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khaos

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Thatguy Veteran

Thatguy

Posted
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7 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions   ...I dunno. I like this band and this is all well-done and stuff, but it feels like a bit of a chore to get through right now.

Yeah. I gave it a couple of listens but it dragged the first time and the second time it faded into the background so it's a pass for me.

RORCAL - Monochrome

NP - STEPHEN O"MALLEY & ANTHONY PATERAS - Sept duos pour guitare & piano préparé. You won't like it, and by you I don't mean just the GG.

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Immolation - Acts of God (2022) Number eight on my end of year list that if I am being honest, the boredom of being unable to do much of anything with COVID has led me to do an end of y

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markm Mentor

markm

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Imma going through a bunch of recos from random 2023 lists-it will be a shameless, nearly endless gorging across all embarrassment of genres until the dust settles. That's How I do. 

Gozu/Remedy-I fell in love with these sludgy alt rock stoners in 2010 with their album Locus Season. My buddy Chris from Nine Circles put them on his list of albums that could have been in his EOYL but didn't and I'm reminded what a kick ass rock band they are. Chris describes them as a stoner rock mixed with Alice N Chains. Dig this. The vocalist has a big thick soulful voice to match the fuzzy riffs. I'm a sucker for this shtick. 

Enslaved/Heimdal-worth a listen but their hey day is over for me sadly. 

Isole/Anesidora -saw some love for this so called "epic doom" -super clean, pristine melodic doom. Vox remind me of power metal. Just OK. Too shiny even for me.

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FatherAlabaster Grand Master

FatherAlabaster

Posted
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37 minutes ago, markm said:

Enslaved/Heimdal-worth a listen but their hey day is over for me sadly. 

Isole/Anesidora -saw some love for this so called "epic doom" -super clean, pristine melodic doom. Vox remind me of power metal. Just OK. Too shiny even for me.

Heimdal was a grower for me. Had to reserve judgement for a few listens and take it on some walks in the woods. I really like it now. 

I haven't heard the new Isole but I didn't really connect with any of their albums aside from Bliss Of Solitude. You might dig that one if you haven't heard it. 

40 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Cruciamentum - Obsidian Refractions

 

Hmm I’m torn on this one. It’s fine but I have come to expect better from one of my favourite modern death metal bands.

It's weird because it does all the things and it seems like it should work, but I just felt kinda meh about it and didn't even make it to the end. 

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Thatguy Veteran

Thatguy

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45 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Heimdal was a grower for me. Had to reserve judgement for a few listens and take it on some walks in the woods. I really like it now. 

 

We agree again, I had almost written Enslaved off, but in view of past form I gave it another go or two and I think it is one of their strongest recent releases. No strange lapses in taste and actual metal. It is a strong contender for a place on my very refined end of year list.

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markm Mentor

markm

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King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard/PetroDragonic Apocalypse (2023)-I've paid marginal attention to King G with mixed enjoyment. I know they have a rabid following as a psch/prog band with a myriad of influences. But the couple of albums I heard didn't connect in a big way. When this started creeping into my radar as a real stab at metal with some good reviews, I finally gave it a listen and my verdict is-great! Lots of fun. Held my attention even through the longer jam and prog portions. Worth a listen!

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Arioch Veteran

Arioch

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After a few Thrash and Death Metal sweets, I can't help but return to 2 albums that haunt my mind and fill me with pleasure: books I and II by The Chronicles of Father Robin.

This band is made up of Swedish musicians, some of whom are in the band Wobbler (if that sounds familiar, I had never heard of them).

It's progressive rock with a very '70s vibe, and sometimes guitars that border on hard rock.

When you get into one of these albums, you let yourself be carried away by the melodies and your imagination does the rest.

https://fatherrobin.bandcamp.com/

Insensate Machine - War of the Worlds (2023)

Do you like Voïvod? Give this album a listen...

 

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Nasty_Cabbage Experienced

Nasty_Cabbage

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NP: Herzog - Furnace

▶︎ Herzog - Furnace | Amor Fati Productions (bandcamp.com)

a2772739332_10.jpg

Interesting late in the year entry into the black metal category. It's not a fast or punkish all out blitz, but there's something here that to my ears keeps it entirely outside of what I think of as "atmospheric". I haven't heard any keyboards yet, and the vocals are very controlled, often dipping into death metal like bowel squashing territory. The songs are cohesive and each song is clearly utilizing each instrument. I think I like it, but I don't know how I'd categorize it mentally.

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Thatguy Veteran

Thatguy

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1 hour ago, Nasty_Cabbage said:

NP: Herzog - Furnace

Great cover art and sounds interesting. I'll listen later.

Actually I won't. The fuckers are only selling CD or vinyl, so they won't be getting a listen or potentially a purchase. What is wrong with people?

 

1 hour ago, AlSymerz said:

I like it but wont be surprised if doesn't get great reviews here.

I hate it already. I don't need to listen.

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Nasty_Cabbage Experienced

Nasty_Cabbage

Posted
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3 hours ago, Arioch said:

Vltimas will release its second album on March 15, 2024.

The album is called Epic and we can already listen to one track.

What do you think of this extract?

I'll keep my opinion to myself, so as not to influence anyone.

Good to see Arthur Morgan fell in with a new gang in the after life.

The good: Very strong main riff leading in using the tried and true AAAB in 4/4 form you hear on a ton of main singles.

Very light use of twin guitar harmony as a point of emphasis in places to ramp the intensity just slightly.

The whole song, but especially the lead work sounds stylistically like Jeff Loomis, and any Jeff Loomis without Warrel Dane hanging around to ruin everything is a plus. 

Song structure is fairly well thought out forgoing the optional third verse into the third chorus, and simply letting the song finish when it's finished.

Production is professional and well captured. No real topping or bottoming out in the volume balance on anything keeping everything nicely grouped together so the song feels a lot more whole cloth. Nothing's pushed too far into the foreground at the expense of anything else.

Video isn't trying to do too much or mess with anything conceptually above it's intended function as an added visual element to the song delivery.

The bad: The vocals are similar to Matt Pike in sound, which works in some cases and not in others. You can play around with staccato patter a little bit, but ultimately in such a point heavy style of playing you're going to lose some impact.

It lacks a lot in terms of contrast. One of the problems with higher end production values is that it can underscore a lack of tonal dynamic and range. The song starts in one style, goes through it's motions and ends in the same style. It's not a huge deal in the broader picture since that style is enjoyable, but over the chorus of an album it can get really unmemorable and boring.

The vocals are very very audible. A ton of people would consider this a plus, but I actually prefer not to understand what's being said/screamed/grunted. When you're dealing with extreme metal, the presentation is already very theatrical by default, and, while I can totally understand wanting the lyrical themes to match the music, more often than not it induces eye-rolling laughability. Keeping the primary appeal on the melodies and rhythms and not distracting the listener with some grand guignol procession of melodramatic doggerel is the way to go. There's a reason that, when I'm asked about song lyrics "How do you understand what they're saying?" I say "I don't, and I'd like to keep it that way".

Just the song by itself (I'm not at all familiar with the band) I'd say 5.5/10

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