Recent updates
- S(crap)s: I Miss My Death / Kaoskult / Raus & Perunwit (split) / Spatial / Thy Flesh (13/06/14)
- Hatebreed: The rise of brutality (12/06/14)
- Vomiting Corpses: Coma - The spheres of innocence (11/06/14)
- Mayhem: Esoteric warfare (10/06/14)
- S(crap)s: Akrotheism / Black Altar / Druknroll / Enthroned / Funeral Sutra (09/06/14)
- Agalloch: The serpent & the sphere (08/06/14)
- Dark Tranquillity: Construct (07/06/14)
- In Flames: The jester race (06/06/14)
- S(crap)s: Souldrainer / Tonic Breed / Rude / Defying / Electric Hellride / Scorned Disciple (05/06/14)
- Culted: Oblique to all paths (04/06/14)
- read
Recent discussions
Lists of Domination
GD's Most Dominating Albums Of The 1990's (10-1)
17/04/07 || Global Domination
10. Morbid Angel: Blessed are the Sick
Released: 1991
Are you a fan of Emperor? Krisiun? Angel Corpse? Behemoth? Decapitated? Hell, even Opeth? You are! Well, then bow your ass down to the band that provided the bedrock on which all of the aforementioned bands built their sounds: Morbid Fucking Angel! “Blessed Are The Sick” is Morbid Angel’s sophomore release, and it showcases a band that is just beginning to hit its stride, a stride which would be followed by countless other bands within (and even outside of) the death metal genre. On “Blessed”, Morbid Angel retains the punkish energy which was displayed on their debut, but that energy is complimented by maturing songwriting skills that produced the dynamic mixture of swampy groove and blistering speed which came to be a hallmark of the MA sound. This album is an essential listening experience for anyone seeking to understand the development of death metal and related genres.
-Consumer
9. Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power
Released: 1992
Enjoy groove? “Vulgar Display of Power” will wear a groove in your fucking face. There isn’t anything innovative or fancy about this album (save, of course, Dimebag’s amazing solos) but the band’s undeniable talent still shines through. The only legit criticism of “Vulgar Display of Power” is that it lacks variety, but if a band is going to toss 9 perfect songs of brutality and groove my way, variety can go screw itself. Besides, the two, um, ‘ballads’ (“This Love” and “Hollow”) are great and break things up enough to warrant lots of repeat listens. Classic single “Walk” is worth the price of admission alone, as it’s one the most violent sounding songs ever produced. Hell, that solitary, bone crunching riff was probably enough to secure Dimebag’s place in the pantheon of great guitarists by itself. Vinnie Paul and Rex Chapman produce tight, rock solid rhythms and Phil Anselmo is one of the most talented vocalists in metal history. He occasionally breaks up the barking, growling style that dominates this album with his amazingly gritty clean vocals. Lyrically, Pantera wants you to go to hell, go fuck yourself and take your damned stupid society with you. This is great music to growl along with when you’re pissed.
It’s sad that the name Pantera evokes a lot of negative imagery these days, like Phil Anselmo’s fucktardedness and Dimebag’s horrific and utterly pointless murder. Despite the band’s sad end, we were lucky to have had them at all and “Vulgar Display of Power” was the peak of one of metal’s best and most beloved bands. Now fuck off.
-Stephen Fallen
8. Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss
Released: 1990
Slayer’s ultimate masterpiece. If you’ll notice, all of the comparisons for their latest “Christ Illusion” album were in respect to “Seasons in the Abyss”. Now while the new one in no way holds a fart to this classic, there’s a reason it is held in such high esteem. Slayer got their built-up frustration cumload unleashed with “Reign In Blood”, got a little fucken artsy on “South Of Heaven” and put it all together for “Seasons”. This album has the best riffs of any Slayer album hands down. They could play THIS whole album front to back at a concert and no one would complain. You get the Slayer speed on ‘War Ensemble,’ “Hallowed Point,’ and ‘Born of Fire.’ You get the groove all over this bitch on such hot tracks as ‘Expendible Youth,’ ‘Seasons in the Abyss,’ and in a bunch of juicy bridges. The songs are epic and thrashtastic! SLAYER!!! UGH!
