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  1. Show wrapped last night. Would've posted a small summary, but I was well past my limit of cheap beer. I think the appropriate term is piss drunk. Regardless, day 3 was the best of the week. Highlights - Sodom, Demolition Hammer, and Rotting Christ. Darvaza was pretty decent too. Didn't get excited about Tank, though the rest of the fest seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. Also didn't get much for Forbidden, mainly because they only have 1 song I even remember and secondly because who the fuck can follow DH after they level the place. Surprise of the day was Rotting Christ. Never seen them or listened to them much. Pretty freaking great. Overall show highlights aside from the above - Queensryche (the early stuff kills live and after seeing them both I think I prefer LaTorre to Tate), Lamp of Murmur (pulled it off live), Candlemass, Sumerlands, Savage Oath, and Autopsy. 6th year here and it just keeps getting bigger. Some growing pains and capacity issues at the venue, but they have always been good at working those things out between years. Up there with MDF for quality run organized festival by good people. If you're shopping for a fest to hit next year, can recommend.
    5 points
  2. Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)
    4 points
  3. Sarcofagus - Envoy of Death Savage - Hyperactive No Future, No Past - Finnish Speed & Thrash Metal Explosion 1986-1992
    3 points
  4. Swans/Soundtracks for the Bind (1996)-It's been said by many, that in a career of making weird albums, this is the weirdest album Swans ever made. love it or hate it-and fans fall on both sides of the fence (I am on the love side) there is nothing like this album. The album that was the final straw breaking the Swans for 14 years. They reformed in 2010'ish and they came to more general notoriety in 2012 with their massive trilogy beginning with The Seer in 2012 which garnered a great deal of praise in all music internet sites that cover left of field experimental music, which is when I discovered them. 2012 was when I got into headfi and hifi gear, put together a proper listening system and started following the machinations beyond metal. At any rate, Soundtracks for the Blind (2 discs, 4 LPs) and 26 tracks is a herculean listen at over 2 hours. It's long been a favorite for fans of experimental rock music. Some would say it's been eclipsed post 2010 in terms of what Gira strove to achieve-some kind of transcendental music that pulls from many genres. It's an album that requires patience, there is over indulgence and bloat to be sure, but I find the entire experience utterly compelling. The roots to Soundtracks predates 1996 some 10 years to the beginning of the Swans existence and is as you might guess, conceived to be the soundtrack to movie that never existed. There's quite a bit ambient music and overall vibe of ambient drone on this album, but also explosive music and field recordings, and creepy, voyeuristic voice tracks. I believe Gira and Jarboe both recorded people in their lives with mental and physical health problems to create a sense of watching a film designed to give the listener a feeling of discomfort. The album is unsettling and beautiful. Much credit has to go to Jarboe, Gira's long time collaborator who has one of the most elastic, powerful, beautiful and at times brutal female voices in experimental music. In fact, the entire album has a combined effect of surrealist experience-reminiscent of a bizarre David Lynch movie and other worldly experience beyond the capacity to explain in words. The voice overs create a sense of watching a haunting documentary of some corner of the underbelly of twisted human existence-ne'er do wells living sordid, utterly depressing lives-something that draws me in, repels me but I just can't take my eyes off the screen--- or perhaps, turning to look at the multi car accident on the other side of the highway-traffic backed up for miles, emergency vehicles, cars burning, bodies on stretchers....and you just can't restrain yourself from slowing down to look at the carnage. There is nothing that I've heard that sounds like this album.
    3 points
  5. Afterbirth - In But Not Of (2023) Slimelord - Chytridiomycosis Relinquished (2024)
    3 points
  6. KAT - Oddech Wymarlch Swiatow (Polish thrashy hm a la 1987) Accept - Metal Heart
    3 points
  7. They were good live this past weekend. WFH Day playlist: Void of Sleep - Tales Between Reality and Madness - @markm you might dig this one They Came From Visions - The Twilight Robes Santacreu - Cancons d'Amor, Dol i Enyoranca - probably this one too. Ebola - Distorted Romance - way too early prediction that this ends on my EOTY list
    2 points
  8. They look like dweebs but I don't really mind this. I can absolutely hear the Iron Monkey influence in here. Simple chunky riffs generally work for me, although these might be too simple. But it's only one song. I see they have an EP and a full length out, they're probably not gonna be my find of the month, but maybe I'll try one of them later after dinner. Swamp Coffin - Welcome to Rot FFS you can't expect us to just pass up low hanging fruit like this Doc. (or a low hanging organ 🍆) But this one hangs so low it might be a bit beneath even me, so maybe I'll leave the more obvious jokes to the Orca.
