Under a black flag

U.D.O. - Animal House [CD/1987] 10/10=Don't kid yourselves, people, he may look like some dude who trains his kids to wrestle in their backyard, but this is motherfucking Udo Dirkschneider, a metal God.
U.D.O. - Mean Machine [CD/1988] 9/10=Udo needed a break from being perfect here, so he settled for nearly perfect. Remember, the difference in quality between most of these albums is almost nonexistent, but it makes me look more critical to put some different ratings.
U.D.O. - Faceless World [CD/1990] 9/10=True, this one is wandering off into hard rock terrain, but when in the presence of Divinity, do not question your Gods.
U.D.O. - Timebomb [CD/1991] 9/10=Lord Dirkschneider, being the genius he is, realizes his error and hops right back over the fence into the metal zone. The first song here is 'Metal Eater', and he eats your shit motherfucking band for breakfast.
U.D.O. - Solid [CD/1997] 9/10=We're not worthy, we're not worthy. Has there ever been a more accurate album title than this one? Note to self: There is a song called 'Desperate Balls' on this album.
U.D.O. - No Limits [CD/1998] 9/10=An interesting fact: I consider this one of his worst records and it's still better than 99.9% of everything else in the music industry.
U.D.O. - Holy [CD/1999] 10/10=Did I not tell you he was a God? Look at the fucking album title...he KNOWS it, for pete's sake. A perfect album, the best since the debut. 'Raiders of Beyond' and 'Back Off' just seal the deal.
U.D.O. - Man and Machine [CD/2002] 9/10=This guy just doesn't know when to quit, and I love Him for that fact. New primary goal in life: to meet Udo Dirkschneider. Another shift here to a more hard rock style, but still great.
U.D.O. - Nailed to Metal: The Missing Tracks [CD/2003] 5/10=Gah, this is a live album with some Accept and U.D.O. tracks mixed together. You know I can't give it more than a 5, but it's a great sounding live album.
U.D.O. - Thunderball [CD/2004] 8/10=Listen for the first lyric on the album, and refer to my Timebomb review. Coincidence? I think not. Naming an album after a James Bond flick might be cool, but this is sadly his worst album.
U.D.O. - Mission No. X [CD/2005] 7/10=Well, it's the worst U.D.O. album I've ever heard, and still manages to have some great tracks like 'Shell Shock Fever' and 'Mad for Crazy', this album is VERY Accept.
U.D.O. - Mastercutor [CD/2007] 10/10=Let's just say that if I died tomorrow, I would be content with my life and the world since I got to hear this at least once.
U.D.O. - The Wrong Side of Midnight [DVD29/2007] 3/5=EP for the new album, two versions of title track, 2 unreleased songs that aren't as good as the album songs, and a Russian remake of an older tune.
U.D.O. - Mastercutor Live [CDx2/2008]

ULVER - Vargnatt [CD/1993] 2/10=Their original promo release, now reissued on CD. It is difficult to comprehend what is going on with this production, but the culties have plenty here to fawn over.
ULVER - Bergtatt [CD/1994] 6/10=You could tell from the start that Ulver were about changing the black metal perspective, and although some of this is your garden variety midpaced melodic Norwegian black, it's tempered with drifting, unusual clean vocals.
ULVER - Kveldssanger [CD/1995] 7/10=Never content to repeat themselves, there is not a lick of metal to be had here, just great acoustic folk music with clean male vocals.
ULVER - Nattens Madrigal [CD/1996] 9/10=Dismissed this at first until I realized they made such it this raw on purpose, pissed away their cash from Century Media and gave them this, really brilliant album, one guitar track is just static, the lyrics rule, and the bass is pretty abstract.
ULVER - Themes from William Blake's Marriage of Heaven & Hell [CDx2/1998] 10/10=Here they almost abandon their metal roots completely for this bizarre, amazing album, a soundtrack to accompany Blake's text. Very bizarre but undeniably beautiful, I wish more bands could come up with ideas like this.
ULVER - Perdition City [CD/2000] 8/10=Sort of a step down from that last masterwork, this is an obvious tribute to Future Sound of London, even the titles 'Future Sound of Music' and 'Dead City Centre'. Interesting trip hop with infusions of goth and soul.
ULVER - Silence Teaches You How to Sing [CD/2001] 6/10=An EP with a single track , this is more experimental film score music than anything else, pretty interesting.
ULVER - Silencing the Singing [CD/2001] 7/10=Another EP, this time with three tracks clocking at about a half hour, music is similar to last EP but I enjoyed it better here.
ULVER - Lyckantropen [CD/2003] 8/10=Garm has found what he's looking for, this is an actual soundtrack to a short underground film, and features some wonderful melancholia.
ULVER - A Quick Fix of Melancholy [CD/2003] 7/10=Another of those EPs, ranging from the film score style to stuff with some abstract beats, like Aphex Twin.
ULVER - Svidd Neger OST [CD/2004] 8/10=Garm is like a new Danny Elfman with a drug addiction or something, another decent soundtrack and I'd say after this one he should be hitting the larger films.
ULVER - Blood Inside [CD/2005] 8/10=Again, defining any real description here, Garm forges on in the direction of the experimental. This is another good record but you gotta open yourself up to it.
ULVER - Shadows of the Sun [CD/2007] 8/10=A much different beast than Blood Inside, this is a tranquil, moody, atmospheric album that will claim you if you just let it drift you away into its sweeping scapes.

