Review by Carl on January 8, 2024.

There's something about brutal death metal bands that come out of Texas. For some reason or other, the artists coming out of that state really manage to give me the impression that all the horrible shit they're on about might actually become reality when you cross them. I don't have a good explanation for it, but for most part, other bands in the style coming from other places don't give me that feeling. And Sadistic Butchering is no exception.

Sole member (on this album at least) John Hull has ties to acts of renown such as Viral Load, Uncleansed and Desecrate the Faith, and you can certainly hear that on this album. The music that is dished out here combines a lot of the usual elements one has come to expect from the brutal death metal genre, with the guttural vocals, slamming slow sections and ravaging blast beat driven velocity being almost mandatory here. But while the music might not bring a lot of new dishes to the brutal death metal potluck, Hull makes his effort stand out through the use of busy, rapid-fire riffing and at times more intricate rhythm patterns used, like in the tracks "Rotting Menstruation of the Holy Whore" and "Blood Grazing Human Sacrifice". The man definitely knows what he's doing here, because this stuff is nearly flawless when it comes to the execution of the music. This something is supplemented by the more than decent programming (and sound!) of the percussion, which contributes a good deal to the aggression and power offered throughout. Put on top of this a production job that is clear, balanced and precise, and all these elements really get the chance to meld together in a sweet package of well performed brutality.

But there's something I'd like to point out, though. While the music does not skimp on the combined aggression and power with a subtle technical edge to it, the composition of the tracks is perhaps something that might require some time to get used to. Allow me to explain: these songs are certainly not bad in any way, but I needed time to really get to the bottom of them. The reason for this is that the components of the tracks consist out of short parts that are put together with a copious amount of breaks, and this makes the tracks pretty 'busy', so to speak. By the time you've gotten into one part, John's already on to the next, and by the time you notice that, the following part is already there. There's a lot happening in a short time. Again, this is no unlistenable jazz metal by any means, but it will take some time to let it all sink in, it did for me. Rest assured, though, when that coin does drop, you'll appreciate the variation and energetic performance even more.

This is an album that delivers power and aggro from the start, so you have that to begin with, but given more time, it will reveal its true strength. Perhaps it is not the most original entry in the TXDM library, it certainly delivers on any expectations a fan of the style might have. It's somewhat of a grower, but given the time, this album will manage to rub that sweet spot in a way beyond acceptable manner.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on January 8, 2024.

There's something about brutal death metal bands that come out of Texas. For some reason or other, the artists coming out of that state really manage to give me the impression that all the horrible shit they're on about might actually become reality when you cross them. I don't have a good explanation for it, but for most part, other bands in the style coming from other places don't give me that feeling. And Sadistic Butchering is no exception.

Sole member (on this album at least) John Hull has ties to acts of renown such as Viral Load, Uncleansed and Desecrate the Faith, and you can certainly hear that on this album. The music that is dished out here combines a lot of the usual elements one has come to expect from the brutal death metal genre, with the guttural vocals, slamming slow sections and ravaging blast beat driven velocity being almost mandatory here. But while the music might not bring a lot of new dishes to the brutal death metal potluck, Hull makes his effort stand out through the use of busy, rapid-fire riffing and at times more intricate rhythm patterns used, like in the tracks "Rotting Menstruation of the Holy Whore" and "Blood Grazing Human Sacrifice". The man definitely knows what he's doing here, because this stuff is nearly flawless when it comes to the execution of the music. This something is supplemented by the more than decent programming (and sound!) of the percussion, which contributes a good deal to the aggression and power offered throughout. Put on top of this a production job that is clear, balanced and precise, and all these elements really get the chance to meld together in a sweet package of well performed brutality.

But there's something I'd like to point out, though. While the music does not skimp on the combined aggression and power with a subtle technical edge to it, the composition of the tracks is perhaps something that might require some time to get used to. Allow me to explain: these songs are certainly not bad in any way, but I needed time to really get to the bottom of them. The reason for this is that the components of the tracks consist out of short parts that are put together with a copious amount of breaks, and this makes the tracks pretty 'busy', so to speak. By the time you've gotten into one part, John's already on to the next, and by the time you notice that, the following part is already there. There's a lot happening in a short time. Again, this is no unlistenable jazz metal by any means, but it will take some time to let it all sink in, it did for me. Rest assured, though, when that coin does drop, you'll appreciate the variation and energetic performance even more.

This is an album that delivers power and aggro from the start, so you have that to begin with, but given more time, it will reveal its true strength. Perhaps it is not the most original entry in the TXDM library, it certainly delivers on any expectations a fan of the style might have. It's somewhat of a grower, but given the time, this album will manage to rub that sweet spot in a way beyond acceptable manner.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Allan on June 23, 2002.

After only one debut release, it looks like Derek Sherinian’s (ex-Dream Theater, ex-Platypus, Alice Cooper, Kiss) prog/fusion super group is already at it again. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s a live album entitled “Live From Oz” and it was all recorded during their 2001 Australian tour. Featuring the musical elite, Virgil Donati (drums), Tony MacAlpine (guitar), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), and guest musician Dave LaRue (bass) are about to take you on a progressive ride of mild entertainment.

Unfortunately, I’m sure many of you already know what to expect from this. Planet X is a band that pushes their limits to showcase their abilities, and that’s exactly what they do on “Live From Oz”. The music is almost always doing something that is complex on some level, but it’s not always a shred-fest. This is a good thing, as it allows the band to bring in melody and groove, and also makes the musical landscape very spacey. At times it really comes across as improvisation. In general it has one member, usually the guitar, throwing around his playing abilities while the rest of the band creates a purposeful and useful backdrop. Each member does get to showcase their talent and ability in each individual song though, but more particularly in the individually tracked solos of all three of the true members, Sherinian, Fonati, and MacAlpine. There isn’t much more to say about “Live From Oz”. That’s about all there is to say about this album. It’s a very open sounding album that has virtuoso musicians playing their very best, but on “Live From Oz” it raises some problems.

With most any prog/fusion band made up of people who are amazing musicians, you get something that is self-indulgent. This really just builds up the pretentiousness and turns into sheer boredom. There is only so much unstructured instrument masturbation that a person can take, which brings me to my next complaint. The band really doesn’t have any direction to it. It’s just this huge plane of musical ideas tossed into one, moving from one idea to the other. Sure they are great musicians, sure they can throw in melody and groove into and between their shredding, but without the ability to compose something well that has some type of direction, its meaningless. Planet X only has about half the field tackled.

Bottom Line: I’m sure people who go for this type of thing will just fall more in love with Planet X, but for the rest of the world, it’s a meaningless record that can be ignored.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 5

Rating: 6.2 out of 10

Review by Allan on June 23, 2002.

After only one debut release, it looks like Derek Sherinian’s (ex-Dream Theater, ex-Platypus, Alice Cooper, Kiss) prog/fusion super group is already at it again. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s a live album entitled “Live From Oz” and it was all recorded during their 2001 Australian tour. Featuring the musical elite, Virgil Donati (drums), Tony MacAlpine (guitar), Derek Sherinian (keyboards), and guest musician Dave LaRue (bass) are about to take you on a progressive ride of mild entertainment.

Unfortunately, I’m sure many of you already know what to expect from this. Planet X is a band that pushes their limits to showcase their abilities, and that’s exactly what they do on “Live From Oz”. The music is almost always doing something that is complex on some level, but it’s not always a shred-fest. This is a good thing, as it allows the band to bring in melody and groove, and also makes the musical landscape very spacey. At times it really comes across as improvisation. In general it has one member, usually the guitar, throwing around his playing abilities while the rest of the band creates a purposeful and useful backdrop. Each member does get to showcase their talent and ability in each individual song though, but more particularly in the individually tracked solos of all three of the true members, Sherinian, Fonati, and MacAlpine. There isn’t much more to say about “Live From Oz”. That’s about all there is to say about this album. It’s a very open sounding album that has virtuoso musicians playing their very best, but on “Live From Oz” it raises some problems.

With most any prog/fusion band made up of people who are amazing musicians, you get something that is self-indulgent. This really just builds up the pretentiousness and turns into sheer boredom. There is only so much unstructured instrument masturbation that a person can take, which brings me to my next complaint. The band really doesn’t have any direction to it. It’s just this huge plane of musical ideas tossed into one, moving from one idea to the other. Sure they are great musicians, sure they can throw in melody and groove into and between their shredding, but without the ability to compose something well that has some type of direction, its meaningless. Planet X only has about half the field tackled.

Bottom Line: I’m sure people who go for this type of thing will just fall more in love with Planet X, but for the rest of the world, it’s a meaningless record that can be ignored.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 5

Rating: 6.2 out of 10