SurgicalBrute

Could have been worse...Do they have a show that's the dental equivalent to Dr Pimple Popper or that My Feet are Killing Me show? That would be a sadistic dentist

22 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I'm actually kind of interested by that description. Been a lot more ok with keyboards over the past couple years. I like some epic stuff too, although there's a fine balance... I don't know Caladan Brood. I like Saor though, Guardians is an amazing album. I'll listen to way fruitier stuff on occasion, especially when I'm in a power metal mood.

Absolutely. If I'm in the right mood then bring on the cheese, because I'll happily blast some power metal.

I think like everything, there's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, and usually the difference is razor thin. Good bands or at least good albums, seem to know how to go right up to that line without quite overstepping it. Like, if you've ever listened to Twilight Force's first album vs their second album you can hear the difference between an album that found the right balance and an album that leaned too far into it

16 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Well, the art looks like it's for a new Disney coming-of-age story about the Horned God, so maybe that's no surprise?

 

Yeah...but don't misunderstand me. That kind of stuff isn't a deal breaker for me when it's done right. I'm a long time fantasy fan, and I absolutely love some of those epic atmospheric bands like Saor or Caladan Brood. That Belore album just felt like it was cranked up a couple of notches too far

Paydretz - Chroniques de l'Insurrection

Belore - Artefacts

Saw someone say this was similar to Stormkeep, but better...think I'm just not in the right headspace for it, because it's feeling a bit overdone...like it's too melodic and too synthy

Yeah...listened to that the other day and it wasn't a bad bit of Bolt Thrower worship (say that 5 times fast).

Father Befouled - Crowned in Veneficum preview track

Unheavenly Catechesis

Desolate Shrine - Fires of the Dying World preview track

The Dying World

Somehow I weirdly lucked out. My teeth have always been kind of odd...I was told a long time ago, that I actually still have two baby teeth because the adult teeth never came in behind them. Anyway, I was told the same thing had happened with my wisdom teeth. The adult molars that would normally come in appear to have never been there, so the wisdom teeth grew in unimpeded and took their place

50 minutes ago, markm said:

You got this man! You won't regret the work when it's all said and done.

Yeah man...I have to admit, I'm actually pretty excited about it, and hopefully being able to turn it into something better for my wife and I.

Mycorrhizae - S/T

If you guys haven't checked out Big Bovine Studios on Bandcamp before, I'm pretty sure it belongs to Travis Minnick, who was the drummer for False, and he releases music from his other projects on there. Last years Kaldeket was really good, and this year he just released this Mycorrhizae demo, which I have to say is pretty snazzy if you like fuzzy, lo-fi, melodic black metal

54 minutes ago, markm said:

You better stick around or I'm driving out to Anne Arundel in a beat up pickup truck and a shovel. 

What are you getting your degree in? My wife finished hers a Mount Saint Mary's U, she took one class a semester and then picked up the pace-took her 6 years to finish her undergrad while working full time and being a Mom. I stepped up cooking dinner, taking our daughter to activities and being home in the afternoon when she got off the bus through the evening. It's not easy. I know that for sure. Congratulations for seeing the end in sight. 

Thanks man...I appreciate it!

They call it a Business Tech Administration degree, but it's essentially a Business Management degree. It just puts a larger focus on Information Systems like data collection and distribution. Figured this would give me a little flexibility in the job market.

I started with just one class to test the waters, but finally managed to get up to three per semester. Not sure if your wife ran into this issue, but UMBC seems obsessed with group projects (i.e....me and 3 or 4 parasites riding my coattails to good gades 😁) so anything beyond that felt like it was going to take more attention then I had to spare. I was fairly lucky going back though, because I did have a large chunk of the general studies stuff already finished from my first go-around with school. Even with that it's taken about 4 years to get it done.

Aethyrick - Pilgrimage preview track

Hollowed Bloodline

Warmoon Lord - Battlespells

6 hours ago, markm said:

Mark says a lot of words 😁

Okay, well lets look at some of this...does the current system nurture, grow, and develop talent? To that I say, did the old system really do any of those things? I know you seem to believe it did, but did it really? How many bands from that time period were actually nurtured in comparison to the ones that were manufactured or railroaded in directions they may not have wanted to go, because a label was chasing a trend? How many were allowed to grow and develop as opposed to the ones who were dropped like a hot potato, never to be heard from again, because they didn't get over and a label wanted nothing to do with them? Now, recently I had to take a statistics course, and we were told to track down a stat block of our choice. I managed to find an article where the author had done some analysis on Spotify listening habits based on song popularity, and it showed two interesting things. One was that something like 1% of songs get roughly 99% of the attention, and the other is that after a sharp drop off from those songs, popularity generally levels off and stays pretty consistent. In other words, even though it may be niche, in this day and age of streaming the majority of bands actually find their audience. I would say that's a system that's not only much more open to letting artists grow and develop their talent in whatever way they personally see fit, it's a system that clearly works to get it's product into the hands of the public whose actually looking for it.

