The general Metal discussion thread

[Bear 1817]

 

 

The new album is up on bandcamp. Great stuff as usual from Cosmic Curch. It's very finnish sounding, but sounds more spacey than before, much due to some of the synthwork. Very elegant and nice. 

[Bear 1817]

 

 

This track, a modern norwegian stoner/doom metal track, is the track that brought Black Debbath back on the map for me, after two mediocre albums. Their best track ever, and probably  hella lot better for anyone who speak the language. I'm not a political person, I fucking hate politics. But these guys manage to blend fantastic music, great politics and superb humour in a big, fat mix and make it awesome. There's some damn good riffing in this song, the album, and their three first album. Good, good shiet, guys!

 

And just look past the lyrics, as you do with most Japanese bands. Because this band rules!

[Bear 1817]

On 2/4/2018 at 6:50 PM, Bear said:

Some interesting news regarding Sodom is that Tom Angelripper kicked both the guitarist (1996-2018) and drummer (2010-2018) and got himself three new members. Frank Blackfire who played on Expurse of Sodomy, Persecution Mania and Agent Orange (as well as Kreator's Coma of Souls) is back on guitar, Tormentor/Husky from Desaster is in on drums and some random guy from a random band is also in on guitar. I haven't liked a Sodom album in ages, but with these guys I can see the band taking a 180 and go more old school and less melodic again. 

 

Liked their new band pictures too, albeit I get a bit trend-feeling of it all. But that's OK. Looks very old school and very thrash metal, and judging from the pictures I wouldn't be surprised if there's elements of black metal in an upcoming album.

 

 

 

And the first signs of the new Sodom line up just appeared, and I gotta admit that they're as good as they are surprising. It's  a sample of a cover of a classic Sacrilege song. For those who doesn't know, Sacrilege is a killer British cult band that started off as a crust/thrash metal band and released the über classic cult album Behind the Realms of Madness in 1985, and then went on to release a straight forward thrash metal album in 87 and a doom metal album in 89. All three albums are superb, but the debut is just something of its own. Unique, and if you ask me, way ahead of its time. An absolute must for any fan of hardcore/d-beat/crust punk or thrash metal.

 

So hearing Sodom covering this is pretty awesome. A bit polished, but it sounds good tbh. Looking forward to hearing the entire song.

 

 

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/sodoms-new-lineup-covers-sacrileges-lifeline-for-germanys-rock-hard-magazine/

[Bear 1817]

 

 

A catchy pop tune. Should be good live too.

 

 

[Visutox 188]

Any opinions on that new Uada album?

[Bear 1817]

Not heard it yet.

 

But the new Ghost sounds really good after a few spins. Really nice and catchy pop-rock.

[Visutox 188]

Prequelle is not bad at all. The first half of the album is better than the second though. The album grew on me with the second spin and I'm starting to like it, which is good as I've never been a fan of their music. 

[Bear 1817]

Really? Oh my! That is shocking considering how good their previous albums are. You simply need to spin their albums again.

 

Ritual, Elizabeth and Genesis off Opus Eponymous.

Ghuleh / Zombie Queen, Year Zero and Monstrance Clock off Infestissumam.

From the Pinnacle to the Pit, He Is and Absolution off Meliora.

 

Brilliant stuff and in general three of the best rock music made in recent years. The mix of doomish heavy metal, heavy rock, progressive rock and pop are just amazing. And while not original, they've always manage to stand out from the crowd.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I quite like the new Ghost album too, tho oddly enough I somehow expected more poppiness. Also it's interesting how there are two instrumental tracks (not counting the short intro), tho both are superb. The bonus cover songs are kickass btw, at first I liked them even better than the regular part of the album, lol.

 

I peeped the new Uada too, it's as solid as their first one imo. Good stuff.

[Visutox 188]

I probably need to spin their discography again, yes. I always had a tough time going through their albums (I eventually get bored) but there have always been tracks here and there that I like. 

 

Now getting back to Prequelle again, my favorite tracks are: Rats, Faith, Miasma (they should have told us they were this good at instrumental tracks), Dance Macabre, It's A Sin (the vocals during the chorus are so powerful) and Avalanche. Not a single bad track and the album is still growing on me and new favorites might be coming up, lol.

 

57 minutes ago, Jigsaw9 said:

I peeped the new Uada too, it's as solid as their first one imo. Good stuff.

