers meet Bay Area-thrash sounding product, which alienated many closed-minded thrash fans back in the day. I love it though, but I leave it here at the last spot to focus on the more "pure" thrash masterpieces further down.

#9: Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984)

Yeah, I tried avoiding Metallica to not appear as "too obvious", but let's be real here: I can't deny the fact that they actually were fucking awesome back in the day. They, along with Megadeth and Slayer, were basically the soundtrack of my life during 2004-2006. This was always my favorite album of theirs, even though I later fell in total love with "...And Justice For All". This was the perfect middle-step between to other awesome albums, bringing the best of what was on "Kill 'em All", and the best of what was yet to come on "Master Of Puppets". I always thought James sounded best vocally on this one as well.

#8: Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (1986)

This is like my old girlfriend of 2006. I listened to this non-stop after discovering it and the band as a whole. Back then I'd most likely place this as my number one record of all time, and I think I even did that everywhere back then. However, as the years went one I broke-up with it to try on other metal genres and bands, but I still listen to it now and then. Even though it's not really what it used to be for me, it's undeniably an immortal classic that I will have in my thrash heart forever, and if nothing else, it will also be the ultimate album associated with the memories of the 15-16-year-old me.

#7: Overkill - Horrorscope (1991)

With many awesome classics before this one, and many great fucking albums after this one, it's hard to choose one, but this is the one. This was my first Overkill record and I bought it spontaneously. That turned out to be a great call for me! This album is as perfect as it gets with Overkill, I suppose. The tunes are all great with intense energy and thrashiness. It always gets me going. I also totally dig what they did with many tunes here, some examples being "Bare Bones" with it's haunting piano intro building into an epic kick-ass opening to the song itself, the slow and heavy title-track with some neat fucking bass guitar, and the ballad-esque "Soulitude" which is just amazing. An album perfect for moshing!

#6: Sepultura - Beneath The Remains (1989)

Back in late 2006 and early 2007, Sepultura was one of my absolute favorite bands (they still are). I bought their albums in the same order as they came out, starting with "Morbid Visions" and the "Bestail Devastation" EP. It was good and all, but when I heard "Schizophrenia" I was sold! I did not think it could get any better after that, and then I bought this one. Damn. This album is a pure Brazilian thrash assault that I used as a major influence in my drum practicing. Igor Cavalera just got better and better with each album, and this album was to much help for me back then. Now after all these years, with some of them favoring "Arise", I have gone back to this one which is my favorite Sep-album. I love everything about it - the riffs, drums, vocals, energy, sound/production, album cover - everything!

#5: Cro-Mags - Best Wishes (1989)

Originally a NYC hardcore band, Cro-Mags evolved into a thrashy band on their second album. Think a little like an east-coast version of Suicidal Tendencies - darker, dirtier, angrier, more hardcore. This album in particular of theirs is a very cool mix of that New York City hardcore punk mixed with traditional NWoBHM, essentially resulting in a thrash metal album. This album is very much "alive" in its sound, with that raw hardcore-punk energy certainly being present at all times, which gives this album a real good punch-y thrash sound. I also love the guitar and drum sound on this one. It's fat and heavy. Very good album that every thrash fan should have.

#4: Coroner - No More Color (1989)

One of the few well-noticed European thrash bands back in the day, Coroner from Switzerland was what most thrashers called "technical thrash metal", or "tech thrash". I love what they did with their sound, which certainly is unique compared to most other thrash acts. All of their five albums are masterpieces in their own right to my ears, but this one is my most favorite one. The songs here are just perfect in both sound and style, with great riffing, shredding and composing. This album always works perfectly for me when the Bay Area-sound comes in too much at once.

#3: Dark Angel - Darkness Descends (1986)

I don't think that there is a thrash album out there that I've given more rightful credit than this one. Released in the golden thrash year of 1986, this is the real "Reign In Blood", or rather what that album has been wrongfully acclaimed for. In my opinion, this album takes the same concept (extremely fast thrash songs) but just does it so many times better. This album is very fast, at times even faster than RIB, but with full-length tunes, and actually more than two good ones. This one even has got an eight-minute epic called "Black Prophecies" with some great drum fills by my favorite drummer Gene "The Atomic Clock" Hoglan. This album is pure speed-thrash, if I may call it that, in true perfection!

