The general Metal discussion thread

[Bear 1817]

I've sever been too big on Gorguts to be honest. I think Considered Dead is fantastic and a real classic, and The Erosion of Sanity is fairly good. But I think Obscura and the albums after are just godawful nonsense. Not close to being my up of tea at all. The logo change that came with Obscura sucked too. The old logo was so much cooler, but with the massive change in sound I can totally understand why they did it. But I don't get why they changed it to an ugly one. Ew! So for me:

 

1. Considered Dead (9/10)

2....and Then Comes Lividity / Demo Anthology (9/10)

3. The Erosion of Sanity(8/10)

 

The rest I don't like at all.

 

But I am actually seeing Gorguts live at Inferno festival next wednesday. As far as I can remember Vulkan arena and Pokalen are in the same building, so I will try to see Gorguts and Exodus at the big scene, Vulkan, and Hetroertzen at the smaller scene, Pokalen. I don't expect to enjoy Gorguts live as I can see them play mostly newer songs, but who the fuck knows. Maybe they'll surprise me. Exodus and Hetroertzen should be very fun, though.

[Bear 1817]

 

 

Everyone in Moonsorrow has been a great Rotting Christ-fan since the early 90´s and with our version of this song we wanted not only to honor the band but also give the credit how much we have been influenced by them throughout our history. With our hails and deepest respect to our brothers in Hellas, we proudly present our interpretation of their creation: Non Serviam.

ROTTING CHRIST frontman Sakis Tolis comments: “The Non Serviam dictum is more topical than ever nowadays and we are more than honored, that the Great Finish Pagan Metal Warriors, Moonsorrow, have honored it and gave their own vision on how our early 90's song can also sound nowadays. We all in the band find their creation amazing and we send our respect to the north. Keep the spirit alive!”

 

 

Another great cover song by Moonsorrow, and as usual they manage to pay nice homage to the original song while adding their own touch and twist to the song. You can hear that this is a Rotting Christ track, yet at the same time it could easily have been an original Moonsorrow track. Just what they did with their Metallica and Merciless covers a few years back. Really looking forward to hearing their Grave cover too.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Sweet baby jesus on a bloody stick, the new Cobalt double album leakedddd~

 

Gonna religiously listen to it tomorrow night.

[emmny 4139]

i can't get into cobalt which is prolly a sin considering i love usbm

i've never really been into punk/bm hybrids so i guess its just not for me, the vocalist's previous band was sick tho

[Jigsaw9 6783]

They have like zero 'punk' elements tho (on the contrary, they usually have long elaborate songs), you might be thinking of a different band? Anyway, they're of an acquired taste I guess.

[Bear 1817]

I wouldn't say that it's too far off calling Cobalt a bit punky, especially in their later years. I think the two first songs on Landfill Breastmilk Beast and parts of Gin are very punkish.

 

 

But I personally love both punk and black metal and think it is an excellent combination. The rawness and attitude of both genres just goes hand in hand. Darkthrone's The Cult is Alive, Ildjarn, Akitsa, Bone Awl, Iskra, Damned Grave, Barbatos, Raspberry Bulbs, Gallhammer, White Medal, Martyrdöd, newer Skitsystem, Sexdrome, Gandr, Ødelegger, Vordr, Urzeit and so on. An excellent mix! It doesn't get much more hateful and primitive than bands like Ildjarn, Ødelegger, Gandr, White Medal and stuff. Can totally understand how these aren't exactly for everyone, though. Total support from me, though!

[Bear 1817]

Also really looking forward to Inferno festival now. Only four days (two working days) before I get onto the night train towards Oslo to watch a shitload of bands and get drunk out of my mind four days in a row. The band's we're seeing are pretty much clear at the moment too. The one's italiced are bands I'll most likely watch because my brother and friends want to see them, and I'll join in because of them:

 

Wednesday:

 

Gorguts

Exodus

Hetroertzen

 

Thursday:

 

Vader

Marduk

Mysticum

Cattle Decapitation

 

Friday:

 

Sodom

Suffocation

Nile

Wormlust

The Crawling

 

Saturday:

 

Nifelheim

Moonsorrow

Mayhem

Thaw

Månegarm

 

 

 

Saturday will be the highlight for sure. Nifelheim and fucking Moonsorrow for fucks sake! Never seen Nifelheim before and I've only seen Moonsorrow once, 8-9 years ago, so this is gonna be nice. I exect Nifelheim to be the highlight. They always looked like one of the ultimate live bands for sure.

 

[Bear 1817]

Discovered Witch Vomit yesterday and their debut EP The Webs of Horror is up for be on the band's bandcamp: https://witchvomit1.bandcamp.com/releases

 

They're obviously influenced by swedish death metal of the 80's and early 90's. I think the EP is fantastic. Raw, rotten and foul death metal in the vein of the oldest releases by bands such as Nihilist/Entombed, Corpce/Grave, Dismember, Mega Slaughter, Nirvana 2002 and so on with small hints of Autopsy thrown in here and there in the more doomy parts.