Really, Jig? Whenever I get back to the debut I somewhat feel disappointed. They've totally abandoned the Mgla-ish influences with the new album (I get that some people deny this, but to me it's palpable) and yeah, feel like it's a weaker album overall. There are good melodies, good riffs, nice vocals but it isn't as efficient as the previous album. :(( 

 

Then again I'll have to spin it again and again till I can provide a solid opinion about it but for now I feel like my guys have let me down.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Visutox

[Bear 1817]

I was let down by the new album. Musically it's fine, but the vocals are weird as fuck. They're all over the place, but a lot of the styles used doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's not like that because the music requires it, it's there because the band feels like they have to add more variety to the music. Complete and utter stupidity.

[Visutox 188]

I still haven't managed to find the THING that makes this album screw up but as you say, it might be the vocals? I need to pay much more attention to them in my next spin. What is certain is that Devoid of Light was more cleverly crafted than this one. 

 

That said, Mirrors is a fucking gem, man. Brilliant album closer.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I do have to admit that some of the vocal choices were a bit... weird (I mean, I didn't expect so many low death growls xD). Nowadays when I listen to Uada I kinda just listen to both albums together, back to back, so I don't really pay attention to which album is which, but it's overall pretty satisfying to me (even if at times a bit unremarkable).  

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

This EP from 1984 is so fucking good. It's a real shame this was their only release. Cult USPM in the vein of Griffin, Omen and Liege Lord. And the bassist is none other than James McGearty who played in Christian Mistress from 79 to 83 or something, and played on classics such as Only Theatre of Pain and Deathwish. This EP rules!

[Bear 1817]

Some interesting news from the world of metal:

 

Unanimated - Annihilation

A brand new 4 song EP by Unanimated, one of the most overlooked bands of the 90's. The first release since the good, but disappointing In the Light of Darkness from 2009. I am very much looking forward to this. Really wondering what this will sound like.

 

Ill Omen - The Grande Usurper

Australian one-man band by Desolate/VI from bands like Austere, Funeral Mourning and Nazxul. The previous albums has been dark and crushing black metal, so this should be good.

 

Crawl - Rituals

Dark and crushing death metal from Sweden. Unoriginal as fuck and very traditional Swedish sound, but sounds really good.

 

https://crawldeath.bandcamp.com/

 

Sex Messiah - Eastern Cult of Sodomy

Japanese black/thrash/crossover maniacs debut album is seeing the light of day soon enough. With members from Another Dimension, Terror Squad and Revölt.

 

https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/eastern-cult-of-sodomy

 

Sear Bliss - Letters from the Edge

After two good but really disappointing albums Sear Bliss returns after six years of silence with a new album. They seems to have moved even further away from their black metal roots. Sounds softer and more inspired by the likes of Alcest, but it sounds really good tbh. The fucking trombone too, tho. Dear God have I missed Sear Bliss' majestic use of trombone for years now. The trombone parts are nothing short of mind blowing and majestic. Not quite sold on the clean vocals tho.

 

https://searblisshhr.bandcamp.com/album/letters-from-the-edge

 

Satan - The Doomsday Clock

Satan made one hell of a comeback in 2013 with their modern heavy metal masterpiece Life Sentence, and two years later they released an album that was just as good, if not better in form of Atom by Atom. Life Sentence came 26, though they did release a few albums as Pariah in the late 80's. The new teaser sounds awesome. The riffing is just wild.

 

 

Wytch Hazel - II: Sojourn

After a single, an EP and a split Wytch Hazel released their hard rocking heavy metal debut album in 2016, an album, while not as good as their previous stuff, was very, very good. But judging from the first song they released off the album, this is gonna be bloody brilliant. Take the heavy and epic of Pagan Altar, mix it with the mysticism of Tarot and the rocking twin leads of Thin Lizzy and mix it up and you got the sound of this new song. So damn good! If the rest of the album is as good as Save My Life, I'll be a damn Christian before the album ends. Sweet!

 

https://wytchhazel.bandcamp.com/album/ii-sojourn

 

Jungle Rot - Jungle Rot

Never change a winning team? Which in Jungle Rot's case means straight forward groovy death metal, ugly-as-fuck cover art and lyrics about war, death murder and torture. Though the new track is a bit more thrashy than expected, and features Schmier of Destruction on guest vocals.

