Visutox

Actually I had planned to check out Lunar Poetry since it's the one that people use to mention a lot statistically, so I'm listening the album as we speak. Will make sure to check out the essentials you mentioned too.

11 hours ago, Hakari said:

These guys are solid. Having a dedicated bassist really stands out. Will hopefully be able to pick up this album 

It really does! What're your thoughts on the latest album?

Finished watching the LOTR trilogy for the 353525th time yesterday and boy, it's incredible how these movies were so ahead of their time. I'm always amazed at how the CGI is still so good and looks incredibly well done even after more than a decade. Chills all over my spin during every fucking damn scene too. One of the greatest trilogies in film history, ever. 

It really does. Never bothered to dig into Nokturnal Mortum's huge discography but now that they're releasing a new album I might as well do. But before that, I still have to check out some Zuriaake. 

Came across this band yesterday: 

Also checked out their album and it's really good. I think I've read somewhere that the drummer is from Blut Aus Nord. Dude is part of tons of bands. 

Jesus fucking christ, thank fuck this band exists. The new album is phenomenal, and I'm pretty sure I'll be spinning it a lot this year. The bass work with this band is always incredible and I don't think there's much more to say, just check it out as soon as you can. 

Was curious about watching 11.22.63 since a friend of mine had suggested me to do so. Wasn't disappointed. Started out like a cool dream and ended up teaching an important lesson. Love this kind of TV shows, and also the references were fun to spot. 

Currently exploring some oldies and playing LOTR: The Two Towers on Dolphin. The last stages of this game are fucking impossible to beat, I don't know how I did to get to the last level as a kid. Great game though, absolutely enjoyable even though it pisses the shit outta me lol.

^ I had heard that cover a while ago and I loved it, that made me wanna check out the band's discography except that I never did it lmfao. That performance is really magical, and their presence on the scene is absolutely amazing. 

Awkward shit. I felt so uncomfortable I almost passed out. 

10 hours ago, Bear said:

I also feel like the drummer is way behind the rest of the band. It's like he's on a whole other page. The entire band minus the drummer has evolved and gone all the way to page 291 while the drummer has barely managed to get to page 100. His drumming is really boring and doesn't fit the music at all IMO.

 

I agree the drumming is weak compared to the rest. Had the same feeling, even if it's decent imo. It lacks something.

Great reviews otherwise! I'm glad you had good words for the three releases I shared, although you already knew two of them. And concerning Earth and Pillars, yeah, the Paysage D'Hiver and Darkspace influences are there but the band somehow manages to sound unique and create such a mysterious and amazing atmosphere. Amazing band and incredible album! Anyway, it was great doing these reviews. I'll definitely be spinning most of the releases you posted on here a lot!

4 hours ago, Kaleidoscope said:

@VisutoxPantheion sound great as well, good stuff. Also love the artwork, might actually order this one.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! And yeah, the artwork is so beautiful. Incredible work of art. The band has been working on new material for ages now, hope to get an announcement asap.

4 hours ago, Kaleidoscope said:

I found something nice too a few days ago, they are called Archivist and seem to have some members of Fall of Efrafa. If you like the bands I mentioned in my message to pazzi314, I highly recommend checking them out, really high quality stuff and their album is free on Bandcamp!

 

Already heard of Archivist, but the embedded track is so fucking majestic. Need to dig more into FoE's discography anyway, so I won't be checking out Archivist until then even though they sound interesting. It's definitely going in my list!

I'm really digging it too, and I'm sure there are going to be more incredible tracks. Can't wait. 

It's honestly a damn solid release, hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

On 01/02/2017 at 6:46 AM, Bear said:

It is for fun, but I feel like when you participating in something like this or the trade off the other "trader" deserves that you give it a fair chance. I'm always surprised when people review the trade-offs right away, after a listen or maybe two because I always give the mixes at least 10 listens. Music can so easily grow and judging music by your first impression are often very wrong.

 

Well yeah, agreed. Even though t's relative and depends a lot, I get your point.

That Rude album is on my list waiting for me to check it out, will definitely be doing it asap!!

On 01/02/2017 at 5:45 PM, Bear said:

That's so fucking stupid. Any fan who helps pay for his own studio and shit should just perish in a fire. Fuck off!

I personally don't have any problem with crowdfunding (butI don't support it either) as long as the band manages to deliver a fucking huge album, even though the first message that one gets is "hey we're poor and wanna make new music so that our fans can buy it and make us richer". In this situation, I find it to be a bit exaggerated. You can't rely 100% on the fans to pay everything you need to make your own music. Idiotic move to say the least.

Anyway, I came here to share with y'all one of my AotY contenders.

