markm

I knew you had some good taste stashed away under the crypt.

Yep, you know I like to play in the gen ed stoner doom lane more than you do. II've come to like my regular ole doom with extreme vocals. In the case of Betelgeuze it roughens up their sound whereas with some clean doom, I get lost in the ether. I'm not even sure I really distinguish between what I consider stoner doom (Sleep, Wino, Pentagram, EW, YOB), traditional or so called epic l doom (Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus) and hard doom. I think the marginal lines of error are so razor thin that it's mute other than stoner doom incorporates more 70's psyche and jamy sounds but to me it's just doom. I'm thinking what you're referring to death doom is what I'd characterized as OSDM with doomy riffs. I'm thinking of bands like Asphyx, Autopsy, Disma, Incantation, early Vastum etc. who are death metal bands first and foremost. In my mind, they're just OSDM bands or play in that style with slower riffs and incorporate OSDM riffs and percussion (I.e., tempo changes between "doomy" and fast, frenetic double kick bass, maybe even triggered drums, even d-beat, time sign changes, unconventional song structures and the like) whereas what I think of as doom death are best characterized by the Peaceville sound, especially MDB who I've spent most of time with in this category, who sometimes utilize a very DM sound but also bring in gothic influences, very slow traditional doom riffs (I guess non DM riffage), alternating cleans/growls, etc. I mean, it's often said that Black Sabbath's Master of Reality laid the groundwork for doom, stoner and sludge metal-so the lines are razor thin I'd say.

Holy shit, I'm hitting all kinds of 2024 gold lately. I ended up buying that Altar of Betelgeuze Fin doom death album I posted about above and the love affair is in full bloom. I adore that album. NP Fenriz on vox on this awesome goober of an old classic 80's metal album that is blowing me away with classic metal and proto thrash love I haven't felt in a while---get on this-Coffin Storm/Arcana Rising-equal parts awesome, fun and silly. Freaking loving this like I loved The Underground Resistance. Riffs, riffs, riffs.

Altar of Betelgeuze/Echoes (2024)-the metal archives classify these guys as doom/death/stoner band from Finland. About half way into the track list, I'd say this is pretty solid hard doom with top priority being doom with satisfying doom riffage, equally satisfying growling, some quasi deathened singing and yeah, some stoner/psyche influence. So splitting hairs, that puts this in doom death rather than death doom. Expect no bells, whistles nor frills. I can see fans of meat'n'taters doom/death like Temple of Void, Monolord, etc. might enjoy this. Not game changing but definitely worth a crack for doom aficionados such as your truly.

Vorga/Beyond the Palest Star-2024-..just stating in on this guy-in the Mare Cognitum -Spectral Lore wheelhouse of spacey atmoblack.

Misotheist/Vessels by which The Devil is Made Flesh-Checking out this one, some of youns have been posting about...

Early Moods/A Sinner's Past-Doom Spectral Voice/ Sparagmos-Doom/Death

They're definitely getting online buzz as a mix of old school 70's doom with a smattering of NWOBHM, maybe a touch of stoner. I like their overall sound.

Early Moods/Sinner's Past-spending more time with this 2024 doom album. It's a pick-up for me. Midnight/Hellish Expectations

Ah, then you should be well prepared!

Ironically, no, I should fix that! I was a pretty big Neurosis fan first in the aughts and had no idea who Jarboe was but kept reading about Swans as influence and finally dipped my toes in 2012 with Seer. I like to say that years of listening drone metal prepared me as a listener to The Seer. By the time I finally went into their back discog and figured out who Jarboe was, that N/J collab was so far in my review, I never listened to it.

Thanks Jon, I appreciate your being open. I should say yes, this is a really fucking weird album, but to heavy music fans who try to expose themselves to a reasonable share of "weird af metal" it may not seem that weird since the album came out in 1996 and a lot of weird shit has come out since then. The album is interesting on multiple levels, but is a challenging listen, so be forewarned. It's "a lot" as the kids like to say. From what I can tell, it's become kind of a cult classic in expero-weirdo-droney music. It's nearly 2 and half ours long. I find it best let the whole thing wash over me. I'll put in a queue on Sonos or play it in my car and listen to it shorter sessions. There is no grand concept or over arching theme other than the what you, the listener bring. Some people describe it as a dream. I find the first disc makes more sense to the way I process music as tangible; very diverse. The second disc, gets more, well, weird and abstract sounding with more extended ambient drone pieces and to my sensibilities, is the sound of madness. But Gira states that it's just a collection of assorted material spanning 1981-1996. His liner notes states Soundtracks’ song sources included “hand-held cassette recordings to found sounds, to samples, to loops, to finished multitrack recordings.” I found this quote just now: Wider and craggier than the Grand Canyon, as epic in scope and testament as the St. James Bible, as weirdly and quirkily diverse as the Beatles’ White Album—that’s the description I gave to producer/multi-instrumentalist Rieflin, who said, “Yeah, that about wraps Soundtracks up nicely,” he says with a soft laugh. “Plus, it seems to go on for-fucking-ever. It’s as if it never ends.” Gira would later go on to say that when they reunited and recorded the Seer in 2012 (my entry point and one of my favorite albums of all time), the Seer was the culmination of everything they had tried to do. Listening to Soundtracks for the blind in the last 24 hours makes me appreciate the evolution from SFTB to the trilogy (The Seer, To Be Kind and The Glowing Man). The trilogy is more cohesive. I love the trilogy , but I also really dig this earlier, cruder, more rudimentary attempt to distill Gira's vision. It's just a special album I come back to once a year or so. It's also significant to me in the influence I hear in the other experimental artists like guitarist Tim Hecker and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Swans have such a diverse discography and sound palette. This is one important piece of the Swans Rubik's cube. Masterpiece or self indulgent crap? We each get to decide. I think it's pretty rad.

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.

Dödsrit/ Spirit Crusher (2018)-pound for pound my favorite so far Dödsrit/Mortal Coil (2021) Mastiff/Deprecipice (2024)- garnering some attention, pretty heavy metallic hardcore sludgy kind of mix of hardcore and death metal.

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.

So far in 2024- Dodsrit/Nocturnal Will-early EOY list contender for me Judas Priest/Internal Shield Borknagar/Fall Chelsea Wolfe/She Reaches Out to Shea Madder Morten/Old Eyes New Heart Ihsahn S/T The Smile/Wall of Eyes

I've come back to this several times. I agree it's solid black metal, but not necessarily mandatory listening. Kind of a fence sitter.

Necrowretch/Swords of Dajjal

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.

I've got Signify on disc....good album!

Curious Hungarino, are you driving both on your Dragonfly or do you have a dedicated amp/DAC? I understand the HD6XX need some juice.

Listening to that other "rust" non metal album-Neil Young/Live Rust Favorite track-Cortez the Killer, if not a metal influence, certainly for grunge.

2024 stuff on Bandcamp: Midnight-Hellish Expectations Adrianne Lenker-Bright Future (pre released tracks) Kim Gordon-The Collective (pre released tracks) Isenordal-Requiem for Eirênê Dödsrit-Nocturnal Will (pre released tracks)

I'll take a look at the interview when I get a chance. Yes, Down on the Upside holds up pretty well actually and has some great tracks. Agreed it's not as complete a package as Superuknown and is somewhat of a hot mess but there's aren't any tracks I feel like skipping either.

