Necrolord

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. 
 

9 hours ago, JamesT said:

Great choice!  That album actually took a little while to grow on me.  I absolutely loved the debut - and it's still my favorite album from Evile - and was really looking forward to this one.  As a whole, the tempo of the songs on "Infected Nations" was notably slower and more mid-paced than a lot of the songs on the debut, and at the time, I wanted almost every song to be played at a million miles per hour.  These days, however, I appreciate it when thrash bands vary the tempos a bit.  I still prefer for the majority of the songs to be fast-paced, but more varied tempos are a pro for me now, rather than a con.  

I thoroughly enjoy "Infected Nations" now, as I do every Evile album.  Even the newest one, "The Unknown", is an enjoyable listen for me now, even though I wasn't crazy about it at first.  If I had to rank the 6 albums thus far, it would go like this:

6) Infected Nations

5) The Unknown

4) Five Serpents Teeth

3) Skull

2) Hell Unleashed

1) Enter the Grave

These guys are in my top 4 "new wave" thrash bands, along with Angelus Apatrida, Enforced, and Havok.

Curious to hear what your favorite Evile album is!

Infected Nations - first album I heard by Evile and still my favorite. One of the best thrash albums ever and my fav band of the new wave of thrash (followed by Havok, Warbringer and Vektor).

And since AlSymerz won't rank them, Here's my ranking:

Infected Nations

Hell Unleashed

Enter the Grave

Five Serpent's Teeth

Skull

The Unknown

NP: Megadeth - Killing is My Business...

1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

This was kind of my take on it too, when I went back to it recently. I loved it when it came out and saw them on that tour, they were fantastic live. I still like some of the spoken parts but I think it would hold up better with less theatrics and more songwriting. Check out Chimera if you haven't already.

Yeah it was my first time hearing it in ages and it just didn't hold up. Must have been awesome seeing them live back then though, playing the old stuff and seeing Hellhammer in action! Never listened to Chimera so I'll check that one next, since I really enjoyed Ordo Ad Chao.
 

Mayhem - Grand Declaration of War

A few good riffs and some impressive drumming but way too many spoken word parts & chants ("Declarations!!") which ruin the whole thing. More filler than actual music.

Deicide - Banished by Sin

2 or 3 good songs. One of them being the last song. Almost sounds more thrash than death but not in a good way. Death-thrash is my favorite subgenre when it's done well but this ain't it.

Everytime I try to listen to this I find myself not paying attention after a few minutes. Lots going on but nothing too original or hooky. And as was mentioned here, it's way too melodic. I don't like the kind of solos this guitarist is playing, but there's still some great riffs here and the production is great.

Still rocking some favorites from my Annihilator binge 

5 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

Well there's your mistake. You should put CD's into an audio device of some sort, they sound so much better.

Oh it was in an audio device, just not for very long...

Megadeth - Use the Man

I heard somebody fixed today, there was no last goodbyes to say
His will to live ran out, I heard somebody turned to dust
Looking back at what he left, a list of plans and photographs
Songs that never will be sung, these are the things he won’t get done, the things he won’t get done

I’ve seen the man use the needle (Seen the needle use the man)
I’ve seen them crawl from the cradle (To the gutter on their hands)
The fight a war but it’s fatal (It’s so hard to understand)
I’ve seen the man use the needle (Seen the needle use the man)

Just one shot to say goodbye
One last taste to mourn and cry, cry, cry
Scores and shoots, the lights go dim
Just one shot to do him in

He hangs his head and wonders why, why the monkey only lies, lies, lies
But pay the pauper, he did choose
He hung his head inside the noose
He hung his head inside the noose oh

I’ve seen the man use the needle (Seen the needle use that man)
I’ve seen them crawl from the cradle (To the coffin on their hands)
They fight a war but it’s fatal (It’s so hard to understand)
I’ve seen the man use the needle (Seen the needle in his hand)

Cryptic writing on the wall (The beginning of the end)
I’ve seen myself use the needle (Seen the needle in my hand)

I’ve seen the man use the needle (Seen the needle use that man)
I’ve seen them crawl from the cradle (To the coffin on their hands)
They fight a war but it’s fatal (It’s so hard to understand)
I’ve seen myself use the needle (Seen the needle in my hand)

In my hand
In my hand
In my hand!

16 hours ago, AlSymerz said:

High On fire - Surrounded By Thieves

 

Haha, I bought this CD blindly when it came out based on the cool artwork and band name.

