Tag Archives: eyes

Big dumb skull sees all

SKULL310

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LEPER, Laz (1992, demo)

The skull:
An angry skull with fangs, beady eyes and a biomechanical mane of horns and spikes and pipes, this skull isn’t much to look at, but he has a serious attitude. He’s probably furious that someone drew an “L” on his forehead while he was passed out. “You assholes! That’s permanent marker! I don’t care how wasted I was, this isn’t fucking funny. I have a big interview with the Voivod tomorrow and if I can’t get this washed off by then, I’m seriously gonna kill you guys. I don’t even LIKE Leper!”

The music:
I haven’t heard Laz. Seemingly no one has. There are no YouTube videos, no mp3s on Russian metal forums, no torrents, nothing. As far as I can tell, there are exactly two references to this demo on the entire internet. One is the entry on Metal Archives, from which we cribbed this fine skull. The second, bizarrely, is an Amazon listing. A single seller lists a sealed copy of Laz (complete with price sticker residue), and although the artwork is different, the tracklist agrees with the one on Metal Archives. On the original full scan of the skull-fronted cover which can be seen on Metal Archives, a note on the second panel of the J-card reads, “For full color sleeve send $1.00 check or money order made payable to Rick Bettencourt. This sleeve must accompany payment.” The color cover shown on Amazon is so singularly uninteresting that anyone who might have entered into that transaction with Mr. Bettencourt surely wound up disappointed and angry, and might perhaps have sent the color cover back, requesting a refund of the dollar and a return of the original, skull-emblazoned insert. Given that this cassette is sealed, though, it’s possible that there existed a pressing which never included the skull cover, deepening the mystery and no doubt enhancing the collectability of the skully original. And now, dear reader, let me attempt to illustrate the insanity that occasionally grips this friar, by saying that I briefly had that $16.45 cassette (plus $3.99 shipping) in my Amazon shopping cart, such is my zeal to bring you the most accurate information possible about even the obscurest Big Dumb Skull. In the end, or at least for the moment, common sense prevailed, and I removed the cassette from my cart. Common sense, that is, and the fear that expedited shipping would be required to make deadline, as we at Skull HQ don’t shuffle skulls once they’re set in their order. Leper’s Laz, in its full-color, skulless, high-bias glory, remains for sale on Amazon, waiting to be bought, the last earthly proof that this “Heavy Metal” band from New Bedford, MA ever existed. Perhaps it is a lost classic, a demo of unrivaled excellence, a release that could have changed the direction of metal forever. Perhaps it is shitty funk thrash. I would love to know, but even I have my limits. Those limits evidently amount to $20.44.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL245

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CROWLEY, Whisper of the Evil (1986, Electric Lady Land)

The skull:
Skulls impaled on crosses are in no short supply, and indeed the most famous example of the form was also released in 1986, but this is a particularly fine specimen. The blood red brains are an obvious focal point, but it’s the worried expression that really seals the deal. “How bad does it look?” he asks, knowing that something’s not right but, perhaps in a state of shock, not able to fully grasp the magnitude of his injuries. “Oh, it’s not too bad. You look good. You’ll be feeling right as rain in no time, and hey, that star thing looks pretty cool” you mumble, as you slowly back away. “What star thing?” he asks, but you’re already gone. He’ll figure it all out soon enough, and you don’t want to be the one to break it to him.

The music:
If the only Japanese metal band you’ve ever heard is Loudness, then, well, you can still pretty much imagine what Crowley sounds like, although Crowley are more or less all metal, avoiding the cheesier hard rock tendencies of Loudness. Of course, we’re talking about pre-Thunder in the East Loudness, not the hairy stuff you might have seen on MTV (not that there’s anything wrong with that period, either.) There are some hints of Mercyful Fate black metal in Crowley, but mostly this is midtempo American-style power metal not entirely unlike early Savatage (although not nearly as good) or Lääz Rockit. The vocals, high pitched and powerful, are solid, with the understanding that this is mid 80s Japanese metal, so he vibrato is extreme and you’ll probably never figure out if Takashi Iwai is singing English or Japanese. Whisper of the Evil is a pleasant enough album, but it’s not a lost relic of total brilliance. You’re unlikely to ever come across a copy in the wild, so if you’re bored at work and want to waste 30 minutes listening to old Nippon metal on YouTube, well, you could do worse.
— Friar Johnsen

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REFLESHED, Drown the Sky (2010, self-released)

The skull:
Like the snake who eats his own tail, the ouroboros of legend, this cheesy skull guy feasts on his own spine (plus assorted anatomically incorrect muscle tissue). At least, I’m assuming it’s his own spine. There’s a lot of vertebrae implied out of frame, so for all I know this is some sort of Skullish circle jerk. This guy certainly looks depraved enough to be into that kind of stuff. Look at those leering eyeballs! He’s like, “Aw yeah, give it to me! Gimme that spine!” Not that I’m passing judgment. What a skull does in the privacy of his own brownish hellscape is his own business.

