welkyn

Has anybody mentioned Power Games by Jaguar. Rowdy stuff for 1983.
1980 was the biggest year for metal that I can remember, at least in terms of quality.

To each their own. Diamondhead was amazing.

Greetings!
Hope you don't mind that this is my first post, hopefully not the last. I figured that I should share with you some of the latest releases coming from the depths of the Portuguese BM scene. I am not affiliated with any of the bands or labels,  just a Portuguese BM lover that feels these three masterpieces need to be shared and appreciated.
I bring you the latest releases from IRAE, Corpus Christii and Flagellum Dei - in no particular order, all are awesome.
Hope some of you enjoy these as much asa I do. Talent and hard work has paid off. These three 2017 releases are the living proof.
Cheers!

Cheers Natassja Got a new one out just yesterday, "Freedom We Claim" - here's the youtube link:
 

Welcome back and I really enjoyed those, cheers for posting  

I have explored death metal a great deal and added hundreds of death metal albums to my collection since hearing this one, but none of those others can Top this. It's just perfect.
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I would certainly agree. I think Slowly We Rot by Obituary started my interest in DM but Altars of Madness really sealed the deal.

I can give you a historical/ethnocultural description if you like, which at the very least accounts for significant trends that have arisen within metal over the past 50 years.

Heavy Metal is old school "warrior culture" bubbling up from underneath a plastic system of control.  Long story short, the guys 'n gals that used to protect folk from thugs are no longer allowed to do so (by law), and those thugs - the meanest of them, at least - have ended up crawling their ways into positions of power (difficult not to see this nowadays with all the leaks and scandals showing what a bunch of predatory crooks our politicians are).  In the absence of normal release mechanisms, we channel natural violence into heavy culture (and heavy drinking/consumption...)
The prevailing emphasis on altered states of consciousness (incl. drug consumption), the forms of ritual gathering (gigs, festivals and so on), the deification of cultural heroes, and even the tendency towards dark clothing, face paint, internal symbolism and shock/horror aspects are all traits of warrior cults.
The "corpse paint" of Norwegian Black Metal is even directly related to the war paint worn by north Alpine tribes in the centuries surrounding the ascension of the Roman Emperors - Immortal referred to it as "war paint" earlier on before capitulating to popular sentiment more often than not.  But the tradition is based on the same idea - the point is to look like a corpse, like an undead warrior, risen from the grave to bring death to the enemy.  It's ancient psychological warfare.
I shouldn't have to add that these ancient war cults would have involved predominantly young men, a brotherhood-based society, subversion of wider cultural norms, "heterodox" spiritualities and so on.  Literally, the heavy metal subculture is the old war cult reborn in the modern age.  We're not allowed to kill bad guys any more (most of them are government officials) so we keep ourselves going with culture and kinship.
A lot of metalheads train with weapons or in hand-to-hand combat, a lot of them are interested in ancient culture, mythology, and fantasy, we've got a lot of wargamers and computer gamers who like medieval or Tolkienish settings and so on - to me, it's pretty clear that it's war cult.  And that it should produce this loud, brazen, anti-stupidity, ultimately very real music (that's what "heaviness" is - the degree to which music reflects reality), makes complete sense in that context.
We have descriptions from Roman times of Germanic warriors yelling a barritus - that is, a deep guttural sound reflected off the back of shields to present a wall of heavy noise to the enemy.  That's fucking metal.

I really don't get into RiB aside from Angel Of Death and Raining Blood. From time to time Postmortem does it for me as well I suppose. For me South Of Heaven is the album RiB could and should have been (also the last good Slayer album). SNM, HtC, and HA are my favourite Slayer records by a long way. Those records are dripping with menace in a tangible way. It's a shame they moved away from that.

Man, I really wish they had stayed like this for a little while too. I guess I should just appreciate their progression of identity, but it would be great to have another record like this or "Hell Awaits".

I had that issue with lacking the tools to convert what I hear in my head to actual music for the longest time. I'm just now managing to start that process. Experimenting with blending some of the techniques (more specifically the way in which they're used) and feeling I've come across through learning BM, DM, and Doom. I've begun blending some of that Dissection and Death influence with My Dying Bride sort of feelings and whilst the process is proving painful I enjoy it.

Good points! I've had very similar thoughts. And, yeah, "Altars of Madness" feels very spiritual for me.

