Thatguy

I had a look at his list. As ever, theres's a few I hadn't heard, a few I didn't rate and a few I really like. Pretty good list though. The only glaringly wrong selection is CoL. I used to love this band but they seem to be stuck in a rut and the latest album does not pull them out of it.

Yep. Rather enjoyed No 1, didn't see the point of No 2 and I haven't watched No 3.

How would I know? My answer to so many of life's questions and now I am not paid to know/be sure I really enjoy it.

Well put. It was faux gloomy. Well, not every band. I agree life is too short for that. I meant what I said though and agree with Orca. Without dissent and a bit of argy-bargy the forum will die. We are grown ups and can disagree without provoking sulkiness.

THE HOWLING VOID - Into Darkness Ever More Profound. Gloomy but maybe a bit too pretty. ILLUMINE - in shifting light. Riffs. Interesting harmonies. All good. I for one enjoy GG ranting about every band he doesn't like. Keep it up, my man.

I don't think he was Welsh (or even Welch). I think he came from Leicestershire. It's Tom Jones who is Welsh - or was. Is he still alive?

It's a good defence. I have come to enjoy electronic music in its own right and I listen to all sorts of music as a contrast to metal. I am partial to a bit of communist libtard ranting so I suppose I should give the Chat Pile another listen, but I didn't make it through the first track. NP - AKKU Quartet - Aeon. By way of contrast.

I drive a BMW i3 around town - it was about the first electric car available in Australia. For longer trips it's the wife's BMW 328i GT Sport. We will go all electric (and not BMW - cheaper electrics are coming onto the market - not Volvo neither) in due course. Both sit as good not great for me but Gaerea has the edge. You do.

Yeah. Nah. Coledale and all the small towns/beaches just north and south of it are on the ocean side of the escarpment all centred on Lawrence Hargrave Dr which runs along the coast - and out into the ocean at one stage. Wollongong itself is further south where the escarpment runs further inland so there is enough room for the city and that's where the Princes Highway goes. I didn't know Coledale existed until my mate bought a house there. It's his place, LH Drive, a small park then the ocean - just beautiful. Fuck you too. No need to stop - and I made a pact with my wife when we were young that she is to put me down if I ever buy a Volvo.

No one is worthy but me and my monkey. But thanks anyway.

Yep. I'm back. It wasn't just a drive. We went to stay with some friends at Coledale (I know GG will look it up and become an expert on Coledale). The playlist went down well and produced exactly the emotions in both of us that I expected I don't like it either. But you are totally wrong about bass and I look forward to the argument you will have with J. I still like it but it didn't make my list.

Most of which I agree with. It all boils down to emotion - how you feel in general and how you feel on the day. Yep, I like intellectually analysing music and I write some stuff that is very theoretically clever (I think), but my wife at best calls it interesting. I spent yesterday afternoon constructing a playlist for a car trip we will be off on today of non-metal music that makes me feel happy, or sad, or wistful or nostalgic and her too I hope. This music is good because I like it.

Yeah. Fuck him. I haven't got over it yet. And I don't like the new picture neither. Bring back the kuk.

DEAD CAN DANCE - Wake: The Best Of Dead Can Dance

I did not! Orca.

Very interesting list, Zac. There are some there I haven't heard and some I will have to re-visit. We agree about the Ultha artwork! What possessed them? But it is an excellent album. Thanks

Thanks, mate. As 'Thatguy' that's the kind of reaction I used to go for. But I have mellowed. I really think you would enjoy the Desolate Shrine and the Osserp.

I didn't like this year's release as much as his last one, and I forgot about it. This is the trouble with lists, of course.by definition things get excluded.

Fuck me. A savage take down.😉

OAK PANTHEON - From a Whisper

Thanks Navy for your thoughtful lists. Thanks Mark for dumping everything. Thanks Orca for promising but not delivering. And thanks in advance GG. Your list will be late and long but we know we can rely on you. This is what Thatguy thinks this week. THATGUY’S TOP 17. METAL In alphabetical order and not order of merit. I don’t think there will be too many surprises here. Don’t expect in depth analysis - that’s not Thatguy’s style - and you’ll see the word fun a lot. Good music is always fun. It may be other things too - beautiful, challenging, thought provoking, sad, noisy, kind of annoying etc etc - but if it’s not fun then I probably won’t be listening, because in 2022 it was again - so much music, so little time. ARTIFICIAL BRAIN - Artificial Brain. This is a fun album full of metal goodness. Fuck youse all for a miserable bunch of sad sacks if you can’t enjoy this. ASHENSPIRE - Hostile Architecture. Angry Scots ranting and interesting music with saxophone. What’s not to love? ASUNOJOKEI - Island. I just love this band and this album in particular. Smart-arse chords and high pitched shrieking. Get it into you. DESOLATE SHRINE - Fires Of A Dying World. Dark, dense, angry. It’s everything I want from a metal album. DRUDKH - All Belongs To The Night. I think I’ve heard some of these chord progressions before from this band, but I don’t care. I enjoy this more with each listen so that makes it list-worthy. IMMOLATION - Acts Of God. Yep, I agree with everyone else that it is too long - but it rocks. IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT - Spirit of Ecstasy. I know there isn’t much love for these guys around here, but on re-listening and reflection, I like this album quite a lot. It’s a lot less wanky than their previous one and is actually a metal album, dissonant and iconoclastic enough to amuse me and all in all a lot of quirky fun. MALIGNANT AURA - Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped On Me. Miserable. Miserable but in a good way. MESHUGGAH - Immutable. The title sums it up. This is what it is, love it or hate it. There is so much happening here, and an instrumental track that is maybe the best track. MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Exuviae of Gods - Part 1. This is what I’m talking about. Beautiful, miserable but, yep, fun. These guys can do no wrong in my book. I hope Part 2 appears in 2023. OLHAVA - Reborn. Lots of atmospherics but enough BM to keep me hanging on. The goats won’t like it. OSSERP - Els nous cants de la Sibil-la. Like the Desolate Shrine, this just hits the spot. PHARMACIST - Flourishing Extremities On Unspoiled Mental Grounds. Every time I listen to this I just think - wow. TOADEATER - Bexadde. Almost worth listing just for the band name, but also for the mix. Bass, guitars and vocals about equal with supportive drums. A nice change from buried vocals and inaudible bass. ULTHA - All That Has Never Been True. I hate the cover art - it reminds me of the Electric Callboy video ‘We Got The Moves’ (ear and eye worm of the year even if not released in 2022). But the music is dense yet lively, interesting and engaging with fine examples of NON-CHEESY SYNTH all the way through it. This should be on everyone’s list. And they released a very good B side/demo/live album for NYP this year too. Thanks Ultha. WIEGEDOOD - There’s Always Blood At The End Of The Road. Excellent album by consistently good band. I think they would absolutely slay live. WORM MANTLE - Worm Mantle. I raved about this early in the year then left it alone for a long time. On re-listening, yep, I still love it. Lots of metal and a good deal of atmospherics - all guitar I think and no synths to whinge about. NON-METAL AKKU QUINTET - Live.Jazz so chill and groovy that there ought to be a law against it. BITCHIN BAJAS - Bajascillators. Radiant ambient/electronic/jazz. Check out the cover art. The music is just like the art. BORIS - W. Boris albums are so diverse that you can’t really say you do or don’t like the band. This is an electronic art rock/pop album. Noice. ELDER - Innate Passage. So musical, so engaging. loscil - The Sails Pt. 2. Radiant beauty as all his albums. Nils FRAHM - Music for Animals. Saw him live in 2022 and now I get him. Lovely and interesting electronics. Valentina GONCHAROVA - Ocean - Symphony for Electric Violin and other instruments. This is one for the ‘modern classical’ lovers I guess, but it’s also noisy and annoying. ŠIROM - The Liquified Throne of Simplicity. Long instrumental tracks of alternative folk/ambient with all sorts of weird instruments. Really very engaging. SPOOK- Spook. Chill. Midori TAKADA - You Who Are Leaving To Nirvana. Chanting, percussion and I think electronics. Ethereal and beautiful. COLLECTIONS ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO - The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (on ECM). As I wrote in the jazz thread, this anthology contains the essence of all of jazz and of life. Olivier MESSIAEN - 100th Anniversary Box Set. So much Messiaen, so little time. I wish I had written this music, but I’m not a French, Catholic mystic organ virtuoso. Steve TIBBETTS - Hellhound Train: An Anthology. Jazz/rock/ambient, whatever. This is really entertaining. Anton WEBERN - Complete Works. Essential listening for the ‘modern classical’ lover and I’m glad I have this to listen to whenever I feel like it. I wish he had lived longer and widened his palette.

Oh stop whining and just do a fucking list. I'll expect it tomorrow.

That's true and the vocals are rather good. The synths though practically define what I'm talking about. Blast beats, the occasional guitar chord, quite good vocals but all dominated by the synth. It's 'orrible.

And also cheesy synth parts all to commonly, regrettably. And this doesn't mean I don't like some atmospheric BM, but I hate cheesy synth.

Or life in general?