Tag Archives: Birmingham

Trashed Sabbath: Getting weird with Born Again.

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Black_sabbath_born_again_2004_retail_cd-frontI’ve long tried to come up with an excuse to write about Black Sabbath’s Born Again.  Most who’ve heard it will probably agree with me that it doesn’t belong on any top albums list you can thing of, yet it possesses a certain strange appeal that’s as much because of its flaws (of which there are many) as it is in spite of them.  As I was loading all the Black Sabbath I own onto my iTunes and got ’round to this 1983 disasterpiece, I finally said to hell with it, it’s time to devote some digital ink (not to be confused with the “Digital Bitch;” keep away from her) to one of the weirder metal albums in my collection.
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Black Sabbath – “God is Dead?”

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Normally I would never make an entire post revolving around a single song.  But “God is Dead?” isn’t just any song, it’s our first taste of 13, the first Black Sabbath full length to feature original members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler together in thirty-five years.  Given that there would be no heavy metal (or at least no heavy metal as we know it today) without these guys, it’s uh, kind of a big deal.
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Anaal Nathrakh – Vanitas (Candlelight, 2012)

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AnaalNathrakh_Vanitas_rgb-e1346952747622I haven’t exactly been keeping up with Anaal Nathrakh.  Sure, I’ve heard a track here and there over the years, but the last time I actually listened to a full album was 2004′s Domine Non Es Dignus.  It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in the band, in fact quite the contrary, I absolutely loved the balls-to-the-fucking-wall slab of filth-grinding extremity that was The Codex Necro, and the aforementioned Domine… received a glowing review from yours truly when I was writing for my college paper.  But the way Mick Kenney and Dave Hunt continuously crank out albums, especially when the music is so patently assaultive, is extremely overwhelming; I have a hard enough time keeping up with metal as it is.  So, here I am revisiting Anaal Nathrakh with Vanitas after missing four full lengths, and damn it feels good to be back.
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Napalm Death – Utilitarian (Century Media, 2012)

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Napalm Death are an institution.  In three decades of existence, they have remained at the forefront of extreme music, constantly evolving and refining their sound while at the same time staying true to the band’s roots in early grindcore and punk.  Despite the fact that there are no original members left in the lineup, they have never faltered in quality or watered down their singular vision in order to get ahead; their integrity and dedication has become something of a gold standard by which all other grindcore bands are judged.  Utilitarian is Napalm Death’s fourteenth album, and it finds the band sounding as potent and relevant as ever.
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