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Top 3 albums/eps of the week.


MacabreEternal

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Mystifier "Göetia" - now here's an interesting record.  Black metal at it's core but strays so far into the realm of death metal and at times into the realms of doom you could be forgiven for getting a little lost.  Primitive in some aspects and accomplished in others yet interesting throughout.  Nice work.

Rotting Christ "Triarchy of the Lost Lovers" -  so far my favourite Rotting Christ record.  Full of romanticism and melody yet still BM at its (blackened?) heart this is real milestone for me in the RC discography.  It is a cleaner sound too which along with the simplicity of proceedings enhances the experience certainly.

Krieg "The Black House" - there's a ton of metal that is probably common rotation to most metal fans that I have never even heard; Krieg being one such band until this week.  "The Black House" is (as Imperial's sleeve notes suggest) a nightmare made audible.  Bleak, harrowing and challenging and impossible to fathom at times.  Seems I found a great place to start with Krieg.

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1 hour ago, MacabreEternal said:

Rotting Christ "Triarchy of the Lost Lovers" -  so far my favourite Rotting Christ record.  Full of romanticism and melody yet still BM at its (blackened?) heart this is real milestone for me in the RC discography.  It is a cleaner sound too which along with the simplicity of proceedings enhances the experience certainly.

 

Hell yeah. Glad you're enjoying it. I can see the appeal of some of their later stuff but this one will forever be their pinnacle in my mind. Have you listened to Non Serviam yet?

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According to my weekly last.fm charts:

Deathspell Omega - Paracletus: Perhaps my favorite of their trilogy. It features mainly songs of medium/short duration and it's definetely the most accessible, maybe after Drought. Regardless, it brings a great variety of memorable riffs and tempo changes. 

Deathspell Omega - The Synarchy of Molten Bones: their latest album isn't inferior by any means, but it's much shorter and definetely not as memorable as the infamous trilogy. Still excellent though, and the lyrical shift to mythology was really on point.

Immolation - Close to a World Below: self-explanatory. One of the best death metal albums of this century, and ever. The atmosphere is downright hellish, tons of well-executed, almost mesmerizing riffs. 

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Mystifier "Göetia" - now here's an interesting record.  Black metal at it's core but strays so far into the realm of death metal and at times into the realms of doom you could be forgiven for getting a little lost.  Primitive in some aspects and accomplished in others yet interesting throughout.  Nice work.
Rotting Christ "Triarchy of the Lost Lovers" -  so far my favourite Rotting Christ record.  Full of romanticism and melody yet still BM at its (blackened?) heart this is real milestone for me in the RC discography.  It is a cleaner sound too which along with the simplicity of proceedings enhances the experience certainly.
Krieg "The Black House" - there's a ton of metal that is probably common rotation to most metal fans that I have never even heard; Krieg being one such band until this week.  "The Black House" is (as Imperial's sleeve notes suggest) a nightmare made audible.  Bleak, harrowing and challenging and impossible to fathom at times.  Seems I found a great place to start with Krieg.
Göetia rules, a top 10 black metal album for me. I've never been able to get into Krieg though.

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1 hour ago, BlutAusNerd said:

They certainly are. Finished With the Dogs is about as good as German thrash gets, yet they're never mentioned in the same breath as Kreator or Sodom for some reason.

 

I'd honestly put Finished With the Dogs or The New Machine of Liechtenstein above the likes of albums like Agent Orange or Extreme Aggression. 

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I'd honestly put Finished With the Dogs or The New Machine of Liechtenstein above the likes of albums like Agent Orange or Extreme Aggression. 
That's what I'm saying. Not to take anything away from Kreator, Sodom, or Destruction, but nothing they did can top Finished With the Dogs IMO. It's on another scope of intensity altogether, and is insanely precise for how fast and destructive it is. It's weird to think the same band recorded Queen of Siam just a couple of years prior.

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23 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

That's what I'm saying. Not to take anything away from Kreator, Sodom, or Destruction, but nothing they did can top Finished With the Dogs IMO.

