The general Metal discussion thread

[Bear 1817]

Yesterday I found out D. of Woods of Desolation/Forest Mysticism/Grey Waters recently released two new demos under new band names. I thought he'd been quiet for awfully long as he's not released anything new with Woods of Desolation since 2014's As the Stars. 

 

First is a band called Remete. Atmospheric black metal, but it's instrumental. I'd love some vocals on these tracks, but they're amazing nonetheless. The atmosphere and melodies reminds me of older Woods of Desolation releases such as Toward the Depths and Sorh, but without the hazy/foggy production of mentioned albums. Melancholic and sorrowful black metal.

 

 

Second demo is released under the name Unfelled. Again, very similar to Woods of Desolation and very, very good. A bit on the rawer side with a hazier production. I really like both.

 

https://coldwaysmusic.bandcamp.com

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I dunno this guy, but cool band name ('remete' means 'hermit' in Hungarian). xD

[Bear 1817]

I totally recommend Woods of Desolation. Both old and new, if you're into this kind of music. For the two first albums the music itself and the melodies aren't too different, but difference in the production makes them into two very different beasts. I prefer the older, more lo-fi and hazy material myself, but I am one of few as far as I know. The last album, As the Stars, was a bit more in the direction of post-black metal with a stronger shoegaze and post-rock feeling. A bit more Alcest-esque.

 

 

 

He also played bass on Austere's masterpiece "To Lay like Old Ashes".

 

 

I'll glady recommend Forest Mysticism and Grey Waters too. Forest Mysticism is very similar to Woods of Desolation and Grey Waters is more depressive rock, influenced by Katatonia's later albums and Amesoeurs.

 

Woods of Desolation's "Toward the Depths" and "Sorh" have been my go-to albums for foggy days alongside Negură Bunget's "'n crugu bradului" and "Om". I always play these albums when I'm walking around in the fog. No exception.

[Bear 1817]

 

 

A track off the new Uada album. Nothing new here as they still sound like a mix of Mgla and Dissection, but I still really like it. But what is up with the vocals? For most part it's pretty good, albeit a bit all over the place. But those low ones. Lulz! Maybe I'll get used to it, but they didn't come off as too clever and fitting right now.

 

 

 

Damn, this was quite a surprise. Been hearing about Nocturnus AD for 15 years without actually getting to hear anything from them. It's a demo recording, but it sounds fantastic. Nocturnus AD is Mike Browning's (ex-Nocturnus, After Death, ex-Morbid Angel) continuation of old Nocturnus. After Death was/is basically a band that continues the journey and explore other things musically, but this pretty much picks up exactly where the classic album The Key ended. And this actually sounds very much like The Key, which I personally consider one of the finest and classiest death metal albums ever released. So I am looking forward to hearing mroe from these guys.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The mighty Blood Music just released Lychgate's new album "The Contagion in Nine Steps". Awesome theatrical, dark, proggy rotten atmospheric metal goodness, venturing into way more weird territory than their excellent previous full-length (which is my fave from them so far, tho that might change soon).

 

https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-contagion-in-nine-steps

[Bear 1817]

I got to see Uada live at Inferno festival yesterday. Oh dear, what a band! I won't hesitate to give them 10/10. Jesus, they were so good

[Jigsaw9 6783]

21 minutes ago, Bear said:

I got to see Uada live at Inferno festival yesterday. Oh dear, what a band! I won't hesitate to give them 10/10. Jesus, they were so good

Awesome! I'll be seeing them live alongside Furia and Au-Dessus next week!

Edited March 30, 2018 by Jigsaw9

[ghost 2687]

1 hour ago, Jigsaw9 said:

The mighty Blood Music just released Lychgate's new album "The Contagion in Nine Steps". Awesome theatrical, dark, proggy rotten atmospheric metal goodness, venturing into way more weird territory than their excellent previous full-length (which is my fave from them so far, tho that might change soon).