The music:
Refleshed are German, but they really want to be Swedish. Like, really, really badly. You can hear the Boss HM-2 in every scuzzy riff. Entombed and Carnage are the touchpoints here, and while Refleshed aren’t even pretending to be doing anything new, they do this old sound pretty well. In fact, they fare the poorest when they deviate from the Stockholm sound, as when they occasionally throw in a half-assed Gothenburg riff, none of which are particularly inspired. Metal Archives describes this band as Deathcore, but judging only from this EP, that label is totally unwarranted. Maybe they added breakdowns on a later release, but here, they’re just trudging down the left hand path. There’s not much more to say, really, except what everyone is already thinking: these guys should TOTALLY tour with Defleshed.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL140

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DEFYANCE, Voices Within (1992, demo)

The skull:
I’m not sure what all that curvy business is; is is part of the logo? Some kind of ornate Poe-style bladed pendulum? Demonic headgear for skully orthodontia? Whatever it is, the skull looks a little surprised. “Oh hey! What are you doing? I didn’t see you there…” He’s probably embarrassed to be caught posing for this low-rent demo. “It’s just a quick pencil sketch for some metal band, nothing serious,” he says, and you nod in understanding, but he knows you’re giggling on the inside.

The music:
I don’t think I personally own this demo, but I’m fairly certain I own the band’s first self-released disc, which came out in the mid 90s. Melodic metal was thin on the ground in the States back then, and we who loved that shit were reduced to buying some truly rotten crap in the hopes of finding some lone holdout for power metal in the aggro decade. Defyance were certainly not the worst of the bands working that circuit back then, but they also didn’t stand out as particularly great. These four songs have a commercial slant not unlike, say, Fifth Angel, but not as good. That this demo is form 1992 is a sign that probably these guys also listened to their share of hair metal, but preferred to make their metal a little heavier, even if they couldn’t get away from the corny lyrical cliches. Probably the singer was more into Cinderella than Iron Maiden, but the other guys in the band had to put up with his corny lyrics because it’s so hard to find a guy who can hit the high notes. You can easily imagine Defyance as the second local opener for a Savatage club show circa Streets. Good enough that you’d tap your foot while you were at the bar talking to your buddy, but not so great that you’d consider moving closer to the stage. Just good enough, in other words, and no better.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL64

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Zandelle, Zandelle (1996, demo)

The skull:
Black cover, logo, skull, deep shadows. Textbook! He’s certainly angry looking, with the faint red glow in his sockets and the blood dripping from his teeth (fangs?) onto his chin. He looks like he was painted without reference material, just from the memory of other big dumb skulls. Seriously tr00. And for as crappy as this skull is, the band actually recycled it for their 2011 release Shadows of the Past, which featured re-recorded versions of songs from this and other early demos. That cover repeats the skull several times, though, disqualifying it for inclusion in the Skullection.

The music:
In the mid 90s, there weren’t many bands in the States playing old fashioned melodic heavy metal. One of those was Gothic Knights, and when their singer (George Tsalikis) left after releasing one album with the band, he jumped into Zandelle. Neither band was ever very good, sounding like bands that weren’t quite good enough to make Metal Massacre 8, but their hearts were in the right place, I guess. The riffing is dull, the drumming bland, and the songs cliche, but at least the singer was actually singing, and not just trying to out-aggro Rob Flynn, as was the fashion in those days. This sort of too-true-for-school stuff is just too backwards looking for me most of the time, and Zandelle is no exception, but this does take me back to those days when any metal song with a melody line was enough to perk the ears.
— Friar Johnsen

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DEVASTATION, Idolatry (reissue) (2008, Forged in Fire)

The skull:
A first in the skullection, a second entry for a single album (q.v. SKULL14). Why they felt the need to change the cover is beyond me, as the original was more or less the best thing about the album. But, at least they’ve stayed committed to the big dumb skull. Replacing the grim and staid original is a rather cartoonish fellow. The blindfold motif is also maintained (the true trademark of Devastation), although obviously here the cloth is torn, or at least poorly tied, exposing that one glaring peeper. The skull is ringed by some kind of occult-looking circle, chiseled with the various icons of many major religions. Idolatry, man. And some lightning, because lightning is cool.