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of music and spirituality in that way. Certainly from my experiences with catholicism singing hymns and shit was a big part of that. I never connected with that sort of stuff and never will. For me music is about a connection. If you get that it's special and a song, album, band, transcends the phrase music to become something more.
 
Actually in truth funeral doom does something really weird to me. I find myself getting totally lost in it. Almost like a trance or meditative state. I can't describe it but fuck it's incredible.

I've definitely had similar experiences with all kinds of music, from Deicide to Burning Witch to Swans to Bach organ music to field recordings of folk singing. I won't call them "spiritual" experiences because I don't think we have "spirits", but that's not really the important thing here - regardless of what I call it, music has a lot of power over my mental state. I usually listen to more cerebral stuff, or listen in a more cerebral way; usually I'm not seeking out that state of ecstasy anymore. In metal, in particular, I find it to be a fleeting sensation, but I think that's what I like about the music I like the most: being carried from moment to moment, like walking up a mountain and coming to various vantage points, or walking down a long hallway and catching glimpses into different rooms. As much as I enjoy those moments that catch my attention, I like the mental workout of following some of the more technical music I listen to, which is a much more "in-the-moment" feeling. I suppose that, in writing my own music, I'm trying to learn how to orchestrate those different kinds of listening and create an experience that leads people through them. It may have even worked on occasion, in some of my best songs, but there's no magic recipe for me and I'm honestly somewhat at sea with my newest material. At sea in many ways at the moment, so I suppose it's just an honest expression of where my life is... and that's the heart of true art, right? Right?

I would be so happy if Slayer had stayed like this for 3-4 albums instead of going Reign in Blood so quickly...  They topped the speed and violence at that point and then felt they had to move on, but what I really like about HtC and Hell Awaits is that they have this brooding atmosphere - the whole thing is really dark, not necessarily bloody and violent and full speed all the way through.  I liked the themes of mystery and mythology, undead and magic, as well as serial killings and the like, feels like that kind of stuff fell out as Slayer became a bit "cool" after signing with whatever label it was (EMI?  Can't remember).  Anyway, HtC is seriously good, that and HA are my top 2 thrash.  Bordering on death metal, some of this stuff...

By far one of the best DM records ever...  The thing which sells it for me is how they keep a consistent tone and feeling throughout the whole thing, it's really a "composite piece" as I think people say.  Like classical music, everything ties together so nicely.  If you listen to the riffs, you notice this 1-4-3-4-2-4-3-4 motif coming up all the time (Chapel, Maze, Rites), I find it cements a certain atmosphere throughout the record..
There are other things they do this with as well, sometimes particular parts (or even kinds) of solos at specific points, bringing back certain drum or vocal rhythms later on, the whole thing feels like it's been built (or "grew") with one vision, one ideal in mind.
Probably the baseline for DM, as far as I'm concerned - if it's not up there with Altars of Madness, I don't have time to listen to it anymore...  Good review, man, reminded me why I love this record so much

One of the features of extreme metal composition is that it's often motif based beyond being "merely" riff based (though being riff based itself seems to lend a certain baroque/classical quality to it).  The same ideas are repeated through a song or an album with minor variations (melodic or structural) relative to what's happened earlier on in the song/album... That's what makes it feel more tied together than a lot of other rock music which can be just licks thrown together without an ear for consistency or development.  Classical is practically just motif development to a great degree, so that might be where a lot of the similarity lies.
Most of what people call "classical music" is through composed, whereas most metal is based on phrase repetition (like pop music).  However, you do get an awful lot of classical music (esp. Baroque and Classical eras) which features phrase repetition in melodic structure even if keys modulate through the piece.. Thinking very much of Bach, Mozart, and I guess some Beethoven here.  That's the stuff which usually reminds me of metal in terms of the structure of the music, if not the specifics of composition and intent.  Wagner is where a lot of the feeling and "gravitas" of metal can be found.
Metal is also clearly a folk form, though.  Most metal musicians for a long time learned riffs by ear, they weren't necessarily taught to play their instruments, they had a feel for the sound and went from there.  That's why early metal can have diverse riff styles and sounds but still have a sense of being tied together somehow... Thinking also of bands like Hellhammer and Bathory who did certain things that other musicians then picked up on later and worked on, esp. Darkthrone, Burzum etc.  The whole of death metal and black metal were based on musicians playing similar sounding things without having been "taught" any standard pieces (or any theory at all) - seems more like folk than classical at that point (I'm using "folk" in quite a loose sense, here).
I never found tabs or anything for songs I liked, I used to listen really hard to the music itself and work it out on a guitar.  That's one of the differences between "classical" music and world music (incl. folk and country), in my experience - while the former is taught in quite a structured way, the latter is more about picking it up and learning as you go.  Metal for me is healthily within the two bounds - there are aspects that clearly mimic classical structure and style, and there are aspects which are rooted in a folk tradition (namely "heavy metal," being its very own tradition!).
I could emphasise the origin in Blues, but I think that's overstated a lot... Black Sabbath really jumped out of that whole game in their first few albums, and as soon as NWOBHM hit the scene, metal was clearly its very own beast.
 
