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Top 3 albums/eps of the week.


MacabreEternal

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Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked - 2005

The last great Nile record for me, the band's 2005 release cemented their place in metal history as one of the best technical and brutal death metal bands out there.  It showed a fully blossomed deftness for balance making the album more than just a scathing experience, charged with powerful riffs yet legible structures still being allowed to form even in the more chaotic moments of the record.

Drudkh - A Few Lines in Archaic Ukranian - 2020

A compilation of tracks from split releases with Hades Mighty, Grift and Paysage d'Hiver over a 3 year period.  As usual, heavily poetic and charged with that trademark raging yet melodic style of black metal that they deliver so well.  I normally steer clear of comps but this one has me hooked.

Paysage d'Hiver - Schattengang - 1998

Is it a demo?  Is it an EP? Is it a mini-album?  No one knows, I don't care.  Whichever part of Tobias' ongoing story this release refers to, it is a real tour de force.  Track two twists, shifts and turns multiple times but never loses itself somehow coming back to the sense of narrative it began with.  I only have the three track version so no side B for me to listen through (although I presume YouTube would deliver this) but I love it without the final 18 minutes even. 

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Krypts - Cadaver Circulation - 2019

If you have been paying attention in the "Whate are you listening to now?" thread then this entry won't surprise you.  Dank and murky Finnish death metal full of vast structures and looming atmospheres.  Solid songwriting here folks from a band really starting to hit their stride.

Incantation - Sect of Vile Divinities -2020

I have added my thoughts in the album review section on the board.  Needless to say another fine death metal album from one of the genres real masters.  Slightly more accessible this time around and by no means a bad thing.

In Flames - Colony - 1999

I am very late to the In Flames party and indeed melodeath in general.  I won't pretend to love most of the melodic death metal sub-genre but this and The Jester Race get occasional spins and don't disappoint.  Persistence over variation is the order of the day here most definitely but I can tolerate that.

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On 8/24/2020 at 6:28 AM, MacabreEternal said:

Krypts - Cadaver Circulation - 2019

If you have been paying attention in the "Whate are you listening to now?" thread then this entry won't surprise you.  Dank and murky Finnish death metal full of vast structures and looming atmospheres.  Solid songwriting here folks from a band really starting to hit their stride.

Incantation - Sect of Vile Divinities -2020

I have added my thoughts in the album review section on the board.  Needless to say another fine death metal album from one of the genres real masters.  Slightly more accessible this time around and by no means a bad thing.

In Flames - Colony - 1999

I am very late to the In Flames party and indeed melodeath in general.  I won't pretend to love most of the melodic death metal sub-genre but this and The Jester Race get occasional spins and don't disappoint.  Persistence over variation is the order of the day here most definitely but I can tolerate that.

Hey man, it's great that you keep plowing through with these, but you might have more fun if you respond to discussions that you've prompted and have a chat about them, or even care to comment on others' lists from time to time. Of course you don't have to, but I'm wondering how much gratification you can possibly be getting from this hahaha. 

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On 8/26/2020 at 12:04 PM, Requiem said:

Hey man, it's great that you keep plowing through with these, but you might have more fun if you respond to discussions that you've prompted and have a chat about them, or even care to comment on others' lists from time to time. Of course you don't have to, but I'm wondering how much gratification you can possibly be getting from this hahaha. 

Not sure if ‘fun’ is the right word but I am certainly not seeking any gratification either.  The true wonder of the internet is that I can post what I want (within reason) where I want, whenever I want to.  If others want to comment or trigger discussion around that content then great, likewise if I feel the need to comment on other’s content I will.  

I don’t always have the time though and when I do, I don’t always possess the inclination to either.

I am not naive enough to think there’s enough life in this place to exert too much effort trying to get people to talk.  The forum’s heyday has been and gone.  It will probably  always be here and I will probably always tinker with it.  If there’s other members around then great.  If not **insert misanthropic reference here**.

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For what it's worth, I know I don't contribute much but I do a lot of reading and I appreciate the contributions others make in all threads actually, not just this one. I'm sure I'm not alone here. I enjoy reading what Macabre has to say, he has put absolutely loads into this forum. It doesn't go unnoticed. There are some cool and interesting people here and it is always interesting to me to check out what everyone is into. This includes you Req and Vampyrique. When I've been away I often wonder how everyone is doing, we have a nice community here. This post isn't to kiss arse or for brownie points either, just how I feel. So sure, we can agree to disagree sometimes and then wait for it all to blow over..

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9 hours ago, Sheol said:

This week I have been on a old-school Swedish melo death bender.

Gates of Ishtar - A bloodred path

 

Sacrilege - Lost in the beauty you slay

 

The Moaning - Blood from stone

 

Nice. I hadn't heard The Moaning before, they're right in line with all the other stuff I like from this scene. I was a big fan of Swedish melodic DM when I was growing up. I love how it seems like there's always another cool band left to discover.

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46 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Nice. I hadn't heard The Moaning before, they're right in line with all the other stuff I like from this scene. I was a big fan of Swedish melodic DM when I was growing up. I love how it seems like there's always another cool band left to discover.

They were a precursor to one of the best unknown Swedish melo death bands IMO; Satariel.

Phobos & Deimos might actually be one of my favourite melo death albums, period. The followup, Hydra was more melodic and more clean singing, but still solid.

