MacabreEternal

Yey natassja's back! We can post black metal albums in this thread and exchange church burning stories with Parker! Seriously, welcome back. NP: Gorguts "Pleiades Dust", followed by "Obscura" because writing the review for "Pleiades' Dust" had me longing for a bit of "Obscura".

We need a "Morning After.." thread.

If you sit back and take stock of Gorguts' near quarter of a century's worth of releases you won't find one that comes anywhere near to trumping "Pleiades' Dust". That's a very bold statement given the quality that is littered throughout their discography, including such gems as "Obscura" and "Colored Sands". The fact is however that "Pleiades' Dust" is the best thing Gorguts have ever done. It isn't flawless either, but when you hear of bass and drums being dropped in one take you have to take a step back from pointing out human foibles and simply admire the effort and gumption to try that in the first place. You see, the process that Gorguts utilise in putting this track together is brilliant, probably best described by another review I read whereby they compared Lemay to Martin Scorsese. He just puts his format in place, his story, his script - call it whatever you want - and lets the rest of Gorguts do whatever they fucking well like! Naturally this only works with accomplished musicians, which luckily Gorguts have spilling out everywhere. The barrage of bass-heavy, spiralling, rarefied, abstract and arcane death metal that Gorguts create on "Pleiades' Dust" just happens to be the most well composed piece of music you'll hear this year. Marstons' bass work is as formidable as you'd expect, you only lose track of it when it isn't there during one of the many atmospheric interludes/intro/outros. I read a comment on one of the sites streaming "Pleiades' Dust" from a disgruntled fan who "fell out" with the band when "Obscura" came out and as far as they were concerned the latest offering was more of that "dropped bass shit". I am sure Luc if he had read that would be full of apologies for taking the band off in a challenging and enigmatic direction and leaving the poor fan in question crying over his Unleashed albums. The fact is that the instrumentation on display here is sheer artistry, it isn't mean't to resemble much of anything else out there. That's the point of music to me, after over 25 years of listening to metal I have heard my fair share of the same old same old. At my age I want to be knocked on my arse by music not wrapped in a warm blanket and left feeling cosy and safe. Take the drums for example, you won't hear a more proficient yet subtle performance anywhere. Hamelin is restrained yet firm, has presence but is never smothering, he lets the other instruments breath whilst supporting them superbly. Whether it is the tribal thuds or atmospheric "tishes" when required, Patrice does the job everytime. Hufnagel's guitar work deserves your attention, it thoroughly earns your time as you invest it in following his lead work as it winds a serpentine path through each movement. Texturally a perfect accompaniment to Lemay's work it should be noted also. At the heart of it all "Pleiades' Dust" still remains a death metal record and that in itself is cause for applause because Gorguts take the map they laid down on "Colored Sands" and build on the avant-garde and downright weird sections throughout "Pleiades' Dust". They are a band rooted firmly in the ground of death metal yet some two decades on are now producing some of the most challenging and cabbalistic music in existence today. I could go on for paragraphs more yet about this and still never do the EP real justice because only your ears can do that. It is without doubt the best release of the year so far and is one of the most astonishing pieces of music written in a long time.

Just out of morbid curiosity who are We Came As Romans? Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

One IPA and a bottle of red wine later!

St Peter's India Pale Ale. Cvlt bottle! Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I will be making my weekly appearance later. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Dark Angel "Darkness Descends" Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Ah, for shame. A picture of that strapping, charismatic gent you've used as a photo double will be quite sufficient, I suppose. Yeah, he doesn't look like that anymore! Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

New Behexen is up for pre-order although I haven't listened to them in what seems like ages.

Grand Magus "Iron Will"

I have no reflection so actual physical evidence of my entity is a futile gesture in trying to record.

Listening through headphones I get that more ritualistic BM vocal style most certainly and if I take "Full Moon Dawn" the changes between the two styles is very apparent. Talented chaps.

I am naked in bed. It isn't metal I know but I have been on a killing spree tonight and I had to burn my clothes!

Grave Miasma 'Endless Pilgrimage"

There's a life to Dystopia that hasn't been prevalent for years with Megadeth. There are some decent lead exchanges and a surprising lack of filler. The energy is the main improvement I notice though, it could be the new blood just making good influence and re-energising Dave and Dave. Last Megadeth album I enjoyed was "Endgame" and this trumps that hands down.

I randomly picked up "Hammer of the North" recently and have been fucking hammering that shit everyday at least twice. Great trad metal sound, memorable and catchy with appropriate use of melody. I even found myself sat singing along with it on my headphones this morning on the train. For the first few times I tried Grand Magus I couldn't get past the vocals but they really clicked this time around. The album itself could prob do with a trim but the standout tracks really carry it well on the whole.

Yo!

I second the warm welcome and the majority of the recs too. Hope you enjoy your time here.

Graveland "Wotan Mit Mir" Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Perturbator "The Uncanny Valley" Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

On my other internet haunt someone is referring to this as "blackened death metal"??? Am I missin something?

I thought there was only one series? Off in search I go of series 2. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

An unexpected afternoon at the hotel working saw me get through the following: Deep Purple "Fireball" Cynic "Kindly Bent To Free Us" Grand Magus "Hammer of the North" Drudkh "Slavonic Chronicles" Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Is that the stuff that never stops foaming? Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk