Serpens Aeon - Dawn of Kouatl

Ex members of The Chasm played in this thing. It's not so different sounding from that band.

Altarage "The Approaching Roar"

It's decent heavy rock. Definitely miles better than their older stuff which is fucking garbage if you ask me. As you said, plenty of Wishbone Ash worship. Lots of Lizzy and Demon in there too.
Best thing about it is the cover.

Thy only Forgotten - Mythos Daemonium

Sounds like The Chasm's From the Lost Years. I dig it.

Misery Omen - Hope Dies

Pretty ambitious black/doom metal.

Mouth of the Architect - Quietly

From when I was deeply into the post-Metal movement of the mid-00s. This is was a rather highly anticipated release for me at the time. I still really enjoy it. I guess the atmo-sludge movement kinda picked up the ball from here and ran with it.

Australian hip hop. Not the best MCing throughout, and perhaps a bit longer runtime then really needed, but some nice production.

I saw on BookFace that it has been 30 years since the release of Leave Scars, so I wanted to revisit it. I’ve always enjoyed it, but the production really does suck all of the power and punch out of it, especially the drums, and the riffs blur a bit. I’ve heard live versions of these songs that do far better justice. It is a bit of a halfway house between the aggressiveness of Darkness Descends, and the more expansive arrangements of Time Does Not Heal, and I think that is one of the reasons I enjoy it as much as I do. I can’t remember if I owned this before Darkness Descends (definitely before it’s follow-up).

Pretty damn crushing death metal.

It kicks the fucking shit out of Darkness Descends. And doesn't sound like it's got a girl on vox.

What? How the hell does Don Doty sound like a girl?

Dunno. He's fucking shit, though. Terrible vocalist. There's about an EPs worth of outstanding material on DD. The rest is junk. And the production on DD isn't any great shakes either.

The production on Darkness Descends has its poor points, that’s for sure, but comparative to other thrash bands of the time, it’s pretty par for the course. Leave Scars sounds like demo quality by comparison, the punch of Hoglan’s kick drums being the greatest victim, but the guitar riffs get a bit blurry in places too, just lacking definition. As far as the Doty/Rhinert debate goes, both have different qualities that I both like and dislike. I think Doty works great on Darkness Descends considering the viciousness of the material, whilst Rhinert’s style works well on Time Does Not Heal. It would be interesting to see what Doty would have done on Leave Scars, but I think the way the choruses are really brought to the fore, Rhinert’s more melodic (though limited, granted) helps give them more impact.

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I keep coming back to this, and every time finding myself enjoying it more and more, even though it very much sticks to the post-reunion formula (c’mon Sean Kinney, break out and give me some of those tasty fills you use to treat us to), much in line with Cantrell’s solo material. It works I guess.

Probably my least favourite of the 90s albums, but it is still pretty solid. Not as dynamic or adventurous as some of the other albums. I know some would probably say As The Flower Withers is a bit more inconsistent, but it is unique in their catalogue (at least as far as the full lengths go) and was my introduction to the band. Others might say 34.788%... Complete, but I like the experimentation and eclecticism (I will admit, that I did not on first listen - I found it really jarring - though it is probably not as big a departure as I felt at the time).

^^You really think Light.... is better than Like Gods? Like Gods probably has their best production from that time and maybe their best full stop. Very heavy and balanced with nice keyboard sounds. I like the directness of the songs too, although I will admit that it's a bit front loaded. The second half definitely isn't as good. I still rate it quite highly though.

N.P Mercyful Fate Time

Yeah, Like Gods of the Sun has a nice consistent sound, but I really like the variety on offer on The Light at the End of the World. I know I'm in the minority - maybe it just really connected with me at the time. I won't deny that if I was being hyper-critical, then The Light...'s songwriting is a bit patchy and inconsistent as far as the polish of the arrangements, but I like that they try things. Like Gods... feels a bit too safe. Plus I like that some of the aggro comes back too ('Fever Sea' FTW). And the title track is my favourite epic MDB track.

I don't know if it's a 'back to the roots' album, so-to-speak, but there is definitely an adventurousness there that I really like (I don't know if this was aided by some fresh blood in the mix, but that probably helped). Ultimately, I think for a band that gets painted as 'sticking closely to their core sound' compared to their contemporaries (Paradise Lost, Anathema, Cathedral, etc.), they really did try adding a few twists to their core sound.

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Because...

The Light At The End of The World is pretty great song. So is Edenbeast and Sear Me. It's a bit patchy at times, but I agree that it's not quite the throwback that it was marketed as in 1999, even if there are obviously call backs to their old style.

Negură Bunget - Om

Classic. 5 fist folky BM. I don’t really have much to say about this album, I just enjoy it immensely.