I'm afraid I'll have to disagree regarding Destruction. They were easily among the most sophisticated bands in the Teutonic scene. Each studio release they made in the '80s always changed something about their sound and they'd always support that change with intelligent riff construction and songwriting. Their oeuvre from the '80s is top-tier thrash of both the speed-laden and technical varieties. 

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I'm afraid I'll have to disagree regarding Destruction. They were easily among the most sophisticated bands in the Teutonic scene. Each studio release they made in the '80s always changed something about their sound and they'd always support that change with intelligent riff construction and songwriting. Their oeuvre from the '80s is top-tier thrash of both the speed-laden and technical varieties. 
You'll get no argument from me that they're easily the best of the 3 big names listed above, but Finished With the Dogs can take on any of their albums on a per-album basis. Destruction is no doubt a stronger band overall and released more excellent albums, but everything about Finished With the Dogs amounts the best German thrash album ever for me pound for pound.

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57 minutes ago, True Belief said:

 


Testament- The Ritual? Where’d that inspiration come from? I loved its more melodic approach when it came out although hardcore Testament fans seemed to dislike it.

 

I first bought it on cassette in New Jersey back in 1995 and I loved it then.

I bought the cd last year for nostalgia and have really been enjoying it on a new level. I think it beats The Black Album for best commercial thrash album. It’s a lot of fun.

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I first bought it on cassette in New Jersey back in 1995 and I loved it then.
I bought the cd last year for nostalgia and have really been enjoying it on a new level. I think it beats The Black Album for best commercial thrash album. It’s a lot of fun.
Electric Crown is kind of catchy, but the rest is completely forgettable. Not as bad as The Black Album, but nothing I can say that I enjoy either.

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4 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Electric Crown is kind of catchy, but the rest is completely forgettable. Not as bad as The Black Album, but nothing I can say that I enjoy either.

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Heaps of memorable songs if you’re 15 in 1995. Return to Serenity is a cracking track. 

The whole album is an appeal to early 90s taste.  It’s not brilliant, but it’s fun. I leave it at that. 

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Heaps of memorable songs if you’re 15 in 1995. Return to Serenity is a cracking track. 
The whole album is an appeal to early 90s taste.  It’s not brilliant, but it’s fun. I leave it at that. 
I don't think I was much older than that when I bought it, I think I was 18 when I got into Testament and rapidly acquired all of their albums. They haven't aged well for me, but that was one I could never get into. I've kept it on the shelf and try again once in a while, but I have a feeling that my Testament collection will be thinning out the next time I play their albums.

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Top three albums I've been listening to this week?  

1. Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come

2. Gojira - From Mars To Sirius

3. Iron Maiden - Killers

I have quite a bit to drive (1 hour + ... depending on weather) to work, so that's when I get to listen uninterrupted. It's probably not wise to try understanding my taste. Old and new gets mixed up on a whim. Genres too. 

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Top three albums I've been listening to this week?  
1. Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come
2. Gojira - From Mars To Sirius
3. Iron Maiden - Killers
I have quite a bit to drive (1 hour + ... depending on weather) to work, so that's when I get to listen uninterrupted. It's probably not wise to try understanding my taste. Old and new gets mixed up on a whim. Genres too. 


I have young kids, so I can understand the commute to and from work being the only time you have to truly focus on music. Sometimes I'll put on something at home, but the best listening comes from being on the road as well, since there are no distractions or conversations to maintain.

As far as the selection goes, I quite like all of those albums, and I'm sure I'm not the only one from this group. Most people here listen to a pretty broad selection, encompassing more or less the entire metal spectrum, though our focus and habits vary from user to user.

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6 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

I have young kids, 

 

My youngest child turns 20 in a few months, so that's a bygone phase for me ... until they start manufacturing the next generation and want me to babysit (which I suppose is bound to happen at some point). Thing is, I find that when I'm behind the wheel, the particular mind-state of being relaxed and alert at the same time works very well with listening to music, whereas when at home, I tend to get distracted by any number of just-about-anythings. Be that as it may, my other three albums are:

1. Wo Fat - The Conjuring

2. August Burns Red - Phantom Anthem

3. Mayhem - Ordo Ad Chao

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