 

 

Void of Silence - The Sky Over

Funeral doom/dark ambient. Dark, heavy and beautiful. Their worst vocalist Malfeitor Fabban (Aborym) was great, and their second vocalist Alan Nemtheanga (Primordial) are among my very favourites ever, no matter genre. But after Alan Nemtheanga they've never really managed to find anyone close to his caliber. Vocal-vise I was very disappointed with The Grave of Civilization, and juding from the new track The Sky Over will also be very disappointing as far as the vocals goes. A real shame, because musically it's truly top notch.

 

https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-sky-over

[Bear 1817]

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's one of the best cover arts I've seen in a long, long time, and the song sounds excellent too. Mean, raw black/deathrash metal in the vein of the very first releases by Sodom and Destruction. 

 

I highly recommend their earlier outputs too. Their first full-length is up on youtube and totally recommended if you like ancient lack/deathrash metal like the masters did it. The new song sounds way better than this album, tho. Should be noted.

 

 

[Bear 1817]

 

 

Cruel Magic is the title of the upcoming Satan album. Should be fantastic, so looking forward to this.

[Bear 1817]

 

 

I haven't really been impressed with Deicide since Serpents of the Light, even though they've got a cool song here and there. But that cover art is quite something. Cool stuff!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Yeah, cool cover art! Kinda interested in how the album will turn out. Deicide has never been a band that I'm super-into, but whenever the mood strikes I like to spin almost all their albums equally. Good stuff.

 

In other news, I gave the new Craft and Marduk a spin today. Craft was okay, Marduk was largely skippable. I was bored to tears... except for maybe Werwolf and Narva, those were two entertaining tracks (funny cuz initially I was not sure what to think of the former xD).

[Bear 1817]

Thought the new Craft was a huge step up from Void, but still not nearly good enough IMO. I'll always end up going back to the two first albums and the demo and I'll never revisit the later stuff.

 

I do however agree about the new Marduk. I think Werewolf is a really cool song and I was hoping they would go for a more punky and rockish sound this time around as they really nailed it on Werewolf, but the rest is just rehash of older Marduk tracks. It's not bad, but there's something like 10 Marduk albums I'll play through before bothering with this.

[Bear 1817]

Immortal jussed dropped Mighty Ravendark, the 9 minute epic ending to Northern Chaos Gods. This is basically a new, updated version of Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark), but it works. And when I say it works I mean it works really fucking well, because this sounds awesome. 

[Lestat 2167]

 

Would like to take a small moment to promote my boyfriend’s and friends’ band’s first demo. Atmospheric black metal from the Netherlands, female vocals (lyrics all in Dutch). Enjoy!

Edited June 30, 2018 by Lestat

[Bear 1817]

Immortal's new full-lenght, Northern Chaos Gods, are easily their best album since At the Heart of Winter. Holy fuckity fuck, what a massive album we've got on our hands. Nuts!

 

It's massive, furious and epic and it borrows lots of classic elements from earlier Immortal-albums, but I don't mind that. The riffs are godly, the vocals are mean as fuck, the drums are brutal and the atmosphere is rich and thick. Will be surprised if this isn't among my favourites of 2018 when the year's passed by.

Edited July 2, 2018 by Bear

[Bear 1817]

 

I'm sure this band/album will get something like 0 new fans, but I'll throw in a recommendation nonetheless. Warfare formed in 1982 and played a filthy mix of speed metal, punk and heavy metal. They started with three albums that's gained cult status over the year. Pure Filth, Metal Anarchy and Mayhem, Fuckin' Mayhem, three filthy speed/heavy/punk metal albums whose titles really sums up the sound of the band. Three superb albums with Metal Anarchy and Mayhem, Fuckin' Mayhem being close to proper classics as far as I am concerned.

 

However, after one more speed metal album they released Hammer Horror, their own homage to Hammer Horror, their many brilliant actors and fantastic films. They also changed their style up a bit. From filthy speed/heavy/punk metal to gothic heavy metal. A really unique album which stands out from the crowd. Atmospheric, catchy and with a very dark and sinister atmosphere. I really like it.

 

Not quite as good as their three first, but amazing nonetheless.

[Bear 1817]

No reactions on Immortal's new album? Dear god, it's so fucking awesome. The reviews of the albums are incredibly positive too, for those that give a damn about that shit. Lots of 6/6 and 9/10's, and it's very deserved. Massive!