#2: Testament - The New Order (1988)

Testament, my overall favorite thrash band, has made a lot of great records during their career, so it's hard choosing an album of theirs as the definite favorite. This has to be it, though. The first song I ever heard with Testament was "Trial By Fire", my favorite Testament tune since then, and the whole album is heavy, thrashing and hauntingly dark in its atmosphere. I just find it an extremely solid metal masterpiece. I was totally sold on their stuff after hearing this album in its full, and still I find it the most relevant record song-wise when I listen to several of my favorite Testa-tunes in one run.

#1: Anthrax - Persistence Of Time (1990)

I had a hard time actually choosing between this one and "Spreading The Disease", which pretty much is equal in quality to me. I ultimately chose this one because it's more technical and musically interesting, and I'm more influenced by this as a musician than I am by STD. This one also shows that Anthrax was very capable of making long and (more) complex tunes, without losing any energy and quality. Songs like "In My World", "Time", "Belly Of The Beast", and "Discharge" have been played a lot of times throughout the years at my place. I just never get tired of this masterpiece album! Oh, and they also recorded their cover of "Bring The Noize" during this album's recording sessions, which shows even more that they had evolved so much through the 80's.

Review: Face Down - The Twisted Rule The Wicked (1998)

Two years after the smashing debut album "Mindfield" was released via Roadrunner Records, Swedish post-thrash/death metal act Face Down released its second album in early 1998, entitled "The Twisted Rule The Wicked". Some things had changed during those two years - a few line-up changes, a label change, and probably a whole lot more. We get to understand this as my first expression is that these guys seemed to be really pissed off during this period - at probably pretty much everything and everyone.

While "Mindfield" was rooted in a slower kind of pissed off 90's metal, like bands such as early Machine Head, Pantera, Fear Factory, or fellow swedes B-Thong and Misery Loves Company, this one has certainly geared up a few levels. It's overall more brutal in terms of speed, aggression and riffing, coming closer to the death metal aggression of bands such as Dismember and Entombed rather than Machine Head. The album's production also proves this, as it's an overall rawer and dirtier sound this time around.
 The album was originally recorded with Thomas Skogsberg who did all the legendary Swedish death metal albums in the 90's, but the band's new label Nuclear Blast apparently didn't approve of the final product. The band therefore re-recorded almost the whole album with "Mindfield" producer Daniel Bergstrand instead. There are still three tunes recorded with Skogsberg present here, and you can clearly hear in the industrial "Top Of The World" that it has a sound similar to Dismember's "Death Metal" album, which was released the previous year, whilst the other tracks sound groovier and cleaner.

The album's twelve songs still have the same kind of arrangements and patterns that Face Down presented on their debut, with no guitar solos present apart from in "Cleansweep". Although the album also is different in some ways to "Mindfield", the songs still feel very much like Face Down. The lyrical themes deal with the same kind of subjects as well.

The line-up changes have improved, however, with then new drummer Peter Stjärnvind (who would soon leave to replace Nicke Andersson in Entombed) definitely being a step up. Compared to the band's old drummer Richard Bång, Peter plays in a similar style but with more intensity and aggression, while he also plays very precisely. Henrik Blomquist who did "audio warfare" (simply just sampling) is gone, but we still get some movie samples this time around as well. The band also had some guest musician doing keyboards on "Mindfield", but those are long gone on this record. It's clear that the band aimed for an angrier and rawer sound, which to my disappointment leaves out much of the atmosphere and musical depth Face Down got into their music before. There are no tunes that sound like "Hatred" or "Holy Rage" from the debut here, and I really dug that shit.

My conclusion is that this album ultimately is a somewhat stripped-down, angrier and more brutal album than its predecessor. It's a really solid collection of headbangers, moshers and fighting themes present here, but it tends to get somewhat repetitive in the long run. I really miss the variety in songs and track-list layout of "Mindfield" here, as it's a much more dynamic listening experience than this one. However, if you are really pissed off, fighting some douchebag, or if your girlfriend left you and your reaction is anger rather than depression and Type O Negative, then this album is very much suitable for you.