Edit: long story short, I think that structurally metal can come close to classical, historically it's a lot like its own kind of folk tradition, it's basically just its own thing as far as these two extremes go!

Wow, cool to see lots of people have similar experiences to me... I've been playing guitar for 13 years or so, been singing for 21 and played drums for like, 4-5 years?  Can't remember.  I'm ok at keyboards as well, and can play "bass" (i.e. play guitar on a bass...).  I have the same thing as a lot of people as far as writing music goes, I hear a lot of it in my head and then sit down later to try and work it out, a lot of the best stuff I've recorded has been stuff that took me weeks to learn to play!  The music in my head is way too hard for me to do, you'd need some kind of superband with 40 musicians to pull some of it off XD  But a lot of it is a lot simpler, a lot cooler, a lot easier for me to get down, and I really enjoy the process of finding out how to play what I can already hear.
As far as instruments themselves go, my weapon of choice is an Ibanez RG7, my wife's got some beautiful Ibanez bass as well (that I steal at every opportunity... hehehe).  GSR205B it says on the head, but I remember not being able to find it as an official Ibanez model so that's probably wrong.  Started off on a Dean guitar, then got myself a mock PRS, then I think it was Ibanez all the way through - something about their guitars just sounds good to me.
I'm playing through a Blackstar Heavy Metal pedal at the moment, the sound is something else... Was with Marshall for ages beforehand and got used to their distortion sound, but I felt it dropped a bit in quality when I upgraded my old amp for a new head... So I got this pedal, and it's the shit, man!  Range of tone from Sodom's earliest output to some of these US country style bands I used to hear on the TV all the time (Down etc.)  Really fun to play around with, managed to get good NWOBHM, DM, BM, Doom and Sludge tones out of it so far!  Bit of studio engineering to help with the EQ and effects but on its own it's a fucking amazing piece of kit!
And no, I'm not paid to advertise on their behalf, I just think it's really cool XD

Haha, big barrel of fish there... Yeah, metal used to be my spirituality, I guess.  I opened up with the spiritual stuff a few years ago after getting high and listening to Yes (which is DEFINITELY "spiritual music," if you can dig it...), and now I find that metal occupies a very particular area of that whole region.
I mean, if you think about it, spirituality and music have been tied together since they started... People originally would have sung out of joy, and joy is really at the core of spirituality.  Even nowadays many "spiritual" movements in (and outside of) religions have a big emphasis on singing and dancing as a means of celebrating life, God, whatever it is they talk about.  I kind of feel the same, I suppose - I like to celebrate things through music, and I find metal is definitely one of the most "celebratory" styles out there in that it's no-holds-barred, off the wall, totally ecstatic and primal shit.
Used to be hardcore anti-religion blah blah blah kind of thing, but that's its own kind of spirituality - usually it's an anti-form, anti-dogma thing, preferring to be "unspiritually spiritual."  With the right interpretation of what the word means, spirituality is what everything's about.  So at that point, yeah, music is definitely a vehicle for spirituality.  I've had a lot of what I've later realised were "spiritual experiences" just through listening to music.  Nightside Eclipse and Burzum, Altars of Madness, some parts of Maiden, Bathory, all of these have had profound effects on my state of consciousness at specific points in my life.  Music is powerful shit! 