Now more specific to metal, I'd also point out that a lot of those bands you're talking about only get to bigger labels after a combination of a great deal of buzz already existing deeper in the underground, to the point those labels are basically betting on a sure thing and the fact that more often then not they get poached from smaller labels, who were the ones who were actually willing to take a chance on them...and yes, some of them are both willing and now able to take advantage of access to better production, but I can't count the number of bands who have stupidly done this to the complete detriment of their sound. Hell, just compare some of Dark Tranquility's early albums with Osmose to their later Century Media releases and tell me which you think sound better.

Not sure how well I'll be able to keep up the pace for the next few months. Semester just started, and while it's (hopefully) my last one, it's looking like it's going to be a bruiser

...anyway, not sure if this got posted yet

Vicious Knights - Alteration Through Possession

Greek death/thrash...not the heaviest thing out there, but it zips along at a good pace

1 hour ago, markm said:

I'm not arguing for well oiled one man black metal machines, I'm really just saying there were systems in place, infrastructure if you will,  and a public who had an appetite for destruction that created a more fertile environment to grow and develop talent. These systems provided a kind of filter which no longer exists

...that's where I'm (respectfully) disagreeing with you though. You're right that there was a filter, but all that filter did was keep you unaware of what was going on behind the curtain.  All those white noise bands that you don't like sorting through now...they were always there. The only difference is that, back then you were presented only with whatever bands a label wanted to give you. These days, you have access to the whole pipeline. Those bands you liked back then, there's a good chance they were going to stand out whether that filter was in place or not.

Now I get how that original system probably seems appealing. After all, it is a lot less work to find bands. The problem is, that system is built completely on the idea of record labels being the taste makers for music. You're assuming that the cream rose to the top, got snatched up by labels, and you were only getting the best. I'm doubtful of that reality. If there's one thing you can count on in life besides death and taxes, it's that when there's money to be made, a corporation will beat a dead horse until there's nothing but dust and bones. Quality is secondary to riding trends, and we've seen time and time again, labels will snatch up any band that can hold an instrument to get as large a piece of the pie that they can.

Yes, it's a lot more work to find the bands you think are actually quality, and I get that's a pain in the ass, but at the same time I would say, having music available to you that isn't subject to someone else's whims is an overall gain

Seid - Svartr Sól

Pagan black metal...apparently they've released a few albums before this one, but this is the first I've tried. Liking it though

Wędrujący Wiatr - Zorzysta Staje Oćma

Think this is wandering into too long for it's own good territory, but overall, still a good release by this band

2 hours ago, markm said:

I  think about some of those bands that I came up with in the 80's that blew up like Twisted Sister or GnR's who cut their teeth playing in the L.A. or New York show circuits and came out of the box-or so they sounded-fully formed ready for prime time. Of course they were playing accessible hard rock and the public had an appetite for that kind of music but, by the time I and millions of my peers heard Stay Hungry (their 3rd album, I believe) my senior year in H.S. way back in '84, Sister had been performing since '76 or thereabouts. They were a pretty well oiled machine....vs a one man project who never plans to play live and doesn't have people around him helping him develop his craft so to speak....

That's an apples and oranges comparison between two bands trying to achieve two completely different aesthetics. I mean, what exactly should a well oiled one man bedroom project whose developed his craft sound like?

More to the point, even if they are bad at being a one man band, or their music sounds derivative of bands who did it better, how is that any different from the dozens and dozens of bands who attempted to ape someone like Twisted Sister or GnR and pulled it off poorly?

My argument isn't that shitty, do-it-yourself, one man bands don't exist, or that every band out there right now is putting out quality material. I'm saying, I think the argument your making about how much harder those old bands worked, and how much better prepared they were when they made it, is being filtered through a distorted set of rose colored glasses. When you look back it's far easier to see the successes because you never really had the opportunity to see the failures. These days, you have mostly equal access to both the best and the worst, so you're not truly making a fair one-to-one comparison of past and present

To put it another way, It's like comparing only the top players of the past, like Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, to not just the top players of today, but also every scrub double A player of today as well, and then saying...the players of the past were better

31 minutes ago, zackflag said:

No need for loaded questions my dude. Do you disagree that death metal is derivative and stagnant? Is your whole point that the only reason for one to feel that death metal is oversaturated is because they've heard too much of it? I think both things can be true at the same time.

Wasn't meant to be a loaded question, just emphasizing my point, that this is all in the eye of the beholder. As I said, I've gotten to the point myself where I don't get very excited about a lot of death metal releases. I find a great deal of it boring and repetitive, but yes...I absolutely think that feeling comes from overexposure to the genre. How could it not? If someone listens to death metal and they're still enjoying a large number of the releases (a sentiment I think a lot of us saw last year, with constant comments around the web expressing what a great year it was for death metal), then I don't think it's likely they feel the genre is over saturated, derivative or stagnant

18 minutes ago, zackflag said:

Sure, I fully admit to being burnt out on death metal. But that doesn't mean the genre isn't stagnant, oversaturated and for the most part, derivative.

