markm

Hells yeah, Navy! Glad to see you back man. I've been wondering about you. I went pretty incognito myself to the river until list season and I've been over indulging in new music-like a year's worth of music in two months-my wife is telling me to knock it off LOL. Glad you're doing well albeit overworked! I liked that Witch Reaper pretty well, almost picked it up and then passed on it. I just grabbed Poison Ruin/Harvest. If you haven't heard it Navy, I think it would be right up your ally. Straight up punk with maybe a crust angle, but it's mostly just nasty F-U punk with a medieval twist which gives it some metal cross over. Plus they were picked up by Relapse so that's clearly a market they're aiming for. Seems to be getting some love in metal circles. Very cool, gritty stuff. https://poisonruin.bandcamp.com/album/h-rvest

Or maybe there was a hyper macho culture where GG grew up in the NY metro area. I grew up in Washington DC suburbia in the late 70's (middle school) and early 80's in high school. There were plenty of nerds and geeks as they used to say. But there was no real fear of being physically harmed just cause you were dorky or whatever. I mean, I remember avoiding certain people but I wasn't in fear for my life because I didn't fit in with the cool kids. Now, It wasn't something that anyone necessarily aspired to but, but there were oodles of nerdy kids. A lot of the kids I hung out with were nerdy or bookish or whateves. I'm sure I was seen as one myself being involved in high school theater. We were called the DQ's or drama queers. Then there were the band geeks, etc. But it wasn't embraced as a subculture until later. But as geeky kids we kept to our own and did our thing and stayed away from the jocks and the popular kids. In a way we welcomed it, it made us different which had its own coolness to it. Kind of like an outsider club. Being in theater, I hung out with kids that were pretty obviously gay (you couldn't really come out of the close back then) and I don't think they ever were in fear of being assaulted or anything. And it wasn't like I ever said, Hey Garry are you gay? It was just obvious and we didn't give a shit anyway. I always enjoyed fantasy novels but didn't get into Tolkien until the films came out and read all the books in middle age and personally love them.

My peeps at Nine Circles are still pumping out their lists and giving me much to listen to. I've been going through my old friend Zyklonius' list. As Metal-Fi renegades no doubt remember, Zyclonius would come in at the end of the year and share his lists. He and I actually met about 10 years ago on a metal forum at Head-Fi. Real nice dude. When I was putting together a classic DM list with notable help from GG, I remember Zyk gifted me the Entombed classic, Wolverine Blues which he claimed changed his life as a teenager. Ya see, I kind of bailed on metal for a while there and missed the early 90's death/black explosion. Zyklonius is an interesting guy....very smart Finnish feller who lives (or used to) in Brooklyn NY and worked for the U.N. I believe. Anyways, Zyk has gone pretty hard prog and technical it seems and I've been perusing his faves. He always did like experimental stuff and prog/tech death and black and post stuff, as I do as well. He's the one that hipped me to that Rannoch album, completely oblivious that my main man here, F.A. did the artwork-six degrees of Satanic separations Yo! So yeah, Zyklonius' list is keeping my happy today- https://ninecircles.co/2024/01/10/best-of-2023-zykloniuss-list/#more-106349 Today's listening: man I put all this shit in my Bandcamp wishlist and then forget where I got the recommendation from...getting old LOL. I wish they had a notes app on their wishlist so I could remember the source of these odd albums. Today working on report cards with my replaced Periodic Elements Be IEMs that are great with rock and metal: Olde Throne/In the Land of the Ghosts-a kind of folksy but somewhat raw sounding BM band..Google tells me that AMG did a things you might have missed from 2023 write up...maybe that's where I got it from with their comparison to Afsky who I do know and like pretty well. Definitely raw, folksy atmoblack...I've heard worse. Trespasser/ἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙΣ-OK, now say that title three times fast why dontchya....in fact, please say it once so I can pronounce this mother fucker. Anyway, this one came from my boy Zyk's list....BM and I do like this one on a first listen. Yep, this is pretty aight w/ me.

A couple of snow days for many school systems in Maryland: Panopticon-Rime of Memory Mizmor-Prosaic Afsky- OM HUNDREDE ÅR Ken Mode-Void Phobocosm-Foreordained Vastum-Onward to Gethsemane Ragana-Desolations Flower Big|Brave -Nature Morte cruciamentum- Obsidian Refractions

Goats generally despise Pantera. I'm ambivalent. Myself, I do enjoy a little hellish cowboy metal on occasion. NP: Woe/Legacies of Frailty

Morne/Engraved with Pain-doom/sludge/post metal/crust/some industrial tuches-bought the CD, second full listen. I've seen it on a couple of lists, but I'm surprised it didn't get more attention during list season. Maybe it's too massive an album. Long songs that require patience for subtle atmospheric shifts of mood and tone, but this fucker crushes with end of time, tribal grooves. NP: Ahab/The Choral Tombs, grabbed this one ,too, getting my tasty post doom fix.

10 is tough. You've got the focus to make the hard cuts and thin the herd to its most essential tribal counsel members.

Some of those look pretty cool. Will give several a listen

Three of of the better albums of 2023: Phobocosm-Foreordained Outer Heaven-Infinite Psychic Depths Blut Aus Nord- Disharmonium-Nahab

nitely a good prog death album, not 100 % my zone for progdeth, but some very compelling tangents. One listen in, a lot of layers to unpack for sure. And congrats on the success of your album cover.art!

You did the cover? I should have known. It's got your stamp all over it. It's thought provoking, intriguing and sick! I need to give it another listen. It's definitely a good prog death album, not 100% my zone for progdeth, but some very compelling tangents. One listen in, a lot of layers to unpack for sure.

I've been listening to some of the late 2023 picks from my pals at Nine Circles: Sermon/Golden Verses-This progressive metal album with HIM on vocals is growing on me and should appeal to fans (like me) outside of strict prog fandom with alternative, doom and gothic sensibilities Rannoch-Conflagrations-Progressive Death Metal Lunar Chamber - Shambhallic Vibrations-more prog death, this time with like transcendent type Buddhist themes...

Cattle Decapitation-Monolith of Humanity-certainly a more intense, brutal, technical, uncompromising album. Thanks Joahn for reminding me of its excellence.

I should go back to Monolith. It had just enough melody to make it approachable. Yohan, how do feel Terrasite compares with their last couple of albums?

Cattle Decapitation/Terrasite-giving this an official dedicated listen on my stereo with my Audeze LCD-3 headphones, source: CD Black Medium Current | Dodheimsgard Seven Crowns And Seven Seals-Apparently, I'm of minority view that the less aggressive, moodier production with an emphasis, in my view on subtlety, atmosphere and gothic metal stylings does wonders to set the mood for the Lovecraft story telling...I need to listen to their last album again. I concede it has less visceral impact but I think it may be more effective in creating the anxiety they were probably going for to create an uneasy feeling of horror.

I'll be curious your thoughts of them live, particular those insane vocals.

Monolith of Humanity back in 2012 made quite a splash. I bought that album, it was a stretch for me with it's grind influences but it kicks ass. This is the first album since then I've paid any attention. It's like cocaine.

Doing a melodeth/black "fires" 2023 theme here, both of which get a thumbs up from me: Krigsgrav/Fires in the Fall Fires in the Distance/Air is not Made for Us

Well they both constantly gaslit and triggered each other. But only one dealt in misogyny, xenophobia, blatant racism and attacked dissenters with the supposed superiority of the "smartest poster in the forum" with his rage fueled rants with dumpster loads of of graphs, charts and endless citations of data points, journals and research justifying his disdain in a mountain of posts with verbiage that make the GG's post lengths look like little haiku poems by comparison. It was an epic cesspool of manure. And then....well, he cleaned up, but apparently it was just suppressed, always boiling under the surface waiting for the chance to unload his fury and disgust of this world. It was just a matter of time before he would go off his meds. Yeah, what a shame he's gone.

