Marduk- "Nighwing"
Released in 1997, "Nightwing" is the first of Marduk's "Blood, War, and Death" trilogy and a concept album about the 15th Century Wallachian Prince Vlad Tepes. If that isn't fucking metal, I don't know what is.
Today is the Day- "Sadness Will Prevail"
Another concept record (I'm sensing a pattern), "Sadness..." demonstrates the creative genius of Steve Austin who described this record as an "extreme metal version of The Wall." Combining heaviness with beauty, schizophrenia with sane focus, and the unexpected with the standard, this record is still miles ahead of many and comparable to virtually none.
Cathedral- "The Etheral Mirror"
One of the bands responsible for the revival of the entire doom metal genre, Cathedral's 1993 sophomore effort displayed their doom metal roots and began their experimentation with stoner rock that would continue throughout their career. The fact that so few of my friends like this band still pisses me off. I am currently working on a review of their last album that you can expect to see on this site by the end of the week.
Disrupt- "Unrest"
The standard bearer for crust punk in the 1990s, "Unrest" is a no holds barred assault on the ears, tradition, social convention, capitalism, globalism, corporate greed, animal abusers, and just about everything else you were taught in public school. If anyone says they "grew out" of this record, they probably either never understood it or never were into it to begin with.
That's all for now, I have to get back to work.
- Joe