Stand-outs: Self-Appointed God, Waste, Bed Of Roaches, Cleansweep.

Rating: 78/100

Face Down - Mindfield (1995)

Back in 2008 and 2009 I was very much into (early) 90's metal - Pantera, early Machine Head, Fear Factory, Rage Against The Machine, Faith No More, Mordred, and too many others. Besides funky bands I think it was bands with great grooves that especially caught my attention. I don't like nu metal, and I never did, but I always liked funk and that groovy, almost "danceable" metal sound that some bands had.

Since I'm Swedish I've always been very interested in my own country's musical scene. There were lots of great heavy metal bands in Sweden during the 80's, and in the 90's Sweden ruled the earth with its finest death metal (Dismember!!). But other than death metal, I never really heard about bands that followed any of the American trends during the 90's. That was, however, until I read a 1996 mag of Metal Hammer that I bought in an auction. In this mag I read about this new and fresh band Face Down, which was described as a Swedish answer to Machine Head.

I managed to track down my own copy of the CD which was reviewed in that mag, which was their debut album "Mindfield". When I heard it I instantly heard those Machine Head influences, but it was still different. Compared to Machine Head, Face Down had less of the many hardcore-punk influences of Machine Head, and instead the influence of Swedish death metal. Now this is something I actually appreciate more, since I dig hardcore-punk, but never was a huge fan of it.

The "Mindfield" CD was played a lot in my old boy room back in 2009. I really their sound, like a darker and somewhat doomier sounding Machine Head, with Pantera's tight and heavy album sound, completed with Swedish death metal-thick guitars. Then at some point, I ventured further into the music world to discover more styles of a different kind (bands like The Doors, for instance), and so I kind of forgot about Face Down.

I recently rediscovered the album (and band), and "Mindfield" has been played a lot at my crib lately, which my girlfriend Linn ain't too fond of, as she's not into that 90's metal sound. I've also listened a lot to their second album "The Twisted Rule The Wicked", which I liked back in the day as well, but not as much. Today, however, I appreciate it a lot more. It's more brutal and sounds a lot more raw, which is the reason I didn't like that one as much back in 2009. I think it sounds like a more brutal brother of Testament's album "Low". But I always really liked the machine-sounding production on "Mindfield", it suits the music perfectly, just like with Pantera and their albums.

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I wrote an album review of "Mindfield" for the Metal Archives back in 2009, here it is:

"The first real feeling I got from this album upon hearing it was that it sounded like these guys was, or could've been a great Machine Head cover band in their formative days. I also later found out that they formed as Machine God. I don't think there's too much speculation from where their inspiration comes from. But anyhow, these guys weren't maybe groundbreaking, but they did in fact do some good metal music. I guess that this album could pretty much be described as a follow-up by Machine Head with different singer, 'cause they're very much alike. Another great thing I love with this album is that they've got "audio warfare" as they call it, which basically is keyboards. It gives the tunes the right athmosphere and it can probably remind a little of industrial metal as well.

All of the songs are heavy as hell and some are slower while others are faster. Some songs, mostly "One Eyed Man" and "Save Me, Kill Me" are like ballads with heavier and/or faster parties. "Hatred" is a song that pretty much catched everything this album's about. It starts off heavy and mid-fast and goes into an epic mid-section before ending pretty damn aggresssive. The most important about the album is probably Marco Arco, the singer (later in The Haunted, yes). The guy has gotta have some angry feelinga inside him since he screams the hell outta his loungs. The production is pretty nice, could've been better but it could've also been worse.

In it's whole I think the title "Mindfield" lives up to itself. This ten-pack of "post-thrash" explosives is defenitely of my recommendation. Also, if you're a fan of bands like Machine Head, Exhorder, Pantera, Lamb of God etc., and it'd actually turn out that you like Face Down ... Then check out the Swedish band Brainwave and their album "Outstretched". It's the same deal as this one. Enjoy!"

Watain live @ Malmöfestivalen

Watain came and played at Malmöfestivalen (the Malmö Festival), southern Sweden, on august 18 at 10 p.m. I took the train down to Malmö with my babe Linn and our friend Dennis. Since it was a festival slot, it was only an hour long, but it was fucking great anyway! It was my and Linn's first time witnessing their satanic ceremony, and it was the most powerful thing I ever witnessed. The power was just amazing, and they chose some very good songs for the playing slot given.

