The Metal Judgment One Year Anniversary:





Discuss on the Metal Judgment Web Board

Metal Judgment.com launched on Halloween 1999. In a mere 12 months, the Judgment Committee has reviewed 96 new release albums and 19 concerts. 49 classic albums have been featured, and since the mid-August 2000 addition of the Summary Judgment section, 41 items have appeared there. 30 demos/self-financed albums have been reviewed, and former Metal Judgment demo review artists ShadowKeep, Rossomahaar and The Fallen have already apparently moved on to play in the "bigger" leagues. All told, 236 albums, concerts and videos have been subjected to Metal Judgment scrutiny.
In the first year, the Judgment Committee collectively gave perfect scores (5 skulls each from all three Judgment Committee members) to 7 of the 96 albums they reviewed (just over 7%). The albums receiving perfect scores were:
Morbid Angel Gateways to Annihilation
Nevermore Dead Heart in a Dead World
Lamb of God New American Gospel
Hypocrisy Into the Abyss
In Flames Clayman
Shadows Fall Of One Blood
Testament The Gathering
Collectively, the average Judgment Committee Album Review score over the first year was 3.66 skulls. ABYSS was the toughest scorer with an average of 3.25. DEATH was in the middle with an average of 3.73. HEL was the most generous at 4.01. Presented with the Year One statistics and knowing that hindsight is often the best reflection of 20/20 vision, we have provided each of these Committee members with the opportunity to rethink some of their Year One scores. Each Committee member has been given the opportunity to amend some of their more aggregious errors by giving one extra skull to each of five albums, and removing one skull from five others. The only rules? They must give five skulls. They must take away five skulls. And any one album can only move one skull each.
As we burn through the last quarter of 2000 straight on into 2001, we will continue to provide you with weekly reviews covering as many of the most important items in the heavy metal universe as we possibly can. Of course, as always, we invite your participation by submitting your own reader reviews and initiating your own Classic (1995 or earlier) or Summary Judgment selections.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by, read the reviews, submitted material for review, submitted reader reviews or emailed us to discuss our opinions. We live for your feedback, and your opinion counts. Here's looking forward to the start of a successful second year. We hope we can continue to count on your support.
Yours in Metal,
The Metal Judgment Staff
Abyss's Revisions:

Abyss Adds a Skull:

1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges
I originally thought that this album would become less and less listenable as it booked more time in my cd player, due to its excessive catchiness. And while the melodies are still sickly sweet at times, great songwriting has left this album with all the integrity it needs to pull it off.
New Rating:

2. Nile- Black Seeds of Vengeance
Why I didn't give this album a 5 right off of the bat? I have no idea. I was actually surprised when I reviewed my score for it.
New Rating:

3. Demons & Wizards- Demons & Wizards
This one came in the middle of a slew of power metal that we covered in a short period of time. I have since become more tolerant of power metal, and less sick of it. This is a quality release through and through.
New Rating:

4. Decapitated- Winds of Creation
How old are these guys? What sounds very derivative continues to get better and better. Brutal with a sick sense of groove.
New Rating:

5. Defleshed- Fast Forward
Originally didn't score that well because I thought the retro "thrash" sound would get old quickly, but the opposite is true. I dig this more and more, and find myself looking for a denim jacket and a dangling earring.
New Rating:

Abyss Removes a Skull:

1. Sevendust- Home
What can I say? This is one of the first albums we reviewed and I felt like being nice. Perfect example of an album that has hook, but grows boring quickly.
New Rating:

2. Pantera- Reinventing the Steel
One of the albums I've talked with readers the most about. Half would tell me how I scored it too high, and half said I was way too harsh on it. The ones who thought I was too easy on it made the most convincing arguments.
New Rating:

3. Soul Reaper- Written in Blood
I still think this is a quality death record, but the more I hear, the more I think that there is little making these guys stand out.
New Rating:

4. Queensryche- Greatest Hits
I gave a greatest hits album a 3? I feel a strong urge to vomit.
New Rating:

5. Bal-Sagoth- The Power Cosmic
Gave this one higher than I thought it deserved because of its originality, but the more I listen the more unlistenable this album becomes.
New Rating:

Death's Revisions:

Death Adds a Skull:

