Been hunting around the bargain bins of my favorite record stores quite often. I just have been too busy to write one of these features. The more this recession lasts and the CD format agonizes, the more gems continue to show up in the right bins of the right stores. Anyway, a new installment was long overdue. Plus, I really needed to clear out the desk. Read on and spread the word…

Monumental in Its Sorrow is the debut album of Tearstained, the one man black metal project of New York based musician Mikael Bayusik, a lifer who has been in the scene since the early 90’s with several other incarnations such as Raids, Buried Beneath, Night Conquers Day and Secluded Violence. Apparently, Bayusik is really into darkness and into being evil and shit. A visit to his MySpace page shows newspaper articles dating back to the early 90’s in which his past life as a tombstone thief is revealed. In Monumental in Its Sorrow - initially released through Mordgrimm in 1999 but my copy is the 2005 reissue from Barbarian Wrath – Bayusik reveals that his plans for Tearstained are grand. The music is ambitious and melodic, majestic to the extent that a meager budget allows. So there isn’t much in the way of chaos or speed here. Just a fuzzy guitar, a lot of organ, – haunting the proceedings - drums and voices, many voices. Vocally, Bayusik recalls all the impersonations of King Diamond. This reissue was limited to 666 copies. My $0.99 copy is hand numbered 3. MySpace

Undercroft are from Santiago, Chile. Having been together since 1991 they are legends in their own land. Bassist and vocalist Alvaro Lillo actually performs live bass duties with Sweden’s Watain and leads this trio with a thrashy attitude. Danza Macabra (Picoroco, 2002) features a pretty brutal death metal sound that in some parts recalls the best moments of Sepultura. The Brazilian influence is undeniable in cuts like “Through the Night’s Veil” where the tribal drumming carries the song into an all too familiar territory. For a South American death metal band Undercroft have a lot of clarity and groove though. The execution is flawless and melodic without ever approaching the modern safeness that pervades much of the current scene. My copy of Danza Macabra is actually a reissue that tags the Bonebreaker (War Discos, 1997) album at the end. This recording features a different line up but an equally groove laden sound. Without Lillo at the mike, the vocals of Marco Medina are more brutal, but the music remains just as accessible. For death metal standards anyway.  MySpace

I really couldn’t resist the artwork of Rademassaker’s compilation Satanic Zombie Hordes (Redrum, 2004). Compiling material from split tapes, a couple of CD-R’s and adding a few unreleased tracks, this twenty-song Best of could satiate the thirst of anyone craving for a little more Mortician in their lives. The sound is absolutely soulless with an ultra guttural belch vocal approach, throbby basslines and drums that sound like they were mass produced in a Chinese sweat shop. Say what you will about Mortician, their music gets old after a couple of minutes. Fortunately for this German unit, I can’t say the same thing about Rademassaker. There is an emphasis in being slow here. A song like “Vomit On Your Soul” is painfully slow while “Evil Seed” uses cowbell to uneasy diminishing returns. Unsettling, strange and awesome. Rademassaker are my favorite band for the next ten minutes. Official Site 

Argentina’s Perpetua had their only full-length released in the US issued by Pavement Records. And as anyone who is familiar with this now defunct label knows, nearly all of their roster sucked pig testicles. Sadly, Perpetua are not an exception to the rule. This is pretty horrible. At their best, Perpetua sounds like Helmet’s retarded little brother. At their worst, Perpetua recalls the inbred children of the unlawful fucking between Godflesh and Fear Factory. If there is anything that must be highlighted is how evenly mediocre this album is. From the tepid production, to the sloppy performances, Irrational (1996) is exceptionally uninspired. MySpace

Infernal Vengeance is a Swedish heavy metal band with a vocalist that borders on the black metallish. But not really. Karl Beckman gargles his lines a little bit but also modulates the volume to go up and down along to the triumphant melodies of the Norse themes of Dual Mayhem (Trinity, 2006).  This is a compilation release that includes the two demos the band had recorded between 2004 and 2005. It almost sounds like power metal a la Hammerfall and in some cases like in “Metal Crusade” you guessed it, they sound like Manowar, but without the muscles, the loincloths and probably, without the delusions de gradeur.. Not my cup of tea. Not at all.

When I was a kid I used to get a hard on to this bitch. A song from her first full-length Be My Slave was included in a The Best of Metal Blade compilation that my older brother used to own. Anyway, Betsy Bitch and her band Bitch (pictured above)were one of the first bands to get signed by Metal Blade and The Bitch is Back (Metal Blade, 1985) was their second full-length. Two years later, in 1989, this Los Angeles band would issue one more EP before changing names to the more acceptable and totally fucking lame Betsy. People probably smelled bullshit so their softer material was received with a very cold cock. Betsy then reverted to the name Bitch. Anyway, The Bitch is Back is OK. 80’s heavy metal with an S&M theme running through the music, plus an Elton John cover of the title track. Pretty much like a hardened Pat Benatar with a camel toe for metal solos. If a dude was the singer, labels like Shadow Kingdom and Heavy Artillery would be all over this Bitch. MySpace

Like with Rademassaker, I got Freak Business because of the cover. Only this one doesn’t look cool. It looks fucking stupid. A muscle-headed clown with a Mohawk, big teeth like a horse, a cigar, a beer, a tiny hat and some knives. What the fuck? Anyway, on the back of the CD you can see the five members of Germany’s Runamok. They are all being funny and shit. I’d probably give this album higher marks if it had a better cover and the members didn’t look like such doofuses. Runamok is a Bavarian quintet that plays melodic heavy metal. Their tunes are pretty upbeat. So upbeat they border on speed metal. The guitars are flawless and their melodies though memorable are not all that cheesy. Like with Infernal Vengeance, this is not my cup of tea. The difference is that this time around I can definitely appreciate the effort. MySpace

Holocausto de la Morte is the second full-length of Necrophagia. A band everyone must know not only because Phillip Anselmo has been part of its ranks, but because it has been a staple of the underground scene since 1984. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t until Anselmo joined their ranks as ‘Anton Crowley’ that Necrophagia took off. Well, kinda. They definitely peaked during Crowley’s stint in the band and since his departure and despite the constant out flux of splits, EP’s, full-lengths and DVD’s it seems that people do not give much of a fuck about Necrophagia. Holocausto de la Morte (Red Stream, 1998) pretty much a horror movie soundtrack with heavy metal guitars. I actually like this quite a bit. Necrophagia is by no means a one note band. No just death metal, or gore metal, or cow metal, or black metal. They play it all, and their songs flow. Mostly, in stoner sludge manner but with the stench of death all over. MySpace