What Are You Listening To?

[Arioch]

Massacre - From Beyond (1991)

 

[BLAMO]

Tomorrow in Ljubljana, can't wait.

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

1 hour ago, BLAMO said:

Tomorrow in Ljubljana, can't wait.

 

 I don't know if their line-up has changed any since I saw them right after Outer Isolation released, but they put on a decent show. VERY young guys though. They looked like kids to my eyes, but they know their instruments well enough and they've got that infectious energy that I imagine was so contagious on the West coast Bay Area of the U.S. in the early eighties. Something like early Exodus shows without sounding anything like Exodus. I was actually pretty surprised to see how much hate these guys have gathered online by some very entrenched internet addicted metalheads. Apparently their early popularity really irritated some folks.

NP: I, Destroyer - Cold Dead Hands

Cold, Dead Hands | I, Destroyer | Eternal Death (bandcamp.com)

[BLAMO]

13 minutes ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

 I don't know if their line-up has changed any since I saw them right after Outer Isolation released, but they put on a decent show. VERY young guys though. They looked like kids to my eyes, but they know their instruments well enough and they've got that infectious energy that I imagine was so contagious on the West coast Bay Area of the U.S. in the early eighties. Something like early Exodus shows without sounding anything like Exodus. I was actually pretty surprised to see how much hate these guys have gathered online by some very entrenched internet addicted metalheads. Apparently their early popularity really irritated some folks.

 

 

I see they have a new bassist and drummer since 2020 so you saw them in different line-up. Do you remember why the hate? I know some bands that started playing live shows when the members were relatively young and some of older metalheads thought that their music is not good just because they were young 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

57 minutes ago, BLAMO said:

I see they have a new bassist and drummer since 2020 so you saw them in different line-up. Do you remember why the hate? I know some bands that started playing live shows when the members were relatively young and some of older metalheads thought that their music is not good just because they were young 

I think it was more a case of their rise to prominence in the metal scene, and reactionary people simply feeling like Vektor was being "sold" to them as the next big thing in "true" thrash.

I've fallen prey to similar instincts before. It took me a long time before I was really able to embrace some melodeth bands like Soilwork or Children of Bodom as being part of the metal fabric simply because they seemed to me like they exploded onto the U.S. scene in perfect conjunction with the rise of Revolver Magazine which found a nice little sweet spot in their already dying print-form of media by slobbing the knobs of some very questionably metal image-first, music-later acts while burying their occasional references to real underground vets in the deep cuts of their pages so that you still got that sense of "diamonds in the rough" when you found the good stuff. Boy did they love anything that came out of Century Media. Good lord.

The thing was I realized what I was rejecting wasn't the bands themselves who, yes, did tend to get softer and more commercially appealing as they aged. At least not in a musical sense. I was rejecting the sensation of didactic taste making that all such magazines and sites engage in, and ending up in a place where I would rather be 'less wrong' than the opinions being posed instead of making the effort at any real engagement. I'm still not a huge fan of Children of Bodom, or Lamb of God, and it seems like there's always some novelty act out there irritating me with their toungue in cheek homages, but when that happens I just need to check my maturity meter is properly calibrated and try to find a music-based reason why I'm rejecting something.

So I think that was more the deal with the Vektor hate than anything else. It's the classic arrogant professor meets petulant student dynamic. Also, I should note here that there was some sort of relationship/abuse accusations that most of the people looking for a reason not to like Vektor jumped on. I did some cursory internet sleuthing and found the video that supposedly "proved" the allegations, and it didn't hold a lot of water for me. His girlfriend is filming a fight and egging him on (and she does seem to be in the right as far as the fight goes since it was supposedly over him not picking up after himself or his pet and the place does look kinda trashed). He throws a pillow at her and punches a wall. That's it. I'm perfectly aware that you should never attempt to make another person feel afraid like that, but to me, he's attempting self control in a heated situation. Not abuse in my eyes. But then I could just be a sexist pig for thinking that. I don't know anymore.

NP: Crypts of Despair - All Light Swallowed

All Light Swallowed | CRYPTS OF DESPAIR | Crypts of Despair (bandcamp.com)

Ah. This is metal comfort food for me.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

2 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

 I don't know if their line-up has changed any since I saw them right after Outer Isolation released, but they put on a decent show. VERY young guys though. They looked like kids to my eyes, but they know their instruments well enough and they've got that infectious energy that I imagine was so contagious on the West coast Bay Area of the U.S. in the early eighties. Something like early Exodus shows without sounding anything like Exodus. I was actually pretty surprised to see how much hate these guys have gathered online by some very entrenched internet addicted metalheads. Apparently their early popularity really irritated some folks.