-Syrrok
7. Entombed: Wolverine Blues
Released: 1993
I remember the week this album was released, our local record shop had erected a big cardboard display featuring the comic book character Wolverine to promote this album. I was never into comics, and had no idea who this Wolverine was, but it looked cool as fuck. I had also never heard Entombed, but had seen their albums around and heard good things, so on a whim and the shop owner’s statement of: “Didn’t hear that one, but their other shit is good”, I picked it up. One fucken riff in their trademarked guitar tone later, I was hooked.
-Chazz
6. Emperor: Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Released: 1997
I recall buying this album on tape back in the day, and the total shock that struck me after listening to it for the first time. There was nothing at the time which sounded as furious and epic. After their magnificent debut album, “In the Nightside Eclipse”, the band didn’t lose anything along the way, on the contrary – they had taken much more creative ways to fulfill their aspirations. “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” is, and always has been, an album that placed itself into the history of metal the day it came out. Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym were the artists responsible for it, and they will always stay high in the pantheon of music gods.
-Rafal
5. Cynic: Focus
Released: 1993
Cynic’s one and only offering is THE benchmark for jazz-tinged technical metal. At its 1993 release, the album was more ambitious than any other tech-metal or progressive release of that era. With “Focus”, Cynic built upon the foundation laid by Watchtower, Death, and Atheist. The musicianship on the album is clearly stellar, but it is far from an attempt to showcase wanky chops. Every move made by the band seems carefully engineered to properly fit in to the album’s grand scheme. The jazzy rhythms, intricate layering, otherworldly atmosphere, and spot-on execution on “Focus” have secured its place as an undeniable classic which can be imitated but can never be surpassed.
-Consumer
4. Faith No More: Angel Dust
Released: 1992
Quite simply one of the most frighteningly sick, darkly beautiful, aggressive as fuck, intense, disturbing and highly influential albums ever to hit the world of heavy. Musicians from just about every corner of the metal and insanely loud world mention this as one of the albums that dropped their jaw the lowest, something which it continues to do to 15 years after its release without offering quarter. Every element about it is sheer perfection – from musicianship, to songwriting, to the execution thereof, to lyrics and production. You really need to read my lengthy clas6(66) review to get all the various nuances in in-depth synopses, as it’s that complicated an album to dissect in a mere paragraph. But for the purpose of this list, suffice it to say that “Angel Dust” is an sinister journey of sickness, insanity and beauty, where nothing is safe or sacred. It’s also entertaining and decidedly “off” in places, but the way in which it’s done only adds to the feeling of disquiet. Never a dull moment, and heavy as fuck in places, there’s no doubt why this album has the impact it does.
-Tash
3. Death: Human
Released: 1991
A milestone in death metal. This is the album when Death (as with Bolt Thrower it took a few albums to reach this point in their career) went from a decent and ugly death metal band to a fantastic death metal band. “Human” pushed the limits for the genre further and inspired a whole new sound with its technicality and catchiness. It remains the finest recording in Death’s discography, and one of the absolute finest in death metal history. The line up for this recording will always stand as the best in Death’s career, and the album definitely proves just that. A masterpiece by all means.
-Lord K
2. Carcass: Heartwork
Released: 1994
The three albums that Carcass recorded between 1989 and 1993 will stand forever as pillars of their respective genres. “Symphonies of Sickness” helped redefine what could be done with grindcore and “Necroticism” may be the definitive death-grind album. With “Heartwork” the band reinvented itself again, taking metal in a daring new direction by totally selling out to the man. Or something like that, anyway. The landscape of extreme metal in the early and mid-90’s was such that it seemed the underground sounds of death and grind were poised to bubble into the mainstream. In an attempt to grab wider audiences, a lot of bands signed to bigger labels and tried to craft more accessible music. Carcass, in particular, completely disassembled their sound and reformed it around the idea that modern metal could be accessible without losing its brutal, challenging nature. The result was a wonderful mix of death metal brutality, complex rhythms with fluid tempo changes and memorable dueling guitar harmonies from Bill Steer and Mike Amott.