I wish their slot would've been longer so that they could've played more songs, as I've been real eager to hear my favorite - the amazing, haunting and powerful "Waters of Ain". But maybe I'll get that the next time, because it will be a next time! I usually don't care to see bands live twice, but in Watain's case I am just too eager to witness their ceremony again. The highlights were "Black Flames March" and "The Wild Hunt". The audience was really into them, which is fun because so many "trve kvlt" fans won't actually agree that they like (the album) "The Wild Hunt". It was a great night!

Watch Dogs: Thoughts and opinions

Watch Dogs - the most hyped game of 2014? I would say so, at least from what I've seen and heard around the globe. I have been very keen to try it out as well, as I was completely blown away when I saw it presented at E3 back in 2012 (who weren't?). So now the game is finally out, after quite a delay and yada yada. I was not a first-day-buyer this time around since I was short on cash and there was some other stuff I wanted more at the time. Now I have tried it out, however, since the local library is awesome and has got lots of games for a very cheap rent price, so I booked it about a month back.

Yesterday it was finally my turn to get my hands on it, and I sure did. I went home straight away to try it out, installed it and launched it. My personal anticipation had pretty much died during the month I had to wait, and the lukewarm reception from fans I've heard and seen during that time didn't help me either. But finally, I was playing Watch Dogs for the first time ever.

The intro is immediately very 50/50. It's kind of interesting, but mostly I wasn't very impressed ... at all. To be honest, what was I going to expect from it? I don't know, I just love free-roam and open-world games. I pretty much try everything that is one, and I'm horny as hell about the GTA-series, have always been. With that said, I didn't even know what I expected, but it sure was something more unique (the hype has been big, especially from Ubisoft themselves) than this.

After the very mediocre introduction, I'm launched into some action gameplay. Now this is looking more promising, thank Satan, and I play on. Since I'm a constant GTA-player I'm used to these kind of controls, so I pretty much get a hold of it quickly. That's probably the first thing I notice - the controls - and I don't like them. Overall they do feel clumpsy, yet still somewhat dynamic. It's so 50/50. Later on I also notice, probably the biggest question, the graphics and their overall feel and looks. What can I say? This is so goddamn totally disappointing! When we saw this game being presented at E3 back in 2012, everyone was blown away! But now, this just looks like and old and ugly piece of shit game made in like 2007.

Now I'm pretty disappointed. Sure, even I get that an Xbox 360 would never be able to recreate those graphics we were presented with at E3, but this is silly, really. There are so many more games, which are several years old now, that look so much better than Watch Dogs. I wasn't expecting those E3 graphics, but I did fucking expect more than this. Now it's up to everything else to surprise me, but that pretty much doesn't happen either.

I play on and I'm not really getting curious about the story. It feels unoriginal and is just told in a boring way that it has been told too many times before. I also heard quite many people state that while the graphics were not up to expectations, the combat should be good, as some people called it, "a good shooter". Well, I cannot really agree there neither. This was like the last drop for me - the shooting and combat system just fucking sucks, and it's boring. The hacking was also highly spoken of by Ubisoft as something "fresh and unique". Yeah, right. You press and hold the X-button everytime. Once in a while you get like a small mini-game where you must hack. But I have seen and done this all before. Particularly in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which is a very good game by the way, you get to do a lot of hacking, which is much more developed and fun than in Watch Dogs.

Really, what can I say? I'm so goddamn disappointed with this game. I was very hyped about it before it's release, and while it calmed down after its release, I still was looking forward to play it. Now the only consolation I've got after two years wait is that I did not buy it. I rented it for 15 Swedish kronor (about 2 bucks). I'm happy that I did not buy it for like 70-80 bucks. That is a consolation that I'm very happy out, and sadly enough, it's the only thing I am happy about with this game.

I give Watch Dogs a greatly disappointing 3/10.

Into The Pentagram: New Demo Available!

We've just finished our new second demo, entitled "Wolves Of The Blackened Moon". We've done a hundred cassette-tapes this time around as well.. Maybe we will make vinyls as well down the road, but not at this moment as it costs way too much.

The track-list is:

1. Enter The Realm
2. The Garden Of Death
3. Transylvanian Necromancy (*earlier called "Necromancing In Transylvania")
4. Wolves Of The Blackened Moon
5. Across The Sea Of Fire
6. The Screaming Wall
7. A Stream Of Darkness

For more info, contact me! The demo will be 10 euro + shipping. (SOLD OUT as of 02/'15)

Studio Report: Into The Pentagram

Yesterday we entered the studio again! We will be working on a few new songs for the time being, and we're also thinking about reworking some old Deva material into more ITP-sounding death/black metal material. We'll see what happens regarding that. It's fun to be working hard once again. It was many years ago since Deva had this kind of spirit and working morality. We were a bunch of lazy fucking bums for the last 4-5 years, no wonder it didn't work out...

 

Daniel is checking out the equipment we're going to use - keyboards and pads.

We're thinking about doing at least like four tunes this time around. We are also planning on either releasing a new demo, like a part II of our concept story, or a single, probably pressed in vinyl, or actually making it all into our first official album, but we ain't sure yet. We do not wanna stress too much with putting out our first full-length and such yet. It feels better and more fun to demo around for a while before the "big" things come out. Demos are also more interesting anyways, so...

 

I'm warming up with some growling and black metal screaming, ready to rock 'n' roll!

I feel great about the things to come. It's real good to be back in the game for real again. Stay tuned!

Debut gig: Into The Pentagram

Last saturday, May 31, we did our very first gig as Into The Pentagram, and that was a lot of fun! We have been rehearsing intensely for the past few weeks in preparation for this gig and other upcoming. The band is still officially only Daniel and I, but we got some helping out from our buddies Oscar (bass) and Kristoffer (vocals) so we were able to perform. Daniel did the guitars of course, and I handled all the drumming as well as some vocals. Thanx to all friends and randoms that came out and banged their heads with us!

Oscar (bass), Kristoffer (vocals), Daniel (guitar), and I (drums, vocals)

We played ITP material as well as a few Deva "classics" and two covers. The set-list was:

1. Lucifer Rises

2. The Ritual

3. Mental Destruction [Devastation (Swe) cover]

4. Malfeitor [Watain cover]

5. Necromancing In Transylvania [new song]

6. Death Row [Devastation (Swe) cover]

7. The Oath [Mercyful Fate cover]

8. Black Riders In The Realm Of Death [new song]

9. Into The Pentagram

Band interview: Into The Pentagram

My band Into The Pentagram, formerly known as Devastation but recently disbanded/renamed, was featured in one of Borås' local papers some days ago. We, or I more precisely, were interviewed and questioned about our debut demo, the name change, and other stuff. The thing was also more like a reportage on us and a review of our demo. I've translated the interview and review parts, which are in Swedish, to English. Be sure to read it and check us out!

//Jackie

The interview.....

BT: Hello Jackie, how are you today?

Jackie: I'm good, thanks.

BT: Tell us: You guys recently went through some major changes, most notably losing yet another member, changing your name, and releasing a brand new demo. How come that all this happened in such short time?

Jackie: Well, to be quite honest with you, losing Amanda [Holm, ex-lead singer] was something that was coming for a long time. We weren't exactly the most lucky bunch for the last five years. When Stefan [Abramsson, ex-bassist and founding member] left us in the summer of 2009, which made Linus [Bischoff Hansen, ex-lead singer] leave with him as well, things really started to crumble down on everything that was Devastation. Daniel [Carlzon, lead guitarist and founding member] and I [Jackie Wacklin, drums, growler and founding member] were in a bad place.

Losing half our band and friends, much because of studies [to attend to], left us unable to rehearse properly, and totally disabled to do gigs. We lost our motivation, to be honest. We tried out my pal Henke [Karlenström, ex-rhythm guitarist and bassist], but he was nowhere ready to commit to something like our band. He probably went in and out of the band like five times, because we kept firing him only to be desperate and bring him back in again. That left ourselves even more unjustified. Amanda came into the band around the summer of 2011. She steered up things a bit, especially with Daniel and I, like a band mother, but she had no success with Henke who hated her for some reason. We hated it as well, but I guess we needed that right there and then *laughs*....

