What Are You Listening To?

[JamesT]

Judas Priest - "Demolition"

The Black Dahlia Murder - "Nocturnal"

Just getting into these guys.  Been enjoying some melodic death metal in spurts over the last several days.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Dopethrone - III, 2012

 

 

Cheap Fur - Cold Leather, Austin TX 2019

 

Dead Express - Game Changer Sweden 

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

3 hours ago, JamesT said:

The Black Dahlia Murder - "Nocturnal"

Just getting into these guys.  Been enjoying some melodic death metal in spurts over the last several days.

Black Dahlia were a fantastic gateway band for a ton of people when they were going strong. I still find their admirers in almost all corners of the metal world, many of whom I would never have pegged as fans. I think at this point much of their material has cleared the first hurdle in terms of the test of time, and though I was never a ravenous fan, I'd say they've more than earned their place.

NP: Ofnus - Time Held Me Grey And Dying

▶︎ Time Held Me Grey And Dying | Ofnus (bandcamp.com)

It's always curious to see just where and how Deathspell Omega's influence crops up. Obviously being must-cite innovators in the dissonant black corner, I still remember when Si Monumentum was spoken of in reverential tones. To this day it's one of the last albums to truly make me feel uncomfortable and afraid. Yet, despite this, I hear their lasting effects in seemingly unlikely and odd places nowadays. Case in point; This is a debut album from people with some not insignificant pedigree, and even though melodically they're miles away from DSO's distinctive dissonance, the open chords utilizing that unmistakable jangly tone with many different elements swirling inward toward and around it is undoubtedly the result of their influence.

What's catching me off guard here is just how traditional the leads are. Mind I don't mean traditional to black metal, but traditional in the early heavy metal sense. Not shredding or engaging in neoclassical guitar heroics either. Think maybe along the lines of a half pace Manilla Road. The song structures are all about building to a breaking point and then partially demolishing to make space for further loftier building. To hear such tonally familiar leads emerge from that has a very distinct effect. All in all it might not make many people's end of year lists, but I think most would be hard pressed to deny that they've got something here. I hear hunger and ambition if not quite fully realized. Worth a shot for black metal window shoppers like myself.

Side note, if you do click the bandcamp link I recommend the song Exulansis (track six).

[RelentlessOblivion]

TBDM aren’t the worst example of melodeath though I wouldn’t say they’re the best either. Out of curiosity which other bands have you checked out?

 

NP: Blood Duster - s/t

[AlSymerz]

Static Abyss - Labyrinth Of Veins

[AlSymerz]

Static Abyss - Aborted From Reality

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Blood Duster - Lyden Nå, grind 'n' roll, 2007 4 Ozzie cunts from Melbourne

 

Assjack - S/T, grind 'n' roll 2009 USA, Hank Williams III side project

 

[Thatguy]

FEN - Carrion Skies

DISILLUSION - Gloria

INTRONAUT - Habitual Levitations

1 hour ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Ofnus - Time Held Me Grey And Dying

Sounds pretty good.

 

1 hour ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Side note, if you do click the bandcamp link I recommend the song Exulansis (track six).

Can't do that. My OCD demands I start at the begining, so I'll listen to track 6 when I get to it.😐

[Arioch]

Forever Pavot - L'Idiophone (2023)

French pop with an old-movie feel.

[Arioch]

Gehenna - Adimiron Black (1998)

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Blood Duster - I - Fisting the Dead, grindcore 1993

 

Blood Duster - II - Cunt, grindcore 2000

 

Death - Scream Bloody Gore, 1987. 

 

[Arioch]

Grip Inc. - Power of Inner Strength (1995)

 

[RelentlessOblivion]

2 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Blood Duster - I - Fisting the Dead, grindcore 1993

 

Blood Duster - II - Cunt, grindcore 2000

 

Death - Scream Bloody Gore, 1987. 

 

Oh does the Goat dig himself some Aussie grindcore?

 

NP: Fuck…I’m Dead - Another Gory Mess

[Arioch]

Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion (1985)

 

[Arioch]

Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral (2014)

 

[BLAMO]

 

 

[Innominate]

Shell Shock - Execution Time 1981 - 87 Original Recordings

C.O.C. - Demos and Comp Tracks

 

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Dead Chasm - Sublimis Ignotum Omni

▶︎ Sublimis Ignotum Omni | Dead Chasm (bandcamp.com)

Saw this described as "cosmic death metal" which is what piqued my interest. Don't know where they're getting the "cosmic" from to be honest. Shouldn't complain since it's definitely competent death of the stompy variety, but now I'm just tempted to turn this off and go listen to Mithras.