Biggest waste of money ever. Couldn't believe how bad the music was. Granted I don't like any doom/stoner...

Still use the CD to this day as a coaster.

Was Playing (suggestions for albums similar to Dissection - The Somberlain)

Dawn - Slaughtersun
Unanimated - In Light of Darkness
Necrophobic - Hrimthursim (I gave up on this after the 3+ minute intro... could never get into this band even in the past when I gave them a chance)
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun
Sarcasm - Burial Dimensions
Thulcandra - Under a Frozen Sun
Vinterland - Welcome my Last Chapter

Call me a picky bastard but none of these albums did much for me even though a few were pretty good and similar to The Somberlain. The most similar were Sacramentum & Vinterland, and both albums are solid, esp the 1st half of Sacramentum which does a lot of interesting patterns esp with the drums. Sarcasm were very cool with the raw production and interesting guitarwork. 

I just didn't hear hardly any evil melodies in any of those albums. Not so say Dissection's melodies are all evil, cuz Somberlain has some wussy melodies too. But nothing in any of those bands, except maybe Unanimated, ever gave me that menacing dark sound I'm after. Instead they were all the kind of melodies that evoke feelings of sadness, epicness, grandness, or deep thoughtfulness, and I'm not a fan of that style. What's the point of black metal if it's not evil sounding?

Also I know it's hard going up against Dan Swano but the production on The Somberlain sounds way more dynamic and punchier to my ears than any of those albums.
 

On 4/26/2024 at 3:47 PM, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Mayhem have had such an interesting career. I'm one of those nutcases who will actually defend A Grand Declaration of War onward era Mayhem. This album in particular seems to love making use of rests and what I would call very loud silences in the guitar work. It tends to push Attila's rangy growls a little further to the front, but in return we get erratic quick lashing riffs that actually finds me listening to the rests as intently as the notes themselves. You don't get into the listener's head like that without long years of experience and high confidence in your songwriting.

NP: Mayhem - Ordo Ad Chao

I checked this out after seeing @FatherAlabaster's post. Still enjoying it thoroughly after 3 or 4 listens. Very dark. Lots of evil-sounding riffs that come out of nowhere and you never hear them again. "Erratic quick lashing riffs" is a great description. Unusual song arrangements featuring strange instruments / sound effects. Lots of slow hypnotic sections. Just a nice overall dark vibe and very different from what I was expecting. It was exactly what I needed after not finding anything evil on those Somberlain suggestions. Will be spinning this one more!

P.S.  I also enjoyed Grand Declaration of War when it first came out. It was different and stood out compared to what was happening in the scene at the time. Hellhammer's drumming was insane on it. Might need to revisit it soon.

On 4/27/2024 at 8:23 PM, AlSymerz said:

Iced Earth - Something Wicked This Way Comes

 

Good album when it's heavy but too many slow songs. 

It does have one of the best guitar tones I've ever heard for shredding. Doesn't get much better than this:

2 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Sorry...know you said you were good for now, but this one absolutely deserves attention

Vinterland - Welcome my Last Chapter

Thanks, I'll give it a spin along with the others. 

And thanks @navybsn for the recs. I'll add those to the list. I'm sure there will be some more awesome stuff to find in addition to that Unanimated album I'm currently enjoying. 

9 hours ago, Arioch said:

Exodus - Tempo of the Damned (2004)

 

One of their best albums. Sealed With a Fist is such a banger.

11 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Storm of the Light's Bane, 1995

Dawn - Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy) Sweden 1998

Dawn - Nær Sólen Gar Niþer for Evogher, 1994

Unanimated - In Light of Darkness, Sweden 2009

Necrophobic - Hrimthursum, Sweden 2006

 

Thanks @GoatmasterGeneral. I'm really digging Unanimated - In Light of Darkness. Missing some of the speed of Somberlain but it has those evil riffs I love.

Light's Bane is one of my all time fav albums.

Still gotta check the Necrophobic album.

2 hours ago, SurgicalBrute said:

Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun

Sarcasm - Burial Dimensions

EDIT: Forgot an obvious one

Thulcandra - Under a Frozen Sun

 

Thanks @SurgicalBrute. I'll check all these out. It will take several days but I'm well stocked for now. Got a craving for that Dissection sound.

Dissection - The Somberlain

Anyone know any albums that sound a lot like it?

