September 21 - 30 (#265 - 274)

#265) This Heat - Repeat (1993) 

#266) Burmese - White (2003) 

#267) Nadja - Belles Bêtes (2009) 

#268) Anitgama/Psychofagist - 9 Psalms of an Antimusic to Come (2012)

#269) Behold! The Monolith - Behold! The Monolith (2009) 

#270) Oneida/Liars - Atheists, Reconsider (2002) .

#271) Behold! The Monolith - Defender, Redeemist (2012) 

#272) Book of Sand - The Face of the Waters (2011) 

#273) Horseback - The Gorgon Tongue (2011)

#274) 16-17 - Gyatso (1994) 

Cynic - Focus

Wherever There Is Other There Is Fear

#136) Cynic - Focus (1993/2004)

 1. Veil of Maya
 2. Celestial Voyage
 3. The Eagle Nature
 4. Sentiment
 5. I'm But a Wave To...
 6. Uroboric Forms
 7. Textures
 8. How Could I
 9. Veil of Maya (2004 Remix)
 10. I'm But a Wave To... (2004 Remix)
 11. How Could I (2004 Remix)
 12. Cosmos
 13. The Circle's Gone
 14. Endless Endeavors

Cynic's 1st full length is an awesome combination of death metal, prog rock and jazz fusion. this is sorta the early 90s version of Between the Buried and Me but with a lot less ADD. some of the songs get a little too world/new age-y for me but it's still an amazing record. 
the 2004 re-issue features remastered versions of the original 8 track album along with 6 bonus songs. 9 - 11 are all remixes of tracks (the 3 best in my opinion) from the album. to be honest i didn't listen to the tracks back to back or try to compare them closely but i didn't really notice any huge differences. maybe a little more synth. tracks 12 - 14 are from the Portal demos which, at the time, hadn't gotten an official release, but more on those later.
while the bonus tracks aren't really anything special that doesn't change the fact that this is an amazing album that was truly groundbreaking at the time of its release.

Morbid Angel - Covenant

Stain The World With The Blood Of Man

#94) Morbid Angel - Covenant (1993)

 1. Rapture
 2. Pain Divine
 3. World of Shit (Promised Land)
 4. Vengeance Is Mine
 5. The Lion's Den
 6. Blood On My Hands
 7. Angel of Disease
 8. Sworn to the Black
 9. Nar Mattaru
 10. God of Emptiness

Morbid's 3rd album is another slab of death metal.. on this album they also focus more on the Lovecraft/Summerian god influence lyrically. while the first 2 albums were recorded with a 2nd guitarist, Richard Brunelle, this album was recorded as a 3 piece without him. the change didn't seem to affect anything as Covenant went on to become the best selling death metal album of all time. there's really not a lot to say about this album that i haven't been saying about the other 2. rad riffs and heaps of evil.

Carcass - Heartwork

Welcome To A World Of Hate, A Life Of Buried Dreams

#84) Carcass - Heartwork (1993/2008)

 1. Buried Dreams
 2. Carnal Forge
 3. No Love Lost
 4. Heartwork
 5. Embodiment
 6. This Mortal Coil
 7. Arbeit Macht Fleisch
 8. Blind Bleeding the Blind
 9. Doctrinal Expletives
 10. Death Certificate

Pre-Heartwork Parr Street Demos February 1993

 1. Blind Bleeding the Blind
 2. Buried Dreams
 3. Carnal Forge
 4. Death Certificate
 5. Deliverance
 6. Doctrinal Expletives
 7. Heartwork
 8. No Love Lost
 9. This Mortal Coil
 10. Arbeit Macht Frei

the band's 4th album sees a big change. the gory artwork is replaced by an HR Giger sculpture, and other than 2 songs (Carnal Forge and Arbeit Macht Fleisch, and even those are barely gory by early Carcass standards) the over the top medical dictionary lyrics are gone. the riffs have become more melodic and while there are still a lot of  rad, intricate riffs, the song structure is a little more streamlined. on Necroticism most of the songs were 5 minutes or over, with a few topping out at 7 minutes, here the songs are in the more average range of 3 to 4 minutes. the tempo has also leveled out a bit. while tracks like Carnal Forge and Death Certificate are total shredders, overall the album is mostly mid-tempo stuff. Death Certificate is up there with some of the fastest non-grind Carcass and also has some super melodic riffing going on, definitely one of my favorite tracks. this album fucking kills.

the bonuses this time comes in the form of an entire 2nd disc worth of demos. it's the entire album demo-ed out. the tracks have a rough edge to them and sound great, i think some of the tracks actually sound a little better in the demo versions. other than the different track order and the fact that here the song Embodiment is called Deliverance, i didn't really notice any huge differences. admittedly i didn't listen to the discs back to back so there are probably some things i missed but overall it's a rougher sounding version of the normal album. once again a really cool extra feature.

Today Is The Day - Supernova

                     What Is It About Me That Makes You So Mad


#57) Today Is The Day - Supernova (1993/2008)

 1. Black Dahlia
 2. 6 Dementia Satyr
 3. Silver Tongue
 4. Blind Man at Mystic Lake
 5. Adult World
 6. The Begging
 7. The Kick Inside
 8. Goose is Cooked
 9. Timeless
 10. Rise
 11. The Guilt Barber
 12. Self Portrait
 13. I Bent Scared
 14. C'mon Down and Get Saved

this was TITD's first full length. while it's more metal than their 2nd album, Willpower, it still has more of a noise rock feel overall. originally released in '93, the album was then re-issued in 2008 with 2 bonus tracks, I Bent Scared and C'mon Down and Get Saved. the tracks Rise, Adult World, Kick Inside and 6 Dementia Satyr all appeared on the band's demo EP How To Win Friends and Influence People (1992). of the album's 12 original tracks, 5 are "instrumentals", Blind Man at Mystic Lake, The Begging, Timeless, The Guilt Barber and Self Portrait. I Bent Scared and C'mon Down and Get Saved were originally released as a 7" single in a limited pressing of 1000.
as i said before, while i prefer the later metal stuff i really enjoy this early sound too. this was a really rad debut and it's great having those rare tracks on here as a bonus.