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In The Eyes of Delayed Gratification

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  Way back in the day, I saw what I remember as a full-page ad for Century Media's 1991 death metal compilation, In The Eyes of Death . As a budding death metal enthusiast, the title and artwork fascinated me but I bought one because money was tight and full-length albums were higher on my list of things to get. Never seeing a copy in the wild didn't help, either. Last week, after 30+ years, I finally got a copy. It does not disappoint. Beyond nostalgia and Axel Hermann's incredible cover art, what makes this comp special is that it captures demo tracks from 6 important death metal bands at the birth of their careers: Unleashed ,  Asphyx ,  Tiamat , Morgoth ,  Grave , and  Loudblast . Five of them would go on to lengthy relationships with Century Media (Loudblast went elsewhere, largely France's Listenable Records). Here's the tracklist for the US CD pressing*: Unleashed, "Unleashed" Unleashed, "Dead Forever" Unleashed, "In They Had Eyes...
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Mix Tape 004

Listen Now 1. Krabathor, "Orthodox" CZECH REPUBLIC - Furious and catchy title track from the band's 5th album , released in 1998 on Morbid Records. Gnarly stuff. Not much else to say. 2. Sympathy, "Cup of Demons" CANADA -  Taken from Sympathy's 2002 album,  Invocation . At the time, Sympathy was just a dude  with a drum machine and heaps of ambition delivering great early '00s tech death metal. Sympathy is s till going strong, now with a full lineup for their 4th full-length, just released in 2002. Bandcamp 3. Impaler, "Imminence of The Final Punishment" UNITED KINGDOM - This murky bit of business originates from the band's 1992 full-length Charnel Deity  on Deaf Records (Peaceville imprint), but I pulled it from Grind Core Records' 1993 compilation Grind Core's Death Row  which is a terrific bargain with great mastering. Nice mix of Grind Core's roster and their licensed tracks from Deaf. Discogs Marketplace 4. Authorize, ...
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Mix Tape 003

Eleven tracks of old-school death metal. Selections include '90s demos and underground albums. Listen Now Playlist 1. Fulmination, "New Gods" SWEDEN - Second track of their 1992 demo, Through Fire . Recorded at Dan Swano's Gorysound studio in the early winter. 2. Afterlife, "Dead Lights Glare" USA / Indiana - Speedy closer to their sole full-length Surreality  (1992).  Technical for its time. Surreality  was r eleased on underground Midwest label Grind Core Records.  3. Sacretomia, "Putrid Remains" SWEDEN - Chunky and heavy with a nice doom section at the end. Taken from the debut Altar of Sin  demo (1992). 4. Cerecloth, "Beautiful Lying Faces" UK - Taken from their 1993 single,  Encrusted In An Oaken Legend . Released by GWB Records. Simplistic and bludgeoning with decent production. Flute! 5. Necropsy, "Morbid Trauma" GERMANY - Of the 8 million metal bands called Necropsy, it's this one . Neck-snapping death with thrash un...
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Mix Tape 002

Thirteen tracks of old-school death metal. Selections include '90s demos and underground albums, modern works from old masters, and remasters of classic titles. Listen Now Playlist 1. Amorbital, "Inside The Bodyshell" SLOVAKIA - Taken from their 1998 album, Invidia . Available for Name Your Price on Bandcamp from Tryzna Productions. BONUS: Tryzna’s entire 64-release discography is currently available for .80 Euros . That’s less than a buck for this album, another one later in the show, several more Slovakia ‘90s death metal releases, and a slew of modern death and black metal. 2. Purtenance, "Crown Waits The Immortal" FINLAND - Title track of their 1991 7" EP. The EP was included on Xtreem Music's 2011 remaster/reissue of their '92 classic Member of Immortal Damnation.  Available on  Bandcamp . 3. Lemming Project, "Washed" GERMANY - Taken from their second album, Hate And Despise , released by Century Media in 1992. Cheap, quirky, old-s...
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Mix Tape 001

Nine track mix of old-school death metal. Selections include '90s demos and underground albums, modern works from old masters, and remasters of classic titles. Listen Now Playlist 1. Sickening Gore [Switzerland], "Blood For Tears" Taken from their 1993 album,  Destructive Reality. 2. Purulence [Canada], Devoted To Lunacy Featuring Steeve Hurdle ( Gorguts ). Taken from the band's 1993 demo. 3. Mercyless [France], "Banished From Heaven" Taken from the band's 2020 full-length, The Mother of All Plagues 4. Hazael, "Episode 29" Taken from their 1995 cassette, "When The Sun Is Dead" 5. Sacred Sin, "Firethrone" Take from their 1999 album Anguish…I Harvest 6. Violent Dirge, "Explain Away" Take from their 1995 album, Craving  [Moon Records]. 7. Beheaded, "Rigorous Aberration" Taken from their legendary 1995  Souldead  demo. 8. Warlord UK, "Disintegration" Taken from their 1995  Maximum Carnage  album. 9....
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Cancer 2021 2xCD reissues

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I recently picked up two of the 2018 Peaceville Cancer reissues: Cancer - 1990 - To The Gory End [2xCD 2021 RE] Cancer - 1991 - Death Shall Rise [2xCD 2021 RE, RM] I was expecting a matching set, but it's not: To The Gory End — Original or at least very dynamically remastered audio. Second disc of cleaned up and remastered demos. Wrapped in an O-Card, no liner notes. Death Shall Rise — Pretty well remastered audio. A second disc with a live show recorded before this album was released. I think there's only 1 song from this album in the set and I'm not sure if James Murphy was in the band at that point. No O-card (Discogs shows this is a repress an earlier release with an O-card), a fun recent band interview in the booklet. By buying the two together you essentially get a very deluxe edition of the first album (demos, live set, interview, etc.), and a nice reissue of the second. They also reissued the 3rd album, Sins of Mankind as a single disc. Not sure about remastering...
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Violent Dirge - 1995 - Craving

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The sophomore full-length release of Poland's   Violent Dirge   is a fantastic platter of intricate, noodling King Crimson worship in the guise of ripping, technical   Cynic -esque death/thrash. Whereas Cynic had fallen off the death/thrash stool into transcendental meditation and feelings by the time they recorded    Focus , Violent Dirge maintain their metal spine no matter how far out they drift in the technicality.   Vader   they are not, nor even   Dies Irae   or   Sceptic , but there's still sinister intent behind the washes of ambience.  Highly recommended. Originally released on cassette in 1995 by Loud Out Records , it was later reissued on CD by Moon Records (Ukraine) in 2003. Prices for the CD are in the $150 range on Discogs. YouTube: Violent Dirge - Craving [Full Album] Here's a link to their first release as well for good measure:  Violent Dirge (Pol) - Elapse (Album 1993)
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