 

 

I also highly recommend the chilean death metal band Putrid Yell. The When Life Has Ceased is brilliant, and as with Witch Vomit it's very inspired by the early swedish death metal scene. This could easily have been a demo from 1989 by a swedish death metal band.

 

https://unholydomainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/when-life-has-ceased-tape

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

It's that time of year again when I'm all in. The older I get, the more I like all those albums I didn't get into when I was a youngin' so now I'm listening to Hellhammer, Graveland, first three Bathory and heavy metal in general. The aforementioned Obscura though is definitely like the best example of an album I loved to death when I was 18, but wouldn't give the time of day now. I haven't listened to Considered Dead and Erosion of Sanity in forever, but I remember wanting to like both yet neither I really listened that much lolol. 

 

Bear what's your opinion on the Blazebirth hall stuff? I've had them on my computer forever, but never got around listening to them. 

[Bear 1817]

I'm not familiar with every single Blazebirth Hall band, but the few I know is excellent. Forest's four first albums are nothing short of brilliant, Branikald's albums of the 90's are amazing, and the debut albums of both Nitberg and Raven Dark are very good and Rundagor's demo is brilliant.

 

These are easily my most played Blazebirth Hall albums, though:

 

Forest - Заревом над прахом

Forest - Обрекая надежду на вечность

Forest - Песнью в жатве горя

Branikald - Kveldulv

Branikald - Хладавзор

 

I wouldn't be shy of giving any of them 6/6 to be honest. They're just fantastic albums.

[Bear 1817]

http://decibelmagazine.com/blog/woman-is-the-earth-song-premiere

 

New Woman is the Earth track. Black metal in the vein of Wolves in the Throne Room and Fen. Sounds really nice, but I am very surprised by the active, almost flashy drumming.

 

 

 

Oh dear me. Destruction reaches a whole new low with these lyrics and the video. Quite embarrassing to be honest. Jesus!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ lmao, that was awful, yeah. XD

Gave the new Cobalt album a spin yesterday, top-quality stuff! (tho a bit too long for my usual liking)

[Bear 1817]

Yeah! Those lyrics could've easily have been written by the guys behind "Metalheads against bullying". I'm at a loss of words for those lyrics.

 

 

 

Fuck me, that sounds good. If this is an indication on what the album is gonna sound like, then they've taken another huge step away from the doom metal and further into the world of psychedelic rock. Immense track! Absolutely brilliant.

[Bear 1817]

And the death metallers in Graveyard have a new album coming up and here's the new track: https://soundcloud.com/war-anthem-records/graveyardes-with-fear-and-thirst

 

That sounds very good. They bring nothing new to the table, but it sounds very good and if you're into old Dismember, Grave and Unleashed you should be up for this shit. Sounds good!

[Bear 1817]

Had to leave Gorguts after three and a half song. Even my brother who like Newer Gorguts thought it was awful. Godawful doesn't even start covering how bad they were. What a joke of a band they have become. Saddening.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Sucks to hear about Gorguts... ;( You didn't like their songs, or did they just play in a bad / sloppy way?

 

Gonna go see them live in a few weeks, hope they'll deliver.

[Bear 1817]

It was tight and shit, but there was no energy og joy on stage. It looked like a band doing a job they hate. And it was awfully poppy in a way. The sound was good, but it wasn't heavy, brutal og hard in any way. Nothing about it was metal at all. Weak.

Exodus however wrecked the place. What an energy and intensity. Great gig!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ I see. The only time I've seen them so far (in summer 2014) seems similar to your experience, in that they weren't really rocking out or anything, and looked very stationary and serious. I just attribute that to the complex stuff they have to precisely deliver, so it's natural that they try to focus hard on what they're playing imo. But then again, I have no other point of reference concerning how they are live.

[emmny 4139]

jig i meant punky not so much as straight bm/hardcore hybrid but like with a punk influence, which i don't like much with my black metal--it lends mixing to death metal more (metalcore!!)

its my same issue with tombs, or why i never really got into them much

[Bear 1817]

Cattle Decapitation are the big surprise so far. What a fucking gig! Fantastic!

Mysticum are by far the best gig so far. That shit was from another dimension. Brilliant!!!!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

@@emmny I see, I guess I can see/hear that.

 

@@Bear Cattle Decapitation rules! I really wanna see them live too, seems like an absolute killer live band.

[Bear 1817]

Got back home early today. Jesus christ, my body is wrecked but as usual it's been totally worth it. I think I missed out on two bands I wanted to see, but that shit always happens when it's a festival. A short summary:

 

Wednesday:

 

Gorguts kicked off Inferno for me and my friends, and what an awful gig. None in our company, no matter if we don't get the band, like a couple of albums or adore the band liked the gig. We all really disliked it and just had to leave. 2/10

Hetroertzen looked like they were onto something but the sound was just awful, so we left halfway into the gig. They've been under heavy critizism in the past for goinf with this weird-as-fuck image, but to my huge disappointment they went for a plain and standard black metal look this time. No fairy-shit. 4/10

Exodus ended the evening for us and was superb. A nice setlist, good sound and a fantastic energy you just had to love. Very good gig! 9/10

 

Exodus:

 

Thursday:

 

Vader was already well into their set when we arrived, which sucked because the 20-25 minutes we saw was very good. The sound was good, the band looked like they had plenty fun and it was all good. 8/10

Marduk was our next band out and they did well. Played a surprisingly slow setlist wich obviously made it a lot easier for the sound guy to fix the sound, but I was let down by the bass drums. They sounded awfully triggered to my ears and ruined a lot of the experience for me. Everything else was good, though. 7/10

Cattle Decapitation I've already written about, and they were the big surprise of this years Inferno. A god damn fantastic gig is what they delivered. I'm not a fan, but live they were completely different live than on record. Less brutal and much more controlled, yet heavy and brutal as fuck. Great energy too! Kudos to the guitarist for his awesome playing style and fucking ridiculous haircut. 8/10

Mysticum is the band of the year for sure. What a set-up, what a light-show, what a gig! So simple, yet so massive and unique. Concerts simply doesn't get much better than this. Perfect! I'll also add that the band got a small fee to play at Inferno, but they actually went as far as to spend a big amount of money from their own pockets to get the rig they used for the show. It cost a lot more money than they got. Respect! 10/10

 

Mysticum:

 

Friday:

 

Sodom was, like Vader the previous day, halfway into their set when we arrived, but the 20-25 minutes we saw was very cool. A tad too modern for my taste, especially oldies like Blasphemer and Sodomy and Lust (which they started right when we arrived) was too god damn modern. They just didn't play them the way they should be played, which is a shame. But a cover of Motorhead's Iron Fist with Abbath on vocals were fantastic and totally made up for it. 7/10

Suffocation started out OK, but I am not a big fan and after a couple of songs it felt like they were just repeating the two same songs over and over again. Got tired after a couple of songs and had to struggle not to go hanf myself. 3/10

Craft was alright, but they're not exactly a fantastic live band and the vocalist looked like he had the shittiest time of his life. He did not look like he was were he wanted to be, nor like he enjoy playing life. But Demonspeed and Fuck the Universe really rocked. 6/10

Nile headlined this day and played for 90 fucking minutes. It was godawful! The bass drums were the worst of Inferno this year, and the only thing that was not boring as fuck was some of the talk between the songs. Especially Dallas Toler-Wade was great. But other than that I though it sucked. 2/10

The Crawling was another band I had wanted to see, but we only saw half before we left. I thought it was boring as fuck. 4/10

 

Sodom:

 

Saturday:

 

Nifelheim kicked off the fourth and last day of Inferno Festival 2016 for us, and what a way to kick off the last day. Second best gig of the festival for me. The sound was great, the attitude were on point and the setlist was brilliant, but for a band with only gold in their discography that's quite obvious. I loved everything about this gig. Perfect! 10/10

Moonsorrow was, alongside Nifelheim, the band I looked the most forward to and they did not at all disappoint. Not the best of the festival obviously, but third best I'd say. They struggled a bit with the sound and 85% of the synth completely drowned in the mix, but that was actually a positive thing as what we got was a much darker and blacker gig which suited the band a lot. I played Pimea on the voirs but told my friend they would not play this live, I knoew that much. But to my big surprised they played it live and it was like a trip to heaven. Jesus christ it was good! 9/10

Månegarm is a band I think it OK, but I'm not a big fan of the band. But I wanted to see them, tried and left early on. It was so boring, and they were so standard. I wanted viking metal, but this was straight forward black metal without any viking metal feeling whatsoever. Poor as fuck! 3/10

Mayhem ended Inferno Fesitval 2016 and in great fashion too. This was a gig full of what I'd call fan service, which is the first time I see for a metal band. Maniac, Messiah and Manheim all guested and did songs from their respective era which was a very cool touch to the gig. Very, very good gig! 8/10

 

Nifelheim:

 

 

And that's that. A brilliant fest and lots of amazing concerts. Happy!

[Bear 1817]

Listening to Jumalten aika, Moonsorrow's new album, as we speak, and this sounds truly exceptional. It sounds a lot less traditional folky and viking-esque than their previous album, the good but disappointing Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa, which again had more in commong with the albums before Verisäkeet. It's way more progressive and a lot darker and with much more emphasis on the black metal, but not quite as much as Verisäkeet or V: Hävitetty. It feels more like the natural follow-up to Tulimyrsky, continuing the dark, blac and progressive pagan metal of these three releases, rather than the folky viking metal of the pre-Verisäkeet albums.

 

So far I'm very, very impressed.

[Bear 1817]

 

Vektor sure has stepped up their game for this release. All three songs posted so far are miles better than their pevious stuff. No more joking around trying to be super fancy and unique. It seems to be all about the music now.

 

 

 

 

Alo, the new Bloo Ceremony is fucking excellent. As with previous albums they've gone in a less doomy an metallic direction aiming more towards 60's and 70's rock of different kind, but they're not copying anyone. They've found their own unique sound. They are getting more and more unique with every albums, as well as better and better. Fantastic!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

That new Vektor song kicks my balls for sure. Can't wait!