Slimelord – Chytridiomycosis Relinquished-2024-categorized as swampy death/doom-need to spend more time with this, but after one listen, I'm reasonably enthusiastic. It ticks a lot of my boxes. Judas Priest/ Invincible Shield-I'm in deep. If this were recorded by some rando power metal band, the power metal blog nerds would be screaming AOTY! Sure there are some weaker moments, Priest, the like the Rolling Stones have great songs but a lot of inconsistent albums which make them in my mind perfect for compilations. For all their 80's brilliance, you've got suffer through a lot of filler. screaming for Vengeance reaches heights of grand euphoria and then deliver duds like Fever (sorry Jon) and Pain and Pleasure. I spent unfathomable hours in high school listening to Defenders which gives us terds like Love Bites, Eat Me Alive and Night Comes Down. Today, I'd have to rate Sad Wings as their finest hour over all. British Steel is probably top to bottom their most constant album. Stained Class is also pretty consistent for me. After 3 listens and looking at the track list-the first four tracks have classic JP goodness- Panic Attack, The Serpent, the King and invincible Shield, Devil in Disguise and Gates of Hell. Things slow down with Crown of Horns, and then get passable but generic with As God Is My Witness, trial by Fire Escape from Reality. But then they roar back with the last two tracks, Sons of Thunder, Giants in the Sky. Given this late stage in their career-Invincible Shield is a triumph. Went through my Soundgarden discog this weekend and looked up some reviews to reorient myself to their place in rock history. Here's my take: Louder than Love-I don't have a copy of this anymore. It holds up pretty well for me. At the time this album was seen as one reviewer I read said, a mixture of The Stooges, MC5, Killing Joke and Sabbath and Zeppelin with Cornell wailing over the entire affair and I think that gets it about right. They still had what I'd call an 80's alternative rock sound which I didn't initially love but this album helped bring me closer to punk and alt rock. I had roommates in college that were really into R.E.M. but they sort of thought my Motorhead albums and Metallica were cool. And for some reason, they liked the Cult's Electric which is where we met musically. So, they'd try go get me to listen to Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth, both bands I'd grow to like years later. Louder than Love gives me a bit of the Sonic Youth/Dino Jr. vibe with an emerging metal adjacent sound-but still sounds like an un underground heavy alt rock album to me even though this was their major label debut. Of all the grunge bands, Soundgarden were the grunge band most rooted in 70's hard rock and psychedelia and that neo Sabbath/Zep sound filtered through alternative rock and a little punk was the hook for me. Badmotorfinger is where I became a big fan. The first 4 tracks are absolutely untouchable bangers even though I've heard the songs ad nauseum -Rusty Cage, Outshined, Slaves and Bulldozers and Jesus Christ Pose-are full blown metal afic. The bottom heavy heavy riffing and 70's influence was a kind of proto stoner metal before Kyuss ever hit the scene. The back half of the album goes back to what I'll just call call heavy alt rock and if I'm being honest isn't as good but still enjoyable. This is an album of a band firing on all cylinders, innovating and fusing multiple genres and a huge influence on alternative metal. Superunknown -Jon refers to as probably their masterpiece and GG states is a normie favorite of his-relistening to this it's clear this is their Abby Road, their Daydream Nation-a meticulously crafted, radio friendly tour de force. The songwriting is tight as a drum, but it's not nearly as heavy as Badmotorfinger. They sort of do what I think a lot of you love about Type O Negative, a band I just kind of passed on-they combine what I'd call a very "produced" beatlesesque melodicism (Uh, Black hole Sun) with the thick Sabbath riffs-alternating heavy/melodic but it's a little too perfect for me, a little too produced. Lyrically, a very dark album from Cornell and an excellent album. I haven't really listened to Down on the Upside in years and relistening was a breath of fresh air. This is their messy, White Album, their Physical Graffiti. Doing a little online research, Cornell wanted to incorporate acoustic elements and move away from the heavy "stoner" (my term) riffing which was their stock and trade and caused friction in the band. They decided to self produce as they thought the producer for Superunknown brought some cool elements but also caused headaches and tweaked their sound in a way that wasn't natural. So here we have an eclectic mix of heavy moments with a lot psychedelia, strong emphasis on vocal harmonies and a variety of styles including hardcore influences on tracks like Ty Cobb and elements of folk rock, so maybe it's their Zeppelin III. It's less polished than Superunknown and while not as heavy has a rawer, more organic live sound that honestly make me think of The Minutemen. The album has a loose, sort or unplugged, jammier sound and the stoner rock comparisons that I found online actually make sense. Soundgarden is my favorite grunge band. I liked Alice In Chains a lot but I think they were mischaracterized as grunge-they were more of a hard rock/metal band. Soundgarden were real innovators, with tremendous technical skill that melded genres in a similar way in my mind that Metallica did and in both cases, grunge and thrash got over saturated and played out but Puppets, Ride the Lightning, Badmotorfinger, Superunknown remain defining albums from my 20's. I was born a year after Cornell. His death shook me up. I guess I think of him as one of the last of my peers who reached rock stardom back when rock stars were a thing who seemed to have the world in his hand-I consider him the best rock vocalist of my generation and one hell of a songwriter and talent. Cobain and Cornell-rock and roll casualties who were perhaps not meant to last in this world, perhaps too fragile, but brought us some pretty great music.