[Nasty_Cabbage]

10 hours ago, Thatguy said:

FEN - Carrion Skies

DISILLUSION - Gloria

INTRONAUT - Habitual Levitations

Sounds pretty good.

 

Can't do that. My OCD demands I start at the begining, so I'll listen to track 6 when I get to it.😐

You must have to sit through a ton of pointless intro tracks, huh? I couldn't do that. Intros are really only good when they're very carefully set up and lead into the meat of the song seamlessly. I almost always skip them when a band is good enough to provide them as individual tracks. Also why are so many of them over two minutes long? Like, if you had wanted to make dungeon synth, you could've made dungeon synth, but I'm here for the metal my dude. All intro tracks do is put a salad bar directly in front of the main buffet and make me wait behind some sloppy waterlogged dip who's convinced himself that a half gallon of ranch over a sad drowning lettuce leaf is a healthy alternative.

Also I cold never quite get into Fen. They seemed pretty consistent at accomplishing what they set out to do, so I can't say it's bad. I'd definitely go see them live given the chance, but on album I find my attention drifts away from them.

Disillusion, on the other hand, I kind of dislike. Bear with me on this because I know they have a ton of output over the past twenty years almost, so maybe they've grown since I heard them, but back when "Back to the Times of Splendor" came out everybody was going ape over that release. I checked it out and dear lord those cleans went so far off key at times I couldn't stand it. Sorta soured me on the band in general. Somebody told me they brought in all kinds of out of left field influences on later releases. I just don't know man. I feel like you should probably master the basics of harmonizing on key before you really start to stretch your legs as a band.

That Intronaut album suffers from an entirely different problem. It's a good example of why incorporating cleans into a sound you'd built without them can often be a mistake. The instrumental work there is very obviously stunted by having to function within the confines of what those clean vocals can do, and while the cleans are competent, they just don't feel like they belong on an Intronaut album. Listening to that one and Prehistoricisms back to back is night and day creatively.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Wow, I agreed with almost all of that post.  I fucking hate intros any longer than maybe 20 seconds, and even then it can often be annoying. No idea how these pointless 3 and 4 minute non-musical intros have become such a popular thing. I assume it's bands trying to stretch their albums out and make them appear like they're giving you more music than they really are. Definitely appreciate the trend of bands making the intro a separate track so at least I can skip them more precisely than just trying to guess where the music starts. Have much more tolerance for outros for some reason. And even ambient tracks in the middle of an album. Just don't put them first.

And yeah, sadly all 3 of those bands/albums Doc posted yesterday are now featured on my no-fly list. (as is Ofnus) Do better dudes 😉

And also: "cosmic" death metal has become a trend the last couple of years. As far as I've been able to tell it means absolutely nothing except that you've likely chosen artwork featuring stars, galaxies or planets or some shit for your album cover.

[Serpentboi1992]

[Nasty_Cabbage]

47 minutes ago, Serpentboi1992 said:

 

That's a hell of an interesting cover Officer Serpentico. Does it make me a bandwagon hopping npc that I'm super happy for the rediscovered appreciation pop culture has shown for old hand drawn animation since the release of Cuphead? Now we need to show some of these kids some Tex Avery toons and maybe they'll realize just how much life digital effects have vampired out of modern animation.

1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

 Have much more tolerance for outros for some reason. And even ambient tracks in the middle of an album. Just don't put them first.

And yeah, sadly all 3 of those bands/albums Doc posted yesterday are now featured on my no-fly list. (as is Ofnus) Do better dudes 😉

And also: "cosmic" death metal has become a trend the last couple of years. As far as I've been able to tell it means absolutely nothing except that you've likely chosen artwork featuring stars, galaxies or planets or some shit for your album cover.

Outros are a good opportunity to take stock and decide if you want to relisten, which I'll do occasionaly. In the middle of an album can absolutely destroy any momentum the album had if it's too egregiously long. Being a tech death guy, I will never 100% forgive Beneath the Massacre for that absolute acoustic travesty in the dead middle of "The Lustre of Pandemonium" At least, as stated, it's skippable, but that album is dropped in from some dimension so far away from anything else, it's a crime that they decided to fill the middle track with thoughtless acoustic strumming.

I kinda figured Ofnus wouldn't really hit for you. Just from the little I've gleaned from my brief time here. At least it's not as meandering as that last DSO release. What a disappointment that was.

I could see "cosmic" being a fitting tag for Wormed or Origin. Probably the most representative of what I'd think of would be Nocturnus or Mithras, though. The album in question was way close to what I've seen being labled as the HM-2 sound (I assume for the pedal) with a little bit of the U.S. drunk ogre squishing rabbits stomp. Not cosmic.

