Cannibal Corpse-"Eaten back to Life"-1990

Had to get to these guys sooner or later. First off, I am NOT a fan of this group; never have been, never will be. But you can`t argue with success, and Cannibal Corpse have one of the most devoted followings of any Metal Band around! This is the album that started it for them, and in the process influenced millions of cheesey bands to follow in their bloody footsteps. Damned if I can figure out WHY! Must be a lot more serial killers out there than previously thought. Who ELSE could appreciate songs w/ titles like "Edible Autopsy", "Born in a Casket", "Skullfull of Maggots"? Whatever....

Pestilence-"Consuming Impulse"-1990

Oh,YEAH! Now THIS is more like it! Ultra BRUTAL Dutch Death from bassist/vocalist Martin van Druen & company. This baby totally rips your head off from start to finish with speed,power, and just plain RAW ENERGY! Produced by the legendary Harris Johns [Sodom, Kreator] this album, their 2nd, was a marked improvement all the way around; Song-writing, musicianship, quality production, it all came together here. As near to perfection as this genre has ever come [I like this disc, can you tell?], Pestilence never topped this one. The main reasons being that van Druen left soon after [to join Asphyx] and the remaining members changed styles, going for a more technical, almost progressive sound ala Death, Atheist, Cynic, etc. The result? Well, guess which band ain`t around anymore? Still, for sheer heaviness, "Consuming Impulse" can`t be beat. Choice cuts: Every F%#*`n one of `em!!

Obituary -"Slowly We Rot"-1989

More Florida Death! These guys popped up about the same time as Morbid Angel, Deicide,and many others, with a sound that owed much to Sabbath, but played at twice the speed. The most distinguishing feature of this band is the pure Death-Grunt vocals of John Tardy. In later interviews,Tardy admitted that on this album there were no words to the songs, per se; he just added whatever sounded right at the moment. True or not, the results were impressive enough, and Obituary became highly regarded in the Death scene, based on tunes like"Internal Bleeding","Words of Evil", "`Til Death", & "Suffocation". Later albums, however, pretty much sounded alike and I lost track of them after "Slowly.."

Sepultura-"Morbid Visions"-1987

Death from Brazil! Sepultura [Portugese for "grave"] were as primitive as it gets on this album; Garbage can production values, so-so musicianship and all-too obvious influences of better known bands in the genre, marred this release. But this 4-piece MORE than made up for these shortcomings with that old Rock & Roll equalizer, ENERGY! Sheer ferocity, blinding speed, and total dedication to their craft helped Sepultura gain a foothold in the Metal community. These guys played like they meant every note, and they blew the doors off most of the competition, both at home AND here in the States [as well as Europe]! The band matured w/ each album, but after 1989s "Beneath the Remains" [their best, I think] the band seemed to be spinning their wheels and I tuned out after that. "Morbid Visions" is included on this page because of the albums more Satanic overtones. Memories, memories...

This one-off project featured members of some of the top Death/Grind bands of the day; bassist David Vincent & drummer Pete Sandoval, both of Morbid Angel; vocalist Oscar Garcia of Nausea, and guitarist Jesse Pintado, of Nausea and later Napalm Death. Recorded in Florida at Morrisound Studios by Scott Burns [like 90% of the bands on this page!], this 16 track is among each of the members best work, and combines all the best elements of the Death/Grind/Thrash/Hardcore sound to create the audio equivalent of having your head blown off at close range! Tracks such as "After World Obliteration", "Fear of Napalm", "Corporation Pull-in", and the title cut contain more cool riffs than most bands come up with in a life-time! A classic!