markm

Yes to all of these. I've seen most of these already save for Archgoat and Siege Column. Not that I won't catch them again. The setup this year is different. They've closed off the street and have stages on each end plus Rams Head and Soundstage. Lots of walking but in a relatively contained area. Better than bussing down to the Edison Lot.
Highlights for today are Fossilization and Chthe'ilest.

I spend anywhere from $25-40 per vinyl, so not prohibitively expensive just yet. The occasional $50, but rarely. I agree though, it's getting tougher to justify.
Pre-Fest highlights:
Mulder - solid Obituary-esque OSDM.
Altars - Same
Sodom - quasi greatest hits set. 4th time I've seen them this year. Solid. Played a few tunes I hadn't seen so far (Bathsheba and Obsessed by Cruelty)
Melechesh - meh
Just day 1, so the real shit starts tomorrow. A few dozen more Natty Bo and slices of pepperoni/jalapeno Underground Pizza in my future.

On tap today aside from a beer with my dude Surge:
Aura Noir 
Siege Column 
Spectral Wound 
Bolzer
1349
And tracking down a Fuck Me Jesus bootleg for my future SIL (man that's a good kid. Big improvement over the previous one). Surely will run into something else interesting.

The myriad of EP's, comps and re releases can be confusing to to say the least. Be careful not to get Various Failures and  White Light From the Mouth of Infinity or Love of Life as Various Failures is a comp and pulls from both of those albums plus some others and you'd end up with many of the same songs. I actually have all of those and like having both sets, but there's so much overlap it's probably not worth it.  

Scream bloody gore (1987) - Death
Severed survival (1989) - autopsy 
Clandlstein (1991) - entombed 
Wolverine blues (1993) - entombed 
Mass appeal madness (1991) - Napalm death
Nazi punks fuck off (1993) - Napalm death

Mayhem - Chimera
Listened to this 4 or 5 times and it's growing on me. Way better than Grand Declaration. Tons of cool dark riffs and tones. Tons of speed. Hellhammer's drumming is amazing as always. Some of his fills are off time and just weird. I could listen to the whole album just the drum track. A few songs get boring if you're not in the mood but it's a solid album. (Thanks to Father Alabaster for the reco)
 
Serpent's Oath - Revelation (2024). 
I think Relentless Oblivion said he was listening to this "evil melodic bm" so I had to check it out. I like the approach and it's got some good darkness but it's not that original and gets boring halfway through. 
 
Watain - Trident Wolf Eclipse
How black metal should be done. 
 
In Malice's Wake - The Thrashening
I think James T and AlSymerz were talking about this one. I enjoyed some of the riffs here a lot especially in song Onslaught. But overall the album was just ok. 
 
Next up probably gonna check the new Six Feet Under. See what they're up to. 
 

Glad you're enjoying it, John. It's such a bizarre and unique albums. Various Failures (88-92) is really good. It's easier to find White Light Mouth of Infinity and Love of Life ( I have a double disc which includes both) which Various Failures draws from, but Various Failures that F.A. turned me onto selects the best tracks from this era and has several unreleased tracks and tracks from EPs and such that make it more consistent overall.  You probably have The Great Annihilator and Children of God, but if you haven't heard those, they are both excellent albums. 

This. There's a local venue to me that I respect the hell out of for their support of the scene and making ends meet through COVID etc. I'll go and see anything remotely metal even if I don't know the bands.
NP Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
(Actually I'm currently sitting in a webinar about body image for mental health week. One of the speakers is transgender. I'm so progressive! But will go back to swans when it's over)
Wanted to follow up with @markm and @FatherAlabaster about how much I am enjoying this album. As promised I first listened to it on a 17 hour flight to Perth. I fell asleep but kind of welcomed that at the time.
It works great as music for my working day.
I seem to like it more than The Seer, which is already good.
Anymore recommendations on which to pick up next?
 

Thanks my friend. That's about what I would have hoped for. I'm not sure I can get over my feelings of unrequited loved of not having seen them circa Defenders tour which would have placed me at age 19. Sort of like, I wouldn't want to see a girlfriend from college years because I just want to remember her looking 20 forever Lol.