Can't stop spinning this shit. Just look at the title of the album and you'll know what to expect, there's no way you can't enjoy this. Tasty thrash riffages all the way, as well as bloody mental solos all over the album. These motherfucking Canadians really know how to thrash your face out. IMO this album shits on every thrash album released in 2016 (except Vektor ofc, and maybe Hellbringer and a very few others).

STREAM THE FULL FUCKING ALBUM NOW

^ It's okay dude, take all the time you need, it's just for fun after all. I'm glad that have some good words for Setentia even though their music isn't especially your thing. I'm looking forward your review on the album! 

@KaleidoscopeDer Weg einer Freiheit are brilliant, and their latest album is nothing but fucking Stellar. Need to dig more into their discography though, I'm sure it'll be worth it!

I'd say In the Nightside Eclipse is a good album to start with tbf.

And since you enjoy some modern sounding black metal and we're talking about Emperor, I'd recommend you to check out these guys from Germany. This album is so good, I've listened it so many times that I'm just hoping they'll release something soon. They got some Emperor influences on their music and some brilliant symphonic arrangements. Not to mention the vocals, which are absolutely brilliant:

Well then that's some good "demos" (if I may call them that way) that they dropped right there! Had checked 'em out a while ago and I dug it. Can't wait to hear how their first release is gonna sound!

11 hours ago, Hakari said:

nvm I hope they sound exactly like deluhi.

Tbh this might not be a very good thing, but at the same time I secretly wish they'd sound like them. Something which Galeyd brilliantly achieved to do imo, by sounding like Deluhi more than Deluhi themselves. lol

Need an album from these guys asap. Or a mini, or whatever. 

The samples are not bad at all imo, I enjoyed 'em. I had missed Juri's vocals.

Updates on the new album: 

"Emperor of Sand" is the title of the band's upcoming release. It will be released on the 31st of March. 

Tracklist :

1. Sultan's Curse
2. Show Yourself
3. Precious Stones
4. Steambreather
5. Roots Remain
6. Word to the Wise
7. Ancient Kingdom
8. Clandestiny
9. Andromeda
10. Scorpion Breath
11. Jaguar God

I love the album artwork and dig how that sample sounds. Can't wait to check this out! 

Crack The Skye will forever remain my favorite Mastodon album to me, but I'm always excited to check out new stuff from these guys. They never disappoint. 

Currently reading Gardens of the Moon (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1) by Steven Erikson. I love it, it's so intense and at the same time such an intriguing reading. I don't regret buying it, it's really captivating as hell.

@Lestat : Damn, that sounds really great. Never heard of them and honestly I feel bad about it, will definitely be digging into their discography one of these days. 

7 hours ago, Bear said:

Very sceptical about Setentia though. I can't stand bands like Ulcerate, Gorguts (post-The Erosion of Sanity), Portal and so on. So I guess this'll be a tough listen. Heh.

Well, then it's very likely that it'll indeed be a tough listen. Hope you won't find it to be that horrible though. 

And yeah, re-exploring those releases will defo be nice. Enjoy it man! 

So finally, here's some words on the releases you posted.

. Agatus — The Eternalist

Since I'm not very familiar with Bathory (even though I loved the albums I've checked out so far), I've had a hard time getting into this album. But man, once it grabbed me (by the pussy) I became its bitch. It only takes a matter of seconds to get the RC influences though. It's definitely worth the listen, that's for sure. Gotta say I love it and the old school vibes it gives are really incredible. For me, the highlights of the album are Flight Into Forever (the lead guitar is absolutely fucking huge on this one) and Gilgamesh. Nice catch! 

. Elvarhøi — Langt fra len og leite

Your timing is perfect since I've been on my folk mood recently. So anything that sounds like it potentially makes me enjoy it. In addition to that, the track is really great. The vocals are so good and that makes the whole thing sound even better. This is also how I like my folk metal to sound like. 

. Evoke — Rehellshal Demo

The fact that it's a rehearsal could possibly mean that the original release sounded worse...(?) Anyway. Very cool old school sounding band, I really enjoyed that demo. The thrashy riffs are lit as hell, it's a great release. Only wished it was longer. And when it comes to the production, well, I think they did what they could. 8/10

. Ice War — Reverence of Gold

What's funny about this is that the first impression I had was "yeah indeed, I think this kind of vocals won't be my thing" but at the same time I felt that they fit perfectly in the music. So this is really great to be fair. Also checked out "Battle Zone" and I came to the conclusion that I can dig this shit.

. Barrow Wight — Kings in Saurons Service

Who said your Tolkien metal has to necessarily include epically lame synths? Fuck that, this album fucking rules. I enjoyed it from start to end and I love the heavy metal sounding side of it. The album length is also perfect imo. This helps avoiding the album sounding repetitive or "too long". 

