A Chronological History of my Music Library

A little over a year after their debut album "Scum", Napalm Death released their second album "From Enslavement To Obliteration" on September 16, 1988. Napalm Death continue to play the same grindcore style they pioneered last year, and with most of the same line-up they ended that album with. Jim Whitely is replaced by Shane Embury on bass, but it's the same Napalm Death style with 22 songs totalling just over 29 minutes. Let's dive into the next album by Napalm Death! The album begins with it's longest song "Evolved As One" and Mick Harris plays a slow but epic drum beat to keep the pace. Lee Dorrian talks overtop at first until eventually he shouts "your weak minds" on repeat as the slow, chugging music plays behind him. Dorrian sounds good when he's really giving it his all screaming, but a lot of this 3-plus minute song is him just saying/yelling that one line overtop a very simple and repetitive guitar riff. Not their best s...

On the same day as my last release a new band briefly joins my library when Element Eighty released their second album "Element Eighty" on October 28, 2003. But who is Element Eighty? They are a four-piece nu-metal band from Tyler, Texas consisting of drummer Ryan Carroll, bassist Roon, guitarist Matt Woods and lead singer David Galloway. I'm not a big fan of this lesser-known nu-metal band, but I do have one song of theirs, their biggest hit "Broken Promises". It's driven by a simple but heavy and pretty catchy guitar riff, but it's Galloway who's the star of the show on this song as he delivers a really good performance. From singing, whispering, screaming and rapping he keeps you entertained the whole song and hits all the perfect, epic notes. It's a super catchy chorus and I live how he screams the name of the song and the Middle section where he increases from a whisper, to singing, to screaming sounds really cool! This is a one-hit wonder i...

Two weeks after my last release and two years since "Invitation To The Dance", 40 Below Summer released their third album "The Mourning After" on October 28, 2003. 40 Below Summer continue to play the same style of nu-metal and this album was their most successful commercially and spawned two singles. Let's check it out!  The album kicks off with it's lead single "Self Medicate" and they jump right into a nice hard-hitting main riff with both Jordan Plingos and Joey D'Amato playing some different, cool guitars. Max Illidge sounds solid singing for the most part and he mixes in some nice high screams to keep things sounding fresh and solid. The chorus is pretty catchy and solid and I can see why this was the lead single. After another round Hector Graziani plays a cool new bass riff and everyone follows suite with a pretty banging new part that sounds really sweet! They close it out with a final chorus and this was a great opener I thought! Up n...

A new band joins my library, but to introduce them we've got to go way back to the 80's! On July 1, 1987 Napalm Death released their debut album "Scum", and I'm just discovering it in 2026! Who is Napalm Death? They are pioneers of a genre known as grindcore and while they started as a 3-piece this album is unique in my library in that the two sides of the album are performed by two different line-ups! Side A was recorded nearly a year before this album's release as a 3-piece with Nicholas Bullen on lead vocals and bass, Justin Broadrick on guitar and Mick Harris on drums. Side B was recorded just a couple months before the release as a four-piece and drummer Mick Harris is the only remaining original member, and we're not even done their debut album yet! He's joined by bassist Jim Whitely, guitarist Bill Steer and lead singer Lee Dorrian. Both sides play the same grindcore style, but what is grindcore? It's extremely, blindingly fast music that is...

Two weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when Trivium released their debut album "Ember To Inferno" on October 14, 2003. But who is Trivium? They are a 3-piece thrash metal band from Orlando, Florida consisting of Travis Smith (drums, percussion), Brent Young (bass) and frontman Matt Heafy (lead vocals, guitars). Trivium draw inspiration from Metallica and other 80s thrash metal bands, but Heafy does a fairly even split of singing and screaming so it's a heavier style of thrash. Let's see what Trivium is all about! The album opens with a short intro called "Inception: The Bleeding Skies" and it's actually a 35 second snippet of the album's final track, but played in reverse! The cymbals and slow, epic guitar sound interesting in reverse for sure and this sets the stage for "Pillars Of Serpents" where Heafy comes out firing with some fast, thrash-y guitar that sounds loud and heavy. Smith's drums are fast and solid as ...

Six days after my last release a new band joins my library when Oceansize released their debut album "Effloresce" on September 29, 2003. But who is Oceansize? They are a five-piece progressive/alternative rock band from Manchester, England consisting of Mike Vennart (guitar, lead vocals), Steve Durose and Richard Ingram (guitars), Jon Ellis (bass, keyboards) and Mark Heron (drums, percussion). Oceansize play a style of rock that definitely falls under alternative, but there are several long songs and at over 75 minutes they are pretty progressive as well. Let's see what Oceansize is all about! The album kicks off with "I Am The Morning" and it's got some space-y guitars that are slow and smooth as we hear all three guitarists and some keyboards combine for a psychedelic/progressive opening. When the drums kick in one of the guitarists goes a bit heavier and it's an interesting mix of sounds that all sounds pretty cool! This opening song is actually instr...