Been on an Annihilator binge the last couple weeks. Not that I've had much time to listen to music. Only heard their 1st two albums in full before now. 

Tight, fast and catchy riffing. That's what makes the band. They can be cheesy at times but when the musicianship is this good, I'll allow it....

Started off with Refresh the Demon on which songs 1-3, and 5 are killer. Went over to King of the Kill where I only enjoyed "21" and "Second to None" (except the mellow middle part). Checked out their S/T (2010) and it's overall pretty solid. And finally currently listening to Metal which is also pretty good after one listen. 

And speaking of riffs, also been revisiting random tracks off this old favorite of mine:

17 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

I never got into Soulfly. I did buy their first album years after it first came out when I found it in the throw out bin for $2 but I don't even remember listening to it. It's like Max's recent band Go Ahead And Die, I just don't find much interesting there. But I can get along with Cav Con every now aand again for some reason.

NP: Terravore - Spiral Of Downfall

 

Soulfly has some great moments of pure groove here and there. But you run into maybe 1 good track every 5 songs. Never been big on them.

NP: Annihilator - Refresh the Demon

On 3/26/2024 at 7:33 PM, AlSymerz said:

Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted

I played this out of curiosity when you mentioned it and and it's alright. Like a more stripped down, meat and potatoes Soulfly. Must Kill - best song. 

NP: MC @GoatmasterGeneral's Black Metal Mixtape Vol.666 (TM)

I've been listening to some of Goatmaster's black metal recommendations from a few pages ago. It was fun to explore something different from my usual thrash & death. As I expected most of it wasn't my cup of tea. I just find most black metal boring. I like speed, good production with an evil sound. Too many bands play simple or slow riffs and go for an epic sound instead...

Didn't get a chance to check everything but the bands I enjoyed were Armagedda, Deus Mortem, and especially Murg.

Murg - Varg & Bjorn. This one I really liked. A lot of memorable, fast-paced melodies and interesting guitar layers. The raw production suits the guitarwork and adds depth to everything. Seems like you're always hearing a cool melody beneath everything. Riffs often wrap up with unusual / undecipherable chord combinations that create a timeless sounding atmosphere. Here's one of the slower tracks but those guitar layers starting at 30 seconds in teleported me to a different place and time. Pure magic.

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

The ministry of jovial skeletons would not hear ye speak ill of Beherit, good sir.

My bad @Nasty_Cabbage, I was thinking of Bethlehem when I wrote that, not Beherit! Bethlehem is dog shit. Tabernacle is a funny word. 

3 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Obviously we have very different things we're looking for from our black metal. The stripped down simplicity of the songs and the dirty production and the overall rawness and what you see as the primitive amateurish quality of his performances (Vargsang is just one dude) are all huge positives for me. That's exactly what I'm looking for, and that particular album was my ultimate black metal discovery. His previous 3 albums as well as the Graven stuff that came before that are all great too, but that one's my favorite of all of them. Because in my mind that's what black metal is supposed to sound like, that's the goal. But I totally get that most people aren't looking for that kind of thing and would probably review it in much the same way as you just have. It's his final album too, a decade old now. I assume because he knew he'd finally achieved black metal perfection and he knew he'd never be able to top that one, so he just hung it up, went out on a high note. Always leave 'em wanting more.

So you see that's why I talk about the mainstream, because mainstream black metal bands generally don't have those rough around the edges qualities and filthy production I'm looking for. Because if they did, the mainstream would just ignore them, and then they wouldn't be mainstream now would they. There does seem to be a large portion of the modern black metal consuming public who look unfavorably upon and tend to eschew that retro/necro lo-fi production that I adore so much. So being mainstream or popular in itself isn't the problem, but it does end up being a pretty good litmus test for what a band will sound like. If I know a band's name is well known and they're on a major label then I often find they'll be more polished and professional sounding which to me neuters the sound, cuts it's balls off. And of course as dudes we know that can never be a good thing. Mainstream bands just tend to sound a certain way, and that's just not what I'm looking for, when it comes to my black metal anyway. In other genres it can sometimes be forgiven, but I very much prefer the DIY approach to black metal album craft. Not everything I love has that raw necro sound though, lots of those albums I posted last night sound much more professional. And not everything necro sounding is gonna be good either, a great deal of it's garbage. Let me tell you, it's not easy finding the hidden gems in the rubbish pile. 