    2 points
  9. These Belgians did an album in 2018 called Blood Oath that I really loved. Played the shit out of it. I missed that they'd put out a follow-up in 2021 until I heard this new one a couple of months ago. Still love the debut, but neither of the two subsequent releases do anything at all for me. Booooooring. I hate when this happens, but it happens all the time, which I why I have no band loyalty. In my world you're only as good as your last album or two. And two shitty albums in a row means you're effectively dead to me. Rituals of the Dead Hand - Blood Oath, black/doom 2018 Belgium Those 3 bands sound totally different to me, so I'm not sure which vein you'd be referring to there JT. That one Iron Monkey album (Our Problem) is so badass though, might have to hit that one later. Should probably see if they have any others that are any good.
    2 points
  10. Brutal Truth - Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, 1992 Brutal Truth - Need to Control, 1994
    2 points
  11. That is some write up and endorsement. I am soon to be taking a 17 hour flight to Perth and it sounds like this will get me most of the way there.
    2 points
  12. I haven't heard anything else quite like it either. It's been years since I put myself through it. The voice recordings are really unsettling. I remember reading somewhere that they combed through a lot of secondhand tapes from pawn shops and so forth, but I don't actually know the backstory for those. As far as the later stuff goes... kudos to them, and I like it. I really got into the immersive soundscape of To Be Kind. But none of it is as compelling to me as the pre-breakup material. Maybe that's just because I listened to it so much when I was younger. Maybe part of it is also what Jarboe added. I don't get into her solo stuff, but she brought so much depth and weirdness to the band.
    2 points
  13. No issue, no need to defend. I'm surprised that you love it. Knowing how demanding and analytical you are in your listening, it seems incongruous to me. I feel like if you heard the musical equivalent of something this derivative and poorly executed, you'd have a scathing review ready to go before the end of the first song. I do think there's a very broad spectrum of "good art", and something doesn't need to be technically impressive to be impactful and meaningful, and being a good illustration is outside of both of those considerations. But even with that in mind I think this cover art sucks. It flaunts a lack of effort. So many other images in the genre are just way cooler and better done. I don't really put a lot of stock in cover art either way but this makes me a bit less likely to want to listen to the music. So yeah, I'm a little surprised to see your high standards for music juxtaposed with genuine enjoyment of this piece. But I'm also not telling you what to enjoy... if this works for you, then great. You are the target audience. Love wins.
    2 points
  14. Set I saw Saturday night was only from the first 3 albums. Might have to pick those up. Another show tonight. Goth night with the girls. First local show I've ever managed to get the wife to. Twin Tribes - Pendulum Urban Heat - Wellness
    2 points
  15. Rotting Christ - Triarchy of the Lost Lovers Rotting Christ - Thy Mighty Contract
    2 points
  16. Misotheist - Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh (2024)
    2 points
  17. Whore of Bethlehem (2006) used to be my clear favorite, but lately I've really grown quite fond of the most recent 3 or 4 going back to 2015. Especially the most recent full length, 2021's Worship the Eternal Darkness. But don't start there, go back to 2006 and start there with their first proper full length album release. Their earlier 90's EP's 'n stuff were much more raw and inaccessible, I almost never revisit that stuff.
    2 points
  18. Accurate. I was one of those kids. The first time I heard Once Upon The Cross I was 16, sitting alone in my truck before work, and the vocals actually scared me a bit. I used to like Benton's voice and thought the first 3 albums were killer. Never liked any of the later ones. They don't do much for me anymore but I think there's still some nostalgia value.
    2 points
  19. Future of Despair - S/T, hardcore/crust LA Dishönor - Chain Reaction, Mass Extinction EP, Greek d-beat/crust Dishönor - S/T, 2019, this kills if you're into this sort of thing. But I know most of you don't mess with the hardcore based stuff. I don't even care about the tryhard part, I'm able to ignore all of that nonsense, just stay above the fray. From a purely musical standpoint though I just don't like them, and I think they're boring. I haven't heard too many of their later albums, think I've heard about 5 of their 13 altogether so not quite half, but not a single note off of any their last 5. But judging by the first several that are supposed to be the best ones they're really just nothing special. And the worst part of their sound is Satan boy's vocals. For me anyway. Nothing worse than a vocalist who rubs you the wrong way splattered all over the top of everything. Not like you can just tune him out. So many better death metal bands out there to listen to, but there's a certain segment of the old school guys who absolutely revere them.
    2 points
  20. Hate Eternal - Live at the Garage, London June 4th 2006. I, Monarch would've been their most recent at the time. It's hard live as a 3-piece to sound full and complete with only one guitarist who keeps stopping to play extended solos. They do an alright job though. Not sure who the drummer is here, M-A says it should have been Derek Roddy up to 2006, but Youtube comments suggest it was someone else who was filling in while they were in between drummers. Deicide - Deicide, Tampa FLA 1990. Never got the hype over this band, or Hate Eternal either, but I'm giving them both another shot tonight. Deicide's greatest downfall is definitely Glen's vocals. Not a fan. But the band can play, although the song writing is nothing to crow about imo. If they could just muzzle Benton and have Rutan sing on this music it might not have been half bad. Rutan's vocals are probably the best thing about HE. Either way early Master blows early Deicide out of the water. Which come to think of it is what I probably should be listening to instead of this crap. Master - Master, Chicago 1990. Yes this is more like it. I think a large part of Deicide's popularity is mostly because Benton's an animated caricature of a satanic death metal front-man with the inverted cross branding, and the outrageous statements that have garnered some low-key publicity. While Speckmann just plays music. I'll take the first two Master albums over the first two Deicides any day.
    2 points
  21. Bolt Thrower - Grindcrusher Tour, live at Rock City, Nottingham 1989 pro shot. Just found this, so fucking awesome. Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos, 1989 Nyctophobic - War Criminal Views, German deathgrind 1996
    2 points
  22. …and yet, somehow he thinks one in three black metal bands. Have stupider names then fuckiyet, somehow he thinks one in three black metal bands have stupider names then fucking Lawnmowerdeth? I think his advanced age is catching up with him… I think his advanced age is catching up with him.… NP: Blood Duster - C*ntng
    2 points
  23. Bolt Thrower - For Victory, UK 1994 Infernal Curse - Revelations Beyond Insanity, black/death Argentina 2023 Master of Cruelty - Spit on the Holy Grail, black/death/thrash Paraguay 2012
    2 points
  24. Exhorder - Slaughter In The Vatican
    2 points
  25. Trying to keep up a bit more this year, going through some of the usual blogs to see what's what. I do tend to go for the anointed ones or at least albums with some 'net momentum rather than random searching through the wilderness. Streaming a tiny fraction the continual steamroll of releases looking for gold is pretty hit and miss with me, but this week finding some promise: Dodsrit -Nocturnal Will-Big fan of these guys-simple but effective melodic black metal, doom influence and crust punk-Today, the entire album was available to stream-I tend to be over enthusiastic about stuff I like, so it would be a mistake for me to beat my chest with AOTY claims before more time spent. I'd need to go back and really compare but have a sense this album sacrifices a wee tad of crust aggression for melodic black with flirtations with post metal, but when these guys hit their stride, it's jaw dropping. This feels pretty great. Spectral Voice/Sparagmos-somehow missed their debut-but this strokes my soft spot for doom death or death doom as the case may be with gnarly atmosphere and I absolutely am a atmos guy...maybe one dimensional, not sure yet Early Moods/A Sinner's Past-traditional old school doom basically, done reasonably well, less enthusiastic about this one as I listen to much more hard doom today than Pentagram, and modern clean doom is oft to mamsy pamsy for me, but doom in various presentations is absolutely one of my favorite genres and this deserves another listen or two.
    2 points
  26. Currently Solitude Aeturnus. Not much of a fan, but fest day 2. Highlights so far: Candlemass with the Nightfall set, Eternal Champion with Ravening Iron start to finish, Occult Burial and their early Bathory worship, Lamp of Murmur. Up next is fuckin Queensryche playing the EP and The Warning. I am way past my limit of Lonestar for the day.... Tomorrow gets better with Demolition Hammer and Sodom.
