What Are You Listening To?

[AlSymerz]

Bolt Thrower - Realm Of Chaos

[Arioch]

Catacomb - When the Stars are Right (2023)

 

[AlSymerz]

Devin Townsend - Snuggles

 

[Arioch]

The Boneless Ones - Back To The Grind (2022)

 

[AlSymerz]

Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

[GoatmasterGeneral]

Bon jour Ari. Every morning you come and I think maybe I should listen to some French bands. Never realized how many French metal bands there actually were 'til you showed up here. I've noticed tonight that all 3 of these bands are from various towns in the eastern part of France, not far from Switzerland. Would you say this is probably just a coincidence, or are the people from eastern French just more grindy for the most part? I know they have to grind the mustard to make dijon (the only type of mustard I'll eat) maybe that grinding mentality has spilled over into their music.

You're down in the southwest part of France near Bordeaux right? I love looking at European maps and seeing all the various names of places we've adopted here in America. I see you have a Bayonne over there in Aquitaine, we have one too right here in New Jersey, also a port city. And even "Jersey" is the name of a place in France. We're practically brothers!

It's funny my ex's father was French so she used to always ask if we could go to France one day. And I always told her no because I never had any desire to see France. We hear stories here in the states about how the French hate Americans because we come over there acting all loud and pompous and entitled and uncouth and idiotic and none of us speak a word of French, we just expect you guys to cater to us. Shit, I don't want to be one of those stupid Americans. I've always wanted to see Spain or Greece or Scandinavia or even the UK could be cool, but never France. But now that I've found all these French bands I've become a little bit curious about France. Not gonna ask my ex though, she got tired of waiting for me and finally made it to France with her sister a couple of years ago.

 

Chiens - Vultures Are Our Future, crust/grind from Nancy France

 

Warfuck - Diptyque, grindcore from Lyon France  2023

 

Whoresnation - Dearth, deathgrind from Besançon France 2022

 

[Arioch]

51 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

Bon jour Ari. Every morning you come and I think maybe I should listen to some French bands. Never realized how many French metal bands there actually were 'til you showed up here. I've noticed tonight that all 3 of these bands are from various towns in the eastern part of France, not far from Switzerland. Would you say this is probably just a coincidence, or are the people from eastern French just more grindy for the most part? I know they have to grind the mustard to make dijon (the only type of mustard I'll eat) maybe that grinding mentality has spilled over into their music.

You're down in the southwest part of France near Bordeaux right? I love looking at European maps and seeing all the various names of places we've adopted here in America. I see you have a Bayonne over there in Aquitaine, we have one too right here in New Jersey, also a port city. And even "Jersey" is the name of a place in France. We're practically brothers!

It's funny my ex's father was French so she used to always ask if we could go to France one day. And I always told her no because I never had any desire to see France. We hear stories here in the states about how the French hate Americans because we come over there acting all loud and pompous and entitled and uncouth and idiotic and none of us speak a word of French, we just expect you guys to cater to us. Shit, I don't want to be one of those stupid Americans. I've always wanted to see Spain or Greece or Scandinavia or even the UK could be cool, but never France. But now that I've found all these French bands I've become a little bit curious about France. Not gonna ask my ex though, she got tired of waiting for me and finally made it to France with her sister a couple of years ago.

Hi @GoatmasterGeneral 🤘

Thanks for your long post! 👌

I don't know if all the bands from Eastern France are as pissed off as the 3 you posted, but you have to admit that for them, Germany isn't far away and when it comes to extreme metal, it's not a soft country over there 😅

Yes, I used to live in Paris, but now I live in the south-west of France. Bayonne is famous for its smoked hams, which are simply delicious. I didn't know about Jersey.

Where I live, in Charente-Maritime, we're best known for our Pineau (a liqueur wine drunk as an aperitif) and our galette charentaise (a shortcrust cake with pieces of angelica inside, a plant used to make candied fruit). And Bordeaux, with all its luscious wines, is just over 60 miles away.

My favorite French bands are few and far between, but I listen to them regularly: ADX (melodic speed), Daemonium/Akhenaton/Sangdragon (symphonic black, 3 bands but only one person behind the helm), Eros Necropsique (gothic without electric guitar, just vocals, bass and drums), Hexecutor (thrash), Kalisia (sci-fy metal, author of a magnificent album, Cybion, but very difficult to access), The Last Tomb (Coroner-style thrash), Les Enfants de Dagon (black), Les Vieilles Salopes (the old sluts, punk), Loudblast (a little), Massacra (death), Mercyless (Eastern death), Misanthrope, Nemo (aggressive prog rock), No Return (thrash/death), Paydretz (black), Sortilège (heavy), Undead Prophecies (old school death), Voight Kampff (thrash). Some of these bands no longer exist, but I like some of their records. Gojira isn't really my thing.

