Bands everybody else labels as mediocre but you love anyways

[Witchkiller]

only Blow your speakers and Violence and bloodshed are pure garbage.

no way man..blow your speakers kills!

WE ROCK'N'ROOOOOOOOOLL!

[ION BRITTON]

Well to each his own, I personally can't stand one bit of it.

[DMR]

I don't like Blow Your Speakers, but I can tolerate it. It's the only weakness of the album.

[King Zombie]

Venom

[Cochino]

Who labels Venom as mediocre?

[The Knell]

Who labels Venom as mediocre?

maybe he means post cronos. post cronos era was great , so underrated.

[Cochino]

I wouldn't say "great", but there are a few good songs there. I think The Wastelands is my favorite. Black Legions is a great track.

[King Zombie]

"Highly praised critics" (who can suck my mutafukin balls) Venom are goods second only to Black Sabbath.

[DaN]

Was looking around for the proper ancient thread to necromance and this one felt the most fitting. KRATOS-review added to the site:


KRATOS - Iron Beast EP 1985 review



Lovers? Haters? Marry/Fuck/Kill?

(...and sorry for a few weeks of abscense. Been crazy busy with scanning tons of zines and other less visible site-work.)

[bigfootkit]

KRATOS-review added to the site:

A thoroughly entertaining read as always DaN, great job.
Re your question about the cover 'art': "exactly what kind of technique was being used here?". I've puzzled over this question myself & my best guess is that it's been painted on a sheet of acetate overlaid on a photograph. It's a theory that goes someway towards explaining the accuracy of the background, which is wholly absent in the 'iron beast' itself. If you're out there Tom Szakal can you set the record straight for us?
Am i alone in thinking that the cover art may have played a part in the sniffy way 'Iron Beast' is sometimes viewed? If they'd only used that excellent logo from the rear cover as the front i believe it may have gotten a fairer hearing.
BTW, on line 2 you've used 'weather' when i think you meant 'whether'.

[VictimeDelExil]

Glory Bells Band is definitely one of those bands where it's somewhat mediocre, so understandable why a lot of people would rate them that way, but their good songs have really catchy hooks and great riffs.
Fate isn't exactly top-shelf AOR but I like the atmosphere on their first couple albums, they also had good hooks.
Nightmare is a band that is rated a lot lower than Sortilege, ADX, Blaspheme, etc. but IMO they are at the top-shelf of straight-forward French HM along with Attentat Rock.

[great_knuthulhu]

Just read your review, Dan. Totally agree with the comparisons. Listening to Kratos right now, hearing some Lester Maddox in there (which is surely a coincidence, probably in recording and production). Chainsaw is a great track - pure mayhem. Not Mayhem though, more Venom or Motorhead.

[bigfootkit]

Chainsaw is a great track - pure mayhem. Not Mayhem though, more Venom or Motorhead.

Nicely done sir!

[great_knuthulhu]

Chainsaw is a great track - pure mayhem. Not Mayhem though, more Venom or Motorhead.

Nicely done sir!

Good thing someone else here is tolerant of a bad sense of humour

[DaN]

Glory Bells Band is definitely one of those bands where it's somewhat mediocre, so understandable why a lot of people would rate them that way, but their good songs have really catchy hooks and great riffs.
Fate isn't exactly top-shelf AOR but I like the atmosphere on their first couple albums, they also had good hooks.
Nightmare is a band that is rated a lot lower than Sortilege, ADX, Blaspheme, etc. but IMO they are at the top-shelf of straight-forward French HM along with Attentat Rock.

Both the French Nightmare and Glory Bells suffered from the same ailment in my book: Slightly annoying vocals. As in a bit too nasal. Other than that I'd agree that the music in pretty much up to snuff.