Oh and as far as the pointless intro is concerned, yeah man that stupid pointless intro has become so prevalent that almost all black metal bands seem to be doing it now. I generally just skip ahead. Back in the day bands might throw on a 30 second intro that you'd suffer through, but then somewhere along the line those turned into minute long intros and now you'll often see 2 or 3 minute long pointless intros and occasionally even longer than that. Drives me fucking nuts, especially on EP's and shorter 25 minute albums, but it's become so prevalent that I can't just boycott all albums with intros. So I've taken to just skipping ahead. I'll often click on a bm album I've never even heard before and just slide the thing up 60 or 90 seconds to skip the pointless intro that I assume will be there. If I hear music then I'll slide it back to find where the music starts. If I hear nonsense then I'll just keep sliding ahead til I land on music. 

Anyway thanks for playing along Necrolord, cool that you got back to me so fast. All those two dozen albums I posted aren't one man DIY necro lo-fi affairs like Vargsang, so I hope you'll decide to try some more of them on for size. Maybe we'll even find an album or two that we can both agree on. I love when we get black metal people wander in here and I get a chance to talk some bm with them.

 

Totally fair man. I appreciate your explanation of what you find appealling in it. Rough around the edges can sound great when a band is tight with good execution. Lack of fancy mixing allows a band's natural dynamics to shine through, similar to a live setting. 

But generally 'filty production' to me is usually just extra static and mud in the mix. When a guy is playing a cool riff I'd rather hear it clearly and powerfully and have the growly guitar tone chew my ear off. I wanna hear every note played as opposed to having to try and figure out what's going on. To me, whether a band has balls or not has more to do with the riffs and songs they play (composition) and less with production. But I can see how raw production gives a band that rough/unpolished vibe.

 
I'm glad we agree on the pointless intros. Thanks for sharing those albums. Not enough time to listen to everything fully so I'm gonna try each one for the first 5 minutes and we'll see how many pass the 5-minute test! I hope I find something I enjoy thoroughly.

9 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I have nothing against Dimmu personally, (or any other symphonic bands for that matter) it's just that the symphonic elements simply don't work for me, they repulse me basically, and I don't personally see how it's possible to separate them from the underlying music. But I mean I can't listen to Emperor either for the same reasons, the symphonic elements contaminate it for me and render it unlistenable. And I believe that most of the 'troo crowd' generally respects and admires Emperor.

I think the problem for me personally as far as black metal is concerned is that since I've gone down the trve/kvlt rabbit hole these last 12 -15 years, I've become so accustomed to listening to the more raw less commercial stuff, that I can't just go back to jamming the normie stuff, because it just tastes far too sweet to me now. It's like someone who gets used to drinking their coffee black for a decade will spit it out or at least make a face if you put two sugars in their cup, and Dimmu puts like 12 sugars in theirs. Undrinkable.

But I mean getting back to Watain, if you really like Watain then go for it man, that's your business. I don't have a problem with them specifically, they're not a band I even have occasion to think about very often. So it doesn't matter to me one way or the other if you dig them or not. I listened to a bit of the one you posted earlier and it didn't sound that bad at all as compared to the two albums immediately preceding it. But it wasn't anything special either, I found nothing compelling or noteworthy about any of those riffs or songs. I really can't see them blowing anybody out of the water, it was all one big "meh." But like I've said, I just have waaay too much other black metal in my life that I really fucking love to waste time on stuff that the best thing I can say about it is it wasn't terrible. Not to mention all the other sub-genres I enjoy listening to both in and out of metal. Too much music, too little time.

Just know that I'm not trying to piss in your (or anyone's) cornflakes. I don't care what you or anyone else listens to. Everyone here on this board has some pretty widely varied tastes, no two of us seem to like or dislike all or even most of the same shit. So it's really like an anything goes kind of metal board, which is I think is pretty cool. I don't have to approve of everything that gets posted around here and I don't expect everyone else to agree with me about the objective superiority of all the raw lo-fi filth that I post. To each his own. But you opened the door for criticism when you made that post the other day critiquing some of our NP's you'd checked out recently. And that's fine man, that's what we're here for, music discussion. By all means, speak your piece. But obviously it works both ways, what's good for the goose....

