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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. Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (2013)
    1 point
  34. Parkcrest - ..And That Blue Will Turn Red
    1 point
  35. So what you're saying is that JT is the only one around here with any decent taste? Gotcha! NP: Evil Invaders - Feed Me Violence.
    1 point
  36. Very true! And another great choice with the legendary Death. Not a single bad album in their discography, which was cut way too short with Chuck's untimely death.
    1 point
  37. Belushi Speed Ball - Face Schmelted In Nine Minutes Or Less
    1 point
  38. Slayer - Hell Awaits (album)
    1 point
  39. 1 point
  40. Those two and Non Serviam are the ones I go for. I haven't warmed up to anything past that yet.
    1 point
  41. One of the worst live bands I've ever seen. Not a fan of Deicide at all, but I get the hype. Glenn was a frontrunner in the Florida death metal scene and a master of publicly. I remember the news stories when he carved the upside down cross in his forehead, was burning bibles, etc. Perfect sorta shit to draw outrage and attention in religiously charged central Florida in the early 90s. The music was completely mediocre but had all the blasphemy you can handle. So naturally kids gravitated to something that pissed off all the right people. He gets the love for being one of the first and people being nostalgic for a time when DM was controversial, satanic, and new. Has to be because the music, aside from Legion which is serviceable, is meh.
    1 point
  42. 😆Ha. I think we've all done that once or twice, but you got through at least two songs? Did you think the band had fallen off the deep end and gone full experimental modernism John Cage on everyone? That's actually really funny. I can see something like that causing some one's great grandparent to stroke. Disclaimer: Don't be offended. I know you're not foolish, but that really is funny to me. Agreed. The self titled Master album deserves it's vaunted place in the history books. Deicide to me, can be pretty good, but you're right about the attention seeking. I feel really split about them. On just a strictly musical level they're a little above average, especially for how long they've been around. Benton is the textbook definition of what a lot of people would call a tryhard though.
    1 point
  43. Fuck! I thought there was something seriously fucking weird going on with the last three songs. There was extra instruments and shit that shouldn't have been there. Then in the last song started hearing an instrumental of Hotel California. It was then I realise the cooking videos I was looking at had sound and YT wasn't muted! Sounds much better without YT NP: Carpet Bomb - Awaken Terror
    1 point
  44. Dust Bolt - Violent Demolition
    1 point
  45. Curse the Australian time zone, I missed a whole Black Metal discussion… Again. So okay I’m much too lazy to go back and multi quote instead I’ll pull my usual trick 1. For our fine French fiend when it comes to Bathory you’re almost certainly better off ignoring everything they did between Twilight of the Gods and Nordland. 2. Beherit’s raw, and filthy debut is slightly underrated in my view, and Drawing Down the Moon is to my ears, at least quite excellent. 3. To each their own but much like the old goat, I have very little tolerance for symphonic BM, especially if it’s driving the sound rather than being a background feature. I can barely tolerate keys in Doom Metal and I think they bring more to the table in that regard. 4. Plenty of killer BM has dropped in the last decade, I’m a little surprised, the old man left Inquisition from his list, unless my admittedly, barely working eyes deceive me. NP: Inquisition - Black Mass for a Mass Grave
    1 point
  46. I completely understand your point of view. Synths have never bothered me, EXCEPT when they encroach a little too much on the rest of the instruments. So first of all, Hard FM is something I've never appreciated, and it makes me run the 110-meter hurdles in less than a tenth of a second. But when it serves the music, to add an atmosphere, a mood, but behind it, the music blows its energy through the guitars or the drums, I'm fine with that. I can't imagine Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse without this gloomy, omnipresent atmosphere. Just the guitars and the drums, if I take up your comparison with coffee, it would be like being served a cup of coffee, but without anything in it. For me, of course. I love Bal-Sagoth, for example, but I have to admit that after listening to one album, or even 2, I just can't take it anymore. The keyboards are too prominent.
    1 point
  47. Crowbar - "Zero and Below" Crowbar - "Obedience Thru Suffering" Crowbar - Self-titled Crowbar - "Time Heals Nothing" And by the way, here you go, Mr. GG! Me and Mr. Windstein!
    1 point
  48. I no longer have one. Used to Noise, Roadrunner, Nuclear Blast, Century Media and Earache back in the early 2000s. Some of those were defunct at that stage (Noise) or turned to shit (Roadrunner) but back catalogue was generally awesome. But these days the labels are all totally erratic so I don't bother.
    1 point
  49. MaxFaust

    Proto Metal 1958-1969

    Great act. I believe he worked for Joe Meek, as did also Richie Blackmore. I don't know if Richie ever sessioned for Arhur Brown, but he was definitely in with Screaming Lord Such. Joe Meek was a bit of a character. His attitude was somewhere in the area of "anything goes". There can be no reasonable doubt that he made a lasting impression on Richie Blackmore. Anyway -- Tony Iommi once said that he never cared much for Hendrix and the "psych" part of the fuzz guitar tree of evolution. He was into Hank Marvin, except he liked distortion. In my opinion, you can "kind of " hear that there is some DNA from the Shadows in Black Sabbath's guitar sound. Tony's riffing seem to follow the Hank Marvin logic in choice of meandering notes on the scale. I mean ... if Black Sabbath had gone for a more twangy surf guitar sound, it would pretty much be Shadows, right? A lot more small diddely-doo meanderings on the fretboard ... but if you're able to imagine a surf guitar doing the "Iron Man" riff, you whould be able to turn that on its head and imagine Kip Tyler working with Black Sabbath style guitar sound: Let me be a little clearer on Hank Marvin vs. Tony Iommi. Compare these two songs: Work a little with me. Try to "filter" away the fuzz.
    1 point
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