SurgicalBrute

Stop...you're going to make me blush. 😁 I am actually alive and well, and amusingly enough just happened to be looking in on the forum late last night when I saw my name go up, so I figured I'd check in. Didn't mean to completely wander off like I did, tends to happen with me sometimes when it feels like conversation at a place has gotten too quiet or fallen into too much of a rut...something else will grab my attention and off I go...and yeah, the new job, while not overly taxing by any means, definitely has moments where it needs a lot of my time (the next several weeks for example). So, that certainly doesn't help. As for Whitenoise and my taste, there is quite a bit of overlap. We definitely cover a lot of the same ground, and I've pulled some good reco's from him over the years, but he's right when he says we have different priorities in our music. Usually a lot of the stuff he likes best would get just get a "not bad" rating from me, and he'd probably say the same about a lot of my personal favorites. In recent years my tastes have been running toward bands that like to hide a surprising level of melody under a thick layer of fuzzy production...the so called "raw black metal" trend. Though, I'll admit, it's a trend that's quickly wearing out its welcome. I'm also probably a lot more forgiving of the use of synth, even though I seem to be one of only 5 people who's already over that Moonlight Sorcery band that's making everyone cream their shorts. Regarding my year end list...honestly, I got tired of trying to whittle it down to a manageable number, and since there was no real pressing need to have one, I figured why make myself nuts, and basically just kind of stopped working on it. If you want to see it "as-is" though, I'm more than happy to post my rough list. Hope everyone is doing well

Run of Chilean death metal releases from last year Frozen Blood - Revenge https://drycough.bandcamp.com/album/revenge Sepulcrum - Lamentation of Immolated Souls https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/lamentation-of-immolated-souls Putrid Yell - Consuming Aberration https://putridyell.bandcamp.com/album/consuming-aberration

Church Of Misery - Born Under A Mad Sign

Krigstjørn (Denmark) - Mod Guders Svig Well this last minute discovery most definitely made the list

Malformed - The Gathering of Souls https://malformeddm.bandcamp.com/album/the-gathering-of-souls

GEHEIMNISVOLL - Venomous Sorcery Through Hidden Darkness Damn, I like this..and they've got a full length coming this year https://knifevision.bandcamp.com/album/venomous-sorcery-through-hidden-darkness

Next time lead with Monty Python NP: Kaldeket - Déraciné https://bigbovine.bandcamp.com/album/d-racin

I was 4 when the 70's ended...Scooby Doo was literally the whole extent of my cultural awareness back then

I have no idea what that is...speak American, dammit! 😁 (I'm assuming that's some low budget tv show?)

God, I hope that's sarcasm It's like all the worst elements of folk metal but with an artificial "raw" production pasted over it NP: Cultellus - Destroy to Rebuild https://cultellus.bandcamp.com/album/destroy-to-rebuild-album Here, this one is a bit outside the box without sounding like ass

Try their previous album...Eminence was pretty damn good ...and that Poison Ruin was one of the albums on that dudes list that I've been considering...damn good release

A few of those i like, one or two I'm actually considering on my own list, but that Sulphur Aeon album is one of the biggest disappointments of the year, and anyone who likes Curta'n Wall needs their head examined.

ANGRENOST - Magna Lua Ordem Mística

Aeon Furnace - Providence Descends New project from the dude from Cosmic Church

Astral Tomb of Yearning (US) - Summoning the Impenetrable Night

Gouffre - Demo III

It's a specific kind of brutal death that, much like deathcore, is basically known for it's focus on breakdowns. The styles are actually pretty similar, but if you listen to them side by side, slam tends to sound more "bouncy" if that makes sense. Hellcrash - Demonic Assassinatiön ...topnotch blackened thrash that's definitely in the running for one of the best of 2023 https://hellcrash.bandcamp.com/album/demonic-assassinati-n Honestly, he's one of the most even keel, zen-type dudes you'd ever meet..and his musical tastes go extremely wide...He's the type of dude who can find something to like in the weirdest releases

Inquisition - Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence Drowned - Procul His Vircolac - Veneration Attic - Return Of The Witchfinder Chapel Of Disease - Echoes Of Light Heretic - Filthy Hymns For Sleazy Pentagram (Chile) supposed to be released in April on Listenable Records Shit I'll believe when I actually see...but I've heard unconfirmed reports about: New Deathevokation (yes, the band who did Chalice of Ages is supposedly releasing new material) Funebrarum Black Curse - Burning in Celestial Poison Mgla (new stuff, not just a retrospective/compilation album) Adversarial

PERMUTATION - Transience https://permutationmetal.bandcamp.com/album/transience

Lore - Altars Of The Precipice Possession Atmospheric black metal https://lore8.bandcamp.com/album/altars-of-the-precipice-possession

Wasn't sure what a caramel barelywine would taste like...but it tastes like caramel and booze

Sol Ether - I : Golden Head https://solether.bandcamp.com/album/i-golden-head Pretty decent death metal band from last year I some how missed out on. I like it though

Unfortunately, with respect to Andy, the fact that he covers a lot of stuff doesn't really change the fact that his lists tend to be somewhat...predictable. NP: Sorcerer - Reign of the Reaper (Heavy/Epic Doom) https://sorcererdoom.bandcamp.com/album/reign-of-the-reaper

Gravehammer - Bones to harvest Not bad, but I think it suffers from the same problem as Ascended Dead...the songs really just all sound the same https://gravehammer.bandcamp.com/album/bones-to-harvest?from=fandiscflw

Curmudgeon's Better Half Curmudgeon is an old ale brewed with molasses and aged on oak; it becomes Better Half after aging—for 254 days—in bourbon barrels that have more recently been aging Michigan maple syrup Good beer for a cold night...hope they bring this one back again sometime soon. I'm down to my last bottle