 

https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/the-contagion-in-nine-steps

I really like Contagion. I'm not sure why, but I like this more than Glass Pill.  I gave Glass Pill a lot of tries, but it still hasn't clicked with me. The "proggy rotten atmosphere" is excellent, but I can't put my finger on what's keeping me from really getting into it.

[Bear 1817]

Fleshgod Apocalypse is playing as we speak. Fucking LOL. Giving the band 1/10 would be way too generous. It's the second time I see them and I still can't make my mind up. Serious or not? I say not

[Bear 1817]

Went to Inferno last week like usual and like previous years I missed out on a lot of good bands because they played too early, John Dee was full or because I was hungry or something, but I got to see some very good bands too.Right now I can't really remember everything that played, so I might miss out on a few ones. But let's try anyway:

 

Emperor - Emperor were, to my huge surprise, not a headliner, but they played Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk in its entirety, before they ended the gig with Curse You All Men!, The Majesty of the Nightsky, I Am The Black Wizards and Inno A Satana. I have never really been a big fan of the album but the concert was amazing and completely changed my view of the album. Been playing it several times since I got home and I am really enjoying it now. Like really, really diggin' it. The magic of live gigs, folks! They don't look very black metal and I do wish they'd done a bit more image-wise, but the sound was fantastic, they had superb stage pressence and was really good. By far the best I've ever seen them.

 

Satyricon - My first time seeing them, and I will not be seeing them again. Awful setlist with only 5 tracks being off Volcano and the albums before it. But it just didn't sound good. Towards the end of the gig I told my friend they were gonna play Mother North soon, and then he just told me they had just played it. I was not able to recognize one of the most iconic black metal tracks ever. Was not able to recognize Walk the Path of Sorrow either. Which kinda sums up how bad this was.

 

Obituary - Obituary played a mix of new and old tracks, but as they don't have a single bad album that's not a problem. Of course I would love more old, but it wasn't a problem. Great, groovy death metal gig. Was real good!

 

Electric Wizard - With sleazy horror films with a lot of torture of naked girls, occultism and nudity playing in the background Electric played through a set mostly of newer songs, but also made sure to play a couple of classic tracks from their older albums. The sound was good with the vocals buried beneath the instruments which, unless you already knew the tracks, made it impossible to hear what he was actually singing. But there was nothing wrong with it. Made it even more hazy and smokey. I've heard much negative about ElWiz live, but this was great with The Chosen Few as the highlight. One of the best doom metal songs ever.

 

Carpathian Forest - These guys were to my huge surprise headlines for one of the evenings. The reason I was surprised is because they hadn't released a full-lenght since 2006 and their upcoming EP is not yet released. But this was a great gig with tracks taken from all their albums (with the exception of the poor Fuck You All!!!! as far as I know), as well as a demo and old EP track and a few cover songs of Turbonegro and The Cure. Played a lot of good songs, but the highlight was when Nattefrost suddenly picked out a harmonica from his backpocket and played the worst piece of music I have ever heard. But it was bad and ugly in a beautiful and fun way. I also have to admit that he did a lot better than expected, and he delivered a very mature gig. Very good!

 

 

Too be continued...

[Bear 1817]

Dark Funeral - I was looking forward to Dark Funeral considering their latest album, Where Shadows Forever Reign, is by far their best release since Diabolis Interium, but this was one hell of a disappointing gig. They're known for poor, muddy sound live, but the overall sound wasn't really too bad. The setlist was disappointing with only three tracks off Dark Funeral, The Secrets of the Black Arts and Vobiscum Satanas (and album that should have been in the focus considering it's 20 years old this year), the new frontman, Heljarmadr of Domgård and Grá, was too slick, too boring. But the main problem was the sound of the bass drums. Made it unbearable really.

 

Napalm Death - The band, with Mitch Harris in the front, made one hell of an energic and fun show . The sound was top notch, Mitch Harris moved around like he was on some strong, scary fucking drugs and the setlist was alright. Great gig! Covered fucking Anti Cimex as well. Top notch!

 

Fleshgod Apocalypse - I've already written about these guys, but let me add that I've seen them two times and both gigs are among the 5 worst gigs I've ever seen. Maybe even among the 3 worst. Fans of these shitheads should be executed right away. Fuck off!

 

Origin - I'm not fan of this kind of brutal and technical death metal, and I didn't like the music a lot. But it was a really fucking fascinating gig and I am glad I saw them. I was just standing there with my mouth open and watching their bassist for the entire gig really. Holy cow. The speed, technicality and precision, man. Wow! It was both fun and interesting watching him. The thing I did not like was the vocalist. Jason Keyser acted and sounded like he belonged in a shitty deathcore band, not a death metal band.

 

Grave - Grave is among the classic death metal bands from sweden that helped form the classic swedish death metal sound, and I was looking forward to this gig. But I did expect to be let down by a setlist with too many new songs. They played one song from Out of Respect for the Dead and Dominion VIII, and the rest of the tracks, which was 10, was from 1993 and backwards. Six songs from Into the Grave, two songs from You'll Never See..., one song from ...and Here I Die...Satisfied and one song from their third demo Anatomia Corporis Humani. That is a truly amazing setlist. All respect to the band who seem smart enough to understand what their audience wants. Fantastic!

 

Ahab - I'm not the biggest fan and when I want funeral doom I tend to go for something else, but this gig was so fucking good. Dark, heavy and crushing. It was like being taken on a trip over the seas in the boat of Captain Ahab. Superb!

 

Earth Electric - Earth Electric is the new band of Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen and his wife Carmen. We're talking 70's inspired prog rock meets heavy metal, and I was surprised. Had never heard the band, but the gig was really damn good. And Carmen Susana Simões, the female vocalist, brought something really special to the gig and she gave off a very traditional Louisiana Voodoo-feeling. It was really cool! Liked it a lot. So did my friend who isn't really into this type of music.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Thanks for the gig reviews, @Bear, it was fun to read.  I hope I can see Carpathian Forest live some day too~

Edited April 6, 2018 by Jigsaw9

[Bear 1817]

There is still a few more coming. Not sure how many more bands I saw, but was at least a couple. Will finish up when I get home from work.

 

Yeah, totally recommend seeing CP today. Looked much better than they did before. More serious and more of a classic black metal approach to everything. But still rocking!

[Bear 1817]

Shining - I'm not the biggest fan of Shining, but I can appreciate the stuff released before The Eerie Cold and the move towards more progressive and rock-esque music quite a lot. But I've always felt like Niklas Kvarforth was a pathetic subhuman and this gig didn't change anything. The band sounds awful, they act pathetic and the entire gig was really embarrassing. My two friends who loves the band agrees, but they were even more negative than me. Says it all.

 

Uada - This gig was just too good. The sound was amazing, the band looks cool and their brand of melodic black metal that sounds like a mix of Mgla and Dissection really does it for me. Superb gig!

 

 

So my favourite gigs of Inferno: Uada, Grave, Electric Wizard, and to my huge surprise, Emperor.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

2 hours ago, Bear said:

Uada - This gig was just too good. The sound was amazing, the band looks cool and their brand of melodic black metal that sounds like a mix of Mgla and Dissection really does it for me. Superb gig!

I can attest to this, just saw them myself earlier this week. They kick so much ass live!

[Bear 1817]

 

 

I don't believe I've seen this video before, but this has to rank among the best metal videos I've seen so far in my life. Totally cool and badass as fuck.

[Bear 1817]

 

 

That is awesome. Love the new look!

