Depraved

Sleepless night with these
Katatonia - Jhva Elohim Meth 
Mgla - Mdlosci
Mgla - Further Down the Nest

W.A.S.P - The Last Command

Sargeist - Let The Devil In

Sargeist - Let The Devil In

Katatonia - 'Discouraged Ones' 

I've been listening to a lot of early Paradise Lost and early Katatonia lately. Specifically Gothic, Icon, Dance of December Souls (OF COURSE), and Brave Murder Day, and some of Katatonia's early b-sides.
Something I discovered today which I never knew is that a demo of 12 exists. I've known for years the "real title" of that song was Black Erotica, but this is the first time I've heard the demo. Wow, what can I say, except why on earth did they get rid of that clean intro and the keyboard?? Like everything this band did during that era...beautiful. Love it. I do believe I prefer it over the studio version.

October Tide - Rain Without End

I've been listening to a lot of early Paradise Lost and early Katatonia lately. Specifically Gothic, Icon, Dance of December Souls (OF COURSE), and Brave Murder Day, and some of Katatonia's early b-sides.
Something I discovered today which I never knew is that a demo of 12 exists. I've known for years the "real title" of that song was Black Erotica, but this is the first time I've heard the demo. Wow, what can I say, except why on earth did they get rid of that clean intro and the keyboard?? Like everything this band did during that era...beautiful. Love it. I do believe I prefer it over the studio version.

I agree, their early material is still excellent. I love their first three albums, very avant-garde and experimental but I love the juxtaposition of melodic/acoustic/instrumental with more harsh death metal passages and so forth. I think Ghost Reveries and Watershed is where they really started to sound way too much like a progressive rock band, but it was Heritage that was the final straw for me. I was just bored throughout that entire album. Their work since then has felt much the same way. 

For me it was probably Satyricon. Their first three albums are black metal classics, then Satyr just seemed to become more and more interested in sounding like some sort of arena rock...don't get me wrong, even their self-titled release has its moments, but it's just not the same. I'll go back and listen to "Forhekset" or whatever and then wonder why I even bother trying to listen to their more recent material.
(Honorable mention for Anathema. I don't think they were exactly fantastic to begin with, but damn they had a really unique sound on Serenades and their first few EPs. Then they steadily lost their minds, it seems.)
Actually, I believe this is a curse most bands suffer from at some point, oftentimes permanently. I guess they get bored and sort of jump off the deep end experminetally and never return. No one's asking for the same exact album over and over again, but when your fans can't even recognize your new music as yours...there's definitely a problem.
Ugh yes - two of my most favorite bands of all time but I really cannot stomach Opeth's psychadelic/progressive rock-inspired Porcupine Tree worship, nor Katatonia's electronica BS much these days. I'm still a huge fan of their 90s output but I can't bring myself to listen to their more recent stuff. It's pretty disheartening when you have to try to force yourself to like their new albums...

For me it was probably Satyricon. Their first three albums are black metal classics, then Satyr just seemed to become more and more interested in sounding like some sort of arena rock...don't get me wrong, even their self-titled release has its moments, but it's just not the same. I'll go back and listen to "Forhekset" or whatever and then wonder why I even bother trying to listen to their more recent material.
(Honorable mention for Anathema. I don't think they were exactly fantastic to begin with, but damn they had a really unique sound on Serenades and their first few EPs. Then they steadily lost their minds, it seems.)
Actually, I believe this is a curse most bands suffer from at some point, oftentimes permanently. I guess they get bored and sort of jump off the deep end experminetally and never return. No one's asking for the same exact album over and over again, but when your fans can't even recognize your new music as yours...there's definitely a problem.
Ugh yes - two of my most favorite bands of all time but I really cannot stomach Opeth's psychadelic/progressive rock-inspired Porcupine Tree worship, nor Katatonia's electronica BS much these days. I'm still a huge fan of their 90s output but I can't bring myself to listen to their more recent stuff. It's pretty disheartening when you have to try to force yourself to like their new albums...

For me, it was Opeth and Katatonia, for instance. I!ve been their huge fan till Opeth went into the kinda heavier Art/Prog. Rock and Katatonia started to put much sugar into their cup of coffees. 

This should be amended: everyone should be starting their one-man DSBM projects about now!