The music:
Friar Wagner adequately spoke to the adequatulence of this album in his post, so I’ll merely add a few words about the three old tracks, freshly recorded by the reactivated band for this reissue. None of these tunes were originally recorded for Idolatry, so I can’t quite say why they chose these to redo, or why they thought this would be a better reintroduction to the band than some new songs. But, they do play their own songs well, again, so I guess they’ve got that going on. One thing that can be said is that Devastation doesn’t sound at all like the million new thrash bands plying their wares today. Its funny to think that even a third rate band from the original thrash wave has about 100x more originality and personality than the legions of fresh-faced mosh enthusiasts following the dubious lead of Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust. Vocalist Rodney Dunsmore is still pretty bad, a charmless barker who’s probably too old to be putting on tough-guy airs, but the band does manage a certain groove and swagger. Is that sufficient to justify their return? Probably not, but I guess they’re not hurting anyone. I will reconsider my opinion, however, if they release a new album with another excellent BDS!
— Friar Johnsen

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REPUGNANT, Hecatomb (1999, To The Death)

The skull:
Small, but feisty, this little guy looks a bit cracked up and leers dumbly at you with his one eye. While the Council ordinarily disqualifies skulls that are obviously a part of a larger skeleton, the tiny fragment of spine, unencumbered by shoulder blades or any other bony bits, was found to not distract from the centrality of the skull. Considering the emptiness of the cover, it is felt that the skull could have been bigger, but since “hecatomb” originally meant the sacrificial slaughter of 100 cattle, the dumbness of this singular skull compensated for its meager smallness.

The music:
Formed in 1998, Repugnant more or less labored in obscurity, but if they had been formed a decade earlier, they would have been immediately signed to Earache, sounding as they do on this EP like a cross between Nihilist and Terrorizer (in their less blasty moments), with dashes of early Death and Celtic Frost. Considering how well worn this territory was then and continues to be, Repugnant pull it off with striking conviction and integrity. The production is raw, and certainly evocative of the era Hecatomb means to recall, but it’s also not off-puttingly retro or lo-fi. The drumming is lively and competent in a modern sense, without affecting the old-school sound of the beats. Amusingly, singer and guitarist Mary Goore was also in the retro sleaze metal act Crashdïet, which shows that as a heavy metal nostalgia hound, his tastes run the gamut. As long as the style is outdated, he’s into it.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL24

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SEVERED HEAD, Heavy Metal / Killing the Kids (1983, Plastic Canvas)

The skull:
This is easily one of the finest skulls in the BDSkullection. This skull kept its eyes, eyes that have lasers or some other kind of light ray scanning out into the void, the top of its head a spaghetti-like mess of patch cords both coiled and straight. Considering there are female band members, is it an intentional nod to Medusa and her head of snakes? The logo is simple but bleeding. Looks like we’re gonna have to strap ourselves in for a very heavy experience. But, nope, not really.

The music:
This 7″ single is the only official release from this short-lived U.K. band, coming in at the tail end of the NWOBHM surge. The Head features two female vocalists in their ranks, but the girls seem more like curbside appeal than crucial elements of the band’s sound, as they perform only background vocals. Girlfriends of a couple of the guys? At least give them tambourines, for shit’s sake. It’s fairly competent stuff, even something that might have landed a deal with a major label subsidiary in the late ’70s, but by 1983 this already sounds dated and not as dark or vicious as the best NWOBHM. The “good time heavy metal rock!” refrain in “Heavy Metal” is Helix-level retardation. The skull artwork is about 4,000 times better than the music, but in their defense, any band would have a hard time measuring the expectations set by the name/logo and brilliant cover art.
— Friar Wagner

 

SKULL20

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DORSAL ATLANTICA, Antes Do Fim (1986, Lunário Perpétuo)

The skull:
The skull is hammered full of nails and staples, but it’s the eyes that draw you in! The eyes say it all, or at least all that needs to be said: “This is the worst.”

The music:
Typical, if not prototypical, of early Brazilian thrash, Antes do Fim serves up a sloppy mix of Slayer and the German three. Unpleasant production and incredibly boring drumming dominate. While this Friar can certainly appreciate the historical significance of Dorsal Atlantica (and has always loved their name), he cannot admit to actually liking them. The band reconvened in the mid aughts to re-record this album, and that version is certainly a more enjoyable listening experience, but even so, it’s hard to call this an essential album in any form.
– Friar Johnsen

SKULL12

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DEAD & BLOATED, You Don’t (1992, Colossal)

The skull:
Xs in the eyes are a visual trope of longstanding precedence to indicate deadness, but affixing them to a skull seems a rather redundant indulgence. The tentacles sprouting from the dome remind me of those ridiculous hats that Xtreme teenage snowboarders (and the guitarist from Panzerballett) are sometimes known to wear, and the entire design looks like it was crafted with an eye toward the band having to silkscreen it themselves. A rather slovenly cover overall, with a skull lacking in bigness but compensating with extra dumbness.

The music:
Quirky (at least aspirationally) crossover thrash recorded at least a couple years after that was even a marginally good idea. The bass plays an enjoyably prominent role in the mix, but the vocals are a terrible Mille-esque caterwaul, and the thin grooves and clunky riffs situate Dead & Bloated in the fourth-tier musical company of Ironchrist and Doomwatch.
– Friar Johnsen