NP: I, Destroyer - Cold Dead Hands

Vektor formed in 2004, David's 39 and Erik's 35 so they're not that young. You saw them a decade ago but the band broke up in Dec '16 when basically all 3 of them quit on band leader guitarist/vocalist David DiSanto citing personal differences. Then in 2019 there were some dv allegations against David by his wife and there was a phone video which the internet got ahold of and blew up into a big thing and this put the dude on many people's shit lists. He then claimed to be the victim in that dv dispute and I don't know what's happened with all that stuff since then, but you know many times just the allegations themselves will be enough to ruin someone's career. I know someone who knows Erik personally (he's mixing his album) and he's been telling me the whole time that it's all bs, that it was the wife who was the instigator/abuser. I think that whole legal mess has more to do with a lot of the internet hate than the fact that they had found some success. In May 2020 the 2 guitar players Erik and David put the band back together with a new rythym section. All they've put out since then has been 2 tracks for a split in '21. Everyone I know absolutely loves them, they gush over them, I'm literally the only one I know who hates them. And that's because when you take thrash and then add tech, prog & Voivod (all things I hate) this all adds up to no thanks I'm just not interested. They play far too many notes for my liking. I like my thrash punky and blackened, not whatever they're doing. Love that I, Destroyer though, killer shit. And that Crypts of Despair was my #3 death metal album of 2021.

 

NP: Aeternus - Beyond the Wandering Moon, 1997 Norway

 

[Arioch]

2 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

 I don't know if their line-up has changed any since I saw them right after Outer Isolation released, but they put on a decent show. VERY young guys though. They looked like kids to my eyes, but they know their instruments well enough and they've got that infectious energy that I imagine was so contagious on the West coast Bay Area of the U.S. in the early eighties. Something like early Exodus shows without sounding anything like Exodus. I was actually pretty surprised to see how much hate these guys have gathered online by some very entrenched internet addicted metalheads. Apparently their early popularity really irritated some folks.

As far as I know, the case of the drunk singer beating his girlfriend is the most talked-about aspect of Vektor's career, and has irritated many fans.

Then, after the release of Terminal Redux, the frontman saw his bandmates leave the band at the same time. That must not have pleased the fans either.

As far as I'm concerned, I love Vektor and I'm looking forward to their next album. But I have to admit that their EP, released in 2021, didn't convince me at all.

[Nasty_Cabbage]

18 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Vektor formed in 2004, David's 39 and Erik's 35 so they're not that young. You saw them a decade ago but the band broke up in Dec '16 when basically all 3 of them quit on band leader guitarist/vocalist David DiSanto citing personal differences. Then in 2019 there were some dv allegations against David by his wife and there was a phone video which the internet got ahold of and blew up into a big thing and this put the dude on many people's shit lists. He then claimed to be the victim in that dv dispute and I don't know what's happened with all that stuff since then, but you know many times just the allegations themselves will be enough to ruin someone's career. I know someone who knows Erik personally (he's mixing his album) and he's been telling me the whole time that it's all bs, that it was the wife who was the instigator/abuser. I think that whole legal mess has more to do with a lot of the internet hate than the fact that they had found some success. In May 2020 the 2 guitar players Erik and David put the band back together with a new rythym section. All they've put out since then has been 2 tracks for a split in '21. Everyone I know absolutely loves them, they gush over them, I'm literally the only one I know who hates them. And that's because when you take thrash and then add tech, prog & Voivod this all adds up to no thanks I'm just not interested. They play far too many notes for my liking. I like my thrash punky and blackened, not whatever they're doing. Love that I, Destroyer though, killer shit.

 

NP: Aeternus - Beyond the Wandering Moon, 1997 Norway

 

You beat me to it with the scandal video thing. The military beats on that Aeternus album always knocked it up a notch or two with me. Good stuff.

[Innominate]

Mabuse - Nekromagic

[MarkhantonioYeatts]

BENEDICTION - Live At Hellfest

 

[Kristiko]

Slipknot - Slipknot (album)

[Serpentboi1992]

[Dead1]

Eternal Champion - Ravening Iron

Sadly this one doesn't have the staying power.

[Innominate]

Chakal - Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!

Destruction - The Antichrist 

 

[AlSymerz]

The Chats - High Risk Behaviour

 

[Dead1]

Benediction - The Grand Leveller

So I always used to regard these as meh.  Then something clicked and I find myself going back to them a fair bit.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Helleruin - Devils, Death and Dark Arts, Netherlands

 

Slavland - Dziedzictwo, (Heritage) Poland 2022

 

[AlSymerz]

Tau Cross - Messengers Of Deception

 

[Dead1]

Benediction - Transcend the Rubicon

Dark Angel - Leave Scars

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Immortal Hammer - Kralovstvo Zimnych Demonov, Slovakia

 

Funeral Winds - Nexion Xul, Netherlands 2007

 

Nattverd - I Helvetes Foraktm, Norway

 

[JamesT]

Cannibal Corpse - "Violence Unimagined"

Obituary - "Slowly We Rot"

Obituary - "Dying of Everything"

At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul"

Loving this death metal kick I'm on!

