Swallowed

Big Audio Dynamite II, “The Globe”

Well, this is quite a time capsule, isn’t it? This whole early 90s thing of guitar dance music really didn’t age especially well, although at this point, there’s a certain goofy try-hard charm to this, with all the little samples and bits floating in and out.

Swallowed, “Black Phlegm”

Silly Swallowed. Black is for bile, not for phlegm! That’s colorless! Metal bands should really know medieval medicine better than this.

Mephiskapheles, “Satanic Debris”

As a statement of purpose for a band, it doesn’t get a whole lot stronger than this one. From the opening backwards masked vocals, to the dark lyrics, the subtle distortion of the guitar lending some additional menace, to the hallmark solo trading, you just have a perfect encapsulation of the (wonderful) Mephiskapheles aesthetic. The odds that a band named Mephiskapheles would turn in one of the finest albums of the third wave seems slim, but God Bless Satan is legitimately a treasure.