Strange Metal Releases

[Balor]

What are some of the weirdest metal releases that you have come across in regards to general format, questionable decisions about song order, and being generally unique?  I am not meaning albums that are necessarily bad (I actually like the albums that I discuss below), but just strange.  Here are some that I have noticed:

Garage Inc. - Metallica:  An album that consists solely of cover songs is something that I have never come across before.  It is an interesting idea, though, and seems like a great way to pay tribute to everyone you feel influenced by/have fun playing the music of other bands that you like.  I like some of Metallica's renditions a lot, and actually wish that more bands would attempt albums like this (as opposed to occasionally participating in tribute compilations).

大虐殺、そして殲滅,,,,人類ヘの対抗手段としての「原子力」 / Holocausto E Aniquilação! Poder Atômico Contra A Humanidade - Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle / Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes:

I really love Reek of the Unzen Gas Fumes (and this split also), but the song order on both sides is just bizarre.

A1 - Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Conquistador (Xantotol Cover)

A2 – Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Triunfo Do Caos

A3 – Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Mulher De Desejos Sombrios (Bathory Cover)

A4 – Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Ritos Noturnos (Evil Cover)

A5 – Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Outro

A6 – Ravendark's Monarchal Canticle Breath Of Deadly Silence

B1 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Intro: Kuso Bozu

B2 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Dehumanizing Cesspool For Future Of Humanity

B3 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Alone Marching With Monk's Body Parts (Rehearsal)

B4 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Doku (Rehearsal)

B5 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes DOKU

B6 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Poisonous Gas Thrower Of Jigoku (Rehearsal)

B7 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Necrosis Of A Rather Extensive Part Of The Jejunum-ileum (Lymphatic Phlegm Cover)

B8 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Crash The Crash

B9 – Reek Of The Unzen Gas Fumes Detritivorous Kamigami (Demo)

I have never seen a release that mixes covers, outros, and rehearsals in a manner like this.  Typically, such tracks are presented as bonuses at the end.  I have not come across any that intersperse them to such a great degree as this.  On top of all that, the cdr version of the split contains a third portion with demo tracks from Reek of the Unzen Gas Fume's previous incarnation as a different, more grindcore-oriented band!

Apparently this split is no longer on youtube, but here is one of the covers:

 

[FatherAlabaster]

My first pick for this would have to be Celtic Frost's Into The Pandemonium. Can't find a full stream of it on Youtube right now, but for me it's a classic case of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. Do I actually like their cover of "Mexican Radio"? Would I ever listen to the industrial interludes on their own? Are Tom Warrior's weird spoken vocal stylings any good at all? It kind of doesn't matter. The alchemy of the album as a whole is what makes it all work. Campy radio pop (albeit seen through a CF lens), moody gloom that borders on the Gothic, thrashy pummeling, and odd symphonic bits all smooshed together one after another... and that's just the first four songs. There's an almost theatrical, almost narrative quality that develops as it goes along. Picking the "good songs" off this album and ignoring the rest would be missing the forest for the trees. With that in mind, here's a track...

 

[Grievous]

Well...I would have to go with Against by Sepultura...

So Max had left & the band had decided to recruit a new vocalist & carry as on Sepultura...which was the right move for them to make. They ended up recruiting former Alpha Jerk/Outface vocalist Derrick Green & the fact he was an African American wasn't even an issue for me...I was just keen to hear the new album/material. Sepultura was the first metal band I started listening to so I was going to stick with them no matter what (as well as listening to Soulfly of course) and when the album finally dropped it was well...really strange.

Now the album starts off strongly with the first 6 tracks all being solid to great...but then things seem to go off the rails somewhat.

The album features 5 instrumental tracks (one being a cover song) while two other tracks feature guest vocalists (Reza & Hatred Aside) & while Green does sing on Hatred Aside...he does not on Reza. Meaning out of the 15 songs on Against...Green only sings on 9 of them.

WTF?!

Even the "B-Sides" recorded around this time featured guest vocalists...which just seem so counterproductive when trying to establish Green as the new "mouthpiece" of the band.

This was a terrible start for Green's career in Sepultura & one could argue that while Nation & Roorback weren't terrible...he really didn't start flexing his true vocal talents till Dante XXI & A-Lex.

Of course I'm glad he did...because to my ears Sepultura is still one of the best metal bands in the world.