1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges
In the early days of Metal Judgment, I felt obliged to hold back from giving 5 Skulls on the closer calls, for fear that I would paint myself into a corner by having to also give 5 Skulls to anything else which came out later that I liked more. Arch Enemy's latest is a true masterpiece of guitar solo virtuosity and catchy, euro-death metal stylings. What makes this one rise above the pack and deserve the 5 Skulls is the combination of 80's metal thrash sensibilities with modern power and melodic-death elements and fantastic musicianship. This one is a true classic.
New Rating:

2. Opeth- Still Life
I gave this one a four because I had reservations about the whole folk-metal element and thought perhaps that this one didn't quite match My Arms, Your Hearse. Then I saw Opeth play live at Milwaukee Metalfest 2000, where they clearly put on the best performance of the entire festival. From there I was sold. Everything Opeth does is pure musical genius, so clearly this album has to get the bump up to 5 Skulls.
New Rating:

3. Annihilator- Criteria of a Black Widow
I love thrash, and no one is kicking it old school, technical thrash-style these days like Jeff Waters and company (old-school, catchy, eighties thrash fans, wait until you hear the forthcoming Carnival Diablos, it shreds!). I held back a bit here because there is an ever-so-slight cheese factor on a couple of tracks (particularly the kinda-almost bad title track), but a down moment or two amidst a platter-full of speed/thrash greatness does not a less-than-five-skull album make.
New Rating:

4. Cephalic Carnage- Exploiting Dysfunction
Pure and utter musical insanity. Hard to digest in less than a week. I knew there was something special going on when I reviewed Cephalic Carnage, I just wasn't able to get a complete handle on things by the time I wrote my review. Now I know better. This is clearly a 5 Skull release, and a death/grind milestone.
New Rating:

5. King Diamond- House of God
I was a huge King Diamond fan "back in the day," and Abigail and Them are some of my all-time favorite albums. However, by the time Conspiracy rolled around, I was beginning to get played out. Mediocre albums followed, and I lost interest in the once-mighty King. I think I was still experiencing King Diamond burnout when I reviewed House of God. Surprisingly enough, it has been the experience of hearing these tracks out of context, on the radio (WSOU), which has made me realize the quality of this release. Juxtaposed against the rest of the pack, House of God is a masterpiece, and a total return to form for the King.
New Rating:

Death Removes a Skull:

1. Soulfly- Primitive
OK, so I overstated my point on this one. Sure, as a nu-metal album goes, this one runs circles around its boring, uninspired corporate competition. But fuck Max and his abandonment of metal and adoption of trendiness. Whether or not the songs exhibit integrity, and notwithstanding the fact that "Back to the Primitive" still makes me want to break things like "Refuse/Resist" did, this is squarely aimed at the nu-metal masses, and it should not be rewarded with 5 Skulls on this site. Still a much better record than the close-minded among you are probably prepared to admit, but one I feel compelled to ever-so-slightly withdraw my complete endorsement of it. 4 Skulls is probably where this one truly belongs.
New Rating:

2. Kovenant- Animatronic
I really don't like that much black metal. And black metal mixed with techno? I despise it. So much pomp and pretension, makeup and fake names. Really crappy music. I think I was suckered into being generous because of the riffing, but I really do not like anything about this record.
New Rating:

3. Mayhem- Grand Declaration of War
The Cold Lake of black metal. This is just bad. I don't understand it even in the slightest bit. I know there are some who think this is brilliant, but they must be looking for something 180 degrees different from my taste in heavy metal albums. I can't support this one even a little bit.
New Rating:

4. In Extremo- Verehrt Und Angespien
This, too, is quite bad. I don't care how original it is, it is silly and sounds uninspired. These guys might make a good nemesis for GWAR, but it is bad, shit-sounding heavy metal music, and I chickened-out and chose to focus on its multi-cultural appeal and individualized approach rather than admitting that I never want to hear this album again.
New Rating:

5. Armored Saint- Revelation
I am only now coming to terms with how disappointed I actually was upon hearing this album. I was always a big Armored Saint fan, and love John Bush's vocals. But this album is just average, nothing more. Simply put, it is kinda boring, and I have not spent any time listening to it since its release. Going for a "retro" vibe doesn't mean you have an excuse to make uninspired, retread hard rock/metal songs, and this one just doesn't leap out at me on any level. Not bad, really, just not what I was hoping for from Armored Saint.
New Rating:

Hel's Revisions:

Hel Adds a Skull:

1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges
I think the term "rookie mistake" is an understatement here. I wandered around loving this album and turning other people on to it for a long, long time. And I was shocked to look back and realize I didn't give it the 5 skulls it deserved. This is the perfect example of why going back and revising these scores is an excellent exercise.
New Rating:

2. Vital Remains- Dawn of the Apocalypse
What the hell happened here?? I think I must have been on crack or something. This rating is just plain wrong. What we have here is excellent death metal. If you haven't yet, check it out. 'Nuff said.
New Rating:

3. Opeth- Still Life
I know what happened here. The sheer mellowness of the album fooled me into thinking it was dull. HA! I recognize the symptoms because this also happened to me with Amorphis' Tuonela - I dismissed it quickly, thinking that it wasn't as good as the older stuff because it wasn't as death metal and generally hectic, but upon a later listen, I realized it was not only a fucking masterpiece, but completely addictive as well. Same here. Listen to Still Life again, you'll see.
New Rating:

4. Control Denied- Fragile Art of Existence
I still stand by my statements about the singer, but I cannot deny the quality of the music any longer. Chuck is a metal visionary, and I can't live with myself having given such a low score to a project of his. Particularly while he is reportedly setting Death, my personal favorite, aside and focusing on this one alone. I'm giving Control Denied another chance.
New Rating:

5. The Gathering- if_then_else
Now, there's no doubt that this is not really a metal album. But I believe I was acting out in anger when I handed The Gathering 3 skulls for this album. I admitted at the time that I thought it was a good album, even though it wasn't heavy, and that is still true. If I hadn't already been half provoked, I probably would have been more lenient at the time.
New Rating:

Hel Removes a Skull:

1. In Extremo- Verehrt Und Angespien
There was a period of time, I think it was the 1950s, when novelty songs were all the rage and songs like "Purple People Eater" were huge hits as a result. Perhaps if I spoke German, this wouldn't smack so strongly of novelty, but as things currently stand, there is less substance here than I first thought.
New Rating:

2. Bal-Sagoth- The Power Cosmic
Speaking of novelty, there seems to be a bit of that here as well. While I still enjoy the combo that I like to call "RPG meets black metal," I find that I rarely - well, ok, never - feel the need to hear it again. In short, it lacks staying power for me.
New Rating:

3. Triumphator- Wings of Antichrist
Poor production, uninventive sound. These guys have skill, but have mostly just taken elements from black metal and death metal and tossed them into a blender to mix them into a very dirty sound. It's a fun listen, to be sure, but not really above average.
New Rating:

4. Defleshed- Fast Forward
My biggest issue with this album is that it is produced in such a way that if you listen to it at a moderate volume, it sounds like poorly produced, basically monotonous, mid paced death metal. It doesn't matter that it sounds much better at higher volumes, this should in no way be acceptable, at the very least, it is unacceptable for the 4 skull category.
New Rating:

5. Mayhem- Grand Declaration of War
I remember that, when I first listened to this album, I decided it should be called Grand Declaration of Nothing because it had so little of value to offer. But I decided that I needed to look more deeply to find the value, and I wrote my review from that perspective. I was never able to rid my mind of that line, however, and going back to this was painful. This album stinks - I might even have considered taking 2 skulls away from this one if I were allowed. But I'm not, so here we are...
New Rating:

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Abyss Adds a Skull:
	1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges I originally thought that this album would become less and less listenable as it booked more time in my cd player, due to its excessive catchiness. And while the melodies are still sickly sweet at times, great songwriting has left this album with all the integrity it needs to pull it off. New Rating:

	2. Nile- Black Seeds of Vengeance Why I didn't give this album a 5 right off of the bat? I have no idea. I was actually surprised when I reviewed my score for it. New Rating:

	3. Demons & Wizards- Demons & Wizards This one came in the middle of a slew of power metal that we covered in a short period of time. I have since become more tolerant of power metal, and less sick of it. This is a quality release through and through. New Rating:

	4. Decapitated- Winds of Creation How old are these guys? What sounds very derivative continues to get better and better. Brutal with a sick sense of groove. New Rating:

	5. Defleshed- Fast Forward Originally didn't score that well because I thought the retro "thrash" sound would get old quickly, but the opposite is true. I dig this more and more, and find myself looking for a denim jacket and a dangling earring. New Rating:

Abyss Removes a Skull:
	1. Sevendust- Home What can I say? This is one of the first albums we reviewed and I felt like being nice. Perfect example of an album that has hook, but grows boring quickly. New Rating:

	2. Pantera- Reinventing the Steel One of the albums I've talked with readers the most about. Half would tell me how I scored it too high, and half said I was way too harsh on it. The ones who thought I was too easy on it made the most convincing arguments. New Rating:

	3. Soul Reaper- Written in Blood I still think this is a quality death record, but the more I hear, the more I think that there is little making these guys stand out. New Rating:

	4. Queensryche- Greatest Hits I gave a greatest hits album a 3? I feel a strong urge to vomit. New Rating:

	5. Bal-Sagoth- The Power Cosmic Gave this one higher than I thought it deserved because of its originality, but the more I listen the more unlistenable this album becomes. New Rating:

Death Adds a Skull:
	1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges In the early days of Metal Judgment, I felt obliged to hold back from giving 5 Skulls on the closer calls, for fear that I would paint myself into a corner by having to also give 5 Skulls to anything else which came out later that I liked more. Arch Enemy's latest is a true masterpiece of guitar solo virtuosity and catchy, euro-death metal stylings. What makes this one rise above the pack and deserve the 5 Skulls is the combination of 80's metal thrash sensibilities with modern power and melodic-death elements and fantastic musicianship. This one is a true classic. New Rating:

	2. Opeth- Still Life I gave this one a four because I had reservations about the whole folk-metal element and thought perhaps that this one didn't quite match My Arms, Your Hearse. Then I saw Opeth play live at Milwaukee Metalfest 2000, where they clearly put on the best performance of the entire festival. From there I was sold. Everything Opeth does is pure musical genius, so clearly this album has to get the bump up to 5 Skulls. New Rating:

	3. Annihilator- Criteria of a Black Widow I love thrash, and no one is kicking it old school, technical thrash-style these days like Jeff Waters and company (old-school, catchy, eighties thrash fans, wait until you hear the forthcoming Carnival Diablos, it shreds!). I held back a bit here because there is an ever-so-slight cheese factor on a couple of tracks (particularly the kinda-almost bad title track), but a down moment or two amidst a platter-full of speed/thrash greatness does not a less-than-five-skull album make. New Rating:

	4. Cephalic Carnage- Exploiting Dysfunction Pure and utter musical insanity. Hard to digest in less than a week. I knew there was something special going on when I reviewed Cephalic Carnage, I just wasn't able to get a complete handle on things by the time I wrote my review. Now I know better. This is clearly a 5 Skull release, and a death/grind milestone. New Rating:

	5. King Diamond- House of God I was a huge King Diamond fan "back in the day," and Abigail and Them are some of my all-time favorite albums. However, by the time Conspiracy rolled around, I was beginning to get played out. Mediocre albums followed, and I lost interest in the once-mighty King. I think I was still experiencing King Diamond burnout when I reviewed House of God. Surprisingly enough, it has been the experience of hearing these tracks out of context, on the radio (WSOU), which has made me realize the quality of this release. Juxtaposed against the rest of the pack, House of God is a masterpiece, and a total return to form for the King. New Rating:

Death Removes a Skull:
	1. Soulfly- Primitive OK, so I overstated my point on this one. Sure, as a nu-metal album goes, this one runs circles around its boring, uninspired corporate competition. But fuck Max and his abandonment of metal and adoption of trendiness. Whether or not the songs exhibit integrity, and notwithstanding the fact that "Back to the Primitive" still makes me want to break things like "Refuse/Resist" did, this is squarely aimed at the nu-metal masses, and it should not be rewarded with 5 Skulls on this site. Still a much better record than the close-minded among you are probably prepared to admit, but one I feel compelled to ever-so-slightly withdraw my complete endorsement of it. 4 Skulls is probably where this one truly belongs. New Rating:

	2. Kovenant- Animatronic I really don't like that much black metal. And black metal mixed with techno? I despise it. So much pomp and pretension, makeup and fake names. Really crappy music. I think I was suckered into being generous because of the riffing, but I really do not like anything about this record. New Rating:

	3. Mayhem- Grand Declaration of War The Cold Lake of black metal. This is just bad. I don't understand it even in the slightest bit. I know there are some who think this is brilliant, but they must be looking for something 180 degrees different from my taste in heavy metal albums. I can't support this one even a little bit. New Rating:

	4. In Extremo- Verehrt Und Angespien This, too, is quite bad. I don't care how original it is, it is silly and sounds uninspired. These guys might make a good nemesis for GWAR, but it is bad, shit-sounding heavy metal music, and I chickened-out and chose to focus on its multi-cultural appeal and individualized approach rather than admitting that I never want to hear this album again. New Rating:

	5. Armored Saint- Revelation I am only now coming to terms with how disappointed I actually was upon hearing this album. I was always a big Armored Saint fan, and love John Bush's vocals. But this album is just average, nothing more. Simply put, it is kinda boring, and I have not spent any time listening to it since its release. Going for a "retro" vibe doesn't mean you have an excuse to make uninspired, retread hard rock/metal songs, and this one just doesn't leap out at me on any level. Not bad, really, just not what I was hoping for from Armored Saint. New Rating:

Hel Adds a Skull:
	1. Arch Enemy- Burning Bridges I think the term "rookie mistake" is an understatement here. I wandered around loving this album and turning other people on to it for a long, long time. And I was shocked to look back and realize I didn't give it the 5 skulls it deserved. This is the perfect example of why going back and revising these scores is an excellent exercise. New Rating:

	2. Vital Remains- Dawn of the Apocalypse What the hell happened here?? I think I must have been on crack or something. This rating is just plain wrong. What we have here is excellent death metal. If you haven't yet, check it out. 'Nuff said. New Rating:

	3. Opeth- Still Life I know what happened here. The sheer mellowness of the album fooled me into thinking it was dull. HA! I recognize the symptoms because this also happened to me with Amorphis' Tuonela - I dismissed it quickly, thinking that it wasn't as good as the older stuff because it wasn't as death metal and generally hectic, but upon a later listen, I realized it was not only a fucking masterpiece, but completely addictive as well. Same here. Listen to Still Life again, you'll see. New Rating:

	4. Control Denied- Fragile Art of Existence I still stand by my statements about the singer, but I cannot deny the quality of the music any longer. Chuck is a metal visionary, and I can't live with myself having given such a low score to a project of his. Particularly while he is reportedly setting Death, my personal favorite, aside and focusing on this one alone. I'm giving Control Denied another chance. New Rating:

	5. The Gathering- if_then_else Now, there's no doubt that this is not really a metal album. But I believe I was acting out in anger when I handed The Gathering 3 skulls for this album. I admitted at the time that I thought it was a good album, even though it wasn't heavy, and that is still true. If I hadn't already been half provoked, I probably would have been more lenient at the time. New Rating:

Hel Removes a Skull:
	1. In Extremo- Verehrt Und Angespien There was a period of time, I think it was the 1950s, when novelty songs were all the rage and songs like "Purple People Eater" were huge hits as a result. Perhaps if I spoke German, this wouldn't smack so strongly of novelty, but as things currently stand, there is less substance here than I first thought. New Rating:

	2. Bal-Sagoth- The Power Cosmic Speaking of novelty, there seems to be a bit of that here as well. While I still enjoy the combo that I like to call "RPG meets black metal," I find that I rarely - well, ok, never - feel the need to hear it again. In short, it lacks staying power for me. New Rating:

	3. Triumphator- Wings of Antichrist Poor production, uninventive sound. These guys have skill, but have mostly just taken elements from black metal and death metal and tossed them into a blender to mix them into a very dirty sound. It's a fun listen, to be sure, but not really above average. New Rating:

	4. Defleshed- Fast Forward My biggest issue with this album is that it is produced in such a way that if you listen to it at a moderate volume, it sounds like poorly produced, basically monotonous, mid paced death metal. It doesn't matter that it sounds much better at higher volumes, this should in no way be acceptable, at the very least, it is unacceptable for the 4 skull category. New Rating:

	5. Mayhem- Grand Declaration of War I remember that, when I first listened to this album, I decided it should be called Grand Declaration of Nothing because it had so little of value to offer. But I decided that I needed to look more deeply to find the value, and I wrote my review from that perspective. I was never able to rid my mind of that line, however, and going back to this was painful. This album stinks - I might even have considered taking 2 skulls away from this one if I were allowed. But I'm not, so here we are... New Rating: