ACID DEATH

"Primal Energies" is the 5th full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The album was released through 7Hard Records in March 2019. It's the successor to "Hall of Mirrors" from 2015 and features the exact same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Stylistically Acid Death pretty much continue in the same technically well played death/thrash metal style on "Primal Energies" as they also performed on "Hall of Mirrors". They are a well playing unit, the sound production is crisp, detailed, and powerful, and lead vocalist/bassist Savvas Betinis performs his raw semi-growling vocals with conviction.

Alhough Acid Death are a relatively seasoned act, having formed in 1989 and having released albums in the 90s, they don't have many old school death metal elements in their sound, which is primarely a more contemporary technical death metal style (although there are nods towards early 90s technical death/thrash metal artists like Death and Sadist in the music). It's predominantly mid-paced and often features heavy groove laden riffs and rhythms, but also intriguing lead guitar work and other interesting elements. It's not remarkable or especially unique sounding music, but it's solid and overall of a good quality. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Hall of Mirrors" is the 4th full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The album was released through 7Hard Records in September 2015. It´s the successor to "Eidolon" from 2012 although the two full-length releases are bridged by the 2013 "MisleD 2013 Re-recorded" EP. There has been one lineup change since "Eidolon (2012)" as guitarist Kostas Karavelas has been replaced by John Anagnostou.

Stylistically the material on "Hall of Mirrors" continue in the same technical/progressive death metal direction as the material on "Eidolon (2012)". It´s music strongly influenced by the early 90s technical/progressive death metal scene (artists like Death and especially the Italian Sadist come to mind). It´s a bit more contemporary sounding though, which means it´s a little more heavy and groove oriented than the 90s influences. The title track is for example a full fledged groove metal track.

"Hall of Mirrors" features a well sounding production job, tight and skilled musicianship, and the material is well written and effective. The combination of 90s technical/progressive death metal elements and more contemporary heavy groove metal oriented elements won´t please all listeners, but there´s nothing wrong with the execution or the overall album package. This is a quality release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

— First review of this album —

"MisleD 2013 Re-recorded" is an EP release by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The EP was independently released in March 2013. It bridges the gap between the band´s third and fourth full-length studio albums "Eidolon (2012)" and "Hall of Mirrors (2015)". As the title of the EP suggests this is a re-recording of most of Acid Death´s material from the 1994 "Misled/Deformed Beyond Belief" split release with Avulsed plus the title track from the 1992 ""Balance of Power"" EP.

The music style is technical death metal in the old school end of the scale. Think late 80s/early 90s Death and maybe the Italians in Sadist, and you´re halfway there. Acid Death are a well playing unit and the snarling growling vocals are delivered with the right amount of caustic aggression and conviction. If you´re familiar with the musical direction of the material on "Eidolon (2012)" it´s not surprising that Acid Death chose to re-record material from the early part of their career, as there are many similarities between the material on "Eidolon (2012)" and the material featured on "MisleD 2013 Re-recorded". Gone are the jazz/fusion influences and odd experimental ideas from the late 90s/early 00s albums.

"MisleD 2013 Re-recorded" features a powerful, raw, and well sounding production, which suits the material well. The material could have been a little more memorable but it´s a minor issue and overall the EP is a quality technical daeth metal release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Eidolon" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The album was released through Noisehead Records in April 2012. It´s the successor to "Random's Manifest" from 2000 and it´s a comeback album for the band, who disbanded in 2001 and didn´t reunite until 2011. Acid Death did release the "Balance of Power" EP in 2008, while they weren´t active, but it´s not an EP featuring new original material. The "Balance of Power (2008)" EP was recorded in 1992, but the label who should have released it faced financial problems and the EP was therefore not released until 2008. After reuniting in 2011, the band released a promo. There have been two lineup changes since the release of "Random's Manifest (2000)" as guitarist Nikos Andreadakis has been replaced by Kostas Karavelas and drummer Kostas Tsompanos has been replaced by Kostas Alexakis. The two remaining members from the lineup who recorded "Random's Manifest (2000)" are Savvas Betinis (bass, vocals) and Dennis Kostopoulos (guitars).

Stylistically the material on "Eidolon" are generally very different in style from the technical/progressive death/thrash metal style featured on the two albums from the band´s original run. The music is much heavier and groove laden, and the vocals are more snarling and aggressive (unfortunately also a bit one-dimensional and a bit grating on the ears for the duration of a full album). It´s still quite technical music and the album also feature progressive leanings, but the jazz/fusion influence which was pretty dominant on the early releases, aren´t a primary element of the band´s sound anymore. In many ways "Eidolon" is a more simple and direct release than its two predecessors. Simple is probably a wrong word to use about the music, as it´s still quite complex and challenging.

"Eidolon" features a heavy and powerful sounding production job, although the drums have a slightly artificial sound (especially the clicky bass drums), which make them sound a bit disjointed in the soundscape. Upon conclusion "Eidolon" isn´t exactly what I expected from Acid Death, knowing the style of music they played on the first two albums, but in some ways it´s actually an upgrade from the early releases. I enjoy the focus on heavy riffs and rhythms and the more aggressive sound of the music, but scaling back on the progressive elements of the band´s sound also means "Eidolon" isn´t quite as original sounding as the two predecessors. It´s not a huge issue though, and "Eidolon" is overall a quality release by Acid Death, and a relatively promising comeback. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Random's Manifest" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The album was released through Black Lotus Records in the spring of 2000. Acid Death formed in 1989 and released a couple of demos, a single, and split with Avulsed, before releasing their debut full-length studio album "Pieces of Mankind" in 1998. They disbanded in 2001, but not before releasing "Random's Manifest" in 2000. Acid Death reunited in 2011 and have released new material since. There´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Themis K. has been replaced by Nikos Andreadakis.

Stylistically the material on "Random's Manifest" pretty much continues the progressive/technical death/thrash metal which was initiated on "Pieces of Mankind (1998)". It´s music highly focused on technical playing. Time signature changes, challenging death/thrash riffs, the occasional jazz/fusion part, and adventurous song structures are some of the characteristics of the music. "Random's Manifest" is a relatively diverse release with both harder edged aggressive sections, atmospheric sections, and melodic sections. Artists like Coroner, Sadist, and Death are valid references, but Acid Death aren´t copycats, and don´t really sound like anyone else in particular.

"Random's Manifest" features a decent sound production, but it could have been more powerful. The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, but the raw/growling vocals are a bit powerless to my ears. They get the job done, but they aren´t exactly caustic in nature. There´s sparse use of clean vocals on the album too, but it´s not enough to make much impact.

Upon conclusion "Random's Manifest" leaves me with a similar impression to the impression I got after listening to "Pieces of Mankind (1998)". It´s a good quality technical/progressive death/thrash metal release, and especially fans who favor technical playing and adventurous song structures over catchiness and hooks should be able to find quite a lot of listening satisfaction here. To my ears more focus on the songwriting and memorability of the tracks and less on the technical playing and creative songwriting ideas would have made the album a little more interesting. There´s nothing wrong with highly technical music, and artists like for example Atheist, Cynic, and Watchtower pull off playing very technical music and still successfully write memorable material, but Acid Death just aren´t in that league of players. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

"Pieces of Mankind" is the debut full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death/thrash metal act Acid Death. The album was released through Metal Mad Music in October 1998. Acid Death formed in 1989 and released a couple of demos, a single, and split with Avulsed, before releasing "Pieces of Mankind". They disbanded in 2001, but not before releasing their sophomore studio album "Random's Manifest" in 2000. Acid Death reunited in 2011 and have released new material since.

The 1990s were ripe with pioneering technical/progressive death and thrash metal acts like Atheist, Cynic, Death, Pestilence, and Gorguts (just to mention some of the best known acts on the scene, because there are a host of other lesser known contemporary acts out there too). Some successful and some who didn't make as great waves, and some who have only been recognized retrospectively. The fact is a sub genre was born in those years, which influenced several other artists to produce music in a similar vein. Most of the artists mentioned above are "first wave" technical/progressive death/thrash metal acts, but although Acid Death were formed in 1989, the fact that they didn't release an album until 1998 makes them more of a "second wave" technical/progressive death/thrash metal acts.

By the time they released "Pieces of Mankind", the interest in the genre had diminished greatly compared to the interest in the early 1990s, which is probably one of the reasons why Acid Death aren't one of the best known artists on the scene. Another is the quality of the music on the 10 track, 44:45 minutes long album, which is certainly high, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the top notch artists in the genre. I'd put Acid Death in the same second tier catagory as artists like Sadist and Alarum, who arguably released some great quality music, but who also didn't quite reach the heights of the artists mentioned in the above paragraph.

Stylistically the music on "Pieces of Mankind" is technical/progressive death/thrash metal. Lead vocalist/bassist Savvas Betinis has a raw voice and relatively powerful delivery, which sometimes fall under the growling vocal style catagory, but predominantly sounds more like raw thrash metal style vocals. The tracks are relatively complex featuring both multible tempo- and time signature changes and quite a few adventurous compositional details. Fusion influenced drumming, intriguing death/thrash riffs, skillfully played guitar solos, and some atmospheric parts to make it all a bit more varied. That's the basis of the music.

For all the good intentions, the high level musicianship, and the decent sounding production, the songwriting unfortunately ends up bringing the listening experience down a bit. It's not a major issue, but the material really aren't that memorable. The vocals are also a bit one-dimensional and emotionless, and while there are several great musical moments on the album, it's still like there are far too many of the riffs and the song sections which are unremarkable. The tracks simply lack hooks and killer riffs. It's still an entertaining release, and especially the high level musicianship (and in particular the fusion influenced drumming) is really impressive, so there are enough quality here to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Which one of you is Acid Death ?

Acid Death returned from a very good debut album to release this, their second album. Acid Death was always an untraditional band. Their base were in the thrash/death metal scene, but they were not confined to thrash/death metal. On this album, they are everywhere. From glam metal to jazz to eclectic prog to nu-metal. The result is an album that starts off like a decent thrash metal album and then totally goes of the hook to everywhere. That does not make a coherent album. This almost a compilation album with various Acid Death's constellations.

In short; this is a mess with some decent contributions. There are some good stuff here, but the album is fatally flawed by being this diverse. It is like eating beef with strawberry jam. Not a good combination.

2 stars

How memories change. I reviewed this album back in 1999. What I wrote back then is not what you will read here.

Acid Death is a Greek metal band. They have actually reformed again and is about to release a brand new album, according to today's update on their Facebook page.

Acid Death has it's roots in thrash metal. But Pieces Of Mankind, their debut album is so much more varied than that. It takes in a wide varieties of styles and melody lines. That includes symph prog and avant-garde prog too. The vocals are clearly thrash metal with a half screaming vocalist. Acid Death is also very technical at times. But always with an eye for a good melody line. The result is therefore pretty melodic. It still has some hard edges though. Comparissons are Sepultura, Machine Head and those bands who mostly has passed me by. I am no fan of the new metal scene which has implemented thrash metal and hardcore into a new type of metal. Nu-metal or whatever they calls it. But this album is one of the few which I tolerates from this scene.

3 stars