Thanks my friend. That's about what I would have hoped for. I'm not sure I can get over my feelings of unrequited loved of not having seen them circa Defenders tour which would have placed me at age 19. Sort of like, I wouldn't want to see a girlfriend from college years because I just want to remember her looking 20 forever Lol.

Dude Rob looks his age plus 10 years. Moves around the stage like a old timey Hollywood Frankenstein, but he still sounds great. He can't sustain the high notes like the glory days, but he gets the point across with authority. Little sustain on his voice doesn't hurt either. Like Klaus from the Scorpions, he is convincing and effective although you can tell there isn't much time left. Ritchie is a fine stand in for Glenn, Andy is a good compliment. It was a good show. Would have been better in the 80s, just never had the chance.
Also saw Gatecreeper and Creeping Death on Saturday. Hardcore kids playing death metal. Wasn't impressed but $12 and local. Walked out about halfway through Gatecreeper's set. Couldn't take any more. The plus however was I was just about the oldest dude in the crowd. 95% were under 25 with quite a few under 18. I may not like their shit, but the kidz do and that's a good thing for heavy music.

As my day at work is drawing to a close, I'd like to take this opportunity to list MY favorite Thrash Bay Area albums.
If you have any of your own, don't hesitate! I'm curious and above all eager to discover stuff I would have totally ignored.
Death Angel - The Ultra-Violence
Defiance - Product of Society
Defiance - Void Terra Firma
Exodus - Bonded by Blood
Exodus - Fabulous Disaster
Forbidden - Forbidden Evil
Forbidden - Twisted into Form
Heathen - Breaking the Silence
Heathen - Victims of Deception
Laaz Rockit - Know your Enemy
Testament - The Legacy
Testament - The New Order
Testament - Practice what you Preach
Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare
 

Gotta side with FA here on Still Life. Amazing album and that bass player was my favorite of those that have been in the band. But it's splitting hairs on early Opeth. Everything through Deliverance is so damn good. I thought Ghost Reveries is where it started to trend down, but I do still like that album. In fact, the only one I haven't liked so far is Heritage. I could live without Watershed too, but I don't hate it. One thing I would say is that all the stuff works very well live. Such a tight band. Just picked up tickets to see them again in October.
In other words @markm, you're going to need to just pick up everything before BWP. Don't worry, I promise the money will be well spent.

I think they're all worth having. If I was trying to be objective I'd say Still Life is the "best" - and it's the first one with the full lineup from BWP, since Åkerfeldt had to record bass on My Arms. But they each have a unique atmosphere. The lineup on those first two albums is really cool, love all the high melodic stuff their old bass player did. Orchid in particular has a vibe I've never heard anywhere else. 
What I'm saying is, once you pop, you can't stop.

I've never seen Priest even though as you know they are one of my all time favorites. You'll have to let me know if they're worth seeing at this late stage. I have to admit I found watching them inducted in to the Rock and Roll hall of fame as old men depressing as I still think of them as the metal gods from the 80's. 

I've never seen Priest even though as you know they are one of my all time favorites. You'll have to let me know if they're worth seeing at this late stage. I have to admit I found watching them inducted in to the Rock and Roll hall of fame as old men depressing as I still think of them as the metal gods from the 80's. 

The 80's were the shit. Definitely my favorite decade so far. 
Today - all Priest all day. Going to see the current tour Sunday night (this weekend is a doozy - Gatecreeper/Creeping Death Saturday, Priest on Sunday, and MDF coming up on Wednesday). So I'm starting with Rocka Rolla and going chronologically through the catalog.

The Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Immortal - Pure Holocaust

My Dying Bride/For Lies I Sired

Reverend Bizarre/ In the Rectory/Return to the Rectory-Finnish traditional heavy doom purists hit career highlight with their debut album, In the Rectory, while Return to the Rectory, a nearly 70 minute EP is largely forgettable. Repetitive, monotonous but also fantastic, I like to listen to In the Rectory every couple of years to remind me why I love trad doom when done right. 
James inspired me to listen to some of my favorite My Dying Bride discs
MDB/Turn Loose the Swans-one of those legacy albums that was on the backburner for a long time and I finally picked it up in the last couple of years-and indeed all things considered, maybe they're  strongest album front to back that 've heard. I'd call it a work of art with heavy death doom passages, and alternating poetic, gothic experiments. The one I've got has a companion disc with the album played with band audio commentary kind of a like a extended director's cut film DVD reminding of Peter Jackson's director's cut of LOTR. Hearing these articulate, British gentlemen go over the recording process sheds light on the genius of this album...and I'd say  this is one of their heavier albums before disbanding DM vox on their following also classic, Angel and the Dark River. 
MDB/Songs of Darkness, Words of Light-mid period highlight for me......one of my favorite albums of all time. 
Accept/Balls to the Wall
Accept/Restless and Wild-another desert classic that I only picked up in the last two years and I think GG is probably right, this is the gem in their discog even though I still enjoy Balls to the Wall and Metal Heart. Fast as a Shark, surely one of the essential and  seminal proto thrash tracks o fall time. 

Reverend Bizarre/ In the Rectory/Return to the Rectory-Finnish traditional heavy doom purists hit career highlight with their debut album, In the Rectory, while Return to the Rectory, a nearly 70 minute EP is largely forgettable. Repetitive, monotonous but also fantastic, I like to listen to In the Rectory every couple of years to remind me why I love trad doom when done right. 
James inspired me to listen to some of my favorite My Dying Bride discs
MDB/Turn Loose the Swans-one of those legacy albums that was on the backburner for a long time and I finally picked it up in the last couple of years-and indeed all things considered, maybe they're  strongest album front to back that 've heard. I'd call it a work of art with heavy death doom passages, and alternating poetic, gothic experiments. The one I've got has a companion disc with the album played with band audio commentary kind of a like a extended director's cut film DVD reminding of Peter Jackson's director's cut of LOTR. Hearing these articulate, British gentlemen go over the recording process sheds light on the genius of this album...and I'd say  this is one of their heavier albums before disbanding DM vox on their following also classic, Angel and the Dark River. 
MDB/Songs of Darkness, Words of Light-mid period highlight for me......one of my favorite albums of all time. 
Accept/Balls to the Wall
Accept/Restless and Wild-another desert classic that I only picked up in the last two years and I think GG is probably right, this is the gem in their discog even though I still enjoy Balls to the Wall and Metal Heart. Fast as a Shark, surely one of the essential and  seminal proto thrash tracks o fall time. 

Reverend Bizarre/ In the Rectory/Return to the Rectory-Finnish traditional heavy doom purists hit career highlight with their debut album, In the Rectory, while Return to the Rectory, a nearly 70 minute EP is largely forgettable. Repetitive, monotonous but also fantastic, I like to listen to In the Rectory every couple of years to remind me why I love trad doom when done right. 
James inspired me to listen to some of my favorite My Dying Bride discs
MDB/Turn Loose the Swans-one of those legacy albums that was on the backburner for a long time and I finally picked it up in the last couple of years-and indeed all things considered, maybe they're  strongest album front to back that 've heard. I'd call it a work of art with heavy death doom passages, and alternating poetic, gothic experiments. The one I've got has a companion disc with the album played with band audio commentary kind of a like a extended director's cut film DVD reminding of Peter Jackson's director's cut of LOTR. Hearing these articulate, British gentlemen go over the recording process sheds light on the genius of this album...and I'd say  this is one of their heavier albums before disbanding DM vox on their following also classic, Angel and the Dark River. 
MDB/Songs of Darkness, Words of Light-mid period highlight for me......one of my favorite albums of all time. 
Accept/Balls to the Wall
Accept/Restless and Wild-another desert classic that I only picked up in the last two years and I think GG is probably right, this is the gem in their discog even though I still enjoy Balls to the Wall and Metal Heart. Fast as a Shark, surely one of the essential and  seminal proto thrash tracks o fall time. 

Bolt Thrower - War Master

nativity in black (1994) 
Human = garbage (1994) - dystopia
The carnival bizarre (1995) - cathedral
Come my fanatics (1997) - eletric wizard
Brainoil (2003) - brain oil