Visutox

Haven't given myself time to listen to this yet, even though I've had it sitting in my waiting list for a while. Will definitely be listening to this first thing I wake up tomorrow, it sounds good. 

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.
 
 
 
Anyway, contender of album of the year is already here:
 
 
This shit sounds like it was recorded and released around 88-92. So old school sounding. I feel like it's a bit less Pestilence-esque this time around, but after some listens it sounds just as good at the debut. I've had a lot of positive things to say about Rude's debut album Soul Recall, and I'll give it a few more words now because it deserves more listeners. One of my most played death metal albums over the past 2-3 years and an instant classic in my eyes. Sounds a lot like a mix of old Pestilence (Consuming Impulse and Testimony of the Ancients), Morbid Angel (Altars of Madness) and Death (Leprosy).  Check both albums out if you like old school death metal from the late 80's/early 90's.

Just bought my tickets for the Gorgoroth/Melechesh gig that'll be held here in Budapest in March, so I felt like revisiting some of their old albums... man, this drum sound is cracking me up but I kinda love it at the same time too. So primitive and don't-give-a-fuck, hahaha...
 
 

https://warseid.bandcamp.com/ — I'd recommend this to anyone who fancies (Blackened) folk metal. This is an album easy to judge from its cover; Epic battle metal thick with Norse mythology. Their transitioning from acoustic to onslaught is almost flawless, I'd say. Enjoy.

Mastodon released the second single from Emperor of Sand today. Really digging this catchy son-of-a-bitch. Looking forward to the whole album.

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. 
 
 
 
 
 

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. 
 
 
 
 
 

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!
 
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

I'm sorry it's taking so long @Visutox but I've had some problems with Setentia. It's not bad and much better than I expected, but it's not really my cup of tea either. I think at least. But it has grown a bit, but it's just a bit too much for my taste. But I'll give it a bit more time before I post anything about it.

I think they're still finding their sound. I really like both songs actually. Other than the tryhard guitar in Be Proud lol. It was definitely MUCH better live!! I think the guitar wasn't as distracting or something. Plus all the whoa-oh-ohs were fun as a crowd, especially since they haven't been around long enough for all the fans to know the actual lyrics of their songs. Sky falls down was actually a bit disappointing for me live. I had really high hopes for it, but it kinda fell flat for me. It felt really short for some reason too... BUT I'm super looking forward to w/e else they come up with!
 
 
 
I'm really excited for an actual release too!! Juri said he wasn't sure what direction they were going yet, but for now they just wanted people to hear their music so they uploaded it to YouTube lol I'm glad you liked the samples!! I missed Juri's vocals sooooo much!! I think his is my favorite voice <3333333

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.

I got back into Black Metal a bit recently and dug through some of my old favourites, really starting to enjoy some stuff like Darkspace, Xasthur and Midnight Odyssey again. Just recently, I also rediscovered the whole Post-Black Metal whatever thing, I still love Lantlôs, An Autumn for Crippled Children and now Deafheaven, which I actually had never heard before despite their huge popularity (they seem to be quite controversial though).
You guys are probably familiar with most of the stuff I named, so I guess I will share some of the lesser known bands which I only know through the local scene.
 
Der Weg einer Freiheit have some pretty good stuff, I interviewed their guitarist and vocalist a couple of times when they had their first releases. This one is the last album by them that I listened to - they do have some modern influences, but are rooted in the Norwegian scene according to themselves. Very good live band also!
 
Ära Krâ are also nice, but they could be rather described as Blackened Metalcore I suppose? Especially the vocals take some time to get used to, I'm still not sure if I really like these guys or not, but they definitely do have some great melodies.
 
Not from Germany, but a band I also rediscovered in my collection. Resplendent Grotesque was one of my favourite albums at the time, really creative and twisted Black Metal with an amazing vocalist. Curious about what they are up to nowadays, even though I heard that their old vocalist left.
 
Gonna look through some of you guys' suggestions, I already saw Bear mentioning Cultes  des Ghoules a lot, so I guess I will give them a try later. Also looking for a good starting album to get into Emperor, is anybody familiar with their discography?
I'm interested in any other recommendations that might fit my taste - I usually enjoy more modern takes on Black Metal, but definitely like the more traditional stuff as well.

That Napoleon album is fucking great! I absolutely love the technical side of it. Fantastic album from start to finish. 
Also enjoyed the Architects one even though the production makes the album sound very homogeneous, if I may say so. A very good one nonetheless! Memento Mori is clearly the highlight of the album to me, what a freaking masterpiece that is.

I used to be a hardcore vk fan until most of the bands I liked(DEATHGAZE, Girugamesh, D'espairsRay, 9GBO, etc.) disbanded.