BT: How did Amanda exit the band? Did she leave you or did you guys fire her?

Jackie: With all that happened during these years, Daniel and I just got too fed up with everything. We always wanted to play, and sometimes we really tried to put our hearts into it, and sometimes we barely even tried to. I think Amanda got real tired of it, even though she stayed with us. She was a nice and cool person, but maybe the chemistry between her and us wasn't the perfect match, either. I think, at the end of the day, that we really wanted to do different things musically. Things simply ran out in the sand with Amanda. The band just ended, we stopped playing. She never quit, we never fired her, it was nothing mutual - we just stopped and lost contact. It was over.

BT: Was that for the whole band or just the relationship with Amanda?

Jackie: It was mostly with Amanda, but the band was like a dead horse, and we spent our last energy to keep beating on it. However, we eventually, finally, gave up Devastation, as we all know now.

BT: Was it emotionally hard to split-up Devastation?

Jackie: Yeah, it was hard. Devastation was ten years of our lives. It was our whole youth... We started when we were thirteen. We had the band through our whole teens and our young adulthood. But on the other hand, it was for the better. We needed a fresh start for years. We needed a new name, new guys, new directions. With Devastation, all we did was to keep carrying all the old shit and grief with us, which made everything new turn out bad eventually as well. In the end, we stood there with all shit and no good.

BT: How did it come that you renamed the band "Into The Pentagram"?

Jackie: We simply needed to refresh the band as a whole. Besides, there are too many bands out there which are or have been called Devastation since a long time back. There is in fact a well-known American thrash band called Devastation, and I actually asked their singer Rodney if it was okey if we used the name. This was around 2006.

In 2011, Daniel and I started listening to Samael, who made a very nice tune called "Into The Pentagram". We got very much into them and the whole black metal scene. We already tried to rename Deva in 2012, suggesting I.T.P. as the new name, but Amanda disagreed with us. She wanted us to be called Harlee Quinn, I think? We never got around to change the name because of the disagreements, however.

BT: So the name doesn't have any other meaning for you, besides being a song you guys like?

Jackie: Yes, it actually does! Daniel and I always were very interested in religious and philosophic themes. Around 2005 or '06 we started exploring satanism and listened to bands with dark lyrical themes. Long story short, we always explored in this kind of stuff. I even made a brief stint as a confused protestant-christian/jew a few years back in a time of need, before feeling robbed of all my self-esteem and power. I felt so hopeless, weak and humiliated, praying and obeying to someone who didn't answer or helped me. I actually got back on my feet because of satanism. It gave me my power back and gained me self-confidence as I dared to believe in myself and me only.

I realized: praying and obeying to someone fictitious ain't gonna help me. Through serving and worshiping myself, as my own God, I will help myself to gain power and reach my goals, and it worked. I give myself strength to work so I can pay my bills, for instance. God doesn't give me that strength or those qualities in life, I do. Into The Pentagram is about exploring the dark(er) sides of religion and philosophy, and that is what we started doing a few years back. As we have new lyrical themes about these ventures, it was even more appropriate to change the name to something relevant. We are going - into the pentagram, that is what we're about.

BT: That's an interesting concept and arguments on your side, but how does the society view you with your satanic views? There must be people who oppose you and your music?

Jackie: I could care less what the society thinks of me, or us. People does not agree or like it overall, no, but I think the general population are naive. They live their nine-to-five life, with a nice family and a dog in a nice house and think everything's so good and safe. People doesn't see the reality of things, they take too much for granted, or ignore things they fear to speak or do something about for the most ridiculous reasons. Many people are too brainwashed and weak, as well. If something bad happens to them or a loved one of theirs, they instantly starts praying to some God for mercy, saving, or luck.

I hate that, how religion has robbed people of their self-esteem to be strong in themselves. They rely on something they don't know if it even exists. People say satanism is a bad thing, but it wants you to be strong and superior in yourself. To me, that is a very good thing. I guess powerful people like politicians, kings, and so on created religions to brainwash and make people weak(er) on purpose, so that they would more easily have control of everything and everyone under their rule.