Satariel - Coffin Gateways

 

Satariel - Claw the clouds

 

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Metal Church - Blessing in Disguise - as the only Metal Church album I get along with I revisited it this week after waking up with Fake Healer ringing around my head earlier in the week.  Mike Howe replacing David Wayne was an improvement in my opinion and the song writing felt more consistent and focused on this their third full-length (although I accept it is by no means perfect).  Marshall's input seems to be part of this calming influence even though Vanderhoof was still writing songs and playing some guitar.  The album trails off after 7 tracks and I can only really remember the closing track because it is frankly awful.  Nice wander down memory lane though. 3/5

Wardruna - Kvitravn - this sounds like a real coming of age record which has a sense of irony for an artist that I don't believe has ever put a foot wrong so far.  At the point of the vinyl arriving this week I had already been playing this on my phone on my morning walks through the woods and fields and so was already sold on its earthy and subtle details.  The power that can be generated from using largely traditional acoustic instruments and drums is immense and this force is only made more coherent by the tenderness to the songs that brings an utterly human feeling to the mystical and ethereal atmosphere of the record. 4.5/5

Wolvennest - Temple - a random discovery that I oddly found myself repeat listening to over a tense and challenging couple of days at work towards the end of the week.  I phrase the word "oddly" because a bunch of Belgians playing experimental psychedelic black metal sounds fucking abhorrent on paper as a mere concept and there are moments were I do still stare at the speakers in complete derision at some of the ideas that made the cut on here.  However, overall it is a quite soothing experience, largely inoffensive and much less of a horror show in practice than the theory would suggest.  Unlikely to revisit much though. 3/5

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Cambion - Confulgrate the Celestial Refugium

Knife to the jugular brootal death thrash. A relentless riff fest. 

Hinterkaifeck - Inquitous Foul

Usually the 'violence' subs aren't my cuppa, but there is something undeniable in these songs. 

Gnosis - Omens from the Dead Realm

Slow burn, cerebral, but with huge payoffs throughout. Dark arts practiced well here.

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Enslaved - - (2017)

I didn't get on with this at first and it hasn't had any spins since 2017 in all honesty. The thread on Utgard kind of got me wondering about it again and so I have spent a couple of moments with it this week to try ant root out the highs and lows.  It is growing on me and I think it is probably guilty of nothing more than solidifying their modern sound which has been developing for years prior to this.  Not entirely connected with it as a whole but lay on the floor last night in the dark listening through was a much more focused and enjoyable experience.

Metal Church - The Dark - (1986)

Second entry in this thread of late for MC.  After getting back familiar with A Blessing In Disguise recently I slowly developed an itch for the predecessor to that record and so have been blasting this most of the past week.  After my disappointment with the debut I recall gambling on the vinyl version of this after being unable to deny that horror movie style cover.  It's much better than the debut, and has some real heavy hitters like Start The Fire, Watch the Children Pray and the title track.  Wayne's swansong was a worthy one.

Motörhead - Orgasmatron - (1986)

One of the more average releases from Lemmy and co. in what was a revamped line up following Another Perfect Day.  Thankfully the serious edge of the former album and it's social and political commentary was abandoned for the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll themed metal that they are famed for.  The twin guitar attack of Campbell and Würzel was starting to take shape nicely but I don't think managed to really set off any sparks on this release.  If nothing else, listening back through this made me realise that I only really enjoy the Sepultura version of the title track.

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Inquisition - Bloodshed...

The very peak of the powers of Inquisition for me, so happy to own it on vinyl to hear it in its full glory whenever I want to.  Ritually melodic and grim in equal amounts.

Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi

This never fails to impress whenever I need a little something different putting on.  It has a specific place in my listening habits as it represents the chaos of my working day far too easily so is not a chill out record but that replication is still somehow cathartic.

Negura Bunget - Om

I am at the point now where bits of Om just randomly play in my head as I have played it more and more this past few weeks.  Really need to explore the discography in more detail as opposed to this go to record in isolation.

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Some fairly tragic shit going on at Casa Navy this week. We lost my wife's father unexpectedly under gruesome circumstances. She's an only child and I was pretty close to him too. It's been a rough few days, so music choices are pretty chill. 

Rush - Presto - this is my go to comfort album. I can't begin to think how many times I've listened to it in my life, but it has to be tops on my all time play count. This is the one that got me into Rush. Not a bad song to be found.

Opeth - Damnation - I don't know if Mikael intended to, but this is the perfect album to mourn to. Perfectly captures the emotion of unexpected loss.

Mastodon - Once More Around the Sun - this was in rotation up until we got the news. Maybe not their high point, but it's the one I keep going back to.

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@Navybsn

It's never easy losing a parent, and even tougher when they leave this world unexpectedly or violently. You've known them your whole life, there was never a time when they weren't there, and it's easy to take them for granted and get to feeling like they're just always gonna be around. Deepest sympathies my brother, I hope you guys can get through this with minimal pain/damage. Somehow knowing you the wee little bit that I do, I'm pretty confident that you're gonna be that rock your wife needs right now. 

 

Shit, I'm finding it a bit difficult now to shift gears and post my albums of the week after that. I've been eyeballing this thread for the longest but I have yet to post a weekly trifecta. Always seem to have one or two albums that I'm really stuck on at any given time but I can't always come up with a definitive three. So I'll just say that I cannot seem to stop playing Valac's latest: Burning Dawn of Vengeance the last week or two. The new Chasmdweller, Vulture Lord, Nunslaughter and Craven Idol albums are all in the mix too. But mostly I've been craving that damn Valac, so fucking good. 

 

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