Jump to content

What Are You Listening To?


khaos

Recommended Posts

Metallica - "72 Seasons"

Savage - "Loose 'n' Lethal"

Testament - "The Formation of Damnation"

Testament - "Dark Roots of Earth"

Testament - "Brotherhood of the Snake"

Testament - "Titans of Creation"

I love the more modern Testament output far more than their earlier stuff, most likely because the production quality was so thin at that time, it doesn't have any teeth to it.  Of these 4 modern Testament albums, I'm having a tough time deciding which one is best - probably going to go with the latest one as of now, "Titans of Creation".  It's already deserving of being called a modern classic, even though it's only 3 years old at this point.  Absolutely love every song.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, JamesT said:

Metallica - "72 Seasons"

Savage - "Loose 'n' Lethal"

Testament - "The Formation of Damnation"

Testament - "Dark Roots of Earth"

Testament - "Brotherhood of the Snake"

Testament - "Titans of Creation"

I love the more modern Testament output far more than their earlier stuff, most likely because the production quality was so thin at that time, it doesn't have any teeth to it.  Of these 4 modern Testament albums, I'm having a tough time deciding which one is best - probably going to go with the latest one as of now, "Titans of Creation".  It's already deserving of being called a modern classic, even though it's only 3 years old at this point.  Absolutely love every song.

That Savage album is pretty good, re Testament I don’t find them as interesting these days. Souls of Black remains their best work imo.

 

NP: Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black Mass Pervertor - Lux Sodomiticum (2021)

Fuck Around (Finnish) Fridays makes a rare appearance due to a rare day off from work and Finland's Black Mass Pervertor are playing their brand of punky black metal in my lair this morning.  19 minutes in length which is perfect to accompany my morning green tea (although I doubt they had that in mind when making this EP).  Artwork suggests no fucks (or budget) to give and the music backs this up perfectly.  These boys sound like they don't give a fuck if anyone listens to "Death Erection".  Ugly music for ugly (inside) people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

That Savage album is pretty good, re Testament I don’t find them as interesting these days. Souls of Black remains their best work imo.

 

NP: Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings

Great choice!  I quite enjoy Mournful Congregation.  Haven't listened to them in awhile, so I'll probably jump back in soon.

Testament really doesn't have any bad albums.  Souls of Black is fantastic - just a bit thin on the production.  But the songwriting is great!  I even enjoy "Low" and "Demonic" quite a bit.  While other metal bands - aside from PanterA and Overkill - were experimenting with more mainstream sounds, Testament went in an even more extreme direction, delving into a bit of death metal here and there.  I'll always admire them for that.  Chuck Billy is just phenomenal as a vocalist, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black Shaman — Tradition, Czechia, as I sit and wait for the building inspector.

 

10 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

Black Mass Pervertor - Lux Sodomiticum (2021)

Fuck Around (Finnish) Fridays makes a rare appearance due to a rare day off from work and Finland's Black Mass Pervertor are playing their brand of punky black metal in my lair this morning.  19 minutes in length which is perfect to accompany my morning green tea (although I doubt they had that in mind when making this EP).  Artwork suggests no fucks (or budget) to give and the music backs this up perfectly.  These boys sound like they don't give a fuck if anyone listens to "Death Erection".  Ugly music for ugly (inside) people.

I really liked their debut full length Phanerosis in 2016, but I haven't found anything they've done since then nearly as interesting. And their little pig-man mascot they've adopted is stupid. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, JamesT said:

Testament - "The Formation of Damnation"

Testament - "Dark Roots of Earth"

Testament - "Brotherhood of the Snake"

Testament - "Titans of Creation"

I love the more modern Testament output far more than their earlier stuff, most likely because the production quality was so thin at that time, it doesn't have any teeth to it.  Of these 4 modern Testament albums, I'm having a tough time deciding which one is best - probably going to go with the latest one as of now, "Titans of Creation".  It's already deserving of being called a modern classic, even though it's only 3 years old at this point.  Absolutely love every song.