Good observations all the way around. He was an absolute cunt to Carolos (from Meatl-Fi) who was an obvious liberal and wore his heart on his sleeve. The aggo he attacked Carlos with was absurd. He got pretty nasty with me at times and then would calm down and try to make nice. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some bipolar or other mental health issues at play. Clearly, if he's to be believed he was quite scarred by his childhood war-torn background. That's why I always thought he was a hard righty. Jon is right in that he seemed to morph from right wing white supremacist kind of guy to far left socialist, but then again the far right and far left seem to have a meeting point....just look at the good ole Maga U.S. crowd embracement of authoritarianism. I keep randomly adding 2023 albums to my Bandcamp playlist knocking them out listening one by one from clickbait EOY lists and blogs as well as recos from you freaks.... Howling Giant/Glass Future-I'm real picky when it comes to prog. Either it clicks or I hit the eject button. I sat through this entire album which I've seen on a bunch of EOY lists. It's prog for sure, but ain't half bad per my listening today. Really, quite well constructed and held my attention with a bunch of influences. I like the Floydian touch on the last track.

No Cannibal Corpse or King Gizzard?

From the many things you might have missed in 2023 listings: Kurelty/Untopia/Japanese OSDM with an obvious Swededeath nod along with some hardcore and doom. Pretty good. Sermon/Of Golden Verse-progressive metal but clearly not limited to prog fans-heavy melodic dark gothic rock maybe...Katonia'ish but hits heavier than todays Katatonia. Some Toolisms, Porcupine Tree. This has some appeal for me, but on the softer part the vocals, like a lot of prog vox is way too pristine and saccharine and I feel like I'm listening to a Richard Marx pop song, ugh.

Dead is a complex, troubled dude. At one time I thought he was pretty much an educated white supremist neo Nazi type dressed up in work clothes with his love war as the most successful human endeavor in its innovation of human progress and belief that Caucasians organize their societies more effectively than brown skinned ethnic groups shit. Then, he was on good behavior more recently. OK, you skudmuffins are breaking my new release flow and so I'm checking out some of y'alls shit: Komodus/ Wreath of Bleeding Snowfall-I don't hate this by any stretch 3 tracks in and could grow on me. Summoned by the goat god gave this one a listen-Rorcal/Silence-Ah yes, a blackened post sludge sort of album here....a bit like LLNN with a blackened stretched out sludge vibe. Pretty cool 3 tracks in or so.

More 2023: Big/Brave-Nature Morte-experimental drone/noise/doom-I've had this all year-mesmerizing experimental drone noise album Outer Heaven/Infinite Psychic Depths -uh, death metal-big fan of this one Scowl/Psychic Dance Routine (hardcore) Thy Catafalque/Alföld -progressive metal-a heavier affair than the last one Ne Obliviscaris/Exul-prog black PASSÉISME – Alternance -melodic, ecstatic BM, think I'll pick this one up Rezn/Solace (rock) Gel/Only Constant/Hardcore Year of the Knife/No Love Lost-hardcore/metallic hardcore-want to revisit this Lamp of Murmuur/Saturnian Bloodstorm -just grabbed this on Bandcamp-BM with a strong Immortal influence on this one which suits me fine Boris/Heavy Rocks (2002)-Boris has put out 3 "heavy Rocks" albums and the 2002 version is the best. I've been looking for a copy for years but it was out of print. Thanks to Chris Voss's list on Nine Circles. I learned that in 2023, they finally released Heavy Rocks from 2002 on vinyl, CD and streaming. In the early 2000's they were mostly playing drone. Heavy Rocks started their exploration into heavy psyche stoner rock and it's awesome. This is a great entry point for their pull no punches rock style before they started experimenting with post/gazey genres, hardcore and the like. Now, I need them to rerelease Dronevil from '05. https://boris.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-rocks-2002

Crymych/Endless Fucking Winter (23)-This one is growing on me. It's so unusual, I had to listen to it a couple of times. Essentially, it's weird, ambient low-fi ish synthy drones with haunting black metal vocals buried in the background. It's a little like the ambient pieces of Paysage d'Hiver's Im Wald without the scathing black metal parts. There's something alluring about it though.