For the serious Headbanger Earache piles it on!
Compiliations of this magnitude have limited appeal. There is so much music offered with each of the 108 tracks presented featuring a different band. More often than not with brutal music such as this the track sequencing is not that well thought out so the individual impact of a given track either conflicts with whats before/after or gets lost in the flow. As I've listened though I must say that the track order works pretty good cause there's enough variation present. I remind the potential buyer that the selected bands for each cd (death, grindcore, industrial,etc) are really Earache's marketing head-trip. The experienced listener very likely will find as much disimilar as similar...it's the nature of this metal beast.

The overall mass of this box is not really the best way for a band to get exposure cause the lesser known (with only 1 track) get lost in the mix unless you quickly check your player to see who's playing. This is especially notable when the lack of ANY liner notes can virtually eliminate the listener from questing further, especially if he/she feels no real attachment or emotional link to a specific band as it blasts by.

Compiliations such as this require patient followup investigation elsewhere and it's this kind of "headbanger" who's best served and satisfied by this box.

Wether a compiliation features artists from better known labels or not (exp. Century Media or Nuclear Blast), each label has its own particular "ear" for what they promote (or have promoted). 'Earache' is one of those labels considered to have really bought metal/grindcore to the forefront since the mid-eighties and it really shows with all the varieties examined here.

The 6cds come in sturdy cardboard sleeves housed in a thick L= 5inch, W= 5inch, H= 1inch cardboard box. Each cd sleeve is titled and there is the appropiate band/track listing. THAT's IT though! No liner notes whatsoever. The lack of any particular track history/date takes away from the overall appeal here, especially daunting for any Metal newbee consideration.

There are some 80 bands featured, 15 have more than one and no more than 4, but the bulk (75%) are different. This box honors the 20+ years of the Earache Label (and subsidaries) begining @ 1986. No doubt there is some well known included (ex. Napalm Death,Carcass,Godflesh,Brutal Truth are Earache bigguns), along with bands who have since moved on but left a taster; defunct bands; and newer bands (many unknown to me).

I suppose some people will wrangle over inclusions/exclusions (hey, there IS a Vol.2 ya'know with more additions). Each cd (of 6) has tracks selected under a (argueably) random title.

Using the track listing from amazon (1-108), the following 6 cds are as follows:

CD-1 'Death Metal' tracks 1-17 TT= 77:57
CD-2 'Grindcore' tracks 18-39 TT= 48:36
CD-3 'Metal/Rock tracks 40-58 TT= 78:16
CD-4 'Industrial' tracks 59-73 TT= 75:58
CD-5 'Punk/Hardcore' tracks 74-94 TT= 65:39
CD-6 'Leftfield' tracks 95-108 TT= 70:47

Again, using the Amazon track listing you can see what bands are included in this box and where they fall under in "style". For the sake of expediency here...you get what you get.

As stated earlier, this box might be too much for some. Especially those headbangers who prefer the individual band approach, one specific release at a time, which can make the music easier to digest.
However I'm not one of those. Oh I have my favorites in the Death/Grind/Hardcore/Punk/Extreme music world, but strange enough I'm relatively low on stuff from the Earache Label. So THIS box for me is a wonder to behold! THERE IS SO MUCH HERE!

Though influences abound, there is no "Black Metal" listed per se, yet 'Akercocke','Vader' and 'Usurper' have entries (to name a few). It's on these designations the listener asks the question "do these designations really matter after all?" When you begin exploring all the breakdowns of genre; commercial appeal; one-time wonders; a bands evolvolution since Earache,etc et al...it all becomes a brutal evil blur anyway. I could easily interject terms like "thrash", "melodic", "doom", "hardcore" even "ambient" cause these numerous qualities are sprinkled throughout each disc. Don't let Earache's sense of sound deter you from your own sense of what's going on. Alot of the fun with this box is exploring this vast domain of music (not all "brutal" by any means) yourself.

There are several other Earache compiliations (the Earplugged volumes for example) out there of lesser size. This one, Vol.1 (along with Vol.2) pretty much is inclusive of all. It's the cheapest and easiest way to go. I have purchased Vol.2 as well. It features different tracks of course but most of the same bands are featured, with new additions. Vol.2 was initially a European release organized somewhat differently (disc titles) but packaged overall in the same format. Any filler tracks/bands (or clunkers) are really a matter of personal taste. Both Vol.1+2 are too massive to review here on track by track specifics. The sound quality is fine on all 12 discs.

BOTTOMLINE:
If you REALLY enjoy METAL and can handle this particular compiliation format...you will experience a veritable "Shock & Awe" with what's included here. Listen at your own risk.

Peace out!