You might not know this JT, but I was a pretty big Testament fan in the late 80's. As far as the bigger name-brand major label 80's thrash acts go I would rank Testie ahead of titans like Megadick, Anthrax and Exodus, as well as ahead of Kreator and Destruction if we're just considering all these bands' output up to and including 1992. I have them roughly tied with Metallica while sitting a fair distance behind Slayer and Overkill. Since 1992 I reckon they've held their own and even moved significantly ahead of Slayer and Metallica's 1990's & 2000's rubbish. So I guess that only leaves Overkill still comfortably in front of them and possibly Sodom as some of their later material has been good. But that's not saying very much as the bar has been set way too low and all 4 of their newer albums leave me cold as ice.

I've thrown on your favorite Titans of Creation here since I've never heard this one before. This is not good JT. Now I'm not saying it's bad at all, this is totally competent and professional sounding if a bit generic and soulless. I don't see how anyone could seriously put their newer shit ahead of the first 5 albums as these modern Testie songs are boring as fuck man. Track 11, Curse of Osiris is the first track I think is good and the hour long album's almost over except for the outro!

I will totally agree that the production on all the early Testie records was dog shit. And in the cases of specifically The Legacy and Souls of Black it absolutely sucked-ass, I'd say it was inexcuseaby bad. So to my mind the digital production on their 4 modern albums while sounding a bit plastic and cookie cutter is still a marked improvement over the production on their first 5 albums.

That said, my problem is they'd still need to write some solid material for these newer abums to be better than the old ones, but they haven't. The songs and riffs on the first 5 albums are so much more catchy and memorable than any of this newer shit where they just chug along their merry way and everything ends up sounding just like everything else. These generic mediocre tunes on the newer albums are simply lacking the personality and memorability and headbangability that made the band so great 30+ years ago.

I will say live though they can still bring it, although it's been awhile since I've seen them, must be 8 years or so now. But for the albums I think poor Eric Peterson's just run out of riffs. The last decent Testie abum for my money with memorable songs woud be The Gathering I guess from way back in '99, and even that one was just a cunt hair better than so-so. But I suppose if you're a "true believer" you'd probably think that one's great.

 

Official GG Testament album ranking:

1. New Order

2. Legacy

3. Ritual

4. Souls of Black

5. Practice - Gathering tie.

I'm not terribly familiar with Low or Demonic (although I have heard them) so I just left them off. 

 

 

33 minutes ago, Serpentboi1992 said:

Morrigan - Welcome to Samhain

🤘🖤🤘🖤🤘😈🤘🖤🤘🖤🤘

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

You might not know this JT, but I was a pretty big Testament fan in the late 80's. As far as the bigger name-brand major label 80's thrash acts go I would rank Testie ahead of titans like Megadick, Anthrax and Exodus, as well as ahead of Kreator and Destruction if we're just considering all these bands' output up to and including 1992. I have them roughly tied with Metallica while sitting a fair distance behind Slayer and Overkill. Since 1992 I reckon they've held their own and even moved significantly ahead of Slayer and Metallica's 1990's & 2000's rubbish. So I guess that only leaves Overkill still comfortably in front of them and possibly Sodom as some of their later material has been good. But that's not saying very much as the bar has been set way too low and all 4 of their newer albums leave me cold as ice.

I've thrown on your favorite Titans of Creation here since I've never heard this one before. This is not good JT. Now I'm not saying it's bad at all, this is totally competent and professional sounding if a bit generic and soulless. I don't see how anyone could seriously put their newer shit ahead of the first 5 albums as these modern Testie songs are boring as fuck man. Track 11, Curse of Osiris is the first track I think is good and the hour long album's almost over except for the outro!

I will totally agree that the production on all the early Testie records was dog shit. And in the cases of specifically The Legacy and Souls of Black it absolutely sucked-ass, I'd say it was inexcuseaby bad. So to my mind the digital production on their 4 modern albums while sounding a bit plastic and cookie cutter is still a marked improvement over the production on their first 5 albums.

That said, my problem is they'd still need to write some solid material for these newer abums to be better than the old ones, but they haven't. The songs and riffs on the first 5 albums are so much more catchy and memorable than any of this newer shit where they just chug along their merry way and everything ends up sounding just like everything else. These generic mediocre tunes on the newer albums are simply lacking the personality and memorability and headbangability that made the band so great 30+ years ago.

I will say live though they can still bring it, although it's been awhile since I've seen them, must be 8 years or so now. But for the albums I think poor Eric Peterson's just run out of riffs. The last decent Testie abum for my money with memorable songs woud be The Gathering I guess from way back in '99, and even that one was just a cunt hair better than so-so. But I suppose if you're a "true believer" you'd probably think that one's great.

 

Official GG Testament album ranking:

1. New Order

2. Legacy

3. Ritual

4. Souls of Black

5. Practice - Gathering tie.

I'm not terribly familiar with Low or Demonic (although I have heard them) so I just left them off. 

 

 

🤘🖤🤘🖤🤘😈🤘🖤🤘🖤🤘

Good evening, Mr. GG!  Wow, it looks like we have very different takes on the Testament catalog, but that's perfectly okay!  I love the early albums for sure.  Those first two are undeniable classics.  It's just a bit more difficult for me to get as much into them without the punch of modern production. 

"Titans of Creation" is just phenomenal to my ears.  There's not a single song that's not enjoyable from beginning to end.  One thing I admire you for is that you actually listen to the quality of the music, rather than simply clinging to early material due to nostalgia.  That's a great thing that brings sentimentality to music, but it shouldn't have any bearing on how we listen to the quality of the songs.  To my ears, the modern Testament output stands up every bit to the classic era.  Having listened through the entire discography over the last two days, I'd rank them like this:

12) Demonic

11) Low

10) Souls of Black

9) The Ritual

8. Practice What You Preach

7)  The Legacy

6)  The New Order

5)  Brotherhood of the Snake

4)  The Formation of Damnation

3)  Dark Roots of Earth

2)  Titans of Creation

1)  The Gathering

When it comes to classic thrash bands, I'd rank Testament 3rd, behind only #2 Death Angel, and of course, at #1 is the mighty Overkill.

Always great to talk metal with you, my friend! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

BOTANIST - VIII: Selenotrope. Different from their earlier albums in that the dulcimers are more dulcimer like.

NP - BLOODMIST - Sheen

Would a dulcimer by any other name still sound as sweet?

Gonna have to pass on both of these recs today Doc thanks all the same. I did try out that Bloodmist band the last time you mentioned them and it was pretty rough. But just figured I'd pop in and say hi anyway since no one else seems to be around this evening, except of course for my young metalhead friend James Thomas.

 

EDIT: and not surprisingly the Orca lurks about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Girish and the Chronicles - "Back on Earth"

I cannot promote this band enthusiastically enough!  Great young band with a vocalist who has a voice the likes of which I haven't heard in quite some time.  Gonna be playing their 3 albums in order several times through this weekend.  Hope they stick around for a long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Gonna have to pass on both of these recs today Doc thanks all the same. I did try out that Bloodmist band the last time you mentioned them and it was pretty rough. But just figured I'd pop in and say hi anyway since no one else seems to be around this evening, except of course for my young metalhead friend James Thomas.

 

EDIT: and not surprisingly the Orca lurks about.

Neither of those are for you. I find Botanist intriguing though and it still amuses me that dulcimer players want to play metal. I should have warned you off Bloodmist. I expect no-one here would like them but me and I keep listening to them to torment the Orca.

And there is no getting rid of the Orca. He knows that I know that he is not listening to what I am but I know I will never stop him pretending to because he thinks it annoys me. It's been cold and miserable here too - 11C now - but the sun has come out and my son's black cat - ours now the son is in the UK indefinitely - has just climbed onto my lap and is purring.

35 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

My oldest friend - we discovered this album together while we were at high school - has booked us to see a PF cover band do the album at Thirroul at the end of June.. I never listen to PF any more, but it should be fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

He knows that I know that he is not listening to what I am

Why do you assume that the music you listen to is so shit that no one else will enjoy it? You should give yourself more credit. Some of the stuff you listen to gets nuked, but half the stuff you post is better than the straight black metal horse shit others post. At least the stuff you post has variance. Give yourself credit old chap sometimes you deserve it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:

Why do you assume that the music you listen to is so shit that no one else will enjoy it? You should give yourself more credit. Some of the stuff you listen to gets nuked, but half the stuff you post is better than the straight black metal horse shit others post. At least the stuff you post has variance. Give yourself credit old chap sometimes you deserve it.

Now I’m going to challenge you to follow my listening habits for a week old man, and binge on black metal when I do…

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...