Better with age?
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Topic: Better with age?
Posted By: Vim Fuego
Subject: Better with age?
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2021 at 1:32am
I recently listened to this for the first time in years... Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction
...and it was better than I remembered. Yeah, I didn't like it much compared to what had come before. It was slow and a bit clunky like Metallica's Black album when I was wanting more fast and heavy thrash like the previous albums. This wasn't it.
Listening to it now though, it's damn good. Yes, Symphony of Destruction has been played to death, but to back it up there's some incredible songs. The title track, Architecture of Aggression, Foreclosure of a Dream, This Was My Life, Ashes in Your Mouth are all killers. There's still a couple of clunkers, like High Speed Dirt and Psychotron, but the good songs outweigh the bad. And I enjoyed this album.
So I thought, what else have I been dismissing and haven't listened to in years because I didn't really like it initially? So I'm going to go through my collection and check out albums from bands I generally like, but I don't think much of a particular album. So next...
Kreator - Coma Of Souls
I'm not really sure why I didn't like this, but it could be because it didn't sound like Extreme Aggression. It doesn't quite have the ripping rhythm guitar sound or memorable riffs. What I didn't know at the time is it sounds more like Terrible Certainty and Pleasure to Kill, and what I also didn't know was they were amazing albums. And so is this. It's no Extreme Aggression. It's Coma of Souls, and it's amazing in it's own right.
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Replies:
Posted By: Archisorcerus
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2021 at 4:28am
It just gets better & better with each listen. A timeless progressive metal masterpiece! Beyond Twilight - For the Love of Art and the Making
An underrated gem! Never loses its appeal! Darkology - Darkology
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2021 at 4:37pm
Napalm Death - Harmony Corruption
I didn't really like this when I first bought it because it seemed a bit dry and boring. I still don't like it because it's still dry and boring.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 30 Jun 2021 at 5:29pm
Nocturnus - Thresholds
I don't know if I was drunk or stupid when I decided I didn't like this. It's fucking incredible. Old school technical death metal at it's best.
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Posted By: adg211288
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2021 at 12:41am
I think my most notable better with age album would have to be Imaginaerum by Nightwish. That's gone from 'this sucks' to my second favourite by them over the years.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 01 Jul 2021 at 7:31pm
Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape I didn't think much of this as the first Helloween studio album I bought. It seemed a bit saccharine sweet and soft. It still does. And heavy metal hamsters can fuck right off as one of the dumbest metal songs ever written!
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 02 Jul 2021 at 1:45am
AC/DC - Black Ice
I must have been in a bad mood when I rated this originally. It's really pretty good. No, it's not a classic like Back in Black or Highway To Hell, but not many AC/DC albums are. But this has all the ingredients of a solid AC/DC album. There's a handful of genuinely brilliant songs, like Rock 'N' Roll Train, the title track, and War Machine. And then the rest is solid, slightly formulaic filler. But it's a good formula, and AC/DC's filler is the equivalent to many other bands' killer.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2021 at 12:46pm
Testament - The Ritual
I remember this being a bit dull and soulless. My memory was correct. It's just so boring! There are a couple of banging tracks, but otherwise all the spiky edges had been sanded off. I remember reading that Eric Peterson was really unhappy with this album. He wanted to get heavier, like Sepultura, but parts of this are almost commercial. There's a grunge-ish influence coming through. A couple of songs have a definite Soundgarden feel to them.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2021 at 4:33pm
D.R.I. - Thrash Zone
Well... I was REALLY wrong about this one! Not listened in years. Dirty and rotten these boys might have been, but imbeciles they were not. Lyrically very intelligent and socially aware. Musically, there's a lot more going on than I initially thought. I'd reviewed this album, and absolutely panned it. I disagree with the review entirely now, so I got rid of it. Gotta make up for lost time here.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2021 at 6:47pm
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
I thought this was a load of shit first time I heard it. Still do.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 05 Jul 2021 at 8:43pm
Accept - Eat The Heat
For metal legends, this album is very lacking in metal. It's basically late 80s radio friendly hard rock. There's a couple of OK tracks, but overall it's pretty bland. It's no better now than 30 years ago.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 06 Jul 2021 at 1:45pm
Annihilator - Set The World On Fire
If anything, this has gotten worse with age. I found myself getting more and more frustrated with it the longer I listened. Annihilator had so much potential, and threw it all away on this total abortion. There are a few flashes of the brilliance which gave us Alice In Hell, but it's mostly a mess. I used to like Brain Dance, but even that's gone now. I might never revisit this again.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 06 Jul 2021 at 5:33pm
Overkill - I Hear Black
Better than I remember. It's never going to be considered a classic, and isn't an all-out thrasher, but there's some really solid tunes here. This album demonstrated where thrash was at the time it was released in 1993 - a bit lost and looking to expand horizons. It was just no-one really knew which way to go.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2021 at 4:39pm
Suffocation - Pierced From Within
Upped my rating from 1 star to 2, but it's still boring.