Trying out a new aesthetic through a self-portrait.  I'm playing around with line quality in Illustrator.
I like the overall look of it, but I'm not so fond of the eyes. They're a bit too puppy-dog like.
 
Any feedback is appreciated! In fact, I could use a good critique. 

@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. 
 
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". 
 
 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.

I am doing something different this year, and I am going through nearly every newly released black metal album I can find online. I just found this (even though Schattenvald have been around since 1998) and I can say I am pretty amazed. For fans of Emperor, Summoning and Bathory. Very melodic/symphonic, with some excellent guitar-work. Loving the vocals too. 

I'll check these out today. Already familiar with both Árstíðir Lífsins and Earth and Pillars, but I haven't spun these releases in a long time so that'll be nice. One is very Helrunar'esque and the other very Paysage d'Hiver and Darkscape-esque, which is a great thing.
 
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.

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!

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!

Here's my honorable mentions of 2016. I decided to to go with 5 releases since one is a one-track demo and two of them are a 15 minutes long demo/EP. They might not be my favourites of the honorable ones, but they're all great and I thought that these might not be something you've heard from  at all.
 
Agatus - The Eternalist
Imagine Rotting Christ and Varathron anno 1993 playing US power/heavy metal inspired by viking-era Bathory. This album sounds like a greek black metal band playing power metal, which is what it is. Unique riffing and fantastic songs.
https://agatus.bandcamp.com/album/the-eternalist
 
Elvarhøi - Langt fra len og leite
 
Folk metal. It's not very unique, but I love this song. The vocals are amazing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6fCXh6a0yA
 
Evoke - Rehellshal Demo
Black/thrash metal hell in the South-American vein. The production is a bit rough considering it's a rehearsal, but the opening track just tells you all you need. That opening riff, man. Holy fucking christ!
https://rushofpower.bandcamp.com/album/rehellshal-demo
 
Ice War - Reverence of Gold
When Iron Dogs split Jo Capitalicide decided to go and do his own thing, and that's resulted in 4 singles and 1 EP since 2015.  Heavy/speed metal with bad, rotten vocals on top.  This is shabby as fuck and certainly not for everyone, but I reckong fans of old Runnign Wild and Death SS might enjoy this. I love it!
 
https://icewar.bandcamp.com/album/reverence-of-gold
 
Barrow Wight - Kings in Saurons Service
Barrow Wight play a mixture of black and heavy metal. Imagine Venom, Bathory,Hellhammer, Motorhead, Oz and Angel Witch planting their semen into old Running Wild and you're about there.
 
https://heavychainsrecords.bandcamp.com/
 
 
Enjoy!

TYPE A : 6920 yens + taxes
CD :
01. Myakuhaku
02. Zettai Zetsumei
03. CLASSIC
04. KILLEЯ
05. BILLY×2 -Entwines ROCK STARS-
06. Ringo
07. EMP
08. Yue Ni Matenrou (ALBUM MIX)
09. Himitsu
10. Commune
11. Wasurenagisa
12. Sirius
13. Fuka
14. Heide
DVD :
01.ROAD TO 20th ANNIVERSARY
”Myakuhaku”High-Resolution Audio(48kHz/24bit)
+ Artbook 
 


TYPE B : 3800 yens + taxes
CD :
01. Myakuhaku
02. Zettai Zetsumei
03. CLASSIC
04. KILLEЯ
05. BILLY×2 -Entwines ROCK STARS-
06. Ringo
07. EMP
08. Yue Ni Matenrou (ALBUM MIX)
09. Himitsu
10. Commune
11. Wasurenagisa
12. Sirius
13. Fuka
14. Heide
DVD :
01.ROAD TO 20th ANNIVERSARY
”Myakuhaku”High-Resolution Audio(48kHz/24bit)
 

Regular edition : 3000 yens + taxes
CD :
01. Myakuhaku
02. Zettai Zetsumei
03. CLASSIC
04. KILLEЯ
05. BILLY×2 -Entwines ROCK STARS-
06. Ringo
07. EMP
08. Yue Ni Matenrou (ALBUM MIX)
09. Himitsu
10. Commune
11. Wasurenagisa
12. Sirius
13. Fuka
14. Heide
 
 
 
 

Okay, so here's my first "bandomen". I tried to draw Chiaki from Dezert. Tried.

On the plus side, he still looks great in a school girl's uniform.

That WIP is now finished~

 

I just got a fun idea. The few of us who is here should spin through eachothers "best of 2016" lists and "review" them in this thread. Just to get the activity going, and to find some new bands and albums from last year. Anyone in?