[Nasty_Cabbage]

Argenthorns - The Ravening

▶︎ The Ravening | Argenthorns | Avantgarde Music (bandcamp.com)

I can appreciate that these guys have a slightly heavier symphonic bent, especially when it's more toward the harpsichord/acoustic side of things, and that cover's giving me Castlevania vibes which I'm absolutely down with. Just from the opening couple of songs though, these guitars are more than strong enough to stand on their own, and I think the extra elements make the compositions sound a little more busy that what they'd like.

 

10 hours ago, JamesT said:

Cannibal Corpse - "Violence Unimagined"

Obituary - "Slowly We Rot"

Obituary - "Dying of Everything"

At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul"

Loving this death metal kick I'm on!

All those are good to great, but Slaughter doesn't completely derail it for you? Seems like a pretty timid note to end on. If I was shifting the playlist over to the melodic side of things I'd slot in early The Crown to keep up the pace. Still good though.

[Serpentboi1992]

[GoatmasterGeneral]

25 minutes ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

10 hours ago, JamesT said:

Cannibal Corpse - "Violence Unimagined"

Obituary - "Slowly We Rot"

Obituary - "Dying of Everything"

At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul"

Loving this death metal kick I'm on!

All those are good to great, but Slaughter doesn't completely derail it for you? Seems like a pretty timid note to end on. If I was shifting the playlist over to the melodic side of things I'd slot in early The Crown to keep up the pace. Still good though.

I'll start by saying I don't know too much about The Crown except for their 2nd album Deathrace King, which I happened to spin a couple of months ago for the first time in a very long time and I enjoyed it immensely. It was so much better than I'd remembered. So I'm not slamming The Crown. But they're a Swedish thrash band, (death/thrash if you prefer) so what does that have to do with Cannibal and Obituary? That doesn't seem to make any more sense coming right after Obituary than S of the S would. But then I haven't listened to that one in well over a decade so maybe it's time for a little refresher course on At the Gates.

 

At the Gates - Slaughter of the Soul, 1995 Sweden. This is much more commercial, catchy and accessible than I'd remembered. I've never really been a fan, but there's nothing wrong with this record. It was something I checked out in the mid 00's (because this album does get name-checked a lot) and I dismissed AtG as meh, not really my thing. But listening to it now with fresh ears I've gotta say it's really not a bad album at all. I wouldn't consider it among the best albums of 1995 or anything but I don't think it deserves half the hate it gets.

 

At the Gates - The Red in the Sky Is Ours, 1992. This is the one I've heard people call out as their sleeper or hidden gem. Their highest rated album on M-A at 92% but it's not really doing anything for me, and the shit production with no bass to speak of is not helping things at all. I know Doc seems to think I listen to heaps of black metal with no bass presence at all but he'd be wrong. I do listen to some that fits that decription obviously, as it's unavoidable to a certain extent when pursuing underground lo-fi bm, but not that much overall. That's the main reason I prefer post 2010 black metal over the 90's stuff because they figured out how to get bass on these newer records. You really need those lower frequencies or it just sounds weak.

 

At the Gates - With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, 1993. This is a bit better, it kind of splits the difference between the other two AtG albums above. Less catchy and accessible than S of the S but a lot more bass than Red in the Sky. Maybe this one is their real sleeper. Kinda falls somewhere between death/thrash and melodeath.

 

Obituary - Dying of Everything, Tampa FLA 2023. I'd forgotten this had been released just this year, I thought it was a year or two old already. Guess I listened once when it came out in January then promptly forgot about it. Not as good as their early stuff but quite a bit better than their last S/T misstep from '17 imho. I'm enjoying this groovy swamp stomp with lots of bass a lot more than any of those AtG records I can tell you that.

 

[JamesT]

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Argenthorns - The Ravening

▶︎ The Ravening | Argenthorns | Avantgarde Music (bandcamp.com)

I can appreciate that these guys have a slightly heavier symphonic bent, especially when it's more toward the harpsichord/acoustic side of things, and that cover's giving me Castlevania vibes which I'm absolutely down with. Just from the opening couple of songs though, these guitars are more than strong enough to stand on their own, and I think the extra elements make the compositions sound a little more busy that what they'd like.

 

All those are good to great, but Slaughter doesn't completely derail it for you? Seems like a pretty timid note to end on. If I was shifting the playlist over to the melodic side of things I'd slot in early The Crown to keep up the pace. Still good though.

Totally fair point!  It doesn't derail it for me, honestly.  I love a lot of melo-death, and to be honest, I was kind of jumping all over my music library yesterday.  I knew I wanted death metal but wasn't paying too much attention to the order of play.  My only exposure to The Crown is their album "Cobra Speed Venom".  I like it well enough, but it's not one I revisit much.  I'll check out some more of their stuff over the weekend!  As Mr. GG pointed out, I think of The Crown as more death/thrash - not that that's either here or there haha.

Today, I have listened all the way through - in chronological order - the first 12 albums in the Judas Priest catalog, culminating my day with my favorite of them all, which is the mighty Painkiller.  Not only is there not a single weak song in my opinion - there's not even a weak moment from top to bottom.  Incredible effort from the metal gods.