Andrian von Ziegler - The Celtic Collection II
Great as always

Apparently Funeral Moth no longer play funeral doom ... surprising how calm and focused this release it. Some bands shoudl definitely take notes from it. Cannot say whether I am supposed ot like it or not. Yet, it is an interesting release.

Android Lust - The Dividing - 10th Anniversary Edition
Artful electro industrial with many new remixes

Don't forget Execration - Morbid Dimensions, some crazy shit right there again, love this band.

http://duplicaterecords.bandcamp.com/al ... dimensions

this dude is hilarious it all sounds like music from an age of empires loading screen or something

I'm only a few tracks into the new Thy Darkened Shade but it's already one of my favorite albums of the year. Deep and complex occult black metal, really similar to their sister band Acrimonious.

https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/alb ... -nex-ritvs

^that came out in 2012. Good album tho.

Lots of good stuff this year but Contradiction, Melena Chasmata and Once More Round the Sun are all standouts that I'll more than likely be rocking frequently in years to come.

Mastodon especially surprised me, I was never a fan of theirs save for a couple tracks on Crack the Skye and Leviathan. They sound like they are coming into their own now.

Eternvs Mos, Nex Ritvs is from 2012, Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet just came out.

My bad, pasted the wrong link. This is the one:

https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com/alb ... hem-sedjet

Emptiness' Nothing but the Whole is immense. I think it's my favorite metal album of the year.

Yeah, OK, two tracks in and you're right. This is way better. But the others are still solid!

That Dawnbringer sounds like a classic example of a band, who probably listens to every style of metal, trying to do everything at once. Does it want to be 70s Sabbath worship? 60s heavy rock like Iron Butterfly? Does it want to be all theatrical like King Diamond? Does it want to be extreme metal with some token death vocals? Does it want to be fuzzy and low fi or over the top, keyboard-laden and glorious. You can't be everything. Dawnbringer doesn't understand that. Bless them for trying.

They pile on a lot of influences at times and I can see what you're trying to say, but overall it's a pretty consistent, cohesive sound and I think they understand what they're doing just fine.

Rigor Mortis took the cake this year for me . Perfect in all respects IMO. Like the Life Sentence of 2014. A fitting swan song for Mike RIP.

I tried to enjoy the new Slipknot and and King 810 but they had all the issues that were expected.

Glad you enjoy it... you are lucky being able to discover that record all anew, haha. Yeah I am sure I will pick up the new one at some point as it at least has more going for it than his latest High Spirits one (in my opinion), for now I'll stick with the digital Bandcamp purchase though.

Devin Townsend Z2 is kind of a mixed bag. What suprised me was Blue Sky turned out better than Dark Matters. Unfortunately the last 3 tracks were a snooze on Blue Sky. As for DM, I perfer the first Ziltoid album as it doesn't have an overkill of spoken narration. If you thought the narration distracted the first Z album (I thought it was perfect), this is way over done with. Wait till you hear that one track. Damn. I also miss the drum machine as it gives an alien vibe to it. Story is also not great and tries to be funny and fails. Very disappointed with the sequel to Ziltoid presented here.

Vampire - s/t album is one my favorites for 2014 so far, but haven't heard a great deal until now. I should be getting new Diocletian and Dead Congregation album soon.

I expect Teitanblood - Death to remain my favorite 2014 album though.

So I finally gave the new Judas Priest a chance and found myself really enjoying it. Sure Rob is no longer hitting those insane highs but the riffs and songwriting sounds fresh and just superior to Nostradamus imo. Cold Blooded is a killer tune that stuck in my head same as Down in Flames.

I quite enjoyed that Vampire s/t, too, but it didn't have the same impact or longevity as many of the other death metal gems released this year.

New Diocletian is really, really good, though for bestial/war metal this year, I think they may have been bested by both Sacrocurse and Necroholocaust.

Promulgation of the Fall is probably the best death metal album released this year--maybe the best album released this year, period. Dead Congregation are nearly peerless right now, creating perfect death metal.

Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel.

I'm really not into prog or avant-garde sort of stuff at all, but I saw the band play on the weekend and it impressed me. Bought a copy of their new album and while it's not something I'll listen to very often, it was very well done. I'd say they're a better live band than a studio one, though.

Mortuary Drape - Spiritual Independence
Varathron - Untrodden Corridors of Hades

THanks for those names. Not familiar with Sacrocruse and only slightly with Necroholocaust, so ill definitely keep that in mind. I'm a huge Angelcorpse fan and for that reason I like Diocletian a lot as well. They have similar sound

London by Voices is really a worthwhile listen, it's a bit different to the first in the attitude this time around is 'playing all the wrong notes and amplifying them', so it has similarities to Alien by Strapping Young Lad in that respect. What surprised me was just how genuinely long the album feels, not to say it's a bad thing, it'll entertain you for a long while. Also, it being a concept album is interesting and the narration is short but sweet. It's definitely refreshingly different in the choice of notes and arrangements, I would have liked more thrashy elements to be present but that's all I can really fault it on. Not a bad substitute for new Akercocke.

Erra - Moments of Clarity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQhtKTG7qYg

The single up to now was a masterful song. Hearing this EP for the first time, I wasn't blown away. Sucked, but hearing it again in full a second time it really, really started to grow. I'm getting sucked back into the same excitement I had when Augment was released. Sucks that half the line-up was gone. Didn't hear about it until the single for this EP was released.

This rules. Holy shit.

I agree with you completely on the whole Dead Congregation opinion. Promulgation Of The Fall took some spins for it's magic to truly unfold, but that it did - unbelievably good album.

Didn't mind Portal of I, so I'll have to check this one out. Haven't seen them live, though, but I'll take your word on it that they're good.

Been raving about these guys but Empire Auriga's 2014 offering "Ascending the Solarthrone" is quite good. An actual blend of ambient and industrial soundscapes with a black metal wall of haze and riff. Took them 6 years to make, apparently. It's not a perfect album by any means, maybe not even a 90%er, but it's damned good and fun to listen to. Very slow, tectonic-plate like feel to it, with some good payoffs in riffs and hair-raising keyboard passages. The lyrics are good, too.

You hit the nail on the head with "playing all the wrong notes and amplifying them", and that's the reason why I'm entirely ambiguous about the record even after multiple spins. It doesn't sit well and actually frustrates me in a way. But anyway, I appreciate the leap they made from the debut, even though I'd like to hear some more of the stuff that's basically a continuation of Akercocke's legacy.

Doombringer finally put out a full length, and I have to say its a damn fine showing of Black/Death Metal. While its a style that has been done to death, the wicked dark riffs and varied pacing make it very enjoyable.

Volahn's Aq'Ab'Al is absolutely brilliant black metal. It is mostly chaotic(not brutal) but is interspersed with beautiful sweeping melodies and some rocking passages to offer some form of respite. I have to applaud the very well executed Aztec influences and impressive and unobtrusive use of keys

Edit: I forgot to add Arizmenda - Stillbirth in the Temple of Venus. Its similar to his label mate Volahn, but without the Aztec touches and an even crappier production; its still very good though

Going straight on to my to buy list. All that you have said is true, but there is some evil magic at work here definitely. Outstanding group.

EDIT: Fuck it. Just bought a copy.

Damn Crushed, that was fast.
I'll have to wait until the end of the month for mine.
Stupid budget!

Not fucking around here, Ive been looking forward to this full length ever since I got the awesome Sevenfold Pestilence 7" and their demo compilation. Cannot wait.

I wasn't expecting much from Depths of Hatred's new album, it's not anything light years ahead of their first album but Hellborn sounds way more polished and focused than it's predecessor, a lot of these riffs have sort of a classic vibe to them.

Anyone heard any update on the new Gallowbraid album? I talked to Jake very briefly and he said he was aiming for a late 2014 release. I know we still have a month left, but I'd think there would be something from Northern Silence somewhere about a release date.

Reviving just to mention that the newest from Triosphere is pretty damn fantastic. A Top 10 pick, for sure.

Arroganz - Tod & Teufel Listen Dark Death Metal from Germany, inspired by the Polish scene I guess
Nocturnal Degrade - The Deep Tragic Human Condition Listen Fast, raw and atmospheric Black Metal

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but I finally dug into the new Spectral Lore. God damn, this is atmospheric bm at its finest.

Cool I better hop on that, been a fan forever.

I really should check Triosphere out. And apparently this, too.