 

[Bear 1817]

I don't expect there to be any fans of Mysifier here, but I'll post some new anyway:

 

Quote

"Season of Mist are proud to announce the signing of Mystifier. The Brazilian black metal underground stalwarts will release their long anticipated next album through the label. 
MYSTIFIER comment: "We have spend 29 years on the road and 17 years without releasing an album. Finally, we have signed a deal for a new record with one of the biggest labels of extreme music. We were introduced to Season of Mist boss Michael Berberian during our European tour, 'Bloodshed Rituals 2016' with ROTTING CHRIST, but we never imagined becoming a part on such a select roster. We expect our alliance will prove beneficial for all parties involved and we extend our gratitude to every fan, producer, photographer, sound and light engineer, fanzines, record label, tour manager, and everybody else, who took part of our long underground history. Towards infinity!"

 

The band released two albums in the early 90's the soon reached status as cult albums, and with time they've also turned into milestones of the genre. I loved both Wicca and Göetia, and I feel like The World Is So Good That Who Made It Doesn't Live Here isn't much worse. But a lot of people have problems with the vocals of that album. They took an operatic and theatrical approach and I love it. The demo compilation 25 Years of Blasphemy and War is also damn good!

 

They are also one of the best live bands I've ever seen.

 

Profanus is a decent album too, but I hope a new album is superior to that one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh heeeell yeaz!

[Bear 1817]

http://downloads.tankcrimes.com/album/ghoul-ill-bill

 

Damn! So death/thrash/grind metallers Ghoul just released/are soon to release a split with hip hopper Ill Bill and the Ill Bill track sounds fucking awesome! That's just awesome. Not heard the Ghoul track yet. Just ended up playing Ill Bill on repeat. It's that good!

 

 

New Necros Christos album. Fuck yeah!

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

Mmmmmmh yes baby. So cool!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I haven't listened to Aura Noir before but the advance tracks from the new album sound pretty kickass, so I'll give it a shot.

 

In other news: it completely took me by surprise but apparently there's a new Craft album coming in June! Awesome!

 

 

 

edit: Also, NEW CARPATHIAN FOREST YEEEEEEES

 

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Jigsaw9

[Bear 1817]

2 hours ago, Jigsaw9 said:

I haven't listened to Aura Noir before but the advance tracks from the new album sound pretty kickass, so I'll give it a shot.

 

Wow! That is actually a huge surprise. Expected you to already be fully into it. Aura Noir is a band that is at the worst, Hades Rise, a very good band. At their best, Dreams Like Deserts, Black Thrash Attack, Deep Tracts of Hell and The Merciless, fucking classic.

 

Dreams Like Deserts - A bit thrashy, but their most black metal influenced album by a long shot. 

Black Thrash Attack - This is hands down one of the most fitting album titles ever. A pure black/thrash metal assault.

Deep Tracts of Hell - Their most violent and chaotic album to date. A lot more challenging and complex than previous album. Less Sodom and Destruction and more...Aura Noir?

The Merciless - Their best album if you ask me, and maybe their filthiest album as well. It's the perfect balance between Teutonic thrash ala Sodom and Destruction, Norwegian black metal ala Darkthrone and 1st wave black metal ala Bathory and Tormentor. Check out Sordid and enjoy the homage to Possessed and their "March to Die". Fantastic stuff! And check Nattefrost's verse on Funeral Thrash. 

Hades Rise - Hades Rise is their most groovy album so far.  Overall a lot slower and less thrashy than previous efforts. A tad disappointing as a whole, but it's not bad at all. Just not as good as their other stuff. 

Out to Die - Out to Die sees Aura Noir pick up the pace again, and it's problably the closest they've been to traditional thrash metal, but without completely ditching the black metal vibes. Good shit!

 

 

A must-love band for any fan of good black and thrash metal.

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

 

Sweet as fuck as usual from Ghost. Great video too.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Ghost, so much fun. Best video from them in a long time.  

[123Sandman321 377]

^Awesome as usual, Forge has some sweet moves. I'm still in awe of how popular they got, it's insane nowadays for a metal band.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

On another note, Behemoth released a new music video. Top-notch cinematography and visuals. And not to forget, the best song from the album.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by 123Sandman321
Too many underscores