MISSED OPPORTUNITIES — PLAYING CATCH-UP

 

(TheMadIsraeli wrote and packaged together this series of mini-reviews of 2020 albums he wants to recommend.)

So many albums I’m trying to catch up on and reviews I’m still trying to pump out, but I figured in the meantime I’d offer this collection of mini-reviews of albums I recommend.

STATIC-X

Static-X I think are a pretty niche band, but I personally loved their brand of dance groove industrial metal.  I thought Wayne Static was a great vocalist, and except for a couple of questionable albums, their discography was always reliably good, assuming you liked the premise of their sound.  Project: Regeneration Vol.1 is the first in a series of two albums that Wayne Static had started demo-ing prior to his death in 2014.  Helmed by the band’s OG lineup of bassist Tony Campos, guitarist Koichi Fukuda, and drummer Ken Jay, the band decided they’d try to pay tribute to their departed friend and bandmate while doing something for the fans, and finish what he started.

The record features vocals restored and tuned from the demos they found, and while it’s awfully eerie to be listening to a posthumous performance, it’s evident that Wayne Static was feeling inspired when he wrote this material.  It’s very reminiscent of early ’90s prime Static-X, so if you like that, Project: Regeneration Vol.1 is a great listen.

 

 

 

 

 

NAGLFAR

Naglfar are one of my favorite black metal bands of all time.  There has always been just something so honest, pure, and vicious about their music since they started.  I meant to review this when it would’ve been more relevant to do so, but doing a full-length review now just feels kind of arbitrary, given how past the release we are.

Naglfar’s passion for making sinister, dark, and technical melodic black metal is on full display on Cerecloth and the music is a consistently propulsive blazing black hellfire of rage.  Naglfar are always at the top of the black metal zeitgeist for me when they release an album in whatever year it may be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CENTINEX

Centinex released one of the year’s best more old school styled death metal records this year with Death In Pieces.  While I’m still finding it jarring that this band went from technical melodic death metal to this in their comeback, their output has been consistently, relentlessly, crushing and militant.  Definitely worth checking out (and you can read a more in-depth review by DGR here).

 

 

 

 

 

HEMOTOXIN

Hemotoxin have always been kind of a downplayed technical death metal band that are honestly excellent.  I’ve seen this band often labeled as “progressive thrash/death metal” and I have no idea what these people are smoking.  This is technical death metal.  Throw in a little Suffocation, latter-era Morbid Angel, and a bit of Decapitated, and you have Restructure The Molded Mind.  Definitely worth checking out.

 

 

 

 

 

RED METHOD

Red Method are clearly in love with the early primitive days of Nu Metal, the heavier side of it presented through bands like Slipknot or Mudvayne.  What Red Method do is essentially… extreme nu metal?  Imagine early Slipknot, but it’s run through even heavier lenses with more attempts to include death metal, hardcore, and other extreme elements.  For me, For The Sick was an enjoyable change-of-pace listening experience.  Really good if you want something that’s just aggro as fuck and has a primitive ’90s edge.

 

 

 

See you guys next full-length review.  Stay safe out there.