In the 80's, Metal in France was limited to a few bands and was considered as an old-fashioned music (even though the style was not so popular).

Now, the bands number in the thousands and the scene is not ridiculous.

[MacabreEternal]

Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light (2012)

 

Katatonia - Brave Murder Day (1996)

 

[Arioch]

Les Enfants de Dagon - De Profundis (2022)

 

[Arioch]

Krisiun - Mortem Solis (2022)

 

[AlSymerz]

Crowbar - S/T

[JamesT]

1 hour ago, AlSymerz said:

Crowbar - S/T

Excellent choice!  Crowbar is one of my top 5 favorite metal bands - not a single weak album in the 12-album discography.  "Broken Glass" and "Odd Fellows Rest" are my two favorites, and I think "Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form" is the most underrated.  "Sever the Wicked Hand" could probably fall into that category as well.  Just a fantastic band.

Candlemass - "King of the Grey Islands"

[MacabreEternal]

Tsjuder - Kill for Satan (2000)

 

[Arioch]

Megadeth - The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! (2022)

 

[Arioch]

Atrocity - Unspoken Names (Demo 1991) (2022)

 

[Arioch]

Agent Steel - No Other Godz Before Me (2021)

It feels like many years have passed for John Cyriis. If he still knows how to hit the high notes as he did in the days of Skeptics Apocalypse, it's clear that he has to work hard to do so.

The music behind it is still well-crafted melodic speed.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

Setentia - Darkness Transcend

Slidhr - White Hart!

[Kristiko]

Fear Factory - Digimortal (album)

[Nasty_Cabbage]

NP: Mathilde - 32 Décembre

▶︎ 32 Décembre | Mathilde (bandcamp.com)

According to their press blurb "Mathilde is a band that mixes Black Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal and Doom."

Alright. Prog for sure. I could even hear doom in this, if only because doom encompasses a lot of styles. The other two, though are kind of a stretch, and it's mainly the vocalist that's throwing off the whole vibe of the thing. No death growls, no black metal shrieks. Instead we have a very hardcore style of delivery from a male vocalist whose actual singing voice is probably a low tenor. Way too hardcore for my liking, but even Progenie Terrestre Pura use distinctively black metal styled vocals. Thing is, I actually like this album. The material here is very well thought out, and compositionally ahead of a ton of other bands that do this sort of thing. I showed up looking for the wrong thing maybe, but the prog is definitely keeping me with it. It's impressive enough to warrant a few extra spins at least before rendering my final verdict.

[navybsn]

Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse

Opeth - Orchid

 

[AlSymerz]

9 hours ago, JamesT said:

Excellent choice!  Crowbar is one of my top 5 favorite metal bands - not a single weak album in the 12-album discography.  "Broken Glass" and "Odd Fellows Rest" are my two favorites, and I think "Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form" is the most underrated.  "Sever the Wicked Hand" could probably fall into that category as well.  Just a fantastic band.

Candlemass - "King of the Grey Islands"

I don't listen to Crowbar enough. I find their earlier albums better than their later albums but they have some great stuff in their catalogue.

NP: Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics

[Kristiko]

Katatonia - City Burials (album)

[AlSymerz]

King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard - Chunky Shrapnel

 

[markm]

Solarized/Driven (2001)-follow up to their debut, Neanderthal Speedway-continues the Monster Magneticism with Dave Wyndorf himself providing his endorsement. They moved on from the famed Man's Ruin stoner label which probably was defunct by 2001 to  Meteor City. 

Frontman Jim Hogan, handles vocals, guitar and all the songwriting. Looks like he and the female drummer played in a band with several of the MM guys.  I'd say relative to the debut, Hogan cleaned up their sound a little. It still cranks up the fuzz but isn't quite the sludgey, aggressive blur that makes Neandrathal Speedway so much fun, hence, feels a little more typical for the genre, less raw, but with greater clarity and perhaps sharper songwriting. They bring in some southern fried grease (think COC) to the affair so much so that listening in my car, I started wiping my hands on my pants. 

The cover looks ripped out of Fu Manchu's playbook and hey, the Fu were instrumental to creating the visual aesthetic for stoner rock, such that is. I dig the slacker gen X stoner philosophizing of some of Hogans lyrics, too. Dig the ride, man.  

Accept/Metal Heart

Opeth/Morningside (cued on Spotify for my drive tomorrow) 

[AlSymerz]

Amerikan Kaos - Armageddon Boogie

(Jeff Waters new project)