But I guess it's kinda like when I see a black metal n00b floundering in the deep black metal waters, and they're clearly a bit farther out than they're comfortable with, and they're not sure which way to turn to get back to shore, I can't help but want to throw some good recos at them as a lifeline to help them find their way back onto solid ground. But you can grab onto that lifeline or not, it's always your choice. Maybe my taste in black metal is of no interest to you whatsoever and you'd prefer to take your chances back out in the shark infested mainstream Watain waters. And that'd be perfectly fine my friend, I sincerely hope you find enjoyment in whatever it is you choose to listen to. I did try to pick a few albums that I thought would be reasonably accessible in that other post. I totally get that the real raw lo-fi shit is an acquired taste that most people will never have any desire to acquire. But that stuff I posted should be sufficiently melodic and accessible enough to appeal to those relatively new to black metal. Or the other alternative is maybe I've just been down that kvlt rabbit hole too deep for too long now, and I'll never be able to come back up for air and hang out with the normies without depressurizing first.

I'm very interested now to hear your thoughts on that proper black metal once you've had a chance to digest some of it. Just don't be too hard on the old goat man, remember, I'm the one who turned you onto the awesome Italian band Fulci.

I'll try not to go too hard on you man and thanks for that wicked Fulci album. Now those riffs I was humming for days. I don't hold any personal grudge on anything here. It's just a silly forum. 

Fascinating that you seem to care about which band is 'mainstream' or not and somehow this affects your judgment of their music? I don't care one bit about anything other than the pure music. I don't get distracted by the other stuff. It's odd that you even mention that. You should ignore everything except for the music. 

We probably have huge tastes difference re bm. I've been listening to all kinds of bm for over a decade. Everythng from Abigor to Zyklon, limbonic art, summoning, everything in between, even crap like Beherit etc etc..... I've delved into the deep end, don't worry... 

Anyway

I've only had time to check 1 "proper" bm album you recommended.

Vargsang- in the Midst of Night 

VS

Watain- Trident Wolf Eclipse

HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPETITION 

Vargsang: 1st 2 minutes is a waste of time pointless synth intro. Bad 1st impression. A band should do something cool to bring you in at the beginning to make you interested. Not bore you right from the get go. 

Umm, where are the drums? This is some weaksauce drum production. Also the guitar riffs here are nowhere near the level of Watain. The way this guy picks sounds like he first picked up a guitar less than a year ago. 

The production is bad... I have a soft spot for crappy production. But at the end of the day. When something sounds better it just sounds better. Bad/muddy does not sound better. Unless you enjoy crap.

Every song starts very slow. Where's the energy? Is this black metal elevator music? 8 minutes in i was falling asleep already, then some even slower spoken word part comes in, with a simple friendly benign lead work. Come on... this is kinda shitty. Even Dimmu destroys this sadly executed raw bm.

3rd song has some speed and more interesting riffs. Still nothing really original, but better. 4th song just steady, boring but has a cool part near the end.

Overall songs are too simple for me in terms of arrangements. Too many basic riffs repeating too many times. Watain just does a lot more interesting stuff with overall arrangements and sounds 10x better in terms of songwriting, production, and interesting sections.

1:30 into the album Watain already played more cool riffs than the 1st 20 minutes of this album.

Watain's album absolutely mops the floor with this.

32 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Watain hasn't done anything worth listening to since Sworn to the Dark in 2007. And even that was nothing special, and had worked its way out of the rotation by 2010 when I really started diving into the sub-genre and finding a ton of much better black metal. There are far worse bands than Watain to be sure, but with so many hundreds of truly superb raw black metal albums to be discovered, I just don't need to waste any time on this kind of mediocrity. But hey, whatever floats your boat man.

Dimmu though I can't even listen to a single note of it with a straight face. I can't help but to crack up laughing. It's like black metal being presented as a Broadway musical, or maybe as a cartoon for little kids. 

 

Vargsang - In the Mist of Night, Germany 2014. Now this is a proper fucking black metal album, I'll be humming these riffs for days. Guess I have my playlist for tonight all worked out.

Odd, cuz that Watain album blows most black metal albums shared here out of the water. (Well, only the albums shared here which I've checked out which isn't that many...)

I will give your 'proper' bm albums a listen. There will be a head-to-head comparison vs Watain. It might take a few days. This shit BETTER be good! 

Dimmu has some good stuff, regardless of the ridicule they get from the troo crowd, who are usually total sheep / scared to like anything outside a certain limit. (Not implying you are one). At the same time I can understand if Dimmu isn't someone's taste at all, there's a lot about them I don't even like.

