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.

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.

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.

Helloween - Pink Bubbles Go Ape

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.

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.

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.

Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky

I thought this was a load of shit first time I heard it. Still do.

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.

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.

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.

Suffocation - Pierced From Within

Upped my rating from 1 star to 2, but it's still boring.

It works both ways.

Some albums ARE better with age.

Some actually become less interesting.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

Coal Chamber - Coal Chamber

Oh fuck, why did I bother? The only positive thing I can say is at least it's not Korn.

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.

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.

In Flames - The Jester Race

Better than I remembered, but it's still probably not gonna get a lot of listens.

Metallica - St. Anger

Dark Angel said it best - time does not heal. This is still fucking dreadful. I think it may eternally remain so.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

Slipknot - Slipknot

Just... nah.

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!)

Soulfly - Soulfly

Such a mixed album. A couple of stunning tracks, and then big piles of shit. No, still don't like it.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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).

Make A Difference Foundation - Stairway To Heaven/Highway to Hell

Yeah, no. This is still fucking awful.

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.

Machine Head - Supercharger

Not quite the nu-metal abortion I remembered, but just not very interesting. It has it's moments, just not enough.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

Oath To Vanquish - Applied Schizophrenic Science

Fucking amazing! Brutal death metal from Lebanon.