Hail, all. Long time metal fan/musician from the UK. Heavily into late '70s, '80s, and early '90s metal, though there are a few more recent releases that have maintained my attention. Definitely prefer the heavier, more "metal" side of things - no stadium rock, no glam, no "nu", no 'core, no "hipster" (whatever that's meant to mean) - just straight up heavy metal, speed/thrash, black, death, some doom, and so on. Generally: if it's fast, has balls, and has more (and more intricate) riffs than your typical Motorhead song, I'll probably like it (I mean, I fucking love Motorhead, so...). Random selection of favourite albums: Maiden - Piece of Mind SLAYER - Show No Mercy through to Hell Awaits Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas MORBID ANGEL - Altars of Madness, Blessed are the Sick Deicide - Deicide, Legion Darkthrone - Soulside Journey through to Transilvanian Hunger Manilla Road - Crystal Logic Witchfinder General - Death Penalty Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, the one after that (I'm terrible with names) Blasphemy's first two BEHERIT (in general) Demoncy - Joined in Darkness, Enthroned is the Night Infester - To the Depths, in Degradation Mercyful Fate/King Diamond (almost everything) CELTIC FROST - Morbid Tales through to To Mega Therion Cirith Ungol - all but the last one (which is fine, just not as good) BATHORY - everything except for the weird "thrashy" '90s records Absu - Third Storm of Cythraul, Sun of Tiphareth, Tara Burzum - everything but the post-prison output Gorgoroth - Pentagram Hades (Almighty) - first two and the demo Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism through to Blizzard Beasts SUMMONING - everything Sabbat - History of a Time to Come Manowar - Into Glory Ride through to Hail to England Omen - Battle Cry Graveland - practically everything, though it's all the same after Fire Chariot (which isn't a bad thing) I'm sure I'm missing a hell of a lot (Attacker - Battle at Helm's Deep?), but that should give something of a sense of my taste. Aside from metal, I listen to a lot of old prog rock, folk/world music, electronica, "classic rock", and have recently started looking at psychedelic jazz for the mindfuckery. I play in a number of metal bands (drums, guitar, vocals, bass - you name it, I probably play it for someone), as well as a number of non-metal bands and solo projects. Other interests include ancient/traditional wisdom, nature, mythology, quantum physics, psychedelics ("shamanic" style), practical non-dualism, growing food, herbalism, writing, cooking, my wife and wider family, and the land beneath my feet. How are you all doing? Sorry for the long intro ; ) Makes me feel better for plugging my shit, which I will inevitably do, since there seems to be a good crowd here!

Few shots of the garden which requires far much more maintenance the once every 3 weeks the gardener comes to spend an hour on it, so is a little too overgrown for our liking.
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Now I finally know where I have to move to.
As I have no hipster or fancy pictures of my neighbourhood, I'll try to describe it a bit. I live in the third big city of the Netherlands, Den Haag. As you might expect from a big city, it's usually quite crowded around here. Luckily, I do live in a more quiet street, but when I walk 200 meters, I end up at one of the main ways to the beach. The beach is around 1 km walking for me, which is quite nice. In the evening it is the perfect place to refresh yourself a bit, by walking close to the sea. It's perhaps the only thing I like about this city, although we have dunes (which are bit further away for me) and a couple of small parks though, but you can't really escape 'the big city' at these places.
Sigh, only the thoughts already about living close to mountains, forests and lakes...

Haha, big barrel of fish there... Yeah, metal used to be my spirituality, I guess.  I opened up with the spiritual stuff a few years ago after getting high and listening to Yes (which is DEFINITELY "spiritual music," if you can dig it...), and now I find that metal occupies a very particular area of that whole region.
I mean, if you think about it, spirituality and music have been tied together since they started... People originally would have sung out of joy, and joy is really at the core of spirituality.  Even nowadays many "spiritual" movements in (and outside of) religions have a big emphasis on singing and dancing as a means of celebrating life, God, whatever it is they talk about.  I kind of feel the same, I suppose - I like to celebrate things through music, and I find metal is definitely one of the most "celebratory" styles out there in that it's no-holds-barred, off the wall, totally ecstatic and primal shit.
Used to be hardcore anti-religion blah blah blah kind of thing, but that's its own kind of spirituality - usually it's an anti-form, anti-dogma thing, preferring to be "unspiritually spiritual."  With the right interpretation of what the word means, spirituality is what everything's about.  So at that point, yeah, music is definitely a vehicle for spirituality.  I've had a lot of what I've later realised were "spiritual experiences" just through listening to music.  Nightside Eclipse and Burzum, Altars of Madness, some parts of Maiden, Bathory, all of these have had profound effects on my state of consciousness at specific points in my life.  Music is powerful shit! 

God damn, just got back from a weekend with my extended family and they're all mad punsters... Thought I'd escaped that shit XD
Cheers everyone!  Looking good around here, some really cool stuff people have been talking about

Welkyn back!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.