The Metal Judgment Three Year Anniversary:





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Metal Judgment launched on Halloween 1999. Since that time, the Judgment Committee (Abyss, Death and Hel) has reviewed 246 new release albums and 50 concerts, most featuring exclusive photography. In addition, the growing Metal Judgment staff has contributed weekly reviews to our Summary Judgment (540 albums, concerts, videos, books, and films reviewed since '99), Metal Classics (albums five years old or older; 151 reviewed since '99) or Demo Review (129 unsigned acts reviewed since '99) sections. All in all, in the last three years, we've covered a lot of metal.
In the past year, Metal Judgment has undergone a number of changes. We have added: 8 new reviewers, a search button, Perfect Scores and Ranking pages for the Judgment Committee reviews, and an upgraded webboard, which already has nearly 200 registered users. In addition, this past year saw Redwolff assume the duties of webmaster.
In Year Three, the Judgment Committee collectively gave perfect scores to 5 of the 71 albums (7%) they reviewed in the Album Reviews section. The albums receiving perfect scores in year three were:
Green Carnation Light of Day, Day of Darkness
Arch Enemy Wages of Sin
Nile In Their Darkened Shrines
Dark Tranquillity Damage Done
Dillinger Escape Plan Irony is a Dead Scene EP
[Note: Albums modified below do not qualify as having received a perfect score.]
Knowing that hindsight is often 20/20, we have provided each Judgment Committee member the opportunity to rethink some of their Year Three scores. Each Committee member has been given the opportunity to amend some of their more egregious 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 by one skull.
Abyss:
Well, here we are, a year later and a year wiser. As we all begin to look forward to our top ten lists for the year, we get this opportunity to reassess where we might have gone wrong. While I usually have trouble changing my scores (because I think I do such a great job the first time around), this year I was surprised to find that there were numerous albums that I wanted to change their score. Maybe I'm slipping, maybe I'm becoming self aware, or maybe I'm just always drunk! Bottom line is that I found myself giving four skulls to a good deal of bands that have a chance to make it onto my year end list, and there were definitely a great deal of stinkers that I went easy on.

Abyss Adds a Skull:

1. The Crown- Crowned In Terror
What can I say? The only reason this one didn't get a 5 from the get go is that I liked their previous album just a touch better. But that doesn't change the fact that the first half of last year this album dominated my CD player. It still makes it in every once in a while, but since I feel the end of this year has been much stronger than the beginning, it has much more competition now. It is however a brilliant, but more importantly fun, album that has given me hours of enjoyment, and has more than earned a perfect rating.
New Rating:

2. Decapitated- Nihility
Another album that just shreds your skin off. Why didn't it get a perfect score to begin with? Well cause these young fucks make me feel old, and I'm too young to go through a mid life crisis (or at least that's what I tell my 16 year old girlfriend... just kidding). Youth aside, these guys are a brilliant band no matter what angle you look at it from. Songwriting, aggression, technical ability, attitude: they've got it all and are simply one of the most exciting death metal acts out there.
New Rating:

3. Blind Guardian- Night at the Opera
Alright! I admit it! I couldn't find it in my heart to give these guys a perfect score because they're so damn cheesy! I mean c'mon, they actually had a song based on Dragonlance, for crying out loud! Admit it, they bring a lot of this on themselves. Unfortunately (for me), this album (despite the cheesiness) is a brilliant piece of metal. By far the best power metal album of the year, these guys are an amalgam of talent and progression. I guess I just have to come fully out of the closet and admit that I really admire this band. In fact, they rule.
New Rating:

4. Kalmah- They Will Return
I've been finding myself continually drawn to these guys' quirky melodic metal. They have the chops of their compatriots, Children of Bodom, without the levity, as they are decidedly more dark. Bottom line is that we've heard this stuff before, but not quite like this, and rarely this well.
New Rating:

5. Bolt Thrower- Honor Valour Pride
I don't know why I keep coming back to this one. I've always like this album, but I never thought it was something that would hold my attention for so long. I still think it is far from a perfect album, however, but I'm really glad I have it and I enjoy listening to it whenever I'm in the mood for some straight-forward, no-nonsense metal; the perfect accompaniment to a cold, domestic beer and a few games on my Gamecube. Its simplicity is comforting, so I guess this is the sonic equivalent of comfort food. Bolt Thrower is basically a big bowl of macaroni and cheese: Good, satisfying and you never really get sick of it.
New Rating:

Abyss Removes a Skull:

1. Soilwork- Natural Born Chaos
I've been awaiting for the ability to remove a skull off of this album since almost immediately after my review. It initially got a good review from me, just because they seem to have crafted their own sound, and I thought that enough to set them apart from the pack. And they are a talented band; there are some really cool parts to this album. But the poppy-er angle that they've applied is just maddening. They always seem to queer up some monstrous riff come chorus time, and everyone seems to love them for it. Hey I guess more power to 'em, I just can't appreciate a band that moves further and further from what made me enjoy them in the first place. Light and fluffy is an adequate description for meringue, not a metal band.
New Rating:

2. Skinlab- The reVolting Room
I guess it was a lingering sense of loyalty that kept me from totally pointing to this album as a steaming pile of crap. Not only is this album strictly nu-metal, it's not even very good nu-metal. End result is that I think this album spells out the end for Skinlab. I personally think they've gone downhill at quite a fast pace since their solid debut. Basically the only truly revolting room is the studio that churned this pap out.
New Rating:

3. Black Label Society- 1919 Eternal
This album is just plain disappointing. What's worse is that it's really disappointing even though I didn't have any lofty expectations for it. While Stronger Than Death was a great album that I rarely listen to, at least when the rare mood to hear it comes up, I'm completely satisfied. This album is exactly the opposite, which makes 'successful' the last adjective that can be applied to this one. Simply put, with the exception of the opening track, the songwriting just isn't there on this one. In fact, most of it doesn't even rise to the level of filler.
New Rating:

4. Hate Eternal- King of All Kings
I really want to like this album more than I do. I really want to like this band more than I do. But all in all, this band is really just middle tier. I do think they are getting better, as I think this is their best work to date, and if they separate themselves from the Morbid Angel-ness that pervades their sound, they might break into the upper tier, but anything above a 3 for this band is just being overly generous. I still like them, I just think this is a more accurate score.
New Rating:

5. Lock Up- Hate Breeds Suffering
I've actually gone back a few times and tried to listen to this album, but each time I do I find myself not really enjoying it all that much. The production on this album really gets to me, and the more I listen to it the more it gets under my skin. I realize that this band probably wants it this way, after all this is their second effort, but I just can't get on board. While their first album suffered from some of the same flaws, the project as a whole really hit a nerve. This, the follow-up, just seems lackluster and forced.
New Rating:

Death:
Three years in, two reviews a week, and I'm still having a fucking blast. I love metal, I love this site, and I'm psyched that a few thousand people each week actually seem to give a damn what I have to say. Sure, the haters are out there, and they email en force each time I trash an album I'm supposed to like and like an album I'm supposed to trash, but fuck it. I'm gonna score 'em like I hear 'em - critical emails be damned! Of course I do read everything people write to me, and I'm sure a bit of your back-seat reviewing has crept into our annual year-in-review adjustments. . . Anyway, what have I learned from my reflection? Four things:
(1) death metal is faring better with me lately;
(2) old favorites that fail to deliver the goods are faring worse;
(3) a great live show can go a long way toward serious appreciation of the recorded effort; and
(4) a lot of good albums came out in 2002 -- the year end top-ten lists are going to be mighty tough to put together this year.