UNLEASHED - Revenge [CD/1989] 3/10=A demo as ferocious as it is sloppy, with brief moments of excellence.
UNLEASHED - The Utter Dark [CD/1989] 3/10=This demo has a much doomier tone than the others, but forget it and just go for the albums.
UNLEASHED - And the Laughter Has Died [CD/1990] 2/10=My ears hurts after this fuzzy piece of filth. On to the real Unleashed reviews next.
UNLEASHED - Where No Life Dwells [CD/1991] 7/10=This is a fine debut of groovy death/doom metal, and the Viking theme is pretty damn cool and like Bathory, I think Unleashed were ahead of their time with it.
UNLEASHED - Shadows in the Deep [CD/1992] 6/10=Loved the art on this and all their earlier releases...as for the music here, it's not as good as the debut album but still worthwhile for when it was released.
UNLEASHED - Across the Open Sea [CD/1994] 8/10=This is a great album, and would be their best stuff for about a decade.
UNLEASHED - Victory [CD/1995] 5/10=This album is muddled by a lot of generic mosh riffs, but there are still some good fast parts here and there to earn all five points.
UNLEASHED - Eastern Blood, Hail to Poland Live [CD/1996] 1/10=A lot of tracks on this, but it's one of the most boring live albums I've ever heard, my bias against live albums notwithstanding.
UNLEASHED - Warrior [CD/1997] 2/10=This pretty much sucks, you could be a one-armed invalid and listen to death metal for about 15 minutes and then compose an album of equal quality. The true low for this Polish legend.
UNLEASHED - Hell's Unleashed [CD/2003] 6/10=The media seemed to hate this 'comeback' album, I can't really see why, it's on par with many of their early albums and has some interesting riffs and structures, for Unleashed anyhow. Loses points for some dumb lyrics.
UNLEASHED - Sworn Allegiance [CD/2004] 9/10=After a decade of sodden mediocrity, something clicked over in Poland, and Unleashed came forth with their mightiest moments of music. Nothing wrong with this one, it's the album I always wanted to hear from them.
UNLEASHED - Midvinterblot [CD/2006] 7/10=Record number three in their comeback phase, this one is better than Hell's Unleashed but pales in comparison to the mighty Sworn Allegiance which kicked me ass six ways to Scandinavia.
UNLEASHED - Hammer Battalion [DVD124/2008] 7/10=Another good one, but not a great album. Sworn Allegiance remains the best of their new crop.

UNMOORED - Cimmerian [DVD115/1999] 8/10=Unmoored is great, an underrated Swedish band, this album has more of a death'n'roll edge like Entombed or Desultory.
UNMOORED - Kingdoms of Greed [DVD115/2000] 8/10=More of a brutal melodic death metal direction here, this is yet another great album from this talented group of Swedish metal all-stars.
UNMOORED - Indefinite Soul-Extension [CD/2003] 9/10=This was their third album and what an album, catchy melodic death metal with some nice technical guitars and crushing production, you really must track this down.

URIAH HEEP - Very 'Eavy Very 'Umble [CD/1970] 8/10=The lyrics might be corny, but come on, this band rocked and rolled right from the start. Great early metal. 'Gypsy' is all the convincing you need.
URIAH HEEP - Salisbury [CD/1971] 8/10=The record feels tighter and actually more diverse than the debut, I enjoyed all the songs including the 16 minute epic title track.
URIAH HEEP - Look at Yourself [CD/1971] 10/10=Probably my favorite Uriah Heep record, weighted with its two great epic tracks "July Morning" and "Shadow of Grief", the rest of the tracks are also fucking awesome.
URIAH HEEP - Demons & Wizards [CD/1972] 9/10=Break out the Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition red box set, my brothers and sisters. Because this is awesome. Home of "Rainbow Demon", the hit "Easy Livin'", and other greats.
URIAH HEEP - The Magician's Birthday [CD/1972] 7/10=This isn't a favorite of mine from the Heepsters, but it's good nonetheless.
URIAH HEEP - Live [CD/1973] 3/5=It's a live album.
URIAH HEEP - Sweet Freedom [CD/1973] 9/10=This album is probably second to Look at Yourself in my pantheon of Uriah Heep albums. "Seven Stars", "Circus", man do I fucking love this one.
URIAH HEEP - Wonderworld [CD/1974] 9/10=...and another classic, the atmosphere on this is fantastic, just about every song is fantastic.
URIAH HEEP - Return to Fantasty [CD/1974] 8/10=I enjoyed this record plenty but it can't match up to their true classics. Still, can't complain about a song like "Shady Lady" or "Beautiful Morning".
URIAH HEEP - High and Mighty [CD/1976] 8/10=Another mighty solid offering from one of my rock gods, many catchy melodies on this like "Midnight", though this doesn't stand out as a personal favortie.
URIAH HEEP - Firefly [CD/1977] 9/10=Highly compelling, if that great synth intro to "The Hanging Tree" doesn't snag you, I don't know what will. This is the first record with new singer John Lawton.
URIAH HEEP - Innocent Victim [CD/1977] 7/10=It's one of my least favorite Heep records of the period, but that doesn't mean it lacks any value. Some cool tunes like "Roller".
URIAH HEEP - Fallen Angel [CD/1978] 8/10=This record felt mildly more modern to me, but that's not a bad thing, I enjoyed it more than the previous and in fact it has some great songs like "Woman of the Night" and "Save It".
URIAH HEEP - Conquest [CD/1980] 7/10=A lot of changes here, an interesting album, new singer John Sloman reminded me of Geddy Lee but not all the time. It's decent.
URIAH HEEP - Abominog [CD/1982] 9/10=And enter their fourth vocalist...this was probably the heaviest Heep to date, and I really enjoyed it more than the previous. "Sell Your Soul", "Hot Persuasion", "On the Rebound", great tunes.
URIAH HEEP - Head First [CD/1983] 8/10=Their style on these recent records is more like a proto-Whitesnake or similar to 80s Kiss. That's not a bad thing though in fact I like a great deal of this stuff.
URIAH HEEP - Equator [CD/1985] 7/10=Man, when you listen to this and go back to listen to their 70s stuff...has this band changed a lot or have I just changed? Some good 80s pop rock tunes, nothing more.
URIAH HEEP - Best of Uriah Heep [CD/1989] 4/5=Has a lot of their great songs so it's a great compilation, but a fan will just get all the separate albums.
URIAH HEEP - Raging Silence [CD/1989] 8/10=Totally cheesy and awesome late 80s synth hard rock, imagine if Hold Your Fire was heavier and that's basically this. I love it for all its cheese. Bernie Shaw on vox.
URIAH HEEP - Different World [CD/1991] 7/10=Same lineup as Raging Silence, not quite as good but still has some great hard rock cheese.
URIAH HEEP - Sea of Light [CD/1995] 9/10=And out of nowhere comes their greatest album in 13 years, I consider this the proper, modern 'update' to their classic 70s fantasy prog sound.
URIAH HEEP - Sonoc Origami [CD/1998] 8/10=A lot of good material here but it's not as mighty as Sea of Light. Still, Who would have thought 28 years later they are still pumping out records that don't suck?

USURPER - Diabolosis [CD/1995] 9/10=This is a re-issue of their debut, crushing Celtic Frost influenced blackened thrash, extremely awesome, took me some time to really 'get' this band but these days I love them.
USURPER - Threshold of the Usurper [DVD73/1997] 4/5=Very cool EP here, such a dirty filthy sound and I love the Celtic Frost/Hellhammer style vox.
USURPER - Skeletal Season [DVD73/1998] 7/10=Usurper has always been pretty damn cool, raw black/thrash and from America in the day we didn't get a lot of this that was worth hearing.
USURPER - Necronemesis [CD/2000] 7/10=If it's not obvious by now, I think Usurper pretty much rock. This record is no exception, they even branch out a little and often sound like Nasty Savage...also, King Diamond guest vocals.
USURPER - Twilight Dominion [CD/2003] 8/10=Another ferocious assault from this classiest of US metal bands, true to their roots but ever evolving their sledgehammer sound.
USURPER - Cryptobeast [CD/2005] 8/10=More quality black/death/thrash from these US scene stalwarts, going strong after a decade of decadence. This is somewhat more death metal than previous albums, but that is not a hindrance.