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: 07 Jul 2021 at 5:43pm
It works both ways.
Some albums ARE better with age.
Some actually become less interesting.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 1:58am
siLLy puPPy wrote:
It works both ways.
Some albums ARE better with age.
Some actually become less interesting.
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I have a lot of older albums which I'm less interested in now due to over-listening, like the first five Metallicas, the early Megadeths, Appetite For Destruction, Hysteria etc., but I really want to stick to albums I haven't revisited much for various reasons. I'm trying to mix up the genres a bit, but they are mostly gonna be old thrash albums, because that's what I have lots of.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 7:14pm
Candlemass - Chapter VI
Good but not great. Should have given it more listens than I did, but doesn't have the immediate appeal of previous albums.
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: 08 Jul 2021 at 7:32pm
Vim Fuego wrote:
siLLy puPPy wrote:
It works both ways.
Some albums ARE better with age.
Some actually become less interesting.
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I have a lot of older albums which I'm less interested in now due to over-listening, like the first five Metallicas, the early Megadeths, Appetite For Destruction, Hysteria etc., but I really want to stick to albums I haven't revisited much for various reasons. I'm trying to mix up the genres a bit, but they are mostly gonna be old thrash albums, because that's what I have lots of. |
Sometimes it's not age, it's exposure. Some albums just require more listening and then need to simmer in the noggin for a few years!
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 3:22am
Exodus - Pleasures of the Flesh
For some reason I didn't click with this album, probably because of the albums either side of it. Dunno why. It fucking rips.
Onslaught - In Search Of Sanity
The vocals, the fucking vocals! Too damn melodic and soft for the music. This was like a hard rock version of what Onslaught should have been. Nige Rockett wasn't Joey Belladonna, and Onslaught wasn't Anthrax. Some of the songs here are still hard and thrashy as fuck, and Welcome to Dying is a masterpiece, but the vocals are just wrong. And Asylum is a really shit, really long ambient intro.
Obituary - Frozen in Time
I dunno why I've only listened to this a couple of times, but it's fucking excellent. More than solid Obituary album.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 12 Jul 2021 at 11:29pm
Death - Spiritual Healing
I'm never going to love this album like I do with the two before it, but I think I've made my peace with it. It's good, solid old school death metal, but just sounds a bit dry compared to Leprosy. There's some fucking amazing passages in some of the songs, but then other times it sounds like scraps from the Leprosy sessions. The move away from gore based lyrics was a risky move at the time when a lot of bands were going for maximum splatter, which might be part of the problem I had with it when it first came out, because I loved the carnage. However, listening now the lyrics are pretty smart and more thoughtful than I'd considered. Glad I gave it another listen. It'll get a few more spins in the future.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2021 at 5:36pm
Forbidden - Twisted Into Form
Wow, is my memory fucked! This album is fucking brilliant. It just didn't get the play the debut did. I have no idea why...