    2 points
  27. Gentle Giant - The Power And The Glory Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy
    2 points
  28. The ministry of jovial skeletons would not hear ye speak ill of Beherit, good sir. Seriously though, this might be one of my favorite black metal compilations/album cover combos ever. I love how they all look like they're walking home from black mass talking casually, ready to sit back in their doubtless equally decayed recliners and put on the game. NP: Adversaion - Dejection of the Malign Tabernacle ▶︎ Dejection of the Malign Tabernacle | Adversaion (bandcamp.com) Death metal right out of the older playbook. Doesn't go too hard on the gore theming either, but lets it serve it's purpose. Love the riff work and the brief utilitarian solos that show just enough instrumental capability without a hint of ego or flash. Just a hint more Autopsy influence and get rid of the spoken word bits that pop up now and then, and it'd be all aces. As it is, though, still excellent.
    2 points
  29. KHOLD - Du Dommes Til Dod BEDRANGNIS - Verlorene Seelen Und Ihr Zerfall
    2 points
  30. Dolorian - When All the Laughter Has Gone
    2 points
  31. Pantera - Reinventing The Steel (album)
    2 points
  32. Sepsism - Purulent Decomposition
    2 points
  33. markm

    What Are You Listening To?

    Early Moods/Sinner's Past-spending more time with this 2024 doom album. It's a pick-up for me. Midnight/Hellish Expectations
    1 point
  34. Miles Davis - Sketches Of Spain Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime ...the young lad opened his big mouth about "80s rock" and "opera" and here we are
    1 point
  35. Oof. Well I guess we won't have to wonder why these Nashvillians' career never went anywhere. Only maybe JT could possibly love something like this because they're good ole southern boys like him. NP: Necroracle - Arcane Impious Sorceries, black/death Spain. This is more my speed.
    1 point
  36. Self titled debut is cool too. I haven't checked out anything since the original vocalist died. NP: Miles Davis - A Tribute To Jack Johnson I could fucking wish the drums weren't smushed over to the right side, given what a triumph of production this is in other ways, but the trumpet hangs in front of me like Macbeth's dagger. Big speakers for the win.
    1 point
  37. Death Angel - Act III
    1 point
  38. markm

    What Are You Listening To?

    Now just to be clear, I didn't say it was the best thing I've ever heard in my life, just that there is nothing I've heard that sounds like this album. Swans were O.G. influencers.
    1 point
  39. Yeah I wasn't quite on board with Psychosis but Inflikted was a good album. NP: Death - Scream Bloody Gore
    1 point
  40. Fantastic choice, my friend! An album I revisit frequently. Heavy, aggressive, and fierce - the Cavalera way!
    1 point
  41. Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted
    1 point
  42. Fair enough I suppose even if I think "demanding" is a little strong. I should probably profess my love of gritty hand drawn artwork more often, and especially if it's sub sword and sorcery b-grade fantasy related. I'll occasionally criticize some of it for having very poor depth of field (that new Cirith Ungol still hurts my eyes), or trying to mimic Dan Seagrave and ending up just looking too busy. Also musically maybe I am a little harsh on certain bands. If I'm being pulled both toward the extremely technical end of things or the simpler exposed raw nerve feeling over execution school, I probably resist the simpler one a little more. Still some of my personal favorites do come from that side. It might be that higher levels of complexity to my ears allow for a ton more variance and personal style. I can completely understand how somebody might hear Decrepit Birth and just hear later era Death worship. What's more they'd probably be correct to say so, but because of the abundance of musical choices made in the course of a given Decrepit Birth song I tend to listen to how and where they deviate from Death's style, and that's a little harder to do with a band that worships Under The Sign of The Black Mark era Bathory. When it hits me though, it hits hard. NP: Overpower - Becoming the Tyrant Becoming The Tyrant | Overpower | Mercenary Press (bandcamp.com) Nifty little EP. Crunchy guitar tone. The pace changes edge a little too close to crossover thrash/hardcore for me to rave about it.