The metamorphosis began when the band streamlined their sound by ditching long, complex song structures for a more conventional verse-chorus style. Then, they abandoned their trademark medical-dictionary inspired gore lyrics and adopted a more unique theme of hate as an intellectual art form. Finally, Ken Owen (drums) and Bill Steer conceded vocal duties exclusively to Jeff Walker (bass), a first for a band known for its 3-pronged vocal attack.
Despite all the changes, or possibly because of them, the band went out and recorded (arguably) their finest work. Though the riffs on “Heartwork” have the groove of death metal and the percussion is still heavy enough to drown a megalodon, the incredible melodies overwhelm the rest and lodge themselves permanently in the listener’s brain. “Heartwork” was the genesis of melodic death metal and few bands of any genre have ever approached the level of songwriting found here. All 10 of these tracks remain stunning no matter how many times they’re poured over and dissected. This is about as good as it gets.
-Stephen Fallen
1. At the Gates: Slaughter of the Soul
Released: 1995
Ultimately, the 90s were a redefining period for metal. They provided a smooth transitional field for the speed/thrash movement of the 80s to gradually morph into the essence of what is considered to be extreme music today. Will metal ever undergo such an influential and important phase again? It’s difficult to say. So many gifted bands have emerged in the last pre-millennial decade that it might seem slightly unrealistic to imagine it ever happening again. Understandably, to be awarded the top position on Global Domination’s “Most Dominating Albums of the 90s” list is not only quite an honour, but now it rather becomes a burden. Enter At The Gates.
While At The Gates might have dropped the complex rhythmic patterns and intricate picking techniques present on their earlier recordings, the formula they settled for on “Slaughter of the Soul” was colossal. To be concise, it was thrash fused with melodic elements and outstanding songwriting. Evidently, ATG substituted their multifaceted and complex (aka chaotic and claustrophobic) song structures for a much simpler, straightforward yet superior (aka focused and efficient) approach to composing. This is where many die-hard enthusiasts (also known as idiotic whiny virgins) cried foul. Fuck ‘em. There is nothing amiss about an extreme metal band writing catchy, appealing songs with memorable choruses. Frankly, the entire album still holds together exceptionally well and nothing sounds out of place. The jarring opening seconds of “Blinded By Fear”. The tremendous chorus of the title track. The subzero soul-shattering melodies of “Cold”. The thrashy anthem for the depressed “Suicide Nation”. The groove-laden “World of Lies”. The final seconds of the eerie finale “The Flames of the End”. To top it off, the re-release also includes a few left-out gems (namely, the cover of Slaughterlord’s “Legion”) and a great track that was dropped for the original “SOS” recording altogether (“The Dying”).
To be perfectly honest, the top pick for any “Best Of…” list will always remain contentious. As a whole, At The Gates are certainly not the most important band to have emerged from the 90s. However, it is hard to imagine a single album that was as important, let alone influential, on the metal scene as “Slaughter of the Soul”. In fact, I was one of those who actually had the chance of purchasing this classic album back when it was originally released in ’95. I loved every second of it. As time eventually took its course, my tastes shifted and by the time I had decided to pick up a recent copy of “SOS” last year, all I could recall about At The Gates were faint memories of my years as a rowdy teenager (such as empty 40oz beer bottles, long hair, faded black shirts with holes in them, unopened condom boxes and a shitload of metal albums on top of a black Panasonic radio with duct tape holding down the CD tray). Before even paying for the CD, I was even a bit hesitant, especially after reading a quote from the linguistically-eloquent virgins over at www.ANUS.com:
For most At the Gates listeners, they will believe this album is their favorite until they hear it ten years from now in the context of other At the Gates works, in which case they will see this as a transparent commercial album made to pander to the middle of the metal audience.
You know what? Fuck them up their nihilistic little asses. 10 years later and “Slaughter of the Soul” stands as one of the most consistent albums ever recorded, regardless of the genre. That’s the closest statement to a universal truth you’ll ever find. On that note, The Mane and Global Domination are proud to present the most dominating album of the 90s:
At The Gates: “Slaughter of the Soul”
-Fishermane