On 12/6/2023 at 1:43 PM, Orchidphile666 said:

I've been looking for stuff that's like Orchid for a long while because I just really, really hate the rest of Opeth's catalogue.

I really like Orchid too and not a huge fan of Opeth in general. 

I don't have any recommendations for you but find it interesting that their 1st album stands out so much to yourself and a lot of others vs the rest of their discography.

A band's first album is usually one that they had "a lifetime to write". So it's probably stuff they wrote when they were young over many years. It's no wonder their sound changed and never went back to the old mentality. They couldn't write another Orchid if they tried.

I don't remember much of Morningrise but to me that's probably the closest thing out there to Orchid.

4 hours ago, Arioch said:

I lost interest in the band when the symphonic part took over from everything else. I often listen to Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, but much less to the other albums I own.

I hate the symphonic side of Dimmu (and black metal in general). But there's still tons of great riffs and atmospheres to be found on their later albums. Tracks like Maelstrom Mephisto, Cataclysm Children, The Foreshadowing Furnace just a few I can think of. The non-synth stuff on their later album beats any of their old stuff from SBD or before.

This chick I met was listening to this the other day and it caught my ear. I asked what it was. Turns out it was Watain and I've never listened to them before. Aside from a few filler tracks I thought it was one of the best black metal albums I've heard in a long time (I don't listen to a lot of bm usually). 

NP:

Fulci - Tropical Sun. Still loving this. Just a blasting album. The only thing I dislike is the occasional "whee-whee-whee" vocal thing. Otherwise solid af.

Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless. I admit, this one is growing on me. Gets better and better with more listens.

Also enjoying the 2 new Deicide songs. Looking forward to their new one!

NP: Random shit from this thread. I need new metal so I've been checking your NP's

Let's see, listened to Father Befouled - Crowned in .... I like the dark sound. Pretty heavy shit. Some interesting atonal stuff going on, a few times guitar sounds totally out of tune and it sounds sick. But overall the riffs are too basic, slow & predictable patterns. Too many slow doomy parts. Quality dm should have more going on. 

Sacred crucifix- Aeon... boring. Hard to sit through. Definition of generic riffs. This is like a heavier Vektor but with none of the musicianship or creative ideas. Occasional chuggy section comes around bit it's not enough to make it interesting. 

Incendium - opens with the douchiest melody I ever heard. But then a really sick fast riff comes in. Hopes raised. Kept listening for another 5 minutes. Hopes dashed. Nothing even remotely good came after that one riff. I hated this. 

Algol - Mictlan. This is the worst thing I ever heard being passed off as ""black metal"". I mean, I've heard stuff that isnt bm at all but at least those bands call it "post bm" or something. This was the most lame, ball-less, boring music I ever heard. Like some kind of basic 70's rock before drums were invented. Is this what bm has become?? This is considered bm today?? I guess anything can be bm nowadays. I'm gonna have to stop listening to new "black metal" bands entirely... Thanks Michtlan.....

Fulci- Tropical sun. Fuck yeah. This is what I'm talking about. Pure slabs of pounding heaviness, every instrument crunchy and audible. Everything clicks. Good amount of variation to keep things interesting too. Well written songs. Reminds me a bit of Natrium (also from Italy), but less technical.  

Skeletal Remains - Fragments. Hmm.. all the ingredients seem to be there but it's not clicking for me. I like fast but this is almost too fast and random. Maybe it takes time. It's got some good sections.

Seidhr- Wrath.... high pitched screams are so lame... anyway. Aside from that, this kicks ass! Great shreddy blackened guitars. Tons of energy and adrenaline, frantic at times. Solid short songs that just stab you. Cool vocals reminiscent of old Kreator or Sepultura. Wouldn't mind a few groovy parts or a different guitar tone once in a while for variery but nonetheless, a killer album.
 

11 hours ago, Arioch said:

Edge of Sanity - Crimson (1996)

Just 1 track for 40 minutes of sublime music drawing on a variety of styles, including black, death and doom. Unbeatable!

 

Such a cool album and concept. The word gets overused nowadays but Crimson is totally epic. I'm thinking of this one great melodic riff from it right now, just not sure I wanna listen through 40 minutes in order to find it haha. Gotta revisit the whole thing soon. 

Been cranking to this concert in small chunks here and there. Good recording for a live show. Ripper does a wicked job. Tracks like 'Metal Gods' and 'Grinder' actually sound heavy live, unlike the album versions. 

'You can't compete with nostalgia' - Ihsahn