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2021 at 12:51am
KISS - Hot In The Shade
I literally listened to this only once, so I wasn't expecting much at all, but fuck me, it's actually listenable. There's a couple of half decent songs, the percentage of filler is smaller than usual, and even those filler songs are better than usual. Love the cover too.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2021 at 1:30pm
Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber
Oh fuck, why did I bother? The only positive thing I can say is at least it's not Korn.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2021 at 4:38pm
Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos
I remember there being a bit of a buzz around the time this was released. I was living in South Korea at the time and went and bought it soon after it's release. At the time I thought it was OK, but nothing super-impressive. I still don't think it's super-impressive. It's mildly interesting background music. It really doesn't do it for me.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2021 at 8:36pm
Testament - Souls of Black
1990 saw the release of a number of incredible thrash and death metal albums. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of them. It didn't grab me then, and sounds quite dated now. This was Testament's 4th album in 4 years, and maybe the cupboard was a little bare.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2021 at 12:57pm
In Flames - The Jester Race
Better than I remembered, but it's still probably not gonna get a lot of listens.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2021 at 12:55pm
Metallica - St. Anger
Dark Angel said it best - time does not heal. This is still fucking dreadful. I think it may eternally remain so.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 12:26pm
Machine Head - The Burning Red
I may have judged this too harshly. Yes, it's got a few nu-metal turds floating in the bath, but in between, there are some fucking powerful bangers, which I haven't heard in years. Just listened to a bit of a podcast about the recording of this album, and the song "Five" sounds like it was quite traumatic to record. Oh yeah, and Robb Flynn hates that "Message In A Bottle" is the most popular song here, because it was just meant to be a bonus track.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 1:30pm
Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges
Well this is decidedly fucking average. Some of this seems to veer into power metal territory. There's the odd good song, but it's mostly unremarkable, and it's no wonder I haven't listened to it in years.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 2:40pm
M.O.D. - U.S.A. for M.O.D.
Offensive as fuck? Yeah, but it was supposed to be. Still OK in the modern world? Probably not. But hey, Varg apologists still listen to Burzum and justify it by saying they just like the music and don't agree with the lyrics, so I'm doing the same. The difference? Billy Milano has apologised for a lot of his most offensive lyrics (Aren't You Hungry? and A.I.D.S.) while Varg is still a right wing extremist nutjob.
Anyway, hadn't listened to this for years because I only have it on cassette, and no longer have a player. It's also not on Spotify. When you get past the most offensive stuff, there are a couple of absolute gems on here, and then some total clunkers. Still not an album for polite company...
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 3:53pm
Re-Animator - Laughing
I absolutely savaged this when I reviewed it. Perhaps I was too harsh, but this really isn't very good. There are a couple of great songs, but there's also a load of farting around with acoustics and funk, neither of which the band were very good at.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 5:56pm
Jesus Martyr - Sudamerican Porno
This one brings back some memories. I got this in a tape trade with an Argentinian guy called Nikarsh, who I used to chat with on ICQ way back in the late 90s. Anyway, it's a good mix of groove, thrash and industrial metal. There's some absolutely ripping songs on this.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 26 Jul 2021 at 6:44pm
Hecate Enthroned - Upon Promethean Shores (Unscriptured Waters)
I remember why I traded this now - boring!
One of the guitar players from this band used to post on the Terrorizer message boards, and some guys would take the piss out of him calling the band Hecate Encloned, because they sounded like Cradle of Filth. Listening now, the similarity isn't that great.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2021 at 3:07pm
Winger - Winger
Blech! Winger deserved every single moment of abuse and ridicule flung at them by Beavis and Butthead! This is just dreadful. It doesn't even qualify for an ironic/nostalgic trip back to the 80s.
I bought it with a handful of other old tapes - 10 for $10 I think. I think there's Trixter, Kingdom Come, Poison, and something else awful I can't quite remember in that lot. It seemed like a good idea at the time...
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2021 at 3:56pm
Impaled Nazarene - Ugra Karma
One of the downsides to tape trading in the 90s is that you forgot you had a lot of good stuff because you didn't have artwork etc. This is one of those. Still mad as fuck. Still excellent.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 27 Jul 2021 at 8:02pm
Slipknot - Slipknot
Just... nah.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 28 Jul 2021 at 3:06pm
Doctor and The Crippens - Raphanadosis
This is better than I remembered. Another tape trade from decades ago. It's pretty chaotic and a bit rough. It's like Sore Throat with more melodic vocals (Glen Danzig melodic, not Bruce Dickinson!)
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 28 Jul 2021 at 5:21pm
Soulfly - Soulfly
Such a mixed album. A couple of stunning tracks, and then big piles of shit. No, still don't like it.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 02 Aug 2021 at 7:02pm
Extreme - Pornograffitti
Don't like it, but maybe not as bad as I remembered. A hard listen, although Nuno Bettancourt can fucking shred, and Hole Hearted is still a catchy little tune.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 03 Aug 2021 at 5:57pm
Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet?
Another trade. Sometimes with trades (up to CD-rs by now) you end up getting stuff you don't really want. Like this. Me and Bodom never really got on. As a death metal album, this is complete arse. However, I reconsidered it a little. This is more an exercise in death metal as pop music. There's melodies and harmonies, and most of the abrasive edges filed off. When I think of it like that, it's not quite so bad...
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 04 Aug 2021 at 12:43pm
Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions
Another trade. This just seems a bit bland and flavourless. Not my thing back then when it was new, not my thing now.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 04 Aug 2021 at 2:34pm
Deftones - Around The Fur
Another one I bought new and then sold. More metal than most nu-metal, but fuck those vocals are annoying. I stand by the decision to sell this. Not something I'd listen to much... ever.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2021 at 5:39pm
Dismember - Massive killing Capacity
Surprisingly not very well received on release. This is an absolute fucking beast of an album! I'd play it more if I had it on CD, or if it was on Spotify (had to resort to YouTube).
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Posted By: Tupan
Date Posted: 10 Aug 2021 at 11:56am
^and the cover art is fucking awesome
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 10 Aug 2021 at 1:16pm
Make A Difference Foundation - Stairway To Heaven/Highway to Hell
Yeah, no. This is still fucking awful.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 16 Aug 2021 at 7:24pm
Cryptopsy - Once Was Not
I've never quite understood the fuss about Cryptopsy, and quite honestly, I still don't. This has technicality, skill, and precision bleeding out the ass, but it doesn't have memorable songs.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 16 Aug 2021 at 9:38pm
Machine Head - Supercharger
Not quite the nu-metal abortion I remembered, but just not very interesting. It has it's moments, just not enough.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 17 Aug 2021 at 6:32pm
Demoniac - Prepare for War
Featuring a pre-DragonForce Sam Totman, this is a lot better than I remember. It's pretty lo-fi and amateurish in places, but that's what makes it fun. There's quite a variety of sounds here too, and a damn fine Bathory cover.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 18 Aug 2021 at 6:00pm
L7 - The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum
I love Bricks are Heavy, and thrashed Hungry for Stink (I got a free longsleeve with that which I wore for years til it fell to bits!) but for some reason I never fell in love with this one quite the same. I probably never will do either, but it's still pretty fucking good.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 19 Aug 2021 at 5:19pm
Xentrix - Kin
I was disappointed when this came out because the band had slowed down considerably. However, it's heavy as fuck. For a band often accused of being Metallica copycats, this is more a Countdown to Extinction heavy than a Black Album heavy. See Through You is a fucking incredible song. And unfortunately, No More Time is incredibly shit.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2021 at 12:46pm
Nuclear Assault - Something Wicked
What a fucking awful album cover! Yet another trade. This really didn't grab me at all. Listening to it now, there are a couple of outstanding tracks, but those are when the band put their foot down and play fast. When they play slow, the songs are OK, but unremarkable. Still, I need to listen to it more often.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 22 Aug 2021 at 3:11pm
Aerosmith - Pump
Much better than I remembered. There's some great songs on here, like Don't Get Mad, Get Even. Still won't get many listens, but glad I revisited it.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2021 at 4:25pm
Raging Speedhorn - Raging Speedhorn
Wow! This is excellent! Sludge metal can get a bit samey and dull sometimes, but not in this case. The band uses a variety of tempos, which helps a lot..
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2021 at 6:21pm
Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden
OK, so Jon Schaeffer turned out to be a cunt, but listening to this, he's a talented cunt. It's a pity he didn't just stick to music. And Ripper Owens is a fucking amazing vocalist, even if he didn't suit Judas Priest. He's the best thing here. The songs are jingoistic war glorifying bullshit, but the music is pretty fucking solid otherwise.
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Posted By: Vim Fuego
Date Posted: 23 Aug 2021 at 6:54pm
Oath To Vanquish - Applied Schizophrenic Science
Fucking amazing! Brutal death metal from Lebanon.
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