"You listen to Chick Corea and play death metal? What?"

Before they weathered natural disasters, equipment detainment and band member departures and released their seminal 1994 LP Focus, jazzy//technical/progressive death metallers Cynic were a technical thrash/death metal band. A really, really good one.

Many folks can't get down with the fusion/jazz influences and vocoder vocals so prevalent in Focus and their newest, Traced in Air. I personally think they have a lush and substantially refined take on the "Chick-Corea-meets-death metal" concept Atheist arguably started, but anyway, these demos will please anyone who a) likes technical metal, b) hates that "dumb jazz shit" on Focus or c) wants to trace the band's progression literally year-to-year, this post is for you.

I do mean it about the last point. Included in the ZIP file are four demos: '88, '89's Reflections of a Dying World, '90, and '91, which features tracks "The Eagle Nature" and "Uroboric Forms" mostly devoid of the major jazz influences that would come to be on the Focus versions. Paul Masvidal also has a roar on par with Chuck Schuldiner, in my humble opinion (he later ditched this in favor of the vocoder when a doctor warned him throat damage was imminent). He and Jason Gobel's soloing remains totally sweet, and the latter two demos feature the masterful, go-to-90s-tech-death-metal-bassist Tony Choy (also of Atheist and Pestilence) skillfully and tightly holding down some excellent melodic bass lines.

Download the Cynic demos in one tidy package HERE.

The lineups vary a bit on each, so here's a rundown:

1988 Demo:
Jack Kelly - Vocals
Paul Masvidal - Guitar
Mark Van Erp - Bass
Sean Reinert - Drums










Reflections of a Dying World (1989):
Paul Masvidal - Guitar, Vocals
Jason Gobel - Guitar
Mark Van Erp - Bass
Sean Reinert - Drums









1990 and 1991 Demos:
Paul Masvidal - Guitar, Vocals
Jason Gobel - Guitar
Tony Choy - Bass
Sean Reinert - Drums

Adventure metal, you say?

For once, the "for fans of" tag kinda worked out. As I was flipping through the latest Decibel, I found an add for Scale the Summit, a band of dudes my age who purportedly sounded like "a classy mixture of Cynic and Canvas Solaris with touches of Pelican and latter-day Atheist," according to Unrestrained! magazine. But I'd take it a step further and say the band-- despite their bumper sticker name (Set Your Goals! Go It Alone! Bring Me the Horizon! Stray from the Path! How many metal and hardcore bands have blunt slogans for names?!)-- seamlessly and enjoyable bridge both the early and current eras of progressive metal. A fan of Cynic's Focus or Athiest's Unquestionable Presence could dig on these tunes as much as any of the throng of teens salivating over Between the Buried and Me's Colors record. The guitars weave liquid, swirling melody over the equally hyperactive but nonetheless supportive melodic bass and nuanced, jazzy drumwork. There are also plenty of pensive moments that incorporate the best parts of the overpopulated post-rock/instru-metal movement, making the Pelican comparison plenty accurate as well.

Props dudes! Their album Carving Desert Canyons on the otherwise mediocre label Prosthetic drops February 17th. Have a listen here.

We are experiencing technical difficulties-- please stand by.

I'm now in England, where I'll be studying abroad until June. I don't have internet access yet in my dorm and shit is kinda wack. Please stand by and posting should resume in a week's time or so at most. Hopefully by then the SQUIDCAST will commence! Yes, that's right-- a sweet podcast for your sweet ears full of sweet tunes. KEEP CHECKING BACK HERE!

Forced Entry re-up

Because of upload malfunction last time, I get the sense the handful who actually read this page never got to acquire Forced Entry's fantastic record As Above, So Below. FE were a killer technical thrash metal trio from Seattle, and I originally did a writeup about them (along with crucial video footage) here.

FORCED ENTRY- AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (1992)

Happy Birthday/RIP Chuck Schuldiner

I first started checking Death out towards the end of high school, when I heard they really advanced from the formula of traditional death metal-- a musical genre I shyed away from at the time-- and added melody, technicality and lyrical depth. So I started with The Sound of Perseverance and more or less worked my way back through the catalog. I can't say I'm as diehard a Death fan as I am Coroner or Opeth or other bands, but I have immense respect for Chuck's advancing the death metal template, his guitar styles and techniques, and the introspection he brought to his songwriting.

Had he not died of complications from a brain tumor, Chuck would have been 41 on December 13, 2008. In his honor, I will spread the awesome via this fantastic crowd bootleg from the Symbolic tour. The Engrish in the title is great...gotta love Japanese fans!

Download Death- Symphonic Technicalogy HERE

The Unextinguishably Awesome

Forced Entry were a sweet three-piece technical thrash band from Seattle. I always heard their name dropped by locals and on the occasional message board, and only just checked them out. These guys positively rip and in a multitude of different ways.

Their second and final full-length, 1992's As Above, So Below opens with "Bone Crackin' Fever." Song titles aren't exactly a strength of the band, but riffs sure are- and Brett Hull punctuates his with awesome pick scrapes and noise, years before any other bands would utilize such techniques. Often times, bassist's Tony Benjamins' raspy shouts are kinda reminiscent of Darren Travis of Sadus. "Macrocosm, Microcosm" has a funky sort of opening and has one of those late-80s disorienting thrash music videos shot both locally and in what seem to be the beautiful mountains of the Northwest. Lots of sweet pick squeal parts there too.

Then comes a real treat: "Never a Know But the No." This tune slows stuff down a bit, but possesses all the ominous steadiness that made tunes like Metallica's "One" and any oldschool Alice In Chains song so powerful. Coincidentally, Layne Stayley guests in the video. Cheggit.


Yet for a band that can write a deeper tune like that one, Forced Entry were never a band to deny their immature impulses. For proof, look no further than "We're D*cks" and "How We Spent Our Summer Vacation," two songs that, in this listener's humble opinion, offset an otherwise concrete slab of metallic goodness. The technicality here is nicely executed: Benjamins and Collin Mattson are a solid rhythm team, and Hull knows when to properly slow down, speed up, add odd noises into his riffs or tear off solos with equal parts melody and raggedness.

To top all the awesome off, this album is out of print! You know what that means-- download right here and give'er a listen! Reccomended to fans of anything thrash metal.

EDIT: My upload got taken down, so I'll patch this up shortly. Sit tight.

FORCED ENTRY- AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (1992)

Coroner Rarities

I have spoken so many words and written so many paragraphs about this brilliant trio since I discovered them years ago. Hailing from Switzerland, guitarist Tommy Vetterli and drummer "Marquis" Marky Edelmann teched for Celtic Frost on the Tragic Serenades tour in 1986, then joined up with bassist/vocalist Ron Royce to create some of the most criminally underrated technical thrash metal ever. Perhaps even more impressive than their abilities on their respective instruments was their consistent ability to keep their voice intact. Their first effort, R.I.P., shredded and ripped neoclassically with little restraint. Their last, Grin, was full of eerieness and groovy riffs. But every song from every record sounded like Coroner, no questions asked. Tommy's riffs, Ron's snarl, Marky's rock-solid rhythmic base and strange lyrics remain distinctive even today.

So I have three gems to offer the handful of people checking this place out.

Death Cult Demo (1986)
At the time, the three dudes were unsure about Ron taking vocal duties full-time, and turned to Celtic Frost's Tom G. Warrior. This thing shreds in ways only an '80s 4-track thrash demo can, and Tom keeps his trademark vocal style firm. UNGH! This has been bootlegged on CD with two additional later-era tracks from Noise Records' Doomsday News compilations, "Hate, Fire, Blood" and "Arrogance in Uniform." Both these comps (Doomsday News and Doomsday News II, respectively) can be found for cheap and are worth getting, and here at the Squidlair we keep it tr00...so you're gonna have to stick with the four-track original version.

Coroner- Death Cult Demo

1989 Radio Broadcast



This was performed on presumably Swiss radio after 1987's R.I.P. and 1988's Punishment for Decadence, but before 1989's No More Color. Be forewarned, the volume varies randomly at parts, as does quality (albeit briefly). Nonetheless, Coroner put on a great performance and for some damn reason perform that shit novelty of Hendrix cover at the end ("Purple Haze").

Coroner- 1989 Radio Broadcast

The Unknown- Unreleased Tracks 1985-95


During their European farewell tour in 1996, the band distributed this cassette to fans. It's an interesting little collection of knick-knacks; most of the cuts are ambient, experimental stuff. Not amazing, but a good listen to be sure. The extra-special part is the Grin-era live set tacked onto the end...they bust out "Golden Cashmeere Sleeper"! This tape is truly indicative of the band's expanisve pallet and creative ability.

Coroner- The Unknown

Their Presence is Unquestionable

Atheist were a Floridian technical death metal band and one of the first to incorporate jazz elements into their sound. Their first record, Piece of Time, was a ragin' disc of death/thrash and a very promising debut. The band really came into their own, however, on 1991's Unquestionable Presence. The only traditional death metal element present was Kelly Shaefer's rasp-- but even then, he was one of the more intelligible extreme vocalists of the era. Shaefer and Rand Burkey's guitars clashed over or played with the insane bass style of Tony Choy (who recorded the lines written by original, amazingly promising bassist Roger Patterson, the unfortunate victim of a tour van crash) and the jazzy, almost melodic drumming style of Steve Flynn.

The band reunited and played a whole bunch of festival appearances throughout 2006 and 2007. I was very fortunate to meet, see, and hang out with the guys (including live guitarists Sonny Carson and Chris Baker, filling due to Shaefer's carpal tunnel and Burkey's legal troubles) at their first US show in 13 years for Baltimore's 2006 Auditory Assault Fest. Great guys, amazing set, and overall one of the best nights of my life.

The interview I did with Steve, Kelly and Tony was first published in my school's newspaper, but as of this week it's been published in the fine, long-running metal/punk/grind zine Disposable Underground, written by Richard Johnson of grind 'n' rollers Drugs of Faith. Every single issue he's ever written can be downloaded in PDF form and is worth your attention if you're into any sort of extreme music. Back in the day, he did quality interviews with Carcass, Discordance Axis, Napalm Death, Gorguts, and a bazillion more. Richard will also send you a copy of the zine free of charge, should you want a print copy.

Back to my interview, though-- it's not my best piece, writing-wise. With that said, however, the band's answers are quite awesome and quite thorough. Have a read through some of Richard's stuff, too– he's a great journalist.

If you're scratching your head wondering what the hell jazz and death metal sound like when they're mixed, try their classic "An Incarnation's Dream" on for size.

Atheist- An Incarnation's Dream