No need to, when everybody else does it for you.

Wilt - split with Baldr Vogu

I saw these guys open for Undergang and Spectral Voice. I think their grooves sounded more crisp and hard-hitting live.

Also, regarding SYL I can definitely see how that album would be super meaningful for someone in that way, B_H. There's a certain, for lack of a better word, neurotic-ness, especially in the vocals, that's unique to that album.

Stratovarius - Elysium

Thank god they booted stale ass Tolkki from the band. They sound totally reinvigorated.

I could've done without the cover track on this album but otherwise it's filled with awesomeness.

Ketha - #!%16.7

17 minutes is far too short. This is a wonderful direction that Ketha are going in and I can't wait to hear their next album!

Death Fortress - Merciless Deluge

Threw on a random track to check this band out. It has a more chaotic feel than I expected, the faster parts remind me as much of caverncore as it does black metal. Not that that's a bad thing, but judging from the cover I was expecting some fun, melodic, Dissection-style black metal-lite. Not nearly bombastic and exciting enough to warrant the comparisons to Sacramentum they get. Hopefully a grower.

They basically just sound like Hate Forest if they were juiced out of their fuckin skulls.

Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

Utterly legendary for a reason.

Drudkh - "Wind of the Night Forests"

This track is actually paused at the moment.

As much as I hate Mayhem for what they did, I can't help but to listen to this album over and over again. Hell, I just got my copy a few days ago!

Gorguts - Considered Dead

Not exactly essential death metal, but it has its own personality that makes it stand out. Great stuff that's worthy of a spot in any death metal fan's collection.

Did what?

Autopsy - Service for a Vacant Coffin

Old school DM goodness.

As much as I am against religion, burning churches down is unacceptable. I hate Varg Vikernes and Jon Nodtveidt for being murderers, but I still like Dissection's music regardless.

Except the only two members involved in criminal activity were session musicians.

NP:
Virgin Steele - "Child of Desolation"

David, you can't name a Virgin Steele song "Child of Desolation" without throwing in the "child of the desolation cry to me, under stars that have died under skies of pain we are born" verse. You had one fucking job!

It doesn't matter if they were session or full-time members, man. They still fucked up.

So suddenly the whole band's accountable. Fortunately, you're not a Vulcan because that is not logical thinking.

No, I'm not saying the whole band is involved, but when a member does something immoral, it tarnishes the band's image in my eyes.

Judas Priest - Stained Class

My favourite tracks of this Album are Exciter, Better By You,Better Than Me and Heroes End.

Staaand Back for Exciiiiiteeeer

Yeah man, this album is just awesome. Everyone already knows about this album so it's hardly worth repeating, but I love the opening two songs as they deliver some killer riffs and showcase Attila's trademark vocals. And then "Buried by Time and Dust" is just a blasturbation that's so intense you can't not headbang.


Agreed! But Mayhem's first album still rips.


I like this one more than The Erosion of Sanity but overall I like their avant-garde output more.

Manii - Kollaps

Really interesting and mature atmospheric black metal. Perfect for a quiet Friday night.

Autopsy - The Howling Dead

Goddamn, why hasn't anyone been talking about Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves? I'm listening to it for the first time and it's great so far.

Great album. Surprising amount of diversity too. "Deep Crimson Dreaming" might be the most emotional track Autopsy has put out.

I'm about to give the new Moonsorrow a whirl for the first time. I'm optimistic.

Ulver - Lyckantropean Themes

Undulating tranquility. Soothing stuff.

Sayyadina - Hunt Me

Always on the look-out for some good Swedish grind-n-roll and this track has it all: frenetic blasts and monstrous, slammin' grooves with a vocalist whose deeper register has a nice worn quality. Need to check out more from this band.

Hunter x Hunter 2011 OST - Legend Of The Martial Artist

Anime can have great tunes. This piece is so hypnotic.

Boris - Pink

man this band does lovely things

The first two are masterpieces of black stinking metal, and "Funeral Fog" is one of the most creepy black metal songs I've ever heard. The title track is also a highlight. I must say that when I first heard Attila open his mouth in "Funeral Fog", I thought he sounded like one of those ugly bugs in bug spray commercials.


It does indeed.


I haven't gotten around to Obscura, From Wisdom To Hate, and Colored Sands, but Pleiades' Dust is so fantastic. I like how it's just "quiet noise".

People tend to dismiss great bands' works outside of their classics. I think everything they've done since their reunion has been killer.

NP: Rust - Raw Shredding Death

Awesome black/thrash. Riffs everywhere

Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare

Still takes the spot as the freakin' greatest thrash album ever in my opinion. Coma of Souls, Horrorscope, and BTR put up one hell of a fight, but this beast wins every time.

Lanfear "The Code Inherited"

Seems decent so far - maybe a bit more technical than previous albums.

Ripper - Anthropophagic Life

Not quite the vicious retro thrash attack that Raising the Corpse is. I'm hardly in the mood for thrash metal these days and the albums I tend to discover nowadays more often don't do much for me. at all. Let's see if this one makes a difference.

Periphery - Remain Indoors

Checking out some tracks from the new album, and it's boding well! Seems like more classic P-riff, though I wonder if it will match up to the cohesive feel of the self-titled series, or sound more like the Alpha and Omega double album. Regardless, you can always rely on them for excellent, songwriting-emphasized prog/tech metal goodness.

Northwind Saga - Interlude

Love these female frontet heavy/power bands from Japan!
Hope this band have new stuff coming soon.

They're still active (or at least doing periodic lives).

Ancient Myth - Aberration: “Pt”

I love the mood/atmosphere on this.

Lizzy Borden - Den of Thieves

After a long work week, there's nothing like hearing your favorite album. Visual Lies is a weird one for that distinction, I know, but at this point I have to accept that there's nothing I enjoy more than this; its 'je ne sais quoi' power over me is equal parts inexplicable and ironclad.

Sonata Arctica - For the Sake of Revenge

Inspired by that SA thread. Been a few years since I actually heard this album. Still holds up.

Ulver - Perdition City

Multiple genres strung together to make something quite odd and very good.

Iced Earth — Dark City

Probably my favourite modern IE track

Ulver - Svidd Neger

Nothing quite like flowing and tranquil ambient soundscapes.

Certainly less distinctive but I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Valthus - Cremated Dreams

Pretty nice guitarwork on this one. Don't think I'll ever get fully used to these vocals though.

Haha, now there's an image! Vocals by Louie the Fly. "Funeral Fog" is great.


I still need to give Pleiades' Dust more listens but I think I like Colored Sands more, but all those albums are worth your time.

First Fragment - Dasein

Very cool technical death metal. Very similar to stuff like Spawn of Possession, but they have their own identity. Very interesting stuff.

Cryptopsy - Cryptopsy

Pretty damn great. Better than the 3 albums that came before it, that's for sure.

I don't mind And Then You'll Beg but I agree it's better than the previous two.

Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress

I was at a friend's place a couple of nights ago and we were chatting about songs that made us cry. She played one that was poignant for her (a song by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli called "Prayer") and I said that Shape of Despair's "To Live For My Death" was one for me, and to her credit she played the entire 17 minutes of it, even though I said we don't have to. She ended up Googling "funeral doom metal" and said she enjoyed the music but said the growling vocals were not her style (obviously). Ever since then I've wanted to play the album and I'm doing so now. While that song no longer packs that emotional punch for me, Angels of Distress is still one of the finest funeral doom albums out. I love it, and every song has its own character. The best album they've ever released.