I'm sorry, reddit is a goldmine right now, 

Relevant 

Also relevant ?

I always buy merch if I can when I go to shows, and I always pay in cash. It makes me happy to know I'm doing something to help them, even if it's small, especially for young/new/very underground bands, who in my experience have always been very grateful and appreciative. It's better than buying something from them online because whatever I buy at shows tends to have a unique experience connected with it, particularly if someone in the band was running the merch table when I bought it. If I know that I want to buy something else from a specific band, I typically wait until the next time I see them (if I know they're going to be touring again soon and likely to head my way), try to find out if they'll have any available to sell at the show, and then end up buying everything I want all at once. It's pretty amusing to see their expression sometimes when I hand over a stack of twenties hahaha.  

Speaking as a female, I personally dislike most female vocals in metal, maybe because the overwhelming majority tend to front symphonic bands and that's just not my jam. But even something like Arch Enemy just doesn't sit right with me (I mean that could potentially be because I'm not much into melodeath either, but I digress). Deeper voices just sound much better to my ear in this context.
I would love to see a woman kick ass behind a drum kit in a black metal band or some other extreme subgenre, though. That's what I'd like to see. 
To shed some light perhaps on the smaller hands argument - I tried to learn bass several years ago, but I have tiny little doll hands so switched to guitar fairly quickly and was amazed at how much easier the guitar was for me to handle because of the smaller frets and shorter, thinner neck. I don't think that's a reason most women in metal tend to be vocalists, but perhaps maybe why there aren't too many female bassists. That being said, even someone with tiny hands like myself could master the bass after building up lots of finger strength (was more of an issue than the width between my fingers but that was also a struggle if I'm being completely honest). I still don't think that's the main reason though. I'm very petite so theoretically anyone - even other women - who have bigger hands than I do (in other words, basically everyone except children younger than 12 or people with physical limitations) wouldn't be struggling as much with the bass as I was. Certainly if I can reach the frets on a guitar, just about anyone can. 
I think many women tend to be vocalists - or some metal bands tend to recruit them - is more to do with a specific image or sound they are trying to achieve. Hence why most of them front symphonic bands. Of course there's always the possibility (and there is no doubt in my mind) that some bands want female vocalists as a sort of marketing gimmick ("come see us, we have a hot chick in a corset for you to stare at for an hour!") But symphonic metal and similar subgenres like power metal or folk metal also tend to be more accessible to women because the subject matter itself is more accessible in general - it's not really angry or aggressive and it doesn't delve into seriously deep shit like disillusionment with the world or a sense of isolation from humanity, something that most men probably don't relate to either, but for those that do, they're probably more readily able to embrace it because they won't be immediately dismissed as "crazy" if they do.
As far as women playing metal? I would say that probably comes down to social conditioning. No one is going to have an interest in metal unless they can relate to the subject matter or thematic content, and that tends to be more accessible to men. Girls are still raised to be demure and compliant and to go about our lives with a smile, to be friendly, social creatures, to never express that we're sad or pissed off about anything, to quash any feelings of aggression or rebellion, to be overly concerned with being attractive and feminine so that we can gEt MaRRieD aNd hAvE BaBiEs as the most important goal in our lives and (gasp!) what the average dude might think of us if we don't uphold the feminine ideal, and most women never really break out of that mindset. So for a woman to say "fuck this shit" and pick up a guitar or another instrument and play death metal or whatever instead of whatever their female friends listen to or what music they were taught to like requires quite a different temperament and personality from what has forever been groomed and ingrained by society since birth, as well as perhaps the rejection of any fear of alienation from other women. I can't speak for anyone else but I've always felt like I can relate to men more and I generally feel more comfortable in the company of men because pretty much all of my interests fall squarely in the realm of the traditionally "masculine", so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask about this, as I definitely don't represent the typical woman (whatever the hell that means). These are simply my observations and experiences.      