On 20/01/2017 at 8:22 PM, Bear said:

Imagine Venom, Bathory,Hellhammer, Motorhead, Oz and Angel Witch planting their semen into old Running Wild and you're about there.

 Love this hahah. thanks for the laugh! 

So to conclude this, besides the fact that I originally dug the idea, it allowed me to explore some really great heavy metal stuff that came out last year. I'm especially happy for having discovered Agatus, Evoke and Barrow Wight. Huge bands there!

I'd be glad to do more of these in the future, they're fun.

Not too fond about that new Nergal project, even though it's enjoyable (i.e. I'd rather get a new Behemoth album, but to each his own). Will definitely keep an eye on it though, and see how it evolves. And despite hugely disliking the music video, I find the last part of it to be quite interesting/intriguing.

Will start checking out your list, Bear! From what you've written, there seem to be some interesting stuff there. Will be reviewing them (sort of) in my next post.

In the meantime, here are a few of my honorable mentions! I picked up only three releases, since two of them are full-lengths and one is a 44 minutes long EP.

Árstíðir Lífsins — Heljarkviða 

Tbh I didn't know about this band until very recently, and I'm glad they came across my path. They're a black folk metal band from Iceland, and knowing this, you should get ready to be mind blown.  I don't think there's much to say, really. If you're familiar with the band, you know what to expect. If not, then you'll love this EP. Simple as that.

→ Stream the full EP on Youtube

Setentia — Darkness Descent

Technical death metal from New Zealand with some enjoyable atmospheric parts here and there, and a cool avant-gardiste touch. I would not blame you to compare this with Ulcerate, even though you'll be wrong to reduce this band's music to such an easy comparison. It's amazing how this dudes manage to put their own signature in their music, to make it sound like it does; incredibly good. Definitely one of my faves of 2016!

→ Stream the album on bancamp

Earth and Pillars — Pillars I

Discovered this Italian atmospheric/ambient black metal band in 2014 with their fantastic debut album titled "Earth I".  What is funny is that I wasn't even aware that they had planned to deliver some new material, so I was very excited to check this new album out. Did I enjoy did? I surely did, hell yes. It's brilliant, I loved it. And if you do appreciate this genre, you'll surely enjoy this album as much as I did.

→ Stream the album on bandcamp

That was it for me!

It's all good, man! Next time, maybe. 

Perfect then, so yeah let's keep it really short so that we won't be submerged since I know we have other stuff we want to listen to as well.

That works for me! I'd say 5 releases max, and 3 min. And it's gonna be our 2016 honorable mentions then! 

Hope@Jigsaw9likes the idea, and@Lestattoo! 

Count me in, my dear Bear. I really like the idea! I only suggest to shorten our lists to 10 or even less to avoid making it so long, which I think would take a lot of time.

As for me, I think I might come up with my honorable mentions of 2016 rather than my actual top 10, which I think would make discover more stuff knowing I already posted my top in here. But I'm still not sure about it.

Come on guys, it'll be fun!

Yeah it's so great, the bass is a lil more boosted on the demo but it's all good.

I like that shit, will try to get the album even though I think I saw it was sold out on their bandcamp page? Idk.

Did it! I'm listening the demo as we're talking, amazing Thy Mighty Contract worship tbh. That EP is phenomenal. I'm glad I've discovered them, thanks!

EDIT: Just lemme say that the bass on 'Beyond the Cursed Lines ' is absolutely fucking bloody incredible. W o w.

@Jigsaw9Finally managed to listen that Shaarimoth album, it's sooo good. Gets better after each track!! It's very likely that I'll be getting to it again.

@Bear Is 'Seven Nights' the demo you're talking about? If so then I loved both the EP and the demo, brilliant stuff. Has a huge re-listening value tbf. 

I remember you praising that CoF album when it came out, you teased my curiosity by including it in your top 15 so I'm gonna check it out one of these days!

Also was interested to check out that Thangorodrim album., the samples sounded very interesting. 

7 hours ago, Bear said:

Ithaqua - The Black Mass Sabbath Pulse

This EP sounds like a mix of Rotting Christ and Varathron ano 1993. You can hear that this is greek. Another brilliant release by these guys. Like the demo it's more or less perfect!

Okay hold on, I'm checking this out right away.

23 hours ago, Lestat said:

the lyrics are made up of... forgotten Dutch vocabulary indented with olden slang.

It'd be a shame if the lyrics were worth checking out, hope they're not. The sample you posted sounds great! Will make sure to check out the album.

@Jigsaw9I'll spin the Shaarimoth album in a few moments! Glad you enjoyed it dude, it's as you said: a really sinister and aggressive sound, almost intimidating. Love it.

That Chaos Invocation song sounds brilliant. Since I don't know the band, I'll make sure to check their previous work(s). The album artwork of this new album you're talking about is fucking phenomenal!