 

...and you believe everyone who listens to death metal would say the same?

Admittedly, I recognize a good chunk of those, and liked the vast majority of them. There's a couple in there that didn't do too much for me, but I'm also happy to say there are a few names I don't recognize, which means I've got some bands to check out!

That's because at its core, it essentially is the same post

Now, I'm just throwing a crazy idea out there, but has it occurred to anyone that maybe this isn't a death metal issue? Maybe, just maybe, this is a (generalized) "you" issue?

Current death metal bands don't give the same "vibe" as the bands you heard from the 80's and 90's? Why is that surprising? Why would anyone expect to get that same feeling now, from bands you have no emotional connection with, that you got from the bands you heard when you were younger, and just discovering death metal for the very first time?

Why is anyone shocked that after immersing yourself into a genre for years, you start to find that it's blending together and nothing really stands out or excites you anymore?

That's burnout...that's what it means to BE burnt out on something...Familiarity breeds contempt, and it comes for us all eventually

...and I'm not even saying this as someone who's still in love with death metal. Honestly, I find very few death metal bands are grabbing my interest these days, and if I never heard another hm-2, Swedeath worship, buzzsaw band again, it would be too soon. All I'm saying is that it isn't death metal that changed, it's the person who's listening to it

That was here in the U.S....and half the time they didn't even know what they were damaging or why. I mean, they tried to destroy a Civil War statue meant to commemorate soldiers who were literally forced to fight for the Confederacy against their will, because any concept beyond "Confederacy bad...Mongo must smash" was too deep for them.

Honestly, I generally find most any discussion about "Nazis in metal" to be one of the more (re)dacted conversations to continually pop up these days. Look, buy a bands shit, don't buy a bands shit...I ain't your priest and I'm not here for your confession, but for me, on the grand list of shit I'm actually worried about in life, the idea that some black metal McNoodle-nuts, who wants to dress like a member of the Waffen-SS and jerk off to Ilsa the She-wolf porn, may end up getting enough money to buy 1/2 a kit-kat bar because I happened to like his music, probably falls somewhere around page 200.

Dagon messing with kids though, even via 3rd party pics, is absolutely vile. I don't think there's any real debate to be had about whether that has absolute, demonstrable consequences. Children's lives are completely destroyed to create those kinds of images, and I won't pretend that hasn't impacted my interest in Inquisition as a band...

...and finally, just let me add, that Metalsucks is the journalistic equivalent of the toe fungus you'd find on a week old corpse. If the earth were to open up and swallow those two chucklefucks whole, the collective IQ of the planet would rise by 15%

Eldritch - I Shall Raise My Burning Sword

20 minutes ago, zackflag said:

I definitely do still listen to stuff that I was listening to 2-5-10 even 20 years ago but I don't necessarily approach it in that way. Meaning I don't think to myself "what was I listening to in 2014?", but rather "what's a good album in my collection that I haven't spun in a while?". The year it came out is irrelevant.

I try to make a habit of revisiting stuff and not focusing on what's new. My listening habits are most often mood based, so it could be something from last year or 30 years ago

Fucking this...

I doubt I could tell you everything I have in my collection off the top of my head, or even that I return to all my music equally, but the two things Zack says right here are absolutely dead on. I do like to revisit stuff that I haven't listened to in a long time because a lot of time I did buy it with good reason, but I just haven't gotten back around to it in awhile. Part of having a large collection, even if a lot of it is digital, is that even if you really like an album you can't give everything equal attention. Even in the smallest collections, where it's only just your "must haves" some stuff is just going to naturally fall to the bottom of the pile...I think that's just how people are wired.

...and yes, much of that is entirely mood based. There's been plenty of times I've tried albums or bands, and I can tell almost instantly when the reason I'm not giving it a fair go is because I'm just not in the right headspace for their particular style. It's one of the reasons I like to keep a rough list of things I listen to throughout the year...because sometimes I reserve something future. I do that with the stuff I have as well..."I'm in the mood for some Norwegian style black metal...what do I have that I haven't listened to in awhile".

6 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

That's why I'm gathering my nuts and stocking up for the day when the goat metal filth renaissance inevitably comes to an end and I'll be forced to hibernate for the long winter. I look at my metal purchases like my metal IRA

You do realize that it's far more likely you'll be dead about a 100 times over before something like this possibly happens, right? We live in a world where, in the year of our Lord 2022, you can still find bands making music like disco, polka and...(dear god, why?)...Nu-metal. While the number of bands doing it may ebb and flow over time, the chances that you wake up one day and can only find metal bands who play progressive techdeath is pretty damn unlikely.