Death Adds a Skull:

1. Decapitated- Nihility
Seeing this band live took my appreciation to a whole new level. This is some killer thrashy death metal, and all of you should take immediate note. Decapitated are one of the best bands the genre can offer you today. If you like riffs and if you like to bang your head to death metal, this one is for you.
New Rating:

2. The Crown- Crowned in Terror
Pestilence was on my ass about giving this one a 3 from the get-go. I still don't love it as much as some, but it is a riff-filled and fairly killer effort, and certainly rises above the average score I gave it the first time around.
New Rating:

3. Vader- Revelations
The groove of the opening track alone is probably worth the 5 skull nod. This is killer material, and should be high on any pure death metal fan's year-end list. While it may not reach those lofty heights when my list gets assembled in December, it probably should have gotten the 5 it deserved from me the first time around, which would have gotten Vader onto our perfect score list.
New Rating:

4. Impaled- Mondo Medicale
I don't know what I was thinking. This album combines the best of old-school Bay Area/L.A. thrash with new school gore and grind. Think Megadeth meets Carcass. The album absolutely rips, and I think I held back because I was on some "originality" kick or something that week. This is another band who was helped by delivering a kick-ass live show.
New Rating:

5. Witchery- Symphony for the Devil
Another live show that made all the difference. This band kicked serious ass on their tour with the Haunted, and the songs have sounded ten times better on album ever since. I prevented the perfect score the first time around. Now I remedy my mistake.
New Rating:

Death Removes a Skull:

1. Dream Theater- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
The band is amazing, and "The Glass Prison" is an example of Dream Theater's finest work. But the album as a whole doesn't stack up over extended listens the way that other Dream Theater albums do. I applaud the length and the ambition, but overall there is just too much quiet downtime here to make this a 5-skull album. "The Glass Prison" is a 5-skull song, the rest is a solid 4.
New Rating:

2. Cannibal Corpse- Gore Obsessed
I was mesmerized by the riffs. This one is good, but 5 skulls is a bit much. A return to form, indeed, but it has not been returning to my CD player as often as I would have originally expected. Don't get me wrong, Gore Obsessed is a great record. It just isn't a future classic.
New Rating:

3. Skinlab- The reVolting Room
This is an example of me wanting to like a record a whole lot more than I actually did. In many ways, this is the nu-metal crap that some allege. That said, it also is Skinlab, and there is enough left here of the old sound that I still like aspects of the record. The nu-metal production just doesn't hold up. Too bad this shift in presentation has not (so far) been enough to break the band. I am still rooting for them, but a 4 skull record this is not.
New Rating:

4. Engine- Superholic
I love Ray Adler's voice and I love this record. But in hindsight I'm pretty sure this is not 5 skull material. It pains me to do this, because I did genuinely enjoy this album and spent a great deal of time with it. I will definitely return to this from time to time and sing along out loud. Yet, at the end of the day, the riffs are simple and the songs, while good, are not anything approaching classic status. I liked this as much for the Cure cover as anything else.
New Rating:

5. Brand New Sin- Brand New Sin
I love the Down record, and bought into the hype for BNS thinking that these songs were classic enough to stick with me in that same way. It didn't happen. I bet Famine a beer that this record would blow up big. It didn't happen. I like Brand New Sin, but I have not found myself returning to this one at all since I originally put it back on the shelf. Famine, I owe you a beer.
New Rating:

Hel:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this yearly re-evaluation is the most difficult part of the job. Scoring is a constant labor for me, and I try to rate things on a constant scale, but since this scale is opinion based to being with, it is not always as consistent as I'd like. Add to that my continual struggle with trying to rate records objectively against my abiding love for all that is metal, and, well, it's all just a big mess. Honestly, I don't grade harshly very often because, as a consummate metal lover, if it's metal, I'm probably going to be able to find something to like about it. So reviewing albums in the first place is difficult, and you may begin to be able to see how this re-evaluation situation can be downright prickly for me. But, here at Metal Judgment, we are a dedicated bunch, and I must do my part. So here we go.
Hel's Revisions:

Hel Adds a Skull:

1. Centinex- Diabolical Desolation
The fatal flaw of this album is its poor production. The overall mix is muddy, and makes if difficult to hear how good the music actually is. It's sort of like, listening to music underwater, if you cranked your stereo up loud enough to hear it underwater. Only I'm not actually underwater. But Centinex shouldn't be allowed to sink because of poor production.
New Rating:

2. December Wolves- Blasterpiece Theatre
Another victim of poor production values, Blasterpiece Theatre, in retrospect, clearly achieves the technical mastery and songwriting proficiency that I consider mandatory in a four skull release. Its production definitely holds it back, but if you can find a way to tolerate that, this is a very good release.
New Rating:

3. Wolverine- The Window Purpose
Despite my continued feelings that this band is little more than a Dream Theater clone, and assorted other vague misgivings, their musicianship is undeniably several steps above that of most other bands out there. Therefore, they deserve an extra skull.
New Rating:

4. Thy Primordial- The Crowning Carnage
This release came across my ears after a veritable glut of outstanding music. Most black metal bands don't go over very well with me, and the combination of these factors primarily contributed to the low score I gave them initially. Upon re-evaluation, I liked the record a skull more than I did the first time around.
New Rating:

5. Hate Eternal- King of All Kings
This arrived in my mailbox around the same day that Kataklysm did. Listening to them in such close proximity, I think that I couldn't help subconsciously measuring them against each other, and the crystal-clear production of Kataklysm knocked my socks off, whereas this was an area in which Hate Eternal was obviously lacking. Are we sensing a theme here?
New Rating:

Hel Removes a Skull:

1. Skinlab- reVolting Room
As much as it troubles me to do this, I find I have no other choice. I have counted Skinlab among my favorite bands for years, and tried my hardest to defend this album. But after seeing it live, stacked right up against their older material, it simply doesn't measure up. And each time I put it into my player, I like it a little less. It breaks my heart, but, as this is an exercise in honesty, I must face the truth. Skinlab put out a fairly mediocre album.
New Rating:

2. Therion- Secret of the Runes
I actually put this one back in my player with the belief that I would want to add a skull to my original rating. The things that are good about this band are very good and I constantly find myself thinking that I like them. But when I put this album in, and heard once more those screechy female vox that are so prominent on this release, I found I had no other choice - I must take this one down a notch.
New Rating:

3. Black Label Society- 1919 Eternal
I don't know how this happened. I must have been having an out-of-body experience when I wrote this review. It's just not like me to think that a BLS release is worthy of three skulls. I am aware that there are other people in the world who absolutely love them. Clearly, I am not one of those people.
New Rating:

4. Kittie- Oracle
While I always wish to support my fellow women in metal, and this effort is undeniably superior to their first, the fact remains that while I am cycling through almost every album I've reviewed in the last year, playing "which of these does not belong with the others" this record pops up time and again. It is simply not a 3 skull album if I am keeping my standards consistent. Down it goes.
New Rating:

5. Manowar- Warriors of the World
Sure, the musical skill is there, but it has always been the irritatingly upbeat anthem-ness of their songs that annoys me, to place it in a nutshell. Perhaps it isn't truly worthy of such a low score, but I really, really don't like this album. Trust me, I listened to most of it again before writing this, just to be sure, and I really, really don't like it.
New Rating:

Metal Judgment owes a great debt to our dedicated staff of metalheads who contribute to the site each week. Read more about them. [Note: Reviews appearing in sections outside a staff member's noted area are in parenthesis; Metal Classics are not included in the lists below]
Abyss
Judgment Committee Member
Date committed: 10/31/99
Location: New York
Death

Judgment Committee Member
Date committed: 10/31/99
Location: California
Hel

Judgment Committee Member
Date committed: 10/31/99
Location: California
Judgment Committee Perfect Scores
Rank Order of All Judgment Committee Album Reviews
Musashi
Demo Reviews
Date committed: 11/18/99
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
Discreate Discreate
Arsis Arsis
Hectorite Nocturnal Metempsychosis
Sic Seed Sic Seed
Irate 1134
Strange Land Anamoly
Two Hit Creeper The Stepchildren's Twisted Circus Music
King's X "Manic Moonlight Tour" Concert (Summary Judgment)
Pipebomb How 'Bout Now?
eths autopsie
Brick Bath I Won't Live the Lie
Sift Sift
The Dying Light The Dying Light
Vore Lord of Storms
Foiled Again Higher State
uneXpect Utopia
Tool Concert (Summary Judgment)
John Jaunese The Fastest Guitar on Earth
Drill 187 Drill 187
Ninth Level Nith Level
Arma Angelus The Grave End of the Shovel (Summary Judgment)
Painface Fleshcraft
Dillinger Escape Plan Dillinger Escape Plan (Summary Judgement)
Mahavatar Mind Hypnotic Vision Towards Revolution
Scylla The Eternal Darkness
Cut, Love, Kill Power Transition Theory
True to Form True to Form
Syndicate Syndicate
Exuviate Exuviate
Redwolff
Summary Judgment / Webmaster
Date committed: 9/6/00
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
Unearth Endless EP
Atomic Bitchwax Spit Blood
Living Sacrifice Conceived in Fire
Eternal Elysium Share
Alabama Thunderpussy Staring at the Divine
Brick Bath I Won't Live the Lie
Quitter Quitter
Darkest Hour So Sedated So Secure
Scissorfight Mantrapping for Sport and Profit
J. J. Paradise Players Club Wine Cooler Blowout
Puya Union
Atomic Bitchwax II
Lowrider Ode to Io
Project 86 Drawing Black Lines
P.O.D. The Fundamental Elements of Southtown
Taproot Gift
Red Giant Ultra Magnetic Glowing Sound
Solomon
Metal Classics / Summary Judgment
Date committed: 11/21/00
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
Apotheosis Farthest from the Sun
Arjen Lucassen's Star One Space Metal
King's X Concert Review
Tesla Replugged Live
Vanden Plas Beyond Daylight
Martin Popoff Heavy Metal (Book)
Kalmah Swamplord
Evergrey In Search of Truth
Entwine Gone
G3 2001 Concert
Odyssey Odyssey
Requiem
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 11/21/00
Location: Massachusetts
5 skull reviews:
Agalloch The Mantle
Shape of Dispair Angels of Distress
Rapture Futile
To/Die/For Eternity
Crematory Believe
Equinox (formerly known as Unearth)
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 3/8/01
Location: Massachusetts
5 skull reviews:
Rhapsody Power of the Dragonflame
Rhapsody Concert
Andromeda Extension of the Wish
Behemoth
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 6/7/01
Location: Delaware
5 skull reviews:
Tidfall Instinct Gate
Savage
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 1/25/02
Location: Wisconsin
5 skull reviews:
Stone Sour Stone Sour
Lollipop Lust Kill My So-Called Knife
Drill 187 The Faceless Majority
Seasons of the Wolf Nocturnal Revelations
Earshot Letting Go
Dawnrazor
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 5/17/02
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
Blackshine Soulless & Proud
Brothers of Conquest All the Colors of Darkness
Ember
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 7/12/02
Location: Massachusetts
5 skull reviews:
Bongzilla Gateway
Zao Parade of Chaos
Terror 2000 Faster Disaster
Moloch
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 7/12/02
Location: Massachusetts
5 skull reviews:
Agoraphobic Nosebleed Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope
Sabbath
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 9/6/02
Location: California
5 skull reviews:
Internecine The Book of Lambs
Hate Cain's Way
Kronos Titan's Awakening
Metal Militia
Demo Reviews
Date committed: 9/13/02
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
The Dillinger Escape Plan in Concert (Summary Judgment)
Shrine of Scars Deathbed for a Weakening Spirit
Chainheart
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 9/20/02
Location: California
5 skull reviews:
In Flames with Killswitch Engage, Dark Tranquillity and Sentenced (Concert Reviews)
Jotun
Summary Judgment
Date committed: 10/11/02
Location: New York
5 skull reviews:
Aria As if Forever Really Exists
Various Artists Nasty Habits - Live on WERS
A very special thanks goes out to our photographers, Cyn (contributing since 12/2/99) and Ylana (contributing since 8/23/01).
We would also like to thank everyone else who has ever contributed a review to the site and our loyal webboarders. Your support has been an invaluable component of our continued growth. We look forward to many more years of sharing our dedication to metal with the metal fans of the world.

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Abyss Adds a Skull:
	1. The Crown- Crowned In Terror What can I say? The only reason this one didn't get a 5 from the get go is that I liked their previous album just a touch better. But that doesn't change the fact that the first half of last year this album dominated my CD player. It still makes it in every once in a while, but since I feel the end of this year has been much stronger than the beginning, it has much more competition now. It is however a brilliant, but more importantly fun, album that has given me hours of enjoyment, and has more than earned a perfect rating. New Rating:

	2. Decapitated- Nihility Another album that just shreds your skin off. Why didn't it get a perfect score to begin with? Well cause these young fucks make me feel old, and I'm too young to go through a mid life crisis (or at least that's what I tell my 16 year old girlfriend... just kidding). Youth aside, these guys are a brilliant band no matter what angle you look at it from. Songwriting, aggression, technical ability, attitude: they've got it all and are simply one of the most exciting death metal acts out there. New Rating:

	3. Blind Guardian- Night at the Opera Alright! I admit it! I couldn't find it in my heart to give these guys a perfect score because they're so damn cheesy! I mean c'mon, they actually had a song based on Dragonlance, for crying out loud! Admit it, they bring a lot of this on themselves. Unfortunately (for me), this album (despite the cheesiness) is a brilliant piece of metal. By far the best power metal album of the year, these guys are an amalgam of talent and progression. I guess I just have to come fully out of the closet and admit that I really admire this band. In fact, they rule. New Rating:

	4. Kalmah- They Will Return I've been finding myself continually drawn to these guys' quirky melodic metal. They have the chops of their compatriots, Children of Bodom, without the levity, as they are decidedly more dark. Bottom line is that we've heard this stuff before, but not quite like this, and rarely this well. New Rating:

	5. Bolt Thrower- Honor Valour Pride I don't know why I keep coming back to this one. I've always like this album, but I never thought it was something that would hold my attention for so long. I still think it is far from a perfect album, however, but I'm really glad I have it and I enjoy listening to it whenever I'm in the mood for some straight-forward, no-nonsense metal; the perfect accompaniment to a cold, domestic beer and a few games on my Gamecube. Its simplicity is comforting, so I guess this is the sonic equivalent of comfort food. Bolt Thrower is basically a big bowl of macaroni and cheese: Good, satisfying and you never really get sick of it. New Rating:

Abyss Removes a Skull:
	1. Soilwork- Natural Born Chaos I've been awaiting for the ability to remove a skull off of this album since almost immediately after my review. It initially got a good review from me, just because they seem to have crafted their own sound, and I thought that enough to set them apart from the pack. And they are a talented band; there are some really cool parts to this album. But the poppy-er angle that they've applied is just maddening. They always seem to queer up some monstrous riff come chorus time, and everyone seems to love them for it. Hey I guess more power to 'em, I just can't appreciate a band that moves further and further from what made me enjoy them in the first place. Light and fluffy is an adequate description for meringue, not a metal band. New Rating:

	2. Skinlab- The reVolting Room I guess it was a lingering sense of loyalty that kept me from totally pointing to this album as a steaming pile of crap. Not only is this album strictly nu-metal, it's not even very good nu-metal. End result is that I think this album spells out the end for Skinlab. I personally think they've gone downhill at quite a fast pace since their solid debut. Basically the only truly revolting room is the studio that churned this pap out. New Rating:

	3. Black Label Society- 1919 Eternal This album is just plain disappointing. What's worse is that it's really disappointing even though I didn't have any lofty expectations for it. While Stronger Than Death was a great album that I rarely listen to, at least when the rare mood to hear it comes up, I'm completely satisfied. This album is exactly the opposite, which makes 'successful' the last adjective that can be applied to this one. Simply put, with the exception of the opening track, the songwriting just isn't there on this one. In fact, most of it doesn't even rise to the level of filler. New Rating:

	4. Hate Eternal- King of All Kings I really want to like this album more than I do. I really want to like this band more than I do. But all in all, this band is really just middle tier. I do think they are getting better, as I think this is their best work to date, and if they separate themselves from the Morbid Angel-ness that pervades their sound, they might break into the upper tier, but anything above a 3 for this band is just being overly generous. I still like them, I just think this is a more accurate score. New Rating:

	5. Lock Up- Hate Breeds Suffering I've actually gone back a few times and tried to listen to this album, but each time I do I find myself not really enjoying it all that much. The production on this album really gets to me, and the more I listen to it the more it gets under my skin. I realize that this band probably wants it this way, after all this is their second effort, but I just can't get on board. While their first album suffered from some of the same flaws, the project as a whole really hit a nerve. This, the follow-up, just seems lackluster and forced. New Rating:

Death Adds a Skull:
	1. Decapitated- Nihility Seeing this band live took my appreciation to a whole new level. This is some killer thrashy death metal, and all of you should take immediate note. Decapitated are one of the best bands the genre can offer you today. If you like riffs and if you like to bang your head to death metal, this one is for you. New Rating:

	2. The Crown- Crowned in Terror Pestilence was on my ass about giving this one a 3 from the get-go. I still don't love it as much as some, but it is a riff-filled and fairly killer effort, and certainly rises above the average score I gave it the first time around. New Rating:

	3. Vader- Revelations The groove of the opening track alone is probably worth the 5 skull nod. This is killer material, and should be high on any pure death metal fan's year-end list. While it may not reach those lofty heights when my list gets assembled in December, it probably should have gotten the 5 it deserved from me the first time around, which would have gotten Vader onto our perfect score list. New Rating:

	4. Impaled- Mondo Medicale I don't know what I was thinking. This album combines the best of old-school Bay Area/L.A. thrash with new school gore and grind. Think Megadeth meets Carcass. The album absolutely rips, and I think I held back because I was on some "originality" kick or something that week. This is another band who was helped by delivering a kick-ass live show. New Rating:

	5. Witchery- Symphony for the Devil Another live show that made all the difference. This band kicked serious ass on their tour with the Haunted, and the songs have sounded ten times better on album ever since. I prevented the perfect score the first time around. Now I remedy my mistake. New Rating:

Death Removes a Skull:
	1. Dream Theater- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence The band is amazing, and "The Glass Prison" is an example of Dream Theater's finest work. But the album as a whole doesn't stack up over extended listens the way that other Dream Theater albums do. I applaud the length and the ambition, but overall there is just too much quiet downtime here to make this a 5-skull album. "The Glass Prison" is a 5-skull song, the rest is a solid 4. New Rating:

	2. Cannibal Corpse- Gore Obsessed I was mesmerized by the riffs. This one is good, but 5 skulls is a bit much. A return to form, indeed, but it has not been returning to my CD player as often as I would have originally expected. Don't get me wrong, Gore Obsessed is a great record. It just isn't a future classic. New Rating:

	3. Skinlab- The reVolting Room This is an example of me wanting to like a record a whole lot more than I actually did. In many ways, this is the nu-metal crap that some allege. That said, it also is Skinlab, and there is enough left here of the old sound that I still like aspects of the record. The nu-metal production just doesn't hold up. Too bad this shift in presentation has not (so far) been enough to break the band. I am still rooting for them, but a 4 skull record this is not. New Rating:

	4. Engine- Superholic I love Ray Adler's voice and I love this record. But in hindsight I'm pretty sure this is not 5 skull material. It pains me to do this, because I did genuinely enjoy this album and spent a great deal of time with it. I will definitely return to this from time to time and sing along out loud. Yet, at the end of the day, the riffs are simple and the songs, while good, are not anything approaching classic status. I liked this as much for the Cure cover as anything else. New Rating:

	5. Brand New Sin- Brand New Sin I love the Down record, and bought into the hype for BNS thinking that these songs were classic enough to stick with me in that same way. It didn't happen. I bet Famine a beer that this record would blow up big. It didn't happen. I like Brand New Sin, but I have not found myself returning to this one at all since I originally put it back on the shelf. Famine, I owe you a beer. New Rating:

Hel Adds a Skull:
	1. Centinex- Diabolical Desolation The fatal flaw of this album is its poor production. The overall mix is muddy, and makes if difficult to hear how good the music actually is. It's sort of like, listening to music underwater, if you cranked your stereo up loud enough to hear it underwater. Only I'm not actually underwater. But Centinex shouldn't be allowed to sink because of poor production. New Rating:

	2. December Wolves- Blasterpiece Theatre Another victim of poor production values, Blasterpiece Theatre, in retrospect, clearly achieves the technical mastery and songwriting proficiency that I consider mandatory in a four skull release. Its production definitely holds it back, but if you can find a way to tolerate that, this is a very good release. New Rating:

	3. Wolverine- The Window Purpose Despite my continued feelings that this band is little more than a Dream Theater clone, and assorted other vague misgivings, their musicianship is undeniably several steps above that of most other bands out there. Therefore, they deserve an extra skull. New Rating:

	4. Thy Primordial- The Crowning Carnage This release came across my ears after a veritable glut of outstanding music. Most black metal bands don't go over very well with me, and the combination of these factors primarily contributed to the low score I gave them initially. Upon re-evaluation, I liked the record a skull more than I did the first time around. New Rating:

	5. Hate Eternal- King of All Kings This arrived in my mailbox around the same day that Kataklysm did. Listening to them in such close proximity, I think that I couldn't help subconsciously measuring them against each other, and the crystal-clear production of Kataklysm knocked my socks off, whereas this was an area in which Hate Eternal was obviously lacking. Are we sensing a theme here? New Rating:

Hel Removes a Skull:
	1. Skinlab- reVolting Room As much as it troubles me to do this, I find I have no other choice. I have counted Skinlab among my favorite bands for years, and tried my hardest to defend this album. But after seeing it live, stacked right up against their older material, it simply doesn't measure up. And each time I put it into my player, I like it a little less. It breaks my heart, but, as this is an exercise in honesty, I must face the truth. Skinlab put out a fairly mediocre album. New Rating:

	2. Therion- Secret of the Runes I actually put this one back in my player with the belief that I would want to add a skull to my original rating. The things that are good about this band are very good and I constantly find myself thinking that I like them. But when I put this album in, and heard once more those screechy female vox that are so prominent on this release, I found I had no other choice - I must take this one down a notch. New Rating:

	3. Black Label Society- 1919 Eternal I don't know how this happened. I must have been having an out-of-body experience when I wrote this review. It's just not like me to think that a BLS release is worthy of three skulls. I am aware that there are other people in the world who absolutely love them. Clearly, I am not one of those people. New Rating:

	4. Kittie- Oracle While I always wish to support my fellow women in metal, and this effort is undeniably superior to their first, the fact remains that while I am cycling through almost every album I've reviewed in the last year, playing "which of these does not belong with the others" this record pops up time and again. It is simply not a 3 skull album if I am keeping my standards consistent. Down it goes. New Rating:

	5. Manowar- Warriors of the World Sure, the musical skill is there, but it has always been the irritatingly upbeat anthem-ness of their songs that annoys me, to place it in a nutshell. Perhaps it isn't truly worthy of such a low score, but I really, really don't like this album. Trust me, I listened to most of it again before writing this, just to be sure, and I really, really don't like it. New Rating: