Tag Archives: chains

SKULL102

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DESOLATION ANGELS, Feels Like Thunder  (2008, Cyclone Empire)

The skull:
Now here’s a skull that’s seen better days. At the present moment depicted on the cover, the skull is attempting to bite away at manacles that ensnare his wrists. Usually any sign of a skeleton disqualifies a skull from entering these hallowed halls, but even the limbs shown are partial, and not obviously connected to any kind of body. And without any kind of neck or spine bones visible, this skull floats in its imprisoned doom. The nasal hole is of a particularly triangular shape, as if the drawer of the skull lost his skull reference book. The skull also sports quite a bony bulge above his right eye, and that eye is clouded in yellow. You can tell this skull’s been through absolute hell, and he’s trying not to take it anymore.

The music:
Feels Like Thunder is a collection of 4 CDs anthologizing this well-regarded NWOBHM band’s studio, demo and live recordings. Their run lasted the entire ’80s decade, and while it’s on the darker, rawer, heavier side of that British metal movement, I’m still left a little cold with much of it. Some of the band’s material sounds like early ’80s Blue Oyster Cult when BOC were attempting a more metallic direction, and generally there’s a very likable vibe here. Lots of NWOBHM is just super-raw pub rock, but not Desolation Angels; this is heavy metal through and through. And although there’s a lot to like from the movement (Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Gaskin, Legend), I personally end up appreciating most of the other bands for what they kick-started without loving the music itself. And what they kick-started were the bands from the U.S. and German thrash movements, and the later speed and power metal also. Sorry, but Desolation Angels aren’t the avatars of NWOBHM perfection that many make them out to be, but to each his own…for my own, there’s still hardly anything better than Gaskin’s End of the World!
— Friar Wagner

SKULL66

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MEGADETH, Killing is My Business…And Business is Good! (reissue)   (2002, Loud)

The skull:
This joins Devastation’s Idolatry as one of few albums to make the Skullection twice. The first goes all the way back to Skull15, where Friar Johnsen took a look at the original cover from 1985. And there’s really no beating the original, but this updated version makes some kind of sense, adding the newer and more popular Megadeth logo to a painted interpretation of the original cover concept. That concept? A metal plate riveted across the skull’s eyes and figure eight-ish hooks in mouth. The chains from the original design are here attached to big earpieces that almost look like headphones. The bones ‘n’ blades behind the skull add some sizzle to the overall design. The skull even has a couple pieces of spinal column attached, but not enough to disqualify it under the “no skeletons” rule. A pretty snazzy looking cover, the added accoutrements are nice, but the original is still where it’s at.

The music:
I guess Loud Records is some short-lived subsidiary of Capitol Records or something. And it was they who put out this reissue of Megadeth’s excellent debut. Friar Johnsen ably spoke to the importance and awesomeness of Killing… in his earlier review, and I concur 100%. Special mention needs to be made of “Looking Down the Cross,” which might be this Friar’s favorite-ever Megadeth song, but there’s a large handful of others contending for that title. This remixed version of Killing… is good, and while I prefer the wiry, thin sound of the original, the beefier, bassier mix here works pretty well too. There are a lot of sonic differences between this and the original, and if you love this album as much as we do, you’ll look for any excuse to have the thrill of buying it again. What’s frustrating is the bleeped-to-shit version of “These Boots,” which might have been better excised entirely. Even more frustrating is how they (“they” being Mustaine?) fucked with the original track order, placing “These Boots” at the end and not in position four as on the original. Extra bonus comes in the first ever official issuing of their three-song 1984 demo, a super-raw, ultra-frantic view into the band’s earliest recorded material. Like the album itself, it totally kills. They don’t make ’em like this anymore, that’s for sure.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL9

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SAVATAGE, The Dungeons Are Calling (1984, Combat)

The skull:
The skull’s maw opens in a squeal of madness, apparently the remains of someone tied in chains in a dungeon (see chains on the right), although I never got the gigantic eye dropper…but maybe now I do…it may have been the torture device that sealed this unfortunate dude’s fate. But now he’s #9 in the Big Dumb Skullection. Prestige! God this cover rules. So does…

The music:
Aside from the first side of Ride the Lightning or the first side of Metal Church, is there anything more headbangable than the first side of this EP? The title track and “By the Grace of the Witch” are as lethal a one-two punch as any great metal album openers you could name. Unbelievably awesome riffs, the melodic banshee screech of Jon Oliva, the blunt impact of the production…metal perfection. The rest is good too, but maybe not quite as memorable as the first two songs, excepting “City Beneath the Surface,” another Sava-classic. I’d rather listen to this on any given Christmas over Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I do like when I’m at the post office and see promo tie-ins with T-SO…which is nothing less than victory for The Dungeons Are Calling. Who thought anything related to this classic EP would be tied into the United States Postal Service one day? What a wonderful world.
— Friar Wagner