Review by JD on June 15, 2010.

Finland has some wickedly amazing metal coming out of the small snow-swept country, some of the most brutal yet intriguing music that raises the bar for others. Because of that, this two band split EP made me curious as hell.

Each band has one original song on the CD, as well as each have chosen an Iron Maiden cover to add in as well. Deathchain does one of my favourite Maiden tunes 'Purgatory'...and does a great job of it. Sotajumala does 'Prowler'... another classic tune and a very intensely
enjoyable version has been born. Each do an amazing job of their respective covers... but the one original tune was a difference maker.

Sotajumala single original track is called 'Sinun Virtesi'. A track that is pretty good in spots, but ends up falling very short of being close to memorable. The track sounds just like a whole lot of other bands out there... and really does wallow in the murkiness of the mundaneness that is the scene. The recording was a little shoddy as well, and that added to the whole thing.

Deathchain’s original song is called 'The Crawling Chaos'. It has some great guitar work and interesting melody that perked my interest a little... but that does not hid the fact that the song is boring. The band do have some serious talent that I can hear, but I am feeling as if they had picked the wrong song to put out. The song does not showcase that they have talent... a fact perfectly clear to any who hear it.

So there you have it. They have proven to do cover classic metal great, but they really do need work in the original department. I hear that both bands have some talent that is not evident on the EP, but sadly, its being talented as a cover band. I hope I am wrong here, but I can only go with what I am hearing. Covers were good; originals were not. Nuff said.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 5
Originality:3.5
Overall: 5

Rating: 4.9 out of 10

Review by Michael on February 15, 2002.

I think there are only a handful of truly memorable moments in the world of Heavy Metal, and Black Sabbath – Reunion is definitely one of those. The greatest metal band of all time reuniting after a 17 year absence from the stage to play and record a massive show in their home town of Birmingham, England.

Not too much has changed since they last played together. As a matter of fact it sounds like nothing has changed at all down to the band members actually playing the exact same instruments, getting sounds you just do not hear these days. Ozzy is still just as excitable as ever constantly shouting his trade mark “We fucking love you all!!!” and the ever present “Lets go fucking crazy!!!”... he certainly still rocks hard for an old codger.

The only thing that is quite noticeably different is poor old Ozzy’s vocal range has deteriorated slightly. Its probably most noticeable on track 1 of the second CD. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath just doesn’t have the same punch anymore, but that really does not taint the CD much at all, we really should all be very happy and content with the fact that Ozzy can still move and sing at all after the most interesting life he has had so far... even if he does have trouble remembering the lyrics to his own songs, as a monitor can be seen in some of the live pictures displaying the words of the songs in a karaoke fashion for poor old Ozzy to sing along to.

For the lifelong (Ozzy fronted) Black Sabbath fans out there (myself included), this CD is a godsend. All the greatest tracks together, performed flawlessly in a brilliantly presented 2 disc pack with a 28 page color booklet containing extensive liner notes and full of rare photo’s.

The sound quality is everything you would expect from a live recording of a band of this caliber. Everything is clear and the mix is exactly how it was done 20 years ago. They have captured the feeling and vibe of the original Black Sabbath perfectly, creating a brilliant old school experience.

Bottom Line: This is a must for any Black Sabbath fans the world over. If you have any knowledge of metal at all...you already have this album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 10
Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by JD on April 27, 2014.

Swedish death metal is known all over the world as the benchmark for 90% of the death metal community. Completely uncompromising, for the most of the bands that have appeared – visionary… Sweden does live up to its own hype and more. Deathquintet appears on the shores of metal, waiting to unload its sonic destruction to the world.

This five piece act explodes out of the CD with some brutal power and rawness. Mostly giving some new death metal style with heavy shading of older death with even some hardcore elements, they seem to be trying to be on the fast track of being the next benchmark thing in the genre - yet for all of that hype and musical power, it seems the old adage remains intact… appearances, like expectations, are greatly deceiving.

With twelve songs came twelve solid chances Deathquintet had to grab someone by the throat and beat them senseless… that became many disappointments. Some tracks were more than just good, but not really great – relying on fury rather than talent. "Crawl On Your Feet" and "Nothing" were the only good tracks offered here, but the rest seem to be just cheap filler quick written crap of music that was going nowhere fuckin’ fast.

I was expecting so much more from this band, but I never got even a small percentage of it. Deathquintet seem to have talent behind everything, but it is never seen on this recording. I expect the band to make one more album and I hope that it is better conceived and planned than this one turned out to be. Naming your album Godwork makes the task of living up to it all hard, but Deathquintet never gets even remotely close to actually doing it.

I came, I listened, I am completely disappointed and now I move on. Says it all the best.

Rating: 5 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 14, 2020.

Greetings and best wishes to Thrashingfist Productions, because last year they gave the world 500 copies of this CD that bundles all four EPs / demos of the Australian semi-legend Armoured Angel from 1989 - 1994. Of course, 500 is a ridiculous number in view of the quality of the trio’s music, but it is better than none and it keeps the cult alive. Even the 'only vinyl is real' party will probably enjoy the fact that one can listen to 18 songs without interruption.

The CD has this magic element that makes the entire album more than the sum of its parts. Naturally, certain inconsistencies show up, because the typical album concept is missing. For example, “Ordained in Darkness” is a prototypical closer (it was the last track of the EP Stygmartyr), but here it is placed on the fourth position. Nevertheless, these details may slightly hurt the flow of the material, but the sound of all single releases is pretty comparable (full, dense, almost apocalyptic, droning solos, only the songs of Wings of Death sound a little bit less heavy) and this fact lends the compilation a surprisingly high degree of homogeneity.

Thrashingfist Production did not prefer a chronological order of the EPs / demos and so Wings of Death, whose material is slightly weaker than the remaining tracks, does not open the release. This was a good decision, because a compilation needs, like any other release, an icebreaker right at the beginning. The four songs of the (original) Stygmartyr kick off the album, the only EP with six songs is following (Mysterium), Communion closes the album after Wings of Death. All tracks deliver mostly mid-paced, heavyweight thrash with a sinister atmosphere. Some dudes say they identify death metal elements as well, but from my point of view, these nuances can be neglected. The riffs, the vocals, the guitar sound and the entire aesthetics of the music make me speak of (black) thrash metal, even though high velocity is mainly missing.

The output from 2019 fails to deliver an information overload, to express it mildly. The thin booklet does not hold a detailed history of the band or something like that, but it shows the original artworks, some tour posters or the original tape design. To put it positively, the booklet does not take away the mysterious touch of the compositions. The music speaks for itself and each and every listener can enrich it with her or his own thoughts.

Highlights? Too many to mention, but “Stygmartyr”, “Myth of Creation”, “Enigmatize”, “Castration”, “Communion” and even the outros/full-songs bastards “Ordained in Darkness” (with a few lines of text) and the instrumental “Elegy” are definitely wonderful examples of metallic strength, robustness and power. (More details to the music are in the reviews of the original releases, so I will be brief here.) The riffs of steel, extended version, provide 18 monolithic grindstones and mark a fantastic feast of controlled, malignant brutality. I recommend looking out for a copy of the limited edition. 499 is the maximum number of copies which are still available.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Felix on February 14, 2020.

Greetings and best wishes to Thrashingfist Productions, because last year they gave the world 500 copies of this CD that bundles all four EPs / demos of the Australian semi-legend Armoured Angel from 1989 - 1994. Of course, 500 is a ridiculous number in view of the quality of the trio’s music, but it is better than none and it keeps the cult alive. Even the 'only vinyl is real' party will probably enjoy the fact that one can listen to 18 songs without interruption.

The CD has this magic element that makes the entire album more than the sum of its parts. Naturally, certain inconsistencies show up, because the typical album concept is missing. For example, “Ordained in Darkness” is a prototypical closer (it was the last track of the EP Stygmartyr), but here it is placed on the fourth position. Nevertheless, these details may slightly hurt the flow of the material, but the sound of all single releases is pretty comparable (full, dense, almost apocalyptic, droning solos, only the songs of Wings of Death sound a little bit less heavy) and this fact lends the compilation a surprisingly high degree of homogeneity.

Thrashingfist Production did not prefer a chronological order of the EPs / demos and so Wings of Death, whose material is slightly weaker than the remaining tracks, does not open the release. This was a good decision, because a compilation needs, like any other release, an icebreaker right at the beginning. The four songs of the (original) Stygmartyr kick off the album, the only EP with six songs is following (Mysterium), Communion closes the album after Wings of Death. All tracks deliver mostly mid-paced, heavyweight thrash with a sinister atmosphere. Some dudes say they identify death metal elements as well, but from my point of view, these nuances can be neglected. The riffs, the vocals, the guitar sound and the entire aesthetics of the music make me speak of (black) thrash metal, even though high velocity is mainly missing.

The output from 2019 fails to deliver an information overload, to express it mildly. The thin booklet does not hold a detailed history of the band or something like that, but it shows the original artworks, some tour posters or the original tape design. To put it positively, the booklet does not take away the mysterious touch of the compositions. The music speaks for itself and each and every listener can enrich it with her or his own thoughts.

Highlights? Too many to mention, but “Stygmartyr”, “Myth of Creation”, “Enigmatize”, “Castration”, “Communion” and even the outros/full-songs bastards “Ordained in Darkness” (with a few lines of text) and the instrumental “Elegy” are definitely wonderful examples of metallic strength, robustness and power. (More details to the music are in the reviews of the original releases, so I will be brief here.) The riffs of steel, extended version, provide 18 monolithic grindstones and mark a fantastic feast of controlled, malignant brutality. I recommend looking out for a copy of the limited edition. 499 is the maximum number of copies which are still available.

Rating: 9 out of 10