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The Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland

AYDRA - Announces Reissue of "Icon of Sin" Italian Tech Death cult band AYDRA is proud to announce the reissue of their debut full-length album, "Icon of Sin," originally released in 1999. This milestone record for the band will be reissued by Rude Awakening Records on May 27th, 2024, marking a huge moment in the band's history. Following the successful reissue of their debut EP, "Psycho Pain Control," AYDRA continues their work with Rude Awakening Records to bring back "Icon of Sin" to both old and new fans. The album gathered national and international acclaim upon its initial release, propelling AYDRA into the forefront of the Metal scene and allowing them to expand their live activity, sharing stages with acts such as Napalm Death, Avulsed, and more. The "Icon of Sin" reissue features a brand new artwork and remastered audio, enhancing the listening experience for fans. Additionally, this special edition will be available as a collector's item, limited to only 200 hand-numbered colored vinyl copies. Tracklist as follows: 1. Icon of Sin 2. Between the Devil and the Blue Sea 3. No One’s Tale 4. Reflect and Desist 5. Pleasure Dome 6. The Day of the Wedding 7. Xavier’s Dream 8. Lost Time Fury 9. Night Drive 10. No R.M.X. The collaboration between Aydra and Rude Awakening Records won’t end here, more releases will be out during 2024 with tons of rare, never heard before and even brand new material. https://youtu.be/ayLQnz-rZjo https://sptfy.com/QB5C

Finnish Black. Been on repeat. Sarvipää | Aihos (bandcamp.com)

I love this subject and since I'm quite a big fan of both waves I would like to add a couple of details that haven't been mentioned above. The Deathcrush EP is as 1st wave as it gets. The trademark cold tremolo picking riffs of the second wave, hadn't been developed yet. However the truth is that Mayhem along with Stigma Diabolicum (AKA Thorns) were the bands that kick started the second wave of black metal. During the early nineties prior to 92 there were two recordings in circulation within the underground that influenced what came after. The first one is the Grymyrk demo tape by Thorns (1991) which is consisted of some guitar and bass instrumental tracks that were used for rehearsal purposes by the band. One can clearly listen to the distinctive riffs of "From the dark past" by Mayhem in the track called Lovely children. Rip off? Probably... especially if you consider the fact that lovely children is just the instrumental version of another tune called into the promised land in the demo "Luna de nocturnus" (1989) by the same band when they were still going by the name Stigma Diabolicum. On the other hand Mayhem started using this kind of riff style since late 1990 as can be heard in "Live in Leipzig" recorded in the November of the same year as well as in the "Studio tracks" demo. So yes it is indeed correct to say that Mayhem was the first band that played in the 2nd wave style but you'll have to include Thorns as well. My recommendations for someone who wants to start listening to black metal in general are: Bathory: First four albums Venom: First two albums Celtic Frost: First two albums Sepultura: Bestial Devastation Sarcofago: INRI Sodom: In the sign of Evil Mayhem: Live in Leipzig Darkthrone: First four albums Burzum: First four albums Immortal: Pure Holocaust Mayhem: De mysteris dom satanas Emperor: First two albums Beherit: Drawing down the moon Impaled Nazarene: Ugra Karma Blasphemy: Gods of war Samael: Blood ritual Vlad Tepes/Belketre: March to the black holocaust Mutiilation: Vampires of black imperial blood Marduk: Opus Nocturne Rotting Christ: Thy mighty contract Judas Iscariot: Thy dying light Black funeral: Vampyr Throne of the beast These could serve as a good introduction to the various styles that were played prior to 1999. You could find other noteworthy releases as well but these imo are the essential old school stuff.

I've seen Candlemass several times in the past few years with Johan on vocals. He really does justice to the older material that he didn't sing on originally (Nightfall). Of course he nails the Epicus stuff. Voice just as strong as ever. One of the better vocalists I've heard in the subgenre recently. Candlemass is one of my favorite bands. Epicus got me into metal all those years ago, but I have honestly never heard anything past Tales. I only ever revisit the first 2 when I get the itch.

Excellent late era Candlemass. The lyrics are very discernable and it's fairly obvious that they're not as refined and agonized over as Lief likes to do. I'm not really a lyrics guy, but I mention this one in passing just because I think freeing him from hard meter counts really opened up the variety present here musically. Marcolin is... well he's Marcolin for better or worse. He sounds like he's lost a little diaphragm control, and from what I can surmise from interviews it seems like he was butting heads with everybody and generally causing a lot of headaches for the band during recording. Seems like it ceased to be worthwhile to work with him. It's really unfortunate as one album later Mr. Lowe's alcohol dependency was bringing it's own set of problems. That said I've just never really warmed to King of the Grey Islands as it really lacks a lot of the nimble musical impact found on this one. NP: Maimed - Propagate Onslaught ▶︎ Propagate Onslaught | Maimed (bandcamp.com) Death in the vein of Fleshcrawl and Cannibal Corpse. The kind of album that's never going to usurp the titles of the genre greats, but is handy, capable, and confident enough to merit a spot in the collection to break things up. EDIT: Oh, and to clarify, even though I love album art in the hand-drawn amateur style, this cover is just bad. They look like they're picking up snacks for a superbowl party at the death metal flea market. Too much to the point where I'm not 100% sure of what I'm looking at. What's the idea? What are these decidedly unmundane creatures actually doing here outside of the mundane? Reminds me a little of the Omen cover for Battle Cry.

I only know him via Neurosis. He recorded most of their albums and got a fantastic sound. RIP

Candlemass - Self-titled

Crippled Fingers - Mass Of Terror

But once I heard his name, Nirvana and the Pixies I didn't care enough to spend time looking at who he was, let alone spending three minutes being told who he was.

I just discovered Albini and Big Black a year or two ago. Really cool and interesting dude. And now he's dead of a heart attack, just a year younger than me. And he wasn't even a big fat guy. Usually when you hear someone's dead of a heart attack at 61 you assume it'll be some big fat guy. This will keep me up nights now, wondering what would happen to my kid if I dropped dead of a heart attack? This is my favorite Albini clip. CB's show captured for posterity just a week before Steve's 24th birthday. Man I wish I could have been there, but I was unaware of Big Black at the time. Big Black live at CBGB, NYC - July 13, 1986 They sum it up here in 3 minutes. Steve Albini, Noise Rock Pioneer and ‘In Utero’ Engineer, Dead at 61

Chain Wolf - Dark Premonitions

Immortal - Pure Holocaust

New Belushi Speed Ball tomorrow! NP: Dethklok - Dethalbum II

Slo Burn - Amusing The Amazing

Okay, cool deal! Excited to see what they have in store for us.

Last I read (a few days ago) they'd just finished recording the rhythm guitars. They've got leads, bass, vocals and synth/programming to do before the cover art. Not sure if they have a date for release though.

Ah, you read my mind! I was about to ask if their next one was due out fairly soon. I believe the last release was 2020, so I was hoping it would come out soon.

They are nearly finished recording the new one too.

That's really cool! "The Thrashening" is just an exhilarating listen all the way through, but all of their albums are great.

It's not that I wont rate them, It's more that I can't without revisiting their albums. IN would definitely be one of my favourites and The Unknown my least but to know where the others fall would need new listen. Been a fan of theirs since just after they formed. They are one of the last bands I worked with (as a part of a larger gig) before getting out of the rat race.

Another great call with In Malice's Wake! I've been a big fan of theirs for about 7 years now. Great ranking! Yes, these guys always seem to deliver. I enjoy every single album, including "Infected Nations" nowadays - it just took a bit to grow on me. "The Unknown" is continuing to grow on me as well, even though there's far less thrash on it. Both musically and vocally, it gets compared often to Metallica's "Black Album", which is one of my least favorite Metallica albums. I can enjoy the Black Album very occasionally, but objectively, it's one of the most baselessly overhyped albums ever released in metal's long history. These days, I listen to "The Unknown" by Evile far more often than I listed to the Black Album from Metallica. Also, fantastic call with the Megadeth debut! That one is actually my favorite Megadeth album. I enjoy "Peace Sells" and "Rust in Peace" and "So Far So Good...So What" just like a lot of fans do, but the debut has a ferocity to it that those albums don't seem to capture, in my opinion. I realize I'm in the minority on that, but it's just how I hear those albums!

Infected Nations - first album I heard by Evile and still my favorite. One of the best thrash albums ever and my fav band of the new wave of thrash (followed by Havok, Warbringer and Vektor). And since AlSymerz won't rank them, Here's my ranking: Infected Nations Hell Unleashed Enter the Grave Five Serpent's Teeth Skull The Unknown NP: Megadeth - Killing is My Business...

^ That even made our national news this morning. Admittedly they mentioned little more than his work with Nirvana but they still mentioned it. And I still had no idea who he was.