BT: Can you tell me about your new demo, which is just called... "Into The Pentagram"?

Jackie: That is the title of our new demo, yes. We wanted it simple and classic. There are three new songs, all of which follow a concept of how Lucifer rises after he fell down to hell and now gains his followers into his empire. The concept will be continued on future releases. We pressed it in cassette-tapes for the old school feel, like a tribute to the tape-trading in the late 80's.

BT: Cassette-tape is certainly an odd way of releasing material today. How many copies did you make and how do you sell them? Will you release it digitally?

Jackie: It's probably quite unusual today, but that's exactly why it's so much more fun to do it like that! Everyone's doing it the digital way, which is impersonal and boring, and some are still doing CD which is also pretty boring. I like vinyls myself, but that's also quite usual right now, for the better though. There are many who do it, but we wanted to be a little more extreme, and therefore cassette-tapes was the choice to go.

We made a hundred copies and they're not for sale. We only distribute them to people who are worthy of a copy, which mostly is our friends and local fans. We do not have that many copies left, and we will never press it again for rarity reasons. As far as releasing it digitally goes, I don't know. We did that with Devastation and we got no response. If you do physical copies, you get lots of response, which obviously is way more fun and rewarding for us as the creators. No digital releases now, but time will tell. We'll probably put it on CD in the future, though.

BT: We're in for the last question now, Jackie. I would like you to tell us some musical influences of yours.

Jackie: As a band I'd say our biggest influences, these days, are bands like Samael, Watain, Dismember, Entombed, Danzig, Type O Negative, Septic Flesh, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Nocturnus, Rotting Christ, Vader, Darkthrone, Unleashed, Slayer, and many others. We've always been very open-mined and listen to pretty much all kinds of music. Personally I'm very much into heavy metal of the 1980's, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, and so on. Daniel's kind of more into 1990's alternative bands like Tool, Rollins Band, and so on. We like the same music, mostly. We're very much alike, both musically and personally. It's all good.

BT: Thanks for this time, Jackie. Good luck with Into The Pentagram and hopefully we'll chat soon enough again! Any last words?

Jackie: Yeah, thanks. Ehm... A big thanks to our supporters throughout the years. Hope you see you all soon! Later!



The demo review.....

"Into The Pentagram", cassette-tape. Score: 4/5


BT: Into The Pentagram have made their debut with their self-titled cassette-tape demo. Yes, you read that right. Formerly known as our local heroes Devastation, founding members Daniel Carlzon and Jackie Wacklin have started fresh and done a very dark and gritty concept story about the fall of Lucifer, and his rise to reign with a strong army of followers of the pentagram. An unusual theme for the everyday man perhaps, but for these guys it is the daily way of living life. Personally referring to themselves as Luciferians, these young men are very critical of both the usual religions as well as our political system.

Calling themselves Into The Pentagram, the band has chosen a new path in life and beliefs, which you can clearly hear compared to the old Devastation demos. Once more of a heavy-thrash metal act, the band now plays music more in the vein of Watain, Dismember and Rotting Christ. The music is very heavy, like it always was under their pens, but very aggressive, fast and dark compared to their old sound. This music is sure to please fans of more extreme metal music, but maybe not so many others.

We get three lengthy tracks that span for around seventeen minutes and varies some in composition. The first track "Lucifer Rises" is very aggressive and dramatic with a lot of dark atmospheres that is sure to get metal fans going. They follow it with "The Ritual" which seems to have taken inspiration from Watain's song "Outlaw", with tribal sounds and brutality. The self-titled ending epic piece sounds like the composition for a mass grave with a very strong riffing melody throughout, and a calm, dramatic lengthy outro to show man's march into the pentagram.

The demo sound is raw but still well balanced and clear. The guys play all instruments and do it really well. I could have liked some more variety and not so much of the extreme parts, but that will be my only complaint in this review. I'm looking forward to see what comes next from Into The Pentagram, and I'm sure that good things finally are ahead of them. Their flame is certainly burning once more.



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Overall I must say that it felt pretty strange to be interview about all this. An ended chapter of my life, as well as the opening of a new one. I still miss Devastation, but I'm really too stoked about Into The Pentagram to care that much. See you all soon! //Jackie