YET ANOTHER 6 Cult Classic Metal Albums Turning 30 Years Old in 2022 (Haven’t Heard ‘Em? Hang Your Head In Shame)!
Happy 30th birthday you brilliant bastards!
Incantation – Onward To Golgotha [USA]
Released: May 5th, 1992 via Relapse Records
Genre: Death Metal
Dark, evil and deliciously demonic, Incantation’s debut was the sound of descending into the wretched bowels of hell made flesh; unrelenting, extreme and as disturbing as a pit full of contorted, flesh-stripped bodies.
Just a cursory glance at the song titles unveils the bands intentions: “Blasphemous Cremation”, “Rotting Spiritual Embodiment,” “Christening the Afterbirth”. Revelling in sludgy, misanthropic malice, Onward To Golgotha is a masterpiece of doomy, dirge-ridden disease and should go down in history as one of the dirtiest sounding death metal records to be released.
If Incantation’s modus operandi was to disturb and disgust then they should consider themselves 100% effective. In the annals of death metal few can live up to this sick blast of grandiose extremity and in a genre where it can be notoriously difficult to stand out from the pack, Incantation’s diabolical debut elevated them to the upper echelons of the scene.
Sorrow – Hatred And Disgust [USA]
Released: October 6th, 1992 via Roadrunner Records
Genre: Death /Doom
Hatred and disgust….there’s no more apt a way to describe Sorrow‘s one and only album. This malicious beast positively oozes negativity and its slovenly dirges of dank dismay are as compellingly disgusting as ever!
Featuring the guitar work of Brett Clarin (Journey Into Darkness), Sorrow were a fearsome act whose decent into hell favoured a more simplistic and brutal approach, but one that was no less powerful because of it.
The likes of “Forced Repression” were hardly doom incarnate – with enough old-school death metal circa Obituary to sate the appetites of true early 90’s death metal fanatics – but they were arguably at their best when slowing….things…right down…. such as on the efficiently evil “Human Error”.
A hidden gem!
Thought Industry – Songs For Insects [USA]
Released: May 8th, 1992 via Metal Blade Records
Genre: Progressive Thrash Metal
As ‘cult’ as they come, Thought Industry‘s debut album, Songs For Insects, arrived a little late in the day to make the impact it deserved, but the same can be said for many a thrash band who tried to twist thrash into new forms as the 90’s marched on.
An experience that blurs the lines of what ‘thrash’ was legitimately ‘allowed’ to achieve, Thought Industry‘s stream of consciousness approach may result in a hyper-speed blur of seemingly unconnected ideas, but dig deep and Songs For Insect‘s fearless approach and mesmerising musicianship soon reveals itself.
Suffice to say, fans of the often unwieldy Deathrow‘s Deception Ignored, Dark Angel‘s Time Does Not Heal and Anacrusis‘ Manic Impressions should get a kick out of Songs For Insect‘s labyrinthine song structures and off-kilter time signatures.
Criminally underrated.
Also in this series:
Leave a comment