    1 point
  43. Here's what happened. One of the brothers who runs Hells Headbangers distro, Justin Horval (J-Dawg) has a YouTube channel. His videos are mostly either interviews with old school American death metal luminaries he corners outside of gigs in Cleveland Ohio where they're based, or they're 20 minute rants about sports jersey and flat brimmed ball cap wearing poseurs at shows and which bands are harder and more brutal and which bands send which other bands "home on a stretcher" as he likes to say. He's an idiot neanderthal basically. A short little puffed up body builder with an attitude. Says he's only 38 but he looks 50 with his thinning guido hair and Dumbo ears and big square head. Dude talks as if he was the original death metal fan from 1989 when he was actually just a toddler in preschool then. I click on his videos in my feed sometimes for their comedic value, and sometimes I'll leave comments basically telling him he's a idiot who's talking out of his ass. Except when he goes on his rants about how only the first 3 Death albums count as actually being death metal, or two and a half as he's on the fence about Spiritual Healing. That I basically agree with although I would never tell him that. So anyway the other day he posted a video. Usually he starts off with paid questions, for $10 he will answer your question or read whatever statement you've written aloud. But there were no "Paid scaroonies" that particular day so his wife and camera woman "Hellcat" had printed out some comments from some of his previous videos for him to read and comment on. I was only half paying attention, I was texting somebody when I realized he was reading one of MY comments I'd made regarding Deicide. I'd asked him what's the deal Dawg, did Glen Benton blow you once? Why does he just harp on Deicide over and over on every single video as if they were all that? They wouldn't even be among my top 500 death metal bands. With so many other quality death metal bands to talk about in the last 30 years, why the fuck are we spending so much airtime on those has-beens? It's always Deicide and Cannibal those seem to be his two pet bands, along with Dismember and King Diamond and he seems to like a lot of goregrind too like Hemorrhage. So he said something about how I probably looooove Bolt Thrower (was that supposed to be a diss?) and then went on a rant about how if you don't like Deicide then you don't really like death metal. There's just no good reason why any true death metal fan who's not a complete poseur shouldn't worship them and count them among their favorite bands. But then he paused and laughed at my "they're not even in my 500 top favorite dm bands" line saying he realized that was hyperbole and he admitted that he exaggerates a lot too and is probably even more prone to hyperbole than I am, which I know isn't easy. I got a kick out of that brief glimpse of self awareness from a blockhead. Some of his "fans" have apparently started calling him "Sponge" in the comments, short for Sponge Bob Square Head, and he can't quite figure out what that means, these kids are trolling him calling him a blockhead, and he doesn't even get it. But after trashing Deicide so publicly, I figured I should at least probably brush up on their early stuff so I know what the fuck I'm talking about. That's the only reason I was listening to them last night, just to see where I currently stood on the mighty Deicide, because it had been a minute.
    1 point
  44. Lawnmower Deth - Oh Crikey It's...Lawnmower Deth
    1 point
  45. Pantera - Far Beyond Driven (album)
    1 point
  46. Brodequin - Harbinger of Woe Blotted Science - The Animation of Entomology
    1 point
  47. Get that into you!
    1 point
  48. I hate the symphonic side of Dimmu (and black metal in general). But there's still tons of great riffs and atmospheres to be found on their later albums. Tracks like Maelstrom Mephisto, Cataclysm Children, The Foreshadowing Furnace just a few I can think of. The non-synth stuff on their later album beats any of their old stuff from SBD or before. This chick I met was listening to this the other day and it caught my ear. I asked what it was. Turns out it was Watain and I've never listened to them before. Aside from a few filler tracks I thought it was one of the best black metal albums I've heard in a long time (I don't listen to a lot of bm usually).
    1 point
  49. Pantera is my favourite metal band of all time. Funnily enough, I bought "far beyond driven" when I was really into Guns N' Roses, and just because I liked the cover. Man, the first time I listened to this album, I didn't like it. I found it too brutal for me at the time. And I hated the guitar tone (too screetchy). Then later on, I started listening to the album again, and surprisingly got really into the drumming which I thought was so different to what I had been listening to so far. And with time, I started loving the guitar playing (but still didn't like the tone) and the general groove of the song. And eventually, I loved the whole package (the brutality, the music, the singing). FBD is my favourite Pantera album, but I really like them all. And musically, it was so ground breaking... Dimebag is my favourite guitarist of all time. Genius riffs (playing a lot on rhythm), amazing soloing (very soulful and bluesy). Only recently did I start appreciating the contribution of Rex, by listening to Kill Devil Hill, where you can recognise that riffage, and that "pantera touch".
    1 point
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