NP: Lost Harvest - Deluded Seas of Diverge

▶︎ Deluded Seas Of Diverge | Lost Harvest (bandcamp.com)

There we go. Death with a little melody and a little thrash for spice. Expansive structures with a warm if quiet mix. Gotta love that Chasm influence.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

That's a hell of an interesting cover Officer Serpico. Does it make me a bandwagon hopping npc that I'm super happy for the rediscovered appreciation pop culture has shown for old hand drawn animation since the release of Cuphead? Now we need to show some of these kids some Tex Avery toons and maybe they'll realize just how much life digital effects have vampired out of modern animation.

Outros are a good opportunity to take stock and decide if you want to relisten, which I'll do occasionaly. In the middle of an album can absolutely destroy any momentum the album had if it's too egregiously long. Being a tech death guy, I will never 100% forgive Beneath the Massacre for that absolute acoustic travesty in the dead middle of "The Lustre of Pandemonium" At least, as stated, it's skippable, but that album is dropped in from some dimension so far away from anything else, it's a crime that they decided to fill the middle track with thoughtless acoustic strumming.

I kinda figured Ofnus wouldn't really hit for you. Just from the little I've gleaned from my brief time here. At least it's not as meandering as that last DSO release. What a disappointment that was.

I could see "cosmic" being a fitting tag for Wormed or Origin. Probably the most representative of what I'd think of would be Nocturnus or Mithras, though. The album in question was way close to what I've seen being labled as the HM-2 sound (I assume for the pedal) with a little bit of the U.S. drunk ogre squishing rabbits stomp. Not cosmic.

NP: Lost Harvest - Deluded Seas of Diverge

There we go. Death with a little melody and a little thrash for spice. Expansive structures with a warm if quiet mix. Gotta love that Chasm influence.

Punk has been a great place to find cool hand drawn covers like that one Serpie posted since punk has existed. People who aren't into punk just miss seeing most of them. Officer Serpico knows what's up. 

I was there with Ofnus for the first song, which basically sounded like standard if unspectacular atmo-black. They'd lost me by midway through the 2nd track. I'm not real big on experimentation, and if I remember correctly there were some really 'orrible cleans. Never made it to the now imfamous track #6.

DSO is a shit-show. Other than Inquisitors and Manifestations 2002 I have no use for anything of theirs. Anything with heavy dissonance like that will immediately be flagged and placed on the no-fly list, then taken into a back room and beaten unmercifully by DHS so they'll think twice about trying to bring that dissonance through the security checkpoint in the future. 

Cannot tolerate tech death or anything that even leans slightly techy. So just know that all your tech death references will fly right over my head because I haven't heard 99% of those kinds of bands. I have heard that very popular Mithras album from a few years ago and found it to be rubbish. Can't stand Wormed. Not sure if I've ever heard Origin. No idea who Beneath the Massacre is. The Chasm is fantastic though and that's about as close as I'll ever get to prog or tech death. So I might check out your Lost Harvest later just for shits and giggles. Right now I've gotta go food shopping though. In the words of Sheriff Reggie Hammond: "Y'all be cool"

[Thatguy]

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

You must have to sit through a ton of pointless intro tracks, huh?

Yes I do. But someone's got to do it.

 

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Also I cold never quite get into Fen

To each his own, but you are objectively wrong. Fen do everything right - insistent riffing, always tremendous drumming, nasty vocals, tolerable clean vocals and intelligent , accomplished musicianship. Also passion. One of my favourite bands and I wish I could see them live.

 

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Disillusion, on the other hand, I kind of dislike.

Yep, BTToS was dreadfully produced but they are professionally produced nowadays.Gloria has a sort of weird charm and is nothing like BTToS at all which made the great unwashed hate it at the time. They were wrong.

4 hours ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

Listening to that one and Prehistoricisms back to back is night and day creatively.

I agree entirely, but it's the difference between great and good, and they are such excellent players. 

1 minute ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

I have heard that very popular Mithras album from a few years ago and found it to be rubbish

'On Strange Loops? Thatguy likes it of course and has the T-shirt.

[Nasty_Cabbage]

32 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

 Not sure if I've ever heard Origin. No idea who Beneath the Massacre is.

Ah crap. I meant Crimson Massacre. Beneath the Massacre were a grindy mathy core band from a while back. Definitely not to be confused with Crimson Massacre: These guys-

The Luster Of Pandemonium | Crimson Massacre | Deathgasm Records (bandcamp.com)