Speaking as a female, I personally dislike most female vocals in metal, maybe because the overwhelming majority tend to front symphonic bands and that's just not my jam. But even something like Arch Enemy just doesn't sit right with me (I mean that could potentially be because I'm not much into melodeath either, but I digress). Deeper voices just sound much better to my ear in this context.
I would love to see a woman kick ass behind a drum kit in a black metal band or some other extreme subgenre, though. That's what I'd like to see. 
To shed some light perhaps on the smaller hands argument - I tried to learn bass several years ago, but I have tiny little doll hands so switched to guitar fairly quickly and was amazed at how much easier the guitar was for me to handle because of the smaller frets and shorter, thinner neck. I don't think that's a reason most women in metal tend to be vocalists, but perhaps maybe why there aren't too many female bassists. That being said, even someone with tiny hands like myself could master the bass after building up lots of finger strength (was more of an issue than the width between my fingers but that was also a struggle if I'm being completely honest). I still don't think that's the main reason though. I'm very petite so theoretically anyone - even other women - who have bigger hands than I do (in other words, basically everyone except children younger than 12 or people with physical limitations) wouldn't be struggling as much with the bass as I was. Certainly if I can reach the frets on a guitar, just about anyone can. 
I think many women tend to be vocalists - or some metal bands tend to recruit them - is more to do with a specific image or sound they are trying to achieve. Hence why most of them front symphonic bands. Of course there's always the possibility (and there is no doubt in my mind) that some bands want female vocalists as a sort of marketing gimmick ("come see us, we have a hot chick in a corset for you to stare at for an hour!") But symphonic metal and similar subgenres like power metal or folk metal also tend to be more accessible to women because the subject matter itself is more accessible in general - it's not really angry or aggressive and it doesn't delve into seriously deep shit like disillusionment with the world or a sense of isolation from humanity, something that most men probably don't relate to either, but for those that do, they're probably more readily able to embrace it because they won't be immediately dismissed as "crazy" if they do.
As far as women playing metal? I would say that probably comes down to social conditioning. No one is going to have an interest in metal unless they can relate to the subject matter or thematic content, and that tends to be more accessible to men. Girls are still raised to be demure and compliant and to go about our lives with a smile, to be friendly, social creatures, to never express that we're sad or pissed off about anything, to quash any feelings of aggression or rebellion, to be overly concerned with being attractive and feminine so that we can gEt MaRRieD aNd hAvE BaBiEs as the most important goal in our lives and (gasp!) what the average dude might think of us if we don't uphold the feminine ideal, and most women never really break out of that mindset. So for a woman to say "fuck this shit" and pick up a guitar or another instrument and play death metal or whatever instead of whatever their female friends listen to or what music they were taught to like requires quite a different temperament and personality from what has forever been groomed and ingrained by society since birth, as well as perhaps the rejection of any fear of alienation from other women. I can't speak for anyone else but I've always felt like I can relate to men more and I generally feel more comfortable in the company of men because pretty much all of my interests fall squarely in the realm of the traditionally "masculine", so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask about this, as I definitely don't represent the typical woman (whatever the hell that means). These are simply my observations and experiences.      

My personal favorites are "you only go to concerts because you probably think XYZ is hot and you're trying to hook up with him after the show" and (less offensive but still annoying) "I bet you got into this music because your boyfriend/husband/brother/father/other male relative is a fan". For the record, any time I've played Gorgoroth whenever male relatives/acquaintances have been around they looked genuinely shocked and scared lol. I got into metal all by myself, thanks very much. And the only reason I attend shows is to act a fool in front of the stage headbanging and going ape shit, not to be some groupie (that one's just always uncalled for). 

I'm still surprised that people can apparently study "metal culture" as part of their schoolwork now, and usually the questionnaires are a bit of a letdown. Can you share any of what you've got? It would be cool to read some responses from women instead of the usual "gender in metal" sausage party of men talking about what they think women think. 

^Two great records there Macabre.
heres a couple I have stashed in the back of my mind
 
Breaker Dead Rider, with awful font, (like how cheesy the art is tho ngl)

nearly identical and somehow more ridiculous

another silly cover

and who could forget this, this is the only one i truly hate, horrendous

lastly wtf XD

 

This is a great thread.  You see I love both those Satyricon and Graveland covers as although they may be artistically flawed their (to my eye at least) look like effort has been made.  I also love the content on Dark Medieval  Times, haven't heard the Graveland one.
This nonsense, arty, farty bollocks of a cover piece annoys the crap out of me.  Love the record though.
 

Mgla's entire discography
Trying to somehow survive work today. ?

Mgla's entire discography
Trying to somehow survive work today. ?